In Christ alone, my hope is found He is my light, my strength, my song This cornerstone This solid ground through the pierces When prayers are still those who have not been with us, this is the fourth class in a series called Prove It. And the purpose of this class is to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus is the Son of God from the prophecies of the Old Testament. That's where the bar is set in the class. Now, this fellow here just want to emphasize the point that the foundation is important.
You want to build on a rock foundation and we're going to be talking next about the very foundation of the Christian faith. According to the Apostle Paul. Let's start reading 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 1. " Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you have received and on which you take your stand. By this gospel you were saved if you hold firmly to the end, the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you believed in vain.
For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. And then He appeared to Cephas, and then to the 12. After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, he appeared to me also as to one abnormally born. So this is the foundation of the faith according to the Apostle Paul. The first thing is that there is such a thing as the Christ, the anointed king over the eternal kingdom, the Son of David who was prophesied about. That's Jesus. That he would die for our sins according to the Scriptures. That means according to the Old Testament prophecies.
And then the class tonight is focusing on the third thing Paul mentions here. He was buried and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. That's the focus of tonight's lesson. So we looked at the coming of the Christ, we looked at His suffering and death, and tonight we look at the resurrection. So the three pieces putting them all together. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I want to introduce a horrifying thought into your minds. Paul asked the question, " What if it's not true?
What if Christ really didn't rise from the dead? " 1 Corinthians chapter 15, starting in verse 14. He says, " If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith. More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But if he did not raise Him, if, in fact, the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ hasn't been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.
You're still in your sins. Those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. Yeah That's a rather sobering thought. He says, " If Christ hasn't risen, our faith is useless. We're all still in our sins. " If Christ hasn't been raised from the dead, then Paul and the apostles are liars. They are false witnesses because they said God raised them from the dead. And then what does it say about all of us that are Christians?
It says, " We are to be pitied more than all men. It's pathetic what we believe if it's not true. " So basically, this one is for all the marbles. Okay? The entire Christian faith hangs on the resurrection of the dead. Either it happened or it didn't. If it did happen, that changes everything. It's the most significant event in the history of the world. And if it didn't, the Christians are liars, false witnesses. We're still in our sins. We're completely deceived. So this is what it all comes down to.
Either Christ was raised from the dead or he was not. And that's what we're going to look at in this class. A Carl Sagan, famous unbeliever. People say he was an atheist. I think he was actually an agnostic. He just didn't believe. He said, " Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. " The claim that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day in fulfillment of the Scriptures is a highly extraordinary claim. So do you have the evidence to back up that claim?
Do you have the extraordinary evidence that Jesus rose from the dead? All right. Well, I think we do. First of all, we have the eyewitness accounts. That's what Paul says. 500 people. We have the eyewitness accounts in the gospels. And the other thing we have is the fulfillment of prophecies that were written hundreds and even over a thousand years before the event happened. No one could change that. People would say, " Well, the Christians made that up.
" Well, the Christians can't rewrite prophecy that belongs in the Jewish Scriptures that was written a thousand years before the fact. So what do you do with that? So the defense stands on two things. It's the eyewitness accounts and the fulfillment of prophecy. That's what we're going to look at. Many years ago, I listened to a message when I was an agnostic, I was wrestling with faith, and the preacher said something I'll never forget. He said, " I wonder why people wear crosses around their necks.
" He said, " Thousands of people have died on crosses. " But there's only one empty tomb. We should wear an empty tomb around our neck. So I heard that. My sister was a Christian. I was at the time. So I made a little replica of an empty tomb and gave it to her so she could wear it around her neck. And when she saw it, she knew exactly what it was. So there have been many good people who have died. Many martyrs. Many people have lived good lives and have suffered cruel deaths.
But the thing which sets Jesus apart in a class of one is he said he'd be raised on the third day and then he pulled it off. Let's turn to John 2. In John chapter 2, of course, Jesus is full of zeal and he clears out the corrupt money changers from the temple. He overturns the tables. And people are asking, " Who are you? What authority do you have to do this in the temple area? " In verse 18, John chapter 2, the Jews said to him, " What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?
" Jesus answered them, " Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. " They replied, " It's taken 46 years to build this temple. You're going to raise it in three days. " But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he has said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. So it's not just my idea or the church's idea that it all hangs on the resurrection on the third day. Jesus made the same challenge.
He said, " This is the sign to prove my authority is that I will be raised on the third day. " And of course, he said it in the form of a parable, " Destroy this temple. I'll rebuild it in three days. " When I'm studying this with people, I'll ask the question I want to be incredibly specific when I ask this question. I'll say, " Do you believe I won't just say do you believe Jesus was raised from the dead? " I'll ask the question, " Do you believe that Jesus was physically raised from the dead on the third day?
" And I'm talking about with a real body, real flesh, real bones, empty tomb. Now, that kind of flushes out the New Ages and the people believe, " Well, I believe that He spiritually and metaphorically rose something like that. " I said, " No, I'm talking about flesh and blood resurrection. " I want to read to you a quote is a very powerful discussion that goes back. It's around the year 150. So this is approximately 100 years after the resurrection, very early in the church.
Justin Martyr, who came from Samaria and is a very powerful Christian, he's having an argument with a man named Trypho who is a Jew. And this gives you an idea of the debate that was taking place 100 years after the resurrection of Jesus. And he's talking to the Jew, and he's challenging them.
He says, " You have sent and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb where he was laid, when unfastened from the cross. And they now deceive men by asserting he's risen from the dead and ascended to heaven. That's what the Jews were going all he's saying.
They're sending missionaries all over the world to spread this story 100 years after the fact, to combat the Christians. And Justin goes on. He says, " Beside this, even when your city is captured and your land ravaged. " This is after Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70. " You do not repent, but you dare call down evil on Him and all who believe in Him. Yet we do not hate you, but we pray that even now, all of you may repent and obtain mercy from God, the compassionate and long-suffering Father of all.
" You know what that tells me? What it says in Matthew chapter 27. After Jesus was put into the tomb, the Jews went to the Roman authorities and they said, " This guy said he was going to raise from the third day. So we better make sure that there's no funny businesses pulled. Make the tomb secure. " They put a stone over the tomb, they put a Roman seal over the stone, and they posted a guard outside to make sure that nothing could happen. That's Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 28.
It talks about how after the resurrection, the guards were bribed and the Jews, they spread a false story that the disciples stole the body. A hundred years later, the same discussion is going on. And really, when you come down to it, if you think through all the different possibilities, to my mind, there are only two. Everybody saw Jesus killed on the cross.
So somebody who says he didn't really die on the cross, the Jews saw it, the Romans saw it, the disciples saw it, everybody was right there and saw it happening. It happened in public view. He had a Roman soldier speared his heart from the side. So there's no question that Jesus died. The Jews said he died. The Christians said he died. Everybody agreed that he died. The question is that he raised from the dead. And there the Jews said, " No, the disciple stole his body.
" The Christians said, " No, he rose from the dead. " So everybody agrees that he died on the cross. Everybody agrees that the tomb is empty and we don't know where the body is. Either he rose from the dead or his disciples stole the body. That's what it comes down to. In my mind, you have two choices. And that was from the time that Jesus was crucified to 100 years later. The same battle is going on between both sides. Evidence of the resurrection. First thing we have, we have the eyewitness accounts.
Let's start with Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, starting in verse 36. While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and He said, " Peace be with you. " They were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, " Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your mind? Look at my hands and my feet. It's I myself. Touch me and see. A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.
While they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, " Do you have anything here to eat? " They gave them a piece of broiled fish. He took it and ate it in their presence. In Mark chapter 16, in the ending of Mark, it says that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were eating. He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. But let me ask you a question.
If you're one of the apostles and you want to fake the story, how do you end up making yourself look so bad? If they deliberately falsify the story, let's think this one through here. When he shows up, the apostles don't believe it even after they see it. He has to rebuke them. Peter comes across as having denied, he says, " I don't even know the man. " He denies that he knew Christ. The one who wasn't there, Thomas, in John chapter 20, the other 10 tell him he rose from the dead. We saw him.
He said, " I don't believe it. " He said, " In fact, I wouldn't believe it even if I saw it. I still wouldn't believe it. " He said, " The only way I'd believe it is if I stuck my fingers into the holes in his hands and into his side where he was pierced. " And in the picture here, we have a depiction of that event right there. Of course, Thomas turns around and history says that he went off to India as a great missionary and died there. So the apostles don't look very good.
They're stubborn, they don't believe, they've given up, they deny Jesus. In Acts chapter 1, it says, " After suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. " So it was very clear. This wasn't a ghost. This wasn't an illusion. He had flesh and blood. You could touch his hands. You could put your finger in the hole in his hands. He could eat a fish. He proved that he had a real body. He wasn't a ghost or a spirit.
He was physically raised from the dead, according to the apostles. In the early 200s, a Christian Origen was involved in a heated debate with a man named Celsus who was a pagan. And Celsus said, the resurrection of the dead, he said, " That's a juggler's trick. It's a magician's trick.
" And Origen challenged him back and he said a clear and unmistakable proof of the fact that the resurrection of Jesus, Origen, said, " I hold to be the undertaking of his disciples, who devoted themselves to the teaching of a doctrine which was attended with danger to human life, a doctrine which they would not have taught with such courage had they invented the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, who also not only prepared others to despise death, but were the first themselves to manifest their disregard for its
terrors.
" You think about that logically. If the apostles stole the body and falsified the story, why are they going all over the world and risking their lives and calling others to do the same for this faith if the whole thing was a fake? The next thing I want to talk about is a rather sobering subject of what happens after death. Oh, yeah. Now, this is important to understand the next two major prophecies that we take a few minutes to go over this.
Now, some people in this room, this is going to be very familiar material. Other people are going to be scratching your head saying, " What is he talking about? " So we'll see how this goes. There's a lot of confusion today in popular Christian culture, even in this church, about what happens after you die. At funerals, well-meaning speakers. I'll hear them say, " Well, I know that so-and-so is up in heaven right now, smiling down on us, having lunch. " Okay.
I'm sure no one in this room has ever done that, but maybe you've heard somebody who has, okay? Well-meaning, good-intentioned people say things like that. Okay? But the assumption is that when you die, you go straight to heaven. That is not what Jesus taught. This is not a gray area. Hebrews chapter 6 in verses 1 and 2, it talks about six things that are considered the elementary teachings of the faith. And he says, " Let's not waste any more time talking about that. Everybody knows these six things.
Let's move on to maturity. " Two of the six things are resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. So these are basic foundations of the Christian faith, and we should all understand these things correctly. First thing. Where are you going? The harvest is at the end. Jesus taught think about it. Jesus taught that all will be raised and judged together at the end on the last day. One of the clearest passages on this is in Matthew chapter 12. Let's go there. Matthew chapter 12 starting in verse 41.
He said, " The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here. Queen of the South, that's the Queen of Sheba, time of Solomon, a thousand years before Christ.
Men of Nineveh, the people who repented in the days of Jonah, about 850 years before that generation. And he's saying they're all going to be together on the day of judgment. Matthew chapter 25, the story of the sheep and the goats. It's a story of final judgment. Jesus talks about all the nations will be gathered together before the king, before Jesus on the day of judgment. In Matthew chapter 13, in the story of the wheat and the tares, the harvest takes place at the end of the age.
At that time, the wheat goes into the barn, and then the tares end up getting burned and destroyed. John chapter 5, this is one of my favorite passages, verses 28 and 29. Think about this one. He says, " Do not be amazed if there's a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out. " Think when Jesus said, " Lazarus, come out. " Okay, now think of everybody come out. All those who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out.
Those who have done what is good will rise to live. Those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. Those who are in their graves. Who's in the grave? The body. You mean to tell me if you're standing there a cemetery, this is going to be like Night of the Living Dead. All the people are going to come out of their graves. Well, that's what Jesus said. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the whole chapter is talking about the resurrection of the dead, pretty much.
It says that when the last trumpet is sound, the dead will be raised and their bodies will be changed. The body and spirit will come back together. God's plan is to redeem them both. Man was created body and spirit. Jesus was raised body and spirit. We will be too. God's plan is to redeem the Spirit and the flesh so the grave will end up with nothing. Okay, the body goes into the ground. It goes into the grave. What happens to your spirit while you're waiting for final judgment? You're not going to heaven.
What happens to the spirit? Luke chapter 16, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. It says, " In Hades. " Now, to do a good study of this, you have to use the more literal translations. A lot of people in the room use the NIV. I would encourage you to just take a look at some of the more literal translations, New American Standard, New King James, etc.
Just to follow what I'm saying on this, in Psalm 16, which we'll talk about more later, it says, " You will not abandon my soul to, " in the Hebrew, it says, " Sheol. " When Peter is quoting in Acts chapter two, he's quoting from the Septuagint in Greek, and he says, " You will not abandon my soul to Hades. " Sheol and Hades are the same place in two different languages. This is where the souls of the dead go awaiting final judgment according to Jesus.
This is where Jesus went for the three days before he was resurrected. He descended into Hades, as it says in the Apostles ' Creed, the Old Apostle's Creed. If you want to read more about this or study this out, as always, don't believe anything I tell you. Go back and study it out. And I've got plenty of scriptures and other resources if this is something new to you.
So just summarizing the souls of the dead wait in Hades, our bodies will be raised, changed, and reunited with our souls at the resurrection, and everyone will be judged at the end of the day of judgment. Now, that's pretty simple, isn't it? So you're all deputized to straighten out the rest of the church on this. I want to give just a few words, a few words about how God operates through prophecy.
And Amos chapter 3 in verse 7, it says, " Surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets. The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The sovereign Lord has spoken. Who can but prophesy? Think about that for a minute. The Lord doesn't do anything without revealing his plans to his servants, the prophets. That's amazing. That is. In Hebrews chapter 1, it says it does it in all different ways. So this is God's MO. This is his modus operandi.
This is standard operating procedure. Whatever he's doing, he tells the prophets first. So we shouldn't be surprised when we see every detail of the life, death, and resurrection and ascension of Jesus in the Old Testament prophecies because that's just what God does. He does it in some rather non-straightforward ways. He does it in allegories, in riddles. Christ comes up as the Passover lamb in one place. He shows up as the rock in someplace else. He shows up as David somewhere else in allegories, in stories.
Hidden. Exactly. It's hidden in there and I say, " Well, what's with this? Is God into crossword puzzles or something? Is God the great puzzler? " Why can't he just tell us exactly what he's going to do? Why can't God just say, " Okay, this guy's going to be born this year. Here's his name. He's going to die on this day. He's going to be raised. " Why these riddles? Why this story of destroy this temple and I'll rebuild it in three days? Why couldn't Jesus just say, " Kill me and I'll be resurrected in three days.
" I'll tell you my idea. Okay, let's think about this. Imagine you're a quarterback on a football team. You break up in the huddle, you go to the line of scrimmage and find out that the defense is set up not in a good way for what you had in mind. Imagine the quarterback says, " Excuse me, everybody. That play idea that we had is not a good idea. I tell you what, I'm going to step back, fake a handoff, and then throw a screen pass over here. " And everybody on the whole field hears everything he's saying.
How smart would that be? The quarterback doesn't do that. He wants to communicate to his own team in a way the other side doesn't understand. You have to okay. You have to understand there is a spiritual war that's going on here. Satan knows the Scriptures. Satan instigated the death of Jesus. Satan entered into Judas before he betrayed Jesus. He thought this was a wonderful plot to get Jesus crucified. So I think that's the reason why. Just like a quarterback, you'll say 17, 24, 37. He's speaking in code.
His people understand it. The other side doesn't. Two major prophecies in the New Testament about the resurrection. The first one that's referred to. Peter talks about in Acts chapter 2. Paul talks about it in Acts chapter 13. And it's Psalm 16. Let's read that. We'll read verses 8 to 11. This is one of the two most important prophecies in the Old Testament about the resurrection. Acts chapter 2 is a very popular passage in the church here, so you're going to be familiar with it.
Chapter 16, we'll start reading in verse 8, " I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad my tongue rejoices. My body will rest secure. Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. If you're reading it in a more literal translation, that's the NIV. It says, " You will not abandon me to Sheol.
" If you're reading it in the Septuagint, which is what Peter was, it's a word for word from the Septuagint. In Acts chapter 2, it says, " You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you let your holy ones see decay. " Peter makes the point. Who's speaking that prophet? David. David died over 1,000 years ago. Peter's saying, " Listen, you will not let my body see decay. " He said, " The worms have moved on a long time from David. He's been dead over a thousand years. He's completely long gone and decayed.
" So this prophecy could not have applied to David. Who does it apply to? The Son of David, the Christ, the Messiah, the king who was prophesied to come. The one you just killed has been raised from the dead. Damn. His body did not see decay, and his soul was not left in Hades. He was only there until the third day when he left. That's the point that Peter is making in Acts chapter two. This is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 16. Paul says the same thing in Acts chapter 13.
He comes about a little different angle. Paul quotes from Isaiah 55:3. Isaiah 55:3, there's a promise that says, " I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David. " It's a prophecy about the Messiah. The promises, the wonderful promises to David, according to Isaiah, would pass on to the Messiah, according to Isaiah chapter 55. Paul applies that to Psalm 16. Wonderful promises that he'll be raised from the dead. He won't be left in Hades. His body will not see decay.
That prophecy is fulfilled in the Messiah just as Isaiah said that it would be. So that's how Paul explains it. But both Peter and Paul used this prophecy in Psalm 16 to prove that the Messiah, his body would not see decay, and he would not be left in Hades. It fits with the resurrection. Now I've got a question for you. Luke chapter 24, verse 44. This is going to bother some people. This is after Jesus raised from the dead, He's speaking to the apostles.
He said to them, " This is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that's written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. " Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, " This is what is written. The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. " Okay? Now let's back up a second.
He said, " This is what is written. The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. " Where is it written that the Messiah will suffer? Psalm 22, Isaiah 52-53, lots of other places. We talked about that two classes ago. Where does it say in the scriptures, Jesus says it's in there, where does it say that the Messiah would be raised from the dead on the third day? Where does it say that? In Luke chapter 11, people were asking for a sign.
Jesus said, " A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign. None will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. " What's the sign of the prophet Jonah? Jonah was the guy who didn't want to do what God told him to do, and he spent three days in a fish, and then the people in the what's the sign of the prophet Jonah? Matthew chapter 12, let's turn there. It's a real key passage, verses 38 to 40. Some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, " Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.
" He answered, " A wicked and adulterous generation asked for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish. " Actually, the word there means sea creature. It could be a fish, could be a whale, it could be all kinds of things. So the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. What's the heart of the earth? Well, according to Acts chapter 2, where was Jesus?
You will not leave my soul in Hades. Hades in the heart of the earth. So that's what Jesus is saying. He's saying that the only sign given would be the sign of the prophet Jonah, that very unusual story in the Old Testament. That's the only sign that he would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. That was the sign. That was the prophecy, according to Jesus, that the Messiah would raise from the dead on the third day. Well, how were they supposed to figure that one out? Well, think about it.
Both Jonah and Jesus were sent to preach. This is the Cyril of Jerusalem who's writing around 350. He was making some connections here, I thought were interesting. He said, " Both of them were sleeping in a boat during a violent storm. " Both of them had the ability to quiet the storm. Jesus had a little more elegant way of doing it than Jonah did. Jonah had to get thrown in the sea. Jesus just said, " Stop.
" And then he says, Cyril says, " One was cast into the whale's belly, but the other of his own accord went down there where the invisible whale of death is. " And he went down of his own accord that death might cast up those whom he had devoured. According to what is written, " I will ransom them from the power of Hades, and from the hand of death, I will redeem them. " That's from Hosea chapter 13. So I thought, " That's pretty powerful connection.
" Now, if you read in Jonah, I encourage you to do this on your own. If you read in Jonah, chapter 2, Jonah chapter 1, he gets thrown into the sea, and Jonah chapter 2 is a prayer when he is inside the sea creature. And if you go back and read, he says, " I am in Hades. Can you please get me out of here? " That's literally what he's saying. In Hebrew, he says, " I'm in Sheol. Can you please deliver me? " And why is he saying that? He's in the middle of a big fish or some sea creature. He says, " I'm in Hades.
Please get me out of here on the third day he comes out. " Read Jonah chapter two and Psalm 18 some time. There are some other Psalms too. There are some very strange Psalms in the Old Testament. Think about this. David is running around in the desert facing problems, and he's writing psalms that go something like this. " God, I'm in the bottom of the sea. I'm in Hades. Can you please get me out of this jam? " And then God comes down, parts the sea, pulls him out, and puts him on solid ground. Okay?
What does that make you think of? Jonah and Jesus. Jonah is in the whale, and he thinks, " What can I do? I better sing a song. " Well, how about the, " I'm in drowning in the bottom of the sea. Can you please get me out here? I'm in Hades song. " So he sings a medley. A medley of David's songs of I'm in trouble in the bottom of the sea. David never went anywhere in the sea that I can think of.
God is planting in the Scriptures the idea that the Messiah, that somebody in the future would be trapped in Hades but would be spit out on the third day in fulfillment of the Scriptures. That's what Jesus is talking about. So Jesus died 3:00 in the afternoon on Friday. He's raised Sunday morning around the time of dawn, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Other prophecies, which we will not have time to go into, but they're in the notes so you can study them out.
Those are the two main prophecies, Psalm 16 and Jonah 1 and 2, about the resurrection, about not being left in Hades, about the flesh not seeing decay, and about coming out on the third day. Psalm 22, of course, is about the crucifixion, but it has a rather unusual, glorious, victorious end to it. Daniel chapter six, actually, I did a CD lesson. It's on Scroll where I go into a lot of detail on this. But if you stop and think about it, the story of Daniel. Daniel is in the pit of death.
They roll a stone over it, seal the stone, and then early in the morning, somebody comes to this pit of death and they find that he's still alive and they're surprised and happy about that. What's that make you think about? Okay. There you go. Daniel chapter 6. Maybe you can go back and read that story and see some things you missed. Daniel chapter 12, at the end, it says that millions who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake.
There are all kinds of references tucked away in different places in the Old Testament about the resurrection of the dead. Genesis chapter 22, the sacrifice of Isaac in Hebrews 11, it says that he figuratively or in a parable received his son back from death. In Job 14 and Job 19, there's a song that we're familiar with which is based on Job, " I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end, he will stand on the earth. " And then Genesis 37-50, I hope to get into that next time.
The story of the life of Joseph is actually a tremendous allegory about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the King as well. So, conclusion, Christian faith all hangs on the resurrection of Jesus. And we have evidence from reliable eyewitness accounts. We have the evidence of two major prophecies, 850 and over 1,000 years before the time of Christ. And there are other Old Testament foreshadowing to the resurrection as well. The challenge, study it out for yourself.
If you're not a believer, look at the evidence and decide. Plenty of evidence is there. It's compelling. And if you are, take this, study it and spread it all over the world. Thank you. My hope is found. He is my life, my strength, my song. This cornerstone This solid ground