The
fact that the lake of fire is said to be “burning with sulfur” is also thought
by some to suggest that it should be understood figuratively rather than
literally. Proponents of this position claim that, in
light of its ancient religious usage, sulfur can be understood as symbolic of
purification. The original literal meaning of the term – i.e., “divine” – is
sometimes appealed to as well (with the lake of fire being understood to
symbolize “divine purification”). The problem with this view is that,
unless a few verses from Revelation are to be understood as the sole exceptions,
we never find sulfur being referred
to in Scripture as a symbol for the purification or refinement of sinners. And
in Revelation the term translated “sulfur” is always used as a noun to refer to the literal chemical element (rather
than as an adjective meaning “divine”).
Concerning
this subject, A.E. Knoch wrote the following in his book, The Unveiling of Jesus Christ:
It has been pressed that the lake
of fire is a purging process, a disinfecting agency, calculated to rid the
sinner of his sin and make him fit for God's presence. This, of course, is the
purgatory of Roman Catholicism, with little modification. Its
great fault lies in that it provides a substitute for the sufferings of Christ. Let
us be clear on this: no sufferings of the sinner can purge his sins. That
is accomplished solely by the sacrifice of Christ.
Besides the sinner has been judged at
the great white throne, so why continue the infliction for the whole of that
tremendous eon?
The word theion, brimstone, sulfur,
has been seized and given its literal signification, divine, to support the
thought of a figurative lake of fire. But the word is always used as a noun in
Scripture, and we are not warranted in the rendering divine fire. Literally it
is of fire and divine, which makes no intelligible sense. The fact is that sulfur
got its name from the religious use made of it in heathen lustrations. Fire and
sulfur was supposed to be a purifying agent. Indeed, it is a good disinfectant,
and is so used today.
Needless to say, the idolaters did
not purify by plunging the person into fire and sulfur, nor did they even apply
it to their bodies. Only one who has been burned by sulfur knows how malignant
such a sore is. It seems to defy healing. The ancients assuredly did not purify
by any such means. Their method was rather to sprinkle sulfur on a torch and
carry the flame thrice around the place or person to be purified. Hence they
called sulfur by the name divine. But no such thought is ever attached to it in
the Scriptures. Sodom and Gomorrah were not purified by sulfur. They were
condemned. We should never allow ourselves to be driven to such exigencies even
if it be to support a precious doctrine. The truth needs no prop.
Whenever the judgment of human beings is said to involve “fire and
sulfur,” the end result is the destruction of those with whom the fire and
sulfur comes into contact. For example, in Luke 17:29 we read, “Yet
on the day in which Lot came out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rains from heaven and destroys them all.” The fire and
sulfur that God rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah did not, of course, begin
to eternally torment the citizens of these cities. But neither did it begin to
refine them and transform them into more godly, loving people. Rather, the fire and sulfur was intended by
God to bring about their destruction. Any torment that the people of these
cities suffered during this judgment would’ve been relatively brief, for its
ultimate purpose was to bring their mortal existence on the earth to an end.
Interestingly,
the first time that fire and sulfur are mentioned together in Revelation, they
are said to be the means by which the death of the people exposed to them is
brought about. In Rev. 9:13-18 we read the following:
And the sixth
messenger trumpets. And I hear one voice out of the horns of the golden altar
which is before God, saying to the sixth messenger who has the trumpet, “Loose
the four messengers who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And loosed
were the four messengers, made ready for the hour, and day, and month, and
year, that they should be killing a third of mankind. And the number of the
troops of cavalry was two hundred millions-I hear their number. And thus I
perceived the horses in the vision, and those sitting on them, having cuirasses
fiery and amethystine and sulfurous; and the heads of the horses are as the
heads of lions, and out of their mouths
is issuing fire and fumes and sulfur. By these three calamities were killed a
third of mankind: by the fire and the fumes and the sulfur which is issuing out
of their mouths.
It may be objected that, in the next reference to fire and sulfur
in Revelation, it’s associated with the torment (and not merely the death/destruction)
of those exposed to it. Here is Rev. 14:8-11:
And another, a
second messenger, follows, saying, "It falls! It falls! Babylon the great
has made all nations drink of the wine of the fury of her prostitution!"
And another, a third messenger, follows them, saying with a loud voice,
"If anyone is worshiping the wild beast and its image, and is getting an
emblem on his forehead or on his hand, he, also, is drinking of the wine of the fury of God, blended undiluted in the
cup of His indignation, and he shall be tormented in fire and sulfur in the
sight of the holy messengers and in the sight of the Lambkin. And the fumes of
their torment are ascending for the eons of the eons. And they are having
no rest day and night, those worshiping the wild beast and its image, and if
anyone is getting the emblem of its name.
