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ONLY the Bible gives a sensible account of how we all got here!
Let's begin at the very Beginning with GENESIS!
Let's begin at the very Beginning with GENESIS!
Gen 1:1- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2- And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. -ASV
2- And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. -ASV
Now this example from the prophet Isaiah shows that the spirit is POWER, not a 1/3 of God ('the Holy Ghost').
Yet the majority of people IGNORE this. Why?
The Earth already existed before He started changing it- using His Power- so there is no telling HOW old it is!
Now, to the NEXT verses~
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3- And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4- And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
5- God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
[We have the habit of of stating the time and then the facts- but this is done in Hebrew.
Keep in mind that the light wasn't from the sun, for we will see that He made it later.
The word "Day" is not referring to a 24-hour day, as we can see at Gen 2:4 where we're told that "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens."
Yes, we are getting ahead of ourselves- but doing so out of necessity to understand points made at the very BEGINNING of the Bible!
Such as fact that most translations REMOVE the name of God- found more that any OTHER name in the Bible.]
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6- And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
7- And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.
8- And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
["Firmament" Heb, "rakiang", which merely means extension or expansion. This could likely be referring to "the waters which were above the firmament" used in Noah's Day.]
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9- And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
10- God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11- And God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.” And it was so.
12- The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13- And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
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14- And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
15- and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
16- And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.
17- And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth,
18- to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19- And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
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20- And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures [Heb "nephesh"- SOUL] , and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.”
21- So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22- And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23- And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
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24- And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
25- And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26- Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
[ This "us" is no 'Trinity'- for the angels were with Him- Job 38:7]
27- So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
[ Not physically ]
28- And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
29- And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
[They began as vegetarians]
30- And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31- And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Gen 2:1- Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2- And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3- And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4- These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
5- And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6- but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground—
[No RAIN?]
7- then Jehovah God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living SOUL.
[There wasn't a 'soul' put put in him, and NOTHING 'immortal'.]
8- And Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9- And out of the ground Jehovah God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
["Jehovah" is restored where it BELONGS.]
10- A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.
11- The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Hav′ilah, where there is gold;
12- and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.
13- The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush.
14- And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphra′tes.
15- Jehovah God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
He meant to have us a Farmers!
In the late 24th century BCE, Ancient Mesopotamia was embroiled in a constant war over who would unify the region.
Out of the ashes came Sargon of Akkad, who united many city-states in Mesopotamia and is credited with founding the first empire in recorded history. In tribute to his life and legacy, future generations referred to him as Sargon the Great.
Out of the ashes came Sargon of Akkad, who united many city-states in Mesopotamia and is credited with founding the first empire in recorded history. In tribute to his life and legacy, future generations referred to him as Sargon the Great.
A stele includes the clearest image of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II extant and the earliest images of the Great Ziggurat of Babylon, aka Etemenanki, the leading candidate for the Biblical Tower of Babel.
Nebuchadnezzar reigned over the Neo-Babylonian Empire between 605 B.C. and 562 B.C.
During that time he restored and completed the great ziggurat which was first built by an earlier king at an indeterminate time (the Schoyen scholars say 1792-1750 B.C.) in honor of the god Marduk but had been damaged by the Assyrian King Sennacherib when he destroyed Babylon in 689 B.C.
Restoration began under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s father Nabopolassar and was completed during the son’s reign 43 years later. Nebuchadnezzar boasts of his construction prowess on the stele, describing himself as the “great restorer and builder of holy places.”
Nebuchadnezzar reigned over the Neo-Babylonian Empire between 605 B.C. and 562 B.C.
During that time he restored and completed the great ziggurat which was first built by an earlier king at an indeterminate time (the Schoyen scholars say 1792-1750 B.C.) in honor of the god Marduk but had been damaged by the Assyrian King Sennacherib when he destroyed Babylon in 689 B.C.
Restoration began under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s father Nabopolassar and was completed during the son’s reign 43 years later. Nebuchadnezzar boasts of his construction prowess on the stele, describing himself as the “great restorer and builder of holy places.”
After the fall of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, under which Babylon had been a provincial centre, it became the nucleus of a small kingdom established in 1894 BCE by the Amorite king Sumuabum, whose successors consolidated its status.
The sixth and best-known of the Amorite dynasts, Hammurabi (1792–50 BCE), conquered the surrounding city-states and raised Babylon to the capital of a kingdom comprising all of southern Mesopotamia and part of Assyria (northern Iraq).
Its political importance, together with its favourable location, made it henceforth the main commercial and administrative centre of Babylonia, while its wealth and prestige made it a target for foreign conquerors.
The sixth and best-known of the Amorite dynasts, Hammurabi (1792–50 BCE), conquered the surrounding city-states and raised Babylon to the capital of a kingdom comprising all of southern Mesopotamia and part of Assyria (northern Iraq).
Its political importance, together with its favourable location, made it henceforth the main commercial and administrative centre of Babylonia, while its wealth and prestige made it a target for foreign conquerors.
Haran is located in the fertile Haran Plain, which is watered by the Balikh River, a major tributary of the Euphrates River. The city walls of Haran were 2.5 miles (4 km) in length and surrounded the tell. There were six gates, but only the western gate, the Aleppo Gate, remains standing. It is estimated to be 5,000 years old!
Haran was briefly the capital of the Islamic empire in the 8th century AD. The town consisted of rectangular and square mudbrick houses that had rooms arranged around a paved courtyard.
