I was conversing with someone via e-mail about gehenna, and here is his response to me:
Gehenna is not really used in the Old Testament. The Greek version of the word is geenna. Geenna is used in the Greek NT but it does not occur in the 2nd Century BC Greek translation of the Old Testament, the LXX (Septuagint).
It will not do to limit the eschatological, Jewish beliefs about Gehenna to post-NT times. The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Gehenna cites Johanan b. Zakkai as assuming that one enters Paradise or Gehenna upon death, for he wept not knowing which would be his end. It turns out that this rabbi is a Tannanic (early) rabbi who lived in the last decade before the destruction of Jerusalem. We thus have a 1st Century example of Jewish usage of the term in NT times that is consistent with the traditional Christian understanding of the term.
Not only is much of Rabbinic teaching ancient, going back to NT times, but we also have Jewish Apocalyptic that affirm such notions at an early date. For example in the Apocrypha there is 2 Esdras 7:36 “The pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell [Gehenna] shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight.” (NRSV) Here is a 1st Century AD Jewish text (probably shortly after and in response to AD 70) that places Gehenna as the parallel alternative to paradise. 1 Enoch (90:26-27; 27:1-2; 54:1-3; 56:3-4) is a pre-Christian text that refers to “the valley” (i.e. the Hinnom Valley) as a place of the fiery Last Judgment. The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (c. AD 100 in current form but whose component parts appear to date earlier) speaks of Gehenna warns that “when you have finished your journey and leave the ship” [that is, when you die] “… there will be no more opportunity for repentance …. But there will be there the sentence of destruction, the way of fire and the path that leads to Gehenna.” (85:12-15, trans. H.F.D. Sparks).
More important than the Jewish background is the NT usage of the word which could of course differ from Jewish usage, but seems to me that your thesis about Gehenna and AD 70 fails there too.
- Luke 12:4-5 seems to contradict your AD 70 thesis.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell [Gehenna]. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (ESV).
If AD 70 were the fulfillment of Gehenna, that would consist merely of killing the body plus an improper (non) burial, the sort of thing Josephus describes in AD 70 to which you refer. But Luke suggests that Gehenna goes beyond merely killing the body. Luke implies being cast into Gehenna is subsequent to death. Why is having one’s corpse be cast into that valley any more terrible than being unceremoniously cast anywhere else? Something more seems to be going on.- The parallel verse Matthew 10:28 states that not only the body but also the soul is destroyed in Gehenna. Although Hebrew NEPHESH is not used in the sense of soul as opposed to body, the Greek work PSUCHE is clearly used that way here. As bad as destruction of the body is, destruction of the soul is worse. The Roman armies of AD 70 only had power to destroy the body. What they did had no effect on the soul.
- Since everybody dies—and in ancient times that was often at a young age—the disaster of AD 70 seems inadequate to explain the severity of Jesus’ warnings about avoiding Gehenna—that it is better to pluck out one’s eye or cut off one’s hand than to be cast into Gehenna (Matt 5:29-30). This is especially so in that most of his audience would be dead before AD 70 some forty years later.
- James 3:6, writing around AD 70, speaks of the tongue (which often says destructive things) as having been set on fire by Gehenna. James thus thinks that at least in a metaphoric way Gehenna already or still existed either before AD 70 or after AD 70. He does not limit its usage to the events of AD 70.
AD 70 is very important historically, but it is inadequate to explain the NT use of the term Gehenna. As just discussed, it does not fit Jesus’ words about Gehenna, nor does it fit James’ use of the word, nor the 1st Century Jewish usage of the word. The association of Gehenna with fire (Matthew 5:22; 9:43; 18:9; James 3:5) suggests that it includes the “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” of the Last Judgment over which Jesus will preside (Matthew 25:31-46) and which John also describes (Revelation 20:11-15).
I recommend you abandon your AD 70 thesis about Gehenna.
What do you think of his argument and how would you counter it?
Re: Gehenna.
The fact that the word ‘gehenna’ is used in later Jewish apocalyptic and rabbinic writings is of limited significance. It is, of course, possible that they reflect earlier traditions that would have been alive in the first part of the first century. According to Jeremias the earliest Rabbinic reference is in T. Sanh. 13.3, though it is always questionable whether these represent genuinely early traditions:
But the question is whether there is good reason to think that Jesus’ use of the term presupposes the same literary and theological context. There is little in the Gospels to suggest that he spoke and thought like the Rabbis (or the later apocalypticists) and much to suggest that he spoke and thought and acted like the Old Testament prophets.
