Table of Contents

Hell is Made Holy

How the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Book of Revelation show that the wicked and hell cease to exist

75 Free Online Commentaries

By David Aaron Beaty

Visit author’s web site at www.davidaaronbeaty.com

Chapter 3

The Dead Sea Scrolls Variant Points to the Old Testament Sacrifices

Where does this lead us in regard to Isaiah 34 and John’s pointing to it in Revelation with his use of the phrases like "The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night." in Revelation 14:11; 19:3; and 20:10? For the book of Revelation, John and the Holy Spirit's original ancient audience in the seven churches in Asia Minor would have been exposed to the Old Testament in primarily three different ways. One of those would have been the Aramaic Targums being read aloud by the priests or scribes in the Jewish synagogues. Another would have been the Greek Septuagint, as the Septuagint was the most commonly utilized Old Testament in the first century AD. Greek was the lingua franca of the eastern Mediterranean area. We see this in the fact that the New Testament authors quote the unique wording of the Septuagint far more than they do the Hebrew text. Lastly, some small portion of the ancient audience of Revelation would have been able to read or understand the spoken readings of the Hebrew Old Testament. It is often mentioned in scholarly writings that the Hebrew language was significantly confined to those involved in religious scholarship and religious leadership by the time of Jesus. If you add this basic knowledge of the composition of John's audience with the information I have shown so far about which ancient translations of the Bible showed phrases like "its smoke goes up forever", "it will not be extinguished night or day", "from generation to generation it will be desolate" and which ancient translations instead showed the phrases like "its smoke goes up for generations", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age" in Isaiah 34, you can easily see how John's ancient audience, working together as a group, would very likely have been able to have knowledge of both variant readings. Those variant readings of course being one which showed phrases like "its smoke goes up forever", "it will not be extinguished night or day", "from generation to generation it will be desolate", unlike the Dead Sea scrolls, and also a variant reading which instead showed phrases like "its smoke goes up for generations", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age" like the Dead Sea scrolls. Just to refresh your memory about which ancient translations could have had which variant readings, here's a summary list:

1. Some first century AD close ancestor of the Masoretic text (also known as the Proto-Masoretic text) - possibly either variant reading according to R.R. Ottley’s comment about the Masoretic text being able to be divided and read either way.

2. Septuagint - either variant reading if ancient readers tended to divide the rhythm of the thoughts and phrases both ways depending on the personal preference of the reader, just as modern scholars do.

3. Targum - variant reading with phrases like, "its smoke goes up forever", "it will not be extinguished night or day", "from generation to generation it will be desolate" - Since Targum Jonathan of Isaiah was likely circulating already in the 1st or early 2nd century AD, and it was likely a translation of the commonly circulated 1st century AD ancestor of the Masoretic text (also known as the Proto-Masoretic text), Targum Jonathan of Isaiah may give us additional evidence that the Proto-Masoretic text could be read to show the variant reading with phrases like "its smoke goes up forever", "it will not be extinguished night or day", "from generation to generation it will be desolate".

4. Dead Sea scrolls text - variant reading with phrases like "smoke goes up from generation to generation", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age" - Forced to read this way by the additional Hebrew Vav letters it contains.

So we can deduce from the list above and with the basic knowledge of John's audience that it was very likely that the content of Revelation 14:11; 19:3; and 20:10 would have led them straight to both variant readings of Isaiah 34. We can clearly see that John and his audience knew of the variant reading with phrases like, "its smoke goes up forever", "it will not be extinguished night or day", "from generation to generation it will be desolate" because John quotes from it in Revelation 14:11 and 19:3, "the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever" and "her smoke rises forever and ever". And then from the evidence I've just showed, we know it's highly likely that they were also reading the other variant with phrases like the Dead Sea scrolls, "its smoke goes up from generation to generation", "it burns night and day", and "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age" in the Septuagint and in the Proto-Masoretic text. What's the point of all this? The point is that a variant reading with phrases like this, "its smoke goes up from generation to generation", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age" is more like the content of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice because it has a total of three phrases which could all easily be understood to be describing the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. Conversely a variant reading with phrases like this, "its smoke goes up forever", "it will not be extinguished night or day", "from generation to generation it will be desolate" is significantly less like the content of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. It only has two phrases which could be describing the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. To make such an outrageous claim that Isaiah 34 is applying the symbolism of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice onto the judgment of the wicked at the second coming, the connection needs to be confident. Having three connecting phrases instead of just two significantly helps to make the case. Even a two phrase connection might give us some confidence, but three is much better when trying to support such a seemingly unbelievable application of symbolism.

