CHAPTER X. ON THE WORD FIRE, AND PHRASES EVERLASTING, ETERNAL, AND UNQUENCHABLE FIRE. SECTION I. The passages where the word FIRE, and the phrases EVERLASTING, ETERNAL, and UNQUENCHABLE FIRE, occur. Deut. 32: 22-25. For a fire is kindled in mine anger; and shall burn unto the lowest hell (sheol), and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without and terror within shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also, with the man of gray hairs. Numb. 21: 28, 29. For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sıhon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon, king of the Amorites. Jer. 48: 45. They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Ps. 66: 10-12. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidest affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. Ps. 83: 13-15. O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth the wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Ps. 97: 3-5. A fire goeth before him (God), and burneth up his ene mies round about His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at presence of the Lord of the whole earth. the Isa. 9: 19, 20. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Isa. 47: 14. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Isa. 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. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slain of the Lord shall be many. Jer. 4: 4. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Jer. 21: 12. O house of David, thus saith the Lord: Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Lam. 2: 3, 4. He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to, the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire. Ezek. 21: 31, 32. And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee; I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered for I the Lord have spoken it. : Ezek. 22: 18-22. Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. And as they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it to melt it, so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you. Mal. 3: 2, 3. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Matt. 3: 10: And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Matt. 7: 19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Luke 3: 9. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree, therefore, which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire. John 15: 6. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. Matt. 3 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. Luke 3: 16. John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. Mark 9: 43-49. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than, having two hands, to go into hell (Gehenna), into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. . . . . And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell-fire (Gehenna puros); where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Acts 2: 3, 4. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 1 Cor. 3: 13-15. Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire: and the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 2 Thess. 1: 7-9. And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. Heb. 17. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. James 3: 5, 6. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell (Gehenna). 2 Pet. 3: 7. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Verse 12. Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Rev. 9: 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breast-plates of fire, and of jacinth and brimstone; and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions: and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone. Rev. 20: 9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and com passed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city and fire came down from God, out of heaven, and devoured them. Lam. 4: 11. The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundation thereof. Zech. 25. For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her (Jerusalem). Luke 12: 49. I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? Heb. 12: 29. For our God is a consuming fire. Dan. 79, 10. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him the judgment was set, and the books were opened. : Dan. 10: 6. His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. EVERLASTING FIRE. Matt. 18: 8. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands, or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire (aionion pur, or fire of the age). Matt. 25:41. Then shall he say also unto them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire (aionion pur), prepared for the devil and his angels. ETERNAL FIRE. Jude 1: 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire (aionion puros). UNQUENCHABLE FIRE. - Matt. 3: 12. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Luke 3: 17. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. SECTION II. Brief Remarks on the scripture usage of the word FIRE, and the phrases EVERLASTING, ETERNAL and UNQUENCHABLE FIRE. It will readily be learned from a careful observance of those scriptures arranged in Section 1 of this Chapter, that the term fire is a very common and emblematical expression, denoting severe trials, calamities, and even common afflictions of the people, called the judgments of God. It will also be seen that the term fire, in many instances, stands immediately connected with the words rendered hell, such as Sheol, Gehenna, &c., which see in this work. The above facts are so easily understood, both from the Old and New Testament scriptures, that but very little need be said. The first place in which it is mentioned in the New Testament is Matt. 3: 10, "And now also the axe is laid unto the roots of the trees: therefore every tree that bringeth forth not good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." There are other similar passages, which teach the same things, and are understood in the same manner. Under the figure of cutting down trees, and casting them into the fire, in this text, is represented the severe judgment about to fall on the Jewish nation, which was before denominated the wrath to come. This figure was often used by the prophets, and, consequently, must have been well understood by the Jews in our Saviour's day. See Isa. 10: 33, 34; Jer. 46: 22, 23; Ezek. 31: 23. We need not offer arguments that this is the true application of this and the like passages, inasmuch as there is such a universal agreement on the subject among standard commentators. Hammond says, "But now are God's judgments come home to this people, and ready to seize upon the whole nation, and shall actually fall upon every unreformed sinner among you." Par. in loc. Pearce says, "Vengeance is about to be taken upon the Jewish nation." Assembly's Annotations, Poole's Annotations, Lightfoot, and others, make the same application. Clarke says, "The Jewish nation is the tree, and the Romans the axe," &c. Kenrick says, The national calamities with which you are threatened, are no light evils, but such as, if you do not repent, shall be like cutting up the tree by the roots; for as barren trees, which bring forth no fruit, are hewn down and cast into the fire, so shall it be with you, if you perform not good works; your kingdom shall be overthrown, and the inhabitants of the land utterly extirpated." See Paige's Selections. 66 A like application is made of similar passages, by the same authors. There is not, in truth, an instance in the Bible where fire is used to signify punishment in eternity. In sermons and exhortations a different interpretation is often given; but few, however, are willing to risk their reputation for biblical knowledge, by publicly |