Participants:
Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ007102S
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00:24 [Music, chanting]
00:39 Judea was ruled by Rome to 2,000 years ago in the time 00:43 of Jesus of Nazareth. 00:45 Even then the people were chafing under Roman rule. 00:48 Their occasional small-scale rebellions but they were quickly 00:52 crushed. In 1866 however, the Jewish Revolt fled into 00:59 a full-scale war that raged for four years until the 01:03 Roman General Titus conquered Jerusalem destroyed the sacred 01:07 temple and expelled most of the survivors from the country. 01:16 One outpost alone held out against the Romans. 01:19 It was the Fortress of Masada built high above the Dead Sea 01:24 on top of a barren mountainous plateau. 01:28 One of the most historic and incredible stories 01:31 of all history was played out here when a small group of 01:36 Jewish Zealots defied the power of Rome. 01:39 It's a story that carries a special message for us today 01:43 stay tuned to hear all about it. 02:16 Masada is a natural rock-top fortress overlooking the 02:20 Dead Sea on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert. 02:24 Due to its natural features with steep sides and no easy 02:28 access, the place is virtually invincible. 02:37 Herod the Great recognized the unique characteristics 02:40 and strategic advantages of this natural fortress 02:44 both for defense and for pleasure. 02:47 He was a Roman Kline King of Judea who ruled this region 02:52 from 37 BC to 4BC. He wanted a fortress, a place of refuge 02:59 in case the Jews should rebel against him. 03:02 or the Egyptian Pharaoh Cleopatra who wanted his 03:06 territory Judea should try to have him killed. 03:09 So he fortified Masada with walls, gates, and towers. 03:14 He also liked his creature comforts 03:17 and so he turned it into a luxurious vacation palace 03:22 It was elaborately designed and decorated. 03:25 The residential area cascaded in three tiers down the 03:30 cliff-face and was complete with swimming pools, 03:33 executive offices, and grand bath houses and even 03:38 a private sauna. The palace offered a magnificent view 03:42 of the Dead Sea and the Judean Desert. 03:45 Great cisterns were carved out of the rock to catch and 03:52 store the precious water brought by occasional rains. 03:56 No expense was spared, here was a self-contained 04:00 palace fortress truly fit for a king. 04:04 after Herod's death and the annexation of Judea, 04:14 the Romans established a garrison at Masada. 04:17 When the Great Jewish Revolt broke out in AD 66 04:22 a group of Jewish Zealots known as the Sicarii took over the 04:27 Masada Fortress. When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem 04:31 the entire country had been conquered with one exception. 04:36 Masada still stood defiant, great stock imposing, 04:46 the Zealots considered Masada invincible. 04:50 They were confident that the Great Rock Fortress with cliffs 04:54 on every side would always protect them, 04:56 they felt safe and secure, Masada was their 05:02 Security Blanket, they could easily defend its only access. 05:06 A single pathway so narrow that it was necessary 05:10 to walk single file to ascend the 400 steps to the top. 05:14 There are about 700 steps along the two-kilometers 05:18 of winding pathway. 05:20 This pathway was aptly named "The Snake Path" 05:25 because of the way it twists and zig-zags to the summit. 05:29 And so the Great Rock Fortress with its high sides and 05:37 difficult access was the zealot's hope for protection, 05:41 their insurance policy for survival. 05:44 It was the strongest most defensible, and most secure site 05:49 in all the land. And so trusting Masada to protect them 05:53 they defiantly challenged the most powerful army on earth. 06:08 For two years the Zealots harassed the Romans with 06:12 raiding operations from Masada, they engaged in Gorilla tactics 06:16 hit and run, strike hard, strike unexpectedly, and then 06:22 just disappear. They always returned to the safety 06:26 of Masada and then in March AD 72, the Roman Governor 06:32 and General Flavius Silva decided he'd had enough 06:36 He marched against Masada with his 10th legion. 06:41 They brought water, timber, and provisions. 06:44 The 10th legion was prepared for a long siege 06:48 after sitting up their camp at the base of Masada 06:52 the Romans built a four kilometer wall right around 06:55 the base of the Great rock so that no zealot would escape. 06:59 The remains of the Roman Camp and wall can still be seen today 07:04 a reminder of their careful and well-executed strategy. 