So with the knowledge of both variant readings of Isaiah 34, John's ancient audience very likely would have been led straight to the Old Testament and the language of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice as you see in these next six passages which follow from Isaiah 34 and the Pentateuch. These phrases can very reasonably be interpreted to be a description of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice: "its smoke goes up from generation to generation", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age". Isaiah 34 below is from the Dead Sea Scrolls:

[Isaiah 34:2-10 DSSB, Dead Sea scrolls] 2 For the LORD is angry against all the nations and furious at all their host. He has doomed them and has determined that they be slaughtered. 3 Their slain and their corpses will be cast down, and their stench will rise up. The mountains will be soaked with their blood. 4 The valleys will be split, all the host of the heavens will fall, and the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll. All their host will wither, like a leaf withering off the vine or like withering off the fig tree. 5 Indeed my sword will be seen in the heavens. Watch, it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have doomed for judgment. 6 The Lord has a sword filled with blood, gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of rams kidney's . Indeed the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 The wild oxen will fall with them and the young bulls with the mighty steers. Their land will be drunk with blood and their soil saturated with fat. 8 Indeed the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 Its streams will be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulfur, and its land will become pitch. 10 It will burn night and day and will never (olam, "forever", Strong’s h5769, just as in three of the Pentateuch passages which follow) be extinguished (tikbe, "quenched" or "extinguished", Strong’s H3518, just as in Leviticus 6:8-18 which follows). Its smoke will go up from generation to generation; and it will lie waste forever and ever. No one will pass through it.

Take care to notice how in Numbers 28:1-8 and Exodus 29:38-46, which follow, the drink offering and grain offering (grain offering is also known as the "meal offering") are integrated into the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. This means that the language of the drink offering and grain offering are also the language of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. This recognition is of special benefit because when we get to Leviticus 6:8-18, far below, we can understand that the language of the description of the grain offering it contains is also the language of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. This is useful because the description of the grain offering has even more content which is seen too in Isaiah 34, strengthening the connection. The reader should also be aware when reading the following sacrifice description passages from the Pentateuch that the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice is frequently just referred to as the "burnt offering".

[Numbers 28:1-8 WEB] 1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, as a pleasant aroma to me, in their due season.’ 3 You shall tell them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to Yahweh: male lambs a year old without defect, two day by day, for a continual burnt offering. 4 You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb at evening, 5 with one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil. 6 It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 7 Its drink offering shall be the fourth part of a hin for each lamb. You shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh in the holy place. 8 The other lamb you shall offer at evening. As the meal offering of the morning, and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

[Exodus 29:38-46 WEB] 38 "Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. 39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening; 40 and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. 43 There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God.

[Leviticus 6:8-18 NASB20] 8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 9 "Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the law for the burnt offering: the burnt offering itself shall remain on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it. 10 'The priest is to put on his linen robe, and he shall put on linen undergarments next to his body; and he shall take up the fatty ashes to which the fire reduces the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar. 11 'Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments, and carry the fatty ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12 'The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out (tikbe, not be "quenched" or "extinguished", Strong’s H3518, just as in Isaiah 34:10), but the priest shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings on it. 13 'Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out (tikbe, "quenched" or "extinguished", Strong’s H3518, just as in Isaiah 34:10). 14 'Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall present it before the LORD in front of the altar. 15 'Then one of them shall lift up from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil and all the incense that is on the grain offering, and he shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, a soothing aroma, as its memorial offering to the LORD. 16 'And Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left of it. It shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. 17 'It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their share from My offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 18 'Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it; it is a permanent (olam, "forever", Strong’s H5769, just as in Isaiah 34:10) ordinance throughout your generations, from the offerings by fire to the LORD. Whoever touches them will become consecrated.'"

