MARK BILTZ
Friday, May 31, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
An Impatient Bride waiting on her Groom
I don’t know about
anyone else but I am plum too “pooped to pop”! Frazzled out! I am just
worn out! How about you? This world wears me out! Add to my weariness
frustration, irritation, fed-up exasperation, disgust, sick and tired
and tired of being sick and tired along with my mind spinning. I guess
that about sums it up!
So, you ask me “What is the problem?” I am all dressed up to go to the biggest party of this lifetime and I am the bride (stomping my foot) and golly I’ve spent so much time primping up to meet my groom. Here I am in my silk and lace undergarments and my nylons are of the finest silk from Paris. My wedding gown is special made for my King in mind with petals of sheer layers and white stones. My veil matches. My shoes are so elegant that it would make Cinderella jealous and I am wearing the most expensive of perfumes. My favorite is by Este. My hair was done by my favorite beautician and it is perfect! Not a hair out of place!!! My bouquet of flowers is fresh and the fragrance fills the room. I spend hours every day and night gazing out my window, straining my eyes for any sign of my Groom; imagining every sound is that trumpet that Shofar sound. My oil lamp is trimmed and full and the light shinning awaiting my groom’s arrival.
And where is He? He is nowhere to be seen? The world keeps turning and people continue hurrying about their daily business, seemingly oblivious to the grand ceremony that’s scheduled. Is anyone else waiting? Are you ready? Do you feel the tension in the air? Did you get His invitation? Thousands upon thousands of invitations have been sent out! There are very few RSVPs. I don’t have to worry about the nuptials and banquet to follow for my King and Groom has taken care of all preparations. Do you suppose that is why He is delayed? He wanted this special and a surprise to His coming! He just gave me signs to watch for and told me I would know when to be ready and watching. He said He deeply desires me to be ready to walk out the door, watching and waiting patiently for His arrival. (Plopping myself down in a chair) I am tired of waiting!! This gown isn’t the most comfortable thing to wear! I remain waiting on Him. I love Him so!! I imagine He is putting the finishing touches on the cenoter pieces and making sure the china is all in place. I can’t even imagine the mansion He has designed especially for me. Can you imagine? I do hope you are coming too! This situation is getting OLD.
Despite knowing full well my fiancĂ©, my King loves and adores me, there are times when I can’t help but wonder if He’ll ever show up at all! Will He really keep His promise to come get me? Doesn’t He understand how long the waiting is on MY end? I know I know, but I am so excited waiting for His coming!!!
Like it says in Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” My hope is being deferred more each day, and I can feel my heart getting sicker and sicker. But I know His promises are true. 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 20For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Oh, I trust His word, and know intellectually He’ll be back, but when your heart longs for your beloved, time is a major enemy. All I want in this whole, wide world is to be with Him!! There is nothing that desire that is here.
I KNOW there are Trillions of other ‘Brides’ out there who feel exactly the way I do!!! Your heart aches to leave this place, and join your beloved in your new home. And it is going to happen soon!! He promised He’d be back, and I believe His word, even though He’s slow as Christmas! And I remember as a little girl waiting on Christmas. The longing we feel isn’t just the emotional tie we have with Jesus. It also stems from the fact that we’re stuck here on this wretched planet, watching all that is good and just and pure swirl straight down the societal toilet! Isaiah 5:20~ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 2 Timothy 3 ~3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
Good grief, all you have to do is listen to the news and research the news on the internet!!! Could Obama be more exposed for the corrupt, incompetent, arrogant Mafioso thug than he is right now? Personally, this is just the tip of the iceberg and I am afraid to say worse is coming according to G-d’s Word. I am just shouting the warning! I’m sure there are more salacious, disgusting revelations to come in the days ahead. Funny how those of us who have been speaking the truth of what’s been going on were rudely labeled conspiracy theorists, until the ‘conspiracy’ affected the mainstream media! We were told mockers would come. Jude 1:18~ How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 2 Peter 3:3 ~ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.
Suddenly, the liberals have woken up and realized they aren’t the administration’s prized pet after all. All this time, they’ve pandered and excused the White House occupant’s egregious offenses but now they see they aren’t exempt from his intrusive, illegal police state surveillance, and boy are they are hopping mad! Well, welcome to reality MSNBC, CBS, CNN, ABC, Huffington Post, New York Times, etc… Glad you could join the party. How does it feel to be violated the rest of us? How many investigations are going on 3 to 4? And what will be done? Could we oven hope for integrity within Congress or the Senate? We sure can’t with the Dept of Justice!!! Our Founders would be ashamed!
The depth and scope of corruption in this administration is breathtaking! The occupant makes Tricky Dick look like your bratty little brother who rummaged in a cookie jar without permission. These people are, quite simply evil (demonic)! They are directly responsible for the MURDER of four American heroes , and have done their darndest to ignore, circumvent and dismantle the Constitution of the United States while trying to silence, using mafia-style intimidation tactics, those with the cajones to call them for what they are. The whistle blowers who have come forward are to be commended!!!
Ninety percent of them belong in handcuffs, and the remaining ten percent should be booted out of office so they can join the struggle to find gainful employment like so many Americans are. Instead they are rewarded with promotions and bonuses!!! Are the liberals finally waking up to find out the emperor King Obama has no clothes? Well a girl can hope can’t she?
Then, we’re forced to wade in the quicksand of sin of additional States passing legislation legalizing sodomite marriages, while more horrifying details emerge about the atrocity es committed by other abortion clinics around the country. “Dr.” Kermit Gosnell is in good company!!! There is nothing like snipping the spinal cords of new babies, beheading them or flushing them down toilets! Thank goodness the woman had the right to choose!! This makes me sick!! I want out of here. I want rescued!! Save me from this evil!
