Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Passages: The True Giant-Slayer 1 Samuel 17

It’s a story just about all of us are familiar with. Many of us have heard it since we were little in Sunday School. We can think back to the Bible storybooks read to us early on and seeing the pictures of the small shepherd boy with the sling and stone in his hand standing in front of the towering giant of a man. It quickly became my son John’s personal favorite Bible account. And no matter how old we are now, it continues to capture our attention whenever we hear or read it again. Of course, I’m talking about the beloved, wonderful, and unforgettable narrative of David and Goliath found in 1 Samuel 17. How many sermons have we heard or books read that encourage us to be like David and defeat the giants in our lives with just a small stone of faith? Or to discover the champion in you to slay the giants of worry, fear, doubt, bitterness, ingratitude, and a host of other things? Some have even gotten creative to take the five stones and connect them to five ways you can go about killing such “giants” you may face. I admit that’ll preach. It has! The only problem is, it is not the point of the passage at all. And to apply it in such a way actually winds up missing it’s much greater point with the far better application it holds for us. So, what’s the story of David and Goliath really all about?

First, we have to realize that this is not a showdown between the man David and the giant Goliath. Oh, it’s much more than that! Goliath curses David “by his gods” in v. 43 and David acknowledges that he comes in the Lord’s name and not his own (v. 45). He states it will be God who delivers the giant into his hands so that all will know that He is God who does not save by sword or spear and that the battle is His instead (vv. 46-47). The author of the account even appears to go out of his way to emphasize Goliath’s mocking or derision of God’s people which is a mocking or derision of God Himself who the people belong and the defender of them (vv. 10, 25, 26 (2x), 36, 45). So, this actually is between the one true God Yahweh and the false gods of the Philistines. Like was seen in the Exodus with God defeating the so-called gods of the Egyptians with the plagues He brought upon them (Exodus 7-12; 12:12 in particular), His making the statue of the Philistine god, Dagon, in their own temple fall down to “eat the dust” as the serpent (1 Samuel 5:3-4; Genesis 3:14) and later with Elijah on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40). In every single one of these cases, God shows Himself supreme and utterly defeats the gods which do not exist. This is not the defeat of and victory over Goliath by a small shepherd boy as it is the defeat of and victory of the false gods of the Philistines by Yahweh God Himself. He just used the weakness of David to show His mighty strength as He loves to do (1 Corinthians 2:27-29; 2 Corinthians 12:9).

            The real battle here actually goes back much farther than David and Goliath and points into the future of something much greater to take place. To truly understand what’s going on, we have to go all the way back to the book of Genesis. To Genesis 3:15 to be exact. What is known as the first proclamation of the gospel. When God is delivering His declaration of judgment upon the serpent for the role he played in leading Adam and Eve to sin, He said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Basically, there will be war between the serpent and the woman from this point on that will continue throughout the generations to come. That is until one specific descendant of the woman will defeat the serpent (bruise him on the head) even though the serpent will temporarily wound him (bruise him on the heel). Precisely what will take place with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Satan will wound him in the role he plays with His death but it proves not to be fatal as seen in His resurrection. And, through such, He defeats the devil. All of the Bible can be said to be the unfolding of this prophecy. If it helps, you can think of this as the thesis statement of the Bible. When I was in college and seminary, my professors required me to have a thesis statement in every paper I wrote. A short summary in one or two sentences that stated what I intended to argue in the paper. (As you can imagine, I always struggled with these. I’ve never been good at being concise as my sermons and newsletter articles often attest to!) This means that the story of David and Goliath must be read in light of this promise. We must ask ourselves then how this connects to the storyline of the ongoing war between the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan pointing forward to that one Seed who will ultimately defeat him.

 

