DOCTRINE OF MATTHEW 27:52 & 53..THE OLD TESTAMENT WORTHIES

DOCTRINE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WORTHIES

Does scripture teach that the Old Testament Worthies would rise from the dead or is it simply a false traditional assumption proclaimed as truth?

Traditionally derived doctrines start like any other tradition. By combining small truths and small lies, traditional incidental doctrine builds a complete falsehood from small truths. They use minor changes to the truth to cause immeasurable impact and damage. When a false doctrine is used as braces or underpinnings for the falsity and infrastructure of another doctrine, the truth becomes lost in the wilderness of theology and religion.

Incorporating incidental doctrines can influence a desired outcome for both teacher and student, which increases the appeal of acceptance. A traditional doctrine's value is in it's ability to grow in any direction necessary to bolster other more desired doctrines that use the associated traditional doctrine as their lynchpin. The doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies is an incidental traditional doctrine. However, it did not need to become a false doctrine, if taught correctly!

From my earliest memories of learning about Bible stories, the Old Testament Worthies doctrine has played a significant part in my life. This is true of nearly every Christian follower. Preachers and teachers taught in Church, Sunday school or in Vacation Bible School for Christians. There is a lack of breath in the Old Testament Worthy Doctrine. My former pastor and specifically my late father, Rev. Charles Cohenour Sr., sparingly taught on this subject. When he did, he used few words to move on from the Old Testament Worthies to whatever the main topic of his sermon was. I believe My Father reasoned there was not enough proof to base this traditional truth upon. Congregation questioning would lead to assumptions, which my father did not wish to teach.

In my teenage years, our family would frequently be invited to General Meetings, Regional Meetings and Minister Meetings held by different churches of the Body of Christ throughout the USA. We would travel as far as Chino, California, as close as Indianapolis, Indiana and many places in between. By traveling to other churches in the Body of Christ, I was occasionally exposed to the Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies. The extent to which the Old Testament Worthies doctrine was taught during those visits was very sparse. However, the doctrine was mentioned as biblical truth many times.

The progenitor of this doctrine preached to me was our founder of the Body of Christ; the late Bro William Sowders, who by preaching his interpretation of Matthew 27:52-53 made this incidental doctrine an accepted Traditional Doctrine in our Body of Christ today. When Bro.William Sowers taught the doctrine, it was quickly accepted by the saints of the BOC. Bro. Sowders was rarely questioned and this doctrine became an accepted traditional doctrine, which is now presented as pure and Godly truth. Even after Bro. William Sowders died, the Old Testament Worthies doctrine is still taught throughout the country as it was when he was alive. Bro. Sowders taught more than 68 years ago.   

Typically, it is used as a foundation for other doctrines, such as the Doctrine of Perfection and the Doctrine of the First and Second Resurrections. There was a specific application of the Old Testament Worthies doctrine in regard to moving out a living soul and those waiting under the Golden Altar. According to God's Old Testament Worthies doctrine, all the heroes from the Bible are in heaven, under the Golden Altar, in the First Resurrection.

This Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies addresses God's alleged Sovereign Right to allow certain exceptions to his established law. The Doctrine suggests God can operate outside of His own standards, suggesting the possibility that Almighty God may break his own oaths and tell lies at his own pleasure?

This doctrine also challenges human standards of what is fair and equal among followers of the church. The doctrine teaches that accumulating acts of Christian behavior warrants Godly favoritism. It likewise adds to a misconception that God indulges favoritism by giving certain elect predestined individuals preferential treatment.

The key question: Is this doctrine a truthful interpretation of scripture or a false traditional assumption preached as truth?

The problem is, the Apostle Matthew did write about a resurrection in Matthew 27, but Matthew left that specific resurrection open ended, as a church miracle. This open ended miracle left an opportunity for someone to take advantage of reason and perpetuate an agreeable doctrine to suit those who, using subtlety, built a doctrine that would and could be used to boost their own agenda.

There are books written and sermons preached that have been taught about this resurrection for many, many years without challenge. I believe there are unanswered questions concerning the post-interpretation of Matthew 27:52-53 that have remained unchallenged and that need to be made transparent.

There is definite truth in Matthew 27:52-53. We just need to see it and teach it correctly. This resurrection happened, but not as we have been taught.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Cohenour Jr.

December 15, 2020

“If I am to be true to my calling I must exercise my gift.  I am called to be a teacher I should always bring to the children of the Lord a lesson to learn”.

Charles E. Cohenour Jr. 12-04-2014 

Addendum: There are many doctrines that are preached and taught as the gospel that have never been labeled. I have labeled some in this text to describe their subjects. When you read about a doctrine you may or may not have known or heard of it anywhere else. I apologize for attempting to bring attention to a way of teaching a subject that may not have had a label in the distant past.

