Rebekah, in the Scripture, is the wife of Isaac, and mother of Jacob and Esau; daughter of Bethuel and sister of Laban.
Bethuel was Abraham's nephew, born to his brother Nahor, called the Syrian (or Aramena), by Micah, and became the father of Laban and Rebekah. Nahor dwelled in the flatland of Aram. Nahor's father had the same name, being identified as Nahor son of Serug, that at the age of 29 became the fatehr of Terah and thus became the grandfather of Abraham (Genesis 11:22-26; ! Chronicles 1:26). His name does appear again in the genealogy of Like 3:34 which leads back from Jesus and Joseph to Adam.
Bethuel later acknoledged the Divine Direction that brought Abraham's slave to his home in search of a wife for Isaac, saying, along with Laban, his son, "From God this thing has issued." Attention is drawn to the fact that Bethuel was from Padan-Aram. It was important that Abraham's children should not marry the Canaanites, and so Abraham specifically sent back to his family in Padan-Aram for a suitable wife for Isaac.
The brother of Rebekah, Laban had a greater part in seeing his sister satisfactorily married than did Bethuel, but it was from his descendants, through Rebekah, that God fulfilled His Promises to Abraham.
Rebekah's strong mindedness showed itself in her caring heart by her prompt decision to leave home and marry Isaac, and in the assured personal connection with God. She was consulted about this decision and it was only her consent that made it possible. Her discernment led her to make the right choice. According to the custom of the day, Rebekah's initial accepting of the nose ring was a clear sign of the servant's intention and her acceptance of it.
Genesis 24 says, "Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in everything he did. He said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of all that he had, 'Place your hand between my thighs and make a vow. I want you to make a vow in the Name of the Lord, the God of Heaven and Earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the people here in Canaan. You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my relatives." (1-4) "But the servant asked, 'What if the young woman will not leave home to come with me to this land? Shall I send your son back to the land you came from?' Abraham answered, 'Make sure that you do not send my son back there! The Lord, the God of Heaven, brought me from the home of my father and form the land of my relatives, and He Solemnly Promised me that He Give This Land to my descendants. He will send His Angel before you, so that you can get a wife there for my son. If the young woman is not willing to come with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not under any circumstances take my son back there." 5-8
Rebekah drew water, not only for Abraham's servant but also for his camel's. Supplying Water for thirsty camels is a very demanding job, and she put herself through alot of hard work for no apparent gain. After providing Abraham's servants with water, she assured him that there was enough room in her parents house to accommodate him and his camel's for the night. He heart led her to help a stranger, exposing her to the blessing of God.
Rebekah was described as very beautiful. The spirit of determination in Rebekah is what opened the door to her destiny. She allowed the Love of God to shape her life. Rebekah followed Abraham's servant back to Isaac and became his wife. Isaac was 40 years old. Rebekah was barren and Isaac prayed for her and God heard his prayer. It still took 20 years of marriage before Rebekah had her children. Rebekah was a woman of prayer and had no less access to God than Isaac did. We see her seeking seeking God's answer over the issue of her children fighting inside her womb.
Patience is always necessary in receiving Blessings from God. Patience in humans is endurance coupled with God's grace which combines to give us the ability to seek God in prayer and continue without giving up until the answer is received. Rebekah's weakness was the lack of patience putting her in the other side of her strength: decisiveness used in a deceitful way degenerates into harmful dominance. (Genesis 25) She never saw her beloved Jacob again. Rebekah, unknowingly, sent him to the land that Abraham, under any circumstances, wanted Isaac to put a foot. She died and rested with isaac in the Cave of Mach'Pelah.
Sunday, 29 January 2017
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
THE DEFINITION OF FAITH.
FAITH is the basis for HOPE and the evidence for conviction concerning UNSEEN REALITIES.
1 Timothy 3 says, "This is a True saying: If a man is eager to be a Church Leader, he desires an excellent work. (1) He must be Mature in the Faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the Devil was. (6) Church Helpers must also have a good character and be sincere; they must not be overindulged or be greedy for money; they should hold to the Revealed Truth of the Faith with a clear conscience. They should be tested first, and then, if they pass the test, they are to serve." (8-10)
Titus 2 says, "You must Teach what agrees with solid Doctrine. Instruct the older men to be temperate in the use of all sources of pleasure, sensible, and self-controlled; to be deep in their Faith, Love, and Endurance. (1-2)
Christian Faith is based on the complete Word of God. Faith is based on concrete evidence. Paul says in Romans 1: "I have complete confidence in the Scripture; it is God's Power to Save All Who Believe, first the Jew and also the Gentiles. For the Scripture reveals how God puts people right with Himself :
'It is through Faith from Beginning to End.' " (Romans 1: 16-17)
The visible Creative Works testify to the existence of an Invisible Creator. The actual occurrences of Jesus Christ, taking place during His Ministry and earthly life, identify Him as the Son of God.
God's record of providing for His Servants serve as a valid basis for Believing that He is a Giver and Restorer of Life. The reliability of God's Word and the accurate fulfillment of its Prophecies instill confidence in the realization of All of His Promises.
Romans 11 says, "There is a Secret Truth, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the 'complete number of Gentiles comes to God.' This is how All Israel will be saved.
As the Scripture says: 'The Savior will come from Zion and He will remove all the wickedness from the descendants of Jacob. I will make This Covenant with them when I take away their sins.'
Because the Jews reject the Good News, they are God's enemies for the sake of you Gentiles. But because of God's Choice, Jews are His Friends because of their ancestors. For God does not change His Mind about Whom He Chooses and Blesses. As for you Gentiles, you disobeyed God in the past; but now you have received God's Mercy because the Jews were disobedient. In the same way, because of the Mercy that you have received, the Jews now disobey God, in order that they also may now receive God's Mercy. For God has made All People prisoners of disobedience, so that He Might Show Mercy to them all. (Romans 11: 25-32)
Romans 9 and 10 say, "So we say that the Gentiles, who were not trying to put themselves right with God were put Right With Him Through Faith; while God's People, the Jews, who were seeking a Law that would put them Right With God, did not find it. And why not? Because Jews did not depend on Faith but on what they did. And so they stumbled over the 'stumbling stone' that the Scripture speaks of: 'Look, I place in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall. But whoever Believes in Him will not be disappointed.' (9: 30-33)
"I can assure you," says Paul, "that they are deeply devoted to God; but their devotion to God in not based on True Knowledge. They have not known the Way In Which God Puts People Right With Himself, and instead, they have tried to set up their own way; and so they did not submit themselves to God's Way of Putting People Right." (10: 2-4)
"Moses wrote this about being put Right With God by Obeying the Law: 'Whoever Obeys the Commands of the Law will live.' But what the scripture says about being put Right With God Through Faith is this: 'You are not to ask yourself, Who will go up into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down). 'Nor are you ask, Who will go down into the World below?' (that is, to bring Christ up from death).
What the Scripture says is this: 'God's message is near you, on your lips and in your heart' -that is, the Message of Faith that we preach." (10: 5-8) "For it is by our Faith that we are put Right With God; it is by our confession that we are saved. The Scripture says, 'Whoever Believes in Him will not be disappointed."(10: 10-11) "If you confess that Jesus is Lord and Believe that God Raised Him from the power of death, then you will be saved."(10:9)
Faith is not the possession of all persons, as it is a fruit of God's Spirit, and the Christian's Faith is not static, but it grows.
2 Thessalonians 2 says, "Concerning the Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with Him: 'I beg you, not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come." ((1-2) "Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the Final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears who is destined to hell. He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God."(3-4) "Yes there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper Time, then, the Wicked One will appear. The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the One Who Holds It Back is taken out of the Way. Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, He will kill the Wicked One with the Breath From His Mouth and destroy the Wicked One with His dazzling Presence." (6-8) "The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the Truth so as to be saved." (9-10) "The result is that all who have not believe the Truth, but have taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned." (12).
1 Timothy 3 says, "This is a True saying: If a man is eager to be a Church Leader, he desires an excellent work. (1) He must be Mature in the Faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the Devil was. (6) Church Helpers must also have a good character and be sincere; they must not be overindulged or be greedy for money; they should hold to the Revealed Truth of the Faith with a clear conscience. They should be tested first, and then, if they pass the test, they are to serve." (8-10)
Titus 2 says, "You must Teach what agrees with solid Doctrine. Instruct the older men to be temperate in the use of all sources of pleasure, sensible, and self-controlled; to be deep in their Faith, Love, and Endurance. (1-2)
Christian Faith is based on the complete Word of God. Faith is based on concrete evidence. Paul says in Romans 1: "I have complete confidence in the Scripture; it is God's Power to Save All Who Believe, first the Jew and also the Gentiles. For the Scripture reveals how God puts people right with Himself :
'It is through Faith from Beginning to End.' " (Romans 1: 16-17)
The visible Creative Works testify to the existence of an Invisible Creator. The actual occurrences of Jesus Christ, taking place during His Ministry and earthly life, identify Him as the Son of God.
God's record of providing for His Servants serve as a valid basis for Believing that He is a Giver and Restorer of Life. The reliability of God's Word and the accurate fulfillment of its Prophecies instill confidence in the realization of All of His Promises.
Romans 11 says, "There is a Secret Truth, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the 'complete number of Gentiles comes to God.' This is how All Israel will be saved.
As the Scripture says: 'The Savior will come from Zion and He will remove all the wickedness from the descendants of Jacob. I will make This Covenant with them when I take away their sins.'
Because the Jews reject the Good News, they are God's enemies for the sake of you Gentiles. But because of God's Choice, Jews are His Friends because of their ancestors. For God does not change His Mind about Whom He Chooses and Blesses. As for you Gentiles, you disobeyed God in the past; but now you have received God's Mercy because the Jews were disobedient. In the same way, because of the Mercy that you have received, the Jews now disobey God, in order that they also may now receive God's Mercy. For God has made All People prisoners of disobedience, so that He Might Show Mercy to them all. (Romans 11: 25-32)
Romans 9 and 10 say, "So we say that the Gentiles, who were not trying to put themselves right with God were put Right With Him Through Faith; while God's People, the Jews, who were seeking a Law that would put them Right With God, did not find it. And why not? Because Jews did not depend on Faith but on what they did. And so they stumbled over the 'stumbling stone' that the Scripture speaks of: 'Look, I place in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall. But whoever Believes in Him will not be disappointed.' (9: 30-33)
"I can assure you," says Paul, "that they are deeply devoted to God; but their devotion to God in not based on True Knowledge. They have not known the Way In Which God Puts People Right With Himself, and instead, they have tried to set up their own way; and so they did not submit themselves to God's Way of Putting People Right." (10: 2-4)
"Moses wrote this about being put Right With God by Obeying the Law: 'Whoever Obeys the Commands of the Law will live.' But what the scripture says about being put Right With God Through Faith is this: 'You are not to ask yourself, Who will go up into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down). 'Nor are you ask, Who will go down into the World below?' (that is, to bring Christ up from death).
What the Scripture says is this: 'God's message is near you, on your lips and in your heart' -that is, the Message of Faith that we preach." (10: 5-8) "For it is by our Faith that we are put Right With God; it is by our confession that we are saved. The Scripture says, 'Whoever Believes in Him will not be disappointed."(10: 10-11) "If you confess that Jesus is Lord and Believe that God Raised Him from the power of death, then you will be saved."(10:9)
Faith is not the possession of all persons, as it is a fruit of God's Spirit, and the Christian's Faith is not static, but it grows.
2 Thessalonians 2 says, "Concerning the Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with Him: 'I beg you, not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come." ((1-2) "Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the Final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears who is destined to hell. He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God."(3-4) "Yes there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper Time, then, the Wicked One will appear. The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the One Who Holds It Back is taken out of the Way. Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, He will kill the Wicked One with the Breath From His Mouth and destroy the Wicked One with His dazzling Presence." (6-8) "The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the Truth so as to be saved." (9-10) "The result is that all who have not believe the Truth, but have taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned." (12).
Tuesday, 24 January 2017
DAY OF JUDGMENT. Part 3.
In the Gospels, Christ Jesus is the Divine Agent who announces the advent of God's Rule. His 2nd coming will bring the consummation of God's Kingdom, including the Final Judgment of the wicked and the righteous.
The classic depiction of of this future Judgment is Matthew 24 and 25: "As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him in private. 'Tell us when all this will be,' the disciples asked, 'and what will happen to show that it is the Time for Your Coming and the End of Age.' " (24: 3)
Jesus answered, "Watch out, and do not let anyone fool you. Many Men, claiming to speak for Me, will come and say, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will fool many people. You are going to hear the noise of battles close by, and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the End has come. Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. All these things are like the first pains of childbirth." (24: 4-8)
"Many False Prophets will appear and fool many people. Such will be the spread of evil that many people's love will grow cold. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved." (24: 11-12)
"You will see 'The Awful Horror' of which the Prophet Daniel spoke. The Awful Horror will be standing in the Holy Place. Then those who are 'in Judea' must run away to the Hills." (24:16)
"Someone who is on the roof of a House must not take the Time to go down and get any belongings from the House. Someone who is in the Field must not go back to get a cloak." (24: 17-18)
"How terrible it will be in those Days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies!
Pray to God that you will not have to run away during the Winter or on a Sabbath! For the trouble at that Time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the World to this very Day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again." (24:19-21)
In the Gospel of John, Judgment is in the present Time. The moment coincide with the Act of Belief or Unbelief.
John 3 explain: Jesus said, "I Am Telling you the Truth; no one can 'see' the Kingdom of God without being born again."(3) "Born of water and the Spirit."(5) "The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit."(8) "As Moses lifted up the Bronze Snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who Believes in Him may have eternal life."(14) "For God did not send his Son into the World to be its Judge, but to be its Savior."(17)
"This is how the Judgment works: the Light has come into the World, but people love Darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds are evil."(19) They hate the Light because their evil deeds are shown up with the Light." (20) "But those who do what is True come to the Light in order that the Light may show that what they did was in obedience to God.
The apostle Paul also expected an imminent Judgment, the "Day of the Lord." 1Thessalonians 5 says, "There is no need to write you about the Times and occasions when these Things will happen. For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at Night. When people say, 'Everything is quiet and safe,' then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. But you are not in the Darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. All of you are people who belong to the Light, who belong to the Day. (1-5) God did not choose us to suffer His Anger, but to possess Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that we might live together with Him.
(9-10) "We urge you to warn the idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but at all times make it your aim to do good to one another and to all people. Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus." (14-18) "Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; do not despise inspired Messages. Put all things to the Test: keep what is good and avoid every kind of evil. May the God Who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being -spirit, soul, and body- free from every fault at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (19-23).
The classic depiction of of this future Judgment is Matthew 24 and 25: "As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him in private. 'Tell us when all this will be,' the disciples asked, 'and what will happen to show that it is the Time for Your Coming and the End of Age.' " (24: 3)
Jesus answered, "Watch out, and do not let anyone fool you. Many Men, claiming to speak for Me, will come and say, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will fool many people. You are going to hear the noise of battles close by, and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the End has come. Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. All these things are like the first pains of childbirth." (24: 4-8)
"Many False Prophets will appear and fool many people. Such will be the spread of evil that many people's love will grow cold. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved." (24: 11-12)
"You will see 'The Awful Horror' of which the Prophet Daniel spoke. The Awful Horror will be standing in the Holy Place. Then those who are 'in Judea' must run away to the Hills." (24:16)
"Someone who is on the roof of a House must not take the Time to go down and get any belongings from the House. Someone who is in the Field must not go back to get a cloak." (24: 17-18)
"How terrible it will be in those Days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies!
Pray to God that you will not have to run away during the Winter or on a Sabbath! For the trouble at that Time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the World to this very Day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again." (24:19-21)
In the Gospel of John, Judgment is in the present Time. The moment coincide with the Act of Belief or Unbelief.
John 3 explain: Jesus said, "I Am Telling you the Truth; no one can 'see' the Kingdom of God without being born again."(3) "Born of water and the Spirit."(5) "The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit."(8) "As Moses lifted up the Bronze Snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who Believes in Him may have eternal life."(14) "For God did not send his Son into the World to be its Judge, but to be its Savior."(17)
"This is how the Judgment works: the Light has come into the World, but people love Darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds are evil."(19) They hate the Light because their evil deeds are shown up with the Light." (20) "But those who do what is True come to the Light in order that the Light may show that what they did was in obedience to God.
The apostle Paul also expected an imminent Judgment, the "Day of the Lord." 1Thessalonians 5 says, "There is no need to write you about the Times and occasions when these Things will happen. For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at Night. When people say, 'Everything is quiet and safe,' then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. But you are not in the Darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. All of you are people who belong to the Light, who belong to the Day. (1-5) God did not choose us to suffer His Anger, but to possess Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that we might live together with Him.
(9-10) "We urge you to warn the idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but at all times make it your aim to do good to one another and to all people. Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus." (14-18) "Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; do not despise inspired Messages. Put all things to the Test: keep what is good and avoid every kind of evil. May the God Who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being -spirit, soul, and body- free from every fault at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (19-23).
DAY OF JUDGMENT. Part 2
In the Old Testament, the meaning of "Judgment" (Hebrew: Mish'Pat) carries both legal and theological effect, embedded in the Covenant principles of the nation of Israel.
Deuteronomy 1 says, "In this Book are the Words (God's Laws and Teachings) that Moses began to explain to the people of Israel while they were in the Wilderness East of the Jordan River, in the territory of Moab. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between Town of Paran on one side and the Towns of Tophel, Laban, Haze'Roth, and Diz'Ahab on the other.
It takes 11 Days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea by way of the Hill country of Edom.
On the 1st Day of the 11th Month of the 40th Year after they had left Egypt, Moses began to explain the people all the Words (God's Laws and teachings) the Lord had Commanded him to tell them.
