I.
Sacrifice and Solace
Again it’s time to wipe the sweat
With fingers smeared in mud and blood.
A fresh flowing stream o’er the eyes
Which seeps and leaves its mark
Of red - such precious life!
A clenched fist of fearless pain,
Drips thick rosy tears upon the earth;
This cry of blood will not be forgotten.
The curse of blood has stained the earth,
Time will pass, indifference, there’s no rewind.
It’s by your loss that others gain
Your toils, your sacrifice
Your time and experiences
Swallowed by the grave – what will survive?
Your faith and hopes, others do not value;
Your blood is left to dry in vain.
The heart that suffers, aches,
Longs for another heart to heal.
The hardened soul will groan in death with
A love for destruction and of pain.
Peace belongs to the gentle in spirit,
To those who learn to forgive and forget;
A love, reaching out to foes, to calm unrest,
A love, willing to sacrifice priceless blood.
The fallen brethren summon your soul,
Their silent stillness softly speaks,
Surrounds the senses of your heart and mind,
For they have buried you in their eternal cause.
So you carry on fighting,
Reckless, no room for sanity
Or empathy, its life or death, for survival
You’re alone, deluded by the delights of darkness.
Alone, you hoard the treasures you cannot keep.
Remember the souls you have betrayed,
What they have done for you, made your path
To live, for your pleasure, but realise their despair;
They’ve memories you cannot dream to comprehend.
When old and frail, you’ll beg for mercy from their might,
They’ll claim your loot, to leave you dethroned, exposed;
A new life begins, but death awaits the weak.
Time will haunt, memories might do well to fade,
So away in your chase for the living, the fallen
Remain in rest, but behold they will rise to be known!
They lived, and their legend lives on with you,
Their blood has been spilt in an ageless past,
Guilty and innocent, hear them speak!
Calls for revenge, cries for peace, yet the pain
Of bloodshed only thirsts for more.
An endless cycle of brutal blows,
All this, to satisfy the living dead.
A selfish justice which knows no mercy -
It is what they rightly deserved.
Yet your life is undeserved, not
From your own labours or sacrifice for
Others have shed blood for the world you know;
Every life is under another’s grace and mercy.
It is your life, your choice
To care for others who do not care,
Remember the fallen, who never knew you,
They fought for a hope, the hope that lives in you.
The suffering mass cries for an unknown saviour,
They find comfort in foreign hearts
That understand, that feel their depression, and
The perishing - a few find rest in future glory.
Some do not find peace in hope
For they have found none, only a fear
Which is best forgotten and ignored.
Was it not through the sacrifice of others
That brought you your freedom?
And still there are those who long for refuge,
So remember those who drowned in rivers of blood
Before yours began to flow; you are their hope.
The lost cannot blame the dead who believed,
True leaders are never blind, their vision is eternal:
From the time blood was first shed,
The earth knew to speak its pain,
A curse, out of love to learn
Sacrifice, suffering in hope, with an endurance of spirit
Through pain, to find a new heart of grace that heals,
Forgives and restores the peace - one love for all.
27/10/09
N.K.
“They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.”
‘Ode of Remembrance’ – excerpt from ‘For the fallen’ by Lawrence Binyon (1869–1943)
II.
Secrets of the dark
Hush! Do not dare to make a sound,
Lest the watchmen strike us down.
Beneath the covers of the devil’s night,
Hear the cackles of forbidden delight.
The crows circle round before they perch,
It’s safe, hidden from the eyes of the church.
And so he comes after the light of day,
For the game that only he knows to play.
Who can mistake the joker’s grin,
Which conceals the guilt that lies within?
Watch! Know the corners where he’ll lurk,
His face is scarred with a constant smirk.
He preys on fears which deceive the mind,
The fear of death, suffering; he turns them blind.
A love for riches, of self and pleasure,
A loss for others, he cannot measure.
So beware friends of the evil one,
Who makes it seem like innocent fun.
I know of some who’ve taken the bait,
Fooled to believe; the sinner’s fate.
Dragged down a pit that has no end,
The fall is freedom so don’t pretend.
There’s only an end if you choose to turn
And face the light which is sure to burn.
A test of fire, who can endure?
Only those willing to be pure,
A price to pay, but worth the cost;
It’s everything for those who are lost.
A diver who darts from the depths will die.