07:08 The Zealots were now confined to their Clifftop Fortress 07:13 but as they watched all this activity from high up 07:17 the Zealots weren't too concerned, they were confident 07:21 that Masada could stand any attack, the Great Fortress 07:26 would always protect them. 07:28 The Romans continued their methodical preparation 07:36 on the western side of Masada they constructed a ramp from 07:41 stones and beaten earth. Stone by stone they steadily 07:46 built their ramp of Doom. 07:48 On this embankment they built a Siege Tower, 07:51 The giant Roman catapult were placed in position 07:56 and was soon firing massive boulders at the Zealots 08:00 in the Fortress. These missiles, these great boulders 08:03 can still be seen at Masada today. 08:06 The Romans then moved their battering ramp up the ramp 08:11 and began to pound the walls. 08:13 The Zealots desperately defended but soon a section of the wall 08:18 crumbled and was destroyed however, the Zealots had built 08:22 another wall of timber inside the section that had been 08:26 destroyed and they banked it up with soil. 08:29 This soil was soft and yielding so when struck by battering rams 08:34 it only became more firm. 08:36 But Flavius Silva had a plan and was prepared. 08:40 He directed his men to throw 08:42 fiery torches at the wooden wall and set it alight, 08:46 quickly the wall became a mighty flame 08:49 The Romans then returned to their camp certain of victory 08:57 the next day. 09:01 So it was that next morning just before dawn on that 09:05 fateful day in AD 73 Silva's men moved up the ramp 09:10 and charged through the battered wall with swords raised 09:14 ready for battle. 09:16 But there was no clash of swords, there was no opposition, 09:23 there was no sound, they were met only by an eerie silence 09:29 the silence of a cemetery. 09:32 What they saw led them to fall back in shock and disbelief, 09:41 for here all about them were the freshly slain bodies 09:46 of the Zealots, they'd expected to fight. 09:48 There were 960 of them, men, women, and children their bodies 09:55 systematically grouped on the rocky surface, 09:57 the battle was over, the Romans had won, Masada had fallen, 10:03 their enemies were dead as they had wanted them to be. 10:17 But the Romans were cautious, they weren't sure how many 10:20 Zealots there were, could more be in hiding waiting for 10:24 the right moment to attack? Together the soldiers let out 10:28 a dread shout and at the sound of their mighty bellow 10:33 two women and five children emerged from their hiding place 10:37 the only survivors. One of the women told the whole story 10:43 to the Roman soldiers, she explained in detail what had 10:46 happened and that's how the historian Josephus was able to 10:51 record it all for us. 10:53 You see, after the emergency wall had been burned 10:57 and the Masada defenses had been breached, 10:59 the leader of the Zealots Eleazar ben Ya'ir realized that 11:04 the Great Rock Fortress could no longer defend them. 11:08 He knew that the end was just a few hours away. 11:13 There were only two options, they could fight to the death 11:17 or they could surrender to the Romans and become 11:20 their slaves, it was death or slavery, one or the other. 11:25 But as he revisited the situation that night 11:29 Eleazar ben Ya'ir realized that there was one more choice, 11:34 if they must die, they could choose the kind of death. 11:39 They could die in honor instead of defeat. 11:42 He called his men together and explained the plan 11:45 he reminded them of the disgrace of slavery to the hated Romans 11:50 here are the words of part of his impassioned and famous speech. 12:29 Eleazar ben Ya'ir talked on until emotions were roused 12:35 and patriotism so inflamed that they all agreed to join 12:39 the suicide pact, they would die rather than surrender. 12:44 Each man gathered his own family together, 12:48 tenderly embraced them with tears in his eyes, 12:51 and then he took the lives of those he loved. 12:55 When this was done, the men cast lots and chose 10 men to slay 13:01 all the rest. Each man laid down beside his wife and children 13:06 and submitted himself to the death he'd inflicted on them. 13:10 and the last 10 men cast lots to see who would slay 13:15 the other nine and finally the last man set fire to the palace 13:20 and then died by his own sword only the two women and five 13:25 children escaped. 13:26 So ended one of the most incredible stories of all history 13:34 but it need not have ended this way, there is a better way 13:38 of protection, a more secure fortress and that was discovered 13:42 by another great warrior who used Masada as a fortress 13:46 one thousand years earlier. 13:48 His name was David, he became Israel's greatest and most loved 13:55 king. David was the lowly shepherd boy who defeated 13:59 Goliath, became king, formed Israel into a nation, 14:03 and established Jerusalem as its capital and ushered in 14:07 Israel's golden age. 14:10 The name Masada is derived from the Hebrew word 14:14 Matsuda, that means stronghold or fortress. 