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Billions have never even heard the name of Christ. Are they doomed to eternal death without even having had a chance to hear the truth? Would this be fair of a loving God?
Can you imagine a merciful and just God condemning innocent little children—some who died before they could either walk or talk—to remain dead for all eternity without the knowledge of God's way of life and without being given the opportunity to live forever?
God has, in absolute fairness, planned for everyone who has ever lived to receive the very same opportunity for salvation. Just as the week is not complete without the Sabbath day, so God’s Master Plan is not complete without God’s seventh annual festival and Holy Day.
In the Bible, the number seven signifies completion and perfection. Without the knowledge of this seventh annual Holy Day, you can’t understand the completion of God’s Master Plan—that God’s mercy to mankind extends even beyond the Millennium!
In order to understand this final phase—the wind-up—of God’s plan, we must understand the last of God’s annual Holy Days, picturing the last great judgment.
20. Was there an “eighth day” of worship held immediately after the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles? Lev. 23:34-36. Is it the final festival—the final annual Sabbath of rest? Verse 39.
COMMENT: The last annual Sabbath is observed immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles. But because of its proximity to this seven-day feast, it was associated with the Feast of Tabernacles and was called the “eighth day.” This Festival came to be known among Christians as “the last day, that great day of the feast” (John 7:37).
21. Revelation chapter 20 holds the key to the meaning of the “Last Great Day.” As we already know, verses 4-6 speak of the resurrected saints ruling with Jesus Christ on earth for 1,000 years. But exactly what is said in the first sentence of verse 5?
COMMENT: These are not “the dead in Christ,” but simply the dead—those billions who are not Christ’s, who have never been called of God, most of whom have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ.
Note that the first part of verse 5 in the King James Version is in reality a parenthetical expression. Here’s how it should read: “(But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection.”
The sentence, “This is the first resurrection,” refers to the resurrection of the righteous dead in Christ just before the 1,000-year period begins. “But,” John makes clear, “the rest of the dead” those who never had a chance to understand God’s truth would not come up in a resurrection “until the thousand years were finished.” This resurrection, which occurs after the 1,000 years are finished, is the second resurrection.
22. How does John further elaborate on the second resurrection? Rev. 20:11-12. How are these people judged? Verse 12.
COMMENT: The Greek word translated “books” in Revelation 20:12 is biblia, and it is from this word that we derive our English word “bible.” The “books” that are opened are the books of the Bible! Through God’s Holy Spirit, they will be opened to the understanding of the billions of people who have never yet heard the name of Christ or been able to understand the true message of God’s Word—those who have never before been able to participate in God’s Master Plan of salvation.
23. How long will their period of judgment last? Isa. 65:20.
COMMENT: This verse in Isaiah apparently refers to this judgment period, suggesting that those resurrected then will live for 100 years, regardless of how old they were when they died.
24. Where else in the Bible is this second resurrection described? Ezek. 37:1-14. Are these dead clearly raised to physical human life requiring the breath of life to sustain their physical existence? Verses 5-10.
25. What is God’s promise to these resurrected peoples? Verses 13-14. Is this the same outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ spoke about on the “last great day” of the Feast? John 7:37-39.
26. How did Jesus refer to this special “day” or period of judgment for people who have yet to hear and understand the wonderful message of salvation? Matt. 11:20-24; 12:41-42.
COMMENT: Christ mentioned the people of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom, Nineveh in Jonah’s time and the Queen of the South (the Queen of Sheba). All of these examples of people who lived in different generations are compared to the
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