Hell: A Postlude

I've been doing some more thinking since I finished the last monster post on Sheol and hell and I wanted to put some of these thoughts down. This may be a slightly touchy topic, but I've decided to talk about it anyway.


As fundamentalist Christians, whenever we hear that someone has passed away, the first question that pops into our heads is, "was he/she a Christian?" I'm sure many of you are familiar with that question and that it is the same question which has popped into your heads as well. Of course the underlying concern is whether or not this person went to heaven or hell. If the answer that we receive is that he or she was not a Christian, we are suddenly more sad than we had been before, as we believe that this person is doomed.


This issue underlies a certain doctrine that is very much entrenched in fundamentalist Christianity. I call it (and so do many others), "the lostness of humanity." What this means is that everybody is going to hell unless they are saved through Jesus Christ. There is even a lovely hymn by A.B. Simpson which says, "10,000 souls a day are marching to their doom" (although I'm not sure that's the exact number). As fundamentalists, often our first and foremost concern when we think of the lostness of humanity is that all humans are destined to a life of torture and torment unless we do something about it. We are forever preoccupied with the hereafter. However, if we look at Jesus example, its seems he was more concerned with the present. He was constantly helping those around him. More time is given in the gospels showing how Jesus lived and interacted with those around him. I think that we as Christians very often give first priority to counting souls that are going to heaven rather than to helping people in this life with their needs right now. I would rather define the lostness of humanity as being here in the present. When you look at the way we treat eachother, the environment, and other living things on this planet in the here and now, then we see just how truly lost we are.

Moving back to the previous thought, when we think about that person who passed away who wasn't a Christian, instead of focusing on whether or not they went to a place of torment which is likely based on foreign religions and may or may not exist, I would rather focus on the life they lived and how they impacted myself and others in their sphere of influence. Instead of becoming more depressed over an issue which can't even be proved, I would rather remember all of the good things about that person. There is no such thing as a wasted life. Although it sounds harsh, it seems that Christians very often feel that if a person passes away who wasn't a Christian, it is a waste. It doesn't matter how they impacted the world while they were alive; if they weren't a Christian, it doesn't even matter. For example, I highly doubt that many fundamentalist Christians would be very upset if Oprah Winfrey died. Yet, if we look honestly at all of the good things that she does for others, I would hardly call her life a waste, nor her death nothing short of a tremendous loss.

Instead of worrying about who is going to hell and being preoccupied with the afterlife, I would say it is time to shift some weight into the present. What can we do for people right now? Obvious stuff. We should be helping to feed the people who are hungry, both here in our country and in foreign countries. We should try being real friends with people who don't believe the same as we do (and not as evangelistic projects; people are not projects). We should stand by those minority groups whose rights are threatened (dare I say it...for example, the gay community). This is the gospel that Jesus lived out and set as an example for us. He was always going and helping those, who in the culture of the time, were considered to be taboo - the outcasts, the minorities. Let's stop using the afterlife as an excuse for ignoring the present.

Sheol; Erset La Tari; Duat; The Underworld

When one looks at the concept of hell in the Bible, it seems somewhat difficult to find a congruous theology throughout. The Sheol of the Old Testament documents is very different from the concept of hell we find in the New Testament books. Many Christian scholars look at Sheol and hell within their contexts and describe them well, but do not emphasize any of the theological consequences that arise due to the contradictions between the two. There are others who take the New Testament concept of hell and place it upon Sheol in the Old Testament resulting in a theologically consistent idea with poor exegetical procedures. I will attempt to examine the idea of Sheol in particular (as the New Testament is far outside my area of expertise as I don't know Greek or Latin which makes me very uncomfortable trying to draw any definitive conclusions) through a comparison study of the surrounding cultures and from the biblical text itself.

I will look first at the Mesopotamian idea of the underworld (this includes the Sumerian and Babylonian cultures). They believed in another world where all of the dead are together with no moral precepts attached. All the dead went to the same place; murderer, philanthropist, or liar. It has many names in Sumerian such as arali, irkalla, kukku, ekur, kigal, ganzir. All of these were then borrowed into the Akkadian language as well. Many times it was referred to simply as the earth or ground. In one text it is referred to as the land of no return (erset la tari) and the lower world. This last description makes it quite clear as to the location of the abode of the dead.

If you read my very first post on creation, you will have seen a diagram which depicts the Ancient Near Eastern idea of the world which shows the abzu or primordial ocean which lies below and above the ground. It is below this abzu that the underworld lies. We will see from some sources that it was possible to open up a hole to the underworld to gain access to it. There is even the idea that there was a stairway leading down to its gate. In the Assyrian poem, "A Vision of the Underworld", there is a river of the underworld ferried by a demon Humut-Tabal. This idea of a river of the underworld is also shared by the Egyptians. Nearly all of the descriptions of the underworld are rather bleak. We will look at a few.

