Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation. (Psalm 85:6-7)
As we discussed in the previous devotion, in Jewish thought exile from the land of Israel is akin to death because it is emblematic of being separated from God. Likewise being returned to the land of Israel and, by extension, to God’s Presence is the same as resurrection from the dead. Again, Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones clearly makes this point. The dead, dry bones appear to be without hope and thus represent the plight of God’s people who said, “Our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!” (Ezekiel 37:11). Yet the Lord said, “I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live” (Ezekiel 37:5). In other words, He will resurrect those who put their trust in Him.
Thus we see that the promised redemption of God’s people — something revealed in Scripture from the very beginning — is epitomized in the resurrection of the dead. That means to deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny the promised redemption. To deny the resurrection is to call God a liar which I would argue is especially grievous when people deny that Messiah is resurrected from the dead. Even worse, as Paul says: “If the dead do not rise, then Messiah is not risen. And if Messiah is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:16-17).
Put simply, if there is no resurrection then we are all doomed and without hope. Thankfully, Messiah was raised from the dead — a fact witnessed by many who testified of this. And because He has been raised from the dead, all who believe have hope in a steadfast promise that we, too, shall be raised incorruptible. Just as surely as God is restoring His people back into the land of Israel, those who are in Messiah will be called out of their graves and brought into His Presence. As Paul said: “When this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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