Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Psalm 97:11
Sunday, August 17, 2025
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Friday, March 29, 2024
How Many Days and Nights was Jesus in the Grave? Britt Gillette.
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In a recent video on the April 8th eclipse, the Sign of Jonah came up. This is because some people compared the path of the eclipse to the Sign of Jonah. Supposedly, its passing over several towns named Nineveh and one named Jonah are akin to “the Sign of Jonah.” However, this is not the Sign of Jonah. The Sign of Jonah was fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here's what Jesus had to say:
But Jesus replied, "Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights." Matthew 12:39-40 (NLT)
This caused more than one person to ask, “Wait… How is that possible? Friday to Sunday is not three days and three nights in the grave. This doesn’t make sense.” And they're right. It doesn't, and that's what we address in this article.
It’s the perfect time to do so, because this coming weekend we celebrate resurrection Sunday and what Jesus did for us on the cross. It's also one of the best times of the year to share the Gospel. Along with Christmas, this will be one of two days many people attend a church during the course of the year. Many of these people are open to hearing the Gospel message, but they're skeptical. They have questions, and they want truth (as they should). That's why it's extremely important to know the truth so you can correct any misunderstandings or answer any questions they have when it comes to the Bible.
One of those questions is the one we just addressed… Exactly how long was Jesus in the tomb? After all, as we just read, Jesus said He would be in the grave three days and three nights (Matthew 12:39-40). Yet many Christians insist Jesus was crucified on Friday (thus, the reason we celebrate Good Friday) and resurrected on Sunday. Such a scenario doesn't line up with what Jesus said. After all, Friday afternoon through Sunday morning is only two nights and one day. No matter how you look at it, the Friday through Saturday timeline doesn't add up to three days and three nights.
Does this mean Jesus was wrong? Did Jesus make an error? Did His prophecy go unfulfilled? Skeptics say yes. They think the traditional resurrection timeline proves the Bible is false. But if you actually read the Bible, you'll find the truth – it all happened precisely as Jesus said it would.
Was Jesus Placed in the Tomb on a Friday?
It’s true. An error has been made. But Jesus is not the one who made the error. Instead, the error at the center of this controversy is an error on the part of men - an error which insists Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Now bear with me, because that last statement is considered heresy by many. But I assure you it's not. At this point, you might say, “Now, wait Britt. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Here’s the proof”:
"This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath." Mark 15:42 (NLT)
“See, in plain English, it says Friday.” But that’s the problem. This is an English translation, and it’s a mistake to translate the original language as “Friday.” The Bible doesn’t say Jesus was crucified on a Friday. What it does say is the day after the crucifixion was a Sabbath. Here’s a better translation based on the original language:
"It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin." Luke 23:54 (NIV)
It’s easy to understand how many modern translations get this wrong. Because the weekly Sabbath occurs on a Saturday, many of these translations automatically conclude Jesus was crucified on a Friday. At first glance, this seems reasonable. However, it's not that simple. Why? Because not every Sabbath occurs on a Saturday. In Leviticus 23, God outlined seven special Sabbaths in addition to the regular weekly Sabbath. And depending on the calendar cycle, these special Sabbaths can fall on any day of the week.
So if the day after the crucifixion was a special Sabbath, it didn't have to occur on a Saturday. And as it turns out, the day after the crucifixion was a special Sabbath. How can I be so sure? Am I just assuming it wasn’t? No. The Gospel of John flat out tells us. Read this verse (emphasis mine):
"It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was the Passover)." John 19:31 (NLT)
The Bible is clear. The day after the crucifixion was a "very special Sabbath." Why? Because in fulfillment of the Passover lamb, Jesus was crucified on Passover. And the day after Passover marks the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is important to note because God commanded the people to observe a special Sabbath on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
"On the next day, the fifteenth day of the month, you must begin celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival to the Lord continues for seven days, and during that time the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly." Leviticus 23:6-7 (NLT)
In other words, the day after Passover is always a Sabbath, regardless of what day of the week it falls on. Because of this, it's not necessary to assume Jesus was crucified on a Friday. That said, we can't automatically assume He wasn't crucified on a Friday, because a special Sabbath could still fall on a Saturday.
