Hebrew University archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel believes the discovery of the two fortified gates at Elah Fortress not only proves the existence of Sha'arayim named three times in the Bible in connection with David, but also suggests that the fortified city was part of a centralized government administered by King David.
Elah Fortress is the oldest known fortress of the biblical period. It dates to the tenth century B.C. The fortress is southwest of Jerusalem on what was the border between the Kingdom of Judea and the coast lands of the Philistines. The massive stone gate faces Jerusalem.
Garkinkel's team also found a 3,000-year-old pottery shard with five lines of text at the Elah Fortress. He believes the text provides evidence for the existence of a vast kingdom under David's rule. Garfinkel believes the site was the westernmost outpost maintained by the Kingdom of Judea, which controlled land in southwest Asia and Palestine before the Kingdom of Israel.
Read more here and here.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Logos-Light-Life
A recently retired friend of mine, a Anglican priest, wrote this sermon in which he points to the dynamic Word, the Logos, as the key to living a life pleasing to God. Here is what Paul wrote:
Living in the Word - Rev Paul Taylor, LL.M.
The Gospel of John is unique. St. John Starts off by stating that in the beginning the Word was God and God is the word. The Word is a dynamic and not passive concept. This parallels Genesis. In Genesis the earth is a void (chaos) and the Word of God brings order to the chaos.
John using this image shows that the Word is God. John talks about light and the darkness not be able to comprehend the light. It is the Word that brings the light into the world.
The Word is used through out John's Gospel. John then goes on to say that you can be believe in God. You can believe in Jesus Christ, but if the Word is not in you then you are not a believer
(cf John 5:38,8:31, 8:37, 8:43 , 14:23, 15:3,15:25).
These passages only skim the gospel of John. The point is that the Word has to be in you and that you have to live according to the Word.
One can be a cradle Episcopalian and know the prayerbook and the hymnal well. For these people the word is something those dreadful Bible thumpers talk about.
You can be a Catholic and go to Mass every week. The word is something those awful protestants talk about.
You can be a Baptist and hear the preacher talk about the word and it sounds just great.
You can be a continuer and worship the missal and talk about how catholic you are. "What word?" you ask.
You can be born again and raise both hands at every service and sing the hymns from memory.
Who needs the word? You have the spiritual connection. It matters not whether the spirit is holy roller or New Age you've got the spirit.
John doesn't mention any of these people. John is there to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Read it all here.
Living in the Word - Rev Paul Taylor, LL.M.
The Gospel of John is unique. St. John Starts off by stating that in the beginning the Word was God and God is the word. The Word is a dynamic and not passive concept. This parallels Genesis. In Genesis the earth is a void (chaos) and the Word of God brings order to the chaos.
John using this image shows that the Word is God. John talks about light and the darkness not be able to comprehend the light. It is the Word that brings the light into the world.
The Word is used through out John's Gospel. John then goes on to say that you can be believe in God. You can believe in Jesus Christ, but if the Word is not in you then you are not a believer
(cf John 5:38,8:31, 8:37, 8:43 , 14:23, 15:3,15:25).
These passages only skim the gospel of John. The point is that the Word has to be in you and that you have to live according to the Word.
One can be a cradle Episcopalian and know the prayerbook and the hymnal well. For these people the word is something those dreadful Bible thumpers talk about.
You can be a Catholic and go to Mass every week. The word is something those awful protestants talk about.
You can be a Baptist and hear the preacher talk about the word and it sounds just great.
You can be a continuer and worship the missal and talk about how catholic you are. "What word?" you ask.
You can be born again and raise both hands at every service and sing the hymns from memory.
Who needs the word? You have the spiritual connection. It matters not whether the spirit is holy roller or New Age you've got the spirit.
John doesn't mention any of these people. John is there to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Read it all here.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Celestial Dance Observed by the Magi
Attorney Rick Larson spent eight years researching the Star of Bethlehem and discovered the difference between sidereal astronomy and astrology. Sidereal astronomy is real science, based on observation of the arrangement and movement of the fixed stars and planets. For the ancient Egyptians, for example, the stars in the constellation of Leo were especially important because the Nile rose when the Sun passed through the constellation of Leo. Therefore, the Lion and the rising strength of the water were associated.
The Magi were sidereal astronomers who lived east of Israel, probably in Babylon. They were heirs of the same astronomical knowledge as the ancient Egyptians because they were from Judah, like Daniel and the other Judahites (Jews) who served as advisors to King Nebuchadnezzar.
They clearly were aware of God's promise concerning a King whose kingdom shall endure through all the ages (the Messianic Psalm 145:13, which is found repeatedly in Daniel, punctuates the theme of the rise and fall of kingdoms). These astrononers from the East recognized the singular event of Jupiter's triple spiral that brought it in close proximity to Regulus. The Babylonians called Regulus 'Sharu', which means 'king.'
Using Starry Night, a soft ware program that can track celestial events at any time in history, Larson discovered that Jupiter, the Planet of Kings met Regulus, the Star of Kings at the beginning of the Jewish New Year in the year 3 BC. The conjunction produced the appearance of a single extraordinarily bright star. Larson believes that this is when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was chosen to bear Messiah.
