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Study 13: The Lake of Fire and the Second Death

Revelation 20:14; 21:8; 2:11; 20:6

A Note on How to Study

Throughout this series, we distinguish between what the Bible explicitly says and what people infer from the Bible. These are not the same thing.

  • Explicit: You can point to a verse and quote it. The text directly says this.
  • Inference: Someone claims the Bible teaches something, but no single verse says it. They have drawn a conclusion -- possibly a good one, possibly not -- but the conclusion itself is not in the text.

This distinction is especially important in this study. The phrase "lake of fire" evokes vivid images -- but what does the text itself say about it? And what does the text's own explanation -- "the second death" -- actually mean?

Section A: The Lake of Fire -- What the Text Says

  1. Read Revelation 20:14. The verse states: "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." What does the text say the lake of fire IS?

  2. Read Revelation 21:8. Eight categories of wicked people "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." When the text describes what happens to human beings in the lake, what term does it use -- "torment" or "the second death"?

  3. The phrase "lake of fire" (limne tou puros) appears five times in the Bible -- all in Revelation (19:20; 20:10; 20:14; 20:15; 21:8). It appears nowhere else in Scripture. What does this tell you about treating the "lake of fire" as a concept found throughout the Bible?

Section B: Who Enters the Lake?

  1. Read Revelation 19:20. Who is cast into the lake of fire first? Are these human beings or symbolic entities?

  2. Read Revelation 19:21. What happens to the human "remnant" in this passage? Does the text use the same vocabulary for the humans as for the beast and false prophet?

  3. Read Revelation 20:10. Who is tormented "day and night for ever and ever" in the lake? Is this statement applied to human beings or to the devil, beast, and false prophet?

  4. Read Revelation 20:15. "Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Does this verse add any statement about torment for these human subjects?

  5. Read Revelation 20:9. What does the fire from heaven do to the human armies? The word is "devoured" (katephagen). What does "devoured" mean?

Section C: What Does "Second Death" Mean?

  1. The word "death" (thanatos) appears three times in Revelation 20:14 alone: "death (thanatos) and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death (thanatos)." When the text identifies what the lake of fire does, does it use death vocabulary or torment vocabulary?

  2. Read Romans 6:23. "The wages of sin is death" (thanatos). This is the same Greek word used in "second death." According to Paul, what is the penalty for sin?

  3. The adjective "second" (deuteros) implies a first. Read Revelation 2:10-11. Verse 10 says "be thou faithful unto death" -- that is, physical death (the first death). Verse 11 promises overcomers will "not be hurt of the second death." How does the text distinguish between the first death and the second death?

  4. If the "second death" meant eternal conscious torment rather than death, why would the text call it "death" at all? What does the word "death" normally mean?

Section D: Death and Hades Cast into the Lake

  1. Read Revelation 20:13-14. Death and hades "delivered up the dead" and then were "cast into the lake of fire." What happens to death itself?

  2. Read Revelation 21:4. "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." This appears immediately after the lake of fire passages. What is the result of death being cast into the lake?

  3. Read 1 Corinthians 15:26. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." Read Isaiah 25:8. "He will swallow up death in victory." What do these passages say happens to death?

  4. Read 2 Timothy 1:10. Christ "hath abolished death." The Greek word is katargeo (G2673) -- the same word used in 1 Corinthians 15:26. What does this vocabulary tell you about the fate of death?

Section E: Overcomers and the Second Death

  1. Read Revelation 2:11. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." The verb adikeo (G91) means "to wrong, injure, or harm." What kind of language is this -- torment language or harm/injury language?

  2. Read Revelation 20:6. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power." The word "power" is exousia (G1849), meaning authority or jurisdiction. What does it mean that the second death has no authority over first-resurrection participants?

  3. Read Matthew 25:41. The everlasting fire was "prepared for the devil and his angels." According to this verse, who was the fire originally prepared for -- human beings or non-human entities?

Explicit or Inference?

For each statement below, decide: Does the Bible explicitly say this (you can point to a verse), or is it an inference (a conclusion someone draws that no verse directly states)?

A. "The lake of fire IS the second death" (Rev 20:14). - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

B. "The second death means eternal conscious torment." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

C. "The torment formula ('tormented day and night for ever and ever') is applied to the devil, beast, and false prophet -- not to human beings" (Rev 20:10). - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

D. "There shall be no more death" (Rev 21:4). - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

E. "The second death means separation from God." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

F. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23), and "death" is the same Greek word used in "second death." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this