Hell, Part VI

“Don’t forget about Jesus’ warning about fearing the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell!”

Oh, let me touch on that one. This is a tricky one, as Jesus is supposedly speaking of God. However, from what I’ve seen online, this may not be the case. Taken from a website, with credit given to the original author, we read,

“Matthew 10:28 is another verse that's been horribly perverted and slanders God's character to the utmost degree, When people claim it's speaking of God destroying people in a fire (Gehenna)

Matthew 10:28 “And you shall not be afraid of those who kill the body that are not able to kill the soul; rather be afraid of him who can destroy soul and body in Gehenna.”

It doesn't make sense that it would be God to fear in this verse when in the next few verses it tells us not to fear God.

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31( So don’t be afraid); you are worth more than many sparrows.

If Matthew 10:28 is saying it's God to be afraid of and in the next few verses it says don't be afraid , we're dealing with a very bipolar God.

Matthew 10:28 isn't speaking of God but the following verses are.

So who were these people to fear in verse 28?

Look how Jonathan Mitchell's commentary on this verse makes so much sense. His Master's degree in anthropology really comes out and gives a clear meaning behind this verse. Below this study is from his commentary titled :

PETER’S ENCORE AND LATER PAUL Comments On 2 PETER and EPHESIANS WITH ADDITIONAL STUDIES Comments and Studies Based Upon

The Jonathan Mitchell New Testament BY JONATHAN MITCHELL, MA

Go to contents and its under the title : WHERE JESUS GAVE WARNINGS of JUDGMENT This study will list Jesus’ warnings according to the categories of the words that He used in the various warnings, then give discussion of the aspects of the words and their contexts. Concerning the Valley of HINNOM (Greek: gehenna)

All free at his website.

Jonathan Mitchell's koine Greek commentaries

JMNT

Matt. 10:28 28. "Stop being (or: Do not continue being [other MSS: You should not be]) made to fear from the one normally killing the body, and yet continuing unable (with no power) to be killing the soul.

But rather, be habitually fearing the person being constantly able and continuing with power to loose-away and destroy (or: to cause to be lost) both soul (the interior life; [note: may refer to the person's reputation in regard to character and other personal qualities]) as well as body within the Valley of Hinnom.

We see that the result of judgment by the person who has the power to kill in such a manner that it effects the “soul” also has the power to throw the entire person into the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), just like in the above examples.

Who had that power? The Roman Prefect over Judea (at this time, Pilate). He could not only kill you, but also ruin your reputation and the perception of your character (your “soul”), and also affect the lives of your family, as they might also be considered to be enemies of the Empire.

This person (Pilate) killed Jesus, and for many Jews this made it hard for them to accept a “crucified Messiah.” For them His reputation (soul) was destroyed.

Remember, Jesus was speaking to an honor/shame-based society. Honor, for oneself and for one’s family, was everything.

Being killed just meant that your life on earth was ended (which eventually happens to everyone); being killed as a criminal meant being considered as an outcast of society with people remembering you as being a shameful person who was without honor.

Your life would come to be considered as having had no value. Crossan informs us about Roman crucifixion with its customary lack of burial in his book, Who Killed Jesus, cited above.

In his chapter on “Burial,” he explains, “The hierarchy of horror was loss of life, loss of possessions, loss of burial, that is, destruction of body, destruction of family, destruction of identity.

For the ancient world, the final penalty was to lie unburied as food for carrion birds and beasts” (ibid p 160).

He quotes Tacitus (Annals 6.29) who said, “a man legally condemned forfeited his estate and was debarred from burial” (ibid p 161).

Crossan goes on to say, “Lack of proper burial was not just ultimate insult, it was ultimate annihilation in the ancient Roman world.

There would be no place where the dead one could bemourned, visited, or remembered…. It was precisely that lack of burial that consummated the three supreme penalties of being burned alive, cast to the beasts in the amphitheater, or crucified.

They all involved inhuman cruelty, public dishonor, and impossible burial…. In the case of crucifixion, it presumes that the body was left on the cross until birds and beasts of prey had destroyed it” (ibid p 161).

Crossan also points us back to Deut. 21:22-23, where we read in vs. 23b, “for [one] being hung [is under] a malediction of Elohim, and you shall not defile your ground that Yahweh your Elohim [is] giving to you [as] an allotment” (CVOT).