So my argument would be that Jeremiah 7:30-33; 19:1-13 provides the most relevant interpretive context for Jesus’ notion of a judgment of gehenna. Just as the words in the temple about making it a ‘den of robbers’ are intended to recall Jeremiah’s warning that God will destroy the temple because of the sin of the people (Jer. 7:8-15), so Jesus deliberately invokes Jeremiah’s appalling vision of the dead thrown into the valley of Hinnom during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. He does so because he believes that Israel is on a path that will sooner or later lead to the military destruction of Jerusalem.
I have just posted some comments on Luke 12:4-5; Matthew 10:28 is discussed here.
Yes, something more is going on. The point about the corpse being thrown into the valley is that it symbolizes God’s devastating judgment on his people. It is not simply death and lack of burial that is at issue here; it is the horror of God’s rejection of his people.
I think this simply misunderstands the force of the prophetic witness. The primary concern is not with the fate of any particular individual (that is our modern, post-enlightenment perspective) but with the fate of the holy city, the place of God’s dwelling, and of the nation. The warnings are directed against the ‘evil and adulterous generation’ that rejects the Way of hope and survival, and whose behaviour will within a generation bring the destruction of war upon itself. It seems to me that the jeopardy that Israel was in fully accounts for the severity of Jesus’ language. Not only Jesus but also Josephus described the war as a time of unprecedented suffering for Israel: ‘the misfortunes of all nations since the world began fall short of those of the Jews’ (War Proem 4; cf. Matt. 24:21-22). Wouldn’t it be worth losing an eye or a hand to avoid that outcome?
On the face of it James 3:6 is a more general statement and may reflect a different conceptuality. But James, nevertheless, writing from Jerusalem presumably, foresees a coming judgment on the wealthy and corrupt that his readers will in some sense have to endure (5:1-11; cf. 1:2-4, 12). It doesn’t seem to me too difficult to locate James’ eschatology within the prophetic narrative of judgment and renewal that shaped Jesus’ teaching. If the tongue is set on fire by Gehenna, it is because it promotes the wickedness and conflict that will eventually bring judgment upon Israel.
Re: Gehenna.
Thank you. Your response makes sense to me. I will forward it to the guy I was e-mailing and see what he says. I’m sure he’ll disagree. I like seeing both perspectives.
Re: Gehenna.
Enarchay,
I’m glad you’ve discovered this site, since you seem to be getting many of your questions answered. Like you, I think Andrew’s historical take on New Testament eschatology has a lot of interpretive power, and makes the NT narrative (particularly the words of Jesus) hang together quite well. I highly recommend you read Andrew’s ‘The Coming of the Son of Man’, which fleshes out the arguments you might have heard here.
At the same time, just because Andrew is smart and persuasive doesn’t make him right. There are other smart and persuasive people (e.g. ‘Kingjames1’, Peter Wilkinson, on this very forum) who disagree (sometimes quite strongly) with him. I have had some very frustrating days reading through certain debates where each party sounded right, though they were often in clear contradiction. And so, in the end, it can’t all be solved by appeals to authority (unless you’re Catholic—but Andrew ain’t the Pope). For me, it comes down to my picture of God (which, of course, has evolved over time, but is stable around certain concepts). The traditional doctrine of eternal post-mortem conscious torment doesn’t seem right to me. And I’d hate to be a wishy washy ‘liberal’ who wags the biblical dog with the philosophical tail, but if God so loved us that he sent his son to save us, then ‘hell’ contradicts the very nature of God.
Even folks who are quite traditional, like CS Lewis, realize that God’s character would prevent him from having an active role in ‘maintaining’ hell (which is why Lewis speculates that hell is locked ‘from the inside’—in spite of the traditional pictures which very much see it as locked from the outside). NT Wright (who has more in common with Andrew than other NT scholars) has comments on both ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ here. You’ll notice he stays far away from hell as divinely mandated punitive torture (good move!).
At the end of the day, we must be faithful to God, and faithful to Scripture. Nevertheless, when the latter is ambiguous, I find it safer to err on the side of God not being a sadist.
Cheers,
-Daniel-
Re: Gehenna.
Thank you for the response. I know what you mean by frustration from seeing well-supported debates. On the one hand, reading the NT in a historical context ties up lose ends, but on the other end, it opens other lose ends. It leaves us, those living in a post-apocalyptic time, feeling empty. Also, I have always had a hope of Universal Salvation, and the historical readings do not seem to be compatible with that doctrine; annihilationism seems to fit better. That’s another problem I face.
