Deep Theological Thoughts on Resurrection

It has been an interesting week in Christendom.

In case you know nothing about what has been going on, this is what I am referring to:

About a week ago, a precious two-year-old little girl named Olive tragically died.  Her parents are worship leaders at Bethel Church in Redding, CA.  The child’s death triggered a six-day campaign to bring her back to life again. 

Young Olive was not on life support; she was in the morgue.  That is where she remained, while for six days, Christians all over the world participated in the plea for her resurrection.  They did this in many ways:  through fervent prayer, praise and worship, commanding her to “come home,"  declaring/commanding that her life return to her, foot-stomping, claiming that not all deaths are in God’s timing, and trying to raise $100,000 on Go Fund Me. 

I am not sure if they raised the full amount, but many of their actions did raise quite a few eyebrows.

After a week of this “pressing in,” as many would call it, Olive’s parents and the Bethel congregation conceded that she was not going to be raised from the dead, and they have now gone on to bury their precious child. I weep for them.

This has really hit home for me.  Several weeks ago, my beloved unborn grandson died in the womb of his mother, eight days before his due date.  I was heartbroken, but I enlisted the help of some friends to pray that God would raise this sweet baby back to life before he was born.  But alas, it was not to be; my beautiful grandson was born into this world and never took a breath this side of eternity.  I mourn deeply for him; and yet, I have the hope and expectation that someday he will live again.

With all this going on, I just want to try and collect all my theological thoughts here.  I am not saying that my theology is completely correct (indeed, I don’t believe anyone on the planet has 100% correct theology), but I just want to put my thoughts into writing.

There are those who would say we just didn’t have enough faith.  This is an oft-repeated statement within the Word of Faith movement, and one that I don’t agree with.  What a burden to place on someone who is grieving a loss!  In Mark 9:24, we see a father struggling with his own belief:  “Lord, I DO believe; HELP me in my unbelief!”  Yeshua went on to answer this father’s prayer for his son.

There are others who believe that our lives today should look exactly like the lives of the apostles in Acts, who were the first ones to bring the gospel to this world.  Is this true?

In Mark 16, Yeshua is giving the great commission, and speaking of the signs and wonders that will accompany those who believe.  The passage wraps up with “and they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.”

Why did Yeshua Himeslf do miracles?  It was to prove that He was who He said He was.  Why do these signs and wonders accompany the believers who are delivering the good news?  To prove that the gospel is true.

I believe these miraculous gifts DID disappear, for the most part, from the church during the dark and middle ages when corruption was widespread and the gospel was not being preached to the world at large.  (When I was saved, it was through a congregation that was cessationist in its belief - in other words, the belief that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are not for today.  But I changed my view eventually, through Bible study and seeing the hand of God move in many ways).

But ever since the advent of the great missionary movement,which began around the end of the 18^th century, signs and wonders have been appearing again in the places where the gospel had never been preached before.  Today, I often read about the things that are happening in places such as China, India, North Korea, Iran… not to mention the dreams and visions that are taking place all over the Middle East. 

This is not to say that God does not perform miracles today among nations and people who are well-established in faith.  He does, according to His will and His purposes.  Several years ago, He healed me miraculously of a lung condition that I’d been suffering from for years, and I praise Him for that.

CAN God raise the dead?  Of course He can. The last time I checked, God was still in charge of the universe.

However,  He gave us His book so that we could study it. Whenever someone was raised from the dead in scripture, it happened at the time of the asking.  Yeshua waited four days to visit the bereaved family of Lazarus, but the moment He called Lazurus forth from the grave, the resurrection happened.  Elijah stretched himself out over the widow’s son three times, and then promptly the young man came back to life.  When Eutychus fell out of the three-story window and died in Acts 20, he was brought back to life immediately. (I’ve heard it humorously said that Eutychus was just trying to avoid greeting time at church 😂😂 But I digress...)

The only place in scripture I have seen the pleading, frantic dancing, foot-stomping, on-and-on demanding of a miracle was the prophets of Baal in the showdown with Elijah.

Let me be clear; I am NOT claiming that the people of Bethel were worshiping Baal.  I believe their faith in the One True God is real.  We Christians need to be careful about writing off folks whose doctrinal understanding is different from our own.  It is not our theology or doctrine that saves us; it is faith and trust in the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua, the Lamb of God/Son of God on the cross that redeems us unto eternal life.

