Question: Please explain hell fire in Matthew 5:22 and  

                James 3:6.

 

Matthew 5:21-22 – “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” 

 

James 3:6 – “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” 

 

      Both of the above texts use the same Greek word for “the fire of hell” or hell fire.” It is translated in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance as follows:

 

Strongs - 1067 geenna { gheh’-en-nah} -  “Gehenna of fire.”

        This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem,

         where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and

         burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future place

         of destruction.  (See Revelation 21:8.)

 

      This word Gehenna is translated as such in the New American Bible in the following places: Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 18:9; Matthew 23:15; Matthew 23:33; Mark 9:43; Mark 9:35; Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5; and James 3:6.

 

      Dead animals thrown into “Gehenna’s fire,” a refuse dump, were destroyed by its continual burning fire; their bodies and bones were totally consumed becoming ashes. Nothing could live in this place. In fact, in a short time these could no longer be able to be identified because they no longer existed in their original form.  Jesus was telling His hearers that they were headed for destruction, not the hell of orthodox Christianity. Likewise, this was James message.

 

      God knows the end from the beginning. Would God, who we are told IS LOVE, (1 John 4:8 and 16) design a plan where He would knowingly consign billions of His creatures to a place where some teach they would spend eternity suffering the cruelty of continual burning in excruciating pain?  Not the God of the Bible…not our God of love!                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                 E. Weeks