Someone has said that Satan is NOT in charge of hell but GOD is and that Jesus has the keys of hell. They also said that Satan has never even been to hell. Is this true?
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who said in 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.” There is a typical word that is always translated ‘Hell’. That word is ‘Gehenna’ as in Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Greek word used in Revelation 1:18 is ‘Hades’, which represents the ‘unseen world, or place of departed souls.’ So, Christ has the keys, or authority over, death and the dead.
Satan is NOT in Hell right now. Consider Job 1:6-7, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” This parallels the truth that we have in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Not only does Satan walk about on the earth, he also is in the air around and above us. Ephesians 2:2 says, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”
In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 we read, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” That’s right! Satan is called the GOD OF THIS WORLD. How did he get such power? Those who are in this world (the unsaved) follow him and give him that place! Most people would not acknowledge being followers of Satan, but without Christ, they do follow him. Just as most people do not like to think of themselves as enemies of the Lord Jesus, Colossians 1:21 tells us, “And you, that were sometime alienated and ENEMIES IN YOUR MIND by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.” So, before being saved, we truly considered the Lord Jesus as our enemy and we followed Satan, giving him the rule over our lives.
Will Satan EVER be a ruler in Hell? NO! He will be a prisoner in Hell and will suffer there eternally.
*Revelation 19:20 – “And the BEAST was taken, and with him the FALSE PROPHET that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were CAST ALIVE INTO A LAKE OF FIRE burning with brimstone.”
*Revelation 20:10 – “And the DEVIL that deceived them was CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE and brimstone, where the BEAST and the FALSE PROPHET are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
*Revelation 20:15 – “And WHOSOEVER WAS NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE was cast into THE LAKE OF FIRE.”
This shows the order of those who will be cast into Hell (the lake of fire) in a yet future day. The beast and the false prophet will first be cast there, then Satan (the devil), and then all those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. Here are a few descriptions of Hell that we find in the Bible: Outer Darkness, Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth, Everlasting Fire, Fire Unquenchable, Where the Word Dieth Not and the Fire Is Not Quenched. (Matthew 8:12, Matthew 25:41, Luke 3:17, Mark 9:44) Does this sound like a place you would like to spend eternity? Of course not! So, how can we be saved and avoid this terrible place. Acts 16:30-31, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, and thy house.” (256.6)