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Israeli painter ELYAH Succot Painting by Elyah SuccotL -  V'Havie'aisim el Har Kodshi (And  I Will Bring Them to my Holy Mountain)

 

The Earthquake and the Restoration of “The Land”

Catastrophes and the Time of the End

By Robert Mock MD

robertmock@biblesearchers.com

www.BibleSearchers.com

April, 2004

Part Two  

 

Topics

The Earthquake at the Crucifixion and the Restoration of “The Land”

The Earthquake replayed in the Final Drama at the Day of the Lord

Testimony of the Ancients

 

The Earthquake and the Restoration of “The Land”

 

The Earthquake! The Earthquake! The portrayal of the revolt of the earth is almost lost in the overpowering drama of the death and resurrection of Yahshua as the Lord and Savior of the world.  The World of the Divine was in the process of restoring the Sefirot of creation; rebuilding the hierarchy of God’s emanations or His attributes given to the rest of the created world.  The World of the Divine was in the divine work of restoring the channel of communication to all His Creation called the Pole of Grace and pathway of salvation up the center of the Sefirot. 

 

To the observers at the cross their hearts were rent in anguished as they heard the words of Yahshua cry out "Eli ... Eli ... Lemanah sabachthani," or "My God, My God, this was my destiny”. And then Jesus hung His head, gave up His spirit and all became quiet for three and one-half days. 

 

Yet at this moment the ‘Act’ of restoration and redemption for the entire world, Jew and Gentile alike began. But that was not all.  It was at the base of the cross that the act of restoration for the earth also began.  “The Land” was God’s holy place and has always been reserved as the place for His dwelling.  “The Land” was where the Lord of hosts promised that in the future that He will dwell. 

 

Joel 2:17-21 - “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, will dwell on Zion, my holy hill.  Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.  In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will glow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water.  A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias. …Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.” 

 

There on Zion, ‘my holy hill’, once again type met anti-type.  There on Zion, the World of the Divine collided with this planet earth.  The foundations of this planet were rent and shattered.  The focal point of that collision was Jerusalem.  At that moment the first bomb of the war to redeem this planet earth against the arch-enemy of God’s people was exploded.  That inter-dimensional war against the powers of evil and darkness had begun. 

 

There are many who proclaim that this earth will not be restored until it is fully destroyed at the end of the millennium and then created a-new.  This is not the testimony of the prophets to Israel and Judah.  These same scholars proclaim that prophecy is “conditional” and that the actions of Israel or the Jews could irrevocably change the will of God.  But that is not the testimony of the Almighty One.

 

Ezekiel 36:22-28 – “Therefore say to the house of Israel (Lost Tribes of the House of Israel), “Thus says the Lord God:  ‘I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My Holy Name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.  And I will sanctify My great Name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. 

 

For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.  Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.  I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will keep My judgments and do themThen you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” 

 

The Almighty One is not dependent upon any person or people on this planet earth to establish His Will for the destiny of this planet.  The rejection by the nation of Israel which led to their exile did not alter God’s ultimate Will.  What the Almighty One states that He will do, He will do it.  The fact that the Eternal One is omnipotent suggests that no tribe, people, church or denomination can change or alter what Elohim’s ultimate destiny is for His people.  God’s will is eternal and we are mere blips in the road.  Whether the Jew, the Israelite or you and I want to be apart of God’s Eternal Will is our personal free-will choice.

 

The restoration of the House of Israel has nothing to do with their rejection of their God or Jesus, nor with their profane and filthy lives.  The restoration of the House of Israel has everything to do with honoring God’s Holy Name and sanctifying His great Name.

 

The restoration of the House of Israel is not about making inter-dimensional beings of them and transporting them to another heavenly dimension.  The restoration of the House of Israel has everything about giving them a ‘new heart and a new spirit’, about restoring the statues and judgments of Torah and this time, they will ‘do them’. 

 

The “Judgments of the Lord” (Exodus 21:1; 23:14-17) was the participation in the festivals of:

Feast of Unleavened Bread - Passover

Feast of Harvest - Pentecost

Succot - Feast of Ingathering /Tabernacles

 

You see the ‘judgments of the Lord’ carried the full weight of the Torah or God’s divine law.  These three festivals were required of males of the children of Israel.  The implications of following these festivals had everything to do about life and death.  All males were to participate in the planting and harvesting of the spring and fall crop season.  For a male to refuse to participate in the agrarian culture of the land and the festival meant death.  To participate meant life.  Here the Lord of hosts took divine concepts; obey you live and disobey you die and gave them very literal application.  As such for God’s chosen ones to question the Torah or God’s divine law was not open to question.  It was God’s command.