I’m trying my best to keep an open mind and I can be sure of one thing: the mainstream view is definitely “off.”
UPDATE/EDIT:
Daniel, I just read that article you linked me, and I would like your opinion on this statement:
“Note how, even when Revelation 21 and 22 speaks of those who are in the holy city, the new Jerusalem, and those who are excluded from it, it also speaks of the river of the water of life flowing out to the world around, and of the tree of life growing on the banks of the river, with ‘the leaves of the tree being for the healing of the nations’. What does that mean?”
It seems to me that he is suggesting an eventual salvation for those who are at first excluded from new Jerusalem. In other words, those inside new Jerusalem will heal the nations. That’s the way I see it anyway. What do you think he is hinting at?
Re: Gehenna.
That’s an excellent question—and it highlights one of the things I enjoy about NT Wright: he takes us back to the biblical text, and tries to show us what it does say, and what it doesn’t say.
While Andrew and Tom (Wright) differ from traditional preterists in that they still see a big something (namely, the final resurrection) as still ‘to come’, that means that the biblical text tells us very little about it (since the texts traditionally taken to point us to this event may have had something more local in mind). The resurrection and the full renewal of all Creation remains as a future hope, but we can’t make decisive pronouncements about what it’ll look like (contra ‘Left Behind’)—though it must of course be understood as the fulfillment of the story up to now, so it does have a general shape.
So to answer your question, I’m not sure what Wright means. It seems to me he’s just highlighting an open-ended piece of the text which traditional interpretations have tended to gloss over (to the best of my knowledge). We don’t have it all figured out. We know that God is good, but we also know that humans are sometimes (frequently?) stupid enough to resist him; but that even then, God doesn’t give up (I personally think something like what’s been called ‘annihilationism’ best fits with the data, but I don’t think it’s an open and shut case).
Brian McLaren does a good job of exploring these themes in his "The Last Word and the Word After That" (you should read it if you haven’t).
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
-Daniel-
Re: Gehenna.
Out of curiosity, what does Wright believe about the Gospels? Does he see the first resurrection happening in Jesus’ time and the various proclaimed judgments being fulfilled in AD 70, or does he follow the more mainstream view in that these events are still future? I’ve been listening to about an hours worth of his audio sermons and I really like them but I’m having trouble getting a total grasp on his views of prophecy. He briefly examined Paul’s expectations of the “coming” of Christ, the “catching up,” and (first) resurrection, but seems to suggest the events are still future. I’m going to continue reading/listening to his material but I was wondering if you could give me a brief explanation of his views so I’m not blind sighted.
Re: Gehenna.
I don’t know the details of Wright’s views, since I haven’t yet gotten around to reading his ‘big books’ (though I have read some of his little books). Nevertheless, from some of the articles and sermons at ntwrightpage.com, he believes in the ‘second coming’, but also argues that most of the texts which have been traditionally understood as teaching the doctrine don’t in fact teach it. He too views the language about the ‘coming’ of Christ largely in terms of the vision in Daniel 7 (though I think he and Andrew may differ on their views of Paul’s eschatology), and argues that most of the ‘judgment’ (and therefore ‘gehenna’) language in the gospels refers to judgment on Israel in the prophetic, historical sense—a sense nicely fulfilled in 70AD.
Beyond that, I’m not sure. But New Testament studies have never been more exciting to me than they are these days.
-Daniel-
Re: Gehenna.
All I know is this: after discovering the various views expressed on this website, Andrew’s and his humble doctrinal opponent’s (not the best choice of word) belief, and NT Wright, my faith has never been more strong, and I have never had such a thirst for knowledge. For about two years (after accepting the fact that the things my parents have taught me are surprisingly questionable)—which is nothing, I know, in comparison to my elders who have spent 10 and over years—I’ve hopped around from idea to idea, school of thought to school of thought, and these new views that stress the historical conceptuality of the New Testament, make more sense to me than anything else has ever made sense to me. Though I believe understanding the Scriptures is a life long struggle not only for individuals but also for the Church, I think I’m finally getting on the right track.
About a year ago I was struggling and discouraged, but now I am starting to feel renewed excitement and joy. It’s a good feeling. When I was about 15-16 (I am 18 now), when I was starting to challenge preconceived doctrines, no one could explain my objections in a reasonable way, not even my families pastor. It is nice to have people who can explain things in an intelligent way.
Re: Gehenna.
I’d like to ask one more question about Wright, though I’m not sure if you can answer it.
