THE WORM THAT DIETH NOT

Over the years I have been asked a few times to explain the meaning of

the term”the worm that dieth not” in Mark 9:43-48. This question has

surfaced a couple of times recently and has prompted this article. This

scripture has been used to verify the belief in an ever burning hell fire

that will torture the unrepentant evil doer for all eternity. In this study

we will see that this is a false interpretation and come to understand what

Yahshua is actually saying.

The first thing to remember is that Yahshua taught lessons about the

Kingdom by using everyday occurrences and things that people would

understand. He stated many times, "The Kingdom of Elohim is like," and would

go on to tell a parable about some common event that was familiar to the

hearers. Most didn't get the connection because it wasn't given for all to

understand at that time. Mark 4:11 This is really no different. Those that

it is given to understand will and those that it isn't will still use it to

verify an eternal hell fire for the evil. This is because they don't see

Yahweh as the loving, gentle , kind, and compassionate Elohim that we do.

The god they worship will sentence most of the worlds people to an ever

burning, torturous eternal life in a fiery hell, (of mankinds imagination

not Yahweh's) including children just because they haven't had the chance to

hear of the only one through whom salvation comes. Could you love this kind

of an Elohim?

To understand what the term Yahshua used means, we need first to

understand what He was not saying. In Rom.6:23 we are told," The wages of

sin is death," not eternal life in any form. If one insists that we have an

immortal soul that cannot die, refer them to; Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all

souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is

mine: the soul that sins shall die. Ezekiel 18:20 " The soul that sins shall

die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father

suffer for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall

be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."

These two scriptures tell us that a soul can surely die. The word “soul” is

used 396 times in the old testament and is referring in each case to the

complete person. It is used 9 times in reference to animals and fish. Soul

is translated from the Hebrew “Nephesh”. In the new testament, the

equivalent is “psuche”

and under investigation one will find that this “psuche” can die. Check

James 5:20, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of

his way will save his soul

(psuche) from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Rev.16:3 And the

second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of

a dead man: and every living soul (psuche) died in the sea.

In what condition will the dead be? Malachi 4:3 " And you shall tread

down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the

day when I act, says the Yahweh of hosts". These wicked souls will be

reduced to ashes. There is no consciousness in death. The dead don't know

they are dead. Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die:

but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for

the memory of them is forgotten.

The word dust in the following can also be translated "ashes" # 6083

æaphar Mankind returns to his original state, æaphar, which are the natural

elements of the earth. Genesis 2:7 And Yahweh Elohim formed man of the

dust,( æaphar) of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of

life; and man became a living soul,( nephesh.) Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of

thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of

it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Psalms 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away

their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Job 21:26 They shall lie

down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them. We will discover in

this study just how this return to dust comes about. ( Notice the word worms

in the preceding.)

We know from the book or Revelation that the lake of fire is the final

destiny of the incorrigibly wicked. Revelation 19:20 And the beast was

taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with

which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them

that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire

burning with brimstone. Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into

the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found

written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

From all of the above it is very evident that the final wage received

by the wicked is to return to the original state that they were created

from, the natural elements of the earth. In this state there is total

oblivion and not a conscious state of eternal torture in a pagan invention

called hell and adopted by christianity.

The word "hell" used in many translations of the bible is from the

Greek "Gehenna" #1067 which was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. There

is a very good reason why Yahshua would use this term to describe the reward

of the wicked. Gehenna or Ge-hinnom is a place with an evil history that is

not commonly known by our modern day people who read the scriptures but was

well known to the people of Yahshua's time. They would know to what He was

referring.

The valley of Hinnom was a ravine outside of Jerusalem. It was the

valley in which Ahaz, in the days of ancient Israel had instituted fire

worship and the sacrifice of little children in the fire. 2 Chron.28:1 Ahaz

was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in

Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Yahweh, like

his father David, 2 but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even

made molten images for the Baals; 3 and he burned incense in the valley of

the son of Hinnom, and burned his children as an offering, according to the

abominable practices of the nations whom the Yahweh drove out before the

people of Israel.

This form of pagan worship was followed by Manasseh, 2 Chron. 33:6

"And he burned his children as an offering in the valley of the son of

Hinnom, and practised soothsaying and augury and sorcery, and dealt with

mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking

him to anger." The valley of Hinnom or Gehenna was the scene of one of

Israel's most terrible lapses into pagan worship and customs. In his

reformations King Josiah designated the valley of Hinnom an unclean place. 2

Kings 23:10 " And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the sons of

Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to

Molech." When Josiah declared this place as unclean it was set aside as a

place where the garbage from Jerusalem was thrown to be burned. Because of

this it became a foul smelling, filthy, place where disgusting maggots bred

and lived on the refuse that the fire did not consume, much like all garbage

dumps. Like a great incinerator it smoked and smoldered all the time.

As you already know, the phrase that Yahshua used about the fire that

will not be quenched and the worm that does not die is taken from Is.66:24

describing the fate of Israel's evil enemies. Because of all of this, the

valley of Hinnom, Gehenna had become a symbol of the place where the souls

of the wicked would be destroyed. One place in the Talmud mentions this;

"The sinner who desists from the words of the law will in the end inherit

Gehenna." So Gehenna became known as the place of final punishment and the

very word itself brought a terrifying picture to the Israelites minds. This

was still prevalent at the time of Yahshua.

To make the picture even worse was the fact that sometimes the dead

bodies of criminals were thrown into this garbage dump. What the fire did

not consume, the maggots or worms ate. When something or someone was thrown

into this refuse dump its fate was sealed. The fire could not be quenched as

the equipment to do so was not available. The worms could not be killed or

destroyed because there were no pesticides to do the job as in our modern

garbage dumps. The end result of the fire was ashes which is matter returned

to its original, natural state. The end result of the worms eating what was

left was compost, the return of matter to its original, natural state.

Either way the result was the same. Genesis 3:19 " In the sweat of thy face

shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast

thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

Fire that is not quenched will burn until all of the combustible

material is depleted. Then it will go out. Maggots or worms will continue to

eat until all of the things they feed on are gone. Then they will move on.

This is the picture that Yahshua was trying to instill in those to whom He

was speaking. The terrible, end fate of the incorrigibly wicked. Once they

were cast into the final place of punishment there would be no escape and

they would be totally consumed and returned to dust from which they were

made. There could be no intervention to prevent this. The fire could not be

quenched and the worms would not die until the consumption of everything was

complete. It would be the total, horrifying end, as is the lake of fire.

This was the message that Yahshua was instilling in His hearers.

The surrounding scriptures that mention plucking out your eye if it

causes you to sin and cutting off your hand if it causes you to sin are not

to be taken literally, as history has shown that some have done. Yahshua is

instilling in people that we must do whatever is necessary to enter into

Yahweh's Kingdom and not be cast into this terrible place where the fire is

not put out and the worms don't die until they accomplish their terrible

purpose. Just as removing a part of your body could be excruciating so

removing the sources of temptation can also be very painful and difficult.

This is part of counting the cost of our calling. Luke 14:26 "If any one

comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and

children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be

my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me,

cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does

not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all

who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build, and was

not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to encounter another king in

war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten

thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if

not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks

terms of peace.

33 So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be

my disciple.

No cost should be too high for the great honour we have been given

being called to be a part of the first fruit harvest of mankind for Yahweh's

kingdom. If we are willing to pay whatever it costs we need not fear the

lake of fire where the flame is not quenched and the worm does not die.

HalleluYah May Yahweh bless your studies. Elder Dave Ganton