Larson explains, "In 3/2 BC, Jupiter's retrograde wandering would have called for our magus' full attention. After Jupiter and Regulus had their kingly encounter, Jupiter continued on its path through the star field. But then it entered retrograde. It 'changed its mind' and headed back to Regulus for a second conjunction. After this second pass it reversed course again for yet a third rendezvous with Regulus, a triple conjunction. A triple pass like this is more rare. Over a period of months, our watching magus would have seen the Planet of Kings dance out a halo above the Star of Kings. A coronation."
We know from the number symbolism of the Afro-Asiatic peoples that the number 3 associated with a King means universal shalom. This message of peace corresponds to the angels' proclamation to the shepherds tending their flocks outside Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth.
If you haven't watched Rick Larson's Star of Bethlehem DVD, I encourage you to do so. You can order the Star of Bethlehem DVD here: http://www.bethlehemstar.net
The plurality of stars, planets and constellations speaks of the immeasurable nature of the universe, yet all are the work on the Ancient of Days, who alone is God, dwelling in light. The unique celestial events that surround the Annuciation, Nativity and Visitation of the Magi (the first Christmas) confirm that God set the universe's clock from before time. The orderliness of the heavens was such that the astronomers of old, whose work it was to observe the heavens, could not have missed the conjunction of Jupiter and Regulus and the emergence of Virgo, the Virgin, with the sun at her head and the moon at her feet.
As Vern Poythress has said, "So, at the very beginning of arithmetic, we are already plunged into the metaphysical problem of unity and plurality, of the one and the many. As Van Til and Rushdoony have pointed out, this problem finds its solution only in the doctrine of the ontological Trinity."
Monday, November 17, 2008
Excavation of Temple Mount Reveals Surprises
The photo archives of a British archeologist who carried out the only archeological excavation ever undertaken at the Temple Mount's Aksa Mosque show a Byzantine mosaic floor underneath the mosque that was likely the remains of a church or a monastery, an Israeli archeologist said on Sunday.
Excavations under the Aksa Mosque in the 1930s, photographs of which were recently uncovered, revealed a Byzantine mosaic floor.The excavation was carried out in the 1930s by R.W. Hamilton, director of the British Mandate Antiquities Department, in coordination with the Wakf Islamic Trust that administers the compound, following earthquakes that badly damaged the mosque in 1927 and 1937.
In conjunction with the Wakf's construction and repair work carried out between 1938 and 1942, Hamilton excavated under the mosque's piers, and documented all his work related to the mosque in The Structural History of the Aqsa Mosque.
Hamilton also uncovered the Byzantine mosaic floor and beneath it a mikva (ritual bath) from the Second Temple period, which he pointedly did not include in the publication about the mosque, but instead photographed and labeled in a file about the mosque, archeologist Zachi Zweig said on Sunday.
Zweig uncovered the photographs in the British archeological archives that are kept at the Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem.The Byzantine mosaic floor, which was uncovered under the Umayyad level of the mosque, is "without a doubt" the remains of a public building - likely a church - which predated the mosque, Zweig said in an address at a Bar-Ilan University archeological conference.
A similar mosaic can be found at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, he said."The existence of a public building from the Byzantine period on the Temple Mount is very surprising in light of the fact that we do not have records of such constructions in historical texts," Zweig said.
Read it all here.
Excavations under the Aksa Mosque in the 1930s, photographs of which were recently uncovered, revealed a Byzantine mosaic floor.The excavation was carried out in the 1930s by R.W. Hamilton, director of the British Mandate Antiquities Department, in coordination with the Wakf Islamic Trust that administers the compound, following earthquakes that badly damaged the mosque in 1927 and 1937.
In conjunction with the Wakf's construction and repair work carried out between 1938 and 1942, Hamilton excavated under the mosque's piers, and documented all his work related to the mosque in The Structural History of the Aqsa Mosque.
Hamilton also uncovered the Byzantine mosaic floor and beneath it a mikva (ritual bath) from the Second Temple period, which he pointedly did not include in the publication about the mosque, but instead photographed and labeled in a file about the mosque, archeologist Zachi Zweig said on Sunday.
Zweig uncovered the photographs in the British archeological archives that are kept at the Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem.The Byzantine mosaic floor, which was uncovered under the Umayyad level of the mosque, is "without a doubt" the remains of a public building - likely a church - which predated the mosque, Zweig said in an address at a Bar-Ilan University archeological conference.
A similar mosaic can be found at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, he said."The existence of a public building from the Byzantine period on the Temple Mount is very surprising in light of the fact that we do not have records of such constructions in historical texts," Zweig said.
Read it all here.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Harran Linked to Jerusalem
The first Temple seal found in an excavation in the ancient City of David shows a cresent moon, the emblem of the divinity Sin, regarded as a Babylonian deity. Besides the crescent moon, Sin's symbols include the bull and the lampstand. Some of Sin's temples were called "Houses of Light."
On January 16, 2008, the excavator Eilat Mazar announced that a team she is leading south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem had uncovered an inscribed seal dating to the time of Nehemiah. She read the name on the seal as “Temech” (tav, mem and het). It was first thought that the seal indicated the Temech family, servants in the first temple in Jerusalem. They were among those taken into Babylonian captivity, as mentioned in Nehemiah: "These are the children of the province, that went up out of captivitiy, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away, and came gain to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city." (Nehemiah 7:6)
European scholar Peter van der Veen believes that Mazar erred by reading the inscription. He argues that it should have been read backward, since a seal creates a mirror image when used to inscribe clay. He suggests that the seal bears four letters (shin, lamed, mem and tav) and that the correct reading is "Shlomit". Mazar now acknowledges that the seal should be read as "Shlomit."
The 2,500 year old seal shows two priests standing on the opposite sides of an incense altar. Over the altar there is a crescent moon, and at the bottom of the seal are four Hebrew letters.
The crescent moon represents the lunar phases. Ancient peoples measured time by the sun and the moon, but the lunar phases allow for more exact measurements. The relationship between priests and crescent moons has to do with the role that priests played in making calendars. Priests who observed only a solar calendar were at risk if their calculations were wrong. If priests didn’t perform sacred ceremonies on exactly the right days, they were blamed for everything that went wrong. If the chief died, or the crops failed, or there was a natural disaster, the priests were blamed. They may not have been executed by an unhappy emperor, as happened to Chinese astronomers who failed to predict the 2134 B.C solar eclipse, but ancient priests were still highly motivated to avoid mistakes.
The principal cities for the worship of Sin were Ur and Harran, both mentioned in Genesis 12. Terah, Terah's father Nahor, and another chief named Harran apparently controlled the waterways and commerce in this area during the the Afro-Asiatic Dominion that extended from west central Africa to the Indus River Valley.
The discovery of this seal in David's City supports the Genesis picture of Semites and Babylonians sharing a cosmology.
Read more about the controversy surrounding the temple seal here.
On January 16, 2008, the excavator Eilat Mazar announced that a team she is leading south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem had uncovered an inscribed seal dating to the time of Nehemiah. She read the name on the seal as “Temech” (tav, mem and het). It was first thought that the seal indicated the Temech family, servants in the first temple in Jerusalem. They were among those taken into Babylonian captivity, as mentioned in Nehemiah: "These are the children of the province, that went up out of captivitiy, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away, and came gain to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city." (Nehemiah 7:6)
European scholar Peter van der Veen believes that Mazar erred by reading the inscription. He argues that it should have been read backward, since a seal creates a mirror image when used to inscribe clay. He suggests that the seal bears four letters (shin, lamed, mem and tav) and that the correct reading is "Shlomit". Mazar now acknowledges that the seal should be read as "Shlomit."
The 2,500 year old seal shows two priests standing on the opposite sides of an incense altar. Over the altar there is a crescent moon, and at the bottom of the seal are four Hebrew letters.
The crescent moon represents the lunar phases. Ancient peoples measured time by the sun and the moon, but the lunar phases allow for more exact measurements. The relationship between priests and crescent moons has to do with the role that priests played in making calendars. Priests who observed only a solar calendar were at risk if their calculations were wrong. If priests didn’t perform sacred ceremonies on exactly the right days, they were blamed for everything that went wrong. If the chief died, or the crops failed, or there was a natural disaster, the priests were blamed. They may not have been executed by an unhappy emperor, as happened to Chinese astronomers who failed to predict the 2134 B.C solar eclipse, but ancient priests were still highly motivated to avoid mistakes.
The principal cities for the worship of Sin were Ur and Harran, both mentioned in Genesis 12. Terah, Terah's father Nahor, and another chief named Harran apparently controlled the waterways and commerce in this area during the the Afro-Asiatic Dominion that extended from west central Africa to the Indus River Valley.
The discovery of this seal in David's City supports the Genesis picture of Semites and Babylonians sharing a cosmology.
Read more about the controversy surrounding the temple seal here.
The Kingdom of God in Genesis
Alice C. Linsley
St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) wrote: “Numbers are the universal language offered by the Deity to humans as confirmation of the truth.”
St. Augustine is not saying that numbers tell us truth, only that God uses numbers symbolically to confirm the truth. This is what St. Augustine argues against the Donatist, Tichonius, observing that "if Tichonius had said that these mystical rules open out some of the hidden recesses of the law, instead of saying that they reveal all the mysteries of the law, he would have spoken truth" (De Doctrina Christiana, III, xlii).
The Church Fathers condemned magical use of numbers in occult practices such as divination, but recognized the numerical symbolism of Scripture.
St. Ambrose, commenting on the days of creation and the Sabbath, explained: "The number seven is good, but we do not explain it after the doctrine of Pythagoras and the other philosophers, but rather according to the manifestation and division of the grace of the Spirit; for the prophet Isaias has enumerated the principal gifts of the Holy Spirit as seven.”
We see in Ambrose’ view a consideration of the consistency of biblical symbolism. The Church Fathers were not interested in philosophical speculation about numbers. However, they did wish to lift up the meaning of Scripture according to the tradition which the Apostles received from the Hebrew Bible, a tradition which Jesus Himself drew on; a Tradition rich in number symbolism and typology.
The Apostles did not invent the symbolism, nor did the Jews. The biblical number symbolism emerges out of the far more ancient Afro-Asiatic cosmology which assigned numbers and gender virtues to the north, south, east and west. Thus the number one is assigned to north, and north is associated with the heavens, God’s eternal throne. The number six is assigned to south, the earth and all fleshly concerns. The number nine represents the west, the future, and the bridal chamber.
When the number 3 is associated with south it signifies peace on earth or "thy kingdom come". This is evident in the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation. The city has twelve gates and sits on twlve foundairon stones (Revelation 21:12-14). Three face east, three face north, three face south, and three face west. We may illustrate this as follows
3→ 3↑ 3↓ 3← Notice that the third position faces south.
Compare this to the “bronze sea” in Solomon’s temple which rested on twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:23-26).
