Francis Chan’s new book, Erasing Hell, will be on the shelves from July 5 countering Rob Bell’s recent work, Love Wins. Bell acknowledges hell’s existence on earth but finds it difficult to believe that it is forever and that God can punish non-Christians for all eternity. Chan, on the other hand, says while most people wouldn’t want to believe in the reality of hell, the Bible clearly speaks about it.
Randy Alcorn, director of the Eternal Perspective Ministries, reviewing Chan’s book on his blog Wednesday said: “You can almost feel him (Chan) trembling over the issues at stake. He recognizes this debate is about God, His nature and His authority. I sensed both humility and prophetic power in this book,” .Chan honestly admits that when it comes to Matthew 25:46 – “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” – “Everything in me wants to interpret it differently, to make it say something that fits my own view of justice and morality,”. Alcorn, said too many Christians had chosen to believe “whatever makes them feel good,” ignoring, denying, or reinterpreting Scripture to suit culture’s current definition of love and tolerance. “Hence, culture and the reader of Scripture become the authority, rather than Scripture itself. Faith becomes merely a collection of fleeting opinions, always subject to revision.”
In an interview with Relevant Magazine, Francis Chan said he was surprised to discover that the passages on hell were written to believers. “Usually we only talk about hell in this evangelistic, ‘I’m going to preach the gospel’ and ‘Hell, fire and brimstone’ to these unbelievers, but these passages really were written to those who called themselves the church. It’s a very sobering thought, and a very interesting warning,” he was quoted as saying (http://www.christianpost.com/news/francis-chans-coming-book-on-hell-gets-reviewed-51561/).
In the previous parables Jesus illustrated the nature of the kingdom, the power and influence of the kingdom, and the personal appropriation of the kingdom. Now He focuses again (v. 42) on the judgment connected with the kingdom. The parable of the net (Matthew 13:47-50) found only in Matthew is a frightening warning about what happens to the wicked when they are separated from the righteous in the last days. Here Jesus gives 1) A vivid picture of judgment (Matthew 13:47–48), 2) A brief explanation of the principle of judgment (Matthew 13:49), and 3) A sobering warning about the peril of judgment (Matthew 13:50) .
1) The Picture of Judgment (Matthew 13:47–48)
Matthew 13:47-48 [47]"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. [48]When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. (ESV)
The seventh parable in this great parable chapter of the Bible is the fifth parable similitude in the chapter. This parable, like the previous two, begins with “Again” (Matthew 13:47; cp. Matthew 13:44, 45). It is the lesson that says we need repetition in the learning process. The flesh does not like the “again” business. But if you are going to learn anything well or do anything well, “again” must be part of the process. In studying the Scripture, you must study “again” and “again”....Christ taught the people parables to help instruct in spiritual matters (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (231). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.)
On the Sea of Galilee three basic methods of fishing were employed, all of which are still used there today. The first was with a line and hook, which was used to catch one fish at a time. That was the type of fishing the Lord instructed Peter to do when they needed money to pay the two-drachma tax (Matt. 17:24–27). The other two types of fishing involved nets. One net was a small, one-man casting net called an amphiblçstron. Peter and his brother Andrew were taking turns casting an amphiblçstron when Jesus called them to become “fishers of men” (Matt. 4:18–19). The folded net was carried over the fisherman’s shoulder as he waded in shallow water looking for a school of fish. When the fish were near enough, he would hold the center cord in one hand and with the other hand throw the net so that it opened into a large circle and came down over the fish. Weights around the perimeter of the net caused it to sink and trap the fish. The fisherman then pulled on the cord, which was attached to the center of the net and drew it around the fish like a sack. When the net had been pulled closed, the fisherman would haul his catch to shore.
A second type of net was the sagçnç, a very large dragnet, or seine, that required a team of fishermen to operate and sometimes covered as much as a half square mile. It was pulled into a giant circle around the fish, dragged between two boats or dropped offshore by boat and then dragged to shore with ropes. With floats at the top and weights at the bottom, it blocked the passage of anything larger than the gauge of the netting. These formed a wall of net from the surface to the bottom of the lake. It could be located in relation to sightings of shoals of fish or known feeding areas, but it was otherwise totally indiscriminate in what it gathered up. The ‘haul’ could include junk and weeds as well as a wide range of sea life and fish of every kind. (Nolland, J. (2005). The Gospel of Matthew : A commentary on the Greek text (568). Grand Rapids, Mich.; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.).