12:1- Now Jehovah said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2- And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3- I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”
4- So Abram went, as Jehovah had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5- And Abram took Sar′ai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan,
6- Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
[ Canaan is described in the Bible as extending from Lebanon toward the Brook of Egypt in the south and the Jordan River Valley in the east. In the Bible, notably in Genesis 10 and Numbers 34, this was called the “land of Canaan” and occupies the same area that is occupied by modern Lebanon and Israel, plus parts of Jordan and Syria.
The Canaanites are mentioned over 150 times in the Bible. They were a wicked, idolatrous people descended from Noah’s grandson Canaan, who was a son of Ham (Genesis 9:18). Canaan was cursed because of his and his father’s sin against Noah (Genesis 9:20–25). In some passages, Canaanites specifically refers to the people of the lowlands and plains of Canaan (Joshua 11:3); in other passages, Canaanites is used more broadly to refer to all the inhabitants of the land, including the Hivites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzites (see Judges 1:9–10). ]
7- Then Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to Jehovah, who had appeared to him.
8- Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Jehovah and called on the name of Jehovah.
9- And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. Abram and Sarai in Egypt'
10- Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11- When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sar′ai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold;
12- and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13- Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.”
[Didn't Abram trust Jehovah's promise?]
14- When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
15- And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
["Taken into" obviously meant Pharoah had "taken" her as one of his wives...]
16- And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, he-asses, menservants, maidservants, she-asses, and camels.
17- But Jehovah afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sar′ai, Abram’s wife.
[ God punished Pharoah and not Abram???]
18- So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19- Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.”
20- And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.
13- Abram continued his journey, God promising how he would thrive.
14- After Aram rescued one of hi family members from being taken a spoil of war, we read of the strange case~
17- After his return from the defeat of Ched-or-lao′mer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18- And Melchiz′edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.
19- And he blessed him and said,“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth;
20- and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21- And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.”
22- But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to God Most High, maker of heaven and earth,
23- that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
24- I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
[ From Brittanica~ Melchizedek is an old Canaanite name meaning “My King Is [the god] Sedek” or “My King Is Righteousness” (the meaning of the similar Hebrew cognate). Salem, of which he is said to be king, is very probably Jerusalem. Psalm 76:2 refers to Salem in a way that implies that it is synonymous with Jerusalem, and the reference in Genesis 14:17 to “the King’s Valley” further confirms this identification. The god whom Melchizedek serves as priest is “El ʿElyon,” again a name of Canaanite origin, probably designating the high god of their pantheon.
For Abraham to recognize the authority and authenticity of a Canaanite priest-king is startling and has no parallel in biblical literature. The biblical account also poses textual problems. Abraham paying a tithe to Melchizedek is an interpretation, though a likely one, of the original biblical text, in which the matter is ambiguous; it seems incongruous that Abraham gives a tenth of the booty to Melchizedek and then refuses to take any of it for himself (verses 22–23). Again, some scholars have asserted that it would be unusual for an author of Davidic times to construct a narrative with a Canaanite protagonist.
Psalm 110, in referring to a future messiah of the Davidic line, alludes to the priest-king Melchizedek as a prototype of this messiah. This allusion led the author of the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament to translate the name Melchizedek as “king of righteousness” and Salem as “peace” so that Melchizedek is made to foreshadow Christ, stated to be the true king of righteousness and peace (Hebrews 7:2). According to the analogy, just as Abraham, the ancestor of the Levites, paid a tithe to Melchizedek and was therefore his inferior, so the Melchizedek-like priesthood of Christ is superior to that of the Levites. ]
Gen 15:13- Then Jehovah said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; [Older than the U.S. is!]
14- but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15- As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [ NOT the 'immortal' soul going somewhere]
16- And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17:1- When Abram was ninety-nine years old Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.
2- And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
[ His descendants came to be VERY unfaithful.]
3- Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,
4- “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
5- No longer shall your name be Abram, ["‘Exalted Father"]
but your name shall be Abraham; ["‘Father of Nations"]
for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6- I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.
7- And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
8- And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
[The churches quote this as the First Example of the 'Trinity'; what do YOU think?]
18:1- And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
[ I wonder what they did to pass time! ]
2- He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth,
[Did the 'Trinity' - Three Gods (but they will DENY that)- become Three Men?]
3- and said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.
4- Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,
5- while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”
[Did Abraham think the 3 Gods needed something to EAT?]
6- And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.”
7- And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.
8- Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
9- They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”
10- Jehovah said, “I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
11- Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12- So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?”
13- Jehovah said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’
14- Is anything too hard for Jehovah? At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son.”
[Speaking in the third person]
15- But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
16- Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
17- Jehovah said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
18- seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him?
19- No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of Jehovah by doing righteousness and justice; so that Jehovah may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
20- Then Jehovah said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomor′rah is great and their sin is very grave,
21- I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.”
[ That rules out God being 'Omnipresent' ]
22- So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before Jehovah.
23- Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked?
19:1- The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth,
2- and said, “My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the street.”
3- But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4- But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house;
5- and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know ["have sex"] them.”
6- Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him,
7- and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.
8- Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
9- But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door.
10- But the men put forth their hands and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.
11- And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves groping for the door.
12- Then the men said to Lot, “Have you any one else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any one you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
13- for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before Jehovah, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
[ Jehovah was KNOWN! ]
14- So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up, get out of this place; for Jehovah is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
15- When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”
16- But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, Jehovah being merciful to him, and they brought him forth and set him outside the city.