3→ 3↑ 3↓ 3← Notice that they coincide.
Numbers and Cosmology
The Afro-Asiatic cosmology is numerical (base nine) and spherical. Imagine a circle with the cardinal points north, south, east and west. These points are assigned number and gender symbolism as binary oppositions. North and east are dominant and associated with maleness. South and West are supplementary and associated with femaleness. Some of this mystical number symbolism is evident in the Ten Sefirot of Kabala.
Imagine a circle with north as a point at the top center. This also represents high noon, a time of no shadows. This position of priority is assigned the number 1, symbolizing the Uncreated Hidden God (Ain Soph). Directly opposite is the point south, assigned the number six. It is associated with mortality, marriage and fertility. When the positions of one and six are reversed in the text, it means that the fleshly principle is in motion: thus Abraham after receiving advice from the moreh (oracle) at the Oak of Mamre, heads south and takes Keturah as wife. It appears that by suggestion of this reversal, the text tells us what Abraham takes a second wife in order to establish himself with a territory. Afro-Asiatics chiefs had two wives, dwelling in separate settlements on a north-south axis. Two wives were necessary to gain a kingdom. (Likewise The Kingdom includes two who are married to Christ: the church and those who believed before Christ's incarnation.)
Now imagine a line running from north/1 to south/6, vertically dissecting the circle. The east side of the circle is associated with dominance/sovereignty/strength/judgment and is assigned the number four. The west side of the circle is associated with reproduction, new beginnings, compassion and tenderness and is assigned the number five. Here is where we see another reversal. The feminine virtues associated with east/4 are on the dominant side and the masculine virtues associated with west/5 are on the supplementary side. Reversals speak of oneness and supplementarity. Unlike Western metaphysics, which grants privilege to one side and marginalizes the opposition (as the Arabic-speaking Jew Jacques Derrida noted), the Afro-Asiatic system maintains the male and female principles as inseparable and supplementary.
The Afro-Asiatics perceived of a sacred center where the directional poles intersect. This “center” was also associated with mountain tops where God often self-revealed. Each tribal group had their own sacred mountain. The top of the mountain is exposed to the full blast of the sun, and for the Afro-Asiatics, the sun symbolized God’s dominion over all the earth. So Moses’ face radiated the divine light when he came down from the mountain, while those at the base of the mountain saw only a numinous cloud cover. At the sacred center we must remove our shoes for we are standing on holy ground.
The Number Nine and its Factors
The Afro-Asiatics had a base nine number system. The dynamic and comprehensive nature of Nine is evident in mathematics. In this system, three counts of three (3 3 3) symbolizes the fullness and oneness of creation or all reality (the pleroma of which St. Paul speaks). The number three consistently represents unity or shalom on earth, as noted above with the arrangement of the gates of the New Jerusalem and the bronze sea of Solomon's temple. So God was sometimes referred to as Baal Shalisha - the Three God, and tribal affiliations involve groups of three rulers:
Gen. 4 - Cain, Abel, Seth
Gen. 4 - Jubal, Jabal, Tubal
Gen. 7 - Ham, Shem, Japheth
Gen. 11 - Haran, Nahor, Abraham
The unity of three witnesses is especially binding, so St. John writes: "So there are three witnesses, the Spirit, water and blood; and the three of them coincide" (I John 5:7).
Whole Numbers and Letters
Whole numbers as well as the factors of numbers play a role in the interpretation of “as in the heavens so on earth.” The interpretation of numerical sequences was done by trained seers or prophets who gave counsel under trees. Abraham himself apparently sought advice from the moreh at Mamre. We are told that women as well as men served in this role. Deborah ‘judged’ from her palm tree between Ramah (meaning high or lifted up) and Bethel (meaning house of God). This was Deborah’s sacred center. We find a parallel in the account of Abraham who set up his tent at the Diviner's tree or “Oak of Moreh” between Ai and Bethel (Gen. 13).
With the emergence of the Hebrew alphabet, the number system of the Afro-Asiatics developed an additional layer of meaning. Each Hebrew letter was assigned a numerical value. This practice was paralleled by the Greek-speaking interpreters, who gave attention to numerals and to numerical totals of the letters written. Thus we find in the Epistle of Barnabas: “…Abraham who first appointed circumcision, looked forward in spirit unto Jesus when he circumcised, having received the ordinances of three letters. For the Scripture saith, And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen males and three hundred.' What then was the knowledge given unto him? Understand ye that He saith the eighteen' first, and then after an interval three hundred.' In the [number] eighteen [the Greek IOTA] stands for 10, [the Greek ETA] for eight. Here thou hast Jesus [in Greek] IESOUS. And because the cross in the [Greek TAU] was to have grace, he saith also three hundred.' So he revealeth Jesus in two letters and in the remaining one the cross" (Epistle of Barnabas, ix).
Here the numerical value of the Greek iota and eta, the first letters of the Holy Name, is 10 and 8, for 18, while Tau, which stands for the form of the cross, represents 300. This is another layer of numerical interpretation, coming from the Greeks, who were much enamored of Egyptian mysteries and influenced by the “the doctrine of Pythagoras”, but failed to fully grasp the earlier Afro-Asiatic cosmology.
