When a Man Dies, What Happens Then?
With all the hell-fire and brimstone sermons being preached
today, how can you know for sure what happens when you die?
When a Man Dies, Shall He Live Again?
What is the fate of man when he dies? Heaven, hell, or something else?
(Job 14:14) (JUB) If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time I will wait until my transformation comes.
Intriguing words from Job, about this 'Life & Death' we all have in common. Is there anything more important to know, than what really happens at death? Millions believe they have a conscious, thinking, seeing, hearing, feeling "soul" within them, which will live on in conscious life at the moment of death. We have all been to funerals, sad occasions indeed, where we heard the sobbing and crying of brokenhearted loved ones mourning their terrible loss. But WHY MOURN AT ALL if we really believe our loved ones are in heaven? Of course, the common belief of these millions is that if a loved one is not "saved" when he or she dies, chances are that person is burning in indescribable agony; burning, burning, burning, but never quite burning up!
Further millions believe in the "transmigration of souls", assuming their living "soul" goes on to some other state, in some other place such as Heaven. Millions more than that believe in "reincarnation", that they have had a previous life. However, Scripture teaches that dead BODIES will literally be brought back to life. Moreover, nowhere in Scripture will you find that you possess an "immortal soul" or that you are an "immortal soul" or that you come back from the dead as someone else.
There is no more important question about death, than that posed by the title of this study: "When a Man Dies, Shall He Live Again?"; and there can be no answer that is more important to living a happy fulfilled and meaningful life! To KNOW what happens at death and to KNOW what happens after, has eluded mankind for millennia. From ancient philosophers to modern-day graduates of religious seminaries, there is only misinformation and confusion on this important subject.
Therefore, let us turn to the ETERNAL CREATOR and seek His guidance, and not what we think we know, as we search for the answer of what happens when we die. What you are about to read is ASTONISHING, yet the most COMFORTING information you could ever want. Believe It or Not, the expressions "immortality of the soul," or, "immortal soul," or "souls going to heaven when they die" ARE NOT FOUND in Scripture. What IS FOUND in Scripture, is the TRUTH about the current state of the dead, and about the so-called "resurrection[1]", or the awakening and rising from the grave, of BOTH the righteous and the wicked alike.
Surprisingly, yet true, there are THREE different times when people are awakened and raised from their graves that are revealed in the inspired pages of the Hebrew Scriptures [i.e. Tanakh or Old Testament]. Be sure to look up, and read very carefully, every Scripture quoted here in context* for yourself, in your own Bibles.
*In context means to read the whole chapter in which the quoted scriptures appear, not just the verses being mentioned.
The Real Truth About The Soul.
The original Hebrew word for our English word "soul" is nephesh. It first appears in:
(Genesis 1:21) (KJV) And the ETERNAL created great whales, and every living creature [#H5315 nephesh="soul"] that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind[2], and every winged fowl after his kind: and the ETERNAL saw that it was good.
The same Hebrew word [nephesh], is used to describe lower life forms such as bottom-dwelling sea creatures, and also, to describe all kinds of animals from oxen to dogs, and to describe many aspects of living things. Note in particular that the ETERNAL states that He made man a living soul:
(Genesis 2:7) (KJV) And the ETERNAL CREATOR formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [#H5315].
Men add to the thought that humans will go on to yet another life in some different form. In addition, millions believe the Catholic or Protestant version of the "immortality of the soul," that one either goes to heaven or to hell, or, as the Catholics believe, to "purgatory[3]" at death.
For example, the identical word that is translated elsewhere "soul" is used in Scripture four times referring to lower animals before it is ever used to refer to man. To review, since this is a key point to understand, the Hebrew word "nephesh[4]" means: "a breathing creature, i.e. animal or in abstract, vitality or life. It can also mean breath.
Notice a few of the many different usages of the Hebrew word nephesh found in Scripture: "Creature" (Genesis 1:21, Genesis 1:24; Genesis 2:19; Genesis 9:10, Genesis 9:12; Leviticus 11:46), "thing" (Leviticus 11:10; Ezekiel 47:9), "life" (Genesis 1:20, Genesis 1:30), "the life" (Genesis 9:4; Deuteronomy 12:23), "beast" (Leviticus 24:18), and is used dozens of times elsewhere to connote animals of all kinds and is rendered "breath" in (Job 41:21) This elementary Hebrew word is found in many places in Scripture such as:
(Numbers 15:27-28) (KJV) 27And if any soul [#H5315 nephesh] sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. 28And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the ETERNAL, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.
If A Soul (Nephesh Or Person) Sins In Ignorance, They Can Be Forgiven.
(Numbers 15:29-30) (KJV) 29Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. 30But the soul [#H5315 nephesh] that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the ETERNAL; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
If the soul (nephesh or person) sins defiantly whether native-born or alien and blasphemes the ETERNAL, then that person must be cut off from his people.
The same Hebrew word "nephesh" is translated "person" (singular) in (Genesis 14:21; Genesis 36:6; Exodus 16:6; Leviticus 27:2; Numbers 31:40; Deuteronomy 10:22; Jeremiah 43:6; Jeremiah 52:29, Jeremiah 52:30; Ezekiel 16:5, and Ezekiel 27:13). Nephesh is also translated as "persons" (plural) (Numbers 31:35), "any" (meaning anyone; any person), (Deuteronomy 24:7), "man" (2 Kings 12:4), "men" (1 Chronicles 5:21), and "he" (Psalms 105:18).
Therefore, the Hebrew word "nephesh" rendered "soul" in the Hebrew Scripture is used in many, many different ways to connote human or animal LIFE; life which is sustained by food, air and water; life which can cease, can perish, die, or be destroyed. Nephesh is translated as: man, any, anyone, yourselves, person, themselves, himself, he, herself, and himself.
The word "immortal" is NEVER attached to nephesh nor is the word "immortal" ever rendered in English as "soul."
You cannot find the following phrases or sentences in the King James Bible: "Immortal soul," "immortality of the soul," "I have an immortal soul," "You have an immortal soul," "Our souls go to heaven when we die," or "I will see you in heaven" or "I will see you in hell" for that matter. But your Scriptures DO say that "souls DIE". Why? How? How can this be? Simply because the word "soul" as amply proven above does not mean anything other than physical life, the life of animals or men. Read what Ezekiel says:
(Ezekiel 18:4) (KJV) Behold, all souls [#H5315 lives, beings, persons] are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
The identical phrase is repeated to underscore its truth and importance:
(Ezekiel 18:20) (KJV) The soul [#H5315 lives, beings, persons] that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Obviously, the thrust of this chapter is that the ETERNAL will require an accounting from each INDIVIDUAL, and that no one will either bear the iniquity [sins] of another, or come under the righteousness [sinlessness] of another, and that each individual person shall give an accounting of himself. The point[5] is that Scripture states: All SOULS DIE! The word "soul" [Strong's #H5315] has absolutely NO CONNECTION WHATSOEVER, with anything immortal or immaterial.
What About The Dead Standing From Their Graves?
Now, let's see the Real Truth about the dead awakening and rising from their graves as prophesied in the SOVEREIGN's Word. This is not a new concept; it also happened through Elijah (1 Kings 17:15-23).
All your life you have probably heard the saying, "You can't take it with you." Obviously as this old saying goes, we leave everything we thought was important including loved ones, home, car, money and jewelry, even collections like bric-a-brac or paintings.
But, Believe It or Not, although we eventually return to the ground from which we came, we can take with us our most precious possessions of all. In this encouraging article you will find answers to perplexing questions: "What if my spouse was not saved when he died?" "What about my father, who, though not a church-going man, was a good man, honest, and a good husband?" "What about our little girl who was only two when she died?" "What about our son who was killed in Iraq? He wasn't religious, but he was a good boy. Is he in hell? What happened to him when he died?" "What about the patriarchs and Israelites in the Old Testament; how will they be saved?"
Since the Scriptures speak plainly about a body rising alive from the grave, do we take anything with us besides our best dress or suit to the grave? Do we bring anything back with us when we stand from the grave? Will we recognize our loved ones? If so, will we have our memories intact? And what about the bad memories? What about character, integrity, and knowledge?
When Job learned of the tragedies that had destroyed his family, his herds, and his home, he said:
(Job 1:21) (KJV) And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the ETERNAL gave, and the ETERNAL hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the ETERNAL.
Like families of whom we hear in the news who have lost everything to hurricanes, fires, floods, mudslides, tsunamis, tornadoes, etc., Job was devastated. His children were dead. His livestock was dead. His home was destroyed. Only his nagging wife was left.
Faced with this monumental tragedy, he could only contemplate the somber fact that all physical and material things are left behind when we die. He had nothing left. But then Job couldn't take it with him when it was his turn to be buried.
We've all heard it or said it at one time or another: "You can't take it with you." King Solomon, who had it all, knew that merely piling up material goods (hoarding) was wrong. He said:
(Ecclesiastes 5:13-16) (KJV) 13There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. 14But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 15As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. 16And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that labored for the wind?
The word wind in the book of Ecclesiastes is nearly always rendered "vanity." "Hot-air" would also work as modern slang. It is a book about vanity; about empty, useless agendas; about false hopes, wrong goals, and a "pursuit after wind or hot-air." Solomon, too, knew we take nothing material with us to the grave.
Anciently, pagan kings and pharaohs did believe these empty philosophies. The largest monuments on earth are mute testimony to the attempts by the rulers of Egypt to "take it with them" when they died. The pyramids are tombs. With carefully concealed entryways and mazes of passages and with myths, lies, and curses, the pharaohs hoped to thwart would-be grave robbers. Of course they failed.
Like the touring display of King Tutakamen's golden treasures a few years back, the pharaoh's former wealth either ended up in national museums or was sold in bits and pieces on the black market. Their mummified bodies are, like their fabulous wealth, on display to the public.
However, people in the modern world know better so they are buried in their best (or favorite) suit or dress. No wallet, no money, no personal possessions. For many it is the only time they will ever ride in a limousine and a very rare occasion indeed to wear their best suit and tie.
Every Human Will Die, Awaken, And Stand From Their Grave!
Scripture insists through the prophets that there is coming a time when the ETERNAL will raise the dead. When the dead are raised, what will they be like? Will they appear as they did in life?
