A Sabbath Resurrection and Wednesday Crucifixion of Yeshua the Messiah

This article begins with concessions to the traditional Friday afternoon crucifixion and Sunday morning resurrection point of view. Why concede points to the Sunday resurrection? Because whatever you heard or studied about this before, you've most likely studied an incomplete version of the Wednesday crucifixion and Sabbath resurrection that neglects these points. These neglected points may serve as reason to reject the Sabbath resurrection. On the other hand, the Wednesday scenario was always viable in spite of these difficulties, because the Friday arguments has problems of its own. What is needed in this day and age of apostasy is a firm grounding in all of the biblical facts, and not just some particular version of a theory.

First there is no doubt that the resurrection was just before dawn in the morning hours. It was not in the middle of the afternoon on the Sabbath. Christians are correct to believe that Yeshua rose from the dead in the morning. They have not been deceived about which half of the day Messiah came out of the grave. Matthew 28:1 says, "as it began to dawn"; Mark 16:2 says, "very early"; Luke 24:1 says, "very early in the morning"; and finally, John 20:1 says, "when it was yet dark". If the Wednesday Crucifixion and Sabbath resurrection can survive this concession, incorporate it, and explain it, then it will have survived a major objection. It will be all the more worthy of consideration. On the other hand, if it proves impossible to bring it into line with a morning resurrection, then it will have to be conceded that it does not provide a clear solution to the confused chronology of Yeshua's crucifixion and resurrection.

The traditional view is also correct that the resurrection was on the third day and not the fourth. It is correct that by biblical standards, the afternoon of the Sabbath would be the fourth day from Wednesday afternoon. Sunday morning, just after sunrise, is definitely the third day from Friday. If the Wednesday view cannot overcome this error in counting, then we may have to conclude that the theory is an inconclusive alternative to the Friday view.

There are other reasons why Christians will not want to consider the Wednesday crucifixion and Sabbath resurrection. They may have learned about it from a heretical group that denies the eternity of the Son of God, Yeshua. There are many cults that quickly recognize and imitate a form of godliness, but then they reject the Son of God, even denying that he is YHWH our Adonai. Christians need to learn that Satan's expertise is in packaging up neglected truths with damnable falsehoods. Satan hopes to trick some into the lie using the neglected truth, and at the same time make other Christians, keep away from the neglected truth due to the bad reputation packaged with it. Yet it is necessary to make a search into what the truth is. For most Christians already are part of a cult or heresy. The only way to escape is to pray and study the truth your group or denomination may be neglecting. Specifically, everyone needs to pray that God will show them the truth on every matter. One need to believe they will receive an answer fitting their level of maturity.

Another reason Christians may not be able to see certain truths is that they are using Bibles that hide that truth. The Catholics make their own translations. Different Protestant denominations also make their own translations. And every other cult in the world tries to make its own translation of the Scriptures. There are so many versions of the Bible in America, that no one can blame Christians for being confused. On the other hand, the confusion is witness to the reality of the attack of Satan on the Word of God. If he cannot burn bibles, then he prints his own, and uses them to deceive Christians. Should you choose this mission, to seek the truth, you will be met with all of these alternatives. The situation is comparable to ancient times when the people who knew the truth lived 10,000 miles away from those who did. A simple web search on a biblical topic will yield more controversy than anyone with a lifetime of scholarship can unravel. No one actually has time to sift through the fog that Satan has created. And the fog is not just lies. That fog is dressed up in every form of outward religion. It looks spiritual, tastes spiritual, and is partly spiritual, but is mixed with deadly poison. Will you be able to drink the truth without swallowing the poison first? Will you endure the trek while you search? Many will try and be unable. That is what Yeshua said. Blessed is the one who tries asking God for help.

Remember, if you are content with everything you were taught by your group, then it is likely that you do not have an eye to discern neglected truth. It is probable that you are not practicing the faith as Yeshua meant it to be practiced. It is likely that somewhere in the past your fathers lied. Is that not the testimony of the Bible? One thing is very clear in the Scriptures, in both Old and New Testaments: the majority of people who THINK they have the truth actually believe lies and oppose the truth whenever it comes along. And these people make every claim to being perfectly religious and perfectly spiritual about it. Only the absolute truth can set you free from all of this. The absolute truth is Messiah Yeshua crucified and raised from the dead. Therefore, we need to understand the facts of his death and resurrection, and the important conclusions we can draw from those facts.

