Kingdom of Heaven: Part 4

Shema Israel, Adonai elohenu- Adonai echad
ve' ahavta et Adonai eloeikah,
b' khol levavkah, uve' khol naphsheka, uve' khol m' odeka.
ve' ahavta l' re' acha comocha. Amen.

So Galilee was chosen by Jesus for several reasons. Community was one, the intense commitment of the people there to the text was another. Yet another was their close proximity to the pagan world. The main road of the time ran right through the areas in which Jesus taught, so there was constant contact with the outside world. Galilee itself was located just across the sea from the Decapolis, which was considered one of the most pagan cities in the world by the Jews of that time. False gods, idolatry, sexual perversion and the likes ran rampant among its people. In Matthew 7:13 Jesus said "Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it." This is most likely a reference to the Decapolis and the temple. The actual road leading to the Decapolis was huge, even, very well paved while the road to the temple was extremely narrow, rocky and difficult.

Jesus himself visited the Decapolis three times. Devout Jews would never travel there. One of Jesus' most well known miracles, the feeding of the multitudes, took place at the Decapolis. It is possible that the reason for the leftovers from that miracle are because the disciples, being devout Jews, would not eat food from the child who was from the Decapolis for fear that it was unclean.

In Matthew 4:35-5:20 we see Jesus going to the Decapolis. It's important to pay close attention to the text here...so I will put the passage in this blog and go through it verse by verse with my own words in italics.

35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” (referencing the Decapolis)

36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. (the term "as He was" implies that perhaps there was hesitation on the part of the disiciples and he insisted they leave RIGHT NOW)

37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”[a] 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
(The Hebrew says that he stills the storm to a whisper...and whisper is the same word used to describe what Elijah hears on the mountain)

(Please note in this next section that I will bold words you need to pay attention to!)

1 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.[b] 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him,[c] not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. (So He gets out of the boat and the first man he encounters is the bottom of the barrel. This man is filthy, terrifying, naked and demon possessed)

6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” 8 For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” 9 Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” (James 2:19-You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder [in terror and horror such as [a]make a man's hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]!)

10 Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. 11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. 12 So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” 13 And at once Jesus[d] gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.
(remember that the sea was a place closely correlated with hell in the Jewish mind)

14 So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. 15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. (note that the man is now calm, clothed, sitting with Jesus long after the miracle has happened. the people had time to go and tell friends and come back and Jesus was still there...He stuck around.)

16 And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. 17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. 18 And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. (those who realize what a horrible state they have been in realize how much they have been saved and long to follow Him.)

19 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” 20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

Now...as you can see there's a lot to learn from this passage, but perhaps one of the most overlooked and yet most profound is what you learn by reading the words that I put in bold. If you pay close attention to those words you make a startling discovery- the disciples never got out of the boat! They were so insistent on staying away from this pagan place and it's unclean people that they would not follow their Rabbi into the Decapolis.

Jesus makes a huge point in this story. The Kingdom of Heaven is a portal for the unclean to join us! Praise the Lord that He draws a line between the sin and the sinner! The disciples didn't realize that without God they were no better than the filthy pagans and that after their redemption the pagans were just as forgiven as they were. There is no one who cannot be forgiven. Jesus wasn't just out looking for those who were already following God- He was searching for the naked, crazy, demon possessed man that other people had chained up somewhere to keep him from hurting anyone. There is no room for "holier than thou" attitudes in the Kingdom of Heaven. Everyone is welcome.

Kingdom of Heaven: Part 3

Shema Israel, Adonai elohenu- Adonai echad
ve' ahavta et Adonai eloeikah
b'khol levavkah, uve' khol naphshekah, uve' khol m' odekah
ve' ahavta l' re' acha comocha. Amen.

This next section has been a bittersweet one for me. Being an "all-american" "miss independent" kind of girl in every sense makes it difficult to come to terms with, and yet amazed at the way our God has provided for us. So put aside your politics and everything you've been taught and step into the vision of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Everything that Jesus did was for a reason. Including settling in Galilee. There were many reasons he may have chosen Galilee all of which involve the Kingdom of Heaven. The first of these reason is that the Community was strongest there.

Much in the way that the Amish today live together with their extended families, the Jews in Galilee shared their homes with all of their family. All relations were gathered under one roof or around one courtyard. The term is "insula" or "household of faith". The community cared for one another in every way. Every woman in the community cared for every child as their own. Every father worked for well being of the entire community. There were no motherless children, no hungry people. Possessions were sold or shared and given to those in the community who were in need. The shared everything they had...nothing belonged to them, but to the community. They cared for each other and met each others needs in the most basic ways.

The Kingdom of Heaven happens in Community. This is exactly the example Jesus wanted us to have for how His church and the Kingdom of Heaven operate. So now we have a different view of a popular verse often taken out of context in our modern society. "Matthew 6:33- But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,and all these things shall be added to you."

