Hell
"And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where "their worm does not
die, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:47-48). Jesus clearly believed hell is a place to avoid at all costs. Hell is not a state of mind, as many cults teach, but is a real place of punishment and torment. When we say that hell is a place of punishment we mean it is a place of perfect punishment. The unrepentant sinners will receive only the just penalty for their sins -- nothing more and nothing less than what is deserved. God is perfect in His judgments: "Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns.' The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity" (Psalms 96:10).
Hell is a place of eternal separation from God. Eternal separation does not mean that
the sinner will not be in the presence of God. God is omnipresent, hell is part of His creation, so God is indeed present in hell. In hell the unregenerate person is separated from the grace of God. The Bible uses various illustrations to describe hell. It is referred to as a place of outer darkness (Matthew 8:12), and as a lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). Clearly, hell is a place of incredible torment. It is not, as popular mythology claims, a place where Satan rules, and where angels and unrepentant men practice unrestrained sin. Instead, hell is a place of punishment where God does indeed have total control; where all those who have rejected Him -- angels and men alike -- will be subject to God's will.
Christ came so that we might escape punishment in hell. On the cross He paid our
penalty. Those who reject Christ's payment will one day pay the price themselves: "There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day" (John 12:48). "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out" (Mark 9:43).
die, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:47-48). Jesus clearly believed hell is a place to avoid at all costs. Hell is not a state of mind, as many cults teach, but is a real place of punishment and torment. When we say that hell is a place of punishment we mean it is a place of perfect punishment. The unrepentant sinners will receive only the just penalty for their sins -- nothing more and nothing less than what is deserved. God is perfect in His judgments: "Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns.' The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity" (Psalms 96:10).
Hell is a place of eternal separation from God. Eternal separation does not mean that
the sinner will not be in the presence of God. God is omnipresent, hell is part of His creation, so God is indeed present in hell. In hell the unregenerate person is separated from the grace of God. The Bible uses various illustrations to describe hell. It is referred to as a place of outer darkness (Matthew 8:12), and as a lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). Clearly, hell is a place of incredible torment. It is not, as popular mythology claims, a place where Satan rules, and where angels and unrepentant men practice unrestrained sin. Instead, hell is a place of punishment where God does indeed have total control; where all those who have rejected Him -- angels and men alike -- will be subject to God's will.
Christ came so that we might escape punishment in hell. On the cross He paid our
penalty. Those who reject Christ's payment will one day pay the price themselves: "There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day" (John 12:48). "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out" (Mark 9:43).
Does God Punish?
I don’t believe God punishes – do you?
Meforshim:
Genesis 6:5-7 HCSB When the LORD saw that man's wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, (6) the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (7) Then the LORD said, "I will wipe off the face of the earth: man, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky--for I regret that I made them."
Exodus 20:7 HCSB Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will punish anyone who misuses His name.
Deuteronomy 5:11 HCSB Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will punish anyone who misuses His name.
Isaiah 10:12 HCSB But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes."
Isaiah 13:9 HCSB Look, the day of the LORD is coming--cruel, with rage and burning anger--to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it.
Isaiah 24:21 HCSB On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and kings of the earth below.
Isaiah 26:21 HCSB For look, the LORD is coming from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal the blood shed on it and will no longer conceal her slain.
Jeremiah 5:9 HCSB Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Jeremiah 5:29 HCSB Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Jeremiah 6:15 HCSB Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 8:12 HCSB Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:9 HCSB Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not take My revenge against a nation such as this?
Jeremiah 9:25 HCSB "The days are coming"--the LORD's declaration--"when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:
Jeremiah 11:22 HCSB Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: "I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.
Jeremiah 14:10 HCSB This is what the LORD says concerning these people: Truly they love to wander; they never rest their feet. So the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their guilt and punish their sins.
Jeremiah 21:14 HCSB I will punish you according to what you have done--this is the LORD's declaration. I will kindle a fire in its forest that will consume everything around it.'"
Jeremiah 23:34 HCSB "As for the prophet, priest, or people who say: The burden of the LORD, I will punish that man and his household.
Jeremiah 25:12 HCSB When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation'--this is the LORD's declaration--'the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.
Jeremiah 27:8 HCSB "As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague"--this is the LORD's declaration--"until through him I have destroyed it.
Jeremiah 29:32 HCSB this is what the LORD says: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be even one of his descendants living among these people, nor will any ever see the good that I will bring to My people"--this is the LORD's declaration--"for he has preached rebellion against the LORD."
Jeremiah 30:20 HCSB His children will be as in past days; his congregation will be established in My presence. I will punish all his oppressors.
Jeremiah 36:31 HCSB I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen."
Jeremiah 44:13 HCSB I will punish those living in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem by sword, famine, and plague.
Jeremiah 44:29 HCSB This will be a sign to you'--this is the LORD's declaration--'that I am about to punish you in this place, so you may know that My words of disaster concerning you will certainly come to pass.
Jeremiah 46:25 HCSB The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings--Pharaoh and those trusting in him.
Jeremiah 49:8 HCSB Run! Turn back! Lie low, residents of Dedan, for I will bring Esau's calamity on him at the time I punish him.
Jeremiah 50:18 HCSB Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.
Jeremiah 50:31 HCSB Look, I am against you, you arrogant one--this is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Hosts--because your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
Jeremiah 51:47 HCSB Therefore, look, the days are coming when I will punish Babylon's carved images. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her.
Jeremiah 51:52 HCSB Therefore, look, the days are coming--this is the LORD's declaration--when I will punish her carved images, and the wounded will groan throughout her land.
