The Pit and Divine Judgment

In previous weeks I have explored a number of biblical terms referring to destinations in the afterlife, such as Sheol and Hades. These have accompanied the current sermon series on 'Judgment.' A less familiar judgment term is the pit. It is often used in the Bible as a parallel to Sheol, but also connects to other biblical terms that are relevant. Let’s see what the Bible says about the pit.

There are eleven different Hebrew words that are translated pit. In each case the meaning could simply refer to a hole in the ground. You can imagine how the word pit could be used to refer to an open grave. For that reason, pit is sometimes used in Hebrew poetry as a parallel to the grave, death or Sheol.

However, out of the 148 occurrences of Hebrew pit terms, 94 occurrences appear in the context of imprisonment or destruction, often in prophetic warnings of divine judgment. Examples:

• Judgment against Babylon: “You will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:15)
• Judgment against Moab, “The one who flees from the terror will fall into the pit, and the one who climbs up out of the pit will be caught in the snare.” (Jeremiah 48:44) i.e. There is no escape from divine judgment.
• Judgment against the king of the city of Tyre: “They [invading nations] will bring you down to the pit, and you will die the death of those who are slain.” (Ezekiel 28:8)

Outside of a few literal uses of the word pit in the New Testament, it is used in Revelation 9 in reference to a bottomless pit. In John’s vision an angel of God held the key to the bottomless pit and was told to release destructive locusts. The locusts were allowed to torment (but not kill) the ungodly people on earth for five months. The bottomless pit was also referred to as the abyss (v. 11). The king over the abyss is named Abaddon (Hebrew) and Apollyon (Greek) (v. 11), both names meaning destruction.

Much earlier a large number of demons begged Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss (Luke 8:31). In Matthew’s parallel account the demons ask Jesus if He was about to torment them before “the time” (8:29). This appears to be the same abyss seen in the book of Revelation.

There is one other similar use of the term pit* that is parallel in meaning to the abyss. In 2 Peter 2:4 we read: “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment….” In this case the word hell is the Greek word Tartarus and is described as pits of darkness. A parallel statement written by Jude will add to our understanding: “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day….” (v. 6)

Connections and Conclusion:

• Tartarus (pits of darkness) is a place for sinful angels (not humans). There they are kept in eternal bonds until judgment.
• The abyss (bottomless pit) is a place of torment and is associated with Tartarus. Demons are destined for the abyss. Though its king is named destroyer, an angel of God holds the key to the abyss, therefore showing God’s ultimate authority over the abyss.
• When the pit is used in judgment prophecy it is applied to the ungodly as an inescapable place, death or destruction.

So, the pit is often used in judgment prophecy for destruction. There is a pit that is referred to as the bottomless pit, also called the abyss. That is descriptive of Tartarus, a kind of Hades for sinful angels and demons, before their final destruction in the lake of fire. For Christians, these things help to round our our understanding of the spiritual realm and how God deals with evil. However, we can rest easy knowing that these things are not a threat to those who belong to God.

Mark Stinnett

September 18, 2022

*The abyss is also found in Romans 10:7, but as a reference to Hades. This appears to be an exception to the way it is used in other passages in the Bible.