Looking ahead

Kingdom passages:

“AND IN THAT DAY,
it will be that the mountains will rain down YHVeH’s Spirit,
as though flowing down forth an intoxicating New Wine;
and the hills will gush forth and flow with fatness;
and all the deep channels of Judah shall flow forth with Living Waters;
and an overflowing River shall pour forth as a spring from the Mountain of G-D -- from out of the House of Y*** will it go out;
and a refreshing and a watering will it give,
as it fills even the Valley of the Pierced Tree.”
(Joel 3:18, fully amplified with word pictures from the Hebrew, translation mine)


“AND IN THAT DAY,
will the BRANCH of Y*** be glorious and beautiful,
and the fruit of the Earth (will be) for glory
and for pride for the survivors of Israel.” (Isaiah 4:2)


AND IN THAT DAY --
“The days will come when the vines will grow,
each having 10,000 shoots;
and on each shoot 10,000 branches;
and on each branch 10,000 twigs;
and on each twig 10,000 clusters;
and in each cluster 10,000 grapes;
and each grape when crushed will yield 25 measures [ca. 150 gallons].

And when one of the Saints takes hold of a cluster,
another cluster will cry out,
‘I am better. Take me. Bless the LORD through me.’

Similarly, a grain of wheat will produce 10,000 heads;
and every head will have 10,000 grains;
and every grain (will yield) 10 pounds of fine flour, white and clean.

And the other fruits, seeds, and grass will produce in similar proportions -- and all the animals feeding on these fruits produced by the soil, will in turn, be harmonious toward one another, and fully subject to man.”

-- Papias…who was a hearer of John and…saw John the disciple of the L-RD, recalled having heard how the L-RD used to teach about those times…and he goes on to say [that Jesus, the L-RD, said]:

‘These things are believable to those who believe.’

And according to John, ‘when Judas the traitor did not believe,
and asked, ‘’How then, will such a growth be accomplished by Y***?’’,
the L-RD said, ‘’Those who live until those times will see.’’ “
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.33.3-4
(Irenaeus was a 2nd generation student from John, through Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna - - Polycarp being the disciple of John, whom John also ordained. Polycarp was martyed ar about age 116.)

I Peter 2:19-25 Using full amplification from the Greek word pictures: Translation mine.

"For yes, even this is grace:
that if, and affirmatively if,
through one's own conscience and witness of GOD
anyone will so bear up under that sorrow which causes one to mourn and grieve,
even though they are being brought into and through the experience unjustly and undeservedly.

For what glory is there,
if you indeed patiently endure being struck and mistreated
because of your own wrong-doing, in swerving and straying from the Truth?

[Avoid being deceitful at any level or in any form]

And on the contrary, if indeed,
because of doing good and kindness to others -- you endure the experience of suffering--,
this one recieves a regeneration with joy, and acceptance from GOD.

For even you were summoned and called forth,
because Christ suffered,
undergoing this experience on the behalf of us,
leaving behind an example to us,
to the end that it might be that you should follow upon the very impressions of the footsteps of Him who did NOT sin,
nor was even the bait of fraud or deceit found in His mouth;
who, though being cursed -- and mocked -- and derided,
did not also revile in return:
even through His experiencing suffering,
He refrained from making threats; but instead,
delivered up His power over to the One vindicating honestly and justly;
that for the sins of us, He would carry upon Himself -- in His own body -- onto the Tree, in order that we might die to the guilt of ours sins, and by conforming to His will, we might have living life:
of whom, by the wound of Him,
you were saved from the consequences of straying from the Truth,
because in what manner you were as sheep wandering,
but now rather, you have turned yourselves around back,
to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."


The wondrous cross

The Resurrection of Jesus - a 4 Gospel Abridged Account using Greek word pictures

The Resurrection

(A Four Gospel Abridged Account, faithfully translated from the Greek with word pictures: by Brianroy)

Golgotha
“And coming toward and into a tract of land, upon which is called Golgotha in the Hebrew, the which is saying -- in interpretation -- ‘the skull cap area’. {1}

[The insinuation is a yarmulke. The tomb of David, which was prominent in this land-tract, was like the skullcap upon the head of Jerusalem. In this area, only those kings of Israel that were considered worthy, had their bones interred. Nehemiah 3:16 (and other passages), tell us that there were multiple burial sites for the Kings of the Davidic line here: thus, the name “Golgotha” or “skull-cap”, being an idiom for an area dedicated to the “kings or the skull-caps of the nation of Israel”. Kings were therefore a type of yarmulke in their symbolism.
The tomb of David was a white sepulcher that eerily resembled a skull at certain times of the day. This was hated by the first priests. In effect, David was looked down upon by the first priests of the city as just an ancestral reference whose name, like the Almighty, could be invoked to frighten the common folk into compliance.]

And having crucified Him, sitting down, (the soldiers) guarded Him there. {2}
And the people stood wherever they were at, viewing attentatively. {3}

[Testifies to the crowded conditions mentioned by Josephus and others, 3,000,00 plus were crammed into an area less than a few square miles. By comparison, Alexandria Egypt was a crowded city with less than a mile in width and four miles in length, being congested daily with just 500,000. The condition in Jerusalem was 6 - 7 times worse in a comparable area of about half that length for three times a year: twice being in excess of 7 days at a time. This feast of Unleavened Bread - the Passover - First Fruits was one of those occasions. Just the fact that the Romans were able to push their crucifixion through the streets of Jerusalem was practically a feat in itself.]

And it was then the third hour [being 9 a.m.] when they crucified Him. {4}
Then from sixth hour [being 12 p.m. -- noon] the light of day was removed
entirely, for the darkness came into being (as night) upon and over all the
the Land [of Israel, even upon the whole Earth] until the ninth hour
[until 3 p.m.], for the sun was as black as the darkness. {5}

Then, in the ninth hour, Jesus emphatically cried out with a loud and
commanding voice {6} …and the veil of the Temple was rent violently in two,
from top to bottom. {7} Then Jesus again emphatically cried out with a great
and commanding voice, releasing the wind, {8} bowing His head and having
stopped breathing. {9}

[The night and morning previous, there was rainfall. The clouds had dissipated by the third hour, and there was no wind for six hours. Upon the death of Jesus, not only did His “Spirit” or pneuma depart from His body, but doubly applicable, the “wind” or pneuma was released, as though with a vengeance or authority, as well.]

And the earth trembled with an agitated shaking. {10}

[“ O YHVeH, put on them reverent fear and dread (like clothing) [upon a man],
(and like scrub) [upon a field]. Let the nations know intuitively that they
(are only) mortals. Selah.” (Psalm 9:20)]

And the centurion standing near, but across, out and off at the opposite of
Him, {11} guarding Him, {12} saying,
‘Surely this righteous man was the son of GOD.’ {13}

Then the soldiers came, and …coming upon Jesus, when they saw and perceived that He was presently at this time dead, they did not break his legs -- as with an axe, in two. {14} But still another one of the soldiers with a lance, drove in deep, pierced the side of Him: and all at once (there) came out (of the wound) blood and water. {15}


[Pilate asks Joseph to bury Jesus]
Then after these things, {16} Joseph of Arimathea went in, up to, and alongside
Pilate. {17} And taking courage asked (what was to become) of the body of
Jesus. {18}
Then…having called near the centurion, he (Pilate) interrogated him19….And fully knowing from the centurion, {20} Pilate asked Joseph of Arimathea, -- then being a concealed disciple of Jesus, through the terror and fright of the Jews -- in order that he might take up and carry away the body of Jesus. {21}


[The testimony of John in the Greek specifically and literally says that Pilate asked Joseph. The testimony of Peter through Mark infers a fearsome inquisitiveness to the effect of: ‘Now that this one has died, you’re not really going to leave the body up there are you? It’s already between the evenings, the preparation time of our observance of Holy Day.’ Therefore, it makes perfect sense for Pilate to turn to Joseph and ask the favor, and may be that he personally issued some money quietly for the linen for Jesus’ burial. Although Pilate’s wife may have wished Jesus ill, I sincerely believe that Pilate did not. However, to say Pilate gave Joseph money to make the linen purchase is simply a 50/50 speculation on my part, based on the reading of the Gospel text.]


And purchasing a linen fabric, and coming, {22} he took the body of Jesus. {23}

Then also came Nicodemus, bearing up and carrying a mixed blend of myrrh and aloes, about 100 (times) 12 ounces. {24} They together, they bore up the body of Jesus, and wrapped Him up in the linen sheeting, and bound it around and fastened it together with the spices, as is customary with Jewish burial. {25}
And in that same tract of land where He was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden there was a new tomb out of rock, in which no one had ever been placed.
They then put Jesus there through the (time) of the Preparation of the Jews

[until the first three stars were about to appear in the sun setting sky],

because the tomb was near. {26}
And having rolled a very great stone to the door of the memorial cave, he left. Then, was there Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary sitting down before the presence of the grave.
Then upon the next day, the which is in the midst {27} of the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together up alongside and next to Pilate, saying ‘Lord, we do mindfully so recollect that one, the deceiver, said upon (His) life, ‘’After three days, I will be raised up (a new creation).’’ Set in motion and urge then (for) the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest at any time the disciples of Him come near by night, and by stealth steal Him, that they might say to the people, ‘’He is arisen from the dead’’; and the last deceit will thereby be worse than the first.

Then Pilate shone forth his words to them,

[having heretofore been suspicious of them, and having kept silent],

‘You now have and hold possession of a custodian guard. Go away and depart in secret, and secure it against (your) enemies and verify all with your sight and observance that it is so. They then, rushed and ran through with violence and made the grave secure against (their) enemies, setting the stone (with) the seal of authenticity (upon) the grave in the midst of the custodian guard. {28}

[Upon arrival, the Pharisees and First priests have the stone removed, and verify the identity of Jesus, while in the midst (or presence) of the custodial guard. The centurion verifies definitively that indeed their testimony is true. That is, probably the entire council witnesses Jesus’ chest and head with their own eyes. The tomb is closed back up with the great rock, and then sealed with the signet of Pilate. The two Mary’s are chased off from the area; the site is secured to the
council’ satisfaction. The guard will consist of about 20 sentries and one
centurion. They will be checked up on at regular intervals ranging from
4 - 8 hours by those who bring meals, and by the Chiliarch (their commander), or other centurions.]

Then, the evening watch of the Sabbaths, upon the first rays of light dawning
into the one of the Sabbaths [First-fruits], Mary the Magdalene and the other
Mary came towards, to gaze and closely look upon the grave. And behold!
A shaking came into being, very great! For (the) Angel of the LORD descending down out of Heaven, and coming up to and alongside (the location) rolled up back and (sending uphill and) away the stone, and sitting down up on top of it.


