A doctrine taught in the Christian Church, as well as one of the statements of faith in the constitution of our denomination is the eternal punishment of unbelievers.

Let me say that I have a difficult time getting my mind around this concept.

First, lets look at the meaning of the word punishment. Punishment is the disciplinary action against an individual for correction. We punish someone for the purpose of changing his/her behavior. The person being punished changes his/her behavior to avoid the pain being inflicted, whether it be physical of mental.

Second, lets look at the meaning of the word eternal. Eternal is understood to mean forever or unending.

Now, when you put the two words together you get a concept that does not make sense at all. How can punishment be unending if it is meant to be corrective? If you apply physical or mental pain without expecting or allowing changed behavior from the individual, you are not punishing but torturing for the sheer pleasure of it. Is this really a character trait that you would ascribe to our Father in heaven? History has shown, that even in mankind's most foul human behavior, the torturer has had enough mercy to allow the victim to eventually escape the pain of torture through death. Yet our Creator has less mercy than His creation?

Related to this topic is eternal life. Eternal life, according to Romans 2:7, includes immortality. Only born again - blood bought believers in Yeshua are given eternal life. Immortalilty is only for Christians. That means unbelievers do not receive immortality. They do not live forever. They receive eternal death; a death from which there is no resurrection.

Therefore, if only believers have immortality and live forever, who is receiving this eternal punishment?

I have much more to say but would like some replies to my comments so far.

Longing for His return,

Kardia

Kardia,

Thank you for this thought provoking topic. I believe that those who do not accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the one and only son of the One and only God, who died on the cross as a blood sacrifice for the worlds sins and who rose again from the dead on the third day. will ultimately suffer eternal hell.............

Hell.......... I believe is a place where Gods precence is not. I can not imagine a place like that. Many people use the term "hell on earth" there is no such thing, because here on earth there is a presence of God through the Holy Spirit....

your sis,
Miche

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
(Whole Chapter: Matthew 25 In context: Matthew 25:45-47)


Jude 1:7
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
(Whole Chapter: Jude 1 In context: Jude 1:6-8)


I have a sense of what you're struggling with. The fact is---forever is forever.
Shall we question God? Remember Satan is the one punishing once a person is there. In the place of no escape. Why wouldn't he do the most perverted evil things. i.e.. Punishing eternally. A person doesn't have God then to forgive and restore. A person has allowed Satan to be their ruler. So it becomes his rules and laws. How awful for them....

Miki

The Lord is long suffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to everlasting life.If we dont have our wedding garment on when he returns we will be cast out into outer darkness,where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.Matthew; 22;8-14.

Hell was made for the devil and his angels, but men will go there too; whoever follows in the devils footsteps. Not pleasant to say, but the truth nevertheless.

yes it is sad

Um....If God is omnipresent, everywhere at once, and there is no way to be removed from his presence, then how can there be a place where God is not present?

Secondly, I'd like to point out that, when asked who is the most evil man to ever live, most of us would say Hitler, since he tortured and killed millions of people. However, those people's sufferings ended at death. If Hitler had the power to not just torture those people, but to torture 90% of humanity for an ETERNITY, would not he be the most evil thing in existence?

Thus, since God has the power to torture 90% of humanity for eternity, and insists upon doing so (or at least fails to prevent it from happening when he has the ability to prevent it), then is he not the most evil thing in existance?

cause God has left them because they have forsaken God so gGod is everywhere except hell there is actually a barrier from hell and heaven where no one can get to the otherside go read the rich man and lazarus Luke 16:19 to luke17

God has givin us free will and things will fall into place soon you will see just wait it will all chill out God is great and he sees the whole world where yet you see an inch of the world and an inch of Gods plan when Gods plan is an mile long so wait and see what will happen i gaurentee you God will win for he is the omega the beginning and the end

You would think God's warning would be enough for anyone. Those who find themselves outside of grace, do so by their own choice. God will not force His love on anyone, thats rape. But in the end it isn't even their sins that will condemn them but their rejection of God's perfect provision for sin. God said it is because they love darkness rather than light. He is only honoring their choice. Freewill has a very expensive price tag and the Lord Himself was willing to pay that price for us. He decided that before He ever created anything. Its still difficult to imagine. Thats why we should pray for people continually. I would hate to think that I had an opportunity to intercede for someone and didn't.

Very well said Firewall............

And God can't lie....Just because he is omnipotent doesn't mean he will change what's happened to the unbeliever when he sees him under the authority of the hordes of hell.

Kardia,
In Romans 2:7 God does indeed promise eternal life to believers and not to sinners. There is physical life and death as related to our bodies and spiritual life and death as related to our souls. Remember, God defines true life as being in his presence, not just being in existence. God is life. This is why we are 'born again', we begin our new 'life' in Christ. On earth we have the choice to cling to 'Life' or reject it. If we reject it, we are condemned to hell, it's our choice. Scripture says that if we have rejected Christ, we are dead, even though we are still alive. Romans 6:9 says if once we accept Christ "Death no longer has power over us." Does that mean you're not going to die? No, of course not. You are going to die just as all of us will, so you see it is spiritual life and death that it refers to. Therefore you must look at God's definition of spiritual life and death-God is life, so to be with him is life and to be separated is death. Hell is eternal separation from God. In Revelation 21:8 God calls the lake of fire the "second death". Satan is not in control of the lake of fire, for he and all his armies will be cast into the lake of fire along with hell and all who inhabit it.(Rev.21:10,13-14) In verse 14 it says "Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire to be tormented forever." All through the new testament it speaks of Christ defeating death, so you see, death is more than just a condition of existence.
Many people ask what you asked about the nature of our Father in heaven to do this. It's a wonderful and fair question.
We always forget how many sins it takes to separate us from God. Answer is - 1.
How many times have we rejected our creator and sinned against him? No one could keep track of their own sins and do it honestly. We are sinful creatures. People often say they are good enough to get to heaven, but Christ obviously said different. I assume this you already know. If not, post the question and I, along with others can direct you to many passages to help you. A christian that knows the basic fundamentals of salvation and believes God's word will agree with that basic point. However, a nonbeliever that thinks they can earn their way to the kingdom thru being a "good person" believes this because of the common misconception of a loving God not doing anything that appears negative thru our eyes because he's too nice. Unfortunately, this deception runs rampant today, even through the church body and it's devastating. But consider this- Let's change the rules and assume we could earn our way into the kingsom. Let's go to scripture for guidance. First of all, what would be considered good enough? Where is it defined in scripture anywhere on what is considered just good enough? If you be nice to your friends and help others sometimes without ever committing murder, is that good enough? What if you just follow the 10 commandments, is that good enough? Nowhere in scripture does it say, "Obey the commandments and you will go to heaven." Absolutely nowhere! So how can we know what's good enough? We can't! How fair would that be if God left us struggling with our own sinful natures with no guidance on how to get to the Kingdom. It would be like me calling you on the phone right now and saying "Hi. Get in your car and come and get me." You wouldn't be able to because of the obvious- Where do I live?, How do you get here?, and most of all, Who am I?. Instead, the God of the universe came down to reveal himself to us, take our punishment for us and give it to anyone who asks for FREE!! No credit card required, no application needed! Anyone can be free from the future of hell. Even Saddam, if he truly repents. If God had changed his heart, Hitler himself could have repented and been saved. Whoever reads this be careful of comparing yourself to Hitler and taking offense to that statement. You and me are no more deserving of Heaven than Adolf himself, the difference is the grace of God, that beautiful gift we've accepted and not rejected that has given us our inheritance. When the thief on the cross trusted Christ he was saved and he had no time left to make ammends on earth.
It's a free gift to all who accept. Once accepted, God gives us his Holy Spirit then to help us change our nature because we cannot do it ourselves. Why would anyone reject this gift? How much easier could God have made it for us. He did not have to leave his perfect kingdom to dwell on this stinky, dirty, sin infested world, and allow himself to succumb to the tortures of his own creation, BUT HE DID. That is the nature of God. He has seen our sin and instead of leaving it to us to earn it, he came down and did it for us and now he holds it out as a gift for anyone who wants it. No one will be rejected. That is awesome love.
Hell is a horrible place and it should spur us on to tell others. Realizing the horrors of that eternity should make us frantic to lead others to the Gift, but to often we turn our back to the truth because it's too harsh and makes us study our own hearts and intentions. I'm glad you realize the horrors of eternity in hell and are moved by it, now take that truth and thank God for his graciousness and ask him to guide you in building the kingdom. I ask you this, what is the greater injustice- for an evil man to slaughter believers in the name of his own evil desires, or for a Christian to remain silent throughout their life and watch their loved ones quietly slip into the gates of hell for eternity. I am not referring to Hitler, I want you to put this into perspective and think about it. If that somehow became your choice- you either had to slaughter an entire nation of believers or just sacrifice one nonbeliever condemned to hell, what would you do?
Thank God we will never have to make that kind of choice, but sometimes we do. None of us will ever have to destroy a nation of believers, but how many of us have sacrificed that one nonbeliever already so we could remain in the comfort of silence? Look at those around you and count the condemned souls in your life, it will be astonishing. When you feel pressure to remain silent, remember that it is the enemy trying to declare victory on that person's soul. At that moment, you become an active warrior in the battle for the kingdom. Ask God for boldness, and he will give it to you. Whatever criticism you receive comes from the enemy and you will be rewarded regardless. You are also a farmer. A plant cannot grow without a seed being planted. God says his word will not come back to Him void. Plant the seeds in people's hearts and God will do his work in them. It's not your job to save (because you can't), just plant seeds until God says otherwise. If his word takes root in their heart, eventually you will know, but be strong and persistent and pray fervently and never forget the reality of hell. It's a truth you are responsible for so don't try to escape the emotions for comfort reasons but fight the good fight and find victory in the Lord!
God bless.

