Christ on Hell - Destroy Body and Soul Part 4
Christ On Hell - Body and Soul Destroyed Part 4
"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 [Gehenna]." (NKJV)
Let's address this.
1. First the word for hell in that verse is Gehenna, not Hades. Any good Bible student would know those are different.
"`And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in Gehenna." (YLT)
2. When people died before Christ, bodies go to ground, souls to Hades, or Sheol and spirit goes back to God. Christ's death and resurrection changed all of that but that's another topic.
3. All souls before Christ died and resurrected, went to Hades. All Jews knew that.
4. In Matt 10:28 Christ did not mention Hades. Here Christ in typical Christ fashion is mentioning a new concept - souls going to Gehenna. That's completely new. It tells you that Gehenna was something else. This was a new concept - souls in Gehenna, not Hades.
5. The Jews know if souls go to Hades at least there is the possibility of Resurrection.
6. But Christ says, yeah I know that, but guess what, my disciples (remember he was taking to his disciples not unbelievers), don't fear puny Jews who can kill the body, that's all they can touch, but fear Him who can destroy those Jewish detractors' bodies and instead of putting their souls in Hades where they can possibly be resurrected, but do the impossible and put it in Gehenna instead. In fact He can put BOTH BODIES and souls in Gehenna, a new thing indeed.
7. He was not saying that God destroys all souls who ever lived in Gehenna. Actually he was saying fear Him if you find your body in Gehenna (a specific place, at a specific time), your soul is destroyed there. That's the big clue. Both your body and soul must be Gehenna to be destroyed by God. (As we will see Gehenna is a valley)
Question : Can your body go to Hades or even what people think of hell? No. But your body can be found in Gehenna. That tells you, Gehenna was a place on earth where the body was. He was saying if you are killed in Gehenna, God can decide to destroy your soul there.
8. He was encouraging his disciples to not worry about dying. Their souls would be in Hades to be resurrected. But God is the one who can deny that to the Jews. If He puts their souls in Gehenna it is forever destroyed.
9. Remember Gehenna was not hell but the valley of GeHinnom or Tophet where Jerusalem was razed first by Babylon and not about to be raised by fire by the Romans.
How can your body be destroyed in Gehenna? When it is killed in that valley [ON EARTH]. if God destroys your body there, he can certainly decide to destroy your soul there, with no placement in Hades for a hope of resurrection.
So even if God decided to destroy all souls who found themselves in Gehenna at that time, during AD 70, and He decided those souls don't go to Hades, it does not apply to us, because I need to fly to Gehenna to have my body there destroyed to then have my soul destroyed. In fact I needed to be there at the time of the great destruction in Gehenna to have the possibility of BOTH my soul and body be destroyed there.
10. Finally to complete the encouragement, Christ, said, don't worry, I won't even destroy souls in Gehenna where there is no possibility of Resurrection because Father knows the value of a human life.
A human life is more valuable than sparrows.
"Mat 10:29 — Mat 10:31
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Quoting Matthew 10:28 does not prove anything.
It actually proves God values the human soul immensely
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