Week 50 2 Thessalonians 1
There’s lots of people who figure that hell doesn’t exist. For people who do one question about what it is: how does a guy get there?
Paul offers a short (and incomplete) answer in this verse. He says when the Lord returns to earth: he will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.
(I checked a couple of other bible versions and they use slightly different words for “punish”. For instance retribution. Penalty. Judgment. Justice. Like that. Alternate words…same general idea.)
My sense is that this “punishment” isn’t a freaking-out kind of blood-thirsty vengeance. It’s more like restitution. Compensation. Indemnification. I’m getting what I earned.
The idea is that if I’ve steadily & consistently repudiated the Lord – disregarded his prompts & turned-my-back on him & dismissed him – then I get to go on steadily & consistently repudiating the Lord for the long-term.
The converse – though Paul doesn’t say it here – is that if I’ve steadily & consistently endorsed the Lord – listened to him & tried to follow his prompts – then I get to steadily & consistently endorse & listen to & follow the Lord for the long-term.
So during my lifetime I get to determine my future. And then I end-up getting what I chose.
Note: quote from 2 Thessalonians 1:8 (NIV). I compared NIV’s “punish” with NASB NLT Amplified & Phillips.