The Scripture speaks of 3 different heavens. Genesis 1:1 says that God created "the heavens." The first heaven is assumed as the atmosphere around the earth in which the air is the vital ingredient for life on the earth. In describing the rain that brought on the Flood of Noah's time, Genesis 7:11 says "the windows of heaven were opened." Commenting on the extent of the water, verse 19 says "all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered."
The 2nd heaven is commonly referred to as "outer space." Exodus 32:13 is one of many references to "the stars of heaven." Stars are not in the skies from which the rain falls, but in a space beyond our atmosphere. Nehemiah 9:6 also refers to space as heaven: "You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host."
A 3rd heaven is mentioned in a letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church. He writes, "I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the Third Heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know -God knows. And I know that this man -whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows -was caught up to Paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell."(2 Corinthians 12: 2-4) The apparent parallelism of the passage equates the Third heaven with Paradise.
Revelation 4:2 reveals that God's throne is in heaven, the location must be the heaven of heavens.
The universe of the ancient Israelites was perceived as a flat disc-shaped world floating on water with heaven above and the underworld below. Humans inhabited earth during life and the underworld after death, and the underworld was considered neutral. In Hellenistic times the Israelites begin to adopt the Greek idea that it would be a place of punishment for misdeeds, and that the righteous would enjoy an afterlife in heaven.
Around the time of Jesus, the Greek idea that God had actually created matter replaced the older idea that matter had always existed, but in a chaotic state. This concept is now the accepted one of most denominations of Judaism and Christianity, believing that a single, uncreated God was responsible for the creation of the cosmos.
In the non-canonical 2nd Book of Enoch, Third Heaven is described as a location between corruptible and incorruptible containing the Tree of Life,"whereon the Lord rests, when He goes up into paradise."
Two springs in the Third Heaven, one of milk and the other of honey, along with two others of wine and oil, flow down in to the Garden of Eden. In contrast with the common concept of Paradise, the book also describes a Third heaven, "a very terrible place" with "all manner of tortures" in which merciless angels torment "those who dishonor God, who on earth practice sin against nature," including sodomites, sorcerers, enchanters, witches, the proud, thieves, liars, and those guilty of various transgressions.
The concept of the cosmic axis, in certain beliefs and philosophies is the World center, the connection between Heaven and Earth, regardless of the number of heavens, where the 4 compass directions meet. Communication from lower realms may ascend to higher ones and blessings from higher realms may descend to lower ones and be disseminated to all. Because the cosmic axis is an idea that unites a number of concrete images, no contradiction exists in regarding multiple spots as the center of the world. The symbol can operate in a number of locales at once. Mount Hermon was regarded as the cosmic axis in Canaanite tradition, from where the sons of God are introduced descending to lower realms. (1 Enoch 6:6) The ancient Greeks regarded several sites as places of earth's navel stone, notably the oracle at Delphi, while still maintaining a belief in a cosmic world tree and in Mount Olympus as the abode of the gods. Judaism has the Temple Mount, Christianity has the Mount of Olives and Calvary, Islaam has Ka'aba, said to be the 1st building on earth, and the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock).
Sunday, 24 December 2017
BABYLON EPIC OF CREATION.
The Enuma Elish, also known as the Seven Tablets of Creation, is the Mesopotamian creation myth whose title is derived from the opening lines of the piece "When in the Height." All of the tablets containing the myth were found at Asshur, Kish, in the ruined Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, Sultantepe, and other excavated sites, date to 1100 BC. However, the tablets found are only copies of a much older version of the myth.
The Enuma Elis is the earliest written text about a civil war between the entities inhabiting the primeval world in which Marduk, a very young god, answered the call and was promised the position of head god if he would destroy the tyranny of Tiamat and her liuetenant (who was also her son and consort), Kingu. Marduk battles the tyrannical primordial chaos, in the form of a sea-serpent goddess Tiamat with her own evil champion, Kingu. Marduk defeats her and her son using an arsenal of super-weapons. After his victory Marduk is made the leader of the gods by acclamation. Marduk then claimed the Kingu's prized Tablets of Destiny and fashioned a new cosmic order that included humankind, out of Tiamat's body. Humans were created to bear the burdens of life so the gods could be at leisure. Marduk divides Tiamat's corpse into two portions, the upper half becoming the sky and the lower half, the earth, and then creates humanity from his blood and bone.
It has been hypothesized that this is a legend about the overthrow of the matriarchy or records of some cosmic catastrophe. Other scholars says that the myth was created to explain how Marduk came to a position of supreme power. The story became an important part of Babylonian culture and was re-enacted annually in lavish New Year festivities.
Marduk literally means "bull calf of the sun; solar calf,"although he was also a deity of fertility and storms. He was one of the sons of the chief god of the city of Eridu, Enki. The exact meaning of Enki's name is "Lord of the Earth." Enki was the god of water, crafts, intelligence, and creation.