Special thanks for all the editing and help that was given by my wife Jean Cohenour who spent many hours correcting my horrid spelling and grammar. Without Jean this article would never have been written or understood. Thank you to those who also helped proofread and provided input in the early writing and may God bless you all.

CHAPTER 2: WHAT IS THE DOCTRINE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WORTHIES?

CHAPTER 2: What is the Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies?

The Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies is a traditional doctrine taught among the religions of the Christian world and the Body of Christ. It has become a common biblical teaching, based on Matthew 27:52-53 and inspired by the 11th chapter of Hebrews. Most teachers integrate Foxe's Book of Martyrs with auxiliary metaphysical (speculative) scriptures which serve as support for this doctrine in addition to Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

Matthew's two lone Scriptures placed into the crucifixion narrative of Jesus constitute the basis of the doctrine of the "Old Testament Worthies." These two scriptures are intertwined, with the additional accounts of Jesus' crucifixion, in the synoptic gospels of Mark 15:25-47, Luke 23:39-49 and John 19:16-42.

This doctrine presumes these Old Testament Worthies (from now on I will refer to them as OTW) were Old Testament prophets and Old Testament faithful followers who served God until their deaths.

The suppositional doctrine suggests the OTW were elect, chosen by God, in their own time of existence. Admittedly, they were not average everyday ordinary servants of God; they did have an impassioned drive and dynamic fixation upon God's Will generated by their faith in God. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is used as text proof to give insight into these extra ordinary people.

The doctrine dogmatically teaches that God was biased in honoring these saints, rewarding them with a "PRE-RESURRECTION," after the resurrection of Jesus.

This reasoning is fueled by the belief that these "worthies" contrary to common reason and counter to resurrection law (Hebrews 11:39-40), deserved to be in the First Resurrection. According to the doctrine, the OTW accumulated enough positive favor with God to warrant a reward for their faith and dedication. That reward for faithful dedication was the mercy of God granting them the ability to bypass the Second Resurrection with a special exempted “pre-resurrection" before the First Resurrection.

CHAPTER 1: WHERE DID DOCTRINE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WORTHIES ORIGINATE?

CHAPTER 1: Where did Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies originate?

There is only one place in the Bible where the word "WORTHIES" is mentioned:

Nahum 2:5

He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.

In this scripture, Nahum is not referring to any resurrected saint. He is addressing the nation of Babylon and the Medes coming against the city of Nineveh in battle. The"worthies" are soldiers of acclaim or nobles who were selected by either the King of Assyria or the King of Babylon. This scripture has nothing to do with the God fearing Prophets or honored saints. Again, there is no other place in the entire Bible that mentions the word "worthies".

In the 27th chapter of Matthew and in verses 52 through 53, the only passage that mentions a mass resurrection and the origins of the Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies is mentioned

A TRADITIONAL TEACHING OF MATTHEW 27:50-53 WRITTEN BY BRO. LEWIS FRAYER

I am including this teaching of a traditional doctrinal example of how this is taught.  

Bro. Charles E. Cohenour 

October of 1991 written by Rev. Lewis Frayer 

MT. 27:50-53 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

We have seen Job’s understand- ing of a future event. We have seen in Isaiah a prophecy about a resur- rection. Now, we will see in the New Testament the actual event about which these Old Testament scrip- tures were talking.

Verse 50:

YIELDED UP THE GHOST — This was Jesus NATURAL BREATH OF LIFE, NOT the Holy Ghost.

Verse 51:

VEIL OF THE TEMPLE — The veil which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the Temple.

In type, the veil represents Jesus’ flesh, and shows us that when Jesus completed what he was sent to do, he made a way for us to be reconciled to God.

HEB. 10:19-20 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.

FROM THE TOP TO THE BOTTOM ---- Jesus had to overcome his

own carnal mind and nature.

THE EARTH DID QUAKE AND THE ROCKS RENT — This is a pic- ture of the natural graves opening up. The graves which opened were those of the Old Testament faithfuls who merited this resurrection.

Verse 52:

MANY BODIES OF THE SAINTS WHICH SLEPT AROSE — Here Job, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all those listed in Hebrews 11 resurrected from the dead.

The Bible calls them “saints.” This means that their jobs were done as far as the Law was concerned. Now they were “saints” and they had to submit to the Five-fold Ministry of the Early Rain Church.

Verse 53:

AFTER HIS RESURRECTION Jesus had to resurrect first. He was called the firstfruits of them that “slept” (or had died). This simply means that Jesus resurrected to eternal life, never to die again.