 

On the other hand, the “statues of the Lord’ (Lev. 23:21, 31, 39, 41) were centered on the civil legislative body and tribal law.  They would take the spiritual concepts of the Torah and make literal applications for them.  The participation in the ‘kingdom of God’ was taking realities in the other-dimensional states in heaven and giving real true-life applications.

Feast of Harvest - Pentecost.

Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement (Judgment)

Succot - Feast of Tabernacles

 

Participation in these festivals was a miniature yearly play where human action plays out in drama the act of fulfilling God’s Will. It is not that the Lost House of the Tribes of Israel will learn to obey the Lord their God but that they ‘will obey’ the Lord their God.  Then they will be restored to ‘The Land’.  This is not a promise to dwell in an other-dimensional ‘promised land’, but “you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your father”. Then and only then, “you shall be My people and I will be your God.” 

 

The prophet then Joel picks up this theme.

 

Joel 2:1 – “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain?  Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming.”

 

Another lament or oracle is found in Jeremiah to the king of Egypt.  Here we see potentially a mini-picture of a future day when the reign of Mubarak, as the modern Pharaoh, will be extinguished and the land will be desolated.

 

Ezekiel 32:7-9 – When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. And the bright light of the heaven I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land.’ says the Lord God.” 

 

The prophet Joel then suggests that associated with the catastrophes of an earthquake will be the return of the Lord to Jerusalem, a restoration of the land of Israel as a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’, where the Latter Rain will once again be bountiful, the land will erupt with trees and vegetation, the land will sustain a bountiful of harvest, and the ‘fountain will flow out of the Lords house’.

 

Joel 2:17-21 - “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, will dwell on Zion, my holy hill.  Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.  In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water.  A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias. …Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.” 

 

Yet we shall soon see that the “day of the Lord also occurred as a mini-drama when the Almighty One came in collision with the sins of this planet earth at the death of His Son on the cross.  Within the panorama of the catastrophic events that surrounded the death and resurrection of Jesus on that “day of the Lord” in Jerusalem was a shadow picture of that future “day of the Lord” when Jesus will return again in the clouds of glory as Yahshua ben David (Jesus son of David). 

 

The restoration of the literal chosen ones will be complete to a land where they can study Torah under the rulership of Yahshua who will rule this earth with a ‘rod of iron’.  The prophetic vision of the ancient prophets of Israel and Judah will also be complete.  But God’s ultimate will for this earth and all His people will still be another thousand years in the future.  Did not the prophet Ezekiel state:

 

Ezekiel 37:21-22 - Surely I will take the children of Israel (House of Judah and the House of Israel) from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.

 

The understanding of the time of the end must come in the knowledge of Jesus’ ministry at His first coming.  The mission of Yahshua at His first coming was to find the ‘Lost Sheep of the House of Israel’ and that His mission at His second coming is to bring His people back into a “Torah” relationship with Himself and His Father.  We begin to understand how the Torah (revelation of God) was revealed to Moshe (Moses) and written down by him for all generations.  It was this “Word” or “Torah” that came back to this earth in the form of the Son of Man as the ‘Torah in the flesh’ or the ‘Living Torah’.  Here the Jews and Galileans were allowed to see and understand how living the ‘life of Torah’ actually worked. 

 

It also suggests that restoration of the ‘The Land’ that the Lord of hosts chose to dwell in some future date, is permanently intertwined with the restoration of all mankind.  Many have suggested that the redemption and restoration of all mankind is complete with the coming of Jesus.  Yet, the testimony of the prophets suggests that while many of the ‘saints in Christ’ will be fully restored into glorified bodies that have the capacity of inter-dimensional living like angels, the real purpose of the coming of Jesus is to destroy the wicked so that the Messiah can establish His reign of Torah forever

 

Who are the wicked?  These wicked are the ones possessed by Satan, and also ‘marked by the beast’, that had ultimate intent on universal control over every man, woman and child.  The enlightened one world government who rule the world with democratically voted ultimate power and control will by their own greed and evil intent attempt to eradicate the Law of God (Torah), the Shabbat rest on the Seventh-day Sabbath, and also seek to kill the ‘saints’ and the ‘chosen ones’ who believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

