Since both the wicked and the righteous will die and rest in the grave. What makes their destinies different beyond the grave?

Sin, Evil, Death, Dying, and What Happens After We Die

This series addresses the concern we all have: the concern for sin, evil, discouragement, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.  

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again. (Split)

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

Visit SabbathSchoolDaily.com for more videos like this one.

Inviting God’s Presence

Our Father, we have a hope that extends beyond the grave. Help us live such lives that there might be a difference between us and the wicked. In Jesus’ Name Amen 

The Bible speaks of a resurrection, in which those who are sleeping in the grave will be raised back to life again.

But what are their destinies after the resurrection? When we compare Isaiah 26:14 with Isaiah 26:19 we find that in that resurrection some people remain dead and perish forever while there will be others who be raised from the dead to live forever.

Isaiah 26:14 says a certain group of people will not rise but will receive punishment.

14 They are dead, they will not live; They are deceased, they will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And made all their memory to perish. (Isaiah 26:14) 

Malachi 4:1 lets us know that these individuals will be completely destroyed. They will no longer exist. 

1 “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. (Malachi 4:1)

In contrast, Isaiah indicates that there will be those who will be raised to live again and live forever.

Isaiah 26:19

19 Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead. (Isaiah 26:19)

The previous lessons addressed the hope of the resurrection from a personal perspective as in Job 19:25–27, Psalms. 49:15, and Psalms 71:20. However, the hope of the resurrection is broadened significantly in the book of Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 26:19 not only includes himself in the resurrection, but he also includes the promised body of believers in this event.

Moreover Isaiah, in Isaiah 40 talks of a major distinction between the magnificence of God and the frailty of us humans. Contrasting the life of humans with the word of God, Isaiah indicates in Isaiah 40:6-8, humans are like the grass that withers and the flower that fades. But, unlike us humans the Word of God remains forever.

6 The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

Yet, despite our human propensity for sin, and frailness, God has offered his saving grace to all human beings. This offer is not only for the Jews it is extended to everyone who embraces God’s covenant and keeps His commandments. 

Thus, Isaiah identifies the distinct destinies between the wicked and the righteous. On one hand, the wicked will remain dead, without ever being brought to life again, at least after the “second death” according to Revelation 21:8).

8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

When does the second death occur?

The second death happens after the people of God are raised from the dead at Jesus’ second coming and go to live with Him in heaven for a thousand years. When the 1,000 years end, Jesus and His people will come back to the earth with the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. Then Jesus will wake up the wicket dead. At that time, they will be destroyed forever according to Isaiah Isaiah 26:14

14 They are dead, they will not live; They are deceased, they will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them And made all their memory to perish. (Isaiah 26:14).

Here we see that none of the wicked, neither their souls nor their spirit will remain alive after their second death.

A latter prophet, Malachi, provides the same message as Isaiah. Speaking of the final destruction of the wicked, he points out in Malachi. 4:1 that the wicked will be completely burned up, leaving “ ‘neither root nor branch’ ” (Split)

1 “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. (Malachi. 4:1) (Split)

On the other hand, At the Second Coming of Christ, the people who died believing in Jesus will wake up from the dead. God will give them their reward of everlasting life. Isaiah in Isaiah 25:8 tells us, (Split)

8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 25:8).

Moreover, In Isaiah 26:19, we find the following words: “Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead” (Isa. 26:19, NKJV). (Split)

Then the people who wake up from the dead will sit down to a feast that the Lord has prepared according to Isaiah 25:6. Thus, all the people saved by Jesus from every age will sit down together. This will include your loved ones who died in Jesus.

Now suppose we didn’t have any assurance, any reason to think about death beyond the grave. If death was the end of everything for us, in what would we have hope? And even worse, anyone who ever knew us would be gone, and soon it would be as if we never existed, and our lives never meant anything at all. But instead, we have hope, a hope that burns within our hearts. Our hope is in living eternally with God.

Daniel speaks of both the righteous and the unrighteous dead being raised to life again. Where then is the difference? How does this fit in with what the other prophets have said about the resurrection? 

Find out in Day 6: Those Who Sleep in the Dust

Watch Our Past and Present Lessons @ SabbathSchoolDaily.com.