PTNews
April 2017
Published 10 times annually
All Bible references are from the KJV
(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)
P.O. Box 13006, Roanoke, VA 24030-3006
The Resurrection of Messiah: Why the Third Day?
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.“
The Bible is intricately woven together. The facets of biblical truth are like the multitude of cuts on a brilliant diamond. They must be studied very closely under great light to appreciate the work of the master that created them. It is very difficult for the finite human mind to grasp the fascinating features of God’s eternal purposes which are found on every page of His eternal Word — the Bible. I have experienced great joy in spending much of my life pouring over these profound truths.
It is both humbling and gratifying to recognize that before the foundation of the world, God determined His eternal plan “according to the good pleasure of his will.” (Ephesians 1:5) He has given to us His written revelation to make “known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself: That in the dispensation [management] of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.” (Ephesians 1:9-10)
The central message of the Bible is not about redemption, but the Redeemer, Jesus the Messiah. It is not about the creation, but the Creator, Jesus the Messiah. The central theme of the Bible is riveted upon God and His Son, bound up in His eternal purposes before the foundation of the world. From the moment Jesus spoke the physical world into existence until the implosion of those atoms at the end of this age (2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 20:11), the work of Christ has been divinely ordained and coordinated within the sovereign control of the triune God of heaven and earth. Nothing has been left to chance. Central to all of this is Jesus Christ, “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8)
I have been continually wowed by the reality of God’s eternal plans for His Son. Not only do these plans cover all of the meticulous details of what Messiah would accomplish and where He would achieve them, but even the precise time of His endeavors. This is the very stuff that Biblical prophecy focuses upon. This is just the first page, download the .pdf file 
The triune, infinite God lives in the eternal now. He is “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity.” (Isaiah 57:15) Simply put, this means that God does not have a past or future. As One who is omnipresent, He is not bound by space or time. He is present everywhere at the same moment. (Psalm 139:7-12) As One who is a Spirit, He is not bound by the physical creation. (John 4:24) As One who is omniscient, He has complete and perfect knowledge of all things. (Psalm 139:1-6; 147:5) As One who is omnipotent, He has complete control over all of His creation. (Jeremiah 32:17) As the One and only true God, He is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the entire creation. He is sovereign over time because time dwells in Him. Therefore, speaking to finite man bound by time, space, and matter, God has spoken to us in His revelation within our context of time. He knows this is our only way to approach an understanding of His infinite character, abilities, and work. As we consider all of this, our finite minds fail to grasp the infinite greatness of our God. David, king of Israel, wrote: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” (Psalm 139:6) The prophet Isaiah, writing about the greatness of God, declared: “Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counselor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14) The apostle Paul proclaimed: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33)
Friends, there is nothing that God does not know. He never learns anything. Nothing ever surprises Him. In His infinite foreknowledge, He knows everything about everything and everybody. His eternal plan covers both His perfect will (what He as a holy and good God will do), and His permissive will (what He will allow His sinful creatures and fallen creation to do that does not please Him, but is a mysterious part of His eternal plan).
At the center of the Father’s eternal plan is His Son. Speaking of the Son, the Bible declares: “… all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. … For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.” (Colossians 1:16-17, 19) Therefore, it should not surprise us that the exact timing of every aspect of Christ’s work and ministry was determined with minute detail in the eternal decree of the triune God.
Jesus was born at the exact moment of time chosen by God. (Galatians 4:4) Jesus’ life and ministry were set in the precise framework of time chosen by God in His eternal decree. (Daniel 9:24-26) The time of Christ’s death and resurrection took place at the exact ordained moment “according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
For many years, I have studied and meditated upon the exact time of Christ’s death on the cross and how it perfectly fits into God’s plan for His Son and our Messiah, Jesus. The first three gospels report that Jesus died precisely at 3 p.m. on the day of Passover on the Jewish calendar. (Matthew 27:45-50; Mark 15:33-37; Luke 23:44-46) This was the exact moment when the priests began to slaughter thousands of Passover lambs on the Temple Mount only a few hundred yards from the place of Christ’s crucifixion. About 25 years later, the Apostle Paul referred to Jesus as our Passover lamb, who was sacrificed for us. (1 Corinthians 5:7)
However, to my knowledge, very little has been written about why Christ arose from the grave on the third day. Christ came to accomplish the eternal decree of His Father. He made it abundantly clear that He was to die and be raised from the dead on the third day. Near the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus told His Jewish opponents: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) The Jews thought He was referring to the temple built by King Herod the Great, but John added that Jesus was speaking “about the temple of his body.” (John 2:21) The gospels record that there were at least three separate occasions when Jesus spoke to His disciples of His death and resurrection on the third day. Concerning the time near the end of His public ministry, Matthew wrote: “From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” (Matthew 16:21) See also Matthew 17:22-23 and 20:18-19.
