(51)Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the Earth quaked, and the rocks were split, (52) and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; (53) and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:51-53)
Might the above passage possibly include a transcribing issue relating to how this passage is segmented into verses? Read from a strictly carnal perspective, this passage has triggered innumerable views, including some really weird ones. BUT, when read from a much higher, intuitive perspective about The Lord's multi-millennial strategic plan for humanity, it seems to come into much sharper focus. More on this below…
The Bible reveals 7 ages of history are planned for humanity, comprising 6 on this current version of Earth, and the 7th age on the promised, new, eternal Earth. The Lord has designed our time on this current Earth, as His testing and proving ground for us. From humanity, He intends to 'harvest' (preserve, reserve for Himself) remnant groups who pass His tests, and are deemed 'righteous saints' in His sight. Since any testing requires various degrees of 'resistance', He has allowed the kingdom of satan to perform this role, before receiving His final judgment -- forever confined in the promised lake of fire that burns eternally with brimstone, likely somewhere on the promised new, eternal Earth.
The Bible reveals the twins spirits and souls of people in the remnant groups from the first two ages of history (pre-flood and post-flood/pre-cross ages), were 'harvested' and preserved in a protected, upper region of hell, sometimes referred to as the bosom of Abraham. There, they remained until The Lord's crucifixion, at the end of the 2nd age of history, that paid the price for every human sin, past, present and future, for all who would embrace His sacrifice by faith. The Bible reveals Jesus' twin spirit and soul descended into this place, where He 'preached' His gospel to these captive people. (See: Ephesians 4:9, 1 Peter 3:19 and 4:6) At His resurrection, He 'led captivity captive'. That’s a rather odd phrase that sparks many interpretations. Here's my understanding.
In Psalm 68:18, The Holy Spirit, through David, used this phrase to prophesy, mysteriously, what The Lord would one day do to/for those, in spirit/soul form, who were reserved in the protected, upper region of hell. When The Lord, as a mortal man, died on Calvary, and was later resurrected bodily, He mysteriously fulfilled this prophecy! Later, under the unction of The Holy Spirit, in Ephesians 4:8, Paul referenced David's prophecy, and perhaps based on insights gleaned during His visionary visit to Heaven, he confirmed completion of this predicted event. But Paul didn't explain all the details involved, thus leaving us to speculate, sometimes wildly so!
I intuit the above passage is likely our greatest, and possibly only aid to understand the sequence of what likely happened, and what it, more broadly, strategically infers. It effectively serves as 'a prophetic bridge’, connecting David’s prophecy, to Paul's confirmation. Strategically, the passage only refers to deceased saints in and around Jerusalem. But perceptively, I believe it signals or signifies a reference to ALL occupants who were in the protected, upper region of hell.
Consider this: Matthew could only report what he personally witnessed, or what was reported to him, not what likely happened across the wider region, and indeed across the world, wherever those saints had died and were buried! Moreover, during the global flood, all graves the world over (of saints and sinners alike) were very likely seriously disturbed, and corpses were likely disfigured and then deposited all over the place, to turn into dust wherever they landed!!!
In ‘leading captivity captive’, i.e., leading these saints out of the protected region of hell, to me it is totally inconceivable that Jesus would have left anyone there! He had paid the price for the sins of every occupant who had died in faith toward Him, the unseen God, but Whom they had spiritually discerned, and thus they lived righteously. Thus, I imagine He figuratively and literally EMPTIED, then SHUT that place down – putting it out of business! Believe as you will… If so, this ‘blows out of the water’ the notion that the first rapture will be when the church is raptured, or that there will only be ONE rapture of all saints! It also defies the errant notion of purgatory, where Catholics believe deceased saints go to have their sins purged, before they can enter into Heaven. Paul's affirmation in 2 Corinthians 5:8 also contradicts this notion, and I know of no Scripture passage or signals that supports it. Moreover, the entire New Testament affirms that the sins of saints who abide in Christ until death, are forgiven and purged IN LIFE, by faith in Christ's sacrifice, not in death. Effectively, the belief in purgatory, is equivalent to Muslim’s belief in praying for the dead who lived unrighteously in life, to be accepted into Jannah!
The Lord created man in His personal image - immortal spirit, immortal soul, and immortal body. Because of Adam’s sin, our bodies lost their immortality, thus they die. Our spirit and soul never lost their immortality. The Bible has many hints that these parts of our being have the same or similar characteristics and functions, thus I refer to them as our immortal twins. To every human being, The Lord promises an immortal, physical body, thus totally recreating us in His image — immortal spirit, immortal soul, and immortal body. This promise echoes throughout The Bible.