[The context of the rolling back of the stone appears to be that it was done so forcefully, that the great rock was out of its groove, and tossed a short way up and behind the tomb entrance, yet still over the cave’s perspective. This indicates that the rock was circular, and not squared, like a cork. As the Psalmist said, “But GOD will redeem My soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive Me. Selah.” (Psalm 49:15 - KJV)]

And then the face of His was the beholding of lightning, and the weight of his
glory as white as snow. Then from the intense and quaking fear of him, those guarding were shaken to their very core, and came into being as if they were dead.
From judging discreetly, the Angel then said to the women,

‘Don’t you be frightened out of your wits (also). For I see and know that you
seek Jesus, He having been crucified. He isn’t here, because He was raised up, just as He said. Come here. Look and see the place where the LORD lay
down. {29}

Then weeping outside up alongside the tomb, Mary stood; and as she wept, she bent over beside and into the tomb, and beheld two angels sitting down: one up alongside the head, and one up alongside the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And say these to her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’

She responds and says, ‘Because they took up and carried away my LORD,
and I don’t see or know where they placed Him.’
And saying these things, she turns about to where she was looking back, and looks at and gazes at Jesus [up close, and personal], standing (there), and still does not see and yet know that it is Jesus.

Jesus says to her,
‘Woman, why are you crying? Just who is it that you seek after
and strive to find?” {30}

This question is on the lips of Jesus to you. Just who is it that you seek after and strive to find?



1 Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, John 19:17

2 Matthew 27:35, 36; Mark 15:24

3 Luke 23:35

4 Mark 15:24. Also, the symbolism of a conqueror who captures his enemy, and drags him through the streets, as in a noose, is prophesied as a result of the crucifixion in the Hebrew of Psalm 9:16.
“YHVeH is made known in the Judgment He has made and brought about:
in the work of the bend of His Hands [.i.e., in His wrists]
are the wicked ensnared
(as in a noose). A Meditation. Selah!” (Psalm 9:16, my translation)

“And (one) shall say unto Him, ‘What are these wounds in thine hands?
Then He shall answer,
(Those) with which I was wounded (in) the house of my friends.” (Zechariah 14:6, KJV)


5 Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44-45

6 Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34, Luke 23:7 The Greek emphasis given by Luke and Mark’s gospel is that the cry was great, and loud, and commanding; not just a query. It goes to experiencing the separation of which the unbeliever has in hell, and why Christ -- without sin -- experienced the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth aspect of sin upon the Cross. By confining Himself to Scripture, YHVeH the Son not only experienced man’s separation from GOD the Father, but was able to offer up the appropriate response to which we believers are called to respond with. We may call GOD into question for activities of withdrawal and ask why. We may not lawfully accuse Him or slander. Jesus simply noted the activity and then demandingly questioned, why? As seen in the Psalms, and as the Son of David, this response is perfectly acceptable with GOD.

7 Luke 23:45, Mark 15:38. Matthew 27:51 places the order of the temple veil, the earthquake, and resurrection in a collective utterance (i.e., vv. 51-53 are to be read as parenthetical).

8 Matthew 27:50

9 John 19:30, Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46

10 Matthew 27:51,54. The biblical writers had a habit of leaving natural events and weather out of their writings. Matthew, in the heart of the capitol, among thousands of hostile witnesses, in 55 A.D., freely speaks of the simultaneous earthquake, the solar anomaly, and the sudden wind that blew fiercely at the time of the crucifixion. When these events happened, it made the senses of the millions watching even more acute, so that when the centurion cried out, ‘Surely this was the son of GOD!’, and the more heard him and paid his words attention. There is no Talmudic teaching to argue or dispute the Gospels or their events from having occurred. If there was any objection, despite the persecutions of the Roman Catholic Church in their sphere of influence, those disputations of Christian history would have survived among the rabbinate. That rabbinical silence is, de facto, an affirmation of the Christian witness.

11 Mark 15:39 - ο παρεστηκως εξ εναντιας αυτου This tells us the positioning of the centurion and the soldiers in relation to the Cross. The soldiers had placed Jesus on one side of the stone fissure which leads up to David’s tomb, while they stood upon the other side. The fissure’s width had to be narrow and easily traversed by a running soldier (e.g. Mark 15:36). The area of crucifixion also had to be leveled out, yet steep round about it: easily defensible.
Only one centurion was needed to prevent access while his troop sat and rested. Why? Perhaps the site was a steep mound, like a high place, easily controllable, accessible by one narrow path no more than 4-5 feet wide. Though upon the Eastern Mount, the western slope of Olives, the Romans held a south-north positioning from Jesus near the Kidron - Hinom Valley Juncture. This will not entirely make sense until the fissure to Azal is excavated, and David’s tomb is found along that fissure. Once that site of David’s former tomb in Jerusalem is found, then the Gospel accounts will make perfect sense.
Having never seen what the Apostles saw, as it relates to Jerusalem’s topography in 30 A.D., accurate visualization is very difficult. Paul through Luke in Hebrews indicates the Romans were to the north, and Christ crucified closer to the south or Hinom gate, through which the blood of animals were to be burned without the camp.

12 Matthew 27:54

13 Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47, Matthew 27:54

14 John 19:32-33

15 John 19:34 The blood and water aspect shows that Jesus heart burst after dying of asphyxiation, and congestive heart failure. What little blood was left in His body was quickly separating. The Gospel of John is telling us that there was probably about a 20 minute interval between Jesus’ death and the piercing. This probably occurred when the soldiers receive the writ from Joseph of Arimathea, bearing Pilate’s order to give the body of Jesus to him, and get rid of the other two by usual means (cf. John 19:38). The spear would have punched through Jesus’ left side, and rode up under the ribcage, straight into the heart. The notion of a right side to left side spear punch is idiocy from those unlearned in small weapons combat. The testimony is to the effect that Jesus went limp leaning to His right. Had He been closer to the ground, a thrust from a six to eight inch blade -- with a quick counter clockwise twist before removal -- would have hade the same effect as the lance.
However, the Psalms specifically list the “spears” of the bulls of Bashan “western or Roman” soldiers, as piercing Messiah. The left side must flow forth the Living Waters if Messiah is to sit at the Right Hand of the Father in order for the river of Life to proceed from BOTH the throne of the Father and the Lamb (e.g. Revelation 22:1).

16 John 19:38

17 Mark 15:43; Matthew 27:57-58; Luke 23:50,52

18 Mark 15:43

19 Mark 15:44

20 Mark 15:45

21 John 19:38

22 Mark 15:46

23 John 19:38

24 John 19:39

25 Mark 15:46, Matthew 27:59, Luke 23:53, John 19:40

26 John 19:41-42

27 Meta… here means “in the midst” of the Preparation, evening-morning. Based on the context: “the next morning” following the Passover sacrifice, even though it is still a holy day. The Passover has already been partaken of, so defilement with Pilate is not an issue. Whether they penalize themselves 7 days or not, the primary concern is to secure the body of Jesus before the disciples gain courage to do so.
Now that the Passover had been taken, the number of people had dwindled dramatically from the very hour of the 3pm sacrifice (Luke 23:48), so that by the next day, and well before the time of First fruits, less than a few thousand beside the Temple guard and Roman patrols would still be remaining in the hills about Jerusalem. Many hundreds of thousands would be leaving in a very short span of time, so that it might not be hard to tamper with the tomb upon the following evening. Therefore, it was imperative to open the tomb, verify the identity of the body, seal it, and guard it. By doing this very act, these first priests verified and sealed the authenticity of the coming Resurrection of Jesus as definitive fact, though unknowingly at the time.

28 Matthew 27:60-66

29 Matthew 28:1-6

30 John 20:11-15 The woman stooped down and was able to look inside the cave-tomb. The entrance was probably at least 3 feet high, with a groove of at least 1 ½ - 2 feet in depth, of sufficient width to allow a man to safely turn about in it without falling down. The platform and floor of the cave had to drop another 3-5 feet below the elevation where the woman was standing, and be back into the cave some 8-10 feet. In all likelihood, there were finger mausoleums -- which were also cut into the back of the cave, curving out of sight, even from the light of the angelic radiance. Because of its proximity to the tomb of King David, and its being on the Mount of Olives, this newly hewn out rock-cave tomb was a very expensive purchase and stone cutting project, and speaks of immense wealth. Whoever owned this cave was not only rich, he was almost like a government treasury unto himself. Perhaps more so than the rich young man of Matthew 20:16-22.

Nehemiah’s Water Gate points to the original Location of the Cross

As we have seen thus far, we are directed to associate an area South and East of the Temple for Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. In order to reach this location, Messiah must exit the Jerusalem through the Lower City. The question then becomes: “Is there even more Biblical confirmation as to which gate Messiah must be ejected through, so as to “more resolutely corroborate” a Lower City ejection from an area south of the Temple?” The answer is, yes.


Nehemiah points to the Kidron Water Gate

The water gate that covers access to the Gihon Spring, is located in the lower city, immediately south of the Temple, along the Eastern or Kidron Valley. In Solomon’s Temple design, the stairs of the lower city ran from this gate -- up into Zion, signifying the ascent and descent between Heaven and Earth; while pointing to a coming Emmanuel, in the flesh: “GOD with us”.
"But the Gate of the Fountain [Gihon]
repaired SHALLUN the SON of COL-HOZEH, the RULER of MIZPAH;
and he built it, and covered it, set up the doors thereof,
the locks thereof, and the bars thereof,
and the wall of the Pool of Siloa(c)h by the King's Garden,
and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David."
(Nehemiah 3:15) KJV

In Nehemiah 3:15, what is being said, is that, "He who is called Recompense" - i.e. the Savior (SHALLUN), is the Son of "the One who is able to see all"- i.e. GOD the Father (COL-HOZEH), who is in turn the Ruler of the "Height" / "Watchtower"/ or "Watch"- i.e. Heaven (MIZPAH). This is another Messianic Title of YHVeH Messiah: “He who is called Salvation” -- “the Son of the Heavenly Father” -- “Ruler of Heaven and Earth”.

In the Hebrew, Nehemiah 3:15 is directly related to the Torah's citation of Jacob becoming the builder and ruler of “Mizpah” (Genesis 31:44-49). In those verses of Genesis chapter 31, we see that a mound of stones that are built up for a testimonial witness (or Galeed), and was called "MIZPAH": is literally become “the Watchtower of (Heaven)”. In the Akkadian, Mizpah would be referred to as “tulku”: “tul” being a heap or mound, and “ku” meaning that it is set apart as holy. The Akkadian “tulku” is in turn used to translate astrological sign of Libra, the month of the weighing scales.{1}

To the faithful, Mizpah upon the Earth, is a sacred place that also acts as a witness of scales from Heaven. It is an earlier version, perhaps, of the Urim and Thummin (Light and Revelation - or “yes” and “no” stones) on the shoulders of the high priest. This is important to know, because the Pharisees placed so much emphasis on tipping the “Heavenly scales” by good works, and the brushing aside of sins by “indulgences” via animal sacrifice and the shedding of blood. In this respect, they differed little from a “papal bull” version of Christianity. We place our emphasis on the weight of our good works, versus the weight of our bad. But GOD places His emphasis upon the straightness of the bar that is set upon the fulcrum, because in Hebrew, the same root word used for the straightness of the scale balance-bar, is also the same one used for “righteousness”.

In the application of this knowledge to Jerusalem, “the mound heap of stones” of Mizpah represents “the Temple”-- which is called to be the standard (or bar of straightness) by which all morality must be measured by. Jerusalem, upon the Earth, is a type of a “Watchtower of Heaven”.{2} The “all-seeing One” represents GOD the Father. Thus, the “Ruler of the Mizpah”, the “Ruler of the Stone heap”; i.e., the true “Ruler of the Temple”, the one holding the scales, is the “son of the All-seeing One”: “YHVeH whom ye seek” (Malachi 3:1), who is de facto, “the son of GOD”.{3}

At Bethabara, when the Hebrew nation crossed the Jordan River during its flooding by a miracle and into the Promised Land, they also laid “a mound of stones in a heap” for a witness. This is the First true Temple that followed the Exodus: it was an altar of stones, shaped without hands or iron instruments, built up unto GOD. When John the Baptist called upon Israel, he pointed to these very stones at Bethabara as a witness. The populace of most all Israel came to this site, rather than to Jerusalem, numbering over 3,000,000 (cf. Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 2.14.4. and 6.9.3.). It is important that we cram this number into our psyche, or we will miss the impact. The witness of the period is mind-bogglingly great, because it was over 3,000,000 Israelis, who witnessed both John the Baptist and Christ, over the course of their respective ministries. It was of these 3,000,000; in whose lifetimes, the New Testament was announced and published (both at home in Israel, and to the nations abroad). There were over 3,000,000 casual and intensive witnesses, who could have opposed and quashed Christianity at the first, but refused to do so. Those 3,000,000 or so, were of a mind in which they felt alienated by the leaders of Judaism and those in power; and chose to be baptized in the Jordan for the remission of sins, rather than paying out money to the priest in Jerusalem, in order that they might be found right with GOD. That is, through the rejection of the world system brought into the Church, John was beckoning the nation of Israel to take on the heart of the true faith of the Holy fathers. It was on this occasion, with John at Bethabara, that over 3,000,000 from the tribes of Israel prepared their hearts, that they might enter into the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31. They became only a step away from being as children of the Kingdom, their hearts having been made ready for YHVeH their GOD (Luke 1:17,16).

Soon after this event, many then saw the dull appearance of Messhiach Yeshua (Isaiah 53:2). The crowds were disappointed, and quietly dispersed (perhaps feeling let down, though without bitterness). Jesus came in a manner like unto a Prophet -- and whom, like Jonah, came out of Galilee. In contrast to Jonah, who was swallowed up in the waters -- this One, (following John’s announcement and baptism), “rose up straight out of -- and stood upon the waters” (Matthew 3:16, translation mine). In Nehemiah 3:15, we find that the city of David is offered as an allegory for Heaven; and the Lower City as Earth. The Living Waters of Siloa(c) h is the Gospel of Judaism to mankind, while “Shallun” is an allegory for the Messiah who is called “the Recompenser / the Rewarder / the Redeemer”; but to us - He is called “Salvation” and “Jesus”.

The Siloach or Water Gate

Siloach is spelled as (Shin-Lamed-Chet), and having a Gematriac value of 338. The significance of this, is that if a gate is named for Jesus; then for His greatest life event, He had better go out that gate for His crucifixion if He is Messiah. Every indication of prophecy and history is: that He does exactly that!
Now, in examining the epigraphy of the Hebraic alphabet prior to 410 B.C., but after Nehemiah's return, in the example of the Letter V from Arsham, we can find remarkable and almost indistinguishable similarities between the CHet ח and the Mem ם .{4} This similarity is particularly relevant to the Book of Nehemiah, as we are quoting heavily on Nehemiah 3:15 in the above. If the letter V from Arsham is composed within two generations of Nehemiah, and we see that the Het ח and the Mem ם are virtually indistinguishable, what does that tell us? It tells us the answer of why, in respect to this “water source”, that we can see linguistically the raison d'être of how the Hebraic Scribal tradition kept the Het (pronouncing “Siloa-CH”), while the Oral Tradition among the people used Mem as the ending consonant (pronouncing “Siloa-M”). The written tradition S(h)-L-CH (Shiloach) is retained in the Old Testament; and the Oral Tradition kept S(h)-L-M (Siloam / Shalōm) in the New.

Why did this occur? The Scribes and Elders translating after one manner, but the people held fast to another tradition. This Paradigm between priest and people has thereby given way to a controversy over just one letter --regarding a known wellspring in the center of the Jewish World. Why? It appears that from the Scribal Tradition, there was a rigidity of discipline and service within the Faith, but that service was fulfilled in a manner of “law” and hardheartedness. As Yeshua said, it was for the hard-heartedness of the Fathers that Moses granted them a bill of Divorcement; but in the Beginning, (and the times prior to Noah's Flood), it was not so (Matthew 19:8). But was that stubbornness from the people or the priests themselves? Whatever the reason, we see that S(h)iloach and S(h)iloam are both designations for the Gihon Spring Watergate that people access the city by way of a road that is meant to lead upward, by means of a stairway, that leads up to Heavenly Zion (Nehemiah 3:15).


Siloach and insights to Gematria

Siloach. This is the Hebrew word, which appears for the Kidron Valley’s “Lower City” Water Gate and its towers, is also referred to as the “Towers of Siloam.” It was a double walled gate, with four towers of equal proportions to one another.{5} In 29 A.D., one of these towers fell and killed 18 men (Luke 13:4). All of these towers were over 500 years old at the time of the one’s collapse. The Hebrew language has no Gematriac letter for a value of 500.

Therefore, we then prophetically approach Siloach deducted by the number 18, being now at a value of 320, (338 - 18 = 320). In this approach, we are thus informed by Messiah about Himself by Gematriac insight, that:

1) That He is seen as the second Adam.6
2) He lives His life as one unmarried.7
3) His ministry does not allow Him the leisure of having a home.8
4) He is a watcher of the people, but as a guardian, He is not deceived. But He is also broken, that He might bear their burdens.9
5) He enlarges His people by adding to its number.10
6) He is a tabernacle and refuge unto those who trust into Him, and a thorn brier hedge to those who are offended in Him.11
7) He is offered up as a heaping, a shaking, or quivering heap that wavers back and forth as a sheaf of First-fruit grain unto GOD.12
8) He is torn and rent by the scourging, insomuch that as He walks from Gabbatha to Calvary, His body is dripping to pieces: chunks of blood, flesh, and skin just drip off onto the ground.13


Therefore, we see that it is out this Gate-- the Gate that protected the Gihon Spring’s outlet, the Gate of Siloam, -- that Jesus must have exited Jerusalem, by way of prophetic fulfillment. This gate, which protected Jerusalem’s primary water source, and located South-Southeast of the Temple proper, leads directly into the Kidron Valley, just slightly north of the Hinom Valley juncture.
In Gematria, the Orthodox Judaism practice of word association within the Hebrew language using word and numerical association, the phonetics of a word are also important, because the “spoken word is living”. And since GOD is a Living GOD, the sounds of words spelled the same have a mystical association as well as the numerical. These are synonyms of a type, or doors to a parallel dimension, opening the Scriptures to the wise in a deep and living way that is closed to the unlearned. In effect, these teachings from the Scriptures are “Kingdom teachings”, to which the Pharisees and others hid from their congregation, and used against those who had not learned “letters”.
For example, the letter Shin ש is a letter of “piety”, and generally pronounced with a “sh” sound. It can also be pronounced as a simple “s”, which gives it synonymous capabilities with Samekh ס, which also is pronounced as a simple “s” sound. This association can be seen in the Hebrew to Greek translation of Siloach/Shiloach to Siloam/Shiloam.

At the crucifixion march, when Jesus was cast out of the City of David, and out of Jerusalem, He was expedited out this gate שלח Siloach. In Gematria, Siloach is related in letter association and word association with שלהSelah, (the He ה and the Chet ח also being, at times, interchangeable).

Traditionally, this alternate spelling of Selah means “forgiveness”, and it was for this reason that on the Cross -- Jesus died: that all men might believe into Him, and receive the reconciliation and forgiveness of GOD. After the phonetic equivalent, “selah” means “to hang and suspend”. That is, it is also a designation of the Cross; and the manner of a crucifixion whereby “reconciliation and forgiveness” from GOD is attained.

At Mizpah, Jacob saw the stairs of the angels / messengers of GOD, leading from Earth to Heaven (Genesis 28:12). In Jerusalem, these stairs led from Siloach / Siloam up to the Temple (Nehemiah 3:15), opening more by revelation and symbolism to man. Therefore, forgiveness of sins is made available to us by the means of the Cross, and through the Source of Christ.{14} Both forgiveness, and the Messiah who brought that forgiveness, was sent from Heaven to Earth. The atonement of the work of the Cross is “Heaven sent”, as from the Heavenly Zion -- as though down the staircase or ladder used by the angels (and priests) --and from the Throne of GOD the Father, personally.

The gate of "Siloam" was perhaps first known as the gate of "Shalom" (Shin-Lamed-Mem), the gate of "Peace". It is quite probable that the waters (which are translated as "still" in the KJV) in Psalm 23, and translated as “the waters of rest”, refer directly to the waters of this particular spring of Gihon. The Gihon Spring itself becomes a symbol of Messiah and His Living Tabernacle, to which David finds comfort in.

