Bible Study on Matthew 27, verses 57 to 66, he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre

 

Matthew 27:57 ¶  When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: 58  He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59  And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60  And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. 61  And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. 62  Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63  Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64  Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65  Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66  So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

 

Joseph of Arimathea plays an important part in Western European lore and legend. First, from the Bible, we have the prophecy of the Messiah being buried in a rich man’s tomb.

 

Isaiah 53:9a  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;

 

Then, there is mention made of this man in a non-biblical text, the apocryphal 5^th or 6^th century work called, since the Middle Ages, The Gospel of Nicodemus, but called at first The Acts of Pilate. In this it is recorded how angry the Jews were at Nicodemus, mentioned in John, at providing the burial place for Jesus.

 

Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in the works of several early church fathers like Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Eusebius where they spread traditions that had formed around him. Much later in the Middle Ages writers created legends about Joseph being buried at Glastonbury Abbey, having brought the Holy Grail of King Arthur legend to Britain, and how his miraculous walking stick grew into the tree that still exists from cuttings and is called the Glastonbury Thorn.

 

A great stone is rolled in front of the opening to Christ’s burial place. Women who followed Jesus witnessed his burial, two named here although different commentators I read disagree on the identity of the other Mary. The Jews the next day come to Pilate and repeat what Jesus had said in the face of Scribes of the Pharisees;

 

Matthew 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 

They are concerned about Jesus’ body being stolen but Pilate seems to be suggesting they use the temple watch to guard the tomb. They set a seal on the stone and placed their watch. A seal could have been something as simple as a piece of string or it could have been the governor’s seal of which it would be under pain of death to break. Later, apocryphal texts such as The Gospel of Peter, The Report of Pilate to the Emperor Claudius, and the aforementioned Gospel of Nicodemus suggest that there was either only Roman guards or a mixture of Roman and Temple guards at the tomb. There are, though, some things in the text that suggest a Roman guard rather than just a Temple watch, arguments which I am not going to go into here as they don’t really matter or change what is about to happen unless you’re making a movie.

Bible Study on Exodus 7, verses 1 to 7, the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD

 

Exodus 7:1 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2  Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. 3  And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4  But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. 6  And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they. 7  And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

Moses is 80 years old when these events take place and Aaron is 83, old men by our measurement in a world where lifespans were decreasing from the hundreds of years before the Flood due to the judgment on mankind, in part, made possible by the change in environment after the Flood.

Pharaoh is already stubborn, obstinate, prideful and a type of not only Satan but the Beast of Revelation, popularly called The Antichrist. God will use that pride and harden his heart for an occasion to perform signs and wonders. The Hebrew people are born in signs and wonders.

Deuteronomy 4:34  Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

The condition of the ancient world was such that each nation, each tribe even, claimed its very own deities and, as we have seen, even individual families had their own gods of familial spirits of ancestors. The understanding that the God of the Hebrews is real and powerful will not save the Egyptians because they will regard Him as only the God of the Hebrews. Mankind has degenerated to the point where he worships national gods he has invented who represent people groups and real devils as layers upon layers of spiritual beings preventing them from seeing the God who created him, as we do today with the theoretical entities of science like the Higgs-Boson particle that have explanatory power but no other reality. Now, the God who created them all is announcing Himself to the world using the people He has prepared as a vehicle.

The question begs itself, has He made Himself known to you?

Bible Study on Matthew 27, verses 50 to 56, Truly this was the Son of God

 

Matthew 27:50 ¶  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54  Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 55  And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: 56  Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.

 

As the body of Jesus died He cries out and then gives up His human spirit, ghost, lowercase g. For ghost and spirit as synonyms see;

 

Luke 4:1  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

 

Luke 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

 

John 1:33  And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

 

John 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

 

Acts 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 

1Corinthians 12:3  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

 

It is no wonder both English words are typically translated from the same Greek word, pneuma, from which we get pneumonia.

 

The veil of the temple separating the profane from the holy is then torn from top to bottom indicating a work not of man but of God, from Heaven downward to earth. The significance of this action is referred to by Paul in Ephesians, chapter 2.

 

Ephesians 2:11 ¶  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

 

    14 ¶  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

 

 

An earthquake accompanies His death on the Cross according to Matthew. Then some of God’s anointed ones rise up and are seen in Jerusalem after Christ’s resurrection. Are these Old Testament prophets? Would they be recognized? What if they are followers of Christ who died during His ministry? These are questions we ask ourselves when we read this passage like what happened to these people? Like Lazarus we must assume that they would die again as they would need resurrection bodies to live forever and we would have seen or known of them if they were alive today, movies and fantasy books notwithstanding.

