23 minutes in hell (4 page)

26. “…out of the pit wherein there is no water” (Zech. 9:11, KJV).

27. “…for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave” (Eccles. 9:10). “Let them be silent in the grave” (Ps. 31:17). “But the wicked shall be silent in darkness” (1 Sam. 2:9). “Shall the dead arise and praise You?… Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?… in the land of forgetfulness?” (Ps. 88:10–12). (What a description of the grave, and hell is even worse!) “The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence” (Ps. 115:17).

28. Donnelly, “Heaven and Hell,” 35–37.

29. “For in death there is no remembrance of You [God]; in the grave who will give You thanks?” (Ps. 6:5). “The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence” (Ps. 115:17).

30. “Consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces” (Ps. 50:22). “…and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers” (Luke 12:46). “…and will cut him in two” (Matt. 24:51).

31. Franklin Graham, “The Name” (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2002), 20.

Chapter 2

The Pit

Momentary relief hit my soul as I realized I had been snatched from the grip of those hideous creatures. However, now I found myself next to an enormous pit with raging flames of fire leaping high into an open cavern. As I looked up into that dark, eerie, tomb-like atmosphere, it seemed to be like a mouth that had swallowed her dead. The flames of her ravenous appetite were never satisfied with the pitiful screams of untold multitudes.

The heat was far beyond unbearable, and I desperately wanted to escape before I too would be thrown into that inferno. As I look back on this experience now, I am reminded of the devastation of the twin towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, when some people, rather than facing the 2,000-degree heat, chose to plummet to their death by leaping out a window. A fall, especially from such great heights, must have been horrendous. It was reported that a person subjected to that temperature would be completely incinerated in about fifteen seconds. Those people chose to make that leap rather than face the intensity of those flames for even fifteen seconds. Some scientists have reported that the core temperature at the center of the earth is approximately twelve thousand degrees. To endure that for an eternity is unfathomable. •1

I could see the outlines of people through the flames. The screams from the condemned souls were deafening and relentless. There was no safe place, no safe moment, no temporary relief of any kind.[1] In the media we have heard of the merciless acts of terrorists. In some cases their victims knew death would come by brutal decapitation. Try to imagine the terror these victims must have felt as they awaited their fate. In hell, this state of fear never ceases for even one second. It lasts for an eternity.

“There is no reason the torments of Hell could not include physical fire.”[2]

—Erwin Lutzer

There were people in hell who were contained in a massive pit. Horrible creatures surrounded the perimeter. There was no way of escape. Any attempt to do so was futile. Human strength was no match for the demons. I felt such anguish for these hopeless people, but at the same time I realized that I could be next.

I remember, as a child, stepping into several fights to protect kids who were weaker and who were being bullied. I was beaten up several times, but I couldn’t just stand there and not help. The television actors who enforced justice and guarded the weak were my role models. To look out for others is a godly characteristic. Since we all come from God, it is in most people to feel this way. We have seen how our country always comes to the rescue for the rest of the world. This inborn desire to protect the defenseless continued in my adult life. Now, without the ability to help even one defenseless, tormented soul, I felt the hopelessness deepen. To witness people in terror, in desperation, and in unending torment was more than I could bear.[3]

Now try to picture the most fearful moment of your life. For me, I remember one morning when, as a teenager, I was surfing off the coast of Florida. A school of sharks showed up and surrounded us. We frantically began paddling toward the beach, and in the frenzy, a guy nearby had his leg torn off. Then one shark knocked me completely off my board. My friend Rene and I were now literally swimming with the sharks. We desperately tried to get to the shore, but I sincerely felt that the blood in the water combined with the number of sharks was a certain death sentence. Suddenly, a nine-foot shark grabbed my leg in its mouth and pulled me down. For seemingly no reason, the shark let me go without a mark (thank God!), and Rene and I swam to shore. At the time, I was an avid surfer. Needless to say, I didn’t go near the water for almost two years.

