SABBATH THOUGHT 2026-06-13—THE LAKE OF FIRE

May God bless you on His Sabbath day!

The previous Sabbath Thought discussed the Abyss, which is an immeasurably deep pit void of everything, including light, where some of the demons are currently bound and where all demons will be imprisoned during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ. Another notable place mentioned in the Bible is called the Lake of Fire Burning With Brimstone[1].

Interestingly, it is described as a lake only in Revelation. When it first appears is unknown but it is the place of fiery destruction for the wicked. The fuel for the fire is brimstone. In all cases where brimstone is mentioned as a destructive element, fire is always present so brimstone, referring to resin or sulfur, is simply fuel for the fire as indicated by part of the name: “burning with brimstone.” So the destructive element of the lake is the fire itself.

Metaphorically, the anger of God is very often described as intense fire[2]:

JEREMIAH 15:14 … a fire is kindled in My anger, which shall burn upon you.”

PSALMS 21:8-10 Your [the LORD’s] hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. 9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; the LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. 10 Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth, and their descendants from among the sons of men.

ISAIAH 66:15-16 For behold, the LORD will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

It may sound like a silly question, but what causes God to become angry? Sin. God hates it. Those who intentionally sin—the wicked—“provoke Him to anger”[3] and, in His anger, He takes vengeance upon those who intentionally rebel against Him:

EZEKIEL 22:31 “Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.

All sin is against God[4] because it violates HIS Law so vengeance belongs to God:

DEUTERONOMY 32:35 Vengeance is Mine [the LORD], and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.’

The vengeance of God is talked about often enough but what exactly is the vengeance of God? There are two components: punishment and death. When God exacts vengeance, He first punishes the wicked in retaliation for their evil deeds. Many times, the punishment leads to their death. It will certainly be the case in the end. The fact that God will not only destroy the wicked but first punish them is important. In some cases, God said He will punish the worst of the wicked twice over; that is, God will render punishment that is twice the suffering they caused:

REVELATION 18:6-7 “Render to her [Babylon] just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment [G0929 = basanismos = torture] and sorrow [grief]; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’

The Greek word translated torment means torture. Torment is a state of agony or anguish that is not always intentionally cause by someone else whereas torture is the intentional act of causing torment. It is a hard reality but, when God avenges Himself, He deliberately tortures the wicked so they are tormented as punishment for their evil deeds. God’s vengeance not only satisfies His own anger, but He also promises to execute vengeance on behalf of the saints:

2 THESSALONIANS 1:6, 8 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, … 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The ekklesia are commanded to love their enemies and do good to them.[5] They are also commanded to reconcile offenses and forgive one another[6]. In return for their humility and meekness, God exacts vengeance upon their enemies. In fact, the ekklesia will witness His vengeance upon the wicked[7]:

PSALM 58:10-11 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He [God] shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, 11 so that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth.”

Why does He avenge the saints and why will they rejoice when they witness it? All law, whether of God or man, defines right and wrong behavior but the power behind law is enforcement of punishment; without it, people will refuse to obey it. Chaos and evil prevail when Law has no consequences, resulting in suffering and death. Evil that goes unpunished leaves the victims feeling hopeless and bitter. This is reflected in the pleas of those who are slain for being faithful to God:

REVELATION 6:9-10 When He [Jesus Christ] opened the fifth seal, I [John] saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they [the saints] cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge [G1556 = ekdikeo = vindicate, retaliate, punish] our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

When it comes to the vengeance of God, there are what might be thought of as two phases. The first has been ongoing for millennia against wicked people and nations. Egypt is an obvious example of a nation God punished for idolatry. The Bible is also a centuries-long record of His vengeance upon the nation of Israel for disobedience. Others include the Amorites, Canaanites, Amalekites, and Assyrians. While this phase resulted in many deaths over the millennia; it was not unto eternal death so that God can later offer salvation to them. This phase appears to culminate with the Great Tribulation. Afterwards, things transition to a time of extreme vengeance called the Day of the Lord GOD of Hosts or the Day of the LORD’s Vengeance that spans a year:

JEREMIAH 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. The sword shall devour; it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood; for the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice in the north country by the River Euphrates.

ISAIAH 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

ISAIAH 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it.

God’s vengeance takes on a greater fierceness when it involves the Lake of Fire:

REVELATION 20:15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

REVELATION 21:8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The Lake of Fire is called the Second Death because it causes eternal death:

[NET2.1+] 2 THESSALONIANS 1:6-10 For it is right for God to repay with affliction [take vengeance upon] those who afflict you, 7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. 8 With flaming fire He will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed—and you did in fact believe our testimony.

The “eternal destruction” with flaming fire refers to the Lake of Fire because it is only place mentioned in the Bible where the soul of life can be destroyed:

MATTHEW 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [G1067 = geenna = valley of the son of Hinnom].

The Greek word for hell is gehenna, the name of the valley of Hinnom that wraps around the southern and western parts of the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, it was a place of child sacrifice but it became the city dump and burning pit after the Jews returned from Babylon. Biblically, gehenna is a metaphor for the Lake of Fire.

It may come as a surprise, but those who are cast into the Lake of Fire do not die immediately. Although death is the end result of the Lake of Fire, remember that God’s vengeance is always preceded by punishment. When it involves the Lake of Fire, punishment BEGINS when the wicked are cast into it where they will be tormented prior to dying the Second Death:

REVELATION 14:9-11 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 “he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented [G0928 = basanismos = to torture] with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 “And the smoke of their torment [G0929 = basanizo = torture] ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

Dead people cannot be “tormented with fire and brimstone” so they are alive for a time in the Lake of Fire. They are not tormented by the thought of being burned; they are tormented “with fire and brimstone.” The fact that they have “no rest day or night” confirms this. But they will eventually perish in the Second Death[8]:

PSALM 37:20 But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the LORD, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. …

Some object to the idea that people are tormented in the Lake of Fire and claim that the “smoke of their torment” in verse 11 is from dead bodies being burned; however, Scripture clearly states that smoke is the result of TORMENT, not death. Even so, what is the “smoke of their torment?” Smoke is part of the metaphor of fire for the intensity and fierceness[9] of God’s anger:

[NET2.1+] PSALMS 18:7-8 The earth heaved and shook. The roots of the mountains trembled; they heaved because He [the LORD] was angry. 8 Smoke ascended from his nose; fire devoured as it came from his mouth. He hurled down fiery coals.

