So Adam leaves the Garden and goes east; east of Jerusalem between the Mount of Olives and the Jordan River is the Judean Wilderness;
the Dead Sea; total desolation. Jerusalem has trees, olive trees, mustard trees, fig trees, fir trees, all kinds of trees; butwhen you look down from the Mount of Olives toward the Dead Sea; there is nothing ~ totally barren, totally desolate, rocks and stones;
not much else. It’s like the land was cursed all the way down to the Jordan River.
The Sea of Galilee has
underwater springs that
provide part of the water
source for the sea and are connected to the Nile
River by the Syro-African rift ~ the rift is a fault line depression that stretches from north of the Sea of Galilee into Syria, down
along the Jordan River, the Dead Sea and southward through the Gulf of Aquaba in the Red Sea; towards the location of the former headwaters
of the Pishon; continuing on towards the Nile River in Africa; and is connected directly or indirectly to fault lines going up into
Turkey and the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Thus connecting the four head waters of the rivers of Eden with the
underground river of Jerusalem.
Let’s go back to
Genesis 2:10:
The King James says: And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it
was parted, and became into four heads.
Research shows that this
river is indeed both the
Hiddekel and the Tigris
River that today begins
in Modern Turkey, flows
east of Syria, into Iraq and joins the Euphrates River before it empties into the Persian Gulf. Strong’s Concordance with Hebrew,
Chaldee, and Greek Dictionary identifies this river as both the Hiddekel and the Tigris.
SEPTEMBER 2010
EDENQUEST
The Jerusalem Connection
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children
together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”
Matt. 23:27 {NASB}
“and He said to them, “ Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for
forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
Luke 24:46-47 {NASB}
Have you ever wondered why God chose Jerusalem? Have you ever wondered why God chose this mountain called Mount Moriah ~ why
God told Abraham to take his son Isaac in Genesis 22:2 to Mountains of Moriah to sacrifice him on an altar, which is a picture of
the Crucifixion ; why God had Solomon in 2 Chronicles to build His temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem?
Why did God center everything
from Genesis 14 all the way through to the time Messiah would rule for a thousand years; right here on this plot of land known as
Jerusalem, Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, Mount of Olives, the land of Israel?
Why did MELCHIZEDEK come to these mountains and become the
first King and Priest of the Most High God?
Look at 1 Chronicles 11:1 {NASB} ~ “Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your
flesh. “In times past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and the LORD your God said to
you, ‘ You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be prince over My people Israel.’ ”So all the elders of Israel came to the
king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according
to the word of the LORD through Samuel.
Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. The
inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not enter here.” Nevertheless David captured the stronghold of Zion (that is, the city
of David). Now David had said, “Whoever strikes down a Jebusite first shall be chief and commander.” Joab the son of Zeruiah went
up first, so he became chief. Then David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. He built the city all
around, from the Millo even to the surrounding area; and Joab repaired the rest of the city. David became greater and greater, for
the LORD of hosts was with him.”
So why did David feel the need to immediately move the capital of Israel from Hebron where Abraham and the patriarchs are buried;
capture the city of Jebus which is Jerusalem, and make this the capital of Israel?
Why did Jesus have to die in Jerusalem? Most of His ministry was based around the Sea of Galilee; why wasn’t he crucified in
Tiberias, or some other city around the Sea? Why did it have to be this particular city of Jerusalem, this particular hill called
Golgotha?
Why did Jesus ascend from this area from the Mount of Olives? Why is He coming back to this same mountain?
What is so special
about this City of Jerusalem, this Mount Moriah, and this Mount of Olives; that God centers His Word around and the world, for thousands
of years has been fighting and dying over?
Why is most “End of Days” prophecy centered around this particular area, these mountains,
this city?
Why does the Anti-Christ feel compelled to capture and take control of this city, this mountain?
The importance of Israel, the importance of Jerusalem in “End of Days” prophecy cannot be ignored! If we are going to understand
these last days that we live in; if we are going to understand why we need to stand firm with the Nation of Israel in these last days
we live in; we need to understand why this land, this city, these mountains called Moriah; which includes the Mount of Olives; why
these places are so important that God has centered all End Times Prophecy around them!
We’re going to show you some things that just might help you to understand why God chose Jerusalem; why this place is so important.
To do so, we must go back to the beginning; because God is going to restore all things in the End Times just like they were in the
beginning.
That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 {NASB}
“and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things
about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
Acts 3:20-21 {NASB}
In other words; as it was in the beginning, so shall it be at the end. God is going to restore the earth as it was in the beginning
and through Jesus, He is restoring His relationship with man as it was in the beginning. The Greek here means basically to put things
back like they were before; to make it like it was.
Where was man at the beginning? What was the beginning?
“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living being. The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.”
Genesis 2:7-8
{NASB}
And so we begin our “Eden Quest” and the “Jerusalem Connection”:
Where is the Garden of Eden? Scholars, both Biblical and secular; have come up with probably 15 different locations for the
Garden of Eden ~ ranging from the Andaman Islands region in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, between South East Asia and India;
to Africa; and all points in between; including under the Persian Gulf.
Let’s see what God’s Word says: Genesis 2:8-14 {NASB}
“The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He
placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good
for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now a river flowed out
of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the
whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of
the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria.
And the fourth river is the Euphrates.”
The question is: Where are these river boundaries?
First we need to understand; there is a land called “Eden”. Eden is the land mass; the garden is in Eden, the garden is not
Eden. There are other land masses; Nod for instance is mention in Genesis as the place where Cain went and it is located east of the
land of Eden ~ according to Genesis 4:16.
In this land of Eden, in the eastward part of this land of Eden; the Lord planted a garden.
In scripture, the East generally refers to the region of the Middle East ~ Babylon, Assyria, Persia; as found in Genesis 29:1, Judges
6:3, and Isaiah 11:14.
The Hebrew/Chaldean word used in Genesis for Eastward or East in the land of Eden is “Qedem” {keh-dem} which
means the front part of or the forepart of a place relating to the east.
According to an Egyptian writing called the “Tale of Sinuhe”
written in 1900 BC, the same Chaldean word “Qedem” is used; and is identified as a land near Canaan.
