May 5, 2011
THE SPIRITUAL FORGE! This is a blog of a Spiritual Journey, coupled with some book reviews and additional thoughts. Welcome to the Spiritual Forge!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Prayers disturbed by a snake in the wall | Ferrell's Travel Blog
Prayers disturbed by a snake in the wall | Ferrell's Travel Blog
Posted by Ferrell Jenkins on his current trip
Prayers disturbed by a snake in the wall
Our group went to the Western Wall this afternoon. The Western Wall, sometimes called the Wailing Wall by non-Jews, is part of the enclosure built by Herod the Great around the temple precinct in Jerusalem. The temple and everything else on the top of the platform was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.
The Western Wall is now a place for prayer. Men have a large portion of it for their use. To the south there is a small area for women. I entered the enclosure north of the men’s section to get a photo of Wilson’s Arch. When I came out I noticed a workman on the lift trying to get something out of the wall with a long stick. At first I thought he was removing some of the paper prayers that had been left in the wall by worshipers. I learned from one of our ladies who was there that a snake had been seen by the ladies.
Of more interest to me was that the snake was somewhere around the lintel of Barclay’s Gate.
Women watch at the Western Wall while workmen remove snake from the wall. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
It is not often that one see’s men on the women’s side of the Western Wall plaza. Well, I never have before.
A number of biblical references come to mind. The prophet Amos says,
18 Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light;
19 As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall And a snake bites him.
20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it? (Amos 5:18-20 NAU)
I imagine the same thing would happen to a woman as well as to a man.
We recall the serpent of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). Paul used that event as an illustration.
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3 NAU)
Earlier today we visited the Herodian Family tomb, the Second Temple Model, Shrine of the Book, and the archaeological section of the Israel Museum. I had visited the renovated Museum in January and was ready to take the group to some of the more significant biblically related artifacts. For the earlier discussion of some of these things see here (Old Testament) and here (New Testament).
In the afternoon we entered the Old City and visited the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall.
We look forward to completing our planned visit of the Old City tomorrow. Lots of walking in the Old City.
Everyone in the group is doing well and seems to be enjoying the experience. We have about a dozen who have been here at least once before. They are seeing new things every day and enjoying a revisit to things they saw on a previous tour.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The baptism site in Israel | Ferrell's Travel Blog
The baptism site in Israel | Ferrell's Travel Blog
The baptism site in Israel
We had a surprise for the tour group today.
Arrangements had been made through our tour operator to visit the traditional site where John the Baptist worked, and where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. This site, called Qasr al-Yahud, has been closed since 1967 except for the use of the Greek Orthodox Church on special occasions such as Epiphany. The area from the main highway to the site is still military. We had to get special permission and arrive at an appointed time in order to enter.
The photo shows a portion of the yet incomplete new site, the Jordan River, and the access point across the river in Jordan. The Jordanian site claims to be Bethany beyond the Jordan.
25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.
27 “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
30 “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’
31 “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.”
32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.
33 “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’
34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:25-34 NAU)
Traditional Baptism Site on the Jordan River. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
This location is also the in the area where ancient Israel crossed from the Plains of Moab into the promised land.
The new site will be nice once it is completed and the road is upgraded.
We also visited Wadi Qelt, Qumran, the Dead Sea, and Masada today.
PaleoJudaica.com
PaleoJudaica.com - More On Caiaphas Tomb Nails
SHOCKING IAA REPORT: Simha's nails aren't even from the Caiaphas cave. Their provenance is unknown, but it is clear that that cave is one place they are not from.
Both from Joseph Lauer.
Dr. Zvi Greenhut of the Israel Antiquities Authority reveals: the nails in the Tel Aviv University Medical School anthropology laboratory are not the missing nails from Caiaphas’ Cave!The original Hebrew press release is here.
Dr. Zvi Greenhut, Head of the IAA Artifacts Treatment and Conservation Department, explains that the two nails shown in the film by director Simcha Jacobovici are nails that were stored in Professor Nicu Haas’ laboratory in the Jerusalem Medical School until the late 1970s, and their provenance is unknown.
Dr. Greenhut rejects the claims put forth by Simcha Jacobovici in a press conference held on April 13 in which Simcha maintains that he found the nails allegedly used to crucify Jesus inside an ossuary in a burial cave in Jerusalem.
Dr. Greenhut explains that in 1975 Professor Nicu Haas was severely injured in an accident. He makes it clear that shortly thereafter, in the late 1970s, Joe Zias, Curator in charge of State of Israel archaeological collections and responsible for physical anthropology in the then Israel Department of Antiquities, was asked to transfer the nails from Professor Haas’ laboratory in the Jerusalem Medical School to the National Treasures, which was the responsibility of the Department of Antiquities and Museums in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.
These nails were under the supervision, responsibility and custody of that curator for at least 15 years, until they were transferred in the beginning of the 1990s, at the behest of the then director of the IAA, to the Tel Aviv University Anthropology Department, where they have been until the present.
Furthermore, the fact that the nails that appear in the film are unregistered, without any mark of identification, as opposed to what is described in the preliminary archaeological report by the excavator of the site, reinforces the fact that the nails did not come from a proper archaeological excavation.
Therefore, the claim presented in the film that the provenance of the nails presently located in the Tel Aviv University physical anthropology laboratory and shown in the film was from the tomb of Caiaphas, discovered in the Jerusalem Peace Forest in 1990, is unsubstantiated and has no factual basis. The data shows exactly when and how the nails came to be in the Medical School lab approximately 15 or more years before the tomb of Caiaphas was excavated.
