MEMORY VERSE: ‘And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.’ Daniel 12:2.
LESSON AIM: To study the resurrection of the dead.
‘Our mortal bodies may die and be laid away in the grave. Yet the blessed hope lives on until the resurrection, when the voice of Jesus calls forth the sleeping dust. We shall then enjoy the fullness of the blessed, glorious hope. We know in whom we have believed. We have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. A rich, a glorious reward is before us; it is the prize for which we run, and if we persevere with courage, we shall surely obtain it.’ In Heavenly Places, page 352.
1. What question did the patriarch Job ask? Job 14:14.
NOTE: ‘“If a man die, shall he live again?” inquired the patriarch. Oh, what interest this question assumed as I stood amid the graves of my loved ones! And how glad I was that I stood not there simply as a scientist, philosopher, or artist; for in all the sciences I have studied, the philosophies I have perused, or the arts that I have cultivated, I have never found a satisfactory answer to this question of Job. They exhibit no principle which shall make these hearts beat, or these feet walk. Unitedly they have done their best when they have made this record concerning man: “Born, grew, acted, declined, and died;” but beyond this all is so dark that they cannot see, so mysterious that they cannot speak.’ Uriah Smith: Sermon: In Memoriam, John W. White, page 61.
2. Where does the Bible first speak of the hope of the resurrection? Job 19:25-27.
NOTE: ‘The patriarch Job in the night of his affliction exclaimed with unshaken trust: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: ... in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:25-27.’ Great Controversy, page 299.
‘The resurrection is the great event to which the sacred writers looked forward as the object of their hope. In the far distant ages, a day rose to their view in which the dead came forth from their graves, and stood before God; and before the coming of that day, they did not expect eternal life. So Job testifies: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and thought after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19:25,26.’ Uriah Smith: Here and Hereafter, page 232.
3. How did David express his belief in the resurrection? Psalm 17:15.
NOTE: ‘David entertained the same satisfactory hope. “As for me,” he says, “I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness [that is, awake from the sleep of death].” Psalm 17:15.’ Uriah Smith: Here and Hereafter, page 233.