The Age of Earth

A reader of Just Genesis has sent 9 questions which she would like for me to address. I will post answers to these questions in the next few weeks. The first question is: "What do you believe about the age of the Earth?"

Answer: I believe that science is a reliable source of information about the age of the Earth and that science and Scripture are not in conflict on this question.

The Earth is at least 3.5 billion years old because the oldest Earth rocks date to about 3.5 billion years. These are dated using several radiometric dating methods. Rocks dating to 3.5 billion years have been found on five continents. Some of these rocks include minerals which are as old as 4.2 billion years. Rocks of this age are fairly rare however.

Most scientists place the Earth's age at between 4.2 and 4.55 billion years and the universe at about 14 billion years. (For more on this, go here.)

Bishop Usher's dating of the Earth at 10,000 years is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of the Genesis genealogies, some of which are telescopic, leaving out some of the ruler-priests who might have appeared in a complete sequential listing. He also didn't recognize that Cain and Seth, who are presented as the offspring of Adam and Eve, lived at a time when tribal government, laws and religious offices were already well established.

Analysis of the Genesis 4 and 5 geneological information reveals that Cain and Seth married sisters who were the daughters of an African chief named Nok (Enoch). The Nok civilization was in west central Africa and is dated to between 30,000 and 2000 years ago. Cain lived closer to the time of Noah's flood (about 8000 years ago) than he did to the time of the appearance of the oldest known human fossils dating to 160,000 years ago.

The 160,000 date for the first "modern humans" is disputed by some who believe that older fossils dating to 3 million years also represent human populations despite the nomenclature of convergence evolutionists and the artistic drawings of ape-like creatures.

Scientists have found a fish dating to 350 million years and the Fossil Fuels Brewing Company produces beer from a yeast strain that has lain dormant for up to 45 million years.

To read the various theories of creation, go here.

One Worldview. Many Priests.

Alice C. Linsley

Olupero R. Aiyenimelo, a member of the Biblical Anthropology Group and a reader of Just Genesis has asked about the evidence that connects traditional religion of Nigeria (her homeland) with religion of the Afro-Asiatics who influenced religious practices in India. She is interested in this after reading an essay I wrote on “Linguistic Evidence for the Afro-Asiatic Dominion”. Olupero noted that the Nigerian word ‘Orisha’ is linguisticsally equivalent to the word 'Orissa' found in India and this prompted Olu's curiosity.

Here I will reproduce some of the linguistic evidence for the diffusion of the Afro-Asiatic worldview, but mostly I’d like to address Olupero’s curiosity and focus on the evidence for an ancient order of priests (not shamans) who were largely responsible for the spread of the Afro-Asiatic religion and worldview.

What is meant by the “Afro-Asiatic Dominion”?

I coined the term “Afro-Asiatic Dominion” for lack of a better way to speak of the apparent correspondence of religious concepts and practices diffused across a vast area extending from west central Africa to the Indus River Valley and even among the Sarki who live as ‘Haruwa’ (priests) in the Tarai region of Nepal.

In the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) the Afro-Asiatic Dominion is suggested by the correspondence of western (Afro) and eastern (Asiatic) traditions. The distinct traditions are seen in a detailed study of the 2 creation stories and the 2 flood stories, and in the consistent binary framework of both traditions. (For more on this read “Eden’s Flood East and West”.)

My thesis, based on 32 years of research, is that Afro-Asiatic religious beliefs and practices were spread largely through the agency of priestly lines who intermarried according to a specific kinship pattern that I have identified. These were ruler-priests who exercised control of water systems at a time when west central Africa, Mesopotamia and India were wetter.

Further evidence of common religious views is found in the linguistic comparison of cognate languages and religious words used among peoples who share the Afro-Asiatic religious heritage. Consider the following examples:

The Semitic word ‘wadi’ = river, corresponds to the Sanskrit ‘nadi’ = river.

The Semitic root ‘mgn’ = to give, is the same as the Sanskrit ‘mgn’ = to give.

The Hebrew ‘rison adam’ = ancestral man is ‘adamu orisa’ = ancestral Adam in Hahm/Hausa languages of Nigeria. The Hausa word for human being is ‘dan adam.’ The Sanskrit word for male human is ‘manu’ which resembles the African word ‘adamu’ more closely than the Hebrew word.

The Hebrew ‘adamah’ = red clay/ground and the related Semitic words ‘dam’ = blood and ‘adom’ = red, are related to the Hahm/Hausa word ‘odum’ = reddish brown.

