Lessons from the Land

More to Gideon’s Story

Bruce Okkema

by Bruce Okkema

“Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised – I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew – a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. – Judges 6:36 – 40

Many of us know that using the idiom “putting out your fleece” is a way of saying that a person is testing something. Those who are familiar with the Old Testament will know that the phrase comes from this story in Judges 6. Gideon knew how miraculous such a thing would be, because when there is dew in Israel it is very heavy and it drenches everything (see “The Refreshment of Dew”), yet when it is dry, it is bone dry. For the fleece to have been in the opposite condition as all of its surroundings could only have been so by the hand of God. Amazing as this was, there is much more to the story when we consider the whole context.

The Israelites had fallen into the worship of Baal and Asherah, gods of the peoples around them, and just as the Lord had warned, he had oppressed them for it. The Israelites had to resort to hiding in caves and mountain clefts to survive. They were totally dependent on their crops and animals, but yet for seven years in a row,

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. (Judges. 6:3–5)

Imagine how terrifying this must have been! It was the Amalekites who had enraged the Lord by attacking the weak, and elderly, and stragglers as the Israelites were exiting Egypt, and they were known for their violence and cruelty. When the people cried to the Lord for mercy, he responded by reminding them of his delivery from their bondage in Egypt.

I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, `I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.” (Jdg. 6:9-10)

David Morris drinkingThere are so many more lessons one can learn from the land – just in this story! When you read the entire passage, notice all of the imagery intended to remind you of God’s faithfulness in the past, and all that points ahead to his redemption in the future: delivery from Egypt, the angel of the Lord, miraculous signs, a meal, unleavened bread, a rock, a staff, fire, a threshing floor, a wine press, tearing down the altars, sacrifices, shouts, shofars, a dream, and so much more than just a fleece.

It is good to be reminded of how patient, powerful, and faithful our God is. He will defeat the forces of evil whenever he chooses. But contrary to our way of thinking, he does it by using faithful people who may be “slow of speech,” or shepherds, or farmers, or the son of a carpenter. To his glory, he can make mighty warriors out of all of us who may be least in our families and from the weakest of clans (vs. 6:12, 15.)

EnHarod

Two views of the spring of Harod, where Gideon and his men camped. (Judges 7:1)

EnHarod

Please read all of Judges 6 & 7 with an attentive ear and you hear the history of Israel ringing through it.

Drink Before You’re Thirsty

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
“O God, you are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
my soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water. ” – Psalm 63:1

Many athletes have heard the advice, “Drink before you’re thirsty!” We were told this often on our trip to Israel in July, where we experienced many days around 100° F, and did much walking and hiking. A few who didn’t comply experienced the effects of dehydration – nausea, headache, dizziness, and even a lack of desire to drink, even though their bodies needed fluids badly. A couple people even needed fluids by IV at a local clinic. David’s words about his thirst were very palpable to us when we stood in the bleak Judean wilderness where he wrote this Psalm.

drinking from EnGediDavid was speaking about being thirsty for a sense of the presence of the Lord in his life. We’ve all had this feeling – about having a need for intimacy with God. In our times of prayer, study or worship, we take a “drink” of living water when we sense God’s closeness and his hand leading our lives. When we are in times of stress, or emotional turmoil, we can become spiritually “dehydrated,” and our thirst for God gets much greater.

Interestingly, drinking before you’re thirsty is very wise advice, spiritually too. When we are in a stressful situation that demands our time, often the first thing to go is the time to pray. Even when we do pray, our stressed-out minds have a hard time relaxing and listening for God to speak to us. As a result, we get thirstier and thirstier. We think that God should come closer because we need him, but he seems to feel farther away. Just like water sometimes is even repulsive to a dehydrated person, we can even start avoiding prayer – feeling that God must be so disgusted by our weak commitment that we don’t deserve to pray. We can truly become spiritually ill from lack of “living water.”