Of course, I could go on and on ad -nauseum, but I won’t. We, the Bride, are painfully aware America’s moral compass is missing its needle. We’re getting fed up of being the brunt of endless mocking for our stubborn insistence on upholding Biblical principles, and being forced to witness the increasing rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this ever darkening time. America needs to repent! There is a need here at home to reach the lost! It hurts our heart to hear our Groom mocked and denigrated; His very name casually used as a curse. The world positively celebrates wickedness, while WE are called ‘monsters’ who ‘spiritually rape’ others when we dare share our faith. The new buzz word is “tolerance” for moral relativists. How completely absurd and nonsensical our society has become! Just living day to day ism a constant fight against evil, and quite frankly, it’s exhausting at times.
People who subscribe to moral relativism will tell you that all beliefs are equal. Have any of you seen the page on COEXIST? Or heard of Chrislam? Please look them up. They will tell you that we should be accepting of other beliefs; and that if we aren't it is a sign that, at best we aren't very bright, and at worst are "intolerant" or even a bigot. To people who believe this way, the worst sin in the world is to be intolerant and exclusive, and the enlightened way is to be accepting. Yet, tolerance pushers refuse to tolerate Jews or Christians. Why is that? It is because most Jews and Christians are not moral relativists. We do not believe that all beliefs are equal. We believe that there is only one right way to see the world, and that is G-d's way. The hypocrisy of this crooked and perverse generation which claims that all beliefs should be equally tolerated is that it cannot tolerate any belief system except its own.
We who are mocked and derided for our witness; who are called names and accused of being bigoted, intolerant, hateful, homophobic, narrow-minded, blah, blah, blah, WILL be vindicated by our Lord! If the things we hear and see every day wear us down, can you imagine the stench it must be in the nostrils of God? Yes, He is patient, but even HE has limits as to how much He’ll take without meting out His judgment.
I don’t know about anyone else but I am exhausted! I am tucked out! David felt this way. Psalms 12: 1-4 records him lamenting to God, “Help Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They (the wicked) speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, ‘With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?’”
When I see David I am going to personally thank him for the book of Psalms. David expressed every emotion we experience while walking this earth! King David, a man after God’s own heart, got tired of having to listen to the lies and bull excrement his enemies spewed day after day. God heard him and promised in verse 7, “Thou shalt keep them (the righteous) O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.”
How wonderful this sounds!! But we still have to slog through this slimy sewage of quicksand sin every day, as we occupy until He comes. I sometimes feel as if I could be pulled under and drown with all this heaviness of sin around. In our desperation, we sometimes set our hope on a particular date, sign in the heavens or Jewish festival, only to be disappointed again and again, so it’s easy to slip into despair. After all, enough is enough and we’re only dust. We can only take so much. These are indeed perilous times for the Bride!! In Matthew 24:12, Jesus warned those of us who would live in these last days “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” THAT, my friend, is a very real danger!!! We have an extremely challenging situation to navigate here because we DON’T know exactly when He’ll snatch us home.
We’re tired!! We’re mocked and rebuffed every day by human beings, as well as malevolent forces in the spiritual realm. Ephesians 6:12~ 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The economy stinks! We’re constantly lied to by those in positions of power, and by people who are supposed to disseminate accurate information!! Our unalienable rights are being assaulted in egregious ways, by the MOST corrupt administration in the history of this country! There seems to be little hope to fight to maintain our witness for Christi! And it is becoming more and more a suffocating struggle! Every day I blog in hopes of winning just one more for G-d!
I ask Him every day for just one more!! We must remember this world isn’t all there is! It seems like we are going down to defeat because this existence is all we know. We have never glimpsed heaven or experienced our new, perfect bodies. All we’re familiar with is corruption, decay and death! But this is not the whole story! We are NOT in a hopeless situation—not at all!!
Jesus promised that His Bride is NOT destined to suffer the wrath to come. Those who love and serve Him, despite the challenges of these increasingly offensive days, are the victors. We who trust His word, who are watching and waiting for His return, have a fantastic promise to hold to. Our Groom knows we’re tired! He longs more tenderly for us than we do for Him! Revelation 3: 8-11. “I know thy works: behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou has a little strength, and hast kept my word, and has not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Isaiah 26:19-21 King James Version (KJV) 19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.21For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
I know the Lord cherishes the church because the only thing we have to hold to is faith; blind, walking in the dark, listening to the voice of God, faith. Hebrews 11:1~ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The patriarchs in the Old Testament saw and heard physical manifestations of G-d, which made it easy to believe G-d’s word. The apostles and followers of Jesus had first-hand experience with the Son of God, and witnessed incredible signs and wonders. But all we, in the church age have to stand on is the Word of God. We are creatures designed to navigate our world through our five senses. How many times have you heard someone say, “If I can’t see or touch it, I’m not going to believe it!” Remember Thomas? He refused to believe the disciples had literally seen a risen Jesus. Only when Jesus appeared at a time when he was present and allowed Thomas to touch His, pierced hands and touch his side, was he convinced. But what did Jesus tell him? John 20: 29 “Jesus saith unto him, ‘Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Our faith and trust that He will keep His promises, despite the fact we have NO physical evidence, means everything to Him! We have not seen but believed! Psalm 138: 2 “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
A person’s character and integrity determine his reputation and has direct bearing on whether his name is respected or not. Character is the cluster of personal attributes that are unshakeable. They determine the actions we take and the behavior we demonstrate when confronted with seemingly irresistible temptation, overwhelming odds or insurmountable challenges no matter what they are. They represent who we are and what we do when no one is looking. Some of the most predominant attributes of character are courage, endurance, persistence, perseverance, hopefulness, faith, trust, gratitude, honesty, integrity, tolerance, enthusiasm and loyalty but not limited to. God wants us to completely trust in His Holy character and the promises He’s made, because if we don’t, we denigrate His name. Not only does this insult the God of the universe, it hurts His feelings!
