We know the Bible contains secrets of heaven for us to discover. The Bible also contains some secrets of hell as well. People often refer to heaven, hell, and the last Day without an understanding that there are actually two heavens, two hells and two last Days mentioned in Scripture. We sometimes can’t tell which heaven, hell or last Day the Bible is talking about until we look at all of the surrounding Scriptures and examine the target audience or the topic of the book where the verse or verses are found. Never take Scripture out of context if you want to fully understand its true meaning. The Bible refers to the earth’s atmosphere as the first heaven and outer space as the second heaven. The third heaven is where God lives. Don’t confuse those descriptions of heaven with my listing of heaven number one and heaven number two.
Heaven #1 is Paradise within the earth and heaven #2 is upward where God lives. Hell #1 is also within the earth and is sometimes called Hades or the Pit. Hell #2 is the lake of fire and brimstone mentioned in the book of Revelation where all nonbelievers and fallen angels will eventually end up after final judgment at the Great White Throne of Jesus Christ. Last day #1 is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth to set foot on the Mount of Olives at the battle of Armageddon. Jesus will then judge all the nations for their iniquity before establishing his 1000 year millennial kingdom to be ruled from Jerusalem. The last day #2 will occur at the end of the thousand years. This is when all nonbelievers in hell #1 will be resurrected bodily to stand before Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne judgment. All who appear at this final judgment are condemned already. An angel of the Lord will grab hold of each nonbeliever and throw them into the lake of fire and brimstone where they will be in pain and agony without end for all eternity.
Matthew 5:16 – (Jesus speaking) – Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (#2).
Matthew 5:18 – (Jesus speaking) – For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven (#2) and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled,
John 3:18 – (Jesus speaking) – He who believes in Him is not condemned (to hell #1); but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Isaiah 14:15 – Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (hell #1), to the lowest depths of the Pit (hell #1, within the earth).
Nonbelievers don’t believe in hell and even some believers don’t think hell is real. They think hell is an allegory or a spiritualization of God’s word. First of all, God speaks only the truth and God speaks plainly. When God speaks with symbolism it’s easy to recognize, like in the book Revelation. The rule of thumb with Bible interpretation is this: if the Bible verse makes plain sense when you read it, then seek no other sense. Hell (Hades) is mentioned 54 times in the Bible. Hell is also often referred to as the “pit”. The word pit occurs 88 times in the Bible and at least half of those occurrences are talking about hell within the earth, which I am calling hell number one. When God mentions hell in his word 100 times you can be sure hell is a real, literal place. You have been told so you are without excuse.
Matthew 10:28 – (Jesus speaking) – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (#1).
NOTE: Upon death the spirit of all nonbelievers immediately goes to hell #1 within the earth. The human corpse decays here on earth so it’s destroyed on this physical plane. When the spirits of the damned are resurrected for the Great White throne judgment they will all be given bodies that are decayed (destroyed) and they will keep those maggot-infested bodies throughout all eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone. The souls of all men are immortal but the soul of the nonbeliever is destroyed in the sense that he suffers eternal death in hell forever. The Bible often equates destruction with going to hell.
Matthew 8:12 – (Jesus speaking) – But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness (hell #1). There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
NOTE: When Jews speak about “outer darkness” they are talking about hell #1. Matthew was a Jewish disciple of Christ writing his gospel for a Jewish audience.
ln Old Testament times when the righteous died their eternal spirits went to Paradise within the earth, which I’m calling heaven #1. The Old Testament saints couldn’t go directly to heaven above, which I’m calling heaven #2, because their sins were not forgiven at that time. When God came down from heaven in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and died on the cross his atoning death allowed the sins of all men, past, present and future, to be forgiven. During his three days in the earth Jesus Christ, the son of God, descended into Paradise and escorted the saints waiting down there to heaven because he had paid their sin debt. Paradise within the earth is now empty and is no longer needed because all believers living after the time of Christ’s resurrection have their sins forgiven already. After the time of Christ the spirit of all believers who die immediately goes to heaven to be in the presence of Jesus. In the Old Testament when it talks about going to heaven it is usually referring to Paradise within the earth (heaven #1) unless the Scripture’s context indicates otherwise. In the New Testament all reference to heaven is heaven #2 above, with the same caveat.
