Does Revelation 14:10-11 Support Eternal Roasting Torture?

Adherents of never-ending fiery torment naturally view this passage as their ‘ace card’ on the topic:

“If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, ¹⁰he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured out full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the lamb [Jesus]. ¹¹And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast or his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name.”

Revelation 14:9-ll

As you can see, the text refers to impenitent people during the future seven-year Tribulation who received the mark of the beast and will be damned. Being “tormented with burning sulfur” refers to being cast into the lake of fire and suffering the “second death” (Revelation 20:10-15). Notice it says that “the smoke of their torment rises forever,” which suggests that they will be burned up, while “torment” would refer to the anguish experienced while being destroyed. This coincides with what the Holy Spirit inspired David to write in Psalm 37:20: “But the wicked shall perish… Into smoke they shall vanish away” (NKJV).

Secondly, this passage has a ‘sister text’ in the Old Testament, which uses the same terminology, but clearly refers to literal everlasting destruction and not never-ending conscious torment:

⁹Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,

     her dust into burning sulfur;

     her land will become blazing pitch!

¹⁰It will not be quenched night or day;

     its smoke will rise forever.

Isaiah 34:9-10a

This gives the impression that the kingdom of Edom will burn forever and ever without end, but the rest of the chapter renders this interpretation impossible. The remainder of the chapter shows that Edom would become a desolate desert inhabited by owls, jackals and hyenas. Verses 5-6 state that the people of Edom will be “totally destroyed” and slaughtered, and Obadiah 1:10 & 1:18 back this up, stating that Edom will “be destroyed forever”—consumed by the fire of God’s judgment and wrath.

Notice how Isaiah 34:10 plainly declares that Edom will burn and “not be quenched night and day.” This shows that the phrase “night and day” or “day or night” does not refer to an unending amount of time. The burning sulfur which destroyed Edom was not quenched “night and day” until the entire kingdom was destroyed. Likewise, the wicked people spoken of in Revelation 14:10-11 will have no rest from their torment “day or night” until the burning sulfur totally destroys them.

“Burning sulfur” is simply another name for the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8); so being “tormented with burning sulfur” is a reference to the second death. For further proof, Paul said that he worked and prayed “night and day” (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 3:10), but he did neither non-stop; and working ceased when he passed away. Acts 9:24 and Revelation 12:10 give additional support that this phrase refers to a temporary period of time.

There are other passages in the book of Revelation that use the terminology of Revelation 14:10-11, but like Isaiah 34:9-10, these passages distinctly refer to complete destruction by fire: Chapter 18 of Revelation deals with the fall of Babylon, which is the result of God’s judgment. “Babylon” refers to a city that will be the governmental center of the antichrist’s kingdom on Earth. Chapter 18 speaks of “the smoke of her burning” (verses 9 & 18) and of “her torment” (verses 10 & 15), and 19:3 says, “The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” This terminology gives the impression that “Babylon” will be eternally tormented and burn forever and ever, but Revelation 18:8 makes it clear that “She will be consumed by fire”—completely destroyed—just as this entire present Earth will also be destroyed (2 Peter 3:10-11). Hence, the statement “the smoke from her goes up forever and ever” refers to complete and final destruction.

These passages use the terminology of smoke rising forever and coincide with God’s total destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, which is a biblical “example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” at the second death (2 Peter 2:6). In the Genesis account of Sodom & Gomorrah’s destruction, Abraham saw “dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace” (19:28).

So, following the hermeneutical rule that “Scripture interprets Scripture,” it’s clear that Revelation 14:10-11 refers to literal everlasting destruction and not never-ending roasting torment. Adherents of eternal conscious torture who claim that the passage is their ‘ace card’ on the topic are guilty of being superficial in their studies and not rightly-dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

For details on the nature of human damnation, see this article.

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