July 20, 2024

History:–What’s in a Name?

—Do you know the name Jonathan Edwards? I remember first hearing about him during history class in high school while studying the First Great Awakening, a time of spiritual revival in eighteenth-century America. You may also recognize the name of his famous 1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He’s been described by historians as a hard-working, intelligent, godly man.

—In 1900 an American educator named A. E. Winship traced the descendants of Edwards and found one U.S. vice-president (Aaron Burr), one dean of a law school, one dean of a medical school, three U.S. senators, three governors, three mayors, thirteen college presidents, thirty judges, sixty doctors, sixty-five professors, seventy-five military officers, eighty public, office-holders, one hundred lawyers, one hundred clergymen and 285 college graduates. Stunning!

—In 1877, shortly before Winship’s study, sociologist Richard Dugdale made a similar study of the descendants of a man who lived around the same time as Edwards. Dugdale decided to pursue his research after discovering that dozens of men in the New York prison system shared the same last name of Jukes, and Dugdale traced these men back to a frontiersman named Max Jukes. Sadly, the descendants of Jukes included seventy-six convicted criminals, eighteen brothel-keepers, 120 prostitutes and more than two hundred individuals who lived on public assistance. Murder, theft, alcohol and untimely death ran rampant throughout the Jukes family tree.

—I’ve met some rebel teens who had godly parents and godly teens raised by rebel parents. The prophet Samuel raised rebel sons, for example, and wicked King Ahaz fathered godly Hezekiah, so it doesn’t always follow that godly parents will raise godly children, but it’s generally more true than not. Here are two biblical proverbs that reinforce this point.

—Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

—Proverbs 29:17, “Correct your son, and he will give you rest; yes, he will give delight to your soul.”

—Daniel McCabe

Series–Dressed for Worship–Prayer Boxes, part 1

—“You shall bind [these commandments] as a sign on your hand, and they shall be frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy 6:8).

—When interpreting the Bible I’m not one who’s quick to look for symbolic meanings when a straightforward explanation will do. For example, when it says seven times in Revelation 20:1-6 that there will be a one thousand year reign of Christ on the earth, I take it at face value. Why not when a literal rendering will do nicely? For that reason I’m quite sympathetic with those who choose to apply the words of Deut. 6:8 in a literal way. The word “bind” in this verse can mean “to fasten or wear,” so it doesn’t strike me as outlandish when Jews today have chosen to write out commandments from the Law on tiny parchment scrolls, place them inside two prayer boxes, and strap them to their arms and to the middle of their foreheads. Admittedly I’d prefer a less ostentatious solution, and Jesus likewise refers to the showy prayer boxes of the Pharisees in Matthew 23:5. On the other hand, Exodus 13:9 describes this same practice as a sign “that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth,” a phrasing that has prompted the Karaite branch of Judaism to read this command metaphorically, and they won’t get any objection from me.

—Also called phylacteries (meaning “safeguards” or “amulets”) or tefillin (a word of disputed meaning), the prayer boxes are made of black leather with leather straps (usually black as well) that attach to the non-dominant upper arm of the worshipper and wind down in strict precision to his lower arm, hand and middle finger. Prominent on the box and straps are the three letters that form the word Shaddai in Hebrew and from which we get the name of God, El Shaddai.

—On the parchment scrolls in both prayer boxes are the four passages that describe the binding of God’s commandments: Exodus 13:1-10, Exodus 13:11-16, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:13-21. The scrolls must be prepared by a trained scribe and written with the proper ink in a certain style of script on a particular type of parchment. Conservative communities of Judaism do not allow women to wear them. They’re only for the Jewish men who strap them on for weekday prayers, but not at night or on the Sabbath.—

—Daniel McCabe

History: Five Favorites

—Down through the centuries, countless poets, pastors, pilgrims and politicians have recorded their thoughts and memories about the land of Israel. Here are five truly memorable quotes that you might enjoy.

—1. “Jerusalem is a port city on the shore of eternity”—Israeli Poet Yehuda Amichai

—2. “One who did not see Jerusalem in its glory, never saw a beautiful city”—the Talmud, Babylonian Sukkah 51b

—3. “In Jewish history there are no coincidences”—Elie Wiesel

—4. “Pessimism is a luxury that Jews cannot afford”—Golda Meir

—5. “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel”—Benjamin Netanyahu

—Daniel McCabe

Scripture Study:

The Tenderness of Jesus

—Recently I was moved by a passage that I’ve read too many times to count. But isn’t that part of the beauty of Scripture? Even if you’re already familiar with the content of a passage, the Lord can show you something new each time you read it.

—Let me demonstrate with a familiar story from the life of the disciple Thomas, recorded in John 20:24-29, which reads, “Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”

—What hit me hard this time was the phrase from v. 26, “eight days later.” Thomas was one of Jesus’ beloved disciples, a man who truly loved the Lord and was zealous for Him, but he was not there when Jesus appeared to the disciples the first time. I think Thomas was lost in his sorrow and depression, and that’s why he questioned whether Jesus really had appeared to the other disciples.

—But then for eight days he had to walk around the city. For over a week he lived in his deep sorrow, knowing that the Lord had reportedly showed Himself to the other disciples and not to him. Can you imagine what that would have been like for Thomas? How lonely that must have been, thinking to himself, “Jesus appeared to everyone else–supposedly–but why not to me?” Those must have been a hard eight days for him. How dejected and hopeless he must have felt!

—But then what happened? Jesus did not abandon His beloved disciple! He loved him enough to come back. Thomas needed to be corrected, for sure, but he also needed to be comforted. Jesus loved Thomas enough to both comfort and correct him.

—I must admit that more and more in recent months I have been laid low and even brought to tears when I think about the moments of tenderness that Jesus has for His loved ones. There are many Bible verses about God’s love for us, but I will leave you with this one from Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

—Adam Keim

From the Archives:

History & Geography

Series–the Beautiful Hills and Valleys of the Shephelah

June 4, 2022

—An Overview—“And [Solomon] made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah,” (1 Kings 10:27).

—Have you ever heard of the Shephelah? (Pronunciation is not important, but you can go with “sh-fay-lah”.) Even if you aren’t familiar with the word, you know of many important biblical events that happened there.

—The Shephelah (meaning “lowlands”) are the hills and valleys that lay between the coastal plains on the west, by the Mediterranean Sea, and the Judean mountain ridge on the east. They are part of the gradually increasing elevation from the coast, all the way up to Jerusalem.

—Five major valleys make up the Shephelah system, and we will look at each of them in the next several weeks of this series. From north to south, the valleys are: Aijalon, Sorek, Elah, Guvrin, and Lachish. They are all oriented west/east, and there is a natural valley that runs north/south between them all. I will refer to the north/south route as the “Shephelah Way” that connects the valleys.

—As you can see in the picture, the hills are forested and the valleys are fertile. The Shephelah is a beautiful landscape, one of the many places that defy the common notion of Israel being just a dry desert land.

—The area was very important to Israel, being one of the most militarily strategic places in the entire region, for reasons that we will consider in the upcoming weeks. I am excited to bring you on a journey where we will see storied places and meet legends such as Joshua, Samson, and David!

—Adam Keim