Lake of Fire   (continued)

Isaiah 34:2-4, God will "totally destroy" the wicked nations at the time the heavens are dissolved.

Isaiah 34:8-10, This verse prophesies that someday Edom (modern day Saudi Arabia) will be burned with "unquenchable fire" and the "smoke will rise forever". As we will see, this is an idiomatic statement--a poetic “expression,” not to be taken literally, for the fire does not burn for all eternity. The expression indicates a fire that cannot be extinguished, and the complete devastation of the land by fiery destruction (much like a large forest fire). This event occurs at Christ's coming--“the day of vengeance,” and the land remains desolate for a time. We are then told the parched desolate land (where the “smoke will rise forever”) will be reborn into a beautiful paradise in the next chapter (see Isaiah 35:7-10). From this passage, we establish in the Word of God that when we see the expressions “unquenchable fire” and “smoke will rise forever” they should be understood as representing a temporary judgment as the original Hebrew language intended, and not in its strict English interpretation.

Isaiah 47:14 The wicked are like stubble, the [hell] fire will burn them up. They will not be able to save themselves from the power of the flame.

Isaiah 66:22-24 This passage is also idiomatic in nature. The wicked are destroyed and "their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched." The worm indicates that their dead carcasses will be eaten by the worm, and they will not be able to stop the fire and escape the flame; however, this does not mean the fire burns for all eternity.

Jeremiah 25:33 At the coming of Christ the wicked will be destroyed. They "will not be mourned or gathered up or buried," and they will be "like refuse lying on the ground." This is the picture of planet Earth after Christ‘s decisive victory over sinners at His return.

Ezekiel 18:4, 20-26 This verse denies the "eternal" condition of the "soul" by stating clearly that "the soul who sins is the one who will die." The King James says, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

Ezekiel 28:15-19 This prophet writes of Satan's fall from grace and his future punishment as though it had already happened. He wrote, "I [God] made a fire come out from you [Satan], and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground ["on the earth" (K.J.V.), at the end of the millennium] in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more." Satan will not rule a fiery kingdom in hell for eternity. He will be burned up will all sin and sinners.

Nahum 1:2-10 The wicked "will be consumed like dry stubble."

Zephaniah 1:2-4 Almighty will "sweep away" all sinners and "heaps of rubble" when He "cuts off" man from the earth.

Zephaniah 1:14-18 At the coming of Jesus Christ, this prophet affirms: "the whole world will be consumed [in a big ball of fire], for He will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth." Thus, the earth will be nothing but a desolate planet, while the righteous are lifted off the earth to be taken to a safe and inhabitable Heaven under God's personal care.

Zephaniah 3:8 The day that God stands up [as when Michael stands up in Daniel 12:1], Almighty declares that He will gather the wicked nations "to pour out My wrath on them-all My fierce anger.” God says, “The whole world will be consumed by the fire of My jealous anger."

Zechariah 14:12 God declares that He will destroy all wicked nations when He returns: "the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths."

Malachi 4:1-3 The prophet Malachi agrees in unison with all the Old Testament prophets before him: "Surely the day [of the Lord] is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere My name, the Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty."

1) Matthew 3:12 John the Baptist agreed that Messiah will gather His: "wheat [righteous] into the barn and burning up the chaff [wicked] with unquenchable fire"; that is, a fire which the wicked cannot possibly extinguish in order to escape for their lives.

2) Matthew 7:13 Jesus taught that many wicked will go through the broad gate that leads to "destruction". Destruction, in English, is understood to mean total ruin or annihilation.

3) Matthew 7:19 Jesus adds that every tree that does not bear fruit is "cut down and thrown into the fire." In this illustration, a tree that is cut down and pitched into a fire ends up as nothing more than "ashes".

4) Matthew 13:39-40 Speaking of the fate of the wicked as a harvest, Jesus spoke in parable saying " the harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age."

5) Matthew 13:49-50 Jesus adds that He will "throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" as they are consumed in the fire.

6) Matthew 18:8-9 Christ said it is better to cut off a body part if it is causing you to sin rather than for the whole body to be thrown into the "eternal fire" the "fire of hell." Based on the Old Testament and New Testament information so far, we know that the wicked will be destroyed, burned up and turned into ashes. Therefore, in order to have continuity in the Word of God the fire of hell itself would not be eternal, but rather the "results" are eternal. The wicked will not be able to escape the fire, neither will they ever be raised from the dead again; the results are eternal while the fire eventually burns out.

7) Matthew 25:41, 46 Now Jesus is speaking of "eternal punishment". Does this mean the fire rages on for thousands upon thousands of years and the wicked are tortured beyond belief for trillions of years (which only represents one second of eternal time)? No, Jesus inspired the Old Testament prophets who spoke this truth-- the wicked are destroyed in the fire and the result is permanent--death.

8) Luke 3:9, 17 John the Baptist spoke again of the hell fire when he said, "He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

9) Luke 17:29-30 Jesus used Sodom as an illustration of the fate of the wicked when Christ returns: "But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed." Jesus again clearly agrees with His prophets of old.

10) John 3:15-16, 36 Christ taught that we have only two alternatives: either we "perish" [burn up] in the fires of hell, or we receive "everlasting life". These are the two alternatives.

11) John 11:11-13 Jesus said of Lazarus that in death he was in a state of sleep. If Lazarus had been in Paradise-- a place of bliss-- for four days would he have wanted to come back to earth? No. He was "asleep" and unconscious while he was dead. He did not come back with big stories of his four days in Paradise; nothing is recorded by John on a subject which would have certainly been of interest to his friends and all future readers who want to know about death, and life after death. Instead, John is strangely silent, just as Lazarus would have been, for he had no stories to tell.