In the Messiah's death and resurrection, two important biblical themes come together. These are the Law and the Gospel. Everything about Yeshua's death and resurrection was according to the Torah and Prophets. Both the laws and the teachings of forgiveness for sin are exalted in the historical events of Messiah's life on earth. This article will show how Yeshua exalts both the Torah and the Good News. He died to make payment for our sins, to satisfy God's just decree of punishment for sin. He rose again to give us life, and this life is expressed in His law which he is wants to write on our hearts. Whoever desires forgiveness of sin and this eternal life of living the way God desires will be saved. One begins by asking Yeshua to forgive their sins. Doing this, you will be forgiven, and will be given God's Holy Spirit so that you will live and learn to love Yeshua by keeping his commandments.

Why then do we believe that Messiah rose from the dead on the Sabbath day? For two reasons. First, the Sabbath best illustrates rest and redemption from sin, and peace in the life to come. Second, because the facts necessary to make this point are actually true. Messiah did rise from the dead on the Sabbath day. I mean the seventh day Sabbath, which is called "Saturday" in English or "El Sabado" in Spanish. This is the same Sabbath that Jewish People and many Christians worship God on. In order to understand this, we will need to take a fresh look at the original Greek manuscripts and some accurate translations. But we will not get too detailed here. This article is actually a popular summary of a 255 page book called, The Scroll of Biblical Chronology and Prophecy, which is available free online. This book demonstrates how the Sabbath resurrection leads to the complete solution for all biblical chronology problems, and how it provides a firm foundation for understanding future events, however, it is technical and not very devotional. The current article you are reading is intended to be as non-technical as I can make it, and it is intended to be devotional. That means, I will frequently explain the spiritual meaning of things and what it means to you.

All the finer details are proved in the chronology book. Putting the resurrection on the Sabbath is related to possible years for the crucifixion, which in turn is related to the solution of Daniel 9, which in turn is related to when the sabbatical years are, which in turn is related to when the Jubilee year is, which in turn are related to the overall framework of biblical chronology. If you are willing to digest all this information, then you will be just as confident as I am about the truth of the Scripture, and exactly how and when God did things in history. Taking the whole counsel of God and putting it together into a consistent whole is the real proof of the divine inspiration of Scripture and why we should listen to its teaching.

Matthew 28:1 teaches a Sabbath resurrection: "On the later of the Sabbaths, at the dawning for the first of the Sabbaths, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the tomb." It begins, "On the later Sabbath ..." because there were two Sabbaths in Passion Week. One Sabbath was the annual Passover feast day, and the other was the weekly seventh day Sabbath which followed. In Passion Week, the annual Sabbath was on Thursday. "On the later of the Sabbaths" tells us that the resurrection was on the weekly Sabbath, and not on the annual Sabbath. Jewish believers in Yeshua know that the annual Passover feast day is a rest day as well as the weekly Sabbath.

Why does the above translation of Matthew 28:1 differ from what Christians are used to? Actually, what Christianity does not realize is that with respect to translations, it is like the proverbial frog being slowly boiled to death in a pan of water. Errors have crept into the translation because either ancient translators did not understand the text or they had an unspiritual distaste for things that reminded them of Jewish laws, like the Sabbath. Here is a list of resources that admit that the original Greek meant "Sabbath".

It was only at the time of the reformation that the translators decided they could change the text from "Sabbath". Now they translate "week". But the original Matthew said, "On the later of the Sabbaths, at the dawning for the first of the Sabbaths, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the tomb." The book of Leviticus shows us what the end of Matthew's verse means. Matthew wrote, "at the dawning for the first of the Sabbaths". If we use specifically the King James Version, we will get an accurate explanation of the original Hebrew, "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:" (Lev. 23:15). This text gives commandment to Israel to begin counting something after the annual Passover Sabbath. It says they should count "seven sabbaths". "At dawn for the first of the Sabbaths" will be the first one of these Sabbaths. It will be exactly the first Sabbath after the annual Passover feast.

So the resurrection was prior to the dawning on the weekly Sabbath after Passover. Why has Christianity not seen this? Do you really expect a majority to be correct? Yeshua came to an adulterous and unbelieving generation of Jews. Do you really think Christianity has improved on the righteousness of the Jews? While Christianity has spread over the whole world, it has also been degenerating at the same time. With each new wave of spreading, its original potency and truth has been diluted bit by bit. Did not God's law warn us: "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil;" (Exodus 23:2). The Jewish People rejected the most important teaching of the Torah and Prophets. The most important teaching that would tell them that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, the embodiment of the Most High in human form. Why then should you expect the Gentile Christians to do any better? The first generation began well, but the story of biblical history is a lesson in the speed and quickness of apostasy! Did not Messiah himself predict that at the end of the age, the love of most would grow cold, and the many would fall away from the truth?

As always, apostasy overturns the most important doctrines and teachings of the Scripture. Those who want to be lawless overturn and remove everything that reminds them of God's Law. That includes the Sabbath. They remove just enough to become disobedient to God, and then Satan leaves them alone. He wants them to retain the more minor truths, because Satan wants to keep their children from seeking the truth elsewhere.

Messiah Yeshua died on a Wednesday afternoon, and rose from the dead just before dawn on the Sabbath day. Now, we agreed that Messiah did rise on the third day. The time immediately before dawn on the weekly Sabbath of that week falls just within the limit of three days. In this case a day is a 24 hour period. But when does it begin and end? Yeshua's death on the cross was a sacrifice for our sin. The scripture also calls his sacrifice a "peace" offering, because it makes "peace" or Shalom between God and man. Here is the Torah's regulation for a peace offering, "And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning" (Lev. 7:15). Notice that the offering must be eaten "the same day that it is offered"? Yet, the limit of that day is defined as "until the morning". The Rabbis, who liked to put fences around the law, changed the limit to midnight. However, the Torah teaches that the offering could be eaten as long as it was night, as long as dawn did not lighten the countryside. By this definition of "day" for a "peace offering", the day lasted from morning to morning. And the peace offering is a type of Messiah. Therefore, we should not be surprised if the three days are counted according to a Temple day for a sacrificial offering.

So let us calculate the three days according to the peace offering. The death of Messiah falls on the first day of the count, between dawn on Wednesday and dawn on Thursday. Both the Passover lamb and the peace offerings offered at the same hour Yeshua died would have to be eaten by the end of that "same day" which is defined as "until the morning". In the case of a sacrifice on Wednesday afternoon, the day ends at dawn on Thursday. That is the first day. Some offerings could be eaten on the second day (cf. Lev. 19:6). The second day was dawn on Thursday to dawn on Friday. But no offering could be eaten on the third day. The third day was dawn on Friday to dawn on the Sabbath. Yeshua was raised before dawn on the Sabbath. It was still the third day until the dawn lightened the countryside. Yet Yeshua's offering was kosher on the third day, so that we may partake of his resurrection. Yeshua's offering is an exception, as pointed out in the Psalms, "Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see decay" (Psalm 16:10).
Yeshua preceded the light in his resurrection because he is the greater light. The worldly light was not allowed to precede him. We must notice a few details about the resurrection. John 20:1 shows that it must have happened "when it was yet dark". Further, it was still too dark later because Mary saw Yeshua "standing, and knew not that it was Yeshua" (John 20:14). We have the sure word of prophecy to confirm that Yeshua came out of the grave while the deepest dawn was only hinting in the eastern sky. Everywhere else, it was still dark, and therefore still night. For God called the darkness "night". The prophet Hosea says, "Then we shall know, we shall pursue to know YHWH. At deep dawn His going forth is fixed, and He comes as the rain to us, as the later rain showing the earth" (Hosea 6:3). The word here used for "deep dawn" is a specific Hebrew word shakhar that always means the deepest dawn. It means the first hint of red in the east before the night is banished from the countryside. It is of the same root as the Hebrew word for the color "black". Everywhere it is black, except with the hint of light coming in the east.

The prophet says "at deep dawn His going forth is fixed" and determines the exact time that Yeshua, who is YHWH in human form, came out of the tomb. If we recognize this, then we shall recognize the LORD. The whole passage from Hosea 6:1-3 contains details of Yeshua's death and resurrection. Even the end of chapter five speaks of it. There are more details in the online book and in articles on this website. But we must not get lost in all the details. What I want you to take from this is that Yeshua was raised while it was still night. Yeshua was raised while it was still night, before the limit of the next day arrived in accord with the timing for a Temple sacrifice, which could not be eaten when it became morning. The Wednesday crucifixion and Sabbath Resurrection is in complete agreement with the fact that Yeshua rose "on the third day".