True wisdom is to keep drinking a little at a time, before the heat and stress come. We need to keep seeking out the Lord while times are good, before we are desperate. But, no matter how far we have gone from him, we can be assured if we bring him our empty cup, he will fill it with himself.

The Necessity of Shade

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

“The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.” Psalm 121:5-6 NASB

Many times in the Psalms, God is referred to as “shade” (tzel in Hebrew), and the Bible speaks of us under the “shadow of his wings” (Psalm 63:7). This image didn’t speak to me powerfully until I experienced the heat and sun of the land of Israel myself, especially in the mountains near Jerusalem.

Qumran ScriptoriumMany days reached nearly 100° F, and near the Dead Sea, it was over 120° F. Clouds are extremely rare in the summer, so nothing protects a person from the power of the sun’s rays. When we stood in the sunshine we could quickly feel our skin burning, but under a tree, the breeze made us quite comfortable. We also sensed the sun’s heat as the temperature rose each day from below 60° F at dawn to almost 100° F by afternoon.

It is interesting to see how in Psalm 121, it speaks of the sun “smiting” us, the same word also translated as “to hit, attack, or strike down.” In ancient times, it was thought that just as the sun was the source of heat that “attacks” us by day, the moon is the source of cold that “attacks” us by night. So when God led his people in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, God was sheltering them from the ever-present enemies of cold and heat in the desert .

We can also see why the image of “shade” is often used to mean protection. For instance, in Numbers 14:9, Joshua reassures the people that the Canaanites will not be able to win against them because their protection (shade, tzel, literally) has been removed from them. Without shade, it is impossible to survive in that land, and if their shade has been removed, they are defenseless.

Now that we have a better understanding of the great need for the cool of shade, we can better appreciate the following psalm, among many others:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

The “Rock” and the Transfiguration

Ed Visser

by Pastor Ed Visser

Jesus: “Who do you say I am?” Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus: “…on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:15-18

Rock cave at Caesarea PhilNot long before Jesus went to the cross, he gathered his disciples in Caesarea Philippi, an area known for its worship of the pagan god Pan. At an outdoor theater, created in front of a large rock, with a cave they thought entered the underworld (Hades), people worshiped Pan in orgiastic fervor.

“What are we doing here?” Jesus’ disciples must have wondered. But he had an important question for them. In the face of all this blatant paganness, which seemed so strong in their culture, who would they confess that Jesus was? Peter’s response, revealing Jesus as Messiah and God, was stunning, if only for the setting. And Niche for PanJesus’ response also fit the setting. Perhaps gesturing to this rock and cave, he said he would build his church even here, in the midst of pagan culture, and that the “gates of Hades” (the name of this cave, but also denoting Satan’s realm) would not overcome his church.

To understand the impact of this setting on his message: if Jesus were to do this today he might very well take his disciples to Hollywood or Las Vegas or a porn theater in Times Square, and tell his disciples that his church was going to be built there, and Satan’s smut would not overcome it. That remains a strong message to the church today about our need to impact our culture.

If that was a little intimidating for those disciples, Jesus’ next stop was just north of this rock, to a much bigger one: Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in Israel. There, before his three most intimate disciples, Jesus was transfigured into his glorified body. Moses & Elijah showed up, representing the Old Testament (Law & Prophets) and talking about Jesus’ atoning death. And God the Father himself declared (as he had done at Jesus’ baptism) that Jesus was indeed his Son and Messiah.

Mt HermonFrom this amazing illustration of Jesus in all his heavenly power and glory, it would be all downhill from here — figuratively and literally! The next stop was Jerusalem and the cross, which the disciples could now face, armed with a confession and an image of a glorious Lord!

