Is HELL “EVERLASTING”?
Where did
“Hell” come from? What is it’s
origin?
What IS
it? Is “hell” a mere state of mind? Is it merely
a symbol of
torment and suffering? Is hell a place
of
eternal fiery
torment for the immortal souls of the wicked?
What is the
TRUTH about “hell”? Let’s take a new
look
at this old
subject and see what the Bible itself really
has to say
on this mysterious subject! The truth is
absolutely
AMAZING!
William
F. Dankenbring
There are many ideas about
“hell.” Most people use it as a curse
word, or a word of disgust. Most people
don’t believe in a literal “hell,” whatever it is supposed to be. Strange as it may seem, even pagan religions
have a “hell” in their theology – a place where demons terrorize and torture
men and women.
Years ago, when I was a teenager, my
father and brother and I visited
Why
do both pagan and Christian religions have a version of “hell”? What is “hell,” anyway? Will sinners and evildoers ultimately be cast
into an ever-burning hell?
There is no reason why we should
remain ignorant. The Bible speaks plainly about the subject of hell. The truth
about hell will astound you! There really is a hell according to the Bible –
but it is not at all what you have been taught!
The truth is surprising and astonishing – and goes far beyond what any
of us have imagined in our fantasies or daydreams!
The
Greek Words for “Hell”
Actually, there are three Greek words
used in the Bible, all of them translated “hell.” They do NOT refer to the same
thing. Their meanings are totally different.
One word is tartaroo. It is used only once in the
entire Bible – II Peter 2:4 – and refers to the condition of restraint of the
fallen angels. It never refers to men!
It refers to a subterranean region, doleful and dark, the place where
the wicked, fallen angels are held captive and restrained, awaiting their final
day of judgment. Peter writes, “For if
God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [Tartaros]
and committed them to chains of eternal darkness to be kept until the
judgment” (NRSV). Thus this
word does not refer to men, nor does it refer to the final judgment – it is a
place of restraint, a “prison,” as it were, where the fallen angels are
imprisoned awaiting their final judgment and fate.
The second Greek word often
translated “hell,” in English, is hades. The word hades comes
from two roots which literally mean “unseen,” “unknown,” “unperceived,” or
“unconsidered.” It always refers to the grave, the place the dead are
buried! You can see the connection easily. When a dead person is buried, he is
out of sight, unseen – no longer known or perceived. He is gone. The word hades
is never used in the Bible to refer to gehenna fire, or the final
hell fire! It always refers to the “abode of the dead” or the GRAVE! The Old
Testament Hebrew word translated “hell” is sheol. It has the same
meaning as hades and refers to a grave or pit or hole in the ground.
Hades (the grave) is the “hell” Christ was in for three days and
nights (Acts
The King James translators
themselves knew that hades meant “grave.” They so translated it in I
Corinthians 15:55. It could not possibly refer to the lake of fire or gehenna,
because we read in Revelation
Hades is the hell that every human being, except those who are alive
and changed to meet Christ at His second coming, goes to when they die! All men
alike, saint and sinner, rich and poor, kings and slaves, whether white, black,
brown or yellow, go to this “hell” when they die. No one escapes!
Solomon explained it clearly: “For
that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth
them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so
that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto
one place [THE GRAVE]; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again”
(Eccl.
Think about that a moment. If men go
to a fiery hell when they die, then so do cats, dogs, rabbits, chipmunks,
skunks, deer, elk, moose, and every kind of animal! Isn’t it ridiculous to
think “good” animals go to heaven, but “bad” animals go to hell forever and
ever? Animals don’t sin. But Solomon said men have the same fate as animals –
one is no better than the other in death. Both go to the grave and turn to dust
after they die!
Solomon understood. He declared:
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything,
neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten”
(Eccl. 9:5). Solomon said in verse 10: “For there is no work, nor device, nor
knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
How clear, then. When people die, they go to the GRAVE and
remain there. Their bodies turn to dust. The Bible says nothing about
them being plunged instantaneously into a fiery hell. “Dust thou art, and unto
dust thou shalt return,” God says (Gen. 3:19).
The term “Hades,” and “Sheol,” therefore, are rightly interpreted as “the abode of the dead,” without necessarily distinguishing where that abode is in every case. Obviously, the body goes back to the earth and decomposes and returns to dust. However, the spirit does not necessarily remain hovering about the grave. Rather, it “returns to God who gave it” (Eccl.12:7).
The “abode of the dead,” therefore, also includes the place where the spirit of the person goes, after death, as the spirit continues in existence even after the body moulders and turns to corruption in the grave, returning to “dust.” The “spirit” returns to God who gave it – but we are not told precisely “where” that location is. However, the spirits of the wicked and unjust are kept in a part of hades or sheol, which is the “abode of the dead,” until the day of final judgment. Thus these surviving “spirits” continue in existence, even after the body itself dies and becomes dust of the earth.
What do we know about these “spirits” of the dead? The Scriptures in Isaiah 14 indicates that they are suspended in stasis, a state of inability to do anything, but even so it would appear that they possess a degree of consciousness and awareness, as the spirits of the kings of the world, long since deceased, discern the death of the king of Babylon when his spirit joins them in Sheol.
On the other hand, what about the spirits of the deceased righteous? Where do they go? They also go to the place known as ‘Sheol,” which simply defines the “abode of the dead.”
As we read in the book of Revelation, during the future Great Tribulation, soon to come upon the earth, the souls of the righteous dead will be disturbed from their slumber, and will cry out to God in deep concern, awaiting their resurrection.
Notice: “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the SOULS of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should REST a little longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (Rev.6:9-11).
These were dead saints. Yet their souls are pictured as crying out to God with a “loud voice”! They are obviously aware, and able to “think,” and to express their emotions and feelings to God. What an interesting Scripture!
When
we come to understand that there indeed IS a “spirit in man” which survives the
first, physical death, and that the “spirit” continues in existence, then we
should be able to discern these Scriptures for what they are REALLY
saying! As king Solomon wrote in
Ecclesiastes, these spirits cannot “work,” “plan,” “plot,” or perform any activities
of any kind (Eccl.9:10). They are
distinctly limited in what they can do.
