Memorial Service for a Hebrew Brother.
Memorial Service for a Hebrew Brother.
If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed
time I will wait until my transformation comes. (Job 14:14).
A memorial service given for a Hebrew brother, L. C. W. This eulegy was given before a Protestant audience, who thought Lawrence was already burning in the lake of fire of eternal damnation because he disclaimed his former savior 'j-sus'. He died on March 22, 2000. The footnotes were not totally a part of the service.
L. C. was a man with great sense of humor and was very likeable, a man who never intentionally hurt anyone. He was a simple man who did not put on airs; he did not try to be something he was not. Yet, L. C. was a man who suffered a lot inside, and his past life was reflected in the words of the songs that he wrote and sang. He was a man of sorrow, grief, and sickness [which lately prevented his working], yet; he had come to know his CREATOR from the pages of The Holy Scripture. He knew and understood what is written in the following Scriptures, which we will now cover for everyone's benefit.
After the events at the Garden of Eden, our CREATOR said this about humankind collectively:
(Genesis 3:19)[1] (TLB) All your life you will sweat to master it [making a living], until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from the ground, and to the ground you will return.
Solomon a man, who had wealth untold, had tried it ALL; yet, he drifted away from his CREATOR's perfect ways. He became discouraged with life and this is his commentary:
(Ecclesiastes 9:2-7) (TLB) 2The same providence confronts everyone, whether good or bad, religious or irreligious, profane or godly. It seems so unfair that one fate comes to all. 3That is why men are not more careful to be good, but instead choose their own mad course, for they have no hope, there is nothing but death ahead anyway. 4They say there is hope only for the living and 'It is better to be a live dog than a dead lion!' 5For the living at least know that they will die! However, the dead know nothing; they do not even have their memories. 6Whatever they did in their lifetimes, loving, hating, envying, or giving, is long gone, and they have no part in anything here on earth any more. 7So go ahead, eat, drink, and be merry, for it makes no difference to our CREATOR!
Nevertheless, the question for us today is, is that a true statement? Does it matter whether we love, hate, envy, or are giving. After we have breathed our last breath, does it really matter? Job was also a man of sorrow and he asked the question that all humankind has wrestled with:
(Job 14:13-15) (TLB) 13Oh, that you would hide me with the dead and forget me there until your anger ends; but mark your calendar to think of me again! 14If a man dies, shall he live again? This thought gives me hope, so that in all my anguish I eagerly await sweet death! 15You would call and I would come, and you would reward all I do.
The New King James Version states:
(Job 14:13-15) (NKJV) 13Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes. 15You shall call, and I will answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands.
Job was inspired to understand that our loving CREATOR would cause the dead to live again. The great Psalmist David states it this way:
(Psalms 16:8-10) (TLB) 8I am always thinking of the ETERNAL; and because He is so near, I never need to stumble or to fall. 9Heart, body, and soul are filled with joy. 10For You will not leave me among the dead; You will not allow Your beloved one to rot in the grave.
The English word "rot" comes the Hebrew word "ra'ah," (raw-aw') and means to see, but with an eye on the future, thus in this case to remain. King David knew he would not always remain in his grave. He knew that one-day he would be resurrected from the grave, he would see our CREATOR, and be like Him:
(Psalms 17:14-15) (KJV) 14From men which are thy hand, O ETERNAL, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. 15As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
When in the period of history, does the resurrection occur? The words "that day," in the next verse, generally refer to the time of the Tribulation and the time following it. Thus, the period is the end time or the latter days:
(Zechariah 14:3-4) (TLB) 3Then the ETERNAL [the one known as YHWH in the Old Testament] will go out fully armed for war, to fight against those nations. 4That day his feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a very wide valley running from east to west, for half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south.
Here is what the prophets Isaiah and Hosea have said of that time:
(Isaiah 25:6-8) (TLB) 6Here on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the ETERNAL CREATOR will spread a wondrous feast for everyone around the world, a delicious feast of good food, with clear, well-aged wine and choice beef. 7At that time, He will remove the cloud of gloom, the pall of death that hangs over the earth. 8He will swallow up death forever. The ETERNAL CREATOR will wipe away all tears and take away forever all insults and mockery against His land and people. The ETERNAL has spoken, He will surely do it!.
(Isaiah 26:19) (ESV) Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
(Hosea 13:14) (NKJV) I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! [Any] pity [for death] is hidden from My eyes.
The prophet Daniel has the exact same message; however, he adds another piece to the puzzle [the following crossed-out words are not in the Hebrew and were not read in the service]:
(Daniel 12:2-3) (TLB) 2And many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life
andsome to shame and everlastingcontempt. 3And those who are wise, the people of our CREATOR, shall shine as brightly as the sun's brilliance, and those who turn many to righteousness will glitter like stars forever.
The English word "everlasting" comes from the Hebrew word[2] "'owlam" (o-lawm') and means "to veil from sight or concealed for time out of mind to the vanishing point". The concept is not one of everlasting torment, but of everlasting death as compared to everlasting life. Now let us analyze what Daniel has stated. He said there would be two classes of those resurrected. Some of the dead will:
1) rise to everlasting life,
2) and some to eternal death.
