The Harp of God Part 5

[80]The eternal torment teaching is not supported by any Scripture text in the Bible. There are some texts that are written in symbolic phrase, parables and dark sayings, which were written to ill.u.s.trate another great truth, but with no reference to the eternal punishment of the human race. These Scriptures must be considered elsewhere. Our s.p.a.ce does not permit us to consider them here. What we will examine are the direct Scriptural statements.

[81]All the Scriptures show that the wicked will be punished, but punishment does not mean torment. There is a wide distinction between everlasting punishment and everlasting torment. Everlasting punishment is a punishment that lasts. Everlasting torment would be a torment that never ends, but one would be consciously suffering all the time. The laws of the land punish the wicked who violate the law, and the duration of punishment is short or long in proportion to the enormity of the crime committed. One who steals a loaf of bread violates the law and he may be punished by confinement for a day or a month in prison. One who destroys his neighbor's house by fire is punished, and his punishment may be a number of years in prison. Another takes the life of his neighbor, and his punishment is death. No law of any nation on earth permits the violator of the law to be tormented. The stealer of bread is punished for a short period; the one who destroys the home is punished for a longer period; and the one who takes his neighbor's life deliberately is punished by the full penalty of the law, and his punishment is lasting. Death is the highest penalty inflicted by the law. It is also the greatest punishment inflicted by Jehovah. Life is the dearest thing to any creature, and to be deprived of life would be the greatest punishment that could be inflicted. Therefore eternal or everlasting death, with no hope of a resurrection, would be an everlasting punishment. But it would not be an everlasting conscious torture. G.o.d plainly declared: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), and not eternal torture.

[82]Having fixed this penalty, G.o.d could not change it afterward, because G.o.d could not be inconsistent; he cannot deny himself.

(2 Timothy 2:13) It was by the disobedience of one man that sin came into the world and death as the result of sin; so death has been the penalty upon all mankind. (Romans 5:12) And this will continue until G.o.d's due time to awaken them out of death and give all an opportunity for life; and this we will discuss later. "The Lord preserveth them that love him, but all the wicked will he destroy." (Psalm 145:20) The Apostle plainly says that all the wicked shall be punished with an everlasting destruction.--2 Thessalonians 1:9.

[83]But do not the wicked go to h.e.l.l?

[84]It is true that all who have died from Adam until now have gone to h.e.l.l. But h.e.l.l does not mean a place of conscious torture. Wherever the word h.e.l.l occurs in the Bible it means the condition of death. h.e.l.l is not a place, but a condition. Those who go into the grave are not conscious there; but they have gone into the death condition. Their bodies decay and return to the dust. The word h.e.l.l is translated from the Hebrew word _sheol_, as used in the Old Testament. This same word is a number of times translated grave and sometimes pit. In the New Testament the same word h.e.l.l is translated from the Greek word _hades_ and likewise means grave, the condition of death, the tomb.

[85]Some Scriptural ill.u.s.trations of this prove that h.e.l.l means a condition of death. Job was a good and G.o.dly man, who tried to obey Jehovah. He had suffered the loss of all his earthly possessions and then his neighbors taunted him because of his suffering; and while he was thus suffering, he prayed that G.o.d would permit him to go to h.e.l.l, saying: "O that thou wouldest hide me in h.e.l.l [_sheol_, the grave] until thy wrath be past". (Job 14:13) He desired to be hid in the grave until the time of the resurrection, hoping in G.o.d's promise that some day the dead would come again. Then Job says: "If I wait the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness". "Our rest together is in the dust." (Job 17:13,16) Thus he pictures the grave as a condition of darkness, where there is no knowledge, no wisdom or device. Again he said: "A man's sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them". (Job 14:21) Why? Because those who are in h.e.l.l, in the tomb, in the grave, in the condition of death, have no knowledge of anything. They are out of existence, waiting for the resurrection.

[86]Jacob's beloved son Joseph was sold into Egypt by his brethren.

Joseph's coat was dipped in the blood of an animal and brought to Jacob, and it was told Jacob the father that his son Joseph was dead. In his grief he exclaimed: "I will go down into h.e.l.l [_sheol_, the grave] unto my son mourning". (Genesis 37:35) Jacob was a good man and approved of the Lord; for the Apostle says he was. (Hebrews 11:9,39) Jacob meant that he was going to the grave, to the death condition, mourning for his beloved son.

[87]Benjamin was Jacob's youngest son. After he lost Joseph his affections were centered upon Benjamin. His elder sons came to him and requested that their younger brother be permitted to go down with them to Egypt. Their father Jacob objected to their taking him, saying, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to h.e.l.l [_sheol_, the grave]".

