It is obvious that Jesus in His incarnation directly taught about the eternal lake of fire for transgressors against God more than any of the Old Testament Prophets did.  But does the Old Testament even speak of such a concept at all?  Many people throughout history, including many Jewish people, would say that it does not.  However, that is only proof that they do not really take heed to and regard the things taught in the Old Testament (aka: the Hebrew Bible or the Tanakh).  

Isaiah 66:22-24: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain (note that God is directly speaking to Jews before Christ’s time here whom He judges to be righteous).  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses 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.” 

By the way: See Mark 9:43-48 for the clear lessons which Jesus taught that are directly derived from this passage.

It is obvious that the judgment of the wicked is not simply temporary destruction nor merely shame in terms of their remembrance.  

Daniel 12:2-3 says: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”

Some shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt- not face such while they continue to sleep in the dust of the earth.  Taken with the passage in Isaiah, this shame and everlasting contempt for the wicked involves everlasting fire and worms upon themselves.  These things are learned directly from the Old Testament.

Remember also along these lines what Jesus said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Jesus in His incarnation clearly and frequently taught that the eternal punishment of the wicked in hell fire is a reality.  Yet this was not something new that He was bringing.  It was not even something which had been incredibly vague before.  Just because Jesus in His incarnation spoke more about it directly doesn’t mean that the truth wasn’t clear before.  

With these things accounted for, it is reasonable to conclude then that God intended the vast multitude of threats of His judgment right in the Law of Moses, and throughout the Old Testament, to be taken as solid implications of eternal judgment on the wicked who turn against Him.

Psalm 73:18-20: “Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.  How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment!  they are utterly consumed with terrors.  As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.”

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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