Our Great Hope

“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” (Isa 26:19 AV)

The hope of the resurrection of which Paul spoke of is, among other paces, right here!  In the context of the chapter, Isaiah is speaking of Israel’s hope amidst the judgment of the Gentile nations around her.  The prophet is saying, unequivocally, that no matter what they perceive, the hope of Israel will come.  Of this, there is no dispute.  The LORD will return.  The dead in Christ shall rise.  We shall dwell with the LORD eternally and the events of this world will fade like the night sky.  This is the hope of all who believe in Jesus Christ.  Israel is in for more hard times.  The first Battle of Gog and Magog is still on the horizon.  Then comes the seven years tribulation which ends in hiding out for three and a half years being sustained by the hand of God.  Then comes the battle of Armageddon.  Not to mention all the trouble Israel has endured because they rejected Jesus Christ the first time.  If I lived in Israel, I would lose hope.  It seems like all news is bad news.  However, the hope of Israel is our hope, too.  That hope is the final resurrection and eternal life which follows.

To get the full power of the verse above, one must read it in context.  Then, apply it to our world today.  I use an app called Feedly.  It is an RSS feed news gatherer and reader.  The user can sign up for RSS feeds from their favorite sites.  I have many!  The thing is, almost all the RSS feeds are negative in one way or another.  There is one crisis after another.  Even the sports feeds I receive are not encouraging.  No matter the story, it has a negative spin on it.  Let’s face it.  We have a lot which is discouraging right now.  We are living amid a virus that seems to have no end.  If there is any good news, and there is plenty, it is put way down on the list of articles because dire news sells more than good news.  Some riots threaten to turn our nation into another Marxist country.  Now that police morale is at an all-time low, crime is on the rise.  We see our leaders who have clearly committed crime getting off because justice is not quick or even present.  Our economy is not what it was a mere four months ago.  Some are even calling it a depression.  Add that to the rise of other nations who see a weakness growing in the United States, and it is a wonder we are not all jumping off the bridge.  What hope do we have?  When will this all end?

Our hope is in this verse.  The grave is for the keeping of our bodies until the judgment of the world is accomplished.  For the N.T. saint, this will happen at the Rapture of the church.  For Israel and the rest of the world, this will happen at the end of the Millenial reign of Christ.  Now, there may be some disagreement over the when, but the eventuality can not be disputed.  That is, when we have risen with Christ, we shall reign with Him.  There will be an end to all this.  The world will be recreated in holiness and true righteousness.  No more troubles.  We may be ‘asleep’ for a while, but we shall rise again.  We shall rise to a new and glorious hope.  One which the world, the devil, and the flesh cannot mare.  One where they are non-existent.  An eternity with nothing but peace and joy.  What a day that will be!