But I believe that staying rooted and grounded in the Word of God is absolutely essential.  And not only that, but it is also important to rely on the whole counsel of scripture and not simply rely on proof texts:  out-of-context verses that seem to prove our point.

Here is an example.  John 14:12 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”

That is a verse I heard quoted quite a few times this past week, and I had heard it quoted in charismatic circles so often that I had already studied the verse for myself.  In my spirit, I was disturbed by the idea that anything we could do would be greater than the One that spoke the universe into existence, and then gave His own life as an offering of redemption for all of humanity.

The keyword here is the English word greater (megas in Greek).  It can be defined as farther-reaching in scope.  Yeshua never left the Middle East while on earth, but His followers have taken the good news ALL OVER THE WORLD – therefore having a much greater scope.  To imagine the word greater meant that we would perform bigger and better works than those done by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is mind boggling to me. 

The verse wraps up with Yeshua saying because I am going to the Father, which to me clearly demonstrates the meaning of greater as being more far-reaching.  These Israeli believers were commissioned by the Messiah take the good news to the rest of the planet.  Today, this job is nearly complete.  I wonder if those early believers ever imagined it would take 2000 years?

Meanwhile, may baby Olive and my baby grandson rest in peace until Yeshua returns and resurrects us to immortal life.  And I pray that Christians will base their faith on our Messiah and His word, and not to let the actions or doctrines of other Christians sway them away from that faith.

The Hitchhiker

I recently returned from a journey to Israel, during which I was blessed to observe the three Fall Feasts - a dream come true!  Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashanah), Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.  My heart is still bursting from all I saw and learned.

A soldier adds palms to the roof of his sukkah

Just before I returned home, I went out beyond the green line to a small village in the land of Benjamin in Samaria, to visit a sweet family that I know.  I had asked them if I could come and see their sukkah (a temporary booth, built every year in honor of the seventh Biblical Feast, Sukkot - a memorial of God's presence and provision during the forty years in the wilderness).

We had a wonderful visit that morning and ate lunch together.  After lunch, I needed to return to Jerusalem for the final Sabbath of my visit - the first day of Sukkot.  (During my 21 days in Israel, seven of them were Sabbaths because of the Feasts.  As a Gentile, I confess that I am not used to resting that much!)

As I was about to exit the community for the hour-long trek back to Jerusalem, I came upon an Orthodox Jewish man who was awaiting a ride to the bus stop from anyone who was willing to pick him up.  Since my friend in the village had already explained to me the procedure (and safety) of Israeli hitchhiking, I felt no qualms in offering this man a ride.

For twenty minutes, we had a lively and engaging conversation.  Even though he was born and raised in a rural area of Israel, he was fluent in English, telling me it was due to computer games, computer programming, and Hollywood.

I let him know right away that I had been visiting a family for Sukkot.  A few minutes later in our conversation, I let him know that I was a gentile... a Christian.  His surprise was palpable.  I could pretty much read his thoughts... "We don't get many of your kind way out here.  And Sukkot?  You even know what that is??"

Driving down the mountain, we spoke of Yeshua.  He had questions on how we could possibly worship three Gods.  I told him that I don't believe Christianity has done a great job at explaining who God is and what we believe about His nature.  Yeshua Himself said that He and His Father were one.  I affirmed that it is blasphemy for a man to claim to be God.

But then I posed the question from the other direction:  "But what is to stop GOD from becoming a MAN?"

Yeshua claimed that He was God.  But then He backed up His claim through His miracles, including the three miracles that ancient sages expected the Messiah to perform:  1)  Healing a leper, 2) Casting out a demon from a mute person, and 3) Healing a man who was blind from birth.

Not only did He do these three miracles, but many, many more.  Feeding thousands.  Walking on water.  He even raised his friend Eleazar (Lazarus) from the dead.  And finally the ultimate miracle:  His Own Resurrection. He had kept every single point of the Moses covenant perfectly, and as such, death had no hold over Him.  He was our Perfect Passover Lamb.  Only God could do that!  (Remember Abraham's words in Genesis?  God will provide Himself the Lamb).

Yeshua did not just back up his claim of being God through miracles.  He is the fulfillment of everything written about Him in the Tanakh.  The entire book Hebrew scriptures points to Him.  He fulfilled every single prophecy that was written about Him.  There are hundreds.

The seven Feasts, as outlined in Leviticus 23, are also a foreshadowing of Him.  He fulfilled the four Spring Feasts perfectly at His first coming, when He became the ultimate Sacrifice for all mankind. He was Messiah, son of Joseph, the Suffering Servant.  The Lamb.