This was after the Lord had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in the Town of Heshb'On, and King Og of Bash'An, who ruled in the Towns of Ash'Taroth and Endrei. (1:1-4)
God, Who is "Judge of all the earth," is not merely a distant magistrate but One whose Judgment expresses the continual unfolding of The Covenant relationship.
Exodus 20 says, "When the people heard the Thunder and the Trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking Mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. They said to Moses, 'If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die.' Moses replied, 'Do not be afraid; God has only come to Test you and make you keep on obeying Him, so that you will not sin.' But people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the Dark Cloud where God was.
The word "Liberation" is expressed in Hebrew by the verbal root "nsl," "deliver" and "pls," "rescue" along with "ys," "save"and "pah" "ransom." God merciful liberation from the Egyptian power occurred in Exodus.
Exodus 3 says, "One day while Moses was taking care of the "sheep and goats" of his father-in-law-Jethro, the Priest of Midian, Moses led the flock, across the Desert and came to "Sin'Ai, the Holy Mountain. There the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses as a Flame coming from the Middle of a Bush. Moses saw that the "Bush" was on Fire but that "the Bush was not burning up." (1-2)
"This is strange," Moses thought, "Why is not the 'Bush' burning up? I will go closer and see." (3)
When the Lord saw that Moses was coming closer, God called to him from the Middle of the Bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" He answered, "Yes, here I am." God said, "Do not come any closer." "Take off your sandals, because you are standing on Holy Ground." "I Am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Moses "covered his face," because he was afraid to "look at God."
Then the Lord said, "I have seen how cruelly My People are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from "their slave drivers"(their cry went up to God, Who Heard their groaning and Remembered His Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). I Know All about their sufferings, and so I Have Come Down to Rescue them out of Egypt "to a spacious Land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live." (4-8)
Exodus 4 says, "Then Moses answered the Lord, "But suppose the Israelites do not Believe me and will not listen to what I say. What shall I do if they say that You Did Not Appear To Me?" So the Lord asked Moses, "What are you holding?" "A walking stick," Moses answered. The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." It turned into a Snake, and Moses ran away from the snake. Then God said, "Moses, reach down and pick up the serpent by the tail." So Moses reached down and caught it, and it became a walking stick again. Then the Lord said, "Do this to prove to the Israelites that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Has Appeared to you." (1-5)
God spoke to Moses again, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses obeyed; and when Moses took his hand out, it was diseased, covered with white spots, like snow. Then God said, "Put your hand inside your robe again." Moses did so, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy, just like the rest of his body. God said, "If they will not Believe you or be convinced by the 1st Miracle, then This One will convince them. If in spite of these 2 Miracles they still will not Believe you, and"refuse to listen"to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it to the ground. The water will turn into blood."
(6-9)
Judgments and Commandments as expressions of the Covenantal relationship are to be kept by heart among God's People.
Exodus 24 says, "The Lord said to Moses, 'Come up the Holy Mountain to Me, you, and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the Leaders of the People; and while you are still some distance away, Bow Down in Worship. You alone, and none of the others, are to come near Me. The People are not even to come up the Holy Mountain.' (1-2)
In Exodus 4: 10- 17 Moses did not want to speak God's Law through his mouth since he considered himself a poor speaker: "Moses said, 'No, Lord, do not send me. I have never been a good speaker, and I have not become one since You Began to Speak to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant.' "
God said to Moses, "Who gives Man his mouth? Who makes Man deaf or dumb? Who gives Man sight or makes Man blind? It is I, the Lord." "Now, go! I Will Help you to speak, and I Will Tell you What to say." But Moses answered, "No, Lord, please send someone else."
At this God became angry with Moses and said, "What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I Know that Aaron can speak well. In fact, Aaron is now coming to meet you and will be glad to see you. You can speak to Aaron and tell him what to say. I Will Help both of you to speak, and I Will Tell you both What To Do. Aaron will be your spokesman and speak to the People for you, Moses. Then you will be like God, telling Aaron what to say. Take this Walking Stick with you; for with the Walking Stick you will perform Miracles."
Exodus 24: "Moses went and told the People All the Lord's Commands and All the Ordinances,
and All the People answered together: 'We will do everything that the Lord has said.' Moses wrote down All the Lord's Commands and Ordinances." (3-4)
"Early the Next Morning Moses built an Altar at the Foot of the Holy Mountain and set up 12 Stones, one for each of the 12 Tribes. Then Moses sent Young Men, and they burned sacrifices to the Lord and sacrificed some cattle as Fellowship Offerings. Moses took half of the Blood of the Animals and put the Blood in Bowls; and the other half Moses threw against the Altar. Then Moses took the Book of the Covenant, in which the Lord's Commands and Ordinances were written, and Read It Aloud to the People. The People said, 'We will Obey the Lord and do everything that He has Commanded.' " (5-7)
"Then Moses took the Blood in the bowls and threw the Blood on the People. Moses said, 'This is the Blood that Seals the Covenant which God Made With you when He Gave All These Commands and Ordinances.' " (8)
"Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the Leaders of the People of Israel went up the Holy Mountain and they saw the God of the People of Israel. Beneath His Feet was what looked like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky. God did not harm these leading Men of Israel; they saw God, and then they ate and drank together. "(9-11)
Deuteronomy 1 says, "In this Book are the Words (God's Laws and Teachings) that Moses began to explain to the people of Israel while they were in the Wilderness East of the Jordan River, in the territory of Moab. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between Town of Paran on one side and the Towns of Tophel, Laban, Haze'Roth, and Diz'Ahab on the other.
It takes 11 Days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea by way of the Hill country of Edom.
On the 1st Day of the 11th Month of the 40th Year after they had left Egypt, Moses began to explain the people all the Words (God's Laws and teachings) the Lord had Commanded him to tell them.
This was after the Lord had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in the Town of Heshb'On, and King Og of Bash'An, who ruled in the Towns of Ash'Taroth and Endrei. (1:1-4)
God, Who is "Judge of all the earth," is not merely a distant magistrate but One whose Judgment expresses the continual unfolding of The Covenant relationship.
Exodus 20 says, "When the people heard the Thunder and the Trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking Mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. They said to Moses, 'If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die.' Moses replied, 'Do not be afraid; God has only come to Test you and make you keep on obeying Him, so that you will not sin.' But people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the Dark Cloud where God was.
The word "Liberation" is expressed in Hebrew by the verbal root "nsl," "deliver" and "pls," "rescue" along with "ys," "save"and "pah" "ransom." God merciful liberation from the Egyptian power occurred in Exodus.
Exodus 3 says, "One day while Moses was taking care of the "sheep and goats" of his father-in-law-Jethro, the Priest of Midian, Moses led the flock, across the Desert and came to "Sin'Ai, the Holy Mountain. There the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses as a Flame coming from the Middle of a Bush. Moses saw that the "Bush" was on Fire but that "the Bush was not burning up." (1-2)
"This is strange," Moses thought, "Why is not the 'Bush' burning up? I will go closer and see." (3)
When the Lord saw that Moses was coming closer, God called to him from the Middle of the Bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" He answered, "Yes, here I am." God said, "Do not come any closer." "Take off your sandals, because you are standing on Holy Ground." "I Am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Moses "covered his face," because he was afraid to "look at God."
Then the Lord said, "I have seen how cruelly My People are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from "their slave drivers"(their cry went up to God, Who Heard their groaning and Remembered His Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). I Know All about their sufferings, and so I Have Come Down to Rescue them out of Egypt "to a spacious Land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live." (4-8)
Exodus 4 says, "Then Moses answered the Lord, "But suppose the Israelites do not Believe me and will not listen to what I say. What shall I do if they say that You Did Not Appear To Me?" So the Lord asked Moses, "What are you holding?" "A walking stick," Moses answered. The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." It turned into a Snake, and Moses ran away from the snake. Then God said, "Moses, reach down and pick up the serpent by the tail." So Moses reached down and caught it, and it became a walking stick again. Then the Lord said, "Do this to prove to the Israelites that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Has Appeared to you." (1-5)
God spoke to Moses again, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses obeyed; and when Moses took his hand out, it was diseased, covered with white spots, like snow. Then God said, "Put your hand inside your robe again." Moses did so, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy, just like the rest of his body. God said, "If they will not Believe you or be convinced by the 1st Miracle, then This One will convince them. If in spite of these 2 Miracles they still will not Believe you, and"refuse to listen"to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it to the ground. The water will turn into blood."
(6-9)
Judgments and Commandments as expressions of the Covenantal relationship are to be kept by heart among God's People.
Exodus 24 says, "The Lord said to Moses, 'Come up the Holy Mountain to Me, you, and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the Leaders of the People; and while you are still some distance away, Bow Down in Worship. You alone, and none of the others, are to come near Me. The People are not even to come up the Holy Mountain.' (1-2)
In Exodus 4: 10- 17 Moses did not want to speak God's Law through his mouth since he considered himself a poor speaker: "Moses said, 'No, Lord, do not send me. I have never been a good speaker, and I have not become one since You Began to Speak to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant.' "
God said to Moses, "Who gives Man his mouth? Who makes Man deaf or dumb? Who gives Man sight or makes Man blind? It is I, the Lord." "Now, go! I Will Help you to speak, and I Will Tell you What to say." But Moses answered, "No, Lord, please send someone else."
At this God became angry with Moses and said, "What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I Know that Aaron can speak well. In fact, Aaron is now coming to meet you and will be glad to see you. You can speak to Aaron and tell him what to say. I Will Help both of you to speak, and I Will Tell you both What To Do. Aaron will be your spokesman and speak to the People for you, Moses. Then you will be like God, telling Aaron what to say. Take this Walking Stick with you; for with the Walking Stick you will perform Miracles."
Exodus 24: "Moses went and told the People All the Lord's Commands and All the Ordinances,
and All the People answered together: 'We will do everything that the Lord has said.' Moses wrote down All the Lord's Commands and Ordinances." (3-4)
"Early the Next Morning Moses built an Altar at the Foot of the Holy Mountain and set up 12 Stones, one for each of the 12 Tribes. Then Moses sent Young Men, and they burned sacrifices to the Lord and sacrificed some cattle as Fellowship Offerings. Moses took half of the Blood of the Animals and put the Blood in Bowls; and the other half Moses threw against the Altar. Then Moses took the Book of the Covenant, in which the Lord's Commands and Ordinances were written, and Read It Aloud to the People. The People said, 'We will Obey the Lord and do everything that He has Commanded.' " (5-7)
"Then Moses took the Blood in the bowls and threw the Blood on the People. Moses said, 'This is the Blood that Seals the Covenant which God Made With you when He Gave All These Commands and Ordinances.' " (8)
"Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the Leaders of the People of Israel went up the Holy Mountain and they saw the God of the People of Israel. Beneath His Feet was what looked like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky. God did not harm these leading Men of Israel; they saw God, and then they ate and drank together. "(9-11)
Sunday, 22 January 2017
DAY OF JUDGMENT. Part 1.
The prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, our High Priest Jesus Christ and the apostles Peter and Paul all spoke of a Future "Day of Judgment." It is defined as a specific "Day"when mankind in general are called to account by God, involving, not only the living, but also those who had died in the past.
Matthew 10 says: "Jesus called his 12 disciples together and gave them 'authority' to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness (1). These 12 men were sent out by Jesus with the following instructions: 'Do not go to any Gentile territory or any Samaritan towns. Instead, you are to go to the 'lost sheep' of the people of Israel. Go and preach, 'The Kingdom of heaven is near!' Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases, and drive out demons. You have received without paying, so give without being paid. Do not carry any gold, silver, or copper money in your pockets; do not carry a beggar's bag for the trip or an extra shirt or shoes or a walking stick. Workers should be given what they need. When you come to a town or village, go in and look for someone who is willing to welcome you, and stay with him until you leave that place. When you go into a house, say, 'Peace be with you.' If the people in that house welcome you, let your greeting of peace remain; but if they do not welcome you, then take back your greeting. And if some home or town will not welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet. I assure you that on the 'Judgment Day' God will show more mercy to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than to the people of that Town! (5-15)"
Matthew 11 says: "The people in the towns where Jesus had performed most of His Miracles did not turn from their sins, so He reproached those towns. 'How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the Miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins! I assure you that on the 'Judgment Day' God will show more mercy to the people of Tyre and Sidon than to you! And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell! If the Miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be in existence today! You can be sure that on 'Judgment Day' God will show more mercy to Sodom than to you!' " (20-24)
Mathew 12 says: "To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears. You snakes -how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things. You can be sure that on 'Judgment Day' you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken. Your words will be used to judge you -to declare you either innocent or guilty." (33-37)
2 Timothy 3 and 4 says: "Remember that there will be difficult times in the Last Days. People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited, they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious, unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce. They will hate the good; they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires, women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the 'Truth. People whose minds do not function and who are failures in the 'Faith.' As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the 'Truth.' But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres." (1-9)
"But you have followed my 'Teaching,' my 'Conduct,' and my 'Purpose' in life; you have observed my 'Faith,' my 'Patience', my 'Love,' my 'Endurance,' my 'Persecutions,' and my 'Sufferings.' (10-11) But the Lord rescued me from them all. Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted; and evil persons and impostors will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. But as for you, continue in the 'Truths' that you were taught and firmly 'Believe.' You know 'who your teachers were,' and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the 'Holy Scripture,' which are able to give you the Wisdom that leads to Salvation through Faith in Christ Jesus.' All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the 'Truth,' rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the Person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed." (12-17)
"In the Presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will 'Judge' the living and the dead, and because He Is Coming to rule As King, I solemnly urge you to Preach the Message, to Insist upon Proclaiming It (whether the Time is right or not), to Convince, Reproach, and Encourage, as you Teach with patience.
The Time will come when people will not listen to sound Doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.
They will turn away from listening to the 'Truth' and give their attention to legends." (4: 1-4)
"But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances, endure suffering, do the work of a Preacher of the Good News, and perform your whole duty as a "Servant of God.' (4: 5)
Matthew 10 says: "Jesus called his 12 disciples together and gave them 'authority' to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness (1). These 12 men were sent out by Jesus with the following instructions: 'Do not go to any Gentile territory or any Samaritan towns. Instead, you are to go to the 'lost sheep' of the people of Israel. Go and preach, 'The Kingdom of heaven is near!' Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases, and drive out demons. You have received without paying, so give without being paid. Do not carry any gold, silver, or copper money in your pockets; do not carry a beggar's bag for the trip or an extra shirt or shoes or a walking stick. Workers should be given what they need. When you come to a town or village, go in and look for someone who is willing to welcome you, and stay with him until you leave that place. When you go into a house, say, 'Peace be with you.' If the people in that house welcome you, let your greeting of peace remain; but if they do not welcome you, then take back your greeting. And if some home or town will not welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet. I assure you that on the 'Judgment Day' God will show more mercy to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than to the people of that Town! (5-15)"
Matthew 11 says: "The people in the towns where Jesus had performed most of His Miracles did not turn from their sins, so He reproached those towns. 'How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the Miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins! I assure you that on the 'Judgment Day' God will show more mercy to the people of Tyre and Sidon than to you! And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell! If the Miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be in existence today! You can be sure that on 'Judgment Day' God will show more mercy to Sodom than to you!' " (20-24)
Mathew 12 says: "To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears. You snakes -how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things. You can be sure that on 'Judgment Day' you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken. Your words will be used to judge you -to declare you either innocent or guilty." (33-37)
2 Timothy 3 and 4 says: "Remember that there will be difficult times in the Last Days. People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited, they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious, unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce. They will hate the good; they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires, women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the 'Truth. People whose minds do not function and who are failures in the 'Faith.' As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the 'Truth.' But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres." (1-9)
"But you have followed my 'Teaching,' my 'Conduct,' and my 'Purpose' in life; you have observed my 'Faith,' my 'Patience', my 'Love,' my 'Endurance,' my 'Persecutions,' and my 'Sufferings.' (10-11) But the Lord rescued me from them all. Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted; and evil persons and impostors will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. But as for you, continue in the 'Truths' that you were taught and firmly 'Believe.' You know 'who your teachers were,' and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the 'Holy Scripture,' which are able to give you the Wisdom that leads to Salvation through Faith in Christ Jesus.' All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the 'Truth,' rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the Person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed." (12-17)
"In the Presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will 'Judge' the living and the dead, and because He Is Coming to rule As King, I solemnly urge you to Preach the Message, to Insist upon Proclaiming It (whether the Time is right or not), to Convince, Reproach, and Encourage, as you Teach with patience.
The Time will come when people will not listen to sound Doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.
They will turn away from listening to the 'Truth' and give their attention to legends." (4: 1-4)
"But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances, endure suffering, do the work of a Preacher of the Good News, and perform your whole duty as a "Servant of God.' (4: 5)
UNDERSTANDING METAPHYSICS.
Metaphysics is the investigation of the fundamental nature of being and the World that encompasses it. Topics of investigation include 'existence,' 'objects and their properties,' 'space and time,' 'cause and effect,' and 'possibility.'
The investigation concerning entities that exist or may be said to exist and how they are grouped within a hierarchy is called Ontology.
Parmenides (5th BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Great Greece (name given by Romans to Coastal areas of Southern Italy). He was the founder of the Eleatic School of philosophy.
The Eleatics rejected the logical (knowledge) validity of sense experience, and instead took standards of clarity and necessity to be the criteria of Truth. The concept of Truth is discussed and debated in several contexts. Some philosophers view the concept as basic, and unable to be explained in any terms.
Commonly, Truth is viewed as the correspondence of language or thought to an independent reality.
Identity is a fundamental metaphysical issue, the positions one takes on it has far-reaching implications on issues such as the mind-body interaction, personal identity, ethics and law.
Greeks took extreme positions on the nature of change. Parmenides denied change altogether, while Hera'Clitus argued that change was ubiquitous: "You cannot step into the same River twice."
