Death, the Intermediate State, Resurrection, and Final Destiny

Stanley Bruce Anstey

1. Death, the Intermeditate State, Resurrection, and Final Destiny

Death, the Intermeditate State, Resurrection, and Final Destiny

The subject of life after death invariably raises much interest and many questions whenever the topic comes up in conversation. While we may never have all our questions satisfactorily answered while we are here in this world, we are thankful that the gospel has “brought to light” many things concerning “life (for the soul) and immortality [incorruptibility]” (for the body) (2 Tim. 1:10).

The Bible was not written to satisfy human curiosity, but to occupy us with the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is enough to fill our hearts and minds. God, however, has been pleased to reveal many things to us in His Word concerning the future of our souls so that we might have a “full assurance of hope” (Heb. 6:11). “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Cor. 15:19). Thankfully, we have hope in the next world too.

The following remarks are some facts from the Word of God concerning death, the intermediate state, resurrection, and the final destiny of human beings.

Death

Man is a triune being—that is, he is made up of three parts. The Bible says, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). His spirit is the God-conscious intelligent part of his being (Job 32:8; Isa. 29:24). His soul is the seat of his emotions, appetites, and desires (Gen. 27:4; Song of Solomon 1:7). And his body is, of course, the physical part of his being.

Physical death occurs in a human being when the soul and the spirit are separated from the body. James says, “The body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26). Scripture defines it as “ ... absent from the body” (2 Cor. 5:8). See also Genesis 35:18; 49:33; Job 14:10; Eccl. 12:7; Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59.

“Death” is used in Scripture in at least seven different ways. In every case it has the thought of separation, not extinction, as men think:

Physical death is to have the soul and spirit separated from the body (James 2:26).

Spiritual death is to be spiritually separated from God by not having a new life (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13).

Second death is to be eternally separated from God in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:6, 14).

Apostate death is to be separated from God by abandoning one’s profession of the faith (Jude 12; Rev. 8:9).

National death is to no longer exist as a nation on earth (Isa. 26:19; Ezek. 37; Dan. 12:2).

Judicial death is to be positionally separated from the whole order of sin under the headship of Adam by the death of Christ (Rom. 6:2; 7:6; Col. 3:3).

Moral death is to be separated in communion from God (Rom. 8:13; 1 Tim. 5:6).

It is sobering to think that sin is the cause of every one of these aspects of death! Truly, “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

The Bible tells us that there are only two states in which a person dies (physically). You can “die in the Lord” (Rev. 14:13) or you can “die in your sins” (John 8:24). To die in your sins is to pass out of this world without having had your sins put away before God, judicially, by the work of Christ on the cross. The person who dies in that awful condition will be responsible to pay the price of his sins under the righteous judgment of God for all eternity. To die in the Lord is to die being safe and secure from all judgment under the shelter of the blood of Christ, God’s Son (John 5:24; 1 John 1:7).

The death of a believer is “precious in the sight of the LORD” (Psa. 116:15), whereas the death of an unbeliever is something that God takes no pleasure in, for He has said, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezek. 33:11). God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Reasons For the Death of a Believer

The death of a believer is called “sleep,” in Scripture, and refers to his body, because the soul does not sleep (2 Sam. 7:12; John 11:11; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Cor. 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:14; 5:10). Matthew 27:52 says distinctly, “Many bodies of the saints which slept arose.”

There are perhaps three main reasons for the death of a believer:

Firstly, it may be for “the glory of God” (John 11:4; 21:18-19; Phil. 1:20). He may be called upon to die as a martyr or by some other cause whereby a testimony of the Lord is rendered to those who witness it.

Secondly, the believer dies because his work of service on earth for the Lord is completed (Acts 13:36; 2 Tim. 4:7; 2 Peter 1:14).

Thirdly, the believer may die under the chastening hand of God. It is possible for a Christian to behave so poorly in this world as a witness for the Lord that God would take him away from his place of testimony on earth. He would be called home to heaven (John 15:2; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 5:2; 11:30, James 5:20; 1 John 5:16).

Christ’s Victory Over Death

Christ has gone into death and has won a great victory over it for the children of God. Hebrews 2:14-15 says, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Prior to the death and resurrection of Christ, Satan had wielded “the power of death” over the consciences of men making them afraid of what lies beyond life on earth. He has used “the king of terrors” (which is the fear of death) to his advantage, holding men in bondage and fear (Job 18:14). “The power of death” is not the power to take a person’s life. Satan doesn’t have the power to take a person’s life—only God holds the power of life and death in His hand (Dan. 5:23; Job 2:6). It is the dread of death—its “fear factor.” Nor is “the power of death” Satan’s power to deceive Christians with his wiles. True believers can be, and often are, deceived by his “stratagems” (Eph. 6:11 – W. Kelly’s Translation), even though God has made ample provision for us against such in “the whole armour of God.”

Christ has gone into death and has robbed the devil of his power to terrify the believer with death. On the other side of death, the Lord now stands victorious. He has “the keys of Hades and of death” in His hand, and is saying, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [Hades] and of death” (Rev. 1:18). Christ has conquered death having loosed its “pangs” (Acts 2:24 – W. Kelly’s Translation). The “pangs of death” are the fears one might have as to what lies beyond death. Since Christ has loosed the pangs, the enlightened believer who faces death need not fear. Christ has gone down into “the dust of death” and annulled it (Psa. 22:15) and has left but its “shadow” for the child of God to pass through (Psa. 23:4). We may be called to go through the article of death, but its “sting,” or “pangs” (the dread factor), is taken away (1 Cor. 15:55). The wonderful news of this has been brought to us through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:10).

As mentioned, death is a condition of the body after the soul and spirit depart from it. It is a temporary state, for all the dead will rise—both saved and lost. The Scripture says, “For as in the Adam all die, thus also in the Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22-23 – J. N. Darby Trans.).

