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B I B L I C A L Your Guide to the Practices, Peoples, and Places of Scripture

summer 2015volume 41 number 4

FIRST-CENTURY JEWISH WEDDINGS

First Church, Antioch

Scrolls, Books and Seals

B I B L I C A L Your Guide to the Practices, Peoples, and Places of Scripture

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summer 2015volume 41 number 4

FIRST-CENTURY JEWISH WEDDINGS


Scrolls, Books, and Seals

About the Cover: A funerary vase dated 255-250 B.C. depicts a bride with attendants. A woman with a tam-bourine leads the procession to the groom’s house. Erotes and Nike accompany the group, signifying the gods’ protec-tion for both major transitions in a woman’s life, mar-riage and death.

Eric GeigerVice President, Church Resources

G. B. Howell, Jr.Content Editor

Philip NationDirector, Adult Ministry Publishing

Faith WhatleyDirector, Adult Ministry

Send questions/comments to:Content Editor, Biblical Illustrator

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Biblical Illustrator (ISSN 0195-1351, Item 005075109) is published quarterly by LifeWay, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234, Thom S. Rainer, President. © 2015 LifeWay. For ordering or inquiries visit www.lifeway.com, or write LifeWay Customer Service, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-0113. For subscriptions or subscription address chang-es, e-mail [email protected], fax (615) 251-5818, or write to the above address. For bulk shipments mailed quarterly to one address, fax (615) 251-5933, e-mail [email protected], or write to the above address. Annual individual subscription, $26.50. Bulk shipments mailed quarterly to one address when ordered with other literature, $6.25 each per quarter, plus shipping. Please allow six to eight weeks for arrival of first issue. Biblical Illustrator is designed to support the Bible study lessons in the student and adult Bible Studies for Life curriculum, The Gospel Project curriculum, and the Explore the Bible series. Bible background articles and accompanying illustrative material are based on the passages studied in these curriculum series. We believe that the Bible has God for its author; salvation for its end; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter and that all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. To review LifeWay’s doctrinal guideline, please visit www.lifeway.com/doctrinalguideline. Scripture quotations marked (HCSB) are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permis-sion. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from English Standard Version® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are from the New American Standard Bible®, Copy-right © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.lockman.org) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Ver-sion®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.(R). Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Printed in the United States of America 1105

NUMEROUS TIMES I have been unpleasantly surprised at how cre-

ative human beings have been throughout history in developing ways to hurt, maim, or kill other humans. Bullets and bombs for battles. Stones and steel for weap-ons. Chariots for chasing. Horses. Cars. Tanks. Ships. Planes. Guns, guillotines, and grenades. Knives and nails. Rocks, ropes, and rods. Arrows and axes. A cross and a crown of thorns. Indeed, murder and mayhem have helped define much of history.

Although I didn’t realize it when planning this issue, many of the included articles deal with topics related to death and dying. The most obvious is the article on Cain, who committed the first murder in human history. Megiddo, located in north-central Israel, is the location of numer-ous battles throughout history and the site of the ultimate battle of good and evil—the Battle of Armageddon. Emperor Domitian persecuted early Christians. Jonah (eventually) went to preach to the Assyrians in Nineveh, a people infa-mous for torturing their enemies. And of course, many died during Joshua’s conquest of Canaan.

One hundred years ago, many nations were in the throes of World War I, which was also known as “the War to End All Wars.” This war saw a huge shift in military capabilities. For the last time in history, a “successful” cavalry charge was used, by the way, at Beersheba, in what is now southern Israel. And this war saw the first aerial combat. Looking back makes me wonder what people will say of our day 100 years from now.

The good news, though, is that battle and bloodshed do not last forever. Because of the One who carried the cross and wore the crown of thorns, a day will come when, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4, kjv). And a further prophecy that Isaiah states promises: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (9:6, kjv). Watching events unfold makes me cry earnestly, “Even so Lord Jesus, come quickly!”

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Illustrated Life of Paul, Charles L. Quarles, B&H Academic; 2014; 300 pages; soft-back; ISBN: 978-0-8054-9453-2

Book reviews are limited to those the Illustrator staff feels confident to recom-mend, based on ease of reading, quality of content, and doctrinal viewpoint. Each book is reviewed within the parameters LifeWay’s doctrinal guidelines. The 1 to 10 scale reflects overall quality and usefulness.

WOULD PAUL APPROVE of the accolades Christians have ascribed to him

throughout history? According to Quarles, Paul would blush with anger at the esteem in which Christians have exalted him (p. 268). What value then does yet another book on Paul’s life provide for twenty-first century readers?

First, readers benefit from the research of a fine New Testament scholar. Quarles is well qualified to author a book on Paul’s life. After serving as a missionary in Romania, Quarles served on the faculty of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Louisiana College. He currently serves as professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Second, the book beautifully fulfills the title “Illustrated” with the type of quality photos and maps readers of Biblical Illustrator expect. Illustrated Life of Paul serves as a companion volume to Illustrated Life of Jesus by well-know pastor-theologian Herschel Hobbs. The volume contains at least 130 pho-tos, artistic portrayals, sculptural busts of key leaders, maps, and charts illus-trating the cities, cultural artifacts, and everyday life of the first century.

Third, Quarles provides in nine chapters a narrative-theological discus-sion of Paul’s life from his early years to his martyrdom. As the author recounts Paul’s life, he provides excellent back-ground information from Jewish, Greek, and Roman history that assists the reader in understanding the histori-cal context of Paul’s ministry. Quarles interspersed brief discussions of Paul’s letters highlighting the purposes and theological themes within his historical reconstruction. One of the highlights of the book is the author’s proposal of Paul’s life between his first and second Roman imprisonment. Quarles postu-lates that after Paul’s release from his first imprisonment, he immediately traveled to Colossae to visit Philemon; subsequently journeyed to Spain and established churches; and journeyed back West for ministry to Crete, Achaia, and Macedonia before Roman authorities arrested him in Ephesus.

A final benefit of the book is the author’s ability to communicate through academic research in a man-ner winsome and understandable to Bible study leaders and laypeople. I

Mark A. Rathel is professor of theol-ogy at the Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, Florida.

On a scale of 1-10, this book receives a rating of 9 camels.

Contents

15

90

S U M M E R 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E 4 1 N U M B E R 4

DEPARTMENTS

2 BI Lines

3 BI the Book: Illustrated Life of Paul By Charles L. Quarles Book review by Mark A. Rathel

InSites (between pages 66-67) Patmos Ships of the Biblical Era

98 Issues Gone BI

BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE

22 Joshua: Leader of the Conquest by Bryan E. Beyer June 7 // Session 1

94 The Jordan River by David L. Jenkins June 14 // Session 2

60 Reuben: His Land and His Legacy by Robert A. Street July 5 // Session 5

67 Jonah: A Prophet for His Time by Robert C. Dunston July 19 // Session 1

InSites: Ships of the Biblical Era July 19 // Session 1

46 The Nicolaitans by Michael Priest July 26 // Session 2

InSites: Patmos July 26 // Session 2

33 Life After the Exile by T. Van McClain August 2 // Session 3

6 First Church, Antioch by Jeff Iorg August 23 // Session 6

74 Dinners and Feasts in the First Century by Dale “Geno” Robinson August 30 // Session 1

EXPLORE THE BIBLE

82 Fellowship: A Word Study by Gary Hardin June 7 // Session 1

27 “Children” in John’s Letters by C. Mack Roark June 14 // Session 2

4 BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR / SUMMER 2015

SEE RELATED BIBLE STUDY RESOURCES: www.GospelProject.com • www.BibleStudiesForLife.com • www.lifeway.com/ExploreTheBible

7422

19 Cain: The First Unrepentant Sinner by Leon Hyatt, Jr. June 28 // Session 4

63 Domitian: Emperor of Rome by Timothy N. Boyd July 19 // Session 7

InSites: Patmos July 19 // Session 7

39 The Church at Philadelphia: Pillars of the Faith by Timothy Faber July 26 // Session 8

90 Scrolls, Books & Seals by E. Randolph Richards August 9 // Session 10

56 Megiddo: A Crucial Locale by Jeff S. Anderson August 23 // Session 12

49 Alpha and Omega by Bobby Kelly August 30 // Session 13

THE GOSPEL PROJECT

10 Why These 66 Books? by Terry L. Wilder June 7 // Session 1

42 First-Century Jewish Weddings by Sharon H. Gritz June 21 // Session 3

15 Along the Nile by Daniel P. Caldwell June 28 // Session 4

78 Elijah and Messianic Expectations by Steve W. Lemke July 5 // Session 5

52 Houses in Jesus’ Day by Paul E. Kullman July 26 // Session 2

30 The Jewish Tradition of Fasting by Lynn O. Traylor August 9 // Session 4

67 Jonah: A Prophet for His Time by Robert C. Dunston August 9 // Session 4

85 The Churches of Macedonia by Rudy González August 23 // Session 6

71 Glory: A Hebrew Understanding by Stephen J. Andrews August 30 // Session 7

SUMMER 2015 / BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 5

F IRST CHURCH,An ioch

HE STORY OF THE church at Antioch is

an inspiring drama. A healthy first-century

church, Antioch is a model for the church in the twenty-first

century. The New Testament provides an extensive biblical record of the church’s beginning and early years of growth, along

with examples of how it handled doctrinal debates, personality con-

flicts, and practical matters of church life, Christian devotion, and mission-ary outreach. Antioch was one of the most significant churches in history, if not the most significant church. Why is such a bold claim possible?

Antioch was unique because it was a church of “firsts.” While many churches carry labels like First Baptist or First Methodist—these labels usu-ally refer to chronology, being the first church of their denomination in an area. Antioch was that, and so much more. It was the first church where several events occurred which have marked the church for two millennia.

In Evangelizing Gentiles Some preachers, fleeing the perse-cution resulting from Stephen’s martyrdom, arrived in Antioch (Acts 11:19-20). They started preach-ing the gospel among Gentiles. While


BY JEFF IORG

BSFL: Acts 13:1-3

Antioch is a model of facing and solving problems in real church life—warts and all.

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part of his conversion to Christianity? The Antioch church rejected this as a requirement for new believers.

The Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to investigate the movement in Antioch. While he later developed a reputa-tion as an encourager, in this instance Barnabas was more of an inquisitor. He went to Antioch to evaluate what was happening. He concluded that the gospel was expanding to include the Gentiles, apart from circumcision. Barnabas became the Antioch church’s advocate and leader. His stature in the early church was a significant asset in affirming the gospel’s expansion, vali-dating the Antioch church, and later winning the theological conflict over the nature of salvation (ch. 15).

Why is this significant? The Antioch conviction—the gospel is for everyone, apart from any human inven-tion or addition—is orthodox doctrine today. Without the successful resolu-tion of this issue, the early church’s

racial and cultural barriers restricting the gospel. That they are unnamed in Scripture is noteworthy. One of the

most important advances in church history was accomplished by anony-mous heroes who were more con-cerned about spreading the name of Jesus than being remembered for their contribution. The Book of Acts names dozens of individuals, so Luke was not averse to including personal details. The omission here is striking and instructive. God sometimes uses anonymous leaders to accomplish His most significant actions.

In Involving BarnabasWhen the Jerusalem church learned of the gospel’s breakout in Antioch, they were agitated. Acts 15 recounts the confrontation between the Jerusalem and Antioch churches over the nature of the gospel. The crucial question was this: Must a person become a Jew (evi-denced by circumcision) prior to or as

the gospel had previously reached a few Gentiles (like the Ethiopian eunuch, 8:27-38), believers had not yet strongly evangelized non-Jews. The Jerusalem church had not fulfilled Jesus’ mandate to be witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8).1

These anonymous preachers at Antioch, though, broke through the

Right: The Orontes River runs through the modern city of Antakya, Turkey, which was Antioch of Syria in the New Testament Era.

Below: Marble stat-ue of the god of the Orontes River. The river flows through Antioch of Syria; found at Magaracik-Smandagi; dates to the 1st cent. A.D.

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so, by embracing Paul’s teaching min-istry, the Antioch church played an important role in helping the apos-tle develop thoughts and theological understandings that the Holy Spirit would later inspire Paul to put into written form, resulting in much of the New Testament.

In Using “Christians”At Antioch, early believers were first called “Christians.” Some speculate about the nature of this designation. It may have been a term of derision to describe people who talked inces-santly about the same subject—the Christ, the Christ, the Christ! Early

growth would have been truncated; and a multi-cultural, multi-national, multi-lingual global church would not have been possible.

In Engaging PaulAfter Barnabas concluded the Antioch church was legitimate, he understood it needed to be stabilized through a capable teaching ministry. He knew just the man to translate the gospel from a Jewish perspective into the Gentile mindset. Barnabas summoned Paul and added him to the teaching team, thus marking his emergence into public ministry.

Paul taught the Antioch church “for a whole year” (11:26) and remark-able growth occurred—both numerical and spiritual. An interesting question is “what was the curriculum?” While the text does not specify an answer, it might have been embryonic insights of what later emerged in the Pauline letters that form much of the New Testament. Perhaps Paul hammered out his theology by field-testing his ideas while teaching at Antioch. If

Inside Church of St. Peter’s at Antioch; many believe this to be one of the oldest Christian churches; it may have been in use in the 1st cent.

Below: House at Beit Gurvin (Maresha). Philip journeyed on the road that ran past Beit Gurvin through

the southern Shephelah to Gaza. Along the way he met the Ethiopian and shared with him the gospel. IL

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Much of the second half of Acts is the record of the missionaries’ work. The Antioch church is the mother church of the modern missionary movement, establishing a new paradigm for how churches extend themselves to found new congregations in new places.

In a Forced TerminationPaul and Barnabas ended their mis-sionary partnership after a conflict over John Mark (15:36-41). This conflict was intense (v. 39), spilled over into the Antioch church2 (vv. 39-40), and took a long time to resolve (2 Tim. 4:11). The good news is that the sides involved did find an amicable solution. Antioch is a model of facing and solving prob-lems in real church life—warts and all.

Many church practices today are rooted in the church at Antioch. It was—and is—a model church for min-istry in any time and place. The “firsts” at Antioch reveal the paradigm-chang-ing nature of this remarkable group of early believers. They changed their world and are still shaping ours by pro-viding a timeless model of ministerial effectiveness and missional advance. I

1. Scripture quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).

2. David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 448-49.

Jeff Iorg is president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, California.

was a bold action, considering the tension between these two churches.

The Jerusalem church had retained the gospel as a Jewish movement for years. When the message finally spread rapidly among the Gentiles in Antioch, the Jerusalem church was suspicious of the legitimacy of both the conversions and the result-ing church. The Jerusalem church had a major confrontation with Paul, Barnabas, and a delegation from Antioch over the nature of salvation.

In that context, the Antioch church demonstrated grace to those at the Jerusalem church—in spite of the Jerusalem church being much larger and more fully developed. The Antioch believers could have declined to offer assistance, citing the doctri-nal and personal tension between the churches. But they did not. Instead, they gave generously and proportion-ally to feed hungry believers. Human need trumped church conflict.

In Dispatching MissionariesPaul and Barnabas were commis-sioned as the first missionary team intentionally sent out by a church (13:1-3). The preachers who started the Antioch church were fleeing per-secution, not extending themselves as missionaries. Antioch was the first church to select a missionary team, pray for them, commission them, and provide their financial support.

believers spoke of “the Christ” in the market, in the workplace, and in their homes. Their persistent evangelism and preoccupation with Jesus—talk-ing about Him all the time, every-where—earned them a new nick-name. They were the Christ-ones, or “Christians.”

This new name underscores the nature of early Christianity. It was infectious. The gospel spread by word of mouth, with many believers gladly speaking openly and often about Jesus. Modern believers are often intimidat-ed, unconcerned, or otherwise too dis-tracted with worldly interests to talk about Jesus with friends and family members. The nickname the Antioch believers earned is a reminder about the true nature of evangelism—being so enamored with Jesus that one cannot help but talk about Him.

In Relief OfferingSoon after its founding, a prophet from Jerusalem named Agabus spoke to the Antioch church. Part of his message was about a famine coming to Jerusalem. In all likeli-hood, Agabus may have even asked the Antioch church for assistance. Regardless, upon hearing the news, believers at Antioch gave money to help those suffering (11:27-29). This

Above: Dating to the 3rd cent. B.C., a colossal Charonian carving in the mountain-side overlooking Antioch. Ancient records indicate the figure was carved in an

attempt to save the city below from a plague afflicting persons in the area.

Right: Mosaic at Antioch depicting three male magi-cians.

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ DAVID ROGERS (5/15/1)

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ DAVID ROGERS/ ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM/ ANTAKYA, TURKEY (5/15/17)


WHY THESE

66BOOKS?

Why These 66 Books?NEED SOURCES FROM WRITER-TJL

TGP: Psalm 119:1-16


The basic criterion for recognizing books as being part of the NT is whether they were considered “God-breathed.”

Daniel; Ezra–Nehemiah; Chronicles [1 & 2 Chronicles]).

Jesus’ use of Scripture shows He considered these same books in the Hebrew Bible as authoritative (see Matt. 5:17-20; Luke 24:44). He treated the OT narratives as statements of fact and frequently used the OT as the final court of appeal in matters of faith and conduct. For example, when the devil tempted Him, Jesus resisted the temptations by quoting the OT (Matt. 4:4,7,10). Moreover, He viewed the OT as predictive of Himself (see John 5:39; Luke 24:27) and expressly stated the authority of the OT and of His own words (John 10:35; Matt. 5:17-18).

The New Testament CanonWhen Jesus’ apostles were alive and operating in the first century, no great need existed for a NT canon to

Important DatesDetermining when the OT books were collected is difficult. The OT canon was already established at least a century before Jesus walked the earth. The NT (New Testament) gives evidence of a three-part canon that was complete in Jesus’ time (see Matt. 7:12; Luke 24:44).4 Moreover, Josephus mentioned a threefold division of the OT. Further, the Jewish Council of Jamnia con-firmed these same three parts of the OT around a.d. 90.

The Old Testament Jesus UsedOur Hebrew OT and its transla-tions are based largely upon the Masoretic Text. The Masoretes were Jewish scholars (ca. sixth–eighth centuries a.d.) who preserved the OT text and added vowels (called vowel pointing) to consonants to aid succeeding generations in Hebrew pronunciation. The Masoretes com-piled, collated, and compared ear-lier manuscripts in order to come up with a text that they regarded as the proper Hebrew OT. Their resultant text is extraordinarily accu-rate when compared with the Dead Sea Scrolls written some 900–1,000 years earlier. Their canon was com-posed of 24 books and three divi-sions: the Law (Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy), the Prophets (Joshua; Judges; Samuel [1 & 2 Samuel]; Kings [1 & 2 Kings]; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Ezekiel; Hosea through Malachi [known as the Book of the Twelve]), and the Writings (Psalms; Proverbs; Job; Song of Solomon; Ruth; Lamentations; Ecclesiastes; Esther;

THE WORD “CANON” (Hebrew: qaneh; Greek: kanon) originally meant

“measuring reed,” but eventually developed the meaning “standard.” Pertaining to the Bible evangelical Christians use, the term refers to those books the church accept-ed as the standard that governs Christian belief and conduct.1

The Old Testament CanonUnfortunately no clear record exists to show exactly how the Jews decided which books to include in their canon of Scripture. Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, does offer, though, in his book Contra Apion (1:37-42; ca. a.d. 90) some strong indications about the Jewish canon. Josephus mentioned some standards that Jews used to determine the books of their canon: (1) they chose books that were not contradictory; (2) “they were written by prophets or by persons recognized as having divine authority”; (3) “they origi-nated through inspiration from God”; and (4) the Jews accepted them as authoritative material.2 Josephus limited the OT (Old Testament) to the 22 books (he combined Jeremiah-Lamentations, Judges-Ruth) currently in the Hebrew canon.

Hundreds of OT references attest to the fact that these books are from God, using statements such as: “thus says the Lord” and “the Lord said.” Apocryphal and pseudepigraphal books, however, contain no such assertions. Jews commonly believed that prophet-ic inspiration had ceased around 200 b.c., so that apocryphal works written later had to revert back to an earlier time in order to gain authority for their works.3

BY TERRY L. WILDER

Below: Torah case and scroll from Hebron.

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know which books the church rec-ognized as being a part of God’s Word and which were corollary or supplemental works.8 Third, as the second century wore on, the apostles’ oral teaching was becom-ing less familiar to believers, and the apostles’ disciples were beginning to die. Thus, Christians were being separated further from the apostles’ authoritative teaching. This meant Christians placed less reliance on the apostles’ oral teaching and more dependence on their writings. Thus, the need arose to define the canon of Scripture so that later generations might know what apostolic doctrine was and was not.9

The basic criterion for recogniz-ing books as being part of the NT is whether they were considered “God-breathed” (Greek: theopneustos, 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). Books do not become inspired because they are recognized as being canonical; rather, they are recognized as being canonical because they are inspired by God. Thus, the church did not “produce” the canon.

Three principal criteria emerged which the early church used in recognizing books that were God- inspired and thus canonical: (1) apos-tolic origin, (2) recognition by the churches, and (3) apostolic content.10 Books recognized as canonical had to be related in some way to the divinely-appointed, authoritative, Holy Spirit-inspired apostles.11 With the criterion of apostolic origin, the early Christians essentially asked, “Is this particular work under ques-tion the work of one of the apostles, or was it produced under the super-vision of and with the stamp of approval of one of the apostles?” The criterion of recognition by the churches asked how the earliest lead-ing churches regarded the book.12 If the churches at Ephesus, Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, and Carthage, for

for defining the NT canon. First, the rise of certain heresies occa-sioned the need for defining the NT canon. When heretics began to pub-lish their views and establish can-ons themselves, the true followers of Christ necessarily had to refute them by defining what the whole church regarded as sacred Scripture.6 Second, during times of intermit-tent Roman persecution,7 Christians were subject to imprisonment and even death if they possessed any of the Christian Scriptures. The pos-sibility of imprisonment or death made it imperative for believers to

be defined. This fact was because the apostles were divinely-appointed, ordained men who had in them-selves the authority of the Lord Jesus (see Matt. 10:40; 1 Cor. 9:1-3).5 They were God’s authority between the time of the Lord’s ascension and the completion of the NT Scriptures, which would then become the final and continuing authority. As long as the apostles and their immediate disciples were alive, people could easily determine what constituted apostolic teaching.

As time wore on, however, certain developments prompted the need

Right: Parchment leaf from the Latin Psalter, dated about 1200-1210. The text is Psalm 36:1-4.

Below: Sea coast at Alexandria, Egypt.

Bottom right: In northern Italy, the Trento Cathedral, known locally as Duomo di San Vigilio, was the host church for the Council of Trent.

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example, accepted a book as authori-tative, then chances were strong that the whole church would give it seri-ous consideration for inclusion. The criterion of the book’s content asked whether a book’s content agreed with the doctrine the apostles taught orally or wrote when they were still alive. If anything was contrary to the apostles’ actual teaching, it was con-sidered spurious and not the Word of God. As time wore on, these distinctions became increasingly dif-ficult to determine; this difficulty motivated the church to delineate the genuine NT canon in the earliest Christian centuries.

So, all of this led to what was perhaps the “prime” criterion for the NT: “Was this book produced by an apostle or under the auspices of an apostle, and does it obviously correspond in doctrine to what the apostles themselves taught when they were on earth as God’s divinely appointed spokesmen?”

An example of this criterion at work is the Gospel of Thomas, a book that did not attain canonical status. This writing bears the name of an apostle, but it is not in accord with what the apostles taught. Instead, this forgery represented the heresy of gnosticism. Though an apostle’s name was attached to the book, its content does not agree with apostolic doctrine.

WHY THE ROMAN CATHOLICS’ CANON IS DIFFERENT FROM THE PROTESTANTS’

The Roman Catholics’ canon contains more than the 66 books of Genesis through Revelation. They added works (known as “the Apocrypha”) like the Wisdom of Solomon,

Ecclesiasticus, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and others. These books likely originated “from Jewish traditions or folklore concerning the bibli-cal text during the Second Temple period” (c. 300 b.c.–a.d. 100).13 After OT revelation ceased, some Jews perhaps desired more revela-tory material.14 These non-canonical scrolls might have been stored with canonical ones, and over time some distinctions between them dissolved.15

Two factors contributed to the Apocrypha’s inclusion in the Roman Catholic canon: (1) The church father Jerome later included the Apocrypha in the Latin Vulgate, which was for years the standard translation for Roman Catholicism; and (2) in response to Martin Luther and the Protestant reformation, the Roman Catholic Council of Trent (a.d. 1546) recognized the authority of the apocryphal books.

The Hebrew OT canon the Jews and early Christians used, how-ever, excluded the Apocrypha. Apocryphal books were never recog-nized in the Hebrew Scriptures (though some were included in some fourth-century manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint). Also, their content differs significantly from the OT books. Moreover, they were not recognized in the NT. Further, Jesus Christ never cited or acknowledged any of the Apocrypha.

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ence to “Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” meant “the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.” This is because Moses is connected with the Pentateuch (the Law), and the Psalms alone were sometimes mentioned to denote the Writings. Other times, persons from the beginning of the OT and the end of the OT were mentioned to signify the entirety of the Hebrew OT, i.e., “the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.” Scripture lists in this article are representative. Other passages, not listed due to space, could also apply.

5. F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 119-20, 256-59; Wilder, Pseudonymity, 165-216.

6. Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1987), 75-106.

7. Roman persecution began around A.D. 64 and occurred intermittently over the course of about three centuries.

8. Metzger, Canon of the New Testament, 106-108.9. Herman N. Ridderbos, Redemptive History and

the New Testament Scriptures, 2nd ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1988), 12-24.

10. Bruce, Canon of Scripture, 255-69.11. Ibid., 256-59; Ridderbos, Redemptive History,

12-15. 12. Metzger, Canon of the New Testament, 253-54.13. Wegner, “Do We Have the Right Canon?” 403.14. Ibid.15. Ibid.

Terry L. Wilder is professor and Wesley Harrison Chair of New Testament at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:25-26, writer’s translation).

The prophets of old spoke “as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21, hcsb). Those who penned the NT wrote in like manner. Their work is God’s trustworthy, inerrant Word. The biblical canon of 66 books we possess today is God’s Word and the result of His sovereign oversight and provision. It has stood the test of time as the “true” canon. I

1. About A.D. 367, the church father Athanasius was the first person, to our knowledge, to use the word “canon” to refer to the Scriptures; in other words, these books “measure up.”

2. As Paul D. Wegner correctly summarizes in “Do We Have the Right Canon?” in Steven B. Cowan and Terry L. Wilder, In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Apologetic for the Authority of Scripture (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2013), 402.

3. Terry L. Wilder, Pseudonymity, the New Testament, and Deception (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2004), 58. In addition to Josephus’ Contra Apion 1:37-42, the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 11a likewise mentions the cessation of inspired prophecy: “Since the death of the last prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.”

4. This three-part division of the OT was mentioned in a variety of ways. For example, in Luke 24:44 the refer-

Important DatesThe formal establishment of the NT canon happened later. In the east-ern church it occurred with the 39th Paschal Letter of Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, dated a.d. 367. This document was the bishop’s letter to the faithful written on the occasion of Passover. In this letter Athanasius mentions 27 books that the church accepted as being the NT. In the west-ern church, the Council of Carthage met in a.d. 397. Part of the council’s work was to publish the names of the 27 NT books that the church held to be genuine Scripture. By the middle-to-late part of the fourth century, the church evidently had no question about the 27 books that would comprise the NT. No really serious question has risen since.

