THOUGH SOME DOUBT THE RESURRECTION, ATTEMPTING TO BASE THEIR BELIEF ON “SCIENCE,”
SIR ISAAC NEWTON, THE GREATEST OF
SCIENTISTS, BELIEVED IN IT!

In the Bible’s Old Testament, Job proclaimed 4000 years ago: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25-26 KJV).
It should be noted that some liberal “scholars” try to say resurrection is a recent idea. However, they either choke or change the subject when you quote this verse to them, and remind them that Job is among the oldest books of the Bible; perhaps the oldest!
Job, under the prophetic inspiration of God, could not have made himself more clear in these verses, could he? Jesus, the very Messiah Himself—God in the flesh—made the strongest statement about bodily resurrection in the New Testament: “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:26-29 KJV).

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Daniel 12:2-3 NASB

ANCIENT RABBINICAL COMMENTARY

“R. ‘Azaria said: ‘The Holy One, blessed be He, opens the graves and opens the storehouses of the souls and puts back each soul into its own body....’ ”⁵

Pirqe R. Eliezer, ch. 34

“Rabbi [Y’huda haNasi] said....the Holy One, blessed be He, too, will bring the soul, cast it into the body, and judge them as one.”⁶

B. Sanhedrin 91a-b

NEW TESTAMENT RECORDED 31 AD

“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” John 5:28-29 NASB

MODERN RABBINIC COMMENT/REFUTATION

“However, the life after which there is no death is the life of the World to Come, in which there is no body. For we believe it, and it is the truth [held] by all those who have a mind, that the World to Come is souls without bodies, like the angels.”⁷

Treatise on Resurrection, by Maimonides, p. 17

AUTHOR’S COMMENT—EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN POSITION

Again, we have Maimonides (Rambam—Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon), who presently has many admirers and followers, advocating an off-the-wall, controversial, contrived position, contrary to the Bible’s promise of resurrection. The Scriptures promise that we will receive bodies at the resurrection in which our souls will reside during the eternal world to come.

***

THOSE OF YOU WHO DO NOT BELIEVE,
STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO GET IN ON THE
ETERNAL ASPECT OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

RESURRECTION AND RAMBAM—THE WHO, WHAT AND WHY OF THE ATTEMPTED RESURRECTION COVER-UP

IF YOU CAN’T TAKE JESUS OUT OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT, YOU HAD BETTER TAKE
THE OLD TESTAMENT OUT OF JESUS

It is rather convenient, isn’t it? If you cannot change Jesus’ fulfillment of past prophecies and future promises, you can just say the Messiah was never meant to suffer and fulfill Isaiah 53, nor was He ever to return and raise the dead. Thus, as people no longer have these specific expectations of Messiah, He is not as easily recognized.
This ingenious technique of blinding the Jew was applied in an attempt to curb assimilation. However, we must remember, when Jews accept their Messiah (Jesus) today, they are much more proud of being a Jew, a Messianic Jew, who threw off those old rusty chains of modern rabbinical Judaism for the fresh vitality of biblical Judaism. After all, the Bible is the document which originally recorded the life of the first Jew, Abraham, and his history, as a standard for what Judaism is. If at any time, the rabbis begin to deviate from the Bible, they are teaching a false religion under the name of Judaism, which absolutely, in our opinion, should not be accepted as Judaism.

THE BOOK OF LAW

WHAT ABOUT THE PAGAN IN AFRICA?

THE BOOK OF WORKS

“The Lord is known by the judgment, which he executeth....The wicked shall be turned into hell [sheol], and all the nations that forget God.”

Psalms 9:16-17 KJV. [ ] mine

“...The Holy one, Blessed be He, will sit on the Throne of Judgment in the Valley of Yehoshaphat. And instantly the heaven and the earth will decay, and the sun will become ashamed, and the moon and the mountains will shake, and the hills tremble so as not to remind Israel of its sins. And the gates of Gehenna will open in the Valley of Yehoshaphat, and the gates of the Garden of Eden in the east.”²⁴

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,^[25] and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken....Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels....” Matthew 24:29; 25:41 KJV
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 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 20:11-15 KJV

MODERN RABBINIC COMMENT/REFUTATION

“...eternal punishment for the wicked finds no official acceptance in Judaism.”²⁶

Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver

“...even the tarnished souls will not be forever denied spiritual bliss. Judaism rejects the doctrine of eternal damnation.”²⁷

Chief Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz

AUTHOR’S COMMENT—EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN POSITION

These statements by our rabbi friends, which are shared by the vast majority of contemporary rabbis, are not really accurate when you glance up at the Old Testament and ancient rabbinical commentary, are they? For detailed documentation, using many verses from the ancient rabbinical commentary, proving Rabbis Hertz and Silver are absolutely misrepresenting Jewish belief on the subject of eternal judgment, see our Vol. II, chapter 33, “The Reality of the Ancient Jewish Acknowledgment of Hell, Covered Up Until Now.”