A modern philosopher who made a lasting impact on the philosophy of identity was Leibniz (1 July 1646-Nov14,1716), a German polymath, whose "Law of the Indiscernability of Identicals" is still in wide use today. Leibniz, in philosophy, is most noted for his optimism in his conclusion that the Universe is, in a restricted sense, the best possible one that God could have created. His father died when he was 6 and from that point he was raised by his mother. His father had been a Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Leipzig, Germany, one of the World's oldest universities. The boy later inherited his father's personal library. He was given free access to it from the age of 7 enabling him to self study a wide variety of advanced philosophical and theological works. The books were written in Latin that led to his proficiency in the Latin language, which he achieved at the age of 12.
Famous alumni include Goethe, Ranke, Nietzsche, Wagner, Angela Merkel, Raila Odinga, Tycho Brahe, and 9 Nobel Laureates are associated with the University.
The earliest recorded Philosophy of Time was expounded by Egyptian thinker Ptah'Hotep (2650-2600 BC), who said, "Do not lessen the Time of following desire, for the wasting of time is an abomination to the spirit." The Vedas, the earliest texts on Indian philosophy and Hindu philosophy, dating back to the late 2nd millennium BC, describe its cosmology, in which the Universe goes through repeated cycles of creation, destruction, and rebirth, with each cycle lasting 4'320,000 years. Parmenides and Hera'Clitus, also wrote essays on the nature of Time. The Incas in South America and the Pre-Incas cultures regarded space and time as a single concept, named "Pacha." Plato, in "Timaeus," identified Time with the Period of Motion of the heavenly bodies, and space as that in which things come to be.
In the early century, the Muslim physicist Ibn Al-Haytham discussed space perception and its implications in his book "Book of Optics." In "tying the visual perception of space to prior bodily experience, he rejected the intuitiveness of spatial perception and, the autonomy of vision. Without tangible notions of distance and size for correlation, sight can tell us next to nothing about such things.
Other questions that Metaphysicians investigate are about the ways the World could have been. The term goes to Leibniz's theory of possible worlds. The actual World is regarded as merely one among an infinite set of logically possible Worlds, some nearer to the actual World and some more remote.
Cosmology is dealt with the World as the totality of all phenomena in space and time. It has had a broad scope and was founded in religion. It deals specifically with the origin of the Universe, its first cause, its necessary existence, its material components, and its ultimate reason for its existence and its purpose.
The nature of Matter was a problem in its own right in early philosophy. It was the material cause underlying a change in Aristotelian philosophy. The Greeks originally had no word for matter so Aristotle adapted the word for "wood" to this purpose. The idea that everything physical is made of the same basic substance holds up well under modern science, although it may be thought of more in terms of energy, a substance that endure a change in form, or transformation. Democritus, in conjunction with his mentor, Leucippus, conceived of an atomic theory some 24 centuries before it was accepted by modern science.
The nature of the Mind and its relation to the Body has been seen as more of a problem as science has progressed in its mechanistic understanding of the Brain and Body. Rene Descartes proposed substance dualism, a theory in which Mind and Body are essentially different, with the Mind having some of the attributes assigned to the Soul, creating a conceptual puzzle about how the two interact.
Phineas Gage (1823-1860) was an American railroad foreman remembered for his strange survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, and for that injury's reported effects on his personality and behavior over the remaining 12 years of his life -effects sufficiently profound that friends saw him as "no longer Gage."
His case influenced 19th-century discussion about Mind and Brain, and the 1st case to suggest the Brain's role in determining personality, and that damage to specific parts of the brain might induce specific personality changes. A report of his physical and mental condition shortly before his death implies that his most serious mental changes were temporary, so that in later life he was far more functional, and socially far better adapted, than in the years immediately following his accident. A social recovery hypothesis suggest that Gage's work as a stagecoach driver in Chile fostered this recovery by providing daily structure which allowed him to regain lost social and personal skills.
He was described before the accident as a perfectly healthy, strong and active young man, 26 years of age with excitable and active mental powers, able to endure great mental and physical labor.
On September 13, 1848, Gage was directing a work gang blasting rock while preparing the roadbed for the railroad South of the Town of Cavendish, Vermont. His attention was attracted by his men behind him and inadvertently bringing his head into line with the blast. George was thrown onto his back and gave some brief convulsions of the arms and legs, but spoke within a few minutes, walked with little assistant, and sat upright. About 30 minutes after the accident physician Edward H. Williams, arrive to the scene, he said; "I first noticed the wound upon the head, the pulsations of the brain were distinct. The top of the head appeared somewhat like an inverted tunnel, as if some wedge-shaped body had passed from below upward. During the time I was examining the wound, Gage was explaining to bystanders the manner in which he was wounded, then he got up and vomited and the effort pressed out about half a teacup of the brain, which fell upon the floor. Despite his own optimism, Gage's convalescence was long, difficult, and uneven. Though recognizing his mother and uncle on the morning after the accident, on the 2nd day he "lost control of his Mind, and became delirious." By the 4th day he was again rational, able to recognize his friends. At the 12th day he was semi-comatose, seldom speaking and answering only in monosyllables. The following days his strength decay, coma deepened; the globe of the left eye became protuberant with fungus and with infected brain tissue pushing out rapidly. At the 14th day the exhalations from the mouth and head were fetid. The fungi was controlled by cutting it out and cleaning the fetid liquid accumulated in the cavity. After weeks of further improvements, he started to entertain the idea that is was possible for him to recover. On the 24th day, Gage succeeded in raising himself up and took one step to his chair. One month later he was walking up and down stairs, and about the house, and in the street. He was uncontrollable at this point. He soon developed a fever and after a while he recovered again. 10 weeks after the accident he was able to return to his parent's home traveling in an enclosed carriage of the kind used for transportation of the insane. After a little while he was able to do a little work about the horses in the farm, feeding the cattle etc. After a mont there his mother told to the physician that his son's memory seemed somewhat impaired, though slightly enough that a stranger would not notice. His recovery was quite complete during the 4 years after the accident. In November 1849, the professor of Surgery at Harvard University brought Gage to Boston for several weeks to further medical research. Unable to return to his usual work he was for a time a kind of living museum exhibit at Barnum's American Museum in New York City. The for 18 months he worked for the owner of a stable and coach service in Hanover, New Hamp'Shire. In August 1852, Gage was invited to Chile to work as a long-distant stagecoach driver there, caring for the horses and often driving heavily laden and drawn by 6 horses on the Valparaiso-Santiago route. His health began to fail in in 1859 due to hardship and exposure. He went back to his mother house and after a brief period of resting and recovering and anxious to work he found a job with a farmer nearby. In 1860 Gage began to have epileptic seizures increasing in frequency and severity but he wanted to continue to work but he could not do much. In 1866, he had his final epileptic attack and died after convulsing day and night. His skull and his iron bar were claimed by the physician who treated him soon after the accident. After studying them, the surgeon deposited the iron bar and the skull in the Warren Museum.
Determinism is the proposition that every event, decision and action, is casually determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences.It holds that nothing happens that has not already been determined.
The principal consequence of the claim is that it posses a challenge to the existence of free will.
The problem of free will is whether rational agents exercise control over their own actions and decisions. Addressing this problem requires understanding the relation between freedom and causation, and determining whether the laws of nature are causally deterministic.
The ones who accept Free Will but reject Determinism are called Libertarians, a term not to be confused with the political sense.
Metaphysics continues asking "why"where science leaves off.
The investigation concerning entities that exist or may be said to exist and how they are grouped within a hierarchy is called Ontology.
Parmenides (5th BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Great Greece (name given by Romans to Coastal areas of Southern Italy). He was the founder of the Eleatic School of philosophy.
The Eleatics rejected the logical (knowledge) validity of sense experience, and instead took standards of clarity and necessity to be the criteria of Truth. The concept of Truth is discussed and debated in several contexts. Some philosophers view the concept as basic, and unable to be explained in any terms.
Commonly, Truth is viewed as the correspondence of language or thought to an independent reality.
Identity is a fundamental metaphysical issue, the positions one takes on it has far-reaching implications on issues such as the mind-body interaction, personal identity, ethics and law.
Greeks took extreme positions on the nature of change. Parmenides denied change altogether, while Hera'Clitus argued that change was ubiquitous: "You cannot step into the same River twice."
A modern philosopher who made a lasting impact on the philosophy of identity was Leibniz (1 July 1646-Nov14,1716), a German polymath, whose "Law of the Indiscernability of Identicals" is still in wide use today. Leibniz, in philosophy, is most noted for his optimism in his conclusion that the Universe is, in a restricted sense, the best possible one that God could have created. His father died when he was 6 and from that point he was raised by his mother. His father had been a Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Leipzig, Germany, one of the World's oldest universities. The boy later inherited his father's personal library. He was given free access to it from the age of 7 enabling him to self study a wide variety of advanced philosophical and theological works. The books were written in Latin that led to his proficiency in the Latin language, which he achieved at the age of 12.
Famous alumni include Goethe, Ranke, Nietzsche, Wagner, Angela Merkel, Raila Odinga, Tycho Brahe, and 9 Nobel Laureates are associated with the University.
The earliest recorded Philosophy of Time was expounded by Egyptian thinker Ptah'Hotep (2650-2600 BC), who said, "Do not lessen the Time of following desire, for the wasting of time is an abomination to the spirit." The Vedas, the earliest texts on Indian philosophy and Hindu philosophy, dating back to the late 2nd millennium BC, describe its cosmology, in which the Universe goes through repeated cycles of creation, destruction, and rebirth, with each cycle lasting 4'320,000 years. Parmenides and Hera'Clitus, also wrote essays on the nature of Time. The Incas in South America and the Pre-Incas cultures regarded space and time as a single concept, named "Pacha." Plato, in "Timaeus," identified Time with the Period of Motion of the heavenly bodies, and space as that in which things come to be.
In the early century, the Muslim physicist Ibn Al-Haytham discussed space perception and its implications in his book "Book of Optics." In "tying the visual perception of space to prior bodily experience, he rejected the intuitiveness of spatial perception and, the autonomy of vision. Without tangible notions of distance and size for correlation, sight can tell us next to nothing about such things.
Other questions that Metaphysicians investigate are about the ways the World could have been. The term goes to Leibniz's theory of possible worlds. The actual World is regarded as merely one among an infinite set of logically possible Worlds, some nearer to the actual World and some more remote.
Cosmology is dealt with the World as the totality of all phenomena in space and time. It has had a broad scope and was founded in religion. It deals specifically with the origin of the Universe, its first cause, its necessary existence, its material components, and its ultimate reason for its existence and its purpose.
The nature of Matter was a problem in its own right in early philosophy. It was the material cause underlying a change in Aristotelian philosophy. The Greeks originally had no word for matter so Aristotle adapted the word for "wood" to this purpose. The idea that everything physical is made of the same basic substance holds up well under modern science, although it may be thought of more in terms of energy, a substance that endure a change in form, or transformation. Democritus, in conjunction with his mentor, Leucippus, conceived of an atomic theory some 24 centuries before it was accepted by modern science.
The nature of the Mind and its relation to the Body has been seen as more of a problem as science has progressed in its mechanistic understanding of the Brain and Body. Rene Descartes proposed substance dualism, a theory in which Mind and Body are essentially different, with the Mind having some of the attributes assigned to the Soul, creating a conceptual puzzle about how the two interact.
Phineas Gage (1823-1860) was an American railroad foreman remembered for his strange survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, and for that injury's reported effects on his personality and behavior over the remaining 12 years of his life -effects sufficiently profound that friends saw him as "no longer Gage."
His case influenced 19th-century discussion about Mind and Brain, and the 1st case to suggest the Brain's role in determining personality, and that damage to specific parts of the brain might induce specific personality changes. A report of his physical and mental condition shortly before his death implies that his most serious mental changes were temporary, so that in later life he was far more functional, and socially far better adapted, than in the years immediately following his accident. A social recovery hypothesis suggest that Gage's work as a stagecoach driver in Chile fostered this recovery by providing daily structure which allowed him to regain lost social and personal skills.
He was described before the accident as a perfectly healthy, strong and active young man, 26 years of age with excitable and active mental powers, able to endure great mental and physical labor.
On September 13, 1848, Gage was directing a work gang blasting rock while preparing the roadbed for the railroad South of the Town of Cavendish, Vermont. His attention was attracted by his men behind him and inadvertently bringing his head into line with the blast. George was thrown onto his back and gave some brief convulsions of the arms and legs, but spoke within a few minutes, walked with little assistant, and sat upright. About 30 minutes after the accident physician Edward H. Williams, arrive to the scene, he said; "I first noticed the wound upon the head, the pulsations of the brain were distinct. The top of the head appeared somewhat like an inverted tunnel, as if some wedge-shaped body had passed from below upward. During the time I was examining the wound, Gage was explaining to bystanders the manner in which he was wounded, then he got up and vomited and the effort pressed out about half a teacup of the brain, which fell upon the floor. Despite his own optimism, Gage's convalescence was long, difficult, and uneven. Though recognizing his mother and uncle on the morning after the accident, on the 2nd day he "lost control of his Mind, and became delirious." By the 4th day he was again rational, able to recognize his friends. At the 12th day he was semi-comatose, seldom speaking and answering only in monosyllables. The following days his strength decay, coma deepened; the globe of the left eye became protuberant with fungus and with infected brain tissue pushing out rapidly. At the 14th day the exhalations from the mouth and head were fetid. The fungi was controlled by cutting it out and cleaning the fetid liquid accumulated in the cavity. After weeks of further improvements, he started to entertain the idea that is was possible for him to recover. On the 24th day, Gage succeeded in raising himself up and took one step to his chair. One month later he was walking up and down stairs, and about the house, and in the street. He was uncontrollable at this point. He soon developed a fever and after a while he recovered again. 10 weeks after the accident he was able to return to his parent's home traveling in an enclosed carriage of the kind used for transportation of the insane. After a little while he was able to do a little work about the horses in the farm, feeding the cattle etc. After a mont there his mother told to the physician that his son's memory seemed somewhat impaired, though slightly enough that a stranger would not notice. His recovery was quite complete during the 4 years after the accident. In November 1849, the professor of Surgery at Harvard University brought Gage to Boston for several weeks to further medical research. Unable to return to his usual work he was for a time a kind of living museum exhibit at Barnum's American Museum in New York City. The for 18 months he worked for the owner of a stable and coach service in Hanover, New Hamp'Shire. In August 1852, Gage was invited to Chile to work as a long-distant stagecoach driver there, caring for the horses and often driving heavily laden and drawn by 6 horses on the Valparaiso-Santiago route. His health began to fail in in 1859 due to hardship and exposure. He went back to his mother house and after a brief period of resting and recovering and anxious to work he found a job with a farmer nearby. In 1860 Gage began to have epileptic seizures increasing in frequency and severity but he wanted to continue to work but he could not do much. In 1866, he had his final epileptic attack and died after convulsing day and night. His skull and his iron bar were claimed by the physician who treated him soon after the accident. After studying them, the surgeon deposited the iron bar and the skull in the Warren Museum.
Determinism is the proposition that every event, decision and action, is casually determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences.It holds that nothing happens that has not already been determined.
The principal consequence of the claim is that it posses a challenge to the existence of free will.
The problem of free will is whether rational agents exercise control over their own actions and decisions. Addressing this problem requires understanding the relation between freedom and causation, and determining whether the laws of nature are causally deterministic.
The ones who accept Free Will but reject Determinism are called Libertarians, a term not to be confused with the political sense.
Metaphysics continues asking "why"where science leaves off.
KANT AND HIS VIEW OF GOD.
Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724-12 February 1804) was a German philosopher considered a central figure in modern philosophy. Kant argued that the Human Mind creates the structure of Experience, that Reason is the source of Morality, that the nature of art, beauty, and taste arises from a faculty of disinterested judgment, that space and time are forms of our sensibility, and that the World as it is "in-itself" is independent of our concepts of it.
Politically, Kant was one of the earliest exponents of the idea that Perpetual Peace could be secured through Universal Democracy and International Cooperation. He believed that this will be the eventual outcome of Universal History, although it is not Rationally Planned.
The exact nature of Kant's religious ideas is a subject of heated philosophical dispute. His father was A German harness maker from Memel, at that time Prussia's most North Eastern City (now in Lithuania). The Kants got their name from the Village of Kant'Waggen and were of Curonian origin.
The Curonians were a Baltic Tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in what is now the Western parts of Latvia and Lithuania from the 5th to the 16th centuries, when they merged with other Baltic Tribes. The Curonians were known as fierce warriors, excellent sailors and pirates. They were involved in several wars and alliances with Swed'Ish, Dan'Ish, and Ice'Land Vikings. During that period they were the most restless and the richest of all the Balts. Curonians were a especially cultic people, worshiping a variety of entities and their sacred animal, the Horse. In 1075CE Adam of Bremen described the Curonians as the World famous diviners: "... gold is plentiful there, horses are of the best.
All the houses are full of soothsayers, diviners, and necromancers, who are arrayed in monastic habit. Oracular responses are sought there from all parts of the World, especially by Spaniards and Greeks." It was common for the Curonians to carry out joint raids and campaigns together with Estonians.
There are many sources that mention the Curonians in the 13th century, when they were involved in the Northern Crusades. The descendants of the Curonian nobility, athough downgraded to peasant status, and its lands were gradually assimilated into the nascent Lithuanian nation and ceased to be known as a distinct society by the 16th century.
Youn Kant was brought up in a Pietist household that stressed religious devotion, humility, and a literal interpretation of the Scripture. His education was strict, punitive and disciplinary. His mother was also born in Konigs'Berg, Prussia to a father from Nuremberg. She died young at the age of 40 when Kant was 13 years old. Kant was the 4th of 9 children (4 of them reached adulthood). Baptized "Emanuel," he changed his name to "Immanuel" after learning Hebrew. Common myths about Kant's personal mannerisms says that Kant lived a very strict, solitary, and disciplined life. Neighbors would set their clocks by his daily walks. He never married.
Kant attended the Collegium Fridericianum from which he graduated in 1740, at the age of 16. The Collegium was the first Private Pietist school not to be affiliated with a Parish Church. Alumni were known as Friderizianer. The school consisted of a Latin school, a German school, and a boarding school often used by foreign students. It also contained a Wooden Tower utilized as an observatory and a small church in service until 1853. Then Kant enrolled at the University of Konigs'Berg, where he spent his whole career. Kant never travelled more than 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) from his hometown his whole life. His father's stroke and subsequent death in 1746 interrupted his routine and went back to it in 1754.
The issue that vexed Kant was central to what 20th-century scholars called "the philosophy of mind."
The flowering of the natural sciences had led to an understanding of how data reaches the brain. Sunlight falling on an object is reflected from its surface in a way that maps the surface features (color, texture, etc). The reflected light reaches the human eye, passes through the cornea, is focused by the lens onto the retina where it forms an image similar to that formed by light passing through a pinhole into a darkened tent. The retina cells send impulses through the optic nerve and then they form a mapping in the brain of the visual features of the object. The interior mapping is not the exterior object, and our belief that there is a meaningful relationship between the object and the mapping in the brain depends on a chain of reasoning that is not fully grounded. But the uncertainty aroused by these considerations, by optical illusions, misperceptions, delusions, etc., are not the end of the problems.
Kant saw that the mind could not function as an empty container that simply receives data from the outside. Something must be giving order to the incoming data.
In the Scriptural example of Eve being deceived by Satan we can see how Eve's mind was occupied by the forces of the physical world taking the infinite to a finite World moved by space and time, with no chance to go back by itself.
In Kant's essay "Answering the Question: What is Enlightement?" he defined the Enlightement as an age shaped by the Latin motto "Dare to be Wise."Kant maintained that we ought to think autonomously and free of the dictate of external and worldly authorities.
Kant asserted that, because of the limitations of argumentation in the absence of irrefutable evidence, no one could really know whether there is a God and an afterlife or not. For the sake of morality and as a ground for reason, people are justified in believing in God, even though they could never know God's Presence personally. He explained:
"All the preparations of Reason, therefore, in what we called pure philosophy, are in reality directed to those 3 problems only: God, the soul, and freedom. However, these 3 elements in themselves still hold independent, proportional, objective weight individually. Moreover, in a collective relational context; namely, to know "what ought to be done": if the will is free, if there is a God, and if there is a future world. As this concerns our actions with reference to the highest aims of life, we see that the ultimate intention of nature in her wise provision was really, in the constitution of our reason, directed to moral interests only."
The presupposition of God, soul, and freedom was then a practical concern, for "Morality, by itself, constitutes a system, but happiness does not, unless it is distributed in exact proportion to morality. This, however, is possible in an intelligible World only under a wise author and ruler. Reason compels us to admit such a ruler, together with life in such a World, which we must consider as future life, or else all moral laws are to be considered as idle dreams ... "
Kant claimed to have created a "Copernican Revolution" in philosophy : -a sense of uprootedness within cosmology. -a way of representing the path of Reason and Enlightenment. -mistrust of common sense as a guide to Truth. -a World-picture based on scientific laws rather than narratives.
These teachings placed the active, rational human subject at the center of the cognitive and moral Worlds. The 2 Worlds are not able to transcend the bounds of our own mind, meaning that we cannot access or comprehend the whole Creation in itself. Also Kant argued that the Rational Order of the World as known by science was not just the accidental accumulation of sense perceptions. The external World provides the things that we sense, but it is our mind that processes this information and gives it order, allowing us to comprehend it. Our mind supplies the conditions of space and time to experience the objects. The concepts of the Mind (Understanding) and the perception or intuitions that collect and store information from phenomena (Sensibility) are synthesized by Comprehension. Without the concepts, perception are nondescript; without the perceptions, concepts are meaningless -thus the famous statement, "Thoughts without content are empty, Intuitions (perceptions) without concepts are blind."
Politically, Kant was one of the earliest exponents of the idea that Perpetual Peace could be secured through Universal Democracy and International Cooperation. He believed that this will be the eventual outcome of Universal History, although it is not Rationally Planned.
The exact nature of Kant's religious ideas is a subject of heated philosophical dispute. His father was A German harness maker from Memel, at that time Prussia's most North Eastern City (now in Lithuania). The Kants got their name from the Village of Kant'Waggen and were of Curonian origin.
The Curonians were a Baltic Tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in what is now the Western parts of Latvia and Lithuania from the 5th to the 16th centuries, when they merged with other Baltic Tribes. The Curonians were known as fierce warriors, excellent sailors and pirates. They were involved in several wars and alliances with Swed'Ish, Dan'Ish, and Ice'Land Vikings. During that period they were the most restless and the richest of all the Balts. Curonians were a especially cultic people, worshiping a variety of entities and their sacred animal, the Horse. In 1075CE Adam of Bremen described the Curonians as the World famous diviners: "... gold is plentiful there, horses are of the best.
All the houses are full of soothsayers, diviners, and necromancers, who are arrayed in monastic habit. Oracular responses are sought there from all parts of the World, especially by Spaniards and Greeks." It was common for the Curonians to carry out joint raids and campaigns together with Estonians.
There are many sources that mention the Curonians in the 13th century, when they were involved in the Northern Crusades. The descendants of the Curonian nobility, athough downgraded to peasant status, and its lands were gradually assimilated into the nascent Lithuanian nation and ceased to be known as a distinct society by the 16th century.
Youn Kant was brought up in a Pietist household that stressed religious devotion, humility, and a literal interpretation of the Scripture. His education was strict, punitive and disciplinary. His mother was also born in Konigs'Berg, Prussia to a father from Nuremberg. She died young at the age of 40 when Kant was 13 years old. Kant was the 4th of 9 children (4 of them reached adulthood). Baptized "Emanuel," he changed his name to "Immanuel" after learning Hebrew. Common myths about Kant's personal mannerisms says that Kant lived a very strict, solitary, and disciplined life. Neighbors would set their clocks by his daily walks. He never married.
Kant attended the Collegium Fridericianum from which he graduated in 1740, at the age of 16. The Collegium was the first Private Pietist school not to be affiliated with a Parish Church. Alumni were known as Friderizianer. The school consisted of a Latin school, a German school, and a boarding school often used by foreign students. It also contained a Wooden Tower utilized as an observatory and a small church in service until 1853. Then Kant enrolled at the University of Konigs'Berg, where he spent his whole career. Kant never travelled more than 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) from his hometown his whole life. His father's stroke and subsequent death in 1746 interrupted his routine and went back to it in 1754.
The issue that vexed Kant was central to what 20th-century scholars called "the philosophy of mind."
The flowering of the natural sciences had led to an understanding of how data reaches the brain. Sunlight falling on an object is reflected from its surface in a way that maps the surface features (color, texture, etc). The reflected light reaches the human eye, passes through the cornea, is focused by the lens onto the retina where it forms an image similar to that formed by light passing through a pinhole into a darkened tent. The retina cells send impulses through the optic nerve and then they form a mapping in the brain of the visual features of the object. The interior mapping is not the exterior object, and our belief that there is a meaningful relationship between the object and the mapping in the brain depends on a chain of reasoning that is not fully grounded. But the uncertainty aroused by these considerations, by optical illusions, misperceptions, delusions, etc., are not the end of the problems.
Kant saw that the mind could not function as an empty container that simply receives data from the outside. Something must be giving order to the incoming data.
In the Scriptural example of Eve being deceived by Satan we can see how Eve's mind was occupied by the forces of the physical world taking the infinite to a finite World moved by space and time, with no chance to go back by itself.
In Kant's essay "Answering the Question: What is Enlightement?" he defined the Enlightement as an age shaped by the Latin motto "Dare to be Wise."Kant maintained that we ought to think autonomously and free of the dictate of external and worldly authorities.
Kant asserted that, because of the limitations of argumentation in the absence of irrefutable evidence, no one could really know whether there is a God and an afterlife or not. For the sake of morality and as a ground for reason, people are justified in believing in God, even though they could never know God's Presence personally. He explained:
"All the preparations of Reason, therefore, in what we called pure philosophy, are in reality directed to those 3 problems only: God, the soul, and freedom. However, these 3 elements in themselves still hold independent, proportional, objective weight individually. Moreover, in a collective relational context; namely, to know "what ought to be done": if the will is free, if there is a God, and if there is a future world. As this concerns our actions with reference to the highest aims of life, we see that the ultimate intention of nature in her wise provision was really, in the constitution of our reason, directed to moral interests only."
The presupposition of God, soul, and freedom was then a practical concern, for "Morality, by itself, constitutes a system, but happiness does not, unless it is distributed in exact proportion to morality. This, however, is possible in an intelligible World only under a wise author and ruler. Reason compels us to admit such a ruler, together with life in such a World, which we must consider as future life, or else all moral laws are to be considered as idle dreams ... "
Kant claimed to have created a "Copernican Revolution" in philosophy : -a sense of uprootedness within cosmology. -a way of representing the path of Reason and Enlightenment. -mistrust of common sense as a guide to Truth. -a World-picture based on scientific laws rather than narratives.
These teachings placed the active, rational human subject at the center of the cognitive and moral Worlds. The 2 Worlds are not able to transcend the bounds of our own mind, meaning that we cannot access or comprehend the whole Creation in itself. Also Kant argued that the Rational Order of the World as known by science was not just the accidental accumulation of sense perceptions. The external World provides the things that we sense, but it is our mind that processes this information and gives it order, allowing us to comprehend it. Our mind supplies the conditions of space and time to experience the objects. The concepts of the Mind (Understanding) and the perception or intuitions that collect and store information from phenomena (Sensibility) are synthesized by Comprehension. Without the concepts, perception are nondescript; without the perceptions, concepts are meaningless -thus the famous statement, "Thoughts without content are empty, Intuitions (perceptions) without concepts are blind."
Saturday, 21 January 2017
ETERNITY ACCORDING TO ANCIENT EGYPT.
Ancient Egyptian beliefs about the Afterlife endured for more than 3,000 years.
Grave goods were intended to provide the deceased with the spiritual and physical support needed for smooth passage to eternity.
Wrapped around the mummy's neck, beads helped restore breath through the symbolism of their colors. Blue, Green and Black called up Water and Sky, Vegetation, and Youth. White, Yellow and Red stood for Sun, Light, Fire and Blood.
A small human funerary figures named "Shabti" were placed in tombs among the grave goods intended to act as servants for the deceased that carried out the tasks required in the underworld. They were made of clay, wood, or stone; early ones were sometimes made from wax also. While shabtis manufactured for the rich were often miniature works of art, the great mass of cheaply ones were made from single molds with little detail.
It is thought that the term meant "follower" or "answerer" because the figurine "answered" for the deceased person and performed all the routine chores of daily life for its master in the afterlife that the gods had planned for them. Then, it was necessary for the owner's name and titles to be inscribed on the shabti, along with the phrase sending them to action, written in the hieratic script. Some of them wore wigs and jewelry like living people, but as workers in the Afterlife, they hold a hoe in their shoulders and a basket on their backs, implying they were intended to farm for the deceased.
The inscription often contained the 6th chapter of the Book of the Dead, translated as : "Illumine the Osiris (name of the deceased), whose word is truth. Hail "shabti" figure! If the Osiris (name of the deceased) be decreed to do any of the work which is to be done, let everything which stand in the way be removed from him -whether it be to plough the Fields, or to fill the channels with water, or to carry sand from East to West. The shabti figure replied,"I will do it, verily I am here when you call."
The figurine was believed to animate after the dead had been judged, and work for the dead person as a substitute labourer in the Field of Osiris.
Nebseni, the draughtsman in the The Temple of Ptah says, "Oh you shabti figure of the scribe Nebseni, son of the scribe Thena, and of the lady of the lady of the house Muthrestha, if I be called, or if I be judge to do any work whatever of the labors which are to be done in the Underworld -behold, for your opposition will there be aside -by a man in his turn, let the judgment fall upon you instead of upon me always, in the matter of sowing the Fields, of filling the water-courses with water, and of bringing the sands of the East to the West." The shabti answers, "I am here and will come wherever you bid me."
The High Priest of Ptah was referred to as the Greatest of the Masters of the Craftsmen. This title refers to Ptah as the patron god of the craftsmanship, metalworking, carpenters, shipbuilders, sculpture and architects. Ptah was known as the Creator god par excellence of the perceptible World. He was considered the artisan responsible for the fashion and maintenance of the Physical Universe. He fashioned and shaped the material World. From the Middle Kingdom onwards, Ptah was one of the five major Egyptian gods with Ra, Isis, Osiris, and Amun.
Ptah was the maker, out of the appropriate substance, of an order of spiritual entities that constantly opposed and thwart the human race, because they had all of them bounded to the rules of existence in the material world. The order resided in the lower world, of which Ptah was the prince, controlling the Valleys and Rivers and the changing from body to body that occurred in the World of the Dead.
Ptah is sometimes represented as a dwarf, naked and deformed, or in the guise of a man with green skin, contained in a shroud sticking to the skin, wearing the divine beard, and holding a scepter combining the 3 powerful symbols of ancient Egyptian religion: - the "Was" (Power) scepter, - the sign of Life, "Ankh," - the "Djed" (stability) pillar. This 3 combined symbols indicated the 3 creative powers of the god. His worship exceeded the borders of the country and was exported throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. Thanks to the Phoenicians, we find figurines of Ptah in Carthage, capital of an empire that dominated the Mediterranean Sea.
From the Old Kingdom, Ptah quickly absorbed the appearance of Sokar and Tatenen, ancient deities of the Memphis Region. His form of Sokar is found contained in its white shroud wearing the specific feathered crown of the Egyptian deity Osiris. It combined the Hedjet, the crown of Upper Egypt, with curly red ostrich feathers on each side of the crown for the Osiris cult. In this capacity, Ptah represented the god of the necropolis of Saqqara and other famous sites where the royal pyramids were built. Gradually Ptah formed with Osiris a new deity called Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Statuettes representing the human form, half-human, half-hawk, or simply in its falcon form will be systematically placed in tombs to accompany and protect the dead on their journey to the West. His Tatenen form is represented by a young vigorous man wearing a crown with 2 tall plumes that surround the solar disk. He embodied the underground fire that rumbles and raises the earth. He was particularly revered by metalworkers and blacksmiths. In this form, Ptah was the master of ceremonies for "Heb Sed," a ceremony traditionally attested to the first 30 years of the Pharaoh's reign. The festival were held to rejuvenate the Pharaoh's strength and stamina while still sitting on the throne, celebrating the continued success of the Pharaoh.
The festival implied elaborated temple rituals and included processions, offerings, and such acts of devotion as the ceremonial raising of the "Djed" (stability), the base or sacrum of a bovine spine, representing strength, potency and duration of the Pharaoh's rule. The most lavish, judging by the surviving inscriptions, were those of Ram'Esses II and Amen'Hotep III. The festival still was celebrated by the later-Libyan-era kings such as Shoshenq III, Shoshenq V, Osorkon I, who had his second festival in his 33rd year, and Osorkon II, who constructed a massive temple at Bubastis complete with a red granite Gateway decorated with scenes of this jubilee to commemorate his own festival.
Akh'Enaten made many changes to cult practices in order to remove the stranglehold on the country by the Priests of Amun-Ra, whom he saw in his own eyes as corrupt. His reformation began with his decision to celebrate his first Sed Festival in his 3rd year, to gain an advantage against the powerful temple, since a Sed Festival was a royal jubilee intended to reinforce the Pharaoh's supernatural powers and cult leadership. At the same time he also moved his capital away from the city that these Priests controlled.
Grave goods were intended to provide the deceased with the spiritual and physical support needed for smooth passage to eternity.
Wrapped around the mummy's neck, beads helped restore breath through the symbolism of their colors. Blue, Green and Black called up Water and Sky, Vegetation, and Youth. White, Yellow and Red stood for Sun, Light, Fire and Blood.
A small human funerary figures named "Shabti" were placed in tombs among the grave goods intended to act as servants for the deceased that carried out the tasks required in the underworld. They were made of clay, wood, or stone; early ones were sometimes made from wax also. While shabtis manufactured for the rich were often miniature works of art, the great mass of cheaply ones were made from single molds with little detail.
It is thought that the term meant "follower" or "answerer" because the figurine "answered" for the deceased person and performed all the routine chores of daily life for its master in the afterlife that the gods had planned for them. Then, it was necessary for the owner's name and titles to be inscribed on the shabti, along with the phrase sending them to action, written in the hieratic script. Some of them wore wigs and jewelry like living people, but as workers in the Afterlife, they hold a hoe in their shoulders and a basket on their backs, implying they were intended to farm for the deceased.
The inscription often contained the 6th chapter of the Book of the Dead, translated as : "Illumine the Osiris (name of the deceased), whose word is truth. Hail "shabti" figure! If the Osiris (name of the deceased) be decreed to do any of the work which is to be done, let everything which stand in the way be removed from him -whether it be to plough the Fields, or to fill the channels with water, or to carry sand from East to West. The shabti figure replied,"I will do it, verily I am here when you call."
The figurine was believed to animate after the dead had been judged, and work for the dead person as a substitute labourer in the Field of Osiris.
Nebseni, the draughtsman in the The Temple of Ptah says, "Oh you shabti figure of the scribe Nebseni, son of the scribe Thena, and of the lady of the lady of the house Muthrestha, if I be called, or if I be judge to do any work whatever of the labors which are to be done in the Underworld -behold, for your opposition will there be aside -by a man in his turn, let the judgment fall upon you instead of upon me always, in the matter of sowing the Fields, of filling the water-courses with water, and of bringing the sands of the East to the West." The shabti answers, "I am here and will come wherever you bid me."
