The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that only they will survive the “Battle of Armageddon”, all non-witnesses will be destroyed on site, and that the birds of heaven will be called to eat the flesh of the dead (Revelation 19:19, 20) They teach that the world will be in peace for a thousand years, at that time Satan will be allowed one last chance to deceive the people, at that time Satan and all those who side with him will be destroyed in the second death. What do the Scriptures really say about Armageddon? Below are a list of Scriptural comments examining the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses on this subject.
People who live in so-called “judgment periods” will be resurrected. All final judgment for the world is reserved for the Millennial Judgment Day.
Adam was a sinner and was justly sentenced to death. But so are all of his children.
Romans 3:10 just as it is written: “There is not a righteous [man], not even one.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
If Adam had not sinned, no ransom would be needed. The ransom (corresponding price) consisted of the sacrifice of the perfect man Jesus to redeem the perfect man Adam who had sinned. Incidentally Adam’s offspring were condemned and incidentally they are redeemed.
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
Romans 5:18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense [judgment] came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act [the] [free] [gift] [came] to all men, resulting in justification of life.
1 Timothy 2:6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
[NOTE: In all three of these verses the same Greek word PAS is used. It is also used in Matthew 24:14 “And 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.” In these four instances the New World Translation is inconsistent, rendering it “all” in Matthew 24:14 and in 1 Corinthians 15:22, but “all kinds” in Romans 5:18 and footnote of 1 Timothy 2:6.]
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
This text cannot be understood to contradict the thought of a ransom for all, since in Romans 5:19 The same Greek word polus rendered “many” or “all” – “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
The slaying of animal sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ’s scarifice to cover sins. Since it was God’s intention to redeem Adam from death, He provided him with a cost of skin.
Genesis 3:21 And Jehovah God proceeded to make long garments of skin for Adam and for his wife and to clothe them.
There are no Scriptures to show that Adam is excepted from the benefits of the ransom.
The World in Noah’s Day
The disobedient angels, who were largely responsible for the evil and corruption in Noah’s day, were not then judged. Since their judgment day is still future, it seems reasonable that the people will also be judged in the future.
Genesis 6:4-12 The Neph’i·lim proved to be in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of the [true] God continued to have relations with the daughters of men and they bore sons to them, they were the mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame. Consequently Jehovah saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time. And Jehovah felt regrets that he had made men in the earth, and he felt hurt at his heart. So Jehovah said: “I am going to wipe men whom I have created off the surface of the ground, from man to domestic animal, to moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, because I do regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah. This is the history of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with the [true] God. In time Noah became father to three sons, Shem, Ham and Ja’pheth. And the earth came to be ruined in the sight of the [true] God and the earth became filled with violence. So God saw the earth and, look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the earth. [NWT]
2 Peter 2:4 Certainly if God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tar’ta·rus, delivered them to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment.
Jude 6 And the angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place he has reserved with eternal bonds under dense darkness for the judgment of the great day.
Romans 5:12-14 That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned-. 13 For until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not charged against anyone when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death ruled as king from Adam down to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of the transgression by Adam, who bears a resemblance to him that was to come.
There are no Scriptures to show that the people in Noah’s day are excepted from the benefits of the ransom.
Sodom and Gomorrah
The Sodomites would have repented and not been destroyed if they had received as much light as Capernaum in Jesus’ day. Sodom’s judgment day is yet future.
Matthew 11:23-24 And you, Ca·per’na·um, will you perhaps be exalted to heaven? Down to Ha’des you will come; because if the powerful works that took place in you had taken place in Sod’om, it would have remained until this very day. Consequently I say to YOU people, It will be more endurable for the land of Sod’om on Judgment Day than for you.”
The Scriptures definitely prophesy the return of the Sodomites from Death.
Ezekiel 16:55, 61-62 And your own sisters, Sod’om and her dependent towns, will return to their former state, and Sa*mar’i*a and her dependent towns will return to their former state, and you yourself and your own dependent towns will return to YOUR former state….And you will certainly remember your ways and feel humiliated when you receive your sisters, the ones older than you as well as the ones younger than you, and I shall certainly give them to you as daughters, but not owing to your covenant.’…”‘And I, I myself, will establish my covenant with you; and you will have to know that I am Jehovah.