(Genesis 42:38) We know, then, that the h.e.l.l here described could not be a place of fire and brimstone, for the gray hairs of Jacob would not last long in the fire. What he really meant was that as an old, gray-headed man he would go down to the grave in sorrow if anything befell his beloved son.

[88]Jesus came to earth and lived and died and was buried; and it was written of him that he went to h.e.l.l. "Thou wilt not leave my soul in h.e.l.l." (Psalm 16:10) If h.e.l.l is a place of endless torment and Jesus went there he could not have been released. The fact that he did not remain in h.e.l.l is proof conclusive that h.e.l.l is not a place of eternal torment.

[89]Jehovah established the true religion in the earth, which was and is to wors.h.i.+p him and glorify his name. Satan established a false religion in his attempt to be like the Most High. G.o.d established his covenant with the nation of Israel and commanded that they should keep themselves separate and distinct from the heathen nations round about. Satan established a false religion amongst the heathen nations and caused them to wors.h.i.+p images and other things aside from Jehovah. These heathen idolaters built an altar in the valley of Hinnom for the purpose of offering sacrifices to their G.o.ds. The Jews forsook their covenant with Jehovah and became wors.h.i.+pers of Baal, one of Satan's deified ones. In practising Baal wors.h.i.+p they offered their children as sacrifices, and upon this has been based the doctrine of torture by fire, concerning which Jehovah says: "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind". (Jeremiah 19:5) Again said the Lord: "They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pa.s.s through the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin". (Jeremiah 32:35) The things which the heathen sacrificed they sacrificed to devils and not to G.o.d. (1 Corinthians 10:20) This false or devil religion established amongst the deluded people of the world was another means employed by Satan to blind the minds of men to the true teachings of the divine plan.

[90]In exercising divine justice, Jehovah at no time employs torture; but he denounces such doctrine as an abomination in his sight. Divine justice exercised destroys the evil doers; therefore that which is destroyed eternally is everlastingly punished. Some Scriptures proving this are: "Evil doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.... But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.... For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.... For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved forever; but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.... Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.... The transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off."--Psalm 37:9,10,20,22,28,34,38.

[91]The doctrine of eternal torment is a defamation of Jehovah's character. It is a foul stain upon his lovable name. The chief purpose of man is to glorify G.o.d. It is therefore his privilege and duty to remove from the minds of others this misconception of Jehovah and enable others to understand that G.o.d is indeed love. An understanding of his plan shows that everything he does is prompted by love. No sooner had he sentenced man to death than he began to reveal his plan for his redemption and ultimate deliverance. The more clearly we see and understand these great truths, the more do we rejoice in the divine attribute of justice and the divine arrangement in making it manifest.

What divine attribute is mentioned as the habitation of G.o.d's throne?

-- 39.

What divine attribute devised the plan of G.o.d? -- 39.

Is it necessary for the divine attributes to operate harmoniously? -- 39.

Is G.o.d's law unchangeable? -- 39.

What mental effect is produced upon G.o.d's creatures by the unchangeableness of his law? -- 39.

What must follow violation of the divine law? -- 39.

What is the prerogative of divine Justice? -- 39.

How does the manifestation of divine justice affect the name and dignity of Jehovah? -- 39.

Was it necessary for divine justice to be manifested in order for divine love to be fully exercised? and if so, why? -- 39.

What is essential to a proper appreciation of divine loving kindness?

-- 39.

Why is Jehovah never unjust nor unkind? -- 39.

Does Jehovah make mistakes? -- 39.

To what end does he use his power? -- 39.

What is symbolized by the second string upon the harp of G.o.d? -- 40.

Define good and evil. -- 41.

When did evil become active? -- 41.

Did G.o.d compel Adam to do or not to do certain things? -- 41.

What punishment did G.o.d prescribe for a violation of his law? -- 41.

Why and by whom was Eve induced to violate the law? -- 41.

Why did Adam violate the law of G.o.d? -- 41.

To whom does all dominion rightfully belong? -- 42.

What dominion did G.o.d give to man? -- 42.

Why did Lucifer induce Eve to sin? -- 42.

What did Lucifer meditate in his heart? -- 42.

What was the cause of Lucifer's fall? -- 43.

How was divine justice manifested against Lucifer? -- 43.

By what names is Lucifer known since his fall? Give the meaning of each of the names. -- 43.

Describe how the devil induced Eve to violate G.o.d's law. -- 44.

What reply did Eve make to the devil's suggestion that she violate G.o.d's law? -- 44.

Who told the truth, G.o.d or Satan, relative to the result of Eve's act?

-- 44.

The fact that Eve was deceived by Satan, could that in any wise change the penalty of the law? -- 45.

What did Adam and Eve do after they had violated the divine law? -- 46.

What action did Jehovah take toward them, and why? -- 46.