The next thing we need to understand, is that this is not just a back yard garden; this is not a truck garden ~ some of you may know
what that is; a large vegetable garden used to produce vegetables to sell and could be a few acres to ten, 20, 30 acres or even more;
this is not a flower garden your grandma had; this isn’t the Botanical Gardens we find in many cities. This is a huge garden that
takes in a vast area of land; more like a National Park like Yellowstone or the Mark Twain National Forest or Great Smoky Mountain
National Park.
Genesis 2:10 tells us that a river, a single river went out of the Land of Eden and into the Garden to water the Garden and
from there; that is from the Garden it then becomes 4 other river heads. The Pison or Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris or Hiddekel, and
the Euphrates.
The Euphrates River still has the same name it always had, still called the same. The river begins at it’s head waters
up in modern day Turkey, goes through Syria, into Iraq and empties into the Persian Gulf.
The next river is the Hiddekel or Tigris River ~ same river, different names depending upon what empire controlled the land
at the time. Just as we have rivers, mountains, and places in the United States that once had different names given by the Native
Americans and changed by the English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and other European influx into the continent. In fact, we even changed
some of the names ourselves, depending on situations in our country.
The third river is the Gihon. Genesis states that this river compasses the whole land of Ethiopia or Cush {the same word is
used in Hebrew for both ~ it’s the same place}. Biblically, this is the land south of Egypt along the Red Sea in Africa. Cush was
one of the grandsons of Noah, a son of Ham. The area he settled in corresponds with modern Sudan and Ethiopia; although it may not
contain all the land that we know today as modern Ethiopia. More probably, modern Sudan and some of the northern part of modern Ethiopia
made up ancient Cush/Ethiopia. Out of this area comes the Blue Nile and the White Nile which join together forming the Nile River,
flowing through the entire land of ancient Cush.
Does this make the Nile River the Gihon River? Remember what we said about names being different based upon which empire was
in power!
Josephus, a first century Jewish Historian says this about the Gihon in the Garden of Eden: “Geon {Gihon} runs through Egypt,
and denotes what arises from the east, which the Greeks call Nile.” Antiquities of the Jews ~ Book 1.
The Nile River gets it’s name
from the Greek “Neilos”; meaning river valley. As Josephus indicates, the Greeks called it the Nile; apparently before the Greeks
conquered Egypt around 332 BC; it was called the Gihon or Geon. There are other thoughts concerning where this river is, but I’m convinced;
based on my research, that this is the River we know as the Nile.
Okay, the fourth river, the Pishon or the Pison. This river no longer exists, and even during the time of Josephus; there was
no such river. Josephus thought that it could be the Ganges River in India, but it just doesn’t meet any of the criteria put forth
in the Bible.
This river flowed through the land of Havilah {a descendent of Ham, son of Noah; who settled in the Arabian Peninsula; "Havilah"
itself is of uncertain location, but is generally associated with the western or southern regions of the Arabian peninsula.},
Where there is gold { The only known Arabian source for "good gold" is the so-called "Cradle of Gold," (Mahd edh-Dhahab), located
about 125 miles south of Medina, in the Hijaz Mountains, which currently produces more than five tons of gold a year.}
The bdellium {which is a highly fragrant resin, possibly amber, found on the Arabian Peninsula}
The onyx stone {a jewelry grade
stone that is formed from quartz and is found many places through out the world since quartz makes up about 12% of the earth’s crust.
Although the Hebrew word here may simply suggest a gemstone of some sort.}
But where is the river? A scientist from Boston University, Farouk El-Baz, noted the alluvial deposits in Kuwait, and carefully
examined satellite photos of the Arabian Peninsula. There he spotted the unmistakable signs of a river channel cutting across the
desert. A fossil river; originating in the Hijaz Mountains near Medina and the Cradle of Gold, the ancient waterway, currently concealed
beneath sand dunes, runs northeast to Kuwait. Dubbed the Kuwait River by its modern discoverer, it once emptied into the Persian Gulf
in the same area as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
The river itself was probably completely covered up by Noah’s Flood and the land
mass now know as the Arabian Peninsula was once a lush tropical land that was covered by silt as a result of the flood and thus produced
the oil we get from the region today.
Are you beginning to see where we are going with this?
Here’s another clue.........Remember the Egyptian writing that identified the “East” “Qedem”; as a land near Canaan?
In the
days of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, near the southern part of the Dead Sea in Israel; is where Sodom and Gomorrah was. Did you ever wonder
why they built Sodom and Gomorrah where they did? Look at Genesis 13:10 {NASB}:
“Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the
Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like
the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.”
This land was so watered and lush that he compares it to the Garden of Eden and it was located
in Canaan Land.
So we have in this land of Eden, a garden planted by God eastward in this land is where He put Adam and the rivers we just
discussed, came out of the one river that flowed into the Garden to water it.
The Amplified Bible says:
Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four [river]
heads.
Notice; it divided into four river heads, four headwaters; not four separate rivers! There has never been a river found that
branches off into four different rivers. Rivers begin at a small stream, a spring or series of springs, other smaller rivers, or as
a result of out flowing of a natural lake; other streams and rivers join into it and the further it goes, the bigger the river becomes.
Other rivers may join into it, but never does a river separate into four different rivers. You can look at the rivers in the United
States; the Mississippi begins way up in Lake Itasca in Minnesota; the Missouri River begins in Montana and is the result of three
other rivers: the Madison, the Jefferson, and the Gallatin Rivers flowing together.
The NIV says: A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.
So to say that the river of Eden separated and became four separate rivers defys the natural order of God’s creation.
Most likely
what happens; is this singular river, which flowed through the entire garden to water the whole garden; circled around this entire
area within the boundaries of these four rivers; and disappears into the ground. We understand that concept here in the Ozarks of
Missouri. We have numerous underground rivers and streams. In this area, it’s not uncommon for a stream to simply disappear into the
ground.
From the underground river, the flow of water through various rock formations and faults in the ground; this river surfaces
again in four different locations and forms the headwaters of the Hiddekel or Tigris, the Euphrates, the Pishon, and the Gihon or
Nile rivers.
The River of Eden most probably was completely submerged underground as a result of the Flood in Noah’s day.