The High Priest of Ptah was referred to as the Greatest of the Masters of the Craftsmen. This title refers to Ptah as the patron god of the craftsmanship, metalworking, carpenters, shipbuilders, sculpture and architects. Ptah was known as the Creator god par excellence of the perceptible World. He was considered the artisan responsible for the fashion and maintenance of the Physical Universe. He fashioned and shaped the material World. From the Middle Kingdom onwards, Ptah was one of the five major Egyptian gods with Ra, Isis, Osiris, and Amun.
Ptah was the maker, out of the appropriate substance, of an order of spiritual entities that constantly opposed and thwart the human race, because they had all of them bounded to the rules of existence in the material world. The order resided in the lower world, of which Ptah was the prince, controlling the Valleys and Rivers and the changing from body to body that occurred in the World of the Dead.
Ptah is sometimes represented as a dwarf, naked and deformed, or in the guise of a man with green skin, contained in a shroud sticking to the skin, wearing the divine beard, and holding a scepter combining the 3 powerful symbols of ancient Egyptian religion: - the "Was" (Power) scepter, - the sign of Life, "Ankh," - the "Djed" (stability) pillar. This 3 combined symbols indicated the 3 creative powers of the god. His worship exceeded the borders of the country and was exported throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. Thanks to the Phoenicians, we find figurines of Ptah in Carthage, capital of an empire that dominated the Mediterranean Sea.
From the Old Kingdom, Ptah quickly absorbed the appearance of Sokar and Tatenen, ancient deities of the Memphis Region. His form of Sokar is found contained in its white shroud wearing the specific feathered crown of the Egyptian deity Osiris. It combined the Hedjet, the crown of Upper Egypt, with curly red ostrich feathers on each side of the crown for the Osiris cult. In this capacity, Ptah represented the god of the necropolis of Saqqara and other famous sites where the royal pyramids were built. Gradually Ptah formed with Osiris a new deity called Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Statuettes representing the human form, half-human, half-hawk, or simply in its falcon form will be systematically placed in tombs to accompany and protect the dead on their journey to the West. His Tatenen form is represented by a young vigorous man wearing a crown with 2 tall plumes that surround the solar disk. He embodied the underground fire that rumbles and raises the earth. He was particularly revered by metalworkers and blacksmiths. In this form, Ptah was the master of ceremonies for "Heb Sed," a ceremony traditionally attested to the first 30 years of the Pharaoh's reign. The festival were held to rejuvenate the Pharaoh's strength and stamina while still sitting on the throne, celebrating the continued success of the Pharaoh.
The festival implied elaborated temple rituals and included processions, offerings, and such acts of devotion as the ceremonial raising of the "Djed" (stability), the base or sacrum of a bovine spine, representing strength, potency and duration of the Pharaoh's rule. The most lavish, judging by the surviving inscriptions, were those of Ram'Esses II and Amen'Hotep III. The festival still was celebrated by the later-Libyan-era kings such as Shoshenq III, Shoshenq V, Osorkon I, who had his second festival in his 33rd year, and Osorkon II, who constructed a massive temple at Bubastis complete with a red granite Gateway decorated with scenes of this jubilee to commemorate his own festival.
Akh'Enaten made many changes to cult practices in order to remove the stranglehold on the country by the Priests of Amun-Ra, whom he saw in his own eyes as corrupt. His reformation began with his decision to celebrate his first Sed Festival in his 3rd year, to gain an advantage against the powerful temple, since a Sed Festival was a royal jubilee intended to reinforce the Pharaoh's supernatural powers and cult leadership. At the same time he also moved his capital away from the city that these Priests controlled.
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
THE NATURE OF EDOM.
EDOM is the name of a nation, a geographical region, and a person in Old Testament times. The name,
Edom, is derived from a root word meaning "red, ruddy"and was the secondary name or byname given to Esau, the elder of the twins born to Isaac and Rebekah; the younger was Jacob. (Gen36:1)
The Genesis 25 story of Esau's birth gives 3 clues to his being called "Edom" or "Red." It was applied to him because of his appearance at birth having a very ruddy color ; and then by associating the name with the red stew he got from his brother, Jacob, by selling his birthright to him. And the final clue is that a similar color prevailed in the appearance of the rock and soil formations in parts of the land of Edom that his descendants later inhabited.
Sometime during Jacob's 20-year stay in Haran, Esau (Edom) had begun to establish himself in the land of Seir, "the field of Edom."(Gen32:3) Thus, even before the death of his father (Gen35:29), Esau began to fulfill Isaac's prophetic blessing, directing his attention away from the fertile soils around Hebron and beginning to "live by his sword," along with the 400 men under his command. (Gen27 : 39,40; 32:6,8) He still maintained residence in the Hebron area, not transferring definitely to the mountainous region of Seir until after his father's death. By then his family has grown and his possessions were great. (Genesis 36: 6-8)
The land of Seir had previously been the domain of Horites (Gen 14:6; 36:20-30), but Esau's sons dispossessed the Horite sheiks and took over the region. (Deut 2:12) Thereafter the land became known as the land of Edom, though the older name of Seir still continued to be in use. (Num 24:18)
Genesis 36 includes a list of kings who ruled the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites. The same chapter lists wives and descendants of Esau as well as some Horite lists.
The Edomites as descendants of Esau were basically a Semitic race, but with a strong Hamitic strain. This was due to Esau and its nature itself and the marriage with 2 wives being from Hamitic Canaanite stock (Hittite and Hivite), only one of all being Semitic, through Abraham's son Ishmael.
At any rate, the Edomites, and Lot's descendants (Moabites and Ammonites) were related to the Israelites and originally they also practiced circumcision (Jeremiah 9; Ezekiel 32). God referred to them as Israel's "brothers"and Edomite land rights were to be held inviolate by the Israelites advancing through the Wilderness," since GOD had granted Edom's descendants Mount Seir as a holding.(Deut2)
According to Number 20 during the wilderness wanderings the "king of Edom" refused to permit the Israelites safe passage through his land, forcing them to circumvent Edom. Moses requested permission for Israel to travel over the King's Road through Edom. This road, called "the King's Highway,"was from the Gulf of Aqabah on up to Damascus in Syria, following the edge of the High Plateaus lining the East Side of the Arabah when traversing Edom. Along the King's Highway were to be found the major cities of Edom, including Bozrah and Petra (connected with Scriptural Sela).
2 Kings 14 says, "In the 2nd year of the reign of Jeho'Ash son of Jeho'Ahaz as king of Israel, Amaz'Iah son of Jo'Ash became king of Judah at the age of 25 and he ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Jeho'Addin from Jerusalem. He did what was pleasing to the Lord, but he was not like his ancestor King David; instead, he did what his father Jo'Ash had done. He did not tear down the pagan places of worship, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. As soon as Amaz'Iah was firmly in power, he executed the officials who had killed his father, the king. However, he did not kill their children but followed what the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses: "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed."Amaz"iah killed 10,000 Edomite soldiers in Salt Valley; he captured the city of Sela in battle and called it Jokt'Heel, the name it still has."
A "route"also led from the Negeb (Isaiah 30 described it as a land of hard conditions, a haunt of lions, leopards and snakes) over to Petra, continued East through Ma'An on the edge of the Arabian Desert, connecting there with another "route" running North and South. Over "these roads" passed rich cargoes from Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Toll collected from camel or donkey caravans traversing the roads likely contributed greatly to Edom's wealth. Weary desert travelers also paid for food and lodging upon reaching Edom. Petra became a rich trading city, rivaling Damascus in importance.
The "steep escarpment" or wall of the Plateau that faced the Arabah gave the main stronghold of Edom excellent protection from that direction. The "deep canyon" of Zered Valley impeded invasion from Moab (however Amos 2 says:"They dishonored the bones of the king of Edom by burning them to ashes"). A "chain of fortresses" faced the desert to the more vulnerable East, providing defense against Midianite and other tribes. Additionally the "clefts"that cut into the mountains and Plateaus are walled in by unscalable "red sandstone cliffs"forming forbidding gorges. With good reason GOD's prophecy through Jeremiah speaks of the "Edomites" as confidently "residing in the retreats of the crag, holding the height of the hill," and like "an eagle in its nest." (Jeremiah 49).
The prophets Joel and Amos pronounced GOD's positive condemnation of Edom for its "unrelenting fury" expressed against Israel by the unmerciful use of the sword. Edom by its vicious opposition to GOD's covenant people, had forfeited its right to the land it had held by Divine Warrant.
The Edomites sealed their doom when Babylonians conquered Judah and Jerusalem and their hatred was clearly revealed as they rejoiced at Judah's tragedy, urged on her devastators (Ps 137:7), and, in their enmity and desire for revenge, even turned over Judean escapees for slaughter by the Babylonians.
They joined other neighboring peoples in plundering the land, and planned to take over the abandoned country of Judah and of Israel, speaking boastfully against GOD. For this, GOD directed His Prophets
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Obadiah to assure Edom that "its rejoicing" would be short-lived.
As the Prophet Isaiah had earlier foretold, the sword-welding Edomites would come under GOD's own Sword of Justice and Judgment, all classes, great and small, becoming like sacrificial animals devoted to destruction (Isaiah 34).
Edom, is derived from a root word meaning "red, ruddy"and was the secondary name or byname given to Esau, the elder of the twins born to Isaac and Rebekah; the younger was Jacob. (Gen36:1)
The Genesis 25 story of Esau's birth gives 3 clues to his being called "Edom" or "Red." It was applied to him because of his appearance at birth having a very ruddy color ; and then by associating the name with the red stew he got from his brother, Jacob, by selling his birthright to him. And the final clue is that a similar color prevailed in the appearance of the rock and soil formations in parts of the land of Edom that his descendants later inhabited.
Sometime during Jacob's 20-year stay in Haran, Esau (Edom) had begun to establish himself in the land of Seir, "the field of Edom."(Gen32:3) Thus, even before the death of his father (Gen35:29), Esau began to fulfill Isaac's prophetic blessing, directing his attention away from the fertile soils around Hebron and beginning to "live by his sword," along with the 400 men under his command. (Gen27 : 39,40; 32:6,8) He still maintained residence in the Hebron area, not transferring definitely to the mountainous region of Seir until after his father's death. By then his family has grown and his possessions were great. (Genesis 36: 6-8)
The land of Seir had previously been the domain of Horites (Gen 14:6; 36:20-30), but Esau's sons dispossessed the Horite sheiks and took over the region. (Deut 2:12) Thereafter the land became known as the land of Edom, though the older name of Seir still continued to be in use. (Num 24:18)
Genesis 36 includes a list of kings who ruled the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites. The same chapter lists wives and descendants of Esau as well as some Horite lists.
The Edomites as descendants of Esau were basically a Semitic race, but with a strong Hamitic strain. This was due to Esau and its nature itself and the marriage with 2 wives being from Hamitic Canaanite stock (Hittite and Hivite), only one of all being Semitic, through Abraham's son Ishmael.
At any rate, the Edomites, and Lot's descendants (Moabites and Ammonites) were related to the Israelites and originally they also practiced circumcision (Jeremiah 9; Ezekiel 32). God referred to them as Israel's "brothers"and Edomite land rights were to be held inviolate by the Israelites advancing through the Wilderness," since GOD had granted Edom's descendants Mount Seir as a holding.(Deut2)
According to Number 20 during the wilderness wanderings the "king of Edom" refused to permit the Israelites safe passage through his land, forcing them to circumvent Edom. Moses requested permission for Israel to travel over the King's Road through Edom. This road, called "the King's Highway,"was from the Gulf of Aqabah on up to Damascus in Syria, following the edge of the High Plateaus lining the East Side of the Arabah when traversing Edom. Along the King's Highway were to be found the major cities of Edom, including Bozrah and Petra (connected with Scriptural Sela).
2 Kings 14 says, "In the 2nd year of the reign of Jeho'Ash son of Jeho'Ahaz as king of Israel, Amaz'Iah son of Jo'Ash became king of Judah at the age of 25 and he ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Jeho'Addin from Jerusalem. He did what was pleasing to the Lord, but he was not like his ancestor King David; instead, he did what his father Jo'Ash had done. He did not tear down the pagan places of worship, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. As soon as Amaz'Iah was firmly in power, he executed the officials who had killed his father, the king. However, he did not kill their children but followed what the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses: "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed."Amaz"iah killed 10,000 Edomite soldiers in Salt Valley; he captured the city of Sela in battle and called it Jokt'Heel, the name it still has."
A "route"also led from the Negeb (Isaiah 30 described it as a land of hard conditions, a haunt of lions, leopards and snakes) over to Petra, continued East through Ma'An on the edge of the Arabian Desert, connecting there with another "route" running North and South. Over "these roads" passed rich cargoes from Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Toll collected from camel or donkey caravans traversing the roads likely contributed greatly to Edom's wealth. Weary desert travelers also paid for food and lodging upon reaching Edom. Petra became a rich trading city, rivaling Damascus in importance.
The "steep escarpment" or wall of the Plateau that faced the Arabah gave the main stronghold of Edom excellent protection from that direction. The "deep canyon" of Zered Valley impeded invasion from Moab (however Amos 2 says:"They dishonored the bones of the king of Edom by burning them to ashes"). A "chain of fortresses" faced the desert to the more vulnerable East, providing defense against Midianite and other tribes. Additionally the "clefts"that cut into the mountains and Plateaus are walled in by unscalable "red sandstone cliffs"forming forbidding gorges. With good reason GOD's prophecy through Jeremiah speaks of the "Edomites" as confidently "residing in the retreats of the crag, holding the height of the hill," and like "an eagle in its nest." (Jeremiah 49).
The prophets Joel and Amos pronounced GOD's positive condemnation of Edom for its "unrelenting fury" expressed against Israel by the unmerciful use of the sword. Edom by its vicious opposition to GOD's covenant people, had forfeited its right to the land it had held by Divine Warrant.
The Edomites sealed their doom when Babylonians conquered Judah and Jerusalem and their hatred was clearly revealed as they rejoiced at Judah's tragedy, urged on her devastators (Ps 137:7), and, in their enmity and desire for revenge, even turned over Judean escapees for slaughter by the Babylonians.
They joined other neighboring peoples in plundering the land, and planned to take over the abandoned country of Judah and of Israel, speaking boastfully against GOD. For this, GOD directed His Prophets
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Obadiah to assure Edom that "its rejoicing" would be short-lived.
As the Prophet Isaiah had earlier foretold, the sword-welding Edomites would come under GOD's own Sword of Justice and Judgment, all classes, great and small, becoming like sacrificial animals devoted to destruction (Isaiah 34).
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
WHO WERE THE NAZIRITES? Part 2.
LIFETIME NAZI'RITES were those APPOINTED as Nazi'Rites BY GOD FOR LIFE, being SINGLE OUT BY HIM FOR SPECIAL SERVICE.
Lifetime Nazi'Rites took NO VOWS and were NOT BOUND BY limited period of TIME, the days of which were recalculated from the beginning if, by any reason, the sacred appointed was voided before being completed. For these reasons GOD's COMMANDMENTS for them DIFFERED somewhat from His Requirements FOR VOLUNTARY service.
SAMSON was such a GOD-APPOINTED LIFETIME Nazi'Rite, having being divinely appointed to BE SUCH BEFORE HIS CONCEPTION. Even with HIS MOTHER it was not a discretionary matter; because her son would be a Nazi'Rite, she WAS COMMANDED BY THE ANGEL TO OBSERVE SPECIAL REGULATIONS -not to drink wine or intoxicating liquor or to eat anything unclean during her pregnancy. (Judges 13:2-14; 16:17)
Regarding Samson the regulation was that "no razor should come upon his head." However, no prohibition was placed on his touching dead bodies. Hence, Samson's killing a lion, or his slaying 30 Philistines and then stripping the corpses of their garments, did not profane his service. On still another occasion, with GOD's approval, he killed a 1,000 of the enemy "with the jawbone of a male ass."
(Judges 14 and 15)
In SAMUEL's case it was his mother Hannah, who made a Nazi'Rite Vow, setting apart her yet not conceived child for GOD's service. To GOD she said in prayer: "If you will without fail ... give to your slave girl a male offspring, I will give him to GOD all the days of his life, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and no razor will come upon his head." (1 Samuel 1:9-11, 22, 28)
JOHN the BAPTIST is regarded as a Nazi'Rite chosen by God. Of all the vows permitted under the law there was "ONE FREE WILL VOW" that was specific and called "the Nazi'Rite Vow" meaning to separate themselves unto the LORD" and was provided by GOD AS TEACHER.
For nearly 400 years GOD had not spoken through the Prophets since they did not follow HIS TRUE WORSHIP. (Isaiah 29:10) It was GOD's will the appointment of John and not to be contaminated by the corrupt religious system of his day. He was a Nazi'Rite from birth and was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb of his mother. While he was born into a priestly family, he did not take his father's name, nor his work (Luke 1). More subtly, in the Gospel of Matthew John is linked with the spirit of Elijah, especially in relation to his appearance (2 Kings 1) and his mission in the middle of the corruption of the House of Judah and Israel. John did not even know that Jesus was the promised Messiah until the specific moment that he baptized Him and The Holy Spirit let him to know. Then when he was in prison, it happened again, that he could not even recognized Him as the One. John's mission as the forerunner of Jesus was accomplished and the rest was not under his control. He as a Prophet did not perform any miracles, because his service was different in nature, he was the one baptizing with the Waters of Repentance. His Nazi'Rite appointment was specific and was fulfilled.
SAMSON, SAMUEL, and JOHN the BAPTIST were among those Nazi'Rites whom GOD Himself raised up, as HE says by the mouth of His Prophet Amos: "I GOD KEPT RAISING UP SOME OF YOUR SONS AS PROPHETS AND OF YOUR YOUNG MEN AS NAZIRITES." However, they were not always accepted or respected, and wayward Israel even tried to break their integrity to GOD.
