Kingdom Come

The writings directed to the Gentile converts – Luke’s gospel, Paul’s ministry documented in Acts, and Peter’s letters – did not need explanation because they refer to the same concepts their audience understood from paganism. 

1. Tartarus = In Greek mythology, Tartarus was a “place of punishment under the earth, to which, for example, the Titans were sent.” In the Bible this word is used only once, by Peter to Gentiles, clearly referencing the same biblical place of the deep by validating the pagan teaching of the punishment of the “sons of God” who revolted against their lord and master.
2. Bottomless pit / the deep = ἄβυσσος, the abyss, unfathomable depth. “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit,” Revelation 20:1-2
   • This condition of entrapment and inactivity is consistent with the place the Greeks called Tartarus, well portrayed in Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman text to screen. When the Immortal Sandman was separated from his sources of power he reverts to a horrible state of inactive energy yet still sensate in a glass bubble. You just can’t get this dimension of spiritual education from pastors who fear demons, rather than take dominion over them.
   • “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there…came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power / authority, irresistible control, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” (Revelation 9:1-3)
3. Hades = ᾍδης  “(from 1 /A “not” and idein/eidō, “see”) – properly, the “unseen place,” hell, the (invisible) realm of pure energy disembodied souls in fiery torment for those who rejected a relationship with the giver of life. “Jesus of Nazareth…ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain…Christ also hath once suffered for sins…he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;” (I Peter 3:17-19) Whom God hath raised up…David speaketh concerning him…thou wilt not leave my soul in hell / hades.” (Acts 2:22-36) 
   • When we understand where exactly it was that Jesus knew he was going to as part of suffering the penalty of sin for all humanity, his experience on the cross pales in comparison, and we should be shocked into awareness of what exactly he suffered to save our souls from our own justly earned wrath of God. 
4. sheol: שְׁאוֹל (Hebrew) underworld to which people descend at death to Rest In Peace.
   • I will go down into sheol / the grave unto my son” (Genesis 37:35) Consistent with the First Law of Thermodynamics which states that energy can only transformed from one form to another, the grounding of souls at the loss of the body converts active kinetic energy to inactive potential.

In Hindu mythology, the underworld is referred to as Patala. In the Hindu epic Ramayana. Rama  and Lakshmana were taken by the king of the underworld Ahiravan, brother of the demon king Ravana. Later on they were rescued by Hanuman.

The Angami Naga tribes of India claim that their ancestors emerged in ancient times from a subterranean land inside the Earth.

Buddhists believe in Naraka.

In Thracian and Dacian legends, it is said that there are caverns occupied by an ancient god called Zalmoxis. According to the Ancient Greeks, there were caverns under the surface of the earth which were entrances leading to the underworld…

In Celtic mythology there is a legend of a cave called “Cruachan“, also known as “Ireland’s gate to Hell”, a mythical and ancient cave from which according to legend strange creatures would emerge and be seen on the surface of the Earth…In County Down, Northern Ireland there is a myth which says tunnels lead to the land of the subterranean Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of people who are believed to have introduced Druidism to Ireland, and then went back underground.

The same biblical term “deep” is applied in contemporary scientific geology.

Earth’s geological abyssal zone is defined as depths of 4,000–6,000 m / 13,000 – 20,000 feet, It is named from the Greek word ἄβυσσος (ábussos), meaning “bottomless”. This zone, and below, remains in perpetual darkness. Unseen so ignored, it nonetheless covers most of the earth – 60% counting the total earth’s surface and 83% calculating just the sea’s surface…this level is the most common.

The pressure of the weight of the vast amount of water above that depth can reach as high 11,000 psi. This compares to the air pressure at sea level of 15 psi, AKA 1 atmosphere.  The human body cannot survive pressures above 60 psi.

In June 2023 a diving vessel carried sightseers to the sunken Titanic to a level just above the the abyssal zone at 12,400 feet below the ocean’s surface at a pressure of 5,500 psi was lost, with debris found consistent with a catastrophic implosion.

Modern oceanography’s report that the deep is a place of darkness, extreme pressure and searing extreme burning temperature validates the biblical report of hell as a place of torment. The abyssal zone has freezing temperatures around 2–3 °C (36–37 °F) through the large majority of its mass. The effects of exposure to freezing temperatures is equivalent to exposure to fire and is medically described as ice “burn”.

With the exploration of the deepest parts of the ocean come discoveries of horrific deep sea monsters.

Unveiling the Depths: The discovery of approximately 5,000 new species in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) represents a monumental leap in our understanding of marine biodiversity. They represent an entire ecosystem teeming with life, previously hidden in the vast abyssal plains of the Pacific Ocean.

Since there is no light, this “life”, consistent with the perpetuation of energy in evil spirits, is acquired by feeding off other creatures.

So how do we reconcile blessing the LORD Creator for both

1. the precious things of heaven…
2. AND for the deep that coucheth / רָבַץbeneath.” (Deuteronomy 33:13)

“when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing AND the curse which I have set before thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee.” (Deuteronomy 30:1-3)