At the point of His spear

I was reading an article in my church newsletter a few weeks ago. When I came to the bottom and read “In His Hands,” I thought back to a friend who used to sign her notes and emails “In His Grip.”

Suddenly the Lord spoke clearly to me and said, “At the point of His spear.”

I realized – that’s what we are, and that’s what prayer is. The point of God’s spear to overcome the power of the enemy, no matter what form it takes. And whether the prayer is in the mouth of us adults or in the mouth of children, it’s God’s weapon to bring success.

Coins from Era of Biblical Joseph Found in Egypt

MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) Special Dispatch – No. 2561 September 24, 2009

According to a report in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, by Wajih Al-Saqqar, archeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name and image of the Biblical Joseph. Following are excerpts from the article:

“Koranic Verses Indicate Clearly That Coins Were Used in Egypt in the Time of Joseph.” “In an unprecedented find, a group of Egyptian researchers and archeologists has discovered a cache of coins from the time of the Pharaohs. Its importance lies in the fact that it provides decisive scientific evidence disproving the claim by some historians that the ancient Egyptians were unfamiliar with coins and conducted their trade through barter.

“The researchers discovered the coins when they sifted through thousands of small archeological artifacts stored in [the vaults of] the Museum of Egypt. [Initially] they took them for charms, but a thorough examination revealed that the coins bore the year in which they were minted and their value, or effigies of the pharaohs [who ruled] at the time of their minting. Some of the coins are from the time when Joseph lived in Egypt, and bear his name and portrait.

“There used to be a misconception that trade [in Ancient Egypt] was conducted through barter, and that Egyptian wheat, for example, was traded for other goods. But surprisingly, Koranic verses indicate clearly that coins were used in Egypt in the time of Joseph.

“Research team head Dr. Sa’id Muhammad Thabet said that during his archeological research on the Prophet Joseph, he had discovered in the vaults of the [Egyptian] Antiquities Authority and of the National Museum many charms from various eras before and after the period of Joseph, including one that bore his effigy as the minister of the treasury in the Egyptian pharaoh’s court…

“Dr. Sa’id Thabet added that he had examined the sarcophagi of many pharaohs in search of coins used as charms or ornaments, and that he had indeed found such ancient Egyptian coins. This [find] prompted researchers to seek and find Koranic verses that speak of coins used in ancient Egypt, [such as]: ‘And they sold him [i.e. Joseph] for a low price, a number of silver coins; and they attached no value to him. [Koran 12:20].’ [Also,] Qarun [2] says about his money: ‘This has been given to me because of a certain knowledge which I have [Koran 28: 78].’”

“Studies… Have Revealed That What Most Archeologists Took For a Kind of Charm, and Others Took For an Ornament… is Actually a Coin”

“According to Dr. Thabet, his studies are based on publications about the Third Dynasty, one of which states that the Egyptian coin of the time was called a deben and was worth one-fourth of a gram of gold. This coin is mentioned in a letter by a man named Thot-Nehet, a royal inspector of the Nile bridges. In letters to his son, he mentioned leasing lands in return for deben-coins and agricultural produce.

“Other texts from the time of the Third Dynasty, the Sixth Dynasty and the Twelfth Dynasty mention a coin named shati or sat, whose value was equal to that of the deben. There is also a picture of an Egyptian market showing trade being conducted through barter, but one of the vendors puts out his hand, asking the buyer for a deben in return for the goods.

“Studies by Dr. Thabet’s team have revealed that what most archeologists took for a kind of charm, and others took for an ornament or adornment, is actually a coin. Several [facts led them to this conclusion]: first, [the fact that] many such coins have been found at various [archeological sites], and also [the fact that] they are round or oval in shape, and have two faces: one with an inscription, called the inscribed face, and one with an image, called the engraved face – just like the coins we use today.

“The archeological finding is also based on the fact that the inscribed face bore the name of Egypt, a date, and a value, while the engraved face bore the name and image of one of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs or gods, or else a symbol connected with these. Another telling fact is that the coins come in different sizes and are made of different materials, including ivory, precious stones, copper, silver, gold, etc.”

