The belief in the resurrection of the dead is well chronicled in the Tanakh. There are many passages in the Old Testament that mention an afterlife, although the English word ‘resurrection’ is not used in most translations. The oldest mention of life after death is found in the ancient Book of Job. Job was not an Israelite but was from the land of Uz (probably modern-day Saudi Arabia).
OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO THE RESURRECTION OF BELIEVERS
Job was a believer in Yahweh as the one true God. In the Book of Job, he asks the question, “If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. You shall call, and I will answer: You will have a desire to the work of Your hands” (Job 14:14-15).
In chapter 19, Job answers his own question in more detail. “I know that my redeemer lives. In the end he will stand on the earth. Though my skin will be destroyed, in my body I’ll see God. I myself will see him with my own eyes. I’ll see him, and he won’t be a stranger to me. How my heart longs for that day!” (Job 19:25-27 – NIRV).
Job was perhaps the first prophet of God mentioned in the Bible, as his knowledge of an “end-time redeemer who will stand upon the earth” can only come from God. Job believed he would see his redeemer after his own death. He said, “In my body I shall see God.” Job believed he would have a resurrected body after his earthly body was destroyed in the grave.
Hebrews 12:17-19 mentions Abraham’s faith and belief in a resurrection. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”
David was not only the king of Israel but also a prophet. He prophesied and wrote about the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead. “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:9-11). The “Holy One” in verse 10 refers to the Messiah, the anointed one, who would come one day. David was prophesying not only about his own death and resurrection but also about the Messiah’s.
Daniel also prophesied and wrote about the resurrection of the dead that will occur after “Jacob’s Trouble” (as he mentioned in Daniel 12:1). “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:2-3).
NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO THE RESURRECTION OF BELIEVERS
In John 3:16, Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 is the most quoted Bible verse in the world. It is recognized as the cornerstone of Christian faith. This verse does not mean that a believer in Christ will not see death, but that they will be resurrected into everlasting life with God.
This great truth is expounded upon in John 11, which tells the story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha after Lazarus’ death. He had been in the grave for four days. Upon his arrival, Jesus told Martha that Lazarus would live! Martha replied, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:24). The Jews in Jesus’ time were well aware of the concept of a resurrection from their Tanakh scriptures and teachers.
Jesus, replying to Martha, proclaimed one of the most profound truths in all the Bible: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26 – KJV).
The Greek version of John 11:26 contains three words that are omitted from most English translations. The three Greek words are “εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.” εἰς is a preposition, τὸν is an article, and αἰῶνα is a noun. Some versions translate it as “to the age.” Basically, the meaning is “forever” or “eternal.” I think a good translation might be “into the eternal.”
So, that being the case, Jesus was telling Martha that “whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die for all eternity.” In other words, as in John 3:16, after death (a mere passing away), the believer will be resurrected to eternal life. They will never die again.
This is not the case for the unbeliever, who will undergo the second death, as mentioned in Revelation 20:14 and 21:8. The second death is forever and ever.
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).
“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15).
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
Of course, we know the end of the story in John 11. Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, proving that He was who He said He was: “the resurrection and the life.” Jesus, the Son of God, has power over life and death. Lazarus was the exception to the rule, in that he would die again before being resurrected to eternal life. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Of course, those living believers who are raptured (caught up and translated) are also exceptions to this rule (as were Enoch and Elijah), in that they will never experience death.
THE RESURRECTION AND TRANSLATION OF BELIEVERS AT THE RAPTURE
The details of the Rapture, regarding the resurrection of all the dead believers in Jesus Christ (since the Church was formed on Shavuot/Pentecost in 33 AD), as well as the “catching up” and translation of living saints, were first revealed by Paul to the Church in Thessalonica in about 51 AD.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [dead], that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep [die] in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and 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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).
The Greek word for “caught up” is ‘harpazō’ and means “to seize, or carry off by force” or “to snatch away.” Harpazo , in Latin, is ‘rapio,’ from which we get the English word ‘rapture.‘
In 56 AD, Paul expounded upon the details of the rapture (catching up) to the Church of Corinth. “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
The ‘mystery’ Paul is writing about in 1 Corinthians 15:51 is not that the dead (in Christ) will be resurrected, but that there will be a generation of believers who will enter into eternity without first physically dying. The living believers will be translated with immortal spiritual bodies. However, they will not precede the dead in Christ, whom God will bring with Him. These souls will be joined with their newly remade immortal bodies.
Both the dead and the living believers in Christ will then be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The “bridegroom,” Jesus, will then escort “His bride,” the Church, to their new home in heaven. This is what Jesus was referring to in John 14:2-3.
Many Christian eschatologists see the ancient Hebrew wedding as a prophetic typology for the events leading up to the pre-tribulation rapture. The sequence of customs mirrors the transcendental journey of the Church and the timing of Christ’s return at the Rapture. See Prophetic Mysteries of the Ancient Hebrew Wedding at Hebrew Wedding.
THE RAPTURE DOCTRINE IN ITS SEED FORM (BEFORE PAUL)
Jesus never fully explained the Rapture to his disciples while he was on the earth. Jesus’ main teaching was on the Kingdom of God and salvation. It would be left up to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, to inform the newly formed Holy Spirit-indwelt Church about this mystery. However, I believe Jesus did not leave them in the dark about the Rapture. He introduced it in its “seed form,” as recorded in various passages of Scripture. It was Paul who took this doctrine from its seed form to full maturity.
