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Passover to Tabernacles - Part Thirty Eight

Sep 11, 2022 by: John Herbert | Series: Passover to Tabernacles

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Mt 27:25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

We will continue to look at the details surrounding the killing of the Son of Man and the death of the Lamb of God.

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Sunday September 11th 2022
Passover to Tabernacles
Part 38

1). Mt 27:25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

We have seen in our previous weeks of study that national Israel is guilty of the blood of her Messiah, as the Jewish people, under the direction of their religious leaders, knowingly put to death the Son of Man. A messianic title, having to do with regality and rulership. In other words, they knowingly killed the One born the King of the Jews – Mt 20:18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”

And the Jewish people, according to the Scripture, are not only guilty of the blood of their Messiah – Mt 23:31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. 33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

The Lord Himself described this generation as murderers, holding them accountable, as the sons of those who killed the prophets and guilty of all the righteous blood shed on the earth, with the consequences of their actions being set out from their own lips in the parable of the vinedressers Mt 21:35 And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” 41 They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

And although the generation alive at the Lord’s first Advent were not the literal, physical sons of those who killed the prophets, they were, as with all Jews since, including those alive today, counted  guilty of their blood.
	a). Then in addition to this, we will note Stephen’s words to the Jewish leaders which echo what we have just read in the parable of the vinedressers - Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers……..

The Scripture is unequivocal, those Stephen addressed this day were the betrayers and murders of ‘the Just One.’ And every Jew from that time forward is counted to be just as guilty. Israel is God’s adopted firstborn son, and every Jew, even today, comprise that son and share in the consequences of the adopted son’s actions, past, present, and future.
	b).  And yet right alongside this, Scripture also reveals that the Jewish people are the unintentional killers of the Lamb of God, an act shown to have been performed by them in ignorance – Lk 23:34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Acts 3:17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

And with this in mind we will remember that the Lamb had been given to Israel to slay. No other nation could do this, and the killing of the Lamb had been given to the Jews as a commandment. And because of this they could not be held accountable. They could not be guilty of murder in killing the Lamb when they had been commanded to do so.
c). And so, what would we do with all of this? On the one hand the Jews are described as the murderers of the Son of Man, who are also guilty of all the righteous blood shed on the earth, but on the other hand, they did not know what they were doing and acted in ignorance when killing the Lamb of God, with God Himself having delivered His Son into their hands.
d). And if we go back to the mandate given to Noah and his sons in Genesis Chapter 9, the willful killing of the Son of Man and the shedding of all the righteous blood on the earth, must be paid for, blood for blood. And yet we know God’s plans for Israel – Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

This may all at first seem confusing and may even appear as contradictory, but this is not so. If we pause and think about this for a moment, we will realize that we are looking at two sides of the same coin. Where one side has to do with death and the other side with resurrection. And we must also remember that Israel’s actions, past, present, and future do not exist in a vacuum, they must be placed within God’s overall purpose, which the Scriptures reveal to be a restorative work of God over six days, six-thousand years, with regality to follow in the Seventh Day.
	e). And as we know, the foundation for this is laid in Genesis Chapter 1 where the material creation is found in the place of death beneath the raging waters because of Satan’s sin – Jn 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him……..

But God did not leave the creation in the place of death, rather He made a Divine intervention, beginning the process of restoring that which was ruined by sin. And what we see in Genesis Chapter 1, foreshadows the Divine work of restoring Man, also ruined by sin, over six thousand years, for the purpose of rulership in the Seventh Day. A restorative process predicated upon the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, to bring forth three firstborn sons through resurrection to life for the age, to rule in the place of Satan and his angels and the Gentile nations through whom they exercise authority – Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion

And Israel, who is God’s adopted firstborn son, is inextricably connected to God’s process of restoration and regal purpose, through the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, a nation who itself will be brought from the place of death through Divine intervention, who will be resurrected to life for the age.

2). We are well aware of the picture we draw from regarding Noah and his family protected in the Ark as they floated upon the raging waters of the worldwide flood, typifying national Israel being protected while out among the nations during the Great Tribulation. But perhaps we should also consider this from another perspective. Noah and his family were in effect sealed within the Ark and could only come out from it through a Divine intervention, at the time appointed by God – Ge 8:1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.

The latter part of this verse with the ‘wind’ passing over the earth, presents the exact same picture as that seen in second half of Genesis 1:2, when ‘the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.’ And that recorded in Genesis 1:2b was the precursor to the foundational picture of resurrection seen on Day 3, when again through Divine intervention, ‘God said’, the dry land was brought from beneath the waters of death to be fruitful.
a). Although the Ark was on the waters rather than underneath the waters, because of the primary type, we might allow ourselves to see the Ark picturing a tomb and Noah’s family emerging from it to a new beginning in resurrection. All aspects of their previous life before the flood having been swept away – Ge 9:1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

The death and resurrection, implicit in Noah’s experience, is presented concretely in another foundational type, that of Jonah – Jon1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish's belly. 2 And he said: “I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. ‘Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. 3 For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me…………9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” 10 So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Let’s be in no doubt here that the imagery used clearly portrays Jonah in the place of death, beneath the waters, in the belly of Sheol. So, in a figurative sense Jonah had died because of his rejection of God’s purpose for him. And Jonah’s resurrection was dependent upon him first crying out to the Lord from the place of death, followed by Divine intervention on his behalf. The picture given of Jonah’s death and resurrection is confirmed for us by the Lord’s reference to Jonah as a sign for the Jewish people with respect to His own death and resurrection – Mt 12:40 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.