ConclusionJesus, while on earth, did not spe-cifically mention writings that would become what we know as the New Testament. However, He did seem to “pre-authenticate” the NT when He told His disciples: “These things I have spoken to you while abid-ing with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach

Below: Fragment from the Septuagint; the text is Exodus 26:22-25.

Left: In northern Africa, the ruins on Byrsa Hill in

Carthage, Tunisia. In the background are the tow-ers of a former Catholic cathedral. The Council of Carthage helped confirm the New Testament canon.

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A L O N G T H E

TGP: Exodus 2:1-10

byDaniel P.

CALDWELL


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to the Mediterranean without being fed by any further rivers or streams.

In ancient times a combination of rap-ids and waterfalls (cataracts) at varying points prevented the complete navigation of the Nile. The first set of cataracts was at Aswan, which is generally acknowl-edged as Egypt’s southern boundary.

IN THE VATICAN MUSEUM is an ancient sculpture symbolizing Egypt and the Nile. The art-work depicts the river as a giant stretched out on his

side. A cornucopia of fruit is in his left arm and ears of wheat are in his right hand. A sphinx on which the giant supports himself represents Egypt. The scene is made livelier by 16 children representing the 16 cubits of water by which the Nile rises for its annual flood. The base of the statue is decorated with the Nile landscape, including a hippopotamus and crocodiles. The whole work is sym-bolic of the regard in which the Egyptians throughout history have held the great river.

Geography of the Nile The longest river in the world, the Nile flows north roughly 4,130 miles from the heart of Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. The Egyptian Nile (the northern-most portion) is formed by the union of two riv-ers. The first is the White Nile which flows out of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The second is the Blue Nile from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. These join at Khartoum (capital of Sudan) and are later fed by the Atbara River near Barbar. Thereafter the Nile flows over 1,500 miles northward

Replica of the sculpture by Italian artist Lorenzo Ottoni dating to about A.D. 1690; the figure represents the Nile River.

Above: A high-ele-vation view of Tuti Island, which is at the confluence

of the White and Blue Nile rivers in Khartoum, capital of Sudan.

Right: Osiris, whom the Egyptians of the Old Kingdom began to associ-ate with death, was also the pri-

mary god of the Nile, which the Egyptians under-stood to be the key to life and death.

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located. Goshen, in the upper northeastern section, was where Jacob and his descendants settled (Gen. 45:10; 46:28-29).

Livelihood from the NileThe Nile was the source of Egypt’s life and agricultural wealth, an oddity for a region that is primarily arid and desert. Since rainfall was minimal in Egypt, the Nile was essential for watering the land by means of flood, irrigation, and infiltration.

The annual flooding in the early fall was due to the runoff from heavy rainfalls in Sudan. The rising of the Nile during the hot, dry months remained a mystery to the ancient Egyptians. They developed nilometers, formed by graduated degrees cut in natural rocks or in stone walls, to measure the river levels. The flooding also brought natural fertilizers (silt) to the desert land.1

The Nile’s flooding was a well-known event amongst the Hebrews. At times the Old Testament prophets would use this natural occurrence in judgment con-texts concerning the rise and fall of nations (Isa. 46:7-8;

Heading north from Aswan, the Nile flows between two lines of cliffs. At times the cliffs come directly down to the river’s edge and in other places are over eight miles away. Using irrigation, farmers could cultivate the wider areas of land. Due to the dark color of the rich soil, the Egyptians called the cultivated areas Black Land. At the cliff tops were the Libyan and Arabian desert lands where few Egyptians traveled.

At Cairo (modern Egypt’s capital) the Nile begins to spread out like a fan, the bulk of its waters flowing into two branches: the Rosetta and the Damietta. The land enclosed within and lying adjacent to these river channels is known as the Nile River Delta. This region is the area where the clos-est links with the ancient Israelites are likely to have been

Below: Lake Victoria as seen from the Nile River. The large concrete block marks the begin-ning of the Nile.

Above: The Tis Abay (translated “Smoking Water”) Falls on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. The falls range from about 120-150 feet wide in the dryer season to over 1,300 feet in the rainy season.

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origin and the meaning of the name Nile are unknown (Gr. Nei√loß; Lat. Nilus).”7

The Egyptians had gods, though, that they associated with the Nile. They believed that bringer of water and fertil-ity was not the river but its annual flooding, called “Hapy” (also spelled “Hapi”), who became one of the Egyptians’ gods. Although Hapy was an image of abundance, he was not a major deity in the Egyptian pantheon. Depicted as a fat figure, Hapy bought water and produce in abundance to both gods and humans. Although Hapy had no temple, Egyptians presented sacrifices and sang hymns to him as they acknowledged the beginning of the annual floods.8

The major god most closely connected with the Nile was Osiris. In myth Osiris was a king of Egypt; his brother, Seth, killed him on the river bank. His body was cut into 14 pieces, placed in a coffin, and cast into the Nile. His sister-wife, Isis, later reassembled his body; and he became king of the underworld. According to some Egyptian thought, the Nile River receding in the autumn and overflowing in the spring represented the annual death and rebirth of Osiris.9 This constant cycle would lead the Egyptians to accept the pos-sibility of immortality. The faithful follower of Osiris hoped to overcome death just as this god had done.

Because the ancient Egyptians depended on the river so much, the contributions of the Nile to their life, culture, and religion cannot be overemphasized. But the contribu-tions were not to Egypt alone. From the reeds of its waters, an infant was drawn out (Ex. 2:10) and became God’s faith-ful servant, Moses. This was perhaps the Nile’s greatest contribution to those who worship Yahweh. I

1. Edward Mack, “Nile” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, gen. ed. James Orr, (Chicago: Howard-Severance, 1915), 4:2146.

2. Ralph H. Alexander, “raoy>” (yeor, Nile) in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris (Chicago: Moody, 1980), §832; 1:357-58.

3. John Ruffle, “Nile River” in Holman Bible Dictionary [HBD], gen. ed. Trent C. Butler (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991), 1024. Ruffle points out that some attribute the Nile turning to red to a natural occurrence that happens “at the peak of the flood season in August when large numbers of tiny organisms turn the water red and could make it foul and undrinkable. It would also kill off the fish which would decompose and infest the frogs (the second plague) leading to successsive plauges of lice, flies, and pestilences. God may have used such natural conditions with His timing to plague Egypt.”

4. For interpretations of this passage, see J. A. Thompson, Deuteronomy, vol. 5 in Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 2008), 5:171; and John D. W. Watts, “Deuteronomy” in The Broadman Bible Commentary, vol. 2 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970), 234.

5. Mack, “Nile,” 4:2146.6. Alexander, “raoy>”, §832; 1:357-58.7. C. E. DeVries, “Nile” in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, gen. ed.

Merrill C. Tenney (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 4:437-38.8. John D. Currid, Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Books,

1997, 241.9. Jacobus Van Dijk, “Myth and Mythmaking in Ancient Egypt: The Myth of Osiris” in

Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, ed. in chief Jack Sasson (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000), 1702-1706; William S. LaSor, “Nile” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, gen. ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 536-37.

Daniel P. Caldwell is professor of religion and dean of the Cooper School of Missions and Biblical Studies, William Carey University, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Jer. 46:7-8; Amos 8:8) and the diminishing of Egypt’s strength (Isa. 19:1-15).2 Significantly, the first plague affected the Nile, which turned to blood. This would have rendered the waters filthy and unsuitable to drink.3

In addition to the flooding, farmers depended on irriga-tion for water. Workers cut channels from the river to the fields and used small earthen dams to control the flow. Moses mentioned this practice in Deuteronomy 11:10 as a lesson for the Hebrews. Just as they depended on the Nile while in Egypt, they were to depend upon God to provide rain for them in their new land.4

Ancient Egyptians correctly understood that all of their water was from the Nile. The Nile Valley’s porous soil allowed water to penetrate the ground on either side of the river, a process known as infiltration. As a result, people dug wells for drinking water and for irrigation in the dry season.5

Due to the Nile providing water year around, the Egyptians were able to produce bountiful harvests. The Hebrews mentioned some of these while wandering in the wilderness. In 1 of the 10 times they tested God (Num. 14:22), the Hebrews wanted more than manna to eat. They mentioned the good foods of Egypt: cucumbers, mel-ons, leeks, onions, garlic, and fish—fish that people may have caught in the Nile or the canals flowing out of it (11:5).

Jacob earlier knew of Egypt’s abundance as he sent his sons there to purchase grain (Gen. 42:1-2). The effects of the flooding, constant irrigation, and depositing of silt over the years enabled Egypt ultimately to become the granary of the biblical world.

The Nile facilitated transportation. The current helped boats traveling north; the prevailing wind guided those head-ing south. The cataracts may have provided some protection from enemy invaders approaching from the south.

Influence on Egyptian ReligionThe Nile, so fundamental to the nation’s well-being, did not dominate Egypt’s religious life. Egyptians took their world largely for granted; they had no name for the Nile but referred to it simply as “river” (’io’r, ’iotr). The Hebrew term generally used for the Nile in the Old Testament is yeor and was most likely borrowed from this Egyptian term.6 The term “Nile” is not Egyptian. “The ultimate

On Elephantine Island, this Nilometer indi-cates the water level of the river.

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Below: Man sift-ing grain. Cain’s offering to the Lord was produce that he had grown himself.

ETB: 1 John 3:7-19


First Murderer When Cain did not repent and change his attitude, his sins multiplied. His wrong attitude toward God expanded into a wrong attitude toward his brother. Cain spoke to Abel, evidently in anger, and may have even blamed his brother for his predicament.7 Cain’s resentment grew until, catching Abel in the field alone, he attacked and killed his brother (Gen. 4:8). First John 3:12 confirms that Cain’s murder of his brother grew out of his previous wrong relationship with God.

God still did not respond to Cain in anger and punishment (vv. 9-15). Instead, He asked Cain where his brother was, giving him an oppor-tunity to confess and be forgiven. Cain did not confess but denied

Abel and his tribute offering but rejected Cain and his tribute offering. Many claim the problem with Cain’s offering was that he did not offer a blood offering. That suggestion almost surely is not accurate, because God later taught Moses that tribute offerings were to be made of grain. Genesis 4:3-4 reveals the defect was Cain presented “some of the land’s produce,” while Abel presented “the firstborn of his flock and their fat por-tions” (hcsb, emphasis added). Abel brought God his best. Cain did not. Cain’s inferior offering revealed an inferior respect for God and a lack of genuine gratitude.6 Hebrews 11:4 sup-ports that explanation; it says Abel’s faith led him to offer “a more excel-lent sacrifice” than Cain (kjv). Cain’s inadequate offering to God reflected his inadequate faith in Him.

Cain’s response to God rejecting his offering was to go about with his head bowed down in anger and resentment. Yahweh did not strike down Cain for being angry. Instead, He explained to Cain he could obtain His favor by doing the right thing, that is, by pre-senting the right kind of offering in the right attitude. He added, if Cain refused to worship in the right way, sin was crouch-ing at his door, ready to pounce on him. The Lord urged Cain to rule over that sin by resisting it.

FIRST JOHN 3:12 identifies Cain as “of the evil one” and says he killed his brother

because his evil works made him jeal-ous of his brother’s righteous works. Two other New Testament texts men-tion Cain, Hebrews 11:4 and Jude 11; the Jude passage lists him with others in the Old Testament who rebelled against God. Ancient extra-biblical writings, such as those of Josephus,1 The Apocalypse of Abraham,2 The Life of Adam and Eve,3 and Pseudo-Philo,4 either agree that Cain was evil or add questionable, sometimes fanciful, details. The only reliable information about Cain’s sinfulness outside the New Testament is in Genesis 4:3-24.

First Insincere WorshiperThe first action Scripture describes Cain performing was to worship God. Cain and his brother Abel came together to present offerings to God (Gen. 4:3-5). The name of their offerings came from a Hebrew word meaning “tribute.”5 Cain and Abel were giving tribute to God in recognition that all of their posses-sions belonged to Him. Many years later, when Yahweh gave Moses instructions about the offerings, one of the five offerings He described had that same name (Lev. 2:1-16). God explained that the tribute offering was to consist of grain—whole or ground, raw or cooked. It usually accompanied the Hebrews’ gifts to God from the first produce of their harvest or the first-born of their herds or flocks and was hence called the offering of firstfruits. Cain and Abel brought to God a simpler form of that same offering to acknowledge that their produce was entrusted to them by God’s goodness.

When the first sons laid their offer-ings before God, the Lord accepted

By Leon Hyatt, Jr.

Above: Bronze axe head from Ur. Tubal-cain, who was one of Cain’s descendants, was the first recorded in Scripture to make metal tools (Gen. 4:22).

Left: Painted ceramic plaque depicting musi-cians; found at Uruk in southern Mesopotamia, a possible site for the city of Enoch, which Cain built. The lady on the left plays a small drum and the man on the right, a flute.

Right: Ivory panel from the Cathedral of Salerno in Italy depicts God choosing Abel’s offering over Cain’s, Cain killing Abel, and God confronting Cain. Panel dates to about A.D. 1084.

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In Cain’s city his family got busy using the talents God gave them to advance their way of life. In the sev-enth generation, Cain’s descendants had progressed enough that one broth-er became the first nomadic rancher, another the first inventor of musical instruments, and a third was the first smith to work with different kinds of metals (4:20-22). Unfortunately, at the same time they also greatly expanded their sinfulness and rebel-lion. Lamech, the father of those three inventive brothers, was the first polygamist. Further, he bragged to his wives about killing a young man who offended him and dared anyone to criticize him for it (vv. 23-24).

Cain’s example led his family to build a civilization without God, and they were spiraling downward toward the monstrous tragedy that wiped out all humanity except one family, a tragedy that evidently engulfed the world during the lifetimes of Lamech and his three inventive sons. Cain is a dramatic example of the harsh real-ity that unchecked sin grows, spreads, and ultimately destroys. I

1. Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews 1.2.1-2 in The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, trans. William Whiston (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), 31.

2. R. Rubinkiewicz, trans., “The Apocalypse of Abraham” in James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York: Doubleday, 1983), ch. 24, vv. 4-5 (p. 701).

3. M. D. Johnson, trans., “Life of Adam and Eve” in Ibid., vol. 2 (1985), 264-67.

4. D. J. Harrington, trans., “Pseudo-Philo” in Ibid., vol. 2, ch. 2, vv. 1-3 (p. 305); ch. 16, v. 2, (pp. 323-24).

5. “hx'n>mi“ (mincha; tribute) in Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), 585. English versions of the Bible all copy each other in failing to communicate the distinctive meaning of the name of “tribute-offerings.” They hide the significance of the brothers’ worship experience by substituting the generic term “offering” in Genesis 4:4-5.

6. Kenneth A. Mathews, Genesis 1–11:26, vol. 1A in The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1996), 267-68.

7. James G. Murphy, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis in Barnes’ Notes on the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985), 153.

Leon Hyatt, Jr. is a retired Louisiana Baptist pastor and missions director, living in Pineville, Louisiana.

expressed his determination to reject God’s word and go his own way.

First Kingdom BuilderLiving in the land of Nod, Cain sought to avoid fulfilling God’s warning that he would be a wanderer in the earth. He built the world’s first city and named it after his first son, Enoch (vv. 16-17). No doubt, that first city was modest in comparison with later cities, but building a city was evidence that Cain and his fam-ily were helping populate the earth sufficiently to constitute a whole city. In those early days, sin had not yet severely weakened the fiber of humanity, so people lived much lon-ger (6:3). Many surpassed 900 years. They had plenty of time to repro-duce and populate a small city while Adam and Eve still were alive.

knowing anything about where Abel was. God told Cain He knew all about what had happened and said the result was going to be Cain’s fields would no longer be fertile and productive. Sadly, Cain continued to resent and criticize God. He said his punishment was too harsh; oth-ers would hate him and kill him. When God judged Adam and Eve, they submitted and repented. By contrast, Cain continued to resist. God was gracious once more and put a mark on Cain to warn every-one who saw him they would be punished seven-fold if they took vengeance on Cain. Refusing to see God’s mercy in the way the Lord was dealing with him, Cain hard-ened his heart even more. He moved away from the rest of Adam’s fam-ily into the land of Nod. His move

Egyptian flutes made from bone and lyre from Ur decorated with a bull’s head. One of Cain’s descen-

dants was Jubal, “the father of all who play the lyre and the flute” (Gen. 4:21, HCSB), which many biblical

scholars take to mean that he was responsible for the development of early musical instruments.

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J SHUAL E A D E R O F T H E C O N Q U E S T

BSFL: Book of Joshua

Joshua had served Moses faithfully, but many perhaps wondered whether Joshua

could lead as well as Moses had.

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spoke with God face-to-face at the tent of meeting (33:11). Clearly God was already preparing Joshua for future leadership.

Joshua also served as one of the 12 men Moses sent to spy out Canaan (Num. 13:8,16). When the spies returned from their mission, 10 gave the people a bad report about the land (vv. 31-33). They did not believe that God, who had brought them so far, could give them the promised land (Heb. 3:19). Only Joshua and Caleb stood firm in their conviction that God would help Israel take the land despite the challenges (Num. 14:6-9). The unbelieving generation received God’s judgment and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years until all those who were 20 years of age and older died (vv. 28-35). Joshua and Caleb lived on because of the faith they had shown in God’s prom-ise. One can only imagine their pain as they waited

JOSHUA SON OF NUN played a significant role in God’s purpose for Israel.

Under his leadership, the Israelites conquered Canaan and divided it among the tribes. However, we know little about the background of the man God used so mightily.

Joshua, the ManJoshua’s name means “Yahweh has saved” or “Yahweh is salvation.” His name is thus related to the names Isaiah and Hosea, and the name Joshua was Jesus’ Hebrew name as well. (See the allusion to Jesus bringing salvation in Matt. 1:21.) The Pentateuch describes him only as “Joshua, son of Nun” or merely as “Joshua.” Joshua hailed from the tribe of Ephraim (Num. 13:8,16), and 1 Chronicles 7:20-27 provides more names from his family background, but yields little additional information.

Joshua’s Life Before the ConquestThe Bible first mentions Joshua in Exodus 17 after the Israelites had left Egypt. The people warred against the Amalekites, a nomadic group in the region, and Joshua led Israel against them and defeated them (Ex. 17:9-14). The Book of Exodus also places Joshua with Moses at Mount Sinai when Moses was receiving God’s com-mandments (24:12-13; 32:17). After his experience at Sinai, Joshua also appeared at Moses’ side after Moses

By Bryan E. Beyer

Left: A Jewish rabbi blowing the shofar. God instructed the children of Israel to march around the city of Jericho once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they

were to circle the city seven times. Then the priests were to blow their shofars and the city wall would fall.

Below: Mound that is the site of the ancient city

of Jericho; in the background is the Jordan River Valley. Jericho was the first city Joshua and the Israelites con-quered as they came into the promised land.

Above: Area of the Wadi Feiran, which is west of Mount Sinai and the site of the Sinai’s larg-est oasis. Wadi Feiran was known

in Scripture as Rephidim and was the home of the Amalekites. Joshua led the Israelites in a battle against the Amalekites at

Rephidim. As long as Moses’ arms were uplifted, the Israelites were successful in the battle. Hur and Aaron helped hold up Moses’ arms.

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ KRISTEN HILLER (50/4372)



Joshua’s work essentially involved two purposes: conquer the land of Canaan and allot it to Israel’s tribes. The conquest of Canaan included three major campaigns: a central campaign, a southern cam-paign, and a northern campaign.3 These campaigns lasted approximately five to six years altogether (Josh. 14:7,10); and as they concluded, Israel had achieved effective control of Canaan, though some groups of people remained in the land (13:2-7).4

The central campaign began with the famous battle of Jericho, in which God caused the city wall to col-lapse so Israel’s army could take the city (6:12-21). After a temporary setback at Ai due to Achan’s sin (7:1-26), the Israelites took Ai and Bethel (8:1-29). The Gibeonites, who lived in a major city on Canaan’s central plateau, acted deceitfully and secured a cov-enant with Joshua and Israel’s leaders, who failed to consult the Lord on this important matter (9:3-16). Nonetheless, this treaty meant Joshua had achieved control of the central plateau without a fight, and in doing so, had effectively cut the land in half, isolating northern and southern Canaan.

A southern coalition of kings recognized the threat Joshua posed and moved quickly to attack Gibeon (10:1-5). Joshua responded with a surprise attack at dawn after marching through the night to the edge of

the plateau (v. 9). During the battle, God caused the sun to stand still all day.5 Joshua and his army routed the coalition and then extended the battle southward, conquering the major cities and towns (10:16-43).

an additional 40 years to receive their inheritance (Num. 14:30; Josh. 14:7,10).

Joshua’s WorkMost of what we know about Joshua’s life and work comes from the book that bears his name.1 God earlier had designated Joshua as Moses’ successor (Num. 27:18-23); and before Moses died, the Lord re-commissioned Joshua (Deut. 31:14,23). God did not allow Moses to enter the promised land due to his sin at Meribah (Num. 20:11-13).

Joshua had served Moses faithfully, but many per-haps wondered whether Joshua could lead as well as Moses had. The Book of Joshua highlights the steps God took to ensure Israel saw His hand on His new leader.2 First, God appeared to Joshua after Moses’ death, reassured Joshua of his mission, and promised to be with Joshua wherever he went (Josh. 1:1-9). Second, God parted the waters of the Jordan for Joshua, just as He had parted the waters of the sea for Moses (3:7-17; cf. Ex. 14:15-22). The Israelites certainly would have made this connection in their minds. Third, the Lord appeared to Joshua through a heavenly messenger (Josh. 5:13-15). God instructed Joshua to remove his sandals, just as He had instructed Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:5).

Left: Gate at Hazor, which was the larg-est city in northern Canaan. Hazor’s King Jabin rallied the northern cities to oppose Joshua. The Israelites, though, were suc-cessful; they killed the Canaanite lead-ers and burned the city of Hazor.

Below: Valley of Aijalon; when bat-tling the Amorites here, Joshua asked God for a miracle. The Lord lengthened the day, allowing the Israelites to defeat their enemies (Josh. 10:12-14).




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the priest and Israel’s elders, oversaw the division of the land (14:1). Fittingly, Caleb, who along with Joshua had believed God’s promise (Num. 14:6-9,30), received the first recorded allotment (Josh. 14:6-14).

The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had received Moses’ and Joshua’s blessing to settle east of the Jordan (Num. 32:29-30; Josh. 1:12-15). Joshua and Israel’s leaders then allotted territory to the tribes of Judah (15:1-63) and Ephraim (16:1-10); Manasseh also received territory in Canaan because it was a large tribe (17:1-18).

To the north, Jabin, king of Hazor, assembled another coalition of kings to face Joshua (11:1-5). God again gave Joshua success as Israel’s army defeated the coalition and then pressed the battle throughout the northern territory’s cities and towns (vv. 7-23). Israel had achieved effective control of the promised land (12:1-24).

The task now remained for Joshua to lead Israel in allocating the land (chs. 13–21). Individual tribes would assume responsibility for removing the remaining people groups (13:1-7). Joshua, accompanied by Eleazar

“About 40,000 [Israelites] equipped for war crossed to the plains of Jericho in the LORD’s presence” (Josh. 4:13, HCSB). These objects give us

an idea about the military equipment the Israelites may have used.

1. Bronze arrow-head; from Tel Dan; Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 B.C.).

2. Bronze quiver fragment from Urartu. The relief illustrates the “tree of life” flanked by priests.

3. Hittite sickle sword.

4. Bronze dagger, with no handle, and sword dat-ing from the Late Bronze Age II (1400–1200 B.C.).

5. Bronze Hittite helmet from Urartu.

6. Duck bill axe head.

7. Chisel-axe head.1. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ DAVID ROGERS/ JEWISH MUSEUM/ NEW YORK (355/20A)

2. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ DAVID ROG-ERS/ UNIVERSITY MUSEUM/ UNIVER-SITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (292/12)

3. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ JAMES

MCLEMORE/ ISTANBUL ARCHAEO-LOGICAL MUSEUM (10/34/15)

4. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ DAVID ROGERS/ BRITISH MUSEUM/ LONDON (551/15)

5. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ DAVID ROGERS/ ADANA ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM/ ADANA, TURKEY (245/28A)

6. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BOB SCHATZ (35/43/32)

7. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BOB SCHATZ (35/43/30)


land to help Israel achieve victory. Third, he was a man of faith. He persevered for 45 years as he await-ed the fulfillment of God’s promise (14:7,10).6 He also expressed his faith publicly on many occasions and led the Israelites in renewing their faith pledge to God (3:5-6; 6:16; 8:30-35; chs. 23–24).

All leaders have weaknesses. Joshua’s failure to consult the Lord on the treaty with the Gibeonites resulted in some questioning his leadership (9:18). Why Joshua failed to consult the Lord on such an important matter is unclear. Joshua also may have demonstrated a momentary lack of faith when he

wondered why God had not helped Israel at the battle against Ai (7:7-9). All in all, however, Joshua followed the Lord faithfully.

Joshua’s Legacy Israel served God faithfully throughout Joshua’s days and during the period of the elders who survived him (24:31). Joshua led Israel in renewing the covenant dur-ing the conquest (8:30-35); and at the end of his life, he again reminded God’s people that their future lay in faithful obedience to God and His commandments (24:25-27).7 Joshua’s legacy even has touched many Christian families today, who have Joshua’s famous words adorning their homes: “As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh” (24:15, hcsb). I

1. See Bill T. Arnold and Bryan E. Beyer, Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 167-79.

2. David M. Howard, Jr., Joshua, vol. 5 in The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1998), 62.

3. Arnold and Beyer, Encountering the Old Testament, 172-76.4. Donald H. Madvig, “Joshua” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, gen. ed. Frank

E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 311.5. Arnold and Beyer, Encountering the Old Testament, 174.6. “The time periods referred to in vv. 7 and 10 give us an insight into the period

of time covered by most of the Book of Joshua. Israel was sentenced to forty years of wandering in the wilderness after the spies came back with their report (Num 14:33-34). Verse 10 shows that forty-five years had elapsed since the time of this sentence, so the conquest to date had occupied some five years....” From Howard, Joshua, 329.

7. Ibid., 445-46.

Bryan E. Beyer is associate provost and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Columbia International University, Columbia, South Carolina.

Joshua then gathered all of the people to Shiloh, where the Levites set up the tabernacle (18:1). Joshua sent delegates throughout the land to survey it, after which he distributed the land to the remaining tribes by lot (18:4-10). The leaders also gave Joshua a portion within Ephraim (19:49-50). Joshua designated 6 cities of refuge (20:1-9) and 48 cities (including the cities of refuge) as Levitical cities so the Levites could live among the people and instruct them in God’s ways (21:1-42). Joshua’s actions fulfilled Moses’ instructions and highlighted the continuation of God’s purpose for His people (20:2; 21:2).

Joshua’s final speeches reveal his spiritual commit-ment (chs. 23–24). In the first, Joshua encouraged the people to remain faithful; God had given them the land, and He would continue to help them settle it (23:3-5). If they trusted in God, He would bring blessing; if they turned from Him, He would bring judgment (vv. 14-16). In the second speech, Joshua surveyed Israel’s history, beginning with Abraham down to the conquest. He called on God’s people to affirm the covenant and to commit themselves totally to the Lord (24:1-15).

Joshua’s Strengths and WeaknessesThe Lord gave Joshua many strengths. First, he was a good leader; the people saw God’s hand on him and fol-lowed him. Second, he was a good general. He remem-bered the land well from when he surveyed it as one of Israel’s 12 spies, and he used his knowledge of the

Left: Part of the western gate at Lachish, looking toward the outside

of the city. In the conquest, Lachish was allotted to the tribe of Judah.

