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(#AmazonAdLink) My book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell? is now available (#AmazonAdLink) on Amazon. I am doing a series of podcast studies that focus on some of the content from the book. The studies look at the eight key terms that are often equated with hell, and about a dozen key passages that are thought to teach about hell.

If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this article, we are considering the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. This is probably the premier passage in the Bible that convinces people about the reality of hell as a place of eternal suffering and torment. But is this really what Jesus is teaching in this text?

No. In fact, when people use Luke 16:19-31 to terrorize others about hell, they end up missing the entire point of the story.

Does Luke 16:19-31 teach about torment in hell?

Every discussion of fire (or hell) in Scripture must include an examination of the story of Lazarus and the rich man from Luke 16:19-31. With its detailed and lurid depiction of the suffering of a rich man in the flames of hell, this account appears to support all the horrifying ideas of hell as a place of eternal torture for the unredeemed.

Luke 16:19-31 contains the portrayal of a man being tormented in flames, who cries out for just a drop of water to cool his burning tongue (cf. Luke 16:23-24). When most people think of hell, this is the sort of image they have in mind.

One of the main verses in this passage which seems to teach about the reality of torment and suffering in the flames of hell is Luke 16:24. Here is what it says:

Luke 16:24. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’”

Yet not everyone is convinced that Jesus is describing a literal place with literal flames where literal people suffer and burn for all eternity.

Several factors reveal that Jesus intended some other sort of message with this story.

1. Do you really go to hell by neglecting the poor?

First, if this is a story about how to escape hell and go to heaven when you die, then the lesson of the story is that eternal life and entrance into heaven can be earned by being poor, or at least by being generous to the poor. If you don’t take care of the poor, then off to hell with you!

But is this what Scripture teaches anywhere else? No. Far from it.

Eternal life is the free gift of God to everyone and anyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47). While there are many blessings and benefits connected to taking care of the poor, escaping hell is not one of them.

2. Are believers and unbelievers all in the same giant “cavern” of hell?

Second, the presence of Abraham and Lazarus in the same vicinity as the suffering rich man does not fit any other portrayal of hell.

In other words, if Jesus is describing the place where the unredeemed dead spend eternity, then what is Abraham doing there, and why does Lazarus get sent there? Is there some sort of annex or suburb of hell where the redeemed can live in relative peace and safety while looking across the chasm at the sufferings of the poor sinners in the torture chamber of hell?

Though many scholars try to explain this away by speaking of “Abraham’s Bosom” as a temporary holding tank for the redeemed which was then emptied at the resurrection of Jesus, such an idea is tenuous at best and is not taught anywhere else in Scripture.

To the contrary, the image of “Abraham’s Bosom” comes from Babylonian intertestamental Jewish literature. The Babylonians believed that there was a single afterlife location for all the dead, and this dwelling place had two regions, one for the righteous and one for the wicked.

Some of the Jewish people living in Babylon picked up on this idea and began telling stories about something similar for Jews. A few of these accounts (which are now found in the Babylonian Talmud) speak of “Abraham’s Bosom” as the place that righteous Jews went after they died.

But no passage from Scripture teaches this concept.

The fact that Jesus refers to it in this story should not be read as an endorsement of the idea, but as a way of using a common image from that culture to make a theological point.

I’ve mentioned it before, but if I began to tell you about meeting Peter at the Pearly Gates, you would know I was using this common folktale image to tell a fictional (and possibly humorous) story, but you would not imagine that I was speaking of a literal place or that people who die actually appear before Peter at the Pearly Gates.

So also with Jesus referring to a common folk-tale about Abraham’s Bosom. He was using the imagery, not because it is correct, but because it helped make the ultimate point Jesus wanted to make. We’ll see what that point was in bit.

3. This story appears to be a parable

Third, despite the claims of some, this story of Jesus contains all the markings of a parable.

There are numerous and significant elements of this story that are parallel to the other parables in the preceding context.

For example, both this story and the Parable of the Unjust Steward begin with the words “There was a certain rich man” (Luke 16:1, 19). These two parables focus the reader’s attention on certain rich men of Luke 16:14 and how their treatment of the poor was an abomination to God (Luke 16:15). Some of the other contextual parallels are considered below.

The only real reason some people think this is not a parable is that Jesus specifically names two characters: Abraham and Lazarus. No other recorded parable of Jesus provides a proper name for any of the key human characters.

However, “Satan” is mentioned in Mark 4:14, “the son of man” as a title for Jesus in Matthew 13:37, and several personal titles in Luke 10:25-37. Many believe that the story of Job is a parable, in which case, it contains the names of several people.

Furthermore, outside of Scripture, many ancient parables often used the names of people in the telling of the stories. So the presence of two names in Luke 16 fails to prove the story is not a parable.

Some speculate that maybe Jesus used the name of a popular beggar who was well-known in the streets of Jerusalem. The other possibility (as mentioned previously) is that Jesus was referencing a popular Jewish folktale which His hearers would have immediately recognized as fiction.

Again, just because someone mentions Peter’s name when speaking of the Pearly Gates, this does not mean they are referring to a literal location or future event.

4. Jesus Speaks of Hadēs Instead of Gehenna

Fourth, everywhere else Jesus speaks about individual people in “hell,” He uses the word gehenna, which referred to the Valley of Hinnom outside the walls of Jerusalem. But here Jesus uses the word hadēs (Luke 16:23).

Elsewhere, Jesus uses this word only as a way of describing the destruction that will come upon certain cities (Matt 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23).

Furthermore, the word hadēs was a Greek word for the abode of the dead, and was also the name of the Greek god of the netherworld. Once again, this provides evidence that Jesus is not speaking about hell (the way He understands it), for then He would have used the word gehenna.

Instead, Jesus uses a word that He typically uses to refer to the destruction of cities, combines in the Greek idea of the afterlife, mixes in some Babylonian imagery of two compartments in hell, and uses this all in connection with the Jewish history and Jewish folktales.

Why? Because this approach makes a memorable story.

Jesus is clearly mixing images from numerous sources so that He can tell a parable to His listeners that will connect with them on multiple levels. Jesus is making a point that He doesn’t want His audience to miss.

Ironically, due to the Christian preoccupation with sinners burning in the flames of hell, we have mostly missed the point of Jesus. But what was that point? The context makes it quite clear.

5. Contextual Keys Help us Understand Luke 16:19-31

This context is the fifth and final piece of evidence that helps us know that the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a parable rather than a description of a literal place.

Jesus has been making one single point in the preceding context, and this story hammers that point home.

The setting for the context is found in Luke 15:1-2. After Jesus welcomes and spends time with the sinners and tax-collectors, the Jewish religious leaders chide Him for eating and befriending such people. They believe it is better to remain separate and distant from such wicked people.

So Jesus sets out to correct this entire line of thinking. In doing so, Jesus tells five parables.

The first three parables explain why Jesus does what He does, and what will come of His actions. These are the Parables of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7), the Lost Coin (Luke 15:4-10), and the Lost Son, also called the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

The third parable is transitionary. It not only shows how the younger son went into a far country to squander his inheritance, but also introduces the elder son, who stayed at home and worked the family farm. Yet as the story closes, it becomes obvious that the Prodigal Son, or the Lost Son, is not the one who went into a far country, but is rather the one who remained.

It is the elder son who is actually furthest away from the heart of his father, and wants to keep separate from his sinful, wayward, younger brother. The father invites the older son to the feasting and dancing, but the son refuses, preferring to stay instead in the darkness outside the party. Because he was angry, he would not go in (Luke 15:28).

It is also helpful to recognize that this third parable, the Parable of the Lost Son, not only serves as a transition to the stories that follow, but also serves as a parallel (but opposite) story to that of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

In other words, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is an inversion of the story of the Prodigal Son.

-Both the prodigal son and Lazarus find themselves in desperate situations. Both beg for scraps.

-Both are in the company of unclean animals (dogs, swine)

-Both stories have father figures: The rich man calls Abraham his “father.” Lazarus leans on Abraham like the prodigal son is held by his father.

-Both contain a theme of distance—there is a great distance between the rich man and Lazarus, and between the father as his wastrel son (in “a far country”). Unlike the father who sees his son from a long way off and runs to meet him, the rich man maintains his structural distance and indifference to the poor, so he sees Lazarus “far away” with Abraham.

-Both the prodigal son and the rich man live sumptuously, but then lose everything. But the prodigal son “comes to his senses” while the rich man does not change his way of thinking. He still treats Lazarus like an inferior wanting him to bring him water with “the tip of his finger,” and then to warn his brothers. He is still thinking of his own status and social group, not of the poor. (Bartlett, (#AmazonAdLink) Seven Stories, 90-91.)

After these three parables about His own mission and ministry, with the third parable ending with a depiction of the religious rulers as the elder son, Jesus transitions to two other parables, both of which focus on the ministry of the religious rulers. Jesus is seeking to contrast His ministry with theirs by showing where their methods and goals come from and what their methods and goals accomplish.

The first parable that Jesus tells about the ministry of the religious leaders is the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-13). Though many assume that Jesus is describing how His followers are supposed to function in this world, this is not the point of the parable. If it were, Jesus would be telling His followers to cheat their employers and live unscrupulous lives for the sake of gaining favor with others and wealth for themselves.

Does this sound like something Jesus would teach? No. Quite to the contrary, this sounds like the opposite of what Jesus would teach. And indeed, it is.

People get confused, though, because they think that Jesus applies the Parable of the Unjust Steward to His followers in Luke 16:9-12, where He seems to say that we should use riches and wealth for making friends with others.

But notice Jesus basically says, “And when your money fails, they will welcome you into their home for ever and ever” (Luke 16:9). We all know that this is not true. If Jesus was actually “applying” the parable here, then He is flat-out wrong.

Therefore, it is better to see that this so-called “application” in Luke 16:9 is not the application at all, but is a tongue-in-cheek sarcastic reference to how the people of this world will not treat you when your wealth is gone.

Jesus is saying, “If you use money to gain friends, don’t be surprised that when your money runs out, so will your friends. Though they may promise that you will always be welcome in their home, this promise only lasts as long as your money does.”

This is reality, and this is also exactly what Jesus just taught in Parable of the Lost Son. When the son’s money ran out, he had no home to go to, and was sent to live with the swine, and no one gave him anything (Luke 15:14-16).

So the Parable of the Unjust Steward is not about how the disciples of Jesus should act and behave, but is instead about how the world works, and how the religious leaders act and behave to gain friends and influence for themselves.

Many of the religious leaders had become very rich by making deals with merchants and political leaders. They were using mammon the way the world used it, to benefit and enrich themselves, and get more money and power for themselves.

Yet it is not just finances that they dealt with; they also trafficked in the forgiveness of sins.

Religious leaders have always sold the forgiveness of sins to others for money. Such a practice did not begin with the selling of indulgences by the Catholic Church in the days of Martin Luther.

The religious leaders were also engaging in this practice in the days of Jesus. Though the religious leaders were supposed to be stewards of the things of God, they were actually using their position to not only cheat others, but to also cheat their master, God.

Jesus, however, gave away forgiveness for free, which is the only way it can be given. But this free forgiveness to the sinners and tax-collectors did not make Him popular among the religious crowd, for it threatened both their teachings and their livelihood.

John the Baptist threatened the religious establishment as well, which is why they had him killed. This is why Jesus mentions John in Luke 16:14-18. John had challenged Herod about his marriage to Herodias (Matt 14:1-12), which eventually led to Herod beheading John.

This event in the life of John also explains why Jesus throws in the teaching about marriage and divorce in Luke 16:18. This is not a non-sequitur, but logically follows what Jesus has said about John. John’s condemnation of the divorce and remarriage of Herodias led to John’s death. This, Jesus says, is what true followers of God can expect from those who live according to the values and principles of this world.

Now the Pharisees knew that they were being derided by Jesus, and so they sought to deride Him (Luke 16:14). This proves once again, that the Parable of the Unjust Steward is not about how followers of Jesus are to behave in this world, but is instead about how some corrupt religious leaders behave.

The Pharisees knew Jesus was talking about them, and they were offended. But Jesus says that their behavior, though highly esteemed among men, is an abomination to God (Luke 16:15).

Their use of mammon and religion to garner favor with the rich and the powerful was a great sin before God. It was an abomination that would lead to their desolation.

Luke 16:19-31, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

And indeed, this is exactly what Jesus goes on to describe in Luke 16:19-31, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The “Rich Man” obviously represents the rich men who are discussed in the context, which is the Pharisees who were “lovers of money” (Luke 16:14). They were servants of mammon (Luke 16:13). Like the unjust steward, they used their money and position to make friends with the rich and to enrich themselves.

What were they supposed to do with their money and power instead?

They were to use it to take care of the poor and needy in their midst. Like who? Like Lazarus, who was covered in sores and laid at the gate, desiring just a few crumbs from the rich man’s table (Luke 16:20-21).

At what gate did Lazarus lay?

In the days of Jesus, there were Gentile converts to Judaism who were called “gate proselytes.” Since they were Gentiles, they were kept in the outer “Court of the Gentiles” and could not even pass through the gate into the Court of Women. Many of them wanted to draw nearer to the temple and to God, but were barred from access.

So they would hang out at the gate, peering through its opening, and longing to be closer to God. But the religious leaders kept these Gentile proselytes at a distance. They were sinners who could not draw near to God.

If Lazarus was a Gentile proselyte, that is, a “gate proselyte,” then not only was he overlooked and neglected for his sores and starvation, but also for his desire to serve and honor God.

But now, in this story, the entire situation is reversed.

Lazarus is with Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith, while the rich man is far off, thirsty, and separated. And the rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers. But Abraham tells the rich man that his brothers can listen to Moses and the prophets.

Apparently, Moses and the prophets contain enough instruction and warning to keep a person from experiencing the fate of the rich man.

And what is the central and overriding theme of Moses and the prophets? It was that the people of God are to take care of the poor and needy in their midst. Though there are many sins which Moses and the prophets teach against, the overriding theme of the prophetic message is that God’s people must defend the orphans and the widow, provide for the foreigner and the stranger, and take care of the poor and needy.

They must do this themselves; not by demanding the government make laws which force others to do such things. This generous and loving activity was the clear sign that God was in their midst.

So what then is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus all about?

It is the concluding story of a series of five parables, and it summarizes them all by revealing the danger of living according to the way of this world.

This world worships mammon, and uses money to gain friends and power. But greedy living and lusting after money does not satisfy or quench one’s thirst for meaning or significance in this world. Money satisfies those who chase after it less than a drop of water on the tongue would satisfy a man who is burning in flames.

The quest for money does not quench one’s thirst. No matter how much you have, it leaves you desiring more.

The story of the Prodigal Son depicts a man who started out chasing after money, but discovered it was worthless (Luke 15:11-32).

