The concept of Hell has its presence in numerous religions around the world, not only Christian. The Christian faith believes, for the most part, that God will plunge into hell all those who do not please him, and causes them ever to feel his wrath; and that while they suffer unutterable anguish, and writhe in the eternal flames, their Creator looks down upon them with satisfaction.

Is this what the Bible truly teaches or is this a Satanic error that has filtered into the Christian church? We need to let the Bible explain and interpret itself so we can understand what the truth is about Hell. Contrary to current Christian belief, Hell Fire does not exist yet! —- See description and explanation of Eternal Fire later in this document.

Hell was not initially intended for Man, but rather for Satan and his fallen Angels which rebelled against God in Heaven. It was during the course of Sin on Earth, that Mankind’s identity became entangled with Sin. The Lake of Fire, or Hell, is a place that God will create at the end of time to destroy Satan, his fallen angels, the wicked, and Sin all at once.

Satan is seeking to overcome mankind today, as he overcame our first parents, by shaking their confidence in their Creator, and leading them to doubt the wisdom of God’s government and the justice of his laws. Satan and his emissaries represent God as even worse than themselves, in order to justify their own malignity and rebellion. Satan clothes with his own attributes the Creator and Benefactor of mankind.

When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? (Note: The two preceding paragraphs were taken from the book “The Great Controversy“)

But Gods says in Ezekiel…

Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

But continuing on with the reasoning behind this erroneous error and lie of Satan we see it origins in the following explanation…

(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:

The Bible uses the term “for ever“ to symbolize a length of time. It can mean a short stretch of time, a time span from generation to generation, or the span of time from the creation of the Earth to its conclusion. If you remember your Bible stories, for ever even symbolized a stretch of time that Jonah was in the belly of the Whale. In fact, let’s take a look at the story of Jonah. In this story, scripture recounts Jonah’s experience in Jonah 2:5,6…

(Jonah 1:17) Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

(Jonah 2:5) The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

(Jonah 2:6) I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

As we can see Jonah is in the belly of a great fish in this passage. Jonah’s reference to “bars“ in this passage refers to the ribs of this great fish. (Note: Some like to refer to this great fish as a Whale.) Notice that he says the bars were about him “for ever“. Now did Jonah really stay in the belly of this great fish for ever? NO, he didn’t.. but to Jonah, it felt like a long time. Jonah was in fact, in the fish’s belly for 3 days, after which, he was spit up onto shore by this fish. Now, the concept of “for ever” here does not mean endless, does it? Here it really means “Three Days”

(Jonah 2:10) And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Let’s look at another instance of the word “for ever” and see how it is used… Remember the story of Samuel? In 1 Samuel 1 there is a story of a woman who was barren of child. The woman’s name was Hanna, and she was the wife of a man named Elkanah. Elkanah had two wives and one had children and the other, Hanna, did not.

(1 Samuel 1:6) And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb

Because she was barren, Hanna cried out to God to open her womb so she could bear a child. God blessed Hanna, and she eventually gave birth to a child she named Samuel. Because of her joy and happiness, Hanna dedicated her child, Samuel, to the priest so that Samuel could serve the Lord “for ever”. (See: 1 Samuel 1:22 and 1 Samuel 1:28)

(1 Samuel 1:20) Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

(1 Samuel 1:21) And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

(1 Samuel 1:22) But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.

(1 Samuel 1:23) And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.

(1 Samuel 1:24) And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young.

(1 Samuel 1:25) And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.

(1 Samuel 1:26) And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.

(1 Samuel 1:27) For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

(1 Samuel 1:28) Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

In the story of Jonah, “for ever” represented 3 days. Here in the story of Samuel, the term “for ever” represents the lifetime of Samuel as long as he liveth, the span of time until Samuel dies.

So we can see that “for ever” can mean a finite amount of time, not necessarily, an eternal timeframe. If you do a study on the word “Ever” in Strong’s Concordance and other commentaries, you will find some interesting information.

The Complete Word Study Dictionary – ever

H5704

— A preposition and adverb meaning as far as, up to, unto, until, while. It is used of time meaning until

— It may indicate the time while something is being done

H5769

— A masculine noun meaning a very long time. The word usually refers to looking forward but many times expresses the idea of looking backward. It may cover a given person’s lifetime

— A period of many generations

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary – ever

H5704

— (used as a preposition, adverb or conjugation; especially with a preposition); as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with):

— It may indicate the time while something is being done

H5769

— properly concealed, that is, the vanishing point; generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity; frequentative adverbially (especially with prepositional prefix) always: – always (-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, [n-]) ever (-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+ without end).

