The Resurrection of Messiah Yeshua Prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures

In recent years, as many Christians have been rediscovering the Hebrew roots of their faith, some Bible teachers are casting a shadow of doubt and skepticism on some of the most fundamental aspects of the Christian faith. 

Such cornerstone Christian doctrines as the deity of Yeshua, his incarnation, his virgin birth, his blood atonement and his bodily resurrection are now being called into question by some skeptics. They claim that these concepts were not components of the original apostolic faith, but were added later, and that the Apostolic Scriptures were redacted by the early church fathers to reflect a diluted Hebraic-based faith melded with some popular pagan concepts of the day.

Indeed, a cursory study of the writings of the Anti-nicene church fathers reveals that there occurred much syncretizing between Christianity and Greek or Hellenistic (pagan) thought and a rejection of much of what was considered to be Jewish, such as the Torah (law of Moses). But what aspects of the apostolic faith did they indeed keep without replacing it with a paganized counterfeit? What aspects of Christian orthodoxy are original to the apostles? How can we know whether what we have learned in the Christian church is the truth or not? These are serious questions that need answers. If one comes to the wrong conclusion on these issues, the eternal consequences could be devastating!

Sadly, some Believers have bought into the line of reasoning without studying the issues carefully that the deity of Yeshua, his virgin birth and incarnation, the blood atonement and his bodily resurrection are pagan concepts. Some make these bold assertions based on the belief that these concepts are foreign to the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Is this true? This author has proven in other works posted on our ministry web site (www.hoshanarabbah.org) that the deity and incarnation of Yeshua, the virgin birth, and the blood atonement are Hebrew, not pagan concepts, and are rooted firmly in and prophesied about in the Hebrew Scriptures. 

In this teaching article, we will discuss the issue of the bodily resurrection of Yeshua. It must be acknowledged that if Yeshua did not resurrect from the grave after his crucifixion then he failed to defeat sin, death and the grave, and it therefore follows that he is not the Savior and Redeemer of man, man has no hope of a bodily resurrection or afterlife himself, and as Paul said, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (1 Cor. 15:32).

There were those who questioned the fundamentals of the faith in Paul’s day, for he spoke of those who had left the faith and had become spiritually shipwrecked (1 Tim. 1:19). Furthermore, he was not so self-assured to think that even he could defect from the very faith he preached and become himself a spiritual castaway or reprobate (1 Cor. 9:27). This should be a word of warning to us all to diligently search out the Scriptures, and to prove whether what we have been taught to believe squares with the Hebrew Scriptures or not. That is the basis for determining the truth of what is written in the Apostolic Scriptures—nothing more and nothing less.

Scriptures and Analysis

In this brief study, we will present to you a series of texts from the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament) with commentary that foretell of a Messianic Redeemer dying and then bodily resurrecting.

Psalms 16:10, For thou wilt not leave my soul [nephesh] in hell [sheol]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy [chaseed or faithful, kind, pious, devout, saint, godly] One to see ­corruption [shakhath or decay of the grave, according to The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament].

COMMENT: To whom is this verse referring? Who is YHVH’s Holy One? This is obviously not a reference normal humans whose bodies and souls go into the grave at the time of death (so says this verse) to await the resurrection, and where they decay into dust. Who in Scripture, but Messiah Yeshua resurrected after three days before his body could corrupt (start to decay)? According to Jewish thought, bodily decay starts after three days.

Psalms 49:15, But Elohim will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah. 

COMMENT: This is a generic reference to the resurrection of the righteous. Using a kal v’khomer or light and heavy (a fortiori) rule of logic (or Rabbi Hillel’s first law of Biblical hermeneutics/interpretation) we can reason that if the righteous dead are resurrected how much more so YHVH’s righteous Messiah?

Psalms 22:26, The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise YHVH that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

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How the First Fruits Day Points to Yeshua

The Day of the Wave Sheaf Offering or First Fruits Day

In Hebrew roots circles, a day has gained prominence for celebrating the resurrection of Yeshua. It is called by many, the Feast of First Fruits or simply First Fruits. In several books published by Messianic or Hebrew roots teachers, this day has been elevated to the status as one of the “feasts” of YHVH on a par with Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. In creating a special designation for this day—one, as we shall see later, that Scripture does not give it—most of these teachers curiously omit the last of YHVH’s seven “feasts” or miqra-ee kodesh (commanded assemblies); namely, The Eighth Day or Shemini Atzeret. This festival is a Sabbath and immediately falls after the Feast of Tabernacles. It has important spiritual significance and represents the formation of the New Heaven and New Earth and the descent of the New Jerusalem after the end of the 1000-year long Millennium on earth. It literally represents heaven-on-earth for eternity. It is, therefore, a shame to omit this most important festival of YHVH!

A field of barley grain in the land of Israel.

A field of barley grain in the land of Israel.

The Nature of the Omer Offering/Service

Does the omer offering on “Wave Sheaf Sunday” prophetically point to and foretell the death and/or resurrection of Yeshua, and if so, how? First, let us look at the scriptural passages that speak of this day.

Leviticus 23:10–17, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits [reshiyth] of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before YHVH, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto YHVH. And the grain offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto YHVH for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that you have brought an offering unto your Elohim: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf [omer] of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meat offering unto YHVH. You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the first fruits [bikkurim] unto YHVH.

Leviticus 23:10b–14a, … you are to bring the premier sheaf of your harvest to the priest. He is to elevate the sheaf before the presence of YHVH, for acceptance for you; on the morrrow after the Sabbath the priest is to elevate it. You are to perform a sacrifice on the day of your elevating the sheaf: a sheep, wholly-sound, in its (first) year, as an offering-up to YHVH, and its grain-gift: two tenth-measures of flour mixed with oil, a fire-offering to YHVH, a soothing savour; and its poured-offering of wine: a fourth of a hin. Now bread, parched-grain or groats, you are not to eat, until that same day, until you have brought the near-offering of our Elohim… (The Shocken Bible)

Leviticus 2:12–16, As for the offering of the first fruits, you shall offer them to YHVH, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma. And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt. And if you offer a meal offering of thy first fruits [bikkurim] unto YHVH, you shall offer for the meal offering of thy first fruits [bikkurim] green ears [abib, H24, or green in the ears barley] of corn [qalah; H7033, roasted dried, burned, parched grain] dried by the fire, even corn beaten [geres; H1643, crushed grain or groats] out of full ears. And you shall put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering. And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto YHVH.

The Order of Events Associated With the Waving of the Omer

Now that we have the scriptural passages before us pertaining to the First Fruits Day, let’s list in chronological order the events and ceremonies that occurred on this day involving both the Israelite farmer and the priest.

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