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Comparison of the timing of Abraham's deep sleep and Christ's death!
Fred R. Coulter—March 14, 2020
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I appreciate Steven Greene's message—Discerning the Lord's Body—in covering the suffering, because Isa. 53 is a very important and necessary chapter for us to understand. That tells us why He died for us.
This was proposed long before, God's own purpose and grace before the ages of time. God's plan and what He's doing reaches back far before even the angels were created. Think bout that!
Revelation 13:8—Christ was "…slain from the foundation of the world"—meaning that He knew everything that was going to take place! He understood the purpose of God. Knowing the purpose of God and being the Son of God was the most important thing of all for the salvation of the world and human beings.
Now, we want to juxtaposition Psa. 22 with Isa. 53 that Steve read, because Jesus knew this for the purpose of suffering death (Heb. 2). The difference between Isa. 53 and Psa. 22 is this:
- Isa. 53 is how and what Jesus did to save us
- Psa. 22 tells us what His thoughts were while He was on the cross dying
In that you can see everything that people go through He suffered. No one is going to say, 'Lord, You don't know what it was like.'
Psalm 22:1: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me…"
- Why does it start out with that?
- How many people think that God has forsaken them?
- How many people think there's no God?
- How many people accuse God of things that happens when it's only a result of their own sins, and not that God is doing something to them?
"…and why are You so far from helping Me…" (v 1). Jesus had to experience everything:
- pain
- suffering
- emotionally
- spiritually
that all of us as human beings go through in order to save us from it!
"…and from the words of My groaning? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not answer; and in the night season, and am not silent. Yet, You are Holy…" (vs –3).
Christ never forgot about the perfection of the Father, in spite of all the suffering. Think about how important that is on a personal basis, because many times when we go through things that we're suffering, we somehow don't connect it with what Jesus suffered through.
"…O You enthroned upon the praises of Israel" (v 3).
How did Jesus feel about Himself when He was on the cross? He didn't say, 'Look, I'm the Son of God and God the Father is going to resurrect Me, so I can do anything!' No, He didn't!
He said, v 6: "But I am a worm, and no man…" Talk about being humble at that particular time! That's as humble as you can be!
"…a reproach of men and despised by the people" (v 6)—the worst!
- those who were supposed to welcome Him with open arms killed Him
- those who were supposed to understand Who He was rejected Him
When He was on the cross, what did they do? There were the mockers, the priests, those saying, 'If You're the Son of God come down off the cross and save Yourself!' Even the two thieves said, 'Yes, do that.' One of them said to the other one, 'Be still, we're suffering for what we did; He didn't do anything.'
Verse 7: "All who see Me mock Me; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, 'He trusted on the LORD… ['Yes, if He's the Son of God…'] …let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him!'" (vs 7-8).
Isn't that what was said of Jesus? This is My only Begotten Son, in Whom I have great delight!
Verse 9: "For You are He who took Me out of the womb, causing Me to trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth; You are My God from My mother's womb. Be not far from Me; for trouble is near, for there is none to help" (vs 9-11).
So, while Jesus was on the cross He thought clear back to the time when He gave up all of His glory and honor in order to become just a pinpoint of life, and then born. Can you imagine that? I still don't have a clear concept of Mary. But she had to be very righteous. She had to be the perfect mother, so to speak, in the flesh, plus helped and inspired by God's Spirit.
But she nursed Jesus! She stood at the cross while He was dying. Before He died, Jesus told her, 'Behold, your son…'—the Apostle John—and Jesus told John, 'Behold your mother…' because he didn't know whether His brothers would be converted or not after He died. So, He put John to be custodian of His mother. He was thinking of His mother just before He died.
Here are the thoughts that He had, which is another to think about. I wonder what David thought when God inspired Him to write these words? Write it down and bring it to the priest, who was watching over the Ark of the Covenant that was in the tent in his house, and give it to him to be sung before God.
Verse 11: "Be not far from Me; for trouble is near, for there is none to help."
How many times do we get into predicaments where no one cares? No one helps? The only thing you can do is turn to God! That's why we have troubles.
Even Jesus had to go through all the emotions, the feelings and helplessness that all human beings experience.
