HOW HOT IS “INFIERNO” OR HELL

By Ben Berto

4 ^[a] “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ² But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. ³ And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.  Malachi 4: 1-3 ESV

I read somewhere that Satan or the Devil is in charge of Hell. Is it Biblical? Where can we find that idea in the Bible? Some people say, “I’ll see you in hell.” I wondered if hell is a wonderful place, but I read that it’s a hot place. Where is it now? Is it in the middle of the earth? Why haven’t miners who go down there discovered it?  The Seventh-day Adventist church believe that there is hell but it’s not burning now, but it will be in the near future.

Malachi wrote the above Scripture under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. On analysis of the text in Malachi 4 verse one that says,” ^] “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” It says that day is coming burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evil doers will burn like stubble. What is stubble? Goggle dictionary defines it as “Stubble burning is the practice of intentionally setting fire to the straw stubble that remains after grains, such as rice and wheat, have been harvested. The technique is used to quickly and cheaply clear fields. It is still widespread today.” What remains of the stubble? Nothing but ashes. Who gets burned? “All the arrogant and all the evil doers. 

Some people say that Satan is in charge of hell. Is that true? Is he not the originator of evil? In Revelations 12: 7-9, NIV ^7 “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:“Now have come the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God, day and night, has been hurled down.” What is Satan accusing the brothers and sisters about? He accuses them of the sins that he himself has led them to do. But we know that God is a forgiving God, and He forgives his saints of their sins when they pray and ask God for forgiveness of their sins. And when he forgives, he will hurl their sins to the depths and will not recall them anymore. 

What is the penalty for sin against God? Romans 6:23 NIV says, ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[b] Christ Jesus our Lord. This death is eternal death and the means of execution is death in Hell. The 18^th century preachers tried to scare people into fearing God. In a child’s storybook we read, “Little child, if you go to hell there will be a devil at your side to strike you. He will go on striking you every minute forever and ever, without ever stopping. The first stroke will make your body as bad as the body of Job, covered from head to foot with sores and ulcers. The second stroke will make your body twice as bad as the body of Job… How then would your body be after the devil has been striking you every moment for a hundred million years without stopping?”(Richard Baxter, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest, pp. 267-268) Is this idea in the Bible? NO. This goes against the character of God as a loving and merciful God. Our text above in Malachi says that the evil people, as well as the devil and his angels will be devoured by everlasting fire prepared for them. The devils will not have fun in hell but will suffer the fire that cannot be put out until everything  is burned to ashes just as Malachi described. 2 Peter 3:10-13 ^10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.^[a]11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

Only God has immortality, and immortality will be given to the saints at the second coming of Christ. In 1Corinthians 15:51-54, NIV,  ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” The text above should put to rest the idea that the soul is immortal. No soul is immortal The devil is not immortal but will have an end. Genesis 2: 7 ⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. The Bible did not say, that God put a soul in the man but God breathed into the nostrils of the man and he became a living soul. God says in Ezekiel 18:4 ⁴ Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Enough said?

To contact us: Our website is www.abundantlifeadventist.ca. Worship with us every Saturday Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Genesis 2: 2, 3, Exodus 20: 8-10, Isaiah 58: 13, 14; Isaiah 66: 22, 23; Matthew 5: 17-19; Revelation 22: 14, John 14: 1-3, Rev. 6:6-12, Romans 8: 35-39