The Apostles’ Creed includes the lines about Jesus “was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell.” This old form of the creed dates to about AD 340. The Old Roman form on these lines reads, “Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried, on the third day rose again from the dead.” Whatever the original form, why did people make such a claim, a claim which is repeated weekly in numerous churches?
Hell, Hades, and Gehenna
In the 1995 edition of the New American Standard Bible, the translation “hell” occurs thirteen times. All but one translate the word gehenna.1 Gehenna gets its name from the valley of Hinnon (Hinnom) to the south of Jerusalem.2 It was a garbage dump that always burned and smoldered and was used for disposing of bodies. In Old Testament times it was a location at which people worshipped the Ammonite deity Molech by burning people even sometimes (often times) children (Lev. 20:2; 2 Ki. 23:10; Jer. 7:31; 32:35). The Jews had taken to using this name for the place of eternal punishment for the damned. Daniel prophesied of a time in which some would be raised to eternal life and others would be raised at another time to eternal ruination (Dan. 12:2). Very early in Israel’s history, it is clear they understood that a fire burned beneath the mountains in a place they called the lowest Sheol (Dt. 32:22). So David recognized God’s lovingkindness in delivering him from the depths or lowest Sheol (Ps. 86:13). As Isaiah announced God’s judgment on Israel, he prophesies, “The strong man will become tinder, His work also a spark. Thus they shall both burn together And there will be none to quench them.” (Isa. 1:31). In connection with the new heavens and new earth, we also find, “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have rebelled against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.” (Isa. 66:24). The concept of a place of punishment was not a newly developed idea in the centuries just prior to Jesus’ arrival. The burning valley of Hinnon (Hinnom) with its awful history became a picture of the place of future punishment for the Jews.
Jesus taught that gehenna was the place of punishment for the wicked. In the sermon on the mount, He warned of actions that would result in one being cast into this place (Mt. 5:22, 29-30; cp 18:9)). Gehenna is where God would destroy soul and body (Mt. 10:28). In this text, “destroy” has the sense of ruining something from its God-designed purpose. He warned that religious leaders would receive the judgment of gehenna namely burning for their actions (Mt. 23:33). Jesus said that He would tell the goats who did not do His will to depart into eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt. 25:41). It wasn’t made for man but for God’s spirits who rebelled against Him As Jesus revealed to John many things that will come, He made John see the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14-15). The burning valley of Hinnon is an appropriate picture of a lake of fire. The lake of fire is the place for those who have rebelled against God, whose names are not written in the book of life.
Hades and Death and the Lake of Fire
Did Jesus descend to Hell, to gehenna, to the lake of fire? NO. Death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). In the Greek text, “death” has a definite article. “The death” often refers to spiritual death (cp Rom. 5:12). Spiritual death is separation from God. We come into this world separated from God. It is only through salvation that God undoes our separation, giving us eternal life (Jh. 5:24; 1 Jh 3:14). So, the lake of fire will be the place of separation from God. Hades is also thrown into the lake of fire. Hades is a Greek term that corresponds to the Hebrew term Sheol. It is the place of the dead both believing and unbelieving, of righteous and unrighteous. This is why David knew God had rescued him from the lowest Sheol or the place of punishment. Jesus tells the account of Lazarus and the rich man (Lk. 16:19-31). The rich man is in torments (note the plural) and Lazarus is resting in Abraham’s bosom (16:23). Hades/Sheol is a place for both with a great chasm fixed between the two so that those in each cannot pass back and forth (16:26). Hades is the temporary place of the dead, not the permanent.
When Peter proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus in Acts 2, He quotes David speaking not of himself but of Christ, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol.” (Acts 2:27; Ps. 16:10). Peter substitutes the Greek Hades for the Hebrew Sheol. How could Christ’s soul be abandoned to Sheol if He did not go to Sheol? A common error of Bible interpreters is to assume everyone went to heaven at death. However, prior to Christ’s resurrection, no one went to heaven. Even believers went to Sheol, specifically to the place of rest not torment, while they awaited Christ’s resurrection at which time He would move them from Sheol/Hades to the edge of the third heaven. Properly, Jesus descended into Hades at death and awaited the day of resurrection. In the same moments that His physical death took place, He was made spiritually alive (1 Pet. 3:18). In the state of physical death, He went and made a proclamation to spirits in prison, who were once disobedient in the days of Noah (1 Pet. 3:19-20). What He proclaimed, Peter does not tell us. He did not evangelize them or offer them a second chance, that is not the word used here. He may have made a proclamation of triumph over them. Peter is clear, in death, Christ went to the location where these disobedient spirits were.
Jesus’ Resurrection and Change
When Jesus met Mary, He told her not to touch Him for, “I have not yet ascended to the Father.” (Jh. 20:17). In mere moments He ascended to the Father, and upon returning, appeared to the other women who grasped His feet (Mt. 28:9). When Jesus ascended, “He lead captive a host of captives.” (Eph. 4:8). Who were these? He led those who had been in Hades to the edge of the third heaven, a new location for paradise (2 Cor. 12:2-4). For this reason, Jesus could say of His Church, “the gates of Hades will not prevail over it.” When we die, we go directly into the presence of our Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Paul anticipated Christ saving him into His heavenly kingdom at death (2 Tim. 4:18). We do not go to Hades. There is no one righteous in Hades anymore. He has led them all to heaven. No one ascended to heaven prior to Christ’s resurrection (Jh. 3:13).
So, we can say that Christ descended into Hades. Since our English Bibles use Hell for the lake of fire, we cannot say He descended into Hell. He died on a cross for our sins, His body was buried in a tomb, but He descended to Hades, and upon rising from the dead, He led the captives free. Only the spiritually dead descend to the lowest sheol/hades. Christ’s spiritual death ended at the end of His time on the cross. In His physical death, He descended to the place where the Old Testament saints waited. But now He lives. He has removed the fear of death and opened the way for all who believe (Heb. 2:9, 14-15).
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