What and Where is the Lake of Fire?

The Dead Sea east of Jerusalem is the Lake of Fire mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Today when one goes to the area, there are no fires or smoke to be seen coming from its midst. Throughout most of the historical period since the time of Abraham, however, it was normally described as a lake which periodically erupted with sulfurous flames and columns of smoke that could be seen emerging from its center. But for some reason, over the past two centuries or so, the lake has been quiet. This is all going to change, however. The Book of Revelation shows clearly that the Lake of the Fire will be in existence when YEHOVAH God returns (Revelation 19:19–20).

The information in this article may be surprising to many people, but it can be shown from the Bible and history that the Lake of Fire is presently in existence on this earth. At the present the Lake is within one of its periodic “quiet” cycles and fire is not now observed within it, but it is destined to erupt again before the second appearance of the Messiah and the return of YEHOVAH God. Interestingly, this Lake was long ago known as a Lake of Fire and in history it has spewed forth its sulfuric and fiery eruptions in times when YEHOVAH God chose to judge sinners for their ways. It will again be used to judge the wicked (Revelation 19:20) and Death and Hades are destined to be thrown into it (Revelation 20:14).

The early Jewish theologians knew that this lake was a place of judgment and they mention it in their ancient records (Lightfoot, Works on Hebrew and Talmud, vol.1, pp.15–16). In this article will be given the scriptural and historical information that is needed to identify this Lake of Fire. What is interesting is the fact that you could go there now, see it with your own eyes, and come away without experiencing any heat (rather than that of the sun, which is very hot in that region). The Lake of Fire is on earth today and this article will identify its location.

The New Testament mentions the existence of a lake which is destined to become the place of judgment for the Beast, the False Prophet, Satan (after the Millennium), and wicked human beings. It is called “The Lake of Fire,” or more accurately, “The Lake of THE Fire”. It is “THE Fire” which is found in the lake that makes the lake unique, and that fire is the fire of judgment. The fuel that feeds the fire in this lake is brimstone (an old name for sulfur).

Is there such a lake on earth today that fits the description of this “Lake of the Fire”? The answer is “yes.” In fact, this lake has been in existence for at least 4,000 years. People have traveled to its region and have reported seeing fire and columns of smoke ascending from its central sections. Such eyewitness reports have been given from earliest times. They also have testified to the presence of sulfurous fumes coming from the lake. And one scientist in our modern era has observed a hue of absinthe (the wormwood of Revelation 8:11) hovering on occasion over the lake.

Where is this biblical lake located? It is not difficult to discover its whereabouts if one will pay attention to some of the identifying factors associated with the lake. Let’s notice some of these points.

The first important matter to consider is what constitutes “a lake” as humans are able to perceive it. The dictionary defines a lake as an area of depression in the earth which contains a liquid (normally water). It always has higher ground surrounding it, and in the case of ordinary lakes, it represents the central area of a drainage region into which streams and/or rivers flow. Since the apostle John in the Book of Revelation used the ordinary and simple term for “lake,” it could be reasonably believed that he had a conventional lake in mind, though he said it was “The Lake of THE Fire.” Note the definite article qualifying the word “fire.” The apostle John was referring to a lake that had “THE fire” in it which was reserved for YEHOVAH God’s judgment.

Secondly, this particular lake had fire associated with it that was fueled by sulfur. In some way, that chemical must be found in its midst.

Thirdly, John tells us that the lake will be in existence and active with fire prior to the Millennium (Revelation 19:20). This means it will be fully in evidence before the second appearance of the Messiah and the return of YEHOVAH God to this earth.

Fourthly, the Beast and False Prophet who fight against YEHOVAH God at His return will be thrown into this lake. Since it is made plain in the Bible that the final battles to be fought just prior to the Millennium will be at or around Jerusalem, it could reasonably be suggested that the lake would be located in the same vicinity. Indeed, it is plainly shown that the wicked will be tormented with fire and brimstone

Just like the Book of Revelation says will happen at the return of YEHOVAH God (Revelation 6:14). This region of Edom will have its streambeds flowing with rivers of fire. This pitch and brimstone will flow into the Dead Sea located just east and south of Jerusalem. Since this judgment takes place so near to Jerusalem, it could be reasoned that “The Lake of THE Fire” was certainly in the vicinity.

There is also a fifth point. John says the lake has the factor of death associated with it. “The Lake of the Fire...is the second death.” This is where Hades (hell) and Death are to be cast (Revelation 20:14). Hades and Death are the proper names of angelic powers who control those areas and conditions of judgment. This reference shows that “The Lake of THE Fire” cannot be a symbol of the ordinary grave (Hades), because Hades (an angelic power) is “thrown” into it.