 

These ‘enlightened and evil ones’ will be destroyed by Yahshua ben David (Jesus son of David), the Son of Man, at Armageddon.  It will be this same New World Order that will assault Jesus as the Lord of hosts and engage in planetary and possibly inter-planetary battle with Him.  These are the same people who want complete control over all the mineral resources of this earth to rape or pillage the earth for their own profit and gain.  These are the same power brokers who destroy the remaining ‘old forests’ for a quick profit, who pollute the remaining ‘virgin lands’ for that last drop of oil reserves, who destroy God’s ‘little creatures of the forest and sea’ as a cost of keeping the engines of civilization churning, and who will destroy the last of an endangered species for a land development in the wilderness.  

 

With the redemption and restoration of God’s people at the “day of the Lord”, we will also participate in the beginning of the redemption and restoration of ‘The Land”.  Here we see the Paradise Lost become Paradise Restored.  Here the words of the prophets suggest that the Garden of Eden will be restored by those walking in the precepts of the Lord or by those ‘living Torah’.  It was the actions of a man, Adam, that brought the curses of sin upon this planet, so then it will be the descendants of Adam who will work with the Son of God, who comes with a rod in His mouth to restore this planet to its Edenic condition. 

 

But how does this all begin?  Let us take again another look at that moment in time when Jesus died. 

 

The Earthquake at the Crucifixion replayed in the

Final Drama at the Day of the Lord

 

Luke 23:44-45 – “Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.  And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’”  Having said this, He breathed His last

 

In the 4th century a copy of the Gospel of Luke was found in the Codex Vatican’s and the Codex Sinaiticus. (Pap. 75, C, L, Coptic).  This translation reads:

 

Luke 23:44-45 - "And it was now about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour, the sun having failed (or left its position….”

 

The Greek words for ‘the sun having failed’ are tou ‘êliou eklipontos.  Yet we also see that the Greek word ekleipo was used by Herodotus and also means eclipse.  Many scholars look for a lunar eclipse and others look for a solar eclipse which Herodotus states occurred at the crucifixion.  Yet it was Julius Africanus who attested that the Passover moon being ‘full moon’ suggested also that any normal eclipse was impossible as the moon and the sun were at opposite sides of planet earth. 

 

The account of the crucifixion by the Apostle Matthew is more expanded in detail. 

 

Matt 27:45-54 – “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 

 

Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!”  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 

 

The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.” 

 

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

 

So when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying. “Truly this was the Son of God!”

 

For centuries Biblical scholars have been looking for a lost gospel of the crucifixion of Jesus.  It was called “The Gospel according to Peter”.  Its existence was attested in the writings of many ancient writers: Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, who did not look favorably upon this gospel in 190 CE; Origin, in his histories about 253 CE; Eusebius, the Bishop of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History in 300 CE; Theodoret in 455 CE when he wrote his Religious history in which he claimed that the Nazarenes used as scripture The Gospel according to PeterAnd finally Justin Martyr referenced The Memoirs of Peter in his “Apostolic Memoirs.”   Let us look at the crucifixion in The Gospel of Peter

 

The Gospel of Peter 4-7(parts) - “And it was noon, and darkness came over all Judaea: and they (Jewish rulers and leaders) were troubled and distressed, lest the sun had set, whilst He was yet alive: (for) it is written for them, that the sun set not on him that hath been put to death. And one of them said, Give him to drink gall with vinegar. And they mixed and gave him to drink, and fulfilled all things, and accomplished their sins against their own head. And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down. And the Lord cried out, saying, My Power! My Power! Thou hast forsaken me!  And when he had said it he was taken up. And in that hour the vail of the temple of Jerusalem was rent in twain.

 

And then they drew out the nails from the hands of the Lord, and laid him upon the earth, and the whole earth quaked, and great fear arose. Then the sun shone, and it was found the ninth hour: and the Jews rejoiced, and gave his body to Joseph that he might bury it, since he had seen what good things he had done. And he took the Lord, and washed him, and rolled him in a linen cloth, and brought him into his own tomb, which was called the Garden of Joseph.

 

Then the Jews and the elders and the priests, perceiving what evil they had done to themselves, began to lament and to say, ‘Woe for our sins; and the judgment hath drawn nigh, and the end of Jerusalem.’"

