This is Part 6 of a multipart series connecting Jesus to Psalm 22. In my last post I blogged the crimson worm is a typology of the Messiah in Psalm 22.6-8. In today’s entry, I want to explore the use of another animal in Psalm 22., the “strong bulls of Bashan”:
12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
Foreshadowing a Spiritual Battle
The psalter pleads for divine nearness and protection as he faces his enemies, the “strong bulls of Bashan” that encompassed and surrounded him (22.11-13). Often theologians suggest the psalter portrays his enemies using metaphors such as bulls, lions and dogs. However, if you recall from previous post, there is no parallel between this psalm and events in David’s life. Both Jews and Christians understood this psalm is about the promised Messiah.
What if, for argument sake, these “strong bulls” weren’t just his human enemies but spirit enemies too? A clue given here is “Bashan,” an ancient name for the region located in Upper Galilee that was once occupied by the Amorites and Canaanites, Israel’s arch nemesis. And during Jesus’s day it was occupied the Romans, which the Jews referred to as the “Galilee of the nations (or Gentiles)” (Mat 4.16; cf. Isa 9.1).
Israel’s Ancient Enemy
Bashan is first mentioned as kingdom of Og during the conquest of Canaan (Num 21.32-35). King Og was the last of the Rephaim to rule the region (Deu 3.10-14). Rephaim (and Anakim) were giant clans from antiquity. (Think of the Rephaim as the general description of descendants of the Nephilim and Anakim is a specific family of the Rephaim.) They were the same giants the Israelite spies observed in the land of Canaan, the descendants of Anak (Num 13.28-33). Moses later confirmed the spies’ report on the stature and might of the Anakim, and even reminded the new generation of Israelites that they had personal knowledge of this being true (cf. Deu 1.28; 2.10; 9.1-2). In other words, when they were children they heard about or even saw these giants.
These Anakim lived in Hebron and surrounding region. As I mentioned above, they were the descendants of the Nephilim, who were the hybrid offspring between “sons of God” and “daughters of man” (Gen 6.1-4; cf. Num 13.33). By the time Israelites entered the promised land, Yahweh had used the Ammonites to eliminate majority of them (Deu 2.20-21). And as Joshua dealt with the last of them in the conquest of Canaan, he proceeded to eliminate majority of the Anakim from the hill country of Judah and Israel, and drove their remnant into the Philistine territory of Gaza, Ashdod and Gath (Jos 11.21-23; 15.13-14). Just as Joshua defeated the Anakim, centuries later David battled another “son of Anak,” the Philistine Goliath of Gath. Lastly, David and his mighty men put an end to the Rephaim line by eliminating the four remnant Philistine giants (2Sa 21.15-22). Therefore, the Canaanites [1], indigenous people of Bashan led by rebel giants, have always been painted as Israel’s mortal and spiritual enemy, opposing the will of God Most High.
Bashan and Mount Hermon
Bashan, as a region, was referred to as the “land of the Rephaim” or “valley of the Rephaim” [2] (Jos 17.15; 18.6; 2Sa 5.18, 22; 23.13; 1Ch 11.15; 14.9; Isa 17.5). It’s often described as a place of spiritual darkness throughout the Old Testament because it was a spiritually dark place where its people were ardent Ba’al worshipers. Moreover, when the sons of Israel took over the land, the people of Bashan enticed them to worship Ba’al alongside with Yahweh. The worship of Ba’al took place on the “mountain of gods” (har elohim) [3]. In Jesus’s day, Bashan was in the region called “Upper Galilee,” home to the largest species of kermes worms (see previous blog post). And Jesus, whose ministry base was in the northern Galilee city of Capernaum, was often referred to as a “Galilean” by the Jews.
The most notable landmark in Bashan is Mount Hermon. At 9,230 feet, it is the tallest mountain in ancient Israel. And it was a major cultic worship center for many nations throughout its history—Canaanites worshiped Ba’al there, apostate Israelites worshiped Ba’al there and the Greeks worshiped Pan at the same mountain. At the foot of the mountain there is a great cavern which ancient pagans considered to be the entrance to the underworld—it became known as “the gates of hell.”
During the times of Judges, the tribe of Dan gave up their allotted territory because they failed to possess their land due to Philistine opposition. Instead of trusting Yahweh to fight for them (cf. Exo 14.14), they chose to relocate to Laish, a city at the foot of Mount Hermon, and renamed it Dan (Jdg 8) [4]. There Danites pursued other gods, thus became an apostate tribe when it setup a high place on this mountain through erecting a temple and dedicated it to golden calf worship (1Ki 12.25-33). This same golden calf worship was Israel’s sin of idolatry during the exodus by making a forbidden image to represent Yahweh. Later, during the divided kingdom period, Jeroboam built two high places for golden calf worship in northern Israel—Bethel and Dan—to prevent his subjects from going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices and return as spies for Rehoboam, the king of Judah. Thus, the calves of Ba’al certainly correlate to the “strong bulls” and “wild oxen” imagery of the antagonizers to God’s suffering servant.