We can only insist it was another day of the week if we have specific evidence. Fortunately, the Bible provides us with that evidence. But first we need to understand what counts as a day and what counts as a night.
Biblical Days and Sabbaths
To fully understand the timing of the resurrection, you need to understand the Jewish calendar. Not only did God decree seven special Sabbaths in addition to the regular Saturday Sabbath, but a day on the Jewish calendar begins and ends at a different time than the modern world is used to. This too has been a source of confusion.
On the Jewish calendar, a new day begins after sunset, not after midnight (Genesis 1:5). Each new day begins with nighttime which lasts from sunset to sunrise (one night). And after sunrise, daytime begins and lasts until sunset (one day). So a full day from sunset to sunset equals one night and one day. This is an important point to remember, because it's pivotal to understanding how Jesus fulfilled "the Sign of Jonah" (Matthew 12:39-40).
Those who believe Jesus was crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday will often claim a biblical day includes any part of a day, and so Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning equal three days Jesus was in the grave before He was resurrected. But keep this in mind - Jesus specifically said He would spend three days and three nights in the grave. He didn't say He would spend part of three days. He said three days and three nights.
If that's the case, how do you reconcile a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection with the words of Jesus? You can't. If Jesus was buried at sunset on a Friday and resurrected before sunrise the following Sunday, the most you can squeeze out of that timeline is two nights and one day - well short of what Jesus said. This leaves only two possibilities - either Jesus was wrong or the traditional belief of a Friday crucifixion is wrong. I don't know about you, but I choose to believe Jesus. But either way, we don't have to speculate, because the Bible tells us what happened.
One Sabbath or Two Sabbaths?
In addition to the Friday to Sunday timeline, skeptics of the Bible love to point out two bible verses they claim contradict each other. In fact, they claim these verses prove the Bible is a fraud. However, it's just the opposite. These verses prove Jesus fulfilled His promise to rise after precisely three days and three nights in the grave.
So what are these supposedly contradictory verses? The Gospel of Mark reveals Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought burial spices to anoint the body of Jesus after the Sabbath ended. Here’s the verse:
"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body." Mark 16:1 (NIV)
However, the Gospel of Luke says the women prepared the burial spices at home before the Sabbath began. Here’s that verse:
"The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment." Luke 23:55-56 (NIV)
So which one is correct? Did they rest on the Sabbath and then prepare the burial spices? Or did they prepare the burial spices and then rest on the Sabbath? After all, it can't be both, right? That's what the Bible's skeptics want you to believe. They think they contradict each other. They think these verses are clear proof of a biblical error. But are they? Not if you understand a single week can have two Sabbaths. And believe it or not, the details revealed in Mark and Luke tell us two Sabbaths took place between the crucifixion and the resurrection. The first was a special Sabbath in honor of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Numbers 28:18), and the second was the regular weekly Sabbath on Saturday.
A normal day took place in between those two Sabbaths. This means the women bought and prepared the burial spices on a Friday (in this case, the day before and after a Sabbath). Understanding this is the key to discovering how Jesus perfectly fulfilled "the Sign of Jonah."
What Most Likely Happened
Based on these clues from the Bible, here's the most likely timeline of what happened:
Tuesday/Wednesday - Passover began on a Tuesday night at sunset. Shortly thereafter, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples. Later that night, religious leaders arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and brought Him before the High Priest, Caiaphas. In the morning, Pilate issued the order to crucify Jesus. This occurred at noon on Wednesday (John 19:14), which was still Passover. As sundown approached, the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to hasten the death of those being crucified. They didn't want the bodies left on the crosses because the following day was a special Sabbath (John 19:31). Just before sunset on Wednesday, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus and placed it in the tomb (John 19:38-42).
Wednesday/Thursday - The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread began at sunset on Wednesday evening. This was a special Sabbath, and the women (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome) rested before buying and preparing burial spices for the body of Jesus (Mark 16:1). This special Sabbath marked night one and day one of Jesus in the grave.
