POSTED 12 NOVEMBER, 2009

Resurrection Hope

by Mark Huey
mark@outreachisrael.net

reproduced from the McHuey Blog

Upon awakening this past Shabbat (07 November, 2009), as contemplative prayer morphed into serious questions—I found myself earnestly entreating my Heavenly Father about what He was teaching me, during this season of ministering to my family and ailing sister—the quiet impression I received in the Spirit was simply the word patience. As I mulled over the subtle nudge, I was reminded that patience was the one fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) which needed additional refinement in my walk. My prayers for the salvation of my family over the past thirty-one years seemed, from my limited perspective, to be without much noticeable response. However, now that my sister’s physical trial is consuming the thoughts and actions of my parents, brother, and brother-in-law, I have been actively contemplating how the Holy One uses different trials and tribulations to capture the attention of us as mortals. Such is the universal predicament of the human condition, because the reality of suffering and the inevitability of death invade every family. No one escapes death, so I prayed, and then prayed some more.

Later on at our Shabbat service, when reconnecting with our congregational leader after what seemed like a two-month hiatus in attendance, he asked me if I would like to share with the congregation about what the Lord was teaching me during this family ordeal. He knew from previous conversations that one of my personal trials was having the knowledge of the gospel as so much a part of my life, and yet because of family circumstances, there was an inability to share the truth with conviction to unbelieving loved ones.

During the praise and worship time, as I reveled in the opportunity to once again be caught up in the presence of the Lord, I asked Him what He wanted me to share. This time, instead of sensing the word patience, the focus was redirected to the fact that we are all patients awaiting our personal appointment with death. This might involve some pain and suffering. Obviously, short of the Messiah returning, everyone living today is going to have to deal with death.

Nevertheless, as I stood pondering this, I was logically directed to the weekly Torah portion (V’yeira: Genesis 18:1-22:24), and reminded of perhaps the greatest trial that Abraham endured. This was the command of God to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah. As I recalled the story, I was reminded that for three days, Abraham had to endure the thought that he was going to slaughter and burn Isaac, his beloved son of promise:

“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance” (Genesis 22:1-4).

Thankfully, I was also led to recall how the author of Hebrews describes how Abraham had great faith, in going through this ordeal to sacrifice Isaac. While from a human perspective, murdering one’s own child seems completely unreasonable, Abraham’s hope was placed in the fervent belief that God was able to raise people from the dead:

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your descendants shall be called’ [Genesis 21:12]. He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type” (Hebrews 11:17-19).

Apparently, Abraham was so convinced that God could raise people from the dead, that the time he waited until he was to offer up Isaac, he was not deterred when the action was required. In fact, Genesis 22:10 states that, “Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son,” but then God stopped him just at the moment that Isaac was about to die. In his mind, though, Abraham had already committed the act.

Thinking about this, I was reminded of a few blogs I had written recently that have been my attempts to share thoughts about “Coping with Life and Death” and “Suffering Pain.” But it was not until this past weekend, as I was dealing with “patience versus patients,” that I realized that the hope of the age to come and the resurrection are key elements that separate the faithful from those unwilling to receive the gospel. What makes people of faith different from those who lack faith, is that by receiving Yeshua into our lives, we can be restored to a proper relationship with our Creator now, which will one day culminate in the complete restoration of the human person via the resurrection of the body. Somehow, the mental anguish and suffering, that comes with the reality of death, are mitigated by knowing that such is not the end.

In previous blog posts, I had contemplated the plight of Job and how he believed in the resurrection, noting his thought that “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him” (Job 13:15). Job also said, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26).

Rather than dwelling on Job this past Shabbat, I was once again reminded of the suffering endured by Messiah Yeshua as He considered His role as the One who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Messiah the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 52-53 was required to die and take upon Himself the wrath of God, due to every sinful person. Apparently, the grief and anguish were so intense, that our Lord Himself even contemplated a change of plans:

“[S]aying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, Yours be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:42-44).

