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Covenant Eschatology - Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
A Study of the Resurrection
Part 8
by Don K. PrestonTHE PROPHETIC BACKGROUND OF JOHN 5
With few exceptions commentators agree that Daniel 12 and Ezekiel 37
form the prophetic background for Jesus' prediction of the resurrection in John 5:28-29. And this can hardly be disputed. Interestingly, a few commentators, aware of the constraints of Daniel 12, deny any connection with John 5:28-29. Jim McGuiggan and Dub McClish, ministers in the church of Christ, see very clearly that Daniel 12 predicted events associated with the end of Israel's world in A.D. 70--not the end of time. That this is true can hardly be denied. But the association of the resurrection in Daniel 12 and the fall of Jerusalem does not disprove the connection of Daniel 12 to John 5! Only presumptive theological necessitates a dichotomy between these passages.The parallels between Daniel 12 and Matthew 24 fully establishes that Jesus believed Daniel's prediction was to be fulfilled in his generation. Daniel predicted the time of the Great Tribulation, 12:1; Jesus that would be in his generation, 24:21. Daniel predicted the salvation of the elect and the resurrection, 12:1-2; Jesus said the elect would be gathered at his coming in his generation, 24:30-34. Daniel said his predictions involved the time of the end, vs. 4, 9; Jesus said the end of the age, 24:3, would come when the gospel had been preached into all the world, 24:14-- in his generation, 24:34! Daniel predicted the Abomination of Desolation, 12:11; Jesus said his generation would see that evil and directly referred to Daniel, 24:15. Daniel heard one angel inquire of the other when all these things would be fulfilled and the response was "when the power of the Holy People has been completely shattered all these things shall be finished." 12:7. Jesus said, in predicting the fall of Jerusalem that all the things predicted by Daniel would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in his generation!
With these incontrovertible parallels before us, when it is admitted that Daniel 12 lies at the foundation of John 5:28f then Daniel's statement that the resurrection would occur at the time of the demise of Israel is inspiration's definitive answer. The consummative "coming hour" of John 5 was to be when Israel was destroyed in A.D. 70.
Ezekiel 37:12-14 is equally definitive; notice that the resurrection would be accomplished when Jehovah sent the Spirit upon Israel, 37:14. This positively identifies the time frame for the resurrection as the last days of Israel, per Joel 2:28f, since it was to be in Israel's last days that the Spirit was to be poured out. This outpouring of the Spirit was to be miraculous. Since the resurrection was to be accomplished by the work of the Spirit when He was poured out on Israel, the resurrection therefore is to be limited to the framework of the last days miraculous working of the Holy Spirit.
If the Holy Spirit's miraculous work has been finished then the resurrection has occurred! If the resurrection has not occurred the miraculous work of the Spirit should still be evident! This is clear because it was the miraculous work of the Spirit that would "lift up your mortal bodies" Rom. 8:11. [This is the same "body" that in vs. 9-10 Paul said was already dead; was Paul writing to dead people?!] It was the miraculous work of the Spirit that was the "earnest of the inheritance" Eph. 1:13-14, "until the redemption of the purchased possession." Luke said the day of redemption would occur with the coming of Jesus in the fall of Jerusalem, Luke 21:28. Now if we no longer have the miraculous Spirit but the resurrection has not occurred then God took away His guarantee! Who ever heard of attempting to purchase a house, giving an earnest payment, and then taking the earnest payment back before taking possession of the house--but expect to obtain the house anyway? That earnest is the guarantee of the consummation of the deal! God gave the miraculous Spirit as an earnest of the resurrection, 2 Cor. 5:5;
if that resurrection has not occurred but God has taken back the earnest, what guarantee do we have?In reality, the fact that there are no miracles today stands as proof positive that the resurrection has occurred, salvation is real, and God kept his Word!
When it is realized that the resurrection was to occur in "the last days," of Israel, not time, per Ezekiel 37 and Joel 2; when it is realized that the resurrection was to occur when the power of the holy people was completely destroyed, Dan. 12:2; when it is realized that Jesus appeared in the last days, Heb. 9:26, and foretold the complete destruction of the power of the holy people in his generation, Mat. 24, it is abundantly clear that when Jesus in John 5 spoke of the resurrection and said "the hour is coming" he was not speaking of some distant time but was truly speaking of his generation. Jesus was acutely aware of his mission to "confirm the promises made to the fathers" Rom. 15:8. His appearance was not to say the promises would be delayed additional millennia but to announce their imminent fulfillment.
John 5:28-29 therefore, when seen from its prophetic background, had to occur within clearly defined chronological parameters. It matters not what a person's concept of the resurrection might be; the Biblically defined chronological parameters for the resurrection cannot be ignored or rationalized.
Contents - Part 9 - 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