Thursday/Friday – Sometime between sunset on Thursday and sunset on Friday, the women bought and prepared the burial spices for Jesus. At sunset, the weekly Sabbath began, and they rested once again (Luke 23:56). This day of preparing the burial spices marked night two and day two of Jesus in the grave.
Friday/Saturday – From Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset, the women rested because it was the weekly Sabbath. This second Sabbath marked night three and day three of Jesus in the grave.
Saturday/Sunday - Sometime between sunset on Saturday and sunrise on Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus occurred. Having spent three nights and three days in the grave, Jesus fulfilled "the sign of Jonah" (Matthew 12:40) as well as His promise to rise again after three days (John 2:19). We know Jesus rose sometime before sunrise on Sunday, because Mary Magdalene came to the tomb "while it was still dark" on Sunday morning (John 20:1), and she finds the stone rolled away from the entrance and the tomb empty (Luke 24:3). Here’s a graphic for those who find it beneficial:
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Why Does It Matter?
So why should you care? After all, if you believe in the crucifixion and the resurrection, why should it matter when they precisely occurred? For those who already believe, it should matter because it shows once again the astounding accuracy of the Bible. If the Bible is shown to be in error, then it can’t be the Word of God as we claim. For that same reason, for those who have yet to believe, it means everything. Either Jesus rose after three days and three nights in the grave as He claimed He would, or He didn't. If He didn't, the Bible isn't true.
Fortunately for us, He did! And in doing so, Jesus fulfilled what was said about Him in the law and the prophets (Luke 24:44). The timing of His arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and resurrection were all a divine fulfillment of Scripture. And fulfilled prophecy verifies the Bible as God's Holy Word. While human beings are often mistaken in either translation or interpretation of the Bible, the Bible is never in error. You can put your full trust in the Bible as the holy, inerrant Word of God. And you can put your trust in Jesus. If you do, the Bible says you won't be disappointed (Romans 10:11).
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Sunday, April 10, 2022
''Metanoeo'' - by Jack Kinsella
The Bible was originally recorded in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek -- but not in the working language of Jesus' day, which was Latin.
The reason, I believe, is that Latin, like English, was a notoriously imprecise language. To the ancients, Latin was the language of business, Greek the language of philosophy and humanity, and Hebrew the language of God.
There is also a saying in our modern world to the effect that English is the language of business, French the language of love and Spanish the language of God. That reflects the areas in which those languages are the most descriptive.
The United Nations uses six official languages, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Originally, there were only five; Arabic wasn't added until the OPEC Crisis in 1973. The reason for six official languages is to make allowances for those things that get 'lost in translation' from one language to another.
Of the six, English is the most deficient. As with Latin, more things are lost in translating TO English than FROM it.
Some words have no English equivalent; 'Schadensfreude' is a German word that means, 'happiness at the misfortune of others' in English, but to a native German, it carries all kinds of shades and sub-texts English cannot support.
(The closest English word to "Schadensfreude" is "epicaricacy" -- I rest my case.)
Both Hebrew and Greek are very precise languages -- which explains why God chose those languages to record His Word -- there are some concepts that only Hebrew or Greek can do justice to -- they "lose something in the translation" into English.
The Greek word 'metanoeo' is one of those words that defies transliteration into English. The closest English equivalent to it is 'repent' but that word comes no closer to expressing the flavor of 'metanoeo' than 'epicaricacy' does for 'Schadensfreude'.
The Greek 'metanoeo' is a compound word; 'meta' meaning 'after' and implying 'change' and 'noeo' meaning 'the mind'. Combining them, 'metanoeo' literally means 'after thought' in the sense of 're-thinking'.
The implication here is, after rethinking everything, you have a change of mind from one thing to something else. (We don't have an English word that says all that. The closest we can come is 'repent' but it only applies to religion, not thought)
"metanoeo... lit. to perceive afterwards (meta, after, implying change, noeo, to perceive; [comes from the Greek noun] nous, the mind, the seat of moral reflection), in contrast to pronoeo, to perceive beforehand, hence signifies to change one's mind or purpose..." (Vine's Expository Dictionary).
By implication, metanoeo means a complete change of mind from one thing to another in which the two positions are mutually exclusive, rather than simply meaning any old change of thinking.
