Jericho is among the world’s oldest cities, and the first city conquered as referenced in the Old Testament. [1] As written in the book of Joshua (Joshua 6:1-27), the city was destroyed by fire with the slaughter of all its inhabitants. Jericho is referred to as the city of palm trees [2], and its place name means “moon.” [3] In Genesis 13:10, the plains of Jericho within the south Jordan River valley are characterized as a well-watered garden. [4]
Old Testament Jericho
The site of OT Jericho is largely today subdued by erosion. Through exposure to wind and rain over the years, its location is pitted and marred by abrasion and environmental wear. While the surface area of OT Jericho is worn at its exterior due to stresses, substantial historical records were buried for discovery to reveal details about the city’s construction and layout. Specifically, records pertaining to burn sites, pottery, dwellings, and wall construction.
Two key areas of interest with OT Jericho pertain to its destruction and the account of Joshua’s scouts involving Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute resident of Jericho. With extensive archaeological research, to verify these biblical accounts’ historical validity, Jericho’s historical background is buried beneath modern-day Tel es-Sultan. Whereas the specifics about timing and method of destruction are well documented and made public by John Garstang (1930-1936), Bryant G. Wood (1990), and others.
The biblical account of Jericho’s felled wall is clearly articulated in Joshua 6:20. To validate the biblical record, historical and archaeological evidence was collected and analyzed to recognize the ceramic type in that biblical era along with the erosion and fire damage that ceramic evidence underwent.
Mitzpeh – The Land of Israel
Long after the city was burned in a fire by Joshua’s men, there were jug containers excavated from within the city. Those jugs contained grain with further archaeological evidence of fire damage. With Garstang’s discovery of fallen mud bricks from inside the city and the presence of scorched surfaces throughout the area, the biblical account’s historicity was verified. Decades later, Bryant Wood’s successful refutation of radiocarbon-14 dating of burned grain found within the containers at Jericho resolves questions, doubt, and controversy about the timeline of the attack in the historical record. [5] The inside-outward fallen brick wall of Jericho is not just a legend, but a historical fact proven by archaeological evidence across various research studies. [6]
It appears that the capstone message associated with OT Jericho is the curse that is proclaimed upon it by Joshua. Specifically, that the one who again builds or fortifies Jericho shall experience the loss of his offspring. As thereafter confirmed and fulfilled in scripture (1 Kings 16:34), Hiel of Bethel, in his defiance, loses all his children while building Jericho several hundred years after its destruction. The subsequent curse that fell upon him revealed the oath proclaimed by Joshua and the Israelites before the LORD (Joshua 6:26).
New Testament Jericho
A separate nearby Jericho site sometimes referred to as Herodian Jericho, underwent further development with palaces, complex buildings, swimming pools, a hippodrome, a theater, and possibly a gymnasium. The area supported numerous residential dwellings during the second temple period. [7] Well, after the events of OT Jericho, further biblical narratives are recorded with miracles performed by Jesus while He spent time traveling there during His ministry. [8]
While numerous New Testament Jericho locations remain in place, modern construction and dwellings prevent research or archaeological excavations.
Modern Jericho
From post-biblical Jericho through the Crusader era up to about the 1940s, Jericho was a village of less development and notoriety. Undeveloped through hundreds of years whereas at the turn of the 20th century it was sparsely populated with mud huts. A sort of Holy Land ghetto as described by Dr. Olin who says it was the “meanest and foulest of Palestine.” [9]
In contrast to earlier decades of mud huts, today the city is rich in produce as supported by a powerful spring in the area. Jericho is on the West Bank of the Jordan river within Israel and it is populated with Palestinian peoples and a few Jewish settlements at its outskirts. The area is 80-85% Sunni Muslim [10] occupied while the city is widely irrigated for agricultural purposes. There are significant trade and tourism in the area to support Holy Land visitors from among many nations throughout the globe.
Citations
[1] Collins Thesaurus of the Bible, A. Colin Day, Region, M Place Names Beginning J, M3a Jericho, the Place, 184 [2] Deuteronomy 34:3 [3] Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Jericho [4] The Holman Christian Standard Bible, Genesis 13:10 annotated [5] “Digging up Jericho”, Kathleen M., Kenyon (1952-1958) London: Ernest Benn, 1957 [6] Carbon 14 Dating at Jericho, Bryant G. Wood, Ph.D., “Conquest of Canaan”, 08/07/2008 https://biblearchaeology.org/research/conquest-of-canaan/4051-carbon-14-dating-at-jericho [7] Netzer, Ehud, “Jericho, Tulul Abu El-‘Alayiq, Excavation Until 1951.” New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land 2 (1993): 682–83 [8] Matthew 20:29, Mark 10:46, Luke 10:30-37, Luke 18:35, Luke 19:1 [9] Smith’s Bible Dictionary, Jericho, https://biblehub.com/topical/j/jericho.htm [10] CIA World Factbook, West Bank, Jericho. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html
Modern and historical rationale about why the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is preferred over the Garden Tomb appears to rest upon the type of tomb Jesus’s body was placed. While the first-century era in which the Jewish dead were traditionally buried differs from those during the first temple period (1200-586 BC), there are clear structural distinctions between the two.