Although we, the Bride, have never seen Jesus or physically heard His voice, we can rest assured He WILL keep the wonderful promises He made to us! John 14: 1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in G-d, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Is that clear enough? He WILL come for us, just as He vowed. His Bride is NOT destined for the wrath to come. Because we’ve kept the word of His patience, He will keep us from the hour of temptation that is coming on the earth. And because the church/Bride has had to lean on blind faith in the integrity of God’s Word and His name, we are the ones who will have the high honor of living in the sparkling jewel of the New Jerusalem! THAT is how God rewards those who believe what He says.
So, touch up that make-up, brush your hair, smooth out that wedding dress, and keep looking out the window for our Groom. Buck up butter-cup! Don’t get your garter in a twist and panties in a wad, and don’t allow your love for Him to grow cold! He knows we are tired. He’s well aware of what we’re contending with on this sin-sick world, and He WILL snatch us home very soon! He promised He would, and that’s that!
So keep watch like the wise virgins:
Matthew 25
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;[a] go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Maranatha!! Come Lord Jesus!
So, you ask me “What is the problem?” I am all dressed up to go to the biggest party of this lifetime and I am the bride (stomping my foot) and golly I’ve spent so much time primping up to meet my groom. Here I am in my silk and lace undergarments and my nylons are of the finest silk from Paris. My wedding gown is special made for my King in mind with petals of sheer layers and white stones. My veil matches. My shoes are so elegant that it would make Cinderella jealous and I am wearing the most expensive of perfumes. My favorite is by Este. My hair was done by my favorite beautician and it is perfect! Not a hair out of place!!! My bouquet of flowers is fresh and the fragrance fills the room. I spend hours every day and night gazing out my window, straining my eyes for any sign of my Groom; imagining every sound is that trumpet that Shofar sound. My oil lamp is trimmed and full and the light shinning awaiting my groom’s arrival.
And where is He? He is nowhere to be seen? The world keeps turning and people continue hurrying about their daily business, seemingly oblivious to the grand ceremony that’s scheduled. Is anyone else waiting? Are you ready? Do you feel the tension in the air? Did you get His invitation? Thousands upon thousands of invitations have been sent out! There are very few RSVPs. I don’t have to worry about the nuptials and banquet to follow for my King and Groom has taken care of all preparations. Do you suppose that is why He is delayed? He wanted this special and a surprise to His coming! He just gave me signs to watch for and told me I would know when to be ready and watching. He said He deeply desires me to be ready to walk out the door, watching and waiting patiently for His arrival. (Plopping myself down in a chair) I am tired of waiting!! This gown isn’t the most comfortable thing to wear! I remain waiting on Him. I love Him so!! I imagine He is putting the finishing touches on the cenoter pieces and making sure the china is all in place. I can’t even imagine the mansion He has designed especially for me. Can you imagine? I do hope you are coming too! This situation is getting OLD.
Despite knowing full well my fiancĂ©, my King loves and adores me, there are times when I can’t help but wonder if He’ll ever show up at all! Will He really keep His promise to come get me? Doesn’t He understand how long the waiting is on MY end? I know I know, but I am so excited waiting for His coming!!!
Like it says in Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” My hope is being deferred more each day, and I can feel my heart getting sicker and sicker. But I know His promises are true. 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 20For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Oh, I trust His word, and know intellectually He’ll be back, but when your heart longs for your beloved, time is a major enemy. All I want in this whole, wide world is to be with Him!! There is nothing that desire that is here.
I KNOW there are Trillions of other ‘Brides’ out there who feel exactly the way I do!!! Your heart aches to leave this place, and join your beloved in your new home. And it is going to happen soon!! He promised He’d be back, and I believe His word, even though He’s slow as Christmas! And I remember as a little girl waiting on Christmas. The longing we feel isn’t just the emotional tie we have with Jesus. It also stems from the fact that we’re stuck here on this wretched planet, watching all that is good and just and pure swirl straight down the societal toilet! Isaiah 5:20~ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 2 Timothy 3 ~3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
Good grief, all you have to do is listen to the news and research the news on the internet!!! Could Obama be more exposed for the corrupt, incompetent, arrogant Mafioso thug than he is right now? Personally, this is just the tip of the iceberg and I am afraid to say worse is coming according to G-d’s Word. I am just shouting the warning! I’m sure there are more salacious, disgusting revelations to come in the days ahead. Funny how those of us who have been speaking the truth of what’s been going on were rudely labeled conspiracy theorists, until the ‘conspiracy’ affected the mainstream media! We were told mockers would come. Jude 1:18~ How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 2 Peter 3:3 ~ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.
Suddenly, the liberals have woken up and realized they aren’t the administration’s prized pet after all. All this time, they’ve pandered and excused the White House occupant’s egregious offenses but now they see they aren’t exempt from his intrusive, illegal police state surveillance, and boy are they are hopping mad! Well, welcome to reality MSNBC, CBS, CNN, ABC, Huffington Post, New York Times, etc… Glad you could join the party. How does it feel to be violated the rest of us? How many investigations are going on 3 to 4? And what will be done? Could we oven hope for integrity within Congress or the Senate? We sure can’t with the Dept of Justice!!! Our Founders would be ashamed!
