“And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also…” (Revelation 20:7-10, NASB)

There is a popular saying today that says, “Heaven is for real.” It’s true. But it’s only half the truth. The whole truth is this: Heaven is for real, and hell is for real too. It says in today’s passage,

“And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Yes, hell is for real. People generally use the word “hell” loosely to describe the final place in the afterlife where evil and wicked people go. However, to better understand what this place is, we need to clarify some terms and definitions people use to describe it. First, “Hell” or “Hades” is a temporary prison for unbelieving humans. We can see this more clearly in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, where Jesus said that the rich man was in “Hades,” being in torment, saw Lazarus being comforted in heaven (Lk.16:23). The Greek word for the place where the rich man went is “hadés.” Some Bible translations, such as the King James Bible, translate this word in English as “hell,” while other translations keep the word “hades” in transliteration. Both words mean the same thing. Revelation 20:13-14 says that death and Hades gave up the dead to be judged before God, and afterwards, both death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. Therefore, it speaks of a place of departed souls, but a temporary one until the final judgment.

Second, “abyss” or “Tartarus” is a temporary prison for demons or fallen angels (Jude 1:6, 2 Pet.2:4). We can see this more clearly in the story of a man possessed by demons called the “Legion.” When Jesus tried to cast them out, they begged him “not to command them to depart into the abyss” (Lk.8:31). According to Revelation, these demons will be released once again to torment people on earth at the fifth trumpet judgment, and they will be thrown into the lake of fire along with the antichrist and the false prophet at the second coming of Christ.

Lastly, “Lake of Fire” or “Gehenna” (literally “Valley of Hinnom”) is the final place where unbelievers, fallen angels, and every other ungodly thing will be thrown into forevermore. The first group to be thrown in there is the antichrist and the false prophet (Rev.19:20). The second will be Satan himself, as we saw in today’s passage. The third group to be thrown in there are unbelievers who are judged before the Great White Throne of God, and whose names are not found in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev.20:15). The last group to be thrown in there is death and Hades (Rev.20:14).

Yes, hell is for real. As much as Jesus talked about heaven, he also talked about hell. Some people, however, do not want to believe in hell nor want to talk about it. They do not want to believe in a God who would send people to an eternal place of fire. Interestingly, God never intended human beings to go to hell in the first place. Jesus said that at the final judgment, God will say to the unbelievers, “Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt.25:41). Notice that God “prepared” hell for the fallen angels and not for humans. God created heaven for humans. Unfortunately, because some people choose not to love God’s ways but to love the devil’s ways, they will be sent away to hell along with him. Whatever term you use, hell, Hades, the abyss, and the lake of fire, they are all real. If you close your eyes and ignore them, do you think they’ll stop existing? Heaven is for real, and hell is for real, and God has given us the ability to choose which reality we want to be in eternally.

• Why do you think many people will still choose to follow the devil and end up in hell even after the righteous millennial kingdom of Christ?
• What are our responsibilities as Christians to show the world that heaven and hell are real?