The story of the Unjust Steward shows how this world uses and responds to money (Luke 16:1-13). The Pharisees didn’t like what Jesus was saying (because they were guilty of such actions), and so in an attempt to justify their own greed, complained about His teaching and derided His message (Luke 16:14).

So Jesus provides the example of John, who was a Just and Faithful Steward. John was not greedy and did not use money to make friends with the rich and powerful, but was instead beheaded by them (Luke 16:15-18).

And now all of these lessons about greed are wrapped up into the one story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

Ultimately, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a warning against greed.

In Luke 16:15, Jesus identifies the love of money as an abomination to God. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus illustrates that greed does not accomplish the righteousness of God, or help one experience the kingdom of God.

Instead, it only invites flames into one’s life. Greed brings nothing but desolation and destruction. Greed, and the money which comes with it, does not help one experience the kingdom of God in this life or the next.

The flames in this story, then, are “no more literal than Abraham’s bosom. The flames represent the burning agony of his thirsty soul. The rich man is experiencing the agony of thirst and deprivation that Lazarus had known throughout life” (Jersak, (#AmazonAdLink) Her Gates Will Never Be Shut, 102).

We see this by the two different words used to describe the experience of the rich man in this story.

He was in torment (Gk., basano)

First, Jesus says that the rich man was in “torment” (Gk., basano) in hadēs (Luke 16:23). The word literally refers to a touchstone, which was used in ancient times as a way to test the value and genuineness of the gold and silver found in coins and jewelry.

“While the rich man looks fancy on the outside, when placed under the ‘touchstone’ his veneer comes off. He is being revealed for who he really is … and the revelation is agony” ( Butler, (#AmazonAdLink) The Skeletons in God’s Closet, 77).

He was tormented (Gk., odunōmai)

Second, the word used for “tormented” (Gk., odunōmai) in Luke 16:24-25 can also “be translated as ‘grief’ or ‘anguish’ and conveys a sense of emotional turmoil rather than physical pain” ( Butler, (#AmazonAdLink) The Skeletons in God’s Closet, 76).

It is only used two other times in the New Testament, both by Luke.

In Luke 2:48, it refers to the “anxiousness” that Mary and Joseph felt as they searched for Jesus in Jerusalem for three days when He was twelve.

Then in Acts 20:38, it refers to the “sorrow” that the Ephesian elders experienced when they said goodbye to Paul, knowing that they would never see him again. In neither case does it refer to torture, but to intense emotional grief or anguish.

So the rich man is not being tortured.

Instead, he is having the truth revealed to him about himself, about Lazarus, and about what God values in the world. And for a man who has put all his hope in worldly riches and social status, the truth is more than he can bear.

The truth is a torment to him. Too late, he discovers that everything he worked for and sought after during his entire life is worthless in this life and the next. And since he cannot accept this truth, he remains in emotional torment and even seeks to continue the life he knew and loved.

We see this in the fact that, even in death, the rich man attempts to command and control Lazarus. He tells Lazarus to bring him a drop of water and to go warn his five brothers about the fate that awaits them. Even in his state of torment, he prefers to stay where he is and order Lazarus around than beg for forgiveness or ask for the opportunity to come over to where Lazarus reclines with Abraham.

Furthermore, in his continued haughty arrogance, the rich man never speaks to Lazarus but only to Abraham (Luke 16:24, 27, 30). Even though their roles are reversed, the rich man shows only disdain and derision for Lazarus (cf. Luke 16:14).

Notice that in response, however, “Abraham does not call [the rich man] ‘fool,’ ‘disappointment,’ or ‘idiot,’ but ‘son.’ This is an expression of fatherhood, of filial devotion, of care” ( Butler, (#AmazonAdLink) The Skeletons in God’s Closet, 74). Abraham and Lazarus are on the side of love while the rich man continues in his self-centered mindset.

Ultimately, then, the great gulf that separates the rich man from Abraham and Lazarus is a divide of his own making (Luke 16:26).

It cannot be crossed, because the rich man will not cross it, for doing so would require him to admit that he is no better than Lazarus. This he cannot do, and so his riches, his racism, and his religious arrogance keep him separated from others.

Furthermore, though Lazarus and Abraham may want to cross the divide to the rich man, they cannot, for the division is not of their making.

The rich man is the one who creates the divide, so that those on Abraham’s side of the chasm who “might want to pass” (i.e., act out of compassion) in fact cannot. The text clearly implies that the rich and privileged, those with status, create the divide, not God. Thus the parable is not a picture of medieval hell but of humanly-created alienation and its suffering.

The chasm is a spiritual parallel in death to the social chasm fixed in life by the rich man’s caste. By making it impossible for the poor or the sinner to cross that great gulf into their pseudo-kingdoms and religious enclaves, the spiritually privileged were unwittingly defining their own distance from God’s kingdom.

In the end, Luke 16:19-31 is a condemnation of greed

Luke 16:19-31 is a picture of how life looks from God’s perspective when the rich create chasms between themselves and the poor and needy.

Though the rich could learn much and benefit greatly from the refreshing presence of the poor and needy among them, they separate themselves from those who are considered “beneath” them. And though the religious elites claim to follow the law and the prophets, their actions and behavior show that they know nothing of what Scripture teaches.

Those who rest and live in the way of Abraham, and now those who follow the teachings and example of Jesus, will live in solidarity with the sick, the poor, and the outcast, for it is among them that the kingdom of God most naturally lives and grows.

So what are the rich to do? They should use their wealth to serve, honor, protect, and provide for the poor in their midst. They must use their wealth to serve Jesus in the kingdom of God.

In this way, they avoid the torment of hell in their lives here and now, and experience the joy and fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven instead.

Do you have more questions about hell? Are you afraid of going to hell? Do want to know what the Bible teaches about hell? Take my course "What is Hell?" to learn the truth about hell and how to avoid hell. This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

Does Mark 9:42-50 teach about hell when it refers to worms and fire?

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

The following study looks at Mark 9:42-50 to see whether are not this text teaches that hell is an everlasting place of suffering and torment for the unbelieving dead.

Does Mark 9:42-50 teach about hell?

Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched… (Mark 9:48).

Mark 9:42-50 is very similar to Matthew 18:6-9, and can be understood in a nearly identical way. So it might be helpful to go back and read that article as well…

However, there is one primary difference between the two passages which is important to consider. The passage in Mark 9 contains the refrain that “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”

Though many take this passage as a clear reference to eternal suffering and torment in the flames of hell, there are several reasons to doubt such a view.

Are these literal worms?

The first reason is that the images of worms and the fire cannot both be taken literally. Indeed, those who see the reference to fire in Mark 9:42-48 as a reference to literal flames in hell do not typically understand the reference to worms in a literal way. Instead, they interpret the worms metaphorically, as a symbol of intense remorse or regret.

Why? Because the word used for worm is skōlex, which is the kind of worm that feeds on dead bodies. This worm would not feed on a living body in hell, and especially not if the body was being burned by flames.

In the literal Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), which was a graveyard for the dead and dying, worms and maggots would eat the bodies that were not being consumed by flames. Proper hermeneutics requires that either both terms be either literal or symbolic.

But they cannot be literal, for worms cannot “feed” on living beings in hell that are being burned alive for eternity.

Therefore, both terms must be symbolic. But symbolic of what?

Jesus is quoting Isaiah 66:24

In Mark 9:48 (and 9:44, 46 as well), Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 66:24, which is the final verse in the book of Isaiah. These final lines of Isaiah describe the eternal state of the new heavens and new earth, in which all flesh will worship Him forever and ever, “from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another” (Isaiah 66:22-23).

Part of this everlasting worship of God includes the ability to “go forth, and look upon the corpses of the men” who transgressed against God, “for their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched” (Isa 66:24).

Though some look forward to such an experience with anticipation, I find it impossible to think that as part of eternal bliss with God, people will want to take regular field trips to gaze upon a mass grave full of rotting, burning, maggot-filled corpses.

To the contrary, since we will have glorified bodies, and will be sinless as God is sinless, I doubt that any glorified person in eternity would ever desire such a thing.

So why does Isaiah end his book this way? What did Isaiah have in mind?

The key is to recognize that throughout the book of Isaiah, fire and worms are used as imagery for the destruction and corruption that come upon people and nations for rebelling against God (cf. fire: Isaiah 5:24; 9:18-19; 33:11-12; 47:14; worm: 14:11; 51:8).

And quite often, this destruction and corruption is self-inflicted. God set up the world with rules and guidelines for how to best live and function in this world, but when we live outside these boundaries and guidelines, negative consequences are the result. He does not send the consequences of sin, for they are inherent within sin itself.

God loves us, and does not want to see us hurt by sin, which is why He warns us against it. But when we ignore His warnings and practice sin anyway, the consequences of sin come upon us. This is why Isaiah speaks of “their worm” and “their corruption.” It is theirs and theirs alone. They brought it upon themselves, and they live with it.

But how does this help us understand Isaiah 66:24?

Isaiah is describing the new heavens and the new earth, in which all the peoples of all the nations of the earth dwell (Isaiah 66:18-20). And when he writes that the people of God will be able to gaze upon the corpses of the dead, he is not imagining that there is literally a field of corpses in eternity that we can stare at with dread fascination or morbid satisfaction.

Instead, Isaiah is answering an age-old question about eternity. He writes that in the new heaven and new earth, all flesh will come and worship God (Isaiah 66:22-23).

But the question that people have always asked is how this eternal existence of worshiping God will differ from that of Adam and Eve who were supposed to worship God for eternity as well. In other words, since they were perfect and sinless but still fell into sin, what will keep us from rebelling against God in the new heaven and new earth?

Isaiah 66:24 is the answer.

We will have what Adam and Eve did not, namely, the knowledge of good and evil. This knowledge is not something that God intended to withhold from humanity forever, but was instead something He wanted to teach to humanity over time within the reality of an ongoing relationship with Him.

But Adam and Eve “jumped the gun” and tried to take a shortcut before they were ready. In eternity, the thing that will separate us from Adam and Eve, and therefore, allow us to avoid their same mistake, is that we will have knowledge of evil and will understand its devastating and destructive consequences. We will be able to go out and look upon the corpses of men who have transgressed against God, and will be able to see how their words and actions led to nothing but the worms of corruption and the fires of destruction.

And who are these “corpses” we will look upon? There are all the people of human history, including ourselves. We will be able to view human history, and how we have all lived at various times in the kingdom of hell, which is the realm of death and darkness, the world of worm and fire.

Human history will serve as an everlasting reminder about where a life of rebellion leads. Human history is the everlasting object lesson that provides the knowledge of good and evil to the redeemed.

While some people think that heaven cannot be a blessed existence if we are able to remember or view the horrors of human history, the truth of the matter is the opposite: Eternity will not be much of a blessed existence if we cannot remember what God redeemed us from.

Besides, since all events in our lives are connected, God cannot wipe some of our memories without wiping them all. But as painful as human history will be to watch and remember, it will carry a much different meaning when viewed through the lens of God’s redeeming grace.

So the group of “corpses” that we will be able to view is the corpse of human history. The field of the dead in Isaiah 66:24 is the field of human history, including all of our mistakes and failures. It is our observation and remembrance of human tragedy and horror that will help us avoid similar mistakes in eternity.

We will have gained the knowledge of good and evil, and by remembering the fires and worms of our past, will be able to judge between right and wrong, good and evil, so that we can worship God in righteousness and holiness forever.

This will enable us to worship God in eternity by learning from our past mistakes and seeing how God has redeemed these mistakes to bring glory and honor to Himself for all eternity.

It is this understanding of Isaiah 66:24 that Jesus appears to have in mind.

We see this because of His reference to fire and salt in Mark 9:49-50.

Everyone experiences fire

Jesus says that “everyone will be seasoned with fire.”

If Jesus is thinking of the eternal fires of everlasting torment in hell, then He would be saying that everyone is going to hell. Clearly He is not saying this, and so therefore, some other meaning must be sought.

His reference to salt helps clarify the picture. In the ancient world, salt was not only used as seasoning, but also as a preservative for meat. Since there was no refrigeration, salt kept meat from decaying, and kept worms from eating the meat.

So Jesus is saying that purifying fire can be used to stop the fire of destruction, and preserving salt can be used to stop the worm of decay and corruption. Jesus talks about salt as a seasoning as well, but equates this seasoning to having “peace with another” (Mark 9:50).

Since the fires of destruction often come upon humans as destructive wars (that often involve fire), then being seasoned with salt for the sake of peace is one of the primary ways to avert human violence and the wars that come from it.

This imagery of fire and salt is also mentioned in the context of sacrifice.

This brings to mind not only the sacrifices of the Mosaic Law, but also the invitations in the New Testament for followers of Jesus to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God (cf. Rom 12:1-2). Jesus has done away with bloody sacrifices, and now calls us to follow Him through a life of self-sacrifice for others.

We put ourselves on the sacrificial altar by purifying our lives through the fire of discipline, and sanctifying our lives through the seasoning and preserving salt of peace.

If we do not fire and salt ourselves in this way, our life’s work will be burned away forever and will be eaten and destroyed by the corrupting worm.

William Lane presents the truth of Mark 9:43-49 this way:

The thought of the sacrifice of an offending member of the body (verses 43-47) is here carried a step further: every disciple is to be a sacrifice for God (cf. Rom 12:1). In the OT the Temple sacrifices had to be accompanied by salt (Lev 2:13; Ezek 43:24; cf. Exod 30:35). The salt-sacrifice metaphor is appropriate to a situation of suffering and trial in which the principle of sacrifice cultivated with respect to the individual members of the body is now severely tested. The disciples must be seasoned with salt, like the sacrifice. This will take place through fiery trials (cf. 1 Pet 1:7; 4:12) (Lane, (#AmazonAdLink) NICNT: Mark, 349).

Conclusion

So the worm and fire of Mark 9:43-49 is not referring to the punishment or torture of the unregenerate dead in the afterlife, but to the self-sacrifice, loving discipline of God, and even fiery trials of persecution that come upon disciples of Jesus during this life as a way of purifying their lives and preparing them for future ministry and effectiveness in this life.

As with Matthew 18:8-9, Jesus is encouraging His disciples to take steps of self-sacrifice now, in this life, and to keep their life free from pollution, corruption, and moral decay.

This is not so that His disciples can escape hell and go to heaven when they die, but so that they can experience the rule and reign of God in their life here and now, while avoiding the devastation and destruction brought by sin in their life here and now.

Is the everlasting fire of Matthew 25:41 a warning about hell?

By Jeremy Myers

6 Comments

If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this study, we will consider the phrase “everlasting fire” as it is used in Matthew 25:41.

What is the Everlasting Fire of Matthew 25:41?

Let us begin by looking at the text.

