Judges Chapter 14 Part Two (Verses 5-14)

3. (Judges 14:5-9) Samson slays a lion and eats some wild honey
Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked good to Samson. When he returned to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.  

Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah: Samson's parents caved in to Samson's demands. The three of them journey to Timnah so marriage arrangements could be made. On the outskirts of the Philistine village was a vineyard. Samson and his parents separate. Going through the vineyard would have been the direct route to Timnah. However, since Samson was a Nazirite, he had to avoid contact with grapes. Thus, he took the long way around.

Behold, a young lion came roaring toward him: Suddenly, Samson stumbles upon a lion. The startled lion roars at Samson. Samson leaps into action.

The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily: We see God using this situation for His purposes. When the Spirit comes upon Samson, it overwhelmed him with supernatural strength and courage. With bare hands (i.e., using no weapon), Samson tore the lion apart and killed it.

Who can imagine fighting a lion under any circumstances let alone without any kind of weapon? But let us also not make it out to be more than what it is. The Hebrew word used here for lion is kephir. There are five Hebrew words for lion, and they are NOT synonyms. Rather, each Hebrew word for lion sets up a hierarchy of the lion's maturity.

The word gur means a baby lion or a small cub. At the other end of the scale is the oldest and most mature lion called a layish. In between gur and layish are three other Hebrew words denoting the different stages of the lion's development. Kephir is the second youngest stage. What Samson fought was a mature lion cub, but it was still small. It was not yet considered a young adult lion. (The typical illustrations of a large male lion with a flowing mane is a little over the top for what Samson actually killed.)

He did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion: Since Samson went a different route than his parents, his mom and dad did not know about the adventure Samson had with the lion. Samson did not bring this topic up. This of itself is going to play a role in what comes a little later in the story.

So he went down and talked to the woman: When they arrived in Timnah, all three went to the family home of this unnamed Philistine girl. Samson took some time to speak with her. Up until now, he had only been struck by her lovely appearance. After getting to know the woman, he became pleased with her countenance. 

When he returned to take her: The next verse skips ahead quite a bit. Some amount of time has passed. Samson's parents had apparently met their Philistine counterparts. Marriage terms were agreed upon and the betrothal period began. How long this is we do not know. Undoubtedly, it was some compromise between the Hebrew and the Philistine's customs of the day.

Verse eight has Samson returning to Timnah to claim his bride. (Again, it appears Samson's parents took a different route as they approached Timnah's vineyards.) Along the way, Samson remembers the lion and went over to the same spot to see if the remains of it were still around. Samson saw the lion carcass.

The image we need to get in our mind is that this was not a sun-bleached lion skeleton lying there. Rather, it was more of a mummy. It was summer in Canaan--it is hot and dry. During summer, when an animal died, it was quite usual for scavengers to do their jobs to empty the dead animal of its internal organs. But, at the same time, the sun and lack of humidity had the effect of rapidly dehydrating the remaining skin and flesh. Meat and fish are often preserved this way. They are flayed and laid open to the sun to become dried and preserved for use later.

It was inside the cavity of the lion where the skin was still stretched over the skeleton that a colony of bees had established a hive. Honey was a prized food. There was not a great deal of it. (Bees were not cultivated in hive farms like they are now.) Honey offered a wonderful and rare flavor. So Samson took full advantage of this novel treat. He scraped out of the carcass as much honey as he could with his hands. He ate some and then later offered some to his parents when he met up with them again. We are told that Samson withheld the matter of where he got the honey from.

The body of a lion: A lion was an unclean animal. Worse, this was a dead unclean animal. So while Samson did not seem to be bothered by the prospect of either contact with this ritually impure object northat  eating food taken from it, his parents would not have eaten the honey had they known the source. Technically, a Nazirite was not supposed to touch a dead body under any circumstance. He could not ever bury his own parents if they passed away. However, tradition had developed a Nazirite was not to contact any dead thing including an animal. (One distinction was made: a Nazirite could eat and touch a clean dead animal, otherwise eating meat would have been out of the question. There is no record of requiring a Nazirite to become a vegetarian or to abstain from sacrificial offerings.)

It is unimaginable that Samson's parents would have eaten honey taken from the corpse of a dead unclean animal such as a lion. This shows once again how Samson paid little attention to the Laws of Moses or even Hebrew traditions if it did not suit him. He really did not care too much about the feelings and concerns of others. This included even his own parents.


B. The feast and the riddle

1. (Judges 14:10-11) Samson hosts a "bachelor party" for Philistine friends
Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

Then his father went down to the woman: In verse ten, we are told that the marriage ceremony began as Samson's father went down to greet Samson's bride-to-be. There is no hint which indicates the situation was tense or even uncomfortable for the two families. In many ways, this is just another subtle example of how familiar and at ease God's people had become with God's enemies. This helps us understand why the LORD was going to do something about this ridiculous state of coziness between the two sides which ought not to exist.

Samson made a feast there: We are told a banquet was served. This was the way young men used to go about a marriage ceremony. The young men are referring to Philistine young men. This banquet was a Philistine tradition, not Hebrew. Since Samson was in Philistia, marrying a Philistine girl, there were not any of Samson's Isrealite friends with him. So, out of hospitality, the bride's family provided 30 Philistine men as "companions" for the groom. I suspect Samson had at least some familiarity with many of these men, especially the best man. It seems as though a Philistine wedding ceremony was much like our modern bachelor parties in the USA. Only this party was a seven-day long affair!


2. (Judges 14:12-14) Samson poses a riddle concerning the lion and the honey 
Then Samson said to them, "Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes." And they said to him, "Propound your riddle, that we may hear it. So he said to them,
"Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet." 
But they could not tell the riddle in three days.  

Then Samson said to them: As you can imagine, without television or a DJ, a long seven-day event could get a little bit boring. So, some kind of entertainment was called for. The nearest larger-sized city to Timnah was Askelon, which was about 30 miles away. It is not feasible the guests traveled this distance every day for entertainment. Rather, the wedding guests would have stayed in Timnah during the entire wedding events.

In those day (and for hundreds of years into the future), a favorite party activity was telling riddles. Along with the riddles came drinking copious amounts of alcohol. There is not statement which indicates Samson drank. But if he had not, it would have been a serious breech of hospitality and protocol. Additionally, strictly speaking, a Nazirite was only supposed to stay away from grape-based alcohol (even though tradition stated Nazirites should not drink any alcohol). There were many kinds of alcohol made from grain. In any case, there are some scholars and many Rabbis who try to make the case Samson avoided drinking alcohol. This ideology would have gone against everything we are told about Samson's character if Samson did not partake in at least a little bit of alcohol.

Thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes: The bridegroom does his duty to entertain the guests. Samson offers a riddle. And to go along with it, he offers a wager: if the thirty male guests can decipher the answer, Samson promises to buy them thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.

Various Bible versions offer different translations about what Samson wagered. The linen wraps are written in Hebrew as sedinim; these are rectangular pieces of fine linen which was often used as soft undergarments. This would have been immensely helpful since most outer garments were made from coarse materials which tended to be very scratchy to the touch. The changes of clothes is written in the Hebrew as chalipha; it means a festive garment. It is a garment reserved for a special occasion. 

The main point about these pieces of clothing is that they were expensive garments. By Samson offering this wager, he was really sticking his neck out. If Samson lost, one could wonder where he would have acquired the funds to buy so many costly items. Naturally, part of the bargain was that if the thirty men could not guess the answer to the riddle by the end of the seven-day marriage feast, they would then each owe Samson a sedinim and chalipha. Samson was not planning on losing because in reality, the riddle was not a fair one. But the guests accepted it and the wagers were set.

The riddle: Out of the eater came something to eat. And out of the strong can something sweet: This riddle is referring to the lion Samson killed, and the honey the bees formed inside it. But who could have ever guessed such a thing? This is nothing in which logic, deductive reasoning or cleverness could ever solve. One had to be there at the lion incident to have any idea what Samson was talking about. Solving such a so-called riddle is impossible. Here again, Samson's character flaws show themselves. He has organized a scheme which will take advantage of his own guests, but of course, this is more or less what the LORD had planned all along as a mean to stoke the fires of unrest between the Philistines and the Israelites.

