If this were a literal worshiping of the beast and image given by John, and is a literal receiving of a mark on the forehead, few, if any would be guilty today. Have you ever seen anyone with this mark on his or her forehead? I have not. The smoke of their torment is a symbol, just as are the wine and the cup. "The smoke of their torment" cannot be made literal without making the other symbols in the passage literal, which those that use it to teach eternal torment are not willing to do. This smoke has been changed from those who worship Babylon before the judgment, and has been made to be coming from all the unsaved who are in Hell after the judgment, even though this judgment scene in Revelation 14:9-11 takes place on this earth before the judgment. Smoke coming from Babylon before the judgment must be changed to smoke coming from all the lost in Hell after the judgment
Adam Clarke: "Her smoke rose up. There was, and shall be, a continual evidence of God's judgments executed on this great whore or idolatrous city; nor shall it ever be restored."
It is the evidences of this destruction, which is symbolized by smoke that will last "unto the ages of the ages," and that Babylon - evil world powers will come to an end, not be tormented forever. In Isaiah 34:10 the smoke from Edom will go up forever.
Homer Hailey: "A constant reminder of the punishment for sin…Edom is not burning today, and Heaven is not literally full of smoke. It is the everlasting remembrance of God's victor over evil that is symbolized by the smoke." A Commentary On Isaiah," page 290, 1985, Baker Book House.
Their "everlasting smoke" is that they will be forever remembered with disgrace and contempt.
Some say, "O. K., if we must put the smoke of Hell in Heaven forever to have our Hell, then we will take this symbol out of context, make it literal, and fill Heaven with the odor from the burning bodies of most of mankind forever."
Smoke in Heaven in chapter 14 is a vision of the fall of beast (Emperor worship or pagan Rome) and her worshipers. In chapter 18 the kings of the earth weep and lament over Babylon (probably symbolisms for Rome that would not be understood by those persecuting them and cause more persecution) when they see the smoke of her burning. "Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come" (Revelation 18:10). And in verse 21, "Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer." Then in 19:3 "And a second time they said, 'Hallelujah!' her smoke rises up forever and ever" ("Unto the ages of the ages" eiv touv aiwnav twn aiwnwn). It is clear that this is a vision of a judgment that takes place in time, a judgment on Babylon, not the judgment at the coming of Christ.
The same apocalyptic language is used in Isaiah of the judgment of Edom. "It shall not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall go up forever" (Isaiah 34:10). Edom's fire was not quenched "night or day" (Isaiah 34:10), but it did go out, and Edom became a place for wild creatures (Isaiah 35:11-15). "Day and night" means there is no let up, no break until the end. The fire of Edom did not burn in the day and go out at night, but it burned "day and night" until there was nothing more to burn. The outcome of the unquenchable fire that burned "day and night" was permanent destruction, not burning forever. "From generation to generation it shall be desolate" (Isaiah 34:10) not "from generation to generation it shall be burning." A person suffering from cancer will suffer "day and night" until the end. "Day and night" does not mean "forever." Examples where "day and night" were temporary, and means continued day and night as long as they existed, but have ended (Isaiah 34:10; Acts 9:24; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 3:10). Both Babylon and Edom are nations, not persons that are being judged, and I know of no one that believes nations will be in Hell. Yet, when this passage is made literal it proves something that even those using it do not believe. They change it from nations before resurrection and judgment, to people after the resurrection and judgment, and then say they do not believe in changing the Bible.
Those who believe in Hell use 2 Thessalonians 1:9 to prove Hell is away “from the presents of God,” and that death is being alive but separation from God. Yet they make Revelation 14:10-11 be literal to prove Hell. In doing so, they make Hell be in Heaven “in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”
Homer Hailey: “Angels who through the ages had watched the unfolding and revealing of God’s eternal purpose and the conflict between good and evil, now see the consummation of the purpose and final consequence of evil,” Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary, page 310.
Even those who believe in Hell do not believe that any will be tormented in Heaven forever, but when they make this torment be literal torment, they make it literally be in Heaven in the presence of the angels and Christ, not in Hell. Where do they think Hell is? Away "from the presence of God" - or - "in the presence of God." The same people say both.