Sixthly, the lake cannot be Gehenna (another name of “hell” in the King James Version). The area of Gehenna (sometimes called Tophet) is a valley located on the southern edges of Jerusalem. In no way can the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) be considered “a lake.” It is also not the “bottomless pit” (Greek: abyss) because that is a pit in the earth with a door that a key can open (Revelation 9:1–2). Admittedly, the description of the abyss is figurative, but it is not suitable to connect a door and key with an entrance to “a lake.”

A final factor to consider is John’s teaching that this Lake of the Fire will cease to exist after the Great White Throne period. This is because John says “the former things [including the Lake of the Fire] are passed away. Behold, I make all things NEW” (Revelation 21:4–5). The area in which this lake is found will one day be healed and made new. Interestingly, there are some important scriptures that speak of a prominent lake being healed when the periods of YEHOVAH’s judgments are completed.

These seven factors are not of themselves enough to identify the lake, but they give us some excellent clues which can become significant when we look at other scriptures and a number of historical indications.

There is a prime New Testament reference which goes a long way in solving the identification of “The Lake of THE Fire.” It is found in the Book of Jude. This New Testament writer was the brother of James, and the brother of the Messiah. He said that there was, in his time, an example of eternal fire (age-lasting fire) that was an active and present witness to what the judgment of YEHOVAH God would be like in the future. That example was the geographical area where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah once existed. Jude called attention to the ruined condition of that region as well as the fire that was still burning in the locale. That’s right, the area around the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was still having fires and smoke in the time of Jude. Notice carefully what he said on the matter:

When one looks at that verse closely, it tells us very much about the environment around the Dead Sea as it existed in the time of Jude. There were then active fires and smoke in the area. Strabo, the first century geographer, described the neighborhood as “a land of fires” (XVI, 764). Some of the fires were fed by the seepage of naphtha (an old name for petroleum), bitumen, and other gaseous fumes.

A hundred years before Strabo, there is the record of a Jewish author who described the Dead Sea area.

This historical reference indicates that the Dead Sea region was then, back at that time, still smoking from subterranean fires. Diodorus Siculus, who also lived in the 1st century BC said:

A few years later, in the time of the Messiah’s childhood, the Judahite writer Philo gave witness to the burnings and smoke that was still ascending:

This fire and smoke was also seen coming from the midst of the Dead Sea as well. The geographer Strabo called the Dead Sea a lake (as did Josephus, the early Judahite historian -- War IV, 8, 4), and described the fiery characteristics which came from its center: “In the midst of the lake is a source of the fire and also there are great quantities of asphalt in the middle. The eruption is uncertain, because the movements of fire have no order known to us, as it is of many other basis.”

Josephus continues:

Around the area were “drops of pitch distilling from the rocks and boiling streams.”

It is interesting to note that the eruptions of fire, smoke, and asphalt were not of continuous duration. Only at irregular times did such phenomena occur, but the occasions were frequent enough that eyewitnesses around the time of the Messiah and the apostles called it a lake of fire and smoke. In actual fact, we are told by Henry Maundrell (who traveled from Europe to Palestine in AD 1697) that most of the map makers prior to the seventeenth century show “smoke ascending above the surface of the water” (Journey, p. 454, Bohn Edition). However, when Maundrell visited the area, no smoke was seen by him. Yet the explorer Volney in AD 1787 was told that smoke periodically could be observed coming out of the Dead Sea.

Volney was a very astute observer and he customarily inquired of the inhabitants about the characteristics of the lands that he visited. It seems, then, that as late as the eighteenth century, there were still some rare outbursts of smoke and fire coming from the middle of the Dead Sea.

There have been no actual reportings since that time to my knowledge. It is true, however, that after major earthquakes, a great deal of asphalt has broken up in the bottom of the lake and risen to the surface. The lake itself has seemingly been rather quiet of activity over the past 200 years and it has not erupted as formerly described by those who lived near the time of the Messiah.

The first scientific investigation of the Dead Sea by Lynch in AD 1848 recounted that there was “a strong smell of sulfurette hydrogen” a “fetid sulfurous odor in the night....the north wind was quite fresh and accompanied with a smell of sulfur” (Journal of R. Soc. vol. XVIII, p. 127). Interestingly, this is the very description of some of the factors comprising “The Lake of the Fire and Brimstone [Sulfur]” in the Book of Revelation, but, of course, there was no literal smoke seen by Lynch that he could without doubt vouch for. But he did, however, on one occasion report a strange phenomenon that happened. At one time there “appeared” to be smoke coming from the center, though Lynch attributed it to an illusion. Note what he said.

