• Table of Contents
  • What you must know to read and understand this book
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: The Purpose of this Book
  • Chapter 2: The Dead Sea Scrolls Textual Variant
  • Chapter 3: The Dead Sea Scrolls Variant Points to the Old Testament Sacrifices
  • Chapter 4: The Second Coming Fulfills the Old Testament Sacrifices
  • Chapter 5: The Wicked are a Sacrifice
  • Chapter 6: The Meaning of the Sacrifice Symbolism in Isaiah 34
  • Chapter 7: Additional Hard Stops for the Duration of Punishment
  • Chapter 8: The End of the Wicked is Ashes Outside the City, Not Endless Torment
  • Chapter 9: The Wicked of the Sea are No More
  • Chapter 10: More "αἰῶνας αἰώνων" Pointers to Ashes, Dead Souls, and Second Coming Judgment
  • Chapter 11: Hell is Made Holy and Poetic Justice is Served
  • Chapter 12: The Language of Action with Endless Results and Finite Duration
  • Chapter 13: Final Interpretation and Checking the Answer in the Back of the Book
  • Glossary
  • Bibliography

Hell is Made Holy

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

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Over 75 Free Online Bible Commentaries

By David Aaron Beaty

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

Chapter 4

The Second Coming Fulfills the Old Testament Sacrifices

To begin filling in the details of the synopsis I just provided at the end of the previous chapter, here are some good passages to help demonstrate that Isaiah 34 is in fact a description of the second coming of Christ and His ensuing casting of fire on the earth:

These passages above demonstrate that Isaiah 34 is the coming of the presence of Jesus/God, similar to how God comes in the tabernacle inauguration in Leviticus 9. In both the second coming description of Isaiah 34 and the tabernacle inauguration we have all six of the elements from the following list. Isaiah 34 and the tabernacle inauguration sharing these six elements demonstrates to us that these phrases in Isaiah 34, "its smoke goes up for generations", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/ eternally/for an age" can of course be the symbolism of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice which first started at the tabernacle inauguration, because Isaiah 34 is full of other elements from the tabernacle inauguration.

1. Similar introductory statements by God, with the same Hebrew word being used for "Come near", qarab, Strong's word H7126:

[Leviticus 9:7 NASB20] 7 Moses then said to Aaron, "Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, so that you may make atonement for yourself and for the people; then make the offering for the people, so that you may make atonement for them, just as the LORD has commanded."

[Isaiah 34:1 NASB20] 1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.

2. Fire comes from God/Jesus to consume the sacrifices at the second coming in Isaiah 34 and at the tabernacle inauguration in the Old Testament.

[Leviticus 9:23-24 NASB20] 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Then fire went out from the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell face downward.

3. The types of sacrificed animals in Isaiah 34 being used to represent the wicked are all the same in the tabernacle inauguration of the Old Testament. - Three of the types of animals named in Isaiah 34 (goat, ram, and bull) use the same Hebrew words, found in the types of sacrifices that were done in the tabernacle inauguration parallel accounts in Leviticus 8-9 and Numbers 7. The other two animal types used in Isaiah 34 (lamb and wild oxen) can also be shown to appear in the tabernacle inauguration, but the specific Hebrew words used in Isaiah 34 represent specific subsets of sheep and cattle. I assume that "cattle", as I am using the word, are what we typically call "cows" of any sex or age. The exact Hebrew word for lamb which is used in Isaiah 34 does not appear in the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, but with the use of various academic resources we can see that it is a word for "fat lamb", "lamb raised for slaughter", or "young ram for slaughter" (Tregelles, 1857 | Brown, 1906 | Koehler, 1994-2000 | Harris, 1980). (A young ram is a male lamb.) Lambs are sacrificed in the tabernacle inauguration accounts. Resources to consult in order to confirm the animal facts that I just related are Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon, Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, and Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for "wild oxen" in Isaiah 34 also does not appear in the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, but "wild oxen" are a subset of cattle. Cattle do appear in the tabernacle inauguration accounts. Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon defines the Isaiah 34 Hebrew word for "wild oxen" as "wild ox" (Brown, 1906). The Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament gives as one of its possible definitions, "wild bull" (Koehler, 1994-2000). "Ox" is just another word for a male cattle that has been castrated specifically to use for work, or can just be used as another word for any cattle.

