The Destiny of the Wicked - Answers to Difficult Questions

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11. THE DESTINY OF THE WICKED – ANSWERS TO DIFFICULT QUESTIONS IS HELL AHOT SPOT BURNING NOW IN THE CENTER OF THE EARTH WHERE THE WICKED GO WHEN THEY ARE CONDEMNED?

 Matthew 13:30, 39-42 Through the parable of the wheat and the tares Jesus explains to us that the destruction of the wicked with fire will happen only at the time of the harvest, at the end of this age. So there is no burning hell at the moment.

 Proverbs 11:31 Both the righteous and the sinners shall be recompensed on earth. So, the Bible points us to the fact that the destruction of the wicked will happen on earth and not in the center of it.

 Revelation 20:9 The fire that will destroy the wicked will not come up from the depth of the earth, but down from heaven, from the presence of God. The Bible never speaks of a place of torment in the center of the earth.

ISN ’ TTHE FIRE OF JUDGMENT ALREADY BURNING IN HELL?

 2 Peter 2:4 Satan and the angels who sinned with him are kept alive, reserved for the judgment.

 2 Peter 3:7 The heavens and the earth are also preserved by the Word of God, reserved for the fire of the day of judgment.

So, the fire of judgment is not yet burning, not even for Satan and his angels, since the heavens and the earth, which are reserved for the same judgment, are not burning yet.

DOESN ’ TEVEN THE BIBLE SPEAK ABOUT AN EVERBURNING HELL?

 Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5 Hell, as described in the Bible, is a place of final punishment for the wicked. It is described as something experienced after death already occurred. This does not contraddict the idea of a final punishment after the millennium. 6 11. The Destiny of the Wicked – Menorah Mission School – 2018/2019  Jonah 2:2; 2 Samuel 22:6

Jonah identifies his position as the belly of hell, being about to die in the belly of the fish.

David, in thanking God for delivering him from his enemies and from Saul (see 2 Samuel 22:1), describes a situation in which his life was exposed to death as being surrounded by the sorrows of hell.

Jonah and David did not experience a burning hell in these Bible passages. The expression “hell”, as they used it, describes a situation or a place that implies death, utter destruction.

 Revelation 20:13-14 Hell is just the expression that describes the place where the dead wait for the final judgment and punishment of God.

Even hell itself will be destroyed in the fire of the second death, the same fire that will destroy the wicked (see Revelation 20:15) together with Satan and his angels (see Revelation 20:10).

WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT ALOVING GOD WOULD BURN HIS CHILDREN FOREVER?

 2 Kings 17:29-31 The pagan nations around Israel had the practice of having children pass through fire alive.

To them the idea of a divinity that would burn a person forever was a normal idea.

 Jeremiah 32:34-35 The pagan idea of human beings passing alive through the fire just for the sake of pleasing a divinity is an abomination in the sight of God.

When the people of Israel and Judah started imitating the neighbor populations in doing so, God sent them prophets to condemn them, as Jeremiah was doing in this text.

Pagan ideas and practices infiltrated into the Christian world during the Middle Ages, bringing in the idea of an eternal burning hell.

 Ezekiel 33:11 God finds no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. He wants all to be free from sin and death and He worked out a way for us to be able to follow Him and live.

 Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death. Sin is separation from God and there is no life outside of Him (see 1

John 5:12). 11. The Destiny of the Wicked – Menorah Mission School – 2018/2019 7 To deliver us from this terrible destiny, God offers us the gift of eternal life in Jesus, who took upon Himself our sins (see 2 Peter 2:24 and Hebrews 9:28), covering us with His righteousness (see

Isaiah 61:10). This shows us that God is indeed a loving God.

WHY DOES THE BIBLE SPEAK, IN REVELATION 14:11 AND IN REVELATION 20:10, OF ATORMENT THAT NEVER GIVES REST AND THAT WILL LAST FOREVER?

 Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Samuel 1:22,28 In the Bible, the expression “forever” is used to express something that will last until it is possible.

A servant was able, at most, to serve his master as long as he lived.

