Also, make sure you get a copy of Lucas’ new book, (#AmazonAdLink) Naked Grace. And while you’re at it, get his other books on gospel-related issues, such as:

• (#AmazonAdLink) Salvation and Discipleship: Is There a Difference?
• (#AmazonAdLink) Eternal Rewards: It Will Pay to Obey
• (#AmazonAdLink) Eternal Life: Believe to be Alive
• (#AmazonAdLink) Thomas: Hero of the Faith

In this interview with Lucas Kitchen, we discuss questions like this:

• When did you first come to start asking questions of eternal significance?
• How did you first come to understand the truth about Grace?
• How does a proper understanding of how to receive eternal life help you in life and ministry?
• Is free grace a license to sin, or does it actually help us get rid of sin?

As you listen to this podcast, you will discover that there are many similarities between your own story and that of Lucas. Make sure you listen to the end where he tells you how to reach out to him and find more answers to your questions.

Also, go visit his websites to connect with Lucas:

• SimplyBelief.com
• LucasAnswers.com

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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 looking at a key passage from the Old Testament about the symbolism of fire in the Bible. By understanding how the Bible refers to fire, we can understand what the Bible means when it talks about burning in hell, or the fires of judgment.

The key text we want to study is Isaiah 33:10-16.

Scores of passages from the Hebrew prophets could be considered which provide insight into what a Jewish person thought when they heard someone teach about everlasting fire.

Isaiah 33:10-16 is representative of many of these prophetic texts, and provides perfect insight into what the Bible means when it refers to fire that comes upon people who disobey God.

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.

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But it turns out that not even the biblical authors practiced allegory and typology. Instead, Abner Chou points out in his book, (#AmazonAdLink) The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers, that the hermeneutical methods practiced by most of the conservative evangelical scholars of today appears to be the same hermeneutical methods practiced by the biblical authors, as well as Jesus Himself.

For them, as for us, contextual issues about authorial intent were paramount, which requires a knowledge of historical, grammatical, cultural, and theological contexts. Chou shows that these sort of “modern” hermeneutical rules are not modern at all, but have been followed and practiced since Moses sat down to write the words of God for the people of Israel to read and understand.

If you want to understand the Bible better, and also all the prophets and apostles, including Jesus Himself, read and understood Scripture, I highly recommend Chou’s book.

I do have a few caveats, of course. For example, I take issue with his criticism of a Christocentric reading of Scripture (p. 133), and also with his take on trajectory hermeneutics (p. 226). But one can disagree with Chou on these sorts of issues and still accept the broader idea that the hermeneutical principles we practice today are not modern inventions, but have been practiced, taught, and followed by all the writers of Scripture since the first words of Scripture were written.

If you want to read the book, you can (#AmazonAdLink) get it on Amazon.

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We all want to be wise … and the wisdom books are God’s divinely inspired wisdom for how to live life in His world. In other words, when it comes to wisdom for life, there is no better source than the wisdom books of the Bible.

And this book by Curtis will help you understand them. Curtis shows how the wisdom books relate to the rest of the Old Testament as an explanation and application of earlier teachings from the Bible, and then also shows how the modern student of Scripture and learn, understand, apply, and teach these important texts to the issues and questions we facet today.

If you are preaching through the Wisdom Books or are planning to teach a Bible study on one or more of these books, I highly recommend this volume by Edward Curtis.

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And thankfully, there is strong evidence for the truth claims of Christianity.

Thankfully, Christianity is a reasonable faith.

Yes, many aspects of Christendom are not so reasonable, and can be safely discarded, but the core beliefs of Christianity as founded by Jesus and centered upon Him can stand up to any and all challenges.

This is why I always invite people to investigate any and all questions or challenges that come their way. I say that if what we believe is true, then the questions and challenges will only solidify that truth. But if what we believe is not true, then the questions and challenges will expose our beliefs as lies. Either way, questions and challenges are a “win.”

But you might need to do some reading and study to help answer the various questions.

I know I do.

That is why I highly recommend you get a book like Evidence that Demands a Verdict. There is a new updated and expanded version available which provides all the information from the classic volumes into one, along with several updates and new chapters that help respond to more recent challenges.