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ DAVID ROGERS (4/6/11)


“Children”IN JOHN’S LETTERS

ETB: Letters of John

Egyptian children playing marbles.

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examination of John’s use of these two related terms, “children” and “little children,” gives a strong hint of how he thought of his readers.

Teknon—When John spoke about his readers (not to them), they were God’s children (teknon), begot-ten of God (1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18; also 3:1,2,10; 5:2). Although elsewhere the New Testament describes Christians as God’s chil-dren, with God as their Father, only in John do we see this expression “begotten of God.” John wanted to make clear that the believer shares God’s nature.5

Teknion—In contrast, when John spoke to his readers, not about them, they were teknion, “little children,” a term of direct address. This indicated that John considered his readers to be his spiritual children—even if he had not led them to faith in Christ him-self.6 As mentioned above, teknion is the diminutive form of the word teknon. Diminutives, then and now, often refer not to size, but rather express affection, familiarity, close-ness, or endearment, not unlike our use of Daddy for Dad, Mommy for Mom, Bobby for Bob, Suzy for Sue.

only once in Paul and three times in Hebrews.3 A different word for chil-dren, though, was evidently even more important to John as he wrote his letters.

Significantly, John chose the lan-guage of family when addressing his recipients, as did Paul. Where Paul, though, typically used the word “brothers,” viewing his readers in a sibling relationship, John, viewing his readers in a parent-child relation-ship, used a Greek term unique to his writings in the New Testament, “little children” (Greek, teknion). It is the diminutive form of the word for “children” (teknon).4 Both Greek words are built from a verb mean-ing “give birth to” or “beget.” The Gospels of Matthew and Luke used the verb, for instance, for the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. An

WHAT CAN WE know about the rela-tionship between

John the apostle and those who read his three letters? From a reading of these epistles, we can know some-thing of the issues John addressed, but how did he regard the readers? Within the letters is a clue to that relationship and to its meaning for both writer and reader. The clue is in the words John chose to address and identify his readers.

One can learn much about the relationship between correspondents by reading their letters and noticing the way they address one another, from the formal “Dear Sir” to the personal “Dearest One.” John could have called his readers “Christians,” but the New Testament never uses the word “Christian” as a term of address.1 New Testament writers used several other significant words for addressing the recipients of their letters, each for distinctive reasons: “brothers,” “saints,” “believers,” “beloved,” “friends,” and in John’s letters “little children.” John had at his disposal the language of the classroom (disciples), the language of friendship (friends, beloved), and the language of religion (saints). In fact, some of these terms John did use. For instance, he used “beloved” 10 times (1 John 2:7; 3:2,21; 4:1,7,11; 3 John 1,2,5,11). He used “brother” 18 times in his epistles, but only once as a term of address (1 John 3:13). This may have been because of the clustering of the word “broth-er” in verses 10-17, where 8 of the 15 occurrences of the word in the letter are located.2 Twice John spoke of “young men” (1 John 2:13,14). Additionally, two times (vv. 14,18) he used a Greek word for “chil-dren” (paidion) that occurs often in the Synoptic Gospels, but elsewhere

By C. Mack Roark

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Right: Located 4 miles from Jerusalem, the vil-lage of Ein Karem was the hometown of Elizabeth and Zachariah. Shown is a lady kneeling at the altar in the Church of John the Baptist where John was supposedly born.

Right: Dated to about 2477 B.C., a terra-cotta figu-rine of children playing leap frog. Egyptians buried figurines depicting servants and scenes of every-day life to ensure the deceased would have assistance and could enjoy the afterlife.

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about his closeness to them and the intent of his letter. He wrote not simply as a pastor, or as a friend, or even as a brother in Christ, but as a parent, a spiritual parent with the responsibilities and concerns any parent has. This is especially significant when we notice that the ethic of love permeates the letters; it is the dominant ethic.9 The call and command to love has an even greater force when seen through this perspective (see 1 John 3:10-18; 4:7-12,16-21). Similarly the warn-ings about sin (1:8; 2:1-2; 3:4-10), the warnings about false doctrine (2:18-28; 4:1-6), the assurance of forgiveness (1:9; 2:1-2), and the assurance of salvation (5:13) are more compelling and authorita-tive coming from a loving father to his dear children. I

1. The word “Christian” appears only three times in the New Testament; it is never as a term of address: Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16.

2. The word for “sister” occurs once (2 John 13) where it likely refers to a church, as “elect lady” probably does in 2 John 1. See Hans-Josef Klauck, Ancient Letters

and the New Testament (Waco: Baylor Univ. Press, 2006), 29-30.

3. See 1 Corinthians 14:20; Hebrews 2:13,14; 11:23. Concerning the Greek term paidion, 43 of its 52

occurrences are in Matthew, Mark or Luke. John’s Gospel has this word at 4:49; 16:21; 21:5.

4. Interestingly, only in Galatians 4:19 does Paul use the term “children” to address his readers directly, probably because he then immediately spoke of being in the pains of childbirth “until Christ is formed in you” (HCSB).

5. In 2 John 1,4, and 13, John used “children” appar-ently to refer to church members; and in 3 John 4 he used the term to refer to his own converts or disciples.

6. Raymond E. Brown, The Epistles of John, vol. 30 in The Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday,

1982), 214.7. “Little children”: KJV, RSV, NASB, HCSB;

“children”: GNT, Phillips; “dear children”: NIV.8. For an interesting, if apocryphal,

account of John as father figure to his dis-ciples, see Clement of Alexandria, The Rich Man’s Salvation 42; Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History II.23.6-19 repeats the story.

9. The language of love–noun, verb, or adjec-tive–occurs 62 times in the letters.

C. Mack Roark is the Ruth Dickinson pro-

fessor of Bible at Oklahoma Baptist University, retired, Shawnee, Oklahoma.

he called them “dear children” (John 13:33). The remaining seven occurrences are in 1 John (2:1,12,28; 3:7,18; 4:4; 5:21). John made clear that he was speaking to them as a loving parent to his own children, dear to him.8 This sounds much like Paul, who, although he did not use the diminutive, spoke of the Corinthians as “my dear children” and of himself as having fathered them in Christ (1 Cor. 4:14-15).

John’s referring to his readers as his “dear children” speaks volumes

Most translators of the New Testament used the term “little chil-dren” to render teknion, but those who used “dear children” may have been closer to what John was say-ing.7 This word takes the read-er beyond friendship or brotherly affection to the intimate relation-ship of parent and child. This term occurs only eight times in the New Testament, and all are in John’s writings. For instance, John records in his Gospel, how, as Jesus pre-pared His disciples for His absence,

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Beginning of the prologue of the Book of John from the Martyr’s Bible. The Bible belonged to Richard Hunne and was in his posses-sion when he was martyred in 1514 for his support of an English Bible.

Right: Ceramic vase in the form of a woman and child; dated from Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, 1450-1400 B.C.ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ GB HOWELL/ MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS/ BOSTON (64/2614)


FastingFastingFastingTHE JEWISH TRADITION OF

L ONG BEFORE ITS MODERN POPULARITY as a method of dieting or improving one’s sense of wellbeing, fasting was a common practice for

many primitive peoples. Reasons and motivations for fasting varied. Some ancient cultures fasted out of a desire to show a penitent spirit, to prepare for a com-munity rite or special occasions, for personal purifica-

tion, or to establish an altered physical state induc-ing a hoped-for dream or “vision.”1 Because it

involved both personal and community dimen-sions, some form or practice of fasting was part of every major religion. In fact, in some cultures, fasting predated the development of a formal religion.2

Biblical examples of fasting appear in two main forms. Individuals fasted, usually prompted by extreme desire or distress; and communities or nations fasted to mark significant events or crises.

Individual FastsFrom the viewpoint of pagan cultures, individual fasting referred to a person’s refusal to eat or drink, motivated by a desire to earn a special merit. It is not starvation due to a scarcity of food, but a voluntary act of abstaining from food (and/or drink) in order to demonstrate or achieve a personal purity or strength.3

Biblical examples of individual fasting, however, almost always involve an encounter with the divine; such fasting “is a person’s whole-body, natural response

The Jewish Tradition of Fasting

TGP: Isaiah 58:6-7; Joel 2:12; Jonah 3:5-8; Matthew 6:16-18

BY LYNN O. TRAYLOR

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BRENT BRUCE


fasts illustrated the “affliction of the body” (Hebrew—innah nefesh literally, “afflict the body,” which is also translated “fast”) that a person felt.8 Individual fast-ing also can: show expressions of humility, as when King Ahab of Israel humbled himself before God (1 Kings 21:27); reflect a deep grief, as when Nehemiah mourned Jerusalem’s condition (Neh. 1:4); or accompa-ny a desire for divine direction, as when Daniel sought understanding (Dan. 9:3). This type of fasting hardly ever occurs apart from prayer;9 the individual feels so “overwhelmed” and thus gives up food in order to make an entreaty to God, as King David who “pleaded with God” over the life of his son (2 Sam. 12:16-23).10 Intense individual fasts could leave a person weak kneed and “emaciated” (Ps. 109:24).

Communal FastsAs was the case with individual fasting, communal (or national) fasts marked significant moments or times of crisis, as when the people of Nineveh heeded Jonah’s warnings and entered into a national fast (Jonah 3:5-8). The Talmud (a record of rabbinic teachings) shows communal fasts were not always nationwide; elders of any local community could call for a fast when the locals faced dire circumstances such as pestilence, a lack of rainfall, or other calamities.11

Nationwide communal fasts followed a set calendar of “fast days,” which either the Torah decreed (such as the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the month of Tishri; Lev. 16:29-31; 23:27-32), or that became part of the calendar of ritual fasting commemorating sig-nificant, historical events. For instance, the “Ninth of Av” marked the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (Jer. 52:12-13); the “Seventeenth of Tammuz” mourned the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem (39:2); the “Tenth

to life’s sacred moments” (emphasis mine).4 Such a fast first appears in Moses’ experience at Mount Sinai. While receiv-ing the Ten Commandments, “Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights; he did not eat bread or drink water”

(Ex. 34:28).5 Although the text does not use the Hebrew word for “fast” (tsuwm—liter-

ally meaning “to cover the mouth”),6 the pas-sage nonetheless describes a “fast” experience.

Moses later repeated the experience as he pleaded on Israel’s behalf: “I did not eat bread or drink water

because of all the sin you committed” (Deut. 9:18). Individuals also fasted during times of anguish

and hurt too deep for words alone to express.7 Such

Bottom left: Communal fasting included wearing sackcloth.

Right: Locusts. Local communities could call for a fast when facing dire circumstances such as pestilence, a lack of rainfall, or other calamities.

Below: In Jerusalem, the annual celebration of Purim, which commemorates God using Esther to rescue the Jews.

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Benjamin (Judg. 20:26) suggests communal fasting was well established as early as the twelfth century b.c.13

The method of communal fasts changed little throughout the observances recorded in the Bible. The main features of the communal fast ritual included pray-ing openly, confessing one’s sins, publicly reading the Torah, and displaying humility by tearing one’s clothes and wearing sackcloth and ashes (1 Kings 21:27; Neh. 9:1; Ps. 35:13; Isa. 58:5; Joel 2:13). Ordinary “fast days” were from dusk to dawn, but important fasts (such as the Day of Atonement) lasted for 24 hours.14

Given the number of “fast days” and the practice of calling for fasts in response to localized crises, the prac-tice of communal fasts evidently grew to an overwhelm-ing number. The Babylonian Talmud specifies when “public fasts must not be ordered to commence.”15 As the frequency of such fasts increased, the sincerity of those participating in them evidently waned. Old Testament passages such as Isaiah 58:6-7 and Joel 2:12-13 voice this concern. The rabbis acknowledged the sincerity under-lying the practice of fasting as being crucial, explaining that God did not see the “sackcloth and fasting” of the people of Nineveh, but saw “they were turning away from their evil path.”16 Similarly, Jesus’ teaching on fasting did not prohibit fasting; instead He required that fasting be rooted in a sincere desire to draw closer to God, apart from selfish motivations (Matt. 6:16-18). I

1. David Lambert, “Fasting as a Penitential Rite: A Biblical Phenomenon?” Harvard Theological Review 96, no. 4 (October 2003): 477.

2. Eric N. Rogers, Fasting: The Phenomenon of Self-Denial (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1976), 27.

3. Ibid., 31-32.4. Scot McKnight, Fasting (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009), xiv.5. Unless indicated otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from the Holman Christian

Standard Bible (HCSB).6. Hebrew/Aramaic Dictionary #6684: tsuwm— “tsoom; a prim. root: to cover over

(the mouth), i.e. to fast.” James Strong, The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996), 498

7. Lambert, “Fasting as a Penitential Rite,” 480.8. “Jewish Holidays: Fasting & Fast Days,” Jewish Virtual Library [online; accessed

16 July 2014]. Available from the Internet: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/fasting.html.

9. Lambert, “Fasting as a Penitential Rite,” 479.10. McKnight, Fasting, 60. The Old Testament describes two others as not eating dur-

ing times of personal distress. Upset at her barren condition, Hannah did not eat while at the tabernacle, which was in Shiloh (1 Sam. 1:1-8). And centuries later, Ahab could not eat after Naboth refused to sell his vineyard to the king (1 Kings 21:1-4). Hannah’s not eating may have been a genuinely religious fast, whereas Ahab’s actions seem to be merely a display of royal pouting over not having gotten his way!

11. Tractate Taanit, Chapter 3 (pp. 47-48). Jewish Virtual Library [online; accessed 16 July 2014]. Available from the Internet: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Talmud/taanit3.html.

12. “Jewish Holidays: Fasting & Fast Days.”13. Josiah Derby, “Fasting and Atonement,” Jewish Bible Quarterly 23, no. 4

(1995): 240.14. “Jewish Holidays: Fasting & Fast Days.”15. Tractate Taanit, Chapter 2 (p. 49).16. Lambert,“Fasting as a Penitential Rite,” 502.

Lynn O. Traylor is pastor of Buckner Baptist Church, LaGrange, Kentucky.

of Tevet” marked the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1-2; Ezek. 24:1-2); the “Third of Tishri” commemorated the death of Gedaliah (Jer. 41:1-2; 2 Kings 25:25); and the “Fast of Esther” recalled the queen fasting before she entered King Ahasuerus’s presence and intervened for the Jews (Esth. 4:16). Of these ancient communal fasts, the ones related to the Day of Atonement and the temple’s destruction (the “Ninth of Av”) remain the most observed; the others have little following in modern Judaism.12

Communal fasts were also spontaneous in nature, as when mourning for a fallen leader as in the death of Saul (1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Sam. 1:12; 1 Chron. 10:12), or celebrating deliverance from catastrophe (Esth. 9:31). Israel’s fast prior to doing battle with the tribe of

Below: Hilltop ris-ing in the distance is Jabesh-gilead. Saul delivered the people of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. The people never for-got the king’s kind-ness. Thus when

the Philistines slew King Saul and his sons and hung their bodies on the walls of Beth-shan, the men of Jabesh-gilead marched all night in order to retrieve the bodies and

bury them here.

Bottom: Column bases with ped-estals from the Temple Mount area in Jerusalem, dat-ing to the period of Herod’s Temple (20 B.C.–A.D. 70).

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L I F E A F T E R T H E

Exile

BSFL: Nehemiah 1

A pottery figure of a foreigner who came to Judea while the Jews were in captiv-ity in Babylon. Aramaic writing on the base of the figure suggests the individual had a Mediterranean background. One of the problems the returnees faced was the reaction of those who had inhabited the land while the Jews were in captivity.

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disrepair. The Jewish people prob-ably dreaded the possibility of their neighbors harassing and tormenting them after their return. Perhaps the returnees found skeletal remains of ancestors who had not been prop-erly buried after the Babylonian invasion. One can only wonder.

Some have wondered if this return from exile actually hap-pened. An archaeological artifact, the Cyrus Cylinder, provides cor-roboration of Cyrus decreeing that the Jews could return to their homeland. Persia’s King Cyrus II reigned 550-530 b.c. and produced the cylinder chronicling some of the events of his reign. While the cylinder’s text does not mention

was over. They could return home to their beloved Jerusalem. Life in Babylon had been a struggle. After the Persians conquered Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree allow-ing the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem. What would they find upon their arrival? The Babylonians had destroyed the city and the temple, and the city walls were in

THIS SOARING AND stirring rhetoric concluded Martin Luther King, Jr.’s

“I Have a Dream” speech of 1963. Dr. King was looking forward to a day of freedom that all Americans, regardless of race, could experience.

In 538 b.c., the Israelites rejoiced at their day of freedom from Babylonian captivity. Their exile

FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE ARE FREE AT LAST!”

Right: The Cyrus Cylinder records the capture of Babylon; Mid-late 6th century B.C.Cuneiform script.ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BRITISH MUSEUM/ LONDON (31/11/54)

The Audience Palace of Cyrus the Great at ancient Pasargadae (in modern Iran) had these jambs. This one has a figure of a bull-man and a fish-man. These figures may represent Cyrus’s religious toleration. Cyrus’s son and succes-sor, Cambyses II moved the capital from Pasargadae to Susa.

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idolatry. Whatever lessons the Jews had learned, each new generation after the exile seemingly faced simi-lar temptations as had the last, and each generation failed to meet the challenge in various ways and had to relearn the lessons of the previ-ous generation. Yet God was still gracious to them.

The Jews returned to their home-land in three waves, and God’s hand was evident in each one. Zerubbabel, who was the leader of the tribe of Judah, led the first wave in 538 b.c. This Zerubbabel was also a descendant of King David and of the imprisoned king named Jehoiachin (Jeconiah).

The returnees found the temple in ruins, homes devastated, and Jerusalem’s walls in shambles. King Cyrus, who allowed the return, had commanded the Hebrews’ Persian neighbors to give the Jews “silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:4).2 The Jews received many gifts as they began

promised land after 70 years of captivity (Jer. 29:10; see 25:11-12).

Of course, their new life was different from what they experi-enced under the Davidic kingship. The Davidic kingship had ended; in its stead, a governor the Persians appointed ruled over the Jews. The returnees had to answer to their Persian rulers and seek their approval before beginning any building projects.

The Jews had the freedom to reinstitute the worship of Yahweh, celebrating the appointed feasts and Sabbaths as the Law commanded; but had they really learned to refrain from idolatry? Some Jews did; they became overzealous of the Law, add-ing to the Lord’s commandments, perhaps with the desire never to return to idolatry. These were the forerunners of the Pharisees. In con-trast, others intermarried with their pagan neighbors, probably for finan-cial or political reasons. The wives from these other nations introduced foreign deities, and the children

of these unions turned to

Jerusalem or the Jews by name, it does indicate that King Cyrus had a tolerant policy toward conquered peoples and offered to restore their religious sanctuaries. According to the cylinder, King Cyrus made the following claim regarding holy cit-ies “whose sanctuaries had been in ruins over a long period, the gods whose abode is in the midst of them, I returned to their places and housed them in lasting abodes. I gathered together all their inhab-itants and restored to them their dwellings.”1 This return from exile actually occurred. Surely the Jews’ hearts were filled with joy as they realized this was a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy from God to return the people of Israel to their

Artist’s rendering of a synagogue. The area on the left was where the Jewish congregation gath-ered for worship. The adjoining room is thought to be a classroom where the Torah was taught.

Above: Persian gold daric dated to about 450 B.C. “Daric” comes from “dara,” which means “king.” The daric is one of the few coins the Old Testament men-tions.

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I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you’ ” (Hag. 2:23). These words may indicate that Zerubbabel would serve as a type for the Messiah.

According to 2 Kings 17:24, the Assyrians (who had conquered Israel in 722 b.c.) brought in foreign-ers from Babylon and other areas to live in the land of Israel. Many of these people likely settled in the area of Judea after the Jews were taken into captivity. The Assyrians took one of the Jewish priests into captivity but later returned him to Bethel, in Israel. In spite of his presence, idolatry continued among the inhabitants. They claimed to worship Yahweh but had a bent towards idolatry. As a result, they did not fear God (2 Kings 17:34). This mixed group of people would be called “Samaritans.” These peo-ple opposed the Jews’ rebuilding work. Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s later attempts to lead the Hebrew men to divorce their pagan wives further drove a wedge between the Jews and their neighbors.

In 458 b.c., Ezra led a second group of Jews back to the land of Israel under the leading of God and the blessing of Persia’s king. Many Jews in Israel had intermarried with the pagan people around them and were practicing idolatry. In response, Ezra tore his garment and his robe, pulled some of the hair from his head and beard, and sat down appalled (Ezra 9:3). Many of the Jews who also were appalled at their fellow-Jews’ disobedience joined Ezra in his prayer of confession before the Lord (9:4–10:1).

The nation was in danger of reverting to idolatry. Doing so would mean facing God’s judgment again. A leader named Shecaniah proposed a solution for the inter-marriage problem; he suggested the Jewish men divorce their pagan

Handling ConflictsImmediately upon returning to Jerusalem in 538 b.c., the Jews built an altar so they

could resume present-ing burnt offerings according to the Law of Moses. They also celebrat-ed the Feast of Booths. In the sec-ond year of their return, workers laid the foundation of the temple, amidst great celebration (Ezra 3:1-13). Then the Jews’ adversaries hindered the temple reconstruction by send-ing letters to the king of Persia, let-ters that misrepresented the work in Jerusalem. As a result, about 17 years lapsed before work on the temple resumed. During this time, the Jews focused on building their own homes (Hag. 1:2-4).

Finally, the Lord led the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to stir up God’s people to finish rebuilding the Jerusalem temple (Ezra 5:1-2). Tattenai was the governor of Samaria, an area also known as the Trans-Euphrates. Likely intent on putting a stop to the rebuilding, he requested that Persia’s King Darius (ruled 522–486 b.c.) determine if his predecessor King Cyrus had autho-rized the rebuilding of the temple (vv. 3-17). When Darius discovered that Cyrus indeed had issued such a decree, Tattenai’s efforts backfired miserably. The rebuilding effort continued, funded with tax reve-nues from Tattenai’s region. Darius decreed, “Their [the Jews’] expens-es are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-euphrates, so that the work will not stop” (6:8, niv).

The Jews finished rebuilding the temple, called “Zerubbabel’s Temple,” in 516/515 b.c. amidst great rejoicing. God honored Zerubbabel by declaring, “ ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and

their return; Cyrus also returned a vast amount of temple treasures to the Jews, articles of gold and silver numbering 5,400 (1:11). The Jews came with many supplies in hand, but not enough for the challenges ahead. They also had to trust God. What types of challenges did the Jews face?

Where to LiveMany of the returnees lived in Jerusalem. Since farming was the most common vocation, others lived in the surrounding country, close to Jerusalem. The apportion-ment of property likely was based on genealogical considerations (as inheritance of property was based on tribal affiliation), deeds, or other documentation of family ownership that may have been preserved. Other property assign-ments would have been based on the personal recollections of those old enough to remember their for-mer homes and on the guidance and decisions Zerubbabel and his associates made. Of course, some people’s previous homes or farms may have been inhab-ited by those currently residing in the Jerusalem area. If so, the returning Jews likely had to find someplace else to live.

When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, they took many of the Jews captive. Some Jews who remained in the land, however, later abandoned their homes and fled to Egypt. Thus, the homes of many Jews, if not destroyed, had fallen into disre-pair. Restoring all of these homes was a huge challenge.

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heard of Jews marrying pagans, his approach was quite different from Ezra’s. Nehemiah 13:25 says, “So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, ‘You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.’ ” Ezra had pulled out his hair; Nehemiah pulled out their hair!

Nehemiah led the Jews to com-pletely restore the wall around Jerusalem, plus he encouraged social and political reforms, emphasizing a return to the true faith as taught in the Old Testament. By no means, however, were Jewish conflicts with the Samaritans and other neighbors resolved. Animosity between Jews and Samaritans continued for years.

Jewish Government How would a foreign king’s rule compare with that of a national king ? Before the Babylonian exile, the Jews had lived under the rule of their own kings for about 450 years. The king was accountable to God. After returning to their homeland, the Jews lived under the rule of a governor whom the king of Persia appointed; the governor answered

short-lived. Within a generation of Ezra, the intermarriage with pagans and the resulting idolatry would again be an issue.

Nehemiah returned in the third wave in 445 b.c. with the leading of God and the king’s blessing. Although he came to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, he ended up reor-dering Hebrew society. When he

wives. Shecaniah indicated he and others would support Ezra in call-ing the people to make this difficult decision (10:2-4).

Ezra led the people to make this covenant. Intermarriage with for-eigners was not forbidden if that person had come to faith in Yahweh. The resultant revival of true worship that Ezra led was exceptional—albeit

Above: Ruins of the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. The return-ees encountered Samaritans living in this area who claimed a loyalty to Yahweh but who also worshiped other gods. A strong division developed between Samaritans and the Jews who were loyal to God.

Left: Interior of a reconstructed four-room house typical of those found in ancient Israel.

Upper left: From Sippur, a deed recording the sale of a piece of land; from the Early Dynastic Period (mid-3rd millennium B.C.); the language is Akkadian.

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to the king. Evidence of this change was apparent when the Jews’ ene-mies persuaded the Persian king to halt the Jews’ work on the temple for 17 years during Zerubbabel’s gov-ernorship. By the grace of God, the Persian monarch did provide the Jews a great deal of religious free-dom during this time, but the Jews did not have political autonomy.

Changing Religious Practices One of the greatest changes in Jewish religious practices during and after the exile was the growth and promi-nence of the synagogue. While in captivity, the Jews were unable to worship at the temple, so they met in smaller groups and worshiped under the leading of rabbis. After the return, the Jews strayed from the truth of God’s Word, especially in the area of interfaith marriages (Ezra 9:1-4; 10:2,10).

Additionally, the Jews likely adopted the Aramaic language as long as they were in Babylon, although they continued to study Hebrew. As a result, Hebrew may have not been the Jew’s native lan-guage after the exile. This is likely the case since Nehemiah 8:2-3 says Ezra read to the assembly, “all who

could listen with understanding” and similarly, “those who could understand,” and all the people were attentive. Nehemiah 8:8 indi-cates that the Levites read from the Law to the people, “translating [or explaining] to give the sense so that they understood the reading.” The development of the synagogue like-ly had roots in the pre-exilic period, but studying the Hebrew language to better understand God’s Word had become essential.

Two factors indicate that the priests likely had greater author-ity in Israel after the exile: the loss of a centralized ruler, meaning a national king and the rise of the synagogues’ importance. How did this play out in the fortunes of the Jews? The answer to that ques-tion all depended on the character of the priest. Joshua (or Jeshua) the son of Jehozadak (or Jozadak), who returned as high priest after the exile, found favor with God (Zech. 3; 6:9-14); however, some of his sons married foreign women (Ezra 10:18). Such priestly mis-conduct seemed to be rampant, as both Nehemiah and Malachi had to address the priests’ sins (Neh. 13:4-9; Mal. 1:6–2:9).

The priests’ loss of respect for God led to the people’s loss of respect for Him as well. The result was that people neglected tithing (Neh. 13:10-13; Mal. 3:7-12). Malachi 3:7 indicates this was a per-petual problem; as a result, the land was under a curse accompanied by a loss of material blessings.

