Nehemiah: Everybody on the Wall

Nehemiah, chapter 2

To all my blogger friends--sorry for the delay in getting this post up. What can I say--not lazy, just busy.

Anyway, I wanted to share a bit more about Nehemiah's Jerusalem. In chapter two of Nehemiah we have a brief account of Nehemiah's night-time examination of the condition of the walls around Jerusalem and then chapter three gives a very detailed account of the teams that were rebuilding the wall, and what sections they were working on. This is the best biblical description (and non-biblical, for that matter) of the Jerusalem of the post-exile period and it is rather intriguing. It leaves us and scholars trying to picture what Nehemiah's Jerusalem was like, particularly, how big was it--where did the walls actually run. A lot is still up in the air. But here are some maps and diagrams that help us picture what it might have been like.

First of all, we might ask what was the size of Jerusalem just before it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC? In the diagram below, notice the area called "City of David" just below the rectangular Temple Mount. That was the city when David took it from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5). He quickly moved the Ark of the Covenant there (2 Sam. 6:15) and began to make plans to eventually build a permanent temple (2 Sam 7, 1 Chronicles 22), but was forbidden by God to do so (2 Sam. 7). The task of temple building would be left for his son, Solomon. However, David began assembling material and eventually purchased the threshing floor of Araunah (2 Sam. 24:16 and 1 Chron. 21:15), which was the high ground north of the City of David, which became the Temple area and today is the Temple Mount.

This area (City of David and Temple Mount) seems to have remained the walled in city of Jerusalem for some time.Solomon expanded the walls to include his palace (which lay between the City of David and the high ground on which the Temple was built (1 Kings 3:1), but it does not seem that he extended the walls West, though no doubt some people were living there outside the walls of the old city.

We know that with the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC, there was an influx of people into Jerusalem from the North. This was during the reign of Hezekiah, and he extended the walls (2 Chron. 32:5) to include the Western Hill (the black lines on the map above).

By the way, the faded lines on the above map show the line of the current walls of Jerusalem, built by Suleiman the Turk in the 1500's.

And finally, the red line in the above map marks an additional expansion, perhaps under Hezekiah's son, Manasseh (2 Chron.33:14) or during the reign of Josiah (2 Kings 22:14, 2 Chron. 34:22), for this is the first time we read of the "New Quarter."

So on the map above, the City of David and Temple Mount walls, along with the black line of Hezekiah and the red line of later additions, comprised Jerusalem before it was destroyed in 586 BC.

But how much of that did Nehemiah rebuild. There are two views held by scholars, neither of which can be proven with any certainty. Here they are in map form. The first is the view that assumes a smaller (shorter) wall. (Note the current city walls which are not shaded and given for comparison.)

However, the other view point would suggest a larger city. Here is another map assuming longer walls.

Which is correct--don't know, but I would expect the smaller (shorter) of the two. Remember, the task was finished in 52 days.

I like this image, which is built on the shorter wall viewpoint. Link here Nehemiah's Jerusalem.

So much for the history lesson. As important as that is, it is the spiritual lessons we are really trying to learn, which I tried to lift up in the sermon for this week. if you did not hear it on Sunday, give it a listen via the link on the side of the blog.

Thanks for digging deeper.

Nehemiah: Broken over Brokenness

Nehemiah 1:1 - 2:5

This sermon begins a short four-sermon series drawn from the life and experience of Nehemiah. To get the most from this series, you would benefit from digging into the history of the post-exile period of biblical history. Reading Ezra will add information that precedes that which is recorded in Nehemiah, and then reading the three last prophetic books in the Bible (Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi) will add insight since these three prophets spoke their messages during this time period. I will have only limited time to deal with this history part of things in the sermons themselves, not to mention, it would bore most people.

