The answer to your question is: I don’t know! To know the answer to this question one would have to know the mind of God completely, but man, who is FINITE (having boundaries, limited) can never fully understand God, who is INFINITE (having no boundaries, unlimited). God speaks of this in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (NKJV). To give you an analogy, a four year old child can hardly begin to understand why their father does certain things that only adults can relate to; their undeveloped and immature minds can’t comprehend his actions. So it is with humans and God; our minds can’t comprehend some of God’s actions because “His ways are higher than ours, as are His thoughts.” Because of this we should NEVER QUESTION GOD’S WAYS. The Apostle Paul spoke of this in Romans 9:20, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this’?” Instead of trying to understand what we can’t know about God, let’s concentrate on what we do know about God. Here are 4 things WE DO KNOW.

1) We know that GOD’S WAYS ARE PERFECT! In Deuteronomy 32:3-4 we read, “For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, HIS WORK IS PERFECT; for ALL HIS WAYS ARE JUSTICE, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” God’s character is JUST and RIGHTEOUS; all His dealings with man are FAIR and RIGHT.

2) We know that GOD CREATED MAN FOR HIS GLORY! This is borne out in Isaiah 43:7 and Revelation 4:11: “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I HAVE CREATED FOR MY GLORY; I have formed him, yes, I have made him….You are worthy, O Lord, TO RECEIVE GLORY and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” What do the words “For My glory” mean? It carries with it the thought of worshipping God and giving Him the glory (praise) for all that He is and all that He does. It also means that God wants us to have FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM, to ENJOY HIM and then to DISPLAY HIM (by telling others of Him and living lives of holiness and love). The trouble is SIN came into the world (see Genesis 3:1-6 and Romans 5:12) and man’s sin has separated Him from God and His glory. This brings us to the next point.

3) WE know that GOD IS LOVE! “Beloved, let us love one another, for LOVE IS OF GOD; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for GOD IS LOVE” (1st John 4:7-8). Sin separated man from God but love brings man back to God! We see this in Ephesians 2:1, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” God’s love found a way to deliver us from spiritual death and into eternal life. 1st John 4:9-10 tell us what He did: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God sent His Son to the cross TO DIE so that we MIGHT LIVE!

4) We know that GOD IS JUST IN CONDEMNING THE UNBELIEVER! In John 3:17-18 we read, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” God has provided salvation for ALL MEN but the choice to be saved and to receive eternal life is up to each individual. Those who “do not believe on Jesus Christ as their Savior” will be condemned and this fatal choice will determine their eternal destiny in hell. No one can blame God for this, for “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1st Timothy 2:4).

I know I still have not answered your specific question, but after KNOWING WHAT WE DO ABOUT GOD (as seen in the points above), we can surely conclude that God does NOT want to send people to hell. He has provided a way for all men to escape hell yet if they reject His gracious offer of salvation He will have no alternative but to condemn them to hell. This is based on His PERFECT HOLINESS, His HATRED OF SIN, and His RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH MUST JUDGE SIN. It was His righteousness and perfect justice on display when He punished His only begotten Son for our sins (see Isaiah 53:5-6, 10; Romans 5:6-8; 1st Corinthians 15:3; 2nd Corinthians 5:21 and 1st Peter 3:18). And it will be His righteousness and perfect justice on display when men are “cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). In that sense, God will even be glorified (His character will be on display!) in condemning the lost to hell.  (365.1)  (DO)