Daily Survival The Jews in Babylon likely had been involved in every type of commerce and vocation, so they were prepared to get to work upon their return. Many returnees farmed. Some were involved in commerce and trade. However, the Israelites faced financial difficulties, mainly because they were unfaithful to God. During the time of Haggai in 520 b.c., the Jews’ poverty was due to the fact they had not rebuilt the tem-ple (Hag. 1:5-11). The Jews’ neglecting to give their tithe indicated that their hearts were far from God.

The Lord graciously called Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi to confront the people with their sin, but the people’s returning to God was often short-lived. Yes, the return-ing Jews had to pay taxes to their foreign king, but God promised to meet all their needs and more if His people would be faithful to Him.

This was the situation at the end of the Old Testament Era. As the Old Testament closed, the ques-tion remained: Would God’s people be faithful to Him? I

1. Bill T. Arnold and Bryan E. Beyer, eds., Readings from the Ancient Near East: Primary Sources for Old Testament Study (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), 148-49.

2. Unless indicated otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Version (NASB).

T. Van McClain is professor of Old Testament and Hebrew and director of library services at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Northeast Campus, Schenectady, New York.

Excavations in Jerusalem unearthed this base of a small tower and a portion of Nehemiah’s wall.

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PILLARSOF THE

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ETB: Revelation 3:7-13C

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PillarsThroughout history pillars have served several pur-poses. The Greek word stulos, translated “pillar” in the New Testament, refers to that which bears responsi-bility or weight. Galatians 2:9 refers metaphorically to James, Peter (Cephas), and John as the stulos of the church, indicating they bore the weight and responsibil-ity of the early church. First Timothy 3:15 describes the church as the stulos and support of the truth. Sometimes people erected pillars as a memorial or witness com-memorating important events or people (Gen. 31:45; 35:14; Ex. 24:4; and Josh. 4:1-9).

Outside of Solomon’s Temple stood two pillars; they were inscribed with Jachin (meaning “He will estab-lish”) and Boaz (“In Him is strength”)—rather than with the names of benefactors.3 When Joash took the Kingdom of Judah from Queen Athaliah, he stood by these pillars as an apparent endorsement of his position (2 Kings 11:14). Josiah also stood by these pillars when he made a covenant to walk with the Lord (23:3). Many pillars of the first century were inscribed with the names of those who were underwriting the cost of the construction. Similarly, many modern building projects use engraved pavers to recognize donors.

As an architectural feature, pillars provided stability and supported weight. As a testament to their durability, pil-lars of ancient structures

JESUS SPOKE OF THE WISE MAN BUILDING upon a rock and the foolish man building on the sand (Matt. 7:24-27). To many people this principle of

building on a solid foundation would seem to be obvious. For the church in ancient Philadelphia, which was located in modern western Turkey, it was both a daily reality and the principle behind a promise from the Lord Himself.

Philadelphia Founded somewhere between 159 and 138 b.c.,1

Philadelphia at the time of John’s writing was a relative-ly new city, compared to many. Early planners inten-tionally established Philadelphia as center for the spread of Greek culture to the northeast;2 Philadelphians were conscious of and successful in fulfilling that purpose.

Unfortunately, geographical conditions impeded the city planners’ intentions of spreading Greek culture. Philadelphia was built upon volcanic rock and was thus prone to frequent earthquakes. After an earthquake destroyed the city in a.d. 17, few residents remained in the city. The people rebuilt their homes in the surround-ing countryside and came into the city only to conduct trade and business. The city was rebuilt through the generous patronage of Tiberius Caesar and took on the name “Neocaesarea.” The city also went by Flavia, Neokoros, and later as Little Athens. Today the city is called Alasehir.

In this city—that was lacking an esteemed legacy, built on shifting igneous rock, and known by sev-eral different names—lived a band of believers that would not be shaken. The symbolism behind Jesus’ promise of their being a pillar in the temple of God (Rev. 3:12) would not have been lost on the people of Philadelphia. They likely saw it as both a compliment and encouragement.

By Timothy Faber

In modern Aksephir, Turkey, excavations of the St. John Church at ancient Philadelphia; the church dates from A.D. 600. Of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation, Philadelphia was one of only two to whom the Lord issued no com-plaint.

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would be “a pillar in the tem-ple of My God” (Rev. 3:12).4

This promise both bolstered and rewarded the people’s steadfastness and determination.

The reward was because the faithful at Philadelphia had “kept the word of My [Jesus’] persever-ance” and because they had kept His word and not denied His name (v. 10). Though they faced opposi-tion from the “synagogue of Satan,” they had been steadfast and immov-

able. They were a witness and a memorial, commemo-rating God’s covenant of grace through Jesus Christ. In a sense, they were already pillars. The church in Philadelphia focused on lifting up Jesus and causing others to look beyond them to Someone greater.

Their faith was bolstered by Jesus promising that he would “not go out from it anymore” (v. 12). Rather than fleeing the city because of earthquakes, the overcomer could be secure in God’s eternal city. And rather than holding fast to the crumbling, temporal buildings dur-ing an earthquake, Christ’s followers hold fast to the truth of the gospel.

The Lord also promised to write on these pil-lars the name of His God. “Thus the Philadelphian

Christians are assured that though they are citi-zens of an earthly city that once bore the name

of a Caesar who claimed to be a god, they are in fact citizens of the new Jerusalem bearing the new name of the God of Jesus Christ.”5 The new name being written on them also indicated that Christ Himself

was the generous benefactor; He paid the price for the building—a spiritual house for a

holy priesthood in which all believers are living stones and of which Christ Himself is the chief

Cornerstone (1 Cor. 3:11; 1 Pet. 2:4-6). I

1. Alan F. Johnson, “Revelation” in Expositor’s Bible Commentary, gen. ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 451.

2. Ibid.3. First Kings 7:21; see NASB margin notes.

4. All Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB).5. Edward A McDowell, The Meaning and Message of the Book of

Revelation (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1951), 60.

Timothy Faber is assistant professor of religion at Liberty University, Online, and the director of mis-sions for the Miller County Baptist Association in central Missouri.

are often all that remain when every-thing else has crumbled. In addition to the functional purpose, pillars are often decorative as well. Adorned with pillars, even the most mundane edifice can look impressive.

The PromiseJesus promised the people of the Philadelphian church (at least the overcomers among them) that they

JESUS’ PROMISES TO THE CHURCHOF ANCIENT PHILADELPHIA

• “I have put before you an open door which no one can shut.”• “I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan . . . [to] come and bow down at your feet.”• “I also will keep you from the hour of testing.”• “I am coming quickly.”• “I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God.”• “I will write on him the name of My God . . . and My new name.”

Above: In the Roman Forum, Trajan’s Column commemorates the general’s victory in the Dacian Wars.

Right: Marble bust from a statue of Roman Emperor Augustus, who ruled 27 B.C.–A.D. 14.

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F I R S T - C E N T U R Y J E W I S H

transaction, the agreement took place after lengthy discussion and argu-ment. Then, a contract was prepared and signed, including the husband’s duties to his wife and the settlement she would receive in the event of divorce or her husband’s death. Now the couple was betrothed.

The betrothal ceremony took place in the presence of at least two witnesses with formal questions and answers followed by a blessing. Betrothal was legally binding, ending only by divorce or death. Jews con-sidered the betrothed couple married and identified them as husband and wife. Should the man die before the actual wedding, the woman became

CELEBRATION CHARACTERIZED FIRST-century Jewish weddings. People of that era lacked many amusements. Their basic survival demand-

ed hard work. Weddings, therefore, provided members of the community a break in the drudgery of daily life.

consult their children. The preferred spouse was a cousin or some other relative within the extended family.

The parents of the prospective bride and groom sealed the agreement with a marriage contract to satisfy the legal requirements. Some historians contend the groom paid a sum of money to the father of the bride—as if she were property to be purchased.1 This was variously called a bride-price, marriage gift, marriage fee, or dowry. Others suggest this did not represent a payment for the woman but merely compensated the family “for the loss of her labor.”2 Other writers argue that the father gave his future son-in-law money—also called a dowry—to help defray the expenses of a wife and the wedding.3 Whatever the specific nature of this

Jesus and His disciples participated in a wedding celebration in Cana of Galilee. Jesus also used weddings as the setting of several of His parables, including that of the wedding banquet (Matt. 22:1-14) and of the ten virgins (25:1-13). These stories provide insights into Jewish wedding traditions.

Marriage ArrangementsJewish religious leaders commended marriage, and the culture viewed mar-riage as the normal state of life. Young men usually married between ages 18 to 24. Young women usually mar-ried in their teens, some as early as age 13—but some after age 20.

A young person in the first-cen-tury did not date or choose his or her own spouse. The head of the fam-ily—the father—selected a wife for his son and a husband for his daughter. The parents of the couple made the arrangements. They did not have to

First-Century Jewish Weddings

TGP: John 2:1-11

Right: Close-up of a Jewish couple holding hands during their wed-ding ceremony. The bride’s hands are adorned with henna.

B Y S H A R O N H . G R I T Z

Above: Tambourine; from agora at Athens. Music was a regu-lar part of wed-ding celebrations.

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The family sent out two invi-tations, one in advance giving the day and the second when prepara-tions were complete. Two men, one representing each family, delivered these invitations in person by word of mouth. Some guests came on the basis of the first invitation. Others required a second personal invitation. Once a person had been invited, first-century society considered failure to attend to be a serious insult.

The bride prepared for her wed-ding day by bathing, anointing with oils, and dressing herself with special, festive garments. She had help and companionship in all these activities

a widow. Betrothals usually lasted a year—until the bride left her family’s house and moved into the home of her groom. The bride, however, could go directly to the groom’s home after the betrothal ceremony. During the betrothal period the couple often had little or no contact with each other.

Wedding Preparations In light of the importance of the wedding celebration, families invest-ed time, energy, and resources in pre-paring for this event. The major part of the wedding involved the wedding feast. Since the meal took place in the groom’s home, he and his family had the most preparations to make.

For farming communities, autumn was the best time of year to have a wedding. Families had harvested their crops, providing more resources and more time to prepare and enjoy the festivities. Virgins married on Wednesdays; widows, on Thursdays.

Prior to the wedding day, the couple’s families made invitation lists. Those invited included all rela-tives of the bride and groom, plus friends. Wealthy families invited large numbers of people, sometimes the entire village. Some people trav-eled great distances to come to the celebration. Others came who had not been invited.

Upper left: Ruins of the public bath complex in the upper agora at Ephesus.

Above: Wedding ceremony tak-ing place inside the Church of St. Catherine, which is adjacent to the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem.

Right: Blown glass double perfume bottle with three handles and trail decoration; from Mount Carmel region in Israel.

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family’s resources. Poorer people went to their jobs each day but returned for the evening meals. On the first night, the couple retired to consummate the marriage. They did not leave on a honeymoon but rejoined the ongoing festivities. They wore their wedding finery all week.

Jewish weddings were so filled with joy, fellowship, and celebration that the New Testament uses the image of the wedding feast for the Messiah’s future banquet to picture the joy, fellowship, and celebration Jesus will have with His followers in God’s kingdom forever.4 I

1. Representative of this view is A. C. Bouquet, Everyday Life in New Testament Times (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1953), 145.

2. Leo G. Perdue, “The Israelite and Early Jewish Family: Summary and Conclusions” in Families in Ancient Israel, contributors Leo G. Perdue, Joseph Blenkinsopp, John J. Collins, and Carol Meyers (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), 184.

3. See Craig S. Keener, “Marriage” in Dictionary of New Testament Background, ed. Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 685.

4. Matthew 8:11; 22:1-14; Revelation 19:7-9.

Sharon H. Gritz is a freelance writ-er living in Fort Worth, Texas.

room with her friends to await the festivities and marriage meal of the next day. The groom and his friends continued to celebrate with games and dancing.

The wedding day had a holiday atmosphere. The young men played games; the young women danced. Relatives and friends brought gifts to the couple. Toward evening every-one enjoyed a generous meal, includ-ing roasted oxen and fatted calves. Everybody ate and drank heartily. The hosts were to meet every need. To run out of anything, such as wine, would have been a serious breach of hospitality and a terrible embar-rassment. The bride and groom sat under a tent or canopy. This cer-emonial feast was probably all that the wedding involved for some time. As the wedding ceremony developed through the years, though, partici-pants added spoken blessings and solemn promises and eventually even read the wedding contract.

The feasting and rejoicing of Jewish weddings generally lasted for seven days, often severely straining a

from her friends and female fam-ily members. Bathing might require a ritual bath on the day before the wedding. Some sources suggest that the bride had the palms of her hands, soles of her feet, and nails stained with henna. The bridegroom might give her articles of clothing embroi-dered with gold or other thread to wear on the wedding day. The bride adorned herself with jewels (if her family could afford them) and gar-lands of flowers. Before the wedding party came to claim her, she put on a veil.

The groom too prepared by bath-ing. He perhaps also had henna applied to nails, hands, and feet. In some instances the bride gave him a gift of wedding robes for the occa-sion. At any rate, he wore fine clothes and garlands of flowers around his neck. Some grooms wore a crown.

Wedding CelebrationsThe wedding proper involved two events: the wedding procession and the marriage feast. The chief moment was the arrival of the bride at the bridegroom’s house. On the eve of the wedding day, the groom and his friends went to the bride’s house where she was clothed and waiting with her own family and friends. The groom’s best man, the friend of the bridegroom, organized this and served as a master of ceremonies. With much laughter, shouting, music, tambourines, singing, and dancing the wedding party carried the bride, often on a litter, from her family’s home to her new home in the groom’s household. The singing included love songs passed down from generation to generation, perhaps similar to those in the Old Testament Song of Songs. Since this procession took place after sunset, the group needed torches to travel through the dark streets. After arriving at the groom’s house, the bride retired to her own

Right: A mosaic of the wedding festival of Ariadne and Dionysus found in situ at Philippopolis, Syria. The mosaic is Roman and dates from the 1st cent. A.D.

Below: Pair of gold earrings; Etruscan; from the Classical period. The bride would adorn herself with jewelry if finances permitted.

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TheNicolaitans

BSFL: Revelation 2:1-7

Orontes River flows through Antioch. In the New Testament Era, Antioch was in northern Syria; today, however, it is a major city in south-central Turkey.

Jesus’ strong words to the churches at Ephesus and Pergamum serve as both instruction and warning.

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in 2:15, passages in which John provides no clues to their origin. The earliest non-biblical accounts are not help-ful either. The church fathers Irenaeus and Hippolytus state they were followers of Nicolaus of Antioch, one of first seven deacons, whom the church in Acts 6 appointed to minister to the Hellenistic Christian wid-ows. These followers of Nicolaus later strayed from the faith and began living lives of immorality.1 Clement of Alexandria, however, states that Nicolaus was a worthy man who taught that Christians must “check pleasures and lusts” and learn to control their impulses. Furthermore, he states that the Nicolaitans claimed to follow Nicolaus, but actually distorted his teaching and advocated self-indulgence.2 Because of the disagree-ment among earliest testimony, identifying the origins of the Nicolaitans is all but impossible.

The Nicolaitans’ teachings, however, are easier to determine, not so much from the writings of the church fathers, but from what Jesus said about them in Revelation 2. He simply stated that the church at

AS I TYPE THIS ARTICLE, MY YOUNGER brother, who is three-and-a-half years my junior, is celebrating a birthday. His special day has taken me

down memory lane, remembering the good times and not so good times of our childhood. Fondly, I remem-ber when we were Batman and Robin saving Gotham, James West and Artemus Gordon foiling evil master-minds, and Starsky and Hutch taking down drug king-pins. Not so fondly, I remember he was my dupe and I was his deceiver. By the time he was 8 years old, he had figured me out; but in the early years he was too gullible for my conniving mind to resist. For example, one night as I was splashing around in a tub full of warm water and soapy bubbles, my toddler-aged brother ambled into the bathroom. The look in his eyes screamed, “I want in!” Seizing my opportunity I said, “Why don’t you jump in with me and wash your clothes so Mom doesn’t have to do it later? She will be proud of you.” As soon as he was fully submerged, I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Mom, Mark climbed in the tub with his clothes on!” Score: he was punished and I could mark up another win! Fortunately, he caught on to my tricks, I outgrew my deceptive ways, he demonstrated gracious forgiveness, and hasn’t exacted revenge . . . yet.

In some ways I was a modern version of the Nicolaitans of Revelation 2: deceiving others to lead them into sin. In this article we will explore the Nicolaitans—who they were, what they taught, the danger they posed to the church, and lessons we can learn from Jesus’ remarks about them.

The origin of the Nicolaitans is far from certain. They are first mentioned in Revelation 2:6 then again

By Michael Priest Left: Icon depict-ing Clement of Alexandria, who spoke honorably of Nicolaus.

Below: Perched on the hillside, the theater at Pergamum, which dates from the 2nd cent. B.C., has 80 rows with a seating capac-ity of 10,000. The rows are made of andesite except for the honor box, which is marble.

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through Balaam. Each time, Balaam returned with a blessing instead. Angered, Balak dismissed Balaam to return home. Realizing he could not curse Israel and per-haps, therefore, that he would not receive his pay, Balaam devised a plan. He explained to Balak that if he and his people would entice Israel to sin by worshiping Baal, eat-ing meat offered to idols, and committing immoral acts, God would punish the nation. In short, Balaam’s sin was to teach Balak to entice Israel to curse itself through will-ful idolatry and immorality. In the end, God destroyed 24,000 Israelites through a plague.4

Following in the footsteps of Balaam, the Nicolaitans were attempting to entice Christians to compromise holiness and accommodate worldly beliefs and practices by indulging in meat offered to idols and participating in sexual acts that were part of pagan worship.5 The result of such compromise would be to misrepresent the char-acter of Jesus and His church and to cheapen grace.6 The church at Ephesus resisted the temptation, but some in the Pergamum church fell prey to Nicolaitan deception.

Jesus’s strong words to the churches at Ephesus and Pergamum serve as both instruction and warning. To the church at Ephesus, Jesus said He hated the practices of the Nicolaitans rather than the Nicolaitans themselves (Rev. 2:6). Jesus’ approach is solid instruction for His church. The church today, as does Jesus, must hate sin, but always extend grace to sinners. The church exists to be the holy body of Christ, ever calling sinners to repen-tance. His promise in verse 16 that if they did not repent He would come and fight against them with the sword of His mouth serves as a warning that God is serious about sin and will judge those who persist in it and the church that turns a blind eye to it. Both Jesus and Paul provided clear instructions about church discipline. The church today must stop ignoring sin in its ranks and deal firmly, but lovingly, with sinning brothers and sisters. If not, a punishment is soon to come—a punishment more severe than what my fully clothed yet wet brother received! I

1. See Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.26.3 in Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 [ANF], ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 1:352; and Hippolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies 7.24 in ANF, 5:115.

2. Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata 2.20 in ANF, 2:373.3. John Stott, What Christ Thinks of the Church: An Exposition of Revelation 1–3

(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003), 56; and David E. Aune, Revelation 1–5, vol. 52A in Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 188; and Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 81.

4. See Numbers 25:1-9; 31:16; and Revelation 2:14.5. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 81.6. In Romans 6:1-2, Paul addressed the issue of believers willful sinning simply because

the grace of God is available. He warned the Christians at Rome that this should never happen.

Michael Priest is pastor of Bartlett Baptist Church, Bartlett, Tennessee.

Ephesus hated the works of the Nicolaitans, as does He (Rev. 2:6). To the church at Pergamum He said:

But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. (vv. 14-15, hcsb)

Jesus’ use of the Greek word houtos, translated “In the same way” in verse 15, indicates the teachings of Balaam and the teachings of the Nicolaitans were one and the same.3 Thus investigating the teach-ings of Balaam in the Old Testament is essential for us to understand the teachings of the Nicolaitans as mentioned in the New Testament.

Numbers 22–24 records that Moab’s King Balak became concerned that Moab would never be able stand before the recently liberated Israelites and their God. He knew his army could not defeat Israel, so he sent messengers to the prophet Balaam with money to hire him to curse Israel. Initially, Balaam refused to go, but eventually agreed to accompany them, but clearly stated he would speak only the words God gave him. Three times Balak built seven altars, offered sacrifices, and allowed Balaam time alone to hear God in hopes that the Lord would curse Israel

Above: Mount Nebo overlooks the Jordan River Valley. Balak took Balaam to the top

of Pisgah (Nebo) to curse the Israelites (Num. 23:14). Following Balaam’s lead,

Balak enticed the Israelites to commit acts of immorality and to worship Baal.

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Alphaand

Omega

EARLY IN REVELATION, John reported God’s self-dec-laration: “I am the Alpha and

the Omega” (Rev. 1:8).1 This asser-tion appears again in Revelation 21:6 and 22:13. The declaration’s stra-tegic placement at the beginning

helped define what He meant by adding “the Beginning and the End” (21:6). In the final use of the phrase, Jesus added of Himself: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (22:13)

The Old Testament provides crit-ical insight for understanding what

and end of Revelation reflects the majesty of the God who is the beginning, end, and everything in between.

Background and MeaningAlpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. God, speaking in the first person,

ETB: Revelation 21:1-7

By Bobby Kelly

Behind the forti-fied walls is the monastery of St. John on Patmos.

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16:7,14; 19:6,15; 21:22), pantokrator indi-cates that God is ruler of all. This was in stark contrast to the Roman emperor who was autokrator (from which comes the English term auto-crat), that is, absolute ruler of the Empire.4 While Caesar (autokrator) might claim power and sovereignty over the Empire, including the right to persecute believers, Jesus (pan-tokrator), has eternal power and abid-ing sovereignty over all creation. Thus, Caesar’s power is limited and temporary. This comparison would have comforted John’s readers.

The second usage of “Alpha and Omega” occurs in Revelation 21:6 at the beginning of the book’s last major section, which focuses on the new creation: “And He said to me, . . . ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.’ ” In this context the “Alpha and Omega” title confirmed that God has the power to make all things new, including heaven and earth—where crying, pain, and death will be no more. Only the One who existed before time and will exist after time has the authority to bring creation to its appointed goal.

The final “Alpha and Omega” say-ing is in the book’s epilogue. Unlike

again in Isaiah 44:6: “This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, says: ‘I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but Me.’ ”3 Isaiah’s words provide an intertextual link that gives further insight into the phrase’s meaning in Revelation. The Isaiah passages declare that God alone created all that exists and He alone stands as the sov-ereign Lord of time and history. Babylon had its gods fashioned by human hands—but Yahweh alone is the absolute, incomparable God over all the nations.

In RevelationThe declaration that the Lord is Alpha and Omega appears three times in Revelation. The first is in part of the book’s introduction that identifies the God who was giving the revelation: “ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘the One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty’ ” (1:8). Here the phrase occurs as the Father’s self-declaration that He is the abso-lute ground of being, the first cause and initiator of all creation (“the One who was”), the sustainer of the universe (“the One who is”), and the goal toward which all creation is moving (“the One who is com-ing”). God also designated Himself “the Almighty,” or in Greek, pan-tokrator. Occurring nine times in Revelation (see also 4:8; 11:17; 15:3;

the Lord meant with the self-identi-fication “the Alpha and the Omega.” All three instances in Revelation begin with the Lord’s words of self-identification from Exodus 3:14: “I AM.” This is the language God used to identify Himself to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”2 At the burning bush, God instructed Moses to declare to the Israelites that He would bring them out of Egyptian bondage. Moses, anticipating the people would inquire about the name of the God who sent him, asked how he should respond. The response “I AM” indicated some-thing of God’s absolute existence. This emphasized both that God exists and that He is the liberator God who is present with His people. For the apostle John, the connection was clear; this God who brought Pharaoh to his knees and set His people free in the days of Moses was the same God who would not fail His people in their oppression under the Roman Empire.

Additionally, the prophet Isaiah reported the words of Yahweh: “Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, am the first, and with the last—I am He” (Isa. 41:4) In Isaiah 43:10, the Lord declared: “No god was formed before Me, and there will be none after Me.” And

SHOWN RIGHT IS A cuneiform tablet from the royal palace at Ras Shamra

that dates to the thirteenth centu-ry b.c. The tablet is inscribed with an incomplete abcedary, meaning the alphabet written out. This was usually done to help someone learn to write the letters.

A-B-C-D. . .

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control over all time and history. Consequently, people cannot view history as a meaningless cycle of events going nowhere. Instead, events are part of God’s plan for guiding history to its proper con-clusion. Confidence in God’s sov-ereign rule of history past and present would offer hope for Jews suffering during the Babylonian exile, Christians suffering under Roman oppression, or twenty-first century Christians suffering trials and even persecution. I

1. All Bible quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).

2. Some scholars make the connection between the “I AM” of the three Alpha and Omega declarations and the divine self-identification “I AM” to Moses. See G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 188; Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993), 28.

3. For the connection between the Alpha and Omega sayings in Revelation and Isaiah 40–45, see David Lincicum, “The Origin of ‘Alpha and Omega’ (Revelation 1.8; 21.6; 22.13): A Suggestion” in Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 6 (2009): 128; and Craig Keener, Revelation, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 73.

4. Keener, Revelation, 73-74.

Bobby Kelly is the Ruth Dickinson professor of Bible at Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, Oklahoma.

creation, and the fullness of deity belongs to Him forev-er. What is true of the First Person of the Trinity is true of the Second as well. John’s readers could have confidence that this One would keep His promise to come again and that He would repay all people

according to their deeds (v. 12). Caesar might claim lordship over

his empire, but he pales in com-parison to Christ, who is sovereign over the beginning, the end, and everything in between.

ImplicationsThe use of “I AM” in Exodus 3:14 and the Isaiah 40–44 assertions of God as first and last provide the proper context for understanding the meaning of God as the Alpha and Omega in Revelation. He is the incomparable, eternal God, first and last, who is, who was, and who is to come. The God who was present at the beginning as Creator will like-wise be present at the conclusion as creation’s Redeemer.

Further, the God who is “Alpha and Omega” exercises sovereign

the first two instances in which the Father made the pronouncement, here the risen Christ declared: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (22:13). Thus, fittingly, the “Alpha and Omega” sayings appear at the beginning (alpha) and the end (omega) of Revelation. The fact that Jesus is the one making the third self-declaration reveals the book’s high Christology. John’s using the term “Alpha and Omega” of both God and Christ reveals the same divine majesty and power for both. The saying identified Christ with the creation of all things as well as the completion of God’s purposes for the creation. Christ shared the eternal life of God before

Left: Fragment of Revelation 3:12–4:12; dates to the 4th cent.

Far right: Palace of Domitian on Palatine Hill in Rome. Emperor Domitian, who reigned A.D. 81-96, demanded to be worshiped as lord and god.

Right: Cylindrical jar with a lid, dated to before A.D. 70; from Cave 1 at Qumran. Several Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at Qumran were stored inside of jars like this one. The community at Qumran was established by a group (possibly the Essenes) who were separating themselves from the rest of society as they awaited the coming of the Lord. While wait-ing, they copied biblical and reli-gious texts we know as the Dead Sea Scrolls.


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HOUSes IN JEsUS’ DAY

Houses in Jesus’ Day

TGP: Luke 11:5-13

Using a method that dates back centuries, this Iraqi stone house has a roof con-structed of wood-en poles that have been covered over with thatch and compacted mud.


the influx of skilled laborers. As skilled craftsman moved into Jerusalem, they brought with them new ideas of design and construction from their regions. Although the second temple was built for further edification of Judaism, the result was that Jerusalem would change from a town into a metropolis. This caught the interest of Rome with its insatiable need for new taxes.

