Introduction: Why This Matters
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our faith—but before He rose again, He descended. And where did He go? Not just to a tomb, but to hell itself.
The world wants to sanitize the Gospel. They say Jesus just died, was placed in a tomb, and came back. But Scripture teaches otherwise. He suffered the full wages of sin—not just physical death, but spiritual death—the separation from God that every lost soul would experience in hell.
Tonight, we open the Scriptures to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus’ soul went to hell for three days and three nights, and that this was prophesied long before the cross.
1. Psalm 16 and Acts 2 – Soul Not Left in Hell
Psalm 16:10
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:31
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
This is a direct prophecy and its inspired New Testament interpretation. The soul of Jesus was in hell.
2. Jonah and Matthew 12 – The Belly of Hell
Jonah 1:17
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 2:2
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus Himself declares Jonah’s experience as a picture of His own—three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, which Jonah called hell.
Jonah 2:3-7 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
Into the deep. The floods compassed me about. Even to the soul. The depth closed me round about. The bottoms of the mountains. Let me say that again: “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains.
Deuteronomy 32:22
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
The earth with her bars was about me forever.
The Bible says, “thou brought up my life from corruption.” The body of Jesus didn’t see corruption. But his soul was not left in hell. Jonah says, “My soul fainted within me.”
I am telling you right now. There’s just too many Scriptures that tell us the soul of Jesus went to hell. You cannot deny this doctrine if you listen to all the Scriptures.
3. Isaiah 53 – The Travail of His Soul
Isaiah 53:10
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Soul never means just body. Soul can mean the entire person or can mean just the soul. I believe Jesus, as a whole, is THE offering for sin. Not just His body, but Jesus entirely.
Now, with that said, I 100% believe His body is the offering for sin.
Hebrews 10:10
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
This is true. The body of Christ was offered for our sins.
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
He bare our sins in His own body on the tree. And the body of Jesus Christ died there because His blood was shed for us. But notice every word of God. “Who His own self.” Self is His entire person. That doesn’t mean it was JUST His flesh. But He did bare our sins in His own body on the tree.
Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Hath given HIMSELF means HIS ENTIRE self—that’s all of Him. A sweetsmelling savour points to burnt offerings. His body wasn’t burned.
1 Timothy 2:6
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
He have HIMSELF. All of Jesus.
Isaiah 53:11
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
This is more than the cross. His soul suffered. The Bible says, “He shall see the travail of His soul.” Now, some will say this travail of His soul was only on the cross. Some will say the travail happened when His soul went to hell. Why would His soul go to hell?
I believe that travail took place where souls are punished—in hell. He took the sins of the whole world onto Himself.
4. Psalm 88 – The Lowest Pit
Psalm 88:3-7
For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
These are not David’s sufferings. These are prophetic words of Jesus’ soul in hell, under wrath.
5. Psalm 18 – Sorrows of Hell
Psalm 18:4
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
Jesus cried out from the depths of hell, and God heard Him. This is a direct tie to Jonah, and thus to Christ.
“The sorrows of hell compassed me about.”
6. Psalm 86 – Delivered from the Lowest Hell
Psalm 86:13
For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
This is resurrection language. Not just hell—the lowest hell. Jesus descended far below the tomb.
7. Lamentations 3 – Cut Off in the Dungeon
Lamentations 3:53
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. 54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. 55 I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
The prison imagery matches the underworld—a place of confinement. Jesus was cut off and cast down, but He cried to the LORD. “Water flowed over mine head.” This is similar to Jonah being in the belly of hell.
8. Hosea 13 and 1 Corinthians 15 – Victory over Death and Hell
Hosea 13:14
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
1 Corinthians 15:55
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Jesus conquered both death and the grave. To destroy them, He entered them first. Grave, in the Bible, can mean a literal burial place, a general term for death or where the dead go, or a figurative term pointing to hell—especially in prophetic or poetic language.