The Hebrew ‘bara’ = to begin, is related to the Yoruba/Hahm word ‘bere’ = to begin. There is an apparent relationship between the verb ‘to begin’ and the word Creator which in Hebrew is ‘bore’ and in the African Twi dialect is ‘Borebore’ = Creator.

The Hebrew ‘hay’ = ‘living being’, is related to the Hausa/Hahm word ‘aye’ = life, created world. Likewise, the Hebrew ‘iya’ = mother, corresponds to the Dravidian ‘ka ayi’ = mother, and the Hausa/Hahm ‘eyi’ = gave birth.

The Hebrew ‘abba’ = father, corresponds to the Hausa/Hahm ‘baba’ = father, to the Dravidian ‘appa’ = father, and to the Mundari ‘apu’.

The Hebrew ‘ha’nock’ = the chief, corresponds to the Hahm word ‘nok’ = “first ancestral chief”. The words Adam and Nok are paralleled in the Hebrew of Psalm 8:4 indicating recognition of both the mythical first father (Adam) and the historical ancestor-father (Nok) of the peoples descending from Nok (Enoch), the father-in-law of Kain and his brother Seth (Genesis 4 and 5).

The Hausa word for hunter is maharba. Compare this to the Hebrew word that appears in the Targum ‘nah shirkan’ (meaning hunter) and note the similarity to the Hausa word ‘sarkin maharba’ (meaning lead hunter).

The Sanskrit ‘svah’ = sky or heaven, corresponds to the Semitic ‘svam’ or ‘Sam-yim’ = sky or heaven. The Semitic resembles the Proto-Dravidian word ‘van’ = heaven. The Spanish ‘desvan’ (attic, rooftop) comes from the Arabic-speaking Moors.

The Sanskrit ‘Sakti’ = wine in Tantric use at harvest moon celebration, is the linguistic equivalent of the Falasha word ‘Sarki’ = harvest moon festival. For more on this read http://www.scribd.com/doc/13982742/Sakti-and-Sakta-John-Woodroffe-E)

Sarki also means ruler among the people of Kano (biblical Kain), who today are called the Kanuri. They reside in west central Africa which is where Noah and his ancestors lived according to the Genesis genealogical data. Sarki are also a people group who live in the Orissa Province of India. So here we have a linguistic coneection between India and Nigeria and it has to do with the ruler-priests who spread the Afro-Asiatic worldview. They went even beyond India into Nepal. We see that this is so because Sarki also live as ‘Haruwa’ in the Tarai region of Nepal. The word Haruwa is equivalent to the ancient Egyptian word ‘Harwa”, meaning priest.

Another word for priest is the Hebrew ‘Kohen’, equivalent to the Arabic ‘Khouri’ or ‘Kahin’ and the Persian ‘Kaahen’. Kaahen relates to the Persian ‘Kaahenaat’ which is translated "timeless being". This word is related to ‘Kahenat’ which means priest in the Ethiopian Church.

The Hebrew ‘yasuah’ = salvation, corresponds to the Sanskrit words ‘asvah’, ‘asuah’ or ‘yasuah’ = salvation.The Hebrew root ‘thr’ = to be pure, corresponds to the Hausa/Hahm ‘toro’ = clean, and to the Tamil ‘tiru’ = holy. All are related to the proto-Dravidian ‘tor’ = blood.

The Hebrew ‘echad’ or ‘ehat’ = one, corresponds to the Syrian ‘eka’ and to the Sanscrit ‘eca’ = one. It is a cognate to ‘ikka’ = one, in the Gonga languages of southeast Ethiopia.

As many ancient Afro-Asiatic peoples used base 6 in counting and as the basis for their calendars, the number six is a significant indicator of related languages. Consider the following:The number six in Proto-Dravidian is ‘caru’. This correlates to ‘koro’ in South Africa; to ‘karkia’ in some Chadic Languages; and to ‘korci’ in Meidob (eastern Sudan). The most striking similarity is between the Kanembu (Sudan) ‘araku’ and the Tamil ‘aarru’.

There are numerous other examples of linguistic affinity between peoples living in what was the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. Linguists have noted these correspondences. Further, we can identify seven key features of ancient Afro-Asiatic religion. They are features that we find prominently in the Bible. They include belief in the Son of God who was expected to come into the world.

You see, in every generation God has had witnesses to the coming of HIS Beloved Son.

On the Light Side

Noah was the greatest financier in the Bible. Why?
Because he was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.


Why didn't they play cards on the Ark?
Because Noah was standing on the deck. (Groan .....)

St Basil on the Creation of Man

God creates Eve from Adam's side.

