There was an excellent television show on the Discovery Channel about the Petroglyphs in Peru known as the Nazca Lines. These are enormous desert drawings of animals, men and some bizarre unidentifiable pictures. The researcher that was narrating the show sought opinions of others to determine the meanings of the glyphs. In his search he traveled to the Mojave Desert and spoke with a Native American gentleman that was familiar with this area and the huge petroglyphs that appear in that area.
We are told by the Native American expert that these petroglyphs were used for religious ceremonies. One of the petroglyphs is that of a stick figure of a man. He is the deity of this ancient Indian nation. Their story is that centuries ago the deity became angry with men and waved his arms four times. This caused the winds to violently blow and the rain to come and the whole earth was flooded. Only a handful of men and women survived and repopulated the earth.
My opinion is that truth is truth. There are so many Flood "myths" in many diverse cultures and lands. Perchance there is a glimmer of truth in all of the flood legends.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Genesis (Bereshit) - My Three Sons Part 3
Genesis Chapter Six is about the Flood.
Many different cultures have a story of a world-wide calamity that involves a significant rise in the sea water, horrendous winds and a deluge of rain that ancient man reckoned covered the entire known earth. The Judaic version agrees with other versions in that human sin caused The Flood. Mankind is eliminated due to immoral status. The Flood hero is elevated above those that are swept away. Truth is truth no matter what culture’s legend is told. There no doubt was a devastating flood.
I certainly do not want to equate God’s judgement by using the follow example, for I do not want to put God in a box. However, if we look at the devastation that recently befell New Orleans and southern Mississippi with Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and imagine what if time was different? What if we had no transportation? As poor as the Superdome turned out to be for lodging, what if there was no place of mass shelter? What if we had no public assistance?
The Katrina disaster may have been viewed by the survivors of that area as a similar disaster.
However I digress.
We see that Noah was a righteous and blameless man. He walked with God. The rest of the earth was corrupt and lawless (chamas which can be translated as violent). The Midrash speculates that it was affluence and the leisure time that came along with it that afforded men to become depraved. Hand in hand with prosperity and dependence on self went an attitude that man was his own god. Why should they need the one true God any longer?
God told Noah of his plan to end all flesh, including the beasts since they were subject to man. He directs Noah to build an ark and gives him the dimensions. I have to laugh here because it reminds me of the old Bill Cosby monologue on this subject.
God: "The ark shall be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits long."
Noah: "Uh...God....? What’s a cubit?"
(Incidently a cubit is approximately 18 inches long.)
The story continues to prescribe to Noah to take seven pairs of clean animals and only two of each unclean animal, a male and female. The Lord says that the rains will last seven days and nights and the Flood will last forty days. The pertinent point is that Noah did just as the Lord asked.
We are told that Noah was 600 hundred years old when the Flood came and that it was in the second month on the 17th day of the month. This would probably be in the fall during the rainy season.
The ancient Egyptian hierogriphs list only 3 seasons. Rain, flood and harvest.
Though the Flood and rain lasted forty-seven days, we are told that the waters covering the earth lasted one-hundred and fifty days before they diminished on the seventh month and once again on the 17th day. After almost a year had passed, 364 days, once again on the second month, the 17th day Noah and his sons remove the covering from the ark and the earth is once again dry.
Noah was a non-conformist in his age who opposed the value system of his own time. Whether this story is legend or truth is of no merit. Once again I believe that truth is truth and that in some form, this incident occurred. The chapter’s purpose was to provide ancient man with emphasis on God’s moral judgement. Noah's story, no God's story speaks to us across the centuries.
Many different cultures have a story of a world-wide calamity that involves a significant rise in the sea water, horrendous winds and a deluge of rain that ancient man reckoned covered the entire known earth. The Judaic version agrees with other versions in that human sin caused The Flood. Mankind is eliminated due to immoral status. The Flood hero is elevated above those that are swept away. Truth is truth no matter what culture’s legend is told. There no doubt was a devastating flood.
