"Hell" is Several Distinct Places

The headlines for each (full explanaition and verses in each section below):

• Lake of Fire is the only one said to be eternal, but humans don't go there.

• Tartaroo is the casting of demons into the Abyss and the Abyss itself is a holding place for demons, before they are judged.

• Gehenna, is something you could already be living in here on earth, a disposition, and you might take it with you for a period, when your current body dies.

• Hades was temporary and impacted some humans. As well as a place, Hades is the name of the demon that presided/s over it.

• Hades was an after-living experience, it was outside of time, but in it, you could experience sequence. It is described as terribly painful (unless you were being comforted)

• Humans went to Hades, until Jesus emptied it. Since, strictly speaking, it is spiritual and outside of time, that doesn't preclude humans dying now, still passing through Hades.

• “After” the marriage supper of the lamb and/or the effects of ToD / FoF, all humans will then be righteous and will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

• God will wipe away tears from all faces (Isa 25.8), bring about a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21.1), make all things new (Rev 21.5).

• The new heaven and new earth won’t be separated as the current ones are. We will have new heavenly/earthly hybrid bodies.

G1067

All Verses:

Mat 5.22                        (Anger with brother, calling him a fool -> danger of "the (world's?) judgement" / geena fire)

Mat 5.29, Mar 9.47       (Pluck out eye if causes you to stumble or fall away, better for you)

Mat 5.30, Mar 9.43       (Cut off hand if causes you to stumble or fall away, better for you)

Mat 10.28, Luk 12.5      (...rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell )

Mat 18.9                       (Pluck out eye if it offends thee - causes you to stumble or fall away - , better to enter zoe, than the depravity

Mat 23.15                    (Scribes pharisees making proselyte twice as mush sons of gehenna as themselves)

Mat 23.33                     (Pharisees called Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of Gehenna)

Mar 9.45                       (Cut off foot if it offend thee, better to enter Zoe, than Gehenna)

Jas 3.6                           (Tongue...it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.)

What Gehenna-Hell is:

·  The state we are in, on earth, when we make our own choices here and now.

·  We bring it in, and through us, by our decisions and source of identity and knowledge, when that source is earthly, not heavenly.

·  When we're dead, we'll take it with us for a while, to be removed (painfully) in Hades-Hell, if we've not dealt with it in our lifetime.

·  It has condemnation (damnation, accusation) G2920, most often translated "judgement", but not good or Godly judgment, but that of the world, of the accuser, Satan.

·  It used by Jesus to contrast living according to the Kingdom of Heaven (zoe/life), or living according to the worldly perspective (death/perishing) - "it is better to be now living this way, than now that way"

What Gehenna-Hell is not:

·  It's not a place you go when your body is dead.

·  It's not somewhere God sends people who didn't believe a certain thing or meet a set criterion.

·  It is not eternal.

Gehenna-Hell Facts:

·  You could be in geheena right now.

·  Jesus didn't come to keep us out of this hell, but to get this hell out of us.

·  It is our chosen depravity, not somewhere God sends you.

·  The alternative is "zoe" or life.

·  Mat 5.22 is interesting. It ends in "murder, or now even just be angry without cause, brings danger of 'the' judgement." and "calling someone a fool endangers you to Geheena fire". But who's judgement is this, God's which promotes, or the Devil's or other human's which accuses? It comes after the beatitudes, then Christ saying He fulfilled the Law of Moses, then this, addressing matters of the heart being as serious as actions. It speaks of consequences now, ruining our own lives (making ourselves prisoners) or ruining other's lives (making them captives). And Jesus came to set both free Luk 4.18.

Gehenna-Hell Notes:

·  The valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; but also, the early Jews had sacrificed their children to idols there.

·  It represents chosen depravity.

·  Complaining is the worship language of Gehenna-hell. It is an expression of doubt. It manifests death in the seen realm, in your physical world.

Exoteros Skotos G1857 G4655

All Verses:

Mat 8.12                (Outer Darkness, Faithful centurian, but the sons of the kingdom/Isreal, cast out - weeping & gnashing of teeth)

Mat 22.13             (Outer Darkness, Wedding feast, invitees not worthy, anyone brought in, chucked out for wrong garments)

Mat 25.30            (Outer Darkness, Unprofitable servant, not investing what given him - weeping & gnashing of teeth)

Mat 13.42-42      (Furnace of fire, Wheat & tares growing together - wailing and gnashing of teeth)

Mat 13.50             (Furnace of fire, Dragnet, Good fish and bad fish pulled in together - wailing and gnashing of teeth)

Mat 24.51            (Appointed portion with the hypocrites, evil servant not feeding household, also cut in two)

Luk 13.27-28      (Narrow way, workers of iniquity, "I don't know you", weeping & gnashing of teeth - when you see Abraham etc in the KoG)

What ToD/FoF is:

·  Three spiritual "places" the outer darkness, furnace of fire, and a place with the hypocrites.

