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HELL AND THE LAKE OF FIRE : PART ONE
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Copyright 1994 - 2010 Endtime Prophecy Net
Published On : September 22, 1997
Last Updated : January 3, 2009
A Clarification Of Some Common Misconceptions
One of the common confusions amongst modern-day Christians
who don't have a great deal of time to study the Word of
God, revolves around the significance of Satan and Hell in
the Bible. Aside from a lack of time on the part of the
would-be Bible students, this problem can also be attributed
to a bit of sloppiness on the part of some of the early
Bible translators. Because of these two points, and a few
other factors, when most people hear the word 'Satan' or
'Devil' or 'Lucifer', they usually think of a red-suited
demon with two short horns on his head, a long pointed tail,
possibly a sharp goatee-like black beard, untrusting shifty
eyes, dark evil-looking eyebrows, and a trident, (pitchfork)
held proudly in his hand. As I have pointed out in such
articles as 'Satan: King Of Tyrus', 'Leviathan' and 'Satan:
Origin, Purpose And Future', this picture of this Denizen Of
Darkness is simply not true whatsoever. Satan was created by
the Lord as a magnificent creature full of wondrous beauty
and light; and it is because of his ability to still appear
this way, that many have been seduced and deceived by his
evil machinations:
"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)
"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not
ignorant of his devices." (2 Corinthians 2:11)
At the same time, when many people hear the word 'Hell',
they immediately picture this same character cackling with
glee as he prods long-faced lost souls down a steep grade into
the agonizing flames of a fiery abyss full of thick smoke,
the stench of sulphur and agonizing screams. This whole
scenario is probably adopted from the writings of Alighieri
Dante, the Italian poet of the late thirteen and early
fourteenth century who wrote the very graphical 'Dante's
Inferno'. It is truly sad how much our perception and
understanding of the Bible has been warped by literary works
such as this; plus inaccurate translations, and intentional
brainwashing by certain denominations such as the Roman
Catholic Church which use fear as a vehicle to subjugate the
masses into accepting the Church's authority over their
lives. This is not to say that there is no such place as
I have described above, but it most certainly is not the only
meaning of the word 'Hell' in the Bible as I will now clearly
demonstrate.
Most Christians are aware of the fact that our modern-day
Bible is translated from ancient texts such as the Dead Sea
Scrolls, and the Textus Receptus, or the 'Received Text'.
The primary languages spoken and/or written by the Old
Testament Prophets and the First Century Apostles and
Disciples were Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Aramaic. Because of
this fact, in the Holy Scriptures, four different words were
used to denote what has been passed down to us as one word
today; that is, the word 'Hell'.
In the Old Testament, the only word translated into the
English term 'Hell' is the Hebrew word 'Sheol'. This word
has a few minor spelling variations in English, but it is
not important. As the lexicon definitions below will show,
this word was used to denote two different meanings; either
the spiritual underworld of the dead where the wicked were
punished; or the common grave, the ground of the Earth where
our physical bodies are buried and eventually decay, or
corrupt, into the original elements of which they consist.
If more people were more conscious of their lowly state,
perhaps they wouldn't be so quick to reject Salvation when
it is offered to them, or be so haughty against the Lord.
Here is a series of Scriptures which emphasize the lowly
state of our physical body which many spend so much time,
money and energy on to make it look its best:
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for
dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
(Genesis 3:19)
"And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken
upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and
ashes:" (Genesis 18:27)
"Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the
clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?" (Job 10:9)
"All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again
unto dust." (Job 34:15)
"For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust."
(Psalms 103:14)
"Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away
their breath, they die, and return to their dust."
(Psalms 104:29)
"All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to
dust again." (Ecclesiastes 3:20)
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the
spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
(Ecclesiastes 12:7)
Despite this fact, as the Apostle Paul stated, none of hate
our flesh:
"For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and
cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:"
(Ephesians 5:29)
The Apostle James compared our short existence here in our
physical body to the passing of a cloud:
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what
is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a
little time, and then vanisheth away." (James 4:14)
Returning to our topic of 'Hell', notice in the following
lexicon definitions that this word 'sheol' has been
translated an equal number of times to mean 'grave' and
'hell':
-----
sh@'owl {sheh-ole'} or sh@ol {sheh-ole'}
AV - grave 31, Hell 31, pit 3; 65
1) sheol, underworld, grave, Hell, pit
1a) the underworld
1b) Sheol - the OT designation for the abode of the dead
1b1) place of no return
1b2) without praise of God
1b3) wicked sent there for punishment
1b4) righteous not abandoned to it
1b5) of the place of exile (fig)
1b6) of extreme degradation in sin
-----
One example which reveals 'sheol' to be located within the
depths of the Earth is the following from the book of
Deuteronomy. Notice that it does not say that Hell is a
place of fire and brimstone, but rather that the Lord is
going to kindle a fire on the surface of the Earth which is
not only going to burn up the increase, that is, the produce
of the soil, from the Hebrew word 'yebuwl', but it is also
going to reach down to the foundations of the mountains to
burn them up. This appears to be referring to the igneous
rock strata such as the granite, which is the baserock of
the Earth:
"For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto
the lowest Hell, and shall consume the earth with her
increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains."
(Deuteronomy 32:22)
This certainly sounds like a prophecy of the far future in
which the Lord is going to burn up the Earth and the
atmospheric heavens in order to make room for New Heavens
and a New Earth. The Apostle Peter spoke all about this as
well:
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day
of judgment and perdition of ungodly men...But the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all
these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
(2 Peter 3:7, 10-13)
The above description would certainly account for John's
remarks in the Book of Revelation:
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was
no more sea." (Revelation 21:1)
Job and King David also spoke of the contrast between the
height of heaven, and the depth of Hell within the Earth
when they said:
"It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than
Hell; what canst thou know?" (Job 11:8)
"If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my
bed in Hell, behold, thou art there." (Psalms 139:8)
Here is an example of the usage of 'sheol' from the Book of
Psalms which many believe to be a prophecy about Jesus' time
in the grave. In a minute I will be showing the fulfillment
of this verse in the New Testament using the Greek
equivalent for this word 'sheol':
"For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell; neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
(Psalms 16:10)
In the above verse, the word 'soul' is derived from the
Hebrew word 'nephesh' and in this particular case is
believed by some, such as myself, to be referring to the
actual physical body. The word 'corruption' is translated
from the Hebrew word 'shachath' which has a variety of
meanings including corruption or destruction. Thus, this
verse is looked at as meaning the destruction or natural
decay of the human body in the grave. Only a few psalms
later, we find a verse which uses the word 'grave' instead
of 'Hell'; yet when we look up the Hebrew root, we see that
it is also the word 'sheol':
"But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave:
for he shall receive me. Selah." (Psalms 49:15)
Either David was again prophesying regarding the coming
Resurrection of the Messiah, or else he was fully aware of
his own coming Resurrection. Here are a few more verses
which clearly identify 'sheol', or Hell, as a place inside
the bowels of the Earth, both the common grave, and an
underworld where the wicked are punished. As you will see
shortly, it might be that Hell is actually a multi-tiered
system:
"Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into
Hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them."
(Psalms 55:15)
"For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered
my soul from the lowest Hell." (Psalms 86:13)
"The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of Hell
gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow."
(Psalms 116:3)
"Her house is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers of
death." (Proverbs 7:27)
"But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her
guests are in the depths of Hell." (Proverbs 9:18)
"The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart
from Hell beneath." (Proverbs 15:24)
"Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are
never satisfied." (Proverbs 27:20)
"Yet thou shalt be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the
pit." (Isaiah 14:15)
"I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when
I cast him down to Hell with them that descend into the pit:
and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon,
all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts
of the earth." (Ezekiel 31:16)
"Though they dig into Hell, thence shall mine hand take
them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring
them down:" (Amos 9:2)
In the New Testament, we discover that the Greek equivalent
for the Hebrew 'sheol' is the word 'hades'. Here is what the
Greek lexicon has to say regarding this Greek word:
-----
hades {hah'-dace}
AV - Hell 10, grave 1; 11
1) name Hades or Pluto, the god of the lower regions
2) Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead
3) later use of this word: the grave, death, Hell
In Biblical Greek it is associated with Orcus, the infernal
regions, a dark and dismal place in the very depths of the
earth, the common receptacle of disembodied spirits. Usually
Hades is just the abode of the wicked, Lu. 16:23,
Rev. 20:13,14; a very uncomfortable place.
