The Battle of Armageddon - Part 3: The Lake of Fire
by Patricia Jones, February 9, 2012
The lake of fire and the Battle of Armageddon occur on the same day. This day is referred to in Scriptures as “that great day of God Almighty”, and “the day of Jehovah”, and “the great day of his wrath”, just to name a few examples.
Rev 16:14 “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
Joel 2:31 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of Jehovah come.”
Rev 6:15-17 “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
As I have already covered in Part 4 of this study, the battle of Armageddon will take place on the day of the Rapture, which is “the great day of God Almighty”. This is also the same day in which the devil, the beast, and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
So how do we harmonize the word of God which is telling us that these 3 aspects of the kingdom of Satan will be tormented day and night forever and ever in the lake of fire with what we have come to understand is taught by the word of God that the unsaved will be annihilated? First let’s take a look at 3 interesting verses that we find in Mark chapter 9.
Mark 9:43-44 “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 9:45-46 “And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 9:47-48 “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out; it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
So I took a look at the word that was translated into the word “worm” and it is the Greek word “Skolex”[G4663]. A “Skolex” is a maggot. This type of worm feeds on dead bodies, or carcasses. That reminded me of what Christ states in Matthew chapter 24.
Matthew 24:27-28 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be; for wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”
Here Christ is directly linking the Rapture, carcasses, and eagles together. How are we to make sense of this? A “Skolex” is a maggot that feeds on carcasses. In Mark chapter 9, we see a worm that never dies is being associated with the unsaved that are cast into hell fire. Then I took a look at the words “dieth not” and the words “not quenched” that we find in Mark 9. The words “dieth not” were translated from Greek words that basically mean, “will not come to an end, or have an end, or close”. The words “not quenched” were translated from Greek words that basically mean, “will not be extinguished, or go out, or be suppressed, or stifled”. And so what does this all mean? “A maggot that will not have no end, and a fire that will never be suppressed, or extinguished.” The fire portion of these verses is easy to understand because we know that God is a consuming fire and we know that it is God’s consuming fire that will destroy Satan and his kingdom forever. But what is this maggot? And what are the eagles of Matthew 24 that are associated with a carcass? When we understand that the Battle of Armageddon is to occur after the Rapture, we can better understand this concept. When the resurrection of the dead occurs, everyone will be translated into a celestial body, as we read in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 15:48-52 “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.”
John 5:26-29 “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
If we are going to be translated into our celestial bodies at the Rapture, which is when the Battle of Armageddon is to begin, then this means we will always remember the destruction of the unsaved in the lake of fire; our memories of their destruction will exist forever and ever. That will be the maggot that will never come to an end. In Isaiah 66 we find the passage that the Lord Jesus was quoting from regarding this worm.
Isaiah 66:22-24 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."
Rev 16:14 “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
Joel 2:31 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of Jehovah come.”
Rev 6:15-17 “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
As I have already covered in Part 4 of this study, the battle of Armageddon will take place on the day of the Rapture, which is “the great day of God Almighty”. This is also the same day in which the devil, the beast, and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
So how do we harmonize the word of God which is telling us that these 3 aspects of the kingdom of Satan will be tormented day and night forever and ever in the lake of fire with what we have come to understand is taught by the word of God that the unsaved will be annihilated? First let’s take a look at 3 interesting verses that we find in Mark chapter 9.
Mark 9:43-44 “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 9:45-46 “And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 9:47-48 “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out; it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
So I took a look at the word that was translated into the word “worm” and it is the Greek word “Skolex”[G4663]. A “Skolex” is a maggot. This type of worm feeds on dead bodies, or carcasses. That reminded me of what Christ states in Matthew chapter 24.
Matthew 24:27-28 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be; for wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”
Here Christ is directly linking the Rapture, carcasses, and eagles together. How are we to make sense of this? A “Skolex” is a maggot that feeds on carcasses. In Mark chapter 9, we see a worm that never dies is being associated with the unsaved that are cast into hell fire. Then I took a look at the words “dieth not” and the words “not quenched” that we find in Mark 9. The words “dieth not” were translated from Greek words that basically mean, “will not come to an end, or have an end, or close”. The words “not quenched” were translated from Greek words that basically mean, “will not be extinguished, or go out, or be suppressed, or stifled”. And so what does this all mean? “A maggot that will not have no end, and a fire that will never be suppressed, or extinguished.” The fire portion of these verses is easy to understand because we know that God is a consuming fire and we know that it is God’s consuming fire that will destroy Satan and his kingdom forever. But what is this maggot? And what are the eagles of Matthew 24 that are associated with a carcass? When we understand that the Battle of Armageddon is to occur after the Rapture, we can better understand this concept. When the resurrection of the dead occurs, everyone will be translated into a celestial body, as we read in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 15:48-52 “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.”
John 5:26-29 “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
If we are going to be translated into our celestial bodies at the Rapture, which is when the Battle of Armageddon is to begin, then this means we will always remember the destruction of the unsaved in the lake of fire; our memories of their destruction will exist forever and ever. That will be the maggot that will never come to an end. In Isaiah 66 we find the passage that the Lord Jesus was quoting from regarding this worm.
Isaiah 66:22-24 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."
No comments:
Post a Comment