Revelation 20:14 - Exposition

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire; death and Hades (see on Revelation 20:13 ). Lake of fire (see on Revelation 20:10 ). This is described in accordance with St. Paul's teaching. "The last enemy that shall be abolished is death" ( 1 Corinthians 15:26 , Revised Version). Death and Hades, though in reality abstractions, are here personified. This is the second death. Add [even] the lake of fire. St. John has not used the phrase, "the first death," but he has alluded to the fact. The first death is the actual death of the body, and which is the natural result of that spiritually dead state into which, since the Fall, man is horn, and which is therefore, as it were, his normal state. In a similar manner, the first resurrection is the risen spiritual life of conversion; while the second resurrection is the resurrection of all men, and the bestowal of eternal life upon the just.