SUBJECT:  Revelation 14:11

QUESTION:  Does this verse indicated that the torment is forever?  Does this verse support the idea of ever burning hell fire?

ANSWER:

No on both questions.

Notice the verses:

Revelation 14:8-11

8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Notice that verse 8 gives the time setting of Revelation 14:11. It concerns the impending fall of "Babylon."

Verses 9 and 10 state, "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark ... he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone ... in the presence of the Lamb" (that is, at Christ's Second Coming).

Those who have a part in this system of "Babylon," and who receive this frightful punishment from Almighty God, have "no rest day nor night" as long as they remain in that land falling under God's wrath. They will either have to flee that area and seek God's mercy or be tormented by sulphurous fumes TILL THEY PERISH.

This passage does NOT say these individuals are being tormented forever in an ever-burning hell. Verse 11 says, "The SMOKE of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever."

The Bible plainly teaches that flesh and blood is subject to combustion and death. Malachi 4:3 says that in the end the ashes of the wicked will be under the feet of the righteous. The wicked will be DESTROYED and will die that death -- the second death -- from which there is never to be a resurrection (Rev. 20:6, 14).

The following was taken from a booklet, “Hell, What is it?; Where is it?” located on the Internet:

FOR EVER AND EVER

 Another text that is often quoted to prove the theory of an endless hell will now be considered. 

"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."—Rev. 14:11

The grammatical construction of this text shows that it does not refer to the future state but to the present, while they worship. The verbs "ascendeth"—"have" and "worship" are in the present tense, and prove beyond cavil that the class referred to in this text are tormented and have no rest while they worship an apostate power. The language of this text is figurative and refers to the agony and torment of an accusing conscience. Who has not felt the inward groaning of mind, void of rest, while knowingly doing wrong?

The term "for ever and ever" refers to the present state, in this text, for in the preceding verse the future tense is used when speaking of the future. It says: 

"The same SHALL drink of the wine of the wrath of God . . . and he SHALL be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb."—Rev. 14:10.

"For ever and ever," in this verse, has reference to the torment of a special class living just before Christ's second coming, and can only mean a comparatively short time. Moreover, this term, although it is also used in connection with all of the wicked, must be understood in the same sense as it is used elsewhere in the Bible.

The prophet Isaiah, declaring the destruction of ancient Idumea, the land of Edom, Southeast of Judea, says:

"And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch."

"It shall not be quenched night nor day: the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever."—Isaiah 34 :9-10.

Could any language be stronger ? Do we not find here the identical expressions before referred to? But this judgment on Idumea has long since been fulfilled, and the use of the terms "for ever" and "for ever and ever" in these texts show plainly that they do not mean endless in duration.

"Forever" is translated from the Greek word aion, and is defined by all lexicographers to mean—a period of time, limited by surrounding circumstances,—a lifetime,—and when speaking of God it means as long as God lives, eternally, never ending. When speaking of man it means a lifetime or until death.

Greenfield's Greek lexicon defines it thus: "Duration, finite or infinite, unlimited duration, a period of duration past or future, time, age, lifetime." It is used in all these ways.

An instance where "for ever" means a human lifetime, or until death, is found in Exodus, 21:5-6.

"And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

"Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever."

One can plainly see that the expression "forever" in the foregoing text means as long as he lives.

The term is similarly used in the book of Samuel. Hannah had just given birth to Samuel and wished to dedicate him to the Lord. Her husband was, going to sacrifice to the Lord and what follows in the verse relates the facts:

"And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

"But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever."—1 Samuel 1:21-22.

Here we have the same expression (for ever) used again, and to show what it means I will give the facts after the child was weaned and brought to the house of the Lord. She (Hannah) said:  

"Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there."—Verse 28.

The term "for ever," as used in the 22nd verse, means then, "as long as he liveth." 

One text now to show that "for ever" is used in a very limited sense.

Jonah, according to the first chapter of the book of Jonah, verse 17, was in the belly of the great fish "three days and three nights"—and yet, when referring to his experience in this connection he uses these words: 

"The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever."—Jonah 2:5-6.

"For ever," in this case, was just three days and three nights. It seemed an age to Jonah; hence the definition—"age lasting."

Those who hold the endless hell-fire theory have not so much as one text in their favor. Their doctrine has not a leg to stand upon, and for the sake of truth, for the sake of our kind heavenly Father, this doctrine should be abandoned. You may rest assured that the wicked will be punished according to the deeds done in the body, and the punishment will be by fire, but the end will be eternal death. 

The God dishonoring, soul-destroying lie, that there is a perpetual, hopeless hell of eternal torment, should, as Luther said of the doctrine of natural immortality, be relegated "to the dung-hill of Roman decretals."    ---end---

Note:  This explanation makes it clear.

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