Dr Paul Allen

The Jordan River (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “But [do not] . . . enter Gilgal . . . For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity.” ( Amos 5:5 ) Gilgal was the place of new beginnings. Twelve memorial stones from the Jordan were set up at Gilgal after the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River ( Joshua 4:3 ). The nation was circumcised there in preparation for their possession of the Land ( Joshua 5:5 ). The Passover was celebrated ( Joshua 5:10 ), and the miraculous manna ceased ( Joshua 5:12 ). The victorious campaign in the hill country of Judea extending to Kadesh-barnea and Gaza was conducted from Gilgal ( Joshua 10:15 ). The great battle at the waters of Merom was conducted from Gilgal ( Joshua 10:43 , 11:5). Saul was crowned Israel ’s first king at Gilgal ( 1 Samuel 11:15 ). Yet, the activity at Gilgal began to obscure the Word of God. Saul compromised and sacrificed at Gilgal to try to gain God’s blessing. His desire for political favor resulted in direct disobedience t...

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A place of asylum granted by Mosaic law (the Book of the Covenant) to those Israelites who had unintentionally killed fellow Israelites, allowing them to escape the law of blood revenge (the so-called lex talionis) (Exod. 21:13–14).  These were cities that had an altar. The Old Testament records only two incidents in which Israelites made use of this right: Adonijah, David’s son, who proclaimed himself king and whose life was spared by Solomon, David’s actual successor (1 Kgs. 1:50–53); and Joab, David’s general (who was not, in fact, granted asylum by King Solomon on account of the innocent lives he had taken [2:28–34]). Because not every Israelite who needed to was able to flee to the central sanctuary (the tabernacle or temple), the Lord commanded Moses to urge the Israelites to select from the levitical cities six cities of refuge—three on either side of the Jord...

Jesus had barely emerged from the Jordan River , ordained by John the Baptist into his rabbinic and messianic authority, when the adversary entered to derail his mission. The Messiah would be tempted in every way that humans can be tempted, but he did not sin (Heb. 4:15). It is in this connection that Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the Wilderness of Judea . On the day of Jesus’s baptism, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and remained on him (Matt. 3:16). Shortly after, the Holy Spirit led Jesus past the banks of the Jordan River and deep into the seclusion of the Judean Wilderness. There the barren beauty of this chalky wilderness is coupled with its stark desolation. This wilderness lacks the natural resources that invite sustained residence; nevertheless, Jesus remained there, fasting for forty days and forty nights.12 As Jesus became hungry, Satan attempted to exploit the circumstances. He urged Jesus to prove himself to be the Son of God by turning stones into...

The Jordan River (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Gospel writers point us to any number of watershed moments in the life of Jesus —moments that dramatically changed his life on earth. But the first such moment is one that literally involved water. From the day of his baptism, Jesus was recognized as one who taught with authority, and he was baptized in the water of the Jordan River for a reason. Within the culture of first-century Judaism, ritual immersion in water was used in a variety of ways, each of which involved living water. The Jewish oral law known as the Mishnah carefully defines various sources for such living water. The purest form of living water is rainfall. Therefore, any water source that flows or directs rainfall is said to contain living water.4 Thus by definition, the water of a river, lake, or sea was considered living water. A manmade pool (Hebrew, mikveh) could also contain living water if it was constructed properly and was fed from a source that collected...

Jesus baptism site - River Jordan 015 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) During the first century, the land promised to Abraham was filled with Roman soldiers who had taken possession of the country by force. An extension of that Roman power lay in the hands of the Roman-appointed priestly aristocracy who had taken control of Jerusalem ’s Temple. They had used their wealth and political influence to obtain and maintain their fraudulent authority over the Temple institution. In the midst of these claims of authority, there was Jesus . All authority in heaven and on earth actually belonged to him (Dan. 7:13–14; Matt. 28:18). In contrast to others, his was the legitimate authority. From place to place he revealed his authority through his words and actions that resulted in the overthrow of evil. In part 2 we will look at various ways Jesus revealed his authority and see again how certain places were often part of that process. In these eleven chapters we will examine events that occurred in...