14:18 And it appears that David visited the clifftop fortress 14:22 on at least three occasions. 14:24 Possibly the first time he saw it was when he was fleeing 14:28 for his life from Saul, Israel's first king. 14:31 Saul saw David as a threat to his throne and was determined 14:36 to kill him so David was on the run. 14:49 After hiding in the cave at Aijalon in Judea's western 14:53 foothills, David and his band of followers went to Bethlehem 14:57 to rescue David's parents from potential harm and to 15:01 escort them to safety in Moab directly across the Dead Sea 15:05 from Masada. David hoped his family would be safe there 15:08 until the situation with Saul settled down. 15:12 When he was returning from Moab, David was looking for 15:16 a hideout in the Judean desert where he would be safe 15:20 from attack. Ideally a place with a view in all directions 15:24 that would allow him to see danger approaching 15:27 so where did he go? He went to the stronghold Metsuda, 15:33 Masada. Here's what the record says in I Samuel 22: 4. 15:47 It says after securing his family's safety 15:51 David was in the stronghold, the word in Hebrew 15:55 is Metsuda or Masada. 15:57 So even way back in David's time around 1,000 BC 16:02 this great clifftop fortress was called Masada. 16:11 Now although Masada may seem a perfect hiding place 16:15 from a human perspective, it's not where God wanted 16:18 David to stay and so David received a message from 16:22 one of the prophets to move on. Here's what it says in 16:25 I Samuel 22:5 16:43 The second time David and his men went to Masada 16:47 was after David had spared King Saul's life at Ein Gedi 16:51 just a few kilometers north of Masada, Saul was hunting 16:56 for David, still wanting to kill him and he stopped to rest 17:00 and fell asleep in a cave unaware that David 17:04 was hiding in it. David and his men were hiding in the 17:09 innermost part of the cave. 17:10 As Saul was resting David quietly crept up to him 17:15 with his knife drawn but instead of stabbing Saul with it, 17:19 he secretly cut off a corner of his royal robe. 17:23 David could easily have killed Saul but he chose rather 17:30 to respect the king and spared his life. When Saul discovered 17:34 what had happened he made peace with David and 17:37 returned home but listened to where David goes in I Samuel 24: 22. 17:53 While Saul said he was going home David and his men 17:56 went up to Masada the stronghold. 17:58 It seems that David was suspicious and still uncertain 18:03 about Saul's real intentions so he goes to Masada, 18:07 Matsuda the Stronghold where he knows he is safe 18:11 and from where he can keep an eye on Saul should he 18:14 double back and try to catch David off guard. 18:18 The next time we know of David here at Masada is after he was 18:24 anointed as king of all Israel at Hebron. 18:27 When his enemies, the Philistines heard about it, 18:31 they conspired to attack him early in his reign when he was 18:35 most vulnerable. 18:36 Here's what it says in II Samuel chapter five and verse 17. 18:54 Even when he is king, David still rushes to the stronghold 19:00 to Masada when he is threatened and in danger. 19:03 He knows the unique characteristics of Masada 19:07 will ensure his safety. He knows that no one can harm him there. 19:12 At Masada, he is safe, at Masada he is secure. 19:23 When you look at Masada and see the strategic advantages 19:27 this natural fortress, it's easy to understand why 19:31 these zealots Herod and David were attracted to it and 19:34 found refuge here. At first glance Masada seems the perfect 19:39 hideout for these men faced with military threats and 19:43 danger during their lives. 19:45 They all understood the importance of a strong defensive 19:51 position, so in this sense, they had a lot in common 19:55 but there's a huge difference in their positions. 19:59 The zealots and Herod trusted in Masada to protect them 20:03 and save them. While David trusted in God for protection, 20:08 How do we know this? Well, listen to what David wrote 20:12 on Psalm chapter 18 and verses one and two. 20:30 And guess what word David used for fortress? Yes, it's Matsuda, 20:36 Masada. David realized that although the clifftop fortress 20:42 was important and stronghold built and maintained by 20:46 human hands will eventually be conquered. 20:49 So David trusted only God as his ultimate protector 20:54 rather than some mountain or some other man-made option. 20:58 After staying in Masada on several occasions, 21:02 David came to realize that as secure as this rocky mountain 21:07 may seem, the Lord God alone was truly his Masada, his fortress. 