Bible Study Connection

A closer look at Hebrews 2:10

2011-09-26T14:47:00.000-05:00

Point of interest... (Study reference to this is on page 4 questions 12a-c)

If you are following the Hebrew's book study, by the time you get to chapter 2:10 you will have looked at the multiple Old Testament verses, which comprise most of the first 2 chapters of Hebrews.

Hebrews 2:10a says "It was fitting that God..." This author seems to have the audacity to give his approval to something that God was doing.... Why would he or she do that?

This passage in Greek is "impersonal."

Okay hang on, this get's tricky. In a statement like we have in Hebrews, "It is fitting that God..." What the reader assumes is the author's unwritten, "I declare" or "I think"...it is fitting.

The Greek language allows for an impersonal phrase. What that means is, the author is not making the claim "it is fitting that God..." on his own authority, he is not declaring what he thinks is fitting, but rather the word itself begs us to look at the surrounding material. When we do that we see that the author is not only declaring God's "fitness" on the authority of the Old Testament passages that were just quoted, but he is boldly inviting us to declare it along with him..

This-N-That Re: Exodus Theroies

2010-10-22T18:41:00.001-05:00

We heard some very interesting things regarding the
Tabernacle, Mt. Sinai, the Golden Calf, and more while visiting the Tabernacle replica in Hudson. I would advise one to carefully consider conspiracy theories, and people who want to "PROVE" the Bible. But these videos and links should make for interesting discussion! Have fun, dig deep :)

Click here to go to a full web site on Exodus theroies

A Cry From The Desert

2010-09-22T14:09:00.001-05:00

On the backs of the Hebrew's the pyramids went up... Or did they? We know the Israelites were slaves, we know they were forced to make bricks. But what were those bricks used for? The Bible doesn't tell us, and we assume they were for pyramids. And assuming is all we can do. The pryamids remain a great mystery for the most part. National Geographic says this:

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 workers built the Pyramids at Giza over 80 years. Much of the work probably happened while the River Nile was flooded.

Huge limestone blocks could be floated from quarries right to the base of the Pyramids. The stones would likely then be polished by hand and pushed up ramps to their intended positions.

It took more than manual labor, though. Architects achieved an accurate pyramid shape by running ropes from the outer corners up to the planned summit, to make sure the stones were positioned correctly. And priests-astronomers helped choose the pyramids' sites and orientations, so that they would be on the appropriate axis in relation to sacred constellations. For a time line of Ancient Egypt an an explorative tour of the tombs and pyramids or general info on the wonders of the Pyramids click here.

Of course there is another popular theory out there. Watch and enjoy!

To Know Exodus Is to Know Jesus

2010-08-23T15:21:00.002-05:00

Why Exodus?!? That has been the reaction from several women when we announced our study of Exodus for Bible Study Connection this year. For me the answer is simple; to know Exodus is to know Jesus!
Carrin

The stories in the book of Exodus are central to faith of both Jews and Christians. For Jews, the stories tell of their liberation from slavery to Pharaoh to become servants of YHWH. For Christians, they are the framework for understanding the death of Jesus Christ, the "lamb who was slain." The stories drive to the heart of the questions of "who are God's people", and "who is the God who saves."
The text of Exodus is a culmination of recitations over many generations, as commanded by God in Exodus 12:24-27. It contains several types of literature: narrative, law, and liturgy. The stories may be considered a faithful retelling, concerned primarily with giving theological meaning to the history of the people of Israel.

Moses is a type of prophet who fore shadows, predicts and gives us signs, laws and ceremonies that point us to Jesus Christ, who is a prophet like unto Moses, but greater than Moses.
Join us! Discovery awaits!

Crucifixion and Science?

2010-02-10T13:21:00.006-06:00

Science replays the crucifixion
TV show blends Bible and biomechanics
By Alan Boyle
Science editor

Biblical archaeologist Jonathan Reed says he has undergone something of a conversion. Maybe that's what staging a crucifixion does to you.
For "Quest for Truth: The Crucifixion," a TV documentary premiering on Easter Sunday on the National Geographic Channel, Reed conducted an experiment with a volunteer tied to an actual cross. Reed even took a turn on it himself.
No one was actually hurt. The researchers stopped short of pounding nails into feet, and monitored their volunteer victims closely for any signs of stress. But Reed, a religion professor at the University of La Verne in California, said spending time on the cross was nevertheless a "dark" experience that gave him a new appreciation for Roman cruelty.
It also changed his mind on some of the central historical questions surrounding the practice. Going into the experiment, Reed fully believed that crucifixion victims couldn't have been nailed by the palms of the hands, and that they had to have died of asphyxiation. But now he thinks the Romans could well have targeted the palms to maximize their victims' agony, and that death was more likely due to heart failure, brought on by shock, pain and exposure.
"I tried to have an open mind and let the experiment guide me to a conclusion," he told MSNBC.com.
In addition to tracing Reed's experiment, National Geographic's "Quest for Truth" (9 p.m. ET/PT Sunday) reviews other archaeological and forensic studies that have been sparked by the biblical accounts of Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday.
Archaeological mysteriesFor Christians, the crucifixion represents the ultimate sacrifice, setting the stage for the mystery of Jesus' resurrection and humanity's redemption. For archaeologists, however, the phenomenon raises mysteries of a different, grislier sort.
How could Roman soldiers conduct hundreds of crucifixions in the course of a day, as recorded in 1st-century accounts? Did the cross match the pictures portrayed in artwork over the centuries? And if crucifixion was such a widely used instrument of terror in Roman times, why is there such scant evidence left behind?
University of Texas biblical scholar L. Michael White, who also participated in "Quest for Truth," has a sensible answer for that last puzzle: "Most people who would have been executed by crucifixion would not have had people who were concerned about them after death," he told MSNBC.com. Their remains would have been scattered, White said. In fact, that was all part of the terror. Based on the Gospels, Jesus was an exception, in that he was carefully entombed after being taken down from the cross.

Another exception was discovered in 1968, when construction workers came across a 1st-century funerary box inscribed with the name "Jehohanan." Inside, researchers found the man's bones — including a heel bone that had a curled nail sticking through it.
Apparently, the man had been crucified, with his heel nailed to the side of the cross. The nail probably hit a knot in the wood and couldn't be removed when Jehohanan was taken down, so it was buried right along with the bone.
The case of Jehohanan told archaeologists several things: The feet of crucifixion victims really were nailed to crosses, and the fact that the hand bones showed no similar signs of damage indicated that the victims' hands were not necessarily nailed.

A change of heartMore recently, however, researchers have come around to the view that the nailed feet provided enough support for the body, and that the hands could have been merely tied. "Quest for Truth" uses the Visible Human Project to show that putting nails through the palms would have resulted in maximum nerve damage and pain.
"The cruelty of the Romans would have led them to find the palms of the hands as the most painful part," Reed said. He suggested that the Romans also used wooden washers to make sure the hands and the feet couldn't be pulled away from the nails.

To read more go to

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7291066/

and

http://www.apu.edu/infocus/2002/03/crucifixion/

The Last Supper in art

2010-01-28T13:56:00.004-06:00

The most famous depiction of the Last supper is of course by Leonardo da Vinci. There have been many interpretations of that picture ranging from the amusing to the horrifying. It, however, is probably not the most accurate.

