Day 10: How Can You Repent in a Hellenistic World?

For most of our group, today was the favorite day so far. We began by driving to a beautiful location on the Jordan River, near Bethany beyond the Jordan, that is much less popular, though Elijah would have been fed by ravens nearby. On our path, we saw a Crown of Thorns plant, which is likely the plant that was wrapped around Jesus’s head before He was crucified. This plant alone would have been torture. The Romans were ferocious.

The Jordan River is the first place the Israelites crossed over to get into the “Promised Land”. Ba’al was the Canaanite god of fertility, and it was believed that the Jordan River was his sperm. God wanted the Hebrews to know that He was stronger than Ba’al, so He stopped the Jordan River during flood season and all Israel crossed the River.

God didn’t perform this miracle until the priests went into the Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant. It must have taken a lot of faith for priests – who couldn’t swim – to carry a 3000 pound box into a rapidly flowing river. God will bless our efforts if they are for His glory and we trust in His strength.

RVL recounted the story of how John the Baptist, like many before him, was encouraging the practice of “mikveh”, which is a ritual cleansing in “living water” (naturally flowing water like a river) to signify repentance. The four touch points of mikveh are head (thoughts), heart (attitude), hands (actions), and feet (path of life).

This is why immersion of the whole body was common, because that would ensure those places were touched with water. No one touches the person repenting, as the conversation of repentance is between that person and God. Anyone standing nearby is a witness, not a practitioner. For a long time, the mikveh practice was always nude, as this symbolized openness with God.

“During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins … Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” – Luke 3:2-3, 8

In America, people think of repentance as an apology. In Jewish culture, repentance means that you were turning your life a new direction. John continued that practice of immersion in living water as a sign of repentance. RVL asked anyone who wanted to make a commitment of repentance to immerse themselves in water while he (and anyone else chosen) would be a willing witness. Almost every group member went into the water and repented. It was quite a moving experience.

The mikveh experience prepared us to go into the Hellenistic world for the day. To be fair, all of us on this trip live in a Hellenistic world every day in the US, but we had been living in a Jewish world for the past week. Hellenism is a worldview first made popular by the Greeks which promotes the human above all else. The gods were seen as reflections of humans, rather than the other way around.

We went to the “Decapolis” (10 pagan cities in Israel) to learn more about the Hellenistic worldview. We visited a city called Beit She’an (Roman: Scythopolis) to hit this point home. We had been spending so much time in the remains of seemingly impoverished Hebrew cities for the past week that when we saw Scythopolis in all its Roman glory, people were awed.

RVL took this opportunity to chastise us all – including himself – for being so awestruck with human wealth and comfort. We were unimpressed with people like the Essenes who really sought God in their lives and we were captivated by Scythopolitans who want money, power, fame, and pleasure … people who are following the American dream. It makes me wonder whether the American church is more influenced by Jesus or Aristotle.

Our last stop was the Roman city Hippos (“horse”), which the Jews nicknamed Sussita (“little pony”). This was the likely city that Jesus visited to heal the man who was demon-possessed. Jesus took His disciples – who probably did not get out of the boat – all the way to the land of the Gerushim (Decapolis) to expel the demons from this one man. Jesus valued this man even though neither Greeks nor Jews did.

“When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.’ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)

Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Legion,’ for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.” – Luke 8:27-33

RVL brought up two additional post scripts to this story. First, when Jesus next visited this area, He met a number of His followers. This must have meant that the demon-possessed man witnessed to a number of folks in this city and they believed. Amazing how this man turned out to be quite an evangelist. Second, the Nicene Creed was written by St. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippos, in 325 AD. This means that Hippos became a prominent place of faith in the years to come. You never know what your witness will mean today, regardless of where you have been.

Day 9: Give to God what is God’s

Andrew writing. Today in Galilee was hotter than normal (about 110 degrees), so it was an appropriate setting to for our Israel trip to further our journey into the life of Jesus. Jesus spent a great deal of his life in the Galilee area, having grown up in Nazareth and doing 2/3 of his ministry in the Capernaum-Bethsaida-Chorazin triangle. Our first stop today was Gamla, a Zealot town near Syria.

RVL has been trying to help recreate for us the political and religious tension that existed in Jesus’s time. Gentile Christians and modernists tend to take Jesus out of His culture and make his statements all about doctrine. Nothing could be further from the truth. One might argue that Jesus lived during a time and place of one of the world’s highest points of tension.

