Why do sinners immediately go to Hell, But Satan and demons are not there yet ?

Question

According to Job 1:7 and 1 Peter 5:8 Satan is not in Hell yet but roams on the earth. But most Christians believe sinners go to Hell immediately at death, such as the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. Does this mean that sinners are worse than the Devil himself. Also, demons are not in Hell yet either, because in the NT they are said to posess people and swine. Your clarification on this is appreciated. Thank You!
2 hours ago - 3 days left to answer.

Answer 1

The story in Luke is a PARABLE...that is, it is a story, a tale, a fabrication, told to teach an important principle...in this case, decent treatment of those less fortunate than yourself.
The word most often translated "hell" in the Bible actually mean the common grave of mankind. When you die, you go to "hell".
In the end, death and hell give up the dead that are in them...and are BOTH thrown into the "lake of fire" where the beast and the false prophet are already. It is important to notice that we are told outright elsewhere in the Bible that death is ultimately done away with completely...totally destroyed.
The wages (payment) for sin is death...not physical death, else we'd have to consider why all of nature is subject to physical death. What "sin" did the wild flowers in my backyard commit?
The death that is being discussed here is a much deeper issue...the final death of the spirit, itself...tossed away in "the lake of fire" so often compared to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem...God's incinerator, where the trash is dumped and burned up...the fire (sulfur) will not be quenched until it has done it's job...

Answer 2

Very difficult question. The answer depends on how you interpret the bible. It is believed that when you die no matter if you are a sinner or a christian you go to a holding place until judgement day. Think about it, if sinners immediately go to hell with out being judged first before being sentenced to hell than why is there a judgement day. If all the bad people go to hell then who is left to judge. When the world ends that's when all of the dead, good and bad people, sinners and Christian's will be judged. They will either be allowed to enter the pearly gates of heaven or be sentenced to hell. Not a minute before this day. (Judgement Day). Also why do you think that people have these spiritual encounters and see dead people and things as such. That's because they have not been judged yet and there spirits still roam the earth until the last day or until Jesus comes like a thief in the night. So no worries everyone gets their fare chance at Judgement Day. If you live righteously you have nothing to worry about. Believe in him by trusting in him. Leaning not onto your own understanding and you should be fine. P.S If you happen to sin make sure that you ask for God's forgiveness, remember there is no limit to how many times you can ask for forgiveness.

Answer 3

The Story you are referring to in Luke about the rich man and Lazarus, is a parable. Look at the stories before it. They are all parables. They were not to be taken literally. This was to help them understand an idea better.

The Story of the rich man and Lazarus was meant to show the Jews of the time that although they had the word of God (rich on earth) and the gentiles had been only given a little of the Word of God on earth. (poor on earth), that they were going to be punished because even though they had the word, they didn't accept it. The Gentiles only got a little bit of the Word but were accepting it! It also goes on to say in vs.31: "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead." Moses and the prophets refers to the Bible, They didn't listen to the Word they had! The person rising from the dead was Jesus!

Anyway, according to the Bible when people die, they are asleep until the resurrection. I mean, what would the point be to get resurrected if you were already in Heaven?

Also, Revelations talks about the destruction of the wicked in the lake of fire, not eternal torment. Revelations 20:9 says
"They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them." (DEVOURED- not eternally tormented)

Revelations 20:10 says: And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Seems to be the Devil gets it worse, He is going to be tornmented.

Revelations 20:14 says " Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death." If hades was a place of burning.... what sense would it make to throw it into the lake of fire?


The lake of fire was prepared for Satan and his angels.... not for people, People who love sin more than God will be destroyed because sin can not come up a second time in the new heaven and new earth. Sin is like a cancer and it will spread and ruin the new world just as it is ruining this one.

Ever notice how the non believers can always get their answers up quick? It think it has to do with them not having anything to base their answer on beside their own thoughts. Sorry, that just bugs me...if you don't believe.... don't answer!

Answer 4

sinners don't go immediatly to hell, they go to hades, the place of immediate punnishment. notice in luke 16, that the rich man calls to lazarus, thus showing that he must be within earshot. so there's a place of immediate punishment and a place of immediate reward.

also note in matthew what hell was originally planned for: “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41) and in 2 Peter 2:4 - When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell and put them in caves of darkness where they are being held for judgment."


satan will go there according to revelation 20:

Revelation 20
The Thousand Years
1 I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the bottomless pit and a large chain in his hand.2 The angel grabbed the dragon, that old snake who is the devil and Satan, and tied him up for a thousand years.3 Then he threw him into the bottomless pit, closed it, and locked it over him. The angel did this so he could not trick the people of the earth anymore until the thousand years were ended. After a thousand years he must be set free for a short time...

