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A Double sided puzzle!

8/24/2022

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Joshua 21:45 firmly establishes this truth: God keeps his Word. Not one of God's good promises has ever failed, not before the time of Joshua, not after, and not now.

In the New Living Translation Isaiah 55:10-11 says, "The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it." 

​Last week I had my kids at the 5 and below store- because let's face it, who doesn't like a bargain? This little gem of a puzzle jumped out at me! I found it very symbolic of the work God does in our lives. I ended up buying the puzzle- who wouldn't want a puzzle that gives you a choice? 

Our choices will have a direct effect on our lives and the lives of generations to come. Walking through the right doors at the right time is serious business and shouldn’t be taken lightly, but rather with prayer and wisdom.
Through it all, I have learned that there are several pointers and signs that reveal God’s will for His children.

No door that God opens will ever contradict Scripture. For example, a man who thought he was supposed to divorce his Christian wife in order to spend the rest of his life in mission work overseas is not from God and not supported by Scripture. This man could easily go and do missionary work overseas and not have to divorce his wife, or he could see if she wanted to go with him. Instead, he got an unbiblical divorce, so how is supposed to witness for Christ when he is contradicting the Bible and disobeying Jesus’ command to not divorce except for sexual immorality? Clearly, that is not God’s will because loving God means obeying His commandments (2 John 1:6). If someone says they know Him but doesn’t keep His commandments, he is not of God (1 John 2:3), and God calls him or her a liar (1 John 2:4). Obedience to God glorifies Him.

​Jesus is the one “who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens" and sets before us “an open door, which no one is able to shut" (Revelation 3:8-9). If the door won’t open for you, then that door may not be the one God wants you to walk through. Jimmying the lock or trying to break the door down won’t work.  Just pray for God to reveal to you which door you are to walk through and make it obvious to you so you’ll know for sure.

If you can manage to go through a door and not need God’s help for anything, then you might be walking through a door in your own flesh and depending on the strength.  If you’re not depending on God to open a door, then you are depending on your own self.  That’s a bad plan, and I ought to know; I’ve done it!  God wants us to be totally dependent upon Him because any work we do is for Him anyway and for His glory. Jesus said we can’t do anything without Him (John 15:5).  We can’t even produce any fruit without Him, unless it’s wax fruit  (John 15:4). You know the automatic doors you find at the stores? These doors open because they have an electronic eye and they can sense movement. In the same way, we might have to simply walk right up to the door that’s shut before we’ll know whether God’s going to open it or not.  God may not open a door until He sees you walk right up to it.  He may be waiting for you to “go" before you can “enter." Perhaps He’s waiting for you to take that first step of faith.

​Jeremiah tried to talk God out of him being a prophet of God because he thought he was just too young, but later, when Jeremiah thought about not speaking God’s Word, he said, “If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot"(Jer 20:9). Like Paul, he could not help but preach the gospel, and wrote, “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel" (1st Cor 9:16)! If you have an overwhelming passion to do something and you’d even do it for free if you had the ability, then God might be opening that door for you in whatever it is He’s calling you to.

The Bible says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). While God assures us that He is clear on His plans for us and that those plans are for good, it’s not always easy figuring out where God is leading us. God may be trying to reach you to encourage you, guide you and lead you down a path of greatness. If you want to know if God is directing your down a certain path, it’s important that you pay attention to the signs. He will put these things in front of you so certain things will be revealed to you. Here are five signs God is opening a new door in your life. 

You Feel Like Something is Missing_sometimes, we begin to feel a strong sense of emptiness, as if something important is missing from our lives when God is beginning to open a door for us. All Christians have feelings of spiritual emptiness from time to time. This is a sign that God is pointing you in a different direction. Sin may be a big reason for your spiritual emptiness – possibly the sin of apathy toward God or sluggishness in your daily life. Also, how we feel physically can impact how we feel spiritually. Remember, God is close to those who are in need of direction. Reach out to God through prayer, and meditation and ask God what door He may be opening in your life. When you seek, He will reveal this to you

God often opens doors in ways we never imagined. Sometimes, God is opening a door in your life to get your attention so that He can guide you to your higher calling. This may translate into a career shift. As Mark 10:45 reminds us “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” That means that we should live lives that reflect our service to others. If your current job doesn’t reflect this and you feel like something is missing or isn’t feeling right, Jesus is trying to get your attention. The door God is opening up in your life may not be revealed to us overnight. However, through the use of gifts and talents in our careers, many of us discover what feels right and grow in our development.

Sometimes when God is opening a new door in your life, you feel a calling to do more for others because you simply feel led to. The Bible tells us, “Now you belong to Him…in order that you might be useful in service to God” (Romans 7:4). One of the greatest ways to displays God’s love and reflect Christ’s presence is through acts of kindness and giving back. Regardless of your job or career, you are called to full-time Christian service. If you feel an underlying urge to do something bigger than yourself, to benefit the greater good without any need of reward, God is leading you to a Christ-filled life. Listen to Him. When you use your God-given abilities to help others, you are fulfilling your calling.

Starting a new relationship is a big indicator that God is opening a new door in your life. It’s important that you’re open to listening to what the people in your life have to say, especially the spiritual ones. They will guide you, especially if you’ve fallen off course with God. These people will also affirm you. They are placed in your life by God so that you can recognize your full potential and God might be sending an important message through them. On the other side, be mindful of people who take you off course with God.

As Christians, we want to know where God is leading us. Sometimes, we may even be anxious to discover the door that God is opening in our life. It’s not always easy figuring out what God is doing with our lives. We want to know the one grand purpose God has for us and what paths Jesus is directing us down so we can make the best decisions. Ultimately, God is directing us to love Him, love others, obey Him, and take care of those around us. If we can concentrate on fulfilling the responsibilities He’s given us, God will open up even bigger opportunities for us.

One major aspect of discerning an open door is recognizing whether it will line up to Scripture. Quite simply, the Lord will not “bless” you by giving you the opportunity to sin or contradict His word. Chances are, if your open door causes you to act according to fruit of the flesh, described in Galatians 5:19-21, this is not from God.

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will,  he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14-16)

​Proverbs 11:14 reminds us that victory is won through the advice of many counselors. If you are unsure if this next opportunity is from God, seek a person who operates in wisdom.

If you are experiencing a high level of discomfort in your current situation, this open door may be God’s opportunity to release you from your peril. This does not mean that discomfort is a sign you're in the wrong place. God uses struggle and suffering to sharpen and refine us, and birth something new.
But sometimes, we hold on tightly to situations that are destructive. In our quest to “not give up,” we stand in God’s way when he provides a way of escape. Much like the story of Joseph, we have to be willing to move from the prison to the palace (Genesis 41). We have to be willing to allow God to transition us into our new thing. Remember, when God is calling you to release something it is not defeat, but victory! 

"When will things work out for me?” you ask yourself during a low moment of the day. Discouraged, disheartened and stuck in a rut, it is sometimes tough to see beyond the closed door.
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Waiting for God to move mightily in your life is difficult, especially when your desires have not yet been met. It is tempting to give up at the first, second or even the third closed door. But God expects us to persevere until the right open door is made known to us.
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So, “Do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded.” (Hebrews 10:35) A closed door doesn’t mean that it’s over for you. Contrarily, it means that God is getting you ready for something bigger, better, and far greater than before.

