brethren, and burnt the haven ("lake") by night, and set the boats on

fire, and those that fled thither (or from the fire) he slew ... But

when he heard that the Jamnites were minded to do in like manner ... he

came ... and set fire on the haven and the navy, so that the light of

the fire was seen at Jerusalem two hundred and forty furlongs off'.

We Gentiles have never had impressed upon our hearts, minds and memory,

the exploits of the Maccabees.  Were we to have had a revelation written

especially for English -speaking people it might use a mixture of figures; it

might speak of a fat boy carved in stone, a monument by Sir Christopher Wren,

and refer to Pudding, Pie, and the sin of gluttony, but it is very unlikely

that a Chinese reader, or come to that, some readers nearer home, would make

sense of this oblique reference to the great fire of London!  So, the

essentially Hebrew atmosphere of the book of the Revelation not only draws

freely upon Old Testament imagery, but contains allusion to uncanonical or

traditional happenings that may never find a place in a respectable

commentary written for English readers.  It may be that this 'lake' of fire,

before the judgment of that day had been a 'haven' for those evil beings, the

Beast and the False Prophet, and we know that it had been 'prepared for the

Devil and his angels' as the place of their final destruction (Matt. 25:41).

Nothing definite can be adduced from what we have presented, but we have at

least given the term employed something more than a casual glance.

We have devoted some attention to the promise to the overcomer, that

such would not have their names blotted out of the book of life.  We must now

devote some attention to the parallel promises given to the overcomer in the

church of Smyrna: 'he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death'

and this second death together with the book of life and the lake of fire,

figures prominently in the judgment of the Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11 -

15).  The choice of the word 'hurt' by the Authorized Version translators may

have been influenced by such passages as:

'Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they

have no hurt' (Dan. 3:25).

'So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found

upon him' (Dan. 6:23).

(For a fuller examination, see the article 'Hurt' of the Second Death, page

In contrast with the three who were not 'hurt' in the furnace, is the

fate of the men who stoked the fire (Dan. 3:22) and in contrast with Daniel,

is the fate of those who accused him (Dan. 6:24).  The word translated 'hurt'

in Revelation 2:11 is adikeo, which is so rendered in eight other passages in

the Apocalypse, and twice translated 'unjust' in Revelation 22:11.  From what

we have already seen, it will be recognized that some wider survey of the

references to 'fire' and its implications is called for.  Matthew 5:22 coming

in the Sermon on the Mount has reference to disciples and not to the ungodly

outside world.  It is set in a form of progression, the penalty keeping pace

with the offence thus:

'Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger

of

The Judgment: and

Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of