Resurrection of the dead (Part 1).

Christians do not live merely for time but also for eternity. They have a hope for the future which is certain by receiving eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The next foundational truth assures us that there is going to be a resurrection day. Jesus said, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:28-29).

Paul boldly asserts, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless…For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either…But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:13-16, 20).

Resurrection of the Dead in the Old Testament

God’s power and ability to raise people from the dead was manifested in the Old Testament. Elijah was used of God to raise the widow of Zarephath’s son from the dead (1 Kings 17:20-22) and Elisha raised the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4:8-37).

There was that amazing funeral recorded in 2 Kings 13, when a party of men went to bury a friend. While they were doing this they saw a party of raiders coming towards them. With no time to dig the grave, they threw the body into a nearby grave where Elisha was buried. As soon as the corpse made contact with the Prophet’s bones, he was revived, and ran and joined the burying party!!

God’s power and ability to raise people from the dead is manifested throughout Scripture.

One of the oldest books in the Bible is Job. Through all his troubles he also had the great hope of the resurrection day. He said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25-26).

Resurrection in the New Testament

It is recorded that Jesus raised three people from the dead: Jairus’ daughter; the widow of Nain’s son and Lazarus (Matt 9:23-25; Luke 7:12-15; John 11). There is a remarkable story related in very few words of what happened when Jesus died and rose again:

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matthew 27:50-53)

What a story! What surprises in Jerusalem! What power in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus! We also read of Peter being God’s instrument to raise Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-4). A young man called Eutychus fell asleep while Paul was preaching. He fell from an upstairs window and was killed. Paul prayed for the young man and he was restored to life (Acts 20:7-12). This story is a warning not to fall asleep during the preaching! There may not be a Paul present!

I have met two people who witnessed God’s power in raising the dead, and there are accounts of this happening in times of revival.

The Future Resurrection

The Bible teaches about the certainty of future resurrections: the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of the unjust. The terminology used is, ‘the resurrection of the just’; ‘the resurrection of life’; ‘the resurrection of the last day’; ‘the resurrection of the dead’ (Luke 14:14; John 5:29; John 11:24; Acts 23:6). Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, assured them:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

The Bible teaches about the certainty of future resurrections: the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of the unjust.

Believers Shall Rise Again

• First: “Blessed and holy are those who have part in this first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ” (Rev 20:6).
  
• To eternal life: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2).
  
• To be glorified with Christ: “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4).
  
• With incorruptible bodies: “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:42-44).
  
• With a body like Christ’s body: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil 3:20-21).

What a glorious hope for the Christian! What comfort when Christian loved ones die knowing we will meet again! There is a resurrection day!

Resurrection - A Glorious Hope

Yes, this teaching gives wonderful hope to the child of God. Before a person becomes a Christian, they are “without hope and without God in the world”. But once we believe the situation is changed “you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:12-13).

Hope is the confident looking forward to something which is certain, with absolute assurance. When Paul was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin he said, “I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 23:6).

Don’t miss one of the important reasons for this teaching. Life is punctuated by difficult circumstances and problems but there are better things to come. Peter used this truth to encourage and to comfort persecuted saints. They were being hunted, living in caves and suffering deprivation, and to use Peter’s words, “suffering grief in all kinds of trials”. This was one of his opening statements in his letter to them:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Life is punctuated by difficult circumstances and problems but there are better things to come.

The truth of the resurrection of the dead has been the hope of millions who have been martyred down through the centuries. Jesus told his disciples, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28).

Resurrection day is going to usher God’s people into a new era. Then it is going to be ‘forever with the Lord’. It is going to be the entry into an imperishable inheritance, kept, or reserved, in Heaven for you. We are going to see what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples, “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).

What is it going to be like? In one way it is indescribable. Paul said, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). We do not have a lot of information about Heaven, but we have enough. The Bible tells us something of what is there, and something of what is not there. The greatest thing is that HE is there. We shall see him and we shall be like him. Anne Cousin, anticipating this in the last century, wrote these words:

The Bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on the King of Grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand.
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.

Next week: The return of our Lord Jesus and the judgment seat of Christ.

A call to radical discipleship.

In part two of a series examining the relevance of the message and ministry of the non-writing prophets for today, Wilfred Wong looks at the lessons which can be learned from the life of Elisha.