THE LAKE OF FIRE
The "lake of fire" in which the Devil is cast is used five times, all five in the Book of Revelation.
(1) LAKE OF FIRE: First time it is used - Revelation 19:20: The beast and the false prophet, two world powers are cast into the lake of fire (before the judgment). The beast, which is the great heathen world power of that day, the Roman Empire, and the false prophet, "these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire." Those that worshiped the beast were not thrown alive into the lake of fire, but they were killed with the sword, which came from the mouth of him who sat upon the horse, "and all the birds were filled with their flesh." The fire was no more literal fire than the beast is a literal beast, and the birds are literal birds that eat the literal flesh of literal people. It is a symbolic picture of total destruction, the end of the beast and the false prophet (world powers). Those who make this literal have a literal beast being burnt in a literal lake of fire. Only the beast and false prophet where cast into the lake of fire; the rest (those who people worshiped the world powers) were killed and eaten by birds, they were not cast into the lake of fire, not tormented by God in Hell. When this is made into a literal eternal torment to prove there is a Hell, it is not even close to the Hell that is taught today, not even close to the Hell that it is being used to prove. When something is not taught in the Bible, no passage that is misused to prove it will prove it. They want to make only the lake be literal, but all others things in this passage, the beast, the sword, the birds, etc. must be symbolism for if they were literal they would not fit with today's Hell. Why do they use this passage to try to prove Hell when it is nothing like they say Hell will be? It puts a beast alive in Hell and leaves the people that they say will live forever in Hell not in the lake of fire (not in Hell), but they are dead and are eaten by birds, not alive and tormented in Hell. The "Hell" that is preached today does not have a beast that is alive in it, and it definitely does not have dead people that are not in Hell being eaten by birds.
The lake of fire is used only in the Book of Revelation and is a symbolic picture taken from this earth. Literal fire will not exist after the end of this age (1 Peter 3). Anything cast into a literal lake of fire would be totally destroyed, totally incinerated, not live and be tormented forever. It is a symbol of total destruction, not of eternal torment, not something that will exist after the destruction of the earth. To have their Hell in this passage, they must mix symbols and literal together in the same passage, and only they can tell us what part is literal, and even then they cannot find anything that is close to the Hell that is preached today in it.
Homer Hailey: "The beast is the great heathen world power of that day, the Roman Empire," page 387. Then on page 388 he says, "These 'two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone,' where the harlot had already met her fate, being 'utterly burns with fire'...Because of the expression, 'cast alive,' some writers have concluded that these two are literally individuals who will appear in person before the end of time. But this does not necessarily follow; for 'being cast alive into the lake' indicates that up to the actual time when they were cast into the lake of brimstone and were brought to final destruction by His mighty power and judgment, these two personified forces of political and spiritual power were actively fighting against the Lamb. The Roman Empire and emperor worship backed by the imperial power were now brought to a final and complete end, never to rise again" On the same page he says, "The Roman power and the paganism which it supported are now destroyed forever. The vision of Daniel is fulfilled (Daniel 7:11), and in this defeat and destruction is revealed the destiny of all such powers that should ever arise to fight against God and his kingdom. This is God's guarantee to victory to the saints who lived then and to all who would come after them, even until the end of time. 'And all the birds were filled with their flesh' completes the symbolism of verses 17-18. Not a vestige of the anti-Christian forces were left; the destruction was complete." And on page 398, "The devil, man's great deceiver from the beginning, now reaches his final doom and eternal end. First, he was cast down to the earth (12:9), then into the pit of the abyss (20:3), and now into the lake of fire and brimstone, his ultimate end." When Hailey gets to Revelation 20:11 he said, "Thus far in the book several scenes of judgment have been described, but none depicted the final judgment.", "Revelation, An Introduction And Commentary," page 399, chapter 19, Baker Book House.
Foy E. Wallace, Jr. said the lake of fire is a figurative description of complete destruction and annihilation of all persecuting powers opposed to the church (page 434), and then of the complete destruction and annihilation of Satan, and all who are not in the book of life. "The ones who had part in it (the lake of fire) came to the same end as the persecuting beast-a figurative description of complete destruction and annihilation of all persecuting powers opposed to the church whose opposition was crushed." Wallace said, "One of these passages cannot be considered more or less literal than the other-both were figurative expressions which signified the utter end of the persecuting authorities of heathenism against Christianity. The phrase cast alive into a lake of fire was equivalent to burned alive, and it symbolized complete destruction. The signal triumph of the cause of truth represented by the burning alive of the beast and the false prophet did not symbolize the destruction to the Roman Empire, but of the persecutions waged by the emperors, which the beasts represented. The lake of fire was not literal any more than the beast was literal. Neither was subject to literal application, both were figurative. The beast symbolized the persecuting power of the Roman Emperor: and casting him into a lake of fire signified the complete defeat of the heathen power he represented in the war against the church." The Book Of Revelation, page 397.
Of the final judgment in Revelation 20:14-15, Hailey says, "'He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death' (2:11); those that overcome had part in the first resurrection (20:6). Thus far the harlot, the beast, the false prophet, Satan, and now death and Hades, have been brought to their end in the lake of fire...There remains only one group to be dealt with: those not found written in the book of life...Of this second death, Alford writes, 'As there is a second higher life, so there is also a second and deeper death. And as after that life there is no more death, so after that death there is no more life.'" The Book Of Revelation, page 403.
A. M. Ogden said the lake of fire in Revelation 19:20 is symbolic of God's fire of destruction coming upon the Roman Empire and its pagan religions that were the persecutor of the church, page 354.
Both Wallace and Arthur Ogden said, "The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2) is the kingdom of God, the church of Christ; and not a vision of Heaven; but is a vision of the church, the bride of Christ.
B. W. Johnson on Revelation 19:20: "Here the false prophet, both symbols of the same power, is cast in the lake of fire. The symbol indicates utter destruction. What is cast into this lake is seen no more."
Frank Walton said it is not a literal lake of fire. It symbolizes the total defeat of heathen powers that war against the church. Florida College Lectures 1994, page 176.
Jim McGuiggan in his commentary on Revelation 19:20 said he believes the lake of fire stands for the utter defeat of the enemy.
These commentaries are some of the best, if not the best, and they all say the lake of fire is symbolic of destruction or death, not of eternal life in torment. If Revelation 21 is a symbolic picture of the church on earth as the bride of Christ, or if it is a symbolic picture of the church in Heaven, in either case the lake of fire is symbolic, and not a real place. John clearly says in Revelation 21:8 that it is symbolic of the second death. Many who believe in Hell are forced to admit that in Revelation 19:20 the lake of fire is symbolic, but insist the same lake of fire in chapters 20 and 21 is a real literal lake of fire.
"False prophet" in Hell before the judgment: On page 169, Robert Peterson said the "false prophet" (Revelation 19:20) are thrown alive into it, and are still there a thousand years later. Then he says Revelation 20:14 speaks of all human standing before God at the Last Judgment. By making symbols literal, he changed nations (false prophets) into people and puts people into Hell before they are judged at the Judgment Day.
"Devoured" not "tormented" Even if this symbolical language were made literal, it would teach God would destroy His enemies, not torment them. "And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them" Revelation 20:9, devoured some that were on the earth, as in many other passages that are used to prove torment in Hell, nothing is said about Hell or torment; the Bible language does not suit today's teaching of fire that eternality burns but never devours, fire that never consumes.