PSALM 74:1 O GOD, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

[KJV+] DEUTERONOMY 29:20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

A fire produces smoke as it burns and consumes the fuel. Smoke is the result of something is burning so it represents the torment that results from the fire of God’s anger burning upon the wicked. In other words, fire represents God’s burning anger and smoke portrays the torment it causes. Together, they are a metaphor for God’s anger and punishment:

ISAIAH 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire.

PSALM 37:20 But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the LORD, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.

God’s anger is likened to fire that takes time to burn and destroy. Likewise, His vengeance causes torment for a time before the wicked are killed. One example of God causing the wicked to suffer torment for awhile before He kills them is ancient Israel in the wilderness for forty years:

[KJV+] NUMBERS 32:13 And the LORD’S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.

In His anger and vengeance, God punished the ancient Israelites by forcing them to suffer living in a desolate wilderness for forty years before they died. God’s anger is a consuming fire because it takes time to execute and be fully satisfied:

EZEKIEL 22:31 “Therefore I have poured out My indignation [fury] on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed [repaid, avenged] their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.

HEBREWS 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

But why does Revelation 14:11 say “the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever?” This does not mean they are tormented for eternity because forever and ever does not always mean eternity. For example, God said, “you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever,”[10] which obviously contrasts with “… nor will He keep His anger forever.”[11] The Day of the LORD is also “forever” but it cannot mean an eternity:

ISAIAH 34:8-10 For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 Its [the nations] streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone; its land shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall ascend forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; no one shall pass through it forever and ever.

The land will not continue burning for eternity; if nothing else, it will cease at appearance of the New Heavens and New Earth.

In addition to casting the worshippers of the Beast system into the Lake of Fire, the Beast and the False Prophet are also cast into it:

REVELATION 19:20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Why does it say they are “cast alive into the Lake of Fire?” While this does not state that they are tormented, it would not be sensible if the Beast and False Prophet receive a more merciful end than others who are clearly tormented in the Lake of Fire. Given that these two are particularly wicked, they will be alive so they are also tormented in the Lake of Fire. Although it does not say anything about their subsequent deaths, it implies it in the next verse that states “The others were killed by the sword …” (Rev. 19:21), which complies with other scriptures that “the wicked shall perish.”[12]

Further confirmation that the Lake of Fire is a place of torment is found in the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man:

LUKE 16:19-26 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 “But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus [lit., “God is my Helper”], full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 “And being tormented in Hades, he [the rich man] lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented [in anguish] in this flame.’ 25 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented [in anguish]. 26 ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

The Protestants and Catholics use this to prove eternal punishment even though the parable does not continue beyond discussing the agony and anguish (torment) of the Rich Man. Those who object to the wicked being tormented claim it is entirely imaginary and ignore the fact that the Rich Man is in anguish. But Jesus’ parables were never fantasy; they always portrayed real events even if He used metaphors to describe them. The Rich Man is clearly tormented so the Lake of Fire is not immediate death but neither is it an eternal hellfire of punishment. This accurately reflects all other Scripture that describes the Lake of Fire as the place where the wicked are tormented before they die.

From a physical perspective, no one can survive more than a few seconds if they are engulfed in fire. It seems impossible for the wicked to survive long enough to be tormented; however, they certainly do not die immediately. In the case of the Beast and False Prophet, they will be responsible for the eternal death of, perhaps, millions so it is not unreasonable to think God will torment them for a very long time in the Lake of Fire. This mystery is not unlike the Abyss. Demons are quite capable of giving a human being possessed by them the physical strength to literally pull apart physical chains; however, in the Abyss they are bound with unbreakable chains. Why are they chained? Is the Abyss a physical prison that demons could escape without the chains? The Bible does not provide an answer to that any more than it explains how physical beings can be tormented for any length of time in a Lake of Fire without perishing.

And on the subject of wicked spirit beings, what happens to Satan and the demons?

REVELATION 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

As discussed in the Sabbath Thought on 2026-01-24 – Will Satan Die?, the Bible indicates that Satan and the demons will be changed from spirit beings into physical beings before they are cast into the Lake of Fire. They will, like all wicked human beings, be tormented and eventually die the Second Death.

The Lake of Fire is where God fulfills His final vengeance upon the incorrigibly wicked; it is where they will be tormented and killed with the eternal Second Death. But the Lake of Fire is also the place where Death and the Grave are destroyed:

REVELATION 20:14 Then Death and Hades [G0086 = hell, a grave for dead people] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

How Death, the absence of life, and the Grave, the place where dead bodies are buried, will be destroyed is a mystery. Scripture states that “death will not exist anymore”[13] so maybe Death and Hades are destroyed once there is an absence of beings who are CAPABLE of dying.

What happens to the Lake of Fire is also a mystery. Perhaps, before it disappears, it will expand to encompass the entire universe and is the fire by which “the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up,”[14] which makes way for the New Heavens and New Earth. Regardless, that is when a whole new and unending story begins:

REVELATION 21:1-5 Now I [John] saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

May God’s grace and peace be upon you!

Steven Greene

https://sabbathreflections.org

sabbathreflections@gmail.com