THE SECOND DEATH

`And in this mountain shall the LORD of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the

lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And He will destroy in this mountain the

face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in

victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take

away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it' (Isa. 25:6-8). (See also Isa. 26:1 and 27:1).

A further note of time is given in 1 Corinthians 15:52 `At the last trump'. In Revelation 11, at the sounding of

the seventh trumpet, `the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ'. Immediately

there follows reference to the `great power' and the `reign' and the `time of the dead', and the `destruction of them

that destroy the earth'. These Scriptures therefore place the period in view as being before the second death.

Death was virtually destroyed when Christ rose from the dead:

`Who hath abolished (katargeo) death' (2 Tim. 1:10).

Death will be actually destroyed when the last of the dead stand before the great white throne. Death will be

manifestly destroyed when it is cast into the lake of fire.

A. -- I have been led to make a comparison between the lake of fire and the flood.

B. -- The comparison is justifiable, I believe. What makes you hesitate now in accepting it?

A. -- I had believed the following comment to be true. In Noah's day He cleansed away abounding sin by means of

water. And was not water a purifier well suited to the task? And if in preparation for the last aion He once more

wishes to dispose of evil, what more effective agent can be found than fire? It is the most searching purifier known.

B. -- These observations are rather involved. First you say that the water of the flood cleansed away abounding sin;

then you say that the fire was an effective agent to dispose of evil; then you say that fire is a purifier, so I suppose

your thought is that just as the flood purified in part, the fire will purify completely.

A. -- Yes, that expresses my idea.

B. -- Well, your idea will not stand the test. Turn to Genesis 6, 7, and 8:

`Behold, I will destroy them' (6:13).

`Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh' (6:17).

`Every living substance was destroyed' (7:23).

`I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake' (8:21).

Destruction and curse are what is written of the flood, not purifying.

A. -- Perhaps the passage I think of is in the New Testament.

B. -- Let us find it by all means. The Gospels speak of the flood coming and taking all away:

`The flood came, and destroyed them all' (Luke 17:27; see also Matt. 24:38,39).

There is no writer left now other than Peter:

`And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person -- bringing in the flood upon the world of the

ungodly' (2 Pet. 2:5).

That does not speak of purifying. The only reference that speaks of cleansing is 1 Peter 3:20,21, but the type of

salvation or purifying is the ark that saved Noah, not the flood that destroyed the ungodly.

A. -- It appears that I have been misled in believing the flood had a purifying effect.