Sometimes portrayed as double-headed, Marduk was later given the title Bel, or Lord, and was referred to simply as "Bel" in a manner similar to that of the Canaanite Baal (master/lord). When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates Valley, Marduk rose to the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acquired by the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. Marduk was thus the chief deity of the Babylonian Empire during the period of Israel exile in Babylon (6th-5th BC).
In the Scripture, in the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 51, God says: "I will punish Marduk, the god of Babylon, and make him vomit up everything he gobbled down. The nations will no longer bring him gifts, and Babylon's walls will crumble. Get out of Babylon, My people, and run for your lives, before I strike the city in My anger! Don't be afraid or lose hope ..." (44-45)
The Enuma Elis is the earliest written text about a civil war between the entities inhabiting the primeval world in which Marduk, a very young god, answered the call and was promised the position of head god if he would destroy the tyranny of Tiamat and her liuetenant (who was also her son and consort), Kingu. Marduk battles the tyrannical primordial chaos, in the form of a sea-serpent goddess Tiamat with her own evil champion, Kingu. Marduk defeats her and her son using an arsenal of super-weapons. After his victory Marduk is made the leader of the gods by acclamation. Marduk then claimed the Kingu's prized Tablets of Destiny and fashioned a new cosmic order that included humankind, out of Tiamat's body. Humans were created to bear the burdens of life so the gods could be at leisure. Marduk divides Tiamat's corpse into two portions, the upper half becoming the sky and the lower half, the earth, and then creates humanity from his blood and bone.
It has been hypothesized that this is a legend about the overthrow of the matriarchy or records of some cosmic catastrophe. Other scholars says that the myth was created to explain how Marduk came to a position of supreme power. The story became an important part of Babylonian culture and was re-enacted annually in lavish New Year festivities.
Marduk literally means "bull calf of the sun; solar calf,"although he was also a deity of fertility and storms. He was one of the sons of the chief god of the city of Eridu, Enki. The exact meaning of Enki's name is "Lord of the Earth." Enki was the god of water, crafts, intelligence, and creation.
Sometimes portrayed as double-headed, Marduk was later given the title Bel, or Lord, and was referred to simply as "Bel" in a manner similar to that of the Canaanite Baal (master/lord). When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates Valley, Marduk rose to the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acquired by the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. Marduk was thus the chief deity of the Babylonian Empire during the period of Israel exile in Babylon (6th-5th BC).
In the Scripture, in the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 51, God says: "I will punish Marduk, the god of Babylon, and make him vomit up everything he gobbled down. The nations will no longer bring him gifts, and Babylon's walls will crumble. Get out of Babylon, My people, and run for your lives, before I strike the city in My anger! Don't be afraid or lose hope ..." (44-45)
THE POWER OF THE CHALDEANS.
The Chaldeans (which is current days Irak, East Syria, and South East Turkey), are a live continuation of all the indigenous people of Mesopotamia whether their tribal name were Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Aramaeans.
The language of the Chaldean people is Syriac, which is essentially Aramaic (a different dialect than that spoken by Jesus Christ) with a dose of Akkadian, the original language of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Chaldean tribes.
The early kingdoms of Mesopotamia (area known today as modern day Iraq), consisted of Babylonia on the Southern plain and Assyria in the Northern plain. The first known reference to the name Chaldea, is found in the annals of Ashurbannipal II, king of Assyria (884-859 BC). The Assyrians who came on the scene about 1000 years later, quickly became a leading power owing to their military and administrative skills. Regardless of who ascended the throne (power shifted back and forth between Assyria and Babylonian), Babylon always remained as the capital, and the term "Babylonian" remained intact. During the latter years, Chaldean kings played an important role by ruling and maintained separate borders between Assyria and Babylon. The Assyrian Empire, especially under Sennacherib, stood indestructible for centuries. Sennacherib won every single battle he engaged in; a veritable military mind whom no one could destroy - except Babylon. Sennacherib was killed there in one of the Babylonian temples. The name "Chaldean," in this final stage, include both Babylon and Nineveh (Assyria). The Chaldeans and Assyrians of the old were ethnically, cultural and linguistically the same people divided along political and religious allegiances.
The basic characteristic of Mesopotamian religion was its view of the spiritual force behind natural phenomena. Each act of nature was believed to be the force of some entity who had the appropriate appearance in external form. Omens upheld ancestral beliefs in Heaven and Earth as complementary forces without one having more influence over the other. Crop failures, pestilence, wars, the death of a nobleman, were thought to depend upon the balance of these complementary forces. The entities in heaven held positions of power and each person were expected to serve the entity in charge of his well being. Through every situation the individual was likely to seek supernatural guidance through omens, that he might interpret as the will of the gods. From the farmer to the kings and rulers, such guidance was sought in all matters of importance.
Over time, many records of daily lunar activity and periodic solar eclipses were developed and kept for each and every day of the year along with each omen that accompanied the event. Through these records the Chaldeans developed theories that the same phenomena would recur in cycles. One of the cycles was discovering seasonal alignments with fixed stars. It gave them proof that the heaven and the earth were complementary.
