The-Resurrection-In-The-Old-Testament.pdf

The Resurrection In The

Old Testament

Selected Scripture

by Jim Osman

Pastor/Teacher

Kootenai Community Church

kootenaichurch.org

As spring rolls around every year and we prepare to

celebrate the Resurrection of Christ in a special and

more focused way, our thoughts tend to gravitate

toward the numerous New Testament passages which

pertain to the Resurrection. I find myself reading

through one or more of the gospel records at this time

and turning to 1 Corinthians 15. It is certainly not

difficult to find a passage of the New Testament that

explains or applies the implications of the Resurrection.

After all, without the Resurrection, there would be no

New Testament, no Christianity, and any faith or hope

that we might have, no matter how sincere, would be

entirely in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14).

But what about the Old Testament? Is the

Resurrection central to the Old Testament hope and

promises? Do you often turn to Old Testament

passages which speak of the Resurrection of Christ?

Do you know of any such passages? Are there any? Is

the Resurrection of the Messiah something central to

the Old Testament promises and predictions, or is it

only a central tenet of the New Testament?

Though we seldom think of it, the New Testament

speaks of the Resurrection as an event which fulfilled

prophecy. Consider a familiar passage, 1 Corinthians

15:3-4: “For I delivered to you as of first importance

what I also received, that Christ died for our sins

according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried,

and that He was raised on the third day according

to the Scriptures, . . .”

What “Scriptures” does Paul have in mind? It was not

the New Testament, since that had not yet been written.

So what Old Testament passage(s) predicted the

Resurrection? Most would be hard pressed to point to

one, yet the Old Testament did predict the Resurrection

of the coming Messiah.

In order that we could also boldly affirm that the

Resurrection of Christ is “according to the Scriptures,”

let's get familiar with some of the Old Testament

passages which were seen by the Apostles to be

predictive of the Resurrection of the Messiah.

How The Apostles Preached

The preaching of the Apostles was saturated with

Scripture. Peter, John, and Paul did not have a New

Testament from which to preach. Their preaching

consisted of expositions of Old Testament texts of

Scripture. When preaching, they relied heavily on the

Old Testament to demonstrate that Jesus was the

Christ.

You can see how saturated with Scripture their

sermons were when you look at the preaching of the

apostles in the book of Acts. In Peter's well known

sermon on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2, he

quoted at length from the Prophet Joel (Acts 2:17-21),

Psalm 16 (Acts 2:25-28), and Psalm 2 (Acts 2:34-35)

in order to show that Jesus was the Christ the Son of

God and that “God has made Him both Lord and

Christ” (Acts 2:36).

Paul followed the same pattern in Acts 17, when he

spent time in the Synagogue of Thessalonica

“reasoning from the Scriptures, explaining and

The Resurrection In The Old Testament by Jim Osman

giving evidence that Christ had to suffer and rise

again from the dead, and saying, 'This Jesus whom

I am proclaiming to you is the Christ'” (Acts 17:1-3).

These Jewish apostles, who were steeped in the Old

Testament and knew it well, would never think of trying

to show that Jesus was the Christ apart from using the

Old Testament to do so. No skeptical Jew of their day

could be convinced that Jesus of Nazareth, Son of

Joseph, was the Messiah, the Son of David, unless the

case could be convincingly made that Jesus was the

fulfillment of “everything that is in accordance with

the Law and that is written in the Prophets” (Acts

24:14).

Peter and Paul used the Old Testament scriptures to

prove that Jesus was the Christ, and that He must rise

from the dead in order to fulfill the Old Testament

prophecies concerning the Messiah. Which Old

Testament prophecies? Let's take a look at some.

Psalm 16:8-11 and Acts 2:25-28

On the day of Pentecost, standing before thousands

of God-fearing Jews, many of whom had been

instrumental in crucifying the Lord (2:22-23, 36), Peter

relied heavily on quoting the Old Testament to show

that the Resurrection of Christ, a fact they could not

deny since the empty tomb was only a few minutes'

walk away, was a fulfillment of Old Testament

scriptures.