Jude 7 So too Sod’om and Go·mor’rah and the cities about them, after they in the same manner as the foregoing ones had committed fornication excessively and gone out after flesh for unnatural use, are placed before [us] as a [warning] example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.
[NOTE: If this Scripture id understood to mean Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed and are not to come forth in the resurrection, it would contradict the scriptural promises just cited. A harmonious understanding is obtained by noting that “eternal” is from the Greek AIONIOS, meaning “age lasting”. Thus the people of these cities were blotted out not for all eternity, but only until the close of the age, that is, the Gospel Age, and will come forth in the resurrection of the Millennial Judgment Day.]
Fleshly Israel in Jesus’ day
Jesus clearly said that the period of his earthly ministry was not a time of judgment.
John 12:47-48
But if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I came, not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He that disregards me and does not receive my sayings has one to judge him. The word that I have spoken is what will judge him in the last day.
[NOTE: The last day is the time of resurrection.]
The Scribes and Pharisees must come forth from the dead in the Kingdom in order to “see” Abraham , Isaac and Jacob. They will be “thrown outside” of the position of rulership due to their unfaithfulness.
Luke 13:28 There is where [YOUR] weeping and the gnashing of [YOUR] teeth will be, when YOU see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside.
Even those who crucified Jesus were considered as doing it in ignorance.
Acts 3:12-17 When Peter saw this, he said to the people: “Men of Israel, why are YOU wondering over this, or why are YOU gazing at us as though by personal power or godly devotion we have made him walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his Servant, Jesus, whom YOU, for YOUR part, delivered up and disowned before Pilate’s face, when he had decided to release him. Yes, YOU disowned that holy and righteous one, and YOU asked for a man, a murderer, to be freely granted to YOU, whereas YOU killed the Chief Agent of life. But God raised him up from the dead, of which fact we are witnesses. Consequently his name, by [our] faith in his name, has made this man strong whom YOU behold and know, and the faith that is through him has given the man this complete soundness in the sight of all of YOU. And now, brothers, I know that YOU acted in ignorance, just as YOUR rulers also did.
Spiritual Israel, the Church class, gains the chief favor, the heavenly reward, but natural Israel is not cast off.
Romans 11:2, 15, 25-26, 32 God did not reject his people, whom he first recognized. Why, do YOU not know what the Scripture says in connection with Eli’jah, as he pleads with God against Israel?…For if the casting of them away means reconciliation for the world, what will the receiving of them mean but life from the dead?…For I do not want YOU, brothers, to be ignorant of this sacred secret, in order for YOU not to be discreet in your own eyes: that a dulling of sensibilities has happened in part to Israel until the full number of people of the nations has come in, 26 and in this manner all Israel will be saved. Just as it is written: “The deliverer will come out of Zion and turn away ungodly practices from Jacob… For God has shut them all up together in disobedience, that he might show all of them mercy.
The New Covenant is yet to be made with natural Israel and their iniquity forgiven.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Look! There are days coming,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant; 32 not one like the covenant that I concluded with their forefathers in the day of my taking hold of their hand to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt, ‘which covenant of mine they themselves broke, although I myself had husbandly ownership of them,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.” 33 “For this is the covenant that I shall conclude with the house of Israel after those days,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “I will put my law within them, and in their heart I shall write it. And I will become their God, and they themselves will become my people.” 34 “And they will no more teach each one his companion and each one his brother, saying, ‘KNOW Jehovah!’ for they will all of them know me, from the least one of them even to the greatest one of them,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “For I shall forgive their error, and their sin I shall remember no more.”
