EIGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF HELL FROM REVELATION 14--Part II

WHO HAS PURPOSED THIS AGAINST TYRE, THE BESTOWER OF CROWNS, WHOSE MERCHANTS WERE PRINCES, WHOSE TRADERS WERE THE HONORED OF THE EARTH? THE LORD OF HOSTS HAS PURPOSED IT TO DEFIE THE POMPOUS PRIDE OF ALL GLORY, TO DISHONOR ALL THE HONORED OF THE EARTH.
Isaiah the prophet, chapter twenty-nine, verses eight and nine.

Part 2 of 4 from Revelation 14:9-12

PREVIOUSLY COVERED:

I. Hell Is One of God's Great Passions. IN THE CROSS HAIRS.

II. Hell Is Punishment. NO EXCUSES.

III. Hell Is Public. THE DISPLAY OF THE DAMNED.

IV. Hell Is Permanent. NO BACK DOOR.
Not long ago, it was my job to remove welds inside a coal mill. The welds were overhead and the only tool I could use was an oxy-acetylene torch. For those of you who haven’t worked metal, an oxy-acetylene torch removes the steel by bringing it to melting temperature and actually burning the steel, some of which oxidizes and some of which simply melts and falls to the floor in red hot droplets. Therein lay the problem. I was between the floor and those tiny, molten balls falling from the fixture I was trying to remove. I was the foreman on the crew and it was a very time-sensitive job. What was I to do? I had no choice but to find a way to get this job done. And being the first day, I dare not tell one of my guys they needed to do this because I thought I was too good to do the dirty jobs along with them. So I had to do it. The droplets of fire rolled down my collar, into that little cup formed between the two inner ends of the collar bones, the top of the breast bone, and the bottom of my throat. I had to keep cutting. Because it was overhead, and because I had to reach up quite high with at least one arm to make the cut, I had molten steel going past the cuff of my gloves and into the sleeves of my protective welding coat at the wrist and rolling down to my elbow, where they burned into the flesh either at the side of my elbow where the muscles attach or just shy of the point of my elbow on the tender skin of the underside of my forearm. It hurt.

In such a situation, you can play a number of games to beat the pain. For one you can work as hard as possible and take a break every couple of minutes. I did that. For another, you can try to think of other things. I did that for a while. Even singing. Another thing you might try is to grunt in pain. Yes, I said “grunt”. Don’t cry out. That only intensifies the pain because you have given in. Instead, grunt like you’re angry. Fight the pain. For awhile that helped. In the end, I just was out of ways to do the job without just going through mind-boggling pain. The only thing that helped was to get out of there. If I had that sort of pain on an ongoing basis, I’d be insane. I can’t describe it.

In verse 11, we read, “And the smoke of their torment will go up forever, and they will not have rest day and night…”

In hell, you won’t have the chance to get out for a minute to let the burning coals cool and the pain lessen. You, no doubt, will try to find ways to endure. But you won’t. Try to play mind games. They won’t work for long. The pain will be too strong and too long. Try grunting. Try singing. Try thinking of soothing experiences you had as a youth or a young man. It won’t work for more than a few seconds--IF AT ALL. You can’t step out for a break. You can’t call someone to take your place.

Forever.

Take a second look at the passage. Notice the emphasis on eternity. Why did John, under orders of the risen Jesus, say it twice? Forever. Day and night. It must be important. When Jesus mentioned hell, He often made sure His hearers got that same message: Hell is permanent.

Matthew 18:8--If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble lop it off and cast it from you. It’s better to enter into this life crippled or lame than, with two hands and two feet, to enter into eternal fire.

Matthew 25:41--Then He will say also to those on the left, “Go away from Me, Cursed Ones, unto the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:46--And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

John 3:16--For God loved the world in such a way that He gave his one and only Son so that each one who believes won’t be destroyed, but have eternal life.

Notice John 3:16. “Be destroyed” is eternal. Something destroyed isn’t around anymore. It’s done. This is in contrast to the life eternal.

Unlike my little problem with the red hot falling steel droplets, hell is permanent. In the coal mill I had a little job. It was bearable because it would only last 30-45 minutes and I could get out of the pain any time I wanted. Not so with hell.

