The Ark is still buried and hidden. Like Moses' body it is not going to be found. Even if it were found (which it will not be) it has no power in it, I mean, DUH, because God is no longer indwelling in it. Like the tent that the Israelites pitched so that God's presence in the cloud could be seen as being present among the Israelites, the Ark is the same thing: only a place to increase the people's faith by SEEING and thus believing that God is with them. Once Israel started to fall and was afflicted, with God's permission, by enemies, the Ark was hidden and of course God no longer indwelled in it, duh.
The ark in Ethiopia is a copy. Stop the ridiculous fantasizing that any King of Israel would give the ark to some woman he had nookie with.
Remember, Solomon's life was CUT SHORT by God as punishment for building worship places for idols to please his pagan wives and concubines. You have to stick with what is in the Bible, friends (and the Qur'an). No where does God permit the Israelites to do something as ridiculous as give away anything from the Temple, certainly not his seat. Solomon was punished in his old age as he became a fool and collected women like baseball cards, and thus collected idols accordingly. His foolishness was cut short before it became any worse than that. But even in his greatest folly, and that of his descendants, no one would even think of giving the ark away. Rather, people would have died around it if it came to that.
No, as you know in the Bible holy things are hidden under siege. That is what was done. It was well within their skills to make one or two copies to fool occupiers.
Showing posts with label King Solomon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label King Solomon. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Lowest of King David's soldiers would be ashamed
If we told the lowest of the foot soldiers in the army of King David about how their descendants are conducting themselves, they would be in disbelief and in shame.
It's not like they would have dropped a bomb or a shell on a gathering place of frightened refugees at a school even if there were enemy firing on them from behind. I guess the only place that honorable hand to hand combat exists is in your filthy video games.
The lowest of the lowest soldier of King David or Solomon's time would spit on all of you today.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Bible Reading: Wisdom 9 (Solomon's Prayer)
God of my fathers, Lord of mercy,
you who have made all things by your word
And in your wisdom have established man
to rule the creatures produced by you,
To govern the world in holiness and justice,
and to render judgment in integrity of heart:
Give me Wisdom, the attendant at your throne,
and reject me not from among your children;
For I am your servant, the son of your handmaid,
a man weak and short-lived
and lacking in comprehension of judgment and of laws.
Indeed, though one be perfect among the sons of men,
if Wisdom, who comes through you, be not with him,
he shall be held in no esteem.
You have chosen me king over your people
and magistrate for your sons and daughters.
You have bid me build a temple on your holy mountain
and an altar in the city that is your dwelling place,
a copy of the holy tabernacle which you had established from of old.
Now with you is Wisdom, who knows your works
and was present when you made the world;
Who understands what is pleasing in your eyes
and what is conformable in your commands.
Send her forth from your holy heavens
and from your glorious throne dispatch her
That she may be with me and work with me,
that I may know what is your pleasure.
For she knows and understands all things,
and will guide me discreetly in my affairs
and safeguard me by her glory;
Thus my deeds will be acceptable,
and I shall judge your people justly
and be worthy of my father's throne.
For what man knows God's counsel,
or who can conceive what the Lord intends?
For the deliberations of mortals are timid,
and unsure are our plans.
For the corruptible body burdens the soul
and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind
that has many concerns.
And scarce do we guess the things on earth,
and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;
but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given Wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight,
and men learned what was your pleasure,
and were saved by Wisdom.
you who have made all things by your word
And in your wisdom have established man
to rule the creatures produced by you,
To govern the world in holiness and justice,
and to render judgment in integrity of heart:
Give me Wisdom, the attendant at your throne,
and reject me not from among your children;
For I am your servant, the son of your handmaid,
a man weak and short-lived
and lacking in comprehension of judgment and of laws.
Indeed, though one be perfect among the sons of men,
if Wisdom, who comes through you, be not with him,
he shall be held in no esteem.
You have chosen me king over your people
and magistrate for your sons and daughters.
