Does The Old Testament Speak Only of Sheol as a Dusty Place?

Question: Does the Old Testament speaks only of Sheol, not Hell? Is sheol a dusty place in the earth where everybody goes after they die.

Sheol: underworld (place to which people descend at death

Original Word: שְׁאוֹל
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: sheol
Phonetic Spelling: (sheh-ole')
Short Definition: Sheol

Numbers 16:30 King James Version (KJV)

30 But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.

Sheol is translated pit in Numbers 16:30. Hell is always considered down while heaven is always considered upward. This scene describes a place in the nether or lower places of the earth. It does not describe a simple covering of dust.

"For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains" Deut. 32:22.

Sheol is translated hell. It is a place of God's anger and fire. There are also levels in sheol.

"The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up" 1 Samuel 2:6.

Heaven and Hell are simple concepts. One is down and the other is up. The grave is an appropriate term for the dead. It is a place after death.

"The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me" 2 Samuel 22:6.

Some Bibles have "sorrows" translated "cords." The idea is being ensnared with ropes. Sheol has a way of dragging us downward to the place where we do not want to go. It is the place of sorrows. David gave the solution to escaping the cords or sorrows of Hell. He said, 

"In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. 2 Samuel 22:7."

Salvation is that simple,

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" Romans 10:12-13.

To escape sheol all it takes is a call to Jesus.

"It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?" Job 11:8.

Sheol is the antithesis of heaven. Whereas Heaven is high we see that hell is deep. Heaven is the place of joy whereas hell is the place of sorrows. Heaven is the place of adventure and fellowship with the saints; hell is the place of sorrow and solitude.

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" Psalm 9:17.

Hell is not only a place below us but also becoming manifest among the wicked and godless nations.

Do you want to see hell? Look around you. All the pain and suffering that wickedness is bringing into our world is clearly visible. If we live as though God doesn't exist, we are living in Hell. We are not to love the world or the things in the world. The world of sin is subjected to hell and is ready to bring us down to the lower depths of deprivation. Thank God we have a lifter upper. His name is Jesus.

This is just a sample of what you will find about the true meaning of the Hebrew word sheol. It means more than a dusty grave. There are unseen elements that will become more visible to the wicked in the neitherworld. Blessed are those in Christ. The Kingdom of God is already within us and more of Heaven will unfold to us as the invisible things of God become manifest in the glorious days to come.

"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" Luke 17:21.