DesignHouses in the first century were designed and built in the most simple of details. Workers used tools such as the handsaw, adze (stone chisel), bow drill, hammer, and mal-let. Many homes today are still built with similar construc-tion methods in rural locations in Third World nations where the poor have few options. First-century house design utilized the basic square or rectangular shape with a short span across the narrowest width. This span was accomplished using wood beams set upon load-bearing dried mud brick walls or locally mined and cut stone. The roof composition was constructed with dried wood poles, thatch, or tiles (Luke 5:19) that spanned perpendicular to the thicker, wood-beam supports. The same wood beams

iN SOME WAYS, LIVING IN A HOUSE WHEN Jesus walked the earth was not much different from what we experience today. Eventually, the transportable

nomad tent housing of the Old Testament years gave way to a more permanent dwelling. The Hebrew word for house (bayith) came from the term meaning “to spend the night”1; that imagery was carried into the New Testament Era. Thus a societal shift allowed permanent villages to grow into cities that offered “safety in numbers” from invading armies. Building a permanent house fulfills a basic human need for shelter, security, stability, and protection from the weather—while offering a fixed place to raise a family.

Luke 11 records Jesus’ lesson about the persistence of a hungry sojourner with a late night visit to a man and his family. The text states that the door was shut and secured for the night. That simple statement tells us something about the house of the first century. A tent would not afford that type of security. Those inside were away from the dangers of the open air and were protected from both the elements and unwanted intruders. The sojourner could not just walk into the house and take food as he could if his neighbor lived in a tent.

Housing BoomIn 20 b.c., King Herod the Great initiated a major building program that brought in more than 10,000 work-ers to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.2 These workers came from cities and villages scattered throughout the Roman Empire. This rapid increase of construction forces meant new housing had to be built in Jerusalem.

The resultant housing boom caused Jerusalem’s population to expand, which in turn revitalized a stagnant housing market. This increase in housing construction was felt throughout Judea. Jerusalem would be a key destination for construction work for the 46 years that the second tem-ple took to complete (John 2:20). The ambitious project ultimately changed the size, population, and economics of Jerusalem and further established its importance to the region. That growth attracted other merchants and suppli-ers anxious to conduct business with

By Pa ul E . Kullman

many Arabs, using stones and materials they found on the site, resettled here and built these structures on top of the centuries-old foundations and footprints of the earlier structures. These remains thus give a good impres-sion of what an early Jewish vil-lage would have looked like.

revolt against the Romans, known as the Bar Kokhba revolt (A.D. 132-136), the Jews were not allowed to live in Jerusalem. Many of them thus set-tled in the region north of the Sea of Galilee. One such community was at Yehudiya, which dates to about A.D. 200–400. During the Ottoman period,

Below left: Hammerhead dat-ing 1st–2nd centu-ries A.D.

Bottom: After the third Jewish

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houses had marble floors or at least a plaster surface. Most houses were modestly furnished, usually with

a table and chairs. People slept on pallets on the floor. Essential supplies included cooking pots, an oven, plates, lamps, and storage jars known as amphora. Of course, the more affluent owners’ homes had vases, beds, and furniture for reclining. Excavations reveal that many houses depended on cisterns for water.

served as lintels above some of the wall features, such as doors. The roof surface was a layered composition of dried, compacted mud covered with brick paver or flat stone, which was typically a durable and impervious surface. Most ancient houses had an outside stairway that led to a flat roof area, which people used for various domestic activities such as drying fruit or sleeping on hot nights or when the owner needed an outside workspace or simply an area of repose (Acts 10:9). The roof area would sometimes adjoin other houses, depending on the spatial density of the building layout area and whether this was a rural or urban house. This enabled neighbors to share a common wall, which meant less labor and expense than build-ing four walls, as was required in a freestanding house. Interestingly, each Israelite house typically had a parapet to keep a non-owner from falling off and creating a “blood guiltiness” condition (Deut. 22:8). This practical safety feature is still used on modern flat roofs and balconies as required by local building codes.

A prodigious amount of archeological excavations have exposed many stonewall foundations. The foundations reveal that most small, common houses were approximate-ly 15 x 15 feet; although some were as large as 30 x 30 feet range.3 The floor plan consisted of two to four rooms with at least one larger area for sleeping and another to accom-modate cooking. Some houses had livestock stabling inside the house, for use during the cold winter months. The door would be the only entrance; small windows helped with air circulation or smoke exhaust. The floors were compacted dirt covered with straw or loose gravel. More affluent

Below: Mud oven, which would have been common in many ancient homes. The fire was allowed to burn down to

embers. Then someone would slap flat bread dough against the inside wall of the oven, reaching in from the top,

Right: This model of Jerusalem in the time of the second temple shows the Tyropoean Valley with rows of houses on what was called the Southwestern Hill. Parts of the Temple Mount and Antonia Fortress are in the upper-right corner. The large flat structure just below the center of the photo is the complex for the Pool of Siloam.

Below: Artist’s rendering of a 1st cent., four-room Jewish home. The design, though, was common among the Israelites as far back as the 8th cent. B.C. Persons entered the house into an open area, which the fam-ily used for cooking, entertaining, and for housing small animals at night.

and would peel the bread loose once it was done. This method is still in use in many parts of the world today.

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ILLUSTRATOR ART/ BILL LATTA


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Jews served the early church well. Houses were the choice venue for small groups of believers as the new church began to grow in number. Once a modest home could no longer provide adequate space, then the congregants would move to a synagogue (if permitted), a larger house, or the open air. These New Testament house churches were located in numerous settings.5 Only in a.d. 313, when Emperor Constantine declared Christianity legal, did the early congregations begin to move out of their houses into buildings constructed specifically for worship. Thus, the houses during the time of Jesus were not just for practical residential use, but were also “incubators” that permitted the church to grow in safety. Without the Christian homes, believers would have been exposed in the open and would have endured persecution due to their high visibility. I

1. Harry A. Hoffner, “tyIB;“ (bayith, house) in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 107-108.

2. Max Schwartz, The Biblical Engineer: How the Temple in Jerusalem Was Built (Hoboken, NJ: KTAV Publishing House, 2002), 4.

3. John S. Holladay, Jr., “House, Israelite” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. in chief David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 3:314-16.

4. Marsha A. Ellis Smith, gen. ed., Holman Book of Biblical Charts, Maps, and Reconstructions (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1993), 158-59.

5. For examples, see Acts 12:12; 16:40; 17:1-5; 18:1-8; Romans 16:3-5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; and Philemon 1-2.

Paul E. Kullman is an architect in College Station, Texas. A member of the American Institute of Architects and the Texas Society of Architects, Paul is also a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Types of HousesNew Testament Era house construction reflected the own-er’s financial resources. Small, common houses were more numerous and built of austere means. Many times, these smaller houses were clustered around a shared courtyard, especially in areas where a city’s population density restrict-ed expansion. The courtyard area served as an entertainment and outdoor cooking area that neighbors shared.

Meanwhile, the wealthy would build large, spacious, and palatial houses that usually occupied the hillside areas of cit-ies. In Jerusalem the affluent area was known as the Upper City in contrast with the Lower City (or the Tyropoeon Valley) separated by the Herodian Wall.4 These affluent houses would be multi-level structures with large and open spaces, many of which served as sleeping areas. The larger homes also had additional living areas designated for enter-taining. Some rooms were designated as work areas for the servants, who had their own separate sleeping quarters. Interior finishes include exposed cedar wood beams from Lebanon and marble from Greece or Italy. The wealthy were not only Jewish aristocracy but also foreign ambassadors and of course, the Romans—both government and military.

House Churches“Continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and break-ing bread from house to house” was the practice of early believers (Acts 2:46, nkjv). Houses belonging to converted

Right: Part of the Villa of Mysteries at Pompeii. Dating to early in the 2nd cent. B.C., the villa covered about 40,000 square feet and had over 50 rooms.

Below: An Egyptian wooden mallet, dated to about 1185-1170 B.C., reflects a design that has changed little since ancient times.



Megiddo A Crucial Locale

a defensible location. Ancient letters discovered at el-Amarna, Egypt, indi-cate Megiddo was one of Canaan’s most dominant city-states. Biridiya, King of Megiddo, sent these letters to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten in the fourteenth century b.c. Megiddo enjoyed robust periods of occupation from 3500 to 500 b.c. and was inhabit-ed during every era of Israel’s history.

A Historical BattlefieldMegiddo preserves a long history of being an international battleground with 34 recorded battles in that area.1

M EGIDDO, the crown jewel of biblical archae-ology, is one of the most

important sites in Israel, and for that matter, the entire ancient Near East. A World Heritage Site, Megiddo stands watch over the expansive Jezreel Valley. Megiddo really had it all: a fertile and well-watered plain nearby, a strategic location on the crossroads of two major trade routes between Asia and Egypt (the Via Maris and Jezreel trade routes), and

The following description represents what is often touted as the earliest account of a major battle in antiq-uity. When the Canaanite city-states revolted against a fifteenth-centu-ry b.c. Egyptian Pharaoh’s transition to power, their armies assembled at Megiddo. The Egyptian army, led by Pharaoh Thutmose III, stunned the unsuspecting agitators by going against his own generals and choosing the most dangerous route of attack, directly through the vulnerable bottle-neck of the Aruna Pass. After routing the Canaanite forces and capturing

By Jeff S. Anderson

ETB: Revelation 16:16


work at Megiddo as well as several other projects in the Jezreel Valley.

Discoveries in 2012 included a hoard of gold and silver jewelry dating from 1100 b.c., but the primary focus of the Tel Aviv operation has been to clarify chronology at

the site.Archaeologists continue to make

exciting discoveries at Megiddo to this day. One noteworthy recent project has been the excavation of a huge 1,100 square meter (about 11,840 square feet) temple dating to around 3000 b.c., centuries before the arriv-al of the Israelites. This temple is the most monumental single edifice uncovered in the promised land and one of the largest structures of the Near East.4

A Canaanite temple, designed by a professional, highly skilled team of architects, was part of a massive temple complex that was re-envi-sioned and reconstructed many times over many centuries. With walls over 3.5 meters (about 11.5 feet) thick, the floor of the building contains mas-sive basalt slabs weighing over a ton each. These are in two rows flanking the longitudinal axis of the tem-ple. These basalt slabs were clearly not for roof support but for some unknown and highly sophisticated

more suited for war than this. . . [It is] the most natural battleground of the whole earth.”3 In the twentieth cen-tury, Megiddo witnessed the defeat of the armies of the Turks and Germans during World War I as well as the victory of the Israelis in the 1948 War of Independence. Today, the Ramat David Airfield of the Israeli Air Force is less than 20 miles from Megiddo. These factors can help read-ers understand why the Mount of Megiddo, called Armageddon in the New Testament, is the site where “the battle of the great day of God, the Almighty” occurs (Rev. 16:14, hcsb).

The Great TempleFour excavations have revealed over 20 different occupation layers at Megiddo from 3500–500 b.c. Since 1994, Tel Aviv University has assumed

rich plunder, Thutmose III laid siege to Megiddo for seven months. His deci-sive victory enabled him to eventually incorporate Canaan as a province in his empire of Egypt’s New Kingdom.2

Over successive generations Megiddo witnessed many other formi-dable armies, including the Canaanites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Israelites, Philistines, Persians, and Romans. Over 1,000 years after the fall of the Roman Empire, Napoleon fought near the site in 1799. Concerning Megiddo he is purported to have proclaimed: “There is no place in the whole world

Right: Megiddo was a Canaanite stronghold that overlooked the Jezreel Valley and guarded the main pass through the Carmel Mountains.

Below: An ivory game board with 58 holes; inlaid with gold; from Megiddo.

Early Bronze Age temple complex at Megiddo. Partially shown at the deepest level and in the upper left corner of the photo are the remains of a mud-brick altar that was a part of the complex.

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ JEFF ANDERSON


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Biblical ReferencesThe Bible contains about a dozen references to Megiddo. The first is to a certain “king of Megiddo,” who is on a list of vanquished monarchs that Joshua conquered (Josh. 12:21). Consequently, Megiddo was then allotted to the tribe of Manasseh (17:11). The Book of Judges, however, indicates that the situation was not quite that simple. Israel was seemingly unable to completely sub-due Megiddo after all (Judg. 1:27). Later in the same book, Deborah and Barak overcame Sisera near this site, after which Sisera suffered a rather unceremonious “death by tent peg” in the tent of Jael the Kenite. The Song of Deborah refers to the “waters of Megiddo” as the place where God delivered Israel (5:19).

During the Israelite monarchy, Solomon made Megiddo a district administrative capital along with two other major fortified sites: Hazor and Gezer. The gate systems at these three sites are nearly identical. The Bible refers to Solomon’s robust building activity, which included the addition of palaces, terraces, and city walls (1 Kings 9:15). A century later, the Bible records that Jehu killed Israel’s King Jehoram and Judah’s King Ahaziah near Megiddo (2 Kings 9:27), while the Tel Dan inscription boasts that Syria’s King Hazael was the one who murdered these two kings.

cultic practices. Two rear corridors called favissa were filled with sacrifi-cial bone refuse, mostly young sheep and goats. The site had no evidence of human sacrifice.

Inhabitants of the lower village accessed this hilltop temple from the eastern slope of the mound and the main entry faced a mud brick and stone altar that stood at the geometric center of the temple.5 This magnifi-cent shrine was abandoned for a time and later reoccupied. A series of later temples were built one on top of the other, including the shrine that con-tained the famous Early Bronze Age round altar.

Right: In the Tel Dan inscription King Hazel of Syria brags that he killed King Ahaziah.

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together for the ultimate battle of good versus evil. The New Testament adopts the term Armageddon, a cor-ruption of the Hebrew, Har-Megiddo, which translates “Mount Megiddo.” This reference in Revelation reveals the context of the sixth and seventh bowls of wrath, which predict the fall of Babylon the Great. Whether the reference in Revelation is to a histori-cal battle or the metaphorical demise of evil, Megiddo retains both a lively past and an intriguing future in the Bible’s history and theology. I

1. Eric H. Cline, The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age (Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 2000), 1.

2. Eric H. Cline, 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 2014), 28-30.

3. Cline, The Battles of Armageddon, 142.4. Matthew J. Adams, Israel Finkelstein, and David

Ussishkin, “The Great Temple of Early Bronze I Megiddo,” American Journal of Archaeology 118 (April 2014): 285-305.

5. Matthew J. Adams, Jonathan David, Robert S. Homsher, and Margaret E. Cohen, “The Rise of a Complex Society: New Evidence from Tel Megiddo East in the Late Fourth Millennium,” Near Eastern Archaeology 77, vol. 1 (2014): 32-43.

6. This text is unclear. It may instead be a reference to 2 Kings 5:18 parallel of weeping for a Babylonian deity.

Jeff S. Anderson is professor of reli-gion at Wayland Baptist University, Anchorage, Alaska.

as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo” (Zech. 12:11, hcsb).6 If the last king of the mes-sianic line died at Megiddo, could that site have later messianic implications?

Megiddo and ArmageddonWithout a doubt, one of the most popu-lar biblical texts pertaining to Megiddo is Revelation 16:16. Some interpret that this pivotal location will be where the spiritual forces of the heavens and the kings of the earth gather

A few later references to Megiddo may point toward an emerging popularity of the site in apocalyp-tic thought. Josiah, the last “good” king from the Davidic dynasty, was fatally wounded at Megiddo in battle against Pharaoh Neco (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron. 35:22-24). Even though a few more kings ruled briefly after Josiah, for all practical purposes the death of Josiah brought an abrupt and tragic end to the Judean monar-chy. Zechariah may record a reference to the deep mourning that followed Josiah’s death, “The mourning in Jerusalem will be as great

Ruins of the sta-bles at Megiddo, which date to the 9th cent. B.C.

Left: Dated to about 2500 B.C., circular Canaanite altar at Megiddo; the altar mea-sures 25 feet in diameter and

about 4 1/2 feet high. Four steps lead to the top of the altar. The altar was located behind the actual temple.

Left: Unearthed at El-Amarna, Egypt, a terra-cotta letter from Megiddo’s King Biridiya to Pharaoh Akhenaten; dated 14th cent. B.C. King Biridiya was complaining that he was supplying workers, evidently for the time of harvest, and his neighbors were not.


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REUBEN H I S L A N DA N D H I SL E G A C Y

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THE STORY OF REUBEN BEGINS BEFORE HIS birth; it involves his father Jacob and his grandfather Laban. After Jacob, one of the patriarchs of Israel,

worked for seven years to earn the hand of Rachel in mar-riage, Laban presented him with Leah instead for his first bride. Although Jacob had to work for seven more years for his beloved Rachel, he did not completely reject Leah. In time, Leah bore Jacob his first son, Reuben (Gen. 29:31-32).

Reuben’s StoryReuben’s recorded actions are few. One of his earliest record-ed events involved his sleeping with his father’s concubine Bilhah (35:22). This action served to symbolize his claiming Jacob’s place as leader of the family and affected the blessing he would receive from Jacob as the patriarch neared death

(49:3-4).1 Jacob blessing his sons provides the final snapshot of Reuben in the Book of Genesis.

Other stories in Genesis give readers a different impres-sion of Reuben. In the story of Joseph being sold into slavery, Reuben tried to save Joseph by having him thrown in a pit with the intention of rescuing the youth later. But when Reuben returned, Joseph was gone (37:21-29).

After Joseph had risen to power in Egypt, famine engulfed the region, including Canaan. Jacob sent his remaining sons, except for Benjamin, to Egypt to seek grain. In the encounter with his brothers, Joseph accused his brothers of being spies. Joseph required the youngest son Benjamin be brought to Egypt to prove the charge of spies was untrue. When return-ing to Egypt was necessary, Reuben offered his sons as a guarantee for Benjamin’s safety (ch. 42).

When Jacob, at the end of his life, blessed his sons, he named Reuben first. The blessing, which was almost a curse,

Reuben: His Land and His Legacy

BSFL: Joshua 22:11-34

By Robert A. Street


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Moses granted the request with the condition they would assist in the war on the west side of the Jordan (32:25-27). If they assisted in the war-fare, the “land of Gilead” would be their territory

(v. 29). Numbers 32:33-42 records Moses’ granting the territo-ries belonging to Sihon (king of the Amorites) and Og (king of Bashan) to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Specifically, the sons of Reuben built and lived in the cities of Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo, Baal-melon, and Sibmah (32:37-38). According to 1 Chronicles 5:8, the Reubenites also settled as far a Nebo and Baal-meon.

Joshua 13:15-23 also mentions the lands granted to the Reubenites on the east side of the Dead Sea. The territory’s southern boundary is at Aroer in the Arnon River Valley. The northern limit seems to have been near where the Jordan River entered the Dead Sea (Josh. 13:23). In addition to the cities of Numbers, other cities in Reubenite territory included Dibon and Medeba. The region also included the slopes of Pisgah, the burial place of Moses (Deut. 34:1). The

was evidently tied to Reuben’s action with Bilhah. No longer was Reuben to excel (49:3-4). After this, Reuben passed from the biblical scene. His descen-dants, though, survived through the Egyptian captivity.

Reuben’s DescendantsIn the first chapter of the Book of Numbers, the account of the census that Moses took refers to Jacob’s descendants as “the sons of Israel” (Num. 1:2, nasb). The census lists Reuben first. Elizur, the head of the house of Reuben, is named before the heads of the other families (v. 5). When the census of men age 20 and older is enumerated, Reuben’s descen-dants appear first, with a total of 46,500 (v. 20). A later cen-sus numbers the Reubenites at 43,730 (26:7). Interestingly, 2 Samuel’s account of this cen-sus (ch. 24) does not mention Reuben’s tribe or territory.

The tribe of Reuben was named among the twelve when the Israelites left Sinai (Num. 10:18). Shammua was the rep-resentative from the tribe of Reuben who explored the prom-ised land (13:4). Later, two Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, joined with Korah (the son of Levi) in leading 250 Israelites in a rebellion against Moses. As an act of God’s judgment, the earth opened and swallowed the tents and families of Dathan, Abiram, and Korah (16:1-35).

Reuben’s TerritoryIn its Early Days—Numbers 31 recounts the people of Israel fighting and subduing the Midianites. After these lands east of the Jordan were under Hebrew control, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad asked to be granted the territory.

Left: Ruins at ancient Heshbon, one of the cities the Reubenites rebuilt (Num. 32:37). Heshbon was on the north-ern border of terri-tory of Reuben, just south of Gad.

Right: Ruins at ancient Aroer, which served as a major fortress

on the southern boundary of the territory of Reuben.

Below: Found at Dibon in 1868, the Moabite Stone with the inscription from Moab’s King Mesha; basalt; 9th cent. B.C. In the inscription, Mesha bragged about con-quering and gaining control of Aroer.



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references to the events of the region. Known as the Moabite Stone or the Mesha Stela, the basalt stone monu-ment contains an inscription describing Israelite history through foreign eyes.

The stone claims Israel’s King Omri (ruled 885-874 b.c.) had recaptured Medeba, but afterward Moab’s King Mesha regained control of the region. “Of Israel’s history it is learned that the war-like Gadites had absorbed the tribe of Reuben, and that they upheld the banner of Israel east of

the Jordan.”4 On the Moabite Stone, among the cities listed that Mesha

conquered or rebuilt are Baal-meon, Dibon, Aroer, Bezer, Nebo, and Medeba,

each associated with the tribe of Reuben. The stone does not mention, however, the tribe or territory of Reuben.

First Chronicles 5:1-10 gives a genealogy for the sons of Reuben until the Assyrian exile. Tiglath-pileser carried Beerah, a descendant of Reuben, into exile (1 Chron. 5:6). The passage concludes with a note that the tribe conquered the Hagrites during the time of Saul and dwelt in all the region east of Gilead.

As history progressed, control over the region changed from one conqueror to the next. Although later docu-ments mention the territories of Gad and Manasseh, fewer mention Reuben, leaving many scholars to surmise that the territory was likely absorbed by the stronger tribe of Gad and by the Moabites. Although details of their demise are unclear, by the end of the Old Testament Era, the territory and the tribe were long gone. I

1. Study Notes on Genesis 35:21-22 in HCSB Study Bible, gen. ed. Edwin A. Blum, Jeremy Royal Howard (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2010), 68.

2. Maxwell Miller and E. Ray Clendenen, “Moab and the Moabite Stone” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (HIBD), gen. ed. Chad Brand, Charles Draper, and Archie England (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1146.

3. J. Maxwell Miller, “Transjordan” in HIBD, 1614.4. “Moabite Stone,” JewishEncyclopedia.com [online; accessed 11 July 2014].

Available from the Internet: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10899-moabite-stone.

Robert A. Street is professor of computer information systems and Old Testament at Campbellsville University, Campbellsville, Kentucky.

city of Bezer was to be a city of refuge in Reuben’s territory (Josh. 20:8).

Joshua 22:10-34 describes the conflict between the tribes east of the Jordan (includ-ing the Reubenites) with the rest of Israel over the establishment of an altar. Seen as apostasy, the western tribes gathered at Shiloh to wage war over the altar. However, an assembly consisting of Phinehas the son of Eleazar and a leader from each of the 10 western tribes were sent to investigate. The inquiry’s conclusion was the struc-ture was not an altar for sacrifice. Phinehas reported this, resulting in no more talk of warfare between the tribes. The altar was named “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God” (22:34, hcsb).

Judges 4 establishes the scenario for the next reference to Reubenites during the period of the judges. The city of Hazor was not under Israelite control because of their doing “evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judg. 4:1, hcsb). In her song, Deborah included a reference to Reubenites (ch. 5). The verses related to the Reubenites (vv. 15-16) indicate the eastern tribe did not respond to the call to arms against King Jabin of Hazor. They stayed home and kept their flocks.

In its Later History—Control of the region surrounding Heshbon, Dibon, and Medeba “often changed hands during biblical times.”2 Conflicts over the region existed during the times of Saul, David, and Solomon. “After the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy, several Israelite and Judean kings attempted, some more successfully than others, to rule this portion of the Transjordan with which the Israelite tribes were associated. David, Omri, Ahab, and Jeroboam II were the more successful ones.”3

In 1868, a German missionary found in Dibon (also spelled Dhiban) one of the most valuable non-biblical

Left: Gilead, east of the Jordan River, became home to the tribe of Reuben after the conquest of Canaan.

Below: Dated 1115–1077 B.C., tablet records names of those Assyria’s King Tiglath-pileser I conquered.


Emperor of RomeDOMITIAN

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Domitian: Emperor of Rome

ETB: Revelation 1

Bust of Domitian; marble. The bust originally depicted Nero, but after his death was recarved to depict Domitian.


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given a number of honorific titles, but he had no real authority. His father was more prone to criticize him than elevate him. Vespasian’s stronger support always went to Titus.2

Partly, this may have been due to Domitian’s arrogant behavior when he was installed as the titular head of government while Vespasian was making his way from Judea to Rome. Domitian assumed control of an army and led a short-lived effort to bring forces in ancient Gallia and Germania3 under the control of the new Flavian Dynasty. Tacitus, a Roman historian, suggested this was a possible power play on Domitian’s part. Considering this background, Domitian’s later actions likely were attempts to bolster his own self-esteem and his reputation among those around him.4

Titus followed Vespasian as emperor with no real opposition. His rule, however, was short com-pared to his father’s. His reign was

favored son. He was never as close to his father as his brother, Titus, who campaigned with his father in the conquest of Judea following its revolt against the Romans in a.d. 66. Since Titus was about 11 years older than his brother, he had greater opportunities than Domitian.

Titus had received an imperial education in his youth because his father Vespasian was in favor at that time. Domitian received a limited education because Vespasian had fall-en out of favor during Nero’s reign when Domitian was a youth. When the opportunity came for Vespasian to lead the Roman war against the Jews, Domitian was too young to partici-pate. Titus, however, was Vespasian’s close associate in the endeavor. Domitian was, in many ways, the forgotten son.

When Vespasian came to power, Titus ruled alongside his father almost as an equal. Domitian was

DOMITIAN (a.d. 81-96) was the third and last of the Flavian emperors. The

short-lived dynasty had been found-ed by Domitian’s father, Vespasian (a.d. 69-79), who had been a sena-tor and general until his elevation to emperor by the army. Titus (a.d. 79-81) was Domitian’s older brother and ruled after Vespasian for a short period of time.

The Flavian family was not part of traditional Roman nobility. The fam-ily came from a small village near Rome named Falacrinae. The eleva-tion of the Flavians to imperial status occurred more from military success than birth. In spite of humble begin-nings, Vespasian was a highly effective emperor and, thus, was able to establish his two sons as his successors.1

Although able to benefit from his father’s success, Domitian was not the

By Timothy N. Boyd

Below: Ruins of the Temple of Domitian at Ephesus. The original structure honored Domitian; his older brother,

Titus; and their father, Vespasian.

Right: Dated about A.D. 80, marble bust of Emperor Titus.

Lower right: From Carthage, a head from an over-life-sized statue of Emperor Vespasian (A.D. 69-79).


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promoted. Emperor Augustus (ruled 27 b.c.–a.d. 14) was worshiped as a god after his death. Subsequent emperors continued this practice of elevating previous emperors to divinity. The Romans worshiped Vespasian after his death under the authority of his son, Titus. Domitian carried this con-cept even further, expanding it to his whole family.