From the Lord's heart to your ears Kardia. Excellent exhortation Steamtm!

Hi Steamtm

You said above to; "Look at those around you and count the condemned souls in your life, it will be astonishing. When you feel pressure to remain silent, remember that it is the enemy trying to declare victory on that person's soul. At that moment, you become an active warrior in the battle for the kingdom. Ask God for boldness, and he will give it to you. Whatever criticism you receive comes from the enemy and you will be rewarded regardless. You are also a farmer. A plant cannot grow without a seed being planted. God says his word will not come back to Him void. Plant the seeds in people's hearts and God will do his work in them. It's not your job to save (because you can't), just plant seeds until God says otherwise. If his word takes root in their heart, eventually you will know, but be strong and persistent and pray fervently and never forget the reality of hell. It's a truth you are responsible for so don't try to escape the emotions for comfort reasons but fight the good fight and find victory in the Lord!"



We must pray...It's the hardest and most discouraging of all...To know the above truth and be distracted from the most powerful tool available to us. It causes us to realize our own sinful nature. But there might be a hidden but obvious help.

When it says; "If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
-- II Chronicles 7:14 KJV

Is it magical words we say? No...Fasting exposes our roots. How deep are they?

First we're called....

Then we humble ourselves..... (fasting)

Next we pray, seeking his face...but why should we do that when no one sees his face and lives? Because what it is really saying here is 'to get his attention.'

He turns to look at you because it says in (2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV) "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.....

Are we believing when we ask?

That's what fasting helps us do.

Then WE repent...not just saying it but doing it.

Then the rest follows. Our friends family etc.

So when we talk about the "condemned around us" can we win anyone if we haven't been truly won ourselves.

See if God will call you to fast.
Then you will find out what your own walk is really like.