He will fulfill the Fall Feasts when He returns, as the Messiah, Son of David, the Conquering King, when He returns to set up His kingdom on Earth.  In Jerusalem.  The Lion.

My new hitchhiking friend did not agree with me, and that is okay.  History is full of forced conversions that were ugly and cruel.   In fact, I apologized for that cruel history; for the way that my people treated his people.

I made another friend in a shop on Ben Yehuda Street, another Orthodox Jewish man.   I kept going back because we had such great conversations.  People have tried over and over to tell him about Yeshua.  But he looked me in the eye and said, "I am not going to believe it unless God Himself reveals it to me."  I wonder if he realizes that he was paraphrasing the truth found in John 6:44 - No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Romans 11 tells us that Israel will be blinded in part until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  Isaiah 8:17 confirms this:  And I will wait on the Lord, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob;
And I will hope in Him.

So I continue to love my Jewish friends, tell them about Yeshua when the door is opened, and love them unconditionally, whether they choose to follow Yeshua as Messiah or not.  I trust God for the outcome that He has already foretold.

As for me, I believe that Yeshua IS the Messiah that was prophetically foretold in the Hebrew scriptures, otherwise I wouldn't follow Him.  And if He IS the prophesied Messiah, then trusting in Him is the most Jewish thing that a Jewish person can do!  No need to "convert" to a Gentile faith, only a need for teshuvah (repentance, or turning) from sin to the One who paid the price in full.

Eternal Soul?

I was recently turned down from serving in a particular ministry because I was unable to completely affirm their statement of faith, which included the doctrine that unredeemed souls will be tortured for all eternity.  I have been studying the doctrine of hell for over a year now, and I will continue studying it, as I have no desire to be wrong about this!

(For my recent series about what I have learned in light of what scripture says, click here for the first post). 

It is very disconcerting to me (okay, terrifying) to question a doctrine that has been taught in Christianity for over 1500 years.

The Rob Bells are saying, no, no... all souls will eventually repent from that torturous place and be saved... which is universalism.  Most others are saying, no, God's word is clear that unbelievers are condemned forever, so therefore they will be forever tormented.

What if we are asking the wrong question?

Many of us have been taught all our lives that humans have a soul which is separate from the body. But as I have been digging into what the scriptures actually say, I have changed my mind.  I no longer believe that humans have a soul  that floats away to heaven (or hell, or purgatory) upon bodily death.  Read on if you are still with me and are not thnking "Heretic, heretic!!"

Let's go to Genesis 1.  In verse two, we see the spirit of God hovering over the waters.  The word for spirit is ruach.  Even with my limited knowledge of Hebrew, I know that Ruach ha Kodesh means the Holy Spirit.  Ruach means breath, or wind.  The very breath of God was hovering over the waters.

Skip to day five in verse 20.... God filled the waters with chai nephesh - living creatures.  The words chai and nephesh are repeated in verse 21 in regards to the great sea monsters.

Day 6 - verse 24; we see them again:  chai nephesh... living creatures, this time formed on land; each after their own kind.  (So much for evolution).

In verse 26, an interesting account becomes even more so.  Let Us make man in our image (tselem), according to our likeness (demoot).  The Hebrew word for man is 'adam.  (Thus his name).   The different Hebrew words for image and likeness are simply synonymous.  The plurality of God here is fascinating and worthy of a separate post... watch for that soon.

In verse 28, Adam and Eve were told to rule over every living thing - chai.  In verse 30, dietary instructions are given to all living souls - the word is nephesh - both human and animal.

Chapter 2 of Genesis goes back in time and gives us more details on the creation of man.  Verse 7 tells us  Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed (naphach) into his nostrils the breath (n'shamah) of life (chai), and man ('adam) became a living (chai) being (nephesh).

Wait!  Chai and nephesh were the same words used for animals and fish.  Where is the separate, disembodied eternal soul that man is supposed to have?  Does being made in the image and likeness of God require a separatable (is that a word) being?  Or does it mean that humans simply have a capacity within themselves (their nephesh - soul) that animals don't have?  The capacity for love, the capacity to reason, the capacity to think, to make choices; the capacity to worship their creator?

Further along in verse 17, we discover the penalty for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - death.   We'll come back to that in a bit.

In verse 19, we see the man (adam) naming the living (chai) creatures (nephesh). 

In chapter 3 verse 20, Adam named his wife Eve (chava), because she will be the mother of all living (chai).