On the other hand, we will see from the notes of time in our gospels and the prophetic passage in Hosea 6:3 that the traditional Friday to Sunday explanation now lacks the third day! That's right. One may try to count Friday as day one, and Sabbath as day two, but the third day is missing, because no part of the daytime of Sunday may be included. The temple definition of day, as being from morning to morning will not help here. The third day would only begin with the light on Sunday, but we have seen that Yeshua preceded the light.

Also, the Jewish legal definition of a holy day will not help this view either. The day definition for a holy day is sunset to sunset. Before Friday sunset, we have one day, and then up to Saturday sunset, two days, and from Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset, three days. This is "on the third day", but Yeshua DID NOT say he was raised on the third day according to the standard for a holy day. No he did not. We can easily show that using the standard of the holy day, he said he would rise "after three days" (Mark 8:31, 9:31). There are many other texts that say this by the way, but you will have to get technical. See them in the online book. For our purposes here, "after three days" in Mark 8:31 and 9:31 will be sufficient. After one day begins at sunset on Friday. After two days begins at sunset on Saturday, BUT after three days does NOT begin until after sunset on Sunday. Therefore, the Jewish standard for a 24 hour day does not work with Yeshua's resurrection.

On the other hand, "after three days" works just fine with the usual Jewish definition of a 24 hour day. After one day begins at Wednesday sunset. After two days begins at Thursday sunset, and after three days begins at Friday sunset, and it remains the time period of "after three days" all the way up to sunset on the Sabbath. So "after three days" contradicts the traditional chronology. There are actually some biblical Greek manuscripts that have "after three days" in other passages. Also, many of the "on the third day" passages, when they are reverted to literal Greek and then to Hebrew should be "after three days". Here is a list partial list of the discussion in the online book:

Mark 16:1 tells us that the women "bought spices" after the Sabbath. That is, they bought spices after the annual Sabbath. They also rested on this Sabbath according to the commandment (Luke 23:56). For the Torah commanded Israel to rest on the Passover Sabbath. See Lev. 23:7. Mark 16:2 says again that the women went to the tomb "very early in the morning on the first of the Sabbaths". This was the first weekly sabbath after the annual Passover, called the "first Sabbath" because Israel was supposed to count seven Sabbaths after the Passover. Notice that Mark has mentioned both Sabbaths in Passover week? He first mentions the annual Sabbath, which fell on Thursday, and then he notes the buying of spices between the two Sabbaths, and then he moves forward to the weekly Sabbath, called the "first of the Sabbaths" following Lev. 23:15. This was the second Sabbath in that Week. On it the women went to the tomb. On it Yeshua was raised.

The reconciling of all the biblical texts in the gospels regarding the timing of Yeshua's death and resurrection should give us absolute assurance that he came out of the grave. It should also teach us that Messiah meant EXACTLY what he said. Matthew 12:40 introduced most people to the Wednesday Crucifixion and Sabbath resurrection. We have now seen that many other texts demonstrate the Sabbath Resurrection. The "three days and three nights" of Matthew 12:40 work perfectly. The nights are Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night. The days are Wednesday day, Thursday day, and Friday day. Yeshua died in the midst of the first day, and was raised toward the end of the third night. Yet, for the Sabbath resurrection, we must agree with the traditionalists on every example of inclusive counting they give. Only part of Wednesday is counted as the first day, and only most of Friday night is counted as the third night.

We can safely state that Yeshua rose on the third day at dawn on the Sabbath. Everything fits. Even the statement in Luke 24:21 where Cleopas, a disciple says, "today is the third day since these things happened" fits. To say the "third day since" means the same thing as the third day "after". At sunset on Wednesday up to sunset on Thursday, it was one day "since" the crucifixion. Between sunset Thursday and sunset Friday, it was two days "since" the crucifixion. And finally, between sunset Friday and sunset ending the Sabbath, it was the "third day since" the crucifixion. Luke 24:21 makes sense in exactly the same way as "after three days" in Mark 8:31. So the two men walked with Yeshua to Emmaus later on the Sabbath. Now Luke 24:21 is a problem for the Friday to Sunday belief. In that case the "first day since" the crucifixion is the period after sunset on Friday. The "second day since" the crucifixion is the period between sunset ending the Sabbath and sunset on Sunday, and the "third day since" would have to be time after sunset on Sunday. So we see that Luke 24:21 does not actually work with the Friday to Sunday scenario. The objection in Luke 24:21 would only be fit to be spoken Monday morning.

