But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead) (vv. 6-7).

This passage is often misunderstood, yet the overall meaning of it is somewhat easy to understand and well-quoted in the church. If your mind is caught up too much with the phrase, "Do not say" in a legalistic sense, then, you will miss the point. Keep in mind that the opposite of faith is unbelief. To say, "Who will ascend into the deep?" or "Who will descend into the deep?" is an indication of unbelief. Therefore, "the righteousness that is by faith" does not say and ask those questions. Also, do not be misled by the expressions, "to bring Christ down," and "to bring Christ up from the dead," into thinking that these things are something that believers should not do, again, in a legalistic sense. No, as the phrase, "that is," indicates, Paul is explaining how each sentence he quotes should be understood. It should be realized that he interprets this section of Deuteronomy 30 in terms of a prophecy and its fulfillment concerning Christ who descended from heaven to the earth, and then, ascended from hell to bring the word near to humans so that they can do what it says. For him, "that is" means "it is to be understood as …," or even "it came to be fulfilled as …" In other words, God did exactly the impossible things that people say were the reason for not being able to obey God's commandments, so that they could obey them.

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming (v. 8).

He quotes from Deut 30:14 as a conclusion, and says that it came to be fulfilled in Christ whose gospel he is preaching. Since the emphasis is on "believing" in this particular portion of the letter, he leaves out the last part of that verse in Deuteronomy so that it does not cause misunderstanding.

No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it (Deut 30:14).

God's ultimate purpose of sending Christ was to make those who were saved by faith would do the will of God obeying his law.

It seems that behind this way of interpreting the above passage in Deuteronomy, there was an interesting belief among the Christians in the early church concerning how Christ descended to hell and what he did there.

… (spirit), through whom (in which) also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built (1 Pet 3:19-20).

Needless to say, the purpose of Christ's preaching to these spirits was not to save them, but to proclaim victory over them. These spirits represent the force that causes people to sin in this world, and Christ demonstrated, before them, the authority and the power that had been taken away from humans because of their sins, but was regained through his death, and they all saw him ascending from hell as the disciples saw him ascending from the earth. This was done so that they could no longer bother those who would come to believe in him. We believers are finally able to do the will of God freely by being led by the Spirit of God. And on the way back from hell, Christ placed a stone at the exit—the spot on the floor of the Most Holy Place in the temple, where the Ark was once placed. This is the stone in Isaiah 28:16—"a stone in Zion, a tested (approved) stone," traditionally called "shetiyyah." Note how the passage in Isaiah 28 depicts those who think that they will not descend into the deep because they made an agreement with the grave (she'ol), but in fact, will all fall into it through this entrance. At the same entrance, this stone was placed so that "the one who trusts (believes) will never dismayed."

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed (Isa 28:16).”

In order to know what God means by "So" at the beginning of this verse, we need to have some explanations concerning the important concepts that are rather foreign to us today. First, we need to understand that this stone is associated with the stone that was laid in the Most Holy Place of the Second Temple in lieu of the lost Ark (it could be that the same type of stone was also laid underneath the Ark in the First Temple). It was by God's inspiration that this stone came to be called "shetiyyah," which was a law dictating the manner of drinking in a royal feast. When this is applied to us Christians, it signifies the new way we worship and live by being led by the Spirit of God instead of being drunk with the mind of the flesh, which is death (Rom 8:6, Eph 5:18).

Second, we need to know that a stone in the Old Testament sometimes signifies an entrance (also an exist) or a boundary between two lands. In Genesis 29, we have a story of Jacob meeting Rachel at a well, and the narrative mentions several times that the stone was to be rolled away from "the mouth of the well." Also, later, after Jacob came out of Laban's house with his family, he and Laban met together and made a covenant with each other building heaps of witness with stones. Laban said:

This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me (Gen 31:52).

These heaps were the marks of the boundary of two worlds where they could not pass from one to the other. Jesus, as Jacob did, went to one world, and on the way back from there, he placed a stone at the exit. This stone is the entrance to Hell for those who are perishing, but for those who are saved, it is the entrance to Heaven. And the difference comes merely from whether to believe or not. With all these things in mind, read Isaiah 28 again, and you will come to understand what God means by "So" at the beginning of v. 16.

Paul explains, by quoting from Isaiah 28:6 (also 8:14), how the old system of seeking righteousness by keeping the Law has changed to the new system of justification by faith in Christ who has become the foundation.

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (Rom 10:4).

