These billions, awakened from death and enlightened concerning the will of God, will then have an individual trial for life. It will be their “krisis”, or judgment time, as shown in John 5:29. In Isaiah 26:9 we are told that when the Lord’s “judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” However, Isaiah indicates the possibility that even in that “land of upright- ness” there will be willfully wicked who will not, even under those favorable conditions, “learn righteousness.”—vs. 10

Nevertheless, even they will be awakened to have their opportunity to learn righteousness. Verse 11 shows this. It reads, “Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.” God’s “hand” has not yet been “lifted up.” It will be during the Millennium that he will make “bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations,” and when “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” (Isa. 52:10) And the wicked will be there to see. They will be awakened from death and given an opportunity to “see,” but those who are willful at heart will continue to resist the Lord and will be destroyed. But the decision as to whether or not they are incorrigible will not be made until the Lord’s “hand is lifted up.”

During that future judgment period in the “land of uprightness” all adverse influences will be removed. Isaiah indicates this, saying, “O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us. … They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.” (Isa. 26:13,14) Isaiah is here speaking as an Israelite, and that nation time and time again was given over to the worship of false gods and goddesses, such as Baal, Moloch, and Astoreth. The prince of all these is Satan. He will be bound during the judgment day, and the false gods of the heathen will have forever perished. Even the memory of them will be forgotten.

Truly, it will be a “land of uprightness”; and while Isaiah notes the possibility that even under such favorable circumstances some may refuse to see and, as willful enemies of God and of righteousness, be destroyed, we need not suppose that there will be a great number who will take such a course. This we can well leave to the judgment of a merciful God, knowing that when the dead are awakened and stand before him and the “books” are opened, revealing his holy will to those who in this life “sat in darkness,” every loving consideration will be given each individual. And we may assume that the names of the vast majority will be enrolled in the “book of life,” which will then be opened for them.

They will be judged by the truths written in the books which then will be opened, not by what is imperfectly witnessed to them at the present time. It will be then that they will have an opportunity of conforming their works to the will of God as it will be revealed to them by the opening of the books. (Rev. 20:12-14) Only those who do not then con- form and whose names will not therefore be writ- ten in the “book of life” then opened will go into the “second death.”—vs. 15