It is remarkable to note that the Jewish opponents of Jesus did not forget that Jesus had predicted He would raise from the dead on the third day. At His Jewish trial on the evening before His death, false witnesses reminded the Jewish court that Jesus had predicted He would raise up the temple in three days after it would be destroyed. (Matthew 26:60-61) After Jesus’ death, the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate to request that a Roman guard be placed around the tomb of Jesus, saying: “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.” (Matthew 27:63)
Therefore, it is clear that Jesus understood that He was to die and be raised from the dead on the third day according to the eternal decrees of the triune God before the foundation of the world. While preaching on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter acknowledged this when he told his Jewish audience that Jesus’ death and resurrection were according to “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.” (Acts 2:23) Obviously, all of this means that God had a reason for Jesus’ resurrection on the third day. Why the third day? Why not within two days, or four days? Let us examine the Scriptures to find the answer to this question.
First, it was on the third day of the creation week in Genesis 1 that God began creating life on earth. In the first two days of creation, God created the vastness of space, with the planets, including earth. He also surrounded the earth with a water canopy and waters upon the face of the earth. Then, on the third day God separated the water from dry land. Up to this point, God’s creation on earth was lifeless. Then, He said: “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.” (Genesis 1:11)
The Lord Jesus spoke to the earth and commanded the plant life to come forth. When Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus, he gave the command: “Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:43) Earlier, while speaking to Lazarus’ two sisters, Jesus spoke of Lazarus’ “resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24) Then He said: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth, and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)
The third day of creation was a special day. It was the beginning of life on earth. It was also the only day of the creation week of which the Bible says twice “God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:10, 12) Jewish people have noted that this was the only day of the creation week that was doubly blessed by God. Therefore, Tuesday is the day most Jewish weddings take place. Notice that the marriage in Cana of Galilee where Jesus turned the water into wine took place on “the third day.” (John 2:1)
Most Biblical students agree that the account of Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah in Genesis 22 was a foreshadowing of the death and resurrection of the Messiah. Isaac’s raising up from the altar was a picture of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 11:17, 19) It is not an accident that all of this happened “on the third day” of their journey to Mount Moriah. (Genesis 22:4) Speaking to His disciples on the resurrection day, Jesus opened the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses, and expounded upon His fulfillment of these passages. (Luke 24:25-27, 44-45) I believe that the account of Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah must have been a part of the conversation Jesus had with His disciples as they witnessed His resurrection appearance. As He spoke with these disciples He said, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.“ (Luke 24:46) By Jesus’ own words, this was a fulfillment of the revelation given to Moses, beginning with Genesis.
The Scriptures report that Jesus also spoke to His disciples on the day of His resurrection about the prophetic details of His death, burial, and resurrection in the Psalms and all the prophets. (Luke 24:27, 44) A multitude of the Messianic Psalms and the prophets include incredible prophecies about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. (See Psalm 16:10; 22; 69:20-21; 129:3; Isaiah 53; and Daniel 9:24-26.)
However, within the Psalms and prophets, there is only one passage that possibly speaks of a resurrection on the third day — Hosea 5:14-6:3. In this amazing passage, the Scriptures record the words of the Messiah in 5:14-15. Then, the responsive words of Israel are mentioned in 6:1-3. As in this context, in the Bible the Messiah and Israel are uniquely and intricately knit together. And, as we shall see, Hosea’s prophecy speaks of a resurrection of the entire living nation of Israel on the third day of the final three days of the Tribulation Period. Like Messiah, their resurrection will be preceded by Israel being “torn” and “smitten” (Hosea 6:1), the same language used to describe Messiah’s abuse before His ultimate death and resurrection on the third day.
Some people have interpreted this passage symbolically. They believe that the two days represent the 2,000 years from the time that Christ ascended back to heaven until the time of Israel’s repentance in the last days. In this interpretation, the third day is the millennial kingdom. However, Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, in his excellent book, The Footsteps of the Messiah, clearly demonstrates that this passage must be interpreted literally. It is speaking of the last three days of the Tribulation Period when the forces of the Antichrist will lay siege against Jerusalem as described in Zechariah 12:1-9 and 14:1-2. When that day comes, it will appear that all hope is lost for Israel to successfully defend itself against the Antichrist’s armies. After two days of fierce fighting, Jerusalem is about to suffer a major defeat. Then, Messiah will “go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Zechariah 14:3) On that third day of the attack upon Jerusalem, the Lord will appear, and an amazing thing will take place. The Lord has declared: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem … In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” (Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1) At this moment in time, on the third day of the Antichrist’s siege against Jerusalem, the remnant of the entire living nation of Israel will be saved. (Romans 11:26-27)
Hosea 5:14-15 records the words of Messiah about His people Israel. In verse 14, Messiah warns: “For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I even I, will tear and go away; I will take away and none shall rescue him.” Verse 15 describes the tearing of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the international dispersion of Israel as prophesied by Jesus 40 years before. (Matthew 23:34-39; Luke 21:20-24) In Hosea 5:15, Messiah declares: “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” Concerning this verse, Arnold Fruchtenbaum writes: “There are certain presuppositions behind the understanding of this verse. Before anyone can go back to a place he must first leave it. In this passage God states that He is going to go back to His place. God’s place is heaven. Before God can go back to heaven, He must first leave it. The question is, when did God ever leave heaven? God left heaven at the incarnation in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Then, because of one specific offense committed against Him, He returned to heaven at the ascension from the Mount of Olives. This verse further states that He will not come back to earth until that offense that caused Him to return to heaven is acknowledged or confessed. … The national offense of Israel was the rejection of His Messiahship. According to this verse, only when this offense is acknowledged or confessed will Christ return to earth.” (Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of the Messiah, p. 214)
Recorded in Hosea 6:1-3 are are the words that the spiritual leadership of Israel will say to the entire nation only three days from end of “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” (Jeremiah 30:7) Please read Hosea 6:1-3. Once again, Fruchtenbaum writes: “Verses 1-3 are in the form of a call issued by the Jewish leaders exhorting the nation to repent and confess their national sin (verse 1-2) Only then will the physical blessings Israel once enjoyed be restored to her. (verse 3) The leaders of Israel will finally recognize the reason why the tribulation has fallen on them. Whether this will be done by the study of the Scriptures, or by the preaching of the 144,000, or via the two witnesses, … or by the ministry of Elijah, is not clearly stated. Most likely it will be a combination of these things, but the leaders will come to a realization of the national sin in some way. Just as the Jewish leaders once led the nation to the rejection of the Messiahship of Jesus, they will then lead the nation to the acceptance of His Messiahship by issuing the call of Hosea 6:1-3. The confession of Israel’s national sin will last for two days as the entire nation becomes regenerated and saved. …. In this confession, they admit that the nation had looked upon Jesus as nothing more than another man, a criminal who had died for his own sins. However, on this occasion they recognize that He was no ordinary man, but the perfect Lamb of God, the Messiah Himself. Furthermore, it was not for His own sins that Messiah died, but for theirs, so that they need not be stricken for their sin.” (Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of the Messiah, pp. 233-234)
The Jewish people will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and like the disciples on the day of Christ’s resurrection, their spiritual eyes will be opened and they will understand the Messianic Scriptures, beginning with Moses, the Psalms, and all of the prophets. In Hosea 6:1-3, they will declare: “… he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter [winter] and former [spring] rain unto the earth.” They will realize that like the blessings of rain in the winter and spring, the coming of Messiah to Israel will occur twice. He came the first time as the suffering Messiah and condemned Israel to suffering and dispersion. He will return the second time to bless Israel and to finally “assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:12)
Their hearts will be broken. They will realize that Jesus of Nazareth really was and is their Messiah. The guilt and remorse of the nation’s rejection of Jesus as the Messiah for 2,000 years will overwhelm them. Zechariah 12:10-14 describes this time of heart-felt repentance.
In the Bible there are several resurrections. However, the two that must be compared with each other as taking place on the third day are the resurrection of Messiah and the resurrection of the entire nation of Israel. The physical resurrection of Messiah was the culmination of His 33 1/2 years on this earth. It took place only three days after His death. Like Messiah, the physical and spiritual resurrections of Israel are a divine process. In the colorful prophetic language of Ezekiel 37:1-14, the dispersed nation of Israel is graphically portrayed as a valley of dry bones that are disconnected and scattered in the middle of a valley. (Ezekiel 37:11) Twice the prophet Ezekiel is commanded by God to speak to these bones. In Ezekiel 37:1-8, the first miracle of the re-gathering of these bones speaks of the physical resurrection of Israel. This is a process that we are witnessing at this very moment in time. The process of the physical return of the Jewish people in unbelief to their ancient homeland has been going on for 100 years. Obviously, this was realized with the beginning of the modern nation of Israel on May 14, 1948. However, Ezekiel 37:9-14 speaks of the spiritual resurrection of the nation of Israel. In verse 14, God says, “And [I] shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live.” Compare these words with Hosea 6:2: “After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”
Friends, I believe that Jesus arose from the grave on the third day after His death because He was identifying with His people whom He will eventually raise up on the third day as mentioned in Hosea 6:2. The Messiah and His people, Israel, are uniquely bound together in God’s eternal decrees. Therefore, it is only fitting that they both would be raised up on the third day.