The depth and scope of corruption in this administration is breathtaking! The occupant makes Tricky Dick look like your bratty little brother who rummaged in a cookie jar without permission. These people are, quite simply evil (demonic)! They are directly responsible for the MURDER of four American heroes , and have done their darndest to ignore, circumvent and dismantle the Constitution of the United States while trying to silence, using mafia-style intimidation tactics, those with the cajones to call them for what they are. The whistle blowers who have come forward are to be commended!!!
Ninety percent of them belong in handcuffs, and the remaining ten percent should be booted out of office so they can join the struggle to find gainful employment like so many Americans are. Instead they are rewarded with promotions and bonuses!!! Are the liberals finally waking up to find out the emperor King Obama has no clothes? Well a girl can hope can’t she?
Then, we’re forced to wade in the quicksand of sin of additional States passing legislation legalizing sodomite marriages, while more horrifying details emerge about the atrocity es committed by other abortion clinics around the country. “Dr.” Kermit Gosnell is in good company!!! There is nothing like snipping the spinal cords of new babies, beheading them or flushing them down toilets! Thank goodness the woman had the right to choose!! This makes me sick!! I want out of here. I want rescued!! Save me from this evil!
Of course, I could go on and on ad -nauseum, but I won’t. We, the Bride, are painfully aware America’s moral compass is missing its needle. We’re getting fed up of being the brunt of endless mocking for our stubborn insistence on upholding Biblical principles, and being forced to witness the increasing rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this ever darkening time. America needs to repent! There is a need here at home to reach the lost! It hurts our heart to hear our Groom mocked and denigrated; His very name casually used as a curse. The world positively celebrates wickedness, while WE are called ‘monsters’ who ‘spiritually rape’ others when we dare share our faith. The new buzz word is “tolerance” for moral relativists. How completely absurd and nonsensical our society has become! Just living day to day ism a constant fight against evil, and quite frankly, it’s exhausting at times.
People who subscribe to moral relativism will tell you that all beliefs are equal. Have any of you seen the page on COEXIST? Or heard of Chrislam? Please look them up. They will tell you that we should be accepting of other beliefs; and that if we aren't it is a sign that, at best we aren't very bright, and at worst are "intolerant" or even a bigot. To people who believe this way, the worst sin in the world is to be intolerant and exclusive, and the enlightened way is to be accepting. Yet, tolerance pushers refuse to tolerate Jews or Christians. Why is that? It is because most Jews and Christians are not moral relativists. We do not believe that all beliefs are equal. We believe that there is only one right way to see the world, and that is G-d's way. The hypocrisy of this crooked and perverse generation which claims that all beliefs should be equally tolerated is that it cannot tolerate any belief system except its own.
We who are mocked and derided for our witness; who are called names and accused of being bigoted, intolerant, hateful, homophobic, narrow-minded, blah, blah, blah, WILL be vindicated by our Lord! If the things we hear and see every day wear us down, can you imagine the stench it must be in the nostrils of God? Yes, He is patient, but even HE has limits as to how much He’ll take without meting out His judgment.
I don’t know about anyone else but I am exhausted! I am tucked out! David felt this way. Psalms 12: 1-4 records him lamenting to God, “Help Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They (the wicked) speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, ‘With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?’”
When I see David I am going to personally thank him for the book of Psalms. David expressed every emotion we experience while walking this earth! King David, a man after God’s own heart, got tired of having to listen to the lies and bull excrement his enemies spewed day after day. God heard him and promised in verse 7, “Thou shalt keep them (the righteous) O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.”
How wonderful this sounds!! But we still have to slog through this slimy sewage of quicksand sin every day, as we occupy until He comes. I sometimes feel as if I could be pulled under and drown with all this heaviness of sin around. In our desperation, we sometimes set our hope on a particular date, sign in the heavens or Jewish festival, only to be disappointed again and again, so it’s easy to slip into despair. After all, enough is enough and we’re only dust. We can only take so much. These are indeed perilous times for the Bride!! In Matthew 24:12, Jesus warned those of us who would live in these last days “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” THAT, my friend, is a very real danger!!! We have an extremely challenging situation to navigate here because we DON’T know exactly when He’ll snatch us home.
We’re tired!! We’re mocked and rebuffed every day by human beings, as well as malevolent forces in the spiritual realm. Ephesians 6:12~ 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The economy stinks! We’re constantly lied to by those in positions of power, and by people who are supposed to disseminate accurate information!! Our unalienable rights are being assaulted in egregious ways, by the MOST corrupt administration in the history of this country! There seems to be little hope to fight to maintain our witness for Christi! And it is becoming more and more a suffocating struggle! Every day I blog in hopes of winning just one more for G-d!
I ask Him every day for just one more!! We must remember this world isn’t all there is! It seems like we are going down to defeat because this existence is all we know. We have never glimpsed heaven or experienced our new, perfect bodies. All we’re familiar with is corruption, decay and death! But this is not the whole story! We are NOT in a hopeless situation—not at all!!
