HADES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
The New Testament was written in Greek, and the word “sheol” is translated by the Greek word “hades.” Jesus explained both parts of hades or sheol when he reported the account of the deaths of a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom (the intermediate present heaven region of hades) and the rich man went to the intermediate present hell region of hades (Luke 16:23-26). Jesus described four aspects of the rich man’s experience in hades.
A region of hades is intermediate hell that God will throw into eternal hell on judgement day.
Fully conscious in hades after death.
First, the rich man in hades was fully conscious in hades immediately after his death. He also remembered his life on earth, spoke, and experienced pain. He asked God to have mercy on him and to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off the rich man’s tongue because he was flaming in agony (Luke 16:24).
Eternal destiny is fixed in hades.
Second, the eternal destiny of the rich man was irrevocably fixed in hades after his death. The rich man recognized there was a great fixed chasm between him and Lazarus that neither of them could cross (Luke 16:26).
The rich man knew his place in hades was fair and just.
The rich man was honest with himself and knew that what he was experiencing in hades was fair and just. In hades, he reviewed his entire life that was marked by rejecting God and living life his way. He begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to his father’s house to warn his 5 brothers so they would not join him in the place of torment (Luke 16:28). He appears to believe his place in hades was fair and just because: 1. He complained about the pain, but did not complain about injustice. 2. He knew his brothers would have to repent of their sins to keep from joining him in his misery in hades. Abraham refused his request because they had Moses and the Prophets, but they still did not hear them and believe they were accountable to God. Then the rich man replied, “No, Father Abraham, if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent” (Luke 16:30 NASB). Then Abraham replied, “If they do not listen to Moses and Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (Lude 16:31 NASB). God knew the rebellious and hardened condition of their hearts would prevent them from being persuaded to repent even if someone rose and came to them from the dead.
The rich man was in hades, not hell.
The rich man was not in hell because no one is in hell yet. In the end times, hades will be thrown into hell, but that has not happened yet (Revelation 20:14). As the apostle Peter explained when he wrote about the judgment of disobedient angels, “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9 NIV). Therefore, a region of hades is a present intermediate hell waiting for the final judgment to be banished to eternal hell. Today, Christians that die go to the region of hades that is called the intermediate present heaven.
Erwin Lutzer, One Minute After You Die: A Preview of Your Final Destination (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1997), 35-42; Kenneth D. Boa and Robert Bowman Jr., Sense and Nonsense about Heaven and Hell (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), chapter 3; Lee Strobel, The Case for Heaven: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for Life After Death (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021), chapters 7 and 8.