The Anguish: Punishment in Hell

“In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.” (Luke 13:28)

Have you ever had a nightmare where you struggle to escape from some dangerous situation? When the struggle for freedom seemed hopeless you finally woke up, and then realized “it was just a dream.” Imagine waking up and realizing it is not a dream; the location really is hell! The separation from God is for real; the excruciating and unending pain is real. Sadly, and unnecessarily this is the reality for many who have died, and will die.

Jesus once told a story about one man who was rich, and another man who was poor. While alive, the rich man had everything he needed and desired; Lazarus, the poor man had nothing but poverty, hunger, sickness and misery. When the rich man died, he was buried; when Lazarus died, angels carried him to Abraham. The rich man found himself in torment and agony in Hades; Lazarus was at peace. The rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to him “so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue” (Luke 16:19–24).

Avoiding the agonies of hell was a major theme in the preaching of Jesus. He warned the people to “fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). He said entering life crippled is better than going whole into the unquenchable fire of hell (Mark 9:43). Again, He said, “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28). The realities of hell need not be our reality. Jesus explained that He is the way to avoid hell, and go to heaven (John 6:44–51, 65; 14:6).

The rich man in Jesus’ parable asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brothers in order to warn them to repent, and not end up suffering the anguish of hell. Abraham explained that the brothers already have what they needed in order to make an informed decision: the scriptures. Once in hell a person will not be able to warn anyone else (Luke 16:25–31). That means while we still have breath, we need to make sure we know that our destination is heaven before we die, so that we do not wake up in anguish (2 Corinthians 6:1–2; 2 Peter 1:10–11; Revelation 22:14–15).