Lamentations 4:22 HCSB Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not lengthen your exile. But He will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom, and will expose your sins.
Ezekiel 7:3 HCSB The end is now on you; I will send My anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your abominations.
Ezekiel 7:3-5 HCSB The end is now on you; I will send My anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your abominations. (4) I will not look on you with pity or spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for your abominations within you. Then you will know that I am the LORD." (5) This is what the Lord GOD says: Look, one disaster after another is coming!
Ezekiel 7:8-9 HCSB I will pour out My wrath on you very soon; I will exhaust My anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your abominations. (9) I will not look on you with pity or spare you. I will punish you for your ways and for your abominations within you. Then you will know that it is I, the LORD, who strikes.
Hosea 2:13 HCSB And I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, put on her rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but forgot Me. This is the LORD's declaration.
Hosea 4:7-9 HCSB The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me. I will change their honor into disgrace. (8) They feed on the sin of My people; they have an appetite for their transgressions. (9) The same judgment will happen to both people and priests. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
Hosea 8:13 HCSB Though they offer sacrificial gifts and eat the flesh, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their guilt and punish their sins; they will return to Egypt.
Hosea 9:9 HCSB They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
Hosea 12:2 HCSB The LORD also has a dispute with Judah. He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways; He will repay him based on his actions.
Amos 3:2 HCSB I have known only you out of all the clans of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.
Amos 3:14 HCSB I will punish the altars of Bethel on the day I punish Israel for its crimes; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
Habakkuk 1:12 HCSB Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God? My Holy One, You will not die. LORD, You appointed them to execute judgment; my Rock, You destined them to punish us.
Zephaniah 1:8-9 HCSB On the day of the LORD's sacrifice I will punish the officials, the king's sons, and all who are dressed in foreign clothing. (9) On that day I will punish all who skip over the threshold, who fill their master's house with violence and deceit.
Zechariah 10:3 HCSB My anger burns against the shepherds, so I will punish the leaders. For the LORD of Hosts has tended His flock, the house of Judah; He will make them like His majestic steed in battle.
1 Peter 2:13-14 HCSB Submit to every human institution because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority, (14) or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
Revelation 11:18 HCSB The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.
Conclusion
I could have listed literally hundreds of other variations but enough is enough. At this point you either need to accept how God presents Himself and submit or choose to go on following the culturally acceptable but emasculated god you seem to be worshiping now.
Meforshim:
Genesis 6:5-7 HCSB When the LORD saw that man's wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, (6) the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (7) Then the LORD said, "I will wipe off the face of the earth: man, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky--for I regret that I made them."
Exodus 20:7 HCSB Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will punish anyone who misuses His name.
Deuteronomy 5:11 HCSB Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will punish anyone who misuses His name.
Isaiah 10:12 HCSB But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes."
Isaiah 13:9 HCSB Look, the day of the LORD is coming--cruel, with rage and burning anger--to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it.
Isaiah 24:21 HCSB On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and kings of the earth below.
Isaiah 26:21 HCSB For look, the LORD is coming from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal the blood shed on it and will no longer conceal her slain.
Jeremiah 5:9 HCSB Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Jeremiah 5:29 HCSB Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Jeremiah 6:15 HCSB Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 8:12 HCSB Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:9 HCSB Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not take My revenge against a nation such as this?
Jeremiah 9:25 HCSB "The days are coming"--the LORD's declaration--"when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:
Jeremiah 11:22 HCSB Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: "I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.
Jeremiah 14:10 HCSB This is what the LORD says concerning these people: Truly they love to wander; they never rest their feet. So the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their guilt and punish their sins.
Jeremiah 21:14 HCSB I will punish you according to what you have done--this is the LORD's declaration. I will kindle a fire in its forest that will consume everything around it.'"
Jeremiah 23:34 HCSB "As for the prophet, priest, or people who say: The burden of the LORD, I will punish that man and his household.
Jeremiah 25:12 HCSB When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation'--this is the LORD's declaration--'the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.
Jeremiah 27:8 HCSB "As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague"--this is the LORD's declaration--"until through him I have destroyed it.
Jeremiah 29:32 HCSB this is what the LORD says: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be even one of his descendants living among these people, nor will any ever see the good that I will bring to My people"--this is the LORD's declaration--"for he has preached rebellion against the LORD."
Jeremiah 30:20 HCSB His children will be as in past days; his congregation will be established in My presence. I will punish all his oppressors.
Jeremiah 36:31 HCSB I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen."
Jeremiah 44:13 HCSB I will punish those living in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem by sword, famine, and plague.
Jeremiah 44:29 HCSB This will be a sign to you'--this is the LORD's declaration--'that I am about to punish you in this place, so you may know that My words of disaster concerning you will certainly come to pass.
Jeremiah 46:25 HCSB The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings--Pharaoh and those trusting in him.
Jeremiah 49:8 HCSB Run! Turn back! Lie low, residents of Dedan, for I will bring Esau's calamity on him at the time I punish him.
Jeremiah 50:18 HCSB Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.
Jeremiah 50:31 HCSB Look, I am against you, you arrogant one--this is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Hosts--because your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
Jeremiah 51:47 HCSB Therefore, look, the days are coming when I will punish Babylon's carved images. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her.
Jeremiah 51:52 HCSB Therefore, look, the days are coming--this is the LORD's declaration--when I will punish her carved images, and the wounded will groan throughout her land.
Lamentations 4:22 HCSB Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not lengthen your exile. But He will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom, and will expose your sins.
