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From Moshiach.com (http://www.moshiach.com/)
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Moshiach.com Newsletter - Shmos
Moshiach.com Newsletter - Friday, 12/31/99 - Teves 22 5760
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Moshiach Classics
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ABOUT RESURRECTION
Based on a letter of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
QUESTION: At what stage will the Resurrection of the Dead
take place?
ANSWER: The Redemption will follow this sequence: the
building of the Beis HaMikdash, the Ingathering of the
Exiles, and - forty years later - the Resurrection of the
Dead. Until the era of the Resurrection, the world will
remain unchanged and the laws of Nature will continue their
course.
QUESTION: What of the people who will be alive at the time of the
Resurrection?
ANSWER: They too will die, and G-d will immediately resurrect
them, in
order that no trace whatever should remain of the defilement of
this world - so that there will be a new world, G-d's handiwork.
[This should not be a matter of concern: Imagine you see
everyone lying down for a moment -- and then 'wake up' completely
refreshed. Would you hesitate to do the same?]
This process is necessary due to the curse given to Adam
(Genesis 3:19), "For dust you are, and to dust shall you
return".
Only those who are extremely humble (and have spiritually
"returned to dust" through self-nullification), will be
able
to avoid this experience.
QUESTION: How will life be after the Resurrection?
In the World to Come (the World of the Resurrection) there
will be neither eating nor drinking, neither reproduction nor
commerce, neither envy nor hatred nor competition; rather, the
righteous will sit with crowns on their heads, and bask in the
radiance of the Divine Presence. They will not return to their
dust, but will live forever.
(The above questions and answers are a mere synopsis of an
extensive responsum by the Rebbe which is fully documented and
closely argued; see Teshuvos U'Biurim by the Lubavitcher Rebbe,
sec. 1142)
Remember: Moshiach is on His Way!
- The Lubavitcher Rebbe
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Comments and Analysis from Eddie:
Believers in Messiah
who study the roots of their faith in
Messiah MUST be rooted and grounded in the written Word of God.
Because something is stated as a "Jewish belief" does
NOT make it
Biblical. However, Biblical beliefs are Jewish. For this reason,
it
is VITAL that we have knowledge of the written Word of God and
the
discernment of the Holy Spirit to glean the "nuggets"
from Orthodox
Jewish teachings to help us understand the written Word of God
and
our rich Hebraic heritage in Messiah
The
Apostle Paul (Rav Shaul) was an Orthodox Jew from the
tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5). Paul was a Pharisee who
studied
under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Pharisees believed in the
resurrection of
the dead (Acts 23:6).
Moses
Maimonides (a respected Orthodox Jewish rabbi of the
Middle Ages period) put together 13 articles of Jewish faith. One
of
these articles of faith is a belief in the resurrection of the
dead.
Paul wrote
in I Corinthians 15:3, 13-15 that if Messiah was
not resurrected from the dead then our faith is in vain.
The above
article on belief in the resurrection of the dead
comes from the Chabad (Ultra-Orthodox Jews). Notice this belief
about
how things will be after the resurrection of the dead.
++++++++++++++++++++
QUESTION: How will life be after the Resurrection?
In the World to Come (the World of the Resurrection) there
will be neither eating nor drinking, neither reproduction nor
commerce, neither envy nor hatred nor competition; rather, the
righteous will sit with crowns on their heads, and bask in the
radiance of the Divine Presence. They will not return to their
dust, but will live forever.
++++++++++++++++++
This sounds very similar to what Yeshua/Jesus said
about the
resurrection of the dead in Mark 12:25:
"For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry,
nor are
given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in
heaven"
The crowns and basking in the Divine presence (Glory
of God) is
mentioned in the book of Revelation.
WHAT will happen to the people who are ALIVE at the
time of the resurrection of the dead? According to what the Chabad
teach, this is
what will happen:
++++++++++++++++++
QUESTION: What of the people who will be alive at the time of the
Resurrection?
ANSWER: They too will die, and G-d will immediately resurrect
them, in
order that no trace whatever should remain of the defilement of
this
world - so that there will be a new world, G-d's handiwork.
[This should not be a matter of concern: Imagine you see
everyone lying down for a moment -- and then 'wake up' completely
refreshed. Would you hesitate to do the same?]
This process is necessary due to the curse given to Adam
(Genesis 3:19), "For dust you are, and to dust shall you
return". Only
those who are extremely humble (and have spiritually
"returned to
dust" through self-nullification), will be able to avoid
this
experience.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This view is very similar to what
the Orthodox Jew Rav Shaul
wrote in I Corinthians 15:51:53
"Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep,
but we shall
all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last
trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must
put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
Finally, what is the current Chabad (Orthodox Jewish) view on
WHEN the resurrection of the dead will take place?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
QUESTION: At what stage will the Resurrection of the Dead
take place?
