There is a really out there theory that I have that makes little to no sense unless you wrap your head around some possibilities of the future. For the longest time I used to think that hell was a punishment but then I started looking at it as mercy.
I know, sounds sadistic right? Well, if you believe the bible, and if you believe the prophecies given in revelation it declares that at some point these 3 things will happen:
A.) you can only buy sell or trade if you have the mark B.) Men will feint and pass from fear for what they see upon the earth C.) Some men will roam the earth looking for death and will not be able to find it.
C is what really got me thinking about God rapturing his chosen, burning the earth, and then sending the non-believers to hell. What if we technologically get to a point where eternal life is possible to the average human? What if we become so advanced in our gene editing or biological understanding of DNA and how we age to reverse it or to stop aging. What if we create such advanced nano colonies that live inside your body where you literally can't die because all of your injuries are medically operated on by a swarm of nanites instantaneously. Billions of microscopic surgeons all working together to sew a cut up, repair internal organ, stop hemorrhaging, temporarily create part of your lung that was just blown out ect ect.
What if your born with eternal life, but your also born into debt. Earning wages at such a rate where you will never be able to pay off your or your families debt. When I start to think about humans who are stuck with eternal life on earth, people who don't want to live anymore but they have no option to kill themselves and end it all....that sounds like the true hell.... permanent life on this earth without your choice of when you get to die, or you don't die at all, your a permanent slave indebted to a system, conglomerate, or corporate entity.
It starts to make me think of the second half of revelation as mercy more than punishment. What if we as a human race get to the point where we don't die, or rather... we can't die even if we put a gun to our heads and pulled the trigger.... Foot soldiers and ground wars will become pointless, you can only fight with nukes or large scale destruction methods.
If the earth is a perpetual slave market where you never die, can't die even if you try to kill yourself, and you owe a debt to somebody or something, you might spend the rest of eternity trying to pay that off and never reaching the end of your conditional slavery.
It's an unfinished/thought theory but it started making me look at the "end times" a little differently.