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....And the graves were opened....

Discussion in '2003 Archive' started by WonderingOne, Jun 14, 2003.

  1. WonderingOne

    WonderingOne New Member

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    I would be really interested in hearing your comments on the verses below. If these dead saints came out of their the graves and walked around in Jerusalem, how do we reconcile this with Hebrews 9:27, which says it is appointed unto man once to die? Does this mean that they died for a second time after this event? Or were they caught up to heaven somehow? I know that Christ went and released the righteous dead during the three days before His reserrection-were these people included in that? What do you think happened?

     
  2. Artimaeus

    Artimaeus Active Member

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    Several people were raised from the dead during Christ's ministry on the Earth. Lazarus and others. They all died again. It is appointed unto man ONCE to die and these folks died TWICE. Is the Bible wrong? No, my understanding is wrong. It doesn't say, ONCE and ONLY ONCE, so that should not be my thinking. Everyone dies and THAT is what is being taught.
    You WILL die once but it is up to God whether you will die twice or more.
     
  3. npetreley

    npetreley New Member

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    IMO the answer is obvious. "It is appointed" means "this is the plan". That doesn't mean there aren't exceptions to the plan or deviations from the plan.
     
  4. Scarlett O.

    Scarlett O. Moderator
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    When I read the end of Hebrews 9, I think the emphasis is on the finality of Christ's sacrifice and man's choice to love or not love Jesus.

    I don't see the emphasis being on the number "one".

    The writer says (to me) that Jesus is not going to die over and over for our sins and just like His sacrifice is once and for all, then after we die our eternal life is sealed once and for all.

    Jesus dies as the Lamb once. There is no "do over".

    And when we die, there will be no "do overs".

    Didn't the passage say that these people who rose from the dead were "saints"? Their rest in God's love was already sealed.

    Peace-

    YSIC
    Scarlett O.
    <><
     
  5. R. Charles Blair

    R. Charles Blair New Member

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    "And the graves were opened" - Note Leviticus 23:9-14. On the Sunday morning after the Passover sabbath, the high priest went into a nearby field to pluck a handful of first-ripe grain ("First-fruits," pl.) - a "wave offering" showing faith in the harvest to come (Pentecost being "Thanksgiving" for the full harvest). On the Sunday morning after the death and burial, when Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us,
    Christ our Great High Priest came out of the grave with a "handful of first-ripe grain," token of faith in the final harvest (I Cor. 15:20). They "went into the holy city and were seen of many" - not, surely, into "Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified," Rev. 11:8, but into the New Jerusalem with Him. The open graves were a token to those on earth. Who were they? Possibly OT saints, maybe the "Hall of Faith" folks from Heb. 11? Remember "firstfruits" is plural, so Christ brought out selected others.

    R. Charles Blair - Ro. 8:28
     
  6. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    hapax may also be translated (rarely) "one at a time" or "once in sequence".

    I personally believe it an exception to the rule by Jesus, which is His privilege, as He did with Lazarus et al.
     
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