 

The centurion in command of the crucifixion acknowledges that Jesus is God in the flesh, the Son of God, and one would presume that saves him and he will be seen by us in eternity. Women who ministered to Jesus witness this single-most important event after creation itself. There are so many good preaching points in this passage but I’ll leave them for another time and move forward.

Bible Study on Exodus, chapter 6, see what I will do to Pharaoh

 

Exodus 6:1 ¶  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. 2  And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: 3  And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. 4  And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5  And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6  Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 7  And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8  And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD. 9  And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

Now, God says He’s going to do a work. He reaffirms to Moses who He is and states His name, and Moses is the first of God’s people to hear that name used so many, many times in the Bible as LORD. He also reaffirms the covenant He made with Abraham. He gave Moses mighty words to repeat to the Hebrews but they were too busy with their own suffering now to pay any attention. It was bad before Moses returned but it is worse now.

Here is a point for the new believer in Christ. First, your plight may seem worse after you were saved than before and second, Satan or your own flesh will keep you down with anguish of spirit and cruel bondage to keep you from doing what you must do and allowing God to do what He wants to do in your life.

Exodus 6:10 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11  Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 12  And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? 13  And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 6:14 ¶  These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben. 15  And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon. 16  And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. 17  The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. 18  And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 19  And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations. 20  And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. 21  And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22  And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23  And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24  And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites. 25  And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families. 26  These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 27  These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron. 28  And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, 29  That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. 30  And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

Moses repeats his self-doubts in this chapter. He uses the phrase uncircumcised lips to describe his condition. He feels totally inadequate for this incredible assignment, to go again before the most powerful man on earth to demand the release of his Hebrew slaves. His lips are not sanctified, set apart for God’s purpose. A type of that phrase is used a number of times in the Bible in different contexts.

A proud heart;

Leviticus 26:41  And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

An ear that won’t hear and obey;

Jeremiah 6:10  To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

…resisting the guidance and instruction of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

And here, lips that the owner has no confidence in to do God’s will and bidding. But it is true that Moses lips are incapable, on their own, of doing God’s will. However, God uses fallible men and women to achieve His purposes, here to move His ministry of reconciliation forward. He will give them the words to say.

Luke 12:11  And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12  For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

God gives Aaron and Moses a charge, a command, to give to the children of Israel.

Genesis 26:5  Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Through the use of listing the ancestry of Moses and Aaron God prepares us specifically for the events that are about to take place and declares with no uncertainty who He is going to use as His vehicles to announce said events.

This is one of the most momentous occasions in human history, where God is interfering with what He has allowed to happen by His permissive will. Not since the dispersal at Babel have we seen such an event or series of events that is about to happen. Creation, the Flood, Babel, and the Exodus all are events that impact directly the world at large rather than God just singling out individuals and working with them to move His plan forward.

Bible Study on Matthew 27, verses 33 to 49, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me

 

Matthew 27:33 ¶  And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34  They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35  And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36  And sitting down they watched him there; 37  And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38  Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39  And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41  Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42  He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43  He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44  The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. 45  Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47  Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48  And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49  The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

 

An ancient tradition that has no foundation in any historical document was that Adam’s skull was found at Golgotha, hence its name. However, the more likely explanation is that with people being executed and left to decompose bones, including skulls, would have been prominently displayed.

 

Vinegar was part of a Roman soldier’s allowance so was readily available some say. It had been used as a condiment and preservative for a thousand years or more.

 

Ruth 2:14  And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.

 

It is also said by some that it was thought to prolong the life of men sentenced to die to make them suffer more. Some say that vinegar mixed with gall would have been very bitter.

 

Psalm 22 is a Psalm that foretells Christ and His sufferings.

 

Psalm 22:16  For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet…18  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

 

See what Pilate has done to rub this in the face of the Jews, labelling Jesus as their king?

 

In verse 40 the former accusation is repeated showing that the misunderstanding of Jesus’ earlier comment was common. See Matthew 26:61 and then John 2:19-21.

 

There is a lot of information found in the other gospels that Matthew doesn’t discuss because he probably wasn’t privy to certain conversations. For instance he doesn’t mention the thief on the Cross who speaks with Jesus in Luke 23. As I have said repeatedly I did not want to make my study of Matthew a harmonization of the gospels but present Matthew’s experience and his recollections prompted and given by inspiration by the Holy Spirit.

 

In verse 46 Jesus directs us to Psalm 22 by quoting the first verse aloud in Aramaic which confuses the hearers as it confuses many Christians today. Here is that Psalm about Christ which I will discuss in detail in my comments on the Psalms.

 

Psalm 22:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.» My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2  O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3  But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4  Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5  They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7  All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8  He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9  But thou art he that took me out of

the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. 10  I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.

