The First Vision

Gehenna
the Lake of Fire
"Now there was a rich man, and he
habitually dressed in purple and fine
linen, joyously living in splendor every
day. 20"And a poor man named
Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered
with sores, 21and longing to be fed with
the crumbs which were falling from the
rich man's table; besides, even the dogs
were coming and licking his sores.
Luke 16:19
"Now the poor man died and was
carried away by the angels
to Abraham's bosom; and the
rich man also died and was
buried. 23"In Hades he lifted up
his eyes, being in torment, and
saw Abraham far away and
Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 16:22
"And he cried out and said,
'Father Abraham, have mercy
on me, and send Lazarus so
that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool off my
tongue, for I am in agony in this
flame.'
Luke 16:23
"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember
that during your life you received your good
things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but
now he is being comforted here, and you
are in agony. 26'And besides all this,
between us and you there is a great chasm
fixed, so that those who wish to come over
from here to you will not be able, and that
none may cross over from there to us.'

Luke 16:24
And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is
the second death. 15 And
whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:14-15
And the third angel followed them,
saying with a loud voice, If any man
worship the beast and his image,
and receive [his] mark in his
forehead, or in his hand, 10 The
same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out
without mixture into the cup of his
indignation;
Revelation 14:9
and he shall be tormented with fire
and brimstone in the presence of the
holy angels, and in the presence of
the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their
torment ascendeth up for ever and
ever: and they have no rest day nor
night, who worship the beast and his
image, and whosoever receiveth the
mark of his name.
Revelation 14:10b
The Bible speaks of two
destinations for those who
have died separated from
God. In English we use the
same word for both - Hell
Hades is the name used for the place
that the rich man was. It was a place
that all the dead went and it had two
states. One was paradise. The other
was torment. We are told that they
are separated by an impassable
barrier. There is some
communication between the two
because Abraham spoke with the
Rich man.
Hades is a temporary
place the dead reside
until the final
judgment.
Jesus went to Hades
after he died. He
went to Paradise.
And he was saying, "Jesus,
remember me when You
come in Your kingdom!“
43And He said to him, "Truly I

say to you, today you shall

be with Me in Paradise.“
Luke 23:42-43
But he also visited the place
of those who were separated
from God.
For Christ also died for sins once for all,
the just for the unjust, so that He
might bring us to God, having been put
to death in the flesh, but made alive in
the spirit; 19in which also He went and
made proclamation to the spirits now in
prison, 20who once were disobedient,
when the patience of God kept waiting
in the days of Noah, during the
construction of the ark . . .
1 Peter 3:18-21 
The final resting place
for those who are
separated from God
by unredeemed sin is
what Jesus called
Gehenna.
In the book of
Revelation it is
spoken of in the
passages we read as
the “lake of fire.”  
It is crucial to understand that the
concept of Gehenna did not
actually come into being until
Jesus. He was the one who
taught there would be
permanent, eternal
consequences to rejecting the
mercy God offered through
him. 
"But I say to you that everyone who
is angry with his brother shall be
guilty before the court; and
whoever says to his brother, 'You
good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty
before the supreme court; and
whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be
guilty enough to go into the fiery
hell (Gehenna).
Matthew 5:22 
"If your right eye makes you
stumble, tear it out and throw
it from you; for it is better for
you to lose one of the parts
of your body, than for your
whole body to be thrown
into hell. (Gehenna).
Matthew 5:2918:9 & Mark 9:45
"If your right hand makes
you stumble, cut it off and
throw it from you; for it is
better for you to lose one
of the parts of your body,
than for your whole body to
go into hell. (Gehenna).
Matthew 5:30 
"If your foot causes you to
stumble, cut it off; it is
better for you to enter life
lame, than, having your
two feet, to be cast
into hell (Gehenna)
Mark 9:45
"Do not fear those who kill
the body but are unable to
kill the soul; but rather fear
Him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.
(Gehenna).
Matthew 10:28 & Luke 12:5
 
