Class #6

        UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE
         THROUGH UNDERSTANDING
        THE CUSTOMS AND CULTURE
                    OF BIBLE TIMES

                                                     Class 6

                                More on Family Life

                                                             By Don LaRose

                                                         Copyright (C) 2011
                                                         All Rights Reserved


          In this session we will consider sickness in Bible times, death in Bible times, and the life of shepherds in Bible times.

SICKNESS IN BIBLE LANDS

          God promised the Israelites health if they would keep His Law. "If thou wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26). If you look caregully at the Law regarding daily living, you will discover that it had a great deal to do with cleanlines, quarantining ailments, viruses, fungi, dietary regulations, etc. The people of that time knew nothing of modern day science and medicine, so God gave them rules that would keep them from many of the aiments which afflicted the people-groups around them.

          On the other hand, God said, if you fail to keep these statutes which I have set down, then I will bring sickness upon you as a punishment for your disobedience. "He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague which is not written in the book of the law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed" (Deuteronomy 28:60-61). This is where the Jews of Jesus' time got the idea that anyone who was sick, blind or deformed was being punished by God. Remember them saying, "Who sinned, this man or his parents?"

         Consider for a moment how Old Testament Jews dealth with sickness. There are only a few references to physicians in the Old Testament. Let's look at three: "Ye are all physicians of no value" (Job13:4); of King Asa it says, "He sought not to the Lord, but to physicians" (II Chronicles 16:12); and the Prophet Jeremiah asked, "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there" (Jeremiah 8:22)? From these and other references we begin to conclude that most physicians were not Jews, but foreigners in the land, and that there may have been more divination than doctoring (something forbidden in the Law) among these individuals.

          On the other hand, there are many examples of prayer to God for healing in the Old Testament. Moses prayed for the healing of the Israelites bitten by snakes in Numbrs 21:7. David prayed in time of sickness in Psalm 6, and God heard. In Psalm 107, verses 17-21, we have a great Psalm of thanksgiving, which includes thanksgiving for God's healing of the sick. Solomon, when he was dedicating the Temple he had built in Jerusalem (II Chronicles 6:28-30) told the people of Israel to expect God to answer prayers for healing. And King Hezekiah, in II Kngs 20, prayed for healing and God answered his prayer.

          Medicine in Jesus' day has been described by one writer as "Little or no scientific knowledge of medicine." This is illustrated by the woman who came to Jesus in Mark chapter 5, with the "issue of blood." Verse 26 says she "had suffered many things of many physicians." The Talmud of Babylon says that many rabbis posed as physicians, or did the work of physicians. This woman apparently suffered massive bleeding during her periods, and they were lengthy, even continuous. This had gone on for many years. These rabbis had many strange remedies for this problem. Let me quote one of them: "Dig seven pits, and burn in them some vine branches not yet four years old. Then let the woman, carrying a cup of wine in her hand, come up to each pit in sccession, and sit down by the side of it, and each time let the words be repeated: 'Be free from thy sickness.'" Does that sound a bit absurd? It sounds a lot like paganism in our day. But that was the state of medicine in the time of Jesus.

          On top of that, there was a great deal of disease in Jesus' time. Multitudes of people were sick, blind, deaf, deformed. "And at even...they brought unto Him all that were diseased...and all the city was gathered at the door. And He healed many that were sick of many diseases" (Mark 1:32-34). A traveler in Jesus' time would encounter blind beggars, crippled people, lepers and more. What a time for Jesus to demonstrate His authority.

          As if that were not enough, the people had an expectation of supernatural power to heal. It was not necessarily a biblical view, but an expectation. Dr. Trumbull traveled in the Middle East during the 1940's and 50's. He discovered something very interesting. He wrote, "Another fact that sheds light upon the work of Jesus and His disciples is their ministry of healing, is the universal expectation, in the East, of the cure of desease through the supernatural power of some reputed representative of God. So it is, and so it has been." Dr. Trumbull then told of giving some food to a blind beggar - an orange and some bread. But the man instead pointed to his eyes. He expected that Dr. Trumbull was a representative of God who would heal him.

          Think of the illustration we find at the Pool of Bethesda. People with various ailments waited at the side of the pool for the Angel of the Lord to come and "trouble the waters." The understanding was that when that happened, the first one to get into the water would be healed. One man had been there for many years. But each time the supposed "troubling of the waters" took place, because of his physical handicaps, he was never able to get into the water first. Jesus came to the Pool and healed him.

