Hell Hath Enlarged Itself

Yesterday on Sunday, March 8, 2015, I had read two articles by David W. Daniels on Chick Tracts called "Gehenna is not hell, is it?" and "Who Needs Hell?"  Daniels was responding to a skeptical reader who had sent him a question about "gehenna," the Greek word that is translated into "hell" in English. This reader sought to prove that gehenna does not mean hell, but Daniels did an excellent job of proving that gehenna most certainly does mean hell.

The skeptic tried to make the false claim that all Bible translations prior to 1400 AD did not contain the English word "hell."  However, Daniels proved that the Wycliffe Bible of 1380 did in fact contain the word "hell" for the Greek word "gehenna." And all the versions after that one until the late 1800's contained the word hell.

"No Hell" Bibles
So I did some research on "no hell" Bibles, and found that Young's Literal Translation (1863) was the first Bible translation that did not contain the word "hell" at all. In fact, there is an observable trend whereby modern Bible translators since that time have been moving away from using the word "hell." The "Authorized" King James Version (1611) contained the word "hell" 31 times in the Old Testament and 23 times in the New Testament for a total of 54 times in the Bible. The New King James Version only contains "hell" 19 times in the Old Testament and 13 times in the New Testament for a total of 32 times. The New International Version (best-selling English Bible) contains the word "hell" only 14 times in the entire Bible, and all of those are found in the New Testament. The New American Standard Bible is about the same, except the number of times is 13 and they are all in the New Testament.  There are now 28 "no hell" Bibles in existence that do not contain the word hell one single time!

Hell Hath Enlarged Itself
Very early this morning, Monday, March 9, 2015, I arose before dawn. During my morning devotions, I had been reading the verses in the Geneva Bible of 1599 containing the word "hell." One of those verses was Isaiah 5:14. It says in that version:

"Therefore hell hath enlarged itself, and hath opened his mouth without measure, and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth among them, shall descend into it."

I was led by the Holy Spirit to study about hell this morning, and just happened to be reading the verse from Isaiah 5:14, in which it says that hell has enlarged itself and opened its mouth all the way.  I was specifically observing that in this verse, the Hebrew word "sheol" was translated using the English word "hell" in the 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV).

This verse literally means that hell has enlarged itself and opened its mouth completely.  I have also heard a sister from Hungary testify of this, whom the Lord took to hell.  She said, "Then we started to go down through the hole, and this hole was enormous. And the Lord said that there was a stairway leading down, but they don’t use it anymore because so many souls are going down that it became this wide."

It is also important to note that in that verse in the Greek Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament composed in the third century BC), the Jewish translators used the Greek word "hades" for the Hebrew word "sheol," thus making them synonymous. "Hades" is the Greek word translated as "hell" in the GNV and KJV versions of the New Testament (e.g., Lk 16:23; Mat. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; Acts 2:27,31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14). On the other hand, most modern versions transliterate the term, "hades," which is a meaningless term to most readers.  By transliterating a word, the letters of that word in the original alphabet in which it was written are simply changed to their equivalent English letters, and the word is left untranslated!  This is what the enemy has systematically done to "sanitize" the Bible and delete the word "hell" from it.

Lastly, "hell is never satisfied," according to the Bible says in Proverbs 30:15-17. Although the Hebrew word "sheol" and its Greek synonym "hades" are used in that verse, most English versions translate these words as "grave."  But the Scripture says that hell is one of three things that are never satisfied and four that never say "enough."

Silly Talk, Course Joking, and Gossiping
Two days ago, on Saturday, March 7, 2015, I was sharing with my family this little study below about silly talk.

You see, the joy of the Lord is our strength. It is a fruit of the Spirit, and there is no law against it. The Lord has a great sense of humor. But His smiles and joy are so loving, kind, gentle, gracious, and always pure. He doesn't get laughs at other people's expense, for example.

We need the Lord to help us not to open our mouths so easily, and to avoid idle words or chatter.

The word for silly talk in Eph 5:4 is the Greek word mōrologia, meaning "silly talk, that is, buffoonery: - foolish talking". (Strongs).

Morologia comes from two root words. The first word is moro, meaning literally "dull or stupid (as if shut up), that is, heedless, (morally) blockhead, (apparently) absurd: - fool (-ish, -ishness)." (Strongs).

