The New Testament tells of many saints that were dead having been brought back at the moment Jesus was crucified,their graves having been opened (Matthew 27:52) I know a little about The Feasts of Israel from watching Zola Levitt,whose program I discovered shortly after I became born again in 1979, and have heard it said that these people were Jesus' Waive Offering to The Father on the day He was raised from the dead,FirstFruits. Were they taken to heaven or did they stay here and eventually die again? Bill

I'm a preacher's kid and former Lutheran teacher and Bible class leader. I was always taught and then continued to teach it myself that those resurrected continued to be alive and later died a second death. The Bible does not tell us, so anything we think is total conjecture.

There is nothing in the bible that gives us that information.

Interestingly I just recently heard someone preach on this topic. I have a high regard for this Pastor so I will share his thoughts because it made sense to me.

He said he believed these saints were people like David, Isaiah... OT saints that were written about. We know they went into the city and showed themselves to people. Also when Jesus assended to heaven after 40 days there was a cloud he was taken up with. He believes that this "cloud" were the saints that were also ressurrected. The Bible is self defining and there is a verse in Revelation concerning a cloud of witnesses , anyway his point was that there are times in the bible when the word "cloud" actually means a group of believers.

Of course he did a way better job at explaining it but that was the jist of it.

I smiled when I read the name Zola Levitt. Haven't heard him in years.

As Fr_Chuck mentioned, there is no info given about this and anything really is speculation. I've always believed it was a temporary return, however I wouldn't argue one way or the other about it.

Kudos to ClassyT's response... I enjoyed it!

Something I've always wondered is, how did the people of the city know who these guys were? Were they wearing name tags, "HELLO My name is Isaiah" or something like that? Assuming they were OT big-names, nobody knew what they looked like, so how would they know that was Samuel or Zechariah or Josiah or whoever? My suspicion is that they were godly people from the city who had died not that long ago, so there were still folks around who recognized them. But I sure won't go to the stake for that idea.

Dave,

Maybe. Or maybe they told them who they were. I like thinking it was the big wigs of the OT but the bible really doesn't say. Interestingly though at the mount of transfiguration, Peter had no trouble figuring out who Isaiah and Moses were.

The bible is an exciting book with all kinds of hidden truths. I don't think it is wrong to ponder these things.

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Originally Posted by ;

The bible is an exciting book with all kinds of hidden truths. I don't think it is wrong to ponder these things.

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I quite agree. I just like to remind myself that we're speculating, and that the book doesn't really say. If you've read my Josiah novel, you know I'm not afraid to find ways to fill in the gaps ;-)

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Originally Posted by dwashbur

I quite agree. I just like to remind myself that we're speculating, and that the book doesn't really say. If you've read my Josiah novel, you know I'm not afraid to find ways to fill in the gaps ;-)

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That is SUCH a terrific book, and so well edited!!

Well,here's something to ponder on: Didn't the scene at the tomb after the resurection look an awful lot like the inside of The Holy of Holy's? A slab onwhich Jesus' body had laid and an angel at each end. I watched Perry Stone teach on this (he did not say he had Scriptual proof he was right) and he also suggested that the 2 angels had brought down the pure white robe from the Heavenly Tabernacle and that that was what Mary had seen Him wearing. Pure speculation,I'll admit,but I love to ponder such things. As for Zola,he was the one that made such things facinating to me. His teachings on The Seven Feasts are amazing. He opened my eyes to the fact that The Old Testament was written for Christians and that it held just as much "food" as The New. Like,Genesis chapter 24. A beautiful image of Salvation. I thank The Lord that He led me to tune in to Zola over 30 years ago.