The teaching that the wicked will suffer eternal torment would require that the wicked be immortal. Humans do not have an immaterial soul which lives on after death. Furthermore, it is only the righteous ones who will be granted immortality:
“...to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life” (Rom. 9:7).
ONLY TWO FINAL DESTINIES
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7:13-14).
DIRECT STATEMENTS OF DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED
The biblical picture demonstrates that there is no eternal torment for the wicked and that the resurrection of the unrighteous is to be universal. However, while it is also true that God wants everyone to be saved, yet He recognizes the fact that many will not finally respond even though He will exercise His patience, justice and love to the greatest extent possible for everyone to have their complete opportunity. Nevertheless, the Scriptures present us with many statements concerning the failure of the incorrigibly wicked to attain salvation and hence to finally suffer their own destruction:
· “For though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever” (Ps. 92:7).
· “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction” (2 Thess. 1:9, 10).
· “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but not the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matt. 10:28NAB).
The contrast here shows that humans can deprive a person of life temporarily but God can do so permanently – a judicial death. Why would Jesus give this warning if the destruction were not real and permanent?
FURTHER STATEMENTS OF DESTRUCTION
Psalm 9:5, 73:18, 19, 145:20; Proverb. 10:29; Matthew 7:13; Rom. 9:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 3; and 2 Peter 2:12.
Both Psalms 9:5 and 92:7 show that the wicked will have their names “blotted outforever” because “they are doomed to destruction forever.” This fact, therefore, contradicts any idea that the destruction is only temporary.
Theologian John Stott remarked that:
It would seem strange, therefore, if people who are said to suffer destruction are in fact not destroyed; and ... it is ‘difficult to imagine a perpetually inconclusive process of perishing.’ It cannot, I think, be replied that it is impossible to destroy human beings because they are immortal, for the immortality – and therefore indestructibility – of the
soul is a Greek and not a Biblical concept. According to Scripture only God possesses immortality in himself (1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16); he reveals and gives it to us through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:10). Essentials: A Liberal –Evangelical Dialogue , p. 315.
THE PARABLES OF DESTRUCTION
1. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12).
2. “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned ... So, just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age”
(Matt. 13:30b, 40).
3. “...he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats...Then he will say to those on his left , ‘Depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels....and these [the goats ] will go away into eternal punishment (Lit. lopping off )” (Matt. 25:32, 41, 46).
This is not an eternal punishing as a process, but a punishment of destruction, the result of which lasts through the age to come.
4. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant andall evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch ... And you shall tread down the wicked , for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts” (Mal. 4:1, 3).
5. “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” (Heb. 10:26, 27).
Furthermore, Jesus illustrates the destruction of the wicked at the end of the age by reference to the destruction of the wicked both during the Flood and the Sodom and Gomorrah event.
FIRE AS SYMBOLIC OF THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED
· “But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed” (Isa. 1:28).
· “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was hurled into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15).
The point of using fire as a symbol is that fire destroys — it is all consuming. Any torment of a living person who is thrown into a literal fire would only be for a moment. Yet, Luke 12:5 shows that it is not living beings that are thrown into the lake of fire. However, there is one exception, which is that of the beast and the false prophet “these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur” (Rev 19:20). This seems to denote some degree of conscious punishment that precedes the extinction. Yet all of this is simple imagery and is associated with other imagery of destruction such as the pouring out of the“unmixed wine” of God’s fury in full strength to bring about destruction (Rev.14:10; 16:19).
THE FIERY GEHENNA, THE LAKE OF FIRE AND THE FURNACE ARE SYMBOLIC OF THE SECOND DEATH
(All from the NAB).
· “...whoever says, ‘you fool’ will be liable to the fiery Gehenna” (Matt. 5:22b).
· “...be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matt. 10:28).
· “You brood of vipers, how can you flee from the judgment of Gehenna” (Matt. 23:33).
· “So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace...” (Matt. 13:49, 50)
· “But as for the cowards...their portion will be in the lake that burns with fireand sulphur, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8),
THE HIGHLY SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE OF DESTRUCTION
1. “Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna” (Luke 12:5).
There are a number of texts which seem to indicate that the wicked are killed by means of the fire. However, the statement that it is after God has killed a wicked individual that he/she is“cast into Gehenna” indicates that Gehenna is representative of something more than ordinary death. It seems therefore that Gehenna symbolizes the permanence of that death. That permanence is further symbolized by the fire causing smoke rises forever because:
2. “Anyone who worships the beast...will also drink of the wine of God’s fury, poured full strength into the cup of his wrath, and will be tormented in burning sulphur. The smoke of the fire that torments them will rise forever and ever, and there will be no relief day or night.” Or “they have no rest day or night” (Rev. 14:9-14).