Always patience, with hope and faith rely,
Surely there’s no rush, no fear,
Nor need to panic, the surface is near.
The light will come, but the waters heal,
A gradual shift makes the pain less real.
Behold the view that unfolds the way,
The clouds of darkness release their prey.
Conditioned in the light, there is no pain,
Darkness will flee; it’s the end of their reign.
The time for light and of darkness, split in half,
Hear the endless insanity; the joker’s laugh.
N.K.
28/10/09
III.
A Study of Suspicion
Good morning John,
____I don’t care who you are! Who am I?
________No. It’s Smith, John doesn’t want to see you today.
____Let me out of here, I’m your real doctor, he’s an imposter!
Ok. How are you feeling today?
____Kill him, he thinks you’re crazy.
________Look, they’ve come to lock you up.
____________Do you know who’s trying to kill me?
____No one’s trying to kill you.
I’m here to help.
____Liar. He knows who it is.
________They all hate you.
____________Help me get killed?
____________Is that what you want?
________Where am I?
____You’re in the car John.
Do you know who I am?
________Your face, I’ve seen it before.
________And that ring,
____________Why are you wearing my ring?
________I don’t think you want to hurt him now John.
Do you remember the day you got married?
____Why can’t things be as they once were?
You really don’t know who I am, do you?
________He knows who did it.
________They killed your wife.
____________You killed her.
John, have you forgotten again?
____And how long have we been married now?
Look into my eyes.
____Be patient please, we’re nearly there.
I have to do this if you want to get better.
________No, no, no, no, not again.
________How dare you do this to me?
________You’re one of them!
____________Tell the doctor to take his own drugs!
____You know not every guy has a wife like you do!
I am your doctor; it’s not an easy life to be me.
Anyway, it’s time for you to go back to sleep.
Now this won’t hurt a bit. That’s the way.
________You don’t care at all do you?
____Do to others what you want them do to you.
________You just want to get rid of me.
I’m sorry I can’t do any more. Good night John.
____You’re not sorry at all.
____I thought it was part of your job not to be sorry.
________One day you will be. Or maybe you are?
____________I know you’d rather me not be here.
____________But you won’t say it to my face.
________How nice.
________Yes, the truth hurts sometimes,
________But not that there’s anything I can do about it.
________So, what day is it today?
____I just want to have a little chat,
____To sort our problems out, I don’t think we’ve had a chance till now,
____You’ve been very busy lately, let’s go for a trip.
And sweet dreams!
____________Good timing doctor!
________And you better have a dream about me in heaven.
____I swear John won’t interrupt again.
____Just me and you, yes and Jesus.
____He’s a very good counsellor, didn’t you know?
____He’s the best there is. No, I am not joking.
Sorry, I can’t let you visit John right now,
He’s just taken his medication.
His condition doesn’t seem to improving,
He’s not responding very well,
But I’m afraid he’s lost all his memory before the accident.
________You can’t be serious.
____If only you could understand. Oh help!
____But you know where I am,
____I’ll be waiting for you in heaven.
Do you want to make another appointment?
Sure, we’ll let you know when he makes progress.
I’m sorry about the news but I hope you have a good day.
____It’s going to be a long wait but I’ll see you there then.
____Good bye for now. That’s one way to end our argument.
____No, I am not going to see the doctor!
____________Oh, that’s it I give up.
____________I never knew you could be so stubborn!
____If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be driving in the first place!
________What?!
________Oh, so that’s what happened.
____We should have watched the road.
Well, too late to say sorry now.
____Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
________It’s never too late if you know what I mean.
____A dead person can’t be sorry as much as a live one?
____Well yes, to you I might be dead already but I’m not.
________Do you believe in a God of the living or of the dead?
____A God who forgives and knows the hearts of those
____Who choose to seek Him,
____Bound by love for an eternity.
Maybe it’s easier to forgive those who are dead.
Am I? I don’t think you have any idea at all.
You can say, I’m somewhere in between,
But living or dead, love your enemies.
I think doctors need to have their own doctors.
You might be able to save lots of people,
But in the end you can’t save yourself.
So please clean up the mess before you go,
Before you’re unable to do anything about it.
I know I’ve left a very big mess. Sorry about that.
I hope you don’t think it was intentional.
Yes, we still need to have that little chat.
I haven’t forgotten.
Funny that, memories of the past,
Pushed out by the present
Who knows if they were real?
Yes, it was all a very bad dream.