In the Book of Revelation, absinthe is called “wormwood” (Revelation 8:11) which caused waters to become bitter. What the explorer Lynch observed is interesting. The scene gave the impression of smoke from burning sulfur ascending above the surface of the Dead Sea, while parts of the lake gave the appearance of a vast cauldron of molten lead. Is this illusory occurrence seen by Lynch what the ancients were talking about? Maybe, in part. But there is simply too much evidence from competent observers of the past to dismiss all the eye-witness accounts as illusionary. Indeed, only at certain times in the past did the lake erupt with its fiery display. And for the last 200 years (maybe much longer), the lake has been relatively inactive.

The prophecies, however, suggest (and we will show this later in this article) that a new and more violent eruption of sulfurous fire and smoke is destined to emerge from the lake and surrounding areas, and that “The Lake of the Fire” mentioned in the Book of Revelation will be very much active at the time of the Messiah’s second appearance on this earth. Such a possibility should surprise none of us moderns because we have all witnessed the eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state which is about 50 miles from where I live in Portland, Oregon. The Dead Sea area may well be getting ready for a renewal of its fiery activity. There are yet a few years before this will occur. In fact, it will happen at an exact time in prophetic history.

We will now show biblical evidence that the Dead Sea is the prophesied “Lake of the Fire.” Let us recall that Jude said that the area of Sodom and Gomorrah was a present example (in Jude’s time) for the eternal (age-lasting) fire that YEHOVAH God has designed for the punishment of the wicked (Jude verse 7). The Bible tells us that those cities of which Jude spoke are now under the Dead Sea. The former Valley of Siddim in which Sodom and Gomorrah were situated “is the salt sea” (Genesis 14:3).

These cities were positioned in the northern part of where the Dead Sea now is. They were not in the southern part of the lake. This is made plain in the biblical revelation. Abraham and Lot looked over Sodom and Gomorrah from the site of Bethel located a short distance north of Jerusalem. And in no way would it have been possible for Abraham and Lot to have seen the southern part of the lake from Bethel (Genesis 13:10).

The Bible, on the other hand, makes the clear statement that those two cities were “east” of Bethel (Genesis 13:11), not south-by-east. Even the biblical description of the four northern kings attacking Sodom and Gomorrah, shows the kings circling the Valley of Siddim on the east and then south, and finally attacking Hazazon-tamar (En-Gedi -- now half way up the western side of the Dead Sea) before they encountered the King of Sodom (Genesis 14:7–8).

This, again, shows that Sodom and Gomorrah lay in the northern regions of the Dead Sea. We are also told that the Wilderness of Zeboim (a near spelling of Zeboiim, the neighbor city of Sodom) was directly east of Beth-horon and Bethel (1 Samuel 13:18). This also leads one from Bethel eastwards towards Jericho. All these geographical indications direct us to the northern parts around the Dead Sea, not the south.

The northern half of the lake is its deepest part. Its surface is about 1,300 feet below normal sea level, and soundings have been made in its northern sector of another 1,300 feet to reach its bottom. It is truly the lowest area on earth below normal sea level.

The Dead Sea is a part of what is called the Jordan rift -- a great depression (or fault line) in the earth that starts north of Mount Hermon and continues southerly with the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee, and the Dead Sea in its nether regions. The rift continues south to the Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea, into Africa, and ends up near the source of the Nile River. It is the longest known fault line on earth. From satellite pictures, it is a very prominent feature on the surface of the earth and well distinguished from other land formations.

There is a reason why Jude centered his example of future judgment on the ancient area of Sodom and Gomorrah. To him the Dead Sea (with its sulfurous smoke and fiery characteristics) was the perfect exemplar given by YEHOVAH God for his vengeance upon evil angels and wicked humans. He could simply point to the smoldering cauldron of the Dead Sea and tell the rebellious people that they would finally experience the ravages of that Lake of Fire when it would burst forth in a final and catastrophic eruption at the end of the age. Jude could also point to historical examples to substantiate his prophetic beliefs. His prototypes of punishment were recorded in the first book of the Bible -- the Book of Genesis. In fact Jude’s reference to judgment went back before the Flood of Noah. Enoch, the great grandfather of Noah, was a prophet who foretold even the return of YEHOVAH God (Jude 14). He was also a prophet who gave many warnings of judgment. He even foretold the exact year for the occurrence of the Flood of Noah.

This may be fine and good, but what has this to do with the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah which was an example of the end-time vengeance of YEHOVAH God? It has very much to do with it. One should pay careful attention to the fact that Noah (the man who was saved through the Flood) was the tenth generation from Adam (Genesis 5). YEHOVAH gave the Pre-Flood world exactly ten generations before their judgment came.