The most historically accurate rendition of the Last Supper is two of Nicholas Poussin'paintings. In terms of superb color and the mood depicted, the one in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinborough is superb. It is worth a special trip, if you really want to see the glory of what it was like during the Last Supper.
This painting from Olga's Gallery (http://www.abcgallery.com/P/poussin/poussin35.html ) seems to be an earlier rendition, almost a practice. Nevertheless, this as well as the other in Edinborough accurately describes the furniture (tricline) and posture of the Apostles. Tricline is a Roman, squarish U-shaped divan or sofa. On the exterior of all three sides (hence tri) dining guests recline (hence cline). The open side is for servants to serve food, and in this painting the servant is leaving the room on the left side of the room.

If you are interested in seeing more painting on this subject go to http://www.biblical-art.com/biblicalsubject.asp?id_biblicalsubject=523&pagenum=1

2009-10-15T13:32:00.004-05:00

"TheFeeding the multitude (also known as The miracle of the loaves and fish) is the name of two miracles attributed to Jesus. The first is reported by all four canonical Gospels (Matthew 14:13–21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:5-15) and is

Pictured is the Church of the Mulitplication, tought to be at the site of where The mircle happened.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/Tabgha.html

the only miracle apart from the resurrection present in both John and the Synoptic Gospels [1]; the second is reported by Mark (Mark 8) and Matthew (Matthew 15) but by neither Luke nor John.
First event
According to the narrative of the Gospels, the first event happened after Jesus had been teaching in an area away from the towns and insisted that the people be fed where they were, rather than sending them to the nearest towns. The Synoptics state that the location was a "desert place" near Bethsaida, while John does not state a specific location, only specifying that it was very grassy.
The canonical Gospels all report that, upon investigating the provisions of the crowd, the disciples were only able to find five loaves of bread and two fish, and the Gospel of John adds that these came from a single boy in the crowd. The Gospels state that Jesus blessed the food, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, who distributed it to the people present — 5000, not counting women and children — all of them being fed. The disciples, therefore, distributed great multitudes of food among the people, much more than the original five loaves and two fish, implying that Jesus miraculously created more food. The Gospels also state that after the meal was over, the disciples collected the scraps, filling twelve baskets.[2]
Second event
The second event, according to Mark and Matthew, occurred when Jesus was teaching a crowd of about 4000, not including women and children, in a remote location. As before, Jesus is described as taking the few provisions available, and giving grace, before distributing them amongst the crowd. In this event there are seven loaves and a few small fish, and seven baskets of scraps are collected.[3]

Pool of Bethesda

2009-10-13T21:53:00.005-05:00

The Pool of Bethesda (also known as Bethsaida) is located near the Sheep Gate just north of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In his gospel account, John describes such a pool, surrounded by five covered colonnades (John 5:2). Until the 19th century, there was no archaeological evidence for the Pool of Bethesda, so skeptics used this as proof that John’s account was written by some later zealot who didn’t have eyewitness knowledge of Jerusalem or an actual pool called Bethesda. Today, there’s really no question that archaeologists have uncovered the actual Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the invalid (John 5:1-15). The colonnades were visible to John at the time of Jesus, but the pool probably didn’t appear sunken and surrounded by walls like it does today.

The Pool of Bethesda was located on the eastern side of the city near the Fortress of Antonia. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy."
The water source was a nearby spring. The Pool had five porches and according to the Bible there was a tradition that an angel moved the waters at certain times and healed the sick. It was here at the Pool of Bethesda that Jesus healed the man who was lame for thirty-eight years. Recent archaeological discoveries have again confirmed the Biblical account, that there were five porches and the fifth one divided the rectangular pool into two separate compartments. Josephus wrote about the Pool of the Sheep-market.
Archaeological remains of Herod's Jerusalem are scarce. The Romans did a thorough work of destroying everything. We know about Herod and his buildings through the writings of Josephus, Strabo, Dio Cassius, Jewish Literature, archaeology and the Bible. The Roman Legions of Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. They spared only Herod's powerful tower fortress as a symbol of the strength of the Romans who were able to overpower it.

The Well

2009-10-07T12:03:00.006-05:00

Jacob's Well

Going northward to Judea of Galilee Jesus "must needs go through Samaria." On this journey He came to Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph, where Jacob's Well is still found. Here a picture is taken upon undisputed ground. According to Dean Stanley it is, perhaps, the only place the identity of which is beyond all question. Here the conversation took place between Jesus and the woman of Samaria. One could look to Mount Gerizim on the left and remember the temple to which the woman pointed when she said: "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain." . . . The well is now seventy-five feet deep and seven feet six inches in breadth. The diameter of the opening is seventeen and a half feet. A ruined vault stands above the well twenty feet long, ten feet broad and six feet high. The pieces of broken marble you see in the front belong to some ancient church. It was here by this lonely well that Jesus told to a woman and to all the world the story of the true relationship between God and man. Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee,

Jacob's Well Interior

And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?

Isn't it intyeresting that Jesus rested at the well because he was weary from his travels, and yet would take no food from the disciples. Such a wonderful and interesting mix of fully human and fully God. We can never quite comprehend how it works, and as someone much greater than I said, "Who would want to worship a God we could understand!"

2009-09-29T18:19:00.001-05:00

Grace Devotion From Wednesday, Sept. 23rd

Last Wednesday, our speaker, Dr. Karoline Lewis told us that the word “Grace” appears 4 times in the first chapter of the Gospel of John and then never appears again in this Gospel. I looked up the word “grace” in the Webster Dictionary and here are some of the definitions it gave:

Favor or goodwill
Mercy, clemency, pardon
Favor shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity
The freely given, unmerited favor & love of God
The influence or Spirit of God operating in humans
The condition of being in God’s favor or one of the elect
A short prayer before or after a meal

It Can't Be Easy by Pastor John Hogenson

I am a lucky man. I am luckier than I deserve to be. I am especially lucky because almost every day and sometimes several times a day, my wife will look at me and say, "I love you." Every time my wife looks at me and tells me that she loves me, I have a standard response. I reply by saying, "It can't be easy. I love you, too."

Most often when Ruth tells me that she loves me, it is when I have not been my best. Maybe I have been tired and a little grouchy (I trust you never get that way), or maybe I said something stupid, inconsiderate, or generally acted like a dork. It is especially at those times when Ruth will smile at me with a smile that exudes grace and tells me that she loves me, which is why I always reply "It can't be easy."

In some ways, that is what it must be like for God. God looks down on us and constantly watches us put him last, blaspheme him, forget him. God watches us argue with each other, keep our faith to ourselves, repeatedly break commandments, tell people what God is for and what God is against, even when we are wrong about it, and generally act anything like the people God created us to be. Yet, despite our constant failings, God looks down on us and says, "I love you." It can't be easy to be God.

We call this kind of love grace. Grace is a word that we use all the time in the Lutheran Church, yet when I teach new-member classes and ask the question, "Give me a definition of the word grace," most people can't seem to do it, even if they have been life-long Christians.
What is grace? Grace is a free gift given to us by God simply because God loves us just as we are. We can't buy grace by giving a certain amount. We can't earn grace by being good enough, going to church a certain number of times, or by volunteering. Grace means God loves us just as we are, on our best days and on our worst days. To quote Max Lucado, grace means that, "There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and there is nothing you can do to make God love you less." God is just going to keep on loving you because God is love and it is God's nature to love you just as you are.