According to Domitian, the Flavians were a divine family. Domitian also took steps to see that he was recognized as divine during his own lifetime. This was partly motivated by a desire to offset the humble origins of the Flavian family. In Rome, tradition dictated against this kind of worship of a living emperor. Domitian, therefore, had limited success—although he took it as far as he was able. For example, he built a large number of statues of himself in gold, and he insisted upon being addressed as “our master and our god.”8

In Asia Minor, Domitian’s demand for worship would have been regarded more seriously. Those living in this area had a tradition of recog-nizing living rulers as divine. Around a.d. 90, Domitian gave permission for the city of Ephesus to erect a temple

the field in Germania and extended the con-quest of Rome in that

vicinity as well. He also attempted to extend Roman control into Dacia (modern Balkans) with limited suc-cess. In spite of his success and his rewarding the army,

a legion in upper Germania under the leadership

of the governor, Antonius, instigated a revolt against him. He quickly moved north and put down the revolt. Antonius was killed, and the officers of the legion were ruthlessly punished.7

In Rome, Domitian had a bad rela-tionship with the Senate; their power had significantly diminished since the time of Augustus. Domitian, however, abandoned even the sem-blance of recognizing the Senate’s authority and became increasingly despotic. He used trials to suppress critics of his regime.

From the aftermath of the death of Julius Caesar, who lived 100–44 b.c., the idea of an imperial cult had been

only two years. He had no male heirs and the army still favored the Flavians. Thus, when Titus died, Domitian came to power with the military’s support.

In spite of his lim-ited education and his lack of real responsibil-ity during the reigns of his father and brother, Domitian’s first years were notably successful. He followed his father’s example and brought solid administration to the empire. He also continued the rebuilding of significant structures in Rome as well as new construction projects.5

Although Domitian was highly promiscuous, he tried to restore a sense of morality to Rome by forbid-ding lewd behavior in both public and private realms. This reflected his desire to restore many of Rome’s ancient values including a renewed reverence for the traditional gods. He also punished Vestal Virgins for immorality where his father and brother had not pursued the matter.6

The empire continued to expand under Domitian with a campaign in the British Isles of a general named Agricola. Domitian, himself, took

Right: View from Patmos.

Below: Cuirassed marble torso dated A.D. 90-96. Romans frequently honored emperors and successful generals with por-trait statues wear-ing breastplates (cuirasses). In

the center of the breastplate is the image of a statue of the goddess Minerva flanked by Victories. The emphasis on Minerva sug-gests the statue was a portrait of Emperor Domitian, whose patron deity was Minerva.


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1. Michael Grant, The Twelve Caesars (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1975), 211-12.

2. Ibid., 240-42.3. The regions of ancient Gallia and Germania include

modern France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany.

4. Tacitus, Histories 4.86. 5. Suetonius, The Life of Domitian 5. 6.Ibid., 7-8.7. Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 67, 11.8. Donald McFayden, “The Occasion of the Domitianic

Persecution,” The American Journal of Theology 24, no. 1 (January 1920): 54-57; Suetonius, The Life of Domitian 13.

9. Gordon Franz, “The King and I: The Apostle John and Emperor Domitian, Part 1,” Associates for Biblical Research [online; 18 January 2010; accessed 14 July 2014]. Available from the Internet: www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2010/01/18/the-king-and-i-the-apostle-john-and-emperor-domitian-part-1.aspx.

10. “Revelation 2:1-7 — Prophetic Oracle for Ephesus,” John Marks Hicks Ministries [online; accesses 15 July 2014]. Available from the Internet: johnmarkhicks.com/2013/06/04/revelation-21-7-prophetic-oracle-for-ephesus/.

11. Grant, The Twelve Caesars, 253.

Timothy N. Boyd is director of communications and family evan-gelism for the Kansas Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, Topeka, Kansas.

Eusebius saw Domitian as being a persecutor of the church, we need to point out that this persecution was not as severe as the earlier persecution under Nero. John was exiled; he was not executed. The persecution was certainly short-lived because of Domitian’s assassination. Most conservative biblical scholars agree that this persecution under Domitian provided the context of the Book of Revelation. This helps us date the book in the last decade of the first century. I

to him as part of the imperial cult that made this city a key center of the worship of Domitian. This coupled with a strong legion presence that supported Domitian put Christianity and Domitian on a collision course.9

Ephesus already had a history of conflict with the church as evidenced in the riot led by Demetrius and the silversmiths against the church in Paul’s time (Acts 19:23-41). Possibly this new temple, coupled with Domitian’s insistence upon being treated as divine in his own lifetime, caused a clash with the church in Ephesus, a congregation the apostle John led.10 This was likely the cata-lyst that caused Domitian to exile John to Patmos.

During the last three years of Domitian’s reign, the Senate and other officials lived in constant fear of their lives. The complicity of his wife, Domitia, and the leaders of his own Praetorian Guard finally brought down Domitian. A freed-man, Stephanus, on the pretext of bringing him a document, stabbed him with a knife. In the ensuing struggle another person rushed for-ward and helped kill Domitian. Men rushed in to help Domitian. Realizing what had happened, they then killed Stephanus.11

While later historians such as

Left: A golden Roman aureus coin had a value of 25 dena-rii; obverse, Domitia (wife of Domitian)

facing right; minted in Rome

A.D. 91-92.

Above: Frieze depicting the arrival of Emperor Vespasian (ruled A.D. 69-79) in Rome. The noble figure in the toga in the upper right of the frieze is the emperor. His son, Domitian, as prae-tor urbanus, wel-comes his father who is returning to the city as emperor.

At the Forum in Rome, statue and house of the Vestal Virgins. Domitian opposed the Vestal Virgins because he consid-ered their activi-ties immoral.


J nah A Prophet for His Time

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OBERT C. DUNSTON

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BSFL: Jonah 1:1; TGP: Jonah 3:5-8


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(vv. 25-30). His action recalled Aaron’s sinful deeds and words and Israel’s idolatry with an earlier golden calf shortly after God had brought His people out of Egypt (Ex. 32:2-4). Jeroboam installed non-Levite priests at the two shrines and instituted a new festival on the fif-teenth day of the eighth month to counter the festivals in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:31-33).

Despite Jeroboam II’s great sin, he lived in a fortunate time. Assyria’s King Adad-nirari III (ruled 811–784 b.c.) crushed Damascus and received tribute payments from other nations including Israel, but he was followed by three weak kings who faced internal problems and an external threat from the kingdom of Urartu, north of Assyria. These three rulers barely held Assyria together. Expansion was out of the question. Assyria’s lack of

THE BIBLE PROVIDES LITTLE PERSONAL information concerning Jonah. It does provide us much information about the time in which

he lived, information that can help readers better appre-ciate Jonah’s ministry—not just to Nineveh but to the Northern Kingdom of Israel as well.

According to 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah was the son of Amittai from Gath-hepher. The town of Gath-hepher lay in the tribal area of Zebulun about three miles northeast of Nazareth, which indicates Jonah was born in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.1 Either before or after Jonah’s prophetic ministry in Nineveh, he pro-vided a positive message from God to King Jeroboam II and Israel. Jonah stated that, through Jeroboam II, God would extend Israel’s northern border to Lebo-hamath, the northernmost border during the great days of Solomon.2

Jonah’s positive message to Jeroboam II likely served as one of the few during Jeroboam’s 41-year reign (793-753 b.c.). The Bible desig-nates Jeroboam II as an evil king because he continued the sins of Jeroboam I, the first king of Northern Israel following the division of the kingdom after Solomon’s death (1 Kings 12:20). Jeroboam I recognized that with the temple still in Jerusalem, his people might continue going to Jerusalem to worship and perhaps desire to reunite with Judah, the Southern Kingdom. He built two competing shrines, one in Bethel in the south-ern part of his kingdom and one in Dan in the northern part. He set up a golden calf in each shrine and identified each golden calf with God who had brought Israel out of Egypt

Above: Marble carving dating from the early 300s A.D. depicts Jonah being cast out of the boat. The image on the front of the carving shows the great fish spitting up Jonah.

Below: This hilltop is the location of Gath-hepher, a town on the bound-

ary of Zebulun (Josh 19:13) and the hometown to the prophet Jonah. The name means “winepress on the watering hole.”

Right: A mosque honoring the prophet Jonah is located near the town of Gath-hepher in the Galilean town of Mashhad.


ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ JAMES MCLEMORE (13/33/9-10)

increased their wealth. Amos, a contemporary of Jonah, accused the wealthy of oppressing the poor by profiting from their misery through injustice and shady business practices (Amos 2:6-8; 8:4-6) and by focusing on their own comfort rather than the needs of others (4:1; 6:1-7).

If the wealthy had faithfully obeyed God, they could have withstood the temptations prosperity brought. Unfortunately, decay had invaded Israel’s relationship with God as well. Amos stated that worshipers filled the temple in Jerusalem and the religious shrines in Israel, offering sacrifices, prayers, and psalms (4:4-5; 5:21-23). While the religious activity looked impressive, the people were simply going through the required ritu-als, believing this was all God wanted. Hosea, another contemporary of Jonah, stated the people, including the priests and prophets, had no true knowledge of God and what He desired (Hos. 4:1-6). People worshiped the Lord but also worshiped false gods, including the fertility gods of the land (vv. 12-14). The people remembered how God had saved Israel in the past and led them into the promised land. They believed He was fully committed to them and all they had to do to maintain His love and protection was to make sure they performed the required religious rituals. God really desired justice and righteousness (Amos 5:24), love and obedient knowledge of Him (Hos. 6:6), but tragically found none.

Into this world situation came the prophet Jonah. The name Jonah means “dove.” His father’s name Amittai derived from the Hebrew verb meaning “to confirm, support” from which we derive our word “Amen.” The name Amittai came also from the noun meaning “faithfulness, truth.”5 Many people of that day had names based on God and His worship even though they did not worship the Lord exclusively or obey Him. Perhaps though, Amittai’s name and Jonah’s calling as a

interference in the land of promise allowed the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah almost 40 years of independence and prosperity.3

Jeroboam II took advantage of Assyria’s weakness, exercising authority over Damascus and Hamath in the north (2 Kings 14:28) and probably restricting the power of the Moabites and Ammonites in the south-ern Transjordan. Jeroboam’s peace with King Uzziah of Judah brought the trade routes that traversed their kingdoms firmly under their control and both nations profited. The Red Sea may again have become a chan-nel for lucrative trade with nations to the south, and the northern coastal city of Tyre may well have become a partner again for trade along the Mediterranean Sea. The population of both nations grew, agricultural resources were developed, and various industries flour-ished.4 Many believed their prosperity constituted a sign of God’s pleasure and blessing.

The external signs of peace and prosperity, however, masked the internal sin and decay. As is typical, eco-nomic prosperity did not reach every level of society. While a small wealthy class became even wealthier, most people struggled to make ends meet. Droughts and insect infestations caused crop failures that often led to farmers losing their ancestral lands and becoming hired hands or servants. Government taxes and payments to the new landowners left little for the farmers to sustain themselves and their families. The Law instructed the Israelites to care for one another (Lev. 25:35-46), but the wealthy instead took advantage of the common people’s difficulties and thereby enlarged their holdings and

Below: Mock-up of a Canaanite altar (left) and high place (right) at Dan. The original dates to the time

of Jeroboam son of Joash (8th cent. B.C.) and replaced an earlier structure constructed by Jeroboam son of

Nebat in the 10th cent. B.C. This was a sacred place for a thousand years, until the end of the Roman Era.


ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ LOUISE KOHL SMITH (32/17/6)

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Although Nineveh was not the capital of Assyria in Jonah’s time, it was a major city. Nineveh’s ruler and people would have represented the entire nation’s glory, power, dreams, and sin. No Israelite would have wanted to set foot there.

The Israelites felt invincible in their own land. They trusted that since God had delivered Jerusalem from Assyria in the days of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:35-37), He would deliver them again if necessary. Perhaps Jonah’s reluctance to go to Nineveh reflected his fear that the Assyrians, who had no knowledge of God, would respond to his preaching with repentance. If they did, their repentance would surely doom the Israelites, who knew God’s saving acts but refused to obey Him.8 I

1. “Gath-Hepher” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, gen. ed. Chad Brand, Charles Draper, and Archie England (Nashville: Holman Reference, 2003), 627.

2. Paul R. House, 1, 2 Kings, vol. 8 in The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 326.

3. John Bright, A History of Israel, 3rd ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1981), 255-56.

4. Ibid., 257-59.5. “tm,a/ , yT;mia]“ (emeth, Amittai; faithfulness, truth, Amittai) in Francis Brown, S. R.

Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon [BDB] (1906; repr. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), 57; see also “tm,a/“ (emeth;

faithfulness, truth) in BDB, 54; and “!m;a'“ (aman, to confirm, support) in BDB, 52-53.6. Bright, A History of Israel, 243, 254-56.

7. Billy K. Smith and Frank S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B in The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 224.

8. Ibid., 227-28.

Robert C. Dunston is professor and chair of the religion and philosophy depart-ment at University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, Kentucky.

prophet indicate this family believed in God alone and sought to obey Him.

While Assyria remained weak throughout the reigns of Jeroboam II and Uzziah, memories of Assyria’s ear-lier aggression in Israel remained. In approximately 841 b.c., Assyria’s King Shalmaneser III (859-825 b.c.) pressed south, taking tribute payments from Israel’s King Jehu. In approximately 802 b.c., Adad-nirari III did the same, and likewise took tribute payments from Israel.6 Nineveh dated back to approximately 4500 b.c. and constituted one of the larger and more important cities of Assyria. The city lay on the east-ern shore of the Tigris River. The modern city of Mosul in Iraq abuts the ruins of ancient Nineveh.7

Above: Overlooking mod-ern Mosul in Iraq, which is at the site of ancient Nineveh.

Right: An atten-dant god that stood outside the doorway to the Temple of Nabu. The inscrip-tion mentions Adad-nirari III and his mother Sammuramat.

The reconstructed Nergal Gate at ancient Nineveh.


GLORYA HEBREW UNDERSTANDING

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NOT SURPRISINGLY, the most frequent use of the Hebrew word translated

“glory” (kabod) occurs in the Psalms, the praise-book of ancient Israel. Out of the 200 occurrences of the noun “glory” in the Old Testament, the Psalter employs the term 51 times with the majority referring to the glory of the Lord (Hebrew, kebod YHWH).1 In fact, several psalms repeatedly mention God’s glory or the glory of His kingdom: Psalm 24, 5 times; 29, 4 times; 96, 3 times; and 145, 3 times.

The Hebrew concept of “glory” derives from a common West Semitic verb (kabed) meaning “to be heavy” or “weighty.”2 Etymologically, the Hebrew word for “liver” (kabed) may also be connected to this same verb.3 People of the ancient Near East considered the liver to be the

to suggest having respect, esteem, and even veneration (Ex. 20:12; Pss. 22:23; 86:12; Isa. 60:13).5 When people used the verb to express reli-gious honor to God, it denoted a

heaviest and most important organ in the body. They valued it for use in divination (Ezek. 21:21). The Old Testament, however, seldom uses the word for “liver” (14 times); this omis-sion may reflect Israel’s hostility to the practice.4

On the other hand, the verb kabed occurs 114 times in the Old Testament. The literal sense of the verb, “to be heavy,” occurs twice (1 Sam. 4:18; 2 Sam. 14:26), but the majority of occurrences are figura-tive. Most of these are negative in meaning where “heavy” or “weighty” implies that something is “difficult” or “burdensome,” something that weighs upon or oppresses someone (Ps. 38:4; Prov. 27:3).

The figurative connotation can also be positive. In such cases, the verb “be weighty” carries the sense of being noteworthy or important. The implication extends beyond the more abstract English term “honor”

By Stephen J. Andrews

TGP: Psalm 96

Above: Clay rep-lica of a sheep’s liver that was used for hepatos-

copy, liver divina-tion. The original was found at Hazor.


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times the poet appeals in Psalm 96 for people to recognize God’s glory (vv. 3,7,8). The psalm begins with an invitation to worship (vv. 1-3).13 Verse 3 calls the people to “Declare [God’s] glory among the nations.”14 Then later, in a set of instructions for worship (vv. 7-9), the poet tells the same group to “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength” and “Ascribe to

2 Chron. 7:3; Ezek. 10:4), and reaches the heavens (Pss. 57:5,11; 97:6).

God revealed this “glory” to His people and associated it with certain items. God disclosed His glory to Israel in a cloud (Ex. 16:10; 24:16) and a consuming fire (24:17). He dis-played His glory to Moses (33:18,22), Aaron (Num. 16:42; 20:6), the elders (Deut. 5:24), and to the entire commu-nity (Num. 14:10; 16:19). God’s glory is associated with His throne (Jer. 14:21; 17:12), over the ark of the covenant and the cherubim (1 Sam. 4:21-22),9 and in Jerusalem (Zech. 2:5). David stat-ed that God crowned mankind with glory and majesty (Ps. 8:5).10 Even the priest’s garments were to reflect His glory and beauty (Ex. 28:2,40).

Several Old Testament texts depict God as the universal and eternal King. Because He is King, people are to honor Him above all others. He is the “God of the Glory” (Ps. 29:3) and the “King of the Glory” (24:7-10, empha-ses added).11 His is a kingdom of glory (145:11-12). He will not surrender His glory to anyone else, let alone idols (Isa. 42:8; 48:11).

The manifestation of God’s glory produces reverence (Lev. 9:23-24; Ezek. 1:28; 3:23), a yearning to be in His presence (Ps. 63:1-2), and the promise of a future life (73:24). His glory will endure forever (104:31). It is worthy of praise (66:2; 145:11).

Seven psalms focus on the “king-ship of Yahweh.”12 One of these is Psalm 96, which focuses primarily on God’s kingship over all peoples. Three

concrete human response based on God’s love and mercy (Ps. 50:15). For those who glorify Him, God will reciprocate in kind (1 Sam. 2:30).

Since the Hebrew noun translated “glory” (kabod) in the Old Testament is derived from the verb kabed, it shares in the same dual connotation of “be heavy” and “be honored.”6 It displays both theological and non-theological usages.7 For example, non-theological or secular uses of kabod are in Isaiah 22:24; 66:12; and Nahum 2:9; here the noun refers to a burden of responsibility or abundance of mate-rial items. Likewise the noun refers to architectural splendor (Hag. 2:3); nature (Isa. 35:2; 60:13); and human distinction, position, reputation, or honor (1 Sam. 2:8; Ps. 112:9; Prov. 15:33; 20:3). Kings, priests, and sages are due “honor” (Ex. 28:2,40; Ps. 21:5; Prov. 3:35), but not fools (Prov. 26:1,8; Eccl. 10:1). Parents should also receive “glory” (Mal. 1:6; cf. Ex. 20:12). Proper conduct also produces “honor” (Prov. 15:33).

The most distinctive use of the noun kabod, however, points to God’s manifest splendor and glori-ous majesty (Ps. 145:5).8 The “glory of the Lord” (kebod YHWH) fills the whole earth (Num. 14:21; Ps. 72:19; Isa. 6:3), indwells

the tabernacle and temple (Ex. 40:34-35;

1 Kings 8:11;

Below: The pyra-mid and temple at Saqqara, Egypt. Netjerkhet Djoser, the second king of Egypt’s 3rd Dynasty (2700–2600 B.C.), was buried here. Djoser was the builder of the first pyramid in ancient Egypt. The com-

pleted structure was 204 feet tall. After revealing his identity to his brothers, Joseph said, “Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly” (Gen. 45:13, HCSB).


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(Chicago: M o o d y ,

1980), 1:426; “dbk“ (to be heavy) in L. Koehler

and W. Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old

Testament [HALOT] (Leiden, Brill, 2000), 2:455.3. See “dbeK'“ (kabed, liver) in F. Brown, S. R. Driver,

and C. H. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 458; John N. Oswalt, “dbeK'“ (kabed; liver) in Harris, 1:426. Compare Dohmen, TDOT, 7:13-15.

4. P. Stenmans, “dbeK'“ (kabed, liver) in TDOT, 7:21. 5. Dohmen, “dbeK'“ (kabed, to be heavy) in TDOT, 7:16. 6. Weinfeld, “dAbK'“ (kabod, heaviness) in TDOT, 7:23. 7. “dAbK'“ in HALOT, 2:457.8. The noun is used about 45 times to refer to “a vis-

ible manifestation of God.” See Oswalt, “dbeK'“ (kabed; to be heavy, grievous, hard, rich, honorable, glorious) in Harris, 1:427.

9. The name “Ichabod” means “Where is the glory?”10. Weinfeld, “dAbK'“ (kabod, heaviness) in TDOT,

7:28. 11. In each case of these verses, the definite article

“the” is placed in front of the noun kabod (“glory”).12. C. Hassell Bullock, Encountering the Book of

Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), 188. The seven Psalms so designated are 47; 93; 95; 96; 97; 98; and 99.

13. Scholars have debated the structure of Psalm 96. As a hymn of praise it is possible to see in the psalm three cycles of a call to praise followed by a justification of such praise by reference to God’s nature, attributes, and deeds (vv. 1-6,7-10, and 11-13). On the structure, see John Goldingay, Psalms, Volume 3: Psalms 90-150 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 101. For the partial struc-ture mentioned here see S. J. Lawson, Psalms 76–150, vol. 12 in Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 2006), 117-18.

14. Scripture quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).

15. Oswalt, “dbeK'“ (kabed; to be heavy, grievous, hard, rich, honorable, glorious) in Harris, 1:427.

Stephen J. Andrews is profes-sor of Old Testament, Hebrew, and archaeology and is director of the Morton-Seats Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri.

glorify the Father (John 1:14; 17:1-5).15 So when we faithfully proclaim Jesus, we declare God’s glory to the nations (Ps. 96:3). I

1. Isaiah uses the term 38 times. M. Weinfeld, “dAbK“ (kabod, heaviness) in G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, eds., Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament [TDOT], trans. David E.Green (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 7:24.

2. C. Dohmen, “dbeK'“ (kabed, to be heavy) in Ibid., 13; John N. Oswalt, “dbeK'“ (kabed; to be heavy, grievous, hard, rich, honorable, glorious) in R. L.aird Harris, ed., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament [Harris]

Yahweh the glory of His name.” The call to recognize the honor and glory that God deserves as King plays a sig-nificant part in the theological mean-ing of the psalm. It is a reminder that since God is King over all the nations, His glory deserves to be acknowledged and proclaimed.

That glory can now be seen in the Messiah, Jesus Christ (Isa. 4:2). As the one and only Son, He came to

Left: The “Lion of Babylon” statue was a symbol of the goddess Ishtar, who sup-posedly rode on the lion’s back on a saddle. Underneath the lion is a man, which symbolizes Babylon’s strength over peoples. In an oracle, Isaiah declared that the Lord was going to destroy Babylon: “And Babylon, the jewel of the king-doms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them” (Isa. 13:19, HCSB).

Right: Artist’s rendering shows a cut-away of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Shown are the holy area and the most holy area, the latter of which housed the ark of the covenant. During the dedica-tion ceremony, the Lord’s glory descended and filled the temple.

Burning bush at St. Catherine’s monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. When he encountered God at the burning bush, Moses asked to see God’s glory.


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Dinners and Feasts in the First Century

BSFL: Luke 14:12-24


Dinners and•FeastsI N T H E F I R S T C E N T U R Y

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recline side-by-side. This was the optimal arrangement for guests to converse and interact with each other.

The open part of the “U” accommodated a serving table and the large mixing-bowl called a krater, which

held the mulled wine. The space at the open end of the “U” had to

be large enough for entertain-ers to perform or the guest of honor to speak.

The guest list consisted either of the host’s friends,

business partners, members of the same social class, “club”

members, or even clients. The host sent verbal or written invitations by

messenger, or sometimes he invited the guest himself. If a new itinerant rabbi was in

town, the host might invite him too. Declining an invitation was a breach of etiquette. By custom and practice a host did not usually include his wife or other respectable ladies as guests in a formal dinner.

Guests knew to dress for dinner. Wealthier per-sons could afford multiple sets of dinner clothes,

less wealthy guests only one. Evidently at times the wealthiest hosts even provided

dinner clothing to guests who did not have them. These clothes were finer quality and often more colorful than everyday attire.

THE PHARISEE’S SERVANT finally caught up with Jesus. “Please, sir,” he might have said, “Rabbi Mordecai would like you to join his

dinner guests for the Sabbath meal.”1 Male-only intimate dinner parties were well-established

and common features of first-century culture. “Rabbi Mordecai” and other high-ranking members of Jewish society regularly attended or hosted such events. Now it was his turn to be the host. Since Jesus was a new phenom-enon, Rabbi Mordecai used this occasion to hear what Jesus had to say. If the account recorded in Luke 14 is any indication, Jesus had plenty to say and took every opportunity to say it.

The first requirement for din-ner was dining space. If the host’s home had a large enough hall, he used that. Otherwise, he rented or borrowed one. He made sure it had a separate space for food prepa-ration, and a foyer (or anteroom) in which guests received a proper greeting.

The dining room had to be large enough for nine or more men to recline on couches. The smaller triclinium arrangement placed three diners on permanent or temporary couches on three sides of a central table. The arrangement resembled a “U” with square corners. The couches accommodated a reclining man leaning on his left arm. They were wide enough for two or three men to

B Y D A L E “ G E N O ” R O B I N S O N Above: Banqueters reclin-ing on draped and cushioned couch-es, surrounded by servants and other attendants; dated

to the 4th cent. B.C.; from the Nereid Monument at the Arbinas tomb, from Xanthos, Lycia, in the modern

Antalya Province of Turkey.

Below: Etruscan stemmed cup; ceramic; dated to the 6th cent. B.C.


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Continuing to the right, the guests reclined in a descending, counter-clockwise order of importance or favor. The person with the lowest status reclined on the host’s left. All he saw was his host’s back.

The meal began when the host took a piece of the bread and said the traditional blessing, “Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe who brings forth bread from the earth.”4 After that, the eating and conversation began.

Bread was the most important menu item. Flat, round bread similar to pita bread was the main eat-ing utensil. Guests tore off chunks of bread to sop up sauces, condiments, or stews. They wrapped the bread around pieces of meat in a kind of sandwich. Bread became a napkin as diners dipped their dirty fingers in bowls of water, wiped them with pieces of bread which they then tossed on the floor for the dogs to eat and the servants to clean.

A generous host provided a meal drawn from the bounty of the land. He would serve dinner in two courses, which the Greco-Romans called the deipnon and the symposion. The deipnon was the actual meal. It involved eating and fellowship. This course might have included pickled radishes, asparagus, green onions, lamb stew, or baked fish with bulgur wheat pilaf. Olive oil, hummus, and fresh vegetables

were side dishes. Honey was useful as a sweetener.

The second course, the sympo-sion, consisted of plenty of spiced wine diluted with hot water, hard-boiled eggs with a fish sauce for dipping, plus pistachios, fresh

figs, dates, pomegranate seeds, or other fruit.5 The symposion was more relaxed. The guests freely conversed,

told jokes, played party games, or watched the entertainment.

A Gentile feast, or a less-princi-pled Jewish one, included profes-

sional escorts, flute-girls, dancers, and continuous cups of wine during

the symposion.6

Honoring the importance of wine, the host appointed one guest as the

symposiarch. He functioned as master of ceremonies and wine steward. He made sure

the servants mixed the wine properly with the water and spices. He controlled the amount of

wine the guests drank and might lead in the toasts.

A Gentile formal dinner party usually began at the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), while informal par-ties and feasts usually started later. Each could last for three hours or longer. Jewish feasts usually started at sundown. The Sabbath meal referenced in Luke 14:2 was most likely the midday meal eaten after the Sabbath synagogue service. To avoid any violation of the Sabbath laws, the meal was pre-pared the day before. Prompt and thoughtful guests arrived on time.2

As the guests invited to a Hebrew feast gathered in the hall’s foyer, a servant washed their feet and anointed them with fragrant oil. They washed their right hands to receive the first cup of wine. The guests then individually recited the prayer over the wine, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.”3 When all of those invited had arrived, the servants ushered them into the dining room.

