Isaiah 33

Everlasting fire… hmm, what does that sound like? Hell, right? Isn’t that what you’ve always heard—that the righteous are going to live forever with God in heaven and the wicked are going to burn forever in hell? Interestingly enough, that’s pretty much the opposite of what Isaiah says in this chapter. Here, he says (as the title of a great sermon once put it) that heaven and hell have the same zip code.

The wicked aren’t going to live forever in burning fire, the righteous are! “Sinners in Zion are filled with fear. The sinful shake with fear. They cry, ‘Who among us can live with the fire that destroys? Who among us can live with the fire that burns forever?’ He who walks with God, and whose words are good and honest, he who will not take money received from wrong-doing, and will not receive money given in secret for wrong-doing, he who stops his ears from hearing about killing, and shuts his eyes from looking at what is sinful, he will have a place on high.” (vs 14-16)

No wonder the sinners are afraid. Who wouldn’t see a raging fire and be terrified? Of course, they would naturally ask, “Who can survive such a thing?” And then, what’s even more incredible, an answer comes: “The righteous can! In fact, they will live in this fire forever!”

God is everlasting fire. He is described this way all over the pages of Scripture. To Adam and Eve, He appeared as a flaming sword. To Moses, He appeared as a burning bush. To the Israelites, He appeared as a pillar of fire.

God is everlasting fire, and He is who He is when it comes to both the righteous and the wicked. It’s just that the righteous can live in the fire whereas the wicked cannot: “‘Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Mal 4:1-4)

Clearly, the righteous live—even frolic!—in God’s fire. In fact, God is described here as a “sun” of righteousness, and you know what the sun is, don’t you? A big ball of fire!

The wicked also encounter this fire, but they are not able to survive in God’s presence. Why? I don’t know the physics behind it, but I do know that God doesn’t treat His righteous children any differently than He treats His wicked children. It’s clear that He doesn’t “burn” one group and “protect” the other. To both, He will simply reveal Himself as He is, and in this chapter, Isaiah has described the qualities of those who will be able to live in the presence of God.

Maybe it’s time for us to start rethinking our entire concept of “heaven” versus “hell.” God is everlasting fire, and if Isaiah makes anything clear at all, it’s that (1) the wicked cannot live in in this fire and (2) the righteous can.

So, what do you think? Are you ready to burn forever?