Let us go now to probably the strongest verse in favor of ECT (eternal conscious torment) and see if it really teaches that:
Revelation 14: 10-11, “…he will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the angels and of the lamb (Jesus). And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast or his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name.”
These verses look really strong for the ECT proponent. But not so fast…
There is a text in the Old Testament that mirrors Revelation 14 and gives us the true meaning:
Isaiah 34: 9-10, “Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch! It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke will rise forever.”
If we look at the context of Isaiah 34 it is talking about the total destruction of Edom.
Isaiah 34: 5 says Edom will be “completely destroyed” and Obadiah which is a book about the demise of Edom confirms in verses 10 and 18 that it will be “destroyed forever.” This is exactly what happened over 2,500 years ago when the Babylonians destroyed Edom in the 6th century B.C. Edom is not still being tormented. To further drive home this point let us look at the extremely similar language between Isaiah 34 and Revelation 14.
Isaiah 34 “burning sulfur” Revelation 14 “burning sulfur”
Isaiah 34 “smoke rises forever” Revelation 14 “smoke rises forever”
Isaiah 34 “not be quenched night or day” Rev 14 “no rest day or night”
This proves that Revelation 14: 10-11 cannot be used to refer to eternal conscious torment because in Isaiah 34: 9-10 it clearly refers to the eternal destruction of Edom. This also lines up with all the rest of the verses we have covered so far in this study.
Please take special notice that in Isaiah 34: 9-10 that Edom will burn and not be quenched “night or day”. Yet we know it was eventually consumed and destroyed.
So also the wicked people in Revelation 14: 10-11 will have “no rest day or night” until the burning sulfur (lake of fire) consumes them. This takes place after the judgment seat of Christ at the end of time. Then they will cease to exist just like Edom did 2,500 years ago.
Rev 21: 8 tells us also that burning sulfur is another name for the lake of fire. Which is the second death that all unbelievers experience after the judgment seat of Christ. They are burned up by God’s judgment and cease to exist forever. This is why Revelation 14: 10-11 also say, “they will be tormented in the burning sulfur in the presence of the angels and the Lamb” and then will cease to exist.
Jesus and the angels won’t be standing around for all eternity watching unbelievers suffer in the lake of fire. They will be quickly destroyed in their presence.
Another reason Revelation 14: 10-11 cannot mean eternal conscious torment is similar language is used about the destruction of Babylon in Revelation chapters 18 and 19.
Revelation 18: verses 9 & 18 talk about Babylon and “the smoke of her burning.” Verses 10 & 15 talk about people standing at a distance for “fear of her torment.” Does this mean ECT? Verse 8 says Babylon will be “consumed by fire.” And Rev 19 verse 3 says, “the smoke from here goes up forever and ever.”
This is the same language as Rev 14: 10-11 and means complete destruction not eternal conscious torment. Besides, how is Babylon, a city, consciously tormented forever? This is clearly figurative language showing that all enemies of God will be destroyed, never to live again.
Let’s look at the last verse used by ECT proponents:
Revelation 20: 10, “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur (lake of fire/hell), where the beast and false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Does this mean eternal conscious torment? No.
Looking at Revelation 13: 1-2 we see a description of the beast. The imagery is taken from Daniel 7: 1-7. The beast represents all kingdoms/governments of the world that oppose God’s kingdom and set man up as ruler of the world apart from God. Can kingdoms/governments be tormented consciously forever and ever? The answer is obviously no. They are abstract entities and not actual people who can be “tormented”.
What about the devil? Let’s look at Ezekiel to find out his fate…
Ezekiel 28: verses 1-19 is a prophecy about the King of Tyre from the 6th century B.C. All commentators agree that verses 1-10 are about the King of Tyre but verses 12-19 are actually about the devil. Let’s look at parts of those verses:
Ezekiel 28: 12-19, “…you were full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…you were in Eden, the Garden of God…every precious stone was your covering…you were the anointed cherub who guards…you were on the holy mountain of God…you were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until iniquity was found in you…you were filled with violence and you sinned…I cast you as profane from the mountain of God…your heart was filled with pride because of your beauty…I cast you to the ground…I brought fire from your midst…it has consumed you…I turned you to ashes upon the earth…all who knew you among the people are astonished at you…you have become a horror…and shall be no more forever.”
So we can see from Ezekiel 28 that the devil will be destroyed and will also cease to exist. Rev 20: 10 is more figurative/poetic language when it says “tormented night and day forever and ever” which means to cease to exist forever as we have seen from other texts in this study.
One last passage that needs to be addressed briefly is the parable about “Lazarus and the Rich Man” in Luke 16: 19-31. Those who believe in ECT will point to this passage as proof of eternal conscious torment. This passage simply is not admissible to this debate.
The parable is describing the intermediate state between death and the final judgment. The focus of this paper is addressing whether people will be tormented consciously in hell forever after the final judgment.
Since what happens between death and the final judgment is a whole other topic, and would be a quite lengthy discussion, I will not be addressing it in this paper. Some views include: soul sleep for all people, consciousness for all people, consciousness for the righteous only, soul sleep for the wicked until the final judgment etc…
Conclusion
The Bible does not teach eternal conscious torment in the lake of fire (hell). It teaches that all enemies of God will be eternally destroyed at the judgment seat of Christ which is the final judgment for all humans, fallen angels and the devil himself.
The fact that abstract entities like “Death” and “Hades” (the grave), and the “beast” are also thrown into the lake of fire proves it is not a place of eternal conscious torment. The lake of fire is most likely symbolic of the “fire of God’s judgment/wrath” that consumes all His enemies. This is how fire is consistently used throughout the Bible. Hebrews 12: 29, “Our God is a consuming fire.”
The word translated “hell” in your English Bibles is the Greek word “Gehenna”. This was the garbage dump just south and west of Jerusalem that was constantly burning and always had worms/maggots devouring its refuse. Jesus used this imagery often in His teaching to demonstrate the fate of the wicked. People listening to Jesus would have known this meant to be consumed and not tormented forever.
Rev 20: 11-15 tells us about the final judgment that all men must face. All human beings that have ever lived will be resurrected and will stand before Christ and be judged by Him. All who are unbelievers will be cast into the “lake of fire” which is called the “second death” in verses 14 and 15. This is the death of the soul (that Jesus mentions in Matt 10: 28) which will be consumed by the fires of God’s judgment (lake of fire) and destroyed in His and the holy angels presence. It is probably not a literal place. Fire represents God’s irreversible and final judgment against someone as this paper has repeatedly demonstrated using the Scriptures.
There will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” when people are condemned to eternal destruction in the fire. The “lake of fire” is symbolism for the complete and utter destruction of all enemies of God who will cease to exist forever.
God bless you all and thank you for reading. (I know it was long)
