What is Sheol (Hades/Gehenna/grave/hell)?
1Sam2:6-9 “YHWH kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. YHWH makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are YHWH’s, And He set the world on them. He keeps the feet of His holy ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail.”; 2Sam22: “The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon YHWH, Yes, I cried to my Eli; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.”; Job 21:13-15 “They spend their days in prosperity, And suddenly they go down to Sheol. They say to Elohim, Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we entreat Him?”; 26:6 “Naked is Sheol before Him, and Abaddon has no covering.”; Ps. 5:6 “For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?”; 9:17 “The wicked will return to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget Elohim.”; 16:10 “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”; 30:2-3 “O YHWH my Eli, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. O YHWH, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.”; 31:17 “Let me not be put to shame, O YHWH, for I call upon You; Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.”; 49:15 “But Elohim will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Selah.”; 55:15 “Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst”; 86:13 “For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”; 88:3 “For my soul has had enough troubles, And my life has drawn near to Sheol.”; 89:48 “What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.”; Prov. 15:24 “The path of life leads upward for the wise that he may keep away from Sheol below.”; 27:20 “Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.”; Eccl. 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.”; Isa. 5:14a “Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure”; 7:10-17 “Then YHWH spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign for yourself from YHWH your Eloheyak; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, nor will I test YHWH!”; Jon 2:1-2 “Then Jonah prayed to YHWH his Eloheyu from the stomach of the fish, and he said, I called out of my distress to YHWH, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.”
Many have experienced being tested in the depths of Sheol of their obedience to His Law of Life confronting to the works of lawlessness Satan has worked on them in their spiritual trials for the shortened days such as Job, David, Jonah, Jacob, even Yahushua our Messiah in the 40 days with the presence of Satan in tempting Him, and the last days of His death, but He has delivered them, even us, from the temptation of Satan in every deed being tested. (1 Cor. 10:13 Yet no temptation has come upon you except in the way of the sons of men, because He is the faithful Elohim, who shall not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation shall make the way of escape also, so that you shall be able to endure that.)
Matt. 5:29-30 “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 Sheol (hell). 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 Sheol (hell).”; 10:28 “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 Sheol (hell).” Luke 10:12-16 "I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Sheol/Hades! The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me."; Jam. 3:6 “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by Sheol (hell)”
Where are they now since they were perished in the Flood of Noach?
The spirits in prison (Sheol) who once were disobedient
in the days of Noach, during the construction of the ark,
are now freed to His Kingdom of Life by their repentance
so all disobedient ones today are in the prison of lawlessness
till their repentance out of Sheol (1 Peter 3:18-20)
Luke 5:32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
"You will be brought down to Sheol" and "to destroy both soul and body in Shoel" is acknowledged for the unrepentant/disobedient one who refuses to repent from the kingdom of darkness even till or after his death, then the day of judgment opens his eyes to perceive his works of lawlessness against His Law of Life. Only the miracles to turn to His Kingdom of Life (Light) is to repent wholly from the kingdom of death (darkness).
More tolerance for those in the day of judgment which are after their death seeing His things of Light are manifested to them that repent from their previous works of evilness, than those who live in their fleshly lives not knowing the works of His Light. Throw your evil deeds down to Sheol as they are against His Law of Life so you increase your good deeds by the acts of reversal in serving Your Master of righteousness.
Sheol is the temporary prison of condemnation where all unrepentant/ disobedient ones descend even after their death until they are awakened out of it, just like everyone who repents out of the kingdom of darkness during his mortal life. His eternal Law of repentance is for all to turn back to His eternal Kingdom of Life. 1Sam2:6-9 “YHWH kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up..."; 1 Peter 3:18-20 “For haMashiyach also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to Elohim, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison (Sheol), who once were disobedient, when the patience of Elohim kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”; Hos. 1:9-10 “And YHWH said, Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your El (Eloheyak). Yet the number of the sons of Yisrael will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place where it is said to them, You are not My people, It will be said to them, You are the sons of the living Elohim.”
Note that those who once were disobedienct in the days of Noah were brought down to the Sheol because of their disobedience, but now are freed by His proclamation for their repentance from the kingdom of disobedience (prison).
With the understanding of Acts 26:18 " to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to Elohim, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.", it is the turning point of repentance/reversal from darkness (dominion of Satan) that possesses the disobedient spirits to His dominion of Light. 1 Sam. 2:6-7 “...He brings down to Sheol and raises up,...” Yahushua the Messiah has the keys of death and Sheol to open the prison of Sheol that they can turn to His Kingdom of Light by repenting from the powers/spirits of darkness that possess them, just like He rebuked many unclean spirits of those seeking His salvation on His fleshly days on the earth.
Luke 23:40 “But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear Elohim, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?”; 2Cor2:9-10 “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in Elohim who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us.” The unrepentant ones have the sentence of death until their repentance is made to be raised up to their sentence of eternal life. The unrepentant fleshly death or any escaping from His wrath of lawlessness can not cancel the eternal Law of repentance that separates the kingdoms of opposition. Matt. 19:24 "Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Elohim." No one bringing the lawless deeds goes thru the tunnel to His Light till all works of impurity are purged out. Luke 16:19-31: Even the rich man wanted to send his message to his brothers about the repentance out of the kingdom of lawlessness and their obedience to the Mosaic Law of His Kingdom of Life, and the rich man repented of his former sins to get out of Sheol to His Kingdom of Life.
What YHWH kills and makes alive
John 5:21 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes."; 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." All the deeds of lawlessness are perished and all the deeds of His righteousness are alive thru His Spirit that dwells in us. 1 Corinthians 15:42-50 explains that everyone has two opposing bodies: natural/fleshly body (perishable) and spiritual body (imperishable), for the flesh profits nothing and the spirit gives life.
What YHWH brings down to Sheol and raises up
Turning away from His commandment brings the one downward to Sheol (temporary punishment of darkness/lawlessness) unless he repents, and to obey His Law of perfection brings the one upward to His Kingdom of blessedness. Proverbs 15:24 "The path of life leads upward for the wise that he may keep away from Sheol below." Romans 8:5-14: Our fleshly (lawless) works must be brought down to Sheol and our spiritual works thru His Spirit are raised up with Him. Eph 4:22-26; Col 3:8-10: For the spiritual births, we put our old self aside, so we put on our new self. Matt. 5:19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."; Isa. 7:11 "Ask a sign for yourself from YHWH Eloheyak (your El); make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven." This is the sign for everyone to know where he is at the level of his spiritual growth. The parable of the prodigal son is illuminated that the going astray to the kingdom of nothingness/lawlessness (Sheol) awakens the one to perceive his works of foolishness and to turn to His Kingdom of wholeness where he does His works of wisdom to fulfill his spiritual life. Jonah fleed from the presence of YHWH and was in the stomach of a fish knowing he was in the depth of Sheol then cried for His deliverance out of the fish (darkness).
Ps. 86:15 "But You, O Adonay, are El merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth."
YHWH is eternal forgiving promised to all who seek His salvation upon their repentance.
Our obedience to His Law of Life keeps us from our abandonment to Shoel.
Only Satan, the devil, the false prophet, and the beast are to be tormented for ever (Rev. 20:10).
Luke 3:6 "And all flesh shall see the salvation of Elohim."