That was one of the most terrifying moments in my life, and that experience paled in comparison to the fear you endure for an eternity in hell. There is no way of escape. No one can rescue you.

“Indeed, all other senses will be affected too: the ear with hideous noises, shrieks and yells from fellow damned sinners; the eye with fearful, ghastly, and horrible spectacles; the smell with suffocating odors and nasty stench, worse than that of carrion or that which comes out of an open sepulcher.”[4]

—Thomas Vincent

When I had first arrived in the cell, I had noticed that I was naked, which is another form of shame and increased vulnerability. In such a hostile environment, that vulnerability adds another layer of helplessness and fear to an already terrified mind.[5] In life, well-adjusted, healthy people would feel shame if stripped and exposed publicly. How much more so would such shame and fear be felt in a terror-filled environment. I am reminded of the millions of Jews who were stripped naked and humiliated before being murdered with poisonous gas or cast into ovens during World War II. They experienced many tortures and humilities, but being naked was an attempt to strip them of their dignity and to intensify the fear. Many have died horrific deaths on the earth; how much more the torment when it lasts forever?

“The duration of Hell is endless. Although there are degrees of punishment, Hell is terrible for all the damned. The occupants are the devil, evil angels, and unsaved human beings.”[6]

—Robert Peterson

I also experienced the misery of total exhaustion in hell. The continual emotional, mental, and physical trauma feeds this vicious cycle of sleep deprivation. You desperately long for even a few minutes of rest, but you never, ever get that privilege. Imagine for a moment how terrible you feel after only forty-eight hours of no sleep. In hell you never sleep, rest, or find a quiet moment. Any form of rest is completely nonexistent.[7] Even though I was only there for twenty-three minutes, the torment and trauma was so intense that it felt like I hadn’t slept for weeks. It could only worsen with time.

There is never any peace of mind.[8] No rest from the torments, the screams, the fear, the thirst, the lack of breath, no sleep, the stench, the heat, the hopelessness, and the isolation from people.

I desperately wanted to talk to a human being, but I knew I would never get that chance.[9] You are kept from any kind of fellowship, conversation, or human interaction.

Relationships are so valuable, and it’s easy to take them for granted. At the moment of death, a person does not want to be surrounded with “things.” That person wants to be surrounded by people who truly care for him and love him. It is extremely difficult to process the thought of knowing you will never be able to relate with anyone ever again, especially with those you love. The innate, human desire to communicate, ask questions, and relate with someone who shares in your suffering will never be fulfilled in hell. Instead, all you are exposed to are hideous creatures. No matter who you were, whether famous or of great influence or a nobody, it doesn’t matter. You are truly alone amidst a sea of tormented souls.

Now, it is true that there are areas in this vast, fiery pit where people are thrown together, but they are only together in the sense that they are all experiencing the same torment. Each person is very isolated in extreme agony and screaming in fear as fire and brimstone rain down upon him. They are together in the same way cattle are herded into a slaughterhouse. A soul in such extreme agony would have no opportunity for a conversation. Besides, I believe everyone there is just on the verge of insanity. However, I believe you never quite go insane, for that would provide a form of escape.

And there is no escape, even mentally.

I possessed knowledge that there were different levels of torment or varying degrees of punishment.[10] I knew some people were in worse positions than others. All areas were horrid, with no place of relief or comfort. I was also aware that there were many levels far, far worse. Any level, area, or degree of torment was much worse than any concept a mind could conceive.

Chapter 2 Notes

1. “But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil” (Prov. 1:33).

2. Erwin Lutzer, “One Minute After You Die” (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1997), 112.

3. “Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup” (Ps. 11:6–7). “…and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:10). “Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the fire, into deep pits, that they rise not up again” (Ps. 140:10).

4. Thomas Vincent, “Fire and Brimstone” (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1999), 111–112.

5. “Sheol [hell] is naked before Him, and Destruction has no covering” (Job 26:6). This verse indicates that God can look upon hell; it’s not hidden from Him. However, hell’s inhabitants are also physically naked. “Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame” (Rev. 16:15). Again, the primary meaning in this verse is that without being ready and covered with the garment of salvation, we would be in shame when the Lord returns. “I counsel you to buy from Me… white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed” (Rev. 3:18).