The 5th tablet of its creation myth (Enuma elish) states that the Babylonian entity, Marduk, determined the seasonal boundaries and defined the divisions by setting up 3 constellations for each month for the 12-month year. The sets of 3 constellations were set up into 4 groupings. The 4 cardinal points came about by using the summer solstice as a mooring peg. Once established, the Chaldeans followed the Sun along the ecliptic, referred to as the Way of Anu. The year was divided into approximate 90-day periods, depending on the length of the Moon's lunation. These are recorded on tablets, the earliest dating around 1100 BC. The Chaldean astrologers, as priests, were especially renowned astrologers.
Even the Scripture refers to the astrological prowess of the Chaldeans, and during the classical period all astrologers were generically known as Chaldeans.
However, it wasn't until the Seleucid period that the Chaldeans began to develop their science and religion into art.
The Persian conquest into Babylon ended the history of the Babylonians in 539 BC. The Persians continue to rule the Babylonian peoples until Alexander the Great conquered the land in 330 BC. Upon Alexander's death, Seleucid, one of his generals, claimed ruler-ship over the land and began to Hellenize the region. During this Seleucid period (Greeks were enthusiastic diviners and readers of many different oracles), the scribal school at Erech remained active and continue to flourish; collecting ritual text and further developing astrology.
The language of the Chaldean people is Syriac, which is essentially Aramaic (a different dialect than that spoken by Jesus Christ) with a dose of Akkadian, the original language of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Chaldean tribes.
The early kingdoms of Mesopotamia (area known today as modern day Iraq), consisted of Babylonia on the Southern plain and Assyria in the Northern plain. The first known reference to the name Chaldea, is found in the annals of Ashurbannipal II, king of Assyria (884-859 BC). The Assyrians who came on the scene about 1000 years later, quickly became a leading power owing to their military and administrative skills. Regardless of who ascended the throne (power shifted back and forth between Assyria and Babylonian), Babylon always remained as the capital, and the term "Babylonian" remained intact. During the latter years, Chaldean kings played an important role by ruling and maintained separate borders between Assyria and Babylon. The Assyrian Empire, especially under Sennacherib, stood indestructible for centuries. Sennacherib won every single battle he engaged in; a veritable military mind whom no one could destroy - except Babylon. Sennacherib was killed there in one of the Babylonian temples. The name "Chaldean," in this final stage, include both Babylon and Nineveh (Assyria). The Chaldeans and Assyrians of the old were ethnically, cultural and linguistically the same people divided along political and religious allegiances.
The basic characteristic of Mesopotamian religion was its view of the spiritual force behind natural phenomena. Each act of nature was believed to be the force of some entity who had the appropriate appearance in external form. Omens upheld ancestral beliefs in Heaven and Earth as complementary forces without one having more influence over the other. Crop failures, pestilence, wars, the death of a nobleman, were thought to depend upon the balance of these complementary forces. The entities in heaven held positions of power and each person were expected to serve the entity in charge of his well being. Through every situation the individual was likely to seek supernatural guidance through omens, that he might interpret as the will of the gods. From the farmer to the kings and rulers, such guidance was sought in all matters of importance.
Over time, many records of daily lunar activity and periodic solar eclipses were developed and kept for each and every day of the year along with each omen that accompanied the event. Through these records the Chaldeans developed theories that the same phenomena would recur in cycles. One of the cycles was discovering seasonal alignments with fixed stars. It gave them proof that the heaven and the earth were complementary.
The 5th tablet of its creation myth (Enuma elish) states that the Babylonian entity, Marduk, determined the seasonal boundaries and defined the divisions by setting up 3 constellations for each month for the 12-month year. The sets of 3 constellations were set up into 4 groupings. The 4 cardinal points came about by using the summer solstice as a mooring peg. Once established, the Chaldeans followed the Sun along the ecliptic, referred to as the Way of Anu. The year was divided into approximate 90-day periods, depending on the length of the Moon's lunation. These are recorded on tablets, the earliest dating around 1100 BC. The Chaldean astrologers, as priests, were especially renowned astrologers.
Even the Scripture refers to the astrological prowess of the Chaldeans, and during the classical period all astrologers were generically known as Chaldeans.
However, it wasn't until the Seleucid period that the Chaldeans began to develop their science and religion into art.
The Persian conquest into Babylon ended the history of the Babylonians in 539 BC. The Persians continue to rule the Babylonian peoples until Alexander the Great conquered the land in 330 BC. Upon Alexander's death, Seleucid, one of his generals, claimed ruler-ship over the land and began to Hellenize the region. During this Seleucid period (Greeks were enthusiastic diviners and readers of many different oracles), the scribal school at Erech remained active and continue to flourish; collecting ritual text and further developing astrology.
Wednesday, 11 October 2017
THE LAMB AND HIS PEOPLE..
