The Bosom of Abraham

Icon of the Last Judgement

Alice C. Linsley


The idea of a place reserved for the righteous dead is very ancient. The concept stands behind the phrase "Bosom of Abraham," a place or state of existence where the righteous dead await the Day of Judgment. The expression is found only in two verses of the Bible, both from St. Luke's parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). However, the concept appears in Jewish writings, though not all rabbis believe that there will be a bodily resurrection. Adda bar Ahaba, a third-century rabbi, is said to be "sitting in the bosom of Abraham" and this is interpreted as already being in Paradise.

According to IV Macc. 13:17, the righteous who die for their faith are received by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in paradise. Matthew 8:11 alludes to the association of heaven with the tree patriarchs: "Many shall come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."

In the place of the dead, the souls of the righteous repose in Sheol and are separated by a chasm from those in Gehenna, the place of torments (cf. Matthew 5:29, 30; 18:9; Mark 9:42). The bosom of Abraham is a resting place of bliss and security. Lazarus was carried by the angels to the Bosom, vale or Fold of Abraham, but the rich man found himself in Gehenna. 

The place of repose for the righteous is "Sheol". The word is derived from the ancient Egyptian word Sheut (šwt), meaning shadow. The Egyptians believed that something of the dead person continues as a shadow beyond death.

The Egyptians also believed in bodily resurrection. St. Augustine noted that the Egyptians took great care in the burial of their dead and never practiced cremation, as in the religions that seek to escape material existence. Their greatest fear was the "second death" which apparently occurs when the body and the spirit as a unit are not restored to life in the resurrection. The second death in mentioned in Revelation 2:11 - "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death."

Gehenna and the Bosom of Abraham strike a contrast between the peaceful repose of the righteous and the tormented repose of the unrighteous. In the Talmud, however, Gehenna is a place of purification, after which one is released from further torture (similar to the idea of Purgatory).

In the Bible, the time of repose is not infinite. It lasts only until the day of Judgment when the righteous and the unrighteous, both the living and the dead, will stand before the Throne of God. Some will enter into the Paradise of the eternal Kingdom. Some will go to the second death from which there is no rising.

The Egyptians believed in the second death and prayed for, offered sacrifice for and prepared the bodies of their dead in the hope that they might rise to life.

Saint Augustine, a North African bishop, wrote "that the Egyptians alone believe in the resurrection, as they carefully preserved their dead bodies." ("Death, burial, and rebirth in the religions of antiquity", Jon Davies, Routledge, 1999, p. 27)

Kushite and Egyptian rulers built thousands of tombs and funerary pyramids. Some of these are buried under the shifting sands, but 17 were recently identified using satellite technology. Egyptian archaeologists also recently discovered a 4400-year-old tomb, south of the cemetery of the pyramid builders at Giza, Egypt. The Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny, said the ancient tomb belonged to a priest named Rudj-Ka (or Rwd-Ka), and is dated to the 5th Dynasty - between 2465 and 2323 BC. Dr. Zahi Hawass said that Rudj-Ka had several titles and would have been an important member of the ancient Egyptian court.

Ancient Kushite-Egyptian Beliefs

The ancient Egyptians were concerned about the afterlife because they believed the soul or "Ba" to be eternal. Ba is sometimes depicted as a human-headed bird flying out of the tomb to join with the 'Ka' in the afterlife.

 

The unification of Ba and Ka after death was the reason for mummification. Dying the second death meant not becoming an "akh."  Only as an akh could one enjoy the resurrection life. The ankh for the ancient Egyptians was the hieroglyphic sign of life. It is symbolic of the Sun's daily course from east to west, with the loop representing the Sun.

The horizontal crossbar symbolizes the path of the sun from east to west. To put this in terms more familiar to Christians, life is possible where the Sun, the Creator's emblem, sheds light and warmth.  The ancient Egyptians believed that these elements - Ka, Ba and Ankh - became separated at death.  By mummification, with prayers and sacrifices, they attempted to keep the KaBa together and prepared to receive the resurrection of Ankh at some future time.

The phrase  "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" is a formulaic expression for the righteous ancestors who in death enjoy the peace of God and await the Day of the Lord. The "bosom of Abraham" is shorthand for the repose of those who put their trust in Yeshua, the Son of God, the Christ anticipated by Abraham's Horite people.

The Horites actually believed the protevangelion (Gen 3:15) 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" at the ancient Egyptian river shrine of Nim-rah (the waters of God). The expectation of the Son's coming is associated with Abraham and it is in this faith, hidden in Abraham's bosom, that all the faithful departed rest.

Jesus alluded to the Nilotic myth of Horus when he spoke to this disciples about his passion.  He said, “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. In all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain, but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.” (John 12:23, 24)

This is an explicit reference to the Nilotic myth concerning Osirus, who is said to “be one” with his son Horus. Abraham’s Horite people were devotees of Horus. They were ethnically Kushite and the oldest known centers of Horus worship have been found in ancient Kush (Sudan and the Upper Nile Valley).

The Kushites and Egyptians observed the death of Horus (Osirus) in a 5-day festival. The first 3 days were marked by solemnity (as Plutarch noted in Isis and Osiris, 69). The last 2 days were a time of feasting and rejoicing. Horus is said to have died on the 17th of Athyr. His death was commemorated by the planting of grain. On the third day, the 19th of Athyr, there was a celebration of Horus’ rising to life. It is no coincidence that Jesus alludes to the ancient Horite myth when describing his passion and resurrection. He is a direct descendant of the Horite ruler-priests lines which exclusively intermarried and he was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the ruler-priest line of Matthew (Mattai/Mattan). This was the line of Joseph of Hari-mathea, a voting member of the Sanhedrin. He and Nicodemus, a fellow member of the Sanhedrin, buried Jesus’ body. They knew from first-hand experience that Jesus was dead and they clearly believed that He rose from the grave. Probably they, along with other disciples, had seen the Risen Lord. Christian Tradition holds that they became witnesses to the Resurrection.


Related reading:  Who Were the Horites?; The Christ in Nilotic Mythology; Nimrod and the Baptism of Jesus

The Kushite-Kushan Connection

Gold Kushan amulet found in Bactria

Alice C. Linsley

I have been exploring the connection between the ancient Kushites and the Kushan (Kuşāņa) of Bactria and China. There are linguistic connections and similar culture traits. One trait that they have in common is cranial deformation. The practice of cranial deformation is found among Nilotic peoples and in Bactria and Sogdiana among the Kushan.

The earliest Kushan dynasty about which we have information dates to 5 BC - 50 A.D. (For lists of the Kushan rulers go here.) The Kushan split into northern and southern empires around 330 A.D.

The Yuezhi in Central Asia, from 176 BC to 30 AD

The Kushites and the Kushan were great pyramid builders. Pyramids have been found from Niger to Bosnia and China.

Their religious beliefs parallel those of the rulers of the Afro-Asiatic Dominion. They share a religious tradition that includes ancestor veneration, henotheism, and belief in the divine appointment of rulers. Additionally, the Kushan have a priest caste, practice animal sacrifice, and venerate of the Sun. The commonality is due to the way these religions developed organically from the archaic religion spread by the ruler-priests who are called "the mighty men of old" in Genesis 6:4.

Pyramids in Xian China in the Tarum Valley
The so-called "Ur-David" mummy (1900 BC) was found here. 
He was tall and had red hair. 

The Kushite and the Kushan both mummified their rulers. There are definite similarities in clothing, facial appearance, skin tone, and religious practices among the Kushan-Yuetzhi and the Nilotic Ainu. The gold medallion belts found at Kushan graves are similar to the roundel belts depicted on statues of ruler-priests found within the temple complex at Hatra between the Tigris and Euphrates. The rulers of Hatra controlled commerce that moved through their territory along the two main caravan routes that connected Mesopotamia with Syria and Asia Minor. The principle deity was Shamash whose emblem was the Sun. Shamash means "throne of the Sun" in Arabic. This is the same deity as Ra who overshadowed Hathor-Meri. She became pregnant and gave birth to Horus.