Then he will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:’

This text is one of the more difficult passages to understand about the image of fire in the Bible. However, when studied in connection with what the Bible teaches about hell, this verse is not as difficult as it first appears.

Hell is a Kingdom

As discussed in a previous study, the Bible teaches that hell is a kingdom which is diametrically opposed to the kingdom of heaven. Everything that is true of the kingdom of heaven is also true of the kingdom of hell, but in opposite form.

This will help us understand the parallels in this passage between “the fire prepared for the devil and his angels” and “the kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34).

The Context of Matthew 24-45

A proper understanding of this passage is further aided by taking careful note of the context in which it occurs.

The entire Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25) must be understood as Jesus’ answer to two questions from the disciples. They had just come from the temple where Jesus had said that the entire structure would be destroyed. By this, He wasn’t just referring to the building, but to everything it represented.

Jesus was not impressed with religious buildings or the religious establishment they represented. He wanted both to disappear so that people could personally connect with God in freedom and grace.

So Jesus told His disciples that it would all be destroyed, not just the temple, but what it represented as well (Matthew 24:1-2).

Two Questions

In response, the disciples ask two questions.

They want to know (1) when these events will take place, and (2) what will be the signs of His coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:3).

At this point, the disciples do not realize that Jesus will die on the cross, rise again, and then ascend into heaven. So when they ask about the signs of His coming, they are not referring to His “second coming” the way we think of it today, but to their expectation of how He will be coming into His throne.

They expected the Messiah to overthrow Roman rule and come into His rightful place as the ruler of the entire world. These events would indicate the end of the age and the start of the new, Messianic age. They wanted to know when the war with Rome would begin, and what signs would show its beginnings.

All of the teachings and parables of Matthew 24–25 must be read in light of these two questions. Jesus not only seeks to answer their questions, but also to correct their thinking about His coming.

Jesus wants to show them that His coming from heaven to earth has already occurred in His incarnation, and that the works they have already seen Him perform are the only type of works that His kingdom produces. His kingdom will spread over the face of the earth as promised, but not with military might, political power, or religious regulations (cf. Luke 4:1-13). It will spread through peace and grace.

He first provides the signs of His coming at the end of the age (Matthew 24:4-51). As indicated everywhere else in Matthew, the “age” in which Jesus and His disciples lived ended with His death and resurrection.

The new age began with the birth of the church in Acts 2, but there was a transitionary period with the dying throes of the old age and the birth pains of the new. Some of these dying throes of the old age were evident in the destruction of Jerusalem, its temple, and the religion it represented.

Many seek to consign the events of Matthew 24–25 into some future time period, but Jesus states in Matthew 24:34 that all these things will take place within one generation. One must engage in several hermeneutical contortions to get this statement to refer to more than forty years.

But if we take it at face value, then we see that the words of Jesus did come true within one generation. Less than forty years after Jesus spoke these words, the Roman military laid siege to Jerusalem, and eventually razed it to the ground, burned the temple, and killed over one million Jewish people.

Some of those who heard Jesus say these words saw them come to pass, just as He promised.

Two Options for How to Live

At the end of this teaching section, Jesus presents the two possible options for living in this world as one of His followers (Matthew 24:45-51).

They can either (1) look for His coming which leads them to love and serve others, or (2) they can think that He is not coming and so live selfishly and violently toward others.

Again, when Jesus talks about His coming, He is not referring to His future “second coming” but to the coming of His kingdom in power and glory, which will spread over the face of the earth.

Jesus wants His followers to choose whether they will join Him and participate in spreading His kingdom over the earth, or if they will think that His coming is delayed (cf. 2 Peter 3:4), and so will live according to the values and principles (the kingdom) of this world.

Three Parables as Illustrations of the Two Options

Based on these two options, Jesus then presents three parables as illustrations.

These three parables of Matthew 25 compare and contrast the two kingdoms and how the followers of Jesus will affect and be affected by both.

And since Matthew 24:45-51 contrasted “believing and wise” servants with “unbelieving and foolish” servants, the three parables of Matthew 25 make a similar contrast.

The followers of Jesus are to live in a constant state of readiness for His return and also work to advance the kingdom while they wait. They live in a state of readiness by believing He will return soon, and they advance the kingdom by loving and serving others in His absence.

The three parables of Matthew 25 reveal what this new kingdom will be like (and not like) and how His followers can participate in its coming through their beliefs and behaviors.

These three parables not only show the two ways of living in this world as one of His followers, but they also correct the thinking of the disciples about what the kingdom of heaven will look like.

Jesus wants them to know that His rule and reign will not be like the Roman rule and reign. Jesus is not trying to simply replace Caesar. Though this is what most Jewish people wanted and expected, Jesus did not come to inaugurate a kingdom that looked and acted like the kingdom of Caesar.

The first and last parables, therefore, describe truths related to the kingdom of God, while the middle parable, the Parable of the Talents, describes truths related to the kingdom of Caesar.

The followers of Jesus must decide which kingdom they will serve.

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13)

Jesus first describes the kingdom of heaven with the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13). The point of this parable is to encourage His followers to live in a constant state of readiness for the coming of the kingdom.

This passage is not about who is going to heaven and who is not. This story is about participating in the wedding celebration when the bridegroom arrives and the kingdom party begins.

People can have eternal life and still miss out on most of the party. Whether we watch or sleep, we will live together with Him (1 Thess 5:10).

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

The next parable is the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).

This parable has been widely misunderstood.

Most assume that it also is about the kingdom of heaven and how Jesus is the man who traveled to a far country and will return, at which point He blesses those who helped increase His wealth and punishes those who did not.

But Jesus does not say that He is describing the kingdom of heaven. While most Bible translations do include the words “the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 25:14, these words have been added by the translators and do not exist in the Greek.

Instead, having just invited his followers to look eagerly for the coming of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus now goes on to warn them what life would be like for them if they tried to live in the kingdom of this world.

Numerous lines of evidence support this view. Chief among them is the fact that the actions of this man who travels to a far country would have been understood as quite evil in the first century Mediterranean world. They not only closely follow the actions and behaviors of King Herod and how he went to Rome to become the king of Israel, but the values of this man also reveal the opposite of what Jesus taught and encouraged.

The first century Mediterranean world was guided by the cultural values of honor and shame. Modern western culture is guided by materialism.

Today, we value any activity which gets more money and gains more possessions.

But in an honor-shame culture, such activities were great sins. They believed that money and possessions were zero-sum commodities, which meant that the only way for one person to gain more money and possessions was by taking it away from someone else.

This was very shameful behavior. The first two servants, like their master, were exploiters. They gained more for themselves at the expense of their brethren.

So Jesus is saying that if one of his disciples does not look with anticipation for the coming of the kingdom of heaven, their only other option is to participate with the kingdom of this world, by imitating it in its greedy ways.

If a person does not follow the way of Jesus, they will either behave very shamefully in stealing from their brethren, or will receive harsh judgment and punishment from the rulers of this world for not participating in their greedy game.

The rulers of this world expect and demand their subjects to follow their twisted, thieving ways to enrich themselves at the expense of others. Those who refuse to follow these marching orders will be punished by the rulers, and will be banished to the darkness outside the party of this world.

But when followers of Jesus experience such treatment at the hands of the rulers of this world, they should not despair, for the punishment of worldly rulers is not the end of the matter.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

Jesus now goes on in the final parable of Matthew 25 to show His disciples that even though they might be rejected by the kingdoms of men, they will not be rejected or despised by the kingdom of God.

Since the values and behaviors of the two kingdoms are diametrically opposed to one another, the consequences for actions are different as well. While a lack of greed brought punishment from the kingdoms of the world, this same behavior brings praise and honor in the kingdom of heaven.

With the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus shows the distinctive characteristics that separate the two kingdoms, and calls His disciples to choose which kingdom they will serve.

In this final parable, Jesus reveals that He, as the Son of Man Shepherd King, will be the one who decides which of His servants worked for the kingdom of heaven and which worked for the kingdom of earth.

While the Parable of the Talents showed that the kingdom of earth praises those who steal from the poor and give it to the rich, the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats reveals that the kingdom of heaven works the opposite way.

Jesus, the Lord of the kingdom of heaven, values the poor and needy, and gives praise and honor to those who tend to their needs.

So this final parable of Jesus ties the preceding two parables together.

Jesus told two parables showing two different ways of living in this world. One can either live in in the light of the kingdom of God or live with the values of the kingdom of this world. This final parable shows the consequences of living in the two opposing kingdoms.

Most studies on this parable go to great lengths trying to discern who Jesus has in view when He speaks of “the nations” (Matt 25:32) and the “the least of these, My brethren” (Matt 25:40). The “nations” can be identified with Gentile nations, unbelieving Jews, or unbelievers from all nations. The “least of these, My brethren” can be identified religiously as the group of people who follow Jesus and do His will (Matt 12:50; Mark 3:35; Luke 8:21), ethnically, so that Jesus’ brethren are the Jewish people, and therefore, all nations (Matt 25:32) that help Israel will be blessed (Gen 12:3), or eschatologically, so that the brethren of Jesus are believers who live during the future Tribulation period.

All such proposals, however, allow readers to ignore the overall lesson of the parable: A defining characteristic of the kingdom of God is that it will take care of the poor and needy of this world, wherever they are found, whatever religion or nationality they are of.

Those who use this parable as justification to limit their care of the poor and needy to those of only one particular group of people or for people during one particular time period (e.g., the future Tribulation), self-identify themselves as a goat.

Those servants of Jesus who believe that Jesus is returning soon, and live wisely as members of the kingdom of God, will work to feed, clothe, and serve all the poor and needy, regardless of religion or race.

The kingdom of God breaks down all such barriers, so that those who work for the kingdom see all people as their brothers and sisters.

So what is the Everlasting Fire of Matthew 25:41?

This finally brings us to the description of the everlasting fire near the end of the story.

Jesus says that those who do not take care of the poor and needy will go away into “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). He later describes this as “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46).

Since this later term helps guide and define the earlier image of fire, it is important to begin there.

The Greek word used for punishment is kolasis. The word “punishment” is likely not the best translation. Moulton-Milligan argue that “cut short” is the original sense of the word, with the idea of pruning in the background (cf. John 15:1-6).

The word itself is only used one other time in the New Testament, in 1 John 4:18, where it speaks of fear involving torment. The point of John is that as we come to understand the love of God, fear is cast out, because fear has to do with punishment.

In other words, fear, and the related concepts of torment and punishment, are the opposite of what we see through the love of God in Jesus Christ.

The word kolasis is also used several times in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (LXX). Ezekiel 14 contains this word three times (14:3, 4, 7) in reference to the idolatrous stumbling blocks that the leaders of Israel had set up in their hearts. God tells Ezekiel, as the son of man (Ezek 14:3), to inform the leaders of Israel that their idolatrous ways would lead to the devastation of Jerusalem and those who lived there (cf. Ezek 18:30; 43:11; 44:12).

Of further interest in the context of Ezekiel is that the people of Israel are equated with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezek 16:44-59). And what was the sin of these two cities? According to God, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because although the people of these cities had lots of food and time, they did not help the poor and needy (Ezek 16:49).

This behavior was a shameful abomination (Ezek 16:50-52) which led to the destruction and desolation of not only Sodom and Gomorrah, but Israel as well (Ezek 14:15-16; 15:8; cf. Jer 7:30-34).

The abomination that leads to desolation, therefore, is the failure of God’s people to take care of the poor and needy in their midst, which then leads to the destruction and devastation of the nations in which they live (Jesus defines an abomination this way as well in Luke 15:14-15).

This is the repeated theme of the last half of Ezekiel, that all the nations which practice the abominable behavior of not taking care of the poor and needy in their midst (whoever they might be), will come under the judgment of God and become desolate wastelands destroyed by fire, famine, pestilence, and war.

In some places, this destruction is even called “everlasting desolation” (cf. Ezek 35:9).

All this is to say that when Jesus tells the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, where the nations are brought before Him so that He might determine which nations took care of the poor and needy in their midst, and which did not, Jesus has the prophetic message of Ezekiel in mind.

The everlasting punishment is not everlasting torture in hell, but is referring to the temporal destruction and desolation that comes upon nations when its people do not take care of the poor and needy in their midst.

Of course, even here, there is redemption for these nations, for God says in numerous places throughout Ezekiel that He will eventually restore the various nations to their former places (cf. Ezek 16:53-63). Their wicked, selfish, and greedy ways will be eternally destroyed, but the nations themselves, as geographic and political entities upon this earth, will be redeemed and restored so that they properly serve within God’s kingdom and purpose on earth.

So in light of all this, the word kolasis is best understood as a disciplinary pruning by God upon the people within the various nations who refuse to take care of the poor and needy among them. Though God gathers the nations, He separates the people within the nations one from the other for judgment.

God sends this kolasis upon them so that they might turn from their shameful and selfish behavior and start looking after the poor and needy in their midst. Once they learn this lesson, God will restore these nations to their place in this world.

But how does a nation learn to live as God wants?

Such behavior is not accomplished through laws or courts. You cannot legislate generosity.

Instead, such things are learned only through the active example of the righteous people within that nation. The sons of righteousness who reside within a nation must lead their nation into righteousness by showing them through word and action how to live in light of the kingdom of heaven.

If we fail in this, then it is we who have been unbelieving and foolish servants, and we who lead our nation into destruction.

All of this helps us understand the everlasting fire in Matthew 25:41. It is a refining fire that comes upon the nations so that they learn to practice the principles of the kingdom of heaven by taking care of the “least of these, my brethren” in their midst.

When nations live like Sodom and Gomorrah, or Israel and Samaria, by refusing to tend to the needs of the poor, they will come under the purifying discipline of God, which is described as “everlasting fire.”

It is everlasting in that it is a purifying fire that comes from God, who is Himself everlasting.

But doesn’t it say the fire is for the the devil and his angels?

But what are we to make of the fact that this everlasting fire is prepared “for the devil and his angels”? This does not mean that the fire is some sort of place or state of existence in which God punishes spiritual beings for their rebellion.

It is important to remember that devil is the god of this age, the spirit of the air that is at work in the sons of wickedness (2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2; 6:12). Since the word “devil” could also be translated as “accuser” or “slanderer,” this means that the world is guided or directed by a spirit of accusation and slander.

As seen in Genesis 3, the spirit of this age is a spirit of accusation and judgment in which we humans try to take the place of God in deciding between good and evil. Accusation and blame are the guiding forces of everything in this world. The angels of the accuser, therefore, are the principalities and powers that guide and direct the nations of this world (cf. Dan 10:13; 12:1).

This imagery fits perfectly with what Jesus is describing in Matthew 25:41. God created the nations of the world to function in a particular way. He gave them power and authority in this world, not to dominate and destroy others, but to protect and care for others, especially for the poor and needy.

