Running the Race

January 4, 2012

Hebrews 12:1 states, “Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us” (CSB).

David McClister comments,

The idea of a race with a finish line in the distance before us suits well the picture of a faith that is forward-looking and that requires determination. Josephus spoke of ‘those who have a prize before them’ and how, when they are zealous about it, they do not stop working for it. Races in Greco-Roman times were held in a public venue called a stadium, of which several ancient examples survive (Olympia, Athens, Rome, Tyre, Laodicea, Pergamum, Ephesus, Priene, Miletus, Aphrodisias, Perge, Sardis, etc.). On each side of the race course was seating for spectators. The shortest races were about 210 yards, the longest were about 5,000 yards (2.8 miles), so stamina was needed for any one of them. The point of the imagery here is not about speed or who crosses first, but about endurance and running in the best possible way so as to finish what was started (A Commentary on Hebrews, p.441).

One of the best preserved Roman stadiums is at Aphrodisias (western Turkey), included in those mentioned above. This helps us understand the imagery used in the biblical text.

Roman Stadium at Aphrodisias Illustrates the text of Hebrews 12:1. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

In running this spiritual race, the inspired writer goes on to say, “keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne” (v.2, CSB).

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4 Comments | Bible History and Geography, Bible Study, Travel, Turkey, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Leon Mauldin

Cleopatra’s Gate in Tarsus

December 15, 2011

In our last post we mentioned that the Apostle Paul was in Tarsus from the point of Acts 9:30 until going to Antioch at the invitation of Barnabas in Acts 11:25.

One attraction in Tarsus is “Cleopatra’s Gate,” also called the “Sea Gate,” as well as “St. Paul’s Gate.

Cleopatra's Gate in Tarsus. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

The Biblical Archaeological Society info re: this site included in The Biblical World in Pictures states:

This stone gateway is the only one of Tarsus’s three Roman city gates that has survived and is one of the few remnants of the city Paul knew that has not been destroyed or buried under the modern city of Turkish Tersous. Tarsus was connected by the Cydnus River to the Mediterranean; this was the gate that led into the city from the river. It is called Cleopatra’s Gate, commemorating a state visit that Queen Cleopatra made to Tarsus on her royal barge while Marc Antony was there in 38 B.C.E.

Others suggest that while the gate would mark the location of the Roman Gate, that the better evidence is that the structure that is visible is Byzantine.

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1 Comment | Bible History and Geography, Bible Study, New Testament, Travel, Turkey | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Leon Mauldin

St. Paul’s Well

December 13, 2011

Paul is said to be a “man of Tarsus” in Acts 9:11, ASV). Tarsus was the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia, located on what is today the southern coast of Turkey. It was a cultural and intellectual center in the first century. Fant and Reddish quote Strabo’s description of Tarsus as having “surpassed Athens, Alexandria, or any other place that can be named where there have been schools and lectures of philosophers” (A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey, p. 324).

Not much can be seen of the Tarsus of Paul’s day, because the modern city with its population of 350,000+ is built on the ancient ruins. One exception to this is “St. Paul’s Well,” a well that dates back to Roman times.

"St. Paul's Well" at Tarsus. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Visitors to this site are told that Paul certainly drank of this well, and therefore the waters are said to have curative properties. It would be more accurate to say that because the well certainly dates back to Roman times that Paul may have drunk from this well; the fact that it goes back to the time of Paul is what gives it special value to students of Scripture.

Well at Tarsus, Paul's home. Dates back to Roman Period. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

There is an info sign on the premises:

Info Sign on location near well. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Though Tarsus was Paul’s home, as a youth he was “brought up in this city [Jerusalem], educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors” (Acts 22:3 NET). After his conversion there was a period where again Paul was in Tarsus (Acts 9:30), prior to his work in Antioch (Acts 11:25-26).

