--> "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever..."
[ REV 14:11 ]
Please notice that this verse does NOT say that the "torment" lasts forever.
It says their smoke lasts forever.
This phrase originated in Isaiah 34:10, which proves that the wicked won't
burn forever:
God's curse on the city of Bozrah says: "The land thereof shall become
burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day; the SMOKE thereof SHALL
GO UP FOR EVE: from generation to generation it shall lie waste;... The
cormorant (pelican) and the bittern shall possess it... and thorns shall come
up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortress there of... the wild
beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island...
there."
Thus's God's word in Isaiah proves that fire which makes smoke ascend up "for
ever" does NOT go on burning forever.
If it did, horn could THORNS, NETTLES, and BRAMBLES grow there, or WILD
ANIMALS take possession of Bozrah?
The phrase "not be quenced" also appeared there in Isaiah 34:10 --
What IS an "unquenceable fire?"
It seems that most Christians think that it's a fire that will NEVER BE
EXTINGIUSHED, and will burn "without end" -- bu Isaiah proves that this view
is UNSCRIPTUAL.
A fire that cannot be "quenched" is not a fire that shall never go out, but
one that CANNOT BE PUT OUT.
The "unquenchable" fire of hell will burn until it finishes its work -- until
all its fuel has been consumed. And no one will "put it out" or they could
esacpe the flames. [ ISA 47:14 "They shall be as stubble... they shall not
deliver themselves from the power of the flame." ]