Fishing in the Sea of Galilee

Ed Visser

by Pastor Ed Visser

[Peter & Andrew] were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Matt 4:18-19

Did you ever wonder what Jesus’ disciples thought about when he called them to become ‘fishers of men?’ Today we might think in terms of rods & reels, hooks & bait. We might preach that we need to ‘lure’ people in and ‘hook’ them with the Gospel. We might visualize it as a one-on-one, individualistic task, perhaps even done in our leisure time (since fishing is a leisure time activity for most people). But a trip back to the first century and the land of Israel gives us a little different picture.

Casting Net

Fishing was hard work in Jesus’ day, not a leisurely activity. The task was done not through line-fishing but net-fishing. And while you could cast an individual net like the one above (just offshore at Tiberias), most net-fishing was done in teams. The seine net, used close to shore (Matt 13:47-50), and the trammel net, used with boats in the open water (John 21), involved great teamwork. Fishing on the Sea of Galilee involved much strain, long hours and often little results from one’s labor. Add to that the idea that the sea was considered the Abyss, the abode of Satan, and largely to be avoided, and you get the picture that fishing held different connotations than it does today.

When we think about being ‘fishers of men,’ we should think in terms of a call to teamwork among believers, each playing our own roles and contributing our own gifts. It promises not to be leisurely or showy, but hard, often unrewarding, work to “snatch” people from Satan’s hold on them. Nor can we be fussy or judgmental about who responds. In Matthew 13:47-50, Jesus tells us that both good and bad fish will be netted for the kingdom; his angels (not us!) will be charged with separating the two at the end of the age.

Decapolis: The Other Side

Ed Visser

by Pastor Ed Visser

When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him.… The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. – Matthew 8:28, 31-32

Beit SheanOne of the places we visited around the Sea of Galilee was an area known in Jesus’ day as the Decapolis. Today part of Israel, this area on the east side of the Sea was, in the first century, a Roman league of ten cities (Decapolis = ‘ten cities’). Greek, and later Roman, soldiers were given property there as a reward for service.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Jesus makes several visits to what the Jews called “the other side.” On one of his visits, he encounters one (Mark & Luke) or two (Matthew) demon-possessed men. What must have been a terrifying scene for his disciples becomes almost comical in the gospels, as he commands the demons out of the man and into a herd of pigs. The pigs promptly run down an embankment (there are no steep cliffs there) and drown themselves in the Sea. The fact that this is a Gentile territory explains the presence of pigs, which you wouldn’t find in Israel. They may have even been the sacred animals of the Roman temples in this area. That the demons send the pigs into the sea is fitting, since it was considered to be the abode of Satan — they were going home!

Beit Shean TheaterAnother event that happens in the Decapolis was the feeding of the 4000, not to be confused with the feeding of the 5000. Mark sets up a deliberate comparison between the two miracles which only makes sense if you know where they took place. When Jesus fed the 5000 (Mark 6), he was in Israel. Afterwards, the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftovers, a significant number reminding Jews of the 12 tribes of Israel, as if Jesus was saying, “I am the bread of life, sufficient for all Israel.” When he repeats the miracle for 4000 (Mark 8), he is in the Decapolis. Afterwards, the disciples pick up 7 basketfuls. When the Israelites first came into the land, they drove out 7 Gentile nations, many of them in this general area. So Jesus seems to be saying, “I am the bread of life, also sufficient for all the Gentiles.”

Paying attention to where Jesus was in his daily encounters with people can shed brighter light on his message.

Caesarea Maritima

Ed Visser

by Pastor Ed Visser

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment… The following day Peter arrived in Caesarea. Acts 10:1, 24
When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.… Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace. Acts 23:33, 35

Caesarea–by–the–Sea (Maritima) was a purely Roman city. Built by Herod on the sandy coast of the Mediterranean, it was a city dedicated to Caesar Augustus and became an important seaport for Roman ships. Since there was no natural port on Israel’s coastline, Herod made one from scratch, using some newly invented cement that dried underwater, one of Herod’s greatest feats.

