VERSION 2.0 
Revised 2022

PROVE ALL THINGS, HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD
1 Thessalonians 5:21​
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SECTION II(b) NOTES
Verses Which Clarify the Language of Revelation 20:14 and 21:8 - Fire, Brimstone, Lake of Fire

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Verses Which Clarify the Meaning of 'Second Death'
Revelation 2:10-11, Revelation 20:6, Luke 20:35-36

Passages  Listed For Comparative Purposes

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.  (Revelation 2:10-11)

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Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)

But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.  (Luke 20:35-36)

The 'second death' is first mentioned in Revelation 2:11. While the Book of Revelation is one of deep symbolism, there is nothing in this passage which would lead one to believe that 'second death' was merely a symbol for a much greater reality. In fact, most who read Revelation have no problem understanding most of what they are reading until they hit the deep symbolism beginning in Chapter 4. After that the reader often gets bogged down in images of beasts, dragons, human-faced locusts, etc. The point is simply this, if 'second death' is merely a symbol, or a label for a much greater reality, then why does the reader have to wait another eighteen chapters for the symbol to be explained? How are we to know within the quite straightforward language of Revelation Chapter Two that 'second death' doesn't mean literally SECOND DEATH? What reason would we have for believing otherwise?

Furthermore, when the phrase appears again in Revelation 20:6, it again appears in quite straightforward language with nothing indicating that it might be a symbol for something much greater. Now, look at Luke 20:35-36 shown in this section. The resurrection of the just means something very special; it means that those so resurrected cannot die again. Having been raised from the first death, these righteous who come forth are not subject to die a second time. However we know that not only will the righteous be raised, but all will be raised:

​"And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 25:15

It is however this one special class who will be raised as such that they cannot die a second time, and Revelation 20:6 carries this exact thought. Those raised in the first resurrection are not subject to a second death. We have no reason to believe that the language is a riddle. We have no reason but to take it for exactly what it says.

The 'second death' MEANS THE SECOND DEATH! He that overcomes WILL NOT BE RESURRECTED TO A DYING CONDITION OR BE SUBJECT TO DEATH A SECOND TIME.

Shortly after, in Revelation 20:14 we are met with a rather enigmatic phrase: ' And death and hell (gk. Hades - See Section IV) were cast into the lake of fire.'

The reader would have encountered this 'lake of fire' twice before this in Rev 19:20 and 20:10 where the Beast, False Prophet, and the Devil were cast into it. However, the phrase at Revelation 20:14 seems problematic: How do you cast death and Hades into a lake of fire? Death and Hades are not material things, personages, or humans. How do you cast these into a lake of fire? I have yet to have one believer in eternal torment who can answer the question in any kind of meaningful way. But the verse should not present a problem because the key to its interpretation is inserted immediately following:

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

The lake of fire is merely a symbol for a concept the Bible student would already be familiar with, the second death. It is a fitting symbol for ultimate destruction in that anything submerged in a lake of fire is ensured utter and complete destruction. Men are subject to die once. All men will get a resurrection based on Jesus' ransom sacrifice on our behalf. But those who die a second time go into the symbolic lake of fire from which no one will be recovered, because having spurned their Savior, there is no greater ransom that can be paid on their behalf. Death and Hades also going into this lake of fire indicates that they will cease to be eternally. As Paul wrote:

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1Cor 15:26

Therefore the lake of fire stands as a symbol of final, total, irrecoverable destruction. To mankind this means a second death. Nothing could be clearer.
For absolute proof that the 'lake of fire' is symbolic, please see the next two groups of verses.

