How the Watchtower manipulated their members on believing there is no eternal punishment - THE SECOND DEATH
Jehovah God is the God of Love for His people. God has given us the “Free Will” (ever since Eve ate the fruit) to choose if
we want to be with Him or deny Him. For those who deny the Son, have denied the Father, therefore they cannot enter His
Kingdom and will be removed from the Book of Life and all unbelievers will have a SEPARATE place (Rev 20:14-15,
1Jo 2:22-23, Mat 10:33, 1Co 6:9–10)
JWs are taught to refer to Ecc 9:5 as the final answer on the topic of the afterlife. It trumps any and all claims in the NT about an afterlife. This is strange. The NT is the new light of God’s revelation; the OT is the old light. Since when does the old light take precedence over the new light? Would any JW view CT Russell’s writings as more important than current teachings of the Organization? They would be disfellowshipped for that! Jesus said he was greater than the temple (Mat 12:6), greater than Jonah (Mat 12:41), and greater than Solomon (Mat 12:42), who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. Interestingly, Solomon who wrote Ecc 9:5 also said in Ecc 12:7 that “the spirit returns to the true God who gave it.” He affirms that the spirit still exists after death which returns to God. Other passages that are used by JWs include: Psalm 146:4; Lamentations 3:33; death is like sleep: John 11:11–14
Jesus’ Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31):
The rich man dies and is in conscious torment in Hades (the Grave).
He speaks, remembers, feels pain, and requests relief (“Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this blazing fire.”)
Abraham also speaks and interacts with him.
Matthew 22:31–32 – God is the God of the living
Luke 9:28–31 – Moses and Elijah appear alive and talk with Jesus
Hebrews 12:1 – The cloud of witnesses
Revelation 6:9–10 – Souls under the altar cry out
1 Samuel 28:13–14 – Samuel appears after death
1 Peter 3:18-20 – Christ preaches to spirits in prison
1 Peter 4:5-6 – the good news is preached to the dead
Mark 9:43-44: “...to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Implication: The dead are not unconscious; they are aware and conscious spiritually after death.
Revelation 14:9-11 “If anyone worships the wild beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath... and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And they have no rest day or night.”
This describes eternal torment, conscious and unending.
“The smoke of goes torment rising forever and ever” as well as “have no rest day or night” contradicts annihilation.
Revelation 19:20 (NASB) And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
Revelation 20:2-3 (NASB) And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
Revelation 20:10 (NASB) And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also [not: had been]; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
At this point JWs should clarify: how long does it take for someone (or something) who is thrown into the lake of fire to cease to exist? Is it instantaneous, or is it slowly? Here in these verses in Revelation the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire and a thousand years later the devil is also thrown in where the beast and false prophet still are and together they will be tormented constantly forever.
Revelation 20:14-15: “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
The first death is physical death.
The second death involves being cast into the lake of fire—a place of ongoing judgment.
The passage distinguishes the first death from the second.
Matthew 22:31-32: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
Jesus affirms the patriarchs are spiritually alive.
This contradicts the JW idea that death means unconscious sleep or non-existence.
Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Death as the “wages of sin” involves judgment, but the Bible elsewhere shows this includes spiritual death, separation, and punishment, not just cessation of life.
SPIRTUAL DEATH = The Punishment for the unbelievers and who chose to be separated from Jehovah God.
PHYSICAL DEATH = Separation of the Spirit from the Physical Body (Ecclesiastes 12:7) . The Return of the physical body to
earth (Genesis 3:19), until the 2nd coming.
THE SECOND DEATH = Revelation 21:8
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and
all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
And there is only One who can kill both body and soul: Matthew 10:28