Roman AqueductSince there was no fresh water in the area, Herod also constructed seven miles of aqueduct, which brought water from Mt Carmel. He also equipped Caesarea with all the accoutrements of a Roman city: amphitheater, a hippodrome for horse races, and a huge theater conveniently located near the palace. A large temple, also in honor of Augustus, greeted the ships sailing into the harbor, apparently the first thing one saw from the sea.

Herod also built himself a palace, which stood on a promontory jutting out into the Mediterranean with its requisite Herodian pool. Herod could swim in fresh water while watching Roman ships sail in across the sea. The base of the palace and swimming pool are still visible today. Since the city Herodian Harborbecame the capital of Judea, this would be where Herod, his sons, and later governors of Judea would spend most of their time. Pilate also lived here, and a stone with his inscription was actually found in the reconstruction of the Caesarean theater.

Despite not being a very Jewish city, Caesarea does become the stage for a couple of events in the book of Acts. It was Caesarea where the first Gentile convert of the early Christian church lived, a Roman soldier by the name of Cornelius. The Apostle Peter was actually summoned to this city to lead him and his family to faith in Jesus Christ, and here, in this Roman city, the Holy Spirit was first poured out on Gentiles.

Caesarea TheaterThe man who would make it his life’s calling to reach out to more Gentiles, the Apostle Paul, sailed in and out of this port on his missionary journeys — the last time on his way to Rome itself. Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, but when word of a Jewish plot to kill him surfaced, the Roman guard had him transported to the capital city of Caesarea for a “change of venue.” Paul was actually imprisoned in what was still called Herod’s palace (although I doubt he had use of the pool!). Though a thoroughly Roman city, even Caesarea played a crucial role in New Testament history. Might the sovereign God continue to use pagan cities of this world to fulfill his purposes?

The Olive Tree

Ed Visser

by Pastor Ed Visser

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. – Isaiah 11:1-2

Olive TreeWhether standing on Mt Carmel or sitting in the Garden of Gethsemane, one is struck by the many groves of olive trees. Some are relatively new; others may have stood in Jesus’ day. Especially fascinating is the old gnarled tree that is, at the same time both ugly, twisted, and old, yet strong, wise, and beautiful. If you look carefully, you will see that there are new branches coming out of the stump even though the roots of the tree could be thousands of years old. In the case of this tree, only the groomsman would be able to tell us whether these new branches were grafted in or they sprouted on their own.

GethsemaneOlive trees can grow on almost any soil and can flourish in great heat with little water. They are virtually indestructible; even when they are cut down, new life will grow back from the roots. The olive tree has played a highly significant role throughout the history of Israel. Physically it provided a source of food, medicine, fuel, and a base for the anointing oil of kings and priests. Spiritually, it represents faithfulness, steadfastness, endurance, new life, and a host of other good things. And, of course, the olive leaf has become a universal symbol of peace.

Paul paints a picture for both Jewish and gentile believers in which the olive tree represents the roots of faith to which branches from another line can be grafted. The tree cannot exist without branches, nor branches without roots:

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. … And if they [Israel] do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
– Romans 11:17-18, 23-24

Many other lessons could be gleaned from the olive tree, but the most beautiful one is that of the Messiah as a branch growing from it. This tender branch, stemming from an old and weathered tree, has become the King of Israel, and to his glory, has even taken on the Name of God himself!

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
– Jeremiah 23:5-6

A Parable of a King

Ed Visser

by Pastor Ed Visser

A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return … But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, “We don’t want this man to be our king.”
Luke 19:12,14

Near the end of a long day in the Judean desert, our tour group made our final stop at Jericho. Being a Palestinian city, entry was controlled by the Israeli military (in the last few years, Jericho was given over to Palestinian control). After about 30 minutes, we were given permission to enter — a rather rare feat. The city itself has been ruined by a poor Palestinian economy. Our interest, however, was a different sort of ruins.