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3 Comments | Bible History and Geography, Bible Study, New Testament, Roman Empire, Travel, Turkey | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Leon Mauldin

“A Shack in a Cucumber Field”

August 17, 2011

The prophet Isaiah said, “Daughter Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a besieged city” (Isaiah 1:8). What is meant by that statement?

Zion, the city of Jerusalem, became David’s capital city. It was there that Solomon built the temple of the Lord Yahweh. Jerusalem, Mount Zion was central to Israel’s worship, and to their identity as a people. During much of Isaiah’s lengthy career (740-690 BC) Jerusalem was prosperous. “Their land has also been filled with silver and gold and there is no end to their treasures; their land has also been filled with horses and there is no end to their chariots” (Isa. 2:7).

But in saying “The daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,” Isaiah speaks of their future desolation as though it has already occurred. Isaiah makes use of the prophetic perfect (perfect meaning “completed action”), a grammatical form used “to present future events as if they have already happened . . . the use of the perfect form to express completeness and factuality is so prominent that it is even used for a future event” (A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar.364).

Our photo below illustrates the imagery of the Isaiah text, and was taken near biblical Sardis. Some workers, perhaps family members, have constructed a shelter in the field to have a place to rest and refresh themselves before getting back to work.

Booth in Vineyard Near Sardis. Illustrates Isa. 1:8. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

Because of the idols which had filled the land of Israel (Isaiah 2:8), God was going to reduce the magnificent city of Zion, Jerusalem the fortress city, to a hut.

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3 Comments | Bible History and Geography, Bible Study, Israel, Jerusalem, Old Testament, Turkey | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Leon Mauldin

They Smell Like Sheep

August 10, 2011

In Dr. Lynn Anderson’s book, They Smell Like Sheep, he tells of a church member who cornered him after a lesson in which he repeatedly referred to the elders as “shepherds.” His suggestion was basically this: since we sophisticated Americans don’t usually have sheep and don’t work as shepherds, no one connects with that idea. So find a better way to communicate the spiritual leadership idea.

Anderson’s response:

Admittedly, the shepherd metaphor does sound strange in the cyber-world of our daily experience.  We don’t normally see these picturesque, rural characters rolling down the expressways or eating at our local McDonald’s. But, after carefully considering my friend’s suggestion and searching in vain for a contemporary metaphor that would better connect the biblical notion with our times, I finally had to explain, ‘I can’t find any figure equivalent to the shepherd idea in our modern, urban world. Besides, if I drop the shepherd and flock idea, I would have to tear about five hundred pages out of my Bible, plus leave the modern church with a distorted–if not neutered–view of spiritual leadership.’ God keeps pointing shepherds to the pasture to struggle with sheep (pp. 11-12).

The ultimate example of a shepherd is God Himself; in the New Testament Jesus is identified as the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep (John 10). Anderson is correct to use the biblical image of elders as shepherds (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2,3).

Without doubt one of the most well-known, if not THE most well-known scriptural texts using the shepherd metaphor is Psalm 23.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (vv.1-4, KJV).

For today’s post we share a photo of a sheep who has been led to the still waters (quiet waters, NASB; refreshing water, NET).

Sheep lying down near green pasture beside refreshing water. Eastern Turkey. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

What a beautiful metaphor of God’s care for His people!

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1 Comment | Bible History and Geography, Bible Study, Shepherd, Turkey | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Leon Mauldin

Haran, cont’d.

November 10, 2010

At Haran (Harran) one can see bee-hive houses that are said to be about 200 years old, but built on the same pattern as in the days of the Patriarchs.  On the back of the house on your left you can see the oven.

 

Bee-Hive structures at Haran. View of Oven. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

 

The fuel for such ovens would be wood and/or dung, as seen in photo below.

 

Fuel for the Fire. Dung cakes & wood for oven fires. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

 

I was able to go inside one of the houses in Haran.  It was quite nice.

 

Inside a bee-hive house at Haran. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

Click on image for larger view.

 

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

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