INTRODUCTION
There is a tremendous parallel between the first Passover in Egypt and the end of days. In reading through and trying to understand the Book of Revelation we discover that there is an obvious Passover imagery connected to it. And even though the fall feasts describe the events that will occur prior to the Messiah's second coming, there is a Passover fulfillment associated with the last days.
The purpose of plagues that God poured out upon the Egyptians was to establish a name for Himself and to execute judgment against the gods of Egypt. So also in the last days God will pour out plagues of judgment on the earth to execute His judgment upon the gods of this world and to demonstrate as he did in Egypt so powerfully that He alone is God and there is none other.
God will vindicate the holiness of His great name. As the prophet Ezekiel said, "It is not for your sake O House of Israel that I am about to act, but for my holy name which you have profaned among the nations. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord when I prove myself holy among you in their sight. I will magnify and sanctify myself and make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord.”Every year as we read of the great signs and wonders, the plagues that God poured out on the Egyptians, the parting of the Red Sea, the supernatural provision of the manna and water in the wilderness we are awed by Gods awesome demonstration of power. No other generation in history has ever witnessed the type of supernatural intervention as our ancient ancestors did at that first Passover.
Many believers overlook the fact that when we read about the Messiah’s Passover there were also awesome supernatural signs and wonders that took place on the day Yeshua offered up Himself as the Passover Lamb. We know that Yeshua’s birth into this world and His entire ministry was surrounded with signs and wonders and the supernatural. Why would we not think that His death, the most important fulfillment of prophecy and the ultimate meaning of Passover would not also be surrounded by the supernatural.There are seven incredible events that Jerusalem witnessed during Yeshua’s Passover. This morning I want to speak on five of these supernatural events. Time does not allow me to speak on all seven of them.
- The hidden meaning of Pilate’s Inscription that was nailed to the tree
- The darkness that covered Jerusalem
- The Voice of Yeshua
- The earthquake and the tearing of the Veil
- The opening of the Graves
- The angelic visitation and a second earthquake
- The Resurrection and the significance of First Fruits
1. THE HIDDEN MEANING OF PILATES INSCRIPTION
The four gospel accounts of the crucifixion mentions an inscription that was placed on the tree above Yeshua. It is generally believed that these gospel accounts refer to one and the same inscription. In fact there was more than one inscription.
- Mt. 27:37- Says, this is Yeshua the King of the Jews
- Mark 15:26- The King of the Jews
- Luke 23:38 –And an inscription also was witten over Him in letters of Greek, Latin and Hebrew, This is the King of the Jews
- John 19:19- Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the tree.
And the writing was Yeshua of Nazareth King of the JewsEach name of this inscription had prophetic significance. Yeshua we know means salvation . This is why He came to save His people from their sins. Yochanon the immerser, the forerunner of the Messiah said of Yeshua, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The name Va Melech refers to the title The King. Yeshua is - Melech Israel, the King of Israel. Ps 2 says ,"I have set my King o my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree; The Lord has said to me, you are my son Today I have begotten you.. Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish in the way." Psalm 24:7-10John 19:20 states that Pilate’s inscription was written in three languages. Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Passover was one of the annual feasts and the majority of the Jewish people were in Jerusalem celebrating this feast. Yeshua was crucified in a public place, so thousands would have read the three inscriptions. It as the inscription that Pilate wrote that offended the religious leaders. They wanted Pilate to remove it, but he said, "What I have written I have written." What was there about this inscription that so upset the religious leaders? John 19:20-22. In Hebrew the words Yeshua, the Nazarene the King of the Jews is translated in Hebrew
YESHUA HANAZTRI VEMELECH HAYEHUDIM.
The first letters of each Hebrew word forms the word YHVH or the transliteration Yod Hei Vav Hei.This was known as the tetragrammaton, the unutterable (unspeakable) name of Adonai. The name of God in ancient Israel was considered too awesome and sacred to even be spoken. Nothing could compare to this title whose name is above every other name. This sacred name was only to be pronounced by the High Priest once a year during Yom Kippur. It was for this reason that the religious leaders wanted this inscription removed from the tree because it identified Yeshua as YHVH!
The name HaNatzri means Nazarene.