We often use or think of this verse as meaning that if you seek God's will or follow him he'll give you what you want. But if you read the previous few verses, you see what "all these things" referes to. "Matthew 6: 31-33- Therefore take no thought, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `Wherewith shall we be clothed?' (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.) For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

So it isn't saying that you will get whatever you want, but that you will have whatever you need. Now re-read in the context of what we now know about Jesus' view of the Kingdom of Heaven you find that it makes perfect sense. To seek the Kingdom, which IS community, you automatically have all of those things. To attempt to pursue them all on your own is foolish. You'll never be able to do it and you will have missed the blessing of community with others.

This is a VERY difficult for "little miss all-american girl born-and-raised a capitalist" to grasp. Many of you will be saying...but that sounds like that dreaded C word...communism! Well...I suppose that's because it is. Bear with me here.

Throughout the years communism has seemed so appealing, especially to those who were poor or hurting or needing protection or provision. This is because we have a basic yearning for this kind of community. We were MADE for this kind of community. And yet every time communism is established, brutality, starvation, human rights violations and other horrors seem to take place.

But here's the difference. In the Kingdom of Heaven, God is in charge. He's perfect. And He genuinely wants what's best for his people, which is why He wants us to experience the love and fellowship of other individuals. Humans are imperfect. Our sin nature is greedy, self-centered and power hungry. (don't believe me, turn on tv for about five minutes...that's all it takes) And so a communist government cannot handle having that much power over the people. It becomes almost instantly corrupt and the people have no way to get out from under it because they've given everything in hopes of achieving this wonderful utopia of community.

And so, in my own humble opinion, communist governments will never work, because humans are in charge and humans are imperfect. But it's time for us Christians to stop shuddering at the thought of communism in it's purest form. The system DOES work if God is in charge and if the community is actively pursuing Him and His will and loving each other with His love.

We are blessed when we meet the needs of those around us. Today we are taught from the time we are children that it is an admirable quality to be able to do it "by myself". We're "grown up" when we don't need help anymore. This is not how we were intended to live. We were given certain flaws and certain strengths to enable us to create a community dependant on one another. You will never have all it takes to be all that you should be by yourself. You NEED other people. You were never intended to walk this life alone.

We are told that those who help others receive a blessing. To deny someone the chance to help you is to steal from them a chance to be blessed. And we all know "thou shalt not steal". ;-) We are taught that to admit a need for help is to admit inadequacy, but for those who understand the Kingdom of Heaven, to admit help is to highlight God's divine provision.

So turn everything you've ever been taught about society on its head. Communism is good (with God at the center), life isn't about accumulating things (it's about giving them away to meet the needs of others in your community), you aren't strong if you do it by yourself (you're stupid. haha), it's not shameful to admit needing help (it's a way to highlight God's goodness and to allow someone else to be blessed by helping you). Whew.

Now that's life changing.

Kingdom of Heaven: Part 2

Shema Israel, Adonai elohenu- Adonai echad
ve' ahavta et Adonai eloeikah
b' khol levavkah, uve' khol naphshekah, uve' khol m' odekah.
ve' ahavta l' re' acha comocha. Amen.

In our western churches and in Christianity in general we tend to give the Jews a very hard time for being so stubborn and defiant. We see them whine in Egypt and are quick to judge. We see them struggle with Jesus' message and we question their love of God or their devotion to him. But very few of us know what was actually going on at these times. After reading the following horrors, you may find yourself less quick to judge the commitment of the Jews and definately wondering if you would have had the kind of commitment that even they did.

In 722 B.C. Assyria conquered the North. As Isreal married with them the Samaritans came about and the Isrealites were exposed to pagan religions. Babylon then conquered the South and exiled them. So the Israelites were forced to leave their homes. When Persia conquered Babylon they allowed the Jews to return. Under Alexander the Great the Jews were forced to become hellenized (adopting Greek religion and culture). They were persecuted relentlessly for their intense commitment to God. The Maccabee Revolt took place in 167 B.C. The Jews fought in guerilla warfare at times against each other in an attempt to restore religious freedom. They did eventually win those series of battles (the reason for the Hanukkah celebration) and gained their religious freedom- but obviously at a high price. War had become all they knew and they were accustomed to death and devestation. But they returned to Jerusalem and ritually cleansed the temple. However, in 45 B.C. Herod and Rome took control and attempted to once again take away their religious freedom. The Jews resisted, knowing that defeat was likely. There were several intense battles. The men would hide and fight in guerilla warfare, as that was the only chance they had. However, Herod decided he had enough and killed the women, children and elderly while the men were hiding. So the men took the women, children and elderly up into caves on a mountain to hide them from Herod. But Herod found them. His army would light fires in the opening of the caves and when the people rushed out hoping to be saved, they would push them off the edge of the cliff to their deaths.
So the typical male Jew of this time period had fought in guerilla warfare against the Romans, had witnessed horrible atrocities committed against his buddies, may have seen his mother nailed to a tree outside his home, his wife raped, his children burned and pushed to their death off a cliff. Jews were tortured in ways we cannot even imagine for their faith. They were beaten severely. They would get cut from the top of their head to the sole of their feet and their skin peeled off in strips. And yet they stayed true to their faith. In fact a story goes of a group of young people who stood in the center of town and began reciting Genesis (an act that was forbidden) and as the first was being tortured in front of them, then next would step up to take his place and begin where he left off.
I have a feeling we would be hard pressed to find that level of commitment in our churches today. How convicting! Would I have been willing to go through what the Jews did for my faith? How much easier it would have been to just go along with whatever god they were pushing on me at the time! And we're worried about hurting someone's feelings or offending someone or being considered "insensative" of "politically incorrect" and that in and of itself is enough to get us to shut our mouths and abandon our faith.
The Jews were not wishy washy in their faith. They were devout. They didn't always get it right, but who on earth are we to judge them when we've caved for far less. Now imagine a man comes along who is supposed to save you. You've been anxiously waiting your whole life, enduring suffering the likes of which few have ever seen, for this promised one who is supposed to bring peace. And finally he is here. And you want war. It's time to give those Roman's what's coming to them. They killed your parents, your children, your spouse. And now you think you'll be able to finally get out from under them and what does he say?
Love your enemies.
Yeah, we might have had a bit of trouble with that message too. Their hatred of Jesus' message was not due to stubborness or lack of faith...it was a natural reaction to centuries of persecution. But Christ knew that forgiveness and the Kingdom of Heaven are the only ways to survive. The disciples desperately wanted war, but the kingdom comes with the love of God.

The Kingdom Of Heaven Part 1: Importance of the text in Messianic claims

Shema Israel, Adonai elohenu- Adonai echad
ve' ahavta et Adonai eloeikah
b' khol l evavkah, uve' khol naphshekah, uve' khol m' odekah
ve' ahavta l' re' acha comocha. Amen.


Throughout the following posts, the resounding question is "what is the kingdom of heaven"? RVL argues that the Kingdom of Heaven makes its first appearance in the Exodus. But in order to see why he makes that claim, we have to first look at who Jesus was...not to us now, but to the people he walked among.
Jesus was from Galilee. Galilee is an agricultural region positioned on the sea. Fishermen were not common in this area because fishing was not a job that most people wanted. As a general rule, the Jews are not fans of the water. In fact the "sea" is most often used in descriptions of chaos and hell. For most Jews, the sea was not somewhere they wanted to be. However, the prophet Ezekiel had seen a vision (recorded in chapter 47) in which the Dead Sea (which is aptly named as nothing lives in it) would become fresh and pure due to a river that would flow from the temple. The water would be "redeemed" so to speak and the chaos would be overcome. This prophecy was well known by all the Jews of Jesus' time. In this prophecy, it is said that fishermen would line the banks of the Dead sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim. So fishermen already have a place in "kingdom of heaven" prophecy.
So when 5 of the 12 disciples (again, not a common occupation) were fishermen, the Jews took notice...could he be claiming to be Messiah? As RVL said, this would be as if someone chose 12 people to be their disciples nowadays and 5 of the 12 were nuclear physicists. Very rare and would definately draw attention.
Many Westerners assume that Jesus chose fishermen because they were brave, or strong...but that's not how Jesus worked. Jesus always used to text to make his point, not logic. He chose fishermen because he knew they would be associated with the Kingdom of Heaven and he was claiming to be Messiah.
Why 12 disciples? There were 12 tribes in Isreal. 12 sons of Jacob. In Messianic prophecy, the Messiah is known as the 2nd Moses. Moses led the 12 tribes out of Egypt. He was drawing the correlation between himself and Moses, and in so doing he was claiming to be Messiah.
The New Testament is devoid of meaning if not read and understood through the lense of the Old Testament because Jesus always used the Old Testament and his audience's understanding of the Old Testament to teach and to prove his Messianic claims. Understanding of the Old Testament and the Jewish culture is imperative to understanding our Savior and His message.

RVL series

We spent Memorial Day weekend this year at Gull Lake. Over the course of three days we got 15 hours of intense Bible teaching. In the words of my father-in-law it felt like we'd been "drinking out of a firehose and got our lips blown off". I have over 20 pages of notes from that weekend and feel a need to rewrite it all out so that I will go back through it all and hopefully get even more from it if that's even possible. I have decided to go through my notes here on my blog (though obviously not all at once) since I've had so many people say they wanted to hear what we were taught. It's lengthy. It's in depth. And it will, without a doubt, change your life...possibly multiple times like it did me over the course of the weekend. But if you're feeling brave feel free to join me as I re-learn all the amazing things we were taught that weekend. Please note that nearly all of the information I'll be giving does not come from me but from RVL and numerous other sources that he used. I'll add my own thoughts to some of it, but mostly it's just his. He's absolutely amazing and his knowledge blows my mind. I'll begin each blog the way we began each session and the way that I've begun each day ever since...

Shema Israel, Adonai elohenu- Adonai echad
ve' ahavta et Adonai eloeikah
b' khol levavkah, uve' khol naphshekah, uve' khol m' odekah
ve' ahavta l' re' acha comocha. Amen.

Hear O Isreal, the Lord is our God- the Lord alone
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might
And love your neighbor as yourself. Amen.