What hope for the dead?:The bible's answer.

What Is the Resurrection?

The Bible’s answer

In the Bible, the word translated as “resurrection” comes from the Greek a·na′sta·sis, which means “raising up” or “standing up again.” A person who is resurrected is raised up from death and restored to life as the person he was before.—1 Corinthians 15:12, 13.

Although the word “resurrection” is not in the Hebrew Scriptures, often called the Old Testament, the teaching appears there. Through the prophet Hosea, for example, God promised: “From the power of the Grave I will redeem them; from death I will recover them.”—Hosea 13:14; Job 14:13-15; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2, 13.

Where will people be resurrected? Some people are resurrected to life in heaven to rule as kings with Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:1;Revelation 5:9, 10) The Bible calls this “the first resurrection” and “the earlier resurrection,” both expressions implying that there is another resurrection to follow. (Revelation 20:6; Philippians 3:11) This later resurrection will be to life on earth, which the vast majority of those brought back to life will enjoy.—Psalm 37:29.

How are people resurrected? God grants Jesus the power to raise the dead. (John 11:25) Jesus will restore “all those in the memorial tombs” to life, each one with his unique identity, personality, and memories. (John 5:28, 29) Those resurrected to heaven receive a spirit body, while those resurrected to life on earth receive a healthy physical body, completely sound.—Isaiah 33:24; 35:5, 6; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 50.

Who will be resurrected? The Bible says that “there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) The righteous include faithful people, such as Noah, Sarah, and Abraham. (Genesis 6:9; Hebrews 11:11; James 2:21) The unrighteous include those who failed to meet God’s standards but did not have the opportunity to learn and follow them.

However, those who become so wicked that they are beyond reform will not be resurrected. When such ones die, they suffer permanent destruction with no hope of a return to life.—Matthew 23:33; Hebrews 10:26, 27.

When will the resurrection take place? The Bible foretold that the resurrection to heaven would take place during Christ’s presence, which began in 1914. (1 Corinthians 15:21-23) The resurrection to life on earth will occur during the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, when the earth will be transformed into a paradise.—Luke 23:43;Revelation 20:6, 12, 13.

Why is belief in the resurrection reasonable? The Bible provides detailed accounts of nine resurrections, each confirmed by eyewitnesses. (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:32-37; 13:20, 21; Luke 7:11-17; 8:40-56; John 11:38-44; Acts 9:36-42; Acts 20:7-12;1 Corinthians 15:3-6) Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus is especially noteworthy, since Lazarus had been dead for four days and Jesus performed the miracle before a crowd of people. (John 11:39, 42) Even those who opposed Jesus could not deny the facts of the matter, so instead they plotted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus.—John 11:47, 53;12:9-11.

The Bible shows that God has both the ability and the desire to bring back the dead. He keeps in his limitless memory a detailed record of each person he will resurrect by means of his almighty power. (Job 37:23; Matthew 10:30; Luke 20:37, 38) God is able to restore the dead to life, and he wants to! Describing the coming resurrection, the Bible says of God: “You will long for the work of your hands.”—Job 14:15.

Misconceptions about the resurrection

Myth: The resurrection is a reuniting of the soul with the body.

Fact: The Bible teaches that the soul is the entire person, not some part that survives death. (Genesis 2:7, footnote; Ezekiel 18:4) A person who is resurrected is not reunited with his soul; he is recreated as a living soul.

Myth: Some people are resurrected and then immediately destroyed.

Fact: The Bible says that “those who practiced vile things” will receive “a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:29) However, this judgment is based on what they do after they are resurrected, not before. Jesus said: “The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have paid attention will live.” (John 5:25) Those who ‘pay attention’ to, or obey, the things they learn after they are resurrected will have their names recorded in “the scroll of life.”—Revelation 20:12, 13.

Myth: When resurrected, a person receives exactly the same body that he had before he died.

Fact: After death, a person’s body would likely have broken down and disintegrated.—Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20.

