Peter and Resurrection

by Donald Webb

Peter referred to the resurrection of Christ several times in the early chapters of Acts but always with a view to the prophetic kingdom. The day of Pentecost itself was a demonstration of the resurrection of Christ that pertained to the kingdom program. Peter addressed the nation Israel and accused them of crucifying the Lord Jesus. His next declaration was:

Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it (Acts 2:24)

As Peter proclaimed this truth, he explained that the prophetic word of David had been fulfilled. Verse 30 tells us that God swore to David by an oath that of His loins according to the Flesh Christ would come to sit on David's throne. Peter then said:

He, seeing this before, spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hades, neither His flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear (Acts 2:31-33).

That which they then saw and heard was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Peter explained that this was a demonstration that Christ had been raised to sit on David's throne. It is in exactly this regard that Peter said:

Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).

Peter proclaimed the Lord Jesus to be raised as the Christ, the rightful heir to David's throne. To the nation Israel this meant He was the King who would establish the kingdom on heaven on earth. It is on this basis that Peter offered the nation the times of refreshing and the return of Christ in Acts 3:19-21.

After another notable miracle, Peter again proclaimed Christ raised from the dead in verse 15, and he told the nation the object of this miraculous ministry:

Unto you first god, having raised up His Son, Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning every one of you from his iniquities (Acts 3:26).

The response of the leaders of Israel was clear:

And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead (Acts 4:1,2).

But Peter proclaimed to them:

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you well (Acts 4:10).

The object of Peter's message was boldly proclaimed:

Neither is there salvation in any other; for there in none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Peter's final appeal was in Acts 5:29-32 where after their second confrontation he again declared that Christ had been raised to be a Prince and a Savior to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins of which both they and the Holy Spirit had been witnesses. Thus, Peter preached resurrection in relation to the prophetic program, and the Jews' salvation and hope were based upon Christ being raised to sit on David's throne.

In this light it is astonishing to find the leaders of Israel rejecting Peter's message of Christ resurrection. Did not Abraham and David --as well as all the Old Testament saints who had died -- have a hope of resurrection into that same kingdom of which Peter spoke? Indeed, they did, and the Old Testament Scriptures attest to that very fact!

One of the greatest promises of God to the nation Israel was that of resurrection, which was based upon the resurrection of Christ. Ezekiel 37 was certainly one of the most important passages in this regard that a Jew could know. Every Jew who had the opportunity to read this chapter should have had it memorized. If 1 Thessalonians 4 means anything to the church of this dispensation, then Ezekiel 37 should have been the Jew's favorite portion on the hope of those who had died under the kingdom program.

Ezekiel's vision of dry bones laid the foundation for the kingdom hope of Israel. This was the portion the Lord used in John 3 to rebuke Nicodemus for not understanding the truth of being born from above. Nicodemus was a master or a teacher in Israel, and yet, to his discredit, he knew nothing of this great truth which was the hope of Israel.

Ezekiel 37:11-14 dramatically shows the exact nature of how God will perform this feat of resurrection in Israel. This great portion relates how the nation will go from a position of seeming desolation to one of glorious restoration through resurrection. At this time the Spirit of God will be put within them, and they will be placed in their own land in the kingdom, forever. In verse 15 through 22 we learn how the Lord will heal the division between the tem northern tribes and the two southern tribes, so they will again be one nation. In verse 21 through 28 they will dwell in the promised land with one King, and they will enjoy God's covenant of peace forever.

This whole portion constitutes resurrection of the "many" (Daniel 12:2) who will awake to everlasting life. This is the prophesied resurrection for the nation of Israel that must be kept separate from the unprophesied resurrection of the church, the Body of Christ. The Lord Jesus also made reference to this prophesied resurrection in the Book of John:

Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28, 29).

This is Israel's prophesied resurrection, and it is actually two resurrections separated by a period of one thousand years. To help understand this, we turn to the Book of Revelation. There we learn the exact workings of the completion of the day of the Lord and the Second Coming of Christ to establish the millennial kingdom:

...and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon his foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years (Revelation 20:4,6).

But concerning the second resurrection, it says:

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished...(Revelation 20:5)

Verses 12 through 15 speak of the final resurrection of the unjust, who then die the second death in the lake of fire. So, prophetically, the first resurrection is this one at the beginning of the millennium and is the one to which all Israel looks.

We believe this is when Old Testament saints will be raised to enter their kingdom hope as taught in Ezekiel 37. But the second resurrection is at the end of the millennium and is the expectation of all the lost of all ages. The first resurrection is a prophetic resurrection for the nation Israel and is separate from the secret resurrection for which we, the Body of Christ, wait. We could say that Israel's first resurrection takes place at the Second Coming of Christ.

We have seen how Peter's ministry in the Book of Acts preached Christ's resurrection to Israel in relation to His second Coming.

From: Basic Bible Doctrines
Written by: Donald Webb
Published by: Day of Grace Ministries
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©1996