191 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 2 'Speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, Ye are holy, for holy 'am' I, Jehovah, your God. 3 'Each his mother and his father ye do fear, and My sabbaths ye do keep; I 'am' Jehovah your God. 4 'Ye do not turn unto the idols, and a molten god ye do not make to yourselves; I 'am' Jehovah your God. 5 'And when ye sacrifice a sacrifice of peace-offerings to Jehovah, at your pleasure ye do sacrifice it; 6 in the day of your sacrificing it is eaten, and on the morrow, and that which is left unto the third day with fire is burnt, 7 and if it be really eaten on the third day, it 'is' an abomination, it is not pleasing, 8 and he who is eating it his iniquity doth bear, for the holy thing of Jehovah he hath polluted, and that person hath been cut off from his people. 9 'And in your reaping the harvest of your land ye do not completely reap the corner of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou dost not gather, 10 and thy vineyard thou dost not glean, even the omitted part of thy vineyard thou dost not gather, to the poor and to the sojourner thou dost leave them; I 'am' Jehovah your God.
11 'Ye do not steal, nor feign, nor lie one against his fellow. 12 'And ye do not swear by My name to falsehood, or thou hast polluted the name of thy God; I 'am' Jehovah. 13 'Thou dost not oppress thy neighbour, nor take plunder; the wages of the hireling doth not remain with thee till morning. 14 'Thou dost not revile the deaf; and before the blind thou dost not put a stumbling block; and thou hast been afraid of thy God; I 'am' Jehovah. 15 'Ye do not do perversity in judgment; thou dost not lift up the face of the poor, nor honour the face of the great; in righteousness thou dost judge thy fellow. 16 'Thou dost not go slandering among thy people; thou dost not stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I 'am' Jehovah. 17 'Thou dost not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou dost certainly reprove thy fellow, and not suffer sin on him. 18 'Thou dost not take vengeance, nor watch the sons of thy people; and thou hast had love to thy neighbour as thyself; I 'am' Jehovah.
19 'My statutes ye do keep: thy cattle thou dost not cause to gender 'with' diverse kinds; thy field thou dost not sow with diverse kinds, and a garment of diverse kinds, shaatnez, doth not go up upon thee. 20 'And when a man lieth with a woman with seed of copulation, and she a maid-servant, betrothed to a man, and not really ransomed, or freedom hath not been given to her, an investigation there is; they are not put to death, for she 'is' not free. 21 'And he hath brought in his guilt-offering to Jehovah, unto the opening of the tent of meeting, a ram 'for' a guilt-offering, 22 and the priest hath made atonement for him with the ram of the guilt-offering before Jehovah, for his sin which he hath sinned, and it hath been forgiven him because of his sin which he hath sinned. 23 'And when ye come in unto the land, and have planted all 'kinds' of trees 'for' food, then ye have reckoned as uncircumcised its fruit, three years it is to you uncircumcised, it is not eaten, 24 and in the fourth year all its fruit is holy—praises for Jehovah. 25 And in the fifth year ye do eat its fruit—to add to you its increase; I 'am' Jehovah your God. 26 'Ye do not eat with the blood; ye do not enchant, nor observe clouds. 27 'Ye do not round the corner of your head, nor destroy the corner of thy beard. 28 'And a cutting for the soul ye do not put in your flesh; and a writing, a cross-mark, ye do not put on you; I 'am' Jehovah. 29 'Thou dost not pollute thy daughter to cause her to go a-whoring, that the land go not a-whoring, and the land hath been full of wickedness.