The second of the two root words for morologia is lego, meaning "ask, bid, boast, call, describe, give out, name, put forth, say (-ing, on), shew, speak, tell, utter." (Strongs)

Buffoonery means "The arts and practices of a buffoon; low jests; ridiculous pranks; vulgar tricks and postures."  One commonly used type of low jest is sarcasm.

When I shared all of this with my family on Saturday, I also mentioned "course joking."  I told them that includes dirty jokes.  It also includes vulgar wittiness or gestures that are meant to be funny but are actually obscene. These things are sins and we as Christians must avoid them.

And one more thing that happened recently was that only five days ago on March 4, 2015, someone left a comment on one of my blogs.  The reader asked me to give a definition of gossip.  Here is what I responded with:

Gossip in 2 Cor 12:20 comes from the Greek word "psithurismos" meaning (a whisper; by implication a slander; whispering, that is, secret detraction: - whispering. (Strongs). In 1 Tim 3:11, "gossips" comes from the Greek word "diabolos" meaning a traducer; specifically Satan; false accuser, devil, slanderer. (Strongs).

Webster's dictionary says gossip can mean "To run about and tattle; to tell idle tales." It can also mean "To prate; to chat; to talk much." It can mean "Mere tattle; idle talk." Also a gossip can be the person who does the gossiping. In other words, "One who runs from house to house, tattling and telling news; an idle tattler."

Slander is "A false tale or report maliciously uttered. and tending to injure the reputation of another by lessening him in the esteem of his fellow citizens..." (Webster). It can also mean "To defame; to injure by maliciously uttering a false report respecting one; to tarnish or impair the reputation of one by false tales, maliciously told or propagated." (Webster). I hope that helps. [End comment].

That was the content of my response to the reader asking about gossip. I think it is not just a coincidence that Rachael said in her email today, "The Lord showed me the punishment for gossipers, liars, people who tell dirty jokes, dirty stories, and use their tongues in sin."

The Scriptures say, "The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, But the perverse tongue will be cut out." (Pr 10:31, NKJV).

"Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But violence covers the mouth of the wicked." (Pr 10:6, NKJV).

"Wise people store up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction." (Pr 10:14, NKJV).

"May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that speaks proud things." (Ps 12:3, NKJV).

Often times people fail to realize that these Scriptures literally mean what they say.  In hell the demons will cut out perverse tongues and tongues that speak proud things. They will cut off flattering lips, cover the mouth of the wicked with violence and destroy their mouths. The problem is not that God has failed to warn us in His Word, it is that we have failed to believe it.

Putting it All Together
May the Lord help each one of us to take this message seriously and repent while we still have the chance to do so.  Repent of your sin and turn to God. Unbelievers, cowards, murderers, the immoral, idolaters, liars, gossipers, slanderers, witches, homosexuals, perverts, fornicators, adulterers, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, smokers, addicts, and all who are pursuing the world will find themselves in hell. Jesus died to save you from that place. Today is the day of salvation. Mercy is only available on earth.  Let's prepare in holiness for the Lord's soon return.

Author's note: This article originally stated incorrectly that John Wesley's New Testament (1755) did not contain the word "hell".  That was a mistake on the part of the source I was quoting, for which I apologize. Wesley's translation was merely an update or revision of the King James Version of the New Testament, and it certainly contained the word "hell", which you can verify for yourself. As Wesley himself said in his preface, the changes he made to the Authorized Version were relatively minor.

I also want to mention that the Geneva Bible was once the most popular English Bible among Protestants, and it continued to be for decades after the first release of the King James Version in 1611! It is known as the “Bible of the Protestant Reformation.”  The Geneva was also the first Bible taken to America, and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims. I encourage you to read it with it's accompanying notes. I also encourage you to read the prayers found in the Geneva Bible as well.

You are invited to read or listen to more amazing testimonies of the supernatural like this below.  You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations	Ask for the Ancient Paths	Angelica Zambrano Hell and Heaven
Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven	Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies	Forty Days in Heaven and Hell
Lynn Veasley's Revelation of Hell	Nigerian Pastor Raised from the Dead	Revelation of Hell to Seven Colombian Youths

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.