Verse 12: "Many bulls have encircled around Me…"—talking about the demons, so kind of picture this:
In Jerusalem at that time it was a struggle between the angels of God and Jesus Christ, and Satan the devil and all the evil men. Everything was planned out, and going to happen exactly as God predetermined that it was necessary to happen.
Circling around the cross—with probably Satan up there taunting Him with, 'You think God's going to raise You from the dead. Let's see, we're going to kill You!' Then all the priests down there saying, 'If you're the Christ come down off there and then we will believe you.'
"…strong bulls of Bashan have surrounded Me. They opened wide their mouths at Me, like a ravening and a roaring lion…. [Satan the devil (1-Pet. 5)] …I am poured out like water…" (vs 12-14).
The One Who previously had eternal life, but gave it up for human life, now was experiencing coming upon Him what human death was like. It's like the water and blood just draining out of your system. I don't if you've ever had a slow faint, but if you have, then you're kind of helpless and your head is spinning and you don't know anything. That's what He was going through.
"…and all My bones are out of joint…" (v 14). Not one broken, but that tells you how hard He was beaten; that His ribs and everything were out of joint!
"…My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers have encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet; and You have brought Me into the dust of death" (vs 14-16).
That's something when you think that here John who said, John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…" Think about what that He went through! Talk about people being humbled! Think of the humility of Christ and what He did! That is so great and such a magnificent thing!
Psalm 22:17: "I can count all My bones… [looking down He could see His ribs] …they look and gloat over Me." I imagine the priests were out there saying, 'Now we've finally got Him; we can hardly wait for Him to die!' But three days later it was a different story.
Verse 18: "They divide My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture. But You, O LORD, be not far from Me; O My strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver My soul from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion's mouth; yea, and from the wild ox's horns. You have answered Me" (vs 18-21).
That's the end of describing all of the suffering that He went through. Of course, having never sinned, all of the suffering was perhaps more intense than we could even imagine.
Then it shifts completely right here, because as I have pointed out, what was it that Jesus always did? Kept His mind on the goal!These were His last thoughts before He died! What was the next most important thing to happen after His death and resurrection?
Verse 22: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You." That's something that happens every Sabbath when the Word of God is preached and taught in the way that it should be!
Verse 23: "You who fear the LORD, praise Him; all of you, the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and stand in awe of Him all of you, the seed of Israel."
The rest of it talks about the Kingdom. What is missing in the Protestants' teaching The coming Kingdom and the Father! That's why John wrote that 'he who has the Father and the Son has eternal life.
Verse 24: "For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted..." In His affliction, Jesus was thinking about how people are afflicted! That's an amazing thing. That's quite a thing to understand.
"…and He has not hidden His face from him, but when he cried to Him, He heard. From You comes my praise in the great congregation…" (vs 24-25)—quoted in Heb. 2, that in the great congregation He would come to the Father and say, 'Behold, all the children that You have given Me!' This is a reference to the first resurrection!
This tells us how we need to think when anything comes upon us. Don't be so focused on the problem that you're kind of sucked down like 'a drain in the sink' into despair. Think about what God is doing.
Verse 26: "The meek shall eat and be satisfied…"—talking about the great congregation! How do we eat? Taste and see that the Lord is good! Then with the Passover and the body and blood of Christ.
"…those who seek the LORD shall praise Him; may your heart live forever" (v 26).
Here's a prophecy of what they even preach in Protestantism. If there's one thing they preach, it's the crucifixion of Christ, but they don't understand it the way that they should.
Verse 27: "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD…" Why will they do that? This Gospel shall be preached in all the world and all nations and then the end shall come (Matt. 24)!
"…and all the families of the nations shall worship before You" (v 27). Where did we start last Sabbath in the sermon Genesis 14 & the 430 Years? The blessing to Abraham to go to all the families of the earth, down to every human being!
Here's Jesus on the cross and these are His thoughts to get Him through the trauma!
Verse 28: "For the Kingdom is the LORD'S and He rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth shall eat and worship; all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him; even he who cannot keep his own soul alive. A seed shall serve Him…" (vs 28-30).
I want you to think about that! What did God tell Abraham? 'All nations shall be blessed in your seed!' or 'All your seed shall be blessed because of what you've done!' It works both ways.
