People today are being lead down the path that leads to eternal damnation and HELL FIRE. I know no one believes in that anymore. The reason you don’t believe is because you do not understand TRUTH. You do not understand TRUTH because it has been kept from you. You have not learned TRUE History. Those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it.
We are going to star out today with some history. I know that history can be very boring and stale. I will try and make it as short and painless as possible. I have pulled some resources that ought to help me walk you through history quickly and easily. You may even enjoy it. Stay with me to the end. This is a very important message!
It certainly is not surprising that we have forgotten the TRUTH… IT certainly did not take long for the ancient ones who were much closer to the creation in the Garden to forget GOD and run amuck.
Here is a blog from a lady who took a good deal of time and effort to research the lives of the ancient Hebrews in the bible and made a graph. She shares with us some very interesting points. Take a look, see what things surprise you about her discoveries.
DISCLAIMER: In my posts I normally collect a number of written articles and videos related to the topic. I hightlight in red or black the parts of the articles that I think are important to note and try to leave it to the reader to come to their own conclusions. The object is to bring the facts/truths to your attention and cause you to look further into them yourself. Why? Because that is the only way to make the subject real to you. When you view the available information, search it our on your own, hopefully guided by the Holy Spirit, YOUR CONCLUSION is exactly that YOURS. It means something to you. It may be similar to mine or it may be completely different. We are all on our own course and in different places with our spiritual development. I pray that GOD speaks to you in a way that touches you. IF you see notes in green, those are my comments. Anything else, you find the source links on the titles, and the author and date will be below the titles. Just because I post an article or video in my articles, it does not mean that I agree with the author or support their stand. It does mean that I felt there was worthwhile information to be gleaned.
This is the first of the Genesis Timeline and Genealogies series. Read the second here.
How many of you, when you read Genesis 5, are just itching to draw a timeline? I love Bible genealogies, and so when I read the numbers in Genesis 5, the data are calling out to me to analyze them. The antediluvian timeline really is fascinating, and there are a lot of lessons to be gleaned from it.
The Patriarchs’ Lives
When I was younger, I’d read the chapter and because of the way it’s written, I got the impression that these people lived back-to-back, i.e., one dies before the another starts his life. For example:
“And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan.” Gen 5:3-9
Because it would describe a complete life of a person first before going to the next, the overlap is not as highlighted. But in fact, the overlap is quite remarkable, because the reality is that Adam didn’t die in verse 5; he was still alive when Lamech was born in verse 25! These overlaps paint a different picture of life back then, and here’s my version of the antediluvian timeline.
This means that Genesis 5 can also be written in the following way:
Adam lived 130 years and begat Seth.
When Adam was 235, Seth begat Enos.
When Adam was 325, Enos begat Cainan.
When Adam was 395, Cainan begat Mahalaleel.
When Adam was 460, Mahalaleel begat Jared.
When Adam was 622, Jared begat Enoch.
When Adam was 687, Enoch begat Methuselah.
When Adam was 874, Methuselah begat Lamech.
When Lamech was 56, Adam died.
All the days that Adam lived were 930 years.
That’s 9 generations living at one point for 56 years!!
Here are some points of observations from the timeline:
Of the 10 antediluvian patriarchs, Methuselah lived the longest. He died the same year as the Flood.
Methuselah was also the first patriarch to see a son died. All the other patriarchs died before their sons.
Methuselah’s son, Lamech, died 5 years before the Flood(i.e., he did not die because of the Flood. God showed kindness to him and laid him to rest).
Lamech was the most short-lived patriarch out of the 10. He died at 777. Interesting number.
Lamech was also the only patriarch to be recorded to prophesy in Genesis 5 when he named his son, Noah. “And he called his name Noah [which means rest or comfort], saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” Gen 5:29. It sounds like he was weary of some toil – perhaps preaching to the people around him about righteousness and God.
All 10 patriarchs saw the deprivation of mankind in their lifetime.
Methuselah saw all the patriarchs from Adam (except Enoch and Noah) died.
Enoch was taken up to heaven at year count 987.
Seth was still alive when Enoch was taken up to heaven – he was 857 years old.
This means that everyone from Seth to Lamech was around when Enoch was taken up to heaven.
This also means that only Adam had died when this happened, meaning that everyone only saw one death, and the next big thing was Enoch’s translation. What encouragement! Adam had to leave Eden, but just 57 years after he died, someone in the 7th generation made it back to heaven. It’s a message of hope to humanity.
Noah was born 14 years after Enoch’s translation.
The chapter before records the genealogy of Cain. It does not, however, contain markings of time (i.e., no age, no date of birth). The way that we can tell time is through the lineage of the righteous.
If you have any additional observations, feel free to comment!
P.S. If you want the Excel file I used to create the image, let me know and I can email it to you.
When I worked on the Antediluvian Timeline, I was fascinated. But when I worked on this Postdiluvian Timeline, I was… flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Needless to say, it completely changed the way I read Genesis and the stories in that book. So, I invite you to go through this with me – I think it’d be worth your time.
There’s no easy way to communicate all of the fascinating points observed from this exercise, so I’ll do it in bullet points. I’d also add that with the postdiluvian timeline, there’s some caveat and uncertainties in the accounting, since the data are not as explicit as the antediluvian ones. I’ll go over these uncertainties in this post. And for references too, the bulk of the data is found in Genesis 11:10-26.
I was fascinated to find out that 9 generations lived together for 56 years in the antediluvian period, but after the flood, there were 10 generations who lived together for 118 years! It was the sequence from Noah to Terah (Abram’s father), from year count 1878-1996. This happened because the age of humankind shortened after the flood, so while Noah and Shem still had the blessing of longevity, their offspring were starting to reproduce at younger ages. Thus, they saw more generations.
Actually, it may even be 11 generations (or more) living at the same time, since according to Luke 3:36, between Arphaxad and Salah, there’s Cainan. For some reason the genealogy in Genesis 11 skips Cainan (this is true in some instances of genealogies where the ‘father’ may not necessarily be the direct parent, but may actually be the grandfather or great-grandfather, etc). So here, I’m taking Gen 11:12 to mean that Salah was born when Arphaxad was 530 years, doesn’t matter whether Arphaxad was his father or grandfather. What I’m not assuming is that Arphaxad actually begat Cainan when he was 530 and we don’t know at what age Cainan begat Salah. I hope you could follow that.. (comments on this point are welcome)
Shem was still alive when Abram was born. Even greater yet, he was still alive when Isaac was born. Shem died when Isaac was 50 years old, some 10 years before Esau and Jacob were born, 10 years after Isaac married Rebecca.