Now, “for ever“ can also be used as in meaning Eternal, such as without end, but the term “for ever“ must be used in context with the underlying meaning of the sentence or paragraph in which it is used…

For example… God is Eternal, He lives “for ever“. In this statement, “for ever” is used in context with the nature of God. God’s nature is known to be Eternal. For God is an Eternal being and will always exist…

To see another example of the use of “for ever” in terms and context of Eternity, let’s look at Jude 1:24-25… Notice that verse uses the word “EVER“ only.

(Jude 1:24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

(Jude 1:25) To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. .

Even though the word “EVER“ is used in this passage, the context implies, Eternity, not a finite length of time which will eventually end. Glory, majesty, dominion and power are attributed to God only, both now and for “EVER”.

The terms “for ever“ or “EVER“ are usually used to show a matter of time…for example, a long time, as far as, or time meaning until, such as until something has finished it’s task or work. “For ever” or “EVER“ can also be used in the sense of Eternity… So with this understanding, how do you think “for ever” or “EVER” should be used in context with Hell Fire and how does scripture define “for ever” as it pertains to the destruction of the Wicked? Let’s take a look and let the Bible give us the explanation.

(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:

Oh, OH… Matthew 25:41 references “Everlasting Fire” What does this mean?

Note: The following explanation is not of my making. I wish I could take credit for this excellent work and explanation of Everlasting Fire and Everlasting Destruction, but I am borrowing from the work of Pastor Stephen Bohr, founder of “Secrets Unsealed Ministries”. Pastor Bohr studied for many years on this subject and I’ve found his work to be the best explanation I’ve seen done on the understanding of Everlasting Fire and Everlasting Destruction.

This topic in its complete form can be seen in his 12 hour DVD lecture series called, “Misunderstood Texts on the State of the Dead“, primarily his lecture disk number 11, “Undying Worm & Unquenchable Fire“. This whole lecture series is fully grounded in Biblical truth in scriptural context and is definitely worth buying. Watch it below…

I will try to do my best to help you understand the concept of Everlasting Fire and Everlasting Destruction.

Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about Everlasting Fire… In Matthew 25:41-46 it references Everlasting Fire and Everlasting Punishment, also in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 it mentions Everlasting Destruction…

(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:

(Matthew 25:42) For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

(Matthew 25:43) I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

(Matthew 25:44) Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

(Matthew 25:45) Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

(Matthew 25:46) And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

(2 Thessalonians 1:9) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power

Here we have Everlasting Fire, Everlasting Destruction and Everlasting Punishment. The term everlasting seems to mean never ending… but how does the Bible explain these concepts? We need to see them in the context of how they are being used. Let’s look at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. These two Biblical cities were known for their wickedness and God destroyed them. We see in Genesis 24-28, that God rained down brimstone and fire from Heaven on these cities…

(Genesis 19:24) Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

(Genesis 19:28) And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

and in Jude 1:7 is says…

(Jude 1:7) Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, 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.

… and notice what is says in 2 Peter 2:6 about Sodom and Gomorrah…

(2 Peter 2:6) And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

Notice that Sodom and Gomorrah were turned into Ashes. Does this mean that Sodom and Gomorrah are still burning today? Can you burn ashes? No, ashes are the result of the completed work of fire. So if Sodom and Gomorrah were burned with the vengeance of Eternal Fire into ashes, is the fire out? No, the fire that burned Sodom and Gomorrah never went out, but the cities were burned into ashes and suffered Everlasting Destruction. But Sodom and Gomorrah are not still burning… How can this be? How can anything suffer destruction by being burned with Eternal Fire and not still be burning?

So again I ask, can ashes burn? Ashes cannot burn since all that is consumable has been depleted and burned up. Here we see in context that Sodom and Gomorrah suffered Eternal Destruction by the vengeance of Eternal Fire. What is meant here is that the results of Sodom and Gomorrah’s burning into ashes is eternal in the sense of the results, not their burning. In other words, their destruction is eternal. Eternal fire produced eternal destruction, into ashes. The eternal destruction was caused by God.

So what does it mean when scripture uses the term “… suffering the vengeance of Eternal fire”How can Eternal Fire have vengeance?

As we can see, God is referred to as a consuming fire in Deuteronomy and Hebrews as well. So a character trait of God is that He is a consuming fire.

Question, in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, was God a Consuming Fire before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Was God a Consuming Fire after He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? The answer to both questions is Yes!

So now, let’s take a look at the time when Moses went up to mount Sinai, notice what the site of the glory of the Lord looked like..

(Exodus 24:15) And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. (Exodus 24:16) And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. (Exodus 24:17) And the site of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

From Bible teaching, we can see that the Glory of God is a devouring fire. So I ask you, if God is an Eternal being, would His consuming fire character also be Eternal? Yes, God is a consuming fire and His fire is still burning… In other words, His glorious character is still as a burning fire and is an Eternal fire.