The dread factor in death has been “annulled” presently for the believer in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 1:10 – J. N. Darby Trans.). The believer’s body, however, is still subject to death and he will not have “victory” over physical death until the Lord comes (1 Cor. 15:54, 57). Even after the coming of the Lord, death will still be in the creation and will not be “destroyed” by the Lord until the end of the Millennium (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 20:14). Hence, for the believer, death is annulled now, and he is waiting for his victory over it; and then later, there will be the complete destruction of it altogether.

Three Groups of People Will Not Die

There are at least three groups of people who will never experience physical death:

Christians who will be alive on earth when the Lord comes—the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:15-18). They will be called away to heaven without passing through the article of death.

Those on earth at the time of the Appearing of Christ (at the end of the Great Tribulation) who have rejected the gospel of the grace of God will be taken at that time by the angels and cast alive into the lake of fire (Matt. 13:40-42, 49-50; 24:40-41).

The Millennial saints (converted Jews and Gentiles) who will be transported from this present earth to the “new earth” at the end of the 1000-year reign of Christ (2 Peter 3:12-13).

Death is Not the Cessation of Existence

Men like to think that death is the cessation of a person’s existence so that they can live as they please and escape the consequences of their sins. However, death does not mean extinction. The whole tenor of the Word of God assumes that there is life after death. The Bible teaches that all the dead “live unto Him” (Luke 20:38). Even though the body dies, the soul and the spirit still live on. The human body is mortal—that is, it is subject to death (Rom. 6:12; 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:53-54; 2 Cor. 4:11), but the soul and spirit are immortal—they are not subject to death. When God created man, he became “a living soul,” not a dying soul (Gen. 2:7). The term “mortal,” is never used in the Bible in connection with the soul.

Scripture says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). This clearly shows that there is a hereafter when a person dies. For those who die in their sins it will be judgment. But there can’t be a judgment of something that has ceased to exist! The Lord’s account of the rich man and Lazarus confirms this fact (Luke 16:19-31). It clearly indicates that there is life after death. Ecclesiastes 12:7, tells us that a person’s spirit does not cease to exist when he dies, but that it returns to God to give account for one’s actions (Rom. 14:12).

The Lord Jesus affirmed this fact when the Sadducees confronted Him. He quoted Exodus 3:6, when God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Matt. 22:32). If those patriarchs had ceased to exist when they died, God could not have announced Himself as their God. Furthermore, the Lord told the dying thief that he would be with Him in paradise after he died (Luke 23:43). The Apostle Paul also said, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). To be “present with the Lord” after one dies means that the person is definitely alive.

The Intermediate State

When physical death occurs, the soul and the spirit pass into an intermediate state. Just as death is a temporary condition for the body, so also is the condition of the spirit and the soul when disembodied. All who pass into this intermediate state will be brought out of it some day. This state has also been called, “the separate state,” or “the unclothed state” (2 Cor. 5:4).

The Grave (“Qeber” or “Mnemeion”)

The custodian of the body while the spirit and soul have been separated from it through death is the grave. Even though many bodies have never been properly buried (some have been eaten by animals, some have been burned, etc.), still, in Scripture, a dead body, in whatever state it may be, is seen as in the grave.

The word in the Old Testament Hebrew for the grave, or a sepulcher, is “Qeber.” It is a literal or physical place—an actual burial site. In the case of Abraham that burying place was “before Mamre” (Gen. 50:13). In the case of Saul and Jonathan it was “in Zelah, in the sepulcher of Kish” (2 Sam. 21:14). “Qeber,” is something that can be dug (Gen. 50:5), and a person’s body is said to go into it (1 Kings 13:30; 2 Kings 13:21; Jer. 26:23).

In the New Testament the word in the Greek for the grave is “Mnemeion.” It may be translated “tomb” (Matt. 27:60; Mark 6:29), or “sepulcher” (Matt. 23:29; John 19:41).

The grave is a temporary place for dead bodies, for the Lord said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth” (John 5:28-29). More will be said on this when we consider resurrection.

“Sheol” or “Hades”

While the bodies of men who have died are in the grave, their disembodied spirits and souls pass into the world of unseen spirits. The Biblical name for this temporary condition of disembodied spirits and souls is “Sheol,” or “Hades.” As “Qeber” and “Mnemeion” are the Hebrew and Greek words for the grave or a sepulcher, “Sheol” and “Hades” are Hebrew and Greek words for the unseen world of disembodied souls and spirits—the disembodied state. They are simply two different words from two different languages describing one thing. This can be easily proved by comparing Psalm 16:10 with Acts 2:27. These two original language words have been adopted into the text in most English translations.

Unfortunately, the King James Version (KJV), which is usually a reliable translation, does not use “Sheol” and “Hades” in its text (as most other translations do), but translates the two words “hell,” the “grave,” or the “pit.” This has led to considerable confusion, for the grave is a temporary place of dead bodies and hell is the eternal abode of the lost, not the temporary condition of disembodied spirits. In the KJV translation of the Old Testament, “Sheol” has been wrongly translated “grave” (31 times), “hell” (31 times) and the “pit” (3 times). In the KJV translation of the New Testament, “Hades” has been erroneously translated “hell” in ten passages (Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; 1 Cor. 15:55 – margin; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14). We would do well to go through our KJV New Testaments and mark these passages as “Hades,” rather than “hell,” to put an end to the confusion in our subsequent Bible studies.

“Sheol,” or “Hades,” is not a place, but a condition with two opposing states in it. It simply means, “the unseen world of disembodied spirits.” J. N. Darby’s Translation footnote in Matthew 11:23, gives a helpful explanation of this condition of the disembodied spirits and souls. He says, “‘Hades’ like ‘Sheol’ in the Old Testament (see note at Psa. 6:5) is a very vague expression used in general to designate the temporary state of departed spirits, the unseen or invisible world of spirits, upon which, till the coming of Christ, darkness and obscurity rested.”

