The Parable of the Pearl of great worth Matthew 13.45-46
100 Questions
Question 29: How could God send anyone to eternal torture?
As I considered these two questions it became increasingly clear that these two items—the first about eternal torture and the second about worship and eternal praise—are really opposite sides of the same coin. That coin being the exceeding excellence, glory, majesty, beauty, value, goodness and awesome power of God. In other words, these two things—eternal punishment and eternal worship—are the necessary and appropriate response of each person to the exceeding greatness and goodness of God. That being the case, it’s not surprising that those who do not know God and have absolutely no idea how exceedingly great he is[1] cannot understand either aspect concerning Him.
I’ve dealt with the topic of Hell previously in the article titled: “An Ontological Argument for Hell (and a plea – Be saved!)” and if this article is of interest to you I strongly encourage you to take a look, since it covers aspects I won’t deal with here. But, for this outing, we will approach it from the aspect I mentioned above—God’s exceeding greatness. Let’s begin the examination by learning the proper response to the knowledge of God. Scripture says such knowledge is required for understanding (Prov 9.10).
The Exceeding Goodness and Greatness of God
To understand the answer to both of these questions, one must first understand the correct and proper response once something of exceedingly great value is discovered. Jesus taught a lesson about it in the parable of the pearl of great worth. (Matt 13.45-46) This parable is made more understandable once it is known that 1. A rare, large pearl could be worth years or tens of years of a salary – up to being considered “priceless.” 2. In Jerusalem fine pearls were also also a symbol of divine beauty and purity. But let me try to contextualize it further. To do so I will employ a method Jesus used liberally: the object lesson. Or, to be more precise for this example, an analogy.
First we must bring to mind something that we deeply love and appreciate. This is something that we invest our time, attention and money in. It is something that is near and dear to our hearts. For many, one thing that qualifies is a particular sport and typically a particular team. Sometimes it’s a particular player on that team. So let’s start there. Since it has just completed, let’s consider the attention given to the FIFA World Cup 2026. A search engine describes FIFA as “The home of football across the globe.” What is known in most of the world as “football”, Americans (like myself) call soccer. What Americans call “football”, most of the world calls “American football.” So I will use the term football with a clarifier.
Even if you don’t follow FIFA football at all, if you have access to this article online, surely you cannot have missed the excitement of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Thousands of people from across the globe poured into the American host cities to watch the matches. Perhaps you’ve seen some of the Youtube videos of how surprised Europeans are to find that America is not like at all like the lies their mainstream media has been spreading about America for the past 10 or so years, but that’s a topic for another time. Regarding seeing sports, one does not take the time, nor spend money on plane tickets, hotel rooms, tickets to see games and all the other expenses that accompanies it—food, possible time off from work, fees to travel around while visiting, etc., etc.—unless you have a strong motivating interest to do so. Being at the other end of the interest extreme, I do not follow FIFA football so there is no way I’d spend even a single dollar to travel to Europe, nor would I spend time watching any of the matches. The fact that thousands of people did so shows a deep love and appreciation for the sport.
But, if you’re a fan, then, during the games, you can’t help but show your love. That is most clearly evident when a goal is scored. If you’re not a fan, perhaps you’ve seen in passing, in a commercial, or in a sports summary on the news, when a goal is scored in FIFA football. This has been popularized by play-by-play announcer Andres Cantor, who, in a booming voice over the loudspeakers, proclaims “Goooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaal!” as the fans go wild. That is real excitement. The expression of that excitement, the jubilation, the love for the game cannot be contained. It must come out. And come out it does. (You know a comparison to worship is coming, right?)
Though there is similar excitement after a touchdown in American football, particularly after a pick six, I’ve not seen an American football announcer extend the announcement of a goal as is done in FIFA football. Clearly, that shared verbal acknowledgement and witness enhances the moment for everyone interested enough to be viewing.
For those who are not sports fans, perhaps an example from the realm of music will help. Consider a live concert. Once again, due to the cost of the ticket, travel, etc., etc., those who go to live concerts are already heavily invested in the group or singer. There’s a general excitement in the venue as fans wait for the singer. The excitement is expressed in loud cheers when the singer appears, which then dies down so you can hear the music. I don’t expect that what happens next is a rare occurrence at concerts. Consider, as an example, a moment from of one of Sade’s concerts. The intro plays and the band is on stage doing the warmup. She comes on the stage, and, when she starts to sing (and it sounds exactly like you’ve heard her with no differences due to auto-tune or whatever enhancements they do at the studio) there’s a roar from the crowd. It’s recognizably her in person, live, singing as only Sade can, and the fans go wild the moment they recognize her voice. Again. That’s love. That’s appreciation.