Shem saw 10 generations after him, although not all living at the same time.
In Patriarchs and Prophets p. 125, it says “Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, in unbroken line, had preserved from age to age the precious revealings of His will.The son of Terah became the inheritor of this holy trust.” This is taken to imply that Abram was instructed by Shem personally.Imagine that, to hear of God’s grace and judgment from someone who went through the flood, who saw and experienced the ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures.
Abram was born some ~350 years after the flood, but he was instructed by someone who actually went through the flood! (This is so crazy I have to write it twice!)
In Gen 10-11, it is recorded that the nations were divided after the flood. So, even though these generations lived at the same time, they might not live in the same places, although of course there are possibilities of them traveling and visiting each other, as probably what happened in the case of Abram and Shem.
Everyone from Arphaxad to Isaac had direct interaction with at least one person who actually went through the flood.
Everyone from Arphaxad to Terah could hear about the flood from Noah himself!
This means that everyone who was born from right after the flood up until the days of Isaac was contemporary of the survivors of the flood.Imagine how ridiculous a skeptic would sound in those time periods who would deny the flood ever took place.Noah and Shem would be like, “Err..I was there.” It would be equivalent to a 21st century person saying that 9/11 didn’t happen. Basically for these people, the flood was not ancient history.
Noah outlived Nahor (Abram’s grandfather) by 9 years.
Postdiluvian Genealogies
If you put the postdiluvian timeline side by side with the postdiluvian genealogy below (click on picture), you’ll see something else that’s amazing. In Gen 23 after Sarah died, Abraham went to the children of Heth to buy a piece of land for Sarah’s burial. Sarah died when she was 127 years old, i.e., when Isaac was 37 years old, 3 years before Isaac got married (year count 2145).
Heth was Canaan’s son, Ham’s grandson, meaning that he was approximately contemporary of Salah, who was still alive during the time of Abram, but died before year count 2145. This means that it could very well be that when Abraham went to the children of Heth, Heth himself might still be alive, or even Caanan himself might still be alive. But what’s more likely is that Ham was still alive, since he also probably had a long life as Shem did. (Note: the descendants of Heth were called the Hittites – FYI; in Gen 26:34-35, Esau married two Hittite women and grieved his parents). I recommend using these figures when you read Genesis or even the rest of the Old Testament. It’s kinda cool to see the lineage of certain people and nations in Israel’s history.
Adam could pass on his knowledge of God to Methuselah and Lamech, who had direct interactions with Shem for about 100 years.Shem, then passed it on to Abram, and possibly Isaac. Thus, there are only 3 degrees of separation between Adam and Abram.See why they didn’t need written records as much back then?
Seeing this zoomed-out version makes me realize that there’s not that many degree of separation between these guys and Mosesas well, since Moses lived around 200 years after Joseph’s time (my next timeline project). This means that the assumption that the Israelites forgot everything about the true God while they were enslaved in Egypt may not be true, since these things were not ancient history for them. In fact, it may very well be that they remembered a lot of it.
As before, if you want the Excel file for these timelines, let me know and I can email it to you. There’s much more notes than what I can share in this blog entry, especially with the collection of the data. For example, the age of Terah when Abram was born is inferred from several Bible verses, so there’s some uncertainties there. The age of Jacob when Joseph was born also needed to be calculated from several time points given in multiple places in Genesis. I still have to type these out, but if you want them, I can send them to you.
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This next article will help give you an understanding of the precepts of paganism and how they all were introduced.
Lucifer’s plan was to create varying kinds of paganism. Believers who refused to convert would be offered a form of paganism rising up from within the true religion.Paganism absorbed the majority of believers when they were lulled into a false religion that looked very much like the real thing they were used to. Next, a destructive war annihilated most of the few who still held to the truth.Finally, through a root of bitterness, the rest became just like the Cainites.
In chapter two we learned that Lucifer’s lie was that the creator God was fading away and people and angels would become gods in His place.This lie became the basis for the pre-flood false religion and all the pagan religions after the Flood.
In the Beginning
In the book of Genesis we learn that God created the heavens and earth (and everything in them) in seven days. As revealed throughout the Bible, God is a personal, intelligent, loving Being that wishes to have a personal relationship with each human being.
When Adam fell, he took on a sin nature. All his children inherited this sin nature. Eventually all humanity, except Noah and his family, degenerated into apostasy.They rejected the knowledge and worship of the one true God, turning to idols and what would later be called paganism.
The following quotes from the Bible, early church fathers, and the ancient history books of the Jews, give us a glimpse of what pre-flood paganism actually was. From these we can put together thirteen points that paint a clear picture of what the great lie consisted of and how it destroyed the ancient world.
The apostle Paul wrote that the pre-flood world knew God’s truth. They understood that God was completely separate from His creation.They also knew His power and Godhead were eternal, that there would never be any other gods. All of nature showed them that Lucifer’s Doctrine of Emanations was a lie. They deliberately rejected the true knowledge of God and willingly accepted Lucifer’s lie.They began to believe that their ancestors were evolving into gods and they began making idols.
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” Romans 1:20-23 KJV
1. Individual Idols
The first point is each person made his own individual idol for his own home. Having idols proves they were not atheists. We will see that each idol was different because each person was worshiping his own ancestor. If they worshiped their ancestors, they must have believed their ancestors, and eventually they too, would evolve into gods.See Teraphim in the chapter on Babylon.
“And the sons of men went and they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the earth: and in those days the sons of men made images of brass and iron, wood and stone, and they bowed down and served them. And every man made his god and they bowed down to them, and the sons of men forsook the Lord all the days of Enosh and his children;” Jasher 2:4-5
Eve
The Sumerians, thought by many Christians to be representatives of the pre-flood world, worshiped a goddess they referred to as Nin.ti.Nin.ti is usually translated the “Lady of Life,” but the literal translation is the “Lady of the Rib.” This is just one more example of pre-flood peoples worshiping their ancestors, including Adam and Eve. (and that was the beginning of Goddess Worship)
2. Evolve into a god
Satan tempted Eve by saying she could become just like God. In pre-flood paganism, Satan told people they could become gods themselves.First century magicians(Magi) thought after death they would become daemons, or helper spirits like elves or angels. But we learn through church father Tertullian, in the original pre-flood idolatry, people believed after death they were supposed to become a god.