But the accusatory spirit (the devil) that guides the spirits of the nations (his angels) leads these nations into war and violence, which accomplishes the opposite of what God desired or intended.

So the fire prepared for the devil and his angels is once again the fire of discipline, so that the spirits of the nations will be guided and taught to live as God wants.

Satan and his angels seek to set the world on fire through accusation and blame (Jas 3:5-6), but God fights fire with fire, by sending forth the kingdom of God through the followers of Jesus to show the world a better way to live.

The fire of the kingdom of God is the cleansing fire of grace, humility, patience, mercy, and forgiveness. As we live in such ways, we give instead of take, love instead of hate, bless instead of accuse, and believe instead of condemn.

The nations, as they see our good deeds, will glorify our Father in heaven by learning to live in similar ways themselves (Matt 5:15-16).

Since the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is the last part of the last spoken “sermon” (or teaching) by Jesus before His crucifixion, He goes on to tell His disciples how to show love to Him and carry on the Kingdom in His absence.

The Application of the Olivet Discourse

While Jesus has told His disciples in various ways that He is going away, He also wants them to know how to live while He is away. Jesus reveals to them that the ultimate truth of His absence is that He is not really absent at all.

Instead, He is dwelling with and among the “least of these, My brethren.” If His disciples want to spend time with Jesus, they can do so by spending time with the poor and needy.

If His disciples want to serve and love Jesus, they can do so by serving and loving the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned. In this way, His disciples will not only be loving and serving others as Jesus did (thereby expanding the presence of the kingdom), but will also be loving and serving Jesus Himself.

So the stories of Matthew 25 are not about some future judgment.

They are stories about what is occurring through the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is saying that the health and survival of a nation can be affected by whether or not the individual people within that nation take care of the poor and needy in their midst.

When people serve the “least of these” in this way, they are not only helping the poor, but are loving Jesus and serving their country as well.

True service to your country does not look like marching off to war to kill others, but instead looks like feeding the hungry and clothing the poor that are in our midst.

And we do this, not by asking our country to tax people more or to redistribute the wealth of the rich, but simply by being generous with our own money and possessions.

When this happens, we avoid bringing the fires of hellish war upon our country and instead invite the blessings of the kingdom of heaven upon our land and its people.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is the last parable that Jesus ever told.

It is, therefore, a summary parable, or a key to understanding all the others.

In it, Jesus describes the central truth to living and experiencing the kingdom of God which He inaugurated on earth. Jesus is saying,

If you want to find the kingdom of God and live within it, then you need to follow Me and live where I live. And where is that? It is with the poor and needy. Go serve and minster to them, and you will be serving and ministering to Me, and in this way, will be living within and serving the kingdom of heaven.

Many people wonder where God has been hiding for all of history.

In this parable, Jesus tells us where. It is the great surprise at the end of the story. It is the final “Here I Am” of the great divine game of Hide and Seek that humans have been playing with God since Adam and Eve first hid from Him in the Garden.

And since that time, though we are the ones who hid ourselves from God, it is we who think that God has been hiding His face from us. We wonder why He doesn’t show up in strength and power to fix the world and right all wrong.

We think God is distant and neglectful. We think God is shirking His duties. And when bad things happen (and continue to happen) we cry out to the silent sky, “God! Where are you?”

But now Jesus tells us where God has been hiding all along. He has been living and dwelling with “the least of these, My brethren.”

The people we neglected and rejected throughout life are the very people among whom God has lived and dwelt. God has lived among the poor, the sick, the weak, and the hungry.

And when we love and serve them, we love and serve Him, and paradoxically, He loves and serves them through us, so that they love and serve us in return, revealing the kingdom of God, and indeed, God Himself, to us.

Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the disciples have been saying, “Show us the Father. We want to see God. We want to understand God and know what He wants of us.” And now, finally, Jesus has given the answer. “You want to see God?” He asks. “Go serve the poor, for that is where He lives.”

When we live in this way, we will experience the kingdom of God in this life, which has been prepared for us since the foundation of the world, thereby fulfilling our God-given destiny and purpose.

Those who live this way will see righteousness rise like the morning sun and blessing will come upon them like the dew.

But when we refuse to follow Jesus in this way, we will live in and experience the kingdom of hell during this life, which is guided only by selfishness, greed, hatred, rebellion, and emptiness.

Those who live this way, though they live for themselves, will only see their life burn away into nothingness, losing all purpose and significance. Such people have chosen to dwell in a hell of their own making.

Is the everlasting fire of Matthew 18:8-9 a reference to everlasting torment in hell?

By Jeremy Myers

2 Comments

If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this study, we will consider Matthew 18:8-9 to see whether or not the reference to hell in this text refers to everlasting torment in fiery flames.

What is the meaning of “hell” in Matthew 18:8-9?

Let us begin by looking at the text of Matthew 18:8-9.

“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”

The teachings of Jesus in Matthew 18 are very similar to Matthew 5:22, 29. But we are discussing this text of Matthew 18:8-9 because it contains extra details which help us understand both passages.

Jesus speaks of hell and describes it as being a place of everlasting fire.

The word for hell is gehenna, which, as we learned in a previous study, was a literal place outside the walls of Jerusalem. It was also known as the Valley of Hinnom and was a horrifying place of worms, fire, decay, and death.

Gehenna was a garbage heap that had been set on fire to consume its contents and cover the stench of rotting refuse and corpses. The everlasting fire, therefore, refers to the fire of Gehenna that burned day and night, seemingly forever and ever.

The nature of city garbage dumps, however, is that they attract the poor and the sick.

In that day (as in our own day), those who were stricken by poverty or sickness would visit the garbage dump in an attempt to find something to eat or sell.

For example, in the days of Jesus, scavenging for food and clothing in the garbage dump was often the only way that lepers could survive. It is the lepers that often frequented Gehenna which led Jesus to teach what He does here in Matthew 18:8-9.

While leprosy itself does not cause someone to lose their eyes, ears, nose, or limbs, it was not uncommon for people with advanced cases of leprosy to lose body parts or appendages due to infection, amputation, or accident.

If someone has no feeling in their feet, it is possible for them to accidentally put their foot too close to the fire at night while sleeping, thereby causing it to burn. If they are burned bad enough, they might need to amputate their foot.

This is the situation Jesus has in mind. Some people, when they first saw a hint of leprosy on their hand or foot, would rather cut off their hand or foot and go through life maimed, than be officially diagnosed with leprosy and be sent to live in Gehenna, where the fire burned day and night.

Similarly, if someone’s eye is injured, and it begins to putrefy or rot, it is better to pluck it out than to leave it in and allow the corruption to spread to the rest of the body. If this were to happen, the person would eventually be sent to Gehenna. It is better to lose an eye than to spend your last days there.

So Jesus is NOT warning people about everlasting torture in hell…

When this cultural context is understood, we see that Jesus is not warning people that if they sin in this life, they will end up in a fiery torture chamber in the next.

Instead, Jesus is saying that sin leads to damaging and destructive consequences in this life.

If we want to avoid those consequences, some drastic steps are sometimes needed.

A person who finds themselves infected with the rot of addiction or the decay of bad influences should cut those places or people out of their life so that the disease does not spread and cause greater damage to themselves or to others whom they love.

Matthew 18:8-9 is not a warning about the afterlife

So Matthew 18:8-9 is not a warning about the afterlife, but an instruction about preserving your life here and now.

The surrounding context gives several applications of exactly how to do this.

Jesus teaches that His disciples should cut pride out of their life if they want to experience the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:1-5).

He provides instructions for how to rescue a lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14) by going to them with one or two others.

But if they do not heed or listen, then they should be cut out of your life as well (Matthew 18:15-20).

Jesus also speaks about the importance of forgiving others as we have been forgiven (Matthew 18:21-35) so that we give up our need to be repaid for wrongs done against us.

The point of the entire context is that it is better to go through life (this life!) without pride, certain friends, and a defense of justice than to maintain such things but to lose yourself, your family, your friends, and your finances in the process. This is what Jesus is teaching.

Matthew 18:8-9 is not a warning about everlasting punishment in hell, but is rather a warning about the experience of a hellish life here and now.Yes, Jesus mentions “everlasting fire” in the context. To understand this term, we will study Matthew 25:41 next week…

Is the furnace of fire in Matthew 13:40-42 a reference to hell?

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this study, we are considering the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30, and specifically what it means when the tares are cast into a furnace of fire, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Is Matthew 13:40, 42 (Matt 13:50) a warning about hell?

Let’s begin with the specific verses we want to consider:

Matthew 13:40, 42: “Therefore, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. … and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

It is important to first consider the context of Matthew 13.

Matthew 13 contains several parables which have consistently challenged interpreters and Bible students. In fact, even the first hearers of these parables were confused by them, as evidenced by the fact that the disciples asked Jesus to explain the parables to them (cf. Matt 13:10, 36).

As Jesus explains the parables, He also tells His disciples that one reason He speaks in parables is so that people do not understand what He is talking about (cf. Matt 13:15-16).

In other words, Jesus wanted people to be confused by His parables. Why? So that those who wanted to learn what He was talking about would come to Him for an explanation.

Therefore, if you’ve ever been confused by a parable, be encouraged, for you are on the right track. Then allow this confusion to lead you to the feet of Jesus.

Three Keys to Understanding Parables

By doing this, you will come to discover three keys to understanding the parables of Jesus.

First, if Jesus explains some of the symbolism of the parable, this will greatly help in your understanding.

Second, it is critically important to learn the historical, cultural, and theological contexts behind the parables.

What matters most in these parables is not what you and I want them to say, but what the original audience heard and understood Jesus to be saying. This means that if you want to understand these parables, you must get into the mindset of the original audience by seeking to understand their times and culture, how they read the Hebrew Bible, and what sort of concerns and issues were commonly discussed in their day, not ours.

Finally, it is important to recognize that Jesus had a sense of humor.

Many of His stories were told with a twinkle in His eye and a half-smile on His lips. The stories often contain half-jokes, plays on words, and surprising twists and turns that were intended to amuse, delight, and amaze His hearers. His parables used humor to instruct the hearers about what was most important.

Historical-Cultural Background to the Parables in Matthew 13

With these three keys in mind, a few cultural, historical, and theological details will help us better understand what Jesus is saying in Matthew 13 (and in all of His parables).

First, most of Jesus’ parables are about the kingdom of God. Many people today, when they think about the kingdom of God, think about heaven.

But nobody in the days of Jesus thought this. They had daily, negative experiences with the “kingdom of Rome,” and they longed for the promised and prophesied Messiah to come and overthrow Rome so that the kingdom of God could take over.

The kingdom of God, therefore, is the rule and reign of God on earth, here and now as a replacement for the kingdoms of men.

Second, the people to whom Jesus spoke were nearly all Jewish, who had been immersed in the themes and ideas of the Hebrew Scriptures since birth.

Many modern Christians spend little to no time studying the “Old Testament,” and as a result, fail to understand much of what the New Testament teaches. This is especially true with the parables. A deep understanding of Old Testament concepts, imagery, and themes is necessary to understand the parables of Jesus.

Finally, it is critical to recognize that the parables of Jesus were politically and religiously subversive, but not primarily against Rome, as the Jewish people wanted and expected.

His parables were subversive to the politics and religion of Judaism. This is one of the reasons Jesus didn’t want everyone to understand what He was saying. If people among the Jewish political and religious ruling class understood what Jesus was saying, they would have crucified Him much sooner than they did. If we fail to grasp the subversive and dangerous elements in the parables of Jesus, we have likely misunderstood them.

So with all of this in mind, Matthew 13 contains seven parables about the kingdom of God, which is also called the kingdom of heaven.

And despite the popular teaching that is found in some Christian circles today, not a single one of these parables is about how to go to heaven when you die, or how to tell if you are truly a Christian.

The Seven Parables of Matthew 13 are not about the afterlife at all.

Instead, all seven are about the nature, character, birth, and growth of the kingdom of God on earth.

For example, the Parable of the Four Soils (Matt 13:1-8) is not about who is a Christian and who isn’t, or how to determine who gets to go to heaven and who doesn’t. The parable is about how different people respond to the teachings about the kingdom (Matt 13:19). Any believer or unbeliever can be any one of the four soils.

Note as well, by the way, the humor in the Parable of the Four Soils. This sower went out and scattered seed all over the place, willy-nilly, not caring where the seed landed. Seed was valuable, and no sower in that day would have been this careless. But apparently, God is careless with the truths of the kingdom, scattering them all over the place without much concern for where they land. It is not very “efficient,” but God has never cared much for efficiency.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)

All of this helps us grasp the meaning of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30 and the explanation by Jesus in Matthew 13:36-43.

By understanding this parable, we will discover a surprising truth about the fire mentioned in Matthew 13:42 (and Matthew 13:50) and the identity of the ones who are burned in this fire.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sows good seed in his field (Matthew 13:24). The kingdom of heaven, of course, is not heaven, but is the way God brings heaven down to earth as Jesus and His disciples spread the rule and reign of God over the earth. It begins with the sower spreading seed. But an enemy comes and sows bad seeds in the field, so that a bunch of weeds, or tares, spring up among the wheat.

The seed that Jesus refers to should be read in light of the first parable of Matthew 13, the Parable of the Four Soils.

There, Jesus teaches that the seed is the Word of God. But here in Matthew 13 we see that there are two types of seeds that can be scattered. There are the seeds of kingdom, and the seeds of the devil. These are two contrasting kingdoms, which result in two contrasting types of people.

But initially, when the seeds first begin to sprout, there is great difficulty in deciding between the wheat and weeds.

When the servants discover the weeds, they ask how the weeds came to exist and what the owner wants to do about them (Matthew 13:25-27).

This is where some humor enters into this parable. As anyone who has ever had a field (or even a flower garden) knows, one does not need an enemy to sow bad seeds for weeds to pop up and grow.

So when Jesus describes an enemy sowing bad seeds in the owner’s field, His audience would have likely snickered a little bit. No enemy would work so hard to ruin a crop. If an enemy really wanted to ruin someone’s crop, there were better and easier ways to do it.

But the enemy in the parable does sow bad seeds in this story, which not only shows his own foolishness, but also provides a humorous backdrop for the rest of the story.

Many commentaries and articles point out that the bad seed in the field is most likely darnel, which looks exactly like wheat until harvest time. It is a mimic weed. This is why the owner of the field tells his servants to just let the two plants grow side by side until harvest (Matthew 13:27-30).

Prior to harvest, it would be nearly impossible to tell the two apart, and so any attempt to remove the darnel would likely result in the loss of wheat as well. Once harvest arrives, wheat turns golden and the heavy heads of grain droop down toward the ground, but darnel tends to remain greener for longer and will continue to stand upright.

