In the issue of March 13 there was a short article in this department, in answer to a question on "Everlasting Punishment and Eternal Life." (See article 92 in this collection, "Everlasting Punishment and Eternal Life.") It consisted mainly of Scripture statements to the effect that the punishment of the wicked is eternal, as lasting as the life of the righteous, but that it is destruction, death.
Since then we have received a number of letters referring to, and asking for further explanation, especially of certain texts which speak of torment for ever and ever. One letter will suffice as a sample of all.
A constant reader of your valuable paper, and a firm believer in the second death, has a great desire to be enlightened on Revelation 14:9-11, and also Revelation 20:10. Hoping to see your comments according to the Word, I remain, yours in His service.
The texts referred to read as follows: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall 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 ascends up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name." (Revelation 14:9-11)
The next speaks of: "The nations which are in the four quarters of the earth,...the number of whom is as the sand of the sea," (Revelation 20:8) who are gathered by Satan after the second resurrection to do battle against the Lord, and says: "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. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:9-10)
In the first place let it be understood that the Scripture cannot contradict itself. In the article referred to there were no opinions or conclusions stated, but only plain texts of Scripture. Let us briefly recall a few of them. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
Death and life are opposites. As long as a man has existence, he is not dead; when one is dead, he has no life. Death does not mean a state of misery; for however greatly one may be suffering, he is not dead as long as the suffering continues. There are thousands of people in this world who are dragging out a miserable existence, but they are nevertheless alive. Many have no joy in life, and long for death to put an end to their misery; but no one would think of calling them dead. The terms "life" and "death" are so distinct, and so well understood, that it is past all comprehension how people can use them as though they meant virtually the same thing. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
The reward of the wicked, according to the Scripture, will be in every respect the opposite of the reward of the righteous. The righteous will have eternal life; the wicked will have eternal death. "The day comes, that shall burn as an oven, and the proud, yea, and all that to wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that shall leave them neither root nor branch." (Malachi 4:1) "The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." (Psalm 37:20) "They shall be as though they had not been." (Obadiah 16)
Nevertheless the statements concerning the torment for ever and ever still remain, and must be given attention. If this is done, it will be noticed that in Revelation 20:10, the only place where the expression "tormented day and night for ever and ever" occurs, it is not used with reference to the great body of the wicked. We read that: "Fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them," (Revelation 20:9) and then that the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire, to be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Still if there were but one to suffer eternity of torment, the fact would remain. If we study a few parallel texts we shall get some light on these terms.
Some Uses of the Term "For Ever"
In Exodus 21:1-6 we learn that a Hebrew slave was to be set free at the end of seven years; but that if he had a wife who must remain in servitude, and should refuse to leave her and his master, "Then his master shall bring him to the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever." (Exodus 21:6)
Jonah was in the whale's belly three days and three nights; but in his song of thanksgiving he said: "The earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet have You brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God." (Jonah 2:6)
Jeremiah said: "The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her;" (Lamentations 4:4) yet we read that Sodom and Gomorrah "are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of the eternal fire." (Jude 7)
They are not burning now, however.
Now we know full well that no devoted Hebrew servant has been living and serving his master from the days of Moses until now. It is evident, therefore, that the term "for ever and ever" may in some cases have a limit. The Hebrew servant who had his ear bored was to serve his master for ever, that is, as long as he should live. He certainly cannot serve him longer than during his natural life.
