Who Are Raised And Judged?

John adds: " But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds." (Revelation 20:12b, 13) A breathtaking spectacle indeed! 'The sea, death and Hades' each play a part, but note that these terms are not mutually exclusive. Jonah, when in the belly of a fish and therefore in the midst of the sea, spoke of himself as being in Sheol, or Hades. (Jonah 2:2) If a person is held in the grip of Adamic death, then likely he is also in Hades. These prophetic words give strong assurance that no one will be overlooked.

There are, of course, an unknown number who will not be resurrected. Among these would be the unrepentant scribes and Pharisees who rejected Jesus and the apostles, the religious "man of lawlessness," and anointed Christians "who have fallen away." ( 2Thessalonians 2:3; Hebrews 6:4-6; Matthew 23:29-33) Jesus also spoke of goatlike people at the world's end who go into "the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels," namely "everlasting cutting-off." (Matthew 25:41, 46) No resurrection for these!

On the other hand, some will be specially favored in the resurrection. The apostle Paul indicated this when he said: " I have hope toward God . . . that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." (Acts 24:15) With regard to the earthly resurrection, "the righteous" will include faithful men and women of old - Abraham, Rahab and many others - who were declared righteous as to friendship with God. (James 2:21, 23, 25) In this same group will be those righteous other sheep who died faithful to Jehovah in modern times. Likely, all such integrity keepers will be resurrected early in Jesus' Millennial Reign. (Job 14:13-15; 27:5; Daniel 12:13; Hebrews 11:35, 39, 40) No doubt many of these resurrected righteous ones will be assigned special privileges in overseeing the tremendous work of restoration in Paradise. - Psalm 45:16;compare Isaiah 32:1, 16-18; 61:5; 65:21-23.

Who, though, are "the unrighteous" mentioned in Acts 24:15? These would include the great masses of mankind who have died throughout history, particularly those who lived in 'times of ignorance.' (Acts 17:301) These , because of where they were born or when they lived, had no opportunity to learn obedience to Jehovah's will. Additionally, there may be some who did hear the message of salvation but who did not respond fully at that time or who died before they had progressed to dedication and baptism. In the resurrection such ones will have to make further adjustments in their thinking and life course if they are going to benefit from this opportunity for gaining everlasting life.

Next time:The Scroll Of Life

Revelation Its Grand Climax At Hand! Watchtower Bible And Tract Society, 1988