“[These beliefs are the beliefs of three major Sabbatarian Churches of God, as well as the past beliefs of the Worldwide Church of God.  These beliefs which follow (as well as all beliefs about hell and the “unsaved dead”) are totally secondary to the vital gospel of Salvation that we have in and through Jesus Christ---i.e one is totally free to believe or disbelieve what is presented here, without it affecting one’s salvation in the least.  The study is merely being presented to show another view on the subject of hell and the fate of the “unsaved dead.”  You will find it most interesting.  You don’t have to believe it.]

"THE SECOND RESURRECTION"

THE SECOND RESURRECTION IS FOR ALL WHO ARE NOT CALLED OR HAVE ANSWERED GOD'S CALL TO SALVATION IN THEIR NORMAL LIFETIMES. SOME DENOMINATIONS BELIEVE THIS IS THE TIME WHEN ALL THE UNSAVED DEAD ARE RESURRECTED BACK TO LIFE AND THEN ARE THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE, HELL-FIRE. THEN A FEW DENOMINATIONS BELIEVE THIS IS A TIME REPRESENTED BY "THE LAST GREAT DAY" AT THE END OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, A TIME WHERE JESUS SAID ALL WHO COME WANTING TO DRINK OF THE WATER OF LIFE WILL BE ABLE TO.

John 7:10,14,37-39. "However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret...Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach..." What was Jesus' message for and on the Last Great Day? It was that anyone wanting to come to Christ and salvation could do so. This applies to now as John indicates, but it also applies to those who will come back to life in one mighty and massive resurrection of humanity back to physical life! "...On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, `If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." Remember, to receive the Holy Spirit is to receive salvation and the promise of eternal life, and receive the ability to live the life of a Christian, walking the Christian life into immortality. Let's learn a little known, little understood mystery the Bible has kept locked away for thousands of years. The book of Revelation, as well as the book of Daniel, are books of prophetic timing. The timing of God's major events are foretold in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 19 the 2nd coming occurs [Trumpets]. In Revelation 20:1-3 Satan is locked away [Atonement]. In Revelation 20:4 we find the just resurrected immortal saints pictured on their thrones just after the first resurrection to immortality. That is where we will start.

Revelation 20:4-5, 7-11, 12-13. "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)..."

Did you catch that? "THE REST OF THE DEAD DID NOT COME TO LIFE UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE ENDED..." Only those with the Holy Spirit come up at Christ's return and are made immortal, I Corinthians 15:49-54. This same group is described in Revelation 20:4 and 6. The rest of humanity that has died must be this same group described in verse five as the rest of the dead.

Comment: The next few verses explain a short time-gap between "the thousand years" (the Millennium) and the Great White Throne Judgment, which is this massive resurrection back to physical life. Verse five conclusively shows that the rest of humanity that has lived and died will be resurrected back to life a short time after the end of the thousand years! This is the 2nd resurrection! Many if not all of our loved ones in the world--parents, friends, and yes, even enemies will be in this resurrection back to physical life!

THE FINAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT: SATAN'S ULTIMATE DEMISE.

(verses 7-10, the final putting away of Satan, the final fulfillment of the ancient meaning of the Day of Atonement) "When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever..." Satan and his demons are now permanently removed from influencing earth and it's inhabitants. Understand, whoever is resurrected back to life now is not under the invisible influence of Satan. And remember, all those resurrected in the coming massive resurrection had lived lives in Satan's world, deceived by Satan-hurt by Satan's evil sinful broadcast (including even those called Gog and Magog who had just been deceived by Satan and killed by fire as they surrounded Jerusalem).

THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

(Verses 11-13) "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done." Reading on into verses 14-15 of Revelation 20, one could assume that these people are goners, and that is their first conscious thought as Ezekiel 37 reveals, but what light does Jesus and Paul shed on this subject? Remember, read this with an open mind, putting aside what you have grown up believing from childhood, or taught in church or seminary.