For a hard-line Far Left Democrat to become a hard-line conservative Republican is an example of 'metanoeo', for example, whereas deciding you like country music after all, is not.
(One can like country music without giving up one's love for Big Band Swing, one cannot become a "hard-line conservative" Republican and remain on the fence about abortion.)
Metanoeo is not just a 'changed' mind, it is a total reversal of one's previous beliefs.
When the Bible says 'repent and be saved' what it means is understand the nature of sin and be aware of your personal guilt. The concepts of sin and righteousness are originally perceived spiritually, but understanding and awareness of them are functions of the mind.
The fact that God demands repentance shows that it involves your mind; it is something you choose to do. Metanoeo suggests more than just rejecting your former position or attitude, and includes turning to and embracing a new one.
For some Christians, 'repenting' is what you do once when you get saved, and after that, it almost seems as if no further repentance is necessary. One is forgiven and that's that.
THAT version of 'repentance' is more like deciding you like country music but you still love swing.
On the other side of the extreme, 'repentance' means to never sin again. For some Christians, that means that one maintains their own salvation on guts alone, in constant fear they will sin themselves out of God's protective Hand.
That version doesn't require a change of mind, it demands a change of works. There are many churches who have voted to disfellowship someone because they 'showed no signs of repentance' -- which is nothing less than judging what is in another person's mind and heart -- both the exclusive provinces of God.
Biblical 'metanoeo' is somewhere in the middle -- it is neither a one-time event before resuming the life of Good Times Charlie nor is it a Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of a believer.
Before I was a believer, my concept of sin was anything that hurt another person directly (especially if it meant I'd be exposed as the culprit). It's been rightly observed that the "best measure of a man's character is what he does when nobody is looking."
When I became a believer, I knew that no matter what I did, whether in Grand Central Station or alone in a locked room, there was always Somebody looking. It was a total reversal of my worldview -- a complete change of mind that brought with it a semi-complete change of heart.
I say 'semi-complete' change of heart because metanoeo is a process -- I am not the believer I was twenty years ago -- indeed, I'm not the believer I was twenty days ago.
If you are a sincere, born again, Blood-bought believer, there is something in your life you've undergone a metanoeo over since coming to Christ. (If you are like me, there are many somethings -- and a couple on the horizon you're still wrestling with)
Before I was a believer, I was uninterested in coming to Christ because of all the things I'd have to give up first. Like most unbelievers, I believed that salvation meant cleaning myself up first, and then presenting myself before the Lord. It was too much to even contemplate.
When I learned the Gospel, I underwent a total metanoeo about both my guilt and God's forgiveness, and as I've matured in the Lord, that 'change of mind' has continued.
A related word is metanoia, which usually is translated "repentance" or "conversion." It literally means your thinking has been converted. It does not mean you have achieved sinless perfection, nor does it hold out any promise that you will in this life.
It means understanding that you CANNOT, and that Jesus Christ in His mercy, made a way for you to be converted (notice 'being converted' is a process), starting by removing your sin and your guilt at the moment of salvation.
"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1:6)
You can be 'confident' that it is Jesus Who began 'a good work in you' and it is Jesus Who will perform it. Trust Him and allow Him direct you on the path He has prepared for you.
Don't let doubts or the enemy or some clever argument steal away your victory. The refrain from the old hymn, "Saved" says it all. At the moment you were saved by the Crucified One, "Your sins are all pardoned, your guilt is all gone!"
But your metanoeo was just beginning.
Monday, September 7, 2020
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Monday, April 27, 2020
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Got Milk?
Reposted from omegaletter.com
In Defense of the Faith
Wednesday, April 05, 2017
Wendy Wippel
If I said, I'm going to study the Bible 'till the cows come home', would you look for a herd of longhorns? No! It's an idiom, a phrase that says one thing but is understood to mean something else. The same thing could be said about ''Bible Study''. And that does involve cows.
Way too many churches today define “Bible Study” as getting a roomful of saints together to discuss the latest Christian pop theology book or self-help bestseller: Radical, Crazy Love, Wild at Heart, Power of a Praying Wife, Every Day a Friday. Whatever. The fact is, there are lots of great books out there, and there are lots of not so great books. But there’s only one Good Book. And the Bible makes the distinction between itself and all the rest pretty clear.