The Jews had been conquered by a succession of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and now Rome. The Jews had been able to kick out the Greeks for 100 years under the Maccabean revolt, and there were numerous attempts to revolt against the Romans by the time Jesus came around. Jewish revolts were always started by a group called Cana-im (“Zealots”), who believed that God allowed violence against Gentiles who brought evil to God’s land.

Gamla was a town of Zealots who were destroyed by Rome in 67 AD during their last major revolt. At Gamla, we were able to get a better feel for the various movements of Jesus’s day: Zealots, Pharisees, Essenes, and Sadducees. The first three groups were passionate about God and His word, but had different ways of ushering in the kingdom of God. The Sadducees were basically in bed with the Romans and had political power, so they were hated by the other three groups.

Though Jesus’s teaching most often aligned with the Essene movement, the Sadducees branded him a Zealot and wanted him crucified as a terrorist. This really hit me. Jesus was talking about another kingdom that was not of Rome. Humans don’t want to consider complex ways of life – like forgiveness – so they assume that Jesus wanted to overthrow the government.

The Sadducee leadership convinced the Romans that Jesus was a terrorist and he was executed next to two Zealots. No wonder Jesus said that the world will hate you if you love Him. His kingdom really is not a part of this world. People won’t understand it. It will appear that you are trying to destroy everything they hold dear. In almost all eras of Christian faith, people have died for Jesus’s kingdom.

We then went to Caesarea Philippi, near the border of Lebanon. This city, formerly called Panias (or Banias) was the site where people worshiped Pan, the god of fertility. Panias was famous because it was a location in Israel where water came from an underground spring, so the locals believed it came from the underworld. The impressive rock formation led people to call it the “Gates of Hades”.

Sexual rituals developed over time to appease Pan and stimulate him sexually. This place would have been sexually explicit even by American standards (i.e. public bestiality, etc.) yet Jesus takes his (probably teenage) disciples to Caesarea Philippi, because he wanted them to see the weakness of evil.

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’

“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’” - Matthew 16:13-18

Jesus described the church as attacking hell. We often think about it as the other way around. RVL pointed out that Jesus has bound the “strong man” (Mark 3) and the church is now taking Satan’s “possessions” by leading people to God. It is incredible to consider that Jesus is building his church on the rock (Peter, and other disciples) but also over the rock of hell.

We closed the day by visiting the Temple at Omrit. This was one of Herod’s temples to honor Caesar Augustus and proclaim his divinity. These temples became a symbol of the divinity of each emperor of Rome and required the lives of many Christians who wouldn’t bow to Caesar. RVL took this as an opportunity to reflect on the time when Jesus was confronted about paying the temple tribute to Caesar.

“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tribute.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” – Matthew 22:17-21

Jesus took the position of Rabbi Hillel on this point, though unpopular with the Zealots, Essenes, and Pharisees at the time. Jesus said to pay the temple tribute because it didn’t mean you were calling Caesar God. At the same time, Jesus asked all followers of God – as we are made in God’s image – to give our lives to God in all ways. Sometimes that means following God to the death.

We are daily strengthened by your prayers. Please continue to pray for us as we are hot, tired, and dehydrated at times. But we also feel strong, so thank you.

Day 8: Do People Suffer for Doing Good?

 

Rachel again. Mount Arbel was our first and main stop today. On the way up the mountain RVL warned us that if any of the bulls begin to charge, we should run up hill as they quickly tire and lose interest. That method had also worked in the past. Thank God, we never had to use that advice.

On one of our first stops we began with Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” And the question was put to us: what is the “gospel”? Many answers were given, most centering on our sins could be forgiven and Jesus dying on the cross.

While those are wonderful things, the specific term is found in Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news ("the gospel"), who publishes peace, who brings the gospel of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” The “gospel” is that our God reigns and is reigning. Jesus is preaching that you may be calling God, “Lord”, but is He the lord of your life? Are you living out His mission with your life? Are you caring for the marginalized?

Many people wonder why they suffer, and the Jews pondered this as well. After their return from Babylon they were committed to not falling away from worshiping the one true God, but then they faced a different question: why do God’s people suffer for being righteous? The breeze was one of the only sounds as RVL described the gruesome ways Jews were persecuted by the Greeks and Romans. They were boiled in oil, flayed alive, raped and disemboweled, crucified, or babies were sliced in half and their parents sold into slavery.

We rested in caves that the Jews had hewn on the side of a Mount Arbel and had stowed their wives and children when the Romans invaded. The Romans had then lowered cages down the side and set fire to the cave opening. As the people came forward for oxygen, the soldiers would use giant hooks to pull them off the ledge where they would fall to their death.

