Bible Study The Lake of Fire or Hell

[reddogs]

We see many passages in scripture on the Lake of Fire and who is going to be cast there.
Revelation 19:20
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.

Revelation 20:15
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

So what is this lake of fire that the Bible speaks of, is it what Christian call 'Hell'? Well Christ gives us some clues when He said 'As in the Days of Lot', we find it in Luke 17:28.
Luke 17:28
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

It was just another day, and was starting as usual, and folks were waking up and eating their morning meal and having their morning beverage and doing everything they did every other morning, it looked like another great day and then suddenly everything changed. We see it in the next part of the text:
Luke 17:29-30
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

So what did Jesus mean by this. Well lets look what was happening 'in the days of Lot'.
10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

Lot had picked out a place to settle in and it looks like a good choice with good sources of refreshing water and nice vegetation all around, but there was a problem. The people there it says 'were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.' and as a result of that, after years of patience God sent two angels to Sodom and we know how they were treated by the people of Sodom. The angels went to Lot’s home. Abraham meanwhile, was certainly praying for Lot who was his nephew because God had clued him in that Sodom was doomed. And the angels told Lot to basically, get out of town, and escape for your life, and dont look behind you, escape to the mountains lest you be,” what? The angels say to get out lest you be 'consumed', lest you be burnt up. We see it in Genisis

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.
14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

You see Lot went to his family, his daughters and sons in law and said, God’s told me this place is doomed get out of town now. But they mocked him like he was a religious fanatic. Can that happen again? Well finally the angels said, we can’t wait any longer, escape for your life, lest you be 'consumed in the iniquity of the city.' And the Bible says he got out of town and the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. It rained down and it destroyed the city in basically a lake of fire, not the one that will be at the end, but Christ was giving a very true picture of what will happen at the end.

So what does the Bible teach about this lake of fire, which is what the bible calls, 'Hell' for sinners and those not in the book of Life. Is the devil in charge of hell? The Bible gives us solemn warnings about a day of destruction coming. Jesus speaks also of Noah's day with the same warning He gives about Lot and his family in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Matthew 24:36-39
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

There is a reward of the wicked and sinners, the punishment, that will eternally destroy them and all evil. The wages of sin is not eternal torment, but death in the lake of fire, which is the final place for the wicked and sinners before the Lord, which is the hell we are shown by scripture.

 

[reddogs]

So lets look at what the Bible says will happen to the Wicked...

Job 21:30 King James Version (KJV)
"30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath."

Psalm 37:10 King James Version (KJV)
"10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be."

Psalm 37:20 King James Version (KJV)
"20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away."

Psalm 37:28 King James Version (KJV)
"28 For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off."

Psalm 37:38 King James Version (KJV)
"38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off."

Psalm 73:17-18 King James Version (KJV)
"17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction."

Psalm 92:7 King James Version (KJV)
"7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:"

Psalm 104:35 King James Version (KJV)
"35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord."

Psalm 145:20 King James Version (KJV)
"20 The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy."

Proverbs 2:22 King James Version (KJV)
"22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it."

Nahum 1:9-10 King James Version (KJV)
"9 What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.10 For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry."

Malachi 4:1King James Version (KJV)
"4 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 King James Version (KJV)
"8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;"

2 Peter 2:6 King James Version (KJV)
"6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;"

2 Peter 2:9-12 King James Version (KJV)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

2 Peter 3:7 King James Version (KJV)
"7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

2 Peter 3:9-10 King James Version (KJV)
"9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. "

Revelation 20:9 King James Version (KJV)
"9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

Revelation 21:8 King James Version (KJV)
"8 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."

 

[reddogs]

Now the Bible show us those who are the wicked, and gives us the answer to what is sin.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:21
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 John 3:4
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

 

[reddogs]

We have many who say I dont have to worry, I am already gone up to heaven because my 'soul' has gone up and have nothing to worry about. Well, scripture tells us the "soul" is a living, breathing creature, the full human being. A "soul" (nephesh in Hebrew) was never a disembodied spirit. The Jews, like the Christians after them, succumbed to the lure of Platonic Greek notions of an immortal soul. It is not, and never was a Bible teaching. The Bible teaches resurrection. Immortality of the soul makes the resurrection redundant because it can only happen to someone who has died. An 'immortal soul' is never dead and has no need to repent or of Christs gift of eternal life.

