The Harrowing of Hell
It is known through the scriptures that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. As the Nicene Creed then says, “He descended into hell, and the third day rose again from the dead.” Here is some of what the scriptures have to say:
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (KJV) I Peter 3:18-20
Scripture also says:
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, Matthew 27:52
There are some documents that did not make it into the official version of the Bible. One of these is the Gospel According to Nicodemus, otherwise known as the Acts of Pilate. In this, it talks about Christ’s descent into hell and various of the Old Testament believers speak: Isaiah, Seth, and Adam. John the Baptist also speaks and the saints rejoice. It describes how the Lord led the saints out of hell, which is also mentioned in the above verse in Matthew.
When I See The Blood, I Will Pass Over
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And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:13
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Romans 5:9
The blood of the lambs used in the Exodus foretells the Blood of Jesus by which we are saved from wrath. During the plagues sent upon Egypt, only those who placed the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their homes were saved from the death angel that passed through Egypt and took the lives of the firstborn of the Egyptian. The story in Exodus, starting with Moses, is covered in the first twelve chapters of the book of Exodus in the Old Testament of the Bible. The type and shadow of the blood of Jesus is very evident in these chapters.
Blessed Be the Lord God of Shem
Drnhawkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.” Genesis 9:26,27
“Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,” Luke 3:36
These scriptures, one from the Old Testament, and one from the New Testament, indicate the the Messianic line will come through Shem, one of Noah’s sons. Indeed, we see that did happen in the New Testament. This is one of the indicators of the genealogy of Jesus.