More Things ... 20
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Mountains and Valleys
Mountains and Valleys
Penetrating into Canaan and establishing itself as an independent state didn’t solve the problem of cosmic geography for Israel. If anything, it sharpened the conflict. Not only was Israel surrounded by hostile nations and their gods, but there were also pockets of supernatural resistance from within.
The period of the judges and the monarchy form a tale of military and spiritual struggle. On the ground, the Israelites were still hamstrung by the presence of the Rephaim/Nephilim who had escaped annihilation in the conquest and by incursions from enemies on the peripheries. If you remember last week we noted that in Joshua 11: 21-23 it is clear that the eradication of the Anakim had not been total. The writer of Joshua noted in that passage that some Anakim were known to live in cities that would later become cities of the Philistines — Israel’s chief enemy during the united monarchy. Spiritually, these conflicts had high stakes, as they signaled the infiltration of other gods siphoning off Israelite worshippers into their own cults. Since believing loyalty to Yahweh was foundational to God’s protection and remaining in the land, the spiritual battle was just as much of a threat as the physical one.
The books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings clearly describe the military conflict. That is the one that is easy to see through modern eyes and a modern worldview. But beneath the surface there is a war of another nature raging. We will see a few example’s today.
Holy Ground
Holy Ground
When Moses was told to construct the tabernacle and its equipment, the Bible tells us that God revealed a pattern for doing so Exod 26:30
Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.
Earlier in these meetings we discussed how the Tabernacle fit a pattern of the culture for the location of divine beings. We need to revisit the tabernacle here, since its history prepares us for the more permanent temple - the place where the Name would dwell.
The implication of God having Moses follow a divine pattern is that the tabernacle tent structure on earth was to be a copy of the heavenly tent- as in heaven, so on earth. The heavenly tent prototype was the heavens themselves
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
In other words, the heavens and earth were conceived of as God’s true temple. The earthly dwelling place erected by the Israelites mimicked the one in heaven.
The tabernacle was more than an abode Isa 66:1
Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
And what is in the tabernacle? The Ark of the Covenant, the sacred object associated with God’s presence --- His Name.
The tabernacle traveled with Israel during the entire journey. First it was at Bethel, “house of God.” Where Jacob had his encounter with Yahweh and the angels of his council atop the ladder. It was the place where the angels of God appeared when he was fleeing Esau and it was where Jacob built an altar and a pillar to commemorate the appearance of the visible God.
Later the Tabernacle will be moved from Bethel to Shiloh. Once that occured it was said the “house of God” was Shiloh. Shiloh became the place of sacrifice and at Shiloh we see the boy Samuel encounter the physicalized Yahweh.
Eli the priest later foolishly sent the ark of the covenant out to battle, and it fell into the hands of the Philistines, who took it to Ashod and installed it in the temple of their god, Dagon. this cracks me up
This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
God’s presence destroyed the statue of Dagon and the threshold was now Yahweh’s geography — they dared not walk on it.
Eventually the ark was brought to Jerusalem. At first, David placed it in a temporary tent he had made for it, under the assumption that he was going to build a temple for it.
Like the tabernacle, the temple contains striking imagery associated with Eden. Eden was a lush garden and a holy mountain. The tabernacle’s tend enclosure contained furnishings and decorations that evoked Edenic imagery. All of these motifs, tent, mountain, garden — come together in the temple, the fixed place where Yahweh was considered to dwell and order the earth and the heavens with his council.
The Temple as Cosmic Tent Dwelling
The Temple as Cosmic Tent Dwelling
Many Bible readers assume that once the temple was built the tabernacle was forgotten or perhaps permanently dismantled. In reality, the tabernacle tent, with its holy of holies, was moved into the temple with the ark.
Recall that within the tabernacle was another building, completely covered with curtains, called the holy place. This room was divided in two by a veil, behind which was the holy of holies, the room that contained the ark.
There was one major difference, though, between the inner sanctum of the temple and that of the tabernacle. The inner area of the temple has two giant cherubim in it, standing side by side, the tips of their wings stretching across to touch each other.
The effect of this was that the cherubim wings formed the seat of a throne for Yahweh, and the ark was his footstool. The width and height dimensions between the cherubim can accommodate the size of the tented holy of holies. This has led some biblical scholars to theorize that the tented holy of holies was moved inside the temple, erected under and between the cherubim. In this temple, the imagery of Yahweh on his throne and “living” in the ancient tent were both preserved.
The Temple as Cosmic Mountain and Garden
The Temple as Cosmic Mountain and Garden
As we look at several texts note this:
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
Thus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain.
But .. let’s face it… Mount Zion isn’t much of a mountain and it certainly isn’t located in the geographical north — it is in the south, so what is it about that reference?
other gods of the region had their thrones in the far north. Here the Psalmist is stealing glory from Baal, restoring it to where it belongs, it is a theological and literary slap in the face, another polemic.
This explains why it sounds odd when dealing with Jerusalem’s actual geography. This is why Isaiah and Micah used phrases like “the mountain of the house of Yahweh”. The description is designed to make a theological point, not a geographical one. Zion is the center of the cosmos, and Yahweh and his council are its king and administrators, not Baal.
The temple is also the Edenic garden, full of lush vegetation and animals. The description of the temples construction in 1st Kings 6-7 is explicit in this regard. Flowers, palm trees, gourds, cypress trees, cherubim, lions, and pomegranates all adorn the temple via its carved features.
In Ezekiel vision of the new temple, he saw a temple built on a high mountain, whose courts were decorated with palm trees. The interior was decorated with more palm trees and cherubim. Ezekiel’s temple garden was well watered, like Eden, since a river flowed from it that supernaturally gave life to everything else.
