id, saith the
Lord, whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem." Malachi
also says, "The day cometh that shall burn as a furnace, and all
that do wickedly shall be stubble, and shall be burned up root and
branch. They shall be trodden as ashes beneath the feet of the
righteous." The meaning of these passages, and of many other
similar ones, is, in every instance, some severe temporal
calamity, some dire example of Jehovah's retributions among the
nations of the earth. Their authors never dreamed of teaching that
there is a place of fire beyond the grave in which the wicked dead
shall be tormented, or that the natural creation is finally to be
devoured by flame. It is perfectly certain that not a single text
in the Old Testament was meant to teach any such doctrine as that.
The judgments shadowed forth in kindred metaphors by Christ are to
be understood in the light of this fact. Their meaning is, that
all unjust, cruel, false, impure men shall endure severe
punishments. This general thought is fearfully distinct; but every
thing beyond all details are left in utter obscurity.

In the august scene of the King in judgment, when the sentence has
been pronounced on those at the left hand, "Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels," it is written, "and they shall go away into everlasting
punishment." It is obvious to remark that the imagery of a fiery
prison built for Satan and the fallen angels, and into which the
bad shall be finally doomed, is poetical language, or language of
accommodation to the current notions of the time. These startling
Oriental figures are used to wrap and convey the assertion that
the wicked shall be severely punished according to their deserts.
No literal reference seems to be made either to the particular
time, to the

special place, or to the distinctive character, of the punishment;
but the mere fact is stated in a manner to fill the conscience
with awe and to stamp the practical lesson vividly on the memory.
But admitting the clauses apparently descriptive of the nature of
this retribution to be metaphorical, yet what shall we think of
its duration? Is it absolutely unending? There is nothing in the
record to enable a candid inquirer to answer that question
decisively. So far as the letter of Scripture is concerned, there
are no data to give an indubitable solution to the problem. It is
true the word "everlasting" is repeated; but, when