It should be noted that, in the immediate context, the focus seems
to be on those within Babylon who are
“worshipping the wild beast and its image” (v. 8). In other words, it is the
fate of those within this particular city that is in view. A comparison of this
passage with what we read in Rev. 18 (which focuses on the destruction of
Babylon) confirms this understanding. What we read in Rev. 18:1-10 should, I
believe, make the connection between the above passage and the judgment of
Babylon clear:
And I hear another
voice out of heaven, saying, "Come
out of her, My people, lest you should be joint participants in her sins, and
lest you should be getting of her calamities, for her sins were piled up to
heaven, and God remembers her injuries. "Pay her as she also pays, and
double the doubles, in accord with her acts. In her cup in which she blends,
blend double for her. As much as she glorifies herself and indulges, so much torment and mourning be giving her, for she is saying in her heart,
'I am sitting a queen, and am no widow, and mourning I may by no means see.'
Therefore in one day shall her calamities be arriving; death and
mourning and famine. And she shall be burned up with fire, for strong is the
Lord God Who judges her. "And the kings of the earth, who commit
prostitution and indulge with her, will be lamenting and grieving over her
whenever they may be observing the smoke
of her conflagration, standing afar off because of the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe! Woe! that
great city! Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour your judging came.'
Notice that, before God brings judgment upon Babylon, he first
exhorts his people to come out of the city, so that they will not suffer the
same fate as the rest of her citizens (who, presumably, are all worshippers of
the wild beast and its image). Notice also that the judgment is said to involve
not only death and destruction but also “torment.”[1]
We also read the following concerning the judgment of Babylon in
the first three verses of chapter 19:
After these things
I hear as it were the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,
"Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power is of our God, for true and
just is His judging, for He judges the great prostitute who corrupts the earth
with her prostitution, and avenges the blood of His slaves at her hand."
And a second time have they declared, "Hallelujah!" And her smoke is ascending for the eons of
the eons.
Just as we’re told that the “fumes” of the torment of those
worshipping the wild beast and its image will be “ascending for the eons of the
eons” (Rev. 14:11), so we’re told in this passage that the smoke of Babylon
will be “ascending for the eons of the eons.” In conjunction with the explicit
reference to the fall of Babylon in Rev. 14:8, the strikingly similar language
used in Rev. 14:11 and v. 3 above strongly implies that the worshippers of the
wild beast referred to in Rev. 14:9-10 are the
citizens of Babylon. This would mean that the fire-and-sulfur-caused
torment referred to in Rev. 14:10 is that which will be suffered by the
citizens of Babylon while the city is
being destroyed (which means the torment of these worshippers of the beast
should be understood as something that will precede their imminent destruction,
and not as something that will literally continue “for the eons of the eons”).
In other words, the torment that will be suffered by the wicked citizens of
Babylon will be occurring while the city is being destroyed by fire and sulfur.
The Three Exceptions
The Three Exceptions
For every human who is to be cast into the lake of fire, it will be, for them, the second death. That is, the lake of fire will be the place in which (and the means by which) those not found written in the scroll of life are executed (rather than tormented for any length of time). But what about the two entities referred to as the “wild beast”
and “false prophet,” who are said to be the first entities that are to be cast
into the lake of fire? For in Rev. 20:10, we’re told that these two entities –
along with Satan himself – are going to be “tormented day and night for the
eons of the eons.” If everyone else cast into the lake of fire is going to be
destroyed, how is it that these three beings are going to be tormented while in
the lake of fire? In order to understand how this will be the case, we need to
have a better understanding of the nature of these three beings.
What I think every student of scripture can agree on is that these
beings are described throughout Revelation as if they are conscious,
intelligent entities. But are they
simply being personified (like death and hades in Rev. 20:13-14)? This seems
unlikely. First, it’s significant that, in contrast with the wild beast, the
false prophet and Satan, death and hades are not said to be tormented in the lake of fire after being “cast”
there. This fact suggests that, unlike death and hades, Satan and his companions
should be understood as personal beings (and not merely impersonal things that
are being personified by John).
Further support for this
understanding is found in Rev. 19:17-20, where we read the following:
And I
perceived another messenger, standing in the sun. And he cries with a loud
voice, saying to all the birds which are flying in mid-heaven, “Hither! Be
gathered for the great dinner of God, that you may be eating the flesh of
kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of the strong, and the flesh of
horses and of those sitting on them, and the flesh of all freemen as well as
slaves, and of small and of great.”
