{"id":1378211,"date":"2024-03-23T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c4israel.com.au\/?p=1378211"},"modified":"2024-03-09T19:34:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T09:34:56","slug":"the-resurrection-of-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c4israel.com.au\/articles\/the-resurrection-of-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"The Resurrection of the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our Bible is a big book. It starts in the first two chapters describing the account of God creating the world and then creating the first man and woman and putting them in the Garden. In only the third chapter, Adam and Eve have sinned, and death has entered our existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last two chapters of the Bible\u2014in the book of Revelation\u2014death is gone and the World-to-Come has begun, and mankind has been recreated into an incorruptible form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of five small chapters in our big Bible discuss the way things are meant to be. The rest of the entire Bible discusses man in His current state, coexisting with death, and God\u2019s core desire to dwell with mankind and His amazing plan of love to restore that relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bible is the very patient explanation of how God deals with death so that He can dwell with man\u2014firstly through one nation (Israel) by means of His Presence in the Tabernacle and later the Temple administered by the priesthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And secondly in the final state through the redemption of Messiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore the centrepiece of this whole story is the Messiah and what He accomplished\u2014which is\u2014the resurrection from the dead.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This thing called resurrection<\/em><\/strong> is the proof that Messiah was successful\u2014the great laws of the heavens and universe regarding God dwelling with mankind have been satisfied\u2014death has been defeated, and we are destined to live with God forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resurrection shows that, instead of nothingness, there is a life after this one\u2014a better one. This current life involves working alongside the original curse; managing death and decay; dealing with injustice, pain, sorrow and suffering; labouring hard just to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the resurrection gives us hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have a soul of inestimable value that will go on living with God beyond this life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resurrection proves God\u2019s existence and that there is life after death. This is why the devil would like to hide it, change its meaning, make it a misunderstood subject and ultimately deceive people out of entering into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resurrection of the Dead Therefore is a Fundamental Biblical Belief<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the big questions that people were asking in Jesus\u2019 day was, is whether resurrection is mentioned in the Torah\u2014the first five books of the Bible\u2014the Book of Moses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a very important point because the Torah is rightly considered the foundation of all scripture. The Sadducees said \u2018No\u2014the resurrection is not mentioned in the Torah\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pharisees said \u2018Yes\u2014the resurrection IS mentioned in the Torah\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus said \u2018Yes it is\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the Rabbis say \u2018Yes it is\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Where is the Resurrection of the Dead Mentioned in the Torah?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first verse in the Torah which speaks of the resurrection of the dead is considered to be in only the third chapter of Genesis, and refers to human beings coming from dust and returning to dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor dust you are, and to dust you shall return.\u201d Genesis 3:19<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tend to view that as meaning we were created from the dust and when we die our bodies decay and return to become dust again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Rabbis look at this verse slightly differently. The Midrash and commentaries explain this verse like this: \u201cThere the resurrection of the dead is meant as saying, dust you are now, and therewith, as the same dust, or state, you will return a second time in the resurrection of the dead. Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 20:10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They see it as meaning we are a soul contained inside the dust that God formed into a human body, then we die and our soul departs, and then at the resurrection our soul will come back in to our body made of dust a second time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second verse in the Torah which speaks of the resurrection of the dead refers to Abraham going to his fathers in peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the big questions that people were asking in Jesus\u2019 day was, is whether resurrection is mentioned in the Torah\u2014the first five books of the Bible\u2014the Book of Moses.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. Genesis 15:15 Rashi\u2019s commentary on this verse says that when God says, \u201cYou will come to your forefathers in peace\u201d, He is referring inclusively of Abraham\u2019s father, Terah, who we understand to have been an idol merchant and worshipper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abraham\u2019s father was an idolater, and He announces to him that he will come to him? This teaches you that Terah repented. Rashi on Genesis 15:15 This reveals that the Rabbis believe that Sheol is NOT ONLY the physical grave where the body goes when it dies but also the place where their soul goes when they die\u2014making Sheol both the physical grave and the place of departed souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Abraham died, his physical body was buried with his wife in the Machpelah Cave in Hebron. His father Terah, however, died and was buried in Haran 800 km away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore when the Lord promises to Abram that he would \u2018come to his forefathers in peace\u2019, it is speaking of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n