Mystery Religions refer to a pattern of religious expression. They consists in initiation rituals in which the initiate has an extraordinary experience about which participants are forbidden to speak afterwards.
Elements of these rituals include: things spoken, recitations, or enactments of ritual words or the things shown, cult objects often hidden in a basket and things performed through ritual actions or dramatic enactments of them.
The word "Mystery," from the Greek "Myein," meaning "to close," indicates the initiate's closed eyes, later opened to see what was revealed in the ritual, as well as the initiate's closed mouth keeping secrecy since beyond the common factors of the initiation rituals the mystery religions varied in origin and organization since the ancient times.
The various themes figured in the initiations are: life and death, suffering, sexuality, fertility, and well being.
We can find about these mystery religions from very ancient times. The Scripture mentions cases in which spirits possessed the mind of human beings and used it as a means of communication between the two worlds, the world of the spirits and the world of the living.
In the Book of Acts, chapter 16, the Scripture mention a place known as a 'prayer place,' in which a female slave dominated by an elemental spirit, predicted the future.
The Assyrian city, Nineveh, founded by Nim-Rod, "a mighty hunter in opposition to God," together with Reho-Both-Ir, Calah and Resen, constituted a good example of how these mystery religions worked as the central power of its greatness, and based on the mystery of its rituals, it reached the control of the collective mind of all his subjects. The place was known as "a city of bloodshed,"for the Assyrians waged many wars of conquest and employed brutal methods in order to kill the warriors entrusted with mighty powers and absorbed it in order to make them the mightiest ones in the whole world. The archaeological findings include thousands of cuneiform tablets from Ash-Ur-Banipal's library and the ruins of the palaces of both Senna-Cherib and Ash-Ur-Banipal.
Their palaces were made of impressive structures, and hold a magnificent and imposing materialistic spirit. Its halls were calculated to make upon the stranger who visited it for the first time, the abode of the Assyrian kings.
The entrance had a portal in which the visitor was ushered through it. It was guarded by colossal lions, or bulls, of white alabaster, the symbolic representation of their power. In the first hall, the visitor found himself surrounded by the sculptured records of the empire whereabouts: Battles, sieges, triumphs, the exploits of the chase, the ceremonies of their religion, all of them portrayed on the walls, sculptured in alabaster, and painted in gorgeous colors. Under each picture were engraved, in characters filled up with bright copper, inscriptions describing the scenes presented.
Above the sculptures were painted other events, such as, the king attended by his eunuchs and warriors, receiving prisoners, entering in alliances with other monarchs, or performing some sacred duty. These representations were inclosed in colored borders of elaborated and elegant design. The emblematic Tree, winged Bulls, and monstrous Animals, were amongst the ornaments.
At the upper end of the hall was the colossal figure of the king in adoration before the supreme deity, or receiving from the eunuch the holy cup. He was attended by warriors bearing his arms, and by the priests or presiding divinities. His robes, and those of his followers, were adorned with groups of figures, animals, and flowers, all painted with brilliant colors.
The visitor trod upon alabaster slabs, each bearing an inscription, recording the titles, genealogy, and achievements of the great king. Several doorways forming gigantic winged lions or bulls, or the figures of guardian deities, led into other apartments, which again opened into more distant halls. In each were new sculptures. On the walls of some were processions of colossal figures, armed men and eunuchs following the king, warriors laden with spoils, leading prisoners, or bearing presents and offerings to the gods. On the walls of others were portrayed the divinities of the sky: winged priests, or presiding divinities, standing before the sacred trees.
The ceilings were divided into square compartments, painted with flowers, or with the figures of animals. Some were inlaid with ivory, each compartment being surrounded by elegant borders and mouldings. The beams, as well as the sides of the chambers, were gilded, or plated, with gold and silver; and the rarest woods were used for the woodwork. Square openings in the ceilings of the chambers admitted the light of day.
God's prophet Jonah, declared impending doom for Nineveh because of the spiritual wickedness of its inhabitants. However, since the people, including the king, repented, God spared the city. The Biblical description of Nineveh indicated that the city had a circunference of about 13 km/8mi.
Just as today, that part of London which lies within its ancient boundary is very different from what is called 'greater London', a term which includes the suburbs and denotes a much larger area, so the people who lived far away from Assyria understood by the word "Nineveh" what is now known as "the Assyrian triangle", which stretches from Khorsabad in the North to Nimrod in the South, and with an almost unbroken string of settlements, cover a distance of more or less 26 miles.
A stele of Ash-Ur-Banipal discovered quite recently in the archaeological excavations at Nimrod, recorded that he invited to a banquet the fabulous number of 69,574 guests. Nineveh was twice the are of Nimrod. These findings prove the amount of religious power the Assyrians displayed and the pride invested in them as a result of it.
Although they repented at the preaching of Jonah, the Ninevites relapsed and again took their wicked ways. It was some years after Senna-Cherib had been murdered at Nineveh in the house of his god Nisroch and God's prophet Nahum foretold the total destruction of the city because of its evil power.
With these descriptions of their symbolic way of practicing their mystery religions it is suggested that the same steps still exist in the World of today and the free will that every individual have in choosing the path of its own destiny, determine the future of its eternal soul. To whom you serve is the question that every one has to ask inside your own heart, and the consequences of what happens when we serve the passions of the flesh, we have Nineveh and its destruction.
Thursday, 19 May 2016
Monday, 9 May 2016
THE HEBREW MONSTER "LEVI-ATHAN."
Levi-Athan is a sea monster mentioned 6 times in the Old Testament. In the Book of Job, chapter 41, the monster is described in detail as follows:
"Can you pull Levi-Athan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he keep begging for your mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand of him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. No-one is fierce enough to rouse him."
"Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me."
"I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form. Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle? Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about his fearsome teeth? His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing."
"The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee, sling stones are like chaff to him.
