Gathering Stones aka Biblical Archaeology: May 2006

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Gathering Stones In Nazareth

Luke 2:39-40
39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

If anyone has visited ancient Nazareth, it usually comes as a surprise to learn that in Nazareth, some of the oldest dwellings there are subterranean caves. Nazareth was a very small community, usually thought to be about 20-24 families in a clan, a much closed, close-knit community. And many in the community lived underground in the caves hewn out of the rock base.

Some caves were used as cisterns for water storage, others for storing grains.

All the above-ground structures were removed when the basilica was built in Nazareth, but that did destroy some of the evidences of the society in Nazareth. One understanding is that the subterranean pits were not carved until the third century, but with the evidences of inscriptions (also subterranean) in the third century, recording the name of Mary, the mother of Jesus, there must be an argument for earlier occupation.

Nazareth contains a rock quarry, not a forest as a source of building materials. The possibility is that Jesus, being raised in Nazareth, that he lived his childhood in a cave underground. The excavations in 1955 revealed many of the underground cavernous living spaces. For a peek at ancient Nazareth during the reconstruction of the church there...

http://198.62.75.1/www1/terras/TSnzsilo.jpg

Critics will discredit any caves as dwelling places, citing that Jews will not live in caves because of their similarity to tombs, but that simply is not the case. Cave dwellings are found all over ancient Israel from Jericho to Bethlehem, Bethshean, and even ancient Cana.

Can you see the image of the Christ child growing in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man while living subterranean in a cave which would double as a workshop? The image of a darken room lit by several small lamps with few windows for light. The average temperature of a cave is usually the mean temperature of the surface, and the mean temperature of Nazareth, Israel today, is 67 degrees--not too hot nor too cold.

... or at least a haven from the heat of summer and a comfortable home with the hearth or oven heating it in the winter. Deforestation made trees quite scarce in Israel, so one cannot think that heat was easy to attain in the ancient homes.

Assuredly, homes would be damp and cold in the winter months.

Troglodyte may be a term that could/would apply to Jesus, it means one who lives underground.

troglodyte \TROG-luh-dyt\, noun: (dictionary.com)
1. A member of a primitive people that lived in caves, dens, or holes; a cave dweller.
2. One who is regarded as reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish

Could it be that Jesus the Christ was one of the original cavemen?

From archaeology, we may estimate the population of the village of Nazareth. The lower spectrum is two dozen families in a clan or about 120-150 people. The critics will argue that Nazareth did not exist during the first century since there is no written record of the town of Nazareth outside the biblical text, but the land tells us that there were occupation levels in the first century.

Archaeology and the New Testament, McRay, page 158, Baker Book House“The location of twenty-three tombs several yards to the north, west, and south of the Annunciation Church indicates the limits of the town during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, for tombs were built outside towns.” The places of these tombs give us an outline of the city limits of Nazareth as they are Jewish tombs and Jews were buried outside the city. (EAEHL III, pp 911-922, Bagatti, B. in Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement vi, col. 318-321, Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly, 1923, p. 90, Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine 1, 1931, pp 53-55.)There were kokim type tombs and four of the "rolling stone" type no later than 70 CE
The Archaeology of the New Testament, Jack Finegan, Princeton University Press, 1992. Page 46-47, 48

More recent studies in Nazareth have uncovered a crusader bathhouse and indications are that there is an earlier structure under that bathhouse. The information from that study can be read online

http://users.drew.edu/csavage/Nazareth.pdf

~serapha~

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Gathering Stones with the Fisherman's Net

The Parable of the Net

Matthew 13:47-50

47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

In the Greek text, the word for “net” in verse 47 is “saghnh” meaning “dragnet” and which translated in Latin is “sagena” and in English is “seine.”

