Many are probably many who are already saying that there is a verse that says the ‘fire that never shall be quenched’, Go to the section titled, The Source and Duration of the Fire to look at what seems to be a contradiction. The Bible never contradicts itself.
Matthew 13:37-42 illustrates this again, “He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39) The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
This is not a ‘spiritual’ event. In other words, literally the wicked bodily (the whole person) will be cast into fire…there will be wailing (this can only happen if you have eyes) and gnashing of teeth; the point is made. This happens at the end of the world…it is not happening now.
Unfortunately, many people have turned away from God because of the damnable doctrine of the unsaved burning eternally in hell fire, and the doctrine of purgatory. They cannot reconcile two contrasting thoughts: a loving God yet he is eternally burning someone you know or a loved one who rejected Jesus. The thought of eternal torment is an attack upon the goodness of God’s character. This simply is false doctrine…a part of the wine (false doctrine) of Babylon.
Hellfire does occur at the end of time. The wicked will be destroyed, we now understand why God is doing it. Once the wicked are burned up, they are gone and forever have returned to dust. It is sad and God does not want this outcome for anyone, but the choice is ours. He will not force us to ‘follow the Lamb wherever he goes’.
The Source and Duration of the Fire
Here we will study scripture that appears to contradict, as we state earlier the Bible does NOT contradict itself.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 16:19-26, There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good thing, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”
This parable is in Luke 16. If you go farther back in Luke you will find the following parables:
Luke 10: Parable of the Good Samaritan
Luke 12; Parable of the Rich Fool
Lune 13: Parable of the Fig Tree, Parable of the Mustard Seed
Luke 14: Parable of the Wedding Feast, Great Banquet
Luke 15: Parable of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Prodigal Son
Lune 16: Parable of the Dishonest Manager, Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 18: Parable of the Persistent Widow, Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector
What this tells us is the Rich Man and Lazarus is a parable in the midst of a bunch of parables. Parables are something that is not meant to be taken literally. The parable is designed to teach a story. If we take the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man literally, then when the dead die they go to Abraham’s bosom (his belly)…when the dead die they are close enough for the righteous and wicked to talk with each other…this story would be really outlandish by the idea that the ‘rich man’ with all the millions that are in hell and with all the millions in heaven happens to just see Lazarus and nobody else…the request is outlandish ‘give me a drop of water to cool my tongue while burning in flames’…these ideas are ridiculous.
Jesus is using this as an illustration to teach a lesson. The rich man represented the Jewish Nation who had everything at their fingertips and then this beggar who dies outside the gates of the house of the rich man. They treated him as a beggar, someone poor, someone who had not a place to lay his head; they treated him with disdain. He dies outside the gates of the house of the rich man, and then he is taken to the father’s bosom.
Lazarus is none other than Jesus.
In the parable they are wanting Lazarus back from the dead, and my brothers will believe. The response comes back ‘if your brothers rejected the word of God, even if one were raised from the dead, they still would not believe’. Was Jesus raised from the dead? How did the Pharisees and Sadducees respond to him being raised from the dead…they still do not believe.
Jesus was telling the parable about the future of his own people, in relation to himself.
The lesson is not: when you go to heaven or when you go to hell people want to help each other, but they can’t because there is this great gulf between them; and that they have knowledge and understanding. These ideas reject everything that the Old Testament and the New Testament teaches.
Consumed Away
Psalm 37:20 But 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.
Here we are told that the wicked will be consumed into smoke…consumed away into nothingness.
How are we consumed, robed?
Hebrews 12:29 says, “For our God is a consuming fire.” Comment: Jesus is a consuming fire.
Ezekiel 1:26-27 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of is loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
Jesus Himself is a consuming fire. Why is this significant and why are we talking about God being a consuming fire?
In Genesis 1:26-27 it says, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created the them.”
Man was made in God’s image and his likeness; then that tells me that man was made with the ability to stand in the presence of God without being consumed by that fire.
In fact, in Psalm 104:1-4 the Bible says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. 2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: 3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: 4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Comment: ministers mean worshipers.