Revelation16-18 NWT(2013 Edition)

 

• Seven bowls of God’s anger (1-21)
  
  • Poured out on the earth (2), the sea (3), the rivers and springs (4-7), the sun (8, 9), the throne of the wild beast (10, 11), the Euphrates (12-16), and the air (17-21)
  • God’s war at Armageddon (14, 16)

16 And I heard a loud voice out of the sanctuary+ say to the seven angels: “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the anger of God on the earth.”+² The first one went off and poured out his bowl on the earth.+ And a hurtful and malignant ulcer+ afflicted the people who had the mark of the wild beast+ and who were worshipping its image.+³ The second one poured out his bowl into the sea.+ And it became blood+ like that of a dead man, and every living creature* died, yes, the things in the sea.+⁴ The third one poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs* of water.+ And they became blood.+⁵ I heard the angel over the waters say: “You, the One who is and who was,+ the loyal One,+ are righteous, for you have issued these judgments,+⁶ because they poured out the blood of holy ones and of prophets,+ and you have given them blood to drink;+ they deserve it.”+⁷ And I heard the altar say: “Yes, Jehovah* God, the Almighty,+ true and righteous are your judgments.”*+⁸ The fourth one poured out his bowl on the sun,+ and to the sun it was granted to scorch the people with fire.⁹ And the people were scorched by the great heat, but they blasphemed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent and give glory to him.¹⁰ The fifth one poured out his bowl on the throne of the wild beast. And its kingdom became darkened,+ and they began to gnaw their tongues because of their pain,¹¹ but they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their ulcers, and they did not repent of their works.¹² The sixth one poured out his bowl on the great river Eu·phra′tes,+ and its water was dried up+ to prepare the way for the kings+ from the rising of the sun.*¹³ And I saw three unclean inspired expressions* that looked like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon+ and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.¹⁴ They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and they perform signs,+ and they go out to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war+ of the great day of God the Almighty.+¹⁵ “Look! I am coming as a thief.+ Happy is the one who stays awake+ and keeps his outer garments, so that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness.”+¹⁶ And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon.*+¹⁷ The seventh one poured out his bowl on the air. At this a loud voice came out of the sanctuary+ from the throne, saying: “It has come to pass!”¹⁸ And there were flashes of lightning and voices and thunders, and there was a great earthquake unlike any that had occurred since men came to be on the earth,+ so extensive and so great was the earthquake.¹⁹ The great city+ split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and Babylon the Great+ was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.+²⁰ Also, every island fled, and mountains were not found.+²¹ Then great hailstones, each about the weight of a talent,* fell from heaven on the people,+ and the people blasphemed God because of the plague of hail,+ for the plague was unusually great.

 

17 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls+ came and said to me: “Come, I will show you the judgment on the great prostitute who sits on many waters,+² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality,*+ and earth’s inhabitants were made drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.”*+³ And he carried me away in the power of the spirit into a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored wild beast that was full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns.⁴ The woman was clothed in purple+ and scarlet, and she was adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,+ and she had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality.*⁵ On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the mother of the prostitutes+ and of the disgusting things of the earth.”+⁶ And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.+Well, on seeing her I was greatly amazed.⁷ So the angel said to me: “Why is it that you were amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman+ and of the wild beast that is carrying her and that has the seven heads and the ten horns:+⁸ The wild beast that you saw was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend out of the abyss,+ and it is to go off into destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth—those whose names have not been written in the scroll of life+ from the founding of the world—will be amazed when they see how the wild beast was, but is not, and yet will be present.⁹ “This calls for a mind* that has wisdom: The seven heads+ mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top.¹⁰ And there are seven kings: Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet arrived; but when he does arrive, he must remain a short while.¹¹ And the wild beast that was but is not,+ it is also an eighth king, but it springs from the seven, and it goes off into destruction.¹² “The ten horns that you saw mean ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings for one hour with the wild beast.¹³ These have one thought, so they give their power and authority to the wild beast.¹⁴ These will battle with the Lamb,+ but because he is Lord of lords and King of kings,+ the Lamb will conquer them.+ Also, those with him who are called and chosen and faithful will do so.”+¹⁵ He said to me: “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.*+¹⁶ And the ten horns+ that you saw and the wild beast,+ these will hate the prostitute+ and will make her devastated and naked, and they will eat up her flesh and completely burn her with fire.+¹⁷ For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought,+ yes, to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast,+ until the words of God will have been accomplished.¹⁸ And the woman+ whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”

