FEEDBACK: THE UNSAVED ARE “QUENCHED AS TOW”
10/14/10
We
appreciate feedback on the studies posted on this website. It helps us to see
if there is anything on this website that does not agree with the Bible.
Below IS A QUESTION ABOUT SOME VERSES THAT SEEM TO
TEACH ANNIHILATION.
This
is a dialogue with a question and our response and then a follow up question
and response
THE READER’S QUESTIONS are IN ITALICS. OUR
RESPONSE FOLLOWS.
Dear Sir,
I cannot relate tow to
a candle. Tow is not a candle wick. Tow
is the coarse and broken fibers of flax before spinning. The point that Isaiah 43:17 is making about
extinguish and quench is that as tow burns up very rapidly if caught on fire,
so shall they be that 'shall not rise.'
Tow qualifies quench and extinguish to be understood differently than
putting out the light of a candle.
Dear
Sir,
You
are talking about Isaiah 43:17 where we read:
Which
bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie
down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
There is a detailed study on this verse at this link:
DO ISAIAH 26:14 OR
ISAIAH 43:17 TEACH ANNIHILATION?
You
are referring to the phrase “quenched as
tow” and this phrase makes some people think that this verse is teaching
that the unsaved are annihilated.
We
know that God wrote the Bible and has given the rule to compare Scripture with Scripture
(1 Corinthians 2:13). God is the one who used the word translated "quenched"
in several other verses in which it talks about how a candle or lamp is put
out. These verses are listed below:
1 Samuel 3:3 And ere the lamp of God went out <03518> in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was,
and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
2 Chronicles
29:7 Also they have shut up the doors of
the porch, and put out <03518> the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt
offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
Proverbs 31:18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is
good: her candle goeth not out <03518> by night.
Each
of the above verses uses this same Hebrew word translated “quenched” in Isaiah
43:17 to refer to a candle or a lamp that is put out.
God
is telling us to look at a candle being put out to understand what God is
saying in Isaiah 43:17. When a candle is put out, the candle is not
annihilated. Rather, it's light is gone. This is what God is teaching with this
word in Isaiah 43:17, the light of the false gospels of the unsaved is gone,
not that the unsaved is annihilated.
Regarding
the word "tow", the unsaved are not literally "tow", just
like the true believers are not literally "wheat" that is gathered
into the barn. We must remember that Christ spoke in parables. The
"tow" is something that can not stand up to the fire, just like the
unsaved will not be able to stand up to the fires of the wrath of God.
Regarding
the lake of fire, God has given careful language in the Bible so that we know
that the lake of fire cannot be a literal fire that just burns up the unsaved.
There
is more information on that at this link:
COULD THE LAKE OF
FIRE BE A VOLCANO?
Regarding
"not rise" we think of moving upward. But, the Bible uses the idea of
rising to teach that the believers are already risen (Ephesians 2:6). We have
not be moved upward. Rather, our standing with God is restored: We are raised
up to God. So, this language "shall not rise" means, according to
Ephesians 2:6, that they unsaved in hell will never be saved: They will never
be raised up to be with God. We have to follow the rules to compare Scripture
with Scripture and that Christ spoke in parables.
FOLLOW UP QUESTION:
When we compare
scripture with scripture [spiritual things with spiritual things], don't we
also compare the word with the words of its context? Now if the word has a greater understanding
because of the way it is used in other parts of the Bible then it can redefine
the context. But to substitute a candle
quenched for tow quenched, to substitute candle for tow, I don't see how it can
be, because when tow is quenched because it is burned up so rapidly, there is
nothing left of it but ashes, whereas when a candle is quenched, the flame is
extinguished, but the candle still exists.
Of course, I know that the unsaved are not literally tow, but they are
burned up as tow is burned up. Therefore
Isaiah 43:17 is referring to annihilation, ashes. The word 'extinct' is also translated as
'consumed' in Job 6:17.
OUR RESPONSE:
We
compare Scripture with Scripture to learn how God defines words.
Regarding
H1846 that is translated "extinct" in Isaiah 43:17, God has used that
same Hebrew word in verses that talk about a candle being put out to define
what that word means. Here are some
verses with this same Hebrew word translated “extinct” in Isaiah 43:17:
Job 18:6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle,
and his candle shall be put out <01846> with him.
Job 21:17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out <01846>! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God
distributeth sorrows in his anger.
Proverbs 13:9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the
lamp of the wicked shall be put out <01846>.
Proverbs 20:20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his
lamp shall be put out <01846> in obscure darkness.
Proverbs 24:20 For there shall be no reward to the evil man;
the candle of the wicked shall be put out <01846>.
In
each of the above verses, this same Hebrew word is used to talk about how a
candle or lamp is put out.
This
Hebrew word does not mean "extinction" or annihilation, because the put
out candle is not annihilated. That is a poor translation. That candle just
does not give it's light anymore. That is what God is saying, the unsaved in
the lake of fire will not be giving the light of their wrong gospels anymore.
Understanding
the meaning of H1846 is a matter of listening to God to see how He defines a
given word. God defines that word to mean put out your light. H1846 is not
directly modifying the word "tow", so the "tow" does not
enter into the analysis of this word.