The Ark, the belly of the great fish, the belly of Sheol and the heart of the earth are all synonymous in this sense. And Jonah, as with Noah, is a type of the nation of Israel, the firstborn son who has died and who will be raised on the Third Day, which is also the Seventh Day. An event made possible by, and prefigured through, the resurrection of the Christ on the Third Day in anticipation of His return to the earth and the establishment of His Kingdom.
	c). And we can see death, burial, and resurrection with respect to national Israel with the same end goal in view, set out in another foundational type in Exodus – Ex 14:29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

God’s firstborn son had died vicariously in Egypt on the night of Passover through the substitutionary death of the Passover lambs. In Exodus Chapter 14 the dead son was buried ‘in the midst of the sea’ but would not be left there. Following the established pattern introduced in Genesis Chapter 1, he, by the power of the Spirit, God’s Divine intervention, was raised to newness of life on the eastern shore with regality in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in view – Ex 19:4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

The firstborn son who had died in Egypt was raised to life again to rule in a Theocracy. And what we see in Exodus can only foreshadow that which will be the experience of the Jewish people during and at the end of the great tribulation as Exodus is the ‘Apocalypse’ [the Revelation] of the OT.
	d). And then to add to this progressive picture, let’s not forget Lazarus, the seventh of the eight signs given in John’s Gospel – Jn 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”…………….. 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days……….43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

As we see, Jesus returned to Judea after two more days, therefore on the third day, to find that Lazarus had been dead for four days. And Lazarus of course provides another type for national Israel, who will be raised from the dead on the Third Day, who has in fact been dead for four-thousand years with respect to the purpose for their creation. And just as Lazarus was to be loosed from his graveclothes having been raised from the dead, so national Israel having been raised will be cleansed from her sin through the fulfillment of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, both made possible through the eighth sign in John’s Gospel, the resurrection of Christ.
	e). And with regards to both the offer and the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to national Israel, the subject of John’s Gospel, Israel is dead with respect to the age, separated from rulership in the heavenly realm, throughout the Kingdom Age because of their rejection of the message and the Messenger. A condition exemplified through the fig tree in – 
Mt 21:8 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you with respect to the age.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

And with the fruitless, withered fig tree in mind we will observe the Great Harlot one more time – Re 18: 20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”……………..24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.” 19:1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”

Let’s notice what these verses say about the harlot, ‘in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth’. This brings to fulfillment that which Jesus said to the Jews at His first Advent that we had read earlier in Matthew Chapter 23 - Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah…..

And the Great Harlot in whom the blood of the righteous is found is judged, and in that judgment God ‘has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her’, which would include His Son. God ‘has avenged’, He is the avenger of blood, the near kinsman who is to put to death the murderer, Israel the great harlot – Nu 35:19 The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

Re 19:3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!”

The Jewish people seen in the Great Harlot are utterly burned with fire. The Great Harlot, rebellious, disobedient, unfaithful, Israel, is put to death as vengeance is taken upon her. Never again will the harlot be seen - 
Est 1:19 If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.
 
But as we can see again from Esther, this is not the end of the matter, nor can it be, as it is all part of God’s Divine restorative purpose with respect to the Seventh Day and His three firstborn sons, that has be shown over and over throughout the Scriptures - Nu 35:25 So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil………… 28b………….. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

God’s righteous judgment of blood for blood will be satisfied, but out of the ashes of the Great Harlot, so to speak, will rise the virgin queen, the firstborn son who fled for refuge among the nations following the unintentional killing of the Lamb of God. The very act that has made certain national Israel’s resurrection and restoration on the Third Day –
Jer 30:10 ‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the LORD,
‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar, And your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, And no one shall make him afraid. 11 For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to save you; Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, Yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, And will not let you go altogether unpunished.’

Am 9:7 “Are you not like the people of Ethiopia to Me, O children of Israel?” says the LORD. “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, The Philistines from Caphtor, And the Syrians from Kir? 8 “Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” Says the LORD. 9 “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

Re 18:7 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’

3). With all this in place we will once again call to mind Jacob wrestling with the Man until the break of day – Ge 32:28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

To which we will add - Ge 35:9 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. 11 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

Jacob shall be no more and through the completion of God’s restorative process, begun in Genesis Chapter 1, Israel will be raised from the place of death to fulfill God’s purpose for the nation in the Seventh Day – 
Eze 37:1 The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’ ”

And as we see, Ezekiel deals prophetically with the completion of this process through the symbolism of the dry bones, which according to v11, constitute ‘the whole house of Israel’. In other words, the dry bones picture not only those Jews who have died, from the time of the nation’s inception onwards, but also those who will come alive out of the Great Tribulation. And again, regality and the Seventh Day are in view through the promised return to their own land. The land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from which the Word of God will go forth to the Gentile nations through the ministry of the Jewish people as God’s witnesses, already foreshadowed in Jonah, and through whom God’s spiritual blessings will flow, as promised to Abraham, fulfilling the purpose for which He brought the dry land from beneath the waters in Genesis Chapter 1.

We will continue with this next time, if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.

Passover to Tabernacles - Part Thirty Eight

Refresh A Recap from the Sermon

Passover to Tabernacles - Part Thirty Eight

Sep 11, 2022

Speaker: John Herbert

Series: Passover to Tabernacles

Category: Sunday Morning

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A Recap from the Sermon