Resurrection Preached at Sinai

"For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them (Israelites at Sinai)..." Hebrews 3:18a

One of the critical elements of the gospel is the physical resurrection of the dead, something that was denied by a large growing sect of Jews known as the Sadducees during the time of Paul's writings. But was the physical resurrection of the dead really taught to the generation of Israelites in the wilderness? Keep in mind that the generation of the wilderness did not have the later writings of prophets and apostles. To truly understand if this is the case, we must look into the only texts given to them - the first five books of Moses, the Torah.

Dust you will return

Genesis 3:19 with the sweat of your nose you will eat bread until you return to the earth, to which you were taken. Dust you are and dust you will return

בזעת אפיך תאכל לחם עד שובך אל־האדמה כי ממנה לקחת כי־עפר אתה ואל־עפר תשוב

G-d calls Adam 'dust', because it is from dust that Adam was created. But the tense being used is "you are dust" and "you will return to dust." G-d certainly is not speaking to a pile of dust, but rather a man who is standing upright and living. Just as Abraham stated while living:

And Abraham answered, "since I have begun to speak unto the L-rd, though I am but dust and ashes..." Genesis 18:27

We already know from the verse that man will return to the earth. G-d is not repeating Himself for the sake of added words. Rather this is an important distinction being made. Adam is currently dust, but living and breathing just as Abraham was when he said, "I am but dust". G-d then continues and says, "to dust you will return." You cannot return to a state if you haven't left it first. For example, if I return to my house, it would stand to reason that I had left my house at some point. So if Adam is currently dust and is going to return to the state he is currently in, then this proves a physical resurrection of the dead. For if Adam, a living, breathing, mold of dust will return to this state, then we know Adam will die and cease being a living, breathing, mold of dust - but he will resurrect as the state he was in when G-d spoke to him.

Here we have the resurrection of the dead in the law, which does not say, dust you are and dust you will go, but you will return תשוב. Midrash, Bereshit Rabbah 20:10

Is there a clear indication of when man will resurrect? The answer is in the same verse which states:

...by the sweat of your brow you will eat bread until you return to the earth.

After man returns to the earth, he will no longer toil the land for food. Thus, we can logically conclude that when man resurrects it will be a permanent sabbath, a day which has no end and there is no harvesting and toiling of the ground required. We know this because it states "until you return to the earth" rather than "when you are on the earth."

Your mother will bow down

Genesis 37:10 Are we to come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow down before you to the ground?”

מה החלום הזה אשר חלמת הבוא נבוא אני ואמך ואחיך להשתחות לך ארצה

Leading up to this passage, Joseph had two dreams. In the first dream, his 11 brothers had been laboring in the field and binding sheaves of grain. Then all the sheaves of grain bowed to Joseph's sheaf which stood upright - an indication that the brothers would bow to Joseph in the future. In the second dream; eleven stars, the sun, and the moon all bowed before Joseph. Upon hearing the second dream, Jacob interprets it to mean that he, his wife, and Joseph's brothers would all bow down to Joseph. This wouldn't be an issue if Joseph's mother (Rachel) was still alive, however, she had already died in childbirth (Genesis 35:18).

and his brothers were angry with him, and his father had the matter in mind Gen 37:11

Yet, Jacob keeps this in mind. He doesn't discard it or object to it. This indicates that there is some knowledge of a resurrection at this point already. Had Jacob not believed in a resurrection of the dead and heard his dead wife would bow to Joseph, surely he would not have kept this matter in mind.

Our father, Jacob, imagined that the resurrection of the dead would arrive in his days; as it says: Are we to come, me and your mother? Rachel is dead, and you say, me and your mother?! Yalkut, Parashat Vayera

His father clearly did not think of resurrection as an impossibility. He seemed to have some doubt of when the resurrection was but also was seeing what would take place. Since the mother is prophesied to bow down before Joseph, we must conclude this means there is a resurrection of the dead in which Rachel would one day rise.

Again, is there any indication of when this will happen? The text itself once again hints at, if not blatantly tells us, when the resurrection of the dead will occur. In the first dream, the brothers are laboring in the fields - the father and mother are not present. We see this dream come to pass when Joseph's brothers go to meet him in Egypt (Genesis 42:6). But when does the father or dead mother bow before him? This occurs in the second dream where they are in the heavens, and no one is laboring. Symbolically, the heavens are the dwelling place of G-d. Now, if there is a resurrection of the dead, then it cannot be in the literal heaven (sky). So we must assume there will be a time when G-d dwells with us on earth, thus transforming earth to being the dwelling place of G-d (ie: heaven).

Where might we see a day of rest where man does not labor the fields and G-d dwells with man? While Jacob, it is possible to pull it from the knowledge of the 7th day of creation along with the prior understanding of "to dust you shall return." For the Israelites, we can look at the Torah to find a day where G-d dwells with us and there is no work yet again:

"But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day" Exodus 20:10 KJV

"Observe my sabbaths [...] I will grant you peace [...] you will be eating the harvest of last year and have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put by dwelling place among you [...] I will walk among you and be your G-d, and you will be my people." Leviticus 26:2-12 (abridged) KJV

I will give them the land

Exodus 6:3-4 And I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, just as the great Shaddai (G-d); and I didn’t let them know my name (Hashem), and I established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels to dwell

וארא אל־אברהם אל־יצחק ואל־יעקב באל שדי ושמי יהוה לא נודעתי להם

וגם הקמתי את־בריתי אתם לתת להם את־ארץ כנען את ארץ מגריהם אשר־גרו בה

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all died, and none of them were given the land of Canaan to dwell in their lifetimes. Yet we see a promise, a future hope of a resurrection of the dead once again, for it states, "to give them" referencing the forefathers. Thus, there must be a physical resurrection of the dead so that those who died can inherit what was promised to them.

To give to you was not told; but to them, here the Torah mentions the resurrection of the dead Yalkut Shimoni on Parashat Vayera, 176:9

and I will give to you [Abraham], and your seed after you, the land of their pilgrimage Genesis 17:8

Everyone will return

Leviticus 25:11, 25:41 Jubilee will be for you, and each one will return to his family, and each one will return to the possession of his parents,

יובל ... תהיה לכם ושב אל־משפחתו ואל־אחזת אבתיו ישוב

If everyone is going to return to what their parents possess, then every parent would need to be alive to possess it. At the time of writing Leviticus, many parents had already died, and yet it states "each one of you will return" to your family and to the possession of your parents.

If one of them were to die, then how would they return to their family? If their family is dead, how then can one return to them? This indicates both a resurrection of the dead for those alive who will die and a resurrection for those already dead.

His iniquity will be upon him

Numbers 15:31 That soul will be cut off, his guilt will be upon him

הכרת תכרת הנפש ההוא, עונה בה

When speaking of a sin whereby the ruling is capital punishment, it says his soul will be cut off. If his soul is cut off, then how can his guilt be upon him? If there was no resurrection of the dead, then it would logically state, "his guilt will be upon him until his soul is cut off." However, we see that his guilt is upon him only after his soul is cut off. So it is once again an indicator that there is a resurrection of the dead preached in Torah.

If so, concerning the phrase “his iniquity shall be upon him,” when? Will it be in the future? Sanhedrin 90b:16

Give Terumah to Aaron

Numbers 18:28 Rather give Terumah to Aaron the High Priest

ונתתם ממנו את־תרומת יהוה לאהרן הכהן

Terumah is also called the priestly dues or heave offering, which was a tithe/gift given by Israelites to the Levites. The Levites are also commanded to give Terumah to Aaron the High Priest, but Terumah can only be offered in the land of Israel. This wouldn't be an issue if Aaron had entered the land of Israel, but Aaron had died in the wilderness and could not enter the land. If we are to give Terumah in the land to Aaron, then Aaron must be resurrected and live in the land of Israel. He must inherit the 'possession of his fathers' (the land of Israel).

Is Aaron meant to live eternally? In fact, he did not enter (in his lifetime) the land of Israel; rather, this teaches that he will live in the future [in the resurrection]. Sanhedrin 90b:2

I kill and give life

Deuteronomy 32:39 See now, that I, I am the one who, without another god beside Me, I kill and give life; I wound, and heal...

ראו עתה כי אני אני הוא ואין אלהים עמדי אני אמית ואחיה מחצתי ואני ארפא

G-d says He alone kills and then gives life. It does not state "I give life and kill." Therefore we must conclude that all death is for the sake of life, and all wounds are for the sake of future healing. Just as a parent disciplines for the sake of improvement, so too does G-d act in the same manner. While death prevents us from connecting through mitzvot/obedience, it is the resurrection that will perfect obedience.

Just as wounding and healing take place in one [body], so too, death and bringing back to life take place in one [body]. From here there is a response to those who say that there is no resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah. Sanhedrin 91b:13

Reuben will not die

Deuteronomy 33:6 Reuben will live and will not die

יחי ראובן ואל ימת

This statement is repetitive and the first or second clause is either useless or meaningful. If Rueben will live, then we do not need to know he will not die. If Rueben will not die, then logically we would have concluded that he is going to continue living. However, if Reuben has two lives and one death - then both parts become meaningful. This leaves us with a few possibilities:

1. Rueben is dead or going to die, but will live (resurrection) and will not die (eternal life).

2. Rueben will live now, and in the future (after the resurrection) he will not die.

The sages seem to view it as the latter option:

Reuben will live, in this world, and will not die, in the world to come Sanhedrin 92a:5

Regardless of which way you view it, it is hard to get around the redundancy while simultaneously claiming that both elements are equally significant.

Conclusion

But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!” [...] For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. Acts 23:6,8

While some argue against a physical resurrection of the dead, both in the second temple period as well as modern-day, the idea is not new and certainly not an invention of the "New Testament." The patriarchal understanding seems to be passed down through divine communication and oral tradition. Later the hope of resurrection was written in the Torah for all of Israel, clarified and illustrated in the prophets, preserved by the Pharisees, and validated in the gospels via the resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus).