Several Bible questions on the resurrection and judgements

Hi Roi,

nice to hear from you again. I'll dive straight in.

a) When will the OT saints be resurrected? Is it right immediately after the 7 years?

The short answer is yes, I believe so. The longer answer is that there is some debate whether the Old Testament saints are resurrected/raptured with the Church or whether it is separate. I believe that it is only those 'In Christ' during the Church age that are resurrected and raptured when the Lord returns for His bride. I believe this for a few reasons - Firstly John the Baptist, representing the last of the prophets under the law, spoke of himself as separate to the bride. He considered himself 'a friend of the groom' (John 3:29). The return of Jesus is full of wedding symbolism and He is coming for His bride. Secondly, the Bible indicates that the time of the resurrection of Old Testament Saints and later unbelievers is after the Great Tribulation:

Dan 12:1-2 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. (2) "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

This resurrection would likely tie in with that seen in Revelation 20 of martyred tribulation saints occurring after the tribulation at the very beginning of the Messianic Kingdom:

Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

b) Who are those resurrected in Matthew 27:52-53? Some say they are the OT saints. If this is the case will not the OT saints be resurrected after the end of 7 years?

Mat 27:52-53 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; (53) and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Yes this is a very intriguing couple of verses which the Bible just mentions and doesn't follow up! Makes us want to know so much more... what happened to them? Who saw them? What was the result of this resurrection? We don't know all the answers because the Bible only mentions it here in Mathew and only in two verses! From the text we could assume that these where some (the Bible says 'many', not 'all') Old Testament saints whose graves were around the holy city, Jerusalem. It is not a general resurrection of all. It seems consistent with the feast of firstfruits. See Jack Kelly's answer here for a little more info: https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/purpose-matt-2752-53/ (BTW - this is a great site for questions and studies. Jack has gone to be with the Lord but did a great job and covers so many topics.)

The main thing to note is that it was limited - both in number and location - Jerusalem. We don't know who or how many. But it was not a general resurrection of all.

c) Matthew 27:53 says "And appeared to many" Did the resurrected saints literally appear to disciples - did the disciples see them?

They certainly did appear to people in the city of Jerusalem. We don't know who. What intrigues me about this is whether it is a type of the rapture/resurrection at the Lord's return. We know that the dead in Christ will rise first and then we that remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds (1 Thes 4:15-17). If they rise first is there a small window of time before we are caught up together? Will the dead in Christ be resurrected and be seen to believers just as they were in the days of Jesus' resurrection? I'm not sure! But it is interesting. I have always found Matthew 27:52-53 very intriguing for this reason. Is God giving us a glimpse of what it is like at the next resurrection? Quite possibly.  

d) When were the OT saints judged?

I don't think the Bible gives an answer to this. Or if it does I am not aware of it. When Jesus went back to Heaven he took those that were the righteous from 'Abraham's bosom' back into heaven (Luke 16:19-31, Eph 4:8-10). They now await the new glorified body as do the 'dead in Christ' from the Church age. While the Judgment Seat of Christ occurs for the church after the rapture, I don't know of a scripture that speaks of when the Old Testament saints are judged.

e) Will the righteous in the millennial kingdom (those who will not get the glorified body) die or only the unrighteous? If the righteous die does it mean that the Great White throne judgment will consist of both righteous and unrighteous? 

There are some scholars that believe only the 'accursed' or unrighteous will die during the Kingdom age. Arnold Fructenbaum is one of these. He notes the following verse which speaks of life and death in the Messianic Kingdom age:

Isa 65:20 "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.

He writes:  

Verse 20 is especially significant, for it discusses life and death in the Kingdom. This verse teaches several things. First: there will no longer be any infant mortality in the Millennium; everyone who is born in the Kingdom will reach a certain age. Second: the specific age at which one may die is the age of one hundred. With infant mortality removed, everyone born in the Millennium will live at least until his hundredth year of life. Because of the prolongation of life in the Millennium, those who die at the age of one hundred will be considered as having died young. Third: this verse limits the people dying at the age of one hundred to those who are sinners; namely, unbelievers, as only they would be considered accursed. So, then, death in the Kingdom will be for unbelievers only. Comparing this passage with what is stated about salvation in other passages, the entire concept of life and death in the Kingdom can be summarized as follows. When the Kingdom begins, all natural men, both Jews and Gentiles, will be believers. The Jews in their entirety will be saved just prior to the Second Coming of the Messiah. All unbelieving Gentiles (goats) will be killed during the seventy-five day interval between the Tribulation and the Millennium, and only believing Gentiles (sheep) will be able to enter the Kingdom. However, in the process of time, there will be birth in the Kingdom of both Jews and Gentiles. These newly born, natural people will continue to inherit the sin nature from their natural parents and will also be in need of regeneration. Although Satan is confined, thus reducing temptation, the sin nature is quite capable of rebelling against God apart from satanic activity. In time, there will be unsaved people living in the Kingdom in need of regeneration. As in the past, the means of salvation will be by grace through faith and the content of faith will be the death of Messiah for sin and His subsequent resurrection. Those born in the Kingdom will have until their hundredth year to believe. If they do not, they will die in their hundredth year. The unbeliever will not be able to live past his first century of life. However, if they do believe, they will live throughout the Millennium and never die. Thus, death in the Millennium will be for unbelievers only. This is why the Bible nowhere speaks of a resurrection of millennial saints. This is why the resurrection of the Tribulation saints is said to complete the first resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6). It is also clear from the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34 that there will be no Jewish unbelievers in the Kingdom; all Jews born during the Kingdom will accept the Messiah by their hundredth year. Unbelief will be among the Gentiles only and, therefore, death will exist only among the Gentiles.
From http://www.ldolphin.org/otpremill.html

These are all very interesting questions and things to consider. We may not know all the answers but they are intriguing none the less! And it won't be long before we know all the answers to these and more because we will be with Him!

Hope it helps : )