“In this way, even by magic, which is indeed only a second idolatry, wherein they pretend that after death they become demons, just as they were supposed in the first and literal idolatry to become gods.”Tertullian Treatise on the soul 57
“God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.” Genesis 3:5 NLT
3. The original Creator God no longer exists
The third point of their pagan religion is that they taught the original Creator God no longer exists. (God is DEAD)The original creative force/god emptied itself into creation and no longer existed. We learned in chapter two, this was Lucifer’s original lie.
“And they called to Noah, saying, Open for us that we may come to thee in the ark – and wherefore shall we die? And Noah, with a loud voice, answered them from the ark, saying, Have you not all rebelled against the Lord, and said that he does not exist?”Jasher 6:18-19
Again, these people were idolaters, not atheists. They believed that the original God ceased to exist or at least was greatly diminished and would soon disappear for all eternity.
4. Salvation is not needed.
The fourth point is there was no need for salvation.Any kind of salvation would be done “by their own strength.” All will make it to godhood on their own, eventually.Magic just speeds up the process.This also included the idea that there is no hell.
“The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Genesis 6:5 NIV
“They were despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength.” Josephus Ant. 1.3.1
5. Observed omens in the sun and moon and 6. Charted their movement through the Zodiac.
The fifth and sixth points are that they used a form of astrologythat centered on predicting omens, like eclipses, in the sun and moon and charted their courses through the zodiac. This was practiced as a means to summon the magic energies for rituals and to contact their ancestor gods at the appropriate times.
“And Cainan grew, and his father taught him writing, and he went to seek for himself a place where he might seize for himself a city. And he found a writing which former generations had carved on the rock,and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed it and sinned owing to it;for it contained the teaching of the Watchers in accordance with which they used to observe the omens of the sun and moon and stars in all the signs of heaven.And he wrote it down and said nothing regarding it; for he was afraid to speak to Noah about it lest he should be angry with him on account of it.” Jubilees 8:1-5
7. No horoscopes
The pre-flood astrology did not have the idea of a horoscope.The horoscope was invented after the Flood by the Chaldeans.In the pre-flood version astrology was only used to predict the next scheduled date for magic ritesand the next time one could contact a god or goddess ancestor.
“The Horoscope was invented by the Chaldean astrologers.”Hippolytus Heresies 4.3
8. Invented by demons
The pre-flood magic system, including astrology, was the invention of demons.
“Demons invented the concept of fate with astrology to enslave man into worshiping them.” Tatian to the Greeks 9
9. Ritual use of Blood
Blood sacrifices,magic, demonology and ritual drinking of blood was used by post-flood Canaanites.The ritual use of blood was also part of the pre-flood religion.All animal sacrifices involved blood, but they are always referred to as animal sacrifices.When a ritual called for a blood sacrifice instead of an animal sacrifice we know it means the use of blood.The blood is what was needed, not necessarily the sacrifice of a living animal.
“In the twelfth generation, when God had blessed men, and they had begun to multiply, they received a commandment that they should not taste blood,for on account of this also the deluge had been sent…In the fourteenth generation one of the cursed progeny (Canaanites) first erected an altar to demons, for the purpose of magical arts, and offered there blood sacrifices.” Recognitions of Clement 1.30
God knew this false religion would return after the Flood;so He commanded Noah to ensure his children would not consume blood when eating meat.
“Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” Genesis 9:3-4 NASB
10. Evolution / Reincarnation
All pagan religions teach reincarnation with evolution. A pagan religion can’t have one without the other.Likewise the religions of the Christians and Jews teach special creation along with resurrection.These two can’t be divorced, either. If we can prove evolution will be a part of the harlot church, we then know reincarnation will be, too. The book of Revelation shows the end time church becomes part of the Mystery Babylon religious system. Second Peter’s prophesy states that it begins by the church rejecting creation and Noah’s Flood, in favor of Evolution. This is taking place today in many denominations.
“There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” 2 Peter 3:3-6
“I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast… This title was written on her forehead: “Mystery Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.” Revelation 17:3,5 NIV
11. Evolution without karma
The belief that each person was evolving into a higher life form was part of the pre-flood religion.Post-flood paganism added the doctrine of “transmigration of souls,” which means if your “karma” or life style is very bad, instead of evolving into a higher life form, one may “de-evolve” or come back as a lower form of life.The doctrine of “karma” was not part of the original paganism. This makes sense, because Lucifer wanted everyone to believe there is no hell and we are all okay, so you can only go forward. We will see this again in the post-flood histories.
“But I cannot here omit that which some erring philosophers say, that men and the other animals arose from the earth without any author.” Lactantius Divine Institutes 2.11
“Plato, that ancient Athenian, who also was the first to introduce this opinion (the doctrine of transmigration of souls).” Irenaeus Against Heresies 2.33
12. Ghosts, Demons, and Nature Spirits
Nature spirits were thought to be the life force in all of creation.This is connected to pantheism. If at death our spirits could evolve into a god, then the worship of demons and ghosts would be prominent. Notice their idols were not just demons and nature spirits, but also phantoms. “Phantom” is the Greek word for ghost.
“You who serve stones, and ye who make images of gold, and silver, and wood, and stones and clay, and serve phantoms, and demons, and spirits” Tertullian Idolatry 1.4
13. Homosexual Marriage
There has always been homosexuality.It has always been classified as a sin before God.The Canaanites practiced homosexual rituals in the worship of their gods and goddesses, but since the time of Noah there has never been a nation that sanctioned homosexual marriage. But the rabbis state this did occur right before Noah’s Flood. This may have been a part of the pre-flood religion; or it just may have been a result of it.
In Romans 1, the apostle Paul seems to indicate that idolatry produced immorality; and together idolatry and immorality caused the Great Apostasy.That, in turn, resulted in extreme forms of homosexuality, which caused God to destroy the world.
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.”Romans 1:22-28
The ancient rabbis seem to believe this also. They stated the practice of ordaining homosexual marriage was the last step in the downward spiral that caused God’s judgment.
“Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Joseph, ‘The generation of the Flood was not wiped out until they wrote marriage documents for the union of a man to a male or to an animal.’” Genesis Rabbah 26:4-5; Leviticus Rabbah 23:9
“Rabbi Hiyyah taught: The passage reads ‘I am the Lord, your God’ two times – I am the One Who punished the generation of the Flood, and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Egypt; and in the future I will punish those who do as they did. The generations of the Flood were kings, and were wiped off the earth when they were soaked in sexual sin.”Leviticus Rabbah 23:9 (commentary on Leviticus 18:3)
“And what did they do? A man got married to a man, and a woman to a woman, a man married a woman and her daughter, and a woman was married to two (men). Therefore it is said, “And you shall not walk in their statutes” Sifra Acharei Mot, Parashah 9:8 (Commentary on Leviticus 18:3)
Church fathers Clement of Alexandria (ECF 2.77) and Tatian (ECF 2.143) tell us that the ancient Romans and barbarians considered homosexuality and pederasty crimes punishable by death. In the first century, however, homosexuality and pederasty were widely practiced by the Romans.
When all this came about and Noah and his family were the only ones left still faithful to God, God instructed Noah to build the Ark and the world was then destroyed by a flood of water.
“And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”Genesis 6:12-13
Conclusion
These points give the following picture for pre-flood paganism:
One can’t “de-evolve” (compared to Hinduism’s doctrine of karma). Contacting the nature spirits may also help in your evolution. The magic rites included blood rituals.
On the following page is a master chart compiling all the above data from the source material. In a later chapter we will examine the Canaanite occultic practices individually and add them to the master chart.
Pre-Flood paganism included:
1. A unique individual god/idol in each home 2. Evolution into a god or goddess after death 3. The original creator God ceased to exist 4. Salvation not needed 5. Observation of the sun and moon for omens 6. Astrology focusing on the sun, moon, and zodiac 7. Astrology without horoscopes
8. Invented by demons 9. Ritual use of blood 10. Evolution/Reincarnation 11. Evolution without karma (no de-evolving) 12. Ghosts, demons, nature spirits 13. Homosexual marriage
By Ken Johnson in ” Ancient Paganism – The Sorcery of the Fallen Angels”, CreativeSpace, USA, 2009, excerpts chapter 3. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.
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Here is a little fun run down of NIMROD and the TOWER of BABEL and the lead up to the destruction of Sodom and Gommorrah.
Written tongue in cheek, from the perspective of Nimrod. Nimrod became a Nephilim. Somehow his DNA was polluted and he became a MIGHTY ONE, a HUNTER OF SOULS.
“Ruthless killer.” “Merciless ruler.” “Chief idolator.” These are just some of the names that I’ve come to be known by. And that’s okay; I’ve gotten used to them. I’ll even admit that I kind of deserve them. Some of those titles, anyway.
Before you go calling me names, though, it’s only fair that you familiarize yourself with all the details . . .
Young Nimrod
I was born into a strange time, a kind of post-Flood era.1 Grandpa Ham had survived on the ark, and together with his family went about repopulating the world. The scene was fresh then, and people were ripe for all kinds of new ideas. I think I sensed this as a kid, and it laid the seeds for some interesting innovations that I brought about later on.
Being the youngest child, I received preferential treatment from my father, Cush. If you’ve read the opening chapters of Genesis, you are probably familiar with the special cloaks that G‑d had made for Adam and Eve. Well, they had somehow survived the Flood, had been stolen from Great-Grandpa Noah by Grandpa Ham, and had been given to Poppa Cush. Since I was his favorite, he entrusted them to me.2
One thing is for sure: They helped out with my popularity rates. Animals had this strange reaction to these garments: upon sight of them, they would fall helpless at my feet. As you can imagine, hunting competitions weren’t much of a challenge for me, and before I knew it I had attracted quite a sizeable following of fans and devotees.3
The Torah focuses on my hunting prowess in its depiction of me: “He was a mighty trapper before the L‑rd; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod, a mighty trapper before the L‑rd.’”4
What’s with “before the L‑rd”? It’s kind of like saying “in the whole wide world” in Bible talk.5 Nowadays, historians would write, “He was the mightiest hunter of his times,” which, mind you, is a description I’m not exactly ashamed of. (There are some other interpretations of “before the L‑rd”; we’ll get to them later.)
I know you’ve all heard rotten things about me, but, ironically, I started out as a devoutly religious person.6 Truth is, pretty much everyone back then was religious.7 The Flood was still fresh in people’s minds—I was born only 95 years after it ended—and no one was exactly looking for a repeat.
My cloak came in handy for religious purposes, too. I’d go out, hunt animals, and offer them as sacrifices to G‑d. Remember that I was called a “trapper before the L‑rd”? Some commentators understand this to be referring to my religious days, back when I was still on the straight and narrow.8
Power and Religion
Alas, power has this funny way of getting to people’s heads, and I was no exception. By the age of 40, I was the de facto leader of the Cush tribe, and I was building up quite a reputation for myself. It was around then that our cousins, the Japhethites, decided to pick a fight with us, and leading the charge, I defeated them. The Japhethites were rendered our subordinates, and I, the king over—what was then—most of modern civilization.9
Nowadays, people are familiar with the concept of a king. One man reigns supreme over all others, and has everyone do his bidding. In those days, such a notion was unheard of, and I take pride in introducing this fantastic new idea to the world.10 My intentions were not entirely altruistic, and I utilized my innovation for self-promoting purposes.
There came a point when G‑d was no longer necessary, and I made the bold decision to stand in as His replacement. It didn’t take much convincing to get everyone else on board, and a new religion was formed: Nimrodism.11
Here are a couple of things that we implemented to help cement the new movement:
1) We built a massive temple, several stories high, with a huge throne on the top level. I would sit on the throne and graciously afford passersby the opportunity to catch a glimpse of their new deity.12
2) We had statues made of me and placed throughout my kingdom. Bowing down to my image became a part of the daily ritual.13
3) We began building a tower that was supposed to reach the heavens,effectively enforcing our takeover.14 (More on this later, in “Tower of Babel.”)
When they said everything is hinted to in the Torah, they weren’t exaggerating. “He was a mighty trapper before the L‑rd” is understood by some to refer to my impressive powers of persuasion; I would persuade (“trap”) people into rebelling against G‑d (“before the L‑rd”).15
Abram’s Birth
It was around that time that we all relocated to Shinar—which some associate with Sumer—somewhere in modern-day southern Iraq.16 Its elevation level was significantly lower than the surrounding areas, and legend has it that those who died in the Flood were washed up there. That’s actually how it got its name, “Shinar,” which means “shake out,” because all the dead bodies were “shaken out” over there. It seemed like the perfect place to found a new civilization.17
Here’s an interesting piece of history, which ended up shaping much of the modern world:
My chief advisor at the time was a man named Terach. He was a loyal subject, and I held his opinion in high regard. At a party celebrating a new baby born to Terach, strange things appeared in the sky. A large star was seen shooting across the horizon, and it was swallowing all the other stars in its path.