If you are Christ's, you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3). Here Jesus has His mind on that, right there.
"…it shall be told of the LORD to the coming generation…. [and every generation thereafter] …They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall yet be born, that He has done this" (vs 30-31).
So, when you look at Isa. 53, that tells the effect of what it is as God applies it to us, and Psa. 22 tells you what Christ went through when He was on the cross, and what He was thinking of. This helps us to understand what we need to do.
Let's put this together with some of the things that we need to know coming into the Passover time. I'll tell you one thing, and it works this way: the more that you love God and study His Word, and restudy and restudy, the more that the Word of God comes to you in a meaningful way! You learn more things every time you go back through it.
Romans 5:6: "For even when we were without strength…" That's our hopeless time! When we get down to the 'end of our rope' and that's a key thing in God calling us to repentance. It happens to everyone us; we have the account when we remember when that day occurred. Or if we have gone astray and God reaches down and calls us back. We remember that!
"…at the appointed time Christ died for the ungodly…. [Paul explains how great this really was]: …For rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, although perhaps someone might have the courage even to die for a good man" (vs 6-7).
You see this in combat sometimes. A soldier will sacrifice his life to save one of his buddies. Now notice that because of God's plan and He's going to carry it out, this shows that we must respond to God when it occurs in our lives. That's the important thing.
Verse 8: "But God commends His own love to us because, when we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Because of when He died, all those who are going to be in the second resurrection, that applies to them. They didn't know a thing about it. Then from that time going forward, the only ones who know anything about this are the ones who are called, chosen and faithful, and have repented, been baptized and received the Holy Spirit of God!
But look at the world; the day is coming when the sacrifice of Christ is going to be applied to them! And at a time when they are going to be able to respond.
Paul is saying that everything we've read up to this point is just a start.
Verse 9: "Much more, therefore, having been justified now by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." That' means being saved from the second death!
Verse 10: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His own Son… [that reconciliation was made available, but not applied until we answer the call] …much more then, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
Then Paul gets into the question: How did sin and death come? What are all people afraid of today? Death! All their lives long (Heb. 2) they're in fear of death! Why? Because they're living in Satan's world!
Verse 11: "And not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the reconciliation."
Then Paul shows why we need to be reconciled, and why the separation took place, and how responsible that Adam and Eve were.
No other human beings—only Adam and Eve—were personally handcrafted by God! He put in them a language so He could talk with them. They could think and they could talk back and forth to God.
One thing we're not told is how long were they in the favor of God, but not having completely chosen God's way, but in order for Satan to be released into the Garden of Eden, they had to have an awful lot of knowledge.
The consequences for all the rest of humanity would be permanent from that time until the coming of Christ, and then only a few would be saved: all the Prophets, some of the kings and patriarchs.
- What about the rest of the world, all the rest of human beings? They had come upon them something that they never asked for!
- What is that? A carnal, rebellious nature and subject to death from birth!
None of them asked God for it! But it happened because of Adam. You have the one man Adam, and you have the one Man, Christ!
- the one man Adam turned them all from God
- the one Man Christ brings them back to God
Verse 12: "Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world…" That's not talking about the sin of Satan the devil! This is human sin!
"…and by means of sin came death…" (v 12)—New Testament doctrine!
What did God tell Adam and Eve? You may freely eat of all the trees of the garden, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat of it. For in the day you eat of it, in dying you shall die! That's a particular expression to show that it wouldn't come instantly, but over a period of time.
"…and in this way death passed into all mankind…" (v 12)—because of Adam! Yes, Eve sinned, but she was deceived. Adam knew better! And all of his progeny from that time forward—male and female—have suffered through all the problems of human nature and living under a world controlled by Satan the devil.
Stop and think! The purpose of God has to be so great that He can work all of this out to complete His plan. But all of this is a result of independent free moral agency; we must choose!
God did not create robots! If He wanted to have a kingdom of robots He could do that. But how much love do you get from a robot?
They have these movies now that artificial intelligence is going to destroy all human beings in the world combined. That comes from Satan the devil! But God has to have a plan, and way of working out that plan, that He is going to redeem it. The One Who became Jesus Christ is the instrument of redemption!