Paul affirms the twin spirits and souls of deceased faithful, forgiven, 3rd age saints (the church), are now with The Lord. Period! I perceive they are likely on the new, eternal Earth, along with the resurrected/raptured saints from the 1st and 2nd ages of history. If so, then the key difference is the saints from the earlier ages are now in their full, tripartite, immortal form (spirit, soul, body). Saints from the 3rd age will be re-united with their physical bodies, made immortal, in the next group resurrection/rapture event – the second event of what The Bible calls ‘the first resurrection’, meaning the resurrection to eternal life. Saints from the 4th age will be re-united with their physical bodies, made immortal, in the third group resurrection to eternal life event. This is the event many 3rd age Christians erroneously believe will be the resurrection of church age saints. They may fail to perceive The Lord's planned historical ages, and His apparent tactical age-ending pattern.
NB: Regarding The Lord's 'first resurrection' concept,
‘first’ does not signify ‘one’, numerically,
as our carnal minds might imagine.
Neither does the phrase, God is One, signify ‘one’, numerically.
The word, ‘one’, had MANY qualitative meanings!
Hint: As you study The Bible, try to intuitively perceive the 7 ages of history, and what The Lord signals He will do before and at the end of each age. (For help, see: Mid-ages Musings (Series) and also Ages Transitions Global Judgments (Poem))
Admittedly, the segmentation of the above Bible passage leads some people to confuse the chronology of the noted events: Were these saints resurrected when Christ was crucified, but only came out of their graves later, when He was resurrected?? That's unimaginable!
Rather, try this:
Mentally link the first part of verse 52, to verse 51,
and the second part of verse 52, to verse 53.
Only in this manner does the likely chronology of the noted events become clear. Try it and let me know if that helps you to understand this mysterious set of events.
For His own strategic reasons, The Lord did not preserve for humanity, any known reference to a global resurrection, nor does The Bible clearly state ALL resurrected saints from the 1st and 2nd ages of history, were indeed resurrected and then raptured, and if so, to where. Ahhh, but reading and understanding His multi-millennial strategic plan (The Bible) with The Mind and Heart of Christ, and perceiving His repetitive strategic and tactical patterns throughout The Bible, it seems safe to conclude the following:
1. In His resurrection, Jesus group-led the twins spirit/soul of ALL saints from the first two ages of history, out of the upper region of hell, to become resurrected, tripartite, immortal beings (spirit, soul, body, as Adam was created), who will forever be with The Lord, including during His pending Millennial Reign, the 5th age of history.
2. Paul’s confirmation in 2 Corinthians 5:8, strategically signifies the upper region of hell was EMPTIED and SHUT down, and is no longer needed!
3. The resurrection/rapture of these people happened AFTER the 2nd, age-transitioning, global judgment, when Father God cast upon Jesus, and judged ALL human sinfulness, past, present and future, and made this applicable to anyone who would embrace Christ's sacrifice by faith. The Bible signals several subsequent group resurrection/rapture events are predicted/planned, and they will be correlated with various age-transitioning, global judgements at the end of each subsequent age of history. I intuit these group resurrection/rapture events will likely occur BEFORE those global judgments, as Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2, predicts for the very next one -- the resurrection/rapture of 3rd age saints before the predicted revealing and rise of the anti-Christ man to global influence and power. This pattern closely comports with The Lord’s Goshen effect-type protective tactical pattern: (a) initially with Noah et al, protected in the ark before the flood, and (b) later with the 1st and 2nd ages saints, protected in the upper region of hell, and (c) also with the ancient Hebrew slaves in Egypt, who were protected from the last 7 of The Lord's 10 pre-exodus plagues on ancient Egypt.
4. Ponder this: If only a few saints in the upper region of hell/hades/sheol were resurrected with Jesus, and the overwhelming majority were left there, does that seem to discount the significance of Jesus' crucifixion, Father God's requirement to forgive all sins of us who would embrace Christ's death as being our sacrifice??
For those of you who might believe the next resurrection/rapture event will occur at the end of the great tribulation, wouldn't leaving the twin spirits/souls of so many saints in hell until then, indicate they would be absent in the multitude John 'saw' in Revelation 19:1-10, and ergo, they would miss The Marriage Supper of The Lamb?? Moreover, wouldn't that appear to change the indicated significance of how the voice from The Throne references this multitude, as, '...ALL you His servants', in v. 5?
5. In light of these insights, I conclude the reported events in Matthew 27:51-53 refer to ALL The Lord's bona fide, deceased saints from the pre-cross (1st and 2nd) ages of history, not just those who happened to have been buried in/around Jerusalem, or their corpses were deposited there during the global flood.
Moreover, I must conclude endless debates in Christianity about the timing of the next group, 'first resurrection' rapture event, is very likely ...a divisive devilish tactic! The Bible strategically points to group resurrection and rapture events at both the end of this current (3rd), and also the next (4th) ages of history, i.e., the church age, and the tribulation age.