I certainly do not want to equate God’s judgement by using the follow example, for I do not want to put God in a box. However, if we look at the devastation that recently befell New Orleans and southern Mississippi with Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and imagine what if time was different? What if we had no transportation? As poor as the Superdome turned out to be for lodging, what if there was no place of mass shelter? What if we had no public assistance?
The Katrina disaster may have been viewed by the survivors of that area as a similar disaster.
However I digress.
We see that Noah was a righteous and blameless man. He walked with God. The rest of the earth was corrupt and lawless (chamas which can be translated as violent). The Midrash speculates that it was affluence and the leisure time that came along with it that afforded men to become depraved. Hand in hand with prosperity and dependence on self went an attitude that man was his own god. Why should they need the one true God any longer?
God told Noah of his plan to end all flesh, including the beasts since they were subject to man. He directs Noah to build an ark and gives him the dimensions. I have to laugh here because it reminds me of the old Bill Cosby monologue on this subject.
God: "The ark shall be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits long."
Noah: "Uh...God....? What’s a cubit?"
(Incidently a cubit is approximately 18 inches long.)
The story continues to prescribe to Noah to take seven pairs of clean animals and only two of each unclean animal, a male and female. The Lord says that the rains will last seven days and nights and the Flood will last forty days. The pertinent point is that Noah did just as the Lord asked.
We are told that Noah was 600 hundred years old when the Flood came and that it was in the second month on the 17th day of the month. This would probably be in the fall during the rainy season.
The ancient Egyptian hierogriphs list only 3 seasons. Rain, flood and harvest.
Though the Flood and rain lasted forty-seven days, we are told that the waters covering the earth lasted one-hundred and fifty days before they diminished on the seventh month and once again on the 17th day. After almost a year had passed, 364 days, once again on the second month, the 17th day Noah and his sons remove the covering from the ark and the earth is once again dry.
Noah was a non-conformist in his age who opposed the value system of his own time. Whether this story is legend or truth is of no merit. Once again I believe that truth is truth and that in some form, this incident occurred. The chapter’s purpose was to provide ancient man with emphasis on God’s moral judgement. Noah's story, no God's story speaks to us across the centuries.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Genesis (Bereshit) My Three Sons - Part 2
Genesis Chapter Five is somewhat confusing. There is a list of the lineage of Seth. After we read of Enosh we see that he has a son named Kenan. From there the names that follow are similar to the names in Cain's lineage. I believe the fundamental point of the Genesis story is to point out mankind's ongoing story and that we had one ancestor and one line of descent.
A couple of things worth noting:
A couple of things worth noting:
- Kenan and Cain could be translated to be the same word.
- Enoch walked with God for 300 years. When he was 365 God took him and he did not face death.
- Lamech was the father of Noah.
Most of those listed in the lineage before Noah had children earlier in their lives, however Noah didn't have children until he was 500 years old. One thought is that Noah saw the sinful nature of the times that he lived in and did not want to father children.
We later read of divine beings taking wives from the daughters of men. We read of the Nephilim, a race that were giants. Perhaps there was a race of superhumans? That is only speculative.
"The Lord saw how great was man's wickedness and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time." So the Lord decided to blot out man and all the beasts that he had created for He regretted making them. However He found favor with Noah."
By this time, Noah had three sons. Ham, Shem and Japheth.
Genesis(Bereshit) My Three Sons - Part 1
In Genesis chapter 4 we read the narrative of Adam and Eve consummated their marriage, conceiving and bearing their first son, Cain. The name is a word play meaning "I have gained (or made) a male child with the help of the Lord." This is significant because of the Hebrew custom of Pidyon ha Ben, the redemption of the first born son.
The next son "Abel" could be translated "breath" or "puff" and could be indicative of his future. Ps. 144:4 "Man is like a breath, his days are as a passing shadow" or Job 7:16 "My days are as a breath."
In meditating about the sin of Cain I have arrived at these insights. Cain's sin was threefold.
The First Sin.
In the profession I have chosen, I have learned that you have to chose your attitude.
