The following article is based on the sermon Descent Into Hell which you can watch or listen to here.
Christian thinking can be influenced by culture around us. Today, materialistic naturalism is so prominent in the world of ideas that concepts like angels, demons, spirits, and the underworld seem more like fairy-tale fiction than reality.
But the Bible affirms that the unseen world is just a real as what is seen. Human beings are certainly more than physical—we have a soul or spirit. God himself is a spirit with no physical dimensions or form. Yet we spend little time considering unseen realities. This article seeks to explore the depths of the underworld, understanding this reality in the light of Scripture.
Three Realms
The Scriptures speak of different realms or places. Philippians 2 is a familiar passage but there is one detail that likely missed your attention.
Philippians 2:6–11 says, “though [Christ] was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Notice the scope of Christ’s dominion in his exaltation. He has authority in heaven and on earth and under the earth—three realms. The earth we know. It is seen. We can touch it. The other two realms are not physical but spiritual. Heaven is the home of God where his presence is manifest and where the holy angels reside. Then we have under the earth mentioned. This is the place of the dead. We see these same realms in other places of Scripture (cf. Rev 5:3; Job 11:7–9; Ps 139:7–8).
The Underworld
The realm “under the earth” has many names in Scripture. “Sheol” is used in the OT and means the abode of the dead. This word is often translated “Hades” in the Greek translation of the OT. The word “Hades” means unseen place. The Bible also uses terms like the pit, the abyss, the depths of the sea, or the deep to refer to Sheol.
We know the underworld is a spiritual place since you die to go there, and death is the separation of the body and spirit. A body without a spirit is a corpse and a spirit without a corpse is a “shade” or disembodied spirit (cf. Isaiah 14:9; 26:14).
In speaking of the king of Babylon, Isaiah 14:9–11 says, “Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. All of them will answer and say to you: ‘You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!’ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers.”
The grave (Sheol) is not just where the unrighteous dead go, but the righteous as well. Genesis 37:35 describes when Jacob thought that his son Joseph was dead. It says, “All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, ‘No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.’” In Isaiah 38, Hezekiah writes of his near-death experience when he was sick, and the Lord added fifteen years to his life. He said after recovering from his sickness, “I said, In the middle of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years. I said, I shall not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living” (Isaiah 38:10–11).
In this story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31) we see both the righteous and the wicked in Sheol. Lazarus is in a place of comfort by Abraham’s side, and the rich man is in torment. They are all in the same realm although their experience is entirely different. One might say they are in a different compartment, section, or level of Sheol.
Levels in the Underworld
While it might seem counter-intuitive to describe a spiritual place with physical descriptions, it is the best we can do to understand the nature of the underworld. According to Jesus’ teaching in Luke 16, in Sheol there is a chasm or pit that separates the rich man and Lazarus. Consistent with the Bible’s teaching about degrees of punishment, there appears to be degrees in the grave where the deepest levels of Sheol are reserved from the vilest of creatures. These levels “under” Abraham and Lazarus we can call hell, a place of torment.
Consider 2 Peter 2:4 which says, “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.” The word translated “hell” here is the Greek word tartarus. Tartarus was considered by the Greeks as a subterranean place lower than Hades where divine punishment was meted out. The Israelites used this same word to describe the lower places of the grave when the greatest enemies of God and righteousness would go. It’s dark in the grave, but down in the lower recesses of the pit is the gloomy darkness.
Jude also speaks about these fallen angels or demons. He says, “the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.” These angels, along with the wicked dead are in Sheol, yet in different levels, waiting for the final judgment.[1]
Therefore, we can picture the underworld consisting of various levels. The righteous dead are at the highest level, resting in comfort at Abraham’s side. Beneath them are the wicked in different compartments, no one able to cross the threshold from one level to another. Like a dungeon, the lowest levels are reserved for the most heinous of enemies of the King.
Satan and the Underworld
The underworld is not Satan’s realm. Well, it is his home now, but it’s not what you think. He is not a red man with horns and a spiked tail and ruling with a pitchfork. Neither is he the one tormenting the dead or having a party with the wicked.
God has authority over the grave and over the underworld. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (cf. 1 Sam 2:6).
Satan is not the ruler of hell, God is. Satan is not the prison guard. He is a prisoner. Isaiah 14 speaks of the devil and his desire to be exalted to the highest heaven, above God. Isaiah 14:13 says, “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high.” But verse 15 says, “But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.” I’m convinced that according to Revelation 20 that Satan is, at this time, in the bottomless pit, bound until the end of the age such that he cannot stop the advance of the gospel to all the nations. Certainly it can still be said that he is prowling around as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, but he does so by proxy, using his demons to try to thwart God’s plan.
