You are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

dreamdigital ago

I've been looking for a post to put all this info about Hellfire and Demons into. This seems like the place.

While I do not believe in hell, or hellfire, because Jesus did not teach it as a real thing, I do believe they are in contact with real demons. Especially since they claim to worship Molech (Moloch). There is nothing lower, or more Satanic than the sexual abuse and murder of children.

Even if you are not a Christian, you cannot refute the biblical evidence from the Bible. Look at it as a history book. If more preachers and ministers did that, there would be a lot less people trying to refute it altogether. Instead they coat the bible in mystery and paint God himself as a mystery when in fact he is not, as you will see.

Regarding Hellfire (The research is extensive and backed by the bible, not religious tradition. Tradition is not something the Jesus taught.)

SOME who believe the doctrine of hellfire point to Jesus’ words recorded at Mark 9:48 (or verses 44, 46). He mentioned worms (or maggots) that do not die and fire that is not quenched. If someone asked you about those words, how would you respond?

Depending on the Bible version being used, the person might read verse 44, 46, or 48 because these verses read similarly in some versions.* The New World Translation reads: “If your eye makes you stumble, throw it away; it is finer for you to enter one-eyed into the kingdom of God than with two eyes to be pitched into Gehenna, where their maggot does not die and the fire is not put out.”—Mark 9:47, 48.

In any case, some claim that Jesus’ statement supports the view that after death the souls of the wicked suffer forever. For instance, a comment in the Spanish Sagrada Biblia of the University of Navarre says: “Our Lord uses [these words] to refer to the torments of hell. Often ‘the worm that does not die’ is explained as the eternal remorse felt by those in hell; and the ‘fire which is not quenched,’ as their physical pain.”

However, compare Jesus’ words with the final verse of Isaiah’s prophecy.* Is it not apparent that Jesus was alluding to the text in Isaiah chapter 66? The prophet there apparently refers to going out “of Jerusalem to the surrounding Hinnom Valley (Gehenna), where human sacrifice was once practiced (Jer 7:31) and which eventually became the city’s refuse heap.” (The Jerome Biblical Commentary) The symbolism at Isaiah 66:24 clearly is not that of people being tortured; it speaks of carcasses. What it refers to as not dying is worms—not live humans or immortal souls. What, then, is the import of Jesus’ words?

Note the comment on Mark 9:48 in the Catholic work El evangelio de Marcos. Análisis lingüístico y comentario exegético, Volume II: “[The] phrase is taken from Isaiah (66,24). There the prophet shows the two ways corpses were usually destroyed: putrefaction and incineration . . . The juxtaposition in the text of maggots and fire reinforces the idea of destruction. . . . Both destructive forces are described as permanent (‘is not quenched, does not die’): there is simply no way to escape them. In this image, the only survivors are the maggot and the fire—not man—and they both annihilate anything that falls within their power. Hence, this is not a description of everlasting torment, but one of total destruction which, as it prevents resurrection from occurring, is tantamount to final death. [Fire] is, then, a symbol of annihilation.”

Anyone who knows that the true God is loving and just should be able to see how reasonable it is to understand Jesus’ words in that way. He was not saying that the wicked will experience everlasting torment. Rather, they are at risk of total destruction that prevents resurrection from occurring.

[Footnotes]

The most reliable Bible manuscripts do not include verses 44 and 46. Scholars acknowledge that those two verses were likely later additions. Professor Archibald T. Robertson writes: “The oldest and best manuscripts do not give these two verses. They came in from the Western and Syrian (Byzantine) classes. They are a mere repetition of verse 48. Hence we [omit] the numbering 44 and 46 in our verses which are not genuine.”

“They will actually go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that were transgressing against me; for the very worms upon them will not die and their fire itself will not be extinguished, and they must become something repulsive to all flesh.”—Isa. 66:24.

dreamdigital ago

Because there are many God's in the world, Molech being one of them, when I talk about the creator, I use his name. After all, your television could be your God.

If there are any doubts regarding this research, everything is backed up by the biblical versus they come from.

(Job 38:7) We need to know where the angels came from. Colossians 1:16 tells us that after Jehovah created Jesus, “all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth.” That includes the angels. How many of them were created? The Bible says that there are hundreds of millions of angels.—Psalm 103:20; Revelation 5:11.

The Bible also teaches us that Jehovah created the angels before he created the earth. How did they feel when they saw the earth? The book of Job tells us that they were joyful. They were a close family serving Jehovah together.—Job 38:4-7.

Angels have always been interested in humans and in Jehovah’s purpose for the earth and humans. (Proverbs 8:30, 31; 1 Peter 1:11, 12) It must have made them very sad when Adam and Eve rebelled. They must be even sadder now to see that most humans have disobeyed Jehovah. But when someone repents and returns to God, the angels are joyful. (Luke 15:10) The angels are very interested in those who serve God. Jehovah uses angels to help and protect his servants on earth. (Hebrews 1:7, 14) Let us look at some examples of this.

