That idea of a resurrection is certainly Biblical. For example, Paul said, "I have hope toward God, which hope these men [the High Priest and older men] themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." (Acts 24:15) Paul even showed that people could be resurrected by resurrecting a young man named Eutychus.-Acts 20:7-12
Many people in the Old Testament had this same hope. Daniel was personally told by an angel that he would have a resurrection. (Dan. 12:13) Job acknowledged that Jehovah would bring him back to life. (Job 14:13-15) Abraham's faith in Jehovah's resurrecting power moved him to willingly offer his son at Jehovah's request. (Gen. 22:1-12; Heb. 11:17-19) The most adequate evidence of a resurrection (besides from Jehovah himself) is from his son who said, "For just as the Father raises the dead up and makes them alive, so the Son also makes those alive whom he wants to...most truly I say to you, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who have given heed will live."-John 5:21, 25, 28-29, See also Luke 23:42-43
Did you know that the Bible speaks of two different resurrections, a heavenly one and an earthly one? Yes, it mentions that only 144,000 anointed ones receive the heavenly calling. The Bible writer of Hebrews calls these people those "who have once for all been enlightened, and who have tasted the heavenly free gift, and who have become partakers of holy spirit." (Heb. 6:4) Their resurrection to heaven will happen before the Millennial Reign.
Regarding these, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first...caught up together...in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thess. 4:16-17, New American Standard Bible) Now, a look at Revelation 20 will give us a clear outline as to how this resurrection will take place and what will precede it and what will follow it.
"And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he hurled him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he might not mislead the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After these things he must be let loose for a little while."-Revelation 20:1-3
Revelation 17 and 18 speaks of the fall of Babylon the Great. Revelation 19 tells us that after the fall of that disgusting harlot, Jehovah will turn his attention, using the newly enthroned Jesus Christ, to the political systems and their ruler, Satan the Devil, at Armageddon. Now we see what will happen to their ruler.
The destruction of Satan will not come first. He will be bound for 1,000 to be let loose for a little while. Why? The Bible tells us of that a little later.
Next we read, "And I saw thrones, and there were those who sat down on them, and power of judging was given them. Yes, I saw the souls of those executed with the ax for the witness they bore to Jesus and for speaking about God, and those who had worshiped neither the wild beast nor its image and who had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand. And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for a thousand years."-Revelation 20:4
After Satan is abyssed, it is then that Jehovah will resurrect the anointed to heavenly life. Unlike what the Society teaches, it is obvious that this did not happen back in 1918-1919. The resurrection to heavenly life is when all of the anointed who have died will go to heaven, but interestingly, the Bible indicates that not all of them will die.
The Apostle Paul said, "Look! I tell you a sacred secret: We shall not all fall asleep in death, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet." (1 Cor. 15:51-52) Contrary to what the Society says, the Bible is clear that not all of the anointed have to die to go to heaven. Yes, they point to 1 Cor. 15:50 to prove that they have to die but Paul addresses that by saying "We shall all be changed...in the twinkling of an eye."
To the congregation in Thessalonica Paul says, "We the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death...we the living who are surviving will, together with [the resurrected dead who had been of the anointed], be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:15, 17) The Bible is clear that there will be a sort of rapture* to heaven of the surviving anointed.
Notice how the Scriptures say that these anointed will only rule for 1,000 years with Christ. This shows that they have a specific reason for going to heaven. It is not, as many in Christendom teach, in fulfillment of Christ's statement at Revelation 3:10: "Because you kept the word about my endurance, I will also keep you from the hour of test, which is to come upon the whole inhabited earth, to put a test upon those dwelling on the earth."
The Apostle John continues, "This is the first resurrection. Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years."-Revelation 20:5b-6
Again, John tells us what the responsibility of the anointed will be in heaven. He also tells us that these ones are immortal - they can never die again! Unfortunately, this is not the case with those that John spoke of briefly in verse 5.
"(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)"-Revelation 20:5a
The differences in Society teaching and Bible teaching are very pronounced to many people nowadays. For some reason they want to continue to believe that the resurrection of those who have died (who did not have a heavenly hope) will happen gradually over a period of time. This is the clearest verse in the Bible regarding the time of the earthly resurrection.
How does the Society explain this Scripture? "The expression 'come to life' has to be understood according to context...all others who are resurrected...must yet be raised to human perfection. This will be accomplished by Christ and his associate kings and priests during the thousand-year Judgment Day, on the basis of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. By the end of that Day, 'the rest of the dead' will have 'come to life' in the sense that they will be perfect humans."-Revelation - It's Grand Climax at Hand!, ch. 40, para. 14, 15
The actual context suggests nothing about humans being perfected and, therefore, coming to life. We can tell by what John tells us later in this same chapter. We will look at that in a bit.
Next, John reveals something else: "Now as soon as the thousand years have been ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison, and he will go out to mislead those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of these is as the sand of the sea. And they advanced over the breadth of the earth and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down out of heaven and devoured them. And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."-Revelation 20:7-10
This is the reason for Satan not being destroyed immediately. The Society says that we will all be perfected at this point but the Bible gives no indication of this. It seems plausible - even probable - that by this time we will be perfect so that perfect humans have one more opportunity to choose between Jehovah and Satan, something Adam and Eve failed to do. (Gen. 3:1-6) Yes, Jesus Christ proved that a faithful human could maintain perfect obedience to Jehovah but it is time for all of us to prove it.
Why, though, will people who have lived under the perfect king, Shiloh (who is Jesus), rebel? Well, it is plausible (and we can only speculate because the Bible is silent about this) that most if not all of the people who go to Satan will be those who are born during the Millennium. Whatever happens we can be assured that Jehovah will destroy Satan because His Word of Truth says it will happen.-John 17:17; Isa. 55:11
"And I saw a great white throne and the one seated on it. From before him the earth and the 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 scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds."-Revelation 20:11-13
At this point, the rest of the dead will be resurrected, just as John had said. (Rev. 20:5) I do not know why Jehovah sees fit to resurrect them after Satan is abyssed except to say it is due to his infinite love and mercy. How is that?
2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (English Standard Version) What does that have to do with anything? Well, these resurrected ones now have the opportunity to choose Jehovah God without Satan the Devil to 'blind their eyes.'-2 Cor. 4:4
Another truth that this verse communicates to us is that Jehovah is not going to judge them by the deeds they committed before they died. "He who has died has been acquitted from his sins...the wages sin pays is death." (Rom. 6:7, 23) The Bible makes it clear that at death our sins are forgiven.
Now, once those people have been resurrected, the Bible says that "scrolls will be opened." It is significant that this happens first. Why? Well, right afterward the "scroll of life" will be opened. The Bible makes it clear that "the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds." Since these scrolls are opened after the thousand years and we still have eternity to go, they will most likely contain new information pertaining to those resurrected.
Do these scrolls apply to all of us? Evidently not, for the Bible says that "the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls." No one else is mentioned.
Next, the Bible says, "And death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire."-Revelation 20:14
We can understand from the Bible that anyone who goes to what the Bible calls Sheol will receive a resurrection. The words of Job indicate that he himself knew that. "O that in Sheol you would conceal me, that you would keep me secret until your anger turns back, that you would set a time limit for me and remember me...you will call, and I myself shall answer you." (Job 14:13, 15) The Greek equivalent of Sheol is Hades. That is why that the Greek Septuagint at Job 14:13 says "hai'dei." So, what does it mean that death and Hades are thrown into the Lake of Fire?
Well, John reveals that the Lake of Fire is not literal, it is only "the second death." Yes, the Bible says that people who are thrown into the Lake of Fire are in torment forever and ever. However, what does the term "fire" in the Bible mean in a literal sense? The disciple Jude gives the answer when he says, "So too Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them...are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire." (Jude 7) But Sodom and Gomorrah are not literally burning; they are completely destroyed. So burning forever and ever means that someone has been destroyed. That is why the Bible says that Jesus will completely "destroy" Satan.-Heb. 2:14, King James Version
The Lake of Fire, though, must be the equivalent of what the Bible calls Gehenna. What is Gehenna? Well, the Bible only uses the term twelve times, all in the New Testament. In New Testament times, Gehenna was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem where the bodies of criminals were tossed who were deemed too unworthy to receive a proper burial. Since it was a pit in the ground their bodies (or skeleton) would remain there for all time. This was a perfect description of everlasting destruction.
So, from the time of the resurrection at the end of the Millennium, death (from Adamic sin) and Hades (the symbolic place where people go who will receive a resurrection) are done away with. "The last enemy, death" has been done away with. Now Jesus can return the Kingdom to his Father.-1 Cor. 15:24-29
The Bible gives the final destination for the people who receive the scrolls badly. "Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire."-Revelation 20:15
The people who receive the scrolls badly will be destroyed for all time, never to receive a resurrection. They will be thrown into the symbolic garbage pit never to be taken out.
I do not say that everything that I write is correct. I know that no human can have a full understanding of the Bible. (Ecc. 3:11) However, I personally feel that this is closer to the truth then what the Society has written. It also makes more sense. No longer will people have to ask the question presented in the "Insight" book under the heading "Resurrection": "How would it be possible in 1,000 years to resurrect and educate the billions now in the grave?" These people will stand before the throne and Jehovah will instruct them personally.
This gives us a new incentive. Many have said that if they die they understand they will be brought back to life during the Millennium and have the opportunity to see the final test, Satan destroyed, and be able to teach others who may not have known the Truth. This is not the case. This is a new incentive for all of us to try to make it through Armageddon so that we can see the fulfillment of all of Jehovah's glorious promises.
With Sincere Christian Love and Affection,
Brother Ebed Abodah
*This is not to say that Christendom is correct in their idea of the rapture. To a Christian the rapture is the time when what they think of as all true Christians will be taken from the earth to heaven to be with Christ. Some of them believe it will take place before the Great Tribulation and Millennium and some believe that it will take place after the Great Tribulation and, possibly, the Millennium.
In actuality, the word rapture should not be rejected because it has been employed by many Christian groups. The word rapture is taken from the Latin word, rapios (used in the Latin Vulgate at 1 Thessalonians 4:17) which literally means, "caught up."
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