Daniel 12:2 – And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life (heaven #1), some to shame and everlasting contempt (hell #1).
John 5:28-29 – (Jesus speaking) – For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth-those who have done good, to the resurrection of life (the rapture or glorious appearing of Christ), and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of the damned (from hell #1 on the last Day #2).
John 5:24 – (Jesus speaking) – Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My words and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life (heaven #2), and shall not come into judgment (on last Day #2), but has passed from death into life.
John 12:31-32 – (Jesus speaking) – Now is the judgment of this world (last Day #2); now the ruler of this world (Satan) will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth (the appearing of Christ in the air), will draw all peoples to Myself (all believers, dead and alive).
When a nonbeliever dies their eternal spirit immediately goes to hell within the earth (hell #1) where they’ll be suspended in total darkness, alone, and in great pain and torment continually. All the unrighteous dead who lived before Christ also go to hell #1 within the earth. Cain was the first person to go hell for killing his brother Abel. God made the lake of fire and brimstone for Satan and his fallen angels to reside for all eternity (this is the second hell). The lake of fire and brimstone is currently empty until such time as Jesus Christ executes final judgment on the damned, both angel and man. I don’t know where this lake of fire and brimstone is located. It may be within the earth or somewhere else in the universe. Only God knows. In the book of Revelation, after hell #1 is emptied of all condemned people the final resting place of all the damned is only referred to as the lake of fire and brimstone (hell #2).
Psalm 16:10 – For you will not leave My soul in Sheol (hell #1), nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption (bodily decay).
Psalm 86:13 – For great is Your mercy toward Me (Jesus), and You have delivered My soul from the depths of Sheol (hell #1).
Hebrews 10:31 – It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Titus 2:`13 – Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing (rapture) of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
The first last Day will be when Jesus Christ sets his foot on the earth for the second time (on the Mount of Olives). Before then Jesus will come in the air with all his angels to call all believers to himself, both dead and alive, and Jesus will give all the believers their glorified bodies right there in the air. This is the “rapture” of the saints or the “appearing” of Jesus Christ in the air. It will occur exactly seven years to the day before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ will be just after the battle of Armageddon and before Israel can be destroyed. Jesus will save a remnant of Israel, God’s chosen people, before defeating Satan, the antichrist and all the nations surrounding Jerusalem with the intent of destroying Israel. Jesus will then judge all the nations for their sins against God. Believers alive at the Second Coming will become a part of the millennial kingdom and all nonbelievers will be sent to hell #1.
John 12:48 – (Jesus speaking) – He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day (#2).
John 6:40 – (Jesus speaking) – And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day (#1).
Acts 10:42 – And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He (Jesus) who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.
Hebrews 9:27 – And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement (last day #2).
After this, Jesus will establish his 1000 year millennial kingdom on the earth to be ruled from Jerusalem. At the end of the 1000 years the second last Day will occur when all the damned throughout history will be resurrected bodily from hell #1 within the earth to stand before Jesus Christ in judgment at the Great White Throne. All who will appear here are condemned already. After sentencing, all nonbelievers will be grabbed bodily by an angel of the Lord and hurled into the lake of fire and brimstone where they will remain for all eternity along with Satan, the antichrist, the false prophet and the fallen angels (demons). Those in the lake of fire and brimstone will be in constant pain and agony. At this time hell #1 within the earth will be emptied and remain empty and unused just like Paradise.
1 Corinthians 3:12-13 – Now if anyone builds on this foundation (Jesus Christ) with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the day (last day #1) will declare it; because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
Proverbs 16:4 – The Lord has made all for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom (last day #2).
1 Peter 1:17 – And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.
Isaiah 45:22 – Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
Think of hell #1 as a temporary lockup for condemned prisoners in use for only 7000 years; a holding cell for the guilty, until such time as they get to go before the righteous judge, Jesus Christ, to receive final judgment ( their eternal sentence). This is known as the Great White Throne judgment and all who appear here are condemned already. All nonbelievers receive the same sentence. All the damned will be incarcerated in the lake of fire and brimstone forever where they will be in continual pain and torment without end. Please don’t be in this group! Avoid the nonbeliever’s fate by believing in God, repenting of your sins, and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. God gave us his word to show us the way while we yet live. Take advantage of your opportunity while you still have time. The wrath of God is a terrible thing. Once you die unsaved your fate is sealed forever.