17- And when they had brought them forth, they said, “Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to the hills, lest you be consumed.”
18- And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords;
19- behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me, and I die.
20- Behold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!”
21- He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
22- Make haste, escape there; for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zo′ar.
23- The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zo′ar.
24- Then Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomor′rah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;
25- and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26- But Lot’s wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27- And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Jehovah;
28- and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomor′rah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29- So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
12:1- Now Jehovah said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2- And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3- I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”
4- So Abram went, as Jehovah had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5- And Abram took Sar′ai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan,
6- Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
[ Canaan is described in the Bible as extending from Lebanon toward the Brook of Egypt in the south and the Jordan River Valley in the east. In the Bible, notably in Genesis 10 and Numbers 34, this was called the “land of Canaan” and occupies the same area that is occupied by modern Lebanon and Israel, plus parts of Jordan and Syria.
The Canaanites are mentioned over 150 times in the Bible. They were a wicked, idolatrous people descended from Noah’s grandson Canaan, who was a son of Ham (Genesis 9:18). Canaan was cursed because of his and his father’s sin against Noah (Genesis 9:20–25). In some passages, Canaanites specifically refers to the people of the lowlands and plains of Canaan (Joshua 11:3); in other passages, Canaanites is used more broadly to refer to all the inhabitants of the land, including the Hivites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzites (see Judges 1:9–10). ]
7- Then Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to Jehovah, who had appeared to him.
8- Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Jehovah and called on the name of Jehovah.
9- And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. Abram and Sarai in Egypt'
10- Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11- When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sar′ai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold;
12- and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13- Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.”
[Didn't Abram trust Jehovah's promise?]
14- When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
15- And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
["Taken into" obviously meant Pharoah had "taken" her as one of his wives...]
16- And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, he-asses, menservants, maidservants, she-asses, and camels.
17- But Jehovah afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sar′ai, Abram’s wife.
[ God punished Pharoah and not Abram???]
18- So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19- Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.”
20- And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.
13- Abram continued his journey, God promising how he would thrive.
14- After Aram rescued one of hi family members from being taken a spoil of war, we read of the strange case~
17- After his return from the defeat of Ched-or-lao′mer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18- And Melchiz′edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.
19- And he blessed him and said,“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth;
20- and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21- And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.”
22- But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to God Most High, maker of heaven and earth,
23- that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
24- I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
[ From Brittanica~ Melchizedek is an old Canaanite name meaning “My King Is [the god] Sedek” or “My King Is Righteousness” (the meaning of the similar Hebrew cognate). Salem, of which he is said to be king, is very probably Jerusalem. Psalm 76:2 refers to Salem in a way that implies that it is synonymous with Jerusalem, and the reference in Genesis 14:17 to “the King’s Valley” further confirms this identification. The god whom Melchizedek serves as priest is “El ʿElyon,” again a name of Canaanite origin, probably designating the high god of their pantheon.
For Abraham to recognize the authority and authenticity of a Canaanite priest-king is startling and has no parallel in biblical literature. The biblical account also poses textual problems. Abraham paying a tithe to Melchizedek is an interpretation, though a likely one, of the original biblical text, in which the matter is ambiguous; it seems incongruous that Abraham gives a tenth of the booty to Melchizedek and then refuses to take any of it for himself (verses 22–23). Again, some scholars have asserted that it would be unusual for an author of Davidic times to construct a narrative with a Canaanite protagonist.
Psalm 110, in referring to a future messiah of the Davidic line, alludes to the priest-king Melchizedek as a prototype of this messiah. This allusion led the author of the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament to translate the name Melchizedek as “king of righteousness” and Salem as “peace” so that Melchizedek is made to foreshadow Christ, stated to be the true king of righteousness and peace (Hebrews 7:2). According to the analogy, just as Abraham, the ancestor of the Levites, paid a tithe to Melchizedek and was therefore his inferior, so the Melchizedek-like priesthood of Christ is superior to that of the Levites. ]
Gen 15:13- Then Jehovah said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; [Older than the U.S. is!]
14- but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15- As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [ NOT the 'immortal' soul going somewhere]
16- And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17:1- When Abram was ninety-nine years old Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.
2- And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
[ His descendants came to be VERY unfaithful.]
3- Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,
4- “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
5- No longer shall your name be Abram, ["‘Exalted Father"]
but your name shall be Abraham; ["‘Father of Nations"]
for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6- I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.
7- And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
8- And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
[The churches quote this as the First Example of the 'Trinity'; what do YOU think?]
18:1- And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
[ I wonder what they did to pass time! ]
2- He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth,
[Did the 'Trinity' - Three Gods (but they will DENY that)- become Three Men?]
3- and said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.
4- Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,
5- while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”
[Did Abraham think the 3 Gods needed something to EAT?]
6- And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.”
7- And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.
8- Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
9- They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”
10- Jehovah said, “I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
11- Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12- So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?”
13- Jehovah said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’
14- Is anything too hard for Jehovah? At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son.”
[Speaking in the third person]
15- But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
16- Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
17- Jehovah said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
18- seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him?
19- No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of Jehovah by doing righteousness and justice; so that Jehovah may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
20- Then Jehovah said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomor′rah is great and their sin is very grave,
21- I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.”
[ That rules out God being 'Omnipresent' ]
22- So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before Jehovah.
23- Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked?
19:1- The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth,
2- and said, “My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the street.”
3- But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4- But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house;
5- and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know ["have sex"] them.”
6- Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him,
7- and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.
8- Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
9- But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door.
10- But the men put forth their hands and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.
11- And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves groping for the door.
12- Then the men said to Lot, “Have you any one else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any one you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
13- for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before Jehovah, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
[ Jehovah was KNOWN! ]
14- So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up, get out of this place; for Jehovah is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
15- When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”
16- But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, Jehovah being merciful to him, and they brought him forth and set him outside the city.
17- And when they had brought them forth, they said, “Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to the hills, lest you be consumed.”
18- And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords;
19- behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me, and I die.
20- Behold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!”
21- He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
22- Make haste, escape there; for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zo′ar.
23- The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zo′ar.
24- Then Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomor′rah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;
25- and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26- But Lot’s wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27- And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Jehovah;
28- and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomor′rah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29- So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
. Josephus, a historian writer during the time of Christ, said the ruins could still be clearly seen in his day.
2. Archeologists have discovered around 1.5 million bodies in graves in these areas around Sodom and Gomorrah.
3. There are a lot of brimstone (old name for sulfur) balls in these cities.
4. This sulfur is unique and different from all other sulfur found in the world. It is around 90-95% pure. It is white, unlike any other place in the world. It is so pure you can light it on fire, and it burns a hot blue flame. These sulfur balls are not found between the cities.
5. There is a lot of ash in these areas that fits the biblical narrative. 2 Peter 2:6: And if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter.
6. The material of these city formations is calcium sulfate, which is what limestone and sulfur become when heated.
7. The choice building material in Israel is limestone, so these cities fit the scientific evidence as well.
8. There is a lot of charcoal layers found in the strata of these cities.
9. The amount of ash, charcoal, and calcium sulfate reveal overwhelming evidence of extreme heat in these cities.
10. There is also no geothermal activity in these areas to explain the ash, charcoal, and calcium sulfate.
11. In addition, there are many unexplained shapes in these areas that look like buildings, Sphinxes, pyramids, and palaces.
12. These cities existed around 4,000 years ago, so their remains would be difficult to distinguish. Plus, God destroyed and reduced them to ashes as well.
13. These cities fit the location as described in the Bible. Genesis 13:10: Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar [Zoar has been identified as being south of Sodom and Gomorrah].
14. Because the Dead Sea basin used to be like the Garden of Eden, it was an extremely desirable climate that was great for agriculture and life in general. It was, therefore, a very populated area.
15. This fire and brimstone were so hot and intense they destroyed everything in its wake.
16. God also used Sodom and Gomorrah to refer to all of the cities of the Dead Sea basin.
The People Of Sodom and Gomorrah Were Known to Be TerribleAlthough the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is best known because of its documentation in the Torah, Bible, and Quran, there are accounts outside of these sources that tell of the great wickedness that resided inside the cities.
People who lived in these plains areas were known to be especially cruel to travelers and beggars. They enjoyed making these people suffer greatly. There are many accounts in which the people of Sodom and Gomorrah have been recorded raping, murdering, and torturing innocent people.
Some accounts tell of a particularly cruel practice that was employed to torture beggars to death. It was said that the evil people of Sodom and Gomorrah were known to take gold pieces (and other coins of high value) and write their names on the currency before giving it to a beggar. The beggar who took the coin and attempted to buy food in their markets, however, would be met with a cruel surprise – no one in the city would sell them food. The citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah would continue to give the beggar copious amounts of money that should have sustained them for many months, but with no one willing to sell them food they eventually starved to death. At this point in time, the citizens of these cities went through the pockets of the recently deceased and reclaimed their money. The cycle would then begin again with a new victim.
With so many terrible deeds that can be traced back to the city, it is no surprise that they were not allowed to thrive. In fact, only one of the five plains cities is said to have been spared from the great storm of fire and brimstone, and is thought to have survived into modern day as Zoar.
Gen 19:30- Now Lot went up out of Zo′ar, and dwelt in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zo′ar; so he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters.
31- And the first-born said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.
32- Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.”
33- So they made their father drink wine that night; and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
34- And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.”
35- So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
36- Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37- The first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38- The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
[ Survival depended on offspring- especially regarding his 2 daughters. You will ESPECIALLY see that in the 20th Chapter
The 22nd Chapter dealing with Abraham almost sacrificing his only begotten son. ]
2. Archeologists have discovered around 1.5 million bodies in graves in these areas around Sodom and Gomorrah.
3. There are a lot of brimstone (old name for sulfur) balls in these cities.
4. This sulfur is unique and different from all other sulfur found in the world. It is around 90-95% pure. It is white, unlike any other place in the world. It is so pure you can light it on fire, and it burns a hot blue flame. These sulfur balls are not found between the cities.
5. There is a lot of ash in these areas that fits the biblical narrative. 2 Peter 2:6: And if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter.
6. The material of these city formations is calcium sulfate, which is what limestone and sulfur become when heated.
7. The choice building material in Israel is limestone, so these cities fit the scientific evidence as well.
8. There is a lot of charcoal layers found in the strata of these cities.
9. The amount of ash, charcoal, and calcium sulfate reveal overwhelming evidence of extreme heat in these cities.
10. There is also no geothermal activity in these areas to explain the ash, charcoal, and calcium sulfate.
11. In addition, there are many unexplained shapes in these areas that look like buildings, Sphinxes, pyramids, and palaces.
12. These cities existed around 4,000 years ago, so their remains would be difficult to distinguish. Plus, God destroyed and reduced them to ashes as well.