A club seems to him but a piece of straw, he laughs at the rattling of the lance. His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing-sledge."
"He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is his equal, a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.
In Psalm 74, the Scripture mentions that God is said to break the heads of Levi-Athan in pieces before giving his flesh to the people of the wilderness.
In Psalm 104 God is praised for having made all things, including Levi-Athan; and Isaiah 27:1 Levi-Athan is called the "wriggling serpent" who will be killed at the end of time.
"Can you pull Levi-Athan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he keep begging for your mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand of him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. No-one is fierce enough to rouse him."
"Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me."
"I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form. Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle? Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about his fearsome teeth? His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing."
"The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee, sling stones are like chaff to him.
A club seems to him but a piece of straw, he laughs at the rattling of the lance. His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing-sledge."
"He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is his equal, a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.
In Psalm 74, the Scripture mentions that God is said to break the heads of Levi-Athan in pieces before giving his flesh to the people of the wilderness.
In Psalm 104 God is praised for having made all things, including Levi-Athan; and Isaiah 27:1 Levi-Athan is called the "wriggling serpent" who will be killed at the end of time.
THE MEANING OF SEL-CONTROL.
The meaning of self-control is typical with Platonic early dialogues that never arrived at a completely satisfactory definition, but it raised many important points.
A number of original-language words convey the thought of keeping in check, restraining or controlling one's person actions or speech.
Self-control is a fruit of God's Spirit (Gal.5: 22,23), though possessing unlimited powers, when it is exercised at all times. It allows time to pass so that the wrongdoers might have the opportunity to turn from their bad ways and thereby gain God's favor.
Once the spirit of self control is firmly established, God's right to execute judgment is refrained. A case
in point out the opposite situation involves the Jews, whose spirits of self-control failed to recognize that God allowed them to have authority and through this divine authority, gain control of the Israelites to the purpose of discipline them for unfaithfulness, instead, these desolators used the divine authority invested in them to treat the Israelites without mercy and carried the discipline farther than God's judgment had required. (Compare Isaiah 47 and Zech. 1). God foreknown this and, through the prophet Isaiah, indicated to them, that the time would come when He would no longer hold back from punishing these desolators:"I have kept quiet for a long time, I continued silent. I kept exercising self-control. Like a woman giving birth I am going to groan, pant, and gasp at the same time. I will devastate mountains and hills, and all their vegetation I will dry up."
Christ Jesus also exercised self-control. Peter, when calling to the attention of house servants to the need to be in subjection to their owners, wrote:"In fact, to this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for each of you to follow in His steps closely ... When He was being reviled, he did not go reviling in return. When He was suffering, He did not go threatening, but kept on committing Himself to the One who judge righteously." 1Peter 2:21-23
The Scripture says that in the last days lack of self-control will be one of the characteristics marking those who would not be practicing True Christianity. (2Timothy 3:1-7). It should especially be in evidence among those serving as overseers if they are to deal effectively with problems inside Christian congregations (Titus 1), they must maintain self-control in word and deed. Since Christians are the imitators of God and of His Son, they should strive to cultivate self-control in all things. (1Cor.11; Eph.5; 1Cor.9). Failing to exercise it in a given situation can tarnish a long record of faithful service and plunge one into all kind of difficulties. Illustrating this is what happened to King David. Though loyal to true worship and having love for the righteous principles of God's law (compare Psalm 101), David committed adultery with Bath-Sheba and this led to David's action of having her husband Uriah placed in a battle position where death was a near certainty. As a consequence, for years afterward, David was plagued with severe difficulties within his family (2 Samuel 12). His case demonstrate the wisdom of avoiding situations that can lead to a loss of self-control (2 Samuel 11).
Peter stated,"Supply to your faith virtue, to your virtue knowledge, to your knowledge self-control, to your self-control endurance, to your endurance godly devotion, to your godly devotion brotherly affection, to your brotherly affection love. For if these things exist in you and overflow, they will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful regarding the accurate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1).
A number of original-language words convey the thought of keeping in check, restraining or controlling one's person actions or speech.
Self-control is a fruit of God's Spirit (Gal.5: 22,23), though possessing unlimited powers, when it is exercised at all times. It allows time to pass so that the wrongdoers might have the opportunity to turn from their bad ways and thereby gain God's favor.
Once the spirit of self control is firmly established, God's right to execute judgment is refrained. A case
in point out the opposite situation involves the Jews, whose spirits of self-control failed to recognize that God allowed them to have authority and through this divine authority, gain control of the Israelites to the purpose of discipline them for unfaithfulness, instead, these desolators used the divine authority invested in them to treat the Israelites without mercy and carried the discipline farther than God's judgment had required. (Compare Isaiah 47 and Zech. 1). God foreknown this and, through the prophet Isaiah, indicated to them, that the time would come when He would no longer hold back from punishing these desolators:"I have kept quiet for a long time, I continued silent. I kept exercising self-control. Like a woman giving birth I am going to groan, pant, and gasp at the same time. I will devastate mountains and hills, and all their vegetation I will dry up."
Christ Jesus also exercised self-control. Peter, when calling to the attention of house servants to the need to be in subjection to their owners, wrote:"In fact, to this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for each of you to follow in His steps closely ... When He was being reviled, he did not go reviling in return. When He was suffering, He did not go threatening, but kept on committing Himself to the One who judge righteously." 1Peter 2:21-23
The Scripture says that in the last days lack of self-control will be one of the characteristics marking those who would not be practicing True Christianity. (2Timothy 3:1-7). It should especially be in evidence among those serving as overseers if they are to deal effectively with problems inside Christian congregations (Titus 1), they must maintain self-control in word and deed. Since Christians are the imitators of God and of His Son, they should strive to cultivate self-control in all things. (1Cor.11; Eph.5; 1Cor.9). Failing to exercise it in a given situation can tarnish a long record of faithful service and plunge one into all kind of difficulties. Illustrating this is what happened to King David. Though loyal to true worship and having love for the righteous principles of God's law (compare Psalm 101), David committed adultery with Bath-Sheba and this led to David's action of having her husband Uriah placed in a battle position where death was a near certainty. As a consequence, for years afterward, David was plagued with severe difficulties within his family (2 Samuel 12). His case demonstrate the wisdom of avoiding situations that can lead to a loss of self-control (2 Samuel 11).
