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Covenant Eschatology - Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
A Study of the Resurrection
Part 10
by Don K. PrestonRESURRECTION WHEN?
We would like to briefly list several, although by no means all, of the time indicators for the resurrection. Our choices are simple but challenging:
A.] If Jesus taught a physical resurrection and that it was to occur in his generation then he was wrong and Christianity is built on a false foundation.
B.] If Jesus taught a spiritual resurrection and that it was to occur in his generation then Jesus was right and Christianity is built on a false foundation.
C.] If Jesus taught a physical resurrection and that it was not to be in his generation then the thesis of this work is wrong.
The question is: did the prophets; did Jesus; did Jesus' disciples, give any clear-cut time indicators for when the resurrection would occur? The answer is a resounding "Yes!"
1.] Daniel 12, 1-7, 13--Daniel foresaw the end of the age and the resurrection when his eternal inheritance would be received. He was also told it would occur when the power of the Holy People was completely shattered, vs. 7. This can be no other time than A.D. 70.
2.] Matthew 8:11ff--Jesus spoke of many from the east and west, i.e. the Gentiles, coming and sitting at meal with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom. The imagery is of the Messianic Banquet based upon Isaiah 25:6; Isaiah 65:13ff, etc. This Banquet would occur when God "swallowed up death" Isaiah 25:8; it would also occur when Israel had filled the measure of her sins and was destroyed, 65:6-15.
Jesus said the Banquet would occur when the Sons of the Kingdom, i.e. Old Covenant Israel, was cast out and the Gentiles fully brought in! When were the Jews fully cast out; and would that be before they had filled the measure of sin? See Matthew 21:40-43--it was at the Lord's coming in A.D. 70 in the judgment of Israel.
Matthew 8 is an excellent commentary on 1 Corinthians 15. In verse 54 Paul said the resurrection would be the fulfillment of Isaiah 25:8. In verses 50 he said "flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." Resurrection equaled entrance into the kingdom, cf. John 3:1-5. Notice the correlation between Matthew and Corinthians.
In Matthew and Corinthians, Isaiah 25:6-8 is the foundational Old Testament prophetic text. In both Matthew and Corinthians entrance into the kingdom is the focus of the fulfillment of the prediction, Mat. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:50. In Matthew the Kingdom Banquet would be enjoyed when the Jews were cast out, i.e. at the end of the Old Covenant Age. In Corinthians the resurrection would occur at the consummation of the Old Covenant promises, i.e. when all of the Old Testament promises had reached final reality. Thus when the Old Covenant would pass, Matthew 5:17-18.
3.] Matthew 13:36-43--The end of the age when the Son of Man would send his angels to gather the elect would be when the "righteous will shine forth." But this is a direct quote from Daniel 12:3! And Daniel's prediction of the end of the age and resurrection was to consummate in A.D. 70! Thus, by inspiration's decree the resurrection is placed at the end of the Old World of Israel and not the end of time.
4.] Matthew 16:27-28--In terms too simple and too plain to misunderstand Jesus promised his coming for the purpose of judgment on every man; and it would be during the lifetime of his audience! Later in that same generation he said "Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me"; a direct allusion to his earlier promise! What he had promised to occur within the lifetime of his earlier audience he was now, two thousand years ago, promising to accomplish "soon" "quickly"; it was "at hand"; and "must shortly come to pass" Rev. 1:1-3; 22:6, 10, 12, 20.
5.] Matthew 23:29-39-- A little quiz here: Would you agree that the resurrection is when all the martyrs of God are vindicated, judged and rewarded? Yes or No? Every Bible student I have asked this question has answered in the affirmative.
But in Matthew 23 Jesus said that "all the righteous blood shed on the earth" all the way back to creation would be judged "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation" 23:36. Here is our argument:
Major Premise: The resurrection is when all the martyrs of God are judged.
Minor Premise: All the martyrs of God would be judged in Jesus' generation.
Conclusion: Therefore the resurrection would be in Jesus' generation.
It can scarcely be argued that the fall of Jerusalem was simply a "local judgment of the Jews" based upon what Jesus predicted. He said all of the blood, of all the martyrs, all the way back to Abel, would be judged in his generation. Abel was not a Jew! Thus, Jesus' prediction entailed not only the living, his generation, but the dead as well! That can hardly be called a local judgment!
The theme of the book of Revelation is the judgment of the city that killed the prophets, and was guilty of the blood of "all who have been slain on the earth" 18:24. This city is none other than where the Lord was crucified, 11:8, and that judgment was "at hand" 1:1-3.
6.] Matthew 24:29-31--In this text Jesus promised his coming in the events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem. He said that in that complex of events would occur the sending of his angels to gather the elect--this is the precise same gathering of the elect in Matthew 13 above. Jesus said this would be in his generation, Matthew 24:29-34. How is it possible, as most amillennial exegetes do, to insist that the coming, angels, clouds, trumpet, gathering, etc. of Matthew 24 must be understood of the spiritual realities occurring in the end of Israel's Age in A.D. 70, but the identical elements must be understood literally of another end of the age in Matthew 13 and 16? What is the magic hermeneutical principle that allows one to so sharply delineate between these "comings" and "gatherings"?
When it is seen that Jesus' Olivet Discourse is the foundation for Paul's Thessalonian discourse about the Lord's coming to gather the saints, 1 Ths. 4:13-18; 2 Ths. 1:7-10; 2 Ths. 2:1, then these resurrection passages must also be seen in the light of the time frame of the Olivet Discourse; the end of Israel's Old Covenant World.
