Killing the Soul
"And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Matthew 10:28 CLNT)
Your translation of the Bible probably renders the word "Gehenna" as “hell”. That is unfortunate and an example of how the Bible was translated into English according to the bias of the translators to promote the vain "directions of men" rather than the Word of God.
"Yet in vain are they revering Me, Teaching for teachings the directions of men." (Matthew 15:9 CLNT)
"Gehenna" refers to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem where trash and dead bodies of animals and criminals were burned. Among that garbage, the worms did not die and the fire was not quenched until it had accomplished the job of destroying the body.
"And if your hand should ever be snaring you, strike it off. It is ideal for you to be entering into life maimed, rather than, having two hands, to come away into Gehenna, into the unextinguished fire where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out." (Mark 9:43-44 CLNT)
So what is Jesus saying to his fellow Jews about "fear" and "Gehenna"?
Remember that while on earth, Jesus preached only to ISRAEL about their promised Kingdom. The Kingdom they once ruled on the earth was now in the hands of the Roman Empire. He told them that they needed to “repent! for near is the Kingdom of the Heavens”, referring to the restoration from heaven of their Kingdom.
"Thenceforth begins Jesus to be heralding and saying, Repent! for near is the kingdom of the heavens!...teaching in their synagogues and heralding the evangel of the kingdom" (Matthew 4:17,23)
Jesus was presenting himself to Israel as the Jewish Messiah who would restore on earth the Kingdom promised to Israel. But he told them that to follow him as Messiah could result in his followers being treated as criminals and could result in their death, with their dead body being cast into "Gehenna".
This would and did bring fear to the Jews. Jesus said they need not fear men who kill them because that is all they could do. Jesus said for them to "fear" God, not those who kill the body and can then do no further damage. For God only could raise both body and soul out of the ashes of the fire of "Gehenna" to reign with Messiah during the Kingdom.
The “souls” of those Jews who did not receive Jesus as Messiah would not be revived until after the Kingdom and would therefore miss out on the reign of Messiah during the 1000 year Kingdom Age.
"And the souls of those executed because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who do not worship the wild beast or its image, and did not get the emblem on their forehead and on their hand- they also live and reign with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead do not live until the thousand years should be finished." (Revelation 20:4-5 CLNT)
Those who use the above verse to teach eternal conscious torment in hell show either their lack of study, or that they are intentionally deceiving people for the purpose of growing their institutions. They will one day be "ashamed" to have tried to save souls from the Greek mythological hell of eternal conscious torment…they should fear that they themselves may not be raised to the free gift of eternal life "until the thousand years should be finished".
"For whosoever may be wanting to save his soul will be destroying it, yet whoever shall be destroying his soul on account of Me and of the evangel will be saving it...For whosoever may be ashamed of Me and My words in this generation...the Son of Mankind also will be ashamed of him whenever He may be coming in the glory of His Father." (Mark 8:35-38 CLNT)
Your translation of the Bible probably renders the word "Gehenna" as “hell”. That is unfortunate and an example of how the Bible was translated into English according to the bias of the translators to promote the vain "directions of men" rather than the Word of God.
"Yet in vain are they revering Me, Teaching for teachings the directions of men." (Matthew 15:9 CLNT)
"Gehenna" refers to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem where trash and dead bodies of animals and criminals were burned. Among that garbage, the worms did not die and the fire was not quenched until it had accomplished the job of destroying the body.
"And if your hand should ever be snaring you, strike it off. It is ideal for you to be entering into life maimed, rather than, having two hands, to come away into Gehenna, into the unextinguished fire where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out." (Mark 9:43-44 CLNT)
So what is Jesus saying to his fellow Jews about "fear" and "Gehenna"?
Remember that while on earth, Jesus preached only to ISRAEL about their promised Kingdom. The Kingdom they once ruled on the earth was now in the hands of the Roman Empire. He told them that they needed to “repent! for near is the Kingdom of the Heavens”, referring to the restoration from heaven of their Kingdom.
"Thenceforth begins Jesus to be heralding and saying, Repent! for near is the kingdom of the heavens!...teaching in their synagogues and heralding the evangel of the kingdom" (Matthew 4:17,23)
Jesus was presenting himself to Israel as the Jewish Messiah who would restore on earth the Kingdom promised to Israel. But he told them that to follow him as Messiah could result in his followers being treated as criminals and could result in their death, with their dead body being cast into "Gehenna".
This would and did bring fear to the Jews. Jesus said they need not fear men who kill them because that is all they could do. Jesus said for them to "fear" God, not those who kill the body and can then do no further damage. For God only could raise both body and soul out of the ashes of the fire of "Gehenna" to reign with Messiah during the Kingdom.
The “souls” of those Jews who did not receive Jesus as Messiah would not be revived until after the Kingdom and would therefore miss out on the reign of Messiah during the 1000 year Kingdom Age.
"And the souls of those executed because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who do not worship the wild beast or its image, and did not get the emblem on their forehead and on their hand- they also live and reign with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead do not live until the thousand years should be finished." (Revelation 20:4-5 CLNT)
Those who use the above verse to teach eternal conscious torment in hell show either their lack of study, or that they are intentionally deceiving people for the purpose of growing their institutions. They will one day be "ashamed" to have tried to save souls from the Greek mythological hell of eternal conscious torment…they should fear that they themselves may not be raised to the free gift of eternal life "until the thousand years should be finished".
"For whosoever may be wanting to save his soul will be destroying it, yet whoever shall be destroying his soul on account of Me and of the evangel will be saving it...For whosoever may be ashamed of Me and My words in this generation...the Son of Mankind also will be ashamed of him whenever He may be coming in the glory of His Father." (Mark 8:35-38 CLNT)