Japan’s Dark Valleys for Earthquake Survivors
A four-month-old girl was swept from her parents' arms in the was pulled 3 days later from the rubble virtually unharmed,
A 60-year-old man clung to the roof of his home was found 9 miles out at sea after being adrift for two days
Akaiwa rushing home from work found his neighborhood overrun with up to 10 feet of water. Donning scuba gear he slipped into ice-cold black water, navigating broken glass, downed power lines and splintered timber, and spent 3 days searching for his wife
He had to swim about 200 yards to her, which was quite difficult with all the floating wreckage and found her alive
His mother was unaccounted for and he spent several days wading through neck-deep foul water, He found her on the second floor of a flooded house where she'd been waiting for help
- Ps 23:4 the halfway point
- David now address the shepherd
- Now intimate with the words “I” & “thou“
Frightening Valleys
▪ A place of fear for sheep
- Shadows, echoes, hidden dangers
▪ A challenge to a shepherd
- Deep ravines, narrow paths, Obstacles to remove
- Necessary to get to the best pastures
- Valleys represent a departure from the routine
- Never appreciated seems endless & impossible
Two Around Jerusalem
1. Valley of Hinnom
Moloch was worshipped
- Children were burnt alive as sacrifices
2 Ch 28:3
Moreover he (Ahaz) burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
- Hinnom associated with judgment of sinners
Je 7:32
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
- A section called Tophet - "fire-stove”
- Children were slaughtered there
2 Ki 23:10
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
- After return from the Babylonian exile
- Hinnom Valley turned into the city dump
- Anything unclean (including executed criminals)
- Reason, a fire was kept constantly burning
- With all the filth and thick smoke it remained a very dark and dreary place.
- Heb. Hinnom into Greek is gehenna,
- The word HELL originated
Tradition suggest Judas Iscariot crossed this valley to a hill where he negotiated with the High Priest Caiephas to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver
Since Byzantine times it has been called the “Hill of Evil Counsel”
Today, the "Hill of Evil Counsel" is the location of the Jerusalem headquarters of the United Nations Troop Supervision Organization - UNTSO.
It is tragically ironic that both Judas and the United Nations are distinguished by the act of betrayal at the Valley of Hinnom
2. The Kidron Valley
- This has many burial sites
- Many believe that the resurrection will begin there.
For these reasons, the Kidron Valley was called the “Valley of the Shadow of Death,”
- David likely wrote Psalm 23 when fleeing from his son, Absalom across the Kidron Valley - 2 Samuel 15.
- Jesus when he was arrested at the Garden of Gethsemane, was brought to Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley.
- Did He pray Psalm 23 going across this Valley
Jn 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Valley Truths
- Shepherd has planned the trip
- He has designed it to be temporary
- The fear is greater than the reality
- The shepherd is always preset
- The shepherd is equipped to bring me safely through
- It’s never by coincidence nor by accident
- Remember v.2 He leads me
- Remember v.3 Guides me
Paul In Prison
Php 1:12
12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
Italics - which happened – not in the original
- Nothing just happens
- Note Job stripped of everything
• His children
• His wealth
• His reputation
• His health
• His self-respect
• His wife
- God did not cause it but allowed it
Valley Experiences Are Temporary
- Note v.4 It does not say
- Into the valley
- Over to the valley
- Down to the valley
- Up to the valley
- It’s through the valley – not a dead end
- Note it’s name
- It’s not the VALLEY OF DEATH
- It’s the VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH
- A shadow is an image without substance
- A shadow can be fearful but not harmful
What To Do When You Go Through Dark Valleys
❶. Refuse to be DISCOURAGED.
God doesn’t panic when you go through a problem. But neither do His sheep.
1. “I walk” through the valley.
It doesn’t say – “I run.” It doesn’t say, “I Panic”.
“I walk.” I have sure footing – I take my time.
2. “I will” - A matter of choice.
"I will" fear no evil. - an attitude adjustment.
Why? “Thou art with me”
❷ Rely On God’s PRESENCE
A certainty – He is with me
- Joseph alone and sold into Egypt as a slave
Gen. 39:1 opens “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt ….
Gen. 39:2 And the LORD was with Joseph …
Ge 39:21
1 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Mt 1:23
…. they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Mt 28:20
… : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
❸, Relax It’s Only Shadows
1. Shadows are always BIGGER than reality.
Fear is always greater than the problems you face.
2. Shadows Can’t Hurt You
Have you ever been run over by a shadow?
- Big difference between a truck and a shadow.
- Shadows can’t hurt you
- Shadows can only scare you.
3. Shadows Need a Light Source
When you see shadows turn toward the light
Then the shadows will disappear
1 Jn 1:5
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
CANCER – The Fearful Word On Death
Cancer is so limited ...
IT CANNOT
• Cripple love,
• Shatter hope,
• Corrode faith,
• Eat away peace,
• Destroy confidence,
• Kill friendship,
• Shut out memories,
• Silence courage,
• Invade the soul,
• Reduce eternal life,
• Quench the spirit,
• Lessen the power of the resurrection.
Ps 23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil …
