• 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 9

The Wicked of the Sea are No More

Let's not quit there though. Nobody likes a quitter. For the skeptics who remain unfazed by the pile of pointing references that I've shown in Revelation leading to statements that sound a lot like total annihilation of the wicked body and soul, let's dig deeper to uncover just a few more. In the biblical way of speaking, water, or the sea, or the ocean are very frequently used symbolically to represent the aggressive and violent mass of the wicked who come against God and His people. See for reference:

Psalm 107:23-30; Isaiah 17:12-13; Isaiah 57:20-21;

Jeremiah 51:13, 34, 36, 41-42, 55; Ezekiel 26:3; Psalm 65:5-7;

Jude 1:12-13; Psalm 144:7-8; Psalm 77:15-16; Psalm 124:2-5;

Habakkuk 3:1-15

The symbolism of the wicked being the violent sea or the waters is utilized extensively in Revelation. When we get to the description of the eternal state in Revelation 20-22 we see a description of the wicked, including satan, being thrown into the lake of fire, the second death in Revelation 20:13-15. Then directly smack dab right after that in the very first verse of Revelation 21 we see an odd little statement that "there is no longer any sea", hinting to us that maybe the "sea" is the wicked who have just been thrown into the lake of fire and because of that, "are no more". This seems like an odd and somewhat unbelievable thing that God would literally just terminate all the beauty and creativity that he has created in the ocean. What would it be like to live in a world without it? If you thought these thoughts, then you would probably be right. What we will sea is that the "second death" and numerous other pointers in Revelation intentionally direct us right to Jeremiah 51 where the "sea" is eliminated. Of course the "sea" in Jeremiah 51 is just as it is frequently throughout the Bible. It is a symbolic representation of the violent wicked who oppose God and his people. I've already established that the "second death" in Revelation may point to the "second death" in Targum Jonathan of Jeremiah 51 and by association also to the Hebrew Masoretic version of Jeremiah 51. I also showed extensively how the destruction of Babylon in Revelation 17-19 and in Jeremiah 51 share all these themes: "come out of her" my people, she will sink like a "stone", she is associated with "many waters", "rejoice" or have "joy" over her destruction, details of her destruction are written in a "book" or a "scroll", and the nations have drunk of her "wine". So the connections between the destruction of Babylon in both Revelation 17-19 and Jeremiah 51 are undeniable. Further, we can sea that the wicked people, the "sea" or "waters" which are Babylon, is attacked by the wicked people, the "sea" or "waters" that are not Babylon, in both Revelation 17-19 and Jeremiah 51. The wicked turn on the wicked. The "sea" turns against its own people, the "sea", and destroys Babylon, the "sea". Sea the verse comparisons between Jeremiah 51 and Revelation which follow:

Babylon in Jeremiah is attacked by the wicked people the "sea" or "waters"..................

[Jeremiah 51:1-2, 11, 14, 27-28, 41-43, 46, 48, 54-56, 63-64 NASB20] 1 This is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am going to stir up The spirit of a destroyer against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai. 2 "I will send foreigners to Babylon so that they may winnow her And devastate her land; For they will be opposed to her on every side On the day of her disaster. ... 11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His plan is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple. ... 14 The LORD of armies has sworn by Himself: "I will certainly fill you with a population like locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you." ... 27 Lift up a signal flag in the land, Blow a trumpet among the nations! Consecrate the nations against her, Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; Appoint an officer against her, Bring up the horses like bristly locusts. 28 Consecrate the nations against her, The kings of the Medes, Their governors and all their officials, And every land under their control. ... 41 "How Sheshak has been captured, And the praise of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations! 42 "The sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed by its roaring waves. 43 "Her cities have become an object of horror, A dry land and a desert, A land in which no one lives And through which no one of mankind passes. ... 46 "Now, so that your heart does not grow faint, And you are not afraid at the report that will be heard in the land-- For the report will come in one year, And after that another report in another year, And violence will be in the land With ruler against ruler-- ... 48 "Then heaven and earth and everything that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, Because the destroyers will come to her from the north," Declares the LORD. ... 54 The sound of an outcry from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! 55 For the LORD is going to destroy Babylon, And He will make her loud noise vanish from her. And their waves will roar like many waters; The clamor of their voices sounds forth. 56 For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her warriors will be captured, Their bows shattered; For the LORD is a God of retribution, He will fully repay. ... 63 "And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and say, 'Just so shall Babylon sink down and not rise again, because of the disaster that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become exhausted.'" To this point are the words of Jeremiah.

