Some Conditionalists believe that there will be some physical torment by fire at the final Judgment based on relative guilt.—“different degrees of suffering by the lost, as perhaps in Jesus’ statement that some will receive ‘few stripes’ and others ‘many stripes‘ (Luke12:47-48).“ (Edward Fudge) But I believe that our God will not torture nor torment ever, much less forever. Concerning the teaching in the the Hebrew legislation, stripes were used for correction in cases not deserving of capital punishment. Thus, surely they do not apply to final punishment. There is no purpose for them in that context. See "Many Stripes / Few Stripes - Degrees of Punishment"
Others are satisfied to treat this as gloss. They figure that the torment of hell is mental, reckoning that heinous sinners will have greater anguish awaiting Judgment corresponding to greater degrees of guilt. But this is a dangerous supposition— that some are more guilty than others. James taught that he who is guilt in one point is guilty of all. (James 2:10). And who do you think would have greater mental anguish at the Judgement- the relatively good but irreligious person or the mass murder/ notorious offender? I think that it is the relatively good but Christless one for sure. Thus, I have a more meaningful solution for the torment of hell:
"The word translated ‘tormented’ (basanidzo) in verse 10 is derived from basanos, a black rock formerly used as a ‘touchstone.’ Ancient peoples were able to determine the purity of gold and silver by observing the peculiar streak left on the stone when rubbed by these metals." (Asleep in Christ by Helaine Burch) This is a pure test found in God’s creation.
God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. (1John 1:5) Incidentally gold in the Bible is symbol of deity and therefore can be a picture of characteristics, like immortality, which God alone possesses. (1 Tim. 3:16) Silver is a biblical symbol of righteousness of God that the saved person must put on by faith in Jesus. It is true that, at the Judgment, both our immortality and our righteousness will be tested by God. The resurrected bodies of the incorrigible sinners will be slain in Judgment and then destroyed, perhaps in analogy, by fire.
“It was not until religious folks used instruments like racks and other painful devices to ‘test’ the faith of accused heretics that the thought of torment and pain was added to a perfectly good Greek word which again referred to a ‘divine test.’” (Eternal Death (Conditional Immortality, Annihilation): One Step Out of Hell; One Step Short of Glory by Gary Amirault)
“The use of basanidzo in this passage suggests a trial or examination by the Son to Whom all judgment is committed; the figure of ‘fire and brimstone’ is once again used to indicate His judgment, as a fire which burns and ‘searches’ thoroughly, and from which nothing can be hidden… Please note also that the guilty are to be tormented ‘in the presence of the holy angels’ and ‘in the presence of the Lamb.’ This suggests a one-time event of shorter duration - a trial with Judge and witnesses - rather than an ongoing and eternal event which would seem to necessitate the constant presence of Jesus Christ in hell…” (Asleep in Christ by Helaine Burch)
“For the Word of God is active and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. “ (Heb 4:12-13) "Rather than trying to find subtle differences in the meaning of such words as ‘soul’ and ‘spirit,’ it is perhaps just as well to view this verse as a heaping together of powerful terms for the purpose of showing the utmost ability of the Word of God to penetrate the complex inward nature of man, to convict him of sin, to expose his hidden motives, and to judge the very nature of life itself… Macknight sees in the words here a reference: ‘to the state in which the sacrifices called burnt offerings were laid on the altar. They were stripped of their skins, their breasts were ripped open, their bowels were taken out, and their backbone was cleft. This is the import of the original word. Then they were divided into quarters; so that outwardly and inwardly they were fully exposed…(Lev 1:5,6); and… they were laid in their natural order upon the altar and burnt.” (A. W. Pink) “Not one little sin shall ever be able to crawl by the eyes of the Eternal God without receiving it’s just condemnation and punishment.” (Burton Coffman)— eternal death.
