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From Eliyahu

 

In my view, in reality there is no “Old Testament” and “New Testament.” That division is an artificial construct imposed on Bible translations several hundred years after the last book of Scripture was written. There is only one continuous word of the One God progressively revealed in all of the Scriptures. I agree with the apostle Paul who said: “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

Having said that, I also know that for many people the “New Testament” in some sense supersedes Scripture that came before. To address that, for the purposes of communication, I will be using the “Old Testament” and “New Testament” labels in this message.

I want to talk about the resurrection from the dead. Some believers think of resurrection as a New Testament doctrine. We think of Yeshua saying, “I am the resurrection and the life.” We think of the empty tomb, Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 15, and the promise that the dead in Messiah will rise.

All of that is true and glorious. But resurrection did not begin in the New Testament.

The hope of resurrection was already present in the Hebrew Scriptures. It was not always stated as fully as it would later be through Messiah and the apostles, but it was there. Like many great truths in Scripture, it began as a seed, then grew clearer as YHWH revealed more of His plan.

Resurrection is not an afterthought. It belongs to the Bible’s larger story from the beginning: creation, death, covenant, exile, restoration, Kingdom, and the final triumph of YHWH over every enemy. And death is definitely an enemy.

The Hebrew Scriptures begin with life.

YHWH forms man from the dust of the ground and breathes into him the breath of life. Man becomes a living soul. Life is not an accident. It is a gift from the Creator.
But sin brings death into the human story. Adam is told: “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19

That statement is sobering. Man was made from the dust, and because of sin he returns to the dust. But even in the earliest chapters of Scripture, death is not given the final victory. YHWH promises that the seed of the woman will crush the serpent’s head. The wound caused by the serpent will not be the end of the story. The serpent will be judged. The curse will not stand forever.

Genesis does not immediately give us every detail of resurrection. But it gives us the foundation for it: YHWH is the Creator of life, death entered through sin, and YHWH has promised victory over the serpent. If YHWH created man from the dust once, then He is able to raise man from the dust again.

One of the oldest and most powerful statements of resurrection hope appears in Job. Job loses almost everything. He is afflicted, misunderstood, accused, and brought near to death. His body is wasting away. Yet in the middle of suffering, he says:

“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.
In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
After my skin is destroyed,
then I will see God in my flesh,
whom I, even I, will see on my side.
My eyes will see, and not as a stranger.”
Job 19:25–27

This is not a vague hope that Job’s memory will live on. Job says his Redeemer lives. He says that in his flesh he will see God. He says, “My eyes will see.” Job does not know all that we now know through Messiah, but he knows this: death will not have the final word over the righteous. His is confident that through his Redeemer he will live again. That is resurrection hope.

The Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly declare that YHWH has power over death itself. Hannah says: “YHWH kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and brings up.” 1 Samuel 2:6

Moses quotes YHWH: “See now that I myself am He. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.” Deuteronomy 32:39

These passages do not give a full resurrection timeline. But they tell us who YHWH is. He is not merely the God of life before death. He is God over death and beyond death. If YHWH can bring down to Sheol and bring up, then resurrection is not foreign to Old Testament faith. It is built into the confession of who YHWH is.

The Psalms also contain resurrection hope. Psalm 16 says: “For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.” Psalm 16:10

David trusted YHWH not to abandon him to Sheol. But this verse also points forward beyond David. The apostles later apply it to the resurrection of Yeshua, because David died and saw corruption, but Messiah did not. So Psalm 16 becomes one of the great bridges between the Hebrew Scriptures and the resurrection of Messiah.

Psalm 49 also looks beyond death: “But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” Psalm 49:15

The psalmist knows that wealth cannot save a man from death. The rich and the poor alike die. But YHWH can redeem from the power of Sheol. Again, the hope is not yet explained as fully as it later will be. But the seed is there: YHWH can redeem His people from the grave.

