What Is the Second Death?

This article summarizes the perspective presented in Into the Winepress: A Concise Companion to the Book of Revelation by Michael R. Abram. The book approaches Revelation through the victory of the Lamb, the fall of Jerusalem, the reign of Christ, and the ongoing mission of the Church.

  • The second death appears after the resurrection and judgment of all humanity that Jesus refers to in John 5.

  • It is identified with the lake of fire.

  • It is the fate of those raised unto judgment.

  • Death and Hades themselves are cast into it.

  • Revelation presents it as a real and serious judgment.

  • Yet Revelation never explicitly explains its final outcome.

  • The book never tells the reader what ultimately becomes of the second death itself.

  • The vision reaches that horizon and stops.

  • Rather than continuing beyond the lake of fire, Revelation returns to the vision of the New Jerusalem and the mission of the Bride.

  • The reader is left holding together both warning and mystery.

Most interpreters feel compelled to answer the question:

"What happens to those in the age of the second death?" The truth is, Revelation does not tell us.

The book leaves us standing at the edge of that mystery and rather than moving forward, directs our attention back to Christ, His Church, the healing of the nations, the open gates, and the continuing invitation of the Spirit and the Bride.

Further Reading