Crossroads Part 1

I am feeling a little like Indiana Jones today on the trail to a treasure!

During the 2017 election 2 weeks ago, France found itself at a Crossroads. The people had rejected the 2 main parties in favour of 2 candidates with polar opposite views. Marine Le Pen represented an extreme and racist view that wanted to close up France, and Emmanuel Macron (a Rothschild's banker for the conspiracy theorists) wanted an open France but with reform that will hit the French very hard. A significant portion of the population refused to vote - they said they wanted neither one, nor the other. It was what we call Hobson's choice - which devil would you prefer? Finally they chose M. Macron to be their President so that France may remain an open society, even if that means a hard road ahead.

Recently I have been studying the books of Kings and Chronicles to piece together the Old Testament history and I have to say that I have found it utterly fascinating. History was my favourite subject at school so apologies in advance to some of you for the history lesson I'm about to give you.

This message is in 2 parts.

1. In Part 1 we need to understand a bit of history first. 
2. In Part 2 next time we will travel to a Crossroads in someones life and discover how their impossible problem was resolved for them.

A lot of people would agree that the problem in the Middle East is the biggest problem in the World. As it has been for thousands of years. That little piece of land continues to be fought over to this day. We are lucky in NZ to be living in one of most peaceful countries on earth.

Our journey begins on Mt Ararat in Eastern Turkey. Noah, his wife, his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives had survived the great flood that had killed every living thing on the Earth except those on the Ark.

Genesis 9:19
From these three sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth.

Not so much is heard of Japheth's line in the Old Testament. Japheth's line moved North and West and became the seafaring nations of the World, most of which are identified as European Gentiles (Genesis 10:5).

Ham's line moved South and West towards Africa.

Meanwhile Shem's line moved South to Arabia and East towards Asia.

There are 2 deeply sad events that are the root of the Middle East problem. The first occurred because of alcohol. In Genesis 9:20-27, drunken Noah cursed his grandson Canaan for something Ham had done, telling him that Canaan would become the slaves of his Uncle's Shem and Japheth.

The Canaanites became the occupants of Canaan, the future Promised Land setting up a distant war between the descendants of Shem and Ham.

Abram was from the line of Shem. His father Terah was living in Ur when he moved the family away intending to go to Canaan but ended up in Haran in Turkey. Maybe his eyesight was bad, maybe he failed navigation class and followed the wrong star or more likely he wouldn't take directions from his wife. And there in Haran Terah died!

No wonder God spoke to Abram instead 😊

Genesis 12:1-7
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Note;

1. If you draw a straight line from Haran to Shechem, it passes from its origin in Turkey, through Syria and its capital Damascus like an arrow to its target. It struck me that Abram was following the stars to go to Canaan, and it must have been a particular star to hit Shechem.
2. Abraham was 86 years old when his first son Ishmael was born to his servant Hagar which was 11 yeas after he had left Haran. 
3. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born and it had been 25 years since he left Haran.

The second deeply sad event at the root of the Middle East problem occurred not long after Isaac was born. When Isaac was about 2 or 3 years old, Ishmael was sent away out into the desert around Beersheba on Sarah's orders while he was still a teenager. Sarah did not want Ishmael to have any part of Isaac's inheritance.

Some time after that sad event and while they were living in Beersheba, Abraham was told in
Genesis 22:2
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

The location of Mount Moriah is a point of difference between the Jews/Christians and the Muslims.

We believe with very strong evidence and reasoning that Abraham and Isaac travelled to Mount Moriah (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem as the location where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac. It is interesting that Jerusalem is on a direct line between Beersheba and Haran. It would appear that the same star that guided Abraham helped locate Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.

In Genesis 22:4 we are told that it took 3 days to travel by donkey and in verse 19 we are told that afterwards they travelled back to Beersheba where Abraham was living. Mount Moriah is about 90km North East of Beersheba and seems a reasonable timeframe to travel there by donkey.

Isaac could not have been older than 37 when he was to be sacrificed since Sarah died aged 127 and she was 90 when Isaac was born. We could speculate that Isaac was the same age as Jesus when he died on the Cross but no-one knows exactly. However, he was certainly old enough to carry the wood for the fire up the mountain, in a striking parallel of Jesus carrying the Cross up to Golgotha.

Genesis 22:6
So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together

Furthermore, David was later told by the Lord that the site for the temple was to be on Mt Moriah which you can find in 2 Chronicles 3.

2 Chronicles 3:1
So Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David, his father. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that David had selected.

The reason Jerusalem is so important for the Jews is because it is the location of the Temple, their focus of Worship and the place where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac. For us Christians, we know that Jesus died on the Cross there for all the World so we have an extra reason to regard it as a holy site.

"There is no other explanation for Jerusalem's importance because it wasn't on any important trade routes nor is there any natural reason why this city should be one of the most important places in the world for more than four thousand years."

But the Muslims believe the location for Mount Moriah (Marwah) is in a different place near to Mecca where Mohammed was born in Saudi Arabia. All Muslims must go to Mecca, to the Kaaba once in their lifetime. To the Muslim, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is their 3rd holiest site (after Mecca, Medina) where Mohammed ascended to heaven (he returned to earth afterwards) and is not the place where Ishmael/Isaac was sacrificed. In the Koran the name of the son is not stated but most Muslims believe that Ishmael not Isaac was the one to be sacrificed on the altar.

Note;

1. Mecca is 1400km south of Beersheba and could not have been reached within 3 days by donkey. 
2. Medina is where Mohammed is buried and like Mecca, that is located just on the Eastern side of the Red Sea about halfway down. 

To Muslims, their 3 holiest locations represent the birth, ascension and death of Mohammed. But Mohammed is in the tomb and Jesus is risen from the dead! That is why the Muslims reject that Jesus died and rose again because it would make Jesus greater than Mohammed.

Now since the Muslims believe that Jerusalem is a holy site and will not surrender it, and the Jews and Christians believe it is a holy site and will not surrender it, we have the impossible problem of the Middle East.

All the trouble on the Earth comes back to who and what we worship. Individually we all consciously or unconsciously worship someone or something. Everyone finds a god(s) to worship and then blames it for not doing what they want! The trouble in the Middle East is all about worshiping the correct God in the correct place and who owns the rights to that place. It is an impossible problem.

And people and nations go to war against each other when they cannot resolve an impossible problem.

And when you think about it, the war continues between Shem, Ham and Japheth in the religions that have been prominent for each of them.

The Jews (Shem), the Muslims (Ham) and the Christians (Japheth) fight wars against each other to this day. We have an impossible problem because all the religions are incompatible. But to God, they are all the same family. And he's already solved the problem.

If your journey finds you at such a Crossroads today, perhaps this one's for you. There is the Good News of Jesus Christ who comes with a better offer.

I still remember this old song we used to sing in Sunday School. I met Jesus at the Crossroads, where the 2 ways meet. Satan too was standing there and he said "Come this way, lots and lots of pleasure I will give to you today". But I said "No! There's Jesus here. See what he offers me. Down here my sins forgiven. Up there, a home in Heaven. Praise God, that's the Way for me!"

Is there something in your life which is an impossible problem, come to Jesus!

Do you want to change your fate today, come to Jesus!

Now that we understand the history and where everything is, we will finish the story in Part 2. In Part 2 we will discover how the Impossible Problem was resolved in one persons life and here is a clue;