Smoke Rising
An Examination of Revelation 14:9-11
In Revelation 14:9-11 we read this:
For many years, it seemed to me that this verse powerfully supported the argument that unbelievers will suffer eternal torment in the lake of fire. However, a deeper investigation produced in me a total reversal of my understanding of this passage.
Here is the first question to consider. Is the rising of smoke in Revelation an indication that judgment in ongoing, or is it an indication that judgment has been completed? Let's dig deeper.
Like many other passages in Revelation, the imagery in the passage alludes to the Old Testament. In the passage above, it says, “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” To properly understand this passage, it is absolutely crucial that we understand the Old Testament imagery that is alluded to.
First Passage - Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
The first time that smoke is ever mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 19:27-28:
This passage describes the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Scripture clearly says that God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. This rising of smoke is introduced as an indicator that God’s destruction has been completed. I think we should pay attention to the fact that the Revelation passage shares this image of rising smoke with the passage that describes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The rising of smoke, however, is not the only way in which this passage is connected to that judgment that is described in Revelation 14. Two other passages in the Bible connect the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with the final judgment. Consider these two passages:
Both of these verses indicate that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serves as an example of what will happen to ungodly men.
Are Peter and Jude talking about the final judgment? I think they must be. They surely can’t be referring to an earthly judgment. Sometimes bad things happen to bad people, but nobody would argue that God rains physical fire down upon all ungodly people. And if that doesn’t happen to all ungodly people, then these passages must be referring to some other time of judgment. In addition, Jude uses the term ‘eternal fire’. Much has been written about what this means, but the most straight-forward understanding is that this episode is an example of what will happen when unbelievers face the eternal fire at some point in the future. And eternal fire is exactly what we are examining in Revelation 14:9-11.
So, we identified two connections between Sodom and Gomorrah and Revelation 14:9-11. First, smoke was rising in both instances. Second, Sodom and Gomorrah are twice referenced as examples of the final judgment. Is it possible, then, that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah illustrates what will happen to unbelievers at the final judgment. That is, will unbelievers at the final judgment be destroyed in the same way as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed? Let’s not jump to that conclusion just yet.
One reason we should hesitate to jump to that conclusion is because the Revelation passage says that the smoke rises forever. No such mention of ‘forever’ is applied to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Second Passage - Destruction of Edom
To investigate this word 'forever, let’s look at another passage from the Old Testament. Here is Isaiah 34:8-10:
In this passage, Isaiah foretells the total destruction of Edom. If you have any doubt that he is describing total destruction, please read the surrounding context. A very severe judgment is depicted. The aftermath of this destruction leads to a scene where "its smoke will go up forever". So, this passage refers to smoke rising and it claims that the smoke will be rising forever.
Does Isaiah truly intend to say that the smoke will literally keep rising forever? No. The rest of the passage makes that clear. He is using hyperbole to indicate just how powerfully this fire will burn. How do we know this? Because in the very next verse, he says
How could those animals possess it if it is still burning and smoking? Obviously, they couldn't. We must conclude that Isaiah meant that the fire will burn for a very long time, continuing to smoke until everything is totally destroyed. Eventually, the fires will go out and animals will move in, but the nation of Edom will never recover from this destruction. In regards to the physical conditions that Isaiah describes, this passage clearly teaches the total destruction of Edom.
So far, then, we have two different passages that refer to ‘smoke rising’. One of them even claims that the smoke will rise ‘forever’. But in both cases, smoke rising is used to emphasize the point that God’s judgment of destruction has been fully accomplished.
Third Passage - Destruction of Babylon in Revelation
With that idea in mind, consider the angels' pronouncement in Revelation 19:3 regarding the destruction of Babylon:
If you read the chapter preceding the verse above, it clearly illustrates that Babylon will be totally destroyed, just like Edom in the Isaiah passage. Once again, we have the motif of ‘smoke rising (forever)’ to indicate that God’s judgment of total destruction has been fully accomplished. I also want to make note of the capitalization in this verse. This is the NASB translation, and capitalization is used by those translators to indicate a quotation from the Old Testament. In this particular case, even though Isaiah didn't say her smoke rises forever, the translators still consider those words to be a quotation from the Old Testament.
Allow me to suggest one other element here. Consider the English phrase "Another one bites the dust". We know what it means: it announces that another person just died or was defeated. It does not mean that someone literally stooped down to take a bite out of the ground. In a similar way, the biblical usages of the phrase 'smoke rises forever' indicates total destruction and should not be taken to mean smoke that literally rises forever.
In Revelation 19, the angels were making a pronouncement. It is easy to consider the angels' words of 'Hallelujah, HER SMOKE RISES FOREVER' as similar to how we might say, "Hallelujah, another one bites the dust!" That is, it is a pronouncement of the total destruction of Babylon, with a very clear allusion to the language of Isaiah.
Fourth Passage - Destruction Again
Given those three examples as precedence for the use of the concept of 'smoke rising (forever)', doesn’t it seem likely that the fourth time in scripture that this motif occurs would express the same idea? That is, doesn’t it seem likely that the phrase ‘the smoke of their torment rises forever’ is intended to express once again that God’s judgment of total destruction has been completed?