Only natural Israel was scattered, not the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Thus natural Israel is unmistakably referred to in the following prophecies:
Ezekiel 11:16-20 therefore say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Although I have put them far away among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the lands, yet I shall become to them a sanctuary for a little while among the lands to which they have come.”‘ 17 “Therefore say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “I will also collect YOU from the peoples and gather YOU from the lands among which YOU have been scattered, and I will give YOU the soil of Israel. 18 And they will certainly come there and remove all its disgusting things and all its detestable things out of it. 19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I shall put inside them; and I shall certainly remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 in order that they may walk in my own statutes and keep my own judicial decisions and actually carry them out; and they may really become my people and I myself may become their God.”‘
Jeremiah 32:37-41 ‘Here I am collecting them together out of all the lands to which I shall have dispersed them in my anger and in my rage and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in security. 38 And they will certainly become my people, and I myself shall become their God. 39 And I will give them one heart and one way in order to fear me always, for good to them and to their sons after them. 40 And I will conclude with them an indefinitely lasting covenant, that I shall not turn back from behind them, for me to do them good; and the fear of me I shall put in their heart in order not to turn aside from me. 41 And I will exult over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in trueness with all my heart and with all my soul.’”
Jeremiah 24:6-7 And I will set my eye upon them in a good way, and I shall certainly cause them to return to this land. And I will build them up, and I shall not tear down; and I will plant them, and I shall not uproot. 7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah; and they must become my people, and I myself shall become their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Amos 9:14-15 And I will gather back the captive ones of my people Israel, and they will actually build [the] desolated cities and inhabit [them], and plant vineyards and drink the wine of them, and make gardens and eat the fruit of them.’ 15 “‘And I shall certainly plant them upon their ground, and they will no more be uprooted from their ground that I have given them,’ Jehovah your God has said.” [NOTE: captivity is from the Hebrew, SHEBOOTH, meaning figuratively “a former state of prosperity.]
The Jews are to be used as a “teacher nation” in the Millennium.
Zechariah 8:13 And it must occur that just as YOU became a malediction among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I shall save YOU, and YOU must become a blessing. Do not be afraid. May YOUR hands be strong.’
Zechariah 8:22 And many peoples and mighty nations will actually come to seek Jehovah of armies in Jerusalem and to soften the face of Jehovah.’
The World from 1918 to Armageddon
Some will definitely survive Armageddon who were unrighteous and disobedient.
Zephaniah 3:8-9 “‘Therefore keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ’till the day of my rising up to [the] booty, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, for me to collect together kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them my denunciation, all my burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal all the earth will be devoured. For then I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder.’ [NOTE: The righteous already new the pure language.]
Psalm 46:1-10 God is for us a refuge and strength, A help that is readily to be found during distresses. That is why we shall not fear, though the earth undergo change And though the mountains totter into the heart of the vast sea; Though its waters be boisterous, foam over, Though the mountains rock at its uproar. Se’lah. There is a river the streams of which make the city of God rejoice, The holiest grand tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of [the city]; it will not be made to totter. God will help it at the appearance of morning. The nations became boisterous, the kingdoms tottered; He sounded with his voice, the earth proceeded to melt. Jehovah of armies is with us; The God of Jacob is a secure height for us. Se’lah. Come, YOU people, behold the activities of Jehovah, How he has set astonishing events on the earth. He is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth. The bow he breaks apart and does cut the spear in pieces; The wagons he burns in the fire. “Give in, YOU people, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Zechariah 14:1-3, 12-19 “Look! There is a day coming, belonging to Jehovah, and the spoil of you will certainly be apportioned out in the midst of you. And I shall certainly gather all the nations against Jerusalem for the war; and the city will actually be captured and the houses be pillaged, and the women themselves will be raped. And half of the city must go forth into the exile; but as for the remaining ones of the people, they will not be cut off from the city. “And Jehovah will certainly go forth and war against those nations as in the day of his warring, in the day of fight….”And this is what will prove to be the scourge with which Jehovah will scourge all the peoples that will actually do military service against Jerusalem: There will be a rotting away of one’s flesh, while one is standing upon one’s feet; and one’s very eyes will rot away in their sockets, and one’s very tongue will rot away in one’s mouth. “And it must occur in that day [that] confusion from Jehovah will become widespread among them; and they will actually grab hold, each one of the hand of his companion, and his hand will actually come up against the hand of his companion. And Judah itself also will be warring at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations round about will certainly be gathered, gold and silver and garments in excessive abundance. “And this is how the scourge of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the male ass, and every sort of domestic animal that happens to be in those camps, will prove to be, like this scourge. “And it must occur [that], as regards everyone who is left remaining out of all the nations that are coming against Jerusalem, they must also go up from year to year to bow down to the King, Jehovah of armies, and to celebrate the festival of the booths. And it must occur that, as regards anyone that does not come up out of the families of the earth to Jerusalem to bow down to the King, Jehovah of armies, even upon them no pouring rain will occur. And if the family of Egypt itself does not come up and does not actually enter, upon them also there shall be none. The scourge will occur with which Jehovah scourges the nations that do not come up to celebrate the festival of the booths. This itself will prove to be the [punishment for the] sin of Egypt and the sin of all the nations that do not come up to celebrate the festival of the booths. [NOTE: Some that are left, were aggressors (in Armageddon) and again shall be disobedient]
Isaiah 24:19-22 The land has absolutely burst apart, the land has absolutely been shaken up, the land has absolutely been sent staggering. The land absolutely moves unsteadily like a drunken man, and it has swayed to and fro like a lookout hut. And its transgression has become heavy upon it, and it must fall, so that it will not rise up again. And it must occur in that day that Jehovah will turn his attention upon the army of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the ground upon the ground. And they will certainly be gathered with a gathering as of prisoners into the pit, and be shut up in the dungeon; and after an abundance of days they will be given attention. [NOTE: This being “given attention” (or “visited” KJV) shows that the rulers, etc. who went down in death at Armageddon, will be resurrected from the dead.]
The marking and slaying of Ezekiel 9:4-6 and Revelation 7:1-3 are not literal.
Ezekiel 9:4-6 And Jehovah went on to say to him: “Pass through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and you must put a mark on the foreheads of the men that are sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done in the midst of it.” And to these [others] he said in my ears: “Pass through the city after him and strike. Let not your eye feel sorry, and do not feel any compassion. Old man, young man and virgin and little child and women YOU should kill off-to a ruination. But to any man upon whom there is the mark do not go near, and from my sanctuary YOU should start.” So they started with the old men that were before the house.
Revelation 7:1-3 After this I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding tight the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow upon the earth or upon the sea or upon any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrising, having a seal of [the] living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the slaves of our God in their foreheads.”
[NOTE: The Revelation account continues that only the 144,000 were sealed, showing the marking to be symbolic or acceptance in the heavenly bride class, and the slaying symbolic of rejection or casting off from this position, not the sealing of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the destruction of all others.
Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel
Some Scriptures speak of mankind or certain ones not rising again. This refers to their not rising throughout the reign of sin and death, but in the Millennial Age they will come forth in the resurrection.
Job 14:10-15 But an able-bodied man dies and lies vanquished; And an earthling man expires, and where is he? Waters do disappear from a sea, And a river itself drains off and dries up. Man also has to lie down and does not get up. Until heaven is no more they will not wake up, Nor will they be aroused from their sleep. O that in She’ol you would conceal me, That you would keep me secret until your anger turns back, That you would set a time limit for me and remember me! If an able-bodied man dies can he live again? All the days of my compulsory service I shall wait, Until my relief comes. You will call, and I myself shall answer you. For the work of your hands you will have a yearning.
Isaiah 26:14-19 They are dead; they will not live. Impotent in death, they will not rise up. Therefore you have turned your attention that you might annihilate them and destroy all mention of them. You have added to the nation; O Jehovah, you have added to the nation; you have glorified yourself. You have extended afar all the borders of the land. O Jehovah, during distress they have turned their attention to you; they have poured out a whisper [of prayer] when they had your disciplining. Just as a pregnant woman draws near to giving birth, has labor pains, cries out in her birth pangs, so we have become because of you, O Jehovah. We have become pregnant, we have had labor pains; as it were, we have given birth to wind. No real salvation do we accomplish as regards the land, and no inhabitants for the productive land proceed to fall [in birth]. “Your dead ones will live. A corpse of mine-they will rise up. Awake and cry out joyfully, YOU residents in the dust! For your dew is as the dew of mallows, and the earth itself will let even those impotent in death drop [in birth].