13. These cities fit the location as described in the Bible. Genesis 13:10: Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar [Zoar has been identified as being south of Sodom and Gomorrah].
14. Because the Dead Sea basin used to be like the Garden of Eden, it was an extremely desirable climate that was great for agriculture and life in general. It was, therefore, a very populated area.
15. This fire and brimstone were so hot and intense they destroyed everything in its wake.
16. God also used Sodom and Gomorrah to refer to all of the cities of the Dead Sea basin.
The People Of Sodom and Gomorrah Were Known to Be TerribleAlthough the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is best known because of its documentation in the Torah, Bible, and Quran, there are accounts outside of these sources that tell of the great wickedness that resided inside the cities.
People who lived in these plains areas were known to be especially cruel to travelers and beggars. They enjoyed making these people suffer greatly. There are many accounts in which the people of Sodom and Gomorrah have been recorded raping, murdering, and torturing innocent people.
Some accounts tell of a particularly cruel practice that was employed to torture beggars to death. It was said that the evil people of Sodom and Gomorrah were known to take gold pieces (and other coins of high value) and write their names on the currency before giving it to a beggar. The beggar who took the coin and attempted to buy food in their markets, however, would be met with a cruel surprise – no one in the city would sell them food. The citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah would continue to give the beggar copious amounts of money that should have sustained them for many months, but with no one willing to sell them food they eventually starved to death. At this point in time, the citizens of these cities went through the pockets of the recently deceased and reclaimed their money. The cycle would then begin again with a new victim.
With so many terrible deeds that can be traced back to the city, it is no surprise that they were not allowed to thrive. In fact, only one of the five plains cities is said to have been spared from the great storm of fire and brimstone, and is thought to have survived into modern day as Zoar.
Gen 19:30- Now Lot went up out of Zo′ar, and dwelt in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zo′ar; so he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters.
31- And the first-born said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.
32- Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.”
33- So they made their father drink wine that night; and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
34- And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.”
35- So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
36- Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37- The first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38- The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
[ Survival depended on offspring- especially regarding his 2 daughters. You will ESPECIALLY see that in the 20th Chapter
The 22nd Chapter dealing with Abraham almost sacrificing his only begotten son. ]
Ex 2:11- One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12- He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13- When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together; and he said to the man that did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?” 14- He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15- When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses.But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and stayed in the land of Mid′ian; and he sat down by a well.
Midian is a geographical region in Western Asia mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest Arabian Peninsula, on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea", an area which contained at least fourteen inhabited sites during the Late Bronze and early Iron Ages.
According to the Book of Genesis, the Midianites were the descendants of Midian, who was a son of Abraham and his wife Keturah: "Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah" (Genesis 25:1–2, King James Version).
Traditionally, knowledge about Midian and the Midianites' existence was based solely upon Biblical and classical sources, but more recently a reference to Midian has been identified in a Taymanitic inscription dated to before the 9th century BC.
Various classical and historic sources place Midian east of the Gulf of Aqaba, in what is now the northwest part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These sources include:
Midian is a geographical region in Western Asia mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest Arabian Peninsula, on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea", an area which contained at least fourteen inhabited sites during the Late Bronze and early Iron Ages.
According to the Book of Genesis, the Midianites were the descendants of Midian, who was a son of Abraham and his wife Keturah: "Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah" (Genesis 25:1–2, King James Version).
Traditionally, knowledge about Midian and the Midianites' existence was based solely upon Biblical and classical sources, but more recently a reference to Midian has been identified in a Taymanitic inscription dated to before the 9th century BC.
Various classical and historic sources place Midian east of the Gulf of Aqaba, in what is now the northwest part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These sources include:
- 1st century AD—the Jewish historian Josephus
- 2nd century AD–the Greek geographer Ptolemy
- 3rd century AD—Church historian Origin
- 4th century AD—Church historian Eusebius and theologian St. Jerome
- Medieval Arab historians/geographers
23- In the course of those many days the king of Egypt died. And the people of Israel groaned under their bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under bondage came up to God.
24- And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25- And God saw the people of Israel, and God knew their condition.
3:1- Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid′ian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
[In other biblical passages, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Sinai. Although most scholars consider Sinai and Horeb to have been different names for the same place, there is a minority body of opinion that they may have been different locations.While, Officially, the location of Mount Horeb is unknown ]
Ex 3:4- When Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here am I.”
5- Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy [ Heb "set apart'] ground.”
6- And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7- Then Jehovah said, “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings,
8- and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites.
9- And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10- Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11- But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
12- He said, “But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.”
13- Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14- God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” [Symbolic -Or- I am what I am, or I will be what I will be ] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15- God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: this is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
16- Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt;
17- and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
18- And they will hearken to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, we pray you, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God.’
19- I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
20- So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all the wonders which I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
21- And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty,
22- but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who sojourns in her house, jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; thus you shall despoil the Egyptians.”
[ https://religionnews.com/2018/01/25/the-original-hebrew-name-of-god-re-discovered-in-1000-bible-manuscripts/ ]
Ex 4:10- But Moses said to Jehovah, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11- Then Jehovah said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Jehovah? 12- Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13- But he said, “Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person.” 14- Then the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well; and behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. 15- And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. 16- He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.
[Bible shows the flaws in people]
20- So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on an ass, and went back to the land of Egypt; and in his hand Moses took the rod of God.
[24-26; I don't understand, the best my research has come up with~
"The practice of circumcision first described in Genesis 17:10–12:
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.
