Is Eternal Suffering Real? Part III

*Isaiah 34:6-10, “6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea [Idumeans are the descendants of Edom Isaiah 63:1, which is Esau, Genesis 36:8, Jacob’s [Israel’s] brother Genesis 25:25-26]. 7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. 9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into (*B*) brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 (*C*) It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.” *for more on the destruction of Edom see Jeremiah 49:7-22. The ancient land of Edom occupies roughly the same land as modern-day Jordan.

Some might compare this to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as if to say that the destruction of Edom is not an indication of the presence of the lake of fire, but I’ll remind you of the fact that this passage further qualifies the statement “the smoke thereof shall go up for ever” with the phrase “from generation to generation”, giving strong emphasis on a literally eternal burning. Also, this destruction clearly has not happened yet, as the land of Jordan is currently occupied, and it is not a perpetually smoldering bed of fire.

One last piece of evidence is from Isaiah 66:24 where the unquenchable fire is again mentioned along side the worm that does not die. Here God declares that all who worship Him will also look upon the carcases of those who have transgressed against Him, implying that this place is on the Earth. He even mentions the new Heavens and the new Earth in verse 22, but remember that the order of events described in prophecy can often be jumbled. This verse is actually the single strongest evidence that I’ve seen that those who are cast into the lake of fire will perish, since God describes their carcases, which means exactly what it sounds like; dead bodies. The word is H 6297 in Strong’s: Peh-gher. But I also remind you that a flesh corpse does not demand a soul that has also ceased to exist. The testimony of Scripture is clear that the flesh and the soul are separate entities, so using a passage that describes a dead body to insist that the soul is also dead is flat out wrong.

(9-4) Revelation 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of (*B*) fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented (*C*) day and night for ever and ever.”

Even though this verse does not describe human occupants, it is still very good evidence fore eternal suffering, because the same terms are used here, as are used in (9-3) above: (*B*) fire and brimstone, and (*C*) they are tormented day and night. This is done at the beginning of eternity, so let there be no question, the devil, the beast and the false prophet, will be tormented for eternity in the lake of fire. While the eternal torment for the human souls is still less provable, it is still the interpretation that is best supported by the evidence.

(9-5) Revelation 20:15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” All those upon the earth whose names are not written in the Book of life, will worship the beast, Rev. 13:8; and the smoke of the torment of those who take the mark of the beast shall go up for ever and ever, Rev. 14:9-11, see (5-8).

(9-6) The lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels, Matthew 25:41 (i.e. it was not created for us, also God is not willing that any should perish, but that all have eternal life, nor does he take any pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, see II Peter 3:9 and Ezekiel 33:11). This passage goes on to say in verse 46 that those who saw the hungry and did not feed them, thirsty and did not give them drink, etc, will “go away into everlasting punishment”, which is pretty hard to debate around, that sounds like eternal punishment to me, and it was said by Jesus Himself. I've heard people say that these who "go away into everlasting punishment" are those who claimed to be Christian but did not live a life of love and caring for others, as Jesus commanded, but I'm not 100% sure if that can be proven, I'll have to look into it. If so, that could change the eternal destination of those who do not do this, and who also do not take the mark of the beast.

Summary

The most telling arguments for eternal punishment in my opinion are points (9-2), (9-5) & (9-6). I have presented all arguments that I know of, and I leave it for you to continue searching. Be careful to note the way in which temporal punishment arguments are formed and how they require you to throw away what the seemingly obvious interpretation of a passage is, and how they often demand that you ignore or reject certain other passages. Remember that evidence is not proof. The evidence is overwhelmingly against temporal punishment, and for eternal punishment, but I have still yet to find a passage that explicitly states that all who are not saved will go on forever in eternal punishment. We know for certain that those who take the mark of the beast will, as well as those described in Matthew 25:41-46, which is a somewhat uncertain group (are they those who are simply unsaved, or are they people who claimed to be Christians, but did not follow Christ's command to love?).