2 Thessalonians 1:8,9

Vengeance belongs to God, not man. Daniel 7:13-14 teaches that Jesus will be given a kingdom, dominion and authority to execute judgment. "Vengenace" does not indicate a vindictive spirit of retaliation, but expresses thought in administering justice. The vengeance is rendered upon two groups of people: [1] Those who are inexcuasable because they refused to know God; [2] Those who decide they will not obey the gospel. Perhaps, the first group refers to Gentiles and the second to Jews. "Obey the gospel" implies that there are commands involved with the good news which one must accept and obey.

9. Both groups mentioned above will suffer punishment. The word "punishment" is from a Greek word for the legal term for the result of a law suit. We would call it "punitive damages." The punishment comes from an unbiased judge. The punishment is described as: [1] Eternal; [2] Destruction; [3] Separation from God; [4] Exclusion from any blessing or reward. Some of the punishment in hell is the awareness of being banished from the Lord's presence. Remember, there is no punishment if one is not conscious of it or has no memory of their life on earth.