But, on the other hand, they can in a limited way speak, discern their
surroundings, and communicate with each other, when necessary, and the spirits
of the righteous can even communicate with God, when appropriate, or when He
allows it! Write for our articles, “Hell
and the Soul,” and “The Spirit in
Gehenna
– “Hell Fire”
There is yet one more Greek word
translated “hell” which we have not covered. And it does indeed refer to a
fiery type of hell fire! Let’s
notice just what this “hell” is, when it occurs, and how long it lasts – and
who will be sent there!
What is the ultimate fate of the
wicked, those who reject God and despise Christ?
John the Baptist spoke about the
final fate or destiny of the wicked. Seeing evil-minded, blasphemous Pharisees
and their ilk coming around him as he preached the Gospel, John was moved to
exclaim: “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet [fitting] for repentance” (Matt.
3:78). He thundered to these hypocrites,
“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree
which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (verse
10). Speaking of Jesus Christ, he said,
“Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather
his wheat into the garner; but he will BURN UP the chaff with unquenchable
fire” (verse 12).
Here John described the fate of the
wicked. Like worthless brush, thistles, or the chaff of the threshing floor,
they will ultimately be cast into a fire and burned up! This fire doesn’t just
singe, or scorch; it thoroughly CONSUMES whatever is cast into it! What strange fire was John talking about?
Jesus first mentioned “hell” in
Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus declared, “But I say unto you, That
whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the
judgment: and whosoever shall say unto his brother, Raca, [“vain fellow”] shall
be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in
danger of HELL FIRE” (verse 22).
What “hell” was Jesus talking about?
And what did He mean by these strange-sounding remarks? The Greek word for “hell” Jesus used in these
verses is geenna (usually spelled and pronounced Gehenna), and
refers to the ancient dwelling place of the sons of Hinnom, a valley just
outside the city of Jerusalem which came to be used as a garbage dump or
rubbish pit. Filthy, dirty garbage, dead
bodies, and corpses of criminals were thrown into this valley and burned up.
Jesus used this expression as a figurative symbol of the final HELL FIRE which
will consume the bodies of the incorrigibly wicked!
But when will the wicked perish in
this fire? When will unrepentant sinners be cast into Gehenna fire? And what about the billions of people who
have lived and died, who never understood the truth of God, who never even
heard about Jesus Christ?
And what about the saints – those who
will inherit the earth? What about those
who will receive salvation, and eternal life?
When will all this happen? Just
how will the plan of God work out? Let’s
turn to the Book of Revelation, and see what God says! The truth is far more wonderful, and more
glorious, than you have ever imagined!
First of all, when will the
patriarchs, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with Moses, Enoch, Samuel,
Joshua, David, and the Old Testament servants of God, along with true
Christians – those who truly follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, repent of
their sins, and accept him as Saviour – receive the promises? When will we receive ETERNAL LIFE and
SALVATION? Notice the answers!
The
Incredible FIRST Resurrection
The apostle Paul stated an important
truth in the resurrection chapter of the Bible – he declared in no uncertain
words, speaking of the hope of the resurrection: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive. But every
man in his own order: Christ the
firstfruits [the literal Greek says “firstfruit,” singular, not plural]; afterward
they that are Christ’s AT HIS COMING.
Then cometh the END, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to
God, even the Father . . .” (I Cor.15:22-24).
Notice! When Christ returns from heaven, the SAINTS
will inherit their reward! Many
Scriptures spell out this wonderful truth.
In this same chapter, Paul goes on, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; we
shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMPET: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed” (vs.51-52). Paul explained
further to the Thessalonians, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven,
with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trumpet of God:
and the dead in Christ shall RISE FIRST: Then we which are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord” (I Thess.4:16-17).
What is the “last trumpet”? When does it sound? In the book of Revelation, seven trumpets
(seven is the number of completion or finality) are depicted as being blown,
one after another, concluding with the seventh trumpet (Rev.8-9, 11:15). The seventh trumpet is the LAST trumpet and
it is blown at the second coming of Christ the Messiah! The apostle John says about this awesome,
mind-boggling, staggering event: “Then
the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his
Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. . . .
“The
nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that
they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets
and the saints, and those whot fear Your name, small and great; and should
destroy those who destroy the earth” (Rev.11:15-18, NKJV).
At the Olivet prophecy, Jesus Christ
Himself spoke of this awesome event, when He returns to this earth: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of
man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man COMING IN THE
CLOUDS OF HEAVEN with power and great glory.
And he shall send his angels, with a great sound of a trumpet, and
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end
of heaven [the sky] to the other” (Matt.24:30-31).
This is the FIRST RESURRECTION! It occurs at the second coming of Christ!
John writes of this incredible
event: “And I saw thrones, and they [the
saints, the ones resurrected at Christ’s coming!] sat on them, and judgment was
committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for
their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the
beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on
their hands. And THEY LIVED AND
REIGNED WITH CHRIST FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.
But the rest of the dead did not live again UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS
WERE FINISHED. . .” (Rev.20:4-5, NKJV).
This is the first
resurrection! Of that, there can be no
doubt whatsoever! It is the resurrection
of the saints at the coming of Christ, at the beginning of the Millennium, or
thousand year reign of the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, called the Christ!
John goes on, regarding these
saints, and those who are in the first resurrection: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second
death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years” (v.6).
When Christ returns to this earth,
the patriarchs and truly converted Christians will be raised from their graves.
At that time, Jesus will reward the righteous, and they will then assist him in
ruling over the entire earth for 1,000 years (see Revelation 20:4; Daniel 2:44
and 7:27).
But what then? What about the “rest of the dead” – all the
billions upon billions of people who ever lived? And what about the “wicked”? What does the Word of God say about them?
The
SECOND Resurrection
In the 20th chapter of Revelation we
find a brief summary of God’s plan for the future. When Christ returns, Satan
the devil will be bound (Rev.20:1-3), the saints will be resurrected, and they
will reign on the earth with Him for one thousand years (verses 4-5).
