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Articles
Fishers of Men
by Gordon Enger
When the Messiah began his ministry on this earth, he chose
twelve men to disciple by saying, “Come, follow me
and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)
This sounds to us like a new way to speak about reaching the
lost. It is however, as old as the Word of God itself. God’s
plan has not changed, and he revealed that plan to us in his
Words (Bible) from the beginning. “I make known the
end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to
come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that
I please.” (Isaiah 46:10). His words became flesh
and dwelt among us in the form of the Messiah who spoke those
ancient words while calling out the first disciples. We need
to go back into the pages of Biblical history to discover the
beginning point of the concept of fishing for men. When we
go back to the beginning point to see how God worked his plan
through his people, culminating at this place in history, our
faith will be increased. We will see that God has always had
only one plan to redeem mankind.
We all know the story of Joseph being sold as a slave, finding
himself in Egypt where he eventually saved his brothers from
starvation. While in Egypt, Joseph acquired a wife who bore
him two sons. The elder was named Manasseh and his younger
brother was named Ephraim. The name Ephraim means ‘fruitful
and bountiful’ in the Hebrew.
Jacob and his whole family ended up in Egypt as a result
of famine in the land of Canaan. They were given the choicest
land on which to settle and live. History tells us they lived
there four hundred years before going back to the promised
land. Sometime after arriving in Egypt, Jacob ( Israel) in
his old age wanted to bless Joseph’s two sons and to
actually make them a part of the twelve tribes. When the time
came for the blessing, Joseph presented his sons to Jacob so
that the older would be touched by Jacob’s right hand
and the younger by his left hand. Jacob crossed his hands however,
and gave the birthright blessing to the younger son Ephraim.
This caused Joseph to become upset, but Jacob told him he knew
what he was doing.
Jacob said concerning these two sons of Joseph, “May
they be called by my name and the names of my father Abraham
and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth.” (Genesis
48:16). The Hebrew word from which the word ‘increase’ is
translated, has the meaning of fish. This word ‘dagah’ has
the meaning of swarms of fish. You may have had the opportunity
to snorkel or scuba dive in the ocean were the waters are
teeming with swarms of fish. Some schools are so large that
it is difficult to see though them. They swim as if under
the direction of a maestro who makes them swim first this
way and then the other. They are in complete unison and harmony
as they swim, and change direction as one. This is the idea
of the word ‘dagah’. Swarms of fish.
What Jacob was doing in the 48 th chapter of Genesis, is
to prophesy the future. He said that Ephraim would become greater
than his brother and would become a group of nations. Not just
one nation, but many nations. In chapter 49, Jacob prophesies
the future through the blessings given to his other sons. These
prophesies will all come true as history unfolds and God works
through his people Israel. Remember, God told the end from
the beginning. This is a point that is often overlooked as
we read the stories of the Patriarchs.
God told Abraham his descendants would be slaves in a foreign
land but would be brought out at the appropriate time. To the
very day, this happened. God orchestrated the events leading
up to Moses leading his people out of the land of sin ( Egypt)
at Passover. Each of God’s holy days were involved in
the process of their leaving Egypt up to the time of the receiving
of the law on the day of Pentecost. Isn’t it interesting
to note that on the very same date hundreds of years later,
the Holy Spirit was given so we can obey God with our hearts
and not just with our intellect?
While in the desert wandering, because of unbelief, Israel
would form into a camp by assembling in the form of a hollow
square. There were four companies of three tribes with each
of the four companies assembling on one side of the square.
One of the three tribes in each company was the ensign tribe.
On the east side the ensign tribe was Judah, while on the opposite
west side, the ensign was Ephraim. Ephraim would be recognized
later as the symbol of the tribes which settled in the northern
regions during the dispersion.
The time came, after forty years, to finally enter the promised
land. Only two of the original folks that left Egypt had the
privilege of entering because of their faith that God was greater
than the giants. All the others felt God could not protect
their children from the giants. God, in his infinite wisdom,
said, “I’ll take the children in while you stay
behind in the desert.” Over the course of time, the nation
of Israel prospered and grew until after Solomon’s reign.