Peter stated,"Supply to your faith virtue, to your virtue knowledge, to your knowledge self-control, to your self-control endurance, to your endurance godly devotion, to your godly devotion brotherly affection, to your brotherly affection love. For if these things exist in you and overflow, they will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful regarding the accurate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1).
Saturday, 7 May 2016
HEROD THE GREAT.
Herod was a Roman client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He has been described as a madman who murdered his own family and a great many teachers of the law, and as the evil genius of the Judean nation, prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition, and as the greatest builder in Jewish history. He is known for his colossal building projects through out Judea, including his expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (Herod's Temple), the construction of the port at Caesarea Maritima, the fortress at Masada and Herodium.
Herod was born 74 BC in Idumea, South of Judea. Edom and Idumea are two related but distinct terms relating to a historical contiguous population, but two separate, if adjacent, territories occupied at different periods of their history by the Edomites/Idumeans. The Edomites first established a biblical kingdom (Edom) in the Southern area of modern Jordan, and later migrated into Southern parts of the Kindom of Judah (Idumea, or modern Southern Israel/Negeb) when Judah was first weakened, then destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC.
The hebrew word "Edom" means "Red,"and is derived from the name of its original founder Esau, the elder son of the hebrew patriarch Isaac, because he was born "red all over."Later as a young adult, he ate "red pottage,"selling his firstborn rights to his brother Jacob, because he was hungry and did not care about the spiritual value of it.
The Edomites' original country, according to the Bible stretched from the Sinai peninsula as far as Kadesh Barnea. Southward it reached as far as Eilat, which was the seaport of Edom. On the North of Edom was the territory of Moab. The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah. Esau's descendants settled in this land after displacing the Horites. It was also called the land of Seir; Mount Seir strongly identified with them as a cultic site. The national god was Qaus (Qaush, Kaush, Kaus, Kos, Qaws). The letters of its name is invoked in the blessing formula and appears in personal names found in ancient Edom. Costobarus, appointed by Herod to be governor of Idumea and Gaza, was descended from the priests of the god Qaus, the god of the Idumeans.
The Hebrew word translated as leader of a clan is "Aluf," used solely to describe the Dukes of Edom and Moab, in the first 5 books of Moses. Then beginning in the books of the later prophets the word is used to describe Judean generals, for example, in the prophecies of Zechariah twice (9:7, 12:5-6) it evolved to describe Jewish captains, then the word is also used multiple times as a general term for teacher or guide for exmple in Psalm 55:13. Today it is used for a description of high rank in the Israeli Defence Force, and as a surname.
Herod was the second son of Antipater the Idumean, a high-ranked official under the governor of the district Hyrcanus II, and Cypros, a Nabatean. Herod's father was by descent an Edomite whose ancestors had converted to Judaism. Herod was raised as a Jew.
A loyal supporter of Hyrcanus II, Antipater appointed his son 'governor of Galilee' in 47 BC, when Herod was 25 or 28 years old. His elder brother, Phasael, was appointed governor of Jerusalem. Herod enjoyed the backing of Rome, but his brutality was condemned by the court of judges appointed in the Land of Israel.
In 41 BC, Herod and his brother Phasael, were named as tetrarchs by the Roman leader Mark Antony. They were placed in this role to support Hyrcanus II. Later, the Hasmonean Antigonus, Hyrcanus' nephew, took the throne from his uncle with the help of the Parthians. Herod fled to Rome to plead with the Romans to restore Hyrcanus to power.
The Romans had a special interest in Judea because their general Pompey the Great had conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC, thus placing the region in the Roman sphere of influence. Judea had been ruled autonomously by the Hasmonean kings from 140 BC until 63 BC.
In Rome, Herod was unexpectedly appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate. Herod went back to Judea to win his kingdom from Antigonus. Toward the end of the campaign against Antigonus, Herod married the granddaughter of Hyrcanus II, Mariamne, who was also a niece of Antigonus. Herod did this in an attempt to secure his claim to the throne and gain some Jewish favor. However, Herod already had a wife, Doris, and a young son, Antipater, and chose therefore to banish Doris and her child.
After 3 years of conflict, Herod and the Romans finally captured Jerusalem and Herod sent Antigonus for execution to Marc Antony. Herod took the role as sole ruler of Judea and the title of "Basileus (King) for himself, ushering in the Herodian Dynasty and ending the Hasmonean Dynasty. Herod ruled under Roman overlordship until his death in 4 BC for 37 years, 34 of them after capturing Jerusalem.
As Herod's family were converts to Judaism, his religious commitment was questioned by some elements of Jewish society. When John Hyrcanus conquered the region of Idumea in 140-130 BC, he required all Idumeans to obey Jewish law or to leave; most Iduemeans thus converted to Judaism, which meant that they had to be circumcised, and many intermarried with the Jews and adopted their customs. While Herod publicly identified himself as a Jew and was considered as such by some, this religious identification was undermined by the decadent lifestyle of the Herodians. Herod later executed several members of his own family, including his wife Mariamne.
Herod's despotic rule has been demonstrated by many of his security measures aimed at suppressing the contempt of the people towards him. He used secret police to monitor and report the feelings of the general populace towards him. He prohibited protests, and had his opponents removed by force. He had a bodyguard of 2,000 soldiers made of Thracians, Celtics and Germanic contingents most from influential Jewish families. Thracians had served in the Jewish armies since the Hasmonean dynasty, while the Celtic were former bodyguards of Cleopatra given as a gift by Augustus to Herod following the Battle of Actium. The Germanics were modeled upon Augustus's personal bodyguard, responsible for guarding the palace.