Matthew 13:24-30. "Jesus told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? 'An enemy did this,' he replied. The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'" Satan and the demons not only sow weeds of deception, they are the weeds symbolically! Those that chose to keep following Satan's way in spite of having God's Holy Spirit freely offered when Satan's deceptive influence is removed from them, will be burned up. Most of mankind is blinded to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and salvation. God has allowed this blinding, and even written the Bible in such a way that makes the knowledge of salvation hard to comprehend. Satan is the one who actually has the world blinded, but God has gone along with this, and even made it easy for this blinding to take place. This next group of scriptures show that. To see Satan's part in this look up and read Revelation 12:9 and II Corinthians 4:3-4 and II Corinthians 11:4,13-15. There is a great and loving purpose to this blinding which God has allowed and even made easy. Each "harvest" of saints into the kingdom of God is larger than the one that precedes it. The ones in the first harvest at Jesus Christ's 2nd coming will actually live and reign with Jesus Christ, assisting him in governing all the people living on into the Millennium. All those that train and are changed into Spirit Beings and granted entrance into immortality during the Millennium will assist Jesus and those resurrected at his 2nd coming in governing and training all those to come up in the 2nd resurrection. Just as each harvest in the land of Israel, which God's Old Testament Holy Days occurred on, was larger than the one that preceded it, so it is with God's spiritual harvest. The first spring winter wheat harvest is small by comparison to the great fall harvest in Palestine. So it is with God's overall Plan of Salvation for mankind. We--believers from 31 A.D. to the time of Jesus' 2^nd coming--are the "winter wheat harvest" which came in full around the Day of Pentecost. This winter wheat harvest in the land of Israel represents Christianity up until Christ's 2^nd coming. The great fall harvest was much larger by comparison and came just before the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a much larger harvest. As we shall see, this harvest and Holy Day season represents God's harvest of the entire world. A harvest is something where you reap the fruits of your labor. It is a joyous occasion for the people who participate. Why would God have a joyous fall harvest Holy Day season and tell the people to rejoice when it represented the death of 95 percent of the human race, the second death? It just doesn't make sense. We are missing something, and Christianity, not wanting to associate itself with Jewish Holy Days (because of false amillennialist "replacement theology" teachings), never became acquainted enough with the Feast of Tabernacles to learn anything about it or what it represents. Thus mainstream Christianity has been spiritually blind to this issue, which yes is secondary to one's personal salvation, but is by no means unimportant, because knowledge in this area shapes our attitude toward the unsaved world. If our perception of those in the world, Satan's world, is wrong, then our evangelistic approach toward these masses of people is going to be wrong and warped also. Pardon me for saying so, but this is an issue that Christianity has ignored for far too long. At least four fundamentalist Christian Churches observe these Holy Days commanded for ancient Israel in Leviticus 23. Some believing they are commanded, some knowing their observance is an optional matter. Another group of Christians that is growing in leaps and bounds, the Messianic Jews, also observe the Holy Days and understand their deep prophetic significance. All of these groups share some of the true understanding of what they represent-God's overall plan for the salvation of mankind. Chuck Missler, although he doesn't observe them, has a tape series titled "Feasts of Israel" which goes very deeply into the meaning of God's commanded feasts for Old Testament Israel. I don't know if he understands about the Last Great Day and how it ties into the Great White Throne Judgment the way several of these fundamentalist Churches do, but the tape series is very informative and well worth the price. [If interested here is his mailing and email address: Koinonia House, P.O. Box D, Coeur d' Alene, ID 83816-0347. Or email K-house at: http://www.khouse.org , Or you can phone: 1-800-KHOUSE-1]