But they could not tell the riddle in three days: Verse 14 tells us that after three days, all 30 men working together to solve this great mystery had no solution.

Judges Chapter 14 Part One (Verses 1-4)

SAMSON'S FIRST FAILED MARRIAGE

Introduction
In chapter 13, we examined Samson's God-announced miraculous birth by a mysterious manifestation of the Angel of the LORD. Samson's mother was barren and most likely was beyond her child-bearing years. Samson's mother was told Samson would be a Nazirite all his life, and this included the time Samson spent growing in her womb.

Samson was of the tribe of Dan whose allotted territory was located adjacent to the coastal region which was dominated by the Philistines. (The Philistines were also known as the Sea Peoples.) Samson was part of only a small remnant of Danites who had elected to remain in central Canaan as the bulk of their tribe migrated north to the Lebanon border area. In this remote northern location, the Danites re-established themselves. The Philistines had proved to be too formidable for them to carry out God's instructions to drive the Philistines out of the Promised Land. So now, the descendants of Dan lived either in the far north or in small enclaves in some of the other Israelite tribal territories. Judah was one of the primary locations as it was the nearest to them and was among the larger territories.

It was Samson's God-ordained purpose to begin to address the strong influence of the Philistines and their pagan culture upon Israel. Samson would not deliver Israel from the enemy. (This was not his assignment.) He was only to begin the process by stirring up trouble between the Philistines and Israelites who had constructed a peaceful co-existence which was precisely against anything the LORD wanted for His people.

Samson's job was merely a continuation of the Holy War begun by Joshua. Samson's actions were in a sense God-sanctioned. While Samson's motives and methods were often questionable (and perhaps even criminal), the LORD influenced him. At certain critical moments, God anointed Samson with superhuman strength. Those critical moments often came after Samson went astray from Hebrew cultural norms and from the Law of Moses in such a way as to precipitate another crisis. Samson and his relationship with God and the manner in which God worked through Samson is quite unique among the Judges. It is also something we ought not to seek for ourselves.


A. Samson seeks a Philistine wife

1. (Judges 14:1-3) Samson demands a Philistine wife
Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, "I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife." Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me."

Then Samson went down to Timnah: Samson was around 18 or 19 when the Spirit of God came upon him back in chapter 13. As we enter chapter 14, Samson is about 20 years old when he spies out a girl.

Samson's home was in Zorah which was located in the foothills of Judah. Zorah was at an elevation of approximately 800 feet. Timnah was mostly a Philistine city at this time and was located on the coastal plain called the Shephalah.

For the last three centuries, the 12 tribes of Israel have been living in a land called Canaan. Israel was a named nation only in the sense in which it consisted of a people group which stemmed from a common ancestor, Jacob. They were not a country. The 12 tribes were fairly well united during Joshua's day, but when Joshua and the leadership passed away, they reverted back to a typical tribal society in which each tribe was its own entity. The only other allegiance each tribe held was to whatever treaty-based relationships they formed. There was no sovereign nation of Israel with a central government. It is the eventual formation of a central government which is the historical marker which ends the era of the Judges and begins the time of the Kings. The formation of the central government led by a king is also when Israel was finally called Israel. In short, during the time of the Judges, there were 12 Hebrew tribes plus the Levites who inhabited the land of Canaan. But it was not called the nation of Israel (yet).

Saw a woman in Timnah: Samson was in Timnah (for some undisclosed reason) and a Philistine girl catches his eye. He instantly fell in love with her. When the text says, "saw a woman", this means more than to notice her existence. It means he saw her unveiled face, meaning from the typical Middle Eastern cultural norms, this was an immodest girl. Samson goes to his parents and asks them to get her for him. This may sound a bit strange, but this is the usual custom of parents negotiating the marriage among each other.

Get her for me, for she looks good to me: Samson's parents were horrified. Samson was a Nazirite. he was set apart for God when he was still an embryo. A Nazirite was expected to be especially observant of Torah. For him to want a Philistine girl (and an immodest one at that) had to take his parents' breath away. For one thing, it was against Hebrew law for Samson to marry a Philistine. Naturally, his parents want to know why he can't pick a woman from among their own people. Samson's rash and disrespectful reply is: "get her, I want her."

