So, the second death is for the cursed and the question now becomes what is the second death? The second death happens at the end of the 1,000- years.
Notice what the Bible says in Revelation 20:13-14, “13 And the Sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
These are the wicked, they are the ones that rejected Christ’s offer to be ransomed from the grave (hell). They did not want Christ. They did not accept his death on their behalf so there is no escape from hell. They had to stay in hell (grave/earth), when the righteous were redeemed from Earth and during the 1,000-years. They had no knowledge, no wisdom, for they are dead. At the end of the 1,000-years the wicked will have to pay “the wages of sin which is death” themselves because they did not accept the one who paid it for them. This is not talking about the first death which mankind suffers. It is talking about the ‘second death’.
Where are the wicked ‘being delivered up’ to (v. 13)? The answer is in the very same chapter:
Revelation 20:7, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,”
This tells us that Satan is loosed AFTER the 1,000 years, so this means he will be doing something again.
In verse 8, we read; “and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, God and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”
Satan goes to deceive the nations globally (four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog) and gathers them for battle against God. Now, it is understood that all the wicked at this point have been resurrected by God. So, the resurrection of damnation has occurred. AND, it is these people who Satan goes to deceive.
Verse 9, “And they (all the wicked, Satan, fallen angles) went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: (this is the City of God which has come down, and the saints are within the city) and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them (those outside the city).” Comments added.
God executes judgment upon them. They are devoured upon the ‘face of the earth, the breadth of the earth’. Understand this is hellfire and it begins on earth at this time spoken of in scripture.
RECAP. When Adam sinned, Earth was cursed in the Garden and became a burial plot or grave. All that die return to dust…earth. Death is everywhere, not only among mankind, but also among the animals and plants. Stars in the heavens even die. Glory to God, he redeems the righteous from the grave and takes them to heaven for 1,000 years. Earth remains a graveyard, and now has become a holding place for ALL the wicked dead. It is also There is nothing good left in/on it. Satan is bound by condition to Earth. All that remains is waiting for the execution of their sentence, which is the second death. This will be accomplished by fire and it is the Lake of Fire experience…this is hellfire.
Jesus’ entire aim was trying to take everybody out of hell, but there are those who refused.
That is why in Revelation 21:1 you read, ‘And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…’.
Here is how the last book in the Old Testament puts it regarding hellfire, Malachi:
Malachi 4:1-3, “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.”
‘They shall be ashes under the souls of your feet in the day that I do this’…SO, where are the ashes of the wicked? On this earth, which has been purified/cleansed by fire and made new. Where are the souls of the feet of the saints at this time? ON the newly made earth. God then sets the New Jerusalem (City of God) to rest on planet Earth. No more death, sorrow, no more crying or pain; for all sin has been wiped away. All have been fully restored, and we are safe in Jesus for evermore.
Psalm 37:9-11, “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
The wicked will cease. They are burnt up in the fires. BUT, the saints will inherit the Earth and all will delight themselves in peace. Peace has returned to the land. Amen.
Deuteronomy 32:22, God speaking says, “For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.”
This is the first and only time in scripture that ‘hell and fire’ are used in the same verse in the Old Testament. Get this point, the very first time that the Bible speaks about the fires of hell it says it is going to destroy the Earth. This is taught in the Old Testament, it is taught in the New Testament…nothing new here…it is the same.
Psalm 11:6, “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” Comment: The same teaching, nothing new.
Psalm 50:5, here the same teaching again, “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.”
Psalm 97:1-3, again; “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. 2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. 3 A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about.”
Isaiah 47:14, “Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.”
Isaiah 66:15, “For, behold the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.”
Mark 9:43 tells us He destroys the wicked bodily, “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:”
Comment: We see the same thing over and over in scripture.
In these texts, the wicked are bodily destroyed in hellfire, it is not a spirit in hell. This is the purpose of the fire to destroy the wicked and all sin. Jesus said that they will ‘go ahead with both hands into hell’ and Jesus is speaking specifically of the hell that will be on fire at the very end (Matt. 18:8, Mark 9:43). This is the way the wicked will be physically destroyed in hell. Hell is ONLY set on fire at the end of the 1,000-years, and it happens upon the face of the Earth. It will burn until it goes out…not any longer.