The host seated his guests according to importance or rela-tionship. He placed his most hon-ored guest on his immediate right.

Below: Mycenaean ter-ra-cotta krater decorated with bands, stags, and birds; dated about 1300–1200 B.C.

Right: Etruscan bronze ladle; dated to the 5th–3rd centu-ries B.C.


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a love offering for the visiting rabbi. No wonder only the rich could afford to host lavish dinners!

Dinners and feasts were an important component of first-century society. They provided men of means an intimate forum to strengthen old relationships and build new ones. They were the proving grounds for new ideas, and they were often the first place for win-ning new converts for those ideas. That is why Jesus loved them so much! I

1. See Luke 14:1.2. J. P. V. D. Balsdon, Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome (New York: McGraw-Hill,

1969), 33; Douglas E. Neel and Joel A. Pugh, The Food and Feasts of Jesus (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012), 95; Darrell L. Bock, Luke 9:51–24:53, vol. 3B in Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 1256; Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24 in The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 386.

3. Dennis E. Smith, From Symposium to Eucharist (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 146.

4. Neel and Pugh, The Food and Feasts of Jesus, 98.5. Ibid., 107-108.6. Smith, From Symposium to Eucharist, 138; Katharine Raff, “The Roman Banquet,”

The Metropolitan Museum of Art [online; accessed 14 July 2014]. Available from the Internet: www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/banq/hd_banq.htm.

7. Neel and Pugh, The Food and Feasts of Jesus, 102.8. Daniel Rogov, “Jewish Foods: Dining in the Holy Land—2000 Years Ago,” Jewish

Virtual Library [online; accessed 6 June 2014]. Available from the Internet: www.jewish-virtuallibrary.org/jsource/Food/dining2000.html; Balsdon, Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome, 36.

9. Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22 in The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 302.

10. Determining the actual costs of a wealthy man’s dinner party is nearly impossible. Food costs were dependent on the fluctuating value of the metal of the coinage and the availability of menu items. These calculations are merely one scenario presented to give a picture of what such a meal might have cost.

Dale “Geno” Robinson is the director of adult small groups and discipleship of First Baptist Church of Fair Oaks, Sacramento, California.

A more sedate Jewish symposium also had the wine, but offered a more elevated enter-tainment, which included a conversa-tion about the Torah. If a guest rabbi were in attendance, the other diners would discuss his teachings and quiz him about his inter-pretation and understanding of religious matters. Jesus often found Himself in this position. “He was the entertainment.”7

Finally, the host had to pick up the tab. Some extrav-agant Romans bankrupted themselves paying for elaborate dinners. A well-known bon vivant, Gavius Apicius (ca. a.d. 30) committed suicide when he real-ized his annual income of 250,000 sesterces (about $200,000) could not pay his catering bill to maintain his extravagant lifestyle. More-thrifty Jewish hosts would still spend significant sums.8

We only can speculate the cost in today’s dollars. For example, “the denarius was a standard minimum day’s wage” (see Matt. 20:2).9 Inflation determined its buying power. The disciples told Jesus that buying enough bread for the crowd of 5,000 would take eight month’s pay, or about 200 denarii (Mark 6:37). If each man ate two large flatbreads, which might cost about a dollar each, the disciples would need 10,000 loaves. If a denarius equaled $50.00, the cost for bread would be close to $10,000.10

The host’s expense for feeding each of his guests two or more flatbreads was merely the beginning. Good wine, though plentiful, was expensive. Fresh fish was unavailable, and dried fish was costly. Add to that the cost of fruits and vegetables, the hall rental, cleanup, and even the long-term amortization of the value of his servants and you have a hefty sum. His dinner party might cost one denarius per guest, plus

Right: Decorative band on an Etruscan krater shows ban-queters reclining as a musician plays, left. Food would be served on the lower tables in front of the reclining couches.

Lower right: Sestertius; Roman;

obverse Nero (r. A.D. 54-68), faces left. A ses-tertius was worth about one-fourth of a denarius.

Bottom: Octavian denarius; bare head right; inscrip-tion: IMP CAESAR DIVI IVLI F; dated 38 B.C.


Elijah and Messianic

Expectations

TGP: Mark 8:27-33


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synagogue read a Scripture from both the Law (Torah) and the prophets. After the reading from the prophets (called the Haftarah), the congrega-tion repeated four benedictions. The third benediction featured a prayer for Elijah’s return and the restoration of the kingdom of David. Every Jew was thus intimately familiar with this oft-repeated Malachi text.

Intertestamental ThoughtBetween the writing of the Old and New Testaments, many writ-ings record the theological reflec-tions of Jews during this intertes-tamental period. Among the ruins of the Qumran community, which overlooks the Dead Sea, archaeolo-gists have found many documents that recorded a variety of first-cen-tury Jewish speculations about the Messiah and end times. Although these writings are neither canonical nor God-inspired, they do reflect the thoughts many Jews held in Jesus’ time about the coming Messiah and His forerunner.2

The Qumran writings pres-ent a variety of speculations about

with the prophets of Baal, sending fire on Ahaziah’s soldiers, and parting the

waters of the Jordan River. Elijah left this life in an unusu-al way—in a chariot of fire

powered by a whirlwind.Later prophets spoke of Elijah

as reappearing at the end of time. Malachi prophesied

about the coming of a “messenger” who would “clear the way

before Me” (Mal. 3:1). Elijah would return

before “the great and awesome Day of the Lord” (4:4-5). The “Day of the Lord” referred to the end of time at which the Messiah would appear. This eschatological (mean-ing “end-time”) Elijah would “turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers,” thus averting a “curse” on the land (v. 6).

Devout Jews knew well Malachi’s prophecy that Elijah would return to herald the coming Messiah, usher-ing in the end of time. On Sabbaths and feast days, someone in each

WHEN JESUS ASKED who people thought He was, His disciples

answered that some said He was John the Baptist resurrected from the dead, or Elijah the prophet, or some other prophet (Mark 8:27-28). When Jesus then asked who they thought He was, Peter answered, “You are the Messiah!” (v. 29).1

This familiar passage brings to mind several important questions. Why would some peo-ple think Jesus might be Elijah or John the Baptist returned to life? What did first-century Jews expect about end times and the coming Messiah?

In the Old TestamentFirst Kings 17 –21; 2 Kings 1–2; and 2 Chronicles 21 describe Elijah’s life and ministry in Israel. Elijah’s ministry occurred about 862-852 b.c. He presented God’s Word to King Ahab and his wife Jezebel (challenging their support for Baal wor-ship and their murder-ously seizing Naboth’s vineyard), as well as Kings Jehoram and Ahaziah. Through Elijah, God performed sev-eral miracles, including sending a famine, providing oil and flour for a widow in Zarephath, raising the wid-ow’s son from the dead, praying down fire from heaven to burn the altar in his Mount Carmel confrontation

By Steve W. Lemke

Left: Close-up of a fan-tailed raven (Corvus rhipidu-rus), which lives among the cliffs near the Dead Sea. As the 3½ year drought began, God had ravens bring Elijah

food, thus ensur-ing his survival.

Above: Silver cup for the prophet Elijah; gold plated; mid-19th cent.; this cup would be used during the Passover celebration.

Mar Elias, Arabic for “Saint Elijah” is in the Ajlun region of north-ern Jordan. The location has had a long associa-tion with Tishbe, the hometown of Elijah.


ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ GB HOWELL (35/52/26)

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Zechariah the birth of his son John (Luke 1:16-17), the angel Gabriel explicitly identified John as the fulfillment of the Elijah role from Malachi 4:4-6.

Jesus had little confidence that most people would interpret these prophecies properly. He sometimes warned the disciples not to tell oth-ers He was the Messiah, perhaps because the Jews had misconceptions about the Messiah and His mission (Mark 8:29-30)—such as His being merely an anointed earthly king who would lead the Jews to victory over the Romans (John 6:15; 18:36; 19:12). Regarding Elijah’s return, Jesus said clearly that the Jewish religious lead-ers “didn’t recognize” Elijah upon his return (speaking of John the Baptist), and “did whatever they pleased to him” (Matt. 17:12-13). Jesus specifical-ly identified John the Baptist as this Elijah-like forerunner (Matt. 11:7-14;

In the New TestamentThe New Testament interacts multi-ple times with the expectations about Elijah’s return and the Messiah’s coming. In the most commonly held expectation, Elijah would return before the Messiah, heralding His coming (Mal. 3:1; 4:4-6). The disciples reported the Jewish scribes’ belief that Elijah “must come first” before the Messiah, and that Elijah would “restore everything” (Matt. 17:10-11). The New Testament describes John the Baptist as fulfilling the prophecy that Elijah would reconcile fathers and sons, bring peace to the land, and prepare the way for the coming Messiah (Luke 1:16-17; see Mal. 4:4-6; Isa. 40:3). John the Baptist minis-tered “in the spirit and power” of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Elijah and John the Baptist had some similarities in attire (2 Kings 1:8; Mark 1:6), teach-ing, and mission. In announcing to

eschatology. They present at least three distinguishable roles and terms associated with the Messiah: (1) a prophet and forerunner of the Messiah, (2) a priest, and (3) a Davidic prince or king. The spe-cific descriptions of these three roles vary widely. Some scholars believe the different roles represent two or three different persons, while others believe the Messiah is a composite figure who plays all three roles of prophet, priest, and king.

Elijah and Moses were the per-sons most associated with the roles of eschatological prophet and priest. Most intertestamental writers iden-tified Elijah as the prophet and Moses as the priest. However, some Qumran writers identify Elijah as the eschatological priest (since he did priestly functions like anoint kings and offer sacrifices), and Moses as the eschatological prophet (since the Jews considered him the first proph-et). Some writers thought two or three different messiahs would usher in the end of time. In some later rabbinic writings, the role of Elijah transitioned from being a forerunner prophet to being virtually equal to the Davidic messiah. They believed the eschatological Elijah would guide students of Scripture to truth, restore the people of Israel, and bring about the resurrection of the dead (as had Elijah during his ministry).

Below: The Carmel Mountain Range in the distance–where Elijah confronted prophets of Baal.

Right: Grove that is likely site of Naboth’s vineyard as seen from atop Tel Jezreel.


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After King Herod had impris-oned him, John the Baptist sought Jesus’ assurance that He was truly the Messiah. Jesus provided the evidence that He met the criteria in Isaiah 61:1-5 and Psalm 146:5-9 of preaching to the poor, bringing sight to the blind, and raising the dead (Matt. 11:2-5; Luke 7:22). Clearly, Jesus was the Davidic Messiah of Old Testament prophesies.

The question Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29), may be the most important question in human his-tory. Simon Peter answered right-ly, “You are the Messiah!” (v. 29). For us, the question remains. Who do you say Jesus is? I

1. All Scripture quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).

2. J. Julius Scott Jr., Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995), 318-19.

3. At the transfiguration, Peter suggested building three booths to honor Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. At this event, the Father also spoke aloud and instructed the disciples to listen to Jesus. “Peter had wanted to honor Moses, Elijah, and Jesus as equals. The voice, in contrast, singles out the Son.” Darrell L. Bock, Jesus According to Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), 235.

4. Donald A. Hagner, The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 173.

Steve W. Lemke is provost and pro-fessor of philosophy and ethics at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, Louisiana, the director of the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry, and editor of The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry.

of the miracles He did (6:14-15). When Jesus cried out on the cross “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabach-thani?” some bystand-ers thought He was calling for Elijah’s help (15:34-36), not realizing that Jesus was quoting Psalm 22:1.

Elijah and Moses met Jesus in the transfigura-tion (Mark 9:2-9).3 This encounter “stressed that Jesus is the unique Son

of God, whose authority exceeds even that of the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah).”4 Perhaps at least in part because of Elijah’s and Moses’ unusual departures from this world and Elijah’s association with resurrection, Jesus discussed with them His own departure through the cross and resurrection in Jerusalem (Luke 9:30-31). Seeing Elijah led the disciples to ask Jesus questions about Elijah’s role in eschatology, inquiring if the scribes’ teaching was that the returning Elijah “must come first” before the Messiah (Matt. 17:10). Jesus confirmed that Elijah would be a forerunner of the Messiah and that John the Baptist fulfilled the type of Elijah. Some Christian interpret-ers also believe the “two witnesses” in Revelation 11:3-6 refer to Elijah (with his capacity to deny rain) and Moses.

17:12-13). John the Baptist fulfilling the prophesied return of one like Elijah also lends credence to Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfilling the prophecies of a Davidic Messiah (Mark 9:12-13).

John himself denied he was lit-erally Elijah reincarnated, but did affirm that he fulfilled the Elijah-like forerunner role as Isaiah prophesied (Luke 3:15-17; see Isa. 40:3). John also denied being the Messiah, pointing out Jesus as the Messiah instead (John 1:6-9,19-37).

The Elijah figure was so preva-lent in the Jewish mind-set that some associated Jesus with the Elijah role. Jesus’ disciples reported that some people had this percep-tion (Mark 8:28). Likewise, Herod’s advisers reported that many people thought Jesus was Elijah or John the Baptist risen from the dead, because

Below: Basalt relief depicting a two-person war-rior chariot run-ning over enemy, from a war scene; dated 950–850 B.C. Found at Carchemish.

Right: Platform in the distance marks the site where, according to tradi-tion, Elijah ascend-ed in the chariot. In the distance and off to the west is the Jordan River Valley.


fe owshipA W O R D S T U D Y

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Fellowship: A Word Study

ETB: 1 John 1:1-4

A stone relief of the Lord’s Supper. The period is not identified, how-ever the arches in the relief appear to be Byzantine in style.


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believers. Likewise, when one is not in fellowship with other believers, he or she is not in fellowship with God.5

The New Testament gives some guidelines for enhancing fellowship. Love fellow believers as Christ loved you (John 13:34-35; 15:12). Cultivate humility in your life, and honor the other person (Phil. 2:3-5). Help carry one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). Share your material blessings with Christian brothers and sisters in need (2 Cor. 9:13). Hurt with those who hurt, and rejoice with those who rejoice (Rom. 12:15; 1 Cor. 12:26). Pray for fellow believers without ceasing (Eph. 6:18). Gently restore believers caught in wrongdoing (Gal. 6:1).6

Genuine fellowship with other believers results in mutual love (John 13:34), the sharing of a “common faith” (Titus 1:4), and the sharing of a common salva-tion (Jude 3). A growing fellowship with God and fel-low believers is a goal of the Christian life (1 John 1:3). The dominant mark of fellowship is love (1 Thess. 4:9; 1 Pet. 1:22).

i N THE NEW TESTAMENT THE WORD fellowship describes believers’ mutual partnership or union with God and with one another. Paul

most frequently used the Greek word koinonia to sig-nify “fellowship.” The word means to have something in common, to share something with someone, or to be a partner in something or with someone.1

In the early centuries of the Christian Era, “fellow-ship” referred to business partnerships, friendships, clubs, marriages, and joint undertakings in civic life. Christians used the word koinonia to express the union between God and fellow Christians, all bound together by a common purpose, namely the spread of the gospel and growth in Christlikeness.2

Acts 2:42 shows the common, or shared, life of the early Christian community as they “devoted them-selves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.”3 The fellowship described in Acts 2:42 went much deeper than ordi-nary friendship. So strong was their fellowship that they “sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need” (v. 45).

Some of the images in the Bible that describe fellowship among believers include “God’s coworkers” (1 Cor. 3:9), “the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10), “God’s household” (Eph. 2:19), and “every family in heaven and on earth” (3:15).

First John gives the basis for fellowship (see 1 John 1:3,7). The text explains that through their com-mon faith in Jesus’ work on the cross, believers have been brought into a personal and vital relationship with God. Because believers have been brought into God’s family, they enjoy fellowship with the Father and the Son. In addition, believers also enjoy fellowship with one another.4

Thus, Christian fellowship features both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Vertically, believers share an intimate union with God and with His Son, Jesus (see v. 3). Horizontally, believers share Jesus’ love and their partnership in the gospel with fellow believers (see vv. 1,7; Phil. 1:5).

First John 1:3 states that believers “have fellowship,” a strong term conveying the idea of enjoying this fel-lowship, not just stating the fact of it. One’s fellowship with God is not lived in isolation but is shared with all believers. The horizontal and vertical dimensions of fellowship imply that when one is not in fellowship with God, he or she is also not in fellowship with other

B Y G A R Y H A R D I N Right: A young Arab farmer, car-rying a supply of seed in the bottom part of his long shirt, sows the rocky ground near Bethlehem. An older Arab farmer, possibly the young man’s father, pre-pares the field with a simple plow and double-yoked team of donkeys.

Below: Terra-cotta contract written in Elamite script and dated to about 600 B.C. details the work of 3 people who were responsi-ble for shearing 48 sheep; from Susa. A “fellowship” could be a business partnership.

Christian fellowship features both vertical and horizontal dimensions.


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(1 Cor. 10:16). This communion with the Father and the Son during the Lord’s Supper should result in fellow-ship with other believers (v. 17). Might these truths be the reason Paul became angry when the Corinthians abused their observances of the Lord’s Supper? Instead of growing in their fellowship with one another, the Corinthian Christians ignored the needs of their broth-ers and sisters in Christ and created infighting, discord, and divisions in the church (11:17-22).7

Believers not only share fellowship with the Father and the Son, but also with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:13). What, then, is the Holy Spirit’s role in fellowship? He binds believers in fellowship (Eph. 4:3). In this binding of believers, no person is insignificant; and all believers have been endowed with spiritual gifts for the edifica-tion of the church body (1 Cor. 12:4-11). The Holy Spirit also sustains fellowship (Phil. 2:1).

The New Testament reminds believers that fel-lowship with Jesus Christ also includes identification with the sufferings of Christ (Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24). Sometimes believers may have to “suffer with” fellow believers (1 Cor. 12:26).

Negatively, Paul taught that partnership with unbe-lievers is incompatible with the fellowship of believ-ers (2 Cor. 6:14-16). Paul said we cannot “share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons” at the same time (1 Cor. 10:21). Christians must not “participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Eph. 5:11). Neither should Christians fellowship with those who live contrary to Jesus’ teachings nor with those who profess to know Christ but who participate in sexual immorality, drunkenness, idolatry, or thievery (2 John 9-11; 1 Cor. 5:11).8

Fellowship today is more than potluck meals at church. Believers share together their common life in Christ. This unique sharing, or partnership, is not an option but is a way of life for Christ’s followers. I

1. “Fellowship, Communion” in A Theological Word Book of the Bible, ed. Alan Richardson (New York: Macmillan, 1950), 81.

2. Wendell Willis, “Fellowship” in The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, gen. ed. Paul J. Achtemeier (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), 460.

3. All Scripture quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).4. Bruce A. Demarest, “Fellowship” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, gen. ed.

Walter A. Elwell, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997), 789.5. David Walls and Max Anders, I & II Peter, I, II, & III John, Jude, vol. 11 in Holman

New Testament Commentary (Nashville: Holman Reference, 1999), 156; Curtis Vaughan, 1,2,3 John: A Study Guide (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970), 23.

6. Demarest, “Fellowship,” 789-90.7. Bradley Chance, “Fellowship” in Holman Bible Dictionary, gen. ed. Trent C. Butler

(Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991), 482-83.8. W. H. Johnson, “Fellowship” in The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, gen. ed.

Merrill C. Tenney (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 2:567.

Gary Hardin is a retired pastor living in Centre, Alabama.

The apostle Paul sometimes used the word koinonia for the responsibility of believers to share material things with one another. In Romans 15:25-26, Paul had in mind the relief offering for “the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” In 2 Corinthians 8:4, Paul referred to this offering as “sharing in the ministry to the saints.” In 2 Corinthians 9:13, Paul challenged the Corinthian church to show generosity in “sharing” with the needy believers in Jerusalem. In Galatians 6:6, Paul encouraged Christians to “share” materially with Christian teachers.

Christians have been called “into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9). Because of their fellowship with the Father and the Son, followers of Jesus share a “partnership in the gospel” (Phil. 1:5), share a partnership in God’s grace (v. 7), share in the future “glory about to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1), and share in the “divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). The believer’s fellowship will be perfected forever when he or she sees the Savior face to face (1 Cor. 13:12; Rev. 21:3).

Observances of the Lord’s Supper provide a pic-ture of this fellowship with the Father and the Son

Beggar on the street outside the Church of the Annunciation at Nazareth. Sharing one’s blessings with those in need is part of the believer’s respon-sibility.


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TGP: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; 9:6-15

The Krenides stream is located about ½ a mile from ancient Philippi; many believe this to be the location where Paul baptized Lydia.


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that must have been operating before his arrival (1 Thess. 1:7-8). Thus the gospel probably arrived some 15 years or so before Paul came to the region in or about a.d. 50.3

That Acts should remain silent on when the gospel first arrived in Macedonia should not surprise us. Luke, following the leadership of the Spirit, likely intended to heighten

mentions pilgrims from Rome and Asian provinces present on the Day of Pentecost, but somewhat astonishing-ly, Macedonians are conspicuous by their absence. Given that Jews lived in Macedonia (Acts 17:1,10), surely many would have been there—and some would have been converted.2 In his first epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul so much as acknowledged churches

THE MODERN REPUBLIC of Macedonia, founded in 1991, is a quaint tourist attrac-

tion, but hardly the strategic area of yesteryear.1 Established in 146 b.c., the senatorial province of Macedonia was a landmass bridging the main-land Italian peninsula with the Asian continent. Macedonia took in most of the land between the coastline of the western Aegean and the southeastern coast where the Mediterranean and the Adriatic meet. This access to the three largest bodies of water, coupled with the east-west Ignatian Way, insured its importance to the Roman state. Fittingly, Macedonia, which was also the fountainhead for Hellenistic culture and language, received the gospel in the tongue that it had given to the world, Koine Greek.

While most argue that the gos-pel arrived when Paul set foot on Macedonian soil, history indicates that it may have preceded him. Acts 2:5-11

BY RUDY GONZÁLEZ

The 16-pointed Vergina Sun was a popular ornamen-tation for ancient Greeks. (Shown left is a bronze medallion with the emblem.) Although opinions vary, many believe the symbol represents the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire plus the 12 Olympian gods. As Macedonia grew in power, its people increasingly

adopted this as a national symbol. In the 1970s, archae-ologists working in Vergina, Greece, found the sym-bol on a golden coffin in a royal tomb belonging to Philip II of Macedon, Alexander the Great’s father. A variant of the emblem is on the current flag for the Republic of Macedonia (also shown left).

A N E N D U R I N G E M B L E M


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instigated a mob action against him. Again, Paul and company were taken before the local authorities, accused of “upsetting the world” (“These men who have turned the world upside down”; v. 6, hcsb), imply-ing sedition. But the city council found no evidence of it and released them. Fearing further hostility from the Jews, Paul was whisked away to safety that same night.

Paul’s two letters to the Thessalonians reveal his frustration for having left prematurely. While both letters deal with a number of issues, their focus on “last things” is beyond dispute. Paul’s first epis-tle shows that some in the church were wondering if they had missed out on the Lord’s return, a theme Paul touched on at the end of every

occasions (20:6; 2 Cor. 2:13) and the Philippian church never lost touch with him (Phil. 4:2,15). In the second century, Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, wrote to the Philippians acknowledg-ing their interest in Eusebius, whom they may have met as he was taken to his martyrdom in Rome.6

Thessalonica—After a brief stay in the home of Lydia, Paul’s first con-vert from the province (Acts 16:40), Paul continued westward and arrived at the provincial capital of Thessalonica. There he had great suc-cess with Jews, God-fearing Gentiles, and some leading women of the city (17:2-4). Unlike Philippi where the Jews met for Sabbath prayers along the riverbank, Paul’s work centered on the local synagogue. However, jealous over his success, the Jews

the impor-tance of Paul’s

response to the vision of the “Man from Macedonia” (Acts 16:6-10). Paul crossed the Aegean by divine guidance, bringing with him onto the European conti-nent his unique apostolic imprint.4

Philippi—Arriving in Macedonia, Paul traveled along the Ignatian Way, which took him to Philippi.5 There he reached out to a few Jews and some Gentile God-fearers. However, his work in freeing a young girl from demonic activity earned him a beating and landed him and Silas in the local jail (vv. 16-24). The next day the authorities set them free; but, upon learning of Paul’s Roman citizenship, they feared for having mistreated him and urged him to depart (vv. 35-39). We know that Paul returned to Philippi on later

While most argue that the gospelarrived when Paul set foot on

Macedonian soil, history indicates that it may have preceded him.

Left: Ruins at Philippi. In the bottom right cor-ner is a portion of the Ignatian Way. The open area to the left is the

forum. Rising in the background are the massive remains from a Christian basilica built in the 6th cent.

Right: In Thessalonica the Galerius Arch stretched across the ancient Ignatian Way. Completed in about A.D. 305, the arch celebrat-ed the Emperor Galerius’s victory over the Persians in A.D. 298.

Below: Roman aureus, gold, minted at Cyzicus; obverse depicts a cuirassed and draped bust, right, of Emperor Diocletian (reigned A.D. 284–305).


Philippi NeapolisAmphipolis

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continue westward for the sake of evading Jewish hostility? As was his practice, Paul went to the local synagogue and found many of the Jews along with prominent Greek

church wrestled with the nature and timing of the last days in the con-text of tribula-tion, something the church would continue to expe-rience.7 Early in the fourth century, Emperor Diocletian began his “Great Persecutions,” resulting in a number of Thessalonian Christian martyrs.8

Berea—The third Macedonian city Paul visited was Berea (Acts 17:10-14). Unlike Philippi and Thessalonica, which were along the Ignatian Way, Berea was to the south. Did Paul abandon plans to

chapter (1 Thess. 1:10; 2:19-20; 3:13; 4:15-17; 5:23). Paul comforted their concerns by detailing the signs that would precede the gathering of the church to the Lord (4:13–5:11).

In 2 Thessalonians, Paul cor-rected a false impression; some believers thought continued hostil-ity from the locals meant they were experiencing the day of God’s wrath (2 Thess. 1:3-12). Paul explained that such could not happen before the coming of a future apostasy, the removal of some restraining fac-tor, and the revelation of the law-less one (2:3-12). The Thessalonian

Below: Overlooking modern Berea. The ancient city became part of the Roman Empire in 148 B.C. Rome’s General Pompey trained his armies

here at one point. When Paul came to the city and spoke in the syna-gogue, the people were responsive and even eager to hear his message about Christ.


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3. Dimitris J. Kyrtatas, “Early Christianity in Macedonia” in Brill’s Companion to Ancient Macedon Studies in Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC–300 AD, ed. Robin J. Lane Fox (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2011), 586.

4. Note evidences of Paul’s self-understanding. Thus, while the church at Rome clearly predated his arrival, Paul could still assert his unique apostolic role of “estab-lishing” the church (Rom. 1:11; 15:20-24). Likewise, in Romans 15:26-28 we read that Paul will put his “seal” on the offering the Macedonians had sent to Jerusalem.

5. See James S. Jeffers, The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 281-84.

6. Polycarp, To the Philippians 13.2.7. For added analysis see Kendall H. Easley, “Paul and

the Thessalonians,” Biblical Illustrator 35, no. 2 (Winter 2008-09): 43-46.

8. G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, Christian Persecutions, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2006), 35-78.