Because Adam and Eve sinned, what was the first prophecy that Christ would die? Gen. 3:15! What is the secret that God has that Satan cannot take away, even from the most wicked? The spirit of man!
When you die—regardless if you're converted or not—the spirit goes back to God Who gave it. That's how He is able to store all of them. This spirit without a body and mind has no thought. It is the power that God has given to all human beings:
- to think
- to reason
- to live
That's why Paul wrote that in Him we live, move and have our being! Everything comes from God. Satan has never grasped that. and that all these people have sinned and gone against God! Look at how many died in the Flood. We don't know how many there were, but that was the greatest mass death in the history of the world.
But the spirit of man goes back to God, which means that if they didn't commit the unpardonable sin, God can resurrect them and that is how He re-creates them to what they were when they were born only as full human beings. If there are abortions… think about this: Most of those in the second resurrection are going to be a lot of kids, a lot of aborted babies. Think what a glorious time that's going to be to have all of them taken care of.
Every sin of mankind has to be undone! It cannot be undone without Christ! All of those who refuse, because they'll still have free moral agency when they're resurrected—God's plan cannot have them continue. God's plan is so great that it cannot ever again have rebellion like there was with Satan the devil, and rebellion like there is with human beings.
Verse 12: "Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and by means of sin came death…" Dust you are and unto dust you shall return!
"…and it is for this reason that all have sinned" (v 12)—because their nature was changed!
This is why Christ had to die! Because He was the Creator of Adam and Eve and hence all mankind! In the judgment that He gave to Adam and Eve, that passed onto all human beings. Nobody asked for it. But God is going to redeem everyone that will come to the knowledge of the Truth and repentance, either in this life, or if they've not had an opportunity, in the second resurrection.
I received an e-mail from a fireman—and this applies also those who are in a war—who said, 'In my job I see some of the most horrible, terrible and evil things that there are and I can't get them out of my mind.'
I told him to first of all remember that as a fireman you're a servant of God (Rom. 13). Someone has to be there to help these people in the most dire conditions. God gave that to the civil government.
Keep you mind on the second resurrection for all of those who suffer, die and are maimed and hurt and so forth. God is going to take care of it, so that's how He needs to keep His perspective. That's how Christ kept His perspective; He kept His mind on the goal! On the Kingdom! On the plan of God!
This was so great that God was going to do, and we know that it was at the appointed time! That's what we just read:
Romans 5:6: "…at the appointed time Christ died for the ungodly." But it was not without a profound prophetic act upon His part concerning Abraham!
There are those who say that because Jesus died at the ninth hour. They were sacrificing Passover lambs at the temple. That's why He died at that time. NO! That's not why He died at that time! When you come to Num. 28 there is not one sacrifice in remembrance of the Passover to be offered at the temple. Num. 28 & 29 list all the required sacrifices at the tabernacle and temple. All it says there is, 'And the 14th day of the 1st month is the Lord's Passover.'
The lambs being sacrificed at the temple at that time were an addition that the Jews added on. So, their Passover was a day late. At that time—during Jesus' time—there was a domestic Passover, which was the correct one, and the temple sacrifice lamb of the religious leaders, and some of the others, which was eaten on the night of the 15th! But the Passover was on the night of the 14th!
Let's understand what happened here in Gen. 15. We have a chart: The Christian Passover: Genesis 15 Covenant Sacrifice and the Death of Jesus Christ
Genesis 15:3: "And Abram said, 'Behold, You have given no seed to me; and lo, one born in my house is my heir.' And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him saying, 'This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir'" (vs 3-4).
We covered the timing of that in the sermon: Genesis 15 & the 430 Years. But that did not happen for another 15 years. At this point right here Abraham was 85-years-old. Isaac was born when Abraham was 100-years-old, and Sarah was 90.
In order to prove how fantastic this promise that He has given in Gen. 15, He waited until—humanly speaking—it was impossible. This is the physical seed. What is the principle in the Bible? The physical first and then the spiritual!
Verse 5: "And He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward the heavens and number the stars…"
That has to be at night, so this is one night. When does the day begin in the Bible? Sunset! So, God told Abraham , while he was still in the tent—which must have been right after sunset—that 'you're going to have an heir from your own loins.'
"'…—if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your seed be.' And he believed in the LORD. And He accounted it to him for righteousness" (vs 5-6). So, we have a night!