Ezekiel 7:3 HCSB The end is now on you; I will send My anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your abominations.
Ezekiel 7:3-5 HCSB The end is now on you; I will send My anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your abominations. (4) I will not look on you with pity or spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for your abominations within you. Then you will know that I am the LORD." (5) This is what the Lord GOD says: Look, one disaster after another is coming!
Ezekiel 7:8-9 HCSB I will pour out My wrath on you very soon; I will exhaust My anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your abominations. (9) I will not look on you with pity or spare you. I will punish you for your ways and for your abominations within you. Then you will know that it is I, the LORD, who strikes.
Hosea 2:13 HCSB And I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, put on her rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but forgot Me. This is the LORD's declaration.
Hosea 4:7-9 HCSB The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me. I will change their honor into disgrace. (8) They feed on the sin of My people; they have an appetite for their transgressions. (9) The same judgment will happen to both people and priests. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
Hosea 8:13 HCSB Though they offer sacrificial gifts and eat the flesh, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their guilt and punish their sins; they will return to Egypt.
Hosea 9:9 HCSB They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
Hosea 12:2 HCSB The LORD also has a dispute with Judah. He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways; He will repay him based on his actions.
Amos 3:2 HCSB I have known only you out of all the clans of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.
Amos 3:14 HCSB I will punish the altars of Bethel on the day I punish Israel for its crimes; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
Habakkuk 1:12 HCSB Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God? My Holy One, You will not die. LORD, You appointed them to execute judgment; my Rock, You destined them to punish us.
Zephaniah 1:8-9 HCSB On the day of the LORD's sacrifice I will punish the officials, the king's sons, and all who are dressed in foreign clothing. (9) On that day I will punish all who skip over the threshold, who fill their master's house with violence and deceit.
Zechariah 10:3 HCSB My anger burns against the shepherds, so I will punish the leaders. For the LORD of Hosts has tended His flock, the house of Judah; He will make them like His majestic steed in battle.
1 Peter 2:13-14 HCSB Submit to every human institution because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority, (14) or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
Revelation 11:18 HCSB The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.
Conclusion
I could have listed literally hundreds of other variations but enough is enough. At this point you either need to accept how God presents Himself and submit or choose to go on following the culturally acceptable but emasculated god you seem to be worshiping now.
What Is the Point of Creating Creatures Who Will End Up Tormented?
The biggest problem I have and possibly many Christians is that we don’t know what the point of eternal torment is. I mean, we don’t know God’s reasons for this. It doesn’t seem to make sense. What is the point of eternal torment? All the unbelievers in Hell will know they were wrong to reject God, but then what? Before the beginning of the earth God already (ALREADY!) knew what was going to happen to His creation. He already knew that many of them would reject Him, way before even the universe came about. Why then did He continue to create them? Why did He create them, or allow them to be born if He knew they would end up in Hell?
Meforshim:
First, allow me to establish Hashem’s good will and benign intent toward all of humanity. He clearly wants us to experience goodness. He openly states that He is seeking our welfare.
His goal is to instigate a freely chosen loving relationship with us that spills over into and positively effects our relations with our fellow humans.
He absolutely wishes that not one human soul would suffer and die. With this in mind He has very patiently dealt with us, trying to salvage as many as He can.
Now let’s examine the biblical view of predestination.
Before Elohim created the universe, in His transcendent, timeless, omniscience He was able to look across time (which hadn’t even come into existence yet!) and determine which souls would react positively to His outstretched hand. For those blessed souls He established some good works; some ministries and outreaches that would bring about not only their own good but would spread the Good News of God’s salvation to all mankind.
His desire for us is holiness and every spiritual blessing. He chose us before the foundation of the world for this purpose and His motive was? Loving favor.
Love without the advantage of free will is no more than prostitution. Anyone who has either read or watched the Stepford Wives knows this. It is the sick and perverted who prefer the forced smile, the trembling acquiescence to unwanted touch. Hashem created us. He was not obligated to give us free will. He was not forced to create beauty, color or music. He did so of His own free will and was gracious enough to grant us the same benefit. It is this trait that makes us His “image”.
“Imago dei” – the image of God. This phenomenal gift means that God has offered to us in truth, what the Devil hypocritically and dishonestly proffered.
He created us to be free-will agents, like He is. When we wisely use this gift we become the sons and daughters of God.
But like all great or powerful gifts, free will cuts both ways. You cannot have a free will that can only lead toward good. If we are truly free agents, some of us, like Lucifer must be free to choose what is wrong. But we need to be clear – to choose to separate ourselves from God is death.
The reason? God is the source of life and light. To separate yourself from the source of life is to choose death.
When God created the universe He said repeatedly that “it was good”. Gehenna and the Lake of Fire had not yet been made because there was no sin. Unfortunately someone chose the wrong path and their choice created the Lake of Fire. I am not speaking of Adam and Eve because Gehenna (Hades in Greek) and the Lake of Fire were never intended for humanity.
Lucifer’s hubris created the Lake of Fire.
To separate one’s self from Life and Light forever is to consign one’s self to eternal death and darkness. Satan and all those who follow him in his rebellion have chosen to not have God in their lives. They don’t want to live in a universe where God reigns as King. God has yielded to their wish.
And the Scriptures seem to hint that Sheol’s Gehenna is always limited to the bare minimum required. Each person who voluntarily chooses separation from God causes Gehenna to be enlarged by precisely one more space.
But let it not be forgotten – that was not Adonai’s wish. And if they end up there it is literally over His dead body.