With the crucifixion firmly fixed on Wednesday afternoon, the "preparation of the Passover" (John 19:14) preceding the annual "Sabbath" "high day" (John 19:31), we can see that the 14th of Nisan was Wednesday, and the 15th of Nisan was Thursday. The month of Nisan was the first month, and this began with the sighting of the new moon in Jerusalem. Since the sun, moon, and earth move through the heavens according to regular laws that can be computed, we can use a computer program to find out in which years the Passover preparation would have fallen on a Wednesday. Here is a list of the choices:

We see that only A.D. 34 fits with the astronomically calculated date for the 14th of Nisan preparation of the Passover to fall on Wednesday. Quite independently, Sir Isaac Newton reached the conclusion that the Passion was in A.D. 34, and the famous Jewish Scholar Solomon Zeitlin also reached the same conclusion.

On page 96 of the online book, the Sabbath Resurrection is scored against 46 criteria alone with theories for every other year by Hoehner-33, Anderson-32, Amadon-31, Hoeh-31, Scroggie:-30, Catholic-30, Jones-30, and Edersheim-30. It scores a perfect 46. I subtract one point for an inconsistent answer, and add one for a consistent answer. I even score Loraine Day's chronology, and even though she omits the third day criteria, her theory scores higher than all the others. The scores are Gregg: 46, Day: -4. Hoeh: -8; Scroggie -19: Jones: -20, Hoehner: -30, Catholic: -32; Anderson: -33; Amadon: -35; Edersheim: -40. None of the Friday views scored better than -30 points. Most of the criteria pertain to other historical data, not directly related to the Passion. Nolen Jones' Thursday scenario only eked out -20 points. The median scores belong to Wednesday-Sabbath afternoon scenarios (-8 and - 19).

With the Sabbath Resurrection firmly pegged to A.D. 34, we can now show how the Daniel 9:24-25 prophecy of Messiah's first coming works out perfectly and naturally with the Sabbatical Year. (The online book locates numerous historical and biblical sabbatical year.) I will will only discuss a most interesting synchronism here. About 165 A.D. Rabbi Yose Halaphta wrote a book called Seder Olam, which was incorporated into the Talmud. In this book he placed the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 69. Although the date for the fall of Jerusalem was incorrect, Halaphta knew when the correct Sabbatical cycle was. He work places the fall of Jerusalem in the first year of the seven year sabbath cycle. That makes A.D. 67/68 the Sabbath year.

The sabbath year comes regularly every seven years. Accordingly, the very year before A.D. 34 is a sabbath year: 32/33 A.D. Also if you keep counting backward, the year 445/444 B.C. was a sabbath year on the same cycle. It was in this sabbath year, 445/444 B.C. that Nehemiah rebuilt the city of Jerusalem. The prophecy calls sabbath year cycles "week" or "sevens". However, it is little known that the Sabbath year itself is called a "seven". The text calls for seven sevens and sixty two sevens, or 69 sabbatical years. Then it says "after" this time period expires, the Messiah would be "cut off", a Hebrew idiom meaning to be put to death or banished. The number of Sabbath years from 445/444 B.C. to A.D. 32/33 is EXACTLY 69. That is right, the fit is exact. There is no need for any manipulative tricks, like resorting to the claim of a prophetic year of 360 days. The actual sabbatical cycle is all that is needed. It is the one that Israel really observed. It is the one that Israel will again learn to observe when Israel again obeys the Torah of Messiah Yeshua.

There was a 360 year before the great flood, and there only seems to be one in the book of Revelation simply because many ignorant of the biblical new moon errantly assume a month is always 30 days. For instance the 42 months are NOT 1260 days. But these matters are explained in the "Prophecy" sections of the online book.

Knowing the correct Sabbath year, we can use this information to reconstruct the year of Jubilee. The year of Jubilee comes after seven cycles of sabbatical years. The year after the 49th year is the Jubilee, which is called the 50th year (Lev. 25:1-8). When one discovers one piece of a puzzle, then other pieces start to fit too. You know you are putting a puzzle together correctly when pieces start to fit all over the place. For this reason, we can have absolute certainty about when and how Yeshua rose from the dead. We can be certain about biblical chronology. We can prove what we believe to the world. We can be assured of an absolutely solid historical foundation for the good news.

We can also be sure of one other very important thing. Did you know that every Church and denomination and sect has a view of biblical history and chronology that is necessary to support their different doctrines and teachings? They may not tell you about it, but their doctrines require certain beliefs about chronology as well. You can be sure, that if you know and thoroughly test this chronology, that you will never be deceived by these cults and alternative Christianities that compete with the original Faith that Messiah Yeshua once delivered to the Saints. And you can be sure that your knowledge of the original faith is absolutely correct.

