Revelation 14:10

he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

This verse is a counter-proclamation to that of the beast in Revelation 13, to the effect that those who would not worship the beast should be killed (Revelation 13:15), and that they would not be permitted to "buy or sell" (Revelation 13:17). Here an angel of God proclaims that those who do worship the beast, etc., "They are to drink of the wrath of God and endure eternal torment in fire and brimstone."[50]

In the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb ... Bruce thought that this element of their punishment being in the presence of angels, etc., could be a mitigation "from the more severe punishment without the heavenly presence,"[51] a mitigation due to their having been Christians before their apostasy; but this would appear to be incorrect. What seems to be indicated is the divine approval and concurrence in their doom. It is not theologically possible to envision the Lamb, in any sense, perpetually beholding the torment of the wicked.

This is a doctrine vigorously hated by many; they refuse to accept it, will not believe it, and belittle those who receive it; but, despite this, it is clear enough that, "In the largest sense of God's redemptive purpose for men, his wrath is a necessary correlative of his love and mercy."[52] There is no way to purge evil out of the world, except through the destruction of the men who have set themselves in irreversible hostility against God. Once the primary principles of the freedom of the human will and the total hatred, on God's part, of evil - once these are accepted, all of the New Testament teaching regarding judgment and eternal punishment appear not unreasonable at all, but absolutely necessary. A just universe cannot be postulated without such conceptions.

Fire and brimstone ... There is no more need here, than in other passages of the prophecy, to understand these symbols literally; however, that does not mitigate the awful reality symbolized.

The modern vogue of dispensing with hell has no counterpart in Revelation. John is quite sure that the consequences of sin follow sinners into the life to come. Here they may rejoice over their misdeeds, but there they will suffer for them.[53]

[50] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 274.

[51] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 654.

[52] George Eldon Ladd, op. cit., p. 195.

[53] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 181.