OH, GO TO FIRE
That title doesn’t have a real ring to it, like the curse word hell, but it may be more accurate. Only one Human has ever died the second death, the permanent death, and that Person is Yeshua HaMashiach. All other humans, past, present, and those alive and dying during the 1,000-year Millennium die the temporary death, known as sleep to Yeshua. Yeshua is the only Person to have ever died a permanent death, carrying all the sins of the world for all time. Thank Yahweh He rose from the dead! Are you grateful that Yeshua died in your place? You should be. Could you raise yourself from the dead? I doubt it.
Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name (Yahweh) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Isaiah 43:3a, “For I am Yahweh your Mighty One, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Isaiah 49:26, “All flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Isaiah 60:16, “You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles, and milk the breast of kings; you shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Mark 9:43, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to (gehenna, Strong’s # G1067) hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched.”
Gehenna was the valley of (the son of) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem. This valley was used as the trash dump outside Jerusalem, which was always burning. Some condemned criminals were tossed into this dump to burn their bodies, as a means of dishonor, without a proper, honorable burial. To get thrown into the burning ditch of gehenna was a means of punishment by fire, though you would already be dead. Torture was not involved and not insinuated in Yeshua’s words, though Yeshua did associate gehenna with fire. The fire was used to destroy the carcass, not torture the soul. The fire remains forever, the condemned person does not.
Mark 9:47, “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of Yahweh with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell (gehenna) fire.”
Yeshua used this picture of the burning dump outside Jerusalem to give us a digital picture of the fate of an unrepentant sinner. Do you get the 100-megapixel picture? It’s unfortunate that the translators use the English word hell, because in the Greek there are two words used. Hades means the grave, or a hole in the ground, but sometimes is translated hell in the New Testament. It’s the place where dead (asleep, as Yeshua would say) people go, the grave. It’s the temporary resting place of our departed friends and relatives.
Ecclesiastes 3:19-20, “For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.”
Men and beasts both die and decompose back to dust. Genesis 3:19, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.”
Job knew where he was going when he died, Job 17:13, “If I wait for the grave as my house, if I make my bed in the darkness,”
Yeshua became flesh like us. John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Hebrews 2:14, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,” Acts 2:31, “he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah, that His soul was not left in Hades (the grave), nor did His flesh see corruption.” Yeshua was put in a grave as a mortal man, but did not stay there long enough to decay!! He resurrected in three days, before decomposition set in.
1 Corinthians 15:55, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades (grave), where is your victory?” Hell and hades have two different meanings. Keep that in mind as we proceed.
When you are dead and buried in a grave, you do not know it. Ecclesiastes 9:5, “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.”
So what’s the difference between hell and hades? When and how does a dead person in a grave go to fiery judgment?
John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation (Greek word krisis, judgment).” Remember, it’s Yeshua’s krisis that is coming during the latter part of the Great Tribulation, but it looks like some humans also have a krisis, or judgment, waiting for them. Resurrection Day is an appointment date on Yahweh’s calendar, don’t miss it. Notice the theology of this Scripture, no fiery torment of the unsaved in hell before a judgment, or krisis, opportunity day. Judgment Day is fast approaching for the unsaved, but like I’ve said before, one man’s Judgment Day is another man’s Resurrection Day, or Rapture Day, or Jubilee Day. Are you getting the concept?
Revelation 20:4-6, “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Yeshua and for the word of Yahweh, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years. 5But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of Yahweh and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”
This passage is talking about the first resurrection, to LIFE! The resurrection to Judgment Day does not happen until the end of the thousand-year reign of Messiah on earth. (Time travel forward 1,000 years.) Revelation 20:11-12, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before Yahweh, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.”
The dead in Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, are raised to life at His Second Coming. Remember, Rapture Day = Resurrection Day. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of Yahweh. And the dead in Messiah will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air. And thus we shall always be with Yahweh.”