6. Robert Peterson, “Hell on Trial” (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1995), 201.

7. “And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night” (Rev. 14:11). That scripture means there will be no relief from the torments, and no rest—no sleep.

8. “‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked’” (Isa. 57:21). “Destruction comes; they will seek peace, but there shall be none” (Ezek. 7:25).

9. C. S. Lewis believed there would not be communication in hell, because it was a place of solitude. See Lutzer, “One Minute After You Die,” 113.

10. “It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah [inferring a less tolerable situation in hell]…” (Matt. 10:15). “Woe to you, scribes, and Pharisees… you will receive greater condemnation” (Matt. 23:14). “You make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matt. 23:15). “Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot… ?” (Heb. 10:28–29). “…from the lowest pit” (Lam. 3:55). “Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell” (Ps. 86:13, KJV). “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the depths” (Ps. 88:6). See also Luke 12:42–48. See the Scripture list in Appendix A. See Ezekiel 32:21–23. “These heroic personages speak from the midst of Sheol, which may suggest that they are located in the heart of the Netherworld, perhaps a more honorable assignment than ‘the remotest recesses of the pit.’” (Morgan and Peterson, eds., “Hell Under Fire,” 50.)

Chapter 3

The Gateway

As I stood near that enormous pit of fire, no immediate attackers seemed to be threatening, so this gave me a moment to take in my surroundings. It was raining fire and burning rock, similar to the way lava falls from the sky when a volcano explodes. The smoke from the flames was very thick, allowing visibility for only a short distance, but what I could see was horrifying. I saw many people reaching out of the pit of fire, desperately trying to claw their way out. But there was no escape.

I turned my head, and I noticed that I was standing in the middle of a cave. The wall wrapped around me and led to the vast expanse of the pit. As I looked at the walls, I saw that they were covered with thousands of hideous creatures. These demonic creatures were all sizes and shapes. Some of them had four legs and were the size of bears. Others stood upright and were about the size of gorillas. They were all terribly grotesque and disfigured. It looked as though their flesh had been decomposing and all their limbs were twisted and out of proportion. Some displayed immense, long arms or abnormally large feet. They seemed to me to be the living dead. There were also gigantic rats and huge spiders at least three feet wide and two or three feet high. I also saw snakes and worms, ranging from small to enormously large. I was petrified and could not believe my eyes.

My gaze followed the beasts up the sides of the wall, and I saw that there was a hole in the top of the cave. It was the entrance to an upward tunnel, approximately thirty-five feet in diameter. The fiendish creatures lined the tunnel walls as well. They were distinctly wicked. Their eyes were cauldrons of evil and death. Everything was filthy, stinking, rotten, and foul. There was one other distinguishing aspect about these creatures—they all seemed to possess a hatred for mankind. They were the epitome of evil. The creatures seemed to be chained, or attached in some fashion, to the cavern walls. I was relieved to know that they could not reach me.[1]

Suddenly, I began ascending up through the tunnel. I didn’t know how I was able to ascend or why. At first I rose slowly, and as I went higher, I could view the vast wasteland of hell. I could now see more of the enormous pit, which looked to be as much as a mile across.[2] However, this was just a fraction of hell’s space.[3] To the right of the large inferno were thousands of small pits, as far as I could see. Each pit was no more than three to five feet across and four to five feet deep—each pit holding a single lost soul.[4] Psalm 94:13 refers to these pits by saying, “… until the pit is dug for the wicked.” As I ascended into the darkness, the fear of those horrific beasts was all encompassing.[5] I thought, “Who could fight off just one of these creatures?” No one could. Many were so massive and strong. For an instant, I remembered a certain person my wife and I would see at our gym. We didn’t know him, but we’d look upon him with amazement because he was so big, powerfully built, and strong. I thought, “Even he would be no match for the demons.”