Here’s the comparison. If that’s how expressive we get for a fellow human we appreciate, how much more appropriate is it for us to appreciate, and be expressive for, the far superior God? He is the giver of life and creator of our souls and spirit which were meant to resonate with Him. You say it’s not the same thing? Then I’ll say that’s your experience—or lack thereof—speaking, because you don’t know the exceeding glory of God. Like those who don’t know or appreciate FIFA football and don’t care who wins or loses, those who don’t know God will not have the proper response of appreciation. But those pure enough in heart to know Him and appreciate Him will see him and will likewise be blessed (Matt 5.8). Their roar of excitement will come out as worship.
You see, there is a natural response to the recognition of something that is great and, not just great, but exceedingly great. FIFA football goals are difficult, so they elicit a response of appreciation. We don’t often see singers in a live performance of songs we love, so they elicit that response. How much more should a person, worth many times the value of any sports team or player or singer, elicit such a response? I’m speaking now of God, of course. How much should we appreciate the giver of life, the giver and exemplar of love, the creator of everything good (including everything you love and hold dear), the one who has prepared a place in his own home for those who love him to live in forever (John 14.2-3)? How much more should this person elicit such a response? Because he is of such greater value and worth, what we give God is not mere excitement, though it should include that. It should go beyond excitement in order to recognize his worth. This combination of recognition, emotion, expression and excitement is what we call “worship” and God is worthy of all we can give him. For those who know and love God, the praise is uncontainable. Now let’s consider the other side.
The Exceeding Evil of Rejecting God
Many people—particularly atheists—think there are no moral implications in rejecting God. They believe that rejecting God is neither good nor bad. But the truth, visible to those who have gained an understanding of God, is that, in rejecting God, not only are you rejecting him, which itself is evil; but you’re also rejecting everything good, since every good thing and every good and perfect gift comes from G0d. (James 1.17) Thus, rejecting God is evil. (Deut 28.20) As an object lesson here I considered using someone people love to hate—like Hitler or, for Americans, Osama Bin Laden. But I think the point is better made by going to the source of much evil—the evil one himself: Satan, the accuser of God’s people. (Rev 12.10) Let’s suppose the evil one decides to execute an evil plan such as the following.
Picture a FIFA World Cup match or a wildly popular music concert. The stadium is filled with tens of thousands of people cheering and enjoying the main attraction. Hundreds of thousands or even millions are watching online and on TV. Now picture a cruel and grisly event. The evil one managers to kill everyone one watching. Whether in person at the venue or remotely through technology, all are killed in an instant. The means is not important here. The intent and the result are what we’re considering. All who were excited and watching are now dead at the express will and action of the evil one. What should the punishment be for such a horrendous act? What should the punishment be for those who agree with the evil one’s action and perhaps helped participate in it?
Before a judgment is rendered, as in a court of law, testimony of impact to the injured party should be considered and weighed. There are a number of items that must be considered here:
1. As noted above in the parable of the pearl, God is of great value. In fact, he is of infinite value. He is an eternal being. (Ps 90.2) Thus, an affront to him is an infinite one since it concerns an infinite, eternal being.
Sin, which is evil, is primarily against God. (Ps 51.4) Since sin is a transgression against God’s moral law and an affront to his holy character, though sin may involve another person, the ultimate transgression is against God. Thus the restitution must be made to God.
How can a finite person pay an infinite debt? One cannot. One must pay forever since the debt is an infinite one. And you may think that the size of the evil matters, whether it’s one person affected or millions like above. One must understand that evil deserves all these listed aspects of punishment. God is not in the business of providing custom made places of banishment. All go to the same place of condemnation (Matt 25.41), so the goal is to avoid it, not try to get a better place of torment.
2. God is holy and does not want to look on evil, (Hab 1.13) nor will he let it in his kingdom. (Rev 21.27) Thus, whatever the solution, it cannot involve allowing the transgressing party to be in God’s kingdom, nor in God’s sight.