My astrologers had only one explanation: The star was the newborn Abram, and he was destined to swallow us all. I had no choice: Abram had to die.
Terach didn’t prove easy to convince, and all the money in the world would not make him budge.
“Consider the following scenario,” he argued. “Imagine I was offered a huge sum of money to sell the king’s personal horse; would you suggest I agree to the deal?” That would be ridiculous; money was not exactly an issue at the time, and my horse was very dear to me. “This is precisely what you are asking of me,” he finished off. “What can money do to replace my own child?”
It took a little coercing (and threatening) until I had Terach on my side. He brought me his newborn baby, and I duly crushed his tender skull, eliminating any potential threat.
Or so I thought.It wasn’t until 50 years later that I realized that Terach had duped me, and had brought me one of his slave-children in place of Abram.18 Imagine what the world would look like today if it had been Abram that I killed . . .
Tower of Babel
After that brief hiccup, I enjoyed 25 years of peace and quiet, with my kingdom in Shinar running smoothly.19 Everyone got along very well, almost family-like,20 and we all spoke one language.21 Things would have probably stayed that way, if not for the ingenious suggestion of some of my advisors:22 “Let’s build a tower unto the heavens, and cement our place in history.”
Brilliant idea, right?
In their defense, they did have a number of good reasons to build this ziggurat:
a. Why should G‑d have the heavens all to Himself? We also deserve to have a say in what goes on up there.23
b. Apparently, the heavens collapse every 1656 years, as they did in the year of the Flood. By building this tower, we could offer additional support to the sky.24
c. We would become an undisputed world power, and never have to fear invasion again.25
The idea spread fast, and workers were enlisting by the thousands. Before you knew it, construction had begun, and we had a sizeable workforce of close to 600,000 people.26 Everyone seemed to get involved, and some historians suggest that even such high-ranking profiles as Noah, Shem and Abram participated as well.27
Most people don’t know this, but more than 20 years were spent on this project.28 It was an edifice of unbelievable proportions; some posit that the climb from bottom to top would take over a year’s worth of travel!The people’s abnormal commitment to the building caused them to lose sense of their humanity, and a fallen brick came to be a bigger tragedy than a fallen human.29
We all know the end of that story. G‑d humored us for 20 or so years and then undid everything in one fell swoop. Languages got mixed up, the building was destroyed, and we all ended up in different parts of the world.30 You can read more about that over here, in What Was Up with the Tower of Babel?
I stayed behind in the Mesopotamian region, and founded a few more cities.31 I built the city called Babel—which means “confusion”—as a testimony to the confusion that took place when the Tower was destroyed.32 I then built Erekh, commonly known as Uruk,33 Akkad (or Accad)34 and Calneh, which is identified by the Talmud as Nofar-Ninfi,35 or Nippur. In my new kingdom, I became known as Amraphel, “causes to fall,” a rather derogatory name referencing the downfall of all those involved in the building of the tower I was accountable for.36
The Return of Abram
It was two years after the tower disaster, and life was slowly getting back to normal.37 Then the “good” news arrived: Terach had tricked me way back then, and his son Abram was still around.
Apparently, he had decided to return home, and was wreaking havoc all over the city. He was on a crusade against idol worship, and was destroying idols wherever he could possible find them.
The rest of the story is well known, and can be read in all its detail here, Abraham’s Early Life.
Here’s the short version:
I had Abram arrested, and it was decided that he deserved to die. We fired up the palatial furnace for three days, and threw him in, his hands tied with ropes behind his back. Miracles of miracles, Abram walked around the furnace as if nothing was going on, and the only thing that got burned was the rope tying his hands.
I’ll share a few lesser-known details of the story as well:
a. It wasn’t only Abram that I threw into the furnace; his brother Haran was thrown in as well. See, I was so furious at having been deceived that I sought retribution from anyone implicit in the crime. Apparently, or so Terach claimed, it was Haran’s idea to exchange Abram for a different baby. I think we can all agree that Haran’s death was not unwarranted.
b. After seeing all the miracles that G‑d did for Abram, I showered Abram with gifts. I gave him two of my servants as well, one named Oni and the other Eliezer, who later became well known as “the servant of Abraham.”38
c. Some claim that I received my name Amraphel (“causes to fall”) as a result of this story. I had attempted to cause Abram to fall, and was therefore given this honorary title.39
Abram Again
Abram had proven to be enough of a nuisance, and I was sure that I was done having to deal with him. You can imagine my frustration when, two years after the furnace incident, Abram came to visit me again, this time in a dream.
I was standing with my men next to the same furnace that Abram had been thrown into, when an image of Abram brandishing a sword emerged, and he began to approach us. As we ran, he threw an egg onto my head, which turned into a great river and drowned all of my men. I survived together with three others, who suddenly appeared dressed as kings. The river then dried up and returned to being an egg, which hatched and a chick emerged. The chick flew towards me and began poking my eyes, at which point I woke up.
The message was clear: Abram was not done.
By the time my men arrived at his house to to arrest him, Abram was gone. Apparently Eliezer had tipped him off, and he had fled the city. He had gotten the better of me—again.40
Military Humiliation
I’m going to end my story with two military ventures, both which ended in humiliating defeat. The first was in the year 2013, thirteen years after Abraham’s escape, and the second in the year 2021, nine years later.
I had a general by the name of Chedorlaomer, who following the Tower of Babel incident had seceded and became king of Elam. His power got to his head, and he extended his borders all the way to the area of Sodom, taking the resident five nations under his control.
Things went well for him for 12 years, and his subject nations paid their taxes religiously. There came a time, however, when these nations got fed up and staged an all-out revolt against Chedorlaomer.
Sensing his weakness, I seized the opportunity to reclaim my prestige in the neighborhood. I gathered my entire army, a sizeable 70,000 men, and waged war against my former general. Here’s the humiliating bit: With only 5,000 men, he won a decisive victory, and I ended up his subordinate.41
In fact, all the neighboring states became his subordinates, which leads me into my second military humiliation.
After 13 years of unrest in his extended empire, Chedorlaomer decided to quash the Sodom rebellion once and for all. He conscripted all of his allies to participate in the war effort, and off we went to fight Sodom, our five kings against their four.
