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What is Hell Like?
The Bible offers a variety of disturbing pictures of hell.  Hell is described as a place of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43); condemnation (Matthew 23:33); darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:11-13); chains and judgement (2 Peter 2:4).  While some of these images create an apparent conflict (e.g., fire and darkness), together they are a picture of misery.

The clearest picture we have of hell comes from Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31  In this parable, Jesus warned that the boundaries between heaven and hell are permanently fixed.  While Lazarus entered a place of comfort (Luke 16:25), the rich man existed in torment, longing for even a drop of cool water (Luke 16:24).

Jesus' description of hell also leads to several observatinos.  People are recognizabl there, and it is a place of agony and torment (Luke 16:23).  The chasm between heaven and hell prevents escape or movement from hell to heaven (Luke 16:26).  And it is not possible for anyone in hell to warn loved ones alive on earth about the reality of hell (Luke 16:31).




                                                                                               -NIV Quest Study Bible