-----
Notice though that out of the eleven times 'Hell' is used,
ten of those times it is used to mean the spiritual abode of
the dead deep within the bowels of the Earth, while only one
time it is actually referring to the common grave. It wasn't
until later that the physical grave became a more common
interpretation of 'hades'. Here now is the fulfilled
prophecy of Psalm 16:10, found in the book of Acts, in which
the New Testament 'Hades' is used instead of the
Hebrew'Sheol':
"Because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell, neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption...He seeing
this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his
soul was not left in Hell, neither his flesh did see
corruption." (Acts 2:27, 31)
Notice that Peter seems to be making a distinction here by
the use of the word 'neither'. It could be that he is
referring to both the Earthly grave where Jesus' body was
placed and wasn't left to rot, or see corruption, as well as
the spiritual underworld. In the following verse, we again
see 'hades' used, except this time it is translated as
the English word 'grave':
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55)
Here are a few more examples of the usage of this word
'hades' in the New Testament:
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hell
shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)
"And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be
thrust down to Hell." (Luke 10:15)
"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive
for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of Hell and of death."
(Revelation 1:18)
We know that the reason that Jesus has the keys of Hell and
death is because at His Coming, all of those who have
believed who are currently in their graves will be raised to
Life Eternal in a new Glorified Body. We shall be even as He
now is!:
"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which
all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall
come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection
of damnation." (John 5:28-29)
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is." (1 John 3:2)
The word 'death' in Revelation 1:18 is also interesting. I
discussed this same topic in the article 'What Happens To Us
When We Die? However, I did not give a full explanation of
this word 'death'. We find a similar statement where
death and Hell are mentioned side by side in the Book of
Revelation:
"And death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death." (Revelation 20:14)
In both of these verses, this word 'death' is translated
from the Greek word 'thanatos' which has several meanings.
First, it means the death of the physical body through the
separation of the flesh and the Spirit. Remember, as I have
explained in previous articles, until God breathed the
Breath of Life into Adam, he was just a lifeless human form.
All of the organs were there ready to function, but without
the presence of God's life-giving Spirit, a spurt of
Spiritual Energy, Adam was just a hunk of dead flesh:
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)
The second meaning of 'death' is the miserable state of
being dead which is not the same as actually dying. It is
the state your body lays in while you are in Hades, the
grave. In other words, you lay in a state of death. So then,
Jesus is not only going to destroy the literal place called
'Hell' inside the bowels of the Earth, but He is also going
to destroy the process of death, and the power that it
currently holds over our natural bodies. As to how Hell can
possibly be cast into the Lake of Fire if it is itself a
place of fire and brimstone as many believe, just wait a few
minutes and we will get to it. To clarify some of this
further, here is a more expanded definition of the Greek
word 'thanatos' translated as our English word 'death':
-----
thanatos {than'-at-os}
AV - death 117, deadly 2; 119
1) the death of the body
1a) that separation (whether natural or violent) of the
soul and the body by which the life on earth is ended
1b) with the implied idea of future misery in Hell
1b1) the power of death
1c) since the nether world, the abode of the dead, was
conceived as being very dark, it is equivalent to the
region of thickest darkness i.e. figuratively, a
region enveloped in the darkness of ignorance and sin
2) metaph., the loss of that life which alone is worthy of
the name,
2a) the misery of the soul arising from sin, which begins
on earth but lasts and increases after the death of
the body in Hell
3) the miserable state of the wicked dead in Hell
4) in the widest sense, death comprising all the miseries
arising from sin, as well physical death as the loss of a
life consecrated to God and blessed in him on earth, to
be followed by wretchedness in Hell
-----
Another word translated as 'Hell' in the New Testament is
the Greek word 'tartaros'. This word is only used one time
and is used in reference to The Watchers of Genesis chapter
six and the Book of Enoch. As I have explained in other
articles such as 'Nephilim: The Giants Of Genesis' and 'The
Book Of Enoch: Truth Or Heresy?', these Watchers were angels
who rebelled against the Lord and came down to Earth and had
sexual intercourse with human women. This resulted in the
birth of demonic half-breeds which have been referred to as
the Nephilim. This word 'Nephilim' is derived from the
primative root 'naphal' which means fall down, cast down,
fall away, overthrow, inferior, and other things. Basically
speaking, the Nephilim were the children of the Fallen
Angels, The Watchers. At any rate, in speaking of their
judgment following their rebellion against the Lord, Peter
wrote these words:
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them
down to Hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to
be reserved unto judgment;" (2 Peter 2:4)
Again, this is the only place were we see the word 'Hell'
translated from 'tartaros'. Here is what the Greek lexicon
says regarding this word:
-----
tartarow tartaroo {tar-tar-o'-o}
from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hell);; v
AV - cast down to Hell 1; 1
1) the name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark,
regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked
dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds;
it answers to Gehenna of the Jews
2) to thrust down to Tartarus, to hold captive in Tartarus
-----
Notice that it seems similar to 'hades' except here it is
the deepest abyss of an obviously multi-tiered Hell. As to
this comment that it is the same as Gehenna, I have my
doubts about this which I will explain shortly. What is
interesting regarding Peter's comments is that in his first
epistle, he also refers to this incident concerning the fate
of The Watchers. The difference is that instead of using the
word 'Hell', he uses another Greek word which is translated
into English as 'prison':
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which
also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which
sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of
God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a
preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by
water." (1 Peter 3:18-20)
In this case, the word 'prison' is translated from the Greek
word 'phulake' which means precisely that; a prison or one
who watches over a prison. Here is what the Greek lexicon
has to say about this word:
-----
fulake phulake {foo-lak-ay'}
AV - prison 36, watch 6, imprisonment 2, hold 1, cage 1,
ward 1; 47
1) guard, watch
1a) a watching, keeping watch
1a1) to keep watch
1b) persons keeping watch, a guard, sentinels
1c) of the place where captives are kept, a prison
1d) of the time (of night) during which guard was kept, a
watch i.e. a period of time during which part of the
guard was on duty, and at the end of which others
relieved them. As the earlier Greeks divided the
night commonly into three parts, so, previous to the
exile, the Israelites also had three watches in a
night; subsequently, however, after they became
subject to the Romans, they adopted the Roman custom
of dividing the night into four watches
-----
What we are seeing so far then is that 'Hell' is indeed a
real place; and that it is not just referring to the grave;
but rather to a multi-tiered system. From the descriptions
of these root words, it is apparent that it is very similar
to the system we use in our current world. There are
different sections and levels for different types of
crimminals. The more dangerous the crimminal, and the more
heinous his crimes, the deeper he is imprisoned within the
bowels of the Earth; in chains and utter darkness. If you
happen to be one who has rejected the Lord time and time
again, and who is utterly afraid of the dark, well, here is
a motivation for you to clean up your act. Just think if you
were imprisoned in such a place with others equally as
wicked as yourself, and you couldn't even see them or know
what they are doing or planning against you! How's that for
a scare tactic? <grin>
Finally, we come to the last Greek word used in the New
Testament for 'Hell'; and that is the word 'Ghehenna', which
again has a few spelling variations. It is this word which
is normally identified with the place of fire and terrible
destruction which most people are familiar with. Ghehenna is
actually derived from two Hebrew words put together. They
are 'gay', (pronounced gah'-ee), which is a steep valley or
narrow gorge, and 'hinnom', which means 'lamentation'. Thus
it is the 'valley of lamentation'. Here is the information
provided by the Hebrew lexicon:
-----
Hinnom {hin-nome'}
probably of foreign origin
AV - Hinnom 13; 13
Hinnom = "lamentation"
1) a valley (deep and narrow ravine) with steep, rocky sides
located southwest of Jerusalem, separating Mount Zion to
the north from the 'hill of evil counsel' and the sloping
rocky plateau of the 'plain of Rephaim' to the south
-----
Using the Greek lexicon for the New Testament, we find some
addition information which gives us an even clearer picture
as to why Jesus often referred to this valley when
describing the final destruction of the wicked at the end of
this present age of things. Please refer to other of my
articles such as 'From Armageddon To The New Earth' which
describes some of these interim events. Here then is what
the Greek lexicon tell us about Ghehenna:
-----
geenna {gheh'-en-nah}
of Hebrew origin 01516 and 02011
AV - Hell 9, Hell fire + 3588 + 4442 3; 12
1) Hell is the place of the future punishment call "Gehenna"
or "Gehenna of fire". This was originally the valley of
Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead
animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit
symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.
