The Sabbath-School by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 22, 1885

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—FEB. 21.

Punishment of the Wicked—Continued.

Give a scriptural explanation of Rev. 14:9-11; 20:10.
When the wicked have been simply tormented with fire and brimstone, have they received their reward? Rom. 6:23.
Then what must that fire do in order that the wicked may receive their deserts? Mal. 4:1.
What is appointed unto all men? Heb. 9:27.
Can this death, to which all men are appointed, be the death which is the wages of sin?
What is promised to all men, regardless of their character? 1 Cor. 15:22; Acts 24:15.
Are the wicked now suffering their punishment? 2 Peter 2:9.
When will every man be rewarded according to his works? Matt. 16:27.
Then for what purpose will they come forth from their graves? Job 21:29, 30.
Give further proof that the death which is common to all men is not the wages of sin. Eze. 18:26.
What is it that causes the death which is the wages of sin? Rev. 20:9.
What is this death by fire called? Rev. 21:8.
How long is it after the resurrection of the righteous before the wicked are "brought forth" to destruction? Rev. 20:4, 5.
Who will escape the second death? Rev. 2:11; 20:6.

"AND the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 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 receiveth the mark of his name." Rev. 14:9-11.

It is not the province of this lesson to explain the meaning of the beast, his image, or his mark. It is sufficient to say that to worship the first two, or receive the last, must be the most heinous crime that man can commit, since it brings down upon the offender the unmingled wine of the wrath of God. The point to be explained is the expression, "and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever." As this has been explained in past lessons, a brief mention here will be sufficient. If the student will read Ex. 21:2-6, he will find that the term "forever" does not necessarily denote that the thing to which it is applied shall never cease to exist; for under certain conditions a servant was to serve his master forever, which could not possibly mean "without end." Now if that term does not necessarily mean "without end," Rev. 14:9-11 affords no proof that the wicked will be tormented to all eternity. That doctrine, if true, must be proved by other texts. But we have already learned that the wicked are to be stubble in a fire that shall "burn them up," and will leave them "neither root nor branch." Then, as in Ex. 21:2-6 we understand that "forever" means as long as the servant might live, so we must understand that Rev. 14:9-11 teaches that the smoke from the torment of the wicked will ascend without any cessation, until there are no wicked left in existence.

THIS explanation will also suffice for Rev. 20:10: "And the devil that deceived them [the wicked] was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [were cast], and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." The preceding verse shows that the fire has already "devoured" the wicked; this shows that the devil, the author of sin, survives to see the destruction of all his works. That he himself will, after long torment, cease to exist, we are well assured, because Christ did not die in vain, and he died that he might "destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. Satan is the "root" from which all wickedness springs; the day that cometh shall leave neither root nor branch.

IT is true that "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish" are threatened to "every soul of man that doeth evil" (Rom. 2:8, 9), yet we are by no means to suppose that those things comprise the sum of the punishment which the wicked are to receive. "The wages of sin is death," and until death takes place, the sinners will not have received their punishment. They are to be "punished with everlasting destruction," and this will not be until their torment has been ended by eternal death.

CERTAINLY no one can gather from the Scriptures that the death with which we are so familiar is the wages of sin. "It is appointed unto men once to die;" all men, both good and bad, die because they have inherited a mortal nature, and not because they have sinned. To all men, whether good or bad, there is promised a resurrection (Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:22) from the death which they die as a consequence of being the descendants of mortal Adam; now if this death were the penalty for sin, then the resurrection would be the revoking of the penalty; but this can never be, because, when once inflicted, it is to be everlasting. That none of the wicked are now receiving the penalty for their sins is evident from 2 Pet. 2:9: "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." Those who are dead are reserved in their graves, from which, at the voice of Christ, they shall come forth. John 5:28, 29. Job also says that "the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction," and that "they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Job 21:30.

IN Eze. 18:26 we have most conclusive evidence that the death which Adam died, and which all his posterity have likewise suffered, was not as a penalty for sin. It reads thus: "When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them, for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die." The prophet here mentions two deaths. If a man dies in his sins, i. e., if he does not repent before death overtakes him, then he shall die. But if he is dead, how can he die? Evidently he must have a resurrection, and this, as we have seen, is promised to all men, irrespective of character. Those that have done evil come forth from their graves to the resurrection of damnation. John 5:28, 29. And in harmony with this idea are the words of Rev. 21:8: "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. 20:4-6 shows when the wicked are "brought forth" to suffer the second death. The apostle in verse 4 mentions the righteous who had been martyred, who, he says, lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. They had been dead, but now lived. This, he says, is the "first resurrection." It is the first because "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." The word again implies another living, or a resurrection. So a thousand years intervene between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power." This statement has no force unless those who do not have part in the first resurrection do suffer the second death. This is the death which is the wages of sin, and it is brought about by fire. It is yet future, and will not take place until the harvest—"the end of the world"—when the tares will be gathered out and bound in bundles to be burned. Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43.