If all this is
true; and I believe that it is; then we are now beginning to establish information that Jerusalem was in fact where the original Garden
of Eden was located.
So, is there evidence that there is an underground river; an underground water source under the city of Jerusalem?
If you look
at a map of Jerusalem; just outside of the city, south of the Temple Mount in the Kidron Valley; there is a spring that has been called
from the very beginning ~ the Gihon Spring. It has the same name as one of the rivers coming out of Eden; and..... it’s the spring
where they anointed the kings!
An underground river was discovered in 1947-1948 when an excavator for the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem;
broke through a rock and heard a river that, as he described it, sounded like the twin propellers of an airplane.
This is also believed to be the water source that ran through the channel that
the archeologist found and was used in the Temple services.
Although some of the water in this cistern was supplied by rain runoff
during the Roman times; they have tried to empty out the pool of water several times in recent years, but it keeps coming back. They
have determined that there must be some underground water source.
Okay, so we know that there is a water source under the city of Jerusalem; under the Temple Mount. How is that relevant?
If
we can connect this underground river in Jerusalem to the water source of one or more of the four rivers of Eden, we could possibly
have the lost River of Eden!
In the Sea of Galilee, in Israel, there is a species of catfish that has been documented back to the time of Christ; called
the “Korakinos”. This species is also found in the Nile River. A book written by Mendal Nun called The Sea of Galilee and Its Fishermen
in the New Testament, quotes the Jewish historian Josephus, who was alive in the first century, referring to this catfish by its Greek
name “Korakinos”; which means “water raven”. Mendal wrote this about the catfish: “This is an unusual fish, the sole representative
of its African family” and believes that this supports the popular belief that there was an underground connection between the Nile
River and the Sea of Galilee that emerged from below the ground, underwater at the largest spring at Tabgha, on the north-western
shores of the Sea of Galilee {where Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes}.
Along this rift, a huge underground lake has been discovered near the northwestern part of the Dead Sea in the Qumran region;
and water is being pumped up out of this lake to irrigate the land around the Dead Sea.
South of the Dead Sea; more water has been
discovered in the Arava or Arabah, a desert region, along this same rift and farmers have tapped into that water creating farms where
Israel produces about 65% of her fresh vegetable exports.
All this establishing a link for the introduction of an African catfish into the Sea of Galilee centuries ago!
Remember, we’re working on establishing Jerusalem’s connection to the Garden of Eden and God’s Prophetic Plan for the “End of Days”.So, as we look at the boundaries of the Garden of Eden; according to the book of Genesis; and these four rivers that came out of the
River of the Garden; we’re going to see something very significant.If we take these boundaries; join them together and square them
up; we find that they form a land mass of 1500 square miles and Jerusalem is the center of it! Revelation 21:10-16 {NASB} says: “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out
of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had
a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the
twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south
and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of
the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred
miles; its length and width and height are equal.”
Jerusalem becomes the very center of the Garden of Eden!
Now let’s go back to Genesis....... Genesis 2:9 tells us that God planted the Tree of Life in the center of the Garden and the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the same vicinity.
In Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve committed sin; disobeyed God. The serpent was cursed to crawl on its belly, the first prophecy
was pronounced concerning the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman {the serpent represents Satan and the seed of the woman
is Jesus}, woman was put under the spiritual
head of man to obey him and childbirth would be great pain and toil for the woman,
the land
was cursed because of man and thorns and thistles would undermine his farming of the land and he would have to work
hard to make the land produce for his food.
When God drove out man, the Hebrew here means to drive away, expel, thrust out, and primarily to divorce. Man literally became
divorced from God and it would only be through the Blood of Jesus that we would once again be made pure
enough to become the Bride
of Christ and once more be wed to God through Jesus.
When God drove man out of the Garden, it was apparently to the east; because there is where he placed cherubim with a flaming
sword to prevent man from coming back into the center of the Garden and being able to continue to eat of the Tree of Life. To do so
would have made man a forever living sinner. God was not going to allow man to live forever in his sin; so He prevented man from returning
to the area of the Garden where the Tree of Life was located.
What does that tell us? If the Garden of Eden was 1500 square miles, then the center of the Garden where the Tree of Life was
located must have been an enclosed part of the Garden with an entrance to the east. There must have been some sort of wall or barrier
around the center of the Garden; much like the gardens of European estates and Asian palaces.
Many of these gardens are divided into
unique parts, separated by some sort of wall or barrier and are immense in size. They could have stone walls and gates dividing the
garden; they could have hedges dividing the garden; I’ve even seen gardens in England that are separated by elaborate hedge mazes;
I’ve seen gardens in Spain that were created by the Moors and had several gated partitions within the garden. I believe that this
is how the Garden of Eden was set up; the center of the Garden with the Tree of Life was distinct from the rest of the Garden; because
this is where God came down in the cool of the evening to fellowship with man.
I believe God eventually took the Tree of Life and the Tree of
the Knowledge of Good and Evil up into heaven with Him
sometime prior to the Flood.
Now, if our premise is true; that Jerusalem is where the center of the Garden was; then that’s where
the Tree of Life was located, that’s where the Tree of Knowledge was located, and eastward from there is where Adam and Eve went when
God drove them out of the Garden.
When we examine this closely with what we’ve seen, the reasonable assumption is that when God cursed
the land and sent man from the Garden; He only banished them from the center of the Garden where the Tree of Life was and where God
would come down and fellowship with man. We know that because if man was banished from the Garden in its entirety, there would have
been no civilization in or around that area; and in fact, archeologist indicate that this was the cradle of civilization; this was
where man began.
The center of the Garden most likely then encompassed the Mount of Olives because it is after the Mount of Olives that the cursed
land begins. The Mount of Olives is part of the Mountain range called Moriah.
When you go east from the Mount of Olives and descend
into Judean Wilderness you eventually come to the ancient city of Jericho. Affirmed by archeologists as the oldest city on earth dating
back somewhere between 9000 and 11000 BC.
There’s more...... north of Jericho along the Jordan River about 17 miles is a place known
to Jewish historians and Rabbis as the City of Adam; the same City of Adam mentioned in Joshua 3:16 when the Jordan River backed up
for the armies of Israel to cross.
