Consciousness is the state of being aware of something within oneself. It is the basis of subjective experience, and self-awareness of the surrounding natural world. It is also the ability to experience or to feel having the mind as the executive control system. Consciousness experience sometimes can be defined at once as the most familiar and also the most mysterious aspect of our lives.
The majority of experimental studies assess consciousness by asking human subjects for a verbal report of their experiments. Issues of interest include subliminal perception, blind-sight, denial of impairment, and altered states of consciousness produced by alcohol and other drugs, or spiritual and meditative techniques.
A recent review of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies shows that subliminal stimuli activate specific regions of the brain participants being unaware. Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an individual can process them, or flashed and then masked, thereby interrupting the processing. Audio stimuli is played below audible volumes or masked by other stimuli. They often base themselves on the persuasiveness of the message. Most actions can be triggered subliminally only if the person already has the potential to perform a specific action.
Blind-sight occur when the person do not consciously see. They have the blindness on only one side of their visual field. The brain contains several mechanisms involved in vision. Consider 2 systems in the brain which evolved at different times. The first that evolved is more primitive and resembles the visual system of animals such as fish and frogs. The second to evolve is more complex and is possessed by mammals. It is the one responsible for our ability to perceive the world around us while the first system is devoted mainly to controlling eye movements and orienting our attention to sudden movements in our periphery. Patient with blind-sight fails to the second mammalian visual system. They use the primitive visual system of their brains to guide hand movements toward an object even though they can't see what they are reaching for.
Denial of impairment is a deficit of self-awareness. It results from damage to the brain structures and is sometimes accompanied with a form of neglect in which the individual deny ownership of their limbs.
The condition is thought to be caused by damage to higher level neuro-cognitive processes. They are functions closely linked to the functions of particular areas, neural paths, or cortical networks in the brain substrate layers of neurological matrix at the cellular molecular level. The lack of insight is a symptom shown by people suffering from this type of impairment. There is evidence that people related to schizophrenia had some sort of frontal damage prior to it. This is the most prevalent reason why they do not take their medications.
Mind alteration is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking Beta Wave state. Beta Wave (13-30Hz) is the term used to designate the frequency range of the human brain activity. Neural oscillations and synchronization have been linked to many cognitive functions such as information transfer, perception, motor control and memory.
The first discovered and best-known frequency band is Alpha activity (8-13Hz) detected from the occipital lobe during relaxed wakefulness and increases when the eyes are closed. Other frequency bands are: Delta (1-4Hz), Theta (4-8Hz), Beta (13-30Hz), and Gamma (30-70Hz), where faster rhythms such as gamma activity have been linked to cognitive processing. The signals can change dramatically during sleep and show a transition from faster frequencies to increasingly slower frequencies such as Alpha waves. Consequently, neural oscillations have been linked to cognitive states, such as awareness and consciousness.
Nothingness is the permanent cessation of a person's consciousness upon death. In the process of brain death, all brain function permanently ceases.
In the Apology of Socrates (written by Plato), after Socrates is sentenced to death, he addresses the court. He ponders on the nature of death, and summarizes that there are basically two truths about it. The first is that it is a migration of the soul or consciousness from this existence into another, and the souls of all previously deceased people will also be there. This excites Socrates, because he will be able to conduct his dialectic inquiries with all of the Greek heroes and thinkers of the past. The other truth about death is that it is oblivion, the complete cessation of consciousness, not only unable to feel but a complete lack of awareness, like a person in a deep, dreamless sleep. Socrates says that even this oblivion does not frighten him very much, because while he would be unaware, he would be free from any pain or suffering, not even the great King of Persia could say that he ever rested so soundly and peacefully as he did in a dreamless sleep.
Death anxiety is the abnormal or persistent fear of one's own mortality. Predatory death anxiety arises from the fear of being harmed. It is the most basic and oldest form of death anxiety. Predator death anxiety is another form of anxiety that arises from an individual physically and/or mentally harming another. It is often accompanied by unconscious guilt. This guilt, in turn, motivates and encourages a variety of self made decisions and actions by the perpetrator of harm to others. Furthermore, the individual does not fear death itself because he never died, it actually reflects the dealings with unresolved childhood conflicts they the person can't come to terms with or express emotion towards.
People progress through a series of crisis in its senior days. Once an individual reaches a mature level of consciousness in their latest stages of life then the person is able to come to terms with their own life and accepts it. They become involved in a thorough overview of their life to date. When one can find meaning or purpose in their life, then they have reached the integrity stage. In opposition to this truth, when an individual after making a review of the experiences lived along their journey and see them as a series of failed and missed opportunities, then they are not in the stage of reaching the integrity level or stage. Those are the ones who exhibit the most influence from death anxiety. This anxiety can be so intense that it can generate fears and phobias of everyday life: fears of being alone or in a confined space. many of these people's daily behavior consist of attempts to deny death and to keep their anxiety under strict regulation. As the individual becomes more aware of the inevitability of death, they will instinctively try to suppress it out of fear. This behavior may range from simply thinking about death to severe phobias and desperate actions.
Religiosity is positively correlated with fear of death, meaning more religious individuals fear death more. Other studies have found a strong sense of religion in a person's life related to a lower sense of anxiety towards death.
Death consciousness become most prevalent in young adulthood (20-40 years of age). However, during the next phase of life, the middle age adult years (40-64 years of age), death consciousness peak at its highest levels when in comparison to all other age ranges.
Monday, 28 March 2016
WHO WERE THE CHALDEANS?
Unlike the East Semitic Akkadian-speaking Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, whose ancestors had been established in Mesopotamia since the 30th century BC, the Chaldeans were not a native Mesopotamian people, but were late 10th or early 9th century BC West Semitic Levantine migrants to the South Eastern corner of the Region, who had played no part in the previous 3,000 years of Mesopotamian civilization and history.
God sent a message to Habakkuk about this type of people: " .. I am rousing the Chalde'ans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize habitations not their own. Dread and terrible are they; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Yea, their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence; terror of them goes before them. They gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and of rulers they made sport. They laugh at every fortress, for they heap up earth and take it. Then they sweep like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!" 1:6-11.
The spirit that govern these people define them as a nation. Whoever behave in the same manner will have at the end the same reward as them for their evil actions.
God then said, "Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith. Moreover, wealth is like wine, treacherous and deceitful. The arrogant men are proud and restless -like Death itself they are never satisfied making his greed as wide as Sheol. He gathers for himself all nations, and collects as his own all peoples. But before you know it, Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own -for how long? and loads himself with pledges! Will not your debtors suddenly arise, and those awake who will make you tremble? Then you will be booty for them. Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, for the blood of men and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell therein. Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm! You have devised shame to your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life. For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond."
God continue saying, "You are doomed! In your fury you humiliated and disgraced your neighbors; you made them stagger as though they were drank. You in turn will be covered by shame instead of honor. You yourself will drink and stagger. The lord will make you drink your own cup of punishment and your honor will be turned into disgrace."
What we have to understand with this teaching is that nothing is being left without care because God is the One who truly care for the righteous and sincere of heart.
God sent a message to Habakkuk about this type of people: " .. I am rousing the Chalde'ans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize habitations not their own. Dread and terrible are they; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Yea, their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence; terror of them goes before them. They gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and of rulers they made sport. They laugh at every fortress, for they heap up earth and take it. Then they sweep like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!" 1:6-11.
The spirit that govern these people define them as a nation. Whoever behave in the same manner will have at the end the same reward as them for their evil actions.
God then said, "Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith. Moreover, wealth is like wine, treacherous and deceitful. The arrogant men are proud and restless -like Death itself they are never satisfied making his greed as wide as Sheol. He gathers for himself all nations, and collects as his own all peoples. But before you know it, Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own -for how long? and loads himself with pledges! Will not your debtors suddenly arise, and those awake who will make you tremble? Then you will be booty for them. Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, for the blood of men and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell therein. Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm! You have devised shame to your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life. For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond."
God continue saying, "You are doomed! In your fury you humiliated and disgraced your neighbors; you made them stagger as though they were drank. You in turn will be covered by shame instead of honor. You yourself will drink and stagger. The lord will make you drink your own cup of punishment and your honor will be turned into disgrace."
What we have to understand with this teaching is that nothing is being left without care because God is the One who truly care for the righteous and sincere of heart.
Sunday, 20 March 2016
THE HORSE AND ITS SYMBOLIC POWER
The Horse was first introduced to Palestine by the Hyksos (ruler[s] of foreign countries). The Hyksos were an overpowering people of mixed origins, in swift chariots, that came from Western Asia, and settled in the Eastern Nile Delta, some time before 1650 BC. They were the first Asiatics to settle in Egypt. There was no major battle, just a steady influx of settlers who worked themselves into positions of power while retaining their own cultural differences. Excavations at Tell El-Dab'a confirms that the settlement was constantly evolving and changing as the new cultures adapted to the Egyptian way of life. Settlements discovered in Tell El-Ajjul (Southern Palestinian), Ebla (Syrian) and Byblos (Lebanon) share many characteristics with the settlement at Tell El-Dab'a.
Kamose, the last king of the Theban 17th Dynasty, refers to Apo-Phis as a Chieftain of Re-Tjenu (Canaan) in a stella that implies a Canaanite background for this Hyksos king. The names, order, and even the total number of the 15th Dynasty rulers are not known with full certainty. The names appear in hieroglyphs on monuments and small objects such as jar lids and scarabs.
The quadruped animal, with its hard hoofs (Isa. 5:28), flowing mane and tall (Job 39:19), has, from ancient times, been closely associated with man, who has used the bridle and the whip to control it. (Ps.32:9; Prov. 26:3; Jas. 3:3).
God, the Creator of this animal, when reproving Job, described some of the horse's principal characteristics: its great strength, its snoring with its large nostrils, its pawing the ground in impatient, its excitement at the prospect, and its not being terrified by the clashing of weapons. (Job 39:19-25).
Horses always belonged to the royalty since only kings could afford their maintenance.
They had little value for the ordinary Israelite, who utilized asses and mules in daily life.
The 1st specific mention of the Horse in the Bible is with reference to Joseph's administration in Egypt, when he accepted from the famine-stricken people horses and other livestock in exchange for grain. (Gen.47:17).
Twice the Biblical record reports that the Egyptians experienced a blow to their horses. First there was the divinely sent pestilence on the livestock (Ex.9:3-6), and then, at the time of the Exodus, Pharaoh's hosts, "horse and rider," were drowned in the Red Sea. (Ex.14:9; 15:1.
The Philistines mustered 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen against King Saul. (1Sam 13).
David kept only 100 horses for himself, choosing instead to hamstring those he had captured. (2Sam 8).
However, horses were a mainstay of Solomon's power -he had 4,000 stalls and 12,000 horses. (1Kgs 4), and were a prime weapon in the Israelite military. At the Battle of Qarqar, Ahab contributed 2,000 chariots to the coalition against the Assyrians.
The Horse Gate, located in the South East corner of the City Wall (Jer.31:40; Neh.3:28), demonstrated how horses had become essential to Jerusalem.
While the text says that Solomon imported his horses from Egypt (1King10), the Egyptians imported them from Anatolia.
About 2/3 of the biblical references to Horses are metaphorical. Horses are used to refer to the dangers of kingship and militarism (Deut.17:14-16; Ps.20:7; Isa.2:7). They also figure in the apocalyptic imagery of Revelation (Rev.6:2,4-5; 19:11,14,19,21).
SOME OF THE MOST RELEVANT VERSES ABOUT HORSES:
Exodus 15:Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said,"I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; 'the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.'
Joshua11: They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
2Kings 6: He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. His servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" Exodus 14: Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-Hahi-Roth, in front of Baal-Zeph-On.
1King1 All storage cities that belonged to Solomon, then the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.
1King 9 But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to slavery; they were soldiers, his servants, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.
1King10 Solomon accumulated chariots and cavalry. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 cavalry soldiers. He stationed them in various chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
Kamose, the last king of the Theban 17th Dynasty, refers to Apo-Phis as a Chieftain of Re-Tjenu (Canaan) in a stella that implies a Canaanite background for this Hyksos king. The names, order, and even the total number of the 15th Dynasty rulers are not known with full certainty. The names appear in hieroglyphs on monuments and small objects such as jar lids and scarabs.
The quadruped animal, with its hard hoofs (Isa. 5:28), flowing mane and tall (Job 39:19), has, from ancient times, been closely associated with man, who has used the bridle and the whip to control it. (Ps.32:9; Prov. 26:3; Jas. 3:3).
God, the Creator of this animal, when reproving Job, described some of the horse's principal characteristics: its great strength, its snoring with its large nostrils, its pawing the ground in impatient, its excitement at the prospect, and its not being terrified by the clashing of weapons. (Job 39:19-25).
Horses always belonged to the royalty since only kings could afford their maintenance.
They had little value for the ordinary Israelite, who utilized asses and mules in daily life.
The 1st specific mention of the Horse in the Bible is with reference to Joseph's administration in Egypt, when he accepted from the famine-stricken people horses and other livestock in exchange for grain. (Gen.47:17).
Twice the Biblical record reports that the Egyptians experienced a blow to their horses. First there was the divinely sent pestilence on the livestock (Ex.9:3-6), and then, at the time of the Exodus, Pharaoh's hosts, "horse and rider," were drowned in the Red Sea. (Ex.14:9; 15:1.
The Philistines mustered 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen against King Saul. (1Sam 13).
David kept only 100 horses for himself, choosing instead to hamstring those he had captured. (2Sam 8).
However, horses were a mainstay of Solomon's power -he had 4,000 stalls and 12,000 horses. (1Kgs 4), and were a prime weapon in the Israelite military. At the Battle of Qarqar, Ahab contributed 2,000 chariots to the coalition against the Assyrians.
The Horse Gate, located in the South East corner of the City Wall (Jer.31:40; Neh.3:28), demonstrated how horses had become essential to Jerusalem.
While the text says that Solomon imported his horses from Egypt (1King10), the Egyptians imported them from Anatolia.
About 2/3 of the biblical references to Horses are metaphorical. Horses are used to refer to the dangers of kingship and militarism (Deut.17:14-16; Ps.20:7; Isa.2:7). They also figure in the apocalyptic imagery of Revelation (Rev.6:2,4-5; 19:11,14,19,21).
SOME OF THE MOST RELEVANT VERSES ABOUT HORSES:
Exodus 15:Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said,"I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; 'the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.'
Joshua11: They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
2Kings 6: He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. His servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" Exodus 14: Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-Hahi-Roth, in front of Baal-Zeph-On.
1King1 All storage cities that belonged to Solomon, then the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.
1King 9 But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to slavery; they were soldiers, his servants, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.
1King10 Solomon accumulated chariots and cavalry. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 cavalry soldiers. He stationed them in various chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
JESUS AND HIS ENTRANCE INTO THE SPIRITUAL FORM OF JERUSALEM.
Plato's concept, about the non-physical World (but substantial), was that it represented the most accurate reality. Plato spoke of these entities only through the characters of his dialogues suggesting that these entities were the only objects of study that can provide knowledge.
It is proved along all the characters in the Scriptures, Old and New and with Jesus itself with his spiritual entrance to Jerusalem. Luke, identified only as a "fellow worker," not simply one of Paul's "traveling companions" or "assistants," but an entity of comparable stature, a "missionary colleague."
Luke was an entity that lived in the Greek city of Antioch in Ancient Syria. He repeatedly used the word "we" in describing Paul's missions in Acts of the Apostles, indicating that he was there at those times. There is also evidence that the entity resided in Troas, the province which included the ruins of ancient Troy, in that Luke, as an entity living there, wrote in the 3rd person about Paul and his travels until they got to Troas, where he switched to the 1st person plural. The "we" section of Acts continues until the group of entities leaves Philippi, when his writings went back to the 3rd person. This change happens again when the group returns to Philippi. Philippi was a city in Eastern Macedonia, established by Philip II of Macedon in 356BC and abandoned in the 14th century after the Otto-Man conquest. The city appears in the sources during the Roman civil war that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar.
Paul preached for the 1st time on European soil in Philippi (Acts 16). Paul visited the city on two other occasions. The Epistle to the Phippians shows the immediate effects of Paul's instructions. Seven different churches were constructed in Philippi, all of them destroyed because of their materialistic nature.
