Lazarus, Enoch, Elijah, and the thief on the Cross by Rav Sha'ul I was asked to explain how could Yahusha raise Lazarus from the dead prior to the first resurrection?  Isn’t Yahusha the first (and only to this point) son born of the resurrection?  And why did Lazarus have to die twice and Enoch and Elijah not have to die at all?  Shouldn't they all have died, the Bible says: Hebrews 9:27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, An what about the thief on the stake next to Yahusha, how could he have been resurrected that day with Yahusha prior to the first resurrection when it is Yahusha who was the first born of the resurrection and only until now? Luke 23:43 Yahusha answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." We are dealing here with the concepts of death, time, and the resurrection.  These question touch on the very boundaries of time (as we understand it) and the true realm of the spirit where time does not exist.  We are asking questions of things we are witnessing in the spirit that are reflected physically into the realm in which we exist in linear time.  A realm in which now we see "dimly as through a mirror". 1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known The short answer to these questions is this... we must understand when talking about “death” there is a difference between physical death of the body and spiritual death.  We must put these questions into context of scripture and discern if are we talking about physical death of the body or spiritual death in each specific case. The Kingdom of Yahuah is a spiritual kingdom and no physical body will enter that kingdom, therefore all physical bodies must either “die” or be “translated”: 1 Corinthians 15:50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of Yahuah, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. So in the case of Lazarus: did he enter the Kingdom of Yahuah when resurrected by Yahusha?  What about Enoch and Elijah?  So what types of deaths and resurrections are we talking about in each of their cases? In my book The Yahushaic Covenant I discuss the concepts of time and the resurrection.  Specifically the Fullness of Time being when Yahusha died physically on the stake and said “it is finished”.  Time is a fabric of creation and can be bent and even broken.  We call this fabric the Space/Time Continuum in science.  We in our physical bodies experience time sequentially moment by moment trapped within the Space/Time Continuum.  The Space/Time Continuum is a training ground for the elect and our bodies are physical constructs by which we experience Yahuah's creation. In the spiritual realm “time” does not exist!  Time, in the Spiritual Realm, is like a “line” or a timeline that can be traversed backwards and forwards at will because we are not trapped within the confines of these physical body constructs.  Once your physical body dies we step out of this created aspect of “time” and are no longer bound by the Space/Time Continuum. Many times in scripture we see this fact play out within the timeline (Space/Time Continuum). Take for instance the transfiguration; we see Moses and Elijah have a meeting with Yahusha on top of a mountain.  A clear indication of time travel within the Space/Time Continuum or "timeline".  We see at the point Yahusha died and declared “it is finished” that the graves gave up there dead and we witnessed within the timeline the first resurrection.  What happened was all “time” was compressed or bent as it collapsed AT and into that ONE moMENT (as AT-ONE-MENT or atonement was provided) and the entire timeline past, present, and future was resurrected the moment the Passover Lamb had been slain.  The Bible calls this The Fullness of Time!  Or rather when time reached its climax or fullness and the timeline collapse in on itself.  Galatians 4 4 But when the fullness of time had come, Yahuah sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law (from the curse of the Law), so that we might receive adoption as sons. The entire timeline was "redeemed" from the curse of The Law (death) at the fullness of time when Yahusha said "it is finished" and we received our adoption as sons and followed Yahusha in the regeneration.  You see below we are gloried "together" at the same time and ALL the sons of Yahuah together at once are revealed to Creation and liberate it on that day. Romans 8:16-17 "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Yahuah, and if children, then heirs -- heirs of Yahuah and joint heirs with the Messiah, if indeed we suffer with him (Yahusha), that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8:19 “Creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of Yahuah”… vs. 21 “when creation will be set free form bondage and come into the glorious freedom of the sons of Yahuah” But within the timeline trapped in the Space/Time Continuum "time" still had 2000 years to play out sequentially.  We truly see dimly and do not realize the boundaries of our physical trappings.  We comprehend reality within the context of "time" in error.  We witnessed the first resurrection in the context of “linear time” when Yahusha died and that is why we saw the dead up to that point in time being raised when Yahusha died.  What we don’t realize is that we were witnessing the resurrection of the entire timeline!  But not existing outside of time/space we could not see the future timeline resurrection.  Being trapped within the timeline we only "witnessed" the dead up to that point being raised.  When we are resurrected we will realize at that moment, that it was one event and we transcended time/space at the same time that Yahusha did following him in the resurrection. These concepts of bent and broken “time” and time travel are not things of science fiction, they are proven mathematical realities we call them wormholes (bent time) and points of singularity in a black whole (broken time).  Then there is the concept of death.  There are two types of death.  There is death of your physical body and then there is death of your entire existence (spiritual death).  The Bible speaks of both on occasion and does not specify which it is referring to, we must have wisdom and insight and put each passage of scripture into its proper context to understand what type of death is being discussed. Death of the body is not only when your physical body dies and decays, but also when you are “translated” while still alive.  Translation or “transposition of the body” can occur without facing the “physical death and decay” of the body.  Transposition of the body is when you shed your physical body and put on your eternal nature.  Paul talks about both below: 1 Corinthians 15 50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed (transposition of the body while alive physically)— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable (resurrection), and we (who are alive) will be changed (translated). 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable (resurrection from physical death), and the mortal with immortality (translation or transposition of the living). 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable (dead raised), and the mortal with immortality (living translated), then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” When was death swallowed up in victory?  It was at the fullness of time when atonement was made and Yahusha gave his life as The Passover Lamb.  "AT that ONE moMENT" (i.e. atonement as made) the entire timeline was resurrected from death… that is when it happened within the sequential flow of the timeline.  Then we experience it again as the timeline comes to an end on The Feast of Trumpets upon Yahusha’s return.  Remember, the same event can be "seen" at two different times within the contest of linear time: In 1915, Albert Einstein first proposed his theory of special relativity. Essentially, this theory proposes the universe we live in includes 4 dimensions, the first three being what we know as space, and the fourth being space-time, which is a dimension where time and space are inextricably linked. According to Einstein, two people observing the same event in the same way could perceive the singular event occurring at two different times, depending upon their distance from the event in question. These types of differences arise from the time it takes for light to travel through space. Since light does travel at a finite and ever-constant speed, an observer from a more distant point will perceive an event as occurring later in time; however, the event is "actually" occurring at the same instant in time. Thus, "time" is dependent on space. There simply is much we do not understand about the fabric of time/space!  So we struggle to understand the events in the Bible as that fabric is bent and broken on the pages of scripture. So men are given physical bodies FIRST and must shed the trappings of this physical body BEFORE entering the Kingdom of Yahuah either through death/decay or translation/transposition. Let’s look at the full context of what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 15 The Resurrection Body 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. 50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” With that understanding let me address the question of Lazarus, Enoch, and Elijah!  In all three cases we are dealing with physical death/decay vs. translation.  We are also dealing with physical death vs. spiritual death. With Lazarus we are dealing with the resurrection of his physical body back to life in the same form.  We are not dealing with resurrection from the dead into the kingdom of Yahuah.  Yahusha raised Lazarus’ physical body back to life physically and Lazarus later died and decayed waiting the spiritual resurrection into the kingdom of Yahuah.  In the case of Enoch and Elijah we are dealing with transposition/translations of their physical bodies; they didn’t shed their physical bodies via death/decay but through translation: Hebrews 11: 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see (physical) death (and decay of the body in the gave); and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased Yahuah We see,  in the linear flow of time: examples of translation (rapture with Enoch, Elijah), examples of resurrection from the dead physically back to a physical body (Lazarus), examples of resurrection from the grave (when Yahusha said “it is finished”), and examples of time travel (the transfiguration).  What we are faced with in these accounts found in scripture is the reality that “time” is but a fabric of creation.  Just like science and physics have demonstrated, time is not a constant and can be bent and broken.  Time is part of this creation and those who abide in The Spiritual Kingdom of Yahuah are not bound by time.  So we see in scripture the sons of Yahuah breaking the "laws of physics" because we are destined to rule this creation not be ruled by it. We “see” in linear time the “effects” of the “fullness of time” play out in the timeline we call “history” at several point within the timeline.  The culmination of the Plan of Yahuah was fulfilled within linear time when Yahusha gave his life as the Passover Lamb and death was defeated.  At that moment (at-one-ment/atonement or at that one moment) the entire linear timeline was “bent” foreword and backward in time collapsing in and the entire timeline followed Yahusha in the resurrection: Matthew 19 28 Yahusha said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me in the regeneration will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Romans 8:16-17 "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Yahuah, and if children, then heirs -- heirs of Yahuah and joint heirs with the Messiah, if indeed we suffer with him (Yahusha), that we may also be glorified together." This brings me to the thief on the cross.  Yahusha was speaking WAY above the understanding of anyone listening on that “day” and even above most people’s understanding today.  Yahusha knew that when he “finished the task” and (as High Priest of Israel) made the final sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, death would be defeated and all those who put their faith in him past, present, and future would follow him that day in the regeneration!  The entire timeline would collapse on that day and the first resurrection would take place outside of linear “time”.  Sure enough, after he said “it is finished” we witnesses on that day within linear time the dead to that point rise from the grave as proof the entire timeline resurrection occurred just as Yahusha said!            Matthew 27:52                 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. So yes, not only did the thief on the cross join Yahusha that “day”… so did you and I.  Being absent from this body is to be immediately present with Yahusha so when each of us die we will “step outside of the timeline” and realize at that moment that we are stepping out of the timeline along with Yahusha and all the sons of Yahuah past, present, future on THAT day!  That day was the fullness of time. 2 Corinthians 5 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with Yahusha. Galatians 4 4 But when the fullness of time had come, Yahuah sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law (from the curse of the Law), so that we might receive adoption as sons (at the fullness of time in context). Romans 8:16-17 "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Yahuah, and if children, then heirs -- heirs of Yahuah and joint heirs with the Messiah, if indeed we suffer with him (Yahusha), that we may also be glorified together (at the fullness of time)." So yes on that day we were all redeemed from death (the curse of the law) and the entire timeline was relieved of this physical body (resurrection) and were present with Yahusha following him in the regeneration... Atonement had been made and AT that ONE moMENT death was swallowed up in victory it was the fulfillment of all "time" or the fullness of time and the resurrection occurred.

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