Friday, September 01, 2006

Three Days and Three Nights

Some ministers of the Churches of God have been reluctant to discuss questions I believe should be answered. Their usual response has been to either ignore, or summarily reject requests to discuss potential errors in their teaching. On this site we shall attempt to do that which these ministers have thus far refused to do.

To begin this venture I have chosen a question which many will feel certain they can answer without fear of contradiction. If what happens on this blogsite does nothing more than entice you to “search the scriptures” once again, I will be more than satisfied -- but don’t be too sure you already know the answer to today’s question!

Q...How much time passed from the moment of Jesus’ death to the moment of his resurrection? Was it exactly three days and three nights; less than three days and three nights; or more than three days and three nights?

Note: If the length of time Jesus was dead has an important prophetic meaning (and I believe it does), then we would do well to understand the perfect truth as it has been recorded for us in Scripture.

Luke 18:31-33 “Then [Jesus] took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished -- for he will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge him and kill him. And the third day he will rise again.’”

Q...Jesus said many times he would rise from the dead “the third day.” If he actually meant “on the third day” did his understanding originate from the Scriptures?

Q...Is the sentence “and the third day he will rise again” part of that which can be found “written by the prophets”? If so, where “in the prophets” can this prophecy be found?

Q...What is the teaching of your Church and your ministers on the question of whether the resurrection of Jesus took place “on the third day” or “after the third day”?

Q...Can the resurrection of Jesus only have taken place after his having been three days and three nights in his tomb?

Q...If the resurrection of Jesus took place after he was three days and three nights in his tomb, how could he have risen from the dead “on the third day”?

Matthew 12:38-40 “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.’ But he answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’”

Note: Many continue to believe that the resurrection of Jesus could only take place at the end of the three days and nights he spent in his tomb. They are convinced this was the proof Jesus spoke of in his answer to the scribes and the Pharisees. I believe this to be an incorrect understanding first taught by Herbert W. Armstrong many years ago. Notice:

The following statement is an excerpt from the booklet “The Resurrection Was Not On Sunday,” written by Herbert W. Armstrong and published in 1952. (Emphasis is as quoted in the booklet):
“These Christ-rejecting Pharisees demanded PROOF. Jesus offered but one evidence. That evidence was not the fact of the resurrection itself -- it was the LENGTH OF TIME He would repose in His grave, before being resurrected.
Think what this means! Jesus staked His claim to being your Saviour and mine upon remaining exactly THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE TOMB. If He remained just three days and three nights inside the earth, He would PROVE Himself the Saviour -- if He failed in this sign, He must be rejected as an imposter!”

Within this quotation Mr. Armstrong has made an assumption that, (should it turn out to be in error) may have caused a serious misunderstanding of these scriptures. He says: “That evidence was not the fact of the resurrection itself -- it was the LENGTH OF TIME He would repose in His grave, before being resurrected!” If those last three words are to be taken at their face value then Jesus would not have been able to “rise from the dead” until his 3 days and 3 nights in the grave had expired.

For this statement to be true, then the length of time it took to have him removed from the stake and carried to his tomb would have to be added in order to come to the total time Jesus was actually dead. If Jesus remained dead for a period of time longer than 72 hours then surely this would be in disagreement with the many scriptures where he himself is quoted as saying that he would rise again “the third day”!

Here is another quotation from the same booklet: “As Jonah was in the “GRAVE” (see marginal reference, Jonah 2:2) 72 hours, after which he was supernaturally resurrected by God, by being vomited up, to become a saviour to the people of Ninevah upon proclaiming the warning to them, so should Jesus be 72 hours in His grave, “thereupon being resurrected” by God to become the saviour of the world.” Once again, the implication is that Jesus would not “live again” until he had been in his grave for 72 hours. Whatever the truth may be, of one thing we can be absolutely certain: if Jesus was dead for more than 72 hours, he could not have risen from the dead “on the third day” or “during the third day”!

You should understand that I had, and continue to have, a great respect for the work that was accomplished by Herbert W. Armstrong. I remember him as a wonderful old man to whom God revealed many amazing new truths. But I also remember the very human faults he displayed. I have also subsequently come to realize that he had an incomplete and often incorrect understanding of many scriptures. I shall always remember him and be grateful for his success in understanding and teaching of scripture; especially for what this has meant to me personally -- but I will no more trust him with my eternal life than I would trust any man. Mr. Armstrong, in the human life he lived was a great and wonderful man -- but in this life he was not yet perfect!

Note: Earlier in this message I suggested: “If the length of time Jesus was dead has an important prophetic meaning (and I believe it does), then we would do well to understand the perfect truth as it has been recorded for us in Scripture.” With this in mind, consider the following Scriptures as Jesus may have done during his lifetime:

Exodus 19:10-11 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.’”
Note: This was the time when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on tablets of stone. This was the time when God began a new covenant with the people of Israel. “On what day” did God say He would come down in the sight of all the people? Is it possible this is a prophecy for the “church” in these last days -- that we should be prepared to receive our salvation during the third of the final three and a half years?

Jonah 2:1 “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly!”
Note: If we are to take the story of Jonah literally, then we must be ready to accept that he was not dead for the entire three days and three nights he spent in the belly of the great fish: “Jonah prayedfrom the fish’s belly”!

Hosea 6:1-2 “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for he has torn, but he will heal us; he has stricken, but he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.”
Note: When Jesus read this scripture, did he ascribe its meaning to his own resurrection? Does this scripture truly say “ON the third day he will raise us up”? Is it possible this may also be a prophecy for the “church” in these last days -- that those who are “dead in Christ” may be resurrected during the third of the final three and a half years?

Genesis 22:1-14…This passage records the near sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. You should read the entirety of this passage for yourself,
Note: It has been said that the trying of Abraham’s faith by the proposed sacrifice of Isaac has in its duality the sacrifice and subsequent resurrection of Jesus. From the time the commandment for the sacrifice was given from God, it was as if Isaac was already dead to Abraham. When God spared the life of Isaac, it was as if he had been resurrected to his father Abraham. The near sacrifice, and the subsequent symbolic resurrection of Isaac, took place “on the third day” from the time God first commanded that the sacrifice of Isaac should take place.

Joshua 1:10-11 “Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, ‘Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’
Note: Is this not prophetic of the soon-coming inheritance of the Saints -- when Christ will say to his brethren: “Come, you blessed of my Father; inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”? Does Joshua not tell them to prepare to cross over Jordan “…within three days”?

I have heard more than one of our ministers respond to questions like these with a comment such as: “Why is any of this important?” Some of them are so wrapped up in what they refer to as “The Salvation Process,” they seem to believe there is little or no value in pursuing anything unless “Salvation” is the goal of that pursuit.

To this I must answer: “The salvation of our Father is a wonderful, almost unimaginable gift. Nevertheless, salvation of and by itself is not enough! Salvation is a beginning -- it is not an end unto itself! Upon repentance, conversion, baptism, and the laying-on of hands, we are given the promise of salvation from our God. Having received this promise, we should thereafter strive for the rewards He desires us to win for ourselves.”

Consider the ultimate reward God has waiting for those who will follow the King of kings into our Father’s Kingdom -- do you even know what that reward is? Each of us should be fervent and zealous in our desire and determination to reach that goal. We need to more clearly identify the rewards God has promised; and then with great determination: “Let no man take your crown!” He, who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Note: Next week, I hope to share with you my understanding of the vinegar mingled with gall. This was the mixture offered to Jesus at his crucifixion and he refused to drink. Some people still picture the crucified Christ as a poor, pathetic creature hanging from a cross; next week you will learn the true strength of this great man.

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