The Seat of Moses

 

This Seat of Moses is in the ruins of the synagogue in Chorazin. It is a replica of the original that is stored in Jerusalem’s Israel Museum. This original Chorazin Seat of Moses, discovered in 1926, dates to the 3rd or 4th century A.D., but it is probably similar to what would have been used during Jesus’ time. A rabbi, synagogue elder or distinguished guest would sit in the seat while he explained the Scriptures. It was a place of honor. The term "Moses' Seat" was both literal and symbolic.
The entire 23rd chapter of Matthew relates Jesus’ scathing denunciation of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His day. He began by saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.”

The scribes and Pharisees were interpreters and teachers of the law of Moses. Their job was to help people apply the law to their lives in a way relevant to their current society.

The time of Jesus was approximately two thousand years removed from Moses and the law. At the time when the law was given, the children of Israel lived a semi-nomadic life in the desert. After 400 years of slavery, these people were struggling to adapt to their new identity as a free nation. God provided them with laws to help them govern their new nation, interact with one another, and make proper decisions.

Conversely, during Jesus’ time, the children of Israel dwelt in their Promised Land, but they were not a free nation; they were dominated by the powerful Roman Empire. Greek and Roman ideology influenced their lives. Their lifestyle was different from that of their predecessors.

Some of Moses’ laws must have seemed archaic and unnecessary to people living in such a progressive society. Because of culture shift and modernity, people might have had difficulty understanding why it was important for them to observe such ancient laws.

That is where the scribes and Pharisees came in. While common men worked as farmers, carpenters, stonemasons, and merchants, the scribes and Pharisees dedicated their lives to learning the law so they could teach it those busy with other jobs. Using very old laws as their guide, they were to instruct people how to please God with their day-to-day lives and relationships.

The word of God is timeless. God does not change, regardless of society, culture, language, ethnicity, economics, or government. Biblical principles can be applied to any situation because human nature has always been and always will be the same. The Mosaic law was designed to create a society that honored God as King and His laws as correct in every situation. So, while Moses’ law might have seemed ancient and irrelevant to the people of Jesus’ day, it was superior to every other ideology that tried to influence them.

Simply speaking, God’s laws always work. When applied, they create harmonious relationships and a civil, orderly society. God’s government is better than socialism, communism, an autocracy, dictatorship, or monarchy. It is even superior to democracy. It is God’s ideas, not man’s, that are effective at creating a healthy society.

In Exodus 18, we see Moses resolving conflicts between people and teaching them how to apply God’s decrees to their particular situations. When Jesus said, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat,” He was saying that they were authorized to help the people properly apply the Word of God to their lives, as Moses did.

Conflict occurred when the scribes and Pharisees took it upon themselves to exceed simple explanation and application of the law. They taught man-created traditions which had no basis in the written Word of God, either outright or implied. These traditions had been passed down word-of-mouth from generation to generation. The Pharisees held them as equal to the written law of Moses. These oral traditions were additions to the law of Moses, and these additions – as well as hypocrisy – are what Jesus took issue with.

Jesus did not condemn everything the Pharisees did. For example, in Matthew 23:23, He tells the Pharisees that they should continue tithing, but he reprimands them for neglecting “weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.” The Pharisees were so consumed with appearances and protocol that they missed out on some of the other principles of the Word of God. They missed out on the true meaning of humility and the real essence of worship.

In a familiar example, found in Matthew 15, the scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.” Jesus responded, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”

Here we see a clash between the “tradition of the elders” and the “commandment of God.” Several times Jesus berated the scribes and Pharisees for following the “traditions of the elders” and the “traditions of men.” These were self-imposed laws that Jesus did not expect people to adhere to. Jesus told them, “Ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”

In an appeal to help the Pharisees understand how blind they were, Jesus referenced the prophet Isaiah: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9; Isaiah 29:13).

And herein is a key principle that we can learn from. Some of us are so good at “doing” that we stop “being.” We can become so concerned with doing things for God that we cease to know God. Or, our relationship with God is not as deep as it could be. It is gratifying to do things, to be busy with kingdom work. But as was the case with Mary and Martha, there is a time and place for work, but worship should be the craving of our heart. Jesus told Martha, “Thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Note that Jesus did not condemn Martha for doing and serving; He simply told her that her priorities were misplaced.

It is possible to put things on ourselves that even Jesus does not require of us. In our achievement-oriented society that values intellect, education, and success, we sometimes transfer that mentality to living for God. We tend to think that the more we do for God, the happier He will be with us.

