I awoke in Aswan, ready to hop on a plane. No, the trip wasn’t over. We drove over the river and through the desert to the small Aswan airport. We had a short flight farther south to the remote site of Abu Simbel. Carved by Ramesses II, it demonstrated the extent of his kingdom, how far south he had exerted control. Abu Simbel is actually a pair of monuments with one dedicated to Ramesses and the other to his favorite wife Nefertari. Besides the facades out front, each was carved back into the cliff-face, decorated from floor to ceiling. When […]
Author Archive: Brian Johnson
Jeremiah 27
The Yoke This is what the Lord said to me: “Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. Jeremiah 27:2 The Lord commands Jeremiah to make a yoke and bind it to his neck as a symbol for how the nations will be subservient to Babylon. If they resist, they will face the brunt of the Babylonian war machine. This image continues into the next chapter where the false prophet Hananiah takes it off Jeremiah’s neck and breaks it, declaring that God would lift the burden soon. Oh, how mistaken he would be! Yesterday was Independence Day […]
When in Nubia
As the sun drifted closer to the horizon, we walked across the street from our hotel and climbed into our second small boat of the day. Cruising around the Nile, we eventually docked at Elephantine Island. During Biblical times, a group of Jews settled in this area. They constructed a temple to the Lord on Elephantine Island around the fifth century BC. We tend to think of idolatry, but what about worshipping the Lord at another temple? I would’ve enjoyed exploring whatever ruins there are on the island, but that wasn’t the purpose of our visit. There is a village […]
Jeremiah 26
Like Shiloh Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.’” Jeremiah 26:3-6 God gives Jeremiah another message for the people in hopes that they would listen and repent. Ironically, it says they do listen (verse 7), but their response isn’t what was […]
Flooded Ruins
As our train pulled into the station in Aswan, we hopped off and weaved our way through the bustling crowds. Our van brought us near the bank of the Nile. Winding our way past the trinket-selling merchants, we hopped on a boat to Philae Island. Actually, it was Fake Philae Island. The real island is now submerged under the waters of the Nile thanks to a couple of dams (see below). The island was deemed important enough that they took all the structures apart and moved them to a higher island. The temples here were from the Greek and Roman […]
Jeremiah 25
Seventy Years In Jeremiah 25:3, the prophet proclaims that he’s been at it for twenty-three years, trying to call the nation to repent. In general, people haven’t listened. Jeremiah has already described the the bad things that were going to happen. However, he adds one additional detail this time: the desolation would last seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11). All except some of the youngest would never see the land again after being carried into exile. This timetable is referenced a couple other times. The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in […]
All Aboard!
Departing Alexandria, we stopped at a mall on the edge of the city before beginning our trek back to Cairo, where we’d catch a train to head south. I couldn’t help but ask, “Who shops here?” because the majority of the signage was in English, selling expensive Western brands. The only exception was the grocery store, which clearly catered to locals. It’s like ancient Alexandria: international mixed with local. We bought some snacks for the train ride while we were there. We drove to Cairo and stayed just long enough to wait at the train station. We watched with some […]
Jeremiah 24
Good and Bad Figs [T]he Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. Jeremiah 24:1b-2 Figs and dates are some of my favorite fruits. Dried out, they’re like candy. A few years ago in Israel, I tasted a fresh, ripe fig for the first time, picked right from the tree. I excitedly looked for more afterward. Later we found several fig trees and picked a dozen or more figs and stored them in a […]
Sermon – The Potter and the Prophet
This sermon was inspired from a couple recent blog posts I wrote (here and here). Ceramics are an ancient invention still used today that can teach us a valuable lesson. In this sermon (recorded during social distancing), I look at Jeremiah 18-19 where the prophet Jeremiah goes to the house of the potter and receives a message from the Lord about how he shapes our lives. Pre-recorded version: Live version
Alexandrian Books
Our time in Alexandria was not complete. The next morning we drove to an archaeological site from the Roman period. From my extensive wanderings over the years, this site felt familiar despite it being my first visit. It’s filled with all the usual furnishings that Romans would find familiar: baths, a theater, lecture halls, and more. Alexandria was the second largest city in the empire in the first century after Rome itself. The previous day was the lighthouse. What else is Alexandria famous for? Its library! While that is long gone and its location unknown, the reputation has remained. In […]