After listening and reading much of his material, it seems that he sees Jesus’ speaking of his “coming” as referring to historical fulfillments within the 1st century AD context. However, in relation to Paul’s view about resurrection and “catching up,” he seems to suggest future events. Here’s what I’m having trouble grasping about his beliefs. When does he see the first and second resurrection happening? It is almost as if he sees them happening at once. On the one hand he seems to suggest that the new age (i.e. 1000-year reign) began with the resurrection of Christ, but on the other hand, he does not seem to see a first resurrection happening within the 1st century context. I do not see how the 1000-year reign can be current if the first resurrection had not occurred in the past. Additionally, he sees Paul’s speaking of resurrection in Thessalonians (often used to support the pre-trib rapture seen in Left Behind) happening at the climax of God ushering in New Jerusalem to a reforming earth and heaven. When then would the second resurrection happen? I thought the second resurrection, not the first, happened prior to the descending of New Jerusalem. There is, of course, the option that Wright sees Paul’s speaking of resurrection as referring to the second resurrection, not the first.
Can anyone give me his or her take on Wright’s beliefs?
Re: Gehenna.
Here is an interesting article I just read by a user on a forum. Tell me what you think of his views. I think he is on the right track.
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Israel, the Law, and the Judgment of Gehenna
Many Bible versions translate the Greek word Geenna as “hell” and thereby do their readers a grave disservice by confusing the word with the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades which they translate as “hell” also. The Greek Geenna is a transliteration of the Hebrew Ge Hinnom which means “Valley of Hinnom.” Gehenna is the English transliteration of the Greek Geenna. Gehenna is a valley outside of Jerusalem and in the Old Testament was called “The Valley of the son of Hinnom.” The story of Gehenna goes back to the days of the prophet Jeremiah. At that time, Gehenna was a symbol of Judah’s idolatry and the god Molech was worshiped there through the horrible practice of child sacrifice. God said this was an abomination and it was one of the chief violations of the laws that were given to Israel.
When Israel left Egypt, Moses gave Israel the law which they were instructed to carefully observe. These laws constituted a covenant between Israel and God which lay before them either blessing or cursing. If the Israelites were faithful and obeyed, then they would be blessed with great bounty and goodness, victory over their enemies, and possession of the Promised Land. If they did not obey, then they would be cursed with famine, pestilence, disease, defeat at the hand of their enemies, and loss of the Promised Land.(Deut 28 ) With these preliminary facts in mind, let’s go to Matt 18:5-9:
Matt 18:5 And whosoever should be receiving one such little child in My name is receiving Me. 6 Yet whoever should be snaring one of these little ones who is believing in Me, it is expedient for him that a millstone requiring an *** to turn it may be hanged about his neck, and he should be sunk in the open ocean. 7 “Woe to the world because of snares! For it is a necessity for snares to be coming. Moreover, woe to that man through whom the snare is coming! 8 Now, if your hand or your foot is snaring you, strike it off and cast it from you. Is it ideal for you to be entering into life maimed or lame, or, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the fire eonian? 9 “And if your eye is snaring you, wrench it out and cast it from you. Is it ideal for you to be entering into life one-eyed, or, having two eyes, to be cast into the Gehenna of fire?
Notice carefully the use of the words “snare” and “snaring.” If you follow the progression of this passage you will see that it is an individual who is a “snare” and then Jesus switches to figurative language in which a man who is a snare is figured by a “foot”, “hand”, or “eye.” If an Israelite snared one of his brethren from believing in Jesus, then it was best for all concerned if that man had a millstone hanged about his neck and he was cast into the sea. Such a man was a snare to his brothers and should be cut-off from among the people of Israel. This hearkens back to what Moses said about idolaters in Israel. If any Israelite worshiped a false god or tried to snare his brothers into worshiping a false god, then that man was to be cut-off from the people and put to death (Deut 13:5-11; 17:2-7). It would be better for that one man to die than for all of Israel to suffer the curses of the law because they were snared into worshipping false gods.
No sane person has ever cut off his hand or plucked out his eyes to keep himself from going to “hell.” However, there is a literal truth behind our Lord’s figurative instructions. When considering the passage above, think of all of Israel as “the body” and each Israelite as a member of that body. The snare (the Israelite trying to keep his brethren from following Jesus) in the body, whether he is an eye, a foot, or a hand, should be “struck off” lest the entire body of Israel experience the Gehenna of fire. This is the literal truth behind the figure.
