A closer look at Revelation 14:11

"If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever," (Rev 14:9-11).

"The wine of wrath"

The great judgment of the “cup of the wine of wrath” is borrowed from Isaiah 25:15-16. Those who had drunk from this cup, are later called to “awake” and “rise up” because God yet “defends his people”. I will “take out of your hand the cup that made you stagger”, and this cup you “will never drink again”, God said, (Isa. 51:17-23).

So how literal should we interpret this vision? If we are going to take the "literal" view of the most symbolic book of the Bible, that people will literally be tormented forever, we need to consider the context which is "who?" and "why?". Who will be tormented? Those that take the mark of the beast. Why? Because they took the mark of the beast. This then, doesn't prove eternal conscious torment for all people.

But there's a better way to read Revelation literally. In order to read it literally, we must discover the author’s intent from the words he uses and how he uses them, including the use of genre, rhetoric, figures of speech, symbols, poetry, apocalyptic language, and hyperbole. To read it in a literal sense, is not to take the text “literally”, but to read it for what it is – read poetry as poetry and symbols as symbols.

"The nations"

Knowing then that John borrows the very symbolic and hyperbolic prophecies from Isaiah, we see how John can foresee that "all nations" will ultimately "come and worship before” God, because of the very reason that His “judgments have been manifested” (15:3-4).

“The nations” and "the kings of the earth" are the apostate people that make up the rebellious world. Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 designate the saints as those who have been redeemed from "the nations". The beast for example was given authority over every “tribe, tongue, and nation,” (13:7). But the great eschatological vision predicts a multitude which no one can number “of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” that will come worshipping God.

“The kings of the earth” committed fornication with the whore-city Babylon. They joined the Beast to make war on Christ (19:19). But Christ conquers them, and in the end they enter the New Jerusalem via the open gates in order to bring their splendor into it. This is a contrast with Revelation 18:4-19, in which they bring their splendor into Babylon. John has actually changed the “kings” of his source text (Isa 60:3, 11) to “kings of the earth” so as to ensure we understand just who he has in mind – the very enemies of Christ. Even though we see a strong warning of judgment, we also see a restoration in the end.

"Smoke of their torment"

Revelation doesn't describe how "their torment ascends forever and ever", but how "the smoke" of their torment "ascends forever". There's a huge difference. The smoke that ascends could serve as an eternal memorial to their punishment, even though they would not receive the full eternal length of it. Thus the punishment is still eternal in the sense that it's irrevocable – the punishment in itself has an eternal effect. That is, if the translators correctly translated "forever" (see below).

But there's no "eternal tormenting", meaning that the tormentor will be tormenting continuously forever. Neither does the Bible ever mention "eternal punishing", even though it talks about "eternal punishment", referring to a punishment which in itself is irreversible.

We should also note that the smoke that ascends forever is borrowed from Isaiah 34:10. Isaiah used the same terminology to describe a judgment that did in fact not last forever, but which came to an end. If you don't believe me, visit Edom and see if the smoke still ascends from there.

"In the presence of the lamb" This statement alone crushes our stereotypical view of hell as a place deprived of God's presence. David said, "If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there," (Ps. 139:8). It should bring us great comfort to know that our Father and Christ Himself are present with us in God's fiery judgment. His consuming and refining fire (Heb. 12:29; Mal. 3:2-3) flows from He who is unfailing and unending Love, (1 Jn. 4:8).

"Forever and ever"

"Their torment ascends forever and ever" is translated from "kapnos autos basanismos anabainó eis aión aión." Aión is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end. From the word "aión" we get the word "eon". If you meet someone you haven't seen in a long time, you might say "I haven't seen you in eons" (I haven't seen you in ages). Thus it is strange to translate the word "aión" as "forever".

It's more weird to say "forever and ever". Forever is forever, and forever is not prolonged if we add another "ever" after it. A correct translation should be "age and age" (eis aión aión).

Jesus' disciples asked "what will be the sign of the end of the age (aión)?" (Matt. 24:3). So there's an end to each "aión". Paul also described how "in the ages (aión) to come" God will show us "the exceeding riches of His grace," (Eph. 2:7). There's no end of eternity, neither is there an eternity to come. However there's an "end of the ages (aión)," (Heb. 9:26). So it makes no sense to translate "aión" as "forever".