THERE IS some confusion among Bible teachers about when the Old Testament saints are raised from the grave and there need not be because scripture, rightly divided, is perfectly clear. When all the facts are considered there can be absolutely no doubt that the Old Testament saints rose with Christ. Lets consider the facts.
Those who Died Before Christ Rose from the Dead
Before the Lord Jesus rose from the dead Old Testament believers (saints) went to sheol after death which consisted of Paradise, Torment and a “great gulf fixed” between (Luke 16:20-
31). Sheol simply was “the world of the dead” and described the place where the souls of ALL the deceased went after death. We would not have known much about sheol if Jesus had not described it in Luke chapter 16.
In the Old Testament sheol has been translated as hell, grave or pit but none of these translations are adequate.
In Psalm 16:10 there is a prophecy that Christ would not be left in sheol and Peter identifies (Acts 2:27) this as a prophecy that Jesus would rise from the dead. So Jesus went to sheol when He died and He told the repentant thief on the cross that He would be together with him that day in Paradise. So Paradise was in sheol.
However in Luke chapter 16 Jesus indicated that sheol also had a place where unrepentant sinners went after death and it is described as a place of torment. Between Paradise and torment there was “a great gulf fixed” which the Bible elsewhere describes as “the bottomless pit” or the abyss. When Christ reigns for 1,000 years Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit (Rev.20:2) and there are fallen angels that have been imprisoned in the bottomless pit (Rev.9:1) who will be released to torment men during the Tribulation (Rev.9:1-11).
When Jesus cast the legion of demons out of the demoniac of Gadera they asked that Jesus “not command them to go out into the deep (abyss)” (Luke 8:31). The demons were fearful that Jesus might incarcerate them in the bottomless pit!
Why Did Old Testament Saints go to Paradise?
Before Jesus died and rose from the grave it was impossible for any man to go to heaven. Sin had not been atoned for before Jesus died and shed His blood and death had not been conquered before Jesus rose from the dead. They offered animal sacrifices that could never take away sins as we read:
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Heb.10:4).
Sin cannot enter heaven and so all the Old Testament saints had to wait in Paradise until the perfect sacrifice was offered.
Likewise nobody could be resurrected before Jesus rose. He was the “firstfruits of them that slept”.
“Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1Cor.15:23).
When Christ Rose
The day Jesus rose from the dead there was an earthquake that opened the sepulcres of all the Old Testament saints so that people could see inside where the dead bodies lay. Then on the third day Jesus rose and AFTER His resurrection
“many bodies of the saints that slept arose, and came out of the graves” (Matt.27:52).
It was not the bodies of many of the saints but many bodies of saints! All the saints arose and there were many. It was not just some of the saints that rose. All arose and there were many! And these appeared to many saints in Jerusalem.
Which of the resurrected saints appeared to others in Jerusalem we are not told. In all probability it was a limited number who had recently died who appeared to those who knew them as a testimony of Christ’s resurrection. It is unlikely that those who appeared in Jerusalem were from ages past because nobody would recognize them.
Did those who rose with Christ receive a natural body and die again. No. This was resurrection and when Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives He “led captivity
captive”. “He that descended (into sheol) is the same that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things” (Eph.4:10). All the Old Testament saints who had been captive in Paradise were led in Christ’s train into heaven. Jesus, as “the captain of their salvation” (Heb.2:10) was “bringing many sons to glory” just as a victorious general would return from the conflict with the spoils of battle.
The Resurrection to Life
God always intended that every soul on earth would rise from the dead one day. Those who are saved through faith participate in the resurrection to life and those who are unbelieving are resurrected to damnation. The resurrection to life also called the first resurrection, is in several stages.
The Old Testament saints have already been raised with Christ. Jesus indicated this was about to happen in John 5:25.
“The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”
This is a clear statement that the first stage of the resurrection to life was about to begin and when Jesus rose He called all the believing dead from the grave so that they heard His voice and rose with Him. The unbelieving did not hear His voice. Only the believers heard His voice in Paradise and Paradise was emptied of all the saints.
For forty days Jesus appeared to many and then He ascended through the sky to heaven, triumphantly, as the captain of their salvation.