After indicting them for their crime of putting Jesus to

death at the hands of godless men, Peter rings the

central note of his sermon, saying, “But God raised

Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death,

since it was impossible for Him to be held in its

power” (Acts 2:24). Why was it impossible for Christ

to be held in the power of death? Because the

Scriptures foretold the Resurrection, and the Scriptures

must be fulfilled.

Peter then quoted from Psalm 16:8-11, a psalm of

David, which reads, “I have set the Lord continually

before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not

be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory

rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely. For You

will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You

allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will

make known to me the path of life; in Your presence

is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are

pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:8-11; cf. Acts 2:24-28).

Peter quoted the clearest and most straightforward

prophetic reference to the Resurrection in the Old

Testament. Up to Peter’s day, the words of Psalm 16

were considered enigmatic. After all, how could David

say that God would not allow his body to suffer decay,

when in fact, David's body had decayed and his corpse

did undergo corruption after his death? What was

David speaking of when he said, “Because You will

not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy

One to undergo decay.” People didn’t know how to

take those words. Jews were familiar with the Psalm,

but they didn't understand what David meant by it.

Peter offered an explanation for the passage by

pointing out the obvious; that David was dead, buried,

and decayed. The tomb of David was in Jerusalem at

that very day, and everyone present knew that.

Nobody could argue that these words of David were

ever true of David. He had died, been buried, and

rotted. Look at Acts 2:29, “Brethren, I may

confidently say to you regarding the patriarch

David that he both died and was buried, and his

tomb is with us to this day” (Acts 2:29).

Why then did David write these words? Peter

explained, “And so, because he was a prophet and

knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to

seat one of his descendants on his throne, he

looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the

Christ,. . .” (Acts 2:30) David was describing that

which was true of the Messiah. He knew that God had

promised to sit one of his descendants upon his throne.

In fulfillment to all the Old Testament promises, this

Son would rule and reign forever. There would be no

end to His reign (Psalm 89:4, 28-29, 36-37; Luke

1:32-33; Isaiah 9:6-7). How could a mere mortal

accomplish such an unending reign? Only if He were

raised uncorruptible and immortal.

David knew that the fulfillment of the Davidic

Covenant hinged upon the Resurrection of Christ. So

he spoke prophetically of Christ, saying that God would

not allow “His Holy One to suffer decay.”

The Resurrection In The Old Testament by Jim Osman

He is risen just as the Old Testament predicted and

foreshadowed. He had to rise since there is so much

more that has to be fulfilled. He must come to sit on

David’s throne and bless the nation of Israel and

conquer every enemy. He must come to judge. There

must a kingdom, the judgment of all nations, and the

resurrection of the just and the unjust. All that is yet to

come requires a resurrection. That was the reason why

David could say with confidence that God would not

allow the Holy One to undergo decay. God would raise

Him.

Some might object saying, “But, Jim, was David

really looking forward to a throne and a kingdom and a

literal fulfillment to the Old Testament promises when

he made that prophecy?” Yes! Absolutely. It is absurd

to suggest that David would have understood those

promises to be merely symbolic or have understood

them to be fulfilled in some spiritual way. That is why

Peter says that David “knew that God had sworn to

Him with an oath to seat one of His decedants on

His throne” (Acts 2:30). Further, that is why Peter then

quoted from Psalm 110, saying, “The LORD said to

my LORD, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make Your

enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

Now it is easy to follow Peter’s line of reasoning:

The psalm speaks of a resurrection. David is still

dead. Therefore, the psalm does not speak of David,

but rather a descendant of David. David, knowing that

one of His descendants must sit on his throne and rule

forever, was thus speaking of that King. Christ is risen,

therefore He is that King, the Messiah, the Son of

David, the fulfillment of that promise to David.