            You see, David not only was chosen by God to be anointed king but also to continue the line of THE anointed king, the Messiah, and establish His royal linage (2 Samuel 7:12-16). And there are several parallels to note between the two kings that God in His providence must have orchestrated so that David and his activity serve as a type or shadow of who Jesus would be and what He would do to redeem us from our sin. This was to help the people recognize Him when He came. For instance, both are shepherd-kings born in Bethlehem who can be said to be a “man after God’s own heart”. Jesus says in John 10 that He is the good shepherd and earlier that the Father has given those who belong to His flock to Him. Both are unimpressive by the world’s standards. David was viewed as the least likely to be king among his brothers. So much so his own father did not call him in from the field for consideration when Samuel came to anoint one of them king (1 Samuel 16:11). His brothers and King Saul never expected him to come out on top facing this giant (17:28, 33). Isaiah 53:2 tells us of Jesus, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire Him.” Nathaniel at first couldn’t believe that anything good could ever come from Nazareth where Jesus was raised (John 1:46). They both possess a zeal for God and concern for His glory. That is what led David to step up to accept Goliath's challenge in the first place (1 Samuel 17:26, 36). Certainly, that is true of Jesus as the disciples recognized after witnessing Him overturn the tables in the temple (John 2:17). They both endured contempt by their brothers. Jesus’ own brothers at first did not believe in Him and thought Him to be crazy (John 7:5). None of David’s brothers thought him serious to take on Goliath. David and Jesus were filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Samuel 16; Isaiah 62; Luke 4) and both are said to “come in the name of the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:45; Psalm 118:26; Matthew 21:9).

 

            And Goliath doesn’t resemble pride, lust, fear, failure, or any of the things he often is connected to but that sinister snake who first appeared back in the garden of Eden. Like him, the giant is the enemy of God and His people. He pridefully mocks and derides God. (Again, a major emphasis in this account.) And, perhaps even more striking, is the fact that we are told that Goliath’s armor in Hebrew is actually described as being “scale-armor.” What animal has scaly skin? A snake, right? And of all the places that stone could have hit on that mammoth of a man, God has it go smackdab in the middle of his forehead. Certainly no coincidence! Remember that prophecy in Genesis 3:15? Where was it the Seed of the woman is said to bruise or crush of the serpent? His head. Jesus later defeats the devil not with five smooth stones but two planks of wood and three nails. And just as David used Goliath’s own weapon to finish him, it could be said that Jesus used Satan’s own weapon of death to defeat him. This is a picture of the gospel in miniature. A coming preview if you will of the greater work David’s greater Son would do against the devil himself.

 

            Here’s the true application for us today from this story. Jesus has already defeated the giant who opposes and mocks Him and His people. We can be confident that we share in that victory if we belong to Him through faith like the Israelites shared in David’s victory as their champion. You see, what we need is not to be strong and brave like David but to have Jesus as our champion. Don’t try to fight the giant yourself! He is too big and too strong. You don’t stand a chance against him! Rather, we must trust in the One who has already defeated him. Who knocked him down with His death and resurrection and will come to finish the job chopping his head off so to speak when He returns.

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: Jesus is Knocking . . . But at the Wrong Door . Revelation 3:20

 

           It is a very popular verse to use in evangelistic messages. Many a pastor has quoted it at the end of their sermon to appeal to any unbelievers present in the congregation to receive Christ. Several of us can picture in our minds the painting which has Jesus standing at a door without any handle from the outside and having His fist in the air as if He were patiently knocking on it. The verse is Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” It is clear here that Jesus certainly is knocking on a door. The only problem is that the way it is often used and applied has Him knocking at the wrong door! Hence why I include this verse as one of those “Inigo Montoya passages”: “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

 

            As always, context is the key. When we look at the verses surrounding this one, we discover that Jesus is not knocking on the door of an unbeliever’s heart hoping that he or she just might finally let Him in. No. It is a door of a church. And not just any church at that but a very lukewarm one which is described as being neither cold or hot in relation to the Lord leading God to desire to spit them out of His mouth just like people did of the dirty water of the city there (vv. 15-16). It was a very prideful worldly church thinking that they were doing well and had all that they needed only to be ignorant of their true poor and needy spiritual condition (v. 17). This was the church of Laodicea. One of seven churches Jesus has John write a letter to at this time. Jesus even explicitly specifies at the end of the letter that this message is what “the Spirit says to the churches” (v. 22). So, this is not a call for unbelievers to be saved but a group of believers to repent and be renewed again in their zeal for the Lord (v. 19). This church had become so preoccupied with other things that they had in essence pushed Jesus out of the congregation with Him now being on the outside so to speak knocking to be let back in!