“Messiah” as a Hebrew word for king, and this term was previously used in the context of someone who would lead a political revolution. In knowing this, what would you have wanted in a Messiah? Loving your enemies was not a popular message. He was to be the second Moses, and God used Moses to soundly defeat the Egyptians. Although it’s not clear in the Tanakh (“Old Testament”), the Jews concluded that there was a heaven and hell, and the Greeks and Romans would receive their due judgment. God declares that vengeance is His.

But, in Daniel 7:13-14 a judge comes out to sit and he has an appearance like the Son of Man (Hebrew: “Ben Adam”). Who was the literal son of Adam who suffered for doing the right thing? Abel. The Jews thought that Abel had earned the right to judge Cain because Abel had suffered at Cain’s hand for righteousness. Jesus had to suffer for righteousness in order to have the privilege of judging. And, it was because of my sin that He had to suffer. He won the right to judge me.

Once we had scaled the side of the mountain face and reached the top, we gathered and listened to RVL educate us on the area and also let us know that he had already hiked that mountain that day, at 2am no less. It was not so we would be impressed with him, although we were, but so we would know how much we meant to him. His rabbi, Jesus, had done the same for his disciples. And, if we were to continue the mission and make disciples too, we had to be willing to be that dedicated.

After lunch came Chorazin where we studied more of rabbis and disciples. In the tradition, boys would approach a rabbi and ask to follow him, and, “No” was the common response. Becoming a disciple of a rabbi was like playing high school basketball and hoping to make the NBA. Jesus was an anomaly in that He chose his disciples and called them. In so doing, he was saying to them, “I think you can be like me.” He chose boys who had been rejected by other rabbis. He also calls us. He sees the same potential in each of us. This is such a humbling thought to me.

Capernaum rounded out the day. It is a Catholic site now. In one area several stone food-processing tools were displayed: olive press, millstone, mortar and pestle, etc. Other stone items included columns and homes. In Greek, the person who worked with stone was a tekton (“builder”). For those unfamiliar with the Middle East, this term became associated with carpentry, so we often think of Jesus as a carpenter. For some unknown reason stonecutters were also highly knowledgeable about scripture. If you came to a village that didn’t have a rabbi, you wanted to look for a stonecutter who was the son of a stonecutter. Jesus was a stonecutter.

Tomorrow is supposed to be one of the hottest days of the trip, and another hike awaits with unknown destinations and lessons. Until next time.

Day 7: Qumran and Sheepfolds

I, Rachel, wanted to write today. Andrew has been doing a fantastic job, but I just had an urge to write, and we have a two-hour drive to our hotel in Galilee. This morning we drove 40 minutes to Qumran in the Judea Wilderness and explored the settlement. From there, we could see Masada, and between Masada and us was En Gedi.

The Essenes created Qumran around 250 BC.  As the Levitical priesthood became more corrupt, more Greek-like/Hellenistic, more consumed with self and swindling, a group of priests decided to split off and create their own community in the desert because the desert was where God had prepared Israel to be a kingdom of priests before they entered the Promised Land. They called themselves the Sons of Light and wanted to be a pure group who was ready to takeover when the Messiah came in judgment and restored Israel.

The actions of the Essenes were inspired by Isaiah: “The voice of one crying in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord.” If you were to join, everything you owned was given to the leader to provide for the poor and the community. None of the leaders pulled from the pot, but everyone lived equally. The main downside to them was that they despised anyone who wasn’t absolutely righteous: Pharisees, Sadducees, Romans, and Greeks.

They were also passionate about a baptism of repentance, and had 17 baptism pools/mikvehs. People were baptized multiple times per day as they identified sin and wanted to turn around and get back on the right path. They would commit themselves 100% to make a change from the way they were living, but they also knew they very well might fail again. When they did, they went back to the mikveh to repent and rededicate their life.

Jesus uses much of their phrasing in his teaching, showing what they got right. What I see is grace for these people though. Even though they did certain things wrong (like, separating themselves from chaos), everything they did was done because they were genuinely convinced this was what God had called them to, no matter how hard it was.

That hit me so hard because of the perfectionism I struggle with. When I think of dedicating myself to a right way of life, I see myself as a failure if I mess it up. But God doesn’t call a perfect people; He wants a people who are dedicated to Him, who repent when they see that they’re wrong, are committed to making the changes they need to, live in community where they can be held accountable, and who rest in His grace when they do sin.

The mission of God to enter into chaos is hard, but it’s a life of purpose. He doesn’t expect perfection, but He does want dedication.

