Gnashing of teeth

[B-A-C]

Psa 112:10; The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.

Matt 8:12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matt 13:42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matt 13:50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matt 22:13 "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Matt 24:51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matt 25:30 "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus uses this phrase six times in the book of Matthew alone.

Luke 13:28 "In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.
Acts 7:54 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.

It's interesting to note, that people will have teeth in the after life. If they have dentures now, do they get new teeth? What kind of dental plan do they get?
All jokes aside, it will be a place where people... "gnash" their teeth. What does that mean? Why would they do that?

Lets start with the easiest two verses with this phrase, Matt 13:42; and Matt 13:50; it says these people will be thrown into the furnace of fire... and they will gnash their teeth.

Doing research on the internet is a gamble at best these days. But there were three reasons I found that people gnash their teeth.

1. Anger, now I suppose some people might be mad at God for where they ended up. It's possible some will be mad at themselves, I don't know.
2. Sorrow - grief, I'm sure some people will be sorry they ended in that place.
3. Pain - this was the most common reason I found in my research. I suppose if you are thrown into a furnace of fire, there will be pain and you might grind your teeth in pain.

Three of the verses above, mention "the outer darkness". There is a lot of controversy around that phrase as well. What is... where is... the outer darkness?
Some say it isn't Hades or the Lake of Fire, but rather some place of Limbo in between. But yet there will be gnashing of teeth there. As many of you know, I was a fireman many years ago.
I did have to enter some burning buildings from time to time. It's always pitch black, I mean... it's so dark you cannot see your hand one inch from your face.
Even if it's just a couch, and not the whole house, the smoke quickly fills a room, and sometimes the entire house. I know in Hollywood movies and television shows, they always
make it so you can see stuff in a fire, I guess there wouldn't be much suspense in watching a pitch black screen. But the reality is, it's just a black place. We have several weeks of training
on how not to panic, lose your orientation, and feel your way around to navigate through a house or building. It's likely and even probable that the "outer darkness" is simply smoke
from the "fiery hell".

We only have a few verses left now...

Matt 24:51; says these people will be cut "in pieces" and assigned a place with the hypocrites. I could do a whole thread on the leaven of the Pharisees ( which is hypocrisy ) and where
hypocrites will end up. But back to being cut in pieces, that doesn't sound like much fun... even if these particular people never face the fires of hell. ( and I'm not saying they won't ).

There have been some sleeping studies, and it was found that some people just naturally grind their teeth in their sleep at night, but I suspect this isn't the same thing as "gnashing your teeth".

 

[B-A-C]

In Acts 7:54; there was gnashing of teeth right before the "religious" Jews stoned Stephen. It seems that most of Acts 7 is Stephen giving a sermon.
The audience wasn't very receptive of that sermon. They stoned Stephen to death. So it seems in this verse, the gnashing of teeth was because of anger.
It seems that Saul ( who became Paul ) was one of the instigators of this.

 

[Brad Huber]

LOL, how does one gnash his or her teeth? Every time I try and imagine it, I just laugh at myself.

 

[B-A-C]

Every time I try and imagine it,

 

[Brad Huber]

But thats grinding of teeth. How is that different from gnashing? And it hurts just a little to clamp down to quickly and too tightly. Why would people purposely hurt themselves to show angst? Would that be like those who when angry have their fists soooo tight that they draw blood on their palms? Never done that either, but I have seen it in movies.

 

[Beetow]

● Matt 8:11-12 . . 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.

"children of the kingdom" is very likely Jacob's posterity; the Jews. Well; for sure,
not all of his people will be permitted citizenship in the kingdom predicted in the Old
Testament. According to Ezek 20:33-38 a number of them will be culled from the
herd and sent elsewhere.

Outer darkness is again spoken of in Matt 22:13 and Matt 25:30

It appears, from comparison of the available data, that "outer darkness" isn't a
location, rather, a state of mental anguish characterized by the deepest possible
feelings of grief associated with loss.

It's akin to the day that God announced to Moses' people they were going to have
to stay in that awful Sinai outback until they were dead. They missed their
opportunity to enter the land of milk and honey and there was no way to regain it.

