I believe that the wages of sin is death, but certain texts of Scripture have confused me for a long time; and I should be thankful if you would take the trouble to enlighten me. They are Revelation 14:11; Revelation 20:10; Revelation 19:3; and Isaiah 34:10.
The Scriptures themselves contain the enlightenment that you desire, and it is a pleasure and not a trouble to me to bring it to you. First, however, we must have the words of the texts themselves before us. Here they are in the order given above: "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 14:11) "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 with fire and brimstone for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:10)
The next one refers to the great harlot, Babylon, saying, "And her smoke rose up for ever and ever." (Revelation 19:3)
The fourth is concerning "a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. ... [In] the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion, [When] the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shallgo up for ever; from generation to generation it shall be waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever." (Isaiah 34:6,8-10)
You cannot fail to notice that all of these texts have reference to the same event--the punishment of the wicked; and before paying any attention to the use of the term "for ever," or "for ever and ever" the proper thing to do is to have clearly in mind some of the explicit Scripture statements as to the fate of the wicked. Here are a few: "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) "The day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. ... And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 4:1,3) "He that comes 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 the wheat into His garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:11-12) "And they shall be as though they had not been." (Obadiah 16) "For evil-doers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." (Psalm 37:9-10)
Many more of the same nature might be added, but these are sufficient, especially since you already believe that the end of the wicked is death. The question then resolves itself into this: "Since the wicked are to be cut off, and be as though they had not been, how can it be said that they shall be tormented for ever and ever, and that the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and ever?"
Of one thing we are sure, and that is that the Bible does not contradict itself. Every word is sure. This being fixed, goes a long way toward settling the question. Then we are shut up to the conclusion that "for ever and ever" must sometimes mean less than endless; and this we shall find to be the case.
In the 21st chapter of Exodus we find certain regulations for the children of Israel in the land of Canaan, and the first is concerning servants. The rule was that a Hebrew servant should serve six years, and in the seventh year he should go out free, for nothing. But if the servant had been given a wife by his master, he could not take her with him when he received his freedom, but must go out by himself. If, however, the servant should say, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," (Exodus 21:5) then the rule was this: "His master shall bring him unto 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 aul; and he shall serve him for ever." (" (Exodus 21:5))
Here we have the same term applied to the time of service by a servant. Under certain conditions the servant was to serve his master for ever; yet we know that he could not serve him longer than the term of his natural life. Nobody who began to serve in the days of Moses is still in service. So we see that while "for ever" may, and commonly does, mean without end, it often is limited, meaning only as long as the person or thing spoken of could naturally exist.
We have but to note the context of Isaiah 34:10, to see that this is the case in the judgment upon the wicked. Read the first portion of the chapter, and you will see that the judgment spoken of is upon the whole earth. Idumea is used to represent the earth. It is the judgment of the last day. Now we have to read no further than the next chapter, to find that there will come a time when the land will be inhabited again: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. ... Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water." (Isaiah 36:1-2,6-7)
We also read of the new earth, when God says, "Behold, I make all things new. ... 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. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 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." (Revelation 21:5,1-4)
The wicked are to be cast into "unquenchable fire," (Matthew 3:1) into fire "that never shall be quenched." (Mark 9:43)
Now what's the natural, inevitable result to any person or thing when cast into the fire, if left there, and the fire is not put out? You have no hesitation in saying, "To be burned up-utterly consumed."
That is just what the Bible says of the wicked. The fire into which they will be cast will not be quenched, and since they are but chaff and stubble, they "burn up," and are as though they had not been. Then when there is nothing more for the devouring flames to feed on, they will go out of themselves.
This often happens in the case of houses that take fire, and the flames cannot be quenched by the firemen. When the firemen see that they cannot save the building, they turn their attention to saving surrounding buildings, knowing full well that the fire will go out when the house is consumed.
So though the destruction of the wicked will undoubtedly cover a long period, the time will at last certainly come when the last sinner, and finally even the devil himself, will be consumed, and then the fire will give place to the reviving, healing beams of "the Sun of righteousness." (Malachi 4:2)--Present Truth, August 20, 1903.