On Harmony of Thunder you may hear St. Basil's final sermon from the Hexaemeron (the six days of creation). This sermon focuses on the pinnacle of creation - Man - made in the Image of God, the only creature made after God's Kind.

In this ultimate act of the six days of creation, God ceases creating. On the seventh day begins the Sabbath rest of God and Man in perfect communion until death entered the world by disobedience.

This Podcast can be heard here. You may also read the text of St. Basil's sermon here.

Avoiding Heresy

Many heresies spring from failure to apply basic critical thinking skills. Such is the case with TEC's 'sexual ethics' and with 'gender-neutral' Bibles. What do these have in common? They share an erroneous biblical anthropology.

There is no ontological difference between male and female. Both are human and both are fully in the image of God. Both crown the Creation, being created on the 6th day. Yet it is obvious that men and women are different. The Bible understands the difference as supplementarity. To understand the biblical worldview we must grasp the concept of binary distinctions and the concept of supplementarity. These concepts must be held together to avoid heresy and understand what the Bible teaches us about the created order.

In a sense, woman being created last, is the gemstone of the crown of creation. And of course, this is what Orthodox and Catholic Christians say about THE Woman, the Theotokos, from whom Christ our God became flesh by the Holy Spirit. If we say that the woman is of a substance different from the man, we fall into heresy, because that would mean that the substance of Christ (which HE took from his mother) is different from the substance of men. This is impossible, of course, since Jesus was born a male.

The Faith we've received from the Afro-Asiatics through Abraham recognizes a distinction and supplementarity between male and female when it comes to the order of creation. The man was made first, then the woman. The headship of males was expressed in the blood work of hunting, war, execution of lawbreakers, and in animal sacrifice by the ruler-priest. So Evangelical Anglicans who ordain women as priests but not as bishops on the Principle of Headship are missing the point!

The blood work of women is different and supplementary to the blood work of men. Women sacrifice blood in first marital intercourse. They bleed in their monthly cycle and in childbirth. The blood shed of women represents life and is distinct yet supplementary to the blood shed by men in hunting, war and animal sacrifice.

Among the Afro-Asiatics it was taboo to allow distinct entities to become confused. This is why both men and women were circumcised (a custom that continues in many parts of Africa). Male circumcision was seen as an enhancement of maleness by removing the flabby foreskin that resembles the female organ. The supplement to the circumcised male could only be a circumcised female. In Pharaonic circumcision, the clitoris and labia minora are removed to make the female organ less like the male organ. (Read more about this here.)

The prohibition against mixing types, be they fibers, seeds or blood, is like the prohibition against confusing the holy with the unholy, or blurring the distinction between life and death, such as happens when a baby goat is boiled in its mother's milk (forbidden 3 places in Scripture). That is why each seed is to go to its own kind. As plants are born from the earth, so the seeds of plants return to the earth. As the man is born from the woman, so the seed/semen of man is to return to woman. The spilling of seed called 'onanism' is regarded as an unrighteous deed, a violation of the order of creation. So obviously is homosex.

Bloods were never permitted to mix or even to be present in the same space. And of course, this is what Orthodox and Catholic Christians say about the Eucharist, where Christ's Blood alone is to be present. (That's why, according to ancient instruction in the Priests' Manuals, the priest must immediately leave the Holy Place should he accidently cut himself and bleed.) This is why women never can be priests and why they are "churched" after childbirth, following the ancient custom.

God's ordering of creation is for the benefit of those who would know God's Nature (as St. Paul tells us in Romans). As male and female alike are in God's Image, and God is not divided, neither can we divide in substance the male and the female. In marriage the two are able to become one because they are of the same "kind" and supplementary. Supplementary means that one cannot be perceived to exist without the other. This is a picture of the Godhead - for the Father and the Son (Logos) can't be perceived to exist one from the other. To say that the Word became flesh is to say that the Son of God became human in order to redeem and restore believing humanity to our original state. We fall into heresy when we leave out the part about the "Son" of God. The language of Father and Son is not coincidental to what God is revealing to us. The Father delivers the Kingdom to the Son. The Father presents the Church as a pure and radiant Bride to the Son.

The supplementarity of opposites is evident only when their distinctions are clear. Satan directs a good deal of effort to blurring distinctions by encouraging androgenous dress, homosex and fanning the flames of feminism. Yet if we attend to the binary distinctions of the created order which God declared "good" and we affirm their supplementarity, we are less likely to stray from the one true Path, which is not thing, but Person.

