… ²⁷ but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

Just like those who in the Old Testament times refused the Law of Moses fell under the judgment of God, so also those who continue sinning by rejecting the message of Christ and His sacrifice fall under God’s terrible retribution. This is clear with little interpretative debate. What is difficult in this passage is the description of that judgment; it is the ultimate shock and awe. The decision to willfully reject Christ after knowing the truth of what He did on the cross brings a terrifying consequence. The thoughtful person will be overcome with the imagery.

Dante, in his well-known work, attempted to capture the imagery of this. The sign leading into hell says this, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” It is a place where you definitely do not want to go. Hell, in our passage, is pictured as a terrifying place, a place of furious, all consuming fire. Jesus spoke about it often. For instance, He said, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire…” These were not idle threats made for purely theatrical show. He spoke of a rich man in hell being tormented (Luke 16:23).

But does hell really involve physical fire? That depiction seems, to some, like a barbaric remnant of the middle ages. First of all, that is the way the Lord Jesus described it. Second, if God uses eternal, physical fire to describe the judgment on those who reject Christ, who am I or anyone else to try to temper this down, minimize it or somehow come up with a different, “better” depiction of it. Clearly, that is the picture God wants us to use when imagining hell. As someone once said, if hell doesn’t involve physical fire, then it must involve something far worse! But, fire certainly conveys an extremely painful, terrifying prospect, and that is a universal reaction.

Some believe that eventually this hellish punishment will come to an end when non-believers (i.e. Christ rejecters) will be ultimately annihilated, namely when hell is consumed. ^“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:14-15). However, even the “lake of fire” cannot quench the unquenchable fires of hell that Jesus spoke of. In fact, the depiction of fire continues forever. What is the point of all this? The sacrifice of Christ is now God’s unalterable message and there are consequences to rejecting Him.

Lord, thank You that in Christ I don’t need to live in fear of a firey judgment!