A man tilling the soil would have to have a water source; the Jordan River. For centuries, Jewish
tradition has taught that Adam lived near Jerusalem after he sinned; lived here at this city that bears his name.
Outside the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem; across the Kidron Valley is the Mount of Olives; going up to the top of the Mount of
Olives is a road. A road that has always been called “the Ascent of the Adams”; because it is the way they believe that Adam took
when he was being expelled from the Garden. It’s the road that Jesus travelled on going into Jerusalem; the road that connected to
a three tiered bridge from the Mount of Olives to the Eastern Gate that Jesus rode the donkey down as he came into the city before
he paid the price for our sins as the “Second Adam”.
Understand this; there is no other place on earth where we can find agreement
with scripture and the evidence we have just presented; that would justify placing the Garden of Eden anywhere but squarely over Jerusalem
and this part of the world.
Based on what we’ve discussed; if we assume that Jerusalem is the place where at one time God met with Adam; knowing what we
know of scripture, the location of the Temple, God’s love for Jerusalem, all that took place in and around Jerusalem; if the Tree
of Life was once located on Mount Moriah ~ the Temple Mount and that this is the place where God came down and fellowshipped with
Adam in the Garden of Eden; it explains a lot of things; it answers a lot of questions.
We begin to understand why so much prophecy takes place in and around Jerusalem and why this city is so important to God; why
God says in Zechariah 2:8 concerning Israel and Jerusalem “he that touches you,
touches the apple of His eye”. And then
in
verse 12:
“The LORD will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”
We’re going to explore some
of these relationships between scripture, prophecy, and Jerusalem; and see what we can discover in our Quest for Eden ~ the Jerusalem
Connection ~ The Restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said,
“Blessed
be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
He
gave him a tenth of all.
Genesis 14:18-20 {NASB}
After a battle with five kings and rescuing Lot and the people of Sodom from captivity, Abraham met with the king of Salem
{Jerusalem} and Priest of the Most High God in the Kings Valley just north of Mount Moriah. There Abraham offered a tithe ~ a tenth
of the spoils of his victory ~ to this Melchizedek.
What we need to understand is that this Melchizedek is not the name of a man;
this is his title. The title comes from two Hebrew words: Melech, meaning king and zadok, meaning righteousness. Melchizedek then
means King of Righteousness. He was also King of Salem (Jerusalem); which means King of Peace as indicated in Hebrews chapter 7.
So who was this mysterious man called Melchizedek, King of Jerusalem? Jewish Rabbis teach and have taught for centuries, that
this man Melchizedek was actually Shem, the righteous son of Noah; from whom the lineage of Jesus would come; who came to the mountains
of Moriah and began the first true priesthood of God on earth.
Jasher; an ancient, pre-Christ Jewish historian whose works are mentioned
in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18; and a copy of his manuscript was discovered in the 1840’s and translated from the original Hebrew.
We
have to understand that the Hebrew people have ancient writings and books that date back thousands of years; not to mention their
oral traditions that are passed from generation to generation; memorized word for word; date back 50, 60 generations or more. God
told them to pass down certain things to their children and they did.
They have a deep, rich history and documentation of things that
most Christians have no understanding or knowledge of ~ if they did, it would help them to better understand what God’s Word is really
talking about in many instances and would lead to a greater Spiritual Walk.
Anyway, Jasher states in his writings that Melchizedek
king of Jerusalem, the same is Shem.
Shem the son of Noah? Is it possible that Shem could still have been alive at the time of Abraham? Yes! Not only Abraham, but
Isaac and Jacob!
Genesis 5:32 tells us that Noah was 500 years old when he had his sons and Genesis 7:11 tells us that
Noah was 600 years old when the flood came ~ it might appear that Shem, Ham, and Japheth were triplets, however; we find that in Genesis
11:10 that Shem was 100 years old two years after the flood when his son was born. If we follow the genealogy of Shem listed in Genesis
11, we find that Shem was around 390 years old when Abraham was born; Isaac was born when Abraham was 100, making Shem 490; Isaac
was 40 years old when he married ~ Genesis 25:19 ~ so Shem would be 530; Jacob and Esau were born when Isaac was 60. Genesis 25:26 The
book of Jasher tells us that Jacob went and lived with Shem for thirty-two years. According to Genesis 11:11, Shem lived 500 years
after he had his son; making him 600 when he died ~ seventy years after Isaac was married; 110 years after Isaac was born; 50 years
after Jacob was born.
Noah @ 500 ~ had sons
@ 600 ~flood ~ Shem was 98
Shem @ 100 had Arpachshad
Arpachshad @ 35 had Shelah
Noah @667 Shem
@165 Shelah @ 30 had Eber
Eber @ 34 had Peleg
Peleg @ 30 had Reu
Reu @ 32 had
Serug
Serug @ 30 had Nahor
Nahor @ 29 had Terah
Noah @892 Shem @390 Eber @225 Terah @
70 had Abram
Noah Dies @950 Abram is 58
Shem@490 Eber @325 Abram @100 had Isaac
Shem @530 Isaac gets
married @40
Shem @550 Eber @385 Isaac @60 has Esau&Jacob
Shem Dies @600 Eber @ 435 Jacob is 50 yrs old
Eber Dies @464 Jacob is 79 yrs old.
Jewish tradition teaches that Noah took the skull of Adam with him on the Ark and when they left the Ark, Noah gave the skull
to Shem and told him to take it back to where the Garden was and bury it. Take it back to the place where God created Adam ~ and Jewish
history has taught for thousands of years that the Temple Mount is where God reached down in the dust and created man.
So Shem goes
to Mount Moriah; he has a great grandson that goes with him by the name of Eber.
Look at Genesis 10:21: Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were
born.
Eber was Shem’s great grandson; why would he be mentioned here? Again, ancient Jewish history teaches that Eber went to Mount
Moriah with his great grandfather Shem and helped establish an academy there to teach man the Ways of God. From Eber, is derived the
name of the chosen people of God. “Hebrew” comes from the name of Eber; whose descendent is Abraham; whose descendent is David; whose
Descendent is Jesus.
