Hello Kiltboy,
God's word says exactly opposite of what you have claimed above. Even the other words in the context "eternal, everlasting, no rest day or night, the smoke of their torment rising up forever and ever, etc," support the idea of eternal, conscious, punishment. The words "everlasting punishment" is defined as existing while being exposed to said punishment. To be clear, one cannot be punished if one is nonexistent.
Based on comparison of scripture, life and death are both states of eternal existence, with life being on-going existence in the kingdom of God and death being on-going existence in separation from God in the lake of fire. Consider the following scripture:
"And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
In the verse above, you have the same word describing the eternal existence for both the wicked and the righteous and therefore must convey the same meaning. To be clear, the word "aionios" translated as "eternal" cannot mean on-going existence for the righteous and extinction for the wicked. They have to mean the same thing for both. Therefore, since we know that eternal life is on-going existence for the righteous, then eternal punishment must be on-going existence in punishment. To be clear, eternal punishment would not be eternal if one was simply extinguished. The word aionios/eternal is not referring to a persons eternal nonexistence, but carries with it the idea of conscious awareness while being exposed to said punishment.
In Revelation 14, the consequences for those who worship the beast, his image or receive his mark are described as having no rest day or night and the smoke of their torment rising up forever and ever. Consequently, an individual would have to be existing in order to experience those conditions, for you cannot experience not having no rest day or night unless one is existing.
We also have the event of the rich man and Lazarus which the Lord revealed to us as a glimpse of what happens at the time of death for both the righteous and the wicked. The context shows that Lazarus and the rich man both died, yet their spirits were conscious and aware after they left their bodies, which was Sheol/Hades. Lazarus was in a place of comfort/paradise and the rich man was in torment in flame. Those who interpret this as a parable are distorting the true meaning of what Jesus is revealing to us. Those of no faith like the rich man, at the time of death their spirits depart and either automatically go or are taken by the angels to Sheol/Hades where they begin their punishment. In support of this, Revelation 20:11-15 reveals that at the end of the millennial kingdom, those who will have been in Sheol/Hades will be resurrected out of there and will stand before God at the great white throne judgment.
As I'm sure that you know, we have many celebrities and non celebrities who commit suicide daily, their thinking being that they can escape their troubles by killing themselves and becoming nonexistent. I can guarantee you that, they those who were not in Christ are now whishing that they were back in the land of the living wishing that they had their previous problems. Because when they committed suicide all they did was speed up the beginning of their punishment for their sins. And now, like the rich man, their is nothing that they can do to get out of that situation. The next stop for them is the great white throne judgment and then the lake of fire.
In addition, we also have the souls under the altar at the opening of the 5th seal, who are the souls of those who will have been killed during the first 3 1/2 years of that last seven year period. They having a conversation with the Lord and are given white robes to wear and told to wait a little longer until they are avenged.
We also have Moses and Elijah appearing with Christ on the mountain when Christ was transfigured into His glorified state and speaking with Him about His departure.
We have Jesus telling the man crucified next to him that he would be with Him in paradise that very same day. How is that possible when we know that both died that very same day? Jesus was speaking about their spirits being in paradise, i.e. the same place where Abraham and Lazarus were, which was in that place of comfort/paradise which was across from those in torment in flame.
By the way, the word "perish, destroy, destroyed, etc.," are translated from either "ollethros, apoleia or apollumi" neither of which infer "annihilation or extinction." For example"
olethros:
"He will inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the penalty of
eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might, on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony.
Strong's Concordance
olethros: destruction, death
Original Word: ὄλεθρος, ου, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: olethros
Phonetic Spelling: (ol'-eth-ros)
Definition: destruction, death
Usage: ruin, doom, destruction, death.
HELPS Word-studies
3639 ólethros (from
ollymi/"destroy") – properly,
ruination with its full, destructive
results (
LS).
3639 /ólethros ("ruination")
however does not imply "extinction" (annihilation). Rather it emphasizes the consequent
loss that goes with the complete "
undoing."
apoleia:
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and many enter through it."
Strong's Concordance
apóleia: destruction, loss
Original Word: ἀπώλεια, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: apóleia
Phonetic Spelling: (ap-o'-li-a)
Definition: destruction, loss
Usage: destruction, ruin, loss, perishing; eternal ruin.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 684 apṓleia (from
622 /apóllymi, "cut
off") –
destruction, causing someone (something) to be
completely severed – cut
off (entirely)
from what
could or should have been. (Note the force of the prefix,
apo.)
See 622 (
apollymi).
684 /apṓleia ("perdition")
does not imply "annihilation" (see the meaning of the root-verb,
622 /apóllymi, "cut off") but instead "loss of
well-being" rather than
being (
Vine's Expository Dictionary, 165; cf. Jn 11:50; Ac 5:37; 1 Cor 10:9-10; Jude 11).
These words in "Red" translated as destroy, destroyed, everlasting punishment infer complete loss of well being, ruination and not annihilation or extinction.
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