The ETERNAL Judge says He will raise ALL of the dead no matter into which category spiritually they may belong. As the CREATOR told Adam:
(Genesis 3:19) (KJV) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
The CREATOR warned Adam that in the day he rebelled against His Commandment he would surely incur the punishment for sin.
The Punishment For Sin Is Death.
(Ezekiel 18:4) (KJV) Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
(Ezekiel 18:20) (KJV) The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
However after awakening, the righteous with their testimony, shall never die.
(Psalms 119:24-25) (KJV) 24Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. 25My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to Thy Word.
(Psalms 119:143-144) (KJV) 143Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet Thy Commandments are my delights. 144The righteousness of Thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.
(Psalms 23:6) (KJV) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the House of the ETERNAL forever.
The entirety of (Psalms 23) gives us the true reality of our fantastic promise for the future, if we continue to love and obey our ETERNAL SOVEREIGN.
The following three verses give us the two real life hard hitting opposites: death as compared to eternal life[6]. Man has no inherent eternal life. We are mortal, physical, and temporal.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) (KJV) For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them [their memory, their consciousness, and even the memory of them] is forgotten.
The flip side of the coin is that the opposite of death is eternal life. Notice:
(Isaiah 26:19) (NKJV) Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
(Isaiah 55:3) (KJV) Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you[7], even the sure mercies of David.
Scripture tells us that eternal life is only for the righteous who will inherit an everlasting Covenant. We do not have a so-called "immortal soul" dwelling within us from conception or birth.
Eternal life is only possible by those who reverence the SOVEREIGN and who keep all of His Commandments. They are the ones who are righteous, keep His way, know and love their Maker and they will be given a new heart to love the ETERNAL (Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26).
We do not have eternal life by virtue of human birth. We are not immortal. Yet all your life you have been taught the myth that man is born with an immortal soul. You have been taught by religious organizations that there are those who immediately go to an "ever-burning hellfire" there to shriek, scream, and writhe in unimaginable agony by fire day after day, month after month, year after year thousands of lifetimes with never a respite.
Moreover, other countries have their own religious beliefs with their own myths. So, is this true? Will the CREATOR of humankind torture for countless billions of years human beings who never had a chance to be saved?
No, our loving SOVEREIGN does not torture human beings, especially those that never had a chance for salvation[8]. The billions who have lived and died will all have an opportunity to acknowledge their SOVEREIGN and give up their evil ways. All will have one opportunity but no one will have two.
So remember, every human being who has ever lived and who has died or is yet to die will STAND FROM THE GRAVE at some point in time. The first death that occurs to all humans is "natural" because of the human aging process of our short, human life spans. That first death no matter how it comes whether it's due to a murder, tragic accident, peacefully, or under sedation at age 90, is simply just that, the first death.
Now, let's understand something. Believe It or Not, the Scriptures show there will ultimately be three different awakenings and risings from the grave! However, one big event must take place first; it will be the greatest event to happen on earth since the earth was created.
(Zechariah 14:1-2) (KJV) 1Behold, the Day of the ETERNAL cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
(Zechariah 14:4) (KJV) And HIS [the ETERNAL'S] FEET SHALL STAND IN THAT DAY UPON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
(Daniel 12:1) (KJV) And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble*, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
*This is referring to The Time Of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), which is followed by The Great And Terrible Day Of The Almighty (Joel 2:31).
Most people have fallen for the "Colossal Cosmic Joke[9] of the Ages" and refusing to believe verse four above and have accepted a cheap counterfeit string of glass beads of going to Heaven or Hell as compared to diamonds, pearls, and rubies set in clasps of pure gold and living forever in the ETERNAL's Righteous Kingdom (Isaiah 56:8, Psalms 37:29).
The world's organized religions claim that in (Daniel 12:1), the archangel Michael[10] is revealed and named. To begin with, the word "archangel" does not even appear in the Hebrew Scriptures. The word Archangel only appears twice in the New Testament, and the compound word originally comes from Latin[11]. Latin if you recall is the language of the "Catholic mass." In addition, the word arch is a feminine form of the word arc[12]. In addition, the non-Scriptural word archangel has a feminine connection, which will be revealed in a future related article.
Arch is also used in geometric terms such as the shape of a crescent moon which is a pagan symbol. It is used for the top of tall, slender windows and doors also a pagan symbol known as a "phallic."
The name Michael appears thirteen times in the Hebrew Scriptures. The word is (Strongs #H4317), Miyka'el, and means "who is like 'God'." This is the same name (and meaning) of nine other human Israelites found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Miyka'el comes from (Strongs #H3588)[13], kiy, which means "casual relations of all kinds". This would not seem applicable to an angel of the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN.
The Michael in the book of Daniel is mentioned three times: (Daniel 10:13, Daniel 10:21, and Daniel 12:1). The time period of (Daniel 10) is when the Jews were still in captivity in the kingdom of Persia which was post-Babylon[14]. [We will cover (Daniel 12:1) shortly]. In each of these three verses Michael is referred to as a prince. This word "prince' is (Strongs #H8269), sar, which means "a head person of rank". Since the Almighty CREATOR shares His power (dominion) with no one else[15], accordingly this Michael must mean a human prince. Additionally, the word sar (Strongs #H8269) is used in 420 other places throughout the Hebrew Scriptures to refer to flesh and blood mortals. However, in (Joshua 5:14) Sar is used to refer to the ETERNAL Himself as Captain of Hosts and in (Isaiah 9:6)[16] it refers to King David as the Mashiach Prince of princes[17].
The ETERNAL Brings The Firstfruits To Life.
Now back to our search of what happens when we die:
(Zechariah 14:4) (KJV) And HIS [the ETERNAL'S] FEET SHALL STAND IN THAT DAY UPON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Then, after the ETERNAL stands on the Mount of Olives:
(Zechariah 14:9) (KJV) And the ETERNAL shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one[18] SOVEREIGN, and his name one.
One of the first things our Almighty SOVEREIGN will do, is to call up the first of the firstfruits, King David [the first one] and the Prophet Elijah [the second one], to stand from the grave. King David is the firstborn[19] (Psalms 89:20-27). King David and the Prophet Elijah will be the two witnesses who will work together (Zechariah 4:11-14; Zechariah 6:12-13) to free and save Israel.
(Daniel 12:1) (NRSV) At that time[20] Michael, (King David)[21] the great prince[22], the protector of your people, shall arise[23]. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book[24].
The "Time of Anguish" is the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" (Tribulation) and the Mashiach and the Prophet are raised to bring what is left of the Commonwealth of Greater Israel out of the captivity during the time of Jacob's Trouble.
The ETERNAL fought the battles for the children of Israel but He used Moses to lead them out of Egyptian slavery. Again the ETERNAL will fight the battles for the children of Israel to bring them from the latter-day captivity, but this time He will use King David and the Prophet Elijah. The King Mashiach and the Prophet will lead the two Houses of Jacob back from the "latter day captivity" where they were purified (Zechariah 13:8-9) to the Promised Land. The Prophet will work to convert the captives (Malachi 4:5-6) and King David, the Branch, will release them from prison. As prophesied they will work as a team to preach good tidings and to proclaim liberty.
(Isaiah 61:1) (KJV) The spirit of the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN is upon me; because the ETERNAL hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound[25];
The captives will be brought to the wilderness where the ETERNAL will judge them and purge out the rebels who were not converted (Ezekiel 20:33-36). Only the Righteous Remnant of the House of Jacob will be left, but what will happen to them?
(Hosea 2:14-16) (TLB) 14But I will court her again and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her tenderly there. 15There I will give back her vineyards to her and transform her VALLEY OF TROUBLES into a DOOR OF HOPE. She will respond to Me there, singing with joy as in days long ago in her youth, after I had freed her from captivity in Egypt. 16In that coming day, says the ETERNAL, she will call Me 'my Husband' (Strongs #H376) instead of 'my Master' (Strongs #H1180).
The ETERNAL will use King David to bring all of Israel out of the "latter day captivity" to the wilderness before the Valley of Jezreel where they will have a very humble attitude and a contrite heart. Then our SOVEREIGN will tell both houses, "Now you are Ammi (now, you are mine) and Ruhamah (loved of the ETERNAL) and He betroths the new Israel in the Valley of Jezreel (see the article: "The Prophet Hosea In The 21st Century").
The First Great Awakening.
Many different things will happen almost simultaneously. To keep the story together so we do not lose anyone, we will halt our march forward and reconnoiter our tracks into unknown territory. First of all the ETERNAL will come down from heaven and stand on the Mount of Olives and it will split in two with living water going in two opposite directions (Zechariah 14:1-9).
Next our CREATOR will cause life to flow into King David and Elijah and they will awake and stand from their graves. They are the two Witnesses and will bring the remnant captives back from where they had been scattered to the Promised Land. The ETERNAL then will reunite the two sticks, [see (Ezekiel 37:16-19)], to form the Davidic Kingdom on His Righteous Mountain (Isaiah 11:9-12; Isaiah 56:1-8).
The next thing that will happen will be the awakening of the First of the Firstfruits and their standing from their graves:
(Daniel 12:1) (NRSV) At that time[26] Michael, (King David [27]) the great prince[28], the protector of your people, shall arise[29]. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.
The "Time of Anguish" is the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" and the Mashiach and the Prophet are raised to bring what is left of the Commonwealth of Greater Israel to the Valley of Jezreel. Then:
(Daniel 12:2-3) (KJV) 2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake[30], some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3And they that be wise[31] shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
This awakening is selective to those written in "the book", and a great multitude will awake and stand from their graves. The ones who will awaken at this time will be all of the great men and women of Israel that down through the ages have followed the Commandments and Ways of our SOVEREIGN, men and women such as Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ruth, Deborah and many others and they will also be conveyed to the Valley of Jezreel with the Righteous Remnant to become the bride of the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN and CREATOR of the universe, The Mighty one of Israel (Isaiah 62:5; Hosea 2:19-20).
The Righteous Remnant will be changed from mortal to immortal and from flesh to spirit along with all the great men and women of old from Seth to Noah, from Moses to Elijah, and from Abraham to Malachi. This includes the multitude of people you and I have never known, people who lived righteous lives in the valleys of Europe during the Middle Ages, people who were persecutedand perhaps put to death for their love of their CREATOR.
King David shall have arisen from the dead to take his rightful place on his throne for he is the Prince and Mashiach; he is coming back from the dead to rule this earth. Isaiah gives us a glimpse of his rule.
