SATAN'S CRUEL LIE AGAINST OUR
LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER
In
religious instruction for children written some years ago is found this word
picture of hell:
"Look
into this little prison. In the middle of it there is a boy, a young man. He is
silent; despair is on him. He stands straight up. His eyes are burning like two
burning coals. Two long flames come out of his ears. His breathing is difficult.
Sometimes he opens his mouth and a breath of blazing fire rolls out of it. But
listen! There is a sound just like that of a kettle boiling. Is it really a
kettle which is boiling? No; then what is it?
Hear
what it is. The blood is boiling in the scalded veins of that boy. The brain is
boiling and bubbling in his head. The marrow is boiling in his bones! Ask him,
put the question to him, why is he thus tormented? His answer is, that when he
was alive, his blood boiled to do very wicked things, and he did them, and it
was for that he went to dancing-houses, public-houses, and theatres. Ask him,
does be think the punishment greater than he deserves? 'No,' he says, 'my
punishment is not greater than I deserve, it is just. I knew it not so well on
earth, but I know now that it is just. There is a just and terrible God. He is
terrible to sinners in hell —but He is just!" -J. FURNISS, "The
Sight of Hell," Tracts for Spiritual Reading, sec. 27, p. 20.
It
is indeed astonishing what people may be led to believe in the name of religion.
It is yet more unbelievable how responsible high churchmen feel free to pass
favorable judgment upon such teaching as the above. One leader wrote, "I
have carefully read over this Little Volume for Children and have found nothing
whatever in it contrary to the doctrines of Holy Faith; but, on the contrary, a
great deal to charm, instruct and edify our youthful classes, for whose benefit
it has been written."-WILLIAM MEAGHER, Vicar General, Dublin, December 14,
1855.
What
far-reaching responsibility does man take upon himself!
THE
TRUTH ABOUT THREE WORDS FOR HELL
In
the Bible our English word hell has three meanings:
1.
Hell sometimes means the "grave." The Hebrew word widely used for
"grave" is sheol. In Psalm 16:10 we have it rendered
"hell," referring to the grave. "Thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell; neither wilt thou subtler thine Holy One to see corruption." In Acts
2:27 this scripture is quoted by Peter. In this verse the Greek word for
"hen" is hades. Its meaning is "grave," the same as sheol in
the Hebrew. As you know, the New Testament was originally written in Greek. In
Acts 2:31, Peter definitely says that Psalm 16:10, the verse we speak of, refers
to Christ's resurrection. Christ was not left in "hell," that is, not
in the grave, but was raised from the dead. The word hades is used eleven times
in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 15:55 it is translated "grave."
Otherwise it is translated "hell," signifying the grave or state in
the grave.
2.
Hell also signifies a "place of burning." In the New Testament the
word is "Gehenna," or the "Valley of Hinnom," described as
"a deep, narrow glen south of Jerusalem, where, after the introduction of
the fire gods of Ahaz, the idolatrous Jews offered their children to Molech."
In this Valley of Hinnom, the bodies of dead animals and the refuse of the city
were cast. Fires burned continuously, and worms infested the carcasses of
animals. What the fire did not destroy the worms consumed. It thus was a type of
complete annihilation. Gehenna, the place of burning, is used twelve times,
being translated "hell"
3.
The third meaning of the word hell is found in 2 Peter 2:4. "God spared not
the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into
chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." The Greek word here is
tartaros, not Gehenna or hades. The text above pictures it as a place of
darkness, a fit representation of the darkness that enshrouded Satan and his
angels when they were separated from God and heaven.
WHERE
DO ALL MEN GO AT DEATH?
All
men go to the grave at death, that is, to hades or sheol. Said Job, "I know
that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all
living." Job 30:23. This house of death is the grave. "If I wait, the
grave is mine house." Job 17:13.
This
hell is an impartial one. "There is one event to the righteous and to the
wicked." Ecclesiastes 9:2. "What man is he that liveth, and shall not
see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave [sheol]?"
Psalm 89:48. The rich and poor, the high and low, the righteous and the
wicked-all meet in that abode.