Herod's religious policies gained a mixed response from the Jewish populace. Although Herod considered himself king of the Jews, he let it be known that he also represented the non-Jews living in Judea, spending building temples for other religions outside of the Jewish areas of his kingdom. He also introduced foreign forms of entertainment, and erected a golden eagle at the entrance of the Temple Mount (Second Temple), Herod most famous and ambitious project, which suggested a greater interest in the welfare of Rome than of Jews. He employed 1,000 priests as masons and carpenters in the rebuilding. He spent lavish sums on his various building projects and generous gifts to other kingdoms, including Rome. In order to fund these expenses, Herod utilized a Hasmonean taxation system that
weighed heavily on the Judean people. Such lavish spending upset his jewish subjects.
The two major sects during his reign, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, both showed opposition to Herod. The Pharisees were angry because Herod disregarded many of their demands for the Temple's construction. At the same time the Sadducees, who were known for their priestly responsibilities in the Temple, opposed Herod because he replaced their high priests with outsiders from Babylonia and Alexandria, in an effort to gain support from the Jewish Diaspora. These efforts proved ineffective, and at the end of Herod's reign, anger and dissatisfaction were common amongst Jews. Heavy outbreaks of violence and riots followed Herod's death in many cities, including Jerusalem, as all the built-up grievances against him were unleashed. The momentum from these revolts led to an increased demand for Jewish freedom from Roman rule. Herod's leadership caused enough anger for it to become a prime cause of the Great Revolt of 70 CE.
Herod appears in the Gospel according to Matthew (2:1-23), which describes an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents. After the birth of Jesus, some astrologers from the East visited Herod to inquire the whereabouts of "the one having been born king of the Jews,"because they had seen his star in the East and therefore wanted to pay him homage. Herod, as king of the Jews was alarmed at the prospect of a usurper. Herod assembled the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them were the "Anointed One" was to be born. They answered, in Bethlehem, citing Micah 5:2. Herod therefore sent the astrologers to Bethlehem, instructing them to search for the child and, after they had found him, to "report to me, so I too may go and worship him." However, they have found Jesus, they were warned in a dream not to report back to Herod. Similarly, Joseph the husband of Mary was warned in a dream that Herod intended to kill Jesus, so he and his family fled to Egypt. When Herod realized he had been outwitted, he gave orders to kill all boys of the age of two and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity. Joseph and his family stayed in Egypt until Herod's death, then moved to Nazareth in Galilee to avoid living under Herod's son Archelaus.
Herod died in Jericho at the end of March or early April in 4 BC, after a lunar eclipse. There were a total of three other total eclipses around that time. Herod's final illness was excruciating. His cause of death was a chronic kidney disease complicated by gangrene. Similar symptoms accompanied the death
of his grandson Agrippa I in 44 CE. Herod suffered throughout his lifetime from depression and paranoia. After Herod's death, his kingdom was divided among 3 of his sons by Augustus. The Romans made Herod's son, Herod Archelaus, governor of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 4 to 6 BC, referred to as the tetrarchy of Judea. Archelaus was judged incompetent by the Roman emperor Augustus, who then combined the very same provinces (Samaria, Judea, Idumea) into Iudaea province under rule of a prefect until the year 41. As to Herod's other sons, Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee from 4-39 CE and Philip became tetrarch of territories East of the Jordan.
Herod was born 74 BC in Idumea, South of Judea. Edom and Idumea are two related but distinct terms relating to a historical contiguous population, but two separate, if adjacent, territories occupied at different periods of their history by the Edomites/Idumeans. The Edomites first established a biblical kingdom (Edom) in the Southern area of modern Jordan, and later migrated into Southern parts of the Kindom of Judah (Idumea, or modern Southern Israel/Negeb) when Judah was first weakened, then destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC.
The hebrew word "Edom" means "Red,"and is derived from the name of its original founder Esau, the elder son of the hebrew patriarch Isaac, because he was born "red all over."Later as a young adult, he ate "red pottage,"selling his firstborn rights to his brother Jacob, because he was hungry and did not care about the spiritual value of it.
The Edomites' original country, according to the Bible stretched from the Sinai peninsula as far as Kadesh Barnea. Southward it reached as far as Eilat, which was the seaport of Edom. On the North of Edom was the territory of Moab. The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah. Esau's descendants settled in this land after displacing the Horites. It was also called the land of Seir; Mount Seir strongly identified with them as a cultic site. The national god was Qaus (Qaush, Kaush, Kaus, Kos, Qaws). The letters of its name is invoked in the blessing formula and appears in personal names found in ancient Edom. Costobarus, appointed by Herod to be governor of Idumea and Gaza, was descended from the priests of the god Qaus, the god of the Idumeans.
The Hebrew word translated as leader of a clan is "Aluf," used solely to describe the Dukes of Edom and Moab, in the first 5 books of Moses. Then beginning in the books of the later prophets the word is used to describe Judean generals, for example, in the prophecies of Zechariah twice (9:7, 12:5-6) it evolved to describe Jewish captains, then the word is also used multiple times as a general term for teacher or guide for exmple in Psalm 55:13. Today it is used for a description of high rank in the Israeli Defence Force, and as a surname.
Herod was the second son of Antipater the Idumean, a high-ranked official under the governor of the district Hyrcanus II, and Cypros, a Nabatean. Herod's father was by descent an Edomite whose ancestors had converted to Judaism. Herod was raised as a Jew.
A loyal supporter of Hyrcanus II, Antipater appointed his son 'governor of Galilee' in 47 BC, when Herod was 25 or 28 years old. His elder brother, Phasael, was appointed governor of Jerusalem. Herod enjoyed the backing of Rome, but his brutality was condemned by the court of judges appointed in the Land of Israel.