The ministry of Elisha was complementary to that of Elijah. Elijah's name means ‘God is Yahweh’ while the name Elisha means ‘God is Salvation’. Elisha was an evangelist whereas Elijah, like Moses, had to restore and vindicate the dignity of the law which was, at the time, neglected and despised. Elisha led back to God those who had been aroused from their complacency by the ministry of Elijah.

The role of both Elijah and Elisha are crucial for today's church to encompass, in presenting to the world the message of who God is (Elijah) and that God saves (Elisha).

They both prophesied to Israel at a time of widespread religious confusion and disobedience to God. This was fuelled by relativism and syncretism, a mix of false teaching and divine revelation, similar to the times that we now live in. At that time in Israel, remnants of God's teachings existed side by side with the idols Baal and Asherah of the Canaanite religion. The king of Israel and the people were confused as to who the true God was.

Similarly, today, this nation has been flooded with more religions and occultic belief systems than at any other time in its history. Under the guise of 'tolerance’ and 'progressiveness’, even church leaders have professed their own subjective and unsubstantiated opinions about God rather than what he has revealed in Scripture.

Today in the West, many people have adopted a consumerist attitude towards religion, including Christians. Some Christians like to pick and choose those aspects of God's character which they are happy to accept. God's love is emphasised and his anger ignored. Many convince themselves that surely God will not mind if they continue to be disobedient. God has been neatly packaged for our convenience and placed in our back pockets. These mistakes are nothing new; they were committed as long ago as the time of Elisha. For all our ’modernity’ and 'progressiveness’, we appear to have come full circle and are no more spiritually enlightened than the people of old.

Elijah and Elisha both prophesied to Israel at a time of widespread religious confusion and disobedience to God.

This spiritual depravity is also reflected in the senseless violence that is on the rise in British society, where even little children are brutally murdered for sexual gratification and about eight million unborn children have been killed since the introduction of the 1967 Abortion Act.¹ The latter is perhaps comparable to the human sacrifices conducted in the Canaanite religion.

God’s Righteous Anger

God's anger is clearly demonstrated after Elisha is mocked (2 Kings 2:23-25). This passage is often cited as a major moral problem in the Old Testament. However, the mocking of Elisha, as God's representative, was tantamount to mocking God himself and such blasphemy was punished according to the Deuteronomic doctrine of retributive justice (Deut 7:10, 18:19).

Furthermore, Elisha himself could not have brought about the punishment of the youths. There is no need for Christians to try and make excuses for God's anger in these verses, for though God is love, he is also a God of righteous anger and he has no need to justify his acts to those whom he has created. This anger is demonstrated at many points in Scripture, for instance in the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira for lying to God (Acts 5:1-11).

Although God is merciful and forgiving, he wants us both to love and fear him - the reason for the latter being that fear of God will help to keep us from sinning (Ex 20:18-20, Luke 12:45). Many people, including Christians, lack an awareness of sin and its consequences because much of the Church has shied away from teaching about God's righteous anger. Sin is an unpopular subject nowadays. Perhaps it may only be a matter of time before God's anger results in a terrible chastisement upon this nation and on the whole world, for its blatant disregard for his laws.

For Those Who Will Obey

Though Elisha is to proclaim that God saves, this salvation is only for those who humble themselves and are obedient to God. As is demonstrated above, those who dare to mock God are made to account for their actions (see also Gal 6:7). There are numerous miracles performed by Elisha, which demonstrate God’s saving power for those who are obedient to him: in 2 Kings 4:1-7, Elisha saves a widow in debt from having her two boys taken away as slaves. 2 Kings 4:38-41 describes God’s power to make safe that which is harmful, when Elisha makes a deadly stew edible.

Although God is merciful and forgiving, he wants us both to love and fear him – for the fear of God will help to keep us from sinning.

God also shows his care and provision for those who follow him. In 2 Kings 4:42-44 Elisha feeds a multitude of people with only a small number of loaves demonstrating, yet again, the Lord's care for the needs of his people. In the healing of Naaman, in 2 Kings 5:1-27, Elisha demonstrates God's mercy on those who are willing to humble themselves before him, seek God’s will and faithfully obey him (here we have a story of the conversion and healing of a non-Israelite leper).

We also see God’s severe punishment upon those who are unfaithful in their service to him. Naaman, in gratitude for his healing, offers Elisha a gift, which he refuses (vs 15, 16). However, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, deceives Naaman into giving him the gifts and he and his descendants are struck down with leprosy.

Storing Up Treasures in Heaven

Gehazi was supposed to be serving God through his service to God’s chosen prophet, Elisha, yet he failed miserably when tempted by riches. This is a lesson for all of us who are engaged in Christian service. It is very common today to hear reports of Christians whose ministries are corrupted by sex, pride or money or any combination of these factors. All of us who serve God need regularly to examine our motives and attitudes and ask ourselves whether we are storing up treasures in heaven or on earth (Matt 6:19-21).

Will we follow the way of Elisha or Gehazi? Until the day we leave this world, we can never be too sure. This is a humbling thought and we need always to seek God’s help in remaining faithful. Although life may sometimes be very difficult, it is only temporary and God will reward believers according to how faithfully and obediently they have served him (Rom 14:12, Rev 22:12, 1 Cor 2:9).

It is quite awesome to realise that the nature of God's eternal reward awaiting us in Heaven will be determined by whatever we do during our temporary stay on earth. If all Christians truly internalised this truth, we would fling aside all those distractions which side-track us from effective Christian service, and focus single-mindedly on serving and pleasing God.

Uncompromising Discipleship

Such is the manner in which Elisha served God. He not only was obedient and faithful, but was willing to give up his livelihood, humble himself and be a servant to Elijah in order to be prepared for his prophetic ministry (1 Kings 19:19-21).

All of us who serve God need regularly to examine our motives and attitudes and ask ourselves whether we are storing up treasures in heaven or on earth.

By the standards which Jesus set, Elisha was a true disciple. When called to serve God, he left everything and did not look back (Luke 9:57-62) and he was not afraid to sacrifice and suffer and even to risk his life, as his ministry was likely to incur the wrath of the authorities (Luke 14:20-27).

True discipleship is always radical, yet we often water down the quality of our service to God, justifying this in the interests of our convenience and comfort. Elisha in his ministry was not only proclaiming God’s salvation but also encouraging the people to obey God. Some parallels can be seen with the Great Commission which Jesus gave to his disciples as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20. They were instructed not only to ‘make disciples’ but stress was also placed on ‘teaching them (i.e. the nations) to obey everything I have commanded you.’

What prophetic role is the Church in this country performing to teach the nation to obey God's commands? Unfortunately, some Christians seem more concerned with their image and not upsetting others than with uncompromisingly proclaiming God’s laws. The wavering stance within parts of the Church on the sinfulness of homosexual practices is just one example of this continuing process of compromise.

Sadly, many parts of the Church are failing to teach God’s commands by word or example. In the West, rather than influencing society, society is influencing the Church. Even sincere and devout Christians often fall into the trap of professing beliefs which are based more on the cultural influences of the day than on God's teachings as found in the Bible.

It is quite awesome to realise that the nature of God's eternal reward awaiting us in Heaven will be determined by what we do during our temporary stay on earth.

More Than We Can Imagine

We are all called to radical discipleship. It is not an easy road and we need God’s assistance and guidance along every step of the way. Like Elisha, we should have lives of deep prayer and seek God's will, in prayer, with an attitude of humility and obedience and through the study of God's word.

When we are humble and obedient instruments of God, he is able to achieve great things through us, perhaps more than we can imagine, as he did through his servant Elisha.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 13(5), 1997. Part of a series - click here for back issues.

Notes

1 2015 statistics.

What did the prophets do at a time when the nation had deserted God, "everyone did was right in his own eyes" and the church of the day had embraced the culture of the world?

The situation in Israel during the period of the Judges is summed up in the scriptural verdict, "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." It was a time when standards of behaviour fell far short of what the law of God demanded, a time when Israel deserted the one true God for the gods of the heathen.

Towards the end of that period the wicked sons of the ageing high priest Eli exhibited their grabbing materialism and compromised their religious commitment by having intercourse with the female Temple workers. Eli's feeble protests against all this wrongdoing were totally ignored (1 Sam 2:22-25).

This was the time when God raised up Samuel to deal with Israel's moral degeneracy. Described by one writer as 'God's emergency man', Samuel combined within himself the three offices of judge, priest and prophet, and through these offices he transformed the situation in Israel.

