CHAPTER 22: UNDERSTANDING HEBREWS 11:39-40; WHAT DO THEY SAY AND MEAN

CHAPTER 22: UNDERSTANDING HEBREWS 11:39-40; WHAT DO THEY SAY AND MEAN

The key to the belief that these resurrected saints knew of the First Resurrection is in Hebrews 11:39-40 and relies upon the interpretation of these scriptures concerning Moses and Christ:

Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:39 is a simple and straight forward statement by Paul the Apostle. Hebrews 11 mentions all the saints who have a good reputation with God. But they did not receive the promise, because they died before the coming of Christ.

Hebrews 11:40 explains that those Paul wrote to and were being taught by him were blessed to be receiving the word that Jesus imparted through all of the Apostles.

The Doctrine of the OTW gains momentum from Hebrews 11:1-38, then breaches truth and directly changes the meaning of Hebrews 11:39-40.

The Apostle Paul has his writing of Hebrews 11:39 twisted by the Doctrine of the OTW into a total denial of its true meaning. The false intention taught by the teachers of the OTW is that Hebrews 11:39 suggests that God Himself missed something, or forgot to pay full tribute to those that desired the “better resurrection”.

Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received NOT the promise.

The OTW teachers totally changed the meaning of Hebrews 11:40 into a misunderstood swerve of belief:

Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should NOT be made perfect.

The spin is applied by teaching that God owed the Worthies of "good report" and of the "righteous line" something other than a second resurrection; the OTW deserved a pre-resurrection.

According to Hebrews 11:40, Paul teaches a brutal truth about dispensations, which is exact and irrefutable. Hebrews 11:40 alone should be enough evidence to convince anyone who ever reads the Bible that NO OTW was never resurrected in Matthew 227. This scripture tells every reader that all the OTW did NOT know Jesus and that they did NOT have the Holy Ghost, which only the promise of Jesus Christ the Messiah could bring.  They did NOT actually see the heavenly country or city prepared for them because they died.  They are still awaiting their resurrection at the end of the 1000 year reign.

Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should NOT be made perfect.

Paul writes that the early reign church was provided with something that the OTW had no access to. Hebrews 11:40relates that this something was "some better thing" for those of the New Testament era. In terms of "better thing", it was the Messiah's teaching about the Kingdom and the comforter he would send to those who heard and believed his words. That“better thing” was not a “better First Resurrection”.

The reality of this matter is that the OTW did not receive the promise because they were born in a previous dispensation. This was at a time and place in which they could not have heard the teachings of Jesus or the Apostles. Hebrews 11:40 states "that they without us should not be made perfect."  Both instances of "us" are the Apostles and the Church.

A worthy person cannot be made completely righteous unless the Messiah has come and his apostles teach the teachings of Christ.

The OTW teachers use Hebrews 11:39-40 to resurrect the worthies, treating them like a metaphorical Monopoly game where the "get out of jail free" card is used. They set up a false scenario about the worthies, changing the intent of these two scriptures into false doctrine.

A proof text that is provided by Paul proves that the Worthies did not resurrect as is written in Hebrews 12. In this sermon, Paul tells the people how grateful they should be, for God has given them the opportunity to be born into the dispensation which he has given them by chance and time.

Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

The First Resurrection was not won on merit alone. There are strict requirements that have to be met. These requirements are as simple as being at the right time and the right place in order to benefit from the First Resurrection.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

"Better things" were given to those of the New Testament era, which were not granted to Abel. The "better things" are the Messiah and the Bride of Christ, both of which we are privileged to be a part of today. Abel and every other so-called worthy of the Old Testament will receive their "better things" in the Second Resurrection. Abel and the other OTW will then be given all the rewards promised by God to those of "good report".

If an OTW teacher were to be asked the question; “How could a pre-resurrection be provided by God?”, most of these teachers would either ignore the question or profess the matter is in God's hand to resolve.

These teachers insist that God owed the OTW something for their good report beyond the Second Resurrection. Next, the teachers use an argument tactic called the Divine Fallacy.

The Divine Fallacy is an illogical fallacy that only occurs when someone assumes that a certain phenomenon must occur as a result of divine intervention. This is because they don’t know how to explain it otherwise. The teachers of the OTW beg the question “And who are we to question God?" They use the Divine Fallacy argument to defend their OTW doctrine claiming it as godly logic to prove their point of contention.