Engineering, Geography, Geophysics and the Location of Hell in The Bible

Welcome to Faith Science Chapter Studies! These monthly sessions are open to the community and provide an open forum for discussion, discovery, and debates arising from the inevitable collision between modern scientific developments and timeless biblical truth!

You can join us in person on Saturday, February 26th from 2:00PM to 4:00PM at AMLI at Milton Park, 26000 Mill Creek Ave, Alpharetta GA 30022. Please RSVP to faithscienceonline(at)gmail.com if you plan to join us.

From Faith Science:

Engineering, Geography, and Geophysics

• The Formation and Size of the Earth

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Job 38:4–7 nlt

In his first direct challenge to Job, God inferred that he laid out the earth like a building. This seems merely figurative for most readers. Yet, as a structural engineer, I can relate to this imagery on a more literal level. For most simple buildings, a structural engineer conceptually designs the building’s superstructure, which is the part of the building that’s above ground. With that in mind, the building’s foundation type is determined mainly by the soil conditions based on data provided by a civil engineer. Why is this important? The foundation supports the building, and the soil supports the foundation.

Hence, God described the earth’s creation like an engineer. Not only did he consider the foundation that supports the earth but also how the foundation is supported. We can look at it in two ways. From one perspective, all that is visible on the earth was built on a rock core that supports its foundations, as is clearly visible in soil “borings” or samples. From another perspective, the earth’s internal gravitational pull acts like an invisible support keeping its foundations in place. In addition, like humans use surveying equipment to measure elevations and large distances, God was very precise in his design of the earth. It was then carefully constructed to match the plans, starting with the foundation.

• The Ocean’s Boundaries

Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, “This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!”
Job 38:8–11 nlt

How long did it take mankind to truly understand the tide, even though it’s always been in the Bible? Every day, this cycle continues as the ocean responds to the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. Without fail, sea levels rise and fall exactly on schedule. When the ocean meets dry land, it drifts in and out with a consistent rhythm. Interestingly, it doesn’t overflow its boundaries under normal conditions.

In Genesis 1:2, before the tide was created, the earth was covered in deep water and darkness. Then God invented the tide when he set limitations for the waters in Genesis 1:6–10. How gravity keeps the ocean from overflowing to cover all dry land remains a scientific wonder.

• The 24 Hour Cycle of Day and Night

Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors. The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence.
Job 38:12–15 nlt

Before scientists could explain that the earth’s rotation around its axis caused the twenty-four-hour cycle of day and night, people came up with the most interesting ideas. Ancient civilizations created legends that lasted for centuries before someone figured it out. Based on observation only, many thought that the sun went away and the moon appeared due to the action of the gods.

Now we understand that night falls as each location on earth rotates away from direct sunlight and the moon is the closest planet that reflects that sunlight. Yet the real scientific wonder here is not the rise and fall of the sun each day but the rotation of the earth. How is it that the earth is slightly tilted, constantly rotates at a steady pace, and orbits the sun without failure? That’s the real question that needs to be answered.

• The Center of the Earth

Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!
Job 38:16–18 nlt

God identified underwater springs, which supply the oceans with water. They are so deep that only those whose effects are seen near the surface of the water are readily recognized. Many others remain hidden, and some will never be discovered in this age. In Genesis 7:11 when the flood destroyed the earth in Noah’s day, God caused these underground springs to erupt simultaneously with the rainfall.

God connected this to the location of the gates of death. Figuratively, he could have been referring to the difficulty of understanding the mystery of death. However, literally, he could also have been referring to the gates of Hades.

When taken in the context of Job 38:16–18, hell is located at the center of the earth, which is an accepted fact for many theologians. The Bible says, “And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation,” (Numbers 16:32–33 kjv).

In Isaiah 14:15, the pit within the earth’s core is used to describe hell. If you cross reference 2 Peter 2:4 and Revelation 9, you should draw the same conclusion. Hence, the earth opened and people fell directly into hell at the center of the earth. This position is confirmed in Numbers 26:10, Deuteronomy 11:6, Psalm 106:17, and Ezekiel 31:16. Scientists haven’t proven it yet, but I’ve personally heard an audio recording from at least one group of geologists who drilled a shaft deep enough.

Even though they were searching for something completely different, like the Bible says in Amos 9:2, they dug toward hell. The shocking recording contained the sound of blood-curdling screaming voices coming from deep within the earth. Maybe they made the whole thing up and those sounds came from routine movements within the earth’s crust. The only way to disprove these conclusions is to go there. Since the road to hell is a one-way street, it’s safer to take their word for it.