The Destiny of the Wicked by G. B. Thompson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1915

The Destiny of the Wicked

By G. B. Thompson

(Continued)

The Reward of the Wicked Is Death, Not Life in Misery

NOWHERE in the Bible is it taught that the wicked will live eternally in a lake of fire, suffering untold agony and excruciating torture. The penalty of sin is not life in misery, “remorse of conscience,” but death. “The wages of sin

is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23. Death is a cessation of life, a state of unconsciousness. The Lord through his prophet declares, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Eze. 18:4, 26. It is not to live in misery, but to die. Those who are finally lost will experience the second death. “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.” Rev. 21:8. “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Chap. 20:14.

The wicked, being “alienated from the life of God,” are compared to the most perishable and combustible substances. “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matt. 3:12. If the language of the Bible means anything, we have here a good illustration of the end of the wicked. They are compared to chaff, that which is dry and dead, and easily consumed. There is nothing in this figure indicating eternal torture, but rather the reverse. The utter destruction of the impenitent is further emphasized by the Saviour’s statement that the fire which annihilates them is “unquenchable.” Not that it will burn eternally, but that it can never be extinguished until that upon which it preys is utterly consumed. Then it will cease to burn, as did the unquenchable fire which consumed Jerusalem anciently. Compare Jer. 17:27 with 2 Chron. 36:19.

A similar comparison is made by the prophet of God. “For while they be folded together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.” Nahum 1:10. The psalmist declares, “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. And then he further says that “evildoers shall be cut off. . . . For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” Verses 9, 10. How plain and positive is this language! The wicked shall “not be,” or exist, and no place for their existence will be found. The earth, where they have lived, has become the saints’ eternal abode. If such language does not denote the complete destruction of all who have refused to lay hold upon eternal life, it is difficult to conceive of any language which could have been used to convey this thought had the Lord intended to do so.

Many other figures are used concerning the wicked which indicate that they will not live forever, but will be completely devoured from off the earth. They are compared to thorns and briars (Heb. 6:8), to wax, which “melteth before the fire” (Ps. 68:2), to tares (Matt. 13:30); to dry branches (John 15:6). If the wicked are indestructible and are to live eternally, all these comparisons, and many others which might be given, are deceptive; but if, as the Scriptures everywhere affirm, they are without life, dead in sin, and are finally to be destroyed and cease to exist, and the curse to be forever eradicated from the earth, the figures used are forceful, and teach the great truth that man, apart from Christ, cannot live forever.

The agent by which sinners are to be destroyed and by which the earth is finally to be cleansed from sin is fire. There are some things that only fire will purify and make clean. Once the Lord cleansed the earth from the putrid effects of sin by water; the second and final purification will be by fire. “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. . . . And 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. 4:1-3. “Upon the wicked he [the Lord] shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup.” Ps. 11:6.

The seer of Patmos, beholding the countless host of the lost as they come forth in the second resurrection and are led by Satan to surround the city of God in a frenzied effort to capture and destroy the “camp of the saints,” describes their utter and eternal overthrow in the following language: “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.

Surely these texts do not give any warrant to the doctrine of a lake of fire in which the ungodly will be plunged to be tortured throughout numberless cycles of time, cursing and blaspheming God in their despair and unutterable woe. They are to be “burned up,” become “ashes,” be “devoured,” or eaten up. Such language denotes the extinction and utter annihilation of the ungodly. They are to be destroyed “root” and “branch.” Satan is the root, his children are the branches. The curse of sin will be rooted out of the universe.

G. B. THOMPSON.

(To be concluded)