The ultimate expression of grace is Christ's death on the cross. So much does God love you, "That he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." What should we do in response to such an amazing gift?

God loves us just as we are. It sure can't be easy for God, so let's try to make God's job just a little easier by showing our love of God by the way we love one another.

The Lord's Team from www.basicdevotions.com

Bob was caught up in the spirit where he and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's team was playing Satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the NINTH inning with two outs.
They continued to watch as a batter stepped up to the plate whose name was Love. Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because Love never fails. The next batter was named Faith, who also got a single because Faith works with Love. The next batter up was named Godly wisdom.
Satan wound up and threw the first pitch; Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass, because Godly Wisdom does not swing at Satan's pitches. Ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked, because Godly wisdom never swings at Satan's throws. The bases were loaded.
The Lord then turned to Bob and told him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped Grace. Bob said he sure did not look like much! Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen. But Satan was not worried; his center fielder, the Prince of the air, let very few get by. He went up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the head and sent him crashing on the ground; then it continued over the fence for a home run!
The Lord's team won. The Lord then asked Bob if he knew why Love, Faith, and Godly Wisdom could get on base but could not win the game. Bob answered that he did not know why. The Lord explained, "If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game you would think you had done it by yourself. Love, faith and wisdom will get you on base, but only My grace can get you home.

In The Beginning Was The WORD

2009-09-29T15:46:00.006-05:00

I hope everyone enjoyed Dr. Karoline Lewis for our opening lecture. Her words were inspired and except for her "giving away all the answers" I was mesmerized. I am including a picture from the St. John's Illuminated Bible from this portion. Absolutely beautiful! Also a bit more info about John, a clip from the movie and some fun questions.

Carrin

The Gospel of John (literally, According to John; Greek, Κατὰ Ἰωάννην, Katá Iōánnēn), is the last of the four canonical gospels. This non synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details the story of Jesus from his Baptism to his Resurrection.
The Early Christian tradition attributes this gospel to John the Evangelist one of Jesus' disciples. The gospel appears to have been written with an evangelistic purpose, primarily for Greek-speaking Jews who were not believers[1] or to strengthen the faith of Christians.[2] A second purpose was probably to counter criticisms or unorthodox beliefs of Jews, John the Baptist's followers, and those who believed Jesus was only spirit and not flesh.[3]
John the Apostle, a disciple of Jesus, has been generally accepted as the author of the Fourth Gospel until the modern era. The authorship of the Fourth Gospel was rarely questioned seriously until the end of the eighteenth century.[4] Since then there have been modern scholars who posit that the author was not an eyewitness to Jesus' ministry

Questions For Reflection And Study:

1. Does it bother you that all four Gospels report different events in different ways'?

2. Which of the four Gospel portraits of Jesus -- the fulfillment of prophecy (Matthew); the active servant (Mark); God's message to all people, including the gentiles (Luke); or the incarnate God (John) is most meaningful for you personally?

The Book of John Coming This Fall

2009-05-07T09:44:00.003-05:00

Bible Study Connection will be delving into the Gospel and Letters of John during the 2009-2010 season...Keep watching throughout the summer for details

The Women in Jacob's life

2009-02-10T14:04:00.001-06:00

Rachel Rachel Rachel means ‘ewe’, a female sheep, symbol of prosperity and security for a nomadic people The Torah introduces Rachel with these words: Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.
It was this astounding external beauty that initially attracted Jacob when he met her by the well, tending her father's sheep. Rachel (Hebrew: רחל, Standard Raḥel Tiberian Rāḫēl, Rāḥēl ; meaning "ewe"[1]) is the second and favorite wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, first mentioned in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife. Jacob was her first cousin, as Jacob's mother Rebecca was Laban's sister.

Leah
The Torah introduces Leah by describing her with the phrase, "Leah had tender eyes" (Hebrew: ועיני לאה רכות‎) (Genesis 29:17). It is debated as to whether the adjective "tender" (רכות) should be taken to mean "delicate and soft" or "weak." Some translations say that it may have meant blue or light colored eyes.[1]

The commentary of Rashi cites a Rabbinic interpretation of how Leah's eyes became weak. According to this story, Leah was destined to marry Jacob's twin brother, Esau. In the Rabbinic mind, the two brothers are polar opposites; Jacob being a God-fearing scholar and Esau being a hunter who also indulges in murder, idolatry, and adultery. But people were saying, "Laban has two daughters and his sister, Rebecca, has two sons. The older daughter (Leah) will marry the older son (Esau), and the younger daughter (Rachel) will marry the younger son (Jacob)."[2] Hearing this, Leah spent most of her time weeping and praying to God to change her destined mate. Thus the Torah describes her eyes as "soft" from weeping. God hearkens to Leah's tears and prayers and allows her to marry Jacob even before Rachel does.

Bilhah
In the Book of Genesis, Bilhah (בִּלְהָה "Faltering; bashful", Standard Hebrew Bilha, Tiberian Hebrew Bilhāh) is Rachel's handmaid and a concubine of Jacob who bears him two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Bilhah is given to Rachel as a handmaid by Rachel's father, Laban, upon Rachel's marriage to Jacob. According to some commentators, Bilhah and Zilpah, the handmaids of Rachel and Leah respectively, were actually younger daughters of Laban. When Rachel is unable to conceive, she offers her handmaid to Jacob in marriage, and is delighted when Bilhah bears two sons. Rachel names Dan and Naphtali and plays an active role in their upbringing as two future Tribes of Israel. After the death of Rachel, Reuben, the firstborn son of Jacob and Leah, loses his right to a double inheritance when he is accused of infidelity with Bilhah. According to Rashi, as long as Rachel was alive, Jacob kept his bed in her tent and visited the other wives in theirs. When Rachel died, Jacob moved his bed into the tent of Bilhah, who had been mentored by Rachel, to retain a closeness to his favourite wife. However, Reuben felt that this move slighted his mother, Leah, who was also a primary wife, and so he moved Jacob's bed into his mother's tent. This invasion of Jacob's privacy was viewed so gravely that the Bible equates it with adultery.
Bilhah is said to be buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias.

Zilpah
In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah (זִלְפָּה "Drooping", Standard Hebrew Zilpa, Tiberian Hebrew Zilpāh) is Leah's handmaid and the second concubine of Jacob and the mother of Gad and Asher. Zilpah is given to Leah as a handmaid by Leah's father, Laban, upon Leah's marriage to Jacob (see Genesis 29:24, 46:18). According to some commentators, Zilpah and Bilhah, the handmaids of Leah and Rachel, respectively, were actually younger daughters of Laban {Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, xxxvi.}. According to Rashi, Zilpah was younger than Bilhah, and Laban's decision to give her to Leah was part of the deception he used to trick Jacob into marrying Leah, who was older than Rachel. The morning after the wedding, Laban explained to Jacob, "This is not done in our place, to give the younger before the older" (Genesis 29:26). But at night, to mask the deception, Laban gave the veiled bride the younger of the handmaids, so Jacob would think that he was really marrying Rachel, the younger of the sisters. Zilpah also figures in the competition between Jacob's wives to bear him sons. Leah stops conceiving after the birth of her fourth son, at which point Rachel offers her handmaid, Bilhah, in marriage to Jacob so she can have more children through her. When Bilhah conceives two sons, Leah takes up the same idea and presents Zilpah as a wife to Jacob. Leah names the two sons of Zilpah and is directly involved in their upbringing. In Jewish tradition, Zilpah is believed to be buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias.

