119: The Gates of Hell

BEMA Episode Link: 119: The Gates of Hell
Episode Length: 39:09
Published Date: Thu, 30 May 2019 01:00:00 -0700
Session 3
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings examine Peter’s great confession at Caesarea Philippi and the intense conversation that follows.

The Gates of Hell Presentation (PDF)

Discussion Video for BEMA 119

On the Early Church: Conquering the Gates of Hell — Ray Vander Laan (Amazon)

TTWMK Faith Lessons on DVD and Digital (Focus on the Family)

The BEMA Messenger

Transcript for BEMA 119

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 119: The Gates of Hell - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

Episode: BEMA 119: The Gates of Hell
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Focus: Matthew 16:13-28, Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi, Joshua 3:10, Deuteronomy 5

This episode examines one of the most pivotal moments in the Gospels - Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah at Caesarea Philippi. The hosts explore the shocking cultural and religious context of this location, known in the ancient world as “The Gates of Hell,” and how Jesus intentionally chose this place of intense paganism to make a revolutionary statement about the nature and mission of His church. The discussion reveals how understanding the physical location transforms our reading of familiar passages about building the church on “this rock” and the offensive, rather than defensive, nature of the Kingdom of God.

Key Takeaways

Caesarea Philippi was considered “The Gates of Hell” in the ancient world - a center of Baal and Pan worship involving extreme sexual immorality and debauchery
Jesus deliberately took His disciples to the most pagan, uncomfortable place possible to make a crucial teaching point
Peter’s confession “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God” contains multiple layers of meaning (remez) connecting to Joshua’s conquest and the giving of the Torah at Sinai
The “rock” Jesus refers to is not just Peter or Peter’s confession, but the literal rock face at Caesarea Philippi - the very Gates of Hell
Jesus’s strategy for building His church is offensive, not defensive - He brings shalom into the heart of chaos rather than hiding in safe corners
Peter experiences both his greatest moment (receiving sod revelation and being renamed) and his worst moment (being called Satan) in the same conversation
The Great Commission-like statement about taking up your cross was likely spoken to the pagan crowd at Caesarea Philippi, not just the disciples

Main Concepts & Theories

The Historical Context of Caesarea Philippi

Caesarea Philippi had layers of pagan history going back to the Old Testament period. Originally a center of Baal worship, it was located at one of three water sources forming the headwaters of the Jordan River. The massive spring flowing from a cave in the rock face made it a natural site for fertility god worship.

Baal Worship Origins: The ancient Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Assyrians worshiped Baal as the god of agricultural fertility. According to the myth, Baal would descend into the underworld each winter to pursue his mistress Ashtoreth (goddess of sexual fertility). The rainy season was understood as Baal’s seed watering the earth. In spring, Baal would return from the underworld, causing agriculture to spring back to life. The mysterious underground spring at Caesarea Philippi was seen as a literal entrance to the underworld - the Gates of Hell where Baal descended and returned.

Transition to Pan Worship: Under Greek influence, the site evolved from Baal worship to Pan worship. Pan, depicted as half-goat, half-man, was the Greek god of sexual fertility. The location became known as Panias (later corrupted to Banias in Latin).

Pandemonium Festival: The annual festival of Pan, called Pandemonium (the origin of our word), attracted potentially hundreds of thousands or even up to a million people. This was a major commercial event involving extreme sexual debauchery including:

A six-foot golden erect phallus paraded through the streets that women would caress and engage with in frenzied worship
A Temple of the Dancing Goat where men engaged in bestiality with goats in a large mud pit
Multiple temples and grottos dedicated to Pan, Zeus, and the nymphs

Philip’s Development: When Herod the Great died, his kingdom was divided among three sons. Philip received the northern region and built up Caesarea Philippi (named after Caesar and himself) to capitalize on the economic activity generated by the Pandemonium festival.

Jewish Hermeneutics: The Four Levels of PaRDeS

The episode references the Jewish system of biblical interpretation called PaRDeS (an acronym for the four levels):

P’shat - The plain, literal meaning of the text
Remez - The hint or allusion to other biblical texts
Drash - The allegorical or homiletical interpretation
Sod - The mystery or secret meaning that can only be revealed by God

When Peter confesses Jesus as “the Messiah, the son of the living God,” Jesus says this was revealed to Peter by the Father, not by human reasoning. This is sod - divine revelation beyond human deduction.