·  They are synonymous with correction and refinement of character, bringing knowledge, identity and belief, but also post death deliverance, separation from demons.

·  "Attendance" it seems will be determined after your body is dead, by Jesus. (2 Cor 5.10).

·  It will be a more unpleasant experience than addressing such problems/demons in this life.

·  But after it, they (all humans) will be righteous and will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Mat 13.43)

ToD/FoF Facts:

·  Identifiable by being accompanied by the suggestion that those there are/have weeping/wailing and gnashing of teeth (pain).

·  It's dark, but there's a fire that burns, so the terms are figurative.

·  Darkness represents a lack of God's knowledge, coming into the light

·  This is the refiners fire, done after the body dies.

·  This is a furnace of fire (not a lake). Furnaces have a purpose of recreation or refining.

ToD/FoF Notes:

·  End of age, angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just

·  Mat 13:41-43 "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

G86

All Verses refering to the good side (bad side verses in the next section):

Mat 11.23, Luk 10.15  (Capernaum)

Mat 16.18                        (gates)

Luk 16.23                        (Rich man)

Act 2.27, Act 2.31         (David/Paul)

1 Cor 15.55                     (victory? Isa 25.8)

Rev 1.18                          (keys)

Rev 6.8                            (with Death)

Rev 20.13                        (delivered up)

Rev 20.14                        (second death)

What Hades-As-A-Whole is:

·  Hades refers both to the place and its' god (demonic) ruler of the same name

 ·    Hades is the equivalent of the Hebrew Sheol 

·  A temporary receptacle of disembodied spirits. It/he was emptied at the end of the age (the Jewish age, when Christ was crucified,  and destroyed at the end of time Rev 20.14, but since that's outside of time, in a way it happened after Jesus crucifixion but also before the world began

·  Hades has/had, two sides, one for the wicked and one for saints (Abraham’s bosom). (Luk 16.23)

What Hades-Abraham’s bosom (the comfort side) is:

·  The good side is where saints are/were tended to.

What Hades-Torment side is:

·  It has torment, pain and thirst (Luk 16.23)

·  Note torment, Basano G931, means touchstone, a selica like black stone used to test the purity of Gold and Silver. So was not originally considered torture, but testing for goodness.

What Hades-Abraham’s bosom is not:

·  It's not the abode of the wicked.

·  It's not the lake of fire.

·  It's not eternal (Rev 20.14).

Hades-Abraham’s bosom facts:

·  Jesus emptied this on his death, so it's defunct or destined to be defunct, because it is outside of time, so "still" in effect.

·  Whilst it may not be "in time", it entertains "sequence" that facilitates a conscious back and forth conversation (Luk 16.23)

·  It's said to be in the core of the earth, because Jesus "descended" to empty it Eph 4.10

·  The sea, death and hades are said to give up the dead in Revelation.

·  Death and Hades (and those not in the book of life) then go into the lake of fire.

G12 Abyssos

G5020 Tartaroo

All Verses:

2 Pet 2.4 (Only this one verse has tartaroo. This chapter suggests then that the false prophets are demons).

Luk 8.31   (legion)

Rom 10.7 (descend?)

Rev 9.1     (key)

Rev 9.2     (opened)

Rev 9.11   (Apollyon)

Rev 11.7   (beast)

Rev 17.8   (marvel)

Rev 20.1   (chain)

Rev 20.3   (shut)

What Tartaroo is:

·  A dark, somehow subterranean, somehow spiritual, not fiery place where bad angels are said to go whilst waiting for their final judgement.

·  Tartaroo is a verb (of casting down to), the "target" due to its' description, and those being cast there (demons) is most likely The Abyss/ The Deep G12 below.

·  The judgement they are here waiting for, is the sheep and goats’ judgement, after which they, if found guilty, go into the lake of fire prepared for them.

What Tartaroo is not:

·  It’s not a place humans either dead or alive go.