I COR. 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

THE HOLY CITY— Natural Jerusalem.

After they resurrected, these Old Testament saints made their way into the city of Jerusalem. They received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, sat down under the Ministry of the Early Rain Church, and went on to make the Bride.

In conclusion, it should be emphasized that when these peo- ple resurrected, they resurrected in a natural body, with their hearts in the same condition towards God as when they died. They were in Jerus- alem on the Day of Pentecost, and were probably among the three thousand who received the Holy Ghost when Peter preached. They had to sit down under the Early Rain Church Ministry, overcome their carnal minds, and become per- fect, in order to be in the Bride of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER 3: THE BIG SWERVE!

CHAPTER 3: The Big Swerve!

The Doctrine of the OTW is taught differently in the Body of Christ which takes a big swerve from how it is taught in other Christian denominations.

In other Christian denominations, the OTW are resurrected, they learn about Jesus, then they die and ascend to heaven, awaiting another resurrection.

The Body of Christ teaches something entirely different. Within the Body of Christ it is emphasized that the OTW needed to fulfill the requirements of the First Resurrection after the pre-resurrection. According to some doctrines, the OTW was required to learn about Jesus' teachings and to claim Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. The OTW would have to receive Water Baptism, Holy Ghost Baptism, and Fire Baptism to gain perfection in order to assure themselves of a place in the First Resurrection. Other versions within the Body of Christ teach that most of the OTW already knew Jesus and his teachings in the New Testament.

As part of the doctrine of the resurrection exception, it is stated, "It is only just that the all-caring and just God should resurrect these faithful and deserving saints" who deserve this special exemption. In simpler terms the OTW has been revived because people want an act of fairness and equal opportunity for not only the OTW; they want the same fairness for a First Resurrection for all mankind! If the OTW got a special chance for a pre-resurrection because of their faith, why should we have to live to a higher standard than what the OTW did?

Teachings that readily accept this resurrection without questioning the entire passage are at the root of the problem. Once it was accepted as a true resurrection, the teachers had to be able to prove their acceptance as truth. This led to imagery, distortion of scripture and the insertion of other written stories to prop up their speculative ideology. To solve this problem, the teachers used their traditional framework. They needed supporting documentation and they found it outside of the Bible.

CHAPTER 4: WHY FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS AND ITS INFLUENCE?

CHAPTER 4: Why Foxe's Book of Martyrs and its influence?

Foxe's Book of Martyrs was written by John Foxe. John Foxe wrote about the early Christian and Protestant martyrs, first published in 1563 by John Day. March 2013 marked 450 years since Foxe's 1563 publications. Patrick Collinson (emeritus Regis's Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge, occupied the chair from 1988 to 1996) confirmed that Foxe was indeed a worthy scholar and that his text was historiographically reliable in 1985, and set in motion the British Academy's funding for a revised critical edition in 1984, completed by 2007.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxe%27s_Book_of_Martyrs#Foxe's_source_reliability

The influence of Foxes Book of Martyrs has profoundly affected the teachings of the Doctrine of the OTW. Foxes book is brought into the teachings of the OTW by skilled teachers repeating the martyrs contributions to unlearned and understudied congregations. They used Foxes' book as a weight and measure, making Foxes' evidence for the doctrine of the resurrection much more credible.

It has been my experience that some preachers focus at least fifty percent of their sermons on the Foxes Martyrs when teaching the doctrine.

This is done to make their congregation feel awkward about asking any questions about the validity of the Doctrine of the OTW. How could anyone deny the truth of what Foxes Martyrs endured in the name of Jesus Christ? In accepting Foxes Book of Martyrs, surely the story of the resurrection of the OTW should also be accepted as truth?

The purpose of Foxes' book is to connect the empathy of congregations with the resurrected saints of Matthew 27:52-53.

The purpose of this is to provoke a response related to Foxes and OTW martyrdoms. The shared martyrdom is used as a preponderance of evidence to support pre-resurrection for the OTW.

Through manipulated empathy, the OTW are granted an undeniable special pre-resurrection status based upon congregational emotional acceptance of these resurrected saints' worthiness, taught by influential teachers of this traditional doctrine. Instead of using godly logic emotional response becomes a key factor of acceptance.

CHAPTER 5: INHERENT PATERNAL/MATERNAL FEELING TOWARD THE OLD TESTAMENT WORTHIES.

CHAPTER 5: Inherent Paternal/Maternal feeling toward the Old Testament Worthies.

In general who doesn't feel empathy or sympathy for an abandoned child? Who doesn't jump to the rescue of a crying baby? Who wouldn't risk their lives to protect an endangered elder? Most of us would do amazingly dangerous things to help a child or helpless elder in need. It is innate within everyone’s being to leap to help or rescue those that are helpless. Most teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW will do their very best to instill this feeling of endangerment into a congregation's feelings for the OTW.