During the period of the Judges, everyone did what was right in his own eyes and Israel deserted God, so God raised up Samuel to deal with the situation.

Samuel and the Prophetic Schools

Probably it was through Samuel that the 'schools of the prophets' came into existence at this time. Here, young men could help to call a halt to the national degeneration as they were instructed in the law of God and taught the message and practice of prophecy. From this time, around 1050 BC, right down to the time of Nehemiah c.445 BC, there is evidence in Scripture of prophets meeting and ministering together.

No-one can estimate the influence such groups of studious religious men had on the history of Israel, but we can see - at a time when Britain is turning against God's moral standards and is forsaking the one true God in a morass of syncretism - how much we need 'schools of prophets' today, where men and women can study the word and ways of our God and learn how to speak his life-changing words where they most need to be heard.

The 'Sons of the Prophets' and their Lifestyle

The Old Testament indicates that there were prophetic guilds or 'schools of the prophets' at a number of places, including Gibeah, the home-town of Saul, sometimes called the hill of God or the hill of Saul (1 Sam 10:5; Gibeah means 'hill').

There were companies of prophets at Bethel and Jericho (2 Ki 2:3,5) and probably also at the Jordan (2 Ki 2:7 and 6:1). There were others at Gilgal and in the hill country of Ephraim (2 Ki 4:38 and 5:22). One of the most important was at Ramah, Samuel's home-town, where he presided (1 Sam 19:18-24). Some scholars take the word 'Naioth' as a place-name. It is more likely to be the name given to the school of the prophets in Ramah. Naioth, which means a dwelling or residence, comes from a root word meaning 'to rest', as at home; a lovely thought!

There were prophetic guilds or schools in a number of places, including Bethel, Jericho and Samuel's home-town of Ramah.

The prophets living in their school buildings were called the 'sons' of the prophets, and they referred to their leaders as 'my father' (2 Ki 2:12 and 13:14). It is likely that they wore a prophet's garb, with a garment of hair, a leather belt and sandals (2 Ki 1:8, Is 20:2, Zech 13:4). They were self-supporting, a feature that persisted down the years to and beyond Paul's tent-making. They were not celibate, as we see by the mention of a widow of one of the prophets (this woman brought her problem to Elisha when she ran into financial difficulties after the death of her husband, one of the prophets, in 2 Ki 4:1-7).

They erected the buildings in which they were to live. One such school was bursting at the seams and needed an extension. Elisha approved of this, and helpfully recovered an axe-head used by one of the men so that their log-cabin could be enlarged (2 Ki 6:1-7).

It would appear that there were up to a hundred people at some of these schools (2 Ki 4:43). They were self-catering, and during a time of famine went round the fields to gather what herbs they could find. Unhappily, on one occasion they brought back a poisonous gourd, and only the intervention of Elisha (manifesting the saving power of God) prevented serious after-effects (2 Ki 4:38-41).

The prophets lived in school buildings and were self-supporting, erecting their own buildings and gathering their own food .

One day Elisha received a complaint from the Jericho school to the effect that the water was bad and the land was unproductive. Elisha threw salt into the spring and "the water has remained wholesome to this day". Some of the PWM Team who were in once in Israel can testify that that claim is still true, for we sampled its water and enjoyed its oranges! This was possible only because Elisha's spring still flows sweetly today (2 Ki 2:19-22).

Their Education

In these schools such figures as Samuel, Elijah and Elisha would share the things they had learned about God's dealings with men. They would recount the story of God's protective guidance to Israel. They would explain the reasons for the sad experience concerning the high priest Eli and his perverted sons. They would pass on their knowledge of God's law and the blessedness of obedience (1 Sam 15:22-23).

In helping their trainees to face current situations they would at times need to pray, "Lord, open his eyes that he may see" (2 Ki 6:17). They would learn how to listen to God and how to begin to prophesy.

As a background to these activities the leaders would draw their attention to the state of affairs in their country and in the home life of its people. They would realise that God's message is conveyed in two principal ways: by prophetic words and by mighty deeds, the two being bound indissolubly together (Heb 11:32-35).

Their Ministry

These were assistants to leaders such as Elijah and Elisha. Apart from a few instances (1 Ki 18:43-44, 2 Ki 5:20 and 6:15-17) most of their names are not recorded. They were sent as messengers (2 Ki 9:1-3). They were concerned with the welfare of people in need (2 Ki 8:1-6). Kings and people alike turned to them for guidance (1 Sam 9:7-8, 1 Ki 22:27). It appears that some of them developed a predictive ability (2 Ki 2: 3, 5).