You serpents, you
brood of vipers, how
will you escape the
sentence of hell?
(Gehenna)
Matthew 23:33 
"Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites,
because you travel around on
sea and land to make
one proselyte; and when he
becomes one, you make him
twice as much a son of hell
(Gehenna) as yourselves.
Matthew 23:15 
I see that often the doctrine
of hell is used to vent
hostility towards others
who are believed to be in
a different place
concerning the love of
God. 
I once used it that way. I
would go out on the streets
to witness to people about
Jesus’ love. Invariably I
would tell them if they did
not receive Him they would
suffer eternally for it.
And that is exactly true. If
we do not respond to this
great call of mercy to be
reconciled to God we will
remain separated from
God for all eternity and
that is Hell – Gehenna.
But as I shared this horrible
truth my heart was proud. I
was not a man desperate
to see people taken from
that place. In my insecurity
I wanted people to
respond to my message.
One night God told me to
never come out again to
witness until I could talk to
every person that I met
like I would speak to my
mother.
I understood what He told
me that night perfectly. It
was not the doctrine of
Hell that was the problem,
it was my heart.
Jesus warned of Gehenna
because it was a real place
that people would end if
they did not listen. Not out of
a proud self righteousness
or to denounce others but
out of love.
on May 9,1980 in the early morning fog
the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida
was crashed into by the ship Summit
Venture. This ship toppled half of it
causing rush hour traffic to plunge
suddenly into the Gulf of Mexico.
A bus driver was unable to see the end of the
bridge and drove off the bridge into the sea.
Six other cars did the same. Thirty-five people
were instantly killed but one driver clung in a
death-defying balance on the edge of the boat
his truck had fallen onto and survived.
Another car having seen that the top of
the bridge was gone slammed on his
brakes and stopped 14 inches short of
the edge. The passengers got out of the
car and desperately sought to stop
traffic.
The Pilot of the boat,
Capt. Lerro had only
one thing on his mind
in the seconds after
the crash. He
screamed over the
radio to the coast
guard:
Lerro: Get emergency . . . all the
emergency equipment out to the
Skyway bridge. Vessel has just hit
the Skyway bridge. The Skyway
bridge is down! Get all emergency
equipment out to the Skyway
bridge. The Skyway bridge is down.
This is Mayday. Emergency
situation. Stop the traffic on that
Skyway bridge!"
Captain Lerro had the
heart that Jesus has
about warning people
of the disaster ahead if
they do not turn from
the path they are on.
Gehenna is
separation from
God and all that is
good.
In Jesus’ day
Gehenna was the
city dump of
Jerusalem.
It got its name from
the Hebrew words
Gai Hinnom – The
Valley of Hinnom.
Aramacized to
Gehenna.
Because of the wickedness
practiced in the Valley of
Hinnom it became a
desecrated parcel of land
that became Jerusalem's
garbage dump.
At night the continual fires of
spontaneous combustion lit the
whole area. By day maggots and
worms openly ate the refuse.
This was the symbol Jesus used
for the final condition and resting
place for those who refused to
turn (repent) from sin and turn to
Him.
"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it
is better for you to enter life crippled, than,
having your two hands, to go intohell, into
the unquenchable fire, 44[where THEIR
WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS
NOT QUENCHED.] 45"If your foot causes you
to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to
enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to
be cast into hell, 46[where THEIR WORM
DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT
QUENCHED.]
Mark 9:43-46 
The acts which so
defiled this place
were not God's
desire:
"They have built the high places
of Topheth, which is in the
valley of the son of Hinnom,
to burn their sons and their
daughters in the fire, which I did
not command, and it did not
come into My mind.
Jeremiah 7:31
Now let your faith that the
scriptures are the Word of the
Living God and can be trusted
fully take hold of your mind right
now and see what they tell us.
God did not desire for people to
put their precious children on to
the altars of Baal they erected
in the Valley of Hinnom.
He did not desire for them to burn
them while still alive in a
demonic sacrfice to a god that
was murderous. Their hearts
were so calloused by their
deception that they could not
have compassion on the most
innocent and helpless beings
on earth..... their own children.
The Bible says this horror did not
even come into His mind. It was
not an act of His sovereignty. It
was not something He stood by
and did nothing about. It was
the act of a depraved humanity
that rebelled against His will
and brought about actions
which He hates.
It will be this image that we need
to understand if we are to
understand the wrath of God.
He loved every single little child
that was sacrificed on the Altar
of Baal erected in Gai Hinnom.
Every soul that has lived bears a
potential of this horror inside of
themselves no matter how
much we look on the outside. It
is the horror of sin that
separates us from the only
source of life - God.
When our first parents
turned from God they
were separated from
Him. This is death.
but from the tree of the
knowledge of good and
evil you shall not eat, for in
the day that you eat from
it you will surely die.“
Genesis 2:17 
If we do not turn to Him
to receive the mercy He
purchased with His
life’s blood we will
remain separated from
Him forever.
Eternally Alone
If however we turn from
following our own ways
and turn to Jesus we will
