This is from the Lake of fire series on Hell 'Hades and the Second Death,' it should help with this.
http://bible-truths.com/lake16-D5.htm --------------------
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened, and another book was opened which is the books of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their WORKS" (Rev. 20:12).
"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death" (Rev. 20:13-14).
When the "dead... stand," we are being presented with a resurrection from the dead. For this is exactly what resurrection means (anastasis in Greek means, "to stand up again"--See Strong's #386 translated 'resurrection'). It is in resurrection that "the dead... stand" before God. And yes, since we know Revelation is a book of spiritual symbols, we would be correct in stating that it is "the SPIRITUALLY dead" who are standing before God. Aspects of this Judgment:
[1] "the dead, small and great stand [resurrected] before God"
[2] they are judged according to the books, according to their works
[3] "the sea [the sea of wicked humanity] give up its [spiritually] dead"
[4] this includes "every man" [Gk: 'each one or 'every one' or 'every person']
[5] "death [the cause] and hell [the realm] are cast into the lake of fire"
[6] and those "not found in the Book of Life were cast into the Lake of Fire"
[7] this "Lake of Fire is the Second Death"
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THE SEVENTH MENTION OF HADES IS BY APOSTLE JOHN
7. "Death and hell [hades/unseen] delivered up the dead" (Rev. 20:13)
"Death and hell [hades/unseen] were cast into lake of fire" (Verse 14)
And again we see "death and hell/hades" used together, just as Jesus did in Rev. 1:18. Why is this. If hades is the state or realm of the dead, why is this word linked with "death." Notice this instructive verse:
"Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell [sheol/hades]: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them" (Psalm 55:15).
Are not "death" that seizes them, and "sheol/hades" where they go down to, one and the same? No, they obviously are not. One, death, seizes upon them, and because of this death they have something else happen to them: they "go down quickly to sheol/hades." In other words, death, as the "act of or process of dying" brings them to the "state of the dead," which is sheol/hades, where there is no longer any consciousness, pain, joy, or "any thing" (Ecc. 9:5).
Seeing that "death seizes" upon them, we have proof that this "death" has not as yet made them to be dead, but it is seizing them, that is, it is the cause of their dying until they are dead. Death is the cause of their death, or death is what causes them to ultimately become dead, hence they then "go down quick into hell/hades," which is now the state of their caused death--they are in fact now dead.
This is precisely what God told Adam would happen if he ate the forbidden fruit:
"Yet from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you are not to be eating from it, for in the day you eat from it, to die shall you be dying" (Gen. 2:17, Concordant Literal Old Testament).
Here is what our dictionaries tell us: "death, n. 1. the act of dying; the termination of life. 2. The state of being dead. 3. The cause of dying" (American Heritage College Dictionary). This is really important to remember. The word death denotes an ACT, STATE, & CAUSE. It will be nothing but confusion if we do not keep all three of these in mind when dealing with the abolition of "death."
All three of these definitions are true in actual fact. One is no more true than the others. So when God tells us that "the last enemy to be destroyed is DEATH" (I Cor. 15:26), it must include every and all aspects of what death really is. Death will no longer be the cause of anyone going through death in the act of dying, neither will there be any more dead people in the final state of death. But will Christians accept the abolition (or destruction) of the ACT of death, the CAUSE of death, and the STATE of death, as representing what Jesus Christ will, literally and spiritually "destroy?" No, of course not. How could they then continue hanging on to their hatred towards others with their torture in hell for all eternity for those they don't love, doctrine?
Death itself will be destroyed, or as the Concordant Version renders it: "the last enemy being abolished: death." (It is more likely to abolish something that is inanimate rather than to destroy it as the King James translates it).
So we have the act, the state, and the cause, all being the definition of "death." Hence all three must be abolished or there will yet remain some form of death which would then continue to be an eternal "enemy" in God's creation.
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mercy, peace and love
Kat