RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT
CONT., page 2
THE SECOND RESURRECTION
In Revelation 20:4-6, we have seen that two resurrections are specifically identified: first, the resurrection of the first Remnant; and second, one that takes place following the Millennial Reign. Let us now consider this second resurrection.
In John 5:28-29, Yahshua spoke of two types of resurrection: “a resurrection of life” for those who did good deeds, and “a resurrection of judgment” for those who committed evil deeds. We can certainly say that the first resurrection was a resurrection of life. As you will now see, this second resurrection is a resurrection of judgment. In fact, it is commonly called the great white throne judgment. Concerning this resurrection, in Revelation 20:11-15 we read:
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
So is this the resurrection referred to in Revelation 20:4-6 that follows the Millennial Reign? Unmistakably so. Verse 5 tells us that “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.” Furthermore, verse 2 states that Satan will be bound for that thousand years as well. Then verse 7 clearly continues, “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison.” Verses 8-10 then tell about his release for a short time to deceive the nations. He is then thrown into the lake of fire, and this immediately begins the account regarding the great white throne judgment, about which you just read. Thus, unmistakably, the events chronicled concerning the white throne judgment are the promised second resurrection of judgment.
Regarding this resurrection, first, who will be in it? There is only one answer that can be concluded. The first resurrection was the first Remnant. Who is left, and when do they come to life? Revelation 20:5 clearly states the answer: “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.” “The rest of the dead” are just that—the rest of the dead, everyone except the first Remnant.
This completeness is confirmed in these verses addressing the white throne judgment. Verse 13 states: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hades gave up the dead which were in them ….” Clearly, this is the complete and total evacuation of the dead! The sea is death, and death itself gives up the dead. Furthermore, there is no mention of a resurrection of the dead after this. As has been stated, there are only two corporate resurrections: the first resurrection of the first Remnant unto life, and this second and final resurrection of “the rest of the dead” to judgment. At this latter resurrection, every remaining man, woman, and child, even those who died in the womb, from Adam onward, come out of death and are “reincarnated” into their mortal bodies. In this regard, Job declared: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26). Resurrection! Job, and everyone else, will see God in their flesh that was once destroyed. It will be as written in Job 33:25: “Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, let him return to the days of his youthful vigor.”
Isaiah 26 provides one of the best descriptions of this second resurrection. First though, verse 14 tells of the state of the dead: “The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise; therefore You have punished and destroyed them, and You have wiped out all remembrance of them.” Despite what Christians think, the dead do not die and go to heaven or hell. First, it is repeatedly stated that the dead in fact sleep (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10; John 11:11-14, Acts 7:60, 1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6, 18, 20, 51). Psalm 115:17 says, “The dead do not praise Yahweh, nor do any who go down into silence.” And if the believer goes to heaven upon death, then why is death an enemy that has to be done away with (1 Corinthians 15:26)? Why do away with something that supposedly gets you to heaven? Furthermore, if the dead are walking around in heaven, then why is there even a need for resurrection from the dead and being caught back up to heaven? If they have truly been with Yahshua since their death, then why is it that they go back to this earth to then rise to meet Him in the air? This makes absolutely no sense! Christians do not think these things out.
It is essential for the earthly to ascend into heaven—the catching up—in order for their body to be transformed into the heavenly—a born-from-above body. This is most evident since the first Remnant have to first resurrect from the dead, returning to their earthly bodies, before ascending. Furthermore, why did Yahshua resurrect from the dead, recover His body, and with it ascend into heaven? He too had to possess His earthly body. And when He returned, that now-heavenly body still had the marks of His crucifixion. One can never enter into a heavenly body apart from possessing their earthly body; and we have yet to see anyone take theirs with them at death. Every funeral and cemetery is a testimony that the dead are indeed sleeping without a body—they are silent. It is written, “the body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26), and as long as that body is separated from its spirit, they sleep.