The word “snare” is a translation of the Greek word skandalon from which we get our English word “scandal.” Here is a brief survey of how the word is used in the New Testament. Notice especially the first example in which we are told that when Christ returns all of the people who are “snares” and those who are doing lawlessness will be taken out of His kingdom:
• Matt 13:41 The Son of Mankind shall be dispatching His messengers, and they shall be culling out of His kingdom all the snares and those doing lawlessness, • Rom 16:17 Now I am entreating you, brethren, to be noting those who are making dissensions and snares beside the teaching which you learned, and avoid them, 18 for such for our Lord Christ are not slaving, but for their own bowels, and through compliments and adulation are deluding the hearts of the innocent. • Matt 16:23 Now, being turned, He said to Peter, “Go away behind Me, satan! A snare are you to Me, for you are not disposed to that which is of God, but that which is of men.” • Rom 9:33 33 according as it is written: Lo! I am laying in Zion a Stumbling Stone and a Snare Rock, And the one believing on Him shall not be disgraced. • Rom 14:13 By no means, then, should we still be judging one another, but rather decide this, not to place a stumbling block for a brother, or a snare. • 1Cor 1:23 yet we are heralding Christ crucified, to Jews, indeed, a snare, yet to the nations stupidity, • Gal 5:11 Now I, brethren, if I am still heralding circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? Consequently the snare of the cross of Christ has been nullified. 12 Would that those who are raising you to insurrection struck themselves off also! • Rev 2:14 But I have a few things against you, that you have there those holding the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a snare before the sons of Israel, to be eating idol sacrifices, and to commit prostitution.
The Judgment of Gehenna
But how should we understand Gehenna, its judgments and fires? Consider the following verses from Matthew 23:
Matt 23:13 “Now woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are locking the kingdom of the heavens in front of men. For you are not entering, neither are you letting those entering to enter. 15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are going about the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever he may be becoming one, you are making him more than double a son of Gehenna than you are. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are building the sepulchers of the prophets and adorning the tombs of the just, 30 and you are saying, `If we were in the days of our fathers, we would not be participants with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So that you are testifying to yourselves that you are the sons of those who murder the prophets. 32 And you! Fill full the measure of your fathers! 33 “Serpents! Progeny of vipers! How may you be fleeing from the judging of Gehenna? 34 Therefore, lo! I am dispatching to you prophets and wise men and scribes. Of them, some you will be killing and crucifying, and of them, some you will be scourging in your synagogues and persecuting from city to city, 35 so that on you should be coming all the just blood shed on the earth, from the blood of just Abel until the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murder between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily, I am saying to you: All these things will be arriving on this generation. 37 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! who art killing the prophets and pelting with stones those who have been dispatched to her! How many times do I want to assemble your children in the manner a hen is assembling her brood under her wings—and you will not! 38 Lo! left is your house to you desolate. Matt 24:2 Yet He, answering, said to them, “Are you not observing all these? Verily, I am saying to you, under no circumstances may a stone here be left on a stone, which shall not be demolished.”
We must first be clear that these particular words are not spoken to mankind in general. They are spoken to the Jewish throng, His disciples(Matt 23:1), Jerusalem(v. 37), and those who killed the prophets(v. 34+37) . The scribes and Pharisees are particularly singled out as the recipients of His wrath for they sit on Moses’ seat (Matt 23:2) and are “locking the kingdom of the heavens in front of men” (Matt 23:13) . The scribes and Pharisees were “snares”, trying to influence the Jewish people from believing in Jesus Christ. They are the sons of those who persecuted the prophets(v. 31) and bring to completion the transgressions of their fathers (v. 32+35) such that the full consequences of those transgressions would fall upon the generation living in Jesus’ day(v. 36, 33, 38; 24:2) These consequences were described as the “judgment of Gehenna”(v. 33).
In using this term, the “judgment of Gehenna”, Jesus is bringing to mind what happened in Jeremiah’s day when the Babylonians turned Judah into a barren desolation. At that time, the transgressions of the law were epitomized by the sacrifice of children to the god Molech in the “Valley of the Son of Hinnom” and that valley came to also epitomize the curses of the law as it became a vast dumping ground for the unburied corpses of the people of Jerusalem when the Babylonians destroyed Judah. The scribes and Pharisees (and the Jewish People), then, were the sons of these transgressors, and the sons of those who suffered the consequences of these transgressions. In this sense, they were the “sons of Gehenna”, and those who they proselytized were twice as bad as they were: “double a son of Gehenna”(Matt 23:15). Their fathers had experienced the curses of the law in the past, especially as those curses of the law were felt in their full horrific measure in the valley of Gehenna during the Babylonian invasion, and the generation of Jesus’ day experienced the same consequences when the Romans destroyed Israel in 70AD.
