THEY HAVE A NEVERENDING APPETITE! DO WORMS LIVE FOREVER? There are some expressions in the Bible that have been misconstrued and could lead to wrong conclusions. One of which is the expression “their worm does not die”. What does this mean? Are worms immortal?

This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us, humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

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Inviting the Spirit of God

Holy Father, there are some things hard to understand. How therefore can we learn without a teacher? We ask for the power of your Holy Spirit that we may fully understand the thing written in your world.

In Jesus’ Name Amen

Isaiah 66:24 and Mark 9:42–48 both talk about worms that eat dead bodies. Much as we would not like to talk about it, many of us have seen this in the form of a dead animal found on the side of the road. Thus, these worms most likely represent maggots, maggots eat rotting flesh. The Bible says these worms do not die. Does this mean worms will exist when God restores this world back to its Eden state? When the world was with sin? 

Well, some believe that the noun “worm” in Mark 9:48 represents the soul of a wicked person. They believe that after a person dies, his or her soul somehow drifts to hell where it never dies. There, the soul suffers everlasting punishment. Is this what Mark 9:48 is talking about?

Mark 9:48

48 where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ (Mark 9:48)

But as we have learned, the Bible teaches that when a person dies, he or she remains in an unconscious state in the grave until Christ returns to this earth.

Therefore, we need to understand what Isaiah 66:24 is talking about to know what Jesus is referring to in Mark 9:42–48.

Isaiah 66:24

24 “And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:24)

Mark 9:42-48

42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.

43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—

44 where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’

45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—

46 where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’

47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire—

48 where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ (Mark 9:42-48)

What does this mean?

According to Robert Bratcher and Eugene Nida in A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of Mark, 1961 page 304, the Bible writers use the word ‘worm’ not to represent just one worm but many worms. So, one ‘worm’ in Mark and Isaiah does not mean only one worm. As in magots, the word ‘worm’ really means “many worms eat dead bodies”

 Furthermore, Mark 9:48 is a quotation from Isaiah 66:24, which says:

24 And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:24) 

Hence, this verse shows us a gruesome picture of the future. In this picture, we see God’s enemies dead on the ground and being destroyed by fire and worms. Fire burns up their bodies and worms eat the parts that the fire doesn’t burn. Or perhaps the worms eat the bodies first. Then the fire burns up the bodies not eaten by the worms. This we do not know. But, what we do know is that Isaiah never talks about any soul escaping both the fires and the worms and then flying into hell. These bodies are annihilated, they are wiped completely out of existence.

But what about the “worms”? What about the worms that never die? The language about the worms in Isaiah 66:24 is metaphoric, it is figurative.  It is a word picture designed to help us understand that the wicket will be wiped totally out of existence, as fire burns things to ashes and worms or maggots totally consume flesh.

Jesus uses this same word picture in Mark 9:48. This symbolism doesn’t mean that the worms live forever. Can you imagine worms living forever, eating off dead carcasses in heaven?  Would that be heaven, the place where there will be no more death?

What Jesus wants us to understand is that these worms do not leave their job unfinished. The worms continue to eat the bodies of the wicked dead until their bodies are destroyed and wiped out of existence.

It stands to reason, Jesus in Mark 9:42–48 would say that it is better for someone to enter God’s kingdom with a hand, foot, or eye missing. What good is a perfect body that fire and worms will destroy? And of course, Jesus is not saying that there will be people in heaven missing a hand, a foot, or an eye. Again, He is using a metaphor. Here He is showing how important it is for us to put away those things that cause us to sin. Better that they be cast into the lake of fire than for our bodies to be cast in it. 

Thus, metaphorically speaking, “The worm of life shall not die; their fire shall not be quenched as long as there is the least particle for it to prey upon.”—Early Writings, pp. 293, 294.

This leads to another question, does what applies to the worms apply to the everlasting fire? Will the wicked burn forever in an eternally burning hell as some have said? Find out, Day 3 The Fires of Hell

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