In the days of the Jebusites of Jerusalem, when the leader of an enemy was conquered, he may well have been taken captive to Jerusalem. There, from what is now the southeast corner of the Temple, in an area once called “the heights of Zion”, the enemy was exhibited. Then, while still bound hand and foot, the enemy was pushed or dropped from a height of over 500 feet into a shadowy chasm below. It may or may not be obvious to you, that David does indeed take this same view of Zion and the Kidron. For in Psalm 23, in calling the Kidron Valley as the Valley of the Shadow of Death, he speaks of returning home as a son to his father: Jesse. For he says, “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). The LORD takes the place of his beloved and late father, Jesse, for David says: “When my father and mother leave me behind, then YHVeH will take me up” (Psalm 27:10, - translation mine).{15}

For that reason, it is through the Kidron Valley, which David passes through in Psalm 23, while returning home to the heights of Zion in Jerusalem; and entering through the Water Gate (Nehemiah 3:15).{16} In similarity, when a Jewish or Christian believer dies, this Psalm is quoted, because subconsciously, we all know that the inference of this Psalm is an earthly reflection of the Heavenly example: a returning to Zion and to the LORD in His Temple / a going home to Heaven and to the LORD at His Throne. We therefore, possess inwardly, a confirmation of this interpretation also.



What is the prophetic significance of the word SiLoaCH?
Let's look at it. The word SiLoaCH (Samekh-Lamed-Chet)is also the same spelling as ShaLaCH (Samekh-Lamed-Chet): "to send away" or "to cast out". This event happened when YHVeH Messiah was scourged and cast out of Jerusalem in A.D. 30. Again, the spelling also can read as (Shin-Lamed-Chet)/ "ShiLuaCH": a dismissal or divorce (decree). In the case of YHVeH Messiah, the cry of the Sanhedrin’s bully faction was: "We have no King but Caesar" (John 19:15 -KJV). It was a third utterance of Divorce by the Jewish People toward their King, and toward GOD. Even as the betrothal marriage ceremony was performed at Sinai/Horeb; so on Mount Moriah, the Jewish nation through its first priests - scribes - and “holy ones” -- chose to Divorce themselves rather than to submit to marriage with its coming Messiah and King, the Right Hand of Power.{17}

Again, by such a declaration as "We have no King but Caesar" (John 19:15), the First Priests, who represented the nation of Israel, divorced not only their rightful King and Messiah, but they divorced themselves from GOD. Using just John, we see that the three utterances required in the presence of the rabbinate is fulfilled as:
"I divorce You": John 18:29-32
"I divorce You": John 19:6-7
"I divorce You": John 19:15 18

This desire of a divorce from YHVeH Messiah was a result of blindness. It was a blindness and disorder of sin, which was addressed by Messiah in the parable of the wicked servants who took over the vineyard of their master (Matthew 21:33-40). These wicked servants were full of darkness within and without (Matthew 6:23). But, from the common folk, came Faith: though from among the poor. The Pool of S(h)iloam, is probably also meant to be known, by its phonetics, as the Pool of Shalom -- the Pool of Peace. This is the same “Pool” that the man who was born blind was sent to by Jesus. As though an “apostle” (or “one who is sent”), this humble blind man was instructed to wash the clay from his eyes that Jesus had placed there - in order that he might see for the first time in his life (John, chapter 9).

In the Bible, humility often will bear good fruit; but pride, just as often, leads to bad fruit: darkness within, and the darkness without. The darkness of sin will thrust one outside the Tabernacle of GOD’s grace, into the “outer darkness”. Here, one is like the Devil with Job (Job 1:8-10), at the outside hedge of super-sized goads and briars, looking in. In the outer darkness, unable to do anything but to weep, wail, and gnash their teeth.

Thought on the Blind man’s Quest for Siloam / Shalom

“For I determined not to know anything among you,
save Jesus Christ [the anointing of Salvation],{19}
and Him crucified.”
(I Corinthians 2:2)

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1 Bullinger, E.W. “The Witness of the Stars”, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1893, 1997 reprint (Chapter 2, “Libra”).

2 For which reason that even one stone set upon another was not allowed by the Romans in A.D. 70. (cf. Mark 13:1-2). GOD wanted to make sure that the Jews knew they were violating Deuteronomy 28, and would have no place to even call a mound heap as their Temple until the time of dispersion was fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

3 Micah 5:2 describes His origins as from of old, even to the everlasting ages of the everlasting ages. John 1:1-18 informs us that this one is Jesus Christ. He was at the “Beginning”, at the αρχη, the “Bereshith”, or “beginning of all time”, as expressed in Genesis 1:1. This concept is seen in Greek concepts, in which Ceres (the daughter of Prometheus) became Isis, the queen of Egypt (through marriage to Osiris). Thereafter, she was called by the Attic Greeks “IO”, after the concept of “we have arrived as a civilization, beginning here.” Egyptian wealth, naval and military, education and medicine, food and liquor, was all infused into Attic society Archē is, in turn, equated in the Greek with προτος: the first in pre-eminence, time, position, and authority before all others. So when John uses protos in Revelation 1:5, when he quotes Messiah Yeshua as “the First”, he does not just explain Messiah as being just a “first one” born from the dead, but reaches for a deeper meaning.

Christ is “before the birth” πρωτοτοκος of all Creation, as Paul cites in Colossians 1:15. He bears forth the Creation of the universe by His power, the power of the spoken word (Hebrews 11:3, Isaiah 14:24). The Father thinks it, the Son speaks it into existence (John 8:28,38; 12:49; 14:24; Psalm 119:160, 33:6,9). Cf. the “Oneness of GOD” in John 10:30, Deuteronomy 6:4, Zechariah 14:9. Isaiah 48:16-17 lists a LORD YHVeH, YHVeH Spirit, and YHVeH the Redeemer; the Old Testament origin to Matthew 28:19’s justified use of “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”.
In John 1:3 , of YHVeH Messiah, we are informed twice that “all things through Him εγενετο” -- all things came into being at a point in time when the “Beginning” was in a new state, and still unfolding into existence (i.e., ginomai being twice in the aorist). “Egeneto” is followed immediately by an emphasis on ginomai’s perfect tense: “gegonen”. This tells us the continuing existence of the new state that has come into existence, as being upheld by the word of His power (as it were).
(Cf. Zodhiates, Spiros “The Complete Word Study New Testament”, and the “The Complete Word Study Dictionary”, Nashville: AMG, © 1991, © 1992.)

4 e.g. Trevor, John C. “The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Personal Account”, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, © 1965,1977; pp. 140-141.

5 e.g. Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. 25, No. 6, Nov/Dec 1999, “Rewriting Jerusalem History” by Hershel Shanks, pp. 20-29.

6 No’ar. (Nun-Ayin-Rosh). Valued at 320. The word means a boy or youth. Irenaeus reveals that when Adam and Eve were created, they were de facto as youths (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.22.4.). This tradition he received from Polycarp, who received it from John, who received it from Messiah. This age of equivocal maturity of Adam and Eve also answers: as to why a boy is given his Bar Mitzvah at 13, and a girl her Bat Mitzvah at age 12.

7 סרס Caric. Valued at 320. It means one who is unmarried, and does not engage in sexual intercourse: living life after the same asexual nature as a eunuch is supposed to.

8 Na’ar. (Nun-Ayin-Rosh). This is the alternate pronunciation of No’ar. It means “one who is tossed about”, “a wanderer”. Jesus said, “Foxes have holes (to retreat into), birds of the air have nests (to lodge and rest in), yet the Son of Adam has no place to lay His head (and call “Home”).” cf. Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58.

9 Iyram. (Ayin-Yod-Rosh-Mem). Valued at 320. There are several definitions of Iyr: a place that is guarded by watchers; a watcher or guard; a recently broken in and prepared animal (so that he might bear a load). “Am”, or the “Mem” (by itself), is simply translated as either a people or nation. The additional definition of the letter “Mem” is “waters”, which can also be used in metaphor and allegory for “people”. Therefore, a “watcher or guardian of the people, who can discern their innermost thoughts”, is the intent of the word.

10 Rechabam/Rehoboam. (Rosh-CHet-Beth-Ayin-Mem). Valued at 320. “He who enlarges a people”/ “a people who have enlarged”.

11 Sok / Sak. (Shin-Kaf). Valued at 320. A “Sok” is an interlaced booth or shelter, and is recognized as a Tabernacle (such as exhibited during the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths). Inside the Tabernacle is refuge, such as with the example of Job 1:9-10, in which that which is within the hedge is a large place. In Psalm 118:15 we read that it is the voice of Jesus (or “Salvation”) who is within the Tabernacles of the Righteous (ones). There the people call Him “the Right Hand of YHVeH” (Psalm 118:15-16), who grants them eternal life (v.17). This Tabernacle is a very “large place” to which the saints are delivered to (Psalm 18:6-19 describes the Elijahn Rapture; John 14:2 reaffirms its largeness).

“Sak” is a briar hedge, of goads and pricks. It is a barb-mesh so super-sized, so that getting through is considered impossible. When Jesus convicted Paul a few miles outside Damascus in Kaukab (Archaeology, Nov/Dec 1996, “The World of Paul” by Neil Asher Silberman, pp.32, 33), He told Paul -- who was then called “Saul” -- that He was like Satan coming against Job, on the outside of the Tabernacle, kicking against the briars, trying to get in (Acts 9:4-5). Job also lived in Syria, whose lands included an area in or around Saul’s destination of Damascus.

12 Omriy. (Ayin-Mem-Rosh-Yod). Valued at 320. It means “a heap that is chastised from blows”. Rearranged, it becomes: Amiyr (Ayin-Mem-Yod-Rosh). Amiyr is that “bunch, handful, or sheaf (of grain)” waved as the First-fruits wave offering at the altar cauldron of the Temple. Christ was indeed chastised by blows, until He became as a heap. Then, He was sent away as the sacrifice of Israel (John 11:49-53), as the “First-fruits unto GOD” (I Corinthians 15:23. cf. Revelation 14:4).

13 Param. (Pe-Rosh-Mem). Valued at 320. Param means, “to tear, and rend” (as to pieces).

Racac. (Rosh-Samekh-Samekh). Valued at 320. Racac means “to moisten with drops or drippings, until (it) drips to pieces”. The flesh of Messiah was so beaten, that to simply touch some of His flesh, was to see it fall away like flood-soaked drywall. Therefore, as He was led from Gabbatha, and all the way to Calvary, He lost drippings and chunks of flesh and blood -- all along the Way. The saying, “I’ll have my pound of flesh from him” was a literal happening on the Watergate Road, perhaps several times over, perhaps more.

14 “Christ is the source, and the Cross is the means” of victory, and salvation. This is a favorite saying of Jimmy Swaggart, televangelist.

15 Cf. also Luke 2:40-49.

16 Not only do the stairs go down from the city of David, by means of this singular access from Zion, they go up to the city of David -- from the Gate of Siloam -- also.

