The Old Testament paints a different picture of the final judgement to the New Testament. The Old Testament describes it as death, whilst the New Testament, as torment by fire and brimstone.
I used to think that the two testaments can be partially reconciled by believing that the torment of the New Testament endures only briefly, being followed by the death spoken of in the Old (and New). But now I believe that some of what purports to be the Scriptures of the New Covenant cannot be fully reconciled with the Old.
There is no reason to believe that all that is claimed to be Scripture in the New Covenant, in fact is. After the Old Testament was written, the Apocrypha was written. These Apocryphal writings were rejected by Jesus. Not once did He quote from them. It is this rejected literature that speaks unambiguously of eternal torment. I feel certain that the same thing has happened to some New Testament Scriptures as happened to the Old. Satan, wishing to paint God as a cruel God of vengeance, and thus hinder man from loving God, has added eternal torment to the New Testament Scriptures, just as he added the Apocrypha to the Old. And when the politically influenced church, rather than Jesus Christ, decided on what constituted the Scriptures, they included some erroneous material. The last words of the bible warn against tampering with the Scriptures, but do not say that it will not happen.
We know that the Old Testament is reliable as Jesus authenticated it (Matt 5:18) and quoted from it on numerous occasions. But we do not have His witness as to the constitution of the New Testament. I have therefore written this article founded upon basis that the Old Testament Scriptures cannot lie.
We have also, our own sense of justice to guide us and to teach us what is truth. Some say we cannot rely upon our own sense of justice, as God’s justice is greater than our own. But I think that we can, as man was created in the image of God. Jesus asked the Pharisees, in relation to the Sabbath, why they could not judge what was right. What man thinks is fair, thus reflects God’s mind. Would it be just for God to create a man in His own image, whose end was to be eternally tormented with fire and brimstone. Here then is my doctrine of hell, which does not contradict the Old Testament Scriptures that cannot lie.
God said to Adam, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Gen 2:17) Death then rather than torment is the final destiny of those who pursue sin to its ultimate conclusion: the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) And James says: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin when it hath finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. (James 1:14,15)
Most are not too bad and some honour is attached to their descent. The descent of: the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and they have laid their swords under their heads, is described in Ezek 32:27. The Hebrew word, Sheol means the unseen state. It has no connotations of punishment, but is confusingly often translated as Hell in English.
The shame of Lucifer’s burial in hell, is contrasted with the relative honour attached to those kings whom he deceived. It is written: All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch . . . Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people. (Isaiah 14:18-20)
Where are they buried, if it is not with Satan? It is, for all men and women descended from Adam, at the bottom of the sea. Here will be God’s history lesson, teaching that those who reject God do not continue, irrespective of how great they were on earth. Those not too bad have some little glory attached to their burial, and their own house or tomb. Perhaps Rosalind Franklin will be there with her microscope under her head.
That they must die, and God's word is clear that they must, does not mean that they must be punished, and that they receive some honour clearly shows that most are not punished. And, that God said that they must die, does not prohibit Him from giving them some sweet consolation before they die.
I thought, Wouldn't it be lovely if they rested at the bottom of the sea, and had one thousand years comfort before they ceased to be. It is not possible to think more beautifully and justly than God. And so I am firmly convinced that this is in the mind of God and that thus it shall be.
So during the millennium, non Christians here will receive consolation and peace here for a thousand years, learning a little about God and the purpose of their creation before they cease to be. Those who have suffered will receive consolation, and will not need to stand before God for judgement. They failed. They know they failed and nothing more really needs to be said.
What then is the meaning of Jesus words to the Pharisees, and who are they to whom he said: How can ye escape the damnation of hell? They are not the homosexuals, bad though these are, as Jesus said that it would be more tolerable for homosexual towns in the judgement than for those he sometimes rebuked (Matt 11:24). These that receive damnation are the demons, who come in the likeness of men. There are no women among them. They are the tares of the field, who are: the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil. (Matt 13:38,39) These are they who go to the fire, said Jesus (Matt 13:42)
There are ten million of these demons, all of whom are male. They have enjoyed a multitude of pleasures before being born as men. Therefore it is just to punish them more. They are stronger than men. Therefore it is just to punish them more strongly in the same way that as a man may be punished by flogging, but a boy only with a small stick.
