Realm of Death

The concept of the afterlife is very perplexing, and truly very confusing when we begin to study the Bible in depth. There appears to be multilayered theology that describe different places that our souls could inhabit upon our earthly death. Perhaps it’s time we challenge what we “know” and look to scripture for an alternate understanding of what we are traditionally taught.

What do we think we know? It is very simple and quite limited to the idea where our souls go for the afterlife. Here’s what I was taught: 1) There is a heaven—the place for the righteous/ good people; it is described as paradise, and 2) there is a Hell—the place for the wicked/evil people where their souls will be forever burned in the eternal hellfire. There exist some variations to this, for example the idea of there being a purgatory—a place for people who are awaiting heaven and are being cleaned of their sins, which is typically a belief of the Catholic Church. The English translated bible offers several words that are lost in translation as a place for which the dead inhabit. Let’s explore these concepts are what is written about them.

Hebrew word seol, Sheol, She’ol

(/ˈʃiːoʊl/ SHEE-ohl, /-əl/; Hebrew שְׁאוֹל Šəʾōl).

Often in the Bible we see the word Sheol translated into the following:

1) Hell, the place of punishment for the wicked

2) The grave, where bodies are buried

3) The unseen realm of the dead

4) The place where the righteous are saved

What does scripture tell us about Sheol?

Sheol is a place that we all inhabit after death (Psalms 49:12, 49:14; 49:20). It is referred to as the “grave” or “the abode of the dead” (Psalms 88:3; 88:5). There is a physical bodily death, and then your soul immerges is in a place of waiting (Psalm 89:48). Sheol is hidden away (Job 3:16; 14:13) gripping on to the person with its power (psalm 89:48), like a prison (Psalm 18:5). It is described as a place that consumes souls (Proverbs 1:12; Ezekiel 31:16; Psalm 49:14) and is never satisfied (proverbs 30:16), as it excites for the spirits of the dead (Isaiah 14:9-11). You cannot come back (Job 7:9) from this place of darkness (Job 10:21-22 ; 17:13 ; Psalms 88:6 Psalms 88:12 ; 143:3).

No one mentions you or gives you thanks (Psalms 6:5; Isaiah 38:18), there are no memories (Psalm 6:5 ; 88:12 ; Eccl 9:5) , or praises to God ( Psalm 6:5 ; 30:9 ; 88:10-12 ; 115:17 ; Isa 38:18) . The strong are made weak (Isaiah 14:9-11; Job 26:5; Psalms 88:10-12). The wicked are made silent; in fact, everything is silent (Psalm 31:17; 94:17; 115:17). There isn’t much of anything in Sheol. It is completely devoid of any internal human quality, including: work, thought, wisdom, knowledge, love, hate, or envy (Ecclesiastes 9:6; 9:10).

Grieving people go to sheol (Genesis 37:35; 44:29), and it is also the cause of grief for others who lose someone to sheol (Ezekiel 31:15). Old people (Genesis 44:29) and stillborn babies (Job 3:16) are in shoel. Shoel receives people who are wicked and guilty (1 Kings 2:9; Psalm 9:17), slain by the sword (Ezekiel 31:17), Kings who have fallen (Job 3:14), and the entire nations who forget God (Psalm 9:17). People who are very rich (Job 3:13) as well as the poor. There is no avoiding shoel (Psalm 49:9 ; 89:48).

It is a place of peace, where the wicked cease from turmoil, and the weary are at rest (Job 3:15-18). The small and the great are there (Job 3:19). Souls are left there; abandoned (Psalm 16:10)by an earth that swallowed them alive (Psalm 55:15) and covered over them (Numbers 16:33). God brings you down to Sheol and he can either deliver your soul by raising you up, through a resurrection (Isaiah 26:19) in his lovingkindness (1 Samuel 2:6; Psalm 30:3; 49:15; 86:13) or send you down to the pit (psalm 30:3) to experience eternal contempt (Daniel 12:2), as death will surely come deceitfully upon the wicked (Psalm 55:15). There is a place deeper than sheol (Deuteronomy 32:22), thusly this is not heaven or hell. It is a place of rest, of waiting for the ultimate judgement and rapture, as it is Jesus who holds the Keys to Sheol and Hades (Revelations 1:18) as well as the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.