Jehovah sent two angels to help Lot and his family escape the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19:15, 16) Hundreds of years later, the prophet Daniel was thrown into a lions’ pit, but he was not harmed, because “God sent his angel and shut the mouth of the lions.” (Daniel 6:22) Later, when the apostle Peter was in prison, Jehovah sent an angel to set him free. (Acts 12:6-11) Angels also helped Jesus when he was on earth. For example, after he was baptized, “angels were ministering to him.” (Mark 1:13) Just before Jesus was executed, an angel “strengthened him.”—Luke 22:43.

Today, angels no longer appear to humans. But God still uses angels to help his servants. The Bible says: “The angel of Jehovah camps all around those fearing Him, and he rescues them.” (Psalm 34:7) Why do we need protection? Because we have powerful enemies who want to harm us. Who are they? Where do they come from? How are they trying to harm us? To answer those questions, let’s see what happened shortly after Adam and Eve were created.

OUR INVISIBLE ENEMIES

We learned in Chapter 3 that an angel rebelled against God and wanted to rule over others. The Bible calls him Satan the Devil. (Revelation 12:9) Satan also wanted others to rebel against God. He was able to trick Eve, and since then he has tricked most humans. However, some, such as Abel, Enoch, and Noah, remained faithful to Jehovah.—Hebrews 11:4, 5, 7.

In Noah’s time, some angels rebelled and left their home in heaven to live as humans on earth. Why? The Bible tells us that they wanted to have wives. (Read Genesis 6:2.) But it was wrong for angels to do that. (Jude 6) Like those wicked angels, most humans at that time became corrupt and violent. Jehovah then decided to destroy wicked humans by flooding the whole earth. But he saved his faithful servants. (Genesis 7:17, 23) To survive, the wicked angels returned to heaven. The Bible calls those wicked angels demons. They chose to join Satan’s rebellion, and the Devil became their ruler.—Matthew 9:34.

Because they were rebels, Jehovah did not accept the demons back into his family. (2 Peter 2:4) Demons cannot change into humans anymore, but they are still “misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9; 1 John 5:19) Let us learn how they are able to trick, or mislead, so many.—Read 2 Corinthians 2:11.

dreamdigital ago

The Bible tells us how to resist the demons and how to break free from them. For example, some in the city of Ephesus were communicating with the demons before they learned the truth. How did they break free? The Bible says: “Quite a number of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them up before everybody.” (Acts 19:19) Because they wanted to be Christians, they destroyed all their books about magic. Similar action is necessary today. Everyone who wants to serve Jehovah needs to get rid of things that have anything to do with the demons. This includes books, magazines, horoscopes, movies, music, games, and even posters that make magic, demons, or the supernatural seem harmless or exciting. It also includes things that people wear to protect themselves from evil.—1 Corinthians 10:21.

Some years after those in Ephesus destroyed their books about magic, the apostle Paul wrote that they still had to “struggle” and fight “against the wicked spirit forces.” (Ephesians 6:12) Yes, even though they had already burned their books, the demons were still trying to harm them. So, what else did they need to do? Paul told them: “Take up the large shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish [or, stop] all the wicked one’s burning arrows.” (Ephesians 6:16) Just as a shield protects a soldier in battle, our faith can protect us. If we have absolute confidence that Jehovah can protect us, we will be able to resist Satan and the demons.—Matthew 17:20.

How can we make our faith in Jehovah stronger? We need to read the Bible every day and learn to rely on him to protect us. If we have strong confidence in Jehovah, Satan and the demons will not be able to harm us.—1 John 5:5.

What else did the Christians in Ephesus need to do? They lived in a city full of demonism. So Paul told them: “Carry on prayer on every occasion.” (Ephesians 6:18) They needed to ask Jehovah for his protection at all times. What about us? We also live in a world that is full of demonism. So we too need to ask Jehovah for his protection, and we need to use his name when we pray. (Read Proverbs 18:10.) If we keep on asking Jehovah to deliver us from Satan, Jehovah will answer our prayers.—Psalm 145:19; Matthew 6:13.

If we get rid of everything in our life that has to do with demonism and rely on Jehovah to protect us, we can resist Satan and the demons. We do not need to be afraid of them. (Read James 4:7, 8.) Jehovah is far more powerful than the demons. He punished them in Noah’s day, and in the future he will destroy them. (Jude 6) Remember, we are not alone in our fight. Jehovah is using his angels to protect us. (2 Kings 6:15-17) We can be confident that with Jehovah’s help, we can win our fight against Satan and the demons.—1 Peter 5:6, 7; 2 Peter 2:9.