Yeshua knew, however, that even though He had to be falsely accused, humiliated, and then unjustly murdered—He would be vindicated by resurrecting from the dead after three days and nights. One of His responses to those who ridiculed Him would be that they would receive the sign of Jonah:

“But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster [Jonah 1:17], so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:39-41).

Likewise, for some reason, I was reminded of the testimony of the persecutor Saul, who had an encounter with the Risen Savior on the road to Damascus.

“Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went o the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Yeshua whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.’ The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:1-9).

We further see that it was this encounter with the resurrected Messiah, and Saul’s subsequent conversation with Ananias, that launches his incredible apostolic career throughout the Mediterranean basin:

“Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.’ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Yeshua, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Yeshua in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God’” (Acts 9:10-20).

The impact of encountering the very One whom Saul was ultimately persecuting—by persecuting the Jewish Believers—was something that enabled him to be one of the strongest proponents of the good news and the author of almost a third of the Apostolic Scriptures. But, this redeemed Saul who encountered the resurrected Yeshua, and who was called by Him to declare the message of salvation to the known world, would have to endure suffering. So significant was his further experiences, that while sitting in confinement in Rome, he relates how what the Lord has done for him renders all other human achievements as but rubbish:

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Messiah. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Messiah Yeshua my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Messiah” (Philipians 3:7-8).

When a person has encountered the resurrected Yeshua, and His power of salvation, then not only will you be willing to experience whatever may come in life—but anything that you have achieved in your flesh without Him has little or no value. In Romans 8:6 we are told, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” The power that resurrected Yeshua is the same power that regenerates sinful people via the gospel: “you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). Long before the Second Coming and inauguration of the future age, we can experience the life of the resurrection today!

So as I considered these passages and various related themes, I shared with the “patients” gathered at the congregation that we have the great hope of not only Messiah in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), but also the hope of the resurrection (Hebrews 9:27). This great hope is not something entirely of the future, but something that should be appreciated and recognized now. We are to represent the life of the resurrection age—even before the resurrection—as we are led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14) and walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25), the Spirit being our “pledge” of what is come (Ephesians 1:14).

The Lord has specifically positioned each one of His witnesses among family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers, etc. We are to testify, through a variety of means, our belief in, and the power of, the resurrection. Consequently, as His chosen vessels, it is incumbent upon each of us to evidence the fruit of His indwelling Spirit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-25).

Those suffering around us—even if they are only suffering mentally or emotionally—are definitely paying attention to our actions, words, and deeds. When non-Believers notice the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control of a Spirit-led Believer, the possibilities that they will be drawn to inquire about what it is that makes us different are much greater. When the door to the heart is thus opened, then the occasion to share becomes available.

We often have to patiently await those precious opportunities. So, as we wait, it is advisable that we pray for the physical healing of those afflicted with suffering and pain, for those who are emotionally unbalanced to become sane, and for the spiritual restoration of all those in unbelief. Of course, these thoughts could only bring me back full circle to my early morning awakening meditations, because the fruit of the Spirit described as “patience” or “longsuffering” (KJV) requires one to labor in prayer for those to whom you are called to minister. Waiting upon the Lord for His timing–rather than forcing your timing upon others because of zeal or lack of patience—can be very challenging.

Perhaps you are facing a circumstance, as I have been, that requires you to remember the hope of the resurrection, and impart that hope to one who does not believe. Perhaps you really do not know what to do in your interactions with those who currently reject Yeshua. Therefore, I would simply recommend you to consistently pray every day to the Holy One of Israel, and allow His perfect will to be manifest in His timing:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua” (Philippians 4:4-7).

Praise Him for the hope of the resurrection—and the Spirit-led ability to patiently wait upon Him. And of course praise Him for the privilege of taking everything to Him in prayer, knowing that ultimately, His will shall be done!

Until the restoration of all things…

Mark Huey (B.A., Vanderbilt University in History and Graduate Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) is the Director of Outreach Israel Ministries (www.outreachisrael.net). He is the author of several books, including: TorahScope, Volumes I & II, and Counting the Omer: A Daily Devotional Toward Shavuot. He is also co-author of Hebraic Roots: An Introductory Study.