“500 of These Coins Were [Recently] Discovered in the Museum of Egypt – Where They Were [Originally] Classified as Charms and Stored Carelessly in Closed Boxes”

“The researcher also pointed out that the coins made of precious metals or stones usually had a hole in them, like a woman’s ornament, allowing them to be [worn] around the neck or on the chest. Some of them, which bore images of gods and texts from various prayers or incantations, were treasured belongings that were placed into the bindings of mummies or placed [on the chest, close to] the heart. The coins were scarab-shaped. What made the discovery possible was the fact that 500 of these coins were [recently] discovered in the Museum of Egypt, where they were [originally] classified as charms and stored carelessly in closed boxes.”

“One Coin… [Had] an Image of a Cow Symbolizing Pharaoh’s Dream about the Seven Fat Cows and Seven Lean Cows”

“The researcher identified coins from many different periods, including coins that bore special markings identifying them as being from the era of Joseph. Among these, there was one coin that had an inscription on it, and an image of a cow symbolizing Pharaoh’s dream about the seven fat cows and seven lean cows, and the seven green stalks of grain and seven dry stalks of grain. It was found that the inscriptions of this early period were usually simple, since writing was still in its early stages, and consequently there was difficulty in deciphering the writing on these coins. But the research team [managed to] translate [the writing on the coin] by comparing it to the earliest known hieroglyphic texts…

“Joseph’s name appears twice on this coin, written in hieroglyphs: once the original name, Joseph, and once his Egyptian name, Saba Sabani, which was given to him by Pharaoh when he became treasurer. There is also an image of Joseph, who was part of the Egyptian administration at the time.

“Dr. Sa’id Thabet called on Egypt’s Antiquities Council and on the Minister of Culture to intensify efforts in the fields of Ancient Egyptian history and archeology, and to [promote] the research of these coins that bear the name of Egyptian pharaohs and gods. This, he said, would enable the correction of prevalent misconceptions regarding the history of Ancient Egypt.”

A few good men

A few good men, that’s what he needed.

Gideon was the least of the least of his family. At least that’s the way he thought of himself. A descendant of the patriarch Joseph through the eldest son Manasseh, you’d think Gideon’s family would be doing well. But instead, when it came time for the family blessings to be handed out, Joseph’s younger son Ephraim had gotten it instead. By the time Gideon’s generation came along, his family was fairly well impoverished.

But then, at this particular time in Israel’s history, the whole nation was impoverished. (Read Judges chapters 6 and 7 for the story.)

Raiders, Midianite marauders from the other side of the Jordan River would wait until Israel’s crops were mature, then come in and steal everything. They would move in with their camels and their tents, take whatever they wanted and when it was used up they would move out again. There were so many of them, just their camels were “as the sand by the seaside for multitude.” (Jdg. 7:12)

The Lord picked Gideon, the least likely choice, to put a stop to the Midianite raids. And one of the fascinating facts in this story is the way he went about it.

Gideon started out with 32,000 men, a good sized army. But God said it was too many – they would take the credit themselves. He told Gideon to send those who were fearful back home, leaving 10,000.

That was still a fair number. But God said, it’s still too many. He gave Gideon a method by which to choose who should stay and fight, and who should go back home.

Men who drank water by kneeling and bending over to drink directly from the water had to go home. Men who drank by cupping their hands and bringing water to their lips, could stay. In the end, only 300 could stay.

Why make this distinction? It’s a question of wisdom. Common sense. Strategy.

If you’re drinking from a cupped hand, you can see what’s around you. You can see if someone is coming. You can hold a sword in the other hand, and you can stand, walk, run and fight.

If you’re kneeling and face down in the water, you can’t see anything around you. Your back is exposed. Both hands are on the ground supporting your body weight while you bend over to the water. You can’t hold a sword. You can’t stand, walk, run or fight, at least not until you get back up. By then an enemy could have killed you.