You have come too far to back down and quit. For God is saying to you today, “Don’t let closed doors bother you. Keep on moving forward. Where you are now is only temporary, it is not where you are going to remain.”
God is giving you all that you need to accomplish His best plan for your life. When my mother was a young girl, she loved to make puzzles. I remember her telling me how she and her sisters would sit on their living room floor for hours and patiently assemble a puzzle. They’d set all of the pieces into their proper places to uncover the full picture. If just one piece was not in place, the picture couldn’t come together. In the same way, God will use everything that you’ve gone through to move you closer to His good plan. Just as God used Goliath to strengthen David, He will use your closed doors to strengthen and advance you.

Thus, have faith and trust God, for He is at work in the lives of His people. No matter what you are facing, don’t give up. Try again, reach higher, think bigger, pray bolder.

There is no limit to what God can do in your life. God wants to bless you, and He wants to increase you. Keep persisting. Today can be a breakthrough day.
In 1853-1854, English Artist, William Holman Hunt created an exquisite work of art titled, “The Light of the World.” In the beautifully rendered, symbolic painting, Jesus is standing at a door knocking. Yet, there is not a doorknob displayed on the painting. It was depicted that the artist once explained the symbolism stating, that ‘the door he had painted, was the door to a person’s heart.’
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Trust God, even if you can’t understand what’s going on in your life. Seek Him, and He will shed a light that will lead and show you the way to the open door. He is there for you; lovingly waiting, caring, knocking… and He is asking to come into your life.

If you are in a current situation, God could be redirecting your path. He could be leading you to something better–or the right course for you. Trust God’s wisdom by seeking His will for your life.

One of the signs that God is leading you somewhere else is that new doors are opening for you. Usually, it is hard to take a risk on new opportunities because you are already used to what you have. However, these could actually be greater, and God will probably use you for His glory in new fields.
So, do not be afraid of taking the risk in trying the new opportunity that God opens for you. If you do not step out of your comfort zone, you will never reach the place that God has prepared for you. Always have faith in God’s plan because He will never leave you alone in the transition period. The change in your passion could be a sign that God wants you to pursue a different path now. So, you should search your heart and find out what interests you most now. Maybe it can give you a clue to where God is leading you next. A door shut before you probably tells you to turn around and start moving on to a new destination. If this is God’s will, someday, you will be thankful for the closed door. Whether you are already convinced that God wants you to move somewhere else or not, you need to pray a lot. Seek His will through His Word and other confirmations from Him. You must also ask for wisdom in discerning which way He wants you to go. Therefore, keep praying until everything becomes clear enough.

​Jesus Christ says, “I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name" (Rev 3:8), so if you are obedient to God, then you are more likely to have God open a door without your help, but the door that is never touched is a door that never opens. Suppose some things start to fall apart. It could be a sign that you are doing something opposite to God’s will. Usually, He will correct you in the way that you will listen or pay attention. If you are in a current situation, God could be redirecting your path. He could be leading you to something better–or the right course for you.

​Trust God’s wisdom by seeking His will for your life.


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https://biblehub.com/zechariah/13-9.htm
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Filled with the Holy Spirit

3/5/2022

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​Jesus Himself was filled with the #HolySpirit in -order- to carry out His #ministry. [“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim #goodnews to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim #freedom for the prisoners and #recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free”] Jesus said these words to Israelites while they were worshipping In synagogue and -began- his #ministry by telling His friends/family that #gods Spirit “is on Me” for a *specific #purpose; he spent much time speaking of the Holy Spirit and wanted His disciples to #understand its #power. He explained it was “better” for that He leave, because only then the *Holy *Spirit would be *sent to them. The first followers of Jesus were *filled with God’s Spirit to take the #gospel to the #known world. “On Pentecost, they were all together in one place.. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They *saw what seemed to be “tongues of fire” that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were -filled with the Holy Spirit- and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” Before this point in history, the Holy Spirit did not -indwell- every follower of Christ. After Jesus died, ROSE again, and ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit came down and filled every disciple/apostle of Christ as TRUE *witness to spread the gospel to the world. When put #faith in #Christ, the Holy Spirit #reveals himself in unique ways. God’s people get to experience the power of the Holy Spirit as Jesus did- providing #power and strength through #christ. “Yes, I am the #vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing”. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this #testimony for the churches. I AM the #Root and the Offspring of #David, and the bright Morning Star.’ The *Spirit and the *bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is -thirsty- come; and let the one who wishes take the -free #gift- of the *water of #life” (Rev22:16-17).
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Personhood of the spirit

12/17/2021

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I. The “personhood” of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a personal being just as the Father and the Son. The Spirit is not an impersonal “it” or simply an influence. A. The Spirit has personal characteristics.

