The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Heavenly Jerusalem, #54

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. 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. (Isaiah 66:22-24)

We think of a lake as a place of refreshing. However, this lake is the area of eternal torment reserved for Satan and his angels and for all who love and worship Satan.

The term "carcases" can be translated dead bodies; corpses; flesh. As we said previously, all human beings will be resurrected. All will stand in their bodies before God.

The righteous will attain varying degrees of glorification of their bodies depending on the faithfulness with which they seek Christ in this life. The physical body will be preserved, being swallowed up by incorruptible life.

In like manner the bodies of the wicked will be preserved. They will be preserved in the Lake of Fire. The members of the Kingdom of God will be able to go to the Lake of Fire and "look upon" the dead bodies, at the flesh of those who have sinned against God. It is a perpetual cremation in which the bodies are not consumed. It appears the Lake of Fire will be worse by far than any nightmare any human being has experienced.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (Luke 16:24)

"Cool my tongue." "I am tormented in this flame."

The rich man was suffering as though still in his body, as though he still possessed a tongue. He was experiencing eternal death.

What will it be like in the future to look into the waters of the Lake of Fire and see the famous murderers of history moving about in the flames, glancing up and shaking their fists at us? What if we see in the shimmering blue fire that gives off the choking smell of sulfur an actor or television personality whose antics amused us in the world, or maybe a school classmate, friend, or relative? If such a sight would cause us to wish we had lived differently, let us make the change now; for that hour surely will come to us in the future.

The horrors of the Lake of Fire are beyond our powers of imagination.

Whoever considers the reality of the Lake of Fire, and yet does not gain enough of the fear of God in himself or herself to begin to serve Christ in this world, turning away from sin, is a fool. He or she needs to cry out to God night and day until the fear of God comes into his or her personality. That day is coming to all. It surely shall come! (from Revelation: Chapters Twenty-one and Twenty-two)