(Amos 2: 11,12)
It is written that when the full measure of Israel's sins reached their limits and GOD removed all of them, the false and unfaithful Nazi'Rites within JERUSALEM did not escape the sweep.
Jeremiah describes how the once spiritually healthy and strong Nazi'Rites turned black as their skin shriveled up on their bones due to the terrible famine. (Lamentations 4:7-9)
Lifetime Nazi'Rites took NO VOWS and were NOT BOUND BY limited period of TIME, the days of which were recalculated from the beginning if, by any reason, the sacred appointed was voided before being completed. For these reasons GOD's COMMANDMENTS for them DIFFERED somewhat from His Requirements FOR VOLUNTARY service.
SAMSON was such a GOD-APPOINTED LIFETIME Nazi'Rite, having being divinely appointed to BE SUCH BEFORE HIS CONCEPTION. Even with HIS MOTHER it was not a discretionary matter; because her son would be a Nazi'Rite, she WAS COMMANDED BY THE ANGEL TO OBSERVE SPECIAL REGULATIONS -not to drink wine or intoxicating liquor or to eat anything unclean during her pregnancy. (Judges 13:2-14; 16:17)
Regarding Samson the regulation was that "no razor should come upon his head." However, no prohibition was placed on his touching dead bodies. Hence, Samson's killing a lion, or his slaying 30 Philistines and then stripping the corpses of their garments, did not profane his service. On still another occasion, with GOD's approval, he killed a 1,000 of the enemy "with the jawbone of a male ass."
(Judges 14 and 15)
In SAMUEL's case it was his mother Hannah, who made a Nazi'Rite Vow, setting apart her yet not conceived child for GOD's service. To GOD she said in prayer: "If you will without fail ... give to your slave girl a male offspring, I will give him to GOD all the days of his life, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and no razor will come upon his head." (1 Samuel 1:9-11, 22, 28)
JOHN the BAPTIST is regarded as a Nazi'Rite chosen by God. Of all the vows permitted under the law there was "ONE FREE WILL VOW" that was specific and called "the Nazi'Rite Vow" meaning to separate themselves unto the LORD" and was provided by GOD AS TEACHER.
For nearly 400 years GOD had not spoken through the Prophets since they did not follow HIS TRUE WORSHIP. (Isaiah 29:10) It was GOD's will the appointment of John and not to be contaminated by the corrupt religious system of his day. He was a Nazi'Rite from birth and was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb of his mother. While he was born into a priestly family, he did not take his father's name, nor his work (Luke 1). More subtly, in the Gospel of Matthew John is linked with the spirit of Elijah, especially in relation to his appearance (2 Kings 1) and his mission in the middle of the corruption of the House of Judah and Israel. John did not even know that Jesus was the promised Messiah until the specific moment that he baptized Him and The Holy Spirit let him to know. Then when he was in prison, it happened again, that he could not even recognized Him as the One. John's mission as the forerunner of Jesus was accomplished and the rest was not under his control. He as a Prophet did not perform any miracles, because his service was different in nature, he was the one baptizing with the Waters of Repentance. His Nazi'Rite appointment was specific and was fulfilled.
SAMSON, SAMUEL, and JOHN the BAPTIST were among those Nazi'Rites whom GOD Himself raised up, as HE says by the mouth of His Prophet Amos: "I GOD KEPT RAISING UP SOME OF YOUR SONS AS PROPHETS AND OF YOUR YOUNG MEN AS NAZIRITES." However, they were not always accepted or respected, and wayward Israel even tried to break their integrity to GOD.
(Amos 2: 11,12)
It is written that when the full measure of Israel's sins reached their limits and GOD removed all of them, the false and unfaithful Nazi'Rites within JERUSALEM did not escape the sweep.
Jeremiah describes how the once spiritually healthy and strong Nazi'Rites turned black as their skin shriveled up on their bones due to the terrible famine. (Lamentations 4:7-9)
WHO WERE THE NAZIRITES? Part 1.
A Nazi'Rite was a dedicated, separated, or single out individual trained to perform a specific task.
There were 2 classes of Nazi'Rites: those who volunteered and those who were such by divine appointment. Either men or women could take THE VOW to GOD to live as Naza'Rites for a period of time. However, if a daughter's father or a wife's husband heard the vows of their respective females, they could cancel the vows if they did not approve. (Numbers 30: 1-8)
The regulations governing volunteer Nazi'Rites are found in the Book of Numbers.
NUMBER 6: "Any of you, male or female, who MAKE A SPECIAL VOW to become a Nazi'Rite and DEDICATE YOURSELF TO the LORD shall ABSTAIN FROM WINE and BEER. You shall not drink any kind of drink made from grapes or eat any grapes or raisins. As long as you are a Nazi'Rite, you shall not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even the seeds or skins of grapes.
As long as YOU ARE UNDER the Nazi'Rite VOW, you MUST NOT CUT YOUR HAIR OR SHAVE. You are BOUND BY THE VOW FOR THE FULL TIME that YOU ARE DEDICATED TO THE LORD, and you shall let your hair grow. YOUR HAIR IS THE SIGN of your dedication TO GOD, and YOU MUST NOT DEFILE YOURSELF BY GOING NEAR A CORPSE, not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. YOU ARE CONSECRATED TO THE LORD.
IF your CONSECRATED HAIR IS DEFILED because you are right beside someone who suddenly dies, YOU MUST WAIT 7 DAYS and then SHAVE YOUR HEAD; and so YOU BECOME ritually CLEAN. On the 8TH day you shall BRING 2 DOVES OR 2 PIGEONS TO the PRIEST AT the ENTRANCE OF the TENT of the LORD's PRESENCE. The PRIEST shall OFFER ONE AS a SIN OFFERING and THE OTHER AS a BURNT OFFERING, to perform the ritual PURIFICATION FOR YOU because OF YOUR CONTACT WITH A CORPSE. On the SAME DAY YOU SHALL RE-CONSECRATE YOUR HAIR and REDEDICATE TO THE LORD YOUR TIME AS A NAZI'RITE. The PREVIOUS PERIOD OF TIME DOES NOT COUNT, because your consecrated hair was defiled. AS A REPAYMENT OFFERING you shall BRING a 1YEAR OLD LAMB.
The person taking this Special Vow was meant "to live as a Naza'Rite to GOD," that is dedicated, separated from the way of the World and gaining spiritual strength to serve GOD and be able to stand close to HIM. It was not meant to be for the plaudits of men due to a showy display of fanatical asceticism. The requirements laid on the Nazi'Rites had special significance in the unseen world, and deep meaning in the Worship of GOD. Like the High Priest who, because of his Holy Office, was to touch no dead body, even that of his closest relatives, so too the Nazi'Rite. The High Priest as well as the under priests, due to the serious responsibility of their offices in the unseen World, were forbidden to drink the wine of the World or intoxicating liquor when performing their sacred duties before GOD.
(Leviticus 10:8-11; 21:10,11)
Furthermore, the Nazi'Rite "should prove Holy by letting the locks of the hair of his head grow," such serving as a crowning sign of his spiritual strength by which all could quickly recognize his Holy Nazi'riteship. The same Hebrew word "Nazir" was used in regard to the spiritual significance about the "unpruned" vines during the Sacred Sabbath and Jubilee Years. (Leviticus 25:5,11) Also the gold plate on the front of the turban of the High Priest, engraved with the Words "HOLINESS BELONG TO GOD," was called "the holy sign of dedication" coming from the same Hebrew root word "Nazir." (Exodus 39:30, 31) Likewise, the official headpiece or diadem worn by Israel's anointed kings was also called a "Nezer." (2 Samuel 1:10; 2 Kings 11:12)
When the specified duration of the VOW CAME TO AN END, the Nazi'Rite presented himself to the priests before the Tent of Meeting, bringing along the prescribed sacrifices consisting of a Young Ram for a Burnt Offering, a Female Lamb for a Sin Offering, and a Ram for a Communion Sacrifice. He also was to bring a basket of unfermented (unleavened) cakes and wafers that were well oiled, together with the proper grain and drink offerings. In addition to these necessary sacrifices, the Nazi'Rite brought such other offerings to the sanctuary as he could afford. Next, the NAZI'RITE HAD THE LONG HAIR CUT OFF and it was PLACED ON THE FIRE UNDER THE COMMUNION SACRIFICE, and then portions of the offerings were placed in his hands by the officiating Priest and WAVED BY THE PRIEST AS A WAVE OFFERING BEFORE GOD.
It appears that in time spiritually wealthy individuals were able to provide the necessary means for sacrifices as an act of charity, for persons of little means. This seemed to be the recognized custom that the apostle Paul took advantage of upon arriving in JERUSALEM at the end of his 3rd tour. To allay the false rumors that Paul had been "teaching all the Jews among the nations ... not to walk in the solemn customs" of the Jewish nation, Paul's Christian brothers recommended the following plan.
"We have 4 men with a Vow upon themselves," they told Paul, "Take these men along and cleanse yourself ceremonially with them and take care of their expenses, that they may have their heads shaved." (Acts 21: 20-26)
There were 2 classes of Nazi'Rites: those who volunteered and those who were such by divine appointment. Either men or women could take THE VOW to GOD to live as Naza'Rites for a period of time. However, if a daughter's father or a wife's husband heard the vows of their respective females, they could cancel the vows if they did not approve. (Numbers 30: 1-8)
The regulations governing volunteer Nazi'Rites are found in the Book of Numbers.
NUMBER 6: "Any of you, male or female, who MAKE A SPECIAL VOW to become a Nazi'Rite and DEDICATE YOURSELF TO the LORD shall ABSTAIN FROM WINE and BEER. You shall not drink any kind of drink made from grapes or eat any grapes or raisins. As long as you are a Nazi'Rite, you shall not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even the seeds or skins of grapes.
As long as YOU ARE UNDER the Nazi'Rite VOW, you MUST NOT CUT YOUR HAIR OR SHAVE. You are BOUND BY THE VOW FOR THE FULL TIME that YOU ARE DEDICATED TO THE LORD, and you shall let your hair grow. YOUR HAIR IS THE SIGN of your dedication TO GOD, and YOU MUST NOT DEFILE YOURSELF BY GOING NEAR A CORPSE, not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. YOU ARE CONSECRATED TO THE LORD.
IF your CONSECRATED HAIR IS DEFILED because you are right beside someone who suddenly dies, YOU MUST WAIT 7 DAYS and then SHAVE YOUR HEAD; and so YOU BECOME ritually CLEAN. On the 8TH day you shall BRING 2 DOVES OR 2 PIGEONS TO the PRIEST AT the ENTRANCE OF the TENT of the LORD's PRESENCE. The PRIEST shall OFFER ONE AS a SIN OFFERING and THE OTHER AS a BURNT OFFERING, to perform the ritual PURIFICATION FOR YOU because OF YOUR CONTACT WITH A CORPSE. On the SAME DAY YOU SHALL RE-CONSECRATE YOUR HAIR and REDEDICATE TO THE LORD YOUR TIME AS A NAZI'RITE. The PREVIOUS PERIOD OF TIME DOES NOT COUNT, because your consecrated hair was defiled. AS A REPAYMENT OFFERING you shall BRING a 1YEAR OLD LAMB.
The person taking this Special Vow was meant "to live as a Naza'Rite to GOD," that is dedicated, separated from the way of the World and gaining spiritual strength to serve GOD and be able to stand close to HIM. It was not meant to be for the plaudits of men due to a showy display of fanatical asceticism. The requirements laid on the Nazi'Rites had special significance in the unseen world, and deep meaning in the Worship of GOD. Like the High Priest who, because of his Holy Office, was to touch no dead body, even that of his closest relatives, so too the Nazi'Rite. The High Priest as well as the under priests, due to the serious responsibility of their offices in the unseen World, were forbidden to drink the wine of the World or intoxicating liquor when performing their sacred duties before GOD.
(Leviticus 10:8-11; 21:10,11)
Furthermore, the Nazi'Rite "should prove Holy by letting the locks of the hair of his head grow," such serving as a crowning sign of his spiritual strength by which all could quickly recognize his Holy Nazi'riteship. The same Hebrew word "Nazir" was used in regard to the spiritual significance about the "unpruned" vines during the Sacred Sabbath and Jubilee Years. (Leviticus 25:5,11) Also the gold plate on the front of the turban of the High Priest, engraved with the Words "HOLINESS BELONG TO GOD," was called "the holy sign of dedication" coming from the same Hebrew root word "Nazir." (Exodus 39:30, 31) Likewise, the official headpiece or diadem worn by Israel's anointed kings was also called a "Nezer." (2 Samuel 1:10; 2 Kings 11:12)
When the specified duration of the VOW CAME TO AN END, the Nazi'Rite presented himself to the priests before the Tent of Meeting, bringing along the prescribed sacrifices consisting of a Young Ram for a Burnt Offering, a Female Lamb for a Sin Offering, and a Ram for a Communion Sacrifice. He also was to bring a basket of unfermented (unleavened) cakes and wafers that were well oiled, together with the proper grain and drink offerings. In addition to these necessary sacrifices, the Nazi'Rite brought such other offerings to the sanctuary as he could afford. Next, the NAZI'RITE HAD THE LONG HAIR CUT OFF and it was PLACED ON THE FIRE UNDER THE COMMUNION SACRIFICE, and then portions of the offerings were placed in his hands by the officiating Priest and WAVED BY THE PRIEST AS A WAVE OFFERING BEFORE GOD.
It appears that in time spiritually wealthy individuals were able to provide the necessary means for sacrifices as an act of charity, for persons of little means. This seemed to be the recognized custom that the apostle Paul took advantage of upon arriving in JERUSALEM at the end of his 3rd tour. To allay the false rumors that Paul had been "teaching all the Jews among the nations ... not to walk in the solemn customs" of the Jewish nation, Paul's Christian brothers recommended the following plan.
"We have 4 men with a Vow upon themselves," they told Paul, "Take these men along and cleanse yourself ceremonially with them and take care of their expenses, that they may have their heads shaved." (Acts 21: 20-26)
Monday, 2 January 2017
JOHN THE BAPTIST OF REPENTANCE.
John the Baptist was born just 6 month before the Birth of Jesus Christ. A Nazarite from birth, he could not drink any alcohol, cut his hair, and other restrictions. (Numbers 6)
His father Zechariah was a Priest and member of the priestly Order of Abijah of the House of Aaron, who served at Jerusalem's Temple. The Paternal House of Abijah was chosen by lot to head the 8th Division during king David's day, and thereafter it was known as the "Order of Abijah."
His mother Elizabeth, related to Jesus' mother Mary, was of the daughters of Aaron. Elizabeth was unable to conceive and both, she and her husband, were very old.
One day Zechariah was serving GOD in the Temple, for his Order was on duty that week. As was the custom of the Priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the Sanctuary of the LORD and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the Hour of the Incense. The Burning of the Incense represented the Testing in Spirit of each one of them. And there appeared to Zechariah an angel of the LORD standing on the Right Side of the Altar of the Incense. And he was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
The Angel said, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ".. And he said to the angel, "How shall I know this."
And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the Presence of GOD; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this Good News. And, behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the Day that these things come to pass, because YOU DID NOT BELIEVE MY WORDS, WHICH WILL BE FULFILLED IN TIME." (Lucas 1)
The Scripture prophecy foretold of JOHN coming and of him being like a voice crying in the Wilderness in the spiritual power of Elijah. (John 1:19-23; Matthew 17:10-13)
John spent most of his life living in a mountainous area of Judah that was between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. His died was strict and he dressed rather roughly (like Elijah-Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6; 2Kings1:8). He had an effective and popular ministry which drew the attention of Priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herod Antipas (Roman ruler of Galilee and Perea) and others. (Matthew 3:7; Mark 6:16-19, etc). He also drew his share of disciples. The first two people Jesus called to follow him were first followers of John the Baptist. (John 1:35-39)
John's students were so zealous for him that when they saw Jesus baptizing more people they told John about it -as if something was wrong. John assured those who followed him that "The One after me must increase, but I must decrease." (Juan 3:26-30). In time they eventually approached Jesus with a question that had puzzle them "Why do we and Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"
(Matthew 9:14) . JESUS responded using a wedding analogy to explain the difference (9:15).
His ministry began when he was 30. It lasted for about 3 years until he was put in prison by Herod Antipas for speaking out against his unlawful marriage. Because of a promise Herod made to his wife's daughter Salome, he had John the Baptist beheaded just before the Passover.
After Herod tossed John into prison, he began to hear about the Deeds of the CHRIST, he sent some of his disciples to him. "Tell us," they asked JESUS, "Are YOU the One John said was going to come or should we expect someone else?" JESUS answered, "Go back and tell John what you are hearing and seeing: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. How HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NO DOUBTS ABOUT ME!"
-MARK 1:7 says, "John the Baptist announced to the people, 'The man who will come after me is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to bend down and untie His Sandals. I baptize you with water of repentance, but HE will baptize you with the HOLY SPIRIT.'"
-MALACHI 3 says, "Behold, I send MY MESSENGER to PREPARE THE WAY BEFORE ME, and the LORD WHOM YOU SEEK will SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE; the MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT in whom you delight, behold, HE IS COMING," says THE LORD OF HOSTS. But WHO CAN ENDURE the DAY OF HIS COMING, and WHO CAN STAND WHEN HE APPEARS?
For HE IS LIKE A REFINER'S FIRE and LIKE FULLERS' SOAP; He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and HE WILL PURIFY THE SONS OF LEVI AND REFINE THEM like gold and silver, TILL THEY PRESENT RIGHT OFFERINGS TO THE LORD as in the Days of old and as in former years. (3:1-4)
DEUTERONOMY 18 says, "The LORD your GOD WILL RAISE UP for you A PROPHET like me (Moses) FROM AMONG YOU, from your brethren -TO HIM YOU SHALL HEED- just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the Day of the Assembly, when you said, 'LET me NOT HEAR AGAIN THE VOICE OF THE LORD MY GOD, OR SEE THIS GREAT FIRE ANY MORE, LEST I DIE.'