If we live as if the more we do, the more pleasing we are to God, we are little better than the Pharisees. While God does expect us to be busy with His work, He places greater value on our character development, how we treat people, and inner cleanliness.

A fulfilling relationship is not one motivated by duty or service alone, although those are essential principles in the Word of God that should not be neglected. A fulfilling relationship is one that is motivated by a desire to know God, to draw close to Him, to give ourselves to Him. In the New Covenant that Jesus established, we still have things God requires of us, yet we need to make sure we do not confuse self-imposed traditions or acts of service with quality of relationship. As our relationship with God deepens, we will be naturally motivated to do things for Him. As we grow in the knowledge of His love for us, service will become second nature to us, not a chore or a means to gain His approval.

While Jesus did not necessarily condemn exteriors – unless they had no basis in God’s laws – He wanted the Pharisees to look a little deeper. He wanted them to see past what others could see and past what they themselves normally saw. He wanted them to see themselves as God saw them. He wanted them to know who He really was and He wanted them to know who they really were. He was seeking for them to cultivate honesty and a deeper awareness of true reality.

Gilad

Gilad Shalit is being freed, five years after being captured by Hamas militants. When we were in Israel this year, we frequently saw pictures of Gilad, such as this one that was painted on the side of a building near our apartment. Gilad's family set up a booth outside the Prime Minister's house a few blocks from where we lived, in an attempt to draw more attention to Gilad and their desire to free him. Now, a deal has been reached to exchange Gilad for more than 1,027 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.

When he was captured, Gilad was a soldier in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Israeli citizens, most at age 18, are required to serve in the IDF. Men serve for a mandatory three years, women for two. Gilad had been in military service for just under a year when he was captured.

The Sanhedrin

What we commonly refer to as the Sanhedrin is called “the council” in the New Testament. “The council” is translated from a Greek word (sunedrion) which generally means “Sitting Together.”

During Jesus’ time, the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem was a 71-member group of men that met daily (with the exception of the Sabbath and holidays) in a room that adjoined the Temple. The Sanhedrin developed during the Intertestamental Period and ceased to have credible power after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. In addition to this most powerful Sanhedrin that met at the Temple, each city could have its own smaller Sanhedrin, made up of 23 members. It was called a Lesser Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin was comprised of chief priests, prominent family members related to the chief priests, scribes (legal professionals), Pharisees, Sadducees, and other qualified elders. Apparently, the head of the Sanhedrin was the High (Chief) Priest.

The Sanhedrin had diverse responsibilities: legislative, judicial, and administrative. These men were experts on religious law. They established and enforced religious and civil order. The Sanhedrin served as a court that resolved issues brought to it by Lesser Sanhedrins.

Jesus (Matthew 26), Peter and John (Acts 4), Peter and the other apostles (Acts 5), Stephen (Acts 6), and Paul (Acts 22-25) were all brought before the council, or Sanhedrin, for questioning and judgment.

Gamaliel (Acts 5:34) and his student Paul (Acts 23:6) were Sanhedrin members. It is highly likely that Joseph of Arimathaea (Mark 15:43) and Nicodemus (John 3:1) were also part of the council.

Tel Tamar

On a rare three-day break, we decided to get away from the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem’s busy core, where we lived and worked. We headed for Eilat, a modern resort town beside the Mediterranean Sea on the site of biblical Elath.

On the way, we stopped at Tel Tamar, located just off Highway 90, about 25 miles south of the Dead Sea. Tamar means “Palm Tree.” In this arid land, palm trees are found where there is a water source. Today, biblical Tamar is called Ein Hatzeva. In Hebrew, Ein means “Spring.”

So, it is no wonder that Tamar served as an oasis for travelers passing through this brutal, forbidding desert; in the desert, water is vital for survival. Tamar served as a way station for an ancient trade and spice route. One layer of ruins revealed that the Nabataeans, great traders and the famous architects of Petra, inhabited Tamar for a while. Later, the Romans would occupy Tamar, fortifying it as a desert outpost. A four-room house and a fortress dating to Israelite times have been identified. So far, archeologists have uncovered six strata of civilization at this southern site.

But to me, Tamar’s most significant historical link was a heap of broken clay and stone religious artifacts that was found outside one of the city walls. This pile of idols, altars, cups, and incense burners was discovered in 1993. In the 7th century BC, an Edomite temple was used here, apparently by Jews who lived in Tamar. The land of Edom is located directly east of Tamar and, like so many times in biblical history, the Jews allowed themselves to be influenced by the religious beliefs of the people who lived close to them.

