Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum. I have been researching annihilationism, and I had a question about that. For some background, this article more or less summarizes why I lean in that direction:
https://edwardfudge.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/JETS_final_end_wicked.pdf
(FYI: Though not unique to annihilationism, I'm personally assuming something of a premillenial viewpoint, with a literal future Antichrist.)
My question is about one of the big problem verses for annihilationism. Revelation 20:10 says:
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
This is on the heels of Revelation 19:20:
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence[e] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
At first this seems straightforward. However, other passages indicates that Jesus/God actually kills the Antichrist. This would cause an apparent contradiction with the verses above regarding the "beast" being tormented forever and ever.
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. (2 Thess. 2:8)
Which cross-references to Isaiah 11:4:
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
This is also indicated by the sword that comes out of Jesus' mouth in Revelation 19.
Other verses also seem to indicate that God kills the Antichrist. Daniel 7:11 says:
“I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.
This is similar to Revelation, albeit with a very noticeable contradiction/difference. In Revelation, the beast is thrown alive into the lake of fire. But here, the beast is killed and burned with fire.
Isaiah 14 also talks about the taunt that will be lifted up against the "king of Babylon." (For reasons I won't go into here, he sounds remarkably like the Antichrist. Since the Antichrist is ruler of a world government at some point, he is definitely leader of Iraq and wherever "mystery babylon" is, at least for some time.) Here is an excerpt from Isaiah 14:
All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;[d]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
like a loathed branch,
clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
who go down to the stones of the pit,
like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
because you have destroyed your land,
you have slain your people.
So if the Antichrist is killed, but also tormented forever, then how do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? I propose a possible solution that is not novel, but possible. Revelation 17:8-11 says:
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
Some commentators believe that the "beast" is a demon that embodies the Antichrist, empowering him to heal his mortal wound. See also Revelation 13:3:
One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
This is also why the beast is an 8th king, who "belongs to the seven." As a result, the beast is a demon, because he comes up out of the "bottomless pit." But the man whose body he has is not a demon.
Furthermore, it seems that the "evil trinity" has demons associated with each of them.
And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. (Rev. 16:3)
So which is it? Is the beast "killed?" Or is he tortured forever? Or is his demonic counterpart tormented forever, whereas the man is not?Similarly, are demons anreallyinihilated? Or are they tormented forever?
Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to comment!