Hosea 5:15 ends with these words: “in their affliction they will seek me early.” I believe that the context of this passage, and the entire context of the prophetic Scriptures, indicate that this phrase refers to the beginning of the Tribulation Period. At the very beginning of the Tribulation Period, on day one, the two Jewish witnesses (Moses and Elijah) mentioned in Revelation 11:2-13 appear in Jerusalem. Their ministry in Jerusalem for the entire first half of the Tribulation Period will have a profound impact upon the world’s Jewish population. First, 144,000 young, virgin Jewish men will be saved and trained by the two witnesses for world evangelism. (Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1-5) The impact will be great. While writing about events in Jerusalem during the Tribulation Period, the prophet Joel revealed: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons [see Joel 2:27 to understand these are the sons of Israel] and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. … And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” (Joel 2:28-29, 32)
Friends, the miraculous process of the redemption of Israel will begin, as Hosea 5:15 indicates, early in the Tribulation Period, and will culminate with God pouring out “upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications.” (Zechariah 12:10) Then, all of living Israel will be saved.
I believe that we are witnessing an unusual movement of Jesus and His Spirit in the Middle East at this very hour. According to the text mentioned above, during the Tribulation Period, the Lord will pour out upon the Jewish people His spirit and some of them will have visions and dreams, and be saved. It is not an accident that in the Arab/Islamic nations that surround Israel, thousands of Muslims are having visions of Jesus and almost without exception, all are coming to salvation in Jesus Christ. Friends, this is miraculous. For centuries, evangelism among Muslims in the Middle East has borne little fruit. All of a sudden, we are hearing thousands of testimonies of Muslims having visions in which Jesus has appeared to them and as a result they meet a believer, hear the gospel, and are saved. After examining the evidence, and reading Tom Doyle’s [Tom Doyle is a director of a mission’s agency in the Middle East.] testimony and book, Dreams and Visions, Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?, I have concluded that this is a powerful testimony to the final calling of the bride of Christ that will precede the Rapture of the church. It is only a matter of time before these dreams and visions will begin to happen in Israel. According to Scripture, this will take place during the Tribulation Period.
Therefore, we are very close to the Rapture of the church. Be ready for the shout that will take us out!
Russian Troops on Libyan Border
Several news sources have confirmed that Russia has a small group of military special forces stationed along the Egyptian border with Libya. With the Syrian war showing signs of slowing down, it appears that Russia is making a move to bolster its support of General Khalifa Haftar, a Libyan warlord currently attempting to take control of the Muslim nation. This continues to demonstrate that Russia is acting like the new powerhouse in the Middle East.
Students of Bible prophecy should remember that Libya is one of the nations that is listed in the Gog and Magog coalition of Ezekiel 38 that will join Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Sudan in an attempted invasion of Israel. Russia already has military ties to the other nations in the coalition. If it is successful in bringing Libya into its orbit of influence, it will be the final move that will set this coalition in place for the fulfillment of the Ezekiel 38 prophecy.
In addition to these developments, in the first week of March an Iranian-backed Shiite militia Harakat al-Nujaba announced that Iran will attempt to take the Golan Heights away from Israel. Since Israel discovered oil on the Golan Heights several months ago, Russia and Iran have had their eyes on reclaiming the Golan Heights for Syria. It is obvious that they want to seize this economic opportunity. Once again, this has a direct connection to Ezekiel’s prophecy. According to Ezekiel 38:12-13, Russia and her Islamic allies will attack Israel for economic gain.
Friends, it appears that the conditions mentioned in Ezekiel 38 are in place for the first time in history. I personally believe that the battle of Gog and Magog will take place shortly after the Rapture of the church. Once again, we are watching incredible events that are setting the stage for prophetic events we have been following for decades.
Israel is a Happy Place
According to a recent article in The International Jerusalem Report, “The annual World Happiness Report published [recently] by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) has ranked Israel as the 11th happiest country in the world in 2014 for the second year in a row.” (http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-ranked-as-11th-happiest-country-in-the-world-399075) In this same report, the United States finished 14th. Reports like these continue to illustrate that Israel is rising in importance among the nations, in spite of living in a sea of Islamic violence and hatred.
We Have Lost Our Kids
“If we are to take a recent national opinion poll conducted by the American Culture and Faith Institute of 1,000 Americans 18 years or older at face value, the present generation of parents and the Christian ‘Church’ in the U.S. has completely lost the Millennial generation. This failure appears to be irreversible and by all [indications] signals a prophetic shift away from God, the morals, traditional values, and belief in freedom necessary to sustain a Constitutional Republic. The survey showed that only 4 percent held a biblical worldview; they prefer socialism over capitalism by 44 percent; twice as many Millennials consider themselves liberals (a complete reversal over the previous generation).
The survey indicated nearly three out of every ten Millennials claim to be atheist, agnostic, or non faith, a 35 percent increase over adults 30 or over.” (www.dailyjot.com, March 16, 2017) Please come Lord Jesus!