Wisdom, common sense, strategy. Gideon took those few, those 300 men and totally defeated the marauding enemy. Of course, they were so few, they had to use God’s tactics as well as his strategy. That’s a fascinating story all by itself.

Side note:

I’m sure you know the difference between strategy and tactics. Derived from the Greek strategos, military strategy deals with the planning and conduct of campaigns, the movement and disposition of forces, and the deception of the enemy.

Tactics, on the other hand, are specific techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle.

Choosing the few, the wisest 300 was strategy. Having them break pitchers and blow trumpets at the enemy instead of fighting with swords? That was tactics. God is excellent at both.

In the times we live in today, I think God is looking again for a few good men. And women…

Sheepfold

Some of us are snoopy. Curious. We poke into things, eavesdrop, not from any perverse motives, we just want to know. The apostles were a bit like that too.

“Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3)

Jesus answered, “Watch out that no one deceives you… you will hear of wars and rumors of wars… nation will rise against nation… there will be famines, and earthquakes… many will turn away from the faith… many false prophets will appear and deceive many people…” (24:4-11)

“There will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be equaled again.” (24:21)

The apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts. 1:6)

That wasn’t any of their business, Jesus said – more tactfully, of course. “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” (1:7)

The other day I was re-reading these verses, meditating about how things look in the world today. A lot of the front-page news sounds a lot like those verses in Matthew. I asked the Lord a question that I didn’t really expect an answer to, “When is all this going to happen, really?”

I knew Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Okay, I have no way of knowing when the gospel has been preached in the whole world. Nobody does. I was just being my normal snoopy self, asking a question I expected the Holy Spirit to ignore.

But he didn’t ignore it – he answered it. “When the last sheep is in the fold.” But when he said that, he didn’t show me a mental image of sheep, but a mental image of warriors. Suddenly I knew that God is assembling an invasion force in heaven (see http://www.speakingofheaven.wordpress.com). He knows when the last person on earth who will accept his invitation by his deadline has done so. His deadline is described in Matthew 24:14.

I don’t need to know that date, I just need to be ready by that date.

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit – and us –

The other day I was lying down, not watching television or reading a book, just thinking about various things, and asked myself a question. Why am I here?

Meaning, why am I doing volunteer work, writing for a missions organization. Why am I writing blogs. Why am I writing, period. And the larger question not articulated – why am I still here on earth, not in heaven.

I wasn’t really praying so I didn’t expect the Holy Spirit to answer that question. But he surprised me. He instantly answered, as is his usual style when I pray. “Because it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to me.”

That sounded like a Bible verse so I dragged out my Strong’s Concordance, laying it on the bed. I found the reference, turned to it in the Bible I keep on the night stand and read the passage. It’s from Acts 15:28, part of a letter the apostles wrote to Gentile believers.

I laid the Bible on my dresser, still open to that page, then lay back down and let that phrase roll around in my mind, not asking any more questions, just thinking.

Part of that phrase seemed odd to me: “to the Holy Spirit and us.” And us? As if US had any choice in the matter?

The Holy Spirit began to expound on his choice of an answer to my question.

We all have a choice in the matter. We can refuse any of Father God’s requests. Any of his offers. Any of his assignments. Many people do.

We’re not robots, despite some theology about God’s sovereignty. Of course, if we think he will just give up and go away, we’re badly mistaken. He’s very persuasive and very persistent. He won’t give up easy.

He’d like us to go his way without all the messy complications we tend to create for ourselves. If we continually decline, however, he will eventually let us go our own way. We’ll suffer the consequences – not punishment, just consequences. I did, for a while.

I remember the day he told me, “You’ll be a teacher.” It was a simple statement of fact made in a clear, quiet voice. I was in the first grade, sitting in a McKenzie School classroom at the time. I didn’t give him any argument or request any explanation, just took it as one person passing along a bit of information to another.

Of course, I was only 6 years old at the time – what did I know? I’d probably heard wrong, I thought in later years when I was preparing to become a nuclear physicist. Making all A’s on advanced math and science classes in junior high and high school, becoming a teacher was the last thing on my mind.