In the first resurrection, there are four phases (the second resurrection occurs at the end of the millennium and is for unbelievers only; John 5:29; Rev. 20:6). The first resurrection, which is composed of believers only, has four stages. The first stage of phase one was the resurrection of Jesus nearly 2000 years ago. We are told that Jesus was the “first fruits” of the resurrection (I Cor. 15:20-25).
Jesus as Messiah, was the first man in the long history of men to receive a permanent resurrection body which can never be destroyed. Lazarus and the boy in the Old Testament were only raised back into their mortal bodies and died again shortly thereafter. There is a clear difference between raising the dead and resurrection. Resurrection is permanent and encompasses a resurrection body. This resurrection of first fruits, which corresponds to the Jewish feast of “first fruits” in the Bible (Lev. 23:16), contained a token of believers (Matt. 27:52-53) in ancient Israel.
The first fruits of the harvest were waved before God in the tabernacle by the high priest. This was an offering of thanks, which also assured a bountiful harvest (the second stage). It was only offered with a lamb sacrifice, therefore Jesus, our high priest (Heb. 5-7; 13:11-12), offered these believers His first fruits. Thus Jesus is our Passover lamb for all time.

RESURRECTION—PHASE II

The second phase of resurrection is hinted at in Revelation 4:1: “After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I had heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter” (KJV).
John, who is writing, sees a door in Heaven and is told to “come up hither” in his vision. This may provide an answer to the puzzling conversation Jesus had with Peter, recorded in the Gospel of John: “Peter therefore seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this man [John]?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’ This saying therefore went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?’ ” (John 21:21-23 NASB; [ ] mine).
The apostle John was told to “come up hither” so he could see and record the vision of the end days and Second Coming of the Messiah. This second phase will occur in our future and is known as the Rapture. All that John wrote, until he was told to “come up,” was history.
After he was taken, he was given visions which are predicted to occur after the Rapture portion of the resurrection, lasting seven years, before the Lord returns to stop Gog and Magog in Revelation 19. This resurrection contains all of those who were born-again at Jesus’ Pentecost (the beginning of His true church, fifty days after the Passover from which He rose until the day of the event known as the Rapture occurs—still future). As we know, in the Rapture we will all be taken up (see our chapter 25, “The Rapture Factor”). You will get a taste of being a benefactor, which you will be, if you are a believer!

RESURRECTION—PHASE III

In the third phase of the resurrection, the Old Testament believers, from Adam until John the Baptist’s ministry, prior to the dispensation of the church age (Acts 1:22), are resurrected. This resurrection also contains the Tribulation believers in Jesus, both Jew and Gentile, who were martyred (not the 144,000 specially appointed Jewish witnesses; see our chapter 25, “The Rapture Factor”). This resurrection occurs after the seven-year Tribulation—after the previous “Rapture resurrection”—at Jesus’ judgment of the nations (Matt. 25:32-46; Dan. 12:2).

RESURRECTION—PHASE IV

The fourth phase of the resurrection occurs when the mortal kingdom believers receive their new immortal resurrected bodies. It consists of those who survived the seven-year Tribulation, the last war of Gog and Magog, and lived through the 1000-year Messianic Kingdom (Matt. 25), due to the biblically predicted alteration of nature, which resulted in greatly increased longevity. This happens at the end of the kingdom, just prior to Jesus’ creation of the New Heaven and Earth, which is the beginning of eternity future, the subject of our forthcoming chapter 30, “New Heavens and a New Earth.”

AFTER PHASE III, THERE ARE MESSIANIC JUDGMENTS
OF JEWS AND GENTILES HERE ON EARTH

After the resurrection (third phase), the Hebrew prophet Daniel elaborates on the beginnings of the millennial kingdom: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed....And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Dan. 7:13-14, 27 KJV).
Two major judgments occur before the joys of this kingdom are realized. Hal Lindsey, in his book, The Rapture: Truth or Consequences, precisely covers the major events of these judgments. Therefore, we will quote him at length: “The second prophetic theme that relates to this question of who populates the Kingdom concerns two great judgments of the Tribulation survivors which takes place on earth immediately after Christ’s return. These judgments are the Lord’s first major act after returning to the earth.
There is an extremely important condition on earth which is demonstrated by the Lord’s judgment of the survivors. These
survivors are segregated into two judgments: one of Jews and one of Gentiles....