It calls them milk. (Really?) Well, OK. Nowhere in either the Old or New Testaments does it say Radical is milk. But think about it. Milk, by definition, is nutrition that someone else put in their mouth, someone else chewed, and someone else digested.
And someone else spit out for you to swallow.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with milk. It’s protein. It’s nutritious. But an adult whose entire diet consisted of milk would not be a very healthy individual. And if you are a Christian whose entire spiritual diet consists of Christian radio, devotionals, sermons, and how-to books on the Christian life, all you are consuming is milk.
And it’s time to moooooooove on. (Sorry. I just couldn’t help myself.)
It’s time to become a carnivorous Christian. Just you and your Bible, fed from God’s word. But that can be kind of intimidating. Where do you start?
I was taught, as a brand new Navigator, to approach God’s word in this manner: read a passage a day and ask yourself questions like this: "Is there a verse for me to obey?" "A promise for me to claim?" "A sin for me to avoid?" "An example for me to follow?"
You get the drill.
And that’s fine. Nothing wrong with that. It’s not milk. But is that really high-quality nutrition?
The problem with that kind of Bible study is that it’s the Bible seen through 'me'-colored glasses. Everything is about me. It’s kind of like spiritual bacon. Tastes good, but it's nutritional value? Not so much.
It only really works for the Epistles, letters written specifically for the church.
And the pitfalls of this approach are many with regards to proper Bible interpretation.
Exhibit A: Joel, chapter 2 and verse 25:
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.”How many Christians have you heard claim this verse? I admit it, looking through the lens of me, I did too, before I knew better.
But before asking what the verse says about you, you have to figure out what it would have said to its primary audience, the group of people God was talking to when He spoke it into the human being. The church was not the intended audience for this promise. What is its context?
God is addressing Israel, with regards to a very specific time in their future. The Battles of Armageddon.
"Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.… The earth quakes before them…, For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible;God then tells Israel,
Who can endure it?"
“Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”And then comes the promise:
So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God… Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples,‘Where is their God?’”
"Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, And pity His people…But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, “So I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten…You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God," (Joel 2:1-26 NKJV)This is a specific promise to the nation of Israel, who was consistently promised an earthly kingdom. A promise that though God will bring desolation on the land of Israel during the campaign of Armageddon, He will keep His promise to restore the kingdom in prosperity. He will repay them for the years the locust have eaten, in context, the seven years of Armageddon, even defining the locust as the “great army that he sent among them.” A specific promise for a specific time and a specific audience. And that audience is not the church.
The second problem is that, claimed by a New Testament believer, the verse kind of contradicts what the rest of the Bible tells us. As the church, we’re promised, not an earthly reward, but a heavenly one. We’re promised that in this world, we will have tribulation.
Look at the church in Smyrna. God’s promise to them was essentially this: you’re going to die. (But, in the words of Jesus Christ Superstar, "to conquer death you only have to die”.)
My current pet peeve with this the 'me' method of Bible interpretation is a song called “Savior King" by Hillsong. Actually it is a great song but the lyrics just bug me. It starts out with,
“And now, let the weak say I have strength”.I understand the sentiment. It is when we recognize our weakness that we are strong. But the context is Joel too:
"Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong'. Assemble and come, all you nations, And gather together all around. (Joel 3:10-11)It's the same gathering of the nations described in Joel 2. A gathering of the nations also, described in Psalm 2:
"The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,“Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”A gathering of the nations, at the end of Tribulation, with the intention of destroying Israel and thereby rejecting God's authority finally and forever.
They think.
The Psalm goes on to say,
“He who sits in the heavens shall laugh."That laughter is recorded in Joel 3, when God says "now let the weak say I am strong". He’s mocking the pathetic defiance of the gathered nations.
Translation: God is saying “You think you can take me? Bring it on! Let the weak say "I am strong.”
And there’s my issue. Maybe it’s just me, and I’m being too too much of a "church lady" with my panties in a wad. . But God says that He elevated His word even above His name. And we’re not to take God’s name lightly.
I think His word deserves a little more respect than we’re giving it.