This word comes from the root word natzar meaning to watch, guard, protect and keep. This meaning is expressed in Is. 27:3 where the Lord is described as the watchman and keeper of his vineyard (Israel). I, the Lord am the keeper (natzar). I water it every moment.. I guard it night and day.. He who keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. This word is also rooted in the word branch.Zech 6:12- Then say to him, thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold a man whose name is branch, for he will branch out from where He is, and He will build the temple of the Lord. vs. 13-Is. 27:6- Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
“The inscription, Yeshua, the Nazarene, King of the Jews in a very prophetic and profound way was a sign of who Yeshua was, the Lamb of God prophetically promised to Abraham. The story of Abraham and Isaac is a wonderful foreshadowing of Yeshua being offering as the son of promise by His Father. Abraham told his son Isaac that God will provide the lamb for the offering. Over 4000 years later, God did provide the Lamb, Yeshua, the Lamb of God. To fully appreciate the symbolic importance, there was a Passover tradition that was practiced at the time of Yeshua. As Jews prepared for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they purchased a copper name tag bearing their family name. This tag was hung around the Passover lambs neck to identify their sacrificial lamb. So, too, God’s Passover Lamb and His name was clearly marked on this inscription for all to see and understand that Yeshua is the ultimate Passover sacrifice for the sins of the world, once and for all time!
2. THE DARKNESS
Mt. 27:45-46- From the sixth hour darkness fell upon the land until the ninth hour. This would have been from noon to 3pm. In the middle of the day a blanket of darkness covered Jerusalem. This was one of the plagues that God afflicted Egypt with.Exodus 10:21- “Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt. So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.”
The word for darkness used in the Matthew account is Skotos, in the Greek meaning a heavy darkness. This supernatural darkness lasted for three hours paralleling the three days in Egypt. The type of darkness mentioned during the time that Yeshua was being crucified was not only a physical darkness but a heavy oppressive spiritual darkness. The overpowering nature of this darkness had to do with the spiritual powers of darkness that were hovering around Yeshua as He was dying on the tree. There was evil, oppressive forces that permeated Jerusalem at the time of His crucifixion.What does Paul say in Eph 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”The darkness that descended upon Jerusalem during those three hours was a darkness that not only obscured the sun but it was an evil and satanic presence that could be felt by the people. There were mocking spirits that were taunting, insulting, and hurling abuse at Yeshua. -Mt. 27:28-31,39-44
We have a graphic prophetic picture of this in Psalm 22. This is one of the most graphic pictures of Yeshua’s death by crucifixion in the Bible.“They opened wide their mouth at me, as a ravening and roaring lion.. (Satan is called a roaring lion) . I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within me. My strength is dried up and my tongue cleaves to my jaws. For dogs (gentiles) have surrounded me. A band of evildoers has encompassed me.
They pierced my hands and my feet. I count all my bones. They look, they stare at me. They divide my garments among them. and for my clothing they cast lots.”In addition to Yeshua experiencing the tremendous pain of crucifixion and bearing the burden of sin, He also had to deal with a heavy evil presence around Him.
3. THE VOICE OF GOD
The scriptures indicate that Yeshua spoke with a loud voice just before he died. Mt. 27:45-50. Considering Yeshua’s physical condition of being scourged, his hands and feet pierced through, bleeding and dying, His mouth dry and parched and in being in such agony, it is difficult to imagine that He could have spoken with a loud voice.Yet the scriptures say it was a loud voice. It is believed that this was no ordinary voice, Yeshua spoke, but a voice supernaturally empowered by God. In verse In Mt. 27:50 the Greek word translated “loud” comes from the root word megas (great in form, size or measure – like a megaphone).
This same word refers to the supernatural voices spoken by the angels in the book of Revelation. Rev. 5: 11,12/ 14:6,7. As the angels in the book of revelation announce the various judgments, it says they will speak with a loud voice so that all of the earth could hear. This same word is used to describe the kind of loud voice that Yeshua cried just before His death.As Yeshua hung on the tree He was fulfilling the role of our eternal high priest in His sacrifice. This event paralleled God’s empowering of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement.
It is recorded in Jewish writings that when the High Priest recited the tetragrammaton, (the name of God) YHVH on Yom Kippur, God empowered His voice so that this unutterable name could be heard by all the multitude of people. This in itself was a great miracle. When the Torah was given to Israel on Mt. Sinai, it was written, Moses spoke and God answered in a voice that thundered. Ex. 19:19. We probably never thought of how a huge multitude of 2 million people could hear Moses speaking unless God empowered His voice.
Similarly the same was true of the High Priest. God would project his voice so loud that all the nation could hear the unutterable name of God Spoken on Yom Kippur.So also, Yeshua was empowered to speak with the voice of Adonai. It is believed that Yeshua who is the High Priest, spoke with a voice so powerful that it thundered and echoed from the Mt. of Olives throughout all of Jerusalem so that all the inhabitants of Jerusalem could hear His final cry. Eli, Eli Lama Sabachtahani. My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me. Yochanon added that Yeshua spoke the words 'It is finished.' And He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit. If you could imagine the words It is finished resounding throughout all of Jerusalem. One could only wonder what the people would have thought. This was no ordinary crucifixion. As the Roman Centurion said, Truly this was the Son of God.