(Isaiah 11:1-4) (NIV) 1A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his [Jesse's] roots a Branch [Jesse's son David] will bear fruit. 2The Spirit of the ETERNAL will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the ETERNAL, 3and he will delight in the fear of the ETERNAL. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
Such is the description of the first awakening. Now, we know who is to awaken after King David the Messiah awakens and rules for 1000 years[32]. We know the righteous will be taken to the Valley of Jezreel. Those who are worthy will enter into the Land of Israel and will be provided for and protected. They will be joined by all of the righteous of all ages and the ETERNAL will again take them all to betroth.
The Second Great Awakening.
To this point we have left a great number of precious souls left unaccounted for. What of those who have never had an opportunity to hear the Commandments and to love and obey the CREATOR? Those who have never heard the Scripture, never had a chance to either believe it or reject it? This group of people will make up, I would guess, 99% of all people who ever walked on the face of the earth. In addition, do not forget the babies that never had a chance to even crawl on the earth much less walk on it. What about them and all of the aborted fetuses? If the Almighty SOVEREIGN could create a universe surely He could recreate those who have died, and this He will do. Older people will awaken to their prime years and fetuses will awaken as new born babies. How wonderful that is to hear and their birth mother will probably have the opportunity to bring them up in a perfect world.
The "second awakening" is for judgment and the "third awakening" is for destruction of which you will shortly read. However, the second awakening will be the greatest awakening of the dead in all history and is for the purpose of "judgment."
The people in the "second awakening" are those who have not known the CREATOR and have not known to follow His Commandments. This would include the countless hundreds of millions and billions of human beings who lived in places like Irkutsk, Afghanistan, Niger, Rwanda, India, China, Japan; including even those who lived from the time before the Flood of Noah until the time of and through the Time of Jacob's Trouble. This would include modern and ancient people such as the Huns, the Magyars, the Celts, the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, and the Toltecs. All of the ancient tribes of the various part of the world will be awakened and given a chance to understand, but this time they will live in a perfect world.
This is their first chance to accept the SOVEREIGN's way. Everybody gets one chance and no body gets two. Since you are reading this, you may be living your chance right now!
What Is Judgment?
We must interrupt the story flow of the Awakenings again, this time to give some vitally needed background information. First, remember that a judgment is not a sentencing. In a trial there is the trial phase or the "judgment" phase and then if a person is found guilty there is a "sentencing." Many people confuse the two.
For all of their lives millions have assumed that in the "judgment day," it is as if the Great Judge on a great throne has gathered before Him countless millions of people in one long line. As each fearful, apprehensive person approaches His throne, angels are thumbing through "books," which supposedly contain a terrible record of every dirty, rotten, shameful thing the trembling person has done. A written record is there proving what a terrible sinner or in some cases what a good person they were. Often as not, the way this favored myth goes the Great Judge slams a gavel down on His desk opening a trapdoor beneath the feet of the unfortunate wretch, who has just had all his dirty linen exposed before the Great Judge, millions of angels, and all of the people still waiting in line.
With a terrible shriek the convicted sinner plunges down the shoot into the ever-burning fire of an eternal hell. Then, perhaps the next person is told, "You get to go to heaven!" Those who concocted this mythological scene must have read about such happenings in the annuls of heathen nations. This myth is pure superstition mixed with some of grandma's cooking sherry.
The judgment which Scripture speaks of takes place over a lifetime, not in just a few seconds. You and I are said to be under judgment right now. Each day we are judged according to the Law. The CREATOR is lawful but not legalistic as some think. He gave us His Laws for our protection and TO TEST US to see if we would obey Him and love His ways for all time (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).
If you make a mistake in your judgement about some action no matter if it is large or small, just make a change and apologize to the ETERNAL that you made a mistake and will not do it again. You cannot pull the wool over His eyes:
(Proverbs 24:11-12) (TLB) 11Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don't stand back and let them die. 12Don't try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn't know about it. For the ETERNAL, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and He knows you knew! And He will reward everyone according to his deeds.
Therefore, judgement is a record of how we live AFTER we know our SOVEREIGN's Ways which include His Covenant with us and His Laws for us. The ETERNAL is the fairest, the most honest, loving, and kindest, caring Being in the universe. He is the only one I would trust with my life.
How Is The Eternal Judging Us Today?
The word judgment is used many times in The Word to connote "fairness" and "equity," as well as "discernment" between right and wrong. The term "judgement" is used both positively as in discernment and fairness and negatively when men pervert judgment. Amos wrote.
(Amos 5:6-7) (KJV) 6Seek the ETERNAL, and ye shall live; lest He break out like fire in the House of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. 7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood [a bitter poisonous thing], and leave off righteousness in the earth.
(Amos 5:12) (KJV) For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
(Amos 5:14-15) (KJV) 14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the ETERNAL, the SOVEREIGN of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. 15Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate [among the elders; the officials, the courts]: it may be that the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
The next paragraphs are quoted from the article: "Quest For The Eternal". We recommend that you read it.
The Hebrew word "Mishpat" is usually translated "justice." It means to act with fairness, equity, and impartiality in any situation. Again, Micah, in the same passage declares that the ETERNAL requires that one do justice (Micah 6:8). The Prophets constantly speak of "mishpat." In a well-known passage, Amos cries out, "Let justice 'mishpat' roll down like water" (Amos 5:24).
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before you (Psalms 89:14).
When the ETERNAL finally stands on the Mount of Olives and King David is awakened and stands as the Messiah (Mashiach), his basic plan is to establish the Kingdom or Rule of the ETERNAL on Mount Zion with justice and righteousness. Yet, the throne will be established in loving kindness.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. In mercy the throne will be established; and One will sit on it in truth, in the Tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness (Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 16:5).
He is judging His Remnant according to His Word. The righteous (those who obey the Commandments) are the Righteous Remnant. The ETERNAL tells us we are being tested to see if we will listen to Him and obey His Word.
Now when will this greatest awakening in all of history, the awakening to judgment or discernment or trial, occur?
We saw that our SOVEREIGN the ETERNAL CREATOR of the universe, will stand on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). Then King David will arise as the First of the Firstfruits immediately followed by the Prophet Elijah (Daniel 12:1; Isaiah 11:1-4; Zechariah 4:1-4; Malachi 4:6).
After the Mashiach and the Prophet have rescued the Righteous Remnant from the prisons and concentration camps and the rest of the Righteous have been awakened from their sleep in their graves and all have been taken to the Valley of Jezreel, that is when the Davidic Kingdom will begin.
Back To The Second Great Awakening.
We have taken two side trips from our topic of the 2nd Great Awakening to find out "What judgment is" and to learn "How the SOVEREIGN is Judging His Remnant Today." Now, let's go back to our topic.
The ETERNAL is not going to judge differently following[33] the Davidic Reign than He does before. He does not change. He is the same. He has not changed since the beginning of time. After the Davidic reign the rest of the dead will rise to everlasting shame and contempt (Daniel 12:2) [last part].
These countless millions of unsaved, ignorant, oftentimes savage people, who were in the most primitive, darkened state of Satan-inspired idolatry, who did not have a chance to know the truth of the Scriptures are going to learn about their CREATOR. They are going to learn in the same way we are learning by hearing about, reading, studying, and being taught from the Word of the ETERNAL.
Millions of them lived during a time when human sacrifice to pagan 'gods' was being carried out. They are going to be re-educated and brought to a perfect knowledge of the SOVEREIGN and His purpose for mankind. They will have plenty of time to learn about Him and His way of life.
This may shock you but, do you know who the most wicked people are? The wicked is anyone, including church-going people who worship a 'god' other than the true SOVEREIGN. If you obey another, that means you are not obeying the Righteous CREATOR with all of your might, and if you are not obeying the Righteous CREATOR, then you are wicked. Simply stated, righteous means that you obey all of the Law and wicked means that you do not obey some of the Scriptural Law. The good news is that everyone will have one opportunity to turn to the CREATOR in love and obedience. Notice:
(Isaiah 65:17-18) (KJV) 17For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind. 18But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
Clearly this Scripture tells us that memories of the old world, the sin-sick, crime-ridden, disease-infested, war-torn world in which you and I live today, "shall not be remembered nor come to mind." If this is literal and not merely a metaphor, it indicates the ETERNAL will obliterate bad memories.
A Second Hundred-Year Lifespan.
The following scriptures refer to the period of time in the Second Awakening and they give us a pattern the ETERNAL will use concerning the life-span of humans at the end of the thousand years, and the amount of time available for people to practice and to learn the CREATOR's way of life.
(Isaiah 65:20) (KJV) 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.
The ETERNAL plainly shows us through Isaiah's 65th chapter that He will grant a one-hundred-year lifespan to human beings during the judgment period of the Second Awakening at the end of the thousand years.
There is simply no other way to understand the verses we read. This reveals a very important and essential truth. Many scriptures show that during the thousand years of the Davidic Kingdom the human family will continue to marry and bear children. Many scriptures portray the happy, glorious time in which families and children are present (see Isaiah 11:4-9; Ezekiel 37:24-26; Zechariah 8:5).
However, during THIS one-hundred-year period, those who are awakened as infants and all the little children born right before the beginning of the hundred years, who have not yet matured, will be the last generation of the human family. From the moment of the beginning of the Second Awakening and Judgment, no more babies are conceived or born.
(Isaiah 65:20) (KJV) 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.
Literally there will not be any more conceptions. This is because at the end of the hundred years, it concludes the period of human existence. In addition, there will be no elderly in their mid-seventies or eighties who die because there will not be an "old man that hath not filled his days," meaning that no one has failed to live one hundred years.
Notice the rest of this important scripture:
(Isaiah 65:20) (KJV) 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.
Obviously, these are two different categories. In the verse the child who dies at age one hundred is not classified as a "sinner," so the logical assumption is that the little infant who began to live at the beginning of this one-hundred-year period of judgment and who arrives at his one hundredth birthday simply dies of old age. Then what happens?
Well, there are two possibilities both being substantiated in Scripture having been already set as precedents by the ETERNAL Himself. One possibility is that a person is either allowed to die a physical death[34] and then is instantly raised from the dead; or, the second possibility is that he is changed from flesh to spirit at the moment of the completion of the one-hundred-year judgment period.
