"Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this estate, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection."
Alma 40:14
This isn't a very happy verse, but it's interesting because it teaches us a little bit about the after death / before resurrection period. A couple of verses previous to this, it tells us that the righteous "are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow," so it's a big difference.
It's kind of like the traditional ideas of heaven and hell, but in this chapter Alma is clearly teaching Corianton about a temporary state between death and resurrection. Still though, it would be a super scary thing to not think you had to answer to anyone, and then die and realize that you would have to face a judgement. ... I mean, I think it is also scary for all of us who know/believe, because it's still a big deal even when you know that we'll only be restored to what we choose ourselves, because we all make mistakes, and learning to choose the right is often hard. Still, a good idea to avoid the "fiery indignation" by repenting for our mistakes now, and getting some hope back in our lives. :)
Today, let's learn from Corianton's lesson and make better choices... not just because we're afraid of judgement, but because God is personally reaching out to us with a reminder that he loves us, and he wants us to choose happiness over misery. Let's work hard to get the evil out of our lives, and a hope for a glorious resurrection back into it, with God's help.
Alma 40:14
This isn't a very happy verse, but it's interesting because it teaches us a little bit about the after death / before resurrection period. A couple of verses previous to this, it tells us that the righteous "are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow," so it's a big difference.
It's kind of like the traditional ideas of heaven and hell, but in this chapter Alma is clearly teaching Corianton about a temporary state between death and resurrection. Still though, it would be a super scary thing to not think you had to answer to anyone, and then die and realize that you would have to face a judgement. ... I mean, I think it is also scary for all of us who know/believe, because it's still a big deal even when you know that we'll only be restored to what we choose ourselves, because we all make mistakes, and learning to choose the right is often hard. Still, a good idea to avoid the "fiery indignation" by repenting for our mistakes now, and getting some hope back in our lives. :)
Today, let's learn from Corianton's lesson and make better choices... not just because we're afraid of judgement, but because God is personally reaching out to us with a reminder that he loves us, and he wants us to choose happiness over misery. Let's work hard to get the evil out of our lives, and a hope for a glorious resurrection back into it, with God's help.
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