Now take a look at the words of Christ Himself of what will happen at the end in this lake of fire...

Matthew 7:13 King James Version (KJV)
"13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:"

Matthew 10:28 King James Version (KJV)
"28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Matthew 13:40-42 King James Version (KJV)
"40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 25:41 King James Version (KJV)
"41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:"

We have to repent or we shall perish...

Luke 13:3 King James Version (KJV)
"3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

And Christ gives us eternal life...

John 3:14-16 King James Version (KJV)
"14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The wicked will be separated from God forever and ever, it is the end of sin and sinners as they will be destroyed and perish.

But the saints have nothing to fear, Christ will take the saints to heaven when He comes at the Second Coming as He promised.

John 14:1-3
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

 

[reddogs]

Now, we also have many who say that if you are acquainted with the Bible and deny the eternal punishment of the wicked, you are not honest. That if the judgment of the wicked is not forever, then salvation of the saints is not forever, because the term of forever is used of both. What would this result in for the wicked, 'eternal life', but the Bible doesnt teach that. Still others say that you can they escape the judgement of God by doing a little time in the fires of a place they call 'Purgatory', but the Bible doesnt teach that either. And we have other teaching that the devil is there with his minions, torturing the sinners for eternity, as he cant die since he is a 'spirit' being, but the Bible doest teach that if you search the scriptures

So what does the Bible teach, well lets look at what will happen to the being created by God who brought sin into the world..

Ezekiel 28 King James Version (KJV)

"11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more."

 

[for_his_glory]

The lake of fire may be a real place or a metaphor as scripture gives no literal location, but is very descriptive as a place of outer darkness and torment and being eternal as all those people including Satan, the beast and the false prophet that are cast into it will be remembered no more.

The duration of punishment for the one cast into the lake of fire is everlasting. Isaiah speaks of the everlasting burning of the fire that shall never be quenched and of the worm which shall never die (Isaiah 33:14; 66:24). David said that some would awake unto eternal life and others unto shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). John the Baptist and Jesus spoke of the unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:43). Paul the Apostle speaks of how the lost will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord (II Thessalonians 1:9).

The Apostle John says that the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they shall have no rest day and night; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 14:11; 19:3; 20:10). Jesus said that the lake of fire is a furnace of fire in Matthew 13:41, 42 and outer darkness in Matthew 22:13.

The fact that the lake of fire is eternal is plain from the following verses where it is described as:
1. Everlasting fire.......................Matthew 25:41
2. Everlasting punishment...........Matthew 25:46
3. Eternal damnation..................Mark 3:29
4. Everlasting destruction.......... II Thessalonians 1:9
5. Everlasting contempt..............Daniel 12:2
6. Torment forever and ever.......Revelation 14:9-11
7. Blackness of darkness forever.....Jude 1:13
8. Vengeance of eternal life............Jude 1:7
9. Lake of fire--forever and ever......Revelation 20:10
10. Second death--forever..............Revelation 20:14
11. Elements melt, earth and works are burned up.......2Peter Chapter 3

God gives us a description as in fire and brimstone which can be used literal as in Sodom and Gomorrah burned to ashes and as a metaphor for torment, suffering, punishment or as Matthew 8:12 describes it as outer darkness. The New Testament description is a bottomless pit (abyss) (Revelation 20:3), a lake (Revelation 20:14), darkness (Matthew 25:30), death (Revelation 2:11), destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9), everlasting torment (Revelation 20:10), a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30), and a place of gradated punishment (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47-48; Revelation 20:12-13), everlasting fire Matthew 25:41, everlasting punishment, Matthew 25:46, lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Jude 1:7 clearly states an example of eternal fire. This is the same Greek word that is used for everlasting fire and everlasting punishment as used in Matthew 18:8 and Matthew 25:41,46 (Notice: The place, as no real name is given, where the unsaved go is everlasting punishment, and not everlasting punishing. The punishment is eternal in its results, not in its duration. Unquenchable fire is a fire that cannot be quenched or put out until everything in its path is burned up.

