What do people do in hell?

What do people do in hell? Will people in hell be able to recognize each other or is there literal darkness? Will Satan and the demons be running hell like in “The Far Side” cartoons or will they be powerless and in darkness being punished?

The Bible declares that “the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God” (Proverbs 9:17), so the people in hell are there because of their rejection of God and their wicked ways.

We may not know all that people do in hell, but the Bible does say that people in hell suffer and there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12).

It’s not absolutely clear whether people recognize each other in hell, but in Luke 16:23, the man in hell “lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom”, thus proving that the man recognized the other two men who were in paradise. In regard to darkness, the Bible does describe hell as “outer darkness” (Matthew 22:13), however, there is also fire in hell (Mark 9:43), which could provide some illumination to that place.

Satan and the demons will be in hell, which, by the way, is ultimately cast into “the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14) and this is no cartoon. Since the devil and his demons are being punished for all eternity, I don’t think they will have any power or dominion in hell.

May the Lord bless you with an understanding of hell, but even a greater understanding of heaven, where Revelation 22:1-3 says there will be “a pure river of water of life”, “the tree of life”, and “there shall be no more curse”! Someone has wisely said, “To know about hell is to know you want to go to heaven!” That’s what salvation is all about! Jesus took hell upon Himself when He died for our sins on Calvary’s cross, resurrecting the third day with victory over hell and heaven as a reward for those who receive Him as Savior. The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31).