The rulers of Edom were devotees of Horus (Horites). The Edomites are associated with the color red (edom means red). Probably some had red hair and a reddish skin tone. This is the Biblical description of Isaac's son Esau who was born red and hairy. Esau the Younger married a Horite woman of Edom, a descendant of Seir the Horite (Gen. 36).

There are many connections between Japanese and African words. For example, the name Isahi appears to be a variant of Esau or Issa. Kishi appears to be a variant of Kish and Kush. Obito, the title for a regional chief in Japan, is related to the Edo (Africa)/Edomite (Southern Arabia) word for chief, which is Oba. The first ruler of Petra was the Horite ruler Obodas. These ancient rulers were said to have a reddish skin tone (as was the case with Esau and David). The ancient Greeks called Edom "Idumea" which means "land of red people." The original name of Tokyo was Edo.

It is believed that the Saka moved into Ireland and the British Isles bringing with them iron work, horses, and their religious beliefs which centered on a supreme creator God whose emblem was the Sun.  The prevalence of solar imagery in the ancient world is evident in the study of sacred texts. Psalm 92:2 describes the Lord as “a sun and a shield.” The Victory Tablet of Amenhotep III describes Horus as “The Good God, Golden [Horus/Her], Shining in the chariot, like the rising of the sun; great in strength, strong in might…” (Tablet of Victory of Amenhotep III, J.H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, p. 854).

Horse and solar chariot
Early Bronze Age, c. 1400 B.C.

This beautiful artifact was found in a bog in Denmark in 1902. It is made of bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, but to gain the tin the craftsman had to trade with metal workers from as far south as Spain. The ancient tin route ran from Spain through Cornwall, England and Ireland to Denmark, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and Finland. 

Kushan Bust from Gandhara
The Kushan are regarded as the founders of Peshawar, then called Purushapura.

Saka Yuetzhi warrior
The Yuezhi conquered Bactria in the 2nd century BC.

Stone face at Kilkenny Castle

According to the Matsya, an ancient book from India, the world belonged to the Kushite Saka (Sacae/Saxon) for 7000 years.


Kushite Expansion Out of Africa

There is DNA evidence to confirm the Kushite migration out of Africa. The Kushan-Yuezhi provide evidence of the perhaps the most recent movement of the Kushites out of Africa. Some moved into central Asia and China and others moved into Japan. They are also called Gurjar. Gurjar is a reference to their mercantilism and metal work. In Akkadian gurguri means metalworkers or copper smiths. In Oromo gurguru means to sell (gurgurtaa = sale, gurguraa = seller). In Somali gur- refers to collecting something and gurgure means one who collects and keeps collecting. The Gurgure clan of the Dir refers to traders who collect wares and resale them. Among the Dir guri means stick, rod or firearm. Bulghar means "territory of the Ghar."

The Kushan-Yuezhi called themselves Visha or the Vijaya. This is usually rendered "tribes" although the word refers to their two ruling royal houses, as in vijana, the splitting of wisdom. The honorific title Pharaoh originates in the term pr-aa, which means "great house." In Vedic tradition, pra-jna means "wisdom of the great house." The words have multiple, related meanings (polysemic). In Vedic tradition the a-laya-vijña-na is the seed of the receptacle-world, but literally it means the receptacle of the seed, as in va-gina, symbolized originally by the pictograph V. Karmic seeds - bija - are laid down in Alaya-vi-jña-na to produce karmic fruition. Alaya (aalaya) refers to a house, dwelling, or a receptacle. Bi appears to be a variant of Vi.

vi or bi - separation, division into 2
jna - wisdom / to know
pra- intensifier

The Kushite rulers maintained a pattern on intermarriage between two ruling lines. We find this pattern in Genesis. The lines of Kain and Seth intermarried. The lines of Ham and Shem intermarried, as did the lines of Abraham and Nahor, and the lines of Amram and Jethro intermarried. This is a distinctive feature of the marriage pattern of the Nilotic Ainu and their Edomite kinsmen whose rulers are listed in Genesis 36. This marriage pattern preserved their genetic type and the distinctive hairy face and red skin tone. In Genesis Esau of Edom is described as hairy and red.

There is a mistaken idea that all the peoples who moved out of Africa were black. However, among Abraham's Nilotic ancestors there was a range of skin color and appearance. To this day, Africa has the greatest genetic diversity of any continent.

The facial structure of the Kushan and Ainu is also similar, as is seen in the following images.  Common features include high cheekbones, an aquiline long nose, full lips and a beard and moustache. The beard is often ginger colored or dark brown with reddish highlights. Ancient Chinese sources describe the existence of "white people with long hair" called the Bai people in the Shan Hai Jing. 

Ainu elder of Hokkaido

Linguistic Research Needed

The range of territory ruled by the Kushites makes it a challenge to discover cognates. Consider, for example, the words Kanishka and Jianisejia. These would not be readily recognized as cognates. Likewise, few historians recognize that a variant of Kushan-Yuezhi is Gueis-Huang. Clearly there is a need for further study to uncover the linguistic dispersion of the Kushites. 

Linguistic similarities have been noted. The Ainu and Han scripts, for example, are variations of an older Kushite script. Kushan rulers spoke a Saka language. The Khotanese Saka language is found among the Tarim Mummies. János Harmatta pointed out that this language is very similar to the Bactrian language as outlined in his analysis of the Dasht-e-Nawur inscriptions.

Sa-ka and Ainu are both archaic words for Human Being. The Ka was believed to be the essence of the person received from the mother. This is also the root of the honorific title Kain, Qayan or Khan, meaning king. This resembles the Old Nubian ko meaning master and the Meriotic honorific qo, meaning noble or ruler. Variants include Xan, Han, Ke-Han, and the Mongolian Qaan.  Eve gave birth to Kain/Cain and said "ka-niti" which is related to the ancient Egyptian ka-ntr, meaning "spirit or essence of a king." The ancient Nilotes believed that the Ka was received from the mother and the Ba from the father.

Linguist Penelope Aubin notes, "In language history, it is not uncommon for the outermost reaches of a language's range to preserve archaic features long after the original language (spoken and written) has undergone considerable change. Icelandic's relation to Old Norse and Old Irish's relation to early Celtic are examples." This appears to be the case with the words priest and water. In ancient Egyptian tera-ntr refers to a ruler-priest and among the Ainu tera means priest. The Ainu word for water is aka, which corresponds to asta, the Old Nubian word for water.

Aubin notes a linguistic connection between Aramaic and the script used by the Kushana. She writes, "Kharosthi, closely related to Brahmi, another of the rare alphasyllabaries mentioned earlier, was a script used in western India beginning around 500 B.C.E. under the Maurya emperor Asoka; it continued under the Kushana dynasty until the 4th century C.E. It appears on both Persian sigloi and on Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian coinage. This script may have been a hybrid of Aramaic, which was introduced by the Persian Achaemenid rulers who conquered Northwest India, and the indigenous Brahmi script, itself possibly inspired by Aramaic. It is sometimes referred to as Indo-Aramaic."

There is also a correspondence between place names of sacred sites in Kushan territories and Kushite territories. Karnak, Orissa, On (the root of Onogar) and Borno are examples. The Kushan capital was Hucao at the lower Wakhsh (Oxus) and the Darya-i Pandj (Ochus) river valley towards Aï Khanum. Aï Khanum reflects the Afro-Asiatic words Khan or Kain and Ai. Ai is the name of an ancient shrine in Palestine. Genesis 12: 8 says that Abraham proceeded “to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord."

Here is a provocative linguistic connection between the Ainu of northwest China and the Nilotic Ainu who moved out of Africa. The Ainu of northwest China live in the region of Tian. Tian is also the oldest known name for the Supreme Creator in China. Ti-an means the Most High God of the Ainu. The Ainu of China practice circumcision and animal sacrifice. Their stories of creation and explanations of corruption in Paradise have parallels to the Genesis accounts.


Pyramids and Mummies

Xian China, the Tarum Valley
There are 125 pyramids and 5 are 3 times higher than the pyramid of Khufu at Giza.

The oldest Tarum Mummies found in China date from 1900 B.C. The so-called "Ur-David" mummy (shown below) was tall and had red hair. This mummy, also called Cherchen Man or Chärchän Man, dates to about 1000 B.C.

Note the solar mark on this ruler's face.

