Hell - Sheol or the Grave
Many Christians thinking about going to heaven whilst others going to hell
In Christendom throughout the centuries lots of clergy made people afraid by telling them those who would not come by their church would go to hell. By that place, they made a picture of a torture place where they would suffer in an eternal fire.
In case people would be sent to a hellfire that would mean it would be a strange heavenly Father, because which father would ever have his children living in a tortures fire that will not kill them but bother them for ages and ages.
Belief in heaven and hell
According to a 2016 Pew Research Center survey, done in 63 countries Muslims and Christians questioned about their belief in heaven, hell and celestial beings like angels and devils, showed that lots of people are still convinced that they might be tortured for ever after they die or that they go to heaven when they are finished here on earth.
The 2016 survey showed that in 47 of the 63 countries (75%), men and women are about equally likely to profess a belief in heaven. Women are more likely to believe in heaven in 15 countries, often by margins of 5 percentage points or more.
Strangely enough 8% believes more in the bad side after death, namely 'hell'. Men and women in 52 of 63 countries (83%) are about equally likely to say they believe in hell. Women hold this belief more than men in 10 countries, while men surpass women in this belief in Lebanon. Overall, when the 63 countries are taken together, an average of 81% of women and 80% of men believe in hell.
Sheol (hell) or grave for the dead
Hell in the Bible, means the grave, tomb or sepulchre, a place where the dead were taken to either be stored in a rock cavity or in a pit in the ground, or to be burned for hygienic measures so that no infections could be transmitted through the corpse.
Over the centuries, many have misunderstood the colourful language used in the Bible and have thought that God punishes sinners eternally in a fiery place called ‘Hell’. In reality, the punishment for sinners is the death itself. By dying man pays for his sins.
“For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Eze 18:4 NIV)
“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” (Ro 5:17 NIV)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 6:23 NIV)
No man having come after Adam can say he did not sin. All people have sinned and as such shall have to face death.
“8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” (1Jo 1:8-10 NIV)
“"When they sin against you—for there is no-one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near;” (1Ki 8:46 NIV)
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—” (Ro 5:12 NIV)
In life, we suffer already enough. God does not demand an extra penalty, after He had already spoken out the Curse of death. By that penalty at the end of man's life there shall be only be left eternal oblivion in the grave and exclusion from a time without an end (some would call it 'eternity') with Jesus.
“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.” (Ec 9:5 NIV)
“Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah” (Ps 88:10 NIV)
“It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to silence;” (Ps 115:17 NIV)
“When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.” (Ps 146:4 NIV)
“For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.” (Isa 38:18 NIV)
“Surely he recognises deceitful men; and when he sees evil, does he not take note?” (Job 11:11 NIV)
Unlike many Christians and Muslims who say that people would go straight to heaven or hell, or Catholics who tell also about a place in between, purgatory, where there would only be a temporary torture, all people shall end up toe die and to decay.
Those who have lived according to the Will of God have the hope to come under salvation by Jesus Christ his ransom offer. Being saved by the sacrificial offering of the Lamb of God, after the Great Tribulation, Armageddon, at the second coming of Christ, the judgement over the living and the dead shall bring the end resolution. Those not having lived according God's will, shall receive their last punishment, namely, the confirmation of that earlier penalty for sin, death, now to end up in death forever.
“28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” (Joh 5:28-29 NIV)
“and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Ac 24:15 NIV)
“The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.” (Re 20:13 NIV)
“But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.” (Isa 26:19 NIV)
“9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.” (2Th 1:9-10 NIV)
When Jesus comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at among all who have believed, the believers shall rejoice and be blessed to enter the small gate of God's Kingdom to have a non ending marvellous life here on earth, where all shall have peace of mind, nothing to worry any more, no suffering at all, living in harmony with each other in an earthly paradise or a 'heavenly paradise' here on earth.