Is The Death Penalty the Easy Way Out?

Recently on a Candice Owens podcast she mentioned a discussion she had with Charlie Kirk before his death as to whether Charlie was for or against the death penalty. She said she didn’t believe in the death penalty and gave several reasons. She admitted her position wasn’t entirely theological.[1] Owen’s recalling her conversation with Charlie Kirk said:

“I said to Charlie, ‘I've always been against it.’ Typically, that's a theological conversation. Christians go back and forth on it. Do you have a right to take a life? I'm on the side that, no, we don't have a right to take a life. But my position on it isn't even entirely theological. I said to Charlie, ‘The reason I'm against it is because death is easy. You're here and then you're not. It's like falling asleep, right? You're here one second and then you're not. Think about passing out or fainting. People that commit grave evil and we're giving them death, that's it. Yeah, I always say they deserve more than that.’”[2]

Is the death penalty an “easy way out” and do those who commit capital crimes “deserve more than” physical death? Is death like “falling asleep?” Are those who die “here one moment and gone the next?” Candace Owen’s reasons were outside the sphere of normal arguments that people make for opposing the death penalty. Yet, they are revealing and similar to the false ideas people have who contemplate or commit suicide. They think that by committing self-murder, they will escape the pain of this life and find peace. “Easy?” “Deserve more than that?” “Like falling asleep,” “Here one moment gone the next?” Those words and phrases caused me to mentally ruminate on Owen’s ideas about the death penalty. Unlike Owens, I study the Bible for a living. Being a Biblicist, I believe in the inspiration, inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of the Bible for everything pertaining to life and godliness (Ps. 119:160; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:2-8). I can’t help but look at everything in life and the world around me from a theological perspective.

 Because of the popularity of Owen’s podcast, I thought it would be helpful to address the death penalty from the Scriptures, history, why being executed for a capital crime, like murder, is not the easy way out or like fainting, falling asleep, or being here one moment and gone the next, and why there is no greater punishment than death.

Death Penalty in the Bible

It is significant that one of the first laws established by God after the flood was the death penalty. The flood was God’s death penalty executed on a sinful world (Gen. 6:5). God wiped out all breathing creatures and terraformed the face of the earth with the flood (Gen. 7:10-23; Mt. 24:38-39; 2 Pet. 2:4-5; 3:6). Only Noah and his family survived. And the Lord said to Noah in Genesis 9:1-7:

 1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 “The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. 3 “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. 4 “Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. 7 “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”

Here we have the clear injunction from God, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed” (Gen. 9:6). If you murder someone, your blood shall be shed, i.e., you shall die a violent death for committing the crime of murder. And the reason for the death penalty is given, “For in the image of God He made man.” This tells us that the reason murder is a crime worthy of death is that it ends the life of someone created in God’s image. God’s image and likeness relate to both the attributes of God which He imparts to man to a degree, and also man’s function in the world, which mirrors God specifically that man was created to rule over the earth and its creatures (Gen. 1:26, 28).[3] Clearly, Gen. 9:6 prescribes the death penalty for murder. It must also be taken into consideration that not all killing is murder. Killing in self-defense, to protect others against lethal threats, or killing in war is not murder. And there are multiple categories of murder, e.g., first, second, and third-degree murder, negligent homicide, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, etc. I am not going to get into all the details of the various kinds of murder, but know that it is a complex subject, which the Bible addresses in great detail in the Law of Moses. Yet we can make helpful observations from Gen. 9:6 where God requires the death penalty for murder after the flood:

• The death penalty was for murder, i.e., unjustly taking someone else’s life.

• The death penalty was required by God the Creator, not invented by men.

• The death penalty is necessary. The murderer’s blood, “shall be shed.”

• Though Noah and his family were the only humans alive on earth after the flood, God’s injunction was for all humanity (Gen. 9:19).

• The death penalty in Gen. 9:6 precedes the gracious covenant God made with Noah and humanity to never destroy the earth again with water (Gen. 9:8-17).

• God’s prescription for the death penalty for murder has no expiration date just as the Noahic Covenant has no expiration date. The scope of God’s death penalty prescription and covenant are for the entire human race “with your descendants after you” (Gen. 9:9), “all successive generations” (Gen. 9:12), and “every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Gen. 9:16-17).

• The reason given for enacting the death penalty for murder is that men are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26, 28). The image of God, though marred by sin, gives mankind inherent value (Col. 3:10; James 3:9).

 Thus, we see that the death penalty for murder was prescribed by God to Noah and his descendants, i.e., the entire human race. What this means is even if we only had Gen. 9:6, it would be sufficient to make the case that God prescribes the death penalty for those who commit murder. To strengthen the point even further, the same prescription is made in the Law of Moses (Ex. 21:12-14; Lev. 24:17). In fact, God prescribed the death penalty for many other sins or capital offenses:

•  Death penalty for breaking the Sabbath (Ex. 31:14-17; 35:2; Numb. 15:32-36).

•  Death penalty for striking parents (Ex. 21:15, 17; Lev. 20:9).

•  Death penalty for stubborn, recalcitrant, profligate sons (Deut. 21:18-21).

•  Death penalty for stubborn, recalcitrant, profligate adults (Deut. 17:12).

•  Death penalty for blasphemy (Lev. 24:14, 16, 23).

•  Death penalty for practicing witchcraft, magic, or divination (Ex. 22:18).

•  Death penalty for fornication (Deut. 22:20-21).

•  Death penalty for adultery (Lev. 20:10-21; Deut. 22:22).