But no man will have to face such horrors. It would not be consistent with what God said of man's judgement : if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face , according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. (Deut 25:2,3) If it is in God’s character to limit punishment in this life, He will be sure to limit it in the next life. In fact true men receive their punishment in this life and none in the afterlife. Would God create billions of people only to end their time in fear? Men and women are not punished. Only their enemies, the demons, are.
Although it is not made clear in the Old Testament that some men are demons, it does make clear that for some, there is punishment before cessation, although not continuously for a considerable time. Punishment is spoken of immediately after death for those who have been sufficiently wicked and have not been punished in this life. This punishment seems to be administered for a relatively brief time, and is spoken of in Psalm 73:17-20: then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.
To whom does this apply, and how to we recognise a demon? Demons, like Hitler are mighty and rise to positions of prominence from whence they can inflict their evil, to a greater capacity, than can the average man. Their abode: the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. (Psalm73:20) Expect to find some in the secret police forces of wicked dictators, like Hitler. Pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. (Psalm 73:6-9) They are the worst offenders and persecute Christians, as can be seen from the context.
It should be understood that those to whom judgement is pronounced in the Old Testament, are not the weak and sinful, like the children of Israel who fell in the wilderness and lost their reward. We know this because God said: I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live . . . those men which have seen my glory . . . and have tempted me now these ten times and have nor hearkened to my voice: Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers. (Numbers 14: 20-23) This contrasts with the punishment of the mighty defiers of God, for whom the earth opened up and they went down alive into the pit.
The wicked, unlike the average sinner, hate the righteous and plot against them, and they are punished before ceasing from consciousness. They hate the righteous because they are righteous. This differs from the apostle Paul and the Muslims, who persecute Christians because they think that they are right and the Christians are wrong. Such shall receive mercy.
When, and what is their judgement? The time of punishment is the three and a half year Great Tribulation, and the worst horrors described in the book of Revelation, are for the punishment of demons not men and women. They are not punished with fire and brimstone, but with scorpion whips (Rev 9:5), by those with hair like women (female angels), by serpents (Rev 9:19), and by buckets of coals occasionally (Proverbs 25:22) and by the sword and arrows (Job 21:24,25). They will not be able to escape God's judgement and join the ignorant of men, for God says: though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them. (Amos 9:3)
After their torment, they remain imprisoned for one thousand years of humiliation and regret, while they see the rewards they have missed out on. The humiliation, sense of loss, and general wretchedness, are so deep that the thousand year imprisonment it constitutes ninety per cent of their punishment. God who does not like inflicting pain has thus ordained. But some strong pain is necessary to teach them the utter evil of their deeds, and for God to demonstrate his abhorrence of these.
During their imprisonment they have no rest but are forced to do hard labour. No longer is a fair woman without discretion, a jewel in a swine's snout, but she has mastery over the man that oppressed both her and her lover in glory. Such demons she flogs, not with a scorpion whip, as she has not the strength of a female angel, but only with a bitter leather lash, if they do not complete their tally of bricks without straw. It is then that vengeance is fully satisfied, when, as the psalmist writes: in the morning the upright shall have dominion over them.
For 666 demons, those demons who share the antichrist's knowledge, all joys are cancelled. For the remainder, between 10% and 50% of their joys are cancelled by punishment. But even for the worst demons, no punishment exceeds the joys of their creation, and only for a very few of them does their punishment fully cancel the benefits of their existence. Most demons have lived tens of thousands of years, but the worst demons, those whose pleasures are fully cancelled, have lived fewer years. God has thus ordained, that he may be just in giving no net benefit of existence to demons whose crimes exceed, without having to administer punishments that exceed.
When Jesus said that it would have been good for Judas had he not been born, he is refering, not to his creation, but to his transformation to a human-like state. Had he not come to earth he would have escaped punishment, and how he will regret coming into this world. His punishment for his life as Judas, will far exceed his joys as Judas, but it will not exceed his joys as a demon in another world before this, although it will probably cancel all these joys.
After the thousand years they die, and their dead bodies are cast into the lake of fire.
There is no pain in the lake of fire. Torment is even explicitly denied in Isaiah 66:23,24, where it says: from one new moon to another . . . all flesh . . . shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. Note that these in hell are not conscious or alive. Worms are associated with a dead body without a spirit. It is only their dead bodies or carcases which remain. Why? As a witness to the judgement of God.