Before the creation of time, the Trinity looked forward and saw Genghis Khan, the Holocaust, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, Idi Amin and Joseph Stalin. They saw the rapes, murders and desecration of the planet that wicked men and women would visit upon their creation.
However, they also saw the great art, music and intellectual creations that would come from creatures that could exercise their free will. They saw the Mother Theresa’s serving the poor lepers. They saw the Abraham Lincoln’s freeing the slaves. They saw the Martin Luther’s struggling to reform the Faith and free the people of their spiritual shackles.
More importantly they saw the possibility of adopting millions of these creatures into their family and elevating them to be co-heirs with the Son of God, children of the Most High, a nation of priest/kings. They saw these things thought that love freely given and accepted was worth it. They saw all of it – both the awful and the wondrous. They saw and did what they would hope each of us will do – they chose life.
Meforshim:
First, allow me to establish Hashem’s good will and benign intent toward all of humanity. He clearly wants us to experience goodness. He openly states that He is seeking our welfare.
- Jeremiah 29:11-12 HCSB For I know the plans I have for you"--this is the LORD's declaration--"plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (12) You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
His goal is to instigate a freely chosen loving relationship with us that spills over into and positively effects our relations with our fellow humans.
- John 15:11-13 HCSB "I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. (12) This is My command: love one another as I have loved you. (13) No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.
He absolutely wishes that not one human soul would suffer and die. With this in mind He has very patiently dealt with us, trying to salvage as many as He can.
- 2 Peter 3:9 HCSB The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Now let’s examine the biblical view of predestination.
- Romans 8:29-31 HCSB For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. (30) And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified. (31) What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
Before Elohim created the universe, in His transcendent, timeless, omniscience He was able to look across time (which hadn’t even come into existence yet!) and determine which souls would react positively to His outstretched hand. For those blessed souls He established some good works; some ministries and outreaches that would bring about not only their own good but would spread the Good News of God’s salvation to all mankind.
- Ephesians 2:8-10 HCSB For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift-- (9) not from works, so that no one can boast. (10) For we are His creation--created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.
His desire for us is holiness and every spiritual blessing. He chose us before the foundation of the world for this purpose and His motive was? Loving favor.
- Ephesians 1:3-5 HCSB Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ; (4) for He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love (5) He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will,
Love without the advantage of free will is no more than prostitution. Anyone who has either read or watched the Stepford Wives knows this. It is the sick and perverted who prefer the forced smile, the trembling acquiescence to unwanted touch. Hashem created us. He was not obligated to give us free will. He was not forced to create beauty, color or music. He did so of His own free will and was gracious enough to grant us the same benefit. It is this trait that makes us His “image”.
- Genesis 1:26-27 HCSB Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth." (27) So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.
“Imago dei” – the image of God. This phenomenal gift means that God has offered to us in truth, what the Devil hypocritically and dishonestly proffered.
- Genesis 3:5 HCSB "In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
He created us to be free-will agents, like He is. When we wisely use this gift we become the sons and daughters of God.
- John 1:12-13 HCSB But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, (13) who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
- John 10:34-36 HCSB Jesus answered them, "Isn't it written in your law, I said, you are gods? (35) If He called those whom the word of God came to 'gods'--and the Scripture cannot be broken-- (36) do you say, 'You are blaspheming' to the One the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?
- Cp Psalms 82:6-7 HCSB I said, "You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High. (7) However, you will die like men and fall like any other ruler."
But like all great or powerful gifts, free will cuts both ways. You cannot have a free will that can only lead toward good. If we are truly free agents, some of us, like Lucifer must be free to choose what is wrong. But we need to be clear – to choose to separate ourselves from God is death.
- Deuteronomy 30:19 HCSB I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,
The reason? God is the source of life and light. To separate yourself from the source of life is to choose death.
- Deuteronomy 30:20 HCSB love the LORD your God, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the LORD swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
- John 1:3-4 HCSB All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. (4) Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.
When God created the universe He said repeatedly that “it was good”. Gehenna and the Lake of Fire had not yet been made because there was no sin. Unfortunately someone chose the wrong path and their choice created the Lake of Fire. I am not speaking of Adam and Eve because Gehenna (Hades in Greek) and the Lake of Fire were never intended for humanity.
- Matthew 25:41 HCSB Then He will also say to those on the left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!
Lucifer’s hubris created the Lake of Fire.
- Isaiah 14:12-15 HCSB Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens! You destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground. (13) You said to yourself: "I will ascend to the heavens; I will set up my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the gods' assembly, in the remotest parts of the North. (14) I will ascend above the highest clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." (15) But you will be brought down to Sheol into the deepest regions of the Pit.
To separate one’s self from Life and Light forever is to consign one’s self to eternal death and darkness. Satan and all those who follow him in his rebellion have chosen to not have God in their lives. They don’t want to live in a universe where God reigns as King. God has yielded to their wish.
- Matthew 8:12 HCSB But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
- Matthew 22:13 HCSB "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
- Matthew 25:30 HCSB And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
And the Scriptures seem to hint that Sheol’s Gehenna is always limited to the bare minimum required. Each person who voluntarily chooses separation from God causes Gehenna to be enlarged by precisely one more space.
- Isaiah 5:14 HCSB Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion's dignitaries, her masses, her crowds, and those who carouse in her!
But let it not be forgotten – that was not Adonai’s wish. And if they end up there it is literally over His dead body.
- Romans 5:6-8 HCSB For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For rarely will someone die for a just person--though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. (8) But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!
