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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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