​B. The Spirit acts in personal ways. C. The Spirit is described in personal terms grammatically. The Greek word for Spirit (pneuma) is neuter in gender, yet the Bible uses masculine pronouns (“He,” “Him”) to refer to the Spirit (John 16:13-14; 15:26; 16:7-8. To be grammatically correct, personal neuter pronouns (“it”) would be expected. 1. He has intelligence (1 Cor. 2:10-11). 2. He has emotions (Eph. 4:30 – “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit”). 3. He has will (1 Cor. 2:11). 1. He teaches us (John 14:26). 2. He commands (Acts 8:29). 3. He intercedes for us in prayer (Rom. 8:26). II. The deity of the Holy Spirit A. He has the names and titles of deity. B. He possesses incommunicable attributes. C. He performs incommunicable works (no one but God can do them). D. He is equated with deity. 1. Yahweh – What the Lord (Yahweh) said in Is. 6:8-13is ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Acts 28:25. 2. Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9, 14; 1 Cor. 2:11; 12:3; Eph. 4:30) 1. Self-existence (Rom. 8:2) 2. Omnipresence (Ps. 139:7 ff) 1. Creation (Gen. 1:2) 2. Resurrection (Rom. 8:11) 1. Acts 5:3, 4 – a lie to Spirit equals lie to God 2. 2 Cor. 3:17, 18 – “The Lord is the Spirit” III. The Holy Spirit’s role prior to the Church Age A. He took part in creation (Gen. 1:2; Job 33:4; Psalm 104:30). B. He guided and protected Israel (Isaiah 63:10-14). C. He spoke through prophets to produce Scripture (1 Peter 1:11: 2 Peter 1:20, 21). D. He selectively and conditionally indwelt certain people in the Old Testament (Joseph – Gen. 41:38; Joshua – Num. 27:18; Saul – 1 Sam. 10:9,10; David – 1 Sam. 16:13 etc.). The Spirit’s indwelling was specifically related to enabling someone to do a particular task. The Holy Spirit could cease to indwell a person because of their disobedience. The Spirit left Saul (1 Sam. 16:14). When David sinned he pled that the Spirit not be taken from him (Psalm 51:11). E. He was the empowering Agent in Christ’s earthly life. 1. He was the Agent of Christ’s virgin birth (Luke 1:35). 2. He empowered Christ’s ministry (Matt. 12:28; Luke 4:1,18). 3. He was the Agent of Christ’s resurrection (Rom. 1:4; 8:11). IV. The Holy Spirit’s role in the Church Age A. He is central in salvation (How people are saved). B. He is central in sanctification (How saved people grow). 1. He directs and enables evangelistic efforts (Philip/Ethiopian – Acts 8:26,29; Great Commission – Acts 1:8). 2. He convicts the unbeliever of sin (John 16:8-11). 3. He regenerates (saves) the person. 4. He seals (eternally secures) the person. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the “seal” or guarantee that a person is saved and will remain saved (Eph. 1:13). 5. He baptizes (places) the person into the body of Christ. a. He cleanses the person from sin and gives them the new nature (Titus 3:5). b. As He performs this spiritual “new birth,” the person enters “the kingdom of God” (=eternal life – John 3:3-7, 16). a. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? b. When is the baptism of the Spirit? - It is the Spirit’s work of uniting us with Christ – spiritually identifying us with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5). - It is the Spirit’s work of incorporating us into the universal church (=the “body of Christ” – all church age believers – 1 Cor. 12:13). - In each believer it occurs once and for all at their conversion (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-28). - In history it is limited to church age believers (predicted – Acts 1:5; accomplished – 1 Cor. 12:13). - Note: Exceptions – On the Day of Pentecost when the church age began, both new and existing believers were baptized by the Spirit (Acts 1:5; 11:15,16). Also in 2 other cases in the early church it seems the Spirit was not given to believers until an apostle was present (Acts 8:14-17; 19:1-6). 1. He indwells believers. 2. He “fills” believers. 3. He gives spiritual gifts to believers. a. The Spirit indwells all believers in this age (Rom. 5:5; 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). (unlike the Old Testament where the Spirit indwelt some) b. The Spirit indwells believers permanently in this age (John 14:16). (unlike the Old Testament where the Spirit could depart) c. The Spirit’s indwelling is the basis for His other ministries in believer’s lives. (He teaches/illumines us about scripture – John 16:13; He aids in prayer – Rom. 8:26; He assures us of our salvation – Rom.8:16; He enables us to grow – see “filling” below – Eph. 5:18). - The “filling of the Spirit” describes the crucial work of God enabling the believer to live a transformed life. The only way we grow spiritually is by the empowering work of God (1 Peter 1:3). It is specifically the ministry of the Holy Spirit that gives a Christian the capability of change and growth in righteousness (by the Spirit…” – putting to death the deeds of the body” – Rom. 8:13; the fruit of the Spirit…” – Gal. 5:22, 23). - Spiritual growth us a issue of control. We are either controlled by our self-centered flesh or by the Holy Spirit who indwells us (Rom. 8:4-11; Gal. 5:16, 17). Ephesians 5:18 describes this controlling/empowering ministry of Spirit as the “filling” of the Spirit. “Filling” is a metaphor (picture) of control. We can be filled/controlled by fleshly desires (like alcohol) or be filled/controlled by the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). - Although it’s the Spirit’s power that is at work, the believer must choose to be controlled/empowered by the Spirit. It is a command to “Be filled” and likewise to “Walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16). The Spirit’s presence is permanent (indwelling) but we must repeatedly choose to yield to God to experience the Spirit’s transforming power to change and grow us (filling). In actual experience, “walking in the Spirit” or “being filled with the Spirit” means living the Christian life (facing temptations, making decisions, etc.) with a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit. He is the one who enable us – producing godly “fruits” (Gal. 5:22, 23). a. Where do I find out about spiritual gifts? Four key passages describe spiritual gifts: Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:7-16; 1 Peter 4:10,11. b. What are spiritual gifts? c. How do we get spiritual gifts? d. What is the purpose of spiritual gifts? e. What are the different spiritual gifts? f. How do we discover and use our spiritual gift(s)? 1) Definition: Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities to serve. The Greek word for spiritual gift (charisma) is a form of the word “grace.” So these special abilities are privileges. God graciously enables all believers to serve in spiritual ministry. 2) Spiritual gifts are not particular positions. Youth ministry leader or nursery worker are not gifts although those ministries definitely can put to use spiritual gifts such as teaching, serving, etc. 3) Spiritual gifts are not the same as natural talent (music ability or mechanical aptitude, etc.) although God may often give spiritual gifts that make use of natural abilities. A musician may have the gift of encouragement. An experienced school teacher may have the gift of teaching, etc. 1) The Giver – The Holy Spirit in particular imparts these special abilities (1 Cor. 12:7-11). But it is also accurate to say that they are “Christ’s gifts” to the church (Eph. 4:7, 8, 10). 2) The Time – We receive spiritual gifts when we trust Christ as Savior. That’s when we received the Spirit; that’s when we became part of the body of Christ. 3) The Recipients – Each believer has at least one but perhaps several gifts. 1) Spiritual gifts accomplish spiritual ministry that God desires. 2) Spiritual gifts equip others to minister (Eph. 4:12). 3) Spiritual gifts glorify God (1 Pet. 4:11). 1) Some of the gifts listed seem to have been temporary, serving to establish the early church and to verify the gospel to people as Christianity began (Eph. 2:20; Heb. 2:3, 4 – See supplement “The Charismatic Question” for more detail.). The temporary sign gifts included apostleship, healing, miracle-working, tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc. Also temporary were the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and prophecy – by which God gave direct revelation to man. These gifts were needed before the New Testament was complete. They were also seemingly the gifts needed to write the New Testament. 2) Gifts that doubtless exist today include teaching, helps (serving), giving, administration (leadership), showing mercy, evangelism, pastor-teacher (shepherding) and exhortation. These gifts are crucial to the ongoing function of the church throughout this age. 1) We should concentrate on meeting needs, not pin-pointing our gifts. Ministry experience may expose unused gifts. 2) We should allow the advice of other mature Christians to guide us into areas of service for which we are suited and away from areas for which we are not. 3) We should not use spiritual gifts as an excuse to avoid certain ministries. Christians are universallytold to do some types of ministry (Show mercy – James 2:13; 3:17; Evangelize – Acts 1:8; Exhort one another – Heb. 3:13; 10:25; Give – 2 Cor. 8:7) which are also the specific spiritual gifts of some Christians (Mercy – Rom. 12:8; Evangelist – Eph. 4:11; Exhortation – Rom. 12:8; Giving – Rom. 12:8). 4) We must realize that spiritual gifts do not benefit others automatically. - We must obediently put our gift(s) to use. No one benefits if we don’t use them (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Pet. 4:10,11). - We must be diligent to become effective in using our gift (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6, 7). - We must use our gifts with proper attitudes (Rom. 12:8; 1 Pet. 4:11) and at appropriate times and places (1 Cor. 14:9-12, 22, 23, 40). Otherwise they can be worthless or even harmful to God’s purposes. V. The Holy Spirit’s role in the End Times A. In the 7-year Tribulation Period B. In the Millennium 1. In unbelievers – The Holy Spirit will be instrumental in the salvation of Israelites at the close of the tribulation (Zech. 12:10). 2. In believers – The Holy Spirit will provide special enablement for spiritual tasks as in Old Testament times (Acts 2:17-21). 1. In believers – The Holy Spirit will enable believing Israelites to live righteously (Ezek. 36:27). 2. In Christ – The Holy Spirit will be active in Christ’s righteous rule (Isa. 11:2).