Two States in “Sheol” or “Hades”

As mentioned, “Sheol,” or “Hades,” are general terms having to do with departed souls and spirits without describing their state. They are used in Scripture for the departed righteous (Gen. 37:35; Job 14:13; Acts 2:27; 1 Cor. 15:55 – the Greek text), and also for the departed wicked (Psa. 9:17; 31:17; Ezek. 31:16-17; Matt. 11:23; Luke 16:23).

With the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world, we have been privileged to know more than what was revealed in the Old Testament concerning the disembodied state. The Lord taught that there are two opposing states in the world of unseen, disembodied spirits. There is a state of bliss for the righteous in heaven and a state of torment for those who are lost.

The Lord’s description of “the rich man” and “Lazarus” indicates this (Luke 16:19-31). It is not exactly a parable, for it doesn’t bear the marks of His other parables. For instance, He never used names of people in His parables, but here He does. The story is, rather, an actual history of two persons. It is given in a Jewish setting, because that’s who His audience was, and much symbolism is used. If we take the story literally, we will come away with all sorts of mistaken ideas. For instance, we would think that people in a lost eternity can look up and see people in heaven, and that they can speak to each other.

An objector might tell us that if the eyes and the tongue of the rich man are symbolical, so must the torments and the flame be symbolical. And they are quite right. The physical torments described in this account are symbolic of spiritual torments that affect the soul and the spirit. They are anthropomorphisms—that is, the use of human features to symbolize certain real things. For instance, Scripture speaks of the “eye” of God, or the “hand” of God. God does not have a body with eyes and hands for He is a spirit (John 4:24). But human features, such as an eye, are used to symbolize the fact that God knows everything (His omniscience). His power is at work everywhere and is often used under the figure of a “hand” (His omnipotence). Similarly, the disembodied soul and spirit of the rich man in Hades did not have eyes and fingers, etc. Such anthropomorphisms are used to describe his torment in terms which we can understand.

Some have imagined that their departed loved ones in heaven are looking down at them as they live here on earth, but Scripture does not support this idea. The account of the rich man and Lazarus shows that people in the disembodied state are fully conscious, having memories and emotions, etc. However, they are not cognizant of things presently happening in this world since they are in another world. Job 14, which has been called “the great resurrection chapter of the Old Testament,” speaks of persons in the disembodied state having no knowledge of current things on earth. Verse 21 says, “His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Solomon also said, “The dead know not any thing” (Eccl. 9:5). That is, they don’t know anything that is happening on earth. When Samuel was brought up out of the world of the unseen departed spirits, he had to be informed of the present condition of Israel (1 Sam. 28:15-19). The same is said of Abraham (Isa. 63:16).

Others have mistakenly assumed that these verses we have just quoted are teaching that departed souls are asleep or unconscious—the so-called doctrine of “soul-sleep.” But they don’t mean that at all. Luke 16:19-31, shows conclusively that all souls are conscious after death. The Lord Himself said that all the dead “live unto Him” (Luke 20:38). The context of Ecclesiastes has to do with what is “under the sun” (Eccl. 1:3, etc.), which is an expression that refers to life in this world. Such verses as Ecclesiastes 9:5, must be taken in their context. Hence, the “dead know not any thing”—that is, in connection with what is going on in this world. Similarly, we do not know what is happening right now in Buckingham Palace because we are not there to take account of it, but that fact doesn’t mean that we are unconscious. We are simply not there to know.

As mentioned, there are two opposite conditions in the disembodied state. One is “paradise” (Luke 23:43) and the other is “prison” (1 Peter 3:19). The righteous—those who have died with faith—are in “paradise.” The unrighteous—those who have died without faith—are in “prison.”

An illustration the late Albert Hayhoe used is helpful in understanding this division in “Sheol” or “Hades.” He said that the assembly meeting room in the town where he lived was built in such a way that upon entering it, you were faced with a half flight of stairs to the upper floor, and a half flight of stairs down to the basement. He said that if we were to watch someone come down the street and go into that building, that person would disappear behind the doors (which he likened to death), and we wouldn’t know where he went; whether it was to the upper or the lower floor. The same takes place when a person passes through the article of death. His body goes into the grave, but his soul and spirit go into “Hades” (Sheol)—either to “paradise” or to “prison.”

Paradise

The righteous in “Sheol,” or “Hades,” are in “paradise” with Christ (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:1-4; Rev. 2:7). “Paradise” means “the garden of delights,” and describes the state of the righteous in heaven resting in bliss. The Apostle Paul equates it with “the third heaven,” which is the immediate presence of God (2 Cor. 12:1-4).

The righteous in “paradise” would include all those who have died in faith, and also those who died in infancy who were under the age of understanding (2 Sam. 12:23; 1 Kings 14:13). The Lord said, “In heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10). He used the word “angels” for their disembodied spirits. It is also used so with Peter in Acts 12:15. While the souls and spirits of departed infants are in heaven (paradise), they are not part of the Church of God. Those who compose the Church have been sealed with the Spirit of God upon believing the gospel of their salvation (Eph. 1:13). This requires faith and some intelligence in the message of the gospel. Persons in this class of departed infants would be among those who are the friends of “the Bridegroom” (John 3:29). They will have a blessed portion with Christ in the resurrection and will reign with Him in the Millennium over the earth.

