Because the book of Revelation uses such vivid, symbolic language, some of its passages have been misunderstood. For example, Revelation 14:11 says of the lost, “the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.” This certainly sounds like endless suffering. But, again, let’s let Scripture interpret Scripture.

The prophet Isaiah used the same language in speaking of God’s judgment against wicked Edom. He said, “Her land will become blazing pitch! It will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever” (Isaiah 34:9,10). The land of Edom is not still burning today. The fire went out a long time ago. God was using poetic language to emphasize the thoroughness, the utter destruction, involved in this judgment.

Exodus 21:6 in the KJV speaks of a servant’s having his ear drilled through as a sign that he was to serve his master “forever.” In this case “forever” would be as long as the servant’s life would last, so the NIV translates the word “forever” as “for life.” Jonah, who spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale (Matthew 12:40), reports that he was there “forever” (Jonah 2:6). No doubt three days in the slimy darkness did seem like forever.

So we must be careful to understand how and when Scripture uses symbolic, poetic language. The smoke ascending forever from the lake of fire is a vivid way of expressing eternal destruction. Revelation 21:8 tells us plainly that the lake which burns with fire and brimstone “is the second death.” Hell has an ending. The wicked are consumed; they die; they perish; they are destroyed.