The number of people who face eternal death will be small. They are the ones who personally knew our CREATOR and understood His word. They understood it to the point that they were able live it and to be able to teach it to others. They understood the Tanakh (Holy Scriptures) and what was expected of them, yet they made a decision to turn their backs on the ETERNAL's Way and went back to the ways of this world.
However, notice that he also said, "those who are wise, the people of our CREATOR, shall ...turn many to righteousness." But, how could this be? How could people be turned to righteousness after the Father has come down to stand on the Mount of Olives, after there has already been a resurrection to Spirit?
This is a mystery because it concerns another resurrection, which is a resurrection to flesh and blood. However, this other resurrection is plainly stated in The Holy Scripture:
(Ezekiel 37:1-6) (TLB) 1The power of the ETERNAL was upon me and I was carried away by the Spirit of the ETERNAL to a valley full of old, 2dry bones that were scattered everywhere across the ground. He led me around among them, and then He said to me: 3'Son of dust, can these bones become people again?' I replied, 'O ETERNAL, You alone know the answer to that.' 4Then He told me to speak to the bones and say: 'O dry bones, listen to the words of The Mighty One[3]' 5For the ETERNAL CREATOR says, 'See, I am going to make you live and breathe again! 6I will replace the flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you shall live and know I am the ETERNAL'.
Who are the people who will be resurrected as flesh and blood? They are the people, who were not called by the ETERNAL during their life times and thus they did not know Him. If they had been called and knew Him, they would be resurrected to either eternal life or eternal death. Remember that Daniel stated, "those who knew our CREATOR and followed His Way would turn many to righteousness." The other side of that is that if they knew The Holy One of Israel and turned their back on Him they would be resurrected to eternal death.
To be turned to righteousness indicates that these people were not righteous before death. They were not unrighteous[4] either or their resurrection would be to eternal death. They simply are the people who never had a chance to know our CREATOR and His righteousness. They were never exposed to the truth of who Israel is today or to the Holy One of Israel.
This group is by far the greatest majority of humankind. But, who will be their teachers? Our CREATOR states in (Daniel 12:2) that it would be those who knew our CREATOR and lived by His laws. This is a very comforting thought! Comforting because, only those who were complete heretics and rejected our CREATOR and His ways, will not be there. Of those who will be there, some will be spiritual sons and daughters of the Almighty, teaching righteousness from The Holy Scriptures, but most will be physical beings and still learning. This will be their first chance to know the truth of The Holy Scriptures. This is not their second chance, but their first, and they will be given a new 100 year period to learn the true path:
(Isaiah 65:17-20) (TLB) 17For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18But, be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the [newly risen] child shall die one hundred years old, but the [unrepentant] sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
Isn't that comforting? It is comforting to know that only the rebellious heretics will be accursed and not be there in the final resurrection*. Moreover, I know that L. C. was not a rebellious heretic. He will not be in the ranks of those that knew their CREATOR's way and yet turned their back on it. When those old family circles are re-united, L. C. will be there, and you will probably be surprised at the job he has. He was a man, who knew and loved the one, true CREATOR's Way.
For more on this vital subject, see the article: 'When A Man Dies, Shall He Live Again?'
Footnotes:
[1] [a] All scriptural links point to the Bible Gateway, A Searchable Online Bible In Over 100 Versions And 50 Languages, located at "BibleGateway.Com", a vast biblical resource containing all the major texts and reference materials useful for in-depth bible studies. Most scriptual quotations in this article, are from the (TLB) version of the Bible, however versions noted in (parentheses) should also be consulted. [b]All Strong's scriptural references point to the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, located at "BlueLetterBible.Org", another vast biblical resource which has over 4,000,000 links available, pointing to more than 165,000 pages of concordances, lexicons, dictionaries, commentaries, images, and several Bible versions.
[2] Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, #H5769 'owlam, (o-lawm').
[3] In the Holy Scriptures our CREATOR tells us to call upon His name Name YHWH, (Yahweh) meaning (the ETERNAL one), and to let His name be on our lips and in our minds and hearts (Psalms 91:14). So what has humankind done? Just the opposite. The basic meaning of the four constants are the "Ever Living One" or the "ETERNAL One". Thus, regardless of what anyone tells you, using the words [ETERNAL, CREATOR, SOVEREIGN] is as close to the original meaning as we can get. The ETERNAL also stated that we should not even make mention of the name of their [false] 'gods' (Joshua 23:7; Jeremiah 23:26-27). Humankind again, has done just the opposite. Therefore, from now on, whenever I speak or write about one of the 'baals', e.g. ['jesus' or 'god' or 'lord'], I will put the name in quotes, either single '~' or double "~". When quoting Scriptures, I will use the words ETERNAL, CREATOR, The Almighty, or Mighty One, or SOVEREIGN for 'god'. Notice what Unger's Bible Dictionary states: The Jews themselves scrupulously avoiding every mention of it, and substituting in its stead one or more titles such as, 'adonai', 'god', or 'lord'. They continued to write YHWH but refused to pronounce His true name of Yahweh. For a deeper study on this topic, see the article: I am Yahweh. That is My name, and Yahweh's People Respond To His Name.
[4] To be unrighteous means they knew what righteousness was, but willfully chose to be unrighteous.