Tag Archives: Nationalism

Trust Amidst Troubles

November 20, 2025 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
Hebrews 9:9-10 (NIV)

Troubled times.

Political corruption. Nationalism zealously on the rise. Assassinations increasingly common.

Political resentments. Religious fervor. Arrogance of the ruling class.

I’m not talking about today. This was Jerusalem and Judea as the author of Hebrews is writing to his audience. It is a time of increasing tension, political upheaval, and rising violence. Rome has forcefully appointed their own handpicked priests to serve in Jerusalem’s temple. They are, of course, corrupt and the Jews are livid. Angry young nationalists begin committing acts of terror, sparking Roman crackdowns. Then, a Roman procurator embezzles money from the temple’s bank accounts. When the news breaks protests erupt throughout the city. Jerusalem is a powder keg, and the fuse has just been lit.

For the Christians to whom the author is writing, the political situation is simply insult to injury. The persecution of Christians had already begun. Nero had already blamed the Christians for the burning of Rome. Paul, if he hasn’t already been executed, is languishing deep in the dungeons of Mamertine prison Rome. In Jerusalem, a prophetic oracle had spoken telling all the Christians to flee to a City of Refuge east of the Jordan River, a city named Pella. They listened. They fled, and it would ultimately mean the survival of the Jesus Movement.

Fear, anxiety, and uncertainty are the daily realities of any follower of Jesus. Rejected by Jews and despised by Rome, being a follower of Jesus was an invitation to suffering. For Jewish believers, there was the ever present temptation to simply renounce Jesus and return to the tradition they had known their entire lives. At least within Judaism there were still legal rights and social protections amidst the troubles. It was a matter of physical human survival.

Was being a follower of Jesus really worth it?

These are the people the author of Hebrews is addressing. It is possible that the Jewish believers now in Pella are his core audience. How easy it would be to simply walk away from the persecution, the threat suffering, and the constant fear. Just say, “I made a mistake. I don’t think I believe this Jesus stuff after all.”

If I place my feet into the sandals of a Jewish believer in Pella, the message of today’s chapter takes on an entirely new layer of meaning. The author is telling me that that the old order I’ve known my entire life, the religious tradition in which I was raised, is passing away. Jesus came to spiritually fulfill what the old order never could. Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, once for all, completed the work of spiritual redemption for everyone for all eternity. The old system is now obsolete.

“Don’t go back,” the author is gently pleading with his readers. “It may seem like a pragmatic choice in the moment, but there’s nothing for you back there. Old things have passed away. Trust the Story that Jesus gave us. Out of this chaos, new things are coming – eternal things which will make our momentary earthly afflictions pale in comparison.

Then the author weaves in Christ as the eternal God in a trinity of “appearances.”

God who was…

“But now once at the end of the ages He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:26

God who is…

“Christ has entered… into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Hebrews 9:24

God who is yet to come…

“He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for Him.” Hebrews 9:28

In the quiet this morning, I can’t help but find encouragement here in my own home office in a little city of refuge named Pella. In an hour or so I will sit with Wendy and we will peruse the headlines.

Political corruption. Nationalism zealously on the rise. Assassinations increasingly common. Political resentments. Religious fervor. Arrogance of the ruling class.

Within a few years of today’s chapter being penned, the author of Hebrews‘ readers would know for certain that he had been correct. Roman Legions would march on Jerusalem. The temple would be reduced to rubble, just as Jesus had prophesied. Jews would be scattered through the known world. All of the Jewish genealogical records required to determine who was a descendant of Aaron and therefore could be priest were utterly destroyed. The old sacrificial system was finished for good.

What remains?

A High Priest in heaven appearing right now in God’s presence to make intercession for me and you. One who will appear to bring salvation and redeem all things.

Like the believers in ancient Pella who first read the words of today’s chapter for the very first time, I just have to trust the Story.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well. — These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

Of Tribe and Time

May 12, 2020 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
Exodus 1:8-10 (NRSVCE)

When it comes to a film, the first shot the director gives you is always an important one. In movie terms it’s called the “establishing shot” and most casual viewers don’t realize how important it is to provide you with the setting, the environment, and the emotion. In many cases, the establishing shot will foreshadow the entire theme of the movie with one quick visual. For those interested, here’s a quick look at some of the best of all time…

Likewise, great authors provide readers with a literary version of an establishing shot. The opening prologue or chapter lay out the scene for the reader.

In today’s chapter, the author of Exodus establishes the scene for the story and the journey on which I am about to embark. At the end of Genesis, Jacob (a.k.a. Israel) and his 70 descendants and their families, flocks, and herds had migrated and settled in the area of Egypt to escape a famine. His long-lost-son, Joseph was Pharaoh’s right-hand and had welcomed them and provided for them.

Exodus now picks up the story, and in the establishing shot, we find that Israel’s descendants have settled in Egypt and have been fruitful in multiple ways. His sons and grandsons are growing their families, having lots of babies, and each is becoming his own tribe. Between Genesis chapter 50 and Exodus chapter 1 we’ve gone from one Hebrew tribe to twelve growing tribes. The problem is, political winds have shifted.

In ancient cultures (we’re talking about 3500 years ago) the world was a harsh, violent, lawless and brutal place. It was tribal. You were born into a tribe, your tribe protected you, and life was about surviving against other tribes. Some tribes, like Egypt, had successfully become nations but every nation and every tribe was focused on protecting themselves against the threat of other tribes bent on conquest.

In Egypt, the new Pharaoh (that is, Egyptian ruler) and his administration take stock of the fact that Israel’s tribe has become tribes, and they have slowly proliferated within Egypt’s kingdom and territory. That is a threat. Remember, it’s a tribe vs. tribe world. Having that many people from a foreign tribe living in their kingdom was scary. It’s one thing to protect yourself from an attack from the outside. It’s another thing if a tribe living among you goes rogue. From a political perspective, Pharaoh had to address the threat. So, he moves to persecute the Hebrew people living among them and to limit their population growth.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself mulling over both the differences and similarities in our world. It’s that point of tension between two extremes. On one hand, the world has changed drastically in 3500 years and that’s the reason many 21st century readers struggle mightily with the brutality and violence of the ancient stories of the Great Story. If I want to understand the Great Story, I have to be willing to embrace that I will never fully understand ancient history yet embrace the understanding that it has value in the context of a larger eternal narrative.

On the other hand, I also find myself muttering that there is “nothing is new under the sun,” and the more things change the more they stay the same. In China, the government is persecuting people groups and religious groups within their population to try and stop their proliferation. They also have, over recent decades, infamously adopted birth control measures eerily similar to Pharaoh (e.g. allow the girls to live, but not the boys) in an effort to control the political and economic threat they feel from population growth. It also strikes me, as I mull things over, that the same tribalism at the root of the Egypt/Hebrew conflict presented in today’s chapter is at the root of everything from benign sports rivalries to toxic racial, social, nationalist, and religious prejudice. I also think of gangs, cartels, crime organizations, religious denominations, and political parties. Humans are still tribal in a myriad of ways.

When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, told the story of the Good Samaritan, healed the child of a Roman Centurion, and sent His apostles to “ends of the earth” He was pushing His followers beyond their tribe. He prescribed a different type of conquest in which tribal boundaries are breached with love and proliferate generosity, understanding, forgiveness, repentance, and redemption. That’s the tribe with whom I ultimately wish to be associated.