Hell on Earth
For a futurist, most if not all prophesies
and parables given by Jesus or the apostles have a future fulfilment.
Therefore, any arguments against eternal punishment for the unrighteous dead
have generally involved the looking at the meanings of words such as ‘eternal’,
‘unquenchable’, ‘fire’, ‘destruction’, and so on. The assumption is that the
subject of the illustrations or prophesies is the fate of the souls of the
believers or unbelievers. This makes such analysis important and worthwhile.
For a preterist, however, there is another
complication, which in fact turns out to be a simplification. If Jesus and the
apostles were not speaking of the fate of the dead, but of the living, then
that would change the way we have to look at the passages.
A case in point:
Matthew 25:41 - Then He will also say to
those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which
has been prepared for the devil and his angels; (42) for I was hungry, and you
gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; (43) I
was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me;
sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ (44) "Then they themselves
also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger,
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ (45) "Then
He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it
to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ (46) "These will
go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Here, eternal certainly means eternal, and
punishment means punishment as opposed to destruction. One can argue the usage
of the words and still come up with more than the one possibility, but for the
preterist there is no such need.
Who are ‘these’, whom Jesus mentions?
They are:
When was this judgement and punishment to
occur?
Matthew 24:34 "Truly I say to you, this
generation will not pass away until all these things take place."
It is significant that Jesus does not
say that these people had been resurrected to this judgement. It was a
judgement for those who would be there at His coming.
Who would go away into eternal punishment,
and who would go into eternal life?
Specifically, Jesus is talking about the
Jews, from the context of chapters 23 and 24. The destruction of the temple
signified the taking away of God’s blessing, His protection, and their claim as
His people. From that point on, they would be punished for ever, as a nation,
just like the pagans. The elect, on the other hand, had the new covenant
promise of eternal life.
What about the place where there would be
weeping and gnashing of teeth?
Once again, this was the place of the
outcast, the ones who were excluded from God’s blessing. All references to this
are in the context of the judgement at AD70. Jesus speaks of the coming of God’s
kingdom. This is not the same as ‘Heaven’, since the kingdom is wherever
Jesus is. Christians alive today are in God’s kingdom. To be outside of God’s
kingdom is a curse in this world as well as in the hereafter. It is outside of
God’s kingdom where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The sad fact is,
the Jews, David’s children in the flesh but Satan’s children in the spirit
(John 8:41-43).
Matthew 8:10-12 - Now when Jesus heard this,
He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I
have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. "I say to you that
many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be
cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 13:37-50 - And He said, "The one
who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
(38) and the field is the
world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the
tares are the sons of the evil one;
(39) and the enemy who
sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers
are angels. (40) "So just as the tares are gathered
up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. (41) "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they
will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit
lawlessness, (not: have committed lawlessness, implying that these are alive
at the time of the harvest) (42)
and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth…(49)
"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and
take out the wicked from among the righteous, (50) and will
throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 22:2-13 - "…And he sent out his
slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were
unwilling to come… (11) "But
when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who
was not dressed in wedding clothes,
(12) and he said to him,
'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was
speechless. (13) "Then the king said to the
servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in
that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Matthew 24:46-51 - "Blessed is that
slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. (47) "Truly
I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. (48) ''But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is
not coming for a long time,' (49) and begins to beat his fellow slaves
and eat and drink with drunkards; (50) the master of that slave will come on a
day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, (51) and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the
hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25:14-30 – (Parable of the talents)… (28) 'Therefore take away the talent from
him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.' (29) "For
to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but
from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. (30) "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness;
in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (The
slave is a servant who was entrusted with God’s word)
For the elect, in God’s Kingdom (not
‘Heaven’, but applicable even to those of us who are alive) there was unlimited
blessing. For the others, they were excluded from this, outside of God’s
Kingdom. In Matthew 8:12, Jesus practically spells out that it is the Jews who
will be excluded, the 'sons of the kingdom' who would not be permitted to
recline with Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.
What about Gehenna?
Matthew 5:22ff; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15-33ff; Mark 12:5; James 3:6 etc
This was a real place, with real significance
for Jews in Jerusalem. It was the place where dead bodies were burned up, if
they did not merit a burial place or tomb. There was a perpetual fire, a
perpetual state of decay, "where the worm does not die", but not
perpetual for an individual body. Individuals were destroyed utterly, but the
place of destruction was unending, unquenched. Notice where this example of
destruction is given: to Jews in Jerusalem. Jesus was simply saying that when
He would come, they would suffer such a dishonourable fate. Notice also that
Jesus was not describing the fate of their souls, or their resurrected
bodies, or the fate of sinful man at the end of the world. He was
describing their fate at His coming, in AD 70.
It was a literal place near Jerusalem, where the dishonoured were destroyed after death, not punished or tormented while alive. It was used metaphorically the same way. How could a metaphore convey completely different meaning?
Note on Matthew 10:28 - "Do not fear
those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him
who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
One should not fear death,
says Jesus, because for the believer, there was a promise of eternal life. One
should fear God, because His judgement resulted not only in physical,
but also spiritual destruction. The word 'destroy', incidentally, means
'destroy'.
So what about references to the
resurrection of both the just and the unjust?
John 5:29 - and will come forth; those who did the good deeds
to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection
of judgment.
Acts 24:15 - having a hope in God, which these men cherish
themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous
and the wicked.
Hebrews 6:2 - of instruction about washings and laying on of
hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
The wicked who had died pre-judgement would be resurrected, just like the righteous, because they had yet to be judged. However, the word Krisis (judgement) simply means that: separation, or judgement. Here, Jesus, Paul and the writer of Hebrews were talking about the resurrection of the dead at His coming. The unrighteous were then to be thrown into the lake of fire (for destruction). After the coming (for the preterist interpretation), there would not be a single resurrection. This does not mean that the righteous and the unrighteous would not be resurrected, however. I believe this would occur upon the death of the individual, for destruction or eternal life. This is hinted at in Revelation:
Revelation 14:13 - And I heard a voice from heaven, saying,
"Write, 'Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord from now on!'"
"Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds
follow with them."
Conclusion - What happens when we die?
If we die in the Lord, we receive eternal life. If we die
outside of His grace, we do not receive eternal life. The implication is that the soul and body
are destroyed, rather than subject to eternal punishment. Those places in the Bible that
definitely deal with the hereafter use images and parallels that suggest this. The idea
of eternal punishment comes, I believe, from a misunderstanding of passages that speak of
God's judgement on Jerusalem, Jews and the Old Covenant (as a nation) rather than individuals.
The Old Testament types of judgement always result in the
destruction of God's (Israel's) enemies, not their eternal torment. The first suggestion of eternal
torment is in reference to the Jewish nation.
Eternal destruction (not torment) is not just an emotional
conclusion, but a Biblical one. Nevertheless, dealing with even sinners in a 'humane' manner is
certainly consistent with the character of God. Were the "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction"
of Romans 9 subject to agony, or destruction?
I do not presume to tell God what is fair and what is not. He,
in his mercy and righteousness, will deal with people as He chooses. It may be that there is
a punishment of torment awaiting 'sinners', but if there is, I do not believe the above Scriptures
are where it is revealed. Rather, they speak of something at least equally significant: God's
dealing with Mankind and the establishing of a New Covenant of freedom that replaces the obsolete
covenant of slavery (Galatians 4:22-31)