The Garden Tomb is dated within the first temple period as referenced between the 9th and 7th centuries BC. By historical photographic record and visual observation, the interior of this tomb consists of a small collection area reserved for bone collection of the Jewish dead. Whereas it is suggested that the Garden Tomb bed platform is reused by the deceased while the bones of prior corpses in decay become co-mingled in an adjacent container location. Moreover, this tomb is atypical of first-century tombs by the absence of burial niches (kukhin/kokim) or arch-covered burial platforms (arcosolium) hewed into a tomb wall.
The tomb of the Holy Sepulcher is of a first-century burial tradition. That is, it consists of a number of burial niches and platforms within a cave environment. That after a period of one year of corpse decay, the bones of the dead became collected and placed into an ossuary or osteophagi for separation and portability of an individual’s remains.
As a comparison between the tomb descriptions of Lazarus and Joseph of Arimathea, there is a commonality in scripture from the root Greek language of the biblical text. The personal tomb reference of risen Lazarus given in John 11:38 is mnēmeion or mnēmeiou to indicate a memorial chamber sense of meaning. That is, a burial chamber constructed and marked for a person’s remembrance. The tomb of Joseph of Arimathea has given the same term in scripture (Matt 27:60, John 19:41) to indicate the type of a new tomb he constructed in a garden. Matthew 27:60 explicitly reads among various English translations that Joseph made the tomb for himself.
In reference to Luke 23:55, the same account uses the term mnēmeion as ‘tomb’ to describe how Jesus’s body was laid. Two verses prior to that in Luke 23:53, the Greek term for tomb changes to mnēma having a burial chamber sense of meaning. Different than mnēmeion which is a memorial chamber sense of meaning. Where mnēma in scripture appears closer in meaning to a sepulcher in use as a gravesite.
The Babylonian Talmud (Baba Metsia 85b; Baba Batra 58a) references this type of tomb as either ‘rock-hewn’ or a ‘natural cave’ translated to the term ‘Mearta’. Mearta translated to English is grotto. The term grotto in English is defined as a small picturesque cave, especially an artificial one in a park or garden. Furthermore, by the first-century tradition, a kukhin (kokhim), or arcosolium hewed into the wall of a Mearta suggests a more plausible account of where Jesus was interred. It is, therefore, reasoned this type of structure found in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher adds further credibility and confidence about where Jesus was buried and rose from the dead.
To summarize, comparative scriptural references and historical records both point to the tomb of Jesus as a first-century sepulcher. As through the centuries, it is recognized why the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the preferred burial location of Jesus.
As one may conclude that Joseph of Arimathea constructed the tomb of Jesus according to first-century tradition or practices, the Garden Tomb is a wonderful and meaningful pilgrimage location for fellowship and remembrance of our LORD and King.
An ancient paleo Hebrew inscription was discovered in Hezekiah’s tunnel that gives a clear historical record about how the underground aqueduct was excavated. The Siloam Inscription, or Shiloah Inscription, was etched into the rock wall of the tunnel to describe the method by which the aqueduct was quarried. That in support of the biblical account of 2 Kings 20:20, workers thousands of years ago dug through each end of the tunnel to meet at about its center. In so doing, they navigated toward one another while digging until their breakthrough in the rock to each other. With pickaxes striking the rock wall and while calling out to one another, workers from each end dug in a coherent direction until they met together to completely open the water channel from Gihon Spring to the Siloam Pool.
With successive approximation, as they dug through the tunnel’s rock walls, there were some false starts that required course correction. This is made evident from a close look at the tunnel wall contour and shallow cut-away sections of the tunnel that appear abandoned. While adjusted and continued digging advanced toward each end with reduced time and effort, workers called to one another as a sort of sounding beacon to remain on course or to return on course as necessary.
The ancient inscription translated to English reads as follows to detail the method of the dig.
