Isaiah 30:33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yes, for the king it is prepared; he has made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood… Fire, being the most destructive of all the elements, is chosen by the sacred writers to symbolize the agency by which God punishes or destroys the wicked. We are not to assume from prophetical figures that material fire is the precise agent to be used. It was not the agency employed in the destruction of Sennacherib, who is the king mentioned in the text. He was killed by his two sons, whilst worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god (Isaiah 37:38). Tophet properly begins just where the Valley of Hinnom bends round to the east, having the cliffs of Zion on the north, the Hill of Evil Counsel on the south. It terminates at Beer Ayub, where it joins the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The cliffs on the south side especially abound in ancient tombs. Here the dead caresses of beasts, and every offal and abomination, were cast, and left to be either devoured by that worm that never died, or consumed by that fire that was never quenched. Hinnom was condemned to this infamous service, perhaps, because in it, when Israel fell into idolatry, they offered their children in sacrifice to Baal. Tophet came to represent the place of punishment, especially that kind of punishment which is destructive rather than remedial. I. DIVINE PUNISHMENTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL ARE REMEDIAL. We are not able to fit together the fatherly relation and the hopeless destruction of any of his sons. Much of our difficulty in dealing with the conditions of the future life arises from our failing to distinguish between the individual and the corporate life of men. Nations, sects, classes, families even, can be destroyed. Their corporate life may once for all cease. God's judgments may reach them in this form for the sake of, and for the duo impression of, the individual. We understand the destruction of an army or of a city, but not the destruction of a man. II. DIVINE PUNISHMENTS OF THE NATION OR THE CLASS MAY BE DESTRUCTIVE. Tophet here is the figure for the destruction of the army of Sennacherib, and of him as king, not as man. Tophet tells of material destructions, and such only can concern man in human and earthly relations. Sodom and Gomorrah may be burned up in the fires of God, destroyed from off the face of the earth; But we know nothing of the standing of individual Sodomites before God. The Canaanite race was to be swept from the earth, but we are sure the Judge of all the earth will do right by each Canaanite. God's temporal destructions for corporate sins are part of the world's education, but are no basis for belief in any everlasting material punishments for individuals. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. |
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