“suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7, NKJV)
We are currentlye exploring the so-called white throne judgement, as it is found in Rev. 20:11-15, and in the previous teaching learnt that – contrary to popular belief – there is not a general judgement for all people. Interestingly enough Scripture never speaks of just one (ital) judgement. There have been various judgments in the past, there are judgments today, and there will probably be judgments of God in the future. Also: judgements are not always negative. Yet it is undeniably true that Jehovah-Tsidkenu, the God of Righteousness, has this particular mandate and right, based on his characteristic nature of righteousness, to judge. We pointed out various judgments (that have been fulfilled/executed), starting at the beginning of man’s existence.
In the previous teaching the important Scripture in Jude 1:7 was highlighted, and it is of great importance that we look at this verse in greater detail. The context of the section in which verse 7 is found, is explicitly concerned with God’s judgment: “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Sodom and Gomorrah is perhaps the best historical example we can use to illustrate God’s wrath and the finality of his judgments. This piece of history history is often used believers seeking vengeance of God, in an attempt to smear His name with elements that do not correspond to His characteristic nature of loving and gracious, and this text from Jude 1:7 is almost always used to defend eternal torture in the depths of hell. We specifically use the history of Sodom and Gomorrah because 2 Pet. 2:6 explicitly singles it out as typology: “and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly”. Verse 7 of Jude 1 presents the outcome as “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire”. If one only looks at this verse, it does indeed seem as if there will be eternal suffering in the herafter. It is however absolutely necessary to point out how translators of the Bible have included dogma in their translation of this Biblical text. Because the root languages are dynamic, with an immensely large register, it is possible that through your specific choice of word you are able to swing the meaning of a portion of Scripture in accordance with your belief. It is thus now necessary that we spend some time examining this in linguistic terms, to get to the true meaning (devoid of dogma) of the core words of this important phrase.
The etymology or origin of the word that is here translated to suffering is quite insightful. At first glance the word suffering corresponds to the context of “eternal fire”, and would thus logically be the result of the godless being cast in the fire.
In our understanding today, the word suffering, according to Webster Dictionary, means the following: “The bearing of pain, inconvenience or loss; pain endured; distress, loss or injury incurred; as sufferings by pain or sorrow; sufferings by want or by wrongs.” Alas this is not the meaning the word had in the seventeenth century in England when the King James Version was translated. The Greek word that is used here is hupechō, which is only used once in the entire New Testament, and which, according to Strong, means: “to hold oneself under, that is, endure with patience: – suffer”, as certain Biblical translations (for instance DBY, HCSB, LEB and ESV) translate it as “undergoing”. If Judas wanted to describe torment, there are many Greek words he could rather have used (athleō, kakopatheō, kausoō, paschō /pathō/ penthō, tinō, among others), but he specifically uses this word. Clearly there is a change in meaning from the word suffer, which, in the original meaning actually means, according to Thayer, “metaphorically to sustain, undergo”.
Next – the word “vengeance” (dikē). Webster Dictionary defines it as “The infliction of pain on another …” This word has the following connotations in our time: “Infliction of punishment in return for a wrong committed; retribution.” (The Free Dictionary). According to the Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary it is synonomous with the word revenge, even with the word vindictive.
Thayer provides the following overview of the range of possible meanings of this word in Greek: “1) custom, usage 2) right, just 3) a suit at law 4) a judicial hearing, judicial decision, especially sentence of condemnation 5) execution of a sentence, punishment 5a) to suffer punishment 6) the goddess Justice, avenging justice”. Please take note that the word’s meaning is not necessarily negative, excluding the heathen concept of righteousness (from the “goddess Justice”). The latter brings vindictiveness into the definition! The Greek word “dike” that is used here, merely means judgment, and not vengeance!
It is as if some Biblical translators are bent on presenting God as a terrible God, who finds sadistic pleasure in tormenting us, without any grace or kindness. James 2:13 is in direct opposition to this perception: “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” And James beseeches anyone who does not preach kindness to others!
We wrote about the word eternal” (aion) extensively in the teaching of Day 735-736, and we decisively proved what Hasting notes in his Dictionary of the New Testament: “There is no word either in the O.T. Hebrew or the N.T. Greek to express the abstract idea of eternity.” The conclusion of that teaching was – in the Hebrew and the Greek the word eternal, when applied to everything that is not concerned with God, is, ironically enough, of a limited duration.
The word fire clearly refers to God’s characteristic nature as “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29), and not to hell fire. Please go back to the teaching of Day 740-742, and read it again.
The phrase “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” can thus easily and responsibly be more accurately translated as “enduring judgment in the presence of the living God for a particular time”.
- Selah: How trustworthy is the translation of your Bible?
- Read: 2 Kings 16-21.
- Memorise: 2 Kings 18:4 (what would this synchronicity mean in the light of this teaching?)
[Anjo-mari1]Fout in oorspronklike: daar staan SY in plaas van SOU.
