Wednesday: “Your Dead Shall Live”
Read Isaiah 26:14 and Isaiah 26:19. What is the contrast between those who will perish forever (Isaiah 26:14; see also Malachi 4:1) and those who will receive eternal life (Isaiah 26:19)?
The book of Isaiah presents a major contrast between the majesty of God and our human fragility (see Isaiah chapter 40). Though we are like the grass that withers and the flower that fades, the word of God remains forever (Isaiah 40:6-8). Despite our human sinfulness, however, God’s saving grace is available to all human beings and becomes effective even to the Gentiles who embrace His covenant and keep the Sabbath (Isaiah chapter 56).
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In the book of Isaiah, the hope of the resurrection is broadened significantly. While previous biblical allusions to the resurrection were expressed more from personal perspectives (Job 19:25-27, Psalm 49:15, Psalm 71:20), the prophet Isaiah speaks of it as including both himself and the covenantal community of believers (Isaiah 26:19).
Isaiah 26:1-21 contrasts the distinct destinies of the wicked and the righteous. On one side, the wicked will remain dead, without ever being brought to life again, at least after the “second death” (Revelation 21:8). They will be completely destroyed, and all their memory will perish forever (Isaiah 26:14). This passage underscores the teaching that there are no surviving souls or spirits that remain alive after death. Speaking about the final destruction of the wicked, which comes later, the Lord stated elsewhere that the wicked will be completely burned up, leaving them “neither root nor branch” (Malachi 4:1, NKJV).
On the other side, the righteous dead will be raised from death to receive their blessed reward. Isaiah 25:1-12 highlights that the Lord God “will swallow up death forever” and “will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8, NKJV). In Isaiah 26:1-21 we find the following words: “Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead” (Isaiah 26:19, NKJV). All the resurrected righteous will participate in the joyful feast that the Lord will prepare for all people (Isaiah 25:6). The final resurrection will bring together all the righteous from all ages, including your beloved ones who already died in Christ.
| Imagine if we didn’t have any hope, any assurance, any reason to think that our death was anything but the end of everything for us. And then, even worse, anyone who ever knew us would be gone, and soon it would be as if we never existed and that our life never meant anything at all. How does this fate contrast to the hope that we have? |
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David contrasts in Psalm 71:11, 20-21 and 73:17-18, 23-27, two different endings for two different worldviews. And in a way, both of these worldviews agree upon these endings.
It's interesting to me that in many modern Godless "religions", the self is puffed up as so important that it alone decides truth and the inner self is what is relied upon and exalted, and yet the self is so unimportant that one is to expect nothing more beyond death, just accept that the last breath is the end forever. Acceptance of death's finality is a virtue. In a way they believe what Isaiah 26:14 says, that they will perish forever, be forgotten, and not rise. Their vision is that humans are like a comet, a blaze of glory and then puff, gone.
Whereas by contrast, in following Jesus, the self is hidden in Christ and receives value in Him and looks to Him for all guidance and worth,... and in the future, ONLY because the self is so important to Jesus, it will be resurrected and live without stopping. It won't fade and disappear forever, but it will have a richer experience than it does now, without any ending. Isaiah 26:19 says it poetically, that "the earth will give birth to the dead." The earth cannot contain the soul that is full of the life of the resurrected Jesus; the dead will wake up and shout for joy!
Which worldview places more value on human life? A self-centered one or a Jesus Christ-centered one?
You make a very good point!
It is so encouraging knowing that, after death, there is hope beyond the grave.
Isaiah 26 needs to be read in its entirity and not just cherry-picked for the good bit about the resurrection. I read it right through this morning and am still coming to grips with some of th language used to describe the fate of the wicked.
And I still smile at the metaphor of suffering the pain of childbirth, only to pass wind. (Isaiah 26;17, 18)
It is essentially a lament about the Kingdom of Judah and the apparent triumph of evil. Hence the metaphor of going through the pain of childbirth, only to find that we have to pass wind.
The passage does however serve as a reminder that even in the kingdom of Judah, there was hope that wrongs would be put right and that righteousness will prevail. And perhaps more than anything else it should serve as a reminder that salvation is not so much about the reward of the righteous, or the destruction of the wicked, but about the restoration of relationships between God and those who have been faithful to him. And it is a reminder too about those things that are valuable now.
When I read this passage there is a constant reminder that I have a responsibility to work on righting the wrongs now. That is something that gives meaning to the hope in the future.
