Alma 12:1-19 Point 5: As a Lake of Fire and Brimstone

[MaidservantX]

verse 17-18 "Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will. . . they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God's justice"

This verse is interesting to me because of the little word "as". The scripture does not say we will be torment IN a lake of fire and brimstone. It says our torments will be "as" if we were being immersed in fire and the image of chains is also used. So, for me, I read this -- there are no metal chains. There is no physical brimstone lake.

But our souls will know torment.

I also read this as not being a punishment handed out so much as, again as I spoke of in a previous thread (Point 4), it is the condition we will find ourselves in -- it's going to hurt! God doesn't do this to us. Satan does, and our own choices.

I don't know about you, but I've made enough wrong choices in my life, and been oppressed by the work of Satan in others, that I have already found myself in just such this kind of torment even here in mortality. The kind of spiritual pain I have been in I would describe in very concrete, material terms such as this scripture offers, and the spiritual torment has had physical effects and sensations. I know I'm not the only one who identifies with this. Alma, of course, knows exactly what he's talking about based on his own experiences (Mosiah 27 and Alma 36).

Thankfully, we have the healing of that torment -- the Redemption of Jesus Christ, held out to everyone freely. Alma 12:15

[Hemidakota]

I think Alma the younger saw and felt the pains of hell; we can look upon that as a reference point what to expect. But I would add, anything less than the highest level in the Celestial Kingdom would be hell for those who knew GOD and were unrepented.