9. Paul continued south to Athens and Corinth, both cities of the province of Achaia (Acts 17:15–18:1).

10. However, Demas, who deserted the work, may have been from Thessalonica (2 Tim. 4:10).

11. In Titus 3:12, Paul urges his Gentile protégé to meet him at “Nicopolis,” which some take to be the city of that name in the region of Thrace to the northeast. This view is based on a note found at the end of Paul’s letter to Titus in the King James Bible. The note reads, “It was written to Titus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Cretans, from Nicopolis of Macedonia.” However, Nicopolis of Epirus southwest of Macedonia seems to be a better fit. More significantly, if this is the Nicopolis where Paul hoped to spend a winter, it adds support to the view that Paul actually ministered in Greece, an aspect of his ministry not mentioned in Acts.

12. See Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 7.46; 8.47.82.13. F. F. Bruce, “Macedonia” in The Anchor Bible

Dictionary , ed. in chief David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 4:454-57.

Rudy González is dean of the William R. Marshall Center for Theological Studies and professor of New Testament at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, campus at San Antonio, Texas.

2 Cor. 8:1-6) and provided Paul with strong co-labor-ers for the mission (Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2).10 Though the apostle made much of

his self support (1 Cor. 9:11-15; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8-9),

Paul personally benefited from their material generosity as well

(2 Cor. 11:9; Phil. 4:10,18). It was not simply that Paul

crossed into Macedonia to start the work there. The vision that

captured Paul at Troas may well have been of a tall and slender Macedonian believer earnestly urging him to come and “help” (Acts 16:9) by giv-ing the work already there his unique and authoritative apostolic seal.11 In light of this and despite a tradition that Onesimus was the first bishop of Berea,12 believers today may be aston-ished to learn that no record exists showing Macedonian Christians ever playing a leading role for the growth of the church in the centuries that followed Paul’s ministry there.13 I

1. “Macedonia,” from the Greek meaning “length” or “slender,” possibly referring to the height and build of its people. See Robert Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek II (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2010), 894.

2. For the archeological evidence of Jewish syna-gogues in Macedonia see Asher Ovadiah, “Ancient Jewish Communities in Macedonia and Thrace” in Hellenic and Jewish Arts: Interaction, Tradition and Renewal, ed. Asher Ovadiah (Jerusalem: Tel Aviv University, 1998), 185-98.

men and women to be noble and receptive. But again, Paul’s stay in Berea was short-lived. Jews from Thessalonica came and agitated the local population against him, forcing the apostle to abandon the province all together.9

Overall, the New Testament reveals that Macedonian authorities were at least tolerant of Paul’s work, never seeing it as a real threat to the state. The fact that he could show Roman citizenship likely also helped his cause. And with respect to the mis-sion, Macedonian churches continued faithful in the midst of local persecu-tion, often instigated by the ortho-dox Jewish communities (Phil. 1:29; 3:2-3). To their credit, these churches both gave sacrificially (Rom. 15:26;

Right: The Aegean coast at Troas. Antigonus I Monopthalmus founded the town in 310 B.C. and named it Antigonia, after himself. Macedonia’s King Lysimachus killed Antigonus in 301 B.C. and renamed the town Alexandria in honor of Alexander the Great. Because of its close proximity to ancient Troy, the town was nick-named Alexandria Troas, which was later short-ened to Troas. Because of its location near the Straight of Hellespont, Troas became one of the most important cities of the Empire.

Right: Bust of Alexander the Great. When Alexander was 16, his father, Macedonia’s King Philip II,

left for battle and entrusted his son with ruling Macedonia in his absence. In time Alexander became an accomplished military leader, never losing a single battle. After his father’s death, Alexander became king of Macedonia and expanded the empire extensive-ly. He reigned 336-323 B.C., until his death at age 32.


Scrolls, Books Seals&

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ETB: Revelation 5:1-14

B Y E . R A N D O L P H R I C H A R D S


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Most commentators make a passing remark about the “seven seals,” either viewing it as the symbolic number seven, perhaps indicating the fullness of God’s will, or

explaining that it marked the document as legal. Likely the number was intending to invoke a more

common image, that of a legal will or testa-ment.8 The most ancient form of a Roman will was either one filed with the Roman govern-ment or a document “sealed with the signets of

seven witnesses.”9 This second, more everyday method required that when a person made a will,

the spoken words were recorded in the pres-ence of five witnesses plus a libripens (like an executor) and the familiae emptor (the heir10). These last two also functioned as witnesses. Each person would individually seal the will, attesting it as genuine. Distributing the inheritance required the presence of the document plus the seven witnesses. Each

“SO, ANCIENT BOOKS WEREN’T books?” my bewildered freshman Bible stu-dent asked. His confusion is easy to under-

stand. Revelation 5:1 states in the Greek that the One on the throne had in His right hand a biblion. The King James Version translates it “book,” which is accurate; but in antiquity, books were scrolls. Thus, newer English translations will use the word “scroll.”1 This helps mod-ern readers to understand its shape, but it could mislead us to think this was something unusual. A scroll was the ordinary word (and format) for a book.2

Scrolls and BooksIn New Testament times, scrolls were made of parch-ment or papyrus. Parchment sheets were sewn togeth-er. Papyrus sheets were joined by gluing, overlapping the last inch of the sheet over the left edge of the next sheet. Although persons could theoretically make scrolls any length by continuing to sew or glue more sheets, ancients recognized that any length beyond about 30 feet was unwieldy. Papyrus was sold in a standard roll, a charta, 20 sheets long, making a roll about 10 inches tall and 12 feet long. This sold for about four denars (or nearly $500).3 Seneca (lived ca. 4 b.c.–a.d. 65), who wrote letters at the same time as Paul, argued such a roll would “fill the reader’s left hand.”4 What did he mean? People wrote in columns about five inches wide (about 35 characters), starting on the left end of the roll. The next column was to the right and so on, down the length of the scroll, holding about 24 columns. As one read a document, he unrolled with his right hand and rolled with his left, leaving the column he was reading open in between.5

SealsWhen a document was finished, it was rolled up.6 It was then folded double (to keep out prying eyes) and a string was tied around it. Sometimes a blob of clay or wax was pressed over the knot. Once hardened, the knot could not be untied nor the document opened without crumbing the clay or wax. For added security, a seal imprint could be pressed into the clay or wax. The recipi-ent would recognize the seal imprint7 and know the document had not been opened. Revelation 5 is referring to an imprinted clay or wax seal that covered the knot and marked the document as genuine and unopened.

Top: The papyrus plant is a perennial that is native along the Nile. Egyptians used the plant for a writing surface and for making sandals, baskets,

and even boats.

Above: Bronze papyrus cutter with a decorative handle in the form of a duck head.

Below: The Egyptians credited the god Thoth with the invention of writing.


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accordion-style instead of rolled. A long book, like a full roll, would not necessarily be folded.7. In English the word “seal” can be a verb, as in “to seal” a document, and a noun, as in “the

seal” on the document. Worse, the noun can refer both to the impression and also the device to make the impression. So a king can seal a document with a wax seal made with his royal seal.

8. This would be the first image to occur to the reader. Of course, the Revelation will also make use of the symbolic imagery of seven.

9. Gaius, The Institutes of Gaius 2.147 (A.D. 161). The practice was established by the Lex Cornelia (81-80 B.C.) and was also mentioned by Cicero (Ver. 2.1.117).

10. The executor holds the ceremonial “scale of balance” and the heir fictitiously “buys the family”; Gaius, The Institutes of Gaius 2.102-104.

E. Randolph Richards is dean of the School of Ministry and professor of biblical studies at Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, Florida.

witness would presumably verify that a particular seal was his and genuine, break his seal, and then untie his string. Then the next witness would step forward to do the same. Revelation 5 is likely using the common image of the opening of a valid will, in this case the disposition of cre-ation. At first no one “worthy” is found to open the seals, meaning they were not an original witness. No creature in heaven was present when this will was made; it was before creation. Then we see the Lamb. He alone had been pres-ent and all the seals belong to Him, making Him executor and heir as well. This is yet another image describing how God’s plan for Jesus to inherit all was set before creation.

Although the image of a will was common, the image in Revelation 5:1 of a book written “front and back” was most unusual. For parchment, the hair-side of the leather was darker and less desirable for writing and was considered the “back” of the sheet. For papyrus, the side with the strips vertical was harder to write across and was considered the “back” of the sheet. Scrolls were written on the inside. This part of the vision was likely intending to show how very full and rich the inheritance was. It would not fit on a normal scroll without writing on the front and the back. I

1. Technically the English noun is a roll and the verb is scroll. Thus, we scroll a roll. Early in the computer age, users referred to scrolling the page, somewhat like one would scroll a roll. In popular language, though, we refer to the roll as a scroll, and we roll up a scroll, to the dismay of English language purists.

2. The format of book we use today, with a binding and pages, was called in antiquity a codex (plural, codices). The form arose from the older practice of using wax tablets. Two, three, five (or occasionally more) tablets were stacked together and tied on one side, resembling our modern book form. But in the Bible, the term “book” meant a scroll and not a codex. In 2 Timothy 4:13, where Paul told Timothy to bring the books and parchments, the books were scrolls and the parchments were likely notebooks in the codex format; see E. Randolph Richards, “The Codex and the Early Collection of Paul’s Letters” in Bulletin for Biblical Research 8 (1998): 151-66.

3. According to Pliny the Elder, writing a generation before the New Testament, papyrus sheets came in multiple sizes from Augusta sheets which were 13 digits wide (about 10 inches) to emporetica sheets which were 6 digits wide (nearly 5 inches); Natural History 13.11. Or see E. Randolph Richards, Paul and First-Century Letter Writing (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2004), 161-69.

4. Seneca, Epistle 45.13 in Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, vol. 4 in Seneca in Ten Volumes, The Loeb Classical Library, trans. Richard M. Gummere (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1979), 299.

5. Modern images often incorrectly show a scroll being read as if it were one column wide and twelve feet long.

6. In the case of letters (which were usually one sheet long), the letter was often folded

Upper left: The seal of Baruch, whose name means “Blessed.” Baruch was a scribe for

Jeremiah, who ministered about 626-584 B.C.

Left: Discovered at Khirbet Qeiyafa

in central Israel, this soapstone seal has an incense burner with a scar-ab above in the center; a ma’at

feather and a styl-ized cobra are on either side.

Above: Egyptian scroll with a seal.

Below: Library from the old Sumerian city-states; dates 3000–2350 B.C., Early Bronze Age.


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OVERLOOKING THE northwest corner of the Dead Sea, Qumran has

fascinated explorers for well over 100 years, beginning with British surveyors in the 1870s. Three pri-mary roads converged at Qumran. The first led north to Jericho; the second, south to Masada and

En-Gedi; and the third, west to Jerusalem. Excavations at the site show occupation back to the Iron Age. Some believe Qumran to be the site of either the City of Salt or Secacah of Joshua 15:61-62.

A discovery in 1947 made Qumran one of the most biblical-ly significant archaeological sites of the twentieth century. Stored away in 11 caves were over 900 scrolls and scroll fragments on which were written ancient texts. Among the texts were complete books and parts of books from the Old Testament (in fact, all except Esther), religious writings, and rules for community living. The most significant scroll was a com-plete text of Isaiah. This Isaiah scroll measures about 8 1/2 inches high and over 24 feet long. Some fragments, though, were quite small, the size of a postage stamp or thumbnail.

Evidence indicates an obscure Jewish sect, the Essenes, who lived during the time of Christ, lived at Qumran and copied the texts. Scholars surmise that when the Jewish revolt against the Romans began in a.d. 66, the Essenes pro-tected their texts by storing them in terra-cotta jars, which they placed in caves near Qumran.

The Qumran documents were roughly 900–1,200 years older than the previously oldest-known Old Testament texts—texts scholars had used when translating the Bible. Amazingly, comparisons show the texts to be virtually identical—in spite of the roughly 1,000-year span separating them.

The similarity proves that through the centuries, those who copied the Bible did so with amaz-ing precision. Thus, we can rely on the Bibles we read today as having come from accurate texts. I

Ruins of the Essene community at Qumran.

Below: Part of the Isaiah Scroll from Qumran.


TheJordan River

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people’s crossing was a crucial step in God fulfilling His promise to Abraham and the patriarchs hundreds of years earlier. So the thrilling climax of all that had happened thus far was now before them. They were about to cross over the Jordan River, the last obstacle between them and the promised land.

But what do we know about the Jordan River? What makes it dif-ferent from other rivers, especially when compared to such historic watercourses as the Amazon, the longest river in South America; the Mississippi, at more than 2,300 miles long in North America; and the Nile, spanning about 4,130 miles across the African con-tinent? Yet, even though it is much smaller, the Jordan has geographi-cal, historical, and spiritual sig-nificance that has endeared it to many civilizations and cultures. It has captured the hearts and minds of biblical his-torians and poets and has b e e n

THE TIME HAD COME for the Israelites to enter and possess the land God

had promised them. The spies had returned from Jericho with their favorable report. Joshua’s task now was to prepare the people to cross the last barrier and to begin pos-sessing the promised land. As He had with Moses, God spoke to Joshua and gave him specific direc-tions about what was to happen. Following the Lord’s instructions, Joshua had the people gather provi-sions and prepare for the crossing. He also instructed the people that, upon seeing the 12 Levitical priests carrying the ark, they were to break camp, consecrate themselves, and follow the priests into the Jordan’s springtime floodwaters.

We can hardly imagine the people’s high emotions. Leaving Egypt under the leadership of Moses was a “departure” for them. The 40 years passing through the wilderness was a time for them to enter into covenant with their God. It was an experience of train-ing, a preparation for an entirely new lifestyle. But crossing the Jordan River was the “arrival” con-nected to the departure from Egypt and the wilderness experience. The

the source of numerous folk songs and hymns.

The Birth of a RiverWe think of the birth of a nation, of a city, even a village—but the birth of a “river”? An overview of the geographical history of the Jordan River highlights its uniqueness among the world’s rivers. The head-waters of the Jordan gush from the rocks at the foot of Mount Hermon in northern Israel, about 1,000 feet above sea level. These rocks are part of a limestone ridge so porous that melted snow from the moun-tain’s heights seeps through to its base. Four rivers actually come together and form the source of the Jordan River—the Banias, the el-Leddan, the Hasbani, and the Bareighit. The Jordan then courses through the Huleh basin and empties i n t o

By David L. Jenkins

BSFL: Joshua 3:3-17

Right: The Jordan River as it flows through central Israel.


Hasbani River

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1. The Banias Falls and River form one of the headwaters of the Jordan River.

2. The Hasbani is one of the four riv-ers that combine to form the Jordan River.

3. The Jabbok River enters the Jordan from the east, about 15 miles north of the Dead Sea.

4. Bell tower and Orthodox church

dedicated to John the Baptist at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which is east of the Jordan River and in the country of Jordan. The church commemo-rates two major events that occurred in this area, Elijah’s ascension and Jesus’ baptism.

5. Jordan Valley near Mount Nebo; the Dead Sea is visible in the in the distance.


water and cried out, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”4 after which the waters again divided and he passed over (2 Kings 2:8-14). And who can forget the dramatic story of Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, who, stricken by leprosy, was told by the prophet Elisha to dip himself seven times in the Jordan, and he would receive cleansing from his leprosy (5:10)?

The ministry of John the Baptist, heralding the coming of Jesus, centered around the Jordan River, in whose waters he reluc-tantly obeyed his Lord and bap-tized Jesus (Matt. 3:13-15). While the major part of Jesus’ ministry was around the Sea of Galilee, the second phase of His work focused on the west side of the Jordan, where He performed miracles and taught the people with many parables (see Luke 12–19:27).

Concluding this look at the Jordan River, we return to Joshua’s challenge to his people as they stood on the banks of the Jordan. Joshua told them to follow the priests who bore the ark. As the priests entered the Jordan, the waters divided so that they stood with the ark on dry ground “until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan” (Josh. 3:17). Here is a challenge to all of us to follow those spiri-tual leaders who faithfully guide us in paths of righteousness for the glory of our Lord. I

1. Joseph L. Gardener, ed., Reader’s Digest Atlas of the Bible (Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest Association, 1981), 40.

2. Ibid.; Philip Lee, “Jordan River” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, gen. ed. Chad Brand, Charles Draper, and Archie England (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 946.

3. Philip Lee, “Jordan River,” 946. 4. Quotation is part of verse 14. All Scripture quota-

tions are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).

David L. Jenkins is a retired pastor living in Gilmer, Texas.

The Importance of the JordanAs it descends to the south, the Jordan River passes through three significant stages. The river flows almost seven miles from its source at Mount Hermon, traveling through a marshland of reeds, bulrushes, and papyrus, before reaching Lake Huleh. As the river leaves Lake Huleh, it flows about 10 miles to the Sea of Galilee. Upon leaving the Sea of Galilee and on its way to the Dead Sea, the Jordan passes through a fertile region.3

First-time travelers to Israel are commonly amazed at the striking changes in the terrain within the boundaries of such a small coun-try. The countryside is filled with lemon and orange groves, with banana trees also producing their luscious fruit. Then, not many miles to the south, one encoun-ters bleak stretches of desert and stark, jutting limestone hills. There, nomadic shepherds herd their sheep and goats in search of sparse grasslands and limited water sources.

Memorable EventsNot only does the Jordan River play a significant role in the geographi-cal history of Israel, it was the site of several outstanding events in both Old and New Testament times. Those that stand out to us include the parting between Elijah and Elisha at the Jordan River, when Elijah struck the water with his mantle, causing the waters to divide so that the two of them walked across on dry ground. As they walked along, a chariot of fire came from the heavens, sepa-rating them; Elijah was taken by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha took Elijah’s mantle that had fallen from him and returned to the banks of the Jordan where he struck the

the Sea of Galilee, the world’s low-est freshwater lake, 696 feet below sea level.1 The Jordan River thus flows from Mount Hermon in the far north to the Dead Sea in the south. The distance between Lake Huleh and the Dead Sea is about 75 miles, although the river’s twisting route is approximately 200 miles.

One of the most memorable Old Testament scenes is that of Moses standing on Mount Nebo and view-ing the promised land to which he was denied entrance. On a clear day, one can stand there and see the sparkling snows atop Mount Hermon to the north, and follow the Jordan River on its meandering route south through the Rift Valley, until its final entrance into the Dead Sea to the south. Then, to the far west, lies the Mediterranean, the western boundary of the prom-ised land. The northern part of this valley through which the river flows is fertile, but the southern end, approaching the Dead Sea, is arid desert. Between these two points, however, areas of dense for-estation grow along the riverbank. The Yarmuk and Jabbok Rivers are the two main tributaries of the Jordan, joining it from the east. Several smaller tributaries dry up during the hot summers.

Leaving the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, again at about 696 feet below sea level, the Jordan River continues southward until it enters the Dead Sea at almost 1,300 feet below sea level.2 Thus, in spite of its twisting course, the Jordan follows a continually plunging journey from its lofty beginning at Mount Hermon to its arrival at the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth (on land). The dramatic drop certainly helps explain the river’s Hebrew name, ha-yarden, translated, “the descender.”


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Selected previous articles that support lessons for this quarter are listed according to curricu-lum series and date. Titles in italics are in the Summer 2015 Biblical Illustrator Bundle, available at www.lifeway.com/biblicalillustrator.

BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE

JUNE 7—Be Strong and Courageous Sp’00; Joshua: The New Leader F’93; Joshua: A Man on Mission W’90; Ancient Lebanon Sp’89; The Jordan River Sp’89

JUNE 14—The Peoples of Canaan Su’12; The Ark of the Covenant in Joshua’s Time F’01; Joshua: The New Leader F’93; Joshua: A Man on Mission W’90; The Jordan River Sp’89

JUNE 21—From Slaves to Soldiers F’06; The Ark of the Covenant in Joshua’s Time F’01; Jericho: That Ancient City F’01; Joshua’s Conquest of the Land Sp’00

JUNE 28—Israel as Tribes Su’12; Ai F’06; The Levites W’01-02; The Levites W’90

JULY 5—The Peoples of Canaan Su’12; Shiloh: Its Historical and Symbolic Significance Sp’05; A History of Shiloh Su’96; Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh Su’81

JULY 12—Who Were the Amorites? Su’07; Joshua’s History Recital F’01; The Gods Before the Flood W’90; Shechem W’88; The Gods on the Flood’s Other Side Su’77

JULY 19—The Book of Jonah in its Historical Setting Su’09; God’s Message for Nineveh W’03-04; Sackcloth and Fasting in Jonah F’02; Jonah: His Life and Times F’99; Ancient Nineveh W’96

JULY 26—Ephesus, A Historical Survey Sp’08; Lampstands in Revelation F’04; The Cities of Revelation 1–3 W’99-00; Who Were the Nicolaitans? W’99-00; The Churches Around Ephesus F’79

AUGUST 2—Nehemiah: A Historical Setting Sp’09; Nehemiah’s Life in the Palace Sp’09; The Persian Empire W’06-07

AUGUST 9—Ezra, Scribe and Priest W’06-07; Postexilic Hebrew Worship Practices W’06-07; The Levites W’01-02

AUGUST 16—Poverty and Wealth in the Early Church F’03; Barnabas: Son of Encouragement Sp’03; The First-Century Church & Poverty W’98-99

AUGUST 23—Fasting in the First Century W’08-09; Barnabas and Paul’s Missionary Journey F’00; The Church at Antioch of Syria Sp’95; The Laying on of Hands Sp’89

AUGUST 30—First-Century Marriage Customs in Israel W’99-00; Luke’s Use of ‘’Kingdom’’ F’90; Feasting: First-Century Practices W’87

EXPLORE THE BIBLE

JUNE 7—“Light” in John’s Writings Su’09; Fellowship: The Meaning W’99-00; John’s Use of “Witness” W’99-00; The Purpose & Life Situation of John’s Letters W’99-00

JUNE 14—Love in John’s Writings Su’11; “Abide” in John’s First Epistle Su’09; “Propitiation” A Word Study Sp’04; Abide: The Meaning W’99-00; Fellowship: The Meaning W’99-00

JUNE 21—Love in John’s Writings Su’11; “Abide” in John’s First Epistle Su’09; The “World” as a New Testament Concept W’08-09; Abide: The Meaning W’99-00; Christ and the Kosmos Su’98

JUNE 28—“Spirit” in John’s Writings F’10; Gnosticism W’97-98; My Little Children Su’93; Gnosticism F’82

JULY 5—Savior: A Word Study W’14-15; Love in John’s Writings Su’11; “Propitiation” A Word Study Sp’04

JULY 12—The Word “Word” in the First Century W’11-12; Love in John’s Writings Su’11; “Spirit” in John’s Writings F’10; Faith Affirmed W’97-98; Temptation W’97-98

JULY 19—“Seven” in the Book of Revelation Sp’14; John’s Use of Alpha & Omega Sp’00; Alpha and Omega Sp’92

JULY 26—White Raiment in Revelation F’14; Thrones as Symbols of Authority Su’08; The Cities of Revelation 1–3 W’99-00

AUGUST 2—White Raiment in Revelation F’14; “Seven” in the Book of Revelation Sp’14; Crowns: Their Significance and Symbolism Sp’13; Thrones as Symbols of Authority Su’08

AUGUST 9—Angels as Heralds of God W’08-09; Thrones as Symbols of Authority Su’08; Worthy: The Meaning Su’03; Of Seals and Scrolls Su’96

AUGUST 16—Crowns: Their Significance and Symbolism Sp’13; Horses: Their Use in the First Century F’09; The “Trumpet” in the New Testament W’97; Of Seals and Scrolls Su’96; Chariots W’89; Seals and Scrolls Sp’81

AUGUST 23— Angels as Heralds of God W’08-09; The Heavenly Host F’99; Michael in Jewish History Su’95; The Beast and the Dragon: Historical Interpretations Sp’82

AUGUST 30—Thrones as Symbols of Authority Su’08; A New Heaven and a New Earth Su’08; The Seas as Divine Imagery F’04; John’s Use of Alpha & Omega Sp’00

THE GOSPEL PROJECT

JUNE 7—The Heart: A Hebrew Understanding F’09; The Word: A Description F’09; The Heart in Old Testament Theology W’01-02; Statutes, Commandments, Judgments, and Testimonies F’92

JUNE 14—With a Voice of Singing: Hymns in the Early Church Sp’07; “You Have Heard It Said” Jewish Laws Behind Jesus’ Teachings F’07; Christology in Colossians Su’00; Laws Behind Jesus’ Teaching W’96; The Roman Mile Su’84

JUNE 21—Cana in the First Century F’13; Winemaking in Ancient Israel F’11; Wine in First-Century Israel F’02; Cana in Galilee W’00-01; First-Century Jewish Marriage Customs F’86

JUNE 28—Boundary Markers Su’08; The Proverbs: Their Structure and Form Su’08; Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible W’03-04; Moses’ Family W’01–02; The Nature of the Hebrew Psalms Su’89; The Nile Sp’88

JULY 5—Philemon in Its Cultural Setting Sp’11; The Messiah: Jewish Concepts in the First Century F’09; Paul, the Letter Writer Su’06; Apocalyptic Literature Su’05; Letters from Prison Su’00

JULY 12—Love in John’s Writings Su’11; James’s Ethical Imperatives Su’09; The Law of Freedom W’01–02; The Love of God Su’90

JULY 19—“Our Father”—Jesus’ Prayer Practices & Instructions W’13-14; God as Heavenly Father W’88; The Kingdom of Heaven W’88; Forgiveness Su’86

JULY 26—Evil: The Meaning Sp’01; Hosting a Friend Su’91; God as Heavenly Father W’88; Parables in the Ancient World W’83

AUGUST 2—The Work of the Holy Spirit: A Biblical Overview Su’12; Paul, the Prisoner F’10; First-Century Armor Su’05

AUGUST 9—Sackcloth and Fasting in Jonah F’02; Fasting in the First Century W’08-09; God’s Message for Nineveh W’03-04

AUGUST 16—Hospitality in the First Century F’14; To Practice Hospitality W’05-06; Early Christian Hospitality Su’98; City Gates Sp’88

AUGUST 23—A “Cheerful” Giver Sp’14; Paul’s Stewardship Principles Sp’14; Titus and the Corinthians W’03-04

AUGUST 30—Not Ashamed: Why It Mattered W’14-15; Worship in the Ancient Church Sp’10; To Be Bold F’00

W-Winter Sp-Spring Su-Summer F-Fall

To access the online Biblical Illustrator index, go to www.lifeway.com/biblicalillustrator and click on the link for the complete index of articles


A chronological, Christ-centered Bible study for Kids, Students, and Adults.

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EVERY STORY CASTS HIS SHADOW.

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B I B L I C A L

COMING NEXT QUARTER

The Bible Studies for Life curriculum will explore how to build your life on God’s prom-ises and how to impact the world (looking at the Book of Daniel). In support of these studies, next quarter’s Biblical Illustrator will include these articles and more:

Who Was Belshazzar?At the Right HandWise Men from the East

Shown top is a carved scene on an eighth-century Anglo-Saxon whale-bone box. The scene depicts the wise men visiting Jesus.

The Gospel Project curriculum will look at God both as Creator and Covenant-Maker in the Book of Genesis. In support of these studies, next quarter’s Biblical Illustrator will include these articles and more:

Birthrights in the Ancient WorldThe gods of CorinthSerpents in Scripture

Shown center is Paul’s Bay at Malta. While Paul was on the island of Malta, a poisonous snake bit his hand.

The Explore the Bible curriculum will study the Book of Genesis. In support of these studies, next quarter’s Biblical Illustrator will include these articles and more:

Evil: The MeaningThe Angel of the LordThe Significance of Ancient Towers

Shown bottom is an artist’s ren-dering of a ziggurat. Ancient peoples believed gods descend-ed the steps to bring blessings to the city below.

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