The Ainu of China are described as a "caste of circumcisers." They number approximately 6,500 people. Most live scattered over northwest China in the counties of Hetian, Luopu, Moyu, Shache, Yingjisha, and Shulekuche, near the ancient oasis city of Kashgar. They keep sheep and goats.

The Ainu of China experience the same social discrimination and abuse as the Inadan of Niger. The majority of Uygur dislike the Ainu and call them abdal, which means "beggar." Likewise, the dominant Taureg refer to the tent-dwelling Inadan as thieves and beggars. The Inadan keep herds and are responsible for metal work, circumcision, and music at special events. Their chiefs maintain two wives in separate households on a north-south axis, as did Abraham and his forefathers. Inadan men are the only persons permitted to work metals. The Inadan claim to be kin to King David (Aug. 1979, National Geographic, p. 389).

Related reading: Solving the Ainu Mystery; From the Nile to the Philippines: Tracing the Gurjars; Chinese Geneticist: Chinese Ancestors Were Africans; China's One True God; The Nile-Japan Ainu Connection; A Kindling of Ancient Memory; The Religion of the Saka

Tomb of Nubian Priest Found

Archaeologists have rediscovered the 'lost' tomb an ancient Egyptian priest at the Theban Necropolis in Egypt. It was announced today by Egypt's Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny, that the team excavating and conservating the tomb has now cleared the burial shaft of tomb and reached its burial chamber.

The tomb is located at Qurnet Murai, south Assasif, on the west bank of the Nile opposite to Luxor, and belonged to a priest named Karakhamun. It dates to the 25th Dynasty (the Reign of Shabaqo, circa 700BC) and is referenced as TT223 (Theban Tomb 223). The el-Assasif area is a well known archaeological site, containing nobles’ tombs from the New Kingdom, as well as the 25-26th Dynasties.

Read it all here.
 
As this tomb dates to the reign of Sheba-qo, the priest would more accurately be designated as Kushite.

There appears to be an attempt to minimize the importance of this find, yet it is admitted that the tomb is one of the most beautifully decorated. The writer states: " His priestly title, First 'k Priest, does not signify any particular importance." 
 
I find this an extraordinary remark since Ka is widely associated with ancient Nubian and Sudanese rulers and priests.  Ka is the life that animates the body. It represents the hope of life after death. The ka and the ba were to be united in order for the deceased to avoid "the second death". The unification of Ba and Ka happened after death by means of the proper offerings, prayers, and mummification. There was a risk of dying the second death if the unified soul and life force were condemned in the afterlife. Dying the second death meant not becoming an "akh." Only as an akh could one enjoy the resurrection life. The term "Ka-ba-lah" is derived from ancient Egyptian/Nubian mystical thought.

K also refers to "Khamit", the original Nubian culture of the Nile Valley. Pepi II, who reigned from about 2278 BC–2184 BC, held the throne name Nefer-ka-Re, meaning "Beautiful is the Ka of Re.” Ka is linguistically related to the first ruler named in Genesis - Kain. It is also found in the Nubian name for queen - Kandace.


Related reading:  Tomb of Purification Priest; Origins of the Priesthood; Who Were the Horites?

Alignment of the Oldest Mosques

Alice C. Linsley

The prayer alignment of some 200 mosques is not to the Ka'bah in Mecca. Neither do the original prayer orientation of the oldest mosques in Cairo, Baghdad and Wasit. They triangulate to a single point a little north of Dedan, probably Al-`Ula, one of several important ancient Afro-Arabian sites that were shrines in ancient times. Another is Al-Hijr, to the northwest of Al-Ula.  Al-Hijr which was earlier simply HR, a reference to Horus, the "son" of the Creator born to Hathor. Hathor was the patroness of the metal workers among Abraham's Horite people. Incense was supplied to these ancient shrines in ka-Hr-ka-jars, that is royal jars consecrated to Horus by Horite priests.

Al-Hijr is in northern Saudi Arabia, about 1400 km to the north of Riyadh. It is called "Mada'in Saleh" and is considered one of the oldest settlements in the Saudi Arabia. Mada'in Saleh was recognized by the UNESCO as a site of patrimony, the first world heritage site in Saudi Arabia.

The people of these ancient settlements spoke languages identified as Thamudic. Within this group three dialects have been identified by linguists: Thamudic B, C and D. These were spoken at Petra and are mentioned several times in the Quran along with prophet Saleh.

The oldest mosque in Egypt is Fustat in Cairo. It dates to the reign of Qurra b. Shira between 709-714 A.D. The oldest mosque in Saudi Arabia is Quba Mosque. It was rebuilt in the 1980's.

All mosques have a niche called a "qiblah" which shows the direction of prayer. The older mosques are aligned with a point north of Mecca but south of Jerusalem. If early mosques were aligned toward northern Arabia or Jerusalem, a qiblah facing the Ka'bah represents a later development. (Source: BBC News)

The qiblahs of the oldest mosques in Mecca, Iraq and Egypt do not align with Mecca. Instead they align to the region of Dedan, home of some of Abraham's Horite ancestors. Abraham's Horite people spoke languages in the North Arabian group (sometimes called "Dispersed Oasis North Arabian"). Abraham's ancestors controlled this area and spread their religious beliefs along the water ways, expanding their influence across the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. Abraham's six sons by Keturah are the founders of the Joktanite clans who dwell in the region of Mecca and Southern Arabia.

The ancient Afro-Arabians included the clans of Joktan and Yishbak, Abraham's sons by Keturah and the clans of Yishmael the Egyptian, Abraham's son by his concubine Hagar. The Afro-Asiatic Arameans became linguistically distinct in the time of Peleg and his brother Joktan the Younger. However, the ruling lines of the Afro-Arabians and the Arameans continued to intermarry exclusively according to the marriage and ascendency pattern of the ancient Horites.

Mount Ithlib (map) is located to the north-east of Al-Hijr. It was a Horite shrine later dedicated to the Nabatean deity Dushara. Đū Shará (Arabic: ذو شرى‎) means "Lord of the Mountain." It is transliterated as "Du-sares." The Lord of the Mountain was worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh. The Dushara sanctuary at Petra contained a great temple in which a large cubical stone (Ka'ba) was the centrepiece. Ka-Ba is an Egyptian word that refers to the body-soul.

Abraham's Horite ancestors controlled this part of Arabia. The Nabateans appear to be descendants of the Horites. Keturah and Abraham were the progenitors of the Joktanite clans of Arabia who still reside in this region.

The three mosques under consideration reflect a late development over a very ancient earlier religion. The Wasit Mosque (built 705 A.D.) and the Kufa Mosque (built about 698 A.D.) align to a point in northwest Arabia, not to Mecca. According to Islamic tradition, Mohammad's household taught that Kufa Mosque was founded by Adam. Another tradition states that it was built by the angels in accordance with Gabriel's revelation to Prophet Muhammad. No other narrator of Islamic tradition has referred to this however.

Related reading:  The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative; Hittite Religion; The Dedanites and the Edomites Intermarried; The Afro-Arabian Dedanites; Who Were the Horites?; Peleg: Time of Division

YEC Dogma is NOT Biblical

Young Earth Creationism has been criticized for lacking a solid scientific basis. It also should be criticized for lacking a solid Biblical basis.


Alice C. Linsley

Young Earth Creationists use Archbishop James Usher’s chronology to date the age of the Earth. They believe that the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 are chronological and can be used to estimate when God created the Earth. They calculate the earth's age at 6000 years on the basis of lifespans assigned to the men named in Genesis 5 and 11. They ignore the line of Cain in Genesis 4 because they assume that his line became extinct in Noah's flood.

Biblical studies and discoveries in various sciences have left Usher's erroneous interpretation in the dust.

Usher lived before the development of molecular genealogy which has shed much light on human origins, and especially on the dispersion of the ancient Nilotes and Kushites. He also lived before the development of kinship analysis which makes verification of the Genesis King Lists possible. It can no longer be claimed that these rulers did not live in history. Their marriage and ascendancy pattern is authentic and can be traced from Genesis 4 to the New Testament records of Mary and Joseph's families. It is not possible that this aspect of Biblical history could have been written back into the texts since the 66 books of the Bible represent the contributions of numerous scribes and authors over about 1200 years.

