REFORMED WITNESS
Volume I, April 1993, Number 4
Heaven and Hell: The Paradise of God
By Prof. H. Hoeksema
Excerpt from the book Behold He Cometh!
Book published by the Reformed Free Publishing AssociationSee more articles by this author
Also in this issue: Heaven and Hell: The Reality of Hell
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face: and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 22:1-5)
In this section the life and blessedness of the glorified church is described under the imagery of the original garden of Eden, Paradise the first. There was mention of this already in the letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:7: To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And here the Paradise of God is presented as the final realization of the promise, the fullness of joy of eternal life for the church, the New Jerusalem.
For while Paradise is not mentioned in so many words, the details, considered in the light of Scripture, certainly convey the idea of Paradise. In the garden of Eden there was a river, watering the garden; here the text speaks of the river of the water of life. In the garden there was the tree of life; so here we find the tree of life. The reference, therefore, is clearly to the Paradise-idea, which appears historically, of course, at the dawn of history, but which also occurs prophetically, in the Old Testament, (cf. Genesis 2:8-17; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Zechariah 14:8). The original Paradise assumed the form of a beautiful garden, specially prepared as a dwelling place for man. In connection with our present passage we need not give our attention to all the details of that first Paradise. That it was a most beautiful and pleasant place to live is clear from the description of Genesis 2. The idea, the meaning, of it is essential and is realized in the vision of our text. That idea of Paradise is that it was a house of God, where Adam dwelled in fellowship with God. There the Lord God revealed Himself to man, and there Adam knew God and tasted His grace. There Adam served God in keeping and cultivating the garden. And there, in fellowship of God's covenant, Adam functioned as God's prophet, priest, and king. Paradise the First was God's house for man; it was man's dwelling place in the favor and fellowship of the Lord his God. Here the future glory and blessedness of the New Jerusalem in the new heavens and the new earth is pictured as the final and highest possible realization of that earthly paradise, of the earthly tree of life, and of the original state of righteousness. But the question is: how must we understand all this? Do we have mere imagery here? Or does the final state of glory represent a return to the original state of righteousness? What is the meaning? In answer to this question, we must emphasize, in the first place, that Paradise as it is pictured in Revelation 22 represents the final and perfect realization of the earthly Paradise. The first Paradise was an image of the last. But it was an image not in the sense of mere imagery, or symbolism. On the contrary, the Paradise of God in the new creation is the original and real Paradise, even though it is last in the historical order. It is the ultimate and perfect realization of Paradise, and the first was only an image, a shadow, an earthly realization of that which was to come and which God purposed to realize in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. That first Paradise had to be destroyed to make room for the second Paradise, the real one. And in the New Jerusalem is the final and highest possible realization of the latter. The New Jerusalem, the Lamb's wife, the church, is the realization of the house, the dwelling place, of God. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men! In all the preceding the picture is derived from the idea of the city of God, Jerusalem. In that connection we have pointed out more than once that throughout the ages the Lord our God is accomplishing one grand work of grace. He is building, realizing, Jerusalem, the city of God. For that reason the perfect and holy and great city, the New Jerusalem, can be described in terms of the old, earthly city in the land of Canaan. But in the present passage the future glory and blessedness of God's people are described in terms of the old Paradise, before the fall. And the relationship is the same. The reason why this description is possible is that in that first Paradise we have an image, a picture of things to come. But the heavenly Paradise will not be a return to that first state of things. It is not thus, that sin spoiled the first creation and that the new heavens and the new earth and the new humanity will be the old creation over again. No, while Adam was of the earth, earthy, Christ is the Lord from heaven. And as now we bear the image of the earthy, so we shall also bear the image of the heavenly, I Corinthians 15:45-49. And thus it will be with all things in Christ. But that which was first in history was an image of things to come. The covenant as it was realized with Adam was an image of the perfection of the covenant of grace in Christ. The temporal Sabbath was an image of the everlasting rest. And the first Paradise was an image of the Paradise of God in the New Jerusalem. For that reason the first Paradise will never return. We must not picture to ourselves a literal river or a literal tree of life, no more than we must picture a literal return to the literal old Jerusalem. There shall be no return, but an advance to the perfection of the heavenly things in Christ Jesus. In that connection, in the second place, we may point out that there is a difference between the Paradise of Revelation 22 and that of Genesis 2. The latter was a special garden in the land of Eden. The final Paradise will not feature such a special garden. The church itself shall constitute the house of God. And as far as the location of that house of God is concerned, the entire new creation is its place. Secondly, the final Paradise is not earthy, but heavenly in character, like our resurrected and heavenly Lord. And, in close connection with this, is the third difference: the final Paradise is characterized by absolute incorruptibility. For notice that while indeed the tree of life is represented here, there is no longer any tree of the knowledge of good and evil and no longer any probationary command such as was connected with that tree. And the reason is that there is no room for the tree of knowledge of good and evil any more. In