The first example will be the Sumerian text called Ninĝišzida's journey to the nether world. Ninĝišzida is considered to be a deity of the underworld along with Dumuzi. In this first text we find a description (of sorts) of the underworld.

The river of the nether world produces no water, no water is drunk from it. {(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?} The fields of the nether world produce no grain, no flour is eaten from it. {(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?} The sheep of the nether world produce no wool, no cloth is woven from it. {(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?} As for me, even if my mother digs as if for a canal, I shall not be able to drink the water meant for me. The waters of springtime will not be poured for me as they are for the tamarisks; I shall not sit in the shade intended for me. The dates I should bear like a date palm will not reveal (?) their beauty for me. I am a field threshed by my demon -- you would scream at it. He has put manacles on my hands -- you would scream at it. He has put a neck-stock on my neck -- you would scream at it."

We don't find any geographical or topographical description of the underworld, but we do find a description of the conditions in which one would find themselves. There is no grain, no wool (I'm not sure why the sheep in the underworld are hairless, perhaps because its warmer near the earth's core?), no water to drink, or dates to eat. It seems that it is not very pleasant (although it seems better than burning alive for all of eternity). It also does not make any distinction between those of moral character and those who are wicked. It would seem that all end up in the same place.

The next text is called Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld. This is a Sumerian text about Gilgamesh (whom you likely remember from the Neo-Assyrian version we have been studying) and Enkidu (as the title suggests). Gilgamesh loses a ball and mallet which he crafted from the roots of a special tree planted by a woman with her feet (I've always wanted a tree planted by some woman's feet). The ball and mallet then fall into the netherworld.

But early in the morning as he …… the place marked, the widows' accusation and the young girls' complaint caused his ball (?) and his mallet (?) to fall down to the bottom of the nether world. {(1 ms. adds:) He could not reach them by …….} He tried with his hand but could not {reach} {(1 ms. has instead:) touch} them, tried with his foot but could not {reach} {(1 ms. has instead:) touch} them.
166-175. At the gate of Ganzer, in front of the nether world, he sat down. Gilgameš wept, crying bitterly: "O my ball (?)! O my mallet (?)! O my ball (?), I am still not satiated with its charms, the game with it has not yet palled for me! If only my ball (?) waited still in the carpenter's house for me! I would treat the carpenter's wife like my own mother -- if only it waited still there for me! I would treat the carpenter's child like my little sister -- if only it waited still there for me! {My ball (?) has fallen down to the nether world -- who will retrieve it for me?} {(1 ms. has instead:) Who will retrieve my ball (?) from the nether world?} {My mallet (?) has fallen down to Ganzer -- who will retrieve it for me?} {(1 ms. has instead:) Who will retrieve my mallet (?) from Ganzer?}"

Just how old is Gilgamesh anyways? I know my 2 year old son would be this upset about his ball falling into the netherworld, but this is the great warrior Gilgamesh! Apparently his friend Enkidu takes pity on him and offers to help.

His servant Enkidu {answered} {(1 ms. has instead:) said to} {him} {(1 ms. has instead:) Gilgameš}: "My king, you weep; why does your heart worry? Today I shall retrieve your ball (?) from the nether world, I shall retrieve your mallet (?) from Ganzer." Gilgameš answered Enkidu: " {If today} {(1 ms. has instead:) If} you are going to go down to the nether world, let me advise you! My instructions should be followed. Let me talk to you! {Pay attention to my words} {(1 ms. has instead:) My words should be followed}!"
184-198. "You should not put on your clean garments: they would recognise immediately that you are alien. You should not anoint yourself with fine oil from a bowl: they would surround you at {its} {(1 ms. has instead:) your} scent. You should not hurl throw-sticks in the nether world: those struck down by the throw-sticks would surround you. You should not not hold a cornel-wood stick in your hand: the spirits would feel insulted by you. You should not put sandals on your feet. You should not shout in the nether world. You should not kiss your beloved wife. You should not hit your wife even if you are annoyed with her. You should not kiss your beloved child. You should not hit your son even if you are annoyed with him. The outcry aroused would detain you in the nether world."
199-204. "She who lies there, she who lies there, Ninazu's mother who lies there -- her pure shoulders are not covered with a garment, and no linen is spread over her pure breast. She has fingers like a pickaxe, she plucks her hair out like leeks."

Unfortunately for Enkidu, he does not follow Gilgamesh's advice and does the exact opposite of the list above. As for me, if I went into the netherworld, I doubt I'd be throwing sticks at the dead people to provoke them. Seems like a bad idea. As a result of Enkidu's actions, he is detained in the Netherworld. Gilgamesh then seeks out a god who will free Enkidu. The God Enki decides to help him.