“But the rest of the dead lived
not again until the thousand years were finished,” the Apostle John writes
(verse 5). Therefore, at the end of the thousand years, all those who lived and
died, who were not saints, will be resurrected. This tremendous resurrection,
of untold billions of people, is recounted in verses 11 and 12:
“And I saw a GREAT WHITE THRONE, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them.
“And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
Notice. This is a resurrection to
life. The book of LIFE was opened. Those coming up in this resurrection will be
judged “according to their works”! This is not a resurrection to condemnation –
but it is a resurrection to LIFE and to JUDGMENT!
Who are all these people who will
stand before God at the END of the Millennial reign of Christ and the
saints?
They will be the uncountable
billions who lived and died in this life, who did not qualify to be in the
FIRST RESURRECTION, at the return of Christ – to be a part of the “firstfruits”
of God! The vast majority of them never
even had a chance for salvation – they grew up, lived and died in a society
which didn’t have the knowledge of God, or His truth. They are those who lived and died in
ignorance, those who never understood or really heard the true Gospel of
Christ during their lives! At that future time they will be “judged” according
to their works, and most will be given a period of time to repent of their
misdeeds in this life, to be re-educated, and to qualify for eventual salvation
and eternal life! In that future
resurrection, God will open their eyes, show them His truth, and give them
their first and only chance for salvation!
Jesus Christ put the truth
plainly. He stated: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is
coming, and now is, when the DEAD shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. . . Marvel not
at this: for the hour is coming, in the
which ALL THAT ARE IN THE GRAVES shall hear his voice, and shall come forth;
they that have done good, to the RESURRECTION OF LIFE” – this
is the first resurrection, which occurs at the second coming of Christ!
But notice! Jesus goes on, concerning the REST of the
dead: “And they that have done evil, to
the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:25-29).
The King James uses the word “damnation” here, but the Greek word means
“judgment.” This means that all who have
ever lived will be JUDGED by Christ based on how they conducted their
lives. Those who were really evil, to
the core – perhaps like a Ghengis Khan, or Adolf Hitler, or serial killers, or
others who gave their lives over to do EVIL – will be condemned to the “second
death” – the lake of fire called “Gehenna”!
Others, who have not been so wicked,
who did a mixture of good as well as evil in their lives, but who never really
understood the truth of God, or knew the name of Christ, whose lives were in
reality a mixture of good and evil, will be given a chance to repent, and live
out their lives in the flesh, to prove whether or not they will obey God. Not all will be condemned! In fact, in all probability, MOST of
mankind, given this first real chance at salvation, will probably jump at the
chance, deeply repent, and eventually qualify for salvation and eternal life in
the Kingdom of God! Some will be
“close” to the kingdom of God, having learned many positive lessons in this
present life; others will have a lot of changing and overcoming to do, to turn
their lives around and to qualify for eternal life!
This second resurrection will not be
a time of universal condemnation. It
will be a time of universal JUDGMENT!
All will appear before God and will be judged according to their deeds
and works, and those who have not committed the unpardonable sin will be given
their true opportunity for salvation.
(Write for my article, “What Is the Unpardonable Sin?” if you have not
read it.)
Notice the proof of this! John writes of this resurrection: “And I saw the dead [all who ever lived], small
and great, stand before God; and the BOOKS were opened [containing the record
of their deeds and misdeeds, both good and bad]: and another book was opened, which is the
BOOK OF LIFE: and the dead were JUDGED
out of those things written in the books, according to their WORKS” (Rev.20:12).
Some of these will be Gentile dead,
who never understood God’s Law – who lived and died in ignorance and total
darkness. Some of them, because of the
internal conscience which they developed during their lives, were basically
“good” people. Paul writes about them in
Romans, chapter 2, where he says: “For
when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature those things contained
in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which
shew forth the work of the law written in their hearts, their CONSCIENCE
bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing
one another;) in the day when God shall JUDGE the secrets of men by
Jesus Christ . . .” (Rom.2:14-16).
This will be a time of judgment –
but not a time of total condemnation.
God will at this time extend the possibility of salvation to all
those who ever lived who never KNEW God, or anything at all about “salvation” –
or who were deceived by the false religions of this world, and never really had
opportunity to truly be “saved” in this present life!
Jesus
spoke also of this time of judgment, when all nations that ever existed will be
judged, in Matthew’s gospel.
Notice! He declared to the Jews
of His time: “The men of Nineveh will rise
up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of
Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south [queen of Sheba] shall
rise up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is
here” (Matthew 13:41-42).
In another place, Jesus also rebuked
those of His own generation, those among the Jewish people who rejected His
proof of Messiahship. We read: “Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein
most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in
you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in
sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you,
it shall be MORE TOLERABLE for Tyre and Sidon at the DAY OF JUDGMENT,
than for you.
“And
thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to
hell: for if the mighty works, which
have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until
this day. But I say unto you, that it
shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, than
for thee” (Matt.11:20-24).
Is this a “second chance”? Not really.
The point is, many were never called of God during this life. Therefore, they never really had a “first
chance.” That period of judgment will BE
their first chance for salvation!
Although most evangelists don’t
understand this truth, and most evangelical Christians think that “today” is
the ONLY day of salvation, the truth is, THEY ARE WRONG!
The “Great White Throne Judgment”
which occurs after the Millennial reign of Christ, when all the dead who ever
lived are resurrected to physical, human life, will be a VAST OPPORTUNITY FOR
SALVATION FOR BILLIONS OF PEOPLE who never understood God’s truth and His
plan! Having never understood it,
they never rejected it, or turned away from it, or denied it!
The truth is, only a limited few are
called of God, now, during this lifetime.
Jesus Christ said He spoke in parables, to the masses, so that they
would NOT understand the gospel, and become accountable during this lifetime. He declared to His disciples, “To you it has
been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has
not been given” (Matt.13:11, NRSV).
Only a comparative few are given their chance and “called” to receive
their opportunity for salvation now, at this time, to become part of the
“firstfruits of God,” when Christ returns!
The rest of the people will be judged for their deeds during this life,
later, at the Great White Throne judgment – and will then receive their chance
for salvation!
This is NOT the “Only Day of Salvation”!