And I used to think that fire was the means of death for the incorrigible sinner but no longer hold that view based on these two types. Firstly: "In the Levitical sacrifices the victim represented the sinner; yet those who offered it were not required to inflict upon it a long series of tortures. Death pure and simple was all that the law of sacrifice demanded. In the rite it was not the suffering, but the suppression of the life, that was accentuated. In practice, if the execution was prolonged, the sacrifice had to be rejected. In our own days even, if the shochet (the Jewish butcher) makes use of a blade with ever so small a notch in it likely to cause the least useless suffering, the flesh of the slain animal is terepha, forbidden to the faithful; it is only allowed to be sold at a low price to non-Jews. The burning of the victim, too, was not a symbol of suffering, since it took place only after the immolation; but was rather an emblem of the utter destruction which menaces the incorrigible sinner." (”From “The Problem of Immortality” by E. Petavel)
Secondly, the same pattern was found in the Hebrew government dealing with sin. “So also in the penal code of the Israelites, the heaviest chastisement prescribed is the death, pure and simple, of the offender; there is never a word to indicate that the sinner may have to endure eternal pains. It is an extraordinary fact, and a divine characteristic, that long-continued tortures are foreign to Old Testament legislation. In the republic of Israel there is... nor rack, nor torture, nor gallows, nor special place of execution. The numerous and odious means of torture, which have dishonoured both ancient and modern civilizations, have no equivalent in the Divine code of Sinai." [E. Petavel] For example, by command: “Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the LORD and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’”(Joshua 7:15) But then when judgment was executed against Achan: “Joshua said, ‘Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today.’ Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks (memorial), which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from His fierce anger.” (Joshua 7:25) Other times the Israelites killed with the sword and then burned the evil cities to include the dead with fire... or stoned a man and then burned him, even though the law in Leviticus annexed burning to the offense.
William Tanksley Jr of "Rethinking Hell" pointed me to these verses. After Jesus tells us not to fear those who can only do temporal harm, He ends: “but I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:5) And later in the same chapter, He speaks of an unfaithful servant. He warns “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” (Luke 12:46)
The implication to me is the exclusion of torment by fire as part of final punishment. Margaret Mowczko tells: "Here’s an idea that popped into my mind today as I was discussing Gehenna with someone, and I thought I'd share it here: God denounced the practice of children being sacrificed to Molech where they were burned alive and killed. In Jeremiah 32:35 God says, 'They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.' Such an idea has never entered his mind, but ECT people seem to be suggesting that God does much worse in Gehenna (i.e. the valley of Hinnom); that he burns people alive forever."
Of future Judgment, in allegory, Jesus taught us that He will “first gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn... [Of the tares] The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Mat 13:30; 41-42)- “When the Bible speaks of someone gnashing teeth, it means that person is very, very angry.” (Edward Fudge) And there will also be weeping, signifying sorrow. For the Day of God's wrath has come and these know that as the tares die when they are severed from the Source of life, so will they will when Jesus withdraws His Spirit. And as the weeds are destroyed if subjected to fire, so will the corpses of wicked be destroyed. "Conspicuously absent from all our texts is the idea of people gnashing teeth in pain and agony—for whatever length of time." ( The Fire That Consumes by Edward Fudge)
Rev 14:8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” 9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented (basanisthēsetai) with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 AND THE SMOKE OF THEIR TORMENT ASCENDS FOREVER AND EVER; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Beware, this passage has a “sister text“ which uses the exact terminology. This sister text is from the Old Testament and therefore is the foundation upon which Revelation 14:9-11 rests:
Isa 34: 9 Its (Edom's) streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone; its land shall become burning pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall ascend forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; no one shall pass through it forever and ever.