 

Since the coming of the Messiah is in the future and many literal elements of what will happen is unknown, one model suggests that we should look seriously at the death and resurrection of Yahshua for ideas.  It is the belief of BibleSearchers that every event in the Old Testament (Tanakh) was a mini-drama that was rehearsed in that day but will be replayed in the final Drama of the Ages just prior to the Great Day of the Lord

 

There on the crucifixion tree Yahshua hung.  At that moment in time the Divine was in collision with the sins of all mankind.  Those standing at the base of the tree were a witness to the discordant cacophony as the laws of nature suspended in time as the Eternal One, Ha Shem, came face to face with the architect of supreme evil, Ha Satan.  The battle was not over Yahshua hanging on the tree but was over the souls of all mankind. 

 

Do the ancient prophets give any more clues?  Let us first look at Isaiah.

 

Isaiah 13:9,10,13 – “Behold, the day of the Lord comes….For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light: the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine….Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts…and they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.”

 

Isaiah later exclaims that the Lord of hosts will say:

 

Isaiah 50:3 - “I will clothe the heavens with blackness.”

 

Yet the Prophet Amos comes with one of the clearest descriptions of the moment in time when Yahshua was hanging on the tree that the planet earth bowed its head in sorrow and the world became dark. 

 

Amos 8:9 - “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylightI will turn your feasts (Passover) into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, and baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only Son, and its end like a bitter day.” 

 

This date is confirmed, according to some scholars, in the Eponym Canon, an Assyrian historical treatise as being June 15, 763 BCE.  Under the year assigned to 763 BCE, a royal scribe in Nineveh recorded this certain eclipse.  Denoting its extreme important that scribe then drew a line across the tablet.   

 

This reminds of that future date at the time of the end, when, the prophet Zechariah prophesied:

 

Zechariah 12:10 – “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.  Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son. And grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

 

At that time the tectonic plates beneath Jerusalem began to shake.  No, this was not a local phenomenon but a world-wide earthquake.  Let’s first look at the local evidence for the earthquake in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ death.

 

It was at Pentecost, forty days after the resurrection of Jesus, when the Apostle Simon Peter met with a large gathering of disciples of Yahshua that were meeting in the Upper Room.  Here the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) came as a;

 

Acts 2:1-4 - ‘sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, that filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” 

 

As a polyglot of many languages was being spoken, with at least fifteen translators from the lands in the Mediterranean region and the Fertile Crescent speaking at once, the Apostle Peter appealed to the prophet Joel as he reminded them of a recent event only forty days prior.  A ‘day of the Lord’ had already been witnessed by them which included ‘wonders in heaven’, ‘signs in the earth’, ‘blood, fire and vapor of smoke’, the ‘sun darkened’ and the ‘moon turned to blood’. 

 

Acts 2:17,20-21 – “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh….And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath; blood and fire and vapor of smoke.  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. (Amos 2:31) And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

 

Now the Apostle Peter was linking this moment of the crucifixion with a future event in the “last days” when once again the Lord of hosts will “pour out of My Spirit on all flesh.”  Did it not become the signature of the Apostle Paul and Silas as they traveled to Thessalonica when their host, Jason’s home was attacked by envious Jews who cried out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too?” (Acts 17:6)  Had not the fame of the death of Jesus the Nazarene traveled around the Mediterranean and the portents that were associated with His death?  So, here were two of Yahshua’s disciples whose fame also traveled ahead of them. 

 

Only days before, Paul and Silas were in the city of Philippi when Paul wrecked the livelihood of a fortune telling merchant by casting a demon out a young woman who was his most profitable diviner. Paul and Silas were dragged to the marketplace, whipped with rods and then imprisoned.  With the strains of singing hymns, suddenly a “great earthquake” occurred, the prison doors were opened and the chain and shackles fell off their feet.  Cataclysmic events appeared to follow the bond-servants of Yahshua.  A literal translation of this same text would state; "These people who caused a physical upturning of the whole world are now also present right here in Thessalonica!"

 

Was there evidence that the earthquake in Jerusalem that occurred at the moment when Yahshua’s body was laid upon the ground was also an international catastrophic event?  For the sun to be “darkened in its going forth” (Isaiah 13:10) suggests that the sun was not actually being obscured as in a solar eclipse. What we are saying is that the sun moved westward from its high noon position to sunset.  As the sun sank below the horizon in the west the full moon was also rising in the eastern horizon. 