And I was just your imaginary friend.
In that case, sweet dreams!
But no dreaming while you’re awake.
And I hope you don’t fall asleep again either.
N.K.
29/10/09
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
A different kind of reasoning
yes..time to get serious about history...
here's a start to your historical research
http://johndickson.org/books
http://johndickson.org/files/thechristfiles_intro.pdf
http://johndickson.org/files/christfiles_chap5.pdf
http://www.biblehistory.net/
http://debate.org.uk/topics/history/bib-qur/bibarch.htm
http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4466067/k.1914/Reasons_to_Believe_Apologetics.htm
http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4955427/k.3D58/Archaeology_and_the_Old_Testament.htm
http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4955431/k.3C35/Archaeology_and_the_New_Testament.htm
Books
How now shall we live - Charles Colson
(issues of evolution, hope, suffering, with scientific studies for support)
The Christ files - John Dickson
The Case for Christ - Lee Stobel
More than a carpenter - Josh McDowell
The new evidence that demands a verdict - Josh McDowell
Faith's Reasons for Believing - Robert L. Reymond
What's so amazing about grace? - Philip Yancey
The Reason for God - Timothy Keller
Revelation is one of those books which isn't easy to understand - hence the different intepretations
which is why it's good to discuss it so you dont get stuck with one view!
anyway... here's a start
Structure of Revelation
Chapters 1-3
Letters to 7 churches
Chapters 5-11
A quick overview from beginning to end
Chapters 12-22
A more detailed view from beginning to end
Chapters 5 – 9 Before the judgement (of Babylon)
Overview of world up to the evil empire where all those who have not been killed are idol worshippers and sorcerers
(the evil empire of ancient Babylon?)
4 seals – conditions of the sinful world
5th seal – plead for judgment by the slain righteous
6th seal – Recognition of God’s wrath by the evil world
144,000 of Israel 12 tribes protected – Israel in Egypt?
The uncountable righteous souls who are saved survivors of persecution - End of time?
7th seal – 6 trumpets of destruction but the survivors are devil worshippers
(led astray by Nimrod? The spreading of continents in earthquake? The judgement of Babylon?)
Chapters 10 – 11 Before the judgment at the end of time
A gap in prophesy (time gap?)
Two witnesses will prophesy. Rise to heaven after death. Earthquake but God is praised.
(a further gap of 1000 years mentioned later?)
7th trumpet – final judgement of the dead
Chapters 12 -19 Judgement on the Beast and the False prophet
Satan and demons banished to earth (Satan was on earth in genesis)
Woman gives birth to Jesus (Eve brought out of the Garden of Eden?)
Literal flood (Noah’s time), or figurative flood of sin (taken away by Jesus’ death)
The Beast and the false messiah (death and temporary resurrection to deceive people)
Killing God’s people and deceiving everyone by sorcery and magic idols
666 (In Greek, Nimrod – Janus, Serpent – Tertian)
144,000 righteous redeemed from spiritual death (not the 144,000 mentioned before?)
3 angels announce fall of Babylon and its destruction because all peoples are drunk with her lust
Harvest of the earth - the 144,000?
Winepress of God’s wrath on earth
7 plagues, 7 bowls of God’s wrath on Babylon in a day
The Fall of (ancient) Babylon in the worst earthquake and giant stone thrown into the sea
Split of city (continents?) disappearance of islands and mountains and destruction of cities
Hail plague
Babylon the deceiver of the world by false magic (the rise of ancient religions?)
White horse throws beast and false prophet into the lake of fire (a massive battle after the fall)
Chapters 20 – 22 Judgement on Satan and the dead (final judgement)
(a possible gap in time after the destruction of Babylon, the beast and false prophet are defeated but Satan still remains, and the coming of the true Messiah on earth)
Thousand years of Satan unable to deceive the nations and first rising of saints with Christ
Defeat of Satan who is also thrown into the lake of fire
The final judgement of the dead
New heaven, New earth, New Jerusalem
A Revelation – Continental drift, the greatest natural disaster? Nathaniel 13/10/09
Assuming the earth was one land mass when created, that is, all the continents were combined at the start of creation, then at some point there would be the separation of continents. It would appear easier for humans to fulfil God’s original command to multiply and take care of the whole world and the animals that live on it if the lands were not physically separated by water as they are today. I’m sure today there are still undiscovered tribes in jungles or forests that are out of touch with ‘civilisation’.
