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The Dead Who Are in Line for ResurrectionThe Watchtower—1965 | February 1
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at Mount Hor and his brother Moses died at Mount Nebo and they were gathered to their people, they were not buried with their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the cave at Machpelah near Hebron in the Promised Land. Yet they were all gathered to Sheol or Haʹdes. They all lie dead in the one Sheol or Haʹdes; and from there, Revelation 20:13 tells us, the dead will come forth in a resurrection.
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Part TwoThe Watchtower—1965 | February 1
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Part Two
1. (a) Who did Paul say to Governor Felix would come forth in a resurrection? (b) How can we make sure whether such kinds of persons are in line for resurrection?
ONCE the Christian apostle Paul spoke in court before the Roman Governor Felix, who did not believe in the Bible and its teaching of a resurrection. Paul said: “I am rendering sacred service to the God of my forefathers, as I believe all the things set forth in the Law and written in the Prophets; and I have hope toward God, which hope these men themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:14, 15) Well, then, does the Bible teach that there are unrighteous persons in Sheol or Haʹdes, which place will be emptied of all its dead by God’s kingdom? We can make sure of the answer to this question. How? By learning who else are in Sheol (Haʹdes) and what the Bible has to say about their morality and their position during their past earthly life.
UNRIGHTEOUS PERSONS ALSO IN SHEOL (HAʹDES)
2. How, in the book of Numbers, does Moses use the word Sheol in calling down judgment upon three rebels and their households?
2 The Hebrew word Sheol (Greek LXX, Haʹdes) occurs four times in the first book of the Bible, called Genesis and written by the prophet Moses. The next occurrences of Sheol are in the fourth book of the Bible, called Numbers, also written by Moses. Twice the word is there used, in connection with the households of the Israelites Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Those three men became rebellious against Jehovah, and so he used his prophet Moses to call down his judgment upon them. First the other Israelites were told to get away from the tabernacles of those three rebels and their households. Then Moses showed that the judgment would be from God by saying: “If it is something created that Jehovah will create, and the ground has to open its mouth and swallow up them and everything that belongs to them and they have to go down alive into Sheol [Haʹdes], you will then know for certain that these men have treated Jehovah disrespectfully.”—Num. 16:20-30.
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