Usher's scheme is terribly flawed. He failed to recognize that the so-called "genealogies" are actually King Lists. These lists are not generational, but regnal, and the reigns of some kings coincided. Tubal-Cain (Gen. 4) and Methuselah (Gen. 5) ruled at the same time. Tubal-Cain's sister, Naamah, married Methuselah. (See diagram below.) This is an example of how people abuse Biblical lists.

Usher also missed the fact that the lines of Cain and Seth intermarried, and as St. John Chrysostom recognized, the line of Cain received great mercy. Not only 7 fold for Cain, but 77 fold for Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4:24), and 777 in the case of Lamech the Younger (Gen. 5:31).

Further, these men are not the first humans on earth, but rulers of the Afro-Asiatic Dominion. They were kingdom builders, like Nimrod the Kushite (Gen. 10:8). This was a time of  law codes such at the Law of Tehut, warriors, weapons, shrine cities such as Nekhen in Sudan, and numerous technologies associated with the Neolithic Period. These earliest rulers of Genesis lived between 6000 and 3000 B.C., millions of years after the appearance of archaic humans. The evidence of the Bible and the various sciences indicates that they lived in Africa or migrated out of Africa.

This last fact reveals the un-biblical and racist nature of YEC dogma. At the back of YEC books one finds the 12 Affirmations and Denials. Affirmation XII claims that the diversity of languages and skin color came about as a result of divine judgment at the Tower of Babel.

XII. We affirm that all people living and dead are descended from Adam and Eve...and that the various people groups (with their various languages, cultures, and distinctive physical characteristics, including skin color) arose as a result of God's supernatural judgment at the Tower of Babel..."

Africa always has had the greatest genetic and linguistic diversity of any continent. Long before the earliest Genesis rulers there already existed diversity of skin color. Here are images of red, black and brown Nubians.

Red and black Nubians
(Ippolito Rosellini)

Red and brown Nubians
They resemble the warriors of Petra who had long wavy hair and wore feathers.
(Dr. Arthur Brack)

The Habiru (Hebrew) marriage and ascendancy pattern

Usher's errors reflect ignorance of the marriage and ascendancy structure of Abraham's ancestors as it is revealed in Genesis 4, 5 and 11. This same pattern characterizes Moses' family and Samuel's family. It is the distinctive pattern of the ancient Habiru (Hebrew), a caste of ruler-priests.

Ussher did not understand that the rulers listed had two wives so there were two first born sons. The first born son of the half-sister wife was heir to his father's throne. So Isaac was heir to Abraham's territory between Hebron and Beersheba. The first born son of the patrilineal cousin wife was named after his maternal grandfather and served as a prime minister in his grandfather's territory. So Joktan, Abraham's first born son by Keturah, was not Abraham's heir. He would rule in the territory of Joktan the Elder.

Judah likely had two wives. In Genesis 46, we read that Judah went into Egypt with his brothers and presumably settled in the land of Goshen with his wife and children. In Genesis 38, we read that Judah had sons by Shua who lived in the region of Adulla, Mareshah and Chezib in Horite territory.

Some lists provide the names of the first born sons of half-sister brides. Other lines are traced through the cousin bride who named her first born son after her father. This is the case with Methuselah's wife, Naamah, who named their first born son "Lamech" after her father (see bottom of diagram).

Let us examine in greater detail the problems with Ussher's scheme.

Ussher did not recognize that the Genesis genealogies are regnal, not generational. They cannot be used to count generations because they are king lists and some kings ruled simultaneously. Others ruled for short periods, and still others ruled for longer than a generation (40 years).

Usher insisted on reading Genesis as chronology, and therefore missed that some rulers were contemporaries. Lamech the Elder was a contemporary of Enoch, Methuselah's father. Abraham was a contemporary of Job. Nahor's son Tahash was a contemporary of Isaac.

None lived the lifespans assigned to them. These numbers are symbolic, with Kabalistic meanings coming from a later period. (Kabal is derived from the Egyptian words ka and ba which in modern parlance would "body and soul.")

Ussher did not recognize that some of the Biblical lists are telescopic. Telescopic lists leave out some names. Such lists give the names of only the most famous rulers. This means that we cannot use the king lists to date the earth.

Ussher ignored the later king lists, such as the Horite rulers in Genesis 36 and their royal kinsmen in Genesis 22:20-24. Here we find the identical marriage and ascendancy pattern as among the Genesis 4 and 5 rulers.

Ussher did not recognize that the lines of Cain and Seth intermarried, as did the lines of Ham and Shem and the lines of Abraham and Nahor.  Each ruler had two wives. The cousin bride named her first born son after her father. Thus we find Esau the elder and Esau the Younger, Joktan the Elder and Joktan the Younger,   Kenan is a variant of Kain, and could be called Cain the Younger. Likewise, Irad is a variant of Jared and could be called Jared the Younger.

In the case of Lamech's daughter, Naamah, the pattern is quite clear. She married her cousin Methuselah and named her first-born son Lamech after her father. This pattern of marriage can be traced from Genesis 4 and 5 to the lines of Joseph and Mary in the New Testament, demonstrating that Jesus is a direct descendant of the people to whom God made the first promise of the Bible that a woman of their ruler-priest lines would bring forth the "Seed" of God (Gen. 3:15).

Jesus' mother's name was Miriam daughter of Joachim Son of Pntjr (Panther) Priests of Nathan of Beth Lehem. From predynastic times, ntjr designated the ruler among the Kushites. The name Panther or p-ntjr meant "God is King." It is certain that Mary was of the ruler-priest caste because even those who hated her admit this. Sanhedrin 106a says: “She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters.”

Ussher didn't know about the cousin bride's naming prerogative which meant that the cousin bride's father and her first born son had the same name. This explains the recurrance of names skipping a generation. There are two named Enoch; two named Lamech; two named Joktan, and two named Sheba. There are also two named Esau, as shown below.

Here we see that Esau the Elder married Adah. Esau the Younger married Oholibamah, a prefigurement of the Virgin Mary.





Seir is identified as a Horite in Genesis 36. The names Esau, Dishon, Uz, Lot/Lotan and Timna are Horite names. The name "Adah" can be traced back to Lamech the Elder. One of his wives was named Adah (Gen. 4:23).


Related reading: Facebook Conversation on Creationism; Evidence of an Old Earth; Smoking Gun Evidence of an Ancient Earth; Genesis on the Ancient Kingdom Builders; Cain as Ruler; Lamech's Story and Horite Kingship; Bishop Ussher Goofed; DNA Research Confirms Kushite Migrations; Biblical Anthropology...the Science, not speculative theology; Calculating the Dates of the Patriarchs; The Genesis King Lists; Two Named Esau; Abraham and Job, Horite Rulers; The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative; Objections to the Fundamentalist Reading of Genesis

The Symbolism of Numbers in the Bible

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 numbers confirm God-established patterns and symbolically 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. Nor was the Apostle Paul. Risto Santala, the Finnish Bible scholar and expert on Paul, wrote, "The esoteric Qabbalah wandered off the right track in creating a very extensive literature on doctrines of angels and mysteries relating to God's being (razei El). Only those over the age of forty were allowed to study them. The angel RAZIEL, whose numeric value in gematria is 248 and who thus knew the inner secrets of the two hundred and forty-eight 'do'- commandments, gave Adam the 'Sefer Raziel', that is, 'the Book of Raziel', an esoteric source. The enormous literature of the Kabbalah is occupied with these imaginary conjectures. They indeed have 'an appearance of wisdom,' but both Jesus and Paul entirely renounced them."

Christ followers are grafted into the Faith of Abraham the Hebrew (c. 2100 BC). We do not know the number symbolism of that Faith, except to say that the number 7 was associated with the priestly office, and the early Hebrew clans appear to have been organized in 3-clan confederations. 

It has never been demonstrated that Jewish mysticism (600-1175 AD), with its emphasis on numbers, has antecedents in the faith of the early Hebrew (4000 BC).

Numbers, Astronomical Observations, and the Cardinal Points

Much of the number symbolism of the Bible is based on astronomical observations of the early priests. According to Plato, the priests of the Nile Valley had been stargazing and keeping records of astronomical events for 10,000 years. The number 7 especially related to astronomical observations. There are 7 visible planets (bowls).

When the number 3 is associated with south it seems to signify 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 twelve foundation stones (Rev. 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 that rested on twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:23-26).

3→ 3↑ 3↓ 3← Notice that they coincide.


The Number 3

Abraham's Nilo-Saharan ancestors were deeply spiritual and regarded both the body and the spirit/soul as sacred and intended for immortality. The "second death" came when the two became separated at death. This explains why they took great pain to ritually bury their loved ones, and especially their rulers. They expected a Righteous Ruler to appear who would defeat death and lead his people to immortality. This is the origin of Messianic expectation. 

The term Kabbalah is derived from the ancient Egyptian words ka (soul) and ba (body). The prayers of the early Horite and Sethite funerary priests were on behalf of deceased rulers who hoped for life after death in their bodies. That is why Judaism and Eastern Orthodoxy discourage cremation. Christianity stresses the value of the body and the resurrection of Jesus, the "first born from the dead" who leads His people to immortality. His third-day resurrection is symbolic as well as anticipated in early Horite texts which speak of HR (Most High One) going to the place of His Father on the third day.

A reference to the third day resurrection is found in the Pyramid Texts: "Oh Horus, this hour of the morning, of this third day is come, when thou surely passeth on to heaven, together with the stars, the imperishable stars." (Utterance 667) In fact, the earliest known resurrection texts were written by the Nilotic Hebrew.

Jesus spoke of Jonah's third day rising in connection with what was to happen to Him. If we take the Jonah story as an historical event, it means that Jonah spent 2 nights in the stomach of a great fish before God called him forth.

Kabbalah is not the mystical symbolism of the early Hebrew. It represents a much later development within Judaism, and Judaism was not the faith of Abraham.

This is the conclusion of Assyriologist Dr. Simo Parpola in his treatment of this topic. (See Parpola's “The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philosophy”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Volume 52, July 1993.)

The number symbolism of Jewish mysticism reveals centuries of theosophical reflections on the Talmud and on selected biblical narratives such as Jacob's Ladder and the Burning Bush. However, it is not possible to trace the numerological meanings of Jewish mysticism to Abraham and his ancestors.

The Tree of Life


The Ten Sefirot or the "Tree of Life" (shown right) is used to explain the mystical number symbolism of Kabbalah. The ten Sefirot are: 

1. Keter Elyon - the "supreme crown" of God
2. Hokmah - the "wisdom" of God
3. Binah - the "intelligence" of God
4. Hesed - the "greatness" or "love" of God
5. Din (Gevurah) - the "power" or "judgment" of God 

6. Rahamim (Tifaret) - the "compassion" or "beauty" of God
7. Netzah - the "lasting endurance" of God
8. Hod - the "majesty" of God
9. Tzaddik (Yesod Olam) - the "righteous one" or "foundation of the world"
10. Malkut - the "kingdom" of God 

[Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, p.213; and Kabbalah, p.106]

The notion here is that of a shuttle moving back and forth. The weave requires redoubling to make the fabric or the web strong. The English word web is likely derived from the word keb or kab. Kab pertains to weaving with a shuttle. Weavers are called the ka, those who kab. Ka also refers to the the body which is "knit" in the womb. Ka-ba refers to the relationship of body and soul. Kab also implies a doubling or redoubling to strengthen.

This movement between points corresponds to the ancients' observations of the stars and constellations. They were adept at sidereal astronomy. Horus of the two horizons (east-west, dawn-dust) and Horus of the two crowns (north-south, Lower Nile-Upper Nile) are examples of how meaning is derived by holding 2 points in view. We see this in the Passover sacrifice at twilight, what is called in Hebrew ben ha-'arbayim, meaning "between the two settings." Rabbinic sources take this to mean "from noon on." According to Radak, the first "setting" occurs when the sun passes its zenith at noon and the shadows begin to lengthen, and the second "setting" is the actual sunset (p. 55, vol. 2, The Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary, "Exodus").

Unfortunately, some kabbalists delve into the occult. The 22 connecting paths on the Tree of Life represent the connections between the Sephiroth. Each path is associated with a specific Hebrew letter, Tarot card, and a range of meanings and correspondences. Hermetic Kabbalists see the cards of the tarot as keys to the Tree of Life.

Risto Santala, the Finnish Bible scholar and expert on Paul, has written about the corruption of the mystery of Christ. He wrote, "The esoteric Qabbalah wandered off the right track in creating a very extensive literature on doctrines of angels and mysteries relating to God's being (razei El). Only those over the age of forty were allowed to study them. The angel RAZIEL, whose numeric value in gematria is 248 and who thus knew the inner secrets of the two hundred and forty-eight 'do'- commandments, gave Adam the 'Sefer Raziel', that is, 'the Book of Raziel', an esoteric source. The enormous literature of the Qabbalah is occupied with these imaginary conjectures. They indeed have 'an appearance of wisdom,' but both Jesus and Paul entirely renounced them."

Santala explains, "Paul did not fall into esoteric peculiarities. He rested on the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. But they too are, as it were, sealed until the time of fulfillment. Therefore, we are told about the disciples that the risen Jesus 'opened their understanding to understand the Scriptures' (Luke 24:45)."

Reactions to Kabbalism

A 17th-century messianic movement called "Shabbetaianism" espoused the sacredness of sin in its extreme form. The leader of the movement was Shabbetai Tzevi (1626-1676), a self-proclaimed messiah and Jewish mystic of the Ottoman Empire.

After Shabbetai Tzevi’s death the sect continued to flourish and reached a peak in the 18th century with Jacob Frank who claimed to be Shabbetai Tzevi’s reincarnation and the Messiah. The ill feeling toward Shabbetaianism ran deep among many Jewish communities and some developed a strong aversion to Kabbala and messianic claims in general. 

Related reading: Abraham's Faith Lives in Christianity; 40 Days and 40 Nights; Longevity in the Genesis King Lists; The Seven Planets and Seven Bowls; Saharan Antecedents of Pharaonic Egypt; INDEX of Topics at Just Genesis; What Did Jesus Mean by "Three Days and Three Nights"? (biblearchaeology.org); The Three-Clan Confederations of the Bible

Jesus: From Lamb to Ram

Alice C. Linsley


God works single-mindedly throughout the ages to restore lost humanity to Himself.  This is the theme from Genesis to Revelation, and it is predicated on the first promise concerning the Seed of the Woman who would crush the head of the serpent and restore Paradise.  In calling Himself "Son of Man", Jesus identified Himself as the fulfillment of the Edenic Promise (Gen. 3:15). To receive Him as the Son of God, we must affirm His complete humanity. To believe that He is God with the power to save us, we must receive Him as both the Son of Man and the Son of God.

When Scripture poses binary opposites such as God-Man, it is initiating a pattern of thought that travels between 2 points, just as the Sun appears to move from east and west. In this movement there is a point in which the Sun's glory is greatest - the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, which in the northern hemisphere is June 21- 22.  Likewise, on a sunny day the sun is felt most intensely upon one's shoulders at hign noon, the point between east and west. 

The notion here is that of a shuttle moving back and forth. The weave requires redoubling to make the fabric or the web strong. The  English web is likely derived from the word keb or kab. Kab pertains to weaving with a shuttle. Weavers are called the ka, those who kab. Ka also refers to the the body which is "knit" in the womb.  Ka-ba refers to the relationship between the body and the soul. Kab also implies a doubling or redoubling to strengthen.

This movement between points corresponds to the ancients' observations of the stars and constellations.  They were adept at sidereal astronomy. Horus of the two horizons (east-west) and Horus of the two crowns (north-south) are examples of how meaning is derived by holding 2 points in view. We see this in the Passover sacrifice at twilight, what is called in  Hebrew ben ha-'arbayim, meaning "between the two settings."  Rabbinic sources take this to mean "from noon on."  According to Radak, the first "setting" occurs when the sun passes its zenith at noon and the shadows begin to lengthen, and the second "setting" is the actual sunset (p. 55, vol. 2, The Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary, "Exodus").