You have bid me build a temple on your holy mountain
and an altar in the city that is your dwelling place,
a copy of the holy tabernacle which you had established from of old.
Now with you is Wisdom, who knows your works
and was present when you made the world;
Who understands what is pleasing in your eyes
and what is conformable in your commands.
Send her forth from your holy heavens
and from your glorious throne dispatch her
That she may be with me and work with me,
that I may know what is your pleasure.
For she knows and understands all things,
and will guide me discreetly in my affairs
and safeguard me by her glory;
Thus my deeds will be acceptable,
and I shall judge your people justly
and be worthy of my father's throne.
For what man knows God's counsel,
or who can conceive what the Lord intends?
For the deliberations of mortals are timid,
and unsure are our plans.
For the corruptible body burdens the soul
and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind
that has many concerns.
And scarce do we guess the things on earth,
and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;
but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given Wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight,
and men learned what was your pleasure,
and were saved by Wisdom.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Bible Reading: 1 Kings 8:54-61
When Solomon finished offering this entire prayer of petition to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands outstretched toward heaven.
He stood and blessed the whole community of Israel, saying in a loud voice:
"Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not a single word has gone unfulfilled of the entire generous promise he made through his servant Moses.
May the Lord, our God, be with us as he was with our fathers and may he not forsake us nor cast us off.
May he draw our hearts to himself, that we may follow him in everything and keep the commands, statues, and ordinances which he enjoined on our fathers.
May this prayer I have offered to the Lord, our God, be present to him day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and of his people Israel as each day requires,
that all the peoples of the earth may know the Lord is God and there is no other.
You must be wholly devoted to the Lord, our God, observing his statutes and keeping his commandments, as on this day."
***
This is a beautiful prayer by King Solomon. So I have closed this busy day of blogging for now with this as an optimistic and inspirational role model.
However, I would be remiss if I did not remind you that despite years of sanctification and holiness, and of having seen God with his own eyes twice, even King Solomon in his old age fell away from God and worshipped idols.
I do not mention this to depress you all, but actually to demonstrate that no one should be ashamed of being a sinner. There is no human, even one as blessed in person by God as King Solomon was, and who then betrays and lets down God himself, who is not able to recognize that all humans are sinful and only honesty and grace from God make them worthy. The shame is not in being a sinner, but the shame is in thinking that your sin is stronger than God, and his ability to "fix it" and forgive.
I often reference the Old Testament because while you know Jesus in the New Testament, and through Jesus you know God and the Kingdom of God, in the Old Testament you see specific interactions and endless opportunities for fall, forgiveness, and grace directly from God. These lessons (oh, I dislike that word!) or rather these real life examples of real people who had real dialogue with God, and who were not parables, give a solidity that only reinforces what Jesus said and did, not distract from Jesus or be made irrelevant by him.
For example, in the New Testament the usual examples of those who greatly disappointed Jesus, but who through his grace, were forgiven and made saints are of course St. Peter, who denied Jesus three times, and St. Paul, who as Saul, persecuted Christians and participated in their martyrdom. Examples of sinners who were called to Jesus were St. Matthew, the tax collector.
But is it not encouraging to go back in time and reference those very qualities of falling from God, even when he has been so generous, as he was with King Solomon, and seeing that even those with absolutely no excuse to do so, are, after all, only human and do fail and sin. It is one thing to deny Jesus when your life is at stake and you are on the run, as Peter was, or to be such a zealous believer of the strictest Jewish law, as Saul did, so as not to recognize the Messiah until he pushes him down in his glory as the resurrected Christ. But it is in a way much worse to be the consecrated priest and king of the Israelites, given every glory and treasure, bestowed with both wisdom and spirit, and to know God's presence twice in one's life, and still turn to idols while King of Israel? And so at the end of his life King Solomon turned away from God, and God had to punish him. But God did not doom him. God still saved King Solomon, and you can read what God actually said and did in chastisement to King Solomon in 1 Kings 11. This is why I keep pointing people back to reading not only the New Testament but the Old Testament, for the reality of God's justice and mercy, the encouragement that as Jesus said, and I paraphrase, "Who is good? Only God is good." People have made bad and strange choices throughout humanity and throughout their faith history, yes, even right to God's face, standing within the very gifts that he had graced them with. Bible reading when one is discouraged at the gravity of one's sins and weaknesses is one way to gain through the Holy Spirit the gifts of fortitude and renewed faith in God's forgiveness. Remember, the Holy Spirit was there when the books of the Bible were written, and the Holy Spirit is there when you read them and search for meaning, truth and inspiration.
