Absolute Blackness

Jude 1:13 

Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

I once spoke with a fire investigator whose training for his work included observing a house burning to the ground from inside the house. He was, of course, wearing protective gear and equipped with oxygen. He said the heat was so intense that his own sweat began to boil. But he said the most surprising thing to him was how incredibly dark it was. Because of the smoke, the lack of oxygen and I suppose other factors, it was impossible to see even his own hand. He told me he could understand now how people inside a burning house would not make it to a door or window; the blackness would so confuse them they could not find their way.

Jude describes hell as the blackness of darkness. We think, mistakenly I think, of the fires of hell lighting the place. That is not so. In the deepest parts of hell there would only be blackness utter darkness. No rays of light to catch the eye and enable some glimpse; only utter, absolute blackness.