 

Some believe that Jesus here may be alluding to Song of Solomon 5:2 where the husband there knocks on the door of the bedroom to encourage his wife to let him in and continue to express her love for him. If Jesus did indeed intend to direct us to that picture, He could be showing that the same thing is happening with them. He is there as their husband knocking for them to open the door and express their love for Him once again. That love which had become so putridly lukewarm. It could also be connected to the parable Jesus told of slaves who were waiting eagerly for the return of their master from a wedding to open the door to him immediately when he comes back and knocks. The master then will have them sit at the table with him serving them (Luke 12:36-37). This is very similar to the image Jesus gives to this lukewarm church of Laodicea. Jesus may be reminding them that His coming is very near so they better be ready to let Him in. And the only way to do that would be to answer His call to repent of their worldly lukewarmness and self-righteous self-sufficiency (Revelation 3:19).

 

Rather than this being an evangelistic plea, it serves as a warning to believers in the church today. For us to guard against becoming lukewarm in our devotion to the Lord and succumbing to the thinking that we are something spiritually when we are not. To entertain the thought that we have what we need on our own and no longer need Christ when the reality is that we are nothing without Him (Romans 7:18), have nothing without Him (1 Corinthians 4:7), and can do nothing without Him of any value for His kingdom (John 15:5). The last thing we should want is for it to appear that Jesus is on the outside needing to be back in to dine or fellowship with us.

 

Furthermore, nowhere in Scripture are we ever told that Jesus is simply standing outside the door of our hearts patiently knocking hoping we might just let Him in. In fact, it actually is the opposite. Luke tells us that it was the Lord who opened up Lydia’s heart to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul (Acts 16:14). He didn’t wait for her to open up her own. If He doesn’t open our heart, we would never let Him in. He certainly wasn’t patiently knocking on the door of Paul’s heart when He confronted the man on the road to Damascus and dramatically changed and transformed him (Acts 9:3-7). We are never instructed to open our heart to let Jesus in. But we are continually, over and over again throughout the pages of Scripture, called to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation (Mark 1:15; Acts 2:38; 20:21; 26:20). That should be the evangelistic appeal for us to make. Not one that hadn’t been given to unbelievers in the first place. I’m not even sure it is helpful to direct unbelievers to ask Jesus into their heart for that matter. What does that even mean? And can that be done without repentance and genuine faith in Christ which alone saves? I think the many who have done so without bearing any fruit of repentance and persevering living faith which results in works (Matthew 3:8/Luke 3:8; Matthew 13:8, 23; James 2:14-26) provides the evidence that it indeed can be without such and give a countless number a false assurance of their salvation which they do not possess. I’m not saying that someone who has prayed to ask Jesus into their heart isn’t necessarily saved. Just that it wasn’t from them doing or asking such. It would have been through coming to Him with an attitude of repentance and placing their trust in Him alone to serve as their Savior and Lord. I probably prayed a dozen or more times to ask Jesus into my heart in my youth before I realized what repentance and faith really meant and looked like. And it was that repentance and faith that actually made the difference.

 

So, the questions we should be asking ourselves are as follows: “Have we pushed Jesus out of our fellowship so to speak where He is left outside knocking to come back in?” “How may we have become lukewarm or began to be such like the church Jesus stood knocking at?” And “What can we do to ensure that this doesn’t happen to our congregation as well as us as individuals?” Remember the blessed promise of restored fellowship He gives to this church as well as any others who allow themselves to grow lukewarm in their affection for Him. “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him to and will dine with him, and he with Me.” As G. Campbell Morgan well said, “The only cure for lukewarmness is the re-admission of the excluded Christ.”

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: Does God Promise Not to Give Us More Than We Can Handle? 1 Corinthians 10:13

            How many times have you had someone tell you when you are feeling overwhelmed to remember that God promises not to give us more than we can bear? Or that God must think you are so strong for Him to allow you to go through the difficult time or trial at the moment? They may even quote 1 Corinthians 10:13 to go along with it. “No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” All this is said as a well-meaning attempt to be encouraging and make someone feel better about their present situation or circumstances. The only problem is: 1) it is not true, and 2) it is not what that Scripture even says. Such has become another one of those “Inigo Montoya passages;” “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

            The first issue with these supposedly comforting words is that they simply are not true. God doesn’t promise anywhere in Scripture that He will not give us more than we can handle. In fact, the opposite is typically the case. Everything we face in life is too much for us to bear in our own strength and might. Even the Apostle Paul confesses in 2 Corinthians 1:8 that he and his travel companions faced such struggles during their time in Asia that they “were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even to live.” Sounds to me that he thought himself to be given more than he could bear or handle there. So much so it made life itself a chore or difficult for them to carry on. The Bible never teaches that we are strong enough to bear the weight and burdens of this life ourselves. Jesus made it clear that “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This is why we sing, “I must tell Jesus all of my trials; I cannot bear these burdens alone; In my distress He kindly will help me; He ever loves and cares for His own.” Our hope lies not in our strength and what we are able to carry but in Christ’s strength and what He can help us with. Without Him, we don’t stand a chance making it through whatever trial or trouble comes at us. The fact of the matter is that even the young “grow weary and tired” and “stumble badly” (Isaiah 40:30). We need the One who Himself “does not become weary or tired” to give us weary people His power and might so that we can “mount up with wings like eagles; run and not get tired; walk and not become weary” (vv. 28-29; 31).

