The Bible - and YOU!

From our study in the Exodus, we have seen how important God considered the people's following ONLY Him.  After the incident with the Calf, God gave them the Covenant and once again wrote the Laws of the covenant for them (as Moses had broken the tables the first time) - Ex.34. It was so important that they have God's word in them, that he stated to the generation that would go into the Promised Land "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Dt 6:6-9"  God knew that when they came into the land, that there would be a King that they would desire, other than Him.  He gave instruction for that King, "And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them.Dt.17:19  "

Billions of us have access to God's Word these days, and yet in spite of this, many believers are more faithful to reading their daily newspaper or email than their Bibles. It seems strange that we cannot seem find three minutes just to read the Bible, yet they will find 20 or 30 minutes to play an online game, or peruse the Internet.

It’s no wonder why we don’t grow personally in spiritual fruit and in development of our gifts.  Many who claim to believe the Bible “from cover to cover” have never read it from cover to cover.  Did you know that if you cut out one 30-minute television program a day and read your Bible instead, you will read through the entire Bible twice a year.Reading God's word keeps us in tune to God's voice and God's working in our lives.  This is why He was so insistent for the people to always keep it before them, and for the King to always have it by his side.  

But don’t just keep it near you; read it regularly! A simple tool that is helpful for this is a daily Bible reading plan. It will prevent you from just skipping around the Bible arbitrarily and overlooking sections.

Here are a few questions for you to consider:

• How do you think 15 minutes a day in God’s Word would change the way you approach your everyday life?
• Being in God's presence, changed the physical countenance of Moses. What do you think being in God's presence with His Word daily would do to your countenance?
• Is God's word a topic of conversation in our homes? Do we keep it before us as we walk through the day?
• Do we put reminders around our houses, on our calendars, mirrors, etc. like we do with other things, to remind ourselves of what God says - to keep it?
• If not any of the above - why not?

Mary and Joseph went a day’s journey. Where did they stop? | Ferrell's Travel Blog

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Mary and Joseph went a day’s journey. Where did they stop?

Posted on January 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

After his presentation in the Temple, there is no record of Jesus returning to Jerusalem until he is 12 years of age.

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. (Luke 2:41-42 ESV)

When the Feast of the Passover ended, his parents began the return to Nazareth. We can easily imagine that a large caravan of people were traveling together on this trip that would take several days. Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem spending time among the teachers, “listening to them and asking them questions.” Because Mary and Joseph had relatives and acquaintances in the caravan they assumed that Jesus was among them until the end of the first day.

Keener provides some background on caravan travel.

Caravans, which afforded protection from robbers, were common on pilgrimages for the feasts in Jerusalem. Traveling with a caravan, in which neighbors from their town would watch the community children together, Mary and Joseph might assume that the near-adult Jesus was with companions, especially if by now they had younger children to attend to. If we assume a pace of twenty miles per day (though perhaps slower, depending on transportation and the children), Nazareth would be a little over three days’ journey along the shortest route. (Keener, C. S., The IVP Bible background commentary : New Testament)

Where did Mary and Joseph stop at the end of that first day of travel? We can not be certain of the route taken from Jerusalem to Nazareth. Travel from Galilee to Jerusalem was often through Perea on the eastern side of the Jordan Valley. We later find Jesus traveling north along the central mountain range through Samaria (John 4).

Ruins of medieval church beneath a Mosque in El Bireh. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Tradition identifies the stop at El Bira. Tradition has it that the first day’s stop after leaving Jerusalem was at a place now known as El Bira (or Bireh) east of Ramallah. El Bira is an Arab town. There is a spring and ruins of a medieval church. The Hachette World Guides: The Middle East (1966) says that the tradition associating this event with El Bireh dates to the 16th century. Eugene Hoade says it is probable that this church was built in 1146 “in memory of” the event mentioned in Luke 2 (Guide to the Holy Land). The apse of the church is visible in the photo below. The Hachette World Guide says the building was destroyed in 1915 and the stones were used for building bridges along the mountain route.

This site is only about 8 miles north of Jerusalem, but with a large caravan including women and children it is possible that a short distance was covered the first day. It was necessary to stop where water and various food supplies were available (John 4:6-8; Luke 9:51-53).

Ruins of the medieval church in El Bireh. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Is this Beeroth? Since the time of explorer Edward Robinson (1867), some scholars have identified El Bireh with the Old Testament Gibeonite city of Beeroth. The word Beeroth indicates the presence of a well. Biblical references include Joshua 9:17, 18:25, Ezra 2:25, and Nehemiah 7:29. Beeroth was considered part of the tribe of Benjamin (2 Samuel 4:2).

David Dorsey, after surveying the scholarship on the matter, says,

At present, therefore, the site of biblical Beeroth remains a matter of dispute. The most likely candidate would still seem to be the one originally proposed by Robinson, i.e., el-Bireh. (The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary)

John baptized in the river Jordan | Ferrell's Travel Blog

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John baptized in the river Jordan

Posted on January 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

John the Baptist proclaimed the coming Messiah in the Wilderness of Judea. The Gospel accounts point out that many people from Jerusalem and all Judea and the region about the Jordan came to be baptized. These were Jews who were being called to repent and confess their sins.

