May 2006
Understanding Jesus in his context is always important, but never more so than when the media is full of speculations about him. Since the publication of the best seller, The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, much discussion has gone on about whether Jesus could have been married. Interestingly, En-Gedi's most recent book, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus, by David Bivin, offers an excellent response to that very controversy - more about that below.
Here is some of our news this month:
• En-Gedi Celebrates Passover - Passover Kit available
• New Light on The Da Vinci Code; Movie: Ushpizin
• Listening to the Language of the Bible in Chinese!
• May 20th - Studying The Life and Land of Jesus in Israel
• Africa Water Report - Bruce speaking at HASP
• Remember En-Gedi when you shop at Meijer
Two Full Houses Celebrate Passover with En-Gedi
For several years En-Gedi has been teaching in churches about Passover and how Christ fulfilled it. However, this year was the first time that we actually celebrated it ourselves, inviting our En-Gedi "family" to feast with us on the actual evening of Passover, April 12.
It turned out to be a very popular event, with some turned away when all the seating filled. We were especially blessed by one of En-Gedi's friends who traveled over 400 miles to attend! We celebrated again two weeks later with Gateway Community Church in Zeeland, MI with another big, happy crowd.
On both nights we observed the Passover Seder as modern Jews do, sitting around elegant supper tables with each person reading from a Haggadah (a book with the story and prayers). Men wore paper "kippahs," the traditional Jewish sign of reverence for God. As we went through the ceremony, Bruce and Lois shared a Powerpoint presentation on how Christ used these ancient traditions to proclaim himself the long awaited redeemer. It was a very special night.
If you are curious to read more about Passover, we invite you to read the En-Gedi Passover Resources Page which has a basic article with links to many others on various aspects of the feast. Or, maybe the next resource is for you:
New: Experiencing Christ in the Passover Seder CD Kit
If you'd like to experience the Passover evenings that En-Gedi had, you may be interested in the Passover CD Kit that our ministry has produced. We have put together some of the materials that we use when we lead Seders, so that you can host your own event - possibly just for your own family. This "kit", in the form of a CD ($15.95), will help you in preparing such an event.
The CD includes a PowerPoint™ presentation file, a beautiful blessing named "Dayeinu", a supply list, set-up instructions, a Haggadah, and a script to go along with the slide presentation as dramatized by a father and mother leading the celebration. We have provided both editable formats, if you have the proper software, and .pdf files which anyone can print in the quantities needed. You are welcome to modify the files and print as many copies as you need for your own particular situation so long as your do not resell or distribute either the printed or electronic versions. En-Gedi retains the copyrights to all materials. Order the CD on the Other Items page of the En-Gedi Online Bookstore.
New Light on The Da Vinci Code
Since The Da Vinci Code is coming out in theaters this month, we thought it was timely to equip our readers with a good insight on one hypothesis that is put forth in the fictional novel. The book suggests that Jesus was actually married even though the Gospels never mention it. To quote a character in the book,
"Jesus as a married man makes infinitely more sense than our standard biblical view of Jesus as a bachelor, because Jesus was a Jew, and the social decorum during that time virtually forbid a Jewish man to be unmarried. According to Jewish custom, celibacy was condemned, and the obligation for a Jewish father was to find a suitable wife for his son. If Jesus were not married, at least one of the Bible's gospels would have mentioned it and offered some explanation for His unnatural state of bachelorhood." (The Da Vinci Code, p. 245)
Were Jesus and Paul married? Would they have been condemned for being single? According to scholar David Bivin, author and editor of Jerusalem Perspective, the answer is no. In New Light on the Difficult Word of Jesus, he writes,
A bachelor rabbi functioning within Jewish society of the first century was not as abnormal as it might first appear. Rabbis often spent many years far from home, first as students and then as itinerant teachers. It was not uncommon for such men to marry in their late thirties or forties. Just as some students today wait to marry until they finish their education, so there were disciples and even rabbis who postponed marriage until later in life. (p. 67)
Bivin then gives two examples of rabbis from Jesus' time who married after having disciples, or were putting off marriage until later because of their dedication to teaching the Scriptures. This fits well with Jesus' statement that "others have renounced marriage because of the Kingdom of Heaven" (Mt. 19:12) and Paul's affirmation of singleness as well. Rather than being an impossibility, singleness was a sign of a rabbi's great commitment to God.