(2) LAKE OF FIRE: Second time it is used is in Revelation 20:10. The devil is cast in with the beast and the false prophet. Nothing of the physical realm could live in a lake of fire. It is a symbolic picture of destruction, not of torment. Just as any living thing of the earthly realm we know, if it were cast into a lake of fire it would be totally destroyed, a symbolic picture of the devil being cast into it would be a picture to us of his total destruction, for if the devil were a flesh and blood being, he would be totally destroyed by a literal lake of fire. The devil, the beast, false prophet, death, the grave, and all that are not in the book of life will be totally destroyed. After the resurrection and judgment, no one will be of the physical realm and could not be tormented by a literal lake of fire that is of this physical realm. A literal lake of fire could not torment a spiritual being, and could have no effective on Satan, or a "soul" as the word is used today. The devil that is a being not of the earthly realm, a being of the spiritual realm, is cast to the lake of fire along with two earthly things, the beast, and the false prophet. It is a symbolic picture of their destruction, not a literal casting of beings of two realms, both earthly and spiritual, into a literal lake of fire, which is of this earthly realm. Things of the earthly and spiritual realms can be mixed in symbolic pictures, but not in reality. If the lake of fire were of the earthly realm Satan could not be cast into it, and if it were of the spiritual realm, the beast and the false prophet could not be cast into it. In Revelation 20:15 and 21:8, John interpreted the figure or symbol he used, and said the symbolic picture of the lake of fire is in reality the second death. The lake of fire will have the same effect on Satan that it will have on death. "And death shall be no more" (Revelation 21:4). If it is the end of death, then it is the end of Satan. It is a symbolic picture of the end of both.
Satan's ministers: The ministers of Satan, like Satan, shall have an end. "Whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Corinthians 11:15).
Revelation 20:10 is a symbolic picture of the end of Satan, of his being abolished (destroyed), not tormented forever. Hebrews 2:14 is a literal statement of his end. "That through death he might bring to naught (nothing) him that has the power of death, that is, the devil" (American Standard Version). God made the world and all that is in it out of nothing. It will go back to nothing. Satan also will be brought to nothing. "So that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil" (New Revised Standard Version). In Hebrews 2:14 "naught" (nothing) is translated from "katargeo," which is translated abolished, vanish away, bring to naught, do away with, destroy, be done way, and ceased.
o The end of death
o The end of knowledge
o The end of the belly and them (the person to whom the belly belonged)
o The end of Satan
o The end of Law of Moses
o And the end of lost. Whatever happens to one happens to the others; they all have been or will be brought to nothing (katargeo).
A death bruise to the head of Satan: The serpent of Genesis 3 is not said to be Satan, but most all believe it to be Satan working through the serpent, which was "more crafty than any beast of the field" (Genesis 3:1). With the first lie, the devil brought death into the world and became the murderer of Adam and Eve; therefore, the murderer of all their seed (John 8:44). He sinned "from the beginning" (1 John 3:8). "He (Christ) shall bruise you (Satan) on the head, and you (Satan) shall bruise him (Christ) on the heel." See Romans 16:20.
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown: "Thus, fatal shall be the stroke which Satan shall receive from Christ." Commentary on Genesis 3:15.
J. B. Coffman: “The terminology of this verse is such that it cannot apply to anything in heaven or upon earth except the long spiritual conflict between Christ and Satan." Commentary on Genesis 3:15.
A wound to the heel is not fatal. Satan wounded Christ by sin and death, which he is responsible for being in the world. It made the death of Christ necessary, but Christ rose from the dead and in doing so bruised the head of Satan (Hebrews 2:1). Did the serpent or any other animal have the power to speak, or was it Satan speaking through it? God did speak through an animal (2 Peter 2:1). It looks as if Satan did. See 2 Corinthians 11:3. Christ said the devil, "Is a liar, and the father of lies" (John 8:44).
Albert Barnes on John 8:44: "He was a murderer from the beginning. That is from the beginning of the world, or the first records there are of him. This refers to the seduction of Adam and Eve. Death was denounced against sin Genesis ii.17. The devil deceived our first parents and they became subject of death, Genesis iii. As he was the cause why death came into the world, he may be said to have been a murderer in that act, or from the beginning."
Revelation 20:7, which may be symbolic language and not intended to be taken literally says, "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." Also see Revelation 12:9.
It is difficult to know what John meant by much of the symbolic language he used in Revelation, but even more difficult to understand if it is made to be a literal non-symbolic passage, yet many use a symbolic passage as the base of their faith and make it override many clear passages.
(3) LAKE OF FIRE: The third time it is used is in Revelation 20:14 where death and hades are cast into the lake of fire. If death and hades are annihilated in the lake of fire, all who are not found written in the book of life must also be annihilated. If all who are not found written in the book of life are not annihilated, death is not abolished (1 Corinthians 15:26). The same thing happens to all three (death, hades, and those that do not have their name in the book of life). They come to an end. "And death shall be no more" (Revelation 21:4).
Death and hades are nonliving things. They have no life, thoughts, or feelings. They can be destroyed, and brought to a final and complete end, but it would not be possible to torment them. They can no more be tormented than a rock, but both will come to an end. Both will be made not to exist. A literal lake of fire could not torment death; what would be the point of casting something abstract (death and hades), something that has no life into the lake of fire if it were a place of torment where there is no death? Death will be “destroyed” and “shall be no more” (1 Corinthians 15:26, Revelation 21:4), it will not exist without end and be tormented in Hell by God. There is no way the lake of fire in this passage could be anything even remotely like the Hell that is taught today.
Hell cast into Hell (Revelation 20:14 King James Version). I have often heard in sermons that the lost will forever be tormented in the lake of fire. Most who believe in Hell teach the lake of fire is Hell, but in the King James Version Hell is cast into the lake of fire, both cannot be the same place, but both Catholics and Protestants believe they are the same place. Both believe the lake of fire is Hell. Hell being cast into Hell presents an absurd problem for both the Catholic and Protestant versions of Hell. Casting Hell into Hell is another blunder made by the King James Translators trying to put Hell into the Bible; most other translations have corrected this blunder and there is nothing about “Hell” in this passage, and Hell is not in the American Standard Version or most others.
Dr. C. Campbell on Revelation 20:14 said, "If we interpret Hades, 'hell,' in the Christian sense of the word, the whole passage is rendered nonsense. Hell is represented as being cast into hell...the phrase 'cast into the lake of fire' is a figure of utter destruction. It is simply saying 'death and hell was destroyed.'"
Death is also cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14) Will the lake of fire be the end of death, but not the end of Hell? Or will death be forever tormented in the lake of fire, which many say is Hell? Death cannot be tormented; this is a symbolic picture of the end of all three, death, hades, and the wicked? The lake of fire will abolish death not torment people.
"And Hell delivered up the dead" Revelation 20:13, the King James Version has Hell being emptied before the judgment, but, most who believe in Hell do not believe that any in Hell will ever get out, "And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them" Revelation 20:13 King James Version. Many believe that no one will be in Hell unto after the Judgment Day to be "delivered up," but they use this passage to prove the lost will go to Hell after the Judgment, even though this passage says Hell will be emptied and cast into the lake of fire before the Judgment. In the King James Version the judgment is after Hell has been emptied. Not only is Hell emptied before the judgment, but also (according to the King James Version) some that were in it before it was emptied will even be found written in the book of life, and some taken out of Hell are never put back into it, but are put in Heaven. According to the King James Version, the Judgment will not take place unto after all that are in Hell have been taken out, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell deliver up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works" (Revelation 20:13). In trying to put a place of eternal torment in the Bible by mistranslating, they made the Bible teach something that they did not believe, and most today that believe in Hell do not believe (that some will be taken out of Hell and put in Heaven). Most other translations, including the New King James Version, have corrected this blunder, but unfortunately this has done little or nothing to correct any of the many Protestant versions of Hell.
The end will not come unto Christ, "Shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power for he must reign till he has put all his enemies under his feet, the last enemy that shall be abolished is death" (1 Corinthians 15:24-20).
(4 and 5) LAKE OF FIRE: Forth and fifth times it is used. Any not in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). Lake of fire is the second death (Revelation 21:8). “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life…He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death” (Revelation 2:10-11). “He that overcomes shall inherit these thing; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death” (Revelation 21:7-8). Nothing can live in a lake of fire, it would immediately and completely destroy any life making it a perfect symbol for death; one of the few symbols that is interpreted for us so that we can have no excuse for not understanding it, the lake of fire “is the second death.” not endless life.