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This teaching
is based almost entirely on an article by Dr.
David Reagan, of Lamb
and Lion Ministries. The original article
is entitled, The Nature of Hell: An Eternal
Punishment or Eternal Torment? I very much
respect David and his teaching.
The Bible
presents Hell, like Heaven, as a real place. The
Word of the Lord says that God created this terrible
place to serve as the ultimate destiny of the
Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). The Bible
also teaches that Hell will be the destiny of
all people who reject the grace and mercy God
has provided through Messiah Yeshua, and who chose
instead to reject God and continue to follow Satan
in his rebellion (Matthew 25:46). Hell is described
in the Scriptures as a place of darkness and sadness
(Matthew 22:13), a place of fire (Matthew 5:22),
a place of torment (Revelation 14:10), a place
of destruction (Matthew 7:13), and a place of
disgrace and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2).
Its
Distinction from Sheol/Hades
Hell is
not the same as Hades, which is also known as
Sheol. Sheol is a temporary state that takes place
after death and before the Day of Judgment. Hades
is not to be confused with either Heaven or Hell,
which are the final states of the righteous and
the wicked.
The Son
of God made it clear that there were two sections
within Sheol, one for the righteous and the other
for the wicked. Before Messiah died on the cross,
upon their death, the righteous (those who share
the faith of father Abraham) went to Abraham's
Bosom, and were gathered into his presence. At
their death, the wicked went to another area -
a place of regret, remorse and torment (see Luke
16:19 31). There was a chasm - a wide gulf, fixed
between the two parts of Sheol, so that there
was no crossing over, so that the righteous and
the wicked were permanently separated.
Before
Messiah came to Earth, all people - the righteous
and the wicked, went to Sheol when they died.
But, Sheol was radically changed at the time of
the Cross. After His death on the Cross, Yeshua
descended into Hades and declared to the spirits
there His triumph over Satan, sin and death through
the shedding of His blood for the sins of mankind
(1 Peter 3:18 19; 4:6). The Bible also indicates
that after His resurrection, when He ascended
to Heaven, Yeshua took the souls of those in Paradise
with Him, transferring the spirits of the righteous
dead from Hades to Heaven (Ephesians 4:8 9 and
2 Corinthians 12:1 4). The spirits of the righteous
dead are thereafter seen as being in Heaven before
the throne of God (Revelation 6:9 and 7:9). Since
the time of the Cross, the spirits of dead saints
no longer go to Hades. They are taken, instead,
directly to Heaven, into the presence of God.
For those of us who believe, to be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord.
The souls
of the unrighteous dead will remain in Hades until
the end of the millennial reign of King Yeshua.
At that time they will be resurrected and judged
at the Great White Throne judgment (see Revelation
20:11 15). They will be judged and all the unrighteous
will be cast into Hell, which is the Second Death,
Gehenna, and "the Lake of Fire" (Revelation
20:14).
How
long will the unrighteous be tormented in Hell?
The traditional
view holds that Hell is a place of eternal, conscious
torment. According to this view, a person who
winds up in Hell is doomed to a never ending life
of excruciating pain and suffering. Another point
of view - the Conditional view - the one I hold
- takes the position that immortality is conditional,
depending upon one's acceptance of Messiah. I
believe the Bible teaches the unrighteous will
be resurrected, judged, punished in Hell for a
period of time proportional to their sins, and
then most will suffer destruction of both body
and soul in Hell. The really evil like the Antichrist
and False Prophet, and perhaps others like the
Hitlers and Stalins of this world, will suffer
forever (see Revelation 20:10).
Before
we look at both views in more detail, I would
like to remind us all of a sobering truth: Hell
is a reality, and it is a dreadful destiny. Hell
exists because God can’t be mocked; for
whatever a man sows, this he will also reap (Galatians
6:7). The Holy One is going to deal with sin,
and He will deal with sin in one of two ways -
either with grace or with wrath. John 3:36 says,
"He who believes in the Son has eternal
life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not
see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
Whatever we conclude from the Scriptures about
the duration of Hell, we must remember that Hell
is to be avoided at all costs. Whether the wicked
suffer there eternally or are destroyed after
enduring God's terrible punishment, Hell is a
real and an unimaginably terrifying place, and
you don’t want to wind up there!
We must
also remember that our beliefs about the duration
of Hell are not matters of cardinal doctrine,
like the doctrines of the Trinity, or the deity
of the Messiah, or salvation by grace alone and
by faith alone, or clinging to the Scriptures
alone. This is an issue of eschatology - the study
of the Last Things, and we should be gracious
to each other in these matters. There is some
room for disagreement. Sincere, godly believers
may study the same Scripture passages about Hell
and come to different conclusions about the issue
of its duration. Our varied viewpoints, arrived
at through earnest and godly study, should not
be allowed to cause division or rancor in the
Body of Messiah.