On the eastern horizon Horus is the lamb, young and pure as the new day. On the western horizon, after his sacrifice at the sacred center (the Cross), he is the ram who comes to full strength.  The ram's horn (shofar) symbolized the covenant between God and the Israelites. When it was blown the veil or tehome was lifted, allowing God's Presence to be seen.  In Genesis One, tehom signifies the chaotic waters which are subdued and put into order by the Word or Wisdom (tehut) of God.  The ram's horn which lifts the veil and the Word of God which subdues chaos refer to Jesus the Christ.


From Lamb to Ram on Mount Moriah

As they ascended Mount Moriah, Isaac asked Abraham "where is the lamb" for the sacrifice.  Abraham replied that God would provide the lamb, but God didn't provide a lamb, but rather a ram. The ram caught in the thicket on Mount Moriah symbolized to Abraham that his offering had been accepted, because the lamb had become the ram. In his intention to offer his son, Abraham appears to have believed Isaac to be the Seed of the Woman (Gen. 3:15), but Isaac was spared because God would supply his own Lamb who passed from weakness (kenosis) to fullness of power (resurrection).

The sign of the Old Covenant is the blood of lambs and rams, but the lamb is weak compared to the adult ram. The blood of lambs speaks of the kenotic work of Christ, the Lamb of God. Horus was called the Lamb in his weaker (kenotic) existence and he was called the Ram in his glorified strength.  Both are associated with the death and resurrection symbolism of the vernal equinox.  This sheds light on the story of Abraham's offering of his son.  James 2:21 says, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"  Is this really about the necessity of faith and works? Or is James saying that faith is perfected or redoubled through sacrifice, death and resurrection? This understanding of redoubled strength better fits the context of Abraham's binding of Isaac.

When John pointed to Jesus and called Him the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world", he identified Him as the fulfillment of the first promise. John writes: "Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (I John 5:5)  To paraphrase: "who goes from fleshly weakness to divine strength?"  Only those who "put on Christ", the Lamb who has become the Ram. This is about resurrection of the Sacrificed One expected by the Horites; the Righteous Ruler who would overcome death and lead his people to immortality (final justification).

This is the faith of Abraham and his Horite ruler-priest ancestors.  "Har-Ur" (likely the origin of the place names Haran and Ur) refers to Horus in maturity, or the Elder Horus. In his infancy, he was depicted in ancient Egypt as either a calf or a lamb and in his maturity as a bull or a ram. Horus is the only mythological figure in ancient Egypt who was understood to be a man. And only as a man does he wear the two crowns.


Related reading:  Ram Symbolism in the Ancient World; The Lamb is Bound; Did Abraham Believe Isaac to be Messiah?; Sons and The Son; The Bosom of Abraham; The Victory of Tehut Over Tehom

Methuselah's Wife

Lamech Segment Analysis
© 1998 Alice C. Linsley


According to the Hebrew Scriptures, the ruler Methuselah lived 969 years, the perfect number set in the context of ancient Egyptian numerology. By his cousin wife Naamah, he had a son named Lamech. This is Lamech the Younger named for Naamah’s father (see bottom portion of the diagram.)

Naamah and Lamech are both names associated with the rulers among Abraham's people. Naamah is a royal name as attested by the name's connection with the Davidic Dynasty. David's grandson's mother was named Naamah (II Chron. 12:13). This is also the name of a region of Judah (Joshua 15:41). Lamech is a variant of la-melech which appears on several thousand Egyptian seals. It means "of the King" or "for the King."

Lamech ruled after Methuselah and is assigned another perfect number in the Masoretic text. He is said to have lived 777 years.[1] However, while the Scriptures agree on Methuselah’s 969 years, they disagree on the numbers assigned to Lamech. The Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) assigns Lamech 753 years, whereas the Samaritan Pentateuch assigns him 653 years. The Masoretic text provides the number that fits the biblical pattern. St. John Chrysostom noted the assignment of 7 to Cain, 77 to Lamech the Elder, and 777 to Lamech the Younger and believed that the number 7 in these cases speaks of God’s mercy shown to sinners.

It is likely that seven represents the seven visible planets and is linked to astrological concepts of ancient Egypt. We may never know exactly what these number sets signify, but the association of such auspicious numbers – 6, 7 and 9 – with Methuselah and his son Lamech indicate their greatness.[2]

Some view Lamech the Younger, named in Genesis 5, as the same Lamech named in Genesis 4 who bragged about killing a man. This is a mistake. Lamech the Elder is not presented as a righteous man, but as a braggart who set himself up as an equal to God.[3] Lamech the Younger, on the other hand, is the son of a righteous father and the father of Noah who found favor with God.

Why should there be such discrepancy in the number of years assigned to Lamech the Younger? Possibly the Septuagint didn’t recognize that there are two different persons named Lamech. Or the discrepancy might indicate dispute over Lamech’s character among the different recensions. Or it simply may be that the Septuagint and the Samaritan texts reflect lack of understanding of the kinship pattern of Abraham’s ruling ancestors.

I believe the discrepancy in numbers assigned to Lamech the Younger indicates lack of understanding of the kinship pattern. In this patrilineal system involving royalty and ascent to the throne, mother and first-born son do not belong to the same clan. The bride belongs to her husband’s clan while her son, if given her father’s throne name, belongs to the bride’s clan. The brilliant anthropologist, Lévi-Strauss recognized this in 1949, but his research was largely ignored by biblical scholars.

So it is that Naamah belonged to Methuselah’s clan, of the lne of Seth, while their first-born son belonged to the clan of his maternal grandfather, of the line of Kain.

NOTES



1.  The number seven has special significance as related to the first-born son’s marriage and his reception of a kingdom. In Jewish weddings the seven marriage blessings (Sheva Brachot) are recited under the huppah and the wedding feast lasts seven days. The assignment of 777 to Lamech the Younger symbolizes the son's marriage and ascension to the throne of his father.

2. Numbers were associated with totems such as the Lion, the Falcon, the Baboon, etc. The four sons of Horus are an example. Imsety is shown with a man’s head. Tuamutf is shown with a jackel’s head. Kabhsenuf is shown with a baboon’s head, and Hapi is shown with a falcon or hawk’s head. Mummification involved removing the body's organs which were placed in four jars adorned with the heads of these four sons. These four stood as guardians over the organs until such a time as the Ka and the Ba could be united, thus avoiding the second death (of which John speaks). Likewise, the Four Gospels have totems: Eagle (Matthew), Bull (Mark), Lion (Luke) and Man (John) and the Gospel writers are indeed guardians of Holy Tradition concerning the Son of God.

3. Lamech’s wives were named Adah (dawn) and t-Zillah (dusk), suggesting that Lamech the Elder placed his 2 wives on an east-west axis. All the other rulers listed in Genesis 4 and 5 likely had 2 wives also but it appears that they placed them on a north-south axis, as did Abraham. Sarah lived in Hebron and Keturah lived in Beersheba, to the south. By placing his wives on an east-west axis, Lamech the Elder claimed a territory corresponding to that of the Creator, whose emblem the Sun, makes a daily journey over the Earth, traveling from east to west. It is interesting to note that Mohammed, a descendent of Abraham by Keturah, placed his 2 wives’ apartments on the east and west sides of his mosque in Medina. Doubtless, this lent credibilty to his claim to be The Prophet of Allah.


Related reading:  The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative; African Naming Practices; An African Reflects on Biblical Names

God's Sovereignty over Life and Death

Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity are at variance on the question of God's sovereignty over life and death. Buddhism, as a non-theistic religion, has no concept of God's sovereign will. The oldest layer of Hinduism acknowledges a supreme Deity, but the doctrine of samsara [1] introduces an element that is not consistent with the Judeo-Christian or ancient Afro-Asiatic doctrine of God's sovereignty. The death of our bodies does not lead to reincarnation as is believed in Hinduism and Buddhism. It leads either to eternal life or to what the ancient Egyptians [2] and the Apostles called "the second death” (Rev. 2:11; 20:6 and 20:14).

