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Last year, the Pew Research Group conducted a two question poll: “Do you believe in Heaven?” and “Do you believe in Hell?” 72% said they believed in Heaven, but only 58% of those same people believed in hell. Why the 14% discrepancy? People want their life to go well, so it’s not surprising that people tailor their beliefs so everything will go well in the afterlife also, by removing the possibility of eternal punishment. It’s a nice thought— that if we pretend something bad doesn’t exist, we can avoid it. But pretending you’re not trapped in a lion’s cage won’t stop it from devouring you.
The Bible, however, shows us that Heaven and Hell are both very real, and that on Judgment Day, Christ will returns as Judge of the world. So if we believe the Bible, the question shifts from “Does Hell exist?” to “Why would God send people to Hell?” It’s a difficult question to wrestle with, because we all have loved ones who don’t believe in God, and we don’t like thinking about them in hell; and honestly, Hell makes us uneasy too. The question becomes even more difficult when you read passages like “God is love.” Sending people to eternal punishment doesn’t sound very loving!
So some people see a contradiction in the descriptions, “God is loving” and “God is just.” If God is just and punishes people, then he can’t be loving. If God is loving, he must let people live however they want. How will you respond to a skeptic who claims, “I can only believe in a loving God; the God of the Bible is just a bloodthirsty ogre only appeased by suffering”? How will we respond when Satan tempts us to doubt God’s love because of Hell? To respond to the question, “How Could a Loving God Send People to Hell?” we lean on God’s Word for answers.
In chapter 9, God gave his prophet Ezekiel a front row seat of God’s judgment and love. In a vision, Ezekiel heard God’s voice calling on 6 angels, each armed with a deadly weapon. God commanded those angels, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men, and maidens, women and children.” Slaughter women and children? Kill without compassion? “See, he’s a bloodthirsty psycho!” shouts the skeptic.
If this was all we heard about God, we might agree. But there’s more to see. To truly understand God’s actions, we need to see everything God showed Ezekiel.
In the preceding chapter, God gave Ezekiel another vision of what the people receiving judgment had been doing. Ezekiel was taken to the temple, where God’s presence dwelled, where Israel was to worship him. As God leads Ezekiel through the rooms of the temple, he finds the people worshiping idols; worshiping not the Creator, but created things like the sun and animals. Not only were the Israelites committing “wicked and detestable” idolatry, they committed it in God’s house! Like a wife cheating on her husband right before his eyes.
God said they were doing “things that will drive me far from my sanctuary.” Their idolatry was separating them from God. And isn’t that what they wanted? They wanted God removed from their lives, so they could pick their own gods. They expressed their unbelief, saying “The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.”
So really, when God sentences unbelievers to eternal punishment in hell, isn’t he giving them what they really want: to be separated from God? That’s what hell is. As Paul says in 2 Thessalonians, “(Unbelievers) will be shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.” Hell is complete, eternal separation from God.
And really that’s the first question to ask: does God actually “send” people to hell, or does he just give them what they’ve chosen? God doesn’t pick who to punish at random just to satisfy his bloodlust. He punishes the unbelievers who have driven him from their lives.
That didn’t just happen in Israel. It’s happening in America too. Unbelievers take action to remove God from their lives– striving to strike “Under God” from the pledge of allegiance, or “In God We Trust” from money; banning prayer in schools; teaching that a Biblical mindset is bigoted and hateful; denying religious freedoms. And if not publicly, unbelievers certainly show a desire in their personal lives to separate from God. Refusing to believe anything unexplainable by science or logic; avoiding contact with the Word; thinking desires and emotions are the only absolute authority to guide peoples’ lives. Every unbeliever, in thought, word, and deed, wants God nonexistent in their lives.
It would be like if you decided to take a Disney vacation. You planned the trip, booked the tickets, and packed. But as you waited for your plane, I rushed into the airport and said, “I’m sending you to Disney World, whether you want to or not!” You’d think I was nuts! I can’t send you somewhere you’ve chosen to go.
