arth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." Here fire is evidently used as a figure of punish ment. The nature of this punishment may be learned from verse twenty-four. "They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with poison of serpents of the dust." All this was of course to take place here on the earth. The next time it is rendered hell is in 2 Sam. 22: 6, where David says, "The sorrows of hell compassed me about," &c. The nature of this hell may be learned from verse seven. “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God." Again, in Ps. 18: 5, David says, "The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me." Verse 6, "In my distress I called upon the Lord," &c. In Ezek. 32: 27, hell plainly signifies the literal grave. "And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war; and they have laid their swords under their heads." If the reader will examine every passage where the word sheol occurs, and is rendered hell, with the connection in which they are found, he will see no reason for supposing this hell to be in another world.

2. Both David and Jonah are represented as being in hell, and David is not only represented as being in hell, but as being in the lowest hell; and yet both of these individuals were alive, and on the earth. Jonah 2: 2, "Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." Certainly, Jonah could not cry out of the belly of hell unless he was in hell. By consulting verse one, it will be seen that this hell was the fish's belly. Ps. 116: 3, "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me." To learn the nature of this hell, see the next words. "I found trouble and sorrow." Ps. 86: 12, 13, "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name forevermore. For great is thy mercy towards me; and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." We learn from this that it is not necessary to go into another world to find the lowest hell. Unless it can be shown that there is a hell lower than the lowest, it is in vain to talk about any other hell than that which exists in this world. It is sometimes said that "from hell there is

no redemption." But we here read of a man who was redeemed from the lowest hell.

3. God is represented as being in hell. Ps. 139: 8, " If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou (God) art there." Hell here signifies the invisible state of the dead; or perhaps the literal grave. The obvious meaning of the psalmist is, that death could not carry him beyond the reach of God's presence.

4. David and Jonah are not only represented as having been in hell and as having been delivered from it, but the soul of David is spoken of as having been delivered from hell. Ps. 30: 3, "O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave" (sheol). By soul, here, David evidently means himself, his own person; and by sheol, the literal grave, or invisible state of the dead. See the next words: "Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit."

5. God is represented as bringing men up from sheol. 1 Sam. 2:6," He (God) bringeth down to the grave (sheol), and bringeth up." By those who believe in a place of endless misery, called hell, in a future world, it is thought that when once a person gets to hell his doom is sealed forever, and that there is no prospect of his ever coming up. But, if sheol in the text just quoted means a place of endless misery, this opinion must be given up.

6. God is not only represented as bringing men up from sheol, but the Psalmist expresses satisfaction in the prospect of the redemption of his soul from sheol. Ps. 49: 15, "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave" (sheol). Now, if the word soul here means the immortal part of man, and the word sheol a place of misery after death, then it needs no proof that the Psalmist expected that the soul would go to this hell, and afterwards be delivered from it.

7. The patriarch Jacob expressed himself as if he expected to go to sheol. See Gen. 37: 35, 42: 38, and 44: 31. But does any man believe that this good old man expected to go to a place of either limited or endless misery after death? Certainly not. But, if sheol signifies a place of misery after death, Jacob certainly expected to go there.

8. To suppose that sheol signifies a place of endless misery after death, is to suppose that David, so far from being a man "after God's own heart," was a perfect monster in cruelty. In 1 Kings

2: 6, he enjoins it upon his son Solomon not to let the "hoar head of Joab go down to the grave (sheol) in peace." In verse 9 he enjoins it upon him to "bring down the hoar head of Shimei to the grave (sheol) with blood." And in Ps. 55: 15, he says of his enemies," Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell" (sheol).

9. The pious and patient Job prays that he might be hid in sheol. See Job 14: 13. But, is it to be supposed that Job wished to be hid in a place of endless misery?

10. Sheol is represented as a place from the power of which it is impossible for any man, good or bad, to deliver himself. Ps. 89: 48, "What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave (sheol)?" This question is one which was designed to involve its own answer, and that answer was designed to be a negative one. Hence, if we understand the words soul and sheol here as they have been commonly understood, then the text affirms that the souls of all men will go to a place of endless misery.

11. The bones of the Jewish people are represented as being scattered at the mouth of sheol. See Ps. 141: 7. But, is it to be believed that the bones of these people were scattered at the mouth of a place of endless misery in another world?

12. Sheol is represented as a place where "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom." See Eccl. 9: 10. But, if there is no work there, of course it cannot be a place where devils are at work tormenting men. If there is no device there, it cannot be a place where devils are contriving how they may best torment their subjects. And if there is no knowledge there, of course it cannot be a place of misery.

13. The good old king Hezekiah, during his himself as if he should die, and go to sheol.

sickness, expressed See Isa. 38: 10. But no man believes that Hezekiah expected to go to a place of endless misery.

14. Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and their company, and their wives and their little ones, are represented as having gone down alive into sheol. See Num. 16: 27-33. Here we learn that it is not even necessary to die in order to go to sheol. And, as these persons went alive into sheol, — that is, went into sheol while living, - hence this sheol must have been in this world.

15. God speaks in the Bible of ransoming mankind froin sheol. Hosea 13: 17," I will ransom them from the power of the grave (sheol). By those who believe in a place of endless misery it is thought that for those who will be doomed to that gloomy prison of despair there can be no ransom. But this text certainly teaches that for those who were in sheol there was a ransom.

16. Sheol is destined to be destroyed. Hosea 13: 17, “O grave (sheol), I will be thy destruction." Now, whether this sheol is in this world or another, or whether it is a place of misery or not, one thing is certain: it is destined to be destroyed. The reader will bear in mind that this is the only word rendered hell in the Old Testament. How can that be a place of endless misery which is itself to come to an end, and cease to exist?

17. Sheol and Saul are synonymous in their meaning. Saul is merely a different pronunciation of the word sheol, in consequence of its being differently pointed. Now, one of the kings of Israel, and one of the apostles of Christ, were both named Saul. If the parents of king Saul, and the parents of Saul of Tarsus, had understood sheol to mean a place of either limited or endless misery, is it likely they would have named one of their children after such a place? What parent, in our day, would name a child hell, and at the same time understand this word to mean a place of endless misery? The parents of the persons referred to above undoubtedly understood the word sheol in its true sense, namely, "to crave, to demand, to ask," or that in relation to which we desired information, as the unseen or invisible state of the dead.

18. Sheol is denominated a pit. Ps. 88: 3, 4, " My life draweth nigh unto the grave (sheol). I am counted with them that go down into the pit." Prov. 1: 12, "Let us swallow them up alive, as the grave; and whole, as those that go down to the pit." See, also, Isa. 14: 15; and 38: 18, 19; Ezek. 31: 16. It was customary among the Jews to deposit their dead in deep pits, or caves, which were numerous in their country, frequently extending far under ground, and which were sufficiently capacious to contain a large number of dead bodies. Hence arose the expression "depths of sheol," or "deepest sheol;" and hence it is that sheol is denominated a pit. The allusion, in the above texts, evidently is to the manner in which the Jews were accustomed to dispose of their dead, and not to a place of endless misery.

19. Sheol is said to have a mouth, or place of entrance. See Ps. 141: 7; Isa. 5: 14. The allusion is to the mouth of the caves in which the Jews deposited their dead.

20. Sheol is said to have bars. Job 17: 16, "They shall go down to the bars of the pit" (sheol). Here is an allusion to the fact that the burial-places of the Jews, or, rather, the entrances to them, were guarded by bars and gates.

21. Sheol is spoken of as having sides. Isa. 14: 15, "Thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." The allusion is to the fact that the Hebrews often deposited their dead, and in great numbers, too, in places excavated from the side of the cave, or pit, which was selected as the burial-place.

22. Sheol is associated with the base of mountains. See Deut. 32: 22. The burial-places of the Jews were sometimes located at the base of mountains, and in the mountains' sides. In the text just quoted the allusion is to this fact.

23. The inmates of sheol are said to be in the dust. Job 17: 16, "They shall go down to the bars of the pit (sheol), where our rest together is in the dust." If the word sheol here signifies a place of endless misery, then this text teaches us that, so far from this place being located in the spirit world, it is located in the dust of the earth.

24. Sheol is spoken of as a place of resort to escape punishment. Amos 7: 2, "Though they dig into hell, thence shall my hand take them." "The allusion is to the escape of criminals from the officers of justice. They might dig into the pits and caves of the earth (the burial-places), yet the omniscient eye of God could not be eluded, nor his justice evaded." The criminal, then, instead of being sent to sheol to be punished, was to be brought out to receive the merited punishment. This idea, although plainly inculcated by the Bible, is at direct variance with the common opinion.

25. The contents of sheol are said to be: 1. Gray hairs, Gen. 37: 35, and 42: 38, and 44: 29, 31; 2. Hoary heads, 1 Kings 2:6,9; 3. Bones, Ps. 141: 7; 4. Sheep, Ps. 49: 14; 5. Houses and goods, Num. 16: 32, 33; 6. Swords and other weapons of war, Ezek. 32: 27. Surely no one will contend that these things are contained in a place of endless misery, in the spirit world! 26. The inmates of sheol are called the dead, the slain, etc., Isa. 14: 9: Ezek. 31: 17, and 32: 21. Certainly it could not be