Doctrine
The question of whether God is in hell must begin doctrine
that God is everywhere. He is
omnipresent. The doctrine of God’s omnipresence states that God is everywhere,
at once and absolutely. There are no
parts of Him in one place and part in another.
One must also hold to the doctrine of Divine Simplicity This is the idea
that God does not exist in parts but is one unified entity.
Revelation 14:10
Jesus taught that God’s ultimate punishment is banishment
from the Lord's presence (see Matthew 7:23; 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; and Luke
13:27). However, as we read Revelation
14:10 (ESV), speaking of those who worship the beast: “he also will drink the
wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he
will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and
in the presence of the Lamb.” That
passage tends to reveal that Christ and the angels are present in Hell with the
damned. Dr. Beale writes, “That the torment takes place not only ‘before the
Lamb’ but also the before ‘holy angels’ suggests that the angels are not merely
present when the judgment occurs but also take part in the execution of it,
though their presence may only be intended to call attention to the Lamb.”[1] The
presence of Christ isn’t stated categorically that He is in Hell. It may be saying that Christ and the angels
are observing the very results of their judgment. “In Revelation 14:10,
"presence" is a literal translation of the Greek ἐνώπιον, which means "in
the presence of, before." This is a spatial word, suggesting proximity and
literal, measurable distances.”[2]
2 Thessalonians 1:9
2 Thessalonians 1:9 gives us the clearest of answers. “They will suffer the punishment of
eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of
his might,” (2 Thessalonians 1:9, ESV). Let me unpack this by identifying
several important points.
Point 1.
The clause, “away from the presence of the Lord and from the
glory of his might” leans back to Isaiah 2:10, 19, and 21, where the wicked are
called to hide from the “presence of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of
His might.[3] This should cause us to immediately think
that the presence of God they are experiencing is His wrath and is manifested by
His terror and majestic power. The
redeemed of the Lord do not experience this aspect of God’s presence. “. . .
In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures
forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11b, ESV)
Point 2.
Another point to be made about this phrase, “away from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” is that this is
synonymous parallelism in Greek, meaning that the “presence of the Lord is
stated otherwise and similar to, “the glory of His might.” “Since these two
prepositional phrases are in synonymous parallelism with each other (see also
vv8b and 10), it would be wrong to distinguish their meaning too sharply.”[4] All that is to say that the punishment meted
out on the unrepentant is state away from the presence of God; or stated
otherwise, away from the glory of His might. These phrases could be used interchangeably. I’ll write more of that later.
Point 3.
The most compelling point for me is the word
“presence”. This word in the Greek text
is “πρόσωπον prosōpon; from 4314 and ὤψ ōps (an
eye, face); the face.”[5] That
Biblical notion of being before, or seeking God’s face is an important reality
in the Scriptures. The greatest blessing is to have God’s face turned to you,
not away from you. This leads me to conclude that God’s presence in Hell is His
face is turned away. He is present with
an ever-turned face. Many years ago, I
head the late Dr. R.C. Sproul, Senior, speak on the topic of cursing and
blessing[6]. He took his text from the Aaronic blessing of
Numbers 6.
“The Lord
bless you and keep you; the Lord
make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24–26, ESV)
Dr. Sproul noted
that cursing someone is the opposite of blessing. For example, we could read the text as a
curse in this way: “The LORD curse you and abandon you; the LORD turn His face
and leave you in darkness removing all grace to you; the LORD remove His
countenance[7]
from you and give you calamity.”
So, in 2
Thessalonians 1:9 we might see the Apostle saying that the reprobate experience
the turned away face of God. That experience includes eternal darkness, devoid
of all grace and peace, lacking all approval or acceptability from God. “And God, who is present everywhere at all
times, will be forever present in hell as the judge . . . Whatever the exact
nature of this everlasting judgment, it is horrible ultimately for one reason
only: God is present.” – Michael Horton[8] For God to be present with His face turned
away would be horror devoid description.
It is what Christ experienced on the Cross in a moment of time but
infinite in measure when He cried, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”[9] The ever-present God was there with face
turned away. That is Hell.
As to the parallel
phrase “the glory of His might”, how does it reflect a synonymous idea? If we
turn to Psalm 106:8 (ESV) we get a clue.
There we read, “Yet he
saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.” The
salvation of God’s people is accomplished through His “mighty power”, His “glorious
might”. Just as God’s “turned-away-face”
reflects His curse, so does His removal of His mighty power in salvation
becomes His curse.
Conclusion
One commentator puts
it this way, “According to 2 Thessalonians 1:9, the punishment of unbelievers
in hell will consist not only of suffering in the "fires," but also
banishment from the presence of the Lord. The word translated
"presence" is literally "face." Whereas believers will see
the Lord face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12), unbelievers will be driven from
the face of the Lord and will never know the joy of being in His presence and
the delight of observing the splendor of His power.”[10]
Is God present in
Hell? Yes. God is present with face turned away and the
possibility of salvation removed – forever.
This is unimaginable horror.
[1] Beale, G. K. (1999). The
book of Revelation: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 760). W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.
[3] Weima, J. A. D. (2014). Baker
Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians (R. W. Yarbrough & R. H. Stein, Eds.; p. 474).
Baker Academic.
[4] Weima, J. A. D. (2014). Baker
Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians (R. W. Yarbrough & R. H. Stein, Eds.; p. 475).
Baker Academic.
[5] Thomas, R. L. (1998). In New
American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition. Foundation Publications, Inc.
[6] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/cross-of-christ/blessing-or-curse
[7] Remove His acceptance of you.
[8]
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/hell-not-separation-god/
[9] The
Holy Bible: English Standard Version
(Mt 27:46). (2016). Crossway Bibles.
[10] https://www.bibleref.com/2-Thessalonians/1/2-Thessalonians-1-9.html
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