Those who teach the Doctrine of the OTW abuse the human emotion of paternalism and maternally for the helpless child and the elderly within the congregation. This creates empathy and sympathy for the OTW.

Those who hear this doctrine are taught to feel as though the OTW were and are in danger of missing what is rightfully theirs. The teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW infer that the Worthies may have been taken at a disadvantage, because they were born before the time of their Messiah.

They teach that the birth time of the OTW is the only real problem keeping them from the First Resurrection, therefore their time of birth was unfair. But we, being born in our time, can implore God to make things right for the OTW by believing this doctrine.

We are taught to believe in a loving God, who would not leave us nor forsake us, nor would he leave the OTW unjustly in the grave.

This logic begs the question; would God leave the OTW heroes to the Second Resurrection? God would surely hear their cries from the grave and save them! Wouldn’t God be fair, in an act of genuine fairness, to give the OTW one and only pre-resurrection to include them in the First Resurrection?

If God would provide a pre-resurrection for the OTW, then He must also find a way for us to be in the First Resurrection too? The hearts of the congregations who are being taught the doctrine of the OTW are led to the conclusion that, if God can make an unscheduled resurrection for the OTW, surely God will see our own efforts and sacrifice and give us some slack for the First Resurrection?

Listeners begin to believe that their righteous actions will outweigh their lesser sins. God will give them another chance or create special allowances for them the same way he has created an allowance for the OTW?

Through manipulated empathy and sympathy the teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW are leading believers into a manufactured false belief. These teachers subtly (the Serpent at work) shape and inspire believers to hope for their own special exemption in the First Resurrection.

CHAPTER 6: WAS MATTHEW 27:52-53 ADDED TO MATTHEW?

CHAPTER 6: WAS MATTHEW 27:52-53 ADDED TO MATTHEW?

When studying the Old Testament, one of the first things that is noticed is that if Matthew 27:52-53are removed from the Gospel, chapter 27 reads more naturally. The connection between verse 51 and verse 54 would seem better suited to the story, than the included 52-53 verses as written.

Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Matthew 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that was with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that was done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

If these two verses, Matthew 27:52-53, were removed, the Four Gospels would more closely match in the telling of the crucifixion.

However, none of the acquired manuscripts of Matthew written in Greek, Latin, or Aramaic leave out Matthew 27:52-53. This is because these verses were in the original writers' texts. The inclusion would have been added during the distribution of handwritten copies of the original writing to the churches and approved by Matthew himself.

These scriptures appear to have been added as an afterthought by Matthew to his story by Matthew himself. This addition is called a stream of consciousness. A stream of consciousness is a form of afterthought or indirect internal dialogue referring to a character or writer. This is an additional point of thought that the writer felt was necessary to add.

This stream of consciousness is a literary style in which Matthew's thoughts, feelings, and reactions are depicted in a continuous flow uninterrupted by objective description or conventional dialogue.

Bottom line: Matthew 27:52-53 is a legitimate part of the King James Version of the Bible as the unerring word of God, and they have the approval of not only Matthew but also Jesus and God Almighty.

CHAPTER 7: THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN AND SEEING IN THE DARKNESS

CHAPTER 7: THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN AND SEEING IN THE DARKNESS

In two different books of the New Testament there is recorded a three-hour time of darkness during the period of Christ's crucifixion:

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour, Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Luke 23:44-45  And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

During the final three hours of Jesus' life, when He was on the cross, an unusual darkness struck the land, which was NOT an eclipse of the sun.

This darkness was most definitely the result of God's directed intervention. The eclipse could not have been a natural solar eclipse for the following three reasons:

1. The maximum duration of a total solar eclipse is seven minutes, not three hours.

2. Because of the latitude of Jerusalem the maximum duration of seven minutes for an eclipse is even less.

3. A solar eclipse can occur only at a new moon, but we know that Jesus was crucified at the time of Passover.

Matthew 26:1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,

Matthew 26:2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

Mark 14:1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened

bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

Mark 14:2 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

Mark 14:12  And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?

Passover occurs at the time of a full moon.

Exodus 12:18  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.

Leviticus 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.

Leviticus 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

Darkness lasted from the sixth to the ninth hour after Jesus' death. While there is still light coming from the sun shining on earth during an eclipse, the scripture says that the darkness that fell could have been greater than an eclipse currently falling on Earth. The accounting of the darkness places the earthquake, the rending of the veil and the resurrection of the saints during the time of this profound darkness.