You
mentioned Job 6:17. Let’s look at Job 6:16-17:
16
Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is
hid:
17 What
time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out <01846> of their place.
Perhaps
when people see the translation “consumed out” they think of annihilation. But,
that is the reason we have to check how God uses words in the Bible to
understand what God means by those words.
In
Job 6:17 the ice turns to liquid and flows down the river. Was that ice
annihilated? no. It flowed down the river. In the same way, the unsaved will
flow into the lake of fire, but will not be annihilated.
The
translation “vanish” can give the wrong impression. This word is mostly
translated “cut off”. Here are two verses with this same Hebrew word:
In
Psalm 88:16 the Psalmist is complaining that God has “cut him off” in his
anger. We read there:
Thy fierce wrath
goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off <06789>.
The
Psalmist has not been annihilated. Rather, he has been “cut off” from the blessing
of God. The same Hebrew word is also used in Lamentations 3:53 in which
Jeremiah is talking about God’s wrath against Judah. Jeremiah also suffered. He
was “cut off” from God’s blessing in that sense. We read there:
They have cut off <06789> my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
Jeremiah was not annihilated, but rather “cut
off” from God’s goodness.
Job
6:17 is using parabolic language to describe the wrath of God upon the unsaved,
but a careful reading shows that Job 6:17 does not teach annihilation either.
Regarding
the burning of the unsaved in the fire or casting the unsaved into the fire,
the fire refers to the lake of fire. Those cast into the lake of fire are "tormented
day and night" according to Revelation 20:10. We read there:
And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and
night for ever and ever.
This
shows us that the lake of fire cannot be a literal fire. Those cast into a
literal lake of fire go unconscious in a few seconds or minutes. They are not
tormented day and night. Also, God never uses the word "torment" to
refer to the experience of being burned by a literal fire. It always refers to
conscious affliction, but never to being burned by a literal fire. For these
and other reasons, we can know that the lake of fire has nothing to do with a
literal fire. Rather, it points to God's wrath (Hebrews 12:29). So, the idea
that the unsaved are just "burned up" in a literal fire and thus
annihilated is not Biblical. There is more information on this at this like:
COULD THE LAKE OF
FIRE BE A VOLCANO?
Regarding
the word tow and the analogy of burning up tow, when tow is burned up does it
cease to exist? No, it is converted to smoke and ashes. All the elements still
exist, but they are now as smoke or ashes. You may not be able to see the
smoke, but it is there. You can tie that to unsaved, they are represented by
smoke (Revelation 14:11, 19:3). But, it is a smoke of torment, conscious
affliction.
So,
even that analogy points to the unsaved enduring conscious affliction in the
lake of fire. The unsaved are not literally smoke nor ashes, just like the true
believers are not literally "wheat" nor is Jesus literally a lamb.
Regarding
"ashes", God represents Job enduring conscious affliction as
"ashes" in Job 30:19. We read
there:
He hath cast
me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
Job
was not literally “ashes”, but was represented by ashes. Likewise, the unsaved
at Judgment Day are sometimes represented by “ashes”, but they will not be
literally ashes.
Going
back to the phrase “quenched as tow”, the word "quenched" is also
used to refer to a candle whose light is put out, but not annihilated (1 Samuel
3:3, 2 Chronicles 29:7, Proverbs 31:18). The unsaved will be "quenched as
tow" in the sense that they will have no strength at Judgment day. This
idea of no strength comes from Judges 15:14. We read there:
And when he
came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD
came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as
flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
In
Judges 15:14 God uses the same Hebrew word “tow” (translated "flax"
there) burnt with fire to represent something that has no strength. With the
help of Isaiah 43:17, the phrase “flax (or tow) that was burnt with fire”
represents the unsaved in the lake of fire (“burnt with fire”) that does not have any strength against the wrath
of God, yet that flax or tow that Samson broke still existed. The point of the word
"tow" is that it has no strength. It is not to teach annihilation.
We
have to remember that Christ spoke in parables. According to Psalm 1:3, the
true believers are "like a tree planted by the rivers of water". They
are like a tree in some ways, but in many ways they are not. People will read a
phrase like “quenched as tow” and say, “yes, the unsaved are not literally tow,
but they are quenched as tow”, and they believe that this is teaching
annihilation.
However,
let’s apply that reasoning to the true believer in Psalm 1:3. We read in that
verse about the true believer that he “shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water”. The word “like” is the same Hebrew word
translated “as” in Isaiah 43:17 and
other similar verses. Let’s apply the above reasoning used on Isaiah 43:17 to
Psalm 1:3. Psalm 1:3 is talking about a tree which is planted in the earth. The
true believer is not literally a tree, but he shall be as or like
a tree planted by the rivers of waters.
Is Psalm 1:3 teaching that the true believer shall be planted in the earth as
or like a tree? No. The true believer is not going to be planted in the
earth.
Likewise,
Isaiah 43:17 is not teaching that the unsaved will be burned up like tow is
burnt up in a literal fire. We have to
remember that Christ spoke in parables and to come to truth we have to compare
Scripture with Scripture as is shown above.
So,
a careful study of Isaiah 43:17, following the Biblical rules, shows that it
does not teach annihilation.