In the schools, trainees would learn how to pray and prophesy, and would learn to understand the state of affairs in the country at large.

Undoubtedly some of them rose to become prophets whose pronouncements are familiar to us in the Old Testament. Amos appears to be an exception, for he says of himself, "I was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son..." (Amos 7:14), indicating that he had not been to any of the schools of the prophets.

The 'Sons of the Prophets' and the Spirit

The Spirit had come upon individuals such as Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson (Jud 3:10, 6:34, 11:29 and 13:25), but it was at the schools of the prophets that the first corporate stirrings of the Spirit came down upon the seventy elders during the time of Moses (Num 11:24-29).

The students at the school of the prophets in Jericho were concerned to receive confirmation that Elisha was the God-appointed successor to Elijah. They did not wait in vain, for as Elijah ascended to heaven his cloak fell upon his protege; and when Elisha struck the water with it and cried, "Where now is the God of Elijah?", the waters of the Jordan divided. This miracle confirmed to the prophets that he was their new leader and that the same fullness of the Spirit was now to be manifest through him (2 Ki 2:11-15).

The truth on which the schools of the prophets were established is this: no-one can prophesy unless the Spirit has come upon him (1 Sam 10:6 and 19:20-23). Even a false prophet recognised that men can prophesy only when the Spirit comes upon them (1 Ki 22:24).

The schools of the prophets were established on this truth: no-one can prophesy unless the Spirit has come upon them.

Their Music

As was still true a thousand years later, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the sons of the prophets caused them to break forth into sacred music and praise (1 Sam 10:5 and Eph 5:18-19). They did not restrict their praise just to within the four walls of their seminaries, but organised 'praise marches'. Taking with them an assortment of musical instruments, they went out into the open air, prophesying with inspired praise. What they sang and played was given to them spontaneously as they marched along.

By the time of King David the prophets, divided into music guilds, were responsible for the leading of praise and worship. "Some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun [were set apart] for the ministry of prophesying accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals" (1 Chron 25:1). Two hundred and fifty years later, after Hezekiah had purified it, "He stationed the Levites in the Temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets" (2 Chron 29:25).

We must not make the mistake of imagining this singing arising from choirs commanding only small forces. Towards the end of David's reign he went on record as saying, "Four thousand are to praise the Lord with musical instruments I have provided for that purpose" (1 Chron 23:5).

Their Archives

When we study the historical books of the Old Testament we come across references to books that were written by the prophets. These were the result of careful recording of events by contemporaries and have been quoted by the writers of our Old Testament. We read of "the records of Nathan the prophet...the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite...the visions of Iddo the seer", also "the records of Shemaiah the prophet" and "the records of Samuel the seer...and the records of Gad the seer" (2 Chron 9:29, 12:15 and 1 Chron 29:29).

We are indebted to the 'schools of the prophets' for housing and protecting these records, also for adding to their collection by making contemporary records of the events of their day. Clearly it was a work of the Holy Spirit that moved them to archive this material for the benefit of others.

As was still true a thousand years later, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the sons of the prophets caused them to break forth into sacred music and praise.

Their Duration

There can be no doubt about the importance of these schools in the purposes of God, but we cannot be certain how long they continued. We know that they came into being, probably as we saw earlier under the influence of the prophet Samuel, around 1000 BC. They continued during the reign of David and most likely merged into the guilds that he instituted, especially the guild of prophetic musicians.

However, by the time of Amos (779-743 BC), under the leadership of Elijah and followed by that of Elisha, we find that they were still flourishing as centres of religious training and devotion. Some would claim that they continued throughout the period of the monarchy. The reference in Isaiah 8:16 suggests that there was a group of disciples associated with the prophet in his day, around 740 BC, but it is difficult to prove that schools continued as centres of worship, study, corporate life and proclamation after that time.

Living as we do at a time when prophecy has been ignored or devalued, it is surely time that provision be made for men and women filled with the Spirit to once more come together to study, to practice and to learn how to manifest prophecy and the other gifts of the Spirit.

First Published in Prophecy Today, Vol 5 No 5, September/October 1989.