Lets go to the text:
Mark 9:43-48 King James Version (KJV)
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Christ repeats the warning, "worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" against the wicked. The word here used for hell is
gehenna, a word used to designate the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem. The use of this word throws light on the passage that Christ uses as it called to the minds of his hearers was that of complete and utter destruction that ended only when it was done. The Jews were familiar with the language and words used as Isaiah and Jeremiah frequently used them:
Jeremiah 17:27 King James Version (KJV)
27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
We read in
Jeremiah 17:27, how God said that he would kindle a fire in the gates of Jerusalem which should not be quenched. We look at the fulfillement:
2 Chronicles 36:19-21 King James Version (KJV)
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21 To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
2 Chronicles 36:19-21 records the fulfillment of this unquenchable fire. It was simply a fire which burned until it had entirely consumed the gates and palaces of Jerusalem.
We see in Isaiah this text:
Isaiah 1:28-31 King James Version (KJV)
28 And the
destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be
consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together,
and none shall quench them.
Again a fire that cannot be quenched or eternal fire, but notice the word 'comsumed' describing the 'destruction' of the 'transgressors' and 'sinners'. The fact is that eternal fire does not mean a fire that will never go out as we find same expression is used in Jude concerning the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha:
Jude 7 King James Version (KJV)
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Sodom and Gomorrha are not still burning today, yet they burned with "eternal fire," and we see it was "set forth for an example" which we find in this text:
2 Peter 2:6 King James Version (KJV)
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
The fire in which the "worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" and the fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha will also burn the wicked in the lake of fire. This is a eternal fire as like Sodom and Gomorrha they will be consumed, no more as it will burn the wicked to ashes.