          All of this seems very strange to us today. But it was the thinking of the sociey into which Jesus came to minister and eventually to give His life as ransom for their (and our) sin.

DEATH IN BIBLE LANDS

         A wail announces a death in the Middle East. It has been so during all recorded history, and continues today among the Arabs of the land. Many of the Jews have migrated to the Holy Land from other parts of the world where they had been raised in other cultures which do not carry out the traditions of the land.

          Neighbors of the departed begin the demonstration of sorrows which we read of in Exodus 12 when the Death Angel passed over and the firstborn of all the Egyptian families died. "And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead" (Exodus 12:30). This "cry" or "wail" is described as a "shrill, ear-piercing shriek" followed by prolonged wails. This lamentation continues from the time of death until the burial. The Prophet Micah compared it to the cry of wild beasts or birds. "I will make a wailing like the jackals, and a lamentation like ostriches" (Micah 1:8 ARV).

          Jesus walked into just such a situation at the house of Jarius. "And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly" (Mark 5:38).

          In the Old Testament we read of King David lamenting over the death of his son Absalom. "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son" (II Samuel 18:33). And the Scriptures say that he would not be comforted. Notice the words repeated over and over and over again as he wails to show his sorrow.

          Orientals (which is the group into which people in the Middle East fall) are very expressive people. We read in the Bible that they showed their sorrow by wearing "sackcloth." You will remember from our study of clothing, that the outer garment, woven from goats hair, is very rough, water proof and also keeps both cold and heat out. It is the same material as "sackcloth" - tightly woven goats hair. It would be worn next to the skin and would be very uncomfortable, causing rashes and irritation. We often read of people in the Old Testament tearing or "rending" their clothing. This is what the High Priest did in the New Testament when Jesus claimed to be God. Another expression of sorrow was the beating on the breast. And it is not unusual for tears to flow freely in times of sorrow.

          People in Bible times had a unique way of preparing bodies for burial. The body would be wrapped in long cloths. A face cloth would be placed across the face, then the entire body, including the head was wrapped. Remember Lazarus when Jesus raised him from the dead? The Bible says that when Jesus spoke, "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes; and his face was bound with a cloth" (John 11:44). Consider the way they prepared the body of Jesus. It says, "Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury" (John 19:40). When Jesus rose, the disciples found the linen wrappings still in tact, but with no body inside. The face cloth was folded nearby.

          Burials were quick - usually the same day. That is still true today of the most orthodox Jews. However, along the way and down through the centuries, the Jews had adopted many privitive ideas, mostly picked up from the people groups who lived around and among them. One of those ideas prevalent in Jesus' day was that the spirit of the individual hovered over the body for three days. They believed the spirit could hear the wailing. Notice in the story of Lazarus in John chapter 11, that twice mention is made that he had been dead for four days. That is significant. When Jesus told Martha that Lazarus would be raised, she immediately thought Jesus was talking about the end time resurrecton written of in the Old Testament. If you read the story carefully, she believed that Jesus could have prevented Lazarus' death, and could have even raised him from the dead during the first three days. But now that his spirit was no longer hovering over him, because more than three days had passed, it was too late for even Jesus to raise him from the dead. But Jesus showed His power over death, even when more than three days had passed.

          Burial was done in caves, hand-hewn tombs and graves during Bible times. There are thousands upon thousands of hand-hewn tombs in the Holy Land. These were prepared mainly for the wealthy. Some had many chambers, and were sealed by large round stones that rolled in a hand cut trough in front of the tomb. In Luke chapter 8 you read the story of the Maniac of Gadara who lived among the tombs and cut himself. On the east side of the Sea of Galilee, where this man lived, there are hundreds of hand-hewn tombs, and burial caves in the cliffs. Within only a hundred feet or so of the garden tomb where Jesus is believed to have been buried, archeologists have discovered a family tomb with an entrance chamber and five burial chambers around it. It must have belonged to a very wealthy family.

          People of less means, or a lesser station in life, would be buried in graves. Deborah, Rebackah's nurse (or servant) in Isaac's household, was buried under an oak tree at Bethal when she died. The entire side of the Mount of Olives, which faces the City of Jerusalem, is a graveyard, where Jews have wanted to be buried ever since the Children of Israel marched into the Promised Land. The Prophets Zechariah and Malachi are buried there. Jews believed that the Old Testament Scriptures taught that when the Messiah would come and raise the dead, He would come to the Mount of Olives. They wanted to be buried there so they would be the first to be raised.