As we may remember, the Jewish nation of Judah had fallen to the Babylonians and Jerusalem, along with Solomon's Temple, was finally destroyed in 586 BC with many of the leading Israelites taken captive back to Babylon to live. Jeremiah and others had prophecies that this captivity would last 70 years. During those years, the Jews taken to Babylon adjusted to their new life there and for the most part fared rather well. The books of Esther and Daniel record events related to the Jews living in the Babylonian, and later, Persian empires. Back in Jerusalem, the Jews who were not taken to Babylon as captives, settled into life there, many being assimilated in the larger culture. We meet up with these in Ezra-Nehemiah, mostly around the difficulty of inter-marriage.

In 539 BC, the Persians, under the leadership of Cyrus the Great, defeated the nation of Babylon. Almost immediately, Cyrus issued a decree allowing deported peoples to return to their homelands and encouraging them to rebuild the cities there, and specifically, the temples to their various Gods. Some Jews took him up on his offer and returned to Jerusalem. Ezra-Nehemiah record these Aliyahs (this is what Jews call returns to the Holy Land, even today). The first return in 538 was led by Zerubabbel and Jeshua with the aim of rebuilding the Temple, which was completed in 516 BC. The next return was led by Ezra in 458 with a goal at bringing spiritual reform and the third major return was led by Nehemiah in 444 BC with an aim at rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. In all, over 50,000 Jews returned from their deportation.

This sermons series will be drawing from experiences during this time of wall building.

I discovered one thing of interest while rereading some of the history of this period. It relates to the purpose lying behind Cyrus' benevolent degree to allow peoples, not only Jews, to return to their lands and rebuild their cities and temples. In 1879 archaeologists working in ancient Babylon found a clay cylinder which has written on it an account of Cyrus' defeat of Babylon and the decree which he issued. Wikipedia has a good article about the Cyrus Cylinder. You can read a translation of the full text of the cylinder here. Scroll down to frames 34, 35 and 36. This is what I found to be very interesting regarding the motive of Cyrus. It seems he was being true to his pagan beliefs in many Gods. If he could do something nice for the gods of the nations around him, then maybe they would do something nice for him.

Doesn't sound much different from the bartering we do with God in his "modern" age!

Thanks for digging deeper.

Friends, have you no Fish?

John 21:1-14

Happy Easter Everyone!

This is the last sermon in the "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" series that I have used through Lent, and thus this is the last "friend" passage in the Gospels. In this case, the account occurs along the shore of the Sea of Galilee one morning after the Resurrection. It's an amazing story that is full of meaning, and is rather tightly connected to the passages that follow it which close the Gospel of John.

In the sermon I mention briefly the discovery of a first century fishing boat near Kibbutz Ginosar in 1986. Not only was this an amazing discovery that confirmed pieces of information from the Gospels, but the recovery and preservation of the boat is an equally amazing story. Here is the official site for the "Jesus Boat" as it is called (understand, though, that no one is claiming that this is actually a boat Jesus used, just that it is typical of one he would have used). This site contains tons of information, photos and videos, that will give you the whole story. (Here is  another site of a more commercial nature that has some good information, along with a lot of junk to sell you.) If you are interested in the "boat mosaic" I also mention in the sermon, found at Migdal (same place as Magdal, the home of Mary Magdalene). More info on the mosaic is here and the interpretation by Ronny Reich can be read here. I know, too much information.

I first saw this boat in 1989 while it was soaking in a vat of chemicals where it lay for nearly a decade. Now it is on display in a really nice museum at the Kibbutz. It is a must see while visiting the Holy Land and I try to stop here every tour I lead.

I also mention in the sermon the link of this account at the end of the ministry of Jesus to the one in Luke 5:1-11 in which Jesus first called these disciples to follow him. These are, of course, two different accounts happening at polar ends of the time the disciples spent with Jesus. But they are related. How quickly Peter and the others reverted to their "normal" way of life after the Resurrection is scary. They were called to something greater and seemed not to have a clue as to what it was.

