I am sure that many of our readers are familiar with the latest atrocity committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – the burning alive of a captured Jordanian pilot. Some of you may have seen the video of this killing that ISIS posted to the internet and has been reported on by major media. While people die in fires every day, rarely are such burnings deliberate, and rarely are they video-recorded for everyone to easily see.
We could use this article to discuss the barbarous nature of this latest murderous act by ISIS, but given the thousands of other murders that they have committed, including beheadings, impalings, crucifixions, the torture, rape and murder of women and children…etc, I see no reason to devote special attention to the physical implications of this one particular act of murder. However, the nature of this poor man’s death does provide us with an opportunity to consider some spiritual implications with regard to burning.
All over the world, people regularly die in fires. Others have sustained major burns over large portions of their bodies but have survived those injuries. Mere words fail to adequately express the kind of pain and misery that such people experience. Those who have experienced even small burns know that burns are very painful. Those familiar with this type of pain cannot imagine how bad it must be to be burned alive. Could any fate be worse?
Before saying “no,” we should consider the punishment that God has reserved for those who reject and sin against Him. After telling the parable of the wheat and tares, Jesus was asked by His disciples to explain the parable. Jesus said, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: their shall be wailing and gnashing (grinding) of teeth” (Matthew 13:40-42). Jesus used “fire,” even “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:44, 46 and 48) to describe the punishment of the wicked. Sinners will be “cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8; see also 20:15).
This burning is not the brief (though excruciating) pain of physical burning, but the “everlasting” pain of a tormented soul (Revelation 14:11; Matthew 25:46; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). God’s reward to the righteous is “eternal life.” It is only reasonable that His punishment for sin will be everlasting punishment.
Some people consider such a punishment to be too severe for a loving God to administer, but they overlook the serious and terrible nature of sin (Romans 7:13). They also overlook the just nature of God. Yes, God is “good,” but He is also “severe” (Romans 11:22 – “knowing therefore the goodness and the severity of God…”). It is very dangerous to have a lop-sided view of God’s nature. God is both “just” and “the justifier” (Romans 3:26).
So, while physical burning is terrible, it is only temporal. The burning that we most need to be concerned about is what will come from the everlasting fires of hell. Eternal punishment can be avoided only by meeting the saving conditions of God’s grace (John 3:16; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38), and serving Him faithfully (Colossians 1:23; Rev. 2:10).
Tim Haile