In like manner we see that the term "for ever" has a very narrow range in the case of Jonah, being limited to three days. With these cases in mind, and remembering also that the Scriptures repeatedly states that the wicked are to be totally destroyed, as completely as though they had never been, and we have no difficulty with the statement that they, or some of them, are to be tormented day and night, for ever and ever. That may mean many days, or it may, as we have seen, not cover more than three days. But whether it be long or short, the period of torment will certainly have an end; for of those who drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured into the cup of His indignation, we read: "For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and my anger in their destruction." (Isaiah 10:25)
Take another pertinent example. In Isaiah 34 we have a description of God's Judgment on the earth. "It is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion, ... [When] the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon their armies." (Isaiah 34:8,2)
It is the time when "the great day of His wrath is come," (Revelation 6:17) "And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down as a leaf falls from off the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree." (Isaiah 34:4; Compare with Revelation 6:13-17)
In that day it is said that the land shall be soaked with blood, "And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust there of into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever and ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; and none shall pass through it for ever and ever." (Isaiah 34:9-10)
Still further description of desolation follows, and the subject is continued to the next chapter, which says that: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. ... The parched ground [or "blowing sand"] shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water." (Isaiah 35:1,7)
So we see that the earth, which is to lie desolate "for ever and ever" is afterwards to blossom as the rose; for: "We, according to His promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth; wherein dwells righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13)
This settles the whole question. The wicked are to be recompensed in this earth which itself is to become a "lake of fire;" yet afterwards the whole earth is to be like Eden. It is very evident, therefore, that in the case of the torment of the wicked, as in that of the Hebrew servant, and others, the term "for ever and ever" is limited by the nature of thing to which it is applied. They will be tormented as long as they remain alive, but they will not have receive their punishment until they shall be dead, destroyed, reduced to smoke and ashes, as though they had not been. And their torment is only the preliminary part of their punishment, which is to be completed by death.
Someone will ask, "Since the term 'for ever' may be limited, how do we know but that the death of the wicked may be only a short duration, and that they may after a while be restored to life in the favor of God?"
We know that they will remain dead, with no possibility of a resurrection, because they will have deliberately and finally rejected the Lord Jesus, through whom alone there can be a resurrection. When they become "as though they had not been," (Obadiah 16) they will never be again; for we read that the end--the future time--of the wicked shall be cut off. "But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off." (Psalm 37:38)
The Assurance of Victory Over Sin
But we must not leave the question here, as though it were only a matter of exegesis. If it were only a theoretical question, we might well leave its exposition alone, and wait until the end itself demonstrates the facts in the case; but it is not so. The right understanding of this matter has a decided bearing on our hope and courage in the contest against sin and Satan. This is why it is dealt with in the Bible; for nothing is there revealed for the mere purpose of satisfying curiosity.
It is simply a question of whether or not the Lord can conquer and root out sin. There was a time when there was no sin in the universe. There was once a time when there was no sin in this earth. Sin is distasteful to God, and utterly foreign to His nature. "[He] is upright, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." (Psalm 92:15)
Sin is rebellion against Him and His kingdom. On His ability to put down all rebellion, and utterly to destroy every trace of transgression against His authority, depends the stability of His government. If there were a huge, seething mass of sin that He could not extirpate, even though He had it shut up within certain limits, it would show that Satan had been successful, and that God's kingdom of righteousness had received an irreparable blow. To say that God could destroy sin, if He wished, but that He will not, is to charge Him with harboring and cherishing it.
Moreover, upon God's ability to root sin out of the universe, and the assurance that He will certainly do it, depends our confidence that He can utterly destroy sin in us. "The Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8)
If a host of blaspheming sinners were to occupy some corner of God's dominions to all eternity, continually adding sin to sin, then the object of Christ's manifestations to the world would have failed, and He would have died in vain. In that case there would be no hope of our complete deliverance from sin. To put the case sharply and clearly, we may say:
a) If willful and unrepentant sinners be not finally blotted out of existence, then sin will not be destroyed.
b) If sin-the works of the devil-be not destroyed, then Christ will have failed of accomplishing the object for which He was manifested.
c) If it were that Christ had failed of accomplishing the object for which He came to this earth, then not only we, but also all the inhabitants of the earth, could never be freed from sin; there would be no salvation for anybody.
But Christ has not failed. He has already triumphed gloriously. He has conquered the old serpent, and will soon crush his head. He is able to blot out from us the last trace of sin, so that we may be as pure in His sight as though we never had sin; and He will do the same for the universe, so that "there shall be no more curse;" (Revelation 22:3) "and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write, for these things are true and faithful." (Revelation 21:4-5)
This is our confidence and our rejoicing for present salvation, which we may hold steadfast unto the end.--Present Truth, April 24, 1902.