-----
Imagine how the rebellious Jews must have felt each time
Jesus would speak of the future fate of the unbelieving
wicked by using those words 'gay hinnom' which He knew they
understood perfectly well. Imagine how you would feel if
Jesus came up to you and looked you straight in the eyes and
said with the authority of God's Spirit, 'Listen, you know
that deep gorge called Hinnom to the south of Jerusalem
where you burn all of your garbage and filth and the bodies
of dead animals and crimminals? Yes, the place that has the
terrible stench of putrification and is full of flies and
maggots, and where the fires never go out. Well, if you
don't repent, you are going to end up in a place exactly
like that!' You would think that such a statement would be
enough to shake up anyone; but not some of those stiffnecked
Jews! Consider some of the following examples where Ghehenna
is used every time:
"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:
and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in
danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool,
shall be in danger of Hell fire." (Matthew 5:22)
There is no mistake that Jesus is using Ghehenna, the Valley
of Hinnom, as an example of the Lake of Fire in the above
verse. The same holds true in this next verse where He again
uses Ghehenna as an example of the Second Death in the Lake
of Fire:
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to
kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in Hell." (Matthew 10:28)
Consider this next verse where Jesus is warning the Jewish
Elders that not only are they going to end up being burned,
but every person they convert to their false religion is
going to suffer the same fate:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is
made, ye make him twofold more the child of Hell than
yourselves." (Matthew 23:15)
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of Hell?" (Matthew 23:33)
In the above verse, that word 'damnation' is rather
interesting. It is translated from the Greek word 'krisis'
which is usually translated as 'judgment'. In other words,
damnation means to be judged. However, according the Greek
lexicon for this word, there is another meaning which I was
not aware of; and that is 'a separating or sundering'. We
find this word 'sunder' in another verse which I have quoted
often:
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
The point I am making is this; when that final Day of
Judgment comes for the wicked, the Lord is going to speak
the Word, the Sword which proceeds out of His Mouth, and
they are going to be cast into the Lake of Fire, just as the
ancient Jews cast the bodies of undesirables, dead animals
and crimminals into the Valley of Hinnom to burn them up.
Exactly what might happen to them once they are cast into
the Lake of Fire is something which I will be explaining in
just a minute. This whole idea of being cast into Hell is
something else Jesus spoke of which again shows us how
Ghehenna is a reflection of the Lake of Fire. Consider
these two verses:
"And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for
thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be
cast into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
(Mark 9:45)
"But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which
after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell; yea, I
say unto you, Fear him." (Luke 12:5)
Allow me to draw your attention to those words 'never shall
be quenched'. John the Baptist made a similar statement when
he was baptising at the River Jordan:
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he
that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am
not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will
throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the
garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire." (Matthew 3:11-12)
In fact, this point is so important that when Jesus was
speaking about getting rid of an offending member lest your
whole body be cast into Hell in the above verse from Mark,
He mentioned this fact four times. Here they are with
extraneous verses ommitted for emphasis:
"Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched...And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is
better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two
feet to be cast into Hell, into the fire that never shall be
quenched:...Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched...Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched." (Mark 9:44-46, 48)
Rarely did Jesus ever repeat something so many times in one
small conversation. If He did it here, it is because He
wants us to know how terrible it will be for those who do
not repent of their wickedness.
In the twentieth chapter of the book of Revelation, we find
the following verse relating to the final fate of the wicked
following the Second Resurrection and the Great White Throne
Judgment:
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:15)
Now the question that arises is this: Is this Lake of Fire
the same as the fiery Hell, or Ghehenna, which Jesus spoke
about in the Gospels? From everything I have shared thus
far, I do not believe it is. They are two separate things.
This is why I have been very careful to say that the Valley
of Hinnom was only symbolic of the real Lake of Fire. It was
simply an example Jesus used to help the hardhearted Jews to
understand what awaited those who did not repent of their
unbelief. Some of you may be surprised to hear me come to
this conclusion, but I am sure that if you have known me for
a while, and/or if you have read a number of my articles,
then you know that I normally don't just talk off the top of
my head. So then, allow me to offer you what I believe is
irrefutable proof of what I am saying.
To begin with, in the previous verses I emphasized the fact
that in comparing the Valley of Hinnom with the Lake of
Fire, Jesus said that the fire would never be quenched; that
is, it is inextinguishable. It might interest you to know
that this word 'unquenchable' is derived from a Greek word
which we are all familiar with: 'asbestos', a fire-resistant
material which has many industrial applications. That letter
'a' at the beginning of the word means 'not'; thus we get
'not quenchable, or unquenchable. Now tell me, is the fire
in the Valley of Hinnom burning right now? Has it been
burning during the past two thousand years? The only way a
regular fire can remain unquenchable is if you continuously
feed it some kind of fuel, and you protect it from wind and
rain.
I have read a few commentaries where it has been suggested
that the idea of the fire not being quenched, or put out,
simply means that the fire will not be put out by anyone,
but rather that it will automatically go out once all of the
wicked have been burned up. Considering how many times Jesus
said that it is unquenchable, I am amazed that some folks
could come to such an erroneous conclusion. This fire is not
going to go out by itself, it is not going to be quenched or
extinguished by anyone. If it was, why did Jesus say that it
wasn't so many times? Thus, it is my belief that this is
some kind of unquenchable fire. I don't believe it is the
kind of fire we normally associate with combustion. It is
something supernatural. I will be discussing this further on
in this article. In addition, you might want to read the
Book of Enoch, as it also contains many descriptions
regarding places of fire, both good and evil. For example,
here is one of Enoch's descriptions of the Throne of God,
which we also find in the fourth chapter of the Book of
Revelation:
"...And I beheld a vision, And lo! there was a second house,
greater than the former, and the entire portal stood open
before me, and it was built of flames of fire. And in every
respect it so excelled in splendour and magnificence and
extent that I cannot describe to you its splendour and its
extent. And its floor was of fire, and above it were
lightnings and the path of the stars, and its ceiling also
was flaming fire. And I looked and saw therein a lofty
throne: its appearance was as crystal, and the wheels
thereof as the shining sun, and there was the vision of
cherubim. And from underneath the throne came streams of
flaming fire so that I could not look thereon. And the Great
Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than
the sun and was whiter than any snow. None of the angels
could enter and could behold His face by reason of the
magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him. The
flaming fire was round about Him, and a great fire stood
before Him, and none around could draw nigh Him: ten
thousand times ten thousand (stood) before Him, yet He
needed no counselor. And the most holy ones who were nigh to
Him did not leave by night nor depart from Him. And until
then I had been prostrate on my face, trembling: and the
Lord called me with His own mouth, and said to me: ' Come
hither, Enoch, and hear my word.' And one of the holy ones
came to me and waked me, and He made me rise up and approach
the door: and I bowed my face downwards." (Enoch 14:15b-25)
Returning to the verses from the ninth chapter of Mark,
something else Jesus said which is worthy of note is 'where
their worm dieth not'. Until I obtained my lexicons, I could
only speculate as to what that word 'worm' might mean. I
considered that perhaps it might mean the spirit of man
which would be in eternal torment in the Lake of Fire. This
is of course when I still held the erroneous belief that
Hell, (Ghehenna), and the Lake of Fire were the same thing.
However, what I have now discovered is that the word 'worm'
means exactly what it says. It is derived from the Greek
word 'skolex' which refers to a species of worm which preys
upon dead bodies. In othe words, it sounds like a maggot!