It will be helpful to summarize what went on in the book of Jeremiah and the type of language that was used in order to aid us in our understanding of the judgment of Gehenna. Judah had turned from God and the law of the covenant (Jer 1:16; 11:3) to the worship of other gods. Most egregious was the worship of the god Molech with child sacrifice (Jer 7:31; 32:34,35). This abomination was focused in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (Gehenna)(Jer 7:31; 19:2-11). Jeremiah called for repentance, a turning away from these transgressions of the law and a turning to the true and living God. If the people did not repent, then the curses of the covenant would fall upon them (Jer 4:4; 11:3-8). These curses involved the invasion of Babylon and the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem. This invasion was spoken of figuratively as a fire that would desolate all of Judah. It would be a fire that would be “not quenched”(Jer 4:4; 7:20; 17:27), burning man, beast, tree, field, fruit, and the high places of Jerusalem (Jer 7:20; 17:27). And even if the people of Judah cried out for deliverance, God would not hear them and save them from these evils ( Jer 11:11,14). This evil would be unstoppable, “unquenchable” while in progress, and would run its course until completed. The Valley of the Son of Hinnom would become known as the “Valley of Slaughter” (Jer 7:32; 19:6) for there the bodies of the slain would be cast until there was no longer any place to bury and their carcasses would become food for the fowl of the heavens, and the beasts of the field (Jer 7:33; 16:4; 19:7; 34:20; Deut 28:26). The land of Judah would be an “eonian waste” which would last for 70 years.(Jer 25:9-11)
With these facts in mind, let’s continue our study in the New Testament:
Matt 3:7 Now, perceiving many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Progeny of vipers! Who intimates to you to be fleeing from the impending indignation? 8 Produce, then, fruit worthy of repentance. 9 And you should not be presuming to be saying among yourselves, `For a father we have Abraham,’ for I am saying to you that able is God, out of these stones to rouse children to Abraham. 10 “Yet already the ax is lying at the root of the trees. Every tree, then, which is not producing ideal fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. 11 For I, indeed, am baptizing you in water for repentance, yet He Who is coming after me is stronger than I, Whose sandals I am not competent to bear. He will be baptizing you in holy spirit and fire, 12 Whose winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will be scouring His threshing floor, and will be gathering His grain into His barn, yet the chaff will He be burning up with unextinguished fire.”
In this passage the trees represent the Jewish people and the fruit represents their works. The “unextinguished fire” represents the “impending indignation” (Matt 3:7) as it was poured out upon Israel in 70AD, and/or as it will be poured out again during the time of the tribulation when the Lord returns and is similar in character to the “unquenched fires” when Babylon desolated the land of Judah. Under the administration of law to which Israel was subject, snares and transgressors are liable to the curses and judgments of the law while repentance and “fruit worthy of repentance” is necessary to avoid these curses whether individually, or especially, collectively as a nation.
Mark 9:42 “And whosoever should be snaring one of these little ones who are believing in Me, ideal is it for him rather if a millstone requiring an *** to turn it were lying about his neck and he were cast into the sea. 43 And if your hand should ever be snaring you, strike it off. It is ideal for you to be entering into life maimed, rather than, having two hands, to come away into Gehenna, into the unextinguished fire 44 where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out. 45 And if your foot should be snaring you, strike it off. For it is ideal for you to be entering into life maimed or lame, rather than, having two feet, to be cast into Gehenna, into the unextinguished fire, 46 where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out. 47 And if your eye should be snaring you, cast it out. It is ideal for you to be entering into the kingdom of God one-eyed, rather than, having two eyes, to be cast into the Gehenna of fire, 48 where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out. 49 For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt.
This passage has many similarities with the Matt 18:5-9 passage. Note how the person who is a snare in verse 42 should be cut-off from the people and cast into the sea. Jesus then says that it is better for them to cut-off the part of their body that is snaring them, lest their entire body{the entire body of the nation of Israel} be cast into “unextinguished fire,” the “Gehenna of fire”, where their “worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out” and this experience is set in contrast to “entering into the kingdom of God.” The “unextiguished fire” recalls to mind the fire that is not quenched (Jer 4:4; 7:20;17:27) that burned all the land of Judah when the Babylonians made it into a desolation. {The Romans did the same thing in 70AD} No matter how the Jews would cry out to God, they would not be heard (Jer 11:14), and the fires of destruction would perform their evil work without being quenched.