The biggest proof of Christ’s Messianic credentials is

not His claims. It is not His works. It is not His lineage.

it is His Resurrection. Psalm 16 predicted the bodily

resurrection of one of David’s descendants. Christ is

risen the third day, according to the Scriptures,

therefore, this Jesus is the Christ.

Psalm 2, Isaiah 55, Psalm 16 and Acts 13

Acts 13:32-37,“And we preach to you the good

news of the promise made to the fathers, that God

has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He

raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second

Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE

BEGOTTEN YOU.’ As for the fact that He raised Him

up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He

has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE

HOLY AND SURE BLESSINGS OF DAVID.’ Therefore

He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT

ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’

For David, after he had served the purpose of God

in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid

among his fathers and underwent decay; but He

whom God raised did not undergo decay.”

This sermon of Paul from Acts 13 contains

quotations from three different passages of the Old

Testament as he builds his case for the Resurrection of

Christ being central to the fulfillment of God's promises

to the nation of Israel through David.

Psalm 2 speaks of God's Son, who is also David's

son, the “Lord's anointed.” This One is the King who

will be installed upon Zion, God's holy mountain (2:6),

will receive the nations as an inheritance (2:8a), even

the very ends of the earth as a possession (2:8b). He

will break the nations with a rod of iron (2:9) when He

sets up His Kingdom in Jerusalem. All these events are

yet future. Their literal fulfillment requires the

Resurrection! Paul, and the Jews of his day, expected

the literal fulfillment

of these promises--that is, the

promise made to David by God concerning the Lord

Jesus. The fulfillment of these promises is impossible

without the Resurrection.

Paul applied those words in a very peculiar way to

Christ, indicating that this One is the descendant

spoken of in Psalm 2. The word “begotten” literally

means “brought forth.” Paul is arguing that that refers

to the Resurrection of Christ, whereby Christ was

“brought forth” from the grave in resurrection from the

dead. That is not some spiritual fulfillment of the

promise but a very literal one by a very literal

resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus was

“declared the Son of God with power by

resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). God had

declared Him to be the Son of God by bringing Him

1 Not the allegorical, symbolic, spiritual, metaphorical fulfillment that is

argued for by those who deny the literal Millennial Reign of Christ on

earth.

The Resurrection In The Old Testament by Jim Osman

forth from the dead with power, in fulfillment of Psalm

Continuing to build his case, Paul quoted from a

second passage, Isaiah 55:3, “Incline your ear and

come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will

make an everlasting covenant with you, according

to the faithful mercies shown to David.”

What specifically was this “everlasting covenant” and

the “faithful mercies shown to David?” 2 Samuel 7:14-

16 tells us, “My lovingkindness shall not depart from

him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed

from before you. Your house and your kingdom

shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall

be established forever.” Specifically the promise to

David was that one of His descendants would sit on His

throne and that the kingdom and throne would endure

forever.

How could this happen? How could one of David’s

sons, the Messiah, the Anointed One, rule forever and

ever and ever? More problematic, how could He do so

after being crucified and laid in a tomb? Simple. God

raised Him from the dead and He is never to return to

decay. Christ lives, never to return to the grave. He is

not subject to death, for death has no hold over Him.

For God to keep His promise to David required that

He raise a descendant of David, His Son, the Son

Whom He has begotten from the dead, never to decay

or die, to live forever and thus to receive the throne of

David establishing David’s kingdom and to sit on that

throne forever. That was God’s promise. For God to

fulfill that promise required that He raise the Messiah

from the dead. In that way, the Resurrection of Christ

was a fulfillment of Psalm 2 and Isaiah 55 and Psalm

16.

The blessings promised to David, and through David

to us, could not be poured out through a dead and

rotting Messiah. A dead and decaying Messiah is no

eternal King, but a resurrected Messiah can and will sit

on David’s throne and rule forever. The Resurrection

was necessary if God was to keep His word to David!

2 Read all about the Davidic Covenant in Psalm 89 and notice the

repeated references to that promise. This was the Old Testament

Jewish hope. It was not and is not, fulfilled by the Church.

The third passage that Paul quoted was Psalm 16.

