The Heart of the Earth
Bob Yandian
The Bible is virtually silent about what exactly happened to Jesus when He went into the uttermost parts of the earth, but the Bible is clear about the fact that He did go there. Our imaginations could not even begin to fathom what happened to Jesus those three days and three nights following His death.
The only thing the Bible tells us about what happened to Jesus when He was in the heart of the earth is His victory. It tells about the fact that He was risen from the dead, that He conquered and spoiled principalities and powers and made a show of them openly (Colossians 2:15). Jesus triumphed over them, and then He arose from the dead; and thank God He did! We had the sentence of death upon us. Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, we were destined for hell. Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, we could not possibly go to Heaven. There is no way that unrighteousness can have fellowship with God. Those who do not know Jesus as their Savior are of their father the devil. With the death and resurrection of Jesus, they could never have the opportunity of having fellowship with the Father of lights; it would be impossible. They would have to eventually go into an uninhabited place. For God to redeem us, not only would He have to take our sin and our sickness, He would also have to take the penalty of that sin and sickness; and that is exactly what Jesus did on the cross!
David prophesied of the time Jesus would be in the heart of the earth in Psalms 16 beginning with verse 8. “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in hell, nor will you allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalms 16:8-11). David was not speaking of himself when he said, “You will not leave my soul in hell',” because, at that time, he was not in hell. On many occasions David wrote Messianic Psalms, which looked forward to the work of Jesus, either on the cross or in redemption.
In Psalm 22:1, David wrote a graphic illustration and prophecy of Jesus on the cross. He even wrote the words that Jesus would speak on the cross- “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” David stood in the office of a prophet; he stood in the office of a seer. Since God had promised David that out of his loins would come One who would sit on the throne of David and who would rule and reign on the throne of Israel forever, the Lord gave him many visions of what would happen to Jesus.
He Could Not Be Held!
“Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts 2:24
When Jesus was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, He was literally delivered into the womb of the earth. Jesus was taken down into the very region of Satan, and the Word says that He was loosed from the birth pains of death (Acts 2:24). Is it the object of a woman to deliver her baby into death? No! The object is to deliver the baby into life; she is bringing forth life! Jesus was taken into the place of Satan, which is actually the birth place of death. Satan was trying to take the Son of Life and birth Him into death; but after three days and three nights, hell could not hold Him. Satan and hell had a miscarriage, and Jesus arose from the dead; He was birthed into life! Glory to God!
It says, “it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Why? Because He had no sin of His own! After three days and three nights, the sin payment had been paid for the whole human race; Jesus had no sin of His own! After three days and three nights, He looked up to the holy mountain of God - and He was raised out of that place. Hell spit Him out, just like the whale spit out Jonah! When Jesus came out of the grave, He came out preaching!
David Prophesied a Future Event
Verses 25-28 continue: “For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’” David prophesied about Jesus and now Peter is explaining what David was talking about in verses 29-32: “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” Long before David physically died, he saw the future event of Jesus being delivered from the birth pains of death!
Romans 8 verse 11 says, that “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you!” No wonder we can be transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of life - we have the very same Spirit! We have the very same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and that was given to the Church on the day of Pentecost!