"Reading this passage we get the impression that the kingdom of Edom will burn forever and ever without end, but the entire rest of the chapter renders this interpretation impossible. The rest of the chapter shows that Edom would become a desolate desert inhabited by owl, jackals and hyenas. [-no people] Verses 5-6 state that the people of of Edom will be ‘totally destroyed’ and slaughtered, and Obadiah 10 & 28 back this up, stating that Edom will ‘be destroyed forever’— consumed by the fore of God’s judgment and wrath. Therefore the statement ‘ It shall not be quenched night or day; it’s smoke will rise forever’ cannot be taken to mean what it might casually appear to mean…. Please notice that Isaiah 34:10 plainly declares that Edom will burn and ‘not be quenched night and day.’ This shows that the phrase ‘night or day’ does not refer to an unending amount of time. The burning suffer that destroyed Edom was not quenched ‘night or day’ until the entire kingdom was destroyed.." (“Hell Know” by Dirk Waren)
“'And the second angel followed’; another set of Gospel ministers,” (John Gill) —saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, that great city’ (8a) Here is prophesied the destruction of “the whole Roman papal state.” (Knollys)— empires, systems of government, or else false religions. "Babylon the great" is a reminder of the self-boasting of Nebuchadnezzar: ‘Is this not Babylon the great which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ (Daniel 4:30). This boasting was met with the announcement of God‘s judgment over the kingdom (Daniel 4:31–32). Babylon was about to meet its end. Toward the close of the first century A.D. among both Jews and Christians the cryptic name of Babylon was used with reference to Rome. (cf. 1 Peter 5:13)” (Ranko Stefanovic)
The Roman Empire is the last world power of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to exercise physical dominion over Israel. They have ceased to exist, but the little horn— a spiritual dominion— of the Papal state of Rome lives on until this day. And she has a head—called the vicar of Christ— who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, so that he sits as God in the temple of God— the church — showing himself that he is God. That church “has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." (8b) or “‘poison’, as we translate it, Deut. 32:33 Job 20:16. “ (Matthew Poole)— "symbolic of spiritual adulteration (Is 1:22)." (William Tyndale)
“If anyone worships the beast and his image,”— perhaps this false Jesus with a different government and a different character than the Jesus of the Bible— “and receives his mark on his forehead,” signifying his thoughts "and on his hand,“ (9) meaning his works or deeds.... reminiscent of churchgoers who burned people at the stake during the Inquisitions. We see such hated even in the church today. But notice that “he himself shall also drink of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.” - the lot of the wicked.- "God’s just response to evil (14:9–10; cf. Jer. 25:15–29)... the cup of God’s wrath is undiluted, his final judgment unmitigated (14:10).” (Baker’s Illustrated Bible Commentary) So on the these individuals the cup of Yahweh's wrath will be poured out full strength as follows:
He “shall be tormented (tested) with fire and brimstone." (10b) Definition 1 in Thayer's Greek Lexicon is testing of a substance "to test the purity of gold or silver" etc. And it is an allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah— God “condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly.” (2 Peter 2:6) Likewise, at the end of this age, the resurrection bodies of the wicked will be slain again and finally destroyed "'in the presence of the holy angels, and of the Lamb' (10c) - not demons of Revelation 9, as many suppose- "these being the instruments employed in their destruction; the Lamb - the Lord Jesus Christ, acting as judge.” (Adam Clarke) As Jesus created, after the Judgment, perhaps He will slay by His Word only, accounting for death of spiritual beings. And the corpses of the dead men will be tested for immortally that Satan alleged they had. "While the overcomers in the church of Sardis are promised recognition before the Father and His Angels (Rev. 3:5), the unbelievers will have their end in the lake of burning fire before Christ and angels.” (Ranko Stefanovic)
“‘And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever’ (11a) — The language of the Apocalypse being symbolical, it is necessary to seek the metaphorical meaning of the smoke spoken of in our text. Smoke is a formless relic of an object that has been decomposed by the action of fire. It can only be an emblem of the remembrance left by the object destroyed. A perpetual smoke would therefore symbolize the ineffaceable remembrance of an irreparable ruin. Thus it is said of the great harlot that ‘her smoke goeth up for ever and ever.’ [1— Rev. xix. 30.] But this same harlot has previously ceased to live, she has been ‘killed,’ her flesh has been devoured and her bones consumed. This harlot is a city, a government opposed to God, a temporal power. As M. L. Bonnet says: ‘It tells of a destruction without any hope of restoration.’ [2—Cf. Rev. xviii. 9, 18; Isa. xxxiv. 10; Dan. vii. 11, sq.].” [The Problem of Immortality by E. Petavel] So, it is the remembrance of that single test by the redeemed that will be forever.
“and they have no rest day or night,” “This is in contrast to the statement of Revelation 14:13 in which the followers of Christ are promised rest from their labor (cf. 6:11). The worshipers of the beast and his image, however; will never taste that rest. The threat echoes the declaration made to rebellious Israel regarding its rest in the promised land: ‘Therefore I swore in My anger, truly they shall not enter into My rest ’(Ps. 85:22). The idea of the promised rest continues in the NT as rest in the grace of God: ‘There therefore remains a rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered into His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience’ (Heb. 4:9–11). The rest into which God’s people enter is eternal; so the unrest of the impending judgment for the unbelievers is eternal. As Phillip E. Hughes stated, ‘From this last judgment there is no reprieve; the sentence of death is irreversible; the destruction permits no recovery....’” (Ranko Stefanovic) for those "who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." (11b)
Revelation 20: 4 And they [the saints] lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented (tested) day and night forever and ever.
