The Neglected Kerygma of Christ (Lecture Six)

[Rebbe]

THE NEGLECTED KERYGMA OF CHRIST
a series of lecture essays on the biblical concept of a universal salvation in Christ

LECTURE SIX

Copyright © BRI/IMCF 2020 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by Les Aron Gosling, Messianic Lecturer (BRI/IMCF)

CAUTION: BRI/IMCF Yeshiva notes are not available to the general public. They are not for distribution. They are not for reproduction. The notes may also bear little or no resemblance to the actual audio or video recorded BRI/IMCF Yeshiva lecture.

There are many Christian people who have read my material, articles, lectures etc but who feel that “just believing in Jesus as our own personal Saviour is all that is truly needful for us who believe in the Gospel.” They usually add something like, “Is a universal salvation all that important in the Gospel message? After all, the church has always believed in the essentials of the Gospel in any case!”

Almost needless to say, I disagree in all counts of such an argument. I disagree strongly as a matter of fact.  I have listened to this swan song for the surrender of personal responsibility in evangelism for decades – actually, ever since I began the BRI way back in 1981. The bottom line in this argument is as I stated – surrender of responsibility. You see, this admission from folk with this opinion reveals much more than sheer laziness. It reveals a lack of authentic commitment to Christ and the FULL Gospel of God's Salvific GRACIOUS intention for humankind and the entirety of the universe. There are even some students (and others) who believe that comprehending the “FULL” Gospel includes an importance in speaking in tongues. If you do not have that gift then you obviously do not have the “full” Gospel! Hysterical.

Listen! After 2000 years of Christian church history with its rolling chronicles of endless debates, incorporation of illicit theological creeds and councils, ludicrous ex-Cathedra papal announcements, torturous barbaric inquisitions and persecutions, murders, pillages and rapes, decrees by mad archbishops and priests, and a lengthy line-up of nauseating criminal associations between church officials and mafia/banking/drug cartels – along with charges of disgusting paedophilic activity – and the birth of a veritable host of countless thousands of differing, bickering churches, denominations, sects and cults all each claiming to alone possess the “truth” one cannot but sorrowfully shake our collective heads in despair as we read a forlorn gasp from the Saviour's lips in Lk 18.8: “When the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth?” The implication can only be, “Nope! Overall, he won't!”

DID GOD CREATE IMMORTAL WORMS?
Only a few years ago when we moved to our current coastal residence on the east coast of NSW, we met a couple of religious women who had been praying for years to be introduced to a Jewish messianic Teacher. The duo had waited patiently for his appearance because they had a dynamic faith God would answer their prayer. When we came into contact with these women and invited them to attend our Yeshiva they were thrilled to do so as (in their view) God had finally answered their prayers! But as it turned out while they readily wanted the Teacher they came quickly to realise that they did not want the teaching that came with the Teacher. Specifically, one of the women wanted verification that an elderly grandfather who had sexually molested her when she was a child would be sentenced by God the Father to eternal damnation given over to the flames of a never-ending hellfire of torment in which worms would everlastingly feast upon him for what he did to her.

Now, of course, I sympathised with her over her sad past experiences which the grandfather perpetrated on such an innocent child. No little girl should ever experience such a horrible thing as this! I could also grasp why she could not find it in herself to forgive him. Yes, I understood this attitude completely. But I attempted to reason with her that God could and would eventually work within that man (in a future resurrection) to change his nature by the power of the holy Spirit bringing him into a deep and lasting repentance. I even stated to her that it might very well be the will of God for her to work with him during that resurrection period to enable him to change. Perhaps I went a little too far in my exchange with her over her tragic circumstances. Whatever the case, she stormed out never to return.

I find it astonishing that some people just don't get it! One of the reasons they fail to grasp the depth of the Gospel teachings is that they themselves have never really seen their own nature and the horrid depths of their own depravity and carnality for which Christ had to die painfully in order to not just “cover” their sins, transgressions, and iniquities but to eradicate them for good.

The Scriptures are explicit concerning the cross event. They tell us in no uncertain terms that Our Lord Yeshua underwent the full and complete punishment of sins for everyone who has ever lived. Christ died for us all.