Now tell me, do you honestly think there are going to be
maggots in the Lake of Fire? Of course not! In my view then,
it seems to me that Jesus was talking about nothing more
than the maggots which crawled all over the filth and decay
in the Valley Of Hinnom.
But that isn't all. Notice that He said 'their worm dieth
not'. What is He talking about, super-maggots? In a
technical sense, maggots do not die; they metamorphasize and
turn into flies or some other insect. However, I was still
curious about this so looked up that word 'die' in my Greek
lexicon. What I discovered was rather interesting. It is
translated from the Greek 'teleutao' which itself is
believed to be derived from 'teleo'. While this word is
translated as 'die' or 'be dead' eleven of the twelve times
it is found in the New Testament, going by the definitions
provided, I am surprised that it is only translated as
'decrease' one time. You see, the meanings of these two
Greek words are finish, fulfill, bring to or come to an end.
So do you see what Jesus was probably really saying here? He
wasn't saying that their worm would never die; He was saying
that they would be dumping so many bodies and other organic
filth in the Valley of Hinnom that the maggots would never
disappear! There would never be an end of them! I believe
THAT is what He really meant. It seems quite fitting,
doesn't it?
Well, the question now arises: If Ghehenna, the Valley Of
Hinnom, the Valley of Lamentation, was only meant to be
understood as a foreshadow of the real Lake of Fire to come,
what was Jesus talking about when He made all of those
statements about folks being cast into Hellfire and their
worm dying not? Was that ever fulfilled? I don't have any
historical data to prove it, but according to what I have
read, during the time period that Titus and the Roman
legions invaded Jerusalem and destroyed The Temple, and the
next three years or so following that event, it is said that
close to one million Jews were slaughtered. If this is true,
they must have done something to get rid of all of those
bodies.
While it is only speculation on my part, it seems highly
likely to me that they used the Valley of Hinnom as one
place of disposal since it was already in use, and just
outside of Jerusalem. This would have been in direct
fulfillment to what Jesus was saying to the Jewish Elders of
His day, some of whom would be a very part of that great
slaughter. Not only that, according to the material I have
read, just prior to the destruction of The Second Temple of
Solomon by the Roman legions, many Jews actually ran inside
of it erroneously thinking that God would protect them from
their Roman persecutors; even though He had already shown
through the many words and actions of His Son, that He no
longer supported them or their false spiritless law-bound
religion:
"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his
disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the
temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these
things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
(Matthew 24:1-2)
In short, those foolish Jews were literally burned alive! I
have read that so intense was the heat, that all of the gold
melted down between the blocks of which The Temple was
constructed. It is for this reason that the Romans tore The
Temple apart stone by stone, just as Jesus had prophesied,
to scrap off the melted gold! Again, allow me to remind the
reader that this interpretation of Jesus' words regarding
the Valley of Hinnom, the worm not dying, and unquenchable
fire, is only meant to be taken as a foreshadow of the real
Lake of Fire discussed in the Book of Revelation. In
thinking about Jesus' words, I am wondering if it isn't
possible that at the time He uttered this sober warning,
that He was also thinking of a far future event as well; the
Battle of Gog and Magog. As I explained in 'From Armageddon
To The New Earth!', the post-Millennial Battle of Gog and
Magog will involve many evil nations of the world being
influenced by Satan to surround the camp of the Saints:
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be
loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom
is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth
of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about,
and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them." (Revelation 20:7-9)
This very same battle appears to be described in the
thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of the book of
Ezekiel. Here are some of the key verses:
"And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall
come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my
fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the
fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there
shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;...And I
will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I
will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many
people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great
hailstones, fire, and brimstone...Thou shalt fall upon the
mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people
that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds
of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be
devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have
spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. And I will send a fire on
Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles:
and they shall know that I am the LORD."
(Ezekiel 38:18-19, 22, 39:4-6)
As is explained in the aforementioned article, this will be
the Ultimate Battle between Good and Evil; and will involve
many many nations. Nevertheless, as we can see by these
verses, the Lord is going to reveal the symbolic fire of His
wrath in a very physical manner in the form of hailstones,
fire and brimstone. This won't be the first time the Lord
has resorted to such extreme measures of punishment. Do you
remember this familiar incident?:
"Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone
and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those
cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the
cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife
looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of
salt. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place
where he stood before the LORD: And he looked toward Sodom
and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and
beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the
smoke of a furnace." (Genesis 19:24-28)
I am reminded of some of the sobering words of the Apostle
Paul in his letter to the Hebrews:
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God...For our God is a consuming fire."
(Hebrews 10:31, 12:29)
This Great Battle of Gog and Magog will be discussed more
in-depth in a separate article. Its importance to this
current article is in the discussion of its outcome, which
seems to be a manifold version of what may have occurred
following the Roman slaughter of 70 A.D. After the Lord
smites this great army upon the mountains of Israel, we read
of the massive clean-up which then ensues:
"And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth,
and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields
and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the
handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with
fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the
field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they
shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those
that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the
Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 39:9-10)
Notice that this army is so great that it will take a full
seven years just to burn all of the weapons of war! The fact
that they will be able to burn them may imply that when the
Lord returns and sets up His Millennial Kingdom, He is going
to do away with all modern science and technology. Perhaps
man is going to be forced to return to a more natural way of
life as existed before our current age of industrialization.
Another possibility is that this may be related to the fact
that over the past several decades, the use of plastics has
risen to a universal level. Some of the plastic compounds
which have been created are as hard as iron. Many are
extremely heat resistant as well and can be found in many
industrial applications such as in the manufacture of parts
for combustion engines, such as what you find in your car. I
don't doubt that these same plastics, and even higher
quality ones, are currently being used in different military
applications. Could it be that the weapons of war used in
the battle of Gog and Magog will use these or similar
materials? Considering the almost indestructible nature of
some plastic compounds, it is easy to see why it would take
seven full years to burn everything up. Think also of the
great amount of black smoke and pollution which such fires
would create. I am reminded of the thick black smoke
generated by oil wells which Sadaam Hussein set on fire
during the Gulf War. Remember, plastics are a petroleum
by-product.
Having now discussed the destruction of the weapons of war,
consider also what will be done with all of the dead bodies
from this great conflict:
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will
give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley
of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop
the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog
and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of
Hamongog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be
burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all
the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to
them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the
Lord GOD. And they shall sever out men of continual
employment, passing through the land to bury with the
passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to
cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they
search." (Ezekiel 39:11-14)
Imagine, there are going to be so many dead upon the
mountains of Israel that it is going to take a full seven
months to bury them! This is going to be even worse than
Ghehenna, the Valley of Hinnom because it will be all over
Israel! It is going to be one stinking mess; so bad that
folks will have to stop their noses! There will be carcasses
and stench and maggots everywhere; at least for a few weeks,
if not a few months, until all of the dead bodies have
either decayed, or been consumed by the fowls of the air!
Notice where they are going to take the remains of these
dead bodies:
"And the passengers that pass through the land, when any
seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till
the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. And
also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they
cleanse the land." (Ezekiel 39:15-16)
Here we discover that all of the dead carcasses, or at least
what is left of them, are going to be carried to the Valley
of Hamongog to be buried. This name in Hebrew actually means
'multitude of Gog.' Previously in verse eleven, we saw that
this verse is currently called the Valley, (or ravine) of
the Passengers. It is located on the east side of the Dead
Sea. We are also told that a city will be built called
Hamonah, which means 'multitudes' to commemorate the Lord's
victory over God and Magog. As I said previously, being as
it is going to take such a long time to locate and bury all
of the dead, the fowls of the air are going to have one
fantastic feast for at least a few weeks!:
"And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto
every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field,
Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every
side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a
great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may
eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the
mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of
rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them
fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full,
and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I
have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table
with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men
of war, saith the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 39:17-20)
As in the Battle of Armageddon of one thousand years before,
the Lord is going to require the assistance of the ravenous
fowls of the air to help to clean up the putrifying mess.
