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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
God's omnipresence is one of His essential attributes. His justice is also essential, and, therefore, it is necessary for Him to punish sinners who do not trust in Jesus for salvation. Thus, we hav...
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John Willeford
I think this question strikes at the very character of God. Does God really burn humans for eternity? We think it in-humane to torture someone for a wrong doing, (punishment; yes. torture; no). Job 4:17 "shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker? I think not, torture is an attribute of satan not God. Torture is not just or pure. when a doctrine of eternal torture is taught you defraud the character of God. "righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne" "judgement is mine, says The Lord". We have the perfect lesson from the sanctuary service. In the courtyard there was a brazen altar, upon that was the offering for sin was placed (this of course typifying Christ who bore our sins and offered Himself upon the cross for our sins. "for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; the we might be made the righteousness of God in him" 2Corinthians 5:21). The smoke represented the righteous and the ashes represent the wicked. Read Ezekiel 28:11-19. The key note versus in 18-19. Most know these versus to describe Lucifer before his fall, but also describes his fate. The scriptures uses the words like "bring thee to ashes" and I especially like this "and never shalt thou be any more". If God will destroy satan he surely will destroy the unrepentant. Destroy not torture forever. I say Amen to that.
Salem Markus Purba
Well, our God is the God of heaven and the God of earth (Genesis 24:3), hell is a place in the earth, for the anger of God to condemn human soul and body. (Genesis 19:24; Mathew 10:28-29; 2Peter2:4-22). So, God is not just omnipresent, but also omnipotent and omniscient (Psalm 139:13-24).
Anonymous
Hell itself the scripture says is a place where God has made for the devil, his angels and those who disobeyed God while here on earth. It is a place of eternal damnation and since it is God almighty that made hell as a place of punishment, it is therefore right to say that God also controls hell and not the devil. God knows exactly what transpired there but would not do anything to save any soul there because they are what we referred to as rebels against God. So long as the whole world is concern, God has control what happens in heaven, earth and underneath the earth including hell.
Anonymous
All things exist because God sustains their existance. * Psalm 104:29, "When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust." * Job 34:14-15, "If he set his heart on man, if he gather to himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again to dust." If Hell exists, and from reading the Bible, it does. Then it is sustained by Him.
Betts Huntley
Let us remember that Satan (the devil) does NOT run hell! He is GOING to hell together with his "angels."
Gordon Slocum
We think of the lake of fire, mentioned four times in Revelation and outer darkness, mentioned three times in Matthew, Matthew also tells us in 25:41 Satan and his angles are cast into everlasting fire that was prepared for them. Simply put because God is creator He can create whereby His omnipresence is violated, but those in that place are restricted from the same, there reality is separation, outer darkness, not in the presence of the Lord.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-10
English Standard Version (ESV)
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from[a] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
Psalm 139:7-9
English Standard Version (ESV)
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
God is everywhere, but all who are in hell and later in the lake of fire their awareness is the opposite, only God can create this kind of existence,
Anonymous
God is omnipresent, so of course his presence is in hell as well. But remember, he didn't put himself there to help you. If you wind up in hell, you have already received Jesus judgements for your unrepentent sins. His presence as an omnipresent God will not help or ease your sufferings once your judgement has been determined by Jesus.
Derek Blake
This question has several facets. Firstly there is no such place as 'Hell' it just does not exist, or it will not exist until after the second coming, when the unbelievers will endure endless torment. The word 'Hell' is a mistranslation, firstly of the Hebrew word 'Sheol' and then the Greek word 'Hades', both of which mean simply, 'the place of the dead', where every soul goes when they die. I believe the literal meaning is “unseen” or “hidden”. There is nowhere in the Old Testament where it mentions any place of torment after death, as the concept of Hell suggests. The word 'Hell' is an Anglo Saxon word (originally also meaning 'unseen' so it ws a reasonable translation of 'Hades'. However it seems that the Catholic church promoted the idea of a place of torment, fire and brimstone, in order to persuade its followers from sin. So the original word lost its meaning, as many words do over time. The Bible is quite clear, that neither the believers or the unbelievers go directly to either heaven or hell, but that we sleep, with no consciousness, until judgement day arrives, when we will all rise. Those whose names are in the Book of Life, those who have chosen Jesus will go to the New Earth, and then, and only then, will the unbelievers be thrown into the place of eternal torment. The matter of 'Omnipresence' is more one of physics than the spiritual. The Bible suggests that God exists outside of time, Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8, both suggest this in the limited terms of iron and bronze age peoples. Today secular science agrees that before the Big Bang, the singularity appeared into a condition (realm) where time or space (dimension) did not, could not, have existed. The main reasoning for this theory is that the singularity could not have expanded if it had appeared in what we call space, the spacial fabric would have acted as a dampening-field. So we can safely assume that God's 'natural' realm is outside of space and time. This being so God is in every place and every time all at once. So if there were a Hell, He would doubtless not be excluded from that place, but as it does not exist then 'No' He cannot be there.
Al Mari
Whether the original word translated as hell, viz., hades, tartaros or Gehenna fire, this question should make us re-evaluate our understanding of "omnipresence". This should not mean where God IS, as we all know he IS in the "3rd heaven". Rather, omnipresence has to mean "presence through awareness" of everything, as though He is actually there. The computer age should make us further understand that oversight, camera everywhere, satellites, drones, NSA surveillance worldwide give us a "mere glimpse" of the spirit-power of omnipresence. The word should not necessarily mean He is there "bodily".