         Then there were many buried in caves. The land is full of caves. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and their family members were all buried at the Cave of Machpelah which Abraham purchased from the people of the area. It is near the modern day city of Hebron.

          Only prophets and kings were ever buried inside the city limits. All others were buried outside.

          From the time of death to the time of burial, there would be no eating. It was an undeclared fast. But after the burial, there was what was called a "Mourning Feast." Today we might call it a "wake." Jeremiah, in chapter 16 of his prophecy, is talking about judgment which is going to come upon Israel because they have departed from the precepts of God. He says that there will be no one to mourn their death. And he illustrates this further by saying that there would be no one to "comfort the mourners with a meal, or send them a cup of wine expressing grief..." (Jeremiah 16:7).

          While some of the practices of the Children of Israel with regard to death may seem to have taken them far away from Scriptural teachings, yet a tenderness for others is found here that Paul refers to when writing to the believers at Rome. They were living in a more western culture where it was weak and unmanly to shed tears - not a lot different than today in our society. Paul said they should "weep with them that weep." The teaching of the New Testament is that when one of God's family is hurtng, the whole is hurting. Let us be there for those of God's children during their time of need.

A SHEPHERD'S LIFE

          You cannot read very far in the Bible before you realize that the raising of sheep and the people who raised them (shepherds) played a big part in the life of the peoples who lived in the Bible lands. Large numbers of sheep are reported early in the Scriptures, even before the time of Abraham. Job is said to have had 14,000 sheep before he lost it all. Abraham had so many sheep he had a virtual city of family and servants to take care of his interests. Solomon is reported to have sacrificed 120,000 sheep at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Even after the Jews moved into the Promised Land and started growing crops, they still kept large flocks of sheep. Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, the prophets and Jesus took examples from the sheep and from shepherds to illustrate the points they wanted to make. Jesus did this repeatedly. Therefore it makes sense to study the place that sheep and shepherds play in the Bible so that we might better undersand the point Jesus and the prophets are trying to make when they use these illustrations.

          First, let's consider the shepherd. The youngest son in the family was the shepherd of the family's flocks just as soon as he was old enough to carry out that responsibility. This was especially true if the family grew crops, because the rest of the sons were required for other jobs. This was true of Jesse's son David. When the Prophet Samuel went to anoint him king, he looked over all of Jesse's sons who had been brought before him. But God said it was none of those. So Samuel asked, "Are here all thy children?" Jesse answered, "There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep" (I Samuel 16:11). You may remember in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which Jesus told, that the youngest son took his inheritance, left home, and went out to seek his fortune. When he returned, the older son came in from the field and objected to the banquet and rejoicing that was going on. Why? Because during his absence, the older son had to fulfill the function his younger brother should have filled - that of the lowly shepherd. And think of David. David drew from his experiences as a shepherd to demonstrate the thoughts and emotions he was trying to convey when he wrote many of the Psalms.

          Let's take a look at the shepherd's equipment. We will start with his clothing. The shepherd wore basically what we discussed in an earlier session. His clothing consisted of the tunic of cotton (his under garment), the leather girdle (sash or belt), and the camel's hair, water proof, outer garment. It was essentially the same clothing worn by John the Baptist as described in Matthew 3:4.

           Next, he would have his "scrip." This was a bag made of dried skins that hung from his girdle (belt). The shepherd's mother would pack this bag with food for him when he would be away from home for days at a time. She would fold the flat bread, and also fill it with cheese, dried fruit and olives. This is the same bag that David used in I Samuel 17:40 to store the five smooth stones when he went up against the giant Goliath.

          Next there was "the rod." It also hung from his girdle. It was shaped something like a policeman's club. It was usually made of oak or some other hardwood. It had a knob on the handle, and sometimes had nails driven into it to make it a better weapon. It was used for protection. No shepherd would ever be without one. It was just such a rod, which David used to protect his sheep from the bear and the lion as indicated in I Samuel 17. Surely David must have thought of the "rod" as more than a weaon for him to use. It also was a comfort to his sheep, although they could not reason that way. David used this analogy in Psalm 23 when he wrote, "...thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." What was he saying? He was saying, God is the Shepherd; we are the sheep. While God uses the Sepherd's Rod to ward off the enemy - that Rod is a comfort to us, because we know God uses it for our protection.