This lends comprehension to the warning that Jesus gave in regard to having one’s body end up in the city dump (the Valley of Hinnom, or, Gehenna) – the place where the Romans would ultimately deposit the human remains of one that was crucified.

Crossan quotes Martin Hengel’s comment (Crucifixion, p 88) that, “In this way [the crucified person’s] humiliation was made complete.

What it meant for a man in antiquity to be refused burial, and the dishonor which went with it, can hardly be appreciated by modern man”

(Credit: Zachary Paul Vogl)

So, it’s possible that Jesus was talking here about the Roman government that was, at that time, the mightiest government on earth! He wasn’t saying “fear God,” but rather “fear the destruction of everything that you were – your family, your inheritance, your honor – everything that made you… ‘you.’” All of it was destroyed, as if you had never existed in the first place. Your life would count for nothing! This was a warning specifically for the Jews at that time. This was mentioned only once in the Gospels by Jesus. Paul didn’t go into it, neither did any other writer. So, it’s safe to say that this is not for believers today.

“But, it says that the worm never dies and the fire is unquenchable!”

In Mark 9:43, Jesus says, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell (Gehenna). And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell (Gehenna), where “‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched” (NIV). It doesn’t say that the worm never dies. These are not magical, eternal worms from another realm! In fact, these are not worms at all, but maggots and grubs, according to the Greek words.

In those days, Gehenna was a detestable valley outside the walls of Jerusalem. It was also known as the Valley of Hinnom, and it had a very evil historical past. Back in the OT, the Jews would sacrifice their own children to Ba’al by putting them in fire – an act that even God said, “...and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind” (Jer 19:5, NASB, italics and underline mine)! It wasn’t as if they could claim that they didn’t know, for earlier when God was giving the Law to Israel, He said,

“When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31 You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it” (Deut 12:29-32, NASB, underline mine).

This was forewarned, so the Jews knew not to do this, to follow the practices of other nations, and to follow after their gods – but they did so, anyway! So, in the time of Jesus, it had become a trash heap, with not only trash, but the bodies of dead animals and condemned criminals. See, also in the time of Jesus, the (pagan) Roman Empire had conquered Israel and was occupying it. You, as a Jew back then, usually had a family burial plot where everyone of your family members went to be buried. Well, if you did something worthy of being crucified, your family would most likely disown you for shaming them. It was a serious thing in an honor/shame-based society like the Jews had in Jesus’ day! That meant that you would no longer have burial rights to that plot of land. The Roman soldiers hated the Jews. What would a Roman soldier do to the body of a Jew that no one wanted? Would he take the time to drag the corpse to another location and get his shovel out and dig a grave for him? Nope. That criminal would get thrown off the side of the cliff into Gehenna and would be eaten by maggots until there was nothing left but bones. Jesus Himself would have suffered this same fate, by the way, had Joseph of Arimathea not stepped in and offered to take His Body for entombment. And the fires refer to the fact that they had continual fires burning to keep the pestilences down. It’s not that the fires will never be quenched, as some infernalists insist. A fire will only burn as long as it has fuel – in this case, the dead bodies. This is not magical fire we’re talking about here, as the valley of Gehenna is not on fire today, it is now a park. You can actually visit “Hell” right now by booking a flight to Jerusalem!

Fire is used symbolically in other parts of the Bible, as well. In Mt 6:30, Jesus says, “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire…” (NIV, italics mine). Does this mean that there’s a “plant hell” somewhere? No. And did you know that Jesus was actually quoting from the prophet Isaiah? “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind” (Isa 66:24, NIV, italics mine). Isaiah was speaking of things that would happen here on earth, not in “hell!” It’s interesting when He said, “...better for you to enter the kingdom of God [maimed]...” To the Jews, to whom he was speaking to, not entering in the Kingdom was the worst thing imaginable. It would be the most terrible news, because for them, the long-awaited Kingdom was the reason for existing!

“God will eternally separate unbelievers from His Presence! If you reject Christ in this life, then into a Christ-less eternity you will go! He will cast them into “outer darkness,” where the Bible says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!”