And I
perceived the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered
to do battle with Him Who is sitting on the horse and with His army. And the
wild beast is arrested, and with it the false prophet who does the signs in its
sight, by which he deceives those getting the emblem of the wild beast, and
those worshiping its image. Living, the two were cast into the lake of fire
burning with sulfur.
There’s no good reason to
understand the “kings of the earth and their armies” referred to in these
verses as anything other than literal individuals who will be “gathered to do
battle with [Christ]” at the time of his return to earth. And since we’re told
that the “wild beast” (and, apparently, the false prophet as well) will be accompanying
these kings and armies at this time, it’s reasonable to understand the “wild
beast” and the “false prophet” as individual, intelligent beings as well.
However, in contrast with the “kings of the earth and their armies,” there is
good reason to believe that the “wild beast” and “false prophet” are something other than mortal,
flesh-and-blood beings.
Based on what we’re told elsewhere in Revelation, it would seem
that these intelligent entities are actually non-human beings belonging to the
same category of spiritual beings as Satan himself (see, for example, Rev.
11:7, 17:8 and 16:13-14). And this would put them in a separate category of beings
than those who we’re told will be delivered from death and hades in order to be
judged before God in Rev. 20:11-15.
At this point, some will object that a literal interpretation of
the lake of fire forces us into a dilemma regarding the (eonian) destiny of the
three beings who we’re told will be tormented in the lake of fire. Here, again,
is L. Ray Smith:
“If the beast and false prophet are
humans, then a real lake of fire would BURN THEM UP making it impossible for
them to be tortured for ever and ever! If the beast and false prophet are
supernatural, superhuman, or spirit in nature, then physical fire CANNOT HARM
THEM in any way. So, if the fire is literal, it can serve NO useful
purpose!” https://bible-truths.com/lake1.html
In response to this objection, I must first point out that I am in
complete agreement with Mr. Smith concerning the fact that the purpose of the
lake of fire will not be to torture anyone
“forever and ever.” Rather than being “forever and ever,” the torment of the
wild beast, the false prophet and Satan is said to be (literally) “for the eons
of the eons” (for more on this important subject, see my articles “The Translational Inaccuracy of “Forever
and Ever” and ”The Meaning of Aion in the New Testament”). But assuming that these beings will be unable to be
physically harmed by the fire and sulfur with which this lake will be burning,
how are we to account for their eonian torment?
I believe that their torment will be derived from the fact that
their freedom (as they experienced it, at least) will have been greatly restricted, and that this state of affairs
will be continuing for a long period of time (“for the eons of the
eons”). Being incarcerated – and thus stripped of the great experiential freedom and influence
they once enjoyed before being cast into the lake of fire – will be bad enough.
But the relatively lengthy period of time during which they must remain
incarcerated will likely be an equal (if not greater) source of torment for
them. It would seem that Mr. Smith did not consider this possibility when he
wrote that a literal lake of fire could “serve no useful purpose” for
supernatural beings who couldn’t be harmed by the fire.
Based on the earliest reference to the lake of fire, then, we can
conclude that it will be the location where certain wicked spiritual beings who
will be playing a central role in the drama that is to unfold at the close of
this eon will be incarcerated and chastised during the eons of Christ’s reign.
Moreover, the non-human (and non-mortal) nature of Satan, the wild beast and
the false prophet would also account for why the lake of fire is not referred
to as “the second death” when they’re described as being cast into it. For
these three beings, the lake of fire won’t be the second death (and we can
therefore understand this fact as further confirmation that the lake of fire
will result in the destruction/extermination of the humans cast into it, rather
than their torment).
Some have wondered how these three beings can be tormented “day
and night” in the lake of fire during the last eon when we’re told in Rev. 22:5
that “night shall be no more” during this time. There is no inconsistency here,
for in Rev. 22:5 John was referring specifically to the conditions within the
new Jerusalem (compare with Rev. 21:25). It is for those dwelling in the new
Jerusalem that “night shall be no more,” and it is in this city that there
shall be “no need of lamplight and sunlight.” John gives us the reason why this
will be the case in 22:5: “the Lord God shall be illuminating” everyone who
will be living in this city. This fact does not mean that day and night will
not continue or be experienced by those living or travelling outside the walls
of the city.
Moreover, we’re specifically told just three verses before (Rev.
22:2) that the “log of life” will be “producing twelve fruits,
rendering its fruit in accord with each month.”
“Each month” implies that day and night will continue during the final eon,
since a “month” is a measure of time that corresponds to the period of the
moon’s revolution (the CLNT Keyword Concordance defines “month” as “the period
from one new moon to the next”). There will simply be no daily period of darkness
(or “night”) in the new Jerusalem, since it will be continuously illuminated by
the light radiating from God himself. However, this doesn’t mean that the rest
of the earth (i.e., everywhere outside of the new Jerusalem) will be equally
illuminated by God’s glory.
