I know I promised to talk about “back-to-back” in marriage, and maybe we’ll cover that tomorrow. But today, I want us to explore something different—Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Abraham’s bosom, and Paradise. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide me as I explain this as best as I can, drawing from what I’ve learned.
Sheol is often understood as the place of the dead, the grave where our physical bodies are laid after death. It represents the resting place for the body. As it says in Psalm 6:5 (NLT), “For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave [Sheol]?” Our bodies go to Sheol—the grave, the physical place of death.
But where does the spirit go? The spirit belongs to God, and upon death, it returns to Him. When Jesus was on the cross, He said, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” (Luke 23:46, NLT). This shows that the spirit returns to God, as it is His.
Now, Hades is where our souls go after death. Hades can be thought of as the spiritual realm of the dead. Jesus’ soul also went to Hades after His death. In Acts 2:31 (NLT), it says, “David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead [Hades] or allow his body to rot in the grave.”
Hades itself is divided into two sections. On one side, there’s Paradise (also known as Abraham’s bosom), where the souls of those who died in Christ reside, and on the other side is Gehenna, the place of torment. There is a separation between these two places, as Jesus illustrated in Luke 16:22-26 (NLT), where the rich man and Lazarus both died. Lazarus was taken to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man found himself in torment in Gehenna. There was a great chasm that no one could cross, dividing these two areas.
Gehenna was also an actual place near Jerusalem, known as a trash heap where waste was burned constantly. It became a symbol of eternal punishment because the fires there never went out, as referenced in Mark 9:43 (NLT): “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell [Gehenna] with two hands.” Gehenna represents the place where souls who rejected Christ await final judgment.
Both Abraham’s bosom and Gehenna are temporary holding places, awaiting the final judgment. Paradise is a place of preparation for eternal joy, while Gehenna is a place of torment, preparing souls for eternal damnation. Revelation 21:1-4 (NLT) speaks of the new heaven and new earth that will come after judgment. It will be a place free from sorrow, pain, and death—only those whose hearts are pure will dwell there, as God had always intended for us.
One key point to understand is why we will return to the new earth after judgment. Psalm 115:16 (NLT) says, “The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to all humanity.” This verse helps us see that God’s ultimate plan has always been for mankind to dwell on the earth. The highest heavens belong to God, but the earth is where humanity is meant to thrive and reign. After judgment, the new earth will be restored to its original glory, where we will live in perfect harmony with God, just as He intended from the beginning.
I remember when we were kids, reading those Bible storybooks with beautiful pictures of fields filled with colourful flowers. The new earth will be like that—perfect peace and joy, the way God designed it before sin entered the world. We will live forever in God’s perfect creation, just as He intended.
I hope this explanation helps bring clarity to these terms that we sometimes struggle with when reading Scripture. I’ve learned much from teachings by Apostle Arome Osayi and others, and I’m grateful for the wisdom God provides.
Have a beautiful day ahead.
Kate Karuri