In this new system, we no longer try to become righteous by the works of our flesh, but live as a righteous one by having been made such through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ. When you try to seek righteousness, you lose it. Rather you start living by accepting the reality of the righteousness that God's word says you are in Christ. However, one problem we the Gentiles often come to have is that since we were saved by faith without having really sought righteousness as the Jews did, we tend to put on the attitude of legalism later as we continue learning the Bible as if it were good and necessary to seek righteousness so that we can be proud of it. Be careful! Paul goes on to explain this change from the former system to the new one by quoting from the passage in Deuteronomy 30.

But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead) (vv. 6-7).

This part is rather difficult, but the key to understanding it lies in the way Paul interprets the passage in Deut 30.

Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley-- to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine (Isa 28:1)

This “Ephraim” refers to the Northern Kingdom, and the “wreath” signifies the palace in Samaria, its capital. Note that this wreath is also expressed as “fading flower” because it was being oppressed by the Assyrians that time. And all people in this land were “drunkards” in God’s sight.

And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth (vv. 7-8).

According to the Bible, there are two kinds of wine: one comes from Satan, and the other comes from God. With the first kind, the drunkards become senseless to the spiritual things of God, have difficulty understanding his word, lose ability to render correct decisions according to God’s will, and live in the world of false visions and dreams. This is, in fact, how all people came to live today.

Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do and do (tsav la-tsav), do and do (tsav la-tsav), rule on rule (qav la-qav), rule on rule (qav la-qav); a little here, a little there (vv. 9-10).

So then, to teach something just and righteous to such unteachable people is like to teach Hebrew alphabets to little children. This was the step God had to take in bringing righteousness to this corrupt human world. These tsav’s and qav’s were the Law given to Israel, which they failed to keep, and resulted in judgments.

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed (v. 16).”

This scripture is quoted in Rom 9:33 and 1 Pet 2:6 as a prophesy concerning Christ becoming the foundation. Note that in the context of this chapter in Isaiah, the oracle began with a picture of drunkards. It so happened that the foundation stone laid in the Second Temple in the place of the lost Ark was called shetiyyah, which comes from the verb shatah meaning to drink. It meant an order concerning how to drink wine in a royal feast (cf. Esth 1:8). Keep in mind that worship is a meal with God, and this stone symbolizes a new system of worship in a new kingdom with new citizens. It even gives a new kind of wine, with which those who believe get drunk and become senseless to all activities of destruction happening around them, and are saved from them. The important change from the way people sought righteousness by keeping the Law is expressed in the statement, “the one who trusts (believes) will never be dismayed.” To believe means to accept the spirituality that has become available to us through Christ—the righteousness of God, upon which our life is now being built under God’s grace. The former stone was carried out as prophesied in Zech 4, and now a new stone, called also “a distinction stone,” was carried in. This stone serves as a distinction between those who believe and those do not, and the distinction between the Jews and the Gentiles are no longer valid. And most importantly, those who believe will come to understand the heart of God and freely do his will. How can we live that way?

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18).

When you get drunk with this new wine, you become senseless to the worldly things, and bold to do the will of God.

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it (Zech 4:6-7)!’”

Zerubbabel figuratively represents Jesus Christ, through whom the former kingdom of God has ended, and a new kingdom with a new system has been established. The period of the Second Temple in which Zerubbabel lived served as a transition from the old one to the new one. Here, the “mighty (big) mountain” was Mount Zion on which David’s palace once stood, symbolizing the nation of Israel, the former kingdom under the old covenant, and its “becoming level ground” meant the abolishing of that kingdom. The “capstone” was the foundation of this old kingdom, and Zerubbabel was to “bring out” to shouts of “God bless it! God bless it (grace, grace to it)!” The old system of distinction between Israel and the Gentiles has been removed, and all those who believe in Christ are now “members of God’s household.”

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:19-20).

The blood of Jesus was already sprinkled upon the Atonement Cover of the Ark of the Covenant, and he brought out the former stone to the shout of “It is finished (fulfilled)!”

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (Rom 10:4).

The ending of the old system meant the beginning of a new system, in which we believers are now living.”

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts (believes) will never be dismayed (Isa 28:4).

What is new under the new system is that we no longer need to try to be righteous by keeping the law with the drive of our soul, but by believing (accepting) the spiritual reality of God’s word and being led by God’s spirit through our spirit, the requirements of the law (the will of God) are fulfilled in them (Rom 8:4, 14). The foundation on which this new system has been established is called “the distinction stone (ha’eben habbedil)” in Zech 4:10.

Who despises the day of small things? Men (They) will rejoice when they see the plumb line (distinction stone) in the hand of Zerubbabel. " These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range throughout the earth (Zech 4:10).