Of course, none of this really concerns you and me except as a matter of information and a desire to satisfy curiosity about "what happens to other people" or to our loved ones. That curiosity and concern for loved ones is what we must now come to understand.
Millions have been left in fear and worry over the fate of beloved family members. They have been deceived by the false "immortality of the soul," the "ever-burning hell," or by vague concepts of "purgatory" teachings. So what happens when someone dies? The following is a quote from the original author:
I was once asked by a neighbor of mine, not a member of our church, about his father. He described his dad as a very "good and decent" man. His dad had worked all his life for the U.S. Postal Service. He had been a good father, a provider for his family of four. He had been faithful to his wife and had not been a gambler or a drunkard."
"But what happened to him when he died?" my neighbor asked. "I know he was not a 'Christian.' He almost never went to church except when my mother would beg him to on a special occasion. But he didn't cuss, or drink, or smoke, or anything like that. So, since he wasn't 'saved,' as they say, but yet he was a 'good man,' did he go to hell?
As an Elder I have been asked the same questions. In addition, literally millions of puzzled relatives have wondered about such things through the years. The answer to these precise questions is some of the very best news you could ever hear. Why? Because the answer is not dependant on the person belonging to any religion or attending "church" meetings.
Notice that the SOVEREIGN has decreed that after one hundred years if a person is still unrepentant, unyielding to His laws, stiff-necked, hard-hearted, and living in sin, he will be "accursed" which means condemned. He is judged from the Word during a one-hundred-year lifetime. If he or she is still refusing to obey the CREATOR and repent[35] and be saved, at the end of this time the sentence is handed down. The sentence is death.
(Malachi 4:1) (KJV) For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven: and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly [those that do not obey the Commandments], shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the ETERNAL of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
A narrow valley just south of the old city of Jerusalem anciently served as the town dump. Originally owned by the family of "Hinnom" was the "valley of Hinnom" with a Hebrew name meaning, "valley of whining" or "valley of lamentation" which in Hebrew may be transliterated as gehinnom.
The valley had a somewhat unglamorous history during the period of the kings. The worshipers of the pagan deities, B-al and M-lech, practiced child sacrificing in the valley of Hinnom (2 Kings 23:10). There is specific mention of human sacrifice in Israel (2 Kings 16:3) and in Judah (2 Kings 17:17). The place of this abomination was the valley of Hinnom (2 Chronicles 28:3; 2 Chronicles 33:6). The valley become known as "the valley of slaughter" (Jeremiah 7:32). Therefore, the valley became a symbol of great burning in connection with sin.
Briefly, the word hell in English comes from an old Nordic name for a false, pagan 'god', having derived from their superstitions about the "underworld of the dead" which was "hel" or "behelian." As late as the 1930s many American farmers still spoke of placing their potatoes in "hell" after harvesting for the winter. "Hell" merely meant a dark hole in the ground. The English word hell is erroneously used and translated from the Greek word hades which should have always been translated "the grave."
The Real "Hellfire" Is Called "Gehenna"![36]
People from the land of Israel knew immediately what was meant when they spoke of Gehenna. They referred to the noxious garbage dump outside Jerusalem with its fires which consumed trash as well as an occasional body of an animal or a criminal.
Those who refuse to love and obey the CREATOR will be cast into Gehenna fire there to be "burned up" (completely destroyed). Notice:
(Malachi 4:3) (AMPC) And you shall tread down the lawless and wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the SOVEREIGN of hosts.
Gehenna fire consumes the bodies of unrepentant sinners; they do not burn forever. To understand the concept of Gehenna, you need to know what the Scripture says about the state of the dead.
What Is It Like To Be Dead?
Scripture states, that man and beast were all made from dust, and all will return to that dust:
(Ecclesiastes 3:19-20) (NIV) 19Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
The ETERNAL's Word says men die in the same fashion as cows, horses, dogs, or sheep. Their condition in death is the same. They both owe their lives to the oxygen in the air. When men and animals die, they both decay and return to the soil from which they come.
Nevertheless, you might ask; Aren't the dead conscious in some way? Notice:
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) (NIV) For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.
King David knew this. He knew that man returns to "dust" (to the elements of the soil) from which he came. He wrote:
(Psalms 30:9) (KJV) What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit[37]? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth?
Your Bible shows that when humans die they no longer are conscious. They have no thoughts, no memory, and no awareness. The Bible describes death as the deepest kind of sleep, total obliviousness, being completely unaware of the passage of time with no pain, no worry, and no memory.
(Psalms 146:2-4) (KJV) 2While I live I will praise the ETERNAL: I will sing praises unto my SOVEREIGN while I have any being. 3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. 4His breath goeth forth [he expires], he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
Nobody goes to Heaven when they die. Nobody is reincarnated when they die. Nobody is conscious after they die. The dead are completely oblivious. The dead know nothing. The human brain decays and returns to the dust. The human spirit, which has no consciousness or awareness apart from the brain, is completely unconscious.
At the instant of the awakening, they will once again be thinking and remembering conscious beings. To them it will have been as if only a fraction of a second had passed from the moment of their death to the moment of their awakening.
Millions of people will say upon awakening from the dead, "What happened just then?" Millions will not even know they were dead for millions have died so suddenly there was no time for thought or even pain.
If you have ever had any questions at all about whether the dead are conscious or not, they should have been put to rest by these revealed truths.
The Human Spirit.
Look at what the CREATOR's Word says about human beings, and about the human spirit the CREATOR gave us, which makes us so far superior to animals and gives us mind, conscience, depth of feeling, and character. Man has a mind while animals have brains.
King David prayed the following before he died:
(Psalms 31:5-6) (KJV) 5Into thine hand I commit my spirit [ruwach]: thou hast redeemed me, O ETERNAL SOVEREIGN of truth. 6I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the CREATOR.
The English word "spirit" is translated from the Hebrew "ruwach" which has a male gender and a female gender definition[38].
The male form of "ruwach" is (Strongs #H7306) (roo'-akh) and is a "primary root and properly means to blow (i.e. to breathe); literally to smell; or by implication to perceive; and figuratively to anticipate, enjoy."
The female form of "ruwach" is (Strongs #H7307) (roo'-akh) is "from H7306 wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively life or vital principle, anger, unsub-stantiality [lacking material substance]; by extension a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit sometimes called the human spirit."
King David used an entirely different word in his Psalms of praise to the ETERNAL.
(Psalms 150:5-6) (KJV) 5Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6Let everything that hath breath [neshamah] praise the ETERNAL. Praise ye the CREATOR.
The English word "breath" comes from the Hebrew word "neshamah[39]" (nesh-aw-maw') meaning divine inspiration, intellect, breath, spirit (the spirit of the ETERNAL imparting life and wisdom or the spirit in man).
The word "ruwach" is most commonly translated as a movement of air (i.e. breath, wind) but is also rendered "spirit" in many places.
The word "neshamah" is used more of the intellect or the innermost psyche and is correctly rendered "spirit."
Notice another example of neshamah where the word obviously means the innermost consciousness, thought, and intellect of man:
(Proverbs 20:27) (NKJV) The spirit of a man is the lamp of the ETERNAL, searching all the inner depths of his heart.
There "neshamah" has to do with conscience; with the human character; deep thought, introspection, meditation, philosophy, our decision-making ability, and accountability. Notice an example where both words are used together:
(Job 33:4) (KJV) The Spirit [ruwach] of the ETERNAL hath made me, and the Breath [neshamah] of the Almighty hath given me life.
While man and animal "have all one breath," that is the same physical, chemical existence supported by air, food, and water, they are completely different.
Man has a mind while animals have brains. Animals are creatures of instinct but have no power to know or to wonder about their origin or destiny.
Animals have only a limited ability to reason. Experiments with dolphins, poodles, and chimpanzees have proven this. In one experiment a dog trapped in a basement was observed piling boxes atop each other until he had a platform high enough to reach a small window near the ceiling so that he could escape.
But beyond a very limited ability, animals are creatures that have automatically-programmed instinct. They have no creative ability nor can they speculate philosophically.
However, the CREATOR placed a spirit in man, the human spirit. It is this spiritual essence which is linked to the frontal lobes of the human brain that gives man a mind as opposed to a mere animal's brain.
A little colt only minutes after birth staggers to its wobbly feet and immediately goes directly to the mare's teats to suckle. Somehow by mere instinct as well as by sight, sound, and smell, the tiny newborn animal knows exactly what to do.
Although baby dolphins are born underwater, they immediately begin swimming to the surface to take their first breath. Every bird, fish, insect and animal could be used as an example of how each one has their own automatically preprogrammed instinct which causes them to survive.
Now consider a newly born human baby. It is completely helpless. It could lie within inches of its mother's breast and starve to death if it were not cared for by its mother. It is the most helpless of all creatures.
Yet, consider the potential of that tiny human brain. Little by little as the baby bonds to its mother, father, brothers, and sisters the baby learns and its brain is being programmed.
Most animals are capable of only squeaks, yells, barks, whinnies, bawlings, calls, and grunts. While other animals like elk or whales are very vocal and utilize a wide range of sounds to communicate simple thoughts to each other such as danger or feeding. And yet the human mind is capable of learning language with thousands of words to express thought.
Any in-depth study into the human brain is a journey through stupendous, awesome, mind-boggling data. It is an introduction to the most incredibly complex organism known to mankind. How we think, reason, deduce, ponder, imagine, and create is almost incomprehensible.
You can know of nothing that is superior to your own mind unless you are willing to admit other minds are better educated than yours by having stored more knowledge and experience.
As the human mind is the most incredibly complex thing of which we can come to know by the five physical senses, could our marvelous minds have come into being by lesser intelligence?
Your own intellect demands the answer. Only a vastly superior intelligence could have thought out, designed, and then created the human mind and spirit. Now think with that marvelous mind the CREATOR gave you.
It required two parents to produce you. Your father's life in the form of a microscopic spermatozoon united with your mother's life in the form of a fertile egg. At the instant of conception you and I were a separate new life form but much, much smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.
Nonetheless, in that tiniest of beginnings was preprogrammed in the DNA ("deoxyribonucleic acid") the genetic code which determined your sex, general height, weight, shape, color of your hair and eyes, color and texture of your skin, shape of your skull, and length of your fingers and toes, all the characteristics which make you "you" during your life. You would inherit through this miraculous, microscopic beginning, qualities, proclivities, talents, and abilities from your family including whether or not you are musical or tone deaf, whether you tend to be artistic or mechanical and so on.