The number eight is the best known example of Christian messianic symbolism, as it represents Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the new week. In this sense the number eight equates to the number one. The eighth day looks forward to the ninth day, the day of Christ’s return and the consummation of the union of the Bridegroom and the Bride. This union leads to the tenth day which is 1 + zero: one represesnts God and the zero is a symbol of eternity. The number ten symbolizes the birth of the new eternal realm. This is the background to St. Paul's reference to the creation groaning with labor pains as we await the day of consummation (Rom. 8:22).
The Number Two and the Kingdom of God
In Genesis the numbers two and seven point to a kingdom given or revealed. We see this in the necessity for two wives to establish a kingdom and in the story of Joseph’s interpretation of dreams in Genesis 40-41. Here is the pattern:
2 years in prison awaiting his deliverance
2 royal officials
2 dreams involving the number 7
2 additional years in prison before Joseph receives a kingdom
Compare this to Luke 10:1-20 which uses two and seven to speak of The Kingdom:
70 + 2 appointed to proclaim The Kingdom
2 sent (in pairs) to declare peace to many households
2 cities: Chorazin and Bethsaida, where Christ perform miracles and none repented (Luke 10:13)
2 cities: Tyre and Sidon, where the Prophet Elijah performed many miracles. Jesus visited Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21; Mark 7:24), and many came from these cities to hear him preach (Mark 3:8; Luke 6:17).
Both of these units of Scripture speak of a Kingdom given and received. We trace their parallelism through the number symbolism and find a consistent theme of a Shepherd who comes forth from Judah to whom is given an eternal kingdom. So Joseph tells his brothers to report to Pharaoh that they are shepherds from the land of Canaan, as was Joseph himself. So Samuel anoints David, a shepherd from Judah, as King in Israel. So Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of Judah, receives from the Father an eternal kingdom.
Related reading: Yes, Georgia, There is a Kingdom; Jesus Christ in Genesis; Kushite Kings and the Kingdom of God
St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) wrote: “Numbers are the universal language offered by the Deity to humans as confirmation of the truth.”
St. Augustine is not saying that numbers tell us truth, only that God uses numbers symbolically to confirm the truth. This is what St. Augustine argues against the Donatist, Tichonius, observing that "if Tichonius had said that these mystical rules open out some of the hidden recesses of the law, instead of saying that they reveal all the mysteries of the law, he would have spoken truth" (De Doctrina Christiana, III, xlii).
The Church Fathers condemned magical use of numbers in occult practices such as divination, but recognized the numerical symbolism of Scripture.
St. Ambrose, commenting on the days of creation and the Sabbath, explained: "The number seven is good, but we do not explain it after the doctrine of Pythagoras and the other philosophers, but rather according to the manifestation and division of the grace of the Spirit; for the prophet Isaias has enumerated the principal gifts of the Holy Spirit as seven.”
We see in Ambrose’ view a consideration of the consistency of biblical symbolism. The Church Fathers were not interested in philosophical speculation about numbers. However, they did wish to lift up the meaning of Scripture according to the tradition which the Apostles received from the Hebrew Bible, a tradition which Jesus Himself drew on; a Tradition rich in number symbolism and typology.
The Apostles did not invent the symbolism, nor did the Jews. The biblical number symbolism emerges out of the far more ancient Afro-Asiatic cosmology which assigned numbers and gender virtues to the north, south, east and west. Thus the number one is assigned to north, and north is associated with the heavens, God’s eternal throne. The number six is assigned to south, the earth and all fleshly concerns. The number nine represents the west, the future, and the bridal chamber.
When the number 3 is associated with south it signifies peace on earth or "thy kingdom come". This is evident in the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation. The city has twelve gates and sits on twlve foundairon stones (Revelation 21:12-14). Three face east, three face north, three face south, and three face west. We may illustrate this as follows
3→ 3↑ 3↓ 3← Notice that the third position faces south.
Compare this to the “bronze sea” in Solomon’s temple which rested on twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:23-26).
3→ 3↑ 3↓ 3← Notice that they coincide.
Numbers and Cosmology
The Afro-Asiatic cosmology is numerical (base nine) and spherical. Imagine a circle with the cardinal points north, south, east and west. These points are assigned number and gender symbolism as binary oppositions. North and east are dominant and associated with maleness. South and West are supplementary and associated with femaleness. Some of this mystical number symbolism is evident in the Ten Sefirot of Kabala.
Imagine a circle with north as a point at the top center. This also represents high noon, a time of no shadows. This position of priority is assigned the number 1, symbolizing the Uncreated Hidden God (Ain Soph). Directly opposite is the point south, assigned the number six. It is associated with mortality, marriage and fertility. When the positions of one and six are reversed in the text, it means that the fleshly principle is in motion: thus Abraham after receiving advice from the moreh (oracle) at the Oak of Mamre, heads south and takes Keturah as wife. It appears that by suggestion of this reversal, the text tells us what Abraham takes a second wife in order to establish himself with a territory. Afro-Asiatics chiefs had two wives, dwelling in separate settlements on a north-south axis. Two wives were necessary to gain a kingdom. (Likewise The Kingdom includes two who are married to Christ: the church and those who believed before Christ's incarnation.)
Now imagine a line running from north/1 to south/6, vertically dissecting the circle. The east side of the circle is associated with dominance/sovereignty/strength/judgment and is assigned the number four. The west side of the circle is associated with reproduction, new beginnings, compassion and tenderness and is assigned the number five. Here is where we see another reversal. The feminine virtues associated with east/4 are on the dominant side and the masculine virtues associated with west/5 are on the supplementary side. Reversals speak of oneness and supplementarity. Unlike Western metaphysics, which grants privilege to one side and marginalizes the opposition (as the Arabic-speaking Jew Jacques Derrida noted), the Afro-Asiatic system maintains the male and female principles as inseparable and supplementary.