 

 

Isaiah looks toward a day when YHWH will swallow up death forever: “He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord YHWH will wipe away tears from off all faces.” Isaiah 25:8

That is one of the greatest promises in the prophets. YHWH will not merely comfort people while death continues forever. He will swallow up death itself. Paul later echoes this promise when he writes, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” He was not inventing a new doctrine. He was showing that the resurrection of Messiah and the resurrection of the faithful fulfill the hope already spoken by the prophets.

Ezekiel prophesies about national restoration, the regathering of Israel, and the restoration of hope after exile. But the imagery is resurrection imagery. YHWH opens graves. He brings His people up. He gives breath. He causes the dead to live. The prophets do not separate the restoration of Israel from the power of resurrection. The return of the remnant, the giving of the Spirit, restoration to the Land, all lead to the hope of life from the dead. YHWH reverses death.

Then we come to Daniel 12:2: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

 

Here the resurrection is tied directly to the time of the end. Daniel 12 speaks of a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. Michael stands up. Daniel’s people are delivered, everyone found written in the book. Then those who sleep in the dust awake. Some awake to everlasting life. Some awake to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel then adds:

“Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:3

Resurrection is the hope of the wise. The faithful are not merely delivered from trouble. They shine. Those who turn many to righteousness shine like the stars forever and ever. So in Daniel, resurrection belongs to the final crisis, the deliverance of the holy people, the book of life, the wisdom of the righteous, and the end of the age.

This is why resurrection is essential to the biblical story.

Without resurrection, death wins over the body.

Without resurrection, the martyrs are not publicly vindicated.

Without resurrection, the promises to the faithful are reduced to memory or metaphor.

Without resurrection, the Kingdom is incomplete.

The New Testament does not replace this hope. It reveals its center.

The center is Yeshua the Messiah.

He is the One who was cut off and yet lives. He is the firstfruits of those who sleep. He is the resurrection and the life. His resurrection is not merely a miracle for Himself. It is the beginning of the promised resurrection harvest. Because He lives, the hope of Job, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and all the faithful is secure.

All of this is vitally important in our time. We live in a world increasingly obsessed with defeating death by human means. Some hope for biological immortality. Some hope for digital consciousness. Some hope for medical breakthroughs, genetic manipulation, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, or other tools that may extend life far beyond what previous generations imagined.

I am not against medicine. Healing is a mercy. Longer life can be a blessing. But no technology can provide the resurrection promised by YHWH. Man may try to delay death. YHWH raises the dead. That is a very different hope.

The biblical hope is not that we preserve ourselves forever in the present fallen order. The biblical hope is that YHWH will judge evil, defeat death, vindicate the righteous, bring in His Kingdom and raise the dead,

That hope began to be offered long before the empty tomb was discovered.
The empty tomb revealed the One through whom it would all come.

The resurrection according to the Hebrew Scriptures is not a vague dream. YHWH, who created man from the dust, will not allow death to have the final word.

He will redeem from Sheol.

He will awaken those who sleep in the dust.

He will swallow up death forever.

He will vindicate the wise.

He will raise His people.

And through Messiah, He will bring the promise to its appointed fullness.

The world may offer many hopes. Some may be impressive. Some may even be useful for a season. But only YHWH gives resurrection.

And because of that, the faithful can stand in the face of death and say with Job:

“I know that my Redeemer lives.”

We all must face the problem of death. We don't like it, but it's real. Resurrection is the only real answer, and it's real, based on the promises of our loving Heavenly Father. Please join us tonight, May 24, 2026, 8 PM Central, at Tsiyon.Net, and other popular streaming platforms, for: The Blessed Hope. It's hard to imagine a more uplifting subject than this.

 

In His Name, Eliyahu 

 

PS - Tomorrow, May 25, at sundown, Shavuot/Pentecost begins. It commemorates the Covenant being given at Mount Sinai, and later, the Holy Spirit being released from the resurrected Messiah on high. We will commemorate Shavuot with special content throughout that evening and next day on Tsiyon Road Radio at Tsiyon.Org for your listening pleasure.

 

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