While it has been demonstrated that environment is a powerful shaper of character, the genetic code from your two parents is the most powerful of the two.
Even though the human reproductive system is incredible, some take life for granted. Yet, when they study how humans are conceived, formed in the womb, and come into this world they are left with a real sense of awe and wonder.
King David Said To The ETERNAL:
(Psalms 139:14-17) (KJV) 14I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written*, which in continuance were fashioned when there were as yet none of them. 17How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O SOVEREIGN! How great is the sum of them!
*Here, knowing nothing about DNA, David is in awe of the developing human fetus.
David was no doubt considering all the functions of the human body contemplating the human eye, ear, sense of smell and touch, and the marvelous way in which all his vital organs contributed to his daily experience of living.
He no doubt meditated concerning the skeletal framework of our bodies, the musculature with all the tendons, ligaments, and sinew connecting muscle to muscle and muscle to bone. He thought on the marvelous coordination of limb, hands, feet, and torso. How incredible it had been when he had become so proficient with a sling that he hurled a rounded stone squarely into the forehead of the giant Goliath the only unprotected place on His body and killed Israel's enemy with one blow. He no doubt thought of the awesome athletic feats of men in his army and of all the marvels of the human body.
When he said, "which in continuance were fashioned when there were as yet none of them," he no doubt was pondering the blood flow from mother to fetus; how it could be that from a microscopic beginning bone, tissue, muscle, eyes, ears, hands, and feet could form.
David was in awe of the SOVEREIGN as the Great CREATOR. He recognized the miracle that the human body presents to our view, the miracle of human life and reproduction.
It is only through the union between spirit and brain that such introspective thoughts are possible! Animals cannot contemplate their origins. Animals do not marvel at their ability to see or hear. They cannot praise their Maker.
The human spirit sent by our CREATOR is present from the instant of conception.
Many documentaries have shown a male sperm entering a female egg and uniting with it. The moment the sperm enters the egg a miracle occurs and a new pregnancy begins. A brand new biological entity called a "zygote" is formed (with its own human spirit). The zygote is not a part of the father's body nor the mother's body; it is a new life with its very own characteristics. The conclusion that human life begins at sperm-egg fusion is uncontested, objective, based on the universally accepted scientific method of distinguishing different cell types from each other and on ample scientific evidence (thousands of independent, peer-reviewed publications)[40].
When did David who would turn out to be King become the tiny, microscopic zygote that would become the Mashiach? At the instant the sperm of his father engendered the egg within his mother.
There was never a moment, not a single second when the Spirit of the ETERNAL was not present with David after he was anointed. He knew that he had been wonderfully made from his mother's womb.
Jeremiah was known by the SOVEREIGN before his birth. Other examples are contained in Scripture including Cyrus the Persian monarch who was named four hundred years before he was born which absolutely proves that the obscene process of abortion is murder of a human life! Just to think that there could merely be a "choice" of a young woman to abort her baby is so unthinkably obscene as to defy human rationality.
These are vitally important truths, profound Scriptures. Let us understand what the ETERNAL's Word is telling us.
Why The CREATOR Is Called "The Father".
It was the fertile egg of our mothers and the living spermatozoon of our fathers that bore witness once united together that we were to become the children of our parents.
Here, the ETERNAL shows us that it is the living human spirit connected to our physical brain brought together with the living Spirit of the ETERNAL, our Father, that proves we are the ETERNAL's CHILDREN.
The ETERNAL is called "the Father" because He begets children. He is producing a family of spirit beings.
Did you pay attention to what was just said and did you ponder the fact that "the Father" actually is producing a spiritual family?
Creation was not completed in the Garden of Eden it was only begun there. The ETERNAL CREATOR, who is the SOVEREIGN, reveals Himself to us through His Word.
As a marvelous part of the pattern of life in all of its forms, the CREATOR ordained that life begets life and that life reproduces life of the same kind.
All life comes from previously living creatures of the same kind. Your human, physical life was only possible because two living, human lives came together at your conception. You did not come from one previous life of the same kind; you came from two.
In the same fashion, our Father CREATOR begets children through the power of His Spirit linking His Spirit with our living human spirit so that a new spirit being is begotten when we receive His Righteous Spirit. We receive the human spirit at our conception, but we do not receive His Righteous Spirit until we have proven that we love Him with our whole heart and mind.
This new "creature" is REAL. It is alive. It bears the characteristics of its Father, who is the SOVEREIGN, and its human life, which is the human spirit inextricably linked to our physical brain.
The ETERNAL does not place His Spirit in mere carnal flesh. He does not place His Spirit in our kneecaps, or our elbows, or our hands. He places His Spirit in direct union with our human spirit so that His Spirit life joining with our spirit life becomes a new, never-before spirit life.
Scientists know the human brain is divided into various segments and that each performs different functions. We are all familiar with the fact that a blow on the head may produce memory loss yet fail to impair any of the other functions of the brain.
They know that the process of thought, the ability of our minds to ponder, philosophize, imagine, wonder, contemplate, create, and decide is in the frontal lobes behind our eyes and forehead.
It is in this portion of our brain that the character resides: the ability to feel remorse, sadness, happiness, joy, shame, chagrin, anger, jealousy, lust, greed; the ability to change, and feel sorrow over wrongdoing; the ability to think, plan, and reason. Our personality, aside from our ability to see, hear, walk, and talk, is controlled by these frontal lobes.
The ETERNAL's Righteous Spirit does not affect our memory, improve our athletic ability, or improve our hearing or eyesight. It unites with our human spirit to change our character, our very deepest and innermost psyche, our personality.
You and I did not get here from only one life which begat non-living tissue. No, it required two lives uniting together to produce our one physical life. So it is with the ETERNAL's process of begetting a family, His people.
The ETERNAL by His Word and His Spirit helps us to change our character, our very deepest and innermost psyche, our personality. When we obey the ETERNAL's Commandments, His Law, we change by obeying, we become righteous.
From his youth, David had a heart to please and love His CREATOR. By trusting his CREATOR and by his righteous life David found a special place in the CREATOR's heart.
Now notice the truth about this "new heart and new spirit" which is begotten within the human mind. What is your most precious possession?
We deeply pity those who lost one, or two, or even all four limbs through an accident or in war. It is important we understand this. One may say, "I lost both my legs in Iraq." Perhaps he now moves about on prosthetic legs and with canes or crutches. Nevertheless, he is still here. He does not think, plan, reason, feel, or repent with his legs.
Carried to perhaps an ultimate, ridiculous conclusion, the human body is capable of losing all four limbs, several vital organs, eyesight and hearing, and also capable of being reduced to a piteous trunk of a body, yet the individual is still alive, the personality is intact, and the conscious, thinking person is still there.
We are dust and will return to dust, but our human bodies and minds are like earthen vessels that contain something incalculably precious. We as earthen vessels contain our character. The ETERNAL, the Master Potter, is molding our character as He sees fit.
(Isaiah 64:8-9) (KJV) 8But now, O ETERNAL, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand. 9Be not wroth very sore, O ETERNAL, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech Thee, we are all Thy people.
We Dwell In A Temporary Body.
"We" dwell in this "earthly house," meaning our fragile, temporal human bodies. While our bodies are very much a part of us, they are not "us." We (our human spirit combined with the ETERNAL's Spirit) dwell inside our bodies in the frontal lobes of our brains. We are in a sense living in the host body, our physical "earthly house," (our temporary, physical, chemical existence) yet we have been begotten by the ETERNAL's Spirit.
After we have passed our "life's test" in this, our time of judgement, and our SOVEREIGN awakens us and we stand from our grave, then we will have our new eternal body that He has created from our begotten spirit, which had returned to Him when we died[41].
It does not matter how we died or where our body parts are. We could have been burned up in a fire or buried at sea and our body eaten and scattered by sharks (Job 14:14; Amos 9:11; Psalms 89:20-28). It does not matter because the ETERNAL will create us a new body from the human spirit now combined with His Righteous Spirit that goes back to Him when we die.
Consider a single kernel of corn. When planted in the soil the tiny germ that contains the microscopic design of the corn plant is fertilized by the decaying endosperm which is made up of soft starch and hard starch. The germ begins to sprout as it is feeding on the starchy endosperm. A root appears, then more. Then, a sprout pushes aside the soil and reaches for the sun. Eventually, the tiny germ grows into a stalk perhaps as much as eight feet tall producing two, three, four, or more ears of corn. Each ear may have produced hundreds of corn kernels.
The single kernel that was planted in the soil has now produced thousands of new kernels. These kernels are new wealth. They have never existed before and will never exist again.
In the cycle of life in plants as well as in humans each new living thing is new wealth from the soil, a first time ever, never to be again, living entity.
As the glorious eight-foot tall cornstalk with perhaps four or more big yellow ears of corn containing hundreds of kernels each bears little resemblance to the tiny germ in a dying corn kernel, so it is that our decaying (or burnt, or disintegrated) human bodies will be incomparable to the glorious spiritual body which the SOVEREIGN will give to the righteous.
Obviously, to enter in to the new earth will require a spirit body. Probably there will be spiritual beings of different degrees of glory with different splendor, brightness, and different responsibilities.
(Psalms 8:4-5) (NKJV) 4What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? 5For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.
Our salvation is based on us living according to our choices by keeping the ETERNAL's Law. It is not free as most have been taught. For those who have been faithful to the CREATOR and kept His Word, they will be accepted for it is by their doing that they will be judged.
The ETERNAL clearly shows that David will be king over all Israel. He was chosen by the ETERNAL to be His Anointed because David was a man after the SOVEREIGN's own heart. David loved the Word, the Commandments and lived by them. When he realized he had made a mistake he did not try to blame someone else. He simply said, "I am guilty and I am sorry" and he did not do it again.
There is simply no question about the dogmatic, plain, obvious assertion of fact in these Scriptures. There is a natural body that is you and me which is our physical bodies in this life. And the next life will have a spiritual body which is a new creation in to the spirit life and is the new creation which shall inherit eternal life.
The first man Adam was made a living soul and as Adam's descendants we are also living souls. Just like Adam we will die. And just like the Mashiach and Prophet who will awaken and stand from their graves, so will we.