Based on this discription then, it is easy to see that the
Valley of Hinnom was nothing compared to what this will be
like. While it is only speculation on my part, I would
venture to say that just as the Valley of Hinnom was set on
fire to burn the garbage and dead bodies, the same thing
will occur here for sanitation purposes. Once again, the
maggots will be crawling throughout this valley, and
throughout Israel! Just to give you an idea of how easy it
is to misinterpret the Scriptures, I recall reading some
time ago one commentary by a person who was likewise trying
to understand Hell where the worm dieth not. This person,
who has written a number of good commentaries, erroneously
concluded that the souls of the wicked will be reduced to
red worms or maggots which will writhe in agony in a Hell of
literal fire and brimstone.
Thus far I have shown through two infallible proofs that
Ghehenna, the Valley of Hinnom, one defintion of the New
Testament word 'Hell', is not the same as the Lake of Fire:
The fire in the Valley of Hinnom has not burned for a very
long time; and thus it is not unquenchable as Jesus plainly
stated. The 'worm' Jesus was referring to were maggots
which, while they easily survived in the Valley of Hinnom,
could not possibly survive in the real Lake of Fire.
The third way to prove that Jesus was only using the Valley
of Hinnom as an example, and not saying that it was really
the actual Lake of Fire is simple indeed. In this article I
have explained four words which are used in the Bible to
denote the different kinds of Hell. They are Sheol, Hades,
Ghehenna and Tartaros. Doesn't it seem likely from all of
the examples I have given that if the actual Lake of Fire is
any one of these, that it would be derived from one of these
same root words? It makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Well,
the fact of the matter is that it isn't derived from any of
them! It is all by itself. It is something separate and
unique!
In the Greek, the word 'lake' is derived from the word
'limne' which means one thing, and only one thing: lake; and
not valley or gorge. It is believed to be derived from
another Greek word 'limen' which means 'harbour' or 'haven'.
The word 'fire' is derived from the Greek word 'pur' which
again means only one thing: fire. Thus, from the original
Greek, it is translated for exactly what it is, the Lake of
Fire. It has absolutely no connection to the other four
words we have discussed in this article. The only connection
we can find is in that Jesus compared Ghehenna the Valley Of
Hinnom to it, because they were both places of fire and
destruction; but not the same place. In fact, we find many
more descriptions in the Book of Enoch which sound just like
the Lake of Fire, terrible places of fire and great
destruction. Enoch spoke of valleys and burning stones, and
many other sights, some wondrous, and some horrendous .
Consider this example which appears to be the judgment of
The Watchers:
"...And from thence I went to another place, which was still
more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing: a
great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was
cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending
columns of fire: neither its extent or magnitude could I
see, nor could I conjecture. Then I said: 'How fearful is
the place and how terrible to look upon!' Then Uriel
answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and
said unto me: 'Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?'
And I answered: 'Because of this fearful place, and because
of the spectacle of the pain.' And he said unto me: 'This
place is the prison of the angels, and here they will be
imprisoned for ever.'" (Enoch 21:7b-10)
The fourth reason for understanding that the fiery Hell
known as Ghehenna is not the same as the Lake of Fire but
only a foreshadow of it, can be found simply by looking
again at the Greek roots of some of the words used in
Revelation 20:14. Here is the verse again:
"And death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death." (Revelation 20:14)
Several years ago I had a Jehovah's Witness tell me that the
Lake of Fire was meant to be understood strictly in a
symbolic sense. Part of her reasoning was that there was no
way you can cast Hell into itself, assuming that they are
both the same thing. Furthermore, she proceeded to say that
neither can you cast Death, which is not a solid thing, into
the Lake of Fire. And finally, she concluded that the Lake
of Fire was not really a place of torment because when we
are dead, we are in an unconscious state and have no
thoughts or feelings. I covered part of this last topic in
my article called 'What Happens When We Die?'
There is some merit to part of what this woman said, and it
will be covered more thoroughly; however, for now, the fact
of the matter is, you can cast both Hell and Death into the
Lake of Fire once you undertand what is meant by each term;
and that they are not the same thing. In the above verse,
the Greek word used for Hell is 'hades', which I have
already explained to be the multi-level physical and
spiritual abode of the dead within the bowels of the Earth,
beginning with our graves on the surface level, and ending
with the deepest level called Tartaros where the most wicked
spirits, like The Watchers, are kept in chains in utter
darkness until their Day of Judgment. So the questions then
are: How can you cast the insides of the Earth, Hell, into
the Lake of Fire? And how can you cast Death into the Lake
Of Fire? Well, obviously you cannot cast the act of dying
into anything. However, if you recall, I mentioned that
Death also means the state of Death, lying dead in your
earthen grave. So in effect, by casting the insides of the
Earth into the Lake of Fire, you are likewise casting Death
into the Lake of Fire, because that is where dead bodies
reside, as well as certain spirits according to the
definitions we have been given.
Some time ago I read a commentary which stated that what was
meant by this verse is that sometime in the future, the
Valley Of Hinnom is going to be re-ignited in order to begin
burning the bodies of the wicked. Then, in the Lord's time,
this valley of fire is going to spread worldwide to engulf
the entire planet; thus consuming it and the atmospheric
heavens in flames, just as Peter describes. That sounds
quite feasible; and it even goes along with one of the very
first verses I shared in this article:
"For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto
the lowest Hell, and shall consume the earth with her
increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains."
(Deuteronomy 32:22)
There is only one major problem I have with this; and that
is that little word 'cast' which we find in Revelation
20:14. It may seem insignificant, but it isn't. It is a
definite action word which must be dealt with. In the Greek,
it is the word 'ballo', the primary meanings of which are
cast, throw, or thrust. This implies an intentional action
of force. The flames of the Valley Of Hinnom spreading to
engulf the whole world certainly doesn't sound like a
forceful action commited by Someone to me. After giving this
a great deal of thought, I could come up with only a few
possibly scenarios to explain how the bowels of the Earth,
Hell, could be cast into the Lake of Fire. Here is my first
piece of speculation:
What if the Lake of Fire is the very center of the Earth?
This would certainly be in agreement with most religious
folks' idea of a Hell of fire and brimstone. In addition,
even scientific man has long believed that the center of the
Earth consists of a molten, or semi-molten core of primarily
iron. It is also a known fact that the deeper one travels
into the Earth, the hotter it becomes.
Another new theory which has developed in recent decades is
the existence of Black Holes. Some astrophysicists suggest
that the nuclear center of stars, and even the centers of
galaxies, are Black Holes. There are even those who theorize
that the center of the molten Earth might be a Black Hole of
immense density. According to these gurus of science, these
mysterious anomalies are said to possess an extremely
powerful magnetic field. What if these theories and
hypotheses are correct? What if an imbalance were to occur,
by the Lord's command, such as is attributed to old and
dying stars, and the gravitional force of the Black Hole at
the Earth's center were to overcome the opposing force of
gravity created by the Earth's rotation? The Earth would in
effect be sucked into itself; at least so the theory goes.
