How does Acts 1:18 connect with Old Testament teachings on justice? Setting the Scene: What Acts 1:18 Tells Us “Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines spilled out.” Justice on Display: Immediate and Visible • The verse shows God allowing the consequences of Judas’s sin to unfold in a way everyone could see. • The gruesome detail underscores that divine justice is neither abstract nor merely future; it often breaks into history in unmistakable ways. Old Testament Echoes of Retributive Justice • Psalm 7:15-16 — “He has dug a pit…and fallen into the trap he made.” • Proverbs 11:5 — “The righteousness of the blameless clears his path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.” • Psalm 9:15-16 — “The nations have sunk into the pit they made; their foot is caught in the net they hid. … The LORD is known by the justice He brings.” • These texts teach that sin recoils on the sinner; Acts 1:18 shows that principle vividly fulfilled. Blood Money and Cursed Gain • Deuteronomy 27:25 — “Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.” Judas’s thirty pieces of silver were just such blood money. • Zechariah 11:12-13 foretold thirty pieces of silver thrown to the potter in God’s house, then used to buy a field—fulfilled when Judas’s money purchases the “Field of Blood.” Corporate Warning from Covenant History • Achan (Joshua 7) kept forbidden plunder and died violently; Judas likewise took forbidden money and died violently. • Haman (Esther 7) built gallows for Mordecai and was hanged on them himself; Judas plotted against Christ and suffered a fitting end. • These stories illustrate Deuteronomy 32:35, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.” Justice, Mercy, and the Moral Order • God’s justice operates consistently: wrong gains invite ruin (Proverbs 1:18-19). • Yet alongside judgment, Scripture holds out mercy to those who repent (Isaiah 55:6-7). Judas’s tragedy emphasizes the urgency of turning to the Lord rather than hardening the heart. Takeaways for Today • Sin always pays its own wages (Romans 6:23). • God’s moral law has not changed from Old to New Testament; Acts 1:18 confirms it. • Visible judgment in Judas’s death reinforces confidence that God’s justice, though sometimes delayed, is certain and exact. |
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