The concept of a resurrection or the restoration of life after death was introduced in the Old Testament of the Bible through miracles that were performed by prophets. When Elijah raised a widow’s son from the dead, it says in 1 Kings 17:22, “the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived” (KJV). The resurrections that will take place after the Great Tribulation and the Millennial reign of Christ differ from the Old and New Testament miracles that were performed in that these future resurrections will result in a permanent restoration of life.

Abraham, who is known as ‘the father of faith,’ believed in the resurrection of the dead. It says in Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” The Greek word that is translated raise, egeiro (eg-iˊ-ro) means “(through the idea of collecting one’s faculties); to waken (transitively and intransitively), i.e. rouse (literal from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease, from death; or figurative from obscurity, inactivity, ruins, nonexistence)” (G1453).

The basis for the resurrection of the dead is found in the New Covenant that God established after Israel and Judah were taken into captivity. The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel revealed key aspects of the New Covenant hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born. God told Jeremiah, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). Rather than dealing with Israel on national basis, the new covenant, “will be based on an individual, personal knowledge of God (vv. 33, 34) and characterized by the indwelling of God’s Spirit (Ezek. 36:26, 27; 37:14)” (note on Jeremiah 31:31-34).

God revealed to Ezekiel specific details about how he intended to have a relationship with his people under the new covenant. God said, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). This is a key prophecy related to the regathering of Israel at the end of the great tribulation. “The regathering from the nations (Ezekiel 36:24) will precede God’s national cleansing of Israel (Ezekiel 36:25, Zechariah 13:1) and the placing of his Spirit within his people (Ezek. 36:26, 27; 37:14, cf. Zech. 12:10)” (note on Ezekiel 36:22-38).

Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) provided further insight into God’s plan to revitalize the nation of Israel. The vision came to Ezekiel at a time when the people were very discouraged. “After being away from their homeland for so long, they felt like all their hope was gone. Nevertheless, God affirmed that he could bring them back to their homeland from wherever they were. His Spirit will be placed within Israel, the reign of the Messiah will begin, the confirmation of the new covenant will be given, and God’s presence and identification with his redeemed people will be evident” (note on Ezekiel 37:1-38). God told Ezekiel:

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” (Ezekiel 37:24-28)

The events described in Ezekiel 37:24-28 take place after the Great Tribulation. Revelation 20-21 outlines how God will fulfill his promise to provide an eternal dwelling place for the people of Israel and to live among them forever. One of the key aspects of God plan is the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. “The new heaven and the new earth are not duplicates of the heaven and earth that now exist. The word ‘new’ is a translation of the Greek word kainon (2537), which means ‘qualitatively new.’ To some, this suggests that the new earth will be as the current earth was at its creation” (note on Revelation 21:1-22:5).

The Apostle Paul told the believers in Corinth that the resurrection of the dead will result in them becoming immortal. Paul said, “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:52-53). Paul connected immortality with the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the first person to be resurrected from the dead and was credited with gaining the victory over death for all believers (1 Corinthians 15:56-57). In Revelation 21:3-4 we see the celebration of Christ’s victory over death. John tells us, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’”