V. Hell Is Painful. NO RELIEF.
Look now to verses 10 and 11. There we read, “And he himself will drink of the wine of the passionate anger of God, poured out unmixed into the cup of the wrath of God, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will go up forever and they will have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image and if anyone receives the mark of his name.”

As we noted earlier Jesus often mentioned the permanence and forever nature of hell when He spoke of hell. However, never did He speak of Hell without directly mentioning the pain. And it isn’t little pain. In the coal mill, I got little spots burned. Not so in hell. Verse 11 speaks of the smoke of their torment, indicating a fire, not just some dots of hot metal on a few tender spots. Fire engulfs. It licks up the body just like a burger patty on a grill is heated all over and through and through. Jesus made mention of hell using Gehenna as a metaphor. Gehenna was the city dump. It was filled with not only trash, but the sewer of the community. It was where spoiled food was dumped. Spoiled meat. Excrement. Soiled, worn out clothes. It all went there. And it had to burn. It burned continually. It is here that we see what it means to perish or be destroyed in John 3:16. It isn’t annihilation. It is defilement, and destruction of all usefulness. If something was in Gehenna and not consumed by the flames, it would still be eternally ruined and polluted beyond any future redemption.

So it is with the human body and soul in hell. You will live, but you will wish otherwise. It is often said that the souls of the damned will be in hell, experiencing some sort of indescribable discomfort. The Scripture, however, makes sure to tell us that in the final state, even the damned will be given new bodies. Bodies, not for pleasure and life, but bodies that will be forever the vehicle that carries the soul into pain for the eternal ages. Revelation 20:11-15 says this:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.--ESV

Notice that all will be raised from the dead, but the damned will go to the lake of fire with bodies.

In a lake.

Of fire.

Jesus said the body would be involved in the pain in Matthew 10:28. We read, “Don’t fear those killing the body, but unable to kill the soul. Rather, fear the One able to destroy soul and body in Gehenna.”

Jesus made very clear the pain of hell two ways. First, He described it as fire and burning. Now many things hurt. Cuts hurt. Bruises hurt. Sprains hurt. Even broken bones hurt. But nothing hurts like fire. Cuts may be sharp and fast so that the pain is lessened by the quickness of the knife. Not so fire. Nothing quells the fire of the pain or the pain of the fire.

Second, He spoke of the pain by describing the response of those IN the pain. This is how Jesus spoke about the pain of hell:

Matthew 22:13--Then the King said to the attendants, “After you’ve bound them hand and foot, throw them out into outer darkness where there is the weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 24:45-51--Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.--ESV

Matthew 25:30--And throw out the worthless slave into outer darkness where is the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Interestingly, the term weeping is repeated many times along with the gnashing of teeth. The gnashing of teeth The gnashing of the teeth underlines extreme feeling. The gnashing of teeth is the result of either great anger or great pain. In hell, there will be extreme physical pain. Many of God’s judgment on this earth cause physical pain and death. Will there be reason for anger in hell? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. The vile creatures that will inhabit hell will be angry as they watch God, their tormentor, celebrating with His holy angels and saints. Before hell those who were on their way toward hell hated the God of Scripture. He is seen as mean in their minds. Just who does He think He is to tell them what to do? And just who are His people that tell them they are sinners! People are already mad at God. But in hell there will be two reasons that the anger will be ramped up severely.

First is the focus of the anger. Before hell, they didn’t have to look at, or think of, God all the time. Once in awhile one of His people would come and try to evangelize them, but most of the time the damned on earth remain undisturbed. In hell, however, each individual will see the God they hate. AND they will see Him doing the very thing for which they hate Him so. He will be ruling, forcing His holy will on every being in the universe and not asking anyone’s opinion about it.

But there will be a second, even harsher, reason for the anger of the damned. That is they will know every second of the rest of eternity just Who it is that threw them into the flames. It is the same God Who will be keeping them under the oppressive pain and judgment this moment, the next moment, and the next moment, and all the moments throughout eternity. HE is the one Who charged them with the crimes that put them in hell. HE is the one Who judged the case and found them guilty. HE is the one Who sentenced them. HE is the ONE!! And they will hate Him forevermore.