When Lucas writes about the Passion (suffering, enduring) of Jesus Christ in His short and final period of His life covering His "visit" into "the spiritual city of Jerusalem"from the point of His entrance and the steps leading to His crucifixion on Mount Calvary, he is defining the climatic events of the Spiritual War fought inside the city between all the powers and principalities in Heaven and Earth and the consequent Victory of Jesus Christ freeing the spiritual heart of every human being that were subjected to Death, the spirit in control of all the human souls , and made them free to chose between God and Evil, promising everlasting life to those whose heart freely and sincerely choose God and His kingdom.
The Scripture says that Jesus before visiting Jerusalem, He entered spiritual Jericho, a place of concealment (2 Sam.10), passing through (spiritual Heart), a man named Zac-Cha-Eus, a chief tax collector and rich (entity working through the hearts of those lovers of riches), wanted to see who He was. Because he was small and wanted to avoid the crowd of entities surrounding Jesus he ran ahead to the way he knew Jesus was going to walk and climbed a sycamore tree to have a good view of Him.
Jesus saw him and asked him to come down and receive Him in his spiritual home. He did it joyfully. Many around him, blinded because of man's religious laws, murmured about how Jesus can enter into the heart of a sinner. The man offered Jesus to give have of his goods to the poor in spirit and anyone defrauded by him he offered restoration. Jesus told him:"Today Salvation has come to this House .."
The crowd made of all kind of entities heard of this and Jesus proceeded to tell a Parable given the fact that He was near and the crowd supposed that the Kingdom of was to "appear immediately." He said to the crowd: "A noble man went into a "far" country to receive "kingly power"and then return. Before doing it He called 10 of his servants and gave them a gold coin and authorized them to "trade" it until his return. But they hated him and sent an embassy of entities after Him, saying:"We do not want this man to reign over us."When He returned, having received the kingly power, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to Him, that He might know what they had gained by trading. The first came and said:"I have made ten more gold coins." And He said to him: "Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you are going to have spiritual authority over 10 cities. The second came and said: "I made five." He said:"You are to be over 5 cities." The 3rd one said:"Lord, here is your coin which I kept laid away in a napkin, for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow. He said to him:" I will condemn you, out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank and at my coming I should have collected it with interest? And Jesus said to those who stood by:"Take the gold coin from him and give it to the one who has the ten."
(And they said to Jesus, "Lord, he has 10 coins!) "I tell you, that to every one who has Will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me."
After he said that He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem (spiritual realm). When He drew near to Beth-P-Hage and Beth-Any, at the Mount that is called Olivet, He sent 2 of his disciples, saying,"Go into the Village opposite (in the other side), where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one (of the entities) has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here. If any one (of the owners) ask you, 'why are you untying it?' you shall say this, 'The Lord has need of it.' And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their spiritual garments on the colt, they set Jesus upon it.
During the time of Moses when the Lord saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians and all of his power, dead upon the seashore, Moses and the people of Israel sang this song:"I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the Horse and his raider He has thrown into the sea." It symbolizes the power of the flesh over spiritual Israel thrown to the waters and defeated. The spiritual condition of the people of Israel that Jesus encounter descended and was captured again by the snares of the Devil. Jesus had to get inside the flesh again and brake the thick wall of Sin formed in it. Only Him was powerful enough to die in the physical realm, then go to the spiritual realm and fight for all the souls of the humankind trapped in the snares of the Devil and won the Spiritual Battle of all, that was our freedom.
The entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem as a visitor symbolizes that the city was taken by the enemies of God and also the place of His sacrifice for all mankind. As He approached the city he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day What Bring You Peace -but Now It is Hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build and embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
This is what Jesus said to anyone who fails to understand the deep meaning of His Word. We need to know our positions in the spiritual war and be prepared to fight the Final Battle of all and the End of Days.
It is proved along all the characters in the Scriptures, Old and New and with Jesus itself with his spiritual entrance to Jerusalem. Luke, identified only as a "fellow worker," not simply one of Paul's "traveling companions" or "assistants," but an entity of comparable stature, a "missionary colleague."
Luke was an entity that lived in the Greek city of Antioch in Ancient Syria. He repeatedly used the word "we" in describing Paul's missions in Acts of the Apostles, indicating that he was there at those times. There is also evidence that the entity resided in Troas, the province which included the ruins of ancient Troy, in that Luke, as an entity living there, wrote in the 3rd person about Paul and his travels until they got to Troas, where he switched to the 1st person plural. The "we" section of Acts continues until the group of entities leaves Philippi, when his writings went back to the 3rd person. This change happens again when the group returns to Philippi. Philippi was a city in Eastern Macedonia, established by Philip II of Macedon in 356BC and abandoned in the 14th century after the Otto-Man conquest. The city appears in the sources during the Roman civil war that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar.
Paul preached for the 1st time on European soil in Philippi (Acts 16). Paul visited the city on two other occasions. The Epistle to the Phippians shows the immediate effects of Paul's instructions. Seven different churches were constructed in Philippi, all of them destroyed because of their materialistic nature.
When Lucas writes about the Passion (suffering, enduring) of Jesus Christ in His short and final period of His life covering His "visit" into "the spiritual city of Jerusalem"from the point of His entrance and the steps leading to His crucifixion on Mount Calvary, he is defining the climatic events of the Spiritual War fought inside the city between all the powers and principalities in Heaven and Earth and the consequent Victory of Jesus Christ freeing the spiritual heart of every human being that were subjected to Death, the spirit in control of all the human souls , and made them free to chose between God and Evil, promising everlasting life to those whose heart freely and sincerely choose God and His kingdom.
The Scripture says that Jesus before visiting Jerusalem, He entered spiritual Jericho, a place of concealment (2 Sam.10), passing through (spiritual Heart), a man named Zac-Cha-Eus, a chief tax collector and rich (entity working through the hearts of those lovers of riches), wanted to see who He was. Because he was small and wanted to avoid the crowd of entities surrounding Jesus he ran ahead to the way he knew Jesus was going to walk and climbed a sycamore tree to have a good view of Him.
Jesus saw him and asked him to come down and receive Him in his spiritual home. He did it joyfully. Many around him, blinded because of man's religious laws, murmured about how Jesus can enter into the heart of a sinner. The man offered Jesus to give have of his goods to the poor in spirit and anyone defrauded by him he offered restoration. Jesus told him:"Today Salvation has come to this House .."
The crowd made of all kind of entities heard of this and Jesus proceeded to tell a Parable given the fact that He was near and the crowd supposed that the Kingdom of was to "appear immediately." He said to the crowd: "A noble man went into a "far" country to receive "kingly power"and then return. Before doing it He called 10 of his servants and gave them a gold coin and authorized them to "trade" it until his return. But they hated him and sent an embassy of entities after Him, saying:"We do not want this man to reign over us."When He returned, having received the kingly power, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to Him, that He might know what they had gained by trading. The first came and said:"I have made ten more gold coins." And He said to him: "Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you are going to have spiritual authority over 10 cities. The second came and said: "I made five." He said:"You are to be over 5 cities." The 3rd one said:"Lord, here is your coin which I kept laid away in a napkin, for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow. He said to him:" I will condemn you, out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank and at my coming I should have collected it with interest? And Jesus said to those who stood by:"Take the gold coin from him and give it to the one who has the ten."
(And they said to Jesus, "Lord, he has 10 coins!) "I tell you, that to every one who has Will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me."
After he said that He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem (spiritual realm). When He drew near to Beth-P-Hage and Beth-Any, at the Mount that is called Olivet, He sent 2 of his disciples, saying,"Go into the Village opposite (in the other side), where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one (of the entities) has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here. If any one (of the owners) ask you, 'why are you untying it?' you shall say this, 'The Lord has need of it.' And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their spiritual garments on the colt, they set Jesus upon it.
During the time of Moses when the Lord saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians and all of his power, dead upon the seashore, Moses and the people of Israel sang this song:"I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the Horse and his raider He has thrown into the sea." It symbolizes the power of the flesh over spiritual Israel thrown to the waters and defeated. The spiritual condition of the people of Israel that Jesus encounter descended and was captured again by the snares of the Devil. Jesus had to get inside the flesh again and brake the thick wall of Sin formed in it. Only Him was powerful enough to die in the physical realm, then go to the spiritual realm and fight for all the souls of the humankind trapped in the snares of the Devil and won the Spiritual Battle of all, that was our freedom.
The entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem as a visitor symbolizes that the city was taken by the enemies of God and also the place of His sacrifice for all mankind. As He approached the city he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day What Bring You Peace -but Now It is Hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build and embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
This is what Jesus said to anyone who fails to understand the deep meaning of His Word. We need to know our positions in the spiritual war and be prepared to fight the Final Battle of all and the End of Days.
Friday, 18 March 2016
THE PHRY-GIAN GOD, SABA-ZIOS (GREEK: ZEUS).
Saba-Zios is the nomadic Horseman and the Sky Father god of the Phry-Gians and Thracians. An early conflict between Saba-Zios and his followers and the mother goddess of Phry-Gia is reflected in Homer's brief reference to the youthful feats of Priam, who aided the Phry-Gians in their Battles with Amazons. An aspect of the compromise religious settlement can be read in the later Phry-Gian King Gordias' adoption with "Cybele" of Midas.
Saba-Zios' relations with one of the native religion's creatures, the Lunar Bull, may be surmised in the way that his horse places a hoof on the head of the bull, in a Roman marble relief (Boston Museum of Fine Arts). Though Roman in date, the iconic image appears to be so much earlier.
A Bronze hand was used in his worship and is conserved now in the British Museum. The copper alloy Roman Hand of Saba-Zius was also used in ritual worship. Few of them still remain in collections (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore). Another similar Bronze hand was found in the 16th/17th century in Tour-Nai, Belgium and also is conserved in the British Museum. The recently discovery of an ancient sanctuary of Perper-Ikon in modern Bulgaria, also belonged to the Saba-Zios' cult.
The Hands of the god used for the rituals were decorated with religious symbols and designed to stand in the sanctuaries or be attached to poles for processional use.
The Macedon-Ians were noted horsemen, horse-breeders and horse-worshippers up to the time of Philip II (382-336 BC), whose name signifies "Lover of Horses."
In Indo-European languages, such as Phrygian, the -Zios element in his name derives from Dyeus, the common precursor of Latin -Deus (God) and Greek -Zeus. Though the Greeks interpreted Phrygian Saba-Zios as both Zeus and Diony-Sus, representations of him, even into Roman times, show him always on horseback, as a nomadic horseman god, wielding his characteristic staff of power.
The migrating Phrygians brought Saba-Zios with them when they settled in Anatolia (now Turkey) in the early 1st millennium BC, and that the god's origins are to be looked for in Macedon-Ia and Thrace.
The ecstatic rites practiced largely by women in Athens were thrown together for rhetorical purposes by Demosthenes in undermining his opponent Aeschines for participating in his mother's cultic associations: "On attaining Man-Hood you abetted your mother in her initiations and the other rituals, and read aloud from the Cultic Writings ... You rubbed the fat-cheeked snakes and swung them above your head, crying 'Euoi Saboi' and 'Hues Attes, Attes Hues."
The first Jews who settled in Rome were expelled in 139 BC, along with Chaldean Astrologers by Cornelius Hispalus under a Law which proscribed the propagation of the "corrupting" cult of "Jupiter Saba-Zius," according to the epitome of the book of Valerius Maximus: "Gnaeus Cornelius Hispalus, praetor peregrinus in the year of the consulate of Marcus Popilius Laenas and Lucius Calpurnius, ordered the astrologers by an edict to leave Rome and Italy within 10 days, since by a fallacious interpretation of the stars they perturbed fickle and silly minds, thereby making profit out of their lies. The same praetor compelled the Jews, who attempted to infect the Roman custom with the cult of Jupiter Saba-Zius, to return to their homes." The Romans identified the Jewish YHVH Tzevaot ("Saba-
Oth," "of the Host") as Jove Saba-Zius.
Jove, also Jupiter, was the god of sky and thunder and king of the gods in ancient Roman Religion and mythology. Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman State throughout the Republican and Imperial eras, until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire.
Saba-Zios' relations with one of the native religion's creatures, the Lunar Bull, may be surmised in the way that his horse places a hoof on the head of the bull, in a Roman marble relief (Boston Museum of Fine Arts). Though Roman in date, the iconic image appears to be so much earlier.
A Bronze hand was used in his worship and is conserved now in the British Museum. The copper alloy Roman Hand of Saba-Zius was also used in ritual worship. Few of them still remain in collections (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore). Another similar Bronze hand was found in the 16th/17th century in Tour-Nai, Belgium and also is conserved in the British Museum. The recently discovery of an ancient sanctuary of Perper-Ikon in modern Bulgaria, also belonged to the Saba-Zios' cult.
The Hands of the god used for the rituals were decorated with religious symbols and designed to stand in the sanctuaries or be attached to poles for processional use.
The Macedon-Ians were noted horsemen, horse-breeders and horse-worshippers up to the time of Philip II (382-336 BC), whose name signifies "Lover of Horses."
In Indo-European languages, such as Phrygian, the -Zios element in his name derives from Dyeus, the common precursor of Latin -Deus (God) and Greek -Zeus. Though the Greeks interpreted Phrygian Saba-Zios as both Zeus and Diony-Sus, representations of him, even into Roman times, show him always on horseback, as a nomadic horseman god, wielding his characteristic staff of power.
The migrating Phrygians brought Saba-Zios with them when they settled in Anatolia (now Turkey) in the early 1st millennium BC, and that the god's origins are to be looked for in Macedon-Ia and Thrace.
The ecstatic rites practiced largely by women in Athens were thrown together for rhetorical purposes by Demosthenes in undermining his opponent Aeschines for participating in his mother's cultic associations: "On attaining Man-Hood you abetted your mother in her initiations and the other rituals, and read aloud from the Cultic Writings ... You rubbed the fat-cheeked snakes and swung them above your head, crying 'Euoi Saboi' and 'Hues Attes, Attes Hues."
The first Jews who settled in Rome were expelled in 139 BC, along with Chaldean Astrologers by Cornelius Hispalus under a Law which proscribed the propagation of the "corrupting" cult of "Jupiter Saba-Zius," according to the epitome of the book of Valerius Maximus: "Gnaeus Cornelius Hispalus, praetor peregrinus in the year of the consulate of Marcus Popilius Laenas and Lucius Calpurnius, ordered the astrologers by an edict to leave Rome and Italy within 10 days, since by a fallacious interpretation of the stars they perturbed fickle and silly minds, thereby making profit out of their lies. The same praetor compelled the Jews, who attempted to infect the Roman custom with the cult of Jupiter Saba-Zius, to return to their homes." The Romans identified the Jewish YHVH Tzevaot ("Saba-
Oth," "of the Host") as Jove Saba-Zius.
Jove, also Jupiter, was the god of sky and thunder and king of the gods in ancient Roman Religion and mythology. Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman State throughout the Republican and Imperial eras, until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire.
Thursday, 17 March 2016
MAN, THE GOD OF THE PHRYGIANS.
Man was a god worshipped in the Western interior parts of Anatolia. The roots of the cult go back to Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC. Lunar symbolism dominates his iconography. The god is usually shown with a crescent like open horns on his shoulders, and he is described as the god presiding over the months. The Augustan History has the Roman Emperor Cara-Calla venerate Lunus at Carrhae, this has been taken as a Latinized name for Man. The same source records the local opinion that anyone who believes the Deity of the Moon to be feminine shall always be subject to women, whereas a man who believes that he is masculine will dominate his wife.
He is depicted with a Phrygian cap and a belted tunic. He may be accompanied by bulls and lions in religious artwork. The iconography partly recalls that of Mithras, who also wears a Phrygian cap and is commonly depicted with a bull and symbols of the sun and moon. In later times, Man have been identified with both Attis of Phrygia and Sabazius of Thrace; he may shared a common origin with Zoroastrian lunar divinity Mah.
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the West Central part of Anatolia, centered on the Sakarya River. The River is the 3rd longest river in Turkey. The source of the river is the Bayat Plateau, which is located to the NorthEast of Afyon. Before reaching the Black Sea, it is joined by the Porsuk Creek.
In the Middle ages, the Valley of the Sakarya was the home of the Sogut tribe, which went to establish the Otto-Man Empire.
During the heroic age of Greek mythology, several legendary kings were Phrygians: Gordian Knot would later be cut by Alexander the Great, Midas who turned whatever he touched to gold, and Mygdon who warred with the Amazons.