In my own minds eye I see the lake of fire as a place where those who have rejected God, whether they be good or bad people, burning in a torment (fire and brimstone could be a metaphor for torment) of having to see those who have heard the call of God and have accepted Him and now live in a place of paradise with all the fullness of God in all His glory. No more tears, no more hurts, pain sickness, etc, etc. Those in the lake of fire are outside the realm of God continuing in all their sin, sickness, hurts, pain tears, etc. etc., but can see those who are in the glory of the Lord like looking through a window and wanting what others have, but will never have it and this is their torment for eternity as they are constantly consumed with the fire that burns in their souls for what they have rejected and now to late to receive.

 

[for_his_glory]

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

All people from every nation that have been raised from the dead are gathered before the throne of God and His Son Christ Jesus seated on His throne of glory as He separates the sheep from the goats, Matthew 25:31-46. The books are opened with one of them being the Lamb's book of life where all the saints of God have their names written as they have part of the resurrection and already judged and receive eternal life on such the second death hath no power, Rev 20:6; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57.

The other book is opened being the book of damnation where the enemies of God that were killed while trying to destroy the camp of the saints are now joined with those enemies of Christ that were also raised from their graves in the resurrection and are reserved unto the day of judgment, 2 Peter 2:9. They are now condemned, judged and will be cast into the lake of fire. And death (Spiritually dead) and hell (the grave) are 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.

Reference for hell:
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance: Hell
Hebrew # 7585 Sheol, Hades, or the world of the dead, grave, hell, pit
Greek # 86 place of departed souls, grave, hell

 

[reddogs]

The lake of fire may be a real place or a metaphor as scripture gives no literal location, but is very descriptive as a place of outer darkness and torment and being eternal as all those people including Satan, the beast and the false prophet that are cast into it will be remembered no more.

The duration of punishment for the one cast into the lake of fire is everlasting. Isaiah speaks of the everlasting burning of the fire that shall never be quenched and of the worm which shall never die (Isaiah 33:14; 66:24). David said that some would awake unto eternal life and others unto shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). John the Baptist and Jesus spoke of the unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:43). Paul the Apostle speaks of how the lost will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord (II Thessalonians 1:9).

The Apostle John says that the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they shall have no rest day and night; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 14:11; 19:3; 20:10). Jesus said that the lake of fire is a furnace of fire in Matthew 13:41, 42 and outer darkness in Matthew 22:13.

The fact that the lake of fire is eternal is plain from the following verses where it is described as:
1. Everlasting fire.......................Matthew 25:41
2. Everlasting punishment...........Matthew 25:46
3. Eternal damnation..................Mark 3:29
4. Everlasting destruction.......... II Thessalonians 1:9
5. Everlasting contempt..............Daniel 12:2
6. Torment forever and ever.......Revelation 14:9-11
7. Blackness of darkness forever.....Jude 1:13
8. Vengeance of eternal life............Jude 1:7
9. Lake of fire--forever and ever......Revelation 20:10
10. Second death--forever..............Revelation 20:14
11. Elements melt, earth and works are burned up.......2Peter Chapter 3

God gives us a description as in fire and brimstone which can be used literal as in Sodom and Gomorrah burned to ashes and as a metaphor for torment, suffering, punishment or as Matthew 8:12 describes it as outer darkness. The New Testament description is a bottomless pit (abyss) (Revelation 20:3), a lake (Revelation 20:14), darkness (Matthew 25:30), death (Revelation 2:11), destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9), everlasting torment (Revelation 20:10), a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30), and a place of gradated punishment (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47-48; Revelation 20:12-13), everlasting fire Matthew 25:41, everlasting punishment, Matthew 25:46, lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Jude 1:7 clearly states an example of eternal fire. This is the same Greek word that is used for everlasting fire and everlasting punishment as used in Matthew 18:8 and Matthew 25:41,46 (Notice: The place, as no real name is given, where the unsaved go is everlasting punishment, and not everlasting punishing. The punishment is eternal in its results, not in its duration. Unquenchable fire is a fire that cannot be quenched or put out until everything in its path is burned up.