The Siloam Inscription
“Behold the tunnel. This is the story of its cutting. While the miners swung their picks, one towards the other, and when there remained only 3 cubits to cut, the voices calling to his fellow were heard – for there was a resonance in the rock coming from both north and south. So the day they broke through the miners struck, one against the other, pick against pick, and the water flowed from the spring towards the pool, 1200 cubits. The height of the rock above the head of the miners was 100 cubits.” – Translation by E. Puech [1]
With a total excavation distance of 1,750 feet, there are questions that naturally surface about what additional methods Hezekiah applied to accomplish the dig. Such as how they brought light into the tunnel, how rock debris was removed and how their axes were sharpened to drive through the tunnel. However, while their objective was to reroute the spring water from outside the city walls to within the city, Hezekiah’s leadership and support for the LORD’s people was an example of his character and stature before God. He brought living water through the living rock and overcame a seemingly insurmountable obstacle during a time of duress. That with determination and persistence, he laid preparation for a siege by the Assyrians at the time of King Sennacherib. He brought living water through the living rock to help assure the well-being and continued survival of the LORD’s people.
[1] Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, The Holy Land, An Oxford Archaeological Guide 5th Edition (Oxford U.K., Oxford University Press) 128
Four longitudinal zones comprise of the land of Israel. These zones run from North to South, while each has an adjacent neighboring region. All four are distinct and unique from one another laterally and in elevation. Each has its separate attributes in the composition of Israel overall. The climates among these zones range from temperate and fertile to arid, dry, and barren. The topographical contour, environmental severity, and scarcity of water beyond the Hill country are especially pronounced to highlight further differences. Furthermore, Israel consists of forests, plains, valleys, mountains, hills, deserts, canyons, and seacoasts among all zones within a relatively small area. Including a large river running the length of the deep Rift Valley.
The Coastal Plain region is rich in agriculture, and it provides merchants port access to the Mediterranean Sea. The Hill Country to the East of the Coastal zone serves as a watershed as it rises in elevation all the way to the edge of the Rift Valley. Still Eastward, the 10-mile wide Rift Valley below is a very large trench that extends up and down the full length of Israel. Finally, the rough and arid Transjordan Plateau is a desert high above the Rift Valley that runs contiguous with the Arabian Desert for hundreds of miles to the East.
Given the geographical variation within the area, together, these zones represent a synergy of topography and natural resources. Such that their whole is greater than the sum of their parts. Mainly because each together contributes to social suitability, sustenance, commerce, and defense of the country in a way that suggests that the land is intentionally and providentially crafted. Each zone does not operate or exist as a free-standing entity all its own. As it is formed, the country appears assembled and situated this way for a specific purpose (Ezekiel 5:5). The Holy Land is a region where Israel is strategically positioned on the world stage.
“One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sellwhatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”
– Mark 10:21 KJV
This is what it means to be justified before God. What it takes to become perfection by God’s standard and to obtain eternal life. Spoken plainly, Jesus has said that there are these specifics in Mark 10:21 above that require attention.
Its context is about when a wealthy man approached Jesus to ask him about how to inherit eternal life. While in his view he kept the commandments and obeyed the Mosaic law on one level, he actually was not perfect. To which Jesus said, “You lack one thing”.
The “ONE thing” the moral and wealthy man heard Jesus say is outlined and parsed here:
(a.) Sell all you have (b.) Give to the poor (c.) Take up your cross (d.) Come to Him (e.) Follow Him
So we can infer, that as we abide by what God morally requires, these are the specifics about what you must have to inherit eternal life. While on the outside the wealthy man’s behaviors honored God’s moral law, that wasn’t the full condition of his heart. So the answer Jesus gave him was explicit about what is necessary to inherit eternal life. Which is above and beyond moral and righteous conduct. That in this way, Jesus directly and clearly got to the heart of the wealthy man’s question.
On its face, Jesus describes in total more than one thing as required (a, b, c, d, and e above). Where taken together, he must transfer all that he is and all that he has to all that Jesus is. Really, the “One Thing” as compared to his wealth and status. Because of His wealth, Jesus was to reign in his heart over his wealth and anything else.
Even with a high degree of personal righteousness, this is the only way to God’s kingdom. It wasn’t that this outward righteousness isn’t correct and necessary, but it just wasn’t enough because we are not perfect without Christ. It wasn’t possible to achieve perfection on his own, either internally of the heart and externally from behaviors, performance or obedience.
To further see what happens after we trust and follow Christ, there are two historical and scriptural principles to consider. Principles that reinforce Jesus’s words about our transformation as we set aside everything else and follow Him. That over time, and as it is written, we are His workmanship (Eph 2:10 KJV).