Jesus promised that His Bride is NOT destined to suffer the wrath to come. Those who love and serve Him, despite the challenges of these increasingly offensive days, are the victors. We who trust His word, who are watching and waiting for His return, have a fantastic promise to hold to. Our Groom knows we’re tired! He longs more tenderly for us than we do for Him! Revelation 3: 8-11. “I know thy works: behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou has a little strength, and hast kept my word, and has not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Isaiah 26:19-21 King James Version (KJV) 19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.21For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
I know the Lord cherishes the church because the only thing we have to hold to is faith; blind, walking in the dark, listening to the voice of God, faith. Hebrews 11:1~ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The patriarchs in the Old Testament saw and heard physical manifestations of G-d, which made it easy to believe G-d’s word. The apostles and followers of Jesus had first-hand experience with the Son of God, and witnessed incredible signs and wonders. But all we, in the church age have to stand on is the Word of God. We are creatures designed to navigate our world through our five senses. How many times have you heard someone say, “If I can’t see or touch it, I’m not going to believe it!” Remember Thomas? He refused to believe the disciples had literally seen a risen Jesus. Only when Jesus appeared at a time when he was present and allowed Thomas to touch His, pierced hands and touch his side, was he convinced. But what did Jesus tell him? John 20: 29 “Jesus saith unto him, ‘Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Our faith and trust that He will keep His promises, despite the fact we have NO physical evidence, means everything to Him! We have not seen but believed! Psalm 138: 2 “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
A person’s character and integrity determine his reputation and has direct bearing on whether his name is respected or not. Character is the cluster of personal attributes that are unshakeable. They determine the actions we take and the behavior we demonstrate when confronted with seemingly irresistible temptation, overwhelming odds or insurmountable challenges no matter what they are. They represent who we are and what we do when no one is looking. Some of the most predominant attributes of character are courage, endurance, persistence, perseverance, hopefulness, faith, trust, gratitude, honesty, integrity, tolerance, enthusiasm and loyalty but not limited to. God wants us to completely trust in His Holy character and the promises He’s made, because if we don’t, we denigrate His name. Not only does this insult the God of the universe, it hurts His feelings!
Although we, the Bride, have never seen Jesus or physically heard His voice, we can rest assured He WILL keep the wonderful promises He made to us! John 14: 1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in G-d, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Is that clear enough? He WILL come for us, just as He vowed. His Bride is NOT destined for the wrath to come. Because we’ve kept the word of His patience, He will keep us from the hour of temptation that is coming on the earth. And because the church/Bride has had to lean on blind faith in the integrity of God’s Word and His name, we are the ones who will have the high honor of living in the sparkling jewel of the New Jerusalem! THAT is how God rewards those who believe what He says.
So, touch up that make-up, brush your hair, smooth out that wedding dress, and keep looking out the window for our Groom. Buck up butter-cup! Don’t get your garter in a twist and panties in a wad, and don’t allow your love for Him to grow cold! He knows we are tired. He’s well aware of what we’re contending with on this sin-sick world, and He WILL snatch us home very soon! He promised He would, and that’s that!
So keep watch like the wise virgins:
Matthew 25
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;[a] go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Maranatha!! Come Lord Jesus!
Monday, May 27, 2013
Obama Claims That Working With Muslim Brotherhood Will Bring Victory Over Terrorism
The president decided last Thursday – five years into his presidency –
to finally address the gravest threat to our nation and the West in the
wake of a bloody wave of jihad attacks under his sloppy and feckless
watch.
He said, “Victory will be measured in parents taking their kids to school; immigrants coming to our shores; fans taking in a ballgame; a veteran starting a business; a bustling city street.”
What does that even mean? He speaks of “victory” when he is the architect of defeat. He speaks of victory while the Fort Hood victims languish and slaughtering jihadist Nidal Hasan still has not been brought to trial, but has received more than a quarter-of-a-million dollars in compensation. He speaks of victory when he won’t even call the jihad attack on a London street “terrorism,” instead terming it “senseless violence.”
Jihad beheading victim Lee Rigby will receive the same tribute as soldiers who die in action, but Fort Hood jihad victims are victims of a “criminal act of single individual,” not international terrorism. Why would Obama authorize a drone hit on Anwar al-Awlaki (who never killed anyone) but not give the victims of his Islamic preachings the same military designation?
What is his plan? It’s to partner with Muslim Brotherhood groups in America that work feverishly to “eliminate and destroy” America from within. Obama said Thursday that
Robert Spencer said,
He is denigrating the Bush administration’s waterboarding of three killers that saved thousands of lives and led to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Our soldiers are waterboarded so they understand the process. Who does this poser think he’s kidding? He kills people, spies on journalists and abandons our ambassador and other Americans in Libya, and he is preaching to us?
Obama says that there have been no large-scale attacks in the U.S. I disagree. Scores of large scale attacks were thwarted. That counts. And Fort Hood and Boston were large scale. Hundreds of people living with shrapnel, broken flesh and bone – and the dead.
Our delusional president claims our standing in the world is what it was. I beg to differ. We are much weaker under his reign. Obama’s abandonment of our allies in Egypt, Libya, Israel and Eastern Europe has weakened our hegemony and influence in those regions. And he has effectively surrendered to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Obama claims that “unrest in the Arab World has also allowed extremists to gain a foothold in countries like Libya and Syria.” That, too, is a deliberate misrepresentation of what happened. Obama backed jihadists. That’s what happened in the Muslim world. Did he think that backing jihadists in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and now Syria would end well?
What’s his plan? Why didn’t Obama mention that his administration scrubbed all counter terrorism materials and manuals of jihad and Islam – disarming law enforcement and counter terrorism officials? Where did that get us? Boston.
When Obama speaks of the threat on our shores, he only cites the rare non-Muslim attacks: “Finally, we face a real threat from radicalized individuals here in the United States. Whether it’s a shooter at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin; a plane flying into a building in Texas; or the extremists who killed 168 people at the federal building in Oklahoma City.”
He doesn’t say a word about the hundreds of thwarted, and in some cases successful, acts of jihad. He goes on to explain that jihadists are lying when they quote Quran chapter and verse and wage war in the case of Islam. Obama said, “This ideology is based on a lie, for the United States is not at war with Islam.”
