Preaching hell for the comfort of angry people
From (almost) the beginning of the Bible to the very end, the Bible is a book about judgement. The idea that judgement might come functions in the obvious way: to scare sinners. But it is also paradoxically comforting for angry people. It is especially comforting to those who are angry over the injustice they see in the world.
Two examples from the beginning and end of Scripture come to mind, and they both involve unjust loss of life. The first example comes from the beginning of the Bible: Genesis 4. Here, Cain murders his brother Abel. What does Abel do in response? Well, clearly he is not able—to do anything, that is. Or is he? God contradicts our normal understanding of what dead people are capable of when, in verse 10, he speaks to Cain with these terrible words: “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground”. He then proceeds to punish Cain for his sin. This is not good news for Cain. But it is surely comforting to Abel, who according to Hebrews 11, continues even to this day to look forward to a heavenly reward.
(Not everyone takes Genesis literally, of course. But this is a mistake, since other parts of the Bible also confirm the ability of the dead to speak with great clarity, even making reference to this very incident. So Hebrews 11:4 says of Abel, “And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks”. Two verses later, the writer to the Hebrews comments, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (v. 6). So it seems that the ability to speak after death is one of God's rewards for those who trust him. It may be that God is the only one who hears them, but that should be enough for us.)
The second example comes the other end of the Bible—from Revelation 6, where those Christians who have died for the cause of Christ call out for vengeance and are comforted by the idea of God's justice (I discuss that here).
There is one more example of how God's judgement comforts dead people who have suffered injustice, and it's very important. As Jesus dies on the cross, he quotes the words of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. This is clearly a Psalm of judgement where the psalmist recognizes that he is surrounded by “dogs” and “evildoers” who, by the psalm's end, have been frustrated in their desire to hurt and to harm the faithful servant of God. In turn, the servant sings praise in the congregation to the one who rescued him.
The Lord Jesus was comforted on the cross by the thought that his heavenly Father would save him from wicked people. He was not just comforted by that comforting thought, he was comforted by God himself who, three days later, raised him from the dead, thus answering his prayer.
Indeed, the fact that God answered Jesus' prayer by raising him from the dead is also the comfort we have—that, like Abel and the saints of Revelation 6, our angry prayers for injustice to come to an end will be answered. When? On the day when the risen Lord Jesus comes as the Saviour of his people, and as the avenger against those who rejected his rule when he first came to earth. In Paul's words:
This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
To sum up: the idea that God will judge people and cast them into eternal destruction—hell—for all eternity is a great comfort to anyone who is angry about injustice. Those of us who teach the gospel or tell it to others have a wonderfully comforting message of damnation that will bring hope to all who put their trust in God. The more we speak of it, the more comfort we offer.
UPDATE: Welcome to those who are visiting from Ben Myers' blog. If you want to see some related posts, begin with this post on 'Preaching Hell to Depressed Teens', and continue on to the other links in that post. This issue is not unimportant, and will repay prayerful homework.
