The General Resurrection of the Dead

Futurists presuppose that the general resurrection and judgment of the dead will occur at the end of history. Preterists are persuaded that it occurred in the past, at the dissolution of the old covenant world. That’s when hades, the temporary abode of the dead, was abolished (Revelation 20:14). The preterist view is that those residing in hades went to their eternal destination at Christ’s Parousia (his so-called “Second Coming”) that is, his effectual divine presence in judgment. The faithful went to heaven; the damned went to hell (variously understood as eternal conscious punishment or annihilation). While this seems foreign to Christians who have never studied this carefully, there is convincing biblical proof that it happened in AD 70.  

Passages about the resurrection of the dead and coincident great judgment in the New Testament include Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:12-15; etc. This latter passage in Revelation states, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Compare to Revelation 22:12.

Futurists assume that this judgment happens at the end of the world. But that is problematic because the Bible never speaks of the end of the world! (Really!) Indeed, various passages assume that the earth will abide “forever” (Psalm 78:69; 104:5; 148:3-6; Ecclesiastes 1:4; Ephesians 3:21). The Bible only speaks about the end of the AGE, not the end of the WORLD. The end of the age was the end of the old covenant age, which ended with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24:1-3).

The time-line for this “final judgment” was coincident with the Roman army destroying  Jerusalem and the temple―and Jesus’ condemnation of the Jews per Matthew 23:29-4:2. At that time Jesus came in judgment with his angels mirroring other passages that have clear time-restrictions. Matthew 16:27-28 reads: “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

In the sermon which incorporates Matthew chapters 21-25 (the Olivet Discourse), Jesus confirms in Matthew 24:29-34 that his Parousia would happen in the literal generation of his contemporaries. Notice that John in Revelation 20:13; 22:12 and Jesus in Matthew 16:27 use the same phrase about the coming judgment according to what they had done. These depict related events fulfilled at the same time―Jesus coming in judgment against apostate Israel, judgment of the dead upon resurrection, the dissolution of the temporary abode of the dead (hades), and those in hades resurrected and sent to their final destiny. These passages restrict the timing of the general resurrection to the period in the first century before all of them had died.

Per John 6:39-40, 54 EVERYONE would be raised up on the last day. The “last day” was the last day of the last days. Of every mention of the last days/end times in the New Testament the writers declared that they were living in the last days. So the last day marked the end of the old covenant order, which was when the temple was destroyed in AD 70.

Let’s look at the Old Testament. The most important passage on resurrection there is Daniel 12, which states:

1 “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” . . .7 . . . and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” 9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. . . . 11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, . . . 13 But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.” (Daniel 12:1-2, 7b-9, 11a, 13; cf. Job 14:7-14, 19:26; Psalm 49:15; Isaiah 26:19, NKJV)

This is definitive. There are numerous indicators that the general resurrection happened in AD 70―the last days of the old covenant order. For example, it would happen when the power of the holy people would be shattered and the sacrifices for sin would end. Clearly, this was in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed. It also is the time of the “abomination of desolation” that Jesus said would be in his generation (Matthew 24:15, 34). Further, the book of Revelation declared the soon completion—the unsealing of the book—just prior to AD 70. Its fulfillment was then imminent—the time was “near” per Revelation 22:10. Thus, the sealing of Daniel 12:9 and the unsealing of Revelation 22:10 are bookends that set the time of completion in AD 70. Revelation fulfills Daniel’s prophecy.

Now for a fuller picture of New Testament examples that proclaim the first-century imminence of the resurrection and coincident judgment:

“having hope toward God, which they themselves also wait for, [that] there is about to be a rising again of the dead, both of righteous and unrighteous;”  (Acts 24:15, Young’s Literal Translation)

“because He did set a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom He did ordain, having given assurance to all, having raised him out of the dead.” (Acts 17:31, Young’s Literal Translation)

“I do fully testify, then, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to judge the living and dead at his manifestation and his reign.” (2 Timothy 4:1, Young’s Literal Translation)

“but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. . . . For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:5, 17, NKJV)

“Death and hades gave up the dead who were in them and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. . . . And the Lord God of the holy prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things which MUST SHORTLY TAKE PLACE. . . . Behold, I AM COMING SOON bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.” (Revelation 20:13; 22:6, 12, NKJV)

One thing that confuses Christians is that the resurrection was not to earth, but rather to heaven, so it would not have been observable. This is to say that resurrection is not about bodies coming out of graves, but soul-spirits who had been in hades going to heaven. When Peter said that Jesus visited the “spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:18-19), it should be obvious that it was not Jesus’ physical body which remained in the tomb, but rather Jesus’ spirit (or soul or glorified body)  that visited the spirits in hades. Author and nineteenth-century theologian J. Stuart Russell, in his classic work on eschatology, The Parousia, simply questioned why any Christian reader would doubt what the text says: “What, then, hinders the conclusion that such events might have taken place without observation, and without record?”

Another thing that makes Christians stumble on this point is that they assume that believers’ bodies in heaven will be the exact same fleshly bodies that lie in the graves. This too is incorrect. Paul, in first Corinthians 15 uses a seed analogy to explain this. The husk of the seed stays in the ground, while a new body—which he describes four times in the passage as a SPIRITUAL BODY—is what emerges. He also describes it as an IMMORTAL BODY and a GLORIFIED BODY. So, we obtain a new body suitable for our heavenly existence. Jesus describes our heavenly bodies as being like angels (Luke 20:36). It is clear enough that Paul expected 1 Corinthians 15 to be fulfilled during the lifetimes of his contemporaries. The time was growing short (1 Corinthians 7:29-31 and 10:11).

The New Testament writers used different terms to refer to the same thing when describing afterlife existence: spiritual body, glorified body, spirit, or soul. John in Revelation describes our afterlife body as a “soul” (Revelation 6:9; 20:4). In addition to Peter describing those in hades as “spirits” (1 Peter 3:19),  Jesus and Stephen describe the afterlife existence as spirits (Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59).

Perhaps the most famous passage about the general resurrection is 1 Corinthians 15:50-57. There are several indicators that place the resurrection of this passage at AD 70. First, Paul said  his contemporaries would experience this event. “We” in verse 51 is not us today, but rather the Corinthians whom Paul was addressing. Note that Paul writes of the “last trumpet” in verse 52. This is certainly the same trumpet call that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24:31 which would occur in his generation (Matthew 24:34). Also note that Paul ties the resurrection to the victory over the law (1 Corinthians 15:56-57). The law ended with the final end of the old covenant at  the destruction of the temple (Hebrews 8:13).

Why is the dissolution of hades significant? Answer: Christ’s work was finished. There was no longer any reason for a temporary abode of the dead after AD 70. The good news for Christians from the preterist perspective is that because of Jesus’ first-century work, believers can expect to go directly to heaven when we die (Hebrews 9:27). There is no waiting in hades, and no confusion about our soul being “re-united with the body” at the end of time. Finally, the second sentence of 1 Corinthians 15:55 reads in literal translations: “O hades, where is your sting.” At the general resurrection, hades was emptied and those residing there in there in their spiritual bodies/souls-spirits went to their final destination―heaven for believers.

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Also see my articles Two Resurrections, Death, Heaven, and Adam and Hades.

And this interesting podcast From Partial to Full Preterism: Great White Throne Judgment

For more information, see my book CHRISTIAN HOPE THROUGH FULFILLED PROPHECY, available at Amazon.com.