Matt 27:5-10 The Death of Judas Iscariot CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The study of the death of Judas Iscariot provides some interesting insight into the Bible. The natural assumption is that if Judas Iscariot wasn’t saved, as we studied last week, then he must have gone to hell when he died. In a matter of speaking he did. However, the truth is that he went some where else. We will find out where he went and what will become of him in this study.
The death of Judas Iscariot
He hung himself – Matt 27:5
Judas knew that he had betrayed innocent blood. If what Jesus had prophesied concerning him were true [Mk 14:21], he could never make it. So, he committed suicide. This is exactly what Ahithophel did when he counseled Absalom on how to defeat David in the treason [2 Sam 17:23]. When his counsel was overthrown by Hushai, he knew that Absalom would be defeated and so he would be killed anyway. As Ahithophel who was close to David hung himself, so Judas who was close to Jesus hung himself.
He fell – Acts 1:18
Just south of Jerusalem there is a place called the “valley of the son of Hinnom.” It is here that children were sacrificed to the god Moloch [Jos 15:8; 2 Ki 23:10]. Judas Iscariot apparently hanged himself on the edge of this valley. Then when the earth quaked during the crucifixion [Matt 27:54], he was dislodged from the tree upon which he hung and fell into the valley, causing his body to burst and his bowels to gush out [Acts 1:18].
He went to his own place – Acts 1:25
This is evidence that Judas Iscariot didn’t go into hell like the rich man in Lk 16:23. Rather Judas went to “his own place.” By studying the references to perdition, we can find out exactly where that place is. In Jn 17:12, Judas is called the son of perdition. Well, this same son of perdition ends up “in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God,” [2 Thes 2:3-4]. How does he get there? He gets there by a resurrection during the tribulation in which he becomes the devil incarnate. Do you know where he comes from? He comes from the bottomless pit according to Rev 17:8, 11. So, when Judas died he went to the bottomless pit, which is his place, the place over which he is the king [Rev 9:11].
Because Judas returned the money, the Pharisees needed to do something with it since they could not receive it back into the treasury. They bought a field with it for the burial of strangers [like the county burial plots]. This field was called Aceldama, or the field of blood [Acts 1:19; Matt 27:8]. This field is also known as the potter’s field [Matt 27:10].
Interestingly, the amount negotiated for the betrayal of Jesus and the purchase of the field when the money was returned fulfilled prophecy [Zech 11:12-13]. However, this fulfillment has been the subject of controversy among those who argue that there are errors in the KJV. For, the reference we cited for the prophecy is in Zechariah but Matthew attributes the prophecy to Jeremiah. In fact, there is no mention of this prophecy in Jeremiah, at all. So, is this a contradiction or an error? No, it is not because Matthew is careful to tell you that the prophecy was “spoken” by Jeremiah [2 Pet 1:21]. It was not written by him; rather it was written by Zechariah. It is problems like this that cause scholars to doubt the words of God and essentially hang themselves in their disbelief and accusations against the words of God.