Religions which believe in samsara cremate to quickly reduce human remains to the smallest particles of matter (atomism). The flesh and the spirit are separated, never to exist again as the person who once lived. There is an element of fatalism in this worldview since existence is both illusory and constantly changing. This is not the faith of our Father Abraham which Christ Jesus and the Apostles commend to us. In its lack of atomistic fatalism, Christianity emerges as a natural, organic [3] expression of the faith of Abraham; an affirmation of what Job declared: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25, 26 NASB).

Abraham was led to a land where God established him as a ruler. His territory extended between Hebron and Beer-sheba. God promised to make Abraham’s descendents a multitude of peoples. This was accomplished through Abraham's wives Sarah and Keturah and his concubines Hagar and Masek. Together these women bore Abraham 9 sons and a number of daughters. In other words, God fulfilled His sovereign will concerning Abraham and made him the “father of a multitude of nations” (Gen. 17:4)

In God’s sovereign will Abraham becomes a figure through whom “all the nations on earth will bless themselves” (Gen. 18:18; 22:18 NJB). This promise was made twice; first, when God in Three Persons appears to him (Gen. 18) and again after God supplies a ram as a substitute sacrifice for Abraham’s son (Gen. 22). In both stories, God is sovereign over life and death; destroying the ram and Sodomites by holocaust and delivering Abraham’s son and Lot’s family from the fire.

The idea that God destroys is not popular these days, but it is inescapably an aspect of God's sovereignty.  Scripture teaches that God desires that none should die, yet He leaves the choice to us.  That is why the faithful leaders urged the people to "choose life that you may live" (Deut. 30:19).


NOTES
1. Samsara is the cycle of reincarnation, a central doctrine of Hinduism and Buddhism.

2. The Egyptians believed that the unification of Ka (life that animates the body) and Ba (eternal spirit) happened after death by means of the proper offerings, prayers, and mummification. There was a risk of dying the second death if the unified soul and life force were condemned in the afterlife. Dying the second death meant not becoming an akh. Only as an akh could one enjoy the resurrection life. Ankh is the Spirit of Life and was the hieroglyphic sign for life in ancient Egypt and Kush.

3. Organic religions develop naturally and consistently out of very ancient religious traditions. Organic religions are unlike synthetic religions such as Scientology, Mormonism and Baha’i which are recent synthetically developed religions or cults.

The Cross and Reality

"Buddhism is centripetal [center-seeking], but Christianity is centrifugal [tending away from centralization]: it breaks out. For the circle is perfect and infinite in it nature; but it is fixed forever in its size; it can never be larger or smaller. But the cross, though it has at its heart a collision and a contradiction, can extend its four arms for ever without altering its shape. Because it has a paradox in its center it can grow without changing. The circle returns upon itself and is bound. The cross opens its arms to the four winds; it is a signpost for free travelers."--G.K. Chesterton (Orthodoxy, Chapter 2)


Alice C. Linsley

The cross presents a great paradox. It veils and is veiled, yet it is found everywhere in the order of nature. Consider the cross-shaped image of laminin (right). Laminin is a cell adhesion molecule that holds the body together. Referring to Jesus Christ, Paul wrote, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17)  The beta and alpha chains of laminin "influence pre-synaptic and post-synaptic development, thus providing a way to coordinate maturation of the sending and receiving sides of the synapse."

The cross is represented by the intersection of the directional axes of east-west and north-south, and by the solar arc. It is found as a solar symbol in archaic cultures. It is one of the symbols found in the Vinča culture. The cross symbol, called kolasta azdija, is a solar symbol referenced in numerous epic poems of people living in the region of the Vinča culture.

Symbols dating from the oldest period of Vinča culture (6th-5th millennia BC)

Th archaic rulers who dispersed widely in the ancient world  venerated the Sun. The Sun was the emblem of the Creator and the source of life and light on Earth.  The overshadowing of the Sun at high noon marked the temporal center, and noon on the mountain top marked the spatial center. This is the significance of sacred pillars and mountains (bnbn in Ancient Egyptian) that connected heaven and earth.

The cross appears in many monuments along the Nile. The sun and the cross were associated with Horus. Both were found on stone reliefs at the Temple of Horus in Edfu (shown below). The relief also shows the sun resting over the banks of the Nile (directly below the bird). A variation of this image is the Hebrew horned altar, an apophatic solar image. The sun resting over a place or person represents divine appointment and blessing. In this same image we find the sun resting over the cross (center). The Canaanite Y is another example.

Photo: Maureen Palmer

Abraham's Nilotic ancestors believed that Earth emerged as a peak rising out of a universal sea. Life began when the Sun rested exactly at the peak of that mound. This is likely the origin of the belief that a woman of their Horite priestly lines would be overshadowed by the Creator and would conceive the Seed of Genesis 3:15.  In Orthodox iconography sometimes the pregnant Theotokos is drawn as a mountain.  As such, she became the sacred center, the tabernacle of God, the new mount Zion. For Abraham's ancestors the swelling of Sun, river and the female belly spoke of the Creator's power to give life.

The perpendicular axes of north-south and east-west form a cross and this is the oldest known symbolic mark. Its great age is testified by its appearance on prehistoric rocks in Sudan, on Paleolithic ostrich shells in Southern Africa, and in the Proto-Saharan Thamudic scripts.


Nilo-Saharan Cosmology

In ancient times, the Nile was identified with the Milky Way which arches over the Earth from the extreme south to the extreme north. The Nile was viewed as Earth's Milky Way. The north-south axis was represented by the northward flow and the east-west axis was represented by the water's span from horizon to horizon. The center of the river at noon was regarded as the sacred spatial and temporal center. This cosmology is reflected in ancient Nilotic imagery, especially at Elephantine Island (Yebu). Even before Elephantine, the directional poles and the movement of circumpolar stars comprised an element of religion and were a factor in the construction of ancient monuments.

Andrew Collins notes "the earliest Neolithic cult centres, the prototypes of stone circles and chambered barrows everywhere, were directed roughly north-south. Since the north was a direction of death and rebirth at Çatal Hüyük, I quickly realized that the focus of attention at places such as Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe was the movement of circumpolar stars around the northern celestial pole, for there was no Pole Star in c. 9500-9000 BC. I looked closely at the Skyglobe astronomical program for these dates, and realised that only one constellation could have been the object of their gaze, and this was Cygnus, which in European starlore is the celestial swan. However, there is clear evidence that in Ancient Mesopotamia Cygnus was seen as a raptor bird, while in classical myth it was occasionally seen as a vulture, the symbol of the transmigration of the soul in the Neolithic cult of the dead."

The Pole Star was only one way by which the ancients could determine true north. Their cosmology was binary, which means that no pole can isolated from its opposite. The poles are binary opposites and in the binary worldview on of the opposites is regarded as superior in some way to its opposite. Among the Horites, north and east were the superior directions but they were never considered in isolation from south and west. The Nilotic worldview was characterized by binary sets such as male-female and sun-moon.

The intersection of the axes was represented by X or T in ancient glyphs. This cross-shaped cosmology is fundamental to the binary distinctions and metaphysical tensions that characterized the ancient Nilotic worldview. The great contribution of Jacques Derrida, an Arabic-speaking North African Jew, was to re-introduce to Western Philosophy this binary approach to meaning.

As Derrida suggested: "Deconstruction cannot limit itself or proceed immediately to neutralization: it must, by means of a double gesture, a double science, a double writing, practice an overturning of the classical opposition, and a general displacement of the system. It is on that condition alone that deconstruction will provide the means of intervening in the field of oppositions it criticizes" (Metaphysics).

This reversal of the subordinated term of an opposition is no small aspect of deconstruction's strategy. Derrida's argument is that in examining a binary opposition and reversals, deconstruction brings to light traces of meaning that cannot be said to be present, but which must have metaphysical existence. This is not a new idea or even a new approach to meaning. It is consistent with the most ancient Biblical approach to meaning, that of the Semites and their Kushite ancestors.

Among the Horites, North and East Were the Superior Poles

Among Abraham's Horite people the Pole Star was an important celestial marker.  Beside this, they were metal workers who had discovered that magnetized iron particles pointed to magnetic north. In fact, the word compass (kom-pas) is originally an Egyptian word. Horite rulers were buried with their heads to the north and their faces toward the east.

