What is the Condition of the Dead?

WHAT DOES GOD SAY? The Stone Cold Bible Truth about #death and #resurrection and #kingdom is taken from the only authoritative, inspired word of God without any philosophy of men. READ Fulfillment of prophecy gives evidence that God’s Word is God’s Truth!  What is the condition of the dead?  What is the FIRST resurrection? What is the SECOND Resurrection?  When will the resurrection occur? 

King Solomon, under inspiration from God bore witness to the statement the dead have no thoughts or visions and every thought stops at death at Ecclesiastes 9:5,10  “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward, because all memory of them is forgotten.10. Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might, for there is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave, where you are going.”

 A Psalmist bore witness that the dead have no thoughts at Psalm 146 the psalmist begins with “Praise Jah”  then in verse 3 he writes  “Do not put your trust in princes Nor in a son of man, who cannot bring salvation. 4 His spirit goes out, he returns to the ground; On that very day his thoughts perish”. Why is this comforting to us? It helps to rest assured our dear loved ones are not suffering anymore. Too, we have nothing to fear from the dead, they cannot even think about harming anyone anymore. This also means there are not any ghost coming from dead humans, this too is a misconception of human death, the Churches have borne witness to this falsehood by asserting that humans have a soul that escapes death and goes to heaven or hell. 

Why would there be a resurrection if everyone has a soul that survives death? 

The Next Witness the prophet Ezekiel quoted God as saying”18:4 Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so also the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul who sins is the one who will die”. This helps us to understand the soul is the person who died, the soul is the personage being referred to. The Bible states that Adam became a “living soul”, the entire personage, not a separate spirit that escapes death and goes to Heaven.

DO HUMANS REALLY DIE OR DOES A SOUL ESCAPE DEATH?

Why does the Bible say there will be a resurrection from the dead if your soul lives on?

Of all those who have died :  Of those who died before Jesus, all * are still dead in the grave (God’s memory) awaiting the second resurrection.  Of those who died After Jesus, some are still dead in their grave (God’s memory) awaiting a resurrection. Can you believe these facts? The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians in his second letter chapter 13:1 “This is the third time I am coming to you. “On the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter must be established.”  God used other men and writers to bear witness to the truthfulness of these statements.    *except those destroyed by God in the Deluge or Sodom & Gomorrah, etc…… 

  Why do the Churches say that a person goes to Heaven or Hell at death?

  Much of what is taught as church doctrine is taken from the philosophies of men. These “thoughts” take on a status of truth by sinful man’s thinking, which is flawed from conception, when parroted from the pulpit, then spread by word of mouth through regions of Earth. The Bible states the word “grave” (translated from hades, sheol, hell) is a void of thought, a place of complete inactivity, not painful punishment or sheer glee or great merriment from God. If you were taught differently from childhood, you may need to rebuild your foundations with knowledge of these terms by clicking the link. As weeds sown by the Devil to mislead the greater masses of humanity, so many beliefs separate people from the truth and God Himself. Such as belief in ghosts, this separates the believers from reality, if they believe in these it would reinforce the falsehood that humans have a conscious angelic or demonic spirit living within them that leaves at death. What do the inspired Witnesses of God state in His Word about death & resurrection?  

One Witness :The prophet Daniel testifies to the timing of a visible resurrection in Daniel 12During that time Michael / Jesus will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress (Great Tribulation leads to Armageddon) such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written down in the book.”

After a Great Tribulation on Earth, some of the living will survive the Great Day of God Almighty (Armageddon). Sometime afterwards people will begin to be resurrected back to human life. This is seen in the next verse:

Daniel12:2 states: “And many of those asleep in the dust of the earth will wake up, some to everlasting life and others to reproach and to everlasting contempt.” As the angel told Daniel here that Michael/Jesus will “stand up” or assert his kingly authority over the Earth. Then after that a resurrection will take place. What will determine whether one keeps living or just dies again for all eternity? It will be their reaction to what they are taught after their resurrection. This is what the Apostle John bears witness to at John 5:28-30“Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment. I cannot do a single thing of my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous because I seek, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me”

At Daniel 12:13 the aged prophet Daniel was told: “But as for you, go on to the end. You will rest, but you will stand up for your lot at the end of the days.” Daniel would die, but stand up again, not in Heaven, but he would stand up on Earth and be given a lot, an allotment of land, such as the Israelites received when the entered the Promised Land. This resurrection as flesh and blood on Earth is the 2nd resurrection. John 11:24, See Acts 17:31

Another Witness, the Apostle Paul states at Acts 24:15 “And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” This is not a Heavenly resurrection or the First Resurrection, because the unrighteous are being resurrected along with the righteous, whereas, only the righteous are resurrected to Heaven and granted immortality after their loyal service to God while alive as sinful humans.