17 Jesus was betrayed by “the elders, the first (or “chief”) priests, and scribes” in Peter’s account of Mark 8:31 in Rome, as well as Matthew’s account in Matthew 16:21 in Jerusalem. At the actual raucous before Pilate, in Mark 10:33 and Matthew 20:18, the chief priests, and scribes are listed by Christ as His detractors. It would be these who delivered Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, beaten, spit upon, whipped, and put to death (Luke 18:31-33, 22:2). Judas Iscariot communed with the “first priests and Temple Commanders [Gk. strategos]” in conspiring against Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees worked hand in hand in such a manner, as to be virtually inseparable (Matthew 15:1, 23:13ff.).
It appears then, that the definition of a Pharisee or “holy one” was that of a society of “Protectors of the Temple”; almost like a Masonic Lodge, if you will. This required an oath of loyalty to the Order in the name of religious fervor to the Faith. It also acted in an exclusionary manner to those not born into the Levitical tribe, and Kohenim (the priestly order). As Saul (who became Paul) found out, he could be enabled as its “High Executioner” in the same way the Catholic Church enabled its executioners to ferret out the Jews in the Middle Ages, but Saul could never truly be the “insider” he truly wanted to be -- as a priest unto GOD. Therefore, when we see the conspiracy of first priests against Jesus, (with the exception of the Sadduceean High Priest Caiaphas), we are seeing those who are known as “Pharisees” -- “Holy Ones” -- “The Protectors of the Temple Order” coming together against Messiah. In the mind of Christ’s betrayer, Judas Iscariot the zealot, he was playing both ends of righteous zeal against the middle, and found himself lost to both.

18 When Israel asks, “Why hath the LORD done thus unto this Land, and unto this House?” concerning the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the Diaspora, the answer comes back from the era of Solomon, “Because they forsook the LORD GOD of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath He brought all this evil upon them.” (2 Chronicles 7:21, 22). Because the first priests divorced themselves from YHVeH Messiah to serve other gods such as Caesar and Mamon (wealth), so too, did GOD grant them their request for their generation.

19 The Gospel of John, chapter 9 : in its entirety, is summarized by this verse. In English, we say “Salvation”; in Hebrew, we say “Yeshua”; while in Greek, we utilize “Jesus” as the English adaptation. By determining to know “Salvation”, the blind man who was man to see is determined to know “Jesus”.

New Testament specifics to the location of the Cross

In the New Testament's Book of Revelation, the Great 2 Witnesses of the Tribulation Period {1} are slain in Jerusalem, in a street spiritually called "Sodom and Egypt". These two witnesses will come in the near future, and they will confirm -- by their deaths -- a very close general proximity of where Jesus suffered His crucifixion.

Therefore, what I teach as being the true location of Christ’s crucifixion will eventually be confirmed by the prophetical and literal deaths of these two great witnesses. They will clearly be known to every nation on Earth, and their identification will be unmistakable. When the deaths of these two Great Witnesses are televised, the precise location of their bodies, lying exposed to public view and in respects to the Temple, will be known -- to within a matter of feet. The media will mark and aerial photograph the very spot, and the nations will demand that they continuously look -- “live from Jerusalem” -- upon their bodies. That Day of their demise will be greatly exalted as a Day of celebration, which must be immediately commemorated with gifts as if it were a “New Christmas” holiday (Revelation 11: 9-10). Let us look at it:

The Two Witnesses
"And I will bring forth to those 2 Witnesses of Me,{2}
and they will prophesy -- having been clothed in sackcloth -- 1,260 days.{3}
This they are: as 2 Olive Trees, and as 2 Lamp stands,{4}
standing before the GOD of the (whole) Earth.

And if anyone acts to execute harm upon them,
fire proceeds out of their mouths, and devours the enemies of them;
and if anyone acts to execute harm upon them,
thus, it is inevitably necessary that he is to be killed.

These have --and hold the right and might of -- Authority to shut the heaven,
in order that it does not rain in the days of their prophecy;
and the right and might of Authority - they do continually possess upon the waters, to turn them into blood; and to touch - strike - and smite the Earth with all plagues, as often as they will it to action, wherever and on whosoever.
And fulfilling their desires, they reach the full end of their Witness.{5}
The Beast, he ascending up out of the Abyss, will make war in their midst,
and will overcome them, and will kill them.
And the bodies of them (will lay) upon the Great City's Plateia,
which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where our LORD --
was indeed -- crucified." (Revelation 11:3-8, w/ Greek word pictures - Translation mine)

In locating the Plateia (or “street of Egypt”) in Jerusalem, “where our LORD was crucified”, we revisit Matthew 13:22 with Jeremiah 46:7-8, and surmise that “Egypt” in Jerusalem deals with the Kidron Valley.

We are required (by Scripture) to first locate this geography of Jerusalem that is called “Egypt”; and then to intersect that location with the geography called “Sodom”. The manner in which the location of “the street of Sodom”, in Jerusalem, is identified as the Hinom valley -- is quickly dispatched with the fact that the Hebrew Ge-Hinom (“Valley of Hinom”) is transliterated in the Greek as Ge-henna (“the Valley of Burning Fires”). Here, the booths of branches were annually burned -- following the Feast of Tabernacles. Here, many tens of thousands of paschal lambs were likely cooked in open fire-pits for the Passover festivals. Here also, in the Valley of Hinom, did the children of Israel abort their fetuses, and burn them as sacrificial offerings in hopes of prosperity from the demons (e.g. Jeremiah 7:31-32). From branches to lambs to children, the Israelis apparently burned them all in the Valley of Hinom.

This part of the valley of Hinom to which we are most concerned, is directly SOUTH of the Temple, and runs in an east-west direction. Therefore, we need only to find the next intersection point: the Hinom valley representing Revelation 11:8’s “Sodom”, which Scripture describes as a place associated with “fire, brimstone (sulfur)… and great smoke as from a furnace” (Genesis 19:24,28).


The Gospel of Paul also points to this location

The book of Hebrews is identified by Irenaeus as being the good news of Paul, and composed by his pupil, Luke (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.1.1.). The inference is that this composition follows Paul’s death in Rome with Peter, on June 29, 57 A.D. Therefore, Hebrews is a pre-70 A.D. composition, with a pre-70 A.D. concept of Jerusalem, written only 27 years following the LORD’s Passion. In this book, Luke (in circa July of 57 A.D.) records the words of Paul, who taught:

"Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. For that the heart be established with grace (is) a good thing --not with meats, which have not profited those who have been obsessed with them.
We have an altar, whereof they, which serve the Tabernacle, have no right to eat.
For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the Sanctuary
by the High Priest for sin, are burned without the Camp.

Wherefore, Jesus also,
that He might sanctify the people with His own blood,
suffered outside this gate. [The gate of burning, the Hinom]
Let us therefore go forth unto Him without the Camp, bearing His reproach."
(Hebrews 13:9-13)


In the Temple rituals, from what appears to be the case, the animals were sacrificed, and the bodies of the lambs were carried to one’s tent / tabernacle / or home in Jerusalem. The ashes of the sacrificial blood that was burnt upon the logs of the altar-fire, were removed from the Temple Mount, by assigned Levitical priests. These men were all 25-50 years old. They used cart and ass or cart and donkey, and traveled west from the Temple Court, and then south into and through the lower city. These Levites normally left the walls of Jerusalem by way of the Dung Gate, to burn the bodies of various sacrificial animals (bullocks, turtle doves, etc.) in the Hinom Valley through the rest of the year. They would then take the ashes, and bury them in the wilds of Judea, in the Dead Sea area, stopping through various Dead Sea Communities for this purpose. The vessels carrying the ashes of the blood of the Temple were separate and not to be mixed with the vessels carrying the ashes of the Hinom Valley. Simon the Cyrene was a Temple Levitical Priest, assigned to the vessels of the Hearth of Fire on the Passover, and was en route back to the Temple, when he was kicked about with the knees into submission by the Romans.

In regards to Kohen charge of burning the bodies of the Temple Sacrifice, the Passover lambs were the exception. The heads of every family gathering (pre-divided into groups of 13) would take the Passover home, and then take what was leftover himself into the Kidron to burn those bodies, being about 240,000 lambs incinerated each First Passover in the Hinom Valley. This lent credence to the Scripture of all Israel being called out by GOD to be a nation of priests (Exodus 19:6; 2 Peter 2:9; cf. - Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6). At the Temple, the Kohen priests would burn the logs and the blood of some 230,000 to 240,000 lambs in the great altar cauldron, which measured some 30 feet across. The logs and blood of the Passover sacrifices are representative of the Cross. So, when Simon the Cyrene left the Temple, carting the Temple ashes of wood and blood, he was already carting the Cross. When he returned, he was chosen to fulfill that religious duty literally. And he was a man considered strong and robust by the Romans, being a powerful looking man between age 25 and 50.

Therefore, on the Passover, we must mentally re-adjust our senses. In A.D. 30, there was in the air the smell of burnt mutton, and the smell of blood. This was the incense of Jerusalem and for many miles round about, as the smoke choked the air like a thin fog of smog during Christ’s Passion. It is likely that Christ suffered not only a lack of oxygen from being crucified, and hyper-ventilated because of a large blood loss...but that he was effectively choking on the smoke from the Hinom as well. One of the signs given in the KJV's Acts 2:19's "signs in the Earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke."
The emphasis is that the crucifixion occurs outside the South-southeastern gate, through which the bodies of those sacrificial beasts were cast out and "burned". The only primary location known for this activity at Jerusalem is the Valley of Ge-Hinom, which is transliterated as 'Gehenna' (γεεννα) in the Greek, and as "hell" in the English.


Outer Darkness: the Plateias in Jerusalem
When GOD returns to Jerusalem to save the final Jewish/Israeli remnant on Day 2625,{6} He finds His people thrust into the “outer darkness” of the city (doomed to destruction). To these, He makes a way of escape by creating a Valley through Mount Olivet, and in effect, hiding them in the Cross. From thence, because of His glorious light and presence, all the nations round about at Jerusalem then find themselves as being thrust into the outer darkness, and doomed to destruction.
In grappling with this concept of being “thrust out into the outer darkness”, we may this concept better by looking in an odd place. When the Two Great Witnesses of the Tribulation are killed in the “street” of Sodom and Egypt, in Jerusalem on Day 1286 ½ in Revelation 11:8, John uses the word “Plateia”.

"And their dead bodies (that of the Two Witnesses, shall lie)
in the STREET [Gr. - Plateias] of the great city,
which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt;
where also our LORD was crucified.” (Revelation 11:8 - re: KJV)

In this passage of Revelation 11:8, we read, the word for "street" in the Greek as being πλατειας: PLATEIAS. To translate it simply as "a street" only, in this passage, is misleading and lost upon the English language reader.

The plateia is "the outer darkness":
a) “the echoing chasm”(outside a city);
b) “it is the fork of two highways;
c) it is that open area of two valleys joining; and,
d) it is also an open area’s corners or exalted points, be it a courtyard or park, that acts as a type of embankment or curve to be merged into.

The outer darkness and plateia are represented by “curves”. Darkness is a curvature of the principle of light. The Hebrew word for “righteousness” involves the concept of a perfectly straight line, rod, or beam. The concept of sin is to be curved, not fit as a straight line, to miss the mark due to a veering off. Plateia incorporates into its concept, not only a veering off, but a “dropping off”: such as an embankment that veers off downward, and becomes a ditch or chasm. This is representative of sin, and its end- result. Jesus tells us if those who are in bondage to sins, lead others suffering from the same bondage to the same types of sins, they shall both fall into destruction -- as though into a ditch.{7}

Here, in the angles, corners, and embankments of the Plateia: Judaizing hypocrites pray openly to be seen of men (Matthew 6:5){8}, even after they have robbed their own parents and spent their inheritances. They behaved as if to attract the giving of alms into their hands under false pretenses.{9} Here, in the angles, corners, and embankments of the Plateia: people eat and drink and some even teach (Luke 13:26); and here, the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind blend into the crowds (Luke 14:21).

So, by its own definition, the "Plateias" must either be within the city of Jerusalem at some court or open area, -- or it must be in the outer darkness of the city, where at least two “highways” or “valleys” meet. Two, because we need a “way” called “Sodom”, and another called “Egypt”, both intersecting -- as defined by Revelation chapter 11. Since Pompey filled the northern chasm up, and the Jews in Herod’s time built a new city called “Bezetha” upon this filled in place;{10} we must rule that this northern area is completely, geographically, and prophetically, as disqualified.

If you were to observe the location of Judas Iscariot’s last act, you would see that it is precisely in a “gonias plateian”, an embankment in the “outer darkness” of Jerusalem. The “gonias plateian” is an exalted place within the Valley, which could be prominently seen. Judas’ hanging served as an anti-thesis to the crucifixion. The Pharisees saw themselves as the “Sons of Light”, as protectors of the Holy Temple and the Faith. Those without were considered as “the Sons of Darkness” and “the children of Belial”. The Dead Sea Scrolls describe the rift within the Pharisaic sect, not the Essene. In this regard, I believe the Dead Sea Scholars scholars have been wrong from day one. The perspectives of the Dead Sea Scrolls are of rifts of those Pharisees who formerly served within the Temple, as being as highly placed as that of Temple Commanders, but who were unable to effect change -- so as to weed out corruption by the ruling establishment. That ruling establishment appears to be inclusive of the “house of Caiaphas”, a Sadducee Galilean “house” (or family tree) that bought and ruled the Sanhedrin and high priesthood through the power of wealth.

Therefore, we can now more clearly comprehend the actions and motivations of Judas Iscariot, as a loyal Galilean and devotee of a faction within the Sanhedrin. This same Judas was the betrayer of Christ. Judas had conspired with “the Sons of Light” against Jesus (Dead Sea Scrol1 QM 1:1ff; Luke 22:3-6), whose identities are described to us as that of being the Temple Commanders and scribes. But, when Judas realized that he was not in an alliance with “the sons of Light” after all, what did he do? He went out into the outer darkness, where Christ hung and quivered. In the outer darkness of the city -- the freezing body of Messiah was shaking violently upon the cross. Judas gazed in great remorse upon the Cross, and by hanging himself; Judas declared by his action (within the first hour or two of Christ’s Passion) that the “sons of darkness” had taken over the Temple within, and cast the true “Son of Light” without.

Christ hung and quivered in the “outer darkness” on a tract of land called “Golgotha”, on a clear and cold breezy day in March. The night rains had (by this time) fully blown through, and Jesus was hung in the one place where most of the 3,000,000 who gathered in Jerusalem and could gaze upon Him. Christ Himself, with His right eye not beaten shut,{11} would also have been able to gaze upon the disciple of Him, across the Valley, hanging limp and lifeless upon the tree, strangled by a cord on a tree limb that extended over the south Hinom embankment.

Judas would have had to crawl out and then dropped from the end of the limb for maximum viewing effect. He probably did not break his neck initially, but strangled himself in the manner that would have mimicked a Sanhedrinal judgment. As a false witness who caused an innocent’s death, the Temple Tradition was that Judas should have been strangled by two men pulling on a cord about his neck in the presence of the Sanhedrin acting as a Beth Din, following a fair religious trial. The first priests, because of their equal guilt, refused to condemn him or even consider the matter.

Upon the earthquake at 3 pm, when Christ died upon the Cross, the body of Judas (which had now hung for at least 4-5 hours by this time), bounced on the rope until the limb snapped, and fell headlong onto a boulder or such below, where his corpse broke in half, and spilled out all his bowels (Acts 1:16-18).

Picture now an analog clock with its two hands. Place the clock’s hands as revolving from the central point of the Kidron and Hinom juncture. This is your compass. Fix the 12 o’clock as north. Set the hourly hand for 3 o’clock. Set the minute hand for the number 7, so that your clock now reads 3:35. You now have the approximate compass position of Christ and Judas, as of 12 noon on March 23, 30 A.D., just before the whole world became as the confusion of night.12
This aspect of the crucifixion has been lost upon the Christian: that those who gazed upon Christ were offered this alternate spectacle of Iscariot across the Valley; and that Jesus too, would have gazed upon His own dead disciple.

------------------------------------------------------------


1 The Tribulation period is descriptive of the end of the world, as we know it. It is the end of the period of grace, and the beginning of Daniel 9:24-27’s 70th week of years. Each week of years is defined as 7 actual years upon the earth. When Jesus died upon the Cross, He stopped the Judgment clock, and we entered into a period of grace. That last week of years is determined to bring all sins, from the age of Adam to ours: to a finality, to cut it off and to kill it -- therefore judgment and wrath from GOD. This wrath is upon all those who receive not the atonement of the Cross. Mankind is called to ask GOD that He would pass over their unrighteous acts and rebellion toward Him.
The 70th week of 7 years is collectively called “the Tribulation Period”, but it is actually divided into two halves (Daniel 9:27; 12:11,12). The first half is also referred to as the “Tribulation”, while the second half is the “Great Tribulation” and the “Day of the LORD”. In the first 1290 days, there is still a call to believe and trust Jesus and his work of the Cross, that they might be taken up, and away from judgment in the coming Elijahn rapture. At Day 1291, nuclear war strikes America and Russia, an asteroid strikes the Mediterranean, and over the course of the next 1335 days, the world’s population is decreased to possibly only the hundreds of millions. Our current planet population is somewhere close to 7 billion.

2 The Two witnesses are two famous biblical figures who were raptured or snatched up by GOD, as though through a time portal -- from their times to ours. The primary Biblical candidates are Enoch (Genesis 5:23-24), and Elijah (2 Kings 2:7-8,11). However, Josephus tells us that his Temple copy of the Torah, which was captured in the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, indicates that Moses was indeed also “raptured up into Heaven,” and did not perish. -- The Temple Torah was taken to Rome, and placed in Vespasian’s “Palace of Peace” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 7.5.7). From here, in Rome, Josephus had full access to the Imprimis or “first” scroll of all Judaism Torah manuscript copies: that one scroll which was “in the first place” as the Source scroll (Josephus, Antiquities, 3.1.7., and 5.1.17.). From this source, Josephus informs us that Moses was clearly raptured into Heaven, like Jesus, from the presence of Joshua, in the location they were then at (Josephus, Antiquities, 4.8.48.).

This being the case, Enoch would then remain in Heaven as a type of the Heavenly Father. Moses and Elijah would then portal through time, even as seen upon the Mount of Transfiguration Matthew 17:1-5); and act as witnesses as a human type of GOD the Son and GOD the Holy Spirit. Moses the meek, possesses the characteristics of Jesus Christ the Messiah; and Elijah, displays the manners and character of GOD the Holy Spirit to the world for 1,260 days in the end-times.

3 The appearance of the 2 witnesses will be on Day 26 ½ from the circa 3 pm (Jerusalem time) signing of the 7 year Peace treaty which is signed by Israel, the “Palestinians”, representatives of the United Nations, Russia, Greece or Italy, the United States, and the European Union. They will probably show up at about 3 to 5 am that morning, Jerusalem time, upon the Mount of Olives in one of two locations: either the general tract of land where Jesus was crucified, ancient Golgotha; or in or near ancient Gethsemane. I do not believe it likely for them to show up first upon the bare exposed stone amongst the debris of the then “recently demolished Dome of the Rock”, but it is possible.

4 The number two symbolizes: the Two Covenants, Old and New; the Two Churches, Gentile and Jew. The Gentiles or nations of the New, do not and cannot replace the nation of Israel -- they simply join it, as a wild new Olive tree grafted into the great and large ancient one. Nor can the Jew dismiss the nations, as they are invigorated and made alive to an ever greater and greater fruitfulness because of them.
The symbolism of the two Olive trees: in the form of the two witnesses, they represent the Ark of the Covenant’s 2 Witnesses, being Cherubs or Seraphs. That is, those privy to the most holy and inner sanctum of GOD; who are instructed, and who know His will. The Cherubs of Solomon (I Kings 6:23-28) were each 10 cubits or about 17 ½ feet high (according to the more ancient 21 inch cubit, versus the less ancient 18 inch cubit).

5 Moses and Elijah will teleport to every nation upon the Earth (cf. Revelation 11:9-10), and instead of finding receptive audiences, they will be forced to command plagues and devastations upon the peoples they visit. They will have reached a full end of their witness, and ensured the safe in-gathering of all Jews upon the face of the Earth to Israel. Those of the tribes of Israel, who remain among the nations, are swiftly sought out and mercilessly slain. Moses and Elijah will perform miracles that will feed the ingathered nation of Israel, both physically and in the spiritual sense as well.

6 The Tribulation Period is divided into two sets of 3 ½ years. The first 3 ½ years last 1290 days, and the second
3 ½ years last 1335 days beyond, totaling 2625 days from the signing of the Treaty w/ anti-Christ, to the return of the True Messiah. (cf. Daniel 12:11,12)

7 Matthew 15:14. In context: Matthew 15:1-14 informs us that the “Holy Ones”, (the Pharisees), were robbing their parents, and driving them into severe poverty: so that they themselves might selfishly live softly. They considered the mission of protecting the Temple an excuse for starving people so that they may be fat, and well clothed, and live in oversized apartments or houses with fine things. Therefore, this particular sin of the Pharisees is “greed”, the love of money and wealth. Such desires are NOT planted by the Heavenly Father in the heart of the believer (Matthew 15:13). The vow of the Catholic priest to poverty after a fashion, is correct -- though his vow to refrain from marriage, is not. The consequences of soft living through robbery of Temple Treasuries, affected the families of these “Protectors of the Temple Order”, by teaching children the virtue of thievery and self-justification.

