What is eternal fire? “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 7) Notice carefully: it was the physical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that “suffered the vengeance of eternal fire,” not just the people. In addition, their punishment is “set forth as an example” of what will happen to the unsaved. In 2 Peter, we find an almost identical verse, yet Peter inserts one tiny, significant detail. Look closely: “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah INTO ASHES condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto all those that after should live ungodly.” (2 Peter 2:6). What was the result of that “eternal fire” which fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah ? Those cities became ashes. But that’s not all. Describing “the punishment of the sin of Sodom,” Jeremiah said that those evil cities were “overthrown as in a moment” (Lamentations 4:6). Now put the pieces together. By comparing Jude 7 and 2 Peter 2:6 with Lamentations 4:6, we discover plainly that the “the vengeance of eternal fire” was so incredibly hot that it reduced Sodom and Gomorrah “into ashes” in “a moment” of time. Now think about it. Are Sodom and Gomorrah still destroyed? Yes. But are they burning now? Obviously not. Then what does “eternal fire” mean? By comparing Scripture with Scripture, it means that the fire came from God and that the punishment lasts forever, not the flames. And again, both Jude and Peter called this punishment “an example” of what will happen to all the lost. Jesus Christ also warned that He will someday declare to lost sinners, “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Is this fire the same type of fire mentioned in Jude 7, one which destroys completely? We know it is because five verses later our Lord clarified, “And these (the lost) shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46). Thus the lost experience “everlasting punishMENT,” not punishING, just like the Sodomites. Paul also wrote about “everlasting” consequences overwhelming unsaved sinners. Does his teaching agree with Jesus Christ and Jude? In the following passage, you will see that it does. Paul warned that when Jesus Christ returns He will come “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 1:8, 9). Here “everlasting” is combined with “destruction,” which means the lost are destroyed forever, just like the Gomorrahites. In addition to Jesus Christ, Jude, and Paul, John the Baptist also warned about “unquenchable fire” engulfing the unredeemed. On the surface, one might assume John was referring to ceaselessly burning flames. But he wasn’t. Calling the saved “wheat” and the lost “chaff,” the wilderness prophet announced that God’s Messiah would “thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12). Thus “unquenchable fire” isn’t fire that burns forever, but fire that can’t be snuffed out by man. It burns up the chaff until there is nothing left. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center no longer exist. On September 11, 2001 they were rammed by two hijacked planes on a mission of death. Airplane fuel ignited and blazing fires could not be quenched. What remains is little more than ashes and memories, somewhat comparable to Sodom and Gomorrah. For those who lost loved ones, the results of that fateful day seem eternal. The Muslim terrorists who brought down the Twin Towers believed they were serving Allah. They also imagined they would be rewarded with 72 virgins in heaven for their faithfulness to God’s truth. But they were grossly mistaken. Their future will be quite different from their expectations. How about us? Do we know what the Bible really teaches about heaven, how to get there, and the fate of the lost? Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:41, 46), John the Baptist (Matthew 3:12), Paul (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9) and Jude (verse 7) all predicted that “eternal fire,” “everlasting fire,” and “unquenchable fire,” will eventually “burn up” all unsaved sinners to their “everlasting destruction,” just like Sodom and Gomorrah became “ashes” in “a moment.” And Sodom ’s holy judgment is “set forth as an example” (Jude 7) to us today. Let’s humbly learn this lesson from God’s Word. Let’s “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). When Thailand police arrested American schoolteacher John Mark Karr in August 2006, investigators hoped a 10-year murder mystery had been solved and that the killer of 6-year-old beauty queen Jon Bennet Ramsey was finally in custody. Almost everyone thought they had their man, especially after the teacher himself candidly confessed, “I did it.” Yet shortly thereafter Karr’s DNA was tested and results didn’t match traces left on Ramsey’s corpse. Universally abhorred, Karr was labelled a sick, creepy craver of media attention, and released. In the earlier parts of this controversial article, I have attempted to systematically build my case from Scripture that although the flames of hell are certainly real and do await the lost, they will not crackle endlessly but will finally be extinguished at the end of the world. Unsaved sinners, after facing a just judgment before a righteous God, will ultimately reap “the wages of sin,” which is “death” (Romans 6:23). God Himself declares, “Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly, will be STUBBLE. And the day which is coming shall BURN THEM UP, says the Lord of hosts, That it will leave them neither root nor branch.” (Malachi 4:1). There are hundreds of Bible verses teaching the same thing – that the lost will “burn up” (Matthew 3:12), “be destroyed” (Psalms 37:38), and be “no more” (Psalms 37:10). Even Satan himself will become “ashes on the earth” (Ezekiel 28:19). Jesus Christ is not a Person who will endlessly torture those who reject His love. It is no wonder that so many reject our loving, merciful God when He is depicted as a torturous tyrant that would burn sinners through all eternity. Would you torture your child forever for being disobedient? Are we more merciful than our heavenly Father?
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 03:38:17 +0000