Doom & Gloom
Hell is NOT Doom & Gloom. It is joy and rejoicing...
The preaching of Hell and Hell itself is often mocked and trivialized as doom and gloom. But in truth doom and gloom is the prison and jail systems throughout the world. A pattern repeated daily in courtrooms is the celebration of the demise of the convicted by victims themselves or family members of the victims. Moreover, they tend to bemoan the sentences as too light and say in clear and vivid words that they want them to suffer. And if the convicted were to commit suicide in prison their disappointment is expressed: “they took the easy way out”. Man’s prisons and all elements of it from politicians to prosecutors to judges to juries to the victimized seek full and unmerciful vicious and cruel justice and this for their very own glory, or gratification, or satisfaction, or all these. Law makers routinely pitch “tough on crime”. The greater the pain and punishment in prison the greater the pleasure! Lest my words be misconstrued, justice is required and especially for violent crimes. Doom and gloom arise from the celebratory attitudes and the actual doom and gloom conditions of sinners’ prisons and jails for fellow sinners. The justice system of man is also deemed doom and gloom because of exorbitant sentences. News headlines declare, by way of example: “An ex-CIA officer [Joshua Adam Shulte, 35] has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the biggest leak in the agency's history.” Forty years! How many did he kill? How many did he slaughter? Murderers get less time than this. Go and check in with Josh; he will advise if his sentence is doom and gloom.
In Jean Casella’s and James Ridgeway’s May 1, 2013 article “The 10 Worst Prisons in America” they document: “Conditions in some American facilities are so obscene that they amount to a form of extrajudicial punishment. Doing time is not supposed to include being raped by fellow prisoners or staff, beaten by guards for the slightest provocation, driven mad by long-term solitary confinement, or killed off by medical neglect. These, however, are the fates of thousands of prisoners every year — men, women, and children housed in lockups that give Gitmo and Abu Ghraib a run for their money.” Doesn’t this sound like doom and gloom to you? There’s more: “The United States boasts the world’s highest incarceration rate, with close to 2.3 million people locked away in some 1,800 prisons and 3,000 jails. Most are nasty places by design, aimed at punishment and exclusion rather than rehabilitation. While reliable numbers are hard to come by, at last count 81,622 prisoners were being held in some form of isolation in state and federal prisons. Thousands more are being held in solitary at jails, deportation facilities, and juvenile-detention centers. Nearly 1 in 10 prisoners is sexually victimized, by prison employees about half of the time — more than 200,000 such assaults take place in American penal facilities every year, according to estimates compiled under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act. Suicides, meanwhile, account for almost a third of prisoner deaths, per the Bureau of Justice Statistics, while an unknown number of fatalities result from substandard nutrition and medical care.” Man’s prisons for his fellow man are doom & gloom. God’s prison, Hell, is NOT doom and gloom! Hell is justice & furnace! “And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:50).
The US Penitentiary Administrative Maximum in Florence, Colorado hit the number one spot in their top 10 list. Casella and Ridgeway further write: “Known as ADX, and nicknamed the ‘Alcatraz of the Rockies’, this is among the most secure prisons in the world — and one of the most isolating. Many of its cells, fashioned out of poured concrete with solid steel doors, are equipped with built-in showers and automated chutes that open onto private concrete ‘exercise yards,’ such that occupants need never see a guard or fellow prisoner — much less a visitor. One former warden interviewed by 60 Minutes called it ‘pretty close’ to hell.” However, that warden is sorely mistaken! Moreover, with such belief, he himself is likely in God’s Hell if he has since died. Those who believe the Holy Bible know Hell as a place of torment (Luke 16:28) without end. It is “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46). The only sentence handed down by the Judge, the Lord Jesus, is an ETERNAL life sentence! As bad as ADX is, it is NOT in the very least “close” to Hell! Hell is infinitely worse and yet infinitely more just than any of man’s prisons! In prisons there are food, water, vending machines, medical care, medicine, and sleep. These little comforts, cures, and moments of rest do not exist in Hell! Luke 16:24, “And 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.” The heat, the hot heat of Hell and the unending burning in its flames punishes and torments! And note again, there is no water, there are no cooling stations! The incarcerated have relief from man’s prisons upon parole or death.