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Noah- Theme in Genesis;

4/9/2020

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​“Theme in genesis; Noah”

Noah, also spelled Noa, in the Hebrew Bible- the hero of the biblical Flood story in the Old Testament book of Genesis, the originator of vineyard cultivation, and, as the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the representative head of a “Semitic genealogical line.” A synthesis of at least three biblical source traditions, Noah is the image of the “righteous” man made party to a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, in which nature’s future protection against “catastrophe” is assured. Scholars attend that anti-christian sentiment found living today can be traced from this storyline. 

Noah appears in Genesis 5:29 as the son of Lamech and ninth in descent from Adam. In the story of the Deluge (Genesis 6:11–9:19), he is represented as the patriarch who, because of his “blameless piety,” was chosen by God to perpetuate the human race after his wicked contemporaries had perished in the Flood. A righteous man, Noah “found favour in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Thus, when God beheld the “corruption of the earth” and determined to destroy it, he gave Noah “divine warning of the impending disaster” and made a covenant with him, promising to “save him and his family.” 

Noah was instructed to build an ark, and in accordance with God’s instructions he took into the ark “male and female specimens” of all the world’s species of animals, from which the stocks might be replenished. Consequently, according to this narrative, the entire surviving human race descended from Noah’s three sons. Such a genealogy sets a universal frame within which the subsequent role of Abraham, as the father of Israel’s faith, could assume its proper dimensions.

The story of the Flood has close affinities with Babylonian traditions of apocalyptic floods in which Utnapishtim plays the part corresponding to that of Noah. These mythologies are the “source” of such features of the biblical Flood story as the “building and provisioning of the ark,” its flotation, and the subsidence of the waters, as well as the part played by the human protagonist. Tablet “XI” of the Gilgamesh epic introduces Utnapishtim, who, like Noah, survived -cosmic destruction- by heeding “divine instruction” to build an ark.

The religious meaning of the Flood is conveyed after Noah’s heroic survival. He then built an “altar on which he offered burnt sacrifices” to God, who then bound himself to a pact -never again- to curse the earth on “man’s account.” God then set a rainbow in the sky as a visible guarantee of his promise in this covenant. 🌈 God also -renewed- his commands given at creation but with two changes: man could now kill animals and eat meat, and the murder of a man would be punished by men.

Despite the tangible similarities of the Mesopotamian and biblical myths of the flood, the biblical story has a unique Hebraic perspective. In the Babylonian story the destruction of the flood was the result of a disagreement among the gods; in Genesis it resulted from the “moral corruption of human history.” 

The primitive polytheism of the Mesopotamian versions is “transformed” in the -biblical story- into an -affirmation- of the “omnipotence and benevolence of the one righteous God.” Again, following their survival, Utnapishtim and his wife are admitted to the circle of the immortal gods; but Noah and his family are commanded to undertake the -renewal- of history.

The narrative concerning Noah in Genesis 9:20–27 belongs to a different cycle, which seems to be unrelated to the Flood story. In the latter, Noah’s sons are married and their wives accompany them in the ark; but in this narrative they would seem to be unmarried, nor does the shameless drunkenness of Noah accord well with the character of the pious hero of the Flood story. Three different themes may be traced in Genesis 9:20–27: first, the passage attributes the -beginnings- of agriculture, and in particular the “cultivation of the vine,” to Noah; second, it attempts to provide, in the persons of Noah’s “three sons,” Shem, Ham, and Japheth, ancestors for “three of the races” of mankind and to account in some degree for their historic relations; and third, by its censure of Canaan, it offers a -veiled justification- for the later Israelite conquest and subjugation of the Canaanites. Noah’s drunkenness and the disrespect it provokes in his son Ham result in Noah’s laying of a curse on Ham’s son Canaan. 

This incident may -symbolize- the “ethnic and social division” of Palestine: the “Israelites” (from the line of Shem) will “separate from the pre-Israelite” population of Canaan (which is depicted as licentious), who will live in subjection to the Hebrews. The symbolic figure of Noah was known in ancient Israel, before the compilation of the Pentateuch. Ezekiel (14:14, 20) speaks of him as a prototype of the righteous man who, alone among the Israelites, would be spared God’s vengeance. 

In the “New Testament,” Noah is mentioned in the genealogy of the Gospel According to Luke (3:36) that delineates “Jesus’ descent from Adam.” Jesus also uses the story of the Flood that came on a “worldly generation” of men “in the days of Noah” as an example of Baptism, and “Noah is depicted as a preacher of repentance” to the men of his time, itself a “predominant theme” in Jewish “apocryphal and rabbinical writings.”

Hebrew Bible, also called Hebrew Scriptures, Old Testament, or Tanakh, collection of writings that was first compiled and preserved as the sacred books of the Jewish people. It also constitutes a large portion of the Christian Bible, known as the Old Testament. Except for a few passages in Aramaic, appearing mainly in the “apocalyptic Book of DANIEL,” these scriptures were written originally in Hebrew during the period from 1200 to 100 BCE. 

The Hebrew Bible probably reached its current form about the 2nd century CE.

In its general framework, the Hebrew Bible is the account of God’s dealing with the Jews as his chosen people, who collectively called themselves Israel. After an account of the world’s creation by God and the emergence of human civilization, the first six books narrate not only the “history but the genealogy” of the people of Israel to the conquest and “settlement of the Promised Land” under the terms of “God’s covenant with Abraham,” whom God promised to make the progenitor of a great nation. This covenant was subsequently “renewed by Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob” (whose byname Israel became the collective name of his descendants and whose -sons, according to legend, fathered the “13 Israelite tribes”) and centuries later by “Moses” (from the Israelite tribe of Levi). 

The following seven books continue their story in the Promised Land, describing the people’s constant “apostasy and breaking of the covenant,” the “establishment and development of the monarchy in order to counter this,” and the “warnings by the prophets both of impending divine punishment and exile and of Israel’s need to repent.” The last 11 books contain poetry, theology, and some additional history.

The Hebrew Bible is the literature of faith, not of scientific observation or historical demonstration. God’s existence as a “speculative problem” has no interest for the biblical writers. What is -problematical- for them is the “human condition and destiny before God.” 

The great biblical themes are about God, his “revealed works” of creation, provision, judgment, deliverance, his covenant, and his promises. The Hebrew Bible sees what happens to humankind in the light of God’s nature, righteousness, faithfulness, mercy, and love. The major themes about humankind relate to “humanity’s rebellion, estrangement, and perversion; humankind’s redemption, forgiveness, and reconciliation are all viewed as the gracious works of God.”

The Hebrew Bible’s profoundly monotheistic interpretation of human life and the universe as creations of God provides the basic structure of ideas that gave rise not only to Judaism and Christianity but also to Islam, which emerged from Jewish and Christian tradition and which views Abraham as a patriarch.

Utnapishtim, in the Babylonian Gilgamesh epic, survivor of a mythological flood whom Gilgamesh consults about the secret of immortality. Utnapishtim was the only man to escape death, since, having preserved human and animal life in the great boat he built, he and his wife were deified by the god Enlil. Utnapishtim directed Gilgamesh to a plant that would “renew” his youth, but the hero “failed to return with it to his home city.”

Flood myth, also called deluge myth, any of numerous mythologies in which a flood destroys a typically “disobedient” original population. Myths of a great flood (the Deluge) are widespread over Eurasia and America. The flood, with a few exceptions, is an expiation by the water, after which a new type of world is created. 🛳🌊

Mount Ararat, Turkish Ağrı Dağı, volcanic massif in extreme eastern Turkey, overlooking the point at which the frontiers of “Turkey, Iran, and Armenia” converge. Its northern and eastern slopes rise from the broad alluvial plain of the Aras River, about 3,300 feet (1,000 metres) above sea level; its southwestern slopes rise from a plain about 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) above sea level; and on the west a low pass “separates it from a long range of other volcanic ridges extending westward toward the eastern Taurus ranges.” The Ararat Massif is about 25 miles (40 km) in diameter.

Ararat consists of two peaks, their summits about 7 miles (11 km) apart. Great Ararat, or Büyük Ağrı Dağı, which reaches an elevation of 16,945 feet (5,165 metres) above sea level, is the highest peak in Turkey. Little Ararat, or Küçük Ağrı Dağı, rises in a smooth, steep, nearly “perfect cone” to 12,782 feet (3,896 metres). Both Great and Little Ararat are the product of eruptive volcanic activity. Neither retains any evidence of a crater, but well-formed cones and fissures exist on their flanks. Towering some 14,000 feet (4,300 metres) above the adjoining plains, the snowcapped conical peak of the Great Ararat offers a majestic sight. The snowline varies with the season, retreating to 14,000 feet above sea level by the end of the summer. The “only true” glacier is “found” on the northern side of the Great Ararat, near its summit. The middle zone of Ararat, measuring from 5,000 to 11,500 feet (1,500 to 3,500 metres), is covered with “good pasture grass and some juniper; there the local Kurdish population graze their sheep.” Most of the Great Ararat is treeless, but Little Ararat has a few birch groves. Despite the abundant cover of snow, the Ararat area “suffers from scarcity of water.”

Ararat traditionally is associated with the mountain on which Noah’s Ark came to rest at the end of the Flood. The name Ararat, as it appears in the Bible, is the Hebrew equivalent of Urardhu, or Urartu, the Assyro-Babylonian name of a “kingdom that flourished between the Aras and the Upper Tigris rivers from the 9th to the 7th century BCE.”  Ararat is “sacred to the Armenians,” who believe themselves to be the “first -race- of humans to appear in the world after the Deluge.” A Persian legend refers to the Ararat as the “cradle of the human race.” There was formerly a village on the slopes of the Ararat -high above- the Aras plain, at the spot where, according to local tradition, Noah built an -altar- and planted the first vineyard. Above the village Armenians built a monastery to commemorate St. Jacob, who is said to have “tried repeatedly but failed to reach the summit of Great Ararat in search of the Ark.” In 1840 an eruption and landslide destroyed the village, the monastery of St. Jacob, and a nearby chapel of St. James, and it also killed hundreds of villagers.

Local tradition maintained that the Ark still lay on the summit but that God had declared that “no one should see it.” In September 1829, Johann Jacob von Parrot, a German, made the first recorded successful ascent. Since then Ararat has been scaled by several explorers, some of whom claim to have “sighted” the remains of the Ark.

Turkey, country that occupies a unique geographic position, lying partly in Asia and partly in Europe. Throughout its history it has acted as both a “barrier and a bridge between the two continents.”

A -long succession- of “political entities existed in Asia Minor” over the centuries. Turkmen tribes invaded Anatolia in the 11th century CE, founding the Seljuq empire; during the 14th century the Ottoman Empire began a long expansion, reaching its peak during the 17th century. The modern Turkish republic, founded in 1923 after the “collapse” of the Ottoman Empire, is a “nationalist, secular, parliamentary democracy.” 

After a period of one-party rule under its founder, Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk), and his successor, Turkish governments since the 1950s have been produced by multiparty “elections based on universal adult suffrage.”

The mountain “system falls into two main parts.” West of Antalya a complex series of ridges with a north-south trend reaches 6,500 to 8,200 feet (2,000 to 2,500 metres), but the most prominent feature is the massive “Taurus (Toros) mountain” system, running -parallel- to the Mediterranean coast and extending along the southern border. There crest lines are often above 8,000 feet (2,400 metres), and several peaks exceed 11,000 feet (3,400 metres). In the eastern third of the country, the northern and southern fold systems converge to produce an extensive area of predominantly mountainous terrain, with pockets of relatively level land confined to valleys and enclosed basins, as are found around Malatya, Elazığ, and Muş.

The central massif is located in the western half of the country, between the Pontic and Taurus systems (Taurus-the bull is the fixed modality of the three earth signs, the others being Virgo- this symbolic form of the virgin mary birth giver of jesus; incarnation and indwelling of the divine god without genetic seed, and Capricorn- the birth of jesus, star of David). This “elevated zone” is often referred to as the Anatolian plateau, although its relief is much more varied than this term suggests. At least “four subdivisions” of the central massif can be “identified.” Inland from the Aegean as far as a line from Bursa to Denizli, a series of faulted blocks gives a north-south alternation of steep-sided plateaus rising 5,000–6,500 feet (1,500–2,000 metres) and low-lying valley floors. Alluvial plains along the larger rivers, such as the Gediz, Küçükmenderes, and Büyükmenderes, are among the largest in Turkey and are of special agricultural value. East of this section, roughly to a line from Eskişehir to Burdur, is a complex upland zone. The general surface level rises to the east from 1,500 to 3,000 feet (460 to 900 metres); set into the upland are several downfaulted basins, and above it short mountain ranges rise to 6,500 feet.

The most distinctive part of the central massif is the area bounded on the south by the Taurus Mountains and on the northeast by a line from Ankara through Lake Tuz to Niğde. There the term “plateau” is most applicable, with large expanses of flat or gently sloping land at elevations of about 3,000 feet separated by low upswellings in the surface. Measuring some 150 by 200 miles (240 by 320 km), these are by far the most extensive plains in Turkey; however, their agricultural value is reduced by the effects of altitude and location on their climate.

The geologic structure of Turkey—where recent “faulting and folding are widespread” and mountain building is still in progress—is particularly conducive to “earthquakes, of which there have been many of varying intensity in modern times.” A number of serious events have been centred in the east, near Erzurum in 1959 and 1966, Bingöl in 1971 and 2003, and Erzincan in 1939 and 1992. In 1999 the country’s northwest was struck by a powerful earthquake near İzmit (Kocaeli) that killed more than 17,000 people and evoked “strong criticism of state institutions for their delayed response to the disaster.”

Meaning of the Twelve Stars of Revelation

Q: Do the twelve stars in Rev. 12.1 refer to the twelve apostles?
A: The Marian interpretation of Rev. 12.1 indeed allows for the suggested interpretation (see: Laurentin, Lyonnet, Deiss, Koehler, Feuillet relating this passage to the Daughter of Zion). Mary is the archetypal symbol of the Woman who is Israel (original) and the Church (developed). As archetype of the Church she is a sign that the Church is surrounded by God's power and protection ("Clothed with the Sun"). She is in continuity with the original people of God but stands also for the renewed people of God, the Church. Here is where the star symbol applies. The twelve stars above her head apply to both the twelve patriarchs of the tribes of Israel (original people of God), and the twelve apostles (renewed people of God). Of course, this symbolism has been interpreted in different and more subjective ways, especially for various devotional forms. For example, the devotion of the twelve stars (Baroque period) where each one of the stars symbolizes a special charism or privilege of Mary. It is legitimate to go a step further and read this image of Rev. 12.1 as Queen of Heaven, since Mary is (for example, according to the Litany of Loreto) Queen of both Patriarchs and Apostles. She is also in Rev. 12.1 the image of the eschatological Church or heavenly Jerusalem. She was related to the star sign Virgo (not surprisingly) – the Queen of Heaven and Queen of the angels.