 

18 After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory.² And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: “She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen,+ and she has become a dwelling place of demons and a place where every unclean spirit* and every unclean and hated bird lurks!+³ For because of the wine of the passion* of her sexual immorality,* all the nations have fallen victim,+ and the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her,+ and the merchants* of the earth became rich owing to the power of her shameless luxury.”⁴ And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “Get out of her, my people,+ if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.+⁵ For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven,+ and God has called her acts of injustice* to mind.+⁶ Repay her in the way she treated others,+ yes, pay her back double for the things she has done;+ in the cup+ she has mixed, mix a double portion for her.+⁷ To the extent that she glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury, to that extent give her torment and mourning. For she keeps saying in her heart: ‘I sit as queen, and I am not a widow, and I will never see mourning.’+⁸ That is why in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be completely burned with fire,+ because Jehovah* God, who judged her, is strong.+⁹ “And the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality* with her and lived with her in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her when they see the smoke from her burning.¹⁰ They will stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say: ‘Too bad, too bad, you great city,+ Babylon you strong city, because in one hour your judgment has arrived!’¹¹ “Also, the merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning over her, because there is no one to buy their full cargo anymore,¹² a full cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth; and everything made from scented wood; and every sort of object made from ivory, and from precious wood, copper, iron, and marble;¹³ also cinnamon, Indian spice, incense, perfumed oil, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives.*¹⁴ Yes, the fine fruit that you* desired has left you, and all the delicacies and the splendid things have vanished from you, never to be found again.¹⁵ “The merchants who sold these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and will weep and mourn,¹⁶ saying: ‘Too bad, too bad, the great city, clothed with fine linen, purple, and scarlet and richly adorned with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls,+¹⁷ because in one hour such great riches have been devastated!’“And every ship captain and every seafaring person and sailors and all those who make a living by the sea stood at a distance¹⁸ and cried out as they looked at the smoke from her burning and said: ‘What city is like the great city?’¹⁹ They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and said: ‘Too bad, too bad, the great city, in which all those who had ships at sea became rich from her wealth, because in one hour she has been devastated!’+²⁰ “Be glad over her, O heaven,+ also you holy ones+ and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced his judgment on her in your behalf!”+²¹ And a strong angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: “Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again.+²² And the sound of singers who accompany themselves on the harp, of musicians, of flutists, and of trumpeters will never be heard in you again. And no craftsman who practices any trade will ever be found in you again, and no sound of a millstone will ever be heard in you again.²³ No light of a lamp will ever shine in you again, and no voice of a bridegroom and of a bride will ever be heard in you again; for your merchants were the top-ranking men of the earth, and by your spiritistic practices+ all the nations were misled.²⁴ Yes, in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones+ and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”+

Some other reasons to just say no to porn.

Is there partiality with God?The bible's answer.

THE WATCHTOWER JUNE 2014

APPEARED IN

What Hope for My Ancestors  SOME time ago, an intriguing headline appeared in The Chosun Ilbo, a Korean newspaper. It asked: “‘Wonderful Shim Cheong,’ Who Knew Nothing About Jesus—Did She Go to Hell?”

The headline was provocative because Shim Cheong is a beloved young woman in a Korean folktale who sacrifices her life to help her blind father. Over the years, much praise has been accorded her. In fact, in Korea, Shim Cheong has come to be regarded as the model of a devoted daughter.