Commonly Asked Questions about Genesis

Today a reader of Just Genesis e-mailed a list of nine meaty questions. She is a very sharp lady, a medical doctor and Jill-of-many-trades, living on the KY/OH/VW border. I asked for and received her permission to post the questions here:

1. What do you believe about the age of the earth? (Answer is here.)

2. Do you believe in a literal 6-day creation? (Answer is here.)

3. Do you believe in evolution of man or was he created out of dust, fully formed? (Answer is here.)

4. If there were several original human couples, were they all involved in the fall? (Answer is here.)

5. Do you think the fall was eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or was that just symbolic for some other disobedience? (Answer is here.)

6. I don't read Genesis 1 and 2 as two separate creation stories, but rather chapter 2 as an expansion on the outline laid out in chapter 1.... what do you think? (Answer is here.)

7. If marriage is between one man and one woman, as Gen. 2 seems to be saying....what is all this about men having two wives one North and one South? Is this disobedience or part of God's design, and if so, why doesn't Christianity accept polygamy now? (Answer is here.)

8. Did I understand you to say the Orthodox don't believe in inherited (original) sin? If so, how you they explain David saying he was conceived in sin, and sinful from birth? (Answer is here.)

9. What about the garden of Eden, real place or myth? (Answer is here.)

I love meaty questions like these! God willing, I intend to provide answers to each of them.

Before tackling the first question, I invite readers to address any of the questions that may interest you. What do YOU think? Please provide support from Scripture and Holy Tradition (which never contradict each other) in explaining your position.

Why TEC Hates the Nigerians (You Might be Surprised)

The 76th General Convention of the (Pagan) Episcopal Church has removed the final canonical obstacles to the "full inclusion" of non-celibate homosexuals. They may now be ordained as deacons and priests, they may be consecrated as bishops and their "unions" may be blessed in the churches. Of course, this has been going on for a good while in TEC so this isn't really news.

The story behind this story is the Anglican Church of Nigeria, which was blasted by a leading gay-rights activist who believes that divorce contradicts sexual ethics and because it is permitted in the Church, so should homosexuality be permitted (even 'celebrated', as Gene Robinson insists).

This leading activist is my former bishop and the man who has to sign my retirement papers in 2 weeks. He said: "It is time for the church be liberated from hypocrisy under which it has been operating about our gay brothers and sisters. Divorce contradicted sexual ethics. Our gay and lesbian members don't think much about what other Anglicans around the world think. The Nigerians are our most ardent critic. The Scribes and the Pharisees tied people up in burdens..." (Read the full report here.)

Bishop Sauls stated, "The Nigerians are our most ardent critic." Humm... Perhaps we should ask why that is?

The Nigerians know the Bible and Holy Tradition because they live in the crucible where Abraham's faith was formed. Kain and Seth married daughters of the chief of Nok (Nok is in the Jos Plateau of Nigeria.) The Jebu (Jebusites) intermarried with the descendents of Kain. The largest group of Jebusites today lives in Nigeria. Noah's homeland is Bor'nu near Lake Chad in northern Nigeria. The priestly lines, from which Joseph and Mary come, originated among the ancestors of the people (who in modern times) came to be called Yoruba. All of this has been documented and verified through linguistics, biblical studies and cultural anthropology.

So the weight of Holy Tradition is on the side of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and its Primate, Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola, who is vehemently hated and constantly vilified by TEC pagans.

The Jebusites Unveiled

The religious views and practices of ancient Afro-Asiatics spread through the agency of ruler-priests who controlled water systems at a time when west central Africa, Canaan and Mesopotamia were wetter.

In 1892, the New York Times reported on the Jebu tribe, which controlled the water systems of the Port of Lagos. The Jebu are classified as Yoruba, but the term 'Yoruba' applied to related tribal groups only after the 18th century. The Jebu are also called Ijebu and in the Bible they are called Jebusites. The Jebu identify themselves as distinct from other Yoruba sub-groups by calling themselves Nago-Jebu, just as Yoruba from Ketu would be Nago-Ketu.

While there are 2 Jebu provinces, there are 3 brothers: Yoruba, Egba and Ketu. In Genesis we find this 2 kingdoms-3 brothers pattern throughout the book. One brother is often veiled/hidden or more peripheral to the events described. For example, we are told that Noah had 3 sons and Genesis makes it clear that the lines of Ham and Shem intermarried, but we know very little about the descendents of Japheth. Likewise, Abraham had 3 first-born sons: Joktan, Ishmael and Isaac, but we really have to dig into the text for information on Joktan.

