Moses received the Ten Commandments and Torah directly from God on Mount Sinai. He is the author of the first five books of the Christian Bible. Surely this man, who was taught all the secret and hidden truths of the Jewish faith and to whom God revealed Himself, would have warned us in one of those books if Hell were the final solution in God's plan for the sinners who don't profess their faith in Jesus before they die. Nope, not even once. The punishments for sins in the Old Testament writings of Moses make no mention of Hell-the most severe punishment Moses teaches about in his writings is death.
God is described by Moses as a "consuming fire" (see Deut. 4:24), but Hell is completely left out of the Old Testament in most modern translations. The Hebrew word, שאול (sheol), is no longer translated as "hell" in most modern versions of The Bible-usually it is translated as "grave" or "pit." Moses, whose books are the foundational documents of both the Jewish and Christian faiths, doesn't ever warn those he was called by God to teach that He will cast them off forever for their sins and send them to Hell.
If you're a King James Version reader, there are some verses that contradict the Hellburners' dogma- sometimes people are taken out of "hell" and rescued by God. Jonah, after three days and nights in "hell," prays to God and the whale spits him out. (Three days is the traditional length of time for the ancient Jews to confirm someone has died.) There are also others such as Psalms 16:10 and 86:13, that make a pretty good case for God's ability to save people's souls whenever He wants.
The Apostle Simon Peter was also taught by God through Jesus. At Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and the believers gathered together that day, Peter made a speech to the crowd assembled in Jerusalem. Thousands of people became believers that day, and the event is historically viewed as the VERY DAY the Christian church was formed. One could say Peter's speech was the very first sermon ever preached to a "church."
Not once in Peter's sermon does he mention Hell as the final outcome for rejecting Jesus. Peter KNEW the consequences of rejecting Christ-he had "been there, done that" himself. Jesus doesn't give up on Peter; in fact, He puts him in charge! (see John 21:15-19) You'd think that the guy who Jesus calls upon to carry on His ministry would have mentioned Hell if Jesus wasn't going to save everyone. Acts 2:38-40 gives all the details Peter provides to the crowd when they ask what to do to be saved. Nowhere in his warnings to "save yourselves from this corrupt generation," does Peter mention Hell as a consequence for not repenting. He never warns the crowd about a time limit for them to repent, either.
Peter does say, in Acts 2:29, "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." Nonbelievers and unrepentant sinners are pretty far off from God, but I bet He can make Himself heard. Then there's that nagging little word "all" again. Just how many will the Lord our God call, anyway? Is it the "all men" mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:3-6 , or is it some unknown quantity of souls-with the majority of God's lost sheep ending up in Hell because Jesus can't (or won't) go get them?
If God was so angry that He would contradict Himself and cast off forever those He created (see Lam. 3:31) wouldn't Moses and Peter have given us some warning? Maybe we weren't warned because an eternal damnation and casting off forever WEREN'T part of God's plan for man. I'm placing my hope on God and Jesus being smart enough to know that some people aren't going to get the message before they die. I'm placing my faith in a Jesus who isn't too weak to go find His sheep and bring them home wherever they end up.
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p.s.: Yes, I'm well aware that 2 Peter 2:4 mentions a place that is translated as "hell" in the English language. That will be the topic of an upcoming post.
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