Jeremiah 51:57 And I will make her princes and her wise ones, her governors and her deputy rulers and her mighty men drunk, and they must sleep an indefinitely lasting sleep, from which they will not wake up,” is the utterance of the King, whose name is Jehovah of armies.
Psalm 9:17 Wicked people will turn back to She’ol, Even all the nations forgetting God.
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Psalm 90:3 You make mortal man go back to crushed matter, And you say: “GO back, YOU sons of men.”
The Judgment and separation of the sheep and goats is not taking place now.
Matthew 25:31-46 “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, YOU who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for YOU from the founding of the world. For I became hungry and YOU gave me something to eat; I got thirsty and YOU gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and YOU received me hospitably; naked, and YOU clothed me. I fell sick and YOU looked after me. I was in prison and YOU came to me.’ Then the righteous ones will answer him with the words, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to you?’ And in reply the king will say to them, ‘Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did it to one of the least of these my brothers, YOU did it to me.’ “Then he will say, in turn, to those on his left, ‘Be on YOUR way from me, YOU who have been cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I became hungry, but YOU gave me nothing to eat, and I got thirsty, but YOU gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, but YOU did not receive me hospitably; naked, but YOU did not clothe me; sick and in prison, but YOU did not look after me.’ Then they also will answer with the words, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them with the words, ‘Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did not do it to one of these least ones, YOU did not do it to me.’ And these will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life.”
First the Church class must be completed and glorified, since they are the “angels” who are with Jesus at the time. “Angels” is from the Greek word AGGELOS, meaning “messengers”, as in James 2:25 – Rahab the harlot was justified by works, when she had received the messengers.
(Revelation 3:21) To the one that conquers I will grant to sit down with me on my throne, even as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
(1 Corinthians 6:2) Or do YOU not know that the holy ones will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by YOU, are YOU unfit to try very trivial matters?
(Colossians 3:4) When the Christ, our life, is made manifest, then YOU also will be made manifest with him in glory.
The judgment is based on the works done: feeding the strangers, clothing the naked, visiting those in prison and the sick, etc. These are symbolic of an attitude of love and helpfulness to fellow men, assisting each other up the highway of holiness toward perfection during the Millennial Age.
Jesus’ bothers (verse 40) are those who do God’s will: “Whoever does the will of God, this one is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:34-35)
The term “brothers” need not be limited to the Church in the Gospel Age, but can also be applied to those who do God’s will in the Millennial Age. Those who would so limit it (to try to prove the setting is not future) run into the inconsistency of having the sheep class (earthly) ministering food etc., (truth) to Christ’s brothers (the Church Class) while they really believe the reverse is true – That the spirit-begotten remnant of the Church class ministers the truth to the other sheep class.
A similar acount of the judgment day is given in Revelation 20:11-15, and is definitely shown to be during the reign of Christ and the Church.
“And I saw a great white throne and the one seated on it. From before him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Ha’des gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. And death and Ha’des were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.”
The Millennial Age – the Judgment Day taught in the Bible.
There is a day of judgment, the Millennial Age, rather than various judgment periods.
Acts 17:31 because He has appointed a day in which He is going to judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He appointed, having given proof to all by raising Him from the dead.
2 Pet. 3:7-8 But the present heavens and the earth being kept in store by the same word, are being kept for fire until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But, beloved, let not this one thing be hidden from you, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
That time is yet future.
Micah 4:1-4 But it shall be in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. And many nations shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And He shall judge between many peoples, and will decide for strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, And they shall not still learn war. But they shall sit each one under his vine and under his fig tree; and there shall be no trembling; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken,
Psalm 96:10-13 Say among the nations, the LORD reigns; and the world shall be established; it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples in uprightness. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness of it. Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it; then shall all the trees of the forest rejoice before the LORD; for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.