People who believe in eternal separation usually point to 2Thess 1:8-9, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting (aionian) destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (KJV, underline mine). How can this be, since God is omnipresent? King David knew this, as he says in Ps 139:8, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell (sheol), behold, thou art there” (KJV, underline mine). So, this is obviously wrong. Nothing that has ever existed can be apart from God. Want more proof? In the NT, in Rev 14:10, it says, “he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” (KJV, underline mine). I guess they must not have read those two passages, huh?

Now, let’s see about this saying in Scripture about the “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” What does that mean? In Mt 22:1-14, it reads,

“Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who held a wedding feast for his son. And he sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Lk 13:28 says,

“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.”

In Mt 25:14-29, Jesus tells the parable of the talents, where the Master went out on a journey and left things in the hands of his servants. He gave to each of them money, and two went right to work, investing and doing business deals until they had doubled what they were given. The other one was lazy, and he just hid his master’s money. In the end, the two were rewarded by being given authority, but the other one was cast out into “outer darkness” for having done nothing, not even setting up an account at the bank so that at least he could get some interest, and his talent was given to the one who had done the best job. Taking a page from a website, we read:

And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. — Matthew 25:30

When I was a boy growing up in the church, I would frequently hear preachers use the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” as a part of their sermons, especially if they were preaching on the subject of eternal damnation. Every time I heard the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” I wondered, What does that phrase mean? What is weeping and gnashing of teeth?

The answer to this question is found in the story of the master who gave talents to three of his servants. As we already saw in yesterday’s Sparkling Gem, Jesus called the lazy servant in that parable a “wicked and slothful servant.” The words “wicked and slothful” both come from the single Greek word okneros. This word means lazy or idle. It carries the idea of a person who has a do-nothing, lethargic, lackadaisical, apathetic, indifferent, lukewarm attitude toward life.

Jesus used this parable to teach those of us who are His followers what He expects of us. The master in the parable vividly illustrates Jesus’ sentiments toward people who have great potential but who are too lazy to get up, get out of the house, and do something to develop the potential that has been entrusted to them. Friend, we need to pay careful attention to the message in this parable, because how Jesus sees things is how we must see things!

Notice that the master in this parable said, “Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents” (v. 28). This would be the response of any employer who discovered a time-waster on his staff. Rather than throw away more time waiting for an unprofitable, non-productive person to get with the program, a smart employer will take his responsibility from him and give it to someone he knows can get the job done right!

Jesus continued, “For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath” (v. 29). Here again we find a powerful truth: Those who are good performers and whom the boss can trust to get things done will always have a very full plate of responsibility. The employer trusts this employee’s ability and appreciates his willingness to do whatever necessary to complete the assigned task with excellence. Therefore, he keeps piling more and more on this person whom he knows he can trust! This is precisely what Jesus meant when he said, “For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance….”

But Jesus also said, “…But from him that hath not shall be taken even that which he hath.” A good way to make sure that you get no pay increase or promotion and possibly even get fired is to do a poor job. Poor jobs should not be rewarded.

Rewards are given to those who deserve them. If a person consistently fails to do his job correctly or on time, or if he consistently does his assigned task with a grumpy, complaining attitude, he shouldn’t be surprised when the new and bigger assignments are delegated to someone else besides him!

This leads us to Jesus’ statement about “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in Matthew 25:30. It says, “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The word “unprofitable” is the Greek word achreios, which literally means useless. A literal translation in today’s vernacular would be the good-for-nothing servant.

But notice that the master in this parable said to “cast” this servant “into outer darkness.” The word “cast” is the word ekballo, from the words ek and ballo. The word ek means out, and the word ballo means to throw. Together these words mean to expel, to throw out, to drive out, or to kick out. This word pictures the master saying, “Throw him out…”; “Kick the guy out of the organization…”; “Expel him as quickly as you can…”; “Toss him out of here….” The Greek expresses such total intolerance for laziness and non-productivity that the master wants the unprofitable servant gone as quickly as possible!

The master said to cast the unprofitable servant into “outer darkness.” Let me explain this to you, because it is very important to the truth in this parable.

It is a fact that in New Testament times, almost every large city had huge stone city walls that protected the city from intruders and from lions who roamed the countryside. The residents of the city often dumped their garbage over the top of the walls in certain parts of the city, allowing the trash to fall and build up around the base of the huge stone walls. Because this garbage included unused food, lions from the countryside would come to the base of the city walls late at night — when it was very dark — to pillage the trash and look for food.