For the time of Zerubbabel, this “distinction stone” would be the stone called “shetiyyah” that was actually placed in the Most Holy Place in lieu of the Ark of the Covenant. Concerning the Ark, Jeremiah had already prophesied as follows:

“In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made (Jer 3:16).”

It was by God’s plan that the Ark was lost, and the new stone was placed in the Second Temple. This stone is really Jesus Christ himself who has seven eyes—seven springs welling up with living water, and seven lamps lighting up with golden oil.

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it (Zech 4:6-7)!’”

As it has been already pointed out, this section of chapter 4 of Zechariah was originally recorded as an independent oracle and placed right after 1:7, but later, it was moved from there and inserted in the present location by an editor (or the author himself). If it were still in the originally place, we would interpret this oracle simply as an oracle given to Zerubbabel and to Zechariah to encourage them as they faced the situation of that time, especially concerning the task of rebuilding the temple. However, since the oracle seemed to contain something much more—far beyond their current situation and into the distant future, it was moved into the middle of the vision that also deals with something of the future—especially, that of a drastic topographical change of Jerusalem.

The “mighty (great) mountain” was Mount Zion on which David’s palace once stood. It was still a high mountain, then, higher than any other parts of the city, but the oracle says, “Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground.” As “Joshua the high priest” in chapter 3 represented the nation of Israel as well as the city of Jerusalem that had been destroyed and burnt, “Zerubbabel” symbolically represented the kingdom that had come to exist under the Davidic covenant. As the horn of a nation is chopped off, the leveling of Mount Zion signifies the cutting off of the visible existence of David’s kingdom. The visible or physical boundary between Israel and the gentile nations would disappear, and the two would be united and amalgamated into one kingdom. In fact, the same thing has been revealed in the vision of a man with a measuring line in chapter two: “Jerusalem will be a city without walls (2:4).” Paul speaks of this amalgamation of Israel and Gentiles through Christ as follows:

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility (Eph 2:14-16).

In other words, the former kingdom of Israel was overthrown and destroyed, and a new kingdom through Christ was established under the same Davidic covenant. And if the way a kingdom stands has changed, and a new kingdom has been built, then, the former foundation must have been removed, and a new foundation must have been laid.

Therefore, two different kinds of stones are mentioned in this oracle of Zech 4: “the capstone” that Zerubbabel will bring out, and “the plumb line” that he will come to have in his hand and people will rejoice at. Each of them is expressed as a “stone (eben)” modified by an unusual adjective that occurs only once and here in the Bible. The first one sounds like “the former stone,” and the second one “the stone of distinction”: the first one is to be carried out, and the second one is to be brought in.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line (the stone of distinction) in the hand of Zerubbabel (Zech 3:8-10).

“The former stone” was what was contained in the Ark of the Covenant, and “the stone of distinction” is “the living stone”—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him, and “God’s solid foundation” with an inscription saying, “The Lord knows who are his,” and “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights (4:2).

The fifth vision that Zechariah saw in the night of the 24th day of the 11th month in the second year of Darius was the vision of the gold lampstand, the bowl and the two olive trees. The tips of the branches of the olive trees were like ears of grain, out of which pipes were connected to the bowl, and gold oil (some kind of golden liquid) was running through the pipes. The literal translation of v.12 would be:

Again I asked him, "What are these two olive ears that are emptying out the golden (thing) by the hand of the two gold pipes (v. 12)?"

Note that there is no word for “oil” in the original Hebrew text as you see in the NIV version. Zechariah only described what he saw, and it was some kind of liquid in the color of gold. Also note the verb, “to empty,” which is translated as “to pour out” in NIV. The verb implies that the liquid was not flowing constantly, but flowed for a while until it emptied out, and began to flow again: the cycle continued. It is interesting to see that when he first asked the angel about “these two olive trees”, the angel whom he was talking to did not answer, and it appears that the angel hesitated to do so.

Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand (v. 11)?"

The hesitation to answer by the angel was because these were not completely “olive trees.” Zechariah’s description was only the approximation of what he actually saw: he did his best to describe it.

There is a spring called “Gihon (means bursting) spring,” even today, in the city of David in Jerusalem, where once the temple stood. This spring is very unique in that water runs into it from a natural underground cistern (not man-made) somewhere on a near mountain that is higher than the water level of the Gihon spring. When the cistern is filled with water, it pushes the water out through the underground natural tube (this is the “pipe” in the vision) as in the system of a siphon, and when the water level of the cistern becomes low and air goes into the tube, the water stops flowing. And when the cistern is filled back with water giving enough pressure, it pushes water out through the tube again. This natural cistern was the “bowl” that Zechariah saw at the top of the lampstand.

