Pastor Ralph Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanMary Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Jesus in all things was led by His Father. It was not yet time for His arrest...Passover was still ahead and was the appointed time for the Lamb of God to be slain...at 3:00 p.m. when the temple lamb was being killed by the priest. Does this show fear? Jesus was fearless! What does this teach us about strategic retreat? It tells me not to rush in haste ahead of my Shepherd....but to wait upon His leading in all things. (I just went through this last week. I felt pressure to fulfill a request ("I need you to do this!") and responded with a "Yes" via email, while feeling turmoil inside, which I ignored. The moment I pressed "send", I "heard" in my spirit: "I didn't say "yes" to you for this"....,which required another quick email to decline and the embarrassment of explaining that I'd run ahead of the Lord's leading and now had to say "no" to the request. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiKosum Posted February 16, 2015 Report Share Posted February 16, 2015 (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? Jesus' withdrawal to Ephraim was in essence a strategic retreat. It is not a show of fear or weakness. Rather it is to bide for time as Jesus still had work to complete. Once the work was completed, Jesus voluntarily yielded Himself to the authorities eventhough He could have called an army of angels to save Himself. It is okay to retreat strategically, so long as we are willing to obey at danger to our lives when it is time to do so. Amen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarence Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? Jesus withdrew to Ephraim because he knew that the Jews were determined to arrest him. However the timing was not right for him to be arrested just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? Jesus retreated to Ephraim because the Jews of Jerusalem rejected Him. He would not ask for trouble. It would come on its own in its own time. The people were openly hostile to him and He would not walk among them. The full rage of their hate and venom was to come. Let them foment among themselves and live their lives of hate and devilish thoughts. Jesus went where there would be peace for the moment. It was not fear but wisdom and knowing what was in their hearts. It is good to pull away sometimes and let things calm themselves or let the evil doers do their devilish deeds. He did not aggravate the situation or flaunt anything in their faces. Let those who would miss His beautiful presence. God bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blezed Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? Jesus withdraws to Ephraim because he heard that the Sanhedrin's were looking for him to arrest him. This does not show fear. Strategic retreat is to always have a plan in place and be willing to obey at danger to our lives when it is time to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerbrand van Schalkwyk Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? He did the will of the Father. It was His Fathers will for Him to be away from the Jewish leaders Does this show fear? No. Anybody who understand eternal liar never fears!!! What does this teach us about strategic retreat? As long as we are within the will of the Father we are safe. Sometimes it is the will of God that we move away from a prob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haar Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Because he wanted to avoid the Jews who wanted to kill him as his time had not yet come. Does this show fear? No. What does this teach us about strategic retreat? There are times we should confront issues and or people head on and there are times we should wait for the right time as revealed by God through prayers and listening to Him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickledilly Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 There was no fear or trepidation involved when Jesus withdrew to Ephraim. He was in full authority over the timing of all that was to happen that would lead to His death. According to God's plan and prophetic word, this was not the way it was going to happen, and it was not yet His time. When that moment came, Jesus was ready to act in obedience to the Father’s will without hesitation. There is a time for strategic retreat as we wait on the LORD’s plan and time table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lighthouse2014 Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? After raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus and his disciples withdrew to Ephraim to get away from the Jews in Jerusalem. This does not show fear from Jesus point of view, he needed to get away with his disciples to finish explaining to them what had been prophesied about him and what was going to happen in Jerusalem. This indeed was a strategic move for Jesus and his disciples, they needed to get away and let Jesus reassure them of who he was and what was going to happen in Jerusalem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted February 21, 2015 Report Share Posted February 21, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? The decision had been made to murder Jesus. So, Jesus and His disciples, move to a remote village of Ephraim because the time designated in God’s eternal plan for His death had not yet fully arrived. It does not show fear at all. God is in control, He is the Almighty Creator of the heaven and earth, and fears no man. God not only can, but may do whatever He pleases - He has the sovereign right over all His creatures, and may dispose of them and deal with them as He pleases. God is sovereign – "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaMallinson Posted February 21, 2015 Report Share Posted February 21, 2015 Jesus withdrew to Ephraim because of the threat to his life, however it does not show fear. If he were fearful in a human way, he would have gone back to Nazareth and resumed carpentry and avoided all further publicity. Instead he continued to preach the Kingdom