If there is any degree of truth to this theory, then the
Earth and its surrounding atmosphere would in effect be
sucked into a burning molten Lake of Fire and be burned up
exactly as Peter described it. In a sense, Death and Hell
would in effect be cast into the Lake of Fire! As I said,
this is only a theory, and I certainly cannot conclusively
prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Considering how few
clues we have in the Bible, we really don't have much to
work with; but allow me to share a verse for you to ponder
which just might support this possibility:
"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:54)
Is Paul speaking in a figurative sense when he says
'swallowed up', or should it be taken literally as I have
just shown? There is only one major problem I see with this
theory based on my limited knowledge of astrophysics; and
that is this: If the Earth were to be sucked into a Black
Hole contained within its core, then the molten core itself
would likewise disappear into it as well; including the very
light created by the molten magma! In other words, if this
were true, then the Lake of Fire would cease to exist. For
this reason, perhaps we need to look elsewhere for a
solution to this problem. While I am not sure what the Lake
of Fire is, from the different Hebrew and Greek words we
have studied in this article, I am relatively certain I
know what it isn't. As I said previously, it is simply
something totally different from the different meanings of
Hell we have looked at thus far. Allow me to offer one more
speculation for your consideration:
As I have shown in other articles, throughout the Bible
there are many references to Light and Darkness; the
Children of Light, and the Children of Darkness. The
Children of Light are of course the Good Spirits, and those
who have accepted the authority of Jesus Christ in their
lives. You might want to read my inspiring article 'The
Children Of Light: Are You One Of Us?' On the other hand,
the Children of Darkness are those spirits and people have
rebelled against God and follow Lucifer, the former
Lightbearer now-turned into Prince Of Darkness. If there is
one thing we know from the Scriptures, it is that they
cannot stand the Light. They hate the Light, both physical
light, and spiritual Light! Consider what Jesus said in the
third chapter of the Gospel of John:
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved." (John 3:19-20)
Of course we know that Jesus is the Light of the world. John
bore witness of this fact in the very first chapter of his
Gospel when he said:
"In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the
light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it
not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The
same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that
all men through him might believe. He was not that Light,
but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the
true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world." (John 1:4-9)
Jesus later confessed openly that He was indeed the Light of
the World when He said:
"...I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life...As
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
(John 8:12b, 9:5)
To take this analogy a step further, we also know that the
created angels, the sons of God, are also referred to as
the morning stars, or celestial lights, who were present at
the time of Creation:
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of
God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:7)
Of course, we know that the Greatest Light of all, the most
Brilliant One of all, is God the Father, and thus, He is
represented by the Sun:
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give
grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them
that walk uprightly." (Psalms 84:11)
In fact, that word 'sun' is derived from the Hebrew root
'shemesh' which means 'brilliant'. Do you know one thing
which makes the Sun very different from all of the planets
in our Solar System besides the fact that it is the Light
Giver? It is that it does not go through phases. It is
constant, invariable, unchanging. It is truly the Father of
Lights:
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17)
Well, if God is the Sun, what would Jesus be represented by?
As you may recall, Jesus often reminded the people
that He only did and spoke according to what His Father
showed Him:
"For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things
that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than
these, that ye may marvel...I can of mine own self do
nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just;
because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father
which hath sent me." (John 5:20, 30)
In other words, Jesus only reflected His Father's Light.
Thus, it is easy to see how He could be symbolized by the
Moon; just as the Moon was the lesser light created in the
Book of Genesis:
"And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule
the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the
stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven
to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and
over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness:
and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:17-18)
Notice that God created these two Lights not only to rule
over the Day and the Night, but also to divide the Light
from the Darkness. You see, between God and Jesus, we have
spiritual protection twenty-four hours a day! The Lord
constantly keeps His Children of Light protected by keeping
them divided from the Children of Darkness. Isn't it also
true that Jesus often arose a great while before it was day,
just like the Moon?
"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he
went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there
prayed." (Mark 1:35)
We are also told that the Light of God, and the Light of
Jesus Christ are so brilliant, that they are all we will
need to lighten the Heavenly City:
"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon,
to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the
Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are
saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the
earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates
of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no
night there...And there shall be no night there; and they
need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God
giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever."
(Revelation 21:23-25, 22:5)
Notice the double mention of the Sun and the Moon, and of
God the Father and Jesus the Son. And where does that leave
us, the believers? Well, we are the Stars:
"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the
stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:3)
However, as is shown elsewhere, we will not all shine with
the same glory because our works will follow us:
"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial:
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the
terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars:
for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also
is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption;
it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is
raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in
power:" (1 Corinthians 15:40-43)
"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father
with his angels; and then he shall reward every man
according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)
At this point you may be wondering what all of this has to
do with Hell and the Lake of Fire. Well, I am grounding you
in a few Biblical Truths to set you up for what I am about
to propose next. As I have now shown, the physical is a
manifestation of the spiritual. One purpose of the physical
Creation is to help us understand spiritual realities. The
Apostle Paul emphasized this point quite eloquently when he
said:
"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they
are without excuse:" (Romans 1:20)
Absolutely no one who can look around at the natural world
here on Earth, or look up into the starry night sky, and say
there is no Divine Creator. We are all without excuse
because we are surrounded by the magnificence and splendor
of God's Creation. This topic is covered more fully in the
article 'It Is Written In The Stars!'. The point is, you
would have to be an utter fool to deny the existence of God
with so many solid proofs around us:
"<<To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of
David.>> The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there
is none that doeth good." (Psalms 53:1)
One belief I have heard a number of times over the years is
the idea that spiritual beings like Satan and the rebellious
demons cannot be destroyed. Despite this claim, I have yet
to see someone produce any Scriptures which support this
view. To suggest that God was powerful enough to create
these beings in the beginning, but does not now possess the
means to destroy them, seems to be a bit ludicrous to me. It
seems to diminish His Power. Personally, I believe God is
much greater, and much more powerful than that. In fact, I
have already dropped a hint which suggests exactly what may
be going to happen to all of the negative demonic forces in
the world, and wherever else they may exist.
Considering all of the spiritual parallels I have shown thus
far, could it be that, up until a time in our recent
history, the majority of evil spirits which follow Satan
have been kept at bay in the darkness of outer space beyond
the Earth's atmosphere, perhaps even as far away as the
outer fringes of our Solar System? If this is true, is it
not also possible that the mechanism used to accomplish this
purpose is the very powerhouse of Light which we call the
Sun? I am not referring to just the physical Sun, but also
to God Himself of which our Sun is a physical symbol.
Remember one of the verses I shared a short time earlier:
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give
grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them
that walk uprightly." (Psalms 84:11)
Previously I used this verse to emphasize the sybolic
relationship between God and our physical Sun; but notice
what other descriptive word King David uses to describe the
Lord: shield. This word is derived from the Hebrew 'magen',
and it means exactly that; a shield or buckler, a means of
defence. This certainly seems to add weight to the idea of
the Lord shielding us, his fragile creatures, by His very
Brightness from the evil which lurks just beyond our sight,
possibly spiritually and physically, in the depths of the
darkness of outer space. However, could it be that these
evil demonic forces are slowly closing in, encroaching on
the Lord's territory? If so, why is this happening? Surely
the Lord could stop it if He chose to; so why isn't He?
If all of my words seem like mere fantasy or wild
speculation to you the reader, consider the increase in the
number of reported cases of UFO sightings in recent decades;
and this is only a small number of the actual occurrences!
Many folks never bother to report anything for fear of
ridicule and alienation! In fact, in the last few years,
reports have been skyrocketing all around the world! Is it
simply a mere coincidence that it was only a year before
Israel was declared a nation by a U.N. charter in 1948, that
the first major UFO incident occurred in Roswell, New Mexico
in July of 1947? Remember, if there are two things which
Satan hates the most in this world, it is the nation of
Israel which brought forth the Saviour; and it is God's
worldwide nation of Christians who continue to propagate The
Faith in The Name of His Son!
Israel will soon be marking its first fifty year jubilee
since it became a nation, just as the Roswell incident has
just celebrated its own fiftieth anniversary. As I have
stated on The E.D.G.E. Online mailing list, I can't help but
feel that 1998 may indeed be a significant year in some way.
The fact that this number is the sum of six hundred and
sixty-six three times may indicate that some major spiritual
or possibly even physical occurences will transpire in this
coming year which is now only months away. I am no prophet,
yet it is difficult for me to dismiss this numerology as
mere coincidence. At the same time, the question arises: If
something of significance does happen, will it be obvious to
all; or will only those who are wise and who have an
understanding of the Word of God be able to perceive it?
As I have stated in other articles, I am convinced that
there is some truth to this alien/UFO phenomenon. After
performing an in-depth study of this topic for over two
years, I could arrive at no other conclusion. There are just
too many reports coming in from well-grounded intelligent
people to simply dismiss all of these claims of sightings
and close encounters as being nothing more than
mis-identifications, hallucinations, undiscovered natural
phenomena, hoaxes, mere fabrications, etc. While many do
fall within these categories, there is a small percentage
which defy all logic and reason. Not only that, if one
studies this subject closely, he will see that these strange
beings manifest characteristics very similar to the demons
of old. They are extremely deceptive; they can pass through
physical objects; they can speak to our minds; they claim to
possess great wisdom and knowledge which will be extremely
beneficial to humankind; they are usually seen or
experienced in the darkness of the night; they are usually
seen in the company of glowing craft; and finally, according
to those who have remembered to call out to the Lord during
the time of their encounter, it appears that they are afraid
of the name of Jesus!