Christ Jesus the church is victorious, incorruptible, immortal, heavenly! In harmony with the preceding are all the details of the vision. In the first place, John sees the river of the water of life. Here we may especially notice the element of the river. The river of the water of life is symbolic of the continuous operation of the life-giving Spirit of God in Christ which the glorified saints constantly and by a constant act on their own part receive and appropriate. In beautiful harmony with this idea of the river of the water of life are the other details mentioned in the text. First of all, the water of this river is clear as crystal, symbolizing that this life is pure and undefiled. In the second place, John beholds this river as proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. This evidently signifies that this energizing stream of pure life has its source in the God of our salvation through Christ. It is the life of God in and through Christ and through the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ flows into the New Jerusalem. In the second place, John sees the tree of life. In the first Paradise the tree of life had especially a two-fold significance. First of all, that tree and its fruit had the power of giving perpetual earthly life to man. In the second place, it had a certain sacramental character. It was a visible and tangible sign of that higher aspect of Adam's life which consisted in the knowledge of and fellowship with God. It was the tree of life. And life is more than mere perpetual existence. Now if we bear the preceding in mind, then we can clearly see the significance of the tree of life in this vision. In the first place it symbolizes the perfected life of heavenly fellowship with God, which mean that the saints constantly taste God's covenant friendship. But in the New Jerusalem is the reality of the tree of life. Hence not merely a sign of God's favor and friendship will the saints enjoy, but the full, heavenly reality of God's ever present favor. And, in the second place, the tree of life represents the perpetuation of the glorious life in the resurrection body. In our resurrection bodies we shall enjoy heavenly and immortal existence in the glory and blessedness of God's covenant friendship forever. In the remainder of this passage detail upon significant detail is added to the record of this vision, as though to emphasize that the glory and bliss of the New Jerusalem are beyond description. We ought to notice, concerning all the details, that they find their central significance in God and the Lamb. Thus we read that the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it (verse 3); that they shall see his face, and that his name shall be in their foreheads (verse 4); and again, that the Lord God giveth them light (verse 5). All the blessedness of the eternal state concentrates in the fact that we shall be with God! In detail, the blessedness of the Paradise of God is described here from a four-fold viewpoint. In the first place, there will be no curse, verse 3: And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him. The curse of God is the expression and operation of God's wrath against sin, manifested in thorn and thistle, in toil and sweat, in the vanity of all things, in all kinds of suffering and sorrow and pain and death. In the New Jerusalem and in the new creation there shall be no more curse. It shall be absent. And this means, positively, that the opposite shall be true: there God's constant favor is present, manifested in joy and bliss and pleasures forevermore. The reason is that there shall be no room for the curse whatsoever: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him. The meaning is clear. The perfected kingdom of heaven is there. God's reign of grace is finally and perfectly realized there. God reigns through Christ, the Lamb, and the service of Him by the saints, His servants, is perfect. The will of God is done by all. And where the will of God is done, there can be no curse. There can be only the perfect favor and fellowship of God. In the second place, there will be the vision of God, verse 4: And they shall see his face. It will be forever impossible to see God in His infinite essence. But the glorified saints shall see the face of God in the New Jerusalem. In the new creation there shall be the revelation of God in the face of Jesus Christ in the direct and highest possible sense of the word. Here, we see only a reflection of that face of God through the Scriptures. We see in a glass, darkly. There, however, we shall see face to face. The saints shall be like Him, as I John 3:2 tells us: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, (it is better to translate: but we know that when it shall appear) we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. This means , of course, that we shall see Christ as He is, and we shall see Him everywhere and always; and through Christ we shall see the face of God forever. This is implied in the fact that His name shall be in their foreheads. God's name is Himself in His revelation. Hence, there shall be true knowledge of Him. The minds and hearts of the saints shall be perfectly receptive for the knowledge of God as revealed in His face. In close connection with this, in the third place, the text teaches that there will be direct knowledge of God, Verse 5: And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light. We are reminded here of the words of Revelation 21:23 and 25. Here, in this present world, all life and all knowledge is conditioned by the light of the sun, or even, as the text reminds us, by the artificial light of man, the light of a candle. Without light there is no possibility of knowledge. But there, in the new creation, there will be no need of physical or artificial light. As we said in connection with Revelation 21, the point of the text is not that there will be no natural night or no natural sun or moon. But the latter will not be necessary as a medium of knowledge; in that sense there will be no darkness. And the reason is that the Lord God gives them light, in the ethical, spiritual, sense of the word, the light according to which we shall know and walk directly. The knowledge of God which is life eternal will be immediate and direct.And thus, finally, the text speaks of the everlasting reign of the saints: and they shall reign forever and ever. With and in Christ the saints shall participate in the reign over all creatures in the new creation. A royal priesthood they shall be: they shall reign as the servants of God. All things shall serve them, that they may serve their God in Christ. Forever they shall reign! There will be no interruption., but their service and their reign shall be constant. And it will be unending. There will be no possibility of an end, no possibility of a fall any more. For all is concentrated and finally established in the throne of God and of the Lamb! This is the hope of the saints, of them that are written in the Lamb's book of life. Behold He cometh! And His promise is certain: To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Heaven and Hell: The Reality of Hell