THE JUDGMENT OF SURVIVING ISRAELITES

THE JUDGMENT OF THE GENTILE SURVIVORS

HEY FOLKS, WE WILL GET TO MEET ISAAC
NEWTON, IN SPITE OF MANUEL’S SARCASM

THE MILLENNIAL PARADISE OF THE AGES
FINALLY REALIZED—WE COULD ALL
USE THE REST, COULDN’T WE? YES!

HOW DO THE TESTAMENTS DESCRIBE THIS 1000-YEAR MILLENNIAL KINGDOM? BEAUTIFULLY!

The rulership of this Messianic Kingdom, which Jesus will inaugurate as the Jewish Messiah, is beautifully foretold in Jeremiah and I Chronicles of the Old Testament: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. 23:5-6 KJV).
I Chronicles also predicted: “And it shall come about when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be His father, and He shall be My son; and I will not take My loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever. According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David” (I Chr. 17:11-15 NASB).
Isaiah wrote the prophetic words: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isa. 9:6-7 KJV).
Luke writes in the New Testament: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shall conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:30-33 KJV).

THOUGH THE WORLD IS PRESENTLY ONE-QUARTER COMMUNIST AND OPPRESSED, THAT IS GOING TO CHANGE SOON WHEN THE MESSIAH TAKES THE REINS

THE CONDITIONS OF THE MILLENNIUM INCLUDE A WORLD FREE OF GERMS, DEFORMITIES AND DISEASE

ONCE FEROCIOUS ANIMALS WILL
AGAIN BE TAME, AS THEY WERE IN THE GARDEN!

Other beautiful passages show that even the animals and beasts, some of which are presently hostile toward each other and man himself, will once again become friendly. Even a child will be able to put his hand in a snake’s den without the fear of being bitten. Isaiah predicts: “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze; Their young will lie down together; And the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den....‘The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,’ says the Lord” (Isa. 11:6-8; 65:25 NASB).

OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE TRANSLATION

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea....Afterward, he brought me again unto the door of the house, and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar....And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for |meat|, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for |meat|, and the leaf thereof for medicine....And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth....”

Isaiah 11:6-9 KJV; Ezekiel 47:1, 12 KJV;⁴⁰ Zechariah 14:8-9 KJV

ANCIENT RABBINICAL COMMENTARY

“Why was it [one of the Temple gates] called Water Gate? R. Eliezer ben Ya’aqov said: ‘Because in it water bubbled forth.’ This teaches us that the waters were bubbling forth and rising as if coming out of a flask. In the future they will come forth from under the threshold of the Temple....All the waters of Creation will in the future come forth as if coming from the mouth of a flask.”⁴¹

M. Middot 2:6; T. Suk, 3:3, 10; B. Yoma 77b-78a

“And He will open for them the sources of the Tree of Life, and will give them to drink on the way....”⁴² Otot haMashiah, BhM 2:58-63

“R. Y’huda said: ‘In This World the crops ripen in six months, and a tree yields fruit in twelve months, but in the Future to Come the crops will ripen every month’....R. Yose said: ‘...In the Future to Come the crops will ripen in fifteen days, and the trees yield fruit every month.’ ”⁴³

Y. Sheqalim 50a mid.

“[In the days of the Messiah] I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land (Lev. 26:6). R. Y’huda said: ‘He [God] will calm them so that they should do no damage.’ R. Shim’on said...‘God will calm those who cause injury in the world, so that they will cause no injury. To this refers the verse, And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid...and the cow and the bear...and the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp (Isa. 11:6-8).’ ”⁴⁴

“...the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body....And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

“It should not come to one’s mind that in the days of the Messiah anything in the customary order of the world will be annulled, or that there will be something new in the order of Creation. For the world will continue in its path. And that which Isaiah said, The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid (Isa. 11:6), is but an allegory and a riddle....The lion shall eat straw like the ox (Isa. 11:7). And likewise, all the similar things said about the Messiah are but allegories.”⁴⁵ Maimonides (Rambam),⁴⁶ Yad haHazaqa,

The name Rambam stands for Rabbi Mosha ben Maimon (Rabbi Mosha “son of” Maimon). It is clear to us that Rambam and the many modern rabbis who agree with his allegorical interpretation/opinion, not only contradict the New Testament Scriptures, but also those cherished literal hopes which lie within the core of ancient (true) Judaism, as noted in the above commentaries. We who believe, look forward to the new world and its new order, which Jesus the Messiah foretold! He Himself promised: “...Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28 KJV).