We are so tainted by the world and we don't even know it.
But when we REALLY seek his face, we hear from him.

He WANTS to use us to help him save others but we have to be prepared vessels.

" As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians 4:1

MIKI- I agree with you on prayer. Prayer is the most powerful weapon that's ever been. A weapon to be used not just for deliverance from our enemies, but deliverence for our enemies. It can feed the hungry, heal the sick, and pay the gas bill all at the same time and it baffles those who don't believe. I appreciate your contibution to the topic above. It breaks my heart when I hear people say in a defeated voice, "Well, all we can do now is pray." That should be our first action! We should be persistent with it, but few do. Thank you for adding what you did. I am currently in the middle of a three week fast. This is my first. Scripture says to fast in secrecy, but I tell you this in praise of God. Already, the Lord has exposed certain weaknesses and vices I had that I was not aware of. These are things that would seem irrelevant to most people, but I've realized the weaknesses of your body are proportionate to your lack of spiritual discipline.

I encourage all who've read these things above, and don't have true confidence and faith in prayer, to ask the Lord to show his faithfulness in prayer in your life. When you do, be prepared. If your heart desires this new relationship to God, he will give it to you, but remember that to be delivered, you must be in a time of trial. If need be, God will take you into the valley just so he can lift you back up, and if you are persistent in prayer and being in scripture you will be delivered with such a new found love for God that you will never regret the hard times. You will learn what it means to "ask with the faith as if it's already been given to you" (Matt. 21:22). To ask with complete confidence and have this kind of faith can only be done through experience and God will show you, for it's what he desires from us. Do not be afraid, because remember God is gracious.

I thank you again Miki for such a good post. I assume you are speaking from experience also. God bless, and keep speaking the truth.

I've fasted many times. It is very difficult. It shows us what we're made of.
I fasted several weeks ago. I wanted to go 21 days. I went 6.

I didn't hunger until the 6th day. I wondered if God was saying to stop. As my teeth sunk into a morsel of food l heard the word of the Lord clearly speak and say "Appetite" There was a small amount of revelation along with it. Also his serious but instructive tone. Showing me that the Appetite is the apex of the fleshly nature. Not just the appetite for food but for many other things as well.

A day or two later l was to find myself in heavy physical work that came unexpectedly. It would of been to much to do while deep in a fast.

In fact l wanted to start a fast today again but failed and said l'd start tomorrow.
Then l got on line and saw your post. Really humbling! I feel somewhat ashamed.

Let us know what else the Lord shows you.

Miki, don't be ashamed. Perhaps the Spirit was indeed prompting you to eat. That's something only you can know. The Lord showed me his provisions for physical requests in 2001. You might find this neat, I did. I was in Africa helping to put a roof on one of our sister church's buildings. We built rafters out of native mahogany and they weighed around 1500-1600 pounds. We had to lift them by hand, above are heads and place them on the buildings. It took about 20 men or more to do this. After the first day, I thought I was going to die . I prayed sincerely for the Lord to provide me strength beyond my natural ability to help me through the next day. Well the next day, nothing seemed to have changed until this one moment. I was on the very end of the rafter as we were lifting it above our heads. I had the rafter over my head, and my back was facing the rest of the men helping so I could not see them. Suddenly the rafter felt very, very heavy and I heard the men shout, "Get that rafter off of him!". I turned to see what was going on and realized I was the only one holding it up. They were referring to me. Suddenly, like Peter taking his eyes off Christ and sinking into the water, I was panic strickin and the rafter began to overwhelm me. The men grabbed it, but the Africans stood there looking at me like I was a freak. I found out I'd been holding it by myself for some time. A group of Baoule'/French speaking natives were gathered together looking at me and talking when one grabbed a missionary interpreter and came over to ask me a question. They asked this, "What do you eat for breakfast that makes you so strong." They also called me fat, but in a complimentary way (I'm still trying to figure that one out). I told them of my prayer.
God answered my prayer, not the way I expected. I expected supernatural strength all day. I got it for about 10 seconds, but it was enough to show them the authority of God.
That's all. Thought you might enjoy that.
Steam

This is an awesome example of God meeting us at our need.

