Isaiah 26:16-19
16 O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them. 17 Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; 18 we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. 19 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.(ESV)

I love this passage from Isaiah 26. Typical of the richness of the Old Testament, present frustration and longing is juxtaposed with future hope and assurance. The prophet speaks of God’s people having  sought after God with intensity. The metaphor he uses is that of child birth. This was no passive puny prayer! Like a woman crying out in the pangs of labor God’s people sought him, but all they gave birth to was the wind. Nothing happened. No deliverance came. Ever been there? In vs 19 a new section begins. Right up against the frustration and futility of unanswered prayer comes a promise of future hope. And what is that hope? The resurrection of the dead. One day God will set right the wrongs in this world. One day deliverance will come. When this happens, even those who died never having experienced it, but who looked forward to it with faith, will bodily rise from the dead and experience the fulfillment of all God’s promises.

Ezekiel 37:1-6
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.“(ESV)

Judah had  become like a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel, with the rest of his people. was in exile in Babylon. Early in his ministry Ezekiel had spoken concerning the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Once his predictions concerning this judgment were fulfilled, he began to speak concerning the future point where God would restore his people and ultimately fulfill his promises. It must have seemed hopeless though. Like a valley of dry bones. Can these bones live?

When I compare these two passages, several interesting things emerge. Both Isaiah and Ezekiel prophecied to Judah, Isaiah prior to the Exile and Ezekiel during the Babylonian Exile. Both passages deal with a strong sense of present futility and frustration. Isaiah describes this using the metaphor of the pains of a mother during childbirth. Ezekiel envisions a valley of skeletons where the bones are so dry they are no longer even connected. In both cases the question (implicit in Isaiah and explicit in Ezekiel) is what will God do to fix this? In both cases the answer is the resurrection of the dead. Isaiah speaks of a literal resurrection from the dead. Ezekiel uses the idea of resurrection metaphorically. The bones coming back to life picture the future restoration of God’s people.

So, is the Old Testament concept of resurrection literal or figurative? Yes! As the concept of resurrection developed within the Jewish community, primarily during exile, it came to have both a literal and figurative meaning. They expected God to intervene in history and set everything right that was wrong for his people. They expected believing Jews who died before this happened to be resurrected from the dead literally so that they could literally experience the fulfillment of all God had promised. When this finally occured, it would also mean the resurrection of God’s people, their final return from Exile. In this sense, the idea of resurrection was also used figuratively.

Hosea 13:13-14
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. 14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.(ESV)

Hosea was a contemporary of Isaiah, but spoke mostly to the northern kingdom of Israel. Notice in this passage how the metaphor of childbirth is stuck right next to the promise of resurrection.  In this passage God has appealed to his people to repent. Israel has refused to be the people God had called them to be. Like a mother trying to give birth God has been laboring for their repentance but they continue in their refusal. When a baby refuses to be born, the baby dies. This seems to be the implication of the metaphor. Here God, through the prophet, raises the question of resurrection more than the promise of resurrection. “Shall I?” is not the same as “I will”. “Compassion is hidden from my eyes” (vs 14b) demonstrates that the idea of resurrection as God’s answer is beginning to emerge, but remains obscured and mysterious.

Romans 8:22-23
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.(ESV)

I give the background from the previous three OT passages in order to draw attention to this often overlooked portion of Romans 8. Paul here is speaking of the resurrection of the dead! That is what he means by “the redemption of our bodies” (vs 23b). And again, we see the childbirth metaphor present within the discussion of resurrection. This time all of creation is in labor. All of creation is longing for new birth. In the Old Testament the focus of resurrection is upon Israel and Judah and the promise of the end of exile and their restoration to the land. In Romans 8, not excluding but including the previous, we see the focus broadened to all of creation and the longing for New Creation.

And again, resurrection is literal and figurative. When Christ returns, there will be a bodily resurrection of the dead. But to what will they rise? They will rise to a renewed heavens and earth, where everything wrong is set right in our world.

Daniel 12:1-3
1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.(ESV)

Revelation 21:1-5
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.“(ESV)

I find myself challenged in these days to make sure my future hope is also anchored in the hope of a resurrection yet to come where not only will I rise, but where all the world will be renewed, where heaven and earth will be joined once more, and where God will again dwell among his people. I think I’m feeling the labor pains already.

Habakkuk 2:14
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.(ESV)