By pastor Mark Da Vee Cypress Church of Gonzales CA. USA

A Case For Annihilationism

The Traditional view of hell (Gehenna) is that those who reject Christ suffer eternal agony in the lake of fire described in the book of Revelation; these torments will never cease for all eternity. 

Annihilationism on the other hand, is the view that the punishment of the wicked will not last for eternity.

The version of Annihilationism that I hold does not eliminate an intermediate state of suffering for the wicked (Hades), nor does it eliminate suffering for the sinner in the Lake of Fire (Gehenna). It is not destruction instead of punishment in hell.

What I believe the Bible teaches regarding eternal punishment is that the wages of sin is death—both physical death and ultimately spiritual death resulting in the complete destruction/extinction of the soul. Fallen mankind experiences physical death as a result of sin, and only those who are united with Christ by faith experience immortality and eternal life. The lake of fire pictured in the book of Revelation is the place where every free creature, angel or human, who has refused to enter the kingdom of God through Christ, everything corrupt and perishable, and even death itself, will be cast into and destroyed forever:

“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire, this is the second death, the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:14 ESV (All Scripture quotes are from the ESV (English Standard Version) unless otherwise noted.)

The “voice from the throne” in Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away.” The voice from the throne is not just speaking to those who are “going to heaven”; it is also describing the New Heavens and New Earth in which none of these former things are found.

Jesus used the Valley of Ben-Hinnom (from which we derive the word Gehenna) as an illustration of the lake of fire. The Valley of Ben-Hinnom was a garbage dump outside the city in which the flames were always burning. It was where the Israelites had at one time sacrificed their children to the idol Molech, and a place that was cursed by God:

“In the time of Jesus the Valley of Hinnom was used as the garbage dump of Jerusalem. Into it were thrown all the filth and garbage of the city, including the dead bodies of animals and executed criminals. To consume all this, fires burned constantly. Maggots worked in the filth. Jesus used this awful scene as a symbol of hell (Gehenna). In effect he said, ‘Do you want to know what hell is like? Look at Gehenna.’ So hell may be described as God’s ‘cosmic garbage dump.’ All that is unfit for heaven will be thrown into hell.” [i]

Why I changed my view from the traditional view of hell to the annihilationist view: I had always held the traditional view that the lake of fire (Gehenna) was a place of eternal conscious suffering. This is what I had always been taught, and what I had taught others. One day someone challenged me to provide them with scriptural proof that Gehenna was a place of eternal suffering. Confident that I could supply many verses, I set out to compile a list of references. What surprised me was how few verses in the Bible there were to support the idea of eternal conscious suffering. There are only four of them, two are found in the gospels, Matt. 12:46, Mark 9:44, 46, 48, and two in the book of Revelation: Rev. 14:9-11, Rev. 20:10 (I will provide an annihilationist interpretation of these verses in the coming pages).

I realized that I had been conditioned by what I had been taught to read “eternal conscious suffering” into many verses that actually speak of eternal destruction.

On the other hand, there are many verses that refer to the destruction of the wicked both in the Old Testament and in the New, including the teachings of Jesus. In fact, Jesus’ teaching on Gehenna and the fate of the wicked is very consistent with the Old Testament scriptures.

Please be sure to read my concluding comments regarding teaching others on this subject at the end of this essay!

My purpose for writing this essay is to lay out an apologetic for the annihilationist view that I have described in the following order:

1. Old Testament references to the fate of the wicked
2. Jesus’ teaching concerning the fate of the wicked
3. The Apostles teaching on the fate of the wicked
4. Overcoming Objections: Interpreting Bible passages that support the traditional view
5. The Immortality of the soul
6. Jewish beliefs on Gehenna in the first century
7. Patristic writings concerning Gehenna
8. Philosophical/Biblical arguments against the traditional view
9. Conclusion

My goal is to demonstrate that the annihilationist view presented here will be seen as a viable, Biblical alternative to the traditional view of hell as a place of unending, eternal suffering.

1. Old Testament References to the Fate of the Wicked Adam and Eve were told by God that on the day that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die (Gen. 2:16-17). Their disobedience began the process of death for them and for the human race. Adam and Eve were then expelled from the Garden of Eden, and kept from partaking of the tree of life preventing them from living/existing forever in a fallen state:

“Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—‘ therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden…He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” Gen. 3:22-24.

Annihilationist’s also believe that the soul is not inherently immortal. This view is called “Conditional Immortality”, and will be addressed in part 5.

God’s judgments upon His enemies—their annihilation—seen in the Old Testament, are a preview of the ultimate fate of the wicked. The Lord often teaches us spiritual truths by using the natural world to give us examples that we can understand. Jesus did this in the New Testament through parables. A few Old Testament examples of the annihilation of the wicked are:

• The antediluvian world—Gen. 7,
• Sodom and Gomorrah—Gen. 19:23-29
• Pharoah’s army—Ex. 14
• Rebellion of Korah—Num. 16:1-35: the ground swallowed up the leaders, “fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.” God threatens to “consume” the congregation in like manner, Num. 16, see vv. 35,45.
• Elijah and the fifty men sent from Ahab are consumed by “fire from heaven”, 2 Kings 1:10 I will address “fire from heaven” and “eternal fire” in section 6, “Overcoming objections: interpreting the hard verses.” What is the Lord showing us by these examples and by the examples to follow? He is revealing something about Himself. He is showing us that the wicked cannot survive His presence (Deut. 4:24). He is showing us how He deals with the problem of sin and rebellion; He is showing us the ultimate fate of those who rebel against Him. In order to better understand the consistent message found in the OT concerning the fate of the wicked, let’s look at a few of the Hebrew words translated “destroyed, perish, and destruction” and how they are used:

Shamad “to destroy, exterminate, be destroyed, be exterminated (Niphal) to be annihilated, be exterminated to be destroyed, be devastated (Hiphil) to annihilate, exterminate to destroy.” http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/shamad.html

“The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever. Ps. 92:7

“The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.” Ps. 145:20

“They (the wicked, v. 10) are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end You have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.” Is. 26:14

“Mark the blameless man and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace. But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off.” Ps. 37:37-38

“I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.” Eze. 34:16

“The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.” Pr. 14:11

Let’s look at a few references which contain the word that is translated “perish” in our English Bibles.

‘abad (Aramaic) “to perish, vanish (P’al) shall perish (Aphel) destroy (Hophal) be destroyed” http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/abad-aramaic-3.html

“You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish, You have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities You rooted out, the very memory of them has perished.” Ps. 9:5-6

“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” Ps. 2:12

“But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish–like smoke they vanish away.” Ps. 37:20

“As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!” Ps. 68:2

“For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.” Ps. 73:27

“For behold, Your enemies, O LORD, for behold, Your enemies shall perish; all evildoers will be scattered.” Ps. 92:9

“The wicked sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!” Ps. 112:10

“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.” Pr. 19:9

*note the corresponding New Testament verse: Rev. 21:8, “But for the cowardly, the faithless,…and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

A few miscellaneous Old Testament passages that speak of the destruction of the wicked:

“They (those who have oppressed God’s people) are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.” Is. 26:14

“Your hand will find out all Your enemies; Your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath, and fire will consume them. “ Ps. 21:8-9.

“Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine; the soul who sins shall die.” Eze. 18:4

“The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Ps. 1:4-6

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root or branch.” Mal. 4:1

These verses are a sampling, not an exhaustive list of references that allude to the complete destruction of the wicked in the Old Testament.

2. Jesus’ Teaching concerning the fate of the wicked Jesus’ teaching on hell (Gehenna) is very consistent with OT passages concerning the fate of the wicked: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matt. 10:28 ESV

The word translated “destroy” here is Apollumi: Apollumi “to destroy to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruin render useless to kill to declare that one must be put to death metaphorically, to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell, to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed to destroy to lose” http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/apollumi.html

According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, p. 67, the literal meaning of Apollumi is “To destroy, kill, to suffer loss or lose, to perish, to be lost”. According to the Zondervan NASB Exhaustive Concordance, p. 1511, the definition of Apollumi is “to destroy, destroy utterly”. And it’s most common usage is its literal definition. In my view, when Bible Study Tools .com inserts “to give over to eternal misery in hell” in its definition of Apollumi , they define the word from a theological assumption: that Gehenna is a place of eternal suffering; therefore it must mean eternal suffering in some contexts. In the secular Greek usage of this and related words, it was not used to describe “eternal misery”.

Jesus likened hell (Gehenna) to a garbage dump. He uses language to describe hell as a place where waste is thrown to be burned up and consumed. Gehenna derives its name from the Valley of Hinnom, a garbage dump south of Jerusalem where child sacrifices were made to the Canaanite gods during Israel’s apostasy. It is also referred to in Scripture as “Tophet.” In Jesus’ day, it was a dump where fires were perpetually burning, much like some dumps in the world today.

“Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers: ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matt. 13:30 ESV

“Just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send His angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 13:40-42 ESV

“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Mark 13:49-50. ESV

*See Matt. 25:41,46 in part 4

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:26-30

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish,     But have eternal life.” John 3:16

“If anyone does not abide in Me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” John 15:6

John the Baptist: “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and he will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” Matt. 3:12

Weeds and branches thrown into a fiery furnace; how would the original audience who heard Jesus utter these words have understood Him? Would any of Jesus’ hearers thought that the weeds would continue to burn forever? Would they have thought that Jesus was describing a place of eternal conscious suffering? Yes, He is describing a place where there would be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” just as you would expect from anyone thrown into a “lake of fire”, but Jesus is describing the final end of the wicked. And in John 3:16, Jesus contrasts the fate of the believer with the unbeliever: “…whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The word translated “perish” here is Apollumi. The annihilationist believes “perish” means “perish”, and that it refers to eternal, irrevocable death, which is their eternal punishment.

3. The Apostle’s Teaching Concerning the fate of the Wicked Jude describes the annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah “as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” Jude 7. The Greek word translated “eternal” here is Aonios; it describes the fire, not the duration of the punishment. The eternal fire is what has been destroying God’s enemies all throughout scripture. Sodom and Gomorrah were so thoroughly destroyed that their remains have never been found.

Peter describes eternal punishment as follows: “…if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly…” 2 Pet. 2:8

“But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the undgodly.” 2 Pet. 3:7  .

The Apostle Peter uses the same example that the Apostle Jude used to describe the fate of the wicked using Sodom and Gomorrah’s annihilation as an example of what will happen to the ungodly, their destruction by “eternal fire,” their eternal state.

The Apostle Paul writes: “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” 1 Thess. 5:2-3

“…the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His might…” 2 Thess. 1:7b-9

The writer of Hebrews: “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” Heb. 10:26-27

In 1 Cor. 15 Paul writes about the resurrection and the end of the age; he speaks of the end of death:     “…the last enemy to be destroyed is death” v. 26, “Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” v. 54,55.

