SARI 070925 Lake of Fire

How is death thrown into "the lake of fire?" Revelation 21:4 tells us that "death will be no more." It will be done away with completely. Similarly, 1 Corinthians 15:27 explains that death will be "abolished." It will no longer exist. As this is an explicit statement of what will happen to one thing that is throne there outside of figurative language, we can conclusively see how the symbolism is to be interpreted. Compare Isaiah 25:8

Some have pointed to Revelation 14 where we do read of the wicked being tormented with fire and brimstone. These ones are not described as being in the lake of fire and we find that the torment spoken of actually takes place while they are alive on Earth. Revelation 14:9 tells us that those who will receive the torment are those that worship the beast and have his mark. Their punishment will be to drink the wine of the wrath of God.

It is in drinking this cup that they are tormented with fire and brimstone. When would this take place? Apparently it is well before the final judgment, as we find that the thousand year reign of Christ takes place between the time when the beast is thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20) and when the final judgment occurs. (Rev. 20:5, 12-15)

The ones who experience torment are said to do so in that they "will drink the wine of the anger of God." (Rev. 14:10) Chapter 15 introduces us to seven angels that will pour out seven bowls, which has completed in them "the anger of God" (Rev. 15:1), as the bowls that they pour out are "filled with the anger of God." Therefore, it must be through these seven angels that they experience this anger and thus through them that these people are tormented.

Examining the plagues in chapter 16 of Revelation we find that they can be classified as nothing less than torment. When these ones experience the plagues undoubtedly they "have no rest night and day" (Rev. 14:11), though we are never told that this is for eternity.

It is only the smoke of their torment, not the torment itself, which goes up forever. This text takes us back to Isaiah 34:10, where Edom is symbolically said to have smoke go up forever and also forward to when Babylon the Great "will be found no more at all" (Rev. 18:21) and yet "her smoke rises up forever and ever." (Rev. 19:3) How so?

Smoke can be seen from afar. When a person looks into the distance they can see smoke without actually seeing whatever is causing the smoke. In the same way, we can look back in time at Edom and it serves as a warning example of God's judgment. It is in this same way that the smoke of those who turn against God will go up forever. They will be judged and then punished by plagues that lead up to their deaths. We will forever remember the judgment that they were given and so the smoke is described as ascending for eternity.

It can further be confirmed that Revelation 14 is not reference to the final judgment by comparing it to other Scriptures that speak on the matter. In Revelation chapter 14 and verse 9 we read that the torment experienced here is done "before [or, in the presence of] the holy angels and before the Lamb." That this is done in the presence of Jesus himself is key, for the execution of the final judgment is done apart from his presence. These ones, we are told, will experience "everlasting destruction from the face of the Lord." (2Thes. 1:9) While those who experience the torment of Revelation 14 are before the Lord, the ones who experience everlasting destruction are "from the face" of him. This "has simply the sense of separation,"[12] as Vincent explains. In the final judgment those executed will find themselves apart from Jesus' presence, in contrast to these ones that are experiencing the torment of Revelation 14 while in it.

Having examined these texts, let us now reference back to Jesus' words where he speaks of a "fiery furnace" where individuals experience "weeping and gnashing of teeth." This expression of anguish is used seven times within scripture both in Jesus' discussions and his parables, where ones are also said to be thrown into the “outer darkness.” (Mat. 8:12)

Examining the meaning of the expression in relation to the fiery furnace, we will consider Matthew 13:24-42. We here learn of a sower who sewed good seed but had his enemy come and sew bad seed amongst what he had sewn. The sower then waits until the harvest time to separate the good seed from the bad. The harvest occurs at the end of the age. The harvest is described in Revelation 14:14-20, where the vine of the earth is said to be ripe and the angels went out and harvested the wicked and executed them. This harvest of the wicked takes place through the seven cups of God’s judgment and the final execution of the beast’s army. (Rev. 16:1-21; 19:21)

During the time of these plagues, is the weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is seen in both their anger against God and in the pain they suffer. Yet this is never described by Jesus as an eternal state.

That this is not the final judgment can be seen in that this takes place at the harvest and not after the thousand years. This is not "the second death", it is the first death, a physical execution that might be compared to God’s execution of Sodom or to the many other nations that he has destroyed. It is during this time that they experience a weeping and gnashing of teeth. The final judgment of the lake of fire does not take place until after the 1,000 year reign and the final judgment. This is a judgment, but it is not the final judgment that comes out of what is written in the scroll of life.

In Matthew 25 we find another case of weeping and gnashing of teeth in “the outer darkness”, which apparently occurs at the final judgment, where the righteous go to everlasting life, but the wicked to the lake of fire. (Mat. 25:41) Looking to verses 30-45 we see that those condemned are not sent off to their punishment until after the righteous are given their reward.

Here they do not understand why they are not being given life, asking Jesus how they were expected to do the things he demanded, which was to feed and cloth him when they never saw him. The weeping and gnashing of teeth is found in what they experience while watching the others go off to their reward while not understanding their condemnation. This concludes in their destruction.

Can it then be said that mankind really experiences the eternal punishment that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 25:46 if they are not tormented? Indeed many do experience torment through the bowls of God’s anger and all of the wicked will experience punishment, but there is nothing to indicate that the punishment is eternal. The Apostle Paul tells us that the wages sin pays is death (Rom. 6:23), not any type of torment. Just as flesh is destroyed by fire, so will the soul be destroyed in Gehenna, the lake of fire. (Matt. 10:28)