By all appearances, these ritual vessels and altars were deliberately destroyed and thrown into a pit. Although the Bible does not mention Tamar directly in relation to King Josiah’s religious reforms and revival of righteousness, it is highly likely that these idols were destroyed during his reign.

King Josiah was one of Judah’s righteous kings. His father Amon and his grandfather Manasseh were evil and worshipped false gods. But Josiah took a different path. Josiah repaired the house of the Lord. During the renovations, Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law and sent it to King Josiah. As Josiah listened to the words of the book being read to him, he realized that God was angry with His people because of their great sins. When Josiah humbled himself before God, the Lord told him that He would not administer judgment during Josiah’s reign. Josiah wanted to serve God and he wanted his country to serve God. So he “made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statues with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book” (II Kings 23:3).

Josiah cleansed the land of idol worship. All of the vessels that were in the House of the Lord that had been used for Baal worship were burned. Josiah went throughout the land, destroying idols, breaking down altars and high places, restoring worship of the God of Israel. II Chronicles 34:7 says, “And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.” Josiah was thorough when he cleansed the land of idolatry. Although the Bible does not list every place Josiah visited during this purification process, it is highly likely that his campaign extended to Tamar.

The pile of cultic remains found at Tamar is currently being stored in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. They are testimony to the tendency of humankind to drift from worship of the One True God to the worship of gods made of wood, stone, and clay. Heathen nations believed that their gods caused the ground to be fertile. They believed that their gods would deliver them from conquering nations and bring them prosperity. Why did God get angry when the children of Israel worshipped other gods? He was angry because by their actions they were saying, “God we don’t trust you. We don’t think you are able to help us.” They allowed themselves to be influenced by the gods of the people around them, little gods that were created by men’s hands.

There are a lot of lessons for us here, but the ultimate lesson is that we need to continually remind ourselves of the first law of all: There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). Essentially, God said to His people, “Before you learn anything else, learn that I am God and I am the only God. If you forget everything else, don’t forget this. I am the only God that you need.”

Animals of the Bible: Birds

As we were walking along Jerusalem's Old City Walls, we saw this pretty little bird posing on an old strand of wire.
In the Bible, animals are often used to illustrate a point. These object lessons would have made perfect sense to the listener or reader, in much the same way as they do to us today. For example:

"As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place" (Proverb 27:8).

I have met people who were never happy where they were. They always looked for greener grass, which continually proved to be nothing more than a mirage on the horizon. They were on a constant search for satisfaction, peace, and fulfillment.

Looking in different jobs, relocations, and relationships, these people find themselves in an incessant state of frustration. The problem is always with the job, the place, or another person, they think. They never look within.

They are wanderers, constantly looking but never finding what they really need.

As a bird that moves away from the security of his nest, they make themselves vulnerable to attack. One misstep can land them in the snare of the fowler. But they are shortsighted; when they move away from the security and benefits of the nest, they envision only the freedom they hope to gain. They view security as restraint. They have an aversion to responsibility and authority figures. They don’t want to be obligated to anyone. The promise of an independent life, free of restrictions and boundaries, lures them away and it eventually serves as their demise.

The old saying is “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” Some people’s lives never take root because they won’t stay in one place long enough to get grounded. They have restless spirits; they are unsettled within. They are their own worst enemy…but they don’t even realize it.

Syria and Aramiac

When we were in Jordan, we had a friend who frequently went to Damascus, Syria for business reasons. He volunteered to take us with him during one of his trips. Even then, it was not advisable for Americans to tour in Syria, and we did not have much of a reason to go there anyway, so we never crossed over. The closest we got was viewing it from the northern area of Jordan, where we went once a week to give home Bible studies to Arab Christians. In the above picture, the purple mountains beyond the olive trees are Syrian land.



In Syria is a small village named Maaloula. It is one of the few places in the world where you can hear people speaking Aramaic. This is the language Jesus spoke, and it is considered an endangered language since so few people still speak it. Since languages evolve, I don't suppose it would sound exactly like the Aramaic spoken in Jesus' time, but I wanted to hear it anyway.

As I studied about the Middle East, I learned about a lady who works at St. Mark's Church in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter of the Old City. (St. Mark's Syrian Orthodox church is one of two proposed locations of the Upper Room, where the events of Acts 2 occured). This lady, whose name can be spelled either Jostina or Yostina, speaks Aramaic.