A. Trust Him – IMPUTATION | We are given Christ’s Righteousness. Through Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection, God has accepted His sacrificial atonement for those who would trust and follow Him. Where all our sins are canceled and God doesn’t see us as sinful or imperfect anymore. Jesus himself is the perfection of those who trust and follow Him.
B. Follow Him – SHEMA | Love the LORD and love others as yourself. The presence and power of Christ and the Holy Spirit within you will transform you. When we trust and follow Him. That love will develop within you toward perfection until fully completed in heaven (Mk 12:37-40).
When in further contemplation about what Jesus wants of those who love Him, he requires that we abstain from judging others. From a type of judgmentalism that calls attention to our own personal hypocrisy. Which can become viewed as an outward expression of anger. Just as there is good and bad anger, there is good and bad judgment. From anger, judge not. Where the root of discriminate hypocritical judgment is anger.
From a careful look at Matthew 7:1-5, we read that Jesus requires His listeners to first clear themselves of what condemnation they may bring upon their own heads if they judge others of wrong when they are guilty of a very same matter or offense.
“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” – Matt 7:5
Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure, you use it will be measured to you.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 7:1–5).
So it is explicit by His own words in context. That after first removing the source of our own wrong or error, we then are eligible and able to engage others with a patient, delicate, and caring attitude toward applying judgment. A judgment that brings about healing or correction and not harm. So then it is with forbearance that advice is offered, while not out of unrighteous anger or unreasonable expectations. Jesus requires that we do not judge hypocritically. Yet he also requires that when we do judge, we do so without the same behavior found within ourselves.
The condition in which you are expected or permitted to judge is by simply keeping yourself free of the same sinful entanglements. Where you’re in a position to offer and share advice, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16-17).
The kingdom of heaven is closely compared to the power to forgive. The LORD has made clear that as necessary to keep forgiveness, it is also necessary to in turn forgive others.
“Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” – Mt 18:21–22
To keep and love mercy and forgiveness is directly tied to your willingness to give the same at any scale and by any frequency. To experience the kingdom of heaven is to receive mercy and forgiveness. To experience the kingdom of heaven is to give mercy and forgiveness.
The absence of a person’s willingness to forgive demonstrates missing acceptance of the Lord’s incalculable forgiveness. Where there is anger from an injustice, offense, or abuse and each continues without mercy, that person has not changed and therefore has not accepted an enormous sin debt forgiven of the Lord. A debt that an individual is personally responsible to pay.
In such circumstances, Jesus presses us to understand and accept that forgiveness and mercy are reversed from the person who was given both but has not returned the same to others. Where there was anger from a continued or repeated offense from a debt that was comparatively minuscule and unpaid.
As it is written (Matt 18:32-35), the person who does not forgive and demonstrate mercy is thrown in prison until the enormity of all debt is paid. Jesus the living God clearly articulates as impossible.
So the kingdom of heaven is closely compared to the power to forgive (Matt 18:23). Where if we claim the forgiveness and mercy of Jesus, but there is no forgiveness in our hearts for other people, God’s mercy and forgiveness are not present (Matt 6:14-15, Mark 11:25). Not that God’s mercy and forgiveness depend upon our willingness or transformation, but that both must come from within us the same if we are to receive salvation and experience heaven.
A few days ago, I finished a time again in the Pentateuch. It took over 3-months to again pour myself into the Holy Torah from Genesis to Deuteronomy. Day-by-day, word-by-word, all five sections to see and hear the words spoken within.
How can a good and loving God condemn people to hell?
“The idea of hell was born of revenge and brutality on the one side, and cowardice on the other…. I have no respect for any human being who believes in it … I dislike this doctrine, I hate it, I despise it, I defy this doctrine…. This doctrine of hell is infamous beyond all power to express.”
Some years ago while reading through a newly delivered copy of Discipleship Journal, I found this article and had to re-write it by hand. Because I knew that I would want it for a lifetime. And here it is over 20-years later, I have read it yet again. Only this time, from personal study notes in a text file, I’ve pasted it here for your reading as well.
So said Colonel Robert Ingersoll, one of the nineteenth century’s most fervent opponents of Christ, Christianity, and hell. Though one may rail, rant, rebel, or rally against it, hell stands like a monolithic tombstone in Scripture. It is mentioned on more pages of the Bible than heaven. Obviously, the Spirit of God is telling us something crucial.
Yet, the doctrine of hell poses questions that have run theologians from ragged to apostate.
