Sorer Punishment Than Death
By Uriah Smith
In Heb. x, 28, 29, Paul speaks of sorer punishment than death. Some say that this sorer punishment is eternal misery. Queries. Is there any punishment sorer than death? If so, what is it, or in what does it consist? and when will it be inflicted? O. Hoffer. Answer. The verses referred to read as follows: "He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace." It will be noticed that reference is made to the temporal punishment inflicted under the Mosaic dispensation, upon those who despised his law, and the punishment to be inflicted in the future upon those who will not avail themselves of the provisions of the gospel. In other words, the two punishments that are contrasted are temporal death and eternal death. It is the latter which is called the sorer punishment. Hence there is no necessity nor any ground for supposing eternal misery to be meant. U. S.