"and the tongue is a fire....and it is set on fire of hell"

[traveltramp]

James 3:6. " And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell".

Here, hell is translated with Gehenna fire. In this verse, does it mean death (hell/Gehenna fire)? When one speaks negatively, one speaks not of life, but of death (hell/Gehenna fire).

Do I understand this verse correctly?

[mharrell08]

James 3:6. " And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell".

Here, hell is translated with Gehenna fire. In this verse, does it mean death (hell/Gehenna fire)? When one speaks negatively, one speaks not of life, but of death (hell/Gehenna fire).

Do I understand this verse correctly?

Excerpt from Lake of Fire Part 16-D4 (http://bible-truths.com/lake16-D4.htm):

THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN FOR ETERNAL HELL FIRE

The Apostle James proves all that Jesus said with regards to Gehenna/hell fire.

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it [the tongue] is set on fire of hell [Gk: gehenna]."

I'll admit that this does not sound like an easy Scriptures. How is the tongue set on fire by Gehenna? What does that mean? The answer is found in the whole chapter beginning with verse 1:

"My brethren, be not many masters [teachers], knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation [Gk: krima, condemnation, judgment]" (James 3:1).

Teachers must be very careful in what they teach, the words that come out of their mouth, because if they are not correct words, then their Judgment will be much more severe than with others. Now verse 2:

"For in many things we [James includes himself] offend all. If any man [including himself] offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2).

It is the "words" that are spoken by the "tongue" that will come into Judgment.

Notice what Jesus taught:

"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are things which defile the man" (Matt. 15:18-20).

"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matt. 12:36).

"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:34).

And what does Jeremiah tell us is the disposition of the universal heart of man?

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked [Heb: 'exceedingly weak']: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9).

Jesus used the examples of our eyes, hands, and feet that are used as instruments of offense, and must therefore be spiritually cut off. And this spiritual cutting off occurs in Gehenna fire."

James is merely adding another member of our bodies, the tongue, into this same symbolic teaching. Notice how James liken the destructive power of just "little things" in nature, to the very small tongue of the human body:

A literal very small bit in a horses mouth can turn the whole body of the beast, with very little effort (James 3:3).

A literal very small helm [rudder] can turn great ships in fierce winds, with very little effort (Verse 4).

A literal little fire can burn a great amount of material, even a whole forest, with very little effort (Verse 5).

And so the metaphor, "the tongue is a fire," (the tongue is not a literal fire), means that it is like a literal fire in certain ways. What ways? [1] "the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity" and it [2] "defiles the whole body" and [3] "sets on fire the course [wheel] of nature" (Verse 6).

The phrase "course of nature" is translated as "the wheel of our natural life" by Rotherham's Emphasized Bible, and as "the wheel of our lineage" by The Concordant Literal New Testament. The meaning is something like Elton John's song "The Circle of Life" from Disney's, The Lion King.

And James informs us that no man can tame this little monster called the tongue. For if he could, then he would be "a perfect man, and able to bridle [to curb, conquer, and control] the whole body" (Verse 2).

And what is the solution to bridling the tongue (which speaks for and in behalf of the deceitful "heart")? Why to "fight fire with fire." Set the tongue on fire with Gehenna fire-Gehenna JUDGMENT! (Verse 6). Right there is the solution to the whole enigma of what is Gehenna fire; what is eonian [falsely called everlasting] fire; and what is the LAKE of fire.

Gehenna fire is first and foremost for Christ's disciples (the Elect), and is first taught by Jesus on the sermon on the mount to His disciples. It is therefore not literal fire, nor is it everlasting fire. "Gehenna fire" (Matt. 18:9 is also called "eonian [NOT 'everlasting'] fire" in Matt. 18:8, and also in Matt. 25:41 where this eonian fire prepared for the devil and his ministers will be judged in the resurrection to Judgment in "The Lake of Fire" (Rev. 20:15 & 21:08). The Gehenna fire, eonian fire, lake of fire, are all the Judgment of God. These fires are all the same ONE fire that come from the same ONE God, and "Our [One] God is a consuming FIRE" (Heb. 12:29).

And so Gehenna fire has nothing to do with eternal torture, but rather with eonian chastisement and Judgment-for the House of God's elect, now, and for those who obey not the Gospel of God, in the Judgment of Gehenna/lake of fire, later.

I understand how severe the trials and tribulations of life can be, but take heart, the purging fire of Gehenna is not for naught:

"I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches" (Rev. 3:18-22).


Hope this helps,

Marques