Entering college with the highest math score they’d ever had, my career path was set, I thought. Then I fell in love, got married and dropped out of college. Horrified everyone I knew, all my family who’d had such high hopes for me. I took a job as a secretary, teaching myself to type from a book.

To digress…

When I was barely old enough to hold a pencil I started writing. Meditations. Stories. Poetry. Letters. Greeting cards. I made excellent grades in English composition. Later on I wrote articles on Bible subjects, two of which were published in a national magazine.

In the late 1970’s I began writing Esther’s Petition, a print newsletter of Bible studies that was circulated to a few hundred people. It didn’t last long, postage was too expensive. But I read, studied, learned, made notes and outlines for my own use in teaching Bible college and Sunday School courses. Note that word, “teaching.”

I had become a teacher. Not of math, not of science, not even of English or literature, and not with a college degree. A teacher of the Bible. The detour had been a little circuitous from first grade days, but the Holy Spirit had been right all along. I could almost feel his amusement the day it dawned on me, as I recalled that first grade statement of fact.

Then one day… clearly and just as determinedly, the Holy Spirit spoke again as if he was standing right by my shoulder. “Write.”

Now, editing for other writers, businessmen and women, had become part of my secular occupation in the 1980’s, but writing anything for others to read had been put on a back burner.

I was busy, taking care of Tim and our business, being involved with politics and other things. I ignored the suggestion. But as though he was following me around, staying right behind my shoulder, every now and then he whispered that one little word, “write.” Not too loud, not too annoying, just persistent.

After several months of stubbornness, I gave in. I started writing again. “Family Memories” newspaper columns. Secular novels and short stories online, personal history articles for myself and a few relatives. After Tim died I began a blog about him. And I started Esther’s Petition again, blog entries instead of paper newsletters this time.

Recently I’ve started another blog, Speaking of Heaven. I have no idea who will read that one; we’ll see. It’s very different…

So why am I here? To write, I guess. Because it seems good to the Holy Spirit, and to me. Patient and persistent, at least he hasn’t written me off as a lost cause yet.

Authority, delegated

When Jesus told the apostles / disciples to do something that they could not do, did he expect them to do it? Certainly. He said if they loved him, they’d do what he told them to do.

If they couldn’t do it naturally, he enabled them to do it supernaturally. We understand that, we accept that, we teach that in Sunday School.

But we act like it doesn’t apply to us today, when in fact it does. In what we call the great commission, Jesus told them to teach other people to do the same things he’d told them.

When a soldier goes through basic training, he’s taught how to fight and how to use weapons. When he gets into a battle with an enemy soldier, he does not yell, “General, come fight this enemy soldier for me!”

Does he?

Then why does the average Christian do that?

Set asides

Christians sometimes make things more complicated than they should be. They use religi-speak instead of ordinary English, muddling up the plain meaning of some basic concepts.

“Holy” is one of those. In the Old Testament, the definition is simple and clear – set aside for a single purpose.

Something doesn’t have to be extraordinary to be holy – just dedicated for a single purpose. Like a dedicated phone line connected to a computer.

One key in my pocket fits my front door. It doesn’t fit the ignition in my car or a safety deposit box at the bank. It has a single purpose: to lock and unlock my front door. Not everybody’s front door – just my front door.

God assigned Aaron and his sons to a specific task that no-one else was given. They were not assigned to be soldiers or farm hands. God gave them the job of priest, with a single purpose: protect the children of Israel from God himself. If they didn’t do their job, God’s presence in their midst would prove deadly.

Because God planned to come and reside inside their camp, and the essence of his presence was not compatible with contaminated creatures.

Before he could come, they would need a shield from his presence. The work of the priests, making animal sacrifices to obtain blood to create a barrier, would shield them. That blood and the intention of its use – payment, forgiveness, mercy – would protect them. Much like a lead apron shields and protects the x-ray technician in the radiology department. And so Aaron and his sons were set aside from the other tribes of Israel for this one single purpose.

