I'd like to know what "hell" means in that statement....? Does this "separation" involve suffering?
In the Bible, sin has consequences.....sin is responsible for death. No matter how death is delivered, it has the same outcome for all. Death is the opposite of life...eternal death is the opposite of eternal life. Where does the Bible say otherwise?
"The grave" in ancient Jewish understanding (as opposed to modern day beliefs) was the receptacle for the person (soul) that had passed away. (Ezekiel 18:4) They had no belief in an immortal soul. That came later.
This is what King Solomon wrote....
Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10....
"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for their remembrance is forgotten. . . . .Whatever your hand attains to do [as long as you are] with your strength, do; for there is neither deed nor reckoning, neither knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, [sheol] where you are going. (Jewish Tanakh)
"Sheol is the rendered "hades" in the Greek Septuagint. So "sheol" and "hades" simply mean the grave. There is no such place as a fiery "hell" for the wicked. That idea does not come from the Bible. Jesus never taught about such a thing.
I see no mention of universal salvation in the Bible. Salvation is something that a person has to qualify for, individually....it does not apply collectively as if you belong to some club and it gives you all a free pass.
1 John 2:15-17...
"Do not love either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; 16 because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. 17 Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but the one who does the will of God remains forever."
It is the 'doing of God's will' that sees Christ's disciples "remain" when others are eliminated. We have to prove ourselves worthy of being spared when God again brings this world to an accounting. We are being "saved" from God's anger at what humans, alienated from him, have done to his Earth.
Using the Biblical example of Noah, we see that God found only one righteous man among a whole generation of wicked people. No others were saved when God found it necessary to curb the wanton violence and immorality that had become rife in the earth. Jesus used this as an example of what would occur again when he was to return.
Matthew 24:37-39...
"For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 38 For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be."
Noah warned the people of what was coming but they did not believe him and carried on with their violent and immoral lives......there was nothing unusual according to them. Their children would grow up to emulate their parents, so God took them away too. This was the life they were used to...the only life they knew.....but God brought the deluge, just as he said he would. We expect the world to be similarly filled with violence and immorality as these "last days" draw to a close. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Discerning what God's purpose was in putting humankind on this planet as tenants and caretakers is important because part of the reason why our tenancy here can be terminated is because we have failed miserably to take care of the earth, its creatures, or each other. There is a tenancy agreement and rules to abide by....the ,majority of mankind have failed to obey the rules and will therefore suffer eviction. God will then have the ones he saved clean up the mess and become the sole occupants of this beautiful planet. eager to return it to its paradisaic beauty so that all can enjoy it.
Revelation 21:3-4 encapsulates the purpose for it all.....
"With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”
If we are part of those "former things"...supporting thoughts, actions and lifestyles that are against God and his creation, then we will go down with them.
God can only "be with" those who obey him and respect his creation. Their reward is everlasting life in paradise on earth. This is not a training ground for heaven.....this Earth was designed to be mankind's permanent home.
Psalm 37:10-11, 29...
"Just a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more;
You will look at where they were,
And they will not be there.
11 But the meek will possess the earth,
And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.. . . .
The righteous will possess the earth,
And they will live forever on it."
Jesus promised that the "meek shall inherit the earth" so the planet isn't going anywhere and neither are we.
Nowhere did God or Jesus promise life in heaven for everyone. He never designed mankind to live anywhere but here on Earth...forever. That is how I understand the scriptures.