The Nature of an Unquenchable Fire
THE action of fire is not to preserve but to destroy. It lives upon that which is cast into it, or upon which it preys. It dissolves substances into their original elements, and changes them mainly into gaseous matter. The great and terrible conflagration of the last day will differ from every other in this grand fact, that in consequence of such chemical changes as the Creator will make, even the water shall burn as pitch, and the dust as brimstone. That fire shall devour every element, and then cease to burn for lack of fuel. It is not the property of fire to annihilate matter, but to dissolve it, and change its form of existence. The fire of the great day shall do this to the whole substance of our globe. But if it be an unquenchable fire, must it not burn to all eternity? One thing is very certain in that case, viz., that if the fire never ceases to burn, there must be an eternal creation going on; for the fire is continually devouring, and however vast the pile of fuel, unless it be absolutely unlimited and infinite, it must at last be all devoured. Indeed this is precisely the work of an unquenchable fire. It is to burn till it has utterly consumed all the fuel. Take the following as an illustration. God told the people of Jerusalem, when that city was threatened by Nebuchadnezzar, that if they would keep the Sabbath, their city should stand forever; but if they would not, in this, hearken to his voice, he testifies thus: “Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” Jer. 17:27. The people of Jerusalem would not heed this gracious warning. They put the Lord to the test to show whether he was in earnest. The last chapter of Jeremiah gives us the fulfillment of this warning. For we are told that Nebuzar-adan, the servant of Nebuchadnezzar, came to Jerusalem, “And burned the house of the Lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire.” Jer. 52:13. Thus we see that this unquenchable fire did utterly devour every thing that could burn. But that fire is not in process of action. It did its work. It could not be arrested. But when that work was done, the fire ceased. Such is the nature and the work of an unquenchable fire.