Specifically, the questioners want to know why God would create human males—and other mammals—with a foreskin on their penises only to then instruct them to remove it. Today we know that circumcision offers demonstrable medical benefits. Don’t the medical benefits of removing the foreskin imply that this anatomical feature is a bad design? It seems like God could have come up with a better plan.
Circumcision Is a Ceremonial Practice
In response to this understandable challenge, it is important to keep in mind that the practice of circumcision, first and foremost, signified the covenantal relationship between Yahweh (the God of Israel) and Abraham and his descendants. God instituted the practice as a reminder to Israel that they owed their very existence to Yahweh. God promised Abraham a son well after Sarah was of childbearing age. And that son, Isaac, gave rise to the nation of Israel.
In other words, because circumcision is a religious ritual with covenantal significance, this practice does not require a medical or biological rationale. Neither does the practice necessarily mean that the foreskin is a flawed design.
The Medical Accuracy of the Covenant of Circumcision
This caveat aside, the instructions Yahweh gave to Abraham display remarkable medical insight. In the classic work,None of These Diseases, physician S. I. McMillen discusses the uncanny medical accuracy of the biblically prescribed practice of circumcision.1
Specifically, God commanded Abraham to perform circumcisions on the eighth day after birth (Genesis 17:12). As McMillen points out, this is the ideal time to carry out the procedure because it ensures that the infant’s blood readily clots after circumcision. For the first four days after birth, an infant has a limited amount of vitamin K and clotting factors in its blood. On day five, the level of these materials increases, reaching the maximum level on day eight.
Additionally, God commanded that a flint knife be used to perform the circumcision (Joshua 5:2). According to McMillen, this practice is significant because the act of sharpening a flint knife removes the surface layer, leaving behind uncontaminated stone that would have minimized infection.- “Schema of the RNA Vaccine Mechanism” by Jmarchn is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
One has to marvel at the Bible’s medical prescience. Given the pre-scientific understanding of the ancient Near East, Abraham could not have possessed this medical insight apart from divine wisdom.
Is the Foreskin a Flawed Design?
As it turns out circumcision provides clear medical benefits, offering a rationale for the practice that goes beyond religious ceremony. For example, in recent years, biomedical researchers have discovered that circumcision:
This objection assumes that the foreskin serves no function at all. Most male mammals have foreskin covering their penises (though they are often referred to as penile sheaths). These structures serve a variety of functions in animals that include protective and reproductive roles. And increasing evidence suggests that the foreskin also serves similar important functions in humans that include:
Regardless of how this debate ends, the new scientific insights make it hard to argue that the foreskin is a flawed design.
Again, the primary purpose of circumcision in ancient Israel was religious in scope. Still, it is remarkable that the timing and details of the process prescribed by Yahweh reflect sound medical practices. And the recognition that circumcision confers medical benefits indicates that God’s plan for signifying his covenant with Abraham and his descendants was, indeed, sound and reflected divine wisdom."
So it MIGHT have been a sanitary reason, since there weren't any showers!]
29- Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel.
30- And Aaron spoke all the words which Jehovah had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31- And the people believed; and when they heard that Jehovah had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
[Not the phony 'Israel' of TODAY]
6:1- h But Jehovah said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
2- And God said to Moses, “I am Jehovah.
3- I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them.
[He did not state His purpose (stated in His Name), altho it plain to see He did use his personal name]
4- I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they dwelt as sojourners.
5- Moreover I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold in bondage and I have remembered my covenant.
6- Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment,
7- and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8- And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am Jehovah.’”
9- Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel; but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel bondage. said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
10- And Jehovah said to Moses,
11- “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.”
12- But Moses said to Jehovah, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am a man of uncircumcised lips?” [ the word carries the meaning of “heavy; oppressing; weighty; difficult; dull, unresponsive; thick” ]
13- But Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
7:1- And Jehovah said to Moses, “See, I make you God [See John 1:1] to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.
2- You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
3- But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart [ Pharaoh chose to refuse Moses’ request to let the Israelites go'. ], and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
4- Pharaoh will not listen to you; then I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth my hosts, my people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
5- And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
6- And Moses and Aaron did so; they did as Jehovah commanded them.
7- Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8- And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron,
9- “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’”
[The snake (or Uraeus) was a symbol of “Wadjet” – an early Egyptian goddess who was said to control and protect the land. The imagery came to symbolise Pharaoh’s sovereignty, royalty, deity, and divine authority in ancient Egypt. It was used in the headdress of the king of Egypt.]
10- So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as Jehovah commanded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11- Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.
12- For every man cast down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
13- Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as Jehovah had said. [Predicted]
24- And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25- And God saw the people of Israel, and God knew their condition.
3:1- Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid′ian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
[In other biblical passages, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Sinai. Although most scholars consider Sinai and Horeb to have been different names for the same place, there is a minority body of opinion that they may have been different locations.While, Officially, the location of Mount Horeb is unknown ]
Ex 3:4- When Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here am I.”
5- Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy [ Heb "set apart'] ground.”
6- And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7- Then Jehovah said, “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings,
8- and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites.
9- And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10- Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11- But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
12- He said, “But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.”
13- Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14- God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” [Symbolic -Or- I am what I am, or I will be what I will be ] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15- God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: this is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
16- Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt;
17- and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
18- And they will hearken to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, we pray you, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God.’
19- I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
20- So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all the wonders which I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
21- And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty,
22- but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who sojourns in her house, jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; thus you shall despoil the Egyptians.”
