Are these passages referring to the dead bodies at the Great White Throne or just the Millennium?
If we understand the full context of these passages, I don't think it's referring to the GWT, but I'm not sure.
Since the Lake of Fire will be burning before the Millennium (Rev 19:20), do the following scriptures speak of a lake in Jerusalem...
Isaiah 47:14 NIV Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by.
Isa 66:22-24 YLT For, as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making, Are standing before Me, An affirmation of Jehovah! So remain doth your seed and your name. 23And it hath been from month to month, And from sabbath to sabbath, Come do all flesh to bow themselves before Me, Said Jehovah. 24And they have gone forth, And looked on the carcases of the men Who are transgressing against me, For their worm dieth not, And their fire is not quenched, And they have been an abhorrence to all flesh!
Jer 7:30-34 NIV "The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. 31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 32So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.
Jer 31:38-40 NIV “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”
Mal 4:1 NIV “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
Mal 4:3 NIV Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.
Matt 5:29 YLT 'But, if thy right eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.
Matt 10:28 YLT 'And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in gehenna.
Matt 23:33 YLT 'Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?
Or maybe hell is eternal after all..
Note 1: http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2004/2004-06-21.htm - It is true that Gehenna can be a reference to the Valley of Hinnom, which is located near Jerusalem. "Gehenna" is not actually a Greek word, but it is a transliteration of a Hebrew word that literally means "Hinnom Valley." The transliterated word is found in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible, but is not found in the common Greek literary works. When we move to the New Testament, we must determine whether the use of the word gehenna is referring to the physical valley near Jerusalem or to the broader idea of a place of punishment. If the translator uses the phrase "Valley of Hinnom" when the idea of a place of punishment was meant, it is likely that people in other cultures, not knowing the valley's horrible past, will only think of the physical location and not the concept it represents.
Note 2: http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2004/2004-06-21.htm - Eleven of the twelve references are made by Jesus and when we read through these references we conclude that each reference is toward the same place. However, the place is not the physical Hinnom Valley. Jesus said it was a place where only God had the power to cast a man (Luke 12:5). If this was the literal Hinnom Valley, anyone could put a person there. Jesus also said not to fear men who can only kill the body, but to fear God who could put both the body and soul into gehenna. Again, Jesus is not making a reference to a physical place because no physical place can contain a man's soul. Jesus also refers back to the passage in Isaiah 66:24 and states that gehenna is a place where the fire is not quenched and the decay never ends. The physical Valley of Hinnom is not eternal. Hence, we conclude that Jesus is not speaking of a physical place but using the term gehenna to refer to the place of eternal punishment. In English, this place is known by the name Hell. Why was gehenna transliterated into the Greek instead of being translated? My guess is that the Greek culture did not have a word that referred to a place of eternal punishment, hence the Hebrew term was borrowed.
- ATP
If we understand the full context of these passages, I don't think it's referring to the GWT, but I'm not sure.
Since the Lake of Fire will be burning before the Millennium (Rev 19:20), do the following scriptures speak of a lake in Jerusalem...
Isaiah 47:14 NIV Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by.
Isa 66:22-24 YLT For, as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making, Are standing before Me, An affirmation of Jehovah! So remain doth your seed and your name. 23And it hath been from month to month, And from sabbath to sabbath, Come do all flesh to bow themselves before Me, Said Jehovah. 24And they have gone forth, And looked on the carcases of the men Who are transgressing against me, For their worm dieth not, And their fire is not quenched, And they have been an abhorrence to all flesh!
Jer 7:30-34 NIV "The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. 31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 32So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.
Jer 31:38-40 NIV “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”
Mal 4:1 NIV “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
Mal 4:3 NIV Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.
Matt 5:29 YLT 'But, if thy right eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.
Matt 10:28 YLT 'And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in gehenna.
Matt 23:33 YLT 'Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?
Or maybe hell is eternal after all..
Note 1: http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2004/2004-06-21.htm - It is true that Gehenna can be a reference to the Valley of Hinnom, which is located near Jerusalem. "Gehenna" is not actually a Greek word, but it is a transliteration of a Hebrew word that literally means "Hinnom Valley." The transliterated word is found in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible, but is not found in the common Greek literary works. When we move to the New Testament, we must determine whether the use of the word gehenna is referring to the physical valley near Jerusalem or to the broader idea of a place of punishment. If the translator uses the phrase "Valley of Hinnom" when the idea of a place of punishment was meant, it is likely that people in other cultures, not knowing the valley's horrible past, will only think of the physical location and not the concept it represents.
Note 2: http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2004/2004-06-21.htm - Eleven of the twelve references are made by Jesus and when we read through these references we conclude that each reference is toward the same place. However, the place is not the physical Hinnom Valley. Jesus said it was a place where only God had the power to cast a man (Luke 12:5). If this was the literal Hinnom Valley, anyone could put a person there. Jesus also said not to fear men who can only kill the body, but to fear God who could put both the body and soul into gehenna. Again, Jesus is not making a reference to a physical place because no physical place can contain a man's soul. Jesus also refers back to the passage in Isaiah 66:24 and states that gehenna is a place where the fire is not quenched and the decay never ends. The physical Valley of Hinnom is not eternal. Hence, we conclude that Jesus is not speaking of a physical place but using the term gehenna to refer to the place of eternal punishment. In English, this place is known by the name Hell. Why was gehenna transliterated into the Greek instead of being translated? My guess is that the Greek culture did not have a word that referred to a place of eternal punishment, hence the Hebrew term was borrowed.
- ATP