People might think, “No one chooses to go to a place of eternal torment.” But by refusing to believe in God, haven’t they chosen whatever the alternative to God brings? Theologian and author C.S. Lewis wrote, “In the end, there will be two kinds of people—those who say to God, “Thy will be done.” And those to whom God says, “Thy will be done.” God doesn’t send people to hell at random. He simply allows unbelievers to have what they desire: separation from God.
Others argue that God can’t be loving if he punishes people. While that fits the humanistic mindset that everyone gets to determine right or wrong for themselves, our reactions to injustice often don’t match that mindset.
I think of Brock Turner. Turner is the Stanford swimmer who was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. When the judge sentenced Turner to only 6 months in jail, people were so outraged that over 900,000 signatures were collected on a petition to remove that judge from the bench. People determined the punishment wasn’t harsh enough to achieve justice for the victim. Almost everyone, other than Brock Turner, would say that lack of justice wasn’t loving. So why do people get outraged that the God of the universe would punish unbelievers who disobey the laws he’s laid down for the world’s good?
Paul says in 2 Thessalonians, “God is just.” If God doesn’t enact justice, then the Bible lies. For God to be a God of justice, he must punish sin.
Maybe you noticed earlier I said Ezekiel had front row seats to God’s judgment, but also his love. God sent 6 angels to carry out judgment, but God also called a 7th angel, clothed in linen with a writing kit on his hip. The LORD told the 7th angel, “Go throughout the city and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” Then he commanded the other 6 angels, “Do not touch anyone who has the mark.” Although the angels were to destroy without hesitation, they wouldn’t lay even a finger on the believers. They were saved by the mark.
Some might argue, “Hey! If God is just, he has to be punish sin! Believers sin too, so why aren’t they punished in hell like the unbelievers?” Unbelievers separate themselves from God, but so do we. Our sins, our breaking of God’s commands separate us from God. By prioritizing other things above God, don’t we separate ourselves from God? We fully deserve to suffer in hell along with every unbeliever. If there isn’t punishment for sins, God ceases to be just!
That’s true. However, God doesn’t leave sin unpunished. He placed the punishment on his own Son instead! The punishment for sin is hell, complete separation from God. Jesus received the punishment of hell on the cross. As he carries the whole world’s sin on his shoulders, he cries out to his Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus was separated from God, he suffered Hell so we don’t have to. God is just. Punishment for sin was carried out. But God is love also. He placed that punishment on someone else. Not just the punishment for believers, but for unbelievers too!
The last thing we need to realize is how easy God makes it for us to avoid hell! God didn’t require the Israelites to jump through hoops, carry out a series of difficult tasks, or to measure up to certain standards to be marked for salvation by the angel. They were marked because they believed in God! As Paul told the Thessalonians, they would find joy at Christ’s return on Judgment Day, “because you believed our testimony to you.”
What do we have to do in order to be marked for salvation, and saved from hell? We do nothing. God does everything for us! Jesus is why we’re marked for salvation. The 7th angel marked the foreheads of the believers. We’re told that mark was the Hebrew letter “Tav.” In Ezekiel’s day, the tav was written like… a cross.
Jesus marked his cross on our foreheads with his blood when he suffered hell for us on the cross. Jesus placed his mark on our foreheads with water as the Holy Spirit brought us to faith in Baptism. Jesus took the punishment for us, so all we need to do is receive in faith the forgiveness Jesus won. And the thing is, the Holy Spirit is the one who brings us to faith through Word and Sacrament. Literally, avoiding eternal punishment in hell is possible by God’s free gift! As we stay connected to Word and Sacrament, God promises to keep us strong in that saving faith through the work of the Holy Spirit! Even unbelievers and skeptics can be brought to saving faith by the Spirit through the Word! Avoiding Hell is as simple as trusting in God.
Sometimes we look at the wicked world and at our own sin, and think all is lost. Sometimes we listen to the skeptics or the fears that Satan works into our hearts, and doubt God’s love. But like he did for Ezekiel, God sends that 7th angel into our minds with his message “I have done as you commanded.” All who believe have been marked for salvation. The work is completed. With the mark of Christ on our foreheads, and with God’s gift of faith in our hearts, we can stand confidently before God, the Judge of all, because our loving God has saved us from Hell. Nothing can separate us from him!