The phrase, “Their worm is not deceasing” brings to mind Jeremiah’s pronouncements that their carcasses would be food for the fowl of the air and the beasts of the field (Jer 7:33; 16:4; 19:7; 34:20; Deut 28:26). The Greek word for “deceasing” is not the usual word for dieing. It’s the word teleutao which means 1) to finish, bring to an end, close 2) to have an end or close, come to an end. With respect to a person’s death teleutao is viewed as the result of life’s completion. The idea seems to be that there will be no end to the worms that will feed upon their corpses. To the Jew, who buried their dead immediately, and corpses were unclean, this would have been an abhorrent thought and brings to mind the curses of the law. When God was particularly displeased with someone the judgment pronounced upon them might include their corpses being food for the dogs, or for the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. The reason why Jesus mentions worms (maggots) and not beasts and fowl as does Jeremiah, might be because it relates to the millennial kingdom as well, and during that time “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock….They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord” (Isa 65:25). The only flesh eating creature might be maggots within the immediate area of Jerusalem during that time.
Here is a passage in Isaiah that speaks of the millennial kingdom:
Isaiah 66:23 And it comes, according to the monthly quota in its month, and according to the sabbath quota in its sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me in Jerusalem,” says Yahweh. 24 And they fare forth and see the corpses of the mortals, the transgressors against Me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they become a repulsion to all flesh.”
Notice that these are “corpses” and not living people that are objects of repulsion to all flesh. These people are “transgressors” (v. 24), they have violated the law such that they will be punished with death and will miss out on the blessings of the millennial kingdom. (Recall Matt 13:41 which spoke of snares and transgressors taken out of the kingdom when Christ returns) Jeremiah says that when the new covenant goes into effect that children will no longer be punished for the sins of their fathers, but each will be put to death for their own sins. (Jer 31:29,30) These transgressors will probably be people like Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the Holy Spirit(Acts 5:1-11), and in judging them, Peter gives just a little picture of what it will be like in the kingdom when the12 disciples sit on 12 thrones and rule/judge the 12 tribes of Israel(Matt 19:28, Lk 22:30) If this event had happened in the kingdom, no doubt Ananias and Sapphira would have been cast outside Jerusalem into Gehenna without the dignity of a burial and their rotting corpses would have served as a warning of how the law will be applied to transgressors. In that day, transgressors will be swiftly cut-off from the land of Israel, which is something that ideally should have been done throughout Israel’s long history. It’s better for one transgressor to be cut-off and suffer the judgment of Gehenna than for the sin to spread throughout the entire nation and lead to the entire nation suffering the judgment of Gehenna.
Matthew 5 addresses kingdom law, and a picture of how transgressors will be dealt with at that time is given:
Matt 5:21 “You hear that it was declared to the ancients, `You shall not murder.’ Yet whoever should be murdering shall be liable to the judging. 22 Yet I am saying to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to the judging. Yet whoever may be saying to his brother, `Raka!’ shall be liable to the Sanhedrin. Yet whoever may be saying, `Stupid!’ shall be liable to the Gehenna of fire.
This is how justice will be dealt out in the future during the millennium kingdom when the Lord rules with an iron rod. At that time, one who is angry with his brother will be liable to judging. Someone who takes his anger a step further and says “Raka” to his brother shall be dragged in front of the Sanhedrin for judgment. Moreover, someone who takes his anger an additional further step and says “Stupid!” to his brother shall be liable to the Gehenna of fire, which is to say they will be killed and cut-off from Israel. Such strict standards have never been put in practice in the past, but they will be put in practice in the future. The “fire” of Gehenna is not necessarily literal, but is a metaphor for destruction. The destruction in view could be the destruction of one transgressor or the desolation of the entire nation by invading armies as the case may be throughout the history of Israel. The “fires” of Gehenna can even represent any aspect of the curses of the law such as plague, drought, and anti-Semitism. Consider how James, in writing to the twelve tribes in the dispersion (James 1:1), uses the word Gehenna:
James 3:5 Thus the tongue, also, is a little member and is grandiloquent. Lo! What amount of fire is kindling what amount of material! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of injustice. The tongue is constituted among our members that which is spotting the whole body, and setting the wheel of our lineage aflame, and is set aflame by Gehenna.
Who does James have in mind when he speaks of “the wheel of our lineage”? Well, the lineage of the Jews of course, for that is to whom he addressed his epistle (1:1). Gehenna is a poignant picture of God’s wrath that has burned against the Jews whenever they violated the covenant of law that was given to them at Mount Sinai. Notice also how James pictures the tongue as one member that spots the whole body. James says that teachers will be subject to greater Judgment (3:1). The tongue of one man can lead astray (Snare) the whole people of Israel (the whole body), such that they become subject to the flames of Gehenna(curses of the law) as it has occurred repeatedly in the past. In fact, even now, they suffer from the flames of persecution as they sojourn in foreign lands where they have been driven for their national sins.
