3277.—The Resurrection
By Editor
Do all the wicked rise from the dead when Christ comes or only those who pierced Him? and then what becomes of them? G. H. The first verses of Daniel 12 would seem to indicate that some of the wicked dead are raised when our Lord stands up to reign. That would be just before His coming. They would be raised in order that they might see the awful fruits of sin and witness the second coming of Christ. They would, of course, perish when the rest of the wicked perish in the glory of His coming. The general resurrection of the wicked, however, does not take place until the end of the thousand years, as shown in Rev. 20:5, 6, "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." That is, the special resurrections are not taken account of in the great general statements. In the second general resurrection doubtless those who were raised previous to His first coming would be raised again. The first resurrection of these wicked then would be incidental, as would their second death. This would not, however, be the second death to which the book of Revelation refers.