Then there is the weeping. This word can refer to simply weeping or to the tears that come from mourning great loss. Again, will not those in hell realize their loss just as much as the rich man who asked that Lazarus be sent to keep his family from experiencing the same? Of course they will. Forever. The rich man was tortured with his own pain AND with the impending loss that his children were about to suffer. Indeed, the soul in hell is without comfort, without wealth, and without companionship. He is lost forever. He has lost all that CAN be lost.

Finally, on the pain of hell, look again at an interesting word in verse 10, where we read, “He himself will drink from the wine of the passionate anger of God, poured out unmixed into the cup of His wrath…” Notice that word “unmixed”? Why did God say that? What is the wine? It’s the suffering. (That will be made clear when we get to the eighth characteristic.) The suffering of hell will be unmixed. It will be pure pain. Total torment. Nothing partial exists in God’s plan to punish the wicked. The experience of the damned won’t be lots of pain with a little humor. It won’t include compassion, or love, or comfort, or companionship, or delight, or any sort of pleasure. When I was in the coal mill and I ran out of the mind games to forget the pain, pain was almost all I could think of. In hell it will be all you ever experience.

The most excruciating pain ever known. Bone-deep hatred for your Captor and all that He has. Jealousy for those who don't share your fate. And the unending loss of everything, including your sanity--except just enough so that you will know where you are, what you're experiencing, and Who put you there. That’s all you'll have.

COMING UP:

VI. Hell Is Personal. GOD KNOWS YOU.

VII. Hell Is Certain. NO WAY OUT.

VIII. Hell Is Appropriate and Measured. NO APPEAL.

AN EXPLANATION.

In November of 2007 I started a series on the eight charateristics of hell found in a passage of the NT I recently memorized, Revelation 14:9--12. I fully intended to finish the series. Work, business of life, personal laziness, etc. intervened. But there was also a legitimate reason for the delay: I didn't know enough. I felt there was quite a significant lack of solid scriptural knowledge on my part so each time I started the second segment, I felt intimidated. I want to give it straight and one of the things that bothered me was the "cup" often mentioned in Scripture. I always want to be biblically accurate. I will always seek to be correct, and I didn't know enough. It took a complete read through the Bible in English to find some answers. And while those answers aren't all that important to this next segement (Part II), you will find them in Part III, to be posted this week or early next.

Interestingly, the wait was worth it as I had an enlightening experience during the wait. I hope you read the material. And please read the article re-posted here, if you haven't already. It will remind you of what was once preached throughout this land from pulpits when they actually had godly men in them.

In Christ,
Phil Perkins.

EIGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF HELL FROM REVELATION 14--Part I

(This is a re-post of an article that first appeared in November of 2007. It is re-posted here for your convenience)

"THEREFORE WAIT FOR ME," DECLARES YAHWEH,
"FOR THE DAY WHEN I RISE UP TO SEIZE THE PREY.
FOR MY DECISION IS TO GATHER NATIONS,
TO ASSEMBLE KINGDOMS,
TO POUR OUT UPON THEM MY INDIGNATION,
ALL MY BURNING ANGER;
FOR IN THE FIRE OF MY JEALOUSY
ALL THE EARTH SHALL BE CONSUMED." Zephaniah the prophet, chapter three, verse eight.

Part 1 of 4 from Revelation 14:9-12.

This study of hell is based on the words of John written in Revelation 14. The focus will be on verses 9-11, which says, "9And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.'

I. Hell Is One of God's Great Passions. IN THE CROSS HAIRS.
Hell is the result of God's passionate anger toward us. He desires to punish all sin and all sinful people.

God hates all who do iniquity.--Psalm 5:5. As a result, He is bent on punishing men. See verses 8, 10, and 19 in Revelation 14. The Greek word thumos is used for the passion of sexual immorality in verse 8. Add the prefix epi and the word becomes the common Greek word for lust. So thumos is definitely a word that denotes a deep, gripping desire. Next look to verse 10. There we read in the ESV, "...he will drink of the wine of God's wrath (thumos) poured full strength into the cup of His anger..." In verse 19 we read, "So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath (thumos) of God." Oddly, the common Greek word for God's anger is used here only at the very end and the first word for God's anger is thumos. Why not use the more straightforward word? Why use this very unusual word, that usually means passion or desire?

