Good morning, hunters!
John 4:1-4 - Jesus goes from Judea back to Galilee. On His way to Galilee He passes through Samaria. From the Judean desert to the Sea of Galilee is about 90 miles away. Samaria is the halfway mark. Today we"re going to look at some history of the country of Samaria.
Samaria has some mountains and valleys. Because of the openness of the plains and valleys it was hard to occupy. Here are some of the towns of Samaria that you may recall from the Old Testament. They are: Shechem, Shiloh, Bethel and Sychar (which is where Jacob"s well was.) In the Old Testament Samaria was known as Ephraim"s mountain.
"King Jeroboam used Bethel as a Holy place to displace the religious authority of Jerusalem. Here the king set up one of his golden calves, and established his idolatrous priesthood." (I Kings 12:28) "The prophet Amos attacked this worship. Hosea also spoke against this cult and the prophecies of these were fulfilled when Josiah of Judah destroyed the pagan altars." (II Kings 23:16)
The people of Samaria are called Samaritans. Bible scholars believe the Samaritans were a mixed breed of Assyrians and a small remnant of Jewish people. They feared Jehovah and served their own gods as well. The "pure Jews" despised the mixed race Samaritans. Even after Herod provided another temple for the Jews to worship in, the Samaritans continued to worship on the mountain (John 4:20-21).
"The greatness of Christ is shown in this story, for at no time had the bitterness between Samaritan and Jew been greater. At one Passover during the governorship of Coponius A.D. 6-9, when according to annual custom, the gates of the temple were opened at midnight, some Samaritans had intruded and polluted the holy place by scattering human bones in the porches. Samaritans were therefore excluded from the services. They were cursed in the temple. Their food was considered unclean."
This is just a little background for tomorrow"s wonderful story.
Have a Jesus filled day,
Brother Chuck
Jn.4:1-4 Intro..Some History of Samaria