But from the bible account, it makes it clear that all peoples were descendants of Noah, as the flood covered the whole earth, and the only people that survived were the ones on the ship – Noah and his family. And according to the bible all nations were descendants of Noah. Sure it does give an account of all the different names of civilisations that were formed, but it doesn’t really say how the people spread over all the earth until the story of the Tower of Babylon(Greek) or Babel(Hebrew). From Genesis, it says God confused the language, and that was enough for the people to spread all over the earth. But was it that simple?
I would say no. Is there any reason for them to stop building the tower simply because they lost their language? Can’t they learn each other’s language? And would people just start wandering off into distant unknown lands? It would be more reasonable to say that the people were separated as a result of a great natural disaster which caused the destruction of the city and the lands to separate physically putting the many established nations after Noah out of reach with each other as the continents drifted apart.
We are not told what the city was like, only that God saw that they had they had the potential to do whatever they wanted. They had one language, and were united in building a great city and a tower that could reach the heavens. Now this is completely against God’s command to spread over the earth, so we can assume this empire was doing evil in the eyes of God. And who was the leader of this great city? In previous verses, there is mention of Nimrod, who was considered to be the first great conqueror. The bible doesn’t mention much about Nimrod apart from being the founder of Babel or Babylon, and conqueror of Assyria.
If the world was one land mass and all the peoples were descendants of Noah, it would be fair to say that Nimrod at the time was in control of the greatest empire on earth. And surely the greatest city would be the one which had the tower of Babel, and all the nations of the earth which existed then would know about it; even more likely if the continents had not been separated yet. Non-biblical sources might shed more light on the situation.
From different ancient texts, Nimrod was known to be tyrant, a sorcerer, and killer of men. He forced people to worship idols, and he believed that he was the Messiah. Nimrod was indeed a powerful ruler in the ancient world. In Revelation, it mentions the fall of Babylon, and at first inspection, the city with the tower of Babylon fits in with the description of an ancient civilisation which was known to all the nations of the earth. And like the one in Genesis, it was self-indulgent and in rebellion against God’s commands. Part of Revelation tells of the destruction of Babylon though it is necessary to put any complete global destruction by an act of God into context.
There have only been two acts of destruction which have impacted the whole world according to the bible. One is the flood where the people survived on Noah’s ark and the other is the apocalypse mentioned in Revelation. Notice that God flooded the whole earth because the people on the earth had turned evil. He wanted to start again through Noah and his family. But after this it moves on to the character of Abraham and it says all nations will be blessed through him. This implies that God is starting again from Abraham because the people of the earth have once again turned away from him. I would say that between the time of Noah and Abraham, something catastrophic would have happened in order for Abraham to be the sole ancestor of those who have faith in God. Noah’s descendants had turned away from God and whether this was due to the evil acts of Nimrod this remains to be examined.
If Nimrod was so evil in leading people astray, surely there must be some historical record, and an account of God’s judgement on his empire. This is why I say the account in Genesis is unusually brief. However, the fall of Babylon as recorded in Revelation is very detailed and surprisingly fits the view of Babylon as an ancient world power. Furthermore it mentions an earthquake so powerful that the earth has never seen before as it describes islands fleeing away as well as mountains. This may explain the start of continental drift. It definitely would have to be a large earthquake to initiate the splitting of continents. It also mentions how the nations were deceived by acts of sorcery. Obviously the descriptions on evil animal beast by the power of the devil and a false prophet match the criteria for Nimrod as a sorcerer and a false prophet. Now the number of 666 is meant to identify both the beast and a man. In Greek, Nimrod adopted the name Janus, and the word Teitan represents a serpent; both add up to the number which is associated with the devil. Also note the sequence of events which mentioned an attempted flood by Satan to wash away the woman. Taking that literally would imply the flood of Noah, while figuratively speaking it could represent sin and all of it being taken away by Jesus’ death on the cross.
From this account in Revelation, one could say that all the ancient religions came from the supernatural acts of Nimrod. The Egyptians claim for an afterlife lie with Osiris, who was claimed to have defeated death once. This matches the account for a mortal wounding of the beast but its recovery caused people to follow the beast. Surely enough it wasn’t unstoppable. As the Jews were protected from the plagues of Egypt so too could the seals for the 144,000 represent protection for those on earth during the plagues of Babylon. In this case it may be protection of a spiritual death rather than a physical one. The seven plagues and seven bowls of God’s wrath seem to apply exclusively to the city of ancient city of Babylon in a single day. Some of the trumpets at first hand appear similar to the plagues of Egypt, but may apply to Nimrod’s acts of sorcery. Although one has to take in to account the destruction of the Garden of Eden by fire as a possibility. Clearly Eden was not a small place, if indeed it had room for all the species of animals including dinosaurs. I’d like to think of it as an ideal Jurassic Park where the animals ate plants and humans ate fruit all living in harmony with a perfect relationship with its Creator. A single act of obedience caused guilt, and gave way to a decaying paradise as a result of the creation’s lack of trust in the Creator to maintain life and order. A creator cannot fully fix the creation while the creation doesn’t allow it to in the first place. There is a lack of trust which prevents the creator from being able to immediately fix the problem, but that’s even if the creator wants to fix it in the first place.
Science says that hope will give person strength and perseverance through suffering. What if hope in the afterlife was the ultimate hope? Would it give a person endurance over all forms of suffering if they knew that death was not the end? Could the ‘survival of the fittest’ apply to Christianity, where the hope is in eternal life, and Jesus tells Christians to love their enemies so that others too might know this same hope. Christians do not feel they die in vain, as the ultimate authority for judgement lies with God after death. We all know that love can change lives. So did Jesus really rise from the dead? Did he really sound like and acted like he had authority from God? Will the problem be finally fully fixed not on earth but after life on earth?
This is not a threat. It’s only a threat when you know you are in danger. You only know either when you die or if Jesus comes back and by then it’s too late. True Christians will only show love to guide you to look for the truth. People always have a choice to believe as long as there are people proclaiming the truth. Who says that they won’t reach those who are lost? If all people descended from Noah then everyone had a chance. But choices have consequences, impacting the choices of future generations, but since people are never sure of the outcome of life-changing decisions, they always have the perception of choice. And with choice there is more than one outcome, and inevitably some people will sadly make the wrong choice even though they heard the truth. As long as the truth exists, in the past or in the present, there is always a chance to make that choice. In the Old Testament people put their faith in God and in His sending of a Messiah to save the word. Christians today put their faith in Jesus and what he did. All are saved through faith alone. All you can do is to examine for yourself whether historical documents support the bible but more importantly the existence of Jesus and what He did on earth.
here's a start to your historical research
http://johndickson.org/books
http://johndickson.org/files/thechristfiles_intro.pdf
http://johndickson.org/files/christfiles_chap5.pdf
http://www.biblehistory.net/
http://debate.org.uk/topics/history/bib-qur/bibarch.htm
http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4466067/k.1914/Reasons_to_Believe_Apologetics.htm
http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4955427/k.3D58/Archaeology_and_the_Old_Testament.htm
http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4955431/k.3C35/Archaeology_and_the_New_Testament.htm
Books
How now shall we live - Charles Colson
(issues of evolution, hope, suffering, with scientific studies for support)
The Christ files - John Dickson
The Case for Christ - Lee Stobel
More than a carpenter - Josh McDowell
The new evidence that demands a verdict - Josh McDowell
Faith's Reasons for Believing - Robert L. Reymond
What's so amazing about grace? - Philip Yancey
The Reason for God - Timothy Keller
Revelation is one of those books which isn't easy to understand - hence the different intepretations
which is why it's good to discuss it so you dont get stuck with one view!
anyway... here's a start
Structure of Revelation
Chapters 1-3
Letters to 7 churches
Chapters 5-11
A quick overview from beginning to end
Chapters 12-22
A more detailed view from beginning to end
Chapters 5 – 9 Before the judgement (of Babylon)
Overview of world up to the evil empire where all those who have not been killed are idol worshippers and sorcerers
(the evil empire of ancient Babylon?)
4 seals – conditions of the sinful world
5th seal – plead for judgment by the slain righteous
6th seal – Recognition of God’s wrath by the evil world
144,000 of Israel 12 tribes protected – Israel in Egypt?
The uncountable righteous souls who are saved survivors of persecution - End of time?
7th seal – 6 trumpets of destruction but the survivors are devil worshippers
(led astray by Nimrod? The spreading of continents in earthquake? The judgement of Babylon?)
Chapters 10 – 11 Before the judgment at the end of time
A gap in prophesy (time gap?)
