Automatic Transcript Generated
Speaker 1
So Alden is asking we are to forgive not seven times, but 70 times seven. But will God never forgive those in hell?
Speaker 2
Okay, so my friend Aden Alden excuse me, I’m sorry, Alden, that’s a really interesting question, and it’s actually kind of twofold as far as the answer goes. So I want to first take us.
Speaker 1
To.
Speaker 2
Let’S see, I think we’ll start first as far as the context of the 70 times seven, as far as forgiveness goes. And if you go to Matthew 18, verses 21 and 22, that’s basically the context of where Peter asks Jesus about how often should I forgive? And so Matthew, chapter 18, verses 21 and 22 read says, then Peter came to him, who is Jesus? And said, lord, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him up to seven times. And Peter thought, this is a lot. Like, I’m not just going to forgive him once. And when it’s forgiven seven, seven is like the perfect number. But yet Jesus goes a little bit deeper. And you see, in verse 22, it says, jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. Now, it’s kind of interesting because if Peter, being a Jude, would have known exactly what those numbers meant. 70 times seven, that goes back to the Book of Daniel, chapter nine, in a 70 week prophecy. It’s a 70 weeks are determined upon thy people that would be found in Daniel nine, verse 24.
Speaker 2
And so basically Jesus was saying, look, I know you think seven is a lot, but God gave Israel 70 times 7490 years to get things back on track after they had already sinned for hundreds of years before that, before going into Babylon and so into captivity. And so basically, I think what Jesus was saying was not that you forgive forever, but when you think of forgiving other people, remember the forgiveness that God has given you. And I think that’s really clear in the next few verses, because immediately afterwards, Jesus gives a parable in verses 23 through 35, and I’ll just summarize it, but it’s basically the parable of the servant who owed a debt to his Lord. He owed him tons of money. It translated into what our money would be today. It would be like millions of dollars. It would be more than he could have ever paid back in a lifetime. And so because he begged his Master, forgive me. I will pay everything back. The Master said, because you asked, I forgive you. And yet that same servant goes out and finds somebody that owed him like 100 checkles or 100 pennies or something, basically like $100, and was like, pay me my money back, and threw him in jail and didn’t show forgiveness.
Speaker 2
And so basically the point of what Jesus was saying is, as merciful as God is, you need to show that same mercy to other people. Now, when it comes to the 70 week prophecy of Daniel nine, there was an end to that prophecy. After 490 years, God said, desolations are determined upon thy people and the end shall be with the flood. There’s going to be an end to my mercy. Once you go past the point where you will not submit to God’s will, god has to just release his calling to you because you can’t even hear his Holy Spirit anymore. That’s really what it was talking about. And if you know the end of the 490 prophecy, it basically takes you to the last week of the prophecy. In the middle of the week, Jesus dies for the sins of the whole world and he dies by the hands of the Jewish nation that was supposed to be the ones welcoming the Messiah. And yet they murdered the Son of God. But yet three and a half years later, jesus still called to the Jews, still used his disciples to try to reach them. And at the stoning of Stephen, that is the end of the 470 prophecy of Daniel 924, where you see that God gives up Israel, they’re no longer my people.
Speaker 2
And in 70 Ad, the destruction of Jerusalem happened that Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24, where no stone was left upon another. So there comes an end to God’s mercy when there is no more repentance from the other person. So if the other person is repenting or asking for forgiveness, continue to forgive that person, of course. But there comes a point where a person is no longer repentant. They don’t want to be forgiven. They just don’t want a relationship with you or that person. And so when it comes to God, not forgiving somebody who is going to hell, it’s not that God doesn’t want to forgive them. God gave them every opportunity to forgive them, but they just didn’t want to be forgiven. Because one John one nine says, if you confess your sins, I’m God is faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all righteousness. So the only sin that cannot be forgiven is the one that’s not confessed. So that’s part one of my answer. And part two is the, I’m going to say the assumption. But basically you’re saying that God will never forgive those in hell.