The fact that the Flood happened in the tenth generation from the Adamic creation was important to early biblical interpreters. This is because Enoch, according to Jude, also prophesied of the second judgment to occur on earth when YEHOVAH God would appear from heaven with ten thousands of His saints (Jude verses 14–16). This particular judgment was to be with fire, not water. Moreover, YEHOVAH promised that no more universal punishment would come through the use of water (Genesis 8:21–22). When one compares later prophecies of the Bible, the next adjudication was to arrive on earth in the form of fire and brimstone. In ancient times it became popular to view history and prophecy in a cyclical fashion (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Things reoccur!

It is important to note that Noah was the tenth generation from Adam: 1) Adam; 2) Seth; 3) Enos; 4) Cainan; 5) Mahalaleel; 6) Jared; 7) Enoch; 8) Methuselah; 9) Lamech; and finally 10) Noah -- in whose time the Flood destroyed the land. Now note the next generation to follow Noah after the Flood. It was 1) Shem; then 2) Arphaxad; 3) Salah; 4) Eber; 5) Peleg; 6) Reu; 7) Serug; 8) Nahor; 9) Terah; 10) Abraham. The tenth generation from the watery destruction in the time of Noah was Abraham. With Noah, YEHOVAH God began a new creation in a physical way, but with Abraham (also a tenth generation individual), YEHOVAH began a new spiritual creation. He began to use a man who would produce a nation of people (Israel) from whom would come the Messiah to rescue YEHOVAH's Israelite people from all the judgments of YEHOVAH God and bring them into a perfect salvation. This is accomplished through the efforts of Yeshua the Messiah.

But YEHOVAH God also did something else in the time of Abraham that was a repeat of what happened in the time of Noah. A further judgment against rebellion and sin took place in that tenth generation just as one took place in Noah’s tenth generation. YEHOVAH did not bring the later destruction by water, but it was by fire. This was the time that fire and brimstone fell on Sodom, Gomorrah, and the Valley of Siddim.

So thorough was the devastation that the fire within the Jordan Valley appeared as though it were a complete destruction of the earth by the burning of fire. That opinion was expressed by Lot’s daughters. “There is not a man [left] in the land,” was their appraisal (Genesis 19:31). They thought that the entire land or country had come to an end by the fire and brimstone and that there was not a man left in all the land but their father Lot. After all, it was the tenth generation from Noah. What a surprise to the girls when they discovered that only the Jordan rift valley was destroyed. It was a great enough devastation, however, that it became the example of the future judgment when YEHOVAH God will rain down a fiery rebuke on rebellious Israelites at the end of the age.

In order to warn his fellow Israelites of this future judgment, Jude saw the Jordan Valley as a contemporary example of a bursting forth of periodic flames of sulfurous origin with columns of smoke coming from the surrounding land and the lake. It was a further admonition of what would occur at the end of the age -- only this time with even more intensity. This is why Jude placed the example of YEHOVAH’s judgment for the future directly into the Jordan rift valley of his time -- right to the area of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea was once “The Lake of THE Fire,” and it is destined again to become that same “Lake of Fire” at the time of YEHOVAH God's return. It is soon to erupt (probably in its northern end) with a fiery display that will be awesome.

We should briefly remind ourselves of the parable given by the Messiah about Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31). The locale of that story is precisely in the area of the Jordan rift and the northern region of the Dead Sea. Here was the Rich Man after death in the place of fire. He looked and saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham. Between Abraham and the Rich Man was a “great gulf fixed” (Luke 16:26). I have pointed out that the great gulf of Messiah’s parable was clearly the Jordan rift valley. The Rich Man was east of the Jordan River, and Lazarus and Abraham were west of it. The latter two were inheriting the promises of the land of Palestine given to Abraham, but the Rich Man (Judah) was not allowed to enter. He had to remain in the region of the fires near the northern edge of the Dead Sea but east of the Jordan River. This was an area where there once were continual and unrelenting flames and they existed in the time of the Messiah.

The significance of the parable (and that’s what it was, a parable, not an actual occurrence), was to show that the region of the “great gulf” was a place of punishment. It was directly in the same location that Jude placed the example of eternal [age-lasting] fire to try the wicked (Jude verse 7).

With the information that the great chasm (or gulf) of the Jordan rift (with the smoking Dead Sea in its midst) is the place of punishment for the wicked, we can now understand much better the position of Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom) in this scheme of future punishment. The Messiah frequently referred to Gehenna as a place of fiery judgment (Matthew 5:22,29,30; 10:28; Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5, etc.) This particular valley was situated outside the southern walls of Jerusalem. It was a place where the fires to the pagan god Moloch were sanctified (Jeremiah 32:35; Ezekiel 20:31). It was also called Tophet.

It is the prison where some “high ones” [angels] and kings on earth will be incarcerated. Within the stretch of its confines is a very deep pit (a bottomless pit) and it is the place of containment for evil angels and finally for Satan during the Millennium (Revelation 20:1–3). We will see in a moment that indications show that this pit of imprisonment (the abyss) is associated with the Valley of Hinnom (Tophet).

The Valley of Hinnom commenced at Jerusalem and journeyed eastwards at a precipitous rate until it emptied into the northern parts of the Dead Sea. The watercourse is known to this very day as the Wady en-Nar (Arabic: The Streambed of Fire). This Valley of Hinnom (that is, the Gehenna mentioned by the Messiah) was about fifteen miles long. It plummeted into the Dead Sea (the Lake of the Fire). This means that Gehenna and the Lake of the Fire were typically connected.

The ceremony of the Scapegoat (Azazel) on the Day of Atonement was a part of this typical story (Leviticus chapter 16). Two goats were selected. One was to be sacrificed in Jerusalem, while the other was to be taken by an able bodied man into the wilderness east of Jerusalem. Indeed, the Scapegoat was to be taken down the Valley of Hinnom to a place about three miles east and south of Jerusalem called Beth Chaduda where the goat was allowed to go over a very deep cliff (like an abyss) so that he would never come in contact with civilization again (Yoma 67b; Targum Jerusalem Leviticus 14:10).

This part of the wilderness was where the demons were supposed to be. It was near this region where the Messiah was tempted of the Devil (Matthew 4:1–11). The place was a part of the drainage system of the Wady en-Nar -- the extension of Gehenna, the Streambed of Fire. From this area, the Streambed of Fire ran directly eastwards into the Dead Sea (the Lake of the Fire). This region between Beth Chaduda and the Dead Sea contained the abyss mentioned in the Book of Revelation. It will be a place of temporary confinement of Satan and his angelic powers for the Millennium:

The place that the Azazel Goat (the Scapegoat) was taken in the ritual of the Day of Atonement, is where Satan will be kept for the Millennium. Again, it is also the place in the wilderness where the Messiah defeated Satan during his forty days of temptation. Everything fits perfectly in this prophetic scenario.

No one can adequately grasp the typical teaching about Gehenna, the abyss (bottomless pit), and the Lake of Fire, without realizing what the area is like in which the Scapegoat was taken. The geographical name of this region is: The Wilderness of Judaea. It is one of the most unique areas on earth. That wilderness is an utter desert of the worst kind and yet it was right next door to the region “of olive oil, and honey: a land wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack any thing in it” (Deuteronomy 8:8–9). The margin between “paradise” and “utter desolation” is often no more than one, two, or three miles. People who travel to the area are amazed at the abrupt contrast.

George Adam Smith, who wrote the classic book called The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, gave some graphic descriptions of this wasteland to the east of Jerusalem. Though I have seen it myself many times, the words of a professional geographer cannot be surpassed for description. Note what Prof. Smith had to say about this land of the Scapegoat where the Messiah was tempted by Satan the Devil:

What is so striking is the contrast: A beautiful and well watered land on the west side with the crests of the Holy Land, and then (so quickly and abruptly) the thorough desolation of the “Land of the Scapegoat” -- the region traversed by Gehenna (the Streambed of Fire), the location of the abyss (bottomless pit), and then the Dead Sea (the Lake of the Fire).

This is the very region where the Messiah battled Satan for forty days -- and won! But this is also where Satan will be bound (the area of the Scapegoat) for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1–3). There could be no harsher area for confinement. This is the region of the abyss (the bottomless pit) of the Book of Revelation.

The abyss into which Satan is shut up is not the Lake of Fire. He is only placed in the abyss for 1,000 years. It is after the Millennium that Satan is cast into the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone -- which is the Dead Sea (Revelation 20:10). Satan will be kept in a deep pit (a prison) east of Jerusalem -- between Beth Chaduda and the Dead Sea within the region of the Valley of Fire (the eastern parts of Gehenna).

In a book written about 100 years before the birth of the Messiah and attributed to Enoch, we have more information about these matters as understood by the Judahite people who lived back at that time. This Book of Enoch is not a canonical book of the Bible, but it is referred to by Jude in verses 14 and 15 of his epistle. It does describe a great deal of information that is very compatible with teachings found in the Book of Revelation. The book gives much typical teaching about Gehenna, the abyss, and the Lake of Fire, as believed in many Judahite quarters in the time of the Messiah.