"When Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:15)You can't "eat" milk. And it's only when you get past looking at the word for information about you that it becomes the fascinating treasure that the Bible describes.
I think Carly Simon wrote a song about this kind of Bible Study:
"You're so vain, you probably think this Psalm is about you…"Wasn't that how it went?
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Proving the Existence of Jesus
Reposted from gracethrufaith.com
Know and understand this. From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until The Anointed One the ruler comes there will be seven sevens and sixty two sevens. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench but in times of trouble. After the sixty two sevens the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. (Daniel 9:25-26a)
This information was given to Daniel in 538 BC in response to a prayer asking God to release His people from their 70 year captivity in Babylon. The Angel Gabriel visited Daniel with a message that has become known as the 70 weeks of Daniel (Dan 9:24-27). The title is somewhat confusing because the Hebrew word translated as “weeks” in the KJV and “sevens” in the NIV actually describes a period of seven years. So 70 “weeks” is really 490 years, and the seven “sevens” and sixty-two “sevens” referenced above combine to equal 483 years. This passage is the single most important piece of prophecy in all of scripture because it chronicles the coming of the Messiah, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the coming of the anti-christ and the timing and duration of the Great Tribulation. It is nothing less than the key that unlocks our understanding of the end times, and so mastering it is critical for any student of eschatology.
For our purposes today, the 2 verses of Daniel’s prophecy I’ve quoted presents us with a very narrow window of time into which we must fit the birth and death of anyone claiming to be the Messiah. This window of time can be measured in secular history, opening 483 years after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (issued in March of 445 BC by the Persian Emperor Artaxerxes Longimonus) and closing with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Do the math and you only have a 38 year span of time. In 6000 years of recorded history with millions of lives beginning and ending, what is the probability of any man being born within this 38-year time frame? Now factor in some of the unique aspects of the Messiah’s life. He had to fulfill over 300 prophecies written about Him hundreds of years before His birth, be recognized as Israel’s Messiah by thousands of people, incur the wrath of His country’s leaders, be falsely accused of a capital crime, make no defense though innocent, and be publicly executed by crucifixion.
Where Was He Born?
To try and assess the odds against of all this happening by chance, let’s review just 3 of these 300 prophecies. How about the place of His birth? 750 years in advance the Prophet Micah learned from God that Israel’s Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) even though it turns out His family was from Nazareth, several days travel away. He also learned that this Messiah would be unusual in that His origins would be “from of old, from ancient times.” Literally translated this means His family descent is from before time and perpetual. In other words He would possess eternal life. Furthermore verse 3, the one that doesn’t make it to your Christmas card, states that because of Him Israel would be abandoned until all His brothers return to join those who’ve accepted Him.By the way, if you don’t believe the generally accepted dating for these prophecies, consider this. The Old Testament, from which they come, had been translated from Hebrew into Greek beginning in about 275 BC and by 150 BC was substantially complete. Therefore events foretold concerning the life of Jesus were a matter of public record at least 150 years before the fact. How many years prior to their fulfillment must a prophecy be given to have validity? Remember, prophecy is God’s way of authenticating Himself for us, because only someone who exists outside the restrictions of time can describe events before they’ve taken place with 100% accuracy. The fact that sets the life of Jesus apart from all of humanity is not that He performed miracles. It’s that so many details about His life were foretold 100s and even 1000s of years in advance.
What about His betrayal?
In Zechariah 11:12-13 we’re told that the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver in the House of the Lord, and that the money would be used to buy a field from a potter. Though Zechariah wrote these things around 520 BC Matt 27:3-8 indicates that’s exactly what happened. Here you see the Lord’s betrayer and His sworn enemies fulfilling prophecies down to the last detail. If you happened to be born at the right time and were trying to force fit yourself into Messianic prophecy, we could understand getting your friends to cooperate, but how do you go about getting your enemies to do so? The fact that He was betrayed by a close friend during a meal was foretold in Psalm 41:9 and confirmed in John 13:18 & 26-27.How Did He Die?
