{"id":18290,"date":"2009-04-07T21:06:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-08T02:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=18290"},"modified":"2020-01-12T21:08:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-13T03:08:44","slug":"is-gods-presence-felt-in-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-gods-presence-felt-in-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"Is God’s presence felt in hell?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m having some trouble explaining how God\u2019s presence works without conflicting scripture. Some would argue that it\u2019s impossible to be away from God\u2019s presence, understanding He is omnipresence, as taught in Psalms 139:7. However, when you take this verse – “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction\u00a0from the presence of the Lord<\/em><\/strong>, and from the Glory of his power;” (II Thessalonians 1:9) it would appear that it is possible for us to be in a place where the Lord is not present. I’m about 90% sure ‘from the presence of the Lord,’ the way it\u2019s written here, is to be taken in the sense of eternal\u00a0separation<\/strong> from God, meaning that God isn’t there with us. But \u2018from the presence of the Lord\u2019 also seems that it could be saying other things. For instance, \u2018from the presence of the Lord\u2019 could be taken to say that the torment and destruction there comes ‘from God, who is the author of it,’ for those that want destruction more than salvation and don\u2019t believe \u2026 i.e., hell is still in God\u2019s presence, but it\u2019s in the presence of the part of God that dishes out evil and punishment. I’m not sure if this idea conflicts with anything, but when you throw in this verse: \u201cIf I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there\u201d (Psalm 139:8). Here, it appears to indicate that even Hell is in God\u2019s presence. But is that to say that God\u2019s presence is in Hell? What\u2019s the best way to parallel these two verses without getting God\u2019s word twisted?<\/p>\n

Thanks!<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

The problem is that the King James translators were quite loose with their use of “hell” and “hades.” I’ve wondered over the years if they saw these two words as synonyms while we understand them to be two different places. Unfortunately, the New King James hasn’t straightened out the confusion.<\/p>\n

The New American Standard is more consistent in its translation: “If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there<\/em>” (Psalms 139:8). The realm of the dead,\u00a0sheol<\/em>\u00a0in the Hebrew and\u00a0hades<\/em>\u00a0in the Greek, is a place where God’s presence still abides.<\/p>\n

One thing you should keep in mind is that God is described as light. “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all<\/em>” (I John 1:5). But hell is described as a place of darkness. “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever<\/em>” (Jude 13). Darkness is the absence of light. Hell is a place God made where even His presence will not be felt.<\/p>\n

As the Psalmist points out, we have never been away from the presence of God. It has always been there. Even death doesn’t separate us from God. But one of the awful facts about hell is that God won’t be there. You will not be able to pray and ask for deliverance because there will not be anyone there to hear you.<\/p>\n

Take a look at “What is Hell Like?<\/a>” for more details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I\u2019m having some trouble explaining how God\u2019s presence works without conflicting scripture. Some would argue that it\u2019s impossible to be away from God\u2019s presence, understanding He is omnipresence, as taught in Psalms 139:7. However, when you take this verse – “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction\u00a0from the presence of the Lord, and from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[90,373],"class_list":["post-18290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-god","tag-hell"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40472,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/punished-in-jesus-presence-or-away-from-his-presence\/","url_meta":{"origin":18290,"position":0},"title":"Punished in Jesus’ presence or away from his presence?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: One of the seeming \"contradictions\" I want to give an answer to is found in these two Scriptures: \"Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power\" (II Thessalonians 1:9). \"Then a third angel followed them, saying with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46149,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/acts-2-and-3-and-the-gift-of-the-holy-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":18290,"position":1},"title":"Acts 2 and 3 and the Gift of the Holy Spirit","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer When you layout Acts 2 and 3, there are some great comparisons. Both begin in the same basic way (Men of Judea, Men of Israel) and contain at least these similarities: They start by clearing up misunderstandings and reference a direct act of God's power (Acts 2:15-20;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40168,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-possible-to-feel-the-presence-of-god-when-one-worships-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":18290,"position":2},"title":"Is it possible to feel the presence of God when one worships Him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it possible to feel the presence of God when one worships Him? Answer: You ask the question in the wrong way because in the realm of\u00a0possibility when dealing with God, almost anything is possible. But if you ask how God made His presence known in the past, then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24076,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-away-from-the-presence-of-the-lord-or-coming-from-the-presence-of-the-lord-in-ii-thessalonians-19\/","url_meta":{"origin":18290,"position":3},"title":"Is it “away from the presence of the Lord” or “coming from the presence of the Lord” in II Thessalonians 1:9?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Like always, I have a question. In II Thessalonians 1:9 it has a commentary on the bottom. The verse says, \"They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from\u00a0\u00a0the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,\" then in the footnotes, I found in my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46385,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-child-baptized-without-his-parents-knowledge-feel-the-presence-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":18290,"position":4},"title":"Can a child baptized without his parents’ knowledge feel the presence of God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a child was baptized as a baby without the parents' knowledge but raised in a Jewish home, could that child feel the presence of God without knowing it? Answer: There are too many false assumptions in this question. One does not need to be baptized to feel God's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88961,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/looking-to-his-holy-temple\/","url_meta":{"origin":18290,"position":5},"title":"Looking to His Holy Temple","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Seth Mauldin via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 For me, the book of Jonah has always been something of a depressing book. Of course, there are positives to be found; we'll always have the good example of the Ninevites who threw themselves into the task of repentance.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}