The saints who are in “paradise” are said to be “unclothed” (2 Cor. 5:4), and also said to be “with Christ; which is far better” (Phil. 1:23; Luke 23:43). They are in heaven, but not yet glorified. They are waiting (as we are waiting on earth) for the coming of the Lord. When He comes, He will effect the first resurrection, at which time they (and we) will be glorified. Both the saints alive on earth, and the saints who have departed are waiting—the difference is that the departed saints are in a brighter waiting room in heaven. More will be said on this when we consider resurrection.

The Jews believed that their departed forefather Abraham was in the highest place of happiness. Hence, when the Lord spoke of Lazarus being in “Abraham’s bosom” they clearly understood that He was referring to this state of bliss (Luke 16:22). This is a figurative term; there is no literal place in Abraham’s bosom for the blessed righteous.

As mentioned earlier, the gospel has shed much more light on the intermediate state than what the Old Testament saints had. We can now speak more definitively concerning the righteous in that condition. Hence, in the New Testament, the word “Hades” all but disappears in application to the righteous. It is only used twice in that way: in speaking of the Lord when He was in the disembodied state (Acts 2:27), and for the saints at the time of the first resurrection (1 Cor. 15:55 – the Greek text). The reason for this is that, since we know specifically of the condition of the saints as being in “paradise,” it is not necessary to use the vague and general term of “Hades.”

To illustrate this, we might speak of a person we know as having gone to Britain. But after learning of his exact whereabouts, we thereafter speak of him in the specific place to which he has gone. We don’t just say that the person is in Britain; we say that he is in London. Hence, with believers who have departed from this world through death; we don’t refer to them as being in “Hades,” though they are. Christian intelligence on this subject enables us to say that they are “with Christ” in heaven—in “paradise.”

Even though the departed righteous are in an intermediate state, being separated from their bodies, their souls and spirits are in a fixed condition of bliss in “paradise.” When they are raised and glorified at the first resurrection, they will continue for eternity in that state of bliss.

Prison

The unrighteous in “Hades” (Sheol) are in “prison” (1 Peter 3:19). It is a condition of torment (Luke 16:23). The “prison” is a “holding tank,” so to speak, of the disembodied wicked. While their condition in “prison” is temporary, their state of torment is eternal. It is a fixed condition. Once a person passes out of this world in his sins he is in a lost eternity, and no amount of prayer will avail a person then! Job said, “I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house of assemblage for all living. Indeed, no prayer [availeth] when He stretcheth out [His] hand: though they cry when He destroyeth” (Job 30:23-24 – J. N. Darby Trans.). The Lord Himself said that He only had power to forgive sins on earth (Matt. 9:6). Once a person draws his last breath and passes into a lost eternity the mighty power of Christ’s forgiveness cannot reach him there. How solemn!

Isaiah 24:21-22 says, “It shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.” The “host of the high ones that are on high” is Satan and his fallen angels. Just after the Appearing of Christ, they will be taken and cast into “the pit.” See also Revelation 20:1-3. The “kings upon the earth” are the armies of the nations that will be gathered in the land of Israel. They will be judged at that time. They will be killed, and their souls and spirits put in “prison.” They will be held there for “many days” (through the Millennium), and then “visited” by a further execution of judgment and then assigned to the lake of fire.

Since Acts 2:27 says that the Lord’s soul went into Hades after he died (but before He was raised), some have imagined that He went down into the “prison” and preached the gospel to the spirits of disembodied men there, giving them a second chance to get out of there. The verse used to support this idea is 1 Peter 3:18-20. It says, “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also He went and preached unto the spirits [which are] in prison; which sometime [heretofore] were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”

This, however, is a twisted use of the Scriptures. It is wrongly assumed that Hades is exclusively a condition of suffering. And, on that false premise, people mistakenly conclude that after the Lord died, He went into that state where disembodied spirits of wicked men are and preached to them. That is not at all what the passage in 1 Peter 3 is teaching. Peter is speaking of the Lord’s resurrection, not His spirit in the disembodied state. He is referring to the work of the Holy Spirit, saying, “In which (the Spirit) ... He (the Lord Jesus) went and preached to the spirits [which are] in prison.” The point of the passage is that the same Spirit that raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead was also active in Noah’s day when he preached to that antediluvian world. Speaking to men on earth by the Holy Spirit was the way in which the Lord worked in Old Testament times. He warned, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man” (Gen. 6:3; Psa. 139:7). Peter affirms this in the first chapter of his epistle, telling us that “the Spirit of Christ” was the moving power in testimony throughout Old Testament times.

The “spirits” of those men that Noah preached to long ago are now in “prison” because they refused the message God gave to them when they were alive on earth (1 Peter 4:6). To make no mistake as to when Christ preached by the Spirit to those people, Peter adds, “Which sometime [heretofore] were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” This proves that it was in Noah's day, not when Christ was disembodied in the interval between His death and resurrection. There is not a word in the passage intimating that the Lord, in His disembodied state, went and preached in the “prison.” Neither does it say that these people were disembodied spirits when they were preached to; the preaching happened when they were alive on earth (in their bodies) back in the days of Noah.

Such an interpretation is irrational and raises more questions than it answers. It is absurd to think that when the Lord died, that of all the of people in “prison,” in Hades, He would single out that one generation of people—a relative few—and offer them a second chance. What about the people who lived during other Old Testament periods? Why wouldn’t the Lord give them a second chance too? And what about those who have died and have gone into the “prison” after the Lord rose from the dead—during this present Church period? Why wouldn’t He give them a second chance too? And how would they ever get such a chance if they died after He rose from the dead? The Lord would have to die again to go down into the “prison” in Hades to preach to them. This is absurd. If the doctrine of a second chance after death were true, then why would the Apostle Paul say, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation?” (2 Cor. 6:2) Why all the need for urgency in the gospel?

Scripture is clear that once a person dies and passes into that state of torment on account of their sins not being atoned for, the condition is “fixed.” They will come out of the prison when they are resurrected, but they will not come out of that state of torment. This is emphasized in the account of the rich man and Lazarus. “Beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence” (Luke 16:26).