While I was a student at Dallas Seminary, I befriended another student who was seeing a psychiatrist because of his severe depression. He identified the doctrine of hell as the source of his anguish: “I was at the beach this past summer, and while I was sitting on the boardwalk watching people walk by eating cotton candy, laughing, just having fun, I began to think about hell. All I could see was each of them burning in hell for eternity. How can God punish people for all eternity simply because they didn’t accept Christ?”
Still, the theologian in us cries out. If God is unchangeable (Jas. 1:17), if not a jot or tittle of the Word can pass away until heaven and earth end (Mt. 5:17–18), if the Scripture cannot be broken and God Himself cannot lie, and if we are to take the Scriptures at face value and refuse to shy from even their darkest warnings, then there is a hell, it is eternal, those who go there will suffer acute and infinite pain, and they will have no hope of ever getting out (Mt. 8:12, Mt. 25:46; Mk. 9:47–49; Lk. 16:23–24, Rev. 14:11). That is a staggering doctrine.
While one might think that such words alone would shiver the soul of any human so that he would flee to Christ without a backward glance, the opposite is true. Thousands mock the idea of hell. Millions more soberly reject it. And perhaps billions do not even know it exists. How can a God of compassion, love, mercy, and grace create such a place? How can a Lord who possesses all power to decree, predestinate, elect, save, and apply redemption to the lost soul speak, even hallow, such a doctrine?
Can a Good God Justify Hell?
We know God is good, kind, patient, longsuffering, always willing to forgive. He is love personified, magnified, and exemplified (1 Jn. 4:16). But God is also just, infinitely holy, and perfectly righteous. The Scriptures picture Jesus as both the Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29) and the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5). Like a lamb, He is meek, gentle, a holy sacrifice for the sin of those who confess Him. Like a lion, His claws can tear the unrepentant to pieces.
It is this picture that reveals a first answer to the problem of hell: God’s character demands it. While God’s love, mercy, and grace are demonstrated in the atonement of Christ, other attributes demand equal authority and actually justify hell. What are these attributes?
Righteousness/Holiness
That God is righteous and holy means He always acts in accordance with those things He deems just and lawful. He cannot do anything less than what is right. God’s great plan is ultimately to bring the universe back to perfect righteousness—back into harmony with His character. There are only two ways He can do that. One is by providing a way for sinners to return to righteousness—through the death, Resurrection, and power of Jesus Christ. In Christ He makes us new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17).
But what about those who do not seek righteousness, who desire darkness over light? There is a second option. God will confine such people in a place where they cannot affect or harm those who seek righteousness. That is hell.
Justice
The justice of God functions as a logical complement to His righteousness. His righteousness demands that He make things right. His justice demands that something be done about sin. Again, to bring about perfect justice for all the wrongs in the universe, God offers two options: to make payment for them Himself through the death of Jesus; or to require payment by the sinner. God cannot wink at sin, overlook it, or allow it to persist (Hab. 1:13, Ps. 5:4–6)
Omniscience
God’s omniscience enables Him to know everything that is, was, shall be, and could be (Ps. 139, Is. 46:10). How does this attribute require a hell? An omniscient God must eliminate evil from His knowledge. One way is to forgive that evil and choose to forget it forever. God can actually “blot out” or eradicate His own knowledge on such an issue.
But what of those whom He has not forgiven because they have not accepted His forgiveness in Christ? God’s only other option is to gather all the evil into one place and render it dead—separated from Him forever. That is hell. While God may be conscious of the evil in that place, He does not have to have contact with it or look on it ever again.
Love/Wrath
These two aspects of God’s nature are linked together in the doctrine of hell. His love requires a hell because He must protect those He loves from the defilement of His enemies. His wrath calls for vengeance—that His enemies be punished for injuring, hating, and rejecting Him.
Nearly any aspect of God’s character can be used to explain both heaven and hell. We have to take God and what His Word says about Him on His terms, not ours. Those who accept His grace and love but balk at the idea of justice or perfect holiness are guilty of folly.
The Monstrous Sin of Rejecting Christ
Still, an objection arises here. We understand these truths about God’s character. But isn’t eternal hell a rather stiff penalty for simply not believing in Christ or loving Him? The average Christian tends to think of rejecting Christ as a rather small matter: not trivial, but surely no worse than murder, theft, or rape. Isn’t it unreasonable to require such a monstrous payment for such a shortcoming, especially if it resulted from ignorance?
This question reveals a second reason hell is the logical and just result of man’s impenitence. Consider what the unbeliever has really done to God through His unbelief.
Hebrews 10:29 gives a graphic picture of the enormity of this sin. The writer says, “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” The writer refers to people who have received the knowledge of the truth—salvation through Christ, God’s grace to the lost, and forgiveness of sin—but continue sinning anyway. In the mind of God, this person commits three reprehensible acts.
