Sermon Tone Analysis

A Beneficial Death

By the time of the events in the region known in Old Testament days as Bashan—Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi and the transfiguration on Mount Hermon—Jesus knew that the hour of his death was fast approaching.

He had provoked a confrontation with intelligent evil in many ways over the years of his ministry, but what he did and said in those two places was especially defiant.

The move was calculated.

THE BULLS OF BASHAN

All four gospels describe the crucifixion of Jesus in varying degrees of detail.

One of the more thorough descriptions is that of Matthew:

35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots.

36 And they sat down and were watching over him there.

37 And they put above his head the charge against him in writing: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.”

38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

39 And those who passed by reviled him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself!

If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 41 In the same way also the chief priests, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he is not able to save himself!

He is the king of Israel!

Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him!

43 He trusts in God; let him deliver him now if he wants to, because he said, ‘I am the Son of God’!” 44 And in the same way even the robbers who were crucified with him were reviling him.

45 Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”

(that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) ().

Many readers will know that Matthew tracks on in this description.

The parallels are impossible to miss:

They divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots (v.

35).

“They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots” (v.

18).

“Those who passed by reviled him, shaking their heads.…

In the same way also the chief priests, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him” (vv.

39, 41).

“All who see me mock me.

They open wide their lips; they shake the head … they gaze, they look at me” (vv.

7, 17).

“Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’

(that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)” (v.

46).

“My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (v. 1).

In addition to the clear textual links between Matthew and , scholars have long noticed that elements of appear to describe injuries and conditions congruent with crucifixion:

• I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint (v.

14).

• My strength is dry like a potsherd, and my tongue is sticking to my jaws (v.

15).

Less apparent are some under-the-surface connections to the divine council worldview and its cosmic holy war context.

If you were to read all of at this point in our journey, verse 12 would no doubt jump off the page:

“Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me.”

STRONG BULLS OF BASHAN?

We know by now that Bashan carries a lot of theological baggage.

It was the Old Testament version of the gates of hell, the gateway to the underworld realm of the dead.

It was known as “the place of the serpent” outside the Bible.

It’s associated with Mount Hermon, the place where Jews believed the rebellious sons of God from descended.

Simply put, if you wanted to conjure up images of the demonic and death, you’d refer to Bashan.

If it’s true that elements of prefigure the crucifixion, it makes sense that a reference to Bashan would be part of that.

But we still need a bit more context for understanding it.

The presence of a cult site at Dan located in the northern region was infamous with respect to the idolatrous worship of Samaria, the renegade northern kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel who forsook David’s dynasty after Solomon died.

This confederacy and rival kingdom was set up by Jeroboam ().

So the worship of other gods—gods besides Yahweh who were called demons (shedim)—was part of the identity of Bashan.

That helps us process , where the “bovines of Bashan” also appear:

1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who live on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the powerless, who crush the poor, who say to their husbands, “Bring something so that we may drink!” 2 My Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that, “Behold, the days are coming upon you when they will take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishing hooks ().

Since the “cows of Bashan” are said to speak to their “husbands,” scholars are universally agreed that Amos is specifically addressing upper-class women of northern Israel who were idolaters of the golden calves of Bashan.

I wouldn’t disagree with that necessarily, but there’s more to the wording than that.

Amos could be targeting temple priestesses who served the gods along with male priests.

It is also quite possible that the cows of Bashan are the deities themselves in the form of the idols.

This possibility is strengthened by noticing their crimes: “oppressing the poor [dallim]” and “crushing the needy [ebyonim].”

These same two Hebrew words are used in , where the corrupt elohim are accused of exactly these same crimes ().

For our purposes, what we know for sure about Bashan is that it has secure associations with demonic powers.

Although wasn’t originally messianic in focus, Matthew’s use of it fixes that association.

The implication is that Jesus, at the moment of agony and death, was surrounded by the “bulls of Bashan”—demonic elohim who had been the foes of Yahweh and his children for millennia.

THE FALL OF BASHAN

Bashan was ground zero for Old Testament demonic geography.

But for all the darkness conjured up by the term, references to “Bashan” in the Old Testament aren’t all sinister.

describes a time when Yahweh takes ownership of Bashan.

15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;

a mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.

16 Why do you look with hostility, O many-peaked mountains?

This mountain God desires for his dwelling.

Yes, Yahweh will abide in it forever.

17 The chariots of God

are twice ten thousand, with thousands doubled.

The Lord is among them at Sinai, distinctive in victory.

18 You have ascended on high; you have led away captives.

You have received gifts from among humankind,

and even from the rebellious, so that Yah God may dwell there.

The first thing that sticks out in this passage is that the infamous Mount Bashan is called the “mountain of God” (68:15).

The phrase “mountain of God” is actually “mountain of elohim” (har elohim) in Hebrew.

That means it can be translated as either “mountain of God” or “mountain of the gods.”

The latter makes more sense than the former in context for the very observable reason that the two mountains in the passage—Bashan and Sinai—are rivals at the beginning of the psalm.

The mountain of the gods (Bashan) “looks with hatred” at Yahweh’s mountain, Mount Sinai.

God desired Sinai for his abode, and the psalmist asks Bashan, “Why the envy?”

This would make little sense if Bashan was already under Yahweh’s authority.

The psalmist intends a contrast of association.

In the Old Testament, Sinai is firmly associated with Yahweh and Israel.

Bashan is the polar opposite of Sinai.

It symbolizes unholy ground.

The rest of the psalm describes an assault on Bashan by Yahweh and his holy army.

We know the description refers to spiritual warfare since there was no such engagement of the Israelites in the Old Testament, and also because verse 17 clearly speaks of a divine army.

Yahweh, the divine warrior, will one day tear down the strongholds of Bashan.

He will lead a train of captives down from the mountain (v.

18).

TAKING PRISONERS

, where Yahweh leads a host of captives, may sound familiar.

Paul cites the verse in :

You have ascended on high; you have led away captives.

You have received gifts from among humankind.

Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men” (esv).

If you look closely, there is a problem in the quotation.

For Paul, was about Jesus ascending on high and giving gifts to humanity.

Jesus is somehow the fulfillment of .

But the Old Testament text has God ascending and receiving gifts.

Reconciling this conflict of ideas requires getting some context first.