< >

CHAPTER VI

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

Belief in the Resurrection of the body is implicit in all Bible history. It lay at the very root of the Patriarchal and Jewish theology. The promises of God, which had no fulfilment in the life time of those who believed them, could only be received and enjoyed after a resurrection from the dead; without it they were null and void.

This belief runs all through the Old Testament like a golden thread. Abraham believed in the resurrection of Isaac, the Patriarchs died in this hope; Elijah and Elisha saw the dead raised to life before their eyes; Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Job all spoke of it with confidence. It was the only hope of Martha in the hour of Lazarus' death. (Heb. 11:9-21, I Kings 17:22, II Kings 4:34, Job 19:25-27, Is. 26:19, Ez. 37:1-14, Dan. 12:2, John 11:24.)

Belief in the resurrection of the body was also the centre of our Lord's life. He spoke repeatedly and confidently of His own death and resurrection, and of what He would do afterwards. It was lack of this faith in His disciples which so bitterly disappointed Him, and was responsible for their own collapse.

Their teaching after the Ascension of the Lord centred round His Death and Resurrection and physical return. The whole Christian position depended entirely upon its truth. For, as St. Paul said, if in this life only we have hope in Christ then we are miserable indeed. Faith to raise the dead persisted in the Apostolic Church, and the last book in the Bible ends with the plain vision of a Universal Resurrection of all the dead of all the ages. It is the only doctrine which can give meaning to a Creation which relentlessly slides into the darkness of frustration and death. (Lk. 9:22-45, 24:25-27, 36-47, Mk. 16:14, Acts 2:22-36, 4:33, 17:32, 26:18-23, 9:36-42, 20:9-12, Rom. 8:19-25 (compare Ecclesiastes), I Cor. 15, Rev. 20:13.)

There was, however, in the Bible a clear development of revelation concerning the resurrection of the dead.

1. The original design of God, foiled by the Fall, was that man should live for ever upon a perfect earth, their bodies

— end of page 29 —

being sustained in health by eating of the Tree of Life continually. It is evident that the Tree contained elements which maintained the body in perfect condition. (Gen. 3:22, Ez. 47:12, Rev. 22:2.)

2. It was the action of God in cutting off the human race from this perfect food, which resulted in the universal death of the body. Nothing short of this diet will restore earthly bodies to their original health. (Gen. 3:22, I Cor. 15:22, Rom. 5:12-14.)

3. The Bible speaks of the death of the body as an unmitigated evil. It is the greatest and last enemy of the human race. Not until its final defeat will perfect victory be enjoyed. (I Cor. 15:22-28, Rev. 20:14.)

4. Hades (Greek) or Sheol (Hebrew) was the name of the place to which the souls of those who lost their bodies went. It had two sides to it, as the Lord showed in the parable of Dives and Lazarus, and between those two sides was a great gulf fixed. (Is. 14:9, Ez. 32:17-32, Lk. 16:19-31.)

(a) In the one division were the believers in God. The darkness of their experience was relieved by their faith in the resurrection at the Last Day; so that they might be said to rest in hope, together with Abraham the Father of the believing. Yet dread even of this softened experience kept the Old Testament saints all their lifetime in bondage, and made the hour of death highly unwelcome, since the loss of their spirit cut them off from God, and the loss of their body cut them off from the world. At this Resurrection they would enter into the enjoyment of the promises of God in Palestine during the Millennium. (Heb. 2:15, Mt. 4:16, Job 10:20-22, II Kings 20:1-3 (contrast Phil. 1:21-23), Lk. 1:79, 16:19-23, Ps. 16:9-11, Is. 26:19, Ez. 37:1-14, Dan. 12:2 (compare Ez. 44:13.))

(b) In the other division were:—

1. The ignorant dead, who in the darkness of the disembodied state had no ray of hope of any escape from their miserable condition. The final resurrection will come to them as a wholly unexpected shock.

2. The enemies of God whose hearts are filled with expectation of fiery judgment and punishment. (Ps. 73:18-19,

— end of page 30 —

Ez. 32:17-32, Mk. 9:43-48 (compare Mt. 8:29), Mt. 25:41, Jude 6 & 7, II Peter 2:4-9, Heb. 10:27.)

See Diagrams 8, 8a and 8b

< >

The Disastrous Effects Of The Doctrine Of Original Sin | By His Stripes We Are Healed | The Book Of Revelation | The Second Coming Of Christ | The Baptism And Gifts Of The Holy Spirit | The Comforter Is Come