Everlasting Burnings

Is EVERLASTING BURNINGS proof of endless torment?

The following passage was shared with me as proof of ceaseless suffering:

Isaiah 33:12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

But don't stop there.  A question is asked.  Let's hear the answer:

15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

So the answer is that only the righteous ("He that walketh uprightly...") could possibly dwell with this devouring fire and everlasting burnings.

There are a number of reasons why this passage actually teaches complete destruction, not endless torment - that the wicked burn up, not on and on.

1.  "The people shall be as the burnings of lime."  "As the burnings of lime - As if placed in a burning lime-kiln, where they must certainly be destroyed (see Isaiah 30:33; compare Amos 2:1)." - Barne's Notes on the Bible.

2. As thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.  Anyone who has ever burned brush gets this picture.  "The two images of destruction are singularly vivid. The limekiln and the oven which was fed with thorns were alike in this. The outcome of their work was seen in a residuum of ashes." - Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers.  

The burning of lime and thorns picture complete consumption, not ongoing agony!  Compare Hebrews 6:8: "But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."

3. The context is of sinners being devoured. Not only did the gentleman who posted this passage not give the verse following it that answered the question, he also didn't give the verse preceding that sets the context: 

Isaiah 33:11: Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall DEVOUR you.

Stubble and chaff!  Malachi says "behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be STUBBLE: and the day that cometh ("the great and dreadful day of the LORD" - v. 5) shall BURN THEM UP" (Malachi 4:1).  John the Baptist says Christ "will BURN UP the CHAFF with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12).  

4.  It is a DEVOURING fire.  That's plain enough, and is in happy harmony with the rest of Scripture concerning temporal judgment and the final fate of the wicked:

Leviticus 10:2: And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

Psalm 21:9: Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

Isaiah 5:24: Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Hebrews 10:27: But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

See also this incredible multitude of judgment fires that devour (search "fire" and "devour" in BibleGateway): Numbers 26:10; Deuteronomy 31:17; 32:24; Judges 9:20; 2 Samuel 22:9; Psalm 18:8; 50:3; Isaiah 9:18; 10:17; 29:6; 30:27, 30; 33:11; Jeremiah 5:14; 17:27; 21:14; 50:32; Lamentations 2:3; 4:11; Ezekiel 15:4, 5, 7; 19:14; 20:47; 23:25; 28:18; Hosea 8:14; Joel 2:3, 5; Amos 1:4, 7, 10, 12, 14; 2:2, 5; 5:6; 7:4; Obadiah 1:18; Nahum 1:10; 2:13; 3:13, 15; Zephaniah 1:18; 3:8; 9:4; Zachariah 11:1; 12:6; Revelation 11:5; 20:9.

What all fifty of these texts have in common is that they clearly speak of a judgment fire that devours the wicked.  

FIRE DEVOURS, especially CHAFF, STUBBLE, LIME, AND THORNS!

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