[ https://religionnews.com/2018/01/25/the-original-hebrew-name-of-god-re-discovered-in-1000-bible-manuscripts/ ]
Ex 4:10- But Moses said to Jehovah, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11- Then Jehovah said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Jehovah? 12- Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13- But he said, “Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person.” 14- Then the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well; and behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. 15- And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. 16- He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.
[Bible shows the flaws in people]
20- So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on an ass, and went back to the land of Egypt; and in his hand Moses took the rod of God.
[24-26; I don't understand, the best my research has come up with~
"The practice of circumcision first described in Genesis 17:10–12:
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.
Specifically, the questioners want to know why God would create human males—and other mammals—with a foreskin on their penises only to then instruct them to remove it. Today we know that circumcision offers demonstrable medical benefits. Don’t the medical benefits of removing the foreskin imply that this anatomical feature is a bad design? It seems like God could have come up with a better plan.
Circumcision Is a Ceremonial Practice
In response to this understandable challenge, it is important to keep in mind that the practice of circumcision, first and foremost, signified the covenantal relationship between Yahweh (the God of Israel) and Abraham and his descendants. God instituted the practice as a reminder to Israel that they owed their very existence to Yahweh. God promised Abraham a son well after Sarah was of childbearing age. And that son, Isaac, gave rise to the nation of Israel.
In other words, because circumcision is a religious ritual with covenantal significance, this practice does not require a medical or biological rationale. Neither does the practice necessarily mean that the foreskin is a flawed design.
The Medical Accuracy of the Covenant of Circumcision
This caveat aside, the instructions Yahweh gave to Abraham display remarkable medical insight. In the classic work,None of These Diseases, physician S. I. McMillen discusses the uncanny medical accuracy of the biblically prescribed practice of circumcision.1
Specifically, God commanded Abraham to perform circumcisions on the eighth day after birth (Genesis 17:12). As McMillen points out, this is the ideal time to carry out the procedure because it ensures that the infant’s blood readily clots after circumcision. For the first four days after birth, an infant has a limited amount of vitamin K and clotting factors in its blood. On day five, the level of these materials increases, reaching the maximum level on day eight.
Additionally, God commanded that a flint knife be used to perform the circumcision (Joshua 5:2). According to McMillen, this practice is significant because the act of sharpening a flint knife removes the surface layer, leaving behind uncontaminated stone that would have minimized infection.- “Schema of the RNA Vaccine Mechanism” by Jmarchn is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
One has to marvel at the Bible’s medical prescience. Given the pre-scientific understanding of the ancient Near East, Abraham could not have possessed this medical insight apart from divine wisdom.
Is the Foreskin a Flawed Design?
As it turns out circumcision provides clear medical benefits, offering a rationale for the practice that goes beyond religious ceremony. For example, in recent years, biomedical researchers have discovered that circumcision:
- Prevents cancer of the penis3
- Prevents cervical cancer4
This objection assumes that the foreskin serves no function at all. Most male mammals have foreskin covering their penises (though they are often referred to as penile sheaths). These structures serve a variety of functions in animals that include protective and reproductive roles. And increasing evidence suggests that the foreskin also serves similar important functions in humans that include:
- Providing protection in utero, during infancy, and in adulthood
- Serving as a component of the immune system
- Contributing to sexual arousal and stimulation
Regardless of how this debate ends, the new scientific insights make it hard to argue that the foreskin is a flawed design.
Again, the primary purpose of circumcision in ancient Israel was religious in scope. Still, it is remarkable that the timing and details of the process prescribed by Yahweh reflect sound medical practices. And the recognition that circumcision confers medical benefits indicates that God’s plan for signifying his covenant with Abraham and his descendants was, indeed, sound and reflected divine wisdom."
So it MIGHT have been a sanitary reason, since there weren't any showers!]
29- Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel.
30- And Aaron spoke all the words which Jehovah had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31- And the people believed; and when they heard that Jehovah had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
[Not the phony 'Israel' of TODAY]
6:1- h But Jehovah said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
2- And God said to Moses, “I am Jehovah.
3- I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them.
[He did not state His purpose (stated in His Name), altho it plain to see He did use his personal name]
4- I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they dwelt as sojourners.
5- Moreover I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold in bondage and I have remembered my covenant.
6- Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment,
7- and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8- And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am Jehovah.’”
9- Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel; but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel bondage. said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
10- And Jehovah said to Moses,
11- “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.”
12- But Moses said to Jehovah, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am a man of uncircumcised lips?” [ the word carries the meaning of “heavy; oppressing; weighty; difficult; dull, unresponsive; thick” ]
13- But Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
7:1- And Jehovah said to Moses, “See, I make you God [See John 1:1] to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.
2- You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
3- But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart [ Pharaoh chose to refuse Moses’ request to let the Israelites go'. ], and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
4- Pharaoh will not listen to you; then I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth my hosts, my people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
5- And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
6- And Moses and Aaron did so; they did as Jehovah commanded them.
7- Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8- And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron,
9- “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’”
[The snake (or Uraeus) was a symbol of “Wadjet” – an early Egyptian goddess who was said to control and protect the land. The imagery came to symbolise Pharaoh’s sovereignty, royalty, deity, and divine authority in ancient Egypt. It was used in the headdress of the king of Egypt.]
10- So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as Jehovah commanded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11- Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.
12- For every man cast down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
13- Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as Jehovah had said. [Predicted]
Leviticus Fragment
1st century B.C.