No, it is Obama who is lying
about the ideology. And while we may not be at war with Islam, clearly there is a significant part of Islam that is at war with us. Are we going to fight back?
http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/05/obama-claims-that-working-with-muslim-brotherhood-will-bring-victory-over-terrorism/
He said, “Victory will be measured in parents taking their kids to school; immigrants coming to our shores; fans taking in a ballgame; a veteran starting a business; a bustling city street.”
What does that even mean? He speaks of “victory” when he is the architect of defeat. He speaks of victory while the Fort Hood victims languish and slaughtering jihadist Nidal Hasan still has not been brought to trial, but has received more than a quarter-of-a-million dollars in compensation. He speaks of victory when he won’t even call the jihad attack on a London street “terrorism,” instead terming it “senseless violence.”
Jihad beheading victim Lee Rigby will receive the same tribute as soldiers who die in action, but Fort Hood jihad victims are victims of a “criminal act of single individual,” not international terrorism. Why would Obama authorize a drone hit on Anwar al-Awlaki (who never killed anyone) but not give the victims of his Islamic preachings the same military designation?
What is his plan? It’s to partner with Muslim Brotherhood groups in America that work feverishly to “eliminate and destroy” America from within. Obama said Thursday that
“the best way to prevent violent extremism is to work with the Muslim American community – which has consistently rejected terrorism – to identify signs of radicalization, and partner with law enforcement when an individual is drifting toward violence.”Work with the Muslim American community? Just as Obama said this, former Hamas-CAIR official Cyrus McGoldrick urged Muslims not to talk to law enforcement. “And never let them in your home.” This is Hamas-CAIR’s policy as well. They urge Muslims not to cooperate with the authorities. Really, Obama? You’re counting on these Islamic supremacists?
Robert Spencer said,
“The Muslim American community has consistently rejected terrorism? Four separate studies since 1998 have all found that 80 percent of U.S. mosques were teaching jihad, Islamic supremacism, and hatred and contempt for Jews and Christians. … And in the summer of 2011 came another study showing that only 19 percent of mosques in U.S. don’t teach jihad violence and/or Islamic supremacism.”But Obama wants to work with the Muslim American community – despite the fact that all the major Muslim groups in the U.S. are linked in various ways to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is dedicated in its own words to “eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within.” What’s his plan? To close Gitmo and release the killers, when we know the recidivism rate is extraordinarily high. He stands by his drone attacks while having denied the motive of jihadic doctrine. He is killing Americans and yet he whines that we “compromised our basic values – by using torture to interrogate our enemies.”
He is denigrating the Bush administration’s waterboarding of three killers that saved thousands of lives and led to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Our soldiers are waterboarded so they understand the process. Who does this poser think he’s kidding? He kills people, spies on journalists and abandons our ambassador and other Americans in Libya, and he is preaching to us?
Obama says that there have been no large-scale attacks in the U.S. I disagree. Scores of large scale attacks were thwarted. That counts. And Fort Hood and Boston were large scale. Hundreds of people living with shrapnel, broken flesh and bone – and the dead.
Our delusional president claims our standing in the world is what it was. I beg to differ. We are much weaker under his reign. Obama’s abandonment of our allies in Egypt, Libya, Israel and Eastern Europe has weakened our hegemony and influence in those regions. And he has effectively surrendered to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Obama claims that “unrest in the Arab World has also allowed extremists to gain a foothold in countries like Libya and Syria.” That, too, is a deliberate misrepresentation of what happened. Obama backed jihadists. That’s what happened in the Muslim world. Did he think that backing jihadists in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and now Syria would end well?
What’s his plan? Why didn’t Obama mention that his administration scrubbed all counter terrorism materials and manuals of jihad and Islam – disarming law enforcement and counter terrorism officials? Where did that get us? Boston.
When Obama speaks of the threat on our shores, he only cites the rare non-Muslim attacks: “Finally, we face a real threat from radicalized individuals here in the United States. Whether it’s a shooter at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin; a plane flying into a building in Texas; or the extremists who killed 168 people at the federal building in Oklahoma City.”
He doesn’t say a word about the hundreds of thwarted, and in some cases successful, acts of jihad. He goes on to explain that jihadists are lying when they quote Quran chapter and verse and wage war in the case of Islam. Obama said, “This ideology is based on a lie, for the United States is not at war with Islam.”
No, it is Obama who is lying
about the ideology. And while we may not be at war with Islam, clearly there is a significant part of Islam that is at war with us. Are we going to fight back?
http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/05/obama-claims-that-working-with-muslim-brotherhood-will-bring-victory-over-terrorism/
GOP Rep. Gohmert: Obama Admin Full Of ‘Muslim Brotherhood Members’ Who Reject War With ‘Radical Islam’
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) sat down for an interview with WND radio
this week and let loose some of his fiercest criticism of the Obama
administration to date in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Not only did the conservative congressman attack the FBI and Justice
Department for “bungling” the investigation into the Tsarnaev brothers
before and after the bombings, but he also made the wild accusation that
members of the Muslim Brotherhood have infiltrated President Obama‘s administration and are influencing the U.S. to ignore “radical Islam’s” war against us.
Speaking about the decision to read the Boston suspect his Miranda rights, Gohmert lashed out at Attorney General Eric Holder, saying, “I guess with our attorney general having spent more time before being AG trying to help terrorists than trying to corral them, the first impulse was let’s get him to stop talking.”
“If it’s not bad enough that they bungled getting this guy picked up and his brother picked up and questioned before they blew up people in Boston,” he continued, “then now to get him to shut up when he has invaluable information potentially is just really egregious.”
Gohmert also linked the administration’s reaction to the Boston to its response to last year’s attacks in Benghazi, a parallel that is becoming increasingly prevalent on conservative media. “I mean, one after another we’ve had incidents where this administration has shown incompetence,” he said. “So it seems to be a real pattern.”