The Afro-Asiatics perceived of a sacred center where the directional poles intersect. This “center” was also associated with mountain tops where God often self-revealed. Each tribal group had their own sacred mountain. The top of the mountain is exposed to the full blast of the sun, and for the Afro-Asiatics, the sun symbolized God’s dominion over all the earth. So Moses’ face radiated the divine light when he came down from the mountain, while those at the base of the mountain saw only a numinous cloud cover. At the sacred center we must remove our shoes for we are standing on holy ground.
The Number Nine and its Factors
The Afro-Asiatics had a base nine number system. The dynamic and comprehensive nature of Nine is evident in mathematics. In this system, three counts of three (3 3 3) symbolizes the fullness and oneness of creation or all reality (the pleroma of which St. Paul speaks). The number three consistently represents unity or shalom on earth, as noted above with the arrangement of the gates of the New Jerusalem and the bronze sea of Solomon's temple. So God was sometimes referred to as Baal Shalisha - the Three God, and tribal affiliations involve groups of three rulers:
Gen. 4 - Cain, Abel, Seth
Gen. 4 - Jubal, Jabal, Tubal
Gen. 7 - Ham, Shem, Japheth
Gen. 11 - Haran, Nahor, Abraham
The unity of three witnesses is especially binding, so St. John writes: "So there are three witnesses, the Spirit, water and blood; and the three of them coincide" (I John 5:7).
Whole Numbers and Letters
Whole numbers as well as the factors of numbers play a role in the interpretation of “as in the heavens so on earth.” The interpretation of numerical sequences was done by trained seers or prophets who gave counsel under trees. Abraham himself apparently sought advice from the moreh at Mamre. We are told that women as well as men served in this role. Deborah ‘judged’ from her palm tree between Ramah (meaning high or lifted up) and Bethel (meaning house of God). This was Deborah’s sacred center. We find a parallel in the account of Abraham who set up his tent at the Diviner's tree or “Oak of Moreh” between Ai and Bethel (Gen. 13).
With the emergence of the Hebrew alphabet, the number system of the Afro-Asiatics developed an additional layer of meaning. Each Hebrew letter was assigned a numerical value. This practice was paralleled by the Greek-speaking interpreters, who gave attention to numerals and to numerical totals of the letters written. Thus we find in the Epistle of Barnabas: “…Abraham who first appointed circumcision, looked forward in spirit unto Jesus when he circumcised, having received the ordinances of three letters. For the Scripture saith, And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen males and three hundred.' What then was the knowledge given unto him? Understand ye that He saith the eighteen' first, and then after an interval three hundred.' In the [number] eighteen [the Greek IOTA] stands for 10, [the Greek ETA] for eight. Here thou hast Jesus [in Greek] IESOUS. And because the cross in the [Greek TAU] was to have grace, he saith also three hundred.' So he revealeth Jesus in two letters and in the remaining one the cross" (Epistle of Barnabas, ix).
Here the numerical value of the Greek iota and eta, the first letters of the Holy Name, is 10 and 8, for 18, while Tau, which stands for the form of the cross, represents 300. This is another layer of numerical interpretation, coming from the Greeks, who were much enamored of Egyptian mysteries and influenced by the “the doctrine of Pythagoras”, but failed to fully grasp the earlier Afro-Asiatic cosmology.
The number eight is the best known example of Christian messianic symbolism, as it represents Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the new week. In this sense the number eight equates to the number one. The eighth day looks forward to the ninth day, the day of Christ’s return and the consummation of the union of the Bridegroom and the Bride. This union leads to the tenth day which is 1 + zero: one represesnts God and the zero is a symbol of eternity. The number ten symbolizes the birth of the new eternal realm. This is the background to St. Paul's reference to the creation groaning with labor pains as we await the day of consummation (Rom. 8:22).
The Number Two and the Kingdom of God
In Genesis the numbers two and seven point to a kingdom given or revealed. We see this in the necessity for two wives to establish a kingdom and in the story of Joseph’s interpretation of dreams in Genesis 40-41. Here is the pattern:
2 years in prison awaiting his deliverance
2 royal officials
2 dreams involving the number 7
2 additional years in prison before Joseph receives a kingdom
Compare this to Luke 10:1-20 which uses two and seven to speak of The Kingdom:
70 + 2 appointed to proclaim The Kingdom
2 sent (in pairs) to declare peace to many households
2 cities: Chorazin and Bethsaida, where Christ perform miracles and none repented (Luke 10:13)
2 cities: Tyre and Sidon, where the Prophet Elijah performed many miracles. Jesus visited Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21; Mark 7:24), and many came from these cities to hear him preach (Mark 3:8; Luke 6:17).
Both of these units of Scripture speak of a Kingdom given and received. We trace their parallelism through the number symbolism and find a consistent theme of a Shepherd who comes forth from Judah to whom is given an eternal kingdom. So Joseph tells his brothers to report to Pharaoh that they are shepherds from the land of Canaan, as was Joseph himself. So Samuel anoints David, a shepherd from Judah, as King in Israel. So Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of Judah, receives from the Father an eternal kingdom.