In 41 BC, Herod and his brother Phasael, were named as tetrarchs by the Roman leader Mark Antony. They were placed in this role to support Hyrcanus II. Later, the Hasmonean Antigonus, Hyrcanus' nephew, took the throne from his uncle with the help of the Parthians. Herod fled to Rome to plead with the Romans to restore Hyrcanus to power.
The Romans had a special interest in Judea because their general Pompey the Great had conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC, thus placing the region in the Roman sphere of influence. Judea had been ruled autonomously by the Hasmonean kings from 140 BC until 63 BC.
In Rome, Herod was unexpectedly appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate. Herod went back to Judea to win his kingdom from Antigonus. Toward the end of the campaign against Antigonus, Herod married the granddaughter of Hyrcanus II, Mariamne, who was also a niece of Antigonus. Herod did this in an attempt to secure his claim to the throne and gain some Jewish favor. However, Herod already had a wife, Doris, and a young son, Antipater, and chose therefore to banish Doris and her child.
After 3 years of conflict, Herod and the Romans finally captured Jerusalem and Herod sent Antigonus for execution to Marc Antony. Herod took the role as sole ruler of Judea and the title of "Basileus (King) for himself, ushering in the Herodian Dynasty and ending the Hasmonean Dynasty. Herod ruled under Roman overlordship until his death in 4 BC for 37 years, 34 of them after capturing Jerusalem.
As Herod's family were converts to Judaism, his religious commitment was questioned by some elements of Jewish society. When John Hyrcanus conquered the region of Idumea in 140-130 BC, he required all Idumeans to obey Jewish law or to leave; most Iduemeans thus converted to Judaism, which meant that they had to be circumcised, and many intermarried with the Jews and adopted their customs. While Herod publicly identified himself as a Jew and was considered as such by some, this religious identification was undermined by the decadent lifestyle of the Herodians. Herod later executed several members of his own family, including his wife Mariamne.
Herod's despotic rule has been demonstrated by many of his security measures aimed at suppressing the contempt of the people towards him. He used secret police to monitor and report the feelings of the general populace towards him. He prohibited protests, and had his opponents removed by force. He had a bodyguard of 2,000 soldiers made of Thracians, Celtics and Germanic contingents most from influential Jewish families. Thracians had served in the Jewish armies since the Hasmonean dynasty, while the Celtic were former bodyguards of Cleopatra given as a gift by Augustus to Herod following the Battle of Actium. The Germanics were modeled upon Augustus's personal bodyguard, responsible for guarding the palace.
Herod's religious policies gained a mixed response from the Jewish populace. Although Herod considered himself king of the Jews, he let it be known that he also represented the non-Jews living in Judea, spending building temples for other religions outside of the Jewish areas of his kingdom. He also introduced foreign forms of entertainment, and erected a golden eagle at the entrance of the Temple Mount (Second Temple), Herod most famous and ambitious project, which suggested a greater interest in the welfare of Rome than of Jews. He employed 1,000 priests as masons and carpenters in the rebuilding. He spent lavish sums on his various building projects and generous gifts to other kingdoms, including Rome. In order to fund these expenses, Herod utilized a Hasmonean taxation system that
weighed heavily on the Judean people. Such lavish spending upset his jewish subjects.
The two major sects during his reign, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, both showed opposition to Herod. The Pharisees were angry because Herod disregarded many of their demands for the Temple's construction. At the same time the Sadducees, who were known for their priestly responsibilities in the Temple, opposed Herod because he replaced their high priests with outsiders from Babylonia and Alexandria, in an effort to gain support from the Jewish Diaspora. These efforts proved ineffective, and at the end of Herod's reign, anger and dissatisfaction were common amongst Jews. Heavy outbreaks of violence and riots followed Herod's death in many cities, including Jerusalem, as all the built-up grievances against him were unleashed. The momentum from these revolts led to an increased demand for Jewish freedom from Roman rule. Herod's leadership caused enough anger for it to become a prime cause of the Great Revolt of 70 CE.
Herod appears in the Gospel according to Matthew (2:1-23), which describes an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents. After the birth of Jesus, some astrologers from the East visited Herod to inquire the whereabouts of "the one having been born king of the Jews,"because they had seen his star in the East and therefore wanted to pay him homage. Herod, as king of the Jews was alarmed at the prospect of a usurper. Herod assembled the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them were the "Anointed One" was to be born. They answered, in Bethlehem, citing Micah 5:2. Herod therefore sent the astrologers to Bethlehem, instructing them to search for the child and, after they had found him, to "report to me, so I too may go and worship him." However, they have found Jesus, they were warned in a dream not to report back to Herod. Similarly, Joseph the husband of Mary was warned in a dream that Herod intended to kill Jesus, so he and his family fled to Egypt. When Herod realized he had been outwitted, he gave orders to kill all boys of the age of two and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity. Joseph and his family stayed in Egypt until Herod's death, then moved to Nazareth in Galilee to avoid living under Herod's son Archelaus.
Herod died in Jericho at the end of March or early April in 4 BC, after a lunar eclipse. There were a total of three other total eclipses around that time. Herod's final illness was excruciating. His cause of death was a chronic kidney disease complicated by gangrene. Similar symptoms accompanied the death
of his grandson Agrippa I in 44 CE. Herod suffered throughout his lifetime from depression and paranoia. After Herod's death, his kingdom was divided among 3 of his sons by Augustus. The Romans made Herod's son, Herod Archelaus, governor of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 4 to 6 BC, referred to as the tetrarchy of Judea. Archelaus was judged incompetent by the Roman emperor Augustus, who then combined the very same provinces (Samaria, Judea, Idumea) into Iudaea province under rule of a prefect until the year 41. As to Herod's other sons, Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee from 4-39 CE and Philip became tetrarch of territories East of the Jordan.