The archaelogical record suggests that Asherah was the Mother Goddess of Israel, the Wife of God, according to William Dever, who has unearthed many clues to her identity. She was worshiped, apparently throughout the time Israel stood as a nation.  In many homes, images like the one above decorated household shrines. She no doubt aided in the concerns of mothers, including “conception and childbirth,” but was probably also the mother of all, a comforter and protector in an uncertain world. Inscriptions from ancient Israel tell us that Yahweh and “his Asherah” were invoked together for personal protection. Her identification with trees suggests that Asherah was, in effect, also Mother Nature — a figure we “remember in our language,” but unfortunately have “lost as a part of our mainstream religions.” She was, in other words, everything you would expect from the feminine half of the divine creative duo, a Great Mother. Asherah’s image was lost to us not by chance, but by deliberate action of fundamentalist monotheists.  First Her “images were torn down, then Her stories were rewritten, then Her name was forgotten.” In fact, Her name appears -40 times- in modern translations of the Bible, but not at all in the first English translation, the King James Bible.  Since no one knew who Asherah was anymore in the 17th century when the King James Version (KJV) was being created, Her name was translated as “groves of trees or trees or images in groves,” without understanding that those trees and groves of trees “represented a mother goddess.”

When archaeologists unearthed a treasure trove of Canaanite stories and other writings in Ugarit, in modern day Syria, they discovered that the mysterious “Asherah” was not an object, but a Goddess: the mother goddess of the Canaanites. When archaeologists discovered Her in Israel as well, a “whole new picture of early Hebrew religion began to emerge.” The argument is straightforward: Asherah was a known Canaanite Goddess, the Mother Goddess and wife of the Father God. She was worshiped, according to the Bible, in the woods with Baal AND in Yahweh’s temple. The common sense interpretation is that Israelites worshiped the mother goddess Asherah. And that She was the wife of whichever male God had the upper hand at the time: El, or Baal, or Yahweh.  Israelite religion was not much different from Canaanite religion. The gods vied for supremacy, but the goddess remained.

Since archaeologists in the Holy Land tended to be religious and to enter the field of biblical archaeology in order to unearth evidence substantiating the Bible’s story, it has taken awhile for the “plain truth to become clear.” Gradually, however, more objective archaeologists, such as Dever, are making headway in proving Asherah’s case.  The Bible says Hebrews kept worshiping Asherah; the archaeological record confirms it. What the Bible doesn’t say, and the archaeological record shows, is that Asherah was a mother goddess.

In Ugarit, She was known as Athiratu Yammi, She who “Treads on the Sea.” This suggests She was responsible for “ending a time of chaos represented by the primordial sea and beginning the process of creation.” The Sea God, or Sea Serpent Yam is the entity upon which She trod.  In a particularly bizarre and suggestive passage in the Bible, 2 Kings 18:4, one monotheistic reformer, pursuing the typical course of “smashing sacred stones and cutting down Asherahs records” this additional fact: He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)

Here are the serpent and the tree being worshiped together. (Garden of Eden anyone?) So, what exactly were people doing out there in the woods? They were worshiping idols, of course, burning incense, we are told.  This passage from Hosea is instructive: Hosea 4:12,13 condemns those who “inquire of a thing of wood,” suggesting they were asking questions of an oracle,  and who sacrifice under oak, poplar and terebinth “because their shade is good.” They are accused also of playing the harlot, which could be a reference to sexual activity, or simply an analogy in that the monotheists are claiming the people sold out to the “false” Canaanite gods.  Israel was considered the bride of Yahweh in monotheistic thought, so worshiping other gods was whoring after them.

These passages make sense when you understand that this tree symbolism is closely connected with Asherah.  Now we know She was worshiped in the wood, with an image made of wood and that people “sought knowledge and made sacrifices there.”

Many of us learned about the tree of knowledge of good and evil from an early age. Even if we didn’t have a church background, our pop culture seems full of references of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and dooming the world to plunge into a sinful state. As a refresher, we’ll include a passage below from Genesis about this tree found smack dab in the middle of the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 2:15-17: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

As the story goes, the devil, shaped like a serpent tempts Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, to have knowledge like God. They do and earn eternal separation because of their sin. What all do we know about this tree? Why in the world would God create a conifer doomsday device in the middle of paradise? Although God allows for Adam and Eve to partake in the fruit of any tree in the Garden of Eden, he forbids them from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He gives this with a warning that they will die if they do so. Supposedly, the tree could give them the knowledge of good and evil, but doing so would come at a cost. Another tree in the Garden was the tree of life (Genesis 2). Adam and Eve, as long as they lived in the Garden, had access to its life-giving fruit. But once they ate of the forbidden tree, they had to leave this place of paradise. What does the tree of knowledge symbolize in the Garden of Eden? As pointed out in this article, perhaps the tree of knowledge represented the law (which brings death, 2 Corinthians 3:6) and the tree of life represented a right relationship with God. Adam and Eve, when they disobeyed and ate the fruit, decided they’d rather abide by the rules than by a relationship. Other theologians have posited it had knowledge that only God was meant to possess. 

Suffice to say, we don’t know the precise nature of the knowledge they received. But we do know that this tree also later represents the fall of man. The tree itself wasn’t evil. But because God had given explicit instructions not to eat of its fruit, and Adam and Eve disobeyed, sin polluted both them and the tree. The ground, human nature, everything ends up cursed because of what happens in Genesis 3.

What happened to the tree of knowledge? After all, the tree of life does make another appearance in Revelation 2 and Revelation 22:2. Does the tree of knowledge show up anywhere else in the Bible or in history?

After the fall (Genesis 3), Adam and Eve are disbanded from the Garden of Eden, never to enter again. Considering the tree of knowledge was in the middle of the Garden, and since trees don’t have a tendency to walk apart from Tolkien stories, we can assume it stayed put.

Symbolically the tree of knowledge lives on in the hearts of every man. We choose, every one of us, to place something else in the throne of our lives instead of Jesus. Thankfully, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can come back to the relationship with God and experience the tree of life. The tree of life represents a rightful relationship with God and the tree of knowledge symbolizes the death that comes through the law. Every human being, ever since the Garden of Eden, intuitively knows about God (Romans 1:20). Many of us have also received specific revelation through Scripture or other means. Because of this knowledge, we have no excuse when we stand in the presence of God and have to explain our deeds on Earth. 

