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Will People Burn Forever In Hell?
There are some passages in the Bible that speak of hell burning forever. Let's look at a few of the texts, starting with Romans 6:23.
"The wages of sin is death." In the Old Testament Ezekiel said, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." Ezekiel 18:4. Death is the opposite of life. Life means breathing, seeing, loving, running, eating, thinking. At death all of that stops. "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not any thing." Ecclesiastes 9:5. Speaking of the dead the Psalmist says, "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Psalm 146:4. Jesus and the apostles compare it to sleep for the righteous.
But let's go on to 2 Thessalonians 1:9 that speaks of the wicked "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction." "Except ye repent," says Jesus, "ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:3.
The Psalmist says, "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." Psalm 37:20.
John the Baptist describes this destruction. "He will . . . gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:12. Unquenchable fire. What is it? Unquenchable fire cannot be put out. The recent devastating fires in California were unquenchable. The firemen did their best, but they couldn't put them out. But they're not burning now. They were unquenchable, but finally all the brush was consumed in their path, and they went out.
The Bible speaks of Sodom and Gomorrah as being consumed by eternal fire (Jude 9; 2 Peter 2:6), but they are not burning now. The effects of the fire were eternal, but they burned themselves out.
Malachi 4:1 says, "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Later in the chapter, Malachi says the wicked will be ashes under the feet of the righteous.
The Purpose of Hell
God is not cruel. His only desire is to have a universe that is safe from sin and hatred and evil. It would give Him no joy to see the wicked suffering forever in hell.
The Bible consistently pictures a God of love. How could a God of love torture even the worst sinners by condemning them to burn and suffer forever. God is too loving to force anyone to follow Him. Some will by choice reject His offer of salvation, but in His mercy He will not condemn them to an eternity of torture.
How will you feel about this if (heaven forbid) one of your own children is lost? Or a mother? Or father? Will you rejoice to see that dear one suffering eternal torment? I don't think so. God's love is far greater than our love. He loves us, but He cannot save us eternally if we don't want to be saved. He respects our individual power of choice too much for that.
After the destruction of the wicked, God will wipe away all tears from our eyes (Revelation 21:4), and at that time, I think God will wipe away tears from His own eyes as well. We love, but He loves with a deeper everlasting love. He doesn't take any pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23). His heart will ache for those who have chosen to separate themselves from His love forever, but He will honor their choice. Then we will all move on into an eternity with Jesus. I want to be there, don't you?
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