IT IS LAWFUL FOR JEWS TO PAY TAXES TO CAESAR?
The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, referred to as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, state that hostile questioners tried to trap Jesus into taking a stand on whether Jews should or should not pay taxes to Roman authorities.
The accounts in Matthew 22 and Mark 12 say that the questioners were Pharisees and Herodians, while Luke 20 says only that they were spies sent by teachers of the law and the chief priests.
At first the questioners flattered Jesus by praising his integrity, impartiality, and devotion to the Truth. Then they asked the question. Jesus first called them hypocrites, and then asked one of them to produce a Roman and one of them showed it to Him. Then Jesus asked them whose head and inscription were on it, and they answered,"Caesar's," and Jesus responded:"Render therefore to Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."
The questioners were impressed. Matthew 22 states that they marveled and were satisfied with the answer, then they went away.
The account in John 18 Jesus responds to Pontius Pilate about the nature of His kingdom: "My kingdom is not of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. My kingdom is not from the World.
Caesar's title was applied in the explanation because its representation as the World's power, cycling over and over, generation after generation.
During his early career, Caesar had seen how chaotic and dysfunctional the Roman Republic had become. The Republican machinery had broken down under the weight of imperialism, the central government had become powerless, the provinces had been transformed into independent principalities under the absolute control of their governors, and the army had replaced the constitution as the means of accomplishing political goals. With a weak central government, political corruption had spiraled out of control, and the 'status quo' had been maintained by a corrupt aristocracy, which saw no need to change a system that had made its members rich.
Caesar established a new constitution, which was intended to accomplish 3 separate goals. First, he wanted to suppress all armed resistance out in the provinces, and thus bring order back to the empire. Second, he wanted to create a strong central government in Rome. Finally, he wanted to knit together the entire empire into a single cohesive unit.
The first goal was accomplished when Caesar defeated Pompei and his supporters. To accomplish the other 2 goals, he needed to ensure that his control over the government was undisputed, so he assumed these powers by increasing his own authority, and by decreasing the authority of Rome's other political institutions. Finally, he enacted a series of reforms that were meant to address several long-neglected issues, the most important of which was his reform of the calendar.
The calendar was then regulated by the movement of the moon and the way it worked for them was chaotic. Caesar replaced the moon calendar with the Egyptian calendar, which was regulated by the sun. He set the length of the year to 365.25 days by adding an intercalary/leap day at the end of February every fourth year. To bring the calendar into alignment with the seasons, Caesar decreed that 3 extra months be inserted into 46 BC (the ordinary intercalary month at the end of February, and 2 extra months after November). Thus, the Julian calendar opened on 1 January 45 BC. This calendar is identical to the current Western Calendar.
In 48 BC, Caesar was given permanent powers and the highest in rank concerning all Rome for an indefinite period, which made his person sacrosanct.
In 46 BC, Caesar gave himself the title of "Prefect of the Morals," which was an office that was new only for his name. He could hold censorial powers, not subjecting himself to the same checks to which ordinary censors were subject, and he used these powers to fill the Senate with his own partisans.
In February 44 BC, one month before his assassination, he was appointed "Dictator for Life." Under Caesar, a significant amount of authority was vested in his lieutenants.
Caesar also set the precedent, which his imperial successors followed, of requiring the Senate to bestow various titles and honors upon him. He was, for example, given the title of "Father of the Fatherland" and "Imperator (latin)."
Coins bore his likeness, and he had the right to speak first during Senate meetings. He took steps to transform Italy into a province, and to link more tightly the other provinces of the empire into a single cohesive unit, as he planned. Individuals outside Rome and Italy now were considered "Roman," thus were not given full citizenship rights.
After Caesar's assassination, this process of fusing the entire Roman Empire into a single unit, rather than maintaining it as a network of unequal principalities, was completed by his successor, the emperor Augustus.
On March 15, 44 BC, Caesar was due to appear at a session of the Senate. The plotters assassinated him, stabbing his body 23 times. Caesar's body was cremated. He was immensely popular that the crowd at his funeral boiled over, throwing dry branches, furniture, and even clothing to the funeral pyre causing the flames to spin out of control, seriously damaging the Forum.
Caesar was thought to have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. He had 4 documented episodes of complex partial seizures. The debilitating symptoms of the condition were a factor in Caesar's conscious decision to forgo personal safety in the days leading to his assassination. Caesar's fathert and forefather died without apparent cause while putting on their shoes. These events can be associated with a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease leading to the temporal lobe epilepsy.
The Roman historians described Caesar as tall in stature with a fair complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full face, and keen black eyes.
Caesar's adopted heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, became the first Roman emperor, under the name Caesar Augustus, a name that raised him to the status of a deity in the language of the World.
Caesar's name itself became a title; it was promulgated by the Bible in many teachings about the World.
Then the title became Kaiser in German and Tsar or Czar in the Slavic languages. This means that for two thousand years after Julius Caesar's assassination, there is at least one state bearing the name and maintaining it alive.
Now we are able to understand why Jesus said: "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God."
The accounts in Matthew 22 and Mark 12 say that the questioners were Pharisees and Herodians, while Luke 20 says only that they were spies sent by teachers of the law and the chief priests.
At first the questioners flattered Jesus by praising his integrity, impartiality, and devotion to the Truth. Then they asked the question. Jesus first called them hypocrites, and then asked one of them to produce a Roman and one of them showed it to Him. Then Jesus asked them whose head and inscription were on it, and they answered,"Caesar's," and Jesus responded:"Render therefore to Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."
The questioners were impressed. Matthew 22 states that they marveled and were satisfied with the answer, then they went away.
The account in John 18 Jesus responds to Pontius Pilate about the nature of His kingdom: "My kingdom is not of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. My kingdom is not from the World.
Caesar's title was applied in the explanation because its representation as the World's power, cycling over and over, generation after generation.