When God made Adam and Eve, he covered them with his righteousness. And his righteousness is like a robe of light, then light is fire. Light is fire. The light of God is the fire of God. So, when Adam and Eve were created they were created in the likeness of God, they were covered in the light of God, in the righteousness of God.
What is interesting, is that when Adam and Eve sinned the bible says in Genesis 3:7, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”
Why are they all of a sudden naked? Because their light is gone. Now they are dwelling in darkness.
When God comes to the in the Garden the Bible says (3:8), “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”
As we learned earlier, the presence of the LORD is fire. The presence of the LORD is glory. So, now that they are naked, now that they have lost their covering of light, their covering of righteousness…the Bible says when God comes in the Garden they are ‘afraid’. Afraid of what? Afraid of the fire.
God’s goal in the ‘plan of salvation’ is to get man re-robed with that light that was lost in the Garden due to the fall.
Revelation 7:9-10, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”
That same word that is used for ‘white robes’, is the same word that is used for what the righteous will be wearing in heaven…white robes.
That same word is described in Mark 9:2-3, “And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.”
It was a robe of light, a robe of fire. In heaven the righteous will be on fire, but it won’t matter because they are not being burned. The righteous will be able to stand in the presence of God and not be consumed. The plan of God is to remake man so that he can stand in the everlasting fire of God without being consumed.
Fire is symbolic of something according to Song of Solomon 6:6-7, “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. 7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.”
In the Bible, God’s fire is symbolic of love. In other words, fire is the love language of Heaven, and what God wants to do in the ‘plan of salvation’ is to make man again so that he can stand in the fiery presence of God and not be consumed.
Hence Exodus 3:1-3, “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
This was a mystery to Moses, what is the meaning of this bush that is in the midst of fire, but is not being consumed? I tell you, God was in that symbol seeking to demonstrate to Moses and to mankind this is my goal for mankind to bring man to the place where he can dwell in my presence again and not be consumed.
But to do that, God has got to remove sin from us. He’s got to transform us so that we can stand in His presence. Guess what, he wants us to stand with Him.
Revelation 15:2, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.”
In order to stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire, we have to be fireproof. We must be able to stand in the presence of God without being consumed.
The Fiery Furnace
Let’s revisit the famous story in Daniel about three Hebrew boys; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were standing in the Babylonian Empire, who were commanded to bow down before an image and they were threatened with fire if they refused. The Bible says because of their faithfulness they stood firm for the LORD and Nebuchadnezzar got angry and bound them and threw them in the fire:
Daniel 3:20-22, “And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”
The men that threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire were NOT fireproof. What happened to the three Hebrew boys? They fell down in the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:23-25, “And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 The Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in hast, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
These three Hebrews were fireproof. Why? Because they knew the fourth man who was a man of fire Himself. The devil has flipped this truth and made it a horrendous lie. The devil says, it is the wicked that will burn forever, but the Bible tells us something very different.
Isaiah 33:14-16, “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil’ 16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.”
This verse tells us it is the righteous that burn forever, not the wicked. The wicked cannot burn forever because they are not fireproof. They cannot stand in the presence of God without being consumed; which is what happens at the end of time when Jesus comes. Since they are not fireproof, they will not be able to stand in the presence of a holy God who is fire; so they will be consumed and return to ashes upon the face of the earth (they will be no more). This is truth: That consuming fire to the wicked is none other than the fire of God, it is the presence of God. That is why the Bible says that the wicked shall be destroyed in the presence of the Lamb, and in the presence of God.
The Bible describes it as eternal fire. It is not that the wicked burn forever, it is that the fire is eternal. Why? Because that fire is God.
Jude 1:7, “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, 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.”
It was God Himself that was the Eternal Fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. These two cities are not burning now, but the fire that destroyed them is still burning. Why? Because that fire is God. It is the fire that is eternal, not the wicked.
Again, Matthew 25:41, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”
It is the fire that is everlasting, not the wicked. The wicked cannot be everlasting because they are not fireproof.
The wicked cannot live in heaven because heaven is a ‘city of fire’, a place of fire, God is a consuming fire, His throne is a throne of fire, the angels are spirits of fire; and so in order to be in heaven you need to be fireproof.