Sign and diagram in Jordan of the Dead Sea. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Scripture often speaks of the entire creation awaiting the final act of redemption. To destroy something completely and to replace it with something utterly new is not an act of redemption. To redeem something is to save that which is in imminent danger of being lost. The renovation may be radical. It may involve a violent conflagration of purging, but the purifying act ultimately redeems rather than annihilates. The new heaven and the new earth will be purified. There will be no room for evil in the new order. A hint of the quality of the new heaven and new earth is found in the somewhat cryptic words, "Also there was no more sea" (Rev. 21:1). For people who have a love for the seashore and all that it represents in terms of beauty and recreation, it may seem strange to contemplate a new earth without any sea. But to the ancient Jew , it was a different matter. In Jewish literature, the sea was often...

Saut à l'élastique Superman - Viaduc de la Souleuvre (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) For many years sporting enthusiasts had a limited number of options. We all knew them: baseball, soccer, football, basketball, golf, hockey, tennis, and a handful of other games that most people recognized and understood. These sports were not dangerous (unless the rules were broken). Then, in the 1990s things began to change. A whole new generation of sports began to emerge. Out of the labor pains of a generation looking for a bigger rush and greater risks, birth was given to a class of sports that have been classified as “extreme.” “What would happen if I tied a bungee cord to my ankles and jumped off a bridge?” “Could I strap a snowboard to my feet, launch off a jump, do two flips, and still land without breaking my neck?” “Is it possible to take a motorcycle off a jump, slide off the seat, let the bike get so far ahead of me that it seems I am flying like Superman , grab the seat at the last...

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) By its own testimony (Deut. 1:1, 5; 31:22), Deuteronomy is the work of Moses. Mosaic authorship is affirmed many times elsewhere in the Old Testament (e.g. 2 Kin. 14:6), in ancient Jewish sources (e.g., Josephus), and in the New Testament. This view was almost universally held until the rise of rationalistic criticism in modern times. Critics correctly point out that the last chapter could not have been written by Moses. It is widely agreed that ch. 34 is an addendum, perhaps appended by Joshua. In the same way, the Book of Joshua ends with the death of Joshua, this record clearly having been supplied by the author of the Book of Judges, who appended verses from Judges to the end of Joshua (Judg. 2:7–9; cf. Josh. 24:29–31).  Likewise, the first verses of Ezra are copied and appended to the last chapter of Chronicles (Chronicles ends in the middle of a sentence). This w...

The Prophet Balaam and the Ass, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1626. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Holy Spirit was not only able to deal with Moses and the people of Israel ; He was able to deal with their enemies as well. To reach the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho, the Israelites went around the country of Moab. Then they moved north and won great victories over the people of Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan River . King Balak was afraid he would be next ( Numbers 22:2, 3). He was wrong, of course; the next step would be for Israel to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land; but Balak did not know that. He did realize, however, that Israel did not win their victories because of superior numbers or equipment. It had to be what Israel was saying it was: their God was with them. Balak determined, therefore, that the only way to stop Israel was to turn their God against them. So he sent messengers in all directions looking for someone who had power with J...

English: Israel Enters the Promised Land, as in Joshua 3:5-17, illustration from a Bible card published between 1896 and 1913 by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Joshua 3:13 The Jordan River was at flood stage . So did his people worry when God said, “Have the priests pick up the Ark of the Covenant and walk into the water”? Did the priests wonder if they could hold onto the Ark in the swirling water? Did they think they would be swept away and lose their lives? No matter, God told them what would happen when they did what he said. They had to have enough faith to put their feet in the water.  And that’s when the miracle happened. Somewhere way up stream the waters were cut off and piled up. Even more miraculous, the ground in the river bed was dry. The priests walked to the middle of the river and stood there until all the people crossed over into the Promised Land . When God is the architect, we are the workers, using our hands, our feet, ...

Mural - Elisha (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In Matthew 11:14 , Jesus recalls the promise in Malachi 4:5 , and names John the Baptist as the Elijah who was to come. If Jesus is the one who comes after John the Baptist, can we draw a parallel to the one who came after Elijah? If John is Elijah, does that mean Jesus is Elisha ? If we look closer it is actually possible to find an uncanny resemblance between the man of God who came after Elijah in the book of Kings, and the Son of God who came after the second Elijah, the Baptizer. Not only do their names have similar meanings (compare Elisha—‘God is salvation’—with Jesus—‘Yahweh will save’) but the respective accounts of their lives show clear parallels. To begin with, their ministries commence with a ‘handover’ scene at the Jordan River . Elisha receives a double portion of Elijah’s spirit having just passed through the river Jordan ( 2 Kgs 2:6-12 ). He then sees Elijah taken up into heaven by a whirlwind. Jesus, in turn, meets Jo...