Edited from an Article by B. L. Ross, Free Grace Broadcaster, January 1993
The Bible was written in three languages: Hebrew (Old Testament), Chaldee (portion of Daniel), and Greek (New Testament). The Bible that we have today is a translation of the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek writings into our language. There are many translations of the Bible, the most popular being the King James Version, which you probably own. There are four words in the KJV translated "Hell." Of these four words, only one of them is used in the Old Testament. That word is the Hebrew word "Sheol". In the New Testament, the three words translated "Hell" are "Hades", "Gehenna", and "Tartarus", all Greek words. The Hebrew word "Sheol" is translated as follows:"Hell"-- 31 times, as in Psalm 9:17, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." "Grave"-- 31 times, as in Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." "Pit"-- 3 times, as in Job 17:16, "They shall go down to the bars of the pit when our rest together is in the dust."
But actually, the Hebrew word "Sheol" does not mean either "Hell", "grave", or "pit". It means "the unseen world" or "the place of departed spirits". Notice how it is defined:Strong's Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary says "Sheol" is "the world of the dead". Young's Analytical Concordance says that "Sheol" is "the unseen state". Smith's Bible Dictionary says that "Sheol" is "always the abode of departed spirits". Fausset's Bible Dictionary and Encyclopedia says that "Sheol" is the "common receptacle of the dead".
So Sheol does not strictly refer to Hell, but to the place of departed spirits, irrespective of whether saved or lost. Sheol is simply a term meaning "the state of the dead in general, without any restriction of happiness or misery" (Smith). In many instances where the word is used, however, the reference is clearly to that compartment of Sheol where the wicked are punished. For example, Psalm 9:17, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." "Hades" is the Greek word in the New Testament which corresponds to "Sheol" and is translated as follows:"Hell"-- 10 times, as in Matthew 11:23, "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day." "Grave"-- 1 time, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (I Cor. 15:55)
But "Hades", like Sheol, does not strictly or exclusively refer to Hell. "Hades" is the corresponding Greek word to the Hebrew word "Sheol," and both have the same meaning. Strong's Greek Dictionary of the New Testament says that "Hades" is "the place (state) of departed souls." Young's Concordance says "the unseen world." A.T. Robertson, world renowned as a Greek scholar says, "Hades is technically the unseen world, the Hebrew Sheol, the land of the departed" (Word Pictures). The reader is urged to read Luke 16:19-31, where a perfect illustration of Sheol (Hades) is given. This passage draws back the curtain and lets us have a look into both sides of "the land of the departed." "Gehenna" or "the Gehenna of fire" is the Greek word that strictly means Hell. It is never translated by any word but "Hell" and eleven of the twelve times the word is used, it is used by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Here are a list of the passages in which the word "Gehenna" appears: Matthew 5:22,29,30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, 23:33; Mark 9:43, 45,47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6. The word "Gehenna" is of Hebrew origin derived from "valley" and "Hinnom." "Gehenna is the Valley of Hinnom where the fire burned continually" (A. T. Robertson). The Valley of Hinnom was a place near Jerusalem where Ahaz introduced the worship of fire gods, the sun, Baal and Moloch. The Jews under ungodly Manasseh offered their children as burnt offerings in this idolatrous worship (Jer. 7:31). This cruel worship was finally abolished, and later Josiah made the place a receptacle of dead carcasses and the bodies of malefactors (criminals), in which worms were continually gendering. A perpetual fire was kept to consume the putrefying matter. The place was still in existence at the time of Christ, and the Saviour illustrated somewhat the condition in eternity, in "the Gehenna of fire," by reference to this valley. The Lord Jesus referred to Hell as the "Gehenna of fire," into which "both body and soul" will be cast. He said that it is "unquenchable fire" and that "the worm (man) dieth not" in the flame, just as the three Hebrew children of Daniel's day did not die when cast into the fiery furnace (Dan. 3). Hell is no myth as infidels, Russellites, Universalists, and Modernists would have you believe. Christ did not warn of Hell simply to scare men. He warned of Hell because it is a reality! "Tartarus," the fourth word translated "Hell," is used only once in the New Testament (II Peter 2:4). Strong's Greek Dictionary of the New Testament says that "Tartarus" is the "deepest abyss of Hades," and that the word means "to incarcerate (imprison) in eternal torment." A.T. Robertson says: "The dark and doleful abode of the wicked dead like the Gehenna of the Jews." Fausset's Dictionary: "The 'deep' or 'abyss' or 'bottomless pit'". So this word strictly refers to the place where the unsaved are confined in Divine judgment. Leaving the passages that contain these four words translated "Hell," notice some passages which teach of Hell in words that even a child can understand.Matthew 13:49-50, "So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth". Revelation 9:2, "And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit". Revelation 14:10-11, "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Revelation 20:10, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Revelation 19:20, "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet...These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." (Also Matt 5:22, 18:8, 25:41, II Peter 3:7; Jude 7).