Before the creation of time, the Trinity looked forward and saw Genghis Khan, the Holocaust, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, Idi Amin and Joseph Stalin. They saw the rapes, murders and desecration of the planet that wicked men and women would visit upon their creation.
However, they also saw the great art, music and intellectual creations that would come from creatures that could exercise their free will. They saw the Mother Theresa’s serving the poor lepers. They saw the Abraham Lincoln’s freeing the slaves. They saw the Martin Luther’s struggling to reform the Faith and free the people of their spiritual shackles.
More importantly they saw the possibility of adopting millions of these creatures into their family and elevating them to be co-heirs with the Son of God, children of the Most High, a nation of priest/kings. They saw these things thought that love freely given and accepted was worth it. They saw all of it – both the awful and the wondrous. They saw and did what they would hope each of us will do – they chose life.
Gehenna
The final and eternal abode of those who die apart from God is Gehenna. The word is found twelve times in the Greek New Testament. In eleven of these instances, it is Jesus Christ Himself who employs the term. The fact is, the Lord spoke of “hell” more frequently than he did of that state called “heaven.”
Bertrand Russell, the agnostic British philosopher, once penned an essay titled: “Why I Am Not A Christian.” One of his main objections was that: “[Jesus] believed in hell.” Bertrand, an atheist, had a better grasp of the Lord’s teachings than many who profess an acquaintance with the Scriptures.
Gehenna is a transliteration of an Old Testament Hebrew expression, “the valley of Hinnom,” which denoted a ravine on the southern side of Jerusalem just outside the walls. This valley was used by certain apostate Hebrews as a place where their children were offered into the fiery arms of the pagan god Molech. It was thus an area of suffering and weeping caused by false worship.
We see this idea carried over to the last great Day of Judgment. Those who worship wrongly will be cast out.
When Josiah launched his reformation, this valley was regarded as a site of heinous abomination.
Gehenna was originally intended solely for the Devil and his angels, but man relegates himself there when he fails to do what is right.
Gehenna (also called the lake of fire) is the final place of punishment for all who reject God's plan of salvation - all unsaved people, the fallen angels and Satan.
Jesus spoke of Gehenna several times in his “Sermon on the Mount.” For instance, he warned that whoever addresses another: “You fool!” shall be in danger of the “hell of fire”.
Using hyperbole (for the sake of emphasis), Jesus stated that it would be better to proceed through life with physical handicaps (e.g. deprived of an eye or a limb), rather than having Gehenna as one’s final destiny.
In His diatribe against the Jewish leaders who were on the brink of crucifying their own Messiah, Jesus called them “sons of hell.”
Then in the same discourse:
James taught that a tongue that is not under control is “set on fire of hell.”
Gehenna is a place of where both the body and the soul are destroyed by God.
Gehenna is a place of eternal/never-ending conscious torment.
It is a place of never-dying worms.
Gehenna is a lake of unquenchable fire.
It is a place of burning sulfur.
Yet it is a dark place.
Those who are sent there are eternally separated from God.
It is described as “outside”
Gehenna is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth
Gehenna involves both the resurrected body and the soul. Unrighteous people will be resurrected from the dead, just as the saints will
Christ clearly indicated that the body, as well as the soul, will be subject to Gehenna.
In Gehenna people will be aware of their condition. This is a very important point because there are those who allege that hell will consist in the wicked being annihilated (C. Pinnock, 40; cf. LaGard Smith, 1988). In their view, the occupants of Gehenna will eventually cease to exist. This concept is wrong. First, when the Lord affirmed that God will “destroy” both body and soul in Gehenna he employed the word apollumi (used about 92 times in the New Testament). It is translated by such terms as “destroy,” “perish,” “loss,” and “lost.” The term does not suggest the sense of annihilation.
When the prodigal son was in the far country, he was “lost” (apololos), i.e., estranged from the blessings of his home, but he was not annihilated.
Jesus affirmed that he came to save that which stands lost (apololos). The perfect tense describes a present condition which has resulted from previous activity. The Lord did not come to save folks who were in a state of non-existence!
Jesus said that the fires of Gehenna were “unquenchable”, something not possible if annihilation was intended.
Jesus spoke of Gehenna as a place “where their worm dies not”.
The Lord describes Gehenna as a place of “eternal punishment.” Punishment implies consciousness. It would be absurd to describe those who no longer exist as being “punished.” The wicked will be “tormented” without relief with the fire of Gehenna.
Torment certainly implies awareness in other cases. In fact, in Revelation 9:6 the tortured people are specifically denied death so that they may fully appreciate their condition!
The punishment of those in Gehenna is unending. The fire is “unquenchable”
The worm “dies not” – which means that their “food” will never cease.
The punishment, or destruction, is “eternal”.
Some further arguments against soul annihilation.
1. If the reward of the righteous is to be eternal, why would the punishment of the unrighteous not be equally eternal? After all, for the same word is used to express the duration of the punishment, kolasin aionion, as is used to express the duration of the state of glory: zoen aionion. The original word aion is certainly to be taken here in its proper grammatical sense, continued being, aieion, NEVER ENDING.
2. The wicked cannot be annihilated for if they go into punishment, they continue to exist. If they cease to be, their punishment ceases to be, which goes directly against all Scripture.
Those who believe that the soul can be annihilated fail to grasp their true immortality. The human soul can be created, but it cannot be dissolved. God created us to be immortal. That can be our greatest blessing or our greatest curse.
