p. 234 | THE NEW TESTAMENT ON ENDLESS TORMENT

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · April 8, 1880

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 55, No. 15

THE NEW TESTAMENT ON ENDLESS TORMENT.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

(Continued.)

7. “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:43, 44.

This probably stands as the second strongest text which our opponents produce. Hell, never-dying worm, unquenchable fire! This they think settles the question. But let the word of God explain itself. The word “hell” in this instance comes from gehenna, which is thus defined by Greenfield in his Greek Lexicon: “Properly the valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem, once celebrated for the horrid worship of Moloch, and afterward polluted with every species of filth, as well as the carcasses of animals, and dead bodies of malefactors, to consume which, in order to avert the pestilence which such a mass of corruption would occasion, constant fires were kept burning. Hence, hell.” There was a place just south of Jerusalem where Moloch was formerly worshiped. When the Jews reformed, and saw the error of that worship, they made this a place for casting all the filthy refuse of the city. Dead bodies of beasts and malefactors were cast into fire to be consumed. These fires were kept burning. And worms also devoured some other parts which the fire did not consume. Thus there were two elements of destruction here, the fire and the worms. As long as there were any carcasses to burn, the fire was kept burning; and, of course, as long as there was a piece of decaying flesh, there were worms to devour it. Dr. Barnes thus comments on Mark 9:43–48:—

“This figure is clearly taken from Isa. 66:24. In describing the great prosperity of the kingdom of the Messiah, Isaiah says that the people of God shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against God. Their enemies shall be overcome. They shall be slain. The people of God shall triumph. The figure is taken from heaps of the slain in battle; and the prophet says that the number shall be so great that their worm—the worm feeding on the dead—shall not die, but shall live long, as long as there are carcasses to be devoured; and that the fire which was used to burn the bodies of the dead shall long continue to burn, and shall not be extinguished till they are consumed.”

This figure the Saviour uses to illustrate the destruction of the wicked. Seeing that the damned will finally be destroyed, just as these carcasses were consumed in gehenna, no doubt this was the most forcible figure that could be produced of the utter destruction and consumption of the wicked. The expression used is very far from teaching endless suffering, because, in the strongest language, it asserts utter destruction.

But the text speaks of “unquenchable fire.” If the fire is unquenchable, must it therefore burn eternally? No; to quench a fire is to extinguish it, to put it out before it has entirely consumed that upon which it is feeding. Thus, a house is on fire. We call for help; the fire is extinguished and the house saved. That fire is quenched. But in case the house caught fire, and every effort was made to save it, but it was found impossible, and the house burned down, that would be unquenchable fire. We were not able to quench it, and the building was burned. Just so, says Christ, the wicked shall be cast into fire which they can in no way extinguish. Thus in another passage we read: “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.” Matt. 3:12.

The wicked will be burned up like chaff in the fire. That would be a poor illustration to teach never-ending burning. The chaff burns up speedily and certainly; and this is what the Lord says of the wicked. They will be burned up with unquenchable fire; that is, fire which they can by no means put out. Suppose the Lord had said that the wicked should be cast into quenchable fire. They might say, Very well; we will make a desperate effort, and put out the fire and save ourselves. But no, says the Lord, you shall be cast into fire which you can by no means extinguish, and hence it will certainly burn you up without any hope. This is the simple meaning of the text, as we shall prove by other passages. The Lord threatened old Jerusalem thus: “Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, . . . and it shall not be quenched.” Jer. 17:27. Jerusalem was to be burned in unquenchable fire. The Lord carried out this threat, and where is Jerusalem now? Burned down to the dust eighteen centuries ago. Are the gates of Jerusalem burning now? And yet it was burned with unquenchable fire. Then if God could burn Jerusalem with unquenchable fire, and that fire could go out, he can burn the wicked with unquenchable fire and the fire then go out.

(Concluded next week.)