Let’s address two more passages where Gehenna is used:
Luke 12:4 “Now I am saying to you, My friends, be not afraid of those who are killing the body and after this do not have anything more excessive that they can do. 5 Now I shall be intimating to you of Whom you may be afraid: Be afraid of Him Who, after killing, has authority to be casting into Gehenna. Yea, I am saying to you, of this One be afraid!
Matt 10:28 “And do not fear those who are killing the body, yet are not able to kill the soul. Yet be fearing Him, rather, Who is able to destroy the soul as well as the body in Gehenna.
First of all, notice that it is “after killing”(Luke 12:5) that any are cast into Gehenna. The destruction of the body in Gehenna is not where the living are forever tormented, but rather where the full force of the curses of the law are demonstrated, where corpses of transgressors are thrown to rot and decay, and to be food for animal life in the full view of other people. Now we must ask ourselves, in what sense is the “soul” destroyed in Gehenna? Consider the following passages and observe how the destruction of the soul is addressed:
Matt 10:37 “He who is fond of father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me. And he who is fond of son or daughter above Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who is not taking his cross and following after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who is finding his soul will be destroying it, and he who destroys his soul on My account will be finding it.
Matt 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples: “If anyone is wanting to come after Me, let him renounce himself and pick up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whosoever may be wanting to save his soul shall be destroying it. Yet whoever should be destroying his soul on My account shall be finding it. 26 For what will a man be benefited, if he should ever be gaining the whole world, yet be forfeiting his soul? Or what will a man be giving in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Mankind is about to be coming in the glory of His Father, with His messengers, and then He will be paying each in accord with his practice.(See also Mark 8:34-38; Lk 17:32,33)
John 12:25 He who is fond of his soul is destroying it, and he who is hating his soul in this world, shall be guarding it for life eonian. 26 “If anyone should be serving Me, let him be following Me, and where I am, there My servant also shall be. And if anyone should be serving Me, the Father shall be honoring him.
The “soul” speaks of consciousness, sensation, emotion, etc. Those who seek to “save” their soul, are those who seek to live for their own pleasure in this life, or who seek to preserve it rather than being a martyr for Christ. Those who hate their soul in this life, and “destroy” their soul in this life, either by denying themselves the pleasures of the flesh or who go all the way and lay down their soul in death for the cause of Christ will be guarding their soul for life eonian. They will rule and reign with Christ in the eons to come and their soul will enjoy the pleasures and joys of the coming kingdom. Those who are presently fond of their soul, will miss out on the joys and pleasures of the coming kingdom for they will be in death.
The judgment of Gehenna should be viewed in the context of Israel’s history both past and future. It should especially be viewed in the context of the yoke of the law which promised curses and death for transgressors. If the whole nation was in transgression then the whole nation was subject to the curses. If one person was in transgression, especially if that transgression was idolatry, then that person was to be cut-off from the nation and killed so that the whole nation did not become snared into transgression. Peter, in quoting Moses, said that any Israelite who did not listen to Jesus was to be cut-off from among the people of Israel (Acts 3:23). Certainly, it would have been ideal for Israel throughout history, if those who snared their fellow Israelites into idolatry, and if those who snared their fellow Israelites from believing in Jesus had been cut-off from the nation so that the entire nation did not have to endure the judgment of Gehenna. In the future, when Christ rules with a rod of iron, the nation as a whole will be blessed under Christ’s Reign and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which will enable the nation to keep the law and the entire nation will no longer be subject to the judgment of Gehenna. However, there will be selected individuals in Israel like Ananias and Sapphira who will transgress the law from time to time and their judgment will serve as a warning to others. Wherever you have law in effect, you have the curses of the law(Gal 3:10) which are sure to follow. And even though the whole nation of Israel will not experience those curses during the millennium, individual snares and transgressors will experience those curses in the “judgment of Gehenna.” As members of the body of Christ, we can be thankful that we are not under law (and the curses of the law) but under grace, and in faith can reckon ourselves as being already dead (and freed from law) and living to God in Christ Jesus.
Re: Gehenna.
While there are some parts of that article I disagree with, I really liked the idea of, when Christ is talking about cutting off a body part and throwing it into Gehenna, he was talking about the unrepentant and rebellious Israelites that were to be cut off and away from the followers of Christ.
What do you guys think of that interpretation?