The Church is Raised at the Rapture
On the day of Pentecost the Church was born and the Jews were put aside as God’s witness on earth until they turn to the lord in the Last Days.
Paul described this in Romans chapter 11. Israel the natural olive branch was plucked out of the olive tree and the Gentiles, a wild olive branch, was grafted in their place. This will continue for,
“blindness in part is happened to Israel, UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved” (Rom.11:25-26).
The Gentile Church of Jesus Christ will be complete and there will be the Rapture of every Christian.
“The dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1Thess.4:16-17).
The Rapture cannot include Old Testament saints who were never “in Christ”. The Church is the body of Christ; a special company of people apart from Old Testament saints who were Israelites. In Old Testament times when a Gentile was saved they became a “stranger in Israel” and worshipped the God of Israel. In Solomon’s day there were 153,600 converts to the God of Israel (2Chron.2:17).
Tribulation Martyrs are Raised When Christ Returns
After the Rapture there will be 7 years of Tribulation when God will be dealing with Israel and the nations to bring Israel to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Messiah and King and to judge the Gentile nations.
During the second half of the Tribulation Antichrist will achieve universal government and claim deity. All will be required to receive his mark in their right hand or in their forehead or be put to death. Many will refuse and die rather than be unfaithful to Christ.
At the end of the 7 years Christ will return in glory and will destroy the Antichrist and all who follow him. He will rescue all who remain faithful to the God of the Bible.
All who were slain during the Tribulation will be resurrected when Christ returns. Isaiah wrote about these:
“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity” (Isa.26:19-21).
And John wrote about it:
“I saw the souls of them that
were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ” (Rev.20:4-5).
Old Testament saints can’t possibly be included in this resurrection because it is exclusively for those beheaded by Antichrist!
The Resurrection of Millennial Saints
After Christ returns He will reign from Jerusalem for 1,000 years when there will be a new heaven and earth and the former things will pass away.
The final stage of the resurrection to life will occur at that stage when all the believers from the Kingdom age will be raised or changed. John wrote about this:
“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection” (Rev.20:5).
All of the millennial saints will be raised or raptured when the 1,000 years are complete but it is only “the rest of the dead”. It cannot include the Old Testament saints.
Furthermore we know that during the millennial kingdom Old Testament saints will be reigning on earth with Christ. David wll be reigning over Israel. The twelve apostles will reign on 12 thrones over the tribes of Israel.
Jesus said that
“many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt.8:11).
If these Old Testament saints will be in the kingdom then they must be resurrected BEFORE the Kingdom begins and can’t be raised at the end of the millennial kingdom!
Old Testament Saints Have been Resurrected and are in Heaven NOW
When Jesus ascended He “led captivity captive” (Eph.4:8) and brought “many sons unto glory” (Heb.2:10) and Paul describes all those NOW in heaven in
Hebrews 12:22-24. In heaven there are NOW angels, the “general assembly and Church of the firstborn (Christ)” being Christians who have died and their souls are in heaven. But there are also “the spirits of just men made perfect”. These who have been made “perfect” already have their resurrection body and can only be Old Testament saints. Resurrection is the redemption of the body (Rom.8:23) when we are perfect or “complete”. Salvation is secured the moment we believe on Christ but the work of salvation is completed when we are transformed into His likeness.
These who were in heaven when Paul wrote his epistle to the Hebrews were already perfected and could only be Old testament saints.
Summarizing
Old Testament saints went to Paradise after death and Paradise is now in heaven. All Old Testament saints must therefore be in heaven now. Jesus was the firstfruits from the grave and took all the Old Testament saints with him as the spoils of conflict when He ascended.
Old Testament saints will be active in the millennial kingdom and must therefore be raised before the Kingdom is established at Christ’s second coming.
Old Testament saints were not beheaded by Antichrist so could not be among those raised at the end of the Tribulation.
Old Testament saints were never in the Body of Christ and therefore could not “sleep in Jesus” so they can’t be raised at the Rapture. They are the “spirits of just men made perfect” in the “heavenly Jerusalem”. They were all raised with Christ.
By
John R Ecob