 ·    This isn't sending objects to the Jewish Gehenna, as strong's suggests, nor "the deepest abyss of Hades" - Conflating this with Geheena or Hades is wrong.

·  It’s not eternal, in so far as it's a created place, either spiritual (heavenly) or earthly, which will pass away at the end of days, making way for a new heaven and earth. Its' contents, demons and the devil, will have been removed to the lake of fire, which is eternal

Tartaroo Fun Fact:

·  Peter here is referencing the book Enoch. Jude did too.

·  Enoch is not cannon of the Bible, but the apostles and the audience of the parables and proclamations, considered it as such. So they would no more about and expect, references to Angels and Demons (the spirits of Nephilim) in Jesus teaching.

·  Enoch was found in the dead sea scrolls in the 1950s. It was thought to have been written by multiple pseudonyms, so some consider it unreliable. But those people also site how it doesn't fit modern theologies and (or perhaps because) it focuses heavily on the acts and outcome for nephlim and spirit beings.

What The Abyss / The deep is:

·  The deep, bottomless pit, the abode of demons.

·  Possibly the same as the Hebrew word “Tehom” H8414 (Gen 1.2)

·  Possibly figurative in that it is spiritual and not literally a “big hole in the earth”

What The Abyss / The deep is not:

·  It is not some form of hell that we need to contend with.

G304, G4442, G2303 (burning with brimstone) 

All Verses:

Dan 7.11-27                     (pompous horn, the devil who judges/accuses us according to our works in the books)

Matthew 25:31-46             (Sheep and goats)

Rev 19.20                         (beast and false prophet go in)

Rev 20.10                        (devil goes in)

Rev 20.14                        (death and hades in)

Rev 20.15                        (anyone/whosever/any object,not in found in the Book of Life cast in)

Rev 21.8 (Demons are cowardly, unbelieving, "sinners", abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars)

What The Lake of Fire is:

·  The lake which burns with fire and brimstone (sulfur) which is the second death.

·  It is eternal making it the only eternal hell.

·  It is a place were previously mentioned hells get put (the Hades)

·  Into went/will go: The Beast, The Devil, The books (plural) with people's works written in them, Death and Hades

·  Into went/will go: anyone, (nay anything? so just the above big baddies), not found written in the Book (singular) of life.

·  Also to have their "part in" it (Cowardly, unbelieving, immoral etc...)

What The Lake of Fire is not:

·  It is not a place that humans go.

·  Rev 21.8 gives a list of the types of characteristics of persons (or entities) that would go in the fire, but this isn't a checklist of if a human meets one item on the list, "in they go" this is a description of demons. Demons meet all the criteria.

·  But this isn’t a common understanding, so here is some further analysis…..

Matthew 25:31-46

“The Sheep and Goats” Proclamation

or 

“The Son of Man will Judge the Nations” (Note "judge" is in the given title, but not in fact in the verses).

Summary:

The sheep & goats are demons not humans.

·      It’s monumental in its theological and God relation impact. It’s the only place eternal damnation is mentioned in a way that it’s possibly humans as the target. It’s a rather obscure way to proclaim that if humans aren’t caring, they face eternal damnation.

·      The passage never calls those separated, “humans” or “people”. “Nations” is as naming as it gets.

·      “Nations” are separated, one from another. The nations are the units being separated. Each nation is not split into many parts.

·      It’s just the word “nations”, when elsewhere, we get “nations, tribes and peoples”.

·      Nations in Greek, can mean a multitude of anything, including beasts, that live together.

·      Demons are associated with, or behind, or denoted as “nations”.

·      The separation happens in heaven, a spiritual place, not on earth.

·      Demons said to Jesus their judgement (such as this) was due later.

·      It says the everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels, not humans.

·      Those thrown in are named “you cursed”, but humans aren’t cursed by God.

·      God’s anger is bent on those who corrupt, not the corrupted.

·      Revelation doesn’t list people going into the eternal fire (just the Devil etc)

·      Only things (at a stretch “anyone”) not in the Book of Life, go in the eternal fire, and there’s no positive affirmation this happens to people.

·      People have been in the book of life since before the foundation of the world, so we can’t get out of it.

·      Those whose names are not in the BoL are a type of being (demons) and not a subset of humans.

·      No where else in the bible does it say that humans need to do works to avoid eternal punishment.

·      No where else in the bible does it say that humans need to do works to earn an inheritance.