Now we come to the day portion of what is next. This is profound for all the plan of God going forward, and everything going back from that time. This is the central thing. Just something to remember:
The lambs sacrificed by the children of Israel between the two evenings was for the house of Israel. Those sacrifices were not intended for the nations of the world. Anyone of another nation who came to Israel, if he wanted to participate in anything, had to be circumcised and he was a proselyte. God's plan includes all families of the earth. So, He has to have a prophecy of this plan that covers everything, not just the physical seed, but the spiritual seed. This is why we have this particular type of sacrifice here.
Verse 7: "And He said to him, 'I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said…" (vs 7-8).
This has to be the next morning, what time we don't know, but we will see that we come to the next night, and that's important to understand.
"…'Lord GOD, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?' And He said to him, 'Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon'" (vs 8-9). These animals are fully mature!
This is not an 8-day-old lamb, because any sacrifice at the temple could be sacrifice if it were 8-days-old or older. Can you imagine the size of a heifer? a she-goat? a ram?
Verse 10: "And he took all these to himself, and divided them in the middle…"
Normally, a sacrifice is that you slit the throat, take the entrails out and you put it on the altar. No altar here! This is a special sacrifice! They were cut differently; they were cut all the way through the length of their body and split open their two halves! He did that with the heifer, she-goat and ram. The turtledove and the young pigeon he didn't do that.
"…and laid each piece opposite the other…" (v 10). So, you have the right half and the left half of the heifer, and the right half and left half of the she-goat and the right half and the left half of the ram, and then the turtledove and pigeon.
We don't know how long this took, but Abraham did it himself. He probably had something like a sharp axe to cut down through the spine. Think of the blood, the gore and everything that was there. It was so bloody and gory that what happened:
Verse 11: "And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away."
Sidebar: When there's crucifixion they generally left the body on there long enough and the birds would come and pluck out the eyes and start eating the flesh of those who had been scourged. But the day that Jesus was sacrificed and on the cross, the next day was a Holy Day, so they couldn't stay on the cross. They had to be off there before sundown.
That was planned precisely the way that God wanted it, so that Christ would be in the tomb at the proper time.
Verse 12: "And it came to pass, as the sun was going down…" Do you think that at three o'clock that the sun starts going down?
"…that a deep sleep fell upon Abram…." (v 12). This deep sleep is a type of the death that Jesus would suffer. Jesus was not put into the tomb right away. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus came and wrapped His body with the burial cloths, and with the aromatic herbs, and that took a while.
Just think, His body was more marred than that of any man. They had to take the dangling flesh, they had to put back in the place that it was ripped out. Then they would start at the feet, wrapping the feet, then the legs, the torso and arms with linen cloths about six to eight inches wide. They would put in the aromatics and wrap it. The head they had a special head scarf called 'a napkin' that they would put on top of it.
It took them some time after they brought Him down off the cross to do that, and they put Him in the tomb right at sunset during the middle of the week so that He would be three days and three nights in the tomb.
Verse 12: "And it came to pass, as the sun was going down, that a deep sleep fell upon Abram…."
This next sentence probably happened after sunset. Why do I say that? Because Jesus was put in the tomb right at sunset and then sealed! If you've ever been in an area like that, where there's absolutely no light, you can't even see your own hand in front of your face.
"…And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him!" (v 12). I don't think you can express it any more closely to simulating being in a tomb, the "…horror of great darkness…"
Verse 13: "And He said to Abram…" God is telling him what's going to happen. Here's the sequence; Abraham was told:
- he was going to have a physical son; that was early in the evening
- after that God took him out and showed him the stars, so it was dark
- in the morning he was told to get the sacrifice ready
- he took care of the sacrifice
- then the next sunset, which ends the first day and starting the second day
This also ties in with Exo. 12 about the children of Israel leaving on the self-same day.
- What day did they leave on? The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!
- What day was the day before that? The Passover!
So, we can identify from Gen. 15 that the selfsame day of Exo. 12 and this part here, the "…great horror of darkness…" gets into the next day, this is the 15th day! The promises given to Abraham right here were on the 14th day. God's sacrifice was this maledictory sacrifice that He is pledging that He will die to carryout both factors of the promises.