Two witnesses will prophesy. Rise to heaven after death. Earthquake but God is praised.
(a further gap of 1000 years mentioned later?)
7th trumpet – final judgement of the dead
Chapters 12 -19 Judgement on the Beast and the False prophet
Satan and demons banished to earth (Satan was on earth in genesis)
Woman gives birth to Jesus (Eve brought out of the Garden of Eden?)
Literal flood (Noah’s time), or figurative flood of sin (taken away by Jesus’ death)
The Beast and the false messiah (death and temporary resurrection to deceive people)
Killing God’s people and deceiving everyone by sorcery and magic idols
666 (In Greek, Nimrod – Janus, Serpent – Tertian)
144,000 righteous redeemed from spiritual death (not the 144,000 mentioned before?)
3 angels announce fall of Babylon and its destruction because all peoples are drunk with her lust
Harvest of the earth - the 144,000?
Winepress of God’s wrath on earth
7 plagues, 7 bowls of God’s wrath on Babylon in a day
The Fall of (ancient) Babylon in the worst earthquake and giant stone thrown into the sea
Split of city (continents?) disappearance of islands and mountains and destruction of cities
Hail plague
Babylon the deceiver of the world by false magic (the rise of ancient religions?)
White horse throws beast and false prophet into the lake of fire (a massive battle after the fall)
Chapters 20 – 22 Judgement on Satan and the dead (final judgement)
(a possible gap in time after the destruction of Babylon, the beast and false prophet are defeated but Satan still remains, and the coming of the true Messiah on earth)
Thousand years of Satan unable to deceive the nations and first rising of saints with Christ
Defeat of Satan who is also thrown into the lake of fire
The final judgement of the dead
New heaven, New earth, New Jerusalem
A Revelation – Continental drift, the greatest natural disaster? Nathaniel 13/10/09
Assuming the earth was one land mass when created, that is, all the continents were combined at the start of creation, then at some point there would be the separation of continents. It would appear easier for humans to fulfil God’s original command to multiply and take care of the whole world and the animals that live on it if the lands were not physically separated by water as they are today. I’m sure today there are still undiscovered tribes in jungles or forests that are out of touch with ‘civilisation’.
But from the bible account, it makes it clear that all peoples were descendants of Noah, as the flood covered the whole earth, and the only people that survived were the ones on the ship – Noah and his family. And according to the bible all nations were descendants of Noah. Sure it does give an account of all the different names of civilisations that were formed, but it doesn’t really say how the people spread over all the earth until the story of the Tower of Babylon(Greek) or Babel(Hebrew). From Genesis, it says God confused the language, and that was enough for the people to spread all over the earth. But was it that simple?
I would say no. Is there any reason for them to stop building the tower simply because they lost their language? Can’t they learn each other’s language? And would people just start wandering off into distant unknown lands? It would be more reasonable to say that the people were separated as a result of a great natural disaster which caused the destruction of the city and the lands to separate physically putting the many established nations after Noah out of reach with each other as the continents drifted apart.
We are not told what the city was like, only that God saw that they had they had the potential to do whatever they wanted. They had one language, and were united in building a great city and a tower that could reach the heavens. Now this is completely against God’s command to spread over the earth, so we can assume this empire was doing evil in the eyes of God. And who was the leader of this great city? In previous verses, there is mention of Nimrod, who was considered to be the first great conqueror. The bible doesn’t mention much about Nimrod apart from being the founder of Babel or Babylon, and conqueror of Assyria.
If the world was one land mass and all the peoples were descendants of Noah, it would be fair to say that Nimrod at the time was in control of the greatest empire on earth. And surely the greatest city would be the one which had the tower of Babel, and all the nations of the earth which existed then would know about it; even more likely if the continents had not been separated yet. Non-biblical sources might shed more light on the situation.
From different ancient texts, Nimrod was known to be tyrant, a sorcerer, and killer of men. He forced people to worship idols, and he believed that he was the Messiah. Nimrod was indeed a powerful ruler in the ancient world. In Revelation, it mentions the fall of Babylon, and at first inspection, the city with the tower of Babylon fits in with the description of an ancient civilisation which was known to all the nations of the earth. And like the one in Genesis, it was self-indulgent and in rebellion against God’s commands. Part of Revelation tells of the destruction of Babylon though it is necessary to put any complete global destruction by an act of God into context.