Jude 1:6 – And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness (hell #1)for the judgment of the great day (last Day #2).
Philippians 1:6 – He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (the rapture or the glorious appearing of Christ).
Numbers 16:31-33 – Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit (hell #1); the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.
Revelation 20:1-3 – Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven (#2), having the key to the bottomless pit (hell #1) and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years (the length of the millennium); and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
In summary, God created the universe and allotted man 7000 years on this earth. From creation to Abraham was 2000 years and from Abraham to Jesus was 2000 years. From Jesus to now it has been almost 2000 years. The millennium is the final 1000 years. According to God’s timetable the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will end the current 2000 year period of human history and that time is almost upon us. It will be exactly seven years prior to the Second Coming Jesus to the earth that Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds to “rapture” all believers to himself, both dead and alive. Jesus Christ will give all believers their glorified bodies in the air before taking all the saints back to heaven with him.
The rapture could occur at any moment. If the rapture occurs the whole world will know about it. If you’re not one of those Jesus calls to meet him in the air all is not lost. The good news is you have seven years after the rapture occurs to change your mind and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The bad news is you might not last that long. If you become saved you’ll probably end up a martyr and get your head chopped off. You could also die from one of the many plagues God is about to unleash on the earth (read Revelation). Why not skip all that terror and accept God’s salvation unto eternal life right now before it’s too late? Either way you’ll kneel before Jesus one day.
Revelation 14:9-11 – Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.
Revelation 20:10 – The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 21:8 – But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
We know there are different levels in heaven based upon our good works. God is fair to the believer and nonbeliever alike so I’m pretty sure there are also different levels in hell based upon our sins committed against God. I can’t believe that a person going to hell for not accepting Christ will be punished the same way as a mass murderer like Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan or Muhammad. God is just so I expect levels of punishment that fits the crime. The Bible doesn’t give us a breakdown with hell the way it does with heaven but we can make a few guesses. The Bible does tell us that fallen angels who took on human form and slept with women are an abomination to God and he has chained them in the bottom of the “pit” until judgment day. Next level above that would be the mass murderers of the world. I list four levels of heaven so there must be at least four levels in hell. Heaven and hell probably have many more levels I don’t know about.
Mark 9:43-44 – (Jesus speaking) – If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, go to hell (#2), into the fire that shall never be quenched-where, “Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 9:45-46 – (Jesus speaking) – And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell (#2), into the fire that shall never be quenched-where, “Their worm does not die. and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 9:47-48 – (Jesus speaking) – And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire (#2)-where, “Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
There is one last thing you need to know. When nonbelievers are resurrected bodily on the second last Day for judgment before the Great White Throne of Jesus Christ the body they receive will be decayed, rotting and filled with maggots (worms) that will never die. Imagine the zombies in the “walking dead” movies and on television and multiply that putrefaction by a factor of ten and you get the general idea. It won’t be a pleasant sight.
Just imagine the eternal spirit of the damned locked up inside a decaying corpse and bobbing up and down in the lake of fire and brimstone like a cork while screaming their head off forever because of the pain and agony. To make matters worse, the damned will be constantly gawked at in their pain and misery by all the saints, angels and Jesus himself. Oh, the indignity of it all! Don’t be that man or woman! Save yourself while you yet live! The putrid bodies of the lost will be as gross as the glorified bodies of believers are wonderful. They are complete opposites, which is how God does things.
God is fair, just and reciprocal to both the believer and the nonbeliever. If the believer gets a resurrection body then so does the nonbeliever; only at opposite extremes. That’s only fair. In this blog I’m including Scriptures from the book of Mark that confirm what I’m saying about the resurrected bodies of the damned. God says it plainly three times in a row. When God repeats anything twice we need to pay attention. When God says anything three times it’s like shouting from the rooftops and we better pay attention. Don’t just blindly believe everything I’m telling you. The purpose of my web site has always been to encourage you to check out God’s word and then you decide yourself what is true and what is not. That’s all I can ask of you and all God commands you to do. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. That’s true for both horses and men. Your salvation is in your hands. God has given you the free will to make that decision. Don’t delay making it.