The Lord God then needed to kick Adam and Eve out of the garden.  Verse 22 says that if He left them there, with their new knowledge of good and evil, they could figure out that they could eat of the tree of life and live (chayah) forever.

This is mind boggling to me.  I grew up with the idea that "people had souls, animals did not."  I even checked the Greek Septuagint, and the same words for living (zao) souls (psuche) were used for humans and animals in Genesis.

During the flood, Genesis 7:22-23 tells us, All in whose nostrils was the breath (n'shamah) of the spirit (ruach) of life (chai), all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things (new word - y'kum, meaning all that exists) which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Every word here that describes life, breath, soul, spirit, and so forth applies to both man and beast.

When Lot was fleeing from Sodom in Genesis 19, the angel told him to flee for his life (nephesh). There are many more examples throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament).

When we move to the B'rit Hadashah (New Testament), we find the word that is translated spirit is pneuma. Again, this is a word that means breath, life, or wind, just like the Hebrew ruach. It is used over 300 times in the New Testament.  The Greek word psuche is translated soul.  Think of the word psych... our mind, our thoughts, our inner being.  Our nephesh, as it would read in Hebrew.  We don't HAVE a soul, we ARE a soul!  And so are all the other living creatures on earth.

Nephesh and psuche are used in scripture 976 times, and translated into over 40 different words!  But always, they are referring to living (or dying) creatures here on earth.  But never once do they refer to a soul that is consciously existing post mortem. 

Many will look to Ecclesiastes 3:11, which says He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.  One might say, See?  God has put eternity in their hearts - therefore they must have eternal souls!  But if you really look at this verse (in the middle of Solomon's musings on the meaning of life), that is not what it is saying.  The word for eternity is olam, which can mean the world, the universe, long duration, everlasting, perpetual time.  More importantly, we need to look at the word for heart - leb.  It means emotion, mind, desire.  God has definitely given man the desire for eternity, for significance, for meaning.  This is why there are so many religions!  They are all about man trying to reach (or become) God.  But the true faith is about God reaching man, which He has done through His Son Yeshua.

Over and over again, scripture tells us that the penalty for sin is death and destruction - starting in Genesis 2:17.  Do we believe what scripture says, or do we redefine words like perish and death and destruction to match what we believe about the automatic eternity of every human soul? The Rob Bells of the world ignore the many verses that call for the destruction of the wicked, but frankly, so do the eternal torment folks.

As it turns out, the idea of a disembodied soul comes from the pagan religions that stemmed from Babylon, and was made popular by the Greek philosopher Plato.  The idea was later picked up by the church as paganism crept in, beginning especially in the fourth century when ancient Rome took over Christianity and got rid of all of the Jewish roots of the faith.  When you really think about it, only GOD is eternal; which means no beginning and no end.

It is interesting to note satan's words to Eve in Genesis 3:4:  Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die."  How do we know when satan, the Father of Lies, is lying?  The answer is, whenever he is speaking.  This early lie of satan is still believed today by people all over the world:  you WILL live forever, be it in smoking or non-smoking.

Just a side note about the word hell before I move on... there are four words in scripture translated into that one word hell, which has its origins in paganism.  The four Biblical words are sheol (Hebrew), Hades, Gehenna, and Tarturoo (Greek).  Ironically, the final judgment place, the Lake of Fire, is not translated hell at all; in fact, hell (Hades) is cast into it in Revelation 20:14.


Scripture tells us about the future resurrection.  Jesus spoke of the resurrection in Luke 14, Luke 20, John 5, and John 11.  The best Biblical illustration of what this resurrection will look like can be found in 1 Corinthians 15.  Believers who are asleep (dead) will be raised imperishable.  There is no mention of one's conscious soul floating down from heaven and rejoining his or her new body.  (Genesis doesn't mention a disembodied soul either, for that matter.   You'd think that if it were the truth, it might have been mentioned in the Book of Beginnings).

When we die, our bodies will "sleep" in the ground until the resurrection, according to the passage in 1 Corinthians 15.  The beautiful thing about sleep is that when you awaken, it seems like the night flew by and morning was instantaneous.  Thus to be dead is to be immediately in the presence of the Lord.  Our time stops until the Lord returns and awakens us with a shout... and a new body that will never get sick and never die - woohoo!  (I have a friend who is a Catholic and faithfully prays to Mary and the saints... This idea - that they are dead asleep and awaiting the resurrection - sure would burst her bubble).

