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Doug Batchelor: Hello, friends. Welcome back to Prophecy Odyssey. In our last episode, we learned that Sodom and Gomorrah were an example of how God is going to ultimately destroy the wicked in the last days and that the fires of hell are not burning yet. Today, we're going to continue this eye-opening study of what will ultimately happen in hellfire. We will also look at a few Bible verses that have confused a lot of people about the reality and nature of hell and what you need to know to avoid it. Remember, if you'd like to deepen your learning experience, then check out the Prophecy Odyssey Bible Lessons and our free offer. I'll tell you more how to get those resources later in the program. So thanks for watching and God bless as you continue your prophecy odyssey.
Doug: I went to Jewish schools. I went to two different military schools. I went to public school. I went to two Catholic schools. And like everyone else, I heard: "If you're a good boy and you believe in Jesus, you go to heaven." I was really confused because my mother was Jewish, but my father had been raised Baptist. They're both atheists. They send me to a Catholic school. So, you go figure. And when I went to New York Military Academy, every week you have to go to a service. You could choose between the Protestant service, the Catholic service, or the Jewish service. And I figured I just try--I kept going, mixing them all up. But they all kind of said the same thing. You're good, you go to heaven. But if you're bad, you're going to go to hell. I said: "I need to know more about that," because I figured that's where I was going. And they said: "Well, you're going to--if it's fire, you know, and you'll be down there, and you're going to burn." "Ooh, how long?" "Forever."
What do you think that did to my picture of God? I decided early in my life, I said: "Not only do I not want to believe that, I can't afford to believe that because if there is a God, He is the meanest being in the cosmos." Here I am, you know, just a crummy little kid, and I can't help my bad behavior, and He made me. No one asked me to vote on being made or not. And He made me, and He says: "If you can't be good," and I found that very difficult, "so I'm going to burn you forever." I could never love God. I thought: "If there is a God, I hate Him."
But when I learned the Bible truth on this subject, it set me free where I was able to finally love God. That's why it's important to me. You got two options: life or death. Romans 6:23: "The wages of sin is," what? "Eternal life in flames." It's not what Paul said. The wage, the penalty, the reward for sin is death absence of life. What was the first lie that was ever spoken? God told Eve: "If you eat the forbidden fruit, you will surely die." He didn't just say: "You'll die." He said: "You will surely die." That means like the wicked witch, dead, dead, very dead. "And the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.'" You'll either live forever in heaven or you'll live forever in hell with me, and I'm in charge.
Bible doesn't say that. The first lie: "Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You'll not surely die.'" He lied. "What will happen to the wicked in hellfire?" Answer, Psalm 37, let's find out what does the Bible say is the reward of the wicked. Don't worry, we're going to finish talking about the reward of the righteous. I want to end on a good note: "Yet, a little while and the wicked will be no more." Does it say, he'll be in a torture chamber somewhere or no more? "No more" means you cease to exist. "The wicked will," what? "PERISH; into smoke they will VANISH away," diffuse, disappear, gone.
Again, you read in Malachi chapter 4, verse 1 and 3: "The day is coming, burning like an oven, and ... all," how many? "All who do wickedly will be stubble." This is talking about what the Jews used to do to the fields after harvest. They still do it in California, the rice fields around us in Sacramento. They set them on fire. And they not only burn up the stubble on top, but he says: "It's not just the stubble, it's going to burn up the root in the branch." If you burn up the root of a tree, it's not coming back. It says: "It will burn them up."
When something's burnt up, what's left? Nothing. "You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet." Doesn't say that they're still burning. You're not going to be walking around and then go, "Oh, that's hot, you know, like you're a Fijian firewalker. They're gone. They're burned up, and He's going to create a new heavens and a new earth on that.
Number 6: "Where will hellfire be located?" Now this surprises people. A lot of folks are taught to believe--now, I should pause here, and you'll understand why. There are four words in the Bible that are translated as hell. The most common word in the Old Testament is the word "Sheol." Sheol, that simply means the grave. It's a Hebrew word that means the grave. He will go down--people think that hell is the burning volcanic cavern down there somewhere because it says: "Down in Sheol," because the Jews buried their dead where some of the pagans cremated their dead, some even above ground. But the Jews buried them, so they always said: "Down in Sheol."