What Zechariah saw was this underground water system of Jerusalem. The lampstand of seven lamps is a symbol of the temple, and the lamps are the eyes (also means springs) of the Lord, “which range through the earth (v. 10).” Zechariah also tells us in chapter 14 that on the day the feet of the Lord stand on the Mount of Olives, the mountain will split with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south, and a great valley will be formed between the two mountains from east to west (see also Ezek 47:1-12). Then:

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter (14:8).

There is another unusual thing in chapter 4: the section of vv. 6b-10b was most likely moved from another place in the book, and inserted here. It was originally right after 1:7, and these words were given during the day of the 24th day of the 11th month, and in the night of that day, which would be 25th day in their calendar, he saw the visions recorded in the subsequent sections. The “mighty mountain” was Mount Zion, upon which David’s palace was built. The flattening of Mount Zion means that David’s house as the nation of Israel would disappear, and a new kingdom would be established through his descendant spreading to the right and to the left and dispossessing nations. In fact, the former foundation was taken out, and the foundation of this new kingdom was already laid, and we believers of Christ are being built upon it.

On the staff of Levi write Aaron's name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe (Num 17:3).

While each of the twelve tribes of Israel was to bring its own staff, and write its own name on it, Aaron’s name, for the tribe of Levi, was to be written on their staff. In other words, Levi’s staff was exceptional, and in a sense, it already indicated that the tribe of Levi was separated from the rest of the tribes for the priestly work. It was by Aaron’s name that the whole tribe was chosen. Obviously, Aaron’s name can be seen as the type of Jesus’ name.

The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites (v. 5).

What matters most is this act of God’s choosing. Through one man that God chooses, the rest of the people that belong to him will come to receive the same benefits and privileges as that man has. The same truth regarding priesthood is revealed in the vision that Zechariah saw in ch. 3 of his book. There, Joshua the high priest represents not only the entire nation of Israel, but also the whole community of Christians today. The filthy clothes he was wearing was removed from him, and a holy turban was given to him. Having declared as righteous, he was appointed as the high priest.

Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch (v. 8).

It is important to note that not only Joshua was chosen, but also his associates were chosen with him as priests. And they were to be “men symbolic of things to come”— symbolic of the truth in which all believers will become priests in Christ who is “my servant, the Branch.”

“See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day (v. 9).

The word for “eye” also means “spring,” and to “engrave an inscription” can mean to “open an opening” in Hebrew. Thus, besides the above translation, the whole sentence can be translated as “There are seven springs on that one stone, and I will open (them) up.” The result of this opening will be the gushing of the water from the stone. It will make a river, and on each side of the river, the tree of life will yield its fruit (different kinds of fruit) so that people will come to eat from them (cf. Rev 22:1-2).

And this two-fold theme continues in the vision of ch. 4.

He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights (4:2).

From v. 10, we know what these “seven lights” are: they are “the eyes of the Lord, which range throughout the earth.” If they are “eyes,” they are also “springs,” and it can be accordingly assumed that the “seven eyes” on the stone placed before Joshua in 3:9 are connected with the “seven lights” on the gold lampstand in 4:2. It can, then, be surmised that the vision in ch. 4 further reveals what was already revealed in the previous chapter by adding another dimension to it.

Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness (2 Tim 2:19)."

The important assumption behind this verse is that all believers are chosen as priests. Peter also speaks of the same truth in his second letter. He first calls Christians as “living stones” being built into a spiritual house, and he encourages them saying:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Pet 2:9).

As we have already discussed, the Second Temple built at the time of the prophet Haggai had a stone placed in the Most Holy Place instead of the Ark of the Covenant. This stone was what Paul refers to as “God’s solid foundation.” The story behind it was that of Num 16: Korah and his followers approached God trying to get priesthood in a wrong way. Keep in mind that you need to be a priest in order to be able to see this tone as you enter the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement with a censer in your hand. And to be able to serve God in the temple that way, you need to “turn away from wickedness.”

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2 Tim 2:20-21).

The holiness of the vessels used in the temple, God’s house, was an essential requirement, which was obviously well known among the priests. So, Paul uses it metaphorically to speak about the holiness that is also required for a believer as a priest—God’s living vessel. This holiness is not only necessary for the short time the priest actually spends serving in the temple, but also for the time he spends living outside the temple. If he goes into the temple with filthiness still lingering on him, he will be killed.

The prophet Zechariah, who was contemporary with Haggai, saw a vision in which Joshua the high priest was standing and being accused by Satan. Then, the Lord said to Satan:

The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire (Zech 3:2)?