Mendel Nun explains the procedure that is followed in casting the net with seine fishing. The net is as a long wall, measuring 250 to 300 feet long, weighted at the bottom and floated with corks at the top (gourds in ancient times). To explain the technique of seine fishing, the fishermen begin by placing the net in the boat. When the location for placing the net if found, the boat goes to shore and half of the fishermen disembark, holding onto the ends of the net. While the end of the net is being held, the boat sails away, and in doing so, spreads the net across the water. When the length of the net is reached, the boat heads for shore and the second team of fishermen disembark, and both teams begin to pull in the net.

While the net is being pulled toward shore, the fishermen climb from the shore, and the boat is set near the water’s edge. If there is a problem and the net snags on the bottom of the Sea, the captain of the ship dives and loosens the net so it may freely drag the floor of the Sea so no fish may dive and escape. The team of fishermen on each end drag or pull the net away from the shore. As the net is dragged, the first man drops the net and returns to the water’s edge to become the last man, and thus the system follows until the net is pulled to shore.

48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

Then, the catch is sorted. The fishermen sit in the shallow water and everything in the net which is not “clean” is rejected. There is a variety of catfish in the Galilee, but catfish were “unclean” and were rejected in the sort. The net may bring in stones or other debris which is also cast away. But the good catch is stored in vessels prepared for their safekeeping.

49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The parable fits the description of seine fishing in detail, from “drawing to shore” “sat down” and “cast the bad away.” Jesus used parables with circumstances that the people would hear and understand, and certainly in the area of the Galilee, the people understand seine fishing techniques, and by understanding seine fishing techniques, they could understand and comprehend that when God casts the net for the believers and followers of Jesus, that while everyone is pulled in, there will be a judgment, a sorting of people and the “unclean” will be sorted out and cast away into the “furnace of fire” while the “just” are placed in vessels prepared especially for them.

Wow... what a picture.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Gathering Stones for the Heavenly Choir

St. Anne’s church in Jerusalem has been studied by Hebrew University, and their remark was that there is no straight line in St. Anne’s church. The entire church is asymmetric. Where there is a window on one side, one is lacking on the other side; where columns support the building, the capitals are different or the bases of the columns are different. One column may have three cornices while the opposing column has four. If one follows the lines of the stone floor, they will quickly note that the columns are not in alignment. Yet, the building has been built with perfect acoustics. Let me say that in a different way, an imperfect and asymmetrical building can have perfect acoustics.

When Bill Gaither penned the words to the great song entitled, “The King is Coming” (1970), there is one significant line in the words of that song that related to St. Anne’s church in Jerusalem. Those words are, “Heaven’s choir is now assembled; start to sing "Amazing Grace".

It is a fantastic thought to see Heaven’s choir assembling. Everyone in heaven has a part in the heavenly choir, and depending upon the experiences of the believer, each group sings their own song. But when all of heaven is assembled to sing in the choir, it will be a time with the membership of the choir has reached the point of completeness, a time when every voice is assembled for the perfection of sound being raised to the Glory of God. And everyone’s voice will be heard, and everyone’s voice will be united in perfect pitch.

That’s the “amazing” part of singing in Heaven’s choir... perfect pitch.... for even those on earth who lack a singing tone; everyone in heaven will have a perfect sound to contribute.

In bringing a little bit of heaven to earth, in visiting St. Anne’s church in Jerusalem, people are encouraged to sing their favorite hymns and praises to the Lord. People are encouraged to sing because St. Anne’s has perfect acoustics that resound the singing voice and spoken word throughout the building. I learned in visiting St. Anne’s that even though I have a less than perfect voice... that when
a “less than perfect voice” is used in perfect acoustics, that the sound that recants through the building is one of perfect pitch. That was “amazing” to me.
And some day, that will be how heaven’s choir is assembled, taking less than perfect voices and combining all those into perfect sound and perfect pitch.

~serapha~

Friday, May 12, 2006

Gathering Stones with the Sheep

As you travel along the highways in Israel, there is a unique appearance to the hillsides in the desert. It is a lacey pattern which transverses the hillside with lines intersecting with such regularity that it appears as a lacey pattern on the side of even the steepest hills. The steeper the hills, the more prevalent the markings are.

