The Bible offers a variety of disturbing pictures of hell. Hell is described as a place of unquenchable fire (Mk 9:43); condemnation (Mt 23:33); darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 8:11 – 13); chains and judgment (2Pe 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 (Lk 16:25), the rich man existed in torment, longing for even a drop of cool water (Lk 16:24).
Jesus’ description of hell also leads to several observations. People are recognizable there, and it is a place of agony and torment (Lk 16:23). The chasm between heaven and hell prevents escape or movement from hell to heaven (Lk 16:26). And it is not possible for anyone in hell to warn loved ones alive on earth about the reality of hell (Lk 16:31).