The Phrase “Living God” as Remez

The phrase “living God” appears only a few times in Scripture, and Peter’s use of it likely contains intentional remez (allusion) to specific passages:

Joshua 3:10 - “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.” Standing in the midst of extreme paganism, Peter may be signaling that Jesus will conquer these pagan nations just as Joshua did.

Deuteronomy 5:26 - The first mention of “living God” occurs when the Israelites hear God’s voice from Mount Sinai and ask, “For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?” This connects to the theme of hearing and obeying God’s voice, which relates to Peter’s name change from Simon (one who hears) to Peter (rock).

The Meaning of “On This Rock”

Three interpretations have traditionally been offered:

Catholic Interpretation: The rock is Peter himself, the first Pope and foundation of papal authority. There is validity to recognizing Peter as the leader of the early church.

Protestant Interpretation: The rock is Peter’s confession of faith - the profession that Jesus is the Messiah. This confession becomes the foundation upon which the church is built.

Rabbinical/Contextual Interpretation: In Jewish teaching methodology, rabbis don’t speak abstractly - they point to concrete, physical things. Jesus uses two different Greek words:

Petros (Peter’s new name) - means a rock or stone
Petra (the rock He’s building on) - means bedrock, cliff face, or massive rock formation

Jesus likely pointed to the actual rock face at Caesarea Philippi - the Gates of Hell itself - saying He would build His church on that very foundation, in that very place of chaos and paganism.

Offensive vs. Defensive Kingdom Strategy

The traditional Christian approach has often been defensive - avoiding dangerous places, staying safe, protecting oneself from worldly corruption. Jesus’s strategy at Caesarea Philippi reveals the opposite:

Jesus runs into chaos with shalom
He seeks out the places where the Kingdom is needed most
He employs shalom at the points of crisis
The church is not built in “safe little corners” but at the very Gates of Hell
The gates of hell will not prevail against the advancing Kingdom, not because the church is hiding, but because it is attacking

This reframes Christian mission from a defensive posture (don’t let the world corrupt you) to an offensive one (bring shalom to the darkest places).

Peter’s Transformation and Humbling

Peter experiences whiplash in this encounter:

His High Point:

Receives sod (divine revelation)
Gets praised by Jesus
Receives a new name (Simon to Peter/Rocky)
Is told he will receive the keys of the kingdom
Experiences a life-defining moment

His Low Point:

Rebukes his rabbi (a shocking breach of protocol)
Gets called “Satan” (opposer) by Jesus
Is told to “get behind me” - to return to his proper place as disciple, not leader
Needs to return to being Simon (the one who hears/listens) rather than Peter

This pattern teaches about the danger of pride and the necessity of maintaining proper posture before Jesus as Rabbi and Lord.

The Crowd at Caesarea Philippi

While Matthew’s Gospel makes it seem like Jesus’s teaching about taking up your cross and following Him was directed only to the disciples, Mark and Luke’s accounts indicate there was a crowd present. Given the location, this crowd would have been pagans - Pan worshipers.

This transforms our reading of familiar passages:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” - spoken to pagans
“Whoever is ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of him before my Father” - possibly spoken while the disciples were shrinking back in embarrassment at Jesus’s boldness in this pagan setting

Jesus’s invitation extends to everyone, even those engaged in the worst debauchery at the Gates of Hell.

Examples & Applications

Physical Geography Illuminates Spiritual Truth

Just as Jesus used the physical rock face at Caesarea Philippi to make a concrete point about building His church, we should pay attention to the physical settings of biblical narratives. Geography isn’t incidental - it’s pedagogical. When we understand where events happened, we better understand what they mean.

Mission to Uncomfortable Places

Modern applications might include:

Church planting in red-light districts rather than only in safe suburban neighborhoods
Ministry among those struggling with addiction, sexual brokenness, or other “scandalous” issues
Presence in places of cultural chaos rather than Christian sub-cultural bubbles
Engaging with ideas and people that make us uncomfortable, bringing shalom to those conversations

The Danger of Presumption

Peter’s rapid fall from receiving divine revelation to being called Satan warns against:

Letting spiritual highs lead to pride
Assuming we know better than God’s revealed plan
Stepping out of our role as disciples who listen and learn
Rebuking God’s word when it doesn’t match our preferences

Binding and Loosing

While not extensively covered in this episode, the concept of receiving “the keys of the kingdom” and authority to “bind and loose” connects to rabbinical authority to interpret and apply Torah. This suggests the church is being given authority to make decisions about how Kingdom principles apply in new situations - but always as disciples listening to the Rabbi, not as those who know better.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