I have only been on one extended fast, many years ago. It was a little too long.
I clung to God through the whole thing. It was a very hard time in my life.
The fast wasn't of God, yet he sustained me. I think that fact affected me more than anything else... His love and mercy. I knew his kindness.

Usually l fast 5 to 10 days. Past the cleansing crisis so as to experience the unencumbered moments of the flesh on the spirit.

Only one 5 day pure holy fast on just distilled water which was totally awesome. God showed me something about himself and his kingdom that l had always wondered about.

Wish l could just hop from fast to fast. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
I have to prepare and focus to be successful.

May the Lord lift the beam out of all our lives as we keep our eyes on him.

Is there any stories in the Bible that talks about God pulling someone out of the pits of Hell? I thought that Jesus also descended to Hell to take the keys from Satan? But I'm not sure as I have no references to look in the Bible...? Any help?

There aren't any stories of God pulling anyone out of hell, because that would mean that God's judgment is not perfect. However, I think you're probably referring to the 'sign of Jonah' that Christ referred to before he died, where he tells the disciples that just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of a whale, so will he himself spend three days in the belly of the earth before rising again. Then again later in new testament, outside of the gospel books, it is referred to again. This time it is stated that 'Christ spent three days in the belly of the earth preaching his authority to all those who have already died, then ascended taking those that were his with him.' That's not quoted verbatim, but that's what it says. You have to remember that before the crucifixion, the price had not been paid yet for our sins so man had not entered heaven yet, but instead, went to a "holding place" per say, referred to as Sheol in the old testament. Sheol was devided into two areas, a paradise like area for those who trusted God, and a hell-like area for those condemned. Once the price was paid, Christ reclaimed his authority and took those that were his, from paradise, with him. Many people elaborate on these scriptures and try to make them say what they don't say. There's a lot that we just don't know, but we do know this- God's judgment is perfect therefore it's final. Hell's worst torment is it's absence of God's presence, so for God to pull someone from hell would mean he had an error in judgment. Thankfully, that's not our God. I wish I had time to give you the Bible reference for these two scriptures, but I'm only here for a bit today. Perhaps someone else could refer you to their proper location, if I have time today, I will find them and post them.
God Bless

I don't think that is exactly what they were refering to. It is most likely this scripture.

Eph 4:9
(Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?


Peter 3:18-20
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

People have made up all kinds of stories about these scriptures. But peter and paul were talking about things that were believed and discussed in that day. Things that have long since been covered up by the mixing of greek mythology into the Gospel of CHRIST. This doctrine has plagued Chrisianity for a thousand and many hundreds of years. It was set off by the greek physician LUKE who told a story that he shouldn't have to the greeks to convert them. The story of lazerus in abrahams boosom. To understand eternal punishment as taught by GOD you have to pay attention to what HE has said and that sums up to. Death is what you know it to be. A lifeless rotting body put into the graves. For instance the outter darkness that is mentioned in the new testament many times. Is separation from GOD, who is life. This outer darkness is liflessness I.E. nonexistance. Because all of these understandings have been perverted. Understandings of other things like the soul, the spirit of man and the breath of life, Heaven, and hell have been perverted also to go along with it. Maybe some one will start a thread on these individual subjects someday. Then I can show the scriptures as it progresses.


By faith in HIM alone
a son of man

Well these threads touch a lot of difficult bases .

Who gave you authority to overrule Luke and the Bible by the way ?

You are struggling to tally Luke with Peter I guess .

Peter talks about Christ's preaching to the dead .

1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

Modern biblical scholarship likes to attribute this to 'the fallen angels ' . This is such a nonsensical idea , I can't understand why anyone countenances it .

anyhow , if you read the rest of Peter , it debunks this shallow reading of 'spirits' as fallen angels .

