Quote Originally Posted by CaryC View Post
I presented my side (against) with some help from Forty9er, by quoting some things about the lake of fire and that the Bible stated that it was forever, and ever. Ya know like forever. (Rev. 20)

Then dmatic (for) instead of responding with his opinion on the lake of fire and that it was for ever and ever, changed the subject. Or rather instead of dealing with the term for ever and ever, pointed at another word and said we should study it.
Thanks, Cary, for starting this thread. I have been busy so have not had time to respond. There are a couple of references in this thread referring to me not answering or trying to ignore something, so I will try to address that concern first, before responding to the topic of this thread. In past discussions with forty9er and others the terms "forever and ever" had been discussed. Have you investigated the meanings of aion, aionian, and aionios in the Greek? These words do not always mean what the English translators imply, though many assume they do. There are examples of God using the Hebrew equivalent, olam, translated as 'forever' by the English translators, when it is clear that that is not what God meant. "Forever" is a time, not defined in length, but not endless, though some still hold that it may mean endless. Aionios is an adjective that may define what is happening in that "age", or aion. We have terms that more closely fit what is being described, like the stone 'age', the dark 'ages', the industrial 'age', etc. which describe what is going on in that 'aion'.

Regarding the lake of fire and the one time it mentions, in Rev. 20, the term forever and ever it says in verse 10: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Then verse 14 and 15 say "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." One thing I'll ask you to note is that it doesn't include the term for ever and ever there.

So, what is this "lake of fire"? This 'second death'? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Depends. Is there resurrection from the second death? Or, does this second death reign supreme? What is the last enemy to be destroyed? It is death, according to Paul, I think in 1 Cor. 15. Does this include the second death, too? If not, why not?

The book of Daniel describes God in the midst of His fiery throne, from which flows a river of fire. Sometimes, a 'lake' is formed by receiving the flow of a river. Our God is a consuming fire. His will, will be done. What is the purpose of God forming a lake of fire?