Is there a Hell? In the Gospel of Mark, 9:42-50 ,of the Chadasha (New Testament), Yeshua (Jesus), our Messiah refers to its existence and purpose. From the original language, he is comparing Hell to Gehenna. Gehenna is traditionally known as a valley region just south of Jerusalem. It was Jerusalem's garbage dump where rubbish fires were constantly burning, and worms slowly ate at everything that was rotting. When the Messiah says, "Where the worms do not die, and the fires are not quenched," he is actually quoting the Prophet Isaiah (66:24). They are the last words of Isaiah's prophecy, and they refer to the eternal condition of the souls that have refused the Messiah.

    Is there a Hell? Deuteronomy 32:22 (The Torah) refers to Hell as a place for heaping and burning every soul that refuses God. In 2-Samuel 22:6 (The Writings), David grieves how the sorrows of Hell are chasing him while he lives. This was because King Saul was hunting him in order to kill him. Psalm 9:17 (The Prayers) describes Hell as the place of the wicked. And by these scriptures we understand that Hell can be near us, for the wicked are among us, but is Hell another place also.

    By the Torah, Prophets, Writings and Prayers, God has explained that Hell is as final as his own love. This Hell is called Sheol. The word is actually a question, and it means, "What is it?" Sheol is something that we can sense while living, but it is something we have not yet touched, and by its name, we are asking ... What is it? Is it really there?

    Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah says, "If your hand, foot or eye is causing you to sin ... it is better to live without it than to go with it into Sheol. If you cause a child to sin because of your lust, it is better to tie a large stone to your neck, and be thrown into the sea, than to be thrown into Sheol ... into Hell, where the worm is working, and the fires are burning!"

    Yet while we are living, we are asked "How are we living?" If you have experienced God's love, and it has dispelled the sorrows of Hell, yet you abuse your wife, or humiliate your children ... then the experience has not penetrated very deep. If your grief has caused you to weep, and to ask for forgiveness, yet the forgiveness has not been followed with a real change in your life ... then, as the Messiah says, "your salt has lost its saltiness."

    This is what Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah, says to us ... Your experiences with God (especially the challenging ones) are salt in your life -- and it may sting your wounds, but everything offered to God is always salted. Therefore, you should "allow the salt to work within you, and search for peace with each other."

    For Gehenna is not where you want to end your life. It isn't where you want to be buried, and it isn’t even a good place to visit. No one lives there, and there is a better habitat that has been prepared for you ... Jerusalem, a city above Gehenna. A city in the view of God, and his gaze connects her with all of the Heavens.

    So ... is there a Hell? and is there a Heaven? I can tell you there isn't anything without God, and you want to be in his favor. You want to do everything you can to be found in the good places that he has made for you -- and he has made them because he loves you. He has never intended that you should be left in Gehenna. And if you are asking, "What is Sheol? What is the What-is-it?" ... you still have a chance -- to not know -- and you still have a chance to know what is good, by doing what is good. This is what Yeshua (Jesus) said, and if you are known by your good works, your name will be remembered in the Courts of Heaven.

    But do not make a mistake. You must honor Yeshua, who was sent by the Father, and by whom the Holy Spirit draws you to the Father. For good works include honoring Father and Mother, as well as not murdering and not stealing. Good works are the efforts of God, and you must embrace all of his labors. As it is written, in Psalms 2:12, "Kiss and pay homage to the Son, else he may be angry, and you could be left to perish beside the way, even if his anger is stirred just a little. But blessed are everyone that give him their complete trust."

    Maron Athah -- The Lord is Returning, and even the graves will release their souls to his power and rule, and those who have loved him and honored the Father, will not know grief or sorrow any longer -- and Sheol (the grave) will not have any claim to them anymore.

    Baruch Hashem