In this vision, Joshua metaphorically represented the nation of Israel, and he was redeemed from the loss of the priesthood that he once had. At the time of Exodus, God declared Israel as “a kingdom of priests,” but Jerusalem, together the temple, was burnt, and the nation was destroyed as a result of their sin. In the same way, Adam was created and put in the Garden of Eden to serve God as a priest. But as a result of his sin, he was driven out of the garden and dismissed from his priesthood. However, in the vision, Zechariah saw that the filthy clothes that Joshua wore was removed, and rich priestly garments and a clean turban were given to him, and he was put back in charge of God’s house and courts! How was God really able to do such a thing? The Lord said:

“… I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day (vv. 8-9).”

Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness (2 Tim 2:19)."

When Paul was alive, there still stood, in Jerusalem, the second temple which was rebuilt at the time of Haggai the prophet. “God’s solid foundation” that he spoke of was the foundation stone of this temple. The Ark of the Covenant with the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written was carried into the first temple that Solomon built, and we assume that it was there until the destruction of the temple. And when the Jews returned from the captivity and built the second temple, they did not have the ark. According to Mishhah (Yoma 5:2), in place of the ark, a stone called, Shetiyyah (it was three fingerbreadths high), was placed in the Most Holy Place. And upon it, on the Day of Atonement, the priest put a censer with which he burnt incense by taking fire from the altar. And according to Paul, an inscription was engraved upon the stone, saying, "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Behind all these lies the story of Korah and his followers who turned, with pride, against Moses and Aaron seeking to get the priesthood. Moses said to them:

In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him (Num 16:5).

And when they stood at the entrance to their tents, the ground directly underneath them split and swallowed them alive. Fire was also sent from the Lord, and killed the 250 men who followed Korah. The ones who belonged to God were separated from the ones who did not. Just before this happened, God warned the whole assembly saying:

Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins (v. 26).

Then, Gold told Moses to gather all the censors with which the 250 men offered incense, and hammered them out to make a covering (or screen) for the altar. And he did so. On the following day, the whole assembly came to Moses and Aaron, and said, “You have killed the Lord’s assembly.” This time, before they began to intercede, the Lord’s judgment fell upon the whole assembly, and they began to die. So, Moses told Aaron to take his censor and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. And when he did it, the Lord’s judgment stopped.

He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped (v. 48).

All these point to the atonement accomplished through Jesus Christ. He stood between the heaven, which is full of God’s life and glory, and the earth, which was full of death and destruction, and offered himself upon the altar. The incense burnt by the fire taken from this altar has come up as a memorial offering before God. The redemption of humanity is now complete! It is all by God’s grace, and the salvation now depends on us who accept it or do not accept it. Surely, “the Lord knows those who are his,” and let us “turn away from wickedness.”

They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it (Mat 27:33-34).

In the northern part of Jerusalem, there is a gate called Damascus Gate, and just north of it is a rocky hill with a cliff that contains two large sunken holes resembling the eyes of a skull. It was the location at which the redemption of humanity took place (cf. Lev 16:27, Heb 13:12).

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me (vv. 45-46)?"

This was, in fact, what the Father God meant by “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again (John 12:28).” Who could see it?

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split (vv. 50-51).

This corresponds to the earthquake that Elijah experienced, or the earthquake that made the clef in the rock in which Moses was put. Into the opening of the split rocks, Jesus’ blood and water that gushed out of his side flowed, and the earth absorbed it. This was the moment when the cornerstone was laid for God’s kingdom, and for that, the life of Christ was sacrificed. His blood revived the destroyed foundation of the earth, and became hot living magma that makes the earth still living and unique among the planets in our solar system. This magma is producing foundations for all the continents, cities, and buildings. And on the same foundation we exist and live.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God (v. 54)!"

It was ironic that this was seen by the Roman centurion and his soldiers, but not by the Jews. This corresponds to the fact that Moses was hidden in the clef and covered by the hand of God who passed in front of him. The body of Jesus was placed into “a new tomb” that was cut “out of the rock,” which was owned by Joseph the Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, and a disciple of Jesus. While all this was happening, God Yahweh was proclaiming his name as follows:

The Lord, the Lord (or, The Lord is the Lord), the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin (Exod 34:6).

And on the third day when some of the women who followed Jesus went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus with oil:

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay (Mat 28:5-6).

This corresponds to the “back” of the Lord that Moses saw after he passed in front of him. He could not see the face of the Lord. Or, it corresponds to the fact that Elijah did not see the Lord as he expected in the powerful wind, the earthquake and the fire. The women went to the disciples and told them what they saw, but they did not believe.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).