It was none other than Abram who popped up again. He had gotten wind that his nephew Lot, who was living in Sodom at the time, was taken captive, and he came together with his men to rescue him. We were forced to flee, and returned back home humiliated.42
My Demise
I had always considered myself to be the fiercest warrior in history, and I didn’t honestly think that I would ever find my match. As I was getting older, though, there was talk of a new up-and-coming star. Apparently, one of Abram’s grandchildren, Esau, had ventured off the straight and narrow and was gaining quite a reputation for himself in the Canaanite underworld.
How he found out about my cloak is still unclear to me, but one thing’s for certain: he was determined to get his hands on it. And blood did not seem to be a hindrance.
Long story short:
We were out on a hunting expedition and were ambushed by Esau himself. My elderly body was no match for his youthful spirit—he was only 13 years old at the time—and he ultimately got the better of me. And, of course, he took possession of the cloak.43
Looks like the prophecies were right all along. Who would have thought that my demise would come through the hands of Abram’s grandchild?
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So we have seen how the pagans behaved and what they believed, as well as who introduced those ideas. We see that the whole world fell away from GOD and only sought evil. We also saw that God was not happy about that. What about GOD’s chosen people?
2 Kings 17
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah (749-731 BC) to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him… For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt,from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger: For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them,concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king:and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them. Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places…So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:But the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
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SO that by the time that Messiah arrived, most everyone had been corrupted and very few people obeyed the Lord God of Heaven. The people had forgotten the statutes and commandments. They understood very little about the ways of the Lord.
There was a place in the Land of Israel known as the Seat of Pan, the Goat GOD and the Gates of Hell.
Written by Phil Hopersberger
If you’ve ever wondered where the Jordan River begins, the answer lies in that snow-capped mountain that is visible from nearly everywhere in northern Israel. From this great height, almost 10,000 feet, the Jordan River rises on the slopes of Mount Hermon,near the borders with Syria and Lebanon, before gushing south into the Sea of Galilee. Situated just north of Caesarea Philippi, Mount Hermon (meaning “sacred” or “abrupt”) rises 9,232feet into the air with three distinct summits visible from the southernmost part of the Sea of Galilee, 60miles away. This is the highest point in Israel, and for a short time each winter it is home to Israel’s only ski resort. Although the 5,000 acres she sits on are mostly uninhabited, except for small Druze villages at her base, extensive excavations found that a busy worship business went on in ancient times. There were over 20 temples on her slopes. These findings corroborated biblical accounts that the mountain was considered sacred to the worshippers of the Canaanite god Baal(Hermon can also mean “forbidden place”) cited in Judges 3:3 and 1 Chronicles 5:23. Such “high places” in the Bible where Baal-Hermon was worshipped meant more to the Canaanites. The higher it was, the holier it was. As Israel’s highest peak, Mount Hermon was the holiest of them all. Her slopes had other mystical attributes as well. This is where the Nephilim giants that Moses and Joshua defeated in the Old Testament lived (Genesis 6:1-8), and later where David slew one of their close cousins named Goliath. Although hard to fathom, the Bible lists over 30 verses about giants. In Numbers 21:21-35 and Deuteronomy 3:1-11, Moses mentions Mount Hermon in relation to the conquest of Og, king of Bashan, and Sihon, king of Heshbon. These were both rephaim, Hebrew for “giants.” Og’s bed frame was said to be over 13 feet long (Deuteronomy 3:11)! The territory of these two giant kings was on the east side of Mount Hermon as listed in Deuteronomy 1:1-5. Bashan went from Gilead on its southern border to Mount Hermon in the north, and Heshbon was south of Bashan in Moabite territory. In New Testament times, it was at Mount Hermon’s base that Jesus came with His disciples to Caesarea Philippi for a special Messianic revelation(Matthew 16:16). In the midst of the Baal shrines at Caesarea Philippi, etched into the side of Mount Hermon to worship Pan, Peter proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ. This was no coincidence that his testimony was made amongst pagan worship, and the best was yet to come! This mountain’s real significance, however, is as the traditional site of Jesus’ Transfiguration.Mount Hermon is one of three possible spots, including the Mount of Olives and Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:1-8). Interesting to note that again He chose “Satan’s turf” to proclaim His glory to His disciples, a declaration that He was the Supreme One who should be worshipped as God. No one knows the exact spot on Mount Hermon where this event occurred, but most believe it was indeed here. Today you can see the caves of Baal shrines that were carved into the cliffswhere Jesus acknowledged Peter’s revelation (today called Banias, most likely an Arab corruption of Pan, Panias) at Caesarea Philippi. The ancients believed that water symbolized the abyss and death, so the spring that flowed out of the largest cave, known as the Gate of Hades, made Jesus’ promise about His Church’s supremacy all the more poignant (Matthew 16:18). • Deuteronomy 1:28, 4:47-48; Joshua 12:1-6; Psalm 89:12, 133:3, Song of Solomon 4:8
My husband and I were privileged to be part of the group that went to Israel in January on a trip led by Pastor Mike Golay. The trip provided new context to many of the Bible passages we have read over the years.
We traveled to Caesarea Philippi in Northern Israel, a place full of nuances in Jesus’ teaching. It’s where Jesus foretells the coming clash of good versus evil and the victory that He will achieve through His church in Matthew 16:13-23 and Mark 8:27-30. But first, the history of Caesarea Philippi.
In Israel’s earliest history, this was the land of Canaan, the land God promised to the Israelites as their inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey. The area around Caesarea Philippi was part of the Israelite tribe of Naphtali’s inheritance, who never fully drove out the Canaanites as God had commanded. The Israelites were a shepherding people, the land of Canaan was a farming area. Is this part of the reason Israel soon began following the Canaanite gods of Baal and Asherah, believed to be fertility gods?
The Canaanites believed that Baal was the god of the sea, storms and death, and Asherah the god of fertility, the combination of which was thought to be of value to a farming community. The pagan worship practices tragically included child sacrifice and religious prostitution.
When the Greeks conquered the land, Baal and Asherah were replaced by Greek gods(Zeus, Artemis and Aphrodite), and others were added. Hades was the Greek god of the underworld, or death, and Pan, half man and half goat, was the god of shepherds, flocks and rural areas, who lived in caves and was said to play a reed flute.He was known to make scary noises in the forests and incite fear, and the word “panic” is derived from this god.
