The Abyss, Part 5

As we continue to study what the Bible says about the Abyss, we consider that the Bible indicates that heaven is "up," and hell is "down," as we saw when we looked at Romans 10:6-7.

While we speak of heaven as up, and hell as down, the Bible hints that those who have died are aware of what is going on here on earth (Revelation 6:9-10), and part of the torment of hell is that it is not unlike walking on a dark street and observing through an open curtain a joyous celebration from which we are forever locked away (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; Luke 16:27-28).

When God judged the rebels Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, he caused the earth to open its mouth like the maw of a great beast and swallow them alive into the Pit, not simply a burial, but into Sheol (שָׁאַל) itself (Numbers 16:26-34).

While the Lord Jesus' body lay on a stone slab within a rock-hewn grave, he himself descended into "the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40). And after he conquered death, he ascended into heaven eclipsed from sight by a cloud (Acts 1:9).

Where are these places? The Lord Jesus is with us when we gather in his name (Matthew 18:20), and when we worship on earth, we are surrounded by an innumerable company of angels and the spirits of believers who have died and gone on to heaven (Hebrews 12:1, 22-24).

Some of the theories of quantum physics such as "wormholes" (Einstein–Rosen bridges) illustrate how it is possible to pull the Biblical data together.