Related reading: Yes, Georgia, There is a Kingdom; Jesus Christ in Genesis; Kushite Kings and the Kingdom of God
Isaac's Cousin Bride: A Poem
Genesis XXIV
By Arthur Hugh Clough
Who is this man
that walketh in the field,
O Eleazar,
steward to my lord?
And Eleazar
answered her and said,
Daughter of Bethuel,
it is other none
But my lord Isaac,
son unto my lord,
Who, as his wont is,
walketh in the field,
In the hour of evening,
meditating there.
Therefore Rebekah
basted where she sat,
And from her camel’
lighting to the earth,
Sought for a veil
and put it on her face.
But Isaac also,
walking in the field,
Saw from afar
a company that came,
Camels, and a seat
as where a woman sat;
Wherefore he came
and met them on the way.
Whom, when Rebekah
saw, she came before,
Saying, Behold
the handmaid of my lord;
Who, for my lord’s sake,
travel from my land.
But he said, O
thou blessed of our God,
Come, for the tent
is eager for thy face.
Shall not thy husband,
be unto thee more than
Hundreds of kinsmen
living in thy land?
And Eleazar answered,Thus and thus,
Even according
as thy father bade,
Did we; and thus and
thus it came to pass:
Lo! is not this
Rebekah, Bethuel’s child.
And, as he ended,
Isaac spoke and said,
Surely my heart
went with you on the way,
When with the beasts
ye came unto the place.
Truly, O child
of Nahor, I was there,
When to thy mother
and thy mother’s son
Thou madest answer,
saying, I will go.
And Isaac brought her
to his mother’s tent.
By Arthur Hugh Clough
Who is this man
that walketh in the field,
O Eleazar,
steward to my lord?
And Eleazar
answered her and said,
Daughter of Bethuel,
it is other none
But my lord Isaac,
son unto my lord,
Who, as his wont is,
walketh in the field,
In the hour of evening,
meditating there.
Therefore Rebekah
basted where she sat,
And from her camel’
lighting to the earth,
Sought for a veil
and put it on her face.
But Isaac also,
walking in the field,
Saw from afar
a company that came,
Camels, and a seat
as where a woman sat;
Wherefore he came
and met them on the way.
Whom, when Rebekah
saw, she came before,
Saying, Behold
the handmaid of my lord;
Who, for my lord’s sake,
travel from my land.
But he said, O
thou blessed of our God,
Come, for the tent
is eager for thy face.
Shall not thy husband,
be unto thee more than
Hundreds of kinsmen
living in thy land?
And Eleazar answered,Thus and thus,
Even according
as thy father bade,
Did we; and thus and
thus it came to pass:
Lo! is not this
Rebekah, Bethuel’s child.
And, as he ended,
Isaac spoke and said,
Surely my heart
went with you on the way,
When with the beasts
ye came unto the place.
Truly, O child
of Nahor, I was there,
When to thy mother
and thy mother’s son
Thou madest answer,
saying, I will go.
And Isaac brought her
to his mother’s tent.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The Writing of David's Realm
What may be the oldest known Hebrew text, found on a hilltop above the valley where David is said to have battled Goliath, could lend historical support to some Bible stories, archaeologists say.
The 3,000-year-old pottery shard with five lines of text was found during excavations of the Elah Fortress, the oldest known Biblical-period fortress that dates to the 10th century B.C.
It is the most important archaeological discovery in Israel since the Dead Sea Scrolls, according to lead researcher Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology.
His team believes the text may provide evidence for a real-life King David and his vast kingdom, the existence of which has been long doubted by scholars.
Carbon-14 dating of olive pits found at the archaeological site, as well as analysis of pottery remains, also place the text to between 1000 and 975 B.C., the time King David, head of the Kingdom of Israel, would have lived.
"This means that historical knowledge of King David could pass from generation to generation in writing—and not just as oral tradition."
The exact nature of the text— believed to be Hebrew written in Proto-Canaanite script, a type of early alphabet—has yet to be determined, but a number of root words have already been translated, including "judge," "slave," and "king."
Read it all here.
This discovery confirms that scribes recorded information and that royal archives likely existed in David's kingdom. This is the raw material that enabled the development of the Genesis narratives and the story of Ruth.
David is said to have ruled a territory that extended from the Nile River to the Euphrates. This is but a small portion of the older Afro-Asiatic Dominion that extended from the Atlantic coast of modern Nigeria to the Indus River Valley. We have considerable evidence that David sought to extend his political influence further into Africa through the Hamitic house of Sheba to which he was related and through the central African metalworkers - the Inadan - who claim to be descended from "our Lord David" (National Geographic, Aug. 1979, p. 286).
The 3,000-year-old pottery shard with five lines of text was found during excavations of the Elah Fortress, the oldest known Biblical-period fortress that dates to the 10th century B.C.
It is the most important archaeological discovery in Israel since the Dead Sea Scrolls, according to lead researcher Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology.
His team believes the text may provide evidence for a real-life King David and his vast kingdom, the existence of which has been long doubted by scholars.
Carbon-14 dating of olive pits found at the archaeological site, as well as analysis of pottery remains, also place the text to between 1000 and 975 B.C., the time King David, head of the Kingdom of Israel, would have lived.
"This means that historical knowledge of King David could pass from generation to generation in writing—and not just as oral tradition."
The exact nature of the text— believed to be Hebrew written in Proto-Canaanite script, a type of early alphabet—has yet to be determined, but a number of root words have already been translated, including "judge," "slave," and "king."
