questions about the Bible

[Shia Islam]

As someone who is moving toward specializing in religious studies, I started to read the Bible. I think that any Muslim scholar living in this age needs to know the bible.

I came a cross some concepts that I wish to be explained to me further.

1. I read somethings like " the kingdom of Jesus is to come". So what is exactly meant by this? Does it refer to the coming ages that will start with the return of Jesus.

2. What do the concept of the "first and the second resurection" mean? Do they involve some dead who will be brought back to life.

 

[gospelsaves]

I'm only going to answer the 2nd question right now because it takes a lot for me to explain it LOL. So here we go.....

When Jesus was here on the Earth he was talking to people at the time that were in an agricultural society. They are farmers during this time. They plant seed, and raise animals. Not like today we just go to the storeJ. Jesus had to explain to them things regarding the Kingdom of God in terms they can understand. So he relates to them in terms of a harvest. Every farmer knows about harvesting. The resurrection is explained to them in terms of a harvest, so that they can understand.

A harvest to the Jews was done in 3 parts:
First fruits, general ingathering, and gleaning.

First fruits – The very first crops that came in were called first fruits. It was a promise of the harvest to come. Like for example you have a tree and there is only one first apple on the tree. It’s showing you that this tree is beginning to ripen, and the harvest will soon come. So they use to take the very first parts of the harvest (called the first fruits) and offer them to God as a sacrifice. Like “God THANK YOU for giving me this first sheath of wheat, I know God that this is a promise of the harvest to come”.

General Ingathering – This is when the whole crop is ready for harvesting. The farmer knows it’s time to reap the harvest. The entire crop has come in, so the farmer goes and collects it.

Gleanings – This is AFTER the harvest when the last bit of wheat is leftover in field. The farmer has harvested but may have left a few sheath of wheat leftover. He has to go back and see if he can find anything leftover and then collect it.

Jesus when he died on the cross is described as the first fruits. His death was a promise that God would eventually raise the faithful from the dead. Jesus was a promise of the harvest of souls to come. Jesus is the first fruits.

We believe in the rapture. The rapture would be the general ingathering (the main harvest). Jesus would come gather all his believers to himself. All believers living and dead would be gathered to meet the Lord in the air. That would be the main harvest. If you are a believer that is alive when Jesus comes then you would be as the bible says “caught up to meet the Lord in the air”. If you had already died then your body would come out of its grave to meet the Lord in the air. If you die believing in Jesus then your spirit immediately goes to be with the Lord, but your body remains in the ground. Bible says “absent from the body, present with the Lord”. So at the rapture if you had already died your spirit is already with God but your body would be resurrected from grave to meet your spirit in the air. This is the first resurrection.

At the rapture those who didn’t believe in Jesus would get left behind on Earth to suffer in Armageddon. It’s a time the bible describes as God pouring out his wrath on those alive who would not believe. It will last 7 years. But the bible describes that there would be a few last people who would come to faith in Jesus at this time. This is the gleanings. These are the last remaining part of the harvest of souls. Last few to be saved. God gathers these gleanings.

At the end of time God will raise all those who died NOT believing in him to be judged. At the end of time (after the FINAL judgment) those who did not believe are cast into the “Lake of Fire”. Even hell would be cast into the lake of fire.

Think of Hell as Jail, and the “Lake of Fire” as prison. If you commit a crime (serious crime like murder) here in the U.S.A, they don’t immediately put you in prison. No first they put you in Jail, which is just a holding place until you await trial. You have to stand trial first before they put you in prison. Well hell is like Jail for those awaiting tial.

When a person dies in unbelief they are sent to hell to await judgment. They are in hell awaiting judgment when their body would be joined with their spirit again to face trial. This is the 2nd resurrection.

The “Lake of fire” is like prison. Once you stand trial, and are found guilty by God you are sent to a place called “Lake of fire”. Hell and “Lake of Fire” are two different words in the language. They are two different things. There is a scripture that says that God cast Hell into the “Lake of Fire”.

That’s why the bible says:
Revelation 20:6 (NIV)
6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Those in the first resurrection (the rapture) are having their body raised from the dead to go to heaven to be with God. Those in the 2nd resurrection are having their bodies raised from the dead to await trial.

This is my belief of how I understand it. have a good day. I will work on that 1st question if I get some time.

 

[Green Kepi]

I disagree with what ‘gospelsaves’ wrote in his answer. But…you will find many Christians also doing so. That’s why there are so many denominations of Christian thought.

However, I’ll try the first one. Please understand there is so much to explain…I’ll just touch on a few reasons why I believe His Kingdom is already here on earth in the form of the Christian Church.

The headquarters part of it is presently in Heaven. When Jesus returns to claim His ‘own’ and destroys the present earth. The new earth and the new heavens will be brought down. That is when the heavenly city will be relocated to the new earth.

Now to the Kingdom. The Kingdom was to begin at Jerusalem (Isa. 2:3). The Apostles were told to tarry in Jerusalem (Lk 24:49) and they did. They were in Jerusalem (Acts 1:12; 2:5) when the events in Acts 2 took place. The Kingdom would begin in the last days (Isa 2:2). Jesus told the Apostles that the Kingdom would come during their lifetimes (Mark 9:1).

Peter shows that Jesus is now King, as the prophets of old had foretold (Acts 2:29-36). When Jesus promised, “I will build my church, he immediately told the Apostles, I will give unto Peter the Keys of the Kingdom (Matt. 16:18-19). There’s much more…but, all of these show that the Kingdom existed at the time the NT Scriptures/letters were being written and those who were in the Kingdom were also in the church.

Jeremiah 22:28-30 – tells us that Jesus will not come back to and rule a physical kingdom from Jerusalem. He cannot…He’s from the seed of Jehoiachiam (Jehoiakim). No seed of this king will ever rule again in Judah.

Jesus’ Kingdom was not of this earth (1 Cor. 15:24. The Kingdom was already here when Revelation was written. John was in it already (Rev. 1:9).

 

[Pegg]

As someone who is moving toward specializing in religious studies, I started to read the Bible. I think that any Muslim scholar living in this age needs to know the bible.

I came a cross some concepts that I wish to be explained to me further.

1. I read somethings like " the kingdom of Jesus is to come". So what is exactly meant by this? Does it refer to the coming ages that will start with the return of Jesus.

I commend you for looking into the bible yourself, that is the best way to form an opinion on it.

Jesus was Gods Messiah. the Messiah was promised to come and establish rulership over all the earth and mankind. Genesis 22:17 ...and your seed (Messiah/Christ) will take possession of the gate of his enemies. 18 And by means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves due to the fact that you have (Abraham) listened to my voice.’
The hebrew scriptures were written long before the messiah arrived, when he did arrive, he fulfilled his initial obligations, but more was to come.
Jesus himself stated that before he took rulership, some things had to first occur. So when the apostles of Jesus wrote the message of the christian greek scriptures, they spoke of things that would occur in the future including that Christs Kingdom would 'come'
Christians differ on the meaning of the kingdom. Some think it will be on earth, others think it will be in heaven....some think it has already begun ruling. If you would like a deeper study on these details, let me know and i'll pm you.

2. What do the concept of the "first and the second resurection" mean? Do they involve some dead who will be brought back to life.

in the accounts in the bible (hebrew and greek scriptures) those who were resurrected were brought back to life in the flesh.
Resurrections were performed by or through the prophets Elijah and Elisha. (1Ki 17:17-24; 2Ki 4:32-37; 13:20, 21) And Jesus performed a few resurrections, one was of his friend lazarus you can read about in John 11:38-44. These are 'earthly resurrections'...the people were raised to life in the flesh.

But when Jesus was resurrected, it was in the 'spirit' 1Peter 3:18...he (Jesus) being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit

So there are two types of resurrection. One is in the flesh and the other is in the spirit. Jesus was the first man EVER to be resurrected as a spirit. Its called in the greek scriptures a 'heavenly resurrection' because these ones are raised to heavenly life, they are spirits like the angels and God and thus they can live with God in heaven.

 

[Shia Islam]

Thank you all for these valuable replies.

Indeed, many of these ideas are shared by Muslims, and especially Shia Muslim.

We believe that Jesus will return. And a Godly Kingdom will be established on earth upon the return of Imam Mahdi and Jesus.

Shia Muslims believe that some of the dead will be resurrected to earth after this return.

We also believe that although heaven is the place wherein believers will dwell after death, by living a godly life and following God's chosen ones, one can figuratively be living in heaven while he is still living on earth. One Shia Imam said "following us is the Heaven".

I am new to studying the bible; however, I don't find it strange for me, as the story of the prophets is one story.