You and I are like carbon copies of our parents. We are flesh as they are; we bear their characteristics. However, our CREATOR promises us that we will stand from the grave. Yes, we will be born of the ETERNAL.
The ETERNAL's Shem and appearance in His glorified form on earth is His Shechinah glory. That was His form when He lived in the First Temple and will be again after He stands on the Mount of Olives.
Can anything be plainer? The glory or spiritual bodies that we are to inherit will be made in the image of our spiritual Father. No doubt that our glory will be of a lesser glory than His glory but we will still be in His image.
Our human bodies are but temporary dwelling places subject to aging, injury, sickness, and death. While we are alive in the flesh we have a "window of opportunity" to choose the way of righteousness, to become obedient to the CREATOR's laws. When our human body is changed by the ETERNAL into a spirit body, He will take away our stony heart of flesh and will give us a tender heart that obeys Him[42]. Could this really be true? Yes, it is as real, as absolute, as certain, and as factual as your own human existence.
When The Worthy Receive Their New Heart And New Spirit.
Scripture is not a mystery to understand. To understand the deep things of the SOVEREIGN only takes a willing heart to be instructed and learn the CREATOR's Ways. The more one listens and obeys the more understanding one receives. Only the CREATOR can open the eyes of the blind to be able to see His Ways. And so David prayed:
(Psalms 139:23-24) (KJV) 23Search me, O SOVEREIGN, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
(Ezekiel 36:26) (KJV) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
If you read the whole chapter of (Ezekiel 36) you will find that the new heart and new spirit are given after the ETERNAL has gathered the remaining righteous remnant to the Promised Land that was given to their fathers. Then the ETERNAL will sprinkle clean water on them and cleanse them from all their filthiness and from all their idols.
The Reality Of Our Spiritual Life.
You are real. But how did you get here? By the uniting of your father's life-giving sperm cells with your mother's fertile egg. At the instant of conception, you began. Only a second earlier you did not exist. Millions of different potential sons and daughters could have been conceived instead of you. They were not. They did not unite with the egg therefore they perished. But you succeeded! You are the result[43]. You are here because two lives came together to produce your one life.
Your parents did not sit down on the couch one day take out a note pad and begin drawing up the requirements for a baby.
"Let's see now," your father did not say, "It should be a boy, and we would like it to have blond hair, blue eyes with ten fingers and ten toes. Oh yes, "we have to make sure he has all his vital organs." Your mother did not say, "Oh, I'd rather have a girl; let's make it a girl." Next they did not go to the baby bureau downtown put in their application and wait for the stork to deliver their baby.
Yet, many deceived persons believe by casual assumption that they can receive eternal life by just such a nonsensical fashion.
In contrast, others hear a message about the SOVEREIGN's truth. Perhaps they come across seemingly irrefutable proof that Easter is pagan. So they study and read and do some research. Little by little they become convinced through painstaking study and research that Easter is indeed pagan.
So they then add that knowledge to their repertoire of truth in their storehouse of beliefs. After that they might with a great deal of skepticism and begrudging reluctance study for months to prove to themselves that the Ten Commandments have not been done away with and that sin is the breaking of the ETERNAL's Laws and that repentance requires shame and deep remorse over having been a lawbreaker. On their life's path they add that bit of truth to their growing storehouse of knowledge. Eventually, they have amassed a very impressive amount of Scriptural knowledge. They know a good bit about biblical history, about prophecy, and about The Law.
Sometimes, especially when they come face to face with the seventh-day Sabbath, they become cynical, reluctant and even resentful of the "new truth" they are learning. Finally after months or even years of "proving" things to themselves, they understand they must accept the things they have learned.
The more they obey the more the ETERNAL will open their minds because they are learning, obeying, and growing. If every time they realize they are breaking the SOVEREIGN Law and come repenting before our SOVEREIGN with a contrite and humble heart then at that point, they are judged as a "righteous person" seeking to know their CREATOR. They are living up to the knowledge that they have and walking in it. That person is doing all that he can to live up to the CREATOR's Law.
Individuals cannot just float with the current. Once they stop obeying they stop growing and the ETERNAL's Spirit is quenched in their life. Believe It or Not, at that point such people are no more qualified for the Kingdom of our SOVEREIGN than Satan the devil!
What a shocking statement. Why assert such? Simply because when it comes to the Scripture and doctrine Satan KNOWS IT ALL!
Satan could quote Scripture to you forwards and backwards. She knows all the doctrinal truths of the SOVEREIGN. But it is in rebellion against SOVEREIGN and will never repent.
What makes a person qualified for eternal life? Satan knows Scripture. Satan has even had face to face audiences with the CREATOR after being thrown from His presence. What makes a person different from Satan and those following it? What is required of us?
(Deuteronomy 10:12-13) (NRSV) 12So now, O Israel, what does the ETERNAL your CREATOR require of you? Only to fear the ETERNAL your CREATOR, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the ETERNAL your CREATOR with all your heart and with all your soul, 13and to keep the commandments of the ETERNAL your CREATOR and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.
You can no more receive eternal life by slowly, one step at a time, studying Scripture than you could make out a list, go to the "bureau," and have a baby. What the ETERNAL requires of you to receive eternal life is that you come before His Thrown with a contrite and humble heart and repent of your disobedience or sin to the extent that you are aware of. Then to be righteous obey the CREATOR in love being humble before Him and seeking Him with all of your heart. Only then will you be found by Him. ONLY THEN will you qualify for eternal life.
The Third Awakening.
So far, we have seen there are two great categories of human beings who will be involved in the first and second awakenings.
The first awakening from the dead is the awakening to life of all who have followed the SOVEREIGN and kept all of His Covenant and loved Him with all their heart, soul, and mind. To name a few will be Abraham and all of the Patriarchs from Enoch to the flood, Noah, Shem and down to this present age.
For one thousand years King David will reign as KING of kings and MASTER of masters on earth (Isaiah 11 entire chapter; Isaiah 2; Micah 4).
The Prophet Elijah will be the High Priest (Malachi 4:5) for the thousand years. There will be thousands of other members of the SOVEREIGN's Family teaching with Him as promised (Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 66:18-21).
The second awakening from the dead is the greatest of all. Its length is one hundred years and occurs at the end of the thousand years, and is a judgment time when the ETERNAL will allow these individuals to live for one hundred years (Isaiah 65:20).
Since the SOVEREIGN does not change the millions who come up in this great awakening will be judged "by the Law," meaning the Word of the ETERNAL, in the same way the Great Judge is judging you and me today. The ETERNAL says He "changes not." Therefore, they will be judged from the revealed Truth of Scripture exactly as you and I are now being judged.
It is very likely that the vast majority of all these teeming millions will accept the ETERNAL's rulership and believe the truth they will be taught, change from their evil ways, and recognize the ETERNAL as Savior for the ETERNAL is the Savior and there is NO other.
Does this constitute a "second chance"? Absolutely not. These teeming millions never had their eyes opened by the CREATOR; they may never have known the true Savior, the CREATOR of the Universe. On the other hand, at least they never heard of the Law and never truly had a full chance to understand the truth of the ETERNAL and respond to that truth.
This will be their first opportunity to be saved.
An "opportunity" to be "saved" is to choose the CREATOR and His way and choose to follow Him. Being born in a pagan land then dying after having a few days of cholera when your entire society had never heard of the Commandments is not a chance for salvation.
Do you have loved ones who died not knowing the ETERNAL? They are dead and completely oblivious to the passing of time. The Scriptures speak of them as being in the very deepest sleep completely unconscious. They are NOT LOST! They are merely asleep in death awaiting their change. The ETERNAL says that all men will die (Psalms 49:10; Psalms 82:7) and be awakened (Ezekiel 37:13-14).
The Third Awakening From The Dead Is The Final Category And Is The Worst Of All.
(Daniel 12:1-3) (KJV) 1And at that time shall Michael [David] stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Those awakening to shame are the incorrigibly wicked. They are the ones who have consciously rejected the SOVEREIGN's way of life; have rejected Him and will not bow before Him. They choose to reject one or more of the ETERNAL's Commandments, Statutes, and Judgments and refuse to be ashamed (Jeremiah 3:3). If you consciously and with forethought reject only one, you might as well reject them all[44]. These people are the ones who will NOT be saved! They will "utterly perish" and be completely destroyed by fire.
An example of "utter perishing" is when all the millions of other live sperm cells around you (which could have been fertilized instead of you) perished and were never united with a fertile egg; they never became a new live creature. They perished. They died.
What happens to a human being who refuses his or her "window of opportunity" for salvation? They perish, they die. Notice:
(Malachi 4:1-3) (KJV) 1For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the SOVEREIGN of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2But unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves in the stall. 3And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the SOVEREIGN of hosts.
The continents with their mountains, valleys, and oceans rest on tectonic plates many miles beneath our feet. These tectonic plates "float" on a vast, seething, white-hot subterranean sea of "magma" or molten rock.
At times in the past, the CREATOR has submerged these "floating" continents beneath the waters of the earth. River deltas, coral atolls, and ancient seashores demonstrate that the earth experienced at least two continental inundations. These two worldwide floods are those mentioned in Genesis 1 and Genesis 6 and 7.
If we could be ushered upon the scene in ancient history, we would see that the earth was completely covered with stygian black water with the sun blotted out by a Venusian-like atmosphere (Genesis 1).
The CREATOR's first act was to "let there be light," or, to let the light shine upon the earth for the first time in who knows how many thousands, or millions, of years. Then He says, "Let the dry land appear." As a result the continents were raised with the waters roaring from their surface gouging out valleys, forming lakes, and cutting deep river channels.
Then on the sixth day the CREATOR made man in His own image. But mankind became totally corrupt within about one-sixth of human history resorting to every perversion, violence, and lawless act. Cannibalism was rampant. Murder was everywhere.
Therefore, the CREATOR again destroyed the world with a flood by submerging the continents below the water. This time He had saved Noah and his family then He again raised the continents. The CREATOR then said He would never again destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 9:8-18). The next time the world is to be destroyed will be by fire[45]:
(Isaiah 66:15-16) (KJV) 15For, behold, the ETERNAL will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. 16For by fire and by His sword will the ETERNAL plead with all flesh: and the slain of the ETERNAL shall be many.