 

With this sudden trajectory forward in rotation, the tectonic plates were moving.  Was there a crustal shift in the mantle of the earth at the death of Yahshua?  It does suggest that there was a sudden change in the solar clock forward as the mantle of the earth moved eastward that effectively appeared to move the sun westward and thereby blackened out the sun as it sank in the western horizon. Yet was this the only record of such a catastrophe in the world? 

 

Testimony of the Ancients

 

In the Babylonian Talmud, which was compiled between 70-500 CE we find a interesting reference to the hanging of Yeshua. 

 

Babylonian Talmud - On the eve of the Passover Yeshua was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald . . . cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy." (Gary R. Habermas, The Historical Jesus (Joplin, Missouri: College Press Publishing Company, 1996), 202-203 cited by Michael Gleghorn, Ancient Evidence for Jesus from non-Christian Sources.)

 

Hanging you say?  All modern Christian thought has stated that Jesus underwent a Roman crucifixion on a cross.  It is interesting that a 14th century copy of a more ancient manuscript called the Hebrew Gospel of Matthews was preserved by a Jewish scribe called Shem-Tob ben-Isaac ben-Shaprut.  Here the death of Jesus written by the Apostle Matthew is written in Hebrews.  Let us look at uniquely Torah and Jewish account.  

 

The Hebrew Gospel of Matthews 27:22-31 – “Pilate said to them: If so what shall I do with Jesus who is called Messiah?  All of them answered that he should be hung.  Pilate said to them: What evil has he done?  Then they vigorously cried out: let them hang him let them hang him, let them hang him!  Pilate, when he saw that he had no power of resistance and was unable to make any peace with them, before a great dispute among the people might arise because of this, took water and washed his hands before the people and said: ‘I am innocent (of the blood). Be careful what you do.  All the people answered and said:  His blood will be upon us and upon our seed. 

 

Then he released Barabbas (to them), and delivered to them (the Jewish rulers and officials) Jesus for beating and affliction that they might hang him.  Then the horsemen of the court took Jesus under guard and came together before a great company of people (Jews). They clothed Jesus with silk garments and covered him with a greenish silk robe.  They made a crown of thorns and placed it on his head and set a reed in his right hand and were bowing down mocking him (saying):  Peace be upon you, king of the Jews.  They spit in his face and took the reed and struck his head. When they had mocked him (much) they stripped the robe from him dressed him in His own clothes and gave orders to hang him.” (George Howard, The Gospel of Matthew according to a Primitive Hebrew Text, Mercer University Press, Macon, Georgia 31207, pg 143-145)

 

As the text continues, Yahshua carried the “gallows” called the ‘the Cross’, and was hanged on a Mount called Gulgota, where He was hanged and while mocked told to “come down from the gallows”, “come down from the tree”.

 

The Hebrew Gospel of Matthews 27:32-54 – “As they were going out from the city they met a man whose name was Simon the Canaanite. They compelled him to carry the gallows, that is, ‘The Cross’ They came to a place called Gulgota, that is, Mount Calvary, and gave him wine mixed with gall. But when he began to drink it he perceived (what it was) and would not drink it.  Then when they placed him on the gallows they divided his garments by lot. Afterwards, they set for him over his head a writing which said: This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of Israel.  Then two thieves were hung with him, one on his right and one on his left. 

 

Those who were passing by mocked him and shook (their) heads saying: ‘See, (how) you would lay waste the temple of God and in yet three days (built it); save yourself; if you are the Son of god come down from the gallows.’  The chief priest and the elders of the people mocked him saying; ‘others he saved; himself he cannot save.  If he is the king of Israel let him come down from the tree and we will believe.  Since he trusted in God let Him save him now if he wishes, because he said he is the Son of God.’  The thieves who were hung with him said to Him these very same words.

 

At the sixth hour darkness came in all the world and it remained until the ninth hour.  Jesus cried in a loud voice saying, in the holy language: My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?  One of those standing there said: This One is calling for Elijah.  Immediately he took spongy-bread, filled it with vinegar and gave it to him to drink.  Others were saying: We will see if Elijah will come and deliver him. 

 

Jesus cried another time in a loud voice and sent his spirit to his father.  Immediately the curtain of the temple was torn into two pieces, from the top downwards; the earth shook and the rocks were broken.  The graves were opened and many of those asleep in the dust arose.  They came out of their graves and after (this) they entered the holy city and were revealed to many.  The captain of the hundred and those standing with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and the things which were done and were very afraid saying:  ‘Truly this was the Son of God.’”  (George Howard, The Gospel of Matthew according to a Primitive Hebrew Text, Mercer University Press, Macon, Georgia 31207, pg 143-145)

 

In the ancient books of the ante-Nicene Fathers, we find several fascinating passages concerning the death of Yahshua, the earthquake and the dark day. 

