In Revelation 20:14 we see that “death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.” How could “death” be thrown into “the second death”? This statement seems to imply a concept of Hades very similar to the Greek understanding. In Greek myth and cosmology Hades was the realm of the dead divided up into a realm of paradise called the Elysian Fields all the way to realms of torment with Tartarus at its bottom reaches. (Though Tartarus is sometimes understood to be separate from Hades.) Because Hades is a broad term separated into different zones the concept of a “second death” implies a concept of a deep or deeper realm of Hades perhaps similar to the “third heaven” which seems to suggest a realm of heaven of greater or lesser splendor from the second or first heavens. But if the second death is part of Hades how could Hades be thrown into Hades. One could also ask this question about how “death” could be thrown into the “second death” as it is in Rev 20:14. This idea seems to imply a kind of mass casting of the wicked of Hades deeper realms of death or Hades, the “second death” or “second Hades.” The idea that Hades may have a fiery realm akin to the lake of fire is implied in Luke 16:23-24:
In Hades, where he [the rich man] was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
In Luke 16:23-24 we see the rich man in Hades tormented by fire which is presumably the lake of fire. This fiery realm of Hades appears to be the Abyss. In Rev 9 we see the locust army being released from the Abyss when the shaft to the Abyss is opened “smoke” comes out thick enough to blot out the sun: “When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.” (Rev 9:2.) Then we see the horses of this locust army breathing “fire smoke and sulfur” (Rev 9:17) just like “the lake of burning sulfur” (Rev 20:10).