Immortality or Resurrection by William West (philippa perry book txt) 📕

fire" and "their worm dies not" are a description of the endless punishment of the wicked in "Hell," the silence of the New Testament writers would be unexplainable. (1) Acts, a history of the preaching and church for about thirty years does not mention Gehenna, unquenchable fire, or immortal maggots. (2) In none of Paul's fourteen letters, he never mentioned them. (3) Peter, John, James, and Jude are also as silent as Paul. (4) Neither can they be found in the Book of Revelation.
[1] The only occasion Christ used "unquenchable fire" in Mark 9:43 and 9:48, He was quoting from Isaiah 66:24. TO UNDERSTAND HIS WORDS, THEY MUST BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE WAY THE OLD TESTAMENT USED THEM, just as much of Revelation is to be understood by the way the same symbols are used in the Old Testament. “UNQUENCHABLE FIRE” WAS A WELL-KNOWN EXPRESSION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE HEARING CHRIST. "And the strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark, thus, they shall both burn together, and there will be none to quench them" [Isaiah 1: 31]. Jeremiah warned Jerusalem of the consequence of their sins, "Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched" [Jeremiah 17:27]. His warning was fulfilled in 2 Chronicles 36:19-21. Jerusalem was destroyed with an "unquenchable fire." It consumed all, and was not quenched unto it went out when there was nothing more to consume; then the unquenchable fire went out. Jerusalem is not burning today. An unquenchable fire is not an eternal fire, but one that cannot be put out unto there is nothing to burn. Those who believe in Hell change "unquenchable" into "eternal" then move the unquenchable fire that destroyed Jerusalem from Jerusalem on this earth and put this "eternal fire" in their "Hell" which they say is not on this earth. First, they must change the fire and second; they must move the changed fire from Jerusalem to "Hell." Isaiah says, " For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with the flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many...Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses [dead bodies in American Standard Version] of the men who have transgressed against me. For their [the corpses] worm shall not die, and their [the corpses] fire shall not be quenched; and they [the corpses] shall be an abhorrence to all mankind" [Isaiah 66:15-24]. The worms consumed the corpses, and the fires were not quenched unto there was no more flesh to consume or burn. IT WAS CORPSES, DEAD BODIES WHICH WERE ON THE EARTH THAT WERE BEING CONSUMED BY THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE AND UNDYING MAGGOTS, “THOSE SLAIN BY THE LORD” (ISAIAH 66:16) NOT “THOSE TORMENTED BY THE LORD,” NOT IMMORTAL SOULS IN HELL THAT CANNOT BE SLAIN SCREAMING IN ANGUISH AND PAIN; ISAIAH 66:16; 66:24 DESCRIBES THE AFTERMATH OF A BATTLE WITH THE DEAD UNBURIED. THOSE PEOPLE BACK IN THE TIME OF ISAIAH DID NOT LOOK FROM HEAVEN DOWN INTO HELL AND SEE LIVING SOULS BEING EATEN BY MAGGOTS. IT WAS THE LIVING PEOPLE ON THIS EARTH IN THE TIME OF ISAIAH THAT WENT OUT TO THE BATTTLE FIELD AND SAW REAL DEAD BODIES ON THIS EARTH BEING EATEN AND BURNED, NOT IMMORTAL SOULS IN HEAVEN THAT "SHALL GO FORTH AND LOOK ON THE CORPSES" AND SEE LIVING SOULS THAT ARE THAT ARE BEING TORMENTED IN HELL AS WORMS AND FIRE ARE CONSUMING BUT NEVER CONSUME THEM. HOW CAN FIRE OR WORMS ETERNALLY TORMENT A DEAD BODY? It is the fire that is unquenchable and both Isaiah and Christ speak only of the maggots that being alive, not the corpses that were being burnt up or eaten, they are dead, have be slain, there is nothing said about them being alive and in torment, but today’s theology says there are both alive in being forever tormented by fire. There is not even a hint that the corpses that were in the unquenchable fire were aware of anything. For this to prove the soul is immortal they would have to be viewing disembodied immortal souls that had been "slain by the Lord" [Isaiah 66:16] but were still living after the Lord had slain these souls, not viewing dead bodies that were on this earth. It was living people viewing dead bodies that had been "slain by the Lord," not living people on this earth looking into Hell and seeing an immaterial, invisible part of a living person being tormented in Hell. WITHOUT DOUBT, THIS UNQUENCHABLE FIRE BURNING THOSE THAT HAD BEEN SLAIN BY THE LORD WAS A JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT ON THIS EARTH THAT HAS ENDED AND THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE WENT OUT WHEN IT HAD DID IT’S WORK, NOT A PUNISHMENT IN HELL THAT WILL NEVER END.
• There is no mention of torment. The ungodly had been killed; it says nothing about the Lord TORMENTING them after He killed them.
