Regarding your first question, the first resurrection of prophecy that is spoken of in Daniel and John…
Daniel 12:2
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.
John 5:29
And shall come forth; they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done
evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
…is
for the Old Testament saints, all the kingdom saints in the book of Acts before Acts 9, and all the believers in
the Lord Jesus after the rapture and before the his Second Coming to earth,
as well.
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him
a thousand years.
Anyone
who has died as a believer from the beginning of Creation (those who believed
God’s word for their dispensation), except for the body of Christ, will return
with the Lord at his Second Coming to earth and will receive resurrected
bodies.
So
your question is whether these resurrection bodies will allow them to go to heaven. Yes they will have that ability
even though there is no focus on them doing that in the non-Pauline books. We do know from prophecy that the Lord Jesus
Christ would be crucified, buried and rise again. That was prophesied in the Old
Testament. He lived under the law:
Galatians 4:4
But when the fulness of the
time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
The
dispensation of law, that prophetic program, didn't change until the
Dispensation of Grace began when Paul was saved.
So
the Lord’s resurrection body (a spiritual body) is the exact type of body that
they will have.
The Lord describes their resurrection bodies as being like those of the angels:
Matthew 22:30
For in the
resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the
angels of God in heaven.
Angels
have spiritual bodies; the Lord has a spiritual body. The angels have the ability to go back and
forth between heaven and earth. So will
everyone else who is given a spiritual body at the resurrection.
So
the OT saints will have the capacity in their resurrection bodies to go into heaven. We know that because the Lord
Jesus ascended into heaven.
Acts 1:9
And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of
their sight.
They
too will have the ability to ascend to heaven.
But that isn't the focus in prophecy.
When we rightly divide the word we know that the focus of those saints
will be in the earthly kingdom and they will live on the earth.
Matthew 6:10
Thy
kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Are
there verses that say they will be able to go to heaven? No, because no one anticipated going to heaven until Paul. But now looking back
from Paul’s revelation of the mysteries, we can see that all resurrected bodies
will have the same ability to do what the Lord did in his resurrection
body. He lived on earth after his
resurrection. He ate fish and honeycomb
(John 20, 21). And then he ascended into heaven in the clouds (Acts 1).
We
won’t have better bodies because all resurrected bodies will be the same. Unlike the saints of time past, our focus is
on the heavenly places, so we will go up.
Evidently we will be able to come to the earth and they will be able to
go up into the heavenlies. I don’t see God limiting them to this earth. For example, if David wants to ascend and see
someone in the heavenly places, he will have that ability. But that is not his sphere of influence and
service. But none of the books outside
of Paul’s epistles touch on that because they’re ‘prophecy’ (that is, that
which has been made known since the
world began).
Let’s
take a look at what Paul tells the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 15:42-49
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It [the old
human body, the old Adam] is sown in corruption; it
is raised in incorruption [it won’t corrupt]:
It is sown in
dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It
is sown a natural body [the type that every human being has]; it is raised a spiritual body [the resurrected
body].
There is a natural body, and there
is a spiritual body. This is the truth for any resurrected body – whether they
will live in the earthly kingdom or in the heavenly kingdom (the body of
Christ). It is a spiritual truth for
every dispensation.
And
so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul [our humanity]; the last Adam [the Lord Jesus] was made a quickening spirit Howbeit that was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual [the same type as the Lord’s]. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the
second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy [natural human
bodies]: and as is the
heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly
[resurrected spiritual bodies of the saints of every dispensation]. And as we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Regarding
your question about the second resurrection and the rapture, ‘yes,’ in prophecy
the second resurrection is the Great White Throne judgment for the lost of all
the ages.
Revelation 20:5a
But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
Revelation 20:11-15
And I
saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another
book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of
those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And
the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire.
Daniel
and John both say that the first resurrection is for the Old Testament saints,
that is, the believers of all ages,
apart from our dispensation of grace.
Revelation 20:6
Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
So
technically the rapture is the third resurrection, but it will obviously take
place before the second resurrection at the great white throne judgment.
In
order, the rapture will be first; next, the first resurrection of prophecy will
take place at the return of Jesus Christ to this earth. Lastly, the second resurrection of prophecy
will take place 1,000 years later.
Prophecy can’t resume until our dispensation of grace is ended at the rapture. So, the rapture will be the
first official resurrection.
Hopefully
this helps!
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