Could it in fact be then, that we are merely seeing the same
old deception wrapped in a new package? As I have already
said before, Satan only has a limited number of tricks and
disguises which he has continued to use over and over again
throughout the ages. Let's go back to the sun and shield
analogy for a moment. If there is one thing we know, as I
have made quite clear in this article, as well as in others,
it is that these beings are creatures of Darkness. They hate
the Light! They wish to have absolutely no fellowship with
it, and we are told quite explicitly to have no fellowship
with them!:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness?"
(2 Corinthians 6:14)
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11)
Now here is a point which almost seems a little scarey: In
the research I have done, which has included a lot of
reading, as well as conversing with fellow Christians who
have an interest in this topic, I have discovered that the
most prevalent form of 'alien' being is referred to as the
Gray, (or Grey), who claim to originate in the the Zeta
Reticuli companion star system. This was first brought out
in the Barney and Betty Hill abduction case of the early
1960's. These beings are usually described as being short
hideous creatures three to four feet in height. It is said
that they are thin nimble creatures with clammy
reptilian-like skin, similar to a snake or lizard, with no
body hair, a small featureless mouth, (like reptilians), a
barely discernible nose except for the nostrils, (likewise a
reptilian feature), no ear cartilage, (also a trait of
reptilians), and usually gray, off-white or some shade of
blue in color.
However, what is most often remembered by those who are
reported to have encountered these beings, is their eyes!
According to all of the material I have read, they are
diamond-shaped, just like a snake or serpent! Is this
beginning to sound familiar to you?:
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?" (Genesis 3:1)
Believe it or not, there are some folks, including certain
Christians, who are convinced that Satan and his demonic
horde are one such race of creatures! Because of my own
studies done revolving around the nature of Satan, I
personally have a difficult time accepting this theory.
Under normal conditions, it is reported that one does not
see the eyes of these alien Grays. Do you know why? The data
I have had access to, which includes a number of
commentaries on the so-called 'Roswell Autopsy', all state
that these creatures wear a thick black lense over their
eyes, thus giving them the appearance of having large
almond-shaped eyes. These eyes are currently the fad within
the UFO community; and you can find T-shirts and many other
UFO-related items bearing a semblance of these almond-eyed
creatures!
The question is: Why do these 'aliens' wear these eye
covers? According to UFOlogists, it is because the companion
star system Zeta Reticuli, (around which the 'alien' world
Bernard's Star is believed to revolve), is not quite as
bright in magnitude as our own Sun. However, I ask: Could it
be that it is really to conceal their true snake-like
character and demonic origin? Is it just to shield
themselves from the natural light of our brighter Sun; or is
it really to protect themselves from the brightness of God's
spiritual Light? You may recall that in my study of the
second chapter of Paul's second epistle to the
Thessalonians, which was covered in the article 'Who Is
Hindering The Antichrist?', I shared the following verse:
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming:" (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
These creatures absolutely hate the Light! They are afraid
of it and avoid it like The Plague! Not only do they hate
it, but they cannot even begin to understand it. Remember
what John said in the very first chapter of his Gospel:
"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness
comprehended it not." (John 1:5)
Isn't this typical of many people today? The things which
people cannot understand, are the very things they fear; and
the very things they fear, are sometimes the things that
they also hate. It is all a result of ignorance and refusing
to come to the Light of the knowledge of The Truth:
"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of
the truth." (2 Timothy 3:7)
So the question is: Why do these Denizens of Darkness refuse
to come to the Light? We already know that one reason is
because their works are evil, and they don't wish to forsake
them; but could there be another reason? What would be the
easiest and quickest way to destroy them?
You will recall how earlier I compared the Lord to a sun and
shield. Using the example of the real sun and the depths of
outer space, I stated that it is the brilliance of His
spiritual presence in our lives which serves to protect or
shield us from the influence of the Demons of Darkness which
lurk in the perimeters of our lives, just as 'aliens' and
UFO's are said to originate in the black darkness of real
space. I then posed the question: If these 'alien' beings
have been encroaching on God's territory, our Solar System,
and making their presence known to us in an increasing rate
since the 1947 Roswll incident, why is God allowing this?
From all I have read, it seems we are at a point where these
Demons Of Darkness are becoming very bold, even making many
daylight appearances all around the world. It is as if they
are proclaiming, 'We are here; and we are about to take
over!' Why is this happening? And why now?
I believe the answer is simple: it all comes back to faith
and love. You see, that shield which protects us from these
things is our faith in, and our love for, the Lord; and it
is weakening and becoming ineffective. Consider the
following verses:
"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."
(Ephesians 6:16)
"I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless
when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the
earth?" (Luke 18:8)
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
wax cold." (Matthew 24:12)
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That
ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come, except there come a
falling away first..." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a)
You see, God cannot continue to bless the people of Earth
with the protection of His spiritual shield if they no
longer have faith in Him, nor love Him, nor have a fearful
respect of Him. As the Apostle Paul said;
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:18)
It is unbelief in the heart of man which is destroying the
very shield, the spiritual forcefield around our planet,
which is protecting us from the onslaught of the enemy: the
Prince of the Power of the Air and all of his evil 'aliens'
from the depths of space; whether you want to believe it is
real outer space and real aliens, or spiritual inner space
and spiritual demons. In fact, many people today, either
through ignorance, or through the hardness of their hearts,
don't realize it, but by rejecting the true God, they are
opening up their hearts, spirits and lives to these false
gods who want to suck out their spiritual lives! If you want
to see how deep this parallel really goes, please refer to
the article 'Dracula: Fighting Fear With The Word, Faith And
Love'.
At this present moment, it seems there may be more people in
the world who believe in 'aliens' and UFO's, than those who
believe in the real God! As I have already stated, aliens
and UFO's and New Age thought is extremely popular these
days! You can find T-Shirts, books, movies, videos, games
and many other items all geared towards belief in these
things. Through New Age practices such as channeling, spirit
writing, Eastern meditation and other mediums, these
ignorant people are inviting these demons to manifest
themselves in our world and in their lives; and it may be
that they will do this very thing very soon in a way which
will totally astound the world! I have discussed this in a
number of my other articles concerning New Age thought and
the Endtime.
The point is, if God wanted to destroy all of the evil
beings and spirits including The Beast, the False Prophet,
their followers etc., how would He do it? As I said before,
I do not believe He is powerless to destroy them as some
would have you believe. If He created them, then He can
certainly destroy them; it is just a matter of trying to
determine what the method and place of destruction might be.
Earlier I proposed the theory that the center of the Earth
might be the Lake of Fire. Allow me to now suggest that such
a supernatural Lake of Fire, or else some other source of
brilliant light would certainly be an effective way to
destroy these evil creatures of Darkness. To destroy the
flesh bodies of the humans these demons possess is easy; it
is the destruction of their spiritual essence which we must
now concern ourselves with.
I used to be an up-coming science fiction writer until the
Lord in His wisdom placed me on a better track. In my
novel, 'The Encephalon Project: Quest For Immortality', I
attempted to help atheists and scientists to understand
spiritual truths by using terminology which they can relate
to. Consider the word 'spirit'. One definition of spirit is
the following:
"The animating or life-giving principle within a living
being." (1981 American Heritage dictionary)
As I have explained in a number of my other articles, God
breathed into Adam the breath of life; and it was then that
he became a living soul. What is this 'breath of life'? It
is a lifeforce; it is an Energy which originiates from God
to animate our flesh. It is similar to placing batteries in
a toy. Without that source of energy, the toy is dead. So,
in that sense, we can say that Spirit is synonymous with
Divine Energy.
According to astrophysicists, our Sun is also a ball of
energy. We could get into discussing the whole process of
hydrogen being broken down into helium, the opposing
gravitational forces which supposedly hold the Sun together
etc., but that really isn't necessary for this discussion.
The point is, the Sun is a sort of furnace, a ball of
nuclear energy by most accounts; (although I have heard some
new theories lately which suggest it is more like a light!).