Bertrand Russell, the agnostic British philosopher, once penned an essay titled: “Why I Am Not A Christian.” One of his main objections was that: “[Jesus] believed in hell.” Bertrand, an atheist, had a better grasp of the Lord’s teachings than many who profess an acquaintance with the Scriptures.
Gehenna is a transliteration of an Old Testament Hebrew expression, “the valley of Hinnom,” which denoted a ravine on the southern side of Jerusalem just outside the walls. This valley was used by certain apostate Hebrews as a place where their children were offered into the fiery arms of the pagan god Molech. It was thus an area of suffering and weeping caused by false worship.
- 2 Chronicles 28:3 He offered sacrifices in the valley of the son of Hinnom, even sacrificing his own sons in the fire. He imitated the detestable practices of the pagan nations whom the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6 Manasseh even sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing his anger.
We see this idea carried over to the last great Day of Judgment. Those who worship wrongly will be cast out.
- Matthew 7:21-23 “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22 On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.’
When Josiah launched his reformation, this valley was regarded as a site of heinous abomination.
- 2 Kings 23:10-14 Then the king defiled the altar of Topheth in the valley of Ben-hinnom, so no one could ever again use it to sacrifice a son or daughter in the fire as an offering to Molech. 11 He removed from the entrance of the Lord’s Temple the horse statues that the former kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were near the quarters of Nathan-melech the eunuch, an officer of the court. The king also burned the chariots dedicated to the sun. 12 Josiah tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above the upper room of Ahaz. The king destroyed the altars that Manasseh had built in the two courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. He smashed them to bits and scattered the pieces in the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the pagan shrines east of Jerusalem and south of the Mount of Corruption, where King Solomon of Israel had built shrines for Ashtoreth, the detestable goddess of the Sidonians; and for Chemosh, the detestable god of the Moabites; and for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 14 He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. Then he desecrated these places by scattering human bones over them.
Gehenna was originally intended solely for the Devil and his angels, but man relegates himself there when he fails to do what is right.
- Matthew 25:41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons!
Gehenna (also called the lake of fire) is the final place of punishment for all who reject God's plan of salvation - all unsaved people, the fallen angels and Satan.
- Revelation 20:10-15 Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11And I saw a great white throne, and I saw the one who was sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. 12I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in the books, according to what they had done. 13The sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead in them. They were all judged according to their deeds. 14And death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Jesus spoke of Gehenna several times in his “Sermon on the Mount.” For instance, he warned that whoever addresses another: “You fool!” shall be in danger of the “hell of fire”.
- Matthew 5:22 But I say, if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the high council. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
Using hyperbole (for the sake of emphasis), Jesus stated that it would be better to proceed through life with physical handicaps (e.g. deprived of an eye or a limb), rather than having Gehenna as one’s final destiny.
- Matthew 5:29-30 So if your eye—even if it is your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your hand—even if it is your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
- Matthew 18:7-9 “How terrible it will be for anyone who causes others to sin. Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting. 8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven crippled or lame than to be thrown into the unquenchable fire with both of your hands and feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.
- Mark 9:43-48 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ’where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’
In His diatribe against the Jewish leaders who were on the brink of crucifying their own Messiah, Jesus called them “sons of hell.”
- Mathew 23:15 Yes, how terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn him into twice the son of hell as you yourselves are.
Then in the same discourse:
- Matthew 23:33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?
James taught that a tongue that is not under control is “set on fire of hell.”
- James 3:6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
Gehenna is a place of where both the body and the soul are destroyed by God.
- Matthew 10:28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Luke 12:4-5 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill the body; they cannot do any more to you. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill people and then throw them into hell.
Gehenna is a place of eternal/never-ending conscious torment.
- Matthew 25:46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
- 2 Thessalonians 1:7b-9 He will come with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power
- Revelation 14:11 The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.
- Revelation 20:10 Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
It is a place of never-dying worms.
- Mark 9:48 ’where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’
Gehenna is a lake of unquenchable fire.
- Mark 9:43-48 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ’where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’
- Revelation 20:14-15 And death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
It is a place of burning sulfur.
- Revelation 14:9-11 Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or the hand 10 must drink the wine of God’s wrath. It is poured out undiluted into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.
- Revelation 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- Revelation 20:10 Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- Revelation 21:8 But cowards who turn away from me, and unbelievers, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those who practice witchcraft, and idol worshipers, and all liars—their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
Yet it is a dark place.
- Jude 1:13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness.
- Matthew 8:12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Matthew 25:26-30 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! You think I’m a hard man, do you, harvesting crops I didn’t plant and gathering crops I didn’t cultivate? 27 Well, you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. 28 Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of gold. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Those who are sent there are eternally separated from God.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power
It is described as “outside”
- Matthew 8:12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Matthew 25:26-30 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! You think I’m a hard man, do you, harvesting crops I didn’t plant and gathering crops I didn’t cultivate? 27Well, you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. 28Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of gold. 29To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away. 30Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Gehenna is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth
- Matthew 8:12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Matthew 25:26-30 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! You think I’m a hard man, do you, harvesting crops I didn’t plant and gathering crops I didn’t cultivate? 27Well, you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. 28Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of gold. 29To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away. 30Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Gehenna involves both the resurrected body and the soul. Unrighteous people will be resurrected from the dead, just as the saints will
- John 5:28-29 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, 29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment.
- Acts 24:15 I have hope in God, just as these men do, that he will raise both the righteous and the ungodly.
Christ clearly indicated that the body, as well as the soul, will be subject to Gehenna.
