Continuing to explain the resurrection to Corianton, Alma
informs him there would be a period of time between death and the
resurrection. What would become of the
souls during that time?
Whether there is only one time for the resurrection or more
than one doesn’t matter. All is one day
to God, as He measures time. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).
“And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that
Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in
the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his
manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time
appointed unto that whereon thou standest.
This is the reckoning of the Lord's time, according to the reckoning of
Kolob” (Abraham 3:4). Does this mean one day literally equals one thousand
years? I don’t believe that is the
proper conclusion. I believe the example
is given to show “with God there is no time as we reckon it (see Alma 40:8).”[1]
There is a time when the dead will rise. Only God knows when that time will arrive.
Our state between death and resurrection has been made known
by the Lord.
“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet
ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto
my Father, and your Father; and to my
God, and your God” (John 20:17).
Nephi told Laman and Lemuel:
“And they said unto me: Doth this
thing mean the torment of the body in the days of probation, or doth it mean
the final state of the soul after the death of the temporal body, or doth it
speak of the things which are temporal? And it came to pass that I said unto
them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for
the day should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the
works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation. Wherefore,
if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to the
things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness; wherefore,
they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if
their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be
filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so,
the kingdom of God must be filthy also. But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom
of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom
of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that
which is filthy. And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of
which I have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it; wherefore the final
state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out
because of that justice of which I have spoken. Wherefore, the wicked are
rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is
most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest
of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren” (Nephi 15:31-36).
When we die, we return to God, who gave you life. “Then
shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto
God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
“And, in fine, wo unto all those who die in their sins; for
they shall return to God, and behold his face, and remain in their sins” (2
Nephi 9:38).
“And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us,
behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the
earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used
them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to
our God and shall be saved” (Alma 24:16).
The spirits of those who are righteous will be received into
paradise. “Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with
singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall
be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away”
(Isaiah 51:11).
President Joseph F. Smith saw, as a part of his vision of
the afterlife:
“… I saw the hosts of the dead,
both small and great. And there were gathered together in one place an
innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony
of Jesus while they lived in mortality; And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude
of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their
Redeemer's name. All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a
glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only
Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I beheld that they were filled with joy and
gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was
at hand” (D&C 138:11-15).
Paradise is a state of rest and peace where they will be
freed from all troubles, care, and sorrow.
The prophet Alma the Younger
learned from an angel that when one dies and the spirit returns to God, the
spirit will be consigned to either paradise or hell, paradise being a state of
happiness, rest, and peace (Alma 40:12). It is important to note that,
according to Alma the Younger, one’s assignment to paradise (or elsewhere, such
as spirit prison) is not based on the acceptance of the Christian faith and its
ordinances, but rather depends on whether or not one performed good works in
the flesh. The standard seems to be the extent to which one hearkened to or
disregarded God’s light (Alma 40:13–14).[2]
Alma turns to the state of the spirits of the wicked. They chose evil rather than good and have no
portion of the Lord’s Spirit. They devil
now possesses the souls of the wicked.
They will be cast out where there will be the expected weeping, wailing,
and gnashing of teeth.[3] But, they will only have themselves to
blame. They are there because of their
choices. Abinadi warned King Noah, “And
then shall the wicked be cast out, and they shall have cause to howl, and weep,
and wail, and gnash their teeth; and this because they would not hearken unto
the voice of the Lord; therefore the Lord redeemeth them not” (Mosiah 16:2).
The souls of the wicked are in darkness, in a fearful state.
“And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall
deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell
must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and
the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of
men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection
of the Holy One of Israel” (2 Nephi 9:12).
“While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing
in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God
appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful; And there he
preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and
the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions
of repentance. But unto the wicked he did not go, and among the ungodly and the
unrepentant who had defiled themselves while in the flesh, his voice was not
raised” (D&C 138:18-20).
They are facing the indignation and the wrath of God. “Finally, I bid you farewell, until I shall
meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful
dread and fear” (Jacob 6:13).
“Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis,
that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit
which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that
same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. For
behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death,
behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal
you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no
place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final
state of the wicked” (Alma 34:34-35).
They will remain in this state, like the righteous will remain
in paradise, until they are resurrected.
[1] Nephi’s
“Great and Abominable Church,” Stephen E. Robinson, Journal of Book of
Mormon Studies 7/1 (1998): 36.
[2] Redeeming
the Dead: Tender Mercies, Turning of Hearts, and Restoration of Authority, David
L. Paulsen, Kendel J. Christensen, and Martin Pulido, Journal of the Book of
Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 20/1 (2011): 35-36.
[3] The
phrase “gnashing of teeth” is found in several places in the Bible and is used
exclusively in reference to the final judgment of sinners, either directly or
in a parable. “Gnashing of teeth” is always combined with either “weeping” or
“wailing.” The Greek phrase for “gnashing of teeth,” literally means “grinding
one’s teeth together.” When combined with “weeping,” it can be compared to
hitting one’s thumb with a hammer, squeezing the eyes closed and grinding the
teeth together hard in reaction to the pain. Weeping and gnashing of teeth in
Scripture, however, is much more dreadful, partly because it lasts for
eternity. (gotquestions.org,
accessed September 26, 2015)
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