There was disagreement to the point of separation between
Judah (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) and Israel (the remaining
ten tribes). These two groups became two separate entities,
each having their own king and seat of government. They fought
wars against each other and remained separate from that time
until now.
Israel was quick to learn the ways of the heathen and soon
combined pagan practices with worship of God. God had plainly
told Israel to not learn the ways of the heathen and to keep
his laws which would bring them life. “Yet the people
of Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They did not follow
my decrees but rejected my laws--although the man who obeys
them will live by them--and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths.” (Ezekiel
20:13). The result of this disobedience was, “Also
with uplifted hand I swore to them in the desert that I would
disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the
countries, because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected
my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths.” (Ezekiel
20:23-24) Israel said, “The way of the Lord
is not just.” (Ezekiel 18:29). The way of the Lord
is his law. Is this not what the church teaches today?
Because of this attitude toward God and his laws, Israel
was taken captive from between 745 B.C. to 676 B.C. They were
taken to Assyria which was located where Iran and Iraq exist
today. If you look at a map of the world, you will discover
that this area is just below the Caucasus mountains. During
this time of captivity in Assyria, the captives escaped to
the north working their way through the Caucasus mountain range.
Have you ever wondered why you were called Caucasian in times
past? Assuming of course that you are white.
Judah remained intact until 604 B.C. at which time they were
taken into Babylonia as captives. According to the promise
of God, they returned to Jerusalem 70 years later. There was
a small contingent of less than 50,000 people who made the
trip back. Of course, Judah was dispersed into the nations
after 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem overrun.
God had made a promise to retrieve Israel from the nations. “However,
the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when
men will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,
who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but they
will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought
the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of
all the countries where he had banished them.’ For
I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers.
But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the
Lord, “and they will catch them.” (Jeremiah
16:16). “For I will take you out of the nations;
I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back
into your own land.” Ezekiel 36:24) Verse 26 goes
on to say, “I will give you a new heart and put
a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of
stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit
in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to
keep my laws.”
When Messiah ministered to the people, he made the remark
that he had been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Remember
that Israel at this time was ‘lost’ in the nations
and had disappeared as far as man is concerned. Judah, however,
was present with him there in Jerusalem and the surrounding
cities. There is a prophesy yet to be fulfilled. “Son
of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘belonging
to Judah and the Israelites associated with him,’ then
take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim’s
stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated
with him.’ Join them together into one stick so that
they will become one in your hand.” (Ezekiel 37:16). “His
purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two,
thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of
them to God though the cross, by which he put to death their
hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away
( Israel) and peace to those who were near ( Judah). For through
him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently,
you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens
with God’s people and members of God’s household,
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole
building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple
in the Lord.” (Ephesians 2:15b-21)
This brings us back to the fishers of men. There is a prophesy
in Hosea 1:10 which says, “In the place where it
was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they
will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” Israel
which is still ‘lost’ in the nations is called ‘not
my people.’ The phrase ‘sons of the living God’ has
a numerical value of 153. This is the only place in the Bible
where this word is used. Knowing the numerical value of a particular
phrase doesn’t of itself seem too exciting. But let’s
go to a story that is very familiar to all of us. Jesus had
just risen from the grave. Peter said he was going fishing
and several of the disciples joined him. After fishing all
night, Jesus came near to where they were and asked them how
they had done. They answered that nothing had been caught.
Jesus told them to throw their nets on the right side of the
boat and soon enough their nets were full almost to the breaking
point. They managed to drag the fish into the boats and, upon
landing on shore, counted the fish-- 153. “But
now I will send many fisherman, declares the Lord, and they
will catch them.” “They will be called ‘sons
of the living God.“ Jesus was showing them that
all the ‘fish’ will be caught and the nets will
not break. God is sending fishers into the world to rescue
the lost.
Ephraim was told that he would become as the swarms of fish
in the seas, he was scattered and lost in the nations, and
now God has sent fishermen to catch them. They will become
one with Judah and the others from the nations who put their
trust in the Messiah to be built into the temple of God. Have
you joined the effort to fish for the lost? |