The fact that, in Revelation 20:14, the two personifications of the conditions Death and Hades are shown as thrown into the lake of fire indicates that it is not a literal fire but rather that it is a symbol of second death.
In the O.T the cup of God’s wrath often symbolizes the extinction of those who are made to drink from such a cup. Being full-strength guarantees the destruction. No doubt, there will be extreme suffering as these worshippers experience the “cup of God’s wrath” being poured out on them. But this does not refer to conscious torment after they die because “the dead know nothing” (Eccl. 9:5). Also thetorment is not described as lasting forever. However, the smoke that rises forever and ever is the permanent evidence or memorial that the fire of God’s punishment has completed its work of destruction. The phrase “they have no rest day or night” denotes the continuity of the burning process, giving no rest, until it is completed. It shows that the torment is not limited to the night time only or the daytime only but to both. This is the same fire, sulphur and smoke imagery used to describe the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is also used with reference tothe destruction of Edom:
3. “Edom’s streams shall be changed into pitch and her earth into sulphur, and her land shall become burning pitch; night and day it shall not be quenched, itssmoke shall rise forever. From generation to generation she shall lie waste, never again shall anyone pass through her” (Isa. 34:9, 10).
Similar imagery is noted with reference the city “Babylon the great” where she is destroyed by fire:
4. “Fallen is Babylon the great...she will be consumed by fire...Smoke will rise from her forever and ever ” (Rev. 18:2, 8 and 19:3).
Clearly Babylon does not literally go on burning forever.
Furthermore, if the first death is a cessation of life then so too must the second death be a cessation of life— only permanently so. This is simple imagery and is associated with other imagery of destruction.
OTHER SYMBOLS OF DESTRUCTION
1. THE CUP OF GOD’S WRATH
This OT symbol often describes the extinction of those who are made to drink from such a cup. Being full-strength guarantees the destruction. This symbol is again used in the NT as the pouring out of the “unmixed wine” of God’s fury in full strength to bring about destruction (Rev.14:10; 16:19).
2. BURNING SULPHUR HURLED DOWN
This is not the same as the “gehenna” and “lake of fire” symbols. Jesus used this symbol when referring to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah .
3. THE GREAT FLOOD
Jesus further illustrated the destruction of the wicked by reference to the destruction of the wicked in Noah’s time. However, this does not mean that thefuture destruction will be by a literal flood but rather it is merely a symbol of such future destruction.
NO PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT
· “And they shall go out and see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against me; their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished, and they shall be abhorrent to all mankind” (Isa. 66:24).
This verse is speaking of dead bodies whose decomposition, and therefore destruction, is hastened by worms that do not die until completing their work. Thefire is unquenched until it has fully consumed the remains of those bodies. These two methods therefore speak of the total destruction of dead bodies and not of an eternal torture of immaterial souls. This sets the picture for John the Baptist’s statement in Matthew 3:12 that: “the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” as meaning that the fire cannot be prevented from completing its work of destruction. Jesus also makes a similar statement:
· “Better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna , where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”
(Mark 9:47, 48).
WHY IS THE FIRE ETERNAL?
· “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels ... And these will go away into eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:41, 46).
This is similar to the “eternal sin” (Mark 3:29) as being sin that has permanent consequences and not sin that is endlessly committed. Furthermore, the cities of:
· “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns...serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 7).
This group of cities were permanently destroyed by fire; the results of the fire being permanent.However, the individuals were not permanently tormented in a fire. This was not an eternal punishing but a punishment. The Greek word translated as punishment is kolasis which according to Moulton and Milligan refers to the lopping/pruning of trees.
THROWN INTO THE OUTER DARKNESS
Rather than describing an eternal conscious agony as traditionally taught, the context of these sayings give a picture of expulsion, exclusion, rejection and annihilation at the final judgement.
COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OCCURS ONLY ON TWO OCCASIONS
1. AT CHRIST’S RETURN: THE LIVING WICKED ARE DESTROYED
“And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet …these two were thrownalive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone” (Rev. 19:20).
“…the harvest is the end of the age … The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness , and will throw them into the furnace of fire…” (Matt. 13:39, 41).
2. AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM: THE LIVING WICKED ARE DESTROYED
“And they [Gog and Magog — the rebellious nations ] marched over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, butfire came down from heaven and consumed them,and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur wherethe beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:9, 10).
THE RESURRECTED WICKED ARE DESTROYED
“And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, ... Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire... And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life , he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:13-15).
When “Death and Hades [are] thrown into the lake of fire” all death will have come to an end. However, there is no biblical statement that anyone ever gets out of the lake of fire as is the case with the first death— by means of resurrection.
Elijah Returns