4. THE EARTHQUAKE & THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE WAS TORN
- Matthew 27:51
At the precise moment of Yeshua’s death Matthew records there was an earthquake in Jerusalem. Biblical and historic sources indicate that the main damage sustained during this earthquake was limited to the temple area and the tombs located on the Mt. of Olives.
It was no coincidence that the tearing of the temple veil, occurred at the precise moment of Yeshua’s death.Most biblical commentators have always taught that the veil in front of the Holy of Holies was rent in two. However, there were actually two veils in the temple. One in front of the Holy Place, at the eastern entrance to the temple and another separating the Holy Place from the innermost Holy of Holies at the Western most point of the temple.
Heb. 9:2-3/ Ex. 26:31-33There was also a very large set of wooden doors behind the outer veil entering into the Holy place. These doors would be closed when the temple was not in use by the people for temple prayer. If it was the inner veil in the holy of holies that was torn. Josephus, the great Jewish historian of the first century, recorded that a great veil hung over the entrance, the Porch to the outer temple. This huge exterior veil was beautifully embroidered in blue, white, scarlet and purple. The veil measured 82.5 feet in height, 24 feet in width and about three inches thick. Due to its great size, the veil of the temple was easily visible from the summit of the Mt. of Olives. Transparency of veil and temple.
Mt. 27:51 says, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook, and the rocks were split.Historical evidence indicated that an earthquake cracked the supporting beam or lintel of the door frame to which the veil was attached. This caused the veil to tear. Josephus in his writings records that there was a quaking in the temple, before it was destroyed in 70 ad. The Talmud also spoke of a quaking 40 years before the destruction of the temple in 70ad. Other Jewish writings also recorded this event.
As the earth shook, it is believed this 30 ton lintel was cracked, ripping the huge veil in two from top to bottom.But something else profound happened. Early Jewish records show that the door into the Holy Place, where the veil hung, mysteriously opened of their own accord in 33 AD the same time when Yeshua was crucified- Yoma 39b. What all of Israel witnessed was the symbolic removal of the spiritual separation that existed between God and man. From that moment every person who believes in Yeshua is given direct access into God’s Holy presence. Hebrews 10:19-23
Early historic sources seem to indicate that the only damage sustained during this earthquake was limited to the temple area and the tombs located on the Mount of Olives. This cracked lintel not only tore the temple veil but, Jewish writings record that the council chamber of the Sanhedrin was destroyed. This was the place where the Jewish leaders plotted Yeshua’s death and performed a mock trial.From that time forward the Sanhedrin was forced to hold their meetings in another location on the temple mount. No one else was ever tried in the place where Yeshua was.
It is also believed that the Kidron bridge collapsed or became impassable during this time. According to Josephus, when the Romans attacked Jerusalem in 70 AD there was no access to the city from the Kidron Valley. The reason why this was so significant was because this was the ritually clean path used by the priests for all the sin sacrifices brought from the temple to the Mt. of Olives. The path for the temple sacrifices was no longer accessible.
Another supernatural sign recorded in the Talmud, was that from 33 to 70 AD the scarlet wool of the scapegoat no longer miraculously turned white on Yom Kippur indicating forgiveness of sins. It remained red, prophetically demonstrating that Yeshua’s sacrifice was sufficient for all time!
5.THE GRAVES OF THE DEAD WERE OPENED AND MANY SAINTS WERE RAISED TO LIFE.
Mt. 27:52-53 – As the ground continued to shake, the tombs on the Mt. of Olives were opened and many bodies of the saints and prophets of old who had fallen asleep were raised. Note that though the graves were opened at this point, the dead did not resurrect until after Yeshua resurrected. He was the first to rise from the dead and then the saints also were resurrected and became witnesses to many in Jerusalem giving testimony of what had happened.
For 40 days after Yeshua’s resurrection these risen saints continued to give testimony among the living of Yeshua and It is believed that they rose together with Yeshua in His ascension. They did not go back into their graves. When Yeshua returns again, the scriptures say that dead in Messiah will rise first and we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds. It will be at this time when every believer in heaven and on earth will be given a new resurrected body.
written and / or assembled by Cal Goldberg, Messianic Leader, Beth Shechinah
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