I first read Evidence that Demands a Verdict in the 1980s, and have benefited from the content of that book ever since. It not only provides a good basis for helping us know how we can trust that the Bible we have today is the Bible that was written by the original authors, but also shows how we can trust the historical claims of the Bible.

Using this knowledge, we can show that Jesus really did live, teach, die, and rise from the dead, as Scripture reveals. These events, of course, are central to Christianity.

So if you have questions about Christianity, I first say, “Good job! Keep asking!” and then I say secondly, “Buy and Read Evidence that Demands a Verdict. It will help answer some of the questions you might have.”

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So when Matthew Fleischer asked to send me a review copy of his book, The Old Testament Case for Nonviolence, I readily accepted.

As I read the book, there was much that I loved and agreed with, but a few things that did not sit well with me. Let me start with the positives.

3 Things I LOVED about this Book

First, the book is very readable. It is not overly technical and provides a good overview of some of the views, issues, and texts related to the topic of violence in Scripture.

Second, despite the title of the book, it actually presents a New Testament case for nonviolence as a way of reading and interpreting the Old Testament. I love this approach to Scripture, and have written elsewhere about the importance of “reading the Bible backwards.” Though the New Testament chronologically follows the Old, it provides us with the theological and hermeneutical framework through which to read and interpret the Old Testament.

Third, and related to the first point, Fleischer not only encourages people to read the Old Testament through truths revealed in the New Testament, but specifically points people to the truths revealed through Jesus Christ on the cross (e.g., chapter 10). In one of my books, I call this the “crucivision” lens. I completely agree that the death of Jesus on the cross provides the clearest explanation of all violence in Scripture.

There are other things I love about the book, but let me briefly discuss two things I disagreed with.

2 Things I Disagreed With

First, Fleischer places a lot of emphasis in the book on progressive revelation (which he calls incremental revelation). This is the idea that as human history progressed, God revealed more and more of Himself to humanity, so that the later portions of Scripture more accurately reveal the true nature of God than the earlier portions (see chapters 2, 11). I have never been a fan of this view.

I know … I know. It seems that earlier I said exactly the opposite when I praised the practice of reading the Old Testament in light of the New. Let me try to clarify.

In the progressive revelation view, we see humanity at its lowest in the early chapters of Genesis, and then as God calls Abraham, then Israel, then Judges, then Prophets, and then Kings, each successive step gets us higher up the ladder of truth until we ultimately arrive at Jesus, who then encourages us to keep learning and moving upward toward truth. So in this view, the revelation from God can be drawn like a slope that moves higher as human history progresses, so that we are smarter and wiser and know more truth than did the people of 500 years ago, and especially the people of 5000 years ago.

C. S. Lewis called this view chronological snobbery, and I agree.

In my view, we probably know less today about God and “true” theology than did people of the past, such as Adam, Abraham, and Moses. While we do have a superior revelation in Jesus Christ, we have so drastically failed to understand what most of what Jesus revealed about God, we are still theologically inferior to Adam, Abraham, and Moses.

So in my view, rather than a constant upward slope toward “truth,” human history actually made a downward slope into sin and ignorance. Jesus Christ came at the deepest trough of this slope, and turned things around. His life, ministry, and teachings provided the correction, so that we are now generally on an upward trajectory, but we are still “below” some of the biblical saints of the past when it comes to what we know to be true about God.

This may seem like a minor point, but really, it makes a world of difference in how we approach some of the ancient biblical texts, like those of Moses and David. Rather than approaching them with a morally and theologically superior attitude, we instead approach them with humility, asking and hoping and praying that we can see what they saw and know what they knew.

This brings me to my second criticism of Fleischer’s excellent book.

Due to his view of progressive revelation, he frequently mentions that since people of the past did not have the full revelation that we have today, God had no choice but to occasionally accommodate their violent tendencies by engaging in some violence Himself.

Fleischer especially argues this in his chapters on “Just War” (chapter 7; see esp. pp 121-122), and then reinforces this idea in some of the concluding words of the book where he writes that God “may have temporarily used limited violence to advance his nonviolence agenda, but his use of such violence was always good and just” (p. 230).

I simply cannot agree, based on what is revealed about God in Jesus Christ. Jesus reveals what God is truly like, and Jesus shows us that there is no violence in God and never has been.

So should you read this book?

