The Old Testament's Foundational Teachings Concerning Resurrection on the Third Day (Part I)
We will examine how the Torah, Prophets and the Writings present a plethora of information concerning death and resurrection on day 3.
In these next few articles we’ll examine the Tanakh’s (Old Testament’s) foundational teaching concerning resurrection on the third day. Many people, including scholars, do not see this wisdom despite its abundance. For example, New Testament scholar NT Wright (N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003) 85.) writes the following:
It is all the more surprising, then, to discover that, within the Bible itself, the hope of resurrection makes rare appearances, so rare that some have considered them marginal. Though later exegesis, both Jewish and Christian, became skilled at discovering covert allusions which earlier readers had not seen—a skill shared, according to the gospels, by Jesus himself—there is general agreement that for much of the Old Testament the idea of resurrection is, to put it at its strongest, deeply asleep, only to be woken by echoes from later times and texts.
Unfortunately, The Resurrection of the Son of God is considered by many clergy and theologians to be a seminal Christian work, when in fact, it is a heretical treatise which 1) posits that the Jewish context for the meaning of the word resurrection could mean a variety of things [by implication, something other than bodily resurrection], 2) states that the apostle Paul did not believe in a bodily resurrection, 3) claims the early Christians did not believe in Yeshua’s bodily resurrection but in His ascension/ glorification/exaltation, 4) shockingly states that the resurrection stories in the Bible are “late inventions” added to bolster the idea of a literal bodily resurrection, and 5) outright denies the bodily resurrection of Yeshua.
Gordon Fee makes a similar but yet more sweeping rejection of Paul’s claim that the resurrection, especially the “third day” resurrection, was “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3–4). He writes about the “difficulty” of Paul’s claim, boldly saying,
. . . neither the tradition of the third day nor the Resurrection is well attested in the OT . . . Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987) 727)
By approaching the Scriptures thematically we will be able to see that the Tanakh is literally pregnant with teachings concerning resurrection on day 3! We will take advantage of the Tanakh’s usage of similes and metaphors to understand its teachings about resurrection. Furthermore, we’ll make sound thematic connections between Scriptures and allow them to paint the foundational picture of resurrection on day 3.
In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul states,
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
that the Torah commandments and festivals are a shadow of Yeshua’s body! The reason people have difficulty seeing the Tanakh’s pictures of resurrection is, for the most part, two-fold. 1) Most people do not approach the Bible thematically. 2) The lessons to be learned about the Messiah are shadows as stated in Colossians 2:16-17. As with any shadow, there are many details missing. For example, if you were able to compare my shadow with someone who’s 5’5’’ you would be able to make the following observations about me even though you may have never seen me. From my shadow you could tell 1) I’m tall, 2) somewhat on the thin side and 3) don’t have much hair on my head. However, there are many details you would not be able to discern from my shadow alone. You would not know 1) the color of my hair or skin, 2) the timbre of my voice, 3) the quality of my teeth or 4) that I have a low cut beard. The point is that my shadow only tells you so much concerning my identity. Therefore, it would be easy to miss identifying me based on my shadow alone. Similarly, many people don’t see the Torah’s teachings on death and resurrection on day 3 because these pictures are presented in shadows instead of overt images of resurrection.
One of the ways the Tanakh teaches us about resurrection is through vegetation! In Isaiah 40:6-8 man is equated with vegetation via metaphor:
6 The voice said, “Cry out!” and he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)
Analogies such as this, where man is equated with some type of vegetation are abundant in Scripture. We also learn from this passage that the withering of the flower speaks of the death of a person. The point is that just as a flower of the field withers away, so does man! In other words, Adonai is using vegetation to teach us about death in people. If Adonai uses vegetation to paint a picture of how man is appointed to death, then, could not the opposite, the revival of vegetation, represent resurrection? Having established that vegetation can represent mankind, let’s look at the concept of resurrection in vegetation.
To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? (Job 38:26-27)
In this passage, we see a picture of resurrection being taught through agriculture. A desolate and waste ground speaks of vegetative DEATH and barrenness. Within that context, the springing forth of the tender herb is surely hinting at RESURRECTION.
Here’s another passage teaching the same lesson:
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. (Job 14:7-10)
Here is another picture of resurrection using vegetation. The tree being cut down speaking of its DEATH. Therefore, if it sprouts again, this speaks of resurrection
Once again, the picture is clear as Adonai uses vegetation to paint pictures of death and resurrection.
Having seen that 1) man can be represented by vegetation and 2) vegetation can be used to paint a picture of resurrection [life springing forth from death], let’s look at a passage that combines both of these concepts to hint that vegetation can be used to teach us about resurrection in people.
