To understand the different resurrections requires careful OBSERVATION, OBSERVATION, OBSERVATION and CONTEXT! By noting carefully the context of the resurrection passages, one can see the layout and the different periods of fulfillment for this doctrine mentioned in the Bible.
What are some of the Old Testament passages dealing with the resurrection of the Old Testament saints?
Isaiah 26:19 says, "Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy. ... And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits." Job said, "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. ... whom my eyes shall see and not another" (Job 19:25-27). To Daniel it was said, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting ‘rejection’" (Dan. 12:3), and "But as for you [Daniel], go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age" (v. 13).
The "end of the age" is a specific phrase referring to the coming of the messianic kingdom. It is the time of blessing looked for by the Old Testament saints. Daniel, and apparently all the Old Testament saints will be resurrected at that time to enter the Davidic kingdom.
Probably from this Job 19 and Daniel 12 passages the Jews firmly believed in a resurrection of those who had previously died. Jesus told Martha, "Your brother shall rise again" (John 11:23) and she responded, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day" (v. 24). The context of all the verses above has to do with the Old Testament and not the New Testament church saints.
Is Matthew 27:52 about the resurrection of the Old Testament saints?
When Christ died and yielded up His spirit (v. 50), the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom (v. 51) and following His resurrection we read: "the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many" (vv. 52-53). This was not the general resurrection of the Old Testament saints, it was a kind of resuscitation of "many bodies" very similar to what happened to Lazarus in John 11:1-44. They were not given glorified bodies. This is not to say that they had not died; they indeed were dead and brought back to life! This becomes then a "picture" of resurrection, but Lazarus and those who came out of their graves in Jerusalem, died again. This was not a "resurrection" to heaven! Those who came out of the grave were seen "by many." They must have gone back to the houses of their loved ones. Can you imagine the joy of their relatives seeing them alive?
This resurrection miracle and sign marker happened in order to focus on the event that took place concerning Christ. It was an audio-visual confirmation that God was at work in what had just happened.
What about the thief on the cross?
When the Old Testament saints are resurrected it is for the kingdom reign of the Messiah. We know this be the request of the thief on the cross. He said, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" (Luke 23:43). By this he seems to be confirming that he knew Jesus was the promised Messiah and would immediately return to reign and rule on earth. Christ’s kingdom then to the thief could only be the messianic rule! But the Lord bypassed his statement. For at that time, the soul and spirit of the thief would ascend up into heaven to await the far future coming to earth of the millennial Davidic kingdom. Heaven is not His kingdom! He is not ruling on David’s throne in heaven! Christ said, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise" [not in earthly the kingdom] (v. 43). The kingdom reign would come later but this was not explained at that time to the thief.
What about the resurrection of the Church saints?
The resurrection of the church saints is about "those asleep IN Jesus" (1 Thess. 4:14). These are not Old Testament saints but those "in Him." Paul adds that the resurrection is about "the dead in Christ [who] shall be raised first (before those who are in Christ are raptured)" (v. 16). "In Jesus, In Christ" are technical expressions that are not used of the saints of other dispensations.
This "in Christ" is used throughout the epistles. Paul writes about "those also who have fallen asleep IN Christ …" and "If we have hope [who are] IN Christ …" (1 Cor. 15:18-19).
The resurrection of the church saints takes place just seconds before the rapture of the living church saints. These events have nothing to do with Israel but they are about the present church age which is now made up of Jew and Gentile. The Old Testament saints are never said "to be IN Christ," though the blood of Christ is certainly applied back to their salvation.
What about "He led captive a host of captives"?
Ephesians 4:7-12 has nothing to do with the doctrine of the resurrection. It is about the "giving of grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift" (v. 7). Specifically, it is not about the giving of general gifts to all the church saints but it is about the key gifts that form the corner stones of the church—the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors INDEED teachers (v. 11). These church "establishing" gifts were for the building of the church, "for the equipping of the saints that they may do the work of the ministry, to the building up of the body of Christ" (v. 12). These particular gifts are not given to all the saints but just to certain ones in order that they may bless the larger body of believers!