In the New Testament, the word for “holy” still means set apart for a single purpose, but the definition also carries the connotation of “pure.”

100% one thing, not contaminated, not mixed with anything else, whole. Not pure human, however – pure good. 100% good, the way God defines it. No wrongdoing. No sin. No contamination.

Pure gold is 100% gold. That sounds great, but you can’t make jewelry from pure gold, it is too soft to be usable. Even diamonds aren’t 100% pure, there’s some tiny flaw somewhere. That’s why there are so many classifications of diamonds, so many price ranges.

Jesus said, there is none good but God. Nothing on this planet is 100% pure and nothing is 100% good, except God. But I Peter 1:15-16 tells us to be holy. How can God expect us to be holy, if that means 100% good?

He doesn’t, not in our own ability if that was even possible. What he does desire is that we agree to be set aside for a single purpose, like Aaron and his sons. Set aside for God’s purpose, his use and no-one else’s.

The purpose of our agreement to this request (accepting the blood sacrifice of Christ) is simple: it permits God in the person of the Holy Spirit to reside in us. He himself will provide our protection and prevent his presence from destroying us. He’ll improve us as we go along. He created the human race; he doesn’t want it obliterated.

Seen this way, being holy makes perfect sense to me, perfect, practical and wonderful.

Fascination

Have you noticed how many vampire movies and television series there are in recent years? How many books? How many internet sites? Fan clubs?

There’s always been a fascination with the supernatural or unnatural, but it seems to have expanded, deepened and widened, with the coming of the digital age.

I have now watched Twilight (the first movie) twice, read all the Twilight books once and have re-started reading them. I also bought and have now watched the first season DVD’s of the Canadian television series “Blood Ties.” Two more TV series about vampires will be starting up in the fall, plus movie #2 of the Twilight saga.

I understand this fascination very, very well. I’ve loved science fiction and science fantasy since I learned to read.

There is an unseen spiritual dimension all around us, and a battle of good versus evil goes on in that dimension just as it does in the seen one. One day, perhaps sooner than we realize, there may be an unveiling of our normal vision and we will clearly see, however unwillingly, what is happening there.

In coming days, will we see actual vampires? Or werewolves? I don’t know. But supernatural and unnatural creatures certainly do exist, demonic beings who don’t like human beings. I’ve had brushes with creatures from that dimension in the past. I still feel the chill when I remember…

Occasionally people get a glimpse of their handiwork, the results of it anyway. Occasionally we feel or sense something “not quite right” in a place, or in the face of an individual and we wonder what the problem is. The problem in a nutshell is – the evil ones are killers, liars and murderers, and they don’t like human beings.

One thing I’m doing is keeping my spiritual eyes and ears open more and more these days, watching and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

The times are changing. It would be wise for believers to discern the times.

Dominion of heaven, set in the earth

Job 38:31-33, “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?”

Dominion thereof, set in the earth… Now there’s a concept that bears some meditation. Dominion means government. Governing requires subjects, citizens to govern. Subjects, citizens, residents, in those far-flung corners of the galaxy. Interesting!

Here are a few notes on these places from www.Bible411.com.

About Orion…

“Canst thou…loose the bands of Orion?” Garrett P. Serviss, the noted astronomer, in his book CURIOSITIES OF THE SKY wrote about the bands of Orion.

“At the present time this band consists of an almost perfect straight line, a row of second-magnitude stars about equally spaced and of the most striking beauty. In the course of time, however, the two right-hand stars, Mintaka and Alnilam, will approach each other and form a naked-eye double; but the third, Alnitak, will drift away eastward so that the band will no longer exist.

“In other words, one star is traveling in a certain direction at a certain speed; a second one is traveling in a different direction at a second speed; and the third one is going in a third direction and at a still different speed. Actually every star in Orion is traveling its own course, independent of all the others. Thus these stars that we see forming one of the bands of Orion are like three ships out on the high seas that happen to be in line at the present moment, but in the future will be separated by thousands of miles of ocean. In fact, all the stars constituting the constellation of Orion are bound for different ports, and all are journeying to different corners of the universe, so that the bands are being dissolved.”