This “death of death” is seen in Rev. ch. 20: “Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire”. Death and hades are not entities which will suffer eternal agony. The lake of fire is a place of annihilation; there will be no more death, and no more intermediate state (hades). If the unsaved (the vast majority of humanity) were to be in a place of eternal agony in the new heavens and earth, it would not be the end of death, nor would it be a final victory over sin. “He will swallow up death forever” Is. 25:8a.

4. Overcoming Objections: Interpreting Bible Passages That Support The Traditional View Of Hell As A Place Of Eternal Suffering: What about the “hard” verses that seem to clearly refer to Gehenna as a place of eternal conscious torment? These verses must be looked at in their context, and understood in light of their Old Testament origins in order to interpret them correctly. The hard verses are underlined.

“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It would be better to enter life crippled than with two hands to go hell…the unquenchable fire…where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:43-48

When Jesus uses the phrase “…where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched,” He is not speaking of a literal worm that God will endow with immortality in order to torment those in Gehenna. He is using figurative language; Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 66:24:

“And they shall go out and look upon the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me.            For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to                all flesh.”

Earlier in this same chapter Isaiah writes,: “For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger in fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by His sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD will be many. Is. 66:15-16. (Italics mine)

In a sense, this last chapter of Isaiah parallels the New Testament book of Revelation. What is described in this chapter is the ultimate fate of the wicked contrasted with the ultimate fate of righteous. What is the fate of the wicked? The imagery used here describes the wicked as “slain”, “dead bodies” that are consumed by an unquenchable fire.

The “unquenchable fire” is an unrelenting fire; one that will not stop until everything is consumed. It’s counterpart in the New Testament is “eternal fire.” Over and over in Scripture, fire is used in connection with God’s presence and His wrath. This language is used in Jer. 4:4 which speaks of Gods wrath: “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it.”

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…And these will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matt. 25:41, 46.

The traditionalist argument is that since the reward for the righteous is eternal, then the punishment Jesus is referring to here also must be eternal. I would concede that you could read Matt. 25:46 to refer to eternal torment, but it is not necessary to do so, and should not be, in light of the Biblical passages that refer to the destruction of the wicked. The word translated “eternal” in this passage is the Greek word aionios, defined above. The translators of the Septuagint (The Hebrew Old Testament translated into Greek, approx. 250 BC) used the Greek words aion and aionios to translate the Hebrew word owlam translated “eternal” and “forever”. Yet Hebrew scholars do not necessarily associate owlam as literal endlessness; it is used in the sense of “having no end in sight” or “for a long period of time”. Zondervan Exhaustive Concordance defines 5769 olam as “long duration, antiquity, futurity”.

The “Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament”, Harris, Archer Jr., Waltke, has this to say concerning owlam and aion : “The lxx (Septuagint) generally translates owlam by aion which has essentially the same range of meaning. That neither the Hebrew nor the Greek word in itself contains the idea of endlessness is shown both by the fact that they sometimes refer to events or conditions that occurred at a definite point in the past, and also by the fact that sometimes it is thought desirable to repeat the word, not merely saying “forever” but “forever and ever”. Both words came to be used to refer to a long age or period.”

In The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources, George Milligan and James Moulton write concerning aionios, it “depicts that of which the horizon is not in view, whether the horizon be at an infinite distance…or whether it lies no farther than the span of Ceasars’s life.”

F.F. Bruce writes concerning owlam, aion,and aionios, “these in themselves express indefinite duration, but the context or the inherent sense may make the indefiniteness more explicit.”[ii]

Another aspect of this phrase “eternal life” zoe aionios, is that it does not refer to a life of endless duration, but that it refers to the life of the “age (aion) to come”. Edward Beecher wrote: “As aion denoted an age, great or small, so the adjective aionios expressed the idea pertaining to or belonging to that aion whether great or small.”[iii]

N.T. Wright in his translation of the New Testament, The Kingdom New Testament, translates Romans 2:7, “When people patiently do what is good, and so pursue the quest for glory and honor and immortality, God will give them the life of the age to come.” (eternal life) italics mine.

The eternal life Jesus refers to in Matt. 25:46, can be interpreted, the “life of the age to come.” In my view, the punishment could likewise be interpreted, the “punishment of the age to come.”

In addition, to be excluded from God’s kingdom, to suffer the loss of the eternal life you could have had, to be destroyed forever (annihilated) is also eternal punishment! Given the weight of the Biblical evidence that supports the death/annihilation of the wicked, this verse should be interpreted in light of that evidence. Annihilation is eternal punishment, but not eternal conscious suffering.

Here is a verse that would seem to be conclusive that Gehenna is a place of eternal conscious suffering: “If anyone worships the beast and its image…he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night…” Rev. 14:9-11.

Revelation is full of apocalyptic language, much of it from the OT, and should be interpreted in that light. There is no question that torment and punishment is going on here; the question is, how long does this last? The phrase “the smoke of their torment goes up forever” is the same language found in Isaiah chapter 34 which describes the destruction of Edom:

“For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch. Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.” Is. 34:8-10.

The Hebrew word for “forever” used here is “owlam” which has already been addressed. If you were to travel to Edom today, would you see the smoke of its destruction still rising? Of course not. What God is saying in Isaiah 34 is that He will have a “day” of vengeance, a “year” of recompense, a period of time where He will execute judgment. The destruction of Edom was complete, it would never rise again.

Referring to the phrases “Day and night” and “forever and ever” used in Rev. 20:10, GK Beale writes: “Even ‘day and night’ are not literal but figurative for the idea of the unceasing nature of the torment. Strictly speaking, even the expression ‘they will be tormented forever and ever’ is figurative. ..(it) can be rendered ‘unto the ages of the ages’; at the least the phrase figuratively connotes a very long time.” [iv]

Although GK Beale holds the traditional view of Gehenna, he recognizes these expressions as figures of speech. I believe what we see in Rev. 14:9-11 is that Babylon the great has fallen (v. 8), and those who worship the beast will be punished, and his kingdom is coming to a complete end.

“and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Rev. 20:10.

Here is how I would interpret this verse from an annihilationist viewpoint: The lake of fire, called the “second death” is a place of total annihilation; it is not a place of eternal suffering. It is a place where those things that do not have a place in the new heavens and new are thrown into. Those who rejected Christ, whose names were “blotted out” of the book of life (blotting out speaks of wiping out any trace of their existence) are thrown into. It is a place where death and hades are thrown into, along with Satan and his angels. I would interpret “tormented day and night forever and ever” as figurative language that speaks to the long duration of the punishment awaiting the beast (antichrist) and Satan and his angels. Imagine how long Satan has been rebelling against God and the enormous amount of sin he is responsible for. God’s punishment of sin will be completely perfect and just, and will probably be of long duration for Satan, the beast, and false prophet. Again, I believe this is Old Testament terminology, which frequently refers to a long period of time as “forever.”

6. The Immortality of the soul Although the immortality of the soul is commonly taught in churches, there is no Biblical evidence that the soul is immortal apart from union with Christ. In fact, immortality is always referred to as something that is obtained. One verse commonly quoted to refer to the soul’s immortality is Ecclesiastes 3:11:

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to the end.”

This verse as translated above is vague and difficult to understand. That God has “put eternity into man’s heart” is only the first part of the sentence, which has to do with finding out all that God has done; it is not a doctrinal statement on the immortality of the soul; the soul of man is not even referred to.

This verse, in my view, is poorly translated. I am not a Hebrew or Greek scholar; but gleaning information from those who are sheds light on this verse.

The difficulty with this verse is the interpretation of the Hebrew word olam which is translated “eternity” in the above verse and in most English translations. Olam is usually translated as “eternity,” “age,” “day,” or referring to a period of time. The context determines the precise meaning. Olam can also be interpreted as “darkness” “ignorance.” When this alternative translation is made, Ecclesiastes makes much more sense.

Two Jewish translations translate this verse differently than most Christian English translations. 

The Koren Tanach from Jerusalem translates Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made every thing beautiful in His time: also He has set the mystery of the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work which God has made from the beginning to the end.”

The Artscroll English Tanach translates Eccl. 3:10-11 “I have observed the task which God has given the sons of man to be concerned with: He made everything beautiful in its time; He has also put an enigma into their minds so that man cannot comprehend what God has done from beginning to end.”

According to the NET Translation, Ecclesiastes 3:11 is better translated God has “placed ignorance in the human heart.” This also makes the second line make sense: “so that people cannot discover what what God has ordained from the beginning to the end of their lives.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 is the verse that people quote when they claim that the human soul is eternal apart from God, and therefore conclude that human souls will exist forever in a state of torment in Gehenna. But Ecclesiastes 3:11 has nothing to do with the eternality of the human soul!

Here are a few bullet points on immortality:

• Adam and Eve were kept from immortality in their fallen state by the flaming sword of the Cherubim, Gen. 3:22-24
• Immortality is something that is sought for, obtained: “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patient well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;” Rom. 2:7
• God alone possesses immortality: “…the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality…” 1 Tim. 6:15-16a

6. Jewish Beliefs about Gehenna in the First Century There were two schools of thought among the rabbi’s in the first century. The School of Hillel believed that souls who went down to Gehenna would suffer for 12 months and then be annihilated:  [vi]

The Essenes apparently believed in eternal torment of some kind, “in a cave” [vii] but I have not been able to find specific information on their view yet. Jesus’ audience would probably have had differing views on Gehenna, but it is doubtful that they understood it as eternal conscious suffering in flames.

The School of Shammai believed that the utterly wicked will suffer punishment in Gehenna for twelve months, after which fires of Gehenna will cease, and they will continue to exist in a state of perpetual remorse. “The sinners of Israel with their bodies and the sinners of the Gentiles with their bodies descend to Gehinnom and are judged there for twelve months. After twelve months their bodies are destroyed, and their souls burnt and scattered by a wind under the soles of the feet of the righteous; as it is said, ‘Ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.’” Mal. 4:3 [v]

7. Patristic Views on Gehenna There is good historical evidence that the traditional view of hell did not start to “solidify” as the majority view until the time of Augustine, late 4th-early 5th century.