The Scripture foretells: “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it” (Micah 4:3-4 KJV).
It is also foretold that there will be a perfect one-world government, that the Messiah will be king over the whole world and that far-off nations will come once a year to pay homage to Him: “And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one....Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘HOLY TO THE LORD.’ And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them” (Zech. 14:9, 16-20 NASB).
We can say with confidence that we have a lot to look forward to, to say the least. All of us who are believers, will soon be in a Shangri-La of perfect peace. A paradise so unimaginable, with a harmony of man and nature so fantastic that we may only dream and read about it. That is, until it actually arrives, which will not be long!
The time key is that there is a biblical history of 7000 years marked off—the kingdom lasts 1000 years and we are nearing the end of 6000 years; thus soon (no one knows the day or hour), things will start happening! This author believes most probably before another forty years have passed!
Though the Scriptures teach that no one may know the exact time, they do not negate our hope and Scriptural speculation. Jesus taught: “And when these things begin to come to pass [end time signs], then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28 KJV; [ ] mine).

Zechariah 14:9 NASB

ANCIENT RABBINICAL COMMENTARY

“Another interpretation of ‘There was none of them’ (Ps. cxxxix. 16) is that it means the seventh day, for this world is to last 6,000 years; 2,000 years....It was waste and desolate; 2,000 years under the Law; 2,000 years under the Messiah. And because our sins are increased, they are prolonged. As they are prolonged, and as we make one day a Sabbatic year, so will God in the latter days make one day a Sabbatic year, which is 1,000 years, and it is said, ‘But it shall be one day, which shall be known to the Lord,’ this is the seventh day.”⁴⁸

NEW TESTAMENT RECORDED 96 AD

“Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

Near the end of paradise, which lasts 1000 years (Rev. 20:4-6), at the end of the last year, there will be one final attempt at battle. Apparently it will be instigated by the descendants of Gog (Rev. 20:8); those who were born into the kingdom through mortals who had survived the Tribulation, but who secretly, within their hearts, rejected the Messiah. The Messiah will quickly halt this attempted rebellion, as He allows these people to make themselves known for the first time, as they chose to reject the truth. Even in a perfect environment, they will finally illustrate that positive surroundings do not heal man’s fallen heart of sin—only Jesus does, and He only does it when invited personally to do so. He loves us beyond all, but will never violate our free will.

ANTI-PREMILLENNIAL (MESSIANIC KINGDOM) TEACHERS WOULD RATHER YOU NOT KNOW ABOUT
THE PARADISE OF JESUS, BECAUSE THEY ARE
JEALOUS, OR UNBELIEVERS THEMSELVES!

JESUS TAUGHT THE APOSTLES AS WELL AS US, THROUGH PRAYERS AND PROMISES, THAT THERE WILL BE AN EARTHLY MESSIANIC KINGDOM

TRUE BIBLE BELIEVING CHRISTIANS HOLD FIRM
TO GOD’S PRECIOUS PROMISE OF THE MILLENNIAL
KINGDOM, FOR OURSELVES AND THE BELIEVING JEW

LINDSEY REMINDS US THAT MOST MINISTERS DENY THE LITERAL TRUTH OF THE KINGDOM, EVEN THOUGH THE PROPHECIES OF JESUS’ FIRST COMING WERE LITERAL

Hal Lindsey elaborates in his book, The Late Great Planet Earth...

¹ Jesus comforted His disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for 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 to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3 NASB).

² While there are liberal theologians who deny this, we need only to direct them to Paul’s New Testament words: “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised your faith is vain....Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (I Cor. 15:12-19 KJV). Thus we all long in our hearts, those of us who believe, for our new resurrection bodies promised to us in the New Testament book of Romans: “For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us—bodies that will never be sick again and will never die. We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we do not yet have—for a man who already has something doesn’t need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn’t happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently” (Rom. 8:22-24 The Living Bible).