If Jesus and we do our jobs properly, which I do not doubt we will, the 2nd harvest of souls to immortality will truly be far more massive than the first. God as Peter pointed out in II Peter 3:9 wants everyone to be saved! Why should we doubt him? This resurrection of people at the 2nd resurrection could be anywhere from 50 to 100 billion people! God the Father and Jesus Christ are our spiritual support structure. God the Father, Jesus Christ and all resurrected Christianity, made immortal and spirit, will be the support structure for all those resurrected at the 2nd resurrection. God is a God of precise order, not of confusion. He wants to give every human being that has ever lived the very best chance of making it into his kingdom. If everyone knew the truth of God on a saving level right now, at this moment, everyone with that knowledge would be held responsible for that knowledge, and they would be judged on how they acted on that knowledge right now in this present age, or the age in which they lived in. Remember John 6:44,65. Satan has been allowed by God to deceive and fashion man's societies to his own evil design. Why? As a powerful educational tool. Yes, God wants everyone to experience the fruits of Satan's evil way and where it leads to--destruction. When the great tribulation comes, it will be the culmination of Satan's way, the end result. And if Jesus didn't return, mankind, under Satan's evil influence, would totally destroy itself along with all life on earth! That is exactly what all the Day of the Lord prophecies predict, both in the Old and New Testaments! Most of mankind, ignorant of God's truth, will be resurrected back to life and given their first real opportunity for salvation. They've already experienced the fruit of Satan's way, no matter where in history they came from. Now they are brought back into a world refashioned by Jesus and the saints during the Millennium into a glorious garden of Eden paradise. (One very unselfish and very Christian purpose of the Millennium will be to prepare the earth for all those to be resurrected back to life in the forthcoming 2nd resurrection.) When compared to their old lives in the past, choosing God's way will be easy for the majority. Satan will no longer be around, for you read in Revelation 20:7-10 that he was already removed, this time for ever. The majority of mankind is now resurrected back to life after Revelation 20:7-10. You see, there is a very loving purpose for allowing Satan to invisibly create, control and sway man's societies for all of man's past recorded history. If you read history at all, judging by Christian standards, you know it is a history full of evil and pain and premature death. The purpose for God's allowing Satan to do all this is so mankind as a whole will never, ever desire to harbor any of Satan's attitudes which were his undoing. Satan is miserable. He is destined to be miserable for all eternity. God does not want that to happen to his children. So God has allowed Satan to spiritually blind the majority of mankind and they will remain so until after the 2nd coming of Jesus or for the dead, until they rise again back to physical life and learn the saving knowledge of salvation which the Holy Spirit, now given to them, will lead them into. As the world has been blinded so has God's people Israel. God is no respecter of persons. What God allows for Israel God allows for the world. What God will do for Israel, God will do for the whole world--all the other races of people. If God didn't he wouldn't be reliable, and then nobody would have a chance to be saved.

WHAT DOES PAUL HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?

Romans 11:5-32. "So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: `God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear to this very day.' And David says: `May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their back be bent forever.'

Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!

I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, `Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.' Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: `The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.' [This is talking about the 2^nd coming of Christ and time-span thereafter (cf. Zechariah 12-14, Jeremiah 31, whole chapter.]

As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. [This one verse (along with the whole chapter of Jeremiah 31) shows the "promise" to Israel through the patriarchs still apply to Israel and not the church, according to the apostle Paul! ] Just as you who were disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. FOR GOD HAS BOUND ALL MEN OVER TO DISOBEDIENCE SO THAT HE MAY HAVE MERCY ON THEM ALL." [cf. Jeremiah 31, whole chapter. These verses show the "promise" is to "the House of Israel" and "the House of Judah", and not to the "church" alone --i.e. the "church" has not supplanted the "promises" given through the "fathers" to the Israelite people.]

NOT ALL ARE CALLED IN TODAY'S EVIL WORLD OR IN THE PAST

The next scriptures back up this theme that God has not intended to call everyone to the knowledge of salvation in their normal lifetimes under the sway of Satan's world, which obviously is until Jesus returns and locks that evil being away.

The scriptures are not written to be clearly understood by all. Even Jesus' parables were meant to cover up their true meaning! If this weren't so, then why would Jesus say this??? Matthew 13:8-17. "`...Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.' The disciples came to him and asked, `Why do you speak to the people in parables?' He replied, 'The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: `Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: `You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become callused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men [who did possess the Holy Spirit and will be in the resurrection to glory] longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." i.e. Jesus is saying to those called to understand him and his gospel of salvation in their lifetimes, "count your blessings, you understand even more than the prophets were allowed to understand!" Jesus' parables weren't spoken for everyone to understand by Jesus Christ's own mouth! What about the written word of God. Let's see what God said through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 28:9-13. "Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: for with stammering lips and another tongue will I speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear." [This next verse explains some of God's motive for this "precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little there a little" code that the Bible is written in.] "But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." Who is it that snares people? Isn't it Satan? Yes, of course it is! Satan and his evil world full of his evil societies all under his evil sway. There is good and evil in mixture in Satan's world, just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The world has not been offered the tree of life yet, but we who have answered God's call have that tree freely available to us. Acts 7:42-43. "But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: `Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon." Basically this scripture indicates that most don't want or seek God's calling anyway. It is apparent that God's calling is open to those who sincerely desire it. If anyone truly seeks Jesus Christ and salvation through him, God's call, apparently, is open to that person. The plain truth of the matter is that most don't desire God's call to salvation at this time.

SALVATION IS NOW OFFERED TO ALL THE "UNSAVED DEAD"

When will all that have lived and died in ignorance to the knowledge of salvation have their chance to receive and respond to the knowledge of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ?