Today is not the ONLY day of
salvation!
As
Paul wrote, to the Corinthians, quoting Isaiah in the Old Testament, “For he
saith, I have heard thee in A TIME ACCEPTED, and in the [the word “the” is a
mistranslation, and ought to be “A”] day of salvation have I succoured
thee . . .” (II Cor.6:2). The Englishman’s
Greek Interlinear New Testament shows there is no article “the” in the
Greek connected with the word “salvation,” and the line ought to read, “In A
time accepted I listened to thee, and in A DAY of salvation I helped
thee.” The rest of the verse ought to
read: “lo, now is a time well-accepted;
now is a time of salvation.”
This
passage is quoted from the prophet Isaiah. His original words were: “Thus saith the LORD, in AN ACCEPTABLE
TIME have I heard thee, and in A DAY OF SALVATION have I helped thee . . .” (Isaiah
49:8).
The Protestant idea that all must
accept Christ now, before they die, as Saviour, or they will burn in hell for
all eternity, is a FALSE, PAGAN CONCEPT!
It is totally erroneous, and makes a mockery of both the power of
God, and the love of God! Do you think
Almighty God would create billions of people, and then allow Satan to deceive
the vast overwhelming majority of them, causing them to lose out on salvation,
so that they will be cast into Gehenna fire?
Such a fantasy pictures Satan as overwhelmingly more powerful than
God!
Let me assure you: God is in complete control of His
Creation! Nothing can happen without His
express permission, or contrary to His will.
Even the suffering in this world,
God permits, to teach mankind the difference between good and evil, right and
wrong – in a way that we will never forget it!
The Final Fate of the
Incorrigibly Wicked
But now, notice what will happen to
those who don’t qualify for eternal life, at this time – those who are so evil
that they lose out on salvation. Their
final judgment is to be destroyed and put to death in the lake of Gehenna fire. This same Great White Throne judgment scene
continues, in Revelation 20, in the verses which immediately follow:
“And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it; and death and hell
[hades, meaning
“the grave”] delivered up the dead which were in
them: and they were
judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell [hades]
were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death. And whosoever
was not found written in the book
of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:13-15).
Here are those who do NOT qualify
for eternal life – those who have been incorrigibly wicked. They will be cast into Gehenna fire!
The prophet Malachi wrote: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn
as an oven; and all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall BURN THEM UP,
saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun
of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and
grow up as calves of the stall. And ye
shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your
feet in the day that I do this, saith the LORD of hosts” (Mal.4:1-3).
This awesome fire that will consume
and annihilate the wicked is called the “second death” (Rev. 20:14). It is the
FINAL DEATH from which there is no resurrection! This death is the penalty of
sin (Rom. 6:23). It is the death Christ Jesus came to spare all of us from!
John writes, “But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).
The
Tremendous Holocaust
What about this “hell fire”? Where will it be? How hot?
How big? How long will it last?
Peter helps us understand. “But the
day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned
up” (II Peter 3:10).
Notice verse 7: “But the heavens and
the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto
fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men”!
How plain. This great fire is the
same as the “lake of fire,” mentioned in Revelation, when God judges the
incorrigibly wicked. It will sweep around the entire earth! The elements
themselves will be dissolved, the surface of the earth will be purged and
consumed with tremendous heat. Every remnant of man’s sin, every sign of
iniquity, every last trace of evil will be devoured by the heat of this fire.
Then there will be new heavens and a
new earth (Rev. 21:12). But the
incorrigibly wicked, those who deliberately persist in rebellion against God
when they know better, will have no part in it. They will be annihilated
in the lake of fire! God will never entrust the awesome powers of the
God-Family to rebellious, selfish, spiteful, proud and perverse men who have
repudiated His love and despised His government throughout their lives.
“But the wicked shall PERISH, and
the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume;
into smoke shall they consume away” (Psa.37:20). This describes the
true fate of the wicked.
These are not just my words. These are the words of God!
In the book of Matthew, Jesus Christ
twice uses the expression “everlasting fire” (Matt. 18:8; 25:41). Notice 25:41
– “Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
What did Jesus mean by
“everlasting”? The Bible does not contradict itself (John 10:35). Jesus used a Greek word – aionios –
which comes from the Greek aion, meaning an “AGE.” The word aion is translated
“AGES” in Ephesians 2:7 and Colossians 1:26. The aionios fire Jesus
spoke of refers to the age-lasting fire which will occur at “the end of this
world,” and which will introduce the “world to come”! It is an epochal event!
Notice a Bible example which shows
in what sense “Gehenna” will be “everlasting.”
Turn to Jude 7, where the identical
Greek word, aionios is used, but where it is translated “eternal fire.”
Read this verse carefully: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about
them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after
strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal
fire.”
Jude said the destruction of these
two cities is an example for us. Their fate depicts the fate of all the wicked,
at the end of the age! They suffered – notice it – the vengeance of “ETERNAL
fire.” Now, what happened to
these two ill-fated cities? Are they
still “burning” today? Of course
not! What happened to them that can be
described as “eternal”?
Read the answer in the book of
Genesis. “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire [a
type of the “lake of fire”] from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew
those cities, and all the plain, and all the in habitants of the cities, and
that which grew upon the ground. . . . And Abraham got up early in the morning
to the place where he stood before the Lord: And he looked toward Sodom and
Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the
smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace” (Gen. 19:24-28).
This terrible destruction is a direct
type of the final fire which will consume and annihilate the wicked! But did you notice? Jude calls this ancient
punishment “eternal fire” – yet, the fire which devoured these cities in
ancient times is not still burning in the Middle East, today! It
burned itself out, long, long ago! Nevertheless, the awesome EFFECT of this
tremendous fire IS “eternal” – and stands as an eternal witness for us, today!
The expression “everlasting” fire or
“eternal” fire does not necessarily mean the fire itself will burn forever, any
more than the “eternal” fire which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah is still
burning, today. Rather, this expression refers to a great CONSUMING FIRE, whose
awesome EFFECT will be eternal! The
fire itself will not BURN constantly, throughout the ages, forever, but its effect
will be complete, total, eternal and permanent destruction! The wicked will be totally burned up,
consumed to smoke and ashes, and never live again!