³ See our comparison list of prophecies and rabbinical commentary in chapter 1, which proves that in the “original sin,” we lost much that we will regain. Some rabbis state that this teaching is unique to the New Testament, but it is not, as we proved in our chapter 1.

⁴ Yahuda Manuscript 1.

⁵ Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, p. 202.

⁶ Ibid, p. 219.

⁷ Ibid, p. 206. While Maimonides lived in the thirteenth century, he originated this modern rabbinical view.

⁸ Except for some very rare cases in which doctors have been able to revive dead people through cardiac resuscitation. Some of these people, who were clearly dead and had no heartbeat or brain activity for a number of minutes, reported startling stories of seeing Jesus or experiencing unbelievable Hell. For a fuller explanation on the subject of near death experiences, correctly called temporary death experiences, see our appendix 2, “Life After Death Experiences That People Have Lived to Tell About.” In this appendix, we quote doctors who published interviews with their patients who experienced this. One doctor even retrieved first-hand testimony from a patient on the operating table.

⁹ That he believed in Jesus is indicated clearly by verse 42. The designation of Jesus as “Lord” is evidence of this.

¹⁰ The New Scofield Reference Bible.

¹¹ If you want to receive Jesus’ eternal gift of forgiveness, say a simple prayer to Him. Admit your wrongs and accept His death in your place for all the wrongs you have and will perpetrate, inviting Him into your heart (Rev. 3:20; Rom. 10:9). You will then be removed from eternal judgment and be given eternal life. Paul tells us in the New Testament that by believing He arose from the dead and confessing Him, we will be saved. In his very words: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9 KJV). See Philip Moore, Eternal Security for True Believers. This mention of good and evil (in John 5:28-29) is, in the original language, preceeded by the—the good, the evil; singular. The only truly evil thing a person can do is to reject the Messiah who died for all their evil. The only truly good thing a person can do is to receive the Messiah’s death in their place as payment for all of their evils.

¹² A Time magazine article entitled “Is Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls?” illustrates certain tasks the Messiah was to accomplish and compares them with the text of the Dead Sea Scrolls and portions of Jesus’ New Testament record. The article portrays Luke 7:20-23 beside the recently released Dead Sea Scroll text 4Q521, which reads: “Surely the Lord shall visit the pious and shall call the righteous by name. His spirit shall hover over the poor; by his strength he shall renew the faithful. He shall glorify the pious upon the throne of the eternal kingdom. He shall release the captives, restore sight to the blind, make straight those who are bent double...He shall heal the wounded, resurrect the dead, preach glad tidings to the poor.” An interesting portion of the article, connecting Jesus to the Jewish Messiah’s resurrecting role, mentions: “...the scrolls do speak of the coming Jewish Messiah....Two of the fragments made newly available in the Review’s photo books are especially striking....the most important phrases are clear. Apparently referring to the coming Messiah, the text declares that he will ‘heal the wounded, resurrect the dead [and] preach glad tidings to the poor.’ The passage closely resembles the words of Jesus in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4)....[James] Tabor [of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte] notes that Jesus spoke virtually the same words about resurrection in Luke 7 when John the Baptist asked for proof that he was the Messiah. This, Tabor says, is the closest parallel yet found between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the recorded words of Jesus.” Richard N. Ostling, contributor, “Is Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls?” Time, © Sept. 21, 1992, reprinted by permission. [ ] mine.

¹³ Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, p. 324. Though other texts purported to be his seem to look forward to the resurrection, this one is for sure and clearly against a Messianic resurrection. It denies the Messiah would bring about this resurrection supernaturally, as Judaism historically taught and maintained!

¹⁴ Deuteronomy 28:58, 61; 29:20-21, 27; 30:10; 31:24, 26; Joshua 1:8; 8:31, 34; 23:6; II Kings 14:6; 22:8, 11; II Chronicles 17:9; 34:15; Nehemiah 8:1, 3, 8, 18; 9:3 and; Galatians 3:10.

¹⁵ Reverend Jeff Williams, former pastor of Northside Park Baptist Church in Atlanta, is truly an incredible Christian. He was the one who prayed with me that the man who killed my father would be apprehended. After a year of no clues, within a week of our prayer together, the murderer, through a set of miraculous circumstances, was caught, and is still behind bars today—nineteen years later. This episode with Jeff helped me to answer the many people who asked me, “Have you ever seen God do a miracle in your life? Has God ever answered a prayer?” Jeff presently ministers at Lebanon Community Fellowship in Lebanon, VA, USA. Also, I will never forget my schoolteacher, Dr. Margie Parko, who once wrote me when I was only fifteen, saying, “I pray to God every night that things will work out for you.” Shortly thereafter, I became a Christian, and so far, everything has worked out (Romans 8:28). By praying for others you edify yourself and bless those for whom you pray.