In this manner, it seems that the account in John 21 also has some metaphoric value in suggesting just what the disciples were called to do--they were to fish for men. Here is where some wild, though interesting, interpretations of the number of fish caught comes into the picture. Why mention 153 fish--specifically and exactly? Some have said that 153 was the exact number of different kinds of fish that were to be found in the Sea of Galilee. Another interpretation says that this was the number of nations existing in the world at the time. Either way, the number represented that no one should should be excluded from the Gospel and that Jesus had (or was about to) commissioned his disciples to go into all the world. Nice interpretations and the point is true enough, though there is no historical support for these interpretations of the exact number.

More likely the exact number is there because having never caught a net full like this before, the disciples simply counted how many there were (as I would have done) and the number found its way into the account, which is another marker of its authenticity.

Either way, as my sermon suggests, Jesus calls all of us to cast our nets on the right side. He calls all of us to another way of living, which is marked by his life and teaching.

Blessed Easter to you all,
and thanks for digging deeper.

Friend, do what you came for.

Matthew 26:14-16; 47-56

This sermon focuses on the relationship between Judas and Jesus, and how it is that Jesus could call him friend.

In the sermon, I ask, but do not answer, the question as to why Judas did what he did, and whether or not he had any choice on the matter. The account of Judas raises these questions, and even more (questions related to suicide and repentance and eternal security). I do not intend to address all of these, but here are a few thoughts.

First of all, in regard to the eternal destiny of Judas, Jesus was rather clear in John 17:12, that he was lost. But since Judas was fulfilling a prophecy of scripture (John 13:18 and Psalm 41:9), some have wondered if he had any choice in the matter, and if not, what justice there was in God condemning him.

From the actions of Jesus toward Judas, from his calling him friend (albeit not philos--see sermon power point), to his placing Judas next to him at the Last Supper, to his reaching out his hand to dip the sop with him, Jesus seems to hold out grace and love to Judas, right up to the end. Was this the offer of repentance? If Judas would have changed his mind, could have God fulfilled the prophecy in some other way? Of course, this is all meaningless speculation, since what happened, happened, and there is no going back to change it.

In regard to the question related to Judas' choice in the matter, there are two biblical principles that come to bear. One is that there was destiny involved in this. There was a prophecy that had to be fulfilled. This was going to happen. Nothing could change it.

In respect to Judas specifically, along with teaching the sovereignty of God (Ehp. 1:3-14), the Bible also teaches the free will of humans to make real choices that impact their destiny (Revelation 22:17). These two truths occur side by side in the Bible, and create, for the human mind, an insurmountable obstacle. How can God know the actions of everyone in advance and yet allow each of us to make our own choice? I do not know how that can be, but then, I am not God.

It seems clear enough to me that in the realm of possibilities, naturally Judas, being a free moral agent, could have chosen another path for his life. But he did not, so in reality the question is mute. He made his choice and it played out toward certain consequences, as all of our choices do.

Why did Judas do it?
There has been a lot of speculation around this question. My guess is that it was not because Judas hated Jesus. A clue to motive might be found in Judas' remorse after the fact (Matt 27:1-10). Here is the way I work it out. The disciples were still thinking that Jesus came to overthrow the Romans and to again establish an earthly kingdom ruled by the Jews themselves (Acts 1:6-7). As the events of Holy Week worn on, it was obvious this was not happening. Jesus seemed uninterested in any kind of rebellion against Rome. Judas grew impatient and pondered how he might force Jesus to act. So he concocted a plan. He would betray Jesus to the Priests, who were plotting to kill him, and when He was arrested, certainly then Jesus would react and rise up with all his power and usher in his kingdom. After his arrest, when Jesus allowed himself to be condemned to death, Judas realized his plan went horribly wrong, and in despair committed suicide. (This view is held by a number of Bible scholars.)

On the question of suicide, the Bible nowhere teaches that to commit suicide automatically destines one to Hell. Let's leave it at that for now.

Thanks for digging deeper.