The Lake Of Fire And Sulfur

Will this final effort by Satan succeed? Certainly not-no more than the attack that Gog of Magog is due to make on spiritual Israel in our will will succeed! (Ezekiel 38:18-23) John vividly describes the outcome: "But fire came down out of heaven and devoured them. And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were." (Revelation 20:9b-10a) Rather than being merely abyssed, this time Satan, the original Serpent, will actually be crushed out of existence, pulverized, completely annihilated as if by fire.

We have already noted that "the lake of fire and sulphur" could not be a literal place of torment. (Revelation 19:20) If Satan were to suffer excruciating torture that for all eternity, Jehovah would have to preserve him alive. Yet, life is a gift, not a punishment. Death is the punishment for sin, and according to the Bible, dead creatures feel no pain. (Romans 6:23; Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10) Moreover, we read later that death itself, along with Hades,is cast into this same lake of fire and sulfur. Surely, death and Hades cannot suffer pain! - Revelation 20:14.

All of this reinforces the view that the lake of fire and sulfur is symbolic. Further, the mention of fire and sulfur calls to mind the fate of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed by God because of their gross wickedness. When their time came, "Jehovah made it rain sulfur and fire from Jehovah from the heavens, upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah." (Genesis 19:24) what befell the two cities is called "the judicial punishment of everlasting fire." (Jude 7) Yet, those two cities did not suffer everlasting torment. Rather, they were blotted out, obliterated for all time, along with their departed inhabitants. Those cities do not exist today, and no one can say for sure where they were located.

In harmony with this, the Bible itself explains the meaning of the lake of fire and sulfur: "This means the second death, the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:14) It is clearly the same as the Gehenna that Jesus spoke of, a place where the wicked remain destroyed, not tortured forever. (Matthew 10:28) It is a complete utter destruction without hope of a resurrection. Thus, while there are keys for death, Hades and the abyss, there is no mention of a key for opening the lake of fire and sulfur. (Revelation 1:18; 20:1) It will never release its captives. - Compare Mark 9:43-47.

Next time: Tormented Day And Night Forever

Revelation Its Grand Climax At Hand! Watchtower Bible And Tract Society, 1988