Here’s what we’ve covered so far:
- final judgment occurs at the end of time at the Great White Throne of Christ, which I believe means no one has been judged yet.
- Satan is the god of this world, meaning he rules over (with some stipulations) people who are trapped in sin
- God holds the power of death, not Satan.
- Satan and his angels are not going to torment anyone in Hell, instead, they will be tormented in Hell.
So if if Satan and his angels are not going to torment anyone in hell, who or what will?
To answer this question, we’re going to start with the Old Testament. There are numerous passages we could read, here are a few. Read the passages below and see what they say about God:
Isaiah 30:27
27 See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar,
with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
Jeremiah 30:23-24
23 See, the storm of the LORD
will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
Micah 5:10 & 15, talking about what the LORD will do when his ruler (Christ) comes from Bethlehem.
10 “In that day,” declares the LORD,
15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”
Zephaniah 3:8
8″Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD,
“for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
all the earth shall be consumed.
Joel 2:1-2 & 30
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near,
2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!
30″And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
According to the Old Testament, a day is coming when the LORD will pour out his wrath on the wicked. Some of this already occurred in Jerusalem as the wicked Israelites were taken away by Babylon and Assyria, but another day is yet to come. It will be a dark day of trembling as the disobedient from all nations are gathered together and the wrath of God will flow.
Some would say that these passages fit the God of the Old Testament, because he’s the “angry God,” but the God of the New Testament is a God of love. The problem with this thought is that the God of the OT and the God of the NT are the same God. There are plenty of examples of God’s love in the OT, but are there examples of God’s wrath in the NT?
Matthew 3:7
But when he (Jesus) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
John 3:36
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Romans 2:5
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Colossians 3:5-6
5Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.
Revelation 6:15-17
15Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
There are plenty of examples of God’s impending wrath toward evil in the NT as well, culminating in Revelation. This is where the OT and NT predictions of wrath come together, for this ‘great day of their wrath’ in Rev. 6:17 is the Day of the LORD talked about in the OT.
At the end of time, the wrath of God will fall upon the wicked and none of them will be able to stand against him. They will be thrown into the lake of fire, that is, Hell. For believers though, there is a different story. God has already poured out his wrath on our sin…at the cross. Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10) because our sin was laid on him. We are no longer subject to God’s wrath because it has already been poured on on Christ. But that is not the case for those who refused rescue.
So let’s go back to the original question: If Satan and his angels are not going to torment anyone in Hell, who or what will? The only answer I can see from Scripture is that God will be the source of torment in Hell.
Someday, the wrath of God will be poured out against evil, and evil will be scorched from the earth. First against Satan and his horde, and then, after being judged by Jesus, against anyone who has rejected the lifeline God gave us in Jesus. This is not because God is vindictive or petty, but because God’s wrath is the only way paradise is possible. Without getting rid of sin, we are destined forever to live in a world full of evil and disease. God would prefer that NO ONE ended up as the objects of his wrath, but because people love sin, paradise is not possible without wrath. God will not wait forever to be united with his bride. We’ll talk more about this in another post.
As an aside, when Christians are under fire, it is not uncommon for someone say something like “All the powers of hell came against us,” however, that is not speaking correctly. The power behind hell is God.
So if God pours out wrath on the wicked at the end of time, and if Satan is not tormenting anyone in hell, what about all the people suffering in Hell right now?
We’ll explore that in the next post. We will finally jump into Hades, specifically the story Jesus told in Luke about the rich man and Lazarus.
God doesn’t have wrath. Man does. GOD IS GRACE.
God doesn’t punish or torture. OH MY GOODNESS! That’s the Image of the Beast! GOD IS MERCY!
There’s no studying Scripture. You either Hear Jesus and Read The Prophesies or you put it down as you work on The Spirit of Christ attributes so that you may Receive the Divine Light of Grace that IS the language of The Bible. The Bible is ONLY understood in Grace.
Hell itself, along with hate, sorrow, fear, sicknesses, deceits, shames, gluttony, sloth, jealousy, envy, all the sins will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation Chapter 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire: this is the second death.
What follows next is in no way a judgment about where your motives are at. I don’t know you and by simple perusal here, it appears that they may be pretty pure in concern for fellow brethren. But look at the claims that believers are spared the pours of their own wrath and then look at Romans Chapter 2:15.
Romans Chapter 2
14 For when the Gentiles which haue not the Law, doe by nature the things contained in the Law: these hauing not the Law, are a Law vnto themselues,
15 Which shew the worke of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witnesse, and their thoughts the meane while accusing, or else excusing one another:
16 In the day when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ, according to my Gospel.
And now look at Romans Chapter 2:17 in particular as the Law is brought up, rested on because of belief of God’s existence, and then given to others as a warning.
17 Behold, thou art called a Iew, and restest in the Law, and makest thy boast of God:
18 And knowest his will, and approuest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the Law,
19 And art confident that thou thy selfe art a guide of the blinde, a light of them which are in darkenesse:
20 An instructour of the foolish, a teacher of babes: which hast the forme of knowledge and of the trueth in the Law:
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thy selfe? thou that preachest a man should not steale, doest thou steale?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adulterie, doest thou commit adulterie? thou that abhorrest idols, doest thou commit sacriledge?