- Matthew 5:29-30 So if your eye—even if it is your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your hand—even if it is your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
- Matthew 10:28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Matthew 18:7-9 “How terrible it will be for anyone who causes others to sin. Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting. 8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven crippled or lame than to be thrown into the unquenchable fire with both of your hands and feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.
- Mark 9:43-48 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ’where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’
In Gehenna people will be aware of their condition. This is a very important point because there are those who allege that hell will consist in the wicked being annihilated (C. Pinnock, 40; cf. LaGard Smith, 1988). In their view, the occupants of Gehenna will eventually cease to exist. This concept is wrong. First, when the Lord affirmed that God will “destroy” both body and soul in Gehenna he employed the word apollumi (used about 92 times in the New Testament). It is translated by such terms as “destroy,” “perish,” “loss,” and “lost.” The term does not suggest the sense of annihilation.
- Matthew 10:28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy (apollumi) both soul and body in hell.
When the prodigal son was in the far country, he was “lost” (apololos), i.e., estranged from the blessings of his home, but he was not annihilated.
- Luke 15:22-24 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost (apololos), but now he is found.’ So the party began.
Jesus affirmed that he came to save that which stands lost (apololos). The perfect tense describes a present condition which has resulted from previous activity. The Lord did not come to save folks who were in a state of non-existence!
- Luke 19:10 And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost. (apololos)”
- Morey - “In every instance where the word apollumi is found in the New Testament, something other than annihilation is being described” (Morey, 90).
- Vine - Regarding apollumi, Vine notes: “The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being” (211).
- Thayer - defines apollumi, in connection with Matthew 10:28, as follows: “to devote or give over to eternal misery” (64).
Jesus said that the fires of Gehenna were “unquenchable”, something not possible if annihilation was intended.
- Mark 9:44 and 48 ’where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’
Jesus spoke of Gehenna as a place “where their worm dies not”.
- Mark 9:44 and 48 ’where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’
The Lord describes Gehenna as a place of “eternal punishment.” Punishment implies consciousness. It would be absurd to describe those who no longer exist as being “punished.” The wicked will be “tormented” without relief with the fire of Gehenna.
- Revelation 20:10 Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- Revelation 14:10-11 must drink the wine of God’s wrath. It is poured out undiluted into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.
Torment certainly implies awareness in other cases. In fact, in Revelation 9:6 the tortured people are specifically denied death so that they may fully appreciate their condition!
- Revelation 9:5-6 They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with agony like the pain of scorpion stings. 6In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee away!
- Revelation 11:10 All the people who belong to this world will give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.
- Revelation 14:11The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.
The punishment of those in Gehenna is unending. The fire is “unquenchable”
- Matthew 3:12 He is ready to separate the chaff from the grain with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, storing the grain in his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”
The worm “dies not” – which means that their “food” will never cease.
- Mark 9:44 and 48 ’where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’
The punishment, or destruction, is “eternal”.
- Matthew 25:46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
- 2 Thessalonians 1:9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power
Some further arguments against soul annihilation.
1. If the reward of the righteous is to be eternal, why would the punishment of the unrighteous not be equally eternal? After all, for the same word is used to express the duration of the punishment, kolasin aionion, as is used to express the duration of the state of glory: zoen aionion. The original word aion is certainly to be taken here in its proper grammatical sense, continued being, aieion, NEVER ENDING.
2. The wicked cannot be annihilated for if they go into punishment, they continue to exist. If they cease to be, their punishment ceases to be, which goes directly against all Scripture.
Those who believe that the soul can be annihilated fail to grasp their true immortality. The human soul can be created, but it cannot be dissolved. God created us to be immortal. That can be our greatest blessing or our greatest curse.
Hell, Lake of Fire
Hell was never intended for man. Nevertheless, many will choose to go there due to their rebellious nature.
The prophet Isaiah said that sinners should be concerned about consuming, yet ever burning flames.
[1]That final punishment is always associated with fire and torment.
The Lake of Fire is not to be confused with Gehenna/Hades. Gehenna is where the wicked dead go to wait for their final punishment. Gehenna was named after the Valley of Hinnom, aka Topheth, a deep ravine south of Jerusalem where children had been sacrificed to the false Ammonite god Molech (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31-32; 19:6, 11-14; 32:35). Because it was considered such a desecrated place, it was reserved as a garbage dump. Here the dead carcasses of animals, along with the dung collected from the entire countryside, as well as the trash taken from the city were left to be devoured by either worms or fire, which ever came first.
Gehenna is also a place of fire and torment, according to the Master.
However, if you can even imagine, the Lake of Fire is far worse. Jesus was using hyperbole in the teaching but still clearly implied that hell was a place where we are physically tormented. He said it is so awful that it would be better to gouge out your own eye or cut off your own hand than to go there.
The Master said that death by drowning would be a kinder fate.
That Gehenna/Hades/Topheth is separate from the Lake of Fire can be seen in:
The Lake of Fire is so bad that it’s considered worse than death. As we saw, Jesus said we should fear it more than we fear those who can kill our bodies. But we also see it repeatedly called the “second death.”
The torment of hell will never end. It is eternal.
Continuing the picture of Gehenna, it is described as a place where the worm never dies and the fire is not quenched.
Hell is not a metaphorical. It is a real place. Jesus said that our bodies could end up there.
It is a place of isolation from the presence of God. God literally gives those who refuse Him what they want – an existence without Him. Unfortunately, He is the source of life and light. So those who receive this dubious gift are condemned to the darkness of the second death.
There will be degrees of punishment in Olam Habah (the afterlife).
