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The General Resurrection of the Righteous, October 18
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of
herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Isaiah 26:19
.
The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire.
The heavens are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before Him,
and every mountain and island is moved out of its place....
Amid the reeling of the earth, the flash of lightning, and the roar of
thunder, the voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. He
looks upon the graves of the righteous, then, raising His hands to heaven,
He cries: “Awake, awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!”
Throughout the length and breadth of the earth the dead shall hear that
voice, and they that hear shall live. And the whole earth shall ring with
the tread of the exceeding great army of every nation, kindred, tongue, and
people. From the prison house of death they come, clothed with immortal
glory, crying: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
1 Corinthians 15:55
. And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their
voices in a long, glad shout of victory.
All come forth from their graves the same in stature as when they entered
the tomb.... But all arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal youth....
The mortal, corruptible form, devoid of comeliness, once polluted with sin,
becomes perfect, beautiful, and immortal. All blemishes and deformities
are left in the grave....
The living righteous are changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye.” At the voice of God they were glorified; now they are made immortal
and with the risen saints are caught up to meet their Lord in the air. Angels
“gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other.”
As the little infants come forth immortal from their dusty beds, they
immediately wing their way to their mothers’ arms.
Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to part, and with
songs of gladness ascend together to the City of God.
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