Some people are attracted to Christ’s church or are drawn into his church or remain within the visible church for the wrong reasons. Perhaps they just go through the motions because they were brought up that way. Some are there to please those to whom they are married. Some expect to gain a degree of respectability or even personal advantage or profit by associating with God’s people in a Christian congregation. Some such “bad fish” may actually gain what they are looking for in Christ’s church, but they are doing themselves a tragic disservice if they refuse to repent of their sins and to trust in Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation (Albrecht, G. J., & Albrecht, M. J. (1996). Matthew. The People’s Bible (205–206). Milwaukee, Wis.: Northwestern Pub. House.).
Matthew 13:48 notes that when the net was full/filled, it would take a large number of men several hours just to drag it ashore/up on the beach. Then they sat down. The parable shows the deliberation of the sorting in judgment by the fact that the sorters “sat down.” This deliberation insures an accurate judgment. No one will be cast away who is saved, and all unsaved will be rejected (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (232). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.).
The Angels sorted/gathered the good fish into containers, but threw away the bad. The fish to be carried to a distant market would be put in containers with water to keep the fish alive, and those that were to be sold nearby were placed in dry containers, usually baskets.
At least 20 species of fish are found in the Lake of Galilee, most of which could be eaten, though some were more favored than others. The Levitical rule that only fish “with fins and scales” could be eaten (Lev 11:9–12) would have ruled out eels and possibly cat-fish (common in Galilee) because of their resemblance to snakes (cf. 7:10). And of course some fish caught would be too small or diseased for human consumption. Hence the need to sort out the catch once landed. For “of every kind” cf. the weeds growing in with the wheat (vv. 24–30), and the inclusion of “bad as well as good” in the wedding feast (22:10). That the net is not pulled out of the lake until it is full is perhaps intended to emphasize, as in the parable of the weeds, that there will be no premature separation; it will wait until everything is ready in God’s good time (France, R. T. (2007). The Gospel of Matthew. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (542–543). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co.).
• The responsibility of disciples would be to catch as many “fish”—of every kind—as possible (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson study Bible : New King James Version (Mt 13:47). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.).
• The separation will not be made till the number of the elect is accomplished (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Mt 13:48). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.).
The world is a vast sea (Ps. 104:25). People in their natural state are like the fishes of the sea that have no ruler over them, (Hab. 1:14). The preaching of the gospel is the casting of a net into this sea, to catch something out of it, for God’s glory who has the sovereignty of the sea. (The Preacher’s of the Gospel) are fishers, employed in casting and drawing this net; at Christ’s word they let down the net; otherwise, they toil and catch nothing (Henry, M. (1996). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Mt 13:44–52). Peabody: Hendrickson.).
This parable, like the one of the wheat and tares, avoids a separatism which prevents the people of God from associating with the people of the world. We are to be in the world but not of the world. The parable is not dealing with any transition from good to bad, or bad to good, but speaks to the fact that both exist together in the same world. Jesus is not creating a sectarian Israel to stand over against the rest of the world. Just as He ate with publicans and sinners, so His disciples will move among people who disbelieve (Augsburger, M. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Vol. 24: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 24 : Matthew. The Preacher’s Commentary series (18). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.).
Please turn back to Matthew 4
The activity Jesus uses to illustrate God’s judgment on unbelievers was a common one to His hearers. It was especially familiar to those who lived near the Sea of Galilee, and most especially to those, including several of the disciples, who were fisherman.
Matthew 4:18-22 [18]While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. [19]And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." [20]Immediately they left their nets and followed him. [21]And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. [22]Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (ESV)
The comparison of the kingdom of heaven to a fishing scene reminds us of the calling of the disciples to “fish for people” in 4:19. There that the focus seems to be on catching people for salvation rather than, here, as in Jer 16:16, for punishment; but in so far as the disciples’ “fishing” ministry belongs to the establishment of God’s kingship, this parable adds the thought that there is a negative as well as a positive aspect to it. Their net is cast over a wide cross-section of people, and while the message saves some it will leave others unconvinced; those who have failed to respond to it are presumably among the “bad fish” of this parable. The fishermen of v. 48 are of course identified as the angels, not as the disciples, but it is the prior announcement of the kingdom of heaven (with which the disciples have been entrusted, 10:7) which forms the basis of the separation between good and bad (France, R. T. (2007). The Gospel of Matthew. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (542). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co.).
Those who have received the kingdom with appropriate response in the form of discipleship—would survive; the evil would go to their punishment (Hagner, D. A. (2002). Vol. 33A: Word Biblical Commentary : Matthew 1-13. Word Biblical Commentary (400). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.).