Shem is in Salem, which is Jerusalem on Mount Zion; the city wasn’t built on the Mountain of the Lord, Mount Moriah; it was
built on the other mountains around Mount Moriah. Abraham meets him there and pays tithes to his forefather Shem who came through
the great flood and is blessed by God; whom Abraham knew ~ according to the Book of Jasher, Abraham had gone and spent time with Noah
and Shem in his younger days to learn the Ways of the Lord ~ makes sense; how else did Abraham
growing up in Ur way down in Babylon
on the southern shores of the River Euphrates not far from where it emptied into the sea; how else did he learn about God and become
the friend of God!
Now in Genesis 22:2 Abraham is told to take his only son Isaac, the child of promise, and take him to the land of Moriah; and
offer him up for a sacrifice on a mountain that God would show him. This was several days journey; why was it so important to God
that the sacrifice take place on one of the mountains of Moriah? Why not just any mountain?
We Often hear mention of "Mount Moriah." But actually it is not just the mountain called Moriah; it is a mountain grouping called
the mountains of Moriah which includes Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, Mount of Olives and others where Jerusalem sits. The Mount of Olives
is considered the Upper Mount Moriah and the Temple Mount is considered the Lower Mount Moriah. so Abraham was bidden by God to sacrifice
his son on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah
(Genesis 22:2):
Genesis 22:4 tells us that after traveling for three days Abraham “lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.”
The English translation leads us to believe that Abraham looked and saw the place that he was supposed to sacrifice Isaac. But;
if we look carefully at the Hebraic word study and teaching of this, the phrase “the place” is a reference to God Himself. God is
in all places and ever present; therefore, He is “The Place”. This is especially true when we connect it with the Hebrew phrase “afar
off” which alludes to both time and space; meaning a “great while to come”. Thus what Abraham saw was a look into the future; which
is verified by his reply to Isaac that God would provide himself a lamb; which can be interpreted as God will provide himself as a
lamb!
Look at what Jesus said in John 8:56 ~ “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
This gives
the indication that Abraham in fact, did see into the future and saw what God was going to do on the mountains of Moriah in giving
Himself up in the form of His Son Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins.
Genesis 22:14 ~ KJV ~ “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the
LORD it shall be seen.”
Other translations say he called the place “the Lord Will Provide” and in the mountain of the Lord it will
be provided. Because Abraham knew that down the road in the future that God would indeed provide the sacrifice needed to take away
the sins of the world. The Hebraic translation of “Jehovah-Jireh” is “God will see to it”. And He did
Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac is a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Jesus:
Abraham led Isaac to Jerusalem; God led Jesus to
Jerusalem.
Abraham took Isaac to the top of one of the mountains of Moriah; Jesus was taken to top of one of the mountains of Moriah.
Abraham
saw the place on the third day; Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day.
Abraham had Isaac carry the wood; Jesus carried the
cross made of wood.
Isaac was laid on the sacrificial wood; Jesus was laid on the wooden cross.
There were two other men, un-named with
Isaac; there were two other men, un-named crucified with Jesus.
Abraham said God would provide a lamb; Jesus was the Lamb of God.
Isaac
got up from the altar; Jesus got up from the grave.
When Abraham declared the mountain as “the Mount of the Lord”; he identified it as Mount Moriah. This is the mountain that God
told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 12:5-6 {NASB} ~ “ But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will
choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. “There you shall bring your burnt
offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn
of your herd and of your flock.”
Five more times in Deuteronomy God proclaims the place where He will put His Name.
David mentions
it in 1 Kings 8:29 {NASB}~ “that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My
name shall be there,’”
Nehemiah tells us God will return His people to the place where He chose to put His name ~ Jerusalem.
Isaiah
too mentions Jerusalem as the place where God places His name.
Here on this mountain where more wars have been fought over than any
other place in the world; this city that is the center of the greatest controversy and trouble in the history of the world; this mountain
that people kill each other over ~ this place where God has put His Name!
There is no logical explanation; no natural explanation for
this! No natural explanation why the devil hates the Hebrew people so much; no natural explanation why Islam hates the Jews so much;
no natural explanation why the world hates Israel so much.
But when we know that this place, this Mountain of the Lord; according
to Jewish and Christian history; is the very spot that God stood over and created this earth; the first spot that He saw was the Mountain
where He would put His Temple; the Mountain where He would put His Name; the Mountain where God reached down and took the clay and
formed the first man Adam; the Mountain where the second Adam, Jesus would come to die and then come again to receive His Kingdom;
then we begin to see and understand why God loved this place so much; why God says in Zechariah 2:8 concerning Israel and Jerusalem“he that touches you, touches the apple of His eye”.
We understand that this had to be the place where God our creator came down and
fellowshipped with man in the Garden and where He will once again establish His fellowship with man in the last days.
As it was in
the beginning, so shall it be at the end ~ the restoration of all things.
But........ that’s not all; there’s more:
From the time of Abraham when he was
buried in caves of Hebron; the capital of the Promised Land; the capital of Israel when it became a nation under Joshua; was there
at Hebron. Hebron was where Saul ruled from as Israel’s first king.
1 Chronicles chapter 11 tells us that David, as soon as he was anointed King of Israel; took his army and captured the city of
Jebus, the stronghold of Zion, which is Jerusalem. See, the city didn’t even belong to Israel at this time; it was still in the hands
of the Jebusites and was called Jebus. David captured the city and made the capital of Israel and to this day it is called the City
of David.
Why was it so important that David obtain this city; what was so important about it; what did David know? Remember, David
is a man after God’s own heart; he was a prophet of God; he knew what God’s plan was for the temple; he knew how important this place
was to God; and it all goes back to Goliath.
Remember we talked about the first prophecy ~ the seed of the serpent and the
seed of the woman; we know who the seed of
the woman is ~ Jesus. We know
that the serpent is Satan. But who is the seed of the serpent? We could easily
determine that the Anti-Christ
and the False Prophet of Revelation are the
seed of Satan and that in the last days Jesus will return and destroy them;
but what about
the part where the seed of the serpent will bruise his heel
and He would bruise the head of the seed of the serpent?