When God uses this word this way in Scripture it refers to only the most severe anger, a passionate, deep anger that lasts and burns. It appears in 12:12 to describe the passionate longing of Satan to destroy the earth. It appears in 14:8 to describe the lust of sexual immorality. In 14:10. 15:1. 15:7, and 16:1 it signifies God's wrath. This word also appears in some of Paul's writings and refers to the most severe wrath of either God or men.

Let's take a look at these passages translating thumos in its primary meaning:

14:10--...he will also drink the wine of God's passionate longing poured full strength into the cup of His anger..."

15:1--Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the passionate longing of God is finished. (So, evidently God is waiting in passionate expectation to punish all sin on the earth. He looks forward to the day when He will send all the wicked into destruction.)

15:7--And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the passionate longing of God Who lives forever and ever...

16:1--Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the passionate longing of God."

As longingly and as passionately as the immoral man desires the fulfillment of his depraved lusts, God desires to squeeze the lifeblood out of the wicked. This is personal. God is no unfeeling sheriff's deputy that has to give you a ticket because it's His job and you were speeding. You have hated him and He has hated you. His passionate longing is for your punishment.

II. Hell Is Punishment. NO EXCUSES.
Interestingly, the announcement of the third angel in verse 9 starts with the word "if." "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives the mark upon his forehead and upon his hand,..." If a man is evil in his thoughts and actions, he will be punished with the punishments listed. Verse 10 reads, "...indeed, he will drink out of the passionate wrath of God, which has been poured out unmixed in the cup of His wrath and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb."--my translation.

God is not evil. We are. The torments are not a whim. They have a purpose.

In other words, the evils that God will inflict on humanity on that day will be in response to the evils men have done in thought (the forehead) and in deed (the hand.) Indeed, the Bible tells us that all are sinful. In Jeremiah 8:6 we read, "I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle." Why does a horse rush to its own death in war? Because he has a master who has trained him to do so. And he does so without thought or regret because he knows no other course. He has been mastered. Even so man has been mastered by sin. We know of nothing but our basest instincts, lusts, passions, and drives. We will eat and wipe our mouth on our filthy sleeve. We will take a virgin and think nothing of the bastard child or the wasting disease. We will kill our neighbor with knife, gun, or tongue because we just want to. We are men and we are vile.

Just as the war horse drives into a phalanx unaware that this will be his last day to run, even so men without God do not have a thought of their impending destruction. Like the horse who ignores his impending death to obey his master, men stuff down any quivering of conscience and the briefest thought that God's avenging retribution may fit their actions so they may obey the sins that have mastered them. God is not mocked. He is ignored like a man ignores the stench of an open sewer.

But He is hated more.

III. Hell Is Public. THE DISPLAY OF THE DAMNED.
It is often said, that hell is the absence of God for all eternity. That's a lie. In hell men will wish to get away from the God Who is torturing them. But they won't be able to. Instead, those in hell will see the redeemed in glory, cared for by their loving Father Who is, in turn, their fierce and eternal enemy punishing them forever. Hell is the absence of God's love, the ever presence of His passionate, destructive, white hot, long awaited, satisfying wrath.

Part of hell's punishment will be public humiliation in front of all the angels, God, and all the people who go to heaven. And all of them will give hearty approval of your punishment. Isaiah 66:24 and Romans 9 tell us something of this as does the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. There we read this:

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24And he called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame." 25But Abraham said, "Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us." 27And he said, "Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28for I have five brothers —so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment." 29But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them." 30And he said, "No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent." 31He said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead."

While the rich man was in torment in Hades, the saints saw him and he saw them. In heaven, the saints, the holy angels and God Himself will see the torment of the wicked. And while there will be a chasm between them, the very nature of the torment and the individuals being tormented will be evident daily to the residents of heaven. In Revelation 14:11 God says, "And the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever..." (my translation) Smoke is something no one can ignore. Everyone smells it. This was written to a culture familiar with campfires and fireplaces. The smell of smoke was everywhere. The smell of burning flesh was common to a society who sacrificed animals. It was also death that expunged sin to the Jews. Now we know that only the death of the sinner can cover sin and cleanse God's creation. At Calvary, Jesus became sin for us. For those who reject Him, their sin remains. Their eternal death, not the death of Christ, will be required. And all in heaven will be eternally aware of you, your torment, and exactly why it's just that you suffer--if you remain without Christ.