Of course. And you can get it here on Amazon. It is a good introduction to the difficult theme of violence in Scripture. But as you read, just recognize that there are other ways of dealing with the violence in Scripture than by assigning these activities to God and calling them “good and just.” God does not accommodate such violence, nor does He withdraw and allow it to fall upon us.

Instead, He dives into the mess and sin of life with us, and bears the blunt and the blame for sin on His own beaten and bloody back. This is what we see in Jesus. I present this idea in one of my other books, which is also available on Amazon.

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By reading it, you will learn that many of the common beliefs about prayer are simply wrong. For example, if the common beliefs about how and why God answers prayers are correct, then this proves that God is capricious. Why does God heal some people from the flu and give them parking spots at the mall, but not others? Why does God rescue some people from violence, but not others. But God is not capricious, and so there must instead be something wrong with our understanding of prayer and it works in connection to our loving, gracious, and relational God.

So read this book, and start rediscovering prayer (and God).

The author, Mark Karris, also asked me to write an endorsement for his book, which you can read in the first couple pages. Here is what I wrote:

This is one of the best books on prayer I have ever read. It not only addresses the questions of why we should pray and what prayer is, but also the more important questions of how prayer works and how God works with us to see more of our prayers answered. After reading this book, you will stop praying to God and start conspiring with God to be the vital change we desperately desire to see occur in the world.
–J. D. Myers, Author of What is Prayer? How to Pray to God Like You Talk to a Friend

You can get Divine Echoes here on Amazon. There is also a workbook that goes along with it, which is also available on Amazon. And as long as you’re getting good resources on prayer, you might as well get my book on prayer as well (Mark Karris wrote the foreword).

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This means that every time you read a book or hear a pastor say that Eve led the world into sin, she is being wrongly condemned.

Yet throughout the centuries, Bible teachers and theology professors have continued to (wrongly) blame and scapegoat Eve for why sin came into the world.

As a result of this study, I began to wonder how many more of the “bad girls of the Bible” were actually bad. I began to think that maybe most of these women where actually just scapegoats for the sins of others.

So I was thrilled to be asked by Kregel Publishers to review a copy of Vindicating the Vixens, edited by Sandra Glahn. And since I earned my Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, I was also thrilled to discover that many of the authors in this volume have graduated from or are currently teaching at my alma mater.

As a result, I knew that this book would be based on some of the best exegetical practices and scholarly material available today.

I was not disappointed.

The book looks at female characters in the Bible who have often been judged, condemned, marginalized, ignored, or ridiculed, and shows how these women are actually presented by the text as heroes to emulate or examples to be followed.

The book not only contains a chapter on Eve, but also looks at heroic women such as Rahab, Bathsheba, Hagar, Deborah, Vashti, and the unnamed woman at the well.

As I attempt to encourage and support my wife and three daughters to follow God into greatness and glory, I hope to encourage them to follow the examples of some of these great women of the Bible.

If you have women in your life (and who doesn’t?), do yourself and them a favor: buy and read this book.

You will not only learn what Scripture truly teaches, but will also learn to respect and value women for the central and critical role they play in God’s plan for this world.

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If you buy the book today (December 19, 2017) I will send you an additional $250 worth of teaching materials about prayer.

Bonus Materials on Prayer

Here is what you get:

• 4.5 Hours of teaching about prayer (from my course on prayer) – Value: $197
• 4 Hour audiobook recording of the book – Value $30
• PDF version of the book – Value $10
• Several Videos of me answering questions about prayer – Value $5
• The ability to receive further instruction about prayer via email – Value $10

To get these additional resources about prayer, just follow these two steps:

1. Buy the book at Amazon
2. Send an email to prayerbook@redeeminggod.com saying you bought the book.

That’s it! I will send you the bonus materials later this week.