238-242. He said to the young warrior Utu, the son born by Ningal: "Open a hole in the nether world immediately, and then bring up his servant from the nether world!" He opened a hole in the nether world and brought up his servant with his breeze (?) from the nether world.
243-253. They hugged and kissed. They wearied each other with questions: "Did you see the order of the nether world? -- If only you would tell me, my friend, if only you would tell me!" "If I tell you the order of the nether world, sit down and weep! I shall sit down and weep! ……, which your heart rejoiced to touch, is ……, worms infest it like an old garment (?); like …… of (?) a crevice, it is full of dust." "Alas!" he said and sat down in the dust.

Gilgamesh then proceeds to ask Enkidu about a variety of people who had differing circumstances here on the earth and how they fare in the Netherworld. Almost all of the people live a bleak existence in the Netherworld although somewhat differing due to their lives on earth. It is a very long portion, but here is a small excerpt.

"Did you see him who was eaten by a lion?" "He cries bitterly "O my hands! O my legs!"" "Did you see him who fell down from the roof?" "They cannot …… his bones."} "Did you see the leprous man?" "He twitches like an ox as the worms eat at him." "Did you see him who fell in battle?" "I saw him." "How does he fare?" "His father and mother are not there to hold his head, and his wife weeps." "Did you see the spirit of him who has no funerary offerings?" "I saw him." "How does he fare?" "He eats the scraps and the crumbs …… tossed out in the street." "Did you see him hit by a ship's board {(1 ms. adds:) when diving (?)}? How does he fare?" " "Alas, my mother!" the man cries to her, as he pulls out the ship's board ……, he …… cross beam …… crumbs." "Did you see my little stillborn children who never knew existence?" "I saw them." "How do they fare?" "They play at a table of gold and silver, laden with honey and ghee." "Did you see him who died ……?" "I saw him." "How does he fare?" "He lies on a bed of the gods." "Did you see him who was set on fire?" "I did not see him. His spirit is not about. His smoke went up to the sky."

It doesn't seem that the morality of the person determines their fate. It is interesting to see that the stillborn children lives a good life in the netherworld, but the poor chap who was eaten by lions is having a bit of a troublesome time. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the outcome of people's fate in the netherworld. What we do see is that everyone goes there when they die. We also see that it is possible to open up a hole into the netherworld as Utu does to retrieve Enkidu. We also see that it was possible for Enkidu to descend to the netherworld via Ganzer, which is believed to be a palace which is the entrance to the Netherworld.

The Assyrian document, 'The Descent of Ishtar,' gives us a pretty good description of the netherworld. Here, it is described as the land of no return ruled over by Ereshkigal. Ishtar, for some reason, decides to go down to the netherworld and thus we are blessed with a description of that most unpleasant of places.

To the land of no return, the land of darkness,Ishtar, the daughter of Sin directed her thought,Directed her thought, Ishtar, the daughter of Sin,To the house of shadows, the dwelling, of Irkalla,To the house without exit for him who enters therein,To the road, whence there is no turning,To the house without light for him who enters therein,The place where dust is their nourishment, clay their food.'They have no light, in darkness they dwell.Clothed like birds, with wings as garments,Over door and bolt, dust has gathered.

Ishtar is then forced to follow the code as she enters through each of the 7 gates at the entrance of the land of no return. At each gate she is required to remove one piece of her clothing until she is naked at the end of her sojourn. Ishtar's sister, Ereshkigal then proceeds to imprison her and she is afflicted with all sorts of disease. Unfortunately for the people back on the surface, Ishtar was the goddess of fertility, love, and war. Thus, things aren't going so good on the mating front.

After the lady Ishtar had gone down into the land of no return,The bull did not mount the cow, the ass approached not the she-ass,To the maid in the street, no man drew near. The man slept in his apartment,The maid slept by herself.

Naturally, the gods are not pleased with the situation and force Ereshkigal to free Ishtar. What we can learn from this is very consistent with the other texts we have read regarding the underworld. It is a very bleak place where all the dead end up. There is no light, dust and clay is their food, they are clothed with wings (which is probably not meant as a nice thing), and there is dust on the doors and bolts (which suggests that the doors have not been opened and will not be opened). With such a bleak view of the afterlife, it is not surprising that the Mesopotamians put a lot of stock in the life they lived on the surface, for it is here that they can have a life of freedom and joy. The afterlife was nothing to be desired.

There is an Egyptian work called "The Regions of Night and Thick Darkness" which dates somewhere between 1200 and 1300 B.C. It is the story of Ra, who is associated with the Sun as it travels overhead (in fact he was the sun, he travelled in a boat through the sky). At night, Ra travels through the underworld, through the 12 countries, guided by goddesses. It is interesting to note that Ra dies every night, descends into the netherworld, and is then resurrected on the other side to go through the sky again. That in itself is very interesting for obvious Christological reasons, but we will leave that for now as it is beyond the scope of this already overly long post. As Ra passes through the netherworld (Duat), we are treated to a very robust description of all that goes on there.

"Slowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, to regions of thick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the dead have their habitations, and Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra."

We find out from this section, that the dead lie in the Duat. Again, this is where all the dead reside. This is consistent with the Mesopotamian idea of the underworld. However the Egyptians do have some provisos and conditions set up under which your fate in the Duat is determined. In the third country we find the kingdom of Osiris.

Great is Osiris, god of the dead, for all who die come before him for judgement, and their hearts are weighed in the balance against the feather of Truth. His throne is set upon a running stream, clear and deep, and form the waters rises a single lotus-blossom, the colour of the sky at morning. Upon the blossom stand the four Children of Horus, they who assist Osiris at the Judgement, who protect the bodies of the dead. To them belong the South and the North, the West and the East, and the four great goddesses are their protectors. They stand upon the lotus-blossom and their faces are toward Osiris; the first has the face of a man, the second the face of an ape, the third the face of a jackal, and the fourth the face of a bird of prey. This is the hour which evil-doers fear; by their own actions are they judged, and naught can avail them. Heavy is the heart of the evil-doer and drags down the scale; lower and lower it sinks till it reaches the jaws of Amemt, the Devourer of Hearts. Then is the evil-doer driven forth into the thick darkness of the Duat, to dwell with the abominable Apep and to fall at last into the Pits of Fire."

"But some there are who have wrought righteousness upon earth; who have hurt no man by fraud or violence; who have succoured the widow, the orphan, and the shipwrecked mariner; who have given food to the hungry and clothes to the naked; who have not stirred up strife, nor caused the shedding of tears. When these come to the Judgment of Osiris, and their hearts are put in the balance, then is the feather of Truth the heavier. The scale with the feather sinks down, and the scale with the heart rises up. Then does Thoth, the twice-great, take the heart and place it again in the breast of the man, and Horus takes him by the hand and leads him to the foot of the throne of Osiris that he may dwell in the kingdom of Osiris for ever and for evermore.

Here we can see that one's fate depends upon their morality in this life. This is very consistent with the concept of Heaven and Hell that we know of, right down to the pit of fire. We have a description of the pit of fire later on in this text. It is in the eleventh country called the Mouth of the cavern.

"This is the region feared by evil-doers, for their punishment awaits them here. Far and near are pits of fire; goddesses, whose breath is flame, guard the pits, holding in their hands gleaming swords of fire. With their knives do they torment the wicked and cast them into the pits of flame till they perish utterly. Horus stand by and beholds their torments, for these are the enemies of Osiris and of Ra, doers of evil upon the earth and blasphemers of the gods. No help can come to them, no escape is possible; doomed are they by their own actions to the sword and fire. And the smoke and flame of their torment rise up in the Duat."

It is interesting that the Egyptians and their Mesopotamian neighbours differed in regard to the Netherworld. Both agree that it lies below the earth (keeping in mind that their vision of the world is that seen in the diagram of my first post), but the Mesopotamian concept places all the dead in the same place, regardless of any morality issues whereas the Egyptians have a definite judgment upon evildoers and reward for the righteous. Why would they differ? One theory is as follows. In Egypt, the Nile provided a constant source of water every year with its consistent inundations. This could be predicted and taken advantage of. Through this, agriculture flourished and the Egyptians wanted for nothing in regard to food. Their lives were very stable, and (depending on your status) enjoyable. As such, their view of the afterlife reflected somewhat their view of their current world. Since the world they lived in was not so bleak, they imagined that this would only continue on into the afterlife. Thus, their idea of the afterlife is one of optimism for those who are righteous, and punishment for those who were immoral on earth.

On the other hand, in Mesopotamia life was never easy. They lived in constant fear of natural disasters such as flash floods which could destroy crops in an instant. The Tigris and Euphrates were not nearly as predictable as the Nile, and thus life was not as easy for the Mesopotamians as it was for the Egyptians. They had little time for erecting great monuments like the Egyptians did, as they had to spend their time just trying to survive and scrape a living. We can see that the Mesopotamians were very much on the search for a reason for why life was so hard. We can see from their literature that they give many reasons for their suffering, all of which eventually lead back to the gods. What we do know is that life was not easy. Thus, their idea of the afterlife is consistent with their current lives. If life is hard now, that continues into the afterlife, if not worse. Thus, perhaps their view of the netherworld being a place of bleakness and horror was a way for them to appreciate the world that they were in.

Having looked at the Mesopotamian and Egyptian views of the Netherworld and the afterlife, we will now turn to the Israelites and Sheol. Did their views coincide with those of their neighbours? Do we see a consistency with the idea of heaven and hell spoken of in the New Testament? We will seek to answer these questions in the following section.

