Doorway to Hell?

Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan, in Central Asia, is a long way from nowhere, lying between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and Iran. It’s not famous for much, but does have the world’s fourth largest reserves of natural gas. That is obvious when you travel to Darvaza. A mining accident in 1971 left a huge open pit of natural gas which authorities feared would give off poisonous gases. So they set it on fire. Forty years later it is still burning and has become know as the Door to Hell. It was expected to burn out in a few weeks or months, but it apparently has an inexhaustible supply of fuel. It’s now a tourist attraction, located 270 kilometers from the capital Ashgabat.

Visitors to this geological attraction are reminded of Christ’s words describing Hell in Mark 9:42, as a place where “the fire is not quenched.” John’s Revelation speaks of smoke arising out of Hell, the “bottomless pit” which burns like a “great furnace.” Those who deny the Bible may mock this description, but if Darvaza is any indication, the idea of an everlasting place of tormenting fire might not be so unimaginable. Those who travel to the Door to Hell are warned not to get too close lest their bodies become engulfed in flames. Those who get too close to sin should be warned that Hell is a place of eternal fire where both body and soul will suffer forever (Mark 9:45).