In this book the ancient Enoch was supposed to have seen in vision the manner in which YEHOVAH God would judge evil angels and wicked men. In Enoch 54:1 he sees “a deep valley with burning fire.” This is the streambed of Gehenna as it leaves Jerusalem for its eastward trek to the Wilderness of Judaea and the Dead Sea. Once a person starts down the streambed from Jerusalem, he gets closer to the wilderness. He then comes in contact with the kings and the mighty [the angelic powers in confinement] mentioned in Isaiah 24:21–22. This is the place of the pit (or the abyss). It answers to the Beth Chaduda region where the Scapegoat (the Azazel) is cast into an abyss -- down a steep and precipitous cliff.

The Book of Enoch says this is where “iron chains are placed on those who descend into its bosom” -- the bosom of the abyss. This is the place (or places) where the evil angels are going to be temporarily confined. “These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may take them and cast them into the abyss [the bottomless pit] of complete condemnation” (Enoch 54:5). “And God will imprison those angels, who have shown unrighteousness in that burning valley [that is, the eastern parts of Gehenna, the Wady en-Nar) in the mountains of Israel.” This is the very place where the Scapegoat (the Azazel goat) was taken in the ritual of the Day of Atonement. As said before, this was in an area down the Wady en-Nar east of Beth Chaduda (about three miles eastward of Jerusalem -- see the early Judahite work the Mishnah, Yoma, VI,8).

The Book of Enoch goes on to say that it is the same place where a “star had fallen from heaven...into the abyss: now that abyss [the bottomless pit] was narrow and deep, and horrible, and dark” (Enoch 88:1,2). The apostle John in the Book of Revelation spoke of the same place:

The Book of Enoch also said the archangels of YEHOVAH God will take hold of Azazel (the Scapegoat) with his angels “and cast them into the burning furnace” (Enoch 54:6).

The Book of Enoch (as does the Book of Revelation) recognizes the abyss as only a place of temporary punishment. Professor R. H. Charles, who translated the Book of Enoch, said this “prison is the burning valley [Gehenna], and this is the preliminary prison, not the final” (Pseudepigrapha, vol. II, p. 231). John in the Revelation said the same thing. Satan is placed in the abyss for 1,000 years. He is only placed in the Lake of the Fire (a different place) after the Millennium is over (Revelation 20:1–10).

As said before, the typical location of this abyss is where the Scapegoat was taken -- a few miles east of Jerusalem down the Valley of Fire (the eastern extension of Gehenna). This abyss was somehow supposed to be connected with the lowest waters “under the earth” and sometimes those waters were considered hot and boiling. This is where angels and Satan are to be bound. These are the ones that the apostle Paul refers to when he spoke about those “under the earth” in Philippians 2:10. The apostle Peter said that angels had been placed there as early as the Flood of Noah (I Peter 3:19,20). The Messiah even went to preach to those angels in that prison after his resurrection from the dead.

But as said before, this abyss is not the final place of punishment for the rebellious. That last place is “the Lake of the Fire.” That “lake” is located on down the mountain from the abyss just east of Beth Chaduda. It descends further to the lowest habitable spot on this earth. That is the Dead Sea (the Lake of Fire). The Book of Enoch calls this area the “valley of the angels who led astray mankind burned beneath that land” (Enoch 67:7). This is a reference to the Jordan rift valley in which the Dead Sea was located.

This is the area mentioned by Jude set forth as an example of age-lasting fire (Jude 7). The depths of Tartarus (where the evil angels were kept) was somehow connected with these judgment waters of the Dead Sea. Into these depths will flow “streams of fire,” according to the Book of Enoch (67:7). Remarkably, there is a prophecy of the future (connected with YEHOVAH God's return) that says all the streambeds of the country of Edom (located in the southeastern watershed of the Dead Sea area) will become filled with fire and burning pitch.

This happens at the exact time the heavens depart as a scroll (Isaiah 34:4) and this is directly quoted in the Book of Revelation as a time associated with YEHOVAH God's return to earth (Revelation 6:12–14).

These several streams of Edom will flow into the Dead Sea. The streams will traverse part of the Valley of Jehoshaphat (called in Joel 3:12-14 the Valley of Decision). This area of the southern portion of the Dead Sea will be the location of the greatest military action in history. The nations of the world will assemble at Armageddon and journey to Jerusalem and this Valley of Decision (at the southern end of the Dead Sea) to fight with YEHOVAH God when He returns. This is the same battle when Gog (the leader of these armies in the Valley of Decision) will have “great hailstones, fire, and brimstone” coming down on him and his rebellious army. The whole countryside near the Dead Sea will once again become a fiery furnace when the judgment of YEHOVAH God begins to occur at the coming of the Messiah and YEHOVAH God back to this earth.