In Israel’s theology, Eden, the tabernacle, Sinai, and the temple were all equally the abode of God and his council. The Israelites were constantly reminded of the fact that they had the God of the cosmic mountain and garden living in their midst, and if they obeyed him, Zion would become the kingdom and domain of Yahweh, which would serve as the place to which he would regather the disinherited nations cast aside at Babel to himself. Look at Micah 4: 1-2
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Unholy Ground
Unholy Ground
In stark contrast to the temple, there were sinister places within Canaan that became associated with the powers of darkness specifically the remnant of the Rephaim/Nephilim, bloodlines. Earlier we discussed (some time ago) that the conquest came across the Rephaim. The Rephaim were giants. Deuteronomy informed us that the Anakim were considered Rephaim Deut 2: 11
Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
as were the Zamzummim Deut 2:20
(It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim—
Remember Og Deut 3:11
(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
And the location Bashan Deut 3:13
The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim.
We are told in Joshua 11:22 that the conquest had failed to eliminate all the Anakim; that some remained in the Philistine cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. The Rephaim presence remained until the time of David. The giant Goliath, who came from Gath, was a descendent of the Anakim/Rephaim. He had brothers also 1 Chron 20: 4-8
And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued. And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, struck him down. These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
The Rephaim of the Transjordon in the days of Moses were associated not only with Bashan but also Ashtaroth and Edrei, two cities that, in the literature of Ugarit, were considered as marking the gateway to the underworld. In David’s time, the Rephaim were also associated with death in a more peripheral, but similar, way.
Valley of the Rephaim.
Valley of the Rephaim.
There are around 10 references in the Old Testament to a place known as the Valley of the Rephaim. On several occasions the Philistines are described as camped there. Joshua 15:8 and 18:16 tells us that the Valley of the Rephaim adjoined another valley - the Valley of Hinnom, also known as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. In Hebrew “Valley of Hinnom” is ge hinnom, from which the name gehenna derives.
In New Testament times, gehenna had become a designation for the fiery realm of the dead — hell or Hades. The history of this valley was no doubt a part of the reason for this conception. The translated meaning of Gehenna is most likely “valley of wailing,” an understandable description given the child sacrifice that took place there. The Valley of Hinnom was the place where King Ahaz and King Manasseh sacrificed their own sons as burnt offerings to Molech. These sacrifices took place at ritual centers called topheth (burning place), and later the Valley of Hinnom became referred to by the place name Tophet Jer 7:32
Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere.
The meaning and identity of Molech is a hotly debated topic for historians of the time period. It is hard to see one clear association, however, as coincidental. Molech’s name appears on two snake charms connected with the city Ashtaroth, the place known from the biblical accounts about Og. Another text puts Rpu, the patron deity of the Rephaim, in Ashtaroth as well. These texts at the very least inform us that there was a close relationship between Molech and the Rephaim. This makes sense in light of the geographical relationship between the Valley of the Rephaim and the Valley of Hinnom in the Old Testament.
What is fascinating or disturbing is that the location of these valley is directly adjacent to the southern side of Jerusalem, Mount Zion, the place of Yahweh’s presence in his temple.
The Spiritual Valley
The Spiritual Valley
These examples are just a sampling of the cosmic-geographical worldview of the biblical writers and their times. Spiritual conflict lurks behind a wide range of Old Testament episodes and practices. The conflict between the powers of darkness and the presence of Yahweh was an ever-present part of life for the ancient Israelites being seduced by or embracing those powers.
Isreal enjoyed a united monarchy (all 12 one king) through the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. The enterprise began poorly. The Israelite’s demand for a king was not a call for someone who would administer righteousness within the country and bring stability. Rather, is was a rejection of God’s ability to fight for his obedient people. The divine warrior of the exodus and wars against the Anakim had been cast aside for - ironically - the tallest person on the Israelite side. God gave them what they asked for and they paid the price.
Eventually the kingdom solidified under David, the man after God’s own heart. In fact, God picked him out specifically for the task and validated his status with a victory over a Rephaim giant in single combat. God went so far as to initiate a covenant with David, declaring that only David’s descendents would be legitimate heirs of his kingship.
That succession lasted one generation, through the kingship of Solomon. Once he was gone, the kingdom split into two kingdom: Israel (10 tribes) and Judah (2 tribes), with its capital in Jerusalem. It was only a matter of time before each of them succumbed to idolatrous disloyalty to Yahweh. In the northern kingdom, it happened immediately. Jeroboam, Israel’s first rebel king, made a re-built Shechem his first capital city. Shechem has been the place where Joshua had gathered Israel before his death to dedicate the nation to finishing the conquest and remaining pure before Yahweh. Jeroboam set up cult centers for Baal worship in two places to mark the extent of his realm: Dan (which was in the region of Bashan, close to Mount Hermon) and Bethel (the place where Yahweh had appeared to the patriarchs.
The symbolism of spiritual warfare in theses decisions was clear. No one faithful to God would have missed their intended contempt. Ten of Israel’s tribes were now under the dominion of other gods. Yahweh would destroy Israel in 722 BC via the Assyrian Empire.
Judah, the southern kingdom, declaring loyalty to David and Yahweh, would also fail. They too would have kings who turned from Yahweh. The Davidic dynasty eventually collapsed and Judah’s people were sent into exile in - of all places - Babylon.
We must not conclude that God didn’t try to turn the hearts of his people back to himself. That is precisely why he raised up prophets- after they had met with him and his council - next week.