For further details, kindly contact Itzhak Rabihiya, acting spokesman of the Israel Antiquities Authority, 054-7999209.
Both from Joseph Lauer.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Daas Torah - Issues of Jewish Identity: Abraham’s Children in the Genome Era:
Daas Torah - Issues of Jewish Identity: Abraham’s Children in the Genome Era:
Sciencedirect
Abraham’s Children in the Genome Era:
Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE1 and have maintained continuous genetic, cultural, and religious traditions since that time, despite a series of Diasporas.2 Middle Eastern (Iranian and Iraqi) Jews date from communities that were formed in the Babylon and Persian Empires in the fourth to sixth centuries BCE.3,4 Jewish communities in the Balkans, Italy, North Africa, and Syria were formed during classical antiquity and then admixed with Sephardic Jews who migrated after their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century.5 Ashkenazi Jews are thought to have settled in the Rhine Valley during the first millennium of the Common Era, then to have migrated into Eastern Europe between the 11th and 15th centuries, although alternative theories involving descent from Sorbs (Slavic speakers in Germany) and Khazars have also been proposed.6,7 Admixture with surrounding populations had an early role in shaping world Jewry, but, during the past 2000 years, may have been limited by religious law as Judaism evolved from a proselytizing to an inward-looking religion.8
Earlier genetic studies on blood groups and serum markers suggested that Jewish Diaspora populations had Middle Eastern origin, with greater genetic similarity between paired Jewish populations than with non-Jewish populations.9–11 These studies differed in their interpretation of the degree of admixture with local populations. Recent studies of Y chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have pointed to founder effects of both Middle Eastern and local origin, yet the issue of how to characterize Jewish people as mere coreligionists or as genetic isolates that may be closely or loosely related remains unresolved.12–16 To improve the understanding about the relatedness of contemporary Jewish groups, genome-wide analysis and comparison with neighboring populations was performed for representatives of three major groups of the Jewish Diaspora: Eastern European Ashkenazim; Italian, Greek, and Turkish Sephardim; and Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian Mizrahim (Middle Easterners).
Earlier genetic studies on blood groups and serum markers suggested that Jewish Diaspora populations had Middle Eastern origin, with greater genetic similarity between paired Jewish populations than with non-Jewish populations.9–11 These studies differed in their interpretation of the degree of admixture with local populations. Recent studies of Y chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have pointed to founder effects of both Middle Eastern and local origin, yet the issue of how to characterize Jewish people as mere coreligionists or as genetic isolates that may be closely or loosely related remains unresolved.12–16 To improve the understanding about the relatedness of contemporary Jewish groups, genome-wide analysis and comparison with neighboring populations was performed for representatives of three major groups of the Jewish Diaspora: Eastern European Ashkenazim; Italian, Greek, and Turkish Sephardim; and Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian Mizrahim (Middle Easterners).
A Praying Life | Gospel eBooks
A Praying Life | Gospel eBooks FREE ON AMAZON TODAY!
A Praying Life
Author(s): Paul Miller
Publisher: NavPress
Price: FREE
This is as fine a book on prayer that you will ever read, but it is so much more. It is the story of our struggle to actually live like we believe that our heavenly Father really does love us. If we did, nothing could keep us from being committed to the day-by-day hard work of prayer. Paul Miller exegetes our struggle in a way that is convicting, insight giving, and encouraging. This is a book on prayer that actually makes you want to pray!
Jots, Tittles and Minutiae
Matthew 5:18,19
"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven"
Keeping God’s word and being a Christian can at times be an exacting thing. Jesus Himself stressed, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt. 4:4). Yet, it is obvious from Jesus’ teachings that detail to law could also be perilous. He states to the scribes and Pharisees of the day, “For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Mt.23:23).” The former what is right, the latter is what we refer to as legalistic.
How do we distinguish between the two?
How can I know when I’m doing what is right, versus times when I’m straining a gnat? One could argue that if I adhere to what the scripture says down to the finest minutiae, then I know I’m right. This is true. Instructions are there to be followed. Ignoring the instructions causes problems. When we do things God's way, good results come. When we ignore the instructions, we do so at peril of costly failure. The price of failure is often seemingly out of all proportion to the mistake made. There is an old proverb, "For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; for want of a horse the message was lost; for want of a message, the battle was lost -- all for the want of a nail."
Yet, God also expects us to understand the nature and purpose of His commands. They are not arbitrarily chosen statutes given to demand servitude. Submission to God is the expression of our love for and faith in him. It must not be accompanied by the belief that obedience places God in our debt or makes us righteous. Nevertheless, it must be genuine and as complete as we can make it. Fractures and fissures in our obedience do not excuse us from doing what the scriptures say. Paul reminds us “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (Rom.6:1, 2)” I must change what I can, when I can. Yet, neither am I to live under the constant worry of whether I have not completed the smallest thing, or paid the “uttermost farthing.” Paul again reminds us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Rom.3:23,24).
Jesus was not righteous because he obeyed God. Rather, he obeyed God because he was righteous. So must we. I strive to be righteous, thus I strive with all of my heart to obey God to the utmost. I will fall short! But, if I am granted the grace of another day, then I resolve that tomorrow I will do better.
Jim
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