The “Hell fire” of Gehenna’s “lake of fire” (below) is the place of final “everlasting destruction” (2Thes. 1:9) of all the unbelieving lost souls of all ages.

“But I [Jesus] say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment… but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of ‘hell fire.’ [Gk. gehenna pyr, ‘lake of fire’]” (Mat. 5:22 (KJV)

The very ‘life’ of every individual lost unbelieving soul will ultimately be Totally Snuffed Out. Their life will be Extinguished as if they never were by the loss of their “spirit of man” that had given them life … this, just BEFORE their carcass is cast into the lake of fire. Thus the “2^nd death” is not due to Gehenna’s ‘fire’ per se’ but rather this death comes by the loss of one’s “spirit of man,” the loss of the very “breath (Gk. pneuma, spirit)” of God (Gen. 2:7) that initially gave them life. Their “spirit of man” will ‘have RETURNED TO THE LORD who gave it.’

“Then shall THE DUST [of the physical body] RETURN TO THE EARTH as it was: and The Spirit [of man] Shall Return Unto God Who Gave It.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7 (KJV)

Gehenna’s “lake of fire” is the place of “everlasting destruction” (2 Thes. 1:9), which is to come only … AFTER all the lost souls of all ages in are resurrected to bodily “stand” at “the Great White Throne” Judgement before the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Revelation 20:11-12). This occurs at the very end of the Millennium, after Satan’s final rebellion in coming against “the saints” and the “beloved city [Jerusalem]” as seen here below.

“And when the thousand years [of the Millennial Kingdom] are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, ⁸And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints [the believing remnant] about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 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 20:7-10 (KJV)

The Sequence of Those Going To “The Lake of Fire”:

1. The “Beast [Antichrist] and False Prophet” (Rev. 20:10) of the Tribulation period will have been the first ones cast into Gehenna’s “hell-fire” called “the lake of fire” at the end of the Tribulation period, preceding the Millennial Reign of Christ.
2. The “Beast [Antichrist] and False Prophet” are to be followed, 1,000 years later, by “the devil and his angels” at the end of the Millennium.
3. Then, as seen below … ALL the unbelieving lost of ALL ages will be judged at “the Great White Throne.” These are they whose names are not found written in “the Lambs book of life.” They will be cast into “the lake of fire.”

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And Whosoever Was Not Found Written In The Book Of Life Was Cast Into The Lake Of Fire.” (Revelation 20:12-15 (KJV)

This above is seen in the book of Revelation, referring to John’s vision of the resurrection of all the unbelieving lost dead and their judgment at the close of the Millennial Period, after Satan’s final rebellion. These lost souls will be resurrected bodily from their “graves” to “stand” at the final “the Great White Throne” judgment that leads to their “second death” (v14).

Note how that that the Greek word “hades” has again been improperly transliterated as “hell” all the verses above. By now you should know that he Greek “hades,” simply means “the grave.” After this resurrection of the lost unbelievers occurs as seen above in Rev. 20:12-15… all the graves of all men will have been emptied and no longer be needed. Nobody will be in eternal torment except “the Devil and his angels” (Rev. 20:10).

The “second death” occurs at the time the lost souls are judged and cast into “the lake of fire.” Here, below, Jesus refers specifically to this ultimate destiny for the religious Pharisees whom He confronted in His earthly ministry. Again, we have yet another mistranslation of the Greek Gehenna (“the lake of fire”), calling it “hell (the grave).”

“You snakes [the religious Pharisees]! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned [judged and sentenced] to Hell [Gehenna, ‘The Lake of Fire’]?” (Matt. 23:33).

Like all men at their 1^st death, the human “spirit of man” of these false religious pharisaical vipers “will return to the Lord who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7). After their judgment and 2^nd death their spirit-less physical bodies will wind up in the “hell fire” of “Gehenna,” i.e., “the lake of fire.” They, along with all the lost unbelieving souls will face “everlasting destruction [to be forever totally destroyed]” (2 Thes. 1:9). Gehenna’s eternal “lake of fire” can be considered as the refuse incinerator for ‘the dead bodies’ of the lost, as well as the place of “torment” only for “the devil and his angels” (Rev. 20:10). The term s “his angels” includes those now in “Tartaroo” (see Part 3).

The earth’s “valley of Gehenna’ is located just outside Jerusalem’s south wall and it has served as the trash dump for thousands of years. Its craggy rugged walls sometimes caught dead bodies that then were first were decayed by maggots before getting to the fire below. Maggots – or fly larvae, can consume up to 60 percent of a human body in under seven days. Historically the Hinnom valley of Gehenna was always burning, smoldering, being filled with trash, carcasses of animals and even those of dead criminals, all being decomposed, disintegrated, by the rapidly breeding maggots (worms) and by the fire.

The Holy Spirit through Job here describes his expected time in “the grave” after death.

“If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. ¹⁴ I have said to corruption [degeneration], Thou art my father: to the worm [Heb. rimma, rapidly breeding maggot], Thou art my mother, and my sister. ¹⁵ And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? ¹⁶ They shall go down to the bars of the pit [Gk. Sheol, the grave], when our rest together is in the dust. (Job 17:13-16 (KJV)

Job knew that he had the ‘breath and life’ of the Lord in his nostrils before he died.

“All the while my breath is in me, and The Spirit of God Is In My Nostrils;” (Job 27:3 (KJV)
“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath [Heb. neshamah, spirit] of the Almighty hath given me life.” (Job 33:4 (KJV)

Job also knew and expected in faith that after physical death he will awake at his bodily resurrection when His living “redeemer” returns to “stand … upon the earth.”

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he [The Lord Jesus] shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: ²⁶ And though after my skin worms [maggots] destroy this body, yet In My Flesh Shall I See God: Job 19:25-26 (KJV)

All the lost unbelievers will also resurrect… but only to be judged and then cast into “the lake of fire.” Israel’s “valley of Gehenna’ that I’ve described is to be seen as the Bible’s prefigure of the “hell-fire” of “eternal destruction” (2Thes. 1:9) to come upon ALL the unbelieving lost souls of ALL ages.

Today the dead lost and the dead righteous still remain their “graves.” Nobody has left their grave as yet… except Jesus Christ in His resurrection as “the first fruit” unto God (1Cor. 15:20).

Today all the dead, both the lost and righteous, remain ‘asleep’ in their “graves” awaiting their assigned resurrections. Thankfully, as Paul wrote, we the believers of today’s dispensational age of “the grace of God,” can be ‘comforted’ in the death of loved ones who believed, and in contemplating our own death as believers.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [dead], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

¹⁵ For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and The Dead In Christ Shall Rise First: ¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up [Raptured] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord [Jesus] in the air: and So Shall We Ever Be With The Lord. ¹⁸ Wherefore Comfort One Another With These Words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (KJV)

Nobody as yet has faced the “Great White Throne” judgment and passed into “the lake of fire” – today “the lake of fire” remains EMPTY. But that day of the final judgment is soon coming to billions of lost, unbelieving, rebellious, souls who have lived in all the ages of time on planet earth. At that time the opportunity to receive God’s free gift of salvation will have expired.  

“… the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man…” (Gen. 6:3)

In the end the Devil, Sin, Antichrist, the false prophet, All the lost unbelieving sinners, and both “death and the grave” will be gone… never to be remembered.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 (KJV)

While there is no specific biblical reference that explicitly states that we will recognize our loved ones in heaven, the Bible shows us that we will know each other more fully than we do now. The Apostle Paul declared, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Concerning the lost who we’ve known who never came to faith in the Lord, Isaiah writes:

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” (Isaiah 65:17 (KJV)