The Strand Study Bible

REVELATION

2176

Written From the Island of Patmos

Sadly, some religious movements have softened the reality of a literal eternal Hell by stating that: * Hell has a lighter side to it, called Purgatory ( Catholics – I Cor 3:13a ) * Hell does not exist ( Hinduism , Buddhism , Seventh Day Adventists , Jehovah’s Witnesses , New Age ) * Hell is only temporal ( Judaism , Islam ) Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb in Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross note:

God’s mercy is also shown in the belief that after a certain period of time God himself will bring out a large number of the damned from hell, not because of their own merit but to demonstrate his compassion on his creatures. 9

* Hell is not easily defined ( Mormons ) NOTE - According to the original Greek, Hell does exist, is eternal, and is every bit as bad as one might expect. For example, this word ( shall be tormented ) is the Greek word “βασανισθησονται” (basanisthasntai) and means “ to rub on the touchstone ; to put to the test , hence, to examine by torture .” βασανισθησονται comes from the Greek word “βασανος,” which means “ to be afflicted, tormented, or severely pained .” This word is used 22 times in the NT (Mt 4:24 & 8:6,29 & 14:24 & 18:34, Mk 5:7 & 6:48, Lk 8:28 & 16:23,28, II Pet 2:8 and Rev 9:5,5 & 11:10 & 12:2 & 14:10-11 & 18:7,10,15 & 20:10). According to The Analytical Greek Lexicon , the parsing (or, break down in the original Greek) of this word (βασανισθησονται), is – 3rd person plural ( they ) / future tense ( shall be tormented ) / indicative mood (which is the mood of certainty ) / passive voice (where the subject receives the action), 10 and meansthat all three persons (the Devil, the beast, and the false prophet) shall certainly be tormented for ever and ever throughout eternity . Clarence Larkin in The Book of Revelation notes:

As punishment for his final act of Rebellion, Satan shall be seized, probably by the same Angel that chained him, and hurled into the “LAKE OF FIRE,” where he will find alive and waiting for him the “Beast” and the “False Prophet” who were cast therein a 1000 years before. This shows that there is no such thing as annihilation. The “Lake of Fire” was prepared for the Devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41), not to consume them in, for God could do that with fire from heaven, but to PUNISH THEM IN; and all those whose names are not written in the “Book of Life” will go to the same place to spend eternity. 11

Here is how this verse should read according to the original Greek –

[3rd person plural] [fut] [ind] [pass] and they (meaning the Devil, the beast, and the false prophet) shall certainly be the objects of torment “… NDL EDσDQLσθKσοQτDL

day and night for the ages of the ages KPHUD9 NDL QXNτο9 HL9 τοX9 DLZQD9 τZQ DLZQZQ .”

The NewWorld Translation (the Jehovah’s Witnesses Bible) wrongly translates this verse by stating that the beast and the false prophet were in the lake of fire instead of still are in the lake of fire, as rightly stated in the King James Version. βασανισθησονται states emphatically that the beast and the false prophet are still in the lake of fire (being thrown into that lake of fire 1000 years earlier – Rev 19:20), and shall continue to certainly be the object of torment day and night forever and ever. 20:11 a- 15a There are 33 verses that prophesy about CHRIST’S GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT : * 8 verses are from the OT - Eccl 3:17,21 & 11:9 & 12:7,14, Isa 24:22 and Dan 2:35 & 7:10 * 25 verses are from the NT - Mt 10:15 & 11:22,24 & 12:36 & 23:14, Mk 6:11 & 12:40, Lk 10:12,14 & 20:47, Jn 5:29 & 12:48, Acts 10:42 & 24:15,25, Rom 2:5-6,16 & 3:6, Heb 9:27 & 12:23, I Pet 4:5, II Pet 2:9, Jude 13 and Rev 11:18 20:11 b There are 14 verses that prophesy about the Destruction of This World and its System ( the earth and the heaven fled away ): * 2 verses are from the OT - Psa 102:26 and Isa 51:6 * 12 verses are from the NT - Mt 5:18 & 24:35, Mk 13:31, Lk 21:33, I Cor 7:31, Heb 1:11-12, II Pet 3:7,10-12 and I Jn 2:17 NOTE - According to the Bible, the heavens along with our earth, as we know them, will pass away (they will be renovated and remodeled for God’s glory - Isa 65:17 and II Pet 3:10 ).

1 Anderson, William E. Rapture? Sure… but when? , Holiday, FLA, Green Key Books, 2003. Print. 2 Lehman, Louis Paul. Questions I Had to Settle , Grand Rapids, MI, Lamp-Lighter Productions., 1965. Print. 3 Graham, Billy. Storm Warning , Nashville, TN, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1992 and 2010. Print. 4 Capon, Robert Farrar. The Parables of Judgment , Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans Pub., 1989. Print. 5 Jacobsen, Henry. The War We Can’t Lose , USA, Victor Books, 1972. Print. 6 Ironside, H.A. Lectures on the Revelation , New York, NY, Loizeaux Brothers, 1920, 1958. Print. 7 Hyles, Jack. Let’s Study the Revelation , Murfreesboro, TN, Sword of the Lord Pub., 1967. Print. 8 Willmington, Harold L. Willmington’s Bible Handbook , Wheaton, ILL, Tyndale, 1997. Print. 9 Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb. Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross , Grand Rapids, MI, Baker, 1993. Print. 10 The Analytical Greek Lexicon . Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1977. Print. 11 Larkin, Clarence. The Book of Revelation , Lexington, KY, Forgotten Books, 1919, 2007. Print.