And the Lord said to me (Moses), "THEY HAVE RIGHTLY SAID ALL that they have spoken. I WILL RAISE UP FOR THEM A PROPHET like you from among their brethren; and I WILL PUT MY WORDS IN HIS MOUTH, AND HE SHALL SPEAK TO THEM ALL THAT I COMMAND HIM. And WHOEVER WILL NOT GIVE HEED TO MY WORDS WHICH HE SHALL SPEAK IN MY NAME, I MYSELF WILL REQUIRE IT OF HIM."
"But the Prophet who presumes to speak a Word in My Name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same Prophet shall die." (18:15-20)
"And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the Word which the Lord has not spoken?' -when a Prophet speaks in the Name of the Lord, IF THE WORD DOES NOT COME TO PASS OR COME TRUE, that IS a WORD which THE LORD HAS NOT SPOKEN; the Prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him." (18: 21-22)
His father Zechariah was a Priest and member of the priestly Order of Abijah of the House of Aaron, who served at Jerusalem's Temple. The Paternal House of Abijah was chosen by lot to head the 8th Division during king David's day, and thereafter it was known as the "Order of Abijah."
His mother Elizabeth, related to Jesus' mother Mary, was of the daughters of Aaron. Elizabeth was unable to conceive and both, she and her husband, were very old.
One day Zechariah was serving GOD in the Temple, for his Order was on duty that week. As was the custom of the Priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the Sanctuary of the LORD and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the Hour of the Incense. The Burning of the Incense represented the Testing in Spirit of each one of them. And there appeared to Zechariah an angel of the LORD standing on the Right Side of the Altar of the Incense. And he was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
The Angel said, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ".. And he said to the angel, "How shall I know this."
And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the Presence of GOD; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this Good News. And, behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the Day that these things come to pass, because YOU DID NOT BELIEVE MY WORDS, WHICH WILL BE FULFILLED IN TIME." (Lucas 1)
The Scripture prophecy foretold of JOHN coming and of him being like a voice crying in the Wilderness in the spiritual power of Elijah. (John 1:19-23; Matthew 17:10-13)
John spent most of his life living in a mountainous area of Judah that was between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. His died was strict and he dressed rather roughly (like Elijah-Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6; 2Kings1:8). He had an effective and popular ministry which drew the attention of Priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herod Antipas (Roman ruler of Galilee and Perea) and others. (Matthew 3:7; Mark 6:16-19, etc). He also drew his share of disciples. The first two people Jesus called to follow him were first followers of John the Baptist. (John 1:35-39)
John's students were so zealous for him that when they saw Jesus baptizing more people they told John about it -as if something was wrong. John assured those who followed him that "The One after me must increase, but I must decrease." (Juan 3:26-30). In time they eventually approached Jesus with a question that had puzzle them "Why do we and Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"
(Matthew 9:14) . JESUS responded using a wedding analogy to explain the difference (9:15).
His ministry began when he was 30. It lasted for about 3 years until he was put in prison by Herod Antipas for speaking out against his unlawful marriage. Because of a promise Herod made to his wife's daughter Salome, he had John the Baptist beheaded just before the Passover.
After Herod tossed John into prison, he began to hear about the Deeds of the CHRIST, he sent some of his disciples to him. "Tell us," they asked JESUS, "Are YOU the One John said was going to come or should we expect someone else?" JESUS answered, "Go back and tell John what you are hearing and seeing: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. How HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NO DOUBTS ABOUT ME!"
-MARK 1:7 says, "John the Baptist announced to the people, 'The man who will come after me is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to bend down and untie His Sandals. I baptize you with water of repentance, but HE will baptize you with the HOLY SPIRIT.'"
-MALACHI 3 says, "Behold, I send MY MESSENGER to PREPARE THE WAY BEFORE ME, and the LORD WHOM YOU SEEK will SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE; the MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT in whom you delight, behold, HE IS COMING," says THE LORD OF HOSTS. But WHO CAN ENDURE the DAY OF HIS COMING, and WHO CAN STAND WHEN HE APPEARS?
For HE IS LIKE A REFINER'S FIRE and LIKE FULLERS' SOAP; He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and HE WILL PURIFY THE SONS OF LEVI AND REFINE THEM like gold and silver, TILL THEY PRESENT RIGHT OFFERINGS TO THE LORD as in the Days of old and as in former years. (3:1-4)
DEUTERONOMY 18 says, "The LORD your GOD WILL RAISE UP for you A PROPHET like me (Moses) FROM AMONG YOU, from your brethren -TO HIM YOU SHALL HEED- just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the Day of the Assembly, when you said, 'LET me NOT HEAR AGAIN THE VOICE OF THE LORD MY GOD, OR SEE THIS GREAT FIRE ANY MORE, LEST I DIE.'
And the Lord said to me (Moses), "THEY HAVE RIGHTLY SAID ALL that they have spoken. I WILL RAISE UP FOR THEM A PROPHET like you from among their brethren; and I WILL PUT MY WORDS IN HIS MOUTH, AND HE SHALL SPEAK TO THEM ALL THAT I COMMAND HIM. And WHOEVER WILL NOT GIVE HEED TO MY WORDS WHICH HE SHALL SPEAK IN MY NAME, I MYSELF WILL REQUIRE IT OF HIM."
"But the Prophet who presumes to speak a Word in My Name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same Prophet shall die." (18:15-20)
"And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the Word which the Lord has not spoken?' -when a Prophet speaks in the Name of the Lord, IF THE WORD DOES NOT COME TO PASS OR COME TRUE, that IS a WORD which THE LORD HAS NOT SPOKEN; the Prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him." (18: 21-22)
TIME OUT OF TIME = DEEP SLEEP.
In the frame of the Unseen World, "dreaming" is understood as time out of time. Every person essentially exists eternally in it. This eternal part existed before the life of the individual begins, and continues to exist when the life of the individual ends.
There are a number of verses in the Scripture referring to this stage of deep sleep, as follows :
ISAIAH 29 : THE FATE OF JERUSALEM.-
"GOD's Altar, JERUSALEM itself is doomed! The city where David camped is doomed! Add another year, and another year; let the Feasts and Festivals run their round (time out of time), and then GOD will bring disaster on the city called "GOD's Altar, and JERUSALEM will be to Me like an Altar. There will be weeping and wailing, and the whole city will be like an Altar covered with blood. GOD will attack the city, surround it, and besiege it. JERUSALEM will be like A GHOST struggling to speak from UNDER the GROUND, a MUFFLED VOICE coming FROM the DUST. But the multitude of your foreigners (false souls) will be blown away like dust, and the multitude of their terrifying armies (ruthless spirits) will fly away like straw. And in an instant, suddenly, YOU, JERUSALEM, will BE VISITED by the LORD OF HOST, and unexpectedly HE will RESCUE you with violent thunder storms and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the FLAME OF A DEVOURING FIRE. And the multitude of all THE NATIONS (false souls and ruthless spirits) THAT FIGHT AGAINST GOD'S ALTAR, all that fight against her, and their weapons and equipment -EVERYTHING WILL VANISH LIKE A DREAM, LIKE SOMETHING IMAGINED IN THE NIGHT." (1-7)
GENESIS 2 : THE GARDEN OF EDEN.-
"When GOD made the Universe, there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because HE HAD NO SENT ANY RAIN, and THERE WAS NO ONE TO CULTIVATE THE LAND, but WATER WOULD COME UP FROM BENEATH the SURFACE and WATER THE GROUND.
Then GOD TOOK some SOIL FROM THE GROUND and FORMED A MAN OUT of IT, HE BREATHED LIFE giving breath INTO HIS NOSTRILS and MAN BEGAN TO LIVE. Then the GOD PLANTED a GARDEN in Eden, in the East, and there HE PUT the MAN He had formed. HE MADE all kinds of beautiful TREES grow there and produce GOOD FRUIT. In the MIDDLE of the garden STOOD the TREE that gives LIFE and the TREE that gives KNOWLEDGE of what is good and what is bad."(4-9) ... "GOD placed the MAN in the Garden of Eden to CULTIVATE it and to GUARD it. GOD told him, 'You may EAT the FRUIT OF ANY TREE in the garden, EXCEPT the TREE of KNOWLEDGE of what is good and what is bad. YOU MUST NOT EAT the FRUIT OF that TREE, IF YOU DO, YOU WILL DIE the SAME DAY." (15-17)
"Then GOD said, 'IT IS NOT GOOD FOR THE MAN to LIVE ALONE. I will MAKE a suitable COMPANION TO HELP HIM. So HE TOOK some SOIL from the GROUND and FORMED ALL the ANIMALS and all the BIRDS. Then HE BROUGHT THEM TO the MAN TO SEE WHAT HE WOULD NAME THEM; and that is how they all got their names. So the man named all the birds and all the animals, BUT NOT ONE OF THEM WAS A SUITABLE COMPANION TO HELP HIM.
Then GOD MADE the MAN FALL INTO a DEEP SLEEP, and WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING, GOD TOOK OUT ONE OF the MAN's RIBS and CLOSED UP the FLESH.
GOD FORMED a WOMAN out of the rib and BROUGHT HER TO HIM." (18-22)
There are a number of verses in the Scripture referring to this stage of deep sleep, as follows :
ISAIAH 29 : THE FATE OF JERUSALEM.-
"GOD's Altar, JERUSALEM itself is doomed! The city where David camped is doomed! Add another year, and another year; let the Feasts and Festivals run their round (time out of time), and then GOD will bring disaster on the city called "GOD's Altar, and JERUSALEM will be to Me like an Altar. There will be weeping and wailing, and the whole city will be like an Altar covered with blood. GOD will attack the city, surround it, and besiege it. JERUSALEM will be like A GHOST struggling to speak from UNDER the GROUND, a MUFFLED VOICE coming FROM the DUST. But the multitude of your foreigners (false souls) will be blown away like dust, and the multitude of their terrifying armies (ruthless spirits) will fly away like straw. And in an instant, suddenly, YOU, JERUSALEM, will BE VISITED by the LORD OF HOST, and unexpectedly HE will RESCUE you with violent thunder storms and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the FLAME OF A DEVOURING FIRE. And the multitude of all THE NATIONS (false souls and ruthless spirits) THAT FIGHT AGAINST GOD'S ALTAR, all that fight against her, and their weapons and equipment -EVERYTHING WILL VANISH LIKE A DREAM, LIKE SOMETHING IMAGINED IN THE NIGHT." (1-7)
GENESIS 2 : THE GARDEN OF EDEN.-
"When GOD made the Universe, there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because HE HAD NO SENT ANY RAIN, and THERE WAS NO ONE TO CULTIVATE THE LAND, but WATER WOULD COME UP FROM BENEATH the SURFACE and WATER THE GROUND.
Then GOD TOOK some SOIL FROM THE GROUND and FORMED A MAN OUT of IT, HE BREATHED LIFE giving breath INTO HIS NOSTRILS and MAN BEGAN TO LIVE. Then the GOD PLANTED a GARDEN in Eden, in the East, and there HE PUT the MAN He had formed. HE MADE all kinds of beautiful TREES grow there and produce GOOD FRUIT. In the MIDDLE of the garden STOOD the TREE that gives LIFE and the TREE that gives KNOWLEDGE of what is good and what is bad."(4-9) ... "GOD placed the MAN in the Garden of Eden to CULTIVATE it and to GUARD it. GOD told him, 'You may EAT the FRUIT OF ANY TREE in the garden, EXCEPT the TREE of KNOWLEDGE of what is good and what is bad. YOU MUST NOT EAT the FRUIT OF that TREE, IF YOU DO, YOU WILL DIE the SAME DAY." (15-17)
"Then GOD said, 'IT IS NOT GOOD FOR THE MAN to LIVE ALONE. I will MAKE a suitable COMPANION TO HELP HIM. So HE TOOK some SOIL from the GROUND and FORMED ALL the ANIMALS and all the BIRDS. Then HE BROUGHT THEM TO the MAN TO SEE WHAT HE WOULD NAME THEM; and that is how they all got their names. So the man named all the birds and all the animals, BUT NOT ONE OF THEM WAS A SUITABLE COMPANION TO HELP HIM.
Then GOD MADE the MAN FALL INTO a DEEP SLEEP, and WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING, GOD TOOK OUT ONE OF the MAN's RIBS and CLOSED UP the FLESH.
GOD FORMED a WOMAN out of the rib and BROUGHT HER TO HIM." (18-22)
Sunday, 1 January 2017
THE HITTITES UNDER NOAH'S CURSE.
The curse upon Canaan, imposed by the Scriptural patriarch Noah, concerned Noah's drunkenness and the accompanying shameful act perpetrated by his son Ham, the father of Canaan. The "vine" is used in the Scripture to signify spiritual goodness.
The concept of the curse finds its origins in Genesis 8: "Noah built an Altar to the LORD; Noah took 'one of each kind of ritually clean animal and bird,' and 'burned them whole' as a sacrifice on the Altar.
The odor of the sacrifice pleased the LORD, and HE said to HIMSELF :
'NEVER AGAIN WILL I PUT THE EARTH UNDER A CURSE BECAUSE OF WHAT PEOPLE DO; I KNOW THAT FROM THE TIME THEY ARE YOUNG THEIR THOUGHTS ARE EVIL. '
'NEVER AGAIN WILL I DESTROY ALL LIVING BEINGS, AS I HAVE DONE THIS TIME.'
As long as the World exists, there will be A TIME OF PLANTING AND A TIME FOR HARVEST.
There will ALWAYS BE COLD AND HEAT, SUMMER AND WINTER, DAY AND NIGHT."
In Genesis 9, GOD make a Covenant with Noah and his sons, "GOD blessed NOAH and his sons and said, 'Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth. All the animals, birds, and fish (the elements in the seen and the unseen worlds and the elemental spirits in it) will live in fear of you. They are all placed under your power. Now you can eat them, as well as green plants; I give them all to you for food." (1-3) Noah who was a farmer, was the FIRST MAN to plant a VINEYARD.
In Matthew 21, JESUS spoke in parables the meaning concerning a vineyard and a fig-tree in this way,
"When JESUS went into the Temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling there. HE overturned the table of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons, and said to them, 'IT IS WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPTURE that GOD SAID, "My TEMPLE will be called A HOUSE OF PRAYER."But you are making it a hideout for thieves!"(12-13) ... Listen to another parable JESUS said, "There was once a landowner who planted a Vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a Watchtower. Then he rented the Vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip. When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent his slaves to the tenants to receive his share of the harvest. The tenants grabbed his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stone another. Again the man sent other slaves, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all he sent his son to them. "Surely they will respect my son," he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and we will get his prosperity!" So they grabbed him, threw him out of the Vineyard, and killed him. Now, when the owner of the Vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? JESUS asked. "HE will certainly kill those evil men," they answered, "and rent the Vineyard out to other tenants, who will him his share of the harvest at the right time."(33-41).
It is noteworthy that the curse was made by Noah and not by GOD. Noah cursed the nature of the offense and in a symbolic sequence it shows Noah's authority compromised since being under a Covenant with GOD, Noah, as a High Priest, was suppose to be the first one to exercise self-control.
After Noah became drunk and Ham dishonoring his father, by seeing the nakedness of his father, upon awakening Noah pronounced a curse on Ham's youngest son, his grandson Canaan, stating that his offspring would be the servants of servants. Of Ham's four sons, Canaan fathered the Canaanites, while Mizraim fathered the Egyptians, Cush the Cushites, and Phut the Lybians. The same 4 are mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, as the 4 races known by the Egyptians.
The Scripture indicates that Noah restricted his curse to the offspring of Ham's youngest son Canaan, Noah's grandson, for the transgression of his father, and it was not extended to Ham's other sons. According to the Covenant's rules in place over Noah and his descendants, the curse was force to be placed in that specific way. Ham is mentioned as his youngest son in terms of the spiritual rank marked by his deeds. The transgression put him lower in the ladder and with the additional sin of inviting his brothers to commit the same aggravated and degrading deed. Ham's god was not the GOD of Shem.
Canaan's descendants, according to the Scripture, include: Sidonians, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, Hamathites.
The Hittites are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as 2nd of the 11 Canaanite nations under the name of 'children of Heth,' who lived near Hebron. Heth means "that who GOD strengthened."
Hittites appear in the Scripture several times as living near Canaan since the time of Abraham to the time of Ezra after the return from the Babylonian exile. The nature of Noah's drunkenness and the dishonorable action of his own youngest son is expressed in a number of circumstances in the Scripture involving the Israelite's way of following GOD's WORD.
The concept of the curse finds its origins in Genesis 8: "Noah built an Altar to the LORD; Noah took 'one of each kind of ritually clean animal and bird,' and 'burned them whole' as a sacrifice on the Altar.
The odor of the sacrifice pleased the LORD, and HE said to HIMSELF :
'NEVER AGAIN WILL I PUT THE EARTH UNDER A CURSE BECAUSE OF WHAT PEOPLE DO; I KNOW THAT FROM THE TIME THEY ARE YOUNG THEIR THOUGHTS ARE EVIL. '
'NEVER AGAIN WILL I DESTROY ALL LIVING BEINGS, AS I HAVE DONE THIS TIME.'
As long as the World exists, there will be A TIME OF PLANTING AND A TIME FOR HARVEST.
There will ALWAYS BE COLD AND HEAT, SUMMER AND WINTER, DAY AND NIGHT."
