When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, there was a consequence: Death.
The LORD God said, "Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat and live forever." So the LORD God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.
You and I are not immortal. Only God is immortal. God made certain that man could not live forever in a sinful fallen state. The only way that anyone will receive eternal life is by salvation through Jesus Christ. Satan is not immortal either. He will not live forever. There is a time appointed for his demise and the destruction of all who are with him. God used fire to guard the entrance to paradise so that no evil could ever enter it. Evil can not attain immortality. A reckoning is inevitable.
There is much confusion on the subject of Hell. This situation is not helped by the fact that the King James Version of the Bible translates two very different words with unique meanings, Hades and Gehenna,
both as Hell. Hades is a place of spiritual imprisonment. Gehenna
is a valley outside of Jerusalem with prophetic significance. Limne Pur, the Lake of Fire, often
confused with "Hell," is something entirely different. In this post,
I will answer the following questions: What is Hades? What is Gehenna? What is
the Lake of Fire? Is purgatory real? Are human beings given a second chance after death? What
happens to the soul after death? Is there an afterlife? Will some people
suffer eternal conscious torment in hell? I have included an extensive
list of Scriptures organized by topic as an appendix to this article so that you
can study them and investigate for yourself.
What is Hades?
Hades is a spiritual place, a spiritual prison. The Bible describes it as a place of darkness where there is weeping and knashing of teeth. It is a place of conscious torment where there is suffering and despair as described in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Here are two passages of Scripture that describe Hades:
But he will say, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!” In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves cast out. –Luke 13:27-29
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am in anguish in this flame. (Luke 16:19-31, here 22-24)
There is a fiery gulf fixed between Hades and Paradise and no unbeliever can pass through. Hades is like spiritual death row where the condemned await the day of judgement. It is not a permanent place. It is a waiting place. The inhabitants of this prison can see over into Paradise, also known as the bosom of Abraham, which is where the Old Testament saints went to wait in peace until Jesus finished his work on the cross. Now, believers who die go directly to the Father’s Presence in heaven. The fiery divide between Hades and Paradise, separating good from evil, is uncrossable for unbelievers.
Some fallen angels are imprisoned in Hades in chains until judgement day:
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. –Jude 1:6-7
A group of angels is being kept imprisoned in Hades like death row inmates awaiting the day of judgement. The coming day of judgement by fire is compared to the judgement day on the ancient cities of the plain including Sodom and Gomorrah which were totally destroyed and never rebuilt. Nothing was left of them but salt. The fire used to punish them was sent from God and the cities were wiped out forever. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was total, complete and permanent. The word punishment is from the Greek word dike which describes the execution of a sentence of condemnation from a judgement that has been rendered. Hades is a temporary place of imprisonment where the wicked are kept until they suffer the penalty of destruction by the fire of God's eternal glory. We will examine the day of judgement with much more detail in due course.
The souls of human beings who die without placing their faith in the one true God are consigned to Hades as well. Hades is not the same as Catholic Purgatory. No one can pay, pray, work or earn their way out of Hades. There is nothing that anyone on earth can do such as Baptism for the dead or paying indulgences that will get a friend, relative or loved one out of Hades. During the Millennial reign of Christ on earth, Satan will be imprisoned for 1,000 years in the deepest pit of Hades, known as Tartarus. Hades will not last forever. At the end of this world, all of Death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire, and destroyed.
What is Gehenna?
Gehenna is a literal, physical place located on planet earth. Gehenna is the Greek way of pronouncing
a Hebrew phrase Geh Hinnom which
translates into English as the Valley of
Hinnom, an actual geographic depression located off the southeastern slope
of Jerusalem. Pictured below is the mountain on which Jerusalem is built, the valley is located at the bottom right portion of the photograph.
The valley was constantly smoldering where the bodies of
sacrificed and dead animals were burned and discarded and some believe it became the
trash dump for the city. In ancient times it would have looked like an ash heap, a boneyard
of destruction, a picture of ruin and desolation, containing the bones of humans
sacrificed through the centuries as well.