As you can see in Leviticus 6:12 above, the fat of the peace offerings was to be regularly added to the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. Animal fat, when burned, produces much more smoke than other parts of the animal's body, and even more smoke than the burning of wood. This means, in some sense, that the characteristics of the peace offering that I show in the next two passages which follow are also the characteristics of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. This in turn means that the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice is even more characterized by abundant smoke which goes up "forever", throughout the "generations", and comes from a fire that is "not to go out" or "be extinguished". Does that sound like Isaiah 34? Do you see any other language in Isaiah 34 far above that has the characteristics of the peace offering in the next two peace offering passages that I show below? There are a lot of fatty animals with big old kidneys in Isaiah 34 right?

[Leviticus 3:1, 3-6, 9-17 NASB20] 1 'Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he is going to offer from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the LORD. ... 3 'From the sacrifice of the peace offerings he shall then present an offering by fire to the LORD, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. 5 'Then Aaron's sons shall offer it up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD. 6 'But if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD is from the flock, he shall offer it, male or female, without defect. ... 9 'From the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall then bring as an offering by fire to the LORD, its fat, the entire fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, 10 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. 11 'Then the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire to the LORD. 12 'Now if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD, 13 and he shall lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 14 'From it he shall present his offering as an offering by fire to the LORD, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 15 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. 16 'The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma; all fat is the LORD'S. 17 'It is a permanent (olam, "forever", Strong’s H5769, just as in Isaiah 34:10) statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places: you shall not eat any fat or any blood.'"

[Leviticus 7:29-36 NASB20] 29 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30 'His own hands are to bring offerings by fire to the LORD. He shall bring the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the LORD. 31 'And the priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and to his sons. 32 'And you shall give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33 'The one among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat, the right thigh shall be his as his portion. 34 'For I have taken from the sons of Israel the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their allotted portion forever (olam, "forever", Strong’s H5769, just as in Isaiah 34:10) from the sons of Israel. 35 'This is the allotment to Aaron and the allotment to his sons from the offerings by fire to the LORD, on that day when he presented them to serve as priests to the LORD. 36 'These the LORD had commanded to be given them from the sons of Israel on the day that He anointed them. It is their allotted portion forever (olam, "forever", Strong’s H5769, just as in Isaiah 34:10) throughout their generations.'"

So with the full picture of all the Old Testament descriptions of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice and its closely associated peace offerings, drink offerings, and grain offerings it becomes obvious that Isaiah 34 is imposing the language of the Old Testament sacrificial system onto the fiery judgment described in Isaiah 34. Even many of the same Hebrew words are used right in the most directly related verse, Isaiah 34:10, as in the Old Testament descriptions of the peace offering and the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. See the Dead Sea scrolls version of Isaiah 34:9-10 again below. All six of the underlined boldened English words in the Isaiah 34 passage below have the same Hebrew word used in the five lengthy Pentateuch passages I just showed previously pertaining to the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice and its closely associated drink, grain, and peace offerings. For clarity, I am also showing English word equivalence conversions below for two of the six words which are translated with different English words in Isaiah versus the preceding Pentateuch passages I showed:

Never = forever = permanent = olam = םלוע = H5769 be extinguished = go out = tikbe = הבכ = H3518

[Isaiah 34:9-10 DSSB] 9 It streams will be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulfur, and its land will become pitch. 10 It will burn night and day and will never (olam, "forever", Strong’s H5769) be extinguished (tikbe, "quenched" or "extinguished", Strong’s H3518). Its smoke will go up from generation to generation, and it will lie waste forever and ever. No one will pass through it.

So you can see above that the fiery judgment in Isaiah 34 is covered in the language of the Old Testament continual morning and evening regular sacrifices and its closely associated drink, grain, and peace offerings. Even the same Hebrew words are shared. Could this mean something for Revelation 14:11 & 20:10 which are pointing to Isaiah 34?

