What Do We Know About Hades?

The word hades is often used and thought of as a milder way of saying the word HELL. But hades is not the word hell. It is a different word altogether. When we think of hell, the word is gehenna, not hades.

Hades is the place the dead (all the dead) go when they die. All who die go to hades: both the good and the bad, the righteous and the wicked, the saved and the lost. The Greek word hades is defined as: “unseen, the place (state) of departed souls, the nether world, the realm of the dead.” The Hebrew word sheol is equivalent to the Greek word hades.

In hades, there is a place or compartment of punishment. Regarding the rich man of Luke 16 we read: “And in hell (hades) he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus,that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:23-24). It is called a “place of torment” in Luke 16:28.

The place of torment in hades is also referred to in II Peter 2:4 where we read that “...God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (tartaros), and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” The word tartaros is used here instead of the word hades and is the only time the word appears in the New Testament. It is a place of punishment. The angles are held in “chains of darkness.” It exists now and will continue until the second coming of Christ, at which time, all the dead will be judged. The angels who sinned are held in tartaros (hades). Notice again that verse four says they are “reserved unto judgment.”

Another compartment or place in hades is called paradise. To one of the thieves on the cross, Jesus said,“...To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Jesus went to hades in the part called paradise. We read in Acts 2:27, “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (hades), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Jesus was not in torment in paradise. The compartment or side of hades called paradise is a place of comfort and serenity. Abraham and Lazarus were in paradise for they were in comfort (Luke 16:23). Jesus said to one of the thieves, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Some wonder what it will be like after death. What the Bible says regarding hades gives us a glimpse into that realm. Those who lived their life in disobedience to God will go to that part of hades (tartaros) that is reserved for the wicked, for all who disobey God are wicked. All have sinned, there is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10). They will be in torment, agony and pain (Luke 16:19-31) awaiting their final judgment (sentencing) to be ushered into eternal hell where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:44), where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30). The smoke of their torment will ascend up for ever and ever and they have no rest day or night (Revelation 14:11). Our finite minds cannot imagine the pain and agony of that terrible place called tartaros in the hadean realm.

On the other hand, those who lived their life in obedience to God will go to that part of hades (paradise) reserved for the righteous. This is a place of peace, comfort and reward — where Abraham and Lazarus were (Luke 16:23-25). All the physical infirmities individuals may have suffered while living on earth do not exist there. Debilitating diseases that ravished the physical body will be no more. Whatever God has in store for us will completely satisfy. There will be no disappointments there! While we do not know exactly what we shall be in that day, we do know that, “when he (Jesus) shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2). It is a place of no more tears, sorrow, pain or death for all these things shall be done away (Revelation 21:4). The misery suffered in this present world will be no more. The righteous will be truly at rest and peace (Hebrews 4:9-16). In the hadean world called paradise, we await the final judgment (sentencing) where we will be ushered into the eternal place called heaven to be with the Lord God and all the heavenly host.

Hades is temporary in that it will cease at the judgment. The souls in hades will stand before the Lord to be judged (sentenced). “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32). On which side do you want to be?

On which side are you NOW? Only YOU have the control to direct your life now, which will determine your final destiny in that last great day. 

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