Sunday, December 11, 2011

Words --- The Second Death

QUESTION: Is the "second death" of Revelation 20:6 a true spiritual death? Does it mean we continue to live on in Hell? How does it relate to Matthew 25:46, which says some "go... into eternal life" but others "go away into everlasting punishment?" Is everlasting punishment "life," or is it some form of "death?" In other words, are we conscious for eternity, experiencing the pain of fire or is the punishment a "going out of existence spiritually?" (D.P.)

First of all, I thank God that our salvation is not based on the accuracy of our understanding of what is about to happen beyond the end of this world. It is possible that no two of us have exactly the same interpretation of what the Bible says about these things. And it is probable that we are all wrong to some extent.

Many people consider death as the dividing point where people go on to either heaven or hell, but a closer reading of the Bible indicates that there is a waiting place between the time of death and the judgment. It is at the judgment when people are sorted by God into the righteous and unrighteous and are sent on to either the new heaven and the new earth or to the lake of fire which is the second death. This waiting place is called Sheol in Hebrew, and Hades in Greek. Either word is just used to mean the place of the dead. Hades appears to be divided into two parts: Paradise (the bosom of Abraham. And as Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "Today you shall be with me in Paradise.") for the righteous, and a place of fire and torment (also called Hades) for the unrighteous.

The "eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels," mentioned in Matt. 25:41, is clearly after the judgment, and therefore is the same as "the lake of fire and brimstone," into which the devil and the beast and the false prophet are thrown in Revelation 19 and 20, where "they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." After this, it says in Revelation 20:14, "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Since death and Hades were thrown into this lake of fire, I think that the flaming torment of Hades (which anecdotal evidence suggests may also be a lake of fire), is not the same thing as this "lake of fire," which destroys Hades, and which is "for the devil and his angels." When the Bible talks about people being thrown into this "lake of fire" it also calls it, "the second death." This is repeated in Revelation 21:8, "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Think about souls. Where do souls come from? The idea that souls come from some source other than God, relegates God to a position of power less than some mechanical source from which souls are generated. In Ezekiel 18:4, God says, "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine." (And yes, the Hebrew word for "soul" in this passage is "Nephesh," body and spirit, not "Ruwach," the spirit alone) And Paul says in his sermon on Mars Hill, speaking of God, "In Him we live and move and have our very being." And Hebrews 1:2 says that God/Christ "upholds all things by the word of His power." So, my conclusion would be: 1. That God is the source of everything, and 2. That our very souls are a part of God. Therefore, if we choose to twist "our" soul into the love of evil, then God, because that soul is also a part of Himself, is perfectly justified in cutting that soul out of Himself and burning it away like a wart would be burned off of my skin.

It is my opinion, not shared by many, that those human souls which are thrown into the lake of fire are destroyed. It is the "second death." But the fact of that burning will always be present in God's memory "forever." And the burning of the lake of fire for the devil and his angels will be forever. Just as physical death is forever, the death of the spirit, the second death. will be forever, as Jesus says, "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Eternal punishment, that is, eternal death, is the opposite of eternal life, just as death is the opposite of life. I believe this because God has no love for killing or torturing the guilty, especially when it is part of himself that would be tortured ("all souls are mine"). As He says in Ezekiel 18:32, "'For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,' declares the Lord GOD. 'Therefore, repent and live.'"

Is it possible for those previously human spirits that have been cast into the lake of fire to consciously live on in that torment? Since they would be completely separate from God, the source of their life and consciousness, I believe the only way they could "live" would be at the mercy of another source of life and power, that is Satan. And when Satan takes control, the person is no longer graced with self determination, but is completely consumed and possessed. So, no. I do not believe that any purely human consciousness will live on in the lake of fire. I believe that any demon of hell who claims to have once been human would be telling a lie.