The Sabbath-School by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 15, 1885

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—JAN. 31.

Punishment of the Wicked—Continued.

With what does Paul say that the wicked shall be punished? 2 Thess. 1: 7-9.
When will this punishment take place?
From whom does this destruction come?
What does the prophet Joel say of the day of the Lord? Joel 1: 15.
What is the agent of this destruction that comes from the Lord? 2 Thess. 2: 8; Rev. 20: 9.
What does the inspired writer say of the suffering of those who are thus devoured? Rev. 20: 10.
Repeat another testimony on this point. Rev. 14: 9-11.
What, in ancient times, was the law concerning Hebrew servants? Ex. 21: 2.
If in the seventh year the servant refused to leave his master, what was done? Verses 5, 6.
After the ceremony of boring the servant's ear had been performed, how long was he to serve his master? Ib.
Can this by any possibility mean that in such a case the servant was never to die?
What must we understand by the expression, 'he shall serve him forever'? (See note.)
Then what may we understand by similar expressions concerning the torment of the wicked?
What positive proof can you give that those sufferings will eventually be terminated by cessation of existence? Mal. 4: 1, 3.
How many other texts do you remember that prove the same thing?

"It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled [to recompense] rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Thess. 1: 7-9. The time when this vengeance will be taken on the disobedient is stated in verses 7 and 10. It is when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, and when he shall be glorified in his saints. Compare Matt. 25: 31-46.

THERE is a quite general misunderstanding of this text in Thessalonians. We frequently hear it quoted as though it read that the wicked shall be banished from the presence of the Lord. But the text says no such thing. Further, to be banished from the presence of the Lord is an impossibility, for God is omnipresent; he fills the universe; and still further, if such a thing were possible, it would be no punishment for the wicked, but would be what they would desire. No position could be more unsatisfactory to a wicked man than to be continually in the presence of God. What the text does say of the wicked is that they "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." The destruction comes from the Lord. So we read in Joel 1: 15 that the day of the Lord comes "as a destruction from the Almighty." And Paul in another place says that the wicked shall be consumed by the spirit of his mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming, thus showing how they are destroyed from, or by, the glory of his power.

FROM Rev. 20: 9, as well as elsewhere, we learn that fire is to be the agent in the destruction of the wicked. As they compass the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, fire comes down from God out of heaven, and devours them. This indicates complete extermination. Then what are we to understand when, in the next verse, we read that they "shall be tormented day and night forever and ever"? Some may answer that this applies only to the devil, who deceived them. This will not meet the difficulty, since the Scriptures do not teach that Satan is to be punished differently from the wicked, except in degree; and in Rev. 14: 11 we have a statement concerning the wicked, that is similar to that in Rev. 20: 10. Now since John, looking at things that are to be, as though they had been, saw that the fire devoured the wicked, and Paul says that they shall be punished with everlasting destruction, we must conclude that "forever and ever" must be limited in duration. For if the wicked are always to exist in torment, then it would necessarily follow that they will never be destroyed nor devoured.

THE Bible must be its own interpreter, and we will let this text, which seems obscure, be explained by another one, which has no obscurity. Turn to Ex. 21, and read verses 2-6: "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. 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." We say that there is no obscurity in this passage. The different parts of the transaction are clearly indicated, and the result is plainly stated: after having his ear bored through with an awl, the servant was to continue a bondman forever. And no one would mistake the statement, and suppose that the servant was to endure the rigors of servitude throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. Certainly not. All would agree that this means simply that the servant could, under those circumstances, derive no benefit from the Sabbatical year, but that he must serve without intermission just as long as his life should last. This is all there is to it.

"But why," says one, "do you introduce such an instance as that?" In order to show that the term "forever" does not necessarily indicate that the thing to which it is applied has no end. It may be applied to an object that is in its nature perishable, as in the case of the servant. In general this rule may be laid down: Whenever there is anything in the nature of the object spoken of that forbids the idea of its eternal existence, the term "forever" implies merely continuity of existence. God's word forbids us to imagine that the wicked shall exist throughout eternity; so when we read that they shall be "tormented day and night forever and ever," we are to understand that their torments will be long, and will be unintermitting until they are utterly consumed. That such a time will come is taught by the word of the Lord: "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." Mal. 4: 1. "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." Verse 3; Matt. 3: 11, 12; 2 Thess. 1: 7-9; 2: 8; Rev. 20: 9; Rom. 6: 23; John 3: 16, 36; and many other texts may be cited to prove the same thing, namely, that the wicked will eventually be utterly exterminated.

E. J. W.