After the Human Disobedience, God said, "Now 'these human beings' have become like one of us ...' ". (Genesis 3:22)
God refers to a part of the human creation that disobeyed His Laws and elevated themselves in their minds to become like Him and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad, in their own terms.
God's plans to save His people started before the World was created. He gave to everyone the chance to prove themselves how loyal they were to Him and at the same time He used the World as a battle-ground between good and evil.
Since all human beings belonged to a specific way of living, just one wrong action jeopardized all of them. Then God banished all from the Garden of Eden to cultivate the soil (flesh and mind) from which they had been formed.
Then at the EAST side of the Garden of Eden God put Living Creatures (angels of the highest rank), and a Flaming Sword (His Word) and said, "They must not be allowed to take fruit from the 'Tree of Life', eat it, and live forever."
Then Cain, the first murderer, came to the World through Eve and became a farmer. After him came Abel who became a shepherd. Notice how specific the Scripture is in mentioning the craft in which both were involved; both had to deal with the flesh. Cain, as a farmer, chose to plant in his mind everything that pleased him without refrain. Abel, as a shepherd, instead chose to control the animal way in his self and offered the best of him to serve God.
The Scripture says, "After some time Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the Lord. Then Abel brought the First Lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering." (Genesis 4: 3-4). Symbolically it represent two groups of human beings. One group lacking Respect, Honor and Loyalty to God and the other group showing an immense amount of Faith towards God, and the sincere desire of pleasing Him.
In Exodus 19, the Scripture says, "The People of Israel left Rephidim, and on the 1st Day of the 3rd Month after they had left Egypt (World) they came to the desert of Sinai. There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai and Moses went up the Mountain to meet with God. ... He told Moses to say to the Israelites, Jacob's descendants: 'You saw what I, the Lord, did to the Egyptians (the World) and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to Me. Now, if you will obey Me and keep My Covenant, you will be My chosen people; a people dedicated to Me alone, and you will serve Me as priests." (Exodus 19: 1-6)
God planned everything in advance and made the rules in which free choice played a big role.
The Exodus 19:8 says, "Then all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the Lord has said," and Moses reported this to the Lord. And the Lord said to him, "Go to the people and tell them to spend 'today and tomorrow' purifying themselves for worship. (Even the priests who come near Me must purify themselves, or I will punish them.) They 'must wash their clothes and be ready' the Day after Tomorrow. On that Day I will come down on Mount Sinai, where all the people can see Me. Mark a boundary around the Mountain that the people must not cross and tell them not to go up the mountain or even go near it. If any of you set foot on it, you are to be put to death; you must either be stoned or shot with arrows, without anyone touching you. This applies to both people and animals; they must be put to death. But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up to the Mountain. (Exodus 19: 9-13)
In the Book of Revelation, Chapter 14, the writer says,"... there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion; with Him were 144,000 People who have His Name and His Father's Name written on their foreheads. Then I heard a 'voice from heaven' that sounded like a 'roaring waterfall', like a 'loud peal of thunder'. The voice sounded like the 'music made by musicians playing their harps'. (Revelation 14: 1-2)
The 144,000 People stood before the Throne, the 4 Living Creatures, and the Elders. They were singing 'a new song', which 'only they could learn'. (Revelation 14: 3)
Then the writer explains the nature of these People by saying, "Of the whole Human Race the 144,000 are the only ones who have been redeemed. They are the 'men who have kept themselves pure' by not having sexual relations with women (representing the world); they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from the rest of the Human Race and are the First Ones to be offered to God and to the Lamb. They have never been known to tell lies; they are faultless. (4-5)
In the Book of Revelation, Chapter 22, Jesus says, "Listen! I am coming soon! I will bring my rewards with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. I Am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Revelation 22: 12-13)
"Happy are those who wash their robes clean and so have 'the right to eat' the Fruit from the Tree of Life and to go through the Gates into the city. But outside the city are the perverts and those who practice magic, the immoral and the murderers, those who worship idols and those who are liars both in words and deeds." (Revelation 22: 14-15)
God refers to a part of the human creation that disobeyed His Laws and elevated themselves in their minds to become like Him and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad, in their own terms.
God's plans to save His people started before the World was created. He gave to everyone the chance to prove themselves how loyal they were to Him and at the same time He used the World as a battle-ground between good and evil.
Since all human beings belonged to a specific way of living, just one wrong action jeopardized all of them. Then God banished all from the Garden of Eden to cultivate the soil (flesh and mind) from which they had been formed.
Then at the EAST side of the Garden of Eden God put Living Creatures (angels of the highest rank), and a Flaming Sword (His Word) and said, "They must not be allowed to take fruit from the 'Tree of Life', eat it, and live forever."
Then Cain, the first murderer, came to the World through Eve and became a farmer. After him came Abel who became a shepherd. Notice how specific the Scripture is in mentioning the craft in which both were involved; both had to deal with the flesh. Cain, as a farmer, chose to plant in his mind everything that pleased him without refrain. Abel, as a shepherd, instead chose to control the animal way in his self and offered the best of him to serve God.
