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a place to which all alike descend, how can the Old Testament hold up the descent of the
wicked into sheol as a warning, as it does in several places, Job 21:13; Ps. 9:17; Prov. 5:5; 7:27;
9:18; 15:24; 23:14? How can the Bible speak of God’s anger burning there, Deut. 32:22, and
how can it use the term sheol as synonymous with abaddon, that is, destruction, Job 26:6; Prov.
15:11; 27:20? This is a strong term, which is applied to the angel of the abyss in Rev. 19:11.
Some seek escape from this difficulty by surrendering the neutral character of sheol and by
assuming that it was conceived of as an underworld with two divisions, called in the New
Testament paradise and gehenna, the former the destined abode of the righteous, and the
latter that of the wicked; but this attempt can only result in disappointment, for the Old
Testament contains no trace of such a division, though it does speak of sheol as a place of
punishment for the wicked. Moreover, the New Testament clearly identifies paradise with
heaven in II Cor. 12:2,4. And, finally, if hades is the New Testament designation of sheol, and all
alike go there, what becomes of the special doom of Capernaum, Matt. 11:23, and how can it
be pictured as a place of torment, Luke 16:23? Someone might be inclined to say that the
threatenings contained in some of the passages mentioned refer to a speedy descent into
sheol, but there is no indication of this in the text whatsoever, except in Job 21:13, where this is
explicitly stated.
c. If a descent into sheol was the gloomy outlook upon the future, not only of the wicked but
also of the righteous, how can we explain the expressions of gladsome expectation, or joy in the
face of death, such as we find in Num. 23:10; Ps. 16:9,11; 17:15; 49:15; 73:24,26; Isa. 25:8
(comp. I Cor. 15:54)? The expression in Ps. 49:15 may be interpreted to mean that God will
deliver the poet out of sheol or from the power of sheol. Notice also what the writer of
Hebrews says of the Old Testament heroes of faith in Heb. 11:13-16. The New Testament, of
course, speaks abundantly of the joyous outlook of believers on the future, and teaches their
conscious happiness in the disembodied state, Luke 16:23,25; 23:43; Acts 7:59; II Cor. 5:1,6,8;
Phil. 1:21,23; I Thess. 5:10; Eph. 3:14,15 (“family in heaven,” not in “hades”); Rev. 6:9,11; 14:13.
In II Cor. 12:2,4 “paradise” is used synonymously with “the third heaven.” In connection with
this clear representation of the New Testament, it has been suggested that the New Testament
believers were privileged above those of the Old Testament by receiving immediate access to
the bliss of heaven. But the question may well be asked, What basis is there for assuming such
a distinction?
d. If the word sheol always denotes the shadowy region to which the dead descend, and never
has any other meaning, then the Old Testament, while it does have a word for heaven as the
blessed abode of God and of the holy angels, has no word for hell, the place of destruction and
of eternal punishment. But it is only on the assumption that in some passages sheol designates
a place of punishment whither the wicked go in distinction from the righteous, that the