“Unquenchable
Fire”
Another much misunderstood scripture
is Mark 9:43 where Jesus speaks of “the fire that never shall be quenched.” Does this mean the fire burns forever?
Not at all. Take a match, light it
and set a piece of paper on fire. Let it burn. Don’t let anyone put it out, or
snuff it out. Just let the paper burn, until it burns up. Soon it will burn
itself out. Now, what do you have? A
burned-up piece of paper. But did you
put it out? Was the flame
“quenched”? No. You left it unquenched. It was not quenched.
Even so, the final Gehenna fire
will not be “quenched,” or “put out.”
Rather, when there is no more fuel to burn, in time, it will burn
itself out – when the wicked and all their wicked works are burned up!
Any fire will go out when it runs
out of fuel. That’s the way the final Gehenna fire will be. In time, it
will consume all its fuel and naturally burn itself out! But that does
not mean it cannot be reconstituted again, or exist again, in the
future! We will explain this fascinating
mystery later on in this article.
The fate of the wicked, in the
Bible, is death – pure and simple – the second death in the lake of fire. The
wicked will die (Ezek. 18:4, 20). Their consciousness will be destroyed for all
eternity. They will have no feelings, thoughts, emotions. The spirit component
of their existence (“the spirit in man”) will be purged and purified and
recycled by God as He sees fit. But the
wicked personality and consciousness and “being” will be utterly
destroyed. They will become dust and
ashes under the feet of the righteous!
As we have seen before, man is composed of dust. He is dust.
He does not have an immortal soul abiding within him. Therefore, when the wicked are destroyed,
there will be nothing left of them to show they ever existed. Their “spirit” component will be cleansed and
reused by God (even as atoms from the sun are recycled on the earth and used in
the bodies of living creatures on the earth).
For more explanation about the “spirit in Man,” write for our articles
on “Hell and the Soul,” “The Spirit in Man,” and “Saul and the Witch of Endor.”
Only those who obey God – who really
repent of their sins, and turn to God in true heartfelt repentance and obey His
commandments, accepting Christ Jesus as their Saviour and Redeemer – will
inherit eternal life (John 3:16).
True Christians and saints of God will receive this gift at the return
of Jesus Christ, at the first resurrection.
The rest of mankind will not be judged until they are resurrected, after
the Millennial reign of Christ, at the Great White Throne Judgment. Ultimately, all the incorrigible wicked who
do not attain to immortality will simply perish in the lake of fire!
But
WHY Did Christ refer to “Hell” as “Everlasting”?
It is clear that when God judges the world, and sinners, that the wicked will be consumed away into dust and ashes. When there are no more wicked to be consumed, no more “FUEL,” then the fire will, of course, burn itself out. But does that mean there will not be any further “hell” in the future, beyond the Great White Throne Judgment?
Is there a very real sense in which
“HELL” is indeed “forever”? That
is, will God continue to use “Gehenna fire” as a garbage dump for all eternity,
for any who transgress His commandments and turn to a life of sin and
wickedness, in the future – in the world to come?
This brings up an interesting new
concept. There is something the “eternal
hell” advocates have never thought of.
In this intriguing sense, there will indeed be an “everlasting hell” –
that is, a place where future wicked beings will be punished, and destroyed,
and eliminated from among the living.
That future “garbage dump” will also be “Hell.”
Let’s notice once again that Greek
word for “everlasting.” Jesus Christ
declared, “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from
you. It is better for you to enter into
life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into
the everlasting fire” (Matt.18:8, NKJV). He also declares to the wicked, in the day
of judgment, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels” (Matt.25:41).
Let’s now take another look at this
passage.
What did Jesus really mean by the
word “everlasting”? As I said, the Bible
does not contradict itself (John 10:35).
As we have seen already, Jesus used
a Greek word aionios which comes from the Greek aion. Let’s take a deeper look at this
word. This same word is used in Matthew
19:29 where Jesus declared to His disciples that they would “receive an
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life”! It is used in Luke 18:30 where the Master
said, “There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife,
or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more
in this present time, and in the world to come LIFE EVERLASTING [aionion]” (Luke
18:29-30).
The Greek word aionios literally
means “perpetual (also used of past time, or past and future as well): –
eternal, forever, everlasting, world (began).”
See Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
It comes from the word aion which means “prop. an age; by
extension, perpetuity (also past); by implication the world; spec.
(Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future): -- age, course, eternal, (for)
ever (-more), . . . (beginning of the, while the) world (began, without end).”
Therefore, Gehenna hell fire can
refer not only to the great fire which will burn at the end of this “world,” or
“age,” but it has an even deeper, more profound significance.
It really does mean “forever.” There is no getting around this fact! So there will always be a “hell” ready for
the bodies of the wicked!
Let’s understand this mystery! The usage of the word aionios for
this great fire is of very great significance.
The term also means “perpetuity,” “everlasting” or “eternal.” It is used of the great reward of the saints
– “ETERNAL LIFE”! Surely, nobody in
their right mind thinks that it does not mean literally “eternal” or
“everlasting”!
So how can Gehenna fire have an “everlasting” quotient? If the bodies of the wicked are consumed and burned up, then why would Gehenna fire be referred to as “everlasting”? What is the answer to this enigma?
The answer is revealed when we take
a new, careful look at God’s great Plan for the ages – all ages – eternity
itself!
When we really look at God’s great
plan, we see that in a very real, palpable sense the PUNISHMENT OF GEHENNA FIRE
IS GOING TO BE KEPT AROUND THROUGHOUT THE AGES TO COME, so long as there
are wicked people, beings, or even angels, who go astray and who must be
“terminated.”
This will be true, even in the New
Heavens and the NEW EARTH! Let’s
understand this profound “mystery of the ages”!
There are several “hints” to this ongoing Plan of God. It will enter into a new phase after the Millennium, during the “New Heavens and New Earth.”
