Welcome to my ROLLED SCROLL study, where I follow cultural and literary images found in the Bible in an attempt to unearth God’s meaning in His pattern of usage.
ROAD
“‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,’ he used to say. ‘You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.’”
—J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
In the 1950s, Tolkien wrote one of the world’s greatest fantasies when he took Frodo and Sam from the Shire to Mordor and back again. His trilogy follows a long line of journey tales; consider Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and the ancient Greek myth of Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece. In fact, to “step into the Road” (as Tolkien’s Bilbo put it) is a literary theme found over and again in the stories of the Bible.
The biblical road started out at Eden’s gates: God, having banished Adam and Eve from the Garden, placed cherubim to block their way back to the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:23-24). The word “way” here literally means road, distance, journey, or manner. Thus began humanity’s trek down the dusty road of life that ends in death, for—as God said to them and to us—“You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19).
The picture of a physical path was soon more concretely painted in the narrative of the upright widow Tamar who, waiting by the road to Timnah in disguise, was mistaken as a prostitute by her father-in-law, Judah—their ensuing child Perez a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ (Gen. 38:13-15ff; Matt. 1:3). Ever gracious, God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh’s tyranny, leading them on desert tracks, accompanying them through the wilderness with cloud and fire, sending an angel before them to guard them as they tramped towards the Promised Land (Exod. 13:17-21; Exod. 23:20). Yet time and again they disbelieved Yahweh, who went “in the way” before them, and they refused to walk “in His ways” (Deut. 1:32-33; Deut. 6:14; Deut. 28:9; 1 Kings 2:3). This idea of walking in the ways of God adds meaning to the tangible noun “road” and implies moral choice: Would God’s people take His road or follow after idols?
Balaam was an occult practitioner who loved the wages of wrongdoing; the Lord blocked his road, giving his donkey a human voice to chastise its owner (Num. 22:22-24; 2 Pet. 2:15).When the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, the harlot/ heroine Rahab (another in Christ’s human bloodline) saved her family from destruction because she followed the instruction of the Israelite spies to keep out of the streets (Josh. 2:19; cf. Josh. 6:23). Old Eli found the streets a dangerous place as well, meeting his death as he sat by the battle trail watching for the Ark of the Lord (1 Sam. 4:13). Deborah prophesied against Barak: “The road on which you are going will not lead to your glory” (Judges 4:9 ESV). This negative idea is reinforced by David who, praising the Lord for deliverance from the hand of Saul, described crushing his enemies and stamping them down “like the mire of the streets” (2 Sam. 22:43). Other prophets, too, cast a negative shadow on the roadway as a place of wailing and mourning, of worthless throwaways—the dirty, forsaken, blind, and dying (e.g., Isa. 15:3; Jer. 14:16; Lam. 4:14; Mic. 7:10).
The street symbolizes not only idolatry and wayward seduction, but also public prophecy and godly praise (Jer. 44:17; Ezek. 16:25; Jer. 11:6; 2 Sam. 6:16). One walks the road of spiritual life, choosing righteousness or wickedness (Ps. 1:1-6). God distinguishes the right way from the wrong and—like a shepherd—leads and guides in paths of righteousness (Ps. 16:11; Ps. 17:4-5; Ps. 23:1-3). He takes faithful travellers onto the heights like sure-footed deer, for the instruction of His Word lights the pilgrim’s footsteps (Hab. 3:19; Ps. 119:1; Ps. 119:105).
Wisdom personified raises her voice in the streets; likewise, the adulteress calls out (Prov. 1:20; Prov. 7:10-12; Prov. 7:25-27). One must morally choose between straight and crooked paths, between devious and upright ways, for God sets before us the way of life and death, and our destination depends on our choice (Prov. 3:31; Prov. 4:10-15; Prov. 8:32; Jer. 21:8).
Old Testament prophecy tells us that one day Jerusalem will be fully restored, her streets resounding again with the rejoicing of young and old (Jer. 33:10-11; Zech. 8:4-5). This sense of expectancy regarding the “new thing” springing forth (Isa. 43:19) is heard as well in Isaiah’s foretelling the coming of John the Baptist:
A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isa. 40:3 ESV)
These prophetic words of Isaiah are echoed again in all four Gospels, and indeed John did herald Jesus Christ, whose trek down the dusty road to the Cross was about to bring eternal life. Jesus continued to use the literary image of the road. He called His disciples—“Follow me!”—on the costly journey as He trod the sod of Galilee, teaching and healing those by the wayside and in the marketplaces—the despised and broken and sinful now made whole (Matt. 8:22; Matt. 4:23; Mark 6:56). It was into the hard road of discipleship that Jesus would send His followers to be persecuted, fleeing from town to town (Matt. 10:23; Mark 6:8).
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus condemned the self-righteous hypocrisy of those who publicly prayed in the streets in order to earn man’s praise (Matt. 6:2). He included the illustration of the road as He taught through parables about the broad and narrow ways leading to destruction or salvation, and about the seed fallen along the roadside for the birds to eat (Matt. 7:13-14; Matt. 13:4). Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem upon the back of a donkey colt traversing a route spread with cloaks and branches, lined with a crowd shouting in praise, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matt. 21:8). He then infuriated the Pharisees with the story of the king who prepared a banquet and sent to the highways and byways and crossroads for the blind and lame—the disrespected now the only ones welcomed as honored guests (Matt. 22:8-9).
The road figures in much of the historical narrative of the New Testament. After the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Jesus appeared to two of His followers on the road to Emmaus, and then blinded Paul on the Damascus Road (Luke 24:13-15; Acts 9:2-3). A zealous persecutor of those who belonged to “the Way,” Paul now waited at a home on Straight Street for Ananias to restore his sight, then took the road to Ephesus, preaching boldly and working miracles (see Acts 19). Meanwhile, Philip approached an Ethiopian court official, parked in his chariot on the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza, and told him the Good News about Jesus (see Acts 8). To a culture dependent upon walking to get anywhere, Jesus’s declaration would have been profound:
I am the way [literally, road], the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 ESV).
That is, Jesus claimed to be the very road itself, our passage to God.
Practicing the character qualities of our salvation listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7 gives us spiritual muscle to run in our Christian lives and not stumble out of fellowship with God, for
we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,by the new and living way that he opened for us (Heb. 10:19-20 ESV).
We travellers through the world are equipped to walk straight and run well the race set before us (Heb. 11:13; Heb. 12:1; Heb. 12:13). As sojourners and exiles on the path of this world, we’re exhorted to follow the way of truth and righteousness rather than running riotously like Cain and Balaam (1 Pet. 2:11; 2 Pet.2:2; Jude 1:11). Someday we’ll stroll on heavenly streets of gold in the New Jerusalem, and again taste of the fruit of the Tree of Life so long ago blockaded against our parents, Adam and Eve (Rev. 21:21; Rev. 22:2).
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These short literary articles tied to the Bible explore what God might have been saying in His pattern of usage for each symbol. English rendition of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek varies with translations (e.g., “scroll” is sometimes interchangeable with “book”); however, the quality and underlying meaning of the selected emblem remain consistent across versions. Sketches are by Lorenda Harder. I recommend the website of Dr. Grant C. Richison for thorough expository Bible study: www.versebyversecommentary.com.