9. Job 33 – Ransom from the Pit
Job 33:22
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. 24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
That ransom is Jesus. He went into the pit, then was delivered from it—a picture of His resurrection.
This is the definition of ransom. The Bible says, “I have found a ransom.” Deliver him from going down to the pit. A ransom means Jesus took the place of the one who deserved to go to hell. If I would have gone to hell for my sins, then Jesus took my place in hell.
This is Biblically sound doctrine that you’re learning right now. It’s everywhere. The soul of Jesus went to hell.
10. Ephesians 4 – He Descended First
Ephesians 4:9
(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?)
Before He rose, He went down. The “lower parts of the earth” are not symbolic—they refer to hell. Jesus died on the cross, His body was buried, His soul was not left in hell, He arose from the dead, He showed Himself on earth for 40 days, and then He ascended into heaven.
He descended first into the LOWER PARTS of the earth. That, without a doubt, is referring to hell.
11. Revelation 1 – He Holds the Keys
Revelation 1:18
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Personally, I don’t believe you get the keys without going in and coming out. Jesus went into hell just as the Bible says over and over again and came out with the keys.
12. Psalm 71 – Brought Up from the Depths of the Earth
Psalm 71:20
Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
This verse captures resurrection power. After suffering “great and sore troubles,” Jesus was quickened—brought up from the depths of the earth.
This confirms His descent into hell and His triumphant resurrection.
13. Isaiah 38 – Delivered from the Pit of Corruption
Isaiah 38:17
Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
This passage, though spoken by Hezekiah, has striking prophetic implications. Jesus was delivered from the pit of corruption, bearing our sins, and emerging from the grave where no soul had ever before escaped.
14. Ezekiel 26 – Descended to the Pit with the People of Old Time
Ezekiel 26:20
When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
Though this passage is a prophecy of the destruction of Tyre, the language is so heavily spiritual and theologically loaded, it becomes a shadow or pattern of Christ’s descent. Like Tyre, Jesus was brought low.
This language mirrors the descent of Jesus. He went to the pit. He was placed in the low parts of the earth. And after His suffering, God set glory in the land of the living—the resurrection.
15. Psalm 40 – Brought Up Out of a Horrible Pit
Psalm 40:2
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
This verse paints a vivid picture of deliverance from a place of darkness, despair, and instability. The “horrible pit” and “miry clay” represent a place of suffering and bondage—fitting imagery for the underworld. The deliverance and being set upon a rock shows the resurrection of Christ, the Rock of our salvation.
But Wait, There’s More Than This
Joseph was thrown into a pit. I believe this is a type of Christ in hell. Daniel was cast into the lion’s den and a stone was rolled over it. These are shadows of greater spiritual truths.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are thrown into the fiery furnace and the Son of God appears with them. They were not consumed. Jonah was in the belly of hell. David was in a horrible pit filled with miry clay—deep, thick, sticky mud. Jeremiah was cast into a deep, dark dungeon—a place like a pit or prison. He sinks in the mire.
And all of these pictures of Christ were resurrected or delivered from death.
Psalm 69:14-15
Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
And that’s not all either. There’s the Passover Lamb. There’s all the burnt offerings in the Bible. There’s Psalm 22. There’s the scapegoat being sent into the wilderness. We’re going to go deeper into these topics in the coming Bible studies and sermons.
Conclusion: Jesus Went There So You Don’t Have To
The Scriptures are not vague. Over and over again, the Bible prophesied that the Messiah would go to hell—and rise again.
Remember, we’re currently in the series titled: Did the soul of Jesus go to hell? This is a deep Bible study. And we’re going to go through it and finish it. There is no question about the soul of Jesus going to hell. To me, it’s one of the clearest doctrines in the entire Bible.
Jesus paid the full price. Not just the cross. Not just the tomb. He endured hell so you wouldn’t have to.
What will you do with that truth?
He holds the keys. The door is open. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ—and thou shalt be saved.
Let’s pray.
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