Peripatetic pilgrims, peregrine people

 

By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.  --Hebrews 11:9 (ASV)

 What comes to mind when I say the word peripatetic?  For me, it's the song in "A Chorus Line" called One.

One singular sensation, every little step she takes
One thrilling combination, every move that she makes
One smile and suddenly nobody else will do
You know you'll never be lonely with you-know-who

One moment in her presence and you can forget the rest
For the girl is second best to none, son
Oooh! Sigh! Give her your attention
Do I really have to mention she's the one

She walks into a room and you know she's
uncommonly rare, very unique
peripatetic, poetic and chic
She walks into a room and you know from her
maddening poise, effortless whirl
(One thrilling combination, every move that she makes
She's a special girl)
strolling

It means a person who travels from place to place.  As an adjective, it means travelling from place to place, in particular working or based in various places for relatively short periods.  So the girl described in the song One was probably a performer in a travelling show, breaking hearts wherever she went.

The word could also describe Abraham, the Patriarch of the nation of Israel.  We first read about him in Genesis 12, before God changed his name from Abram.  "Now the Lord said to Abram," verse 1 says, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you."  The narrative follows Abram, with his nephew Lot, from Haran toward Canaan.  They entered Canaan (the Promised Land) from the north and traversed the entire country, north to south.  God promised to give Abram the land, and he built an altar to the Lord at Shechem in the north, Bethel in the central hill country, and the Negev to the south.

When a famine struck the land of Canaan, Abram and his entourage traveled to Egypt, but they were asked to leave.  They journeyed east and north again to the Jordan Valley, where Lot and Abram separated because their flocks and herds were too great for the land to support.  Lot went toward Sodom, and Abram traveled back toward Bethel.

Here is where I want us to take up the narrative.  In Genesis 14, the kings of five city-states in the region (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar) formed an alliance and went to war against a foreign invader.  Lot and all his flocks and herds and servants were caught up in the melee.  The coalition lost, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and Lot, Inc. were captured as spoils of war.  Verse 13 says, "Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram."  Abram and his friends went off in pursuit, caught up with the marauding army, and rescued Lot, et al by force.

Very exciting stuff.  But I want to camp here on this verse, especially on one little term used to describe Abram.  It is the first time in the Bible this term is mentioned.  Abram was called "the Hebrew."  The term hebrew literally means "one from beyond (the river)."  It can also mean "one who has passed over" or "one who has traversed" meaning traveler, nomad, or pilgrim.  It came to refer to all the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), then by extension to all of their descendants.

Abram (Abraham) the Peripatetic

We first read about Abram in Genesis 11, after the nations were disbursed at Babel, in the lineage of Noah's son Shem.  Abram was in the 10th generation after Noah, and his father's name was Terah.  Terah settled in Ur, a Chaldean city.  Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran fathered Lot, but then Haran died.  God called Terah out of Ur, so he took Abram and Lot as far as the city named for Abram's brother Haran.

God called Abram to keep on moving.  Terah and Nahor may have built a city in honor of the dead brother Haran, but God called Abram to go on to Canaan.  When he reached Canaan, God showed Abram the entire area--north, south, east and west.  When famine struck the land of Canaan, Abram went to Egypt, but God wouldn't let him stay there.  God led Abram back to Canaan, where He promised to make him a great nation.

We all know the story of the angels visiting Abram, promising a son.  This seemed ridiculous on several levels, not the least of which was Abram's age, and the fact that his wife Sarai was "past the age of childbearing."  Another (minor) consideration must have been the fact that Abram and his wife Sarai were living in tents, following their flocks and herds.  Can you hear the discussion over the campfire that night? "Even if by some miracle the barren wife could bear a child, how can they make a nation of their descendants? They don't even have a place to call their own, nor a place to lay their heads."

Hebrews 11:8-13 says,

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.  By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.  Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.  These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

The father of the Hebrew people was himself called a Hebrew, because he was a pilgrim, a sojourner, an exile in a foreign land.

The Hebrew People Were Peripatetic, Too

God did give the land of Canaan to the people of Israel, but not before they had spent 400 years as exiles and refugees in Egypt.  When God called them out of bondage, He led them for 40 more years through the wilderness.  Once the kingdom was established, the people became too comfortable in their sinful homes, so God sent them into exile no fewer than 4 times. 

"The prophet Daniel had a vision that subtly hints to the four exiles of the Jewish nation:

I saw in my vision by night...four great beasts…The first was like a lion...and behold, another beast, a second one, similar to a bear…Afterwards I beheld, and there was another, similar to a leopard…After that, as I looked on in the night vision, there was a fourth beast—fearsome, dreadful and very powerful

In Daniel's prophecy, each creature symbolizes an exile that the Jewish people were to undergo. The first was Babylon, the second Media/Persia, the third Greece, and finally Edom, commonly identified as Rome." (Chabad.org, Discover the Four Exiles of the Jewish People)

When David, king of Israel, was taking up a collection for the Temple of the Lord that his son Solomon was to build, he said, "For we are strangers before you, and sojourners, as all our fathers were.  Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding." (1 Chronicles 29:15).  David, as you well know, was no stranger to a nomadic life.  Raised as a shepherd, he was anointed king even before his predecessor, King Saul, had died.  Saul chased David all over Israel trying to kill him.  David even spent some time in the land of the Philistines before returning to take the throne.

David wrote in Psalm 39:12, "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears!  For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers."  From the foundation of the nation of Israel to the diaspora, the people have been ever moving.  If you have ever seen the musical Fiddler On The Roof, you have seen the plight of the Hebrew people.  Rev Tevya and his family were Jews living in Russia, but were forced out of their homes to travel to another village, another town, another city that was more hospitable.

God has used the migration of His people to spread the knowledge of His laws far and wide.  The faith that was forged in the crucible of persecution is not just localized in Jerusalem, but has spread to all corners of the earth.

We, Too, Are Peregrine People

Of the world's 10,000 bird species, about 1800 of them are migratory.  One species of falcon, called the Peregrine Falcon, is found on every continent except Antarctica.  The word "peregrine" comes from the Latin peregrinus, which means "wanderer".  It can describe people as well.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives this example: "Birders are peregrine by nature, typically travelling to distant destinations in pursuit of their hobby."

Jesus Himself was peregrine by nature when He was on this earth in the flesh.  Matthew 8:19-20 says, "And a scribe came up and said to Him, 'Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.'  And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head'."  He calls His followers to go "into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." (Mark 16:15).  The Great Commission tells us to go, and as we go, to share.

Christians are called sojourners and exiles in this world, because our permanent home is in heaven. Ephesians 2:19 says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." 1 Peter 1:17 says, "And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile."

As citizens of heaven, ambassadors of Christ's kingdom on this earth, we are called to a higher purpose, and held to a higher standard.  See 1 Peter 2:11-12: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.  Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the Day of visitation."  Note that he did not say, "If they speak against you," but rather "when they speak against you."  The world will always try to find fault, which is why we are to live above reproach.  In this world there will be persecution against Christians; part of that persecution may be forced relocation.  Our job is, wherever we are, to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the nations.