“It is logical that having judged the beast and the false prophet ( Rev. 19:20) Jesus Christ should next deal with Satan.” (Thomas B. Constable)—> “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are .” (10a) “That this is not a literal lake of fire is clear from the fact that Satan has no bodily form, and could thus not be cast into fire.” (Peter Pett)— “‘And they (beast, false prophet and the devil) will be tormented (tested) day and night forever and ever.’ “The passage in question relates not to human beings, but to Satan, the Beast, and the false Prophet." (E. Petavel) Their destruction shall continue “day and night” until it is complete. It “would not be limited to a day shift or a night shift.” (Edward Fudge) "forever and ever"- that is “to the ages of age.” And its work is irreversible.
Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. THIS IS THE SECOND DEATH.
In the Judgement: “All who have followed him (Satan) must share his fate...” (Ranko Stefanovic) Now we see mankind- "small and great" standing before the great white throne of Judgment with none to whom to assign blame: The picture is all inclusive. None have died in such a way that they cannot be reached." (Peter Pett) Indeed, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father! (Philippians 2:11)
“‘Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire,’ (14a) demonstrating "that we must not literalise the scene. Death and Hades are not existing entities, they are ideas (cp. Rev. 6:8), as is much of what lies behind the beast (false empire) and the false prophet (false religion)." (Peter Pett) “‘The beast (with ten horns) was slain, and his body destroyed, and he was given to the burning of fire.’ (Daniel 7:11) Will it be said that the Bible teaches the immortality of the soul of these beasts? Neither in Daniel nor in the Apocalypse are they human beings, nor fallen angels, nor even animals. They are usually understood, like the great harlot who sits upon one of them, to symbolize empires, systems of government, or else false religions; in any case they are nothing but creations of the imagination. Eternal torments predicated of these symbolic beasts could therefore hardly mean anything else than the convulsions, divisions, dismemberments of institutions, the decline of which is prolonged through the ages until their complete disappearance. As for Satan who shares their fate, the Scripture teaches expressly that in the end he too, shall be ‘crushed’ and ‘brought to nought.’ [3— Gen. iii. 15; Rom. xvi. 20.]" (E. Petavel)
The lake of fire is “represented in the Divine Revelation amidst ‘blackness, and darkness, and tempest,’ like that which covered Mount Sinai at the giving of the Law…” (Edward White)
But John is given the vision that breaks through. “‘This is the second death.‘ (14b) John begins by naming the symbol to be defined—‘the Lake of Fire.’ He then defines that symbol by equating it with a different reality easy to be understood—‘the second death.’ What is the Lake of Fire? It is the symbol of something, but what does it symbolize?… The first death is the death we experience now in the present age. It is temporary—the redeemed will be raised from it to immortality and resurrection glory. The second death is the death of the age to come, the death from which God rescues those who believe in Jesus. The second death is the death that is the wages of sin. It is the destruction and perishing promised to the unfaithful. It is the death from which there is no resurrection or return. It is the death of the whole person forever... Because John defined the Lake of Fire as the second death, we are not free to reason the other direction. We do not have John’s permission to explain the second death as the Lake of Fire, which would be moving from the simpler to the more difficult. We follow John, however, each time we define the symbol ‘Lake of Fire’ as ‘the second death.’” (“Hell A Final Word” by Edward William Fudge)
Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
There are only two fates for all of mankind. “Registry of the living / Second death— The first reference to humans being tossed into the Lake of Fire identifies the lake as one of two final destinies. The other destiny is life in the City of God (the beloved city of Rev. 20:9), symbolized as registration in the Book of Life. Every human being finally goes to one destiny or the other. Either one’s name is written in the Book of Life or one is thrown into the Lake of Fire which is the second death (Rev. 20:14). The comparison is strong: life or death.
The images are vivid. The Book of Life is a registry of the living citizens in a particular city. When a resident dies, his or her name is removed from the city’s book of living citizens. When a new baby is born to a resident family, a new name is written in the Book of Life. In Revelation, the Book of Life is the registry of those who live forever in the New Jerusalem.” (Edward Fudge)
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