Now we know, the saved humans resurrect to everlasting life at Messiah’s Second Coming, known as the first resurrection, and “the rest of the dead”, the unsaved lost humans, resurrect to mortal life for judgment at the end of the 1,000 year Millennial Reign of Yeshua, known as the second resurrection to judgment. Reread Revelation 20:11-12, all humans die a temporary death, known as sleep to Yeshua, until after the Great White Throne judgment. After that Great White Throne judgment, anyone who does not receive Yeshua as their Savior, will die the second death, the permanent death, from which only One Person has ever resurrected. At that Great White Throne judgment seat, I believe those that never had a chance to hear the Name of Yeshua named or had a chance to receive Him as Savior, will have that chance at the Judgment. We really have no idea how long that Judgment Day will last. It could last one day, one year, or another 1,000 years, or more. Maybe we should call it Judgment Age.
Is there a third resurrection of incorrigible dead? You will have to make up your own mind, but the Scriptures do not teach that there is. Verses 13-15 of Revelation 20 are connected to the second resurrection at the end of the 1,000 year Millennial Reign, “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and (temporary, sleep) Death and (the grave) Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14Then Death and (the grave) Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second (permanent) death. 15And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Does anyone end up in eternal temporary death of the grave? It doesn’t look like it; you either get eternal life or fiery permanent death in the lake of fire, known as the second death. No one is going to end up in the dust of temporary sleep death for more than 7,000 years. That is proven in verse 14 above wherein death and its counterpart grave are thrown into the second death, the lake of fire, permanent death. Are there some “bad” people who will not repent at the Great White Throne final opportunity judgment? Yes. Revelation 21:8, “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, (drug) sorcerers (includes pharmacist poisoners), idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” The unrepentant wicked will suffer a permanent fiery death, but I pray that all humans will repent, either now or immediately upon their resurrection to judgment.
You only get to die the temporary sleep death once per Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Once you are resurrected, you will have eternal life, or you will be judged (i.e. given the chance to choose Yeshua). Once judged by Yahweh, you will have eternal life or eternal fiery death. I pray only a few will be found guilty of sin in Yahweh’s Great White Court. The final wages you will be paid on that day are a firestorm you really don’t want. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is (permanent, fiery, lake of fire) death, but the gift of Yahweh is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Master.” Absence of life, cessation of life, annihilation of life, just the thought of it brings on a heart-breaking sadness that one does not want to contemplate.
Hebrews 10:26-27, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.” Yeshua’s once-for-all final sacrifice in 30 CE is the only one that Yahweh will accept on behalf of any and all sinners. Will unrepentant sinners be tortured for all eternity or will they be devoured, and that quite quickly? Those that have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, will have a one-time final offer of salvation at the Great White Throne judgment seat. The sentence Yahweh hands out on that day will have instant eternal consequences, eternal life or instant obliteration at the hands of your loving Heavenly Creator.
Psalm 37:20, “But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of Yahweh, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.” Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Malachi 4:1, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says Yahweh of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch.” The final end of the wicked is to be burned up, totally consumed, nothing left but smoke, it’s not a pretty picture. There is no other chance for life after being sentenced to permanent death and thrown into the lake of fire. The best mental picture I get from this study is that of the bug zapper. Zzzztttt. It ain’t over till it’s over, but when you get tossed into the lake of fire, it’s over, and nobody will be singing over you. The fat lady will be worshiping Yahweh.
Yahweh is love and has no desire that any human should perish. 2 Peter 3:8-9, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with Yahweh one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9Yahweh is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” He doesn’t want to torment or torture anyone, unlike our terrorist buddies. No one will be condemned to hell fire based on a judgment of ignorance of Yahweh’s truth of the Gospel. Everyone will have a true honest real opportunity to accept or reject Yeshua as their Savior. Everyone will get their day in heaven’s Court. Yahweh is perfectly just and fair, and no one will be sentenced to eternal death without first hearing the Good News of Yeshua’s plan for them. He wants holy children that accept His precious gift of life. He will lead you into righteousness if you let Him. Open your heart and life to Yeshua today.
Psalm 96:10-13, “Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before Yahweh.
13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.”
Gene Benjamin II
March 29, 2011 CE