That word Forever

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A lie by Satan about the word forever as used in the bible has caused countless people to hate and turn away from God for centuries. The idea that a merciful God will burn lost souls forever is too much for them to imagine and they hate God for it.

It all stems from a huge, purposeful misinterpretation by uninspired men. In the bible the word forever has different meanings depending on context.

Meaning 1. A time without end, eternity.
Meaning 2. When something is destroyed, it is gone forever.

Here is where the confusion begins. The word forever as used in the Lake of Fire or Hell simply means the lost in hell will burn until they are consumed thus, they will be gone forever. Never to exist again. Not to burn continuously forever.

Example: You set a sheet of paper on fire. It will burn until it’s all consumed and that particular sheet of paper will never exist again, it’s gone forever.

Example: The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were burned with eternal fire, yet they are not burning today, they are gone forever.

A different forever, meaning 1. The redeemed of God, will live forever, a time without end, eternity.

From the Pen of Inspiration, Ellen White.

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From the book The Great Controversy.

The return of Jesus, what it will be like.

Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man’s hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a “Man of Sorrows,” to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead. “Faithful and True,” “in righteousness He judges and makes war.” And “the armies in heaven” (Revelation 19:11, 14) follow Him. With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. The firmament seems filled with radiant forms—“ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” Revelation 5:11. No human pen can portray the scene; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. His brightness was like the light.” Habakkuk 3:3, 4. As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow. His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:16. . . .

The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The heavens are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before Him, and every mountain and island is moved out of its place. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people.” Psalm 50:3, 4.

“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’ ” Revelation 6:15-17.