7.] The resurrection would usher in "the age to come" Luke 20:34. Question: what was "this age" from Jesus' perspective? Galatians 4:4 tells us Jesus was born under the Law, the Old Covenant Age. Hebrews 9:26 says Jesus appeared in the end of the age; surely this can not be referent to the end of time as all agree. So Jesus appeared in the Old Covenant Age; this was his "this age" in Luke 20:34. And the resurrection was to usher in the "age to come." What age followed Jesus' "this age"?
8.] The resurrection would inaugurate the Age following the Age of the Levirate Marriage, Luke 20. In what age, which Jesus called "this age," was the Levirate Marriage practiced? See just above and
Deuteronomy 25.9.] The resurrection would be when the last trumpet would sound, 1 Cor. 15:52; and Paul told the Corinthian church that not all of them would die until that happened, 1 Cor. 15:51! Compare this text with Matthew 16:27-28.
Further, Paul said they were living in the end of the age, 1 Cor. 10:10-11; they would possess the miraculous gifts of the Spirit until the coming of the Lord, 1 Cor. 1:4- 8; and that the time had been shortened and the world was passing away, 1 Cor. 7:28-31.
It is significant that in Revelation we read of seven Trumpets and that the resurrection, which would be when the prophets and martyrs would be rewarded, 11:18, is directly associated with the fall of the city "where also our Lord was crucified" 11:8!
The time of the sounding of the seventh [last] trumpet is also when all the things foretold by the prophets would be fulfilled, 10:7. And do not forget that Jesus placed the final fulfillment of "all things that are written" in relation to the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
10.] Paul said Jesus would judge the living and the dead at his appearing and kingdom, 2 Timothy 4:1. In Luke 21:26-31 Jesus told his disciples that in the fall of Jerusalem they would see the coming of their redemption, vs. 28; [the gathering of the elect, Mat. 24:31!]; the kingdom, vs. 31; and his parousia, vs. 27. Needless to say he also said all this would be in his generation, vs. 32.
11.] Peter, writing before A.D. 70 said the time for the reception of the eternal inheritance foretold by the prophets, see #1 above, was "ready to be revealed" 1 Pt. 1:3-13, at the coming of the Lord. The prophets knew salvation was far off; it was not for their time, vs. 10- 12. But Peter said it was "ready to be revealed." The contrast in time cannot be overemphasized! The reception of the eternal inheritance was now ready to be revealed; it once was not "ready to be revealed" but now was!
This is why Peter said Jesus was "ready to judge the living and the dead" 4:5. The word "ready" is the same word as in chapter 1. The Expositors Greek Testament says the Greek reader would understand it to refer to "the imminent judge." Here then is an unequivocal statement about the first century imminence of the resurrection.
Peter also said "the end of all things is at hand" 4:7. Literally, this reads "has come near," cf. Mat. 3:2, "the kingdom of heaven has come near." In what ever way the kingdom had drawn near in Matthew, the end of all things had drawn near in Peter! The kingdom was truly imminent in Matthew, therefore the end of all things was truly imminent in Peter!
The apostle also said "the time has come for the judgment to begin at the house of God" 4:17. Do not all agree that the resurrection is concurrent with the coming of the Lord, the end of all things and judgment? Certainly. Thus, in Peter we find that the Lord was "ready" to be revealed; "the end of all things" was "at hand"; the time for "the judgment" had come; and Jesus was "ready to judge the living and the dead." How much clearer could inspiration declare the imminence of the resurrection?
Here then are several emphatic chronological indicators, and there are many more, for not only when the resurrection was to occur but the framework for its occurrence--at the end of the Old World of Israel.
It truly does not matter what one's concept of the resurrection is: if one is to maintain belief in Biblical inspiration he must candidly acknowledge that the Old Testament prophets, Jesus, and his disciples plainly taught that the resurrection was to occur at the end of the Jewish Theocracy in A.D. 70.
The overwhelming sense of eschatological imminence that permeates the New Testament simply cannot be ignored by the honest Bible student. Scholars have struggled with this imminence coupled with their literalistic views of the "last things" and come to the conclusion that Jesus and scripture was not inspired. And it is not a question of whether the imminence was real; the Greek words admit no other meaning and these scholars know it. On the other hand, the language of resurrection very plainly does admit of a spiritual, non-literal meaning. And this is the only solution for the dilemma.
Allowing the Bible to define the resurrection as deliverance from the Old Covenant of Death to the New Covenant of Life, as deliverance from the death brought by sin, separation from God, not physical death, acknowledges the full force of the New Testament language of imminence.
Web ed. note: For more on resurrection and judgment in Revelation see
The Second DeathContents - Part 11 - Don Preston's site - Covenant Eschatology
Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
Undivided Version
Part 1 - Resurrection From What Death?
Part 2 - Two Resurrections?
Part 3 - It Is the Last Hour
Part 4 - The Hour of His Judgment Is Come
Part 5 - The Hope of Israel
Part 6 - The Kingdom Does Not Come With Observation
Part 7 - Resurrection and the Law
Part 8 - The Prophetic Background of John 5
Part 9 - What Is Resurrection?
Part 10 - Resurrection When?
Part 11 - Problems With Tradition
Part 12 - Objections Considered
Part 13 - Summary and Conclusion