The first mention of Sheol in the Bible is in Genesis 37:35. It is when Jacob believes that his son Joseph has died. "Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him." This does not tell us anything about Sheol in particular, other than he will go down to Sheol in mourning. Perhaps he is suggesting that he will mourn for his son until he dies and joins him in Sheol. From this we are led to believe that the location of Sheol, like the rest of the Ancient Near Eastern beliefs, is below the earth.

In Numbers 16:30, 33 we find that it is possible for God to open up a hole to Sheol in the same manner that Utu did to retrieve Enkidu. However, in this case it is a punishment and people are sent to Sheol, rather than a rescue mission. "But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly." This again affirms the location of Sheol, and also that the dead go there. In this case, it is noted in the text that this was a special occasion as they descended alive into Sheol. Also, Sheol must not have been a very nice place as this is depicted as a punishment to be going there, not a reward.

In 1 Samuel 2:6, God is depicted as having the power to send people to Sheol, and to raise them out of Sheol. So, as he sent the assembly into Sheol, he also has the power and authority to raise them out. " The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up." This is consistant again with Enki and Utu bringing Enkidu out of Sheol. However Job 7:9 contradicts this idea. "When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up." Thus it would seem that there is somewhat contradictory ideas about whether or not someone can be raised from Sheol. Granted, Job is feeling somewhat down in the dumps here and is not remembering God's power.

The book of Job actually gives us some of the greatest descriptors of Sheol which seem to be consistant with the Mesopotamian version of the underworld.

Job 17:13"If I look for Sheol as my home,I make my bed in the darkness;

Job 17:16"Will it go down with me to Sheol?Shall we together go down into the dust?"

Here the description of Sheol is the same that we would find in the Descent of Ishtar. Darkness and dust make up Sheol. There is no mention of pits of flame as in the Egyptian version either. However, in some references, the morality issue is the same as the Egyptians.

Job 24:19"Drought and heat consume the snow waters,So does Sheol those who have sinned.

Psalm 9:17The wicked will return to Sheol,Even all the nations who forget God

There are many more references like this. However, there seems to be some conflicting messages as there are other references which denote that every person's destiny is Sheol. An example of this is the first reference in the Bible where Jacob says that he will go down to Sheol and there is no mention of a moral precept. Here are some more.

Psalm 89:48What man can live and not see death?Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

Ecclesiastes 9:10[ Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do ] Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

One very obvious example of how even a moral man who has lived an upright life goes down to Sheol is found in Isaiah 38. Here, Hezekiah becomes mortally ill and cries out to God.

2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
3and said, "(D)Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have (E)walked before You in truth and with a (F)whole heart, and (G)have done what is good in Your sight " And Hezekiah (H)wept bitterly.

God then changes his mind and adds 15 years on to his life. However, we find this that was written by Hezekiah after he was cured of his illness.

A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:10I said, "(N)In the middle of my life I am to enter the (O)gates of Sheol; I am to be (P)deprived of the rest of my years."11I said, "I will not see the LORD, The LORD (Q)in the land of the living; I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.

So we find that even a moral man believed that if he died he would enter Sheol. It is also interesting that the entrance to Sheol is described as having Gates, the same as the Mesopotamian and Egyptian versions.

If one looks to 1 Enoch for an explanation, there Sheol is described as being divided into 4 sections according to the varying degree of morality within the particular human. The first section being where the righteous are kept, the last where the wicked are tormented who do not even warrant a resurrection. The rest are kept there until the day of judgement.

Another interesting component of Sheol that seperates it from the idea of Hell in the New Testament is that God's presence can still be seen in Sheol. Psalm 139:7,9 "(A)Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?8(B)If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, (C)You are there." Thus it would seem that this is not the hell of the New Testament.

The Old Testament documents do not give us any detailed description of Sheol the way we see in the other Ancient Near Eastern texts. There are obscure references to it here and there throughout the Old Testament, often in disagreement with one another. Either everyone knew about Sheol, or the Israelites did not consider it important. It is my opinion that they borrowed their ideas of the underworld from their neighbours of Egypt and Mesopotamia (and had some original ideas such as with Enoch, although one could find that parallel in the Egyptian tradition as well) at the whim of the author. Sometimes Sheol seems very much like the Mesopotamian version of the underworld, and other times like the Egyptian version. Likely, the Israelites did not have a fleshed out idea of Sheol but used the concept to suit their purposes of the time. One thing we can know for certain is that Sheol is nothing like the hell described in the New Testament.

What sort of theological consequences will arise from this? If one looks at the concept of Sheol, it certainly does not resemble the idea of hell that is talked about in the New Testament documents. How does one resolve this? I am not going to talk in detail about hell as Jesus spoke about it (as it is not within my circle of knowledge where I am comfortable). However, I will mention a few things (and if those reading this who know more about this than I do could please comment and enlighten the rest of us, that would be great). I will do my best to give an overview of some of the problems as I know them.