To make that even more clear, look closely at the tense of the verbs in this passage. The verb tense changes from present, to future, and then back to present. Why do the verbs change tense like that? The obvious answer is that the angel starts out talking about the present, then talks about the future, then returns to talking about the present.
And also, what if we introduced capitalization into this passage to indicate the Old Testament quotation? That is, what if treat this passage the same way that the NASB translators treated Revelation 19, the passage about the destruction of Babylon? Consider Revelation 14:9-11 with this capitalization and structure:
This now reads in a way that is very similar to the passage in Revelation 19 concerning Babylon. With this structure, my reading is that the angel first foretells the fate that will befall those who currently worship the beast. Then, the angel describes that they will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed full strength in the cup of his anger. Following the outpouring of God’s wrath, the angel breaks into a pronouncement indicating that the total destruction of God will be accomplished, as indicated by the rising of smoke. Finally, the angel changes back to the present tense, asserting that unbelievers currently have no rest night and day (on this earth) because of the fate that awaits them.
This interpretation has these merits:
1) It is consistent with the way the phrase "smoke rises (forever)" is used in three other passages.
2) It correctly interprets the tense of the verbs.
3) It appropriately considers what would happen to men who experience the full strength of the wrath of God.
Let me elaborate on that last point. When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, God said this:
Was God talking only about physical life? Perhaps, but I don’t think so. I think God meant to say that no sinful man could continue to exist if he were fully exposed to the holiness of God. This idea is confirmed by these other verses:
In addition to those explicit verses, consider again what we are told in Revelation 14:9. This is what unbelievers will experience:
These people will experience the full strength of the wrath and anger of God. Would anybody argue that a mortal man could endure the full strength of God’s wrath and continue to exist? Or even worse, would anybody argue that man could endure the full strength of God's wrath throughout all eternity? Is the full strength of God’s wrath not powerful enough to end the existence of man?
Surely it is. And surely it will, given that this passage tells us that the smoke of this terrible judgment will rise forever. Clearly men that face the judgment of God’s wrath will be totally destroyed, in the same way that Bible describes Sodom and Gomorrah and Edom and Babylon as being totally destroyed.
- Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
For many years, it seemed to me that this verse powerfully supported the argument that unbelievers will suffer eternal torment in the lake of fire. However, a deeper investigation produced in me a total reversal of my understanding of this passage.
Here is the first question to consider. Is the rising of smoke in Revelation an indication that judgment in ongoing, or is it an indication that judgment has been completed? Let's dig deeper.
Like many other passages in Revelation, the imagery in the passage alludes to the Old Testament. In the passage above, it says, “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” To properly understand this passage, it is absolutely crucial that we understand the Old Testament imagery that is alluded to.
First Passage - Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
The first time that smoke is ever mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 19:27-28:
- Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.
This passage describes the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Scripture clearly says that God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. This rising of smoke is introduced as an indicator that God’s destruction has been completed. I think we should pay attention to the fact that the Revelation passage shares this image of rising smoke with the passage that describes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The rising of smoke, however, is not the only way in which this passage is connected to that judgment that is described in Revelation 14. Two other passages in the Bible connect the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with the final judgment. Consider these two passages:
- 2Peter 2:6 …He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;
- Jude1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
Both of these verses indicate that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serves as an example of what will happen to ungodly men.
Are Peter and Jude talking about the final judgment? I think they must be. They surely can’t be referring to an earthly judgment. Sometimes bad things happen to bad people, but nobody would argue that God rains physical fire down upon all ungodly people. And if that doesn’t happen to all ungodly people, then these passages must be referring to some other time of judgment. In addition, Jude uses the term ‘eternal fire’. Much has been written about what this means, but the most straight-forward understanding is that this episode is an example of what will happen when unbelievers face the eternal fire at some point in the future. And eternal fire is exactly what we are examining in Revelation 14:9-11.
So, we identified two connections between Sodom and Gomorrah and Revelation 14:9-11. First, smoke was rising in both instances. Second, Sodom and Gomorrah are twice referenced as examples of the final judgment. Is it possible, then, that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah illustrates what will happen to unbelievers at the final judgment. That is, will unbelievers at the final judgment be destroyed in the same way as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed? Let’s not jump to that conclusion just yet.
One reason we should hesitate to jump to that conclusion is because the Revelation passage says that the smoke rises forever. No such mention of ‘forever’ is applied to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Second Passage - Destruction of Edom
To investigate this word 'forever, let’s look at another passage from the Old Testament. Here is Isaiah 34:8-10:
- For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, And its loose earth into brimstone, And its land will become burning pitch. It will not be quenched night or day; Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will be desolate; None will pass through it forever and ever.
In this passage, Isaiah foretells the total destruction of Edom. If you have any doubt that he is describing total destruction, please read the surrounding context. A very severe judgment is depicted. The aftermath of this destruction leads to a scene where "its smoke will go up forever". So, this passage refers to smoke rising and it claims that the smoke will be rising forever.