3. Those sent to the place of condemnation never stop sinning. They continue to sin (Rev 9.20-21; 16.11), thus deepening their transgression and not only continue to be worthy of their judgment, but actually provide justification for making the punishment worse.
4. This was noted above but it bears repeating. Rejecting God for any reason is evil. (Deut 28.20) By rejecting God, you are placing yourself above God. You think you know better than God. You consider yourself wiser than God. You want to follow your own rules and want to sit on the throne of your life as king, directing all your own affairs. That is essentially the sin of Satan—the sin of pride. Satan also wanted to do these things. Scripture describes Satan’s sin and fall as follows:
12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the
utmost heights of the sacred mountain. 14
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
Isaiah 14.12-15
Clearly satan thinks he is more worthy to sit in the place of God, than God. That’s false, deceived and evil. Those who follow him into that deception of thinking they know better than God and want to sit in the place of God will likewise get satan’s punishment.
Given these four considerations, what then is the proper response, the proper punishment for those who have treated God in such a wicked manner and have trampled under foot the Son of God by rejecting the salvation he offers (Heb 10.29). What should the punishment be, in light of such considerations?
Given consideration 1, it must be eternal.
Given consideration 2, it must be away from God and outside the kingdom of God, where all good things exist. There will be nothing good in this place of punishment since all good has been rejected.
Given consideration 3, there will be no escape from the punishment because those condemned never stop sinning, nor can they pay the infinite debt their evil has incurred.
Given consideration 4, it must be a place of punishment since justice demands that evil be punished, as God demonstrated with his own people when they rejected him. He sent “curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed” (Deut 28.20)
What do we call the place that meets these requirements? Jesus described such a place as follows:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'”
(Mat 25:41)
As I described in “Hell is for Liars“, what is typically referred to as “hell” is really the eternal lake of fire. What is translated from the Bible as “hell” ( ʻαδης – Hades (Luke 16.23) or γεεννα – Gehenna (Matt 5.22)) is really a holding place for the dead, which can be pleasant or painful based on your final destination, whether you’re bound for Heaven or the eternal lake of fire. This is depicted clearly in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar (Luke 16.19-31).
So the punishment for the evil one for such an act as the above is eternity spent in the lake of fire apart from God and everything good. What we call “hell” was prepared for Satan and all the wicked angels who followed him into rebellion against God. But note one more thing. God is efficient. He does not duplicate his efforts in preparing a place for the wicked. The place prepared for Satan and his angels is the same place all humans who reject God will also be cast. God will not bother creating individual hells for people. We’re told God is light. (1 John 1.5) Since hell will be a place where there is no trace of God or his goodness, those cast there will be in “the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt 8.12)
So the short answer to these questions is:
Why does God want praise and worship? It is not an ego thing, it is the proper response to so great and awesome a being.
How could God send anyone to eternal torture? That too is the proper response to those who have embraced the evil of rejecting the holy and good God, and have therefore rejected everything good. Once you reject all that is good, all that remains is evil. That’s what those who reject God have chosen, so that’s what God gives them. You reap what you sow. (Gal 6.7) So, once again I make the appeal, as has God many times. Choose life! (Deut 30.19) Though they deserve it and have chosen it, God takes no joy in the death of the wicked:
Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel’
(Ezek 33:11)
Some may ask:
“What must we do to do the works God requires?”
(John 6:28)
The Apostle John tells us Jesus’ response:
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
(John 6:29)
The one God sent is Jesus. The Apostle Paul explains further:
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
(Rom 10:9-10)
In summary, our evil merits eternal condemnation. But God has provided a way such that no one need suffer the punishment of eternal condemnation. That way—the death and resurrection of his own son Jesus and eternal life for all who believe— is worthy of eternal praise to God. That is the explanation and the gospel in a nutshell.
Duane Caldwell | August 3, 2026 | Printer Friendly Version
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Notes
1. The Ontological Argument for the existence of God is based on understanding the perfection of God in every aspect. A simple formulation was developed by Anselm of Canterbury by understanding God as a being of whom “nothing greater can be conceived”. A being who exists in reality is greater than a being who does not exist, thus God must necessarily exist. Alvin Plantiga develops it further with his “all possible worlds” formulation. Overview of Platiga’s argument here.
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