One text in the Bible used by those who believe in an eternally burning hell is a parable Jesus told to make a point to the Pharisees in particular, that one's future destiny is determined by the use he make of the opportunities of this present life. "There was a certain rich man.... And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: and the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame." Luke 16:19-24. This study continues with George Vandeman's study on this subject taken from his Bible Study guide in the back of the "It Is Written" Bible.

        In this text, Jesus was not discussing either the state of man in death or the time when rewards will be passed out. He was simply, through a parable, reflecting what the people of the time believed, meeting them on their own ground, about life after death, drawing a clear distinction between this life and the next and showing the relationship of each to the other. Jesus simply made use of a popular belief in order thereby to make forcibly clear an important lesson He sought to plant in the minds of His hearers.

        Once again, as clearly set forth in the context, this parable was designed to teach that each person's future destiny is determined by the use he makes of the opportunities of this present life. Those who believe this narrative to be literal and not a parable, should note that if the rich man is literally and bodily in torment, then Lazarus was borne to Heaven literally and bodily. However, the bodies of both Lazarus and the rich man returned to the dust, whence they had come (Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Eccl. 12:7).

        As seen in this chart, the Greek meaning of some of the words and phrases make clear what Jesus was saying to the people. "Abraham's bosom" was a Jewish idiom meaning "paradise." "Hell," that is Hades in the Greek, means "grave," or "death." Hades is the abode of all men, good and bad, until the resurrection. Literally, Lazarus would be there also.
The Old Testament Hebrew word for "hell" in the Bible is "Sheol," which also means "the grave." The grave or hell will not burn forever "Torments" in the Greek basanoi, related to the verb basanizo, is used of persons suffering intensely from disease. The idea that at death men go to a place where they suffer "torments" is utterly foreign to the Scriptures, which teach plainly that "the dead know not any thing" (Eccl. 9:5; Ps. 146:4)

        To conclude from this parable that Jesus was teaching that at death the wicked are taken to a place where they undergo "torments" is to make Him here contradict His plain teachings on that subject upon other occasions, as well as the teachings of the Bible as a whole. It is in the "hell" of geenna (a name for the place of punishment) that sinners are to experience fiery torments (Matt. 5:22), not in hades When Jesus therefore presented the rich man as being "tormented in this flame" (verse 24), in hades, He is clearly speaking figuratively, and it is unwarranted to interpret His words literally.

        The concept of an eternal, burning hell has survived for centuries and is still the prevailing idea among many Christians This idea is sometimes reinforced and confirmed by accounts of near-death experiences as we have seen Consider the following experience: It is reported that a specialist in cardiovascular disease recently revived a patient who was technically dead, and "brought him back, terrified from hell." Said the frightened physician, "That night I went home, dusted off my Bible, and started reading it. I haven't stopped yet. It's just the way it says in the Bible."

        Is it? And was a patient really rescued from hell? If the man was in hell, it must be assumed that God thought he should be there Would any physician be able to snatch a man away from the hand of God? What about those who have had a near death experience, were these people really dead? Death, after all, is the opposite of life. It is the absence of life. It is the cessation of all life, including brain function. Yet evidently the brain of these people was still functioning enough for the enemy to give them the experience Otherwise how could they be aware of anything happening, even if it were happening?

        Keep in mind, too, that all of these people were resuscitated. So evidently they were not completely dead, even though they may have appeared to be As we have proved from Scripture, these so-called life-after-death experiences are with rare exception the work of Satanic agencies working on brains that have not yet died.

        There is no account of any truly dead person being brought back to life except by a direct miracle of Jesus as in the case of Lazarus During the time when life hung in the balance, while a person was so near death that they appeared to be dead, the brain had to be still alive
Weighing most heavily as evidence, of course, is the fact that considering these reports from resuscitated people as valid glimpses of the other side of death, necessitates disbelieving everything the Bible says about what happens at death, for the two are in direct contradiction The popular belief, even with the Pharisees of Christ's time (Luke 16:19-25), is that God has been sending people to a place called hell for thousands of years, beginning with Cain who killed his brother. And supposedly they are all still there being tormented by the flames
But would God torture men in the flames for thousands of years? Is that the act of a God of love? Is that the picture of a God who gave His only Son to die in our place? If God delights in torture, why should He go to such length to save any of us from the most horrible punishment He could inflict upon us? Hitler would have been positively kindhearted compared to such a God!

