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Hebrews 6:8 – Burning the land
“Referring to the land. The allusion here is to the common practice among the Oriental and Roman agriculturists of burning bad and barren lands. An illustration of this is afforded by Pliny. “There are some who burn the stubble on the field, chiefly upon the authority of Virgil; the principal reason for which is, that they may burn the seeds of weeds;” Nat. Hist. xviii. 30. The authority of Virgil, to which Pliny refers, may be found in Georg. i. 84:
“Saepe etiam steriles incendere profuit agros,
Atque levem stipulam ciepitantibus urere flammis.”
“It is often useful to set fire to barren lands, and burn the light stubble in crackling flames.”’ (Barnes)
The real question brought about by this analogy is, “Does the burning take place in this life or in the after-life?” Hell is definitely real, but the purpose of burning land was not to punish, but to purge, to make useful. Here we see the same teaching as found in Hebrews 12 as concerning discipline.
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