| Subject: The Resurrections Post #5 |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 18:31:31 02/08/10 Mon
The Seven Resurrections
Resurrection #2:
The second recorded resurrection in the Bible follows shortly after Jesus' resurrection and is found in Matthew 27:51-53 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
What is most revealing is that "many bodies of the saints" which slept arose but not all. Can we have any indication of which ones came up and which did not?. There are a couple of places which indicate who might have taken part in this resurrection. In Acts 2:29 Peter had this to say to those in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day." Peter affirmed that David was still dead and buried so he would not have been in that group that came out of their graves after Jesus arose. David was under the law dispensation and had not been resurrected. I would assume then that the saints which arose were saints who lived and died before the law was instituted. You have those who died up to Abraham as a dispensation and those from Abraham to Moses as another dispensation. How many and of what group or groups were raised we are not told. It is interesting that in 1 Peter 3:18-22 Peter mentioned a group that Jesus preached to while He was in the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 22Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. "
In Psalm 68:18 we have a verse that very well could relate to those prisoners: "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them."
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
The indication would be then that those saved pre-flood and possibly all saved pre-law would have been in the number raised. If this is true then Abraham would have been in that number. All of this however must be laid to speculation as we are not given hard facts as to who and how many were raised immediately after Jesus' resurrection.
There is another possibility as to who might have been raised and it is found in the Book of Revelation. Notice in the following scriptures that when John is translated into heaven there are some folks already there that would seem to have been resurrected.
Revelation 4:1-4 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Old John gets caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2) and is immediatel found before the throne of God. Upon arriving he sees there are 24 people that got there before he did. We are not given the identity of these elders but they are identified as elders and would almost certainly be 24 very prominent and worthy elders of Israel that served God faithfully in their mortal life. Verse one and two of Chapter 4 pertain to the "rapture" of the Church as John was a type of the Church. The elements of the rapture are there as the voice, the trumpet and the shout of "come up hither" (Rev. 11:12) and the immediate translation of John into the presence of God. That the 24 are there ahead of John leads to the possibility they are in resurrected bodies and therefore have been resurrected from the dead.
In my own mind the 24 elders are actually a better fit than the pre-flood "prisoners" and pre-law saints. The elders have received crowns so evidently they have been judged. The captivity that was led captive could be souls released from "Abraham's bosom" (Luke 16:22) and still without their resurrected body. The Christian who dies today leaves his body behind yet enters into the presence of God as bodyless soul and spirit (2 Cor. 5:8) so these also may have gone into heaven as souls without bodies and be awaiting there resurrected bodies at a future resurrection.
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