During his early career, Caesar had seen how chaotic and dysfunctional the Roman Republic had become. The Republican machinery had broken down under the weight of imperialism, the central government had become powerless, the provinces had been transformed into independent principalities under the absolute control of their governors, and the army had replaced the constitution as the means of accomplishing political goals. With a weak central government, political corruption had spiraled out of control, and the 'status quo' had been maintained by a corrupt aristocracy, which saw no need to change a system that had made its members rich.
Caesar established a new constitution, which was intended to accomplish 3 separate goals. First, he wanted to suppress all armed resistance out in the provinces, and thus bring order back to the empire. Second, he wanted to create a strong central government in Rome. Finally, he wanted to knit together the entire empire into a single cohesive unit.
The first goal was accomplished when Caesar defeated Pompei and his supporters. To accomplish the other 2 goals, he needed to ensure that his control over the government was undisputed, so he assumed these powers by increasing his own authority, and by decreasing the authority of Rome's other political institutions. Finally, he enacted a series of reforms that were meant to address several long-neglected issues, the most important of which was his reform of the calendar.
The calendar was then regulated by the movement of the moon and the way it worked for them was chaotic. Caesar replaced the moon calendar with the Egyptian calendar, which was regulated by the sun. He set the length of the year to 365.25 days by adding an intercalary/leap day at the end of February every fourth year. To bring the calendar into alignment with the seasons, Caesar decreed that 3 extra months be inserted into 46 BC (the ordinary intercalary month at the end of February, and 2 extra months after November). Thus, the Julian calendar opened on 1 January 45 BC. This calendar is identical to the current Western Calendar.
In 48 BC, Caesar was given permanent powers and the highest in rank concerning all Rome for an indefinite period, which made his person sacrosanct.
In 46 BC, Caesar gave himself the title of "Prefect of the Morals," which was an office that was new only for his name. He could hold censorial powers, not subjecting himself to the same checks to which ordinary censors were subject, and he used these powers to fill the Senate with his own partisans.
In February 44 BC, one month before his assassination, he was appointed "Dictator for Life." Under Caesar, a significant amount of authority was vested in his lieutenants.
Caesar also set the precedent, which his imperial successors followed, of requiring the Senate to bestow various titles and honors upon him. He was, for example, given the title of "Father of the Fatherland" and "Imperator (latin)."
Coins bore his likeness, and he had the right to speak first during Senate meetings. He took steps to transform Italy into a province, and to link more tightly the other provinces of the empire into a single cohesive unit, as he planned. Individuals outside Rome and Italy now were considered "Roman," thus were not given full citizenship rights.
After Caesar's assassination, this process of fusing the entire Roman Empire into a single unit, rather than maintaining it as a network of unequal principalities, was completed by his successor, the emperor Augustus.
On March 15, 44 BC, Caesar was due to appear at a session of the Senate. The plotters assassinated him, stabbing his body 23 times. Caesar's body was cremated. He was immensely popular that the crowd at his funeral boiled over, throwing dry branches, furniture, and even clothing to the funeral pyre causing the flames to spin out of control, seriously damaging the Forum.
Caesar was thought to have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. He had 4 documented episodes of complex partial seizures. The debilitating symptoms of the condition were a factor in Caesar's conscious decision to forgo personal safety in the days leading to his assassination. Caesar's fathert and forefather died without apparent cause while putting on their shoes. These events can be associated with a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease leading to the temporal lobe epilepsy.
The Roman historians described Caesar as tall in stature with a fair complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full face, and keen black eyes.
Caesar's adopted heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, became the first Roman emperor, under the name Caesar Augustus, a name that raised him to the status of a deity in the language of the World.
Caesar's name itself became a title; it was promulgated by the Bible in many teachings about the World.
Then the title became Kaiser in German and Tsar or Czar in the Slavic languages. This means that for two thousand years after Julius Caesar's assassination, there is at least one state bearing the name and maintaining it alive.
Now we are able to understand why Jesus said: "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God."
Wednesday, 4 May 2016
THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
The mustard is a rapid-growing herb. Jesus likened the "Kingdom of the Heavens to a grain of mustard seed, insignificant in size, but which grows from a small beginning into a great tree,in which birds are able to nests in its branches. Also Jesus uses the same likeness in pointing out that even a little faith can accomplish much power in defeating the mountains made of flesh in each of us.
In rich soil the seed, after just a few months, become tree-like, a plant measuring from 10 to as much as 15 feet (3 to 4.6 m) in height, with a central stalk having the thickness of a man's arm. In the fall the stem and branches harden and become rigid, strong enough to support the birds that feed on the seeds. The pods that the tree develop contain a row of seeds.
In Matthew 13: 31-32 the Gospel says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
In Isaiah 2: 2-4 The scripture says how the kingdom of God is being established: "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many people .. .
In Daniel 2: 31-35 The world of Man is collapsing: "You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.
The head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
As you looked, a Stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the Stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."
In Daniel 4: 20-24 Man's greed for power is nothing without God: "The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, that its top reached to heaven, and was visible to the end of the whole earth; the leaves were fair and its fruit abundant, for all; and under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the air dwelt , it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong.
Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. And whereas the king saw a Watcher, a Holy One, coming down from heaven and saying, 'Hew down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field; and let him be wet with the dew of heaven; and let his lot be with the beasts of the field, till 7 times pass over him; ... is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon you ... you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and 7 times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will.
And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be sure for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. Therefore, ... break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your tranquility."
In Mark 12 we have Jesus talking about the power of Satan over us. First he compare the kingdom of heaven to a Man who sowed good seed in his field, and when they were sleeping his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.