So whilst those in hell, though not conscious, are the recipients of: everlasting contempt (Dan 12:2,) they are not the recipients of everlasting torment.
The lake of fire is called the second death, and it would be very confusing terminology, if people who go there lived forever in some state of separation from God. Gehenna, the word used sometimes for hell, was a garbage dump outside Jerusalem, where the rubbish was burned. It has connotations of annihilation rather than torment, although other Scriptures teach that it is their spirits (that bear conciousness) rather than their bodies (in which the spirit once lived) which are annihilated.
The lake of fire is on earth, as evidenced by the fact that all flesh view it every new moon. Now God would not want this abhorrence near to his people. Therefore it must be far away. Antarctica is the continent not joined to the Northern continents by continental shelf. Therefore a giant volcano on Antarctica would seem the logical place for the lake of fire, Gehenna. Perhaps as a sign of this an aeroplane crashed on a mountain on Antarctica called, Mount Hell fire killing all on board.
The greatest suffering was borne by Christ, when the sun was darkened for three hours, and when he may have endured pain and fear orders of magnitude greater than that common to man. Jesus said also that those who sit on his right and left hand in glory, and some others perhaps, like James and John, would also drink of his cup of suffering, although only partially or momentarily (Matt 20:20-23) Only Satan will endure a judgement so great.
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man in hell was a doctrine of the Pharisees at the time of Christ. Some say that Jesus used the Pharisees' parable to make a point, but this seems most unlikely as Jesus was sent from heaven with his heavenly Father's words. I therefore believe that this parable does not belong to Jesus, and should not be in the bible.Such punishments are too severe to happen, even to the demons, but not to Satan, who is stronger even than a demon. He is, in his present state, too strong to be punished by even such a judgement. And because God does not want to escalate the punishment sufficient to punish a cherub and fill His beautiful creation with so much pain, God will instead, reduce Satan's supernatural state, from an atomic miniaturisation of 144,000 to an atomic miniaturisation of 100. Then God will punish Satan according to His word to him: I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee. (Ezek 28:18) They that see him shall say: Is this the man that made the earth to tremble. (Isaiah 16:14) He makes men tremble by telling them that if they do not obey the Roman Catholic Church they receive his judgement.
Although Satan is the most powerful force of evil, he is not the most evil force. The worst demons are far more evil. Therefore Satan does not have all his pleasures cancelled like the worst demons. He only has one twentieth of his joys cancelled by punishment. After being punished by fire, Satan is restored to his former supernatural state, by miniaturising his atoms a futher 1,440 times to a factor of 144,000, whence he is imprisoned in humiliation and bitter regret for one thousand years to complete the remaining, what is for him, well over 99% of his punishment. The reason that only a small amount of his punishment is by pain is, that he is tormented in a lesser state, to that of his imprisonment. But this torment is enough to bring him to shame for one thousand years, whence his spirit ceases.
After this he does not go to the lake of fire with the demons. Instead God will: bring (him) to ashes in the sight of all them that behold. (Ezek 28:18) His body is destroyed.
How different to that of man, for whom his sword of glory is laid under his head. Therefore it is clear, that of those without eternal life, the bad, that is man, goes to the bottom of the sea, and the evil, that is Satan is destroyed, and the diabolically evil, that is the demons, go to the lake of fire. But none receive eternal torment. The Scriptures seem to have been corrupted.
And for those who cannot yet believe that the Scriptures have been corrupted, the Greek word that has been translated for ever, could be literally translated to the ages of the ages, and just mean a very long time.
Then there are those, who are not as evil nor as powerful as the demons, who persecute the saints in lesser ways. Perhaps they go out of their way, to ridicule, and make life difficult, for those who no longer follow a life of dissipation. Although many may get angry when criticised for their sins, fewer will persist in trying to condemn the righteous. And it is really the few, though they may number almost a billion, who shall be punished.
Their punishment is several hundred lashes with a leather whip, after which they are entombed in the ice sheets of Antarctica. Ten per cent of these have half their pleasures cancelled; thirty per cent have a fifth of their pleasures cancelled; and sixty per cent have a tenth of the joys of life cancelled by this punishment. Did not Jesus say that the one, who beats God's servants with full knowledge of their goodness, and who eats and drinks with the drunken, shall be beaten with many stripes.