Jacob's Tents

2009-02-09T07:00:00.002-06:00

For more info and pictures go to http://www.bible-architecture.info/Housing.htm

TENTS were used by
* nomadic people, who followed their flocks to pasture and water, and moved around according to the seasons
* semi-nomadic people, who were based in a village but lived part of the year in upper or lower pasture areas.

TWO SEPARATE AREAS
The tents were larger than most modern tents, and had two separate sections.
The front section was used for work. It was the public area of the tent, open to visitors. The men of the family lived here, gathered here with family members or friends, and conducted business here if necessary. The men ate their meals in this area. The front part of the tent would be left open in warm weather.

The second or rear part of the tent was private. A dividing curtain separated it from the front area. It was here that the women, children and babies lived and slept.

MANUFACTURE OF TENTS
These tents were made from goats' hair or dark sheep's wool, woven in rectangular strips on large looms. Women wove the fabric for the tents, stitched them together, and kept them in good repair. They also made the ropes that tethered the tents to the ground. In effect, they were the craftspeople who produced the housing.

SETTING UP THE TENT
They also set up the tents each time the clan/tribe moved to a new site. They selected a suitable site - on hilltops in summer to capture the breeze, and in winter on the leeward side of valleys, just above the base where flash floods could occur. They used wooden mallets and tent pegs they hoisted up and secured the unwieldy tents. When it was time to move on, they took down the tents, folded them and stowed to for the journey. This would seem heavy work to us, but the Hebrew women were sturdy and skilled, and they worked as a group.

OWNERSHIP
Polygamy was the norm in the early period of Hebrew history, at least for the tribal leader. An important man would have a number of wives and concubines - primary and secondary wives depending on their pre-marriage status and background. A woman with a respectable dowry could expect to be a full wife; a servant girl without dowry who married a tribal leader would probably be classed as a concubine.

To accommodate this range of wives, the Hebrews (and other nomadic tribes) used an ingenious system: each woman had her own tent. It was her domain, containing her possessions. In it, she would receive her husband when he cared to visit. She raised her children there and also housed any personal servants she might have. This system did much to avoid rivalry or ill feeling between the various wives.

Mandrakes

2009-02-08T15:08:00.002-06:00

Mandrake is the common name for members of the plant genus Mandragora belonging to the nightshades family (Solanaceae). Because mandrake contains deliriant hallucinogenic tropane alkaloids such as hyoscyamine and the roots sometimes contain bifurcations causing them to resemble human figures, their roots have long been used in magic rituals, today also in neopagan religions such as Wicca and Germanic revivalism religions such as Odinism. All parts of the mandrake plant are poisonous. The plant grows natively in southern and central Europe and in lands around the Mediterranean Sea, as well as on Corsica. By pinching and tying Mandrake roots as they grow, they can grow to look like human forms

In Genesis 30, Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah finds mandrakes in a field. Rachel, Jacob's infertile second wife and Leah's sister, is desirous of the mandrakes and barters with Leah for them. The trade offered by Rachel is for Leah to spend the next night in Jacob's bed. Soon after this, Leah, who had previously had four sons but had been infertile for a long while, became pregnant once more and gave birth to a son. There are classical Jewish commentaries which suggest that mandrakes help barren women to conceive a child.[citation needed]

Mandrake in Hebrew is דודאים (dûdã'im), meaning “love plant”. Among certain Asian cultures, it is believed to ensure conception.[citation needed] Most interpreters hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 ("love plant") and Song of Songs 7:13 ("the mandrakes send out their fragrance"). A number of other plants have been suggested such as blackberries, Zizyphus Lotus, the sidr of the Arabs, the banana, lily, citron, and fig.

And those who remember "Mandrakes" from Harry Potter there is this: According to the legend, when the root is dug up it screams and kills all who hear it. Literature includes complex directions for harvesting a mandrake root in relative safety. For example Josephus (c. 37 AD Jerusalem – c. 100) gives the following directions for pulling it up:A furrow must be dug around the root until its lower part is exposed, then a dog is tied to it, after which the person tying the dog must get away. The dog then endeavours to follow him, and so easily pulls up the root, but dies suddenly instead of his master. After this the root can be handled without fear.

ANCIENT IDOLS

2009-02-06T07:30:00.001-06:00

For more info on Ancient Religions go to http://www.bible-archaeology.info/ancient-religions.htmAfter Joseph was born, Jacob told Rachel and Leah that God had commanded him to return to his homeland of Canaan. They responded that he should do what God told him and they would follow. Jacob prepared to leave and, while Laban was out shearing sheep, Rachel stole Laban’s idols without Jacob’s knowledge. It is not written explicitly why she stole them. Some commentators say it was to prevent Laban from worshipping idols, while others say that the idols actually had some magical power and Rachel did not want them revealing to Laban the way that Jacob traveled. Jacob did not tell Laban that he was leaving. When, three days later, Laban discovered that Jacob was gone and chased after him, he blamed Jacob for stealing his idols. Laban searched the tents of Jacob and his wives, but Rachel hid the idols under a cushion and Laban could not find them. Laban left the next morning and Rachel continued to travel with Jacob.Another source says this: It seems that Rachel in particular was still angry at her father for what he had done to her. Before they set out, she took the small figurines that represented the spirits of ancestors and the protective deities of her father's family (the teraphim), telling no-one at all what she was doing. See BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: ANCIENT RELIGIONS for information about ancient religious beliefs and practices. This was not a random act of malice, for years ago on what should have been her wedding night, Laban had stolen Rachel's happiness. Now she stole something that was precious to him - surreptitious pay-back for a life-time of bullying.

But her act had wider significance than this, because the teraphim were a form of title deed, and the person who possessed them could claim the tribe's wealth. Ownership of the household deities was the prerogative of the head of the family, and by taking them Rachel secured this position for her husband.

The Teraphim
"The teraphim are built according to the forms of men and this form is made [in such a way as] to receive the power of the superior [beings]." (from Idel, "Golem", from a 12th century discussion of biblical teraphim of Lavan.
Teraphim were household gods or domestic idols of the ancient cultures.

