by Rick Badman

Created on: May 08, 2009

Judas Iscariot can be included with Pharoah, Nero, and General Titus who sacked Jerusalem and crucified over a million Jews near the city. They were evil men used by God for his purposes. Pharoah contended with Moses and paid for it with a destroyed Egypt and by drowing in the Red Sea, not the Reed Sea. I've seen the movie footage of the chariots and they are well over 100 feet below the surface of the Red Sea.

Nero persecuted the Church and it grew stronger. He had Paul beheaded. He helped give Christians backbone to withstand adversity.

Judas was a zealot. He wanted Jesus Christ to destroy the Romans and return Israel to its former glory. He may have thought that being close to Jesus would allow him to have a position of power once he restored the nation. But when he realized that Jesus knew he was going to die, Judas turned against him and sold him to the Jewish authorities for 30 pieces of silver.

Then again, he may have thought Jesus would escape the soldiers just like he escaped other times from being stoned and thrown off a cliff. So when he led the soldiers to him, he may have thought he would do a disappearing act and escape one more time. When that didn't happen, he returned to the High Priests and tried to return the money since Jesus was actually going to die, as he was supposed to since he had to be crucified in order to redeem us of our sins.

Throughout history, God has used other evil people in order to do his will. He used the Popes to institute the Inquisition to persecute true believers. He even used Hitler and Stalin to persecute and kill Jews in order to force Jews to escape to what became Israel. If it weren't for the holocaust, Israel may not have had enough people to defend itself against its enemies when it decided to become independent.

Soviet Jews fled to Israel and brought their talent with them to help the nation become a cultural and scientific leader in the world. Moscow's loss was Jerusalem's gain. Just like the betrayal of Judas Iscariot of Jesus to his enemies led to our salvation. he had been predicted centuries before in the Bible and was all a part of God's plan for salvation.

Many want to make him out to be a good guy. I believe he is in Hell today because he turned against Christ. As I have mentioned, he may have thought he and the other eleven close followers of Jesus would make up his ruling order that would rule over a new and more robust Israel free of Roman rule. Jesus could prevent starvation. He could raise the dead. He could call legions of angels to defend the nation and destroy the Roman Empire, if needed. As treasurer, he might even become the richest man in the world.

The visions of power were dashed when Jesus was taken into custody and his crucifixion was inevitable. He committed suicide instead of repent like Peter did after he denied he knew Christ. Peter became the leader of Christ's Church in Jerusalem while Judas Iscariot became another name for a traitor. But if he hadn't been evil, we might not have eternal life and a home in Heaven.

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