The Scripture says, "After some time Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the Lord. Then Abel brought the First Lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering." (Genesis 4: 3-4). Symbolically it represent two groups of human beings. One group lacking Respect, Honor and Loyalty to God and the other group showing an immense amount of Faith towards God, and the sincere desire of pleasing Him.
In Exodus 19, the Scripture says, "The People of Israel left Rephidim, and on the 1st Day of the 3rd Month after they had left Egypt (World) they came to the desert of Sinai. There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai and Moses went up the Mountain to meet with God. ... He told Moses to say to the Israelites, Jacob's descendants: 'You saw what I, the Lord, did to the Egyptians (the World) and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to Me. Now, if you will obey Me and keep My Covenant, you will be My chosen people; a people dedicated to Me alone, and you will serve Me as priests." (Exodus 19: 1-6)
God planned everything in advance and made the rules in which free choice played a big role.
The Exodus 19:8 says, "Then all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the Lord has said," and Moses reported this to the Lord. And the Lord said to him, "Go to the people and tell them to spend 'today and tomorrow' purifying themselves for worship. (Even the priests who come near Me must purify themselves, or I will punish them.) They 'must wash their clothes and be ready' the Day after Tomorrow. On that Day I will come down on Mount Sinai, where all the people can see Me. Mark a boundary around the Mountain that the people must not cross and tell them not to go up the mountain or even go near it. If any of you set foot on it, you are to be put to death; you must either be stoned or shot with arrows, without anyone touching you. This applies to both people and animals; they must be put to death. But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up to the Mountain. (Exodus 19: 9-13)
In the Book of Revelation, Chapter 14, the writer says,"... there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion; with Him were 144,000 People who have His Name and His Father's Name written on their foreheads. Then I heard a 'voice from heaven' that sounded like a 'roaring waterfall', like a 'loud peal of thunder'. The voice sounded like the 'music made by musicians playing their harps'. (Revelation 14: 1-2)
The 144,000 People stood before the Throne, the 4 Living Creatures, and the Elders. They were singing 'a new song', which 'only they could learn'. (Revelation 14: 3)
Then the writer explains the nature of these People by saying, "Of the whole Human Race the 144,000 are the only ones who have been redeemed. They are the 'men who have kept themselves pure' by not having sexual relations with women (representing the world); they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from the rest of the Human Race and are the First Ones to be offered to God and to the Lamb. They have never been known to tell lies; they are faultless. (4-5)
In the Book of Revelation, Chapter 22, Jesus says, "Listen! I am coming soon! I will bring my rewards with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. I Am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Revelation 22: 12-13)
"Happy are those who wash their robes clean and so have 'the right to eat' the Fruit from the Tree of Life and to go through the Gates into the city. But outside the city are the perverts and those who practice magic, the immoral and the murderers, those who worship idols and those who are liars both in words and deeds." (Revelation 22: 14-15)
Sunday, 2 July 2017
THE HOUSE OF OMRI.
The House of Omri was a ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) founded by King Omri.
According to the Hebrew Scripture, the territory of the Kingdom of Israel comprised the territories of the Tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Gad. Its capital was Samaria, according to the Book of Isaiah.
After the death of Solomon, all the Israelite Tribes except for Judah and benjamin (called the 10 Northern Tribes) refused to accept Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, as their king. The rebellion gainst Rehoboam arose after he refused to lighten the burden of taxation and services that his father Solomon had imposed on his subjects.
Jeroboam, who was not of the Davidic Line, was sent for from Egypt by the malcontents. Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem and Jeroboam was proclaimed king over all Israel at Shechem. After the revolt at Shechem at first only the Tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David and little after the Tribe of Benjamin joined Judah. The Northern Kingdom continued to be called the Kingdom of Israel, while the Southern Kingdom was called the Kingdom of Judah. The 2nd Book of Chronicles also says that members of the Tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon feld to Judah during the reign of Asa of Judah.
Shechem was the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel. Afterwards it was Tirzah. King Omri built his capital in Samaria, which continued as such until the destruction of the Kingdom by the Assyrians.
The Scripture portrays the Omrides unfavorably, stressing their apostasy from the Law of God in favor of Baal. Little attention is devoted to Omri aside from noting his establishment of the dynasty and foundation of Israel's new capital of Samaria. In contrast, Omri's son Ahab is the subject of an extended narrative focusing on his troubled relations with the prophets Elijah and Elisha. He is depicted having a weak personality allowing himself to be led by his strong-willed wife Jezebel of Tyre, who advocated Baal worship. Note is also made of the dynasty's diplomacy, which connected it by marriage to Tyre and Judah and brought about a rapprochement with the latter after a long series of wars. The account of the later Omrides concerns the revolt of Moab, their conflict with Damascus over Ramoth-Gilead, the dynasty's extinction in Israel at the hands of Jehu, and Athalia's usurpation of the throne of Judah on the death of her son King Ahaziah.