If the earthquake, the rending of the veil and the resurrection happened during the event, how could anyone claim to have seen all the events taking place simultaneously, unless they were in close proximity to each event?

A more fair question would be: how could anyone see anything during the darkness event?

CHAPTER 8: DISTANCE FROM THE FROM HEROD'S TEMPLE TO MT. CALVARY

CHAPTER 8: DISTANCE FROM THE FROM HEROD'S TEMPLE TO MT. CALVARY

The distance Mt. Calvary was 330 km, which converted into feet it is 3280.84 Ft., from the Temple of Herod.  That distance is greater than one half a mile.  If Matthew is believed to have seen the veil rent he would have to be able  to be seeing with clear definition almost 11 football fields away, lined up end to end.

(http://www.askelm.com/golgotha/gol001.htmI)

The Doctrine of the OTW teaches that the witnesses on Mount Calvary did see the distance of eleven football fields, from a half mile, in darkness, during the earthquake destruction, the event of the Veil being rent, the event of the saints being resurrected from the dead and the dead entering into Jerusalem recognized by many while walking into the holy city.

Given the above physical conditions, the likelihood of these witnesses actually seeing these events is highly questionable.

CHAPTER 9: HEROD’S TEMPLE AND SEEING THE VEIL TO THE HOLIES RENT IN TWAIN

CHAPTER 9: HEROD’S TEMPLE AND SEEING THE VEIL TO THE HOLIES RENT IN TWAIN 

Corner stones are witnesses to the earthquake, the renting of the Temple Veil, and the resurrection of physically dead saints, according to OTW Belief.

On the eastern edge of Jerusalem, just west of Gethsemane and northwest of the Kidron Valley, sat the temple of Herod. Herod's temple court covered about 35.5 acres. On the far northwest corner sat Antonia Fortress, the home of the temple garrison that stayed alert for disturbances in the temple-disturbances that the governor was quick to quell so as not to attract unwanted attention from Rome.

Herod's temple sat skewed in the center of the large courtyard so that its entrance might better face due east. A balustrade (a low wall of stone posts and caps) defined the inner boundary of the Court of the Gentiles. Within the Court of the Gentiles, getting closer to Herod's temple, was the Court of the Women, accessed through the Beautiful Gate.

In the Court of Priests was the altar. Beyond these fixtures was yet a staircase leading to a curtain embroidered with a map of the known world that covered the entrance to the temple proper. Beyond it, behind another large curtain, lay the Holy of Holies, which none except the high priest was allowed to enter, and he only on the Day of Atonement. A stone marked the place where once the Ark of the Covenant stood.

Herod's temple existed until AD 70, which marked the end of the second temple era. At that time, after a long war between the Jewish Zealots and the Roman authorities, four Roman legions, led by Titus, besieged Jerusalem and burned down the temple. As the temple burned, the gold and silver ornamentation melted and seeped between the cracks in the stones. In their zeal for a stipend, the Roman soldiers took the temple apart, stone by stone, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:1-2:

Matthew 24:1 Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple.

Matthew 24:2 Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

The Jewish people were scattered in the Diaspora of 70 AD, and did not return en masse to Israel until after World War II. The temple mount, where Herod's temple stood, is now home to the Islamic Dome of the Rock. All that remains of Herod's work on the temple mount is the Western Wall, a 1,600-foot-long portion of the retaining wall Herod constructed to expand the temple mount.

(Bible Answers for Almost all Your Questions by Elmer Towns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Elmer_L._Towns)

On the boundaries of Herod's temple there was an outer wall which circled the building of the Temple and on the inside were two curtains, an outer curtain, and a second curtain called the Veil (inside of Herod's Temple) connecting to the Holy Place.

It is believed that the veil of the Holy Place was witnessed by the Centurion, his men and the women followers of Christ. This was far away on the hill of Golgotha. It is taught that these witnesses actually saw the veil being torn into two pieces, from top to bottom, from about a half mile away. This was in the darkness of an unnatural eclipse during a 5.5 magnitude earthquake.

It is highly unlikely that these people on Golgotha saw the veil being torn. This is because the veil was located inside the Temple hidden from everyone except the priests of the temple.

Exodus 28 teaches that only the priests or the Levite family of priests were allowed to be inside the temple and inside the second veil. The only people who would have been able to actually see the torn veil would have been a Levite or priest.

It also was highly unlikely that a priest would have been in the temple to witness the event happening unless by Time and Chance. This is because no ceremonies were being conducted at the time. If there wasn’t a warranted reason for a priest to look in at the veil, the veil was found torn at the next ceremony

It can be argued that when the rent was discovered, the information was passed on from one priest to another. This information could have been told to Matthew at a later time. One of these priests could have been Nicodemus. It was Nicodemus that helped prepare Jesus for his burial (John 19:38-40). Nicodemus was a follower of Christ and could have spoken to each of the writers of the gospels about what he had seen in the temple.