According to Homer's Illiad, the Phyrgians were closed allies of the Trojans and participants in the Trojan War against the Achaeans. Phrygian power reached its peak in the late 8th century BC under Midas who dominated most of Western and Central Anatolia and rivaled Assyria and Urartu for power in Eastern Anatolia. Midas was also the last independent King of Phrygia before its capital was sacked by Cimmerians around 695 BC. Phrygia then became subject to Lydia, and then successively to Persia, Alexander and his Hellenistic successors, Perg-Amon, Rome, and Byzantium. Phrygians were gradually assimilated into other cultures by the early medieval era, and after the Turkish conquest of Anatolia the name Phrygia passed out of usage as a territorial designation.
The name of the earliest known mythical king was Nan-Na-Cus (Aka An-Na-Cus. This king resided at Iconium, the most Eastern city of the Kingdom of Phrygia at that time; and after his death, at the age of 300 years, a great flood overwhelmed the country, as had been foretold by an ancient oracle. The next king mentioned was called Man-Is or Mas-Des. Because of his splendid exploits, great things were called "Man-Ic"in Phrygia. Thereafter the Kingdom was fragmented among various kings. One of the kings was Tanta-Lus who ruled over the North Western Region of Phrygia around Mount Sipy-Lus.
Tanta-Lus was endlessly punished in Tarta-Rus, because he allegedly killed his son Pelops and sacrificially offered him to the Olympians, a reference to the suppression of human sacrifice. Tanta-Lus was also falsely accused of stealing from the lotteries he had invented.
Before the Trojan war, a Phrygian farmer became king fulfilling an oracular prophecy The kingless Phrygians had turned for guidance to the oracle of Saba-Zios (Zeus to the Greeks) at Tel-Mis-Sus (capital of Phrygia), in the part of Phrygia that later became part of Galatia.
They had been instructed by the oracle to acclaim as their king the first man who rode up to the god's temple in a cart. That "Man"was Gord-Ias, a farmer, who dedicated the ox-cart in question, tied to its shaft with the Gord-Ian Knot.
He is depicted with a Phrygian cap and a belted tunic. He may be accompanied by bulls and lions in religious artwork. The iconography partly recalls that of Mithras, who also wears a Phrygian cap and is commonly depicted with a bull and symbols of the sun and moon. In later times, Man have been identified with both Attis of Phrygia and Sabazius of Thrace; he may shared a common origin with Zoroastrian lunar divinity Mah.
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the West Central part of Anatolia, centered on the Sakarya River. The River is the 3rd longest river in Turkey. The source of the river is the Bayat Plateau, which is located to the NorthEast of Afyon. Before reaching the Black Sea, it is joined by the Porsuk Creek.
In the Middle ages, the Valley of the Sakarya was the home of the Sogut tribe, which went to establish the Otto-Man Empire.
During the heroic age of Greek mythology, several legendary kings were Phrygians: Gordian Knot would later be cut by Alexander the Great, Midas who turned whatever he touched to gold, and Mygdon who warred with the Amazons.
According to Homer's Illiad, the Phyrgians were closed allies of the Trojans and participants in the Trojan War against the Achaeans. Phrygian power reached its peak in the late 8th century BC under Midas who dominated most of Western and Central Anatolia and rivaled Assyria and Urartu for power in Eastern Anatolia. Midas was also the last independent King of Phrygia before its capital was sacked by Cimmerians around 695 BC. Phrygia then became subject to Lydia, and then successively to Persia, Alexander and his Hellenistic successors, Perg-Amon, Rome, and Byzantium. Phrygians were gradually assimilated into other cultures by the early medieval era, and after the Turkish conquest of Anatolia the name Phrygia passed out of usage as a territorial designation.
The name of the earliest known mythical king was Nan-Na-Cus (Aka An-Na-Cus. This king resided at Iconium, the most Eastern city of the Kingdom of Phrygia at that time; and after his death, at the age of 300 years, a great flood overwhelmed the country, as had been foretold by an ancient oracle. The next king mentioned was called Man-Is or Mas-Des. Because of his splendid exploits, great things were called "Man-Ic"in Phrygia. Thereafter the Kingdom was fragmented among various kings. One of the kings was Tanta-Lus who ruled over the North Western Region of Phrygia around Mount Sipy-Lus.
Tanta-Lus was endlessly punished in Tarta-Rus, because he allegedly killed his son Pelops and sacrificially offered him to the Olympians, a reference to the suppression of human sacrifice. Tanta-Lus was also falsely accused of stealing from the lotteries he had invented.
Before the Trojan war, a Phrygian farmer became king fulfilling an oracular prophecy The kingless Phrygians had turned for guidance to the oracle of Saba-Zios (Zeus to the Greeks) at Tel-Mis-Sus (capital of Phrygia), in the part of Phrygia that later became part of Galatia.
They had been instructed by the oracle to acclaim as their king the first man who rode up to the god's temple in a cart. That "Man"was Gord-Ias, a farmer, who dedicated the ox-cart in question, tied to its shaft with the Gord-Ian Knot.
THE GALATIANS, WHO WERE THEY?
Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. It was bounded on the North by Bithynia and Paphlagonia, on the Easy by Pontus and cappadocia, on the South by Cilicia and Lycaonia, and on the West by Phrygia. Its capital was Ancyra (today Ankara, Turkey).
Galatia was named for the immigrant Gauls from Thrace, a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the North, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the South, and the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the East.
The 3 Celtic tribes that enter Anatolia as a contingent of Celtic raiders from the Danube Region, and settled in those Regions of Phyrgia were the Tecto-Sages, Tol-isto-bogii and Trocmi.
The Tecto-Sages came originally from the region around Toulouse in Gaul, present-day the capital city of the SouthWestern French Department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Midi-Pyrenees Region. It lies on the banks of the Garonne River, 150km/93mi from the Mediterranea Sea, 230km/143mi from the Atlantic Ocean, and 680km/420mi from Paris. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the 4th largest in France, after Paris and Marseille.
During the late period of the 2rd century BC, a great Celtic migration in which the 3 Tribes formed part of the Tribal Confederation of the Volcae, invaded Macedon in 270BC and defeated the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermo-Pylae in 279 BC. Immediately after, tribes known by the name Volcae were found simultaneously in Southern Gaul, Moravia, the Ebro River Valley of Iberia, and Galatia in Asia Minor.
The tribe of the Tol-isto-boggi appeared as part of the troops in the army of Brennus on its way to plunder Delphi in Greece in 279 BC. In Dardania , it is said, some 20,000 men under Leonorius and Lutarius, seceded from Brennus and entered Thrace, where they collected tribute from the Region, including Byzantium. Subsequently they group, crossed the Hellespont to fight as mercenaries for Nicomedes I of Bithynia, who wanted their help in a Dynastic struggle against his brother. Then they left Bithynia to plunder Anatolia. The Tol-isto-bogii received Aeolia and Ionia as territory. For a greater part of their centuries-long stay in Galatia, the Tol-isto-bogii were located in what is now Eskisehir Province just West of Ankara.
Driven by highly mobile groups operating outside the Tribal System and comprising diverse element, the Volcae were one of the new ethnic entities formed during the Celtic military expansion at the beginning of the 3rd century.
The 3 tribes who formed the Galatian people used the term "sept" to make a distintcion from the rest of the Celts, especially of Scottish or Irish background. The word derive from the Latin "saeptum" meaning "enclosure" or "fold" or "sect," as a manner to distinguidh one group from another.
In 189 BC, all three tribes were beaten by the Roman Consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in the Battles of Mt. Olympus and Mt. Magaba.
In the constitution of the Galatian State: by custom, each tribe was divided into cantons, each governed by a chief (tetrarch) followed by a judge, whose powers were unlimited except in cases of murder, which were tried before a council of 300 drawn from the 12 cantons and meeting at a "holy place of an Oak Grove." The Galatian arrivals left the local population of Cappadocians in control of the towns and most of the land, paying tithes to their new overlords, who formed a "military aristocracy" and kept aloof in fortified farmsteads, surrounded by their bands.
These "Celtic Warriors" were respected by Greeks and Romans. They were often hired as mercenaries soldiers, fighting on both sides in the great battles of the times. For years, the chieftains and their bands ravaged the Western half of Asia Minor, as allies of one or other of the warring princes, without any serious check. The King of Attalid Perg-Amon hired Galatians in the incresingly devastating wars of Asia Minor. One of the tribes in his service, the Agio-Sages, refused to obey after a lunar eclipse on 1st September 218BC. Another band deserted from their Egyptian overlord Ptolemy IV (reigned 221-204 BC) after a solar eclipse had broken their spirits. This ended when they sided with the renegade Seleucid prince Anti-Ochus Hierax ruling in Asia Minor, who tried to defeat At-Talus, the ruler of Perg-Amon (241-197 BC). In 189 BC, all 3 Tribes were beaten by the Roman Consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso. Roma dominated Galatia through Regional Rulers from 189 onward. Galacia declined under Pontic ascendancy. The 3 Celtic tribes remained as described: -the Tecto-Sages in the centre, roundtheir capital Ankara. -the Tol-Isto-Bogii on the West, round Pessinus as their chief town, sacred to Cybele. -the Trocmi on the East, round their chief town Tavium. They were finally freed by th Mithridatic Wars of 88-63 BC. during which they supported Rome.
In Pompey's administrative settlement of 64BC, Galatia formally became a client-state of the Roman Empire. The Old Constitution disappeared, and 3 chiefs were appointed, one for each tribe. But this arrangement soon gave way o the ambition of one of the chieftains, Dei-Otarus, the contemporary of Cicero and Julius Caesar, who made himself Master of the other two and was finally recognized by the Romans as "King" of Galatia. Upon his death, the Kingdom was given to Amyntas, an auxiliary commander in the Roman army of Brutus and Cassius who gained the favor of Mark Antony. After his death in 25 BC, Galatia was incorporated by Augustus into the Roman Empire, becoming a Roman Province. Near his capital Ancyra (Ankara), Pylamenes, the king's heir, rebuilt a temple of the Phrygian god Men to venerate Augustus (the Monumentum Ancyranum), as a sign of fidelity. It was on the walls of this temple in Galatia that the major source for the "Deeds of the Divine Augustus" portrayed to the Roman People. It was the base of the establisment of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty that was to follow Augustus. Few of the provinces proved more enthusiastically loyal to Rome.
The fate of the Galatians is a subject of some uncertainty, but they seem to have been absorved into the Greek-speaking populations of Anatolia.
Galatia was named for the immigrant Gauls from Thrace, a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the North, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the South, and the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the East.
The 3 Celtic tribes that enter Anatolia as a contingent of Celtic raiders from the Danube Region, and settled in those Regions of Phyrgia were the Tecto-Sages, Tol-isto-bogii and Trocmi.
The Tecto-Sages came originally from the region around Toulouse in Gaul, present-day the capital city of the SouthWestern French Department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Midi-Pyrenees Region. It lies on the banks of the Garonne River, 150km/93mi from the Mediterranea Sea, 230km/143mi from the Atlantic Ocean, and 680km/420mi from Paris. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the 4th largest in France, after Paris and Marseille.
During the late period of the 2rd century BC, a great Celtic migration in which the 3 Tribes formed part of the Tribal Confederation of the Volcae, invaded Macedon in 270BC and defeated the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermo-Pylae in 279 BC. Immediately after, tribes known by the name Volcae were found simultaneously in Southern Gaul, Moravia, the Ebro River Valley of Iberia, and Galatia in Asia Minor.
The tribe of the Tol-isto-boggi appeared as part of the troops in the army of Brennus on its way to plunder Delphi in Greece in 279 BC. In Dardania , it is said, some 20,000 men under Leonorius and Lutarius, seceded from Brennus and entered Thrace, where they collected tribute from the Region, including Byzantium. Subsequently they group, crossed the Hellespont to fight as mercenaries for Nicomedes I of Bithynia, who wanted their help in a Dynastic struggle against his brother. Then they left Bithynia to plunder Anatolia. The Tol-isto-bogii received Aeolia and Ionia as territory. For a greater part of their centuries-long stay in Galatia, the Tol-isto-bogii were located in what is now Eskisehir Province just West of Ankara.
Driven by highly mobile groups operating outside the Tribal System and comprising diverse element, the Volcae were one of the new ethnic entities formed during the Celtic military expansion at the beginning of the 3rd century.
The 3 tribes who formed the Galatian people used the term "sept" to make a distintcion from the rest of the Celts, especially of Scottish or Irish background. The word derive from the Latin "saeptum" meaning "enclosure" or "fold" or "sect," as a manner to distinguidh one group from another.
In 189 BC, all three tribes were beaten by the Roman Consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in the Battles of Mt. Olympus and Mt. Magaba.
In the constitution of the Galatian State: by custom, each tribe was divided into cantons, each governed by a chief (tetrarch) followed by a judge, whose powers were unlimited except in cases of murder, which were tried before a council of 300 drawn from the 12 cantons and meeting at a "holy place of an Oak Grove." The Galatian arrivals left the local population of Cappadocians in control of the towns and most of the land, paying tithes to their new overlords, who formed a "military aristocracy" and kept aloof in fortified farmsteads, surrounded by their bands.
These "Celtic Warriors" were respected by Greeks and Romans. They were often hired as mercenaries soldiers, fighting on both sides in the great battles of the times. For years, the chieftains and their bands ravaged the Western half of Asia Minor, as allies of one or other of the warring princes, without any serious check. The King of Attalid Perg-Amon hired Galatians in the incresingly devastating wars of Asia Minor. One of the tribes in his service, the Agio-Sages, refused to obey after a lunar eclipse on 1st September 218BC. Another band deserted from their Egyptian overlord Ptolemy IV (reigned 221-204 BC) after a solar eclipse had broken their spirits. This ended when they sided with the renegade Seleucid prince Anti-Ochus Hierax ruling in Asia Minor, who tried to defeat At-Talus, the ruler of Perg-Amon (241-197 BC). In 189 BC, all 3 Tribes were beaten by the Roman Consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso. Roma dominated Galatia through Regional Rulers from 189 onward. Galacia declined under Pontic ascendancy. The 3 Celtic tribes remained as described: -the Tecto-Sages in the centre, roundtheir capital Ankara. -the Tol-Isto-Bogii on the West, round Pessinus as their chief town, sacred to Cybele. -the Trocmi on the East, round their chief town Tavium. They were finally freed by th Mithridatic Wars of 88-63 BC. during which they supported Rome.
In Pompey's administrative settlement of 64BC, Galatia formally became a client-state of the Roman Empire. The Old Constitution disappeared, and 3 chiefs were appointed, one for each tribe. But this arrangement soon gave way o the ambition of one of the chieftains, Dei-Otarus, the contemporary of Cicero and Julius Caesar, who made himself Master of the other two and was finally recognized by the Romans as "King" of Galatia. Upon his death, the Kingdom was given to Amyntas, an auxiliary commander in the Roman army of Brutus and Cassius who gained the favor of Mark Antony. After his death in 25 BC, Galatia was incorporated by Augustus into the Roman Empire, becoming a Roman Province. Near his capital Ancyra (Ankara), Pylamenes, the king's heir, rebuilt a temple of the Phrygian god Men to venerate Augustus (the Monumentum Ancyranum), as a sign of fidelity. It was on the walls of this temple in Galatia that the major source for the "Deeds of the Divine Augustus" portrayed to the Roman People. It was the base of the establisment of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty that was to follow Augustus. Few of the provinces proved more enthusiastically loyal to Rome.
The fate of the Galatians is a subject of some uncertainty, but they seem to have been absorved into the Greek-speaking populations of Anatolia.
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
THE CROSS OF SAINT ANDREW.
The Cross of Saint Andrew (the Cross of Burgundy) was first used in the 15th century as an emblem by the The House of Valois-Burgundy, an noble French family deriving from the House of Valois, who ruled a large part of Eastern France and teh Low Countries as effectively an independent state. It is distinct from the Capetian House of Burgundy, descendants of King Robert II of France ruling the Duchy of Burgundy from 10322 to 1361, although both houses stem from the Capetian Dynasty.
The former Frankish Kingdom of Burgundy was divided into East and West by the 843 Treaty of Verdun. While the East evolved to the Kingdom of Ar-Les and the Free County of Burgundy and were incorporated into the Holy Roman empire in 1032, the West became the Duchy of Burgundy, established about 918 by Richard the Justiciar, and became a fief of the French Royal House of Capet under King Robert II in 1002.