1Pe 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

It makes it pretty clear really . Judged in the flesh ( drowned in the flood ) , but later preached to and saved .

Who do you think would have given me the athority? But I only told you one truth about luke. Overruling the bible I have not done or implied.



I am not struggling to tally anything. the truth is the truth. no matter what.
Where do you read that CHRIST was preaching to the dead. this scripture doesn't say or even imply that.



I agree totally. I Never even implied such a thing.



Your bible translation is the thing that is dead here. It is also incorrect if these are the words it used.

By faith in HIM alone
a son of man

Why , why , why , Elijah ?

You never said anything about Luke , that's was steamboat .

When will you bare your soul to us Elijah , and tell us who you really are ?

This is what I said about luke.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.



By faith in HIM alone
a son of man

well , you've lost me then if you want to tell us which bits of the bible are ok .

what next , Ananias and sapphiras ? ....the snake in the fire in .?.........

what next will you tell us was a fable ?

I simply said luke should not have writen this down. It is a parable based on GOD'S understanding. It's not meant to base doctrine on. The rest of the Gospels witnesses did not do this, their accounts are flawless. Now chronicals and the books of first and second kings are really messed up on the time lines. and which kings overlaped which between the two kingdoms.


By faith in HIM alone
a son of man

Hell And The Lake Of Fire


"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death..." Revelation 20:14.

What do we suppose death and hell are? Some will say that it is obvious; but their thinking may be biased due to incorrect information. One common belief is that to be dead is to be a corpse, and hell is said to be a blazing lake of fire that will burn forever.

If this were true, explain this to me: How can hell be cast into itself (the lake of fire)?

If the two words are synonymous, the verse could have been written: "And hell was cast into hell," which we know cannot be.

For instance, if we were in a log cabin in the woods, and we had a woodstove, If I would take a piece of wood and ask, what is this piece of wood I hold in my hand? The answer would be, that it is a log.

The two words are synonymous. I could then cast the log into the woodstove. Since the log and the woodstove are two different things, the log can be cast into the fire. But it doesn't take a genius to know that I can't cast the log into itself, the log.

And so it is with hell and the Lake of Fire. If they are both the same, hell could not be cast into the lake of fire, plain and simple. Notwithstanding, since they are different from one another, hell can be cast into the real Lake of Fire.

The word hell is "derived from the Saxon helan, to cover; hence the covered or the invisible place." (Revised Easton's Bible Dictionary) Hell means to cover, or hide.

In the King James Version of the Old Testament, originally written in Hebrew, there is only one word that was translated "hell." This Hebrew word is Sheol, and is used a total of sixty-five times. Sheol is translated "hell" thirty-one times, "grave" thirty-one times, and "pit" three times.

Genesis 37:35. "And all his [Jacob's] sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave [Sheol] unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him." (Genesis 37:35) Jacob believed that his son Joseph had been killed by a wild beast and said that he would go down into Sheol unto his son. In this verse the translators used the word grave instead of hell. If they had used the word hell, it would have revealed that Jacob believed Joseph was in hell, and that he expected to go to hell when he died.

Job 14:13. "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave [Sheol], that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!" Job was experiencing much suffering, which finally caused him to ask God to let him go to Sheol where he knew he would have rest. "There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest." (Job 3:17)

"I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [Hades] and of death." (Revelation 1:18) Because Christ was dead; because His soul went to Sheol (the grave, or hell), He has the keys of hell, He has the right to unlock the prison of the grave and let the captives free. "To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." (Isaiah 42:7)

Referring to the final judgment John wrote, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [Hades] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell [Hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Revelation 20:13, 14) Hell, or the grave, delivered up the dead that was in it. Hell was cast into the lake of fire. It is generally supposed that "the lake of fire" is hell, but here we see that hell was cast into the lake of fire to be destroyed.