Isa. 26:9-10 With my soul I desired You in the night; yea, with my spirit within me I will seek You early; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
Psa. 72:2-8 He will judge Your people in righteousness, and Your poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people; He shall save the children of the needy, and shall crush in pieces the cruel one. They shall fear You as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In His days the righteous shall flourish; and abundance of peace, until the moon is not. He shall also have the rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
That judgment day will be for the whole world.
John 5:28-29 Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have practiced evil to the resurrection of condemnation. [judgment] [NOTE: The New World Translation is misleading in rendering the Greek word MNEMEION as “memorial tombs” since the correct definition is “monument, grave, tomb, or memorial”, which gives the thought of man’s memory of his loved ones, and does not refer to God’s memory at all. All the dead are in God’s memory and will be raised for judgment. Those who then prove unfaithful will be destroyed eternally.]
Acts 24:15 And I have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
Phil. 2:10-11 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Rom. 14:10-11 But why do you judge your brother? Or also why do you despise your brother? For all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
Second Death.
The Ransom sacrifice releases Adam and his offspring from first death (Adamic), but second death is a death from which there will never be a resurrection.
An individual must be released (reckonedly or actually) from Adamic death before it is possible to suffer second death.
Before the Gospel Age none were released from Adamic death, so none were released from Adamic death.
2 Tim. 1:10 But it is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has made death of no effect, bringing life and immortality to light through the gospel
During the Gospel Age, only those who are enlightened with the truth, justified by the blood of Christ (reckonedly released from Adamic death), and spirit begotten, and who then deny Christ and fall away from the truth go into second death. Only the prospective members of the body of Christ are now justified and on trial.
Heb. 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come, and who have fallen away; it is impossible, I say, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify the Son of God afresh to themselves and put Him to an open shame.
Heb. 10:26-29 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He who despised Moses’ law died without mercy on the word of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will be thought worthy to receive punishment, the one who has trampled the Son of God, and who has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Matt. 12:31 Therefore I say to you, All kinds of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven to men.
During the Millennial Age, after coming forth in the resurrection (actually released from Adamic death), those who continue to be disobedient to God will fall into second death. The whole world will then be on trial for life or death (second death).
Acts 3:23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.”
Jer. 31:29-30 In those days they shall not say any more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the sons are dull. But every man shall die in his iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be dull. Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,
Psa. 145:20 The LORD watches over all those who love Him; but all the wicked He will destroy.
Rev. 20:12-15 And I saw the dead, the small and the great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead in them. And each one of them was judged according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire.
Conclusion
Adam and all his children are under God’s condemnation and dead in his sight, without any standing before him, until they learn of and exercise faith in the ransom. It makes no difference whether one dies at an early age by a specific act of God or later in life by so-called natural causes; both are the results of sin and divine condemnation.
Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Matt. 8:22 But Jesus said to him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.
John 3:18 He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
1 Tim. 2:4 who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
The view that God desires to destroy all people except those of one denomination is not in harmony with God’s will. God desires to bless, not to destroy mankind.
Luke 9:53-55 And they did not receive Him, because His face was going toward Jerusalem. And seeing, His disciples James and John said, Lord, do You desire that we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did? But He turned and rebuked them and said, You do not know of what spirit you are.
Isa. 60:2-5 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but the LORD shall rise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you. And the nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawning. Lift up your eyes all around, and see. All of them gather themselves; they come to you. Your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall fear and become bright, and your heart shall throb and swell for joy; because the abundance of the sea shall turn to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.
Acts 3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, “And in your Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.” [NOTE: Other texts where this promise is recorded use the word “nations”, but here the promise is made more all-inclusive with the word “kindreds”, or “families” as in the New World Translation}
John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.
Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, Do not fear. For behold, I give to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Eze. 18:21-23 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins which he has committed, and keep all My statutes, and do justice and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions that he has done, they shall not be mentioned to him; in his righteousness that he has done he shall live. Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked? says the Lord Jehovah. Is it not that he should turn from his ways and live?