But we will only be awakened at the Lord's return if we are covenanted to God through the plan that was in effect while we were on earth... this called the first resurrection.  Today the plan in effect is via the Messiah - Yeshua, who two thousand years ago, shed His blood and died so that we can be reconciled to God through repentance and faith in Him.  At the first resurrection, believers from both Old and New covenants will rule with Him on earth during the one-thousand-year reign.  Our position in this messianic kingdom will depend on the works that we have done while on earth.  Our entrance fee was paid for by the sacrifice of Yeshua.  Revelation 20:6 says, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.


The second resurrection does not occur until after the Millenial Kingdom.  Revelation 20:5 and also verses 11-15 describe what happens to the rest of unredeemed humanity - they are not found in the Book of Life and are cast into the Lake of Fire.  Since scripture shows them to be complete physical beings (and not a disembodied soul), they will perish in the Lake of Fire.  Matthew 3:12 says, He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.  Note that the fire continues to burn, but the chaff is burned up - ie: destroyed.

For a long time, I had been wondering why the unbelieving dead had to be raised up, only to be cast into the fire.  Why wouldn't God just leave them dead?  Then one day, I read the following verse and it became clear to me.  Philippians 2:10-11 says, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  This comes from Isaiah 45 (except that Yeshua isn't mentioned yet) and is also repeated in Romans 14:10. 

It occurred to me that this hasn't happened yet!  Every knee has NOT YET submitted to the Creator and Ruler of the universe.  This is why the sea had to give up its dead (the wicked who died in the flood).  All those who died without acknowledging God still need to do that, for His Glory. And sadly, it will be too late for them.

As it says in Hebrews 9:26-27, And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Have you received forgiveness through Yeshua?  If you have not, I pray that you will turn your back on sin and receive Him today as your Redeemer!  He truly is the only way to eternal life! 

For more on this subject, click here.

Firstfruits, Firstfruits, Firstfruits!

Happy Firstfruits!

In the book of Ruth, Naomi and Ruth arrive back in Israel at this time of the barley harvest.  The story of Ruth and Boaz becomes a beautiful picture of the future redemption of humankind through the Messiah, when Boaz becomes her kinsman redeemer. 

Ruth, the gentile from Moab, attaches herself to Israel:  “Wherever you go I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge.  And your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

Does anyone else find it tragic that this is not the Feast we celebrate today?  God’s word teaches us so beautifully!  If we would just look into these things which are written, we wouldn’t need plastic eggs for teaching aids.

Was the Messiah crucified on a Friday?

Here is a question that really challenged my traditional way of thinking.  I came across this scripture:  Matthew 12:40 - "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."  These are the words of Jesus. 

But Friday late in the day to Sunday morning doesn't come close to this.  I was perplexed.  One explanation I read was that the Hebrews believed that even a part of a day could be construed as a day and a night.  But that just didn't make any sense to me. 

Each of the four gospel accounts holds a clue to this puzzle.

Scripture says that the disciples wanted to remove the body of Jesus from the cross prior to the Sabbath.  The weekly Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday, so hence a Friday crucifixion seems to make sense, right?  The gospel of John helps to shed some light on this issue.  John 19:31 speaks of this being a high, or special Sabbath.  Verse 42 brings more clarification:  it was the Preparation Day.  The first day of Unleavened Bread (the day following the Passover) was a special Sabbath according to Leviticus 23:7.

But was it also a Friday?  Bear with me as we let scripture interpret scripture.  The key is in the women who brought spices to the tomb early on the first day of the week according to Luke 24:1.  

Where and when did they get these spices?  Luke 23:56 tells us that they prepared spices and THEN rested on the Sabbath.  Mark 16:1 tells us that they bought spices AFTER the Sabbath.  They would never have purchased spices ON a Sabbath day.  The answer is that there were two Sabbaths!  The high Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, a day in between, and the regular weekly Sabbath.  This causes all the scriptures to fit together beautifully!

This means that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, and was removed from the cross before the high Sabbath began at sundown.  Following the high Sabbath (the first day of Unleavened Bread, which was on Thursday), the women purchased and prepared their spices on Friday, before sundown.  Then they rested on the regular weekly Sabbath - Saturday - and went to the tomb Sunday morning.  But of course, Jesus had already risen... which I believe happened as the sun set after the weekly Sabbath, when the first day of the week was beginning. 

This gives Him three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, just as He said in Matthew 12:40.  And it matches the time that Jonah spent in the belly of the fish according to Jonah 1:17