Thus, what we read in Rev. 22:5 concerning the duration of the
torment of Satan, the wild beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire is
perfectly consistent with their torment occurring during the last eon, and not terminating
until the consummation (although it’s quite possible that one or more of these
beings will be delivered from their state of torment in the lake of fire before the
last eon concludes).
Cast into the
lake of fire: cruel and unusual punishment?
I realize
that some people – especially those among my believing brethren who affirm the
truth of the salvation of all – may find it difficult to believe in a divine
judgment that will involve living humans being cast into a literal lake of
fire. How can we reconcile such a judgment with what we know of the loving and
merciful character of our God and Father?
First, it
needs to be kept in mind that we don’t know how, exactly, this event is going
to unfold, since we haven’t been provided with much detail (for example, we’re
not told who, exactly, is going to be casting people into the lake of fire).[2] We’re
given just enough information to know that at least some who are to be judged
at the great white throne will, after being judged, be cast into the lake of
fire. Among the particulars not specified in this passage is whether or not
those who are to be cast into the lake of fire will be conscious as they’re
being executed. For all we know, God will cause them to lose consciousness
sometime before they’re cast in. We
simply don’t know.
But let’s
assume, just for the sake of argument, that those cast into the lake of fire
will not lose consciousness before being cast into it. Let’s assume, in other
words, that those not found written in the scroll of life will – after being
judged – be brought to the lake “kicking and screaming,” and that they won’t
lose consciousness until they die. Even if this is going to be the case, I’m
not sure how this would be somehow inconsistent with what know of God and his
past dealings with the wicked, as revealed in Scripture. Was God “cruel” when
he drowned nearly every living human being (and land-dwelling animal) on earth
by means of a flood? Was God “cruel” when he destroyed the inhabitants of
several cities by means of raining fire and sulfur upon them? Was God “cruel”
when, after having already brought nine terrible plagues upon the inhabitants
of Egypt, he killed the firstborn of Egypt? Should these (and numerous other)
instances of divine judgment involving both human suffering and the termination
of human life be considered “cruel” and “out of character” for God?
What
about every “natural” disaster and death that has occurred throughout human
history? If God “is operating all in accord with the
counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11) – and he is! – then God is the one who
is ultimately and absolutely responsible for each and every death that has
already occurred, no matter the circumstances or how young or old the person
was when they died. In light of this fact, I’m not sure one could, with any
consistency, argue that God’s having certain humans returned to a state of
death by means of their being cast into a lake of fire is any more “cruel” or
“less merciful” than everything God is already
responsible for. If every human death that God is already ultimately
responsible for shouldn’t be viewed by believers as cruel, then why can’t the
same be said for any future termination of human life as well?
Moreover,
in contrast with Satan, the wild beast and the false prophet, there is no
indication that God will be casting mortal humans into the lake of fire to
torment them. With regard to the humans whose names will not be found written
in the scroll of life, the purpose of the lake of fire will clearly be to
return them to a second state of lifelessness (it is, after all, referred to as
the “second death”). So we have good reason to believe that, as far as humans
go, there won’t be any life or consciousness occurring in this lake. That is,
we have no reason to believe that any human being cast into the lake of fire
will remain alive (even for a few seconds) after being cast into it. Instead,
we can reasonably infer that the lake of fire will “do its job” by instantly
returning those mortals who are to be cast into it to a state of lifelessness
(rather than keeping them alive for any length of time).
[1] It may be
objected that the torment of those referred to in Rev. 14:11 is described as if
it will continue both “day and night,” while the judgment of Babylon is said to
be of a shorter duration than this. However, in Rev. 18:8 we’re simply told
that it’s “in one day” that Babylon’s calamities shall “be arriving.”
Similarly, in v. 10 we’re told that the kings of the earth – while observing
“the smoke of her conflagration” (and “standing afar off because of the fear of
her torment”) – will say that Babylon’s judging came “in one hour.” But this is
referring to the suddenness with which the judging of Babylon begins, and not the length of time
during which those within the city are tormented (who we’re told will have “no
rest day and night”).
[2] There is, however, scriptural
precedent for believing that God’s holy angels/messengers could very well be
the ones responsible for this task (there are numerous examples in scripture of
angels/messengers functioning as “agents of judgment” on behalf of God; the
following are just a few examples: Gen. 19:13; Psalm 78:49; Isaiah 37:36; Acts
12:22-23; Matt. 13:49-50; 2 Thess. 1:7).
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