From what I know, the term for hell in greek (like I have time to learn greek) is gehenna. Gehenna was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. Why Jesus used this term to describe the fiery inferno to which the wicked are damned is unknown to me. There are a couple of options here. Option one: Jesus used the term gehenna which was the garbage dump to describe the very real place where the wicked are damned and tortured for all eternity. Option number two: Jesus was speaking metaphorically about the afterlife, and in reality, hell is merely death, and not obtaining eternal life. If any of you can think of more options, please post them in the comments. It is not all that crazy to think that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. We find Jesus almost always speaking in parables and not talking straight about anything. Would it be so strange that he is doing the same thing here?

We have strayed slightly from our topic of Sheol, but I felt it important to talk a little bit about hell in the New Testament. If Sheol and hell are not the same thing as most fundamentalists would believe, what would that mean theologically? It would mean that the concept of hell was not known to the Ancient Israelite as it was known to the one listening to Jesus, or for that matter us as we read the Bible. Thus, it would seem, that the theology of hell and the afterlife is both progressive in nature and not consistent throughout the Bible. From this, it is my opinion that a belief in the literal existance of hell is not a necessary component to Christianity. If you do believe in a literal hell I would not argue with you. If you didn't believe in hell, I would not argue with you. From the evidence presented to us from the Biblical texts as well as the surrounding neighbours literary history, we can see that the concept of the afterlife and hell is not consistent and thus cannot be proved. If you do want to believe in hell, you will have to do so on faith, not on biblical textual evidence. I would also cut a little bit of slack to the Jehovah's Witnesses who come to your door and explain that they don't believe in hell, but only in death (clarification: this statement is not a proponent of all of their beliefs, just this one issue).

Do I think there is a hell? I don't not believe it, but I also leave room for the fact that it may not exist. Really, how could I know for sure? This issue is not important for me. After researching the evidence, it seems that one can believe either way and be just fine. Let's just not make a fuss about it with each other and embarass ourselves in front of the rest of the world.

Omens, Divination and Israelite Religion

In this post, I will look at some aspects of divination in Mesopotamian religion, as well as take a look at divination in the Israelite Religion. Divination is the ability to predict the outcome of events or the future through supernatural means. If you are Harry Potter, this means predicting the future through the shape of tea leaves in a cup. Divination may also take place in the form of omens; common events in nature which have a specific meaning. This is a huge topic, and I will by no means be giving it an exhaustive treatment. I will just touch on a few things here and there. I apologize in advance for the length of this post.

We have a vast amount of omen and divination tablets from Mesopotamia in our possession. Unfortunately, there are no translations available on the web for you to look at, so you will be stuck with my translations. I tend to translate very literally, in cumbersome English so as to attempt to not lose anything in the translation (impossible, we all know). The Mesopotamians had tremendous volumes of omen texts which can be categorized into 4 different types. One is the divination of entrails on sacrificial victims. Another is the group of astronomical omens which are called "enuma Anu Enlil" (When Anu and Enlil). The third is a series of medical diagnosis called "enuma ana bit ameli marsi ashipu illiku" (When unto a house of conifer illness to silence you go). Finally, there is the one which concerns the incidents of every-day life upon earth and are called the "shumma alu in mele shakin", (If a city upon a hill is set ). These are all named for the first lines which occur in the text itself.

I personally have only done some translating out of the last text (this took place in Japan while I was sitting at my desk in the school I taught at, while trying to look busy). Cuneiform texts are notoriously difficult to translate as often they are very fragmented. Other challenges include different types of script for different times in history, the messy work of the person writing it, different dialects for different geographical regions and different points in history, and the vast amount of ideograms which are created using the syllabic characters which have to be determined from context. You weren't meant to know what that all meant, I just wanted you to know how hard it was (a la Batman Begins).

These omen texts are written in the Neo-Assyrian Script, which would date them somewhere between 950 and 600 B.C. The "Shumma Alu" series contains many variations in omens. The first section concerns details regarding a city (of which I will give some examples). Others concern forms assumed by water poured on the ground, omens connected with a sinking well, appearances of various fiends and devils in houses, forms of cracks which appear on the walls of houses, ghosts in a house, ghosts of deceased members of a family, serpent omens, omens from animals or insects, and more. The Babylonians believed the gods created the world, and that many times, they revealed their divine will through everyday occurrences in the world. One could divine the future and the will of the gods, if one had the eyes to see, simply by observing the world around you. This art eventually developed into the classification and recording of these signs for the seer (baru) to refer to and give a prognosis. Without further ado, here are some examples of the omen texts regarding a city. The dot dot dots represent fragmentation of the tablet.

If a city on a height is placed, entering is not good.

If a city in a valley is placed, entering is good.

If a city on an edge of....is placed....

If a city is built on a reed bed it is imprisoned...