In between the Old and New Testaments there were a lot of fictional, fanciful stories written about the end of the world. In the same way that people are fascinated by apocalyptic movies and books in our time, the ancients also loved a good apocalypse. We have disaster movies and stories about superheroes saving the planet, the galaxy or the universe. The ancients also spun imaginative yarns and told wild tales to entertain each other. Unfortunately, these writers conflated Hades with Gehenna, using the word Gehenna to describe a sort of mythical hell dimension where people were sent to be punished. Other writers have done the same, such as Dante who wrote “The Divine Comedy.” His offering is entirely a work of fiction, yet it had a dramatic impact on the beliefs of his contemporaries and on readers in the centuries that followed. Writings such as these have had undue influence on the modern belief of hell in ways that have nothing to do with the Bible. Those beliefs have informed preaching, commentaries and even the translation of the Bible from its original, perfect, infallible, inerrant Greek and Hebrew language into the excellent, wonderful, magnificent, but imperfect English translations we enjoy today. In studying Scripture, we should always consult multiple translations and look up the definitions of key words in the original languages in order to discern the complete and most accurate meaning of the text. For these reasons and the sake of accuracy, for the rest of this article I will employ the appropriate Biblical terms Hades, Gehenna and the Lake of Fire, rather than the confusing and inaccurate word "Hell."
Many theologians have chosen to believe that Jesus used the term Gehenna in a metaphorical way, like the fiction writers who lived between the Old and New Testaments. But there is a serious flaw in that line of reasoning. In the Old Testament, when the Valley of Hinnom was mentioned, it was in reference to this specific geographic feature. The term was used to describe this literal valley about thirteen times. If we believe that Jesus is fully God and that the Bible is the very word of God, then that means the Old Testament is the very word of Christ himself. God used this term to refer to a real location on earth and if we believe Jesus is the word incarnate, as the Bible says he is, it makes no sense to think he would side with men writing fiction under false names against his own word and change from describing the Valley of Hinnom as a real place to using it only as a metaphor for a punishment dimension. When Jesus spoke of Gehenna, we must understand that He was speaking of the actual Valley of Hinnom, not merely speaking symbolically, but speaking quite literally of a real place and of God’s very real judgement, of a great reckoning and of the future end of days.
When we think of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, we could think
of this terrifying place called Gehenna. The desolation found in the
Valley of Hinnom reminds us of the judgement that awaits the enemies
of God. The Valley itself separates Mt. Zion from what is called the
Mountain of Evil Counsel, one of the "high places" where pagan acts of
worship were offered to false gods.
Located just off the hill of Jerusalem, this deadly dale is where the ancient Canaanites sacrificed children in the fire to the false god Moloch. Evil kings of Judah such as Ahaz and Manassah directly disobeyed God by killing their own children, burning them alive as a sacrifice to this demonic deity.
The valley
illustrates the divide between the Kingdom of God and those who follow Satan. It images the divide between good and evil with an un-crossable void in the
middle where evil will be destroyed, never allowed to enjoy the Presence of God
and enter into His rest.
This ghastly gorge should remind us of the smoldering remains of
Sodom and Gomorrah. Revelation 20:7-9 describes the end of time, when Satan,
those he has deceived and all of his evil hordes will come rushing in
to surround Jerusalem. In the same way that a fiery un-crossable gulf separated the Old Testament Saints in Paradise from the Sinners in Hades, Gehenna will be filled with flames to prevent Satan's armies from entering God's Holy City. At that time, God will send fire from heaven to rain
down into the low lying areas around Jerusalem, surrounding the city like a
great moat, or lake of fire. This fire will fall upon the enemies of God in
Gehenna and destroy them.
Since, Jerusalem represents God's Holy City and the Kingdom of
Heaven, Gehenna represents being permanently cast out from God's Presence and
destroyed by fire. Nothing evil will ever enter God's Holy City when Heaven and Earth are created anew.
What is The Lake of Fire?
The ultimate judgement of the world will be in fire. From early in Scripture, God is described as being surrounded by fire. Exodus 24:17 teaches us that: The appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop. Hebrews 12:29 reminds: For our God IS a consuming fire.
When God revealed himself to Moses, he spoke to him through a
burning bush.
Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. -Exodus 3:2
The word bush, Hebrew canah, likely refers to a small or young fruit bearing bush or tree. When I read this I envision the Tree of Life, surrounded by Holy fire preventing anyone from approaching it to take of the fruit. The bush itself was not burned by the blaze because the fire was not an outside force acting upon the tree, the flames were emanating from the bush itself. Holy, cleansing fire radiates from the Presence of God.