 

Julius Africanus was one of the Early Church Fathers in the early 3rd century who wrote in his book, Chronography, under the title, “On the Circumstances connected with our Savior’s Passion and His life-giving resurrection” the following description of Jesus’ death.

 

Chronography of Julius Africanus  - “As to His works severally, and His cures effected upon body and soul, and the mysteries of His doctrine, and the resurrection from the dead, these have been most authoritatively set forth by His disciples and apostles before us.

 

On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down.

 

This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. For the Hebrews celebrate the Passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Savior falls on the day before the Passover; but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. And it cannot happen at any other time but in the interval between the first day of the new moon and the last of the old, that is, at their junction: how then should an eclipse be supposed to happen when the moon is almost diametrically opposite the sun? Let that opinion pass however; let it carry the majority with it; and let this portent of the world be deemed an eclipse of the sun, like others a portent only to the eye.

 

Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth — manifestly that one of which we speak. But what has an eclipse in common with an earthquake, the rending rocks, and the resurrection of the dead, and so great a perturbation throughout the universe? Surely no such event as this is recorded for a long period. But it was a darkness induced by God, because the Lord happened then to suffer." (Julius Africanus, Chronography, cited by George Syncellus (p. 609, 21 Bonn.) = Müller section 8 [fr. Greek]: quoted in The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion of Jesus, AD 33 )

 

Here Julius Africanus quotes two other authors which he stated also referred to the same event, the death of Christ.  These two historians were Thallus and Phegon.  

 

Phlegon of Tralles (about 140 CE) wrote a major historical work called "Olympiades".  As a distinguished chronicler of the Olympiads, in his 13th book he wrote,  

 

Phlegon - "In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad there was a great eclipse of the sun, greater than had ever been known before; for at the sixth hour the day was changed into night and the stars were seen in the heavens. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nicaea."

 

It was Eusebius, the Roman church historian of the Emperor Constantine, picked up this date of the crucifixion of Jesus, as being the 18th year of the Roman Emperor Tiberius.  It was Syncellus who quoted Eusebius in his work called the “Chronicle” in the original Greek;

 

Syncellus - "Jesus Christ ... underwent his passion in the 18th year of Tiberius. Also at that time in another Greek compendium we find an event recorded in these words: "the sun was eclipsed, Bithynia was struck by an earthquake, and in the city of Nicaea many buildings fell." (Eusebius, Chronicle, cited by George Syncellus (p. 609, 21 Bonn.) = Müller section 8 [fr. Greek]: quoted in The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion of Jesus, AD 33 )

 

 

The first quoted author of Julius Africanus was an obscure and unknown historian called Thallus who wrote a thesis some time between AD 30 and AD 180.   The Early Church Father Jerome (Heironymus) in his Chronological tables translated the mostly lost Eusebius’ Chronicle which was written in Greek into his Latin Chronological tables, which also is lost.  Yet these tables are well preserved in an Armenian translation.  The Olympiads were played every four years and according to Jerome, the 202nd Olympiad came in the years of 29-32 CE. So the crucifixion of Jesus according to Phlegon occurred in the same year as the 202nd Olympic Games in Greece.  Thallus’ now lost work was written after 30 CE and was first quoted by Theophilus of Antioch about 180 CE. 

 

If the catastrophic events as recorded by Phlegon can now be assimilated into the gospel stories of the crucifixion of Yahshua, then we have a prime reference to the date of the crucifixion of Jesus. 

