AND THERE WAS DARKNESS OVER THE WHOLE LAND FROM THE SIXTH HOUR TO THE NINTH

HOUR

CRUCIFIXION – TIME OF DAY

• 3rd hour - Jesus was crucified (Mark 15:25)• 6th - 9th hour - darkness over the land

(Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44)• 9th hour – “My God, my God, why hast thou

forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15;34)• 9th hour – “It is finished” – Jesus died

(Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46; John 19:30)

3rd to 6th Hour

• The Roman soldiers crucified Jesus• The offered Jesus vinegar mingled with gall

(deaden the pain) – Jesus refused it• A sign placed over the head of Jesus – “Jesus

of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (Hebrew, Greek, Latin)

• The Roman soldiers divided the garments of Jesus into 4 parts; cast lots for his coat

3rd to 6th Hour

• Many Jews passing by the stake (cross) on their way to and from Jerusalem to keep the Passover feast mocked Jesus

• The chief priests, scribes, and elders passing by the stake mocked Jesus

• The two thieves on the stakes on either side of Jesus mocked him; one later recognized that Jesus was an innocent man, and asked Jesus to remember him in his kingdom

3rd to 6th Hour

• Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary’s sister,Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene, stood near Jesus, as did John the apostle

• Jesus instructed John to care for Jesus’ mother

6th to 9th Hour (Darkness)

• Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, eli, lama sabachthani” meaning “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”

• Jesus cried out, “I thirst” – a Roman soldier filled a sponge with vinegar – offered it

• Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “It is finished; Father, into they hands I commit my spirit”, and then died

JESUS CURSED BY THE LAW

• “And if any man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he by put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day: (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 21:22,23)

DARKNESS - JOB

• “Let that day (the day of Job’s birth) be darkness; let not God regard it from above; neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it: let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.” (Job 3:4,5)

DARKNESS – CURSE ON ISRAEL

• And in that day they (the enemies of Israel) shall roar against them (Israel) like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.” (Isaiah 5:30)

DARKNESS – COVENANT

• Abraham - “When the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp, that passed between those pieces.” (Genesis 15:17)

COVENANT - ABRAHAM

• “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates; the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:18-21)

DARKNESS - COVENANT

• Children of Israel – “And ye came near and stood under the mountain: and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness (Deuteronomy 4:11)

http://www.the-tabernacle-place.com/the_tabernacle_ark.aspx

http://thewordin365.wordpress.com/tag/tabernacle/

DARKNESS - COVENANT

• Ark of the Covenant – “The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.” (I Kings 8:12)

ARK OF THE COVENANT - JESUS

• “And there I will meet (or fellowship) with thee, and I will commune (or speak) with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 25:22)

JESUS – HIGH PRIEST, ARK, BLOOD

• “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building: neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11.12)

DARKNESS - DELIVERANCE

• “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round

DARKNESS - DELIVERANCE

• about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies… He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.” (Psalm 18: 4-11, 16,17)

DARKNESS - SUMMARY

• The covenant of God with Abraham and Abraham’s seed;

• The covenant of God with the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai;

• The dark room housing the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat;

DARKNESS - SUMMARY

• That dark room being entered by the high priest with light created from coals burning upon the altar of incense, and carrying with him the blood of a bull and the blood of a goat to sprinkle on the mercy seat in order to make atonement (a covering) for his own sins and the sins of the people of Israel;

DARKNESS - SUMMARY

• God taking action to deliver his servant who had cried out to him when that servant was oppressed by his enemies

THE FATHER’S MESSAGE TO HIS BELOVED SON

• “You are not alone. I am here with you. We are going though this covenant sacrifice together!”

THE FATHER’S KEEN FOCUS ON HIS CHILDREN

• “I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD…In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them;: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” (Isaiah 63:7,9)

• The “affliction” referred to was the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt.

THE LOVE OF A FATHER FOR HIS BELOVED SON

• It appears that the emotions God experienced when his beloved Son was crucified were similar to the emotions that Abraham would have experienced offering Isaac as a burnt offering!

GODLINESS

• We understand that the call of the gospel is in part a call to godliness (God-likeness). It logically follows that our perception of what godliness involves is strongly influenced by our perception of the character (soul) of God.

A MAJOR DILEMMA

• “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lamasabachthani?’ that is to say, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; quoting from Ps. 22:1)

• Apparently a cry of rejection, not comfort!

The Jewish Liturgy by Raphael Posner, Uri Kaploun, and Shalom Cohen (1975)

“Liturgy” – a rite or body of rites prescribed for worship

FEAST OF PURIM

• “Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them, the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and

FEAST OF PURIM (CON’T)

• according to their appointed time every year; and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.” (Esther 9:26-28)

FEAST OF PURIM (CON’T)

• The feast of Purim is only one month before the feast of Passover, so Psalm 22 would be pretty fresh on the minds of the Jews!

• Feast of Purim – March 7 & 8, 2012• Feast of Passover – April 7 & 8, 2012

DARKNESS - LESSONS

1. God was extremely interested in the work of atonement (covering for sin) being completed.

2. God was very attentive to the suffering of His beloved Son.

3. God is as interested in the bride of Christ as he was in Christ, but he rarely brings immediate deliverance from the suffering of his children. However, he does order events in the lives of his children, even in periods of suffering, so that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)

GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS IN ADVANCE

• “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”(Isaiah 46:9,10)

GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS IN ADVANCE

• The evidence from the scriptures is that God determined that He would redeem and restore fellowship with sinful man through a covenant that would include His beloved Son as the slain covenant “animal”, before He commanded “Let there be light”.

• Proof: The parallels between the 7 days of natural creation and the 7 days of spiritual creation

GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS IN ADVANCE

• I suggest that God also, before He commanded, “Let there be light”, was so moved with emotion about His beloved Son suffering crucifixion that He “planted” in His word the association of His covenant and deliverance with darkness, so His beloved Son would be comforted and strengthened by the appearance of darkness during that trial.

THE LOVE OF A FATHER FOR HIS BELOVED SON

• It appears that the emotions God experienced when his beloved Son was crucified were similar to the emotions that Abraham would have experienced offering Isaac as a burnt offering!

JOHN’S POWERFUL INSIGHT – THE WORD “GAVE”

• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16,17)