Trampled Him underfoot. First, he “trampled the Son of God underfoot.” The word used here is katapateo, which can be translated “trample, tread upon, treat with disdain.” Characteristically, the Spirit provides us with two graphic illustrations, both used by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He spoke of tasteless salt as “no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men” (Mt. 5:13). He was referring to salt which, when it lost its savor, was thrown into the road, where at least it could keep weeds from growing. Applying that idea to Heb. 10:29, we see that the unbeliever regards Christ as being utterly worthless and useless.
Imagine your response, for instance, if your son went down to a neighbor’s yard, helped weed the garden, cut the grass, and watched the children while the neighbor when to work. Suppose that neighbor returned, and, after observing all the son had done, came to you and informed you, “Your son is absolutely worthless. I can’t stand him. Get him off my property.” You ask, “But what did he do?” The neighbor replied, “I don’t like his character. He does too many nice things. He’s too perfect, too friendly, too willing to sacrifice for others. I can’t stand the sight of him.” An angry response is understandable. Simple common sense demands that God do something about those who treat His Son as worthless.
But Jesus paints a more piercing picture in Mt. 7:6: “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.” A pig has no sense of the value of anything. If you threw a pearl to him and he tried to eat it, what would happen? The pearl would stick in his teeth. The pig would spit it out in fury, grind it into the dirt, and then come after the one who threw him this unsavory object. In other words, the unbeliever has treated Jesus the way a pig treats non-food.
Regarded Him as unclean. But the unbeliever has done something else: he has regarded “as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him.” The Greek word for unholy, koinos, means “common, ordinary, profane.” The verb form relates the idea of “unclean,” and relates to the Hebrew law concerning Gentiles, who were considered defiled and not to be approached, befriended, or invited to dinner. Thus, the unbeliever has treated Christ’s blood as though it were nothing more than the blood of a dog. Yet, it is this blood that cleanses the foul heart of man and pays the penalty for a multitude of sins. Peter called it “precious blood,” worth far more than gold or silver (1 Pet. 1:19).
Insulted the Spirit of grace. Unbelievers commit a third crime against God: they have “insulted the Spirit of grace.” The word used here is enubrisas, the intensified form of ubrisas, which means to “treat in an arrogant or spiteful manner.” The intensified form means to treat so arrogantly and mockingly as to inspire outrage in the mind of the victim. What has the believer done to the “Spirit of grace”?
To use the neighbor illustration again, imagine a second son who goes to the neighbor on behalf of the first son. This second lad talks quietly to the neighbor, tells him how much the first boy loved him, and repeatedly entreats the neighbor to change his mind about the boy. But the neighbor refuses to change. He treats the second son outrageously, calls him names, shoves him off his lot, spits in his face, and says, “Get out. Leave me alone. I want nothing to do with you.”
That is what the Spirit of God does—he seeks to woo the unbeliever to change his mind about Christ and God. But ultimately, the unbeliever thrusts him out, screaming, “Leave me alone.” In the last resort, that is what God will do—leave them utterly alone where they can do no one any more harm. In hell.
On every front, Christians must reject the lies of Satan that tell us, “It’s not so bad to reject Christ. God is being unreasonable. How can He put these harmless people in hell?” Rather we must rely only on the truths of God’s word, which reveal the unbeliever as far more malicious and pernicious than they might appear to be on the surface.
The Unbeliever’s Choice
A third important justification of hell is that the lost have consciously chosen to reject Christ and to follow the lies of darkness. It was their choice. No one forced the decision upon them.
Still, an objection arises. Was it really a conscious choice? Does an unbeliever realize what he’s doing? Can we somehow excuse his behavior? Paul’s argument in Ro. 1:18–32 leads to several clear conclusions.
His wrath is revealed. First, Paul says God’s wrath is “revealed” (apokalupto) from heaven against the godless (Ro. 1:18). This Greek word indicates clear disclosure, revelation, an unmistakable statement. Unbelieving people know that God stands against unrighteousness, hates it, and punishes it. How? Simply by observing life. Criminals are punished. The wicked are slain. Righteousness (in general) survives and lives on.
But even if simple observation didn’t help, Paul says later that certain things about God are “clearly seen.” Those things are His power and nature, which includes His wrath and indignation at sin. The word here for “clearly seen” means “to make manifest, to reveal.” While this can indicate a general, impersonal revelation, it can also indicate a personal effort (1 Tim. 3:16, 1 Jn. 1:2). God has personally declared to each person His wrath against sin, most likely through conscience. Thus, while the unbeliever may deny knowledge of God or the truth about punishment and hell, he is lying. All people know the facts about God’s wrath against sin.
