Is Hell the Grave?
Written by Danny D. Bunn B.A., (Born-Again believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ)
Now I want to use an illustration in a bible
to show that hell is hell and the grave is the grave and they
will never meet unless you want to say that death exists in both.
A dead body in the grave and a dead spirit person in hell. Let's
talk about Jonah.
I am even going to use the New World Translation since it can
still be used to prove a point. Remember the Old Testament is
full of types and figures to represent a reality. Jonah is a very
good one to show what hell is going to be like. Going to Jonah, I
am going to give you a little run down on what has been happening
before I read the verses that I am going to discuss.
Jonah was called of God to go to Nineveh to tell the people
living there that God was going to destroy their city because of
the wickedness there but Jonah chose not to obey God and ran the
other way. He got a ride on a ship going to Tarshish, God causes
a big wind and tempest upon the sea. The crew members are told by
Jonah that this is happening because he disobeyed God and then he
proceeds to tell them to throw him overboard and the winds will
cease. So they throw him out of the ship. God stops the winds and
causes a big fish to swallow Jonah whole. Now it is time for the
verses that I am going to read and discuss a little bit with you.
Reading Jonah 2:1-3, "Then Jonah prayed to Jehovah his God from
the inward parts of the fish and said: 'Out of my distress I
called out to Jehovah, and he proceeded to answer me. Out of the
belly of Sheol I cried for help. You heard my voice. When you
threw me [to] the depths, into the heart of the open sea, Then a
very river encircled me. All your breakers and waves- over me
they passed on."
The Jehovah's Witnesses use these verses to try to prove that
hell is just the grave. And you wouldn't believe some of the
things that they say to try to prove that's what these verses are
saying. Remember what I told you earlier we have all kinds of
types and figures in the Old Testament to help us to picture the
reality. So by reading Jonah let's try to determine if what Jonah
was experiencing reveals more of what hell is going to be like or
the grave.
I see by reading this that Jonah was a pretty miserable guy,
he had weeds all over him, he was in distress, he was crying out
to God for help. Surely in the fish's stomach, there had to have
been hot gases, it had to be dark. Also just think, he was out in
the middle of the sea and they throw him in the water. It must
have looked hopeless to him. This is a very clear picture of what
hell is going to be like. It lines up with so many things that
Jesus said in the story regarding hell in Luke 16:19-31, reading:
"19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple
and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid
at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the
rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by
the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was
buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and
send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and
cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime
receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but
now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf
fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot;
neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou
wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest
they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let
them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them
from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from
the dead."
I see from this that the rich man died and he wakes up in
hell, he has eyes to see, ears to hear, he has a voice, his
tongue is hot and his throat is parched. And added to all of
this, he has a memory. He is alive but dead. I plan on dealing
with the death part. Jehovah's Witnesses don't seem to understand
death, destruction, and the like in the Bible. They believe that
death means cessation of being. But does it? We'll let the Bible
answer that question. What is also strange to me is that Jehovah's
Witnesses believe that you don't exist anymore once you die
so you don't experience anything or remember anything according
to them so once again what Jonah went through surely can't
illustrate the grave according to their own doctrine. So surely
Jonah saying that he was in Sheol can't illustrate the grave, it
has to typify hell as the KJV, the true word of God shows.
I will be showing that hell is hell and the grave is the grave
and they are two totally different places.
I used the New World Translation even though it is not the
word of God just to show you that their own book condemns them.