So when I turned to the Bible one last time before shutting down the computer and going to bed, and it fell open to that page in 1 Kings 8, always alert to the Holy Spirit's direction, I thought that it might be a comfort, with some commentary.
Good night! :-)
He stood and blessed the whole community of Israel, saying in a loud voice:
"Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not a single word has gone unfulfilled of the entire generous promise he made through his servant Moses.
May the Lord, our God, be with us as he was with our fathers and may he not forsake us nor cast us off.
May he draw our hearts to himself, that we may follow him in everything and keep the commands, statues, and ordinances which he enjoined on our fathers.
May this prayer I have offered to the Lord, our God, be present to him day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and of his people Israel as each day requires,
that all the peoples of the earth may know the Lord is God and there is no other.
You must be wholly devoted to the Lord, our God, observing his statutes and keeping his commandments, as on this day."
***
This is a beautiful prayer by King Solomon. So I have closed this busy day of blogging for now with this as an optimistic and inspirational role model.
However, I would be remiss if I did not remind you that despite years of sanctification and holiness, and of having seen God with his own eyes twice, even King Solomon in his old age fell away from God and worshipped idols.
I do not mention this to depress you all, but actually to demonstrate that no one should be ashamed of being a sinner. There is no human, even one as blessed in person by God as King Solomon was, and who then betrays and lets down God himself, who is not able to recognize that all humans are sinful and only honesty and grace from God make them worthy. The shame is not in being a sinner, but the shame is in thinking that your sin is stronger than God, and his ability to "fix it" and forgive.
I often reference the Old Testament because while you know Jesus in the New Testament, and through Jesus you know God and the Kingdom of God, in the Old Testament you see specific interactions and endless opportunities for fall, forgiveness, and grace directly from God. These lessons (oh, I dislike that word!) or rather these real life examples of real people who had real dialogue with God, and who were not parables, give a solidity that only reinforces what Jesus said and did, not distract from Jesus or be made irrelevant by him.
For example, in the New Testament the usual examples of those who greatly disappointed Jesus, but who through his grace, were forgiven and made saints are of course St. Peter, who denied Jesus three times, and St. Paul, who as Saul, persecuted Christians and participated in their martyrdom. Examples of sinners who were called to Jesus were St. Matthew, the tax collector.
But is it not encouraging to go back in time and reference those very qualities of falling from God, even when he has been so generous, as he was with King Solomon, and seeing that even those with absolutely no excuse to do so, are, after all, only human and do fail and sin. It is one thing to deny Jesus when your life is at stake and you are on the run, as Peter was, or to be such a zealous believer of the strictest Jewish law, as Saul did, so as not to recognize the Messiah until he pushes him down in his glory as the resurrected Christ. But it is in a way much worse to be the consecrated priest and king of the Israelites, given every glory and treasure, bestowed with both wisdom and spirit, and to know God's presence twice in one's life, and still turn to idols while King of Israel? And so at the end of his life King Solomon turned away from God, and God had to punish him. But God did not doom him. God still saved King Solomon, and you can read what God actually said and did in chastisement to King Solomon in 1 Kings 11. This is why I keep pointing people back to reading not only the New Testament but the Old Testament, for the reality of God's justice and mercy, the encouragement that as Jesus said, and I paraphrase, "Who is good? Only God is good." People have made bad and strange choices throughout humanity and throughout their faith history, yes, even right to God's face, standing within the very gifts that he had graced them with. Bible reading when one is discouraged at the gravity of one's sins and weaknesses is one way to gain through the Holy Spirit the gifts of fortitude and renewed faith in God's forgiveness. Remember, the Holy Spirit was there when the books of the Bible were written, and the Holy Spirit is there when you read them and search for meaning, truth and inspiration.