never be alone.
“I will never leave
you nor forsake
you.”
Hebrews 13:5
Humans are created for
relationship:
Then the LORD God said, "It is
not good for the man to be alone;
I will make him a helper suitable
for him."
Genesis 2:18
Of all creation God
said, “It is good” except
the man He created
being alone.
This is not just
about a man and
woman.
It is not primarily
about the need for
romantic intimacy.
It is about the
deepest need of
the human heart.
To be in
relationship.
To not be alone
We are created for
relationship.
God created us
with the need of
Him and each
other.
Perhaps one of the
most horrible
experiences of life is to
be alone.
Loneliness can hurt so
deeply that it can scar
us for life.
When we do not
understand God’s love
for us we can be driven
to doing anything to
keep someone in our
life.
The list of activities that
grow out of this deepest
need is so long it would
take weeks to discuss
them.
But the foundation of all
of them is met in Jesus
first and then in loving
those who He calls us
to love.
No matter how few or
many people we have
in our lives that love us
He always does.
Even when our parents
are gone or do not love
us He is there.
Though my father and
mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive
me.
Psalm 27:10
Even if the dearest
friend we have ever had
fails in their love for us
He will not.
“I will never leave
you nor forsake
you.”
Hebrews 13:5
The heart of the gospel
message is the love of
God shown on a cross.
The primary reason for
the cross is found in the
passage we read from
John 15…..
Greater love has no one
than this, that one lay
down his life for his
friends.
John 15:13
Having spent time on
earth giving away his
life he completed the
giving by dying for his
friends – including you
and me.
This is the mystery of
fulfillment that the world
has no conception of.
Jesus who gave the
most of Himself was the
least alone person in
the world.
The one who selfishly
looks out only for his
own interests and takes
for himself without
giving back to God and
others grows more and
more isolated.
It is actually very simple
to see and understand
yet it leaves many
totally baffled.
So the mystery of
belonging is
unveiled.
When I selfishly take for
myself from others I end up
further and further into the
place of aloneness and
alienation.
When I give my life for Jesus
and others I grow deeper and
deeper into His love that
cannot be measured.
I believe aloneness is
the essence of
Gehenna –
The Lake of Fire –
Hell.
A place where the eternal part
of the human who has never
allowed itself to be given back
to God spends in an eternal
separation from God and
others.
A place that will be fully
revealed in the end of time but
is seen and felt in every act of
selfishness and unkindness.
A place of
Eternal
Aloneness
I first came to understand this
when I was just beginning my
relationship with the Lord.
I was going through a time of
deep humbling in my life in
facing what I had done before
and after I had found Jesus.
I knew so well the reality of
sin and felt keenly that it
needed to be radically
removed from my life.
I had not yet found the power
to overcome some of the
terribly ingrained habits that
had been imprinted on my life
before receiving Jesus.
For several weeks I was
asking God to help me hate
sin.
Night after night I prayed for
hours that God would free me
from the evil in my heart.
Night after night I grew more
convinced that I could not just
will it away.
My friends at the church I
attended cautioned me that I
was getting too concerned about
this. “After all,” they said, “your
sins are forgiven.” But the cry of
my heart was not that my sins
would just be forgiven but that I
would truly change.
One night as I went to pray again I
pressed into God with all my heart.
Suddenly it was as if I was taken
into a very dark room. It seemed like
the darkness fell over my whole
being. Then I saw what seemed like
fire that began to spread across the
whole of my vision.
As it came more focused it was a
lake of fire. I began to panic. My
whole body began to shake and I
felt fear like I had only once before
had known. I was paralyzed in its
grip. The inferno seemed white hot
and raging like no fire on earth that I
have ever seen.
It was as if I was moving along just
above the surface of it but nothing
was visible except the fire so I could
not really know which way I was
traveling.
At the edge of my vision in
front of me I saw a figure in
the fire. I began to look
carefully and the figure
became clear.
To my horror I saw myself
crying in torment. I was
screaming so hard yet no one
came to help. I realized that in
spite of the great heat I was
not burning up. I watched in
sheer terror for what seemed
to be a long time.
To my horror I saw myself
crying in torment. I was
screaming so hard yet no one
came to help. I realized that in
spite of the great heat I was
not burning up. I watched in
sheer terror for what seemed
to be a long time.
With each moment the
absolute finality of my fate
gripped my soul with
unimaginable fear.
I had joked with my friends
before being saved that I was
wanting to go to hell since that
was where all my friends were
going to be.
Yet in this vast
lake of fire I was
alone.
I had flippantly said that
hell would be where the
party was but there was
no laughter here.
Screaming out in
absolute pain I knew
there would be no relief
for me.
No one would bring a sip
of water to cool my
tongue. There would be
no sleep to hide from the
terrible flames.
Eternal wakefulness and
eternal torment. Day and
night forever. No one to
help me. No one to take
pity on me. Eternal
aloneness.
When I thought I could
stand no more but would
dissolve into the lake of
fire myself the vision
ceased.
I lay on the floor
weeping. Then the voice
of Jesus spoke, “This is
what I saved you from.”