But the most shocking moment of the interview came when Gohmert suggested that the Obama administration is somehow being guided by the Muslim Brotherhood. “It’s very clear to everyone but this administration that radical Islam is at war against us,” he said. “This administration has so many Muslim Brotherhood members that have influence that they just are making wrong decisions for America.”
Finally, Gohmert accused Obama of allowing the Boston bombings to happen by failing to “secure to border” to immigrants. “The president has refused to do his job in securing the border. It’s his obligation. He has an oath to fulfill,” he said. “But he is holding off adequately securing the border until he can get what he wants. The right thing to do would be to say, ‘Mr. President, enough. There are enough dead Americans from people who have been let in wrongly.’”
Just two days after the attacks in Boston, Gohmert made headlines for stoking fear over immigration on C-SPAN by saying that Al Qaeda members positioned on the Mexican are being “trained to come in and act like Hispanic, when they are radical Islamists.”
Listen to audio below, via WND:
–<iframe src="http://videos.mediaite.com/embed/player/?content=3N43QX19KF2P1FWM&content_type=content_item&layout=&playlist_cid=&widget_type_cid=svp&read_more=1" width="420" height="421" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>
http://www.mediaite.com/online/gop-rep-gohmert-obama-admin-full-of-muslim-brotherhood-members-who-reject-war-with-radical-islam/
Speaking about the decision to read the Boston suspect his Miranda rights, Gohmert lashed out at Attorney General Eric Holder, saying, “I guess with our attorney general having spent more time before being AG trying to help terrorists than trying to corral them, the first impulse was let’s get him to stop talking.”
“If it’s not bad enough that they bungled getting this guy picked up and his brother picked up and questioned before they blew up people in Boston,” he continued, “then now to get him to shut up when he has invaluable information potentially is just really egregious.”
Gohmert also linked the administration’s reaction to the Boston to its response to last year’s attacks in Benghazi, a parallel that is becoming increasingly prevalent on conservative media. “I mean, one after another we’ve had incidents where this administration has shown incompetence,” he said. “So it seems to be a real pattern.”
But the most shocking moment of the interview came when Gohmert suggested that the Obama administration is somehow being guided by the Muslim Brotherhood. “It’s very clear to everyone but this administration that radical Islam is at war against us,” he said. “This administration has so many Muslim Brotherhood members that have influence that they just are making wrong decisions for America.”
Finally, Gohmert accused Obama of allowing the Boston bombings to happen by failing to “secure to border” to immigrants. “The president has refused to do his job in securing the border. It’s his obligation. He has an oath to fulfill,” he said. “But he is holding off adequately securing the border until he can get what he wants. The right thing to do would be to say, ‘Mr. President, enough. There are enough dead Americans from people who have been let in wrongly.’”
Just two days after the attacks in Boston, Gohmert made headlines for stoking fear over immigration on C-SPAN by saying that Al Qaeda members positioned on the Mexican are being “trained to come in and act like Hispanic, when they are radical Islamists.”
Listen to audio below, via WND:
–<iframe src="http://videos.mediaite.com/embed/player/?content=3N43QX19KF2P1FWM&content_type=content_item&layout=&playlist_cid=&widget_type_cid=svp&read_more=1" width="420" height="421" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>
http://www.mediaite.com/online/gop-rep-gohmert-obama-admin-full-of-muslim-brotherhood-members-who-reject-war-with-radical-islam/
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Did ancient beams discarded in Old City come from first and second temples?
Did ancient beams discarded in Old City come from first and second temples?
A collection of neglected wooden beams from the Al-Aqsa mosque offer a glimpse at ancient Jerusalem — and possibly at the biblical temples themselves
May 22, 2013, 5:14 pm
Under a tarp in one
little-visited corner of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem lies a pile of
rotting timber that would hardly catch a visitor’s eye.
In a padlocked storage space under a
building in the settlement of Ofra, in the West Bank, lies an even
larger pile of similar beams, some with rusted metal nails. Still more
of the same beams can be found in one of the rooms of the Rockefeller
Museum, outside Jerusalem’s Old City.
Despite their unprepossessing appearance, the
beams are unique and important to scholars because of their place of
origin — the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount — and their age: Some
were hewed from trees felled nearly 3,000 years ago.
The beams offer a fascinating historical
record of Jerusalem, including Byzantine cathedrals, early Muslim houses
of prayer and, not inconceivably, the ancient temple complex itself.
But though there are signs of renewed interest in them — including an
article this month in Biblical Archaeology Review, a US publication —
the several hundred existing beams have never been subjected to a
comprehensive academic study, and many are in danger of decay and
disintegration.
The first iteration of Al-Aqsa was built in
the late 600s CE on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as al-Haram
al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. When the Muslim builders constructed
the roof and supports they re-used timber that had been used in older
structures nearby, common practice in the ancient world.
Those structures, scholars say, include not
only materials dating to the time of the second Jewish temple in
Jerusalem 2,000 years ago — but to the time of the first, as many as
eight centuries before.
Beams (left) near the Golden Gate on the Temple Mount, this week (photo credit: Matti Friedman/Times of Israel)
Many of the beams were removed from Al-Aqsa in
the late 1930s, during a renovation that followed two earthquakes, and
some were taken by British scholars to the Rockefeller Museum, where
they remain. Other beams were removed in a later renovation of the
structure’s dome under Jordanian rule in the 1960s.
In 1984, a scholar from Tel Aviv University,
Nili Liphschitz, published a brief scientific paper looking at 140 of
the beams in a Hebrew journal, Eretz Yisrael, along with two other scholars.