(Isaiah 66:24) (KJV) And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses[46] of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, NEITHER SHALL THEIR FIRE BE QUENCHED[46b]; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
For the destruction of the floods the ETERNAL probably simply submerged the continents below the waters. For the destruction by fire, will He simply submerge the continents beneath the molten magma within the earth? It does not matter how He accomplishes it, but this is the end of the human family on earth, and at the beginning of the next phase of His Creation. The remaining incorrigibly wicked are those who have WILLED to reject their CREATOR's truth, who have WILLFULLY rebelled against His Righteous Laws, who have refused to bow the knee and they will be burned up.
Now, to see further proof of the third and final awakening.
(Jeremiah 23:2) (KJV) Therefore thus saith the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the ETERNAL.
Do those who "scattered the ETERNAL's flock" know what they are doing? Do they know they are incurring the ETERNAL's wrath? Probably, but for their sake it would be better if they were deceived and did not know.
Notice that these evil, false teachers twist the truth of the ETERNAL and drive the flock away. They teach about a "god's" loving, undeserved forgiveness (grace) and that he has pardoned their past sins without obeying the CREATOR's Laws and turned their sins into a "license" for wickedness[47]. In other words, they deceive the ETERNAL's people into thinking they have "permission" to break His Laws. A false teacher named Paul said he and all believers were free from all of the Commandments. The people then assume that if their leaders say it and if a few other members of the church nod their heads and go along with it that what he said "must be all right."
They are those who always believe they should "let 'god' work it out." This is the excuse used by German SS guards who murdered countless Jews in death camps all over Europe. They were only "following orders." It was not their responsibility; it was the responsibility of their leaders. Surely, if something were wrong then it was up to their leaders to straighten it out.
Today, millions believe the ETERNAL's perfect, righteous Commandments are done away with. They advocate openly breaking the Sabbath. They are teaching licentiousness which is "permission to sin". The Scripture is very clear about their ultimate reward. They are indicted as being among those who have knowingly and willfully rejected the ETERNAL's Laws when they knew better.
They are awakened immediately after the one-hundred year period. As we have seen, their awakening is characterized by the ugliest of words, "death and the grave." Now remember what you read about the one-hundred year period. There is not to be an infant who has not fulfilled his days of one hundred years. A sinner, being 100 years of age, shall be "accursed." After the thousand years in the great general awakening, there will be no more human reproduction. The ETERNAL will stop the human reproductive cycle. There will be no more an "infant of days" during this future time.
The ETERNAL will awaken all human beings who have never heard or consciously rejected The Law from infants to the very elderly. However, there will be no more new births.
You CAN "Take It With You" When You Die.
Finally, consider your beloved family members who have died but who were never privileged to know the ETERNAL's truth. What about those who were "good and decent people" yet were never truly called by the ETERNAL?
As you learned earlier, we human beings live in an earthly "soul" which is our physical bodies but we reside in our minds. Our memories are not stored in any other place except our minds.
The billions of human beings who will come alive in the second awakening, those who are the "rest of the dead" who do not come up until the hundred years at the end of the Millennium, are those who never had a real opportunity for salvation.
What constitutes an opportunity to be saved?
Many, many Scriptures show it is obvious that only those who make a determined, conscious decision to reject the CREATOR's way of life, His wondrous love, His gracious forgiveness, those who rebel against His Laws and who willfully spurn His salvation, will be destroyed in Gehenna fire.
However, remember that to rebel against one Commandment, Statute, or Judgement is still counted as rebellion, and you might as well have broken them all. We must keep them all[48]. So, what is it that you know to be written but you refuse to do? Your excuse of "why" does not matter.
(Proverbs 24:11-12) (TLB) 11Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don't stand back and let them die. 12Don't try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn't know about it. For the ETERNAL, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and He knows you knew! And He will reward everyone according to his deeds.
We can look around us and see that the majority of the population cannot understand the CREATOR's ways because He has not opened their hearts and minds. A loving father will protect his children and that is exactly why our ETERNAL Father has not opened the eyes of those whose hearts are not ready to receive His truth.
The ETERNAL has deliberately called a few from time to time, but HE HAS NOT called the masses. Preachers and their flocks do not understand this. Millions assume some vast "tug o' war" exists between the ETERNAL and Satan with the ETERNAL trying desperately to "save the world" while Satan struggles desperately to "keep it lost." This is a lie from the devil and portrays the devil as equally strong or even stronger than the ETERNAL. The ETERNAL does not have any adversaries. Let me repeat: The ETERNAL does not have any adversaries.
Your Scripture reveals that the vast majority of people who have lived on this earth are blinded, that they are deceived. But a deceived person does not know that he or she is deceived. A deceived person can be completely sincere. He or she can be honest, loyal, faithful, believing, loving, caring, and sharing. A deceived person can be the nicest person you ever met.
Good men and women who simply do not know the truth do not burn in Gehenna fire simply because the ETERNAL in His infinite wisdom chose not to reveal Himself to them. Such people will come up in the great, general one-hundred year period.
Now, think. When the ETERNAL awakens the dead, it will be as though they had been dead for only a split second of time. As far as they were concerned they were alive one moment when something happened perhaps a wreck, or a fall, or a crash, or a bullet! They felt virtually nothing when they died. Then in a split second of time they are alive again. Their memory is intact. Their character is intact. The kind of person they were is exactly the kind of person they still are.
So you see your loved ones and mine who really never consciously rejected the ETERNAL and His Laws will have a wonderful opportunity to repent and to be saved in the great general one hundred year period.
Don't you believe that a person of good character will have a running head start towards receiving the ETERNAL's truth above those of poor character? Of course. That is what I mean when I say, "You can take it with you when you die" meaning your character.
Conclusion.
In summary, we have seen there are THREE awakenings revealed in Scripture. The first of the firstfruits is King David followed by Elijah. Then following them are the firstfruits that are made up of the righteous remnant and the righteous dead.
(Isaiah 26:19) (ISV) But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Those who live in the dust will wake up and shout for joy! For your dew is like the dew of dawn, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
All of the remnant of Israel which remains after the Time of Jacob's Trouble will be taken by King David to the wilderness outside the Valley of Jezreel. There the sheep will be separated from the goats. The "sheep," the "righteous remnant," will be lead by King David to the Valley of Jezreel. There, in the Valley of Jezreel the "righteous dead" will be awakened with spirit bodies and the "righteous remnant" will be changed to spirit bodies. Then the ETERNAL CREATOR will marry spirit Israel.
The second awakening is those who lived not again until the end of the thousand-year period. When they awake they will awaken with a fleshly body. They are the ones who made up the vast majority of people who have ever lived and they will come up for a one-hundred year period of judgment. Those who pass the test by obeying the CREATOR becoming righteous will be changed from flesh to spirit at the end of the hundred years.
That leaves one category of human beings that has not yet awakened. When they awake they will awaken with a fleshly body. They are the ones who were incorrigibly wicked. These prideful, stubborn ones consciously choose not to obey all of the Laws, Statues or Judgments and did not bow before the ETERNAL. They have no hope and will be burned to death. They have had their opportunity to choose the ETERNAL but rejected to obey Him in everything.
Those who are in the second awakening who still remain wicked and do not choose to obey the ETERNAL will be joined by the wicked of the third awakening. Both groups will still be in the flesh and all of them will burn in the fire and become ashes under the feet of the righteous.
That leaves this old earth that needs total cleansing. The CREATOR could sink the continents below the molten lava magma as discussed above. That would cleanse it with fire and prepare it for the next step of the CREATOR creating a new heaven and new earth.
(Isaiah 25:8) (KJV) He will swallow up death in victory; and the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the ETERNAL hath spoken it.
What About Those "New Heavens And New Earth"?
(Isaiah 65:17) (KJV) For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
(Isaiah 65:17) (GNT) The ETERNAL says, I am making a new earth and new heavens. The events of the past will be completely forgotten.
'Believe It or Not', when the new heavens and the new earth are created, it will be the true BEGINNING of the great plan of the ETERNAL, that will mark the beginning of eternity.
Now every being on earth will be the way it was intended to be at creation, a spiritual eternal being. ALL the remaining righteous will finally be members of the CREATOR's great, expanded family.
What then?
Our known universe contains countless galaxies. A single galaxy can contain hundreds of billions of stars. Each star, of which our own sun is but an orange dwarf, as an example, could hold in its gravitational field any number of planets.
Why do you suppose the CREATOR has created all those galaxies, all those suns, and all those billions upon billions of planets?
Today they are lifeless, empty, vain, waste, and chaotic. So was our planet earth until the SOVEREIGN CREATOR said, "Let there be light." Do you suppose He would ever start the process on another planet?
What about those who "receive eternal life"? Could they ever be called upon to go to a distant planet? Your SOVEREIGN and mine is a CREATOR. He has a great, fathomless purpose in all He does. Notice this promise to King David:
(Isaiah 9:7) (NKJV) Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the SOVEREIGN of Hosts will perform this[49].
Perhaps at some point in our eternity the SOVEREIGN CREATOR could create physical worlds on other planets. Then there would be a beginning of "other ages" on other planets. Remember this about our world that there will be peace that has no end as King David sits on his throne over the ETERNAL's Government. He will be the King of kings forever.
The end of this age is "just the beginning" for those who love and obey the CREATOR!
Footnotes:
[a]All scriptural links point to the Bible Gateway, A Searchable Online Bible In Over 100 Versions And 50 Languages, located at "BibleGateway.Com", a vast biblical resource containing all the major texts and reference materials useful for in-depth bible studies. Most scriptual quotations are from the (KJV) of the Bible, however versions noted in (parentheses) should also be consulted.
[b]All Strong's scriptural references point to the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, located at "BlueLetterBible.Org", another vast biblical resource which has over 4,000,000 links available, pointing to more than 165,000 pages of concordances, lexicons, dictionaries, commentaries, images, and several Bible versions.
[1] The word "resurrection" is not found in the Hebrew Scriptures. There may be an existing Hebrew word in this age for the English and Greek word "resurrection" but it is not used in the Old Testament or Tanakh. Instead the Scripture will say "rising from the grave, a sprout branches up or out or sprouts, when my change comes," or "stand from the grave." Therefore, we will not use the non-Scriptural word "resurrection."
[2] Some emphasis was added by the Editor.