May Your dead come to life, may my corpses arise. Awake and shout for joy, you who rest in the dirt! For Your dew is like the dew that [revives] vegetation. (Isaiah 26:19, Artscroll Chumash translation).
This passage is deafening in its declaration that Adonai uses vegetation to paint pictures of DEATH and RESURRECTION in humans! Obviously, vegetation that revives to life as a result of the watering dew is equated to those physical corpses that are to rise from the earth from death to life.
Yeshua also made the connection between people and vegetation. In the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43), wheat (the good seed) is defined by metaphor as the sons of the kingdom, i.e., people. Yeshua continues the tradition of the Tanakh equating vegetation and people. Here we see that wheat is the grain used to represent believers! To reinforce the concept that wheat is the grain which represents believers let’s look at Shavuot (Israel’s feast of Weeks). Israel celebrated seven yearly feasts, one of which, Shavuot, celebrated the in-gathering of the wheat harvest. All of the Biblical feasts are prophetic pictures of events associated with the person and work of Messiah Yeshua at His first and second advents. Although the seven feasts (see Leviticus 23) celebrate historical and agricultural events in Israel, they have profound prophetic and messianic significance.
During Shavuot Israel would celebrate the wheat harvest, giving thanks to Adonai for His abundant provision of that life sustaining grain. In order to see one aspect of the prophetic significance of Shavuot we need look no further than Acts 2. Acts 2 is the Shavuot (Feast of Weeks or Pentecost) celebration that occurred after Yeshua’s resurrection. Peter preached on that day and 3,000 souls were added to the kingdom. In other words, on the Shavuot (wheat harvest) of Acts 2 there was a harvest of 3,000 sons of the kingdom! True to what Yeshua taught us in the parable of the wheat and tares, Biblically, believers are reckoned as the grain wheat! The Biblical feast of Shavuot points prophetically to a harvest of souls and was not just limited to a harvest of ordinary wheat.
These lessons on resurrection as exemplified through vegetation were obviously foremost in Pauls’ mind when he wrote I Corinthians 15, one of the most significant teachings on resurrection in the Apostolic writings. In I Corinthians 15:35-38 Paul uses this powerful connection, developed in the Torah and further utilized by Yeshua, to teach us about the resurrection from the dead. Paul calls upon the equivalence of vegetation (the wheat grain) with people to bring understanding about the resurrection.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. (I Corinthians 15:35-38)
Paul states metaphorically that the resurrection body has its origin as a kernel of wheat grain. Then, in I Corinthians 15:42-44, Paul uses the terminology of the cycle of sowing and reaping to teach us about bodily resurrection:
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (I Corinthians 15:42-44)
Notice the repeated contrasts he uses regarding the cycle of sowing and reaping. Normally, you reap what you sow. Thus, we would expect Paul to say, “The body is sown in corruption, it is reaped/harvested in incorruption.” Instead, he substitutes the word raised for reaped/harvested! Thus, our most direct teaching on the resurrection from the dead continues using the metaphoric equivalence between vegetation and people! The Bible uses vegetation to teach us about resurrection. The Torah lays this foundation, Yeshua buttresses it and the Apostles confirm it.
Now, that we understand vegetation can be used to teach us about the resurrection, let’s visit what I believe is the earliest teaching about resurrection on day 3! Remember, it will be a shadow, so not all elements of literal resurrection will be there. But you will see enough to say amen and realize the Bible is about to take you on a journey, educating you about the awesome work of Messiah Yeshua.
Let’s read Genesis 1:9-13.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day. (Genesis 1:9-13)
We must remember that until Genesis 1:8 the entire created world was inanimate. Nothing created until that point was living! Then, notice what happened on THE THIRD DAY! Genesis 1:11-12 informs us that vegetation yielding life-giving fruit appeared on THE THIRD DAY. Remembering that all previous acts of creating resulted in inanimate entities, can we not say that LIFE sprang forth from where there was no LIFE on day 3? This is our earliest hint of resurrection on THE THIRD DAY. It’s foundational. It’s not literally LIFE from the DEAD, but it is LIFE springing forth from where there was no LIFE on THE THIRD DAY. And notice, this foundational association of LIFE with the number 3 occurred using vegetation as the vehicle of understanding.
Thus begins our journey. In the upcoming articles in our The Road to Emmaus series you are going to be astounded at how often the Tanakh presents us with pictures of resurrection on day 3. This was just the beginning. Furthermore, this is the murkiest, shadowy image of resurrection on THE THIRD DAY. Hence forth, the shadows will take a more familiar shape and we’ll see that N.T. Write and Gordon Fee have simply missed what the Tanakh and Apostolic writings have to say about resurrection.
Shalom,
Tony Robinson