The Synagogue

First, in both yesterday's and today's readings, we read the story of Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman at the well. I wrote on the animus between Judeans and Samaritans some time back, and if you wish, you can view it here.

Today's reading contains the first teachings of Jesus as he began to travel and preach. I'll go ahead in include the map that I used in my presentation yesterday to help give a sense of where Jesus was going, since there is plenty of movement in this reading:

In the various places where Jesus preached, we're told that he preached in the synagogue. I covered this in my comments briefly on September 25th, but let me review where the Israelites worshiped as times changed:

1. Initially, in altars set up to commemorate important events. We saw this numerous times in Genesis as God would visit the Patriarchs. Examples include Genesis 13:14-18 (p68) and Genesis 28:10-19 (pp92-93).

2. When in the desert after the Exodus, they worshiped in the Tabernacle, a portable structure meant to be moved from place to place.

3. After the final vanquishing of all enemies in the Promised Land, Solomon's Temple, followed by Zerubbabel's Temple and in the time of Jesus, Herod's Temple.

4. Upon the diaspora (click the word for a more in-depth discussion), the synagogue was established, for a Jewish people that were scattered throughout the world. They couldn't get to the temple, but still wanted to worship.

Jesus preached in the Temple, but his primary place of teaching was two-fold--either in synagogues, or to groups of people that gathered around him. Of course, this wasn't exclusive, since there were many occasions where Christ taught one-on-one (the Samaritan at the well being a prime example), but there's a pretty clear message in there for us as we work to spread Christ's message. Christ spoke to a people that were generally open to hearing the word. They may not agree with him, but they weren't openly hostile and antagonistic to what he was saying. Jesus did NOT go to the pagan Roman temples (at least, it wasn't recorded that he did) and attempt to tell the people there that they were on the wrong path, nor are we shown any occasions where he attempted to talk to a people that had no idea what the source of his message was.

Why do you suspect this might be the case? Think about this, and then consider a point I'll make in far greater detail on November 11th when we read the story of Pentecost. In particular, I take great comfort in Acts 2:6, which tells us that the listeners to Peter that day heard his message in their own language. Obviously, the Holy Spirit allowed this to happen, but we need to be certain that we're speaking the language of our listeners when we speak to them about Christ. This is why I've never been a fan of blanket canvassing to tell the message--it's a shotgun approach where we hope that we'll have some success, when we might have far greater benefits if we were to go out to our lapsed members and see how they're doing--they at least have some familiarity with what we're about, had been involved at one point and would be more receptive than a person who might not even know what God is. Am I suggesting we never talk to the person with no knowledge of God? Of course not--the Holy Spirit will enable anything the Lord wants, but we're going to see that Jesus usually talks to people that have some idea of what his message is. If it worked for Christ, it will probably work for us as well.

Scott

Assyria

I'm all confused this week, since our readings are jumping all over the latter part of the Old Testament. As a result, the verse I referenced on Tuesday (I think), Hosea 6:6, isn't actually read until today. Sorry about that.

In Hosea 7:11, Hosea alluded to a dangerous game that Israel  attempted. We'll read more about it in Isaiah (and it will be clearer), but BOTH Assyria and Egypt are poised to conquer Israel, and Israel attempted to set up alliances with each to head off the other. In the history of the world, this has rarely worked, and we'll see how it failed fairly soon. As such, here's a map of the people and my stab at trying to explain it:

As we've mentioned in the past, Assyria is located in present-day Iran--what I never really understood before was that Nineveh was in Assyria. Put that in context--God sent Jonah to Nineveh to tell them to repent or be destroyed, and they repented. Apparently, they liked the message so much they decided to attack the country that Jonah came from.

Both Egypt and Assyria are looking to defeat Israel, so Israel looks to Egypt as protection from Assyria. It won't matter much, since God has already decided that Israel would be defeated and that any alliance would be futile. July 3rd's reading will describe Assyria's takeover, and often times prose does a much better job of description than prophecy. By this point, God had been warning Israel (and Judah, since they were just as evil) for close to 200 years (the death of Solomon) to repent and change their ways, and we're going to see the final decisive action soon.

And as usual, this still occurs today. God may not take us physically into exile, but the eternal exile we risk if we don't submit to the Lord makes anything that can happen to us on this earth pale in comparison. There are literally billions of people at risk of this, and God has charged us with reaching these people. He's given us all the tools we need to accomplish this, but we need to maintain the sense of urgency, since every day brings us one day closer to the ultimate day of exile for unsaved. The important difference will be that there will be NO return from that exile.

Get busy.

Scott

Amos

First, this map is from the NIV Study Bible and can help place where certain events occurred.

I was asked today about Amos, and I can't add more than is written in the Bible--he was a shepherd, and obviously a very learned one. The one interesting note I found in the NIV Study Bible was that he was a Judean who was a prophet to Israel, and that just didn't happen often. You can see where he was  born on the map at Tekoa, but he did much of his ministry at Bethel.

