The phrase "for ever and ever" in the Bible means a period of time that can be either unlimited or limited. It is like the word "tall." Tall has a different scale depending on what is being described, such as a tall dog, or tall house, or tall mountain.
Fifty six times in the Old Testament,
"forever" is used in connection with things that have
already ended. For man, "forever" means a man's
lifetime or as long as he lives. Hannah promised that her son
Samuel would live forever (always) at
the tabernacle. Verse 28 explains that He
would spend his whole life there. In Psalm 48:14 God is 'for ever
and ever' to be our guide even to the end. Mankind is limited,
therefore anything referring to mankind about 'for ever and ever'
is limited. Burning forever in the fire means that man burns
until there is nothing left to burn.
According to 2 Chronicles 36:18-21,
Nebuchadnezzar, burned the temple, and palaces and ruined
Jerusalem. Jeremiah had predicted (Jeremiah 4:4; 7:20; 17:27; 21:13, 23) that Jerusalem was
to burn with an unquenchable fire. Is Jerusalem burning today?
No. An unquenchable is one that cannot be put out by man, but
eventually goes out on it's own. The 1988 forest fires in
Yellowstone Park could be called unquenchable, because there was
nothing any man or army could do to stop it. But the fires did
eventually go out when unfavorable conditions occurred.
Jude tells us that God
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with eternal fire. And Peter says God burned them
to ashes. They are not burning now. So, eternal fire turns things
to ashes and then goes out. It is eternal in its EFFECT,
not its DURATION.
Note that it is not everlasting PUNISHING; but
rather, everlasting PUNISHMENT. Paul says that the punishment for
sin is DEATH. And Revelation calls
this death the SECOND DEATH. where the wicked
die in the fire. That death or destruction will be eternal
because there is no resurrection from it.
A parable is a story to illustrate a point. It may be a true story or simply a fabricated illustration.
Parables cannot always be taken literally. Consider the one about the talking trees.
The parable of Luke 16:19-31 cannot be accepted literally because:
a. Abraham's bosom is NOT the home of the saved. Abraham's bosom is a FIGURATIVE representation of heaven. So to, the representation of hell must also be FIGURATIVE. Both must be literal or both must be figurative.
b. Those in heaven will NOT be able to talk with those in hell. Isaiah said that former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Revelation 21:4 says all the former things are passed away, including death and hell.
c. The Bible indicates that the dead (both good and bad) are in their graves (Job 17:13; 21:30-32). All who are in their GRAVES (not heaven or hell) will hear Jesus and rise up to live or be condemned.
d. The Bible teaches that men will receive their reward at the second coming, not at death (Revelation 22:11, 12; Matthew 16:27).
e. It would make Jesus contradict Himself (Matthew 13:38-42; 16:27) when he plainly states that rewards come after the resurrection.
NOTE: That even if taken literally, this parable would refute the idea of disembodied souls going into hell, for it describes the rich man with eyes, tongue, and lips. If taken literally, this parable would prove that men are cast into hell, soul and BODY, at death.
Bodies of the dead have been exhumed after having been dead for months. It is a well-known fact that the eyes are still in the body even then; hence the absurdity of taking the parable literally is further seen. The "eyes" are in the grave, not in hell-fire.
In this parable, Jesus was simply using a common, though erroneous, belief of the day to illustrate the truth of Luke 16:31: namely, if a man refuses to be guided by the scripture, there is no hope for him.
This page maintained by Allen Roy. Last update on 09/13/98