If a city its dwelling it changes...

If a city its dwelling is peaceful...

If a city its mouth it cries out...

If a city, its mouth is constantly peaceful, enter, put in order many things.

If a city its opening unto the interior comes up, entering is destruction

If a city is built of sliver of wood, unto the interior comes up, enter the quay...

And it goes on like this. You get the idea. It is a grand catalogue of omens from which one can divine the will of the gods, or simply live a better life by knowing what the future holds. These texts were catalogued and collected somewhere during 900-600 B.C., but the history of divination and omens in Mesopotamia is much older. These omens that were written down, were done so over centuries by the baru-seer until the system we see before us was completed (and it probably continued to be added to and modified after this). All this to demonstrate that divination was alive and well in the Ancient Near East. This begs the question, did the Israelites practice divination along with their Mesopotamian neighbours? I would argue that they did. Although one reads in many Biblical texts of the condemnation of divination, it seems that in the early religion of the Israelites there is evidence of omens being used to divine Gods will. We will also see how the Israelites had their own somewhat unique brand of divination which began very early in their tradition and survived right through the Exile.

In the first text we will look at, Numbers 22-24, we find the king of Moab, Balak, sending for the diviner Balaam to inquire of him in order to find out about the Israelites, and for the purpose of cursing them. Here we find that God works through the diviner to save Israel. It is interesting that the Bible says that God spoke to this prophet, even though he is a non-Israelite (assumed non-Israelite, it is not specified). We also see that they build seven altars at the high places to Baal to obtain a message, and yet God still speaks to Balaam to deliver a message (even this little point could have far reaching consequences theologically if followed to its end).

Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, and he saw from there a portion of the people. 1Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here."
2Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
3Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a bare hill.
4Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar."
5Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus."

Then Balaam goes on to say that he cannot curse Israel. Balak asks him to consult again, and in the second response we see a reference to divination and omens.

23 For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done!

So we see here that God, speaking through Balaam, references the fact that there are no omens or divinations against Israel. Although this is an example of God using divination and omens to accomplish his will, it is not a direct example of the use of omens and divination within Israelite religion. However, there is one ritual the Israelites had very early on that survived through the exile. There are only eight references to this ritual in the Bible, so we will take a look at each of them. I am referring of course to the Urim and the Thummim, the proverbial 'eight ball' of the Israelite religion. The Urim and Thummim are presumably two stones through which the Priest could discern God's will. It is somewhat sketchy, and modern scholars assume that it could only answer yes and no questions (like the eight ball). Let's look at the Biblical evidence.

Exodus 28:30" You shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before the LORD; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually

It seems here that the Urim and Thummim were a specific part of the breastpiece of the priest, however this passage does not reveal to us anything specific about these two items, other than the fact that they were to be a part of the uniform.

Leviticus 8:8He then placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim

Again, no specific evidence regarding their function. We just see here that they are a part of the breastpiece.

Numbers 27:21"Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation."

Now we come across something slightly more specific. Here we see Eleazor inquiring of God, via the judgement of the Urim. How exactly the priest does that, this verse doesn't say.

Deuteronomy 33:8Of Levi he said,"Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man, Whom You proved at Massah,With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;

Here we have a simple mention of the existence of the Urim and Thummim with no specific details regarding them.

1 Samuel 28:6When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets

Some scholars believe that the Urim and Thummim were actually held in a pouch and then one was drawn at random to obtain a yes or no answer to a question. If that were the case, this verse in Samuel does not seem to resonate with that idea. If it was a simple matter of drawing a rock out of a pouch, one would receive an answer every time. It seems from this verse that the Urim and Thummim can choose not to respond. Thus, it seems, there must have been some other method of obtaining an answer from these rocks.

Ezra 2:63The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim.

Nehemiah 7:65The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim.

These references to the Urim and Thummim show that their use survived through the exile due to the dating of these two books.

Well, that was pretty unexciting, wasn't it? The Bible contains few obscure references to these items with no real details as to what they do. In order to find out more about the Urim and Thummim, we must turn to the extrabiblical evidence, namely the Qumran texts (the Dead Sea Scrolls) and Josephus. According to these texts, these rocks are worthy of being the objects of desire in an Indiana Jones movie. The Biblical references seem to assume that everyone knew what the Urim and Thummim were and how they worked; however, we, the reader during this era, would like some more juicy details. The following texts provide that for us.

First we'll take a look at a text from the Qumran called Tongues of Fire. It is extremely fragmentary, but gives us a look at the manner in which the Urim and Thummim would respond to questions.

...the stone, just as the Lord commanded...and your Urim...And the cloud shall come forth with him, with tongues of fire. The left-hand stone which is on its left side shall be uncovered before the whole congregation until the priest finishes speaking and after the cloud has been lifted...And you shall keep...the prophet has spoken to you...who counsels rebellion...the Lord your God...