Since wheat and darnel appear so identical, the presence of the tares in the field goes unnoticed until the grain begins to “go to crop,” or develop a head. This is why the servants only notice the tares once the wheat begins to mature (Matthew 13:26).

So they ask the owner if he wants them to pull out the tares, but since wheat and darnel look quite similar to each other prior to full maturity, the owner tells his servants to leave the weeds alone and let them grow along with the wheat.

At harvest, the reapers will go through and gather the tares, and then they can harvest the wheat (Matthew 13:30). The tares are thrown into the fire to be burned.

One of the reasons it was necessary to first harvest and then burn the tares is because darnel can be deadly to livestock and humans if consumed in large quantities. Smaller quantities will cause dizziness if baked into bread or brewed with beer.

In fact, there are historical records of people actually cultivating darnel for this very reason, treating it like an ancient form of cannabis. But if too much is consumed, darnel can cause great sickness and even death.

The Explanation of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:36-43)

Thankfully, this is one of the parables that Jesus explained.

When Jesus explains this parable to His disciples, He begins by identifying the various characters in the story.

He says that the sower is the Son of Man (Matthew 13:37), which is one of Jesus’s favorite titles for Himself. The field which the sower plants is the world, and so the good seeds that go out into the world are the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:38). The tares are therefore the opposite of the sons of the kingdom; Jesus calls them the sons of the wicked one. The enemy is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels (Matthew 13:38).

Now each of these characters need to be more carefully explained, but first, it is critical to notice that there is one set of characters Jesus does not identify.

This missing identification is the key to the parable.

Who is it that Jesus does not identify? It is the servants.

Jesus does not explain who the servants represent.

I have heard some say that the servants are the reapers, but when the owner is speaking to the servants, he clearly identifies the reapers as a different group (cf. Matthew 13:30).

So who are the servants? Who do the servants represent?

The solution to this problem is to return to the image of the field as the world.

The Son of Man sowed seeds in the field, and the servants went out and worked in the field. Since the field is the world, and Jesus is the one who sowed the seeds in the world, then the servants are the ones who tend, cultivate, and work in the fields. Who are they?

They are the followers of Jesus. They are disciples.

The servants in the story are the Christians. Christians, or followers of Jesus, are those who work in the world to grow and expand the kingdom of God which Jesus planted and initiated.

But if the servants are Christians, then who are the “sons of the kingdom”?

Jesus says the seed is the sons of the kingdom. But if the servants are Christians, then the sons of the kingdom (the seed) cannot also be Christians.

To put it another way, since the servants are the followers of Jesus, then this means that the sons of the kingdom must be someone else. And when we understand the identity of the sons of the kingdom, we will also understand the identity of the sons of the evil one (which might be better translated as “sons of wickedness”; Matthew 13:38).

If the Servants are Christians, then who are the Sons of the Kingdom?

To understand the identity of both, it is first necessary to understand how the word “son” is used in Scripture.

Typically, a “son” is understood to be a child of someone else. But the word “son” can also be used metaphorically. When the word “son” is used in connection to a concept or idea, instead of to a person or family, it refers to the characteristics or inner attributes of someone, rather than to the person themselves.

So “sons of this world” are contrasted with “sons of light” in Luke 16:8 (cf. John 12:36; 1 Thess 5:5). A student or disciple of the Pharisees could be called a “son of the Pharisees” (Matt 12:27; Acts 23:6). Scripture can also speak of “sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), “sons of this age” (Luke 16:8; 20:34), “sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2; 5:6), “sons of the devil” (Acts 13:10) and numerous other similar terms.

Such descriptions are not literal (a son of the devil is not literally the biological offspring of the devil), but are instead figurative and symbolic ways of referring to someone’s character and behavior.

So who are the sons of the kingdom and the sons of wickedness, and how can we tell? One more contextual key is needed before an answer is discovered.

In the context before these seven parables of Matthew 13, the Jewish religious leaders accused Jesus of operating according to the power of Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24). Jesus responds with a teaching full of symbolism and imagery (Matthew 12:25-37) that shows up again in the parables of Matthew 13. He speaks of kingdoms (Matthew 12:25, 28), sons of the Pharisees (Matthew 12:27), gathering and scattering (Matthew 12:30), this age and the age to come (Matthew 12:32), and the fruitfulness (or lack thereof) of various trees (Matthew 12:33-37).

All the parables of Matthew 13 must be read in light of this confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. While they were accusing Him of doing the devil’s work, He responded by saying that it was not Him, but they, who were committing blasphemy and speaking evil from their hearts (Matthew 12:35).

But how could the onlookers, the disciples, tell who was right?

They had grown up being taught to love, respect, and listen to the religious Pharisees. But now they loved, respected, and listened to Jesus.

Yet the Pharisees were saying that the teachings of Jesus were from the devil, and now Jesus was saying the same thing about the teachings of the Pharisees. So what were the disciples to do? How could they know who was right and who was wrong?

If you have ever had two Bible teachers, both of whom you greatly respect, disagree with each other, then you understand the dilemma of the disciples.

How were they to choose between Jesus and the Pharisees?

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares is the answer to their question.

In this parable, Jesus, the Son of Man, tells His servants, the disciples, that two types of seeds have been sown which result in two types of sons of two types of kingdoms. But which was which and how could they know?

Jesus tells His disciples to wait until the harvest “at the end of this age” (Matthew 13:40).

But this is not helpful for them if the end of the age is thousands of years in the future when the new heavens and new earth are created.

So what if “this age” was the age in which Jesus and His disciples were living, and the age to come was the age that followed (cf. Matthew 12:32)?

Indeed, Scripture indicates in numerous ways and places that a new age did indeed come into existence with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the church. The death and resurrection of Jesus gave birth to a new age, the age of the kingdom of God, the church age.

There were birth pains and many travails as the old age died and the new age began (as Jesus discusses in Matthew 24–25), but the resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the church was the sign that the new age had begun.

Jesus tells His disciples that while it is difficult for them to decide between the wheat and the tares right now, it will become clear to them at the harvest.

Though they had trouble deciding between the way of Jesus and the way of the Pharisees, the end of the age would make it clear when the messengers of God arrived and took away the tares.

Here we have the religiously subversive nature of the parable.

The disciples of Jesus are faced with a choice: they can either follow the way of Jesus or the way of the Pharisees. Jesus tells them that they don’t need to figure it out.

In fact, it would be dangerous for them to try to do so, for they will not be able to properly and perfectly tell the difference between the good teaching and bad.

Instead, they should just wait for the harvest and let the reaping angels separate the wheat from the chaff.

And this is indeed what happened in 70 AD.

The way of the Pharisees was destroyed when Jerusalem and the temple were burned with fire.

This does not mean that the Pharisees and all who followed their teachings were unregenerate sinners who will spend eternity burning in hell. Everlasting torture in hell is not anywhere in view with this parable.

To the contrary, the “furnace of fire” imagery is drawn from Daniel 3:19-25 where Daniel’s friends are thrown into a furnace of fire, but only their bonds are burned as they walk around in the flame with one shining like the Son of God. (As a side note, the “Son of Man” imagery is drawn from Daniel 7:13-14, and the imagery of the righteous shining like the sun in Matthew 13:43 is drawn from Daniel 12:3).

It can be assumed that when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army, many Christians were also consumed by the flames. But Christianity survived, as it was not (and is not) dependent upon a city, a temple, or a priesthood.

Yet the Jewish Pharisaical religion was dependent upon such things, and so it died out when Jerusalem fell.

And so we see that the burning of the chaff in the furnace of fire is not about God sending people to hell where they will burn forever and ever. Instead, it is about the disciples of Jesus allowing God to be the one to judge between right and wrong, good and evil, especially when it comes to deciding between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Pharisees.

As a result of the events in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve tried to gain for themselves what should be left up to God, we humans have always done a poor job of judging between good and evil.

So God invites us to leave all such judgment up to Him. And this is what Jesus tells His disciples to do as well.

So the Tares are NOT “sent to hell”

This parable, therefore, is not about how God sends wicked people to burn forever in the furnace of hell, but is instead about how the disciples of Jesus should allow God alone to make judgments between good teaching and bad teaching, and allow His angels to burn up the bad teaching “at the end of this age.”

This is what happened with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD.

But what about the Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth?

Some may object that the description of weeping and gnashing of teeth from Matthew 13:42 indicates that Jesus does indeed have hell in mind.

The phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” occurs six times in Matthew (8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), once in Luke (13:28), and nowhere else in the New Testament.

Matthew’s six uses of this phrase are all in reference to those who are “part of the family,” that is, those who belong to God.

In Matthew 8:12, it refers to those who are sons of the kingdom. In Matthew 13:42, it refers to those who were gathered out of God’s kingdom, indicating that they were in it to begin with. In Matthew 13:50, the image is of two types of people caught in the same net (which is a symbol of the kingdom of God), and one type is pulled out and experiences this weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Matthew 22:13, the phrase describes a man who is actually at the wedding banquet. And in both Matthew 24:51 and Matthew 25:30, it is used in connection to the experience of a servant who did a poor job serving his master.

What this seems to indicate, therefore, is that the weeping and gnashing of teeth does not refer to the tortured experience of unregenerate people in hell, but instead to the experience of some people who belonged to God in some way and should have known what He expects of them and how they are to live.

While this can refer to believers who might have a negative experience at the Judgment Seat of Christ or who experience the discipline of God in this life (cf. Matthew 8:13), it can also refer to Jewish people who should have known that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

The phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” therefore, has nothing whatsoever to do with hell.

It is instead a graphic and descriptive middle-eastern way of expressing profound regret and shame, and maybe even fury.

The weeping and wailing speaks of “extreme loss, not so much of actual pain” while the gnashing or grinding of teeth could refer to fury and anger directed at someone else (see Fudge, (#AmazonAdLink) The Fire That Consumes, 171).

Hell is not in view in Matthew 13:40, 42

When we read in Matthew 13:42 (and later in 13:50) about the tares being cast into the furnace of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, we should not read this as an image of God casting people into everlasting flames of hell where they scream and wail for all eternity at the painful suffering inflicted upon them.

Instead, Jesus is saying that when judgment comes after the end of the age (which ended at the resurrection of Jesus), the good and bad teachings will be made clear because one set will survive and the other will be burned up.

This judgment occurred in 70 AD when the city of Jerusalem, along with the Jewish temple, was destroyed and burned by the Roman military.

On that day, there were not only flames and fire, but also much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Burning of the Tares in History

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, in his history of the destruction of Jerusalem, writes that in the time right before the Roman military attacked and burned the city and the temple, chariots and soldiers were seen to be running around in the clouds around Jerusalem, and voices from heaven were heard calling for the removal of the city.

It sounds like fiction, and Josephus admits as much, but he also says that many people witnessed these events and told him about them. Here is what he writes:

Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, “Let us remove hence” (Josephus, (#AmazonAdLink) The Wars of the Jews, 6.5.3.)

Could it be that these were the angels whom Jesus prophesied about in Matthew 13:39-41, who were sent to separate the wheat from the chaff at harvest time?

Conclusion

The parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43 is not about God sending sinners to hell to burn for all eternity.

It is instead a prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish religion (as practiced in that day), and how the disciples of Jesus should not seek to judge or decide between right and wrong when it came to the teaching of Jesus or their own Jewish traditions.

They should instead allow God and the angels to make this separation on their own, which is what happened in 70 AD.

NICNT and NICOT on Sale at Logos

By Jeremy Myers

Does the unquenchable fire of Matthew 3:10-12 refer to hell?

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this article, we will be discussing the topic of “unquenchable fire” as it is talked about by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:10-12 (and the parallel passage in Luke 3:16-17).

Matthew 3:10-12 (Luke 3:16-17)

Many believe that John the Baptist is teaching about hell in Matthew 3:10-12. Here is what the text says:

“And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

This is a message from John the Baptist to the Jewish people who came to be baptized by him in the Jordan River.

The words of John are sometimes used by modern teachers who want to defend the idea that those who don’t have good works will end up in hell. They argue that all true Christians will prove the reality of their new birth by having good works.

In other words, the argument is that if someone doesn’t have the necessary good works, they will lose their eternal life (or prove they never had it in the first place) and so will end up in hell.

This misapplication of the text arises primarily from thinking that the fire John speaks about refers to hell.

But John is not referring to hell.

In the context, John the Baptist is not talking about hell, but about impending temporal judgment on the people of Israel if they fail to repent.

In Matthew 3:7-8, John warns the religious leaders that wrath was coming upon them, but they could escape this wrath if they bore fruits worthy of repentance. Scholars have always understood this as a prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

There is no thought of hell here, but only of temporal judgment on the nation of Israel and the people who are part of it.

The references to fire in Matthew 3:10-12 must be understood in light of this context.

When John speaks of the ax being laid at the root of the tree, he is saying that the judgment is imminent.

The ruling class of Israel was often compared to a tree (cf. Isa 11:1), and so John is saying that the rulers of Israel (such as the religious leaders) will be cut down unless they repent.

But it was not just the rulers. While the root of the tree represents the leaders of the nation, from whom the teaching and direction of the nation comes, the tree itself represents the rest of the nation (Keener, (#AmazonAdLink) Matthew, 123).

Similarly, when John uses the image of the wheat and the chaff, he is describing the common practice of farmers gathering the harvest into their threshing floor where the wheat was separated from the chaff with a winnowing fan.

A winnowing fan was a cross between a rake and a shovel so that large scoops of grain could be tossed into the air while also creating a bit of breeze. The heavier grain would fall back to the ground, while the lighter chaff would get blown off to one side, where it would pile up against a low wall of the threshing floor.

Once the wheat and chaff had been separated in this way, the grain would be taken away for storage, while the chaff would be set on fire. Since chaff is light and insubstantial, it burns quickly, leaving almost no ash behind and very little evidence that it ever existed.

John says that this is what will happen to the Jewish leaders and those who follow their teachings if they do not all repent and turn to follow God.

This was a challenging teaching, for while most Jewish people expected God to judge the surrounding Gentile nations, few believed or taught that God would judge the nation of Israel itself.

But this is what John preached. He was speaking to them as if they were Gentiles in need of repentance.

Repentance, of course, is not a necessary condition for receiving eternal life, but is an actual turning from sin toward obedience.

We receive eternal life by believing in Jesus for it, not by repenting, or turning, from sinful activities. Such turning is extremely helpful in experiencing the blessings that God wants for us in this life. But those who do not repent will experience the devastating and destructive consequences of their sinful choices.

This is what John warns the leaders about and the nation of Israel as a whole. John uses the image of fire to refer to this destruction.

But what about being “thrown into the fire”?

When John says they will be “thrown into the fire” (Matt 3:10), he is not talking about being thrown into the fires of hell, but is using the imagery of cutting down a tree which then gets burned. Many trees are cut down and then used to make planks of wood for building and construction.

