Today when the bodies of the righteous die, their spirits/souls go immediately to heaven (see 2 Cor. 5:6-8; Phil. 1:21-23; 1 Thes. 4:14).
The unrighteous still go to Sheol/Hades where they are tormented and await the resurrection of their bodies, their final judgment, and their being cast into “the lake of fire,” a place that is different and separate from Sheol/Hades.
This lake of fire is described by a third word that is also sometimes translated hell , the Greek word Gehenna . This word was derived from the name of a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem in the valley of Hinnom, a rotting heap that was infested with worms and maggots, and part of which perpetually smoked and burned with fire.
When Jesus spoke of Gehenna, He spoke of it as a place where people would be cast bodily. For example, He said in Matthew’s gospel:
And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut if off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell [Gehenna]….And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna] (Matt. 5:30, 10:28, emphasis added).
Gehenna and Hades couldn’t be the same place because Scripture says that the unrighteous are sent to Hades as disembodied spirits/souls. It is only after the thousand-year reign of Christ when the bodies of the unrighteous will be resurrected and stand judgment before God that they will then be cast into the lake of fire , or Ghenna (see Rev. 20:5, 11-15). Moreover, one day Hades itself will be cast into that lake of fire (see Rev. 20:14), so it must be a different place than the lake of fire.