Acts 6:7 states a great number of the priests became followers of the faith. These priests could have likewise collaborated with Nicodemus spoken to the writers of the gospels telling of what they had seen or heard.   

Acts 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Likewise, Paul, an ex-priest, could be considered another source from which information could have been gained.

Many of these priests could have passed on the story of the veil being torn, but none of the writers of the Four Gospels nor any witnesses at Jesus' crucification could have seen or known of the torn veil by actually witnessing or seeing the tear. Each writer would have been told this fact perhaps much later than immediately after the resurrection of Christ.

CHAPTER 10: A 5.5 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE IS NOT MINIMAL

CHAPTER 10: A 5.5 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE IS NOT MINIMAL

The doctrine of the OTW pays only minimal, if any attention to the impact of the earthquake and the destruction it would bring upon Jerusalem. The doctrine locates the source point of the disaster as being generated from the point of the cross of Jesus, as a result of his death.

The evidence at the actual sight shows the earthquake likely to have been a magnitude 5.5. Secular Geologist, Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical, and colleagues Markus Schwab and Achim Brauer of the German Research Center for Geosciences, researched the Dead Sea and revealed that at least two major earthquakes occurred: A widespread earthquake in 31 BC and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36. Thus, this earthquake was clearly the one at Jesus' crucifixion.

https://www.christianevidence.net/2017/12/historical-evidence-darkness-earthquake.html

In a country where building a structure for a home should have included safety from the structure itself, safety was not considered. The primary form of construction was unreinforced mud bricks. A 5.5 earthquake can cause such structures to collapse crushing or suffocating the inhabitants.

It's why earthquakes in poorer countries tend to have death tolls in the thousands. However, the same quake in a developed country with a safer structure might only kill a few dozen people at most.

The most extreme example of this is the Port-a-Prince 7.0 magnitude earthquake in January 2010 which is estimated to have killed around 100,000 people. Compare that to the September 2010 7.1 magnitude quake that hit Christchurch New Zealand and caused a handful of casualties and no fatalities despite Christ Church having been hit harder than Port-a-Prince (The fact the Christchurch quake hit in the early morning did reduce casualties but the February 2011 aftershock is seen by authorities as a 'worse case scenario' and that killed less than 200 people - and around three quarters of those deaths were avoidable).

https://www.quora.com/How-bad-is-a-magnitude-5-5-earthquake-like-what-happened-in- the-north-eastern-part-of-India.

As far as Matthew 27 is concerned, no mention of the force of the earthquakes or even a slight tilt of any of the three crosses on the trees is made. Regardless of where the source points for the quake, the focus of the quake was Jesus' crucifixion. The witnesses were at the focus point or nearby. This was a major earthquake of monumental proportions accompanied by a one of a kind three hour eclipse anomaly.

This earthquake was so severe that Scripture says the rocks were ripped apart. Having suffered a 5.5 magnitude earthquake, its infrastructure would have been damaged. Buildings, roads, and people would have been severely damaged and faced collapse and destruction.

The rebuilding would have needed to be organized and swift because more Jews were to be coming from all over the country to Jerusalem. This was to honor the Day of Pentecost, which occurred 60 days after the crucifixion. There would be approximately 250,000 visitors during the holiday. There would have been mass attention to the rebuilding and mass hysteria caused by the loss of life and limb, which is never mentioned in any of the gospels.

However, the timing of the earthquake is uncertain. The earthquake is likely to have happened after the crucifixion. This would correspond to the veil being torn and the rock being rolled away from the tomb of Jesus.

A later earthquake event would also explain the reason why Jesus, after his resurrection, could go among the followers of the Christian Church for fifty days without being noticed by the Roman Government and the Pharisees.

Likewise, the destruction of the earthquake, the rebuilding and the influx of visitors, would account for Jesus’ ability to hide and be ignored by the Jewish people and Roman government.

It can be argued that the reason for the devastation to be left out of the Gospels is that this story and its consequences were dedicated to the crucifixion itself and the death and resurrection of the Savior. Entering into the totality of the event could take away from what Jesus Christ was trying to accomplish.

CHAPTER 11: THE WITNESSES OF THE CRUCIFIXION

CHAPTER 11: THE WITNESSES OF THE CRUCIFIXION

Another event that the Doctrine of OTW stands upon is the actual witnesses to the death of Jesus. The witnesses are mentioned in:

Matthew 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

Matthew 27:55 And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:

Matthew 27:56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children

Mark 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

Mark 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

Mark 15:40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome.

