Solon,
Allow me to expound on this subject.
I cited the verse Mark 9:47 where Jesus talks about entering the Kingdom of God w/one eye rather than having two but being cast into hell.
Here, the original Greek word translated "hell" is Ge'enna. This word comes from the Hebrew Geh Hinnom', meaning "Valley of Hinnom." This "valley" was located just on the outskirts of ancient Jerusalem. In the days of the Israelite kings, this place was used for child sacrifice which was a disgusting practice that God condemned and God said that he would execute those who performed such acts since it was false worship.
God says in Jeremiah 7: 30-34: "For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,...they have built the high places of Topheth which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind...And the dead bodies of this people will be food for birds of the sky, and for the beasts of the earth..."
Here, God would execute those performing such acts and the place would be thus called "valley of slaughter" where the "carcases of this people" would lie unburied. So, God foretold that the Valley of Hinnom would become a place, not for the torture of live victims, but for the mass disposal of dead bodies.
In Jesus day, the residents of Jerusalem used the Valley of Hinnom as a garbage dump. They also disposed of the bodies of vile criminals into this dump and kept the fire constantly burning for obvious reasons.
Again in Mark, chapter 9 and verse 48, Jesus speaks of undying worms and unquenchable fire. Here, he was apparently alluding to Isaiah 66:24 where it says regarding the "corpses (carcases in KJ) of the men that have transgressed against Me (God). For their worms shall not die, And their fire shall not be quenched..."
Jesus and his listeners knew that these words in Isaiah referred to the treatment of the carcasses not deserving a burial.
You can see therefore, that Jesus used the Valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna, as a fitting symbol of death w/o hope of a resurrection. He drove this point home when he warned that God "can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (hell)" (Matthew 10: 28 NASB). Gehenna, translated "hell" is a symbol of eternal death, not eternal torture. |