During our stay in Jerusalem, we met her at St. Mark's Church. A former 12th grade mathematics teacher, she speaks English and Arabic in addition to Aramaic. She has been living in Jerusalem for 11 years, serving as tour guide and caretaker. She told us that as she cleans the church she prays, "As I clean your church, clean my heart. Please my Lord."



Aram was one of Shem's sons (Genesis 10:21-23). Modern Syria includes what was once called the region of Aram and historians seem to agree that it gleaned that name because it was settled by Aram. Aramiac originated in this area. Syriac is a form of Aramaic.

Jostina sang the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic for us. It was a little blessing from the Lord to hear Aramaic spoken...and we did not have to travel to Syria!

Proceed with Caution

 
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The picture on the left was taken as we walked down the Mount of Olives. We took the one on the right as we were walking through the Christian Quarter on top of the Old City Walls.
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What you are looking at is security. People build high walls around their homes and imbed broken glass into the top of the walls. Apparently, this serves as a good theft deterrent.
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I have heard Pastor Urshan define the word "circumspect." He uses the illustration of a cat navigating the top of a wall, as the cat exercises utmost care to avoid cutting his tender paws on shards of glass. When we went to the Middle East, I understood more clearly what Pastor Urshan means. We saw many such walls. A cat would take a cautious step only after exercising conscious and deliberate forethought.
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Ephesians 5:15 admonishes us to "...walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." The word "circumspectly" translates from the Greek language to mean "exact, diligent, and perfect." In other words, as we navigate life's path, we must employ utmost caution. Before we take a step, we must carefully consider the far-reaching consequences of our choices. Because of the repercussion that poor choices yield, there is little margin of error. Sometimes, once a wrong choice is made and the damage has been done, there is little remedy. Even if the damage is repairable, recovery time will be required, our work for the Lord will be hampered, and our good name might suffer.
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What am I talking about? Here are some examples:
Choosing to fudge numbers when filing taxes, only to reap an IRS audit, embarrassment, and the reputation of a cheater.
Binge shopping sprees - which you indulge in to distract you from life's cares - that ruin your credit and create problems between you and your spouse.
Cruel and harsh statements, spoken in anger, that damage a young child's tender spirit.
Repetitive negativity and faithlessness, which discourages those around you and keeps you focused on the bad things in your life, instead of believing in God and exalting His ability.
A few moments of sexual indiscretion that forever changes your life and the lives of your spouse and children.
Refusing to admit and overcome a bad trait - such as procrastination, lying, or laziness - which all produce varying degrees of fallout in our lives.
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We cannot redo our actions and retract the words we say. It pays to walk circumspectly, to consider beforehand if we are willing to pay the price for our actions.
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When the Lord issued commandments to His people, He told them, "In all things that I have said unto you be circumspect" (Exodus 23:13). The Hebrew word used here (shamar) means "to hedge about (as with thorns)." The many implications of the word "shamar" include "to guard, to protect, to beware, to take heed, to preserve, to observe, to watch...to save yourself."
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On a normal day, cats are finicky. Put them on the top of a wall with protruding glass and they will exercise extraordinary conscientiousness. They will walk slowly and gingerly to avoid anything that has the potential to hurt them.
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As we walk this path of life, we will encounter many things that have the potential to cripple our spirituality. It is the work of our flesh and the devil to derail us from living for God the way we should. Yet, if we will rely on the strength of the Lord, He will help us make choices that will protect us.
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I find it interesting that the Hebrew word "shamar" means "to hedge about (as with thorns)." The implication is that, as we "walk circumspectly," our cautiousness will create for us a protective wall, ensuring our security as we live within the confines of the Word of God.

Sandstorms

I took this picture while we were driving through the Arava Desert. Visibility was poor and by the time we arrived in Eilat, our skin and hair were grimy and dirty, even though the windows in the car were up and the vents were closed. This sandstorm was definitely not one of the Middle East's worst; by comparison, really treacherous sandstorms make this one seem tame.

I remember Jean Saad - a British-born Jordanian - talking about sand to depict a point during a teaching session. She said, "There's a lot of sand in this part of the world." And she's right. It's everywhere. In the United States, it's okay to dust only once a week. In the Middle East, if you don't dust nearly every day, big dust bunnies will accumulate under beds and in corners of rooms.

