Outer Darkness
and
Weeping and Gnashing of Teethby Bob Cope
What did Yahushua mean when He taught that the “children of the kingdom” will be cast out into “outer darkness,” where there will be, “weeping and gnashing of teeth?"
"And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Mt 8:11-12)
The standard answer, handed down by the various denominational and independent churches on what “outer darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth” says that it means "...being cast into hell, out of the presence of the Lord." That answer is wrong, as are so many others that come from religious organizations, all of which are dreadfully afraid to admit that they don't have all the answers. Why are they so afraid to admit such a thing? There are two reasons. First, because they've set themselves up as the absolute authorities on all spiritual matters and their ignorantly compliant congregations accept that notion. The churches cannot tolerate the thought of their being wrong, because they fear that if their congregations knew that they didn't have all the answers, they'd lose their confidence, respect, and most importantly, their support. They couldn't bear the loss of the prestige and position the hierarchy enjoys, so the churches will always have an answer. It won't matter whether the answer is a right or a wrong one; they simply must come up with an answer in order to maintain the illusion that they know all there is to know spiritually, in order to preserve the public's image of them.
The most important thing to them is that they hold their supporter's respect because without it, the flow of money stops. Secondly, a lot of traditional teaching having pagan roots, got imbedded in the various doctrines of the churches from long ago; and it has been there for so long, that it is accepted as being true. I can't get into explaining those many wrong teachings in this short article, but if you'll type the words, How Pagan practices got into the churches, into a browser's search bar, doing so will yield a lot of useful information. This article was written mainly to explain the correct meaning of Mt 8:11-12.
IT'S A PROPHECYYahushua was prophesying when he spoke those words in Matthew 8:11-12. Prophecies are often followed by what are known as types and antitypes. A type is a sort of preview of the future fulfillment or antitype of the prophecy.
And the prophecy of Yahushua in Mt 8:11-12 no doubt, has seen its type in both the temporary blinding of Israel to any further Scriptural truths by Yahuweh since the time of Acts 28:28; and in the casting out of the Jews from their homeland by the Romans in 70 A.D. This could never have happened unless Yahuweh had, for the time being, turned his back on rebellious Israel and allowed it to happen.
Outer is of course, the opposite of inner. But how can being cast out of the future millennial kingdom of heaven to be established in Israel, be regarded as losing one's salvation and being tossed into the fictional fiery hell? A reality check is badly needed here. The coming millennial kingdom of the Messiah in Israel is not going to be in the unseen spiritual realm. It will be both visible and physical. So those who get thrown out of it are experience something similar to Adam's being cast out of the garden of Eden. Was he cast into religion's fiery hell? Of course not!
Darkness, as it is used in the verse, is just another term for being put away from Yahuweh's presence.
"(According as it is written, Yahuweh hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? Yahuweh forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? (Ro 11:8-12)
"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." (Rom 11:7)
Therefore, the term, outer darkness is simply just another way of expressing being blind and denied a place of great privilege such as citizenship in Israel, the Royal Nation, with the Messiah as its King.
Weeping is what occurred when the Jews lost Jerusalem and Israel to the Romans in 70 AD., and were forced into wandering about the world without a nation of their own. This same thing will happen again to those who reject the Messiah as their King when he returns to establish his thousand year reign in Jerusalem.
Gnashing of teeth is what religious Judaism did because of their Roman conquerors; it's what Judaism does today toward Christianity. Roman Catholicism is but the religious extension of what used to be the Roman Empire; but Judaism sees Roman Catholicism generally as representative of Christianity; but it isn't. Nevertheless, Judaism gnashes its teeth at it!
I realize that this article won't be convincing to all who read it, but for those who do see the points, I'd like to offer them the opportunity to freely copy, and read at their convenience the greatest book ever written to dispel the pagan religious myth of fiery hell. Otis Q. Sellers is its author, and you can obtain it by visiting my website at The Grace Universal Homepage When you arrive at my site, click on the Sound Words button, and look under the sub heading, The Best Book On The Subject Of Hell then click on the title, The Rich Man and Lazarus.