30 'My sabbaths ye do keep, and My sanctuary ye do reverence; I 'am' Jehovah. 31 'Ye do not turn unto those having familiar spirits; and unto wizards ye do not seek, for uncleanness by them; I 'am' Jehovah your God. 32 'At the presence of grey hairs thou dost rise up, and thou hast honoured the presence of an old man, and hast been afraid of thy God; I 'am' Jehovah. 33 'And when a sojourner sojourneth with thee in your land, thou dost not oppress him; 34 as a native among you is the sojourner to you who is sojourning with you, and thou hast had love to him as to thyself, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt; I 'am' Jehovah your God. 35 'Ye do not do perversity in judgment, in mete-yard, in weight, or in liquid measure; 36 righteous balances, righteous weights, a righteous ephah, and a righteous hin ye have; I 'am' Jehovah your God, who hath brought you out from the land of Egypt; 37 and ye have observed all my statutes, and all my judgments, and have done them; I 'am' Jehovah.'
201 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 2 'And unto the sons of Israel thou dost say, Any man of the sons of Israel, and of the sojourners who is sojourning in Israel, who giveth of his seed to the Molech, is certainly put to death; the people of the land do stone him with stones; 3 and I—I set My face against that man, and have cut him off from the midst of his people, for of his seed he hath given to the Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary, and to pollute My holy name. 4 'And if the people of the land really hide their eyes from that man, in his giving of his seed to the Molech, so as not to put him to death, 5 then I have set My face against that man, and against his family, and have cut him off, and all who are going a-whoring after him, even going a-whoring after the Molech, from the midst of their people. 6 'And the person who turneth unto those having familiar spirits, and unto the wizards, to go a-whoring after them, I have even set My face against that person, and cut him off from the midst of his people. 7 'And ye have sanctified yourselves, and ye have been holy, for I 'am' Jehovah your God; 8 and ye have kept My statutes and have done them; I 'am' Jehovah, sanctifying you. 9 'For any man who revileth his father and his mother is certainly put to death; his father and his mother he hath reviled: his blood 'is' on him.
10 'And a man who committeth adultery with a man's wife—who committeth adultery with the wife of his neighbour—the adulterer and the adulteress are surely put to death. 11 'And a man who lieth with his father's wife—the nakedness of his father he hath uncovered—both of them are certainly put to death; their blood 'is' on them. 12 'And a man who lieth with his daughter-in-law—both of them are certainly put to death; confusion they have made; their blood 'is' on them. 13 'And a man who lieth with a male as one lieth with a woman; abomination both of them have done; they are certainly put to death; their blood 'is' on them. 14 'And a man who taketh the woman and her mother—it 'is' wickedness; with fire they burn him and them, and there is no wickedness in your midst. 15 'And a man who giveth his lying with a beast is certainly put to death, and the beast ye do slay. 16 'And a woman who draweth near unto any beast to lie with it—thou hast even slain the woman and the beast; they are certainly put to death; their blood 'is' on them. 17 'And a man who taketh his sister, a daughter of his father or daughter of his mother, and he hath seen her nakedness, and she seeth his nakedness: it is a shame; and they have been cut off before the eyes of the sons of their people; the nakedness of his sister he hath uncovered; his iniquity he beareth. 18 'And a man who lieth with a sick woman, and hath uncovered her nakedness, her fountain he hath made bare, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood,—even both of them have been cut off from the midst of their people. 19 'And the nakedness of thy mother's sister, and of thy father's sister, thou dost not uncover; because his relation he hath made bare; their iniquity they bear. 20 'And a man who lieth with his aunt, the nakedness of his uncle he hath uncovered; their sin they bear; childless they die. 21 'And a man who taketh his brother's wife—it 'is' impurity; the nakedness of his brother he hath uncovered; childless they are.
22 'And ye have kept all My statutes, and all My judgments, and have done them, and the land vomiteth you not out whither I am bringing you in to dwell in it; 23 and ye walk not in the statutes of the nation which I am sending away from before you, for all these they have done, and I am wearied with them; 24 and I say to you, Ye—ye do possess their ground, and I—I give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey; I 'am' Jehovah your God, who hath separated you from the peoples. 25 'And ye have made separation between the pure beasts and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the pure, and ye do not make yourselves abominable by beast or by fowl, or by anything which creepeth 'on' the ground which I have separated to you for unclean; 26 and ye have been holy to Me; for holy 'am' I, Jehovah; and I separate you from the peoples to become Mine. 27 'And a man or woman—when there is in them a familiar spirit, or who 'are' wizards—are certainly put to death; with stones they stone them; their blood 'is' on them.'