The Full Theology of Spiritual Warfare: If the Gates of Hell represent demonic strongholds, what does it mean that they “will not prevail” against the church? Is this defensive (they can’t destroy us) or offensive (we will overcome them)?
Pan Worship and Modern Culture: What are the contemporary equivalents of Pan worship - places where sexual fertility and gratification are worshiped above all else? How should the church engage these spaces?
The Synoptic Problem: How do we responsibly harmonize the Gospel accounts while respecting each author’s unique perspective and emphasis?
Name Changes in Scripture: What is the significance of God changing people’s names (Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter)? What does this reveal about identity formation in relationship with God?
The Keys of the Kingdom: What specific authority was Jesus granting to Peter and the disciples? How does this relate to church leadership and decision-making today?
Jewish Education Methods: How did rabbis teach? What can we learn from Jesus’s concrete, physical, contextual teaching style for modern discipleship?
The Seven Nations of Canaan: How does the conquest narrative connect to Jesus’s mission? Is there a New Covenant version of “driving out” the nations?
Shame and Honor in Discipleship: Jesus says He will be ashamed of those who are ashamed of Him. How does shame function in Mediterranean culture, and what does this mean for Western Christians?
The Transfiguration Connection: The very next passage (Matthew 17) is the Transfiguration. How does that event connect to what happens at Caesarea Philippi?
Offensive Mission and Safety: How do we balance Jesus’s call to offensive engagement with the need for wisdom and appropriate boundaries? When is it right to enter dangerous places, and when is it foolish?

Comprehension Questions

Historical Context: Describe the evolution of religious worship at Caesarea Philippi from Old Testament times through the Greek period. How did the physical geography of the location contribute to its religious significance?
Interpretive Method: Explain the four levels of Jewish biblical interpretation (PaRDeS). How does understanding sod (mystery) change our reading of Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Messiah, the son of the living God”?
Textual Analysis: Why is the phrase “son of the living God” significant? What Old Testament passages might Peter have been alluding to (remez), and how do those passages relate to the situation at Caesarea Philippi?
Theological Debate: Compare and contrast the Catholic, Protestant, and rabbinical/contextual interpretations of “on this rock I will build my church.” What is valid in each interpretation, and how does physical context inform the meaning?
Application: What does it mean that Jesus’s strategy for the Kingdom is offensive rather than defensive? How should this change the way contemporary Christians think about mission, evangelism, and cultural engagement?

Personalized Summary

This episode radically reframes one of the most familiar passages in the Gospels by recovering its shocking historical context. Jesus didn’t take His disciples to a quiet, spiritual retreat center to have a profound theological discussion. He dragged them to the ancient world’s equivalent of a combination of Las Vegas, Mardi Gras, and the worst red-light district imaginable - and then told them this is where He would build His church.

The genius of Jesus’s rabbinical teaching method shines through when we realize He’s not speaking abstractly about some future church building project. He’s pointing to the actual rock face where water flows from the underworld, where people engage in the worst debauchery imaginable, where the gates of hell are literally understood to be - and He says “right here, on this very rock, I will build my church.”

This transforms “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” from a defensive promise (the church will survive attacks) to an offensive declaration (the church will storm the gates of hell and they will not hold). The Kingdom of God doesn’t hide in safe corners - it runs into chaos with shalom, seeking out the darkest places to bring light.

Peter’s confession contains layers of meaning connecting to Joshua’s conquest and the giving of the Torah at Sinai. When he calls Jesus “the son of the living God,” he’s not just making a theological statement - he’s signaling that Jesus will drive out the pagan nations just as Joshua did, and that hearing Jesus’s voice is like hearing the very voice of God from the mountain.

The whiplash Peter experiences - from receiving divine revelation and a new name to being called Satan moments later - warns us about the dangers of spiritual pride and the necessity of maintaining our posture as disciples who listen rather than rebuke our Rabbi.

Perhaps most striking is the realization that Jesus’s call to “take up your cross and follow me” may have been spoken not just to His disciples but to the pagan crowd at Caesarea Philippi. The invitation to discipleship extends even to those engaged in the worst sin at the Gates of Hell itself. No one is beyond the reach of the Kingdom, and no place is too dark for the church to bring light.

This offensive Kingdom strategy challenges comfortable Christianity that focuses on maintaining purity by avoiding contamination. Instead, Jesus models running toward the contamination with the cleansing power of shalom, trusting that the Kingdom of God is more powerful than any darkness it encounters.

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S3 119: The Gates of Hell

The Confession at Caesarea Philippi [39:09]