Speaker 2
And to me that’s saying that. I’m guessing you’re thinking that people are in hell forever, like they’re burning forever in hell. And I’m here to tell you that that’s not what happens in hell. And I’ll show you if you look with me in the book of Matthew, chapter ten, verse 28, and I’m just going to go ahead and read it. I don’t think it’ll be on the board. But basically it says, and fear not them which kill the body. So basically people that would persecute you, don’t fear them who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him being God, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. So what happens in hell is that people and their soul are destroyed. You don’t burn forever in agony in Hell. That doesn’t make any sense. For God of love to punish you forever and ever in all eternity, burning and suffering for a lifetime, what, 50, 60, 70, maybe 100 years of sin? That doesn’t make sense. And how could you be in heaven knowing that you have loved ones who are burning and suffering forever while you’re trying to enjoy heaven?
Speaker 2
That’s not logical, that goes against God’s character. And I really believe that this is one of the biggest lies of the devil, that to paint the picture of God as this sadistic, evil, mean person and God is not that way. And I want to further show you, just to prove you hell is not forever. You don’t burn in Hell forever, you are destroyed in Hell forever. You turn to ash and you’re done. You never existed. If you read the book of Obadiah, it says they shall be as though they had never been. But if you look in the book of Revelation chapter 20, this is really key. Revelation chapter 20, verses 14 and 15 show you what actually goes into hell, what is actually destroyed there. Revelation 14 and 15 says, then death and Hades, which is hell, were cast because the word hell doesn’t mean where you burn forever. Hell means the grave or Hades means the grave.
Speaker 3
Let’s pause right there for a moment because we’re talking about mistranslations into English and I think this is one of the biggest ones. And there’s a lot of conflict between Christians of which version of the Bible is better, king James version or niv and all on. This is one of those times where niv is better, where it actually translates a lot of these references to the grave or to death. And it actually properly translates it as such, whereas the King James version, for example, might call those Hell, Hades or things like that. So, yeah, this is where looking at the original words helps a lot. Back to you, Tina.
Speaker 2
Yeah, no problem. So, yeah, in Hebrews, the word for hell, like you read about it in the book of Psalms, david constantly says, do not leave my soul in hell. He’s not saying he’s literally in hell somewhere burning it. Hell means the grave. It’s a word seal and it means like the pit or the grave. It doesn’t mean you’re in some place of fire that you’re burning and tormented and you’re definitely not there forever, I promise you, based on God’s word. So back to Revelation chapter 20, verses 14 and 15. So speaking of death and the grave, it says in Revelation 20, verse 14, it says, then death and Hades, hell or the grave were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. So basically you die once on this earth, then the judgment and then if you go into verse 15, it says these and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So those who are death and hell or Hades the grave are cast into the lake of fire and that is where you are basically destroyed. And if you don’t believe me, then go ahead and look in the Book of Malachi, chapter four, verses one through three.
Speaker 2
And there’s many other verses I could share, but I think this one makes it most clear. Matthew, chapter four, verses one through three and it reads Matthew four, one through three. If not, I’ll pull it up myself. Oh, sorry, Malachi. Am I giving you the wrong verse? I’m sorry. Malachi, chapter four. Can we start in verse one? That is the key verse there. For behold, the day is coming burning like an oven. And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. They will not be burning forever, they will be stubble. That’s the end result of being burned up. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch. And verse two reads but to you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings and you shall go out and grow fat like stall fed cows. In verse three says you shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet. On that day that I do this, says the Lord of Host. So there will be a Day of judgment.
Speaker 2
And the day of judgment is when the wicked are annihilated and they are burned up. They are destroyed. They do not burn forever and ever. That is terrible. And you don’t find that anywhere in the Bible. When you die, you sleep. That’s what the Bible says. And it says in one thessalonians four that the dead in Christ shall rise first and those that are alive and remain his people shall be caught up with them and so shall they ever be with the Lord. Then we have a millennium. That happens. All the wicked are destroyed. The millennium happens. And when the millennium is over, all the dead who are wicked, who are on the earth are resurrected. They have a short season with the devil to try to have this armageddon and destroy God’s people. But we come down as new Jerusalem and they are wiped out. That is it. They are destroyed. And I do think some maybe are punished more than others based on their sins. I think people who murdered probably suffer more as they’re being destroyed than maybe somebody who just stole or something like that. There may be degrees of punishment, but the end result is the same, which is they are destroyed, they are dead.
