Twenty-five years in the West

by E. Manford

Subsequently, he replied to a discourse I delivered in Crawfordsville, from these words: “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and they shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John v. 28, 29. There are, I remarked, three distinct resurrections spoken of in the Bible—a temporal, a moral, and an immortal resurrection. When the Bible speaks of a resurrection, we must learn from the context of the passage, which of those resurrections is intended. I will briefly notice some passages where these three resurrections are spoken of.

In Ezekiel, thirty-seventh chapter, the prophet is writing of the return of the Jews to Palestine from Babylon, where they had been enslaved for seventy years. The chapter is headed—“The resurrection of dry bones.” I will cite the whole passage: “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about; and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, Son of man, and say unto the wind, Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” Ezek. xxxvii. 1-10. Now mark the explanations: “Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves. And I shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land; then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.” Ezek. xxxvii. 11-14. This was a temporal resurrection, and included also a moral resurrection. It was the return of “the whole house of Israel” to “the land of Israel from Babylon.” When in Babylon, they were said to be in their graves, their hope was lost, but they were to come up out of the graves, and be restored to their beloved country.

The same events are also predicted in Daniel xii. 2. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” The connection shows this to be the same kind of a resurrection spoken of in Ezekiel. That all this was to take place within a few years, is evident from the following consideration: 1. The previous verse reads thus: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Dan. xii. 1. This prince Michael was a ruler in Persia, while the Jews were in Babylon. He is spoken of in two other places in that book. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth; and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” Dan. x. 13, 21. It is clear from these quotations, that Michael was a prince of Persia, and that he was living when the Jews were in Babylon. Mark also, that the resurrection, there spoken of, was to occur in Michael’s lifetime, when Michael “would stand up,” and consequently it must have taken place long ago. 2. The question was asked, (verse 6) “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” and the answer given was, “It shall be for a time, times and half a time,” (verse 7.) In verse 12, the period intended by these “times” is stated to be “one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days,” making a little more than four years. “Time,” singular, means one year, “times,” plural, three years, “half a time,” six month. The resurrection, then, referred to, was to take place between four and five years from the time the prophet saw the vision—another evidence that this resurrection was realized in the return of the Jews to Palestine from the land of their captivity. 3. Daniel was to live to witness the transpiring of this event. “Go thy way,” said the angel to Daniel, “till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of these days.” (Verse 13.) It then seems certain, that this resurrection was to take place within a few years after Daniel had a vision of it. Two men, at least, then existing, were to live to witness the event—Michael, a prince of Persia, and Daniel, a prophet of the Lord, and to behold it they had to live only about four years and a half longer. The nation was raised from its grave, from the dust of the earth, and those who were loyal through the dark night of bondage, returned to the land of promise with glory and honor; but those who were traitors during the times that tried men’s souls, returned with shame and contempt.

The Bible also reveals an immortal resurrection. Says Jesus, whose mission it was to bring life and immortality to light, “In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.... God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all—the dead—live unto him.” Matt. xxii. 30, 32. This is not a physical, temporal, or moral resurrection, merely, but a resurrection to eternal life, and a blissful immortality. The apostle Paul (1 Cor. xv.) dwells long and emphatically on this glorious resurrection. “As in Adam,” says he, “all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.... It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. xv. 22, 43, 44, 53-57.

The terms in these passages clearly indicate, that the immortal resurrection is the subject of discourse; and that all mankind are interested in it. It is not a resurrection from the grave, or from the dust of the earth, for the immortal spirit which now tabernacles in the flesh, never dies, except morally, never descends to the grave or dust, except figuratively, but as the wise man says, “Dust shall return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God that gave it.” Eccles. xii. 7. The body only dies, it returns to the dust—the spirit never; it returns to God.