The Jubilee year is intimately connected with the Messianic restoration at the end of the age. In the year of Jubilee, the "Great Trumpet" is blown, announcing redemption of the land of Israel. We can use our knowledge of the sabbath year to show how the Jubilee cycle fits. This little article, however is a summary of the online book, and only part of it at that. So I speak in more general terms here. The Jubilee is synchronized with the Exodus and Hezekiah's 15th and 16th years, a period of time that works out with all the other biblical data as exactly 18 Jubilees. The Jubilee is also alluded to in the 2nd year of King Saul (1 Sam. 13:1-3), the 4th year of David (2 Sam. 6:15), the fall of Nineveh (Isaiah 27:13), the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar to his throne (Dan. 4:34). The Jubilee also synchronizes with the first year of creation. This all works out perfectly with all other biblical data, with no contradictions.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Are you a weed, or do you seek the pearl of great price? The pearl is knowledge of the kingdom. It is the oil that the wise virgins put in their lamps. Many will try to enter the kingdom and will be unable. Many a denomination started out down the path to truth and got sidetracked by the devil. You do not have to join with majorities and be side tracked. The shepherd himself is seeking his sheep. This is no pious talk. It is the truth. Every cult spins its tale with pious talk and a spirit of religion. This is a truth you can test and see for yourself to be fact. The Pharisees thought they had all the truth, and so they rejected Yeshua. Do not fall into the trap of depending on the authority of men or on your tradition. Seek the truth and find out the historical facts.

The online book comes with a full bibliography and over 400 footnotes. It is cross referenced and contains a complete set of chronology charts on pages 107-238. You owe it to yourself to love Messiah and seek the true and correct facts of the crucifixion and resurrection (cf. John 15:10). He is waiting to forgive everyone who puts their trust in Him. He also wants us to obey him.

Remember how I said that the gospel and the Torah are united in the events of Yeshua's death and resurrection? I have not even told half the story yet. The gospel did not bring with it a replacement righteousness to replace God's desired response: our obedience. In the good news, we learn that Yeshua (also called Jesus) paid the price for our sin. He took the penalty and paid it. The divine justice was satisfied. But the good news is not against God's laws. Many Christians might think it is because they have been taught to think about "Justified by faith" the wrong way. "Justified by Faith" they are taught means that God considers them perfectly righteous simply because they believe. That, O reader, is not the truth. A person is only righteous when they ARE righteous. We approach the crucifixion with empty hands, admitting we are sinners. We are forgiven, and pardoned of our sins. We are not acquitted. God does not send us out of his court telling us that we never did anything wrong and that he thinks we never did anything wrong. That's why we receive a pardon, and not an acquittal. If you understand this distinction, then you will understand why Paul really taught that God's "justice was satisfied by the faithfulness of Messiah" and not "justified by faith" in the way that Calvin and Luther misunderstood it. There are other materials at www.torahtimes.org about this.

The original meaning of "justified by faith" is "justice is done by the faithfulness of Messiah" (Gal. 2:16). The faithfulness of Messiah is his obedience to the cross. And it is HIS faithfulness. It is NOT our faith that "does the justice". Our faith does not get counted as perfect righteousness. That is a false anti-Torah gospel. No one becomes perfect until Yeshua transforms them, and that is not finished until He returns. I know this is a hard teaching for many, but it is true, and I would be neglecting my duty to leave it out. If you want to be righteous, or be considered righteous, then you have to obey God. I'm sure many will be turned off by this, and will go away, but that is what they did to Yeshua too! If you want to live, then you have to partake of Yeshua's life of righteousness. You cannot get it from Calvin or Luther's doctrine. Yet, if you have even a little patience, all the important points about the original language are already on the website, and I have already shown you that the Church has made their own translation of the Scriptures, according to the perversions of their hearts. If you value you life, you will seek the truth. We even have a forum. There is no theological test for participating. I only ask that people who want to argue make their arguments no longer than our replies. The truth always wins on a level playing field. The time is short.

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Yeshua.

Hi Daniel, nice article.......... How do you respond to folks who claim that [Matthew 12:40] must be 72 hours.....and not one minute more....or one minute less?

