“And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them,
and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees
until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun,
that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees,
and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid,
and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this day.”
—Joshua 10:26-27
“When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph,
who also himself was Jesus’ disciple….
And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock:
and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
— Matthew 27:57-60
What a perfect foreshadowing of Jesus’ own death and burial we have in Joshua 10! Unlike virtually all other religions, events predicted or foreshadowed in Scripture are fulfilled perfectly over and over again.
The law given to Moses had clear protocol for corpse removal:
“And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.[1]”
It is clear that Jesus died the death of a sinner but that is where the parallels between Him and the Amorites end. He that knew no sin became a curse for us. The Amorites are buried in a tomb covered with a rock and they stay there, because they were judged by God for their sin as Leviticus 18:24-25 explains. But Jesus, being fully God and fully man did physically die and sleep in the grave as others. As Hebrews 9:27 says, it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment…” Jesus, when his mortal life ended the deeds done in the body were judged by the Father, and he was declared righteous. His resurrection from the grave confirms this. The Law says that the one that doeth these things shall never be moved and shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness.[2] Paul says that the justification bestowed by the law is not of faith. Notice:
And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them[3].
We are justified by faith alone, not by the deeds of the law. Faith alone will not absolve the guilt of the person who seeks to keep the law but stumbles in any way[4]. The picture throughout the Old Covenant sacrificial system of a lamb without spot or blemish indicates the sinless perfection of Christ. You must believe from the heart that Jesus Christ was no mere man with good moral teachings or a mere example for us that we can all attain to ourselves. If we were all spotless lambs there would be no need for a sacrifice. The true gospel attests to our total depravity and inability to observe all of God’s commandments to do them. Again and again the children of Israel stumble and fail to keep the law, and yet with every generation rises up “teachers” who think that somehow they are going to do better. Jesus had a strong rebuke for the presumptuous Pharisees of His own day:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.”
The broken and contrite spirit that the Lord will not despise[5] recognizes that it was indeed I, and the wickedness of my own sin that nailed my Lord to the cross. True conversion produces godly sorrow over sin. Godly sorrow recognizes that I am no better than the revilers and scorners that killed the prophets. It will not so much as look up to heaven, but simply pleads “Lord have mercy on me a sinner.[6]”
Therefore you must confess the sinless life and resurrection from death of Jesus. Otherwise you do not know the true God and he will say to you on that day, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity[7].”
Selah.
[1]Deut 21:22-23
[2]Ps 15:5, Ps 24:5
[3]Gal 3:12
[4]James 2:10
[5]Ps 34:18
[6]Luke 18:13-14
[7]Matthew 7:23
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