The Duchy of Burgundy was inherited by the House of Habs-Burg(Austria), one of the most influential royal houses of Europe, on the extinction of the Valois Ducal line. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habs-Burgs between 1438-1740. The House also produced emperors and kings of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Kingdom of England (by right of his wife), Kingdom of France (Queen consort), Kingdom of Germany, Kingdom of Hungary, Empire of Russia, Kingdom of Croatia, Second Mexican Empire, Kingdom of Ireland (by right of his wife), Kingdom of Portugal, and Habs-Burg Spain, as well as rulers of several Dutch and Italian principalities. Form the 16th century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between Austria and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they nevertheless maintained close relations and frequently intermarried.
The Cross of Saint Andrew was then assumed by the monarchs of Spain as a result of the Habs-Burgs bringing together, in the early 16th century, their Burgundian inheritance with other extensive possessions they inherited throughout Europe and the Americas, including the Crowns of Castile and Aragon. The Spanish monarchs continued to use it in their own arms even after they lost their Burgundian lands.
From 1506 to 1701 it was used by Spain as a naval ensign, and up to 1843 as the land battle flag, and still appears on regimental colors, badges, shoulder patches and company guidons. The emblem also continues to be used in a variety of contexts in a number of European countries and in the Americas, reflecting both the extent of Valois Burgundy and the former Habs-Burg territories.
The banner strictly speaking dates back to the early 15th century (1408), when the Duke of Burgundy supported the English in the Hundred Years' War. The design is a red diagonal cross resembling 2 crossed, roughly-pruned (knotted) branches, on white field.
The emblem represent the cross on which Andrew the Apostle was crucified. Its formal role in Burgundian iconography can be traced back to the foundation of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1429.
WHO WAS JAMES?
James (Greek: Iakobos; Hebrew: Jacob) the son of Zeb'e-dee (gift of Jah). Zeb'e-dee was also the father of John. He was among the first (Mark1) whom Jesus called as disciples together with his brother John.
Zeb'e-dee's wife Salome was the sister of Jesus' mother Mary, this made Zeb'e-dee, Jesus' uncle, and James and John, Jesus' first cousins.
Zeb'e-dee was a fisherman and his sons James and John were partners with Peter and Andrew in the fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. Salome, wife of Zeb'e-dee, were able to render material services to Jesus. While there is no indication that Zeb'e-dee himself followed Jesus, his family freely did so.
When Jesus called James and John together with their associate fishermen Peter and Andrew to be his disciples and "fishers of men," their business were large enough to employ hired men.
James is always mentioned along with his brother John, and in the majoruty of instances he is mentioned first. They together with Peter belonged to the inner circle of Jesus' disciples. In the 4 lists of the 12, James is always among the the first 3 names. (Matt.10; Mark.3; Luke 6; Acts 1).
Often Peter, James and John are described as being together in close company with Christ. For example, these 3 were the only ones present with Christ in the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt.17), also they were the only ones invited into the house to witness the resurrection of Jairus' daughter (Luke 8), and were the ones closest to Jesus in Geth-Semane while he was praying the last night. (Mark 14).
Peter, James, and John, together with Andrew, were the ones that asked Jesus when the foretold destruction of Jerusalem's temple would be and what would be the sign of his presence and the conclusion of the system of things (Mark 13).
To James and his brother, Jesus gave the surname Boa-Nerges, a Semitic term meaning "Sons of Thunders," (Mark 3), because of the strong brash personalities (energetic, fiery and enthusiastic nature) of these men. On one occasion, for example, when certain Samaritans were inhospitable toward Jesus, James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to annihilate them. Although reproved by Jesus for their murderous anger in their hearts toward the Samaritan Village that refused Him entry, it also suggests that an attitude of extreme indignation in the heart of a Christian, even though for a righteous cause, do not justify murder.
They also showed their desire for precedence among the 12 disciples in the Kingdom of God, entertaining ambitions in their heart of having the most prominent positions in the Kingdom, at the right and left of Jesus, and got their mother to request such favors of Him, instead of them doing it directly. After explaining that such decisions were made by the Father, Jesus took the occasion to point out "Whoever wants to be the first among you must be your slave (Matt. 20). Jesus also predicted that they must "drink the cup that I drink," the cup of death.
James did drink the cup of death when he died executed by the sword (44CE) by the hand of Herod Agrippa I. He was the 1st of the 12 who died by the sword. (Acts 12). While post-Biblical Christian legend claims that all the 12 except John were executed for the faith, James is the only one of the 12 whose execution is substantiated in the Biblical record. (Acts 12).
Christian tradition has called James "the Great / Major"to distinguish him from James the son of Alpha-Eus (leader or chief), "the Less / Minor," and the 9th listed of the 12 Apostles. (Matt. 10; Mark 3; Luke 6; Acts 1). In the four lists of the Apostles (Matt.10; Mark 5; Luke 6; Acts1) the 2nd James is listed, always explicitly "the son of Alpha-Eus" to distinguish him from the other James. Traditional beliefs also tells a legend of how James, without specifying the son of who, preached in Spain and was eventually buried there. His supposed tomb in the Church of Santiago (St. James) de Compostela in NorthWest Spain has been a major pilgrimage site since medieval times.
James is the traditional author of the NT Letter in his name. While most contemporary scholars dispute the authenticity of the Letter, some strongly defend it. The author of Jude refers to this James as his own brother (in faith). In post NT times, James became the traditional head of the Jewish-Christian wing of the Church, figuring in Gnostic, Jewish-Christian, and Great Church writings.
The Order of St. James of Compostela was founded in the 12th century CE, owing its name to James the Grater, the national patron of Galicia and Spain. Galicia is an autonomous community in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula, being bordered by Portugal to the South, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castille and Leon, and Asturias to the East, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West and North. Galicia was inhabited by humans around 100,000 years ago and took its name from the Gall-Aeci, the Celtic people living North of the Do-Ur-o River during the last millennium BC.
After the death of the Grand Master in 1493, the Catholic Monarchs incorporated the Order into the Spanish Crown and the Pope Adrian IV forever united the office of Grand Master of James to the Crown in 1523. The 1st Republic suppressed the Order in 1873, although the Restoration was re-established, it was reduced to an nobiliary Institute of honorable character. It was ruled by a Superior Council dependent of the Ministry of War, which was also reduced after the proclamation of the 2nd Republic in 1931. The Order of Lames was restored (together with Calatrava, Alcantara, and Montesa) was restored as a Civil Association with the kingship of Juan Carlos I again with the character of a nobiliary, honorable, and religious organization that remains as such.
The Order's Insignia is a red cross resembling a Sword, with the shape of a fleur-de-lis (represent "honor without stain") on the hilt and the arms. The cross of the royal standard had a Mediterranean scallop in the center and another one at the end of each arm. The shape originated in the Era of the Crusades, when knights took with them small crosses with sharpened bottoms to stick them to the ground. Then the knights wore the cross stamped on the royal standard and white cape.
The sword represent the chivalrous character of the apostle and his heart full of vengeance also his prevalence ambition over the rest of the apostles. He died being decapitated with a sword. From this teaching comes this saying "Whoever lives by the sword die by the sword."
Tradition, in general, belief that Alpha-Eus was the same person as Clopas (John 19), which make him the husband of "the other Mary." (Matt.27; Mark 15;16; Luke 24). It was common in those times that an individual held two different names.
Zeb'e-dee's wife Salome was the sister of Jesus' mother Mary, this made Zeb'e-dee, Jesus' uncle, and James and John, Jesus' first cousins.
Zeb'e-dee was a fisherman and his sons James and John were partners with Peter and Andrew in the fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. Salome, wife of Zeb'e-dee, were able to render material services to Jesus. While there is no indication that Zeb'e-dee himself followed Jesus, his family freely did so.
When Jesus called James and John together with their associate fishermen Peter and Andrew to be his disciples and "fishers of men," their business were large enough to employ hired men.
James is always mentioned along with his brother John, and in the majoruty of instances he is mentioned first. They together with Peter belonged to the inner circle of Jesus' disciples. In the 4 lists of the 12, James is always among the the first 3 names. (Matt.10; Mark.3; Luke 6; Acts 1).
Often Peter, James and John are described as being together in close company with Christ. For example, these 3 were the only ones present with Christ in the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt.17), also they were the only ones invited into the house to witness the resurrection of Jairus' daughter (Luke 8), and were the ones closest to Jesus in Geth-Semane while he was praying the last night. (Mark 14).
Peter, James, and John, together with Andrew, were the ones that asked Jesus when the foretold destruction of Jerusalem's temple would be and what would be the sign of his presence and the conclusion of the system of things (Mark 13).
To James and his brother, Jesus gave the surname Boa-Nerges, a Semitic term meaning "Sons of Thunders," (Mark 3), because of the strong brash personalities (energetic, fiery and enthusiastic nature) of these men. On one occasion, for example, when certain Samaritans were inhospitable toward Jesus, James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to annihilate them. Although reproved by Jesus for their murderous anger in their hearts toward the Samaritan Village that refused Him entry, it also suggests that an attitude of extreme indignation in the heart of a Christian, even though for a righteous cause, do not justify murder.
They also showed their desire for precedence among the 12 disciples in the Kingdom of God, entertaining ambitions in their heart of having the most prominent positions in the Kingdom, at the right and left of Jesus, and got their mother to request such favors of Him, instead of them doing it directly. After explaining that such decisions were made by the Father, Jesus took the occasion to point out "Whoever wants to be the first among you must be your slave (Matt. 20). Jesus also predicted that they must "drink the cup that I drink," the cup of death.
James did drink the cup of death when he died executed by the sword (44CE) by the hand of Herod Agrippa I. He was the 1st of the 12 who died by the sword. (Acts 12). While post-Biblical Christian legend claims that all the 12 except John were executed for the faith, James is the only one of the 12 whose execution is substantiated in the Biblical record. (Acts 12).
Christian tradition has called James "the Great / Major"to distinguish him from James the son of Alpha-Eus (leader or chief), "the Less / Minor," and the 9th listed of the 12 Apostles. (Matt. 10; Mark 3; Luke 6; Acts 1). In the four lists of the Apostles (Matt.10; Mark 5; Luke 6; Acts1) the 2nd James is listed, always explicitly "the son of Alpha-Eus" to distinguish him from the other James. Traditional beliefs also tells a legend of how James, without specifying the son of who, preached in Spain and was eventually buried there. His supposed tomb in the Church of Santiago (St. James) de Compostela in NorthWest Spain has been a major pilgrimage site since medieval times.
James is the traditional author of the NT Letter in his name. While most contemporary scholars dispute the authenticity of the Letter, some strongly defend it. The author of Jude refers to this James as his own brother (in faith). In post NT times, James became the traditional head of the Jewish-Christian wing of the Church, figuring in Gnostic, Jewish-Christian, and Great Church writings.
The Order of St. James of Compostela was founded in the 12th century CE, owing its name to James the Grater, the national patron of Galicia and Spain. Galicia is an autonomous community in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula, being bordered by Portugal to the South, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castille and Leon, and Asturias to the East, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West and North. Galicia was inhabited by humans around 100,000 years ago and took its name from the Gall-Aeci, the Celtic people living North of the Do-Ur-o River during the last millennium BC.
After the death of the Grand Master in 1493, the Catholic Monarchs incorporated the Order into the Spanish Crown and the Pope Adrian IV forever united the office of Grand Master of James to the Crown in 1523. The 1st Republic suppressed the Order in 1873, although the Restoration was re-established, it was reduced to an nobiliary Institute of honorable character. It was ruled by a Superior Council dependent of the Ministry of War, which was also reduced after the proclamation of the 2nd Republic in 1931. The Order of Lames was restored (together with Calatrava, Alcantara, and Montesa) was restored as a Civil Association with the kingship of Juan Carlos I again with the character of a nobiliary, honorable, and religious organization that remains as such.
The Order's Insignia is a red cross resembling a Sword, with the shape of a fleur-de-lis (represent "honor without stain") on the hilt and the arms. The cross of the royal standard had a Mediterranean scallop in the center and another one at the end of each arm. The shape originated in the Era of the Crusades, when knights took with them small crosses with sharpened bottoms to stick them to the ground. Then the knights wore the cross stamped on the royal standard and white cape.
The sword represent the chivalrous character of the apostle and his heart full of vengeance also his prevalence ambition over the rest of the apostles. He died being decapitated with a sword. From this teaching comes this saying "Whoever lives by the sword die by the sword."
Tradition, in general, belief that Alpha-Eus was the same person as Clopas (John 19), which make him the husband of "the other Mary." (Matt.27; Mark 15;16; Luke 24). It was common in those times that an individual held two different names.
Tuesday, 15 March 2016
THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM GOD INSIDE THE JAMES' LETTER
The Letter from James is a collection of practical instructions, written to "all God's people, scattered over the whole world."
The writer uses many vivid figures of speech to present instructions regarding practical wisdom and guidance for Christian attitudes and conduct.
From the Christian perspective he deals with a variety of topics such as riches and poverty, temptation, good conduct, prejudice, faith and actions, the use of the tongue, wisdom, quarreling, pride and humility, judging others, boasting, patience, and prayer.
The letter emphasizes the importance of actions along with faith, in the practice of the Christian religion.
-Faith and Wisdom 1: 2-8 "Consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your Faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure."
"Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
"But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should pray to God, who will give it to him; because God gives generously and graciously to all."
"Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown by the wind. A person like that, unable to make up his mind and undecided in all he does, must not think that he will receive anything from the Lord."
-Poverty and Wealth 1: 9-11 "The Christian who is poor must be glad when God lifts him up, and the rich Christian must be glad when God brings him down. For the rich will pass away like the flower of a wild plant. The sun rises with its blazing heat and burns the plant; its flower falls off, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich man will be destroyed while he goes about his business."
-Testing and Tempting 1: 12-15 "Happy is the person who remains faithful under trials, because when he succeeds in passing such a test, he will receive as his reward the life which God has promised to those who love him."
"If a person is tempted by such trials, he must not say, 'This temptation comes from God.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, and He himself tempts no one."
"But a person is tempted when he is drawn away and trapped by his own evil desire. Then his evil desire conceives and gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
-Hearing and Doing 1: 19-25 "Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. Man's anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose ... "Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to His Word; instead, put it into practice. Whoever listens to the Word but does not put it into practice is like a man who looks in a mirror and sees himself as he is. He takes a good look at himself and then goes away and at once forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks closely into the Perfect Law that sets people free, who keeps on paying attention to it and does not simply listen and then forget it, but puts it into practice -that person will be blessed by God in what he does."
-Warning against Discrimination 2: 1-11 "You must never treat people in different ways according to their outward appearance. .. If you show more respect to the well-dressed man .. then you are guilty of creating distinctions among yourselves and of making judgments based on evil motives. .. You will be doing the right thing if you obey the Law of the Kingdom which is found in the Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' But if you treat people according to their outward appearance, you are guilty of sin, and the Law condemns you as a lawbreaker."
-Faith and Actions 2: 14-26 "What good is it for someone to say that he has faith if his actions do not prove it? Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, 'God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!'-if you don't give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead. .."
-The Tongue 1:26 "Does anyone think he is religious? If he does not control his tongue, his religion is worthless and he deceives himself."3:1-18 ".. It is a World of Wrong occupying its place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. It sets on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes to it from hell itself. .. No one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. .."
-The World 4-5 "Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. .. Don't you know that to be the World's friend means to be God's enemy? .. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. .."
THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN
The Wilderness of Zin (Hebrew: Mid'Bar T-Zin) is a geographical area mentioned by the Torah and the Christian Bible as containing Ka'desh-Barn'ea within it. Most traditional sources identify this wilderness as being part of the Ar-Abah.
The Ar-Abah (Hebrew: Desolate area) is a geographical name used with 2 different meanings in antiquity and in modern times. The old meaning, which was in use up to the early 20th century, covered almost the entire length North to South of what is today called the Jordan Rift Valley, between the Southern end of the Sea of Galilee and Northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba at Aqaba/Eilat. This included the Jordan River Valley between the Sea of Galilee and Dead Sea, and the Dead Sea itself, and what is commonly called today the Ar-Abah Valley. The modern use of the term is restricted to this Southern section alone. In both cases, it forms part of the border between Israel and Palestine to the West, and Jordan to the East.
