“Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall be waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.”
– Isaiah 34:10
This verse is a humbling picture of God’s judgment upon wicked nations. Specifically in the context of Isaiah. He’s talking about how God will pour out his judgment, his holy wrath, on nations who have turned against him. And he uses these words, “night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever.” And so the picture we’re seeing here is how God’s judgment and wrath endure forever.
Isaiah 34:10 Reminds Us God’s Judgment Is Eternal
God’s judgment in hell is eternal, so trust in Jesus and tell others about Him.
He goes on to say, in the last part of that verse, “from generation to generation it shall be waste; none shall pass through it forever”, and he adds “and ever”. As if forever wasn’t sufficient, I mean that’s kind of the point, you could just stop there, but he adds “and ever”, just to make clear that the judgment, the holy wrath of God is eternal.
When we think about ultimate judgment, the picture that the Bible gives us, even of Hell, it is a picture of judgment that last forever and ever. Hell is never ending. Those who die in their sin apart from faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sin will experience God’s holy judgment forever and ever. Like never, ever ending.
Oh, to think about the eternity of Hell. How it will never, ever, ever, and there will never be … Jonathan Edwards used to speak with tears in his eyes of the torment of burning like a livid coal not for an instant or for a day, but for millions of, millions of ages at the end of which people will realize that they are no closer to the end than when they first begun and they will never ever be delivered from that place.
Isaiah 34:10 Reminds Us To Trust In Jesus
I want to encourage you, I’m guessing most people who are listening to this are followers of Christ who trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin. If you are not, if you have not trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, I urge you to do that now, like today. Don’t die in your sin before a holy God. Having not turned from your sin and trusted in Jesus in the sacrifice he has paid for your sin. Trust in him. Don’t die turning from him. Apart from him. There is an eternal Hell of holy judgment that awaits everyone who is not trusted in Jesus.
This Verse Reminds Us to Share The Good News of Salvation
So, trust in him and once you do and for all who have, for every follower of Christ who has trusted in Jesus, let me encourage you today, share the grace and the good news of God’s love in Christ with somebody else that they might be saved from an eternal Hell. Like today. Think about, somebody in your life who is on a road right now that leads to an eternal hell. They’ve not trusted in Christ. Let’s pray for them right now.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray For Those Who Do Not Have Salvation
God we pray, for people in our lives who’ve not put their trust in you. As we think about different people along those lines, God we pray, use us to share the Gospel with them today. Use us to share the good news of an eternal Heaven with them today, through Jesus; eternal life with you. God, help us not to be silent, help us to speak with boldness, with compassionate boldness, help us to love the people around us today enough to share the Gospel with them today. Please.
And we pray that you’d use us, and we’d pray that you’d empower us in that. We pray that today, there might be people in our lives who turn from their sin and trust in Jesus. So they are saved from an eternal Hell. God may that happen today, we pray. In Jesus name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
