The following article is a small section taken from the article titled, Hebrews 4:4-11, With the Finger of God. Â You will miss what this article centered on, however, the Message that is Contained in Matthew, Chapter 27:66 should give many readers an appreciation into the wonders of Scripture. To fully understand the Message Contained in 27:66 a little background is necessary; therefore I have included the precious paragraph and Scripture before the section title The Message Contained in 27:66.
A Greater Work Than Creation
In this theme of God ‘s rest we have a divine thread running through the whole of Scripture, and it comes to its conclusion in the eternal state of the new heaven and the new earth. In our study of Chapter 4 of Hebrews we have God describing in detail His rest. This is the longest description and chapter on God’s rest, and therefore, to us who believe, we have rest in God Himself. When the Lord Jesus declared on the cross, It is finished, a greater work than creation was accomplished. The unseen world of faith spiraled in the unseen, and the works of darkness were defeated. The Lord of glory went into the greatest battle field, which was the cross of Golgotha, the place of the skull, or the place of death. There was no life at Golgotha, only death, and the Son of God would pass into death to accomplish the divine work of salvation. It was a battle that brought forth the defeat of death, the defeat of sin, the defeat of Satan, and of all his hosts, and the defeat of man in Adam. Then, as in Genesis, God in the Person of Jesus Christ had finished His work. But wait, we only see death at the cross, only a lifeless body in the tomb. The Jews, both the Sadducees and Pharisees, the two high priests (by God’s law there was to be only one high priest), and the rulers of the Jews, the people, and the Roman world in all it’s dominion thought that they had finished the Son of God. They had witnessed His death, and in His death, they had consoled their own souls in the defeat of God the Son. They were through with the Son of God who they called a deceiver.
Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. (Matthew 27:63)
Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. (Matthew 27:64)
Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. (Matthew 27:65)
So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. (Matthew 27:66)
Now the Jews in their delusion believed in their hearts that they had put to death the Son of God. But they had doubts of their own convictions, and the last verse of Matthew 27, verse 66 shows the uncertainty of their hearts; for they desired the Roman seal to be placed on the tomb or sepulchre of the Son of God, the King of Israel. This was the last act of the hatred of man against the Son of God. The sepulchre was to be sealed with the Roman seal for all the world to see. And if the seal was broken the perpetrator or perpetrators would be under the penalty of death by Roman law. Both the Jewish religious leaders, and the Romans conspired together in this last act.
The Message Contained in 27:66Â 
We have in this verse of 66, the double representation of the evil of man in both Jew and Rome. We know that in the Book of the Revelation that we have the trilogy of the number 6. The number 6 – 6 – 6 is the number of the man of sin in the final rebellion against God Almighty. How fitting that this last evil act of man in the diabolical conspiracy against the Son of God is recorded in verse 66 of Matthew 27. In Chapter 27, we have the witness of God (2) with two or three witnesses every word will be established. The number 2 represents a witness of God against man, and the number 7 represents the finished work of Christ that brings in God’s rest. Are we beginning to see the fulfillment of God in His seventh day of rest. As we enter into Christ’s death at the cross, so we will enter into His life in His resurrection.
© Copyright 2017, Michael Haigh
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All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)