Still meditating in the subject of death and resurrection, I came upon a portion of scripture in Matthew:

When Jesus cried out in a loud voice, the words He spoke were, "It is finished (accomplished, desired purpose achieved)". His appointed time of suffering was at an end and had achieved the desired result. No more suffering was necessary. He then released His spirit into the hands of the Father. Matthew records for us that at that very moment, two things happened – the veil of the temple was torn in two and secondly there was an earthquake and many saints came back to life!

These two occurrences were very significant for two different groups of people. Firstly, let us look at the tearing of the veil. This very thick piece of woven fabric separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies in the temple. The only person who got to venture beyond that veil was the High Priest and this only happened once a year on Yom Kippur, when he went to pour out a blood offering upon the mercy seat for the sins of the whole nation of Israel. Everybody else involved in the temple saw him disappear and re-emerge a short while later. What went on behind the curtain, they could only guess at but they knew it was a very very holy encounter.

When the veil was torn as Jesus declared the project accomplished, God tore that thick curtain completely in two, in much the same way as He tore open the water of the Red Sea. The two pieces of the sea were completely separated from each other so that the people who had been held in bondage could journey safely to the other side, away from slavery and towards their inheritance. Now the amazing fact about the incident at the time of Jesus' death is this – normally the removal of the veil would have revealed the Ark of the Covenant residing inside the Holy of Holies. However, some 600 years earlier in the time of Jeremiah, during the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, some of the priests took the ark out of the Holy of Holies and hid it in a safe place. From that time on, the ritual at Yom Kippur was carried out but the ark was not present behind the curtain. To everyone watching the High Priest go into the Holy of Holies, things looked like they were proceeding as normal and they all breathed a sigh of relief when he reappeared because they knew their sins were atoned for. However, it had become an empty ritual because the ark of God' presence was no longer there. The ordinary people just didn't know this!

So when God tore the veil from top to bottom, the sight that greeted the priests going about their daily business in the temple was an empty room! Sometimes a visual depiction is worth a thousand words – God was clearly showing them that they were involved in a system where God was no longer present. He was busy outside the city walls, beyond the framework their mindsets dwelt in. What they were involved in was empty and had just become obsolete! The shout that Jesus gave, declaring the completion of the appointed time of suffering, set in motion a removal of the veil that obscured the Truth. Until that veil was removed, those who were in the service of God were completely ignorant that God had left the building. They carried on faithfully doing their appointed duties year in, year out for 600 years, unaware that they were only serving people and helping to keep up a massive cover-up! The announcement 'it is finished' declared the end of that cover-up and the exposure of the secret that was hidden behind that veil! It was time for that which was hidden to be revealed. For those who really had a hunger for the reality of God's presence, there was given an opportunity to take stock of the place they were in and to move to the place where God's presence really was -in a Body, not a building.

The second thing that happened as Jesus made His announcement was that there was a great earthquake and many saints who were lying in the grave were resurrected. These people had died in faith, looking for the fulfillment of promises, yet not experiencing them before death took them. Here is a picture of those who have known 'the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death' (Phil 3:10). They have been waiting in the dust for the announcement 'it is finished' and have risen full of resurrection power and life.

So the shout 'it is finished' also announces the end of a season in the grave for those who have been waiting. Those who are in the prison of preparation like Joseph hear a royal shout 'it's time for release' and they are catapulted out of their earthen tombs. Once again the announcement of the King of Kings that the required result is accomplished, causes the hidden things to be revealed. The earth is forced to give up those it has been holding in the grave.

Before, all was quiet in the cemetery. People only came to visit and change the flower arrangements at the tombs of their beloveds. Now suddenly it has become the scene of vibrant overflowing life! There is an impromptu fellowship meeting of saints from different locations and dispensations who find themselves face to face at God's appointed season of connection. Think of the valley of dry bones and how the bones began to come together bone on bone in Ezekiel 37. See the network of divine connections occurring all at once in God's garden of Remembrance! Just as the Lord remembered Noah in the ark and sent a wind to stop the flood; just as the king remembered Mordecai's righteous deeds and rewarded him; just as God remembered His promise to Abraham and then brought his descendants out of slavery and into the Promised Land, so too God remembers His Word to you and will bring it to fulfillment.

The interesting thing is that Jesus' appointed season of suffering was for the sake of both those trapped in activities that they believed were valuable and God-ordained (in the temple) AND those saints who had come to the place of death. I believe what God is saying is that both these categories of people are embodied in His present-day Church, and the work of revealing will be evidenced on three different levels.

