Major Bible Doctrines

By John E. Moore

Where did God come from? What happens the instant we die? How will judgments during the Tribulation progress? What is EMP, and how will it affect the Battle of Armageddon? Who will control the Antichrist directly? In the Bible, who are the only two people who never experienced physical death?

These and many other questions will be probed and answered in this book, where appropriate, helpful diagrams will be used to clarify concepts and explanations. Some math, at an understandable level, will also be used to prove certain biblical concepts.

The topics studied in this book will be investigated in a simple, straightforward manner. This book is deliberately not written on the seminary level so that many more people may understand it.

The goal of this book is to help you discover concepts in the Bible that you didnt even know were there and to also help you to better understand them.

I truly believe this book will also be very inspirational for you and that you will want to go out and share the new things you have learned with other friends and family. And what you do to help someone else to understand will become better solidified in your own mind.

As you endeavor to know Gods Word better, He will help you to understand things you have not understood in the past. Remember, He is still the God of all wisdom and knowledge. Many blessings to you as you pursue Him; He has nuggets of gold waiting for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512785760

John E. Moore

John Moore was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Arlington, Mass. His college years were spent at the University of Massachusetts and Lancaster Bible College. He graduated from LBC in 1974 with a BS degree in Theology and Education. He has taught in several private Christian high schools from Maine to Minnesota and conducted several choirs and chorales. He now resides with his wife Lois in Norfolk, VA.

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Copyright © 2017 John E. Moore.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP),

Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotes marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-8577-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8578-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8576-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017907468

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/23/2017

I wish to dedicate this book to my daughter Sandra Moore Hill who, without her expert knowledge of computers, this book would not be possible.

Thank you Sandy.

Dad

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Preface

Sheol/Hades

Hell

Paradise/Abraham’s Bosom

Tartarus

The Abyss

The Bottomless Pit

The Trinity

The Crucifixion/Resurrection

Election/Predestination/Free Will

The Intermediate State

The Rapture

The Judgment Seat of Christ

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

The Tribulation

The Antichrist

Battle of Armageddon

The Second Advent

The Millennium

The Final Revolt

The Great White Throne

Gehenna

Heaven

The New Heaven and Earth

The Holy City, the New Jerusalem

The Eternal State

Conclusion

Bibliography

Foreword

The author is to be commended for his obvious devotion to God and to God’s Word. Because of his devotion, he sought to share his convictions with us, his readers. In the conclusion of his work, the author hoped that these Bible investigations have been some help to you in your knowledge of God’s Word

(p. 140). Whether or not the reader agrees with all the theological conclusions expressed by the author, the reader will be pushed back to the Scriptures in his/her study and Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35).

—Michael H. Windsor, Th. D.

Acknowledgements

Dr. Michael H. Windsor:

content contributor, editor-in-chief

Mr. James G. Hunter:

content contributor, resource advisor

Preface

Throughout the decades and centuries of Biblical exegesis and interpretation, there has been widespread controversy and confusion over many topics. Almost every theologian has their own viewpoint and certainly they are all entitled to their own opinion, albeit some of them are quite inaccurate to what the Scriptures actually say in their original languages. Can the Scriptures mean two (or more) different things about the exact same topic? Hardly! Then why does this happen?

Obviously, most of them contend that they are right about a particular issue unless they are willing to admit that they cannot be dogmatic because the Scriptures do not provide enough clear information concerning that topic. Others are of a certain persuasion based on the way they were brought up, or, because they were exposed to unorthodox teaching of the Bible. Unfortunately, many of these are set in their way of thinking and nothing can change their minds no matter how much other reasoning they are exposed to. This is sad and reveals a very closed mind.

What is the objective of this series of studies? Right up front, this writer wants to make it clear that I have an open mind about all the topics to be considered in this book. The objective is to provide a general overview of the topics in this book; I welcome all other viewpoints, though I may not agree with them.

Where does a person go after they die? Where did God come from? Where is Heaven? Is there a real Hell? How will the world end? Will there be a real Doomsday? These are some of the questions I will seek to answer in this book. It is also my objective to not go into all the minutest theological details of the subjects we study. Complete 100-200 page books have been written on each of the doctrines covered in this book and those very deep theological details are available in other books if the reader desires to go there.

Clearly, there are several things in the Bible that we wish we had more information on, but God in His infinite wisdom has chosen not to reveal to us. These are things we can choose to have an opinion on, or a viewpoint, but we cannot be dogmatic about it because there is simply not enough information given to warrant that.

The topics we will visit are rarely taught or preached about from pulpits across America, therefore many, many Christians barely know anything regarding these subjects of the Bible. God’s Word still says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God…" (see 2 Tim. 2:15).

Sheol/Hades

Sheol is the Old Testament Hebrew word that designates where people went when they died, that is, where their souls went.¹ The KJV also translates Sheol as grave, the place where the body goes at the end of life. Obviously, their bodies went in the ground or tomb, the same as today.² Even Jesus’ body went into a tomb after being taken down from the cross, and His soul went to Sheol the moment he uttered the words It is finished, referring to the price He needed to pay for the sins of the whole world to satisfy His Father in Heaven. Hades is the New Testament Greek word that means the same thing as Sheol and refers to the same place.³ Sheol can also be translated grave or pit as we find in the Septuagint, but it is not talking about a grave or pit in the ground as we commonly know it. It simply means the abode of the dead.

First of all, where is Sheol/Hades? Let’s go to the Scriptures to give us some indication of where Sheol/Hades might be located.⁴

"Then all his (Jacob’s) sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, ‘Surely I will go down to Sheol I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son, down to the grave" (see Gen. 37:35). (Italics mine)

"If you take this one (Benjamin) also from me, (Jacob) and harm befalls him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow (see Gen. 44:29).

"Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, even whole, as those who go down to the pit (see Prov. 1:12). (Pit" being the same as Sheol)

"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up" (see Job 7:9).

"For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit (Sheol) cannot hope for Your faithfulness" (see Isa. 38:18).

"The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up" (Referring to future resurrection) (see 1 Sam. 2:6).

"Let death come deceitfully upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol…" (see Ps. 55:15). (Italics mine)

From all of these verses, and many more, this writer concludes that the location of Sheol/Hades is down from the surface of the earth, where the body is buried. That being said, it is only logical, but debatable, that Sheol/ Hades is at or near the center of the earth, since it is not on the surface of the earth and it is not in the atmosphere over the earth.

So, regarding people living in the Old Testament times, when a person died, his or her body was buried in the ground and their soul went immediately to Sheol/Hades to wait for their future resurrection or judgement. The deceased person⁵ has no control over this whatsoever.

This author readily admits that there are other schools of thought regarding this topic, but no one can dispute what the scriptures tell us; others may misinterpret the scriptures they are citing to fit their own desires. Example: Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in a burning hell where souls are tortured for all eternity. They believe that death is death and that there is no conscious existence after it.⁶ Of course, this is heresy.

It is amazing to me how someone could misinterpret the word down. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines down as 1.) from a higher to lower place, 2.) to a lower position or level, 3.) lower or below the horizon. 4.) below the horizon.

I think we generally get the idea of what down means and this writer does not understand how it could possibly be open to misinterpretation. Down simply means the opposite of up and we are not talking about soft fluffy feathers!

There are two main theories pertaining to the structure of Sheol/Hades:

A. The One Compartment View

B. The Two Compartment View

A. Before we get into the investigation of the One Compartment View it is critical to determine what certain words mean according to their exact definition.