Then you've got the word "Hades," which is from Greek mythology. Hades was a place that was ruled by the god Pluto, who was in charge of the Hounds of Hell, and a lot of our myths about the devil come from this concept of Pluto. Then you had the word "Tartarus." Tartarus just means a place of darkness. It's only used one time in the Bible. Then you've got the word "Gehenna." Now this is one that has mixed people up because outside of Jerusalem, they've got something called the Valley of Hinnom. It's also Gehenna, same word, same place. It was the city dump. And it was a very steep valley, rocky, not a good place to build. It wasn't far from the city gates. People would take the refuse out of the city, they'd dump it in the Valley of Hinnom.
Now one reason they--the Valley of Hinnom was the city dump is because some of the earlier kings of Israel had turned from God, and they had set up pagan idols there and made it a holy place to idols and pagan gods. And so, the godly kings came along and they said: "We are going to desecrate it and make it a dump." Remember Nebuchadnezzar said that "whoever doesn't worship the God of Daniel, his house is going to be torn down and turned into a dump." That was one of the things they did to desecrate a place. And so it was full of worms because, you know, they'd throw the dead animals that were unclean in there, and they'd have baskets that were smoldering. They'd burn it to keep the gasses down. And so, Jesus said: "You're better cutting off your hand or plucking out an eye and going to heaven maimed than having your eye and your hand and your foot and going to Gehenna where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."
What Jesus was saying is you're better than--does everyone understand what hyperbole is, a metaphor? Does anyone here believe that we're going to go to heaven missing an eyeball, a foot, or a hand? Jesus is saying: "If you've got a sin that is as close as your hand, your foot, or your eye, and it's going to make you be lost, cut it off. As hard as that might be, you're better off entering heaven maimed than going with a full body to Gehenna, the dump where the wicked will be punished." And He points to the valley right there outside the city where it's smoldering, and it's full of worms that do not die, maggots that are eating. It's not talking about the people are always going to be eaten by worms forever and ever and ever. It's a metaphor.
So where will hell burn? Is it in a cavern way down yonder somewhere? The Bible says, you can read 2 Peter chapter 3: "The elements will melt with fervent heat: and both the EARTH and the works that are in it will be," what? "Burned up." It's going to be right here. Again, you can read where it tells us in Revelation 20, verse 9: "They went up on the breadth of the EARTH and surrounded the camp of the saints, the beloved city," that's the new Jerusalem. "And FIRE comes down from God out of heaven and devours them." I don't want to get too close to this virtual reality because I don't want to--see here, ow.
So where is hell going to burn? The fire comes down on the earth. God is going to purify this world with fire and on the purified ashes. That's why it says: "You'll go forth from the New Jerusalem, you'll tread upon the wicked for they are ashes under the soles of your feet because blessed are the meek because they will inherit," what? "The earth," but it's okay because God's making a new heaven. The word "heaven" there doesn't mean where he lives. It means a new atmosphere and a new earth. Our atmosphere is polluted. Our earth is polluted. He's going to recreate this planet. And God had a plan in the beginning. He is going to finish his perfect plan. Do you believe it, friends? "They went upon the breadth of the EARTH They surrounded the camp of the saints, the beloved city. And FIRE came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." So, it's coming down to where? On the earth.
So, another big myth about hell. Who is large and in charge of hell? Is it the devil? How many of you have heard jokes about, you know, Saint Peter's in charge of the Golden Gate, and everybody's got to go by Saint Peter to get in? And I've heard some really funny jokes about Saint Peter checking people out as they're on their way into heaven. And then they got the devil is in charge of hell. How many of you have heard that before? And that's why he ostensibly has got this big pitchfork, trident. It's like a big barbecue down there. He makes sure people cooked evenly, he flips them every now and then. I don't know what he's doing. But is that what the Bible teaches? The devil's in charge of hell. And, of course, we've learned the devil doesn't look like that. No, Bible says: "The devil is as afraid of hell. Hell was prepared for him. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone."