Five Assyrian records are to refer either "Land of Omri" or "House of Omri." Also an archaeological reference to Omri and his unnamed son is found in an inscribed stone set up by King Mesha of Moab, (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tells how Chemosh, the god of Moab, had been angry with his people and had allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length Chemosh returned and assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab. Mesha also describes his many building projects. It is written in Phoenician alphabet. The Mesha stone in the only Nothwest Semitic inscription known to reference Omri.
According to the Hebrew Scripture, the territory of the Kingdom of Israel comprised the territories of the Tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Gad. Its capital was Samaria, according to the Book of Isaiah.
After the death of Solomon, all the Israelite Tribes except for Judah and benjamin (called the 10 Northern Tribes) refused to accept Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, as their king. The rebellion gainst Rehoboam arose after he refused to lighten the burden of taxation and services that his father Solomon had imposed on his subjects.
Jeroboam, who was not of the Davidic Line, was sent for from Egypt by the malcontents. Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem and Jeroboam was proclaimed king over all Israel at Shechem. After the revolt at Shechem at first only the Tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David and little after the Tribe of Benjamin joined Judah. The Northern Kingdom continued to be called the Kingdom of Israel, while the Southern Kingdom was called the Kingdom of Judah. The 2nd Book of Chronicles also says that members of the Tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon feld to Judah during the reign of Asa of Judah.
Shechem was the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel. Afterwards it was Tirzah. King Omri built his capital in Samaria, which continued as such until the destruction of the Kingdom by the Assyrians.
The Scripture portrays the Omrides unfavorably, stressing their apostasy from the Law of God in favor of Baal. Little attention is devoted to Omri aside from noting his establishment of the dynasty and foundation of Israel's new capital of Samaria. In contrast, Omri's son Ahab is the subject of an extended narrative focusing on his troubled relations with the prophets Elijah and Elisha. He is depicted having a weak personality allowing himself to be led by his strong-willed wife Jezebel of Tyre, who advocated Baal worship. Note is also made of the dynasty's diplomacy, which connected it by marriage to Tyre and Judah and brought about a rapprochement with the latter after a long series of wars. The account of the later Omrides concerns the revolt of Moab, their conflict with Damascus over Ramoth-Gilead, the dynasty's extinction in Israel at the hands of Jehu, and Athalia's usurpation of the throne of Judah on the death of her son King Ahaziah.
Five Assyrian records are to refer either "Land of Omri" or "House of Omri." Also an archaeological reference to Omri and his unnamed son is found in an inscribed stone set up by King Mesha of Moab, (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tells how Chemosh, the god of Moab, had been angry with his people and had allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length Chemosh returned and assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab. Mesha also describes his many building projects. It is written in Phoenician alphabet. The Mesha stone in the only Nothwest Semitic inscription known to reference Omri.
WHAT WE LEARN FROM ELIJAH?
Elijah, a prophet of God whose name means "my God is the Lord," is one of the most interesting people in the Scripture. He came form Tishbeh in Gilead, but nothing is known of his family or birth.
God used Elijah during an important time in Israel's history to oppose Ahab, a wicked king, and bring revival to the land.
Elijah's life was filled with turmoil. At times he was bold and decisive, and at other times fearful and tentative. He alternately demonstrates victory and defeat, followed by recovery. Elijah knew both the power of God and the depths of depression.
Elijah suddenly appears to challenge Ahab, an evil king who ruled the Northern Kingdom.
Elijah prophesies a drought to come upon the whole land as consequence for Ahab's evil.
Elijah, warned by God, hides near the brook of Cherith where he is fed by ravens. As the drought and famine in the land deepen,
Elijah meets with a widow in a neighboring country as the drought and famine in the land deepen and, through her obedience to Elijah's request, God provides food enough for Elijah, the woman, and her son. Miraculously, the widow's barrel of flour and jar of oil never run out.
If we walk in Fellowship with the Lord and Obey Him, we will be open to His Will. And when we are in God's Will, He fulfills all of our needs, and His Mercy to us never runs short.
Elijah is presented as the central character in a face-off with the prophets of the false god Baal on Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal call upon their god all day long to rain fire from heaven to no avail.
Elijah builds an altar of stones, dig a ditch around it, puts the sacrifice on top of the wood and calls for water to be poured over his sacrifice 3 times. He calls upon God, and God sends fire down from heaven, burns the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones and licks up the water in the ditch.
God proved He was more powerful than false gods.
Elijah is an illustration that it is not the vessel but God in the vessel that demonstrates Power. He killed all of the false prophets of Baal. After the great victory, rain once again falls on the land.
Elijah enters a period of wavering faith in spite of victory and provisions from the Lord. Elijah feels sorry for himself, hides in a cave, and even comes to believe that he alone was left of the prophets of God. He got his eyes off of God and the emotional wave started to increase its power over him.