As we saw, Revelation 20:5 said it would be a thousand years after the 1st resurrection. How do we know that these people will be given a chance to be Christians, living a Christian life until God chooses to resurrect or change them to immortality? Acts 2:1-4 shows us that the receiving of the Holy Spirit gave birth to the Christian Church and Christianity. Romans 8:9-17 shows us that those who have the Holy Spirit residing in them, Christ in them, have immortality residing in them. The end result of that is the resurrection to immortality (I Corinthians 15:49-54). So if we can see that anywhere in the Bible this group of people--"the rest of the dead"--receive the Holy Spirit, then we can be pretty sure they too will have the same chance to live and grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ just as we have had. And then they too will be granted eternal life afterwards. ("Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and always.") Let's cross reference Romans 11 where Paul explains how Israel will be re-grafted into God's cultivated olive tree [remember, realize, all Israel Paul was referring to here is now dead and buried!] with a prophecy for Israel given to Ezekiel by God. Since the Israel Paul was referring to didn't have the Holy Spirit in them, they come under the same category as "the rest of the dead" in Revelation 20:5.

Ezekiel 37:1-14. "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, `Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, 'O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.' Then he said to me, `Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, `This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them, they came to life and stood up on their feet--a vast army.

Then he said to me: 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: `This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. [Why would they need land if they are going into a short judgment and then condemnation to hellfire?] Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord." [If these people are being given "their own land" to live on, they must, by extension, be given enough time to live on that land, all the while growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord--correct?] "I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land." This very large group of "unsaved dead" are resurrected in a very massive physical resurrection back to physical life and given the Holy Spirit! Revelation 20:5, 11-13 is the only other place in the Bible that mentions the timing of a massive resurrection of people back to physical life. Ezekiel 37:1-14, taken in context with Jesus Christ's revelation in Revelation 20 pinpoints this resurrection as occurring at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ and the saints.

We see that Ezekiel 37:1-14 applies to Israel specifically. What about the rest of the world that has lived and died before the Millennium? Ezekiel 16:55. "When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou [Judah] and thy daughters shall return to your former estate."

Comment: Sodom and Gomorrah were Gentile peoples. This scripture is saying that when the nation of Israel talked of in Ezekiel 37:1-14 is resurrected back to life, so will the Gentiles, i.e. the rest of the world. Also when Ezekiel 37:1-14 is added to Revelation 20:5, it become obvious that this massive resurrection includes "all the unsaved dead" of not just Israel, but everyone who has ever died unsaved. The number of people that could participate in this resurrection could reach as high as 50 to 100 billion people! With the world's ecosystems cleaned up and running the way God designed them to, and with the world's agricultural systems running in perfect harmony with nature, mankind will graphically learn that doing things God's way really makes it possible for the planet to support what mankind never dreamed possible! This is only a tiny part of what these people will learn. Having received the Holy Spirit in them (Ezekiel 37:13) they will be learning the way of salvation. Jesus makes reference to those in his day who did not heed him then coming up in the judgment, back to life. Read Matthew 11:20-24 and 12:39-42. We have 6+ billion people on earth right now. Each year 139,000,000 people are born. Every two seconds 9 people are born. God loves everyone born into this world, past, present and future! He loves the billions who lived before and he gave his only Son for them also (John 3:16). Don't forget, two thirds of man's written history is before the birth of Jesus Christ. Think on that one for a minute. Other than a few Holy Prophets and kings of Israel, none of these people had God's Holy Spirit in them!

Over the entire history of mankind billions of babies and young children have never even lived a normal lifetime, but have had their precious little lives prematurely snuffed out one way or another. Will an all-merciful God give them any less than a normal lifetime opportunity to live as Christians? We can't be really sure. There is only one scripture that says anything that might give us a clue as to how long a period of time the judgment in Revelation 20:11-13 will last. But Peter makes reference to the fact that we in the household of God are in judgment now. How long does our "judgment" last? It lasts for our normal physical lifetimes (Matthew 24:13 and I Peter 4:17). Remember, when we view prophecy we are looking through the darkened glass, as Paul put it. God knows for sure. We'll know when we can sit with Jesus at the wedding feast and ask him. That one scripture that may or may not apply to this question is Isaiah 65:20-24 which states, "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old: but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer."

The Jews believe that the prophecy of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14 takes place at the coming of the Messiah. This prophecy predicts a massive resurrection back to physical life for all of Israel that ever lived. They believe this resurrection occurs at the Messiah's coming in glory (for Christians, the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ), because they take these verses in context with verses 15-28 of Ezekiel 37 (which comes under heading of a "Day of Lord" prophecy). Verses 1-14 and 15-28 are totally different in context in what they address and depict. But for the Jews who only believe in the veracity of the Old Testament, their conclusions are logical, taking one half the chapter in context with the other.