            It’s actually discouraging to tell someone that they have been given what they can bear or are strong enough to handle it. Because that encourages them to look to themselves for the ability to face the difficulty when they should be directed to Jesus instead. To recognize that what they can’t do, He can. The reason Paul gives for being put in the place where he got to the point of being so completely drained of his strength that he despaired of life itself was “so that we would not have confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). It very well may be that God’s purpose in giving us more than we can bear is so that we have to look to Him for the necessary strength to endure it instead of inside of us as Paul reports God did with him.

The truth of the matter is not that God will not give us more than we can bear but that we will never be given more than His grace is sufficient to help us in our time of need. Paul learned this as well when he was begging the Lord to remove the painful annoying persistent “thorn in the flesh” as he refers to it in 2 Corinthians 12:7-8. He doesn’t specify what this thorn was but clearly it was something he felt he could not bear and wanted rid of. And while God doesn’t answer His prayer in the way he asked it, He reminds him of the blessed and glorious truth that “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (v. 9). Perhaps that would be a better verse and encouragement to give to that believing friend or family member who is struggling right now. Not that he or she has the strength to handle whatever it is but that the reality is that they do not but God’s grace will prove sufficient to get them through the trial and His power will be demonstrated in their weakness.

            Now, what about that 1 Corinthians 10:13 passage? What does it really say and mean? Well, when you read it carefully, you will see that it is not talking about God giving us ANYTHING more than we can bear generally but only that of being TEMPTED specifically. The promise is that God in His sovereignty will not permit us to be tempted beyond what we are able to resist. It is almost as if He is holding back the tide of temptation that wants to mount itself against us to drown us and filtering through His hand so to speak just enough that we can withstand it. And God shows His faithfulness also in providing the way of escape so that we don’t have to ever give into the temptation. There is always an off ramp with Jesus for all the temptations we may ever face. We can look to Him and flee from it, whatever the temptation might be. That’s the encouragement this verse gives us in our fight against sin. That temptation is not an insurmountable foe for us that will always win. Let’s be sure to use the verse to provide this encouragement rather than discouraging others (and ourselves) by pointing them to themselves for what it takes to get them through their trials instead of outside and away from themselves to Christ. He is the One we need to make it through every trial and withstand each temptation. We must continually look to and rely on Him.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

The Harsh Reality of Hell

            Kirk Cameron, who many may remember as Mike Seaver in the sitcom “Growing Pains” several years ago or more recently from the movie, “Fireproof,” and now is known for his work in apologetics and evangelism, has just caused a bit of a stir in indicating that he is entertaining the idea of “annihilationism.” This is the belief that an unbeliever’s soul and body are completely destroyed in hell after which they will cease from existence rather than them continuing there for all eternity in a state of conscious everlasting torment without any relief. Such is not a new teaching as there have been prominent evangelicals who have held to it in the past like John Stott whom you have heard me quote from time to time. And, perhaps even more concerning, are the number of cults which promote this kind of teaching such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Christadelphians, and Armstrongism with the Worldwide Church of God (though some modern groups of such thankfully no longer hold to this view). That itself should really give anyone pause before accepting this view. But what ultimately matters is not what our favorite entertainer, podcaster, social media influencer, or even preacher says about hell. It is what God’s Word says. And when we turn to the Bible on this issue, we find that God does not stutter or whisper about the harsh reality of hell.

