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NASB | Luke 12:20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 12:20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?' [Job 27:8; Jer 17:11] |
Subject: What happens to our soul when we die? |
Bible Note: Hi SBoone, Let's look at Isaiah 66:24 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. You wrote that the fire that shall not be quenched actually means that it will be quenched after it finishes destroying. You cite the burning of Edom, Is 34, as an example. This destruction of Edom has not happened yet. It is reserved for the Day of the Lord: Isaiah 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. 9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 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. Some have even suggested that this will be the Lake of Fire. This would even fit with what Isaiah wrote. Meanwhile, the language in Is 34:10 is very strong and specific, and Edom (specifically the streams, the dust, the land)will burn forever. Its interesting that this prophecy of Edom is so specific. Normally in the Bible when nationalities are mentioned, they refer more to the peoples than the actual territories. Modern scholars recognize this as they study the prophecies of Ezekiel 38. The question isn't where were those nations, but rather, where are those peoples today? Jude 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah did not sin. The people in the cities sinned. The cities were destroyed, but not punished The people were punished. Or shall I say, "are being punished", because the Greek verb translated "suffering" is a present active participle. The are currently experiencing this punishment. When Hannah gave Samuel to serve the Lord "forever", this is "beyond the vanishing point". This is often used to mean "forever", but not always. It means "farther than I can see". That notwithstanding, do you that that Samuel no longer serves the Lord? The Isaiah 34 passage adds additional language to confirm the context as "something that will not end". But perhaps most telling, is in the New Testament. Matt 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. The same Greek is used of everlasting punishment as everlasting life. And we are not talking about "the result of the punishment", i.e. death, as you claim. To say that is to add words that are not found in the text. The punishment is Greek kolasin, from the verb kolaso, to cut back. Its not a good thing, but it is not synonymous to destruction or death. In 1 John 4:18 it is translated "torment": "fear hath torment". Look back at Isaiah 66:24 for a moment. What do you think it means "their worm shall not die"? If you asked a Hebrew Rabbi that question, they would tell you the "worm" is that which remains after the parts of a man that can be destroyed have been destroyed. The miserable, pitiful remaining part, the worm, does not die, but exists in suffering forever. Don't try this at home. Love in Christ, Mark |