Over
and over again, throughout the Old Testament and the New, God's Presence is
described as being an all-consuming fire and God is described as having a fire
go before Him and sending fire in judgement.
Look, the LORD will come with fire-- His chariots are like the
whirlwind-- to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
For the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh with His fiery sword, and many
will be slain by the LORD. -Isaiah 66:15-16
At the end of days, Limne Pur, the Lake of Fire will fall from heaven and
form a gigantic moat surrounding Jerusalem. Zechariah 2:4-5 provides this description:
Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the number of people and livestock in it. The declaration of the LORD: "I myself will be a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory within it."
The Holy City will appear as a vast
Mountain Island in the middle of the lake of fire, preventing evil from entering
into the Presence of God. Hades will be emptied out and all evil will be destroyed in the blaze. Only the
righteous will be able to pass through the flames and see His face.
Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and
burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous; The
upright will behold His face. -Psalm 11:6
No one can enter the actual Presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in all of
His glory without passing through the flame. Evil cannot stand before the
Presence of our Holy, Almighty God. His Holiness will utterly and completely
defeat, destroy and bring a definite end to all evil.
We will examine the Scriptures for more detail about the Lake of Fire and the Fire of God’s Presence
in a few paragraphs.
What Happens to the Human Soul After Death?
The Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with
the Lord. Upon death, believers immediately go to heaven and are in God's
Presence. Scripture teaches that at His right hand are pleasures
forevermore. But what about unbelievers? What happens to them? The most
common position which has been preached among Protestants and Evangelicals is
that Hell is a place of eternal conscious torment where you burn forever and
ever for all of eternity with no hope of reprieve in the most horrific
suffering imaginable. When I began to realize the Bible teaches differently on
this subject, I tried hard to prove myself wrong by carefully researching and
studying each text that could prove that ECT (Eternal Conscious Torment) was
correct. I was unable to prove it. We have to allow the Holy Text to say what
it intends. The Bible is infallible, perfect and without error. Human
preachers, theologians and teachers are flawed and have been unduly influenced
by non-biblical beliefs and non-canonical sources. Our beliefs must be formed
by Scripture, not by tradition.
Here is a careful examination of 3 key passages that have been
frequently misunderstood and mistaught.
1. The worm that never dies?
And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who
have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be
quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:24, quoted
in Mark 9:43-48)
The "worm" is not referring to a human soul as some have
taught. In its original context, this passage referred to the destruction of
Israel's enemies, like a sea of corpses strewn across a battlefield. It is also
quoted in the New Testament to refer to all of the enemies of God. The NIV
translates this as "The worm that eats you will not die." This
phrase is like a colloquialism for death, similar to saying "You're worm
food," or "You're dead meat." It refers to the destruction and
decay of the flesh. It is referring to actual worms feasting on dead and
rotting flesh. The part of this passage about worms refers to the death of the
body. The part about fire refers to the death of the soul. The reference to fire affirms the fact that this judgement has already been rendered and
will not be relented from. It foreshadows ultimate judgement by the unquenchable fire which will fall down into Gehenna on those who reject Christ.
2. Tormented Forever?
He will be *tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels and in the Presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of
their *torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest
day or night. -Revelation 14:11
The Bible says in Hebrews 4:3 that the righteous will enter into God's rest
and repeats this frequent quote about evildoers: You will never
enter into my rest. This is a reference to never entering heaven, not a
reference to never ending torture in hell.
*The words translated as "torment" and "tormented" are not odunao, the Greek word for pain, sorrow, anguish and torment. These are very different and specific words, basanizo and basanismos, both of
which refer to a type of Purity Test. These words describe the process
of using a touchstone such as a piece of black slate to test the purity of gold or silver. When soft metals are scraped across the stone, they leave a mark. Then
acid is poured out across the stone. If there are impurities present in the
metal, the mark will wash away, but the mark of the purest of gold cannot be
erased. The mark of pure gold remains indelible even when tested with strong acid. The impure can
be dissolved and erased. The pure remains. Believers will pass this purity test,
unbelievers will not. Basanizo absolutely DOES NOT mean to
torment or torture. That is a poor and incorrect translation influenced by the
preconceptions of the translators. This word means to TEST. This should bring
to mind Isaiah's vision of an angel using tongs to remove a coal from the altar
and placing it on his lips to purify them. The Bible frequently refers to God's people as
being like gold or silver refined in the fire. I have included multiple references in the appendix, here are a few:
For you God tested us. You refined us as silver is refined. –Psalm 66:10
A crucible for silver and a smelter for gold, and the LORD is the tester of hearts. –Proverbs 17:3
He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver, he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver... -Malachi 3:3
Scripture also tells us that the
righteous will pass the test and pass through the flames and that the
unrighteous will not pass the test and will be destroyed in the flames. This is
a permanent, once and forever purity test.