Genesis chapter 6 begins telling the story of Noah and the Flood. The first verses of the chapter tell how the Sons of God took
the daughters of men as wives and bore a race of giants; and verse 4 indicates that these giants were present on the earth before
the flood and also after the flood. The mystery seems to be; how did these giants come to be on the earth after the flood? We know
that they were, they’re mentioned in the Bible numerous times in Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua. Goliath was one of the last remnants
of the giants of old. 2 Samuel chapter 21 and 1 Chronicles chapter 20 tells the stories of other giants in Israel that were destroyed
by David and his men, effectively eradicating the race of giants from the earth.
So who were these giants and where did they come
from?
In ancient Jewish teachings and even among the early Church Fathers this was taught; that God sent down angels in physical forms
to dwell on earth and teach mankind the Ways of the Lord because there was no written Word for them to follow. These angels became
corrupted by Satan and began to mate with the daughters of man, creating a race of giants against the Will of God ~ the seed of the
serpent; the seed of Satan. These giants were so evil that they corrupted the entire race of mankind except the family of Noah; this
is the reason that mankind became so evil that God had to destroy them.
Now many people don’t believe this; they don’t think that it is possible for angels to mate with humans because angels are spirits;
they say that in Heaven there is no marrying or giving in marriage, but they weren’t in Heaven; and they weren’t spirits when they
were on the earth. Jesus walked this earth as a man and was tempted in all areas even as we are; angels came down and ate food with
Abraham before going to Sodom and Gomorrah; the men of Sodom thought that they were human enough to want to rape them.
What does Hebrews
13:2 say ~‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
They also
teach that after the flood, since there still wasn’t any written Word; God sent down a limited number of angels in physical forms
to once again teach mankind the Way of the Lord; and once again they were corrupted by Satan; probably due to the fact they were in
physical form and that may have made them susceptible to temptation; and once more the seed of the serpent walked the earth. Not quite
so numerous as before, but nevertheless still giants in the land.
These angels before and after the flood are those that Jude and Peter
tell about that are bound in chains in darkness because they didn’t keep their place. They’re not Satan’s angels; they fell with Satan;
they are still active in the spirit realm today; they are spirits, Satan cannot make them physically human to be able to mate with
women ~ that’s beyond his power ~ they might possess a man, but it would be the man’s seed. The only explanation is that the angels
that Peter and Jude refer to; are those angels who did not keep their first estate and sinned; producing the seed of the serpent ~
evil giants.
So David saw this seed of the serpent; Goliath of Gath, blaspheming the Name of God ~ David, a teenager; full of the Holy Ghosts
said to Saul the king:
Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them,
since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” And David said, “ The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from
the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
1 Samuel 17:36-37 {NASB}
Okay, here’s where we’re going....David
kills Goliath, takes Goliath’s sword and cuts off his head; now look at 1 Samuel 17:54 {NASB} “Then David took the Philistine’s head
and brought it to Jerusalem,”
David took the head of the giant to Jerusalem! Understand, the Valley of Elah where they were battling the Philistines was about 18
miles away from Jerusalem! This teenage boy drags this big ole’ bloody head of Goliath 18 miles on foot to Jerusalem; to a place that
Israel doesn’t even posses at this time; it don’t belong to them; it’s still in the hands of the Jebusites ~ remember, David doesn’t
conquer it until he is king years later.
What on earth would posses David to do such a thing and what’s he planning on doing with this
head? What do you do with the head of a dead man?
You bury it; that’s what. Make no mistake, David was doing just exactly what God had told him to do every step of the way! Why else
bring the head of this giant to a city you don’t even own. David heard from God; David had a vision from God; David was ordained by
God to be king and to be God’s prophet. You don’t believe that, just read the Psalms and see how close David was to God; why just
his singing praises to God was enough to drive away the evil spirit that plagued Saul! David saw the vision and he knew just what
God wanted him to do with that head of the seed of the serpent.
They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew,
Golgotha.
John 19:17 {NASB}
The Place of a Skull ~ whose skull? What’s it called in Hebrew ~ Gol-Goth-ah; could that not be a form
of the name Goliath of Gath ~ Gol-Gath-ah ~ could it be that on this very spot where David buried the head of that seed of the serpent
- Goliath; that the feet of Jesus, his heels, stood over the head of the seed of the devil, one of the most feared giants in history
and forever vanquished Satan’s hold on humanity! Fulfilling the prophecy from Genesis 3:15.
God revealed the promise of redemption to Adam before he was driven out of the Garden. If our analysis of Jerusalem being the
center of the Garden is correct, then God pronounced the judgment of the serpent in the same area that the redemption of mankind would
one day take place. It would seem obvious that by burying the skull of Goliath where he did, David knew something was going to happen
on that mountain; just as Abraham did centuries before when he cried out “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be seen” and “God shall
provide for himself a lamb”.
Jesus is called the second man Adam; He had to go where the first man Adam lost it and restore everything in the same location.
Both
Adams were in a garden; the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane.
Both Adams encountered Satan at a tree; the Tree of Knowledge,
a tree called the cross.
Both Adams had to deal with thorns; working for life tilling the ground, dying for life with a crown of thorns.
The second
man Adam ~ Jesus; had to come back to the area of the original Garden of Eden and original sin to restore eternal life back to man.
The restoration of all things!
Okay, let’s look at this and see where we are. If our assumption is correct that Mount Moriah was the place where the Tree of
Life was in the Garden of Eden; then the Temples built by Solomon and later Herod were built over this same location.
They put a Holy of Holies where no one can go except the High Priest and him only once a year, where God is going to come down
once a year where He used to come down every day and fellowship with Adam. They put a veil with cherubim at the entrance of the Holy
of Holies, which faces to the east, to guard it and keep anyone from entering into the Holy of Holies that should not go in.
They put the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies; the Mercy Seat of God, where God will come down in a cloud and dwell
between the wings of the cherubim, visit man once a year and no one would see Him except the High Priest and him only if he does what
is necessary to purify himself before the Lord; if he doesn’t, he dies from the Glory of the Lord. You know why it was done this way?
Because in the original Garden of Eden, there was a Tree of Life where God came down and when Adam sinned God told Adam that
he wasn’t coming back in; God put cherubim at the east entrance with a sword to block it and prevent anyone from coming in. God gave
David the vision of the Temple and David passed that on to his son Solomon whom God ordained to build the Temple.