• Arnobius of Sicca c. 250, denied the soul’s immortality;
• Both Traditionalists and Annihilationists claim Ignatius of Antioch c. 35-107 supported their positions.
• Clement of Alexandria c.150-215, Origen c.185-254, Gregory of Nyssa c.335-394, Gregory of Naziansus c. 330-389 were universalists (everyone will be saved; hell is a place of divine chastisement leading to repentance).
• References to annihilationism are found in early Christian writings: The Shepherd of Hermas Parable IV, (53) v. 4, Parable IX (95) ch. 18, The Epistle of Barnabus ch. 20, Epistle to Diognetus ch. 10.
• A definition of hell was absent from the earliest creeds and church councils.
• Origen’s views (subordinationism, universalism) were not officially condemned until the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 AD. Part of the problem with looking for evidence for the traditional view or annihilationism in the very earliest patristic writings, is that they commonly used the same language found in Scripture. Depending on how you interpret the words and phrases used in Scripture will determine the level of support you find for either view in Patristic writings.

8. Philosophical/Biblical Arguments Against the Traditional View Two weaknesses of the view that Gehenna is a place of eternal suffering can be observed in the writings St. Augustine, probably the most influential proponent of the traditional view. The following is from City of God, book 21: Chapter 3.— Whether Bodily Suffering Necessarily Terminates in the Destruction of the Flesh. “And so, although it be true that in this world there is no flesh which can suffer pain and yet cannot die, yet in the world to come there shall be flesh such as now there is not, as there will also be death such as now there is not. For death will not be abolished, but will be eternal, since the soul will neither be able to enjoy God and live, nor to die and escape the pains of the body. The first death drives the soul from the body against her will: the second death holds the soul in the body against her will. The two have this in common, that the soul suffers against her will what her own body inflicts.”

The third line, “death will not be abolished, but will be eternal…” contradicts the scriptures cited above, “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces…” Is. 25:8 “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” I Cor. 15:26 “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.” Rev. 21:4

Chapter 9.— Of Hell, and the Nature of Eternal Punishments. “For I have already sufficiently made out that animals can live in the fire, in burning without being consumed, in pain without dying, by a miracle of the most omnipotent Creator, to whom no one can deny that this is possible, if he be not ignorant by whom has been made all that is wonderful in all nature. For it is God Himself who has wrought all these miracles, great and small, in this world which I have mentioned, and incomparably more which I have omitted, and who has enclosed these marvels in this world, itself the greatest miracle of all. For “now we know in part, until that which is perfect has come;” 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 only, this we believe about those future bodies, that they shall be such as shall certainly be pained by the fire”

According to St. Augustine, God will, through a miracle, sustain and enable the bodies of those in Gehenna to be able to suffer the pain incurred by the flames without dying, forever and ever.

It is the responsibility of each generation to examine the traditions/interpretations that have been passed down to them by holding them up to the light of scripture. Scripture does not give us the specifics of the eternal state either for the righteous or the wicked. I think there is enough evidence for the annihilationist view that I have presented here to warrant that it be considered a viable alternative to the traditional view of Gehenna as a place of unending conscious torment. Francis Chan in his book, “Erasing Hell” had this to say:

“I encourage you to continue researching, but don’t get so caught up in this debate that you miss the point of what Jesus is trying to communicate… He spoke of hell as a horrifying place, characterized by suffering, fire, darkness, and lamentation. I believe His intention was to stir a fear in us that would cause us to take hell seriously and avoid it at all costs.”[x]

And in the following quotes, I agree completely with Francis Chan: “The debate about hell’s duration is much more complex than I first assumed. While I lean heavily on the side that says it is everlasting, I am not ready to claim that with complete certainty.” [ix]

“In almost every passage where Jesus mentions hell, He doesn’t explicitly say that it will last forever. He speaks of torment, and we get the impression that hell is terrible, that it’s a place to be avoided at all costs, but He doesn’t clearly tell us how long it will last.”[viii]

The fact that the traditional view of hell has been the dominant view of the church for hundreds of years does give weight to that viewpoint. It does not however, prove that the traditional view is correct. There have been times in the history of the church where the majority view has been incorrect: baptismal regeneration, grace dispensed by the church through its sacraments, purgatory, praying for the dead, praying to saints for their intercession, praying to Mary, the Christus Victor theory of redemption, are a few examples.

Jesus’ death on the cross was a substitutionary death. He did not suffer eternal torments to pay the price for our sins; He suffered the penalty of sin, which is death (Rom. 6:23).

9. Concluding Remarks Regarding the Traditional View of Hell: I think one of the reasons we tend to avoid the topic of hell is that we are embarrassed by the traditional view. There is something inside many Christians telling them that something is off when we tell people that God is love, but that he will punish unbelievers in eternal flames without any hope of the suffering ever coming to an end—forever and ever. Most of us know people who are not engaged in lives of excess sin, who even seem to be good, loving people, yet they are not Christians. It does not resonate within us that they would ever deserve a punishment of unending torment flames. And I think the reason for that lack of resonance is that God has put within us a sense of justice that is part of our being made in His image. Think about this for a moment. Of the billions of people created by God since the beginning, since the time of Adam until now, what percentage of people do you think will go to heaven? One percent? Two? I think one percent is probably high. At some point, God knew what He would create and who would choose to worship Him. He knew how many would reject Him. Knowing a large percentage of people would reject Him, He created them anyway. He is good, and what He creates is good. If the majority of souls, say 98% ever created are going to end up in eternal flames, sustained by His power to endure eternal torment, does this line up with the character of God as revealed in Scripture? I think not. On the other hand, giving every soul the opportunity to choose Him based upon the revelation of truth accorded to each person, and justly meting out punishment for sins committed, loss of eternal life that they could have had, and then death and extinction, line up more accurately with God’s character. Would not God have compassion and put out of its misery at some point, even the worst of sinners? I think He would, and I think it’s Biblical.