Wilderness, literally, is understood as a place not inhabited by human beings. As such in the spiritual realm it is the natural habitation of demons (Matt.12:43;Luke8:29). The word does not necessarily imply a bleak, desert area, only one not inhabited by human beings. Concerning Spiritual Provision, God is said to have found "Jacob"(the spiritual House of Jacob) in a howling waste of a Wilderness and to have cared for him. (Deuteronomy 32:10; Hosea 9:10). Israel is repeatedly exhorted to remember how God led her in the Wilderness. (Deuteronomy 8:2; 29:5; Amos 2:10).
At least 3 significant ideas became associated with Wilderness: -Covenant, Spiritual Provision, and Judgment.
The "Wilderness of Sin"is mentioned by the Bible as being adjacent to Mount Sinai, the Mountain at which the 10 Commandments were given to Moses by God. In the Book of Deutoronomy, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb.
The Protestant reformer John Calvin took the view that Sinai and Horeb were the same Mountain, with the Eastern side of the mountain being called Sinai and the Western side being called Horeb. Similar it was with the Wilderness of Sin, and the Wilderness of Zin, referring to the same place.
The main significance is not in the name of the place, rather, it is the spiritual significance of the Widerness of Zin as the location in which Israel received the Law of God and became the Covenant People of God.
Zin in the Bible is referred to as the spiritual journey in a Wilderness through which the Israelites traveled en route to Canaan, but not synonymous with the Wilderness of Sin.
Geographically speaking, it was a desert area in Northern Sinai which included Ka-Desh Barn-Ea. The Negeb is to the North, the Ar-Abah and Edom to the East, and the Wilderness of Paran to the South. The Wilderness of Zin constituted part of the Southern border of Canaan, and was the Southern extent of the land spied out by the Israelites during the Exodus.
In the 2nd year after Israel's leaving Egypt, 12 spies reconnoitered the Promised Land, starting out from the Wilderness of Zin. At that time the Israelites were encamped at Ka-Desh. Later, after having wandered in the wilderness for years, the Israelites arrived at Ka-Desh again, in the Wilderness of Zin, for the 2nd time. This area was desolate, unsown, lacking figs, vines, pomegranates, and water. It was in connection with the Waters of Mer-Ibah at Ka-Desh in the Wilderness of Zin that Moses and Aaron sinned against God because they failed to sanctify God before the people forfeiting their right to enter the Promised Land. In this Wilderness of Zin, also, Miriam died while the Israelites were camped at Ka-Desh Barn-Ea.
More common than references to God's Covenant or Provision in the Wilderness are passages referring to God's Judgment. Most frequently mentioned is the Death of the Original Generation that came out of Egypt (except Joshua and Caleb) because of their lack of Faith.
It was this region that the British adventurer T.E. Lawrence was exploring in a military survey for the British army when he was drafted into service. His work, funded by Palestine Exploration Fund, included a survey of the entire Negev Desert.
The Ar-Abah (Hebrew: Desolate area) is a geographical name used with 2 different meanings in antiquity and in modern times. The old meaning, which was in use up to the early 20th century, covered almost the entire length North to South of what is today called the Jordan Rift Valley, between the Southern end of the Sea of Galilee and Northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba at Aqaba/Eilat. This included the Jordan River Valley between the Sea of Galilee and Dead Sea, and the Dead Sea itself, and what is commonly called today the Ar-Abah Valley. The modern use of the term is restricted to this Southern section alone. In both cases, it forms part of the border between Israel and Palestine to the West, and Jordan to the East.
Wilderness, literally, is understood as a place not inhabited by human beings. As such in the spiritual realm it is the natural habitation of demons (Matt.12:43;Luke8:29). The word does not necessarily imply a bleak, desert area, only one not inhabited by human beings. Concerning Spiritual Provision, God is said to have found "Jacob"(the spiritual House of Jacob) in a howling waste of a Wilderness and to have cared for him. (Deuteronomy 32:10; Hosea 9:10). Israel is repeatedly exhorted to remember how God led her in the Wilderness. (Deuteronomy 8:2; 29:5; Amos 2:10).
At least 3 significant ideas became associated with Wilderness: -Covenant, Spiritual Provision, and Judgment.
The "Wilderness of Sin"is mentioned by the Bible as being adjacent to Mount Sinai, the Mountain at which the 10 Commandments were given to Moses by God. In the Book of Deutoronomy, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb.
The Protestant reformer John Calvin took the view that Sinai and Horeb were the same Mountain, with the Eastern side of the mountain being called Sinai and the Western side being called Horeb. Similar it was with the Wilderness of Sin, and the Wilderness of Zin, referring to the same place.
The main significance is not in the name of the place, rather, it is the spiritual significance of the Widerness of Zin as the location in which Israel received the Law of God and became the Covenant People of God.
Zin in the Bible is referred to as the spiritual journey in a Wilderness through which the Israelites traveled en route to Canaan, but not synonymous with the Wilderness of Sin.
Geographically speaking, it was a desert area in Northern Sinai which included Ka-Desh Barn-Ea. The Negeb is to the North, the Ar-Abah and Edom to the East, and the Wilderness of Paran to the South. The Wilderness of Zin constituted part of the Southern border of Canaan, and was the Southern extent of the land spied out by the Israelites during the Exodus.
In the 2nd year after Israel's leaving Egypt, 12 spies reconnoitered the Promised Land, starting out from the Wilderness of Zin. At that time the Israelites were encamped at Ka-Desh. Later, after having wandered in the wilderness for years, the Israelites arrived at Ka-Desh again, in the Wilderness of Zin, for the 2nd time. This area was desolate, unsown, lacking figs, vines, pomegranates, and water. It was in connection with the Waters of Mer-Ibah at Ka-Desh in the Wilderness of Zin that Moses and Aaron sinned against God because they failed to sanctify God before the people forfeiting their right to enter the Promised Land. In this Wilderness of Zin, also, Miriam died while the Israelites were camped at Ka-Desh Barn-Ea.
More common than references to God's Covenant or Provision in the Wilderness are passages referring to God's Judgment. Most frequently mentioned is the Death of the Original Generation that came out of Egypt (except Joshua and Caleb) because of their lack of Faith.
It was this region that the British adventurer T.E. Lawrence was exploring in a military survey for the British army when he was drafted into service. His work, funded by Palestine Exploration Fund, included a survey of the entire Negev Desert.
ISRAEL OF TODAY AND YESTERDAY.
As of 2013, Israel's population is 8 million. Jews form 75 per cent of the population, followed by 20 per cent of non-Jewish Arabs, and 5 per cent of other denominations.
The Israeli-occupied territories is a political concept, referring to the territories occupied by Israel during the 6-Day-War of 1967. Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. It established settlements along the Gulf of Aqaba and in the NorthEast position, just below the Gaza Strip. It was returned to Egypt in staged beginning in 1979 as part of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. By 1982 Israel dismantled 18 settlements, 2 air force bases, a naval base, the only oil resources under Israel control. Since then the Sinai Peninsula has not been regarded as occupied territory.
The Peninsula id a triangular land in Egypt of about 60,000km2/23,000sq mi, in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the North, and the Red Sea to the South, and is the only part of Egyptian land located in Asia, as opposed to Africa, serving as a Land Bridge between 2 continents. The Sinai Peninsula has remained a part of Egypt from the 1st Dynasty (3100BC) until the 21st century. It contrast to the Region North of it, the Levant (present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine), which, due largely to "its strategic geopolitical location" has historically been the centre of conflict between Egypt and any of the states of ancient and medieval Meso-Potamia and Asia Minor.
The Sinai, during the conflicting times, also has been occupied and controlled by foreign forces. The Ottoman Empire ruled the land from 1517 to 1867. The United Kingdom from 1882 to 1956. Israel invaded the land during the Suez Crisis of 1956 (simultaneous coordinated attacks from the United Kingdom Crown, French Crown, and Israel), and the occupation during and after the 6-Day-War of 1967. On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched the Yom Kippur War to retake the land from Israel. By 1982, Israel withdraw all its forces from all of the Sinai Peninsula except the contentious land of Taba, near the Northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, Egypt's busiest border crossing with neighboring Israel, which was returned in 1989.
Mount Sinai (Mount of Moses), a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus and other Books of the Bible, and the Quran. Acording to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition, Mount Sinai was the place where Moses received the 10 Commandments.
Israel also captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day-War.
As a geological and biogeographical Region, it is a basaltic Plateau bordered by the Yarmouk River in the South, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the West, the Anti-Lebanon with Mount Hermon in the North, and the Valley (Wadi) Raqqad which flows South-West Syria forming the topographical Eastern boundary of the Golan Heights. The Western two-thirds of this region are currently occupy by Israel, whereas the Eastern third is controlled by Syria.
As a geopolitical Region, the Golan Heights is the area captured from Syria and occupied by Israel during the 6-Day-War, territory which Israel effectively annexed in 1981. This Region includes the Western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights, as well as the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon.
Evidence of human habitation in the Region dates to between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. According to the Bible an Amorite Kingdom in Bas-Han was conquered by Israelites during the reign of King Og.
He was slain by Moses and his men in the Battle of Edrei, a land in SouthWestern Syria, North of the border with Jordan. Og is mentioned in Jewish literature as being one of the very few giants that survived the flood. In the Book of Amos 2:9 Og is referred as "the Amorite whose height was like the height of the cedars and whose strength was like that of the oaks." Og is introduced in the Book of Numbers. Like his neighbor Sih-On of Heshb-On, whom Moses had previously conquered at the Battle of Ja-Haz, Og was the king of Bas-Han. He contained 60 walled cities and many no-walled towns, with his capital Ash-Taroth. Og's destruction is told in Psalms 135:11 and 136:20 as one of many great victories for the Nation of Israel.
The Israeli-occupied territories is a political concept, referring to the territories occupied by Israel during the 6-Day-War of 1967. Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. It established settlements along the Gulf of Aqaba and in the NorthEast position, just below the Gaza Strip. It was returned to Egypt in staged beginning in 1979 as part of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. By 1982 Israel dismantled 18 settlements, 2 air force bases, a naval base, the only oil resources under Israel control. Since then the Sinai Peninsula has not been regarded as occupied territory.
The Peninsula id a triangular land in Egypt of about 60,000km2/23,000sq mi, in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the North, and the Red Sea to the South, and is the only part of Egyptian land located in Asia, as opposed to Africa, serving as a Land Bridge between 2 continents. The Sinai Peninsula has remained a part of Egypt from the 1st Dynasty (3100BC) until the 21st century. It contrast to the Region North of it, the Levant (present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine), which, due largely to "its strategic geopolitical location" has historically been the centre of conflict between Egypt and any of the states of ancient and medieval Meso-Potamia and Asia Minor.
The Sinai, during the conflicting times, also has been occupied and controlled by foreign forces. The Ottoman Empire ruled the land from 1517 to 1867. The United Kingdom from 1882 to 1956. Israel invaded the land during the Suez Crisis of 1956 (simultaneous coordinated attacks from the United Kingdom Crown, French Crown, and Israel), and the occupation during and after the 6-Day-War of 1967. On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched the Yom Kippur War to retake the land from Israel. By 1982, Israel withdraw all its forces from all of the Sinai Peninsula except the contentious land of Taba, near the Northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, Egypt's busiest border crossing with neighboring Israel, which was returned in 1989.
Mount Sinai (Mount of Moses), a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus and other Books of the Bible, and the Quran. Acording to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition, Mount Sinai was the place where Moses received the 10 Commandments.
Israel also captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day-War.
As a geological and biogeographical Region, it is a basaltic Plateau bordered by the Yarmouk River in the South, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the West, the Anti-Lebanon with Mount Hermon in the North, and the Valley (Wadi) Raqqad which flows South-West Syria forming the topographical Eastern boundary of the Golan Heights. The Western two-thirds of this region are currently occupy by Israel, whereas the Eastern third is controlled by Syria.
As a geopolitical Region, the Golan Heights is the area captured from Syria and occupied by Israel during the 6-Day-War, territory which Israel effectively annexed in 1981. This Region includes the Western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights, as well as the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon.
Evidence of human habitation in the Region dates to between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. According to the Bible an Amorite Kingdom in Bas-Han was conquered by Israelites during the reign of King Og.
He was slain by Moses and his men in the Battle of Edrei, a land in SouthWestern Syria, North of the border with Jordan. Og is mentioned in Jewish literature as being one of the very few giants that survived the flood. In the Book of Amos 2:9 Og is referred as "the Amorite whose height was like the height of the cedars and whose strength was like that of the oaks." Og is introduced in the Book of Numbers. Like his neighbor Sih-On of Heshb-On, whom Moses had previously conquered at the Battle of Ja-Haz, Og was the king of Bas-Han. He contained 60 walled cities and many no-walled towns, with his capital Ash-Taroth. Og's destruction is told in Psalms 135:11 and 136:20 as one of many great victories for the Nation of Israel.
Monday, 14 March 2016
THE OLD CITY OF DAMAS-CUS. Part Two.
During Muham-Mad era, his first interaction with the people of Damas-Cus was when he sent Shiya Bin Wahab to Haris Bin Ghasani the king of Damas-Cus during the Expedition of Zaid Ibn Haritha (Hisma), that took place in October, 628 CE, 6th month of 7AH of the Islamic calendar. The attack was a response to Dih-Yah Bin Khalifa Kalbi's call for help, after being attack by robbers. Muslims retaliated and killed many of the robbers and captured 100 tribe members. In his epistle to the Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius, Muham-Mad wrote:"In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. From Muham-Mad, the slave of Allah and His Messenger to Hercules, king of the Byzantines. Blessed are those who follow true guidance. I invite you to embrace Islam so that you may live in security. If you come within the fold of Islam, Allah will give you double reward, but in case you turn your back upon it, then the burden of the sins of all your people shall fall on your shoulders. To proceed: submit yourself, and you shall be safe. Submit yourself, and God shall give you your reward twice over. But, if you turn away, the sin of the Husband-Men shall be upon you."
After most of the Syrian countryside was conquered by the Rash-Idun Cali-Phate, Damascus itself was conquered by the Muslim-Arab general Khalid Ibn Al-Walid in 635CE. Then the Byzantines alarmed at the loss of their most prestigious city in the Near East, decided to wrest back control of it. While the Mulims administered the city, the population remained mostly Christian (Eastern Orthodox and Monophy-Site) with a growing community of Muslims from Mecca, Medina, and the Syrian Desert.
On 25 August 750 CE, the Abba-Sids, having already beaten the Umay-Yads in the Battle of Zab in Iraq, conquered Damas-Cus after facing little resistance. With the heralding of the Abba-Sid Caliphate, Damas-Cus became eclipsed and subordinated by Bagh-Dad, the new Islamic capital. Due to their inability to control the vast amount of land they occupied a new Dynasty, the Ikh-Shidids, took control of the city. They maintained the independence of Damas-Cus from the Arab Ham-Danid Dynasty of Aleppo and the Bagh-Dad-based Abbasids until 967 CE.
With the arrival of the Sel-Juq Turks in the late 11th century, Damascus again became the capital of independent states. It was ruled by Abu Sa'id Taj Ad-Dawla Tutush I starting in 1079 and he was succeeded by his son Abu Nasr Duqaq in 1905. The city saw an expansion of religious life through private endowments financing religious institutions (madrasas) and hospitals (maristans). Damascus soon became one of the most important centers of propagating Islamic Thought in the Muslim World.
Damas-Cus experienced stability, elevated status and a revived role in commerce. The city's Sun-Ni majority enjoyed being a part of the larger Sun-Ni framework effectively governed by various Turkic Dynasties who in turn were under the "moral authority" of the Bagh-Dad-based Abba-Sids.
While the rulers were preocupied in conflict with their fellow Sel-Juqs in Aleppo and Diyar-Bakir, the Crusaders (mostly French), arrived in the Levant in 1097, conquering Jerusalem, Mount Lebanon and Palestine. With military support from Sha-Raf Al-Din Mawdud of Mosul, Togh-Tekin managed to halt Crusader raids in the Golan and Hauran. Mawdud was assassinated in the Umay-Yad Mosque in 1109. depriving Damas-Cus of Northern Muslim backing and forcing Togh-Tekin to a truce. Following his death in 1128CE, his son became the new ruler. Coincidentally, the Sel-juq prince of Mosul, I-Mad Al-Din Zen-Gi, took power in Aleppo and gained a mandate from the Abba-Sids to extend his authority to Damas-Cus. In 1129, around 6000 Isma'IlMuslims were killed in the city along with their leaders. Soon after the massacre (a rumor took place that the Isma'Ilis were aiding the Crusaders), the Crusaders aimed to take advantage of the unstable situation and launch an assault against Damas-Cus with nearly 60,000 troops. Buri allied with Zen-Gi and prevented it. Buri was assassinated by Isma'Ili agents in 1132CE. His son Shams Al-Din Mah-Mud Isma'Il ruled tyrannically until he was murdered in 1135 on secret orders from his mother, his brother, Shihab Al-Din Mah-Mud, replaced him. His reign ended in 1139 after his was killed by members of his own family.