There is another word that you will come across in Scripture in reference to the underworld and to Satan. It is the word Abaddon. Job 26:6 says, “Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.” Proverbs 27:20 says, “Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied.” The word means “destruction” and is used in relation to Sheol but in distinction from it. It is the place of the wicked dead, especially fallen angels and describes the lower regions of the underworld.
Consider Revelation 9 where it describes the bottomless pit to be opened to unleash its prisoners upon the earth. It says, “And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth [a demon], and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth” (Rev 9:1–3). The text continues to speak about these forces of evil that are unleashed on the earth and says, “They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon” (Rev 9:11). We see here that this fallen angel, whom many believe is a reference to Satan, is used of God to bring judgment upon the earth. He still operates under God’s command and with God’s permission but he is used to execute God’s judgment upon the earth by proxy. His name is Abaddon or Apollyon meaning he comes from the lowest level of the grave—Abaddon in Hebrew or “apoleia” in Greek. He is the King of evil, the Lord of darkness who is from the depths of darkness, the world under the underworld—the lowest hell.[2]
Jesus’ Descent into the Underworld
I want to change gears a little bit here. We’ve considered the underworld and its general shape and makeup. Now I want to consider Jesus and what happened when he died on the cross.
When Jesus died, he died as humans die. His divine nature did not die. No, the humanity of Christ died a human death.
When a human dies his spirit or soul leaves the body. We see a description of this in the gospels where Jesus voluntarily gives up his spirit and he breaths his last. We know where his body went. It was laid in a tomb lifeless. The body of Jesus was a corpse, buried in a grave. But what happened to his soul or spirit?
Like any man who died, the soul of Jesus went down to Sheol. Jesus descended into Hades.
Let me demonstrate that with Scripture.
In Acts 2 we have Peter preaching from the steps of the temple. Listen to his words, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:22–32).
Did you notice when Peter preaches, he quotes Psalm 16 and argues Jesus went to Hades but was not abandoned there and God raised him up? The two principal parts of man, soul and body were spared. His soul was delivered from Hades and his flesh did not rot away, but God raised his soul and reunited it to his resurrected body.
Remember when Mary spoke to Jesus by the tomb and went to cling to him? John 20:17 says, “Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’’” His soul went “down” in death, and not “up” to his Father until his ascension.
But what about the thief on the cross? In Luke 23 one of the criminals crucified with Jesus began to defend Christ saying he did nothing to deserve this. He said, “’Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And [Jesus] said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (vv. 42–43). What is important here is to understand that paradise, at this time, was not in the presence of God in heaven, but by Abraham’s side in Sheol. This thief on the cross, just like Lazarus here Luke 16, will be carried by the angels to rest with Abraham and with Christ in his death.
But there is yet more.
Paul alludes to Jesus’ descent in Romans 10 when he writes, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)” (Rom 10:6–7). You cannot ascend to bring Christ down or descend to bring Christ up, but through believing in the gospel we are united to God and will be saved.
And Jesus himself is crystal clear in Matthew 12:39–40, when he responds to the Pharisees and says, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
In fact, this truth so clear and universally accepted that it made it into the Apostles’’ Creed which says, “We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin, Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and buried; He descended into Hades; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty...”
To quote Jesus speaking to Thomas the doubter, “Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27).
What Happened When Jesus Was in Hades?
The last thing we must consider is what Jesus did when he was in the grave. Three things are important to know.
1. He did not go down to suffer or pay a ransom price to the devil. Revelation 1:17–18 says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Earlier in Revelation 1 Jesus is the Lamb enthroned in heaven and is said to be “the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth” (Rev 1:5). By firstborn the Scriptures mean that it is his inheritance and under his control or dominion. The three realms, heaven, earth, and under the earth, are all under the authority of our Christ! He has the keys of Hades. It is under his control. He did not go there to suffer but as a victor.
2. He went to save his people trapped or imprisoned there. Even though his people were at Abraham’s side, they were still in the place of the dead. Jesus had come to rescue them and bring them up to his heavenly home.
Zechariah 9 elaborates and says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (v. 9). A few verses later it says, “As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit…. On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land.” (v. 11, 16). The salvation of Christ includes those prisoners in the waterless pit—which we’ve seen already is another name for the grave or Sheol—and he will bring them to his home.
Paul also speaks of this in Ephesians 4. In verse 8 he quotes from Psalm 68 and says, “when [Christ] ascended on high he led a host of captives.” He explains in the next verse what he means and says, “In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions [of] the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (vv. 9–10).[3]
Christ went down to the grave to free those in captivity. Those who had died believing in God and hoping in his deliverance were led out of the grave and ascended on high when Christ died and rose. He led a host of captives when he ascended from Hades.
