Daily Devotional, Year 3 – April 22 (Eternal Torment? Part 19: “Our God Is Fire & Brimstone!?!”)
By admin On February 13th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 3 – April 22
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Eternal Torment?
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Part 19:
“Our God Is Fire & Brimstone!?!”
To read Part 1, click here… “September 8th (Eternal Torment?)”
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“And the sight of the glory of the LORD
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was like devouring fire
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on the top of the mount
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in the eyes of the children of Israel.”
Exodus 24:17
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Gérôme, Jean-Léon – Moses on Mount Sinai – Jean-Léon Gérôme – 1895-1900 – Wikimedia – Pub. Dom.
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The Book of Revelation describes a frightful picture in store for those who receive 
the Mark of the Beast…”And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand…he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” Revelation 14:9-11
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So, from a quick reading of this, one might get the idea such a torment continues on forever.
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But this statement says that “THE SMOKE of their torment ascends up forever.”
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It doesn’t say that their torment goes on forever.
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Brooklyn Museum – The Rich Man In Hell – James Tissot – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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“COMPARING SPIRITUAL THINGS”
1st Corinthians 2:13
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Well, regardless of how long this torment goes on, the careful Bible student will desire to fully understand just what all this means.
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And so, realizing that the Bible is one doctrine, a careful and prayerful search will begin.
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And with the aid of a good concordance, the Bible student will begin to sort out the various aspects of this frightful passage from Revelation 14.
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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WHAT DOES BRIMSTONE REPRESENT?
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Now one of the first words to be searched out is “brimstone”. Because it clearly says that “he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone” Revelation 14:10
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So, with concordance in hand, the word “brimstone” produces the following verse…“For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the King it is prepared; He hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.” Isaiah 33:30
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Well, this is interesting! The breath of the Lord is like a stream of brimstone! And that breath is what kindles the fire of Tophet, the place of judgment!
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Campfire Pinecone – Wikipedia – Share-alike license
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WHAT DOES FIRE REPRESENT?
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Next we need to understand just what kind of fire God will use to torment those who receive the mark, the name or the number of the name of the Beast…“And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Exodus 24:17
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So here again, it is revealed that God’s glory is like “devouring fire”!
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Now is there any New Testament passage which further supports this truth? Listen…“For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29
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Gérôme, Jean-Léon – Moses on Mount Sinai – Jean-Léon Gérôme – 1895-1900 – Wikimedia – Pub. Dom.
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REVELATION 14 AND FIRE & BRIMSTONE
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And so, how does all this affect our understanding of the torment spoken of in Revelation 14:10, 11?
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Listen again to that passage…“and he shall be tormented with FIRE AND BRIMSTONE in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”
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So here we now have a much greater understanding of just what is this “fire and brimstone”, which torments all those who worship this evil, selfish world, instead of Christ.
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It is God who causes this suffering! But how could that be? God is supposed to be tender and merciful. He wouldn’t even harm a fly, would He?
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Mark of the beast – pub. dom. – Wikipedia
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“THE LORD SHALL SMITE THEE”
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Well, listen to Deuteronomy…“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all His commandments…that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee… The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke…The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee…The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning…The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed…The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed…” Deuteronomy 28:15, 20-22, 24, 27
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Well, this is just a partial list of the various plagues God will bring upon all those who turn from God’s commandments to engage in wickedness and selfishness.
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And these must be understood spiritually, and not necessarily literally.
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And let’s face it! God allows Satan to carry out much of these plagues. And Satan is a very willing tormentor!
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Vincent van Gogh – Old Man in Sorrow (On the Threshold of Eternity) – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
Weeping Woman – Van Gogh – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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EVERYDAY TRIALS & TROUBLES
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Yes, there are many persons who experience various troubles in their lives: financial troubles, health issues, marital troubles, family problems, work-related troubles, as well as personal problems, and issues with personal sins.
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And many of these problems are the result of that person’s own wrong choices, while other troubles are brought on by Satan. And in spite of these causes, the Lord takes full responsibility for bringing on these troubles.
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Prayer – Anna Blunden – For Only One Short Hour – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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THE LORD SMITES TO SAVE
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Well, the very Good News is that God doesn’t cause all these troubles into a person’s life for nothing.
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Listen to Lamentations…“For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to 
the multitude of His mercies. For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men…Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.” Lamentations 3:31-34, 39-41
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So here is seen just why the Lord sends torment and sorrow into the earth, and even upon selected individuals. It is so that they might turn again, to worship the Lord!
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And then, after our afflictions, we can say…“Thou (God) in faithfulness hast afflicted me.” Psalm 119:75
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Girl Praying – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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TO READ PART 20, GO HERE…
(Eternal Torment? Part 20: “The Impossibility of Eternal Torment!”)
Buddhist Hell – Wikipedia – public domain
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Let me not be given to a close-minded spirit. But help me to love truth, no matter if it means I will be hated by my own brethren…
Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… Planet of Rest: Doctrine of Eternal Torment, or you can also read this shorter article…AUGUST 19 (Apocalypse Now! Part 6: Fire & Brimstone!)
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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ORION, THE GOOD SHEPHERD
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“The LORD is my shepherd;
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I shall not want (lack).
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He maketh me to lie
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down in green pastures:
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He leadeth me beside
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the still waters…
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I will fear no evil:
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for Thou art with me;
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Thy rod and thy staff
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they comfort me….”
Psalm 23:1, 2, 4
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ORION, THE GOOD SHEPHERD
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This star-chart from Wikipedia, has Orion sketched in by the editor of this website. With the addition of a single star, Theta Geminorum (the left hand of the Castor twin of Gemini), the sickle in Orion, the Reaper’s hand (sketch to left), now extends the blade, thus transforming that sickle into the hook of a shepherd’s rod and staff. And so now this little Gemini star becomes the tip of Orion’s Shepherd’s rod & staff. Thus with this additional star, Orion the Reaper Constellation now becomes the 5th personality of Orion: The Good Shepherd (sketch below right). Theta Geminorum is a class A3, 4th magnitude star, which means it is much fainter than either of the stars, Castor or Pollux. But faint as This little star may be, it nevertheless presents a giant concept, turning Orion’s sickle into a shepherd’s rod. And this is a very wonderful and beautiful Bible truth: namely, that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, as is written…
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“As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” Ezekiel 34:12
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And so God has placed this Starry Shepherd in the winter-night heavens to remind us of His great love for a planet which has wandered away: just like sheep that wandered to where the grass looked greener.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… Orion, The Good Shepherd
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
April 23 (Television and The Image That Speaks, Part 3: “The Iron Furnace of Foolish Television”)
Fiery Furnace by Gustave Dore’ courtesy of adelaide.edu.au