Tel Dan - Everything Except God
Because of the coronavirus, Song For Israel postponed our tour that would have been in Israel now. Today we would have been visiting Tel-Dan, so here is an article about that place.
Shady walkways. Cool breezes. Abundant streams. Luxuriant foliage. It is one of the most serene and tranquil places in northern Israel. In natural beauty, Tel Dan has few rivals in Israel. Tel Dan had everything you could ever want. Except God.
For the Hebrews in the Old Testament, Tel-Dan had everything necessary for abundant living. While the Hebrews in the south worshiped in Jerusalem, the natural beauty of Tel Dan in northern Israel offered an irresistible alternative. It was picturesque. It was convenient. It was invigorating.
And… it was a complete compromise of God’s will.
“Tel” in Hebrew is “mound.” “Dan” comes from the noun “din,” which is “judgment.” “Dan” literally means “[he] judges” or “judged.” Genesis 49:16 reads: Dan shall judge his people.
Tel-Dan is at the foot of Mount Hermon and is among the largest and most important mounds in Israel. An important Canaanite city existed there for two thousand years before its conquest by the children of Israel at the time of the Judges. When conquered by the tribe of Dan, it was a city known by the name of Laish. When the tribe of Dan was hard-pressed by the Philistines in their original inheritance at the center of Israel, they looked for new territory and settled at Laish. They captured the city, destroyed it and rebuilt it as the City of Dan.
Dan continued to be a large, important city but, unfortunately, from its very beginning idolatry was established. Judges 17 teaches about Micah making carved images and a molded image for worship and then consecrated his own son to become a priest. Dan became a center of idol worship. The problem? There was only ONE place God allowed for worship—the Temple in Jerusalem. However, Dan remained a religious center of some sort until the fall of the Roman Empire when the settlement was deserted.
The idolatry of those days, sadly represented by the city of Dan, is equivalent to our experience today when we lose our first love for the Lord and our lives begin to be motivated by things other than dedication to God and a desire to serve Him with all that we have and are. The great statement of faith Moses gave to the children of Israel: Hear, O Israel! he LORD is our God, the LORD is one! is followed by the words: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) In Mark 12:30, Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) added: with all your mind.
The statement about God being One comes with a call to a single-minded devotion. If we choose to love God this way, and conduct our entire life according to His will, then eternal blessings will be ours. However, if other things gain control over us, we will be missing out on the fullness of life the Lord has for us. If we have lost or forsaken our first love - if we no longer love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul - we will suffer many sorrows. From the words of the prophet Hosea: Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us...that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth. (Hosea 6:1-3)
If you think you have everything you need like those in Tel-Dan….except God…you are missing the blessing of knowing Him. Seek Him with all your heart!
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