Resurrections Before the Cross
Lesson 5, 4th Quarter October 22-28, 2022
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Sabbath Afternoon - October 22
Memory Text:
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? KJV — John 11:25, 26
“When they reached the house, Elisha went into the room where the dead child lay, “and shut the door upon the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. Then he went up and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. Then he got up again, and walked once to and fro in the house, and went up, and stretched himself upon him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.” RSV. So was the faith of this woman rewarded. Christ, the great Life-giver, restored her son to her. SS 129.2
“In like manner will His faithful ones be rewarded when, at His coming, the grave is robbed of the victory it has claimed. Then will He restore to His servants the children that have been taken from them by death.” SS 129.3
Sunday - October 23
The Resurrection of Moses
Jude 9, Luke 9:28-36
When is the evidence for the bodily resurrection of Moses?
“Moses passed through death, but Michael came down and gave him life before his body had experienced decay. Satan tried to hold the body, claiming it as his, but Michael resurrected Moses and took him to heaven. Satan railed bitterly against God, denouncing Him as unjust in permitting his prey to be taken from him. But Christ did not rebuke His adversary, though it was through Satan’s temptation that the servant of God had fallen. He meekly referred him to His Father, saying, “The Lord rebuke you!” Jude 9. SH 59.1
“Jesus had told His disciples that there were some standing with Him who would not taste of death till they saw the kingdom of God come with power. At the transfiguration this promise was fulfilled. The face of Jesus was changed there, shining like the sun. His clothing was white and glistening. Moses was there to represent those who will be raised from the dead at the second coming of Jesus. And Elijah, who was translated without seeing death, represented those who will be changed to immortality at Christs return and will be translated to heaven without seeing death. With astonishment and fear the disciples saw the excellent majesty of Jesus and the cloud that overshadowed them, and they heard the voice of God in terrifying majesty, saying, ‘his is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’” SH 59.2
If Moses represents the general resurrection, who, then, would represent the mixed, or special resurrection of Daniel 12:2? We have the one of Matthew 27:52, 53. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” The saints who had part in this resurrection were gathered from all ages. Some who, perhaps, had lived at the very time Christ was preaching, and were acquainted with Him and His work, were witnesses to His resurrection. Read Early Writings, page 184; Desire of Ages, page 786.
There is still another reason why Matthew 27:52, is a type of this mixed resurrection. Those who were resurrected with Christ witnessed of the deity of Christ to the very ones who crucified Him. Speaking of this mixed resurrection, Daniel says: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Then there will be some righteous included who lived and witnessed the crucifixion; also those who crucified Him, and pierced Him, for, (Revelation 1:7) “Behold, He cometh with clouds: And every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him.” Therefore, the resurrection which witnessed of the power of God to these murderers of His Son, typified the just who are raised in the mixed (special) resurrection.
Monday - October 24
Two Old testament Resurrections
1 Kings 17:8-24, 2 Kings 4:18-37
What similarities and differences do you see in these two resurrections?
“The widow of Zarephath shared her morsel with Elijah, and in return her life and that of her son were preserved. And to all who, in time of trial and want, give sympathy and assistance to others more needy, God has promised great blessing. He has not changed. His power is no less now than in the days of Elijah. No less sure now than when spoken by our Saviour is the promise, “He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.” Matthew 10:41.” PK 131.5
“So was the faith of this woman rewarded. Christ, the great Life-giver, restored her son to her. In like manner will His faithful ones be rewarded, when, at His coming, death loses its sting and the grave is robbed of the victory it has claimed. Then will He restore to His servants the children that have been taken from them by death...” PK 239.3
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:14-18.
Here we see that those who come up in the first resurrection shall not only live again, but shall die no more.
Tuesday - October 25
The Son of the Widow of Nain
Luke 7:11-17
What important difference is there between what happened in this resurrection and in the ones we looked at yesterday?
“The Saviour raised the dead to life. One of these was the widow's son at Nain. The people were carrying him to the grave, when they met Jesus. He took the young man by the hand, lifted him up, and gave him alive to his mother. Then the company went back to their homes with shouts of rejoicing and praise to God.—The Story of Jesus, 79 (1896).” DG 67.1
“Jesus knows the burden of every mother's heart. He who had a mother that struggled with poverty and privation sympathizes with every mother in her labors. He who made a long journey in order to relieve the anxious heart of a Canaanite woman will do as much for the mothers of today. He who gave back to the widow of Nain her only son, and who in His agony upon the cross remembered His own mother, is touched today by the mother's sorrow. In every grief and every need He will give comfort and help.” DA 512.2
Gen. 2:7 – “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
In this scripture we are told that God formed man out of the dust of the ground. Then the breath of life was breathed into his nostrils, and thus he became a living soul, that the breath and the body together are what make the soul. The process of development is the same as is the process of ice making – low temperature and water make ice just as the body and the breath make the soul. Hence when the breath leaves the body, man no longer is a living soul – no, no more than the ice is ice after it goes back to water. Man obviously has no existing soul after the breath leaves his body, for the body and the breath together make the soul.