 

    11 ¶  Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12  Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13  They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15  My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16  For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17  I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19  But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20  Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21  Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

 

    22 ¶  I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23  Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24  For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25  My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26  The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 27  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the

kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28  For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations. 29  All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30  A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31  They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

 

From noon to three there was a darkness over the land and then Jesus died. I believe this was a miraculous event like the fish/whale God prepared just for Jonah. We will be frustrated in trying to find an eclipse on record.

 

John 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Bible Study with Fred, Exodus, chapter 5, Let my people go

 

Exodus 5:1 ¶  And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2  And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

We don’t know how Moses and Aaron got an audience with the Pharaoh so apparently it isn’t important. But, they must have been accepted as representing the Hebrew slaves. Here, Moses does not tell Pharaoh what is to happen if he does not let them go. Pharaoh said he does not know the Lord. Isn’t it interesting that that mankind has degenerated into devil-worship, idolatry, to such an extent that of all the many gods in his pantheon of deities, the true God is not listed?  Egypt’s gods justified Egypt and gave authority to its power structure and the sovereignty of its rulers, much as England, America, Russia, and Germany’s God did before World War One. Pharaoh, like many in the aforementioned countries, does not know the God whom Moses represents.

It is odd how even many Christians today do not know the God of the Bible. Their God is simply a personification of their own fears, bigotry, and paranoia. They have made a God in their image who believes what they do politically and morally and justifies their every concern. The 21st century Christian God is often a social God, a mirror of Christians’ expectations and beliefs.

Exodus 5:3 ¶  And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 4  And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5  And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. 6  And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 7  Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8  And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 9  Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

Moses and Aaron repeat their request for permission to go into the wilderness, supposedly to offer sacrifices to their God. Pharaoh here seems suspicious. He’s now going to make it even harder on the Hebrews. Apparently, he says, the Hebrews have it too easy so they are asking for this little holiday. So, he’s going to make them provide their own straw for bricks and yet not lessen the tally of bricks required.

The bricks the Hebrews made were composed of mud, water, and straw. Apparently, the Egyptians provided the straw before this.

Tale is a word meaning total count or tally, a word we use today.

Exodus 5:10 ¶  And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 11  Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 12  So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13  And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 14  And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

Exodus 5:15 ¶  Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 16  There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 17  But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. 18  Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. 19  And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. 20  And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21  And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 22  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

The Hebrews are being punished severely for Moses’ and Aaron’s request so it appears to have backfired. The Hebrew overseers, beaten by their Egyptian taskmasters, confront Moses and Aaron and accuse them of making the Hebrews’ lives worse by their demands.

Moses’ original doubts are amplified. He, in turn, confronts the Lord. “Why have you done this? Why did you send me? This has caused nothing but trouble and you have not delivered them!”

Imagine thousands, tens of thousands, of slaves in danger of being worked to death, being punished for a request made by their spokesman who claimed to be representing their God who had come to deliver them from bondage.

This reminds me so much of the person who is held in bondage to sin who hears a preacher promise deliverance in Christ, then prays for that deliverance, only to find his or her plight worse than they ever imagined. This has happened to some of you, admit it. You heard the message, maybe repeatedly, then believed, but unlike what some evangelists tell you, when you got off your knees, got up from prayer, you found yourself not freed from the power of sin, but in a worse way than when you walked in the door or came through the tent flap.

For those of you who had that experience, remember how you were made aware of sins you never even knew existed in your heart?! What frightening and discouraging thing that can be. But, God is working and you must follow Him out of your Egypt.

Bible Study on Matthew 27, verses 26 to 32, Hail, King of the Jews !

 

Matthew 27:26 ¶  Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 27  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 28  And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 29  And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30  And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31  And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. 32  And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

 

Barabbas, representative of us all, is released while Jesus receives the punishment Barabbas so richly deserved.

 

Scourging, if you didn’t already know, was a pretty brutal whipping. A scourge is said to have been composed of several lengths of leather and had bits of bone and metal balls and spikes intertwined.

 

Isaiah 52:14  As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

 

Physically mangled in this way Jesus is humiliatingly stripped in front of a band of soldiers and, mockingly, a scarlet robe symbolizing royalty and the sins of our blood is placed on Him along with a crown of what we are told by some commentators are particularly long and sharp thorns. Then they spat on Him.

 

Isaiah 50:6  I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

 

Then they replaced His former clothing and took Him away to crucify Him. The cross bar which He would have carried, according to most commentators, would have been the bar parallel to the ground. Simon of Cyrene will go down in history as a man compelled to carry that cross beam. However, the text says that he carried Jesus’ cross. It doesn’t say cross beam. So, I would lean more to the depictions or Jesus, then Simon, dragging an actual cross.