We also discover from study of the Jebu that a kingdom is established when the ruler-apparent marries a second wife. This explains Abraham's urgency to fetch a cousin bride for Isaac before his death. Following the marriage pattern of the rulers of his people, Isaac would have already had a half-sister wife in Beersheba.

According to the New York Times report, the king of the Jebu levied taxes on all products carried through his territory. This is consistent with the biblical information concerning Abraham’s ruler-priest ancestors who controlled water systems in Nigeria (where the Jebu still reside), Canaan and Mesopotamia.

According to African legend, the Yoruba migrated into west central Africa from the east. Some stopped in the region of Lake Chad where they had kin in Bor'nu (land of Noah). Their kin were likely the Kanuri tribe (descendents of Kain), which explains why some Yoruba have tribal marks similar to those of the Kanuri.

This explains the relationship between Abraham and Melchizedek, a Jebusite ruler-priest, mentioned in Genesis 14 to whom Abraham offered tribute.

The principal ruler of the two Jebu provinces - Jebu Remu and Jebu Ode - is called "awujali." Jebu rulers are installed with palm branches. Jude Adebo Adeleye Ogunade writes in his memoir about growing up Ijebu. He was warned not to touch the leaves of the Igi-Ose tree, because as his Mama Eleni explained: "That tree is the tree whose leaves are used to install Chiefs and Kings of Ijebu and as your grandfather was a custodian of the rites of chieftaincy and kingship you must not play with its leaves."

Interestingly, the University of Oxford, Institute Paper, n° 7, (1937) on Medicinal Plants lists this plant as a blood purifier (see reference HA 1k, here).

The association of palm trees (tamars) with rulers and prophets is a common among many Africans and Arabians and is found in the Bible. Fresh palm tree fronds are used ceremonially at the installation of rulers and are used to decorate places of worship. The tamar as a sacred symbol is analogous to the oak tree. Male rulers and oracles apparently sat under oaks while female rulers and oracles sat under tamars. Deborah sat under a tamar as a judge and a prophet in Israel.

This also sheds some light on the origins of the word "Torah" which means 'that which is thrown by the hand' of the Moreh (oracle or prophet). In Genesis 12:6 we read that uponhis arrival in Canaan Abraham sought guidance from the Morah when he pitched his tent at the Oak of Moreh. The word "Torah" is usually rendered guidance or instruction, but is also associated with a prophet sitting under a tree.

When the people used palm fronds to greet Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, they greeted him as one to be enthroned. The connection between rulers and trees at sacred centers is found among the tribal peoples of West Africa. Among the Yoruba, fresh palm tree leaves are employed on occasions of installation of a sovereign, and to the office of high priest. (Read more about the palm tree in connection with rulers, prophets and shrines here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/mind/mind24.htm)

The Creature After God's Kind

God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so. The land produced vegetation – plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:11-12

The word 'kinds' in Genesis 1 is not analogous to the modern biological categories Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, or Species. This would be a foreign concept to the Afro-Asiatics whose religious worldview frames Genesis. The Hebrew word is מִין, min which is often translated ‘type.’ The Hebrew min has other uses, as in the phrase "from a man" – מִן אָדָם (min āḏām).

The meaning of ‘kinds’ is tied to the ancient Afro-Asiatic observation of the binary character of the order of creation. In Genesis 1 the distinction is between Heaven as the dwelling place of the Creator and Earth as the dwelling place of creatures. In the order of creation, humans are the most like God, but their dwelling place is earth. In Genesis 3:8 we are told that God came to earth (to the garden) to commune with those who He created in His Image. In the New Testament we are told that Christ, the Son of God, has come again to earth to restore communion with God the Father.

The word ‘kinds’ simply points to the observable reality that there are many non-human creatures on earth and all as a group are distinct from the Creator in Heaven. In Genesis the term ‘kind’ is used in reference to only 3 categories: vegetation (verse 12); birds and sea creatures (verse 21) and creatures that inhabit the dry ground (verse 25). This is significant because the number 3 in Genesis always indicates unity or ontological oneness. So vegetation, birds, sea creatures and land creatures share in a unity to which humans are peripheral. We recognize that this is so because the word ‘kinds’ is not used in reference to humans in Genesis 1. Why?

Because our communion is with the Triune Creator, in whose Image we are made. The Psalmist recognized this when he asks “What is man (Enock/Nok) that thou art mindful of him and the son of man (ben adam) that you care for him? For a time you have made him less than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor and put all things under his feet.” (Psalm 8:4-8). The Church Fathers teach that this speaks of the Son of God who emptied Himself and became flesh and dwelt on earth as one of us. The Creator became Man so that after a time, He could restore man's original state, as the creature made after God's kind.