Even if the Holy Spirit’s original ancient audience of Revelation only had the variant reading with phrases like, "its smoke goes up forever", "it will not be extinguished night or day", "from generation to generation it will be desolate" in Isaiah 34, the overall abundance of sacrifice symbolism throughout Isaiah 34 could very likely still have pointed them to the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice and its closely associated offerings in the Old Testament. As you have seen in all the passages I just showed you, the sacrifice symbolism in Isaiah 34 is strikingly similar to that of the Pentateuch. Additionally, it may be helpful to note that near the end of the first century, the mental image of the 24 hour, 7 Day a week column of smoke rising above the temple from the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice may still have been fresh in the minds of many of John's readers of Revelation. With this image fresh in their minds, what would they have thought when they followed John's pointing phrases from Revelation to Isaiah 34 and saw, "the smoke goes up forever" and "it is not extinguished day or night" along with the numerous other phrases and words describing sacrifices? We may not instantly draw that connection today from these phrases, but then we have never been first hand witnesses to a practically endless column of smoke rising over the temple. The first Christians in the 4th or 5th century AD who ultimately popularized the traditional view of hell, may also have been unable to picture the 24 hour a day, 7 day a week column of smoke over the temple that goes up forever and is not extinguished day or night. Even we moderns though can recognize the never ending column of smoke rising over the temple in the Dead Sea scrolls version of Isaiah 34. We can recognize the never ending smoke from generation to generation as very likely being the same as that of the Old Testament continual morning and evening regular sacrifice and the smokey fat burning peace offerings. With the little bit of extra help that is shown in a variant reading like the Dead Sea scrolls, "smoke will go up from generation to generation", "it burns day and night", it will "never be extinguished" we can easily see a mental image of the endlessly rising smoke column of the Old Testament sacrificial system. Can you picture it?

It will probably be helpful for me to pause at this point to give a higher level summary of where I'm going with all this and roughly how we will get there. In the very simplest terms, the smoke of the destruction of the wicked that goes up forever and ever in Revelation is very likely John and the Holy Spirit saying that the meaning of the endless smoke of the defeat and judgment of the wicked in Revelation is equal to the meaning of the virtually endless smoke of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice established in the Old Testament. There in the Old Testament, in Exodus 29:38-46, we see a description of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice along with its meaning also being explicitly stated. The explicitly stated meaning is that God has delivered his people from the bondage of an evil army and an evil empire (Egypt), God has come down to earth to dwell with his people (in the tabernacle), God is their God, they are his servants. These are all just the same elements of the coming of God to dwell with his people which is described throughout the book of Revelation. This symmetry helps to convince us that it is in fact the endless smoke of the Old Testament sacrificial system that John is pointing to. Primarily, John equates the endless smoke and its meaning in Revelation to the endless smoke and its meaning in the Old Testament with the use of a quoted phrase in Revelation, "the smoke goes up forever and ever". This quoted phrase leads us to a passage where the phrase is quoted from. The passage is Isaiah 34, and it very likely symbolically describes the defeated wicked as being the endlessly smoking continual morning and evening regular sacrifices. Isaiah 34 is a description of the second coming of Jesus. There in Isaiah 34, we see that the symbolic endless smoke of the defeat of the wicked literally stops, just as the endless smoke of the Old Testament sacrificial system also literally stopped. This clues us in that it is the meaning and the results of the non-literal symbolic endless smoke which will literally go on without end, "forever and ever". In other words, the endless smoke is a symbol at the second coming in Isaiah 34, just as it was a symbol in the Old Testament. Only the results are endless. The meaning is endless. God's deliverance of His people and His togetherness with them described in Revelation will have no end. All those who are evil are defeated, their smoke goes up forever and ever, and God is forever with His people dwelling among them.

As I have already shown you, the wording of Isaiah 34 in the Dead Sea scrolls is slightly different from what we see in our modern Bibles. These slight differences make it a little more clear that the wording and content of the Old Testament continual morning and evening regular sacrifice is being used to describe the defeated wicked at Jesus' second coming in Isaiah 34. We will also see that there are numerous very obvious and very intentional language and content similarities between the tabernacle inauguration in the Old Testament and the second coming of Jesus. So could the symbolic endless smoke of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifices that started at the coming of God to the tabernacle inauguration in some way be the same as the symbolic endless smoke that starts at the second coming of Jesus in Isaiah 34 and in Revelation? Of course it could be because the tabernacle inauguration and the second coming of Jesus have numerous other obvious similarities. We will explore these similarities in depth.

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