In my own minds eye I see the lake of fire as a place where those who have rejected God, whether they be good or bad people, burning in a torment (fire and brimstone could be a metaphor for torment) of having to see those who have heard the call of God and have accepted Him and now live in a place of paradise with all the fullness of God in all His glory. No more tears, no more hurts, pain sickness, etc, etc. Those in the lake of fire are outside the realm of God continuing in all their sin, sickness, hurts, pain tears, etc. etc., but can see those who are in the glory of the Lord like looking through a window and wanting what others have, but will never have it and this is their torment for eternity as they are constantly consumed with the fire that burns in their souls for what they have rejected and now to late to receive.

Well it will be the same as Sodom and Gommorah with fire coming down and basically covering the earth in what is literally a 'lake of fire'.

2 Peter 3:10-13
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Malachi 4:1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Mark 13:31
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Luke 21:33
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Luke 12:49
I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Revelation 20:9
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Revelation 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

It is here when God rains fire down and the lake of fire consumes the wicked and the devil and his minions. The saints will have nothing to fear as they will be in the New Jerusalem with Christ.

 

[for_his_glory]

John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Now, we know that the lake of fire has no known place, especially here on earth as this present heaven and earth will have passed away and made new again before the New Jerusalem is ushered down, so it can only be found in the outer darkness of the universe where they who are cast into it are remembered no more.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

[reddogs]

John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Now, we know that the lake of fire has no known place, especially here on earth as this present heaven and earth will have passed away and made new again before the New Jerusalem is ushered down, so it can only be found in the outer darkness of the universe where they who are cast into it are remembered no more.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Yes, very good verses. Its clear from scripture that the wicked will perish on that most can agree, but they will be consumed in the lake of fire, as there is no place for them in the universe and for sin. But it has become confused with all the Greek being used for translation so many Christians have a hard time understanding it. Here is a good explanation on this point I came on:
'...there are also several other passages that refer to hell, even if the exact word isn’t used. That’s because the English word “hell” was often used as a translation for multiple Greek or Hebrew words. And sometimes its use was literal, sometimes it was symbolic.

As with all Bible verses, it depends on the context of the passage.

First, let’s look at some of these words from the original languages and find out what they meant.

We’ll start with sheol, which means “the abode of the dead,”1 and hades, which was a term used to refer to “the underground abode of the dead” in Greek mythology.2

There was also the word gehenna, which originally meant “a place or state of misery.”3 It was used in Scripture to refer to places of filth and wickedness where corpses were burnt.4

These definitions refer to the location of the dead, not necessarily including anything about punishment or torment.

Additionally, the mention of a location (and the indication that it’s underground) aligns with the literal location of the dead—in underground graves.

The Bible writers likely used these words not to describe a location for hell, but to provide a metaphor for what hell is, or what it brings about—nonexistence, after destruction by consuming fire.

But how can we be sure? What about the Bible verses that talk about hell in relation to the fate of the wicked?

Again, it’s all about context. That’s why it’s best to study not just one verse, but a whole chapter. Or to look at different passages throughout Scripture that address the same issue or idea....

Hell is eternal​

This is another belief born from tradition and influenced by Greek culture.5 It came from a prominent idea among Greek thought-leaders that the human soul is immortal.6

It wasn’t a belief held by the followers of Jesus or the early Christian church.

Let’s follow this idea to its logical end: If all souls are immortal, then there must be an afterlife destination opposite of heaven to house the souls of those who didn’t repent and accept Jesus. And if they rejected the Savior who would give them eternal peace and joy, then wherever they go must be filled with eternal suffering and sadness.

But looking at Scripture, immortality is only attributed to God (1 Timothy 6:15–16), and the only people that inherit eternal life are those who accept Jesus (John 3:16; 17:3; 1 John 5:11, 20).