Liphschitz, a dendochronologist — a specialist
in determining the age of trees — found that most of the beams she
examined were of Turkish oak, with a smaller number of Lebanese cedars.
There were also beams of cypress and several other types of wood.
By analyzing the tree rings and using
carbon-14 dating, she found, unsurprisingly, that some of the wood was
from the early Muslim period. One of the cedars, for example, was about
1,340 years old, or roughly the same age as Al-Aqsa. (The margin of
error for the rather inexact dating process was 250 years.)
But others were older, dating to Byzantine
times, and still others dated to Roman times, around the era of the
Second Temple in Jerusalem.
Even more striking were her findings regarding
one of the cypress beams. The age of the beam “was found to be 2,600
years,” she wrote, with a margin of error of 180 years. That placed it
near 630 B.C.E. — around 50 years before the destruction of the First
Temple.
And one of the oak beams was even older: 2,860
years. That meant the tree had been cut down around 880 B.C.E, early in
the First Temple period.
The Temple Mount, with the black-domed Al-Aqsa mosque in the foreground (photo credit: Nati Shohat/Flash90)
There was no evidence connecting the beams to
the temple itself, and in her paper Liphshitz seemed less interested in
the possible human or biblical connections than in what the beams
related about climate changes in the region. The truncated size of some
of the tree rings, she wrote, seemed to indicate that a heavy drought
had struck the region in the 5th century C.E.
Her paper drew little public notice, but a
lecture she delivered the same year happened to be attended by two
residents of Ofra, one of the first communities established in the West
Bank by Gush Emunim, the religious settler movement. One of the men was
Ze’ev Erlich, today a well-known tour guide and historian. The other was
Yehuda Etzion, a prominent settler leader and a fervent believer in the
return of Jewish ritual to the Temple Mount.
“Yehuda walked out after the lecture and said — we have to get those beams,” Erlich recalled.
After the renovation of the 1960s, it
appeared, the Waqf — the Islamic body still in charge of the day-to-day
running of the holy site — had sold some of the beams as scrap to an
Armenian dealer, Mussa Baziyan, who had a junkyard north of Jerusalem.
Baziyan was selling the wood to carpenters. As it happened, the Ofra
settlers had done business with the dealer, buying second-hand bunk beds
from an insane asylum for use in a new dormitory.
Etzion arranged for the local government in
charge of Ofra to pay, and had trucks ferry the 100 or so remaining
beams from Baziyan’s yard to the settlement.
Later that year, Etzion was arrested as part
of a Jewish underground that had killed Palestinian seminary students,
maimed mayors of West Bank cities, planned to bomb Arab buses in East
Jerusalem — and was plotting to blow up the Islamic shrines of the Noble
Sanctuary to pave the way for the reconstruction of a Jewish temple on
the mount.
The beams lay outside for a time. Later,
Erlich had them transferred to an indoor storage space, where he showed
them to a reporter this week. Six beams which were found to have carved
decorations are stored at an undisclosed location elsewhere in the
settlement. Samples from 14 of the beams at Ofra have been taken to the
Weizmann Institute in Rehovot for carbon dating, and Erlich is currently
awaiting the results.
Some of the
Al-Aqsa beams include inscriptions in Arabic and Greek. One beam at the
Rockefeller Museum, for example, bears the Greek words, “In the time of
the most holy archbishop and patriarch Peter and the most God-beloved
this whole house of St. Thomas was erected.” The Peter in question was
patriarch of Jerusalem in the mid-500s C.E., and the beam must have been
used in a Byzantine church of the time.
In a 1997 paper, Liphschitz and a second
scholar, Gideon Biger, suggested that some of the wood for Al-Aqsa may
have come from the ruins of the grandiose Byzantine church known as the
Nea, destroyed by earthquake or war in the early 600s. Other beams might
have come from an earlier wooden mosque that a 7th-century pilgrim described existing on the Temple Mount before Al-Aqsa was constructed.
Beams in a storeroom at Ofra, this week (photo credit: Matti Friedman/Times of Israel)
Those structures also almost certainly used
wood from earlier buildings. The story of the beams — moving from
conqueror to conqueror and from one religion to another through the
centuries — is the story of Jerusalem.
“The cypress timber, dated to the 1st
century BC, was probably taken from a more ancient monumental
construction, built in or around Jerusalem in that era,” the two
scholars wrote. That was the time of Herod’s massive rebuilding of the
Second Temple complex.
In this month’s article in Biblical Archaeology Review,
Israeli archaeologist Peretz Reuven singled out another beam, among
those currently kept on the Temple Mount, in a pile next to the Golden
Gate. It was cataloged by British Mandate officials in the 1930s as number 13.
Beam 13, he wrote, not only has Roman-style
decorations but also signs of columns at intervals of 10.8 feet. “There
was a similar interval between the columns in Herod’s Royal Stoa, a
magnificent basilica that stood on the southern end of the Temple
Mount,” Reuven noted. That is where Al-Aqsa now sits.
Might some of the beams lying around Jerusalem
and elsewhere be from Herod’s temple complex? “I believe the answer is
‘yes,’” Reuven wrote. “Some of the beams may even be from the Temple.”
It is unusual for wood to survive for
thousands of years, according to archaeologist Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan
University. At Maeir’s ongoing excavation of the three-millennia-old
Philistine city of Gath, for example, only carbonized wood fragments
survive.
But it is different if wood is kept indoors and cared for, he said.
“Usually, wood does not survive in
Mediterranean climate — save when beams are used again and again and are
curated long after they would have normally survived,” he said.
These pieces of wood, he said, “were probably
used repeatedly over the ages, as large beams would be in many cases. So
they are definitely archaeological materials, though of course whether
they are from the temple is another question.”
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