Winfried Vogel
It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall be desolate; none shall pass through it forever and ever. Isaiah 34:10.
This verse and its immediate context, especially “the day of the Lord’s vengeance” in verse eight, seem to suggest that there is an ever-burning hell that has been established by God Himself, where He executes permanent judgment on the wicked and the unfaithful.
God’s worldwide judgment against the nations – Isaiah 34 uses the destruction of Sennacherib’s army in Hezekiah’s days (Isaiah 37) as an illustration of God’s worldwide judgment against the nations of this world (vv. 1-4). The prophet here vividly portrays the terrible fate of the wicked.
He beholds the great day of slaughter, when the wicked perish and their corpses are scattered about like those of Sennacherib’s army after the visit of the destroying angel of the Lord (ch. 37:36). In the destruction of the Assyrian army he sees promise of the fate of all the hosts of evil that fight against God.1
From verse five on, Edom stands as a representative of all the nations, the name being almost symbolic for the whole world. The hatred that the world has for the people of God was exemplified by the nation of Edom (the descendants of Esau) in its hatred of Israel (see Num 20:18, 20; 1 Sam 14:47; 1 Kgs 11:14). Verses nine and ten describe what the land of Edom will be like after God’s judgment has descended upon it; Edom’s streams shall be turned into pitch and its soil into brimstone (v. 9). In other words, an awful judgment awaits those who trouble God’s people.
The meaning of “forever” – The key to a correct understanding of the verse under investigation is the Hebrew term colam, usually translated as “eternal” or “forever.” The basic meaning of this term is “farthest or distant time;” it does not necessarily mean eternal, without end. Like other Hebrew words for time, colam is closely linked to the occurrence of events and describes these events in relation to their duration. Most often it refers “to a future of limited duration, i.e., to conditions that will exist continuously throughout a limited period of time, often a single life span.”2 In other words, the meaning of colam is dependent on its subject. If the subject is God who is immortal (1 Tim 6:1), or something He has created to last forever (e.g., the earth has been established “forever,” Pss 78:69; 104:5), then colam refers to a time without end. If, however, the subject is people, who do not have immortality, or things that are not created to last eternally, then colam refers to a limited time period. For example, the people were to believe Moses “forever” (Exod 19:9); the slave in Exodus 21:6 was to serve his master “forever;” and Samuel remained in the tabernacle “forever” (1 Sam 1:22). The meaning of “forever” is each time “as long as that person lives.” In the case of Jonah, “forever” lasted only three days (Jonah 2:6).
According to Scripture, the redeemed will receive immortality (1 Cor 15:50-54) at the Second Advent. In Matthew 25:46, therefore, “eternal life” is life without end, whereas the “everlasting punishment” of the wicked or the “everlasting fire” in verse 41 is of a limited nature since the wicked do not have immortality. Just like the “eternal fire” that destroyed Sodom (Jude 7), the everlasting fire that will destroy the wicked and Satan in the final judgment will be of a limited duration but its effect will be eternal.
An eternally-burning hellfire is not biblical – In Isaiah 34:10, in the context of God’s judgment against Edom, the prophet describes the land of Edom after the judgment of God: “From generation to generation it [the land of Edom] shall lie waste.” The text does not deal with or provide support for the idea of an eternally-burning hellfire. The history of philosophy tells us that this idea actually originated with the Greeks, who first thought that Hades is the dwelling place of the dead and later added the idea that some needed to get their just punishment there in the afterlife, since they had not received it during their lifetime. This philosophy was later adopted by some Church Fathers and by the medieval Church who added further details such as purgatory. As a result many Christians believe in a place in the underworld where the wicked dead are being tortured continually.
The notion of an ever-burning hell is not biblical. In addition to the linguistic evidence referred to above, a second key to a correct interpretation of Isaiah 34:10 is the character of God. Would a God who says in Ezekiel 18:23 that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked find satisfaction in the perpetual torment of men, women, and children burning in the fires of hell? Does a God of mercy have a specific location in the universe where the wicked are being punished by dreadful and horrid pains forever and ever? There is no indication in Scripture that such a place exists or is being planned for the future. The biblical terms sheol (Heb.) and Hades (Gr.) are designations for the realm of the dead but not a place of torment for the wicked dead. When we take the biblical teaching of life after death into account that says that the dead are not in a state of consciousness and that there is no such thing as an immortal soul (Eccl 9:5, 6; Ps 146:4), it should be clear that the idea of an ever-burning hell contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible.
1 Francis D. Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 7 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1978), 4:230.
2 Anthony Tomasino, “colam,” New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren, 5 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997), 3:347.
God often comforts us, not by
changing the circumstances of our
lives, but by changing our
attitude towards them.
Anonymous