So when I turned to the Bible one last time before shutting down the computer and going to bed, and it fell open to that page in 1 Kings 8, always alert to the Holy Spirit's direction, I thought that it might be a comfort, with some commentary.
Good night! :-)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Bible Reading: 1 Kings 11: 4-10
When Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods, and his heart was not entirely with the Lord, his God, as the heart of his father David had been.
By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites, Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.
Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab, and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites, on the hill opposite Jerusalem.
He did the same for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
The Lord, therefore, became angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice
(for though the Lord had forbidden him this very act of following strange gods, Solomon had not obeyed him).
***
God had appeared to Solomon twice, had him consecrated King of Israelites, gave him long life and much wealth and knowledge. God even foresaw that Solomon's weakness would be to worship idols nonetheless and TOLD him of this risk from his many wives and women. Solomon still sinned and sinned big time, as you can see above.
This shows how even the great and wise King Solomon can actually have God himself appear to him twice, give him everything he could ever wish for, and yet he still worships imaginary and false gods, even though he saw God with his own eyes.
This also shows there never was another like King David, nor will there ever be again.
By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites, Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.
Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab, and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites, on the hill opposite Jerusalem.
He did the same for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
The Lord, therefore, became angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice
(for though the Lord had forbidden him this very act of following strange gods, Solomon had not obeyed him).
***
God had appeared to Solomon twice, had him consecrated King of Israelites, gave him long life and much wealth and knowledge. God even foresaw that Solomon's weakness would be to worship idols nonetheless and TOLD him of this risk from his many wives and women. Solomon still sinned and sinned big time, as you can see above.
This shows how even the great and wise King Solomon can actually have God himself appear to him twice, give him everything he could ever wish for, and yet he still worships imaginary and false gods, even though he saw God with his own eyes.
This also shows there never was another like King David, nor will there ever be again.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
It's not the true Ark in Ethiopia
They have a precious item that is there, but it is not the true Ark.
Solomon had an item made to give Menelik to take back to Ethiopia. This item was to be acknowledgement of his relationship and of the faith of the Israelites. Solomon later had drifted from stern adherence to obedience to God through his fascination with pagan wives. The creation of the Ark like but not Ark actual object for Menelik was the beginning of his drifting from solid theology and obedience to God. So the object was Solomon's creation as a type of copy to give to this son of his as an object of veneration and a way to "evangelize" the faith of the Israelites. The Qur'an even has a mention of Solomon doing metallurgy crafts that tapped not so holy sources, so Solomon veered from wisdom even as "trying" to still be the consecrated King of the Israelites. He therefore saw nothing wrong with making an ark like copy to give to his son to take back to Ethiopia and that is what exists to this day. The true Ark would never have been allowed to leave, either by Solomon or by God. The Ark left only when Israel fell.
Solomon had an item made to give Menelik to take back to Ethiopia. This item was to be acknowledgement of his relationship and of the faith of the Israelites. Solomon later had drifted from stern adherence to obedience to God through his fascination with pagan wives. The creation of the Ark like but not Ark actual object for Menelik was the beginning of his drifting from solid theology and obedience to God. So the object was Solomon's creation as a type of copy to give to this son of his as an object of veneration and a way to "evangelize" the faith of the Israelites. The Qur'an even has a mention of Solomon doing metallurgy crafts that tapped not so holy sources, so Solomon veered from wisdom even as "trying" to still be the consecrated King of the Israelites. He therefore saw nothing wrong with making an ark like copy to give to his son to take back to Ethiopia and that is what exists to this day. The true Ark would never have been allowed to leave, either by Solomon or by God. The Ark left only when Israel fell.
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