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| Re 1:18 "I... have the keys of hell and of death." |
June 18, 2013
Initially posted here:
Initially posted here:
Re 1:18 "I... have the keys of hell and
of death."
Rev 20:
11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there
was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in
it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake
of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
==============
The activities are all described in the
prophetic past tense to indicate their absolute certainty of being fulfilled;
they are as good as has happened, an accomplished fact. God's sovereignty and
immutability guarantee these. Their actual fulfillment is yet in the future...
at Christ's return to judge the world.
A few observations from this 5-verse paragraph:
i. The momentous events described here shall
occur at the end of time, i.e.at the threshold of eternity when the begotten
Son of the eternal God shall sit upon His great white throne. [Therefore forget
about the fabled earthly millennium!]
ii. Death and hell shall deliver up the dead
in them at the end of time.
- The glorified Christ holds the keys to both
death and hell. He opens them, and they deliver up their captives unto Him for
judgment!
- Death and hell shall be emptied of their
dead. None shall remain in death or hell anymore after that. Therefore, hell shall
be emptied, and be discarded.
- Hell's temporal/timely function shall cease
at the end of time. At the end of time, hell shall have served its purpose.
- The EMPTIED death and hell shall be tossed
into the lake of fire.
iii. Those delivered up by death and hell
shall be judged every man according to their works.
- Please note that this is not the stated
reason why any would end up in the lake of fire.
iv. All those dead delivered up by death and
hell whose names are not written in the book of life shall be cast into the
lake of fire for their eternal punishment.
- Those dead delivered up by death and hell
whose names are found written in the book of life shall not be cast into the
lake of fire.
v. Verse 15 "And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" obviously
implies, in context, that of all those dead delivered up by death and hell,
there are those whose names are written in the book of life, and others not
written in the book of life.
- THAT IS, God's children do end up in hell
BUT none of them will end up in the lake of fire. This makes complete sense in
light of Christ's solemn and constant warnings addressed to the disciples, on
avoiding hell.
Sing F Lau
"Re 1:18 "I... have the
keys of hell and of death."
What is the relevance of this declaration for
God's children?
Sing F Lau
Rev 20:15 "And whosoever was
not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
- The book of life records the name of all
those whom God has chosen and predestinated to eternal glory.
- Whosoever is not found written in the book
of life was not given to Christ to be redeemed from the eternal condemnation in the
lake of fire at the end of time.
- The lake of fire is not the same as hell.
Hell ends at the end of time.
- Hell is temporal. Hell shall deliver up the
dead at the end of time to stand for judgment.
- The lake of fire is eternal... the non redeemed
shall be here forever!
Nearly all are absolutely certain that there
are no children of God in hell.
I'm not sure about that. Christ did solemnly
warn the disciples of the real danger of ending up there.
I readily affirm the absolute certainty that
not a single child of God will be in the lake of fire... Rev 20:15.
Sing F Lau
The Lord Jesus did WARN his
disciples against the danger of ending up in hell... whatever 'hell' maybe
made to mean.
Is the danger of hell real or imaginary?
Here is the first instant hell is used...
Mt 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is
angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the
judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in
danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be
in danger of hell fire.
Here is the first usage of "hell"
in the NT.
1. To whom is the Lord addressing the
warning?
- to the elect?
- to the non-elect?
- what's your choice? Suggest the third group,
perhaps.
2. What is that "hellfire" spoken
of?
- Something in this life?
- Something after death?
- Something after the resurrection?
3. Is the danger of hell fire real to those
addressed?
4. Can hell fire be avoided by those
addressed?
5. Was Jesus just jesting, using
"hell" to frighten those addressed?
[ A brother commented on the above passage:
I have read before that geena or Gehenna was
a place outside of Jerusalem in the Valley of the Son Hinnom (Jer. 7:31-32)
where pagans sacrificed their children by fire. It was looked at as a place of
wickedness and shame.
It is my belief, as with the other references
in the verse (i.e. the judgment, the council) that hell fire, in this case, is
a temporal punishment of a sorrowful death, not an eternal separation.
Of course, that is only in that particular
verse in Matthew. There are many examples in the Bible where Hell is mentioned
as an everlasting punishment, but I believe that particular verse in Matthew 5
to be speaking of a well-known place within the Valley of the Son of Hin]
Sing F Lau
Here is another one:
"And fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell." Matt 10:28
To whom does the Lord Jesus addressed these
words?
- to the dead in trespasses and sins?
- to the disciples?
If the former, such have no fear of God!
Isn't the warning redundant?
If the latter, then being destroyed both soul
and body in hell is a real possibility... otherwise Christ warning just
jesting!
But what is it to be destroyed both body and
soul in hell?
Sing F Lau
"For great is thy mercy
toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." (Psalms
86:13)
A brother commented on this verse:
[David, in this verse, praises God for his
deliverance from "...the lowest hell." I can't imagine a lower hell
than the place from which the wicked dead are raised in Revelation 20, so the
Biblical evidence seems clear that God 1) Delivered us "...from the wrath
to come," including the wrath that shall hold the wicked from their death
till the Second Coming. David used a past tense verb, referring to a
deliverance already received, not to be received in the future.]
I wish to ask these questions:
1. What's the lowest hell that David's soul
went to, and from which the Lord delivered it?
- Would it be the same hell spoken of in Rev
20. Can a man's soul go to the lowest hell in his lifetime on earth?
2. When was David's soul in the lowest hell -
during his lifetime on earth?
3. David's confession does prove one thing:
the soul of a child of God can end up in the lowest hell (whatever that is made
to mean).
- And unless the Lord intervenes to deliver
that soul, it will remain there until the day it is delivered up at
resurrection, for glorification.
4. Does David's confession apply to every
child of God... would Saul be able to say the same thing? Can we conclude that
what is true of David in this confession is automatically true of all others?