Then the servants of the householder came and said to him, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?" The householder said to them, "An enemy has done this." Then the servants said to him,"Do you want us go and gather them?" The householder said, "No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
In Psalm 15, David explain what type of seed is this that has the power to move the evil mountain of Satan from their lives and embrace the mountain of the Lord, "He who walks blamelessly, and soes what is right, and speaks truth from his heart; who does not slander with his tongue, and does no evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor; in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does this things shall never be moved from the tent of the Lord or from his holy hill.
Then in Matthew 14, Jesus gives to his disciples a lesson of what the power of the Holy Spirit means in the spiritual life of a believer when He healed the son of a follower from demonic powers acting in him, saying, "Because of your little faith, you can't cast demons out. For truly, I say to you, if you have Faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain (evil power), 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."
In rich soil the seed, after just a few months, become tree-like, a plant measuring from 10 to as much as 15 feet (3 to 4.6 m) in height, with a central stalk having the thickness of a man's arm. In the fall the stem and branches harden and become rigid, strong enough to support the birds that feed on the seeds. The pods that the tree develop contain a row of seeds.
In Matthew 13: 31-32 the Gospel says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
In Isaiah 2: 2-4 The scripture says how the kingdom of God is being established: "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many people .. .
In Daniel 2: 31-35 The world of Man is collapsing: "You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.
The head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
As you looked, a Stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the Stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."
In Daniel 4: 20-24 Man's greed for power is nothing without God: "The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, that its top reached to heaven, and was visible to the end of the whole earth; the leaves were fair and its fruit abundant, for all; and under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the air dwelt , it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong.
Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. And whereas the king saw a Watcher, a Holy One, coming down from heaven and saying, 'Hew down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field; and let him be wet with the dew of heaven; and let his lot be with the beasts of the field, till 7 times pass over him; ... is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon you ... you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and 7 times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will.
And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be sure for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. Therefore, ... break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your tranquility."
In Mark 12 we have Jesus talking about the power of Satan over us. First he compare the kingdom of heaven to a Man who sowed good seed in his field, and when they were sleeping his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.
Then the servants of the householder came and said to him, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?" The householder said to them, "An enemy has done this." Then the servants said to him,"Do you want us go and gather them?" The householder said, "No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
In Psalm 15, David explain what type of seed is this that has the power to move the evil mountain of Satan from their lives and embrace the mountain of the Lord, "He who walks blamelessly, and soes what is right, and speaks truth from his heart; who does not slander with his tongue, and does no evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor; in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does this things shall never be moved from the tent of the Lord or from his holy hill.
Then in Matthew 14, Jesus gives to his disciples a lesson of what the power of the Holy Spirit means in the spiritual life of a believer when He healed the son of a follower from demonic powers acting in him, saying, "Because of your little faith, you can't cast demons out. For truly, I say to you, if you have Faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain (evil power), 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."
Sunday, 1 May 2016
THE WAY OF TODAY WORLD SHOWN IN THE SCRIPTURES
We have to understand that the key to the Book of Revelation is found in the person of Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of this World and as the conqueror of evil and the presentation in symbolic form of the program by which He will carry out His work.
The Book is shows 4 great visions, each of which begins with the phrase "in the spirit" and contains one aspect of the person of Christ in His capacity as the Judge of this World. Through a succession of Judgments, Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls, the earth is punished for its sin, and the great day of God's wrath is ushered in. No indication is given of the length of the process, though it seems to accelerate toward the end. In the 17th chapter through the 20th, we are given a detailed view of the consummation of the age and through other passages in the scripture we can find the reason why it has to end.
Revelation 21says: ... A new heaven and a new earth ... and there was no longer any sea ... there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away... I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Isaiah 66 says: For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind... no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.
2 Peter 3 says: ... First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation. They deliberately ignored this fact, that by the Word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, through which the World that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same Word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
1 Timothy 4 says: Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the Faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared ... Have nothing to do with godless and silly myths. Train yourself in godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Let no one despise you, but set an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Till I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching. ... Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to that, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers.
2 Timothy 3 says: But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it.
2 Peter 2 says: But false prophets also arose among the people just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the Way of the Truth will be reviled. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep.
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the Judgment; if He did not spare the ancient World, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with 7 other persons, when He brought a flood upon the World of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction as and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the wicked (for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of Judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. ... These, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed, reviling in matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed in the same destruction with them, suffering wrong for their wrongdoing... They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the Right Way they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Be'or, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked by his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
There are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved. For, uttering loud boasts of folly, they entice with licentious passions of the flesh the men who have barely escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved.
The Book is shows 4 great visions, each of which begins with the phrase "in the spirit" and contains one aspect of the person of Christ in His capacity as the Judge of this World. Through a succession of Judgments, Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls, the earth is punished for its sin, and the great day of God's wrath is ushered in. No indication is given of the length of the process, though it seems to accelerate toward the end. In the 17th chapter through the 20th, we are given a detailed view of the consummation of the age and through other passages in the scripture we can find the reason why it has to end.
Revelation 21says: ... A new heaven and a new earth ... and there was no longer any sea ... there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away... I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Isaiah 66 says: For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind... no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.
2 Peter 3 says: ... First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation. They deliberately ignored this fact, that by the Word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, through which the World that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same Word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
1 Timothy 4 says: Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the Faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared ... Have nothing to do with godless and silly myths. Train yourself in godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Let no one despise you, but set an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Till I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching. ... Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to that, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers.
2 Timothy 3 says: But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it.
2 Peter 2 says: But false prophets also arose among the people just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the Way of the Truth will be reviled. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep.
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the Judgment; if He did not spare the ancient World, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with 7 other persons, when He brought a flood upon the World of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction as and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the wicked (for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of Judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. ... These, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed, reviling in matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed in the same destruction with them, suffering wrong for their wrongdoing... They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the Right Way they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Be'or, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked by his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
There are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved. For, uttering loud boasts of folly, they entice with licentious passions of the flesh the men who have barely escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved.
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