23′s JUDGMENT CAN ONLY COME FROM YOU. God Judges RIGHTEOUSLY and desires that none of us should perish. (2 Peter Chapter 3:9) God Is Grace & Mercy
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the Law, through breaking the Law dishonourest thou God?
Look to that of which is done away in Christ:
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611-Bible/book.php?book=2+Corinthians&chapter=3&verse=14
Have a good day.
Important is what to do. Galatians Chapter 5
16 This I say then, Walke in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that yee cannot doe the things that yee would.
18 But if yee be lead of the spirit, yee are not vnder the Law.
NOT GODLY, NOT ETERNAL, NOT LIFE:
19 Nowe the workes of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adulterie, fornication, vncleannesse, lasciuiousnesse,
20 Idolatrie, witchcraft, HATRED, variance, emulations, WRATH, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Enuyings, murthers, drunkennesse, reuellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I haue also tolde you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherite the kingdome of God.
GOD IS ONLY:
22 But the fruit of the spirit is loue, ioy, peace, long suffering, gentlenesse, goodnesse, faith,
23 Meekenesse, temperance: against such there is no law.
You are right in saying that the Bible is only understood in grace. That’s the whole reason Jesus came, to graciously save us from perishing. Why would we perish? Because we, as sinners, cannot stand the intense consuming fire of the presence of our Creator. For believers, they will experience the glory of God as ecstasy, but for the wicked, they will experience his glory as wrath. Once upon a time in paradise, Adam and Eve were able to walk with God, but after sin entered the world, they no longer could. God aches for people to be made alive through Christ so, at the Judgment Day, they can exist with Him in paradise once again.
As you wrote, Romans 2:23 “God judges righteously…” That does not mean that God does not judge, it means he is the BEST judge.
And the word ‘hell’ in Revelation 20:14 “…and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire…” is actually ‘Hades,’ a very different thing than hell. Hell IS the lake of fire ie, the pouring out of the wrath of God on the wicked. The Bible is full of references to God’s wrath against the wicked. Not because he likes to pour out wrath on people, but because wickedness incurs wrath. It’s like the law of gravity, or if you threw a dry leaf in a bonfire. The only way wicked people can be saved is to be transformed through Jesus Christ.
Why do you say that God will not pour wrath on the wicked?
The answer includes a lot of I’s, me’s and my’s.
Divine Revelations Nathan.
I only Received Divine Light in April. To those reading who may not know, receiving the holy Ghost delivers answers that reveal more and more as one forgives, judges not anybody else as being “wicked”, builds love and joy, and remains open to what may be while accepting the Truth that is found in Liberty, Grace and Love.
It’s not as if it’s a flip of the switch where one is all of a sudden free from all struggles. Entering into the holy Ghost is an entrance into a journey requiring acceptance, repentance and Good Patient work to Overcome those things known as sin.
Divine Gifts, on the other hand, are like light switches. I Received such a Divine Gift on Thanksgiving Day of November 23rd 2000 while at the “Stubborn Mule” in Sarnia, Canada. I saw “the Eyes of God” moving within my girlfriend’s pupils and she in mine after a long day of spent with two different families eating turkey dinners. Light was Seen, my shoulders literally felt lighter as if I’ve got a book bag that is now one book lighter, and I’ve had No More Regrets for almost eleven years now. It was a beautiful Gift on my 7721st day of life that I am most Grateful for.
When I discuss my Understandings of Hell’s Battlefield that is the controlling energy of Wrath, I just recall my visit of June 17th 1999.
Outer darkenesse’ pitch black nothingness and the cube of light that is New Jerusalem is recalled the night of December 17th 2006. Wild night. One moment I was talking to an ethereally floating face over my friend Matthew and in the next moment I’m getting carried out of The Agora by my hands and feet before I came to and was set down. The rest of the night was spent talking with my friend King James.
Meeting the God of this World on March 17th 2011, whereupon my Soul came out a few inches from my chest and this lifelong Agnostic who spent a lot of energy Judging others as wicked IMMEDIATELY knew that I had judged myself the whole time. As the Cherubic face that was ethereally floating over my friend Michael’s face rudely interrupted me just as I was discovering the Eternal Powers (Guidance, Influence, Belief) by saying, “YOU’RE FIGURING IT OUT”, I knew then who my biggest punisher who had the ability to send me to Hell was. I do not want to bear that one who has promised to bring so much judgmental pain if I don’t wise up. That one who has the store of Wrath in my Soul’s Cup is = MYSELF.
I don’t look to see what men have interpreted from the Prophesies, nor do I study them. I simply recall my life and then Hear The Prophesies.
I love talking about my many Revelations that I’ve only given a small overview of here. I’ll admit that I does appear a bit boastful at times. I’m working on that one…
You Judge Yourself. I came to that independently with a little help from some Divine friends. Okay…with a lot of help. I also See it in the Scripture.