The Pit (Abyss)

The “pit,” or the “abyss” (same word in the Greek), is a temporary place of confinement for the wicked angelic spirits (Isa. 24:21-22; Rev. 9:1-2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1-3). It is translated “the deep” in Luke 8:31.

While angels do not die (Luke 20:35-36), those who are found to be wicked will be consigned to the “pit” when Christ sets up His Millennial kingdom (Isa. 24:21-22). Some wicked angels are in the “pit” now. The Apostle Peter said, “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [the deepest pit of gloom], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). The word wrongly translated “hell” here, in the KJV, is not “Ghenna” but “Tartarus” in the Greek. It should be translated, “the deepest pit of gloom” (J. N. Darby Translation). Apparently, this is a special place of solitary confinement in the “abyss” or “pit.”

Some of the fallen angels in the days of Noah sinned in such a corrupt way that God intervened in judgment and cast them into this “deepest pit of gloom.” Jude adds more light on it, saying, “The angels which kept not their first [original] estate, but left their own habitation [dwelling], He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” At the time of the flood, some of the angels who fell with Satan before the creation, chose to not keep their “original estate,” which was sexless (Matt. 22:30). They “left their own habitation [dwelling]” which was in the heavens, and then came down and got involved in the degenerated practice of co-habiting with “the daughters of men” (Gen. 6:4). Apparently, their design was to make a super-race of beings. We are told that there were “giants,” “mighty men [heroes],” and “men of renown” on the earth in those days (Gen. 6:4). Such a practice was so corrupt that God wiped them all out in the judgment of the flood—except for “eight” persons (1 Peter 3:20). The wicked angels involved in this practice were cast into “the deepest pit of gloom.” It is so defiling that God has drawn a covering over it and has told us very little in His Word.

The “pit” is a temporary place of judgment in which fallen angels are held until “the judgment of the great day,” which will be at the end of time (Rev. 20:10). While those wicked creatures are confined to the “pit” until that day, their wicked influences will be let loose on the earth once again during the Great Tribulation under the direction of the Antichrist (Rev. 9:1-11).

In Summary

In summary, there are three words used in Scripture to describe the temporary state of all God’s created beings in the world of unseen spirits. They all begin with the letter “P.”

“Paradise” for righteous men.

“Prison” for wicked men.

“Pit” for Satan and the wicked angels.

Resurrection

As (physical) death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body (James 2:26), resurrection is the reunion of the soul and spirit with the body (1 Kings 17:21-22; Luke 8:55). All who die, whether righteous or wicked, will experience resurrection, for death is a temporary condition. The grave is only a temporary custodian of the body, and Hades is only the temporary custodian of the soul and spirit.

While all who die will be raised, not all the dead rise simultaneously. There are two resurrections. The Lord said, “Wonder not at this; for an hour is coming, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall go forth; those that have practiced good unto a resurrection of life, and those that did evil unto a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29 – W. Kelly Trans.; Acts 24:15). The “first resurrection” (Rev. 20:4-6), also called the “resurrection of life” (John 5:29) and the “resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14), is a resurrection of righteous persons only. The second resurrection, which is called the “resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29) and the “resurrection of the unjust” (Acts 24:15), is a resurrection of wicked persons who have died in their sins. There are a thousand years between these two resurrections.

The First Resurrection

The first resurrection is a resurrection “from among the dead” (Matt. 17:9; Phil. 3:11; Col. 1:18, etc. – J. N. Darby Trans.), because it is selective in that the righteous are called out “from among” the wicked. It will take place in three phases.

Christ has been raised from among the dead first as a sample of what is to come for the saints. He is “the firstfruits.” He is now in heaven in His glorified body (Phil. 3:21). Then, at His coming (the Rapture) the sleeping saints will be raised from among the dead. This are all the righteous from Abel (the first man to die) down to the last person who will die before the Rapture. Then it will be said, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave [Hades], where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55) “Death,” which has claimed the body, will not be able to hold it any longer. “Hades,” in which are the departed spirits, will lose its victory of holding them in that separate state. They will rise together with the saints who are alive on earth at that time to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:15-18). Then, any who will have died in faith during the time of Daniel’s seventieth week (the Tribulation period) will be raised at the end of that seven-year period (Rev. 14:13). To summarize these three, there is:

Firstly, “Christ the firstfruits” (1 Cor. 15:23; Matt. 28:1-8).

Secondly, “they that are Christ’s at His coming” – the Rapture (1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 4:15-18; Heb. 11:40).

Thirdly, those who turn to God during the Tribulation period and are martyred (Rev. 6:9-11; 11:7-9; 15:2-4) will be raised at the end of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 11:11-12; 14:13).

The moment of the resurrection and the glorification of the saints is at the Lord’s coming—the Rapture. It has been called, “The moment for which all other moments have been made!” All the righteous who have died in past ages, from Adam to the last soul saved in the Church period, will see the Lord’s face for the first time together! Those in the disembodied state in Hades (Sheol) are not yet looking upon the Lord’s face, though their spirits are with Him in paradise. They are presently participating in the joys of heaven without their bodies. But when we are glorified together, we will all see His face for the first time. God has purposed that there should be one defining moment of joy and victory when our eyes meet His eyes for the first time. What a moment that will be!

Resurrection for the believer is the full and final aspect of his deliverance from the whole effect and consequence of sin (Rom. 8:11, 23; Eph. 4:30). The bodies of the living saints will “put on immortality,” and the bodies of the saints who have died will “put on incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:53-54). We will be “glorified together” (Rom. 8:17). The Bible speaks of it as being “clothed upon with our house which is from heaven” (2 Cor. 5:2).