            In all of the various passages of Scripture which reference or speak of hell, we find a pretty consistent picture of a horrifying place where unrepentant unbelievers will endure unbearable torment forever. At the end of the book of Isaiah, probably the first place in the Bible to explicitly provide us with a description of the topic, we read, “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an object of contempt to all mankind” (66:24). The idea of their specific worm not dying and the fire for them not being quenched clearly seem to indicate that this judgment will be eternal and unending. If the maggots which feed on their bodies are not going to be annihilated at this time what does that say about their bodies itself? Also, the fact of the fire not being quenched by their presence must mean that they are not burning up where the fire would be put out because it has nothing else to burn. Later, the prophet Daniel will lay out the two opposite destinies of humanity. One for believers who have been declared righteous in Christ and the other for nonbelievers who refuse to repent. He says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt.” Notice that both are described as experiencing something everlasting. For the believer, it is “everlasting life” and the unbeliever “everlasting contempt.” Nothing about there being a ceasing from this contempt. It will continue just as long as the life the believer is promised to receive. Revelation 14:9-11 tells us, “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘if anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, and he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be TORMENTED with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their TORMENT goes up FOREVER AND EVER; THEY HAVE NO REST DAY AND NIGHT, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Seems pretty clear to me that there is no end to the conscious torment those who choose to worship the beast and are marked as belonging to him will endure. They very well may wish to be annihilated in order to have such a rest that this place will not afford them. That’s how terrible this punishment is going to be! Likewise, we are told that all who will be thrown into the lake of fire “will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10, 15).

            We can also look at what the premier preacher of hell Himself has said about the topic. Jesus spoke more about hell than He did heaven. And as with any other of His teachings, He did not mince words about it. He likewise described it as a place of everlasting torment in fire. “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the FIERY hell” (Matthew 5:22). “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE” (Mark 9:43). He even quotes Isaiah 66:24 referenced earlier about how the worm of the wicked will not die and the fire they are in will not be quenched (Mark 9:48). In the picture of hell in Jesus’ parable of the talents, the place is portrayed as being in “outer darkness” where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). A clear image of those who reside there being fully conscious and aware of the pain and agony experienced by hell’s fiery flames. They would not be weeping and gnashing their teeth otherwise. This is seen as well in the story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). While we certainly want to be careful not to develop any major doctrine solely from a parable, it says something that Jesus had the rich man in the place representing hell to cry out to Abraham “being in torment” “in agony in this flame” for just a drop of water to provide him some relief (vv. 23-24). And when Jesus returns and separates the sheep (His true followers demonstrating their faith in how they treated His other followers who were in need) from the goats (those who did not belong to Him through faith and their neglect of His people demonstrated such), He will say to the goats, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the ETERNAL lake of fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). They will go into “eternal punishment” while believers (the righteous in Christ) into “eternal life” (v. 46). Once again, we see the parallel contrast between the punishment and life. The duration of such being the same. If life is eternal without end for the righteous, so must the punishment be for the unrighteous. The word for “punishment” here as well was used elsewhere for the great physical suffering or torture that Christians experienced under persecution. Something they clearly felt and were aware of. Those in hell will both feel and be aware of a far greater punishment there without end.

 

            Even the very word Jesus often used to refer to hell communicates all this. He would call it “gehenna” which was an actual trash dump outside of Jerusalem that was constantly burning. It is said that dead bodies of criminals and animals were burned there. Jesus certainly could have chosen any other word to paint a picture of hell but thought that the best to illustrate it.

 

            Now, what about all those places where it speaks of unbelievers “perishing” or being “destroyed” in hell? We all know John 3:16 and many of us have it memorized. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that all who believe in Him shall not PERISH, but have everlasting life.” Then we have Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to DESTROY both soul and body in hell.” Don’t these indicate some sort of annihilation or end to their punishment? Taking by themselves, it certainly seems to. And those who hold to such a position like to point to verses like these to prove their point. However, we have to read these in light of the clear passages speaking of the eternal torment of the judgment we have just looked at. Somehow they must be reconciled with them and there can’t be any contradiction since all of them are God’s Word and He cannot contradict Himself. It helps to recognize that the Greek word used for “destroy”, “apollumi,” does not necessarily, or even in most of its contexts, indicate annihilation or a complete cessation from existence. Often it is used in the sense of death. And death does not mean a ceasing of existence but more so a separation. A separation physically of the spirit from the body as seen with the description of Rachel’s soul departing at her death (Genesis 35:18) and spiritually of a separation or alienation from God (Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:18). The last of which can certainly continue for all eternity in hell. The word also is used in other contexts to describe something that is lost such as a sheep, a coin, or a son (Luke 15:4, 6, 8, 9, 24) and the necessity of losing one’s life in order to find eternal life (Matthew 10:39; Luke 17:33; John 12:25). The word is used as well in the sense of the ruining of an old wineskin when new wine has been poured into it (Mark 2:22). So, the talk of “perishing” or being “destroyed” in hell could just as much be speaking of one being ruined, lost, and dying for all eternity. As the Puritan Thomas Watson put it, “The wicked shall be always dying-but never dead.”