This was the same one we looked at earlier in

connection with Peter's sermon in Acts 2. We find Paul

using the same argument that Peter used, saying,

“David. . . fell asleep, and was laid among his

fathers and underwent decay but He whom God

raised did not undergo decay” (v. 36).

Now that we have considered all three quotations

and their contexts, we can easily follow Paul’s

argument in Acts 13: God promised to enthrone a

King, a son of David, the Son of God. God said of that

King, “You are My Son, I have brought You forth.”

Ultimately that is fulfilled in Christ who was brought

forth from the grave and declared to be the Son of God

with power by resurrection from the dead.

It was necessary for God to raise the Messiah from

the dead and that He never again be subject to death

and decay. God promised to seat the Messiah upon the

throne of David in order that He might rule forever and

ever and establish the Davidic kingdom, an eternal

kingdom, with an eternal King. To fulfill that promise, it

was necessary that the Christ rise again.

Jesus fulfills all of this. He is the Son of God. He can

and will reign from David’s throne forever, since He did

not undergo decay. His Resurrection is the fulfillment of

God's promise to bring forth a King, to grant the

blessings of David through that King and to not allow

that King to undergo decay.

The case that both Paul and Peter build from the Old

Testament rests upon a literal interpretation of the

promises to David concerning a King and Kingdom. If

Peter and Paul believed that there was to be no literal

fulfillment of those promises, then their argument would

make no sense. It would be entirely nonsense. If Paul

believed that those promises were now spiritually

fulfilled in a spiritual way through the church, and that

the church replaced Israel and was now the spiritual

heir to all those promises, then his whole argument

crumbles to the ground. It is only if the Old Testament

promises to Israel are interpreted literally that the

Resurrection can be seen as a fulfillment of the Old

Testament Scriptures. If those promises are to be

spiritualized and seen as fulfilled in the church, then no

Resurrection is necessary for their fulfillment. In short,

The Resurrection In The Old Testament by Jim Osman

to read Peter in Acts 2 and Paul in Acts 13 and to

suggest that they did not believe in a literal fulfillment of

Old Testament promises concerning the King and the

Kingdom is absurd in the highest degree. They never

once suggested to the Jews that those promises were

not to be taken literally. They based their argument for

the Resurrection of Christ on a literal understanding of

those Old Testament promises.

Isaiah 53

We could also point to the familiar passage in Isaiah

53 which predicted the Servant of the Lord being

crucified for our iniquities. He was “cut off from the land

of the living” (v. 8). His grave was assigned with the

wicked (died with thieves, v. 9), and he was buried in a

rich man's tomb (v. 9). Yet verse 10 of the same

passage says that “He will see His offspring, He will

prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the

LORD will prosper in His hand.” How?

Isaiah 53:11-12 says that this same Servant who

“poured out Himself to death” would also be “allotted a

portion with the great,” and “will divide the booty

with the strong,” “justify many” and “see the result of

the anguish of His soul and be satisfied.” How?

These things can only be possible if that very Servant of

the Lord who poured out His soul to death and bore the

sin of many would also rise again for their justification

(Romans 4:25).

The Old Testament Hope

Truly in every way, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

is the fulfillment of the Old Testament hope and

expectation (Acts 26:22-23). The Resurrection is God's

promise kept: the promise to David concerning the

Resurrection of his Son. God keeps His Word. He kept

His Word concerning the Messiah. He will keep His

word to David and will establish that Kingdom,

He will

keep His word to us as well. Not only was Jesus raised

from the dead victorious over death, but someday

“there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the

righteous and the wicked” (Acts 24:15) and the Lord

Jesus will “transform the body of our humble state

3 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave is proof positive that

the promises to David in the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom

will be fulfilled exactly as predicted.

into conformity with the body of His glory, by the

exertion of the power that He has even to subject all

things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21). Oh, glorious

day!

Without Wax-

Jim Osman, Pastor/Teacher

The Resurrection In The Old Testament by Jim Osman