The Antichrist and his false prophet will be thrown into the Lake of fire. Note that it burns with sulfur.
Those who choose to follow the Antichrist; receiving his identifying mark; choose to also share his end.
All those who have refused God’s outstretched, saving hand; all those who have turned their backs on Yahweh’s Messiah; will end up in the Lake of Fire.
1,000 years later the Devil will join them. The Scriptures describe it as characterized by torment day and night forever. It is not a final annihilation. One must be alive and conscious to be tormented.
Adonaists should commit themselves to delivering as many people from this horrible fate as possible.
[1] Lake of Fire by Justin Baldwin at www.justinbaldwin.com
- Matthew 25:41 HCSB Then He will also say to those on the left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!
The prophet Isaiah said that sinners should be concerned about consuming, yet ever burning flames.
- Isaiah 33:14 HCSB The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the ungodly: "Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?"
- Matthew 3:12 HCSB His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out."
[1]That final punishment is always associated with fire and torment.
- Matthew 13:41-42 HCSB The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness. (42) They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Matthew 25:41 HCSB Then He will also say to those on the left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!
- Revelation 19:20 HCSB But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed signs on his authority, by which he deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- Revelation 20:15 HCSB And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
The Lake of Fire is not to be confused with Gehenna/Hades. Gehenna is where the wicked dead go to wait for their final punishment. Gehenna was named after the Valley of Hinnom, aka Topheth, a deep ravine south of Jerusalem where children had been sacrificed to the false Ammonite god Molech (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31-32; 19:6, 11-14; 32:35). Because it was considered such a desecrated place, it was reserved as a garbage dump. Here the dead carcasses of animals, along with the dung collected from the entire countryside, as well as the trash taken from the city were left to be devoured by either worms or fire, which ever came first.
- Isaiah 30:33 HCSB Indeed! Topheth has been ready for the king for a long time now. His funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, kindles it.
Gehenna is also a place of fire and torment, according to the Master.
- Luke 16:23-24 HCSB And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. (24) 'Father Abraham!' he called out, 'Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!'
However, if you can even imagine, the Lake of Fire is far worse. Jesus was using hyperbole in the teaching but still clearly implied that hell was a place where we are physically tormented. He said it is so awful that it would be better to gouge out your own eye or cut off your own hand than to go there.
- Matthew 5:29-30 HCSB If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (30) And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell!
The Master said that death by drowning would be a kinder fate.
- Matthew 18:6 HCSB "But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me--it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!
That Gehenna/Hades/Topheth is separate from the Lake of Fire can be seen in:
- Revelation 20:14 HCSB Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
The Lake of Fire is so bad that it’s considered worse than death. As we saw, Jesus said we should fear it more than we fear those who can kill our bodies. But we also see it repeatedly called the “second death.”
- Revelation 2:11 HCSB "Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The victor will never be harmed by the second death.
- Revelation 20:6 HCSB Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over these, but they will be priests of God and the Messiah, and they will reign with Him for 1,000 years.
- Revelation 20:14 HCSB Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
- Revelation 21:8 HCSB But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars--their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
The torment of hell will never end. It is eternal.
- Matthew 25:41 HCSB Then He will also say to those on the left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!
- Matthew 25:46 HCSB "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Continuing the picture of Gehenna, it is described as a place where the worm never dies and the fire is not quenched.
- Mark 9:43-48 HCSB And if your hand causes your downfall, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell--the unquenchable fire, (44) [where Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] (45) And if your foot causes your downfall, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell--[the unquenchable fire, (46) where Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] (47) And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, (48) where Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
Hell is not a metaphorical. It is a real place. Jesus said that our bodies could end up there.
- Matthew 5:29-30 HCSB If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (30) And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell!
- Matthew 10:28 HCSB Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
It is a place of isolation from the presence of God. God literally gives those who refuse Him what they want – an existence without Him. Unfortunately, He is the source of life and light. So those who receive this dubious gift are condemned to the darkness of the second death.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:9 HCSB These will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction, away from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength,
- Matthew 8:12 HCSB But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
- Matthew 22:13 HCSB "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
- Matthew 24:51 HCSB He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Matthew 25:30 HCSB And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
There will be degrees of punishment in Olam Habah (the afterlife).
- Matthew 10:15 HCSB I assure you: It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
- Matthew 11:22 HCSB But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
- Matthew 11:24 HCSB But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
- Luke 10:12 HCSB I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
- Luke 10:14 HCSB But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.
The Antichrist and his false prophet will be thrown into the Lake of fire. Note that it burns with sulfur.
- Revelation 19:20 HCSB But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed signs on his authority, by which he deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- Revelation 14:10 HCSB he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,
Those who choose to follow the Antichrist; receiving his identifying mark; choose to also share his end.
- Revelation 14:9-10 HCSB And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, (10) he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,
All those who have refused God’s outstretched, saving hand; all those who have turned their backs on Yahweh’s Messiah; will end up in the Lake of Fire.
- Revelation 20:15 HCSB And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
1,000 years later the Devil will join them. The Scriptures describe it as characterized by torment day and night forever. It is not a final annihilation. One must be alive and conscious to be tormented.
- Revelation 20:10 HCSB The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- Revelation 14:10 HCSB he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,
- Matthew 13:41-42 HCSB The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness. (42) They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Adonaists should commit themselves to delivering as many people from this horrible fate as possible.
- Jude 1:23 HCSB save others by snatching them from the fire; on others have mercy in fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
[1] Lake of Fire by Justin Baldwin at www.justinbaldwin.com
