Easter Sunday April 24

Exodus 21:20-21

And if a man smites his slave or his maid with a rod and he dies under his hand, he shall be surely punished.

Not with-standing, if he continues a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money.

A couple of years ago, a Muslim man posted this verse on Facebook, in the comments he asked how could you possibly serve a God like this, a God who permits people to be treated in this way?

I thought about the question he asked, and to be honest, it is a very fair question. After I gave this some thought, I realized that this doesn't condone slavery or slave brutality, but instead, it points us to today, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The very understanding is that the same people who crucified Jesus Christ could receive forgiveness after His Resurrection on the third day!

Jesus was betrayed for the price of a slave when Judas took 30 pieces of silver. Remember, Judas was the treasurer for Jesus's ministry. Because of this, Jesus qualified this verse, but it goes beyond that; if we look to the old testament, we begin to see the picture that God bought Jesus centuries before, around 538 BC in the book of Zechariah: 11:12-13

I told them, "If it's alright with you, pay me what I've earned. But if it isn't, don't." So, they paid out what I had earned—30 shekels of silver.

Then the LORD told me, "Throw the money into the treasury—that magnificent value they placed on me!" So, I took the 30 shekels of silver and threw them into the treasury of the Temple of the LORD.

In Exodus, we see the price of a slave was 30 pieces of silver:

Exodus 21:32

If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

Judas sold Jesus for a price; a price previously paid for by God over 500 years before when Zechariah cast the thirty pieces of silver into the treasury. God could have set the price at any amount he wanted; why 30 pieces?

Symbolically the number 30 represents The right timing / the right moment to reign or minister. 3 x 10= 30 that carries the meaning of perfection or fulness, 3 is Divine order, 10 marks the right moment, and 3 also represents The Godhead, completion. With this completion, we see that Jesus's betrayal was completed in: Mathew 26:14-15 Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the high priests and inquired, "What are you willing to give me if I betray Jesus to you?" They offered him 30 pieces of silver

The first betrayal was committed by Adam the last betrayal of the old testament was committed by Judas:

Mathew 27:3-10

Then Judas, who had betrayed him, regretted what had happened when he saw that Jesus was condemned. He brought the 30 pieces of silver back to the high priests and elders,

saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they replied, "What do we care? Attend to that yourself."

Then he flung the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and went outside. Then he went away and hanged himself.

The high priests picked up the pieces of silver and said, "It is not lawful to put this into the Temple treasury because it is blood money."

So they decided to use the money to buy the Potter's Field as a burial ground for foreigners.

That is why that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

Then what had been declared through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled when he said, "They took the 30 pieces of silver, the value of the man on whom a price had been set by the Israelis,

and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."

We serve a living God who sold Himself into slavery so that you could be made free.

He is: El Chai

The Living God

Blessing's