Zen-Gi conquered Edessa in 1144, a Crusader stronghold. Zen-Gi was assassinated and his territory divided among his sons, one of whom, Nur Ad-Din, emir of Aleppo, made an alliance with Damas-Cus. In 1164, King Amalric of Jerusalem invaded Fatimid Egypt, which requested help from Nur Ad-Din. He sent his general Shir-Kuh, and in 1166 Amalric was defeated at the Battle of Al-Babein. When the general died in 1169, he was succeeded by his nephew Yusuf, better known as Sal-Adin, who defeated a joint crusader-Byzantine siege of Dam-Ietta. Sal-Adin eventually overthrew the Fatimid Caliphs and established himself as Sultan of Egypt. He allso began to assert his independence from Nur Ad-Din, and with the death of both Amalric and Nur Ad-Din in 1174, he was placed to begin exerting control over Damas-Cus and other Syrian possessions. In 1187 he launched a full invasion of Jerusalem and annihilated the crusader army at the Battle of Hat-Tin. After Acre fell to Sal-Adin, Jerusalem itself was captured in October. The events shocked Europe provoking the 3rd Crusade in 1189, led by Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, though the last drowned en route. The surviving ones joined the new arrivals from Europe, then put Acre to siege which lasted until 1191. After recapturing Acre, Richard defeated Sal-Adin at the Battle of Ar-Suf in 1191 and the Battle of Jaffa in 1192, recovering most of the coast but not Jerusalem or any of the inland territory of the Kingdom. The Crusade came to an end peacefully with the treaty of Ram-La in 1192.
Sal-Adin allowed pilgrimages to be made to Jerusalem. Sal-Adin died in 1193 and there were frequent conflicts between different Ay-Yubid Sultans ruling Damas-Cus and Cairo. Damas-Cus was the capital
of independent Ay-Yubid rulers from 1193 to 1260. Their rule came to an end with the Mongol invasion of Syria and following the Mongol defeat in the same year. The Black Death of 1348-1349 killed as much as half of the city's population.
In 1400 Timur, the Turco-Mongol conqueror, besieged Damas-Cus. The Umay-Yad Mosque was burnt and women taken into slavery. A huge number of the city's artisans were taken to Timur's capital at Sam-Ark-And. Many were slaughtered and their heads piled up in a field outside the North-East corner of the walls, where a city square still bears the name "the tower of heads"(Burj Al-Ru'us).
In early 1516, the Ottoman Turks started a campaign of conquest against the Mamluk Sultanate. The Ottomans remained for the next 400 years. In 1915-1916 the hanging of a number of patriotic intellectuals by the governor of Damas-Cus stoked "nationalist feeling" and in 1918, as the forces of the Arab Revolt and the British Forces approached, residents fired on the retreating Turkish Troops. On 1st October 1918, T.E. Lawrence entered Damascus, the 3rd arrival of the day, the 1st being the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade. Two days later, 3 October 1918, the forces of the Arab revolt led by Prince Faysal also entered Damas-Cus. Political tension rose in November 1917, when the new Bolshe-Vik government in Russia revealed the Sykes-Picot Agreement whereby Britain and France had arranged to partition the Arab East between them (the 3 Monarchies involved were interrelated). A new Franco-British proclamation came through promising the "complete freedom of the peoples so long oppressed by the Turks." In 1920 the French army entered Damas-Cus. The french made Damas-Cus capital of their League of Nations Mandate for Syria. The French agreed to withdraw in 1946, thus leading to the "full independence" of Syria. Damas-Cus remained its capital.
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16August 1888-19May1935) was a British renowned for his liaison during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and the Arab Revolt againstOttoman Turkish rule. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia -a title used for the 1962 film based on his First World War activities.
After most of the Syrian countryside was conquered by the Rash-Idun Cali-Phate, Damascus itself was conquered by the Muslim-Arab general Khalid Ibn Al-Walid in 635CE. Then the Byzantines alarmed at the loss of their most prestigious city in the Near East, decided to wrest back control of it. While the Mulims administered the city, the population remained mostly Christian (Eastern Orthodox and Monophy-Site) with a growing community of Muslims from Mecca, Medina, and the Syrian Desert.
On 25 August 750 CE, the Abba-Sids, having already beaten the Umay-Yads in the Battle of Zab in Iraq, conquered Damas-Cus after facing little resistance. With the heralding of the Abba-Sid Caliphate, Damas-Cus became eclipsed and subordinated by Bagh-Dad, the new Islamic capital. Due to their inability to control the vast amount of land they occupied a new Dynasty, the Ikh-Shidids, took control of the city. They maintained the independence of Damas-Cus from the Arab Ham-Danid Dynasty of Aleppo and the Bagh-Dad-based Abbasids until 967 CE.
With the arrival of the Sel-Juq Turks in the late 11th century, Damascus again became the capital of independent states. It was ruled by Abu Sa'id Taj Ad-Dawla Tutush I starting in 1079 and he was succeeded by his son Abu Nasr Duqaq in 1905. The city saw an expansion of religious life through private endowments financing religious institutions (madrasas) and hospitals (maristans). Damascus soon became one of the most important centers of propagating Islamic Thought in the Muslim World.
Damas-Cus experienced stability, elevated status and a revived role in commerce. The city's Sun-Ni majority enjoyed being a part of the larger Sun-Ni framework effectively governed by various Turkic Dynasties who in turn were under the "moral authority" of the Bagh-Dad-based Abba-Sids.
While the rulers were preocupied in conflict with their fellow Sel-Juqs in Aleppo and Diyar-Bakir, the Crusaders (mostly French), arrived in the Levant in 1097, conquering Jerusalem, Mount Lebanon and Palestine. With military support from Sha-Raf Al-Din Mawdud of Mosul, Togh-Tekin managed to halt Crusader raids in the Golan and Hauran. Mawdud was assassinated in the Umay-Yad Mosque in 1109. depriving Damas-Cus of Northern Muslim backing and forcing Togh-Tekin to a truce. Following his death in 1128CE, his son became the new ruler. Coincidentally, the Sel-juq prince of Mosul, I-Mad Al-Din Zen-Gi, took power in Aleppo and gained a mandate from the Abba-Sids to extend his authority to Damas-Cus. In 1129, around 6000 Isma'IlMuslims were killed in the city along with their leaders. Soon after the massacre (a rumor took place that the Isma'Ilis were aiding the Crusaders), the Crusaders aimed to take advantage of the unstable situation and launch an assault against Damas-Cus with nearly 60,000 troops. Buri allied with Zen-Gi and prevented it. Buri was assassinated by Isma'Ili agents in 1132CE. His son Shams Al-Din Mah-Mud Isma'Il ruled tyrannically until he was murdered in 1135 on secret orders from his mother, his brother, Shihab Al-Din Mah-Mud, replaced him. His reign ended in 1139 after his was killed by members of his own family.
Zen-Gi conquered Edessa in 1144, a Crusader stronghold. Zen-Gi was assassinated and his territory divided among his sons, one of whom, Nur Ad-Din, emir of Aleppo, made an alliance with Damas-Cus. In 1164, King Amalric of Jerusalem invaded Fatimid Egypt, which requested help from Nur Ad-Din. He sent his general Shir-Kuh, and in 1166 Amalric was defeated at the Battle of Al-Babein. When the general died in 1169, he was succeeded by his nephew Yusuf, better known as Sal-Adin, who defeated a joint crusader-Byzantine siege of Dam-Ietta. Sal-Adin eventually overthrew the Fatimid Caliphs and established himself as Sultan of Egypt. He allso began to assert his independence from Nur Ad-Din, and with the death of both Amalric and Nur Ad-Din in 1174, he was placed to begin exerting control over Damas-Cus and other Syrian possessions. In 1187 he launched a full invasion of Jerusalem and annihilated the crusader army at the Battle of Hat-Tin. After Acre fell to Sal-Adin, Jerusalem itself was captured in October. The events shocked Europe provoking the 3rd Crusade in 1189, led by Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, though the last drowned en route. The surviving ones joined the new arrivals from Europe, then put Acre to siege which lasted until 1191. After recapturing Acre, Richard defeated Sal-Adin at the Battle of Ar-Suf in 1191 and the Battle of Jaffa in 1192, recovering most of the coast but not Jerusalem or any of the inland territory of the Kingdom. The Crusade came to an end peacefully with the treaty of Ram-La in 1192.
Sal-Adin allowed pilgrimages to be made to Jerusalem. Sal-Adin died in 1193 and there were frequent conflicts between different Ay-Yubid Sultans ruling Damas-Cus and Cairo. Damas-Cus was the capital
of independent Ay-Yubid rulers from 1193 to 1260. Their rule came to an end with the Mongol invasion of Syria and following the Mongol defeat in the same year. The Black Death of 1348-1349 killed as much as half of the city's population.
In 1400 Timur, the Turco-Mongol conqueror, besieged Damas-Cus. The Umay-Yad Mosque was burnt and women taken into slavery. A huge number of the city's artisans were taken to Timur's capital at Sam-Ark-And. Many were slaughtered and their heads piled up in a field outside the North-East corner of the walls, where a city square still bears the name "the tower of heads"(Burj Al-Ru'us).
In early 1516, the Ottoman Turks started a campaign of conquest against the Mamluk Sultanate. The Ottomans remained for the next 400 years. In 1915-1916 the hanging of a number of patriotic intellectuals by the governor of Damas-Cus stoked "nationalist feeling" and in 1918, as the forces of the Arab Revolt and the British Forces approached, residents fired on the retreating Turkish Troops. On 1st October 1918, T.E. Lawrence entered Damascus, the 3rd arrival of the day, the 1st being the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade. Two days later, 3 October 1918, the forces of the Arab revolt led by Prince Faysal also entered Damas-Cus. Political tension rose in November 1917, when the new Bolshe-Vik government in Russia revealed the Sykes-Picot Agreement whereby Britain and France had arranged to partition the Arab East between them (the 3 Monarchies involved were interrelated). A new Franco-British proclamation came through promising the "complete freedom of the peoples so long oppressed by the Turks." In 1920 the French army entered Damas-Cus. The french made Damas-Cus capital of their League of Nations Mandate for Syria. The French agreed to withdraw in 1946, thus leading to the "full independence" of Syria. Damas-Cus remained its capital.
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16August 1888-19May1935) was a British renowned for his liaison during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and the Arab Revolt againstOttoman Turkish rule. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia -a title used for the 1962 film based on his First World War activities.
THE OLD CITY OF DAMAS-CUS. Part One
Damascus in present-day is the capital and the 2nd-largest city of Syria after Aleppo. It is commonly known in Syria as "Ash-Sham" and nicknamed as the "City of Jasmine"(Arabic: Madinat Al-Yasmin"). In addition to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World, Damascus is a major cultural and religious center of the Levant.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term Levant was used for Italian maritime commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Anatolia, Syria-Palestine, and Egypt (the lands East of Venice). Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt.
Damascus was built in a strategically site on a Plateau 680m/2230ft above sea-level and about 80km/50mi inland from the Mediterranean, sheltered by the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, supplied with water by the Barada river, and at a Crossroads between Trade Routes: the North-South route connecting Egypt with Asia Minor, and the East-West Cross-Desert route connecting Lebanon with the Eupharates River Valley.
The Anti-Lebanon Mountains mark the border between Syria and Lebanon.
Damascus experience the rain shadow effect giving the Region a semi-arid climate due to the elevation of the Mountains over the Plateau making it an important weather and climate factor of the area. The Anti-Lebanon Mountain Range has peaks of over 3053m/10,000ft and blocks precipitation from the Mediterranean Sea, making the region of Damascus subject to drought seasons. Throughout the arid Plateau region East of Damas-cus, oases, streams, and a few minor rivers that empty into swamps and small lakes provide water for local irrigation.
The Barada River (Greek: Chry-Sorrh-Oas) is the main river in Damascus. It rises in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and disappears into the desert. It descends through a steep, narrow gorge before it arrives at Damascus, where it divides into 7 Branches that irrigate the Al Ghutah Oasis, the location of Damascus. Eventually the Ghouta reached a size of 370 square kilometers, making Damascus be surrounded by oasis and farmlands where many vegetables, cereals and fruits have been farmed since ancient times. Although in 1980s, urban growth started (2.6 million in 2004) replacing agricultural use with housing and industry. The river has also suffered from severe drought in the last decades. It also suffers from serious pollution problems, especially in the Summer, where there is no flow and little water in the Basin.
No large-scale settlement was present within Damascus until the 2nd millennium BC. Carbon-14 dating at Tell Ramad, on the outskirts of Damascus, suggests that the site was occupied since the 2nd half of the 7th millennium BC, possibly around 6300BC. However, evidence of settlements have been found in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000BC. The old city, enclosed by the city walls, lies on the South bank of the River Barada, now almost dry.
Damascus was part of the ancient Province of Amur-Ru in the Hyksos Kingdom, from 1720 to 1570BC. Some of the earliest Egyptian records are from the 1350 BC Armana Letters, when Damascus (called Dimas-Qu) was ruled by king Birya-Waza.
The Damascus region, as well as the rest of Syria, became a battleground circa 1260BC, between the Hittites from the North and the Egyptians from the South, ending with a signed treaty between Hat--Tusili and Ramesses II where the former handed over control to Ramesses II in 1259BC. The arrival of the Sea Peoples, around 1200BC brought about new development of Warfare.
Damas-cus is mentioned in Genesis 14:15 as existing at the time of the War of the Kings. According to 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, Damascus was founded by Uz, the son of Aram, son of Shem, making Uz grandson of Noah. His name was given to an area, later inhabited by Job. Nicolaus of Damas-Cus, (born around 64BC in Damas-Cus) a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan Age of the Roman Empire, "Abraham reigned at Damas-Cus, being a foreigner, who came with an army out of the Land above Babylon, called the Land of the Chaldeans. But, after a long time, "He" got him up, and removed from that country also, with his people, and went into the Land then called the Land of Canaan, but now the Land of Judea, and this when his posterity were become a multitude; as to which of his posterity, we relate their history in another work. Now the name of Abraham is even still famous in the country of Damas-Cus; and there is shown a Village named from him, The Habitation of Abraham.
By the start of the 1st millennium BC, several Aramaic Kingdoms were formed. One of this Kingdoms was Aram-Damas-Cus, centered on its capital Damas-They entered the city without battle and adopted the name "Dimash-Qu" for their new Home. Noticing the agricultural potential they established the water distribution system by constructing canals and tunnels which maximized the efficiency of the River Barada. The same network was later adopted and improved by the Romans and the Umay-Yads, and still forms the basis of the water system of the old part of the city today.
By the 8th century BC, Damas-Cus was practically engulfed by the Assyrians and entered a dark age.
By 609-605 BC, Assyrian authority was dwindling, and Syria-Palestine was falling into the orbit of Pharaoh Necho II's. In 572, all of Syria had been conquered by the Neo-Babylonians, but the status of Damas-Cus under Babylon is relatively unknown.
During the Greco-Roman period, Damas-Cus was conquered by Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, Damas-Cus became the site of struggle between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic Empires. The control of the city passed frequently from one empire to the other.
In 64 BC, the Roman general Pompey annexed the Western part of Syria. The Romans occupied Damas-Cus and subsequently incorporated it into the League of Ten Cities known as the Decapolis which themselves were incorporated into the province of Syria and granted autonomy.
In 23 BC Herod the Great was granted lands controlled by Zeno-Dorus son of Lysanias by Caesar Augustus, including Damas-Cus. The control of Damas-Cus reverted to Syria upon the death of Herod.
A certain understanding of 2 Corinthians 11:32 is the only prove of this events.
Damas-Cus became a metropolis by the beginning of the 2nd century and in 222 it was upgraded to a "Colonia" by the Emperor Septimius Severus. During the Pax Romana, Damas-Cus and the Roman province of Syria began to prosper. Damas-Cus's importance as a caravan city was evident with the Trade Routes from Southern Arabia, Palmyra, Petra, and the Silk Routes from China all converging on it. Little is being left of the architecture of the Romans, but the town planning of the Old City did have a lasting effect.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term Levant was used for Italian maritime commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Anatolia, Syria-Palestine, and Egypt (the lands East of Venice). Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt.