But for Christians, we're supposed to add the Old Testament to what Jesus said in the New Testament. The book of Revelation, called "the Revelation of Jesus Christ" in Revelation 1:1, is a book of prophetic timing. All the major Old Testament prophecies--prophesied major future events--are put into their proper time context by the book of Revelation. (Daniel is also a book of prophetic timing that amazingly agrees with the timing sequence of events in Revelation.)

Logically, to see WHEN the events of Ezekiel 37:1-14 occur we have to look in the book of Revelation for a major resurrection back to physical life. We find such a resurrection mentioned in the 20th chapter of Revelation, verses 5, and 11-13. Revelation 20:5 says clearly, "but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished..." Revelation 20:11-13 names this resurrection as the resurrection of the Great White Throne Judgment.

The Old Testament prophecies of the Bible often go into greater detail of the prophesied events while the book of Revelation goes into more detail about the timing of these same events. To learn what's really going to happen and when, the Old Testament prophecy needs to be cross referenced with it's counterpart in Revelation. So to see WHAT'S going to happen we look to the Old Testament, and to see WHEN it's going to occur, we look to the Book of Revelation. So, logically, to see what occurs during the Great White Throne Judgment we have to look to Ezekiel 37:1-14 and 16:54-55. We see that all Israel (unconverted, of course) is resurrected back to physical life (only physical beings need bones, sinew, tissue, muscle and breath!). This same large group of people also receive the Holy Spirit upon coming out of their graves (Ezekiel 37:13-14)! And thus this large group of resurrected humans receive their first real opportunity for salvation. The rest of mankind, as we saw earlier, also come up in this resurrection at the same time, Ezekiel 16:54-55 and Revelation 20:5,11-13. This is the way Jesus intended Christians to use the Book of Revelation, to help unlock the timing of various important Old Testament prophecies. Those who don't accept Jesus right now don't have this vital key. Judaism falls into that category right now, but Christians and Messianic Jewish Christians shouldn't. So why do so few Christians understand this vital truth about the Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Revelation 20:5,11-13? They fail to use the key that lies in their hands properly, under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit who resides in them. We Christians should be asking God to guide us in our understanding of this matter before we do ANY more preaching to the world in general about the subjects of "heaven, hell, and the fate of the unsaved dead." (You preachers and pastors, read that again. Let it sink in.)

To continue, as it appears, this is not a resurrection to damnation, but is a resurrection of opportunity--where most of mankind receives his first real opportunity for salvation.

Satan's deceptive influence over the entire world now is totally removed. Why? Because Satan and his demons were permanently banished in Revelation 20:7-10, and the timing for this massive resurrection is after that event in Revelation 20:11-13! How wonderful it will be for these humans who are brought back to life on a gloriously beautiful planet in perfect harmony with nature again. God wants all to be saved! In II Peter 3:9 it says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." I'm afraid we as Christians haven't yet begun to understand the length God will go to accomplish this desire of his. The earth will become a virtual "Garden of Eden" and God will place all these future children of his in it. Mankind at last will become reconciled to God. The breach that occurred in the Garden of Eden will be totally healed for anyone who truly desires it.

Why has God let mankind in general be so completely deceived and ruled over by Satan and his demons? God wants mankind to experience the wrong way first, so that when they're resurrected back to life, making the right choice will be real easy for them. Comparing and choosing the right way will be real easy for most of mankind, I'm sure. If you're not so sure, study history for awhile and see how evil and painful man's recorded history really is. Another reason which isn't talked about much in the Christian church is that God does not want anyone in his kingdom who does not thoroughly understand what kind of fruit Satan's way of life, along with Satan's attitudes, bring in the end, when all is said and done. That is why God's overall plan of salvation includes man getting a huge dose of Satan and his evil wavelength of attitudes, and his way of life. Some people don't like history, but history is a huge lesson in Satan's way of life, along with his evil attitudes and what the end result is. Or else, why in the world did God, Elohim, leave Satan and his evil demons on the earth, with Satan himself roaming the Garden of Eden when God created the first humans, Adam and Eve? Tell me the answer to that one if you can. Life is one big history lesson, and in the end, Satan and his demons are put away, and all of "unsaved mankind" is resurrected back to life and given a chance to really learn the gospel, all the while reflecting back on their previous lifetime and how evil and painful it was. Because for most, it was just that--evil and painful. By the end of their new lives, very few won't be joyous, enthusiastic Christians, awaiting their change to immortality. Very few will reject Jesus. What happens to those few who do? Read on, for hell may not even be what you've been taught.