 Another Witness, Jesus: When Jesus stands up as King, he and many angels will descend on the Earth and destroy everyone not in agreement with Jesus removing every government and becoming Earth’s New King. This is described at Matthew 13:36-43 “Then after dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples came to him and said: “Explain to us the illustration of the weeds in the field.”37 In response he said: “The sower of the fine seed is the Son of man;38 the field is the world. As for the fine seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom, but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, and the reapers are angels.40 Therefore, just as the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be in the conclusion of the system of things.41 The Son of man will send his angels, and they will collect out from his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and people who practice lawlessness,42 and they will pitch them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be. 43 At that time the righteous ones will shine as brightly as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Let the one who has ears listen.” All of the 144,000 will come with Jesus and the angels to collect all who cause stumbling and practice lawlessness at Armageddon.    

The Bible states that the first man disobeyed God by eating from the tree in the center of the Garden of Eden, God warned Adam the punishment for disobedience would be death, nothing else. Death is the opposite of life, the ultimate punishment was/is death. There is no mention anywhere in the Bible that Adam’s soul was being tortured by God through eternity, no, death is the end of life. The Bible also states that we are all born into that death, as the offspring of Adam, a prison that no man can escape by themselves. See Romans 5:12. Even Jesus needed God to resurrect him from the prison of death (he did not have a soul flying around, he had to be resurrected to life as a spirit by God) after he gave his sinless human life in exchange for Adams, that we might be pardoned and gain a release from the eventuality of death. That the sinless human Jesus could not escape deaths grip by himself is stated at Isaiah 26:14 “They are dead; they will not live. Impotent in death, they will not rise up” 

The Second Resurrection Begins AFTER Jesus becomes King: Daniel 12:2. Resurrection to Life On Earth is promised by God to billions of the dead. Those who die are dead, there is no conscious spirit life that leaves the body at death. That is a teaching of apostate Christian churches who came to dominate the Christian religion in the first century down to today.  They make a show of caring for their patrons while reaping the monetary benefits and glory that come with it. They have changed the message that Jesus preached, that is that the Kingdom of God is what everyone should look to bring the needed relief from pain, sickness, injustice, persecution, iniquity and death, to one that God’s Love will save everyone who make public declaration of repentance. The dead are dead in all respects, only the memory of them in God’s mind gives hope for another breath of life. See Malachi 3:16

The First Resurrection: Jesus and 144,000  

   The Bible does speak of resurrection to Heaven. At Matthew 19:28 Jesus promised his followers: Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

  This resurrection began after Jesus died and was the First resurrected to Heaven, where he was installed as King of God’s Kingdom. The apostles and others selected by God to rule would be part of the First Resurrection which began with Christ. The number of humans being raised to Heaven with Jesus is limited to 144,000. See Revelation 14:1 Most of these served God many years preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom door after door, street after street, town after town just as Jesus and the Apostles did in the first century C.E. Just like Jesus, God will create a spirit body for each one of them, then infuse the essence of who they were, their memories and personality into it. Jesus stated these would be Kings and Priests with him in the Kingdom of God.  See 1 Peter 2:9  Revelation 5:10 These will rule over the survivors and those resurrected to life for a thousand years after Armageddon. They will teach all these how to gain a better relationship with God and how to live better and longer. Many of them may never die again as brought out at Revelation 21:3-5 “With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them.4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” 5 And the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.” Also, he says: “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

POINT: Will people always die? NO.

Just as Isaiah 25:8 states “He will swallow up death forever”, John at Revelation 21:4 bears a second witness in stating “death will be no more.” The statement is established as truth. This means that dying itself is a temporary occurrence that started with Adam’s sin and will end at the end of the 1000 year Judgement Day. Of those resurrected during the Thousand Years who reject Christ and the Way taught will experience the Second Death, Eternal Death. Humans will not experience Adamic Death afterwards, rather they will live as long as they desire, in sinless perfection on an ever increasingly Paradisaic Earth, because death is no more.  

POINT: What is the Condition of the Dead? Complete Lifelessness 

The soul, the entire person, body, character,  thoughts & memories dies, does not live on after death. Rather the dead are dead, until God takes action in either the First or Second Resurrection.

POINT: What is the condition of those in the 1st resurrection?

They are given a spiritual body at the time they are raised to Heaven. Just as Jesus was dead until God resurrected him and gave him a spirit’s body, the 144,000 follow that pattern. See 1 Corinthians 15: 38, 40 

POINT: Where are the 144,000 resurrected to

The 144,000 Serve as Kings and Priests in #Heaven for the Thousand Years of Judgement Day. This is the 1st Resurrection.God assembles the rulers, before the first survivors of Armageddon are present  Re.1:6, Matthew 19:28, Matthew 13:43

POINT: When are the 144,000 resurrected? 