Jericho PalaceWe made our way along Wadi Qelt (a dry riverbed) until we came upon the ruins of Herod’s palace across the wadi. What must have been magnificent in its day was in ruins and being over-run that day by a flock of goats. Just to our left (west), were the hills to which the Israelite spies escaped when scouting out Jericho (Joshua 2:16-24). In front of the palace and through these hills was the beginning of the road from Jericho to Jerusalem, made famous in Jesus’ Good Samaritan parable.

But our attention was drawn to a different story in the Bible. In Luke 19, just after Jesus had encountered Zacchaeus in Jericho, he continued on his way toward Jerusalem and the cross that awaited him. His route would have been the Jericho road. And, at some time, he and his disciples (and others making their way to Jerusalem for Passover) would have walked right past this palace of Herod the Great — now used by his son, Herod Antipas, when he was in town. But before Antipas, it was used by another son of Herod, Archelaus, who was king of Judea for about ten Beginning of Jericho Roadyears. As dreadful a king as Herod the Great was, Archelaus was much worse. After Herod died, Archelaus went to Rome to ask to be made king over Judea in his father’s stead. A delegation of Jews also went there to dissuade Caesar from naming Archelaus king. Once he was given rule over Judea, Archelaus had his enemies killed ruthlessly. Within 10 years, after another Jewish request to Rome, Archelaus was deposed.

As Jesus tells the parable of the minas in Luke 19:11-27, he puts it in terms of a man going away to be named king, whose enemies oppose him but are eventually killed. Given the fact that Jesus was leaving Jericho to go to Jerusalem, it is very likely that he used the occasion of passing Herod’s palace to tell a story right out of the pages of their recent history! While his point in the parable has nothing to do with Archelaus, we see the typical way Jesus taught: drawing on current events and local landmarks to teach truths about a very different King and kingdom — the Kingdom of God. It reminds us of the importance of being able to apply truths of Scripture to the events of our world & lives.

John and His Baptism

Ed Visser

by Pastor Ed Visser

…the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. – Luke 3:2-3

Jordan RiverJohn the Baptist is an interesting character. A cousin of Jesus from a priestly family, John spent his time in the desert rather than the Temple. When he came out of the desert, he looked like Elijah — Jesus would later say that he was the “Elijah to come” — and he began baptizing people in the Jordan River.

A Jewish practice, baptism was by self-immersion, which explains why the earliest picture of John baptizing Jesus (from catacombs in 2nd century) shows John standing on the bank, extending a hand to help Jesus out of the water. John’s baptism is described as a ritual immersion for ‘forgiveness of sins,’ a term related to Jubilee. The Jubilee year begins on Yom Kippur, looking forward to God sending the Redeemer after he forgave their national sins. John is calling Israel to take a step of repentance & obedience, believing the Redeemer to be at hand.

When Jesus appears on the scene, John senses the time has come. But as the months go by, John begins to have some questions — especially when he is thrown into prison by Herod Antipas.

When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him,“Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Matthew 11:2-3

John’s confusion comes from his expectation that Jesus would begin baptizing not only with the Spirit, but with fire — the fire of judgment on Israel’s enemies. But John wasn’t seeing the fire! Jesus later tells his disciples that there would be two comings: his first would offer salvation; his second would bring the fire of judgment on those who deserved it (as well as final vindication for his people, eternally). John died, however, without the full explanation.

Jordan RiverThe New Testament places John’s ministry in the desert in the regions of the Jordan. As we toured Israel, we discussed the idea that the term for desert (midbar) could simply mean “unsettled places” where flocks could graze. There are many such places around the Jordan, especially north of the Sea of Galilee. Dr. Steven Notley, one of our guides, suggested that it was likely John spent more of his time at the northern Jordan, immersing where the river is “pure” (south of Galilee, several other rivers join with the Jordan, making it apparently “impure” by rabbinic standards). Later, Jesus would meet crowds who were like “sheep without a shepherd” in this area. These may have been John’s disciples, looking for a new leader (Jesus!).