Wednesday - October 26
Jairus’s Daughter
Mark 5:21-24, 35-43
What can we learn about death from Christ’s words “The child is not dead, but sleeping”?
“Jairus pressed closer to the Saviour, and together they hurried to the ruler's home. Already the hired mourners and flute players were there, filling the air with their clamor. The presence of the crowd, and the tumult jarred upon the spirit of Jesus. He tried to silence them, saying, “Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.” They were indignant at the words of the Stranger. They had seen the child in the embrace of death, and they laughed Him to scorn. Requiring them all to leave the house, Jesus took with Him the father and mother of the maiden, and the three disciples, Peter, James, and John, and together they entered the chamber of death. DA 343.1
“Jesus approached the bedside, and, taking the child's hand in His own, He pronounced softly, in the familiar language of her home, the words, “Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.” DA 343.2
“Instantly a tremor passed through the unconscious form. The pulses of life beat again. The lips unclosed with a smile. The eyes opened widely as if from sleep, and the maiden gazed with wonder on the group beside her. She arose, and her parents clasped her in their arms, and wept for joy.” DA 343.3
Here [Ezekiel 37:1-10] we learn that the process of resurrection is the same as the process of creation: first the frame of the man, then the organism, the flesh, the skin, and last the breath, and again he becomes a living soul. Man’s soul or spirit, you see, is not called down from heaven, or up from hell. In fact, not a soul at all, but wind from the four corners of the earth fills his lungs at the command of God, and thus he again becomes a living soul. Then, too, the material of which man was composed originally, of the same shall he be made again, for bone to bone come together. When he is thus re-created or resurrected, though, he must retain the knowledge and memory which he had at his death, otherwise the man that is raised would not be the man that died, and if such be not his case, then the experience gained in this life would be lost.
Thursday - October 27
Lazarus
John 11:1-44
In what sense was Jesus “glorified” by the sickness and death of Lazarus?
“‘And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.’” His voice, clear and penetrating, pierces the ear of the dead. As He speaks, divinity flashes through humanity. In His face, which is lighted up by the glory of God, the people see the assurance of His power. Every eye is fastened on the entrance to the cave. Every ear is bent to catch the slightest sound. With intense and painful interest all wait for the test of Christ's divinity, the evidence that is to substantiate His claim to be the Son of God, or to extinguish the hope forever. DA 536.2
“There is a stir in the silent tomb, and he who was dead stands at the door of the sepulcher. His movements are impeded by the graveclothes in which he was laid away, and Christ says to the astonished spectators, “Loose him, and let him go.” Again they are shown that the human worker is to co-operate with God. Humanity is to work for humanity. Lazarus is set free, and stands before the company, not as one emaciated from disease, and with feeble, tottering limbs, but as a man in the prime of life, and in the vigor of a noble manhood. His eyes beam with intelligence and with love for his Saviour. He casts himself in adoration at the feet of Jesus. DA 536.3
“The beholders are at first speechless with amazement. Then there follows an inexpressible scene of rejoicing and thanksgiving. The sisters receive their brother back to life as the gift of God, and with joyful tears they brokenly express their thanks to the Saviour. But while brother, sisters, and friends are rejoicing in this reunion, Jesus withdraws from the scene. When they look for the Life-giver, He is not to be found.” DA 536.4
“By the raising of Lazarus, many were led to believe in Jesus. It was God's plan that Lazarus should die and be laid in the tomb before the Saviour should arrive. The raising of Lazarus was Christ's crowning miracle, and because of it many glorified God.—Manuscript Releases 21:111 (1892).” DG 60.2
What shall man be like if he lives again? – Certainly not less than he was in the beginning for all that was lost is to be restored. Neither is he to be improved upon, for everything the Lord made, He Himself pronounced “very good.” Gen. 1:31. And so if a man lives again, he shall be exactly what Adam was before he sinned.
Friday - October 28
Further Study
Rom. 8:10, 11 – “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
Those who die with the Spirit of Christ in them, are the ones who come up in the resurrection of the just. But those in whom the Spirit of Christ does not dwell are to come up in the resurrection of the unjust, a thousand years after the resurrection of the just.
Rev. 20:6 – “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”
If these verses mean what they say concerning the righteous, then concerning the wicked they actually say:
If we accept God’s Word as Inspiration gives It to us, and if we are doers of His Word, we shall live again, and be the perfect image of God as were Adam and Eve. We shall indeed return to the Garden of Eden. The garden, too, shall again flourish as before, and the tree of life shall bear its fruit every month. And so, you see, man shall thus live again, and thus live forever.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” Rev. 21:4-7.
“But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” 1 Cor. 13:10-13.