Who are the cowards?

[Alnmouth]

Rev 21:8 attests that cowards – or in some translations the fearful – will be cast into a lake of burning sulphur – along with murderers and atheists.

What this passage does not tell me is who the cowards actually are. I like to think that it refers to anyone guilty of moral cowardice, but the evidence to support this appears lacking.

It occurs to me that Jesus in two of the gospels – Matthew and Mark – rebuked his followers for their fearfulness. Apparently their fear was an obstacle to their acceptance of his teachings.

Am I missing anything here? Does any other passage of The Bible tell me who exactly is guilty of damnable cowardice?

 

[Yonah]

In this context the term coward, or fearful actually would have been better translated to read faithless, if we believe the Almighty is with us and can deliver us in any circumstance, we would never hesitate when we knew His Spirit was guiding us.
We would be like Job,Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
or as the three young men who faced the kings rage and were thrown into the furnace,(Daniel chapter 3) .
the Koine greek is also revealing in this text , the definition for the word rendered fearful in the KJV is this:G1169
δειλός
deilos
di-los'
From δέος deos (dread); timid, that is, (by implication) faithless: - fearful.
to be fearfull ius to lack trust, trust is the basis for any relationship, and certainly no less so with our Creator.

 

[Alnmouth]

Thanks.

It is perhaps surprising that both Darby and Young's Literal Translation use the word fearful. I don't think either translation is in the habit of being wrong very often.

 

[garee]

I would suggest it is how we define fear .Seeing we can fear him aright or fear him in a way like the man in Mathew 7.

 

[trofimus]

In the context, I think it means when somebody denies Christ because of a fear of people.

I.e. when somebody is not willing to die for his faith.

 

[Prov910]

In Jesus' time and the early days of Christianity there was a lot of persecution. I'm sure quite a few believed in Jesus, but did not become practicing Christians for fear of being persecuted. Perhaps it will be the same in the end days.

 

[Hizikyah]

Revelation 2:17, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I shall give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I shall give him a white stone, and on the stone a renewed Name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”

Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him because of the Blood of the Lamb, and because of the Word of their witness, and they did not love their lives to the death."

Revelation 21:8, “But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars (who walk in falsehood), their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

“cowardly” is word #G1169 δειλός deilos (d̮ei-los') adj., 1. timid., 2. (by implication) faithless., [from deos “dread”], KJV: fearful

“cowardly” is word #G1169 - deilos: cowardly, fearful, Original Word: δειλός, ή, όν, Part of Speech: Adjective, Transliteration: deilos, Phonetic Spelling: (di-los'), Short Definition: cowardly, timid, Definition: cowardly, timid, fearful.

HELPS Word-studies “cowardly” is word #G1169 deilós (an adjective derived from deidō, "fear-driven") – properly, dreadful, describing a person who loses their "moral gumption (fortitude)" that is needed to follow the Lord.

“cowardly” is word #G1169 /deilós ("fearful of losses") refers to an excessive fear (dread) of "losing," causing someone to be fainthearted (cowardly) – hence, to fall short in following Christ as Lord.

“cowardly” is word #G1169 /deilós is always used negatively in the NT and stands in contrast to the positive fear which can be expressed by 5401 /phóbos ("fear," see Phil 2:12).]

“unbelieving” is word #G571 ἄπιστος apistos (a'-piy-stos) adj., 1. (actively) disbelieving, i.e. without Christian faith., 2. (specially) a heathen., 3. (passively) untrustworthy (person) or unbelievable, incredible (thing). [from G1 (as a negative particle) and G4103], KJV: that believeth not, faithless, incredible thing, infidel, unbeliever(-ing) , Root(s): G1, G4103

“unbelieving” is word #G571 - apistos: incredible, unbelieving, Original Word: ἄπιστος, ον, Part of Speech: Adjective, Transliter

 

[EarsToHear]

Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

To inherit means we are to possess a share of the heavenly kingdom; that new and beautiful Jerusalem that has been prepared for those who wait on the true Christ and do not follow the Antichrist (instead of Christ in the Greek).

Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together.

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (death of the soul).

Once again we see those who will not have an inheritance in the new Jerusalem. They will be destroyed in the hellfire (lake of fire), prior to the coming of the new Jerusalem.

We know that all sins ever committed can be covered by the blood of Christ, except the sin of not allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through you, when you are delivered up before the synagogues of Satan, as written in Mark 13:11. That is the unforgivable sin. What is necessary is a repentive heart and the confession and prayer of repentance.

 

[Alertandawake]

Could perhaps maybe the reference to "cowards" can relate those who are afraid to speak up in case someone gets their feelings hurt? (or their ego shot down) all because of this political correctness garbage? We see this happening today, on a mass scale.

And to be blunt and direct, alot of these modern age churches (which seem to be more of a business organization nowadays) fit the description of being cowardly. They either get with the program of being "politically correct", or refuse to take part, and those that do refuse, and speak up when the situation calls for it, you do find evidence of people who do speak the truth, get slapped with either fines, or jail time.

I hate to say it, but this generation we have today, there is going to be a lot of problems, big time. Young people fresh out of school and/or college are not being prepared for the real world.

 

[MarcR]

Thanks.

It is perhaps surprising that both Darby and Young's Literal Translation use the word fearful. I don't think either translation is in the habit of being wrong very often.

Several factors are at work here.

First The same word can mean different things to different people, even in the same context.

Second The same word can mean different things to the same person in different contexts.