The Jews were people of the Law and their leaders prided themselves on their merciful application of justice. Yet in the case of Jesus they consciously and maliciously violated their own laws repeatedly. No one could be arrested with out formal charges being filed, yet Jesus was. It took 2 independent witnesses to convict but they couldn’t get this required collaboration, so they convicted Jesus on His own testimony, also forbidden. Trials couldn’t be held at night, but His was. Death sentences required unanimous consent of the Sanhedrin (ruling body) and a “sleep on it” rule wherein they had to come back the next day and vote again. But in His case they didn’t inform the Lord’s advocates among them of the trial thereby eliminating the possibility of a divided vote and then waived the sleep on it rule. Much of this was predicted in Isaiah 53:7-8 750 years before the fact.Jewish law required death by stoning, but the Jews had lost the right to impose capital punishment, and so appealed to the Romans, whose method of execution was crucifixion. This was a particularly gruesome and painful method first used by the Assyrians in about 800 BC and adopted by the Romans 700 years later. But in Psalm 22, King David described in detail what it feels like to be crucified and then foretold the activities of the Lord’s executioners, down to splitting up his clothing and casting lots for His robe. David wrote this psalm over 1000 years before the fact.
So What’s The Point?
In Jesus we have someone who was born in Bethlehem though His family was not from there, and lived and died within the prescribed 38 years out of 6000. He was widely accepted as Israel’s Messiah but betrayed by a close friend and though innocent of any crime made no defense and was convicted and sentenced to death in an illegal trial. His enemies paid the prophesied amount of money for His betrayal and then when payment was returned to the Temple used it to buy a potter’s field. He was executed by a method foretold before its invention and his executioners split up His belongings just as predicted.That’s only 4 out of over 300 fulfilled prophecies we could explore. But even with just these 4 the odds against them happening by chance are so astronomically high as to be ridiculous. It’s true, as I stated in last week’s message that these things are no longer taught in our schools, nor sadly even in many of our churches. But if you take it upon yourself to study just a few readily available reference books, you’ll find that you can prove the existence of Jesus, and that He is Who He claims to be, with greater certainty than you can prove that you are who you claim to be. No matter what standard you decide to use, rules of evidence as used by an attorney, statistical probability as used by a mathematician, or forensic logic as used by a debater, you’ll be persuaded beyond reasonable doubt. You can take His word for that: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Habakkuk Speaks Again
The prophet Habakkuk wrote about the same time as Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel. It was just before the Babylonians swooped down upon Judah to punish them for their idolatry, finally carrying them off in 586 BC after 19 years of siege and failed diplomacy. As they left, they destroyed the city and the Temple, taking its priceless artifacts along with their captives to Babylon for 70 years of servitude. All this had been foretold by Jeremiah from Jerusalem and Ezekiel from Babylon, where he and Daniel had been held as hostages since the early stages of the conquest.
First, A Summary
Habakkuk’s message differs from the other prophets in that it consists solely of a dialog with God. It opens with Habakkuk’s complaint that God would allow so much evil to prosper in the land without doing anything about it.In response, Habakkuk learns that God is finally going to act, but has chosen the Babylonians, a people much more evil than the Israelites, to do the job. He can’t believe it. Sure, Judah deserves to be punished, but how can a righteous God justify using such an evil force as Babylon against His own people? Instead of being judged themselves, the most depraved and unjust nation on Earth is going to be rewarded with the chance to punish God’s people. How is that fair? Now Habakkuk’s really upset!
Throughout he gets the benefit of God’s perspective and finally, as is always the case when man questions God, winds up apologizing.
Now, The Application
While the prophecies of Habakkuk were largely fulfilled in the Babylonian conquest, there’s a striking similarity between conditions in Judah in 600BC and those in the Western World, especially America, today.Commenting on Israel’s history, the Apostle Paul said, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” (1 Cor. 10:11) In other words, events in Israel’s history had the dual purpose of instructing them through experience and us through observation.
I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “The only time experience is the best teacher is when it’s somebody else’s experience.” This is exactly what God had in mind for us, to learn from Israel’s experience. And that includes the events of Habakkuk’s time.
Someone else said that those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it, so as we go through this study let’s remember that, like ancient Israel, much of the West at one time claimed to believe in God and pledged our fidelity to Him. But now we’ve denied that belief in large part, and have withdrawn our fidelity.