¹⁶ This is the literal translation, singular, of Jesus’ words recorded in the Gospel of John (I John 5:29).

¹⁷ Ibid.

¹⁸ The book of life is mentioned in Philippians 4:3, and Revelation 3:5; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 22:19, as the book containing the names of all who are redeemed. The book of life is also mentioned in Jewish holidays, ceremonies and throughout the ancient rabbinical writings. In Hebrew, it is known as Sefer Hayyim. We documented earlier that it was mentioned in the Birkat ha Minim, a curse used to excommunicate Jewish Christians of the first and second centuries from their synagogues. The BHM was a curse primarily due to the phrase, “May they (Jewish-Christians) be erased from the book of life.” G. Alon, The Jews in Their Land in the Talmudic Age, p. 289.

¹⁹ Those who were miscarriages or purposely killed by abortion and never given a name by their parents, have a name given by God.

²⁰ See our Vol. II, chapter 13, “Heaven and Abortion,” on the eternal future existence of aborted children.

²¹ This age varies with the intelligence of the person and their ability to distinguish good from evil. We should all ask and pray with our children to receive Jesus as soon as our children are able to understand! A man named Bill Gothard told me, “Draw a picture of a heart and a door within it, and tell the child, open the door and invite Jesus in to forgive.” This is known as a childhood salvation and is, no doubt, wise. For in the course of time, existential philosophy, socialism, evolution, atheism and all the “isms” can blind people.

²² To get this mark enabling you to buy and sell or even hold a job, you will have to worship or swear allegiance to the Antichrist, who is Satan in the flesh. It is also highly probable that this mark may be accompanied by a computer chip similar to those that are in today’s Smart Cards, placed under the skin of your hand, or your forehead (if you are an amputee), as a means of credit, banking and general identification.

²³ See the evidence of the reality of Hell, as taught within ancient Judaism, which is shunned by most modern rabbis! Ancient Jews believed and wrote about Hell as Gehenna, though there are many within the modern rabbinical community who deny there ever was a theology of Hell within Judaism. See Philip Moore, Nightmare of the Apocalypse, Appendix 2, “The Reality of the Ancient Jewish Acknowledgment of Hell, Covered Up Until Now.” This section also gives critical information on Rambam discouraging the reading of the end time Midrashim (Jewish commentaries) and his “proofs” that Jesus is not the Messiah. He once wrote: “You know that the Christians falsely ascribe marvelous powers to Jesus the Nazarene, may his bones be ground to dust. We should not be convinced by their reality that Jesus is the Messiah for we can bring a 1,000 proofs from scripture that he is not.” This rabbi’s statement is, of course, untrue, as we have shown in the scriptural comparison charts on the Jewish view of the Messiah in Chapter 5. Rambam also attempted to apply the prophecies of the Antichrist (the yet to come false Messiah) in Daniel, to Jesus (see Abraham Halkin, trans., Crisis and Leadership: Epistles of Maimonides, New York: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1985), which is the epitome of absurdity.

²⁴ Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, p. 217.

²⁵ These words have puzzled many people. Hal Lindsey speculates on the meaning of this verse when he comments on a similar passage written by John in the book of Revelation. Hal says: “I believe this passage describes the initial stages of an all-out nuclear war. ‘Seismos’ (seismos) in the Greek does not necessarily mean an earthquake, as it is usually translated. It can also mean a terrible shaking of the earth by forces not known to the 1st century writer who witnessed it. As a result of this violent shaking on the earth, the sun becomes black like sack cloth and the moon becomes red like blood. This sounds remarkably like the ‘nuclear winter’ scenarios that scientists predict will follow a thermo-nuclear war. The debris that is blasted into the atmosphere will blot out a great deal of light and heat from the sun and moon. Note that John predicts that multiple stars fall out of the sky to earth. To a 1st century man, this would appear like falling stars. But he could have well been describing multiple independently targeted warheads blazing through the atmosphere as they streak toward their targets. The clincher is ‘the sky was rolled up like a scroll.’ In a thermonuclear blast, the atmosphere is violently pushed back upon itself as a great vacuum is created. Then it rushes back into the vacuum with almost equal force. The double violent movement of the atmosphere is one of the great destructive parts of the bomb’s explosion.” Hal Lindsey, The Final Battle, pp. 248-249. This prophecy could also be literally interpreted as a divine judgment.