Most versions say something along the lines of "get her, she pleases me well". What the Hebrew literally says is, "get her, she is right in my sight". This is an incredible insight into Samson's underlying character. The contrast is that each time a new Judge cycle begins, we have the LORD saying, "Israel was evil in My sight." Now here is Samson saying that in his sight this pagan girl is the right choice for him. Samson is declaring his judgment is beyond reproach and if something is right in his eyes (if it is good in his mind), then there is no point in discussing the matter any farther.


2. (Judges 14:4) God's will behind the scenes of Samson's desire to marry a Philistine woman
However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

His father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD: In verse four, we are given an important piece of information. Samson's parents' shock came from not knowing this came about from the LORD, "for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines." There is a lot of disagreement over whether it was Samson or the LORD who is the one who was seeking the means to start the fight. (If the word "he" is capitalized in your Bible, it is strictly commentary. There are no capital letters in the Hebrew language.) I do not think it matters all that much. We are told that the impulse in Samson to want this attractive heathen female as a wife came from God. So either way, Samson was just following through with what was divinely destined to be. God had arranged this connection and is going to use this situation to move against His enemy, the Philistines.

This is a side of God most theologians and modern Christians would like to believe is gone. The side where justice has been replaced by love and mercy. The side where the sin of a Believer, no matter how egregious, brings no consequences with it. The side of God where obedience is a thing of the past. Now all we have to do is "feel" love towards Him and one another. Here in Judges, we have the LORD picking a fight with someone who is not looking for one. He is using Samson as a surrogate. The LORD does not like the peace and calm between His people and the Philistines.

The Philistines do not belong in the land of Canaan. God gave direct instructions to Moses and Joshua to drive out and destroy all who oppose Him in the land of Canaan. But instead, God's people have decided they would rather switch to paganism than fight. One point which needs to be clear: the decree to utterly eradicate the land from the inhabitants only applied to the land of Canaan. All other foreigners, Israel was supposed to defend itself against, but they were to try to make peace with them if at all possible. Israel was not commanded to have a worldwide crusade. They were only to completely wipe out the people living in the land of Canaan.

Feast of First Fruits

These last few days have been a whirlwind of events. Wednesday began the first of the spring holidays, Passover (Pesach). Thursday commenced the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which will continue through Wednesday, April 15. Today (Sunday) is the Feast of First Fruits.

Feast of First Fruits
The church continues to celebrate First Fruits in its New Testament essence, as Resurrection Sunday, but most fail to realize its full impact or its glorious promise for the future, unless it is understood from its original command given by God.

The church appreciates Passover in that the Lord Jesus cited this feast Himself as a holy convocation. The church uses the Passover wine and bread as symbols used in its communion remembrance of Jesus' last Passover meal on earth. Jesus says, "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19).  Similar to Israel's deliverance from Egypt in the Book of Exodus, Christians are encouraged to remember their deliverance from bondage by the blood of the Lamb.

However, with the Feast of First Fruits, Christians have confused an ancient pagan fertility rite with the original directions given by God. Today, we have a mixture of a Babylonian festival with a Biblical holy day.


Resurrection Sunday
We should look carefully at the original instructions for the Feast of First Fruits to fully understand their implications:

"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap the harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it'" (Leviticus 23:10-11).

To paraphrase, God is saying to Moses, "I am taking My people into a fruitful land. I would like them to acknowledge the land's rich abundance. Each spring, when the first harvest of the year is available, the people should bring some of their first pickings of their crops to the Temple so that the high priest can acknowledge My generosity. This must be done on the Sunday ("the morrow after the sabbath") during the week of Unleavened Bread.

God honors Resurrection Sunday, the Sunday after Passover, as representing the things which come out of the ground spontaneously and miraculously after a long, dead winter. We see this miracle every spring, and we usually take it for granted. What do we have to do to our crops, and trees to make them come forth with their first fruits? The answer is nothing. God miraculously causes the growth and rejuvenation of these plants. We simply watch and wait. They are free gifts from God, as is our coming resurrection.