The phrases "day and night" and "forever and
ever" mean that this is a permanent judgement from which no one will
come back. Day and night are temporary, earthly things which will no
longer exist at the end of time and are passing away. There will no longer be
day or night. Time is ending. They will not receive relief by day or by night
or ever. They will never enter into God's rest. This eliminates all
possibility of purgatory, second chances after death or universal salvation.
At the end of time, Satan will be loosed from Hades after a one thousand year imprisonment and he will lead his hordes to surround God's
people at Jerusalem, then...
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the
bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient
serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and
threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not
deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that
he must be released for a little while….And when the thousand years are ended,
Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations
that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for
battle, their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the
broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved
city, And fire came down from heaven and devoured them. The devil who
deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and
the false prophet are. And they will be *tormented (basanismos) day and night
forever...And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and Hades
gave up the dead which were in them...then death and Hades were thrown into the
lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire. -Revelation 20:1-3, 7-15
This sentence is carried out in the Presence of God and His Holy angels. The fire comes down from heaven. This is the final test, a final judgement and the elimination of all evil forever and ever, not a continuing state of torture and suffering, but an eternal decision and permanent destruction of Satan and all demons. At that point in history, all souls suffering in Hades will be judged and then those sinful human beings who refused to repent, believe and be forgiven during their lives on earth will also perish in the flames of testing.
3. Eternal Punishment/Eternally Cut-Off From God
Jesus said: And these will go away into eternal *punishment, but the
righteous to eternal life. -Matthew 25:46
*Kolasis, the word translated here as punishment
comes from the root word for pruning a tree, a word that means to "cut
off." This means that unbelievers will be punished by being
permanently cut off from God for all eternity. The Bible describes the unrighteous as tares
(weeds) that are separated from wheat and cast into the fire, as the chaff that
is separated from the wheat and thrown into the flames, as branches being cut
off from Abraham's family tree, and as evil trees that will be chopped down and
tossed into the fire.
The ax is already at the root of the
trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire. Luke 3:9
So we must ask what
happens when someone is cut off from God forever?
Scripture says that God alone is immortal. (1 Timothy 6:15-16)
ONLY God is immortal. You and I are a finite beings. Only God is INfinite.
The Bible says: In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)
Jesus said: I am the vine (young tree), you are the branches. The one who
abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do
nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is
thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown
into the fire, and burned. –John
15:5-6
The ONLY opportunity for eternal life comes through Jesus Christ. Because of Adam and Eve's sin in the paradise of Eden, mankind was cut off from the tree of life, like a limb needing to be grafted back on. Jesus IS the
tree of life. In the same way that the bush through which God spoke to Moses was not destroyed in the fire, all those who are attached to the tree of life will be kept safe and not be devoured by the flames of God's everlasting glory, might and power. On the other hand, no one and nothing can live cut off and separated from God, the
giver of life. Apart from him, no one can survive. When a tree branch is cut off and burned in the fire, it is reduced to nothing but ash. When someone is eternally cut off from God and thrown into the fire, they are burned to ash and can never be grafted back onto the tree of life. Their destruction is permanent and irrevocable.