They suppress the truth consciously. What then do they do? Paul reveals a second conclusion about their conscious choice to reject God. He says they “suppress” or “hold down” the truth. The word in the original language pictures something that keeps bubbling up which the unbeliever stomps on and tries to squelch. This knowledge of God’s wrath then, is something that keeps pricking his thoughts, jarring him when he sins, and nagging him after he’s sinned. But he fights it, repels it, restrains it. He literally doesn’t want to hear it.
They are without excuse. Paul’s conclusion is the third thought. He says they are “without excuse.” They have no acceptable reason that relieves them of full, final, and personal responsibility in the matter.
There is a subtle yet important truth here: when Christians explain the gospel to nonChristians, the unbelievers will often deny everything, scoffing at the truth, saying, “Who can believe that?” They may appear to be truly in darkness. Yet, even while they’re lost, dead in sin, and blinded by Satan, these things are clear: they know God punishes sin; they suppress what they know is the truth; and they are without excuse. They have consciously made a choice to reject God, the truth, and Jesus Christ. In fact, Paul says “their thinking became futile,” their “foolish hearts were darkened.” Though they even claimed to be wise, “they exchanged the truth of God for a lie …” (Ro. 1:21–24). The unbeliever will speculate—come up with theories such as “God is dead,” “Christ was a great teacher,” etc.; he will fall into deeper and darker mental murk; and he’ll even announce that he has arrived at true wisdom—and worship and serve himself. Clearly, while God has done everything to make it possible for the lost man to be saved, he chooses to reject it all.
The Logical Result of Rejecting God and All That is His
A fourth justification of hell is more a logical consequence than a theological statement. Hell is the result of the unbeliever rejecting God and all that He stands for.
When a person rejects God, what is he really rejecting? Everything that God is, has made, and owns. God created water. Therefore, if the unbeliever rejects God, he also rejects God’s good gift—water. Hell will be a place of infinite thirst.
God is love. When the unbeliever rejects God, he loses every contact with real love. Hell will be a place of infinite hate and anger.
Name anything that comes from God or is Godlike—joy, peace, hope, food, sex, rain, light. Hell will be the absence of all of those things because God will not give His gifts to those who reject the Giver. Thus, hell is the habitation of those who want nothing to do with God. As a consequence, they also lose everything He has to offer.
Self-Imposed Torment
A final answer relates to the agonies of hell. Will God actually inflict pain on the unbeliever in hell?
In Lk. 12:47–48, Jesus says that the “servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows,” while the one who didn’t know God’s will but sinned, will receive few. Clearly, the punishment of hell involves individual judgments. Some will suffer more. Some less. But does God personally cause greater suffering to the unbeliever?
As you study the agonies of hell— total solitude (Mk. 9:42); absolute darkness (Jude 13); utter worthlessness (Job 18:5–21); fire and burning (Rev. 14:10, Rev. 21:8); thirst (Lk. 16:24); weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt. 22:13); sleeplessness (Rev. 14:11); shame and disgust (Dan. 12:2); hopelessness (Mt. 25:46)—you begin to see its nature as the exact opposite of all that is of God. He offers hope; hell writhes with despair. He gives peace; hell screams with pain. He wipes the tears from our eyes; hell is nothing but shrieks and weeping. He gives us His rest, water, food, and fulfillment; hell offers only thirst and hunger. He is light; hell is “blackest darkness” (Jude 13). Hell ultimately is complete and total deprivation of everything God created that people need, want, and enjoy. Thus, hell is nothing more than existing in a world totally bereft of God. The person in torment will have only what his own mind and powers can create.
What can a person lost in hell generate? Only those things intrinsic to the human psyche—desires, feelings, thoughts, movements. Much of his agony will arise, I believe, from his own lusts and unsatisfied needs.
For instance, what happens when a person is thirsty? The desire builds from mild irritation to inflamed passion to rapid lust. It becomes a fire. Hunger builds to a burning passion until the mind can think of nothing else.
Take every human need and imagine it multiplied by feelings of total deprivation and magnified through time. The unbeliever becomes an agonized lump of fire, screaming for a satisfaction that can never come.
Thus, while God himself may appoint degrees of punishment in hell, the unbeliever ultimately causes his greater agony because he has rejected the only one who can meet his raging needs.
Clearly, hell is not a pleasant picture. It is not meant to be. It is the prison for all those who willfully reject God and His Son. Hell is not some tactic on God’s part to scare us into repentance. It’s the only thing He can do with those who hate and reject Him.