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Verses Which Clarify the Language of Revelation 20:14
Revelation 1:20, Revelation 4:5, Revelation 5:8, Revelation16:13-14, Revelation 17:9, Revelation 17:12, Revelation 17:15, Revelation 19:8

Verses Listed For Comparative Purposes
The Lake of Fire (symbol) IS THE SECOND DEATH (reality)

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. (Revelation 1:20)


And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5)

Having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. (Revelation 5:8)

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Revelation 16:13-14)

 The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. (Revelation 17:9)

And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings.  (Revelation 17:12)

The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. (Revelation 17:15)

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Revelation 19:8)

How often are we told that we must let the Bible interpret its own symbols. The verses in this group show how the Book of Revelation does just that. Revelation 20:14 is a verse like those in this section, however in this one case only modern theology reverses this symbol making the symbol the reality and the reality into a symbol. This is done for one reason only: To hold onto the doctrine of eternal conscious torment which is nowhere taught in the Bible but must be maintained by whatever means possible. Imagine the absurdity of reversing the order of other symbols which are described in this way: The seven Spirits of God ARE seven lamps of fire The seven mountains ARE seven heads The ten kings ARE ten horns The people and multitudes ARE waters The righteousness of the saints IS fine linen And then try to maintain these things in the strictest most literal way possible. No one would accept any such interpretation as anything but foolishness. This is however exactly what is done at Revelation 20:14. We read that the lake of fire IS the second death. 'Second Death' is what explains the symbolical 'lake of fire'. How is this not clear to those who read these verses?

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Verses Which Clarify the Language of Revelation 21:8
Matthew 27:33, Mark 7:11, Mark 7:34, Mark 15:42, Colossians 1:24

Verses Listed For Comparative Purposes Only
The Lake of Fire,  that is to say, the Second Death

And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull.  (Matt 27:33)
The reader here might not realize what 'Golgotha' means, therefore the obscure is clarified by the translation, 'the place of the skull'.

If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. (Mark 7:11)
The reader would not know what 'Corban' is, therefore this is clarified by the second clause, 'a gift'.

And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. (Mark 7:34)
What is 'Ephphatha'? Once again 'ho estin' is use as the connective between the first obscure phase and the one that clarifies it, 'Be opened'.

And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, (Mark 15:42)
The reader might not know what the 'preparation' was, therefore, again, this is clarified in the second clause, the preparation is the day before the Sabbath.

Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is (that is to say) the church: (Colossians 1:24)

The latter half of Revelation 21:8 exists in the Bible for a reason: to keep men and women from reaching the wrong conclusion regarding a very important symbol. As we have seen in the previous group, Revelation explains its symbols in a very distinct way: symbol followed by interpretation or explanation. An interpretation which makes the 'lake of fire' literal while making 'the second death' figurative must reverse this logic. In this group, which clarifies Revelation 21:8, the construction is even stronger by using the Greek phrase ho estin, or in English 'that is ..' A study of the way this phrase is used in the New Testament makes it clear that popular notions about the lake of fire are simply incorrect. The Bible did not say, as we would expect if the doctrine of eternal torment was true,

'the lake of fire, which is called the second death.'

On the contrary it uses a construction whereby the first clause is ambiguous and is clarified by the second clause:

'that lake of fire, that is to say, the second death'. 

We are clearly to take the second clause in a literal, explanatory way, not the reverse. Please study the examples to the left to see for yourself how the New Testament uses this terminology. If we were indeed supposed to take this in the reverse order from what the construction demands, as we are told by popular theology, then we can once again be sure that words and phrases have no meaning and can be twisted to whatever means best suit us.

The 'Lake of Fire' IS 'The Second Death', not the reverse.
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Colossians 1:24 shown above  is the strongest of the group. Without the explanatory second clause the reader might not know how Paul's sufferings benefited Christ's LITERAL body. How could they? So, Paul used the second clause connected by 'which is' to clarify and explain the first. The church is not literally Christ's body. Indeed Jesus had a glorious spirit body upon His resurrection, but the Church is not literally His body. It is His body only in a figurative and symbolical sense.

'for his body's sake' (not literally, but figuratively, that is to say) 'the church'. Hence: body = figurative, symbolic
church = explanatory, reality In the same way: 'the lake of fire' (not literally but figuratively, that is to say) 'the second death'. Hence:

lake of fire=figurative, symbolic
second death=explanatory, reality

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