Gehenna is a parabolic image of the wrath of God. First, it should be noted that this Bible study builds on our previous Bible studies regarding the wrath of God and the Lake of Fire. As previously discussed, the wrath of God is an expression of God’s strong disapproval and displeasure with human sin and disobedience, but God’s wrath is different from human wrath in that God’s wrath is void of all human irrationality and imbalance. On the other hand, the Lake of Fire is an apocalyptic image of the wrath of God. Apocalyptic images are other-worldly images. The phrase “Lake of Fire” is found only in the Book of Revelation. In my opinion, both believers and unbelievers can experience the Lake of Fire (a/k/a wrath of God). The wrath of God can impact us in this life and the next.
The Valley of Hinnom is located southeast of Jerusalem. Historically, the Valley of Hinnom was a place of idolatry and child sacrifice. Both King Ahaz and King Manasseh participated in idolatry and child sacrifice to Canaanite gods in the Valley of Hinnom (2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6). However, righteous King Josiah later defiled the Valley to make the valley unacceptable to idolators as a place of worship (2 Kings 23:10). In later years, Jerusalemites used the Valley of Hinnom as a trash dump, wherein there was often burning rubbish and dead bodies.[1] The Valley of Hinnom was called geenna in the Greek and Gehenna in the Latin and English.[2] Jesus Christ (11 times) and His half-brother, James (1 time), used Gehenna as a figurative image of the wrath of God.
As we have discussed in the past, Jesus often taught using parables. The Collins Dictionary defines a “parable” as “a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.”[3] However, the Collins Dictionary also offered the following second definition for the word “parable:” “a statement or comment that conveys a meaning indirectly by use of comparison, analogy, or the like.”[4] In other words, a “parable” is not always a story. Sometimes, it is just a statement, comment, or comparison. Jesus used the Valley of Hinnom as a vehicle or teaching aid to communicate information about God’s wrath or God’s disapproval of certain behavior. So, while apocalyptic language uses other-worldly images to teach higher spiritual realities, parabolic language uses everyday circumstances, events, and things (to include places) to teach higher spiritual realities.
At Mark 9:43-50, Jesus issued a series of dire warnings to His students. The warnings were a composition of hyperbole and strong figurative language. The Collins Dictionary defines “hyperbole” as an “exaggeration for effect and not meant to be taken literally.”[5] Hyperbolic language was used by Jesus to penetrate the inherent hardness of the human heart. Beginning at Mark 9:43, we read, “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, go into [Gehenna], into the unquenchable fire.” Most every Bible translation translates the Greek word “geenna” as “hell,” but most everyone agrees that Jesus was referring to the Valley of Hinnom, not the place of the dead in the underworld called “Hades” (or “Sheol”). It is still my opinion that the unbelieving dead (meaning those that never believed in this life) reside in Hades (or Sheol) until the resurrection of all. I will discuss Hades in the next blogpost.
As to Mark 9:43, first, it should be noted that your hand does not cause you to sin. At James 1:15, we learn that sin emanates from lust (inordinate desire). James wrote, “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death [spiritual insensitivity]” (Jas. 1:15).
As we have previously discussed, life in the Kingdom of God (a/k/a eternal life) is described as “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). On the other hand, Gehenna is a place for the disobedient, a place opposite to the Kingdom of God. At Mark 9:43, Jesus used Gehenna, a literal valley adjacent to Jerusalem, as an image of someone being in a place of God’s judgment. As an example, we humans often strongly pursue various lusts. Sex can serve as an excellent example, such as when David pursued Bathsheba. People often consider things like sex to be an indispensable part of one’s happiness.
In Corinth, it was a common practice for men to routinely visit a prostitute. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18). Habitual behaviors can elicit a powerful control over us. Sometimes, our desires seem to be like a hand, foot, or eye. Sometimes, our desires seem to be an indispensable part of who we are. On some occasions, our personal definition of happiness seems to be inextricably linked to pursuing and obtaining one type of lust or another. God wants to teach us that our personal sense of happiness and fulfillment is all wrapped up in our relationship with God – not the fulfillment of our lusts.
The rest of the Mark, Chapter 9 passage reads as follows:
And if your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life without a foot, than having your two feet, to be thrown into [Gehenna]. And if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be thrown into [Gehenna], where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT EXTINGUISHED. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
(Mark 9:45-50).