Damascus was built in a strategically site on a Plateau 680m/2230ft above sea-level and about 80km/50mi inland from the Mediterranean, sheltered by the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, supplied with water by the Barada river, and at a Crossroads between Trade Routes: the North-South route connecting Egypt with Asia Minor, and the East-West Cross-Desert route connecting Lebanon with the Eupharates River Valley.
The Anti-Lebanon Mountains mark the border between Syria and Lebanon.
Damascus experience the rain shadow effect giving the Region a semi-arid climate due to the elevation of the Mountains over the Plateau making it an important weather and climate factor of the area. The Anti-Lebanon Mountain Range has peaks of over 3053m/10,000ft and blocks precipitation from the Mediterranean Sea, making the region of Damascus subject to drought seasons. Throughout the arid Plateau region East of Damas-cus, oases, streams, and a few minor rivers that empty into swamps and small lakes provide water for local irrigation.
The Barada River (Greek: Chry-Sorrh-Oas) is the main river in Damascus. It rises in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and disappears into the desert. It descends through a steep, narrow gorge before it arrives at Damascus, where it divides into 7 Branches that irrigate the Al Ghutah Oasis, the location of Damascus. Eventually the Ghouta reached a size of 370 square kilometers, making Damascus be surrounded by oasis and farmlands where many vegetables, cereals and fruits have been farmed since ancient times. Although in 1980s, urban growth started (2.6 million in 2004) replacing agricultural use with housing and industry. The river has also suffered from severe drought in the last decades. It also suffers from serious pollution problems, especially in the Summer, where there is no flow and little water in the Basin.
No large-scale settlement was present within Damascus until the 2nd millennium BC. Carbon-14 dating at Tell Ramad, on the outskirts of Damascus, suggests that the site was occupied since the 2nd half of the 7th millennium BC, possibly around 6300BC. However, evidence of settlements have been found in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000BC. The old city, enclosed by the city walls, lies on the South bank of the River Barada, now almost dry.
Damascus was part of the ancient Province of Amur-Ru in the Hyksos Kingdom, from 1720 to 1570BC. Some of the earliest Egyptian records are from the 1350 BC Armana Letters, when Damascus (called Dimas-Qu) was ruled by king Birya-Waza.
The Damascus region, as well as the rest of Syria, became a battleground circa 1260BC, between the Hittites from the North and the Egyptians from the South, ending with a signed treaty between Hat--Tusili and Ramesses II where the former handed over control to Ramesses II in 1259BC. The arrival of the Sea Peoples, around 1200BC brought about new development of Warfare.
Damas-cus is mentioned in Genesis 14:15 as existing at the time of the War of the Kings. According to 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, Damascus was founded by Uz, the son of Aram, son of Shem, making Uz grandson of Noah. His name was given to an area, later inhabited by Job. Nicolaus of Damas-Cus, (born around 64BC in Damas-Cus) a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan Age of the Roman Empire, "Abraham reigned at Damas-Cus, being a foreigner, who came with an army out of the Land above Babylon, called the Land of the Chaldeans. But, after a long time, "He" got him up, and removed from that country also, with his people, and went into the Land then called the Land of Canaan, but now the Land of Judea, and this when his posterity were become a multitude; as to which of his posterity, we relate their history in another work. Now the name of Abraham is even still famous in the country of Damas-Cus; and there is shown a Village named from him, The Habitation of Abraham.
By the start of the 1st millennium BC, several Aramaic Kingdoms were formed. One of this Kingdoms was Aram-Damas-Cus, centered on its capital Damas-They entered the city without battle and adopted the name "Dimash-Qu" for their new Home. Noticing the agricultural potential they established the water distribution system by constructing canals and tunnels which maximized the efficiency of the River Barada. The same network was later adopted and improved by the Romans and the Umay-Yads, and still forms the basis of the water system of the old part of the city today.
By the 8th century BC, Damas-Cus was practically engulfed by the Assyrians and entered a dark age.
By 609-605 BC, Assyrian authority was dwindling, and Syria-Palestine was falling into the orbit of Pharaoh Necho II's. In 572, all of Syria had been conquered by the Neo-Babylonians, but the status of Damas-Cus under Babylon is relatively unknown.
During the Greco-Roman period, Damas-Cus was conquered by Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, Damas-Cus became the site of struggle between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic Empires. The control of the city passed frequently from one empire to the other.
In 64 BC, the Roman general Pompey annexed the Western part of Syria. The Romans occupied Damas-Cus and subsequently incorporated it into the League of Ten Cities known as the Decapolis which themselves were incorporated into the province of Syria and granted autonomy.
In 23 BC Herod the Great was granted lands controlled by Zeno-Dorus son of Lysanias by Caesar Augustus, including Damas-Cus. The control of Damas-Cus reverted to Syria upon the death of Herod.
A certain understanding of 2 Corinthians 11:32 is the only prove of this events.
Damas-Cus became a metropolis by the beginning of the 2nd century and in 222 it was upgraded to a "Colonia" by the Emperor Septimius Severus. During the Pax Romana, Damas-Cus and the Roman province of Syria began to prosper. Damas-Cus's importance as a caravan city was evident with the Trade Routes from Southern Arabia, Palmyra, Petra, and the Silk Routes from China all converging on it. Little is being left of the architecture of the Romans, but the town planning of the Old City did have a lasting effect.
Sunday, 13 March 2016
LAZARUS, WHO WAS HE?
Lazarus (Greek:Lazaros; Hebrew: El-'Azar, "God helps."). The Gospel Of Lucas presents Jesus as both the promised Savior of Israel and the Savior of all Mankind. Lazarus is the representation of the spirit of the Poor in the invisible World. Jesus was called by the Spirit of the Lord to "Preach the Good News to the Poor." Great emphasis is placed on praying, the Holy Spirit, the role of women in the Ministry of jesus, and God's forgiveness of sins. The stories about the Song of the Angels and the visit of the shepherds at the Birth of Jesus, Jesus in the Temple as a boy, the Parables of the Good Samaritan, The Rich Man and Lazarus, and the Lost Son, are found only in this Gospel.
Laz'Arus (the only named character in Jesus' parables) was a poor man, full of sores, who, desiring to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table, lay himself at the gate of the rich man house, who liked to be clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously everyday. Moreover the dogs came to the poor and licked his sores.
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz'Arus in his bosom. He called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'Arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame." Abraham said, "Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz'Arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between us and you a Great Chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able to do so, and none may cross from there to us." And he said, "Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have 5 brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this Place of Torment." But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." He said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead."
Abraham's words were proved in John 12 when 6 days before the Passover, Jesus came to Beth-Any where Laz'Arus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. A dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Laz'Arus was among those reclining at the Table with Him. ... Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of Him but also to see Laz'Arus, whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Laz'Arus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in Him.
Laz'Arus (the only named character in Jesus' parables) was a poor man, full of sores, who, desiring to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table, lay himself at the gate of the rich man house, who liked to be clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously everyday. Moreover the dogs came to the poor and licked his sores.
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz'Arus in his bosom. He called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'Arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame." Abraham said, "Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz'Arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between us and you a Great Chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able to do so, and none may cross from there to us." And he said, "Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have 5 brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this Place of Torment." But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." He said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead."
Abraham's words were proved in John 12 when 6 days before the Passover, Jesus came to Beth-Any where Laz'Arus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. A dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Laz'Arus was among those reclining at the Table with Him. ... Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of Him but also to see Laz'Arus, whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Laz'Arus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in Him.
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE HEART IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.
In general, the heart represent the center or middle of things.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses gives to the people of Israel a series of addresses in the Land of Moab where they had to stop during its journey in the Wilderness towards the Land of Canaan, to enter and occupy it.
The reason of why Moses did such organization in the Land Moab was because the human heart tends to forget the most important matters in regards to the language of the heart. First, Moses recalled the events of the past 40 years. He appealed to the people to remember How God has led them through the Wilderness and to be obedient and loyal with a sincere heart to God. Second, Moses made a review of the 10 Commandments and emphasized the meaning of the First Commandment, calling the people to be devoted by heart to the Lord alone. Then Moses made a review of the various Spiritual Laws that were to govern Israel's spiritual life in the Promised Land. Third, Moses reminded the people of the meaning of God's Covenant with them, and called for them to renew their commitment to its personal obligations with themselves to God and then the community to God.
Moises died in Moab, East of the Jordan River, without entering into the Promise Land, after singing a song celebrating God's Faithfulness, and pronouncing a blessing on the Tribes of Israel. Then Joshua was commissioned as the next Leader of God's People. The great theme of the Book is that God's Heart is full of an immense Love, Compassion, and Mercy for Mankind, so his people have to remember this and love and obey Him with all their heart, and in doing so they will have a continual existence full of blessings.
The key verses of the Book are 6: 4-6, that contain the Words that Jesus called the greatest of all commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
In the ancient time people did not seem as concerned about the heart as they were about such other organs as the liver and kidneys because they are the ones that the spirit of the evil beasts use to deceive the humankind. Such observation prove the description of Mankind's Wickedness (Human Immorality and Corruption) in Genesis, Chapter 6: "When Mankind began to multiply on the Face of the Ground (Spirit of the Flesh) and daughters (Churches) were born to them, the sons of God (Spiritual Beings) saw that the daughters (Churches) of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose." ... "The Lord saw that the Wickedness of Man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." The Mankind were dominated by evil powers that used them as if they were puppets for a great range of activities and conditions, both in individuals and communities. They were known by their reputations, or their names, or their conducts.
The First Book of Samuel, the records of the transition in Israel from the period of the Judges to the Monarchy tell us in a symbolic way how the people were judged in the Spiritual World before Jesus.
The Lord Himself was regarded as the real King of Israel, but in response to the people's request the Lord chose a King for them. The important fact is that both the King and the People of Israel were bound by the Sovereignty and Judgment of God. Under God's Laws the rights of all people, rich and poor alike, were to be maintained. The message of the Book is stated clearly in the Lord's message to the priest Eli: "I will honor those who honor Me, and I will treat with contempt those who despise Me." (2:30)
Within the Matrix of Good and Evil, many often question why the wicked go unpunished and the righteous suffer, the reason is that the righteous may perish in their righteousness and will be recompensed eternally while the wicked prolong their life in their evil-doing losing forever the opportunity of an eternal life full of blessings. The Book of Job explain this dilemma in detail. In contrast to Job, who suffered without a Mediator between him and God, we now have a Mediator in the person of Jesus Christ, who, through His Death, defeated the power of the Evil One.
Monday, 7 March 2016
WHY GOD LET SATAN TO DO THE TEST ON JOB?
Job, a good man, non-Israelite, who lived in the land of Uz, worshiped God and was faithful to Him. He was careful in not to do anything evil, because he knew the consequences of misunderstanding the Word of God. He was the richest man in the East.
The day in which the heavenly beings appeared before the Lord came, and Satan was there among them. The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered: "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth (meaning empowering the flesh against the Word of God). Then the Lord asked: "Did you notice my servant Job? (As an example of being servant of God. Satan was a servant of God but he failed in his duties). The Lord continues: "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is (He was the only one, not even Job's family). He worships Me and is careful not to do anything evil (meaning that Job applied the Word of God in his life with so much care in the understanding). Satan replied (according to his nature and understanding), "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it (a doctrine of our days)? ... You bless everything he does ... But now suppose You take away everything he has -he will curse you to Your Face (like Satan did when God took away everything from him the day in which he rebelled against Him). The Lord said to Satan: "All right. Everything he has is (now) in your power, but you must not take his life." So Satan left.
Job, under test, suffered a total disaster -he lost all of his children and property and was afflicted with a repulsive disease. Through the Prophet Ezekiel, God pointed to Job as an example of Righteousness. His patient endurance of suffering (not in the way that many doctrines portrait the physical suffering of the Christians, it is meant for the right application of the Word of God, the true understanding of His Laws, given the fact that Satan's job is to deceive the meaning of it, like he did with Eve).
God's affection and mercy is magnified in Job's happy outcome. At the end of his faithful course under test God constituted Job a Priest for his 3 companions who had contended with him (representing the Word of God) and God restored Job to his former spiritual status. He again had a fine family and double the wealth he had previously possessed (a symbolic way of Christ' suffering and the restoring of his kingdom and the rights of His Primogeniture).
The day in which the heavenly beings appeared before the Lord came, and Satan was there among them. The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered: "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth (meaning empowering the flesh against the Word of God). Then the Lord asked: "Did you notice my servant Job? (As an example of being servant of God. Satan was a servant of God but he failed in his duties). The Lord continues: "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is (He was the only one, not even Job's family). He worships Me and is careful not to do anything evil (meaning that Job applied the Word of God in his life with so much care in the understanding). Satan replied (according to his nature and understanding), "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it (a doctrine of our days)? ... You bless everything he does ... But now suppose You take away everything he has -he will curse you to Your Face (like Satan did when God took away everything from him the day in which he rebelled against Him). The Lord said to Satan: "All right. Everything he has is (now) in your power, but you must not take his life." So Satan left.
Job, under test, suffered a total disaster -he lost all of his children and property and was afflicted with a repulsive disease. Through the Prophet Ezekiel, God pointed to Job as an example of Righteousness. His patient endurance of suffering (not in the way that many doctrines portrait the physical suffering of the Christians, it is meant for the right application of the Word of God, the true understanding of His Laws, given the fact that Satan's job is to deceive the meaning of it, like he did with Eve).
God's affection and mercy is magnified in Job's happy outcome. At the end of his faithful course under test God constituted Job a Priest for his 3 companions who had contended with him (representing the Word of God) and God restored Job to his former spiritual status. He again had a fine family and double the wealth he had previously possessed (a symbolic way of Christ' suffering and the restoring of his kingdom and the rights of His Primogeniture).
Sunday, 6 March 2016
THE BAHA'IYYAT FAITH
The Baha'iyyat Faith is a monotheistic religion which emphasizes the spiritual unity of all human kind.
The doctrine was founded by Baha'u'llah(12 November 1817-29 May 1892) in 19th century Persia. He was born in Tehran, the capital of Persia, present-day Iran.
He was married 3 times. He married his married his first wife, the daughter of a nobleman, in Tehran in 1835, when he was 18 and she was 15, and declared her his perpetual consort in all the worlds of God, and her son as his vicar. His second marriage was to his widowed cousin, also in Tehran when she was 21 and he was 32. His 3rd marriage ocurred in Baghdad sometime before 1863. All together he had 14 children (4 daughters and 10 sons, 5 of whom he outlived).
He claimed to be the prophetic fulfillment of Babism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shi'ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfillment of the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, in other words, "the end of times." His claim resulted in persecution and imprisonment by the Persian and Ottoman authorities, and his eventual 24-year confinement in the prison city of 'Akka, Palestine (present day Israel), where he died. He wrote many religious works.
Babism was a new religious movement that flourished in Persia from 1844 to 1852, then lingered on in exile in the Ottoman Empire, especially Cyprus, an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, off the coats of Syria and Turkey, the 3rd largest and the 3rd most populous island.
Siyyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi (October 20, 1819-July 9, 1850) was the founder and one of the 3 central figures of the Baha'iyyat Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz, Persia who, at the age of 24 (on the evening of May 22, 1844), claimed to be an inspired interpreter of the Qur'an within the Shaykhi school of Twelver Shi'ism. He made bolder claims as time passed, and in 1847, during a trial in Tabriz, asserted a claim to be the Shi'i 'promised one'. After his declaration he took the title of Bab meaning "Gate" or "Door." He composed numerous letters and books in which he stated his messianic claims and defined his teachings, which constituted a new religious law. His movement acquired thousands of supporters, and was opposed by Iran's Shi'i clergy, and was suppressed by the Iranian government, leading to the persecution and killing of between 2000 and 3000 of his followers, called Babis. In 1850, at the age of 30, the Bab was shot by a firing squad in Tabriz.
Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'iyyat Faith, was a follower of the Bab and claimed to be a fulfillment of his promise that God would send another messenger.
Baha'u'llah stated that he was the messenger of God, and he used the term Manifestation of God to define the concept of intermediary between humanity and God. In his writings, the manifestations of God are a series of interrelated personages who speak with a divine voice and who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization.