These huge piles of trash became sites where authorities tried to determine the guilt or innocence of individuals suspected of crimes but not concretely proven to be guilty. The authorities would tie the suspected criminal with rope and lower him to the base of the city walls during the darkest hours of the night — right into the midst of the garbage where the lions roamed every night. If they found the suspect alive the next morning, he was judged to be innocent of his crime. If he had been devoured, it was assumed that he had been guilty of the crime of which he had been accused.

Even if the victim was found alive the next morning, he was usually insane or on the verge of total insanity. In fact, his teeth were usually ground down by his own nervous gnashing and grinding of his teeth as the lions prowled and roared all around him all night long. This is where we get the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” It was derived from this experience of suffering agony and even insanity as a result of being cast into outer darkness.

Why would Jesus use this example to depict the unprofitable servant who was kicked out of the business or organization? Well, just imagine what this person would feel like after being kicked out for doing a poor job. Later he would see others doing exactly what he had once been asked to do but what he had refused or failed to do because he was too lazy. That experience would be pure agony for him! It would be so difficult to watch someone else in his position — doing what he used to do, getting the promotion he could have gotten, achieving the greatness he should have achieved. To know that all of this could have been his if he hadn’t forfeited it through his own wrong attitude and laziness — that would be agony for anyone!

So many people have had great ideas, but because they pondered the idea for too long without acting on it, someone else finally came up with the same idea — and then went out and did something about it! The person who originally came up with the idea sees someone else prospering with the idea he had first. How do you think that makes him feel? He knows it could have been him experiencing that prosperity and success, but now it’s too late. His hesitation to act or his laziness prevented him from getting up and putting that idea into action; as a result, the opportunity passed on to someone who was willing to do something with the idea.

Do you know anyone who has experienced such agony due to his own lack of faith to step out and act on his dream? Do you fit this description yourself?

I pray that I haven’t just described you! The last thing Jesus wants is for you to experience “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” But honestly, friend, it’s up to you. If you do nothing with the abilities and opportunities God gives you, you can be certain that those privileged opportunities for success will pass to someone who is willing to do something with them. The opportunity can be yours, or it can be taken from you. But if it is taken from you, it will be agony to your soul when you see someone else standing in your dream.

(Source: https://renner.org/article/weeping-and-gnashing-of-teeth/)

So, there’s a possible explanation for “the weeping and gnashing of teeth.” So much for it being in agony in hell, it’s more like agony here on earth for failing to do what you knew what you were supposed to do to grow in Christ and minister to others, to our neighbors, but especially to the poor, simply because we were too lazy. We would miss out on rewards in the Kingdom Age – rewards we would have gotten had we acted. Remember that those who has been given much, much will be expected; and to the person that has been given many resources (money, time, talent, etc), much more will be expected (Lk 12:48). Also remember that what you sow, you will also reap. A question to ponder is would a person on fire, either here on earth or in hell, be “weeping and gnashing their teeth?” Wouldn’t they be screaming in agony, instead?? Also, interesting to note is that the Sanhedrin in Acts 7 also "gnashed their teeth" at Stephen, so the phrase is not only used for sorrow and distress, but also fierce anger. Do we not grit our teeth with someone when we are irritated with them?

If you die and Jesus is not your Savior, there are no second chances! There’s no repentance after death!

Really? Why then does the Apostle Paul say, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable”(1Cor 15:19, KJV)? Does not he also say, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39, NASB, bold and underline mine)? Seems pretty clear that death is no obstacle for Him. If you’re one of those people that believes that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah are burning in hell right now, observe what the Lord says about it. Jer 23:14,

“Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom (including Israel), And her inhabitants like Gomorrah (again, including Israel)” (NASB, explanations mine).

…and then in Ezekiel 16:53,

“Nevertheless, I will restore their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and along with them your own (Israel’s) captivity, 54 in order that you may bear your humiliation and feel ashamed for all that you have done when you become a consolation to them. 55 Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state” (NASB, italics and explanations mine).