Now, why does it call it a lake? It's not like, you know, Lake Genezareth or the Great Lakes or anything like that. At the end of the 1,000 years, we have a lesson on this, New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven, settles on the earth. All the wicked who've ever lived are resurrected. Satan sees all the wicked who've ever lived. They're sometimes called Gog and Magog, and he rallies them against a final assault against the City of God. They are judged, Great White Throne Judgment. The devil shows he hasn't changed. And it says: "God then rains fire down."
And in the same way God rained water down to destroy the wicked during the time of Noah until it floated the boat, God is going to rain fire down outside the New Jerusalem. Only those in the ark were saved, only those in the city are saved, and it is going to form a lake. Don't worry, the walls are big, and you'll be protected. Because Jesus is Noah, and he built the city. I mean, he's our Noah, so-to-speak. And everybody on the outside is destroyed. It's going to form a lake, and that lake, just like the old flood purified the world, that fire is going to purify the planet. And then God will create a new heavens and a new earth.
Satan is not in charge of hell. He is afraid of it. He has come down with great wrath because he knows his time is short. You read in the book of 2 Peter and Jude: "The devils are kept in everlasting chains of darkness." When Jesus was casting out devils, the demons would speak and they'd say: "We know who you are, Jesus, Son of God. Have you come to torment us before the time?" "Will the fires of hell ever go out?" Or, here's a big question, does it burn forever? That's what we want to know. Isaiah 47, verse 14: "It shall NOT be a COAL to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before!" Not even a warm coal left. "You will trample the wicked," Malachi 4:3: "for their ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I do this,' says the Lord of hosts." It's burnt up.
Now, some of you are thinking, wait, Pastor Doug, doesn't the Bible say: "unquenchable fire?" It does, and it means exactly what it says. When you see something in the Bible, you know what the key is to understand any mystery in the Bible? Let the Bible interpret itself. God is the author. He knows what He means by the words He uses. Does that sound reasonable? So, what does the Bible mean by this? Let's find out. It uses the word "unquenchable fire." Matthew 3, verse 12, Jesus said: "He will thoroughly clean out the threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn: but He will BURN UP the chaff with unquenchable fire."
What does unquenchable fire mean? Quench is a verb. It means to extinguish. There is nobody that is going to be putting out the fires of hell. There are no firemen in hell. That would be putting it out. There's nothing that can be done to put it out. Let me prove it to you. Jeremiah 17, verse 27, here's a prophecy of Jeremiah. He lived before the Babylonian captivity: "But if you will not heed me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and they will not be," what? "Quenched." Now, do you know what happened? They didn't listen. They did not repent. Nebuchadnezzar came. He destroyed the city. He burnt the city. The gates were burned. No firemen showed up. It was unquenchable fire. The temple was burnt, unquenchable fire. It was destroyed. That just simply means that there's no active problem, there's no active party involved in extinguishing it.
The work that the fire of hell does is eternal. Doesn't come back again. That's our next question. "Doesn't the phrase 'eternal fire' mean unending?" Well, you got to read things in their context. Let's look at some examples. "Sodom and Gomorrah," in Jude 1, verse 7, what does God mean by eternal fire? "Sodom and Gomorrah," and the cities around them, "they are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of," what kind of fire? "ETERNAL FIRE."
Now here's the question. Are Sodom and Gomorrah still burning today? Were the cities ever rebuilt? Was the result of the fire eternal? There was no forgiveness, no resurrection, no rebuilding. This is what's going to happen to the fate of the loss. It means the results of this fire is eternal. I've got this Plexiglas pulpit, ostensibly, hot enough, it'll melt. I know that because Pastor Doug was once in a juvenile hall, and I wanted to escape. And I got some matches, and I was able to burn the Plexiglas hinges so that I could get out of the juvenile hall. So, Plexiglas burns. I know that. So that's a very nice pulpit. If we should toss that pulpit in a bonfire and burn it up, you can say it was burnt with eternal fire because you will never see that pulpit again. See what I'm saying?
God is saying, the results of the fire are eternal. He emphasizes that because right now, if you die and you're saved, don't lose hope. There's a resurrection. But you know what God calls the destruction of the wicked? The second death. There is no resurrection.