This is why before His death and resurrection, Jesus prayed that those who believe in Him as the Son of God would be 'in Him' as He is in the Father (John 17). Jesus was praying for a restoration of the original order.

For more on this go here and read the comments.

Where Calvinism Errs

At the recent constitution of the Anglican Church in North America in Bedford Texas, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah expressed the hope of restored Christian unity and spoke of Calvinism as a heresy that has caused division. He identified the following as essential for unity:

• Affirmation of Holy Tradition
• Recognition of the authority of the seven Ecumenical Councils
• Return to the original form of the Nicene Creed (without the filioque clause inserted at the Council of Toledo, 589 A.D.)
• Recognition of all seven Sacraments
• Rejection of 'the heresies of the Reformation' and subsequent 'isms' that resulted when Protestants rejected the authority of Holy Tradition: Calvinism, anti-sacramentalism, iconoclasm, Gnosticism, and the feminism and the egalitarianism that led to the ordination of women priests and the consecration of women as bishops.

Read it all here.

Ruler-Priests: Early Missionaries

The religious life of ancient Afro-Asiatics spread through the agency of ruler-priests who controlled water systems at a time when west central Africa, Mesopotamia and India were wetter. To read the linguistic support for this thesis, go to the Forum Discussion here. To read about the 7 key features of ancient Afro-Asiatic religion, go here.

In every generation God has had witnesses living in expectation of Christ's coming into the world as God Incarnate. Today Christians live as witnesses to the fulfillment of that expectation and we await HIS coming again to judge the living and the dead.

Ancient Afro-Asiatic Religious Life

Alice C. Linsley

I've done a good deal of original research on the Afro-Asiatic Dominion, tracing the linguistic evidence for such. I have also written about the decline of the Afro-Asiatic Dominion, but I have yet to present the key features of ancient Afro-Asiatic religious life, of which I have identified seven. The seven features are: Triune God; the Sun as emblem of the Deity; concept of the incarnate Son of God; fixed order of creation; hereditary priesthood; blood sacrifice at altars and the widespread use of the number seven.

Let us consider each of these features separately.

1. Triune God
The Hindu Trinity (trimurti) consists of the TriGods - Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver and Shiva, the judge and destroyer.

The concept of a Triune God is found in the Hebrew Scriptures. We see the author of Genesis struggle to describe the appearance of the Lord (as 3 persons) to Abraham in Genesis 18. There is also an ancient Semitic name for the Triune God - Baal Shalisha – usually rendered ‘God of 3 powers’ or ‘the third idol’ which suggests a shrine dedicated to this God. ‘Baal’ means Lord and ‘shalisha’ is the number three, so it is possible that this could simply mean Triune God. If this is the case, the accusation that the Church invented the Trinity hardly seems justified by the evidence.

2. Sun as Deity’s Emblem or Chariot
In Hinduism, the sun is called 'Surya' and is regarded as the visible form of God that one can see every day. Devout Hindus offer prayers and morning sacrifice to the rising sun in the traditional Sūrya namaskāra or Sun Salutation.

The Hebrew Birkat Hachama ("Blessing of the Sun") is recited once every twenty-eight years, when the vernal equinox as calculated by tradition falls on a Tuesday at sundown (the sacred midpoint of the 7 day cycle). Jews recite a blessing to the Creator on the exact day, every 28 years. This year the blessing was recited on April 8, 2009. It was recited also on April 8, 1953 and on April 8, 1981. The next date of the blessing of the sun will be April 8, 2037.

We find the idea of the Sun as deity in Luke (New Testament). Here the priest Zechariah prophesies concerning the Forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist. He declares: “And you, little child, you shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare a way for Him, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins, because of the faithful love of our God in which the rising Sun has come from on high to visit us…” (Luke 1:76-78)

3. Concept of the Incarnate Son of God

In Hinduism Shani or Shanichar (Saturn) is believed to be the son of Surya the Sun-god. And Lord Rama, the most perfect avatar of God is at once the ideal son. Further, Hindus believe that Krishna was flesh and blood on earth as deity incarnate. Many Hindus accept Jesus as “a son of God’ since it is possible through ascetical practice to be divinized. This is similar to the kenotic or noetic tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy which holds that humans were created to enjoy God-ness and are restored to that original state through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

4. Fixed Order of Creation

According to the Hebrew Scriptures God alone created the world and established a predictable fixed order to His creation (Genesis 1; Psalms 104:19-20, Jeremiah 33:19-36). This predictable order is referred to as ‘RTA’ in Hinduism. It is an order which we perceive foremost as having binary opposites: God-Man; Heaven-Earth; Male-Female; Sun-Moon; Night-Day, etc.

