p. 157 | Question Corner by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 17, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 10.

Question Corner

By Editor

WE can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.

4277—"UNQUENCHABLE FIRE"

Please explain Isa. 66: 23, 24, especially verse 24.

This text reads as follows: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."

Verse 23 shows that every month, at the time of the new moon, and every Sabbath, the inhabitants of the new earth shall go up to Jerusalem, the holy city, to worship the Lord. The fact that God's people in their redeemed state will spend every Sabbath in worship to God shows, as one commentary remarks, that the Sabbath "is therefore perpetually obligatory on earth."

In verse 24, the expression, "Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched," is sometimes taken to mean that they will never be consumed, but this is not the correct interpretation. After a fire has consumed all the substance upon which it was feeding, it goes out of itself—it is not quenched. And thus complete shall be the annihilation of the wicked—"their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched,"—they are utterly destroyed. "They shall be as though they had not been." Obadiah 16. "The day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." "They shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. 4: 1, 3.

Notice that it does not say that the wicked shall be as ashes, nor does it introduce any comparison here whatever, but plainly states a plain fact, that they shall be ashes under the soles of the saints' feet. Not that the saints will literally tread on ashes; but the wicked, having been reduced to ashes, like all other sin-polluted things, are incorporated into the substance of the new earth, which the saints are evermore to inhabit, as it emerges from the renovating fires of the day of the Lord.

In the earth made new, as it comes forth from the hand of God, redeemed from the curse, there is no room for a great receptacle of fiery torment, where an innumerable company of human beings shall burn and blaspheme and sin and suffer forever and ever. There is no room, in this great song of joy, for the discordant and hopeless wailing of the damned. There is no provision made for an eternal rebellion against the government of God, and eternal blasphemy against His holy name. Only those "who by patient continuance in well-doing" have sought "for glory and honor and immortality" will possess eternal and immortal life, and those who have rejected it will be remanded to the original elements from which they sprang.

Note that the text does not say that these men are alive. They are carcasses of the men who have transgressed. The word "carcasses" in this passage is translated from the same original Hebrew word as that rendered "corpses" in Isa. 37: 36, and "dead bodies" in Jer. 31: 40 and Amos 8: 3. In Matt. 3: 12 John tells of One who shall come after him, "whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

An instance of this "unquenchable fire" is found in Jer. 17: 27, where the Lord utters a warning against those who desecrate the Sabbath, saying that He will "kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." We quote from "Here and Hereafter," page 285, as follows, on this text:

"This fire was not to be quenched, therefore it was unquenchable. But it was to be kindled in the gates of Jerusalem, and devour the palaces thereof. It was therefore literal, natural fire. But how could a fire of this kind, thus kindled, be supposed to be a fire that would burn eternally? They certainly would not so understand it. No more should we. Moreover, this threatening of the Lord by Jeremiah was fulfilled. 2 Chron. 36: 19: 'And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.' Verse 21: 'To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.' Thus Jerusalem was burned according to Jeremiah's prediction that it should be consumed in unquenchable fire. But how long did that fire burn?—Only till it had reduced to ashes the gates and palaces on which it preyed. Unquenchable fire is therefore simply a fire that is not quenched, or does not cease, till it has entirely consumed that which causes or supports it. Then it dies out of itself, because there is nothing more to burn."

In the earth in its renewed state all unlovely and unpleasant things will be eliminated. There will be nothing to mar, for the former things "shall not be remembered, nor come into mind," and this would be impossible if there were a place of torment constantly open to the gaze of the inhabitants of the new world. And it is incompatible with the character of a merciful God to permit any of His creatures to suffer thus in endless torment.

4278—INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC

Please explain Amos 6: 5; and do you think it wrong to have instrumental music in church?

This scripture in Amos is speaking of a wrong use that is made of music. There are other scriptures that speak of the wrong use made of food. Good food, if eaten at wrong times, or if eaten without restriction, is detrimental to health, and under such circumstances it is wrong to eat it. And so it is with music, and with almost every other legitimate diversion. Eccl. 3: 1 states that "to everything there is a season," and verse 4 says there is "a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." "Dance" is here often translated "sing." In this chapter in Amos, the Lord is reproving the people for their indifference to the prophecies which had predicted their debasement and punishment for their apostasy. Instead of repenting and trying to avert the threatened downfall, they spent their time in reveling and self-indulgence. Instead of singing and playing on instruments, they should be mourning and deprecating the doom which awaited them.

That it is proper to use instruments of music on appropriate occasions is shown by various scriptures which exhort the people of God to "praise the Lord with harp: sing unto Him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings" (Ps. 33: 2); "sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery" (Ps. 81: 1, 2). The psalmist also says that "it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High: to show forth Thy loving-kindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound." Ps. 92: 1-3. "Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King." Ps. 98: 5, 6. The 150th psalm, also, is a psalm of praise to the Lord, exhorting His people to praise Him with the trumpet, the psaltery, the harp, the timbrel, with stringed instruments and organs, with cymbals, etc. Many other texts might be cited, showing that instruments of all sorts were used in connection with the worship of God; but these are sufficient. If the instruments are properly employed, these scriptures certainly show that God approves of their use in the church. Music, however, can be made to work harm in the church, the same as any place else; and at the same time, it is one of the greatest powers for good. All depends upon the hearts of the individuals who are rendering it.