Heaven
In speaking of heaven, we must be very careful to adhere strictly to what the Bible teaches. There is much the Bible does not tell us, and so it is easy to indulge in unprofitable speculation and go astray from what we know.
One reason for the lack of information about heaven is that heaven is so wonderful it cannot be adequately described in earthly terms. We sense this when we read some of the Bible’s descriptions of heaven: no night (Rev. 21:25), no sun or moon (Rev. 21:23), no sea (Rev. 21:1), no marriage (Matt. 22:30), no temple (Rev. 21:22). Heaven belongs to things which “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man” to understand (I Cor. 2:9).
For this same reason much of what the Bible does tell us about heaven is given in symbols and figures. They teach us that heaven will be wonderful indeed, but they do not tell us exactly what heaven will be like. The description of the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21 is a good example. If we conclude from that description that heaven is literally a city fifteen hundred miles long, wide and high, with streets of gold, gates made of huge pearls and foundations of precious stones, we are mistaken. Revelation 21 itself tells us that that city is “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (9-10), that is, the glorified church (cf. Eph. 5:22-32; Rev. 19:7-9).
This does not mean, however, that there is anything we need to know about heaven lacking in Scripture. The Bible tells us everything necessary, though it does not satisfy our curiosity.
Some of the things the Bible does say are most comforting to us here in this world. There will be no more tears, pain or death there (Rev. 21:4). We will have rest (Rev. 14:13), joy (Ps. 16:11) and perfect freedom (Rom. 8:21). We will be like Christ (I John 3:2). Even our bodies will be changed into the likeness of the body of Christ (Phil. 3:21). Sin, temptation and wicked men will be banished forever (Rev. 21:27). We will be in the company of the saints and angels (Heb. 12:22-23).
Yet even these things do not describe the real glory and blessedness of heaven. The true glory and blessedness of heaven are simply that God and Christ will be there. “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Rev. 21:3). That is what heaven is all about.
So many passages speak of this (Job 19:26-27; Ps. 16:11; 17:15; I Cor. 13:12; Phil. 1:23) that it is impossible to miss. Nor may we miss it. If we do not desire heaven because God is there, and because Christ is there, then we do not desire it at all. In hoping for heaven, then, our prayer should be that of Philip: “Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us” (John 14:8). Rev. Ron Hanko
Corporate and Personal Responsibility (3)
“In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge” (Jer. 31:29-30).
“I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Ex. 20:5).
A reader of the News submitted a question concerning the harmony between these two passages. How is it possible for Scripture to teach, on the one hand, that each person is punished for his own sin and, on the other hand, that the iniquity of the fathers is visited upon the children?
This is an important question because it teaches a truth that lies close to the heart of the Reformed faith.
We ought first to consider carefully the precise meaning of the second commandment’s warning that children will be punished for the sins of their fathers.
Although this truth applies directly to family life, to parents and children, Scripture clearly teaches that the same principle applies more broadly to other relationships and spheres of life.
Scripture provides several striking examples.
One such example is found in Joshua 7, a chapter well worth reading. God had given Israel a great victory over Jericho by causing the walls of the city to fall. The next target was Ai, a small city. Only a small part of Israel’s army went out to fight against it, yet Israel was soundly defeated and thirty-six soldiers were killed. Consternation swept through the camp because the Lord had promised to fight for His people.
The cause of this defeat was Achan who, unknown to anyone, had taken a garment, silver and a wedge of gold from Jericho in direct violation of the Lord’s strict command to take nothing for oneself.
The key point is that the whole nation was punished for Achan’s sin, even though the people did not know what he had done. Scripture emphasizes this strongly: “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing” (1). God says to Joshua, “Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant … They have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen …” (11). “They”> were accursed (12). The “people” were even required to sanctify themselves (13).
Although Israel was unaware of Achan’s sin, the nation was held responsible. As a result, the defeat at Ai left thirty-six widows and many orphans.
The same principle appears elsewhere. When David sinned by numbering the people, the nation suffered grievously when the angel of the Lord struck down seventy thousand men. David sinned and Israel suffered (II Samuel 24).