4. God is delivering or has just delivered his people by the defeat of a massive army at both the second coming and the tabernacle inauguration. - The second coming by its very nature is the deliverance from the kingdom and evil of the antichrist, satan, and the mass of wicked people. At the tabernacle inauguration God has just delivered his people from the army of the Egyptians, and in Exodus 29 he mentions this deliverance directly in His stated intended symbolism for the entire sacrificial system. This is the same sacrificial system of the tabernacle which is inaugurated in Leviticus 9 and Numbers 7:

[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.

5. All the different types of animal sacrifices defined in the Pentateuch which are done at the inauguration of the tabernacle are represented by at least two elements in Isaiah 34. For every sacrifice type, the two elements appear in the specific instructions in the Pentateuch for that sacrifice type. Those various elements common to Isaiah 34 and the Pentateuch are: fat, blood, smoke going up for generations, kidneys, the correct animal (lamb, goat, ram, ox, bull), burning day and night. The sacrifice types performed at the tabernacle inauguration are: sin offering, burnt offering ("burnt offering" is synonymous with continual morning and evening regular sacrifice), and peace offering. This helps to demonstrate that Isaiah 34 as a whole is not just pointing to any specific single sacrifice type, but is pointing to all of the sacrifice types and generally to the tabernacle inauguration.

6. The smoke starts to go up from generation to generation and the fire starts to burn night and day in the tabernacle inauguration in Leviticus 9, just as it does in the symbolic sacrifice imagery at the second coming in Isaiah 34. - The burnt offering mentioned in the tabernacle inauguration in Leviticus 9 is the very first iteration of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice whose smoke goes up from generation to generation, and is burning night and day, just as it is seen in the second coming in Isaiah 34. This again helps demonstrate that Isaiah 34 is pointing to the entire sacrificial system as it is first inaugurated and operated at the tabernacle inauguration. We can be confident that the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice appears in Leviticus 9 in the tabernacle inauguration because of these specific verses below:

First in the tabernacle inauguration account we see that the burnt offering is "offered according to the ordinance"............

[Leviticus 9:16-17 WEB] 16 He presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to theordinance. 17 He presented the meal offering, and filled his hand from there, and burned it upon the altar, in addition to the burnt offering of the morning.

If we skip back a few chapters we see that this "ordinance" that is being referred to in Leviticus 9 above is the defining of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice. Also notice the fat of the peace offering below going onto the burnt offering to produce loads of smoke, which will go up from generation to generation, forever.........

[Leviticus 6:8-13 WEB] 8 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 9 "Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10 The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on his linen trousers upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11 He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the 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; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning. He shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. "its smoke goes up for generations", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age"

So can these phrases above from Isaiah 34 be symbolism from the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice which commenced at the tabernacle inauguration? Of course they can. One can easily see from the six element list that I've just presented above that Isaiah 34 is full of other elements from the tabernacle inauguration.

If we expand out our net a little bit and look at what similarities exist between the second coming as it is described all over the Bible and the tabernacle inauguration, we find even more similarities between the two. These of course can be used by association to further strengthen the connection between the second coming in Isaiah 34 and the tabernacle inauguration. Strengthening this connection can further help to convince us that of course, 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 the second coming description of Isaiah 34 are the symbolism of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice which started at the tabernacle inauguration because the second coming has numerous other similarities to the tabernacle inauguration. Could these phrases in the Isaiah 34 description of the second coming be the symbolism of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice from the tabernacle inauguration? Of course they could. Isaiah 34 is describing the second coming, and the second coming has numerous other similarities to the tabernacle inauguration. Take a look:

1. At the Tabernacle inauguration and at the second coming of Jesus, God's presence comes in the morning.

2. At the tabernacle inauguration and at the second coming, the priests kill the sacrifices and God/Jesus burns them with fire. - Christians become priests. Christians return as warrior saint priests with Jesus to fight in the battle of Armageddon. As in Isaiah 34, the wicked are a fiery sacrifice at the second coming. Ergo, the priests kill the sacrifices at the tabernacle inauguration and at the second coming.