²⁶ Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Rabbinic Perspectives on the New Testament. Lampeter, Dyfed, Wales, UK: The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd., © 1990, p. 2, used by permission.

²⁷ Ibid, p. 1.

²⁸ Augustine, of the fourth century, purposely altered the early New Testament and biblical teachings, which were so precious to believers. Incredibly, many of them were only rediscovered recently, thanks to modern reasonable sound Bible scholarship in an absence of ecumenical persecution! Israel My Glory quotes Augustine on this issue, which threw prophetic teachings into the Dark Ages for centuries. We have every right to ask, “Why did Augustine alter the early true New Testament interpretation of resurrection, and the 1000-year promise of a literal kingdom?” Hal Lindsey comments on this question in his 1983 publication, The Rapture: Truth or Consequences. Hal correctly notes: “...Augustine (A.D. 354-430) dealt the doctrine of prophecy the most damaging blow of anyone in history. He plunged the study of prophecy into darkness for almost 1,400 years by systematically teaching that prophecy could not be interpreted literally. Augustine held to a literal, grammatical and historical interpretation of every other field of Bible doctrine, but taught that prophecy must be interpreted allegorically. He did this in order to be able to sustain his views....He taught that Jews had no more purpose in God’s plan; that they would never be reborn as a nation.” Hal Lindsey, The Rapture: Truth or Consequences, p. 167. I, along with millions of other true Christians, support Israel, as God would have it. So much for Augustine’s false teachings. Israel has become a nation and we are very happy about it! See our chapter 18, “Israel—Is Real.”

²⁹ Hal Lindsey, The Rapture: Truth or Consequences, pp. 159-160. The diagram is Hal Lindsey’s. Ibid, p. 161, courtesy of Bantam Books.

³⁰ Hal Lindsey, The Rapture: Truth or Consequences, pp. 144-146.

³¹ Yahuda Manuscript 9.2 151. Read “ye” as “the.”

³² Risto Santala, The Messiah in the New Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings, p. cover flap.

³³ Yahuda Manuscript 9.2, fol. 138r, 6 fol. 12.

³⁴ Frank E. Manuel, The Religion of Isaac Newton, p. 100. Manuel’s source was Yahuda Manuscript 9.2, fol. 138r, 6 fol. 12. [ ] mine.

³⁵ See our Vol. II, chapter 29, “The Garden of Eden, Immortality and Today—Will We Stop Aging?”

³⁶ Those of you reading this, who are Jews, and have been taught that original sin is not originally Jewish, see our comparison page in our chapter 1, where we show the parallels between the ancient rabbinical view and that of the New Testament. You will see that ancient Judaism agrees with the New Testament regarding original sin. Modernists deny Judaism ever taught such a doctrine! There is really no difference, though some would like you to think there is, and will tell you so in order to keep you away from a Messiah who redeems from sin—Jesus!

³⁷ The very words God spoke to Adam, recorded by Moses in Genesis, were: “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, ‘Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:17-19 KJV).

³⁸ For example, the finest candies, jams and novelties, which are forbidden for the worker to eat and are not available in these countries, are sold to the West. It was recently documented on a national news show that the workers in China’s military factories only receive twenty cents an hour. The seemingly harmless products, such as stuffed toys and dolls, end up on the shelves of stores like Kmart, here in the West, at a high profit margin. China, in turn, uses the funds to enhance their military for an aspired battle that will be to all of our detriment!

³⁹ This was especially true of the Jewish people in Russia, who until recently, were forced to produce food in factories so the state could sell it to the West. It would seem, in this case, that God’s people (the Russian Jews) were exploited by the capitalistic principle of the communist elite. This will totally halt in the millennium when Jesus returns, though the tide seems to be beginning to turn at the moment. My favorite President, Ronald Reagan, might have spoken a bit prematurely (as far as the freedom we will have in the millennium) when he said: “I’ve always maintained that the struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets; by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one. At root, it is a test of moral will and faith. I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last...pages, even now, are being written. I believe this because the source of our strength and the quest for human freedom is not material, but spiritual, and because it knows no limitation. It must testify and ultimately triumph over those who would enslave their fellow man. For in the words of Isaiah: ‘He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might; he increases strength that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary.’ ” These words were spoken to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, FL, March 8, 1983, by President Reagan. In the early 1990’s, this biblical dream was partially realized in the present demise of communism in Russia. For the moment, the people are free, though we do not know how long this will last. However, as we know, in the millennium, the Bible has promised all people will be free for all time in dignity and freedom to serve God.