Mark 15:37 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women whichcame up with him unto Jerusalem.

The witnesses were a Roman Centurion, the Roman Soldiers under his command at the cross, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the son of Joseph, and Salome, who was thought to be the mother of Zebedee's children. Furthermore, it is mentioned that many other women were present to witness this account.

It teaches that these witnesses actually viewed these events from the viewpoint of Mt. Calvary. Because these witnesses provide an actual physical account of what happened, their account is noted as fact, according to the Doctrine of the OTW.

According to the Doctrine the witnesses recalled all they had seen, when asked by Matthew, Mark and Luke, exactly as they had witnessed it on Mt. Calvary.

There is mention in the OTW doctrine accounts that witnesses saw the OTW rise from their graves, which were opened somewhere outside of Jerusalem. They saw the worthies walk into Jerusalem (the holy city) and watched as the worthies walked directly to the Church of Jesus Christ, where the worthies were recognized by friends and family.

If the witnesses saw all these events and recounted them to each writer, then why would only one writer, Matthew, write of the accounts of the resurrection?

Why weren’t these resurrected saints mentioned in Luke, Mark and John to verify the resurrection account of Matthew? The resurrection not being written of in Luke, Mark and John is an overwhelming enigma!

Perhaps there was no physical resurrection to be remembered or accounted for by Mark, Luke and John to write about.

CHAPTER 12: WAS JERUSALEM REALLY A HOLY CITY?

CHAPTER 12: WAS JERUSALEM REALLY A HOLY CITY?

Matthew 27:53 states that the OTW "went into the holy city". It is assumed that this phrase "the holy city" means the actual city of Jerusalem during the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The actual term "holy city" is used only twice in the Four Gospels. The term is mentioned only in Matthew. The description is used in:

Matthew 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

Matthew 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many:

The dead were seen entering the "holy city". This "holy city" in Matthew 4:5 is the place that Satan used as a setting for the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Jesus was taken by the Devil to the "holy city" where Satan "setteth" Jesus upon a "pinnacle of the temple" to be tempted by him to commit suicide.

Both of these descriptions of the holy city can be applied to either a natural or spiritual setting.  You can use either of these terms to refer to Jerusalem or to the New Jerusalem.

In various interpretations of this passage, there is a popular doctrine called the Doctrine of Satan that teaches Matthew 4:5 is referring to either a natural or spiritual Jerusalem in times of spiritual temptation.

However, when teaching the Doctrine of the OTW, these teachers conclude that Matthew 27:53 is describing a natural city, the physical Jerusalem, in a natural condition.

Even if the testing of Jesus in the wilderness was physical in nature, the Devil did physically take Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. However, the testing was conducted on a mental plane during a spiritual confrontation. The term "holy city" was used as a spiritual description of a very vile city of sinners governed by two very vile godless empires.

The description used as the "holy city" in Matthew 4:5 or Matthew 27:53, would not have been an accurate spiritual description of the natural city of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus Christ. Before and during the time of Jesus, the city of Jerusalem was occupied and controlled by the Roman Empire, which was an idol-worshipping empire ruled by Godless heathens. The Empire of Rome appointed Herod the Great, a half-Jew who complied with Roman rule, as King of the Jews. The very fact that Herod was an imposed King by the Romans meant the city of Jerusalem was far from being a "holy city" during Herod's rule of Judea from 37 BCE to 4 BCE.

1400 years before the appearance of Jesus as the Messiah, the Captivity of Egypt had produced idol worship within Israel lasting until the Babylonian captivity and destruction of the First Temple by Nebuchadnezzar II. This captivity brought to an end the physical worship of idols.

But another ideological idol became the God of the Jewish Nation. The rulers of the Nation of Israel forgot their "First Love" (God), and were not committed to the commandments of the Law of Moses, but were using traditional interpretations of the Law, as the law.   

Israel had become worshippers of their scrolls of the Law, turning them into fictitious idols. Jesus clearly denounced this for which he was subsequently murdered by crucifixion at the hands of the Jewish nation. Their open denial of Jesus as their Messiah was likewise a denial of All Father God.

Long before the occupation of Rome, the Prophet Nehemiah, King David and the Prophet Isaiah had called Jerusalem a "Holy City”. Jerusalem was indeed holy because of its significance as the Place of Solomon's Temple, the holding place of the Ark of the Covenant.

Yet, the First Temple had been destroyed, and the Arc of the Covenant had disappeared. In 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple. There is no record of what became of the Ark in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.

