You Shall Have no Other gods Before Me

The morning began with a devotional thought that would frame the rest of the day’s lessons and site visits. Our day, like all others, was filled with beautiful scenery of Israel, important observations from scripture, and conviction from the truths studied. By the end of the day, our group had traveled for two hours and had seen four sites: Gamla, Caesarea Philippi, Dan, and Omrit.

As soon as our feet hit the ground at Gamla, we were ascending a mountain trail. Our first stop was at a bird observation deck in Gamla - a former stronghold of zealots during the reign of the Roman Empire that is now an Israeli national park. After discussing the refreshing sight of eagles being lifted up, we marched down to the ruins of Gamla (meaning camel). Here we discussed how the zealots of that day held a stronghold on a hump within two valleys, which made it extremely defensible. However, the far-reaching hand of Rome had its way, and the city was sacked. The zealots weren’t just willing to die for what they believed; they were willing to die to keep from having idols of another nation thrust upon them. What a testament to their faith - a faith that held these two commands above all: love the Lord your God and have no idols before Me.

Starkly contrasting Gamla was our next stop, Caesarea Philippi. Built beautifully by Herod, this conglomerative temple of the gods honored Augustus and Philippi. Hearing of the debased acts that occurred on a regular basis here, it was apparent that the temple may have honored influential men and false gods like Pan and Zeus, but it dishonored the one true God. Knowing that during worship children were sacrificed, fornication was prevalent, and humans were disgraced left a sick feeling in our guts. However, many of the group claimed that this was their favorite spot of the day because of the passionate charge that Christ gave Peter and His disciples in direct opposition to the temple and all that it stood for.

David, Solomon, and Jeraboham - only two generations separated a people from serving a king who was a man after God’s own heart to a people worshipping a golden calf on a four-horned altar at our next stop, the city of Dan. Seeing the ruins of the zealots during the morning and then seeing how the Israelites slipped in their love and zeal for the God of the Shema was such a sobering and convicting picture throughout the day. How many times have we been guilty for slippage in our lives. We are quick to call out the Israelites, the secular world, and even our own nation. How much more guilty am I by forsaking a jealous God - jealous for His glory that He deserves and jealous for an undeserving heart of a sinner?

With the evening approaching, we made one last stop to an unassuming field that surprisingly contained a temple ruin. Again, the approval of man was evident here as we admired the ornate fashion in which this temple was built by Herod for Caesar. As a final thought for the day, we contemplated what God had called each of us to do with our lives.

“Rabbis teach in pictures” is a phrase we have heard many times this week. Today was a powerful picture: a nation who was hand-picked by God had forsaken a covenant-binding God for the worshipping of false gods. Our group was left with the stinging question to answer - personally, are we leaving a legacy of faith or a legacy of slippage into idolatry?