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (Matthew 3:5-6 ESV)

The photo shows a view of the River Jordan at the traditional site where John was baptizing. This photo was made in the spring of the year when the river shows the flow of mud as a result of the spring rains.

Jordan River (view south) where John baptized. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Jesus was baptized by John, not because he was a sinner, but because it was part of God’s plan for him “to fulfill all righteousness.”

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17 ESV)

Inn from the Good Samaritan Parable Becomes a Museum – Bible History Daily

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Inn from the Good Samaritan Parable Becomes a Museum

Israeli archaeologist Yitzhak Magen brings together mosaics from synagogues and churches in Israel

Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 01/11/2012

The site of the inn from the Good Samaritan parable in Luke’s gospel has been restored and converted into a museum by Israeli archaeologist Yitzhak Magen and his team. Drawing on the relevance of the parable for Jews, Samaritans and Christians, Yitzhak Magen decided that the new museum would feature important mosaics and reconstructions from Jewish and Samaritan synagogues and Christian churches in Israel.

The Good Samaritan parable begins on the ancient road between Jerusalem and Jericho, where a man is robbed, brutally beaten and given up for dead before finally being helped by a passing Samaritan. The Samaritan brings the injured man to an inn and pays for his care before continuing on his journey. Although no additional details are given in Luke’s gospel as to the whereabouts of the inn, by the fifth century, the church father Jerome writes that the site of the inn is identified as Ma’ale Adummim, along the Jerusalem-Jericho road, and that there is a way-station for travelers located there.

In the late 1990s, Yitzhak Magen, the staff officer of archaeology for the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria, began an excavation at Ma’ale Adummim. He discovered that the site had been rebuilt in several historical periods—the late Second Temple period, the Byzantine period, the Crusader period and the Ottoman period—and in every phase the site had apparently functioned as a khan, or way-station for travelers. In the Byzantine period a church was also built at the site (in the basilical style, like many early churches in Israel), suggesting its importance as a pilgrimage site for early Christians. The floor of the church was once a beautiful mosaic of geometric patterns that had largely disappeared in modern times, so Yitzhak Magen decided that he and his team would restore the mosaic based on early photographs taken before the tiles had disappeared.

After the successful restoration of the church’s mosaic floor, Yitzhak Magen decided that he would take the project further and, using the newly acquired expertise of his mosaic team, create a mosaic museum at the site. Because the Good Samaritan parable is connected to Jews, Samaritans and Christians, Yitzhak Magen determined that the new museum would feature mosaics important to all three religions. He brought important mosaics (or reconstructions if the original was already displayed elsewhere) from Jewish and Samaritan synagogues and Christian churches in Israel and set them up in attractive displays both inside and outside of the former inn, creating a diverse collection of mosaics that is unique in the Holy Land.

When God Does Not Show Up | Parchment and Pen

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WHEN GOD DOES NOT SHOW UP

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by C Michael PattonJanuary 22nd, 2012 2 Comments

There have been so many times in my life when God has not shown up. So many times when I am at my wits end, when it is forth and long, ninth inning, I put up a last hope three pointer and the ball hits the tape and falls gently on my side of the court. My mixing of sports metaphors is not an accident. It represents the confusion I often experience as I mêlée through the options of rescue God could use. After all, he must win the game in one of the metaphors. But not only do I lose the tennis match, but the football, baseball, and basketball game as well. I just can’t seem to sync up my game with his. You know . . . the ones where victory is claimed (not just proclaimed).

Half the time is seems that things simply function just the way one would expect if God was in heaven playing darts. Our lives are filled with so many things that go from bad to worse. The hardest part about it for me is that the things we request are very often good things. On our best days, we seek God’s renovation. We long for it. We lay down at night and dream about it. Our eyes sting due to tearful begging for it. Who could argue that someone praying for a better marriage, obedient children, a quenched addiction, a calm spirit, an obedient heart, or a bill responsibly paid are outside of God’s will? Who could argue that praying for the ability to gird up our will and make serious changes in overcoming sin in our lives is wrong? I know that there are “those” stories out there. You know, the one’s where a person becomes a Christian, then all of the sudden everything has changed (for good!). I have a love-hate relationship with those stories. I love them as I love an epic movie where the hero has saved the world. I love to know it is out there. But those are just stories. I have very few (if any) of those stories. Most of mine involve a seemingly never-ending pattern: stumble, fall, dirt in mouth, think about staying down, renewing hope, getting back up, trying again, stumble, fall, dirt in mouth . . . ad infinitum. In fact, I am still in many of these stories.