“In due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5.6). “We thus judge that if one [the Messiah] died for all, then were all dead” (2 Corinthians 5.14). “But God commends this love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, the Messiah died for us” (Romans 5.8). “Mashiach also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh” (1 Peter 3.18). “We see Yeshua, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he by the Grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2.9).

Rejecting these sacred biblical texts the sincere but sadly deluded women to whom I have been referring preferred to believe in and to promulgate, in one form or another, that the Lake of Fire is the penalty, or judgmental consequence, of sins against a holy God. But if this is so, and Christ paid the penalty of our sins for us, then he must have gone to hell when he died.

Those who believe that an eternity of fiery torment awaits the unforgiven sinner, then for Mashiach to have paid that penalty fully and completely he would need to be still in hell burning in torment. And for those who wish to believe that being burned up in a fiery holocaust so that nothing at all remains (not even an illusive “consciousness”) as the penalty of sin – called in certain denominations “conditional immortality” and “annihilationism” –  then for Christ to have properly paid the penalty he would have had to have been burned up completely in hell.

What a heinous thought! It is utterly repugnant to the converted Christian mind. But we know this is not the case at all. Messiah Yeshua did suffer in a fiery hell in his own body on the tree in separation (admittedly a state of death) from God but in no way did he go to some place called Gehenna to a fiery pit of sulphur and brimstone to appropriately be our Substitute! The very idea is ridiculous. The Scriptures openly declare that the Messiah died for our sins. It does not imply in any way, shape or form that he suffered in a fiery inferno for our offenses.

Yet, believing they already know it all and that they possess certain incontrovertible denominational codifications of doctrine – concerning which they “feel” is the equivalent of possessing eternal life (just as did many of the Jewish religious leaders of the Second Temple period – Jn 5.39) – then anything outside of those particular notions which they hold to be sacrosanct could not be right and must therefore be demonic in origin. Specifically, some folk want a Gospel that ushers in a Tertullian “justice” that can only be satisfied with everlasting torture in the flames of an eternal hell wherein immortal worms will feast on the flesh of incorrigible sinners for all eternity.   

And isn't this condemnation precisely what Christ threatened concerning the end of the wicked?

Let's firstly leave aside the fact that the Gospel is the “(very) GOOD news” and NOT a threatening ultimatum. And then consider what Christ actually said about so-called “immortal worms.”

“45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mk 9.45-48 Please note that vvs. 44 and 46 which are identical with verse 48 are omitted by the best ancient authorities).

Does Yeshua mean it when he suggests that a believer – a disciple – ought to overcome lust of the eyes by digging out your offending eye? And if your foot walks after lust submit to an amputation? Some church fathers early in the history of the church went ahead and literally followed his advice! Particularly so when it came to castration. That frightful procedure, I can assure everyone of my students, never solved the problem of lust because lust is an integral part of the human condition – the inward self-satiating yetzer hara. But Christ was using rhetorical hyperbole which some of his pupils never did quite grasp. And in this context one must therefore be very cautious about the terms “worm” and “fire.” His hyperbole may have extended to include worms and fire. But, it can be argued, perhaps he intended worms and fire as to be taken literally. I say “perhaps.”

Certainly, a careful analysis of the text mentions Christ speaking not of worms in general but of “their worm.” We ALL have worms. When we die those same worms eventually consume our flesh unless the mortician has done an excellent job of preserving our body with formaldehyde. And so it is that the original Greek word for worm in this Markan text intends in all probability “maggot.”  

Now, Gehenna, or the valley of Hinnom, is located outside Jerusalem. General burnable garbage, refuse, animal carcasses, and also the corpses of criminals were cast there to be consumed by the fires that burned perpetually on the valley floor. We are informed by biblical authorities that if animal or vegetable matter ended up falling on one of the ledges below the rim, thus consequently escaping the fire, it would in any case succumb to be entirely devoured by maggots. And there is a scientific principle involved here in this passage about Ge-Hinnom (or Gehenna) as a trash dump involving maggots. Apart from maggots that multiply in our gut, maggots that feast on carcases in any garbage region (even today) are literally larval flies which turn into adult flies and these in turn deposit their eggs in the process of pupation which is repeated until nothing is left upon which the maggots can feed. Again, similarly, a fire that is not quenched simply burns itself out when all is consumed (See Liddell and Scott’s Greek Lexicon.)