Jesus taught that both the body AND soul of unbelievers are destroyed.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear
him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna). -Matthew 10:28
JESUS said the soul is killed, slayed, and otherwise destroyed in the fire of
God's judgement. His word choice of apollumi, means to sever fellowship,
to be permanently separated (from God) and then completely destroyed. The first
death is the death of the body, the Bible calls the death of the
soul, the second death. For an unsaved person, that encompasses the
totality of their existence. A saved person is filled with the Holy Spirit of
God and is a tri-partite being fully restored to the Image of
God, consisting of Body, Soul and Holy Spirit. An unbeliever is
spiritually dead and will cease to exist in the Lake of Fire with both parts of
their di-partite being, body and soul, destroyed. Suffering in Hades is
conscious and terrible, but it will not last forever. Hades is like spiritual
death row. When all of Hades is cast into the Lake of Fire, those who have been
suffering there will be completely destroyed, utterly annihilated and will
cease to exist. This sentence is permanent and irreversible.
Satan is NOT immortal. He is not a god. He is a finite, created being who
rebelled against God, led other angels to rebel with him, tempted man to sin
and fall and is called the enemy of our souls. He will not live forever. God
will END Him and all those who are with him will suffer the same punitive
consequence.
Jesus said that we must be born again, of the Spirit, to
see the Kingdom of Heaven. Eternal life is only for born-again followers
of Jesus Christ. It is also important to understand that children who have not
yet reached the age of accountability are under grace, not the law and no sins
are held against them. They are considered innocent.
In the same way that the Angel of the
Lord protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace and they
emerged unharmed and untouched by the flames, Christians who are filled with
the Holy Spirit will pass through the flames and we will enter into Heaven and
God's Presence.
How Do We Respond?
Scripture frequently says that The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow
to anger and abounding in steadfast lovingkindness. But a good God must put
an end to evil and suffering. This is GREAT news, because it means that a time
is coming when evil will no longer exist in the universe. God loves
justice.
It is clear evidence of God's righteous judgement that you will be counted worthy of God's kingdom for which you also are suffering, since it is just for God to repay with affliction those who
afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don't know God and on those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord's Presence and from his glorious strength on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed... -2 Thessalonians 1:7b-10a-2 Thessalonians 6-10
I believe that Immortality is conditioned upon our response to the Gospel which is the good news of salvation and forgiveness of sins available through Jesus Christ to all who will repent and turn to Him. I believe that the second death means the utter and complete obliteration of the soul as it ceases to exist. Annihilation in the Lake of Fire awaits those who reject Jesus. So here is the question: Do you believe? You can be 100% certain that you
will spend eternity in heaven with God and live life without fear, without
regret and full of hope by placing your faith in Jesus. John 3:16-17 says this:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believes in Him should not perish but have ever lasting life. For God did not
send His Son to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved.
Maybe you have had trouble accepting and believing in a God who would vindictively torture and torment human souls he created in unimaginable burning horror for millions of years and all
eternity. I sincerely hope that by correcting that misinterpretation, this post
helps you to realize God is fair, just and loving, and because of that, He must
put a definitive end to all evil. God is so Holy that He is surrounded by
a fire that destroys all evil. Only those who have been put into a right
standing with Him through Jesus enter His
Presence and see His Face without being burned up. I urge you now, don't be destroyed. Your life is
precious to God. The death of the soul is a very serious thing. Believe
that Jesus died for you. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to come into
your heart and life. Ask Him to fill you with His love. Eternity in heaven
with the loving family of God awaits.
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MORE SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
God and His Fiery Judgement:
The voice of the LORD flashes forth
flames of fire. –Psalm 29:7
And then the lawless one will be
revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will
bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming. -2 Thessalonians 2:8
Look there! The LORD is coming from far
away, his anger burning and heavy with smoke. His lips are full of fury and his
tongue is like a consuming fire…And the LORD will make the splendor of his voice
heard and reveal his arm striking in angry wrath and a flame of consuming fire
in driving rain, a torrent and hailstones. –Isaiah 30:27 and 30
For look, the day is coming, burning
like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will
become stubble. The coming day will consume them…for they will be like ashes
under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing. –Malachi 4:1,3a
You will conceive chaff, you will give
birth to stubble. Your breath is fire that will consume you. The peoples will
be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and burned in a fire. –Isaiah 33:11-12
(ESV—“as if burned to lime” as would happen in a kiln like the fiery furnace
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown in)
Your many foes will be like fine dust
and many of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly in an instant you
will be punished by the LORD of Armies with thunder, earthquake and loud noise,
storm, tempest and a flame of consuming fire. –Isaiah 29:5-6
Your hand will capture all your
enemies. Your right hand will seize those who hate you. You will make them burn
like a fiery furnace when you appear. The LORD will engulf them in his wrath,
and fire will devour them. You will wipe their progeny from the earth and their
offspring from the human race. –Psalm 21:8-10
Then the earth shook and quacked. The
foundations of the heavens trembled. They shook because he burned with anger.