·      Angels are commissioned to tend to humans. The actions measured were caring ones.

·      Enoch, though not canonical, says that Angels receive kingdoms as rewards.

·      It’s a very low bar, even for demons. Help one person and they are spared.

Details:

●  Mat 25.31 This event is happening in Heaven, not on Earth. We know this because the Son of Man is said to be sitting on His thrown of Glory, which is in Heaven. Rev 7.11. For humans to be on trial here, would mean a large-scale rapture, of all humans still alive, an event not reported in Daniel or Revelation.

• Mat 25.31 "He" is sitting on His Thrown of Glory, not the Great White Thrown (of Judgement). This is not a judgement of people, the one done with books with our works in them (that the Devil uses) or the 'Other" book, the BoL, that God uses.

• Mat 25.31 Jesus is referred to as the Son of Man, not Son of God. It is in His capacity as Son of Man that He judges the angels/demons. Only as the Son of God will He precide over the Devil accusing humans. As the Son of Man, like as humans, He/we judge Angels 1 Cor 6.3

●  Mat 25.31 This event is happening when He comes in His Glory, not when He returns.

●  Mat 25.31 Present with Him there are all the angels (not just “Holy” angels, that’s a translator addition, that isn’t in the textus receptus), so possibly good angels and bad angels (demons).

●  Mat 25.32 On trial are the “Nations”, only then subsequently referred to as:

o   Separated: “one from another”

o   The good: “those on the right hand”, “them”, “sheep”, “you”, “the righteous”, and by themselves as “we”

o   The bad: “those on the left hand”, “goats”, “you cursed”, “you”, and by themselves as “we”

o   Never are those on trial referred to as “people” (except in the NIV, in Mat 24.32 which has the Greek word “them” translated as “people”!)

●   Mat 25.32 Nations Greek “ethnos”, means a multitude whether men or beasts, associated by living together.

 ●   A human can be in a traditional secular “nation” but is not as a person a nation. Here “Nations” are separated, one from another.

 ●   The nations are the units being separated. Each nation is not split into many parts.

 ●   In the Bible, spirits are denoted as nations, kings of the earth (Rev 19), or mighty men.

• Daniel 10: This passage describes a struggle between a messenger angel (Gabriel) and a "Prince of the kingdom of Persia," which is interpreted as a spiritual principality over the nation.

• Dan 10.13, Rev 1.20-2.1 There are evidently angels and demons assigned to nations, and angels to towns/churches.

• Ephesians 6:12: This verse talks about spiritual forces of evil in "high places," which is seen as supporting the idea of demonic hierarchies and ruling spirits.

• Mark 5:9: Jesus' encounter with a man possessed by a spirit called "Legion" is another example, where the spirit asks not to be sent out of the country, implying it held authority in that geographical area.

●  When it says all the “nations” are gathered before Him (to be separated, left and right) it doesn’t say “nations, tribes and peoples” as it does in Rev 7.9. So, we can’t assume nations refers to people, as when nations is used elsewhere, it emphasises people to confirm the intent that it means people.

●   Rev 19.15-21. Has Christ on a white horse, Himself covered in blood, using truth (a sword from His mouth) to strike the nations. This was seen happening in an opened heaven. Issues with “nations” are dealt with in Heaven.

●  Mat 8.29. The demons in the two possessed men met by Jesus, knew Jesus was due to torment them (like this) later, not at that time.

●  Mat 25.41. It references “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. It doesn’t say it is prepared for humans. It is an assumption to think its’ use is to be extended to humans it wasn’t prepared for.

●  Mat 25.41. Those thrown in the lake are called “you cursed”. Who’s cursed in the bible and by who?

o   Gen 3.14. The serpent was cursed, because of his action, it doesn’t say “by God”

o   Gen 3.17. The ground was cursed, because of our actions, it doesn’t say “by God”.

o   Genesis. Humans, Adam and Eve weren’t cursed.

o   Gen 4.11. Cain was cursed “from the earth”, which had received the blood of his brother whom he’d killed. Cain proclaims this a punishment (not God), then God marks him as not be killed by others to protect him.

o   Gen 5.29, Lamech, Noah’s dad, proclaims that God had cursed the ground, but he could have been wrong saying this, God didn’t say he had.

o   Deut 27. Moses adds that people who broke the laws would be cursed, but the law written on the stones only said what people, should and should not do. Moses embellished the law by adding curses.

o   Luk 13.1 a crowd asks if some people had been worse sinners and Jesus said “no”.

o   Mar 11.14 Jesus pronounces to a fig tree, “let no one eat from you again”, and it withered, then in Mar 11.21, Peter later suggests that Jesus had cursed it, but note Jesus didn’t say this is what he had done, even if “only” to a tree.

o   Gal 3.10 and 3.13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) a reference to Deut 27.

o   Heb 6.1-8, the peril of not progressing, apparently leads to being near to being cursed, but stops short of pronouncing a curse.

