Then we a problem, because as I read the Bible and pray, asking God for help in understanding, it's becoming clearer to me that our merciful Savior doesn't torture anyone. People who hurt others, who portray themselves as mighty, are tormented by being exposed for the cowards they truly are. And as Jesus said,
Fear them not therefore: for there is nothingcovered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. Mt.10:26
So when we read,
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Rev.20:10
We can understand it to mean in the light of Christ, Satan is tormented by having his weaknesses exposed by the evil he committed day and night throughout the ages of mankind.
Hello Journeyman,
Respectfully, I would say that you need to do a lot more study and that because torture is exactly what the word teaches. Here is one scripture that uses the word, torture:
"Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand
10must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath.
And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.
Below is the Greek word basanizo translated as "tormented."
Strong's Concordance
basanizó: to torture
Original Word: βασανίζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: basanizó
Phonetic Spelling: (bas-an-id'-zo)
Definition:
to torture
Usage: I examine, as by torture; I torment; I buffet, as of waves.
HELPS Word-studies
928 basanízō (from
931 /básanos, "a tormenting trial") – properly, to examine (literally by using
torture).
So, as you can see from the scripture and the definition about, your claim is already disproved.
What you need to understand is that, God's love, grace and His mercy are applied only while an individual is alive. To be clear, once a person dies in the sins, there will be no grace or mercy.
There are two groups of people: 1) Those who believe and therefore Christ being held accountable for their sins and 2) those without faith who will be held accountable for their own sins. All sin must and will be accounted for without any grace or mercy mixed in. Therefore, anyone who has not trusted in Christ as the One who provided salvation for them, they will be held account able for their own sins. As Jesus said, "every idle word that men shall speak, they will give an account thereof.
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Rev.20:10
The above has to do with Satan being thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ, which is where the beast and the false prophet will have been thrown into after the Lord returns to the earth to end the age and which takes place at the beginning of the thousand years.
We can understand it to mean in the light of Christ, Satan is tormented by having his weaknesses exposed by the evil he committed day and night throughout the ages of mankind.
The above does not mean what you stated, but means exactly what it says. When Jesus Returns to the earth to end the age, Satan and His angels will be thrown into the Abyss, which is located underneath the earth. They will be imprisoned there during the thousand year reign of Christ so that they cannot deceive human beings during the millennial kingdom (Rev.20:1-7). At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released from the Abyss and will go throughout the earth to deceive the inhabitants of the earth. They will surround the camp of God's people, the city that He loves (Jerusalem) and God will destroy them by raining fire down upon them. Then Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire where he, the beast, the false prophet and all human beings whose names are not found written in the book of life and they will suffer eternal torment in the lake of fire, which is the second death (Rev.20:11-15).
Regarding the wicked, the scripture further states the following:
"the smoke of
their torment will rise forever and ever. Day and night there will be no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
The scripture mean exactly what they say at face value.