[continued from previous message]   
      
   “established the earth, and it stands fast” (Psalm 119:90, ESV).   
      
   James claims these verses teach that the physical planet endures   
   eternally. The flaw lies in misunderstanding the Hebrew term *ʿolam*   
   (עולם). The word carries the idea of an age of indefinite duration, not   
   intrinsic endlessness. Context determines whether the period stretches   
   beyond history or lasts only as long as God purposes. The Old Testament   
   uses the same word for things that clearly ended. These examples show   
   that *ʿolam* does not automatically mean eternity.   
      
   Exodus 21:6 uses *ʿolam* for the servant who serves his master   
   “forever,” yet the service ends at death. That cannot indicate endless   
   duration. Jonah 2:6 uses *ʿolam* for the time Jonah felt trapped in the   
   deep, yet he emerged on the third day. Micah 4:5 uses *ʿolam* for the   
   period nations walk in their gods, though God later judges those   
   nations. Isaiah 32:14 uses *ʿolam* for desolation of palaces, though   
   restoration follows. Psalm 24:7 calls ancient doors “everlasting”   
   (*ʿolam*), yet they do not exist eternally.   
      
   These examples show that *ʿolam* describes a long, enduring, or   
   age-spanning period, not necessarily endless time. Therefore Solomon’s   
   and David’s statements about the earth enduring “forever” point to   
   God’s   
   established order for this age, not the planet’s eternal   
   indestructibility. The New Testament clarifies the end of this created   
   order. Peter reveals that “the heavens will pass away with a roar, and   
   the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved” (2 Peter 3:10,   
   ESV). He explains that creation faces fiery dissolution, yet God   
   prepares a “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells”   
   (2 Peter 3:13, ESV). John sees that same new creation in Revelation 21:1.   
      
   Thus the biblical unity stands firm. The Old Testament’s use of *ʿolam*   
   allows for long-term permanence within this age. The New Testament   
   reveals the consummation: God dissolves the current order and brings   
   forth a new creation that displays His glory in Christ forever.   
      
      
   > Churches: Unrighteous will burn forever in hellfire.   
   > Bible: God never thought about a hellfire place. (Jer 7:31)   
      
      
   Stupid lies and misrepresentation.   
      
         • What never entered God's mind was offering your sons and   
           daughters in the fire as sacrifices to a false god. The   
           unrighteous are children of the devil, not God (John 8:44; 1   
           John 3:8; 1 John 3:10).   
      
         • Jeremiah 7:31 does not address God’s final judgment in Gehenna.   
           Jesus used that same valley as the image of final punishment.   
           He declared that Gehenna’s fire does not go out and its worm   
           does not die (Mark 9:47-48, ESV; the text reads “hell”   
           [Gehenna]).   
      
         • God revealed this judgment clearly. He spoke of unquenchable   
           fire (Isaiah 66:24). Jesus applied these words to personal   
           punishment, not national ruin. He warned that a man is “thrown   
           into the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43, ESV; the text reads   
           “hell” [Gehenna]). This fire functions; it does not fail. It   
           continues while the person suffers.   
      
         • Symbols never teach the opposite of what they picture. Isaiah   
           66:24 describes continual abhorrence. Jesus used that same   
           picture to warn of relentless judgment. Revelation 14:11   
           reveals that “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and   
           ever” (Revelation 14:11, ESV). The text describes torment. It   
           does not describe a momentary flash of destruction. Smoke rises   
           forever because torment continues forever. A vanished person   
           cannot produce perpetual smoke.   
      
         • The New Testament gives the clearest revelation of personal   
           judgment. It distinguishes people from impersonal realities.   
           God destroys death and Hades as abstract enemies (Revelation   
           20:14). But He casts people into the lake of fire where they   
           experience conscious torment (Revelation 20:10; 20:15). Nations   
           can cease to exist. A soul does not. Jesus said God “can   
           destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10:28, ESV; the   
           text reads “hell” [Gehenna]). Destroy does not mean annihilate.   
           God remains the active agent. The punishment fits the picture:   
           an unquenchable fire that never completes its consuming.   
      
         • Jeremiah 7:31 condemned Israel’s sin. It did not deny God’s   
           final judgment. Jesus announced that judgment with sharper   
           clarity. He warned that it would be “more tolerable on the day   
           of judgment” for Sodom than for Capernaum (Matthew 11:24, ESV).   
           Different degrees of punishment cannot apply to non-existence.   
           He said of Judas, “it would have been better for that man if he   
           had not been born” (Mark 14:21, ESV). Non-existence cannot be   
           “better” than non-existence. These statements require conscious   
           judgment.   
      
         • Gehenna’s fire burns without interruption because its   
           punishment does not end. God never commanded Judah’s vile   
           Topheth. But He did reveal His own just, everlasting punishment   
           for those who reject His Son.   
      
      
   > Churches: Lake of fire is **literal fire.   
   > Bible: Death and hell are tossed into the Lake of Fire. (Rev 20:14)   
   > **Thus that fire can't be literal, but is symbolic.   
      
      
   Bible: Lake of fire is literal fire prepared for immaterial beings   
           (Matthew 10:28; 25:41).   
      
   Church: Lake of fire is literal fire prepared for immaterial beings   
           (Matthew 10:28; 25:41).   
      
   Watchtower: Hitler! Symbol! Symbol! Not literal! Not literal! THEREFORE,   
   	    no conscious torment or suffering!!   
      
         • God is a spirit (John 4:24). Angels are spirits (Hebrews 1:14).   
           Men have immaterial souls that cannot be killed by men when the   
           body is killed (Matthew 10:28). The Bible is filled with   
           "literal" entities which are not subject to earth-physics.   
      
         • The lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels   
           (Matthew 25:41). Therefore, it is to be expected that the   
           "fire" which will "torment" those in the lake of fire, is   
           LITERAL fire which is suitable for tormenting immaterial   
           beings.   
      
         • "literal" doesn't mean "only earth-physics" as we know it. It   
           means   
      
   Literal, as it pertains to spirit beings, means real in fact and true in   
   substance, not imaginary or metaphorical, while suited to the nature of   
   the beings involved.   
      
   A spirit does not respond to earthly physics. Fire on earth consumes   
   physical material. A spirit has no physical composition to burn. This   
   does not make the fire unreal. It means the fire belongs to God’s realm   
   and operates according to God’s nature, not earthly physics.   
      
   God is spirit (John 4:24, ESV). He cannot be harmed by earthly fire, yet   
   He acts as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29, ESV). His fire is literal in   
   its own order. It truly harms or comforts according to God’s design. It   
   simply does not follow the rules of carbon, oxygen, and combustion.   
      
   Jesus described unquenchable fire and undying worm in the place of   
   judgment (Mark 9:48, ESV), and He spoke of eternal punishment in Matthew   
   25:46 (ESV). John revealed that the smoke of their torment rises forever   
   and ever (Revelation 14:11, ESV). These statements describe real,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)