There have only been two acts of destruction which have impacted the whole world according to the bible. One is the flood where the people survived on Noah’s ark and the other is the apocalypse mentioned in Revelation. Notice that God flooded the whole earth because the people on the earth had turned evil. He wanted to start again through Noah and his family. But after this it moves on to the character of Abraham and it says all nations will be blessed through him. This implies that God is starting again from Abraham because the people of the earth have once again turned away from him. I would say that between the time of Noah and Abraham, something catastrophic would have happened in order for Abraham to be the sole ancestor of those who have faith in God. Noah’s descendants had turned away from God and whether this was due to the evil acts of Nimrod this remains to be examined.
If Nimrod was so evil in leading people astray, surely there must be some historical record, and an account of God’s judgement on his empire. This is why I say the account in Genesis is unusually brief. However, the fall of Babylon as recorded in Revelation is very detailed and surprisingly fits the view of Babylon as an ancient world power. Furthermore it mentions an earthquake so powerful that the earth has never seen before as it describes islands fleeing away as well as mountains. This may explain the start of continental drift. It definitely would have to be a large earthquake to initiate the splitting of continents. It also mentions how the nations were deceived by acts of sorcery. Obviously the descriptions on evil animal beast by the power of the devil and a false prophet match the criteria for Nimrod as a sorcerer and a false prophet. Now the number of 666 is meant to identify both the beast and a man. In Greek, Nimrod adopted the name Janus, and the word Teitan represents a serpent; both add up to the number which is associated with the devil. Also note the sequence of events which mentioned an attempted flood by Satan to wash away the woman. Taking that literally would imply the flood of Noah, while figuratively speaking it could represent sin and all of it being taken away by Jesus’ death on the cross.
From this account in Revelation, one could say that all the ancient religions came from the supernatural acts of Nimrod. The Egyptians claim for an afterlife lie with Osiris, who was claimed to have defeated death once. This matches the account for a mortal wounding of the beast but its recovery caused people to follow the beast. Surely enough it wasn’t unstoppable. As the Jews were protected from the plagues of Egypt so too could the seals for the 144,000 represent protection for those on earth during the plagues of Babylon. In this case it may be protection of a spiritual death rather than a physical one. The seven plagues and seven bowls of God’s wrath seem to apply exclusively to the city of ancient city of Babylon in a single day. Some of the trumpets at first hand appear similar to the plagues of Egypt, but may apply to Nimrod’s acts of sorcery. Although one has to take in to account the destruction of the Garden of Eden by fire as a possibility. Clearly Eden was not a small place, if indeed it had room for all the species of animals including dinosaurs. I’d like to think of it as an ideal Jurassic Park where the animals ate plants and humans ate fruit all living in harmony with a perfect relationship with its Creator. A single act of obedience caused guilt, and gave way to a decaying paradise as a result of the creation’s lack of trust in the Creator to maintain life and order. A creator cannot fully fix the creation while the creation doesn’t allow it to in the first place. There is a lack of trust which prevents the creator from being able to immediately fix the problem, but that’s even if the creator wants to fix it in the first place.
Science says that hope will give person strength and perseverance through suffering. What if hope in the afterlife was the ultimate hope? Would it give a person endurance over all forms of suffering if they knew that death was not the end? Could the ‘survival of the fittest’ apply to Christianity, where the hope is in eternal life, and Jesus tells Christians to love their enemies so that others too might know this same hope. Christians do not feel they die in vain, as the ultimate authority for judgement lies with God after death. We all know that love can change lives. So did Jesus really rise from the dead? Did he really sound like and acted like he had authority from God? Will the problem be finally fully fixed not on earth but after life on earth?
This is not a threat. It’s only a threat when you know you are in danger. You only know either when you die or if Jesus comes back and by then it’s too late. True Christians will only show love to guide you to look for the truth. People always have a choice to believe as long as there are people proclaiming the truth. Who says that they won’t reach those who are lost? If all people descended from Noah then everyone had a chance. But choices have consequences, impacting the choices of future generations, but since people are never sure of the outcome of life-changing decisions, they always have the perception of choice. And with choice there is more than one outcome, and inevitably some people will sadly make the wrong choice even though they heard the truth. As long as the truth exists, in the past or in the present, there is always a chance to make that choice. In the Old Testament people put their faith in God and in His sending of a Messiah to save the word. Christians today put their faith in Jesus and what he did. All are saved through faith alone. All you can do is to examine for yourself whether historical documents support the bible but more importantly the existence of Jesus and what He did on earth.