The reality of hell is a painful knowledge, even for those of us who know that we will escape eternal torment through our faith in the One who has already borne our punishment. It is a reality we must face as we walk every day among those who continue to live in darkness. May that knowledge not lead us to despair, but give us a new urgency as we share with others the good news of Jesus Christ.
Discipleship Journal – Issue 34.
“Through me you pass into the city of woe. Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye… All hope abandon ye who enter here.” ~ Dante Alighieri
When you trust in Christ as your savior, God seals you. He seals you forever as a child of God. The seal itself is the presence of the Holy Spirit. So as a matter of confidence, here is the evidence of your awareness of God’s presence in your life:
1. He is continually in our thoughts. Consciously and subconsciously. It’s like a holy silence within us. 2. We are continually seeking His guidance. 3. We must view Him as our constant companion. 4. We view everything in light of His presence. Whatever happens, has to in the presence of God. 5. We have peace in the midst of storms. 6. We have a hunger in our hearts for the Word of God. 7. We have joy in our hearts. 8. We are more conscious of the good things that God sends us. 9. We feel a continuing dependence upon Him. 10. Prayer is a priority in our life. 11. We continue to have hope, even when things look hopeless. 12. We sift every decision through His will. 13. We view our needs in light of His presence. 14. Our worship is more real and rewarding. 15. We walk in obedience to God as a way of life. You do not have to sin. 16. We have a stronger, intimate relationship with Jesus.
Notes from Dr. Charles Stanley’s presentation: “The Awareness of God’s Presence”.
Jesus said, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 18:3-4).” Then when looking more closely at what our LORD said elsewhere, He also brings attention to living a humble life in such a way that the effort is placed squarely on the person seeking access to heaven and a lowly status, among others (Matt 23:12).
Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
– Matt 18:3-4
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
– Matt 23:12
So by listening and reason, we can conclude that the LORD wants his followers to not only humble themselves but do so by becoming childlike. It would appear that these two principles are not mutually exclusive either, but instead, they really overlap each other. To answer the question, what it looks like to humble yourself and what the expected outcomes are. Specifically, to humble yourself as a child to get access to heaven and become exalted there.
This is another very clear demand from the LORD. A demand we end our preferences and pursuits of status, popularity, wealth, power, self-reliance, personal rights, and control.[1] So that those who would follow Him ask even a new question, “How can I do the greatest good for people who need my help, no matter what it costs me?
[1] John Piper, “What Jesus Demands of the World” (Crossway, Wheaton Illinois), 134
Pride appears among people in various forms, but much less apparent as outward arrogance. It is where the root of it is the hypocrisy that says, “I am superior” or “I am above this person, situation, or circumstance.” It is the absence of love.
“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” – Luke 20:46–47 NASB
In Luke 20:46-47, there is this spectacle of greater condemnation among those who hold themselves in higher regard than others. Where from these is an abiding expectation of due honor and recognition of status. So, by contrast, Jesus speaks of necessary humility from among those who are His.
Imagine being resentful while appearing before God at the judgment because felt rewards are not in keeping with your service, obedience, and work for His kingdom and glory. Rather instead choose this spirit and mindset, “the joy of the humble does not reside in being deserving, but in receiving mercy.” As those who are His are yet considered saints and unworthy servants in and of themselves. [1]
Jesus calls our attention to three specific sources of pride. Self-rule, merit, and pleasure by feeling superior to others or above others. In contrast, individual prideful outcomes turn up unwanted behaviors, sour outward emotions, or counter-productive inward thoughts of defiance, entitlement, and superiority.
As we crave the praise of others, it affects our purchase choices, where we choose to live, our pursuits, lifestyles, where we sit in a meeting, or by what title we put in front of our name. Not that these efforts, things, or appearances are wrongful in themselves, but instead that there is a distinct presence of love for them. So often, we get feelings of superiority because of what value or conclusions they can produce within us.
(Matt 23:4-7, 12, Luke 18:11-14, Matt 5:3, Matt 6:1,5, 16, Luke 20:46-47, Luke 17:10, Luke 22:25-26, Matt 11:30)
A heart of a servant requires a willingness and humility to do lowly service.
Therefore, it is because we are as unworthy servants who deserve nothing good that we must have unending gratitude for the joy and mercy received from God. Moreover, through Jesus’s parables, illustrations, warnings, and teachings, we carry ourselves having that conviction that there is a permanent war on pride.
[1] John Piper, “What Jesus Demands of the World” (Crossway, Wheaton Illinois), 129