In fact, if you continue reading in Psalm 68 (where Paul quotes from in Ephesians 4) it says, “Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death…. The Lord said, ‘I will bring them back from the depths of the sea’” (Psalm 68:20, 22).
Jesus demonstrated his power over death, Hades, and the devil by leading a host of captives out of the grave and into the presence of God.[4]
3. Finally, Jesus descended into Hades to preach. 1 Peter 3:18–20 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah.” I’ve already mentioned this passage. But now we see clearly that Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison, in the underworld before he was made alive in the spirit.
What did he preach? We can only speculate, but I suppose that it was a cry of triumph over these fallen angels, and over those in darkness that he had conquered. The devils plan to put him to death, entering Judas to betray him, thinking the grave could hold him, were foolish and powerless. Rather it only went to serve God’s purposes! This could be why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:8, “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” This could refer to the cosmic rulers that he speaks about in Ephesians 6. Perhaps they thought if they could get Christ into the underworld that the pit would close over him. But they were wrong. He went down so that he could free his prisoners.[5]
His sermon of victory would have been words of comfort to those who trusted God in hope. And then, he took those believers, by Abraham’s side, and took those Old Testament saints and brought them to heaven to be with himself.[6]
Conclusion
The doctrines set forth in this article are not meant to be debate fodder for theological nerds. Jesus descent into Sheol is a vivid picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hades is impossible to escape. Heaven is impossible to enter. But Christ has broken the bars of Hades and opened wide the gates of heaven. He has the keys of death and hell, and he grants the keys of the kingdom to his followers.
Jesus came down to bring us up. He died to give us life. He bore our sin to become our righteousness. He accomplished his greatest victory, defeating death and the devil, through death itself and then was raised and is alive forevermore!
It is not death to die. We don’t need to be afraid even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we should fear no evil. Christ has conquered.
This aspect of Christ atoning work is called Christus Victor and was taught be early church fathers like Irenaeus. Christ has rescued his people from the power of Satan and the grave and has established himself as King of the cosmos, the King of heaven, earth, and under the earth.
You must know this Christ. Do not be lost in deep darkness and in gloomy shadows, imprisoned without the hope of Jesus Christ. Repent of sin and trust Christ today.
[1] As an aside, I believe these angels are the “sons of God” in Genesis 6. 1 Peter 3:19–20 speaks about “spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah.” I believe these are the sons of God, a term used for angelic creatures, in Genesis 6 who were part of the corruption and wickedness of the pre-fall world. They were judged and locked up in the pit, in tartarus, or in the abyss. The book of Enoch, a Jewish book written in the intertestamental period describes this event and is quoted by Jude as he speaks about the judgment.
Other fallen angels knew this. Remember in Luke 8 when a legion of demons came out of a man and wanted to go into the pigs? It says in Luke 8:31 that “they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.” They did not want to suffer the same fate and be cast down into the depths of Sheol, into tartarus, the lowest levels of the underworld and out of the land of the living.
[2] I understand what some of you, possibly many of you are thinking. This seems far-fetched. It sounds more like fantasy than reality. We’ve been societally conditioned to think this way. But Ephesians 6:11–13 says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
The devil is not under every rock. And certainly too many attribute their own sin to the devil. But the unseen powers of darkness are real, they are working, and many are taking orders from the Lord of darkness, Abaddon, Satan himself. We must have a Biblical view of the world, both seen and unseen, and be careful not to trivialize spiritual realities that we are called to stand against in truth.
[3] The ESV translates this incorrectly. See Psalm 63:9 where the Greek text is the same as in Ephesians 4:9 and is translated, “shall go down into the depths of the earth.”
[4] Some believe that the first resurrection in Revelation 20 of the faithful to reign with Christ for 1000 years is this same group led from captivity. But the rest of the dead, it says in Revelation 20 do not come to life until the end of that 1000 years and the time of final judgment. These are the saints dressed in white waiting for Christ’s return in Revelation 6:9, 11. I don’t have space to elaborate so let the reader understand.
[5] After Christ’s descent into hell and ascent into heaven, those who die trusting in him, do not descend into Sheol or Hades, they go immediately into the presence of Jesus in the heavens. 2 Corinthians 5:1 says, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” He continues and says, “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord…we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:6, 8). That is, for a believer to die now, they don’t go to Abraham’s side, they go to Christ’s side.
[6] Time prevents looking into Jesus’ ascent. This would be a profitable study in the future (Heb 9:11–12; 1:3; 7:27–8:2).