- to physical seed; sand of the sea
- to spiritual seed; stars of heaven
"…'You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them and they shall afflict them) four hundred years'" (v 13).
I've explained the 30 years:
- 85-100 years old=15 years
- Isaac was 15 years-old when he was offered (Gen. 22)
- 15+400+15=430 years
All applying to the prophecy that God is giving here!
How long were they afflicted? Read the 1st part of Exo., and the Pharaoh was commanding to all the male children of the Israelites to be killed!
- Who was saved? Moses!
- How long was it before Moses had to flee Egypt? 40 years!
- Were the children of Israel afflicted during that 40 years? Of course!
- How long did Moses stay in Midian before God sent him back to Egypt to take the children of Israel out of Egypt? 40 years
That's 80 years, so they were afflicted for quite a period of time!
Verse 14: "And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall come out with great substance. And you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (vs 14-16). How does God judge a nation?
Verse 17: "And it came to pass—when the sun went down and it was dark…" Day one is over, you're already into day two!
Day two is the selfsame day that the children of Israel came out of Egypt! It's also the selfsame day that Jesus was put into the tomb.
Since this was the sacrifice of God, this had to be absolutely complete. So, when Abram would come out of the deep sleep he would know unequivocally that what God said would happen!
Verse 17: "And it came to pass—when the sun went down and it was dark—behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces."
What's going to happen with the flesh of a smoking furnace? The burning lamp was probably verifying that God walked between the parts of those animals. So, that probably means that those animals were completely burned up, nothing left except ashes on the ground.
You being Abraham, you knew that you killed those animals for the sacrifice. You experience everything there was in taking it down and preparing it and everything. Then out of this deep sleep you wake up and you see ashes. You would know for sure that God gave this and His promise was absolutely as sure as those animals were burned up.
He had to have a death for two reasons. The covenant with Israel this was like a marriage covenant. What is the law of marriage if there is no sin within that marriage? Death do you part! The choice is that in order to end the covenant with Israel, either God would have to exterminate all of Israelites, or He would die!
So, He died to end that covenant, but was raised from the dead to seal the New Covenant. This covenant tells us when Jesus died. Take the chart: Genesis 15 Covenant Sacrifice and the Death of Jesus Christ (found in The Christian Passover book). Compare it and you will see what we do on the night of the 14th. We read all the words of the Covenant!
Refer to Chart in The Christian Passover book:
This doesn't happen every Passover; this happened significantly in Gen. 15 and when Jesus died.
{follow along with chart, not repeated in transcript}
When darkness came on the earth, does that sound a little like the dream that Abraham had?
When Jesus died at the 9th hour, is this when the sacrifice that was laying out there and the deep sleep fell upon Abram, a simulated death?
Christ dies and He's put into the tomb, and that's when the horror of great darkness comes upon Abram!
So, the timing of Jesus' death can also be compared to the children of Israel coming out of Egypt. But He died according to the sacrifice and the deep sleep that came upon Abraham
Why? Because the future death of Christ to fulfill the promise to Abraham that in him and his seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed!
That's why Jesus died at the time that He did. It had nothing to do whatsoever with any sacrifice at the temple. Now the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, having been raised from the dead, applies to all people! The temple was destroyed! Now we have access to the temple in heaven above!
Isn't that greater? With God for us? With God's Spirit? That's when Jesus died! So, what we know is this:
How true and perfect is God's plan, and even in the timing of these things, that you have to properly connect it to put it all together.
I hope this helps you understand that Jesus died at the appointed time!
Scriptural References:
- Revelation 13:8
- Psalm 22:1-3, 6-16
- John 1:1
- Psalm 22:17-31
- Romans 5:6-12, 6
- Genesis 15:3-17
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Isaiah 53
- Hebrews 2
- 1 Peter 5
- Matthew 24
- Galatians 3
- Genesis 3:15
- Romans 13
- Numbers 28; 29
- Exodus 12
- Genesis 22
Also referenced:
Sermons:
- Discerning the Lord's Body by Steven Greene
- Genesis 15 & the 430 Years
Book: The Christian Passover: (Chart): Genesis 15 Covenant Sacrifice and the Death of Jesus Christ
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3/18/20
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