Some Bible teachers believe John 11:25-26 refers to the Rapture, in which some believers will never experience physical death at all. They believe Jesus’ statement that “everyone who lives and believes in me will never die forever” aligns with Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians 15:51: “But listen, I tell you this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed.”
In John 14:6, Jesus told his disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He had told them earlier that he had to go away, but he would return and take them to the Father. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3).
These verses sound remarkably similar to Paul’s account of the rapture of living believers in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and 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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” The “catching up” of living believers in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is the same event as the “receive you unto myself” of John 14:3.
The disciples had no idea what Jesus was talking about, and Jesus deemed it unnecessary to explain it to them at this time. Perhaps after Paul’s doctrine of the Rapture, the other apostles might have reflected on the words Jesus told them in John 14:1-3, and made the connection to Paul’s teaching, although none of them ever wrote about it.
Although less obvious, many Bible teachers believe the pre-tribulation Rapture is in view in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 and elsewhere. They believe Jesus is answering the disciples’ questions regarding his “coming again” at the end of the age. Of course, no one at that time knew Jesus was coming back in two parts: first, at the Rapture, then, seven-plus years later, at the Second Coming. However, Jesus answered their questions without differentiating between the two separate events.
Just as Jesus answered the disciples’ questions out of order, so did he describe His two end-time comings out of chronological order. The Second Coming verses are found in Matthew 24:27-31, and the Rapture verses are found in Matthew 24:36-51. For more on this view, see The Day of the Lord and Hour of the Rapture :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready.
MORE WITNESSES TO THE RAPTURE DOCTRINE (BEFORE PAUL)
Amos said, “Certainly, Adonay Yahweh (Lord God) doesn’t do anything unless he first reveals his secret counsel to his servants the prophets.”
Moses said in Deuteronomy 19:15, “that at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established.” Jesus reiterated this concept in Matthew 18:16, “But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” Paul also taught on this biblical truth in 2 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Timothy 5:19.
Besides Jesus, I believe there were other “witnesses” who prophesied about the rapture in its “seed form.” I believe Psalm 47 could be one such witness. It is believed the sons of Korah (Temple assistants) wrote this psalm.
“God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. The nobles of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted” (Psalm 47:5-9).
I believe the clearest example of the rapture in its seed form appears in Isaiah 26:19-20. I believe Paul was referring to these verses when he said, “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thess. 4:15).
When Paul said, “According to the Lord’s own word” (as he introduced the details of the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:15), it had to be from the Old Testament; that is, if he was referring to Scripture. In my opinion, Isaiah 26:19-21 is the passage of Scripture that Paul was referring to. However, Paul might have received additional information about the Rapture from the Lord Himself when he was “caught up” (harpazo) to the third heaven, per 2 Cor. 12:2-4.
Let’s compare these two “witnesses” of Scripture (one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament). In Isaiah 26:19, the Lord tells Isaiah, “Your dead shall live, (with) my dead body they shall rise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” This verse refers to a resurrection. The timing is not given. You have to remember, it is the Lord who is speaking, not Isaiah. He is telling Isaiah that there will be a future resurrection in which the dead shall rise from the earth, including the Lord’s own resurrected body (perhaps at different times).
In 1 Thessalonians 15:15-16, Paul expounds upon the Isaiah prophecy (IMO), “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
Also, in 1 Corinthians 15, before the Rapture passage, Paul said the following about the resurrection of the dead in Christ. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). In 1 Corinthians 15:23 and Isaiah 26:19, we see the first two stages of the “first resurrection,” Christ’s resurrection and the resurrection of those who are dead in Christ at the Rapture.
The next verse in the Isaiah rapture prophecy says, “Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by” (Isaiah 26:20). Compare the first part of this verse to 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
You could also compare the first part of Isaiah 26:20 to John 14:2-3. “In my Father’s house are many rooms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3).
The second part of Isaiah 26:20 says, “hide yourselves for a little while until (His) wrath has passed by.” This indicates that the Lord’s people will be hidden away in ‘our’ rooms when the Lord comes to punish the people of earth for ‘their’ sins.
Another O.T. reference to this “hiding away” is found in Psalm 27:4-5. “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock” (Psalm 27:4-5).
Isaiah 26:21 says, “For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” This is an obvious reference to the end-times judgments (the Day of the Lord or Jacob’s Trouble).
Isaiah 26:19-21 gives the order of the pre-tribulation Rapture. “In Isaiah 26:19-20 we have a description of the rapture/resurrection almost identical to Paul’s in 1 Thes. 4:16-17. First, the dead in Christ will rise, and then the living will go to their rooms (John 14:2-3) until the Lord’s wrath has elapsed. Then, in Isaiah 26:21, we’re told that the purpose of His wrath is to punish the people of the Earth for their sins. This is an obvious reference to the end-times judgments, and the preceding verses indicate that the Lord’s people will be hidden away in ‘our’ rooms when the Lord comes to punish the people of the earth for ‘their’ sins.
Note how He switches from the second person (you, your, yourselves) to the third person (their) in verse 21. His people are not the people of Earth. Paul said, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 5:9).” {1}
Just like you see hints of the Rapture in the book of John, you’ll find hints of it even in the Old Testament. I believe Isaiah 26:19-21 is an end-time prophecy that promises a resurrection of the dead and hiding of God’s people while God’s wrath is unleashed on the people of Earth for their sins. Does this sound familiar? I think it sounds remarkably like Paul’s rapture passages in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4. The old adage, “The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed; the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed,” is certainly true in this instance.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor” (John 12:24-26).
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Randy Nettles
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Endnotes:
{1} The Pre-Trib Rapture In Isaiah – Grace thru faith