Does Isaiah truly intend to say that the smoke will literally keep rising forever? No. The rest of the passage makes that clear. He is using hyperbole to indicate just how powerfully this fire will burn. How do we know this? Because in the very next verse, he says
- But pelican and hedgehog will possess it, And owl and raven will dwell in it; And He will stretch over it the line of desolation And the plumb line of emptiness.
How could those animals possess it if it is still burning and smoking? Obviously, they couldn't. We must conclude that Isaiah meant that the fire will burn for a very long time, continuing to smoke until everything is totally destroyed. Eventually, the fires will go out and animals will move in, but the nation of Edom will never recover from this destruction. In regards to the physical conditions that Isaiah describes, this passage clearly teaches the total destruction of Edom.
So far, then, we have two different passages that refer to ‘smoke rising’. One of them even claims that the smoke will rise ‘forever’. But in both cases, smoke rising is used to emphasize the point that God’s judgment of destruction has been fully accomplished.
Third Passage - Destruction of Babylon in Revelation
With that idea in mind, consider the angels' pronouncement in Revelation 19:3 regarding the destruction of Babylon:
- And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER."
If you read the chapter preceding the verse above, it clearly illustrates that Babylon will be totally destroyed, just like Edom in the Isaiah passage. Once again, we have the motif of ‘smoke rising (forever)’ to indicate that God’s judgment of total destruction has been fully accomplished. I also want to make note of the capitalization in this verse. This is the NASB translation, and capitalization is used by those translators to indicate a quotation from the Old Testament. In this particular case, even though Isaiah didn't say her smoke rises forever, the translators still consider those words to be a quotation from the Old Testament.
Allow me to suggest one other element here. Consider the English phrase "Another one bites the dust". We know what it means: it announces that another person just died or was defeated. It does not mean that someone literally stooped down to take a bite out of the ground. In a similar way, the biblical usages of the phrase 'smoke rises forever' indicates total destruction and should not be taken to mean smoke that literally rises forever.
In Revelation 19, the angels were making a pronouncement. It is easy to consider the angels' words of 'Hallelujah, HER SMOKE RISES FOREVER' as similar to how we might say, "Hallelujah, another one bites the dust!" That is, it is a pronouncement of the total destruction of Babylon, with a very clear allusion to the language of Isaiah.
Fourth Passage - Destruction Again
Given those three examples as precedence for the use of the concept of 'smoke rising (forever)', doesn’t it seem likely that the fourth time in scripture that this motif occurs would express the same idea? That is, doesn’t it seem likely that the phrase ‘the smoke of their torment rises forever’ is intended to express once again that God’s judgment of total destruction has been completed?
To make that even more clear, look closely at the tense of the verbs in this passage. The verb tense changes from present, to future, and then back to present. Why do the verbs change tense like that? The obvious answer is that the angel starts out talking about the present, then talks about the future, then returns to talking about the present.
And also, what if we introduced capitalization into this passage to indicate the Old Testament quotation? That is, what if treat this passage the same way that the NASB translators treated Revelation 19, the passage about the destruction of Babylon? Consider Revelation 14:9-11 with this capitalization and structure:
- Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
AND THE SMOKE OF THEIR TORMENT GOES UP FOREVER AND EVER
They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
This now reads in a way that is very similar to the passage in Revelation 19 concerning Babylon. With this structure, my reading is that the angel first foretells the fate that will befall those who currently worship the beast. Then, the angel describes that they will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed full strength in the cup of his anger. Following the outpouring of God’s wrath, the angel breaks into a pronouncement indicating that the total destruction of God will be accomplished, as indicated by the rising of smoke. Finally, the angel changes back to the present tense, asserting that unbelievers currently have no rest night and day (on this earth) because of the fate that awaits them.
This interpretation has these merits:
1) It is consistent with the way the phrase "smoke rises (forever)" is used in three other passages.
2) It correctly interprets the tense of the verbs.
3) It appropriately considers what would happen to men who experience the full strength of the wrath of God.
Let me elaborate on that last point. When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, God said this:
- Exo_33:20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"
Was God talking only about physical life? Perhaps, but I don’t think so. I think God meant to say that no sinful man could continue to exist if he were fully exposed to the holiness of God. This idea is confirmed by these other verses:
- Deu_4:24 "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Heb_10:27 …a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.
- II Thes 1:7-9 This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength (CSB)
In addition to those explicit verses, consider again what we are told in Revelation 14:9. This is what unbelievers will experience:
- he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger
These people will experience the full strength of the wrath and anger of God. Would anybody argue that a mortal man could endure the full strength of God’s wrath and continue to exist? Or even worse, would anybody argue that man could endure the full strength of God's wrath throughout all eternity? Is the full strength of God’s wrath not powerful enough to end the existence of man?
Surely it is. And surely it will, given that this passage tells us that the smoke of this terrible judgment will rise forever. Clearly men that face the judgment of God’s wrath will be totally destroyed, in the same way that Bible describes Sodom and Gomorrah and Edom and Babylon as being totally destroyed.