The people must've been pretty upset over that; no doubt they had all been joyfully
looking forward to a new life over there; and there was no use in praying about it
because God had made up His mind.

I've only experienced deep personal grief associated with irreversible loss but one
time; that was when my No.1 nephew passed away suddenly of natural causes at
the age of 51. I had held him in my arms upon returning home from three years in
the Army when he was only a couple of weeks old.

News of his passing has thus far been the only time in my 79 years that I actually
clenched my teeth, sobbing out of control, and choking, while clinging to a handrail
in the front room to keep from losing my balance and falling to the floor. Matt 8:11-12
is likely speaking of a similar depth of intense grief, or possibly worse.
_

 

[B-A-C]

Matt 22:11; "But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,
Matt 22:12; and he *said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless.
Matt 22:13; "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Matt 22:14; "For many are called, but few are chosen."

This is the only time, that it mentions "bind him" ( hand and foot ). It seems this wedding guest will have his hands and feet tied up before he is thrown into the "outer darkness".
But even so, there will still be weeping, and gnashing of teeth there. There has been a lot of speculation over what exactly the "wedding clothes" are here.

Rev 16:15; ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.")

It's interesting here that it says "keeps" his clothes. It doesn't say he doesn't have any clothes, but rather it seems it's possible to lose your clothes.

Rev 3:4; 'But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
Rev 3:5; 'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

It also appears your clothes can become "soiled". Those who do not have their names erased from the Book of Life will be clothed in white garments.

Rev 3:17; 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
Rev 3:18; I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Some people are "naked". ( Spiritually at least ) . Jesus is speaking in these verses, He says "buy from Me" ... gold and white garments ... so you won't be naked.
How do we buy these white garments, and what exactly are they?

It appears you can wash your clothes in "the blood of the Lamb".

Rev 7:13; Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?"
Rev 7:14; I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 22:14; Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.

It seems these white robes ( that are washed ) are a requirement to eat from the tree of life, and to enter the gates of the New Jerusalem.

All of these passages about clean white clothing leads to this.

Rev 19:7; "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."
Rev 19:8; It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Rev 19:9; Then he *said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he *said to me, "These are true words of God."

"to clothe herself". I appears someone doesn't dress us, we have to dress ourselves. What are these fine white garments? "the righteous acts of the saints".
Those invited to the wedding feast are blessed, but you need to make sure you have the right clothing on.

 

[B-A-C]

It appears, from comparison of the available data, that "outer darkness" isn't a
location, rather, a state of mental anguish characterized by the deepest possible
feelings of grief associated with loss.

I think we need to be careful of new-age philosophy here.

"Heaven and hell are just a state of mind. God and Jesus are just a state of mind."
"Salvation is just a state of being when you achieve inner peace with the universe."

For many, Christianity is just "a perfect balance between the Yin and the Yang".

Instead of turning everything into some transcendental spiritual experience... we need to know God and Jesus are real,
Heaven and hell are real. These aren't just metaphors for some existential state of mind.

I sometimes hear people say "Hell, is just this current life we are going through".
Of course there are over a dozen Bible verses that say differently, but for true believers, it's kind of true. This is worst life we have to face.
For non-believers, it's closer to the truth to say.. this is the only heaven they will ever experience.

 

[Beetow]

.

I think we need to be careful of new-age philosophy here.

Mental anguish is a normal part of perdition. For example the rich man in the story
told at Luke 16:19-31 is worried about his five brothers joining him in an afterlife of
fire and thirst.
_

 

[Brad Huber]

just googled it, it says that gnashing is clenching your teeth together tightly without much of the sideways movement whereas grinding includes the sideways movement while clenched

 

[KingJ]

1. Anger, now I suppose some people might be mad at God for where they ended up. It's possible some will be mad at themselves, I don't know.
2. Sorrow - grief, I'm sure some people will be sorry they ended in that place.
3. Pain - this was the most common reason I found in my research. I suppose if you are thrown into a furnace of fire, there will be pain and you might grind your teeth in pain.

Agree with 1 and 2. Luke 13:28 explains these two and gives a reason. As for 3, you are incorrect. This is adding to scripture what is not there. Misreading.

