Question and Answer 18

Could you explain Rev. 14:11 in regard to everlasting torment of the wicked?

The passage reads, "And the smoke of their torment ascended up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receive the mark of his name." Some interpret this passage to say that the wicked burn in hellfire forever. First, notice that it is "smoke" of their torment, not the fires, that lasts forever. Smoke results from something burned. This indicates that they were consumed and all that remains is smoke. Jude 7 speaks of the "vengeance of eternal fire" that burned Sodom and Gomorrah. But these cities are not still burning. They are an everlasting reminder, however, of Yahweh’s wrath.