•  Death penalty for rape (Deut. 22:25).

•  Death penalty for incest (Lev. 20:11, 14, 16).

•  Death penalty for kidnapping (Ex. 21:16).

•  Death penalty for human sacrifice (Lev. 20:2).

•  Death penalty for homosexuality (Lev. 20:13).

•  Death penalty for falsely prophesying (Deut. 13:1-10).

•  Death penalty for bestiality (Ex. 22:19; Lev. 18:23; 20:15-16; Deut. 27:21).

 The above list is not comprehensive but representative. There are some forty-two sins for which God prescribed the death penalty in the Law of Moses. We are no longer under the Law of Moses as a law system, but much of the Law of Moses overlaps with the Law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:21; Gal. 6:2). And all the Law of Moses is still holy, righteous, good if one uses it lawfully, and all of it is profitable for teaching, reproof, and training in righteousness if (Rom. 7:12, 16; 15:4; 1 Tim. 1:8-11; 2 Tim. 3:15-17). We learn from the Law of Moses that sin is a serious crime against God (Ps. 54:1; Prov. 8:36; Lk. 15:21), so serious in fact, that the Lord required the death penalty for forty-two different offenses. Let that sink in and fear. Yet, before the Law of Moses was given, even before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and before Israel became a nation, the Lord required the death penalty for murder, a command for all humanity.

Death Penalty in the Church Age

 We see in the New Testament that the Jews believed in the death penalty and encouraged the Romans to enact the death penalty on Jesus (Lev. 24:16; Jn. 5:18; 10:30-33; 19:7). The Romans, who also believed in the death penalty, primarily used crucifixion to punish capital offenses. Persecution rose up against the Jewish Christians in the book of Acts because Jews, who rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, believed the Jewish Christians were blaspheming God (Acts 6:11) and that the Jewish Christians should die (Acts 5:33; 7:57-8:3; 23:12-14; 25:3). In the New Testament letters to the churches, the death penalty is also taught in Rom. 13:4 which reads:

 “For it [the governing authority] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

 Keep in mind that in Israel’s Old Testament economy the government was defined by the Law of Moses. In the church age, the church is under the New Covenant and Law of Christ. The church functions under a multitude of governing authorities, whoever they might be. And those authorities still have the right to exercise the death penalty as prescribed by God in (Gen. 9:6). All governments, religious or secular, are under divine obligation by God their Creator to punish murderers with death. The reason again is that the murderer unjustly kills someone who is “made in God’s image” (Gen. 9:6). Some object that executing someone for murder only increases and promotes more killing and murder and therefore we should reject the death penalty. Yet when they say this, it escapes their notice that God established the principle of lex talionis, “life for life,” as a just punishment for committing murder (Ex. 21:23; Deut. 19:21). Capital punishment for capital offenses is just because it is a punishment that fits the crime. When someone commits a capital offense and is executed, it is not murder; it is a just punishment.

 Thus, the governments of the world have both a right and obligation to “bear the sword” and “bring wrath on the one who practices evil” (Rom. 13:4) a figure of speech which refers to the government’s right to put people to death for capital offenses (see also 1 Pet. 2:13-14). We know that Jesus is the Righteous Judge (Ps. 9:7-8; 96:13; 98:9; Isa. 11:4; 16:5; Acts 17:31; 1 Pet. 2:23; Rev. 19:11). And when Jesus returns to earth in flaming glory, He will slay all the wicked and strike down the nations (Isa. 11:4; 2 Thess. 1:7-8; Rev. 19:15). Jesus will, in perfect justice, do what He did at the flood. All unrepentant sinners will be justly executed. Thus, we see that Jesus, the Son of David and Son of Man, will execute the death penalty on all the unbelievers of the world at His second coming to earth to establish His kingdom.

In short, God requires the death penalty for murder for it is just punishment that fits the crime, i.e., “life for life” (Ex. 21:23; Lev. 24:18). God, in giving the “life for life” principle of just punishment in Deut. 19:21, anticipates that people’s pity for the guilty will tempt them to disobey God and not enact a punishment that fits the crime. The Lord says, “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

The Death Penalty in the United States

The death penalty has been practiced from the early days of our country, though not frequently. In 1608, Captain George Kendall was the first to be executed by firing squad for spying. In 1622, Daniel Frank was hung for cattle rustling. In the 1630s, several were hung for the crime of witchcraft. In the notorious Salem Witch Trials in 1692, twenty people were accused and hung for witchcraft. In 1788, Thomas Bird was hanged for murder. In 1790, federal law mandated the death penalty for murder and treason. In 1799, several slaves were executed for conspiracy to commit arson and rebellion. In 1806, several settlers and native Americans were executed for murder in the Louisiana Territory. According to Grok, the most common crimes that brought the death penalty were, “Murder, treason, rape, arson, burglary, horse theft, and (for enslaved people) insurrection. By 1800, over 200 offenses were capital in some colonies/states.”[4]

 It is clear that in the early years of our country the death penalty was in force and used for many of the same crimes that received the death penalty under the Law of Moses. Again, the various kinds of murder and killing are a complex subject beyond the scope of this article, but when someone is found guilty of murder, the intentional, unjust killing someone else created in God’s image, God says “their blood shall be shed,” i.e., they are to suffer the just punishment of a violent death for it fits the crime. Yet, many today, not believing in the Bible, some having committed crimes worthy of death themselves, are as might be expected, against the death penalty. Contrary to Owens, those in prison for capital offenses believe life in prison is a far better sentence than the death penalty. And as we shall see, they are correct in their assessment.

Justice Demands the Death Penalty

When someone is found guilty of murder, it is the duty, obligation, and responsibility of the state to execute them, not put them indefinitely on “death row” so that society has to keep paying for the convicted criminal’s maintenance indefinitely. True justice requires a punishment that fits the crime (Ex. 21:23; Lev. 24:18; Deut. 19:21). If you murder someone and unjustly take a life, it is just for you to die as God said to Noah, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man” (Gen. 9:6). One might argue that God doesn’t really believe in the death penalty because when Cain killed Abel, the Lord didn’t kill Cain but let him live (Gen. 4:3-15). This objection is easily answered. When Cain killed Abel there was no law prohibiting murder or requiring the death penalty for murder. As the Apostle Paul tells us in Rom. 4:15, “where there is no law, neither is there violation.” You can’t be held responsible for breaking a law that hasn’t yet been given. Secondly, Cain eventually died physically because the wages of sin is death.

It must also be considered that Cain did not get away with murdering Abel without consequences. Cain was cursed from the ground (Gen. 4:11), assigned to be a vagrant and wanderer on earth (Gen. 4:12, 14), and God hid His face from Cain (Gen. 4:14). The sin of murder began to increase on the earth and five generations after Cain, Lamech, Cain’s descendant, boasted about committing murder (Gen. 4:23-24). Thus, as sin and the curse continued to corrupt mankind, murder became more common. There was a righteous remnant on earth from the line of Seth at that time, who were known as people who “began to call upon the name of the Lord” (Gen. 4:25-26). And there was Enoch “who walked with God and was not for the Lord raptured him” (Gen. 5:21-24; Heb. 11:5). Yet demonic influences worked to corrupt mankind (Gen. 6:2; 2 Pet. 2:4-5; Jude 6-7).[5] As a result, “the thoughts and intentions of men’s hearts were only evil continuously” (Gen. 6:5).

What did God do in response to the wickedness of men on the earth in Noah’s day? He enacted the death penalty on all humanity except for eight people (2 Pet. 2:5). The holy and sovereign Lord justly punished the guilty with death (Gen. 6:17; Ps. 29:10; Ezek. 18:4; Lk. 17:27; Rom. 6:23; 2 Pet. 3:6). The principle of death was established before the fall when the Lord told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “you shall surely die” or more literally, “dying you shall die” (Gen. 2:17; 3:3). Once Adam, the representative head of the human race, willfully ate the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:6), he was cursed along with all creation (Gen. 3:17-18; Rom. 8:22). Adam died spiritually and the process of dying physically began to work on him until he returned to the dust from which he was made (Gen. 3:19; 5:5). The principle of physical death for sin remains upon Adam’s race to this day (Rom. 1:32; 5:12; 6:23; 7:5; 8:13; 1 Cor. 15:22; James 1:15). “The soul that sins shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). We are born into the world spiritually dead, and the process of physical death begins to work on us until we return to the dust (Gen. 3:19; Ps. 90:3; 104:29; Eccl. 3:20; 12:7; 2 Cor. 4:16). The only way to escape the second death, which occurs after physical death (Rev. 20:14; 21:8), is to repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ alone to save you from God’s just and holy wrath expressed in the lake of fire.

Jesus will again judge the world in righteousness and enact the death penalty on all who will not bow to His sovereign Lordship and trust Him as their Savior (Acts 2:36; 10:36; Rom. 10:9; Phil. 2:11; Rev. 7:14). It is turn to Jesus Christ in faith or burn in the lake of fire forever (Lk. 13:3, 5). When Jesus returns to earth in glory, He will enact the death penalty with fire on the human race (Gen. 9:11, 15; Acts 17:30-31; 2 Pet. 3:7, 10-13; Rev. 21:1). Every child of Adam deserves to die because Adam’s sin is imputed to them and because of their own volitional sins (Rom. 5:12-19). All are guilty (Rom. 3:23). All are sinners in need of salvation from eternal death in the lake of fire (Mt. 18:18; 25:41; Jude 7; Rev. 14:11; 20:14-15; Rev. 21:8). All the texts above, and many others besides, reveal that the death penalty is just and right. Concerning the sin of murder, the death penalty is a punishment that fits the crime, i.e., “life for life.”

Why the Death Penalty Is Not “the Easy Way Out”

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, Candace Owens in two successive podcasts, expressed why she is against the death penalty:

The reason I'm against it is because death is easy. You're here and then you're not. It's like falling asleep, right? You're here one second and then you're not. Think about passing out or fainting. People that commit grave evil and we're giving them death, that's it. Yeah, I always say they deserve more than that.[6]

Candace, like many others, does not understand the implications of physical death. The misconception is that physical death is “the end” of consciousness, that death is “like falling asleep,” or “fainting,” or “being here one moment and then gone the next.” Many who commit suicide have the same kinds of misconceptions. They try to escape the pain and misery of their life by killing themselves. Their thinking is tragically and woefully false. The real us, our conscious spirit, the eternal part of us, never ceases to exist in either heaven or hell. Those who die without being born again by grace through faith in Jesus Christ will spend a conscious, eternal existence in the lake of fire. Thus, the person who commits suicide or self-murder, exchanges minor pain, for far greater everlasting pain. In essence, they leap from the frying pan into the fire.

Death is not “the easy way out” for the wicked. Their life, no matter how miserable it might be in this world, is all the heaven they will ever receive if they don’t know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The moment they die they will discover too late that they have been deceived about death. They will begin to suffer eternal pain to far greater degree than anything they ever experienced on earth. Their pain will never end. Thomas Watson describes the duration of the punishment that God will inflict on all who reject Jesus Christ:

See what contrary ways the godly and the wicked go at death. The godly go to a kingdom, the wicked to a prison, and the devil is the jailor. They are bound with the “chains of darkness,” Jude 6. But what are these chains? Not iron chains, but worse, the chain of God’s decree, decreeing them to torment, and the chain of God’s power, whereby he binds them fast under wrath. This is the deplorable condition of impenitent sinners, they do not go to a kingdom when they die, but to a prison. O think what horror and despair will possess the wicked, when they see themselves engulphed in misery. Their condition hopeless, helpless, and endless. They are in a fiery prison with no possibility of getting out! A servant under the Law of Moses might have a hard master. Yet every seventh year was a year of his release when he might go free. But in hell there is no year of release when the damned shall go free. The fire, the worm, the prison, are eternal. If the whole world, from earth to heaven, were filled with grains of sand, and once in a thousand years an angel should come and fetch away one grain of sand, how many millions of ages would pass before that vast heap of sand would be quite spent? Yet, if after all this time the sinner might come out of hell, there would be some hope; but this word “ever” (Rev. 14:11) breaks the heart with despair.[7]

It is to be acknowledged that not all who commit suicide do so to escape the pain of this life. Some kill themselves as an act of revenge, to hurt others, or to escape a slow debilitating death because of disease or sickness. Among those who commit suicide their thinking is almost universally flawed, thinking that physical death will put an end to suffering and pain. This is a corpulent lie from the pit of hell, a lie that Candace Owen’s unfortunately believes. The Word of God is clear; death is not the easy way out.

There is a reason why Dante described in his Inferno the sign over the entrance to hell as reading, “Abandon all hope you who enter here.” This brings us to the core issue of this article and the reason why physical death is not the easy way out for the wicked.

Why the Death Penalty Is Neither Easy nor a Lesser Punishment

The Bible describes physical death as “the king of terrors” (Job 18:14). When those who reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior die, they experience conscious eternal torment in hell where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), suffering in “the lake of fire,” and “the second death” (Rev. 19:20; 20:10, 14-15; 21:8). To address the subject of eternal conscious torment in hell thoroughly would require a very large volume. But for our purposes, we will summarize and systematically address from the Bible why physical death for murder is neither easy nor a lesser punishment.

For the remainder of this article, I will first address from the Bible the fact of eternal consciousness after death. Second, the various terms used in the Bible to describe the punishment of the wicked after dying physically. Third, why eternal punishment fits the crime. And lastly, how a sinner can escape the just judgment of God. I will also list some resources for further study.

Eternal Conscious Torment in Hell After Physical Death

Many deny the Bible’s teaching about conscious torment in hell. They believe that when the wicked die, it is over and that there is no consciousness after death. This view is called annihilationism and is promoted by evolutionists, atheists, and some professing Christians who reject the Bible’s teaching about the afterlife. You can’t be an annihilationist without denying the doctrine of hell and the Bible’s teaching about conscious, eternal punishment. Others reject conscious torment in hell, saying that it is too severe or is negative or unloving. Still others protest, “How can a loving and just God punish for eternity sins that were committed in the short span of a person’s life?” We will answer that question later.

Still others like Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses embrace the false doctrine of “soul sleep.” They teach that after physical death the souls or spirits of the wicked enter into a state of unconsciousness, like a coma, fainting, or being sleep, and that they do not consciously suffer. Then at the resurrection, they receive consciousness briefly, are judged, and eternally burnt up. To embrace any of these views one must deny the Word of God. Also, by denying conscious torment, one of the greatest deterrents against sinning is removed, as well as one of the key motivations to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Every sinner must, as John the Baptist boldly preached, “Flee from the wrath to come” (Mt. 3:7; Lk. 3:7).

But let’s look at the plain teaching of Scripture so that every fact may be established on the testimony of at least two or three witnesses (Mt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1). In 2 Sam. 28:1-25 we read about king Saul whose sin isolated him from God. God stopped communicating to Saul through the prophets, so Saul went to the witch of Endor for information. When the witch tried to summon the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel, the Lord actually raised the spirit of Samuel from the dead. The witch cried out in fear at Samuel’s appearance (2 Sam. 28:12). Samuel then spoke to Saul and made prophetic pronouncements that later came true (2 Sam. 28:19). But for our purposes we see that the spirit of Samuel was very much alive and conscious after he died physically. Yes, his body was in the grave, had returned to dust, but his spirit was conscious and raised up from Abraham’s bosom (Lk. 16:19-31).

In the book of Job, the oldest book in the Bible, Job tells us about his hope after dying physically in Job 19:25-27:

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

Job knew he would die physically and yet would still be conscious and able to see his Redeemer. When Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe for us the Mount of Transfiguration, they saw the spirits of Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus (Mt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8; Lk. 9:28-36). Moses and Elijah were still alive and conscious after their deaths. During the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, some Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection (Mt. 22:23), gave their best argument against the resurrection to Jesus to see how He would respond. They wanted to humiliate and discredit Jesus. The Sadducees proposed that a woman had married seven different brothers from the same family, after each brother had died, she married the next of kin, and then she herself died (Mt. 22:24-27). They asked Jesus whose wife she would be in the resurrection (Mt. 22:28). Jesus’ answer is telling.

29 But Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.’ 33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. (Matthew 22:29–33)

Multiple observations about consciousness after physical death can be made from Jesus’ reply to the Sadducees. First, the brothers and woman who died are still referred to by Jesus as “they,” present, active, indicative (vs. 30). Second, “they are like the angels in heaven” who are conscious beings (vs. 30). Third, “they” will be resurrected, i.e., their conscious spirits will be united with a resurrected body that is awakened from the dead (Dan. 12:2; Jn. 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:29; Rev. 20:4-6). Fourth, Jesus says Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still “living” (vs. 32), though they had already died physically (Mt. 22:31; Mk. 12:27; Lk. 20:38). Jesus taught that the spirits of the dead are still conscious after physical death.

The Apostle John, in Jn. 5:25, speaks of those who have died physically, “hearing” the Lord’s voice calling them to be resurrected (Jn. 5:25-29). We might also consider texts like Rev. 6:9-11 where the souls of those who have died physically are conscious and cry out to the Lord in heaven to be avenged. Consider Jesus’ teaching about the future judgment of the wicked and exaltation of the righteous after physical death in Lk. 13:22-30:

22 And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ 26 “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; 27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’ 28 “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. 29 “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 “And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

Notice how Jesus taught that the spirits of the dead, both the wicked and righteous, are still conscious and able to converse after dying physically. The wicked, still conscious, go to a place of perpetual weeping and gnashing of teeth. They can see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God after death and are aware that they themselves are cast out (Lk. 13:28). The righteous are described as conscious and recline at the table feasting in God’s kingdom (vs. 29). Jesus clearly taught in Lk. 13:22-30 that both the righteous and wicked are conscious after death.

Now let’s focus on the wicked who die, having rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, which is the main point of this article. Keep Candace Owen’s comments in mind that capital punishment, the death sentence for murderers is “easy,” “you are here one moment and gone the next,” like “fainting,” “passing out,” or “falling asleep.” And let’s see from Scripture if people who commit capital offenses “deserve more than” physical death, which implies that life in prison is a worse punishment for the wicked than physical death in hell and the lake of fire. Again, I am not Candace Owens bashing. I get it, she doesn’t study the Bible for a living. She acknowledged her comments were more rational than theological. Yet, her podcast is the number one podcast in the world at the time of this writing. Therefore, the theological errors she has espoused need to be corrected lest people be led astray about the death of the wicked being “easy.”

As we have learned, Scripture teaches eternal consciousness after death. You don’t cease to exist as a person after you die physically, but remain a conscious spirit. Physical death is not like falling asleep, passing out, fainting, or ceasing to exist. Physical death for the wicked is to wake up to eternal, inescapable realities, and conscious torment forever. But what does the Bible say about those who have died having rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in this life? Let’s see.

In Isa. 66:24 we read about the souls of the damned, “their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched.” The point is that the souls of the wicked will be as if they were eternal food to be consumed by worms and eternal fuel to be consumed by the fire. Jesus quotes Isa. 66:24 in relation to those who lead believers astray. He said it would be better, preferred, more advantageous for them to have a heavy upper millstone chained around their neck and cast into the depths of the sea, than to lead a Christian into sin (Mk. 9:42). Then Jesus gave a series of statements designed to warn us to make every effort to avoid sinning, for those who sin end up in that place where the “worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mk. 9:43-48). Jesus describes the wicked who have died as being conscious in “hell” (Mk. 9:43, 45, 47), and suffering “unquenchable fire” (Mk. 9:43). The parallel text of Mt. 18:8-9 speaks of the wicked being “cast into eternal fire” and “the fiery hell.”

The prophet Daniel tells us in Dan. 12:2 that the wicked will suffer “everlasting contempt,” which requires everlasting consciousness. In Mt. 25:46 the wicked are described by Jesus as suffering “eternal punishment” which requires eternal consciousness. When Jesus told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man found himself conscious and suffering agony in the flames of hell (Lk. 16:19-31). In Jesus’ parables, which are fictitious but true to life stories, Jesus says in Mt. 25:41 that unbelievers, after death, are cast into “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Jesus describes hell as a place of conscious torment where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 8:12; 13:42-50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). The Apostle John describes those who receive the mark of the beast and worship the Antichrist during the tribulation with these words in Rev. 14:11:

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.

W. B. Godby, in his commentary on the book of Revelation, says this about Rev. 14:11:

This problem, which has been called in question by infidels and skeptics of all ages, who, under the cognomen of religion, have written wagonloads of books to disprove the eternity of the sinner’s punishment, is here settled by the Holy Ghost beyond the possibility of cavil.[8]

You can’t deny the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell without denying the Bible. The moment a murderer is executed, they enter into conscious, exquisite, and eternal horrors. This is why the death penalty for murderers, and those who commit other capital offenses, suffer far greater after death in hell than they could ever suffer here on earth. Thus, we might use the generic term “hell” to describe any number of terms that the Bible uses to describe the destiny of the damned. But it is clear that in the end, Hades, the New Testament term for the Old Testament word “Sheol,” is cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14), which is the second death. The lake of fire was originally prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt. 25:41). In the lake of fire, the wicked will experience God’s holy and just wrath for eternity (Dan. 12:2; Jn. 3:36).

