12/18/01

Hell is often an interesting topic to discuss with members of the Jehovah Witnesses. I was a little surprised to learn that, for them, hell doesn’t really exist. Their belief is that when they die they will end up in one of three possible fates. They will be one of the 144,000 people who are resurrected and spend eternity with God in heaven. They will be resurrected and live forever on earth in the service of God. They will be annihilated and cease to exist. There will be no torment for the unsaved, just non-existence.   How then do you reconcile the scriptures in Revelation that says,

Revelations 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

In verse 10 we see very clearly that “the devil…was cast into the lake of fire…and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” In verse 15 we see that “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”. Since we know that the lake of fire is a place of eternal suffering and that those who God condemn will be sent there, how then do you justify a belief which supports no eternal suffering. Furthermore these verses, which speak of an eternal torment, are backed up by other verses. For example, in Matthew we see the following,

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: 42 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 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. 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? 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. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

In Verse 41 we again see that at judgment those that are found unworthy are cast into an “everlasting fire”. There they will experience an “everlasting punishment” (verse 46) with the devil and his angels (verse 41). These are the words of Jesus Christ.  They are however not His only words on the subject. In mark we see Jesus offering the following advice,

Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

The meaning here is fairly simple, it would be better to lose the parts of you that cause you to sin than to end up in hell, where the fire is never quenched and you will not die. The message is the same over and over again, choose life through Jesus Christ or suffer an eternity of unending torment. These are the words of Jesus Christ but fortunately for us, we have the following words about Jesus Christ,

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

The same is repeated in various forms throughout all of the New Testament. It is a simple message. Whoever, not 144,000, but whoever believes in Him will not suffer a spiritual death and be sent to hell, but will live forever with God because of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 25:46; Revelations 7:9,10; Revelations 21:3)

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