While the effects of hell’s flames are eternal and cannot be reversed, the lives of those encountering the flames are not eternal. They will experience the “second death.” Their punishment isn’t continual, but it is “everlasting”—because it’s final (Matthew 25:46). They will forever cease to exist.'

 

[for_his_glory]

We have always been taught hell is a place where non-believers in God go to for eternity, but according to scripture this is not what hell is. Hell is described as the world of the dead, a place where the departed go that have died as being lowered in a grave/pit. There they are kept until the return of Christ to either stand in Gods Great White Throne judgment for those who are not found written in the Lambs Book of Life, Rev 20:11-15, or those who have died in Christ that will stand in his judgment to give an account for the things done here on earth, 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Hell is not the lake of fire as God gives us a description of the lake of fire as in fire and brimstone which can be used literal as in Sodom and Gomorrah burned to ashes and as a metaphor for torment, suffering, punishment or as Matthew 8:12 describes it as outer darkness. The New Testament description is a bottomless pit (abyss) (Revelation 20:3), a lake (Revelation 20:14), darkness (Matthew 25:30), death (Revelation 2:11), destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9), everlasting torment (Revelation 20:10), a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30), and a place of gradated punishment (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47-48; Revelation 20:12-13), everlasting fire Matthew 25:41, everlasting punishment, Matthew 25:46, lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance: Hell
Hebrew # 7585 Sheol, Hades, or the world of the dead, grave, hell, pit
Greek # 86 place of departed souls, grave, hell
Greek # 1067 Gehenna, the Valley of the sons of Hinnom South of Jerusalem, figuratively and literal of place of punishment.
Greek # 5020. Tartaroo tar-tar-o'-o from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment:--cast down to hell.

Hades is the English of the Greek word ᾅδης, just as Gehenna is the English for the Greek word γέεννα and Tartaros is the English word for the Greek word ταρταρόω


The English word hell, back in 1611, meant about the same as Hades, that being covered or unseen as in grave/pit. We do not see those in the grave as they are unseen to the eye as they are covered with dirt, or some placed in a tomb. The word hell is derived from the Saxon helan, to cover, and signifying merely the covered, or invisible place. The habitation of those who have gone from the visible terrestrial region to the world of spirits.

Jude 1:7 clearly states an example of eternal fire. This is the same Greek word that is used for everlasting fire and everlasting punishment as used in Matthew 18:8 and Matthew 25:41,46 (Notice: The place, as no real name is given, where the unsaved go is everlasting punishment, and not everlasting punishing. The punishment is eternal in its results, not in its duration. Unquenchable fire is a fire that cannot be quenched or put out until everything in its path is burned up.

Gehenna - Valley of Hinnom, Old Testament as Gai Ben-Hinnom, Tophet, in the Talmud as Gehinnam

The oldest historical reference to the valley is found in Joshua 15:8, 18:16 which describe tribal boundaries. The next chronological reference to the valley is at the time of King Ahaz of Judah who sacrificed his sons there according to 2 Chron. 28:3. Isaiah does not mention Gehenna by name, but the burning place, Isaiah 30:33 in which the Assyrian army are to be destroyed, may be read Topheth, and the final verse of Isaiah which concerns the corpses of the same or a similar battle, Isaiah 66:24 , where their worm does not die. Also read Jeremiah 19:6-8 as a reference to the dead bodies that are thrown over the wall of Jerusalem into Gehenna/Tophet.
(Part of this is from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehenna and the last part starting with Jeremiah 19:6-8 is my own writing.)

Flavius Josephus describes in his book of wars:
Now the seditious at first gave orders that the dead should be buried out of the public treasury, as not enduring the stench of their dead bodies. But afterwards, when they could not do that, they had them cast down from the walls into the valleys beneath. (War 5.12.3).

Matthew 5:29, 30; Mark 9:43-48 Jesus uses the prophetic symbolic of Gehenna as calling it hell or fires of hell meaning the grave/pit where many were burned to death there as the worm did not die there, meaning that there were always new maggots going through their life-cycles, feeding on the dead corpse. Also note Isaiah 66:24.

 

[Tenchi]

The wages of sin is not eternal torment,

Nope. This is not supported by what you've written in the OP of this thread or by the Bible.