At this point a mob forms in my subconscious rallying to find a way to express my anger and frustration with God. Yet no form of this finds a definite incarnation either in my words or deeds. “Why do you put up with this guy?” the mob yells. “Yeah, let’s take him to court. We can win!” Win what? A settlement with God? What would that look like anyway? I don’t have any grounds. There were no guarantees that he has failed to accomplish. The hope that I grope for was never here.

And those things we do get can taint reality in every way.

Entitlement. That is the word. Entitlement. I am entitled to have a good marriage. I am entitled to have financial stability. I am entitled to have health. I am entitled to be able to get a good night’s sleep. I am entitled to a sound mind. I am entitled to have children. I am entitled to a new television. I am entitled to be employed. I am entitled to never have an overdraft fee. I am entitled to have a family that follows the Lord. I am entitled to have a little more and the next cool thing out there.

Entitlement. Where did we get this? It certainly was not from Jeremiah. I love the way (relatively speaking) that he speaks of being on the run from the Lord.

Lam. 3:10-14
He [God] is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces; He has made me desolate. He bent His bow and set me as a target for the arrow. He made the arrows of His quiver to enter into my inward parts.

I think that Jeremiah just felt entitled to being safe from his Saviour. His Shepherd was now, from his often entertained perspective, a predator seeking the carnage of his soul. In “secret places” God hides, ready to make his next strike. Not only was God failing to show up and rescue him from the harm of those outside, but he was, to Jeremiah, the one bringing about the harm. I wonder if these thoughts represent the mob of Jeremiah’s subconscious. His mind eventually turn back to reason (Lam. 3:21-23). But I am glad he had a parchment and pen handy to write these down. I am grateful for his transparency here. Jeremiah was the first great blogger. (How would you like to see the comments on his blog? I fear to go there.)

When I am at a loss, it rarely comes from the “big” things. Normally, it is the little nagging things that seem so meaningless. You know, the things that it would be easy for God to take care of. Maybe it is not the dinner bill that he fails to provide for, but the gratuities that we have to cover which eventually break us. I get tired. Then I read this:

Jer. 12:5
If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, Then how can you compete with horses?

I have often said to the Lord: “But Lord, the footmen are wearying me. Footmen! I can’t even keep up with them. I can’t compete with horses. I can’t. Ever. I am sorry.”

Back to Lamentations: Is it okay to say that God is a bear lying in wait? Is it okay to thinkthat? Is it okay to think that God is not going to show up? At least in the way we think? I don’t know, but rarely do we humans pull off the okay.

Then there are those who encourage us. We need to be encouraged, so we listen. “Things will change,” they tell us. “You just have to believe that God will pull off a miracle.” I have mustered up “belief” before, but it was empty, vain, and totally destructive to my spiritual well-being. The damage done by mustering up hope in promises that God has never made stay with many people until death. Disappointment with God for not fulfilling commitments he never made. How much spiritual depression can be summed up in that?

Sometimes we need to take a cold hard look at Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, and see that life is hard and it will be until the end. Not always. But often. But our ultimate hope and God’s faithfulness are very specific, being positioned to take the world at the final stand. Our duty is not to mêlée for God to show up in places he is not supposed to or to do things that are outside of his program, but to wait with eagerness and expectation for the kingdom which is to come. The carnage that we see in us and around us, like it was with Jeremiah, are allowed for now. But not then. Then God will show up and we will have no doubt that it is him. That is what we are entitled to. Keep the faith with me until then?

Lam 3:21-2421
This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.

John was a man of history | Ferrell's Travel Blog

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John was a man of history

Posted on January 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

In recent posts we have called attention to Luke’s account of the events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist. Some readers may treat Zacharias, Elizabeth, John, and even Jesus, as fictional. Luke deals with the characters and events as historical.

Notice especially how Luke deals with the beginning of the ministry of John.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. (Luke 3:1-2 NAU)

Luke treats John as a man of history by placing him at a specific place (“the district around the Jordan” – v. 3), and a specific time, in the reign of specific political and religious leaders.

• In the 15th year of reign of Tiberius Caesar
• Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea
• Herod [Antipas] was tetrarch of Galilee
• Herod Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis
• Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene
• High priesthood of Annas & Caiaphas

In the absence of a calendar such as the one we use, one could hardly be more precise. All of these are historical characters. They are known in other written records, by coins bearing their image, by inscriptions, by statues, and one is know by his ossuary (burial bone box).

There is too much here for us to deal with each of these characters at this time. Let’s look at Pontius Pilate. Pilate is known in written records aside from the New Testament (more than 50 times), and Josephus (more than 20 times). Tacitus, the Roman historian, says that “…Christ, was put to death by the procurator Pontius Pilate…” (Annals XV.44.2).

Use our search box to locate other posts we have written about Pilate. Begin with this one. The photo below shows the replica of the inscription bearing Pilate’s name that was found at Caesarea Maritima in 1961. The original is in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Replica of inscription bearing the name of Pontius Pilate.Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

For accounts in which Pilate played an important role, read Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 18.