Going back to Revelation 14:10, we read, "Indeed, he will drink of the wine of the passionate wrath of God, which has been poured out full strength in the cup of God's wrath and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb."

The most bitter irony of all eternity will be the fact that those who despised the God Who died for them, the God Who suffered so they did not have to, will find Himself satisfied only by the suffering they will do for eternity. The utter stupidity of their choice will be in their face forever. The saints they hated will look upon their suffering and know that God is just. The angels who ministered to the saints as they suffered will wonder at the justice of God toward the sinful, and His mercy for the repentant. They may look at the just punishment of the wicked, and then turn their heads to look over their shoulders and be amazed that God's elect are not in the flames as well, because they will know that the saints were once as evil as any resident of hell. Thus, they will not understand the kindness and justice of the amazing I AM. And the saints will share their incredulity. All heaven will have no choice but to fall to the ground in awe-filled worship!

It is not amazing that God sends men to hell. It is amazing that He chooses even one for mercy.

Isaiah 66:24 says, "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." This is a description of the final state of the damned. They will be a curiosity to the saints. The writer describes three things that will fascinate the survivors. First, "their worm shall not die." Whatever that means, it denotes the destruction of the damned in some form. The destruction will never quit. Second, "their fire shall not be quenched." Like the rich man and Lazarus, the suffering man will make a pitiful figure, but, just as Lazarus was unable to help the rich man, no saint will be able to help any sinner in hell. Yet the saint will be unable to forget the sinner. His suffering and the fact the it will be forever, will eternally grab the curiosity of the saint--an eternal reminder, perhaps, that the saint ought to be ever grateful to His Elector. The third reason the saints will not be able to forget the sinners is that "they will be an abhorrence to all flesh." Whatever pity the saint may feel for the sinner will be overshadowed by revulsion at the utter sinfulness of the damned.

We, in our societies, know of people so evil they disgust us. In eternity, when the redeemed are completely changed, the friends and relatives we once loved, not being changed, but still in their sin will disgust us so that we will have no problem when God condemns them. Instead, the saints will be glad. To the suffering sinner who once ostracized the saint, the tables will be turned. He will be the outcast. Cast out from heaven, from life, and from any comfort. He will be a laughing stock and something which will cause all of creation to turn up its nose.

Romans 9 gives us another snapshot of the public nature and the humiliation of the suffering of those in hell. Verses 19 through 26 are both glorious for the saint and a fire alarm for the sinner:

"19You will say to me then, 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist His will?' 20But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory— 24even us whom He has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25As indeed he says in Hosea,

'Those who were not my people I will call "my people,"
and her who was not beloved I will call '"beloved."'
26 'And in the very place where it was said to them, "You are not my people,"
there they will be called(AM) "sons of the living God."'"

Did you catch verse 22? "What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
in order to make know the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy which He has prepared beforehand for glory..." God not only has the right to save whomever He wishes, and to destroy whomever He wishes just because He is our Creator, but He has done just that. And He has done so for a reason. That reason is to golrify Himself. This will be evident in eternity as all creation wonders at the just punishment of the wicked as it shows just how powerful God must be to clean the formerly wicked saints.

It is this very contrast between the wickedness of man justly punished and the mercy He bestows upon the chosen whom He saved for no other reason but to show off His power to creation that will be the greatest wonder of creation! So here we see punishment has two functions. First, it is to punish the wicked. But second, it is to glorify God by showing His most powerful miracle--the forgiveness of the repentant. As with all of God's creation, its primary purpose is the glory of God.

Yes, the wicked will glorify the God they hate by being tormented by Him forever.

COMING UP:

IV. Hell Is Permanent. NO BACK DOOR.

V. Hell Is Painful. NO RELIEF.

VI. Hell Is Personal. GOD KNOWS YOU.

VII. Hell Is Certain. NO WAY OUT.

VIII. Hell Is Appropriate and Measured. NO APPEAL.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK--July 4, 2008

The prodigal son cannot forget the father's voice. It is the albatross forever about his neck.

Cornelius Van Til on the role of the conscience as part of God's
revelation to man, from Christian Apologetics, 2nd edition,
page 74.