But John says that Israel’s leaders, and those who follow their teaching with a lack of repentance, will be symbolically cut down and burned. They will not be useful for anything once the judgment comes.

But what about the baptism by fire?

The baptism by fire in Matthew 3:11 is to be understood in a similar way.

It does not refer to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but the impending destruction on Israel.

Since baptism simply means “immersion,” when something is immersed in fire, it is consumed by the fire.

The fact that Jesus is said to be the one who will bring this immersion in fire does not mean that Jesus is the one who performs or sends the destruction. Instead, that the destruction will come upon Israel by means of their rejection of Him as the Messiah (cf. Luke 12:49).

Then how about the “unquenchable fire”?

This fire will not come upon all, for John teaches that the Messiah will gather the grain into the barn, while the chaff gets burned with unquenchable fire (Matt 3:12).

This reference to unquenchable fire causes some to think that John is referring to hell. But the term “unquenchable” (Gk., asbestos) simply means that the fire completes its task. It burns all that it was meant to burn and fully consumes all that is fed into it.

As an interesting side note, the term asbestos not only means “unquenchable” but also refers to calcium oxide (or quicklime) that was made in the lime kilns of the ancient world, which, after being slaked with water, was widely used for art and construction. When a human body is completely burned, the ash it leaves behind looks very similar to asbestos, or calcium oxide (See Isaiah 33:12).

Chaff does not burn eternally. Quite to the contrary, it burns quickly and then is gone.

So the fact that this fire is described as unquenchable means that it burns hot and fast until there is nothing left to burn. It completes its task of burning so quickly and thoroughly, there is little trace of the flames or its fuel after the fire is gone.

Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History (Book VI: Chapter 41), writes about a Christian named Julian who was burned to death for being a Christian. Eusebius describes this fire as being an immense fire. The Greek words he uses are puri asbestō, exactly the same words used by John in Matthew 3:12. Eusebius goes on to use the exact same term to describe how other Christian martyrs were killed.

Clearly, when Eusebius used this phrase, he was certainly not saying that these Christian martyrs went to hell. Instead, Eusebius was simply describing the immense inferno which consumed their bodies in the flames.

The bodies of these Christians were reduced to ash in the fire; not sent to everlasting torment in hell.

John’s Warning was fulfilled in 69-70 AD

This is what happened to the nation of Israel within one generation of John speaking these words. In 69-70 AD, some Jewish people tried to revolt against Rome, and in response, Rome sent its military to destroy and burn the city of Jerusalem. Its walls were torn down, the temple was ruined, thousands of people were killed, and the city was burned to the ground. The rest of the nation scattered over the face of the earth.

In the minds of many, the nation of Israel ceased to exist, and there was almost no trace of it to be found. It was not until 1948 that Israel was resurrected from the ashes and became a nation once again.

This unquenchable fire was not the first time that such fires came upon Jerusalem.

Jeremiah prophesied that if the people of Jerusalem did not turn from their disobedience, then an unquenchable fire would be kindled upon the gates and palaces of Jerusalem (Jer 17:27). This fire came upon Jerusalem in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar burned the city, destroyed the temple, and razed Jerusalem to the ground. But even though Jeremiah said the fire was unquenchable, the fire burned itself out. Many years later, the city and temple were once again rebuilt.

John follows in the prophetic steps of Jeremiah by saying that if the Jewish people do not turn from their ways, the same thing that happened to Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah would also happen in their own day.

Matthew 3:10-12 is not teaching about hell

So John is not warning the people about going to hell where they will be tortured forever in flames.

He is warning the people of Israel that a fire is coming upon them, and once it is ignited, it will not be extinguished, but will burn until there is nothing left to burn.

This is not a reference to hell or the eventual annihilation of unregenerate dead, but only to the temporal destruction that would come upon the nation of Israel if they did not repent and return to God.

Throughout this text, John uses the images of pruning and burning to invite his listeners to repent and prepare their lives for the coming Messiah.

He invites his listeners to burn the rubbish out of their own lives now in preparation for the Messiah, or have it burned up later when the Messiah comes.

This is not a threat from John that the Messiah will send people to everlasting hell, but is instead a call to national repentance as a way of preparing the way for the Messiah.

As we now know, however, the nation did not properly prepare themselves, and so the Messianic presence resulted in the fires of purification (cf. Luke 12:49).

Does Isaiah 33:10-16 teach about hell?

By Jeremy Myers

Isaiah 33:10-16 and Burning in Fire. Is this hell?

Here is some of what Isaiah 33:10-16 says,

You shall conceive chaff, You shall bring forth stubble; Your breath, as fire, shall devour you. And the people shall be like the burnings of lime; Like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire. … The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa 33:11-12, 14).

There are three key insights to note from this text which help guide our understanding of all the others.

1. It is Not People who are Burned, but what People Produce

First, Isaiah writes that the people of Zion will “conceive” chaff and “bring forth” stubble.

Isaiah uses terms of conception and childbirth to speak of the works that these sinners produce. It is not their lives that are chaff, stubble, and thorns, but what they produce with their lives.

Of course, when your entire life’s work is destroyed, it may seem as if your life is destroyed as well. Indeed, when other prophetic passages (and later New Testament texts) talk about the destruction that comes upon people for their worthless way of living, it sometimes refers to the people themselves being destroyed, rather than the work of their hands.

This is how it feels when, at the end of your life, you discover that everything you have worked for has amounted to nothing.

This is not to say that many prophetic passages (including those in the New Testament) do not have the death and destruction of actual human lives in view. Many of them do, as we shall see. But in each case, the passages are always referring to physical death and temporal destruction rather than to everlasting death or eternal physical torture in flames of fire.

Some of the physical death and destruction during this life does indeed happen with literal flames when war comes upon a nation or its cities, and in such wars, many human beings do die. But once again, it is physical death that is in view, not eternal death in an everlasting place of torment.

2. The word “Everlasting” can refer to an event of limited duration with everlasting effects

But some point to Isaiah 33:14 as evidence that everlasting burning in the pit of hell is indeed what Isaiah has in view. This is the second important point to note from this text. While the term “everlasting” can indeed refer to a period of time that never ends, it can also refer to an event of limited duration which has effects that never end.

This second explanation provides the proper understanding for Isaiah 33:14.

In this text, people who are alive are saying that the works of their lives have been destroyed, and nobody in the future will know or hear of them.

They are afraid because they have lived hypocritical lives, and see that all they have lived and worked for will be consumed by fire, and will have no lasting value, significance, or remembrance for all eternity.

The fire that consumes these people and the works of their hands did indeed go out. It came upon them in 586 BC (when King Nebuchadnezzar invaded and destroyed Judah, along with Jerusalem and the temple) and has long since burned out.

But none of their work remains. It burned to ashes long ago and has forever been forgotten.

Note that even though Zion was destroyed with “everlasting fire,” the nation, its capitol city Jerusalem, the temple, and even the people of Zion rose again from the ashes.

In 538 BC, the Persian ruler, King Cyrus, allowed the Hebrew people to return to their land where they eventually rebuilt the city and the temple.

Though the everlasting fire prophesied by Isaiah destroyed many of the people and the works of their hands, this was not the end of the Hebrew people themselves, or their influence upon this world. They rebuilt and regained much of their former glory.

Furthermore, of the people who died in 586 BC, nothing is said by Isaiah or anyone else regarding their eternal state or destiny. It is only the work of their lives which was burned away into nothingness.

In fact, it is possible that many of them are already with God, and will spend eternity with Him.

We see evidence of this in the fact that Isaiah calls them “hypocrites.” A hypocrite is someone who acts in ways that are contrary to their stated identity. As such, anybody can be a hypocrite. Jesus often called some of His followers hypocrites (Matt 15:7; Luke 13:15), and Paul once referred to Peter and Barnabas as hypocrites (Gal 2:11-13).

Obviously, if someone is a hypocrite, this does not automatically mean they are truly part of the family of God, but it also does not necessarily mean that they will spend eternity in hell. It just means that they claim one thing about themselves but behave in ways that are opposite.

This was true of the people in Isaiah’s day, and many of these hypocrites will spend eternity with God.

3. The Fire is not from God, but from the People themselves

The third and final thing to note from Isaiah 33:10-16 is that the fire comes from the people themselves.

Isaiah writes, “Your breath, as fire, shall devour you” (Isaiah 33:11).

While numerous passages in Scripture indicate that the fires of judgment comes from God, a look behind the curtain reveals that the fires of judgment that come upon human beings for their sinful ways are always self-inflicted.

Sin bears its own punishment; rebellion carries within it the flames of ruin.

Actions have consequences, and when we live in ways that are contrary to the will of God, these actions lead to destruction and devastation.

This is why God warns us against sin in the first place. God warns us against sin, not because He is a killjoy and wants to ruin our fun with arbitrary laws, but because He knows how best to live this life and get the most out of it.

He also knows what happens when we do not live this life as He intends and seeks to warn us against such ways of living.

When we sin, we hurt others and we hurt ourselves. And since God loves all of us, He does not want to see us get hurt, which is why He warns us about sin. Yet we often sin anyway, and so destruction comes.

This is what Isaiah is teaching.

The people were warned by the prophets, including Isaiah himself, about their sinful and hypocritical ways. But they continued to sin, and so the fire of judgment that comes upon them is a fire they lit themselves.

And while it is not always words that spark the flame, words are often the culprit, as Isaiah indicates. He says it is their “breath” that is the fire, which is a way of referring to the words that they speak.

Indeed, near the end of Isaiah’s life, King Hezekiah said some foolish words to the ambassadors from Babylon. He boasted to them about the treasures of the temple and showed them the riches that were within it.

As a result, Isaiah told Hezekiah that because he had said and done these things, Babylon would come against the city and destroy it (2 Kings 20:12-19), which is exactly what happened (2 Kings 24:1-16).

Eventually, the entire city, with the temple, was burned with fire, and its inhabitants were carted off into captivity (2 Kings 25:1-21).

Conclusion

So Isaiah 33:10-16 is a guiding paradigm for helping us understand all the passages in Scripture about fire.

As we will see, just like Isaiah 33:10-16, none of the passages which teach about the destruction of people in fire are referring to the everlasting torment of people in flames where they scream and burn for all eternity.

Instead, such texts refer to the worthless work of human hands that gets burned away by destructive forces in this world. All the work of their hands is turned to ash.

When lime is burned in a fire or thorns are put to flame, nothing is left but a fine, white powder which blows away with the first puff of wind.

So it will be for everything that some people have worked for in this life. As we keep this paradigm in mind, many of the New Testament passages which speak of fire make much more sense.

What is hell? (James 3:6 and James 5:3 provide the answer)

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In previous studies, we have looked at the words sheol, gehenna, abyss, tartarus, hades, the ‘outer darkness‘ and the Lake of Fire. In each case, we have seen that none of these words describe a place of everlasting torment for unbelievers in a place of burning fire.

Having studied several of the key terms that often get related to hell, it is also important to study several of the key passages that many people believe teach about hell. This study looks at James 3:6 and James 5:3.

Does James 3:6 teach that your tongue can send you to hell?

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell (James 3:6).

Since the book of James is likely one of the earliest New Testament writings, James is heavily reliant upon the Hebrew Scriptures. And since James was a leader in the Jerusalem church and a half-brother to Jesus, he seems to base his letter upon the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

Therefore, what he writes about fire and hell is extremely important for understanding the overall imagery of these terms in the Bible.

In other words, the image of fire and hell in James can be used to help us understand how references to fire and hell are to be understood in the rest of Scripture.

According to Brad Jersak, who wrote the Foreword to my new book on hell, the imagery of fire and hell in James 3:6 is a definitive text for understanding both terms and how they were used by Jesus and the early church.

Jersak writes that the hell (Gk., gehenna) imagery in James 3:6 reveals that hell is not a destination to which people go after death, but rather the source of the flames that set the tongue and this world on fire.

And since the tongue itself does not actually burn with flames, nor do words literally set our lives, or the lives of others, on fire, this imagery too is symbolic of the devastation and destruction that the tongue can cause in a person’s life.

What then is hell?

Hell is a kingdom of darkness and destruction that is set against the kingdom of heaven in this life.

The two kingdoms are at war with each other, and while one brings light and life, the other brings death and devastation.

So James 3:6 is a key interpretive text for the fire and hell imagery of Scripture, and it reveals that neither are referring to a place of literal flames in the afterlife for the unredeemed dead, but instead refer to the devastation and destruction that can come into our lives when we stray from the values and principles of the kingdom of heaven.

The “fire” is not a place of burning and torture in the afterlife, but an experience of death and devastation in this life.

However, some of this fiery devastation and destruction might come upon believers at the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is what James warns the rich about in James 5:3. So let us also consider this text…

Does James 5:3 teach that rich people will go to hell?

Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days (James 5:3).

This passage is frequently cited by those who think of hell as eternal conscious torment, because James portrays a vivid image of the gold and silver eating rich people like fire.

And yet as James has pointed out frequently in his letter, the people to whom he writes are Christian brethren (cf. Jas 1:2, 16; 2:1, 5, 14; etc.), and James counts the rich among these Christian brethren (cf. Jas 2:1-7).

Indeed, it is because the rich are Christians that James is able to exhort them to follow Jesus and obey the law of liberty (Jas 2:12-13).

So if James writes near the end of his letter that the rich Christians could end up in hell if they are not generous with their money, then James is teaching that a person can lose their eternal life and that entrance into heaven is based on the good works of generosity and giving.

Both of these ideas are contrary to everything else Scripture teaches.

Therefore, it is better to understand James 5:3 in light of James 3:6, along with all the other imagery of fire in Scripture.

The fire in James 5:3 is symbolic of devastation and destruction that comes upon a person’s life for failing to follow the values and principles of the kingdom of heaven.

And while this devastation can come into a person’s life now, it can also come at the beginning of the next life when a person stands at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Our life in eternity begins with standing before Jesus to give an answer for the things we have done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor 5:10). How we live this life helps determine how we start the next life.

James is warning rich Christians that when they hoard wealth for themselves now, they are also storing up “treasure” for themselves at the Judgment Seat of Christ, which will be the experience of seeing all their earthly work and wealth consumed in the flames as if it were nothing more than wood, hay, and stubble (cf. 1 Cor 3:14-15).

The wealth of the rich eats away at their life now, and eats away at their life in the new heavens and new earth as well. Therefore, James encourages his rich readers to use their wealth and power to help those in need and to provide fair, just, and generous pay to their laborers (Jas 2:5; 5:4).

This passage is not about how the rich will go to hell because of their riches, but is about how the rich can use their wealth to help others now and store up true, spiritual riches in eternity. If they keep their wealth for themselves, it will only destroy their life now, it will also start their life in eternity with a negative experience.

