Meditations

Openline radio program on December 3, 2022, hour 1.

Listener:

Hey Dr Rydelnik, my question today is, is Hell eternal? I was always taught that it was, but my nephew he was in theology college, he said it isn’t, he says every thing is going to pass away, hell is going to pass away too.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Where did he learn that?

Listener:

I guess in college. I don’t know which school he went to.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

In theology college. I guess there are people who say that. Theological schools. There are a lot of verses about hell in the bible that we can read. Let me just say this, that there are a lot more, people will find this interesting, the Lord Jesus says about 3 or 4 times more about how we use our money than he talked about hell. A lot of people think the bible is filled with fire and brimstone than hell, it’s there, I wouldn’t deny it. But, I think it’s not as prevalent as many people think. It is there, it’s very clear teaching and I am going to show you one verse that I think helps with your question. But, there are many things we need to read about the bible. Secondly, the reality of hell is something that really we ought to be motivated by, because God loves people, He never intended them to be separated from him forever, and so we ought to be really motivated by the reality of hell, to let people know that God has a better future for them and they will trust that Jesus died for them and rose again and took the punishment for their sins and provide new life through his resurrection. So, that’s what we want to really communicate, it should drive us, it should motivate us to know that people can have eternal life and we need to be the ones to tell people about that. The verse that I want to focus on with you is Revelation 14, verses 10 to 11. In the middle of verse 10, he says, of the beast, that he will drink of the wine of God’s wrath which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger, now the beast, according to Revelation, ends up eternally in the lake of fire, which is really what Hell is, eternally separated from God and also everyone that refuses to trust in Jesus, also ends up there, but it says of this beast, he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels, and in the sight of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever, there is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image. Those are the people who worship the beast, there we go, those are other people. Any one who receives the mark of his name. So, right there, I think it is as clear as it can be, in this description of the lake of fire that you read about later in Revelation. It is very clear, this is not a temporary situation. It doesn’t get destroyed. There’s going to be a new heaven and a new earth, that’s a new creation where all the people who know the Lord will live forever but there’s going to be a lake of fire as well. Man, that should drive us, motivate us, get us out there talking about the love of God, what He has provided for us.

Revelation 14

⁹ And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

¹⁰ The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

¹¹ And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. -kjv

⁹ Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” -nkjv

⁹ Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” ¹² Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. -nasb

⁹ A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, ¹⁰ they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” -niv