Sunday 21st June, follow up thoughts

Sunday, 21st June 2020

Other Jewish ideas about death

Judaism and the Hebrew Scriptures (known as the Tanack) as seen in The Old Testament are somewhat vague about what happens after death. 'Sheol' from the time of the ancient Israelites could be interpreted as the place of the dead, and sometimes as 'the grave'. However, it is not until the Pharisees began to explore the notion of a spiritual life after death (about 100 BCE) that this idea began to expand to the concept that God's reward for following His ways would mean there would be an after-life. They also taught that at the end of time when the Messiah would come bodily resurrection would occur.

In 1967 after the Israeli Six Day War, I was in Israel, some three months after the Six Day War. The Mount of Olives had just been cleared of unexploded bombs, after the horrendous battle that had raged around the graveyard, and I saw families frantically trying to put together the graves of their loved ones because of their belief in the resurrection of the body.

You might like to look up the following verses in the book of Isaiah (8th century BCE), and the book of Daniel (2nd century BCE), to explore further the thinking on Resurrection, before the coming of Christ:

  1. Daniel Chapter 12, verses 1 - 2.
  2. Isaiah Chapters 25 and 26.

Return to blog