I been wanting to write this explanation to show how that can be accomodated for some time, but now you give me a good excuse to do it

Was Yeshua in the heart of the earth 72 hours?

I have explained in various places how "three days and three nights" means six onot. A Onah is a period of time amounting to a half day, i.e. a day or night, and a part on an onah can be couted as the whole of it. Yeshua was in the grave for 1/6th of the first Onah, 4 full onah, and maybe 99/100ths of the final onah. Let the π· mean a part of and τ be time in the grave. Therefore: τ = π·day + night + day + night + day + π·night. This is shown in the chart:

From the death on the cross to the resurrection is shown by the upper red line extending through "three days and three nights". There is little doubt as to the near completeness of the final night. Hosea 6:3 tells us, "His going forth is fixed at the dawn"; The word used for dawn in the Hebrew is (Shakhar). This word means the earliest possible hint of dawn in the east. It means the reddish light detected indicating the coming day, but before there is any other evidence of day. Technically, it only means the coming day, it is still night, and there is no evidence of twilight over the land, except coming from far away in the east. This is why John 20:1 says it was "yet dark" "on the first of the sabbaths" at the "sepulchre". The precise definition of Shakhar is found in HALOT (Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament).

On the other end of things we have some ambiguity. Does Sheol in Jonah 2:2 represent the literal grave or does it represent the state of death itself? If the former then the π·day will be smaller, but if the latter then π·day will equal exactly 3 hours or 1/4 of a day as we know that Yeshua died at the 9th hour (which is the same as our 3 p.m.) Stated another way: 3 hours > π > 1/2 hour. The most literal sense of (Sheol) would be to equate it directly to the physical grave.

However there is also a 72 hour interpretation of the matter that will also make sense of the language. First we note that Yeshua said "heart of the earth". These words were constructed out of the Hebrew word underlying "midst" in Jonah 2:3 (KJV) and the Hebrew word underlying "earth" in Jonah 2:6. It seems that Yeshua might be covering the whole period of his suffering as well as death in the phrase "heart of the earth". The "belly of the whale" and "belly of sheol" can be conceived of as Yeshua's suffering in Jerusalem, at the heart of the land, earth, world.

It is without a doubt that Jonah was swallowed by the whale rather quickly. Otherwise he would have drowned. The experience in the whale was likely a brief conscious period lasting say many hours of the first day, and then unconsciousness would overtake Jonah for the remainder of the "three days and three nights". The conscious period goes with Messiah's sufferings and the unconscious period with his death.

That (Sheol) in Jonah 2:2 could cover the sense of suffering is within the meaning of the word. For example RSV Psalm 18:4, "The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears." This is remarkably similar to Jonah 2:3-4, "For thou didst cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood was round about me; all thy waves and thy billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, `I am cast out from thy presence; how shall I again look upon thy holy temple?'" (RSV). If we regard this as within the fish, then it falls inside the "three days and three nights"; Yet we know that neither the Psalmist nor Jonah is dead. Also Psalm 116:3-4, "The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. 4 Then I called on the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech thee, save my life!"

We should also note that in Jonah 2:2, the prophet places his "affliction" in the whale. That belly was no holiday inn with a king sized bed. In 2:3 Jonah refers to the seas raging outside, with perhaps the whale regurgitating some more water every now and then. He is in fear of this. In 2:5 he refers to the sea weed wrapped around his head. It appears here that the sea weed remained wrapped around Jonah in the whale as the whale swallowed both Jonah and the weeds wrapped around him. This probably help minimize the stomach acids of the whale on Jonah. Nevertheless, the acid would have caused some intense suffering until Jonah slipped into an unconscious state.

How does this apply to the chronology? While the literal physical grave aspect of the belly of the whale is highly significant, it need not be the only meaning of the prophetic figure. We may include all of Yeshua's suffering in the heart of the earth as the "cords of Sheol" and link this with "belly of sheol" (Jonah 2:2) and the "three days and three nights" (Jonah 1:17). Yeshua's sufferings began in the morning, just before the cock crow, when one of his best friends denied him. This would have been at the crack of dawn. Either a rooster crowed then, or the morning watch sounded. In Luke 22:61-66 the beginning of his physical sufferings is placed with the end of the watch and the break of day. John 18:22, when Yeshua is struck, might be placed right at dawn. So then the whole belly of the whale experience can be regarded as 72 hours, lasting from dawn on Wednesday, Nisan 14 to dawn on the Sabbath, Nisan 17.

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