Monday, October 5, 2009
some words...
People don’t like fakes, but only if it doesn’t do the same thing as the original.
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The people who are successful make their own news. People who care want to hear your own experiences, not what you’ve read in the media.
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Genuine truths come from the heart, not the mind. Real emotions do not lie.
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Never say people are wrong. They just have a lack of understanding about the truth.
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People have different perceptions of reality through experience. Can you say they’re wrong? No. Only delusional. They can say the same about you.
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A creator is always responsible for their creation. Parents are responsible for their children. The experienced are responsible for teaching the inexperienced. All children may grow up to be parents or leaders. How can the truth be known in the future if those who know it do not feel the responsibility to pass it on?
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What comes from the mind can be refuted. Experiences and feelings cannot. The mind can make things complex but the heart only knows what it can feel.
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Despair is the absence of hope. Chaos is the absence of order. Evil is the absence of love. Fear is the absence of assurance. Darkness is the absence of light. Hell is the absence of God. You know its eternity when there is no need to measure time, but not that it is possible to measure an eternity of time by any means.
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True beauty touches the heart. Empathy is the language of souls. Logical reasoning is for robots.
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What the mind cannot be sure of, the heart can be sure.
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Love with words but without actions is meaningless.
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The world is dull if you see things from the mind. The world is endless if you see things from the heart.
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Better to have a closed mind with an open heart, than a closed heart with an open mind. True wisdom comes from the heart.
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Rational thinking requires effort. Emotions outpour spontaneously.
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Reality never changes. But your perception of it can.
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Desires from the heart can connect with all people, the past, present and future.
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What is there to fear if one knows that that there is eternal life after death?
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Wealth and riches are meaningless if they have no sentimental value. It’s the treasures that lie in the heart that really matters.
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Following orders without question makes you a robot. Choosing what you want to do makes you human.
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Love can drive you insane, irrational. Do you enjoy doing things you love?
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Just because a body is broken or incapacitated, it doesn’t mean their soul isn’t there. A soul does not require a physical body to exist. While there is life there is spirit. But a person’s spirit continues to speak after the body has decayed.
5/10/09
Nathaniel
.
The people who are successful make their own news. People who care want to hear your own experiences, not what you’ve read in the media.
.
Genuine truths come from the heart, not the mind. Real emotions do not lie.
.
Never say people are wrong. They just have a lack of understanding about the truth.
.
People have different perceptions of reality through experience. Can you say they’re wrong? No. Only delusional. They can say the same about you.
.
A creator is always responsible for their creation. Parents are responsible for their children. The experienced are responsible for teaching the inexperienced. All children may grow up to be parents or leaders. How can the truth be known in the future if those who know it do not feel the responsibility to pass it on?
.
What comes from the mind can be refuted. Experiences and feelings cannot. The mind can make things complex but the heart only knows what it can feel.
.
Despair is the absence of hope. Chaos is the absence of order. Evil is the absence of love. Fear is the absence of assurance. Darkness is the absence of light. Hell is the absence of God. You know its eternity when there is no need to measure time, but not that it is possible to measure an eternity of time by any means.
.
True beauty touches the heart. Empathy is the language of souls. Logical reasoning is for robots.
.
What the mind cannot be sure of, the heart can be sure.
.
Love with words but without actions is meaningless.
.
The world is dull if you see things from the mind. The world is endless if you see things from the heart.
.
Better to have a closed mind with an open heart, than a closed heart with an open mind. True wisdom comes from the heart.
.
Rational thinking requires effort. Emotions outpour spontaneously.
.
Reality never changes. But your perception of it can.
.
Desires from the heart can connect with all people, the past, present and future.
.
What is there to fear if one knows that that there is eternal life after death?
.
Wealth and riches are meaningless if they have no sentimental value. It’s the treasures that lie in the heart that really matters.
.
Following orders without question makes you a robot. Choosing what you want to do makes you human.
.
Love can drive you insane, irrational. Do you enjoy doing things you love?
.
Just because a body is broken or incapacitated, it doesn’t mean their soul isn’t there. A soul does not require a physical body to exist. While there is life there is spirit. But a person’s spirit continues to speak after the body has decayed.
5/10/09
Nathaniel
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