Most importantly, "death," or "perish," or "destruction," or "destroyed" in Scripture do not all equate to "annihilation" or to the "utter cessation of existence."

That there is a "second death" suggests this. If "death" is to be taken to mean "annihilation," then a second death could not follow the first.

What of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) where the father says his son was "dead"? At no time in the parable did the son actually, physically die. The father was speaking figuratively of the effect of their separation from each other on their relationship. The son going off into a "far country" was, in regards to their interactions with each other, as if the son had died. This is, I believe, the sense in which the "second death" is spoken of in Scripture. The "second death" describes complete and permanent separation from God that is the effect of being in hell, not annihilation.

Jesus spoke of old and new wineskins and how that putting new wine into old wineskins would burst them and cause them to "perish." (Luke 5:37) There is no indication in what Jesus said that he thought the old, burst wineskins were annihilated by bursting. In other translations, the word rendered "perish" in the KJV is better translated "ruined." It is in this sense that the sinner in hell "perishes," not in the sense of "an end to all existence." W. E. Vine in his Bible Lexicon makes this observation about the Greek word apollumi (sometimes rendered "perish"):

"The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being."

There is also the way in which the apostle Paul used terms like "dead" or "destroyed" figuratively. In his letter to the Christians at Rome, he explained that the Christian person is, by their union with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection, made "dead unto sin." Clearly, he did not mean that they had been annihilated, nor was he teaching that in being made "dead to sin," their capacity to sin had been annihilated (See Romans 6:1-2, Romans 7:14-25). No, when he wrote that the believers at Rome were "dead to sin," he meant only that they had been separated from the sin-producing power/control of the "old man" (Romans 6:6), the unregenerate person they had been before being saved.

Paul wrote that the "body of sin" was "destroyed" so that no Christian had anymore to serve sin (Romans 6). It is evident that he did not, by "destroyed," mean to say that the sinful nature of their bodies had been annihilated. If that had been the case, he would not have had to write Romans 6 (or Romans 7:14-25) !

Paul wrote also of "putting to death the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13) in an on-going sense, implying that the fleshly, carnal deeds of the body were not annihilated when put to death, for if they had been, they would not require a persistent, repeated "putting to death." Instead, Paul only meant by this phrase that the believer, by the Spirit's power, should be in control of their body, never yielding to a sinful indulgence of its impulses.

In his letter to the Colossian believers Paul wrote, "For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Obviously, if he had meant that the Christians at Colosse had been annihilated, he would not have bothered to write to them.

And so it goes in Scripture, the terms you seem to want to construe as meaning "the end of being entirely," are often used to mean other things, like "ruination," "loss" and/or "separation."

To all this, one can add Christ's parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus which shows that dwelling in hell doesn't result in the utter extinction of one's being. (Luke 16:19-31)

There is also the obvious fact that the "everlasting punishment" of hell (Matthew 25:46) cannot be everlasting if one is annihilated. Punishment necessarily entails consciousness. One can't punish a rock or a roll of toilet paper. Only conscious things can be punished - and only so long as they are conscious. The moment the consciousness of the one being punished ends, the punishment itself is ended. And so, if hell is the everlasting punishment Jesus said it was, then the one being so punished cannot cease to experience that punishment.

 

[reddogs]

Nope. This is not supported by what you've written in the OP of this thread or by the Bible.

Most importantly, "death," or "perish," or "destruction," or "destroyed" in Scripture do not all equate to "annihilation" or to the "utter cessation of existence."

That there is a "second death" suggests this. If "death" is to be taken to mean "annihilation," then a second death could not follow the first.

What of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) where the father says his son was "dead"? At no time in the parable did the son actually, physically die. The father was speaking figuratively of the effect of their separation from each other on their relationship. The son going off into a "far country" was, in regards to their interactions with each other, as if the son had died. This is, I believe, the sense in which the "second death" is spoken of in Scripture. The "second death" describes complete and permanent separation from God that is the effect of being in hell, not annihilation.