James 3:6 and James 5:3 are not warnings about everlasting torment in the flames of hell

So neither James 3:6 or James 5:3 teach about an afterlife experience for unregenerate dead where they will burn and suffer in flames of fire for all eternity. Both texts are referring to the symbolic fires of destruction that can come upon a person’s life NOW in this world, destroying everything they have worked for and everything that is of value in their life.

Yes, there are also some warnings in James 5:3 about a fiery afterlife experience, but this warning is directed toward Christians rather than non-Christians, and is not a warning about everlasting torment in hell, but is instead a warning about experiencing shame and loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:14-15).

This imagery and truth from James 3:6 and James 5:3 is key for understanding the rest of what the New Testament teaches about fire and hell. Most of the fiery and hellish imagery of the New Testament is referring to the “Kingdom of Hell” that seeks to rule and reign on this earth in direct conflict with the Kingdom of God.

James invites us to avoid fiery judgment now (and at the Judgment Seat of Christ) by living according to the ways of Jesus instead of the ways of destruction.

So what is hell?

If you want to understand what hell is, all you need to do is look at how Jesus lived and described the kingdom of heaven, and then think of its opposite. But there are numerous images and ideas from Scripture that also describe the kingdom of hell. The following chart shows some of the terms and imagery from Scripture which fit with both kingdoms.

Kingdom of Heaven	Kingdom of Hell
Everlasting Life	Everlasting Death
Exemplified by Jesus	Exemplified by Satan
Walking in Light	Walking in Darkness
Life Guided by Love	Life Guided by Hate
Abiding in the Truth	Abiding in Lies
Practicing Righteousness	Practicing Wickedness
Hope and Healing	Despair and Destruction
Fruitfulness and Creativity	Fire and Corruption
Fellowship and Unity	Separation and Fighting
Forgiveness and Grace	Accusation and Grudges
Fulfilling our Divine Purpose	Neglecting our Divine Purpose
Revealing the Image of God	Hiding the Image of God
Living Fully Human Lives	Living Sub-Human Lives

Note that all of the terms on both sides of the chart are available options for people here and now in this life. The two columns describe the two options we face in our present life, not in a future life after death. How we respond to the instructions and commands of God determine what sort of life experience we have here and now.

So where is hell? It is here, on this earth.

When is hell? It is now, in our lives.

And what is hell? It is the experience of life that is diametrically opposed to the life God wants for us. It is sickness and pain, death and disease, pestilence and famine, rape and murder, abuse and neglect, fear and loneliness, greed and lust. A person experiences hell to the degree that they experience such things.

This insight about the present reality of hell raises a startling truth.

The fact that the kingdom of hell exists here and now on earth rather than as an afterlife experience, means that any theological system which thinks of hell as only an afterlife experience is actually helping and aiding the kingdom of hell grow in power on this earth.

In other words, those who only think that hell is an afterlife experience for unbelievers will not be working to rescue and liberate people from the kingdom of hell that is here now.

And when the kingdom of hell goes unchallenged, it grows in power and influence. The three main view of hell (Traditionalism, Universalism, and Annihilationism) are all guilty in this regard.

Far from rescuing people from hell, by thinking that hell is only something that happens to people after they die, such views actually help keep people in hell.

The religious belief that hell exists only in the afterlife is the first step in creating hell here on earth for those whom the “religious” people think deserve to go there.

You might have heard it said that the greatest lie of Satan is that he does not exist.

If that is true, the second greatest lie of Satan is that hell exists only in the afterlife.

This lie causes Christians to ignore and neglect the many billions of people who live in hell right here on earth. We walk by them every day, ignoring their cries of pain and calls for help. Hell is here and hell is now, and until we recognize this truth, we will not work to rescue and liberate those who are trapped behind its gates.

Indeed, the traditional Christian doctrine of hell (especially Traditionalism, or Infernalism) is almost solely responsible for creating a spiritual and psychological hell in the minds of those who hear and believe it.

How can a person worship a God who sends all non-Christians (including those who never heard the gospel), along with children, mentally handicapped, and possibly our own family members to suffer forever in burning flames?

The traditional views of hell end up creating hell in the minds of those who hear them.

In a twisted perversion of the gospel, Christians who seek to rescue people from eternal hell end up consigning people to a living hell, as people tear themselves up spiritually and psychologically by living in fear of God, fear of sinning, and fear that they have not believed in the right things or performed enough good works to please and appease God.

And even if some are convinced that they themselves are headed for eternal bliss with God, such Christians are often in emotional and psychological distress about the eternal suffering of their loved ones.

A belief in eternal conscious torment does not lead to the deliverance of people from hell, but leads instead to the creation of hell in the minds of countless millions.

When we neglect the work of bringing heaven down to earth, we allow hell to rise up on the earth. There is no middle ground. There is no neutral way of living.

If we are not expanding the rule and reign of God upon the earth, then we are allowing the rule and reign of hell to remain instead.

So stop allowing hell to rule and reign in the lives of others. Live and strive for the kingdom of heaven by introducing it into the lives of those who live in the kingdom of hell. As you do this, they will be brought out of the kingdom of darkness, despair, and depression, and will be brought into the kingdom of light, love, acceptance, forgiveness, freedom, and fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

What is the Lake of Fire in the Bible? Is it hell?

By Jeremy Myers

22 Comments

If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In previous studies, we have looked at the words sheol, gehenna, abyss, tartarus, hades, and the ‘outer darkness.’ In each case, we have seen that none of these words describe a place of everlasting torment for unbelievers in a place of burning fire.

But what about the Lake of Fire? Surely this term refers to hell as a place of eternal suffering and torment in flames for unbelievers … doesn’t it?

Well … let’s see.

What is the Lake of Fire?

The image of the Lake of Fire in the book of Revelation has caused much consternation about the living conditions for the unredeemed dead.

And while the image is thought to depict the eternal torment of non-Christians in hell, it has also been used to psychologically torment lots of people in this life. The thought of swimming around forever in a molten lake of lava is extremely distressing.

So what is the Lake of Fire and how can we understand it?

There are a wide variety of views, some more outlandish than others. I read one scholar who argued that the Lake of Fire was the sun at the middle of our solar system. I once talked with a seminary professor who argued that since all humans around the earth talk about “going down” to hell and the Lake of Fire, this means that all their concepts of “down” converge at the magma core of the earth, which is the Lake of Fire. (I am not making this up.)

Most concepts of the Lake of Fire, however, teach that it is a place created by God where He sends the unredeemed dead to suffer and burn in torment for all eternity.

A somewhat less horrific view is found among some Universalists who argue that the Lake of Fire is a temporary torture chamber where sinners have all their impurities burned out of them before they are allowed entrance into heaven.

Another view I have recently encountered argues that the Lake of Fire refers to the temporal destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

But whether we are talking about unending torture or a shorter period of time, many people are (rightly) concerned with the idea of God torturing and burning anyone.

Does God want us to torture people? No! We are called to love and serve.

So is it okay for God to do what He forbids us from doing? Some think so, but I do not.

I believe God’s commands to humanity are based on His own character and nature, and He sets the example for us to follow.

But if this is the case, then we must understand what John meant when he wrote about the Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:10, 14-15, and Revelation 21:8.

The Symbolism of the Lake of Fire in Revelation

Thankfully, when John wrote about the Lake of Fire, he was not thinking about tortured souls screaming in agony from being boiled in lava for all eternity. We know this because of the symbolic nature of the book of Revelation.

Very little in the book of Revelation is to be understood “literally.”

Yes, the book should be read and studied seriously, giving careful attention to its words, images, and ideas, but we must never forget that nearly every picture and event in the book of Revelation is full of allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures, Christ-centered theology, Roman politics, and ancient Mediterranean culture.

When we begin to study the symbolism of Revelation and look for clues in the first century Mediterranean world about what John might have been referring to when he wrote about the Lake of Fire, it does not take long to discover that there was an actual “Lake of Fire” in his day that he was referring to.

This lake still exists today and you can go swim in it if you would like.

But do not worry, for while you might get a sunburn, the lake itself will not burn you. But more on that in a bit.

To help us understand the imagery that John is using, as well as the identity and location of the Lake of Fire, imagine if someone today told you that they were going to live in Salt Lake. Would you think that this person would be floating around all day in the salty water of a Utah lake? No, you would understand that they were moving to the city called “Salt Lake” which is on the shore of a salty lake, and that it would be possible to live in Salt Lake for their entire life without ever setting foot in the lake of salt.

Or, to use another example, what if you heard that someone was going to visit the Valley of Fire on their vacation. Would you think that they were going to visit a place where they would get incinerated and tortured in flames? This would not be much of a vacation. Instead, if you were not familiar with the Valley of Fire, you might look it up online, and discover that it is a popular tourist destination about one hour from the city of Las Vegas. It would be foolish to assume that just because it mentions “fire,” this means that anyone who visits the Valley of Fire will be tormented or tortured in flames while they were there. It means no such thing. About 300,000 people go into the Valley of Fire each year, and they all come back, none the worse for wear.

A nearly identical situation occurs with “the Lake of Fire.” It was (and is) a literal place on planet earth. And since many people today (and throughout church history) do not know where this location is, they have wrongly assumed that John was describing an eternal place of fiery torture in the afterlife for the unredeemed dead.

So what and where is the Lake of Fire?

In the days of Jesus and John, what we now call the Dead Sea was referred to by some as the Lake of Fire, or the Fiery Lake (Jersak, (#AmazonAdLink) Her Gates Will Never Be Shut, 82-87; Spencer, (#AmazonAdLink) The Genesis Pursuit, 185-212).

The Dead Sea sits on a fault line, and during the several thousand years prior to the first century AD, it used to regularly erupt, spewing forth tar, pitch, bitumen, asphaltites, smoke, sulphur, and flame. As a result, the Greeks even named it the “Lake Asphaltites.”

But the Greeks were not the only ones to describe the sea in such a way. The Wisdom of Solomon also records that Lot “escaped the fire that came on the Five Cities, cities whose wickedness is still attested by a smoking waste” (Wisdom of Solomon 10:7).

Diodorus Siculus, a first century BC historian, wrote this about this region: “The fire which burns beneath the ground and the stench render the inhabitants of the neighboring country sickly and very short lived” (Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, Volume II:48.6).

Philo, writing in the days before the ministry of Jesus, said that the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with fires, which were very difficult to extinguish, and that many of these fires had been smoking and burning for a very long time, even to his own day (On Abraham, XXVII:141).

When Josephus was writing his history of the Jewish wars, he said that one could still see the burnt remnants of the five cities, and that fruit from the region dissolves into smoke and ashes if plucked (The Wars of the Jews, IV:8.4.483-484).

The first century geographer Strabo called the valley “a land of fires” because there were frequent boiling outbursts of fire in the region, and the entire area smelled of sulfur and brimstone (The Geography of Strabo, XVI:2.42-44).

Even in more recent times, others have noted similar things about the valley. When the explorer Volney visited the region in 1787, he reported that “this valley [is] the seat of subterranean fire, which is not yet extinguished. Clouds of smoke are often observed to issue from the lake” (Travels, I:281-282).

In 1848, a scientific investigation of the region by a man named Lynch reported that the valley held a strong smell of sulfuret hydrogen (Journal of Royal Geographical Society, XVIII: 127). He also wrote that he witnessed a purple vapor rising above the Dead Sea, “contrasting strangely with the extraordinary color of the sea beneath and, where they blended in the distance, giving it the appearance of smoke from burning sulfur. It seemed a vast cauldron of metal, fused but motionless. In the afternoon of the same day, it looked like molten lead” (Ibid, 276, 324).

Some modern scholars and commentators have noted this as well. For example, John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, in the section on Revelation 20:14-15, points out that the Dead Sea was also called the sulpherous lake, the lake of asphaltites, and the bituminous lake.

The Jewish people understood that the lake sat in the valley which used to be home to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and so whatever idolatrous or sinful thing the Jewish people wanted to get rid of, they would cast it into the Salt Sea. Gill quotes the Babylonian Talmud as saying that “any vessels that had on them the image of the sun, or of the moon, or of a dragon, ‘let them cast them into the salt sea’” (Avoda Zara, 42.2; 49.1; 53.1; 71.2; Nazir 24.2; 26.1-2; Bava Metzia 52.2; Temura 22.2; Meila 9.2; 10:1).

This image of being cast into the salt sea is very similar to what John writes in Revelation 21:8.

Even the PBS documentary called “A Naked Planet Special” said this about the Dead Sea:

Geologists have discovered large pockets of gas trapped under the sediment … in the southern Dead Sea. [When these bubbles escape or are] released into the atmosphere by an earthquake, it would only take a spark to ignite a giant inferno; a vast ball of flame raining down.

One wonders if such a scenario ever occurred as people traveled along the edges of the Dead Sea, thereby causing it to also be named the Fire Sea. Indeed, one author even suggests that the lake itself occasionally caught on fire (Spencer, (#AmazonAdLink) The Genesis Pursuit, 197).

It is also critical to remember that the ancient site of Sodom and Gomorrah are beneath the southern edge of the Dead Sea, where, on the western shore, there sits Mount Sodom and a rock formation called “Lot’s wife.” These images and memories of the destruction that came upon the cities of this valley help explain the list of sins that John mentions in Revelation 21:8.

So there is much historical evidence to see that in the first century, when people heard about the Lake of Fire, they understood this to be a symbol for the region that we now call the Dead Sea.

But how are people cast into the Lake of Fire?

After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the bodies of over one million Jews were thrown into the Valley of Hinnom outside of Jerusalem, where they were then burned. When the rains come, much that is in the valley is washed down into the Dead Sea through the Wadi an-Nar, or the “Streambed of Fire” (Spencer, (#AmazonAdLink) The Genesis Pursuit, 197).

So it is a historical fact that as a result of the destruction of Jerusalem, over a million people ended up being cast into the Lake of Fire, also known as the Dead Sea.

Furthermore, many Jews of that time believed that if a body was burned to ashes and did not receive a burial, then that person would not be raised from the dead in the future resurrection (Spencer, (#AmazonAdLink) The Genesis Pursuit, 197).

Therefore, if a person was cast into the Lake of Fire via the Streambed of Fire because their ashes were carried from Gehenna down to the Dead Sea, that person would remain in the Lake of Fire forever, never being able to experience the resurrection. (We know from Scripture, however, that everyone will be resurrected. See John 5:29; Acts 24:15; cf. Dan 12:2.)

With all of this in mind, how then are we to understand the references to the Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:10, 14, and 21:8?

The Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:10, 14, and 21:8

Bradley Jersak sees these statements as an “apocalyptic threat of being leveled by the fire of God’s wrath, historically fulfilled through obliteration by foreign armies. In Revelation, the threat is specific to Jerusalem” (Jersak, (#AmazonAdLink) Her Gates Will Never Be Shut, 87).

