CHAPTER 13
LOCATION: THE LAKE OF FIRE
And now for something completely different. We have already discussed the locations created by God in preparation for the angels, namely the universe, heaven, and earth in that order. At this point we will focus on the remaining locations which were created or restored after the fall of Satan and his angels, beginning with the Lake of Fire since it was next in order of locations created by God. It was put in place in direct response to the fall of Satan, and designed as a place of punishment for the fallen angels.
But what exactly is the Lake of Fire, and what is it like? It is an eternal prison designed to hold and punish souled creatures who reject God and the only Savior Jesus Christ. As you can imagine, the Lake of Fire is somewhat self-descriptive as a location characterized by its burning, and therefore a very hot place where pain is intense, which is the primary purpose. And although it would seem to be a well-lit place due to the fire, it is a dark fire, totally without light. The Apostle Peter said of unbelievers "Blackest darkness is reserved for them." (2 Peter 2:7) In eternity all light is only from God, therefore there will be no light of any kind in the Lake of Fire. It will be intensely dark, unimaginably hot and exceedingly miserable.
The Lake of Fire already exists, and was originally created as the eternal prison for Satan and all fallen angels. Therefore it was created just after the fall of Satan and his angels. It is inside the current universe, and eventually this universe must be totally destroyed, but the Lake of Fire will be moved out before that happens. It will be put into its own separate universe away from God, saved humans, and elect angels. Heaven is also inside the universe, and we know that it will be moved out prior to that destruction, and will be put into the new universe which will be created after human history is complete.
The Lake of Fire will also be the eternal abode of all human unbelievers, although that was not its original purpose. After human history is complete the fallen angels will first be put into the Lake of Fire, and then all unbelievers will be individually judged at the Great White Throne where they will be sentenced to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire along with the fallen angels. The Lake of Fire is a place where the residents live apart from God. This is one of the exceptions to God's omnipresence, since He chooses not to be present in the Lake of Fire. Those in it will have rejected God during their lives, so God rejects them eternally. This is a major location for future eternal time, and time continues during eternity, otherwise there would be no continuation.
The Bible says of the Lake of Fire that Satan and his fallen angels plus all human unbelievers “will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." [Revelation 21:8] As Jesus said, the Lake of Fire is “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” [Matthew 25:41] But oddly the first two residents of the Lake of Fire will be humans, namely the Antichrist and False Prophet of the Tribulation. They will be put there after the Tribulation ends with the Second Advent of Christ. They become the first residents since up until that time and until the end of the Millennium all unbelievers will have been in a temporary place often called Hell but more correctly called Torments: “But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” [Revelation 19:20] Then 1000 years later Satan and the fallen angels will join them: “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” [Revelation 20:10] As previously noted, the Lake of Fire will be totally dark because light during eternity is only from God.
Some pertinent passages on the Lake of Fire include:
Matthew 13:42 "...and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 25:41 “...the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Matthew 25:46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Revelation 20:11 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 21:8 “they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Of all the beings ever created by God, most will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Fully 1/3 of all angels and likely ¾ or more of all mankind will spend eternity there. Although we humans in our sympathy might wish to see time end for the creatures who opposed God during their natural lives, that is not what the Bible says. For anyone who believes the Bible, they must believe that the Lake of Fire is real and is forever, meaning that time continues in eternity without end, for both the saved and the unsaved, including under conditions of eternal punishment for those who reject God during their lifetime.
Therefore time never ends for any souled creature ever created, which also means they must have an eternal location since souled creatures cannot exist apart from location. Those who are tempted to think that the loving God we know would never do such a thing should remember that this is what Satan said to God after he was sentenced, that putting him in the Lake of Fire would show God to be unfair and unloving, so he and his angels should not be placed into it. Humans are currently proving that a loving God would, and indeed certainly will, reject every creature who has rejected Him. The Lake of Fire is just as necessary as any other part of God's plan and divine order. If not, why would God require His Son Jesus Christ the God-Man to go to such extreme lengths to save as many as who would believe in Him. If the Lake of Fire is not real, then neither is any other part of God's plan. It is a very hard reality, for certain. But we are all on earth to make one simple choice, for or against Jesus Christ. Everything else is not important by comparison.