Jesus spoke of old and new wineskins and how that putting new wine into old wineskins would burst them and cause them to "perish." (Luke 5:37) There is no indication in what Jesus said that he thought the old, burst wineskins were annihilated by bursting. In other translations, the word rendered "perish" in the KJV is better translated "ruined." It is in this sense that the sinner in hell "perishes," not in the sense of "an end to all existence." W. E. Vine in his Bible Lexicon makes this observation about the Greek word apollumi (sometimes rendered "perish"):

"The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being."

There is also the way in which the apostle Paul used terms like "dead" or "destroyed" figuratively. In his letter to the Christians at Rome, he explained that the Christian person is, by their union with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection, made "dead unto sin." Clearly, he did not mean that they had been annihilated, nor was he teaching that in being made "dead to sin," their capacity to sin had been annihilated (See Romans 6:1-2, Romans 7:14-25). No, when he wrote that the believers at Rome were "dead to sin," he meant only that they had been separated from the sin-producing power/control of the "old man" (Romans 6:6), the unregenerate person they had been before being saved.

Paul wrote that the "body of sin" was "destroyed" so that no Christian had anymore to serve sin (Romans 6). It is evident that he did not, by "destroyed," mean to say that the sinful nature of their bodies had been annihilated. If that had been the case, he would not have had to write Romans 6 (or Romans 7:14-25) !

Paul wrote also of "putting to death the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13) in an on-going sense, implying that the fleshly, carnal deeds of the body were not annihilated when put to death, for if they had been, they would not require a persistent, repeated "putting to death." Instead, Paul only meant by this phrase that the believer, by the Spirit's power, should be in control of their body, never yielding to a sinful indulgence of its impulses.

In his letter to the Colossian believers Paul wrote, "For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Obviously, if he had meant that the Christians at Colosse had been annihilated, he would not have bothered to write to them.

And so it goes in Scripture, the terms you seem to want to construe as meaning "the end of being entirely," are often used to mean other things, like "ruination," "loss" and/or "separation."

To all this, one can add Christ's parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus which shows that dwelling in hell doesn't result in the utter extinction of one's being. (Luke 16:19-31)

There is also the obvious fact that the "everlasting punishment" of hell (Matthew 25:46) cannot be everlasting if one is annihilated. Punishment necessarily entails consciousness. One can't punish a rock or a roll of toilet paper. Only conscious things can be punished - and only so long as they are conscious. The moment the consciousness of the one being punished ends, the punishment itself is ended. And so, if hell is the everlasting punishment Jesus said it was, then the one being so punished cannot cease to experience that punishment.

So how would this not constitute 'eternal life' for sinners?

 

[Tenchi]

So how would this not constitute 'eternal life' for sinners?

??? As I've pointed out, "death" does not always - or even commonly - mean "annihilation" in the Bible. Very often, it refers only to separation. This is, I believe, the essence of the "second death" in hell; it is eternal separation from God, not the cessation of existence; as such, it is the end forever of well-being, not being itself.

 

[Free]

Hell is most likely the lake of fire. Jesus spoke of the final destination of unbelievers as gehenna, a place where refuse, etc., was burned. It was a place that one did not want to go to and should do everything in their power to avoid. Jesus also speaks of fire being the final judgement (Matt 5:22; 7:19; 13:40, 18:8-9; 25:41; etc.).

And, of course, Revelation says the final destination of unbelievers is the lake of fire. Putting two and two together, then, it is a reasonable conclusion that what we think of as hell, the final destination of unbelievers, is the lake of fire.

It's unfortunate that the KJV decided to translate three different Greek words as "hell," including hades, which is just the grave, the equivalent of sheol.

The best conclusion is that hell is eternal, there is no annihilation, and the punishment will be forever.

 

[reddogs]

??? As I've pointed out, "death" does not always - or even commonly - mean "annihilation" in the Bible. Very often, it refers only to separation. This is, I believe, the essence of the "second death" in hell; it is eternal separation from God, not the cessation of existence; as such, it is the end forever of well-being, not being itself.

