Resurrections of the Justified & Unjustified

Resurrections of the Justified & Unjustified
One must recognize that a clear distinction exists between the First Resurrection and the Second Resurrection as described in the Scriptures.

• The First Resurrection consists of Abraham and his justified descendants: the 24 Elders and the 144,000 Elect from 12 of the 13 tribes of Israel.

• The Second Resurrection includes both the justified and the unjustified (the unrighteous or unjust) from every nation and people who have ever lived. This also encompasses all Israelites who did not participate in the First Resurrection. Continue reading “Resurrections of the Justified & Unjustified” →

Three Types of Resurrections

Three Types of Resurrections
There are three types of resurrections from the dead. To better illustrate the differences between these resurrections, we will assign a label to each one as the initial step in our discussion.

1. Reawakening – This is a resurrection from the dead whereby the person who has been restored to life continues with their original corruptible (decaying) flesh-and-blood body.

2. Revitalization – A resurrection of a person who at death possessed a corruptible (decaying) flesh-and-blood body but when brought back to life is transformed so as to have a mortal, incorruptible (nondecaying), ruach (spirit)-type flesh-and-blood body.

In this resurrection one will obtain a body like the one Yahushua the Messiah had while he was a man on the earth.

This type of resurrection is scheduled for all humans, except for the Messiah, and will occur only twice—at the First Resurrection and at the Second (General) Resurrection.

• The First Resurrection is the resurrection of the just (those declared righteous, justified to receive the Eternal Inheritance), more specifically the 24 Elders (Abraham, Isaak, Jacob, the twelve apostles, etc.) and the 144,000 Elect of Israel.

Continue reading “Three Types of Resurrections” →

Tartaros and Demons – Part 2

Tartaros and Demons – Part 2
In Tartaros and Demons – Part 1, we learned that the demon prison of tartaros is not so much a tahum under or within the depths of the earth as it is a dimensional region farthest away from the third heavens, the abode of father Yahweh.

We will now address the sinning angels, and more specifically, the Watchers, with their grievous sin of mating with human women and producing children who became giants.

Sinning Angels
The angels that sinned became known in Scriptures as demons and those angels who sinned most egregiously were placed in the prison of tartaros. For example, besides the act of setting themselves up to be worshiped,⁶⁷ another blatant sin committed by the rebellious angels in the days prior to Noah’s Flood was adultery with human women.

The book of Genesis informs us: Continue reading “Tartaros and Demons – Part 2” →

Tartaros and Demons – Part 1

Tartaros and Demons – Part 1
The word τάρταρος (tartaros), under its verbal form ταρταρώσας (tartarosas; to thrust down into tartaros), is found only once in all of the Scriptures, at 2 Peter 2:4, “the deity did not spare the angels who sinned, but ταρταρώσας (tartarosas; thrust them into tartaros), keeping them in chains of darkness unto a κρίσιν (krisin; judgment; decision made by tribunal).”¹ As James Orr writes, here tartaros “stands for the place of punishment of the angels.”²

S. D. F. Salmond similarly concludes, “the word is applied to the intermediate scene and condition of penalty in which those offenders are detained, held in chains of darkness, in reserve for the final judgment.”³

In neo-Christianity, the concept of tartaros, a word which primarily means “to incarcerate,” i.e., a place of incarceration in the deepest abyss,⁴ has been purposely blended with the following two concepts:

1. The pagan Greek notion of hades (the underworld of wicked immortal souls of the deceased).

2. A twisted interpretation of the scriptural concept of gehenna fire (the final punishment for the wicked). Continue reading “Tartaros and Demons – Part 1” →

Does Hell Exist? – Part 1

Does Hell Exist? – Part 1
What happens to a person when they die? Is it possible for one to be condemned to suffer for eternity in an underworld of fiery torment called hell? To answer, we must address the Yahwehist concept of the Hebrew word sheol, translated into Greek as “hades.”

The term sheol is found 65 times in the Old Testament and 10 times in the New Testament under the Greek form hades. Unfortunately, these two terms are commonly rendered as “hell” in the English translations.

Sheol is not, as popularly construed, a place where after death, the wicked dwell as conscious, thinking, disembodied immortal souls. Rather, it is a “state of being” for the deceased person (nephesh) of every human, whether just or unjust—a circumstance equated with darkness. It is not so much the “grave” where the remains of the nephesh lie, but rather the “state of the remains” within the grave. Continue reading “Does Hell Exist? – Part 1” →

Immortal Soul Unmasked

Immortal Soul Unmasked
In our last post, “Do I Have A Soul?”, the issue of whether or not humans possess an immortal soul was addressed.

As we continue to search out the facts concerning this subject, we should realize that the first great deception was told by the serpent (the satan) to Eve when he advised her that if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil “you will not die (Gen. 3:1-5).”

Continue reading “Immortal Soul Unmasked” →

Rapture – Shortcut Revisited

Rapture – Shortcut Revisited
Our last post dealt with the possibility of the Rapture from an Old Testament viewpoint. Unfortunately, for the Rapture advocates, the Old Testament did not produce any evidence demonstrating that one could bypass death and then proceed to Paradise or the third heavens.

We will continue our quest to see if we can find that ever-so-elusive “Shortcut to Paradise” by next delving into the New Testament.

1 Thessalonians
One of the major proofs offered in the New Testament for a rapture of saved individuals off the earth devoid of death is contained in 1 Thessalonians:

Continue reading “Rapture – Shortcut Revisited” →

Rapture – Shortcut to Paradise?

Rapture – Shortcut to Paradise?
Needless to say there are a number of people that want to circumvent the rules by avoiding scriptural truth and the reality that all must suffer death at least once.

There is a popular saying that you might have heard which goes something like this, “Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.”

First, the truth is that no person is going to heaven regardless of dying. The one exception is the person whose name and title is Yahushua the Messiah. As all would know, his circumstances differed from the average person’s. (Another topic to be addressed at a later time.)

Second, all persons will, in fact, die before the Millennial Judgment Day whether they believe so or not. Even Yahushua had to submit to this reality.

Is there any merit to the idea that some select group of believers can actually take a shortcut to paradise by avoiding death?

Let’s begin our investigation to find out the truth of the matter.

Continue reading “Rapture – Shortcut to Paradise?” →

The Millennial Judgment Day

The Millennial Judgment Day
It is apparent that there seems to be a widespread misunderstanding of the events occurring after Yahushua the Messiah’s death that lead up to the earthly arrival of father Yahweh.