Death and Hades

As we've been studying Revelation this year so far, there's several mentions of death and hades.  I'm interested to see what else I can find out about this.  One of the inductive study methods is to list. 

1)  So let's start out by listing mentions of death and hades together in the Bible.

Revelation 1:18:

and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Revelation 6:8:

I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Revelation 20:13:

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

Revelation 20:14

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

The reason I'm intrigued about this is that I know I had seen death and Hades usually mentioned together.  What caught my attention was Rev 6:8 because it said Death was on the ashen horse and Hades was following him - as if they were two separate things.


2)  Word Study 

My next inductive study method is to go back to the Greek and see what we learn.  Let's go to Rev 6:8 and do a word study.  I use www.blueletterbible.org for this.

Death is Strongs number G2288. In Greek, the word is thanatos.   One of the definitions is  the death of the body.  And that separation (whether natural or violent) of the soul and the body by which the life on earth ended.  I think we all know what death means and do not need to explore that concept any further.

Hades is Strongs number G86.  The Greek word is Hades (the same).  And it's a noun - a proper locative noun - meaning a place.  One of the definitions is a later use of this word: the grave, death, hell.   i.e. "Hades" or the place (state) of departed souls:—grave, hell.   Another word that means the same is in the Old Testament in Hebrew is Sheol or Strongs number H7585.

At this point in my study of death and Hades, I would summarize it by stating that through physical death, people enter Hades.   Which is why Hades was following death in Rev 6:8.

3)  Cross Referencing:

Another inductive study method is to cross reference with other scriptures.  Scripture always confirms scripture.  So if we don't understand something, there may be another Scripture that explains it more fully.

 To explain this further, let's look at Luke 16:23: In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.  This is the story of the rich man being tormented in Hades on the hot side and he sees Lazarus also in Hades, but on the cool side.  So from these observations, we can say that Hades is the place where departed souls go after their physical death.  From other study that I've done,  In the Old Testament, all souls went to Hades.  There was a "cool side" and a "hot side" (as evidenced from this scripture above).  Those on the "cool side" were those who believed and had faith and looked forward to the coming of Messiah.   When Jesus was resurrected, He "cleaned out" the "cool side" of Hades and those souls were taken to heaven with Him.   Those on the "hot side" stayed there in torment.  Hades keeps enlarging itself to this day, to hold all those who had physically died without believing. (Isaiah 5:14).

Looking at the above verses again, refer to Rev 20:13.  It says that death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and they (those in death and Hades) were judged.   This says to me that Hades is "cleaned out" of the souls of those who had died in their physical body.  They will be brought before the Great White Throne of Judgment to be judged.  Remember, as a Christ follower, you will not be judged.  You have been made righteous, once you have believed that Jesus Christ died for and paid the penalty for your sins.  You have been washed clean.

Let's look at the final scripture above - Revelation 20:14 -  we see that death and Hades are thrown in the lake of fire, which is the second death.  I believe this means that after this event, there will be no more death, no more hades.  Everything will be made new.  We can see this if we continue reading in Revelation 21, specifially Rv 21:4a:  and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death.

We can finish up this study of death and hades by looking at Revelation 1:18.  We see that Jesus alone holds the keys to death and hades.  Everything in Revelation is God's plan and Jesus is in control.  When we accept Jesus' offer of eternal life, we overcome the power of Hades and death, just like Jesus did.  (1 Cor 15:55).