The saints who have departed to be with Christ do not exactly receive “new” bodies at the Lord’s coming, though we often hear people saying that. To teach that the saints receive a new and different body at His coming, in a sense, denies the resurrection of the bodies they once lived in. If they get new bodies at the Lord’s coming, then their old bodies don’t really rise from the dead after all! Scripture is careful never to say that the resurrection body is new in that sense. When speaking of resurrection, it always says “changed” (1 Cor. 15:51-52; Phil. 3:21; Job 14:14). This defines what will happen at the moment of resurrection more accurately. That old body will be raised, changed, and glorified all “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” (1 Cor. 15:52).

When glorified, the saints will not have their ailments and old age, etc., but will be in “the dew of their youth” like Christ (Compare Psalm 110:3 with Philippians 3:21). Their fallen sin-natures will be eradicated forever, and they will sin no more (Heb. 11:40; 12:23 – “made perfect” 1 John 3:2).

Oftentimes people will speak of ones who have departed to be with Christ in the intermediate state as being in glory. We don’t mean to “make a man an offender for a word” (Isa. 29:21), but this is not quite accurate, for they are not glorified yet. The disembodied state is not glory. They will not be glorified until they are called away at the Lord’s coming (the Rapture). Christ is in glory now (1 Peter 1:21; 2 Cor. 3:18) and is waiting to bring His people into that condition of glory at His coming.

This is confusing to some because (in their thinking) if Christ is in the glory, and the departed saints are “with Christ” (Phil. 1:23), then they must be in the glory too. This misunderstanding comes from assuming that the conventional expression, “in the glory,” is a place where the Lord is in heaven. However, it is not a place, but a glorified condition. The Lord Jesus is in a glorified condition in heaven “with” the departed saints who are not yet in that condition.

All the dead who have their part in the first resurrection will live and reign with Christ in the heavens during the Millennium (Rev. 20:4-6). They will be both morally “like” Christ (1 John 3:2) and physically “like” Christ (Phil. 3:21). Scripture says, “If we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” (Rom. 6:5).

The Second Resurrection

The first resurrection will take place before the Millennium, but the second resurrection will take place after the Millennium (Rev. 20:7, 11-15). The wicked dead will be raised together to stand before the “great white throne” and will receive their sentence of eternal judgment. All who partake in this resurrection, which comprises the rest of the dead, will be cast into “the lake of fire.” This is very sad and solemn.

Reincarnation—the belief of many eastern religions—which supposes that the souls of the dead return to earth in different forms to live again is surely a false thing (Heb. 9:27). To say that the Bible supports this notion is ludicrous. The reincarnation idea is that a person comes back as another person or animal. There are 10 or 12 people in Scripture who were raised from the dead, but they always came back in their own body and were the same person. Malachi 4:5-6 and Matthew 11:14 have been used to support the erroneous idea. The Lord spoke of John the Baptist as Elijah, but he was not speaking literally, but that John would come forth in his ministry in the same character and spirit as Elijah. Luke 1:17 confirms this, saying, “He shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The Bible teaches that once a person dies, he does not return to earth to live again. It says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). It is an appointment that only the wicked keep, for all who have faith have been delivered from the judgment of their sins. The Lord said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

The Lord Jesus said of the dead, “Neither can they die any more” (Luke 20:36). This confirms that they can’t keep coming back to the earth to live and die over and over again. King David could say of his child that died, “Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Sam. 12:23). See also Ecclesiastes 12:7.

Final Destiny

Three Final Destinies, But Two Final Conditions

Many confuse man’s final destiny with man’s final condition. The Bible teaches that there are only two final conditions for man—to be blessed of God with Christ, or to be under the damnation of God in hell (the lake of fire). But the Bible also teaches that there are three distinct destinies, or places, in which men will spend eternity—each are said to be prepared of the Lord.

Firstly, the Lord has gone to “prepare” a place in the Father’s house for the heavenly saints (John 14:3).

Secondly, the earthly saints will inherit the kingdom on earth, which has been “prepared” for them (Matt. 25:34).

Thirdly, there is the lake of fire that has been “prepared” for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).

Heaven

At the moment of the Rapture the saints from Old and New Testament times will be glorified together and will be called away to “the Father’s house” in heaven (John 14:3). The saints who have died, and are presently disembodied in the separate state, are not in “the Father’s house” now. The Father’s house is not an intermediate state, but the final and eternal abode of the glorified saints. The Father’s house is more than glory; it is where the Father’s heart is displayed and He Himself is known in glory. Though the glorified saints will not see the Father (for “God is a spirit”—John 4:24), they will enjoy His presence and know His heart of love in its fullness. The believer can enjoy the love and presence of the Father now by the Spirit (John 14:21, 23), but then it will be in its fullness.

There will be a happy reunion of the saints who have been separated by death. It appears that they will recognize one another in that day as Peter, James, and John recognized Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, even though they had not previously met them (Luke 9:28-36).

The glorification of the sons of God will occur at the Rapture (Rom. 8:17), but the manifestation of the sons of God will take place at the Appearing of Christ (Rom. 8:19). When the Lord comes out of heaven at His Appearing, He will bring His glorified saints with Him, and they will be manifested as such before the world. The Apostle John said, “Beloved, now are we the sons [children] of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). In that day, “He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe” (2 Thess. 1:10).

The heavenly saints will live and reign with Christ over the earth in the Millennium (Psa. 103:19; Dan. 7:22, 27; Rev. 20:4). Following that 1000-year reign of Christ, the heavenly saints will live with Him for eternity in the “new heavens” that God will have prepared (2 Peter 3:13). This is their eternal destiny.