7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be set free from his prison.8 Then he will go out to trick the nations in all the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. There are so many people they will be like sand on the seashore.9 And Satan's army marched across the earth and gathered around the camp of God's people and the city God loves. But fire came down from heaven and burned them up.10 And Satan, who tricked them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the beast and the false prophet. There they will be punished day and night forever and ever.


hope this helps. if you have any further questions, feel free to email me.

Answer 5

Many religions teach that the wicked will go to a fiery hell and be tormented forever. Is this teaching logical and Scriptural? The human life span is limited to 70 or 80 years. Even if someone was guilty of extreme wickedness all his life, would everlasting torment be a just punishment? No. It would be grossly unjust to torment a man forever for the sins that he committed in a short lifetime.

Only God can reveal what happens after people die, and he has done so in his written Word, the Bible. This is what the Bible says: "As the [beast] dies, so the [man] dies; and they all have but one spirit . . . All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust." (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20) There is no mention here of a fiery hell. Humans return to dust—to nonexistence—when they die.

In order to be tormented, a person has to be conscious. Are the dead conscious? Once again, the Bible gives the answer: "The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten." (Ecclesiastes 9:5) It is impossible for the dead, who are "conscious of nothing at all," to experience agony anywhere.


Is there hope for the dead? Yes! The Bible shows that the hope for most humans who have died is to be resurrected. The vast majority of the dead are to be raised to life as humans on a paradise earth.—Luke 23:43; John 5:28.

Satan has been let to roam the Earth only to prove him wrong. Remember he convinced Eve that it was not in her best interests to obey God. Later, in the days of the patriarch Job, Satan raised another issue. Seeking to break Job's integrity to God, Satan said: "Skin in behalf of skin, and everything that a man has he will give in behalf of his soul." (Job 2:4) What a sweeping claim that was! By using the general term "a man" instead of the name Job, Satan brought into the arena of doubt the integrity of every human. He, in effect, asserted: 'A man will do anything to save his life. Give me a chance, and I can turn anyone away from God.'

The victory in the battle between God and the Devil is determined by the answering: is man successfully able to rule himself?History would demonstrate beyond doubt mankind's need for divine guidance and the superiority of God's rule over man's or Satan's. At the same time, God took steps to ensure that his original purpose for the earth would be fulfilled. He promised that a "seed," or "offspring," would come who would 'bruise Satan in the head,' eliminating once and for all his rebellion and its damaging effects.—Genesis 3:15. Jesus Christ was that promised Seed. At 1 John 3:8, we read that "the Son of God was made manifest . . . to break up the works of the Devil." This he did by laying down his perfect human life and paying the ransom price to redeem Adam's children from inherited sin and death.

If you would like a more in depth information on this subject and other important matters please visit www.watchtower.org
The information read I got from: http://www.watchtower.org/e/20030115/article_02.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20031001/article_01.htm

Answer 6

I have heard different theories- everyone is in "limbo" waiting for judgment day- or they may have been reincarnated to "try again."
Only some people believe in immediate judgment. I try not to be close minded about it, I figure I will find out soon enough!

(If the theory you are talking about is true, though it won't matter if the JAILERS (Satan and demons) are there, just like zookeepers can go home at night and the animals are still contained.)

Answer 7

Too many Christians get this part wrong. People do not go anywhere after dying. Instead they "sleep" until the 2nd coming of Christ... when the dead rise up. There are many references to this... and anyone who has read the bible know these passages, but seem to ignore or not understand them.

There is no references where someone dies and immediately goes somewhere. I hate it when pastors say, "Brother Jim died last night... but we now know that he is with Jesus now."

Answer 8

There is a parable told of lazarus and the rich man, where the rich man dies and goes to hell immediately. Also we know that everyone will be resurrected in the end and those who are to go to hell will be thrown into the lake of fire. So they are put into immediate torment, only to be physically resurrected later and put into an eternal torment that is even worse.

Answer 9

Satan and his Demons have been sentenced to hell but will not be forced to stay there until the final judgement, because they are spiritual beings and not people.

Answer 10

I THESSALONIANS 4:16 & 17 FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN,WITH A LOUD COMMAND, WITH THE VOICEOF THE ARCHANGEL AND WITH THE TRUMPET CALL OF GOD, AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST. AFTER THAT, WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND ARE LEFT WILL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. AND SO WE WILL BE WITH THE LORD FOREVER.we don't go anywhere when we die. all who have died from the beginning of time will be judged and sent to heaven or hell at the time of rapture. it will happen instantly.