x_m_m_x_, would you mind explaining your thesis in view of this:
Revelation 20:1-5
20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. KJV
John notes that only those beheaded during the great tribulation are with the Lord. Can you give me a Scripture that states otherwise?
2 Corinthians 5:8-9
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. KJV
As to your explanation for "hell" as used in Scripture "gehenna" is used 12 times out of 23 times "hell" appears in the NT. In Revelation 20 where we read that "hell is cast into the lake of fire" the Greek word is:
NT:86
haides (hah'-dace); from NT:1 (as negative particle) and NT:1492; properly, unseen, i.e. "Hades" or the place (state) of departed souls:
KJV - grave, hell.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
NT:86
Haidees, Hadees, Hadou, ho
1. a proper name, Hades, Pluto, the god of the lower regions;
2. an appellative (name), Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead
(from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
Believe what you will but I will believe the Scriptures over man's interpretation of Scripture. BTW, since eternal punishment starts at the judgement and "gehenna" refers to that state how can you infer what you have? BTW, you missed one word translated hell in the KJV and that word is:
NT:5020
tartaroo (tar-tar-o'-o); from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment:
KJV - cast down to hell.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
NT:5020
tartarooo, tartaroo:
to hold captive in Tartarus: 2 Peter 2:4
(from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
This is only found in one verse:
2 Peter 2:4
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
KJV