These small figures were in the form of men or gods. They were used for worship in the home. The teraphim brought prosperity and good luck, though the practice was considered heathen. Teraphim were called the "givers of prosperity," “guardians of comforts," "nourishers" by the Lares and Penates of the early Hebrews.Some Teraphim were small and portable. They could be stowed away in the pack saddle of a camel, similar to the one the Rachel took. Others were life size. Some may have represented family members. Teraphim may be similar to golem

RACHEL MEETS JACOB AT THE WELL

2009-02-04T07:00:00.002-06:00

Every afternoon, Rachel watered her flock of sheep at a well near Haran, an outpost of the ancient city of Ur. Wells had a practical use, but in story-telling a well could be a symbol of the feminine and of women's power to produce and nurture life. Looked at realistically, they were also places where young men and women could meet their future marriage partners. Wells were often covered with a broad flat stone that cut down on evaporation in the heat. Since it was too large for one man to move, the shepherds who gathered there waited until there was a group of them to move it. On this particular afternoon, a young traveler called Jacob happened to be there as well. He chatted with the shepherds, telling them that his family had originally come from this same area. They pointed towards a woman in the distance, saying she was the daughter of his mother’s brother. While they waited for her to arrive, Jacob observed that it is too early in the day to fold the sheep, a not-very-subtle way of saying they were slacking at their job, but a signal to the reader that Jacob had already developed the work ethic. He did not need a master to tell him what should be done, and would thus be a good provider for the woman who chose him. The text suggests that Rachel may have heard this interchange between Jacob and the shepherds, and been favorably impressed. Rachel Rachel means ‘ewe’, a female sheep, symbol of prosperity and security for a nomadic people.When Jacob saw Rachel at close quarters, he was smitten. In an act of bravado, he removed the great stone single-handed, hoping to impress the young woman. He was successful. The reader is again aware of the sexual symbolism of his action, and knows that removing the lid from the well has shown he is worthy of Rachel’s hand in marriage, and will be her lover and husband. ‘Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban … he went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban. TheN Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud.’

Choosing a Husband in the Old Testament

2009-02-03T13:52:00.001-06:00

Who chose the husband? The whole family joined in the selection of an appropriate husband for a girl, but her wishes were certainly taken into account (Genesis 24:5, 8). Even the feelings of a female war captive were, to some extent, respected; she was given a month to mourn for her lost family before being forcibly married to her captor (Deuteronomy 21:10-14). If it seems strange to us that the choice of a husband was a matter for the whole family to determine, we must remember the young woman was allying herself not only with her husband, but with his whole family too. The couple would not form a nuclear family in the modern sense, for these were virtually unknown in ancient society, but become part of a larger family. Thus the girl’s family had to be sure that she was marrying someone whose family and way of life would be compatible with hers. She would probably be living and working with these people for the rest of her life.

The qualities of an ideal husband
* The qualities that a Jewish woman looked for in a husband were:

* someone a few years older than herself, and of the same social standing

* a student of the Hebrew Scriptures, for scholarship meant that a man was intelligent, prepared to work, and able to reason and think

* someone possessing enough money and goods to be able to give her status, comfort and security

* someone whose family was reputable, with no scandal or bad blood associated with his family

* someone physically attractive, because Jews believed that a happy sex life was one of the greatest gifts God gave to a married couple.

The qualities of an ideal wife
The qualities that a Jewish man looked for in a wife were:

* Jewish descent, because transmission of ‘Jewishness’ was through the Jewish mother

* someone from a respectable family, since family characteristics could be transmitted to succeeding generations

* the daughter of a man who was learned and had studied

* a girl about the same age as the man or younger

* someone known for her good sense, good behavior and kindliness

* if possible, someone who was physically beautiful, but an intelligent mind and a cheerful personality were in the long run even more important.

A Jewish family tried to provide each daughter with a dowry, which was property handed over by her family at the time of her marriage, and afterwards owned by the wife. It was her share of the family inheritance, enough to act as an income for her should she be abandoned or widowed. Whether there was sufficient to do this for every woman, we do not know.

In neighboring Mesopotamia, the dowry could be inherited only by the woman’s sons, not by any of her husband’s family. This was a precaution against the dowry being used to enrich the husband’s family. Much of Jewish law is based on Mesopotamian law, so Jewish families probably had a similar practice regarding dowries.

In some cases, a bride-price was expected. This was compensation paid to the bride's family for the loss of their daughter and the services she could have provided to her family, had she remained with them. The bride-price was paid by the groom's family. Naturally, the amount depended on the wealth and status of the family.

Major Events in a Woman's Life in the Old Testament

2009-02-02T07:00:00.001-06:00

PUBERTY AND MENSTRUATION Further reading at: http://www.womeninthebible.net/3.2.Major_Events.htm When a Jewish girl reached the age of puberty, she was called, in Hebrew, betulah. This word defined her as an adolescent girl who had reached puberty but not yet given birth to her first child. It is sometimes translated as ‘virgin’, but in fact it related more to her age group than her physical state.

She probably began to menstruate at about 10-12 years of age. The onset of menstruation was celebrated, because it showed that the girl had passed from childhood into womanhood.
At puberty she was introduced to the special customs that Jewish women followed, particularly those relating to menstruation.

During her menstrual period, a Jewish woman was relieved of many of her normal duties. She was not required to draw and carry water from the well. She did not have to serve food to members of the family. She did not have to go to the marketplace. She did not have sexual intercourse. The days of her menstrual period were regarded as a time out, a time for herself. On these days, relieved of a number of her duties, she had time to think and rest.

Special rules guarded her privacy and rest at this time. They were called the ‘purity laws’. These laws made it impossible for members of her family to demand that she do her normal tasks. There were purity laws for men as well: men washed themselves and changed their clothes whenever they had a sexual emission.

After her menstrual cycle, a woman was required to bathe herself from head to toe in a special pool of clean water, called a mikveh. Each small community would have its mikveh, and towns and cities had large numbers of them, some public, some private. The mikveh pool had to be designed and built a special way, so that it had

* enough headroom under water to allow complete immersion

* a supplementary tank for gathering clean rain water

* a small pool at the entrance for washing hair, hands and feet before entering the main pool (in 2 Samuel 11:1-5 Bathsheba is bathing herself after her monthly period when David sees her; for short biographies of both these people see BIBLE MEN AND WOMEN).

The purpose of the monthly bathing in the mikveh was for physical and spiritual cleanliness. The washing of the body was a tangible way for a woman to renew herself, refreshing mental, emotional and physical energies. It was a ritual that periodically gave a woman the feeling of a fresh start.

The rules of ritual cleanliness meant that most people were obliged to wash themselves, wash their clothes, and put on clean clothes at frequent intervals.

There is no doubt that the hygiene that resulted from the purity laws was beneficial to the health of the whole population. Where mothers maintain personal cleanliness, there is much less infant mortality, and so the cleanliness of Jewish women benefited the whole population.
It is difficult to say whether the laws regarding cleanliness arose from a conscious connection between cleanliness and good health, or an intuitive one. Indeed, Jews at the time (and now) would state that the ritual purity laws were obeyed not for their logic but because they were part of being a Jew.

Bible Art Gallery

2009-01-30T08:00:00.003-06:00

Here are some wonderful pieces depicting Rebecca's story, I encourage you to go to the site below and look at how artists have interpreted this story throughout the years. http://www.bible-art.info/Rebecca.htm

Jacob's Ladder

2009-01-29T15:50:00.001-06:00

Traditional interpretations!
The Jewish Biblical philosopher Philo (d. ca. 50 CE) presents his allegorical interpretation of the ladder in the first book of his De somniis. There he gives four mutually non-exclusive interpretations: (1) The angels represent souls descending to and ascending from bodies — Philo's clearest reference to the doctrine of reincarnation. (2) In the second interpretation the ladder is the human soul and the angels are God's logoi, pulling the soul up in distress and condescending in compassion. (3) In the third view the dream depicts the ups and downs of the life of the "practiser" (of virtue), and (4) in the last one the question is about the continually changing affairs of men.

