1) If you were just thinking logically, does life after death make sense to you?
Luke 20:27-38 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
2) What do you notice about this reading? What questions do you have?
So Jesus is clear about it! There is life after death. But why were the Sadducees so convinced there wasn’t? They were well educated in scripture. The Pharisees, the other well-educated group, believed in life after death, going from the same scriptures. Scholars divide the Old Testament into pre-exile (Genesis up to Chronicles and Kings) and exile/post-exile (prophets up through Micah). Sometimes pre-exile writings seem to indicate the Hebrews believed mostly in Sheol, which was a sleepy post-life existence, a one-stop land of the dead for everyone. Post-exile, they say, is when you see influence of other cultures.
Gen:15:12-15 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.”
3) Does that say anything about life after death?
Deut 18:10-11 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
4) If Moses warn against this, does that mean it is possible?
Craziest story about this is definitely from Book of Samuel.
1 Samuel 28:7-20 Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.”
“There is one in Endor,” they said. So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.” But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?” Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this.” Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”
“Bring up Samuel,” he said. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.”
“What does he look like?” he asked. “An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
“I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.” Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has departed from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. The LORD will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.” Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and all that night.
5) How do we make sense of this story?
Three quick quotes:
Psalm 49:13..15 This is the way of those who are foolish … Death shall be their shepherd;
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Selah.
At the end of Daniel’s revelation of the end times, God says to him: (Daniel 12:13) “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”
Isaiah 26:19 Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.
6) What do these say about life after death?
7) What would you explain to someone who asked you if you believe in life after death?
Web resource:
Help Me with Bible Study, in particular for this week, What Did OT Believers Think About Life After Death?
Photos: Muckster @ Flickr, Wikicommons
No comments:
Post a Comment