Emphasis Preaching Journal
Preparing for the fulfillment
Commentary
If death is a closing of the eyes to the segment of life we play out this side of eternity, then like most rest which sleep ushers in, what has just been completed and closed off is swept away, at least for the time being. The "new" puts distance between itself and the "old." In this pericope the issues of what "was" and "what will be" are joined with the reference points being life and death. As has been pointed out earlier, the Old Testament does not have a full-blown doctrine, or understanding of eternal life involving a resurrection of the body until after the exile.
