Revelation 20 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

day and night into the ages of the ages! 2340
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(...continued)
Isaiah 30:33, "Topheth [an especially prepared grave-yard, supplied with implements
for cremation] has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has
been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of YHWH, like a
stream of burning sulphur, sets it ablaze."
Ezekiel 38:22, “I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour
down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulphur on him and on his troops and on the
many nations with him.”
Revelation 19:20, "Alive, the two [the beast and the false spokesperson] were thrown
into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur."
Revelation 21:8, "But for the cowardly and faithless and detestable and murderers and
prostitutes and magicians and worshipers of idols, and for those liars, their part [is] in the lake
that is burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."
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The phrase åò ôïò áíáò ôí áþíùí, eis tous aionas ton aionon, “into the ages
of the ages,” is omitted by Minuscule 1 and a few other Greek manuscripts. We see no reason
for the omission, unless it is a doctrinal reason–to soften the harshness of this statement
concerning “eternal torment.”
There should be no mistaking the meaning of this language--it means conscious suffering
in unending torment forever and ever! Walvoord, who constantly seeks to derive chronological
and doctrinal truths from John's symbolical visions, comments, "Thus the word of God
plainly declares that death is not annihilation and that the wicked exist forever, though in torment.
There would be no way possible in the Greek language to state more emphatically the
everlasting punishment of the lost than that used here in mentioning day and night and the
expression 'for ever and ever.'" (Pp. 304-05)
But those who seek to use John's visions as a source of doctrine should take note that
there are other passages which, in describing the consequences of divine judgment, use language
implying total destruction and cessation of existence--for example, John has earlier used
the Greek verb katakai,ein, katakaiein which means "consume with fire," or "burn up." See
Revelation 17:16 (the great prostitute will be burned up) and 18:8 (she will be burned up with
fire). This is only to be expected in prophetic visions of the future, in which, we “see through a
mirror darkly,” in visions filled with enigma--not the kind of material from which to build doctrines
of the precise nature of the distant future.
Hough comments that "The truth which comes out of all this varied and graphic symbolism
in respect of supernatural wickedness is that there is no dark power in the world or beyond
it which is not at last completely subject to the will and the power of God. When evil comes
upon men, so dark and so terrible that it seems to indicate that the very ultimate powers of the
universe have made an alliance with wickedness, it remains true that God is on the throne.
The triumph of the powers of darkness is temporary. God's word will be the last word. And it
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