What is Hell?

A THIRD RESURRECTION? THE FEW DENOMINATIONS WHICH BELIEVE MOST OF WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN HERE BELIEVE SO, THINKING THIS IS THE RESURRECTION WHERE THE INCORRIGIBLY WICKED ARE THROWN INTO HELL-FIRE, THE LAKE OF FIRE, AND THEN SUFFER THE 2^ND DEATH--A MERCIFULLY QUICK END TO THEIR EXISTENCE. ARE THEY CORRECT? THE ONE PLACE IN THE BIBLE WHERE THE MAJOR RESURRECTIONS ARE MENTIONED, AND IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, IS THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER OF REVELATION. IN REVELATION 20:14-15 WE SEE THAT EVERYONE WHO WOULD NOT CHOOSE GOD'S WAY OVER SATAN'S WAY ARE BURNED UP IN THE LAKE OF FIRE. THESE PEOPLE DIE, THEY DON'T REMAIN ALIVE FOREVER BURNING IN THIS "HELL-FIRE." THIS IS CALLED THE SECOND DEATH IN THE BIBLE. IT IS ETERNAL DEATH, NOT ETERNAL LIFE SPENT BURNING IN HELL FIRE, JUST MERCIFUL DEATH. Death means death. I cannot understand how some theologians can say death really means eternal life spent in horrible torment. But when reading Revelation 20:14-15, we have to conclude, when added to Jesus Christ's clear statement in John 5:28-29 and in it's cross-reference passage in Daniel 12:1-5, this is not a third resurrection at all--for there are only two major resurrections mentioned in all the Bible. All those not changed to immortal spirit composition at this point enter into the period of time known as the lake of fire. Are these the ones who were resurrected back to life in the Great White Throne Judgment, the valley of dry bones prophecy of Ezekiel 37:1-14??? Why would God resurrect billions of people back to physical life and give them the Holy Spirit, and then throw them into the lake of fire some years down the road? Can we resolve this dilemma?

Revelation 20:14-15. "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." By what we have seen, everyone resurrected in this second resurrection is given an allotted period of time to "grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ" and be saved. Those who haven't accepted Jesus Christ and met this criteria obviously don't have their names written in the book of life or have them erased, whatever the case may be.

The Bible gives a pretty good description of the type of people that will go into the lake of fire. It is found in II Peter 2:1-22 and 3:1-13. Of course, there are people in this world right now who have this attitude and who have had this attitude in past history by nature, people who are not presently or who weren't presently called to a knowledge of salvation. They all will be coming up in the 2nd resurrection and will have their chance to repent. But people who have had God's Holy Spirit offered to them and then rejected that call and Spirit, if they don't repent of that, will end up in this lake of fire. Those who fit this category at the end of the period of the 2nd resurrection will live on into this period of time and suffer the same fate, going into the lake of fire. That is what the prophecies clearly seem to indicate when all is taken into account.

II Peter 2:1-22. "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; [this word "hell" in the Greek "Tartaru" is not the Gehenna fire of Revelation 20 nor is it Hades, but a place of restraint] if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.

They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed--an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey--who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: `A dog returns to its vomit,' and `A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.'" This group will be resurrected in the 2^nd resurrection also, where the Lord will continue to work with them, since we have proven this resurrection is one of opportunity and decision. They will find it harder to turn around and grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, just as Jesus said it would be for the Pharisees of his day.

I think you can see why God in his mercy has not called the majority of mankind to a saving knowledge of him, and won't do so until Satan is locked away and removed permanently from influencing them. God wants the majority to have the best opportunity to achieve salvation and eternal life!

II Peter 3:3-13. "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, `Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. [Peter is projecting way forward beyond the 2nd coming to the lake of fire of Revelation 20:14-15 and the remaking of heaven and earth of Revelation 21:1.]

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. [There are two fulfillment's of the "day of the Lord," one at his 2nd coming, and the final fulfillment at the 2nd death, when as Peter now describes, the heavens and the earth are melted down.] The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." [The King James states, "and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."] "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." This directly cross references to Revelation 21:1. PLANET EARTH IS OBVIOUSLY MELTED DOWN TO BE RECREATED AT THE SAME TIME THE UNIVERSE IS MELTED DOWN AND RECREATED. WHAT'S NEXT?