There is absolutely no scripture that teaches weeping and gnashing teeth is from fire. You need to find a scripture that says ''the fire causes them to weep and gnash their teeth'' before you can state 3 as a fact. What scripture does say, you quoted it, is that in hell there is fire ''and'' gnashing of teeth. That is like God saying to Eve, your first curse is pain in childbirth and your second is that man will rule over you. Then we come along and teach as ''fact'' that woman have pain in childbirth because men rule over them. Its terrible BAC. Christians CANNOT make ANY mistake on hell. As any false teaching has the potential to COMPLETELY and UTTERLY misrepresent Him to the lost. The ONLY passage in the entirety of scripture that gives an actual description of the suffering in fire is from Jesus in Luke 16. There is NO words or passage therein mentioning gnashing of teeth.

 

[KingJ]

LOL, how does one gnash his or her teeth? Every time I try and imagine it, I just laugh at myself.

Not sure this post is appropriate Brad. Imagine a non-Christian reading this in a thread on the suffering of those in hell.

When I watched the 'Oscar Pretorius' court case, I saw first hand what weeping and gnashing of teeth is. He was crying and grinding his teeth in the courtroom. Over and over for hours. It is the natural reaction to 'extreme' regret, remorse, sorrow, frustration.

 

[KingJ]

3. Pain - this was the most common reason I found in my research. I suppose if you are thrown into a furnace of fire, there will be pain and you might grind your teeth in pain.

Another fact that is very important to grasp is the fact that if anyone today experiences fire, they do not weep and gnash their teeth.

Burning your finger causes some yelling. You weep after it is removed from the fire. Burnt at the stake causes screaming, no weeping. Being placed in a brazen bull causes screaming and un-imaginable sounds.

I have started praying daily that all Christians who teach that the fires of hell are akin to a brazen bull come to their senses asap.

 

[KingJ]

But thats grinding of teeth. How is that different from gnashing? And it hurts just a little to clamp down to quickly and too tightly. Why would people purposely hurt themselves to show angst? Would that be like those who when angry have their fists soooo tight that they draw blood on their palms? Never done that either, but I have seen it in movies.

Gnashing is grinding of teeth.

 

[Beetow]

Well I don't know
But I've been told;
Eskimo toes
Are mighty cold.
BURMA SHAVE

My siblings and I used to love watching for those signs along the old hiways
back in the day.
_

 

[Beetow]

Ol' Dan Tucker was a fine old man
He washed his face in a frying pan
He combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died of a toothache in his heel

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Here come old flat top
He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one Mojo filter
He say one and one and one is three
Got to be good looking
'Cause he's so hard to see

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A spinster lady was asked why she never married. Well; she said: I've got a
hound that lays around the house all day, a stove that smokes, and a bird
that cusses. What do I need a man for?
_

 

[Curtis]

The imagery I am seeing is wild animals growling in anger exposing their teeth.

 

[Beetow]

Q: Why do aliens tend to spill their tea?

A: Because their saucers fly.


Q: Why did the apple pie go to the dentist?

A: Because it needed a filling.


Airplane A leaves LAX at 250mph. Airplane B leaves LAX twenty minutes later at
400mph.

How long will it take plane B to catch up to plane A, and how far from the airport
will the intercept occur.


Faith is believin' somethin' you know ain't so.
(Mark Twain)
_

 

[Beetow]

Mommy, why are you crying?
And Daddy, why're you so blue?
And when were pretty flowers
Ever so strewn?

And who's the nice man,
With the scars in his hands,
Leading me out of my room?
Away With A Little Child (Author Unknown)

You have to hear that song in voice to really feel its sentiment.
_

 

[Beetow]

A children's Sunday school teacher asked everyone in class to raise their hand if
they wanted to go to Heaven.

All hands went up except for one little boy. So the teacher asked him why he would
not want to go to Heaven. He answered: I thought you meant right now.

(chuckle) I can certainly identify with that boy 'cause my catechism class met on
Saturday mornings when where I really wanted to be was dangling a worm in the
San Diego River where I grew up in California back in the decade of the 1950s.
_