3. At the tabernacle inauguration and at the second coming, the High Priest and the priests are covered in blood. - Jesus is the High Priest at the second coming. The saints are the priests at the second coming following Jesus into battle.

4. The priests are consecrated with blood and fitted with new priestly robes before the coming of the presence of God at the tabernacle inauguration and before the second coming. - Christians who are priests at the second coming, are the guests at the wedding feast of the marriage of the Lamb. The saint/priest/guests invited to the wedding feast are consecrated before the feast starts.

5. The High Priest/high priest wears the crown at the tabernacle inauguration and at the second coming. Aaron the high priest wears the crown at the tabernacle inauguration. Jesus the High Priest wears the crown at the second coming.

6. With some reasonable interpretation, in both the tabernacle inauguration and at the second coming, two individuals who are major promoters of false religion are burned to death in an isolated targeted judgement from God that is specific to them. In both the tabernacle inauguration and at the second coming they are burned with fire and are also deposited in a place outside the camp. - At the tabernacle inauguration these are Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. At the second coming these are the antichrist and the false prophet.

7. At the tabernacle inauguration and at the second coming God/Jesus descends to earth and takes up residence in His temple/tabernacle. - God's presence takes up residence in the tabernacle at the tabernacle inauguration. Jesus takes his place on the throne in Ezekiel's millennial temple at the second coming. Ezekiel 43:10-11,18; 40-48 - God gives numerous chapters full of the specific architectural details and instructions for observances and says to "observe its entire plan" and mentions "the day it is built", hinting that this temple is not symbolic only.

"its smoke goes up for generations", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age"

So could these phrases above from the Isaiah 34 description of the second coming of Jesus be the symbolism of the continual morning and evening regular sacrifice from the coming of God to the tabernacle inauguration? Of course they could. Isaiah 34 is describing the second coming, and the second coming throughout the Bible has numerous other similarities to the tabernacle inauguration and its abundant sacrifices, as you can see from the seven item list I've just shown.

The numerous parallels that I just showed above between the coming of God to the tabernacle inauguration and the events of the second coming of Jesus make it a lot more believable that the destruction of the wicked at the second coming is actually a parallel reflection of the sacrifices made and begun at the tabernacle inauguration. We might even say that the second coming is not only a parallel reflection of the tabernacle inauguration but an actual physical literal fulfillment of it. The tabernacle inauguration and the sacrificial system which was established along with it, as I have already described, are directly described by God in Exodus 29 as symbolic of God's moral cleansing of His human priests, His Deliverance of His people from the army and rule of Egypt, His togetherness with His people, and His being their God. These are all just the same literal physical characteristics of Jesus' second coming. Jesus literally returns with his newly consecrated and freshly white robed army of Christian priests, literally delivers his people from a wicked army, takes up literal physical residence among his people in the millennial temple, and becomes his people's literal ruling and crowned High Priest King/God in a more physical literal sense. With all these things being considered, we are being almost irresistibly pushed in the direction of understanding the tabernacle inauguration and its sacrificial system as being prophecy about end times events which has its literal physical fulfillment in the events of the book of Revelation. Aside from the numerous painfully obvious symbols of the sacrificial system which appear frequently throughout Revelation (incense altar, altar, lamp stand, sacrificial bowls, temple etc. etc.) there are several more not so obvious pointers in Revelation which indicate that the destruction of the wicked is a sacrifice. These additional pointers to the wicked being a sacrifice help us to gain even more confidence that John in Revelation is using the phrase, "The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever" to point to sacrifice symbolism being applied to the sacrifice of the wicked in Isaiah 34: "its smoke goes up for generations", "it burns night and day", "it will not be extinguished forever/eternally/for an age". Would John use the Revelation 14:11 phrase, "The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever" to point to a symbolic sacrificing of the wicked in Isaiah 34? Of course he would, he's obviously pointing to a symbolic sacrificing of the wicked in several other places in Revelation. Let's look at those now. We'll see that several of these additional pointers are written in a way that only the ancient audience of Revelation would recognize them. We will try to think like an ancient audience and see what we see.