God told David exactly where to put the Temple, exactly where to place the Holy of Holies, exactly how to make the Temple, exactly
how to make the veil to cover the Holy of Holies. There was no question of changing or deviating from God’s plan; it was based on
the
principal of the Garden of Eden; which in turn, was based on the principal of the Heavenly Temple.
And Solomon built the
Temple exactly on the spot of the center of the Garden; placed the Holy of Holies right over the spot where the Tree of Life was planted;
and the Ark of the Covenant becomes the Tree of Life for the Children of God.
Years later, Jesus is on His final journey to Jerusalem.
Solomon’s Temple is long gone; Herod’s Temple now stands in its place; the Ark of the Covenant has disappeared (either lost or hidden
from the Romans).
Jesus comes up the backside of the Mount of Olives through a place called Bethphage which means “house of the fig”; on the
way to the Temple.
Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to
it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.
Matt. 21:19 {NASB}
Jesus is on His way to the Temple; He comes upon this fig tree in a place known for fig trees and here’s this one tree that
has leaves but no figs. Now understand, we are told in Mark’s account, it was not the time for figs! None of the other fig trees had
leaves! See, fig trees bear their fruit first; then the leaves come out and cover the fruit. If you see a fig tree with leaves, then
the assumption is that under the leaves is fruit. The fruit is covered by leaves. Much like a May Apple, if you know what a May Apple
is; the fig leaves hide the fruit.
Now, why did Jesus curse this fig tree? Why did this lone fig tree here in the middle of all these
other fig trees have leaves out of season?
Some Bible scholars have explained this as the fig tree representing Israel, as it does
in several places in the Bible; and that Jesus is demonstrating how Israel will be coming under a curse for their unbelief.
Yes, that’s
entirely possible; but consider this........
When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid among the trees; most likely the fig trees; and sewed
fig leaves together to hide their shame. Their sin occurred in the center part of the Garden of Eden; at the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil, which is in the same vicinity as the Tree of Life; and when the land was cursed and Adam left, the cursed part of the
land, the Judean Wilderness, didn’t really begin until he descended down off the back side of the Mount of Olives; making the Mount
of Olives part of the center of the Garden of Eden.
The Mount of Olives sits just east of Jerusalem, on the western edge of the Judean wilderness. Jerusalem is along the watershed
ridge of Israel; the land to the east lies in the rain shadow and gets little rain annually. Usually this effect is visible with the
thinning of vegetation as one travels east. Notice this photo taken towards the east of the Mount of Olives; you can see the effect
quite dramatically. As the clouds moved east toward the Jordan Rift and the Dead Sea, the snowfall quickly ended.
If our conclusions are correct as to the location of the Garden of Eden; then the place where Jesus cursed the fig tree was
in the same area as Adam and Eve sinned, the same area they took fig leaves and attempted to cover their sin, the same area as the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the same area where mankind fell from the Grace of God, and is the same area where mankind is
about to be redeemed back into the Grace of God.
Jesus is on His way to be crucified for our sins and He comes to the place where Adam
sinned; He passes this fig tree with false coverings; because coverings of leaves denote fruit; and curses it, thus saying; it’s not
going to work any more; false coverings will no longer be accepted to cover the sin; you once attempted to hide Adam’s sin; but no
more because I, Jesus, am about to provide the complete covering for sin by the shedding of my blood.
Of course, if Jesus would have cursed the fig tree in Tiberias or Capernaum or some other place; this pattern falls apart.
But He didn’t! It happened at Jerusalem; on the Mount of Olives; where the first man Adam fell; just before the second Adam, Jesus
was nailed to the cross for the sins of mankind.
Are you beginning to see??? Everything God does has significance. God doesn’t do
things haphazardly. There’s always a reason and pattern to God’s plan. When we begin to weave together what the Word of God really
says; with ancient Jewish history and tradition that enhances, corroborates, and explains scriptures; with revelation knowledge and
understanding of God’s Word and prophetic plan; with the Nature and Character of a loving Father; we see things that we’ve never seen
before; even when they were right in front of us the whole time.
Let’s continue on our Quest.... The Crucifixion.
In Jerusalem, there are two major sites for the Crucifixion. Like most places identified as sites where Jesus was or performed
miracles; there may be two or three different locations where people say it happened. The same is true for the Crucifixion.
The first
site; which is considered the true site by Catholics and Greek Orthodox; was marked by the mother of Emperor Constantine, Helena,
in the middle of the fourth century; and is where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher now stands.
One Tradition has it that she asked a man, who was worshipping an idol, where the crucifixion took place; he said right here,
pointed to a spot, said there’s a piece of the cross; she bought the property and built a church and said that’s where it happened.
Another
Tradition says that early in the fourth century, St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search
of the holy places of Christ's life. She razed the Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior's tomb, and
her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher over the tomb.
During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch
healed a dying woman. The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end
of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with
the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus' head: Then "all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching
the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on. "To this
day the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of
the basilica's dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross
from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross
back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.
Many accept this as the site; however, there are a couple of problems with the site. It is located within the old city walls;
{it is important to note that there is some indication that the city walls in the time of Jesus may have put this site outside the
city} Jewish law forbids burials within the city; dead people were considered unclean and a burial ground would be unclean; Hebrews
13:12 indicates that Jesus was crucified outside the gate, outside the city; Jesus’ main crime for sentencing Him to death was blasphemy
{Matt. 26:65}; Jewish law taught that a blasphemer was to be executed outside the camp and to the east in the face of God; and finally,
the location of the site is west of the Temple Mount, behind where the Temple would have been. We’ll explore this a little more shortly.
The second site, called Gordon’s Calvary ~ the Garden Tomb; is located just outside the Damascus Gate north of the Temple Mount,
north of the city; and was discovered by General Charles Gordon while admiring the landscape in 1867; noted a hill that look remarkable
like a skull. They have discovered evidence of an ancient garden, a winepress, and burial tombs. It seemed to correspond with the
requirements of the crucifixion and was not the Catholic site; it is commonly referred to as the Protestant site.