The
Traditional Viewpoint
Few people
who hold to the traditional viewpoint are happy
about the doctrine of the eternal torment of the
wicked, but they accept it anyway because they
believe it to be Biblical. In this they are to
be commended. Most point to scriptures such as
Matthew 25:46 for support: "Then these
[the wicked] will go away into eternal punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life." Since
the word "eternal" is used of both
the wicked and the righteous, they conclude that
the punishment must be eternal in the same way
that life is eternal. Many traditionalists also
cite Revelation 20:10 - a verse specifically about
the Devil, the Antichrist and the False Prophet
- to prove that a God of love can indeed sentence
at least some of His creatures to eternal torment:
"And the devil who deceived them was
thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where
the beast and the false prophet are also; and
they will be tormented day and night forever and
ever." If it is possible for God to
treat one set of His creatures in this way, why
shouldn’t He do the same thing with another
set? But, there are reasons why the Just Judge
may inflict various levels and degrees of punishments,
including various durations of time for these
punishments, according to the nature of their
crimes, and their level of culpability.
Another
passage figures in the traditional argument. Revelation
14:9 11 describes those who worship the beast
- the antichrist - and his image, and receive
his mark. They will be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and
in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of
their torment goes up forever and ever; and they
have no rest day and night. The wicked are contrasted
to the righteous, who will enjoy rest eternally
(Revelation 14:13). To traditionalists, both the
"rest" of believers and the "unrest"
of unbelievers seem to imply a conscious, eternal
state for both.
Other
Traditionalist Arguments
In other
parts of the Bible, several passages which describe
Hell use the word "destroy" or "destruction"
to describe what happens to the unrighteous. Traditionalists
claim that these passages are not about literal
destruction or obliteration, but rather of the
ruination of human life out of God's presence
forever. In this way they are able to conceive
of a "destruction" which lasts forever.
A more
philosophical traditional argument concerns mankind's
creation in the image of God. Some traditionalists
believe that the torments of Hell must be eternal,
since humanity was made in the image of God and
that image cannot be "uncreated." They
believe that immortality was bestowed on mankind
when God created us in His image, and that we
have immortal souls.
Another
traditionalist argument teaches that Hell must
be eternal because of the nature of sin itself.
All sin is an offense against God, goes this argument,
and since God is infinite, all sin is infinitely
detestable, and needs too be infinitely punished.
As you can see, these arguments seem both Biblical
and substantial. And yet they are not without
problems. Allow me to explain why I believe the
conditionalist viewpoint is a better solution
to what the Word of God actually teaches about
these things.
Another
traditionalist argument is that the threat of
eternal conscious torment is worse than the threat
of eventual destruction after being punished for
a time, and therefore is a better deterrent. It
may be. But, suffering torment in keeping with
one’s crimes, followed by eternal death,
is not without its terrors. It certainly is a
deterrent to me! In addition, this kind of threat
does not reflect well on the character of God.
If civilized nations don’t threaten or use
torture, and are against cruel and unusual punishment,
why would we attribute this kind of barbarism
to God?
The
Conditionalist Viewpoint
The doctrine
of the duration of Hell has been so strongly held
throughout the history of Christianity that few
have dared to challenge it. Adding to the reluctance
has been the fact that most modern challenges
have come from the cults. Thus, a person who dares
to question the traditional viewpoint runs the
risk of being labeled a cultist. But, disagreement
about matters of eschatology, and particularly
this question about the nature of Hell, does not
make one a cultist.
For almost
all of my life as a child of God, from almost
the very beginning, almost 30 years ago, I have
doubted that the traditional viewpoint of conscious,
eternal punishment was right. I have long suspected
that the Conditionalist viewpoint was a better
way of understanding what the Bible teaches about
this, and that suspicion has grown into a firmer
conviction over time.
Traditionalist
Difficulties
My first
difficulty with the traditional view is that it
seems to impugn the character of God. The question
arises: "How could a good God of grace, mercy,
love and justice eternally torment the majority
of humanity?" That does not seem to me to
be either good, loving or just. Is eternal suffering
just? Thousands, millions, billions, trillions
of years of torment for 20, 30, 40, 70 years of
misdeeds here on Earth? Mustn’t the punishment
fit the crime? Is it just that a foolish 13 year
old, who grows up in a nominally Christian home,
but who never becomes serious about God, and is
killed in a car accident, should be tormented
for billions of years? And, that is just the beginning
of his sufferings! This offends my sense of justice,
which admittedly, may be flawed. Nevertheless,
this doesn’t seem just to me, and I ask,
like father Abraham did, must not the Judge of
all the Earth do justly?