●  So, no human is cursed, and only “you cursed” are put in the lake of fire.

●  Heb 13.2. How might angels not know when they were helping God in humans? Perhaps, in the same way we don’t know when we help angels, or perhaps it's rhetorical device for the listner.

●  1 Pet 3.19 Jesus on His death, before resurrection went to preach to spirits in prison. Part of His supernatural tour de force, before being resurrected involved a prison visit to preach/explain.

●  Deut 32. God’s vengeance is to be on the powers behind people that corrupt them, not the people themselves.

●  Mat 3.7  “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he (Jesus) said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Jesus is addressing the serpent, the demons working behind/through the pharisees. As in Ezekial 28, where the king of tyre is being spoken to, but Satan, “the bright morning star” is addressed through him by God.

●  Rev 19.20, has the devil and the false prophet, only, thrown in the lake of fire and still there in Rev 20.10.

●  Rev 20.14 has death and hades added to the lake of fire.

●  Rev 20.15 has “anyone/whosever/any object (tis - G5100)” not found in the book of life added to the lake of fire. Could “whosever” include humans (tis - an enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object, so reads more “anything”)? It’s a stretch to suggest so. The only way, despite all the above points, is to consider; can humans be blotted out of the book of life, or not be in it in the first place? Here’s all the bible verses about that…

o   Psalms 69:27-28, has a psalmist ask God to blot people out of the book of life, but it doesn’t confirm if this is a practice God partakes in. But the seed is sown by this, and so humans fear it, so Jesus assures us through John in Rev 3…

o   Rev 3.5, has Jesus saying He will not blot out the names of “those who overcome” from the book of life, but He will confess their name before His Father and before His angels. This is an assurance in case overcomers fear losing out. He doesn’t in fact say He will blot out anyone else’s name. This is not a warning to those who don’t overcome, but an assurance none the less to those who do.

o   Phil 4.3, has Paul saying his co-workers and some women’s names are written in the book of life, having helped him and the gospel. It doesn’t say they wouldn’t be in the book of life, had they not.

o   Luk 10.20, Jesus said to the 70 returning having commanded demons out in Jesus’ name, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” It doesn’t say “book of life”, but other scholars have also assumed it to be referring to that. It does not say that only these 70 (and Christian humans like them), unlike other humans, had their names in the book of life. It says your names are written in Heaven and demons names aren’t. All humans should therefore rejoice!!

o   Dan 12.1, Here we have the word “nation” (as in the sheep and goats’ proclamation), and trouble measured against times when there were and were not “nations”.  And “your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book”. People are written in the book. You have to want some people excluded from the book, to read it that is only those written in the book who are delivered.

o   Rev 17.8 “those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world” Demons, dwell on the earth and won’t be in the book of life. This doesn’t necessarily imply some humans aren’t in the book.

●   So no, it is not expressly noted in the bible that humans can, are, or are to be, blotted from the book of life.

●   So, if all humans aren’t cursed and are all in the book of life, come what may, no humans are going in the lake of fire. We may go somewhere dark, cry and be in pain, for a period, not eternity, because hades too gets put into the lake of fire (another topic)

●   We won’t go in the lake of fire, simple by virtue of being human.

●   Mat 25.35. Says this is due to works or lack thereof (of mercy). No where else does the bible say, or a parable imply, that human’s supportive works, keep them from the lake of fire or gain them eternal life.

●  Mat 22.39 Humans are commanded to help (love) all humans, brothers and enemies, not just the brethren.

●  Mat 25.40. Those supported/protected are called brethren. Brethren, Adelphos. Fellow believers.  The term suggests that not all humans in distress are to have been the objects of the helpers. It doesn’t explicitly exclude non-believing humans but does highlight help given to ones that do believe. Which is pertinent, because

●  Heb 1.14. Angels are specifically commanded to help (have mercy) on “believers”

●  Mat 25. 40 and 45. It's an oddly low bar. Do it but once to one of the Brethren = reward, Don't do it, not even once = punishment. It doesn't call for the kind of life long consistency one would attribute to a believing human, and the perfection Christ desires of us.