While in captivity Daniel prayed a remarkable prayer of confession. Though personally innocent of the sins that led Judah into exile, he confessed, “We have sinned … Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets … [Righteousness] belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces … We have rebelled against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God…” (Daniel 9:5-7, 10).
How can this be? Why does Daniel confess the sins of the nation and even the sins of his fathers long dead?
Ultimately this principle reflects the sin of the entire human race. Adam’s sin is the sin of all mankind. As Romans 5:12–14 teaches, the guilt of Adam’s sin is the guilt of all men. “All sinned” because Adam sinned. Adam’s sin was the sin of every man. We could be condemned for Adam’s sin alone, even if we had never committed a single personal sin, something which is of course impossible. Our total depravity, which renders us incapable of doing any good, is itself the punishment of God upon us and upon all men for Adam’s sin.
This principle runs through all of life. It applies to races, as seen in Noah’s prophecy concerning Shem, Ham and Japheth (cf. Gen. 9:24-27). It applies to nations, as seen in Daniel’s prayers in which he assumes responsibility for the sins of his people. It applies to families, for God visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children.
This is a reality of life with which we must reckon. It is God’s way of working. If we do not like it, that does not change it. God works this way in all the affairs of men and nations. Prof. Herman Hanko
Are the Wicked Annihilated in Hell?
The following question arises out of an article in a previous issue of the News: “With reference to your article on ‘Hell’ (CRN II:25), when Jesus speaks of God being able to ‘destroy both body and soul in hell’, does not that give the impression that the soul will be annihilated, because we usually mean by ‘destroy’ that the object destroyed comes to an end?”
The reference is to Matthew 10:28 but there are many other passages that speak of the ungodly being “destroyed” in both the Old and New Testaments. This question is easily answered by comparing Scripture with Scripture.
The use of the word “destroy>” in Scripture is often the basis for teaching annihilationism and denying eternal punishment. The teaching of “conditional immortality” is especially popular among evangelicals today, namely that after a period of punishment in hell the wicked are annihilated.
A study of the word destroy soon shows that it does not teach annihilationism at all. The Greek word is the one from which the name “Apollyon” comes (Rev. 9:11). It is used in the New Testament in various forms over 100 times but only about half the time is it translated “destroy” or “destruction.”
Some of the other translations are instructive. For example the word is more often translated “lost” than “destroyed” (cf. Matt. 10:6; 15:24; 18:11; Luke 15:4, 6, 24, 32, etc.). The related Hebrew word from which the name “Abaddon” comes (Rev. 9:11) is much the same. It too often means nothing more than “lost” (Ps. 119:176; Jer. 50:6).
In most of these cases the word cannot even mean “annihilated.”
The word is also translated “perish” in the sense of “die.” But neither does this support annihilationism since death in Scripture is not incompatible with continued existence. In fact the continued existence of the unbelieving here on earth is already a kind of death (John 5:24).
In Jude 11 the word is also translated “perish.” Jude refers to those who “perished” with Korah. Comparing Scripture with Numbers 16:33, where the story of Korah’s perishing is told, shows clearly that annihilationism is not biblical. Numbers 16:33 tells us that Korah and the others “went down alive into the pit” and “perished from among the congregation.”
The word “destroy” therefore does not contradict the idea of eternal punishment. If anything it supports it. And since Scripture clearly teaches the doctrine of eternal punishment elsewhere (Rev. 14:11), those passages that refer to the “destruction” of the wicked cannot mean something else.
If we think that the eternal torment of the wicked in hell does not match their “crimes”, committed only during one short lifetime, we must remember that it is not the duration of the crime that determines the duration and severity of the punishment but the nature of the evil they have done: every sin is committed against the most high majesty of GOD. That makes every sin ever committed worthy of eternal torment in hell.
The command to repent or perish must be taken seriously. We may not comfort ourselves or others with the foolish idea that perishing only means annihilation. To continue unbelieving and impenitent is to face the prospect of being forever the objects of God’s fierce wrath against sin. Rev. Ron Hanko