When the Greeks first settled the area known in Jesus’ day as Caesarea Philippi, they named it Panias after Pan. When the Romans later conquered the area, they adopted the Greek god Pan and the associated rituals, even building a temple there.
Caesarea Philippi is located at the base of a cliff near Mount Hermon, where underground springs make up one of the major sources that form the Jordan River in the north. In ancient times, the spring came out from the mouth of the Panias cave, and the pool in the cave was so deep that a cord dropped in could never find the bottom. This was believed to be a dwelling place of the gods, specifically Pan, and pagans saw water as a symbol of the underworld and believed their gods lived in the underworld during the winter, traveled there through caves, and that it was literally the gate to the underworld (hades or hell). This area, though within the borders of ancient biblical Israel, was predominantly occupied by Gentiles with a history of pagan worship. God-fearing Jews avoided the area.
Imagine the disciples’ surprise, then, when Jesus took them right into the heart of this pagan community! Matthew 16 records that in this setting, Jesus asks the disciples who they believe He is, and Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) Jesus tells Simon, as spokesman for the disciples, that he is now called Peter (rock) and declares that He will build his church on this rock, and the gates of hell (death) will NOT prevail against it. He also gives Peter (and the entire church in Matthew 18:18) the keys to the kingdom of heaven, which open the door of the kingdom to those who respond in faith to the gospel message.
There is much symbolism in Jesus choosing this location to reveal Himself as the Messiah. The “rock” of this location includes the cliff where the cave is located with the deep pool which was known as “the gates of hell” (death), the declaration of the truth of who Jesus is was made by Peter (rock), and the statement itself represents the rock of the Word of God. Jesus will overcome and build his church on all three “rocks.” Jesus charges his disciples with spreading the message of truth and salvation not only to Jews, but to the Gentiles at the ends of the earth.
Today, Caesarea Philippi is the Banias Nature Reserve, with trails for hiking and ruins of the ancient Greek and Roman temples to the false gods, including five niches carved out of the cliff that are the remains of a shrine built by the Greeks for Pan. The cave is there, but the spring water no longer flows from its mouth due to earthquakes that moved it to the foot of the natural terrace.
Viewing this area as a tourist brings conflicting thoughts and emotions. Such an evil place with a dark history is definitely sobering, but saturating it with light brings deep meaning and understanding of the ultimate victory. The transfiguration of Jesus, which occurred within days of this visit to Caesarea Philippi, likely occurred on Mount Hermon towering above the “rock” of this place.
Jesus’ word is true. This physical rock has been overcome, Jesus has overcome death and the church is spreading to all corners of the world. Amen.
To the pagan mind, the cave at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld, where fertility gods lived during the winter. They committed detestable acts to worship these false gods.
Caesarea Philippi’s location was especially unique because it stood at the base of a cliff where spring water flowed. At one time, the water ran directly from the mouth of a cave set in the bottom of the cliff.
The pagans of Jesus’ day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves.
To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld the gates of hell. In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats.
When Jesus brought his disciples to the area, they must have been shocked. Caesarea Philippi was like a red-light district in their world and devout Jews would have avoided any contact with the despicable acts committed there.
It was a city of people eagerly knocking on the doors of hell.
Jesus presented a clear challenge with his words at Caesarea Philippi:He didn’t want his followers hiding from evil: He wanted them to storm the gates of hell.
Standing near the pagan temples of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” Peter boldly replied, “You are the Son of the living God.” The disciples were probably stirred by the contrast between Jesus, the true and living God, and the false hopes of the pagans who trusted in “dead” gods.
Jesus continued, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (see Matt. 16:13-20).
Though Christian traditions debate the theological meaning of those words, it seems clear that Jesus? words also had symbolic meaning.His church would be built on the “rock” of Caesarea Philippia rock literally filled with niches for pagan idols, where ungodly values dominated.
Gates were defensive structures in the ancient world.By saying that the gates of hell would not overcome,Jesus suggested that those gates were going to be attacked.
Standing as they were at a literal “Gate of Hades,”the disciples may have been overwhelmed by Jesus’ challenge. They had studied under their rabbi for several years, and now he was commissioning them to a huge task: to attack evil, and to build the church on the very places that were most filled with moral corruption.
Jesus presented a clear challenge with his words at Caesarea Philippi:He didn’t want his followers hiding from evil: He wanted them to storm the gates of hell.
Not Ashamed
Jesus’ followers cannot successfully confront evil when we are embarrassed about our faith.
After Jesus spoke to his disciples about storming the gates of hell, he also gave them another word of caution: “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory” (Luke 9:26).
Jesus knew that his followers would face ridicule and anger as they tried to confront evil.And his words came as a sharp challenge: no matter how fierce the resistance, his followers should never hide their faith in God.
Jesus taught with passion, even when bystanders may have thought him a fool. And at Caesarea Philippi, he challenged everyone within hearing:“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very soul?” (v. 25).
In a city filled with false idols, Jesus asked his followers to commit to the one true God.While false gods promised prosperity and happiness, they would ultimately fail to deliver. Jesus didn’t promise an easy life, but he delivered on the promise of salvation;the only kind of prosperity that really matters.
Today, Christians must heed the words of our Rabbi, especially when we are tempted to hide our faith because of embarrassment or fear.Our world is filled with those who have “gained the world” but lost their souls. If we hide our faith, they may never find the salvation they need.
On the offense As we listen to Jesus’ challenge today, we as Christians should ask ourselves the important question: When it comes to the battle against evil, are we on defense or offense?
Explore the ruins of the ancient temple of god pan, and learn about the four different words for Rain in Hebrew.
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RAIN… For decades Christians have been praying for the LATTER RAIN. I believe it is time for the GESHEM. It comes after the latter rain. The latter rain is a downpour… the Geshem is the gentler rain. Compared more to the dew.
Geshem (גשם) is one of the Hebrew words for “rain,” applied mostly to the heavy rains which occur in Israel in the fall and winter. This half of the year is called in the Mishnah “yemot ha-geshamin” (days of rains). In the liturgy of the German-Polish ritual “Geshem” stands for the piyyuṭim which in the Mussaf or additional service for the Eighth Festival Day (Shemini Aẓeret) are read and sung as an introduction to the first mention of the “powers of rain,“ i.e., the words “He causeth the wind to blow and the rain to descend.”