Easter and its pagan roots
Where Easter is concerned, we have confused a pagan ritual with the Feast of First Fruits. Each spring, the Babylonians saw the first fruits and assumed it would the perfect time to ask their goddess, Ishtar (Easter), for new babies. They worshiped the things in nature which represented fertility such as the egg and rabbits. The people, in celebration of the new buds on the trees and shrubbery, wore new costumes. Today, most Christians continue the Babylonian rite by celebrating first fruits with the Easter Bunny, painting eggs bright colors (commemorating the new flowers and spring growth of the plants), and wearing new outfits to church and other gatherings during Easter. Of course, no Easter celebration would be complete without an egg hunt, which represents the ancient pagan ritual of attempting to conceive a baby.


First Fruits: Its true meaning and future implications
The original Feast of First Fruits, however, contains a great truth. If there are first fruits, then there must be a second, a third and so on. That is the true meaning of this Sunday. We do not merely celebrate the resurrection of the Lord on First Fruits, but the resurrection of the entire church. The Lord rising from the dead is cause for great wonder and blessing, but are we really surprised? He could feed thousands, walk on water and could raise the dead. The greater miracle is that we ordinary, mortal sinners will all rise!

As Paul states in his first letter to the Corinthians: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming" (1 Corinthians 15:22-23).

Those "in Adam" die, since all descendants of our sinning original father have inherited his terrible trait. But in Christ, we are made alive again.

Jesus celebrated First Fruits in the appropriate manner by rising from the dead on that day. He also gave the Father His First Fruit offering. Graves were opened and the dead rose and were seen after Jesus' resurrection (Matthew 27:53). Our Lord, not unlike any farmer of the soil, gratefully brought before the Father a few early "crops" of what would be a magnificent harvest later on. We sometimes fail to note that Jesus was not the only deceased person to rise on that miraculous day of First Fruits. Those He brought forth from their graves represent a type of church. Christians shall be brought forth from their graves for the big fall harvest--the Rapture--at the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah). It was not only the Lord's resurrection that demonstrates the promise to Christians, but also the resurrection of those chosen saints of the time, which assures Christians of their own resurrection.


The Future
First Fruits, in essence, means that Jesus as Lord and Savior will return for His people. Buddha and Mohammed have not promised their followers that they will return for them. With these worldly religious, what you see is what you get. But the King is coming! First Fruits represents the whole point of Christianity--what you see is not all that you get. This life is only the beginning. Even if a Christian dies, he shall rise...just as those dead branches of winter bear fruit every spring.

Jesus and Passover

This time on the calendar should be one of great rejoicing. There is usually so much to do! But this year, the festivities which surround this time of Passover--this time when our Messiah made the ultimate sacrifice to free us from the consequences of our sins--we are in lock down. We are like the children of Israel forced to conform to strict rules and regulations which dictate many aspects of our lives. Wednesday, April 8 is Passover, the very day our Lord and Savior was hung on the cross.

Starting at sundown on Wednesday, April 8, the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins, and it ends at sundown on Wednesday, April 15. The seven-day festival of Unleavened Bread is celebrated in early spring, from the 15th day of the Hebrew month Nisan through the 21st day of Nisan. The Feast of Unleavened Bread commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. The feast is observed by avoiding the consumption of leaven; leavened bread is replaced with matzah, a flatbread which is similar in texture to a cracker.


The Story in a nutshell
After many decades of slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs, during which time the Israelites were subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors, God saw His people's distress and sent His servant, Moses, to Pharaoh with a message: "Send forth My people, so that they may serve Me." Despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed God's command. God then sent upon Egypt ten devastating plagues. These plagues afflicted on the Egyptians many hardships, pain and destroyed everything from their livestock to their crops.

At the stroke of midnight on Nisan 15, God visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. While doing so, God spared the children of Israel if they slaughtered a lamb and smeared its blood over their door frame. The lamb's blood was an outward sign that the people inside the dwelling followed God and His commandments; it was a signal that God should pass over the house. Pharaoh's resistance was broken, and he chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry that the bread they baked as provisions for the way did not have time to rise. Six hundred thousand adult male Israelites plus many more women, children and other folks from other nationalities left Egypt and began the trek to Mount Sinai.