Amos will serve as our introduction to prophecy in general, since the message isn't going to change all that much:

1. Woe to Israel/Judah because

    a. you worship false gods

    b. you worship yourselves

    c. you're licentious and evil

2. There will be judgment

    a. it will be swift and total

    b. it will come from the Lord

3. REPENT

Lucky for us we're not like that today. Lucky for us we obey the Lord totally and completely and have no need of his judgment. Unlike them, we WELCOME the Day of the Lord, when we need to be just as wary of it as they should have been. As with most prophecy, there is a dual nature at work:

1. It is prophetic for their times (i.e., for the times the people were living in)

2. It is prophetic STILL for us today

For example, the Day of the Lord, referred to in Amos 5:18-20, occurred for Israel about 40 years after Amos spoke those words when they went into Assyrian exile. It happened AGAIN about 140 years after that with the people of Judah entering Babylonian exile. It will happen AGAIN at the Last Day, when all of us will be judged before the Lord.

Since we need to have every expectation that an impending judgment is coming, we need to be prepared and make sure we're not doing the same things the people of Israel and Judah were doing. The idols may have changed, but the nature of idol worship is alive and well in the world today. We don't know when the Day of the Lord is, we just know that for CERTAIN, each day on earth brings us one day closer to it--all the more reason to be ever ready and prepared for it.

Scott

Zion

I can't explain it, but I get a funny sense when I see certain words, and it's uncanny how often I'm correct. I don't say this to boast, but it's happened at least four times in the past three months...

Today's word of that variety is ZION, and what makes these words stick out is when I realize that common words of today are used for the first time in the Bible. As soon as I read "Zion" in 2 Samuel 5:7, I was fairly certain it hadn't been used before. I did seconds of research to determine this was true, and then checked if the readers of that time would clearly understand what the word meant. This is important to me, since I'm a firm believer that we shouldn't just bask in the gift of 3,500 years of commentary and explanation as to what passages of the Bible mean, but seek to see if the people of that time understood as well.

In instances like this, I head straight for my NIV Study Bible, which has this note:

Zion. The first occurrence of the name in the OT (its meaning is unknown). Originally the name appears to have been given to the southernmost hill of the city on which the Jebusite fortress was located. As the city expanded (from the days of Solomon onward), the name continued to be applied to the entire city.

I've often wondered just what Zion means, and the fact I've never received a satisfactory answer would appear to be that there isn't one. At the very least, that's one less thing I need to discuss with God when we meet in heaven. This map of Jerusalem at various times in Biblical history shows where Mt. Zion was/is:

You can refer to this map in the months to come, since it's accurate up to the time of Christ and afterward, but don't lose sleep over the meaning of "Zion"--if it was important for us to know, the Lord would have made it plainly clear. 

Scott

Saul Chases David

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There was much movement in today's reading, so here's a map that will show where the action took place:

It's hard to read but the best I could find (I looked at about 10 of them)--if you know how to increase the size on your browser, you can increase it in size. It gives a good general flavor to where the activity took place.

Psalm 52 clearly describes the future of all tyrants, and 52:1 in particular presents the case for why that judgment will be harsh, severe and CERTAIN. At the beginning of today's reading, 1 Samuel 22:7 describes how Saul (and all tyrants) operate--through fear, coercion and favors for support. Saul was only able to complete the massacre of the priests of Nob because he had a lackey in Doeg who was willing to throw away any sense of morality and justice for personal gain.

But those gains are short-term, and anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention to the news. Everything occurring in the Middle East in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and elsewhere is precisely because the tyrant in charge (be it elected like Mubarak in Egypt, coup plotters like Gaddafi or whatever manner) lost control of his army, his source of enforcement and protection. This has been occurring throughout Africa for the past twenty years as thug leadership throughout the entire continent are either waging civil war or being overthrown by the people. Being a tyrant is a good job when you have an army to enforce the regime, but loses its allure when the masses tire of despotic rule and realize that their numbers will overwhelm anything a tyrant can manage.

For those old enough to remember, Psalm 52:5-7 is an excellent description of what happened in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Repressive governments were overthrown in in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary and other Iron Curtain countries, and the people in those countries were jubilant. There is a very real chance that similar events will happen in Cuba and North Korea in the near future, since the piles of money necessary to support an oppressive army are dwindling and unrest is building. Being a despot is usually not a good long-term strategy.

The important thing for us to remember is that David never lost faith during these ordeals, and as we face our travails in life, we need to have the same steely resolve of David and remain faithful. We're all good Christians when times are flush, but it's when times are tough that our true character is revealed. Pray that we all remain faithful like David when we suffer setbacks in life.

Scott