NEW

2020-02-26 to 28 Pictures: Charleston, South Carolina

One of the few upsides of having to cancel our Spring Break trip last March at the onset of the pandemic is that we are "stuck" with a rather large voucher from one of those discount airlines. Last autumn, Tricia and I spent a weekend in Savannah, Georgia and had a...

A John 3:16 Craft for Kids

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and reassuring verses in the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV) The following is a little craft I threw...

2020-03-01 Pictures: Lyndsey’s College Signing Day

This afternoon Lyndsey made it official, signing her letter of intent to play college basketball for the Hiram College Terriers starting next year. While she made the decision and committed to Hiram before Christmas, she has been looking forward to this day since her...

2020-02-13 Pictures: Lyndsey’s 18th Birthday

I am little behind on posting photos. These are some of my favorites from a couple of weekends ago when we got a chance to celebrate Lyndsey's 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that my little girl is officially an adult. It was nice to have the family all back...

What is DOCTRINE?

Introduction I love working with kids, and I love teaching them hard concepts in ways they can understand. To that end, for years I have been working on a dictionary of theological terms for kids and teens. In sharing those definitions, there seemed no better place to...

If You Want It Done Right

In all likelihood, you know how the phrase ends: If you want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF! This is a bit of a mantra for me, and frankly, something that I struggle with daily both in leadership and in my Christian walk.  In theory, this is easy to accept. ...

What Does God Hate?

This is the little and humble post that started it all. I happened to be reading through my Bible, and this passage impacted me so much that I posted a little blurb about it on Facebook. That was July 28, 2008, and I've been writing and sharing ever since. (Maybe...

Monday Morning Prophecy #4 – The fate of the betrayer

cross-pictureIn this week’s installment of Monday Morning Prophecy, we continue our look at the betrayal of Jesus. Last week we looked what happened to the money paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus.  This week, we will look at what the Old Testament said would become of Judas following the betrayal.

In Psalm 109, we read:

“6 Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his prayer be counted as sin!
8 May his days be few;
may another take his office!” [Psalm 109:6-8]

This Old testament verse written hundreds of years before the birth and betrayal of Jesus Christ implies that the betrayer would have a short life.

In fact, the New Testament tells us the Judas died shortly after the betrayal of Jesus:

“So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself” [Matthew 27:5]

“While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” [John 17:12]

“‘Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus– he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.’

(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.” [Acts 1:16-18 ]

Guilt ridden with remorse, Judas took his own life after the betrayal of Jesus, and it was predicted by David (the writer of Psalm 109) hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus.  Next week, we’ll take one final look at the prophecy related to the betrayal of Jesus when we examine was happent to the office of the Apostle Judas after his death.

Return to the Monday Morning Prophecy index page.

Image courtesy of Abby Reed

Previous

Next

2 Comments

  1. Walkerton

    Judas hung himself or fell headlong with intestines burst out? Which is which? 2 Judas?
    Not getting it at all

    • Wayne

      Walkerton,

      Thanks for the comment. This is actually an issue raised by several people and I think it warrants an explanation. Unfortunately, the Bible does not reconcile the two accounts allowing us to speculate a little bit about what might have happened. I, of course, can not say with certainty, but I believe there is a reasonable explanation which could explain what many people see as an inconsistency. Here is an explanation from GotQuestions.org (found at http://www.gotquestions.org/Judas-die.html):

      “Judas hanged himself in the potter’s field (Matthew 27:5), and then, after his body decayed and bloated, evidently the rope broke, and he burst into pieces on the land of the potter’s field (Acts 1:18-19). The Acts passage presumes Judas’ hanging, as a man falling down in a field does not result in his body bursting open. Only decomposition and a fall from a height could cause a body to burst open. When Judas threw the thirty pieces of silver down, the priests took the money and used it to buy the potter’s field (Matthew 27:7), not knowing that Judas was going to hang himself there. Judas may not have purchased the field himself, but it was the money Judas received for betraying Jesus that purchased the field.”

      Given that this is a very plausible explanation, I do not believe that these events are incongruous. They merely represent two different ways of summarizing the same events.

      Hope that helps!

      Thanks,

      Wayne