21:13 He wrote three more Psalms in which he refers to God as 21:17 his stronghold, his Masada. 21:20 On one occasion during a time of great difficulty when even 21:26 friends abandoned him, he wrote this in Psalm chapter 31 21:30 and verses two and three. 21:48 Unlike the Zealots and Herod, David didn't depend on a 21:54 Doomsday Fortress when he faced times of trouble, his Masada 21:59 his fortress was the living God. Now like David and the 22:04 Zealots and Herod, we all experience times when we feel 22:09 threatened by circumstances beyond our control. 22:12 When those difficult times come what's your stronghold? 22:17 Where do you ultimately turn for help? 22:20 The Zealots and Herod looked to Masada and saw a 22:25 physical fortress that seems safe, almost impregnable 22:29 but history ultimately proved them wrong. 22:33 David spent time on the same clifftop mountain 22:37 but he came to a radically different conclusion. 22:41 David found his protection not in a physical fortress, 22:46 but in the true stronghold, the Rock of Ages, 22:49 the living fortress, God Almighty. 22:52 There are some challenges some storms of life, 22:57 that we just can't hide from when the physical Masada's 23:01 can't protect us. You know the kind, the sudden illness, 23:05 the financial mess, the unexpected loss of a loved one, 23:09 the heartbreaking betrayal of a friend. These storms 23:14 can sweep into our lives quickly and suddenly 23:18 or build up over time until they are raging all around us. 23:23 When they come, they threaten to shake us to the core 23:27 and there is nowhere we can hide from them. 23:30 Or is there? David talks about a stronghold in whom we can 23:36 take refuge. This stronghold is so strong, so impenetrable 23:41 that it's protection ensures that we cannot be shaken 23:46 even by the fiercest storm. 23:48 God is our Rock and our Fortress, our Stronghold 23:53 we can run to Him when the storms of life blow all around us. 23:58 Here's what David wrote is Psalm chapter 71 and 24:03 verses one and three. 24:31 So, when the storms of life blow in and you know they will 24:34 find your security in the mighty fortress. 24:38 Hide yourself in the all-loving and powerful arms of God, 24:43 trust Him to keep you safe and not be shaken. 24:52 The great stone fortress reminds us that we also need a fortress, 24:58 a place of refuge where we can find true peace and safety 25:03 in times of stress and danger. We too need a fortress that 25:07 is strong, reliable, and enduring... 25:10 If you are battling the challenges of life, 25:13 and are looking for a fortress that you can depend on 25:17 a fortress that will always protect you and 25:19 never let you down, then I'd like to recommend 25:23 the free gift we have for all our viewers today. 25:27 It's the booklet on the classic Shepherd's Psalm 25:30 written by David. 25:32 This booklet will share with you how David found refuge in 25:36 God during the trials and challenges of life. 25:39 This booklet is our gift to you and is absolutely free 25:44 there are no costs or obligations whatsoever. 25:47 So, make the most of this wonderful opportunity 25:51 to receive the gift we have for you today. 25:53 Here's the information you need. 25:56 Phone or text 0436.333.555 in Australia 26:03 or 020.422.2042 in New Zealand, 26:08 or 770.800.0266 in the United States. 26:14 Or visit our website at tij.tv or simply scan the QR code 26:20 on your screen and we'll send you today's free offer 26:23 totally free of charge and with no obligation. 26:26 You can also write to us at GPO Box 274 Sydney NSW 2001 26:33 Australia, or PO Box 76673 Manikau, Auckland 2241 26:40 New Zealand, or PO Box 888717 Atlanta, Georgia, 30356, USA. 26:49 You can also email us at info@tij.tv, don't delay 26:55 call or text us now. 26:57 Never forget that God is with you in the good days 27:03 and the difficult days, He'll never leave you nor forsake you. 27:11 So, if you've enjoyed today's journey to Masada, 27:12 and our reflections on the Great Rock Fortress 27:14 and it's a message for us today, then be sure to join us again 27:18 next week when we will share another of life's journeys 27:21 together. Until then, let's pray to the God who is our 27:26 refuge and stronghold. 27:28 Our Dear Heavenly Father, You are our Saviour and our 27:34 stronghold, our Masada. 27:36 You are our refuge and our place of safety, 27:39 We are so grateful that You are a powerful God, 27:43 and that in our times of trouble and during the storms of life 27:47 we can find safety and refuge in You. 27:50 You will be given anything that comes against us 27:53 or anything that rages within us. 27:56 We commit our lives to You and pray for Your continued 28:00 blessing and guidance in our lives, 28:03 and we ask this in Jesus' Name. 28:06 Amen! |
Revised 2024-09-11