Hence my text must refer to some other kind of a resurrection, for it speaks of coming up out of graves, and the connection makes it certain that a moral resurrection is intended. Immediately preceding the text, Jesus says, “As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them; even so, the Son quickeneth whom he will.” There is here a comparison between what God was doing, and what Christ was doing. God was raising the dead from mortality to immortality, and Jesus was raising the morally dead and quickening them by his spirit. He continues to speak of the moral resurrection he was then effecting: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” Those whom Christ had quickened by the truth were in possession of “everlasting life,” had actually “passed from death to life”—of course, no other than a moral resurrection is intended. He continues: “Verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and NOW IS, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” Sinners, the morally dead, were then hearing his voice and coming forth to life. This is NOW going on, said Jesus. Then he adds: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and they shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” The connection decides that Jesus was speaking of the moral resurrection he was then effecting among the lost sheep of the house of Israel. During Christ’s ministry the gospel was proclaimed only to the Jews, and they only came forth and were blessed by its quickening power; but soon the gospel was to be preached to “all nations,” “to every creature.” Said Jesus to the disciples, just before he returned to God, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark xvi. 15, 16. This is the same subject spoken of in my text. When the disciples went into the world in obedience to their master, they found mankind dead in trespasses and sins, buried in the graves of moral degradation, even in the dust of the earth. They preached the gospel to the dead nations—some who heard it, came forth to life, to salvation, entered the kingdom of God, which is righteousness, joy and peace in the holy spirit. Others, who heard it, came forth to condemnation, and this is explained thus: “He that believeth not shall be damned;” “He that doubteth IS damned;” “Having damnation because they cast off their first faith;” “He that believeth not is condemned ALREADY.” Similar results have followed the proclamation of the truth in all ages and climes. Let the truth be proclaimed fully and plainly in an ignorant and vicious community, and some with joy will receive it, and partake of its blessedness; others will rise up in opposition to it, condemn it, and wax worse and worse.

This was the substance of the discourse, but much more was said in defense of the various points here briefly stated. Mr. O’Kane replied, but I have room for only one of his criticisms.

“The speaker said, that in the immortal resurrection, the dead are not said to be raised from the graves, and hence in John v. 28, 29, Christ does not speak of such a resurrection, for he there tells us, that the dead shall be raised from the graves. Now, it happens, that in the very chapter the gentleman informs us teaches the immortal resurrection, the apostle Paul does teach that the dead on that occasion will be raised from the grave. ‘So,’ says he, ‘when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’ Now which is correct, Mr. Manford or the apostle Paul, for they contradict each other.”

I replied, Mr. O’Kane has my thanks for pointing out what he deems an error in my discourse. The word graves in John v. 28, is from muemeia, which signifies grave, the receptacle of dead bodies, but the word grave in Corinthians, is from hades, which means, not the grave, but the state of the dead. The meaning of the two terms are very different. One signifying the place where dead bodies are deposited, but the other, the state of the dead. Now the body is not buried in hades, but it is buried in muemeia, and at the immortal resurrection the dead come not from muemeia, but from hades, the state of death. My remark then was strictly correct, that at the immortal resurrection nothing is said about the dead being raised from the grave, muemeia. The state of the dead is designated by hades, and that state or condition may continue but a moment. The term has no reference to time or place, but merely to death. When a person dies, his condition is represented by hades, and when the spirit returns to God, it is delivered from hades, meaning the state of death. When the spirit ascends to God, it can exclaim, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory.” “Victory, victory, victory!” they exclaim, as they burst the shackles of hades, or the state of the dead, and join the immortal band in the land of the blessed.

I delivered two discourses in West Lebanon, and spent most of one day in conversation with Mr. Cooper, a Methodist minister. Said Mr. Cooper, “You say, forever and everlasting in the Bible signify limited duration. The Bible speaks of the ‘everlasting God,’ and the ‘everlasting life’ of the saints. Now, according to your definition of these words, God will exist only for a limited period, and the redeemed in heaven will exist only for a limited period. Your definition dethrones God, and blots out heaven.”