Second,
the concept of eternal torment goes contrary to
Biblical examples of how God punishes the wicked.
God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire - but
it took place suddenly and quickly. He destroyed
Noah's evil world with water - but the Flood came
suddenly and quickly. The Lord ordered the Canaanites
to be killed, but they were to be killed swiftly.
In the Law of Moses there was no provision for
long jail sentences, where a person suffers in
jail for years and years. Torture certainly was
not allowed. Punishments for violation of the
Law consisted either of swift corporal punishment,
restitution or death. Even animals were to be
spared suffering. They were to be killed as quickly
and painlessly as possible. The concept of eternal
torment goes against what we know of how God deals
with the punishment of the wicked. The concept
of eternal torment seems to make the God of justice
into a bit of a sadist.
A third
problem with the traditional view is that it seems
to contradict a phrase that is used to describe
Hell. That term is "the Second Death"
(see Revelation 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8). How can
Hell be a "Second Death" if it consists
of a kind of eternal life, an eternal existence
of conscious torment? Is the Second Death just
another kind of life? Or, is the Second Death
a cessation of spiritual life, like the first
death is a cessation of physical life? Isn’t
death a cessation of life?
A fourth
problem with the traditional view is that it seems
to ignore an important Biblical teaching about
Hell, that Hell is a place of destruction. Yeshua
Himself spoke of Hell as a place of "destruction."
“Enter through the narrow gate; for
the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads
to destruction, and there are many who enter through
it” (Matthew 7:13). Further, in Matthew
10:28 Yeshua says: "Do not fear those
who kill the body, but are unable to kill the
soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in Hell." Destruction
of both body and soul means to me, the total destruction
of the entire person. Likewise, in 2 Thessalonians
1:9 Rabbi Paul says that those who do not obey
the message of salvation "will pay the penalty
of eternal destruction."
I don’t
think the word "destroy" or "destruction"
should be interpreted to mean a kind of irreparable
loss, or something that continues to exist forever.
It seems much more likely that "destroy"
should be taken to mean exactly that. When a building
is destroyed, it doesn’t function as a building.
When a bridge is destroyed, it ceases to function
as a bridge. When a human life, including both
body and soul, is destroyed, it ceases to function.
The writer
of the letter to the Hebrews says that the unrighteous
will experience a terrifying judgment that will
result in their destruction by fire. They will
be burned up and consumed by fire (Hebrews 10:27).
Even one of the most comforting verses in the
Bible speaks of the final destruction of the unrighteous:
"For God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life"
(John 3:16). Humanity is perishing, like a rotten,
spoiled piece of meat or fruit. Does a perishable
fruit continue to exist forever in that perishable
state? No. We will suffer the same ultimate condition
as those perishable items. We will ultimately
be destroyed.
Fifth,
there is a difference between eternal punishment
and eternal punishing. It is one thing to
experience a punishment that is eternal in its
consequences; it is another thing to experience
eternal punishing. The Bible also speaks of eternal
judgment (Hebrews 6:2). Is that a judgment that
continues eternally, or is it a judgment with
eternal consequences? Likewise, the Bible speaks
of eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). But this
does not mean that the Son of God will be involved
in the act of redemption eternally. The act of
redemption took place at the Cross, once and for
all. It was an eternal redemption because the
result of the redemption has eternal consequences.
There is a difference between eternal redemption
and eternal redeeming. There is a difference between
eternal punishment and eternal punishing.
I noted
earlier that the traditional view often cites
Revelation 14:9 11 to demonstrate that the suffering
of the wicked will be eternal. It tells us that
those who take the mark of the beast during the
Tribulation will be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels and the Messiah
who sacrificed Himself for us and that the smoke
of their torment goes up forever and ever. Notice
that this passage does not speak of eternal torment.
Rather, it speaks of "the smoke of their
torment" ascending forever. The Bible is
its own best interpreter, and when you look up
statements similar to this you will find that
they are not literal, but non-literal, or symbolic
of a punishment that has eternal consequences,
not a punishment that continues eternally. For
example, consider Isaiah 34:10 which speaks of
the destruction of Edom. It says the smoke of
Edom's destruction will "go up forever."
I haven’t been to Edom (the southern portion
of modern day Jordan in the area around Petra).
I haven’t seen its destruction. But I know
that there is no smoke still ascending from there
to Heaven. The reference to eternal smoke is not
literal. Therefore it is non-literal, or symbolic,
teaching us that Edom's destruction will give
eternal testimony to how God deals with a sinful
society. The same is true of Jude 7 when it says
that Sodom and Gomorrah experienced "the
punishment of eternal fire." I have been
to the area at the southern tip of the Dead Sea
where these twin cities used to exist, and I know
that they are not on fire right now, and there
is no smoke going up to Heaven. They simply suffered
a fiery destruction that had eternal consequences.