Firstly on the level of the whole Body, some are under the yoke of a religious spirit, spending their lifeblood on activities that they believe God wants them to be involved with. Yet this is error. There has been a thick veil before their eyes, preventing them from seeing what is hidden; blinding their eyes to the Truth that God is not involved at all in what they are yoked to. However the time has come for that veil to be torn. Ezekiel 13:18-21 records God's dealings with the seductive spirits that take His people captive, veiling their understanding and using them for profit. He declares He will tear the veils:

At Body level, the King of Kings is declaring it is time for hidden things to be revealed. Veils will be torn from top to bottom and there will be no opportunity for man to patch them up. People's eyes are going to be opened to the emptiness of what they are involved in and they will have a chance to choose Life and separate themselves from that which is dead and of a past season and cleave to that which God is doing presently. Sadly at the time of Jesus' death, temple worship continued for another 35 years before the temple was finally destroyed in 70AD. Those who choose to remain joined to activities where death is at work will in the not too distant future, find themselves destroyed along with that which they have clung to.

During the shaking that causes hidden things to be revealed, saints who have been waiting and prepared for such a time as this, will suddenly be released into plain sight. Matthew tells us they went into the city and appeared to many! This new season is a time for the results of God's handiwork in His hidden ones to be revealed so all the glory may go to Him. Those who are in the dust will awake and sing for joy because there is an announcement ringing out in the heavens 'it is finished!'

The second level where this sudden rending and revealing will play out will be in the soul and spirit realm within each of us. There are things that we have been emotionally involved with, that are in fact holding us captive. We just have been unable to see it because of the thick veil obscuring our view. This has enabled the enemy to keep us pouring out our efforts into endeavors and relationships that His stamp of approval are no longer on. Yet we have been unable to discern the true nature of the situation because of the veil over our understanding. When God tears the veil, immediately revelation and understanding of our position will flood in and cause us to flee those things which the Father has not appointed us to be joined to. Any area of idolatry and bondage will be broken as heavenly light enters the situation.

The result of deliverance in the soul realm will be a release in the realm of our spirits. At that same moment as any deception is torn wide open in the realm of our emotions and mind, that which He has been working in our spirits, though death to self, will come to fruition and be released from our earthen vessel, where it was previously entombed. The tomb stone placed there by the spirit of religion will be thrown aside and that which Christ has forged in us will step out and begin to be manifest to many!

The third level on which this revealing will take place is for those of us who have undergone a season of trial and suffering for the perfecting or maturing of our faith.

The cross season, the time of suffering at the hands of our brethren, the very people we are undergoing the trial for, is a very painful time. The buffeting with cruel groundless accusations, the curses like nails that are hammered deep; the working of grace in one's heart until one is able to say, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they do" - all these experiences are limited to a measured season. Finally, the goldsmith can see His face in the mirror-surface of our molten hearts and announces the trial is at an end – 'it is finished' – the express purpose is accomplished. Patience has had her perfect work and manhood has been attained. At this moment there is a surrender into the hands of the Father of Lights who brought us to this appointment.

And at that moment, those we have been carrying in intercession are touched by a divine hand. Those in deception, joined to that which is ministering death to them, suddenly have their eyes opened to see where they are. Light bursts in. Because of His great mercy, a light from on High visits those in darkness and shows their feet the path to peace (Luke 1). Others who have been lying in the grave along with their dead promises will suddenly be restored to life and function and run with their stories. For those of us who have suffered for such a long season, we will share the same joy as Jesus:

Those who have gone out weeping, carrying the burden of intercession, will come again with rejoicing, carrying their sheaves with them. We will see the fruit of the travail of our soul and be fully satisfied, knowing that though death was at work in us, life is at work in others!

On mount Zion a feast will be celebrated as people come out of veils of bondage and religion and experience the wine of His presence. For those in the grave, death will be swallowed up in victory, and their reproach will be removed. Much glory will go to the Lord because of the tearing of the veils and the opening of the tombs. It will be celebration time for God’s people:

I hear a shout resounding in Heaven’s atmosphere ‘it is finished’. Hear it over your life, over your circumstance, over every prayer situation, in every place where sin and sickness has held court. The Throne-room has issued an announcement – the desired purpose is accomplished and now every hidden thing must be revealed. Let every veil of deception be torn. Let every tombstone covering one of His saints be cracked wide open! Let Truth be revealed in and through and around His saints! The King of Kings has spoken and judgment is being issued in favor of the saints!

selah

Christine