In Revelation, after the apostle John describes the river of life, he mentions another striking feature: “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). The tree of life is mentioned three times in Genesis 2, in Eden, and again four times in Revelation, three of those in the final chapter. These instances seem to refer to Eden’s literal tree of life. We’re told the tree of life is presently in Paradise, the intermediate Heaven (Revelation 2:7). The New Jerusalem itself, also in the present Heaven, will be brought down, the tree of life and all, and placed on the New Earth (Revelation 21:2). Just as the tree was apparently relocated from Eden to the present Heaven, it will be relocated again to the New Earth. In Eden, the tree of life appears to have been a source of ongoing physical life. The presence of the tree of life suggests a supernatural provision of life as Adam and Eve ate the fruit their Creator provided. Adam and Eve were designed to live forever, but to do so they likely needed to eat from the tree of life. Once they sinned, they were banned from the Garden, separated from the tree, and subject to physical death, just as they had experienced spiritual death. Since Eden, death has reigned throughout history. But on the New Earth, our access to the tree of life is forever restored. In the New Earth, we will freely eat the fruit of the same tree that nourished Adam and Eve: “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). Once more human beings will draw their strength and vitality from this tree. The tree will produce not one crop but twelve. The newness and freshness of Heaven are demonstrated in the monthly yield of fruit. The fruit is not merely to be admired but consumed. The description of the tree of life in Revelation 22 mirrors precisely what’s prophesied in the Old Testament: “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing” (Ezekiel 47:12).

Interestingly, the word Elat is translated in the Bible as terebinth, a large shade tree found in Israel. A great deal of the time, God is a translation not of Yahweh, his particular name given to Moses, but of the Hebrew name Elohim, which is plural, gender neutral, meaning “gods.”  This word is also related to the word for oak tree.  What did it really mean to the ancients to worship in a grove of trees? To see the gods as like the oaks? The goddess as a green tree spreading Her leaves over the worshiper, providing shade in a hot country? Hebrews were not alone in worshiping gods of the forest, of course.  Celtic, Greek, and Germanic peoples also worshiped in groves.  Their gods were gods of nature.  Were the Israelites really so different? In the Bible, Elohim created a man and woman.

Genesis 1:26:

“Then Elohim said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So Elohim created man in his own image, in the image of Elohim he created them; male and female he created them.” Takes on a whole new meaning, doesn’t it, when you become aware of the Mother Goddess being worshiped next to God in every home and under every green tree in the forest groves?  Who is this “US” doing the creating? Well, evidently, the creator(s) is/are male and female, like the creatures he/She/they created. Now move on to a later passage, in 1 Kings 18: 19 , which makes it clear that  Asherah was served by “400 prophets.” This is no “minor religion.” Maybe when the prophets complained She was worshiped under every tree, they meant it. Every tree, every home, and also, sometimes, in the temple.

In Exodus, we are told that God warned the people to get rid of Asherah’s emblems when they conquered the land of Canaan; in the periods of the books of the “Judges and the Kings,” we are told that the “good” prophets, kings and reformers “continually had to burn and smash the idols of Asherah;” finally, in Jeremiah, we are told that worship of Asherah has resulted in the fanatical monotheistic God’s decision to wipe out Israel and Judah (the southern portion of the formerly united kingdom) via the “invasion of outside peoples.” The thing is, we are told most of these things by a single author, or group of authors: “the Deuteronomist.” 

This is a character (or possibly group of characters) writing and rewriting portions of the Bible in later days, around the 7th century BC, either just before or during the exile of the Jews to Babylon. According to the Deuteronomist, the priest Hilkiah claims in 2 Kings, chapter 22, to have “discovered” the “ancient laws of Moses during temple renovations.” These writings, “The Book of the Law” were mysteriously mislaid leading Israel to get its religion all wrong, apparently.

The works of the Deuteronomist conveyed a story that the Israelites had a covenant with Yahweh to worship him and only him. He claimed the Israelites had taken Canaan “by force through a holy war” in which they massacred the original inhabitants, putting to death (by God’s command) men, women and children in Jericho.  (This claim is not supported by the archaelogical record.) And he claimed that God was a jealous God, one who demanded to be worshiped alone and who would punish the unfaithful by bringing other nations to conquer them if they worshiped others.

Was this really the religion of Israel? Apparently not.  The “common folk kept right on putting up their Asherahs in the woods and the temple and the little votive Asherahs in their home shrines.” 

Only after Israel was conquered and the people of Judah -returned from exile- in Babylon did the “fundamentalist fanatics with their violent, patriarchal, monotheistic God win the argument.” The Deuteronomist’s work, along with the works of two other primary authors, the Yahwist and the Elohist, were compiled by a fourth source, called the Priestly source, to become the Bible we have today.

Asherah, tree goddess, mother of life, was lost.  “Truly, we were cast out of the Garden of Eden by Yahweh, or at least, his supporters.” Separated from the Tree of Life, our mother, we flounder like orphans.  America’s religiosity is more comparable to Iran’s than to that of Western Europe, where Yahweh’s religion is in decline.  Is it coincidence that we, the worshipers of a male warrior, spend our money on war while children are allowed to live in poverty without health care? Worshipers of a sky god, we are so alienated from our earthly mother that we endanger all of human life by our activities. And the hard edge of the fundamentalist who claims to have found the one true law and believes those who think otherwise are worthy of death (or eternal damnation) is still with us today.

Still, I think it has only ever been a relatively small percentage of people who hold to the hardest edge of monotheism.  We are surrounded by Mother Nature and she seeps into our traditions.  The Shekinah,  Mary, the Mother of God, the Christmas Tree and the Easter Egg, the bumper sticker imploring us to Honor Thy Mother with an image of the earth as seen from above, the fairies and elves and lost brides of our children’s tales are all ways in which the Mother Goddess seeps back into our lopsided psyche.  

The Goddess is lost, officially, but remembered deep within. Archaeology’s gift of restoring Asherah to our consciousness reminds us of what we already know: God does indeed have a wife. He must.  For if we are his children, then we must have a mother. Mary Magdalene, sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine, was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. Virgo (♍︎) (Greek: Παρθένος, Parthenos) is the sixth astrological sign in the Zodiac. Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun transits this area, on average, between August 23 and September 22. The symbol of the maiden is based on Astraea. In Greek mythology, she was the last immortal to abandon Earth at the end of the Silver Age when the gods fled to Olympus – hence the sign's association with Earth. Mercury (Mercury symbol is the ruling planet of Gemini and Virgo and is exalted in Virgo). In classical Roman mythology, Mercury is the messenger of the gods, noted for his speed and swiftness. Echoing this, the scorching, airless world Mercury circles the Sun on the fastest orbit of any planet. Mercury takes only 88 days to orbit the Sun, spending about 7.33 days in each sign of the zodiac. Mercury is so close to the Sun that only a brief period exists after the Sun has set where it can be seen with the naked eye, before following the Sun beyond the horizon. In modern astrology, Mercury is regarded as the ruler of the third house; traditionally, it had the joy in the first house. Mercury is the messenger of the gods in mythology. It is the planet of day-to-day expression and relationships. Mercury's action is to take things apart and put them back together again.

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An introduction into the book of Zechariah;

11/19/2019

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​A INTRODUCTION on the book of Zechariah;

Several new commentaries on the book of Zechariah have appeared during the past few years.1 In these commentaries the socio-historical background and literary history are discussed in detail, but the discussion of key themes or the message is neglected. Wolters2 has no discussion of key themes3 in his "Introduction" while Petterson4 and Boda5 allocated only a few pages to "Message" or "Key themes." The aim of this article is to give more attention to this neglected area of Zechariah research, especially the first eight chapters.