Like Israel we began by first tolerating and then following other gods. Like Israel we started out by including them with Him in our worship and moved from there to excluding Him altogether in favor of them. As we’ve done this, our system of justice has failed and evil is triumphing over good all too often. In short we’re as ripe for judgment as they were.
Is it merely coincidence that a powerful force from the very region on Earth that spawned the Babylonians, a force we consider to be much more evil than we are, has arisen with the stated goal of judging God’s people both Jew and Christian? Or is history repeating itself? If it is then the Prophecies of Habakkuk could have easily been written for our time as well. Let’s find out.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:1-4)As it was in Habakkuk’s time, concerned believers bemoan the current state of affairs in the world wondering why God puts up with it. They witness the break down of family, the increase of violence, the systematic perversion of justice, and the seeming triumph of evil over good, and shake their heads in bewilderment.
The Lord ‘s Answer
“Look at the nations and watch- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; they all come bent on violence. Their hordes] advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty men, whose own strength is their god.” (Habakkuk 1:5-11)Many wonder if the dramatic increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters is signaling God’s displeasure, but very few have defined the sudden rise of Islamic terrorism as a judgment from God. Even considering the possibility provokes the same question from us as it did from Habakkuk. How could a righteous God use such an evil force against His people? And yet in the past He’s used the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Romans, the Germans, the Russians and others, all godless in their time and all evil in their motivations. The only difference is that He came right out and told His people He was using many of those others, and so far as we know He hasn’t said anything like that about Islamic terrorism. (Of course the terrorists have said it, but nobody believes them.) Again I ask, is it just coincidence or are we supposed to draw conclusions about this from history? Maybe we’re just like the people of Habakkuk’s time in that we wouldn’t believe it even if we were told.
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad.Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? (Habakkuk 1:12-17)
Surely the Lord couldn’t be behind the rise in terrorism. He’s too pure. He couldn’t possibly condone that kind of evil, could He? But somehow, like the tentacles of some giant yet invisible octopus, Islamic terrorists have slithered into every western society and according to some have positioned themselves undetected at our most vulnerable points, awaiting the signal to strike. And we admittedly have no certain defense against what will surely be a devastating attack. “It’s inevitable,” we’re told. How did they accomplish this? Will the Lord really permit this to happen to his own people?
And if He does, will the terrorists then acknowledge Him as their benefactor after they’ve struck? Will they proclaim Him as their God? Or will they give the credit to the one they worship, offering sacrifices and burning incense to him as if he had brought them the victory?
The Israelites expected God to protect them from the Babylonians. They convinced themselves that He would never permit any harm to come to them, even as the Babylonians were camped outside their gates. They were His people, after all. Never mind their unfaithfulness, their lusting after false gods, their disrespect for the fatherless, the down trodden, the widows. Never mind that they only gave lip service to their beliefs, that their worship had become form without substance, ceremony without meaning, that they sacrificed their children in the name of prosperity, and worshipped the idols of the harvest.
It’s different now, we say. But is it? We sing, “God bless America” playing lip service to our relationship while our sins pile up to the heavens just as theirs did. And even now, as our leaders admit the inevitability of further attacks and as our countries suffer storms and earthquakes and the threat of pandemic disease, are our churches and synagogues full of repentant worshipers, praying as Habakkuk did, “In wrath, remember mercy”? (Habakkuk 3:2)
For over 50 years Christians have looked with concern on the plight of Israel while Islamic enemies periodically tried to wipe them off the face of the Earth. Now the fight’s come to us, just as they promised it would, and we seem surprised. We don’t even consider that this might be another, stronger warning from God.
A few conservative preachers call terrorism an attack on our religion, but not even they suggest that it might be more than that. They join the secular voices demanding stronger fences on our borders, bigger weapons in our arsenals, and tighter restrictions on our populations, but where are the voices calling for repentance from our lifestyle, or for mass prayer vigils in our auditoriums and stadiums? Are we already so far gone that God has spoken to them as He spoke to Jeremiah. “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. (Jeremiah 7:16) We’ll find out next time in the conclusion of our study in Habakkuk.