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I should be clear about my own response above,

I believe there is going to be the final judgment and the lake of fire, and that hades, Sheol (the grave), bottomless pit, outer darkness etc., (these are not all the same place, quite the contrary) Death and hades will be cast into the lake of fire at the end,

Jesus himself spoke more about hell than anyone in the Bible, he being the only one who can provide the pardon from going there, recall what he said about Judas, that it would’ve been better for him if he had never been born,

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; “ 2 Peter 2:4

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

How can this be? All this good stuff, and they're still lost?

A very simple biblical answer: Eph 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; “ 2 Peter 2:4

And as you pointed out earlier in your post, even that scripture speaks of their condition *before* the judgement. It is like they are a murderer in Jail, waiting for their court date or sentencing date. And what will their sentence be?

In our world, which is where God meets us, we have two forms of punishment: First is rehabilitation. It’s effectiveness is questionable, but it’s goal is not. The second is removal from “the rest of us”. The goal is not to make it hard for the perp. It is to separate him from the rest of us. In some cultures this means life in prison. In others, its execution. But its function is to “cast them out” of our world.

It’s how I see the fate of those that don’t accept Christ. Except I don’t see God having any reason to keep them alive. He certianly would not do it for them. It’s not like he is trying to teach them a lesson. He would not do it for us. We’ll never come into contact with them in any way, shape or form ever again, nor would we want to. Would He get some morbid pleasure out of it?

So whom would it benefit?