"ALL THOSE IN THE MEMORIAL TOMBS"

The Bible's resurrection accounts teach us much about the resurrection to come. People who were restored to life right here on earth were reunited with their loved ones.  The future resurrection will be similar-but much  better. As we learned in Chapter 3, God's purpose is that the whole earth be made into a paradise.  So the dead will not be raised to life in a world filled with war, crime, and sickness.  They will have an opportunity to live forever on this earth in peaceful and happy conditions. 

Who will be resurrected?  Jesus said that "all those in the memorial tombs will hear  his [Jesus'] voice and come out.: (John 5:28, 29) Similarly, Revelation 20:13)  says:  "The sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades gave up those dead in them."  "Hades" refers to  the common grave of mankind.  This collective grave will be emptied.  All those billions who rest there will live again.  The apostle Paul said:  "There is going to be a resurrection of both he righteous and the unrighteous." (Acts 24:15)  What does that mean?  

"The righteous" include many of the people we read about in the Bible who lived before Jesus came to the earth.  You might think of Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Ruth, Esther, and many others.  Some of these men and women of faith are discussed in the 11th chapter  of Hebrews.  But the "the righteous" also include Jehovah's servants who die in our time.  Thanks to the resurrection hope, we may be freed from any dread or dying. -Hebrews 2::15. 

What about all the people who did not serve or obey Jehovah because they never knew about him?  These billions of "unrighteous" ones will not be forgotten.  They too will be resurrected and given time to learn about the true God and to serve him. During a period of a thousand years, the dead will be resurrected  and given an opportunity to join faithful humans on earth in serving Jehovah.  It will be  a wonderful time.  This period is what the Bible refers to as Judgement Day." 

Does this mean that every human who ever lived will be resurrected?  No.  The Bible says that some of the dead are in "Gehenna."  (Luke 12:5) Gehenna got its name  from a garbage dump outside of ancient Jerusalem.  Dead bodies  and garbage were burned there. The dead whose bodies were thrown there were considered by the Jews to be unworthy of a burial and a resurrection.  So Gehenna is a fitting symbol of everlasting destruction.  Although Jesus will have a role in  judging the living and the dead, Jehovah is the final Judge. (Acts 10:42) He will never resurrect those whom he judges to be wicked and unwilling to change.

Next time: THE HEAVENLY RESURRECTION

From the Book: What Does the Bible Really Teach? 2005 and 2006