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Who are the "deceased" that shall not rise?
(Isa. 26: 14).
pp. 193 - 196
Part of a lengthy correspondence with one of our readers included a reference to
Isa. 26: 14 & 19, and as the subject is of importance we give it consideration here.
"They are dead, they shall not live: they are deceased, they shall not rise . . . . . 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: 14, 19).
The first statement is one that we must not lightly pass over: "They are dead, they
shall not live." Let us make sure of each expression so that our conclusions also may
be sure. Is the word "dead" the normal one for death? It is the word used of Sarah in
Gen. 23: 4 and Joseph in Gen. 50: 24. In the future tense it is used of Adam in
Gen. 2: 17. It is of Noah in Gen. 9: 29, and of Abraham in Gen. 25: 8. With
Heb. 11: as our guide we can be very sure that all these "dead" shall live. Isa. 26: 14
speaks of some of the "dead" who shall not live.
They shall not live.--Does this refer to resurrection life? Job uses the same word
when he asks, "If a man die, shall he live (again)?" (Job 14: 14). Hosea 6: 12 uses it
for resurrection life: "After two days He will revive us, in the third day He will raise us
up, and we shall live in His sight." The same word is used in Hosea 14: 7: "They will
revive as the corn." Quite apart from these references, however, it is obvious that if dead
men are to live, that life must be life from the dead or life in resurrection.
There is a very definite contrast in Isa. 26: 19: "Thy dead shall live, my dead body
(plural or collective) shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as
the dew of herbs." Here we have the same word for "dead" as in verse 14, and the same
word for "live". In addition we have the word "awake", which is used in connection with
resurrection in Psa. 17: 15: "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness", and
also in Dan. 12: 2, "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake".
It is categorically asserted in Scripture that all who are in Adam must be raised
from the dead: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive"
(I Cor. 15: 22). Both I Cor. 15: and Isa. 26: are inspired Scripture and beyond
argument. Both passages are true. There is but one conclusion possible, that the dead
referred to in Isa. 26: were never "in Adam"; otherwise they must live again in
resurrection.
Can this be substantiated from Scripture? The answer is yes, and its basis is
Isa. 26: 14 and 19. Let us continue. "They are deceased, they shall not rise." At first
sight this seems but a repetition, but upon examination we discover that the word
"deceased" is a strange one. It is "The Rephaim". Who were the Rephaim? Were they
the seed of Adam? We meet them first in Gen. 14: 5 in company with Zuzims and the