8 και οταν προσευχη ουκ εση ωσπερ οι υποκριται
"And/ but when you pray NOT shall (you) be as the hypocrites

οτι φιλουσιν εν ταις συναγωγαις και εν ταις
because they (brotherly) love in the Synagogues and in the

γωνιαις των
Corners (by the High or Prominent Places) of the
πλατειων
Plateian [the wide courts, streets, ways: inclusive of those ways and
valleys which surround city walls]


εστωτες προσευχη οπως αν φανωσι τοις ανθρωποις.
standing up alongside to pray so that may they appear to men.

“And when you pray, expressing your concerns and giving thanks,
you should not be as the actors who pretend brotherly love in the
Synagogues and in the places of prominence: the corners of the
Plateian, standing (up and openly) alongside to pray, so that they
may be seen of men.” (Matthew 6:5, translation mine)

9 Tertullian puts it this way: “Majesty is made a source of gain. Religion goes about the taverns begging” (Tertullian, Apology, .13). The city of Jerusalem was a city of pilgrimages and endless streams of people exercising charity upon the city and its Temple. Where there is an abundance of money, there are often an abundance of beggars.

10 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 14.4.1; Wars of the Jews, 5.4.2.

11 Cyprian, Against the Heresy of one Noetus, .18; tells us Christ closed His (one) eye upon the Cross.
After a beating of 400-600 open hand strikes, mainly by right hands against the left side of Messiah’s face, we would expect that whole eye to be bloated and swelled shut -- even hidden. Therefore, from Gabbatha to Golgotha, and until His death, Jesus was only able to see out of His right eye. This vision would also have often been blurred by sweat, blood, and agitation to the optic nerve from all the head trauma He suffered. However, there would have been moments of visual clarity. It was in these moments, whether several minutes at a time or more, that Jesus would have looked over the Valley, and seen Judas’ alternate spectacle / public apology. Satan probably spurred Judas into the act as a purposeful mockery, but the seriousness of the event was never used against Christ or his followers in that way.

12 Genesis 1:2 reads:
“And the Earth was then in a state of existence that no longer exists,
being an empty and barren place of nothingness, desolate, and without any life whatsoever; and the face immediately above the deep was darkness.” (Translation mine)

The Hebrew tells us that “In the Beginning…” the Earth had light upon its face, but not upon its depths. The earth was glowing, but not like a ball of magma. It was created as fully formed, as soft and hot. The word for the deep in Genesis 1:2 is tohum, i.e. “tohu”. While Job, 6:18 describes “tohu” as “a wasteland,” Job 26:7 uses “tohu” as the “dark vast and empty nothingness” upon which the Earth hangs. Tohu has a relationship with the Hebraic “hoshek”, which is “that darkness which is void of all light, promoting a predisposition to insanity and through chaos and the lack of orderliness.”

In the Greek New Testament, “hoshek”, in translation, is used to describe the literal blindness of men, as well as the spiritual. Genesis 1:5 informs us, that “GOD proclaimed the Light (as) Day, and the Darkness He labeled as Night.” The “Hoshek” [He-Shin-Kaf] He labeled as “the adversity (and the heartsick misery of falsehood)”, which a description of the sin nature. That is, before even the creation of the sun and the moon, there was a Day and there was a Night, and “the plan of Salvation”. Day and night created at the first, however, were in a state that no longer exists, nor can be comprehended at this present time. Psalm 104:2,5-6, suggests that the Earth in Genesis 1:2 was covered in light like as with a cloak of the shekinah clouds of GOD’s presence (2 Chronicles 5:13-14). Therefore, GOD covered “adversity (and the heartsick misery of falsehood)”, i.e. the sin nature that was to come, with the cloud of His glorious presence. Here, showing us that in the ages to come, that which is of earth would sin, and He would have to become its covering. This predicts the coming of the Cross from the foundation of the world.

The very word for “evening”, ereb / erev, has some 16 differing definitions to its usage. The rabbis themselves call this word “disorderly” and “chaotic”. Three of the more interesting definitions of “ereb” are:
1) as being a physical impurity;
2) as being swarms or dark clouds of flying insects;
3) as being that worldly pleasure and contentment that is derived from the hustle and bustle of trading and bartering, of purchasing and selling, of intermingling in the marketplace.
All of these are represented by the word “Egypt” in the Bible. But the more interesting aspect is its Gematriac association with Arab, which most appropriately describes the modern sons of Esau: which means “to ambush”, or “to lie in wait” as the crouching lion of sin. The word picture that is brought to mind, is that crouching lion of Cain’s anger and resentment that was ready to pounce Cain in Genesis 4:7.

In Gematria, the letter Ayin ע is interchangeable with the letter Alef א: spelling it now as [Alef-Rosh-Beth]. Rearranged, in the Gematriac analysis, Ereb now becomes Abur [Alef-Beth-Rosh]: “he who infuriates himself by crossing over from simply having wrongful thoughts, to the doing and carrying out wrongful words and acts.” Rearranged, this activity is Baar [Beth-Alef-Rosh]: “destined to be kindled and consumed by fire,” or as the “consummation of foods eaten by cattle” and cast out as dung piles. Therefore, from even before Adam’s creation, the destiny of Adam and his descendants, from Beginning to End, was foreseen and foreknown by the Almighty: from Adam’s rebellion, to YHVeH’s personal sacrifice, to the Lake of Fire and Judgment. And for man to choose “destruction over salvation”, “darkness over light”, is confusion and rebellion of the greatest disorder indeed.

The Gospel Team Coverage from the Greek Word Pictures, Part 2

[From the High Priest Caiaphas to the Judgment Hall]

"Then they lead Jesus from Caiaphas (the High Priest) into the Praetorium.58
And the first light was lighting upon the [eastern] skies,59
but the (Council) did not enter the Praetorium themselves [lest contrariwise they be defiled], so that they might eat the Passover."60


[Outside the Judgment Hall]

"Therefore Pilate went out unto them, and said,
‘What accusation bring you against this Man?’
They answered and said unto him,
‘Unless this One was not an immoral and perniciously evil influence
upon the Community, then not to you (would) we have delivered Him.’
Then Pilate said to them,
‘You take Him, and judge Him according to the Law of You.’
Then the (leaders of the Council of the) Jews said to him,
‘It is not lawful (for us) to put any one to death.’
so that might be fulfilled the word of Jesus, which He said, signifying by what kind of death (by which) He was about to die."61


[Inside the Judgment Hall]
"Then Pilate went into the Praetorium again, and called Jesus, and said to Him,
‘Are You the King of the Jews?’
Answered Jesus,
‘From yourself you say this, or others told you about Me?’
Pilate answered,
‘A Jew, I am not. This nation and kingdom of Yours -- and
the First Priests -- delivered You up to me. What did You do?’62
‘Are You the King of the Jews?’
Jesus answered,
‘You are speaking my mind and feelings on the matter.’63
Pilate asked, ‘What did You do?’
Answered Jesus,
‘My Kingdom is not of this world. If of this world, was My
Kingdom, My servants would have fought, so that I should
not be delivered up to the [leaders of the] Jews. But (for)
now, My Kingdom is not from here.’
Then Pilate said to Him [skeptically],
‘Really, not a King are You?’
Answered Jesus,
‘You say that King, I am. I, for this, have been born; and for
this, I have come into the world, that I may witness to the True
Reality: every one being of the True Reality hears of Me, the
Voice.’

[Commentary: Jesus explains that Kingship is His birthright, in a manner and behavior that only kings and royal-born should explain it. :End of Commentary.]

Pilate says to Him, ‘What is True Reality?’"64


[Outside the Judgment Hall]
"And having said this, again Pilate went out to the [Council of the] Jews, and tells them,
‘I, not one crime, find in Him.’65
But they insisted, saying,
‘He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea,
beginning from Galilee to here.’
And Pilate, hearing Galilee, asked if the man is a Galilean. And having known that He is from Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him up alongside with Herod, who -- in these days -- also being in Jerusalem."


[At Herod’s Royal Quarters in Jerusalem]
"And Herod, seeing Jesus, rejoiced greatly; for through hearing of so many things about Him, he was wishing of a long (time) to see Him. And Herod hoped to see some miracle brought about by Jesus. And using many words, questioned Him. But Jesus answered him nothing. And being humiliated, the First Priests and the scribes stood up and went on a tirade, vehemently accusing Him.
Therefore, Herod and his soldiers, mocking Him, put luxurious clothing around Him, and sent Him back to Pilate."66


[Return to Pilate’s Palace Grounds/Praetorium]
"Pilate, then, calling the first priests and the leaders and the people together, said up to and alongside with them,

‘You brought to me this man, as having perverted the people.
Look and see! I, before the eyes of your faces, examining
both accurately and carefully, found nothing in the Man
neither cause or reasonable justification to speak openly
and down against Him. No less did Herod, for I sent you
up alongside with him, and behold, nothing as weighty as
death is to be done to Him. Having instructed, educated, and
chastised, then, I will need to release Him.’67

And the First Priests and the elders hurriedly accused (Jesus) of many things,
‘This One we found through turning and twisting out of place
the people of this ethnicity, and dwarfing and reducing the
Tributes to be given to Caesar, saying Himself (that He is)
Christ, an existing king.’68
but (Jesus) answered nothing."69

[Commentary: When Jesus was approached by the Pharisees with the Herodians in Matthew 22:15-22, the Herodians sought to trick Jesus by a coin of Caesar. Had Jesus opposed the coins of Caesar, he would also have opposed the coins of Herod (some of which made Messianic claims through symbolism). The Herodians were Essenes who worked hand in hand with Herod’s secret police to root out and crush seditions, real or imagined. Therefore, to answer nothing while being interrogated, or simply questioned, was a common practice. : End of Commentary.]
--------------------------------------------


"Pilate therefore speaks his mind and feelings to Him, and says,
‘Do You answer nothing? Don’t You hear what they are
witnessing against You?’
And He answered him not, not even up to and alongside with even a single word - so as to (cause) the governor Pilate, to greatly marvel.70
Then, (as) he (was) sitting upon the exalted Tribunal Seat, his wife sent (word) up alongside with him, saying,
‘Not even once to you, and to that Righteous One many things,
for I suffered today, down in a dream through Him.’"71



[Gabbatha]
"Then Pilate took Jesus, and had Him violently whipped [in the Judgment Hall].72
And the soldiers, having twisted into form -- a crown out of thorns, -- and placed it on Head (pressing down and ensuring its setting);73
and (accompanied this by) throwing around Him a seamless garment of purple (also); and laid upon Him words [so that their breath did breathe out upon His face],74 proclaiming,

'Hail! the King -- of the Jews!!!'

And they [the 400-600 Romans, took turns, as they] smote Him, giving Him blows with the open palm."

[Commentary: Cyprian, in his Defense against the heresy of Noetus, .18, informs us that Christ was only able to see out one eye while upon the Cross, saying, “…the rulers are ashamed when they see the Director of the Universe upon the Cross closing His eye and giving up the ghost.”
We therefore should keep in mind the violent swelling to the left side of Messiah’s face as a direct result of the Roman open palm strikes to His face, allowing Him only thereafter to see out of His right eye until His death. We should also keep in mind, that Jesus appears to have purposely withheld His miraculous and curative powers during His own Passion. Thus, stripping Himself of even the basest of Heavenly privileges, and in all ways like us. : End of Commentary.]
-------------------------------


"Then Pilate went outside (the Judgment Hall) once again, and said to the accusers.
'Behold! (Look and see!). I bring Him out to you,
so that you may know that the end of the matter is (this),
that in Him, I find not (even) one crime!'
Then Jesus came outside, wearing: the thorny wreath, and the seamless garment of purple.
And (Pilate) says to (the First Priests and their officers),
'Behold! The man!'
Then, when the First Priests and their officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, 'Crucifixion!…Crucifixion!!'
Pilate says to them,
'You take Him (away) and crucify (Him);
but as for me, I do not find in Him any crime!'
Then the (leaders of the) Jews answered him, (saying),
'We have a Law of Custom! And according to (this),
the Law of our Custom, He ought to die! Because,
He has brought Himself forth, as the Son of GOD!!'
When Pilate heard this, he was greatly shaken (by the news), and briefly terrified!
[And removing himself with Jesus and the guard-escort], they re-enter the Praetorium [into the Judgment Hall] again. And he says to Jesus,
'From where -- are You (from)?'
But Jesus did not give him an answer. Then Pilate says to Him,
'To me -- You do not speak? --.
Do You not know the authority, that I have,
is that same authority to crucify You;
(and) is also the same authority,
by which I can deliver You, from being crucified?'
Then Jesus answered,
'You would not have Authority -- not against Me --
if it was not being given to you from above.
Therefore: he, delivering Me to you, has the greater sin.'
Out of this (declaration), Pilate searched vigorously (for a technicality by which) to release Him."

[Commentary: He debated with his legal advisors over points of Roman Law on the matter. :End of Commentary.]

"Meanwhile, [as Pilate delayed,] in the Court of Gabbatha, the leaders of the Jews cried out with such words as,
'If you release this One, you are definitely no friend of Caesar!' (and)
'All who produce forth themselves as a king, do so (by) speaking
against Caesar!'
As Pilate still heard these sayings ringing in his ears, (he) retrieved Jesus, and personally led Him out. And Pilate sat down upon the exalted platform's Judgment Seat before the crowd, this Place and its Court being called 'The Pavement', but in the Hebrew tongue, it is called: 'Gabbatha'.
And at about the 6th hour of the Passover Preparation, (Pilate) says to the (leaders of the) Jews, 'Behold, The King of you!'
But they cried out,
'Lift Him up!'
'Raise Him up!'
'Crucify Him!'
Pilate says to them,
'The King of you, I shall crucify?'
Then the First Priests answered alone,
'We have no King…but Caesar!'
Then, [as a result of these words], he certainly gave Him over to them to this end -- in order that He might be crucified."

[Commentary: Because, He had declared Himself to be their King, and they rejected His right to the Throne over them. :End of Commentary.]


[Out of the City to Golgotha]
"Then they [the first priests] took and received Jesus near to themselves,
and taking the lead, led Him away;"

[Commentary: That is, the first priests personally led Jesus captive out of the city, ahead of the Roman guards; as if they were in a parade. :End of Commentary.]

"and bearing up and supporting the Cross at the foot of Him,
He came out and went forth75
into that which is related to and uttered in the Hebrew tongue as GOLGOTHA: in which place they did crucify Him; and with Him, two others (beside), on this side and on that side, and then Jesus -- in the center of their midst.
Then Pilate also wrote a Title, and lay and placed it upon the Cross: it was then, having been written - ‘JESUS the Nazarene, the King of the Judeans.’
Now certainly did this title the many of the Judeans read;"

[Commentary: possibly as they walked past, filing by, and gazing upon Him]

"because the place where Jesus was crucified was so near and close to the City,"
[Commentary: the valleys of Kidron and Hinom served as conduits for the millions to move through and around the city for religious purposes of approaching the Temple.76 The people were not static, but with the sounding of the trumpets and the use of banners, they moved in an orderly fashion. :End of Commentary.]

and it was having been written in Hebrew, Greek, Latin.”77





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58 John 18:28
59 Matthew 27:1, Mark 15:1
60 John 18:28
61 John 18:29-32
62 John 18:33-35
63 Matthew 27:11-12
64 John 18:34-38
65 John 18:38, Luke 23:4
66 Luke 23:5-12
67 Luke 23:13-16
68 Luke 23:2 Out of sequence, but this most probably retains the true essence of accusations laid against Him, based on how the Greek reads. If Jesus indeed calls Himself Christ, as the accusation implies, then the First Priests would have claimed to have recently heard it. This utterance was manifest at the trial of “Caiaphas”, to which name is called a “donkey (or jack-ass)” after the Greek “Kantheros”, and “monkey” after the Hebrew Aramaic association. In either case, even the Pharisees may have had little respect for this very rich Galilean Sadducee who bought his way into the High Priesthood, past his own father-in-law.

69 Mark 15:3, Matthew 26:12
70 Mark 15:4-5, Matthew 26:13-14
71 Matthew 27:19

72 The Greek word regarding the whip is εμαστιγωσε (emastigose): mastigoo found in the aorist indicative active. This word comes from μάστιξ (mastix), which is often found as either “a whip” or “the flogging of a whip”. Mastix may also be used as a disease or plague that is layed upon a people as though it were a whip of wood - leather - and iron (or such components). The action of the aorist indicative active tells us that the flogging is not continuous. It does, however, entail the placing of those emotional and psychological trials and torments upon the person during the time of the scourging.

In Isaiah 53:5, when He is “wounded for our transgressions”, the Hebrew words for “wound” is that which can “pierce and bore” through. This Hebraic word “Chalal” is also used for “the flute”, a musical instrument. “Chalal” may also be used to describe a defilement of that which is, or those, which are, considered as “Holy unto the LORD”. In turn, that which is Holy (‘kodesh’) and that which is a Sanctuary (‘mikdash’), says Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, both derive from two words in Hebrew, “Moked Esh”: “the altar’s hearth of fire” (Leviticus 6:1) -- [Jerusalem Post, International Edition, April 25, 2003, p. 31 -- “Weekly Portion” by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin]. Therefore, Messiah, by being whipped, is offered up as a Scriptural variant of the burnt sacrifice, based on the allowances made in Scripture and connected firmly by the Hebrew.

In regards to the wounding after the “Chalal” of a flute: when Messiah spoke of this generation being like the children of the marketplace who complained after “piping” to someone that they did not dance, and mourning with someone who did not mourn also with them; there was also a darker side to this. The meaning had to do with those “children who mocked the afflicted, those being whipped”. Apparently, it was a form of entertainment, and they were disappointed when there were those who neither flinched under the whip, nor cried out.

Further, Isaiah 53:5 says that the “Chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” The word chastisement here is the Hebrew word “Musar”, which comes from “Yasar”. Basically, the wounding with stripes -- the whipping of Messiah -- is prophesied as being brought about as a form of corrective action against Him. It is prophesied as being a punishment that is meant to bring about a right behavior. In the case of Christ, it appears prophecy says that this is Pilate’s true intent. In the literal sense, “Musar” deals with being bound (in this case by the hands) down to something, while the punishment is administered. Hence, the whipping post, and the necessity for Messiah to fulfill this prophecy in the exact manner that He did.

It must further be noted, that without the shedding of blood, there can be NO ATONEMENT of sin (Leviticus 17:11, Hebrews 9:22). In Egypt, the lambs blood was placed against the very doors of the dwelling-places of the Jews, that sin might “pass over” them (Exodus 12:7,13). Christ shed His blood as our Passover sacrifice, and covers us with His blood of atonement -- once and for all time; because as YHVeH is above and beyond the bounds and limitations of time, even though as a man does He suffer within the confines and parameters of Time.


73 και οι στρατιωται πλεξαντες στεφανον εξ ακανθων επεθηκαν αυτου τη κεψαλη

“And the soldiers having weaved (knitted, braided)”, hence ‘formed’, “a wreath out of thorns, put (it) on His head.”

The Greek word for “put (it) on” is epethekon. In this sense, it is to lay on (with affliction). (cf. Luke 10:30, and Acts 18:10). In Acts 18:10, it denotes those wanting to get a sure grip of, to “press down and to wound”. In Luke 10:30, the activity that “no man shall set on thee to hurt thee…” still communicates a word picture of pressing down to seriously wound or stab. This act -- in regards to the crown of thorns -- was to assure that Jesus died for all the maladies of thoughts, and even the mentally diseased. This is further assurance that all sins are paid for, both that committed by inaction and thought, as well as by action. Jesus Christ paid the total price of redemption for them all.

74 και ελεγου Lego has its origins in laying or lying down. When one gave an account, what he did was to lay down words before an audience, who judged as to whether or not his words were true, as if he had laid out a scroll with his words before them, to be examined. Thus, literally, the Romans lay upon Christ “words”. Their very breath touches His face, and rises up into His nostrils; probably almost nose to nose in closeness or proximity.

75 For the sake of “train of thought” consistency, I have excluded Simon the Cyrene’s participation here. Simon is the one who actually carried the Cross through the Siloam / Water Gate, and to Calvary for Messiah. Messiah probably was kicked and dragged through the running Kidron, while Simon and the thieves probably crossed by wooden bridge.
76 Aboth 5.5 tells us that every year, the festival was a miraculous event, with the average family pitched in tents; even tents pitched in the squares within the walls of Jerusalem. The more fortunate would stay in the home of a Jerusalemite, crammed for space. These that did, were obligated by custom to offer their hosts the skin of any animals they would offer for sacrifice in the Temple, as payment (Yoma 12a).
77 John 19:1-20, with word pictures and commentary, translation mine.