Paul reaches back to Psalm 68:18 and uses as an illustration the picture of a conquering general who sets captives free and then grants gifts to men (v. 8). "Hence, it appears that Paul takes this prevailing theme of God’s gifts to people and applies it to the church." (Hoehner, Ephesians)
Having descended to the "lower parts" means the grave. "Christ’s death accomplished victory over the evil powers and sin and redemption for those who believe. The gifts are then dispensed and given to specific redeemed saints." (Hoehner) But there is nothing here that implies He took saints to heaven when He came out of the grave.
How do we know the church saints are resurrected and raptured before the seven-year tribulation?
When Paul described "the Day of the Lord," which is the tribulation, he works hard to make the point that the church saints are not present when it comes. He writes of "them" and "they" who say "Peace and safety" but never implies the church, the "we" and "us" are there when it arrives (1 Thess. 5:2-3). He says "you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day [of the Lord] should overtake you like a thief" (v. 4). The apostle then summarizes in verse 9: "For God has not destined us for wrath but for obtaining deliverance through our Lord Jesus Christ."
In the book of Revelation, the tribulation begins in chapter 6. Just before, in chapter 5, we see a great host of saints in glory praising God. They are praying and singing a new song before the Lamb. The Lamb is seated on His Father’s throne and has not come to earth as yet to establish His millennial reign (5:13b). Those singing the new song have been gathered to heaven before the tribulation. They have "been purchased" by Christ’s blood "from every tribe and tongue and people and nation" (v. 9). With the Aorist Tense (completed action) referring back to the past, this verse reads: "You MADE them A KINGDOM and PRIESTS to our God, and they WILL REIGN (Future Tense) upon the earth."
Church saints will have a role in the earthly kingdom. Presently, church saints form a kingdom and a spiritual priesthood but we are not the key people, the Jews, who are the main earthly recipients, a physical remnant, of the kingdom blessing, as they reside on earth in their earthly bodies. Church saints will be here on earth in their new, glorified bodies! But that kingdom is the one looked for by the Old Testament saints.
Church saints presently are A KINGDOM but we are not THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM of the future (see 1:6). In the Greek text this reads:
And He MADE (Aorist Tense) us a kingdom, priests to God and His Father,
to Him the glory and the power into the ages of the ages. Verily!
What about tribulation saints?
They are the ones, "the souls," who had not worshipped the beast during the tribulation. "They come to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4).
Who are "The rest of the dead [who] did not come to life until the thousand years were completed" (v. 5). Since it says "the rest of the dead" the implication seems to be about all the lost, the unbelievers of all generations. This seems to tie in with Daniel 12:2, when the prophet Daniel speaks of two periods of resurrection: "Those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these (the righteous) to everlasting life, BUT THE OTHERS TO DISGRACE AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT."
John writes about "the first resurrection" as the resurrection of the righteous (Rev. 20:5b). This is confirmed in verse 6 when he writes, "Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the FIRST resurrection; over these the second death has no power." "First" (protos) is most often used as referring to importance of rank and not simply as referring to chronology. Here, it is of the quality of resurrection that is in view.
The resurrection of the lost
There seems to be only one resurrection for all of the lost of all generations. The resurrection for judgment is explained in Revelation 20:11-15. These are the dead who are raised to be "judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds" (v. 12). "Death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire" (vv. 13-14).
The Bible paints a terrible picture of the resurrection of the lost. Walvoord writes: "The resurrection of damnation, however, is an awful spectacle. Men will be given bodies that will last forever, but bodies that are sinful and subject to pain and suffering. Like the devil and his angels, they will exist forever in the lake of fire." (Major Bible Themes, p. 343)
Conclusion
The Bible makes best sense when all the resurrections are put in proper order by context!