Indeed, passages like Isaiah 1:7-10 equate the city of Jerusalem with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, indicating that they will share similar fates. Other cities that behaved in similar ways also experienced similar ends (cf. Isa 34:8-10; Jer 49:17-18; Dan 7:9-11).

But the destruction of Jerusalem was not the end of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was “resurrected” from the ashes, so that one can go and visit it today. Furthermore, Jerusalem will play a significant and prominent role in the future, including in eternity when a New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God (Rev 21:2).

In this way, the restoration of Jerusalem appears to be a foreshadowing, or firstfruits, of the restoration of other cities that also experienced fiery judgment and destruction. For example, the description in Ezekiel 16:53-55 and 47:1-12 seems to indicate that the Dead Sea valley, along with the cities that are in them (which would include Sodom and Gomorrah), will also experience a restoration to fruitfulness, life, and fertility when Jesus returns and brings healing to this world.

It seems, therefore, that there is something unique in eternity about being cast into the Lake of Fire.

Though the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were burned with fire and brimstone, they will be restored.

Though Jerusalem was brought to ruin through fire and war, it too will be restored.

But the things that are cast into the Lake of Fire do not seem to experience restoration.

Being cast into the Lake of Fire is not about the wrath of God, invading armies, or even destruction by fire in this life or the next. Being cast into the Lake of Fire is not about being tortured in any way. Instead, those that are cast into the Lake of Fire are never heard from again. They have no more influence, power, or sway on this earth.

This seems to be the symbolic significance of the Lake of Fire.

And this indeed fits with what we read about the Lake of Fire in the book of Revelation.

When Jesus comes again, He will banish the spirit of accusation and scapegoating (the devil), the idolatry of science and money (the beast), human religion (the false prophet), all useless and destructive ways of living (death), and the reign of hell on earth (hadēs).

These are the five primary enemies of humanity, and Jesus sends them all away into the Lake of Fire, never to be heard from again. (cf. Rev 21:4 where they are not even named, but are simply called “the former things.” After this, they are never heard from again. “Death” is mentioned in 21:8 for the last time, but only as the second death.)

There is no possible restoration or redemption for accusation, idolatry, manmade religion, destruction, or the reign of hell. These are sent away into the sea of forgetfulness and have no more place on earth.

The fact that intangible concepts or powers such as death and hadēs are cast into the Lake of Fire strongly indicates that the Lake of Fire itself is also intangible.

That is, one cannot put an immaterial idea, concept, power, or force into something material.

When we say that we have “love in our heart” we do not literally mean that the immaterial feeling of “love” is literally being stored in the blood-pumping organ of our body. Instead, since “love” is intangible and immaterial, this means that the word “heart” is also understood as symbolic, intangible, and immaterial.

So also with throwing the immaterial death and hadēs into the Lake of Fire.

Some might object that since I have just shown that the Lake of Fire was originally a literal place, namely, the Dead Sea, then the items thrown into it must also be literal, material objects.

But it works the other way.

Much like the symbol of gehenna, the literal place, cultural history, and theological significance of the Dead Sea provides insight into what it means to be cast into the Lake of Fire.

Again, to use the analogy of love, if I say that my love for my wife extends higher than the moon, I am using a literal place (the moon) as a symbol to describe the extent of an immaterial concept (my love).

The same is true with casting death and hadēs into the Lake of Fire.

This imagery of things that are contrary to God being cast into the Lake of Fire would have been immediately identifiable to John’s reading audience.

In the first century Jewish culture, people often made the journey to the Dead Sea to cast things into it which they considered to be sinful or idolatrous.

In his Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, John Lightfoot records that

The Talmudists devote ‘to the sea of Sodom’ anything that is destined to rejection and cursing, and that by no means is to be used (Lightfoot, (#AmazonAdLink) A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, 15).

Lightfoot goes on to cite several quotes from the Jewish Talmud which describe this practice being carried out.

But how are the things in the Lake of Fire Tormented Forever?

But John not only writes about things that are contrary to God being cast into the Lake of Fire, he also says that such things will be “tormented day and night forever and ever.” The word for “torment” (Gk., basanizō) literally means “to rub on a touchstone.”

A touchstone (Gk., basanos) was a stone that was used to test the quality of metals, especially gold and silver coins. It was usually a fine-grained dark schist or jasper stone that was used to determine the purity of gold and silver coins by the streak left on the stone when rubbed with the metal. A basanos helped discover whether or not a coin was counterfeit.

When used in reference to people, the verb form of the word can refer to physical suffering (Matt 8:6; Rev 9:5), hard toil (Mark 6:48), and the pain of childbirth (Rev 12:2). When used of inanimate objects, it has the idea of being buffeted and battered, like a ship in a storm (Matt 14:24). In the Gospels, the demons often ask Jesus if He has come to torment them before the set time (Matt 8:29; Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28).

But in Revelation, the word only applies to the devil, the beast, and the false prophet (Rev 20:10), which are not “people,” but institutions or powers that had been twisted and perverted away from God’s will and design.

These “things” will be “tormented” in that, like a counterfeit coin, they will be discarded and thrown out, having no more value, power, or influence in this world. They will be shown to be false and fake forgeries, twisted perversions of what God wanted and desired.

Death, after all, does have a role in God’s good creation, as does religion (Jas 1:27), and the proper use of judging between right and wrong (accusation is a perversion of judgment). But the perversions of these are done away with in eternity. This is a judgment of ungodly structures and institutions; not primarily a judgment upon people.

But doesn’t the text say that people are cast into the Lake of Fire?

Revelation 20:13-15 says that the sea, and death, and hadēs gave up the dead that were in them, who are judged at the Great White Throne Judgment, before being cast into the Lake of Fire.

And then Revelation 21:8 seems to list the sorts of people who are cast into the Lake of Fire, such as the cowardly, unbelieving, murderers, sexually immoral, and liars. If this judgment is not specifically upon people, then what is happening to the people who are described in these ways?

Some scholars try to argue that John is referring only to a past historical event here, in which cities and nations were destroyed by fire.

For example, since Sodom and Gomorrah were characterized by the sorts of behaviors described in Revelation 21:8, and since these cities were destroyed by fire, and since the “ruins” of these cities likely lie at the bottom of the Dead Sea (the Lake of Fire), some scholars say that this is what John is referring to in this text.

But this cannot be the case, for when people died in those historical events, this was their first death. Revelation 20:13-15 says that people are resurrected and brought back to life to face judgment, and are then sent to the Lake of Fire.

But note that the text does not say that the humans who end up in the Lake of Fire will be tormented by the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:15).

Unlike the devil, the beast, and the false prophet, humans are not tormented in the Lake of Fire. They are actually sent there to escape torment. A careful reading of Revelation shows how this works.

Earlier in Revelation, John wrote that the people who worship the beast and his image will “be tormented with fire and brimstone … and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever” (Rev 14:10-11).

The word used for “torment” in Revelation 14:10-11 is the same word used in Revelation 20:10. But the torment that these people experience in Revelation 14:10-11 does not come from the Lake of Fire, because they are not there yet. They do not get sent to the Lake of Fire until after the Great White Throne judgment.

The torment these people experience comes from “fire and brimstone,” which is what brought the initial destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The fact that the smoke ascends forever would remind the readers that the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah was still ascending in the region of the Dead Sea to that very day.

So is John saying that humans will get tormented after all, but in a different way? No, for John subverts the violent imagery of Revelation 14:10-11 in a subtle way.

When people think and teach about the torment that people receive in the fires of hell for all eternity, they usually also teach that such people are completely separated from the presence of God. But Revelation 14:10 says that the torment these people receive is “in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

Isn’t this strange? They are only tormented when they are in the presence of Jesus (the Lamb) and the holy angels (which might represent the spirits of the church; cf. Rev 1:20). But does this mean that our entertainment in heaven will consist of watching people burn and suffer? It cannot be, for this would be less than restful (Rev 14:13).

Quite to the contrary, it appears that John is saying that as long as these people worship the beast and his image (whatever they may represent), it is torment for them to be in the presence of Jesus and His righteous church.

How is it torment? Earlier, in Revelation 11:10, John wrote that these same people were tormented by the preaching and presence of the two witnesses.

This does not mean that the two witnesses were burning people alive with their sermons. It refers instead to the inner conviction one feels when they are presented with something that is contrary to their spirit or nature. Righteous people have this same experience when they are in the presence of wickedness (2 Pet 2:8).

Therefore, the “torment” (Gk., basanizō) of humans in Revelation is not physical torture in fire, but refers to the spiritual vexation that unrighteous people experience when they are presented with the truth or when their behavior is challenged (Rev 11:10).

In Revelation 11:10, the people who experienced this torment, tried to escape it by killing the two witnesses, but John writes in Revelation 14:10 that they will continue to experience the torment of the truth as long as they are in the presence of Jesus and the holy angels.

Therefore, since Jesus knows that the life of those who worship Him is not compatible with the life of those who worship the beast, and that each group is tormented by the other, Jesus separates them so that neither group is tormented.

In Revelation 20:14-15, out of love for the people who do not want to hear the truth, Jesus sends them to be with the beast, the false prophet, death, and hadēs in the Lake of Fire. They are not sent to be tormented, but to escape the convicting and “tormenting” presence of Jesus and the church.

So what will their existence be like? What will they do? How will they live?

What will existence be like for those in the Lake of Fire?

The truth is that we do not know. But it won’t be torment or torture. It won’t be burning and screaming in agony for all eternity. Scripture does not say what their existence will be like, or if it can even be called “existence.”

It seems that the life in the Lake of Fire (which is not a literal place of burning and flame) is a place where people are allowed to live as they want.

It is a place where they will be given true human freedom apart from God, which is what many people think they want, but which is actually not freedom; it is slavery. It will likely be similar to life on this present earth, but without physical death.

While this initially sounds like heaven, such an existence will end up being hell. People who try to live life apart of from God, live life in a way that God never intended it to be lived. This way of living does not build loving relationships, but ruins and destroys them. It is a selfish, hateful, broken way of living.

And a truly hellish existence is having no way out of this sort of living.

True hell is an eternal existence in a sin-filled world without the blessed escape through death.

Currently, we have a “way out” through death and resurrection. But if there is no death, there can be no resurrection, and so those who experience the eternal second death (living in the realm of death, but never dying) are living in a hell of their own making.

Their eternal existence will be a life dominated by the sins mentioned in Revelation 21:8. In eternity, where there is no death to deliver a person from the devastation they have brought into their lives, this ongoing death will simply continue forever and ever.

C. S. Lewis’ theological fantasy book, (#AmazonAdLink) The Great Divorce, depicts what this sort of everlasting death might look like. In this life, as we destroy our families, friendships, and health, we draw into ourselves and become more and more separated from others over time.

Death stops this process of separation so that we can finally see ourselves and others as we really are. Death and resurrection provide reconciliation, so that we can forgive and be forgiven, and begin to live in eternity with the love and grace that God desires.

But in an eternal existence without God, where physical death is not an option, people will continue to separate themselves until eventually, they cut off all contact from everyone, and live solitary lives of self-centeredness and complete separation.

For people who were created for community and relationships, this truly is a living hell. But it is a hell constructed by their own choices.

So what is the Lake of Fire?

It is literally the Dead Sea, into which all things are cast that are contrary to the will and ways of God.

As a symbol, therefore, it refers to an existence without God.

People who are sent to “the Lake of Fire” for eternity will not be tortured in flames for all eternity as more than people who live in Salt Lake are covered with salt as long as they live there.

Those who exist in the Fiery Lake will be given the freedom they think they want, so they can live life as they please, apart from the guidelines and instructions of God.

This way of living is not really “living,” however, and such people will ultimately find themselves separated, not only from God, but also from all other people. The Bible calls it the second death (Rev 21:8).

So the Lake of Fire is not traditional hell where people suffer and burn for eternity. They are not in torment there, but are sent there to escape their torment. While there, they can live according to their sinful desires, which will lead them into an eternal existence and experience of ongoing death.

Does Luke 16:19-31 teach about torment in hell?

1. Do you really go to hell by neglecting the poor?

2. Are believers and unbelievers all in the same giant “cavern” of hell?

3. This story appears to be a parable

4. Jesus Speaks of Hadēs Instead of Gehenna

5. Contextual Keys Help us Understand Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

So what then is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus all about?

Ultimately, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a warning against greed.

He was in torment (Gk., basano)

He was tormented (Gk., odunōmai)

In the end, Luke 16:19-31 is a condemnation of greed

Does Mark 9:42-50 teach about hell?

Are these literal worms?

Jesus is quoting Isaiah 66:24

Everyone experiences fire

Conclusion

What is the Everlasting Fire of Matthew 25:41?

Hell is a Kingdom

The Context of Matthew 24-45

Two Questions

Two Options for How to Live

Three Parables as Illustrations of the Two Options

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13)

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

So what is the Everlasting Fire of Matthew 25:41?

But doesn’t it say the fire is for the the devil and his angels?

The Application of the Olivet Discourse

What is the meaning of “hell” in Matthew 18:8-9?

So Jesus is NOT warning people about everlasting torture in hell…

Matthew 18:8-9 is not a warning about the afterlife

Is Matthew 13:40, 42 (Matt 13:50) a warning about hell?

Three Keys to Understanding Parables

Historical-Cultural Background to the Parables in Matthew 13

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)

The Explanation of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:36-43)

If the Servants are Christians, then who are the Sons of the Kingdom?

So the Tares are NOT “sent to hell”

But what about the Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth?

Hell is not in view in Matthew 13:40, 42

The Burning of the Tares in History

Conclusion

Matthew 3:10-12 (Luke 3:16-17)

But John is not referring to hell.

But what about being “thrown into the fire”?

But what about the baptism by fire?

Then how about the “unquenchable fire”?

John’s Warning was fulfilled in 69-70 AD

Matthew 3:10-12 is not teaching about hell

Isaiah 33:10-16 and Burning in Fire. Is this hell?

1. It is Not People who are Burned, but what People Produce

2. The word “Everlasting” can refer to an event of limited duration with everlasting effects

3. The Fire is not from God, but from the People themselves

Conclusion

Does James 3:6 teach that your tongue can send you to hell?

Does James 5:3 teach that rich people will go to hell?

James 3:6 and James 5:3 are not warnings about everlasting torment in the flames of hell

So what is hell?

What is the Lake of Fire?

The Symbolism of the Lake of Fire in Revelation

So what and where is the Lake of Fire?

But how are people cast into the Lake of Fire?

The Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:10, 14, and 21:8

But how are the things in the Lake of Fire Tormented Forever?

But doesn’t the text say that people are cast into the Lake of Fire?

What will existence be like for those in the Lake of Fire?

So what is the Lake of Fire?

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