Notice the apparent contradiction in verses 42-43 and 63-64 above in which Babylon is destroyed by the sea, the roaring waves, and sinks down in the water of the Euphrates. In spite of this, in verse 43, Babylon is very likely still literally turned into a dry desert. This apparent contradiction makes it obvious that the water and sea are not literal, but typical Old Testament symbolic representations of the mass of the wicked coming against Babylon.

Babylon in Revelation is attacked by the wicked people, the "sea" or "waters", and is destroyed by them................

In Jeremiah 51, Babylon is the "sea" or "waters" and is destroyed. Her sea is "dried up" just as in Revelation 21:1, "there is no longer any sea"...........................

[Jeremiah 51:13, 34-37, 41-43 NASB20] 13 You who live by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end. ... 34 "Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, He has set me down like an empty vessel; He has swallowed me like a monster, He has filled his stomach with my delicacies; He has washed me away. 35 "May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon," The inhabitant of Zion will say; And, "May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say. 36 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am going to plead your case And take vengeance for you; And I will dry up her sea And make her fountain dry. 37 "Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants....41 "How Sheshak has been captured, And the praise of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations! 42 "The sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed by its roaring waves. 43 "Her cities have become an object of horror, A dry land and a desert, A land in which no one lives And through which no one of mankind passes.

Notice again in Jeremiah 51 above how there is a seemingly contradictory contrast between the literal language of dry desert desolation and the wet symbolic language of the "sea". This gives us even more confidence that the "sea" is symbolic. From all this we can sea that John and the Holy Spirit very likely just could not resist stuffing one more reference into the description of the eternal state pointing to what could be a total non-existence of the wicked with no bodies or souls. "There is no longer any sea." The Greek word for "sea" used by John in Revelation 21:1 in his statement, "There is no longer any sea.", is the same Greek word used in the Septuagint in the verses below in Jeremiah 51:

[Jeremiah 51:35-36, 41-42 LES2] 35 "My hardships and my miseries have thrust me out into Babylon!" she who dwells in Zion will say. And "My blood be upon the Chaldeans dwelling there!" Jerusalem will say. 36 Therefore thus says the Lord: "Look! I will judge your adversary, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will, and I will dry up her spring. ... 41 How the boast of the whole earth was taken and hunted! How Babylon has become a ruin among the nations! 42 The sea has come up against Babylon with the sound of its waves and she has been covered over.

And then what do you suppose this Nahum passage below is talking about? Probably not just some coastal restoration project huh?............................

[Nahum 1:2-5 NASB20] 2 A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In the gale and the storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, The blossoms of Lebanon wither. 5 Mountains quake because of Him, And the hills come apart; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, The world and all the inhabitants in it.

Once again, keep in mind that this pointing reference, "There is no longer any sea.", in Revelation 21:1, pointing to the sea being "dried up" or "desolated" in Jeremiah 51, directly follows what is likely the "sea" being eliminated and thrown into the lake of fire right before it at the tail end of Revelation 20. With all this, the inference is clear. So we have yet another pointing reference in the Revelation 20-22 description of the perfected eternal state which urges us to conclude that being "outside" the "city" in Revelation 22:14-15 is a condition of being excluded and being a heap of ashes, but not being in an ongoing state of conscious existence. "There is no longer any sea", the sea is not there living an immortal endless life hanging out being consciously tormented outside of the city for all future time. After all, we know that immortality and endless consciousness is not granted to the wicked. Only God's people will receive it:

[2 Timothy 1:8-10 NASB20] 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.