Illustration: In the telling of this story in Parable form Jesus not only wants us to understand a principle in the story but, as the rest of the parable focuses, move us to an action.
The ancient Stoic philosopher, Epictetus (c. A.D. 50–120), wanted to teach his students that truth merely understood is of no value; it is truth acted upon which changes things. Sometimes we try putting it in a little saying like “Practice what you preach.” The problem is that we tend to remember only the words in these little sayings and ignore the action that the story intended to direct us toward.
Epictetus gathered his students around and said, “Have you ever noticed that a sheep does not vomit up the grass it ate at the feet of the shepherd in order to impress him? The sheep digests it to produce wool and milk.” What a vivid illustration of the idea that it is truth acted on that changes things. This is exactly what a parable is. It is truth put into a form that is so succinct, compelling, and accurate that you will both understand and act upon the principles (Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (256). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.).
2) The Principle of Judgment (Matthew 13:49)
Matthew 13:49 [49]So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous (ESV)
Jesus begins His interpretation of the parable by explaining that the separation of the good and bad fish represents God’s judgment at the close/end of the age. The parable of the weeds (AKA: wheat and tares) (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43) illustrates the coexistence of believers and unbelievers in the present form of the kingdom, and this parable illustrates their separation as the form of the kingdom changes.
In His interpretation of the parable of the weeds (AKA: wheat and tares) Jesus stated the same truth He gives here: At the end of the age [His] angels shall come out/come forth, and separate/take out. The action here is “to discriminate” or make distinctions, and in Greek, krisis literally means “to divide.” Jesus described the judgment that way (Boice, J. M. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (250). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.).
• In our day there is such a distain of discrimination or judgment. Yet by our actions we make countless numbers of these every day. We drink water and not battery acid. We walk on a green light and not a red. We eat fresh food instead of rotten. Discrimination and judgment are basic common factors of life. Perhaps there is such a distain of them because of a underlying realization that this common occurrence is pointing to a final reality that people fear and repress.
The Angels will separate/take out the evil/wicked from the righteous (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43). During the present era, which is the church age, God permits unbelief and unrighteousness. But the time is coming when His toleration will end and His judgment begin.
The first phase of judgment will be the separation of the evil/wicked from the righteous, the tares from among the wheat. The evil/wicked are seperated/picked out “from among” (literally “out of the middle of”) the righteous. The phrase draws attention to the theme which we saw also implicit in the parable of the weeds, though not specifically drawn out in its explanation, that until the final judgment there can be no separate existence for the true people of God: the evil/wicked will be in the middle of them, like the wolves among the sheep in 7:15 (France, R. T. (2007). The Gospel of Matthew. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (543). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co.).
The net of God’s judgment moves silently through the sea of humanity and draws all people to the shores of eternity for final separation to their ultimate destiny-believers to eternal life and unbelievers to eternal damnation.
People move about within that net as if they were forever free. The net may touch them from time to time, as it were, startling them. But they quickly swim away, thinking they have escaped, not realizing they are completely and inescapably encompassed in God’s sovereign plan. The invisible web of God’s judgment encroaches on every human being just as that of the net encroaches on the fish. Most people do not perceive the kingdom, and they do not see God working in the world. They may be briefly moved by the grace of the gospel or frightened by the threat of judgment; but they soon return to their old ways of thinking and living, oblivious to the things of eternity. But when humanity’s day is over and Christ returns to finalize His glorious kingdom, then judgment will come.
These heavenly beings will be accurate in sorting; there will be no mistakes. They have the power as well as the character to accurately distinguish between the good and bad fish (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (232). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.).
Please turn to Revelation 20
Jesus is not giving a full description of the last days, but is concentrating on the judgment of unbelievers. He is speaking of judgment in general, with special focus on what is referred to as the final judgment at the Great White Throne:
Revelation 20:11-15 [11]Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. [12]And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. [13]And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. [14]Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15]And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (ESV)
Jesus already mentioned in the interpretation of the parable of the weeds (AKA: wheat and tares) (v. 41) and declared in many other New Testament passages (e.g., Matt. 24:31; 25:31–32; Rev. 14:19; 15:5—16:21), angels are the Lord’s instruments of separation and execution of sentence. The separation will include all persons who are then living and all who have died-“those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29).
Please turn to Matthew 24
Some people wonder why Jesus repeated the teaching about the angelic separation in this parable, when it is almost word for word what He had just said at the end of His explanation of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:41). For one thing, the emphasis in Matthew 13:47-50 is exclusively on the aspect of separation of believers from unbelievers, whereas in the other parable the major emphasis is on their coexistence. For another, it is such a vitally important truth that it bears frequent repetition.
