Topical Studies
Wicked, Fate of the
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Ecclesiastes 9:5 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The Bible shows that the dead know nothing, and even their very thoughts perish when they die. In other words, all mental and physical processes cease when an individual dies. Solomon's definition of death concurs with Webster's Dictionary: "a permanent cessation of all vital functions: the end of life."
Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
Basic Doctrines: The Fate of the Wicked
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Malachi 4:3 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
To our modern sensibilities this presents a somewhat gruesome picture, but God says that the righteous will walk on the wicked. Just as if they were cremated, the only thing left of the wicked will be ashes; they will have been completely destroyed forever. From this time forward, only righteous people will be left alive, and they will live for eternity (John 10:28)!
Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
Basic Doctrines: The Fate of the Wicked
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Matthew 23:33 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The original Greek word translated here as "hell" is gehenna—meaning the Valley of Hinnom. Christ used the fire that burned up refuse in the Valley of Hinnom as a type of the final fate—complete destruction—of the wicked by fire. Those rebellious and stubborn religious leaders could well understand Christ's analogy. They knew they were being threatened with complete destruction as just so much trash!
What Is Hell?
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Luke 16:19-31 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
In the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, the latter, a heartless person, speaks to Lazarus while being "tormented in this flame." This alludes to the wicked being cremated when God burns up the earth, turning it into the final Gehenna, called elsewhere "the Lake of Fire." The rich man is raised out of his grave at the end of God's plan for humanity on earth. Because the dead know nothing, he does not realize the passage of time, but he certainly realizes that he has failed to receive salvation. He sees "a great gulf fixed" between him and those who are with Abraham in the Kingdom of God. At this point, it is impossible for anyone to change his fate.
Martin G. Collins
Basic Doctrines: The Third Resurrection
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Luke 16:19-31 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
In Luke 16:19-31 appears the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, which Jesus spoke to those who would not repent. Jesus uses it to help them understand His earlier words: "Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out" (Luke 13:27-28). In the parable, the rich man—representing all workers of iniquity, all sinners—illustrates what is to befall the unrepentant. The wicked will be raised to physical life in their resurrection, and then, immediately knowing that they are doomed, they will be cast into the Lake of Fire designed by God to consume them. The Lake of Fire will burn them up completely and finally. Jesus pictures the rich man crying out for help because of his mental and physical anguish at this time, but he is not burning eternally in hell fire. He is soon consumed while Lazarus the beggar dwells safely in immortality.
Martin G. Collins
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Part One)
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Luke 16:19-31 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
In the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), Jesus illustrates death—total unconsciousness—as being followed by a resurrection from the dead and a restoration to consciousness. Secondly, Jesus describes the second death, eternal death, in the Lake of Fire that will totally destroy the wicked. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), not endless torment. Jesus shows that the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear the voice of God and come forth—those who have lived righteously to the resurrection of life, and those who have lived wickedly (including the rich man) to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28-29). We need to understand how vital it is to hear and submit to God's voice now.
Martin G. Collins
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Part Two)
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Luke 16:23-25 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The flame he sees and feels upon his resurrection is the ultimate fate of the wicked: being burned up'destroyed'in Gehenna fire, the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14-15). The Lake of Fire represents the second death from which there is no return to life. This death is final and permanent; it is the absence of life for all eternity. It is eternal punishment, not eternal punishing. When the rich man opens his eyes in the resurrection, he sees the flame of fire that is about to destroy him permanently, and it paralyzes him with terror, making his mouth go dry. He complains that the flame is tormenting him. In these verses, the Greek word translated "tormented," odunomai, means "to cause pain; to pain, distress; pain of body, but also pain of mind, grief, distress." This rich man, resurrected to physical life, sees this Lake of Fire and realizes the terrible doom he is about to face. Sobbing, he suffers mental anguish and despair and begs for a little water from the tip of Lazarus' finger to cool his tongue. Nevertheless, he must reap what he sowed'death!
Martin G. Collins
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Part Two)
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John 5:28-29 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
You may have heard ministers preach that sinners go directly to the fiery tortures of hell when they die. But this would mean they are condemned to hell before they are formally judged and sentenced! Christ says the judgment of the wicked dead, who are now in their graves, is yet in the future: "The hour is coming," He says. Then how could they now be receiving punishment when they have not, as yet, even been judged? The two ideas clearly contradict each other! When will the dead be judged? Obviously after they come up from their graves in a resurrection!
What Is Hell?
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Revelation 21:8 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The Bible describes the "hellfire" into which the wicked will be cast as a lake of burning fire and brimstone. Some have pictured this Lake of Fire to be like an active volcano spewing out molten rock. Into such a fiery liquid the incorrigible will be thrown. After having died once and been resurrected to judgment (Hebrews 9:27), they will die the "second death" by being burned up in the Lake of Fire.
Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
Basic Doctrines: The Fate of the Wicked
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Revelation 21:8 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
All who stubbornly refuse to repent and persist in breaking God's commandments ultimately find themselves in a lake of "fire and brimstone." The fate of the wicked is gehenna fire (Matthew 7:15-19; 13:30; 23:33; Hebrews 10:26-27). So gehenna and the Lake of Fire are the same. A very large fire would have the appearance of a fiery lake, hence its description. Mortals naturally die once because we just "wear out" (Hebrews 9:27). But if anyone dies the second death, that individual will have been judged by God to be guilty of persistent disobedience and incorrigible rebellion. The second death will be for all eternity!
What Is Hell?
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