What People are Saying about the Book

There have already been some great reviews of the book. Here are a few:

I highly recommend this book to help anyone wanting to learn how to comfortably pray and actually enjoy prayer time. -Jim Maus

The book appears to be too simple but as you progress Jeremy covers many aspects of prayer in a way that is like a breath of fresh air. -Pete Nellmapius

I especially enjoyed section on praying before a meal, always felt something wrong about that in the back of my mind, good to see expressed on print for first time. -Jon Albeanu

It is a book that can change your life. J.D.Myers has the gift of making Jesus and his teachings very simple for every man in any christian denomination. -Nikos Varalis

This is a must-read! People make prayer out to be something mystical, hard-work, and even frustrating. After reading this book you might even stop using the word prayer. You might just tell people that you are “talking to my very good friend, God.” -Michael Wilson

If you wonder what praying means, if you wonder what praying should be like, or even if you wonder why on earth people should even pray, READ THIS. This is, so far, my favorite Jeremy Myers book. -B. Shuford

This is not your typical book on prayer. Jeremy has written something truly helpful that bypasses the religious mumbo jumbo we have attached to prayer and made it something simple, joyous and easy to do. -Wesley Rostoll

Each chapter has some great ideas that can put us on the path to exploring how praying can be more natural and less confusing or frustrating. -Mike Edwards

Always stressing God’s love for us, he shows us how we can have honest, meaningful conversations with God. While he doesn’t claim to have all the answers, with humor and compassion, Myers instructs and inspires. -Imani42

Have you ever wondered how Paul can tell us to pray without seizing? Do you think it is possible? I challenge you to read this book and find out for yourself how easy it is. -Wickus Hendriks

Don’t expect to pray and stay the same, as most of the time you are the answer to your prayer. -ThePilgrimm

J.D Myers presents a practical and very clear understanding of who God is ,who we are and how life looks in prayer. Easy to understand concepts with shackle breaking power this book is a must read. -David DeMille

You too can experience what these reviewers are talking about above. You too can gain freedom and confidence in your prayers, and also begin to see more answers to your prayers.

Get this book today for $2.99, and then receive $250 in additional teaching on prayer absolutely free.

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What is Prayer? seeks to answer some of the main questions that Christians have about prayer. It does this by providing one key suggestion about how to pray, and then answers the various questions you might have about prayer through the lens of this suggestion.

Here is the Table of Contents to What is Prayer?

Foreword by Mark Karris

1. How to Talk with God
2. What Should You Pray For?
3. How Did Jesus Pray?
4. How to Get Answers to Prayer
5. 10 Dangerous Prayers
6. Praying Powerful Prayers
7. What About Unanswered Prayers?
8. Other Questions About Prayer

The Foreword to the book by Mark Karris

I was blessed to get Mark Karris to write the foreword to What is Prayer? He has an EXCELLENT book on prayer coming out in January (I think). Here is what he wrote for the book:

I remember when I was new to the Christian faith. I was unable to wrap my head around the sacred practice of prayer. Others had God on speed-dial while God’s number always seemed to be changing for me. Over the years, doubts and questions kept piling up.

I didn’t understand why we had to be so loud. Is God deaf? Does God consider us more spiritual if we are passionate and yell our prayers to Him? I didn’t understand why we repeated God’s name over and over again as if we were going into a trance-like state. Or did God forget His name?

I didn’t understand what posture I needed to take for God to accept my prayers. Would God hear me better if I were on my knees? Would God like my prayers more, or even be fonder of me as His child, if I raised my hands?

And why did friends’ prayers for God to give them parking spots at malls and convenience stores get answered, but not mine for my ailing and addicted mother? Is God cruelly selective in answering prayer?

I had tons of questions. Those haunting questions kept me stuck, stagnant, and stale in my prayer life. Where was J. D. Myers’ book What is Prayer? when I needed it?

I consider it an incredible privilege and honor to write a few words in support of this superbly written and enlightening book. J. D. Myers tackles the complexity and conundrum of prayer with a pastoral and prophetic heart, a brilliant and wise mind, and a courageous spirit obviously in touch and in tune with both God and God’s people.

The good news is there is no conundrum in how to pray to God—at least not anymore. J. D. Myers sheds the religious and superstitious garb off of prayer and makes a simple, provocative, and liberating claim: Prayer is talking to God as you would talk to a friend.

I highly recommend this book not only to new Christians who want to learn how to pray but also to the experienced and inquisitive God-lover who still has many questions. Thank you, J. D., for such a gift to the Christian community!

Mark Karris
Author of Divine Echoes: Reconciling Prayer with the Uncontrolling Love of God
MarkGregoryKarris.com

If you have questions about prayer, I think you will really enjoy the book. There are several reviews of the book already, and people really seem to appreciate what the book teaches them about prayer. Go here to read the reviews on Amazon to see if you might benefit from the book as well.

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