●  Mat 25. 40 and 45. Can the recipients in whom Jesus dwelt or associated with (the brethren or "least of these") also be the one's being separated? If it's simply human's helping humans, a helped beggar might herself never help one person their whole life and be a goat. Doesn't seem feasible.

●  Mat 25.46. The punishment fits only demons as stated in other bible verses – lake of fire, eternal/everlasting (aionios) punishment.

●  The reward – Mat 25.34. “you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for you gave (did) XYZ”. This is the only time this phrase is used in the bible, but Enoch noted Angels rewarded with forest kingdoms and also further corroborates this thinking, but due to it's tenuous position outside of the cannon, I won't lean too heavily on this. 

●  No where else in the bible does it suggest humans are given a “kingdom reward” for protecting other humans. Only these verses in Matthew are (wrongly) considered as doing this.

●  The reward – and Mat 25.46. “…but the righteous into eternal life.” Again, this reward (like the punishment) is only found in this verse of the bible. John 3.16 says for humans whoever believes will have everlasting/eternal life. For humans, belief is enough – else these verses are a contradiction, unless for angels, belief is not enough and fulfilling their command to protect the brethren, is also required.

●  Mat 25 vs Luk 16.19-31 (The Rich man and Lazarus on opposite sides of hades), the Rich man, a human is tormented in fire in hades (soon to be eradicated by Jesus and the place itself, put in the lake of fire Rev 20.14) The rich man does not protest his being there or the reasons why. Those being judged in the Sheep and Goats are different. They are unaware of the impact of their actions, or lack of actions. They are unlike the rich man who is a human.

Sheep and the Goats continued….

What is it

It’s a proclamation of an event to come.

It’s not a parable, though it does use Sheep and Goat as a metaphor.

Metaphor similarity

Goats isn’t a metaphor used elsewhere in the bible. Goats are associated with the satanic or occult.

Sheep is a metaphor previously used for Israelites and latterly gentiles (non-Jews)

Jesus used characters as metaphors differently in different parables.

Where

Heaven, where the Thrown of His Glory is, so it is a spiritual event, technically outside of time

When

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, technically “outside of time” due to the location, but linked through other scripture to the end times, “end-of-days”, or when time has ended and is no more.

Who’s there and implicated

·      Jesus – Jesus with His Son of Man “hat” on, not Son of God “hat”

·      All the angels – Not just holy angels

·      The “nations” - Angels (fallen and not) and Demons (disembodied spirits of Nephilim). The word “people” is never used.

·      “The least of these / My brethren” – Humans (assumed, it doesn’t say people)

What Happens

·      Jesus comes

·      And all the angels with Him.

·      “Nations” (plural) are gathered.

·      “Nations” are separated, one from another. The nations are the units being separated. Each nation is not split into many parts.

·      Separation is done “as a shepherd divides (his) sheep from the goats”

·      “Nations” considered, or who are, sheep will be set on His right hand.

·      “Nations” considered, or who are, goats will be set on His left hand.

·      “Nations” on His right hand are invited to inherit the kingdom prepared for them.

·      “Nations” on His right hand are told this (reward/inheritance) is due to merciful acts they had performed toward Jesus Himself (giving drink, food, shelter, clothing)

·      “Nations” on His right hand say “Lord, when did we see you in need and do those things?” (either because they actually don’t know, or as rhetorical device for the listner)

·      Jesus then says “inasmuch as you did it for the least of these My brethren, you did it for me”

·      “Nations” on His left hand are told “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:”

·      “Nations” on His left hand are told this (punishment) is because they had failed to perform merciful acts towards Jesus

·      “Nations” on His left hand say “Lord, when did we see you in need and not minister to You?”

·      Jesus then says, “inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these (it doesn’t explicitly say “My brethren” this time), you did not do it to Me” (so not to even one!)

·      Nations on the left will go away to everlasting punishment (all other places or states, considered as Hell, are not everlasting).

·      …but the righteous (presumably the Nations on His Right), into eternal life

The nations / sheep and the goats depicted are not humans.

The nations / sheep and the goats depicted are God’s angels and the devil’s angels (demons), working behind the scenes in influencing how people treat themselves and each other.

As such, any and all humans are not destined to the lake of fire, irrespective of their beliefs.