In
Genesis, during the time of Noah, God said, when He gave mankind the symbol of
the “rainbow,” “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and
you, and every living creature that is with you, for PERPETUAL generations” (Gen.9:12). What is meant by “perpetual
generations”? The Hebrew word for
“perpetual” is olam and means “everlasting,” “always,” “eternity,”
“without end,” “to the vanishing point.”
Does
this imply that God will begin again with new human life, and start a new cycle
of His Great Plan? Since the creation of
Adam and Eve, about 6,000 years have passed.
According to Scripture, there are 40 years in a Biblical generation
(Num.14:34). So there have been about
150 generations since the time of Adam.
John declares in the
book of Revelation: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the
first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more
sea. And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed
away” (Rev. 21:1-4).
At
this time, God says, “See, I am making ALL THINGS NEW” (Rev.21:5, NRSV).
In that new heaven and earth, there will be NO
MORE DEATH for those who have been given immortality! Everybody will live forever! The whole earth will be populated with SAVED
CHILDREN OF GOD – IMMORTAL SONS OF GOD!
“And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and
faithful.
“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end. I will give unto him that is
athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son” (vs. 5-7,
KJV).
The new Jerusalem will sparkle like a
diadem upon the earth (Rev. 21:9-21). It
is the bride of Christ. Those who
qualify to enter God’s Kingdom, to be born of God through the Holy Spirit, will
be made immortal sons of God and will dwell in the New Jerusalem, with
Christ, and reign with Him on His throne, over the entire Universe, forever
and ever!
Jerusalem will be the headquarters for the
Throne of God; from it God’s rule will extend throughout all the galaxies of
space, to the uttermost bounds of the Universe, to the farthest reaches of all Creation itself!
Yet, believe it or
not, the Plan of God will CONTINUE!
In the new heavens
and earth, there will be a NEW CYCLE of the PLAN OF GOD!
God
says in the Torah, speaking of His Covenant, “Therefore know that the LORD your
God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy FOR A THOUSAND
GENERATIONS with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deut.7:9).
You’d
better rub your eyes, and take another, closer look at that promise. God speaks of A THOUSAND GENERATIONS! Simple arithmetic shows that 40 years to a
generation multiplied by 1,000 generations equals 40,000 years! Yet we are living in the 6000th
year since the sin of Adam and Eve and their banishment from the Garden of Eden,
in 3997 B.C. The year 2004 A.D. – this
very year – is 6,000 years from that ancient event. In fact, Cheshvan 17, which was November 1,
this year, is the anniversary of the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden (see
my article on “Countdown to the Apocalypse” in last month’s issue of this
magazine).
King
David also alluded to this promise of God.
He wrote in the Psalms, “He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in
the earth. He remembers His covenant
FOREVER, the word which He commanded for A THOUSAND GENERATIONS” (Psalm
105:7-8).
In
fact, when God revealed Himself to Moses, He revealed the “Thirteen Divine
Attributes” of God to Him. “And the LORD
passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and
gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means
clearing the guilty” (Exodus 34:6-7, NKJV).
The
Hebrew for “thousands” here is eleph, a form of aleph, the first
letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It
denotes “thousands” – or , in this case, “thousands of generations.” It also denotes “a family,” as the Aleph is
like an ox’s head and is the first letter of the alphabet, and was eventually
used as a numeral – it represents both 1, and 1,000, or thousands. Alaph is a primitive root, meaning
“to associate with,” hence, “to learn, teach, utter.”
The
Hebrew in Exodus 34:7 can refer to the thousandth or two thousandth generation
– which literally could be interpreted as 1,000 x 40 years or 40,000 years; or
2,000 x 40 years = 80,000 years. Or,
literally, multiple “thousands” – stretching forward into infinity of
eternity.
Isaiah
the prophet alludes to this mystery. He
writes in chapter 9, “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; and
the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The
Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the INCREASE of His government and peace there will be NO END, upon
the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with
judgment and justice from that time forward, EVEN FOREVER. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will
perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7, NKJV).
That
is, the Kingdom of God will grow and grow, multiply and expand – FOREVER –
always INCREASING, with justice and peace, with eternal growth and
EXPANSION! A growing Kingdom “with no
end” – no limitation, no boundary, no termination point!
The
apostle John continues, describing the New Earth: “And the nations of them
which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of earth do
bring their glory and honour into it.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no
night there. And they shall bring
the glory and honour of the nations into it” (Rev. 21:23-26).
Says the NRSV, “The
nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their
glory into it. Its gates will never be
shut by day – and there will be no night there.
People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations”
(Rev.21:24-26).
Notice! These are “nations” of mankind – people! The King James Version uses the word “saved”
but this can be understood as the nations which at that time are in the process
of “being saved,” or which are then “in a saved condition.” It does not necessarily mean those who have
already been made immortal! In other
words, the family of God will keep on growing and expanding, with new members
being added!
More evidence that
this is so is found in Revelation 22, speaking of the new heavens and new
earth. John writes: “Then the angel showed me the river of the
water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the
Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of
life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and
the leaves of the tree are for the HEALING OF THE NATIONS” (Rev.22:1-2).
Notice
it very carefully! The leaves of this
tree will be for HEALING NATIONS! This
means there will be nations of mankind in existence, then, and they will
require HEALING! The word for “healing”
here is the Greek word therapeia which means “attendance (spec. medical,
i.e. cure): fig. and collec. domestics – healing,
household.” Thayer’s Greek-English
Lexicon has it, “1. service, rendered by anyone to another. 2.
spec. medical service, curing, healing.”
This
means for thousands of generations, there will be HUMAN BEINGS living and IN
NEED OF HEALING, CURING, SAVING – SALVATION!
These generations
will be born, and go on forever, growing, overcoming, and qualifying for
entrance into the immortal Kingdom and Family of God! They will be flesh and blood; they will be
mortal; they will be given the choice of learning to obey God and develop His
character in their lives, or disobeying, rebelling, and earning the
consequences of disobedience!
For
this plan to go on, and to continue, there will have to be a NEW GEHENNA
FIRE – NEW “HELL” – in the New Heavens
and New Earth!