Speaker 2
And if you don’t to just show you. One last verse is Romans 623. It says, for the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But it says, the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is not eternal life, just suffering, but the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So only the righteous have eternal life and only the wicked have eternal death. And so that would be hopefully an adequate answer to your question. And I hope that through that you see that God is a God of mercy and he won’t put people in heaven if they don’t want to be there. And so because it would be like hell to them to be in a place where God is constantly worshiped and obeyed, they would be miserable. And so God lets people choose what they would rather do, rather live forever in God’s world, because outside of God there is no life. And so you’re choosing death otherwise. And so my prayer for you, my friend, is that you will choose life. You’ll choose Jesus and you’ll choose his ways, which are perfect.
Speaker 2
And that you’ll see God is a God of love who cares about you and desires only your good. Jay or Wendy? Sorry. Any other thoughts?
Speaker 3
No. Yeah. I always like to take biblical concepts and put them into the context of a family. So let’s say you are parents and you have, let’s say, a really large family with ten kids and you have one kid who continues to beat up the other kids and you try to correct them, you try to talk with them, they don’t stop. He keeps hurting the other kids, he keeps stealing from the other kids, keeps blaming the other kids. He now tries to tempt the other kids to do wrong, to steal, to hurt each other, to disobey you, and he just won’t stop. And let’s say you now have perfect knowledge about this kid. You know you can get into his mind and you know he will never, ever change. And unless you do something about him, he is going to kill, end up killing or causing your kids to kill each other. What do you do about that? What is love going to have you do? At some point you have to draw the line, even not for your sake, but for those you love. And that’s really how it is with God. He’s giving people every chance to show that they can live in love and in harmony with those around them.
Speaker 3
God’s law is to love. We could go verse after verse. I think we tend to do that on this because that’s what we really believe. God is love. His law is love. He wants us to love. He wants us to be in his loving image. And when someone doesn’t want to be a part of that system and rebels against it, when they’re not going to be loving, they’re going to be sinning, they’re going to be acting in their own selfishness, they’re going to be hurting others. And the whole system of love that God created will just fall apart. So God has to draw the line for the protection of those he loves, for his angels, for humans, for any other beings he’s created, for the animals who the Bible says are suffering, groaning, in pain because of the state of this fallen world, god has to put an end to sin. And for people who choose to be sinful, identify with sin, continue sin, the only way for God to put an end to sin is to put an end to them too. And so, yeah, the Bible says that God has set a time, he’s determined a time when he’s just going to say enough is enough.
Speaker 1
And it’s not that just anyone who causes these problems and is struggling with sin and these kinds of things, it’s not that God’s just going to do away with those people. It’s only after he has given them everything they need to overcome that and they continue to rebel against it. And he knows that they will never choose to do anything but sin and cause problems for God’s children, for those who want a harmonious community, and they will make the choice for themselves. They don’t want to be a part of God’s community and they will choose destruction over being a part of God’s kingdom. And so it’s not that God is this Santa Claus, I’m going to find out who’s naughty and nice and I’m going to punish you, naughty person. That’s not how God works. It’s like he’s constantly trying to give us every reason to turn to Him, every reason to choose Him over that struggle, over that temptation, over that sinful thing that we are facing. And he is trying to pull to earn our trust, to earn our.
Speaker 3
Why do you think Christ died on the cross?
Speaker 1
Yeah, God is doing everything and all we have to do is say, yes, I want that, and keep saying, yes, I want that. And every time we mess up, go back and say, yes, I’m sorry, I messed up and I want what God has. And so he is giving every opportunity there. So when that final destruction occurs, it’s not that God is just this crazy evil judge or vindictive judge. It’s not like that at all.
Speaker 3
And actually this now is a good parallel to the next question. At least you have more to say. Sorry.
Speaker 2
No, I’m so sorry. I think that was such a valid point you make, Wendy. And it just reminded me of the verse, two verses actually really quick. And one is in Ezekiel 33. This is God in the Old Testament and reiterated in the New Testament. But basically Ezekiel 30 311 says, god says, as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn you from your evil ways, for why will you die a house of Israel? God does not want us to choose death. God wants us to choose life. That is his desire. John 316 god is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But again in second Peter three nine. Basically that’s what it says. God is not slack concerning his promise, but it’s long suffering. He’s patient with us, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. So God, just like you’re saying, he’s giving us chances, he’s calling to our hearts to turn away from the evil way and turn back to Him, because he does love us.
Speaker 2
He does want to live in a harmonious relationship with us and with each other for all eternity. But it’s up to us to decide do we want to choose self or do we want to choose love? And I think that’s really the bottom.
Speaker 3
Line truly is amen.
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In His service,
BibleAsk Team
