The Lake of Fire

I been researching a little bit of this and depending on the context, is the reference is to "valley of Hinnom "?

Hello Diakonos,

I believe that Hevosmies was referring to Blain's claim of visiting Hell (Sheol/Hades) and not the lake of fire. Just as Lazarus nor the rich man could not go back up to the earth to warn the rich mans brothers, neither would anyone else who went to Hades be able to come back.

John is calling apostate Jerusalem figuratively the "whore of Babylon" just as he called them "Sodom" and "Egypt" in Rev 11:8

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

He's calling the true Jews to come out of her and equating the apostate temple cult and it's city with Egypt because like when in Egypt they were in bondage/slavery as Paul states:

Gal 4:25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

Rev 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;

I been researching a little bit of this and depending on the context, is the reference is to "valley of Hinnom "?

Fire refines and purifies as well as destroys.
The wicked are burned up, the righteous are saved.

Think of this when you are cooking anything in a wok of hot oil or bbq. If you coat any thing in oil (anointing) they will be juicy and preserved but if you fail to marinate them they will be charred and burned to ashes.

I do believe the bible eternal torment can be interpreted different ways, eternal torment meaning that this lake of fire will be there forever and that ones eternal destination for the wicked. And eternity in heaven for the righteous for ever and ever. Since the devil cant die he will be tormented forever and ever. There is a second death which all the wicked are going to be destroyed.

I apologize for the late reply I have been having sleeping issues. Regardless if anyone believes I have seen hell and been there is not important what is important is to understand that it is in fact an actual place not just an idea or a state of mind. I understand that the idea of eternal torment in writhing pain and fire is not pleasant and maybe people cannot fathom why a God of love would throw people into that however that still doesn't change how things are.

Believe me I would give anything for it to not be real and for eternal torment to not be a thing and just a lie but even if I hadn't seen what I did the bible is clear about it

I don't believe the lake of fire is an idea or state of mind. It's Christ himself who destroys death When death is "cast into" the lake of fire. death no longer exists.

Looking at it from another angle, context is the key here, depending on what passages are read, one can see a reference to never ending torment.

I suppose the question is to those that are thrown into the lake of fire in the context of eternal punishment, the ones that get thrown into such a lake, is their body in a state of perpetual regeneration of some kind? Flesh burns, regenerate, flesh burns regenerate, a never ending cycle.

Hello Journeyman,
The lake of fire is a place of eternal punishment. Everyone who ends up there, the beast, false prophet, Satan, fallen angels and human beings who die in their sins rejecting Christ, will exist there forever. There is no annihilation, extinction or obliteration there. The description of the fire "everlasting and eternal is in reference those in it. This is supported by the scripture which says, "the smoke of their torment will rise up forever and ever. And they shall have no rest (intermission, cessation) day or night" in said torment in flame. Consequently, one would have to be existing in order to experience having no rest day or night.

Regarding death and Hades, though death is a state of existence and Hades is a location under the earth for departed spirits, they are also personified represented by actual entities, who will also exist in the lake of fire forever.

Looking at it from another angle, context is the key here, depending on what passages are read, one can see a reference to never ending torment.

I suppose the question is to those that are thrown into the lake of fire in the context of eternal punishment, the ones that get thrown into such a lake, is their body in a state of perpetual regeneration of some kind? Flesh burns, regenerate, flesh burns regenerate, a never ending cycle.

Well, for the record I personally believe the lake of fire is a literal place of torment and everyone that is not written in the book of the living will pay the price eternally in the lake of fire. I also believe hell is literal and right now the lost that have passed from this life are being held there until the Great White Throne judgment of Revelation 20. I also believe God is just and fair in the sense that there will be levels of afforded punishment based upon the works that the lost have done---->I.E. it will be hotter and the pain more intense for those people like Hitler than the little old lady that was morally decent yet lost......and for sure the hottest for the false teachers that lead men to hell......

If "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is in the present tense (ongoing action), that means that people in Hell will continually have teeth and eyeballs and tear glands, hence, an immortal body.

Also, in Psalm 104, the spirit of animals are shown to "expire" when they die.
We see no such description of humanity.
Humanity is different than animals because

We are made in the image of God, according to His likeness (We have a soul, animals do not).
God breathed the breath of life into Adam's nostrils.

...our consciousness continues on forever, either in the presence of God or apart from Him

Hello Ahwatukee. In Jude 1:7, the example of eternal fire is annihilation. So, the description of the fire everlasting and eternal doesn't necessitate unending torture.

That is not correct! The lake of fire is never described as annihilation, ever. It is a place described as "where the fire is not quenched," everlasting, eternal, etc. It is a place of final, on-going punishment. Let's look at Jude 1:7:

"In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire."

What the scripture is saying is that, those who were indulging in a same-sex life style, their flesh was burnt up when God rained fire and sulfur upon Sodom, Gomorrah and the surrounding cities. And once their bodies were burnt up, their spirits, like the rich man's, went down into Sheol/Hades where their spirits are conscious and aware in torment in flame. They, along with everyone else who dies in their sins, will be resurrected out of Hades, only to be cast into the lake of fire after judgment. Furthermore, one cannot weep and gnash ones teeth if one is annihilated.

You can't have the Lake of Fire refer to eternal punishment in place and then have it refer to annihilation elsewhere in scripture. It is a place of eternal, conscious punishment. Here is another example demonstrating the lake of fire as being on-going punishment:

"If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. Day and night there will be no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

An individual would have to be existing in order to be tormented in the presence of the holy angles and the Lamb, as well as to experience no rest day or night. In addition, the word translated "torment" is defined as "torture."

That's because Rev.14:11 is not speaking about the great tribulation saints, but is speaking about those whose names were not written in the book of life from before the world began. The faith and patient endurance of the saints is to keep their testimony of Jesus and the word of God and to resist the beast, his image and his mark.

The wrath of God, also known as "the day of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God and the hour of trial," is when God will pour out His wrath upon a Christ rejecting world. God's wrath will also take place at the great white throne judgment when everyone whose name is not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire.

The above is also false! The word aion and aionios translated as "eternal" is defined as "an age, a cycle of time or without end." It is the context that will bear out the meaning. At the great white throne judgment, the wicked will receive indestructible resurrected bodied mete for their punishment. The lake of fire has to do with punishment after this life.

I have been studying eschatology for over 45 years and that with the confirmation of the Holy Spirit. You people who believe in annihilation and extinction instead of what scripture proclaims, are not representing the word of God.

According to you and others, if annihilation were true, then all of those people who have committed suicide would be getting exactly what they wanted, which is to become non-existent, fade to black. However, that is not what happened to them. Those who were not in Christ who have committed suicide very quickly found out that their spirits continued to be conscious and aware and found themselves in the same place where the rich man went, which was Sheol/Hades in torment in flame.

You need to stop teaching such things and do some more study on this subject, because as it is, you are distorting the word of God with your teaching. I guarantee you that, there are many people who want nothing to do with God and would be willing to be annihilated/extinct rather than give themselves over to God. However, it is a totally different story if the punishment is eternal, never ending.