This critical necessity of having one’s earthly body in heaven was attested to when Michael the archangel came to get the body of Moses, and disputed with the devil to obtain it (Jude 1:9). Why did Yahweh need Moses’ body? So that Moses could stand on the mount of transfiguration with Yahshua. The dead do not have their bodies until resurrection, and without dispute the first resurrection, and certainly the second resurrection, have yet to take place. Until one’s respective resurrection, as repeatedly stated, every departed man, woman, and child sleeps. But someone might object: But our body goes back to the dust. Yes, but Yahweh also created Adam from the dust; and if He created him from the dust, He can recreate anyone else from the dust.
Furthermore, according to Christianity’s false concept of hell and the white throne judgment and the lake of fire, what does Yahweh do? He takes the unbeliever out of hell where he has been tortured ever since his death; He brings him before Him to confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11), thereupon actually qualifying him to be saved (Romans 10:9); and then He throws him into a lake of fire that adds even more torture! If the Christian is right, then the white throne judgment is entirely irrelevant, for the dead are already judged, and suffering! Again, Christians do not think through what they have been falsely taught and believe.
At the second resurrection, when the sea gives up the dead, and death and hades give up the dead, everyone who has ever been given life and died and were not in the first resurrection comes out of their sleep and are judged. This includes Christians who were dead. It includes all the Old Testament saints and believers. It includes the wicked. As Paul stated, “there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked” (Acts 24:15). Again, “the rest of the dead” come back to life to be judged. If a person sinned in the flesh, it is imperative that they be judged in the flesh. They MUST have a body; and as we have seen, resurrection is always relative to reentering into that body, including at the second resurrection. If Yahshua came back to reenter into His body, then all men must do likewise—but the latter to judgment.
A Christian might object that they are assigned to resurrect with everyone else. They have been told that they are the first resurrection; but this is not possible. The fact is, they have determined or been assigned to resurrect on this eighth day—Sunday. They even believe and teach that Yahshua resurrected on that day, when it was in fact on a Saturday, the seventh day. What day do Christians call their day of rest, their sabbath? The first day of the week, which is the eighth day. What day is the eighth day? It is the day after the Millennial Reign, which is also the day after the Body of Christ has been in the grave, in death, for three days and three nights—three thousand years. On the other hand, the Bride is not in the Body, so they can resurrect on the seventh-day sabbath, and that is precisely what happens. But the Body, as stated in Revelation 20:5, resurrects with the nations on the eighth day: “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.” That which they teach and believe concerning a Sunday resurrection of Christ’s body, they will fulfill! They are the Body of Christ. (Again, read The Waltz of Life to better understand Yahweh’s timing regarding these three sabbath ascensions.)
This assignment of the Body with the nations and unbelievers is also addressed in second Remnant Luke 12:40-46. In verse 46, we read regarding the servant who labors in the Master’s house (believers) in an unfaithful manner, and when the Master returns He “will cut him into two parts, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.” This is precisely the composition of the second resurrection on the eighth day. The afflicted Body of Christ was sown among the nations, the unbelievers, in order to die for them; and they will resurrect with them as well. Christians are assigned a place, even a resurrection, with the unbelievers. And literally, the Body of Christ will be cut into two parts (dichotomeo) by the Millennial Reign, just as the Remnant is cut into two parts by the Body. They are the two bronze mountains of Zechariah 6, even the two bronze pillars of Solomon’s temple (“Averting Yahweh's Wrath”).
Returning to Isaiah 26, you will recall that verse 14 spoke of the state of the dead. But in verses 19-21 we read one of the most exciting accounts and promises in the entire Bible:
Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. Come, my people, enter into your rooms and close your doors behind you [in other words they die]; hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, Yahweh is about to come out from His place to deal with the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will uncover her blood and will no longer cover her slain.
After the six thousand years of man when indignation (righteous anger) has finally run its course, the two resurrections of the dead take place: first the resurrection of the first Remnant, then one thousand years later the resurrection of “the rest of the dead.” At the white throne judgment, the earth will give birth to the departed spirits and they will be cast into the lake of fire.
Continue to page 3 of Resurrection and Judgment for THE LAKE OF FIRE