Cain's first sin was his attitude. Both brothers brought acceptable offerings to the Lord. Cain brought the fruit of the soil. Abel brought the firstlings of his flock. We have no knowledge of why an offering to the Lord was mandated, only that it was required. Cain went through the motions, but Abel's offering was from his heart. The Lord paid no heed to Cain, but consoled him that "if you do right, there is uplift, if you do not sin crouches at your door. And you can be it's master." Already we see that man has choices. A choice of attitude and a choice of response.
The Second Sin.
Cain murdered his brother
The Third Sin.
The Lord asks Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
Cain replies, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
We often read this as, "I don't know, that is not my job to keep track of my brother's comings and goings." But what Cain is really saying is, "It is not my job to watch over my brother, it is your job God. Are you not doing your job?" So Cain's third sin is putting God in a box. He is saying, "God it's your job to watch over us. If something happened to Abel then it is because you weren't watching."
As in a ballgame, three strikes and you are out. The Lord removes Cain from his land and His Presence. He takes away his chosen profession and sends him to be a ceaseless wanderer of the earth. So great was Cain's fear that he would be killed that The Lord marked him.
An unfortunate truth that still exists is that the acorn does not drop too far from the tree. Of Cain's greatgrandson Lamech we read that he commits double homicide.
We conclude chapter four by reading of Adam's third son Seth. It is Seth who carries on the faith, for we read that Seth had a son named Enosh. And it was then that men began to invoke the Lord by Name.
The next son "Abel" could be translated "breath" or "puff" and could be indicative of his future. Ps. 144:4 "Man is like a breath, his days are as a passing shadow" or Job 7:16 "My days are as a breath."
In meditating about the sin of Cain I have arrived at these insights. Cain's sin was threefold.
The First Sin.
In the profession I have chosen, I have learned that you have to chose your attitude.
Cain's first sin was his attitude. Both brothers brought acceptable offerings to the Lord. Cain brought the fruit of the soil. Abel brought the firstlings of his flock. We have no knowledge of why an offering to the Lord was mandated, only that it was required. Cain went through the motions, but Abel's offering was from his heart. The Lord paid no heed to Cain, but consoled him that "if you do right, there is uplift, if you do not sin crouches at your door. And you can be it's master." Already we see that man has choices. A choice of attitude and a choice of response.
The Second Sin.
Cain murdered his brother
The Third Sin.
The Lord asks Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
Cain replies, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
We often read this as, "I don't know, that is not my job to keep track of my brother's comings and goings." But what Cain is really saying is, "It is not my job to watch over my brother, it is your job God. Are you not doing your job?" So Cain's third sin is putting God in a box. He is saying, "God it's your job to watch over us. If something happened to Abel then it is because you weren't watching."
As in a ballgame, three strikes and you are out. The Lord removes Cain from his land and His Presence. He takes away his chosen profession and sends him to be a ceaseless wanderer of the earth. So great was Cain's fear that he would be killed that The Lord marked him.
An unfortunate truth that still exists is that the acorn does not drop too far from the tree. Of Cain's greatgrandson Lamech we read that he commits double homicide.
We conclude chapter four by reading of Adam's third son Seth. It is Seth who carries on the faith, for we read that Seth had a son named Enosh. And it was then that men began to invoke the Lord by Name.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Bereshit
I hope everyone's holidays were merry. I took a small sabbatical. So I am going to attempt to get back into the swing of things with the ol' blog.
One of my new years resolutions is to start again reading Torah from beginning to end every night. I am not Jewish. I love reading the insights and studying the commentary.
I am using the Guenther Plaut edition. It is a liberal version. I appreciate that viewpoint although I am a very conservative type of guy.
What follows is the information I have learned and opinions that I have formed from this study. I am starting with the Hebrew Book of Bereshit which we refer to as Genesis. Bereshit literally means Beginning and is taken from the first word of the Hebrew text.
Before there was a written Torah, there was the tradition of Oral Torah. Generations upon generations handed down the spoken word and the traditions to their progeny.