Biblical Terms Used to Describe the Destination of Departed Spirits

Before we consider the eternal, conscious torment of the wicked, let’s first consider the biblical terms that speak of the place departed spirits go after physical death. In the Old Testament, Sheol is a term used to describe the place of the departed spirits. Sheol is often used as a synonym for death, the place of the dead, or the grave. In some contexts, Sheol is used to describe a place of divine judgment for the wicked in fire (Deut. 32:22; Psa. 13-14). Metaphorically, Sheol is described as a monster that swallows the wicked (Isa. 5:14). Sheol is described as being located deep in the earth (Psa. 86:13), a place of dust (Job 17:16), a land of darkness and shadows (Job 10:21). Sheol is excited to welcome the spirits of the dead (Isa. 14:9), swallowing up the earth’s heroes (Ezek. 32:27), a place from which the righteous are delivered (Psa. 16:10; 40:2).

Sheol is a place that has multiple areas or compartments. There is a place for the righteous, another place for the departed spirits of wicked men, and possibly several other prisons for especially wicked demons. In the Old Testament era, before Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, the place of the righteous in Sheol is called Abraham’s bosom (Lk. 16:19-31). The New Testament terms used to describe Sheol are “grave,” “hell,” “death,” or “the pit.”

Abaddon is also used in the Old Testament as a synonym for Sheol and the destination of all departed spirits (Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Prov. 15:11; 27:20). In the New Testament, Abaddon is the name of the chief angel or demon over the abyss who is also called Apollyon (Rev. 9:11). The Abyss is a synonym for the bottomless pit and probably for Tartarus as well (Rev. 9:1 cf. Rev. 9:11; Lk. 8:31 cf. II Pet. 2:4). It was the place where demons feared to go (Lk. 8:31). Some demons are temporarily released from the Abyss during the seven-year tribulation period that precedes Jesus’ second coming to earth (Rev. 9:1-11). One of the demons that arise from the abyss possesses the beast of the Apocalypse, i.e., the Antichrist (Rev. 11:7 & 13:1-3 cf. Rev. 17:8). Satan is bound in the abyss during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) before being released for a short time, judged, cast into the lake of fire to suffer eternal, conscious torment forever (Rev. 20:7-10).

The Bottomless Pit is also a synonym for the abyss and probably for Tartarus (Rev. 9:1-2 cf. Rev. 9:11). The bottomless pit is described as a great furnace of smoke and darkness. “The Pit” is a shortened version of “the bottomless pit” or Abyss, and is another synonym for Sheol, the grave, hell, the abyss, or death (Psa. 30:3; Prov. 1:12; Isa. 38:18; Ezek. 26:20). Gehenna is a translation of the Greek word originally signifying the valley of Hinnom (ge-hinnom, the valley of Topheth to the south of Jerusalem where sacrifices to Molech were made in Old Testament times of apostasy and idolatry). Gehenna was considered accursed because of what occurred there (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6; Jer. 7:32; 32:35).

Because of the wicked deeds committed in the Valley of Hinnom, in New Testament times, the Valley of Hinnom became a place for burning refuse. Because of the stench of rotting carcasses, garbage, fires, smoke, and its history of defilement from idolatry, the term gehenna became a synonym for hell. In the New Testament gehenna refers to a real place (Mt. 10:28) and is a synonym for the “lake of fire” and “the second death,” originally prepared for Satan and his angels (Mt. 25:41).

In Greek mythology, Hades or Pluto was the god of the lower regions. In the New Testament, Hades, like Sheol in the Old Testament, is used to describe the place of all the departed spirits of men, both saved and unsaved. After Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus takes the spirits of the righteous out of Hades to be with Him in heaven (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). Today, Hades is the destination of the departed spirits of wicked men only. At the Great White Throne Judgment, the wicked will be resurrected, judged, and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14-15). Hades is sometimes translated “hell” or “grave” and sometimes coupled with death as in, “death and hades” (Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14). Another term borrowed from Greek mythology, and only used once in the New Testament by the Apostle Peter, is the word Tartarus. Peter uses the word Tartarus to describe the prison of especially wicked angels who sinned in the days of Noah (II Pet. 2:4).[9] Tartarus is described by Peter as “pits of darkness,” a synonym for the “abyss” or “bottomless pit.”

The term “Hell” has caused a bit of confusion because several different terms with different meanings have been translated “hell” in different translations of the Bible. Hell has become a catch all word to describe the place of torment for all who reject Jesus Christ after death, but before they are resurrected and judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). The term “Lake of Fire” is the final place of eternal torment and judgment for all unbelieving men and fallen angels. The Lake of Fire, originally prepared for Satan and his angels, and is also referred to by Jesus as “eternal fire” in Mt. 25:41. The beast, the false prophet, Satan, death, Hades, and all unbelievers of all the ages are cast into that the Lake of Fire (Dan. 7:11; Rev. 19:20; 20:10, 14-15). The “second death” refers to the Lake of Fire (Rev. 21:8).

As you can see, the subject of the underworld and place of conscious, departed spirits is a bit complicated. Yet it is important to have a general understanding of all the various terms and their meanings when discussing the conscious torment of the wicked after physical death. Jonathan Edwards in his sermon “The Future Punishment of the Wicked, Unavoidable and Intolerable,” writes:

Nor will they ever be able to find anything to relieve them in hell. They will never find any resting place there; any place of respite; any secret corner, which will be cooler than the rest, where they may have a little respite, a small abatement of the extremity of their torment. They never will be able to find any cooling stream or fountain, in any part of that world of torment; no, nor so much as a drop of water to cool their tongues. They will find no company to give them any comfort, or to do them the least good. They will find no place, where they can remain, and rest, and take breath for one minute: For they will be tormented with fire and brimstone; and will have no rest day nor night for ever and ever.[10]

William Gurnall has written,

But think not, sinners, that you shall escape [hell]. God’s mill goes slow, but grinds small; the more admirable his patience and bounty now is, the more dreadful and insupportable will that fury be which arises out of his abused goodness. There is nothing smoother than the sea, yet, when stirred into a tempest, nothing rages more. There is nothing so sweet as the patience and goodness of God, and nothing so terrible as his wrath when it takes fire.[11]

Henry Ironside, speaking of how our memories in hell will add to our torment, writes:

What a terrible thing memory will be for the unsaved: to remember throughout all eternity every sin committed and unrepented of, and therefore unforgiven; to remember every opportunity to get right with God which had been carelessly passed by: to remember every gospel message one has ever heard and yet refused to believed. Memory will be the worm that dies not, tormenting the soul forever.[12]

Thomas Brooks, in his Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, describes the conscious torment of the wicked for rejecting the truth:

If your light and knowledge be not turned into practice, the more knowing man you are, the more miserable man you wilt be in the day of recompense. Your light and knowledge will more torment you than all the devils in hell. Your knowledge will be that rod that will eternally lash you, and that scorpion that will forever bite you, and that worm that will everlastingly gnaw on you.[13]

Those who suffer the death penalty will instantly find themselves alert, awake, and cast into hell to suffer in the agonizing flames of hell. Later, they will be resurrected, given bodies fit for eternal suffering, and cast into the lake of fire with the devil and his fallen angels as his eternal companions. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The smoke of their torment will go up forever.

Why Eternal Punishment Fits the Crime

Many reject the Biblical teaching of eternal, conscious torment in hell, not because the Bible doesn’t clearly teach these realities, but because they cannot reconcile in their mind how sins committed during the relatively short duration of one’s life (short compared to eternity), could receive eternal, everlasting punishment. It seems to them like overkill, like their punishment far exceeds their crimes. The answer to this question is simple.

First, people underestimate the enormity of their sin against a holy God. God, being perfect, requires perfect obedience and perfect justice for all who sin against Him. God’s standard is that we love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, every moment of every day, in both thought and deed (Deut. 6:5). No one comes close to the perfection of obedience which God requires and deserves (Mt. 5:48; 1 Pet. 1:15-16). Second, all who know the character of God know that God is infinitely holy, just, and righteous. He will by no means allow the guilty to go unpunished (Ex. 34:7; Nah. 1:2-8). Third, because God is infinitely holy, every sin is an infinite offense, and therefore justly carries with it an everlasting punishment. Fourth, eternal torment in hell does not sanctify the wicked. The wicked do not become more godly as they suffer in the lake of fire, but remain wicked forever. They keep sinning in hell and the lake of fire fueling their eternal destruction. J. I. Packer, in his classic work Knowing God, comments:

Nobody stands under the wrath of God save those who have chosen to do so. The essence of God's action in wrath is to give men what they choose, in all its implications: nothing more, and equally nothing less. God's readiness to respect human choice to this extent may appear disconcerting and even terrifying, but it is plain that His attitude here is supremely just and poles apart from the wanton and irresponsible infliction of pain which is what we mean by cruelty.[14]

A. W. Pink, in his The Attributes of God, writes:

Indifference to sin is a moral blemish, and he who hates it is not a moral leper. How could He who is the Sum of all excellency look with equal satisfaction upon virtue and vice, wisdom and folly? How could he who is infinitely holy disregard sin and refuse to manifest His "severity" (Rom. 9:22) toward it. How could He, who delights only in that which is pure and lovely, not loath and hate that which is impure and vile? The very nature of God makes Hell as real a necessity, as imperatively and eternally requisite, as Heaven is.[15]

How to Escape the Eternal Wrath of God After Dying Physically

God created Adam and Eve sinless. God gave them one rule or law, “Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 3:1-7). In order for God to get the most glory from man, God had to give man a choice to worship Him freely and willingly. The freedom to choose right necessitates the freedom to choose wrong. Adam and Eve chose to listen to Satan, instead of their Creator, and sin (Gen. 3:6). God had made men upright, but they sought out many devices (Eccl. 7:29). Adam, Eve, and creation were cursed by God as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin (Gen. 3:13-19; Rom. 8:22). They were expelled from the garden of Eden so that they could not have access to the tree of life, eat of it, and live forever in their sin cursed state (Gen. 3:22-24). The principle of death was set on Adam and Eve so that eventually they died physically to return to the dust (Gen. 3:19; 5:5). Because we are all Adam's children, blood relatives (Gen. 3:20; 9:19; 10:32; Mal. 2:10; Acts 17:26), we are all born into this world with the sin and guilt of Adam upon us and therefore are destined to die physically (Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:22; Heb. 9:27). We are conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5), born in sin (Psalm 58:3), and our hearts are evil from our youth (Gen. 8:21). Thus, being sinners by nature, we sin. The wages of sin is death (Gen. 2:17; 3:3; Ezek. 18:14; Rom. 6:23). The plight of humanity is we are all are sinners who justly deserve to suffer God’s eternal wrath in the lake of fire because of Adam’s imputed sin and our own sin (Rom. 1:18-32; 3:10-18; 5:12-19).

Yet, God by His grace, because of His love for Adam’s fallen race, sent the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Mt. 1:21-23), to live a perfect sinless life (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 7:26), to die on the cross for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:21-25), and be raised again from the dead three days later (Mt. 16:21; Acts 2:24; 17:30-31; 1 Cor. 15:4). He did this so that “whoever believes in Him would not perish but receive eternal life” (Jn. 3:15-16; Rom. 10:11; 1 Jn. 5:1). Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, the Life and no one comes to the Father but through Him” (Jn. 14:6). There is no other name than Jesus Christ, given among men, by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). “God is now declaring that all people everywhere should repent,” i.e., turn from their sin, and believe in Jesus Christ alone to save them or be judged (Acts 10:42; 17:30-31; 2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:5-6). You must repent of your sin, believe in Jesus Christ, or perish for eternity (Lk. 13:3, 5; Jn. 3:18).

But you can only repent and believe in Jesus Christ while you are still alive in this sin cursed world. There are no second chances after death. Thus, the death penalty, capital punishment, brings criminals face to face with the king of terrors—physical death, and conscious eternal torment forever in hell and the lake of fire. Unless they repent, they find themselves conscious and in hell after dying physically. What this means is that death for the wicked is not the easy way out, not like fainting, falling asleep, or ceasing to exist. It is not an escape from pain, but an eternal plunge into everlasting pain of a far greater degree, pain that will never end. The death penalty thrusts the wicked from this reality into terrible torments forever. This is why the death penalty is the greatest of punishments for the wicked.

If you want to learn more about what the Bible teaches about the eternal judgment of the wicked after physical death. Here are some resources.

Bible Study: Jack Hughes, “Doctrine of Hell”

Audio Sermons:

Jack Hughes, “A Trip to Hell”  (Luke 12:5)

Jack Hughes, “Fear the Executioner of Both Body and Soul” (Part 1 of a five-part series from Lk. 12:4-9)

Jack Hughes, “The Reality of Hell” (Lk. 16:19-31)

Jack Hughes, “The Agony of Hell” (Luke 16:19-31)

Written Sermons:

Jonathan Edwards, “The Future Punishment of the Wicked, Unavoidable and Intolerable”

Jonathan Edwards, “Wicked Men, Useful in Their Destruction Only”

Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

I leave you with a devotion from Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening that I hope will move you to sober consideration about the true condition of your soul:

It is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself; to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is going through a land where the storm has spent itself upon his Savior's head, and if there be a few drops of sorrow falling, they distil from clouds of mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are not for his destruction. 

But how terrible is it to witness the approach of a tempest: to note the forewarnings of the storm; to mark the birds of heaven as they droop their wings; to see the cattle as they lay their heads low in terror; to discern the face of the sky as it grows black, and look to the sun which shines not, and the heavens which are angry and frowning! How terrible to await the dread advance of a hurricane -- such as occurs, sometimes, in the tropics -- to wait in terrible apprehension till the wind shall rush forth in fury, tearing up trees from their roots, forcing rocks from their pedestals, and hurling down all the dwelling-places of man!

And yet, sinner, this is your present position. No hot drops have as yet fallen, but a shower of fire is coming. No terrible winds howl around you, but God's tempest is gathering its dread artillery. As yet the water-floods are dammed up by mercy, but the floodgates shall soon be opened: the thunderbolts of God are yet in his storehouse, but lo! the tempest hastens, and how awful shall that moment be when God, robed in vengeance, shall march forth in fury! Where, where, where, O sinner, will you hide your head, or where will you flee? O that the hand of mercy may now lead you to Christ! He is freely set before you in the gospel: his riven side is the rock of shelter. You knowest your need of Him. Believe in Him. Cast thyself upon Him. And then the fury shall be overpast forever.[16] 

[1] Candice Owen’s, Episode 252 “Setting the Bait,” https://www.youtube.com/live/c5BcKF91iec?si=e1cq9jhzocaemPQB.

[2] Grok: https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtMg%3D%3D_edcafe75-4137-42dc-9309-9898f528e38e. She said something similar in Episode 253.

[3] See my sermon on Gen. 1:26-28: https://anchorbiblechurch.subspla.sh/5cpbyhf .

[4] See Grok entry at: https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtMg%3D%3D_8cb9b47b-a7ef-45a3-abe3-99edd266edf7 .

[5] See my article on Jesus’ decent into hell and the sons of God in Genesis 6:2: https://www.drivennails.com/for-everyone/did-jesus-descend-into-hell-and-who-are-the-sons-of-god-in-genesis-611282017 .

[6] Candice Owen’s, Episodes 252. She said something similar in episode 253.

[7] Thomas Watson, The Select Works of the Rev. Thomas Watson, Comprising His Celebrated Body of Divinity, in a Series of Lectures on the Shorter Catechism, and Various Sermons and Treatises (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1855), 448.

[8]W. B. Godby, Revelation, vol. 1, pg. 103.

[9]For more information on the angels who sinned during the days of Noah see: https://www.drivennails.com/for-everyone/did-jesus-descend-into-hell-and-who-are-the-sons-of-god-in-genesis-611282017 .

[10] From Jonathan Edwards sermon, “The Future Punishment of the Wicked, Unavoidable and Intolerable,” https://www.jonathan-edwards.org/Punishment.html .

[11] William Gurnall and John Campbell, The Christian in Complete Armour (London: Thomas Tegg, 1845), 740–741.

[12] Henry Ironside, Addresses on the Gospel of Luke, Loizeaux Brothers Publishers, Neptune, New Jersey 1974, 514-15.

[13] Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 1 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 9.

[14] J. I. Packer, Knowing God, Intervarsity Press, 1973, 68.

[15] A. W. Pink, Attributes of God, Baker Book House, 1975, 83.

[16] From Charles Spurgeon’s devotional, Morning and Evening, Feb. 25th, Mt. 3:7 entitled “The Wrath To Come.”