If spirits are indeed some type of Energy Creatures beyond
our understanding, and if the evil spirits hate the Light,
wouldn't casting them into a Lake of Fire, a ball of energy
burning with utterly brilliant Light destroy them? That
idea alone presents us with another clue to this whole
mystery. I believe that God has a specific purpose for
everything that He does. I also believe that everything that
is written in the Bible is there for our edification. There
are many mysteries just waiting to be discovered. Allow me
to remind you again of what we are told about The Watchers
of antediluvian days:
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them
down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to
be reserved unto judgment;" (2 Peter 2:4)
Do you really understand what that means? Just as is also
brought out in the Book of Enoch, The Watchers, (and I
imagine similar exceptionally evil spirits like them), are
currently being held in a deep dark dungeon within the
bowels of the Earth; in one of the lowest tiers of Hell
called Tartaros as I explaind earlier. The question is: Why
there of all places? The answer is contained in the very
same verse: Because it is dark! It is the very darkness
which is preserving them and keeping them from their own
fate! They are reserved there for judgment! The day the Lord
chooses to release them, they are going to be cast into the
fiery brillance of the Lake of Fire! Did you know that
before his own fall from power, even the kingdom of the
Beast will be cast into darkness?:
"And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of
the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they
gnawed their tongues for pain," (Revelation 16:10)
This may be due to a solar eclipse, or simply due to the
fact that the Lord is going to completely turned off the
light of the world, the Sun, to really emphasize the
grandeur of His own Second Coming:
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:"
(Acts 2:20)
Just as The Watchers will meet their fate in the fiery
brilliance of the Lake of Fire, so too will The Beast be
destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's Coming as Paul
tells us in his second epistle to the Thessalonians:
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming:" (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
None of us really know or fully understand what spiritual
beings are made out of. I have offered some basic ideas in
this and other articles which suggest that it is possibly
some kind of brilliant electrical energy. I've said before
that the 'Cocoon' movies might have more truth to them than
we realize, even if they were in a sci-fi setting. Someone
definitely had a distinct purpose in making those movies.
Remember again what Jesus said regarding Satan's fall:
"And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall
from heaven." (Luke 10:18)
Now consider also how Jesus was described during His
transformation when Moses and Elijah appeared to Him; as
well as how Jesus described His own Second Coming:
"While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him."
(Matthew 17:5)
"His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white
as snow:" (Matthew 28:3)
"For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part
under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so
shall also the Son of man be in his day." (Luke 17:24)
"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth
even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be." (Matthew 24:27)
All of the above verses describe some kind of flaming
electrical/spiritual brilliance; and do you know what? It
doesn't end there. Consider the following verses:
"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the
garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned
every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
(Genesis 3:24)
"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of
fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold,
the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great
sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that
he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst
of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from
off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground." (Exodus 3:2-5)
"Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming
fire:" (Psalms 104:4)
"This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler
and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a
deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in
the bush." (Acts 7:35)
"And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These
things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a
flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;"
(Revelation 2:18)
"And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings
and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God."
(Revelation 4:5)
"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these
things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of
David, and the bright and morning star." (Revelation 22:16)
Recall also the verses I shared earlier from the Book of
Enoch which describe the fiery Throne of God with the 'most
holy ones' who are close by the Lord's side. I believe these
may be the same Seven Spirits we see mentioned above. While
beings of the Spirit World are truly magnificent creatures,
I don't believe they are indestructible. Based on the above
Scriptures, my guess is that the evil ones, such as Satan
and The Watchers, can be destroyed. Perhas this is what
will happen when they are absorbed into the fire brilliance
and energy of the Lake of Fire, what John referred to as the
Second Death. I am saying 'perhaps' because, as will be seen
in part two of this article, there are other possibilities
which have not yet even considered.
I suggested earlier that the Lake of Fire might be the
center of the Earth. I also explained why this doesn't seem
feasible to me. Based on our knowledge of the destruction of
the Old Earth from both Peter and the Book of Revelation,
this would prevent the Lake of Fire from being an eternal
place of imprisonment, torment, or destruction. Another
possibility is that it might be the Sun; or perhaps one of
the hotter planets like Mercury or Venus; or maybe even some
great spiritual ball of brillant energy which hasn't even
been created yet. Just because John saw it in the future
does not mean it is necessarily already in existence. It is
never even mentioned until the Book of Revelation.
The main point is, if Death and Hell are to be cast into the
Lake of Fire, the act of hurdling the Old Earth into the
Sun, or into a similar structure, would definitely fulfill
this requirement; as the multi-tiered Hell is inside the
Earth as I previously stated. The Earth is a physical
object. It's destruction, as is described by Peter and John,
is very physical in nature. Therefore, it must require a
very physical process such as actual physical combustion. As
I have said before, the Lord could just set the Old Earth on
fir so that it burns down into the very baserock of the
planet, thus destroying Death and Hell; but we just can't
ignore the fact that we are told that the heavens and the
Earth flee away, and that Death and Hell are CAST into the
Lake of Fire. Perhaps I am wrong, but considering the size
of the Earth, and the size of the Sun, I can very easily
imagine the Lord throwing the Old Earth off course in some
way so that it goes flying into the Sun.
I suspect that whatever the Demons of Darkness are made out
of, if and when the Earth is cast into the Lake of Fire,
they may be totally broken down and divided asunder into
their individual components, just like an atom. After all,
if the Lord can divide asunder our physical body and our
Spirit at the moment of death, and our body is then broken
down over time into its original elements, why can't a
similar process exist for our spiritual counterpart? It
seems quite feasible to me.
Again, the above scenario seems to make sense to me; and it
fits into the picture and chronology of the Book of
Revelation. Right now the interior of the Earth serves as a
prison; but once the Great White Throne Judgment occurs,
there will no longer be a need for this prison; for all will
be resurrected from their graves; and those imprisoned in
chains of darkness will also be judged. Thus, it should come
as no surprise that all in the same chapter, we see the
Millennial rule of Christ and His Saints during which time
Satan is bound; then his release and the final battle of Gog
and Magog; then Satan cast into the Lake of Fire; then the
Great White Throne Judgment during which time the Earth and
the heavens, (possibly the atmospheric heavens, the sky),
flee away; and finally, Death and Hell and all of the
incorrible wicked cast into the Lake of Fire. The question
is: Could this fleeing away of the Old Heaven and the Old
Earth be synchronous with Death and Hell being cast into the
Lake of Fire? Based on Peter's description of the fiery
destruction of the Old Earth and the heavens, it seems
possible to me. From the beginning of the very next chapter
of Revelation, we do know that it is right after these
events that we are introduced to the New Heaven and the New
Earth:
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was
no more sea." (Revelation 21:1)
As I stated earlier, I read some time ago that there are
some new theories being pondered regarding the exact nature
of our Sun. Whether it is an actual nuclear furnace, or some
kind of an electrical/spiritual light created by the Lord,
the point remains that it may be that very source of
brilliant light which can destroy all of these Demons of
Darkness which hover just outside of our human perception;
and possibly in a real physical or semi-physical form
outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Could it be that when we
look up at the Sun each day, we are bearing witness to the
ultimate end of all things and creatures, both spiritual and
physical, which oppose and defy the Lord? If so, then as
Paul said, we truly are without excuse. God is indeed a
spiritual Being; and the Bible is full of a lot of
symbolism; but the Lord also deals heavily in the physical
creation as well. So who knows; if the center of the Earth,
or the Sun itself is not the Lake of Fire, then perhaps it
is something similar. Regardless of how you choose to look
at it, if nothing else, that great orb in the sky does serve
as a stern reminder for all of us.
Before closing part one of this article, it should be noted
that the concepts of eternal death, destruction, and torment
are very deep topics in themselves. While I have dwelt on
some possible definitions within the confines of this
article, there are others yet to be explored. These will be
discussed more in-depth in part two of this same article. I
am sure you will find it interesting. For now though, I
trust that this article has given you a new and more
expanded understanding of what is meant by 'Hell' in the
Holy Scriptures. In conclusion, to answer the question posed
at the very beginning of this article, unless the Lord
returns soon, most of us will be going to Hell/the grave
through the process of physical death; however, if we
sincerely believe in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, then
NONE of us should be visiting the Lake of Fire; but will be
raised to Eternal Glory! As the Apostle Paul said:
"Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
(1 Thessalonians 4:18)
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