Smoke rose from his nostrils, and consuming fire came from his mouth. Coals
were set ablaze by it…From the radiance of his Presence, blazing coals were
ignited. 2 Samuel 22:8-9, 13 (Note:
Psalm 18:7-15 is similar and both mention darkness, thunder and lightning)
I looked and there was a whirlwind
coming from the north, a huge cloud with fire flashing back and forth and
brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire, there was a gleam
like amber. The likeness of four living creatures came from it…the likeness of
the living creatures was like the appearance of blazing coals of fire or like
torches. Fire was moving back and forth between the living creatures. It was
bright with lightning coming out of it…On the throne high above was someone who
looked like a human. From what seemed to be his waist up, I saw a gleam like
amber with what looked like fire enclosing it all around. Form what seemed to
be his waist down I also saw what looked like fire. There was a brilliant light
all around him… -Ezekiel 1:4-5, 13, 26a-27
Through that same word the present
heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day are stored up
for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of the ungodly…The
Lord is does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient
with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. But the day
of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with
a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved and the earth and the
works on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in
this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and
godliness as you waith for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of
that day the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt
with heat. But based on his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth
where righteousness dwells. -2 Peter 3:7b-13
The Righteous Passing Through the Flames:
To Israel: Do not fear, for
I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name, you are mine. I will be
with you when you pass through the waters and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the
fire and the flame will not burn you. –Isaiah 43:1a-2
If anyone builds on the foundation with
gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, each one’s work will become
obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire. The
fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has
built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he
will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire. -1
Corinthians 3:12- 15
The Wicked Cut Off and Cast Into the Fire:
Even now the axe is laid to the root of
the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for 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 fork is in his
hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. –Matthew 3:10-12
But the all the wicked are like thorns raked
aside, they can never be picked up by hand. The man who touches them must be
armed with iron and the shaft of a spear. They will be completely burned up on
the spot (CSB) or—ESV: The man who touches them arms himself with iron and the
shaft of a spear and they are utterly consumed with fire. -2 Samuel 23:6-7
Jesus used the parable of the wheat and the tares, found in Matthew
13:24-30, 36-43, to demonstrate the separation of believers from unbelievers at
the judgement. Here is a portion of that passage:
Let both grow together until the
harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and bind
them in bundles to be burned, but collect the wheat in my barn
The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world and the good seed—these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness. They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and knashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who hears listen.
The Bible Compares God’s People to Gold and Silver Tested and
Refined by Fire:
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if
necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested
genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is
tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the
revelation of Jesus Christ. -1 Peter 1:6-7
Many will be purified, cleansed and
refined but the wicked will act wickedly… -Daniel 12:10
I will turn my hand against you and
will burn away your dross completely. I will remove all you impurities. –Isaiah
1:25
But who can endure the day of his
coming? And who will be able to stand when he appears? For he will be like a
refiner’s fire and like launderer’s bleach. He will be like a refiner and
purifier of silver, he will purify the sons of Levi and refine the like gold
and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. –Malachi 3:2-3
The word of the LORD came to me. Son of
man, the house of Israel has become merely dross to me. All of them are copper,
tin, iron and lead inside the furnace, they are just dross from silver.
Therefore this is what the LORD GOD says: because all of you have become dross,
I am about to gather you into Jerusalem. Just as one gathers silver, copper,
iron, lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on them and melt them, so I
will gather you in my anger and wrath, put you inside and melt you. Yes, I will
gather you together and blow on you with the fire of my fury and you will be
melted within the city. As silver is melted inside a furnace so you will be
melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have pouted out my
wrath on you. -Ezekiel 22:17-22
But the LORD selected you and brought
you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for his inheritance as you are
today. –Deuteronomy 4:20
Yet he knows the way I have taken, when
he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. –Job 23:10
Remove impurities from silver and
material will be produced for a silversmith. Remove the wicked from the king’s
presence and his throne will be established in righteousness. –Proverbs 25:4-5
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