Read it all here.
This discovery confirms that scribes recorded information and that royal archives likely existed in David's kingdom. This is the raw material that enabled the development of the Genesis narratives and the story of Ruth.
David is said to have ruled a territory that extended from the Nile River to the Euphrates. This is but a small portion of the older Afro-Asiatic Dominion that extended from the Atlantic coast of modern Nigeria to the Indus River Valley. We have considerable evidence that David sought to extend his political influence further into Africa through the Hamitic house of Sheba to which he was related and through the central African metalworkers - the Inadan - who claim to be descended from "our Lord David" (National Geographic, Aug. 1979, p. 286).
Monday, November 3, 2008
The Real Adam
Alice C. Linsley
Genesis presents Adam as real in the Platonic sense. This is how St. Paul thinks of him when he writes of the first Adam and the Second Adam. St. Paul was comfortable with Platonic thought having been raised in Tarsus, a Greek-speaking city with a famous philosophical academy. In his writings, he compares (1 Cor. 10:6d) and contrasts (Rom. 5:15) Adam and Christ, the temporal and the eternal, which for Paul are equally real.
Paul recognized the usefulness of platonism in explaining eternal truths known to the Jews to Gentiles. In his writings, Paul often employs platonism in comparing and contrasting temporal figures with eternal Forms. He speaks, for example, of Adam as a type of Jesus Christ. By the first came sin and death, and by the Second Adam came forgiveness and life.
In Platonic thought, the temporal is a reflection of the eternal. The temporal passes away, but the eternal can neither pass away nor be corrupted. The eternal Form of Man exists outside time. So when Adam was made in the image of the eternal true Form, he was truly made in the Divine Image. Jesus Christ's incarnation marks the radical event of Divinity 'begotten' in the human image, but without the fallenness since His existence is from before time.
Adam must be platonically interpreted as the Form of Man in order to speak theologically of him as the federal head of all humanity. Likewise, Genesis speaks of certain ancestors as federal heads of entire peoples, i.e., Cain is the head of the Kenites and Abraham's son Midian is the head of the Midianites.
Genesis distinguishes between archetype and ancestor and often poses them as parallel. Consider Psalm 8:4 which poses Enoch as the temporal head of the lines of Cain and Seth (Gen. 4 and 5) as the parallel to Adam the archetype. What is man (Enoch) that you spare a thought for him, or the son of Man (ben' adam) that you care for him?
We should not be surprised to find archetypes in Genesis. Plato conceived of archetypes as the pattern of real things. He didn't invent this idea. He borrowed it from the ancient Egyptians, who asserted that the pattern is the real thing and the earthly shadow, but a reflection. In this view, the material world resembles, participates in and aspires to the transcendent Forms. To understand the worldview of Genesis, which is really the worldview of Abraham's Kushite ancestors, we must grasp the realness of archetype, something that we fnd difficult, living in western societies which are define real as having material substance.
Related reading: The First Historical Persons in Genesis; Are Adam and Eve Real?; Adam and Eve as Archetypes; The Loss of Wisdom
Genesis presents Adam as real in the Platonic sense. This is how St. Paul thinks of him when he writes of the first Adam and the Second Adam. St. Paul was comfortable with Platonic thought having been raised in Tarsus, a Greek-speaking city with a famous philosophical academy. In his writings, he compares (1 Cor. 10:6d) and contrasts (Rom. 5:15) Adam and Christ, the temporal and the eternal, which for Paul are equally real.
Paul recognized the usefulness of platonism in explaining eternal truths known to the Jews to Gentiles. In his writings, Paul often employs platonism in comparing and contrasting temporal figures with eternal Forms. He speaks, for example, of Adam as a type of Jesus Christ. By the first came sin and death, and by the Second Adam came forgiveness and life.
In Platonic thought, the temporal is a reflection of the eternal. The temporal passes away, but the eternal can neither pass away nor be corrupted. The eternal Form of Man exists outside time. So when Adam was made in the image of the eternal true Form, he was truly made in the Divine Image. Jesus Christ's incarnation marks the radical event of Divinity 'begotten' in the human image, but without the fallenness since His existence is from before time.
Adam must be platonically interpreted as the Form of Man in order to speak theologically of him as the federal head of all humanity. Likewise, Genesis speaks of certain ancestors as federal heads of entire peoples, i.e., Cain is the head of the Kenites and Abraham's son Midian is the head of the Midianites.
Genesis distinguishes between archetype and ancestor and often poses them as parallel. Consider Psalm 8:4 which poses Enoch as the temporal head of the lines of Cain and Seth (Gen. 4 and 5) as the parallel to Adam the archetype. What is man (Enoch) that you spare a thought for him, or the son of Man (ben' adam) that you care for him?
We should not be surprised to find archetypes in Genesis. Plato conceived of archetypes as the pattern of real things. He didn't invent this idea. He borrowed it from the ancient Egyptians, who asserted that the pattern is the real thing and the earthly shadow, but a reflection. In this view, the material world resembles, participates in and aspires to the transcendent Forms. To understand the worldview of Genesis, which is really the worldview of Abraham's Kushite ancestors, we must grasp the realness of archetype, something that we fnd difficult, living in western societies which are define real as having material substance.
Related reading: The First Historical Persons in Genesis; Are Adam and Eve Real?; Adam and Eve as Archetypes; The Loss of Wisdom
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