He declared himself as "The Promised One" of all religions, fulfilling the messianic prophecies found in world religions. He stated that his claims to being several messiahs converging in one person were symbolic, rather than literal.
While Baha'u'llah did not himself directly claim to be either the Hindu or Buddhist messiah, he did so in principle of his writings.
After he died on 29 May 1892, his sons entered in conflict that was not long lived. In 1937, the movement just had a handful of followers.
The doctrine was founded by Baha'u'llah(12 November 1817-29 May 1892) in 19th century Persia. He was born in Tehran, the capital of Persia, present-day Iran.
He was married 3 times. He married his married his first wife, the daughter of a nobleman, in Tehran in 1835, when he was 18 and she was 15, and declared her his perpetual consort in all the worlds of God, and her son as his vicar. His second marriage was to his widowed cousin, also in Tehran when she was 21 and he was 32. His 3rd marriage ocurred in Baghdad sometime before 1863. All together he had 14 children (4 daughters and 10 sons, 5 of whom he outlived).
He claimed to be the prophetic fulfillment of Babism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shi'ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfillment of the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, in other words, "the end of times." His claim resulted in persecution and imprisonment by the Persian and Ottoman authorities, and his eventual 24-year confinement in the prison city of 'Akka, Palestine (present day Israel), where he died. He wrote many religious works.
Babism was a new religious movement that flourished in Persia from 1844 to 1852, then lingered on in exile in the Ottoman Empire, especially Cyprus, an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, off the coats of Syria and Turkey, the 3rd largest and the 3rd most populous island.
Siyyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi (October 20, 1819-July 9, 1850) was the founder and one of the 3 central figures of the Baha'iyyat Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz, Persia who, at the age of 24 (on the evening of May 22, 1844), claimed to be an inspired interpreter of the Qur'an within the Shaykhi school of Twelver Shi'ism. He made bolder claims as time passed, and in 1847, during a trial in Tabriz, asserted a claim to be the Shi'i 'promised one'. After his declaration he took the title of Bab meaning "Gate" or "Door." He composed numerous letters and books in which he stated his messianic claims and defined his teachings, which constituted a new religious law. His movement acquired thousands of supporters, and was opposed by Iran's Shi'i clergy, and was suppressed by the Iranian government, leading to the persecution and killing of between 2000 and 3000 of his followers, called Babis. In 1850, at the age of 30, the Bab was shot by a firing squad in Tabriz.
Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'iyyat Faith, was a follower of the Bab and claimed to be a fulfillment of his promise that God would send another messenger.
Baha'u'llah stated that he was the messenger of God, and he used the term Manifestation of God to define the concept of intermediary between humanity and God. In his writings, the manifestations of God are a series of interrelated personages who speak with a divine voice and who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization.
He declared himself as "The Promised One" of all religions, fulfilling the messianic prophecies found in world religions. He stated that his claims to being several messiahs converging in one person were symbolic, rather than literal.
While Baha'u'llah did not himself directly claim to be either the Hindu or Buddhist messiah, he did so in principle of his writings.
After he died on 29 May 1892, his sons entered in conflict that was not long lived. In 1937, the movement just had a handful of followers.
THE MEANING OF THE BOOK OF JOB.
The Book of Job is unique and, according to Jewish and Christian scholars, was written by Moses. It is found in the Old testament. It was originally written in Hebrew and has many similarities to the Pentateuch. During his 40-year-stay in Midian Moses had access to the facts about Job's trial and learned of the outcome of Job's life when Israel came near Uz on the way to the promised Land.
The Book consists largely on the debate between a true servant of God and 3 others claiming to serve God in their own way of understanding the Word of the Lord. They erred their doctrines in their attempts to correct the ways of Job in serving the Word of the Lord. Their mistakenly thought that Job was being punished by God for some grievous hidden sin. Thus, arguing, according to their doctrines, on this basis, they actually became Job's persecutors.
The debate consists of a series of 3 rounds of speeches, in which all 4 speakers participate (Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu), except that Zophar does not speak in the last round, having been silenced by Job's argument. These 3 companions of Job state true Facts, at times, but in a wrong setting and with a wrong aplication, making it very clear that the arguments explaining the doctrine of their 3 speeches are erroneous. Thereafter all are corrected by God's spokesman Elihu and finally God Himself.
The companions of Job said that "God punishes the wicked."This is true. But the conclusion of their doctrine is wrong. It stated that all the sufferings that one individual undergoes is a result of sins and God is thereby administering punishment. Suffering was understood as an evidence that an individual has sinned, spoking untruthfully concerning God's mercy. Their claim was that God has no delight in the integrity-keeping man and because of that He has no trust in His servants, even in angels, denying the many Scriptural statements revealing God's sincere and truthful love for his intelligent servants. In God's conversation with Satan in which He called attention to Job and expressed His greatest confidence in Job's loyalty when he let Satan test Job. God reassured His protection making Satan respect Job's life showing His tenderness in affection and mercifulness.
The Book of Job reveals the great issue of the Righteousness of God in his exercise of Sovereignty and the manner in which the integrity of God's earthly servants is involved in the issue,
Job endured suffering and death rather than turn himself away from God by violating His Law. At one point he found himself out of balance in the matter of self-justification, being pushed further in that direction by the constant charges of his 3 companions. He mistakenly was driven to the attempt of justifying himself before God by insisted in having an answer from Him as to why he was suffering. He failed to realize that no one can rightly say to God:"Why did you make me this way?" God mercifully answered Job, both through speaking to Elihu and by speaking to Job from the Windstorm.
Even though Job was not an Israelite, the Jews accepted it as of equal authority with the other inspired Books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Ezekiel refers to Job in chapter 14 when some of the leaders of the Israelites consulted him about the Lord's Will. God spoke to Ezekiel saying: "Mortal Man, these men have given their hearts to idols and are letting idols lead them into sin. Do they think I will give them an answer? .. Now tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: 'Turn back and leave your disgusting idols. Whenever one of the Israelites or one of the Foreigners who live in the Israelite community turns away from Me and worships idols, and then goes to consult a Prophet, I, the Lord, will give him his answer! I will oppose him . I will make an example of him. I will remove him from the community. .. If a Prophet is deceived into giving a false answer, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived him. I will remove him from the People of Israel. Both the Prophet and the one who consults him will get the same punishment. I will do this to keep the Israelites from deserting Me and defiling themselves by their sins. They are to be My People and I will be their God. ... Mortal Man, If a country sins and is unfaithful to me, I will reach out and destroy its supply of Food. I will send a Famine and kill people and animals alike. Even if those 3 men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were living there, their goodness would save only their own lives. Or a might send wild animals to kill the people, making the land so dangerous that no one could travel through it, and even if those 3 men lived there .. there would not be able to save even their own children. They would save only their own lives. ... I will send my 4 worst punishments on Jerusalem -War, Famine, Wild Animals, and Disease - to destroy people and animals alike. If anyone does survive and save his children, look at them when they come to you. See how evil they are, and be convinced that the punishment I am bringing on Jerusalem is justified; then you will know that there was a good reason for everything I did."
In the Book of James also Job is mentioned in chapter 5 when it is said:"You rich people .. weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. Your gold and silver are covered with rust, and this rust will be a witness against you and will eat up your flesh like fire. .. Be patient.. Do not complain against one another, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear. .. Remember the Prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Take them as an examples of patient endurance under suffering. We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion. .. Do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Say only 'Yes' when you mean yes, and 'No' when you mean no, and then you will not come under God's Judgment.
The Book consists largely on the debate between a true servant of God and 3 others claiming to serve God in their own way of understanding the Word of the Lord. They erred their doctrines in their attempts to correct the ways of Job in serving the Word of the Lord. Their mistakenly thought that Job was being punished by God for some grievous hidden sin. Thus, arguing, according to their doctrines, on this basis, they actually became Job's persecutors.
The debate consists of a series of 3 rounds of speeches, in which all 4 speakers participate (Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu), except that Zophar does not speak in the last round, having been silenced by Job's argument. These 3 companions of Job state true Facts, at times, but in a wrong setting and with a wrong aplication, making it very clear that the arguments explaining the doctrine of their 3 speeches are erroneous. Thereafter all are corrected by God's spokesman Elihu and finally God Himself.
The companions of Job said that "God punishes the wicked."This is true. But the conclusion of their doctrine is wrong. It stated that all the sufferings that one individual undergoes is a result of sins and God is thereby administering punishment. Suffering was understood as an evidence that an individual has sinned, spoking untruthfully concerning God's mercy. Their claim was that God has no delight in the integrity-keeping man and because of that He has no trust in His servants, even in angels, denying the many Scriptural statements revealing God's sincere and truthful love for his intelligent servants. In God's conversation with Satan in which He called attention to Job and expressed His greatest confidence in Job's loyalty when he let Satan test Job. God reassured His protection making Satan respect Job's life showing His tenderness in affection and mercifulness.
The Book of Job reveals the great issue of the Righteousness of God in his exercise of Sovereignty and the manner in which the integrity of God's earthly servants is involved in the issue,
Job endured suffering and death rather than turn himself away from God by violating His Law. At one point he found himself out of balance in the matter of self-justification, being pushed further in that direction by the constant charges of his 3 companions. He mistakenly was driven to the attempt of justifying himself before God by insisted in having an answer from Him as to why he was suffering. He failed to realize that no one can rightly say to God:"Why did you make me this way?" God mercifully answered Job, both through speaking to Elihu and by speaking to Job from the Windstorm.
Even though Job was not an Israelite, the Jews accepted it as of equal authority with the other inspired Books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Ezekiel refers to Job in chapter 14 when some of the leaders of the Israelites consulted him about the Lord's Will. God spoke to Ezekiel saying: "Mortal Man, these men have given their hearts to idols and are letting idols lead them into sin. Do they think I will give them an answer? .. Now tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: 'Turn back and leave your disgusting idols. Whenever one of the Israelites or one of the Foreigners who live in the Israelite community turns away from Me and worships idols, and then goes to consult a Prophet, I, the Lord, will give him his answer! I will oppose him . I will make an example of him. I will remove him from the community. .. If a Prophet is deceived into giving a false answer, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived him. I will remove him from the People of Israel. Both the Prophet and the one who consults him will get the same punishment. I will do this to keep the Israelites from deserting Me and defiling themselves by their sins. They are to be My People and I will be their God. ... Mortal Man, If a country sins and is unfaithful to me, I will reach out and destroy its supply of Food. I will send a Famine and kill people and animals alike. Even if those 3 men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were living there, their goodness would save only their own lives. Or a might send wild animals to kill the people, making the land so dangerous that no one could travel through it, and even if those 3 men lived there .. there would not be able to save even their own children. They would save only their own lives. ... I will send my 4 worst punishments on Jerusalem -War, Famine, Wild Animals, and Disease - to destroy people and animals alike. If anyone does survive and save his children, look at them when they come to you. See how evil they are, and be convinced that the punishment I am bringing on Jerusalem is justified; then you will know that there was a good reason for everything I did."
In the Book of James also Job is mentioned in chapter 5 when it is said:"You rich people .. weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. Your gold and silver are covered with rust, and this rust will be a witness against you and will eat up your flesh like fire. .. Be patient.. Do not complain against one another, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear. .. Remember the Prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Take them as an examples of patient endurance under suffering. We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion. .. Do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Say only 'Yes' when you mean yes, and 'No' when you mean no, and then you will not come under God's Judgment.
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
THE LION MAN FOUND IN A GERMAN CAVE.
The Lion-Man figurine (29.6 cm/11.7in height, 5.6cm wide, 5.9cm thick) was found in the Hohlen-Stein-Stadel at the Southern rim of the Lonetal (Lone Valley) in the Swabian Alps in what is now Germany. The name of the Cliff is derived from a combination of Hohlen-Stein meaning "Hollow Rock" and Stadel meaning "Barn." The Cliffs are made of limestone which was hollowed out by natural causes to create Caves. The Sea receded 50 million years ago. Three layers of different lime-stones were stacked over each other. Some was soluble in water. Rain seeped through the cracks everywhere and formed subterranean rivers which flowed through a large system of Caves until they emerged. Thus there are hardly any rivers, lakes or other forms of surface water on the Plateau.
The Stadel (Barn) is one of the three Caves that are of important significance. The other two are Die-Kleine-Scheuer (Small Barn), and the Baren-Hohle (Bear's Cave).
The Swabian Alps is a low Mountain Range, extending 220km (140mi) from SouthEast to NorthEast and 40 to 70km (25 to 43mi) in width. It is named after the Region of Swabia. It is bounded by the Danube in the SouthEast and the upper Neck-Ar in the NorthWest. In the SouthWest it rises to the higher Mountains of the Black Forest. The highest Mountain of the Region is the Lem-Berg (1015m/3330ft). The area's profile ressembles a High Plateau, which slowly falls away to the SouthEast.
The 1st excavations were made by Oskar Fraas in 1861, who was searching for Bear Bones. The finding of the Lion-Man sculpture came on a later expedition in 1939 by archaeologist Robert Wetzel. It was forced to stop abruptly due to the outbreak of World-War II, so the artifacts were collected and donated to the Museum of Ulm in Ulm. Decades later, an employee of the museum noticed the artifacts and assembled the pieces that formed the Lion-Man. The significance of the ivory sculpture were not realized until 1969. After the artifact was identified, a similar iconography but smaller sculpture was found, along with other animal figurines and several flutes, in another Cave in the same region. Robert Wetzel returned to the Cave in 1954 and continued excavating there until his death in 1961. Following these discoveries, female figurines from approximately the same prehistoric period, such as the Venus of Hohle Fels, have been discovered in the same Mountainous area. By 2015, the ancient figurine was renamed as a Lion-Headed figurine.
The figurine was determined to be about 40,000 years old, by carbon dating of the material from the same layer in which the figurine was found. It was carved out of woolly mammoth ivory using a flint stone knife. Seven parallel, carved gouges are on the left arm. Initially, the sculpture was classified as male. From examination of some additional parts, it was determined that the sculpture was of a woman with the head of a female European Cave Lion. The neutral name currently used now to identified the entity is "Lion-Human," relevant if proved one or the other.
The sculpture shares certain similarities with French Cave Wall Paintings, which also show Hybrid Entities. The Lion-Human, however, is several thousand years older than the French Paintings.
The Stadel (Barn) is one of the three Caves that are of important significance. The other two are Die-Kleine-Scheuer (Small Barn), and the Baren-Hohle (Bear's Cave).
The Swabian Alps is a low Mountain Range, extending 220km (140mi) from SouthEast to NorthEast and 40 to 70km (25 to 43mi) in width. It is named after the Region of Swabia. It is bounded by the Danube in the SouthEast and the upper Neck-Ar in the NorthWest. In the SouthWest it rises to the higher Mountains of the Black Forest. The highest Mountain of the Region is the Lem-Berg (1015m/3330ft). The area's profile ressembles a High Plateau, which slowly falls away to the SouthEast.
The 1st excavations were made by Oskar Fraas in 1861, who was searching for Bear Bones. The finding of the Lion-Man sculpture came on a later expedition in 1939 by archaeologist Robert Wetzel. It was forced to stop abruptly due to the outbreak of World-War II, so the artifacts were collected and donated to the Museum of Ulm in Ulm. Decades later, an employee of the museum noticed the artifacts and assembled the pieces that formed the Lion-Man. The significance of the ivory sculpture were not realized until 1969. After the artifact was identified, a similar iconography but smaller sculpture was found, along with other animal figurines and several flutes, in another Cave in the same region. Robert Wetzel returned to the Cave in 1954 and continued excavating there until his death in 1961. Following these discoveries, female figurines from approximately the same prehistoric period, such as the Venus of Hohle Fels, have been discovered in the same Mountainous area. By 2015, the ancient figurine was renamed as a Lion-Headed figurine.
The figurine was determined to be about 40,000 years old, by carbon dating of the material from the same layer in which the figurine was found. It was carved out of woolly mammoth ivory using a flint stone knife. Seven parallel, carved gouges are on the left arm. Initially, the sculpture was classified as male. From examination of some additional parts, it was determined that the sculpture was of a woman with the head of a female European Cave Lion. The neutral name currently used now to identified the entity is "Lion-Human," relevant if proved one or the other.
The sculpture shares certain similarities with French Cave Wall Paintings, which also show Hybrid Entities. The Lion-Human, however, is several thousand years older than the French Paintings.
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