NOTE: This is a fictional account, but based somewhat unloosely on future prophesied events and promised conditions, as clearly as I can imagine them unfolding and being realized. It will be interesting to compare these prognostications of mine one day to how far off I was in some of my ruminations, and possibly how close I was on certain others. It is written in first person, with Frank Calloway as the protagonist.
One of my cousins answered my question about when my siblings and parents would be resurrected, saying, “We haven’t been informed of the exact date yet, but based on how fast it’s been progressing, it shouldn’t be more than a few months from now, at the longest — maybe just several weeks until we see them all again.”
My cousins explained to me in more detail how the resurrection was organized: Generally speaking, the last to die were the first to be resurrected, but there have been some exceptions to that. A few notable ones from the past who were needed right away to serve in leadership roles — people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Mordecai, Esther, Samuel, Deborah, Ruth, Daniel, Elijah, Elisha, David and Jonathan, Abigail, John the Baptizer, both Josephs, and many others — were resurrected ‘out of order.’ On the very first resurrection day, half a million people worldwide were brought back to life, and those just mentioned were among that group.
Prior to this historic occasion, there had never been more than a single person resurrected in one day. The event was historic not just for the individuals resurrected and their families, but for mankind in general.
These celebrations welcoming back those resurrected to everlasting life on a paradise earth continue to take place throughout the world. The approximately 10 million who survived Armageddon could easily accommodate this number of newcomers, as it was a ratio of one resurrected person for every 20 people. For the most part, it’s family members and friends who see to the needs of those resurrected. Others also gladly and willingly help out, too, though.
Starting six months after that inaugural resurrection — once preparations had been made for the next influx of people — the same number (half a million) are resurrected each week, on Resurrection Day. Jehovah God’s purpose is to resurrect the entire number of people who will be resurrected within the first 500 years of “The Real Life.” The number of these will be about 20 billion — the majority of all those who have ever lived. The weekly number of those resurrected will be gradually increased until it reaches a full million per week. In this way, the whole of redeemable mankind will be resurrected within the first 400 years or so. This gives everyone a minimum of five or six hundred years to reach perfection and prepare for the final test at the end of the Millennium. If the number to be resurrected turns out to be more than the estimated 20 billion, the number resurrected each week would be increased accordingly — or decreased, if 20 billion was an overestimate.
As the number of people on earth increases (by means of both the resurrection and the birth of babies), it becomes possible to accommodate increasing numbers of newcomers each week. All residents are involved in making preparations for their friends and relatives who died before them, as well as for people who were as yet unknown to them. These preparations consist mainly of practical matters such as building houses, barns, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. As to immediate needs, a community reception feast is always held for the resurrectee, heartily welcoming them back to life — the Real Life — on a cleansed earth. This is in addition to the family members and close friends greeting them at the nearest Resurrection Park on the Resurrection Day when they are called back.
During a person’s first few weeks, they spend most of their time with family and close friends. They are also invited to attend classes or seminars that may be termed orientation sessions. In this training, it is explained to them what had transpired between their death and their resurrection; how things are organized, and what the future holds (it’s all good!). Most importantly, instruction is provided from The New Scrolls spoken of in Revelation chapter 5. These New Scrolls contain instructions for New World living. We still have and refer to the older portions of the Bible, the Hebrew and Greek scriptures (or, as some were accustomed to call them, the “Old” Testaments and the “New” Testament). This third section of the Bible, the New Scrolls, is the one read most often now.
Among other things I learned early was the arrangement for allotting land parcels for all of those resurrected (as well as those who survived the Great Tribulation and Armageddon, and thus had no need of a resurrection, having never died).
- To be continued tomorrow
Chapter 1 is here.
Chapter 5 is here.