Over and over Jesus warns about the horrors of hell and pleads with people to avoid it by coming to Him for salvation. He warned:
Matthew 24:38-41 [38]For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, [39]and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [40]Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. [41]Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. (ESV)
God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23) and does not desire that anyone perish (2 Pet. 3:9). The Lord wept over Jerusalem because the people would not come to Him and be saved (Luke 19:41). He warned about hell not to put people in agony but to save them from it. Hell was not even created for humanity, but for the devil and his fallen angels (Matt. 25:41).
3) The Peril of Judgment (Matthew 13:50)
Matthew 13:50 [50]and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (ESV)
Perhaps no doctrine is harder to accept emotionally than the doctrine of hell. Yet it is too clear and too often mentioned in Scripture either to deny or to ignore.
Some point to an obvious distinction in this parable. In real practice, bad fish would not have been put in a furnace. However, Jesus’ point in this parable is that the fiery furnace will be the place for the wicked people (Barton, B. B. (1996). Matthew. Life application Bible commentary (275). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.)
Jesus spoke more of hell than any of the prophets or apostles did. It had special emphasis in Jesus’ teaching from the beginning to the end of His earthly ministry. He said more about hell than about love. More than all other teachers in the Bible combined, He warned people of hell, promising no escape for those who refused His gracious, loving offer of salvation.
The human mind cannot begin to conceive of the eternal horror that is hell. Even the biblical figures related to hell are only suggestive, because the finite mind cannot comprehend infinite pain and torment any more than it can comprehend infinite joy and bliss. But from God’s Word we learn four basic truths about the fiery furnace/the furnace of fire that will help us to partially grasp its terror.
First, hell is a place of constant torment, misery, pain. The torment is often described as darkness (Matt. 22:13), where no light can penetrate, and nothing can be seen. Throughout the numberless eons of eternity the damned will never again see light or anything that light illumines. Hell’s torment is also described as fire that will never go out and cannot be extinguished (Mark 9:43) and from which the damned will never find relief. Hell could not be other than a place where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Second, hell will involve the torment of both body and soul. Neither the soul nor the body is annihilated at death; nor will they ever be. When an unsaved person dies, their soul goes out from the presence of God into everlasting torment. At the resurrection of all the dead, the bodies of the unsaved will be raised, and those resurrected bodies will join the soul in hell’s torment (Matt. 10:28; cf. John 5:29; Acts 24:15; Rev. 20:11–15). Just as believers will be fitted with resurrected bodies so they can enjoy the glories of heaven forever, unbelievers will be fitted with resurrected bodies so they can endure the torments of hell without being destroyed.
Jesus spoke of hell as a place “where their worm does not die” (Mark 9:44). When physical bodies are buried and begin to decay, the worms can attack them only as long as the flesh lasts. Once consumed, the body can experience no more harm. But the resurrected bodies of unbelievers will never be consumed, and the hellish “worms” that feed on them will themselves never die.
Please turn to Hebrews 10
Third, the torments of hell will be experienced in varying degrees. For everyone in hell the suffering will be intense and permanent, but some will experience greater torment than others.
Hebrews 10:28-29 [28]Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. [29]How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? (ESV)
Fourth and finally, the torment of hell will be everlasting. Nothing will be so horrible about hell as its endlessness. Jesus uses the same word to describe the duration of hell as the duration of heaven: “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46). People in hell will experience the total absence of hope.
Nothing could be more permanent than the collecting of the good fish and the discarding of the bad... In that day the opportunity for repentance will be over. The day for trusting in Jesus Christ will be past. I wish I could say that the reality will be different, but I cannot, for Jesus himself does not. There is one person who will (say different): He is the devil, and he has been spreading that lie for centuries. He has told millions that the day of reckoning is always far off and that there will always be time for repentance or religion or whatever at a later date. In that way he has lulled millions to sleep, and they now drift on, oblivious to their danger. Do not listen to the devil’s lies. He cares nothing for you. He is a condemned and evil being who, knowing that he must perish, takes his sole delight in drawing others after him to a common doom. Instead, listen to the Lord Jesus Christ, who speaks truth. He speaks it in this parable so you may know that judgment is real, separation is coming, and the time for repentance is now. Hear him! Believe him! Turn from anything that would keep you from Jesus and throw yourself upon him and his work only (Boice, J. M. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (250–251). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.).
(Format note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. (1989). Matthew (Mt 13:47–50). Chicago: Moody Press.)