Third The Koine Greek is different from classical Greek in that Koine Greek has a lot of Hebrew idiom superimposed on the Greek text; and both Darby and Young often fail to recognize Hebrew idiom, especially in the Greek text.

Fearful is a good translation of the Greek; but the sense is willingness to compromise one's testimony because of fear of consequences.

 

[Nehemiah6]

Rev 21:8 attests that cowards – or in some translations the fearful – will be cast into a lake of burning sulphur – along with murderers and atheists.

What this passage does not tell me is who the cowards actually are.

The Greek word deilos can be translated as either cowardly or fearful, since cowards are those who are fearful. As to who they are, it would apply to those (1) who failed to obey the Gospel and be saved because of certain consequences or (2) who denied that Christ was their Lord and Savior because of fearful consequences. Jesus said He would deny those who denied Him.

 

[maxwel]

The Greek word deilos can be translated as either cowardly or fearful, since cowards are those who are fearful. As to who they are, it would apply to those (1) who failed to obey the Gospel and be saved because of certain consequences or (2) who denied that Christ was their Lord and Savior because of fearful consequences. Jesus said He would deny those who denied Him.

delios can also be translated as deli.

I think this refers to those in torment who will spend eternity with nothing to eat but fast food.

 

[Ahwatukee]

Rev 21:8 attests that cowards – or in some translations the fearful – will be cast into a lake of burning sulphur – along with murderers and atheists.

What this passage does not tell me is who the cowards actually are. I like to think that it refers to anyone guilty of moral cowardice, but the evidence to support this appears lacking.

It occurs to me that Jesus in two of the gospels – Matthew and Mark – rebuked his followers for their fearfulness. Apparently their fear was an obstacle to their acceptance of his teachings.

Am I missing anything here? Does any other passage of The Bible tell me who exactly is guilty of damnable cowardice?

The definition of cowardly as stated in Rev.21:8 is as follows:

deilós (an adjective derived from deidō, "fear-driven") – properly, dreadful, describing a person who loses their "moral gumption (fortitude)" that is needed to follow the Lord.

As an example of the definition above, it would be like if Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego bowed down to Nebuchadnezzar's statue in order to save their own lives, opposed to not willing to bow down but to be thrown into the fire rather than turn away from their faith.

The "cowardly" would be those who turn away from their faith in Christ in order to save their own skins.

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Rev 21:8 attests that cowards – or in some translations the fearful – will be cast into a lake of burning sulphur – along with murderers and atheists.

What this passage does not tell me is who the cowards actually are. I like to think that it refers to anyone guilty of moral cowardice, but the evidence to support this appears lacking.

It occurs to me that Jesus in two of the gospels – Matthew and Mark – rebuked his followers for their fearfulness. Apparently their fear was an obstacle to their acceptance of his teachings.

Am I missing anything here? Does any other passage of The Bible tell me who exactly is guilty of damnable cowardice?

Revelation 21:8 King James Version (KJV)[SUP]
8 [/SUP]But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

(All of this corresponds with the "works of the flesh," as outlined in Galatians 5:19-21 - and proclaims the Eternal destiny of Christ-rejecters.)

 

[OneFaith]

Rev 21:8 attests that cowards – or in some translations the fearful – will be cast into a lake of burning sulphur – along with murderers and atheists.

What this passage does not tell me is who the cowards actually are. I like to think that it refers to anyone guilty of moral cowardice, but the evidence to support this appears lacking.

It occurs to me that Jesus in two of the gospels – Matthew and Mark – rebuked his followers for their fearfulness. Apparently their fear was an obstacle to their acceptance of his teachings.

Am I missing anything here? Does any other passage of The Bible tell me who exactly is guilty of damnable cowardice?

In the Old Testament things were done physically to represent spiritual meanings to be revealed in the New Testament. And in there, when God’s people went to war, there were exceptions made about who is to go, and who is to stay behind. For example, a man that just got married was to stay with his wife for a certain length of time.

But one exception was for cowardly men. Not because God felt bad for them, but because they were not worthy to fight for God, and thus reap the reward. For those who obeyed God under the physical covenant went to heaven, and those who obey God under the spiritual covenant will also go to heaven.

In the New Testament, we are under the spiritual covenant, and must fight for God in a spiritual way (Ephesians 6). Our ways of being cowardly are being politically correct, going along with homosexual rights instead of taking a stand against them, supporting abortion, or most importantly, teaching that it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you believe God exists.

Whether under a physical or spiritual covenant, you must be willing to physically die in the line of duty. Like John the Baptist, who knew that if he spoke against the sin of the king that he would be put to death. We must not be cowardly, but must fight for God- even in the face of death.

 

[Johnny_B]

BAGD has δειλοῖς translated as "those of little faith" which the NASB has as "cowardly" as well as the ESV and NJKV.

They have "ἀπίστος" which the ESV has as "faithless" and the NASB has it as "unbelieving" BAGD has it as "teachers of error".

I thought that maybe it could mean lukewarm, but I looked it up and it does not have that meaning or carry the idea either.

 

[Alertandawake]

BAGD has δειλοῖς translated as "those of little faith" which the NASB has as "cowardly" as well as the ESV and NJKV.

They have "ἀπίστος" which the ESV has as "faithless" and the NASB has it as "unbelieving" BAGD has it as "teachers of error".

I thought that maybe it could mean lukewarm, but I looked it up and it does not have that meaning or carry the idea either.

I think depending on the context, being lukewarm and cowardly could overlap one another.

Take for example many churches today, rather than risk financial losses they will compromise just to benefit financially. Thing is, when it comes to political correctness, it is both a lukewarm and cowardly concept.