Consider this:

    If Hitler were thrown into those flames when he died, and even if he should burn forever, yet Cain would receive thousands of years more punishment than Hitler, and all for killing just one man. Would a God who would give us Jesus be so unfair? That is not all. We are very disturbed at the thought of anyone being condemned and punished without a trial. Yet the Bible indicates that the cases of men are not even investigated until down near the end of time in our day (Rev. 14:7). What about those people who have been burning for all these years? What if the investigation should reveal that some of them were accidentally sent to the wrong place? What then? What kind of God do we have?

        Is it any wonder that thousands of people have turned away from religion entirely, have become infidels, because they refused to worship a God like that? Something is wrong here, very wrong with the concept of hell that pictures God as such a tyrant. Satan, as God's enemy, is determined to do just that. His burning passion is to defame the character of God. It is the enemy who, for that very purpose, has dreamed up this whole idea of an ever-burning hell. And he has millions believing it. He has much of this planet believing that God is a harsh and cruel and ruthless tyrant, an exact picture of Satan's character How could Heaven be joyful if one could look over the edge down into hell and see loved ones suffering forever and ever? Impossible!

        The doctrine of an ever-burning hell is as preposterous as a God of hate Eternal punishment and suffering is a tragic and incorrect misinterpretation of Scripture, and another monstrous lie by the enemy of truth and righteousness. It is an attempt by Satan to make God's character appear like his, to get people to worship God through fear, as a fire escape, rather than because of love Notice how he goes about it. He starts with his own falsehood, first spoken in the Garden of Eden, "Ye shall not surely die." Then he builds upon it, making it appear reasonable. For if we cannot die, we must go on living somewhere forever If we are not good enough to live forever in Heaven, then we must live forever somewhere else. Satan invented an eternally burning hell for that purpose The Bible says not one word about an eternally burning hell, but it does talk about burning, fire, and punishment of the wicked "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to RESERVE the unjust unto the day of judgment TO BE (future) punished" (2 Pet. 2:9). The unjust are not being punished now. Their punishment is delayed for the day of final judgment "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in THE END OF THE WORLD" (Matt. 13:40) This fire comes at "THE END OF THE WORLD."

        WHAT DOES "FOREVER AND EVER" MEAN? Through misunderstanding and a lack of comparing Scripture with Scripture ("line upon line," and "precept upon precept" [Isa. 28:10]), the words "for ever and ever" in Revelation 14:11 are incorrectly interpreted to mean "without end," as we use the phrase today. Although "everlasting" and "forever and ever" describe the fire that burns the wicked and those who worship the beast and his image, it does not mean for eternity, but rather "AS LONG AS IT LASTS" or until it is finished.

        The phrase "for ever and ever" is also used in Isaiah 34:10 to describe the burning of the land of Idumea, which is not burning now Also, there is a difference between "everlasting punishment" (Matt. 25:46), which is everlasting in its effect, and everlasting punishing, which would be endless torment. A person will either receive eternal life, or he will "perish" (John 3:16; 10:28; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Thess. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:12; 3:9). "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Eze. 18:20)

        Matthew 25:41 and 2 Peter 2:9; 3:7,10,12 make it very clear that after the thousand years, this earth, Satan, his angels, demons, and the wicked will be consumed by the "fires of hell." They will become like stubble and reduced to ashes (Mal. 4:1,3) The earth will be melted with fervent heat in order to be recreated "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Pet. 3:10 "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 (future) BURN THEM UP, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch" (Mal. 4:1).

        Those who have chosen to be lost will be BURNED UP, not burned forever. They will burn like stubble - a quick, hot fire, and nothing will be left of them "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" (Ps. 37:20) The enemies of God will be consumed into smoke Can smoke be tortured? "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea; thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be" (Ps. 37:10).

        The fire will go out as any fire goes out when it has done its work. And the wicked will no longer exist. Neither will any place of punishment remain to mar the beauty and happiness of a clean universe The above texts do not even suggest an eternally burning hell or eternal torment. The fire will be literal and it will be hot, but when it has accomplished its purpose it will go out.

        Are there any texts that speak of "eternal" fire? "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah...are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 7) God has given us an example of what the final punishment will be like. These cities were punished, it says, with eternal fire But are Sodom and Gomorrah still burning? No. IT IS THE RESULT OF THE FIRE, not the fire, that is eternal. They have never recovered from it and they never will.
WHAT DOES "EVERLASTING FIRE" MEAN?

