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is "Greeks" that seek the Lord; in Acts 28: 28 it is "Gentiles" that are the object of
grace.
The correspondencies and the contrasts that form a valuable indication to the
dispensational position of John's Gospel may be seen in graphic form in the chart
published in Volume XXVII, pages 126, 127, and now obtainable as a leaflet--see list
of publications--which should be consulted by the interested reader.
#25. The Testimony in Jerusalem, Judaea and Samaria (2: 13-4: 42).
SAMARIA.
The bearing of this "must needs go" upon
the dispensational position of John's Gospel (4: 3 - 42).
pp. 96 - 100
The Lord's ministry, as recorded by John, and the command which the Lord gave
concerning the ministry of the twelve after Pentecost, follow the same course--
Jerusalem, Judæa, Samaria--and the section now before us deals with the Lord's
testimony in Samaria.
In order that the place of Samaria and the Samaritans in John's Gospel may be
appreciated, we give a brief account of this place and people, which will also throw light
upon one or two statements in John 4:
At the disruption of the kingdom on the death of Solomon, the Ten Tribes, usually
referred to as Israel, made their capital city, Samaria, which was built on a hill by Omri,
King of Israel, in the portion of Ephraim, 42 miles north of Jerusalem:
"And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the
hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of
the hill, Samaria" (I Kings 16: 24).
In II Kings 17: 5, 6 we read that the King of Assyria went up to Samaria, and
besieged it three years and that in the ninth year of Hoshea the King of Assyria took
Samaria and carried Israel away captive. In the place of the deported Israelites the King
of Assyria brought men from Babylon and other parts of his dominion "and placed them
in the cities of Samaria" (II Kings 17: 24). The people thus established were subjected
to a devastation by wild beasts, because they feared not the Lord. A petition was made to
the King of Assyria saying, "The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the
cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore He hath sent
lions among them" (II Kings 17: 26). The king replied: "Carry thither one of the priests
whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them
the manner of the God of the land" (II Kings 17: 27). This was done but, alas, the result
of the attempted palliation is thus recorded: "They feared the Lord, and served their own
gods" (II Kings 17: 33).