Question 193: Who were the “sleeping saints”?

Answer:

The "sleeping saints" (see 1 Thessalonians 4:14 and Matthew 27:52, 53) are held to be Old Testament believers who, having served Elohiym faithfully according to their lights and who looked forward to the promise of the Messiah's coming, were quickened at the moment of Yeshua' death, although they did not come out of their graves until his resurrection. The opening of the graves was symbolic proclamation that death was "swallowed up in victory"; and the rising of the saints after Yeshua' resurrection fittingly showed that the Saviour of the world was to be the "first" that should rise from the dead. (See Acts 26:23; Colossians 1: 18; Revelations 1:5.)