        Jesus talked about everlasting fire. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41). Jesus then went on in verse 46 to explain, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

        IT IS THE PUNISHMENT - NOT THE PUNISHING that is eternal It is the death, the state of being dead, that is eternal Does the "fire" described here as "everlasting" burn for ever? Of course not The word translated "everlasting," is "aionios" and means "an undescribed duration." Vine, in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words explains: "The use of aionios here shows that the punishment referred to... is not temporary, but final, and accordlingly the pharaseology shows that its purpose is not remedial but retributive."
Fires don't burn forever, they burn until absoluetely nothing is left to burn Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? Jude 7, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha,.. are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Sodom and Gomorrah aren't still burning, yet they are an "example" of the result of the "eternal fire." This word is ultimately cleared up in Revelation 21:8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, the murderes, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: WHICH IS THE SECOND DEATH." The wicked people will at that time have a part in this lake of fire, along with Satan and his angels. They will burn as long as there is any part of them to burn, and then the fires will go out for there will be nothing left but ashes.

REVELATION QUOTED AS PROOF:

        Let us consider now a verse in the book of Revelation which is often quoted as proof for an eternally burning hell "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever received the mark of his name." Rev. 14:10,11.

        Here, as a part of God's last message to men, is the most serious and solemn warning in all of Scripture. It is a warning, given in love, of the punishment that awaits those who finally ally themselves with the enemy of God. It is true that the unmingled wrath of God against sin, experienced by those who have refused to separate from it, will bring torment, however long it lasts. Those who experience it will have no rest - as long as it lasts, which is what the word, "for ever" in this text mean. Some will feel the wrath of God longer than others, and Satan longest of all. But a person can be tormented only so long as he lives. When he has been consumed into smoke, and the smoke has ascended up forever (gone forever), there is no more torment Only living people can be tormented People who no longer exist cannot experience anything.

WHEN GOD RAINS DOWN HELL FIRE:

        "And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." Rev. 20:9.

        "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"
2 Peter 3:10-12.

LIKE SODOM AND GOMORRAH:

        Just as God rained fire and brimstone on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, just so He will send fire from Heaven upon the enemies of God - the enemies who refused to be His friends. This is what Satan knows is coming. This is what he fears. This is what he tries to deny by saying that man is immortal and cannot die, by saying that there is no death. This is the final hour, for which he is determined that millions shall be unprepared. This is the fiery fate that he chose when he chose to rebel. And he delights that millions are choosing to share it with him. This final, irreversible hour is the perishing from which God gave His only Son to save us. This is the death from which there is no recovery - the death that is the wages of sin. And Satan, with the cunning of the serpent, tries to paint it over so that multitudes will meet it unprepared
The final reckoning with rebellion will come soon A planet will go up in flames. Most of its residents will die. But the cause of earth will go down in cosmic history as suicide because most of its souls will have chosen to die So it is that this final death is mysteriously tied to man's freedom, to his freedom to choose. If we choose to die, you can call it suicide. You can call it stupidity. You can also call it freedom. For when finally the fire falls, God will be only respecting the choice of those caught in the flames.

        And what will God be thinking as the flames envelope the earth? Is it the exulting of a Conqueror over an enemy bent before His power? No, it is the cry of a rejected Saviour, "Why will you die?" It is the pathetic cry of a loving Father who called His children out of the burning, but they would not come "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not" (Matt. 23:37).

        Oh strange planet in rebellion, how long and patiently I have knocked at your towers of glass and urged you to let Me in I would have saved you from the burning but you would not let Me Do you begin now to understand God's dealing with sin?

        However terrifying, however literal, however final the fires of judgment, remember what has gone before. He tried to call His children out of the burning and they would not come It is He who finally calls out in bitter disappointment, "Let the fire fall!" Listen, friend, listen with all the world shut out, with a vision of Calvary flooding your mind Do you hear Him calling your name? *(Excerpts from George Vandeman's "It is Written" Bible study helps.)

SUMMARY POINTS ABOUT HELL:

        1) The hell where God will destroy the wicked is not in some distant part of the universe. It will be right here on this earth. The entire globe (at least the surface) will be destroyed by fire, after which God will recreate it into the beautiful world He envisioned at the beginning But how could God recreate the world into the eternal home of His people, if it is also the place of eternal burning hell?

        2) The Bible says the wages of sin is death, not eternal torment Death and eternal torment are mutually exclusive ideas. Death means the absence of life. If the wicked burn consciously in hell throughout eternity, then they can't at the same time receive the wages of sin, which is death.

        3) It would be utterly contrary to the character of a God of love to allow anyone to suffer throughout eternity for the sins committed during a few years on earth.

        4) Satan rebelled in heaven several thousand years ago, creating a terrible problem for God Once Satan shows the absolute evil of his plan for ruling the world, why should God continue to allow the terrible experiments to continue? He won't. He wants to eradicate the disease, not just send it off and keep it alive."