The feast of the LORD
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim, holy convocations even these are My appointed times.'" (Leviticus 23:1-2)

When Christians read the word "feast" we think of "food". But this could not be farther from the truth. The word "feast" in Hebrew is the word moed and means "a Divine appointment". The word "convocation" in Hebrew is the word miqra and literally means a "time of assembly", but it is better translated into English as "a dress rehearsal". This is why every year for 1500 years Israel would kill the Passover lamb on the 14th day of Nisan because it was a dress rehearsal for what was to come on that very day 1500 years later. Not only did it happen on that very day, but notice the times:

And they compelled one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His cross. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. (Mark 15:21, 25)

The third hour is the time of the morning sacrifice. The very moment they were putting the morning sacrifice on the altar they put Jesus on the cross! Scripture also says:

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!" that is to say, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

The ninth hour is the time of the evening sacrifice. On the day of Nisan 14 (Passover), it was also the time of the slaying of the Passover lamb. At the very moment the High Priest slew the Passover lamb was when Jesus died! It is also known the hour of prayer:

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. (Acts 3:1)

Here Jesus is offering up His prayer to the Father at that ninth hour.


Blood and water
Josephus, a Roman-Jewish historian born around the time Jesus died, records for Passover, in one day they would slay 150,000 lambs. There were huge water cisterns that would flush all the blood, which required thousands of gallons of water, out the right side of the Temple in aqueducts down into the valley of blood to keep the Temple area clean. Imagine at the very moment the blood and water is flowing from the right side of Messiah, thousands of gallons of blood and water is flowing from the right side of the temple down into the Hinnom Valley.


Keriah
Within Judaism is a term known as keriah or the rending of the garment upon the notice of a loved one's death. It symbolizes a broken heart. The Bible records many instances of rending the clothes from top to bottom after the news of death. When Jacob saw Joseph's coat of many colors drenched with what he thought to be his son's blood, he rent his garments. Likewise, David tore his clothes when he heard of the death of King Saul. Also Job, who knew grief so well, stood up and rent his mantle. So what do we find but at the moment of the death of Jesus, the Father rends his garment, the veil of the Temple from top to bottom, mourning the death of His son and His broken heart.


Nisan 10
In Exodus 12:3, 5 we find the Passover lamb had to be brought in on the 10th day of Nisan and held until the 14th day of Nisan. It was to have no blemish. In John chapter 12, we read: "Then Jesus six days before Passover came to Bethany" (John 12:1) Since Passover is on the 14th, this had to be the 8th going on the 9th day of Nisan.

On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that comes in the name of the LORD." (John 12:12-13)

Here it is the 10th day of Nisan when the Passover lambs are coming into the Temple. At the same time, here comes Jesus fulfilling prophecy. The lambs had to be inspected for four days to make sure they were without blemish. At the same time the Passover lambs were being inspected, so was Jesus. No one could find any fault in Him. Not Herod, Pilate, the thief on the cross, the Pharisees or Sadducees. He was truly a lamb without blemish.


Funeral songs
God even decided at creation what songs would be sung at His Son's funeral. Every year at Passover, the Israelites sing from their hymn book, which is the Book of Psalms. They would sing the Hallel, which consists of Psalms 113-118. God inspired David to write them with the Passover event in mind. Imagine a 100,000 member choir all singing at the time of the morning sacrifice when Jesus was being bound to the cross. What were the words Jesus heard as they were binding Him?

God is the LORD, which has showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even onto the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:27)

They would sing these Psalms at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. So at noon when it became dark, this is what they were singing: "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of the LORD does mighty things. The right hand of the LORD is lifted up; the right hand of the LORD does mighty things." (Psalm 118:15-16)

At 3 p.m. when Jesus died, they were singing: "From the rising of the sun to its going down, the LORD'S name is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things in the heavens and in the earth!" (Psalm 113:3-6)

Even the hymn at the last supper has been recorded for all history. "The Stone which the builders refused has become the Head of the corner. This is from the LORD; it is marvelous in our eyes." (Psalm 118:22-23)