After touring the living quarters, we trekked our way up a mountain, observed the water channels they dug by hand to supply themselves with flash flood waters, and hiked to the top of the mountain. There, if we wanted to, we wrote a commitment on a rock and placed it in a growing pile: a moving moment for many.

Then, we gathered, said the Shma, and sang the Doxology before we hiked back down. An aside – these hikes are s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g me, but I’m learning how to lean on Andrew. Not only does it feel like walking 500 hundred stairs every day, but it constantly feels like I’m about to dive down the steep slope or fall off the narrow ledge on which I’m precariously perched. Andrew is getting used to my vice-like grip and supporting me like a champ, even when he doesn’t feel well.

Next, we went to a field in the Benjamin area of the land. The pastures were awash with blond, ripened, wheat. The Jews were called to leave their corners uncut so that the poor and foreigner could harvest food and not be left hungry. It was up to each farmer to decide how big to leave his corners. If he left a large corner, the community would say he had a good eye (he was generous). If he left a small corner, he had a bad eye (he was stingy).

Close by, above a different field, was a shepherd’s stable, like the one where Jesus was born. It was a cave. The manger was a stone water trough. The floor was dirt, sheep manure, and dove droppings. The smoke of a thousand fires had blackened the ceiling over millennia. When the shepherds were in it maybe half a dozen sheep would be with them: the ewes, which were about to give birth, sick or lame sheep, and bullied sheep.

Our savior left the glories of heaven to be born into a mess of a stable. The Living Water was placed in a rough watering trough. The Lamb of God who was sacrificed was born beside other lambs, which would also be sacrificed. Our Good Shepherd was also born among the sick and bullied. He came to bring peace in the midst of chaos. He is also our rabbi, and as his disciples we are called to be like him. Tomorrow begins our journey into the Galilee area.

Day 6: En Gedi, the Refuge of David and Jesus

To spend all day with an archaeologist/historian who follows Jesus has been a very interesting experience. Even though we have 60 people in our traveling squad, Rachel and I spend a good chunk of our eating/travel time asking RVL questions. He is an impressive source of knowledge on food, animals, plants, rock formations, and wars. I don’t have enough down time each day to write how much we have learned.

"Thus says the LORD: 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

'Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.'" - Jeremiah 17:5-8

Jeremiah is making a pun on on the Hebrew letters "ARR" (cursed, also arar'e tree) in this passage. We totally miss the pun in English. The word curse and arar'e bush are the same word. This particular type of bush looks beautiful on the outside and is empty on the inside. This is what we will be like if we live in our own strength. Yet we will be in God's presence - "blessed" - if we are planted by streams of living wadi (in a wadi). This word picture comes alive in a new way.

Today we hiked around En Gedi in the Negev Desert on the edge of the Judah Wilderness. David came here to hide from Saul, and later Jesus is said to have come here during his 40 days of testing before he launched into his rabbinic ministry. En Gedi is one of the most unique places in Israel because there is the largest oasis in the Middle East surrounded by vicious desert everywhere else.

We saw all kinds of wild animals as this is a major water source. When you don’t know where the oasis is, you wonder why all of these animals are wandering in the desert. Most parts of the desert you see almost no animals. The animal we focused on today was the ibex, the wild deer/goat of Judah. David asks God to make his feet strong like the ibex in Psalm 18. RVL observed that David did not ask for his path to become flat. He asked for his feet to be strong enough to handle the difficult path.

Then we began a very difficult hike to illustrate the difficult path of life. Along the way, we kept running into streams and pools from the oasis of En Gedi. RVL used these moments of water to illustrate the refreshment that comes from God. When we are looking to God as our strength, we are then able to pass on God’s refreshment to other people. RVL described a story where other people were able to extend God’s living water to him. This is what the church should be.

“Whoever believes in me as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” – John 7:38 from Proverbs 18:4

We are often unable to offer this type of peace to other people, because we are not looking to God for strength. Or because all we do is give and no one is investing in us. This is part of the importance of a God-following community in my life, and I was challenged to consider how my own selfishness pushes other people away from positions to really invest in me.

Last we looked at the Synagogue at En Gedi. So sad that Gentile Christians burned this Synagogue in the 6^th century because they believed that the Jews killed Jesus. RVL observed that it is not always the person of Jesus who has turned Jews away from their Messiah; it has often been Gentile Christians who have turned them away. How could Jesus be the Messiah when His followers have killed so many Jews? Convicting on behalf of us and our ancestors.

This was our most difficult hiking day so far, as we hiked 10+ miles over rocky hills in 100+ degree heat. I began to feel pain for the first time, and we had several people on the voyage not be able to finish. This is particularly difficult for Rachel, so please pray for our strength.