51 and lo, the vail of the sanctuary was rent in two from top unto bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks were rent, 52 and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who have fallen asleep, arose, 53 and having come forth out of the tombs after his rising, they went into the holy city, and appeared to many. 54 And the centurion, and those with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake, and the things that were done, were exceedingly afraid, saying, 'Truly this was God's Son.' 55 And there were there many women beholding from afar, who did follow Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom was Mary the Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and of Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
57 And evening having come, there came a rich man, from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was discipled to Jesus, 58 he having gone near to Pilate, asked for himself the body of Jesus; then Pilate commanded the body to be given back. 59 And having taken the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen, 60 and laid it in his new tomb, that he hewed in the rock, and having rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, he went away; 61 and there were there Mary the Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over-against the sepulchre.
62 And on the morrow that is after the preparation, were gathered together the chief priests, and the Pharisees, unto Pilate, 63 saying, 'Sir, we have remembered that that deceiver said while yet living, After three days I do rise; 64 command, then, the sepulchre to be made secure till the third day, lest his disciples, having come by night, may steal him away, and may say to the people, He rose from the dead, and the last deceit shall be worse than the first.' 65 And Pilate said to them, 'Ye have a watch, go away, make secure—as ye have known;' 66 and they, having gone, did make the sepulchre secure, having sealed the stone, together with the watch.
(Read Matthew 27:51-56)
The rending of the veil signified that Christ, by his death, opened a way to God. We have an open way through Christ to the throne of grace, or mercy-seat now, and to the throne of glory hereafter. When we duly consider Christ's death, our hard and rocky hearts should be rent; the heart, and not the garments. That heart is harder than a rock that will not yield, that will not melt, where Jesus Christ is plainly set forth crucified. The graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept, arose. To whom they appeared, in what manner, and how they disappeared, we are not told; and we must not desire to be wise above what is written. The dreadful appearances of God in his providence, sometimes work strangely for the conviction and awakening of sinners. This was expressed in the terror that fell upon the centurion and the Roman soldiers. We may reflect with comfort on the abundant testimonies given to the character of Jesus; and, seeking to give no just cause of offence, we may leave it to the Lord to clear our characters, if we live to Him. Let us, with an eye of faith, behold Christ and him crucified, and be affected with that great love wherewith he loved us. But his friends could give no more than a look; they beheld him, but could not help him. Never were the horrid nature and effects of sin so tremendously displayed, as on that day when the beloved Son of the Father hung upon the cross, suffering for sin, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Let us yield ourselves willingly to his service.
(Read Matthew 27:57-61)
In the burial of Christ was nothing of pomp or solemnity. As Christ had not a house of his own, wherein to lay his head, while he lived, so he had not a grave of his own, wherein to lay his body, when he was dead. Our Lord Jesus, who had no sin of his own, had no grave of his own. The Jews designed that he should have made his grave with the wicked, should have been buried with the thieves with whom he was crucified, but God overruled it, so that he should make it with the rich in his death, Isaiah 53:9. And although to the eye of man the beholding a funeral may cause terror, yet if we remember how Christ by his burial has changed the nature of the grave to believers, it should make us rejoice. And we are ever to imitate Christ's burial in being continually occupied in the spiritual burial of our sins.
(Read Matthew 27:62-66)
On the Jewish sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees, when they should have been at their devotions, were dealing with Pilate about securing the sepulchre. This was permitted that there might be certain proof of our Lord's resurrection. Pilate told them that they might secure the sepulchre as carefully as they could. They sealed the stone, and set a guard, and were satisfied that all needful care was taken. But to guard the sepulchre against the poor weak disciples was folly, because needless; while to think to guard it against the power of God, was folly, because fruitless, and to no purpose; yet they thought they dealt wisely. But the Lord took the wise in their own craftiness. Thus shall all the rage and the plans of Christ's enemies be made to promote his glory.