How should we teach the subject of eternal punishment? I have noticed that some who advocate for the annihilationist view of eternal punishment are on a campaign to change everyone’s view. With some, that seems to be all they talk about. Jesus calls us to follow Him, to proclaim the gospel, and make disciples. I think it is a mistake to make our view of hell the centerpiece of our teaching. 

I also realize that there is a possibility that the annihilationist view is incorrect. I personally am about 95% convinced that it is correct, but I believe the Bible is not specific on how the wicked will be punished, nor on how the righteous will be rewarded. So I do not make annihilationism a centerpiece of my teaching and preaching. When I come to passages of Scripture that refer to Gehenna, I read them and teach them exactly as I find them. Jesus warned of a place He referred to as the “outer darkness” where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And because He offers us salvation and forgiveness by His grace, there is no reason for anyone to end up there. 

Evangelical theologians who are annihilationist or consider it as a credible view: John Stott, F.F. Bruce, John Wenham, Philip Hughes, Stephen Travis.

[i] Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. P. 556

[ii] F.F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, p.202

[iii] Edward Beecher, History of Opinions on the Scriptural Doctrine of Retribution

[iv] GK Beale, The New International Greek Testament Commentary, The Book of Revelation, p. 1029-30

[v] Abraham Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud, The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages, p. 377-78

[vi] Ibid, p. 378

[vii] New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, Essenes.

[viii] Francis Chan, Erasing Hell: What God said about eternity, and the things we’ve made up.p. 81

[ix] Ibid., p. 86

[x] Ibid., p. 86

[1] Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. P. 556

[1] F.F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, p.202

[1] Edward Beecher, History of Opinions on the Scriptural Doctrine of Retribution

[1] GK Beale, The New International Greek Testament Commentary, The Book of Revelation, p. 1029-30

[1] Abraham Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud, The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages, p. 377-78

[1] Ibid, p. 378

[1] New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, Essenes.

[1] Francis Chan, Erasing Hell: What God said about eternity, and the things we’ve made up.p. 81

[1] Ibid., p. 86

[1] Ibid., p. 86

Having a correct understanding of what the Bible teaches us about Israel and the Church has a huge impact on how we interpret the Bible as a whole. Unfortunately, I believe the Gentile church has a long history of misunderstanding in this area of theology which continues up to the present day.

What happened?

Jesus, the Apostles, and the first disciples of Jesus were all Jewish. At the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples of Jesus who were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast. Thousands of Jews including Priests and Levites heard the gospel, believed, and were baptized. The first disciples met in the temple and in private homes. There was no concept among the early disciples of Jesus that to become a follower of Jesus as Messiah meant that you would have to abandon your Jewishness. In fact the first controversy among Jesus followers was whether Gentiles could be “saved” without first becoming Jews–by being circumcised and becoming Torah observant. This issue was resolved in the first church council recorded in Acts chapter 15. The council decreed, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, that Gentiles would be allowed to become part of the people of God as Gentiles–without being circumcised and becoming Torah observant–through their faith in Jesus.

With the success of the Apostle Paul’s mission to the Gentiles, the number of Gentiles in the church grew to vastly outnumber the Jews; Jewish influence in the churches all but disappeared. The Gentile church grew to see itself as a separate entity from Israel, and Gentile believers in Jesus as replacing Israel as the people of God. As early as the 2nd century, church fathers such as Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110-120), Justin Martyr (c. 160), and Melito of Sardis (c. 170), wrote that the Christian church had replaced the Jews as the people of God. This view is called “replacement theology” or “supersessionism” and has been the dominant view of the church for most of its history. However, there is a growing number of scholars who are challenging the supersessionist view.

What do we find in the Bible on this subject?

We need to understand what the church is; but in order to understand what the church is, we must first understand how the Bible defines Israel. Israel–the Jews–are the physical descendants of Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham, and gave him circumcision as a sign of that covenant. God told Abraham:

“I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.” Genesis 17:7 

After the rebellion at the Tower of Babel, where what would become the nations of the world rebelled against God, God decided to create a nation for Himself, through which He would redeem the straying nations of the world. He created this nation from the descendants of Abraham. After His covenant with Abraham, God entered into a covenant with Abraham’s descendants, the entire nation of Israel,  at Mt. Sinai, where He gave them the Torah, the priesthood, the tabernacle, and His divine presence came to live among them in the Tabernacle.

This did not mean that every Israelite who was ever born had a relationship with God by faith the way Abraham did. Some Israelite’s did not. Many fell into idolatry. The unbelieving Israelite’s were not “true” sons of Abraham, because they did not follow in the footsteps of Abraham by faith. Both Jesus and Paul addressed what it meant to be a true son of Abraham. When Jesus was speaking to Jews who opposed Him,  He said this:

“‘I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.’ They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.’  They said to Him…’we have one Father: God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God…You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.'” John 8:37-44a

The Apostle Paul wrote that not everyone who was born of Jewish descent is a true son of Abraham, but those who have a relationship with God by faith:

“For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: ‘THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.’ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.'” Romans 9:6b-8

“Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7

The Apostle Paul wrote of the faithful remnant of Jews who lived during the time of Israel’s apostasy during the days of Elijah. Elijah thought he was the only one faithful to the Lord left alive. Elijah prayed to God:

“‘ Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.’ But what was the diving response to him? ‘I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.’ In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.” Romans 11:3-4

There has always been a faithful remnant. The New Testament gives us examples of Torah observant Jews who were faithful sons and daughters of Abraham, living at the time of Jesus: the parents of John the Baptist–Zacharias and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary, Simeon, and Anna the prophetess, who met Joseph and Mary in the temple when Jesus was presented before the Lord. They all had one thing in common: they were living by faith under the Torah before Jesus came, and they recognized Jesus as Messiah when He came into the world. Those Jews who recognized Jesus as the Messiah and followed Him are the faithful remnant who constitute the Israel of God.