The significance of Mount Harmon to Second Temple Jews (c 500 BC-AD 100) was that according to the apocryphal book of 1 Enoch, there were 200 fallen sons of God (“sons of Elohim”) who descended on that mountain and began to corrupt humanity by teaching them art, metal working, sorcery and various incantations (1En 7.1-11). These rebellious supernatural beings seduced human women who then gave birth to the Nephilim (Gen 6.1-4), a race of forbidden hybrid divine-human giants mentioned previously. [5]
Mount Transfiguration
And it was on this same mountain where Jesus asked the question of the ages: Who do you say that I am? Peter responded by acknowledging he was the anticipated Messiah, the Son of the living God who came to liberate Israel and establish his kingdom on earth. To which Jesus replied to this confession by declaring on this “rock” (i.e., Mount Hermon) the “gates of hell” shall not withstand his church on the offensive. This was a declaration of war against the powers of this present darkness.
And many biblical scholars believe that it was on this same mountain, near the city of Caesarea Philippi, where a few days later Peter, James and John witnessed Jesus’s transfiguration. Since this was the epic center of Yahweh’s divine opposition, it’s of no surprise that it was on this mountain Jesus revealed his true identity and proclaimed his messiahship; it was his declaration of war against God’s opposition in the spirit realm—the powers, authorities, principalities and rulers of this age in Ephesians 6. In effect, Jesus declared his intention to transform this “mountain of the gods (elohim)” to the “mountain of God (Elohim)”. It was a pronouncement of the King’s coming and his declaration of war to take back what belongs to him. It was the reason majority of Jesus’s recorded exorcisms were performed in Galilee.
Typology of the Bulls
So, who do the “strong bulls of Bashan” represent in the crucifixion story? The most obvious were the Romans. The Roman standards often used animals to represent their viciousness and ferocity. Among the animals such as eagle, boar and wolf, they used an image of the mythical beast, a human-headed ox. The pagan Roman soldiers at Jesus’s trial certainly mocked and assaulted him as “the King of the Jews” (Mat 27.27-30). They beaten and flogged him to the point he was unrecognizable.
What wasn’t as obvious were the Jewish leaders. These religious leaders of Judaism have nothing in common with the pagan Romans. Or did they…? In contrast to making his case that Jesus is the Messiah, John the Apostle writes in John 19.12-16:
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
The Jews, incited by their rabbis, pledged their allegiance to Caesar instead of Jesus, as their King. This is treason of the highest form!
Like ravening lions, these bulls of Bashan “open wide their mouths” against Jesus; they were making a mockery of his kingship claim with ferociousness. And their assault on him was beyond humane. The Jewish temple guards punched and pounded his face with their fists, and they spat on him and mocked him by saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Mat 26.67-68). I hope you understand the magnitude of this punishment. His face and eyes were so bruised and swollen, plus blood is flowing down from the thorny crown on his head and covering his eyes, he can no longer see. They were mocking his claim to be Messiah since he surely has omniscience and would know who had struck him.
Your Thoughts
This prophetic Psalm may not have clearly identified who these bulls of Bashan were, but their nature and the manner they treated the Messiah was undeniably clear: with great contempt. It may seem odd that the Jews, those who despise the oppressive Romans with a passion, would be their closest ally when it came to dealing with Christ. Further, while Pilate didn’t consider Jesus doing anything deserving execution, the Jews certainly did. They charged Jesus with blasphemy, the claim that he is Yahweh-incarnate. Such a claim is worthy of death penalty… unless the claim is true, which then he deserved their worship. The old adage, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is certainly true here.
Next time, on Good Friday, I will conclude this series by tying all this to the crucifixion. (I will have a bonus blog on Easter Sunday.) But until then, I’m interested to hear your feedback. How has this post added to or changed the way you understood spiritual warfare to be? And how will you approach this Easter differently because of it?
References:
[1] In Genesis 9.20-25 we see Noah’s curse on Canaan because he was the forbidden offspring of Ham in his attempt to usurp Noah as the new “father of humanity.” Genesis tells us Ham committed matrimonial incest based on the ancient near eastern idiom “saw the nakedness of his father” as euphemism for sexual intercourse with his wife or daughter (cf. Lev 18.7-14; 20.11, 17-20; 27.20). This is the reason Canaan was the recipient of Noah’s curse instead of Ham (but it doesn’t mean Ham hadn’t suffer consequences for his sin). The point the Genesis narrator makes is that the Canaanites are usurpers of God’s will because their forefather was a usurper.
[2] Bashan was the original “valley of the Raphaim.” Later in Israel’s history the valley west of Jerusalem became known as the “valley of the Raphaim” because it was there where David warred and killed the Philistines and the last of the giant warriors.
[3] The reference “har elohim” in Psalm 68.15 is ambiguous. It can be translated as either “mountain of God” or “mountain of gods” because Hebrew has no capitalization to denote whether it is Yahweh, the unique Elohim, or those supernatural beings categorized as elohim, i.e., the ”sons of Elohim.” However, in 1 Enoch and other Second Temple Jewish writings, Mount Hermon was the location where the rebellious sons of God from Genesis 6 met and ruled.
[4] This forfeiture of their allotted territory also meant the loss of their tribal representation among God’s faithful people in the end times (cf. Rev 7.4-8).
[5] They were forbidden because in God’s original creation mandate, each kind was to reproduce after its own kind (Gen 1.21-22, 24-25). Later Jude spoke of these rebellious divine beings and Nephilim, their hybrid descendants, who will face judgment in “utter darkness” in Jude 6-16. Moreover, Peter refers to the same divine incursion in 2 Peter 2.4 that God will punish the “angels when they sinned.”
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