“You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire. 12 The peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire. 13 You who are far away, hear what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might. 14 Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?” (Isaiah 33:11-14).

The context is the 14th year of Hezekiah’s reign. The Assyrians are threatening Jerusalem, and Isaiah turns to the theme of God’s judgment. To summarize the chapter, Isaiah says in verse 1, that when the destroyer (who is left unnamed) is finished destroying, he will be destroyed. As soon as he stops being treacherous, others will be treacherous against him. In v. 2, Isaiah offers a prayer of deliverance to God. In verses 3-4, inhabitants of Jerusalem take spoil from the enemy. In verses 5-6, the Lord is exalted. In verses 7-10, the enemy is in distress. In verses 11-12, it says that the enemy has conceived chaff and will give birth to stumble and God’s breath will consume them like fire the way cut thorns that are burned in the fire.

Isaiah 33:11-12

“You have conceived chaff.  You will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire. 12  The peoples will be burned to lime, like cut thorns which are burned in the fire,” (Isaiah 33:11-12).

In their search for verses that support the idea that the people cease to exist in the final judgment, conditionalists gravitate to Isaiah 33:11-12 with its language of people being “burned to lime, like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.” But, is this a literal description of their ultimate end, or is it the use of figurative language aimed at describing what will happen to the wicked? Contextually, we know that verse 11 is figurative because God says that they have “conceived chaff and given birth to stubble,” and that God’s breath will consume them like a fire (v. 11). Why then is the vivid imagery a literal description of their future nonexistence? It is quite a switch to jump that and assert that God is speaking about peoples’ future, nonexistence. It seems more likely that God is using the vivid, figurative imagery that people were then familiar with to describe the destruction of the wicked. To make this and an annihilationist interpretation is to go too far.

Isaiah 33:14

“Sinners in Zion are terrified. Trembling has seized the godless. Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?” (Isaiah 33:14).

The questions found in verse 14 refer to what preceded it regarding the wicked. They will ask who can dwell in God’s consuming, continual fire. Isaiah answers, and in verse 15, he says that those who walk righteously will stand in God’s judgment. This vivid imagery is reminiscent of God being described as a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24; 9:3). Living with consuming fire and continual burning would be the language of someone who is terrified, not the righteous who have confidence in God: “his refuge will be the impregnable rock…” (v. 16).

Conclusion

The context of Isaiah 33 is the 14th year of Hezekiah’s reign. The Assyrians are threatening Jerusalem. Isaiah mentions the unnamed destroyer who will be destroyed (v. 2). He adopts figurative language when he says in verse 11, “You have conceived chaff. You will give birth to stumble. My breath will consume you like a fire.” Such vivid, figurative imagery is not meant to describe literal, future nonexistence of the wicked. Instead, it is illustrating their fate. God’s judgment will be upon them. For the conditionalist to assert that God is speaking of the ultimate nonexistence of the wicked is to read into the text. Furthermore, it is the wicked who in verse 14 who are asking who can dwell in God’s consuming, continual burning fire. They know they cannot. It is only the righteous (verse 16) who will stand. Though this chapter has language familiar to what conditionalists look for to support their position, it is not a proof text for the position.