Elijah, then, is instructed by God, to go and stand on the mountain as the Lord passed by. There is a great wind, and earthquake, and then fire, but God is not in any of those. Then comes a still, small voice in which Elijah hears God and understand Him. When Elijah stopped focusing on the fear of what men could do and his feelings of being alone, God's voice was heard, and Elijah went on to be taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
When we focus on the noise and tumult of life in this World, we get our eyes off of the Lord. However, if we listen for His still, small voice and walk in obedience to His Word, we find victory and reward.
Each person in the Scripture has a lesson for us to learn and aid our walk as believers.
Elijah struggled with typical human emotions, yet he was used mightily by God.
God used Elijah during an important time in Israel's history to oppose Ahab, a wicked king, and bring revival to the land.
Elijah's life was filled with turmoil. At times he was bold and decisive, and at other times fearful and tentative. He alternately demonstrates victory and defeat, followed by recovery. Elijah knew both the power of God and the depths of depression.
Elijah suddenly appears to challenge Ahab, an evil king who ruled the Northern Kingdom.
Elijah prophesies a drought to come upon the whole land as consequence for Ahab's evil.
Elijah, warned by God, hides near the brook of Cherith where he is fed by ravens. As the drought and famine in the land deepen,
Elijah meets with a widow in a neighboring country as the drought and famine in the land deepen and, through her obedience to Elijah's request, God provides food enough for Elijah, the woman, and her son. Miraculously, the widow's barrel of flour and jar of oil never run out.
If we walk in Fellowship with the Lord and Obey Him, we will be open to His Will. And when we are in God's Will, He fulfills all of our needs, and His Mercy to us never runs short.
Elijah is presented as the central character in a face-off with the prophets of the false god Baal on Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal call upon their god all day long to rain fire from heaven to no avail.
Elijah builds an altar of stones, dig a ditch around it, puts the sacrifice on top of the wood and calls for water to be poured over his sacrifice 3 times. He calls upon God, and God sends fire down from heaven, burns the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones and licks up the water in the ditch.
God proved He was more powerful than false gods.
Elijah is an illustration that it is not the vessel but God in the vessel that demonstrates Power. He killed all of the false prophets of Baal. After the great victory, rain once again falls on the land.
Elijah enters a period of wavering faith in spite of victory and provisions from the Lord. Elijah feels sorry for himself, hides in a cave, and even comes to believe that he alone was left of the prophets of God. He got his eyes off of God and the emotional wave started to increase its power over him.
Elijah, then, is instructed by God, to go and stand on the mountain as the Lord passed by. There is a great wind, and earthquake, and then fire, but God is not in any of those. Then comes a still, small voice in which Elijah hears God and understand Him. When Elijah stopped focusing on the fear of what men could do and his feelings of being alone, God's voice was heard, and Elijah went on to be taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
When we focus on the noise and tumult of life in this World, we get our eyes off of the Lord. However, if we listen for His still, small voice and walk in obedience to His Word, we find victory and reward.
Each person in the Scripture has a lesson for us to learn and aid our walk as believers.
Elijah struggled with typical human emotions, yet he was used mightily by God.
Saturday, 1 July 2017
WHO WAS ATHALIAH?
Athalia (afflicted of the Lord) is the only woman in the Hebrew Scripture reported as having reigned as a monarch within Israel/Judah. She managed to remain sole monarch for 6 years. In the 7th year a revolution led by Jehoiada the High Priest puts on the Throne the 7-year-old Joash, Ahaziah's child who was rescued by his paternal aunt and Jehoiada's wife, from the royal bloodbath 6 years earlier.
Athalia, who walked in the ways of the House of Ahab, and called "daughter of Omri," was the Queen consort of Judah as the wife of King Jehoram, son of the pious Jehoshaphat king of Judah, descendant of King David, and later Queen regnant. As Queen, she used her power and her pernicious influence to establish the worship of Baal in Judah and drew into idolatry and crime both her husband and her son Ahaziah.
Athalia, born in Samaria, was the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel and granddaughter of Omri, the 6th king in line of the Northern 10-Tribe kingdom. Nothing of Omri's ancestry is recorded. She was the sister of Israel's King Jehoram, and full or half sister of the other 70 sons of Ahab.
Athalia was given in a marriage of political expediency to Jehoram the eldest son of Jehoshaphat of Judah to seal a "treaty" between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. To secure his position Jehoram killed his 6 brothers, married Athalia and reigned for 8 years. Athalia became the mother of Ahaziah, who in time became king of Judah.
Like her mother Jezebel, Athalia egged on her husband Jehoram to do what was bad in God's eyes during his reign. And like her mother, she wantonly shed the blood of the innocent. Jehoram's rule was shaky. Edom revolted, and he was forced to acknowledge their independence. A raid by Philistines, Arabs, and Ethiopians looted the king's house, and carried off all of his family except for their youngest son, Ahaziah.
