THE SITE OF THE CRUCIFIXION

(Originally published in Newsletter No. 7, April 1994)

Satan is a better historian and Bible scholar than the rest of us put together. However, he uses his knowledge to deceive those of us who are not prepared through the Holy Spirit by much study of the Scriptures. HEB 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Satan knows that God is about to do His "short work upon the earth": ROM 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. Satan and those who operate under his influence have always tried by any means to "make good to appear evil and evil to appear good": ISA 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! The majority of people prefer lies over sound doctrine: 2TI 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 2TI 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. Tragically, many of our "leading" religious leaders are happy to be used of Satan to preach and publish lies: ISA 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: ISA 30:11 Get you out of the way; turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. JER 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to leave it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

In this volume, we shared with you the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant, and the wonderful fact that Christ’s Blood had been divinely spilled upon the mercy seat. The events that took place at His death and resurrection were prophesied in Isaiah: ISA 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. The fulfillment of this prophecy is related in Matthew: MAT 27:50 Jesus, where he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. We are told in Scripture that the blood of animals can not cleanse from sin: HEB 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:...10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;...14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified....19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;...28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (IJO 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. )

For the past several years there have been several writers who would like us to believe that the Ark of the Covenant is some place other than beneath the crucifixion site of Christ. Careful study of the Bible references to the mercy seat and the Dwelling of The Shekinah there on, and the "Spirit of God" leaving the mercy seat just prior to the destruction of the first temple by the Babylonian army in 586 B.C., would indicate to us that the true ark with its mercy seat occupied by The Divine Presence remained in the first temple until within days of the temple’s destruction. The Presence of God would not rest upon a "copy" of the original. EZE 9:3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;... 10:18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims....11:23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

No clever general stakes all his plans on one maneuver, and Satan is no exception. In recent years there has been put forward the idea that the crucifixion of Christ took place somewhere east of the city of Jerusalem. The scripture that is quoted as "proof"of this notion is: MAT 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

As is always the case when Scripture is misused, there is nothing wrong with the Scripture, only with its interpretation. The "things" these "scholars" and others claim that were "seen" by the centurion and those standing with him, are elaborated on in the verses just before the one above: MAT 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

If the centurion and those standing with him saw the vale of the temple "rent from top to bottom" we are told "They would have had to be standing directly in front of the door of the temple to the east upon Mt. Olivet’’. Aside from the difficulties inherent in being able to see through the eastern city gate, the gate of the temple court, and through the doors of the temple to where the vail hung between the Holy and the Most holy place, the text does not say that they saw everything that is described in the preceding texts. For example, they could not have seen the resurrected saints "come out of their graves and go into the holy city". This event did not occur until the morning of the first day of the week when Christ arose.

This very insidious theory of Christ being crucified on the Mt. of Olives is all part of Satan’s plan to try to discredit the true crucifixion site. And though many may be deceived by these theories, the Bible never leaves us without the answers we need. Everything in the sacrificial system was a type which would meet its antitype in the true event. Christ died outside the city on the north side: LEV 1:10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish. 11 And he shall kill it on the SIDE OF THE ALTAR NORTHWARD before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

God gave us 4 Gospels for a reason- if we go to the other 2 Gospels which tell about the centurion, we will get a better understanding of the passage taken out of context by those who have developed this theory about Christ being crucified on the Mt. of Olives.

FAITH

Occasionally someone will say to us, "I don’t need to see all of these discoveries- I believe by faith." And that’s wonderful. But as I mentioned earlier, after seeing all the things I’ve seen which confirm even tiny little details of the Bible, I can say without a bit of doubt that nothing will ever be able to shake my confidence in the Word of God. And years ago, there were times when preachers and writers had me thinking that just maybe, some parts of the Bible really were a little "messed up"... I mean, after all, it’s been thousands of years since the Biblical writers lived, and well, maybe the Bible wasn’t all that correct. Do you know what I mean?

Eternal life is not a matter to take lightly- the things God has revealed are exciting, but they also have a purpose. These are God’s work. And because He has revealed all the wonderful evidences that have come to light in the last century, we must know that He has a purpose in this. Sure, we all believe by faith. But how strong is that faith going to be if the time comes that we are forced to make a decision based on that faith which may require us to lose our home, our family or maybe even our life? Is our faith that strong? Look around you, at the world we live in. It’s all almost over. And we are living in the time when our faith will be tried to its utmost- Satan knows his time is short and he is furious. So let us be thankful for the gifts the Lord is giving us which increase our confidence in His Holy Word. And as the end get nearer, and the trials we face seem unsurmountable, remember His promise: REV 2:10 ...be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.