Hell In The Old Testament

Hell is a major topic in the Word of God. And it should be. The Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament spends much time warning about hell. Jesus preached about hell more than any other subject. The Old Testament does not overlook the place of hell. The Old Testament contains over 67 direct references to hell. In the King James Bible, the word "hell" occurs 23 times in the New Testament – but 31 times in the Old Testament. The Old Testament includes some of the clearest and most horrifying pictures of hell.

The following scriptures are examples of "hell" in the Old Testament.

Psalm 16:10, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."

Psalm 55:15, "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them."

Proverbs 9:18, "But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell."

Ezekiel 31:16-17, "I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen."

Hell is just as real as heaven or the sea. In Psalms 139, David compares hell with heaven and the sea.

Psalm 139:7-9, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;"

39 times the Old Testament calls hell "the pit." It never uses the plural "pits" or the indefinite "a pit," but always the singular, specific place, "the pit." The wording, "the pit" refers to one particular place.

Isaiah 14 describes the fall of Lucifer. Isaiah 14:15 reveals "the pit" is hell, ". . . thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."

Isaiah 14:12-15, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."

Ezekiel 31:16 also confirms "the pit" is hell. 

Ezekiel 31:16, "I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit:"

As we can see, the scriptures teach a real place called hell. But the Bible does not stop there. The Lord gives careful details about the place called hell. The precise information the Lord provides dumbfounds many. They refuse to believe the simple Word of God. Many recklessly dig through Greek and Hebrew words searching for a morsel of bread. And like Esau, they sell their birthright, the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23), for one morsel of meat.

Evangelist and radio-preacher, Oliver Greene understands the Bible’s teaching about the place of hell. 

"Hell is a place—not a state of mind; and the terms used in the Bible to describe hell prove this statement beyond any shadow of doubt." (Greene, Oliver B. Hell, 1973, The Gospel Hour: Greenville p. 25)

Amen, Brother Greene. . . Amen