Number 11: "When Revelation 20, verse 10 states that the wicked will be tormented 'forever.'" Now this is probably the most difficult verse. It says forever, Pastor Doug. Doesn't that mean they're burnt forever? Let the Bible interpret itself. Sometimes God uses these terms, like I said in hyperbole, you've got to use it in its context. Can you find other examples in the Bible where God uses the word "forever," but it obviously meant until they died? Look at the story of Jonah. How many know about Jonah? How long was Jonah in the belly of the fish? Three days and three nights. We're going to read that in a second. In Jonah chapter 2, when he prays, what does he say: "The earth with its bars closed behind me FOREVER." Now, if you were swallowed by a whale--by the way, it happened, oh, about six months ago. It's actually on YouTube. You can see a guy was kayaking and a big whale came up, didn't know he was there in the kayak, and swallowed him. Spit him out again. He was okay, shook up. He's probably getting therapy right now, but it happened, and you can see it for yourself. So, Jonah, now he was not swallowed by a Baleen whale, but maybe a Humpback or Sperm whale that has the--they actually eat squid, who knows? Might not have been a whale. God prepared a fish, it could have been anything. And he--but how long was he there? You read in Jonah chapter 1, it says: "And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights," a type of the sufferings of Christ. Jesus said: "No sign will be given to this generation, but the sign of Jonah," Matthew chapter 12: "For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights."
The heart of the earth is describing the sufferings of Christ that began Thursday night in the tomb. Jesus began suffering for our sins after the last supper, Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night. He rose Sunday morning, amen? So, Jonah, three days, three nights, he calls it "forever." You know, Jesus suffered the way the lost will suffer. It feels like an eternity. Can you imagine being in a sea monster in the darkness three days and three nights? That whale might have had jellyfish for lunch, and then you're in there with all that sushi in the darkness. Can you--probably would have seemed like forever, amen? How many of you have used that term? You said: "Man, I haven't eaten in forever. I haven't seen them in forever." So, you look at the context.
Now when God promises us eternal life, we know from the context, it's unending because there's so many other passages. Here's another one. Hannah brings her son to the temple, and she says: "If you give me a boy, I'll bring him to the Lord, that he might serve before the Lord there in the temple forever." Well, did she keep her promise? Did Samuel go to the temple? How long did he serve? Rest of his life until he died. Forever was when? Until he died. The Hebrews had a law that if you had a servant, after seven years, you could let your Hebrew servant go free. But if your Hebrew servant says: "You know, I love serving you. I want to stay your servant." He would go through a ritual, and it says: "And he will be your servant forever." What did that mean? Till he dies, right? So, when it's talking about the wicked being destroyed in the lake of fire, the reason it says: "day and night" is because the devil is going to probably burn day and night. But, you know, even ultimately the devil is burned up. Read Ezekiel 28, it says: "Never shall you be any more forever." He's going to destroy him. "You will not be anymore," is the way that it actually reads. He's gone, cease to exist.
Number 12: "Are both soul and body destroyed in hell?" Now this is one, you got to hear this friends, people think, well, yeah, Pastor, it's pretty clear the body burns up, but the soul is tormented forever. What did Jesus say? It is so clear. Are soul and body both destroyed in hell? Christ said in Matthew chapter 10, verse 28: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him," meaning God, "who is able to destroy SOUL and BODY in hell." How much is destroyed in hell? What did Jesus say? "Soul and body," you're gone. Remember he said: "You sin, you die. Believe in me, you don't perish, you live. You will be punished."
Everyone is punished according to what he deserves. Do you know there are varying amounts of reward? Sometimes Jesus said: "Great is your reward in heaven if you're suffered, if you're persecuted for righteousness sake." And Jesus concerning Judas, He said to Pilate: "It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." How'd you like to be Judas in the judgment and know you betrayed Jesus or be Hitler or Pol Pot or some of these despots of history? There are varying degrees of reward. I not only want to get to heaven, I want to have Him say: "Great is your reward," amen? Some of you are thinking: "I just want to get there." Some of you are thinking: be honest: "How much sin can I have and still get there?" Wrong attitude. You want to see how far away from the edge you can be, amen?
