Sabbath: The Old Testament Hope
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Job 19:25-27; 1 Timothy 6:16; Psalm 49:1-20; Psalm 71:1-24; Isaiah 26:14, Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:1-13 .
Memory Text: “By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son. … He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead — and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Hebrews 11:17, Hebrews 11:19, NRSV).
The Old Testament hope is grounded, not on Greek ideas about the natural immortality of the soul, but on the biblical teaching of the final resurrection of the dead.
But how could a no-longer-existent human body, cremated into ashes or destroyed by other means, be brought to life again? How can someone who has been deceased, perhaps for centuries or even millennia, recover again his or her identity?
These questions lead us to reflect on the mystery of life. We are alive and enjoy the life that God graciously grants us every day. Even without beginning to understand the supernatural origin of life, we know that in the beginning God brought life into existence from non-life through the power of His Word (Genesis 1:1-31; Psalm 33:6, Psalm 33:9). So, if God was able to create life on earth the first time from nothing (Latin ex nihilo), why should we doubt His capacity to recreate human life and to restore its original identity?
This week we will reflect on how the notion of the final resurrection unfolded in Old Testament times, with special focus on the statements of Job, some psalmists, and the prophets Isaiah and Daniel.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 22.
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I suppose it vividly illustrates the limits of our human understanding, when we seemingly can't even find the words to ask the right questions. I don't think it's a lack of intelligence on the part of the lesson author, but the fact that we are dealing with profound mysteries.
"But how could a no-longer-existent human body, cremated into ashes or destroyed by other means, be brought to life again?"
Does it even need to be brought back?
In I Corinthians 15:35-49, Paul seems to be answering an objection to the doctrine of the resurrection. As is often the case, the objection takes the form of a question:
"How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”
Paul gives a rather lengthy explanation, the substance of which seems to be that our present natural, terrestrial bodies, mortal and capable of decay, could never go to heaven anyway. Having been accounted worthy to partake of the resurrection of the just, by the wonderful grace of God, we are going to need celestial, spiritual, immortal, incorruptible bodies like what Jesus has. So, apparently, our essence as individuals -- our soul, if you please -- can easily be housed by God in a whole new and radically different body, and thus resume their conscious function far better than ever!
"How can someone who has been deceased, perhaps for centuries or even millennia, recover again his or her identity?"
I must admit that I had to look up the word "identity" in order to be sure of its precise meaning. At first I thought it had to do with being known or recognised by loved ones and others whom we have known in this life. I thought of I Corinthians 13:12. To make an application here might involve taking this verse slightly out of context, but I suppose it should be obvious that a God of love would not bring us back to life in a form that would make us strangers to those we have known and loved!
Then I found that "identity" means "the fact of being who or what a person or thing is." So the recovery of our identity evidently means our coming back, actually being the same person as before, with character and personality intact, and a continuity of consciousness. How this is possible, I don't know, but it's easy enough to take God's word for it. I seriously doubt that any preservation of the old body would be of any help to Him in pulling it off.
I love talking about these things. I'm old enough to have had some loved ones already fall asleep in Jesus, and given the unlikelihood that I could still endure the final crisis, it seems clear that my time is coming. What a comfort there is in God's promise!
Thanks to this foundation.It is so a heart lifting words of everlasting life despite how one lost it from the past,but truth it will be restored back to him.
I have been unable to write a comment on today's lesson until now, mainly because Carmel had a big "to to" list for me. She wanted me to plant out 5 daisy plants, which sounds easy. But I had to dig the garden first and it was full or roots (It is right next to a border hedge). Then I had to empty one of the compost bins so that the soil was rich enough to feed the daisies. The plants looked pretty scruffy because we had actually bought them before we had to rush back and forth to Queensland to deal with Carme;'s father's passing. Now the garden has been dug the compost spread, the daisies planted, watered and given some special foliar encouraging mix that smells like dead fish. So, now, we live in hope that the daisy are going to grow and provide a spectacular wall of colour to brighten up our day.
I did not just write all that to let you know what a hard-working, good husband I am. There is a lesson hidden in this somewhere. My day was just an ordinary day. It involved pain and suffering (My hip hurts quite a bit) but all this was done with the hope that in the end, we will have something enjoyable.
Most of the so-called covenant promises in the old Testament are couched in terms of at least partial fulfillment of a present need. For example, Abraham was destined to be the father of nations but that destiny rested on Isaac, and for a while there it looked as though that promise was to be snuffed out. Abraham's faith endured the test and the hope was given a partial fulfilment in the presence with the sacrificial ram being a substitute for Isaac.
And if you look at some of the other covenant/promises in the Old Testament you will often find that the hope part was not just for the future, but fulfilled a very current need.
We have this hope, for the future, the flower bed full of daisies if you like, but what is the present fulfillment in our every day, work-filled lives? Or do we just hope for the future?
I have heard that genuine hope is based on responding to God's love. I agree with your message through the years, by taking hold of His mercy and letting it live in us we have the better chance of letting our light shine without being obnoxious. It is said that it happens when we allow the rich current of His love to flow through our veins, of course heart and arteries also.
I like Job I am looking forward to having the same body. When my Redeemer shall stand at last on the earth, "then in the flesh I shall see God." "And my eyes shall behold God, not another." Job 19:25-27.
I do believe when Christ comes and calleth us from the grave, we will be resurected incorruptable and we who may be alive will be changed while they are being resurrected. 1Corinthians 15:52. I will leave those details to God for what specifically that intaills. I believe we will have recognizable features. Yes we will be changed to have perfect bodies(changed to incorruptable), but like Job said in the flesh. Yes I will be very happy, rejoicing with what God has enstore for us. Even getting carried away by my angel or a band of angels, rather than flying myself.
As far as taking only our characters, I do believe it is not refering to our bodies, rather material things. We won't have to pack a suitcase full of battery chargers or anything else, our eyes will be fixed on Christ, not another. As we rise we will even drop, hearing aids, glasses, and our smart phones. Everything we need will be provided. Even a garden on our plot in the country, on the new earth after a thousand years in heaven, will be provided to groom as Adam and Eve did before their disobedience.
Our mind of course will be perfect. Some what like a friend told me when I was thirty-seven and he was 77. "You know we may seem old and falling apart, but our minds are young like yours," though it will be much better(incorruptable). "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." Phillipians 4:4.