All will be resurrected Before the Great Day of #Armageddon. God assembles the rulers, before the first survivors of Armageddon are present

POINT: WHERE and WHEN DOES THE SECOND RESURRECTION TAKE PLACE? 

Where will everyone else be resurrected to? The Vast Majority of humans, beginning with Abel down to today, will be resurrected in flesh on Earth , this is the 2nd resurrection. See Daniel 12:2

When will the 2nd resurrection group be resurrected? After Armageddon

How long may individuals live after Armageddon? They may gain Everlasting Life, Death will be no more. See Isaiah 25:8,9 , Genesis 5:5-32

What quality of life will they have? Sinless, painless, peaceful, joyous life in increasingly paradisiac surroundings Re.21:3-5.  Isaiah 33:24, 65:21-25

Learn more about Life and Death

Praise Jah! 

The Stone Cold Bible Truth:

What is the Kingdom of God?

In short it is a government of God or an administration, an extension of God’s Universal Sovereignty. The sole Almighty God and Creator is Jehovah. See Exodus 3:15. At Isaiah 43:10 He states:

“You are my witnesses,” declares Jehovah, “Yes, my servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and have faith in me And understand that I am the same One. Before me no God was formed, And after me there has been none.”  

  RULE BY WHAT AUTHORITY?

  As Creator, God has the right to rule over His creation. Just as a potter has authority over the lump of clay he or she will mold. Jehovah God has Universal Authority and has provided principles that will benefit the personage, spirit or human, in living and pleasing the one who by extension, gave them life. 

  WHY IS IT NEEDED?

  The Almighty God Jehovah is Holy, pure in thought and acts. His Holiness can be thought of as cleanness, sacred, moral, separated from the unclean. He is the lawgiver for all live, the law he provides is holy, blessing the adherents. After Adam was created, God would speak to him, instruct him. Adam was sinless, morally clean, for what may have been many years. Even after Eve’s creation, the man continued in God’s favor. However, when Adam took the forbidden fruitage from Eve’s hand he acted in opposition to God’s sovereignty, making himself un-holy. Thus they were expelled from God’s family arrangement and God did not speak with him again. He did however show an act of love to them, in that He clothed them with animal skins as they began there new life outside of Eden, a place of physical and spiritual joy in God’s favor.

  At the time of Adam’s judgement, God pronounced how a seed from His family of spirit beings would destroy the one who instigated Eve’s act of taking the fruit from the one tree God said not to touch, or even gaze upon it longingly. Where there was once one family, now there would be two, the seed of God and the seed of the Devil. God has given all the faculty of free will, the freedom to choose what seed they will draw or be drawn to.

  HOW A HOLY GOD WILL INTERACT WITH THE UNHOLY THROUGH A SURROGATE

 HOW THE KINGDOM IS STRUCTURED?

 Jesus, who became the seed of God as his birth, ministry, integrity through an unjust death, were all foretold and fulfilled. After resurrection, he was given all authority in Heaven and on Earth, with the exception of the One who granted him this authority. Jesus was installed as King of God’s Kingdom in the Heavens. After his installation, he cleansed the Heavens of all those who made themselves the seed of the wicked one. He cast Satan himself and all who leaned toward his views of freedom, to the Earth. Revelation 12:10-12   

 During his ministry on Earth many were drawn to follow Jesus, twelve of these became Apostles. Jesus made a covenant with the eleven faithful one for a kingdom, that they would set as Kings and Priests in the Kingdom of God. As they were sent forth in the ministry to find others, we later find the number would be 144,000, men and women who served God and worked hard in the ministry to find others, these would reign as Kings and Priests. These are granted immortality as they are resurrected to Heaven, from where they will rule. The question arises “Over who would these reign?” Matthew 26:26-30, Revelation 7:1-4, 14:1

  THESE KINGS RULE OVER WHO?

 THE SURVIVORS  There will come to be two groups on Earth after Armageddon. The first are the survivors of that great day of God Almighty. They survived because they searched for God before that day, dedicating their life to God and the doing of His will.They symbolize this by water baptism as Jesus did. At Daniel 12:1 God states through Daniel that there will be survivors of the day God installs Earth’s new king. “During that time Miʹcha·el will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written down in the book” 

  God also spoke through the Apostle John foretelling this group at Revelation 7:9 “After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes” verse 14 So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”

THE RESURRECTED God also promises to resurrect many who have not had opportunity to accept His invitation to benefit themselves by the Lifeblood Christ poured out for their benefit. Daniel 12:2 “And many of those asleep in the dust of the earth will wake up, some to everlasting life and others to reproach and to everlasting contempt.” The Apostle John also spoke of these resurrected ones at John 5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment”

 

 WHAT ARE THE LAWS OF THIS GOVERNMENT 

 

   ARE YOU A SUBJECT OF GOD’S KINGDOM?

 

All #Bible verses taken from the Free Online Bible New World Translation 

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