Isaiah: 14 Promises About The Resurrection | Introduction Part 3

Fourteen things we know—for certain—about the resurrection.

I normally start these posts with something like: Welcome to Gateways, where you experience the Nevi'im Acharonim—the Later Prophets…

But today, I’m feeling that a more personal touch is needed.

I remember, shortly after October 7, 2023, I was listening to Israeli radio, trying to feel connected to what was going on. There was an “Ask the Rabbi” show on, and it revealed so much about how the Jewish community was feeling.

One man asked, “Do I need to wear a kippah if I want to say Tehillim while I’m falling asleep?” He clearly felt a need to pray as much as possible.

A woman asked, “Why don’t we talk more about the resurrection of the dead?” She was missing her loved ones.

The Rabbi’s response, if I recall correctly, was that in fact, we do. The thought that we’ll one day be rejoined with our friends and family is a source of great comfort. Those we love and cherish are not gone forever—just for now. And we mention the resurrection of the dead three times a day in the second berakhah of the Amidah.

However, I still tend to agree with the woman who called in. We don’t really talk about the resurrection all that much. When it comes to the resurrection, we’re usually told something like, “We won’t really know what it’s like until it happens.” Or if we do think about it, it just sounds creepy—perhaps it’s just me who’s been too influenced by Halloween.

What is clear from the Abarbanel is that the resurrection will be a magnificent moment, unlike anything we’ve ever imagined.

In this post, we conclude Abarbanel’s introduction to the Book of Isaiah. In it, he explores the fifth and final reason Isaiah is placed at the beginning of the Later Prophets: because of Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the resurrection. He presents fourteen things we know—for certain—about the resurrection.

He begans with recapping a debate among the Jewish sages about resurrection, then gets into the fourteen things we know about the resurreciton from Isaiah.

For an for the complete text of the Abarbanel, click here.

I’ve added a Takeways section where I include a few ideas for how the content presented her can inform our life.

Finally, content creators often say, “If you like this content, please share…” I know too much sorrow to flippantly make the same request. So, instead, if you find the Abarbanel’s words inspriring and bring you comfort, do pass them along.

May we soon see the time, promised to us in Isaiah 25:8,

”He will swallow up death forever… and wipe every tear from every face.”

Jeff

Photo by Daria Obymaha

The Fifth Reason: Concerning the Resurrection

The fifth examination is about the purpose—that the purpose of this book (Isaiah) is to bring a person to his true purpose, and to inform him of the end and conclusion of the world.

The Debate Among the Sages

Now, regarding man’s ultimate purpose, there is a disagreement among our nation’s sages.

The great Rabbi Maimonides believed that the ultimate reward and punishment for a person is only for his soul after it separates from the body, in the World of Souls. He believed, however, in the principle of the resurrection of the dead, that souls would return and connect to their bodies in a miraculous way. And indeed, the foundation of that belief appears in Isaiah’s prophecy (chapter 55): "Listen carefully to Me and eat what is good, and let your soul delight in richness... Incline your ear and come to Me; hear, and your soul will live..."

From this it appears that the reward of the commandments is the pleasure that reaches the soul and its life and endurance after separation from the body.

Another opinion among our sages—specifically Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, Rashi, and the holy Rabbi Nachmanides in his work Shaar HaGemul—is that the main reward for mitzvot is not for the soul alone in the World of Souls, but for both soul and body together in the resurrection. And the time after the resurrection is called the World to Come (Olam HaBa). This opinion is also verified by Isaiah in prophecy 32, when he says regarding reward for mitzvot: "Hashem will guide you always, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and strengthen your bones; and you will be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."

Since the reward will exist both in the World of Souls and in the World of Resurrection, the prophet conveyed both ideas. However, Maimonides spoke about resurrection very briefly in his commentary on the Mishnah. He also wrote a letter on the topic, but on some points he put forth, other sages did not agree. Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, in his book Emunot V'Deot, raised many arguments and questions about this matter, though I too found serious doubts in his words. Likewise in the writings of later scholars—like Nachmanides, Rabbi Chasdai, and others.

Abarbanel’s Opinion

I myself have extensively researched this subject—its causes and beginnings and how to resolve the doubts that arise. I clarified what is correct versus incorrect among the views of these rabbis in my work Tzedek Olamim and also in Nachalat Avot (Chapter 4 on the Mishnah “The born are destined to die and the dead to be revived”).

There I identified 14 foundational principles regarding resurrection, and all 14 are illustrated in Isaiah’s prophecies. I won’t repeat here all the arguments, proofs, and refutations, but I will list the principles and highlight how Isaiah taught them in ways other prophets did not.

First Principle: The truth of the resurrection—that those who have died and whose spirits have separated from their bodies will return to physical life. This is stated in prophecy 20: "Your dead will live, my corpses will arise; awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust..."

Second Principle: Resurrection is not only for the soul returning to a new body, like Christians say, but for the original body itself, reconstructed with its original matter, qualities, and mixture. The soul that first inhabited it will return to it.

Third Principle: The act of resurrection is not driven by nature or planetary alignment as some Indian or pagan philosophers said, but is a wondrous miracle performed by God alone, as stated in prophecy 20.

Fourth Principle: Some have claimed resurrection is only a metaphor for the return of exiles or national revival. But this is a denial of scripture. The resurrection is real, and the revived body will be physical, newly created from earth and divine dew, just as Adam was.

Fifth Principle: The purpose of resurrection: Not simply reward for body and soul, as Maimonides couldn’t explain, but a twofold goal—a private purpose for the righteous of Israel who died in exile, to experience the redemption; and a universal purpose so all nations may recognize the truth of God.

Sixth Principle: Who will rise? Not everyone. Some rabbis said only the righteous of Israel will rise. But Isaiah teaches that even some of the wicked and many from the nations will also rise—to receive reward or punishment publicly.

Seventh Principle: In what form will people rise? As they were at death—young or old, even with their physical blemishes—so they are recognizable, and their identity will be impactful to observers.

Eighth Principle: Those resurrected will recognize their relatives and loved ones, just as they knew them before. The resurrection will restore memory and recognition.

Ninth Principle: The resurrected will eat, drink, and use their senses. Their bodies will be complete and functional. Isaiah speaks of satisfaction, delight, and physical flourishing.

Tenth Principle: Wicked people and sinful nations who rise will receive physical punishment visible to all, confirming the justice of God. Isaiah ends with: "They will go out and see the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me..."

Eleventh Principle: In the generation of resurrection, pride and arrogance will be broken. People will be humbled by the sight of the resurrected and will understand that true success lies only in serving God.

Twelfth Principle: In that generation there will be no more kings or princes; all will be equal, as in the generation of Adam. War and conflict will cease, and God alone will rule.

Thirteenth Principle: All forms of idolatry and false religions will be abolished. Those resurrected will testify to the errors of their former faiths and proclaim God's truth.

Fourteenth Principle: Resurrection will occur at or near the time of the final ingathering of the exiles. This pattern appears consistently in the prophecies of Isaiah.

In Conclusion

Isaiah taught 14 clear, foundational principles about resurrection—just as he gave 14 prophecies about redemption. And in these, the hand of God was truly upon him. No other prophet revealed such depth, not even Ezekiel, Zechariah, or Malachi. Therefore, because of this purpose, too, Isaiah’s book deserves to be placed first among the prophetic books.

That is also why I, Abarbanel, chose to explain his book first.

Takeaways

There are so many thoughts that come to mind of how the ideas presented here impact our life.

One of them, is how important it is to live with our soul in our body. There’s a poem that I love, Modeh Ani, by Rabbi David Ebner. In it, he explores how the implications of the resurrection for those of us who are living today.

The Poem

Modeh Ani 
מקים אמונתו לשני עפר

I.
Soul sits in the last (metaphorical) row
studying Torah
in the great Yeshivah of Olam Haba.
Body sleeps dreamlessly
on a Jerusalem mountain
waiting endlessly
for a moment,
a second,
perhaps myriads of millennia
are passing,
but the dead
don’t wear watches.
In heaven everyone is a no-body
in a world of non-sense.

II.
I asked Maimonides:
“If I have earned heaven,
found release from prison,
why must I return to body,
for resurrection?”
Reluctant,
to peak about resurrection
(was it a sore point for him?)
he said:
“Study the white fire text of
‘While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.’
The rest is commentary,
go learn.”

III.
I remembered a child raking leaves
their color and crackle
their smell when I rolled in the pile
and the steam of the hot chocolate
my mother brought me
rising in the autumn air.

And winter,
skating on a day so cold
the rhythm of the blades
cutting through the ice
froze like sound icicles.

A hot summer day,
watching the Dodgers,
Jackie and Gil,
Peewee and the Duke,
play the enemy Giants
to the bass roar of the crowd,
the shout of “Play Ball”
and the sweet taste of love
in the salted peanuts.

And an April day,
when winds began to gentle,
rains to soften,
and love began to root
in shy words
between two bodies.

I understood
metaphor alone
was not enough,
white fire alone
was not enough,
Heaven alone
was not enough.

I longed
to hear a driven leaf,
and see a red sunset,
to taste salt love,
smell fresh bread,
and touch
the incarnation
of a particular flesh.

And knew I would weep
from the joy of desire
if I were with body,
and wanted body back
so I could cry.

IV.
In Heaven
the rest is commentary.
Creation’s white fire
is to knead dark earth
and breathe this poem,
black fire on white fire
resurrected together
as one.

A promise
to a dust sleeper. 

by Rabbi David Ebner
from The Library of Everything pp. 49-51
Reprinted with permission from the author.