WORSHIP
- In Spirit & Truth
Jn.
4:1-24 JESUS
MEETS THE SAMARITAN
WOMAN AT JACOB'S WELL.
Place:
Sychar in the land of Ephraim, in Samaria
Near
Shechem, Jacob's well, near where Joseph's bones were
buried after being brought from Egyptian bondage.
vs.
20 "Our
fathers..." THE 10 TRIBES OF ISRAEL
"...this
mountain..." MT. GERIZIM, the
Samaritans' place of worship.
"...you
Jews say..." AS OPPOSED TO THE
SAMARITANS
"...Jerusalem
is the place where one ought
to
worship."
A
DISTINCTION - OPINION OR GOD'S LAW
LOOKING
BACK IN HISTORY
"Our
fathers..." THE
10 TRIBES OF NORTHERN
KINGDOM OF ISRAEL
1
Kgs. 11:1-13, 26-40 SOLOMON
TURNED FROM
GOD:
He
married foreign women against God's instructions.
He
allowed them to turn his heart from God.
He
worshiped foreign gods (idols)
He
built high places (of worship) for foreign gods.
vs.
33 KINGDOM
DIVIDED BECAUSE OF IDOL
WORSHIP
1
Kgs. 12:25-33 JEROBOAM'S
SIN OF
CHANGING GOD'S WORSHIP.
He
built Shechem in Ephraim (where Jesus met the
Samaritan
woman at Jacob's well.)
vs.
28 He
instituted idol worship of golden calves
A matter of convenience
- "too much to go
up..." Ascribed their exodus from Egypt to
the idols.
vs.
29 He
set up 2 places of worship at Dan &
Bethel
vs.
31 He
made priests from those not of the tribe of
Levi.
vs.
32 He
ordained a feast similar to the feast of
tabernacles (Neh.
8:13-18)
1
Kgs. 12:19 JUDAH
& ISRAEL NEVER LOOKED
AT EACH OTHER THE SAME
AGAIN.
"...you
Jews say..." AS
OPPOSED
TO THE SAMARITANS
254
YEARS LATER
(721 BC)
2
Kgs. 17:5-12 JUDAH
WAS BESIEGED 3 YEARS,
THEN SCATTERED TO ASSYRIA
AND
BEYOND.
vss.
24-33 THE
BEGINNING OF THE
SAMARITANS.
Note:
It appears that the city
of Samaria was the primary target & primarily
the people of the city
that was deported to Assyria. On
the walls of the royal palace at Dur-Sarraku, Sargon of Assyria had
recorded
these words: "In
my first year of reign...the people of Samaria
...to
the number of 27,290 I carried away...The city
I rebuilt - I made
it greater than it was before. People of lands which I had
conquered
I settled therein.
My tartan I placed over them as governor."
123
YEARS LATER
(about 598 BC)
WE
KNOW THERE WERE STILL JEWS WHO REMAINED IN SAMARIA AFTER
THE ASSYRIAN DEPORTATION.
Jer.
41:5 "...certain
men came from Shechem, from
Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men
with their beards shaved and their clothes
torn, having cut
themselves, with
offerings and incense in their hand, to
bring them to the house of
the Lord."
THIS
WOULD CAUSE US TO CONCLUDE THAT THERE WAS THE PROBABILITY
THAT IN THOSE 123 YEARS, JEWS WOULD HAVE INTERMARRIED
WITH THE ASSYRIAN CAPTIVES WHO HAD BEEN PLACED
IN SAMARIA.
63
YEARS LATER
(535 BC)
Ezra
4:1-6 THE
SAMARITANS, SEEKING TO
HELP REBUILD THE TEMPLE, ARE
REJECTED BY ZERUBBABEL & ALL
OF JUDAH.
91
YEARS LATER
(444 BC)
WHEN
THE WALLS ARE BEING REBUILT, SANBALLAT HARASSES . WE
LEARN THAT HE WAS OF THE SAMARITANS.
Neh.
2:19-20 "But
when Sanballat the Horonite,
Tobiah the Ammonite official, and
Geshem
the Arab heard of it, they
laughed us to scorn and despised
us,
and said, 'What is this thing that
you are doing? Will you rebel against
the king?' [20]
So I answered them,
and said to them, 'The God
of heaven
Himself will prosper us; therefore we
His servants will arise
and build, but
you have no heritage or right or
memorial in Jerusalem.'"
Neh.
4:1-2 "But
it so happened, when Sanballat
heard that we were rebuilding the
wall,
that he was furious and very indignant,
and mocked the Jews. [2]
And he spoke
before his brethren and the
army of
Samaria,
and said,
'What are these
feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify
themselves?
Will they offer sacrifices?
Will they complete it in a
day? Will they
revive the stones from the heaps of
rubbish
- stones that are burned?'"
"...this
mountain..." MT.
GERIZIM, SAMARITANS'
PLACE OF WORSHIP THE
PLACE WERE JESUS SPOKE
TO THE SAMARITAN
WOMAN AT
JACOB'S WELL
WAS IN THE SHADOW OF
MT. GERIZIM. HISTORY
TELLS US THAT SANBALLAT
BUILT A TEMPLE ON THE
TOP
OF THIS MOUNTAIN. IT
WAS DESTROYED BY
HYRCANUS IN 109
BC. THEN
HEROD BUILT ANOTHER
TEMPLE THERE IN 25 BC.
IT
IS SAID THAT THE
SAMARITANS REFUSED TO
USE THE NEW TEMPLE,
BUT
CONTINUED TO WORSHIP
OUT IN THE OPEN ON TOP
OF THE MOUNTAIN.
"Jerusalem
is the place where one ought
to worship."
A
DISTINCTION - OPINION OR GOD'S LAW?
THE
JEWS HAD CONTINUOUSLY CHARGED THE SAMARITANS WITH FORSAKING
GOD - FOR MAKING GOLDEN CALVES TO WORSHIP AT BETHEL
- AND THEN AT MT GERIZIM.
Deut.
12:1-14 GOD'S
LAW REGARDING THE
PLACE
THEY WOULD WORSHIP
-
THE PLACE WHERE HE WOULD
PUT HIS NAME.
1
Kgs. 9:1-9 GOD'S
PROMISE TO SOLOMON OF
THE BLESSING OF HIS PERPETUAL
PRESENCE THERE ON THE
CONDITION OF FAITHFULNESS,
OBEDIENCE, & WORSHIP OF HIM
ONLY.
WHAT
LESSONS DO WE LEARN FROM HISTORY?
GOD
IS SERIOUS ABOUT MAN'S WORSHIP.
FAILURE
TO HONOR HIS WILL RESULTS IN GOD'S REJECTION OF US.
Heb.
10:19-31 CONSIDERING
HISTORY'S
LESSONS, THE SERIOUSNESS
OF
WORSHIP, & GOD'S WRATH -
WHAT DO THESE VERSES SAY
TO US?