Because the order is fixed, there is no possibility of essential change. Entities can only be what they were created (as Aristotle recognized in his teleological conversations). What we often call 'change' is fluctuation in outward form but not change in essence. So water is always water (H2O) though its form fluctuates between liquid, vapor, and ice. (This is where the biblical worldview and convergence evolution knock heads. To read more on this go here.)

Likewise the social order is perceived as fixed. This is seen in Laws of Manu which speaks of four castes: Brahmanas, the priestly class; Ksatriyas, warrior class; Vaisyas, agriculturists; and Sudras, those who serve the other three classes. The Apostle Paul regarded the Church as having a fixed order established by God when he writes: “And those whom God has appointed in the Church are, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers…” He lists other orders after them, including miracle workers and healers. (I Corinthians 12:28-30)

5. Hereditary Priesthood

In Jewish tradition all Kohanim (priests) are descendants of Aaron, who Jews consider to be the original Kohen. However, as my kinship research has demonstrated, the line of Kohanim was passed from father to first-born son without interruption from before the time of Aaron. This is evident in the intermarriage of the priestly lines descending from Kain and Seth, and from Ham and Shem, and from Aaron and his half-brother Korah, who was also a priest (‘harwa’). The descendents of these priestly lines intermarried, preserving the priests' bloodline to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ who is said to be the Priest Messiah of the ‘order of Melchizedek.’ Psalm 110:4 declares that “Yahweh has sworn an oath he will never retract, you are a priest forever of the order of Melchizedek.”

Over time the word ‘Kohen’ has come to mean "priest" but was probably an earlier designation of social position in the community. This suggests that the word relates more to the fact that the most ancient families (those who preserved their bloodlines) usually give guidance to the rest of the community. Thus ruler-priests, who married only within their priestly lines, influenced the spread of the Afro-Asiatic religion far and wide.

6. Blood Sacrifice at Altars

It appears that priests (called sarki or harwa and later kohen or brahman) played a leading role in the diffusion of the Afro-Asiatic worldview. The work of the priest involved blood sacrifice for atonement. According to priestly law, the blood of a sacrificed animal was to be sprinkled seven places on the altar. Christians note that Jesus Christ bled from seven areas of his body and his blood is said to give “life to the world” (John 6:52-56).

It is interesting to note that the word 'sarki' also refers to red ochre which was ground into power and used as a symbol of blood throughout the Afro-Asiatic world and beyond in the burial of nobles between 20,000 and 80,000 years ago. While mainstream Hinduism rejects animal sacrifice, Tantric practice involves something akin to the sacramental use of Bread (Flesh) and Wine (Blood) among Christians. The meat offered in Tantric ritual is called ‘Siva’ and the wine is called ‘Sakti’. Tantrics believe that sacrificial killing of approved animals pleases the forefathers and gods and is therefore permitted.

7. Common Number Symbolism

The significance of the number seven in reference to union or completion is seen in the first Genesis creation story which says that God's creative work lasted for six days and that God rested from all His work on the seventh day. The number seven in association with God at rest (sabbath) portrays the concept of completion or perfection of a relationship between Master and Servant, or between Creator and Creation, or between Husband and Bride.

In the temple dedicted to the sun in Upper Egypt (ruins of Babian) there were seven urns. Likewise there were seven urns at the wedding in Cana of Galilee where Jesus Christ turned water to wine.

Hindus also have held the concept of a 7-day week. According to Hindu law the new bride was to take seven steps around the altar during the wedding ceremony.

Likewise the marriage ceremony of the Agharias of Orissa (India), involves the number seven, as described here:

The bridegroom's father sends a present of a bracelet and seven small earthen cups to the bride. She is seated in the open, and seven women hold the cups over her head one above the other. Water is then poured from above from one cup into the other, each being filled in turn and the whole finally falling on the bride's head. This probably symbolizes the fertilizing action of rain. The bride is then bathed and carried in a basket seven times round the marriage-post, after which she is seated in a chair and seven women place their heads together round her while a male relative winds a thread seven times round the heads of the women.

In Jewish weddings the Sheva Brachot (seven marriage blessings) are recited under the huppah and the wedding feast lasts 7 days. Samsom gave the Philistines the full seven days of his wedding to work out his puzzle, which poses Delilah's betrayal of her husband as a very evil act.

The number seven was attached to weddings in ancient Babylon also as attested by Esther 1:5-11: And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty..."