Earth

After the Lord has called His heavenly saints into the Father’s house (at the Rapture), He will begin a work on earth to save a remnant of Israel and a great multitude of Gentiles who will have their portion on earth during the Millennium (Rev. 7). These are God’s earthly saints who will have an earthly inheritance and an earthly destiny (Psa. 37:9). They will live and reign with Christ on earth in the Millennium.

After the Millennium has run its course, these earthly saints will be glorified and transported to “a new earth” where they will live for eternity in fellowship with the Lord (2 Peter 3:13). This is their eternal destiny.

Hell

“Hell” is the final and eternal abode of the lost. God had no intention that any human being should ever end up in Hell. It was prepared for “the devil and his angels,” but sad to say, many human beings will have their end there because they refused every gesture of God’s grace toward them.

“Hell” is the English word for the Greek word “Ghenna.” “Ghenna” refers to the valley of Hinnom, which is a valley outside of Jerusalem (in the south) to which the dung gate led. It was the site where the inhabitants of the city burned their refuse. There was a fire there called “Topheth,” or “Tophet,” for that purpose; it burned constantly, day and night (2 Kings 23:10; Isa. 30:33; Jer. 7:31-32). Since the fire in the valley of Hinnom never went out, it was an apt figure for the eternality of hell.

The Lord was the first to reveal the truth of the final state of the lost. He is the only One in the Bible who ever used the word “Ghenna,” except for his brother James, who used it only once (James 3:6). As mentioned, “Ghenna” is usually translated “Hell,” but on a couple of occasions (in the KJV) it is translated “hell-fire,” which is quite fitting, because “fire” in Scripture is a figure of judgment.

As stated earlier, the KJV incorrectly translates the Greek word “Hades” as “Hell,” and it has caused some confusion. We are thankful to say that the KJV correctly translates the Greek word “Ghenna” as “Hell,” or as “Hell-fire.” This can be seen in the following passages: Matthew 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6. (All other places where “Hell” appears in the KJV are incorrect, and should be translated “Hades.”)

“Hell” (Ghenna) and “the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14-15) are the same place. It is the final abode of the lost. “The lake of fire” is a symbolic expression indicating eternal judgment. A “lake” is a place of confinement; water flows into it from rivers and creeks and is contained there. “Fire,” as we said, is a figure of judgment. Hence, “the lake of fire” is a place of confinement under the judgment of God.

Untold harm has been done by preachers enlarging on the terms used in Scripture to describe eternal punishment in a literal sense. It leads to many contradictions. For instance, if the “fire” were literal, then the bodies of the lost cast into the lake of fire would burn up and be gone. A person would not be in Hell forever. Another description of this final destiny of the lost is “outer darkness” (Matt. 22:13). But this description, if taken literally, contradicts the first one. Fire, as we all know, produces light, which means that there wouldn’t be darkness there after all! Moreover, we are told that the lost will be “bound hand and foot” and cast into Hell where they will be “weeping and gnashing” their teeth (Matt. 22:13). If the fire were a literal thing it would burn off their fetters and they would be loose. And how could they weep and gnash their teeth if their bodies were burnt up?

The answer, of course, is that all such terms are symbolic. We have already explained the (symbolic) meaning of a “lake” and a “fire,” so we’ll pass on to some of the other figures. “Outer darkness” signifies extreme aloneness. Every individual in Hell will never see another person again! People talk about having plenty of friends there, but there is no truth to it. Being “bound” indicates that the person will not be free to do his own will. On earth they lived to do their own will in independence of God; in Hell that liberty will be taken away forever. There will be “weeping,” which indicates self-pity. And there will also be “gnashing of teeth,” which is the casting of insults and cursing back at God (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 24:51; 25:30). Compare Acts 7:54 and Revelation 16:10-11.

The Difference Between the Prison in Hades and Hell

“Hades” is a temporary condition of disembodied spirits and souls; whereas “Hell” (Ghenna) is an eternal place for the lost—where the whole person is cast, including the body. One is a condition and the other is a place. “Hades” affects the spirit and the soul only, whereas “Hell” affects the whole person—spirit, soul, and body. The Lord said, “ ... that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:29). The body does not go into “Hades,” but it does go into “Hell.” See also Matthew 18:9.

An illustration has been used to show the difference between the temporary condition of the lost in “Hades” and the final condition of the lost in “Hell” (the lake of fire). Suppose a person is found breaking the law, and upon being apprehended he is put in the county jail, which is a temporary place of confinement. He remains there until his court date, at which time he is brought before a judge in the court of law and is sentenced for his wrongdoing. He is then transferred to the state penitentiary where he serves his term. The county jail might represent the prison in “Hades,” and the state penitentiary, “Hell.” Of course, in the case of “Hell” a person never finishes serving his sentence.

The Judgment of the Living and the Dead

Contrary to the thinking of many, there is nobody in “Hell” (the lake of fire) today. There are two groups of wicked people who will be cast into Hell at two different times.

The first group will be cast there at the Appearing of Christ. At that moment, the Lord will dispatch His angels and they will go out over His kingdom (the sphere on earth where Christ’s name has been professed—i.e. Christendom) and cast the wicked into the lake of fire. The Lord said, “The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41-42). He also said, “So shall it be at the end of the world [age]: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:49-50). Matthew 24:40-41 adds, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

The first ones of this initial group to be cast into “Hell” (the lake of fire) are the Beast and the false prophet (the Antichrist—Rev. 19:20).

Those who will be dealt with at that time are the most responsible people on the face of the earth. They have heard the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24) and either professed to be believers, but were not, or they have been outright rejecters of it. They have enjoyed, more or less, the benefits and privileges that Christianity has brought into this world but have never received Christ as their personal Saviour. They will not come before “the great white throne” (Rev. 20:11-15) at the end of time to be judged because there is no need for it. They have come face to face, so to speak, with the Judge Himself, and have been caught red-handed at His appearing. He will assign them straight to Hell on the spot. This judgment is called the judgment of “the quick [living]” (2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5), because it is a judgment of living persons. These people will not die; they will be cast alive into the lake of fire!

