The Hinnom Valley is a deep, narrow ravine located in Jerusalem, running south

from the Jaffa Gate on the west side of the Old City, then eastward along the
south side of Mount Zion until it meets the Kidron Valley which separates the
Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives on the east side of the city. It's named
from a certain "son of Hinnom" who apparently owned or had some significant
association with the valley at a time prior to Joshua 15:8. The Valley of Hinnom
had a horror filled history in ancient times. It was used as a place where the
pagan worshipers in Judah did all sorts of vile and wicked things to include
burning their own children alive as sacrifices to the idols Moloch and Baal (2
Chr. 28:3/33:6, Jer. 7:31/19:2-6). One section of the Hinnom Valley was called
Topheth (also spelled Tophet or Topeth), where the children were slaughtered (2
Kings 23:10). The name Topheth is derived from either, or both, the Hebrew word
toph, meaning a drum, because the cries of children being sacrificed by the
priests of Moloch were masked by the sound of the beating on drums, or from taph
or toph, meaning to burn. If anyone wonders why God's wrath was upon paganism,
apart from turning their backs on the True God, one need only look at the barbaric
evil that was committed in that valley as an example. After their return from the
Babylonian exile, the people of Judah turned the Hinnom Valley into the city dump
where garbage and anything deemed unclean (including the bodies of executed
criminals) was incinerated. For that purpose, a fire was kept constantly burning
there. Even though it was no longer used for evil worship, with all the filth and
thick smoke it remained a very dark and dreary place. The Hebrew name Hinnom when
translated into Greek is Gehenna, from which the word and popular concept of hell
originated. By the time of Jesus, the deep, constantly-burning Valley of Hinnom
was also known as the Valley of Gehenna, or Hell, and was thought of as the place
"down there" (in the valley) where the wicked would eventually be cast into the
flames for destruction. In the three (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) or synoptic gospels
(From the Greek 'syn,' meaning "together," and 'optic,' meaning "seen." These
gospels are also considered by Biblical scholars to share the same point of view.)
Jesus uses the word Gehenna 11 times to describe the opposite to life in the
promised, coming Kingdom (Mark 9:43-8). It is a place where both soul and body
could be destroyed (Matthew 10:28) in "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43). The Book of
Revelation describes Hell being cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14) by
which many Christians today interpret as meaning the same thing as Gehenna. If any
one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake
of fire. (Revelation 20:15) The Valley of Hinnom is also the traditional location
of the Potter's Field bought by priests after Judas' suicide with the "blood
money" with which Judas was paid for betraying Jesus. The formula to avoid Gehenna
was supplied by Jesus himself. He told us to through the grace of God to believe
and be baptized into his name for salvation purposes (Found in Mark 16:16 and John
3:5). Our destiny is is determined by us. Like footprints in the sand, where we
walked in this life will sound forth for all eternity.