To many, the idea that such a person would be punished in hellfire just because she was not a baptized Christian seemed unfair, even offensive. After all, the story was supposed to have taken place long before the message about the Christ was introduced in her village.

The article included an interview with a clergyman. He was asked if those who died without having an opportunity to learn about Jesus had all been condemned to hellfire. The answer? “We do not know. We just assume that there must be a way of Divine Providence [for such people].”

A REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION

The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “Baptism is necessary for salvation. As Christ himself said, unless one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God (Jn 3.5).” Because of this, some believe that those who died unbaptized are thrown into hellfire or suffer in some other way after death.

There are many others, however, who consider such a belief absurd. Millions of people have died in ignorance of the Bible. Do they deserve eternal torment? What does the Bible say on the matter?

HOPE PROMISED IN THE BIBLE

The Bible clearly shows that God does not disregard people who lived without knowledge of his requirements. Acts 17:30 assures us: “God has overlooked the times of such ignorance.” What hope, then, does the Bible hold out for those who died without having an opportunity to learn about God?

What is the meaning of Jesus’ promise: “You will be with me in Paradise”?

The answer can be found in what Jesus told one of the criminals who died alongside him. The man said to Jesus: “Remember me when you get into your Kingdom.” What was Jesus’ reply? “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”—Luke 23:39-43.

Was Jesus promising that the man would enter into heaven? No. The man had not been “born again” from water and spirit, which was a prerequisite for entering the Kingdom of the heavens. (John 3:3-6) Rather, Jesus was promising that the criminal would live again, in Paradise. Being a Jew, the man was likely familiar with the earthly Paradise—the garden of Eden—described in the first book of the Bible. (Genesis 2:8) Jesus’ promise gave him the assured hope of a resurrection to Paradise when it is reestablished on earth.

In fact, the Bible promises “a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) “The unrighteous” are those who did not meet God’s righteous standards because they were ignorant of God’s will. Jesus will resurrect the unrighteous criminal who spoke with him, as well as millions, perhaps billions, of others who died in ignorance. Then, in the Paradise earth, they will be taught God’s requirements, and they will have the opportunity to prove that they love God by obeying his commandments.

 WHEN THE UNRIGHTEOUS ARE RESURRECTED

When the unrighteous are resurrected, will they be judged on the basis of their past actions? No. Romans 6:7 states: “The one who has died has been acquitted from his sin.” The unrighteous will have paid for their sins by dying. Thus, they will be judged on the basis of what they do after their resurrection, not what they did in ignorance before they died. How will they benefit?

After resurrection, the unrighteous will have opportunity to learn God’s laws, which will be revealed when symbolic scrolls are opened. They will then be judged “according to their deeds,” that is, whether they obey God’s laws or not. (Revelation 20:12, 13) For many of the unrighteous, this will be, not a second chance, but their first real opportunity to gain eternal life on earth by learning and doing God’s will.

This Bible teaching has helped many to regain their faith in God. Yeong Sug was one of them. She was raised as a devout Catholic. Members of her family were priests. Hoping to be a nun, she joined a convent. Later, she left because she was disappointed by what she saw going on there. What is more, she could not accept the doctrine of hellfire because she felt that to torture people in a fiery hell would be neither just nor loving.

Then, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses showed Yeong Sug these words from the Bible: “The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) The Witness helped her to realize that her ancestors are not being tormented in hellfire. Rather, they are asleep in death, awaiting a resurrection.

Knowing that many people have never heard the truth from the Bible, Yeong Sug took to heart Jesus’ words found at Matthew 24:14: “This good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” She now participates in preaching the good news and sharing her wonderful Bible-based hope with others.

“GOD IS NOT PARTIAL”

“God is not partial,” the Bible tells us, “but in every nation the man who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35) This is the perfect justice that all of us can expect of God, who “loves righteousness and justice.”—Psalm 33:5.