Okay… demons, nephilim, anakim, gibborim… nothing to do with us. Probably symbolic. Not the reason for the flood (which destroyed Noah’s world, we can agree–and with it all those half-angelic giants–if they weren’t symbolic–which I kind of think they were). I’m not even going to talk about pre-Adamic creation. Let me just say, I think you’re taking all of this way too literally.
If these passages do have a literal supernatural giants in the highlands interpretation, ladies sleeping with bad-boy angels and having Rosemary’s baby and all, then, if they do, that interpretation is still inferior and subordinate to the many deep, meaningful, spiritual interpretations that the entire Bible is simply dripping with.
Sheol was used of the evil and the righteous dead. It does appear that queber meant simply grave. It was David who said to God, “If I make my bed in Sheol, behold Thou art there,” which for me, means that if David was right, God is even in Sheol–whether the residents perceive His presence or not. This kind of puzzled me. On the one hand, I’d been taught that Hell was just the one place God was not. On the other hand, I’d been taught that God was omnipresent. You can’t have it both ways, kiddies. God is in hell–or more to the point, hell is in God (where else would it be, since there IS nowhere else but within God? (who as I’ve mentioned, is everywhere–but not just everywhere–He IS the everywhere.)
And THAT is my understanding of hell. I do not believe there is a literal “lake of fire” outside the City (or inside the throne room, before the Throne of God either–where it is also depicted as the Crystal Sea). I believe that GOD is the LoF and that the LoF is also symbolized by the Bronze Sea/Laver of the Temple/Tabernacle. Bronze (and in the case of the Laver, bronze mirrors) symbolizes judgment and of course the purpose of the Laver/Sea is purification of the priests before entering the Holy Place and the immediate presence of God: the Holy of Holies. What does that say about those who are tormented in the LoF? Whether they like it or not, whether they are willing or not, the wicked are literally having the hell burned out of them. Let me be clear… I do NOT believe in any literal, physical flames, nor do I believe our God is a giant conflagration even though the scriptures do characterize Him as a “Consuming Fire.” This is symbolic. We do not worship campfires or burning buildings or forest fires as manifestations of God. We understand them as violent chemical reactions. But fire is SYMBOLIC of God, and in the scriptures, symbolic of purification.
You cannot literally burn literal spiritual beings with literal fire. You can torment and destroy evil by the presence of perfect holiness. Maybe this will hurt. But even what I am saying to you is symbolic. We 3-D beings cannot begin to comprehend the magnitude or magnificence of Eternity (who, if you think about it much, you will realize is God). That’s not to say we shouldn’t strive to understand–but we will ALWAYS be growing in our understanding. Since God is infinite and we are finite, we will always be drawing nearer to true comprehension of Him, but we will never fully exhaust the exploration of His endless richness.
That said, I do believe the LoF and/or Sheol, or whatever–is torment for the wicked–NOT because of what IT is, but because of what THEY are and because of the wickedness they still cherish in their hearts. When they genuinely and gratefully and trustingly relinquish the evil they have treasured within themselves, then it will be destroyed by the “fire” of God’s holiness. Will it hurt the man who clings to his wickedness? Well, yes, most likely–but any hurt is self-inflicted (because of the treasuring up of inequity in his heart) and the cure is available at his own discretion–immediately upon his release of the wickedness WHICH IS ITSELF THE CAUSE OF THE HURT. If God’s holiness triggers the anguish, should God cease to be holy? Should He withdraw His presence (or the sense of it) from the man whose only hope lies in that holiness?
So no, I don’t think that “eons of eons” portrays any specific length of “punishment” or “treatment” or whatever. I think it is, as we often ourselves use it, a colloquial expression meaning, “This could take a really long time.” It probably WILL take a very long time for some. For others, I’m guessing it won’t take very long at all. Maybe for most others, the mere sight of the face of the Anointed will bring about instant repentance and love and no torment whatsoever will be needed. At all. But if it IS needed, then to withhold it will be no mercy but rather very hatred.
