V. 9- DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN HELL

9- DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN HELL

   Our God is the God of Justice. There is no partiality or favoritism in His divine character (Acts 10:34, Gal 2:26, Eph 6:9). We reap what we sow (Gal 6:7-8). There is nothing to grumble at Him, saying why you did this, and why you did that. In this lesson, we will discuss how wicked people get different magnitude of punishment in Hell based on severity of their sins.

Different chambers within Hell: 

   Bible talks chambers like Sheol, Tartaroo, Gehenna etc. in the underworld.  Just as Sheol or Hades had chambers to accommodate good and bad people in the Old Testament time, likewise within the section of Hell, there are many chambers, whose magnitude of punishment varies from one chamber to another. Based on severity of sin committed, the lost people are placed in those chambers. Greater the sin, greater is the punishment and vice versa. Bible clearly talks of three chambers which is as;

Vision of Heaven and Hell from countless individual:

    To know about the truth of heaven and hell, along with the Bible, I have studied countless books on individual vision beginning from John Bunyan of 17th century, the writer of Pilgrim Progress to our present day. In the heat of those study, I found out that everyone in the vision have the same revelation that inside the Hell, there are countless chambers or sections where severity of punishment varies from one chamber to another. Those men of God were taken supernaturally to heaven in spirit just like the experience of Saint Paul in II Cor 12:1-4. Then they are brought back to the surface of the earth, and after that they were taken inside the earth core and showed all the detail of Hell and how wicked human souls are being punished there in different sections based on severity of sin committed on earth.

The power of the smallest sin:

   Bible talks of small and great sin, but going to hell does not depend upon how great or how small a sin is. Even so called “the least sin” ignored by man has the power to send a person to Hell. Small and big sin comes to picture in the degree of torture in Hell. Greater the sin, greater will be the torture and vice versa. The Bible says:

Matt 5:22 But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘You worthless! ’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You fool! ’ will be subject to hellfire (Gehenna).

Biblical text on degrees of Punishment in Hell:

Matt 23:14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a greater punishment.

Matt 11:20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell

you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24  But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

   Note: When wicked people die, their souls immediately go to Sheol and face different level of Punishment based on severity of their sin. But Jesus again says that those who are facing different level of punishment in Sheol will again be judged and assign different level of torture. This is talking about the Great White Throne Judgment where resurrected wicked will face final judgment for Gehenna or Lake of fire (Rev 20:11-15).