I am afraid scripture says different..
Malachi 4:1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

 

[Tenchi]

I am afraid scripture says different..
Malachi 4:1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Here's the verse you cited in its immediate context:

Malachi 3:16-4:3 (NASB)
16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name.
17 "They will be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."
18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."
2 "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.
3 "You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says the LORD of hosts.

So Malachi, speaking on God's behalf, described a very ugly end to "evildoers." Is it appropriate, though, in the larger context of all of Scripture to understand Malachi to be describing the annihilation of evildoers? No. Christ's parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) directly contradicts such an interpretation of Malachi's words. So, do Christ's words in Matthew 25:46 when he said that the punishment of the wicked would be eternal, or everlasting. Punishment necessarily entails consciousness. One cannot punish a mud puddle, or a rake, or a pile of leaves. Only so long as a person is conscious can they punished. By ending consciousness, annihilation would actually alleviate punishment. Jesus, then, could not have meant "annihilation" when he spoke in Matthew 25:46 of "eternal punishment."

So, then, what was Malachi intending to say in the passage above? Well, it's important to note that he spoke of a day that would be "blazing like a furnace." A day? Not a place called hell? Not the Lake of Fire? A day that would make "chaff" of the wicked? Malachi can't be referring to the eternal punishment of hell in speaking of a day that "burns like a furnace." Instead, he is referring to the Last Day of the Final Judgment, the Day of the Lord, I think, where the "fire" of God's holy justice tests the work of the righteous (1 Corinthians 3:10-15), separates the "sheep" from the "goats," and casts the wicked into the eternal punishment of hell (the Lake of Fire) [Matthew 7:22; Matthew 12:36; Matthew 24:48-51; Luke 12:46-48; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:2, etc.].

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 (NASB)
7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.

Here, Paul, like Jesus, wrote of the "penalty of eternal destruction" by which he meant that those bearing such a penalty would be forever kept "away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." Paul, then, did not have the extinction of existence in mind when he used the term "destruction" but separation from the Source of all Light, Truth and Goodness. On the Day of Christ's return, the Day of the Lord, the righteous and the wicked would be separated out from one another, the righteous glorified, the wicked suffering God's retributive justice.

Malachi 4:1, then, is speaking figuratively of the Day of the Lord, not of the final, eternal residence of the unrepentant wicked. The "oven" of God's holy justice on that Day will not leave a single one of the wicked untouched, but will consign them all - "root and branch" - to the eternal punishment, the eternal "destruction," that is being separated from God, from Christ, in the total isolation and torment of hell's "darkness of blackness forever" (Jude 1:13).

 

[reddogs]

I think you need to read what is given and understand what it means...

Isaiah 13:6
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Jeremiah 25:33
And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

Zephaniah 1:14-15
14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

Luke 12:46
The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

2 Peter 2:9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

And you can see what is being foretold...
Revelation 14:9-11
9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented 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 ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

 

[reddogs]

Hell is most likely the lake of fire. Jesus spoke of the final destination of unbelievers as gehenna, a place where refuse, etc., was burned. It was a place that one did not want to go to and should do everything in their power to avoid. Jesus also speaks of fire being the final judgement (Matt 5:22; 7:19; 13:40, 18:8-9; 25:41; etc.).

And, of course, Revelation says the final destination of unbelievers is the lake of fire. Putting two and two together, then, it is a reasonable conclusion that what we think of as hell, the final destination of unbelievers, is the lake of fire.

It's unfortunate that the KJV decided to translate three different Greek words as "hell," including hades, which is just the grave, the equivalent of sheol.

The best conclusion is that hell is eternal, there is no annihilation, and the punishment will be forever.

Well Christ gave the answer...

John 3:15
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 10:28
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

And its given pretty clear...
Romans 5:21
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

[Tenchi]

I think you need to read what is given and understand what it means...

Isaiah 13:6
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Jeremiah 25:33
And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

Zephaniah 1:14-15
14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

Luke 12:46
The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

2 Peter 2:9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

And you can see what is being foretold...
Revelation 14:9-11
9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented 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 ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

This is all a deflection from what I wrote. Your list of verses/passages above just offers rabbit trails, rather than dealing directly with what I pointed out from the verse in Malachi and related passages of Scripture.