 

            Though different words for “destruction” are used in Philippians 3:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; and 2 Peter 3:7 to speak of the final destiny of the wicked, none of them have the absolute meaning of annihilation either. In fact, there are occurrences of them which clearly do not. For instance, the Greek word, “apoleia,” in Philippians 3:19 and 2 Peter 3:7 is also used by the disciples in Matthew 26:8 to speak of the “waste” they saw of the ointment which had been just poured upon Jesus’ head. That ointment did not cease to exist at that moment. It would have still been running down Jesus’ face and clothes. But it had been “destroyed” in the sense that it could no longer be used for any other purpose. Furthermore, the Greek word in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “olethros,” likewise does not refer to a ceasing of something no longer to exist as Paul uses the same term in 1 Corinthians 5:5 of the unrepentant sinner he called for the congregation to kick out of the church for his gross and heinous sexual immorality. He says that the man was to be delivered over to Satan “for the destruction of his flesh.” Whether “flesh” refers to his physical body or sinful nature, neither one were annihilated or ceased to exist after being excommunicated. Again, the idea is that of no longer being of value or use or “existing in their original, intended state” as New Testament scholar Douglas Moo points out. Those who refuse Christ and continue in their sin can expect an eternity of ruin and waste, not life and fulfilment.

           

            Some will say that an eternal unending punishment of torment in hell would not be fitting for the crime of our finite sins. That such would be rather extreme for our limited number of sins committed in this life. Some may even go so far to claim that this would be a cruel and unjust punishment for sin. However, that kind of reasoning fails to realize the serious nature of our sin against our holy God who has been nothing but good to us. Our sins are not just against anyone but against the sovereign Lord of the universe who has given us everything that we have. That makes even the smallest infraction against His holy law worthy of the worst form of punishment ever can be imagined. This is illustrated by a conversation a man had in another country with his taxi driver. The man who was a Christian, found out that the driver believed he would only suffer in hell for a little while to pay for his sins and then go to heaven after that. In his own estimation, he hadn’t done that many bad things after all. To get his point across, the man asked the taxi driver what he would do if he slapped him right there and then. The taxi driver said he would throw him out of the taxi. He then asked what would happen if it were some random guy on the street he slapped. The taxi driver told him that he would be probably be beat up by the guy and his friends. Next, he asked about the case if it was a police officer. The taxi driver said he would be thrown into jail. Finally, the man inquired about what the situation would be like if it was the king of that country he had slapped. The taxi driver nervously laughed and exclaimed, “you would die.” The same crime in each case but the status, value, and worth of the person he was committing it against carried with it a greater penalty. There is no one greater we can sin against than God. Therefore, there is no less of a punishment those who remain in their sins could expect to receive than the maximum possible which would be an eternity of such.

 

            Furthermore, there is a sense that the sinners in hell never stop sinning for their punishment ever to end. Since they have never repented of their sins, they continue to bear the guilt of every one of them. Also, while in hell, they still will have their sinful rebellious thoughts and attitudes towards God. None of that will ever stop. In fact, it very well might be even worse as any restraints they had on this earth will not be present there. Keep in mind that the wicked spoken of in the book of Revelation who have the terrible plagues of God’s judgment poured down upon them keep refusing to repent and still blaspheme God (Revelation 16:9, 11, 21). If their sinning doesn’t stop, neither should the punishment.

 

            We can certainly understand why some people may want to soften this harsh reality of hell by making it seem a little less severe by having the punishment come to an end. But we can’t go against or contradict what Scripture has to say about hell. It is meant to be a hard pill to swallow and gut-wrenching every time we read or hear about it. Such is the seriousness of our sins and what we all justly deserve from our holy God. And it should make us run to Christ and the cross for our salvation from it, glorifying His great love, grace and mercy to rescue us from it. It also should move us even more to share the gospel with our unsaved loved ones, knowing that this is what will await them if they do not repent and turn to Christ now. It is not a punishment that they will ever get any relief from and one which will not end. We certainly don’t want any of them to ever experience that. So, let’s make sure none of them go there without having to step over us and our many warnings.

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee