The Third Day

---

He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.

- Hosea 6:2

As we prepare to celebrate Easter, we're reminded of the importance of the third day. For it was on the third day that Jesus rose from the grave, crucified two days earlier to pay the penalty for our sins. But why the third day?

Paul tells us that the Scriptures foretold Jesus’ resurrection on the third day, yet the only reference that can be found is in Hosea, and it pertains to Israel. What are we supposed to make of this? Did the Scriptures really predict that Jesus would be resurrected on the third day?¹

---

The Hope Of Israel

Even before the death and resurrection of Jesus, the third day held a significant place within Hebrew thought, with Hosea 6:2 as the focal point. But how did this prophecy fit into the original audience's worldview, and how would they have interacted with it? As we'll see, it would become the hope of Israel.²

The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri…

Hosea began prophesying to Israel at a time when they were crumbling from the onslaught of their Assyrian invaders. Shortly before the fall of Samaria in 722 BC, God spoke through Hosea to deliver a message of hope to His people. He would heal them if they returned to Him, and He would raise them up on the third day.³

He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.

- Hosea 6:2

But this hope would start to flicker, as Assyria turned its attention towards Jerusalem, where the future Seed of David would rule and reign in His Messianic Kingdom. But if the Davidic monarchy was extinguished, this hope would seemingly die along with it.

Unless they believed in the resurrection.

Tower of David

---

The House Of The Lord

King Hezekiah ascended to the throne in 715 BC, and was able to repel the Assyrian threat for fifteen years. In 701 BC, Jerusalem would find itself under siege, and on the brink of collapse. It was during this siege that the king became mortally ill. The Lord would speak to Hezekiah through His faithful servant Isaiah.

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem

Isaiah was known for his oracles about the Messianic Kingdom, and Hezekiah would have been his primary audience. But now the king’s condition seemed to mirror that of his kingdom. With both consigned to an early death, the hope of this future Kingdom would burn out.⁴

Unless he believed in the resurrection.

Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains…

- Isaiah 2:2

Hezekiah tore his clothes and went up to the house of the Lord, the same one the Messiah was to rule from, and wept before God. Humbled and repentant, he pleaded with the Lord to heal him. The Lord honored his humility, healing the king and preserving the city, along with the Davidic lineage.⁵

I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.

- 2nd Kings 20:5

God promised to extend Hezekiah's life an additional fifteen years, after which the king would die. But his hope was firmly in the resurrection, because what God had really promised was that Hezekiah would rise again, on the third day, to witness the inauguration of the Kingdom.

The seal of Hezekiah

---

After his recovery, Hezekiah penned a song of praise, which Isaiah would record. The king's words seemed to blur the lines between himself and his kingdom, echoing Hosea's third day in the process. In the prophetic psalm, the protagonist is cut off, left to wander in exile for two days before being healed (and resurrected) on the third.

A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;

As a weaver I rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom.

From day until night You make an end of me. (1st day*)

I composed my soul until morning. Like a lion—so He breaks all my bones,

From day until night You make an end of me. (2nd day*)

I will wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul…

O restore me to health and let me live!

Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today… The Lord will surely save me;

So we will play my songs on stringed instruments all the days of our life at the house of the Lord. (3rd day*)

- Isaiah 38:9-20

Long before the 1st century, the coming Messianic Kingdom was synonymous with the third day. But before the Kingdom came, a Son would be born. And through His own resurrection, He would defeat death's power in order to raise it up on the last day.⁶

---

The Last Day

During His public ministry, Jesus never changed his audience's understanding of an age ending resurrection. But what He did do was proclaim that He was the resurrection. Only through faith in Him would one be able to enter into the Kingdom. And He was going to prove it by being raised on the third day.⁷

Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

- John 6:40

In his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul emphasizes the necessity of Jesus' resurrection. It's because Jesus rose from the grave that we are able to be resurrected on the last day. When the final trumpet sounds, the perishable will put on the imperishable, fulfilling the prophecies made (Hosea & Isaiah) about the third day resurrection.⁸

---

Thy Kingdom Come

The apostle John, exiled to Patmos, saw a vision of this last day. At the return of Jesus, the righteous dead were brought to life where they reigned with Christ for 1,000 years. This third ‘day' is found throughout the writings of the Hebrew prophets.⁹

On that day the LORD will become King over the whole earth — the LORD alone, and his name alone.

- Zechariah 14:9

In fact, the implications of the third day are embedded into some of the most significant events in Israel's history. It was on the third day that God came down upon Mt. Sinai to reveal Himself to His bride. It was on the third day that Israel crossed the Jordan into the promised land.¹⁰

And let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

- Exodus 19:11

It was on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood up for the salvation of the Jewish nation. It was on the third day that Abraham received his son back as a type, after offering him as a sacrifice to the Lord. And it was on the third day, at the wedding feast, that Jesus turned average vessels of water into vessels of new wine.¹¹

So did the Scriptures really predict that Jesus would rise on the third day? Yes! And because He did, those who believe in Him will also be raised up. And we will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day.

Maranatha!

---

For more on Hosea's third day prophecy, be sure to check out last week's article, “After Two Days” linked below.

https://practicalprophecy.substack.com/p/after-two-days?s=w

1. 1st Corinthians 15:3-4

2. Acts 28:20

3. Hosea 1:1, & 5:15-6:2

4. Isaiah 1:1, 2:2-4, 26:18-21

5. 2nd Kings 20:1-11, 2nd Chronicles 32:1-33, Isaiah 38:1-21

6. Isaiah 66:6-9

7. John 6:39-44, 54, 11:23-26, 12:48, Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, Luke 13:32, 18:33, 24:7

8. 1st Corinthians 15:1-49, 50-56, Isaiah 25:6-9, Hosea 13:13-14

9. Revelation 20:1-6, Isaiah 2:11, 4:2, 11:10, 12:4, 25:9, 27:12-13, 28:5, 52:6, Hosea 2:16-21, Joel 3:18, Amos 9:11, Micah 4:6, Zephaniah 3:15-17, Zechariah 2:11, 9:16, 12:8-9, & 14:4-21

10. Exodus 19:10-11, 14-17, Joshua 1:10-11, & 3:2,7

11. Esther 5:1, Genesis 22:4, Hebrews 11:17-19, John 2:1