Death: The Abolishment of Death
The fifth part of the biblical view of death is its abolishment. Both spiritual and physical death can be abolished. As far as spiritual death is concerned, this is abolished at salvation according to 2 Timothy 1:10: but has now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Obviously, the Messiah has not as yet abolished physical death, for believers still die physically. Yet this verse speaks about a death that has been abolished for believers, and this death is connected with immortality. The death that has already been abolished for the believer is spiritual death, because the moment one believes on Yeshua the Messiah, that He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, at that moment, the believer is spiritually resurrected, and spiritual death is abolished for him.
As far as physical death is concerned, a time will come when physical death will also be abolished according to 1 Corinthians 15:24–26: Then comes the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.
People tend to think in terms of Satan as being man’s final enemy, and once Satan is confined in the Lake of Fire, that will be it. But actually, he is the next-to-the-last enemy of man. The actual final enemy of man is not Satan, but that which entered human experience because of the Satanic temptation of the first parents: physical death. As a result of Adam’s Fall, death has been very much part of human experience and has been cruel and relentless. Everyone in history, except for two men in the Old Testament, Enoch and Elijah, have succumbed to it. But according to this passage, a day will come when physical death is going to be abolished. Physical death will be abolished for all men; believer and unbeliever, but there will be two different destinies altogether.
A. The Abolishment of Physical Death for the Believer
Concerning believers, one must distinguish between four different groups of believers: Church saints, Old Testament saints, Tribulation saints, and Millennial saints.
1. The Church Saints
As far as Church saints are concerned, physical death will be abolished at the Rapture of the Church. This is taught by two passages of Scripture. The first is 1 Corinthians 15:50–58: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord.
According to this passage, the believer’s physical death will be abolished at the time of the Rapture. At that point, “corruption puts on incorruption, and mortality puts on immortality.”
The second passage, which teaches that physical death will be abolished for the Church saints at the Rapture, is 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18: But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
For the second time, Paul pointed out that physical death will be abolished for the Church saints at the Rapture of the Church. This will occur sometime before the Tribulation.
2. The Old Testament Saints
Death will be abolished for the Old Testament saints sometime after the Tribulation, after the Messiah’s Second Coming. According to Daniel 12:11–12, there will be a Seventy-five-day Interval between the Second Coming and the start of the Millennium. During that Seventy-five-day Interval, the Old Testament saints are going to be resurrected. This is brought out in two passages in the Old Testament.
The first is Isaiah 26:19: Your dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.
Here, Isaiah spoke of the resurrection of Old Testament saints. In the context of that passage, it comes after the Tribulation.
The second passage, which teaches this, is Daniel 12:2: And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
In the context of this verse, Daniel is dealing with an event that will come after the Tribulation. The Old Testament saints will be resurrected after the Tribulation during the Seventy-five-day Interval between the end of the Tribulation and the start of the Messianic Kingdom.
3. The Tribulation Saints
The third category of saints is the Tribulation saints. These will also be resurrected after the Tribulation and during that Seventy-five-day Interval. This is brought out in Revelation 20:4–6: And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: over these the second death has no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Obviously, these are the Tribulation saints, for they are the ones who refused to worship the Antichrist. Their resurrection occurs also in the Seventy-five-day Interval between the Tribulation and the Kingdom.
4. The Millennial Saints
The fourth category of saints, who are known as Millennial saints, will not need to be resurrected, because according to Isaiah 65:20, they will not die. There will be no death for believers in the Millennium, only for unbelievers.
B. The Abolishment of Physical Death for the Unbeliever
As far as the unbeliever is concerned, physical death will be abolished after the Millennium as a result of the second resurrection for the purpose of suffering the second death. Their resurrection is described in Revelation 20:11–14: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the Heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
So all unbelievers will be resurrected after the Messianic Kingdom, 1,000 years after the last resurrection of believers.
C. Conclusion
Spiritual death is abolished when one believes. Physical death will be abolished by resurrection for both believers and unbelievers. But the third type of death is eternal, and that death will last forever for unbelievers. Eternal death or the second death, will never be abolished.
Excerpt from Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum:
MBS091 THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF DEATH: Pg 12-15