...the right hand stone when the priest comes out...three tongues of fire from the right hand stone...from...and after he goes up he shall draw near to the people... the Lord your God...Blessed is the God of Israel...among them all... and then the priest shall interpret all His will, all...the congregation...O Children of Israel, keep all of these words...to do all...the number of commandments...their...

And your Urim. And the cloud shall come forth with him, with tongues of fire. The left-hand stone which is upon its left side shall be uncovered before the whole congregation until the priest finishes speaking. And after the cloud ha been lifted...And you shall keep...and the prophet has spoken to you.

It is of note here, that tongues of fire are seen coming out of the stones. It would seem that this is how the Urim and Thummim were used to divine God's will - a supernatural occurrence. These texts also note that the priest used the stones to interpret God's will. I will take a look at one more text from the Qumran called "A Commentary on Isaiah."

This refers to the twelve priests...who make the Urim and the Thummim shine in judgment...and there is nothing missing from them, like the sun with all its light.

Here we can see again that the stones are shining. This text also tells that the Urim and Thummim were used in judgment. Perhaps judgment upon a certain people, or judgement in decisions, it is not clear. Either way, it is clear that the Urim and Thummim were used as a source of divining the will of God.

It is worthy of note that the Urim and Thummim appear elsewhere among the Qumran texts (although I will not put those in here to read) in The Last Days, A Collection of Messianic Proof Texts, and The Temple Scroll. Josephus' comments coincide with the Qumran texts. Here is his description of the Urim and Thummim.

Antiquities 3.214 I will now treat of what I before omitted, the garment of the high priest: for he (Moses) left no room for the evil practices of false prophets; but if some of that sort should attempt to abuse the divine authority, he left it to God to be present at his sacrifices when he pleased, and when he pleased to be absent. And he was willing this should be known, not to the Hebrews only, but to those foreigners also who were there. (215) For as to those stones, which we told you before, the high priest bore on his shoulders, which were sardonyxes (and I think it needless to describe their nature, they being known to everybody), the one of them shined out when God was present at their sacrifices; I mean that which was in the nature of a button on his right shoulder, bright rays darting out from there, and being seen even by those that were most remote; which splendor yet was not before natural to the stone. (216) This has appeared a wonderful thing to such as have not so far indulged themselves in philosophy, as to despise divine revelation. Yet will I mention what is still more wonderful than this: for God declared beforehand, by those twelve stones which the high priest bore on his breast, and which were inserted into his breastplate that he would be present for their assistance, They should know of God's presence when they should be victorious in battle; (217) for so great a splendor shone forth from them before the army began to march. Thus it came to pass that those Greeks, who had a veneration for our laws, because they could not possibly contradict this, called that breastplate, "The Oracle". (218) Now this breastplate, and this sardonyx, left off shining two hundred years before I composed this book, God having been displeased at the transgressions of his laws. Of which things we shall further discourse on a fitter opportunity; but I will now go on with my proposed narration.

Well, that was a rather long winded read. That's Josephus for you. He, too, confirms that a light or something shone forth from at least one of the stones (presumably the Urim). He also claims that he needn't expound too much on these stones, as everybody already knew about them. I find this frustrating because I don't know everything about them. Oh well - what's life without some mystery? Thus, we can take from these examples from the Qumran and Josephus that Jewish tradition held that these stones were used for judgment, to interpret God's will, and would answer via a light shining forth or with tongues of fire.

An interesting side note that may be worthy of further thought and research, would be the appearance of the tongues of fire on the disciples at pentecost in the Book of Acts as a sign of the Holy Spirit and the presence of God. Perhaps this is a transferance of the power of the Urim and Thummim into God's people. I'm certain that if it was well known about the nature of those stones as Josephus suggests, the Jews reading Acts at that time would certainly call that to mind.

We have travelled through omens and divinations throughout Mesopotamia, the Bible, the Qumran texts, and Josephus. In Mesopotamia we see that there was a long history of divination which eventually was systemically categorized and used by the baru-seer in order to divine the will of the gods. In the Bible we see God using a seer, Balaam, to deliver his message to Balak through prophecy, omens, and divination. Finally, we investigated the ever elusive Urim and Thummim and their somewhat unique powers of divination within the Israelite religious tradition. Thus, we can conclude that although the Bible does condemn divination outright on many occasions, there are also examples where God used divination within the context of the Israelite religion. It is possible that the divination which was condemned was divination which inquired of foreign gods whereas the divination within the Israelite tradition inquired of Yahweh. Or perhaps this is just a discrepancy.

This was more of just an interesting study, but for those of you who would like a "practical application", here's my two cents. From this study we can conclude that the next time your Christian friend says that God spoke to them through their horoscope or an omen, I would think twice before condemning them to hell and damnation. If you can think of anything else to add, feel free to comment.