The End of the Wicked

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Aug 7, 1916

The End of the Wicked

Eternal Death

1. What question does Peter ask regarding the wicked? “The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17.

2. What does the Bible say is the wages of sin? “The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Eze. 18:4. Die: “To pass from physical life; to suffer a total and irreparable loss of action of the vital functions; to become dead; to expire; perish.”—Webster.

3. What will be the character of this death? “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” 2 Thess. 1:9. Destroy: “To unbuild; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish; to spoil utterly; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate.”—Webster.

4. How complete will be the destruction of the wicked? “Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matt. 10:28.

Compared to All That is Perishable and Worthless

5. To what are the wicked in their punishment compared? “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. Consume: “To destroy; as by decomposition, dissipation, waste, or fire.”—Webster.

6. How does John the Baptist describe the destruction of the wicked? “He that cometh after me is mightier than I, . . . whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matt. 3:11, 12.

7. Will any part of the wicked be left? “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.” Mal. 4:1.

8. What will then be their condition? “As ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.” Obadiah 16.

Even His Place Shall Not Be

9. Where will the place of the wicked then be? “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. NOTE.—It would be difficult to keep the wicked in eternal torment without any place for them, even, in which to exist.

10. Where are both the righteous and the wicked to be recompensed? “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.” Prov. 11:31.

Destroyed at the Final Judgment

11. Do the wicked go directly to their punishment at death, or wait till the day of judgment? “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” 2 Peter 2:9.

12. What will be the result of the fires of the last day? “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.” “The earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:12, 10.

13. Whence will come the fire that will destroy them? “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. NOTE.—This is called God’s “strange act” and his “strange work,”—the work of destruction. Isa. 28:21. But by this means God will utterly and forever cleanse the universe of sin and all its sad results. Death itself will then be at an end—cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:14.

This is the Second Death

14. To what will this fire reduce the wicked? “Ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 4:3. NOTE.—The wicked are to be utterly destroyed—consumed away into smoke, brought to ashes. Having inseparably allied themselves with sin, they have forfeited the right to life and an immortal existence, and chosen the way of death and destruction. By their choice they have proved themselves worthless. For this reason they are compared to chaff, briers, thorns, etc. Their destruction will consequently be no real loss. They themselves will have lost their opportunity to obtain eternal life; but by the way in which they used their probationary time they proved themselves unworthy of it. Their destruction will, in fact, be an act of love and mercy on the part of God; for to perpetuate their lives would be only to perpetuate sin, sorrow, suffering, and misery. Terrible, therefore, as this judgment will be, there will, in consequence of it, be nothing of value lost,—nothing worth saving. The experiment of sin will be over, and God’s original plan of peopling the earth with a race of holy, happy beings will be carried out. 2 Peter 3:13.

15. What is this final destruction of the wicked called? “This is the second death.” Rev. 20:14. 15. After the burning day, what will appear? “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13.