Numbers 16:29-34:
“29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”
31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35 And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
I just gave you quite the peculiar passage. One where 250 people were consumed by fire and then another group of people were swallowed into the Earth! What am I trying to show you? Well, actually it’s something quite interesting, not something obscure or anything, simply this: Sheol is inside of the Earth. Yes, you heard me correctly! Sheol, the underworld, is literally under the world.
I promise, I’m not crazy…for all I know. But seriously! Look. Read it again:
“32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.”
That’s the main part we’re going to look at. Are you ready? Let’s go!
Sheol and hades come from the same Greek word, one is Hebrew (Sheol) and one is Greek (Hades), Sheol is the place where souls went after they died. Before Christ came it didn’t matter if you were elect or not, but after Christ rose from the dead, the elect were taken to heaven and the non-elect stayed in Sheol.
“8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)” — Ephesians 4:8-10
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
We see here that Jesus descended into Hades and then ascended, taking with him the captives who were there. Do your own research, but I take those captives to be the souls of the dead saints!
“18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.” — 1 Peter 3:18–20
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
When Christ went down to Sheol He proclaimed His victory! Isn’t that a little funny? There’s a bunch of dead people’s souls in Sheol and Christ goes down and starts telling them that He’s won!
“25 For David says concerning him,
“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;”
“27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.”
“31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.” — Acts 2:25,27,31.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
David knew Christ wouldn’t leave him in Sheol, but he was in Sheol, otherwise he wouldn’t have mentioned not being abandoned there.
(Hades is basically the Greek equivalent of with one major change, and that is the idea that even in Hades there is separation based on how you acted when you were alive.)
I’ve handed you the evidence for Sheol being inside the Earth and so now we can move on: what does that mean for us?
Well, to start, it changes a lot and yet changes nothing! Hold on, don’t worry, I’ll explain! We have nothing to change because we are to trust in God always and be anxious about nothing: Philippians 4:4-7, “4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
It changes everything because we now need to look at the world differently! If the souls of the dead are in the Earth, what does that mean?
This is super fascinating 😂 I never thought about it that way. My first instinct is to laugh at the argument, but logically it actually makes sense. I think I have such a knee-jerk reaction to it simply because I'm a modern-day evangelical still trying to work my way out of the distinction between "space" and "heaven", "alien" and "spiritual being", and a bunch of other things materialism has twisted.
I will say however, I've read the Space Trilogy. And if Lewis taught me anything in those books, it's that the spiritual realm is much closer and more real than any of us realize. We've all been effectively blinded by the "Enlightenment" and the advance of materialism.
Have you read The Chronicles of the Nephilim by Brian Godawa? It's a historical fiction series that is based off of The Bible and the Book of Enoch and expresses a lot of similar views to what you just expressed.
Like John said, I don't necessarily think that Sheol (which, based on your short essay, is equivalent to Hades/Hell) is in the Earth. If God is going to create a new Heaven AND a new Earth, what does that say for your supposition?