The resurrection of Lazarus was
not a contradiction of Hebrews 9:27. It was a revelation of the
power of our mighty God, given at that time as a sign for the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. In our time such signs are not needed. Jesus has
been fully revealed by His life, death, burial, and resurrection and in His
Word.
by Shari Abbott, Reasons for Hope* Jesus
Question
If the Bible says “it is appointed to man once to die and then the
judgment,” how do we harmonize Lazarus being raised from the dead and thus
having to die twice? The same question applies for anyone who was
recorded in the Bible as having been raised from the dead.
Answer
While it does seem that the
resurrection of Lazarus is a contradiction to the verse in Hebrews 9:27, it is not.
The verse in Hebrews speaks of
the ultimate end of every man when it says that man will die once.
When Adam sinned in the Garden,
God imposed death as the consequence of his sin.
The book of Romans
confirms that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Therefore, Adam, and
everyone born since Adam, has death as the penalty of sin imposed upon
them.
The death imposed in the Garden
was both a spiritual death and a physical death.
In the application of Hebrews 9:27, we must begin by remembering that, since
Adam, all are born spiritually dead because of sin.
Therefore, Jesus said, “you must be born again” (John 3:7).
Jesus was speaking of spiritual
rebirth.
And Hebrews 9:27 is speaking of physical death and
clearly declares only one physical death.
No Contradiction
If that is the case, how could
Lazarus (and others) be raised from the dead, live again, and die a second
physical death?
The simple answer is that those
who were resurrected and brought back to life were resurrected by a miracle of
God.
In doing this, God set aside
the natural order of what physical life has been since the fall of man.
Resurrection is something only
God can do, as the Giver of Life and the Almighty and All Powerful Creator.
We know there were other times
in which God set aside the natural order with a miracle of His doing.
There was the long day of
Joshua, in which the sun “stood still”
(Joshua 10:13).
There was also the star that
led the wise men to Jesus following His birth (Matthew 2:7-10).
We know our God is omnipotent
and can do whatever He wills.
Just as God can re-birth a
spiritually dead soul, He can also physically re-birth a dead body.
Because only God can set aside
the natural order of that which He has created or ordained, the resurrection of
Lazarus does not deny what is said in Hebrews 9:27.
It was a miracle that supersedes
that which is common to man (death).
We should also note that the
verse in question, “it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), is a doctrinal truth from the Apostle Paul… AFTER
the cross.
This really shouldn’t be
applied to the resurrections of those before Jesus’ first coming.
It is a doctrinal truth for the
time in which we live, the church age, the age of the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit under the New Covenant.
All who lived (and died) prior
to Jesus’ death were under the Old Covenant and nothing in God’s teaching under
the Old Covenant denies the possibility of resurrections of humans who would
die again.
Another Question
This question raises another
question, why did God do this miracle?
Reasoning from the Bible
suggests it was meant to be a sign for those who witnessed it (under the Old
Covenant).
It was to reveal Jesus as their
Messiah (Anointed One) sent by God because they knew that only the power of God
could raise someone from the dead.
We are told that the Jews
required a sign (1 Corinthians 1:22).
And, from the beginning of
Jesus’ ministry, He performed signs and wonders as a means to affirm who He is (John 4:48, John 20:30).
Peter confirmed this in his
sermon on the day of Pentecost:
Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words;
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders
and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye
yourselves also know.
One More Question
This should now raise the
question, why doesn’t God resurrect people, to live again, during the time in
which we live? It could be a way of revealing His power and might to the
lost.
Some claim that God has
resurrected people back to life, but those claims cannot be fully
substantiated.
We must remember that we are
not referring to resuscitating a body at the time of clinical death.
Instead, we are discussing the
resurrection of a body and soul from confirmed death in which the body is
certifiably dead by both medical diagnosis and a conclusive passage of
time.
Remember, Lazarus had already
been dead and in the grave for four days.
After that amount of time
decomposition had already set in… for (as is so profoundly stated in the King
James Bible) “he stinketh” (John 11:39).
A Biblical Reasoning
While we cannot speak for God
and biblically answer why He does not resurrect people in our time, we can
reason “why,” from what Scripture tells us.
The Hebrews 9:27 verse is clear that after death comes
judgment (under the New Covenant).
For anyone who has repented and
trusted in Christ’s atoning work on the cross and received Him as Lord and
Saviour, this will be a wonderful judgment.
The judgment for our justification
took place “at the cross,” which
means it happened when we trusted in Jesus.
We received God’s forgiveness
of our sins because Jesus paid the penalty for them and washed us “from our sins by His own blood” (Revelation 1:5).
When Jesus saved us He also
gave us His righteousness, which made us worthy to enter into Heaven and into
God’s presence immediately when we die.
So death is a blessing of our
inheritance as God’s children. Our judgment at death will proclaim us
“worthy” to enter into the presence of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)
This makes it quite
understandable why God would not resurrect a believer and restore their
earthly, physical life.
It would be taking away the gain of which Paul spoke:
Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is
Christ, and to die is gain.
It would be stripping away the reward promised by Jesus:
John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are
many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
It would be rescinding the glory that we long to obtain:
2 Thessalonians 2:14 Whereunto he called you
by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 5:1-2 For we know that if our
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan,
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.
Conclusion
The resurrection of Lazarus was
not a contradiction of Hebrews 9:27.
It was a revelation of the
power of our mighty God, given at that time as a sign for the lost sheep of the
house of Israel.
In our time such signs are not
needed. Jesus has been fully revealed by His life, death, burial, and
resurrection and in His Word.
The Jews required a sign,
but “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
None of us can truly imagine
the glory that awaits us, but one thing is certain… once we taste of Heaven we
will not desire to return to this world.
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. - (2 Corinthians
5:1)
https://reasonsforhopejesus.com/lazarus-contradict-hebrews-9/
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