To what does Daniel say the wicked will be
resurrected? Daniel 12:2
What is the final fate of the little horn? Daniel 7:26
His power will be taken away and
NOTE: The little horn is symbolic of all the
wicked, who, according to Daniel, will eventually be completely
destroyed.
WHEN According to popular teaching, a wicked person
goes to hell as soon as he dies. Therefore, the reward of punishment is
received immediately after death. Accordingly, after Cain slew Able six
thousand years ago, he would have gone to hell when he died and would
have been burning ever since. Then Hitler commits mass murder and goes
to hell at death. Poor Cain has to burn six thousand years longer than
Hitler simply because of when he was born. Is that justice? Every sense
of justice suggests that people be punished alike for the same crime.
When are the wicked punished? 2 Peter 2:9
And to hold the unrighteous for the
NOTE: If the wicked are held in reserve for the
final day of judgment, they cannot be burning now.
When did Jesus say the wicked will be burned
in the fire? Matthew 13:40-42
So it will be at the
NOTE: Jesus makes it clear that the wicked are
not placed in the fire until the end of the world (age).
When does John the Revelator say the wicked
will be cast into the fire? Revelation 20:7, 9, 15
When the
NOTE: The Bible is very clear on the question
of when the wicked will be punished. They are not cast into the fire
until the end of the 1000 years.
WHERE Popular teaching today suggest that hell is
going on in the center of the earth. The devil stands there with his
pitchfork, poking people in the fire continually. Obviously, this is a
fictitious medieval concept that has no place in modern thinking and no
place in Biblical teaching.
Where does the Bible say the fires of hell
will take place? Revelation 20:9
They marched across the breadth of the
NOTE: As the wicked encircle the Holy City,
fire comes down and destroys them. They are not inside the earth
somewhere; they are on the surface of the earth.
How does the apostle Peter describe the fires
of Hell? 2 Peter 3:7-12
By the same word the present heavens and The And the earth and everything in it will be
laid
NOTE: Peter's picture of the fires of hell is
very clear. The entire world is engulfed in flames that totally
destroys the surface of the earth. The world was destroyed in Noah's
day by a flood of water. It will be destroyed the second time by a
flood of fire that will totally eradicate all trace of the wicked.
When the fire is all over, what does God
create? Revelation 21:1
A new
NOTE: The heavens in this text refer to the
atmospheric heavens, not the heaven where God dwells ( 2 Peter 3:7 ). The present surface
of the earth as we know it will be totally destroyed. It will then be
returned to its original perfection, to become the final home of God's
redeemed people throughout all eternity.
HOW LONG Popular teaching suggests that when people go
to hell, they continue burning throughout the ceaseless ages of
eternity. In other words, they never, ever stop burning. Notice one
preacher's imagination of what hell is like:
"In the kingdom to come there is a large
and broad valley where the multitudes of lost souls are suffering all
the torments of the damned. Spanning the valley is a high bridge which
gives a good view of the whole terrain. One of the joys of the saints
is to go out on this bridge on the Sabbath day and view these poor
souls. They see friends, relatives,...father, mother, brother, sister,
husband, or wife in torment. This view is a feast for the eyes. "See! It is a pitiful sight. The little
child is in this red-hot oven. Hear how it screams to come out. See how
it turns and twists itself about in the fire. It beats its head against
the roof of the oven. It stamps its little feet on the floor of the
oven. You can see on the face of this little child what you see on the
faces of all in hell -- despair, desperate and horrible!....God was
very good to this child. Very likely God saw that this child would get
worse and worse, and would never repent, and so it would have to be
punished much more in hell. So God, in His mercy, called it out of the
world in its early childhood." Quoted in 'What Hell Will Be Like,"
Ruben Engstrom, Southern Publishing Association, p.4.
What a
horrible picture
No wonder many people view God as a tyrant when
they think of God punishing people without end throughout the ceaseless
ages of eternity. There have been monstrous tyrants throughout history.
They would torture people endlessly, but at long last they at least
allowed his victims to finally die. However, some would have us believe
that God is worse than human tyrants. By some miraculous process God
keeps renewing people, keeping them alive so that He can keep on
torturing them without end. No wonder the doctrine of an eternally
burning hell has made more infidels than any doctrine the devil has
ever devised.
The destruction of the wicked is a frequently
mentioned subject in scripture. It is referred to 182 times as complete
annihilation: 98 in the Old Testament and 84 in the New Testament.
Scripture declares that hell will end and the wicked will be never
more. There are five or six other texts that at first do not seem as
clear. However, a more careful study will show them to be in harmony
with the rest of Scripture. Proponents of the teaching that hell will
never come to an end have latched on to these few texts, completely
ignoring the 182 clear texts of Scripture. ( Here is an explanation of how these
five or six texts are in harmony with the 182 clear texts of
scripture.)
What does Jesus say will be the ultimate fate
of the wicked? John 3:16
That whoever believes in him shall not
NOTE: A stronger word cannot be found to
describe the cessation of life than the word 'perish.'
How does the psalmist, David, describe the
fate of the wicked? Psalm 37:9, 10
For evil men will be The wicked will be no Though you look for
How else does David describe the fate of the
wicked? Psalm 37:20
But the wicked will They will
NOTE: Here again is a picture of total and
absolute annihilation.
What will the wicked be like in the last day?
Malachi 4:1 When the fire does its work, how much will be
left to burn? Malachi 4:1
Not a
NOTE: When a tree is burned up, both its
branches and its roots, there is nothing left of the tree. It is
totally destroyed, totally consumed, totally annihilated.
What is the only thing that is left of the
wicked after the fire has done its work? Malachi 4:3 What two cities in the Bible are mentioned as
examples of hell fire? Jude 7
and
NOTE: These two cities are no longer burning.
The 'eternal' fire burned until it had completely consumed and
destroyed the cities, then it went out. The Bible states that these two
cities are examples of what hell fire is like. When the fire has done
its work, it will go out.
THE FATE OF
SATAN What does Jesus plan to do to Satan? Hebrews 2:14 How does God destroy the devil? Revelation 20:10 Click here for an
explanation of the rest of this verse. ) What is the lake of burning sulphur called? Revelation 21:8
the second
NOTE: The fire results in death, a death from
which there is no resurrection.
In Ezekiel 28, under the symbolism of the
king of Tyre, God addresses Lucifer, that arch rebel. How does God
bring an end to Lucifer? Ezekiel 28:18
So I made a
NOTE: The translators of the NIV have here
mistranslated the verse. The KJV is more correct. Beginning
with verse 16, the first part of each verse is past tense and the last
part is in future tense. The text should read: 'I will make a...' and
'I will reduce you...' in keeping with Hebrew poetic structure.
Still, strong language is used to describe the
destruction of Satan. He is destroyed by fire, he is devoured and
reduced to ashes. The fate of the wicked is the same fate that awaits
Satan himself.
Will Satan still exist in the fire? Ezekiel 28:19
You have come to a horrible end and will be no
NOTE: We don't have to worry about Satan
getting out of hell. God will bring an end to Satan.
THE END OF
SIN What is the wages of sin? Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is
NOTE: The penalty for sin is not everlasting
life in hell, but death. God does not offer us a choice between life in
hell or life in heaven. The choice offered us is life versus death. If
a person burned throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity in hell, he
would still receive eternal life. It certainly would not be a pleasant
life, but it would still be life, and he would never receive the wages
of sin, which is death. Hell fire is not the punishment for sin; death
is the punishment for sin. Fire is only the means to bring about the
end, which is death. If the fire does not result in death, then it is
not the punishment of sin.
Who only has eternal life? 1 John 5:11, 12
He who has the Son has
NOTE: Life is available only in Jesus. Only
those who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour have everlasting life.
Without Jesus there can be no life. Satan would like us to think that
we can have life without Jesus. If eternal hell were true, that would
be possible. Scripture is just too clear -- there is no life apart from
Jesus.
On Calvary, Jesus paid the penalty for our
sins. He suffered the second death for us. Is Jesus still being
punished on the cross today, or did he die on the cross? John 19:30, 33
He
NOTE: The fact the Jesus died on the cross is
the strongest evidence against the pagan doctrine of eternal torment. ( Go here to learn the origin of this
teaching ). Our Saviour paid the penalty for
our sin. That penalty was death, not burning ceaselessly throughout all
eternity in hell.
God will deal with the sin problem. Sinners
will get what they want, complete separation from God. They will be no
more. God has allowed them the choice to live or die, they chose death.
God is not a pagan tyrant. He is just and merciful.
"The great controversy is ended. Sin and
sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony
and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all
flow life and light and gladness throughout the realms of illimitable
space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things,
animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy,
declare that God is love." E.G. White, 'The Great Controversy,' P. 678
What did God do so that you don't have to
perish in Hell? John 3:16 Which do you prefer, a God that will punish
sinners throughout eternity, or one that will give them the eternal
separation of death that they chose?