The
Scriptures declare that God is eternal, and He does not change. His plan itself will not change or be
altered. There is a “HELL” for the
present world, for all who rebel and become incorrigible. There will be a “hell” in the world to come
for those physical beings who then turn aside, go astray, and refuse the
goodness of God. This fate also would
await any future angels or angelic beings who – like Lucifer and his angels –
turn aside and reject the commandments of Almighty God! Therefore, in this unique sense, the words of
the Messiah stand everlastingly true.
The fate of a “hell” or “Gehenna fire” for the wicked is an eternal
reality.
Isaiah tells us more about this New
Heavens and New Earth. He describes it
thus: “For, behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth: and the former shall
not be remembered, nor come into mind.
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a job . . . There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor
an old man that hath not filled his days:
for the child shall die an hundred years old; BUT THE SINNER being a
hundred years old shall be ACCURSED” (Isaiah 65:17-20).
Notice carefully.
During the new heavens and new earth, there will be people who will live
out normal lives, children will grow up, and there will be homes, towns,
villages, and cities. All people will
have a fullness of days, to prove to God whether or not they are deserving of
eternal life in His kingdom! This may
mean that people will live at least one hundred years. But any who are still “sinners,” at the end
of one hundred years, will be ACCURSED!
That is, they will be judged worthy of the lake of fire, the punishment
of Gehenna!
Isaiah concludes his final chapter describing the “New
heavens and new earth,” declaring: “For
as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make will remain before Me,
says the LORD, so shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New
Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all FLESH shall come
to worship before Me, says the LORD. And
they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed
against Me. For their worm does not die
and their fire is not quenched. They
shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isa.6622-24, NKJV).
Here is a plain description of the Gehenna fire, burning
up the wicked, during the time frame of the new heavens and new earth! The “worms” feast upon their bodies, and they
are eventually consumed in the fiery flames.
These are not “immortal worms,” but pupae. After they complete the pupae stage of their
existence, they metamorphose into moths and fly away. That is why they do not “die” as worms; they
change into moths when they complete the pupae stage of their life cycle.
But if all this is true, some will
wonder, thenwhat about the parable of Lazarus and the rich man? Wasn’t the rich man cast into an
ever-burning fire? What about this
story?
Lazarus
and the Rich Man
In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus gives the
parable of Lazarus and the Rich man. “There was a certain rich man who was
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. . . there
was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores,
and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table:
moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. . . and it came to pass, that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man
also died and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said,
Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of
his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
. .”
This story says Lazarus died and was
carried to Abraham’s “bosom.” What
exactly is a bosom? If we can find out what a bosom is – in this case Abraham’s
– we will know where the beggar was taken.
Any dictionary will tell you that a
bosom is the breast of a human being, with the arms as an enclosure; a loving
embrace by the arms of one person about another; an intimate relationship. Lazarus then, was carried into an intimate
relationship with Abraham. Lazarus is pictured here as a Gentile who received
salvation, by becoming Christ’s follower or disciple. Notice! “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s
seed (children), and heirs according to the promise” (Gal.
3:29). Through Christ, Gentiles may
become Abraham’s children. Through faith we all become “the children of
Abraham” (Gal. 3:7).
The
Promise to Abraham
Abraham is an heir of God. God gave
Abraham a promise and his children will become heirs of it. But what was this
promise that Abraham will receive, and the beggar who is his heir?
In Genesis 12 we read where God told
Abraham of the land of Canaan: “. . . Unto thy seed will I give this
land.” Again, later God promised
Abraham: “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed FOREVER” (Gen. 13:15).
The promise was not heaven. The
promise God gave to Abraham was land on this earth. It was forever, so the
promise given to Abraham and his seed (which the beggar became, spiritually
speaking) included eternal life, and eternal inheritance on planet earth!
The beggar, like all Christians, is
an heir to the promise to Abraham.
In Acts 7, Stephen, the first
Christian martyr, speaks of Abraham: “And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers,
hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our Father Abraham . . . and said unto
him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into THE LAND
which I will show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans. . . into
this land, wherein ye now dwell. And He gave him none inheritance in it . . .
yet He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed
after him.”
This truth is also stated in Hebrew
11:8-13: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed . . . By faith he sojourned in
the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with
Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise . . .These all died in
faith, NOT HAVING RE-CEIVED THE PROMISES, but having seen them afar off. . .”
Jesus said Abraham would receive the
promises, including eternal life, through the RESURRECTION: “But as touching
the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto
you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matt. 22:31-32).
Jesus told the Pharisees they would
see Abraham in the Kingdom because Abraham, now dead and in the grave, will be
RESURRECTED from the dead (Luke 13:28).
Abraham is dead, and so is the
beggar. When will they receive the promises? Both will receive the promises at
the resurrection when Christ returns to set up His kingdom: “When the Son of
man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations:
and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep
from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on
the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world” (Matt. 25:31-34).
Carried
by Angels
In Luke’s account we read where
Lazarus was to be carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom. We know that Lazarus
is in a state of sleep as is Abraham awaiting the return of Christ, when the
resurrection will occur. In Matthew 24:31 we read that Christ shall return and
“send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together His elect from the four winds” – out of their graves in a
RESURRECTION. Lazarus and Abraham are to
be carried by the angels through the air to meet Christ, at His return.
There is no doubt as to how the
Bible uses the word “bosom.” In Isaiah
40:11 God shows he will care for His people as a shepherd cares for his sheep,
which He will carry “in his bosom.”
Jesus says He was in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18),
enjoying the Father’s blessings and close relationship.
To be in one’s bosom is to
have that one’s love and protection, and share his blessings and inheritance.
So it will be at the RESURRECTION that Lazarus will be in Abraham’s bosom.
The
Rich Man in “Hell”
What did Jesus mean when He said “.
. . the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his
eyes, being in torments . . .” (Luke 16:22-23).
The Greek word used for “hell” in this
verse is hades which I have already shown to mean “grave” or “tomb” or
“abode of the dead.” Jesus said, “When
the rich man lifts up his eyes he will see Lazarus and Abraham.” Lazarus and
Abraham will not be together till the resurrection – this is when the rich man
will open up his eyes and see them.