When we first went to Jordan, we stayed with the Reeds until we got settled into our own apartment. The breeze was nice, so one day I opened the window. The cleaning lady happened to be there and let me know that an open window was not a good idea. The breeze I was enjoying would bring with it fine, almost imperceptible, dust. It would be everywhere...and she would have to clean it! That was my introduction to how dust creates an annoyance for people who live in modern Middle Eastern homes.

Sometimes the Bible compares multitudes of people to the sand of the seashore. Abraham was promised that his descendants would be as innumerable "as the sand which is upon the sea shore" (Genesis 22:17). God reaffirmed this promise to Jacob, Abraham's grandson, again using sand as an illustration (Genesis 32:12). The final battle of all ages will be a dreadfully spectacular display of troops, "the number of whom is as the sand of the sea" (Revelation 20:8).

Aside from representing vast numbers of people, the Bible uses sand in other contexts also. In Egypt, Joseph stored up so much food that it was "as the sand of the sea" (Genesis 41:49). Solomon's wisdom is compared to the sand along the sea shore (I Kings 4:29). And God's thoughts "are more in number than the sand" (Psalm 139:17-18).

God used sand as an object lesson because people living in the Holy Land would have no question about what He meant. Though the landscape varies dramatically, it is still mostly all desert. And desert means sand...a lot of sand, so much sand that no one can measure it.

Biblical people lived with sand, adjusted to its brutal intensity. For them, there were no intercontinental flights available so they could cash in the harsh desert for a cooler locale. The desert was their world. From birth to death, it surrounded them, influenced them, shaped who they were.

And the Middle Eastern sand is not pleasantly arranged along the beautiful backdrop of a Hawaii-type setting. The sun is ruthless and the temperatures are merciless. Where the desert is flat and punctuated by little more than an occasional acacia tree, dust devils form. Where the desert land becomes cragged, impenetrable, and steep, it deters all but the most tenacious individuals. Even where the sand dunes rise and fall, creating a gloriously daunting sight, the desert - not fragile man - commands respect. This is not a place for the faint-hearted.

The lifestyle of Bedouin tribes closely mirrors the lives of biblical patriarchs. When sand swirls around the Bedouin - the people of the desert - they draw their head coverings around their faces for protection. Today, when a sandstorm threatens cities, residents are told to stay indoors if they have asthma or other respiratory problems or if they are very young or very old. A person caught unprotected in a sandstorm has little hope of survival, so the long head covering is an essential item of clothing for a Bedouin desert dweller.

From my first naive introduction to desert life, as I enjoyed the curtains gently blowing in the dusty breeze, to driving through a genuine sandstorm in Israel's Arava Desert, I have gleaned a fresh respect for and understanding of biblical people. Their lives were not easy, but they thrived, they grew, they learned. They had no choice, no alternatives, no options. God assigned them to life in the desert. End of discussion.

Interestingly, I observed that the weather is not a popular subject in the Middle East, as it is in the United States. Whatever comes, they will face it, but they have little interest in analyzing it.

The tendency to ask, "Why?" seems to be imbedded within us Americans. We also ask, "Why me?" We want a logical explanation, a professional analysis that makes sense of our storms.

Job wanted answers also. In the heat of the desert sun, he sought relief from the sore boils - the black leprosy - that plagued him. The sun's heat somewhat eased his pain but even so, he was driven to scrape himself with shards of pottery. He asked "Why, God?" But God's voice was silent.

After many chapters of analysis and questions, Job got his answer. It wasn't the one he wanted. To Job's many questions, God finally replied, "Who is God? Are you God, Job? Who created this world and everything in it? Did you do that, Job? Why don't you stop talking and just trust me?" In the end, God's ways really were best for Job. God really did know what He was doing. Rarely will we understand the storm or its purpose until it is over.

The most difficult storms to accept are the ones we create ourselves. The 1930s Dust Bowl - a time of drought and severe dust storms - resulted mostly because farmers did not use proper farming techniques. They ravaged the fragile topsoil layers of Oklahoma and other areas. Essentially, farmers destroyed their own land. The repurcussions were devastating. When the drought and wind came, it took with it the farmable soil. But even when we create our own problems, God will still help us. He is overwhelmingly patient and kind. He'll help us pick up the pieces of our lives and start anew.

Trust. Don't fight the storm; find the Secret Place and retreat into its shelter. As the Bedouin wraps himself in his garment, protecting himself from the wind and sand, cold and heat, so can we be protected when we submit ourselves to the coverings of our God. It is really not important that we understand the storm; even if we understood it, we are powerless to change it. Trust, rest, retreat into the arms of the Creator.