One more verse in Ezekiel. It says: "The soul that sins, it will die." That's like a dictionary definition. Not just the body, "the soul that sins will die." "For whom will hellfire be kindled?" "Depart," Matthew 25:41: "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for," who? "The DEVIL." Hell is not designed for you. If you go to hell, it's because you followed the wrong leader, prepared for the devil and his angels. There are good angels, and there are bad angels that are kept in everlasting chains.
Number 14: "How does the Bible refer to God's destruction of the wicked?" The Bible tells us: "For the Lord ... will be angry ... that He might do His work, His awesome work, and bring to pass His act, His UNUSUAL ACT." God is a God of love and creation and life and blessing and good. He doesn't want anything to suffer. Who here wants to see anything suffer? But the Bible's pretty clear what the faith is. Listen to the words. What's going to happen to the wicked? They are devoured, they are consumed. They perish. They are dead. They are no more. The second death, they're destroyed. These are the terms the Bible uses. There are no words in the English language, or even Hebrew or Greek, that God can use it could be more definitive to explain sin will not rise up again a second time. God is not going to immortalize sinners. Sinners do not have immortality. God, the Bible says: "And God only has immortality," amen?
So, this idea that sinners are immortalized, and they'll burn through eternity comes from mythology and the church often use it to manipulate and scare people and getting money and getting them to do what they wanted to do. But our God is a God of mercy and love. "After sin and sinners are destroyed, what will we have to look forward to?" "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and a," what? "A NEW EARTH wherein dwells righteousness." It tells us that all things are going to be made new. Revelation 21, verse 4, the Bible says: "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there will be no more death." How much death? "There will be NO more crying," and I want you to say this with me. Do y'all see it on the screen? "There will be NO more PAIN." How many--how much pain will there be? No more pain.
God is not going to immortalize sinners, and God is not going to have a torture chamber off in the cosmos somewhere forever and ever. You're going to say: "I'm really sorry that my husband or my family or my one of my kids is there burning forever and ever, but I just don't care anymore, you know, because God just made me feel good about it. No, it says: "After the wicked are punished, he wipes away the tears from our eyes." There is a time following the 1,000 years when we're going to see the judgment of the wicked, and we're going to have natural affection just like God. It'll be heartbreaking. But then it's going to take God, you might say, how could I ever forget God will wipe away all the tears from our eyes, friends, amen? No more pain, suffering, or sorrow. "Will the sin problem ever rise again?" Nahum 1:9: "Affliction will NOT RISE up the second time. 'I create a new heavens and a new earth; the former will not be REMEMBERED.'"
As the years of eternity roll, we'll never have anything to be afraid of, friends. Two choices you have: life or death. Choose life. The Bible says: "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." How many of you say you want that water of life? In the book of Job, it says, "Can a man be more RIGHTEOUS than God?" If--God wouldn't do that to His creatures, if we wouldn't do it, why would God do it?
Doug: Friends, I hope you've been blessed by today's message. But, really, the reason we do this is so that people might know Christ. You know, information is not going to save us. It's a relationship with Jesus, the one who died on the cross for your sins. You must personally accept Him. And that's the most important thing and why we do these programs. If you've not asked Him into your heart before, then I'd encourage you to do it right now. His arms are open wide, just come to Him as you are, and ask Him.
Doug: Hi, friends. I trust you're being blessed by what you're watching. If you want to be doubly blessed, then you're going to want to get the Prophecy Odyssey study guides that go along with these presentations. There's 15 study guides, they're beautifully illustrated, and they will greatly enhance your Bible comprehension. So if you'd like to get them, simply follow the instructions that you see on the screen, and you will be glad you did.
Doug: As you've just seen, there's a lot of misconceptions about what the Bible really says regarding hellfire. That's why you're going to want to get this free offer, "Is the Devil in Charge of Hell?" It reveals the truth about what happens to those who reject Christ and the devil's ultimate punishment. To get your copy, simply follow the instructions on the screen, and we will send it to you absolutely free.
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