Based on what we have been studying here; our Quest for the Garden of Eden and the Jerusalem connection; I want to show you
another possibility.
When Jesus was crucified, the Bible recorded something that happened; and until I started digging into this study, I never understood
the significance of it: Matt. 27 starting in verse 51:
And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the
earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and
coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were
with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said,
“Truly this was the Son of God!”
The centurion and those who were with him saw the Temple Veil being torn in two. This is Passover, and the huge temple doors
would be traditionally open and the veil could be seen.
But not from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; it sets behind the Temple to
the west; the Temple doors face east into the Face of God. All you could see from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher site is the back
of the Temple.
Gordon’s Calvary sits to the north of the Temple; the only thing you could see from there is the side of the Temple.
The
only place that one could see the veil of the Temple through the open Temple doors is from the top of the Mount of Olives; on the
east side of the Temple!
Luke’s account in chapter 23 of the Gospel; even says that a crowd of people witnessed the veil being torn.
Golgotha or Calvary on the MOUNT OF OLIVES was the site of the crucifixion. The Temple faced EAST and had a massive curtain
held up by a 30 ton lintel. When Jesus died there was an earthquake and the curtain was torn in half from top to bottom. The centurion
in charge of the crucifixion could see everything from his vantage point on the Mount:
The centurion and those who were with him saw the Temple Veil being torn in two. This is Passover, and the huge temple doors
would be traditionally open and the veil could be seen.
But not from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; it sets behind the Temple to the west; the Temple doors face east into the Face of
God. All you could see from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher site is the back of the Temple.
Gordon’s Calvary sits to the north of
the Temple; the only thing you could see from there is the side of the Temple.
The only place that one could see the veil of the Temple
through the open Temple doors is from the top of the Mount of Olives; on the east side of the Temple!
Luke’s account in chapter 23
of the Gospel; even says that a crowd of people witnessed the veil being torn.
Let’s go on; there is a ritual established by God called “the sacrifice of the red heifer” found in Numbers chapter 19. The
Red Heifer sacrifice in Jewish tradition to the Messiah; as Christians, we can see it as a representation of the crucifixion of Jesus.
The sacrifice of the Red Heifer is commanded in Numbers 19:The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "This is a requirement of the law
that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under
a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent
of Meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned – its hide, flesh, blood and offal. The priest is to take some cedar wood,
hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with
water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. The man who burns it must also wash his clothes
and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and
put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing;
it is for purification from sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean
till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them" (Numbers 19:1-10).
It is the only female offering; alluding to the fact that thru Christ’s death, He is purchasing Himself a bride; would birth
and build the Church, which is in the Greek ~ ekklesia ~ a feminine root in the Greek.
The sacrifice took place outside the camp;
not on the Holy altar ~ Christ was taken outside the camp to be sacrificed.
Cedar wood was tossed on the fire as the red heifer
was burning; representing the wooden cross that Jesus would die on.
A branch of hyssop plant was tossed on the fire as the red
heifer was burning ~ hyssop was used to offer Jesus a drink of vinegar as He hung on the cross.
Scarlet colored threads were
thrown into the flames of the sacrifice ~ a scarlet robe was placed on Jesus’ shoulders.
The priest did not take part in the
actual sacrifice of the red heifer, but looked on as it was burning ~ the priest did not take part in the actual crucifixion of Jesus,
but looked on as He died on the cross.
As the throat of the heifer was cut, the priest would catch the blood in his right hand, representing the Hebrew people; dip
the fingers of his left hand, representing the Gentile people, into the blood and sprinkle it towards the door of the Tabernacle;
later towards the door of the Temple ~ seven times; painting a beautiful picture of Christ’s blood initiating the new covenant with
the Hebrew people and the Gentiles as His blood was shed seven times:
-
from the stripes on His back
-
from the crown of thorns on His head
-
from
the nail piercing His right hand
-
from the nail piercing His left hand
-
from the nail piercing His right foot
-
from the nail piercing His
left foot
-
from the spear piercing His side
The ashes of the red heifer were mixed with water and; according to Numbers 19:9:
Now a man who is clean shall gather up the
ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water
to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.
It was also used to purify the utensils used in the Temple; we are washed clean by
the Blood of Jesus thru His death and resurrection and Jesus removes our impurity and is our purification from sin!
Notice that there was "a ceremonially clean place," outside the Temple proper; yet, in a sense, it is actually an extension
of the Temple. The Red Heifer sacrifice, unlike the burnt offers performed on the altar on the Temple grounds, was performed outside
the camp. According to Jewish tradition, nine red heifers had been sacrificed since the time of Moses.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews
{which many believe to have been Paul}
alludes to this amazing correlation
between the
Red Heifer sacrifice and
the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ:
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already
here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He
did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having
obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean
sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:11-14)
The Red Heifer sacrifice is again alluded to in Hebrews 13:10-13
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have
no right to eat.
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside
the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go
out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
What other sacrifice could it be? This was the sacrifice by whose ashes all Jews
entering the Temple had to be purified.
Many early Christians realized the deep symbolism of this sacrifice.
One early Church document called “the Epistle of
Barnabas”; written around 100 AD, while not considered as Canon because of it’s obvious lack of direct connection to the Gospels in
it’s content; still part of the early Church writings in the first century directly relates the correlation of the Red Heifer sacrifice
with Jesus:
Now what type do you think was intended, when he commanded Israel that the men whose sins are complete should offer a heifer,
and slaughter and burn it, and then the children should take the ashes and place them in containers, and tie the scarlet wool around
a tree (observe again the type of the cross and the scarlet wool), and the hyssop, and then the children should sprinkle the people
one by one, in order that they may be purified from their sins? Grasp how plainly he is speaking to you: the calf is Jesus; the sinful
men who offer it are those who brought him to the slaughter…(8:1-2)
Mountains of Moriah
SpiritWindMinistries
At the Church of the Sisters of Zion in Jerusalem, is a flight of stairs leads down to the site of a cistern below; the Struthion
pool which supplied water to the troops garrisoned in the Antonia Fortress; located just north of the Temple Mount.
Interestingly enough, the same area that Jesus went after His baptism to be tempted by the serpent ~ the devil.