Hell, though everlasting, is completely just for at least 10 reasons:
1. No one is ever beaten, shanked, raped or otherwise abused by any other; ALL there are in continuous torment perfectly crippling their ability, or even desire, to inflict pain upon another.
2. It is a place created by someone completely sinless, God, the Lord Jesus. Hell is God’s prison, not man’s. Matthew 25:41, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”.
3. The Lord Jesus is the righteous judge. He is wholly pure and untainted! Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing (2 Timothy 4:8).
4. The Lord Jesus is a just Judge. He is not swayed by personal biases or influenced by pressures as judges in our legal system. He is not a respecter of persons. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith (Luke 18:6). “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34).
5. There is no wrongfully convicted; The Innocence Project does not apply! Matthew 12:25, “And Jesus knew their thoughts…” The Lord Jesus knows if a person believes Him or not!
6. The determination of guilt is based on the violation of only one criterion, faith/belief, and this for all cases/persons. “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).
7. The degree of punishment/sentencing phase for Hell is perfectly calibrated by the Holy One of Israel for each inmate based on their individual religious and moral evils. “Therefore it is no great thing if his (Satan’s) ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:15). “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works” (Revelation 20:13). The intensity of their Hell is according to their works.
8. God Himself, whose Hell it is, made a way of escape though faith and faith alone in Him. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him” (Hebrews 2:3).
9. God Himself became a man to be slaughtered to pay the sin debt of sinners. “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
10. God Himself laid down His own life and offers His shed blood to cleanse us of all sin and this just for believing and receiving Him as Saviour. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us…” (1 John 3:16). “…the blood of Jesus Christ His (God’s) Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
In our world it is uncompromisingly stated, “you do the crime, you do the time”. There is no concession to prevent prison time outside of inadequate evidence or an effective defense. Judges do not offer to do the time imposed upon those they sentence. The legal system with its countless and unending laws creates a harsh and punishing world. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre unashamedly preaches “jail, not bail” (The Canadian Press, May 18, 2023). His doom and gloom compel Boris Bytensky, a criminal defense lawyer, to respond: "Somewhere in there, there should be room for a person to be found not guilty. Because presumably, we don't actually sentence people until and unless they've been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But that doesn't seem to be included in the narrative." Just about daily attempts are being made to cast President Donald Trump into prison. He calls it a witch hunt! I am confident that he would not contest the term “doom and gloom” in describing the prison sentences they seek for, and wish upon, him. NBC News’ Jillian Frankel and Rebecca Shabad write: “Trump lawyer Susan Necheles asked Daniels if she hates Trump and Daniels said yes. Asked if she wants Trump to go to jail, Daniels said that she wants ‘him to be held accountable’ and ‘if he is found guilty, absolutely’” (May 7, 2024). A fellow sinner with Trump and myself and every other human inhabitant on the earth, Stormy Daniels zealously pursues justice. For this for what? To Ms. Stormy Daniels I offer both a caution and an encouragement. As you seek accountability and jail time for another, the God of Israel, the sinless Lord Jesus, seeks accountability and Hell time for you. As such, I beseech you to believe the Bible and receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. There is no greater evil than rejecting God’s Word the Holy Bible in utter unbelief!
In Thailand in 1989, Chamoy Thipyaso was found guilty of defrauding over 16 000 people in a pyramid scheme valued at over $204 million. For this crime she was sentenced to 141 078 years in prison! These foolish prosecutors and judges pronounce doom and gloom upon this lady in a most dramatic and silly and unjust way. But they, of all people, would, or at least should, fully understand the eternal life sentence that the Lord Jesus would likely hand down to them! Thankfully she served only 8 years, a more reasonable and appropriate time. God’s sentence of Hell to the billions who do not and will not believe Him and His Word is terror and torment! 2 Corinthians 5:11, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.” As horrific as things may become for any of us here and now, there is no place or experience on this earth comparable to God’s Hell! Hell is furnace and fire! Hell is wailing and gnashing! Matthew 13:42, “And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Hell is blackness and darkness! “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 1:13). As inmates look up from the light emitted from Hell’s flames there is only the blackness of darkness! It is the outer darkness! Matthew 25:30, “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Hell is not doom and gloom! But, above all, Hell is joy and rejoicing… for those not there! “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16).