John Appelt
This question is a complicated one. Concerning the “omni” (“all”) characteristics, God is “omniscient” meaning “all knowing,” Psalm 50:11, 139:1-24, Proverbs 15:3, Isaiah 40:28, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Matthew 10:30, Hebrews 4:13. He is “omnipotent” meaning “all powerful,” Psalm 147:5, Jeremiah 32:17, Hebrews 1:3, Matthew 19:26, Romans 1:20. Although not named in the Bible, omniscience and omnipotence are described. The word “omnipresence” meaning “all present” or “present everywhere” is also not in the Bible. However, the concept of “omnipresence” is not in the Bible either. As much as it is claimed, there is no evidence of it. In fact, it is an impossible concept. For example, God walked in the garden while Adam and Eve hid from His presence, Genesis 3:8. As with any being, God, even as a spirit, cannot be everywhere. Cain left the presence of the Lord to live in the land of Nod, Genesis 4:16. God was possibly in the Garden of Eden at that time. If God were everywhere, then Cain could not leave His presence. Afterwards, the Lord seemed to be residing in heaven from which He occasionally came down to earth, as in Genesis 11:5 and Genesis 18:20-21. After His meeting with Abraham, He went His way, Genesis 18:33. The Lord was not present everywhere and especially not in the sinful cities. The account of Exodus 24:12-17 specifically places God in Mount Sinai when He called Moses to come up on the mountain where He was. Later, in Exodus 33:22-23, Moses saw not God’s face but His after-glory when God passed by. The passing by of the Lord is also seen in I Kings 19:11-12. Evidently, He is not everywhere. The passage of Psalm 139:7-12 seems to indicate His omnipresence. However, the Psalmist was asking where one could hide from the Lord. If he tried to go up to heaven or if he tried to descend to “hell” (in Psalm 139:8, the word “Sheol” means grave or the realm of death), God would find him. Jeremiah 23:23-24, Amos 9:2-3, and Hebrews 4:13 echo the same thoughts. It is not that God is everywhere at once, but that no one can hide from Him because He knows all things and nothing escapes His attention, Proverbs 15:3, Job 34:21-22. This actually reinforces the teaching of God’s omniscience. God is not everywhere but He is in heaven, Psalm 14:2, 33:13-15, 115:3, Matthew 6:9, Hebrews 8:1. The eternal, enthroned God is also with the humble and contrite, Isaiah 57:15. But God will not be in the midst of rebels or the wicked, Numbers 14:42, Isaiah 55:6. God cannot be in hell which is the place of the second death which is separation from God, Matthew 25:41, II Thessalonians 1:7-9, Revelation 20:14. In Revelation 14:9-10, the Lamb and the angels are only present there to execute judgment upon worshipers of the beast. The teaching of the omnipresence of God is not defensible, and leads to the improbable, illogical conclusion that God could be in hell, if He is everywhere present.
Justin Hale
This question is actually more simple to answer than it appears, once we understand what 'eternal hell' actually is, ('Tartarus and Gehenna'), distinguishing it from 'Hades and Sheol,' (where scripture states directly GOD's Presence Exists, Psalm 139:8), and once we grasp what GOD means when He calls Himself a 'Consuming Fire' (Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29).
The entire point of Psalm 139 is to state expressly that human beings can NEVER escape from the Presence of GOD. GOD really Is everywhere and even holds together reality itself, originating every process and actively sustaining every atom in the universe, (Colossians 1:17).
So a type of 'Consuming Fire' is doing this everywhere all the time and even outside time in what scripture calls 'eternity.' In scientific terms, 'eternity' is the realm where objects or inhabitants are moving at speeds faster than the speed of light, not in any way constrained by time. The question is not IF we each will experience this 'Consuming Fire' but HOW we will ultimately experience It...forever.
GOD is currently 'obscuring' His Presence from us while He attempts to convince us to experience Him without any horror. He wants us to 'shine' rather than to 'burn.' As time progresses, He is steadily lifting these obstructions, revealing both His glory and the ever increasing 'flames of life' we experience by rejecting Him.
'Eternal heaven' and 'eternal hell' are both that inescapable reality where the last things obscuring GOD's Presence are finally lifted and there is nothing between ourselves and GOD. GOD never changes. He Is what He Is...a 'Consuming Fire.'
The only way to experience this true and final reality as GOD desires for us and to 'shine' with the glory He intends for humans 'made in His direct image' to directly reflect, is to accept what has already been fully provided for us by GOD personally, in the Person of Jesus Christ.
The reason that we alternatively end up on the other side of an 'untraversable chasm' when we reject that only path to eternal life is because both are actually just hopelessly divergent ways to experience the same thing....GOD Himself. There is nowhere else to which to 'escape.' We cannot somehow 'opt out.' The same GOD Is everywhere. We can either view Him with abject horror or open praise.
"One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:6).
GOD never changes and His Presence Exists everywhere. Don't be deceived into believing otherwise. However, He wants more than anything to teach you how to 'shine' in His Presence, not to 'burn.' You need look no further than what He did for us in Jesus Christ to realize this, if you have any doubts at all.
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