Daily Devotional, Year 3 – July 18 (Eternal Torment? Part 28: “What & Where is Outer Darkness?”)
By admin On February 16th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 3 – July 18
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Eternal Torment?
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Part 28:
“What & Where is Outer Darkness?”
To read Part 1, click here… “September 8th (Eternal Torment?)”
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“For if God spared not the angels that sinned,
but cast them down to Hell (Greek = “Tartaroo”),
and delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved unto judgment…”
2nd Peter 2:4
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Just what are “chains of darkness”?
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Because it says in this above passage, that the angels that sinned were cast into Hell, and “delivered into chains of darkness”.
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And by the way, those chains of darkness are only for those angels that sinned!
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That has nothing to do with us, does it?
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Paradise Lost – G Dore – wikipedia – public-domain
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WHERE IS HELL?
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First of all, let’s see just where this Hell is, spoken of in our signature passage…“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:9
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So here we see that Hell (Tartarus in Greek), is actually this present, fallen world! More precisely, it is the chains of spiritual darkness which holds fast in bondage, the Devil and his fallen angels in their utter wickedness and hate!
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Unfortunately, the King James translators were already so indoctrinated into the idea of Hell being a conscious state of everlasting torment, that they used Hell as a sort of catch-all name for the various Hebrew and Greek names, Sheol, Hades, Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom).
Gustave Dore – Paradise Lost illustration – Lucifer becomes Satan – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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HELL FOR FALLEN ANGELS…AND US TOO!
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And so, Hell is not just for Satan and his fellow fallen angels.
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No, Hell is also for us!
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So let’s take a few moments to explore some Bible passages which will enlighten our hearts to understand this truth.
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Hell’s Torment and Tormentor – Wikipedia – public domain (2)
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PSALM 107
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Listen to Psalm 107, as it speaks of darkness and bands (shackles) of 
iron…“Such (rebellious persons) as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron…Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness…” Psalm 107:10, 13-15
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Well, there are many other similar Bible passages which speak of darkness and chains, as a place in which God afflicts the unsaved.
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Pilgrim’s Progress 15 p. 45 – There Sat A Man In An Iron Cage – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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GOD’S CHASTISEMENTS NOT ETERNAL!
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But the point is, Bible students just cannot assume this is speaking of Eternal Torment. No, but rather, it is speaking of God’s chastisements upon His wayward people.
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Now listen to this next passage…“There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.” Luke 13:28
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David’s sorrow – Wikigallery – Public Domain
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OUTER DARKNESS HERE ON EARTH!
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Most people read this above passage and assume it’s speaking of the future judgment on the last day.
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But it is really speaking of God’s Old Testament people who were cast into spiritual darkness after they rejected Jesus.
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And while in their spiritual darkness and blindness, they know deep down that they no longer have a connection with the Lord.
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And they look around and see the vast Christian community in all the four corners of the world, seemingly enjoying the Bible that once belonged to them, and cannot understand why they have no love for that Book of books!
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Brooklyn Museum – What Our Lord Saw from the Cross – James Tissot
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KINGDOM OF GOD WITHIN THE BELIEVER’S HEART
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In that sense, this statement by Jesus is fulfilled…“There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.” Luke 13:28
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And so, they weep before “the wailing wall” (in their hearts) that their love for that once-revered Book has been all but dried up!
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Nevertheless, in their rebellion against Heaven, deep in their hearts, they still gnash on their teeth in anger, against the “great impostor Messiah”, Jesus Christ, whom they have totally rejected!
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Four Jews weeping at the Wailing Wall – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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“FOR OUR ADMONITION” TOO!
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But Jesus wasn’t only directing this statement to Old Testament persons. No, this above passage is also for you and I, as well! If we also continually lust for the vain pleasures and proud, ambitious pursuits of this world, we too might just find ourselves cast out into outer darkness!
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Listen to David’s plea to God…“Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation” Psalm 51:11, 12
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David realized that God could very well cast him out into spiritual darkness, merely by removing from David, the light of the Holy Spirit!
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ABOVE PICTURE: Unfunny Judgment Day Cartoon – a party tonight – signsofheaven.org
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JESUS SPEAKS OF SPIRITUAL DARKNESS
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Now listen to Jesus speaking of spiritual darkness…“Then Jesus said unto them (His professed followers), Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.” John 12:35.
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Here is yet another passage which repeats this same truth: that God sometimes casts His rebels into chains of spiritual darkness, to be punished…right here on earth!
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And He does this to drive out the love of this world from our hearts!
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GOOD NEWS!
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Well, the Good News is that if you or I are convicted in heart to these truths, then it probably indicates that the light of Heaven is yet shining in our hearts.
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And it is still the day of Salvation in which we can cry out to God for heart renewal and restoration from our world-loving ways!
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We still can begin our upward sojourn out of this hellish world below!
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Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain
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DAVID BROUGHT OUT OF MIRY PIT
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And we can plead along with David… “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a Rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” Psalm 40:1-3
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Yes, Hell is the grave! Make no mistake about that! But it is so much more! And the lowest pit in Hell is the spiritual darkness of this unbelieving world!
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And this is the Hell that we are called to depart out of!
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TO READ PART 29, GO HERE…
August 1 (Eternal Torment? Part 29: “What & Where is Hell?”)
Welcome To Hell – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
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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…
The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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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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“It (God’s Covenant) shall be established…
for ever as the Moon…
and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.”
Psalm 89:37.
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GOSPEL INSCRIBED ON THE MOON
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The Bible states… “It (God’s Covenant) shall be established for ever as the Moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven (sky). Selah.” Psalm 89:37
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God’s Covenant (The Gospel) has been inscribed in the sky. In the night sky, predominantly. It has been established “as the Moon, and as a faithful witness…”.
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There will be, “signs in the Sun… moon, and…stars” (Luke 21:25) just before the end, was a promise made by God.
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But we didn’t know exactly what those signs would be (although many thought they knew).
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Nor did we realize that these signs would be pointing us to present Bible truths!
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Lunar Eclipse – by Jiyang Chen & Wikipedia share-alike license. Click for link.
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“THE SCORNER (THE PHARISEE)”
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Listen to the following revelation concerning the evil which exists within the hearts of men…“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, AN EVIL EYE, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7:18-23
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Please tilt your head to the left. Do you see a man with a very long pointed nose. 
(Obviously, the sketch to the right is just an exaggeration in order to help you find the face in the photo to the left.)
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Do you see an angry look? His right eye-brow is raised as if he is judging.
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This second face in the Moon appears to be that of a combination of a man as well as a fox. Or maybe a wolf. Doesn’t he have a long narrow nose like a wolf or fox? Maybe even a dog. Nevertheless, the expression on his face, as he appears to look down upon the Earth, is that of scorn. Unlike the first Moon-man’s sad shock and awe; this ‘man/fox/wolf/dog’ appears to be that of anger and scorn. As if he is disgusted at the sinful planet below.
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He is very moral, you see!
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Moon Into Blood Trilogy: 2nd Face: The Evil-Eyed Pharisee Scorner“
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TOMORROW…
July 19 (Come Out of Her, My People! Part 47: “How The Grinch Invented Christmas! CONTINUED”)
Santa’s Portrait by T. Nast 1881wikimedia public domain
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH 
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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS STUDY #197 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain
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