          But "the rod" had some other uses too. The rod was used for counting sheep. Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep. As the sheep enter the fold, they pass under the rod for the count. Each is tapped as the shepherd counts. Alas, there are only 99! One is missing! The shepherd secures the sheepford, then goes out to look for the one lost sheep. The Prophet Ezekiel, referring to the nation of Israel says, "I will cause you to pass under the rod" (Ezekiel 20:37). Ezekiel is prophesying that because Israel had worshipped the gods of wood and stone from the nations around them, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would bring judgment upon them, carrying them off captive into another nation. Ezekiel is saying that God will use "the rod" to count them carefully, and only a small number of them, a prescribed quota, will return. The rest, he says, will be purged from the nation. He is speaking, of course, of the Babylonian captivity.

          But "the rod" was also used for tithing sheep. The rod would be dipped in a red colored fluid. Then as the sheep passed under, the first would be tapped, leaving red coloring on it. The eleventh would be tapped, leaving red on it, and so on down the line, the first of each ten as set apart unto the Lord. God had commanded this in the Law, but it was also pacticed before the Law as far back as Abraham and even earlier. "And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord" (Leveticus 27:32).

          The shepherd also carried a staff with him. This was a stick five to six feet in length, which many times had a crook at the top. This was used as a walking stick, and the crook was also handy in handling the sheep. The staff could and was often used for protection.

          Then there was the sling. Youngsters today might call it a "slingshot." But it was not like the ones we see today. The shepherd's sling was simple. It consisted of two strings of leather, sinew or rope, with a leather receptacle for a stone tied or sewn in the center. This would be swung wildly around the head, releasing one string, allowing the stone to fly. When visiting the community of Bethany in Israel, standing near the tomb from which Jesus called Lazarus back from the dead, an Arab man was demonstrating the shepherd's sling. Now, mind you, we were standing in the middle of the community. He put a stone in the sling, swung it rapidly, and then released the stone. It went five or six stories high into the air, and traveled three or four city block from the place we were standing. Where it landed, nobody knew. For all the man knew it could have hit someone on the head. But he continued the demonstrations. I was amazed at the speed of the stone and the distance it traveled. This was the same type sling David used to slay the giant Goliath. And after seeing the demonstration in Bethany, I have no doubt that a single stone, guided by God to the only unprotected spot on the giant, could bring him down. Most shepherds were quite accomplished with the sling.

          Many shepherds also carried small flutes. This duel piped flute was made of reeds. The flute provided hours of entertainment while out in the fields, and the sheep seemed to enjoy the music, and knew that as long as they were hearing the music, all was well. David became so proficient at the flute that he became King Saul's official musician.

           Flocks had to be moved from one place to another depending on the season of the year. In spring there was an abundance of green pastures, so flocks could be grazed near the villages where the shepherd lived. After the grain harvest and the fields had been gone over by the gleaners, the sheep would be allowed to graze the dried grass and the new growth, which would come up. Then they would have to seek pastures farther away from home. In the winter there was little or no pasture, so the sheep had to be fed. The Prophet Isaiah, speaking of God as the Shepherd, and the nation of Israel as the sheep, wrote, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd" (Isaiah 40:11). This phrase is found in the middle of a passage predicting the coming of the Jewish Messiah. In Psalm 23, the shepherd David, remembering his experiences, writes, speaking of God, "He leadeth me beside the still waters."

          Next we need to talk about the sheepfold. There were two kinds of folds. There were more permanent folds built at or near the village where the shepherd lived. There were also temporary folds built farther away from home to be used for a limited time while the shepherd and his flock were in that area. The permanent sheepfolds were normally made of rocks, some were located in caves, with entrances arranged so wild animals could not enter. Temporary folds were usually built along walls, fences, cliffs, etc. They were often made of branches, limbs and/or stones. There are also many caves in Israel. The shepherds outside Bethlehem who heard the angels announce the birth of the Savior, were likely watching their sheep in caves. The area outside the city is dotted with such caves, some of which are still used for that purpose today.

          The subjects of sickness, death, and the life of the shepherd in Bible times gives us a bit of insite into life in Bible times, and how the people understood the messages God gave to them through the prophets.
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