- Overcomer Literature Trust
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
RESURRECTION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
By Alan Greenbank.
In the first letter of the Corinthians Paul wrote about the Gospel. He summarised its contents with these words, “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15 v3-4). Writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul’s argument was that the death of the Lord Jesus was in line with the teaching of the Old Testament and that His resurrection is clearly taught in the Old Testament.
We would not have much trouble showing the first of those points to be true. The levitical sacrifices, the passover lamb, the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, the 22nd Psalm and much more speak prophetically about the suffering of the Messiah who was to come. Paul, however, asserted that the resurrection on the third day is also according to the Scriptures. We may have to search carefully, but we shall certainly find that to be correct, and in certain examples we shall be confirmed in our interpretation because the New Testament writers are our guide.
We can start with the clear prophecy of, “You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will You let your faithful one see decay” (Psalm 16 v10). There is no doubt about those words applying to the resurrection of our Saviour. Peter addressed a crowd in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. He preached a sermon that he had never prepared, and spoke about the death of the Lord Jesus. He spoke of His rising again, quoting the words of Psalm 16 and applying them in a very powerful way to the events that had occurred in Jerusalem just a few weeks previously. Try to imagine the effect of his words on those who had screamed for the death of God’s Son on the first Good Friday.
“You, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. David said about Him, ’I saw the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, You will not let your holy One see decay’” (Acts 2 v23-27).
“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that He was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.” (Acts 2 v29-32).
We also think of the great sermon Paul preached at Antioch of Pisidia, recorded for us in Acts 13. He was addressing the Jews, and he reasoned with them from the scriptures. Read through the full account in verses 13 to 41 and note the number of Old Testament quotations Paul used. When he came to the resurrection, it was Psalm 16 that he used to show that God raised His Son from the dead. So it is also stated elsewhere, “‘You will not let your Holy One see decay’. Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep, he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the One whom God raised from the dead did not see decay” (v35-37).
Together with this prophecy, there are many stories and incidents that point to the resurrection of our Saviour. For example, the Lord said these words, “for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12 v40). There are many lessons to be learned from the story of Jonah, such as the danger of disobedience, the way God gives His children a second chance, and God’s infinite mercy. It is because of the explanation given by the Son of God, that we think of Jonah’s time in a fish as the Lord’s time in the grave, otherwise we might only guess at this interpretation. We can safely say that the story of the reluctant prophet points to our Saviour’s resurrection.
The lesson is seen in the story of Aaron’s rod. The complaining of the children of Israel was a recurring feature of their desert journey and in Numbers 17 God said that He would stop the complaints against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. The leaders of the twelve tribes were instructed to bring a rod and these were placed in the tabernacle of meeting. The next morning a miracle was discovered by Moses. The rod of Aaron had grown buds, blossoms and almonds, and was kept from then on as a sign against those who had rebelled. It was clearly a case of new life out of death. The other eleven remained dead rods but one had been give new life. God’s words were, “the staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout” (v5). The Lord Jesus is described as a Rod from the stem of Jesse (Isaiah 11 v1), and God raised His Son to new life. He is, “appointed the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1 v4).
The Feast of Firstfruits, one of the seven feasts of the Lord, is also a picture of resurrection. The details are found in Leviticus 23 verses 9 to 14. A sheaf of corn had to be brought to the priest to be waved before the Lord on the first day of the week. It was an acknowledgment that God had fulfilled His promise that summer, winter, seedtime and harvest would not fail, and that new life had come following the winter. There were going to be many more sheaves but the firstfruits were brought to God. Paul’s words come to mind, “but Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15 v20). His resurrection, on the first day of the week guarantees life to all who have received Him as Saviour, He is our firstfruits.
One Old Testament illustration of the resurrection is a favourite of mine and brings a smile to my face whenever I think about it. The passage is about Samson going to Gaza, which means ‘the strong place’. The enemy must have thought they had trapped him. They surrounded the place he was staying in, lay in wait for him all night at the city gate and at dawn they planned to kill him. The Bible reads that, “Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron” (Judges 16 v3). Imagine their embarrassment in the morning when they discovered that Samson has not only escaped but had stolen the gates, the posts and the bar.
Our Saviour went down into the strong place, that is, the grave, but it could not hold Him. The stone was useless, and even thousands of rocks could not have secured the Son of God. The guard of soldiers sent by the High priest, was obviously insufficient, but had ten thousand soldiers from the best troops of Rome been stationed to keep the grave intact, it would not have made any difference. Furthermore, Satan and all his army were totally unable to keep the Saviour in the tomb. Christ made a public spectacle of the powers of darkness (Colossians 2 v15). The Prince of Life stepped from the strong place as the mighty victor.