The Dead Sea east of Jerusalem is the Lake of Fire mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Today when one goes to the area, there are no fires or smoke to be seen coming from its midst. Throughout most of the historical period since the time of Abraham, however, it was normally described as a lake which periodically erupted with sulfurous flames and columns of smoke that could be seen emerging from its center. But for some reason, over the past two centuries or so, the lake has been quiet. Though some earthquakes have occurred in the region which have loosed a great deal of asphalt from its bottom (and this has risen to the top), nothing has happened that would cause any of us to call the Dead Sea a “Lake of Fire” as most people of the past would have described it.

This is all going to change, however. The Book of Revelation shows clearly that the Lake of the Fire will be in existence when YEHOVAH God returns (Revelation 19:19–20). We may not have many years left to see its re-activization to occur. An event is mentioned by the apostle John which could well be the catalyst that does the job. When the sixth seal of the Book of Revelation is opened, a most remarkable thing takes place:

This gigantic earthquake is associated with the time when the heavens depart as a scroll. There is only one place in all the Bible which speaks of this exact phenomenon. That is Isaiah 34:4–9 when it says that the streams of Edom will become burning pitch when

These fiery streams of Edom will flow directly into the Dead Sea. But there is more. This is also the exact time that “the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:31). This is when the nations of the world assemble in the Valley of Jehoshaphat:

At the great earthquake, and when the nations are gathered around the Dead Sea area (in the Valley of Jehoshaphat), that is when the sun, moon, and stars are darkened. Since the streams of Edom (which are in the same general region) will become burning pitch, and fire and brimstone will rain down on the heathen at the great shaking against Gog and his forces (Ezekiel 38:19–22), there will be a great conflagration from heaven around the Dead Sea. The Messiah said there will also be darkness over Jerusalem (Matthew 24:29; 2 Thesalonians 1:7–8).

In another place the Messiah said to remember the example of Lot (Luke 17:22-37). Lot fled from the cities of the plain of Jordan -- from the Dead Sea area. That’s when the whole of the Jordan rift valley went up in smoke. Jude said this area was the example of the future judgment that was to come upon the rebellious (Jude verse 7). And this is the exact region of the Valley of Jehoshaphat (though that location is in the southern part of the Dead Sea area). The prophecies actually consign the whole of the rift valley east and south of Jerusalem to a fiery judgment.

And throughout the region of the Jordan rift valley we are told that the blood will flow as high as horses bridles. It will do so for 1,600 furlongs (Greek: stadia). That equals about 184 miles (Revelation 14:20). The valley in which this will happen is “without the city.” The city under discussion was “Mystery Babylon” -- Jerusalem at the end of the age. And the Jordan rift valley from Mount Hermon to the end of the watershed south of the Dead Sea is almost exactly 1,600 furlongs in length.

This prophecy is clearly concerning the rift valley east of Jerusalem -- the great chasm or gulf in which Sodom and Gomorrah once were and where the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man was placed. It is also where the Dead Sea is located. Since the whole of the Jordan rift depression went up in fire and smoke and brimstone in the time of Abraham and Lot (Genesis 19:28–29), this territory will once again become the fiery crucible that it once was.

Jude tells us that the first incineration was only a type (an example) of the final holocaust. Jude said: “Likewise [in the same fashion], will the judgment occur when “the LORD cometh with ten thousands of His saints” (Jude verse 14). It is primarily the smoke that comes from the re-igniting of the Dead Sea that causes the sun, moon, and stars to be darkened. This is when the Dead Sea will once again become “the Lake of THE Fire” that it was periodically in the time of the Messiah.

Even the sun being darkened at the time of the Messiah’s crucifixion was probably an eruption of the Dead Sea (Matthew 27:45), and Peter must have been referring to a recent darkening of the sun and moon when he mentioned Joel’s prophecy in Acts 2:17-20. That darkening smoke referred to in the prophecy had to emerge from the Valley of Jehoshaphat, in the area south of the Dead Sea. YEHOVAH God could have bestowed, at the Messiah’s crucifixion, a foretaste of the judgment to come from the Lake of Fire.

This all means that the Dead Sea region is once again to become “the Lake of THE Fire”. It will occur just before the Day of the LORD when gigantic earthquakes and heavenly disturbances take place. There are yet, however, a few more years before this occurs. I have taken over 800 people on tours to the Dead Sea (and I plan to take several more in the years ahead), but there is a day coming when the Dead Sea will erupt with a holocaust that will make Mount St. Helens (of recent date) seem like child’s play. It will be a spectacle to see. And thankfully, the Bible teaches that all of YEHOVAH’s people will be able to escape (as did Lot) this wrath of YEHOVAH God’s vengeance to come (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Once YEHOVAH God has returned to this earth and established His kingdom, Ezekiel says that a river of fresh water will emerge from underneath a new Temple that will be built in the high country of Israel (Ezekiel chapter 47). This fresh water stream will go eastward into the Dead Sea. It could well follow the old watercourse of the Wady en-Nar (the Streambed of Fire) and change the characteristics of the land bordering it. This is no doubt what will occur because we are told that an abundance of fruit trees and medicinal plants will flourish around its banks (Ezekiel 47:12). This would mean that there would no longer be any Gehenna (Valley of Fire) going through that terrible wilderness. In actual fact, we have the express teaching of the Bible that Gehenna (otherwise called Tophet) will become holy to the LORD. Note this important scripture:

This will be the end of Gehenna when the whole area will be made holy unto YEHOVAH God. And with the Book of Ezekiel telling us that a river of fresh water will issue forth from the new Temple (and gets larger as it approaches the Dead Sea), perhaps the river is fed by other streams as it descends and this will result in parts of the Wilderness of Judaea being healed (especially those quarters on the banks of the river).

The region of the abyss east of Jerusalem, however, where Satan will be imprisoned, will remain in desolation as well as parts surrounding the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 47:11). The great quantities of fresh water flowing into the Dead Sea will cause it to become fresh and clean. It will have a great number of fish within its borders.

How long it will take for the Dead Sea to become “alive” is not recorded. Since there will be a long period of time when peace and safety will be on earth, and a time when many of the deserts will blossom, it could be that several years (or even centuries) will take place before the whole of the Jordan rift area is healed. But it will be healed and made beautiful again. This is still not the end, however. The Book of Revelation says there will be one or more outbursts of fire and brimstone that will issue from the lake. It will happen again at the end of the Millennium and the Dead Sea will once more become a Lake of Fire. This will occur when YEHOVAH God sends down fire out of heaven (Revelation 20:9) to judge the wicked at the conclusion of the 1,000 years.

This happens when Satan is finally released from the abyss (the bottomless pit) and he is allowed to cause a final rebellion to YEHOVAH God. Dire consequences will come from YEHOVAH God because of this. And no wonder! People on earth will have witnessed for such a long time the beauties and blessing of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God on earth -- even with Gehenna and the Lake of Fire healed, and yet they allow themselves to be tempted of Satan the Devil. Because of this, YEHOVAH will re-activate the old area of punishment. This time, Satan will be cast into the renewed Lake of Fire. This will last throughout the period of the Great White Throne.

The Bible nowhere tells us how long those ages within that judgment period will last. Some have applied for reference Isaiah 65:17-24 to this space of time. This is not possible. The scene in Isaiah is millennial, and is not applicable to a later period. It could mean that in the Millennium a generation could be reckoned a hundred years. If so, the millennial duration would answer to ten generations of peace before the judgment at the end of the Millennium when Satan is released from the abyss. If so, then there would have been ten generations for the Pre-Flood world -- until a destruction; also ten generations until the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah in Abraham’s day; and ten generations of the Millennium, which sees a fiery judgment also at its end.

It could well mean that the “ages” that accompany the Great White Throne may also last for a similar period. There is also another explanation. Since the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles represent the millennial period of 1,000 years, and the Last Great Day attached to that festival (called the octave) answers well with the White Throne Judgment period, then the 1,000 years of the Millennium divided by the seven days of Tabernacles would equal about 143 years for each day, then perhaps the Great White Throne period might equal near that same space of time. No one knows this for certain.

When the time of the Great White Throne Judgment period is over, YEHOVAH will then create a new heavens and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). All the former things (including the Lake of Fire) will pass away (Revelation 21:4–5). “Behold, I make all things NEW” (Revelation 21:5). This is when the headquarters of the universe finally comes to this earth (Revelation 21:2–3). There will be a new Jerusalem totally unlike any that preceded it. There will be no need for any earthly Temple (Revelation 21:22), but there will be a river of water come forth from the throne of YEHOVAH God (Revelation 22:1–2). The physical example of water coming from the Shekinah (the cloud with the sapphire throne that gave water to the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years) and the Temple that existed in Ezekiel’s prophecy (the millennial Temple) with water flowing from it, will have served as a foretaste to this new water source in the new earth.

YEHOVAH's chosen people have a destiny that is awesome in potential and glorious in scope. We have not even begun to see what YEHOVAH God has in store for us.

The time is coming when “death” will be abolished for all those of Israel who have ever lived (1 Corinthians 15:26). The final conclusion of all things is that YEHOVAH God will become “all and in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28). There will then be no more Gehenna, no more abyss, and no more Dead Sea (the Lake of Fire). All that will be left is LIFE, and perhaps the beginning of a series of new creations in which all of us can participate for the rest of eternity that lies ahead of us.

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Courage for the Sake of Truth is Far Better Than Silence for the Sake of Unity!

Hope of Israel Ministries
P.O. Box 853
Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A.
www.hope-of-israel.org

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