ANSWER: The Redemption will follow this sequence: the
building of the Beis HaMikdash, the Ingathering of the
Exiles, and - forty years later - the Resurrection of the
Dead. Until the era of the Resurrection, the world will
remain unchanged and the laws of Nature will continue their
course.
+++++++++++++++++++++
While the scriptures do NOT teach
that the resurrection of the
dead will take place 40 years after the rebuilding of the Temple
and
the Ingathering of the Exiles, we SHOULD take notice of the ORDER
of
these events:
#1) Rebuilding of the Temple
#2) Ingathering of the Exiles
#3) Resurrection of the Dead
The Ingathering of the Exiles is an Orthodox Jewish term
which means the house of Israel (the Ten Lost Tribes - former
members
of the Northern Kingdom who assimilated into Gentile culture and
will
be reunited and identify with the house of Judah in the end of
days
according to the Talmud - Halacha). Notice the belief is that the
Ingathering of the Exiles will happen BEFORE the resurrection of
the
dead. Since the Apostle Paul was an Orthodox Jew from the tribe
of
Benjamin did he teach this in his writings? The answer is YES! He
explains this in Romans 9-11.
In Romans 9:24 it is written:
"Even us, whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also
of the
Gentiles"
But who does Paul identify these "Gentiles" with? In
Romans 9:25-26 he writes:
"As he saith in Hosea, I will call them my people (ammi),
which
were not my people (lo ammi); and her beloved which is not
beloved
(Hosea 2:23). And it shall come to pass, that in the place where
it
was said unto them, 'Ye are not my people (lo ammi); there shall
they
be called the children of the living God (Hosea 1:10)
Paul links the "Gentiles" to God's prophesy of the
Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) as recorded in the book of
Hosea.
In Hosea 1:1-10, the Northern Kingdom was called:
#1) Jezreel (God will sow or God will scatter) (Hosea 1:4)
#2) Lo-Ruhamah (no mercy) (Hosea 1:6)
#3) Lo-Ammi (not my people) (Hosea 1:9)
Then, in Hosea 1:10, these people who were called "not
my people" will one day in the future be called "my
people" (Hosea
1:10).
This is what Paul quotes in Romans 9:24-26.
Peter also make this link in I Peter 2:5, 10. Here,
Peter links believers in Messiah (I Peter 2:5) with the judgment
of
the Northern Kingdom (I Peter 2:10) when he writes:
"Which in times past were not a people (lo ammi -- Hosea
1:9), but
are now the people of God (Hosea 1:10) which had not obtained
mercy
(lo ruhamah --- Hosea 1:6) but now have obtained mercy (Jeremiah
3:8,
12-13).
In Acts 26:6-7, the Apostle Paul preached the
"Ingathering of the Exiles" or the restoration and
redemption of both
houses of Israel.
In Romans 11, Paul speaks of branches that were
broken. In Jeremiah 11:16-17, these branches are the house of
Israel
(Ephraim) and the house of Judah (Judah). In Romans 11, Paul
explains
the "mystery" of the restoration of the branches that
were broken
(the ingathering of the Exiles) into one olive tree (Ezekiel
37:15-28). And WHEN this happens, what did Paul say would happen
FOLLOWING the Ingathering of the Exiles? Yes, the resurrection of
the
dead. In Romans 11:11-12, 15 it is written:
"I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God
forbid:
but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles
(the assimilated and engrafted house of Israel ... Hosea 1 ...
Romans
9:24-26) for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them
be
the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches
of
the Gentiles (the assimilated and engrafted house of Israel ...
Hosea
1 ... Romans 9:24-26) how much more their fullness (the
Ingathering
of the Exiles and both houses becoming one in the Olive Tree in
Messiah) ... For if the casting away of them be the reconciling
of
the world (those that were not my people (Hosea 1:9) became my
people
(Hosea 1:10 - I Peter 2:10), what shall be receiving of them be,
but
life from the dead?
Notice what Paul
says is the order of these things:
#1) The Ingathering of the Exiles
#2) The resurrection of the dead
Paul linked the
Ingathering of the Exiles with the
resurrection of the dead. Paul preached the Ingathering of the
Exiles
(Acts 26:6-7).
There are those who
claim to embrace their Hebraic heritage
who say that the Ingathering of the Exiles is a
"theory" and a
"heretical" teaching. But to Paul and modern day
Orthodox Jews, it is
a fundamental and foundational event which happens PRIOR to the
resurrection of the dead.
I pray that these
insights have been a blessing to you. May
God continue to bless you in your studies.
Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage
Ministries Int'l
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