Jesus is the true vine, the true Israel

There is a connection between Israel is pictured as a vine/vineyard in the Bible, and Jesus as the true vine. Israel is pictured as a vine in Psalm 80:8-11, and Is. 5:1-7.

“You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.” Ps. 80:8

“For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah His delightful plant.” Is. 5:7

Jesus told His disciples in John 15:1 that He is the “true vine.“ Many see some of the events in Jesus’ life and ministry as reliving Israel’s history. He went down into Egypt as an infant and came out again as Jacob and the twelve patriarchs went to Egypt and came out at the Exodus. He was tempted by the adversary in the wilderness for 40 days; Israel was tempted in the wilderness for 40 years. He led the people into the wilderness and fed the 5000; the Israelite’s were led into the wilderness and fed manna to eat. But in every way that Israel failed, Jesus succeeded. Jesus is the consummate Israelite. He told His twelve Apostles:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it will bear more fruit…If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” John 15:1-2, 6

Jesus’ teaching about Himself as the true vine is in an entirely Jewish context. He is not talking about whether Christians can lose their salvation. This language of branches connected to the vine and branches broken off is very similar to the language the Apostle Paul uses in his analogy of Israel as an olive tree in Roman’s chapter 11. Paul  pictured the Jews who believed in Jesus as branches who remained connected to the olive tree (Israel), and Jews who rejected Jesus as branches who were broken off because of their unbelief. Paul pictured the Gentiles who believed in Jesus as wild branches who are grafted in to the olive tree. The believing Gentiles are not a newly created entity replacing Israel as the people of God, they are joined to the Israel of God! As Messianic scholar Mark Kinzer put it, Gentile followers of Jesus are a “multinational extension of the people of Israel.”

What is the church?

If you were to go around and ask  people how they would define what the church is, you would probably get a variety of answers. Many think of the church as a building where Christians meet. Others realize the church is not a building, it is the people, which is a step in the right direction.

One thing we need to realize is that the word church does not appear in the Bible. Of course the word appears in our English translations of the Bible. But “church” is the word that translators have chosen to translate the Greek word ekklesia, which means “called out ones,” “congregation,” or “assembly.” What we need to remember when it comes to understanding words used in the Bible, is how the Biblical writers understood them, which may be different from the way we use and understand the same words today.

When Stephen was giving his defense before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 7, he referred to the Jewish people who had come out of Egypt recorded in the book of Exodus as the “church (ekklesia) in the wilderness” Acts 7:38. The church was not created at Pentecost, which is the common view of most Gentile Christians. There is not one verse of Scripture which states that the church was created at Pentecost. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Jewish followers of Jesus. The New Covenant was never made with the Gentile church, but with the nation of Israel. This is clearly stated in the book of Jeremiah:

“‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD. ‘but this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will put My law (Torah) within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.'” Jeremiah 31:31-33

When Jesus told His disciples, “Upon this rock I will build My church…” (Matthew 16:18) I do not think He was saying that He was going to create something entirely new; I think His intended meaning was closer to the prophecy of Amos that James the brother of the Lord quoted in Acts 15:16-18 regarding the Gentiles:

“‘AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH HAS FALLEN, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT, SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM LONG AGO.'” Acts 15:16-18

The work of Jesus building His ekklesia, is one of restoration! His presence and teaching among the Jews was a gigantic “course correct.” The religious leaders had corrupted the service in the temple, and mis-represented to the people what true worship of YHVH and Torah observance looked like. Jesus, the Light of the world, shone light on all these things.

The prevalence of replacement theology in the church over the centuries has done tremendous damage to the relationship between the Jewish people and the church. Some claiming to be Christians have done violence to Jews believing that the Jews were forsaken by God and accursed. Jews who wanted to follow Jesus in Gentile churches would have to leave behind their Jewish heritage and “convert” to Christianity. That is one reason why so many Jews believe that you cannot be a Jew and believe in Jesus as Messiah; you cannot be a Jew and a Christian.

Thankfully, this is changing. There is a rising number of Jews who are believing in Jesus as their Messiah, and fully retaining their Jewish lifestyle and heritage! This is what the Apostles did, as well as the thousands of Jews who were the first disciples of Jesus.

The New Covenant is with the house of Israel and the house of Judah where God removes the guilt of sin through the sacrifice of His Son, puts His Spirit within His people enabling them to walk in His statutes, writes His word upon their hearts, and allows the Gentiles of the world the same spiritual benefit; to freely join His people, as Gentiles, no longer as “strangers and aliens” but as equal members, “fellow citizens with the saints” and members “of God’s household…” Eph. 2:19. This is Israel and the church (ekklesia). This is the gospel!

If you were to ask fifty professing Christians to give you a definition of the gospel, you would probably get close to fifty different answers. It’s a term used so often in the church, many people would be embarrassed to admit that they are not quite sure how to define it.