The second group of people who will be cast into “Hell” (the lake of fire) are the dead—those who are in the “prison” in the intermediate state. As mentioned earlier, all who have died in their sins down through the long range of time will be resurrected at the end of the 1000-year reign of Christ (the Millennium). This is the second resurrection. They will stand before the Lord at “the great white throne” to be sentenced for their eternal punishment (Rev. 20:11-15; 21:8). Being resurrected, they will stand there alive, and will be cast alive into “the lake of fire.” In fact, every person who is cast into Hell will go there alive. Their bodies will be constituted to last through eternal ages and will exist in “the second death” forever. What a solemn thing!

Eternal Punishment

Some think that “everlasting destruction” (2 Thess. 1:9; Phil. 3:19; Matt. 7:13; 2 Peter 2:1, 12; 3:16, etc.) means that people are consumed by the fire of God’s judgment, and that they will cease to exist thereafter. This false doctrine is called Annihilationism. Our experience with those who deny eternal punishment is that they make little or no appeal to Scripture, and much is made of human sentiment and reason. However, we must let God’s holy Word settle the question. It indicates that “everlasting destruction” has not to do with the loss of being, but with the loss of well-being.

It is clear from Job 30:24 that the lost still exist after they die. It says that they “cry” out even after they have been destroyed.

Revelation 19:20, tells us that the Beast and the false prophet were cast alive into the lake of fire. Then, in chapter 20, we are told that the devil is put into the bottomless pit for the duration of the Millennium and then let loose. And after a brief rebellion we read, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). Notice: The Beast and the false prophet were still there in the lake of fire after the thousand-year reign of Christ! They didn’t cease to exist.

The Lord Jesus said, “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). “Abideth,” is an on-going thing. If the wrath of God abides on the unbeliever, there must be the existence of the unbeliever for it to abide on him.

Again, it says in Revelation 14:11, “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever.” Torment signifies a condition that requires a living person to endure it. You cannot torment what does not exist.

The Lord also said, “Their worm dieth not” (Mark 9:48). This indicates that the torments of a guilty conscience will not die in the lost under eternal punishment.

A number of Scriptures tell us that the fire of God’s judgment “never shall be quenched” (Matt. 3:12; Mark 9:43, 45; Luke 3:17). What need would there be for it to continue if those who are cast there are annihilated immediately?

Some tell us that death itself is the judgment. But Scripture says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this (death) the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). If “after” death is the judgment, how could death be the judgment?

In Scripture, the word “destroy” does not mean to annihilate something—the cessation of its existence. The word is “Apollumi” in the Greek, and is used for the Lord, the Good Shepherd, finding His “lost” sheep. He said, “Rejoice with Me; for I have found My sheep which was lost (Apollumi)” (Luke 15:6). Could the Lord have found something that had ceased to exist?

Did we not exist before we were picked up and saved by the Lord? The Apostle Paul uses the same word, saying, “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost (Apollumi)” (2 Cor. 4:3). Could we say that the unbelieving sinners of this world have ceased to exist when they are still alive and moving around on earth?

Even in our ordinary language, “destruction” doesn’t mean the cessation of existence. For instance, if you took an axe and destroyed a beautiful table, there would be just as much material lying in a useless heap on the floor as when it sat as a beautiful, useful table. Once it has been destroyed, it is no longer useful for the purpose for which it was made. It is the same with the destruction of human beings. Man was made for the glory of God (Isa. 43:21; Rev. 4:11). If he goes into “everlasting destruction,” he can no longer be fitted through salvation for the purpose for which he was created. It is called “everlasting” destruction because there is no recovery from that condition; it is eternal (Mark 3:29).

The Judge of All the Earth Shall Do Right

There won’t be any children or mentally handicapped people who did not reach an age of accountable responsibility in Hell (Deut. 1:39; Jonah 4:11). God is faithful and just, and will not allow any of those “little ones” to perish in a lost eternity (Matt. 18:10-14). They will be accounted for under the shelter of the blood of Christ, even though they were not able to intelligently appreciate it. Regarding such persons, we can take comfort in the Word of God which says, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25) The people who do end up in a lost eternity are responsible human beings who have had plenty of opportunity to believe the testimony that God has given to them of Himself, but they have willfully and consciously refused it.

Nor will there be anyone in Hell (the lake of fire) repenting of their sins and genuinely sorry about what they have done in their lives. Man’s heart will not be altered by a change of circumstances. Men who hate the gospel now will hate it then. As mentioned, there will be “weeping,” but it will only be in self-pity. There will also be “gnashing of teeth,” but it will only be the venting of their anger at God, casting insults and curses at Him.

This shows that pain and suffering do not lead a person to repentance. Scripture says that it is “the goodness of God” that leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4), and there will not be any goodness from God shown to those in Hell. Apart from the new birth, men’s hearts will not change. The Lord said, “That which is flesh is flesh,” meaning that the fallen sin-nature in man cannot be changed, whether by culture, or by education, or by suffering (John 3:6). This is the reason as to why man needs a new nature, which is communicated to him when he is born again.

Furthermore, those in Hell will no longer be loved of God! The Lord said of Jacob (a believer) and Esau (an unbeliever), “I loved Jacob and I hated Esau” (Mal. 1:2-3). This was not said in their lifetime, but long after these two men had passed off the scene. God loves all men while they are here on earth (John 3:16), but if they have refused His grace and testimony and have died in their sins, He ceases to love them. God once loved Esau, but he died as a rejecter of God, and is now no longer loved by Him. What a solemn thing; no one in hell will be able to say (truthfully) that they were not loved by God!

The Final Abode of the Wicked Angels