The classic Torah commentaries offer several interpretations of Jacob's ladder:

According to the Midrash, the ladder signified the exiles which the Jewish people would suffer before the coming of the Messiah. First the angel representing the 70-year exile of Babylonia climbed "up" 70 rungs, and then fell "down". Then the angel representing the exile of Persia went up a number of steps, and fell, as did the angel representing the exile of Greece. Only the fourth angel, which represented the final exile of Rome/Edom (whose guardian angel was Esau himself), kept climbing higher and higher into the clouds. Jacob feared that his children would never be free of Esau's domination, but God assured him that at the End of Days, Edom too would come falling down.
Another interpretation of the ladder keys into the fact that the angels first "ascended" and then "descended." The Midrash explains that Jacob, as a holy man, was always accompanied by angels. When he reached the border of the land of Canaan (the future land of Israel), the angels who were assigned to the Holy Land went back up to Heaven and the angels assigned to other lands came down to meet Jacob. When Jacob returned to Canaan (Genesis 32:2–4), he was greeted by the angels who were assigned to the Holy Land.
The place at which Jacob stopped for the night was in reality Mount Moriah, the future home of the Temple in Jerusalem. The ladder therefore signifies the "bridge" between Heaven and earth, as prayers and sacrifices offered in the Holy Temple soldered a connection between God and the Jewish people. Moreover, the ladder alludes to the Giving of the Torah as another connection between heaven and earth. The Hebrew word for ladder, sulam — סלם — and the name for the mountain on which the Torah was given, Sinai — סיני — have the same gematria (numerical value of the letters).

Isaac compared to Jesus

2009-01-28T11:54:00.003-06:00

ISAAC JESUS
Only begotten Son Genesis 22:2 John 3:16
Offered on a mountain, hill Genesis 22:2 Matt. 21:10
Took donkey to place of sacrifice Genesis 22:3 Matt. 21:2-11
Two men went with him. Genesis 22:3 Mark 15:27;
Three day journey/in the grave Genesis 22:4 Luke 24:13-21
Carrying wood on his back up hill Genesis 22:6 John 19:17
God provides for Himself the lamb Genesis 22:8 John 1:29
Son was offered on the wood Genesis 22:9 Luke 23:33
Ram in thicket of thorns Genesis 22:13 John 19:2
The seed will be multiplied Genesis 22:17 John 1:12;
Abraham went down,Son sat down Genesis 22:19 Luke 23:46 Heb. 1:3
Servant gets bride for son Genesis 24:1-4 Eph. 5:22-32;
Rev.21:2,9; 2:17
The bride was a beautiful virgin Genesis 24:162 Cor. 11:2
Servant offered ten gifts Genesis 24:10 Rom. 6:23;12
1Cor. 12

Rebekah: To veil or not to veil?

2009-01-05T16:48:00.006-06:00

The first recorded instance of veiling for women is recorded in an Assyrian legal text from the 13th century BCE, which restricted its use to noble women and forbade prostitutes and common women from adopting it. Greek texts have also spoken of veiling and seclusion being practiced among the Persian elite. Statues fromPersepolis depict women both veiled and unveiled, and it seems to be regarded as an attribute of higher status.
For many centuries, until around 1175,Anglo Saxon and then Anglo Norman women, with the exception of young unmarried girls, wore veils that entirely covered their hair, and often their necks up to their chins (i.e. wimple). Only in the Tudor period (1485), when hoods became increasingly popular, did veils of this type become less common.
For centuries, women have worn sheer veils, but only under certain circumstances. Sometimes a veil of this type was draped over and pinned to the bonnet or hat of a woman in mourning, especially at the funeral and during the subsequent period of "high mourning". They would also have been used, as an alternative to a mask, as a simple method of hiding the identity of a woman who was traveling to meet a lover, or doing anything she didn't want other people to find out about. More pragmatically, veils were also sometimes worn to protect the complexion from sun and wind damage (when un-tanned skin was fashionable), or to keep dust out of a woman's face, much as the keffiyeh is used today.

What do we learn about Rebekah, Laban, Isaac, and the ancient world from Genesis 24:1-25:38?

Through an Artists Eyes

2008-12-09T09:07:00.008-06:00

It is amazing to me the beauty and often horror portrayed through artist renderings of Biblical text. Some are pictures right before the sacrifice, but most tackle the tough image of that very moment when God sends an angel to stop Abraham. I am fascinated with artists' choices. A modern Abraham, or perhaps what one might think he looked like "back then". I hope you enjoy these pictures, but more importantly I hope you grasp that this was a prophesy. The foretelling of a man, who like Isaac, would one day carry wood up a hill on his back. Headed for sacrifice. But this time the Lamb of God which would be provided, would be the same man who willing went to his death so we might live.

The fascination of Sarah and Hagar

2008-11-03T16:52:00.009-06:00

Why are these two women so fascinating? U.S. News and World Report attempts to answer that very question. Below is a secular look at what we find Biblically fascinating! Find out what "The World" is saying about these two women.

Why Scholars Just Can't Stop Talking About Sarah and Hagar
Dueling mothers
By Julia M. Klein
Posted January 25, 2008
Surrogate motherhood. The Arab-Israeli conflict. The oppression of the underclass. Sounds like a roundup of headlines from the nightly news—if the media were in full swing back in biblical days. All of these timely issues can be found in the twist-and-turn-filled story of Sarah and her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar. According to the biblical account, both women bear a son for the patriarch Abraham. From that starting point, scholars have gone on to explore varying (and sometimes contradictory) layers of meaning in this classic tale of family rivalry. "On one level, this is the first example of surrogate motherhood," says Naomi Steinberg, associate professor of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago and author of Kinship and Marriage in Genesis (Fortress Press, 1993). Hagar, a slave, is never asked to consent to bearing a child, so the narrative, Steinberg says, raises the timeless issue of "upper classes exploiting those with fewer options."

While Jews traditionally see themselves as descendants of Isaac, Sarah's son, Arabs and Muslims trace their lineage to Hagar and Ishmael. African-Americans have appropriated Hagar, impregnated by her master and cast out into the desert, as a symbol of the plight of the slave woman. Feminist scholars say the story reflects the male-dominated societies of the times—or that it misrepresents the cooperative relationships that more likely existed among women.

For complete article go to http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/religion/2008/01/25/why-scholars-just-cant-stop-talking-about-sarah-and-hagar.html?PageNr=1

Says Abraham to Sarah

2008-11-03T15:49:00.001-06:00

ABRAHAM TO SARAH (From Brad Walton's Blog http://apodyterion.blogspot.com/)

That night, beneath the scrolls of vines
In Haran, when I took my ease,
And watched the heavens turn the signs,
And heard him on the camphor breeze

As he foretold in fire and love
A land and people set apart,
I prized no promises above
The bare avowal of his heart.

This oak tree is the fathomless
And alien mind on which I lean;
My wanderings, the restlessness
Of contemplating the unseen;

My detours, the delirium
Of a forgetful, faithless worm;
Your ridicule, a martydom;
My sole rejoinder, to stand firm.

Why take for faith the desert-blown
Disclosure of a chance so slim?
To take his vision for my own,
Is intimate embrace with him,

Just as, dear Sarah, loving you,
When I behold the day star rise,
I see and love to see it through
Your eyes, because they are your eyes.

These Sandals Were Made For Walking..Genesis 12

2008-10-23T20:24:00.003-05:00

Abraham accepted a call from God. We stand amazed at his readiness to go especially when we see how far he had to travel by foot. How many of us would be willing to answer such an unknown and grueling call?