These verses prove that one day, there will be a renewing of Sodom and Gomorrah as they bow down and worship the Christ as King, and will repent and mourn with ashes and sackcloth! They were temporarily destroyed for their abundant wickedness, but never forget that God said that Israel was worse – and yet He is in the process of restoring unfaithful Israel, and soon – all of Israel will be restored and will reign on the earth! And if that will happen to Israel, it will also happen to those other wicked cities. They may need to, however, go through the Lake of Fire. Which leads me to the next question…

What is the Lake of Fire?

The lake of fire is the second death. It is only mentioned in the book of Revelation. It is not a literal “lake,” per se, but it is used as a metaphor for how God is going to test people. Remember that nothing in the book of Revelation is to be taken literally – it is a book of symbols. It’s kind of like Jesus’ parables, as they are not to be taken literally, but is symbolic of something else. “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart” (Prov 17:3). People misunderstand what the lake of fire is because they don’t know about metallurgy. In the process of refining gold to it’s purest standard, sulfur is added to molten gold so that it could bind with impurities, like lead, and bring them to the surface, where the “dross,” or impure matter, can be skimmed away. People already saved will not have to go through this process. They have already been justified and sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ! Like I said before the Greek word for “fire” is πῦρ or pur, from which we get the English word “pure.” So, they are being “purified” in the fire. This, by the way, is not a pleasant process, but I don’t think I needed to tell you that. In fact, the very reason I do this is to prevent people from going there!

When a person enters the Lake of Fire, he or she will not “get out until he has paid the last penny” (Lk 12:57). In other words, they will be utterly destroyed by the fire, and the fire will not be quenched until every last shred of that human has “melted” in the pot of God’s terrible wrath! They will die, for this is the second death, after all…but God is able to revive them! And He will! Look at the end of the Unveiling,

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying…17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Rev 22:14-15, 17, NASB).

Who are these people that they are telling to “come?” It tells us, those who are outside the gates of the city. This happens after the Lake of Fire. They are those that have been purged. Do you think that those in the Lake of Fire might be a bit thirsty when they come out of it…? Good news, they can take as much as they want and God will not charge them a dime! It is not forever, but ends when there is nothing left to burn. It will quite literally light a fire under unbelievers, and that is exactly what it is designed to do. It is certainly not an endless torture chamber! This truth is further re-enforced by the fact that the Book of Revelation is not the end of the Bible! It’s true that it’s at the end of it, but it’s not the end of the story. We in modern times are so accustomed to reading a book cover-to-cover and everything being in sequence. Not so with the Bible! That is a supernatural book, and God revealed Himself and His Plan through different individuals. The revelation to the end of this love story was given to Paul, when he wrote in 1Cor 15:28, “Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all” (CLT, bold and underline mine).

And “all” really does mean ALL! Check out just a few of these verses (NASB, italics and underline mine):

Jn 12:32 – And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw (Greek: drag) all men to Myself…

Rom 5:18-19 – So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s (Adam) disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One (Jesus) the many will be made righteous…

Rom 11:26 – and so all Israel will be saved…

Rom 11:32 – For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all…

1Cor 15:22 – For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive…

Phil 2:9-11 – For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father…

Eph 1:9-11 – He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will…

Col 1:19-20 – For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven…

1Tim 2:3-6 – This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all (not just believers), the testimony given at the proper time…

1Tim 4:9-11 – It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. 10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. 11 Prescribe and teach these things…

In addition, in Acts 3:25, it says that “All the families of the earth shall be blessed” (NASB). How can this be if most of humanity will be burning in Hell or annihilated?

But, wouldn’t you rather be safe and just believe in ECT anyway?

ECT is by no means a “safe” doctrine! It is absolutely disgusting, and if it was real, “god” would not be worth praising. How would you like it if I told you that a loving earthly father was forcing his misbehaving kids into the basement, and torturing them for hours on end?? Then, when they eventually died after days, or even weeks, of being starved and tortured, he would revive them from death again through CPR and drugs, just so he could torture them to death all over again. And, those he couldn’t bring back, he would take their corpses and burn (annihilate) them in his backyard crematorium, the smoke of which would go up “forever and ever.” Sounds horrifying doesn’t it? Someone like that is not a loving father and should be placed in an insane asylum and kept as far away from children as possible. I know that, unfortunately, not everyone grew up with a loving father, but to those that did, let me pose this question…How would you like that being said of your own father? Feel the Heavenly Father’s pain when you say this about Him! No, “eternal torment” is not a safe doctrine! At all!!