Conclusion

Collaborative research in linguistics, climate change, archaeology and cultural anthropology indicates that Afro-Asiatic ruler-priests are largely responsible for the diffusion of the Afro-Asiatic religious life that took root around the large water systems from west central Africa to the Indus River Valley and even beyond. It is a religious life that shares seven distinctive features, all of which are found in the Bible and which indeed frame the biblical worldview. They point to a God who desires Sabbath communion with us through the Blood of His Son and eternal Priest, Jesus Christ.

One Greater than Moses

Alice C. Linsley


For Jews the Exodus is the central event of their corporate consciousness whereby God delivered them and established a special relationship with them as His own holy possession. For Christians the central event is the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whereby atonement is made through the shedding of His Blood. We might argue that these events are set at odds, the first locating atonement through obedience to the Law of Moses and the second locating atonement through Jesus' obedience to the Father. But it is also evident that in both events God is working with a specific line of ruler-priests. This being the case, we cannot be speaking of isolated events.

So how is the Exodus with its central figures of Moses, Aaron, Miriam and Korah related to the central figures of Genesis - Na'hor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Is it possible to trace Moses and his family back to these ruler-priests of Genesis? I Chronicles 26 explicitly links Amram's descendents with their kin in Hebron and identifies Korah with the rulers of Obed-Edom. Further, using kinship analysis it is possible to verify that these are blood relatives. I have done the analysis and find the pattern to be consistent from Genesis 4 to Moses' family.

Moses' father and his 2 wives had the same kinship pattern as Abraham and his 2 wives, and both Moses and Abraham had the same pattern as Lamech, whose daughter Naamah was Noah's paternal grandmother. This means that we must look at the descendents of each patriarch by both wives to understand how all these people are related.

My research shows that the reason the ruler-priests of Abraham's people married half-sisters and patrilineal parallel cousins is because they actually believed the primal promise (protevangelion) that the Son of God would be born of their bloodline. This is the meaning of Hebrews 11 and this is why John the Forerunner identifies his cousin as the "Son of God".

This is the meaning of John 8, where when the Jews called Abraham their father, Jesus said to them, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day.”

“Then the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was I AM.”

The Deut. 12:29-31 idea of ethnic purity to avoid spiritual contamination is a later overlay but it is not inconsistent with the intent to protect the faith surrounding the Son of God who was coming into the world. Likewise the Exodus narrative which places Moses at the center of divine revelation represents a later development but one that has significant parallels to the expectation of the Son of God. Both survive the slaughter of the innocent baby boys. Both are 'called' out of Egypt. The Prophet Hosea tells us that God called His Son out of Egypt. Moses' authority was revealed at the parting of the waters. Jesus’ authority was revealed at his Baptism. Instead of the Jordan parting, the heavens parted and a voice declared: "This is my Beloved Son."

The Exodus 32 narrative of Aaron's involvement with the construction of the golden calf is suggestive of a theological division within Israel. As with all schisms, the political rhetoric often makes it difficult to know what the real issues are, but it seems that the division centered on whether the golden calf represented the faith of the Fathers. This division becomes most striking in the time of Jeroboam who placed golden calf idols in Dan and Bethel. First and Second Chronicles makes it clear that this does not represent the worship of the Fathers, and yet we find Aaron consenting to the construction of a golden calf, a symbol of Shamash and Sin and the worship of the sun and the moon. By the middle of the second millennium BC, Sin was a primary deity in both Ur and at Harran, the territory of Terah and his father Na'hor. The division then seems to be a common one among religious people: whether to worship the Creator or the creation. Abraham chose to worship the Creator, but likely some among his people worshiped the sun and the moon. Although Genesis 31:53 indicates that this was not the case with Abraham's brother Na'hor.

What interests me is that Moses had two brothers who were priests: Korah (his half-brother) and Aaron (his full blood brother). Korah contested Moses' authority to rule over the people, but he never consented to idolatry, as did Aaron. Further, Korah's descendents are praised by the Chronicler in 1 Chronicles 26. Here the Chronicler classifies them with the gatekeepers of Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom is a connection to Ruth, who named her first-born son Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of King David. This picks up the Messianic thread and points us back to the Fathers' expectation of the Son of God who was coming into the world. The geneological information in Genesis presents Abraham and his father and grandfather as Horites. The Horites apparently lived in expectation of Horus appearing in the flesh and Horus was called the 'Son of God', which is to say they believed that God would send HIS Son into the world through their bloodline. No wonder the ruler-priests of Abraham's people were so careful to marry within their bloodlines.