⁴⁰ The New Scofield Reference Bible.

⁴¹ Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, p. 231.

⁴² Ibid, p. 316.

⁴³ Ibid, pp. 231-232. Patai’s source was the Jerusalem Talmud.

⁴⁴ Ibid, pp. 231-232, 259.

⁴⁵ Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, p. 325.

⁴⁶ Rambam was a rabbi who died in 1204, and is still considered a giant within rabbinic circles. Why? I do not know! His opinions seem blasphemous when compared to the earlier literal rabbinic commentaries. Concerning Rambam and certain modern rabbis who deny these wonderful promises, claiming they are “allegory,” this author believes the words of Newton, the world’s most famous scientist, are appropriate. He wrote: “He that without better grounds then his private opinion or the opinion of any human authority whatsoever shall turn scripture from the plain meaning to an Allegory or to any other less naturall sense declares thereby that he reposes more trust in his own imaginations or in that human authority then in the Scripture (and by consequence that he is no true beleever). And therefore the opinion of such men how numerous soever they be, is not to be regarded.” Frank E. Manuel, The Religion of Isaac Newton, p. 118. Manuel’s source was Yahuda Manuscript 1. Spelling per original text quoted.

⁴⁷ Courtesy of Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, from the book Dispensational Truth. Available through Rev. Clarence Larkin, Est., POB 334 Glenside, PA, USA 19038.

⁴⁸ Rev. B. Pick, Ph.D., Old Testament Passages Messianically Applied by the Ancient Synagogue, published in the compilation Hebraica, A Quarterly Journal in the Interests of Semitic Study, Vol. IV, pp. 248-249.

⁴⁹ Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, p. 60.

⁵⁰ Ibid, p. 64.

⁵¹ Believers in Jesus as Messiah.

⁵² One named Homer p. Goumenis in Atlanta, GA.

⁵³ Israel My Glory, a Jewish-Christian magazine, notes that the Christian writer, Harnack: “...claimed that in their eschatology the early Christians preserved the Jewish hopes for the future presented in ancient Jewish literature.” Dr. Renald E. Showers, “A Description and Early History of Millennial Views,” Israel My Glory, June-Oct. 1986, used by permission. The same magazine reminds us, using Harnack as its authority, that: “As early as 170 A.D. a church group (known as the Alogi) in Asia Minor rejected the prophetic writings from which the premillennial view was derived. This group ‘denounced the Apocalypse of John as a book of fables’....Because of the great influence of the Alexandrian scholars, most of the Greek Church followed their lead in rejecting Premillennialism. Concerning this rejection of the premillennial views in the East, Harnack wrote: ‘It was the Alexandrian theology that superseded them; that is to say, Neo-Platonic mysticism triumphed over the early Christian hope of the future’....Harnack related the following information concerning the controversy between Dionysius and Nepos: ‘During this controversy Dionysius became convinced that the victory of mystical theology over ‘Jewish’ Chiliasm would never be secure so long as the Apocalypse of John passed for an apostolic writing and kept its place among the homologoumena of the canon. He accordingly raised the question of the apostolic origin of the Apocalypses and by reviving old difficulties, with ingenious arguments of his own, he carried his point.’ Dionysius so prejudiced the Greek Church against the Book of Revelation and its canonicity that during the fourth century that church removed it from its canon of Scripture, ‘and thus the troublesome foundation on which Chiliasm might have continued to build was got rid of.’ The Greek Church kept the Book of Revelation out of its canon for several centuries, ‘and consequently Chiliasm remained in its grave.’ The Greek Church restored the book to its canon late in the Middle Ages, but by that time the damage to the premillennial view could not be remedied.” Ibid. It goes without saying that even though these ecumenical churches have greatly persecuted us in the past, we are proud to be free premillennial evangelical believers today, just as our forefathers were, who lived in the generation of Jesus’ life on Earth. We are proud of our biblical faith in which we love the Jew. This faith has proven superior and true to Jesus’ teachings over all other “Christian” faiths that have gone against the wishes of Jesus—even to the point of attempting to relegate portions of the Scripture to fables!

⁵⁴ Hal Lindsey, There’s A New World Coming, p. 267.