Be not deceived by the deniers of Hell-fire. Such false teachers serve Satan and are enemies of your soul. Read these passages for yourself, and cast into the fire the deceptive literature that cunningly "explains away" plain statements of God's Word. I have a Watchtower (Russellite, or so-called "Jehovah's Witness") book that tries to do away with the fact that the Bible means what it says in such passages as the following: Matthew 18:8, "Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee: cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire." But Russellism is wrong. You've heard it said, "Death ends all." But does it? The Greek word for "everlasting" is aionios. The word means ageless-- without beginning, without ending, or both. It is used in Romans 16:26 of God: "the everlasting (aionios) God." This use of the word should clearly show us the meaning of the word "everlasting." The Greek scholar A.T. Robertson says of the word: "It comes as near to the idea of eternal as the Greek can put it in one word. It is a difficult idea to put into language." The very same word (aionios) is used to describe the future life of the righteous and the future punishment of the wicked in Matthew 25:46, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." If the punishment of the wicked is limited, we may likewise limit the life of the righteous! But such cannot be done. This phrase, "for ever and ever" (eis tous aionas aionon), occurs 20 times in the New Testament: of God (16 times); of saints' future blessedness (1 time); of punishment of the wicked and Satan (3 times). Is it likely that the phrase means "absolute eternity" 17 times, and only a limited period the other three times? Nonsense! Death is never an annihilation, or a ceasing to exist. It is always a separation. Adam's death was a separation from God (Gen. 2:17; 3:23,24). Christ's death was a separation from the Father (Matt 27:46). Physical death is a separation of the soul from the body (Luke 16:22,23). The second death is the final and eternal separation of the unsaved in the "lake of fire" (Rev 20:11-15). That the second death is not annihilation, see Revelation 19:20 and 20:10. Neither does "destruction" mean annihilation. Something can be destroyed without being annihilated. There is much destruction of property, goods, buildings, etc., in war, but such things are not annihilated. It will certainly be destruction for the unsaved in Hell - destruction of peace, joy, happiness, pleasure, rest, destruction from all that the saints of God have in Heaven, but no annihilation. The unsaved still exist. If you are lost, reader, then you are doomed to eternal separation from God in the Gehenna of fire, unless you trust Him who was separated at Calvary's cross, that sinners might have eternal life in Heaven. Consider your guilt before Him, and the fact that you deserve nothing but Hell because of your sins against the holy and righteous God. Christ suffered Hell -- separation from God -- "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18). "For God hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (II Cor. 5:21). Look to Him for redemption from sin, death, and Hell. Thus realizing your need, submit by faith to Jesus Christ as your Lord, and receive forgiveness of all your sins.
In Hell, there is no hope. They have not even the hope of dying -- the hope of being annihilated. They are for ever -- for ever -- for ever -- lost! On every chain in hell there is written "for ever." In the fires, there, blaze out the words, "for ever." Up above their heads, they read, "for ever." Their eyes are galled, and their hearts are pained with the thought that it is "for ever." Oh! If I could tell you tonight that hell would one day be burned out, and that those who were lost might be saved, there would be a jubilee in hell at the very thought of it. But it cannot be -- it is "for ever" they are "cast into outer darkness." C. H. Spurgeon
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