31-Questions on the Destruction of the Wicked - RSV

1. Is Hell a Hot Spot Burning in the Center of the Earth? The Wicked Are Reserved Unto to Judgment.
2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and _committed_ them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the _judgment_;

2. Our God Is a Consuming Fire to Sin, Wherever It Is Found.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a _consuming_ _fire_.

3. The Fires of Hell Originate From Heaven at the End of Time. Not As Some Hot Spot in the Earth.
Revelation 20:9 And they marched up over the broad earth and _surrounded_ the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire came down from heaven and _consumed_ them,

4. The Wicked Will Be Totally Consumed. They Shall Be Cut Off From the Earth.
Proverbs 10:25 When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the _righteous_ is _established_ for ever.

Psalms 37:10-11 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look well at his place, he will not be there. [11] But the meek shall possess the land, and delight _themselves_ in abundant _prosperity_.

Psalms 37:20 But the wicked perish; the _enemies_ of the LORD are like the glory of the _pastures_, they vanish--like smoke they vanish away.

Psalms 37:34 Wait for the LORD, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to _possess_ the land; you will look on the _destruction_ of the wicked.

5. The Wicked Will Be Consumed to Ashes.
Malachi 4:1 "For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the _arrogant_ and all _evildoers_ will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

Malachi 4:3 And you shall tread down the _wicked_, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of _hosts_.

6. This Final Destruction of the Wicked Will Occur After the Thousand Year Millennium.
Revelation 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the _thousand_ years were ended. This is the first _resurrection_.

7. This Final Destruction of the Wicked Will Occur After the Resurrection of Damnation.
John 5:28-29 Do not _marvel_ at this; for the hour is _coming_ when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice [29] and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of _judgment_.

8. Doesn't the Bible Say That the Wicked Will Burn Forever?
Revelation 20:10 And the devil who had _deceived_ them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be _tormented_ day and night for ever and ever.

9. The Old Age of Sin and Death Ends. God Ushers in a New Age.
Revelation 21:1-4 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, new _Jerusalem_, coming down out of heaven from God, _prepared_ as a bride adorned for her _husband_; [3] and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God _himself_ will be with them; [4] he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, _neither_ shall there be _mourning_ nor crying nor pain any more, for the former _things_ have passed away."

10. Let's Take a Look at How the Bible Has Treated the Concept of Forever. In the Old Testament, a Slave Was to Serve His Master Forever.
Exodus 21:6 Then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the _doorpost_; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall _serve_ him for life.

Forever in the Bible can be literally translated "until the end of the age" or as long as he shall live.

 11. Hannah Brought Her Son Samuel to the Temple Forever.
1 Samuel 1:22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her _husband_, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the _presence_ of the LORD, and abide there for ever."

1 Samuel 1:28 Therefore I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he _lives_, he is lent to the LORD." And they _worshiped_ the LORD there.

In both of these instances the time period was as long as they lived. 1 Samuel 1:28 clearly states, "as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord. ".

 12. Jonah Even Uses the Expression "Forever" to Describe His Experience in the Belly of the Fish.
Jonah 2:6 At the roots of the _mountains_. I went down to the land whose bars _closed_ upon me for ever; yet thou didst bring up my life from the Pit, O LORD my God.

"Forever" was a limited time and not an unending time. It was for as long as the Lord decreed, until the end of the age or as long as Jonah could live in that environment.

 13. The Punishment of the Wicked Will Be Everlasting.
Matthew 25:46 And they will go away into eternal _punishment_, but the _righteous_ into eternal life."

They will be consumed. Burned to ashes, they will be gone forever. It is not everlasting "punishing" or a continued state of torment. The idea of an eternally burning hell would make God a cosmic monster delighting in destroying His creatures.

A loving God must blot sin out of the universe lest it destroy our earth. Like a cancer surgeon, He must cut out the disease, however painful. Then it will be removed-gone forever.

 14. What About the Expression "Eternal Fire?".
Jude 1:7 Just as Sodom and Gomor'rah and the _surrounding_ cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a _punishment_ of eternal fire.

2 Peter 2:6 If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomor'rah to ashes he _condemned_ them to _extinction_ and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly;

Sodem and Gomorrah, two ancient cities, filled with sin were consumed with fire from heaven. The Bible states that they were burned with eternal fire, which means the fire burned until there was nothing more to burn. It did not go out until it had finished its work.

They are not burning today. These two cities are in ruins under the Dead Sea.

 15. Doesn't the Bible Speak About the Fire Which Cannot Be Quenched?
Mark 9:43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life _maimed_ than with two hands to go to hell, to the _unquenchable_ fire.

Mark 9:48 Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not _quenched_.

Jeremiah 17:27 But if you do not listen to me, to keep the sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall _devour_ the _palaces_ of Jerusalem and shall not be _quenched_.'"

The fire which cannot be quenched is one which no human hand can put out. It utterly, totally consumes. As a result of the Jews disobedience, Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 568 BC The city was burned with unquenchable fire. You may read the prophecy of the destruction.

And yet, Jerusalem is not burning today. The fire did a complete work.

Next Bible Study: 32-The Mark of the Beast

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