I'm sharing the following just as food for thought within this particular discussion. I guess the question we have to ask ourselves is: did our Father mean what He said through Paul's mouth in I Corinthians 15:26 that the
last enemy to be destroyed will be death itself?
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The Lake of Fire
(from
Is Hell Eternal? Or Will God’s Plan Fail, chapter 11 (
abridged & edited)
Pittsburgh Bible Institute, 1920)
There are only three chapters in the Bible that distinctly mention
“the lake of fire.” They are Revelation 19, 20 and 21. In order to have them clearly before us we will quote each passage.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (19:20).
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for the ages of the ages (20:10).
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hades delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (20:13-15).
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (21:8).
… and Brimstone
Notice that the lake of fire specifically signifies
“a fire burning with brimstone,”
… a lake of fire burning with brimstone (19:20).
… the lake of fire and brimstone (20:10).
… the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone (21:8).
The word
“brimstone” defines the character of the fire. The word
theion translated
“brimstone” is exactly the same word
theion, which means
“divine.” The verb derived from
theion is
theioo, which means to hallow, to make divine. Divine purification and divine consecration are the meaning in Greek: a
“lake of fire and brimstone” would mean a
“lake of divine purification.”
In the ordinary explanation, this fundamental meaning of the word is entirely left out, and nothing but eternal torment is associated with it.
“The lake of fire” does not appear in Scripture until the introduction to the Millennium. Toward the end of the age called the Millennium, Satan and his helpers are to be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and
“tormented” there.
The word
“torment” needs study. In the New Testament the same word is used of one
“sick of the palsy, grievously tormented” (Matthew 8:6). It is used of the disciples’ ship in Galilee, and is translated
“tossed with waves” (Matthew 14:24). It is translated by the word
“toiling” in Mark 6:48. It is translated by the word
“vexed” in speaking of Lot (II Peter 2:8). It is translated by a word that means
“birth-pains” (Revelation 12:2). In the other Scriptures it is translated by the word
“torment” or
“tormented.”
The original idea of the verb is to put to the test by rubbing on a touchstone. The original idea was to test some metal that looked like gold to find whether it was real or not. The meaning and usage of this word harmonizes with the idea of divine purification and testing. Through the hidden, loving purpose of God, this will be a birth-pang; and the grace of God will not be absent – as He says,
Behold, I am making all things new (21:5).
God will leave no spot in the whole universe unrenewed.
Every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:10 11).
The Second Death
There is another phrase that throws further light upon this great theme and that is
“the second death,”
… the lake of fire. This is the second death (20:13-15).
… in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (21:8).
In death Christ conquered him who had the power of death.
Seeing, then, the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He himself also in like manner did take part of the same, that through death He might destroy him having the power of death – that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14).
So then the death of Christ made provision for the death of death.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8).
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (I Corinthians 15:26).
When this last enemy is destroyed there will be a universe
without death; then all things will have been made new; then the Son will hand over a finished work to the Father. This world is especially concerned with the forces of good and the forces of evil, and is the seed plot of the universe. It was the place where our Lord was born and died, where He is to come again and reap the fruits of His victory. This world has been the theater for the heading up of evil and its final overthrow, so, not only is this world the seed plot, but also the greatest battlefield in the universe.
The lake of fire will yield to the renewing work of Him who makes
“all things new” (21:5). The divine purification will be complete; Christ becomes
All and in all, that God
“may be All in all.”
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Again, just food for thought, but when added to the fact that four separate Biblical Hebrew and Greek words, none of which originally meant Hell or eternal conscious torment (even 'hades' was a word that only meant a place of
temporary punishment) began to all be purposefully translated (in the 4th Century AD, I believe) as 'Hell,' I'm thinking that absorbing these concepts is just yet another one of those 'gateway drugs' like (a) Biblical polygamy and (b) improperly equating ekklesia and what we now know as 'church' that can lead one to a more full understanding of God and His Love.
I do get how attached our individual Christian religions have programmed us to be to the notion that 99.7% of all humanity will end up being tormented consciously for eternity. Selfishly thankful that we and our own loved ones have been lucky enough to stumble upon the one strategy for avoiding it, we've been lulled into a numbness that allows us to callously ignore the fact that the vast majority of our brothers and sisters on Earth would end up going through eternal suffering for having failed to grasp knowledge we ourselves might not have grasped had we just had different parents and unlucky enough to have been born in a land bereft of Christianity. Why should
we care about all those idiots who didn't get it right like we do?
We've been scared into the pews (and had our dollars and dimes scared out of our pockets to fund the corporate churches) by those who inculcate a deep fear that we're all doomed unless we comply with whatever step-and-fetch-it dogmas our priests and pastors and Holy Roman Emperors have saddled us with. But what if that was
never God's intention -- either to consign the vast majority of us to the kind of eternal torment more likely thought up by a deranged human being, or to use the fear of such a fate as His only way to make us love, worship and glorify Him? What if He has never been limited to something so hateful? What if John 3:16 and Romans 5:18 actually mean what they say?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. (Isaiah 45:23)
It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'" (Romans 14:11)
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. (Romans 5:18)
For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. (I Corinthians 15:21-26) (all NIV)
If we have an All-Powerful God; if by believing in the Resurrection of His Son He has promised us all (whoever believes in Him) life for the ages in Heaven after death; if upon His Son's second coming every knee will acknowledge Him and bow before Him; if His Son's righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people; if, just as in Adam all were subject to death but are also all to be made alive by Christ; and if the last enemy that will be abolished is death itself, why are we to conclude that when God says all He doesn't mean all?