After Jehoram's death, her wicked son Ahaziah became king of Judah, and Athalia was Queen mother. He reigned for one year from the age of 22 and was killed during a state visit to Israel along with Jehoram of Israel, Athalia's brother. Jehu assassinated them both in God's Name, together with the other 70 sons of Ahab, and became king of Israel. He had Athalia's entire extended family in Israel put to death, ending Omri dynasty.
For her part, after the premature death of her son and the great revolution by which Jehu seated himself on the throne of Samaria, Athalia seized the throne of Judah, and sought to secure herself in it by ordering the execution of all possible claimants to the throne, including the remnant of her Omri dynasty. However, Jehosheba, Ahaziah's sister, managed to rescue from the purge one of Athalia's grandsons with Jehoram of Judah, named Jehoash, who was only one year old.
Jehoash was raised in secretly by Jehosheba's husband, a bold and faithful high priest named Jehoiada. At length the high priest Jehoiada thought it time to produce the lawful king to the people, trusting to their zeal for the Worship of God and their loyalty to the House of David.
Thereupon Athalia installed herself as Queen for 6 years. During this time she robbed God's temple of the Holy Things and offered them to Baal.
When Jehoash reached 7 years of age, God-fearing high priest Jehoiada brought the lad out of secrecy from the place of refuge, and crowned him rightful heir to the Throne. Jehoiada's plan was successful.
Hearing the tumult, Athalia rushed to the Temple to stop the rebellion and upon seeing what was happening, cried, "Conspiracy! Conspiracy!" She was surprised when Jehoiada revealed that Jehoash lived and proclaimed him king of Judah. Then High Priest Jehoiada ordered the blood-stained Athalia to be taken outside the Temple grounds to be executed at the Horse Gate of the palace.
How true it proved to be the God's prophecy: "Nothing of God's Word will fall unfulfilled to the earth that God has spoken against the House of Ahab." 2 Kings 10:10, 11.
Athalia, who walked in the ways of the House of Ahab, and called "daughter of Omri," was the Queen consort of Judah as the wife of King Jehoram, son of the pious Jehoshaphat king of Judah, descendant of King David, and later Queen regnant. As Queen, she used her power and her pernicious influence to establish the worship of Baal in Judah and drew into idolatry and crime both her husband and her son Ahaziah.
Athalia, born in Samaria, was the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel and granddaughter of Omri, the 6th king in line of the Northern 10-Tribe kingdom. Nothing of Omri's ancestry is recorded. She was the sister of Israel's King Jehoram, and full or half sister of the other 70 sons of Ahab.
Athalia was given in a marriage of political expediency to Jehoram the eldest son of Jehoshaphat of Judah to seal a "treaty" between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. To secure his position Jehoram killed his 6 brothers, married Athalia and reigned for 8 years. Athalia became the mother of Ahaziah, who in time became king of Judah.
Like her mother Jezebel, Athalia egged on her husband Jehoram to do what was bad in God's eyes during his reign. And like her mother, she wantonly shed the blood of the innocent. Jehoram's rule was shaky. Edom revolted, and he was forced to acknowledge their independence. A raid by Philistines, Arabs, and Ethiopians looted the king's house, and carried off all of his family except for their youngest son, Ahaziah.
After Jehoram's death, her wicked son Ahaziah became king of Judah, and Athalia was Queen mother. He reigned for one year from the age of 22 and was killed during a state visit to Israel along with Jehoram of Israel, Athalia's brother. Jehu assassinated them both in God's Name, together with the other 70 sons of Ahab, and became king of Israel. He had Athalia's entire extended family in Israel put to death, ending Omri dynasty.
For her part, after the premature death of her son and the great revolution by which Jehu seated himself on the throne of Samaria, Athalia seized the throne of Judah, and sought to secure herself in it by ordering the execution of all possible claimants to the throne, including the remnant of her Omri dynasty. However, Jehosheba, Ahaziah's sister, managed to rescue from the purge one of Athalia's grandsons with Jehoram of Judah, named Jehoash, who was only one year old.
Jehoash was raised in secretly by Jehosheba's husband, a bold and faithful high priest named Jehoiada. At length the high priest Jehoiada thought it time to produce the lawful king to the people, trusting to their zeal for the Worship of God and their loyalty to the House of David.
Thereupon Athalia installed herself as Queen for 6 years. During this time she robbed God's temple of the Holy Things and offered them to Baal.
When Jehoash reached 7 years of age, God-fearing high priest Jehoiada brought the lad out of secrecy from the place of refuge, and crowned him rightful heir to the Throne. Jehoiada's plan was successful.
Hearing the tumult, Athalia rushed to the Temple to stop the rebellion and upon seeing what was happening, cried, "Conspiracy! Conspiracy!" She was surprised when Jehoiada revealed that Jehoash lived and proclaimed him king of Judah. Then High Priest Jehoiada ordered the blood-stained Athalia to be taken outside the Temple grounds to be executed at the Horse Gate of the palace.
How true it proved to be the God's prophecy: "Nothing of God's Word will fall unfulfilled to the earth that God has spoken against the House of Ahab." 2 Kings 10:10, 11.
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