It is extremely sad when human beings like Stephen Hawking (now deceased), Richard Dawkins, and many others emphatically state that there is no heaven and no afterlife after death. They don't seem to care for any of it either, and the realization that someday life will end doesn't seem to unsettle them. As a matter of fact, I've read that many atheists welcome death as just a mere oblivion and are comforted by this fact. The irony of it all is that if they continue to accept this falsehood and have not met and given their lives to Jesus they will certainly go into eternal oblivion at the second resurrection. The truth is that death is an enemy to all mankind. Satan's lie is indeed pervasive. I thank God for the plan of salvation carried out for us through the Lord Jesus Christ. We have this beautiful hope that God will grant us life again through His Son, Jesus. Let's continue to pray for all the atheists, especially those in our families, our friends, our neighbors, and those in the church. God desires so much to save them too into His kingdom.
Thinking about the lesson's question, I would say that the "wicked" do not think about life after death. If they did, their conscience would bother them and they possibly would do something about it. If their conscience is seared, then good or bad does not exist in their mind. Expedience, or what ever it takes to get what they want, is probably their modus operandi.
“Your dead shall live” is only a comfort to those who cry out to God in their suffering. Our Faith requires a life of willing self-denial when faced with the choice of God’s Will and Way and "the way of the world."
Since most of the lost are likely satisfied with the way they have been able to get what they want, not seeking after things which are spiritual, they would either be oblivious to the consequences, don’t believe it, or plain just do not care.
I suppose to - “imagine if we . . . " - refers to us who already believe in the Resurrection. It is difficult for me to grasp that "we," who know about the blessing of the gift of everlasting life and the consequences of rejecting the offer, could think about it in the same way the lost would think.
Only by God’s Grace which penetrated the hardened heart and confused mind is the soul yet willing to yield to His Way of Life. This is why we are called upon not to judge, but instead to love our fellow man, because God uses our humble and meek heart to reach the lost.
Brother Maurice Ashton:
In my experience of life and freewill, in this world in rebellion, the only effective way for me as an individual to "right the wrongs now," is for me to humbly submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14).
As much as I would like to effect a change in the lives of those choosing to walk separate from Christ, coercion/force is counterproductive and reason/pleading/prayer are the the only viable options for me as a disciple of Christ.
Legislated righteousness ultimately depends upon some level of coercion/force exerted by the government. (There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death.)
Peter, I agree that we need to be led by the Holy Spirit. However many of us make that sort of statement and then switch our ears off so that we do not hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us. We pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit and then we think we have done our duty. The other half of the transaction is to listen and act on what we hear. It may be a quiet comment in a conversation, an observation that someone's lawn is longer than normal, the death of a loved one, the flooding of farms, a bushfire raging through nature reserves, or many other calls on our time, money, and attention.
Our worst sin is to pray for the Holy Spirit and then switch off our hearing aids!
Some people may say that resurrection is a "romantic" belief, but it's at the core of all Christian religion. There is no sense in Christ's sacrifice if it weren't supposed to solve the problem of death, for those who also choose to accept His sacrifice. It's a matter of reconciliation with the very divine nature of God Himself.
The atheist hope is their fate, whereas the Christian hope is their faith. If death is the end of everything for us, then there is no reason to believe in a God. There are so many religious beliefs around the world because humanity believes in hope. Hope breathes out life into existence. A hope of a better life here on earth and a hope for an even better life after death. If there is no hope, then there is no tomorrow. The blessed hope we cherish and hold onto as Christians is the resurrection power of Christ. The resurrection power of God gives us the hope, assurance, and reason for living with a purpose. The hope that we can see our dead loved ones again gives meaning to life. The assurance that we can live again after death helps us be at peace in life. And, the reason to accept the Gift of Salvation to live for Christ is our duty in life (Ecclesiastes 12:13). The Blessed Hope gives me three promises: (1) my citizenship in heaven is secured, (2) Christ is coming back again as King of kings, and (3) reunited with my dead loved ones. Promise (1) approves us to become citizens of God’s Kingdom by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. In doing so, we can live a godly life in a sinful world with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 14:17). Promise (2) Christ said He is coming back again to take you and me to His Kingdom in heaven where He is preparing a happy home for us (John 14:2). And, promise (3) we can get to see our dead loved ones alive again by the resurrection power of Christ. It will be a great joy and feeling to see our dead grandparents, parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives, and friends live again during this great reunion when Jesus returns, an epic moment in earth’s history. So, please claim to the promises of Titus 2:11-14, “11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”, KJV.