The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

II. Gehenna “Lake of Fire” Totally Destroys All Sinners

1. “SECOND DEATH” TIED IN WITH “DAY OF WRATH.”

The Apocalypse gives the ultimate word on the final destiny of both righteous and wicked. While some of the Apocalyptic symbols are difficult and mysterious, the Apocalyptic teachings on the destiny of man are not in that category. And it is to be observed that this is the message of Jesus, the “first and the last: ... he that liveth, and was dead,” and is now “alive for evermore.” He, as the Life-giver, has the “keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:17, 18). Here “life” and “death” are obviously used in their natural and normal sense. Here is found Inspiration’s final word thereon. CFF1 405.1

From first to last the Revelation rings with the dominant note of life. But also heard throughout are the somber under tones of death—both the universal fast death of sleep for all and the inescapable second death of total destruction, restricted exclusively to the wicked. First note its tie-in with the day of God’s wrath, alternative for the day of the Lord: CFF1 405.2

“He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” (Revelation 2:11). CFF1 405.3

“And the heaven departed as a scroll .... And the kings of the earth [and great, rich, chief, mighty, bond, and free] .... hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath ¹ is come” (Revelation 6:14-17). CFF1 405.4

“And thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants ... and shouldest destroy [from diaphtheiro, “to cause to wholly perish”] them which destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). CFF1 405.5

2. “LAKE OF FIRE” EQUATED WITH “SECOND DEATH.”

In chapter 14 the drinking of the “wine of the wrath of God” involves being “tormented with fire and brimstone,” with the “smoke of their torment” ascending “up for ever and ever,” and having “no rest day nor night” for a special designated class (Revelation 14:9-11). Revelation 17:8 depicts the going of the “beast” into “perdition” (apoleia, “destruction,” “ruin”), which declaration is repeated in Revelation 17:11. CFF1 406.1

Revelation 19 describes the judging of the symbolic harlot, and her “smoke” going up forever (Revelation 19:2, 3), the casting of the “beast” and the “false prophet,” and their special followers, into the “lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20). Revelation 20 describes the casting of the devil into this seething “lake of fire and brimstone,” where he, too, is “tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). Then follows the declaration: CFF1 406.2

“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [hades, “the grave”] delivered up the dead which were in them .... And death and hell [hades, gravedom] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:13-15). CFF1 406.3

“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” (Revelation 21:8). CFF1 406.4

That is the total testimony of the Apocalypse on the “lake of fire” and the final destruction therein. And it is this cluster of texts that furnishes the supporting weight of evidence cited by proponents of the endless torment theory. It is therefore incumbent upon us to examine those expressions upon which such reliance is placed. We here assemble them for convenient reference. CFF1 406.5

3. “LAKE OF FIRE” IS PREDICTED “GEHENNA OF FIRE.”

That the “lake of fire” of the Apocalypse is simply the “hell [gehenna] fire” (occasionally “outer darkness,” as indicated by an asterisk [*]) of the rest of the New Testament, and still future, into which the wicked, including Satan, are to be cast at the end of the age, will be apparent from running the eye down over the expressions in italics and small capitals in the texts that follow: CFF1 406.6

Picture 1: The Peril of Looking Back:
The Peril of Looking Back and the Destruction of Sodom—Symbol of the Final Excision of Sinners.
Page 407

Now just observe: Here are twenty-two references—seven of them in the Apocalypse—dealing with this one theme. Here is the complete round of equivalent, or contingent, terms: Gehenna, fire, furnace of fire, everlasting fire, everlasting punishment, Gehenna fire, everlasting destruction, lake of fire burning with brimstone, second death, reserved unto the judgment of the GREAT DAY, lake of fire and brimstone, lake of fire—and finally, the comprehensive “lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). CFF1 407.1

The fire of Gehenna, portrayed by Christ, was then future. It was to be preceded by the judgment. It was part of the operation of the GREAT DAY OF GOD. It was destruction by fire. It was the lake of fire, or fire and brimstone. And to round out the inexorable sequence, this lake, burning with fire and brimstone, is the SECOND DEATH (Revelation 21:8). And the fires, having then done their destined work, burn out. And those destroyed thereby are no more, as elsewhere portrayed. CFF1 409.1

The lake of fire thus involves and results in the second death. This is in exact accord with Christ’s declaration that God can, and will, “destroy [apollumi, “destroy utterly,” “kill,” “cause to perish,” “come to an end”] both soul and body in hell [gehenna]” (Matthew 10:28). That is the evidence of the Apocalypse on the final doom, or destruction, of the wicked. CFF1 409.2