Dan (continued) fatal wound in the body of those who came near. These pictures of Dan and the ad der or serpent, are like Dan in his idolatry for his “feelers” in leadership led Israel away from the Lord. The first act of idolatry is revealed to us in the Old Testament Scripture as com ing from the tribe of Dan, and the first bite, as a serpent, was when the chil dren of Dan found an image in the house of Micah (as recorded in Judges, chapter 18) and they took it from the man and made it their own and the children of Dan set up the graven im age — see Judges 18:30 — “And the children of Dan set up the graven im age: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.” In turning from the body of the story of Dan, we would make note of the fact that Samson was a member of the tribe of Dan. Samson also wandered away from the Lord — but of his sto ry, with which the greater number of you must be familiar, you can find the record in the 16th chapter of Judg es. The beryl, with its flashes of yellow ish blue and varied shades of green, served, in position on the breastplate, as the representative of the tribe of Dan. The Greek word for the beryl has the meaning of jewel or gem; while the word in the Hebrew rather holds the sense of treasure.” This latter mean ing is of a stone from Tarsus. Tarsus was an important city in old en times and probably specialized in this particular stone. At any rate, the association of this gem in the high priest’s breastplate with the land of Tarsus is one more link between the Old Testament and the New — you see Paul was a citizen of Tarsus. Strange to say, the ancient peoples connected this jewel with the name of Thomas in their thinking — Thomas who was a far voyager and traveler in his work for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Christ must be given out; the Gospel must be spread abroad, and
Dr. Ray A. Myers has help from two of his grandaughters in breaking ground for My- er’s Memorial Hall. Sherry Myers (left) and Raydean Nauman are both Biota stu dents.
Myers Memorial Hall in mid-July. the believer must have a purity of qual ity in his sincerity. In concluding this study of Dan we want to read something of the words of Moses relative to him, “. . . Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan” — Deut. 33:22. In effect, the free translation is more that he would leap out suddenly as the lions of Bash an were known to leap upon the un wary traveler. This is a possible refer ence to Joshua 19:47. Then his nature was one of severity — when considering their territory was too small, they would suddenly pounce upon a neigh boring people — quiet dwellers, and take their land from them. How greatly the lion of the tribe of Dan differed from the Lion of the Tribe of Judah! 18
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