“Geshem”corresponds to the “Tal” (Dew) occurring in the liturgy for the first day of the Passover, when the above-quoted passage is omitted as being inapplicable to spring and summer. These piyyuṭim end with an invocation in six stanzas, each of which closes either with “for his sake do not withhold water!”or with “through his merit favor the outflow of water!” the merits of the Patriarchs, of Moses, of Aaron, and of the twelve tribes crossing the Red Sea being successively referred to.
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Here are the Hebrew letters for Geshem. The Hebrew letters are shown in the chart below in Pictograph, Paleo Hebrew, modern Hebrew, and English letters, as well as accepted possible meanings for each letter. Here is my interpretation of these three letters.
גשם Hebrew is read from left to right, so the letters are read as shown below:
ג walk on foot to gather; GO INTO ALL THE WORLD, sharing the GOOD NEWS
ש press with a two edged sword; share the testimony of the WORD of GOD.
ם grab or snatch the lost from the clutches of the enemy, and God will protect them.
The word “dew” appears 34 times in the Bible, and it is primarily seen as a blessing. It is used poetically and symbolically in many places, and is quite different to the blessing of rain. Since the time of Passover, Jewish people across the land have been praying the “Tfilat Tal” – a prayer or blessing for dew,which asks God to bring a light out of the darkness to draw Israel to himself, as a root finds water from dew.
Rain will always catch our attention, as anyone caught out in the rain would know. It can be heard in the pitter-patter of raindrops, or the pummeling of a heavy shower. Dew, on the other hand, is silent. It does not draw attention to itself at all.It can be seen as a more humble, unassuming version of rain – never causing damage; gentle, nourishing and dependable.
What’s so special about dew?
Dew often goes unnoticed, and we need to make an effort to become aware of this subtle gift from God that speaks of his steadfast love – his mercies that come new every morning.
As with so many concepts we read about in the Bible, the first time it is mentioned is key in understanding its significance.In Genesis 27:28, Isaac blesses Jacob with these words:
“May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.”
Dew in the Bible speaks primarily of bounty and divine blessing. It is seen to descend along with the manna and the quail that God provided for his children in the desert, and is likened to Moses’ teaching. It is a refreshment, a gift, and a message from heaven – a source of life.
The blessing of rain is well-known and understood. God sends rain as a blessing, and withholds it when he wants to correct and draw Israel’s attention back to himself. Not only is rain a blessing conditional upon behaviour, but it can also be a curse if it is the wrong type of rain at the wrong time. A heavy downpour can destroy an entire crop of wheat or barley if it comes too late in the season. Dew, on the other hand, shows up every morning, unconditionally. And it is always a blessing. It sustains, bringing gentle nourishment to the earth.
“Whether or not we pay attention to it, the dew is always there, regardless. However long we may have ignored it or been oblivious to its presence, it appears day after day, no questions asked… just like the unconditional love of God.”
Here are a couple more key verses which mention “dew”:
“Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.” (Psalm 110:3)
The womb of the morning can refer to the very break of morning, when dew appears. It speaks of freshness; the strength of the early stages of life. It gives encouragement that God can provide youthful vigour when He calls us up to fight with Him.He will always provide the sustenance we will need when we willingly agree to battle alongside Him and do exploits with our God.
“[unity] is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life for evermore.” (Psalm 133:3)
Here, the Psalmist writes of God’s great joy in our unity: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity!” This is like dew, which is connected to God’s life-giving blessing. (this is not talking about the fake unity of the Tolerance gospel of the interfaith NWO)
“I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:5-6)
In this verse, God likens Himself to dew – a great blessing to Israel, that causes flourishing, growth, beauty and fragrance. This verse also can be seen as inspiration for the Tfilat Tal:
Tfilat Tal – The Jewish prayer / blessing for dew
May dew fall upon the blessed land. Fill us with heaven’s finest blessings. May a light come out of the darkness to draw Israel to you as a root finds water from dew. May you bless our food with dew. May we enjoy plenty with nothing lacking. Grant the wish of the people – that followed you through the desert like sheep – with dew. You are Adonai our God, who causes the wind to blow and the dew to fall, For blessing and not for curse. Amen. For life and not for death. Amen. For plenty and not for lack. Amen.
What a wonderful prayer! As you pray it for yourself, would you also pray it over Israel? In particular, that the light of Yeshua, who has shone out of the darkness, would draw Israel to the Lord, as a root finds water from dew.
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The deception is getting greater and greater. So many lies are being fed to the masses. This next item was the impetus for my posting this article.
Francis Collins, the physician and geneticist who led the Human Genome Project, wrote the book, the Language of God.
Published on January 16, 2015
Evolutionary Creation
Gracious Dialogue
What is Science?
So what is BioLogos? Well it all began with a scientist and a book. Francis Collins, the physician and geneticist who led theHuman Genome Project (The Mapping of Human DNA to open the way for further research and experimentation with polluting and manipulating it to destroy humanity.) , wrote the book, The Language of God(How Blasphemous is that?!). In it he describes his own journey from atheism to Christian faith (This man is not a Christian!), and the harmony between Christianity and science (and especially evolution) (There can be no harmony between modern “science” and Faith in Jesus Christ). Collins began receiving letters from people asking further questions about science and faith so he formed the BioLogos Foundation in 2007. The idea was to develop a website to house resources for this conversation. It launched in 2009, and now receives thousands of visits each day. The term “BioLogos” comes from two Greek words: bios, which means “life” like in our words “biology” (the study of life) or “biohazard” (something not very pleasant for life); and the word “logos”, which can mean a bunch of different things like “the study of” or “reason” or “word”. Collins had in mind the use of the term from the first chapter of the Gospel of John where Christ is called “the Logos”, usually translated into English as “Word”. The Gospel starts with “In the beginning was the Word” and a few verses later says, “All things came into being through the Word.” So BioLogos references the fact that Christ is the source of all life.Therefore life is an expression of the will of God. Today, BioLogos still addresses the questions people asked Collins. And we’re the premier organization producing resources on multiple platforms, which celebrate the compatibility of evolutionary creation and biblical faith. (THERE IS NONE! YOU EITHER BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH SAYS THAT GOD CREATED MAN, AND WOMAN fully formed and developed. We did not emerge from the primordial soup. OR you believe the LIE OF THE DEVIL. THEY ARE TOTALLY INCOMPATIBLE!)These resources are not just for scientists, but also pastors, small groups, parents, and anyone else interested understanding what science and the Bible reveal about the development of life. (If I want revelation, I will go to GOD!)This is the first video in a series of short videos to help introduce topics for those new to the Christianity and science conversation. See entire series. Videos