Jesus in speaking about the rich man
and Lazarus, did not say WHEN the rich man will open his eyes. Other scriptures reveal that it will when he
is resurrected, that is, after the Millennium!
This story of Lazarus and the rich man does not contradict everything
else we have read in the Bible. It does
not support an eternal, subterranean, pagan “hell” or the “hell” of Dante’s
vividly imagined Inferno, or the pagan Roman Catholic concept of
“hell.” Not at all!
What
Is This Flame?
When the rich man is resurrected
after the Millennium, along with the rest of the “wicked,” he will open his
eyes and see Lazarus and Abraham. But he
will also see a mighty wall of fire, a massive, incredible inferno of flames
and billowing smoke – a tremendous holocaust – approaching him. What is this fire – this “flame” which
torments him or causes him great distress?
In what sense is he “tormented”?
This is no doubt the incredible
“Gehenna” fire – the “lake of fire” – that God Almighty will use to destroy the
incorrigibly wicked! When the wicked
rich man lifts up his eyes and sees this fiery wall of flame, boiling and
thundering in front of his face, he will be terrified – and the incredible
sight will stagger his mind and cause tremendous anxiety, anguish,
mind-boggling terror, mental pain and great fear!
When the rich man opens his eyes, he
will see Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom – his embrace. He will also see this awful
flaming wall of fire – this lake of fire which is about to destroy him
forever! He becomes terrified. His mouth
suddenly becomes very dry, and his tongue sticks to his mouth. The rich
man cries out in mental anguish, “Father Abraham have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue;
for I am tormented in this flame.”
What
Is the Great Gulf?
In Luke 16:26, Abraham is quoted as
telling the rich man, “Between you and us there is a great gulf fixed, so that
those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass
to us.” What is this great gulf?
The “great gulf” mentioned by
Abraham, represents IMMORTALITY! The
rich man is resurrected to a flesh and blood body. Lazarus is resurrected to immoral spirit
life. The very mortality of the wicked
prevents them from escaping death by fiery destruction in Gehenna, whereas the
spiritual immortality of the righteous keeps them from being burned up and
consumed along with the wicked.
The rich man, realizing he is
doomed, in verse 27, now asks if Abraham would send Lazarus to his father’s
house to plead with his brothers, lest they come to his terrible fate. Abraham
replied they had the writings of Moses and the prophets. But the rich man
realized they would not hear these Scriptures. “Nay, Father Abraham,” he
screams, “but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent!”
(verse 30).
The rich man, having just come up
out of his grave, having been DEAD and insensate for untold hundreds or
thousands of years, had absolutely not the vaguest idea – no idea at all – of
the vast amount of time that passed while he had been dead. He assumed
his brothers were still alive. In talking to Abraham, it seemed to him
only a split second between his death and his resurrection. Therefore he assumed his brothers were still
alive.
The rich man, however, knew Lazarus
was RAISED FROM THE DEAD! This one statement proves that the whole experience
of Lazarus and the rich man was given by Jesus to show the truth of the
resurrection and the final day of judgment – not to teach any immediate
going to “heaven” or “hell” at the instant of death. It demonstrates the
mortality of the wicked, who will die, and be DEAD for all eternity – as
opposed to the eternal life which will be enjoyed by the righteous, such as
Lazarus.
This amazing parable of Christ does
not teach an eternal punishing beginning at a person’s death in an imaginary
“hell” of Dante, and continuing on forever and ever, but rather the
annihilation of the wicked in the fearsome flames of Gehenna fire at the end of
the age!
As we have seen, the earth will in the ages
to come be the headquarters of the entire Universe! The Plan of Salvation will be extended
throughout eternity! So long as there
are human beings, with free moral agency, and the ability to choose their own
life styles, in existence, some will strive to qualify for salvation, and will
be SAVED. But there will be others who
will choose to follow the pathway set by Satan the devil, and will choose to
disobey God’s commandments, and who will choose to sin and become lawless, and
go astray. For such creatures and
beings, the fate will be the same as for the incorrigible wicked at the end of
THIS age – a fiery inferno of death and destruction, leaving them neither root
nor branch (Mal.4:1).
What
does this amazing new understanding mean for us, today?
Simply this: We
must choose our own fate, our own destiny.
God’s warnings are very real! The fate of the wicked, in the Bible, is death – the second
death in the lake of fire. The wicked will die (Ezek. 18:4, 20). Their
consciousness will be destroyed for all eternity. They will have no feelings,
thoughts, emotions. They will be dust and ashes under the feet of the
righteous! As we have seen before, man is composed of dust. He is dust. He does
not have an immortal soul abiding within him. Therefore, when the wicked are
destroyed, there will be nothing left of them to show they ever existed.
Only those who obey God – who really
repent of their sins, and turn to God in true heart-felt repentance and obey
His commandments, accepting Christ Jesus as their Saviour and Redeemer – will
inherit eternal life (John 3:16).
True Christians and saints of God will receive this gift at the return
of Jesus Christ, at the “first resurrection.”
All others will come up in an
awesome general resurrection of all the remaining dead, at the END of the
Millennial age. Some – perhaps the vast
majority who ever lived, even billions of people – will learn God’s truth,
repent, and qualify for eternal life.
But the truly wicked, the
incorrigibly wicked, those who demonstrated by their wicked and malicious works
that they would never fit in God’s Kingdom, will be punished by being cast into
Gehenna fire. They will die the “second
death.” For them, there will be no
more resurrection – ever!
Do you see? God has placed two paths before us. One leads to eternal life. One leads to eternal death. Those are the two alternatives God places
before us: eternal life on the one hand, and everlasting death on
the other hand. And God says: “CHOOSE”!
Almighty
God thunders, to every human being:
“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and
adversity. If you obey the commandments
of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your
God, walking in all his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and
ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will
bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not
hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to
you today that you shall PERISH; you shall not live long in the land . . . .
“I call heaven and earth to witness
against you today that I have set before you LIFE AND DEATH, blessings and
curses. CHOOSE LIFE so that you and
your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding
fast to him; for that means LIFE to you [eternal life!] and length of days
[eternity!] . . .” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20, NRSV).
What way will you choose?