What's all the Babel About?

2008-10-08T10:20:00.003-05:00

The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מגדל בבל‎ Migdal Bavel Arabic: برج بابل‎ Burj Babil) is a structure featured in chapter 11 of the Book of Genesis , an enormous tower intended as the crowning achievement of the city of Babilu, the Akkadian name for Babylon. According to the biblical account, Babel was a city that united humanity, all speaking a single language and migrating from the east; it was the home city of the great king Nimrod and the first city to be built after the Great Flood. The people decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have "its top in the heavens." (וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם). However, the Tower of Babel was not built for the worship and praise of God, but was dedicated to the glory of man, with a motive of making a 'name' for the builders "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'" - Genesis 11:4. God seeing what the people were doing, gave each person a different language to confuse them and scattered the people throughout the earth.
Babel is the Hebrew equivalent of Akkadian Babilu (Greek Babylon), a cosmopolitan city typified by a confusion of languages.[1] The Tower of Babel has often been associated with known structures, notably the Etemenanki, http://www.livius.org/es-ez/etemenanki/etemenanki.html the ziggurat http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ziggurats/explore/exp_set.html toMarduk, by Nabopolassar 610s BCA Sumerian story with some similar elements is preserved in Enmerkar and the Lordor Aratta.

The Nephilim

2008-10-07T15:20:00.002-05:00

The information collected below is from a variety of sources. It is meant to give you insight from a variety of collected data and is not intended to reflect a personal endorsement or an endorsement from St. Andrew's

The Nephilim were an antediluvian race (pre-flood) race which are referred to in the Bible as giants. They were reportedly the children born from the "daughters of men'', and the "Sons of God''. It is most important to note that they are mentioned almost simultaneous to God's statement that He would destroy the earth by flood, and it seems from this association that their affect upon mankind was one of the primary justifications that brought the destruction. Genesis 6:1-71 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. 5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." NIVThe Sons of God
Nobody knows what the ''Sons of God'' were, but the most obvious interpretation is that the Nephilim were a hybrid race between two distinct but sexually compatible beings. Many believe the ''Sons of God'' were fallen angels who corrupted mankind. The ''Sons of God''' are clearly distinguished from the daughters of men. This suggests the ''Sons of God'' were either not born on earth or simply righteous men as opposed to earthly. We can only speculate, but as angels are not biological organisms, they are not likely to be reproductively compatible with humans.
Another logical interpretation for the ''Sons of God'' is they were other created men. It is largely assumed that Adam and Eve were the only humans created in the beginning, but the Bible does not describe every person on earth, nor even everyone that was important to God. Only key individuals or situations are included within the text, and we can not say with certainty that God only created one pair of humans.
The phrase "sons of God" used in Genesis 6 is “bene elohim”, which used apparently only three other times in Scripture and in each of the other cases it is found in the book of Job which is accepted as one of the most ancient books written. Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7.
Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
And Also Afterward
In Genesis 6:4 it is said the Nephilim were on the Earth in those days - and also afterward. This seems to clearly imply that the Nephilim were also on the Earth after the flood of Noah. Although the Nephilim are only mentioned one other time in scripture after Genesis 6, during a false report brought back to Moses by the explorers of Canaan, this reference would suggest that the Israelites were familiar with the Nephilim.Numbers 13:30-3330 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." NIV
The Nephilim

"The Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." - Genesis 6:2
"Some commentators believe that the expression 'sons of God' refers to the 'godly line' of Seth, and 'daughters of men' to women from the line of Cain." - Commentary on the Living Bible
"The Book of Giants was another literary work concerned with Enoch, widely read (after translation into the appropriate languages) in the Roman empire....The 'giants' were believed to be the offspring of fallen angels (the Nephilim; also called Watchers) and human women." - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
In The Book of Giants (i.e., 4Q531, 6Q8 Frag. 2 and 4Q530 Col. 2), "the name of one of the giants is Gilgamesh, the Babylonian hero and subject of a great epic written in the third third millennium B.C.E." - Michael Wise, Martin Abegg, Jr., and Edward Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (1996) p. 247
The root of Nephilim is nephel which means: "untimely birth, abortion, miscarriage". The Biblical tradition says the Nephilim were on the earth before the Flood and afterwards. "The Nefilim were upon the Earth in those days and thereafter too. Those sons of the gods who cohabited with the daughters of the Adam, and they bore children into them. They were the Mighty Ones of Eternity, the People of the Shem." - Genesis 6:4
"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they; bare children unto them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." - Genesis 6:4 (King Jame's version)
"Megalithic monuments, found by the Hebrews on their arrival in Canaan, will have encouraged legends about giants; as in Greece, where the monstrous man-eating Cyclopes were said by story-tellers ignorant of ramps, levers and other Mycenaean engineering devices, to have lifted single- handed the huge blocks of stone that form the walls of Tiryns, Mycenae and other ancient cities."

Working replica of the ark

2008-10-01T15:38:00.000-05:00

Reckoning by the old biblical measurements, Johan's fully functional ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. "The design is by my wife, Bianca," Huibers said. "She didn't really want me to do this at all, but she said if you're going to anyway, it should look like this." A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine - biblical scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been. Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005. (To see more pictures go to http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/netherland-ark)
On the uncovered top deck - not quite ready in time for the opening - will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats. And one camel. Visitors on the first day were stunned. "It's past comprehension," said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape. "I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big." In fact, Noah's Ark as described in the Bible was five times larger than Johan's Ark. But that still leaves enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater, where kids can watch the segment of the Disney film "Fantasia" that tells the story of Noah. Another exhibit shows water cascading down on a model of the Ark. Exhibits on the third level show ancient tools and old-fashioned barrels, exotic stuffed animals, and a wax model of an exhausted Noah reclining on a bed in the forecastle. Genesis says Noah kept seven pairs of most domesticated animals and one breeding pair of all other creatures, plus his wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law together on the boat for almost a year while the world was deluged.
Perhaps it was only logical that the replica project would be the brainchild of a Dutchman: fear of floods are ingrained in the country's collective consciousness by its water-drenched history. Lois Poppema, visiting from California, said she thought the Netherlands was exactly the right place for an ark.
"Just a few weeks ago we saw Al Gore on television .. saying that all Holland will be flooded" due to rising sea levels, she said. "I don't think the man who made this ever expected that global warning will become (such an important) issue - and suddenly having the ark would be meaningful in the middle of Holland." Under sunny clear skies Saturday, Huibers said he wasn't worried about another biblical flood, since according to Genesis, the rainbow is the sign of God's promise never to flood the world again. But he does worry that recent events such as the flooding of New Orleans could be seen as a portent of the end of time. Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where churchgoing has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years. He also plans to visit major cities in Belgium and Germany.

Adam's first wife Lilith...

2008-09-27T14:30:00.002-05:00

There is a tradition that Adam had a wife before Eve named Lilith. If nothing else this story should render some conversation :) ALERT: THIS ANCIENT STORY DOES NOT REPRESENT THE THEOLOGICAL BELIEFS OF ST. ANDREW'S NOR SHOULD IT BE MISTAKEN FOR BIBLICAL TRUTH.

