Read Isaiah 26:14 and Isaiah 26:19. What is the contrast between those who will perish forever (Isaiah 26:14; see also Malachi 4:1) and those who will receive eternal life (Isaiah 26:19)?
The book of Isaiah presents a major contrast between the majesty of God and our human fragility (see Isaiah chapter 40). Though we are like the grass that withers and the flower that fades, the word of God remains forever (Isaiah 40:6-8). Despite our human sinfulness, however, God’s saving grace is available to all human beings and becomes effective even to the Gentiles who embrace His covenant and keep the Sabbath (Isaiah chapter 56).
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
In the book of Isaiah, the hope of the resurrection is broadened significantly. While previous biblical allusions to the resurrection were expressed more from personal perspectives (Job 19:25-27, Psalm 49:15, Psalm 71:20), the prophet Isaiah speaks of it as including both himself and the covenantal community of believers (Isaiah 26:19).
Isaiah 26:1-21 contrasts the distinct destinies of the wicked and the righteous. On one side, the wicked will remain dead, without ever being brought to life again, at least after the “second death” (Revelation 21:8). They will be completely destroyed, and all their memory will perish forever (Isaiah 26:14). This passage underscores the teaching that there are no surviving souls or spirits that remain alive after death. Speaking about the final destruction of the wicked, which comes later, the Lord stated elsewhere that the wicked will be completely burned up, leaving them “neither root nor branch” (Malachi 4:1, NKJV).
On the other side, the righteous dead will be raised from death to receive their blessed reward. Isaiah 25:1-12 highlights that the Lord God “will swallow up death forever” and “will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8, NKJV). In Isaiah 26:1-21 we find the following words: “Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead” (Isaiah 26:19, NKJV). All the resurrected righteous will participate in the joyful feast that the Lord will prepare for all people (Isaiah 25:6). The final resurrection will bring together all the righteous from all ages, including your beloved ones who already died in Christ.
| Imagine if we didn’t have any hope, any assurance, any reason to think that our death was anything but the end of everything for us. And then, even worse, anyone who ever knew us would be gone, and soon it would be as if we never existed and that our life never meant anything at all. How does this fate contrast to the hope that we have? |
(1)The post Wednesday: “Your Dead Shall Live” first appeared on Sabbath School Net.
The post Wednesday: “Your Dead Shall Live” appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/wednesday-your-dead-shall-live/
