Punishment of the Wicked.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THERE is one text that should have received attention in connection with the article concerning the "everlasting fire" into which the wicked are to be cast. Before introducing it, however, we will briefly review the points already made. 1. Those only who accept Christ receive eternal life; all others perish. John 3:16. That is, they will be blotted from existence. This is the penalty which was threatened in the beginning, before sin entered, and which is now simply delayed a little in order to allow mankind an opportunity to repent. Thus it is that "the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation." 2 Peter 3:15. 2. The agent by which the death penalty is to be executed, is fire—"everlasting fire." We saw that it was "eternal fire" that destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Jude 7), and that by means of "unquenchable fire" the walls and palaces of Jerusalem were devoured. Jer. 17:27; 2 Chron. 36:18-21. We learned also that the "eternal fire" that fell upon the cities of the plain turned them to ashes (2 Peter 2:6), and that this is what is always accomplished when fire is unquenchable. The wicked being likened to chaff, and stubble, it does not tax our imagination in the least to understand how, when cast into unquenchable fire, they will be burned up, and be ashes. Matt. 3:12; Mal. 4:1, 3. 3. We have also seen that the wicked go into "everlasting punishment." But this punishment is death (Rom. 6:23), so that Matt. 25:46 simply teaches that from the death which the finally impenitent suffer, there will be no resurrection. This point was still further shown by the statement in Ps. 2:12, that even a slight manifestation of God's wrath causes the one against whom it is directed to perish, and that since that wrath abides on the sinner (John 3:36) there will be no recovery from that perdition. The texts already cited are amply sufficient to prove the final utter destruction of the wicked; but we have no desire to evade any point, or to pass by any text which would seem to militate against the positions taken. We therefore turn our attention to Rev. 14:9-11: "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 forever 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." The question is, Does the expression, "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever," necessarily imply that the torments of the wicked will never cease? If it does, then there is an unexplainable contradiction between it and those texts which speak plainly of the final extinction of the wicked. But this cannot possibly be; it cannot for a moment be admitted that there are contradictions in the sacred record. This text,697then, must harmonize with the great mass of testimony already quoted. We might quote authorities on the meaning of the Greek word rendered "forever," but we shall let the Bible explain this text, just as we have all the others, for it is only when men take it by itself, without regard to other scriptures, that it presents any objection to the position we have taken in regard to the destruction of the wicked. In the twenty-first chapter of Exodus, the first four verses, we find the law in regard to the length of time a Hebrew might be kept as a servant. Six years was the limit; after he had served six years, his master was bound to let him go free, for nothing, and allow him to take away as much as he brought with him. If during his term of service he had married one of his master's servants, she and her children were to remain with the master. In such a case, however, it would often happen that the servant would rather stay with his wife and children than have his liberty; if so, the law made the following provision:— "And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free; then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever." Ex. 21:5, 6. Now will any one claim that the life of that servant, as well as that of his master, was to be prolonged to all eternity? Certainly not; no one can be found who would gather from the above text that either the servant or his master would live any longer than a natural life-time. The text simply teaches that under the special circumstances mentioned, the servant should remain with his master and serve him continuously, as long as he should live. So we find that "forever" does not necessarily mean "to all eternity." Take another instance: In Isa. 34:9, 10, we read concerning the land, here called "Idumea," as follows: "And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever." In a similar strain the prophet continues to the close of the chapter; and then we read: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall be glad and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." Isa. 35:1, 2. These words are spoken of the same land from which, in the preceding chapter, it is said the smoke should ascend forever. So we see that there does come a time when the smoke does not arise from it; and that is when "the indignation of the Lord upon all nations" shall have been accomplished. Thus again we find that "forever," even "forever and ever," does not necessarily imply that there shall be no end. This text is the more important, as it has a direct bearing on Rev. 14:11. The time when the smoke shall thus ascend forever, is "the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion" (Isa. 34:8), and the time when "the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations" (verse 2). This being so, and the fact having been proved that the land does afterward cease burning, and become renewed, we find that we are positively bound to admit that there will come a time when the smoke of the torment of the rebellious ones will cease; and that the statement that it shall ascend forever and ever, means, as in the other two cases cited, that it will ascend continuously, as long as there are any wicked in existence. There will be no reprieve in their case, nor relaxing of the punishment. The fire which causes the smoke is unquenchable; it utterly devours the sinners; but when they have been devoured, and have become ashes, then the fire will of necessity cease to burn, and likewise the smoke will cease to ascend. Read the verses (Rev. 14:9-11) once more. They (the rebellious ones) "shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture." In our last article we learned (Ps. 2:12) the effect of the wrath of God when it is kindled even a little against the people of the earth; it is to cause them to "perish,"—"to come to nothing." Now if the wicked are made to drink of the "wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture," certainly the result can be nothing less than their utter destruction. We are not attempting to fix the duration of the "tribulation and anguish" which the wicked shall suffer previous to their death, nor to limit it in any way. The statement that "they have no rest day nor night," implies that it will not be of short duration. That they will suffer anguish for a long time, there can be no doubt; neither can there be any more doubt that this anguish will eventually be terminated by death; "for the wages of sin is death;" "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." If we insist that the torments of the wicked never cease, then these texts have no meaning. Yet it must be borne in mind that there is no restoration to the favor of God. No; the wicked shall "go away into everlasting punishment," even "everlasting destruction." Rev. 14:10 is not the only place where the "wine of the wrath of God" is mentioned. In Jeremiah 25:15 we read: "For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me: Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it." The different nations that shall drink of it are then specified, and the list closes with these words: "And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth." Verse 26. This corresponds with Ps. 75:8: "For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same; but the dregs thereof all the wicked shall wring them out, and drink them." Now what will be the result of their drinking of this cup? We turn again to the prophecy in Jeremiah:— "Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Ye shall certainly drink. For, lo, I begin to bring evil upon the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts." "A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord." "And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." Jer. 25:27-29, 31, 33. Thus we see that the drinking of the wine of the wrath of God produces death. They who drink it "fall, and rise no more." This is perfectly in harmony with what we have previously learned of the effect of God's wrath, when it abideth on the sinner. But there is one more text to be noticed in this connection, which settles the case absolutely. It is Obadiah 15, 16, which reads thus:— "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For 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." What stronger language could be used to show the final utter extinction of the wicked? And let it be remembered that this language is used concerning those who drink of "the wine of the wrath of God," threatened in Rev. 14:9-11. Certainly all must agree, then, that this latter text, instead of teaching the endless torture of the wicked, plainly shows that they, after suffering for an unknown length of time the "tribulation and anguish" which is their just due, finally receive the full wages of sin, which is death. E. J. W.