What Is It? by M. H. Brown

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 3, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 47.

What Is It?

By M. H. Brown

Hell — What Is It? When Is It? Where Is It?

THE popular view, the view which has prevailed among Bible scholars and Christian people in all ages, has been that hell is a lake of fire into which Satan and all the wicked are cast, and this is clearly taught in the Scriptures. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:10. “And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Verse 15. This would include all the wicked. The Saviour also says, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:41.

What Is It?

That the fire is literal is proved conclusively by the Scriptures also. Peter, when referring to the Flood in the days of Noah, says: “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heaven and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:6, 7. The fire is as literal as the water, or there would be no force in the comparison. The doctrine of a literal lake of fire has generally been connected with the idea of its being endless in duration, hence the doctrine of endless misery and eternal torment for the wicked has been the popular view till recently.

In later years there has been a revulsion of feeling against this view, as being too gross and material, or inconsistent with the character of God. As a result, many argue that the punishment of the wicked consists not in the pains of literal fire, but in the pangs and remorse of a guilty conscience. The fallacy of this view is clearly proved by the well-known fact that the greater the crime and the longer a life of sin is continued, the more callous and hardened becomes the conscience.

The Bible speaks of the wicked as having the mind and conscience “defiled” (Titus 1:15), “seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:2), and of an “evil conscience” (Heb. 10:22). The truth is that if the punishment of the wicked consisted only in the gnawing of a guilty conscience and a remorse of mind, the punishment would be in inverse proportion to a person’s guilt. That is, the greater and more enormous the guilt, and the longer a person continued a life of sin, the less would be the punishment: and the less the guilt, the more tender would be the conscience, and the greater would be the suffering. This conclusion is unavoidable, and it shows the utter fallacy of such a theory.

When Is It?

The texts that describe hell as a lake of fire tell us when it will be. By reference to Matthew 25 we find that the wicked are cast into the lake of fire after the second coming of Christ and the decisions of the judgment are announced to the assembled nations. See verses 31-41. The same truth is taught in the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matt. 13:36-42. The Saviour says the wicked, who are represented by the tares, are cast into a furnace of fire — another term for the lake of fire — at “the end of the world.” Peter declares that the unjust are reserved “unto the day of judgment to be punished.” 2 Peter 2:9.

Revelation 20 clearly teaches that the devil and all the ungodly will be cast into the lake of fire at the end of the millennium, or the thousand years. See verses 7-10, 12-15. This occurs after the second advent of Christ, and after the judgment so graphically and solemnly described in these verses. Hence we know that hell, or the lake of fire, does not now exist. There is no hell now, as a place of punishment for the wicked. It will exist after the second coming of Christ, after the judgment, after the millennium, at the end of the world, and not before.

Where Is It?

The Bible not only reveals what hell is, and when it is, but plainly tells where it is. The Saviour says the meek “shall inherit the earth.” Matt. 5:5. Paul says that the promise was made to Abraham that “he should be the heir of the world.” Rom. 4:13. “And if we are Christ’s, then we are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.” Dan. 7:27. “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth.” Prov. 11:31. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.” Ps. 37:29. When will these promises be fulfilled? “When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” Verse 34.

It seems, then, that before the righteous can inherit the land, and the saints can possess the kingdom, the wicked must be cut off. This truth is clearly set forth also by the Saviour when He describes events at the end of the world. “The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Matt. 13:41-43.

While the righteous are caught up to heaven at Christ’s second advent, and reign there with Him in judgment during the millennium (Rev. 20:4), their recompense and eternal inheritance is in the earth, the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34). The same scripture which says that the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, also declares, “Much more the wicked and the sinner.” Prov. 11:31. While the righteous will go to the heavenly city when they are gathered by the angels, at the resurrection of the just, when Jesus comes to earth again, and they will live and reign with Him there for a thousand years, yet their eternal abode will be the earth, which was made for man’s home, and the purpose of God will not be defeated by Satan and the entrance of sin. See Ps. 115:16; Isa. 45:18.

Therefore while it is true that the righteous will be recompensed in the earth, it is “much more” true that that will be the case with the wicked. How can that be? — The wicked will never leave the earth. Here they are born, here they live and die, here they are raised from the dead at the end of the thousand years, and here on the earth they meet their fate in the lake of fire which consumes the devil and the wicked men. This scene is described in Mal. 4:1; Rev. 20:5-10, 15; and 2 Peter 3:7, 10-12.

This Earth Renewed

This lake of fire envelopes the earth, devouring the wicked, and purifying the earth, and completely removing the curse of sin, so that the earth is made over new, as described in the following scriptures: Ps. 104:29, 30; 2 Peter 3:13; Isa. 65:17; 66:22; Rev. 21:1.

The wicked have then been cut off. The curse is gone. Then the meek will “inherit the earth,” and “delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Then there will be none to molest or make afraid in all God’s holy mountain.

The world before the Flood is called “the world that then was,” and it perished in the flood of waters. That is, the people were swept away and perished in the water, and the condition of the earth was changed. “The heavens and the earth, which are now, . . . are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:5-7. When that time comes, as described in the text already cited, the wicked will perish in the lake of fire, as they perished in the waters of the Flood in Noah’s time; and the earth will come forth from that consuming and devouring fire, purified from sin and sinners, renewed in beauty and loveliness, and it is fittingly described as a new heaven and a new earth, because the change is so great. This new earth state, after sin and sinners have been destroyed, is set forth in many scriptures, and we catch a glimpse of that happy land and the joy of the redeemed by reading Isa. 35:1-10; 65:17-19; Rev. 5:13; 22:1-5.

In summing up the argument and evidence, we must conclude that hell is a literal lake or furnace of fire, where the devil and his angels and all the ungodly meet their fate. It will be at the end of the millennium, when fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them (Rev. 20:9), as fire destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot (2 Peter 2:6; Jude 7). It will be on this earth, where the wicked have lived and committed their deeds of wickedness, and have rejected all offers of mercy and pardon. Here they will be recompensed. Here they will be cut off, and they will cease to exist. Then “the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” Ps. 37:10. How is this?

A Clean Universe

The present heaven, and the present earth, with its lake of fire, and its toll of sin and guilt, wretchedness and wo, weeping and wailing, suffering and anguish, misery, and the smoke of their torment, will have all passed away (Rev. 21:1), and a new heaven and a new earth will have taken their place. “The former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” They are gone forever. “He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.”

Rev. 21:5. "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." Verse 4. Then the inspired prayer of the psalmist will be answered, "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more." Ps. 104:35. In contemplation of that glad day when sin and sinners will be no more, and God will have a clean universe, free from the blight and curse of sin, the psalmist exclaims, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, "Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord." Why should not all rejoice and praise the Lord at such a glorious prospect, so clearly revealed in the Scriptures of truth?