Wallace G. Smith

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Many people passionately believe that when we die our souls will go to heaven for eternity. There, they expect to see departed loved ones and other long-lost friends—even lost pets, perhaps. The other details are a bit “fuzzy,” but this eternity in heaven is often imagined as some sort of never-ending “resort” of comfort and delights.

Now you might believe many of these things about heaven, yourself. If so, I have incredibly GOOD NEWS to share with you: You are wonderfully wrong. The truth is that God has something planned for you, for me, and for all who have gone before us that is far, far *BETTER* THAN HEAVEN! You need to know the details of what He has planned—stay tuned!

What is the State of the Dead

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World! I’m delighted you’re here.

Today we are going to plunge into a question that many people long to answer: What comes next after we die? We’ll also be offering you a free booklet about God’s purpose for you after death, Your Ultimate Destiny. It really is completely free. Be sure to keep an eye on your screen for information on how to get your copy.

In 2015, the Pew Research Center reported that 72% of Americans believe in some sort of rewarding afterlife. Even for those who consider themselves unaffiliated with a particular religious faith, 37% said they believe in an afterlife in heaven—including some agnostics and atheists who responded to the poll.

While beliefs about that afterlife vary from culture to culture and faith to faith, many believe that they have an immortal soul will go to heaven after their deaths, to be with God for eternity.

But what does that really mean?

Ideas vary wildly. Most imagine they will meet friends and family who have long been dead. Others believe it will be like a life of eternal luxury and comfort—but, frankly, details are hard to come by.

Peter Stanford, author of the book Heaven: A Traveller’s Guide to the Undiscovered Country, made this observation in the Daily Mail:

“In the marketing-speak that creeps ever more into our daily exchanges, the best bit of the ‘religious offer’ is the promise of an afterlife. That is why so many people who have severed all other ties with formal religion (i.e., churchgoing) continue to cling vaguely to the notion of Heaven. It lends itself perfectly to vagueness.

Still, the important questions remain: Is the idea that after death we will spend eternity in heaven true?

Does it come from the Bible? What about the billions who have died before us? What will you and I do for eternity if we live forever? What is the TRUTH about what happens when we die?

The answers to those questions may not be what you think they are. For instance, the Bible makes it plain that you do NOT immediately go to heaven when you die. But I’m here to tell you that is GOOD NEWS. Because what God has planned for you is FAR BETTER THAN HEAVEN! In fact, the idea of an eternity relaxing in heaven does not even come CLOSE to the joyous future that is REALLY in store for us after death. And today on this program, we’re going to show you, out of your Bible, the details of that future.

Before I can do that, I need to clear up a fundamental misunderstanding that many people have—and that is the idea that we all have an immortal, continually conscious soul that goes ANYWHERE when we die. God’s word plainly says that we do not.

While some verses here and there are sometimes wrenched out of context to make it seem otherwise, the plain teaching of the Bible is that the dead are just that: DEAD—unconscious and without life, awaiting a FUTURE resurrection.

Consider Ecclesiastes 9 and verse five. There, King Solomon explains it very simply:

For the living know that they will die; but THE DEAD KNOW NOTHING…

Later, he adds more detail:

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

His father, King David, understood this. In Psalm 6 and verse 5, he wrote:

For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks? 

The Bible is clear: The dead are simply that: Dead.

But that does NOT mean the end! For the Bible makes JUST as plain the fact that there is a coming RESURRECTION of the dead! The Apostle Paul made it clear that this resurrection was his hope, not an eternity in heaven, declaring,

I have hope in God… that there will be a RESURRECTION of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.

Well, what’s so special about a resurrection? Why is that so much better than the idea of going to heaven? We will explain the inspiring answer in our next segment.

But first, let me give you an opportunity to request this week’s free booklet, Your Ultimate Destiny.

This easy-to-read but thoroughly documented work will take you scripture-by-scripture in outlining for you the purpose of human existence and the meaning of your life

Lives have been transformed by the information in this booklet, and it is free for the asking. Here’s how to get your copy. And afterwards, we’ll discuss the startling purpose for your life, which truly is better than heaven! So, don’t go away.

Becoming God's Child

So, the Bible says that the dead await a resurrection. Actually, as we’ll see on our program, the Bible speaks of different resurrections for different people. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before we examine that, we need to understand the PURPOSE OF HUMAN LIFE TO BEGIN WITH.

That’s where our book, Your Ultimate Destiny, will be so helpful to you. Our booklet will lay out, in detail—verse by verse—the biblical proof of the truth that God’s purpose for mankind is to REPRODUCE HIMSELF—to expand His family!

Notice the original account of the creation of man and woman, in the book of Genesis. While the plants and animals are described as being made after their own kind—the fruit trees after their kind, the sea creatures after their kind, etc.—MAN is described as being made after the GOD kind. See for yourself, in Genesis 1 and verse 26:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

While he made all beasts after their kind, God ensured that humans, though physical, were made like Him. God makes it clear that mankind has a greater purpose than the animals do: He intends to make us His children. It is a purpose that involves FAR more than spending an eternity in heaven, as if we were “pets” to be cared for and kept happy, forever. We are to be children.

In Romans 8:16, we read this truth plainly. In the King James Version, it says,

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…

We will explain the fullness of that statement later in our program, but it includes inheriting the life and existence that the glorified Jesus Christ now experiences as a FULL son of God, eternal and brilliant, shining like the sun! Again, you don’t have to believe me. Look for yourself in 1 John and chapter 3:

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Read that and believe it: “[W]hen He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”!

And what is He like? Read the description of the glorified Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation! He is described there as having a face that shines like the sun, eyes like fire, and a voice like many waters. THAT is the divine existence as a FULL CHILD OF GOD in GLORY that God plans to share with us!

Read how the Apostle Paul describes the resurrection body in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15:

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in GLORY. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in POWER. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Raised incorruptible in GLORY and POWER. Just as Jesus Christ was raised a life-giving spirit, we, too, will be transformed to such a state, as Paul explains: 

And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

As Paul says plainly in the next few verses, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” and “we shall all be CHANGED.”

Why? If we are simply to live a life of luxury in an eternal retirement home in heaven, why this emphasis on GLORY and POWER, becoming SPIRIT and inheriting a KINGDOM?

Because, my friends, it gets even better! We will dive even deeper in the next part of our program.

But first, let us briefly take a moment to remind you how to receive your free copy of this encouraging booklet, Your Ultimate Destiny. It really is free: We here at Tomorrow’s World believe that Jesus Christ commands us to give our materials away for free. That’s why you never hear us asking you for money or donations on our program like so many video preachers do today, nor do we have any sort of “suggested price.” This life-changing book, Your Ultimate Destiny, has been completely paid for! 

For once, believe it or not, something really is free.

Here’s how to get your copy, and then come right back, as we look at just what God expects you to do with the glorious body He plans to give you.

Born to Rule and Serve

As we saw in the last portion of our program, far from having “immortal souls” that simply float to heaven after death for a life of luxury, like some sort of divine, ethereal penthouse, those who are working with Christ in this life today to fulfill their purpose will be raised from the grave in POWER and GLORY—with spirit bodies like that of the glorified Jesus Christ, shining like the sun, as full Children of God! Again, this truth is proven in minute detail in today’s free resource, Your Ultimate Destiny.

But what will those who are Christ’s be doing in their glorified state once He returns? And what of the many billions who have lived and died never knowing Jesus Christ, let alone their purpose?

After their resurrection and their marriage to the Lamb on the fabulous Sea of Glass before their Father’s throne, God’s word is clear about what happens next for followers of Christ: The glorified saints of God—transformed Christians—will RETURN to earth to RULE it for 1,000 years alongside Jesus Christ!

Notice the description in Revelation 20, beginning in verse 4. After the devil is bound for 1,000 years, unable to influence mankind, the Apostle John records what he saw in vision:

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

The 1,000-year reign of Christ and the saints while the Devil is bound is not a reign up in heaven. Revelation 5:10 and other passages say plainly that the saints shall reign on the earth.

It may surprise you that ruling and reigning over the earth is at the heart of God’s plan, but that’s only because so few are willing to preach what the Bible actually says. When you allow God to open your eyes, it appears everywhere in the Bible! Jesus told the Apostles that, at His return, they would rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. He gave His followers parables about ruling cities. The Apostle Paul talks to the Corinthians about reigning as kings, and he tells Timothy that those who endure will reign right next to Jesus Christ. Isaiah 9 says of Christ that “the government will be upon His shoulder” and will increase without end, and Daniel chapter 7 says that faithful followers of God will receive that Kingdom alongside Jesus Christ, possessing it forever and ever. In fact, Paul explicitly tells Christians in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 2 & 3,

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?

Judging the world—judging angels! Time would fail us to mention all of the scriptures in God’s word that speak of the glorified saints reigning in power under Jesus Christ! Have you ever had this “afterlife” explained to you? It is the plain teaching of your Bible!

Resurrected and glorified Christians will work directly with Jesus Christ in ruling, healing, and beautifying this world for 1,000 years. They will help heal the crippled, the blind, the deaf, and the mute. They will bring waters to the deserts and make them beautiful and fertile! They will personally teach the people of earth God’s laws and ways, turning the earth into the paradise it was meant to be.

If your heart has ever been broken because of the evil and suffering that you have seen in the world and you have longed to CHANGE the world—that is EXACTLY what the resurrected followers will do under Jesus Christ for 1,000 years!

My friends—the “afterlife” God has planned is so much more than a glorified “retirement home in the sky.”

And even THEN, there is still so much more! After all, many of those scriptures we mentioned refer to the saints ruling forever, not just 1,000 years. What happens AFTER the 1,000 years?

My friends, not only is it better than the “heaven” that is taught by most churches and preachers—it is more amazing than many have dared even to hope.

Before we get to the most jaw-dropping part of the Bible’s details concerning God’s plan for you, let me pause just one more time to give you a moment to request the companion study guide to today’s program, Your Ultimate Destiny. This booklet proves beyond doubt, from the pages of your own Bible, how commonly taught ideas about going to heaven forever are a pale, deceptive shadow of the true purpose God has planned for you.

One of the booklet’s readers wrote to us about it and had this to say: 

“My eyes have been truly opened just within the time I have been studying with Tomorrow’s World. After reading the booklet Your Ultimate Destiny I had a feeling that I never felt before concerning spirituality… I have learned more concerning God’s words in the last three months than I had learned all my life.”

In a moment, we’ll show you how to get your copy, and then I’ll be right back with the biggest surprise of all. You won’t want to miss it.

Heirs of all Things

Welcome back.

We have precious little time, but I have saved the best for last.

After the 1,000 years are ended, Revelation 20 tells us that the Devil is finally, utterly, removed from contact with us forevermore. You’ll also remember that verse 5 of Revelation 20 spoke of the resurrection of the saints of God as the “first resurrection.” As John wrote there,

…the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.

Later verses in chapter 20 explain that ALL of the dead, small and great, are raised to physical life to have the books of the Bible opened to them, and to have their opportunity to be listed in the Book of Life. With God, NO ONE will have been lost to Him on “accident,” or because they did not have an opportunity. Only those who truly refuse God’s offer of salvation, with an understanding of what they are doing, will be ultimately destroyed, and thrown into the Lake of Fire to be annihilated, never to live again.

So, with all who would refuse God destroyed forever, and those who remain given everlasting life in the Family of God, what next? What will all of us do as we take our first steps into eternity?

You absolutely MUST get our booklet, Your Ultimate Destiny, to read and study these things in detail, but let me try to give you as much in as I can in these final moments. It really does come back to the purpose of man: Why did God create mankind? What is it He has longed to give us all this time?

Quoting the Psalms in Hebrews chapter 2, the Apostle Paul points out in verse 8 that God has put “all things” under mankind’s ultimate dominion. Now those words “all things” in Hebrews are translated from the Greek words ta panta, which literally mean “the all”—all of Creation! The Universe! In fact, our inheritance stretches farther than our eyes can see! As Paul explains in the same verse,

For in that He put all in subjection under him [that is, under man], He left NOTHING that is not put under him. But now we DO NOT YET SEE all things put under him.

What the glorified Children of God will do for the earth, God wants us to do throughout ALL of Creation! In Romans 8, Paul describes a universe that is LONGING for the restoring hand of God’s own children! Read it there, in verse 18:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

Why?

…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Do we have the courage to grasp what our eyes see in our Bibles?

The Bible says that the VAST CREATION around us—stars and planets and galaxies, world without end—long for OUR REVELATION as the eternal, glorified Children of God!

God’s plan and purpose for man is so much larger than it seems ANYONE will give it credit for! God has created an entire UNIVERSE for us to cultivate and beautify—joining our Heavenly Father in His work!

Consider the images we’ve seen broadcast from the surface of Mars: a desolate, dry, dead place. Can you imagine such worlds made green and alive? When we see images, we need to remember: that wasteland is waiting for you and me to fulfill our purpose and to bring it liberty! The liberty of the Children of God!

What will you do with your portion of the cosmos as a glorified Child of God? Are you willing to embrace the promises of an Almighty Creator, who longs to share His own existence with you and to give you all things?

And—perhaps, more importantly—are you willing to seek His Kingdom now, in this life, knowing that such an inheritance awaits you?

Our time today is at an end, but we have barely scratched the surface of this topic. I do hope you will request today’s free booklet and prove this life-changing truth for yourself.

And I hope you’ll come back next time. Richard Ames, Gerald Weston, and I, as well as Guest Presenter Rod McNair, will be right here to share with you the teachings of Jesus Christ, the good news of His coming Kingdom, and the prophecies of your Bible. Until then, take care.

---

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/10/most-americans-believe-in-heaven-and-hell/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3511808/Why-atheists-believe-life-death-irreligious-age-number-believe-heaven-going-asked-distinguished-thinkers-curious-contradiction.html#ixzz4qznxTbNV

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Three Days and Three Nights Explained

Easter is a time when many choose to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There will be Easter Egg hunts and sunrise services, though few understand the origin of these popular and well-loved traditions. However, as many who consider themselves Christian gather to observe the various parts of what is often called Passion Week, including Good Friday and Easter Sunday, little do they know that they will be engaging in one specific tradition that actually CONTRADICTS the one sign Jesus said would prove He was the Messiah!

Was Jesus the Messiah, or wasn’t He? One Easter tradition denies that He is! What do you say? Join us now on Tomorrow’s World, as we examine Three Days, Three Nights, and One Messiah. Stay tuned!

The Pagan Origin and Celebration of Easter

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World!

When it comes to the calendar of sacred days that is observed by most professing Christians in the world, Christmas tends to get most of the attention, but Easter is often considered by many to be the holiest day of the year and the day when they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On today’s program, we’re going to examine one aspect of Easter more closely than you’ve probably ever done before—an element of the Easter celebration that everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ MUST understand… though, in fact, it’s understood by very few.

We’ll also give you an opportunity to request this free, informative booklet, Easter: The Untold Story. Be ready to take down the information that will appear periodically on your screen so that can request your own free copy.

But here at the beginning of our program, let me absolutely clear about two facts:

First, Jesus Christ DID rise from the dead. While proving that would be a great topic for another program, for any neutral-minded observer willing to look at the testimony of history, the lives of the Apostles, and what was recorded of the events of Jesus’ life and ministry, the conclusion is clear: Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead exactly as He foretold He would be. He IS the Son of God—our Savior, and our soon-to-return King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We proclaim that truth routinely here on Tomorrow’s World.

But let me just as clear about the second fact: the observance of Easter is not what many suppose it to be.

We need to be willing to ask ourselves where many of the traditions and customs associated with Easter come from. There’s no harm in asking, is there?

For instance, where does the association with an Easter Bunny that lays Easter Eggs come from? It certainly isn’t the Bible. But if not the Bible, where? In many languages around the world, the name of Easter celebrations is taken from the biblical Passover, even though they are completely different observances. In English, though, the word “Easter” is used—a word not seen anywhere in the Bible, save for a single verse in the King James Version that is almost universally recognized as a mistranslation of the Greek word for “Passover.” So, if the English word “Easter” did not come from the Bible, where did it come from?

What of other customs associated with Easter—hot cross buns, for instance? Or the fertility customs of some European countries?

For anyone willing to research the topic, the facts on these customs are clear. Most of these customs do not originate in Christianity, but from paganism.

As Evangelist Gerald Weston says so plainly in today’s free booklet [p. 17],

“The pagan origin and celebration of Easter is a major problem for professing Christianity, but it is only part of the problem. In addition to blending pagan customs and traditions into the worship of the true God, contrary to His command, we find that even the part of Easter that supposedly comes from the Bible is terribly flawed…”

Today we want to focus on that part of Easter that many claim IS found in the pages of the Bible: Good Friday and Easter Sunday. And we will find that if Jesus truly is the Messiah who was resurrected almost 2,000 years ago, He could not have died on a Friday and been resurrected on a Sunday! We will examine this in detail later, but first…

…let me give you a brief opportunity to request this, free booklet, Easter: The Untold Story. Consider the chapter headings of this eye-opening book.

What’s in a Name? The Queen of Heaven Worshiping Christ in Vain Three Days and Three Nights The Significance of the Passover “For that Sabbath was a High Day” What Happened on Sunday?

Just contact us using the information on your screen and get your free copy of Easter: The Untold Story.

If the resurrection of Jesus means anything to you at all, then this is information you need to have. Request your copy right now—just ask for the booklet on Easter.

The Sign That Jesus Gave Regarding His Death - Matthew 12:40

Welcome back!

Before the break, I mentioned one specific Easter custom that actually denies the very sign Jesus Christ agreed to give to prove He was who He claimed to be: the Messiah of the world.

We read of that sign in the book of Matthew, chapter 12, beginning in verse 38:

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Notice, Jesus is being very specific. He said He would only give them one sign, the sign of the prophet Jonah. In the same way that Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, Jesus would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, or the grave.

Three nights, three days. Very clear, specific words!

But they present an insurmountable problem for those who observe Good Friday and Easter Sunday as a celebration of the resurrection.

Tradition says that Jesus was crucified on Friday—called “Good Friday”—was buried right before the weekly Sabbath rest that began at sundown. Then He was in the tomb that night and all day Saturday, Saturday night, and then rose on Sunday morning, or “Easter Sunday.”

But is that three days and three nights? Let’s count: Jesus is buried right before sundown on Friday, so there is all of Friday night, and then Saturday day, and then Saturday night. The Bible says the tomb was empty before the daylight hours of Sunday (according to John 20:1), so that’s all we have—one day and two nights.

If you choose to ignore scriptures like John chapter 20 and verse 1 and other passages and then generously throw in part of Friday and part of Sunday as two more days, you STLL only have three days and TWO NIGHTS. There is simply NOW WAY to include all three of the three days and three nights into the Good Friday / Easter Sunday tradition.

And yet Jesus said that being in the grave three days and three nights was the only sign He would give to prove He was the Messiah!

Either the tradition is wrong and Jesus is right, or Jesus was wrong and the tradition is right! We can’t have it both ways.

Some go further and claim that Jesus was speaking using a Jewish idiom and that when He said “three days and three nights,” He didn’t mean three literal days and nights and that any part of a day would do, whether day or night. However, there is no support for this excuse. As the time-honored Companion Bible states in Appendix 156,

“Now, while it is quite correct to speak according to Hebrew idiom of ‘three days’ or ‘three years’, while they are only parts of three days or three years, yet that idiom does not apply in a case like this, where ‘three nights’ are mentioned in addition to ‘three days’. It will be noted that the Lord not only definitely states this, but repeats the full phraseology, so that we may not mistake it.”

This is all the more brought home with the fact that Jesus did not simply say that He would be in the tomb three days and three nights, but He said that He would be there like JONAH WAS IN THE BELLY OF THE GREAT FISH three days and three nights. That is a reference to the Old Testament book of Jonah, where the Hebrew construction does not allow for an idiom, but means three literal days and three literal nights: a full 72 hours.

Again, The Companion Bible helpfully summarizes in Appendix 144:

“But, when the number of ‘nights’ is stated as well as the number of ‘days’, then the expression ceases to be an idiom, and becomes a literal statement of fact.

“Hence, when it says that ‘Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights’ (Jonah 1:17) it means exactly what it says…”

But you don’t have to be an expert in ancient languages to know what Jesus means. We can simply look at what other verses say and put them all together. There is a reason God inspired four different gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and the details are important! Let’s take a look:

In John 2:19, Jesus says that when He is killed, He will be resurrected

           “in three days”

In Mark 8:31, Jesus says that He will be rejected and killed, and

           “after three days”

He will rise again.

Finally, in Luke 24, verse 46, Jesus explains that He had to suffer and rise from the dead

           “the third day”

The only way all three of these can be satisfied is if Jesus is in the tomb EXACTLY 72 hours: not a moment more and not a moment less! God is a God of precise timing! And the resurrection of Jesus Christ is no exception.

If Good Friday and Easter Sunday are impossible, then when what is the solution?

Well, where traditions fail, God’s word has the answers. We’ll lay out for you the biblical PROOF that Jesus’ prophecy of three days and three nights is exactly true in the next segment of our program.

But first, let’s take a very brief break to give you an opportunity to request our free resource, Easter: The Untold Story.

The origins of Easter customs and traditions is understood by few, but they have a definite impact on your walk with God and your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Just request the material on Easter, and I’ll be right back in a few seconds to solve the mystery of Jesus’ 3 days and 3 nights that prove He is the one and only Messiah.

Timing of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Welcome back!

If Good Friday and Easter Sunday do not fit Jesus’ prophecy, then why do so many claim that Jesus died on a Friday? The answer lies in a lack of careful study of the Bible. Let’s read in Luke chapter 23, beginning in verse 52. Speaking of Joseph of Arimathea, Luke writes,

This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.

Now many understand that the weekly seventh-day Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday. When they read this passage, they then assume that Jesus was buried in a tomb right before sundown on Friday. However, the Bible speaks of multiple kinds of Sabbaths, not just the weekly Sabbath on the seventh day! Yes, the day Jesus died was a preparation day for a Sabbath—but for the weekly Sabbath or another one?

When you examine the biblical Festivals and Holy Days, which are also explained in our booklet, Easter: The Untold Story, you see that Jesus died on a Preparation Day for an ANNUAL SABBATH, not a weekly one.

Consider: What did Jesus do the night before He was crucified? While it is commonly called the “Last Supper,” the Bible records that what Jesus observed with His disciples was the biblical Passover. We see this in all of the gospels, but let’s just look at Jesus’ own statement in Luke 22 and verse 15:

Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…”

You don’t need to trust me—you can look it up in your own Bible. And in your Bible, you will find that the Passover was a preparation day for an Annual High Day Sabbath that followed the very next day—a day like the weekly Sabbath, when no work was allowed. We read about these days in Leviticus 23 [vv. 5–7]:

On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD… On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

So, remembering that Sabbaths begin and end at sundown, we see that Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples that evening, was crucified during the daylight portion of the Passover, and was placed in a tomb in the late afternoon, right before sundown. Then, at sundown, began the first evening of an Annual High Day Sabbath, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when no one was allowed to work.

The Apostle John confirms that this Sabbath was an Annual High Day in his own gospel account, in chapter 19 and verse 31:

“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a HIGH DAY), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” (John 19:31)

So how many Sabbaths were there the week Christ died and was resurrected? The Bible says that there were two: the Annual High Day Sabbath and the weekly Sabbath. Look for yourself in your own Bible. Read Mark chapter 16 and verse 1:

“Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.”

Nothing unusual here. The women could not buy or work on a Sabbath, so after the Sabbath they bought spices to anoint Jesus’ dead body in the tomb. But compare this to Luke 23 and verses 54 through 56. Speaking of the same women, verse 56 says,

“Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

So, Mark 16 says that the women bought the spices AFTER the Sabbath, but Luke 23 says the women then prepared the spices BEFORE the Sabbath. You can’t prepare spices you haven’t bought yet! The only possible solution is that the women bought the spices after the ANNUAL HIGH DAY Sabbath and then, once it was over, prepared the spices until they had to rest again before the WEEKLY Sabbath!

This really is the only solution, and yet it is a solution that makes everything fit perfectly, including Jesus’ prophecy of three days and three nights!

Let’s count:

• Jesus eats the Passover with His disciples Tuesday night after sundown. Then, Wednesday afternoon, He is crucified and entombed shortly before sundown, late Wednesday afternoon.
• During the Annual High Day Sabbath of Wednesday night and the day part of Thursday, Jesus is in the tomb. That’s one night and one day.
• After sundown Thursday, the Annual Sabbath is over and the women are free to begin buying spices and preparing them for applying to Jesus’ body according to Jewish tradition. That work day—the evening part of Thursday and the daylight portion of Friday—brings the total to two nights and two days with Jesus in the tomb.
• At sundown on Friday, the women must rest again due to the start of the weekly Sabbath. Friday night and the daylight part of Saturday bring the time Jesus has been entombed in the heart of the earth to three nights and three days!
• With 72 hours completed—all three days and all three nights—Jesus was then resurrected right before sundown, late Saturday afternoon! This is why the tomb is ALREADY EMPTY when the women finally arrive early Sunday morning while it is still dark (John 20:1).

This explanation works perfectly and matches the Bible and Jesus’ own prophecy about the sign of Jonah in every detail! And it is the only explanation that does.

Jesus died on a Wednesday afternoon and was buried right before sundown that day. He was resurrected exactly three days and three nights later, to the very hour, at sundown on Saturday. And the women, coming to the tomb in the dark on Sunday morning find it already empty.

This is not the Good Friday / Easter Sunday of tradition, but it is the truth! And it is the testimony of the Word of God. He truly was in the grave three days and three nights, just as He said. And He truly is the Messiah!

If all of this is new to you, you need our eye-opening booklet, Easter: The Untold Story.

It includes a diagram, explaining the timing of Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as a chart explaining the meaning of the biblical Holy Days, such as Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Consider the chapter headings of this eye-opening book:

What’s in a Name?

The Queen of Heaven

Worshiping Christ in Vain

For that Sabbath was a High Day

What Happened on Sunday?

Just contact us using the information on your screen and get your free copy of Easter the Untold Story. If you believe in Jesus as your Savior, then this is information you need to know. Easter the Untold Story: just ask for the booklet on Easter.

Worship God in Spirit and Truth

What you’ve seen today presents us with a stark choice.

Not only are Easter traditions full of pagan influences and elements, as we detail in our free booklet, but even the very days themselves—Good Friday and Easter Sunday—could not have been the days on which Jesus died and was resurrected.

Jesus Christ was absolutely plain when He told His accusers, and us reading His words today:

[…He answered and said to them,] “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39–40).

The excuses made by academics and apologists who try to cram three days and three nights into Good Friday and Easter Sunday fail every test of language, culture, comparison against other scriptures, and the biblical chronology. Yet ignoring the Friday-Sunday tradition and using the biblical Holy Days as a guide while simply believing the Bible for what it says, everything fits perfectly. In fact, that is the only way they fit.

Jesus was plain, and your eyes aren’t fooling you. Those who tell you to ignore what you read should be ashamed of themselves, repent, and simply accept the Bible’s testimony—the testimony of Jesus Christ, Himself:

Three days and three nights prove one Messiah.

Jesus Christ IS that Messiah—the Christ, who paid the penalty of our sins with His own life, was resurrected three days and three nights later, and ascended to His Father’s right hand, from where He will one day return in the days just ahead of us to rule the world as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

But to see the truth of these things, we have to begin looking past the comfortable but wrong traditions of Easter and begin trusting the words of Jesus, Himself.

Christ tells us in John 4 [vv. 23–24],

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

God is looking for people who will do more than worship Him in spirit—He wants those who will also worship Him in truth.

If you want to begin exploring how to do just that, then today’s free booklet is one of the best first steps you could take. Don’t forget to request your own free copy of Easter: The Untold Story today.

And don’t forget to come back next week. Gerald Weston, Richard Ames and I, and our guest presenter Rod McNair, will be right here waiting to share more of the teachings of Jesus Christ, the good news of His coming Kingdom, and the exciting end-time prophecies and their meaning. Until then, take care, and we’ll see you next time.