The judgment day will find each individual assigned to either eternal life, or to eternal punishment. Eternal life for the redeemed is promised throughout the Bible—Old Testament and New. However, eternal punishment of the wicked is also promised, both in the Old and the New Testaments: Revelation 20:11-15—“Then I saw a great white throne and Him Who sat on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”; Revelation 21:6-8—“And He [the Lord God] said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’”; Matthew 16:27—“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”].

Let’s consider the matter of HADES, because this is the place that is, in a sense, between death and the judgment. It is the place between this life and life eternally.

It should be noted that the English word for Hades is actually a word that is transliterated from the Greek word. The Greek word is “hades,” spelled “h-a-d-e-s,” but pronounced “ha-des” (emphasis on “des”). Again, a “transliteration”—that word was not translated from the Greek into English. The word was taken and put into the English language.

We need to point out that this is a different place from Hell. There are some translations that don’t translate this accurately. Hell is the Greek word, “Gehenna,” which refers to the “final abode of the lost.” Hades is a word that in the original language means “a place of the dead”—“a place of the unknown.” I found this interesting: It also means “all receiving.” Everyone who dies will be received in Hades.

What is this place? What’s it like? We don’t know, but in Luke, chapter 16, Jesus relates a story about a rich man and a poor man. The poor man’s name was Lazarus [verses 19-21—“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”]. They both die, only to find themselves in Hades—the rich man in torment, and Lazarus resting in paradise, pictured as being on the “bosom of Abraham” [verses 22-23—“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”].

That story tells us several things. First of all, it is apparent that Hades is compartmentalized, so to speak, and that there is a place of torment and there is a place of rest and comfort. This is not, however, the final resting place. The judgment has not yet taken place. What this tells us also is that when a person dies, one’s “fate is sealed.” There is no “second chance” or “second opportunity.” There is no place called “purgatory,” as many believe.

We also see from these verses that these two individuals were conscious. They were aware of their circumstances [verses 24-25—“Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.’”]

We also learn from these verses that the rich man desired to go back, but he couldn’t. There is a great gulf fixed between torment and paradise, and no one pass between [verse 26—“And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.”]. So it is final! A person will know his/her FINAL eternal destination as he/she awaits the judgment day in Hades.

They also remembered. The rich man remembered his family and his brothers [verses 27-28—“Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him [Lazarus] to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’”].

So in that brief story that Jesus gives us in Luke 16, a number of things are revealed to us about this place called Hades.