HOW LONG DOES ONE LIVE IN HEAVEN?

The length of stay in heaven is not as long as most think. The “New Jerusalem,” the Christian’s final and permanent home, will be transported from heaven to earth (perhaps the earth’s atmosphere). This earth will by then have been completely renovated by fire and made completely new and perfect.

There will never be another rebellion such as the one initiated by Lucifer. No one will be cast out. Life in New Jerusalem will be as long as eternity itself. It never comes to an end. It is “forever and ever.”

How long is “forever and ever”? It is a very long time indeed. If a bird were to dump sand, one grain at a time, from the Sahara Desert into the Mediterranean Sea, life in New Jerusalem would have just got started when the Mediterranean was filled.

HOW LONG IS ONE IMPRISONED IN HELL?

Life in hell is as long as life in heaven. One goes to sheol-hades immediately after death and remains there until the “Great White Throne” judgment which will occur just over a 1000 years from now. After receiving a sentence of punishment (this sentence will reveal the degree of suffering) the prisoner will be sent into gehennah, “the lake of fire,” where he/she will spend eternity.

Gehennah is the final residence of all those who die outside of Christ. Like heaven, it is forever and ever. There is no escape. There is no reprieve. The sentence will never be repealed. When the Mediterranean is filled with sand, life in gehenna will have just got started. It is truly a forever of “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” an eternity of remorse and hopelessness.