Israel Part 1: Welcome to Caesarea Philippi!
Caesarea Philippi was just the name of a city in the pages of my Bible until I visited Israel. Imagine my surprise when I realized that it was a center for pagan worship...
The area today is still named after Pan, the main pagan god that was worshipped here.
Notice the arches carved into the mountain. These were arches where idols to many pagan gods were placed and worshipped. And when I say "worshipped," I mean something different than what you may imagine from Sunday School. The worship that took place here was dark and included drunkenness, human sacrifice, blood, sex, and animals.
The Book of Enoch (extra biblical...decide for yourself) describes the location of Caesarea Philippi as the place where "the watchers" fell from Heaven to follow their god, Lucifer. The Bible tells us of fallen angels, and we know there were "sons of God" who took for themselves "daughters of men" from Genesis 6. The theory is that it all began right here...at the foot of Mount Hermon...in Caesarea Philippi.
Creepy, right?
So, it is in this context that Jesus has the following conversation with His disciples:
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some [say] John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal [this] to you, but My Father who is in heaven. - Mat 16:13-17 NASB (emphasis mine)
The context of that conversation changes everything. Jesus "presented" Himself as "one of the gods," to see if His disciples could discern the difference between Himself and the many counterfeit gods vying for worship from mankind. It was in that comparison that Peter really "got it."
So I found myself there...at the foot of Mount Hermon...looking at the deserted Grotto of Pan and the empty godless arches...hearing Jesus say to my heart, "Debbie, who do you say that I am?"
And my answer....
Resolutely, in agreement with Peter, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
What about you? Who do you say that Jesus is? If you are as yet undecided, I challenge you to offer up a simple prayer, asking Jesus to reveal Himself to you. The rest of the conversation tells us that Jesus blessed Peter and told him that "flesh and blood did not reveal this to [him], but My Father, who is in Heaven."
While God can and does use humans to do His work, it is God's direct intervention in the lives of humankind that leads them to understand that Jesus is "the Messiah, the Son of the living God." May He reveal Himself for the first time...or in refreshment...to you today.
Ready for more? Check out the next blogs in this series:
TY for sharing this post with us on The Front Porch Upper Room.
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