Did God create hell?

Answer

Hell is a place of suffering originally prepared by God for the devil and his angels (Matthew 18:9; Matthew 25:41). The words Hades (Greek) and Sheol (Hebrew) are sometimes associated with hell. However, Hades/Sheol is simply the place or realm where the spirits of people go when they die, see Genesis 37:35. Hades/Sheol is not necessarily a place of torment because God’s people were said to go there as well as the wicked. In the New Testament, we find that Hades is somehow “compartmentalized.” That is, the realm of the dead is divided into a place of comfort and a place of torment (Luke 16:19-31).

There are other words associated with hell in the Bible such as Gehenna and the lake of fire. It is clear that there is an actual place where the spirits of the unsaved go for eternity (Revelation 9:1; Revelation 20:15; Matthew 23:33).

Everything that ever was or is or will be is created by God, including hell «for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: », (Colossians 1:16). John 1:3 says, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” God alone has the power to cast someone into hell «But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. », (Luke 12:5). Jesus

Holds the keys of death and Hades “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”, (Revelation 1:18).

Jesus said that hell was “prepared” for Satan and the demons “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”, (Matthew 25:41). It is a just punishment for the wicked one. Hell, or the lake of fire, will also be the destination for those who reject Christ (2 Peter 2:4-9). The good news is that people can avoid hell. God, in His infinite mercy and love, has made a way of salvation for everyone who trusts in God’s Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16,36;5:24).