In Genesis 9, GOD make a Covenant with Noah and his sons, "GOD blessed NOAH and his sons and said, 'Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth. All the animals, birds, and fish (the elements in the seen and the unseen worlds and the elemental spirits in it) will live in fear of you. They are all placed under your power. Now you can eat them, as well as green plants; I give them all to you for food." (1-3) Noah who was a farmer, was the FIRST MAN to plant a VINEYARD.
In Matthew 21, JESUS spoke in parables the meaning concerning a vineyard and a fig-tree in this way,
"When JESUS went into the Temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling there. HE overturned the table of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons, and said to them, 'IT IS WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPTURE that GOD SAID, "My TEMPLE will be called A HOUSE OF PRAYER."But you are making it a hideout for thieves!"(12-13) ... Listen to another parable JESUS said, "There was once a landowner who planted a Vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a Watchtower. Then he rented the Vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip. When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent his slaves to the tenants to receive his share of the harvest. The tenants grabbed his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stone another. Again the man sent other slaves, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all he sent his son to them. "Surely they will respect my son," he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and we will get his prosperity!" So they grabbed him, threw him out of the Vineyard, and killed him. Now, when the owner of the Vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? JESUS asked. "HE will certainly kill those evil men," they answered, "and rent the Vineyard out to other tenants, who will him his share of the harvest at the right time."(33-41).
It is noteworthy that the curse was made by Noah and not by GOD. Noah cursed the nature of the offense and in a symbolic sequence it shows Noah's authority compromised since being under a Covenant with GOD, Noah, as a High Priest, was suppose to be the first one to exercise self-control.
After Noah became drunk and Ham dishonoring his father, by seeing the nakedness of his father, upon awakening Noah pronounced a curse on Ham's youngest son, his grandson Canaan, stating that his offspring would be the servants of servants. Of Ham's four sons, Canaan fathered the Canaanites, while Mizraim fathered the Egyptians, Cush the Cushites, and Phut the Lybians. The same 4 are mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, as the 4 races known by the Egyptians.
The Scripture indicates that Noah restricted his curse to the offspring of Ham's youngest son Canaan, Noah's grandson, for the transgression of his father, and it was not extended to Ham's other sons. According to the Covenant's rules in place over Noah and his descendants, the curse was force to be placed in that specific way. Ham is mentioned as his youngest son in terms of the spiritual rank marked by his deeds. The transgression put him lower in the ladder and with the additional sin of inviting his brothers to commit the same aggravated and degrading deed. Ham's god was not the GOD of Shem.
Canaan's descendants, according to the Scripture, include: Sidonians, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, Hamathites.
The Hittites are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as 2nd of the 11 Canaanite nations under the name of 'children of Heth,' who lived near Hebron. Heth means "that who GOD strengthened."
Hittites appear in the Scripture several times as living near Canaan since the time of Abraham to the time of Ezra after the return from the Babylonian exile. The nature of Noah's drunkenness and the dishonorable action of his own youngest son is expressed in a number of circumstances in the Scripture involving the Israelite's way of following GOD's WORD.
THE NATURE OF THE HITTITES AND AMORITES.
GOD, speaking through the Prophet Ezekiel, used the term "Hittite" in the figurative sense in speaking to the soul of Jerusalem. GOD said in His Judgment to Jerusalem:
"Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the LORD is saying. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols.'
'Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together -the ones you liked and the ones you hated.'
' I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked.' I will CONDEMN you for ADULTERY and MURDER, and IN MY ANGER AND FURY I WILL PUNISH YOU WITH DEATH. I will PUT YOU IN THEIR POWER and THEY will TEAR DOWN the PLACES WHERE YOU ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION and WORSHIP IDOLS. They will THAKE AWAY your CLOTHES and JEWELS and LEAVE YOU NAKED.
They will STIR UP A CROWD to STONE YOU, AND THEY WILL CUT YOU TO PIECES with their swords. They will BURN YOUR HOUSES DOWN and LET CROWDS of WOMEN SEE your PUNISHMENT." (Ezekiel 16: 35-41)
The LORD said, "People will use this Proverb about you, Jerusalem: 'LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER.' You really are your mother's daughter. Your mother DETESTED her HUSBAND and HER CHILDREN. You are like YOUR SISTERS, who HATED their HUSBANDS and THEIR CHILDREN. You and your sister cities had a HITTITE MOTHER and AMORITE FATHER.
Your OLDER SISTER, with her villages, is SAMARIA, in the North. Your YOUNGER sister, with her villages, is SODOM, in the South. Were you, JERUSALEM, satisfied to follow in their footsteps and copy their disgusting actions? No, in only a "little while" you were acting worse than they were in everything you did.' " (Ezekiel 16: 46-47)
"I WILL MAKE YOU STOP being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers. Then MY ANGER WILL BE OVER, and I WILL BE CALM. I WILL NOT BE ANGRY OR JEALOUS ANY MORE." (Ezekiel 16: 42)
"You have forgotten HOW I TREATED YOU when YOU WERE YOUNG, and you have made Me angry by all the THINGS YOU DID. That is Why I HAVE MADE YOU PAY FOR THEM ALL. Why did YOU ADD SEXUAL IMMORALITY TO ALL THE OTHER disgusting things you did?"
The Sovereign LORD has spoken. (Ezekiel 16: 43)
"As surely as I AM THE LIVING GOD," the Sovereign LORD says, "Your sister SODOM and her villages NEVER DID THE EVIL that YOU and YOUR VILLAGES HAVE DONE. SHE and her DAUGHTERS were PROUD because THEY HAD PLENTY TO EAT and LIVED IN PEACE and QUIET, but they did NOT TAKE CARE OF THE POOR AND the UNDERPRIVILEGED. They were PROUD AND STUBBORN and DID the THINGS that I HATE, so I DESTROYED THEM, as you well know." (Ezekiel 16: 48-50)
"SAMARIA did not sin half as much as you have. TOU HAVE ACTED MORE DISGUSTINGLY than she ever did. YOUR CORRUPTION MAKE your SISTERS LOOK INNOCENT BY COMPARISON. And now YOU HAVE TO ENDURE YOUR DISGRACE. Your SINS ARE SO MUCH WORSE THAN THOSE OF YOUR SISTERS that THEY LOOK INNOCENT BESIDE YOU. Now BLUSH AND BEAR YOUR SHAME, BECAUSE YOU MAKE YOUR SISTERS LOOK PURE." (Ezekiel 16: 51-52)
"Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the LORD is saying. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols.'
'Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together -the ones you liked and the ones you hated.'
' I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked.' I will CONDEMN you for ADULTERY and MURDER, and IN MY ANGER AND FURY I WILL PUNISH YOU WITH DEATH. I will PUT YOU IN THEIR POWER and THEY will TEAR DOWN the PLACES WHERE YOU ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION and WORSHIP IDOLS. They will THAKE AWAY your CLOTHES and JEWELS and LEAVE YOU NAKED.
They will STIR UP A CROWD to STONE YOU, AND THEY WILL CUT YOU TO PIECES with their swords. They will BURN YOUR HOUSES DOWN and LET CROWDS of WOMEN SEE your PUNISHMENT." (Ezekiel 16: 35-41)
The LORD said, "People will use this Proverb about you, Jerusalem: 'LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER.' You really are your mother's daughter. Your mother DETESTED her HUSBAND and HER CHILDREN. You are like YOUR SISTERS, who HATED their HUSBANDS and THEIR CHILDREN. You and your sister cities had a HITTITE MOTHER and AMORITE FATHER.
Your OLDER SISTER, with her villages, is SAMARIA, in the North. Your YOUNGER sister, with her villages, is SODOM, in the South. Were you, JERUSALEM, satisfied to follow in their footsteps and copy their disgusting actions? No, in only a "little while" you were acting worse than they were in everything you did.' " (Ezekiel 16: 46-47)
"I WILL MAKE YOU STOP being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers. Then MY ANGER WILL BE OVER, and I WILL BE CALM. I WILL NOT BE ANGRY OR JEALOUS ANY MORE." (Ezekiel 16: 42)
"You have forgotten HOW I TREATED YOU when YOU WERE YOUNG, and you have made Me angry by all the THINGS YOU DID. That is Why I HAVE MADE YOU PAY FOR THEM ALL. Why did YOU ADD SEXUAL IMMORALITY TO ALL THE OTHER disgusting things you did?"
The Sovereign LORD has spoken. (Ezekiel 16: 43)
"As surely as I AM THE LIVING GOD," the Sovereign LORD says, "Your sister SODOM and her villages NEVER DID THE EVIL that YOU and YOUR VILLAGES HAVE DONE. SHE and her DAUGHTERS were PROUD because THEY HAD PLENTY TO EAT and LIVED IN PEACE and QUIET, but they did NOT TAKE CARE OF THE POOR AND the UNDERPRIVILEGED. They were PROUD AND STUBBORN and DID the THINGS that I HATE, so I DESTROYED THEM, as you well know." (Ezekiel 16: 48-50)
"SAMARIA did not sin half as much as you have. TOU HAVE ACTED MORE DISGUSTINGLY than she ever did. YOUR CORRUPTION MAKE your SISTERS LOOK INNOCENT BY COMPARISON. And now YOU HAVE TO ENDURE YOUR DISGRACE. Your SINS ARE SO MUCH WORSE THAN THOSE OF YOUR SISTERS that THEY LOOK INNOCENT BESIDE YOU. Now BLUSH AND BEAR YOUR SHAME, BECAUSE YOU MAKE YOUR SISTERS LOOK PURE." (Ezekiel 16: 51-52)
TIME IN THE INVISIBLE WORLD.
We are all familiar with stories made of ideas ahead of their time, the same can be said about ancient artifacts or buildings left by races who do not fit within the linear time or sequence of historical events made by humans considering in it only the physical element.
We can say that history is the product of an ongoing and higher definition of the supernatural force of time which measure its effect and interaction with the collective force of existence in the human consciousness. Time is a more complex phenomenon of which we still have much to learn.
Genesis 11:1 says, "At first the people of the whole World had only one language an used the same words." GOD said about us: "They will be like us and resemble us"(1:26). "So GOD created human beings, making them male and female"(1:27).
From this description we can understand that we had such power over Mind and Words and were complementary. GOD also said, "They will have power over the fish (Sea World), the birds (Sky World), and all animals domestic and wild, large and small (Earth World)" (1:26).
We were the energy, the fire essence, produced in the Mind and declared through Words.
Then, after the rebellion, such power "wandered about in the East," the holders of this language based on Mind and Words "came to a Plain "in" Babylonia and "settled there" (11:2).
The plain "in" Babylonia is understood as the complementary force expressed as now as "ground", depending on the Time and Space needed in order to function, because by themselves alone they couldn't exist. The creation was based in complementary and at the same time dual forces needed to be harmonized in order to coexist together. Man now is not connected with the Divine Source of his power. He is only an illusion made by Mind and declared by empty Words and trapped in a recycle time of events.
Genesis start saying, "In the beginning, when GOD created the Universe, the earth was formless and desolate"(1:1). It does not mention Time, but it does mention the negative impact and consequence of Mind and empty Words in Darkness: chaos. Mind and empty Words are unable to settle and their power is only an illusion and useless, because it does not last forever.
Genesis 1:2 says, "The ranging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the SPIRIT OF GOD was moving over the water."
The ranging ocean is compared to a human brain having a collapse in its own stormy waves making it unable to function in a rational way. The whole Universe was like that at the beginning of the Creation, and the matter was useless, because it couldn't form by itself a body. It needed to settle, Mind and Words with GOD and acknowledge GOD as the only One as the SOURCE OF LIFE.
Genesis 1:3 says, GOD commanded, "Let there be Light."
In a World of Darkness in which the mind and words are out of control, only GOD's LIGHT is able to act as a SOURCE OF LIFE and restore that Mind and through its Word declare GOD'S Sovereign from the beginning to eternity.
The Book of Zechariah of the Hebrew Scriptures, identifies him as "Zechariah the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo the Prophet (1:1)", none of them are mentioned in a linear time. This book provides a basis for establishing the non-linear time period covered by its composition. The last non-linear time indicator found in the book is the 4th Day of Chislef in the 4th year of Darius' reign. From chapter 9 onward the subject matter changes from specific non-linear time to prophecies making a fusion of GOD's TIME from the beginning to the end.
Zechariah is also mentioned in 2 Chronicles 22 and 24. He is said to be the son of High Priest Jehoiada.
After Jehoiada's death, King Jeho'Ash turned away from True Worship, listening to wrong counsel rather than to GOD's Prophets. Zechariah, Jeho'Ash' cousin, "sternly warned the people about this," but, "instead of repenting," they stoned Zechariah "in the Temple courtyard.
Zechariah's dying Words were:"Let GOD SEE to it and ASK IT BACK." The prophetic request was granted in a sequences of events not marked in a lineal time, instead marked in a cycle of actions being repeated over an over in time showing the powerful force of that declaration that surpassed the boundaries of the physical time of the present and went from the present to the future.
Not only did Syria do great damage to Judah, but also Jeho'Ash was killed by 2 of his servants "because of the blood of the sons of Jeho'Iada, the Prophet Priest". The "sons of Jeho'Iada" were the ones whom JESUS had in mind when prophesying that "the BLOOD OF ALL THE PROPHETS FROM THE FOUNDING OF THE WORLD" WILL BE REQUIRED FROM THIS GENERATION, FROM THE BLOOD OF ABEL DOWN TO THE BLOOD OF ZECHARIAH, WHO WAS SLAIN BETWEEN THE ALTAR AND THE HOUSE." (Luke 11:50-51)
JESUS' WORDS, "from Abel... to Zechariah," is similar to the expression "FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION" in a non-linear Time. In the parallel account at Matthew 23:35, Zechariah is again called the son of Berachiah, it confirms the direct relationship of Zechariah to the sons of Jeho'Iada without the boundaries of Time in a linear concept.
We can say that history is the product of an ongoing and higher definition of the supernatural force of time which measure its effect and interaction with the collective force of existence in the human consciousness. Time is a more complex phenomenon of which we still have much to learn.
Genesis 11:1 says, "At first the people of the whole World had only one language an used the same words." GOD said about us: "They will be like us and resemble us"(1:26). "So GOD created human beings, making them male and female"(1:27).
From this description we can understand that we had such power over Mind and Words and were complementary. GOD also said, "They will have power over the fish (Sea World), the birds (Sky World), and all animals domestic and wild, large and small (Earth World)" (1:26).
We were the energy, the fire essence, produced in the Mind and declared through Words.
Then, after the rebellion, such power "wandered about in the East," the holders of this language based on Mind and Words "came to a Plain "in" Babylonia and "settled there" (11:2).
The plain "in" Babylonia is understood as the complementary force expressed as now as "ground", depending on the Time and Space needed in order to function, because by themselves alone they couldn't exist. The creation was based in complementary and at the same time dual forces needed to be harmonized in order to coexist together. Man now is not connected with the Divine Source of his power. He is only an illusion made by Mind and declared by empty Words and trapped in a recycle time of events.
Genesis start saying, "In the beginning, when GOD created the Universe, the earth was formless and desolate"(1:1). It does not mention Time, but it does mention the negative impact and consequence of Mind and empty Words in Darkness: chaos. Mind and empty Words are unable to settle and their power is only an illusion and useless, because it does not last forever.
Genesis 1:2 says, "The ranging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the SPIRIT OF GOD was moving over the water."
The ranging ocean is compared to a human brain having a collapse in its own stormy waves making it unable to function in a rational way. The whole Universe was like that at the beginning of the Creation, and the matter was useless, because it couldn't form by itself a body. It needed to settle, Mind and Words with GOD and acknowledge GOD as the only One as the SOURCE OF LIFE.
Genesis 1:3 says, GOD commanded, "Let there be Light."
In a World of Darkness in which the mind and words are out of control, only GOD's LIGHT is able to act as a SOURCE OF LIFE and restore that Mind and through its Word declare GOD'S Sovereign from the beginning to eternity.
The Book of Zechariah of the Hebrew Scriptures, identifies him as "Zechariah the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo the Prophet (1:1)", none of them are mentioned in a linear time. This book provides a basis for establishing the non-linear time period covered by its composition. The last non-linear time indicator found in the book is the 4th Day of Chislef in the 4th year of Darius' reign. From chapter 9 onward the subject matter changes from specific non-linear time to prophecies making a fusion of GOD's TIME from the beginning to the end.
Zechariah is also mentioned in 2 Chronicles 22 and 24. He is said to be the son of High Priest Jehoiada.
After Jehoiada's death, King Jeho'Ash turned away from True Worship, listening to wrong counsel rather than to GOD's Prophets. Zechariah, Jeho'Ash' cousin, "sternly warned the people about this," but, "instead of repenting," they stoned Zechariah "in the Temple courtyard.
Zechariah's dying Words were:"Let GOD SEE to it and ASK IT BACK." The prophetic request was granted in a sequences of events not marked in a lineal time, instead marked in a cycle of actions being repeated over an over in time showing the powerful force of that declaration that surpassed the boundaries of the physical time of the present and went from the present to the future.
Not only did Syria do great damage to Judah, but also Jeho'Ash was killed by 2 of his servants "because of the blood of the sons of Jeho'Iada, the Prophet Priest". The "sons of Jeho'Iada" were the ones whom JESUS had in mind when prophesying that "the BLOOD OF ALL THE PROPHETS FROM THE FOUNDING OF THE WORLD" WILL BE REQUIRED FROM THIS GENERATION, FROM THE BLOOD OF ABEL DOWN TO THE BLOOD OF ZECHARIAH, WHO WAS SLAIN BETWEEN THE ALTAR AND THE HOUSE." (Luke 11:50-51)
JESUS' WORDS, "from Abel... to Zechariah," is similar to the expression "FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION" in a non-linear Time. In the parallel account at Matthew 23:35, Zechariah is again called the son of Berachiah, it confirms the direct relationship of Zechariah to the sons of Jeho'Iada without the boundaries of Time in a linear concept.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)