Immortality or Resurrection (Updated) by William West (reading strategies book .TXT) 📖

DESTROYED. A
perpetual smoke may, therefore, will stand for a perpetual reminder before the universe of an
irreparable ruin that has taken place, a burning up that has accomplished its allotted purpose, The
same inspired portrayed, it is to be ever remembered, declares that God will 'consume,' 'devour,'
'destroy,' cause to 'perish,' and 'blot out' all the wicked. That dread transaction, or operation, involves
and constitutes the 'second death.' The perpetuity intended is not, therefore, of the torment, but of
the death following thereafter and caused thereby" Leroy Edwin Froom, “The Conditionalist Faith of
Our Father: The Conflict of the Ages Over the Nature and Destiny of Man,” Volume one, Page 409.
In Revelation 18:21 John says there will be a time when Babylon "shall be found no
more at all." Revelation 19:3 says the smoke of Babylon goes up forever and ever
[UNTO the ages of ages].
1. Babylon “shall be found no more at all” Revelation 18:21
2. “Voice of harpers…heard no more at all” Revelation 18:22
3. “Craftsman…found anymore at all” Revelation 18:22
4. “The voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all” Revelation 18:22
5. “A lamp shall shine no more at all” Revelation 18:23
6. “Voce of bridegroom…shall be heard no more at all” Revelation 18:23
• Being “found no more at all” clearly means Babylon will not exist forever in
eternal torment
• Babylon is fallen [Revelation 18:2]
• Burned up with fire [Revelation 18:8]
• The "smoke of her burning" was seen [Revelation 18:18]
If this were a literal worshiping of the beast and image given by John and a literal
receiving 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
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literal without making the other symbol in the passage literal, which those that use it to
teach eternal torment are not willing to do.
Those who believe in Hell take it out of context and make Heaven be literally full of
smoke from the burning bodies of those in Hell after the Judgment Day, and 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 not evil world powers being tormented forever. In Isaiah
34:10 the smoke from Edom will go up forever.
Hailey says, "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) 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
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PERSONS THAT ARE BEING JUDGED, AND I KNOW OF NO ONE THAT
BELIEVES NATIONS WILL BE IN HELL. YET, THEY USE THIS PASSAGE THAT
PROVES SOMETHING THEY DO NOT BELIEVE WHEN THEY MAKE IT
LITERAL. They change it from nations before the judgment to people after the 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, the wages of sin is 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.”
“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” Homer Hailey, 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. 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 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 [not tormented] AND EATEN BY BIRDS. WHEN SOME MAKE THIS
LITERAL TO PROVE THERE IS A HELL, IT IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE
HELL THAT IS TAUGHT TODAY, NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE HELL THEY
ARE TRYING 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 DEAD PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT IN HELL BEING EATEN
BY BIRDS.
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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, not 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 "Revelation, An Introduction And Commentary" Chapter 19, Baker Book
House. "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,