Overcomers Escape Second Death

Revelation 2:11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above the second reward that our Lord Jesus lists for the one who overcomes, is that they will not be hurt by the second death. On more than one occasion in scripture the Lord spoke of giving individuals their lives as a prize for serving Him (Jeremiah 39:18). In those passages the Lord was referring to the physical life of the individual as their prize. The saints however have received the prize of eternal life from the Lord, because of which they will escape the punishment of eternal death that all unbelievers will incur.

Revelation 20:10-15 “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.  … (13) The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.  (14)  Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  (15) And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

So what is the second death? The passage of scripture quoted above reveals to us that the second death is in fact a lake of fire and brimstone that burns for all eternity. This passage also reveals to us that all those whose names are not recorded in the Book of Life are destined to experience the second death. As God’s children, every man and woman born into the earth originally have their names recorded in the Book of Life, for it was never God’s intention that any man should experience the second death. But sadly those who choose to reject salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ eventually have their names blotted out of the Book of Life when they physically die, and are therefore destined to be cast into the lake of fire. As revealed in this passage, all of God’s enemies will be cast into that lake at the final judgment, even those who are currently being held in Hades will be taken out to receive their judgment before they are cast into that lake, and even Death and Hades itself will be cast into the lake of fire on that day. This passage also reveals to us that Satan, the Anti-Christ and the false prophet will be cast into that lake, and in fact those three will be the first to be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.

Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus has taught us that God prepared the lake of fire for Satan and his angels, thus implying that God never intended that men should have ended up going there. Regrettably however, because many have followed after Satan and rejected salvation through Jesus Christ, they too will be cast into the lake of fire along with the god of this world, where all will suffer torment for all eternity. Scripture also reveals to us that this lake of fire will be located just outside the city walls of the New Jerusalem, and that the saints will look upon the torment of those who have rebelled against God as the smoke of their torment rises from that lake for all eternity (Revelation 14:11). And so our Lord Jesus has revealed to us that our second reward is that the second death has no power over His saints.

Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above the third reward that our Lord Jesus lists for the one who overcomes, is that He will give them some of the hidden manna to eat.

John 6:31-35 “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  (32)  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  (33) For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  (34)  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  (35)  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

So what is the hidden manna that our Lord Jesus has promised to give us? As quoted in the above passage of scripture, when Jesus was on the earth the Jews disputed with Him about the fact that Moses had given them manna from heaven to eat. Jesus then taught them that He indeed was the true manna from heaven in that He was the bread of life. Clearly in this passage the Jews were talking about physical food while the Lord Jesus was talking about spiritual food. In heaven very often that which is spiritual and that which is physical are one and the same. For example although the manna that the children of Israel ate in the wilderness was physical food we know that it was also spiritual food, for the scripture teaches us that the manna that the Jews ate was in fact angels’ food (Psalm 78:24-25). And so because the bible describes angels as being spirits, their food would therefore also be spiritual in nature (Psalm 104:4).

1 Corinthians 10:3-4 “all ate the same spiritual food, (4) and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul confirms the truth to us that the manna that the children of Israel ate was indeed spiritual food. When Paul calls it spiritual food we know that he is referring to the physical manna that they ate, because in the same passage he refers to the water that they drank from the rock as being spiritual drink. We know that natural food nourishes the body of man while spiritual food nourishes the spirit of man. And so as the fruit from the tree of life will be food for the resurrected bodies of the saints, so the hidden manna that our Lord Jesus will give us will be food for our spirits. We know that here on earth we feed our spirits with the word of God, for our Lord has taught us that man’s spirit needs the word of God to live (Luke 4:4). In what form the hidden manna will be given to the saints is not yet revealed to us. Nevertheless we have been shown on two separate occasions in scripture where God has literally fed His servants His word. The first account is when God gave the prophet Ezekiel the scroll of His word to eat (Ezekiel chapters 2 & 3). The second account is when our Lord gave the apostle John a little book to eat (Revelation 10:8-10). Nevertheless whatever forms the hidden manna of God’s word takes we know that it will be nourishment for our spirits.

Michael E.B. Maher

Eternal Judgement

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