Isaiah 14:9
9 Hell [sha'owl] from beneath is
moved [ragaz] for thee to meet [qir'ah] thee at thy coming [bow']:
it stirreth up [`uwr] the dead [rapha'] for thee, even all the chief ones [`attuwd] of the earth ['erets]; it
hath raised up [quwm] from their thrones [kicce'] all the kings [melek] of
the nations [gowy]. KJV-Interlinear
9 "Sheol from beneath is
excited over you to meet you when you come; It arouses for you the spirits of
the dead, all the leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations
from their thrones. NASB
According to world
population data statistics, the current population of the world is a little
over 7 ¼ billion people. The rate of population growth in the world is about 1 ½%.
The number of births
per year is a little over 140 million, or 267 births per minute.
The number of deaths
per year is just under 57 million, or 108 deaths per minute.
Leaving a net world
population increase of just over 83 million people per year, or a net increase
of a 159 people per minute.
How many people are
believers and how many are unbelievers when they die, is an unknown number to
us. God alone knows that statistic.
Today, when people die,
if they are believers they go directly to heaven and are face-to-face with the
Lord.
If they are
unbelievers, people who have not believed in Jesus Christ, then they go to a
compartment in the underworld called Torments. Torments is one of four
compartments in the underworld.
The underworld has
several names, such as Hades, Sheol, or the land of the dead.
Within the underworld
there are four compartments, namely Paradise, Torments, Tartarus, and the Abyss.
In the time of human
history prior to the cross, all four of these compartments were occupied.
Believers in the Savior when they died, went to Paradise. After the cross,
Christ led them out of Paradise and into heaven. Paradise is no longer in use
and is empty. Now believers go straight to heaven.
Torments, has been the
underworld destination of all unbelievers from Adam and Eve’s time, until now,
and throughout the remaining portions of human history.
Tartarus was the
destination of all disobedient human and angel offspring from Genesis 6.
The Abyss is the
current residence of some of the worst of the worst of Satan’s demon armies,
who will have a temporary release out onto the planets surface during the
tribulation. When people in that time encounter these bad demons, it will be a
time of extreme terror for those people.
But our subject here
deals with the deaths of unbelievers, and their destination in the underworld,
which is Torments.
Note that the
underworld is a temporary holding place, and not the final Lake of Fire which
will not exist until the very end of history.
We do not know when the
rapture is going to occur. Therefore, we do not know when the tribulation,
which is the seven year period following the rapture, is going to occur. But
when it does, the steady stream of people dying and going off to heaven or to
Hades, will increase dramatically. Such that the occupants of heaven as well as
the occupants of Torments are likely to take notice of the dramatic change in
numbers of people coming into their realm.
Our current verse tells
us that the occupants of the underworld will be stirred up, meaning they will
notice the dramatic change in the numbers of the dead that are coming into
their compartment.
This verse also tells
us that many of the occupants of the land of the dead in the compartment called
Torments, were and are people of noted rank or title or celebrityship or power
or authority when they were alive in this world.
And as noted here, many
of the people during the tribulation, who are of rank or title or celebrityship
or power or authority, not to mention the many more people who are of the
common variety, when they die, they will die as unbelievers, and they will be
heading not to heaven, but to the underworld, to the land of the dead, and
there await their final trial and judgment before Christ at the Great White
Throne, which will occur at the end of the millennium.
This verse makes it
very clear, that Satan and all of his appointments and all of his influence,
together with all of the indifference towards Christ, will lead to utter
failure at the end of the history of human rule on this earth.
Our lesson out of this,
is more than just noting a future event, but learning that our individual lives
are determined by our attitude toward Christ.
Those people in that
future time, will live in extreme drama and trauma and failure.
But we who are alive
now, face the same decisions that they face, and that everyone has faced
throughout history.
Namely, believe in
Christ and be saved, followed by a daily study in doctrine by which you grow up
and mature and become productive and complete within your entire existence.
Or, reject these truths
and you will end up rubbing elbows with most of histories elites, but
unfortunately you will be in hell. Not
something to boast about. Then the Lake
of Fire will follow when all of history is concluded after the final judgment.