Then came the building of the Second Temple called "Herod's Temple". This was the temple building, not sanctioned by God and without the Ark of the Covenant. This would have been the Temple in which Jesus and the OTW would have been associated. This temple did not make Jerusalem the "holy city".

Jerusalem had also been called an adulteress by the Prophet Hosea 3:1:

Hosea 3:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine..

Ezekiel 22:2 calls Jerusalem a "bloody city”:

Ezekiel 22:2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.

In the 23rd chapter of Ezekiel, Jerusalem is accused of whoredom and misconduct:

Ezekiel 23:3-4 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

Malachi 2:11 denounces Jerusalem as “idol worshippers”:

Malachi 2:11 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

If the description of Jerusalem in the New Testament as the "holy city" were factual, then in Matthew 27:53 the term is a false description of an actual vile city.

The description would have been a far stretch even if meant as a spiritual description of this vile city. The dead would not have gone into a "holy city" but would have "went" into a very unholy city.

Jesus used a parable to describe the condition of Israel in Matthew 12:45 in which Jesus said that that evil generation would take on 7 plus 1 evil spirits, meaning the nation of Israel was devil possessed.

Matthew 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

There is the possibility that "holy city" was a description of a spiritual condition, as the place where Jesus was tempted. Likewise, the place of the resurrection of the dead in Matthew 27 would have been in a spiritual setting.

Consideration of these specific saints that were seen by many and that walked into the "holy city"were those who were actually walking into the New Jerusalem, the one hundred forty four thousand, the Bride of Jesus Christ. And the only way to enter into the New Jerusalem is to have the Holy Ghost...which the OTW did not have prior to the Resurrection of Matthew 27:52-53.

Jerusalem being described as a "holy city" can only have a spiritual meaning if we are to understand Matthew 27:52-53 and Matthew 4:5. The "holy city" is a place of metaphoric heavenly conditions.

Considering the term "holy city" mentioned in these two scriptures is metaphoric for a spiritual place or spiritual plane of existence, is there any text proof for such a condition like this biblically to be taken seriously?

The Book of Revelation certainly uses the term "holy city" as a metaphor for several understandings other than the actual physical city of Jerusalem, Israel:

Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Revelation 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

The Book of Revelation describes the "holy city" as the Bride of Jesus. Revelation 21 gives a full description of the spiritual city of "holy Jerusalem" as an actual dwelling place of God.

The metaphor "holy city" is a description of a spiritual existence or plane of spiritual reality in God.

To worship God we are told that we must worship him in spirit:

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

As we read of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness by Satan, the term "holy city" was very metaphorical for the place where Jesus faced a high-level spiritual confrontation. As well, the account of the OTW walking into the "holy city" is a very metaphoric term for saints moving into a spiritual place and a description of the Bride of Christ.

Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Hebrews 11:10 states that Abraham was on the lookout for a city. This statement was written from the Apostle Paul’s perspective. It is a spiritual explanation of what Abraham was spiritually searching for. However, Abraham was looking for something a tad different.

In Abraham's case, the place he was looking for was a country. Abraham,Isaac and Jacob were looking toward being with God, literally being with God in the afterlife. They wanted to be in that spiritual land prepared for them by God himself, in which God (unknown to them) was going to be preparing for them a city...the New Jerusalem: the Bride of Christ. Abraham,Isaac and Jacob did not know they were looking for the Bride of Christ.  But in looking for a better country, they were likewise going to find the New Jerusalem.

The text proof for this is in Hebrews 11: 13-16:

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Hebrews 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

Hebrews 11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God "is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."

Hebrews 11:16 states that the Worthies were not looking for an earthly country, they were looking for a better heavenly country in which God (unknown to the Worthies) had prepared a city for them, which in New Testament terms, would be a heavenly city in a heavenly country. The city, by the time any of the OTW get there, the city will already be built, functioning and complete in every way.

All of the OTW of Hebrews 11 were looking for a country in which they would live forever; they were not seeking Jerusalem. The real promise to Abraham was a land eternal. The saints were seeking heaven, and God would provide that rather than a better country.y will also be given a heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, which is the Bride of Christ.

This is the spiritualization of what a "better country" would mean for the Worthies, if they claimed to have their entire inheritance saved. This city was never taught in the Old Testament; this city is only and specifically taught as a New Testament teaching.

Paul added the teaching of a city, the New Jerusalem, to Hebrews 11, as a detail of spiritual explanation as to what "looking for a better country" literally and totally meant.

Revelation 21:1-3 clearly reveals what city is prepared for all men in the last days and the beginning of the New Earth.

Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

The OTW, after their resurrection in the Second Resurrection, will be in the country for which they were looking and there they will find the city: New Jerusalem, the city God has built for all righteous men and women.