Sodom was destroyed by unquenchable fire. But its not burning at the present day! It burned along with the cities of the plain until they were no more. Clearly the Jews who were listening to what Christ had to convey in that which is recorded in Mark 9 never entertained any thought of disembodied souls suffering in endless misery. They all were well aware of the conditions in the valley of Hinnom wherein corpses were enveloped by flames, and if not consumed by fires then they were devoured by worms or maggots, those ever-present agents of devastation and annihilation.

Without any doubt, Our Lord Yeshua, who knew his Bible, and which he himself – as the eternal Word – originally inspired to be written, was well aware of what Isaiah the prophet had penned centuries prior in Isaiah 66.24.

Bottom line: Yeshua knew quite well that God did not create immortal worms and certainly not immortal never-ending flames of fire! Nor will God manifest endless misery which goes right against His very Nature and character which Itself is entirely SALVIFIC.

FIRES IN THE BIBLE
We've all been exposed to that old Castrol advertising campaign involving Jewish Sol and his gangster associates... “oils ain't oils!” It was designed to promote an understanding that there was a huge difference between natural oil and “man-made” synthetic oils. Well, let me now announce that “fires ain't fires!” Not all fires in the biblical revelation are identical.

There is the fiery-spirit baptism of the Ruach HaKodesh and the consuming fire of Gehenna in John the Immerser's preaching (Mt 3.11). There are the tongues of fire that enveloped the 120 disciples including the Mother of the Saviour on Shavuot in 30 CE (Acts 2) and the fiery trials we all undergo in the Christian walk of faith (1 Pet 4.12). Let's not overlook the fire in the tongue in James 3.6 which sets on fire Gehenna. We will all experience a fire as we stand before the dais of Christ and our defects shall be consumed (1 Cor 3). Fire is a sign of holiness (Ex 3.2; Deut 4.11,12,15,33,36) and it is a refiner (Zech 13.9; Ps 66.10; Job 23.10; Mal 3.2,3; 1 Pet 1.7; 1 Cor 3.11-13). Fire is linked to repentance (Zeph 3.8,9; Rom 12.20; Prov 25.22).

But please take a thorough look at what Jude the brother of Yeshua had to say about the cities of the plain that were destroyed millennia ago. He took note of “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 [the “flesh” of aliens/angels], are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 7).

That “eternal” fire – that “unquenchable fire” –  lasted only as long as there was anything left to burn. Sodom and the “cities of the plain” burned up completely leaving only rubble. Those fires are decidedly NOT still smouldering today somewhere in the Middle East. Indeed, the prophet leaves us in no doubt however that the city of Sodom and “the cities of the plain” (her “daughters”) will be restored before “the end of days” comes upon us all. Take a peak at what Ezekiel stated for all who desire to read what he penned centuries ago.

“I will bring about their restoration and fortunes — the restoration of Sodom and her daughters, and the restoration of Samaria and her daughters, as well as your complete restoration [the modern State of Israel] in their midst” (Ezekiel 16.53).

I have been saying for decades that Sodom will be restored again to greatness – the coming adventurous “Las Vegas” of the Middle East – just ahead of us now. It's predictions of this sort that indicate how long we may still have left before Christ can even think of returning to govern the Earth. Certainly we are witnessing the annexation of the disputed territories of Samaria and Judaea back to Israel right now at this very unsettled period in world history – just as accurately prophesied by Ezekiel so long ago. Keep your eyes on archaeological excavations of the Dead Sea region for these ancient cities of the plain mentioned as being destroyed with fire by the angels of God in Genesis being rediscovered.

Let's get the entire thought of “eternal torment” and everlasting fires” and “immortal worms” into a proper perspective shall we?