The Pleiades:

“Canst thou bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades…?” Notice the amazing astronomical contrast with the Pleiades. The seven stars of the Pleiades are in reality a grouping of 250 suns. Photographs now reveal that 250 blazing suns in this group are all traveling together in one common direction. Concerning this cluster, Isabel Lewis of the United States Naval Observatory tells us:

“Astronomers have identified 250 stars as actual members of this group, all sharing in a common motion and drifting through space in the same direction. Elsewhere Lewis speaks of them as “journeying onward together through the immensity of space.”

From Lick Observatory came this statement of Dr. Robert J. Trumpler:

“Over 25,000 individual measures of the Pleiades stars are now available, and their study led to the important discovery that the whole cluster is moving in a southeasterly direction. The Pleiades stars may thus be compared to a swarm of birds, flying together to a distant goal. This leaves no doubt that the Pleiades are not a temporary or accidental agglomeration of stars, but a system in which the stars are bound together by a close kinship.

“Dr. Trumpler said that all this led to an important discovery. Without any reference whatsoever to the Book of Job, he announced to the world that these discoveries prove that the stars in the Pleiades are all bound together and are flying together like a flock of birds as they journey to their distant goal.

That is exactly what God said. “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?” In other words, Canst thou keep them bound together so that they remain as a family of suns?

INCREDIBLE! God’s laws of cosmology are loosing or dissolving the constellation Orion. Sometime in the far distant future, Orion will be no more. Conversely, wonder of wonders, every last one of the 250 blazing suns in the Pleiades are ordained of God to orbit together in their symmetrical beauty throughout eternity.”

Arcturus:

“Canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” Garrett P. Serviss wrote:

“Arcturus, one of the greatest suns in the universe, is a runaway whose speed of flight is 257 miles per second. Arcturus, we have every reason to believe, possesses thousands of times the mass of our sun. Think of it! Our sun is traveling only 12½ miles a second, but Arcturus is traveling 257 miles a second. Think then of the prodigious momentum this motion implies.”

A further observation of Arcturus by Serviss:

“It could be turned into a new course by a close approach to a great sun, but it could only be stopped by collision head on with a body of enormous mass. Barring such accidents, it must, as far as we can see, keep on until it has traversed our stellar system, whence it may escape and pass out into space beyond to join perhaps one of those other island universes of which we have spoken.”

Charles Burckhalter, of the Chabot Observatory, added an interesting note regarding this great sun:

“This high velocity places Arcturus in that very small class of stars that apparently are a law unto themselves. He is an outsider, a visitor, a stranger within the gates; to speak plainly, Arcturus is a runaway. Newton gives the velocity of a star under control as not more than 25 miles a second, and Arcturus is going 257 miles a second. Therefore, combined attraction of all the stars we know cannot stop him or even turn him in his path.”

When Mr. Burckhalter had his attention called to this text in the book of Job, he studied it in the light of modern discovery and made a statement that has attracted worldwide attention:

“The study of the Book of Job and its comparison with the latest scientific discoveries has brought me to the matured conviction that the Bible is an inspired book and was written by the One who made the stars.”

The wonders of God’s universe never cease to amaze us. Arcturus and his sons are individual runaway suns that seem to be out of orbit in our galaxy. Traveling at such immense speeds, why don’t they crash with other suns or planets? Where are they headed? Only God knows. Indeed they are not runaways. They will not crash. Why? God is guiding them.”

I love God’s sense of humor. He inspired these few verses, towards the end of the book of Job, thousands of years ago. And now with our modern telescopes, he lets us see just where he was talking about. Possibly see where we are going…? Amazing to contemplate, and exciting.

Noah, what IS that

A boat.
What’s a boat?
It floats.
What’s that?

What did Noah do for a living before that? How did he support his family while building the ark? Where’d he get so much wood? How did he explain to his neighbors?

Here’s a trivia question… how many of each animal did he put onboard? Bet 99 out of 100 people get that wrong! (See Genesis 7:1-3)