Category: Ancient Middle East

Jerusalem’s Hidden Gems

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Tourists, pilgrims, scholars, and activists can encounter little-known places outside and inside the Old City of Jerusalem. By looking at these hidden gems in Jerusalem, the minds, bodies, and souls of faithful Christ-followers will receive a blessing.[1]

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

The murmurs of tourists and the low rumble of shopkeepers fill the Old City of Jerusalem. From the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Wailing Wall, Christians and Jews come here to find God, or to find Him again. Muslims visit the Islamic Quarter, the Dome of the Rock, and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Many tourists jet in for a week, visit the Old City of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, jet out, and never set foot elsewhere in Israel, the West Bank, or other areas mentioned in scripture. Others stay much longer to soak their bodies and souls in the Land of the Bible.

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Why Did Jesus Choose So Many Fishermen to be His Disciples?

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Jesus chose twelve disciples for His earthly ministry. Of all the things that He could have done and all the people He could have taught, Jesus spent the lion’s share of His life discipling these men. After His resurrection, Jesus entrusted them to carry His message to the world. At least four of His disciples were fishermen. Did their profession, which God gave them, have anything to do with their selection?

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Whether from church, work, or other sources, we at the MDHI get many questions on a variety of topics. Earlier this month, a reader wrote about a question about Jesus’ disciples that he and his brother had discussed, “why were 1/3 of the disciples fishermen by trade?” Given the fact that most people in Israel engaged in agriculture at the time, the query is valid. While we cannot know for sure, as the Bible does not directly tell us, we can derive a reasonable answer. First, we require a summary of Israelite society in the first century.

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The Red Heifer and the End Times

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Many people point to the sacrifice of the red heifer, detailed in Numbers 19, as a key sign of the end times, the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, and the return of Christ. But the Temple Mount, the site of the Temple is currently occupied by the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, considered the third most holy place in Islam. There is no room for both.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Many Christians are concerned about or fascinated by the end times, which in the Bible is the time when Jesus Christ comes back to earth to perform the last judgment and usher in His final kingdom. For Muslims and Jews, the end times also involve the final judgment (the Day of the Lord) and the restoration of all things. Traditions about sacrificing cattle to usher in prosperity now and the end times to come exist in many cultures. In ancient Chinese religion, the emperor sacrificed a bull in an annual ceremony in the Temple of Heaven to give man the blessing of Shang Di, the creator god.[1]

This article will look at the red heifer ceremony from the perspective of the Christian Bible. In the Old Testament, Isaiah 2:12, Joel 2:31, Amos 5:18-20, Zephaniah 1:8, and Daniel 12:12 mention the Day of the Lord. In the New Testament, Matthew 24:29-31, Acts 2:20, 2 Corinthians 1:14, and 2 Peter 3:8-10 expand on the earlier revelation.

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Judges 19 and Sexual Abuse

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Judges 19 contains one of the most gruesome stories in the Bible. Few people read it, and as far as I know, no one enjoys it, but God placed it in His word as a powerful indictment of sin. Christians can and must learn from it to help ourselves and our society avoid sin’s traps, specifically in the area of sexual abuse. The following is a fictional story based on a real event as recorded in the Bible.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

The Story

Aaron, a middle-aged priest from Ephraim, dismounted his donkey in the small village of Bethlehem, while his two servants removed the bags and fed and watered the donkeys. Aaron’s primary wife, Rama, was unable to conceive a child so he had come to Bethlehem to find a concubine, a secondary wife. The priest looked anxiously for the people he was meeting. As the sun neared the top of the sky, a small group walked towards him.

A man with salt and pepper hair and beard, furrows on his brow, and a dark, weather-beaten face approached. Walking behind him and to his left was a trim, petite woman. Standing at a distance was an older woman with younger boys and girls.

“I am Jocham,” said the older man as he approached the priest.

“I am Aaron,” replied the priest. “My merchant friend in Ephraim told me that you have a daughter that I might be interested in.”

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Balaam

Biblical Balaam
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Balaam is a famous character with a timeless message. Life is not about getting rich, and certainly not about using the weaknesses of others against them. Rather, life about knowing God, and helping others to know Him.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

From the earliest days in Sunday School, children learn about Balaam, a magician whose donkey spoke to him. It is a fun story, acted out in person and with toys countless times in church classrooms across America and the world. The story seems simple, as recorded in Numbers 22-25.

  1. The Israelites under Moses arrive at the border of Moab on their way to the Promised Land. They had just destroyed the armies of Og and Sihon, powerful local kings.
  2. Balak, the king of Moab, fears that the Israelites will overwhelm him and his people.
  3. Balaam is a magician from Pethor, a town near the Euphrates River, who is famous for his power.
  4. Balak sends a delegation to Balaam to ask him to curse Israel and give him military victory.
  5. Balaam replies that he cannot curse Israel because God has blessed them. In fact, he cannot even travel with the delegation back to Moab. The delegation returns to Moab.
  6. King Balak sends another, more distinguished delegation, and offers Balaam more money.
  7. Balaam agrees to go with the delegation but again refuses to curse the Hebrews.
  8. On the way to Moab, Balaam’s donkey stops in a narrow road. Balaam whips her to move forward, but the donkey then lies down.
  9. Balaam beats her more and threatens to kill her.
  10. Balaam donkey speaks audibly to her master, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”
  11. God allows Balaam to see that an angel with a drawn sword was blocking the path. Had the donkey not turned away, the angel would have killed Balaam.
  12. Balak sacrifices to his gods.
  13. Balaam continues to Moab, but despite Balak’s continual encouragements, enticements, and threats, did not curse Israel.
  14. Instead, Balaam blesses Israel, incurring the wrath of Balak.
  15. Balaam departs to his home in Pethor.

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Obadiah

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The minor prophet Obadiah gives Christians today a glimpse into the past, into God’s character and His promises, and into His work in the future. Read it today!

By Mark D, Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Last spring, I decided to explore uncommon territory in my Sunday School class. I asked the members how many had read Nahum or Obadiah. A few hands went up, only because they had been on thru-the-bible-in-a-year programs. I then asked who knew what either of them was about. Not a hand was in sight.

I quickly realized that we would have to do a lot of back work to understand either book, so the next few Sundays we covered empires in the ancient near east, including Sumeria, Egypt, the Hyksos, the Hittites, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, and Greece.[1] Fortunately, I read and discuss history for fun and watch historical documentaries for entertainment, so it was no work.  Then when studied Jonah, which occurred about a century before Nahum.[2]

Obadiah is one of the neglected books in the Bible, nestled among the minor prophets of the Old Testament between Amos the Shepherd and Jonah the Reluctant Prophet. Only one chapter long, a distinction that it shares with Philemon, 2 & 3 John and Jude, Obadiah reveals the judgment of God on Edom, the descendants of Esau. Measured by how often books are read on Bible Gateway, Obadiah is the least popular book in the Bible, surpassing even Nahum in its obscurity.[3]

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