Lesson 16
Two Resurrections?
1. What did Christ call Himself?
John 11:25: “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live.”
2. Will there be more than one resurrection?
John 5:28-29: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
[Further Study]
Daniel 12:2 “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Acts 24:15 “And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”
3. When does the first resurrection take place?
1 Corinthians 15:52: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
4. Who will be raised in this resurrection?
1 Thessalonians 4:16: “.. . And the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
Those who mocked Him and smote Him will be there. The priests and rulers will behold again the scene in the judgment hall. Then those who prayed, “His blood be on us, and our children,” will receive the answer to their prayer.
5. What happens as soon as the dead come forth?
1 Corinthians 15:52-53: “. . . And the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
[Further Study]
Psalms 17:15 “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”
1 Corinthians 15:42-43 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:”
6. What do the righteous receive?
Philippians 3:21: “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his (Christ) glorious body, . . .”
[Further Study]
1 Corinthians 15:54 “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
7. Will the righteous ever suffer the curse of death again?
Luke 20:36: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”
8. What happens after the righteous receive immortality?
1 Thessalonians 4:17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
9. What is the response of the living righteous when they see the Lord coming in the clouds?
Isaiah 25:9: “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
10. What is the response of the wicked when they see the Lord coming in the clouds?
Revelation 6:16: “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.”
[Further Study]
Isaiah 2:19-21 “And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”
Hosea 10:8 “The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.”
Luke 23:30 “Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.”
11. What happens to the wicked at this time?
2 Thessalonians 2:8: “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”
12. What happens to the righteous at this time?
Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
13. What will the righteous be doing during this thousand years in heaven?
Revelation 20:4: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: … and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
1 Corinthians 6:2-3: “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? . . . Know ye not that we shall judge angels? . . .”
[Further Study]
2 Peter 2:4 “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;”
Jude 6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
14. What happens to the bodies of the wicked during this one thousand years?
Isaiah 26:21: “For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”
Jeremiah 25:33: “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor burned; they shall be dung upon the ground.”
[Further Study]
Jeremiah 4:25-26 “I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.”
15. What happens to Satan during this one thousand years?
Revelation 20:2-3: “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”
What is meant by the “bottomless pit”? Is it a big hole Satan would be thrown into? The Greek word for pit is “abussos” and is the same word used in Genesis 1:2 for “the deep”. If this same interpretation is used, then the earth will be “without form and void” as it was before creation.
Jeremiah 4:23-26 “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.”
This is easy to understand in light of the fact that prior to and after Christ’s coming there will be tremendous earthquakes, great hail will fall, nations will fall, islands and mountains will be moved, etc.
Revelation 16, especially verses 17-21 “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”
Revelation 6:14 “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”
Isaiah 24:1-3 “Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.”
Satan will be confined to this desolate earth (Revelation 12:9) with no one to tempt or torment during this thousand year period, bound by circumstances. The wicked have been destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8) and the righteous are in heaven with God going over the records for the final phase of the judgment (Revelation 20:4).
Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
2 Thessalonians 2:8 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”
Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
16. When does the second resurrection take place?
Revelation 20:5: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”
If read in context this is a parenthetical sentence and refers to the second, not the first, resurrection.
17. What happens to Satan at the end of the thousand years?
Revelation 20:7-8: “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, . . .”
18. What comes down from heaven carrying the saints with it?
Revelation 21:2: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
[Further Study]
Revelation 21:10 “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,”
19. What does Satan now do with the wicked ones who have just been raised? And how many are there?
Revelation 20:8: “. . . to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”
20. As a last determined attempt to defeat Christ, Satan deceives the wicked into thinking they can physically overtake the New Jerusalem. What does he have them do? And are they successful?
Revelation 20:9: “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”
The lake of fire was originally prepared for the devil and his angels, not human beings.
Matthew 25:41 “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”
If we refuse to accept the provision God has made through the sacrifice of His Son we will share their fate as well.
21. What prophecy does this event fulfill?
Zechariah 14:9: “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.”
22. Can we follow more than one master?
Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters: . . .”
23. What must each one of us face in these last days?
Joel 3:14: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”
On the glorious day of Christ’s second coming we will each stand on one side or the other.
Matthew 12:30 “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”
We have a decision to make before that day comes. May we accept the wonderful provision God has so graciously given us. Let us commit our hearts and lives to His will that we may be among those who say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us” (Isaiah 25:9). Don’t let Satan include you in the multitude that will fall for his deception.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”