Samuel’s mother said that he would stay with the Lord “forever”, but she later explained that she meant he would stay there “as long as he lives”.

 John 3:16 The Bible makes it clear to us that there are only two possible final outcomes for human beings: to be saved or to be lost.

Those who are saved receive eternal life, which means they will live forever. Those who are lost will perish, which means they will not have life (see 1 John 5:12).

Now in order to suffer, a person must be alive (according to the Bible only the living ones have experiences, while the dead know nothing until resurrection, see Ecclesiastes 9:5-6).

A situation of continual perpetual suffering would then imply that the lost ones are alive while they suffer, having themselves eternal life. But this option is not available for them according to the Bible. Those who are lost will not have life. Death will then be the only option available.

 Malachi 4:1-3 The wicked will be burned up and turned into ashes. After that will happen there will be no more torment for them.

 Revelation 4:8 The concept of having no rest means continuity, persistence. The angels that have no rest in glorifying God glorify Him constantly and continually.

The torment that the wicked will experience will be a continual one, without rest. This means that the fire will not cease to consume them. The destruction will then come in a shorter time, making then shorter also the time of their suffering. 8 11. The Destiny of the Wicked – Menorah Mission School – 2018/2019 WHAT ABOUT THE STORY OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS? DIDN ’ TJ ESUS TEACH THAT THERE IS AHELL WHERE SOULS BURN FOREVER?

 Luke 16:19-31 The first question we need to answer is, is this a literal description or just a parable used to teach something?

This story is found immediately after a series of four parables (the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son and the unjust steward). This can be an indicator that this passage could be the fifth parable in the group.

There are details of this story that make it sound unusual:  The saved are carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom and are not buried (as happens for the lost ones) (v.22);  People in hell can see people in heaven and viceversa (this would not give much happiness and peace to those in heaven, who might see some friends or relatives suffering in hell) (v.23);  People in hell can be heard by people in heaven and viceversa (this would make things even worse for those who are in heaven, being able to hear the screams of anguish coming from that place of torment) (v.24);  A drop of water would be enough to alleviate the heat of hellish fire (v.24);  People in hell and in heaven go there with their bodies (a tongue and a finger are mentioned here) (v.24);  People who received in life good things go to hell, while people who received in life evil things go to heaven (Abraham should then be in hell, since he was very rich, but he is presented here as being in heaven) (v.25).

All these details are strong suggestions that what is represented here is not literal and this account must be a parable.

The purpose of such a parable was to emphasize biblical principles that were in contrast with some wrong ideas that were common among the Jews:

1. Richness is not a synonim of being in a good relationship with God, as much as poorness is not a synonim of being in a bad relationship with God;

2. Even if you are a Jew, this is not guarantee of salvation (the rich man calls Abraham “father”); 11. The Destiny of the Wicked – Menorah Mission School – 2018/2019 9

3. Once the final decision for a person is taken it is not possible to change it, so we need to clearly take our stand on God’s side;

4. In order to stay on God’s side you need to listen and practice what the Scriptures say (“Moses and the prophets”);

5. If you do not listen to the Word of God, witnessing miracles will not change your mind, not even if that means seeing someone raised from the dead.

For each of these previous principles mentioned the Jews had a clearly different way of thinking:

1. They were convinced that those who are rich are surely saved (see Mark 10:23-26 ;

📖 John 16:14-15) and that the troubled life of some was because of some sin (see John 9:2), implying a bad relationship also with God and a negative outcome in the afterlife;

2. They used to say that the fact that they have Abraham as a father implies salvation (see Luke 3:7-9);

3. They wanted to be both on God’s side and on money’s side (see Luke 16:13);

4. They did not believe the words of Moses and of the prophets concerning Jesus (see

📖 John 5:45-47);

5. Even after the resurrection of Lazarus (who had the same name of the character of this parable) the leaders of the Jews didn’t believe in Jesus, but tried to kill both Jesus and Lazarus (see John 11:45-46,53 ; John 12:9-11).

So the reason why Jesus told this story was not to give an account of how life after death looks like, but to address issues present among the Jews in that time.