Chapter 4 Why rarely cited Isaiah 66:24 is the key
Isaiah 66:24 states "And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." Why is this verse key? Because Jesus quotes it verbatim in Mark 9:48. Therefore, it is a clear statement about Gehenna (hell) and must be looked at in the context of Isaiah 66. (Jesus would have known it in context and so should we.) Also – the word "Gehennah" is what Jesus used whenever he spoke of "hell" – and that was the name of the garbage dump in Jerusalem! So His listeners would NOT have understood Jesus as speaking of eternal torment here. Gehennah was a place where worms and fires lived, but not people! Now back to Isaiah 66:24. In this verse we have believers, ('they' in verse 24), going out to look upon the very place tradition tells us we will never see. Isaiah clearly states that we will see those in Gehenna. He cannot state it more clearly in verse 24, "And they (i.e. believers) shall go forth, and look upon the carcases...." We, believers, will look upon dead bodies in Gehenna. (Did you ever consider that?) And what will be seen? Isaiah makes it clear, we will see "carcasses" (Hebrew: pegerim = dead bodies). This is at the point in time when all in Gehenna (hell) have already died in "body and soul" (Matthew 10:28). Then we will be permitted to view them. They will be ashes by this time (Malachi 4:3) cremated. Evangelical author Edward Fudge gives this passage a well developed exegesis that deserves quotation here.... Jesus quotes these words (Isaiah 66:24) in one of His own famous statements about final punishment (Mark 9:48), and they have formed the basis for much Christian teaching on hell ever since. It is important to look carefully, therefore, at what the verse actually says.... The righteous "go out and look" on their enemies' corpses.… They look at corpses (Hebrew: pegerim), not living people. They view their destruction, not their misery. Other Bible verses mention "worms" in connection with dead bodies. Several kinds of flies lay eggs in the flesh of carcasses, which hatch into larvae known as maggots. These serve a beneficial purpose in hastening decomposition. They are also a symbol of ignominy precisely because they attack only bodies deprived of burial. To the Hebrew mind, even if a man could live to be 18