This is the second death, the lake of fire. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. Or dive deeper into the supernatural world of the Bible and pick up a copy of The Unseen Realm today.Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. Heiser’s The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Keep exploring the strange, perplexing, and mysterious aspects of the Bible with these excerpts from Dr. Jesus would build His Church atop the gates of hell-He would bury them. It is the Church that Jesus sees as the aggressor. Translating the phrase without it gives it a completely different connotation: “the gates of hell will not withstand it.” But the word “against” is not present in the Greek. We often presume that the phrase “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” describes a Church taking on the onslaught of evil. The rock which Jesus referred to in this passage was neither Peter nor Himself it was the rock on which they were standing-the foot of Mount Hermon, the demonic headquarters of the Old Testament and the Greek world. Aside from the brief interlude during the time of Joshua through Solomon, the gates of hell were continually open for business. This pagan god was worshiped at a religious center built a short distance from the more ancient one in Dan-at the foot of Mount Hermon. To make the region even spookier, Caesarea Philippi had been built and dedicated to Zeus. In Jewish theology, the spirits of these giants were demons (1 Enoch 15:1–12). These offspring were known as Nephilim, ancestors of the Anakim and the Rephaim (Num 13:30–33). According to Jewish tradition, Mount Hermon was the location where the divine sons of God had descended from heaven-ultimately corrupting humankind via their offspring with human women (see Gen 6:1–4). But they had two other reasons to feel queasy about where they were standing. Also, during Israel’s divided kingdom period, Jereboam built a pagan religious center at Dan-just south of Mount Hermon-where the Israelites worshiped Baal instead of Yahweh.įor the disciples, Bashan was an evil, otherworldly domain. They also believed that the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei were the entryway to the Underworld-the gates of Sheol. The people of Ugarit believed the Rephaim were the spirits of dead warrior-kings. These cities and their Rephaim inhabitants are mentioned by name in Canaanite (Ugaritic) cuneiform tablets. The two main cities of their kingdom were Ashtaroth and Edrei, home to the Rephaim (Deut 3:1, 10–11 Josh 12:4–5). In the Old Testament, this region was known as Bashan-a place with a sinister reputation.Īccording to the Old Testament, Bashan was controlled by two kings-Sihon and Og-who were associated with the ancient giant clans: the Rephaim and the Anakim (Deut 2:10–12 Josh 12:1–5). Matthew 16 takes place in Caesarea Philippi, situated near a mountainous region containing Mount Hermon. The Gates of Hell in Terrestrial Geography If they knew their Old Testament well, they understood that they were standing before those very gates as Jesus spoke. While the imagery associated with the Underworld would have unnerved the disciples, Jesus’ reference to the gates of Hades would have jolted them for another reason. The righteous believer, however, could hope for deliverance and eternity with God (Psa 49:15). Both the righteous and the unrighteous went to Sheol. Sheol had “bars” (Job 17:16) and “cords” to tie down its inhabitants (2 Sam 22:5–6), preventing any escape (Job 7:9). The Hebrew equivalent to Hades is Sheol-the place “under the earth” where all went after this life ended. But the Greek word translated “hell” (ᾅδης, hadēs) is also the name for the Underworld-Hades, the realm of all the dead, not just unbelievers. When we read “hell,” we naturally think of the realm of the unbelieving dead. The “gates of hell”? Why did Jesus respond to Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” in this way? (16:16) The Gates of Hell in Cosmic Geography “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!… I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:17–18). Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Email LinkedIn
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