OT GBH in Context – 2
Another thought on the contrast between Israel’s history of bloodshed and the church’s history of being shed blood: it revolves around death and resurrection. Israel was the four cornered Bronze Altar, and that saw lots of bodies on it. It was near the gate guarded by priests with swords. That Israel was slain and restored but without an earthly king or army. Zechariah basically shows the cherubim who had a flaming sword against Judah now with plowshares, pumping Holy Spirit into the old almond tree to make it a new abundance. This pictured the coming of the church, the higher Altar, which saw no bodies, only incense, with blood applied to its horns from the lower Altar. In other words, the death of old, bloody Israel on earth gave birth to the new fragrant Israel governed from heaven. In the Restoration, it was a new access for Joshua among the heavenly elders, prefiguring the ascension of the firstfruits church in the access gained by the blood of Christ.
Revelation describes the transition. The believers are slain on the Land and ascend in clouds (as incense). They are living sacrifices. After their departure, the rebels are thrown by the Roman armies onto their own altar (the actual altar picturing the “four-cornered Land) for “devouring”. Spiritually, this Land-altar was split in two to swallow the first century sons of Korah.[1]
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[1] See Splitting Rocks.