The Apostle Paul gave us a brief definition of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Now I make known to you brethren, the gospel which I preached to you…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (NASB) In the  mind of many evangelicals, the plan of salvation is the gospel. In other words, the gospel is what you need to believe so that when you die you will go to heaven, and not go to the other place! The plan of salvation is certainly part of the gospel, but there is much more to it than that! Why do we need to revisit and define our understanding of the gospel?

Imagine you are starting a new job; this is your first day. Your employer tells you that you need to come to work at 8am, punch the time clock when you arrive, do what your supervisor tells you to do for eight hours, and then punch out when your finished. If you do that, you will receive a paycheck each week. That’s all you are told. This is the bare minimum information you need to get your paycheck–which you need–each week.

What if instead on your first day your employer told you that at this company makes widgets, and these widgets enable people all around the world to have clean drinking water, and triple their food production. The widgets we make have the potential to end world hunger; and the company is exporting them and a fair and reasonable price! By working at this company, you play a vital role in helping our company end world hunger and save countless lives! What a difference this added information will make in your enthusiasm and sense of purpose on the job! You are now part of something big!

If our understanding of the gospel is limited to what we (and others) need to do to get to heaven, we miss the big picture of God’s plan of redemption for the human race, and our role in it! That is why we need a comprehensive definition of the gospel! Here is a definition of the gospel that the elders of Cypress Church Of Gonzales came up with after many hours of labor. It is certainly not the only correct definition, nor is it perfect. But we feel it gives our congregation a good start in understanding the gospel that Jesus and His Apostles preached!

Definition of the Gospel

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth[i] to be His dwelling place[ii]. He created mankind to be His image bearers[iii] to dwell in, and have dominion over, the good world[iv] that He had created[v]. Through disobedience, the human race fell from their position of unhindered fellowship with God, into a fallen state of spiritual death and separation from God[vi]. In order to restore mankind into a right relationship with Himself God sent His Son to die upon a cross as the perfect sin offering and through His resurrection, to restore mankind into a perfect relationship with Himself[vii], and restore the kingdom of God upon the earth[viii].

Through a series of promises beginning in the book of Genesis[ix], God promised that His Messiah would come through the descendants of one man, Abraham[x], and God chose Abraham’s descendants to be His chosen people out of all the people groups on the face of the earth[xi]. God chose Abraham’s descendants, the nation of Israel, to enter into a covenant with Him, and to reveal Himself to them, dwell among them, and give them His commandments[xii]. Israel was to be a light to the nations[xiii], bringing the knowledge of God to the nations of the world. Israel did not succeed in this mission.

Jesus the Messiah, the promised “seed” of Abraham[xiv], at the proper time[xv], was born of a virgin[xvi], conceived by the Holy Spirit[xvii], lived a sinless life[xviii], and took upon Himself the sentence of death for the sins of the world[xix] by dying upon a cross[xx]. Jesus was buried[xxi], and rose to life on the third day[xxii]. He ascended to the right hand of the Father as both Lord and Christ[xxiii], and poured out His Spirit to dwell in, and upon, all who repent of their sins and follow Him[xxiv]. His resurrection from the dead marked the beginning of the restoration of all things[xxv]; a restoration that will culminate when He returns to establish His kingdom upon earth. At that time He will usher in the New Jerusalem, the new heavens and earth, and the age to come[xxvi].

All who repent of their sins, believe in this gospel[xxvii], and follow Jesus as a disciple, will be forgiven of their sins, receive the gift of eternal life[xxviii], and will be granted entrance into His kingdom[xxix]. They will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit—to dwell in them[xxx]. They become united with Jesus in His death, and united with Him in His resurrection[xxxi].

At the end of this age, all will be resurrected and judged according to their deeds[xxxii]. Those who belong to Christ will be resurrected to eternal life, their bodies raised incorruptible, and the wicked will be raised to condemnation and eternal death[xxxiii]. In the age to come, the eternal state, there will be no more death, disease, or sorrow. All these things will be abolished, and God will dwell with His people fulfilling His original plan for the human race, ruling in the new heavens and earth forever through an obedient and restored humanity[xxxiv].

[i] Gen. 1:1 [ii] Rev. 21:3 [iii] Gen. 1:26 [iv] Gen. 1:31 [v] Gen. 1:26 [vi] Eph. 2:1 [vii]Col.1:13-14, Eph. 2:1-7 [viii] Dan. 7:13-14 [ix] Gen. 3:15, Gen. 12:1-3, [x] Gal. 3:16 [xi] Gen. 12:1-3 xii] Deut. 10:12-15 [xiii] Is. 49:1-7 [xiv] Gal. 3:16 [xv] Gal. 4:4 [xvi] Is. 7:14, Matt. 1:23[xvii] Matt. 1:20 [xviii] 2 Cor. 5:21 [xix] 1 John 2:2 [xx] Gal. 3:13 [xxi] 1 Cor. 15:4[xxii] Ibid., Acts 2:32 [xxiii] Acts 2:32-33, 36 [xxiv] Acts 2:38-39 [xxv] Luke 20:35, Phil. 3:11-12, Col. 1:13-20, 2 Pet. 3:10-13 [xxvi] Rev. ch. 19-22 [xxvii] Mark 1:14-15, 17, [xxviii] Acts 2:38[xxix] Col. 1:13 [xxx] John 14:17, Gal. 2:20, Eze. 36:27 [xxxi] Rom. 6:3-11[xxxii] John 5:25-29, Rev. 2:23 [xxxiii] Matt. 25:46, Rev. 20:11-15 [xxxiv] Rev. ch. 21