Eternal punishment, or eternal punishing? Eternal
consequences for sin, or eternal torment?
Sixth,
the Scriptures talk about degrees of punishment.
Yeshua denounced the cities in which most of His
miracles were done, because they did not repent.
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon
which occurred in you, they would have repented
long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless
I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre
and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than for you.
These Jewish cities that believed in one God and
had His Word will be worse off in the Judgment
than Tyre and Sidon - two cities full of gross
paganism and wickedness. And you, Capernaum,
will not be exalted to Heaven, will you? You will
descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred
in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have
remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you
that it will be more tolerable for the land of
Sodom in the Day of Judgment, than for you.
There are degrees of judgment, and degrees of
punishment. How do we understand this? Are their
places in Hell that are hotter than others? Levels
of Hell? Or, are the degrees of punishment meted
out by the length of the sentence, based on the
crimes of the individual, and his level of knowledge
and responsibility?
Seventh,
many traditionalists believe that the soul is
immortal, and if the human soul is immortal, it
must suffer forever. But is the human soul immortal?
Can it die? In the beginning man was banished
from the Garden of Eden, and forbidden to eat
from the Tree of Life, so that he would not live
forever, so that he would not be immortal. Mankind
is headed toward death - the first death, followed
by the Second Death. He is not filled with life.
He is not, by nature, immortal. In 1 Timothy 6:15
16 Paul says that God alone possesses immortality
- not us. And 1 Corinthians 15:53 the great Rabbi
teaches that the redeemed will not become immortal
until the time of their resurrection. “For
this perishable must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal must put on immortality.”
In other words, immortality is a gift of God which
He gives in His grace to the redeemed at the time
of their resurrection. In 2 Timothy 1:10, Paul
states that because of the appearing of our Savior,
Messiah Yeshua, He has abolished death and brought
life and immortality to light through the Gospel.
It is Yeshua who brings immortality to those who
receive the message of salvation that He alone
offers. There is no need to believe that most
human beings will suffer eternally in Hell if
the soul is not intrinsically immortal. And it
isn't. I do not believe that the Bible teaches
the immortality of the human soul.
Can
History Decide the Question?
We can
see that both the traditional and the conditional
positions on Hell can muster good, Biblical support
for their point of view. Can history help us decide
which is right? Unfortunately, it can’t,
for both viewpoints can be found in very early
writings, from both Jewish and Christian sources.
The idea of a Hell where the impenitent were eternally
tormented can be traced to a time before Yeshua
came. Early Jewish sources, like the intertestamental
Book of Enoch, as well as the Fourth Book of the
Sibylline Oracles, both speak of the eternal suffering
of the wicked. Cyprian, a Christian from the Third
Century, wrote that "the damned will burn
forever in Hell." Augustine, who lived around
the year 400 A.D., was the one responsible for
systematizing and popularizing the traditional
viewpoint.
The Conditionalist
view was taught by Rabbi Hillel, who lived around
the same time as Yeshua. He taught that one class
of sinner would be punished "to ages of ages"
- even though he maintained that most of the damned
would be destroyed - a position pretty much the
same as mine. The concept is also affirmed in
the Didache, a late First or early Second
Century Messianic Jewish writing. That book speaks
of "two ways" - the way of life and
the way of death. It says the unrighteous will
perish. In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,
Justyn Martyr (114 165 A.D.), an early Christian
leader, states that the soul is mortal, that the
souls of the unrighteous will suffer only as long
as God wills, and that finally their souls will
pass out of existence.
The
Reality of Hell
Which
viewpoint is right? I believe that the conditionalist
understanding on the nature and duration of Hell
is superior. You may decide that the evidence
points in the other direction - as most do. But
whatever you conclude, based on our study of Scripture,
we can agree that Hell is real, and a terrifying,
horrendous place that should be avoided at all
costs. You certainly do not want yourself, your
friends or your family to go there. There will
be no parties in Hell, as many believe who believe
in Hell. No one is going to be having a good time
hanging out with their friends, and enjoying the
sins that they enjoyed on Earth. And you should
do all you can to make sure it is not your final
home, or their final doom. The truth is that you
can choose eternal life by receiving the Lord
Yeshua as your Lord and Savior. Or, you can choose
eternal destruction by refusing to accept God's
gift of love and grace. You can continue being
part of the demonic rebellion against the King
of the universe. I urge you to choose life by
accepting the only Savior, Messiah Yeshua.
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