Dan M. answered • 07/06/20
Improving Writing, History, Political Science and More–Together!
Great Question! The idea that the devil punishes sinners does not actually come from the Bible. His job is not to torment people in eternal damnation, but to tempt, try, and accuse Christians while they are still on this earth to get them to turn away from God. We see this most clearly in the story of Job, when Satan stands before God and tries to get Job to "curse God and die," in the words of Job's wife. Or when he tempts Jesus before he starts his earthly ministry, trying to get Jesus to pursue the end result of his work (glory and dominion over all the kingdoms of the earth) without the plan God had laid out for it to happen (the cross).
In terms of eternal damnation, humans who have not placed their faith in Jesus for salvation are not tormented by the devil, but cast into, as Jesus describes in Matthew 22:13, "the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The punishment that they endure comes from the fact that they are cast away from the presence of God, who is the source and provider of all goodness, light, and peace in the universe. Revelation 20:15 says, "And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." That is their ultimate destiny, but the devil's ultimate destiny is to be cast into that same place. Just 5 verses earlier, it says, "and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." So the Devil is not the one doing the tormenting, but rather is another creature subject to the same eternal torment as those whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life.
