By: Obed Pineda
In the days of our Savior’s life here on earth, there was a valley that could be easily identified by anyone traveling to Jerusalem from the south, most likely because of its peculiar appearance. Sitting just outside of Jerusalem, it was held by her inhabitants as a place of extreme defilement because the carcasses of dead animals, dead bodies of criminals, and essentially all of the city’s offal that was dumped inside the deep, narrow ravine of that valley. In order to purge that land from all of the vast amount of filth that was collected there daily, it would not be out of the question for an unquenchable fire to be burning day and night there, giving it the eerie appearance of a literal lake of fire that made Gehenna so memorable. The diligent Bible student will recall that Gehenna is the Aramaic word translated into our English word “Hell” in the New Testament, and it is also described by the Lord as the place “where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’” (Mark 9:43-44, 45-46, & 47-48, Thayer G1076). Although it is true that the precise location of this valley is not known today, there is no question that it did exist at one time as evinced by Jesus’ reference to this place. Additionally, there is also Jewish literature (that is not Divinely inspired) predating the Lord’s earthly ministry, from the early second century B.C., that speaks of this valley in the same illustrative way. Thus, it is wise to observe that the great Redeemer did not either correct nor dismiss the use of this topographical location as a visual aid of the final, eternal abode of the condemned, but instead utilized it Himself for the same purpose. The beloved apostle John, too, was well aware that anyone who had traveled before to Jerusalem from the south would have undoubtedly been an ocular witness of the ever-burning fires and putrid stench of the Gehenna and for this reason would readily comprehend his depiction of “Death and Hades…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 20:14-15). The lexicons reveal that Gehenna is more accurately translated as an Aramaic transliteration of the Hebrew word, Gē-Hinnōm, which means “the Valley of Hinnom or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom” (Thayer G1076, cf. Joshua 15:8). The sordid history associated with the Valley of Hinnom grants further understanding as to why this location would also be used as a figure of Hell. Through the prophet Jeremiah, Jehovah God denounced to the leaders of His people that it was there, at the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, where “they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents (they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind)” (Jeremiah 19:1-5). God’s reproach to some of the elders of the people and priests, was speaking about the horrific idolatrous practice of human sacrifices (specifically, children sacrifices) that first took place under King Ahaz’s rule (cf. 2nd Kings 16:1-4, 2nd Chronicles 28:1-4). Despite King Hezekiah’s efforts to rid Judah of all these deplorable practices tied to idolatry (cf. 2nd Kings 18:1-6), Holy Scripture tells that King Manasseh “rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them…Alsohe caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger” (2nd Chronicles 33:3, 6). Lamentably, this cruel and atrocious practice would continue with King Amon until the righteous Josiah would ascend the throne of Judah, and completely eradicate the kingdom of such horrors (cf. 2nd Kings 21:19-22, 2nd Chronicles 34:1-7, 33). This abominable action of passing one’s child through fire is another reason why the Valley of the Son of Hinnom was also identified by the ancient world as the valley of lamentation or valley of the sons of lamentation. Biblical scholars explain that this was more of a description of the agonizing wails of the children who were placed on the bronze, outstretched arms of the bull-like image of Moloch that had been excessively heated by his “priests” with firewood from beneath the hollow statue. In order to prevent the parent from regretting his or her decision of offering their offspring to the idol, the drums were played loudly to drown out the gruesome cries of the innocent child that could perhaps dissuade the parent from sacrificing their progeny. In other words, the painful wails of a son or daughter would be ignored by the parent as they abandoned the child to the cruel flames of Moloch. This further expands one’s understanding of Jesus Christ’s metaphor of Hell as “the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42). Irrefutably, those alive to hear the Master’s portrayal of the final destination of the wicked could easily visualize this dreaded realm of “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41b). What the Valley of Hinnom had transformed into during the time our Lord walked this world in conjunction with the awful history of the morbid rituals that were carried out in that valley with fire, leaves zero doubt of what Hell really is. It is a foul place of everlasting torment reserved for all those who have defiled themselves with sin and refuse to turn away from it (cf. Isaiah 66:22-24, John 5:28-29). The fact that Jesus issues His warning eleven times in Scripture about landing in this frightful abode forevermore brightly illuminates the veracity that God truly “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1st Timothy 2:4). Learning about the existence of an actual place such as the Valley of Hinnom, where the Savior could direct man’s mind to as a ghastly visual aid of what awaits those who reject His loving mercy and grace, should serve as an absolute deterrent for not doing so. However, knowing that Hell is undeniably real also provides the blessing to confirm that the same can be said about Heaven. It is, after all, the primary reason our Lord and Savior returned to His Father (cf. John 14:1-6).