All the rulers among Abraham's ancestors had two wives. The wife of the man's youth was a half-sister and the wife on his later years was a patrilineal cousin or niece. The wives lived in separate households on a north-south axis. In Abraham's case, Sarah lived in Hebron and Keturah lived in Beersheba. Sarah, as the first wife, ranked above Keturah. Only the firstborn son of the half-sister wife ascended to the throne of his father. So Issac became Abraham's heir, though he was not Abraham's firstborn son.

The placement of the wives' settlements reflects the Horite belief that the Sun was the Creator's solar boat or chariot which He rides daily to survey his territory from east to west. This idea was apparent even before Noah. Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4) is portrayed as a braggart not only because he boasted of killing a man, but also because he set his wives on an east-west axis, thereby setting himself up as God.

The Sun's east-west path was thought to be the Creator's circuit, stretched "as far as the east is from the west." The Almighty comes as a bridegroom from the tent of the Sun and makes his circuit from east to west (Ps. 19).

While north was associated with death and judgment, its opposite was associated with birth and renewal of life. South symbolized earth, fertility and birth. It was to the south that Abraham went seeking a second wife. Abraham, still without a heir, consulted the Moreh at the Oak between Bethel and Ai. His next move, chronicled in Genesis, was a journey to Beersheba in the Negev. There he married his patrilineal cousin Keturah, by whom he had five sons.

Marriage to a second wife was required before a Horite chief could ascend to the throne. Abraham's marriage to Keturah enabled him to become the ruler over a territory hat extended between Hebron and Beersheba. It did not provide him with an heir since the firstborn son of the cousin wife ascended to the throne of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named. The sons of concubines and the younger sons of wives were given gifts and sent away to establish territories of their own. They are the sent-away sons who expanded the Kushite dominion far beyond in the Nile. The marriage and ascendancy pattern of Abraham's Horite caste drove Kushite expansion into Europe, Mesopotamia, Southern India, Cambodia and even Japan. The Kushite migration out of Africa has been verified by DNA studies.


Ethical Implications

The ethical implications of a cross-shaped reality are evident. There is a geometrical quality that suggests lines, angles and boundaries. The boundaries fixed by the Creator can be observed in genetics, climate cycles, and in time and space. Abraham's people wanted to discern and respect the boundaries since they perceived of them as having been established by God. Worship, rituals such as the blessing of the Sun, gender distinctions, laws concerning purity among the ruler-priests, all these reflect concern to distinguish between the binary sets of Heaven-Earth; God-Man, Pure-Defiled, and Life-Death and to serve the greater.

In this cross-shaped Reality, the only safe place, metaphysically speaking, is the sacred center. After all his deconstruction, Jacques Derrida concluded that there is a center and that something is there. He spoke of this something as "presence." He claimed that throughout the history of Philosophy this metaphysical presence is called by different names, “God” being one of them. This is uncomfortable for those who hold to materialist ideologies. They are baffled by the metaphysical. It is terrifying for those who claim there is no Creator. If there is something, a "presence" (Derrida's term) at the metaphysical center, it must surely be of greater power and authority than they. Even the Atheist exhibits existential angst about the possibility that any form of authority depends on God's existence (Rom.13:1).

Abraham's Proto-Saharan ancestors were famous sky watchers. For them a lunar eclipse was less significant than a solar eclipse because they regarded the sun was as superior to the moon. This was not an arbitrary preference nor does it represent mythological ignorance, as Materialist and Atheists often assert. Rather it is a description of reality since the sun gives light whereas the moon merely reflects the sun's light. The sun's superiority is expressed in Genesis 1:16: "God made the two great lights: the greater to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night."  In our time, the idea that one entity is greater than another meets with great resistance. Many are lost in an ethical wilderness without a compass.

Ethics for Abraham's people meant being spiritually present at the center of X; finding the sacred center by reference to earth's spokes: north-south/east-west, and by reference to the binary sets observed in the order of creation. The late Rabbi Kaduri appears to have found that sacred center in contemplation of the tradition he received from his Horim. He was a highly respected rabbi in Israel who was deeply formed by the daily reading and recitation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri

Before he died at age 108, Yitzhak Kaduri left a signed note indicating Messiah's identity: Yeshua - Jesus. A few months before, Rabbi Kaduri had surprised his followers when he told them that he met the Messiah in dreams and visions. Kaduri gave a message in his synagogue on Yom Kippur, teaching how to recognize the Messiah. His manuscripts, written in his own hand for his students, have cross-symbols painted by Kaduri all over the pages.

Many Jews have attempted to explain away the crosses, arguing that the great Rabbi Kaduri was not a Christian. Only God knows. However, Rabbi Kaduri was wise and prayerful, and he knew the cosmology of his ancestors. Perhaps this lead him to Jesus, the Son of God, at the sacred center of our cross-shaped reality. Perhaps he found the One who his people have been awaiting.


The Sun Among Abraham's Horite People

Aspects of the ancient solar symbolism are found in the Bible and in historical texts. Psalm 92:2 describes the Lord as “a sun and a shield.” The Victory Tablet of Amenhotep III describes Horus as “The Good God, Golden [Horus], Shining in the chariot, like the rising of the sun; great in strength, strong in might…” (Tablet of Victory of Amenhotep III, J.H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, p. 854).

At Angkor Wat in Cambodia, there is a stone relief of a solar boat with Horus flying as a falcon above the flames of the sun. Most of the religious depictions found in Southern India are also found among the Proto-Saharan peoples. There is strong evidence that messianic expectation began, not with the Jews, but with Abraham's Nilotic ancestors. They were devotees of Horus who they called "Son of God."  In a five day festival the ancient Egyptians commemorated the death and rising of Horus. He was associated with the rising or swelling sun and with the falling of grain into the earth.

In relation to the sun, Horus was said to rise in the morning as a calf or a lamb and to set in the evening as a bull or a ram. The east represented the present, and the west represented the future. On Mount Moriah Isaac was replaced with a ram.  To Abraham the Horite this would have meant that his offering was set aside by the provision of a greater sacrifice that was to come in the future. It would also have meant that Isaac was not the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham's ancestors in Genesis 3:15. Isaac was not the "Seed" of the Woman who would make the curse of death void, crush the serpent's head, and restore Paradise. Jesus was the fulfillment of this first promise and prophecy of the Bible.  In speaking of his impending death, He told his disciples that only the "seed" that falls into the ground and dies can give life. (John 12:24)

As St. Augustine noted, the Egyptians took great care in the burial of their dead and never practiced cremation, as in the religions that seek to escape physical existence. Abraham's ancestors believed in the resurrection of the body and awaited a deified king who would rise from the grave and deliver his people from death.

On ancient Jewish ossuaries the sun was shown as a 6-pointed star inside a circle.  This was the solar boat of the Creator, the vehicle of Light that would carry the dead to the place of rest. From that place they hoped to rise on the Last Day. In the Iron Age this mer-ka-ba was shown as a chariot. The spokes within a circle are both the rays of the sun and the spokes of the chariot wheel. This symbol likely appeared on the Ark of the Covenant. In the Ethiopian Church a replica of the Ark, called ta-bot, is displayed in the churches. It is decorated with the 6-pointed star inside a circle at the center of the ark.

The spokes inside an orb also represent the precession of the equinoxes at various angles. The precession was symbolized by X inside a circle. This morphed into the Tau, which is used by Christians to represent the upright cross.

The precession cross and the merkaba are very ancient cosmological images. They have been traced to the Horite temple at Heliopolis on the Nile. Heliopolis is called ONN in Genesis and was shown in Old Egyptian as NXN, with the X representing the Creator's presence at the sacred center. Again, the cross is central and associated with the sun. Just as the sun is a universal symbol of light, so the sign of the cross is universally found in creation. The mark of Jesus Christ is ubiquitous. Reality is cross shaped and it stretches out in all direction to embrace in love.


Related reading: A Cross-Shaped Universe: Reflections of a Christian Physicist; The Sacred Center in Biblical Theology; Afro-Asiatic Rulers and Celestial Archetypes; Binary Distinctions and Kenosis; Christ's Sign in Creation; Tehut's Victory Over Tehom; The Ostrich in Biblical Symbolism; Cosmology and Ethics; The Rabbi Who Found Messiah