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Originally Posted by Bro. Parrish
Horror story, well I agree my brother...
Then again, what could be more horrible than billions of people burning for eternity? Does it sound like science fiction to you, well okay brother but have you ever read Ruckman's description of the New Jerusalem, the Great White Throne Judgement or the flying roll of Zech. 5? 
The more I look at Isaiah 66, the less I am convinced it is teaching anything about the Dead Sea being the Lake of Fire or its distance from Jerusalem. Please forgive me guys, maybe it's there, but I'm just not seeing it.
Let's face it, Isaiah 66:22 sets the context as the NEW heavens and the NEW earth, if God wants to he can set up a system for all flesh to see them burning on the surface of some NEW version of a sun or sun-like creation, a great burning mass of fire, who knows. The sun---now THAT is one big lake of fire, (maybe 11000°F) and it's close enough that everyone on earth already sees it every day. The rich man in Luke 16 was able to SEE Abraham, even though there was a "GREAT GULF fixed" between them. Even with our primitive video systems we can see things in great detail that are far away right now.
Again, the context of Isaiah 66:22 sets the context as the NEW heavens and the NEW earth, so I'm not sure the passage in Isaiah 66 is teaching anything about the Dead Sea being the Lake of Fire, I guess to me that feels like speculation of men as well. But there is nothing wrong with that of course---after all, we are not discussing doctrinal foundations here.
The first setting of Rev. 20-21 is marked by a spiritual being with a key of the "bottomless pit" and a chain, where Satan is imprisoned. By the time we get to wherever and whatever the Lake of Fire is, (vs. 10-15) this burning thing is able to hold not only the devil and his angels for which it was prepared, it is also going to HOLD "DEATH AND HELL." This does not sound like a lake on earth to me with earthly fire, this seems more unearthly. Besides, the first earth has "passed away." This isn't Kansas anymore. (Rev 21:1, II Peter 3:10)
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think in this setting we will be witnessing and dealing with events and locations that are on a different physical and spiritual plane than we can imagine. Try as we might to grasp all this, the reality is that God has prepared some things that have not even entered into our hearts or imagination (1 Corinthians 2:9). |
I didn;t mean to drag hell down to the level of a fictional story brother, I agree hell is terrible beyond human understanding.
Or is it?
The fire and the worms, yes, the real hell is being out of God's presence for all eternity, never knowing the ultimate Good, never resting, never a nanosecond's relief.
Isaac Asimov once write a story called HELLFIRE where a highspeed film was taken of a nuclear explosion, when the film was played at normal speed the face of Satan was seen, course the worldly image of Satan: Van Dyke beard and the horns on the forehead.
The idea hell is a star, pardon the pohrase, inspires me to develop a story for my scifi collection. Think I'll call it A STAR NAMED GEHENNA.
Grace and peace brother Parrish
Tony