Some things about Hell: Jonah Chapter 2

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Then Jonah Prayed

After the end of three days and three nights, Jonah prayed to God out the belly of Hell.Verse by verse study of Jonah chapter 2. Taught by Irvington Bible Baptist Church  Jonah died and went to Hell.

His life needed to be brought back up from corruption because he was dead.  Jesus said in Matthew 12:39-40 that the only sign that he would give them, was the sign of the Prophet Jonah.  Just as the Lord Jesus Christ was Dead, Buried, and Resurrected; So was Jonah.  He Died and was in the belly of the Whale (his tomb) for three days and three nights.  Just as Jesus went to the heart of the earth, Jonah went to Hell.  Like Jesus, Jonah was resurrected after the third day.

 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. - Jonah 2:6

What we know about Hell

Hell has Bars:

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. - Jonah 2:6

Hell has Gates:

 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. - Matthew 16:18

There are keys to Hell:

 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. - Revelation 1:18
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 arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. - Revelation 9:1-2

Hell is a Prison:

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; - 1 Peter 3:18-19

Hell has compartments (chambers):

 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. - Proverbs 7:27

These chambers seem to be stacked one upon another.  If there is a “lowest hell” there must be at least one chamber above:

For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. - Deuteronomy 32:22
For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. - Psalms 86:13

The rich man had to lift up his eyes to see Abraham in Luke 16:23.

Chamber of Paradise

Paradise was located in the heart of the earth:

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. - Luke 16:23-26
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. - Luke 23:43

Paradise was located in the heart of the earth until after Jesus resurrected.  He told the believing thief that he would be with Jesus in paradise that day.  Jesus went to the heart of the earth, therefore, paradise was located in the heart of the earth.  After Jesus resurrected he took paradise to the third heaven:

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) - Ephesians 4:8-10
It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. - 2 Corinthians 12:1-4
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. - Revelation 2:7

Chamber of torment

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. - Luke 16:23
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. - Isaiah 30:33

Smiths Bible Dictionary 1884:

Hinnom. (lamentation). Valley of Hinnom. Otherwise called, “the valley of the son” or “children of Hinnom,” a deep and narrow ravine, with steep, rocky sides, to the south and west of Jerusalem, separating Mount Zion to the north from the “hill of evil counsel,” and the sloping rocky plateau of the “plain of Rephaim” to the south. The earliest mention of the valley of Hinnom is in Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16, where the boundary line between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin is described as passing along the bed of the ravine.
On the southern brow, overlooking the valley at its eastern extremity, Solomon erected high places for Molech, 1Ki 11:7, whose horrid rites were revived, from time to time, in the same vicinity. The later idolatrous kings, Ahaz and Manasseh, made their children “pass through the fire,” in this valley, 2Ki 16:3; 2Ch 28:3; 2Ch 33:6, and the fiendish custom of infant sacrifice to the fire-gods seems to have been kept up in Tophet, which was another name for this place.
To put an end to these abominations, the place was polluted by Josiah, who renders it ceremonially unclean, by spreading over it human bones and other corruptions, 2Kings 23:10; 2Kings 23:13-14; 2Chronicles 34:4-5, from which time, it appears to have become the common cesspool of the city, into which sewage was conducted, to be carried off by the waters of the Kidron. From its ceremonial defilement, and from the detested and abominable fire of Molech, if not from the supposed ever-burning funeral piles, the later Jews applied the name of this valley — Ge Hinnom, Gehenna. (land of Hinnom) — to denote the place of eternal torment. In this sense, the word is used by our Lord. Matthew 5:29; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 23:15; Mark 9:43; Luke12:5.”

Chamber for the fallen angels

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: - 2 Peter 2:4-9

Chamber for Judas Iscariot

Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.
For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.
Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,
That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. - Acts 1:16-25

Chamber for the bottomless pit

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. - Isaiah 14:15
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 arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. - Revelation 9:1-5

How to pray when you are in trouble with God

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. - Revelation 2:1-5
  1. Remember the Lord (Jonah 2:4)
  2. Repent of your Sin (Jonah 2:7)
  3. Return to the Lord (Jonah 2:9)