 

It was also the early church father, Origen, who was a friend of Julius Africanus, who wrote two passages in his work, Against Celsius confirming this association of dates;

 

Origen  - "Now Phlegon, in the thirteenth or fourteenth book, I think, of his Chronicles, not only ascribed to Jesus a knowledge of future events (although falling into confusion about some things which refer to Peter, as if they referred to Jesus), but also testified that the result corresponded to his predictions. So that, he also, by these very admissions regarding foreknowledge, as if against his will, expressed his opinion that the doctrines taught by the fathers of our system were not devoid of divine power." (Origen, Against Celsus 2. 14 cited by The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion of Jesus, AD 33 )

 

Origen  - "And with regard to the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place, Phlegon too, I think, has written in the thirteenth or fourteenth book of his Chronicles." (Origen, Against Celsus 2. 33 cited by The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion of Jesus, AD 33 )

 

 

Origin - "Regarding these we have in the preceding pages made our defense, according to our ability, adducing the testimony of Phlegon, who relates that these events took place at the time when our Saviour suffered." (Origen, Against Celsus 2. 59 cited by The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion of Jesus, AD 33 )

 

We then have the testimony of the 6th century Christian Neo-Platonist, Philopon, who wrote;

 

Philopon, a Christian Neo-Platonist - "Phlegon mentioned the eclipse which took place during the crucifixion of the Lord Christ, and no other [eclipse], it is clear that he did not know from his sources about any [similar] eclipse in previous times."  (Philopon, De opif. mund. II. 21 cited by The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion of Jesus, AD 33 )

 

Then there was the 6th century Christian chronicler, Cassiodorus, who spoke of the uniqueness of this eclipse;

 

Cassiodorus  - Under these co[n]s[ul]s Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered the VIIIth day before the Kalends of April, and an eclipse [lit. failure, desertion] of the sun occurred, such as never was before or since."

 

Written in Latin: "Tib (erius) Caesar V (Cusp., et solus) coss. (Cusp., Domitius et Scribonianus.) His coss. Dominus noster Jesus Christus passus est VIII calend. Aprilis, et defectio solis facta est, qualis ante vel postmodum nunquam fuit.")  (Cassiodorus, Chronicon (Patrologia Latina, v. 69) "Tib[erius] Caesar V [Cusp., et solus] coss. [Cusp., Domitius et Scribonianus], quoted by The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion of Jesus, AD 33 )

 

What is lost in the Easter celebrations of the Christian denominations is that the origins of Easter can only be found in the Passover festival of the Lord celebrated even today in the spring Passover rites of the Jews.  The parallels of Jesus as the Passover or the Pesach (Paschal) Lamb are lost as the hidden and mystical meanings of the Passover festival has been hidden in what is referred as the ‘mythical fog of the ancients’. 

 

When the Roman Catholic Church did ‘change times and laws’, the 25th day of March in the Julian calendar was selected as the conventional date for the 14th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar.  As such the festival was converted from the lunar calendar of the Hebrews to the fixed solar calendar of Rome.  Even this date was a fixed date.  Easter was then fixed by convenience to the spring solar equinox on the Roman Julius calendar.  Here as early as 243 CE in the works of Cyprian, De Pascha Computus, in probably northern Africa, the early Roman Christians linked the Passover, the spring equinox, and the 14th day of Nisan with the Passion of the Lord.  (See The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion of Jesus, AD 33 )

 

Now five hundred years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have a Roman author testifying to the death of Jesus on the 8th day before the Kalends of April, which in the Roman Julian calendar was 25th March, 33 CE.  So according to the Roman Christian testimony, the death of Jesus was sometime between March 25 and April 3, 33 CE.  With the conversion to the Gregorian calendar, the date March 25 Roman Julian solar date and April 3 Hebrew lunar date would actually have now be converted to April 1 Gregorian date for the crucifixion of Jesus. No wonder this was called April fools day

Part Three

The Great Earthquake and Clues to the Restoration of Paradise

Preparing for the Coming of the Messiah (Moschiach)

The Great Cycle of the Lord

The Catastrophic Era – the Era of the Hebrews

A Global Earthquake in the Sixth Seal

 The Global Earthquake in the Seventh Trumpet of the Seventh Seal

When the Lord of hosts sets His Feet on the Mount of Olives

 The Coming of the Messiah along with Major Planetary Crustal Changes on this Earth

The Great Earthquakes at Yahshua’s Death and upon His Return

 

Return to Part One

Jesus’ Death, the Earthquake and the Omens to ‘The Jews’

Introduction

The Rending of the Temple Veil

Omens that Began at the Death of Jesus

The Sanhedrin banished from the Chamber of Hewn Stones

Forty Years of Omens on the Jewish People

The Lord’s Lot came to the Left Hand

The Crimson Red Cord would not turn White

The Lamp on the Menorah refused to give any Light

The Doors of the Hekel open on their Own

The Star, the Comet and the Lamb birthed to the Red Heifer

 

Go to Beginning