• There is no mention of living souls that are being eaten by maggots and being consumed by fire. The witness sees the RESULT OF THIS DESTRUCTION (slaying). They see the CORPSES, DEAD BODIES being consumed by fire and maggots, not a living immaterial, invisible part of a person being tormented.
• They do not see them in pain and anguish, not in endless tortured for the corpses they see are dead and are on this earth, not in Hell. The dead bodies that are being eaten by maggots on this earth have been changed to living souls suffering eternal torture in Hell; it is beyond me to see how those who make such a change and still say they do not change the Bible; there is nothing about souls, eternal torment, or Hell in this passage but they add all three.
• Some believers in Hell change the Bible by transferring the qualities of the worm being undying to the dead bodies that were eating.
[2] "Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, upon man and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched" [Jeremiah 7:20]. It this was the Lord’s anger being poured out in Hell, it would make beasts, trees, fields, and the fruit of the ground be in Hell.
[3] Ezekiel also speaks of the destruction of Judah using the imagery of a forest burning. "And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest to the field in the South; and say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of Jehovah: Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall consume every green tree in you, and it shall devour ever green tree in you, and ever dry tree; the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby. And all flesh shall see that I, Jehovah, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched" [Ezekiel 20:47-48].
Adam Clarke, "The forest of the south field is the city of Jerusalem; which was as full of inhabitants as the forest is of trees. I will kindle a fire, i. e., I will send war; and it shall devour ever green tree, i. e., the most eminent and substantial of the inhabitants; and every dry tree, i. e., the lowest and meanest also; it shall not be quenched, i. e., till the land be utterly ruined."
The “unquenchable fire” was God using Babylonian to destroy Israel (Ezekiel 21:19; Nehemiah 1:3). God’s judgment on Israel was unquenchable, no one could stop it, but it ended when Israel was destroyed.
[4] Isaiah describes the desolation of Edom, "For my sword has drunk its fill in heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment...For Jehovah has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land there of shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day; and the smoke thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall lay waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein" [Isaiah 34:6-15]. If this fire that "shall not be quenched night nor day" is the Hell that is taught today, how is it that "none shall pass through it forever and ever," is their no one that shall be in Hell but pelican, porcupine, owl, and ravens? This is clearly an earthly judgment on Edom that has long passed, not an unquenchable fire in Hell after the judgment day. After the unquenchable fire had done it’s work it went out and the land became a desert inhabited by pelicans, porcupines, owls and ravens.
[5] For more examples of God's judgments in this world being spoken of as an unquenchable fire see Isaiah 1:31; Jeremiah 17:27; 21:12; Amos 5:6; 2 Kings 22:26-17; 2 Chronicles 34:24-25.
THESE PASSAGES SHOW THAT THE WRITERS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT USED "UNQUENCHABLE FIRE" AS A FIGURE OF A JUDGMENT BY WAR AND FAMINE BOTH ON ISRAEL AND ON WICKED NATIONS WHEN THEY SINNED. When Jesus was speaking of the fire and worms of Gehenna, he was giving a description of the finality of the coming destruction of Israel who rejected Him. His audience would know the way unquenchable fire and undying worms were used in the Old Testament and would understand His use of them. They would have known that Gehenna that He was speaking of was a foul place of destruction where worthless things were disposed of, and would have known He was saying the destruction He was speaking of would be like the destruction of the garbage in Gehenna, like the destruction of Jerusalem by unquenchable fire and maggots in the Old Testament. They knew they were being threatened with complete destruction just as the trash in the city dump. Jerusalem was destroyed and burnt, and historian's say in AD 70 many dead bodies were burned and many were left unburied for the maggots. "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem…And the strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark, thus, they shall both burn together, and there will be none to quench them" [Isaiah 1:1-31].
“There are some 70 cases in scripture where fire is used as judgment upon wickedness…never was it used for the purpose of torture.” Curtis Dickinson, “A Place Called Gehenna”
Summary: The worm that dies not, and the unquenchable fire, as used in the Old Testament and by Christ, proves UTTER DESTRUCTION, not everlasting torment. GEHENNA IS BELIEVED BY THOSE WHO TEACH EVERLASTING TORMENT TO BE THEIR STRONG HOLD, BUT THE SYMBOLS OF MAGGOTS EATING DEAD BODIES ON THIS EARTH, AND FIRE CONSUMING UNWANTED TRASH ["dead bodies" Isaiah 66:24] ARE SYMBOLS OF DESTRUCTION, NOT SYMBOLS OF TORMENT. MANY THINK THIS IS THE STRONGEST PROOF OF EVERLASTING TORMENT IN THE BIBLE, BUT IT IS THE OTHER WAY AROUND, IT IS A STRONG PROOF THAT THE LOST WILL BE EVERLASTING DESTROYED.