The Alphabet of Ben Sira is the earliest form we know of the Lilith legend familiar to most people (that is, to most people who are familiar with Lilith at all). It is here that we find Lilith as Adam's first wife. Scholars tend to date the Alphabet between the 8th and 10th centuries, CE. Whether the story itself is older, or, if so, how much older is not possible to say. Amulets like the one described in the first paragraph are, of course, much older. The author of the Zohar, R. Moses de Leon, was aware of the Alphabet's version of Lilith, at least according to Gershom Scholem (Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, p. 174), but he also knows other, probably older, Lilith traditions which do not mesh well with this one. No attempt is made, apparently, to harmonize them. For one of these other traditions, and comments on whether the author was familiar with the Alphabet, see Treatise on the Left Emanation. The idea of Eve having a predecessor is also not new to Ben Sira, and can be found in Genesis Rabbah . But those traditions make no mention of Lilith, and, in fact, do not mesh well with Ben Sira's version of the story. [AH]Soon afterward the young son of the king took ill, Said Nebuchadnezzar, "Heal my son. If you don't, I will kill you." Ben Sira immediately sat down and wrote an amulet with the Holy Name, and he inscribed on it the angels in charge of medicine by their names, forms and images, and by their wings, hands, and feet. Nebuchadnezzar looked at the amulet. "Who are these?"
"The angles who are in charge of medicine: Snvi, Snsvi, and Smnglof. After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone' (Gen. 2:18). He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other in as much as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angles to bring her back.
"Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, fine. If not she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.'
"'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.'
"When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels' names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers."

Historical (though not Biblical) info on Satan

2008-09-24T10:26:00.000-05:00

[The Revolt of Satan, and the Battle in Heaven.] And when the prince of the lower order of angels saw what great majesty had been given unto Adam, he was jealous of him from that day, and he did not wish to worship him. And he said unto his hosts, "Ye shall not worship him, and ye shall not praise him with the angels. It is meet that ye should worship me, because I am fire and spirit; and not that I should worship a thing of dust, which hath been fashioned of fine dust." And the Rebel meditating these things [Fol. 5b, col. 2] would not render obedience to God, and of his own free will he asserted his independence and separated himself from God. But he was - swept away out of heaven and fell, and the fall of himself and of all his company from heaven took place on the "Sâtânâ" because he turned aside [from the right way], and "Shêdâ" because he was cast out, and "Daiwâ" because he lost the apparel of his glory. And behold, from that time until the present day, he and all his hosts have been stripped of their apparel, and they go naked and have horrible faces. And when Sâtânâ was cast out from heaven, Adam was raised up so that he might ascend to Paradise in a chariot of fire And the angels went before him, singing praises, and the Seraphim ascribed holiness unto him, and the Cherubim ascribed blessing; and amid cries of joy and praises Adam went into [Fol. 6a, col. I] Paradise. And as soon as Adam entered Paradise he was commanded not to eat of a [certain] tree; his entrance into heaven took place at the third hour of the Eve of the Sabbath (i.e. on Friday morning).

[Satan's Attack on Adam and Eve.] And when Satan saw that Adam and Eve were happy and joyful in Paradise, that Rebel was smitten sorely with jealousy, and he became filled with wrath. and he went and took up his abode in the serpent, and he raised him up, and made him to fly through the air to the skirts of Mount [Eden] whereon was Paradise [Fol. 6b, col. 2]. Now why did Satan enter the body of the serpent and hide himself therein? Because he knew that his appearance was foul, and that if Eve saw his form, she would betake herself to flight straightway before him. Now, the man who wished to teach the Greek language to a bird --now the bird that can learn the speech of men is called "babbaghah" (i.e. parrot)--first bringeth a large mirror and placeth between himself and the bird. He then beginneth to talk to the bird, and immediately the parrot heareth the voice of the man, it turneth round, and when it seeth its own form [reflected] in the mirror; it becometh pleased straightway, because it imagineth that a fellow parrot is talking to it Then it inclineth its ear with pleasure, and listeneth to the words of the man who is talking to it, and it becometh eager to learn, and to speak Greek. In this manner (i.e. with the object of making Eve believe that it was the serpent that spoke to her) did Satan enter in and dwell in the serpent, and he watched for the opportunity, and [when] he saw Eve by herself [Fol. 7a, col. I], he called her by her name. And when she turned round towards him, she saw her own form [reflected] in him, and she talked to him; and Satan led her astray with his lying words, because the nature of woman is soft (or, yielding). And when Eve had heard from him concerning that tree, straightway she ran quickly to it, and she plucked the fruit of disobedience from the tree of transgression of the command, and she ate. Then immediately she found herself stripped naked, and she saw the hatefulness of her shame, and she ran away naked, and hid herself in another tree, and covered her nakedness with the leaves thereof. And she cried out to Adam, and he came to her, and she handed to him some of the fruit of which she had eaten, and he also did eat thereof. And when he had eaten he also became naked, and he and Eve made girdles for their loins of the leaves of the fig-trees; and they were arrayed in these girdles of ignominy for three [Fol. 7a, col. 2] hours. At mid-day they received [their] sentence of doom. And God made for them tunics of skin which was stripped from the trees, that is to say, of the bark of the trees, because the trees that were in Paradise had soft barks, and they were softer than the byssus and silk wherefrom the garments worn by kings are made. And God dressed them in this soft skin, which was thus spread over a body of infirmities.

Lilleth:

For more read from The Cave of Treasures http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/anderson/retellings/Cave.html#div1.2.8

Creation through artists' eyes

2008-09-16T16:22:00.004-05:00

There are lots of stories floating around about the relationship between Michelangelo and Pope Julius II. From my understanding Michelangelo refused the commission because he saw himself as a sculpture not a painter. Also I believe that Michelangelo was lacking faith in the ruling of Pope Julius II. But Michelangelo really had no choice but to paint the ceiling when the Pope threatened to excommunicate Michelangelo and the members of his family from the Church. This was not a possibility. So Michelangelo went to Vatican City. There are some elements in the fresco that I see as Michelangelo's way of getting back at the Pope.. eg: There is a very impressive image of God's behind in the panel depicting the creation of the Sun and the Moon. It seemd to me that Michelangelo painted God's bum to make the Pope angry see http://www.wga.hu/tours/sistina/index1.html There is also a part of the the pannel of the Expulsion of Adam and Eve the part that you dont usually see where Adam and Eve seem to be in an uncompromising position when God comes to visit them. (I think that the apple taught them a little more then God thought)http://www.wga.hu/tours/sistina/index1.html I know that this part of the bible (Creation) was very important to many people. The reasoning for having all of these paintings on the walls was to help tell the stories. They were used as reference points for the Pope in his sermons. The creation is the start of the family line that leads to David. Which Mary is a part of..That is why she is most often painted with lions around her. In the below link Campin has placed lions on the corners of the bench that she sits on. http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Christmas_Story/annunc.html for research, I have found that the Art Bulletin has been very helpfull. (It just takes a long time looking through indexes to find the right topic) http://www.collegeart.org/caa/publications/AB/artbulletin.html

Workbooks Are In!

2008-08-27T15:28:00.006-05:00

Hello Everyone, I picked up the books yesterday (Tuesday August 26) and they look great! I am very excited to start our quest on, Encountering God through Genesis this year! This blog is for everyone who is studying Genesis with BSC during the year. The leaders all have the ability to post, and everyone can comment. Keep praying for a great year!