Into
the grave have gone the vilest characters who have ever lived, and its portals
have opened to receive the loveliest and sweetest mortals who ever graced the
earth. Of these latter Isaac Watts sang:
"Unveil
thy bosom, faithful tomb;
Take this new treasure to thy trust
And
give these sacred relics room,
o slumber in thy silent dust."
Yes,
death is an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), and the grave is not a comforting
consolation, but we thank God that "blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their
labours; and their works do follow them." Revelation 14:13. And we may also
rejoice that the wicked slumber in silence rather than scream in torture and
agony. There is no pain in the grave.
WHEN
WILL THE RIGHTEOUS DEAD COME OUT OF HADES?
The
righteous dead will come out of their graves at the sound of the "last
trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible." I Corinthians 15:52. This is at the second coming of Christ
when "the Lord himself shall descend. . . with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
Christ's
promise of His glorious return to gather His chosen ones unto Himself (John
14:1-3) will someday be fulfilled. At the sound of the "trump of God"
the saints who have slept in silence, unconscious of the passing of time, will
suddenly be awakened. Some have slumbered for thousands of years; others have
had only a brief rest in the grave. To all, the time will seem the same-just as
a moment, or as the "twinkling of an eye:' They will come forth, their
faces glowing with joy, health, and immortality, and go to their heavenly home.
WHEN
WILL THE WICKED DEAD COME OUT OF HADES?
There
is to be, as Paul states, "a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and
unjust-" Acts 24:15.1.
The
wicked, or unjust, do not rise from their graves until one thousand years
after the resurrection of the righteous. "The rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand years were finished." Revelation 20:5.
WHERE
WILL THE WICKED BE CAST?
When
the wicked are resurrected, they, together with the devil, death, and the grave,
will be cast into the lake of fire (verses 10-15). This is the "Gehenna,"
the burning bell.
Peter
declares that the Lord knows how to "reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punished." 2 Peter 2:9. Also that the earth itself is
"reserved unto fire against the day of judgment" (2 Peter 3:7), and
that "the elements shall melt with fervent heat" 2 Peter 3:10.
According
to John the revelator fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours the
wicked (including the devil, death, and the grave) in a "lake of
fire." This is called the "second death." Revelation 20:9.14.
Since
the wicked perish in this burning Gehenna, and the earth itself becomes a molten
lake of fire, we understand more clearly the Bible statement that the wicked
will be recompensed in the earth (Proverbs 11:31), and also that "they
shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Job 21:30. Jesus Himself said
that "the tares are the children of the wicked one," and "as
therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the
end of this world" Matthew 13:38, 40.
This
gives us ample evidence to believe that the fiery hell is yet future, and at
this present moment not a single, solitary sinner is burning in hell. Thank God
for that.
ALL
OF MAN CAST INTO THIS FIRE
Nine
times Jesus warns of the "burning" hell, the "Gehenna” hell.
In
Matthew 10:28 He said, "Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell." Again He counseled, "It is better for thee to enter
into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast
into everlasting fire," or "having two eyes to be cast into hell
fire." Matthew 18:8, 9.
This
makes it clear that the whole man, soul and body, is cast into hell fire. Since
the body goes into the grave at death, and since there is no fire in the grave,
again we see that the burning hell is yet future; If God takes "no pleasure
in the death of the wicked" .(Ezekiel 33:11), and has reserved them unto
the day of judgment to be punished, why should we wish to rush them off to hell
as soon as they die? Why are some so bent on believing that God has literally
billions of wicked souls roasting in a fiery coffin of hell?
HOW
LONG WILL THE GEHENNA HELL BURN?
The
Gehenna hell will burn until "both soul and body" are destroyed.
."Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body." Matthew
10:28.
'The
day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch. . . . For they shall be ashes." Malachi
4:1-3.
This
hell will burn until the wicked are devoured [Revelation 20:9]. This is the
"second death"-not everlasting, burning life (verse 14).
It
is perfectly plain that the wicked are going to be completely destroyed. This
will be the second death. At the first death the wicked go into the grave. The
second death marks the end of the sinner, the end of death, and the end of the
grave. God is forever through with sin, sinners, death, and the grave.
When
the work of burning and complete destruction is over, the fire does not
necessarily keep burning for all time. The expression "for ever and
ever" in Revelation 14:11 and Revelation 20:10 means "continuous, with
no cessation," and may signify a long time or a shorter time. These are two
texts that must be understood in the light of the abundant testimony of the
Bible, to mean that the wicked will be annihilated. Eternal life endures
forever. Eternal death (the second death) lasts forever. Those who suffer the
second death will be destroyed by eternal fire. Jesus declared, "These
shall go away into everlasting punishment." Matthew 25:46. Notice, it does
not say "punishing," but "punishment," and has reference to
the result rather than to the method.
If
you will read Exodus 21:2.6, you will find that "for ever" may mean
only as long as man lives. Jonah said that he was shut , If in the great fish
and "the earth with her bars was about me forever." Jonah 2:6. Yet he
was in this strange abode only three days.
WHAT
IS THIS KIND OF FIRE CALLED?
The
fire of this future hell is called "everlasting," or eternal. These
shall go away into everlasting punishment" Matthew 25:46,
Sodom
and Gomorrah are examples of how this kind of fire works. We read Jude 7:
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah …are set forth for an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire,"
How
did this eternal, or everlasting, fire affect these cities? Please note,
"And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, . . . making them
an ensample unto those that after mould live ungodly." 2 Peter 2:6,
What
more could be said! Both Jude and Peter set forth the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah as an example of destruction by "eternal" fire. The result
was "ashes." Are the fires of these cities still burning? No.
The
fire of hell is also spoken of as being unquenchable. "Where their worm
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched," Mark 9:44.
Because
of continued Sabbath desecration by the Jews, God threatened the destruction of
Jerusalem by a fire that "shall not be quenched" Jeremiah 17:27, The
record of the destruction is found in Jeremiah 52:12, 13.
Jerusalem
is not still burning today. "Unquenchable" fire is fire that cannot be
put out until it has consumed everything. It burns everything up and then burns
out. In the same way shall the wicked be destroyed.
The
"worm [that] dieth not," is a figure taken from the refuse dump in the
Valley of Hinnom before mentioned. What the fire did not destroy the worms
devoured, It is a symbol of complete destruction.
The
wicked "shall be as though they had not been." Obadiah 16. "For
yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently
consider his place, and it shall not be," Psalm 37:10. When hell has burned
out there will be less left of sinners than there is of Sodom and Gomorrah
today. Their ashes will become a part of the very ground upon which the
righteous tread (Malachi 4:3),
GOD'S
BETTER WAY
God
never intended that any man should ever suffer in hell. It was "prepared
for the devil and his angels," Matthew 25:41. If we are ever cast into that
place of final destruction, it will be because we did not cast ourselves upon
the mercy and grace of God or because we held back the full surrender of our
hearts to Him.
God
never purposed for men to believe that He operates
brimstone concentration camp, under the direction of the devil The dead,
good and bad, rest in silent slumber. There is no Consciousness, no pain.
Resurrection day is coming. Those who sleep in Christ will be raised to reign
with Him. The wicked will be raised for the execution of final penalty. Then sin
and sinners will be no more.
"No
eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of
sin. One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His
crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet, are the
only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. Says the prophet, 'He had
bright beams coming out of His side: and there was the hiding of His power.'
Through
the eternal ages the wound. of Calvary will show forth His praise, and declare
His power." The Great Controversy, p. 674.
A
woman who was sharply denouncing the Bible said, "I'm going to heaven
whether God wants me there or not." The simple truth is that God will not
close the door of heaven to any soul who could be happy there. All who reach
hell would be dissatisfied in heaven. That is why we must prepare for heaven
now.
In
a foxhole, by a hidden light, a soldier wrote, "The shells are exploding so
near they shake my paper as I write. .. . Sometimes I wonder if my world will
ever again be filled with peace and quiet, with laughter and love. If only for a
little while, I want to go home."
In
the human breast God has planted a deep desire for the heavenly home. The
warfare of earth will one day be past, and Christ will come again.
When
darkness overshadowed the cruel cross, and the outlook was black, the suffering
Saviour took time to say to a repentant thief, "Thou shalt be with me in
paradise."
"Through
the gates to the city, in a robe of spotless white, He will lead me where no
tears shall ever fall;
In
the glad song of ages I shall mingle with delight; But I long to meet my Saviour
first of all."
Fanny J. Crosby
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