Resurrection of the dead ones (plural).

All the scriptures used by popular “Rapture” writers and teachers were actually fulfilled by real and bodily resurrections. These occurred during the 1st century. These occurrences are some of the most ignored, distorted, confused, and misunderstood realities and concepts in Christianity. No more!

Key passages are: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15.  In the Corinthian passage, an order for these resurrections is revealed:

• But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each [every man] in his own turn [order]: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes [at his coming], those who belong to him (1 Cor. 15:20-23 NIV, [KJV]).   

If it is true, as the “Left Behind” people tell us, that for over nineteen centuries and counting these inspired words of Paul have not been fulfilled, then the nonoccurrence of this event presents a highly problematic dilemma:

1. Paul’s words of encouragement turned out to be a cruel misrepresentation in the lives of his original readers.
2. 1st-century believers actually ended up deceiving each other with these words rather than encouraging each other (1 Thess. 4:13, 18). And they died “in vain” not having received what they expected in their lifetime (1 Cor. 15:14).
3. If Paul’s Holy-Spirit-guided imminency expectations proved false, how can we trust him to have conveyed other aspects of the faith along to us correctly (John 16:13) ?

Let’s see if we can arrive at a better understanding, from a sola Scriptura standpoint, of the order and time of fulfillment in four successive resurrection stages:

Stage #1 – Jesus’ resurrection.

The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most well-attested and well-known facts of human history. No other event has such overwhelming weight of evidence and left such an impact on the world. What is not well-known is that this event marked the beginning of the “last days”/eschatological resurrection of the dead ones (plural).

Stage #2 – More bodily resurrections.

Using harvest imagery and the metaphor of the “firstfruits,” more resurrections took place as the bodies of many (not all) Old Testament saints came out of their graves and paraded through the streets of Jerusalem:

• And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks split, and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs (graves), and after his [Jesus’] resurrection they entered the holy city [Jerusalem] and appeared to many (Matt. 27:51-53 – bold is mine).

This event confirms that they were living in the eschatological and biblical “last days,” back then and there, because the general resurrection of the dead was now underway. No doubt, this was why the Apostle Paul, during his defense before King Agrippa remarked, “Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:8). The Greek word translated “dead” here is in the plural—i.e., “dead ones” or “dead persons.” This is the proper translation. For more plural usages see: Acts 17:32; 23:6; 24:21; 1 Cor. 15:12, 13, 15, and 16. But resurrection for the rest of the dead ones (the harvest) was still being anticipated as the New Testament was being penned.

Stage #3 – Resurrection Day for the rest of the dead ones.

Thirty years after the above two resurrection events, the Apostle Paul wrote:

• . . . I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be [to be about to be] a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked (Acts 24:15).

Two of Paul’s key words in this passage are mellein esesthai. Traditionally, they have been translated as “will be” or “shall be.” In the literal Greek, however, they are: “to be about to be.” This double-intensified force of imminency is missed in all major English translations of the Bible. But the die was already cast. The resurrection harvest had already begun. All that awaited was the “last day” (singular – John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24) of the “last days” (plural – Heb. 1:2).

That day came! At some point in the late summer or early fall of A.D. 70, or perhaps two or three years later in A.D. 72 or 73—when the last stone was removed (Matt. 24:2), the field plowed over (Mic. 3:12; Jer. 26:18), and the prophesied point of “desolation” reached (Matt. 23:38)—the rest of the dead were raised. But unlike before, and in keeping with the applied harvest metaphor, no resurrection bodies were seen rising out of graves or parading around Jerusalem. Rather, their souls were taken out of the hadean realm, that spirit-realm holding place of the dead, taken to heaven, and given their judgment and “spiritual” resurrection bodies (1 Cor. 15:44). This end is history. It all took place within the spirit realm and within the time span of Jesus’ “this generation” (Matt. 24:34). Moreover, this fulfillment is in perfect harmony with the imminency expectations of every New Testament writer and the early Christian community (John 16:13). This often-prophesied and imminently expected end was covenantal, and not cosmic. It occurred within history, and not at history’s end—for which there is no end.

Stage #4 – The ongoing reality—“each” or “every man in his own turn/order.”

From that time on, the next saint to physically die, never again went to Hades, that spirit-realm holding place of the dead, to await resurrection and judgment. Jesus who holds “the keys to death and Hades” (Rev. 1:18; 20:13-14), had emptied it out and locked it up, forever. Therefore, after Resurrection Day on the “last day,” it’s straight to heaven upon physical death for believers to receive their judgment and a new, “spiritual” resurrection body (1 Cor. 15:44). Heaven’s door is now open wide. This fulfilled reality is in contrast to no one being in heaven during Jesus’ earthly ministry (John 3:13; 13:33, 36).

Sources:

1 Shattering the ‘Left Behind’ Delusion by John Noe (out-of-print)

2 Unraveling the End by John Noe