It was world news indeed when, by accident, the Death Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947! Local Bedouins and archaeologists started with fierce digging, searching for old manuscripts. An old man remembered an incident from his youth. He was chasing a partridge and accidentally found a cave with potsherds and an old oil lamp. Proof that people had lived in this cave. The man had good memory. He still remembered the exact rock cracks where he had entered the cave. They started digging in the ground and 1 meter deep they found pieces of. In total, they found 40.000 pieces, which came from about 400 handwritings. About 400 were Bible manuscripts. All the books of the Old Testament were represented, with the exception of Esther.
Ancient manuscripts are still of great importance because they reveal much about our human history. Many fragments ware made of papyrus. Papyrus was used from 2000 B.C. as material to write on. It is made from the stem of a water plant called papyrus, which grows along the waterside of the river Nile in Egypt. The word "paper" comes from the word "papyrus".
A few papyrus fragments of the Greek Septuagint were found were written in the 1st century B.C. One fragment, with verses from Leviticus, does not use 'ΚΎΡΙΟΣ' or 'Lord', but the Tetragrammaton IAW (or IAO) - a Greek transliteration of the Divine Name. Thus distinguishing the use of the Divine Name.
The shown fragment contains Leviticus 3:12 and 4:27. The size is approximately 9 cm wide and 5 cm high.
Ex 7:15- Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; wait for him by the river’s brink, and take in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent.
16- And you shall say to him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness; and behold, you have not yet obeyed.”
17- Thus says Jehovah, “By this you shall know that I am Jehovah: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it shall be turned to blood,
18- and the fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become foul, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the Nile.”’”
19- And Jehovah said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
20- Moses and Aaron did as Jehovah commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood.
21- And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22- But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them; as Jehovah had said.
23- Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not lay even this to heart.
24- And all the Egyptians dug round about the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
(Just like modern times- listening to the Clergy...)
Was the translation of "Jesus" name in Greek from Yehshua purely transliteration or is there possibly "meaning" behind the name "Ἰησοῦς" / "Iēsous"Ask Question
Asked 2 years, 2 months ago
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I have noted in my study of Scripture that most names have "meaning" and are often Hebrew words or statements (usually about God). The original Hebrew name of Jesus - Yeh'shua - follows this pattern with its meaning roughly equating to:
Yeh = YHWH, the Tetragrammaton name of God (YAHWEH / Jehovah)
Shua = Saves or Salvation.
Thus the name essentially means: God's salvation
“Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon his breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.”
(Irenaeus of Lyons – Against Heresies 3:1:1 – 180AD)
“Among the four Gospels, which are the only indisputable ones in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism and published in the Hebrew language”
(Origen – Commentaries on Matthew [cited by Eusebius in History of the Church 6:25] – 244AD).
S
1st century B.C.
It was world news indeed when, by accident, the Death Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947! Local Bedouins and archaeologists started with fierce digging, searching for old manuscripts. An old man remembered an incident from his youth. He was chasing a partridge and accidentally found a cave with potsherds and an old oil lamp. Proof that people had lived in this cave. The man had good memory. He still remembered the exact rock cracks where he had entered the cave. They started digging in the ground and 1 meter deep they found pieces of. In total, they found 40.000 pieces, which came from about 400 handwritings. About 400 were Bible manuscripts. All the books of the Old Testament were represented, with the exception of Esther.
Ancient manuscripts are still of great importance because they reveal much about our human history. Many fragments ware made of papyrus. Papyrus was used from 2000 B.C. as material to write on. It is made from the stem of a water plant called papyrus, which grows along the waterside of the river Nile in Egypt. The word "paper" comes from the word "papyrus".
A few papyrus fragments of the Greek Septuagint were found were written in the 1st century B.C. One fragment, with verses from Leviticus, does not use 'ΚΎΡΙΟΣ' or 'Lord', but the Tetragrammaton IAW (or IAO) - a Greek transliteration of the Divine Name. Thus distinguishing the use of the Divine Name.
The shown fragment contains Leviticus 3:12 and 4:27. The size is approximately 9 cm wide and 5 cm high.
Ex 7:15- Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; wait for him by the river’s brink, and take in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent.
16- And you shall say to him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness; and behold, you have not yet obeyed.”
17- Thus says Jehovah, “By this you shall know that I am Jehovah: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it shall be turned to blood,
18- and the fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become foul, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the Nile.”’”
19- And Jehovah said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
20- Moses and Aaron did as Jehovah commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood.
21- And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22- But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them; as Jehovah had said.
23- Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not lay even this to heart.
24- And all the Egyptians dug round about the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
(Just like modern times- listening to the Clergy...)
Was the translation of "Jesus" name in Greek from Yehshua purely transliteration or is there possibly "meaning" behind the name "Ἰησοῦς" / "Iēsous"Ask Question
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I have noted in my study of Scripture that most names have "meaning" and are often Hebrew words or statements (usually about God). The original Hebrew name of Jesus - Yeh'shua - follows this pattern with its meaning roughly equating to:
Yeh = YHWH, the Tetragrammaton name of God (YAHWEH / Jehovah)
Shua = Saves or Salvation.
Thus the name essentially means: God's salvation
“Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon his breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.”
(Irenaeus of Lyons – Against Heresies 3:1:1 – 180AD)
“Among the four Gospels, which are the only indisputable ones in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism and published in the Hebrew language”
(Origen – Commentaries on Matthew [cited by Eusebius in History of the Church 6:25] – 244AD).
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