[3] Webster's states "Purgatory a state or place in which, in Roman Catholicism and other Christian doctrine, those who have died in the grace of 'God' expiate their sins by suffering and remorse." In addition, the Priest can pray a person to a higher level of purgatory if prompted to by a large donation from the person's relatives.
[4] From Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (Strongs #H5315) comes from (Strongs #H5314) and both mean a creature, animal, or human that breathes air. Therefore, it is sometimes translated as life.
[5] A side point is that (Ezekiel 18:20) plainly states the Real Truth that no person can give their life to cause forgiveness for another. If anyone is to die, it is the one who sins. No human can be sacrificed vicariously for the sin of any other human much less for the sins of all of human kind. See the article: "Is Blood Required To Atone For Sin"?
[6] The portrayal of this is the two trees in the midst of the Garden of Eden. One is the Tree of Life that results in the knowledge of the ETERNAL's Truth for those who partake of it; the other is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that ends in death for those who partake of it. The book called the Bible has two parts as well. The first Book (Hebrew Scriptures) is the Knowledge of the ETERNAL's Truth and the partaking of it results in eternal life. The second book is (New Testament) of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the partaking of it results in eternal death, not eternal punishING but eternal punishment which is eternal death.
[7] The "you" applies to all human beings, see (Isaiah 56:1-8; Deuteronomy 8:1-2, Deuteronomy 16; Deuteronomy 13:1-3; Proverbs 24:12).
[8] In fact our kind and loving SOVEREIGN does not torture anyone for anything. He may kill them or cause them to be killed, but HE DOES NOT TORTURE. However, Heylel (lucifer) loves to cause humans pain and suffering.
[9] The Colossal Cosmic Joke is the counterfeit religion based on feelings and misleading miracles of false prophets [and saviors] as described:
(Deuteronomy 13:1-3) (KJV) 1If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder [miracle], 2And the sign or the wonder [miracle] come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other 'gods', which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the ETERNAL your CREATOR proveth [tests] you, to know whether ye love the ETERNAL your CREATOR with all your heart and with all your soul.
In other words:
1If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams [false prophecies that are not in the Hebrew Scripture], appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder [turning water into wine, walking on water], 2and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place [Pharaoh's magicians could do some miracles by Heylel's (satan) power], and he says, "Let us follow other gods" gods you have not known [such as the father, son, and a holy ghost] "and let us worship them [and be baptized in their name]," 3you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The ETERNAL your SOVEREIGN is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Are you falling for the joke and failing the test? See the articles: "New Testament Credibility", and "Is Blood Required To Atone For Sin"?
[10] Strong's Exhaustive Concordance states the Hebrew word "Miyka'el" (Strongs #H4317) "who (is) like 'God'", then informs us there are nine Israelites that bear that name. However, Strong's add some extra misinformation that does not square with Scripture. It seems the misinformation is that Michael (Mikael in Heb.) is "the name of an archangel." The Hebrew word "Miyka'el" is transliterated into "Michael" to seemingly confuse the issue. What person is "a man after the ETERNAL's heart" that will stand [from his grave] in (Daniel 12:1)? It is the Mashiach King David!
[11] Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary; Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield, MA; 1985, pg., 100.
[12] The American College Dictionary; Random House; New York; 1964; pg., 64.
[13] Op. cid. Strong 's (Strongs #H4317).
[14] Unger's Bible Dictionary, by Merrill F. Unger; Moody Press, Chicago; 1985, Third Edition; pg., 238. Also, see the article: "Does Daniel Nine Prove 'Jesus' Is The Christ"?
[15] See (Isaiah 42:8, Isaiah 48:11, Isaiah 45:14-25, Hosea 13:4, and Exodus 20:4-5).
[16] See the article: "Understanding Isaiah 53". This is a must read, in order to be able to fully understand (Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, & Isaiah 53).
[17] See the article: "Quest For The Messiah", as it proves the long awaited Messiah (Mashiach) is King David.
[18] Why is it hard to understand that there is only one ETERNAL CREATOR SOVEREIGN? What is it about the word ONE that people cannot understand? Also see (Deuteronomy 4:35; Deuteronomy 6:4-6; 2 Samuel 7:22; Psalms 73:25; Psalms 78:41; Isaiah 29:23; Isaiah 43:10-15; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 45:21-22; Isaiah 54:5; Habakkuk 1:12; Exodus 20:1-6; Zechariah 14:9).
[19] See the article: "Quest For The Messiah".
[20] The words "That Day or That Time" refer to the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" see (Jeremiah 30:7); also known as "The Great Tribulation."
[21] Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament states that the Hebrew meaning of the English word "Michael" is "who stands like 'god'" or "who stands like J-hovah". See the article: "Quest For The Messiah".
[22] Op. cid. Gesenius' states that the Hebrew meaning (Strongs #H8269) of the English word "Prince" is "the Leader or Commander." This clinches the case that the One Standing on the Mount of Olives is our SOVEREIGN and He brings King David up from his grave as he awakes and arises.
[23] Spirit Beings that are in Heaven do not arise, they come down. Only humans who died shall arise from their grave.
[24] Written in the Book of Life (Ezekiel 9:2-3; Psalms 69:28, Malachi 3:16).
[25] Also see (Isaiah 4:2, Isaiah 10-12; Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 42:7).
[26] The words "That Day or That Time" refer to the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" see (Jeremiah 30:7); also known as "The Great Tribulation."
[27] Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament states that the Hebrew meaning of the English word "Michael" is "who stands like 'god'" or "who stands like J-hovah". See the article: "Quest For The Messiah", as it proves that King David is the Jewish Mashiach (Messiah) "who stands like the ETERNAL."
[28] Ibid. Gesenius' states that the Hebrew meaning (Strongs #H8269) of the English word "Prince" is "the Leader or Commander." This clinches the case that the One Standing on the Mount of Olives is our SOVEREIGN and He brings King David up from his grave as David awakes and arises.
[29] Spirit Beings that are in Heaven do not arise to the earth's surface, they come down to it. Only humans who died shall awake and arise from their grave.
[30] This awakening is selective; not all, but "many" (v. 2), restricted to those written in the "book" (v. 1). The latter part of v. 2 may be rendered as follows: " These (i.e. the ones who awake) to everlasting life; but those (i.e. those left in the grave who are yet to awake) to shame and everlasting contempt." The first awakening will occur after the tribulation (Time of Jacob's Trouble). We will cover the awakening to shame below in the section "The Third Awakening."
[31] (Proverbs 3:35). "The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools." The wise are those that walk the path that Abraham walked in the path of the Abrahamic Hebrew Faith.
[32] Technically, the new millennium did not begin until December 31, 2000, with the arrival of the year 2001. For all practical purposes, however, the powerful symbolic value of the round number 2000 has won the day as the beginning of the millennium. Few of us realize, however, that our concept of marking time in 1,000-year segments is rooted in Scripture.
However, we must go back to the Psalms, to find the germ of the idea of dividing time into eras or periods of one thousand years. This notion was picked up and made central by early "Christians," who gave it an apocalyptic cast in the New Testament.
Dividing time into thousand-year segments occurs in Psalms where it is said that:
(Psalms 90:4) (NKJV) For a thousand years in Your [the ETERNAL's] sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.
There seems to be an analogy between:
1) The six days of Creation (Genesis 1:1-31) which are followed by the final seventh day, the Sabbath, upon which the ETERNAL rested from His work (Genesis 2:1-3).
2) The Festival Days: Night of Protection, First Day of Unleavened Bread, Last Day of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Booths w/The Last Great Day.
3) The periods of human history that would last precisely 6,000 years, followed by a final seventh "day," or millennium, a final 1,000 years. This final 1,000 years, like the Sabbath day, would be characterized by peace and rest and the First Awakening. It would be realized in the Davidic Kingdom referring specifically to a "millennial reign of the Messiah"*. More generally to any utopian view of a Wonderful World of Tomorrow of which the last 100 years of this will be the Second Awakening.
*See the article: "Quest For The Messiah".
The notion that because our CREATOR created the physical world in six days and rested on the Sabbath, He would create a New World of spiritual perfection over a 7,000-year period has become commonplace. In this world of apocalyptic symbolism, six is the number of humankind operating without the ETERNAL. Seven symbolizes the perfection or completion that the Kingdom of the ETERNAL will bring (Sabbath rest).
[33] The length of the Davidic Reign will last forever. The time frame before the awakening to shame and everlasting contempt is not given, but if the Festivals are a preview of recorded history the reign will be 1000 years.
[34] All humans are to die (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:3-4; Numbers 16:29).
[35] What is "repentance?" It is making a 180 degree turn in your life by observing all of the ETERNAL's commandments, statutes, ordinances, and His way of life.
[36] Gehenna fire is the fire that destroys the world just prior to the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. It will further explained as you read.
[37] Hebrew word for "pit" is sheol, usually translated "hell," erroneously.
[38] (#H7306) and (#H7307) from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament.
[39] Ibid. (Strong's #H5397).
[40] Quoted from "A Scientific View of When Life Begins".
[41] (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto the SOVEREIGN who gave it.
[42] New International Reader's Version
[43] See note #40 above.
[44] To choose to break one law is to choose death (Exodus 20:4-6; Leviticus 22:31; Leviticus 26:3; Deuteronomy 5:10, Deuteronomy 5:29; 1 Kings 9:6; 1 Kings 11:38; Nehemiah 1:9; Proverbs 3:1; Proverbs 4:4).
[45] Some places where the earth is burned and the oceans boil (Psalms 97:3-5; Isaiah 64:1, Isaiah 64:2-4; Jeremiah 1:15-16). For an interesting study do a word search on the word "fire."
[46] The body of a human being from which the substance or character is gone or simply said the human spirit has returned to its Maker.
[46b] "The worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched" as it will go out by itself when body and fuel are consumed. The body is not burning forever in "hell" it burns until it is ashes and there is nothing left to burn.
[47] By this false teaching these false teachers are driving a wedge between the SOVEREIGN and His people, thus driving them away from Him. Read the article: "Message To The Shepherds Of Israel".
[48] See these Scriptures (Exodus 20:4-6; Leviticus 22:31; Leviticus 26:3; Deuteronomy 5:10, Deuteronomy 5:29; 1 Kings 9:6; 1 Kings 11:38; Nehemiah 1:9; Proverbs 3:1; Proverbs 4:4).
[49] Please read the article: "Understanding Isaiah 53".