Who Was First to Be Cast into Hell?

You want to keep your distance from hell.

Shutterstock.com

What happens to humans once they pass away is a prevalent human fear. Many religions promote the idea that after death, "bad" people will be consigned to hell. Different conceptions of what hell is and what it is like exist within mainstream Christianity. Some believe it to be a place of "fire and brimstone" where sinners will suffer unrelenting burning and torment.

The Divine Comedy was written by Dante Alighieri with the idea that pain is used to represent sinners receiving justice for their transgressions. In recent years, some Christian denominations have preached about a milder hell, which is defined as eternal isolation from God. Christians generally agree that unbelievers and wicked individuals will spend eternity in some form of suffering. Who was the first person to enter hell, and how did they fare there?

Describe hell.

These notions of what happens after death are not found in the Bible. It makes no mention of unbelievers being subjected to fire torment or eternal torment in a land of darkness and seclusion from God. These ideas go counter to one of the Bible's most straightforward statements regarding the impact of sin on human life. The apostle Paul claims that while the penalty for sin is death, we can find God's gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus at the conclusion of a chapter that contrasts the results of righteousness and sin in Romans 6:23.

Paul makes it abundantly plain that the penalty or outcome of sin in a person's life is death for all time. This idea runs counter to the notion that the penalty for sin is an eternity in hell. Paul's remarks are consistent with Revelation 20:14, which refers to "the second death in the lake of fire" as the fate of the irrationally wicked. The "lake of fire" is described differently in the Bible than it is typically understood to be. According to Matthew 10:28, it is a location where the wicked will be killed and completely destroyed. Malachi the prophet foretold that all evildoers would perish and that their day of wrath would soon arrive in Malachi 4:1.

Three Greek words—Hades, Gehenna, and tartaroo—are translated as hell in the New Testament. Hades refers to the grave, the pit, or the place of the dead. The Greek name for the hereafter, Hades, is equivalent to the Hebrew word "Sheol," according to The Holman Bible Dictionary. Hades and Sheol are used in Acts 2:27 and Psalm 16:10 to describe the locations of Christ's body during His three-day, three-night death.

Gehenna is the Himmom Valley, a valley close to Jerusalem where young infants were burned alive as part of pagan rituals. In this valley, trash and dead bodies were eventually burned and disposed of. Gehenna is a reference to the "lake of fire" that is described in Revelation 19:20, the raging fire that will consume the irreligious. The word "tartaroo" only appears once in the Bible, in 2 Peter 2:3, where it refers to the confinement of devils pending judgment.

The goal of the Lazarus and the Rich Man narrative is to highlight the differences between life on earth and life in the hereafter. The wealthy man had a lavish lifestyle, eating daily and donning the most expensive attire. Lazarus, on the other hand, led a pretty straightforward existence. He could only eat the leftovers from the rich man's dinner since he had ulcers on his feet. Their lives were remarkably distinct even in death.

The wealthy guy was laid to rest after being wrapped, anointed with oil, and buried. Lazarus' body was probably discarded in Gehenna in the meantime. The story starts to get fascinating at this point. According to Luke 6:23, the wealthy man's body was brought to Hades while Lazarus' was carried to Abraham's side. Their roles have now been flipped. Lazarus enjoys life to the fullest while the wealthy man toils in agony. He has nothing, yet he is still referred to as the rich man. The rich man eventually begs for mercy, but not to be delivered from his predicament. Instead, he requests that Lazarus be sent to Hades so that he can cool the rich man's tongue with his finger in some water. Although this request may seem odd, it shows that the rich guy wanted Lazarus to help him.

Who was the initial soul to enter hell?

The Bible doesn't specifically state that the rich guy was the first person to enter hell, but we could presume that he was. But the Bible does say who will end up in hell. 167 times in the Bible, hell—also known as the Abyss or everlasting punishment—is mentioned. Jesus spoke of heaven and hell as though they were actual locations. The real-life incident depicting two alternative eternal destinations in the tale of Lazarus and the rich man. Jesus went to create a place for followers of God who love Him in heaven, which is where God resides.

However, hell was designed specifically for the devil and his minions. All those who have passed the age of accountability, however, have already been sentenced to hell because every human is a sinner. Everyone should go to hell as atonement for disobeying God.

No one may enter God's kingdom unless they are born again, according to Jesus, who makes this explicit in John 3:3. Additionally, He claims in Matthew 25:46 that those who disobey Him will spend eternity in hell. According to 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9, those who reject the gospel of Jesus and do not know God shall face punishment. They will suffer eternal annihilation as a punishment and be banished from the Lord's glory and presence. John the Baptist predicted that Jesus would gather His wheat in a barn and burn the chaff with fire in Matthew 3:12.

In the simplest words, John 3:18 explains who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. According to this verse, those who have faith in Him will not perish, but those who have not are already lost since they do not believe. Therefore, those who reject the name of Jesus will perish in hell. But believing is more than just intellectually accepting reality. A change in allegiance is necessary. We must repent of our sins, stop praising ourselves, and begin to adore God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and might.