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"If anyone worship the beast and his image, and receiveth his mark on his forehead, or
on his hand, even he shall drink of the wine of God's fury, which is mingled undiluted in
the cup of His wrath; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of
the angels and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up
unto ages of ages: and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his
image, and whoever receiveth the mark of his name."
Care must be observed in the rendering of some of these solemn words. For example,
in the clause "they have no rest day nor night who worship," &100:, we must note that hoi
proskunountes is the present participle denoting that they have no rest day nor night while
they are worshipping. "Receiveth" also is the present tense. "Day and night" is
associated with time, not with eternity. The torment here threatened must indeed be
horrible; how long it will last before it ends in destruction we cannot tell. The smoke
ascends unto (eis, unto, no hint of throughout) ages of ages, but the torment itself, and the
tormented, cannot enter the new creation (22: 3). In Rev. 16: the seven plagues are
poured out upon the worshippers of the beast:--
"The men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his
image" (verse 2).
"They have shed the blood of saints and prophets" (verse 6).
"The throne of the beast"; "blaspehemed and repented not" (verses 10 and 11).
The fate of the "eighth" who is "of the seven" is that he "goeth into perdition"
(17: 11). In 19: 19 we read:--
"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet. . . . these both were cast
alive into a lake of fire burning with fire and brimstone."
That these super-human beings continue to live in this lake of fire seems evident by
reading 20: 10:--
"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 unto the ages of
the ages."
Whilst it is true that the word "are" is not in the original, and could just as well read
"were," yet the next word "tormented" is plural, and must be translated, "they shall be
tormented," which seems to imply that the beast and the false prophet are referred to.
Torment is spoken of in relation to this lake of fire with reference to these three, but
when, as we have seen, the passage relates to those who have not their names in the book
of life, then the statement is added, "which is the second death."
We have brought these several passages from the book of Revelation together in order
that the reader may observe that in the majority of cases, and in connection with the
passage which uses the strongest terms, the special class of antichristians are intended,
and that these particular terms must not be interpreted in a general way of sinners of all
times. No countenance is given even in these passages to the idea of eternal conscious
suffering. This is the one idea which we set before us at the commencement of these
series. Does the Scripture teach the eternal conscious suffering of sinners as the wages of
sin, and if not, what does it teach? We believe that we have demonstrated that the