Does REVELATION 22:14-15 Support Eternal Roasting Torture?

A couple of people have written me about this statement Christ makes in the last chapter of the Bible because it sounds as if there will be wicked people right outside the gates of the new Jerusalem in the eternal age of the new Heavens and new Earth:

¹⁴“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

Revelation 22:14-15

Obviously there won’t be wicked people just outside the gates of the new Jerusalem because the new Heavens and new Harth are the “home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). It’s the place “where righteousness dwells,” not the place “where righteousness dwells in the city while wickedness dwells without.” If damned human beings will be hanging right outside the city gates then that would mean the Lake of Fire is also right outside the gates, which obviously isn’t true. The “new heaven and new earth” refer to the coming eternal age where “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”; it’s where the LORD makes everything new (Revelation 21:5).

The problem lies with the dubious rendering of the Greek text by English translators. The linking verb “are” in the phrase “Outside are the dogs” is not in the original text. This is significant because, by adding ‘are’ to this rendition of the text, it gives the impression that these people will still be alive in the era of the new Heavens and new Earth. And coupled with the word “outside” it seems like they’ll be dwelling right outside the gates of the new Jerusalem.

The Greek for “outside” is exó, which means “out, outside, (going) forth or (thrown) away.” Adhering to the hermeneutical rule that Scripture interprets Scripture, let’s look at a couple of other passages relevant to damnation that also use this word:

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away (exó). ⁴⁹ This is how it will be at the end of the age.”

Matthew 13:47-49

Christ gave this natural example to illustrate the way it will be with people at the end of this age. What happens to bad fish that are thrown away? Do they exist forever in a state of constant torment or do they suffer for a bit and then perish? Jesus follows up with verses 49-50 where he says that angels will separate the wicked from the righteous at the end of the age and throw the wicked into a “blazing furnace.” Being cast into such a furnace indicates nothing other than horrible and total incineration.

This is further emphasized by the Lord’s explanation of The Parable of the Weeds in verse 40 of the same chapter: “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.” What happens to weeds cast into fire? Obviously they burn for a little bit, but ultimately burn up. Why did Christ use unmistakable illustrations like these? Because they’re unmistakable. Only a stuffy theologian blinded by sectarianism and tradition could miss their obvious meaning.

Here’s a similar passage where exó is used in reference to human damnation:

“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away (exó) as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

John 15:6 (NASB)

Once again, the point cannot be mistaken: The branches are thrown away into the fire where they are burned. Just like the weeds, the branches burn up in the fire; they don’t burn forever and ever without quite burning up.

Being “thrown away (exo)” in these passages is a reference to Gehenna—the Valley of Hinnom—which Christ used as an example of the lake of fire or second death (Matthew 10:28). The figurative “fire” is also an obvious reference to the lake of fire. At that time Gehenna was a perpetually smoking trash dump where all manner of refuse was cast for the purpose of disposal and incineration. It’s not a pretty picture, but it drives home a powerful point: Those who choose to be God’s enemies become God’s garbage and will thus be thrown away—exó—and exterminated, like garbage.*

* For details see this article and scroll down to the section The Example of Gehenna: “Hell.”

The comparative Greek word exóteros (ex-OT-er-us) is also used by Christ in reference to the lake of fire when he said that the damned would be “thrown outside, into the darkness” (Matthew 8:12). So when the Lord says “Outside (exo) are the dogs” in Revelation 22:14-15 he was saying that they were condemned to the lake of fire, the “second death.”

Lastly, the Greek for “practices” in Revelation 22:15 is the verb poieó (poy-EH-oh), which can be past tense, present tense or future tense depending on the context.

All this info helps us translate the original text of Revelation 22:14-15 as such:

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Thrown away (in the lake of fire) are the dogs, those who practiced magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loved and practiced falsehood.”

Also keep in mind the sequence of events of Revelation chapters 20-22. In 20:11-15 the unrepentant wicked are cast into the lake of fire to suffer the second death. Then chapters 21-22 detail the establishment of the new Heavens and new Earth, the “home of righteousness.” The wicked have already been taken care of by this point—cast into God’s garbage dump and destroyed. Revelation 22:12-21 is the epilogue of Revelation—and the Bible itself—with Christ speaking in verses 12-16 & 20.

This article was edited from chapter 5 of…

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Hell (Lake of Fire): Eternal Torment or Everlasting Destruction?

Sheol / Hades: The “Intermediate State” of the Unsaved Dead

RICH MAN & LAZARUS: Fantastical Parable or Literal Account?

Eternal Life (“Heaven”): Questions & Answers

Human Nature — Spirit, Mind & Body

The Believer’s “Intermediate State” (between Physical Death and Bodily resurrection)

Death — Does it Mean “Separation” as Religionists Claim? (No)