Between Glory and Ashes 6: End-Times Fire - Episode 162

In the finale of the Fire series, Carey traces eschatological fire across Scripture—not as a single “hellfire” image, but as a matrix of scenes where fire unveils, judges, purifies, and ultimately makes creation fit for God’s presence.

We start with Daniel 7, where fire is judicial theophany: God’s flaming throne, the opened books, and the public verdict against beastly dominion. Then Zephaniah 3 reframes fire as the jealous flame of covenant holiness—wrath that consumes and then leads to purified speech and unified worship among the nations. From there, 2 Peter 3 expands the horizon to the whole cosmos: fire that exposes and dissolves the old order on the way to new heavens and a new earth. Finally, Revelation 20–22 places the lake of fire and the “second death” beside the arrival of New Jerusalem, with death itself thrown down and the nations healed.

Carey also explains why faithful Christians land in different places on final judgment—Eternal Conscious Torment, Conditional Immortality (Annihilation), and Universal Reconciliation—and argues we can’t shortcut the debate without first mapping what each text is doing with “fire.”

Download the 40+ page study guide (link in the episode notes) for passage lists, questions to take into your own study, and a framework for reading these texts carefully.

In this episode

• Five questions for reading end-times “fire” texts
• Daniel 7: fire as courtroom unveiling + verdict
• Zephaniah 3: jealous fire, nations gathered, purified lips, “one shoulder” worship
• 2 Peter 3: cosmic fire, exposure, holiness now, new creation
• Revelation 20–22: lake of fire, second death, death defeated, healing for the nations
• Why Christians “join” or “split” apocalyptic images differently (Heiser’s framing)
  
  

• Companion episode: Episode 55 (on Gehenna / Sheol / related “hell” imagery).
  
  

STUDY GUIDE for this week's episode!: Study Guide: Fire Imagery, Judgment, and New Creation in Scripture  

On This Rock Biblical Theology Community:  https://on-this-rock.com/  

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Music credit: "Marble Machine" by Wintergatan

Link to Wintergatan’s website: https://wintergatan.net/  

Link to the original Marble Machine video by Wintergatan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q&ab_channel=Wintergatan