Stories of creation abound through differing cultures. Many are similar. Some differ. We consider them to be myths. But what about Genesis? Could we be Christians and accept the account of creation to by myth?
What makes Genesis stand apart is although the creation story could be a myth, there is no mythology. We have only mention of God creating Heaven and Earth, the beasts and man and woman. We no hierarchy of heavenly beings or demi gods or fantastic stories of their lives, triumphs and romances that are pervasive in other cultures. We have a simplistic story of our God, Adonai, creating the Heavens,the light and the darkness, the waters, the Earth and it's inhabitants. I find it interesting that after God created the waters, He created the sky. This would make sense as clouds are made up of water vapor.
When God creates man and woman His Name is then Elohim or Lord. This reflects His status over man. We read that He created the Earth in 6 days and rests on the 7th. After each creation, He states "That is Good." On the day of rest He looks at his work and says, "That is very Good."
This was a story that ancient man could not only understand, but pass on future generations.
Ever since Darwin published his findings, men of faith have stood righteously to defend their God against science. Even Darwin wrestled with his own conscious whether to announce his theories or keep silent. His father was a pastor. His wife voiced her fervant fear for his soul. In Darwins time, just shy of one hundred years ago, it was believed the world was less than five thousand years old. Darwin's explanations was considered blasphemy. Creationists have rallied ever since the Scopes "Monkey Trial". To make their viewpoint sound more scientific Creationist have now relabeled their views as Intelligent Design.
It has to be true that truths beget truth. Many of the stories of creation have similar points. Can we modern believers say that the account of creation was a myth that enabled the ancient Hebrews to offer an explanation to their contemporaries and still maintain our faith in the One God, blessed be He?
I have no problem. My faith is not rocked.
One of my new years resolutions is to start again reading Torah from beginning to end every night. I am not Jewish. I love reading the insights and studying the commentary.
I am using the Guenther Plaut edition. It is a liberal version. I appreciate that viewpoint although I am a very conservative type of guy.
What follows is the information I have learned and opinions that I have formed from this study. I am starting with the Hebrew Book of Bereshit which we refer to as Genesis. Bereshit literally means Beginning and is taken from the first word of the Hebrew text.
Before there was a written Torah, there was the tradition of Oral Torah. Generations upon generations handed down the spoken word and the traditions to their progeny.
Stories of creation abound through differing cultures. Many are similar. Some differ. We consider them to be myths. But what about Genesis? Could we be Christians and accept the account of creation to by myth?
What makes Genesis stand apart is although the creation story could be a myth, there is no mythology. We have only mention of God creating Heaven and Earth, the beasts and man and woman. We no hierarchy of heavenly beings or demi gods or fantastic stories of their lives, triumphs and romances that are pervasive in other cultures. We have a simplistic story of our God, Adonai, creating the Heavens,the light and the darkness, the waters, the Earth and it's inhabitants. I find it interesting that after God created the waters, He created the sky. This would make sense as clouds are made up of water vapor.
When God creates man and woman His Name is then Elohim or Lord. This reflects His status over man. We read that He created the Earth in 6 days and rests on the 7th. After each creation, He states "That is Good." On the day of rest He looks at his work and says, "That is very Good."
This was a story that ancient man could not only understand, but pass on future generations.
Ever since Darwin published his findings, men of faith have stood righteously to defend their God against science. Even Darwin wrestled with his own conscious whether to announce his theories or keep silent. His father was a pastor. His wife voiced her fervant fear for his soul. In Darwins time, just shy of one hundred years ago, it was believed the world was less than five thousand years old. Darwin's explanations was considered blasphemy. Creationists have rallied ever since the Scopes "Monkey Trial". To make their viewpoint sound more scientific Creationist have now relabeled their views as Intelligent Design.
It has to be true that truths beget truth. Many of the stories of creation have similar points. Can we modern believers say that the account of creation was a myth that enabled the ancient Hebrews to offer an explanation to their contemporaries and still maintain our faith in the One God, blessed be He?
I have no problem. My faith is not rocked.
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