MORE ON TORMENT
The Greek for “torment” is basanos. It comes from an Egyptian word for a touchstone for gold (lydia lithos, Bacchylides Fragment 14, [5th century B.C.E.]). This word did not always carry with it the idea of endless torment for torment's sake. Such a negative view oftentimes creeps into “biblical word studies” “concordances of the Bible,” “lexicons,” and “Greek manuals” – the latter occasionally penned by scholars who are not Greek and have never read or understood ancient Greek. Augustine was one of those religious deviates who self-inspired daily with his own “nebulous thought bubbles” and incessant “navel-gazing.”  Yet people often quote him to their heart's content. Rather, basanos originally signified a means of testing and then torture as a means of examination. It equally meant to oppress. And to be bothered, and to be sick. Indeed, that this is truly the case can be seen from a simple perusal of the use of basanos by the NT writers themselves.

Matthew Levi classifies basanos in the physical afflictions of the sick which, the record states plainly, Yeshua healed (Mt 4.24).

The centurion's servant from Capernaum was tormented by his sickness (Mt 8.6).

The demons were afraid that Yeshua would torment them (Mt 8.29; Mk 5.7; Lk 8.28).

Gaolers in Judaea are known to have tortured and abused prisoners in their charge (Mt 18.34).

The disciples on the sea were hard pressed [same word] by the wind and the waves (Mt 14.24; Mk 6.48).

The two witnesses who will make their presence known to the Beast during Israel's Great Travail will torment earth's worshipers of the Antichrist although we are not told exactly how they will do so (Rev 11.10).

Righteous Lot felt his soul tortured and oppressed by his observation of the dissolute negative activities of the inhabitants of the city of Sodom (2 Pet 2.8).

Miriam, the Mother of Yeshua, experienced normal labour pains as she gave birth to the Christ Child (Rev 12.2).

Earth's inhabitants who fail to have God's seal on their foreheads will be tormented five months when the fifth angel sounds his shofar (Rev 9.5).

Babylon is tormented in her ruination and decimation (Rev 18.7,10,15).

And, to top it off, the evangelist and physician Luke mentions the torments and afflictions experienced by the “rich man” in Mashiach's parable in Luke 16.23,28. Needless to say, the “rich man” was suffering in a temporary Sheol as the place of the shades, not hell. His sufferings which came from his own self-inflicted remorse were working in the rich man a character change in his self-obsessive nature.

It is only now at the very conclusion of this age that this knowledge has come to light to be utilised in such a way as to give appropriate honour, glory and praise to the Great Intelligence and Infinite Love that brought forth this wonderful game of salvation. And it is imperative that this good news is to be shared with those with whom the Lord has brought us into spiritual communion.

Listen! If eternal hell is a reality, then eternal love is eternally frustrated unless somehow eternal love sent the condemned to hell in the first place out of motives of love. But if this be the truth of the matter we are then condemned to the living hell of worshiping forever a God who has eternally calculated in detailed planning the grotesque mental torture of those whom he has eternally locked out of his divine consciousness. As some would venture to proffer, God has no plan for those who reject his Son. Therefore the Lord has condemned HIMSELF to a similar hell which would be, in the words of theologian John A.T. Robinson, “the final mockery of his nature” (In the End, God: A Study of the Christian Doctrine of the Last Things, 1950, 123).

Having now read this latest lecture scan all the attributes and expectations of God for His freewill human replicas, and realise that ALL these descriptors exemplify GOD'S OWN DIVINE NATURE AND CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES. For, God is full of humility as He predicts, serves us (and the rest of humanity at various levels), teaches and exhorts us. God also gives, guides, administers, shows mercy, is beneficent and compassionate especially in respect of the Firstfruits whom HeShe accepts and loves intimately as a Parent.

These characteristics specifically mentioned by Paul for Christians to adopt in 1 Cor 13 are the direct opposite of what people regard as constituting God's Divine Nature. We shall never accept, nor will we tolerate, any teaching about God which besmirches Divine GRACE. This includes any teaching of eternal torment.

In a following lecture we shall peruse the statements of actual eminent scholars of the Greek language who determine exactly and precisely what the words aion and aionian signify. This is combat material which ALL of our BRI/IMCF students need to memorise in order to challenge those who would approach the Gospel with so-called “evidence” that seems to substantiate the doctrines associated with everlasting misery and endless torment.

THIS CONCLUDES THE CURRENT LECTURE