(New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus is available for $12.95 from the En-Gedi Bookstore.)
Movie Recommendation: Ushpizin
Whether or not you have any interest in seeing Da Vinci Code in the theater, you might enjoy another movie that was released on DVD last month, called Ushpizin. Produced in Israel, it won Best Actor award in Israel in 2004 and has been highly praised by the critics. It is the humorous story of a Hasidic Jewish couple's celebration of Sukkot, which gets turned on its head when some less observant visitors come for the holiday. It was filmed in orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem and acted entirely by orthodox and ultra-orthodox actors, so it is fascinatingly authentic, and gives a wonderful picture of life among observant Jews during the holidays. The movie is in Hebrew with subtitles in English. We found the DVD at our local movie rental outlet.
Listening to the Language of the Bible in Chinese!
Other miscellaneous news for our LLB fans:
• We are now printing Listening to the Language of the Bible in Israel for the upcoming Jerusalem Perspective Conference, and so that we can make them available economically in bookstores in the country by avoiding international shipping. If you know of a store in Israel that might be interested in the book, please tell us!
• Listening to the Language of the Bible is also now available in braille, due to the efforts of Helping Hands Braille Ministries in Kentwood, MI.
• A Bible professor at a Christian university in Virginia recently order the book as required reading for his 1000-student Bible class each semester. We hope that it will be a blessing to many students there.
Leaving for Israel May 20th
to study The Life and Land of Jesus
Please pray for our staff and participants who will be flying to Israel on May 20th for a 13-day study trip there called The Life and Land of Jesus. There will be 58 people going, which will require two buses. En-Gedi is co-sponsoring the trip with Emmaus Educational Services, and our teachers will be Dr. Steven Notley, Dr. Wink Thompson, and Marc Turnage, all experts on the first-century Jewish cultural context of Jesus. En-Gedi first brought a group with them in July 2004 and it was outstanding, so we are very excited about this year's adventure. We'll let you know how it was in next month's newsletter!
Africa Water Report
En-Gedi continues to be involved with the water needs of Kenya and Uganda, where we installed seven Living Water purification units last fall. (Read more here.) After telling you about a terrible drought going on in the past few months. we are happy to report that Uganda and Kenya are getting much needed rains, so that local farmers will have a crop this year. Kenya especially has been facing widespread starvation because rains have been poor, and many people died and many cattle were lost. They still are waiting for the crops to grow, but have much hope for the coming months. We are working together with Special Ministries, an agency that has saved many lives in their Hope Centers in Kenya. See www.kenyahope.org for more.
On May 2, Bruce Okkema will be giving a presentation on his work to install the units for the Hope Academy of Senior Professionals (HASP) at 10 AM called, "Successes in East Africa Addressing the Global Water Issue" at the Maas Auditorium at Hope College in Holland.
Remember En-Gedi when you shop at Meijer
We are moving into summer time when funding is much leaner, and we ask for you to remember us in your prayers and your giving. We are excited to announce we have found a solution to help raise money without burdening our ministry with additional administrative costs. It is the Meijer Community Rewards program, designed to benefit schools and religious groups. (Meijer stores are in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois.)
The first step is to join the Meijer Community Rewards Program by visiting the Meijer website at http://www.meijer.com/rewards/, or reply to this email and we will be glad to send you a form in the mail. You may select up to three non-profits to share your rewards, and we appreciate your naming En-Gedi Resource Center by using our code #571525. Once you have enrolled in Meijer Community Rewards simply shop at Meijer and show your membership card with each purchase and we will automatically receive up to 4% of your purchase totals.
Our ministry is trying to find creative ways to fund the work that we do, and your help is greatly appreciated. Every gift lifts us up to continue the valuable ministry of the En-Gedi Resource Center. Please keep remembering to support us with your prayers and gifts.
We pray for continued growth and deepening faith for all of you, our friends.
Blessings from En-Gedi -
Bruce Okkema & Lois Tverberg
Directors of En-Gedi
©2006 En-Gedi Resource Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization solely dependent on your tax-deductible contributions. We very much appreciate your support. www.egrc.net
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