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| Don't Stop Questioning! |
Q: Pastor, can you share the bible verse that says that God resurrect the elect from the intermediate hell first before the rest are thrown into the lake of fire?
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I understand the essence of your question to be the sequence of events, indicated by your "first" and "before"; it's about the chronology of two closely related events.
The general resurrection and the last judgment are two distinct events; the resurrection will happen first, and only then, the judgment. Simultaneously, the transformation of all the living shall take place.
So the resurrection of all those in the intermediate state of hell [there are elect and the non-elect in hell, other elects are in the paradise] will happen FIRST BEFORE the judgment of all the non-elect – i.e. all whose names were not written in the book of life – shall take place; they, being bypassed in the redemption, shall be cast into the lake of fire.
Rev
20
11
¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were
opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to
their works.
13
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
works.
14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake
of fire.
Please note a few things about the above verses:
-
“A great white throne”: this indicates the judgment throne at Christ’s return.
-
“the bookS were opened”: the books by which the dead shall be judged out of
those things; non-elect shall be justly judged by their works/deeds recorded in
these books.
-
“another book was opened”: this book has all the names of the elect whom God
has given to Christ.
-
“they WERE judged every man (every one of them) according to their works”: this
speaks of all the dead that are delivered up by death and hell; it explains why
they were in hell; everyone in them WAS judged according to their works. A
man’s place in the intermediate hell is determined by his works.
- A
man’s place in the lake of fire (his eternal destiny) or heaven is determined
solely by whether his name was written in the book of life. See verse 15.
-
“death and hell [already EMPTIED] were then cast into the lake of fire”: Why? Hell
is NOT eternal; it shall be emptied during the resurrection, and no one will be
left in it after the general resurrection, at the end of time.
- the lake of fire is eternal; the resurrected non-elect, those whose names were not written in the book of life, bypassed in the redemption by Christ, shall be cast into the lake of fire.
Why were death and hell NOT cast directly into the lake of fire BEFORE delivering up all the dead that were in them? Why would Christ, who holds the keys of death and hell, require both death and hell to deliver up the dead (their bodies in death, and their spirits in hell) if there were no elect in them?
The
fact that Christ solemnly and constantly warned His own disciples (to take drastic
actions to avoid hell is conclusive proof that God’s children can end up in
hell – a temporal place, thus related to temporal judgment in the intermediate
state. Though they carelessly, despite all the solemn warnings, landed
themselves in hell, hell must surrender them to Christ for their resurrection
unto glory.
Matthew
5
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for
it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that
thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And
if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy
whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew
18
8
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from
thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than
having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
Mark
9
43
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into
life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched:
44
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt
into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched:
46
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into
the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell
fire:
48
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
The Devil must be so gleeful that he has so successfully deceived so many Christians to dismiss Christ's solemn warnings to the disciples on the intermediate state of hell; so many can't make the biblical distinction between the everlasting hell (which lasts as long as time lasts) and the eternal lake of fire (which will come into effect at the end of time).
Heb 9:28 “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
For God’s children, Christ shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation, i.e. there shall be no more judgment dealing with sin. The second time Christ appear has to do with the consummation of their eternal salvation; it has nothing to do with judgment. The judgment concerning our eternal destiny has been perfectly dealt with by Jesus Christ.
Heb
9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment.”
There is definitely a judgment after physical death; this judgment is according
to our works; this judgment decides a man's place during the intermediate state - either paradise or hell.
I hope the above somewhat answers your good question.
Please feel free to ask if you have further questions.
p/s
Let's
look at the broad picture:
1.
At the resurrection, the spirits and bodies of the dead are reunited.
- death must deliver up the bodies that are in
it; hell must deliver up spirits that are in it.
-
The Lord Jesus Christ holds the keys of death and hell; Christ has authority
and power over death and hell. “I am he that liveth… and have the keys of hell
and of death.” Rev 1:18
-
At the resurrection, both death and hell must deliver up all those that are in
them unto Christ who holds the keys of death and hell. Rev 20:13.
2.
At Christ's second coming, there will be those who are still living and those
who have died.
-
the elect that is living shall be transformed and glorified.
-
the spirits of the elect who have died are either in paradise or in hell; their
bodies are under the power of death.
-
The spirits of God’s children that are in paradise shall accompany Christ in
His coming. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 1Th 4:14.
“… them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” at Christ’s return.
-
These spirits who shall accompany Christ at His return shall be united with
their resurrected bodies.
-
The spirits of God’s elect who are in hell shall be delivered up to be united
with their resurrected bodies and be glorified.