of God. This strategic retreat enabled him to continue his ministry. It teaches us that if we are unwelcomed, we should do as Jesus recommends elsewhere. We should wipe the dust from our feet and go elsewhere to continue our mission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quilter Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 It was not time for Jesus to die and He went away knowing that His time was growing near. Jesus is fearless and He knew what was ahead. If we knew what lay a head of us we could not stand it. Jesus had the authority to take out all that were looking for Him but that was not God's plan. I thank you All mighty God for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royk Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? Jesus did this to set the stage and the timing was of course that of the Father.In this way He could come later for the Passover feast and further set the stage. If He had just hung around to be arrested ... well He didn't so way hypothesize how it might have been. Jesus knew what was going to happen, just as he wept for Jerusalem to be destroyed later. Also that is why he would sweat blood. So amazing how HE could be God and man. What a marvelous wonderful truth spelled out in John's gospel. We are so lucky God planned all this to fall before us RIGHT NOW. Still to go into the world later today, I pray for strength to keep this truth present in my mind enough to do God's will for the rest of today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace2free Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Jesus need to stay away from Jerusalem which is the base of his enemies. Ephraim is not that far away from Jerusalem. He dosen't need to go that far because God has his own plan and purpose. The word was spread that the Sanhedrin was looking to arrest him. He doesn't want to exposed his life to unnecessary hazard. Does this show fear? No. No one can ever intimidate God. He is using the proper means to preserve his life. His right time will come. What does this teach us about strategic retreat? Keep away from the enemies as far as possible. Don't exposed our life to unnecessary hazard. Our life is according to our God's counsel and use our proper means to preserve life. The purposed of our life is to glorify God in everything we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley Tavaziva Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? This was Jesus last attempt to deal with the religious leaders. Jesus speaking in public, He speaks boldly, he is speaking openly.The rulers did not know that this was Christ. Can it be true that authorities have recognized that he is the Christ" It is certainly true that Jesus taught publicly. However, it is also true that many of His teachings were veiled to the public.The real issue was spiritual blindness on the part of His hearers. The withdrawal was to allow Jesus to have time with His disciples. Strategic retreat represents a partial solution to the bitter-end problem. When confronted with a losing situation, the losing party accepts defeat in a way which allows them to preserve as much of their resources Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoanG Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Jesus knew that his time had not yet come to pass that he should die. He still had work that needed to be done. HE still had things to teach his disciples. I do not feel that this was fear. It was more of Jesus picking the time and place that he would die. 13 miles was not that far that the guards would not have been able to travel there. However, I do believe that God shielded them from harm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Applegarth Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? The Jewish leadership had determined to kill him. Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? No, it wasn’t fear, it wasn’t His time yet. He knew the Jewish leaders were intent on killing him so he retreated to Ephraim and didn’t appear in public again until his time for crucifixion was at hand. Obviously, His strategy was to stay out of the reach of His enemies until the appointed hour for his death. Until then, He couldn’t continue to safely travel about the country preaching as had become his custom. During this “retreat”, Jesus most likely would spend a lot of time in solitary communion with His Father renewing Himself and preparing for what was to come. He would also be using the time that He had left with His disciples teaching them and preparing them for their endeavors after He was no longer (physically) with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Jerry Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Jesus withdrew to Ephraim to stay out of the way of the Jews. This did not show fear just wisdom in what Jesus was doing. A strategic retreat means that we can still go doing what God wants us to be doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godswriter Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about the strategic retreat? He withdrew there to prevent the high priest from killing Him too soon and also to stay out of the public eye for a while as well. No, it was to do the Father's will and learn to obey God as He was told. It teaches to obey the Lord and not to go ahead of the Lord and try and charge ahead full speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmela Posted August 6, 2022 Report Share Posted August 6, 2022 Q6. (John 11:54) Why did Jesus withdraw to Ephraim? Does this show fear? What does this teach us about strategic retreat? He withdrew to Ephraim as it was not yet time for His death. The Passover was drawing near and that was the time for Him to come back to Jerusalem. It does not show fear but wisdom. If He had stayed at Bethany He would have put His friends' lives at stake. In the wilderness they would not easily find Him. Ephraim was close to the wilderness. His retreating shows that He did not follow His own leading but was obedient to the Father's leading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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