The references in scripture that we’ve read in this section, reveals that God is Eternal Fire. So is God a bunch of burning flames? No, fire is a characteristic of God’s glory. God’s glory is like a devouring fire.

When we see Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the vengeance of Eternal Fire, this is referring to Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction being caused by God and they suffered God’s vengeance against evil. So Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the vengeance of God! It is God’s Glory that is Everlasting, or Eternal, and His glory is like fire.

(Romans 12:19) Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

The Truth About the Lake of Fire!

The belief that God tortures His creation through-out the ceaseless ages of Eternity, is NOT Biblically correct. This simple truth was hard for me to grasp since I grew up believing the Wicked would suffer for Eternity in the Lake of Fire. This concept is a pagan belief and misunderstanding of scripture that was an error brought into the church by the Roman Catholic papacy. Scripture makes it clear, that those who suffer Second Death in the Lake of Fire, will eventually burn out. (See Ezekiel 28 Below) If this was not true then how would the saints be able to walk on the ashes of the Wicked, on Earth, after the New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven?

No one will burn for Eternity in the Lake of Fire, not even Satan. Their fire will eventually burn out but the total destruction of the Wicked will last for Eternity, not their torture. When the unsaved and Wicked are cast into the Lake of Fire their torture is not eternal in the sense of time, but rather, in the sense of its effect or result. The Wicked are burned up completely, to cease existence and to never exist again. The Wicked will be totally destroyed and never exist again.

Look at what will happen to Satan, which was also known as “the anointed cherub”... He is destroyed, never to exist again.

(Ezekiel 28:14) Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

(Ezekiel 28:18) Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

(Ezekiel 28:19) All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Let the Bible interpret and explain itself. It is a scriptural fact that some Wicked will burn longer than others and Satan will burn the longest, but ALL the Wicked will eventually burn out into ashes. In other words, they will be destroyed, never to exist again. The Bible states that each of the Wicked will suffer punishment according to their deeds done throughout their life.

(Luke 12:40) Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.“

(Luke 12:41) Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

(Luke 12:42) And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?

(Luke 12:43) Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

(Luke 12:44) Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

(Luke 12:45) But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,

(Luke 12:46) the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

(Luke 12:47) And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

(Luke 12:48) But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

As the Bible states, the Wicked will experience an Everlasting Destruction, they will suffer the Second Death from which there is no resurrection into life again.

Let me ask a question… Would you spank a child for a week, a month or even a year without stopping? Of course you wouldn’t, even a normal person would not abuse someone for eternity? In the book of Job, an interesting question is asked…

(Job 4:15) Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:

(Job 4:16) It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

(Job 4:17) Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

(Job 4:18) Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

(Job 4:19) How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

The notion that God will torture His creation for Eternity, is a doctrine created by the Devil and is a deceptive move away from what scripture truly teaches. Does God want His creation to love Him out of fear? Would anyone really want to serve a God who has a cruel character such as this? The answer is No!!! Serving God would be based on Fear, and Satan knows this and wants you to believe this lie.

God doesn’t want us to love Him based on fear, but rather with a love freely given to Him. Satan has purposely made God out to be a monster, so you will not want a relationship with Jesus… and I’m sad to say, many have bought this Satanic lie and have rejected God because of this falsehood.

Please do not misunderstand what is being said here. God’s justice demands that sin be destroyed from His Kingdom. Sin destroys and must be eliminated. Sin is an attack against the Laws of God and God’s Government and the Laws of God protects His Kingdom and His creation. God doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed, but for those who reject God and do not want to be with Him, God will give into their desires and will have no recourse other than to destroy them.

The wicked do not want to be with God because they have intertwined their character so tight with sin that they can only relate to selfishness rather than SelfLessness. God’s kingdom is based on love and caring for others. Sin embraces selfishness and holds claim to self more than others, even at others’ expense. Sin destroys, love builds.

God will destroy the wicked in the Lake of Fire, known as the Second Death. In scripture this is known as God’s Strange Act.

Now concerning this concept of eternal torment, the concept of ANY entity who would torture their creation for Eternity is more closely aligned with Satan’s character and not God’s.

(Revelation 20:9) And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

On a Final Note

If you do not know or have drifted away from God, please consider what I’ve written here. Satan mocks those who reject Jesus, knowing they will suffer the Second Death.

Remember, What you believe does not Change Reality. The reality is God exists and wants nothing more than to have a relationship with you through His Son Jesus. Please hearken to His call on your life.

If you do not have a relationship with Jesus, please consider turning your heart and life over to Christ…

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