When thinking about Gehenna, think about God’s fourfold punishment of David after David’s adultery with Bathsheba and after David’s orchestration of Uriah the Hittite’s death. For a time, David was in a place of God’s judgment. Ultimately, David lost his Kingdom for a period of time and was involved in a horrible civil war with his son, Absalom.
Further, when analyzing the above verses (Mark 9:43-50), please note the following: (1) there is an equivalency between entering into life and entering into the Kingdom of God; (2) life in the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17); (3) if we enter into Kingdom Living in this life, we will receive fabulous blessings in the next life; (4) the Spiritual Life or Kingdom living should receive our highest priority in this life; (5) unfortunately, we are easily distracted by one type of lust or another; (6) we mistakenly believe that one type of lust or another is indispensable to our happiness; (7) because we are easily distracted by our pursuit of one type of lust or another, we must all occasionally be salted with fire; (8) salt (fire, or God’s discipline) acts as a preservative of our spiritual life and momentum; and (9) experiencing God’s discipline can make us more humble, more forgiving of others, and more inclined to be at peace with others. Finally, (10) if we repeatedly ignore God’s discipline and warnings, we will become hard-hearted, and the salt will no longer be “salty.” At Hebrews 12:6, we read, “FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE PUNISHES EVERY SON WHOM HE ACCEPTS.”
At Matthew 23:23-33, Jesus called the self-righteous Pharisees “hypocrites.” Jesus said, “You snakes, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of [Gehenna]?” (Matt. 23:33). The self-righteous Pharisees were sentenced by Jesus to experience the wrath of God. Then Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matt. 23:36). Between AD 66 and AD 70, Rome and Israel were engaged in a horrible war, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70.
At Mathew 10:28, Jesus said, “And do not be afraid of 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 [Gehenna].” In other words, the wrath of God can result in an untimely physical death, but the wrath of God can also result in the psychological destruction of one’s soul.
At James 3:6, we read, “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by [Gehenna].” Regarding James 3:6, we should note the following: (1) The sins of the tongue are a source of destruction; (2) Examples of the sins of the tongue include maligning, gossip, judging, and slander; (3) The sins of the tongue can invoke the wrath of God; and (4) Being in a place of God’s judgment can provide even more motivation for some to commit additional sins of the tongue.
Finally, from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, we read:
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, “You good-for-nothing,” shall be answerable to the supreme court; and whoever says, “You fool.” shall be guilty enough to go into [Gehenna]”
(Matt. 5:22).
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was speaking to His disciples, who were all Jews. For us Christians, as well, brotherhood is important. Sometimes, it is easy for us to be angry with each other. A few weeks ago, we discussed the tendency of human anger to become irrational and imbalanced. Sometimes, it is easy to disregard another believer in Christ. Sometimes, it might be easy for us to refer to another believer as raka (which means “empty-headed, worthless, or vacuous”[6]) or mōros (which means “foolish, dull, stupid, heedless, or a moral blockhead”[7]).
It can be easy for us to disregard the inherent value of others. More and more, the Israelites were going to live in a deeply divided nation. After the Jewish Rebellion against Rome in AD 66, Jerusalem was divided into three competing factions and armies, which fought against each other. Ultimately, they were all slaughtered or enslaved by the Romans. It is important for us to not disregard the inherent value of each other. As Jesus warned, such attitudes put us in jeopardy of God’s wrath.
In summation, Gehenna is a parabolic image of God’s wrath. A parabolic image uses everyday circumstances, events, and things (to include places) to teach us of higher spiritual realities. Jesus and His half-brother, James, used the Biblical image of Gehenna to warn us against four types of attitudes or behaviors, which can put us in danger of Gehenna (a/k/a God’s wrath): (1) lustful, obsessive behavior (like David’s pursuit of Bathsheba); (2) self-righteousness (like the Pharisees); (3) sins of the tongue (as mentioned by James); and (4) disregarding the inherent value of a fellow believer (as mentioned by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount).
[1] “Hell.” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken, et al, InterVarsity Press, 1998, p. 376; “Mark.” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Volume 1, Gen. Editor, David E Garland, et al., Zondervan Academic, 2002, p. 261.
[2] “Valley.” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, p. 910.
[3] “Parable.” Collins English Dictionary, HarpersCollins Publishers, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/parable, accessed 28 Dec 2023.
[4] Ibid.
[5] “Hyperbole.” Collins English Dictionary, HarpersCollins Publishers, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hyperbole, accessed 28 Dec 2023.
[6] “G4469 – raka – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 28 Dec, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4469/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[7] “G3474 – mōros – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 28 Dec, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3474/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