Those lacey lines are the residual effects of herding sheep in the arid desert. There isn’t enough water to keep the land productive without irrigation, and the food available for the sheep to eat becomes less and less accessible until such time that the sheep ascend the steep banks in search of food.

Those lines are the paths created by the sheep as they nibble every stand of edible plant life in the desert. The sheep is nimble and sure-footed on the steep slopes as they can ascend to even the highest points that are unattainable by the shepherd. The shepherd can only watch as the sheep go higher on the hillsides as they search for each morsel of food.

It’s interesting to watch.

The shepherd will lead the flock of sheep along the hillside, instructing them in the direction that they should go. The sheep, on the other hand, can ascend or descend the hillside, staying within sight of the shepherd and under the watchful eye of the shepherd’s care while at the same time maneuvering where it is necessary to reach the food.

In other words, even though the shepherd is in charge of the sheep, the sheep can go many places that the shepherd cannot go.

Think about it.

~serapha~

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Gathering Stones with the Shepherd

John 10:1-6

1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

Jesus is presenting a parable concerning the shepherding of sheep, which is a practice which all of the Jews would understand. This particular passage is a reference to a type of shepherding which is not in the open grazing area, but rather a confined sheepfold such as might be next to a house or even an area where herds of sheep from different shepherds are held together for the night.

The use of the term "porter" signifies this.

The porter is the person who has charge of the sheep for the night. It is the porter who sits in the doorway (gateway) guarding the sheep, keeping them safe through the night while the Shepherd is away from the flock. The porter acts on behalf of the shepherd, and it is the porter who allows the shepherd to enter through the gateway the next morning.

Most people look at Jesus as the Good Shepherd, but they forget the porter is also a necessary part of the shepherding job. The porter is the "comforter" for the shepherd. The porter takes the place of the shepherd in his absence for there is no need for both a porter and a shepherd to lead, guide and direct the sheep. It is one or the other, but not at the same time.

In the morning, the porter relinquishes his authority over the sheep back to the shepherd.

After the porter allows the shepherd into the fold, the shepherd calls each sheep by name, for there may be many flock in the fold, but each sheep knows the voice of their shepherd, and the shepherd leads HIS sheep out of the fold. Sheep will not follow a strange voice, but instead, will move away from the strange shepherd who calls them. Just as the Holy Spirit can be sent by the Son as a comforter to the believer, the porter is positioned by the shepherd as the comforter from the Shepherd and a comforter to the sheep.

~serapha~

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Gathering Stones with a Foolish Man

24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:24-27)

Remember as a child in Sunday school when everyone would sing the song about the foolish man building his house upon the sand?

“The rains came down and the floods came up
The rains came down and the floods came up
The rains came down and the floods came up
And the house on the sand went ploof”
(anonymous)

And you would wiggle your fingers to the ground as the rain beat down, you would turn your palms upward and raise them as the flood waters would raise, and when the house on the sand fell you would beat your fist in your palm?
Jesus was telling a parable to the people and he was telling them in terms that would understand.

In Israel where it is arid for most of the year, when the rains do come, the soil in the mountains cannot hold the water and the excess water descends through the well-defined walls of the wadi in a torrent. The rains may have stopped, the sun may be shining, but a wall of water will come rushing through the wadi with water that has fallen as far as twenty miles away.

The rushing waters leave a base of gravel and sand on the floor of the wadi which contrasts the well-defined walls of rock or packed dirt. If a man were to build his house on the sand floor of the wadi in the dry season, when the rains came “down” and the flood came “up,” the house would certainly fall with the torrent of rushing waters. But, the wise man would build his house on higher ground with a rock foundation that would rise above the rushing waters of seasonal rain.

When Jesus told this parable to the listening crown during the Sermon on the Mount, the crowds must have smiled at the example of the foolish man’s house and the rising flood waters, for they knew and understood well the contour of their land. Rushing flood waters were not limited to foolish men building houses but were a constant concern to shepherds and herdsmen taking their flocks through the valleys in search of grazing lands.

Gathering Stones aka Biblical Archaeology