B BRIEF REMARKS ON THE LITERARY- AND HISTORICAL CONTEXTS OF ZECHARIAH 1-8

The book of Zechariah is the longest of the Book of the Twelve Prophets (HosMal). Most scholars divide the book in two main sections, Zechariah 1 -8 and Zechariah 9-14.6 This article will focus on the first eight chapters that are also referred to as Proto-Zechariah or First-Zechariah. Zechariah 1-8 may be divided into three literary units: 1:1-6 (Summons to repentance); 1:7-6:15 (Eight visions interspersed with oracles) 7:1-8:23 (Features of the time of salvation).

The text of Zechariah 1-8 places its historical setting between the second and the fourth year of Darius I, the Persian king (520-518 B.C.E.).7 Darius the Great ascended the Persian throne by means of a coup d'état after a period of upheaval following the death of Cyrus (530 B.C.E.) and Cambyses (522 B.C.E.). Darius's task in the beginning of his reign was to consolidate his position and establish peace in the Persian Empire.8

During the reign of Darius I (522-486 B.C.E.) the Persian Empire comprised territories from the Aral Sea and the western edge of the Himalayas to the Sahara, and from the Indus River Valley to the Danube.9 Darius organized his Persian empire in different protectorates or satrapies which included smaller provinces. Judah (Yehud in Aramaic) was part of the fifth satrapy called Abar Nahara. Yehud was ruled by a governor and consisted of a greatly reduced territory comprising Jerusalem and its environments.10 According to Kessler11 it was probably a sparsely populated province especially when compared to Judah before the Babylonian exile.

The specific circumstances of the Jerusalem community are difficult to tell. We can accept that the economic situation of the community was bleak and spiritually they experienced apathy and feelings of hopelessness. During this time YHWH12 called the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to initiate the physical rebuilding and the spiritual renewal of post-exilic Jerusalem.13

 

C KEY THEMES IN ZECHARIAH 1-8

It is difficult to identify the key themes. There are themes that appear in Zechariah 1-8, but which are more prominent in Zechariah 9-14 (e.g. The day of the Lord14; Messianism; Universal Kingship of YHWH; etc.). These themes cannot be described as "key themes" in Zechariah 1-8 and should rather be discussed in an article focusing on Zechariah 9-14. It is also difficult to make a sharp distinction among the different key themes and we must acknowledge that there are several similarities between the different themes.15 However, the following section is an attempt to discuss them separately.

1. YHWH's Divine Presence and the Rebuilding of the Temple in Zion

The theme of the temple and YHWH's presence plays a central role in Zechariah 1-8 although we find relatively few direct references to the temple (cf. Zech 1:16; 4:6-10; 6:9-15; 8:9). Zechariah stands in the midst of the Zion tradition. YHWH is in a special way present in his temple in Zion/Jerusalem and through this presence his Lordship is confirmed. The rebuilding of the temple was not viewed as a pre-condition for the time of salvation, but rather as a sign.

Zechariah's first vision begins with a declaration by YHWH that his house will be rebuilt (1:16) and that his mighty presence will be in Zion (2:9, 17 [2:5, 13]).16 In Zechariah 3:7 we hear that Joshua will be appointed as high priest and most important official in the temple before its completion.17

The priority of the temple in Zion underlies most of the chapters in Zechariah 1-8 but the fifth vision in chapter 4 deserves special attention. Several symbols, objects and metaphors mentioned in Zech 4 emphasise YHWH's divine presence. This vision paints a detailed picture of a golden lampstand with seven lamps and seven lips on it that represent YHWH's illuminating presence in the temple. The symbolism of the flames that burned perpetually with oil drawn from the two surrounding olive trees further emphasises YHWH's presence.18Zechariah 4:12 describes gold (NRSV oil) pouring out from the branches of the olive trees. If the flow of the golden oil is related to YHWH's presence through his "trees", then that flow symbolises the continuous presence of God.19

In Zechariah 6:12-15 the promises for the temple are confirmed and the completion of the temple becomes a sign of the authority of the prophet's message ("and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you").20The temple and the cult were viewed as one of the most important building blocks for the establishment of a new community, even more important than the monarchy and the Torah.

Haggai encouraged the people themselves to complete the building process. In comparison to that Zechariah emphasised the divine role in the building process. YHWH proclaims in Zech 1:16 "my house shall be built in it" but the text does not say who will do it. Zechariah 6:15 expects "those who are far off" to help with the project, but nowhere in Zechariah 1-8 do we read where they are called to help. The rebuilding of the temple is considered as a sign of YHWH's love that will return to Jerusalem. The completed temple and YHWH's presence signify that the time of judgment is over and that the time of salvation is at hand.21 Graigie22 summarises the importance of the temple and temple building as follows:

The temple was a symbol of God's presence among his people; the temple rebuilding, however, somehow symbolized, and perhaps even inaugurated in some mysterious fashion, God's renewal of his chosen people beyond that immediate time and place.

Lastly one must acknowledge that the divine presence of YHWH encompasses more than the physical building of the temple. The remnant that returned to their land, the resurgence of agricultural production, the leadership of Joshua and Zerubbabel, the words of the prophet and a spiritually restored Israel also point to the presence of YHWH in Zion.23

2. The Lordship and Sovereignty of YHWH

The prophet Zechariah consistently refers to the sovereign God as צְבָאוֹתיְהוָה. This epithet occurs 44 times in Zechariah 1-8 while all variant forms of the epithet occur 284 times in the OT. The meaning of צְבָאוֹת may refer to (a) earthly armies; (b) heavenly hosts; (c) all creatures and powers in heaven and in earth. 24It is difficult to translate the epithet and English Bibles translate the epithet in a variety of ways: Yahweh Sabaoth (JB); Lord of Hosts (KJV; NASV; NEB; NRSV; RSV); and Lord Almighty (NIV; TEV). I suggest the translation "YHWH of all powers" or "Lord of all powers." The word "powers" can be understood as an all-inclusive word referring to all powers and hosts in heaven and on earth.25

The use of צְבָאוֹת יְהוָה in Zechariah 1-8 describes the diverse character of YHWH: God as king of the nations (Zech 2:15 [2:11]; 8:20-23); Almighty and omnipresent God (Zech 89:6); God as Spirit (Zech 4:6); God who blesses (Zech 8:4, 12); God as judge (Zech 7:12-13); God's grace, love and forgiveness (Zech 1:16-17; 3:9-10; 8:7); et cetera. 26

Judah/Yehud was a very small province in contrast to the might of the Persian Empire. The prophet Zechariah reminds the people that צְבָאוֹת יְהוָה is the One who is really in control. YHWH is the true king of the earth, more powerful than the Persian king. YHWH will judge enemy nations (1:21; 2:9 [13]; 6:8), save his people and also those who seek him (2:11; 8:20). Zechariah 1-8 emphasises that YHWH's people have a significant role to play in the rebuilding phase of their history, but it is ultimately the work of their sovereign God (cf. 4:6)27

3. Sin and Punishment/Judgment

In the first few verses of the book (1:1-6) the prophet takes a historical retrospective view on sin and punishment. YHWH's people had disobeyed his commandments and YHWH was justified to allow them to reap the consequences of their disobedience. The prophet summons the people to return from their "evil ways" and "evil deeds' (1:4), but the nature of the sin is not discussed. The focus of the book until chapter 5 is largely on the promises of YHWH to his people. However, we have a few references to the sins of the nations (Babylon) in the first four chapters (1:15; 2:1-4 (1:18-21]; 2:12-13 [89]). Zechariah 5 mentions two key "sins" among YHWH's people that he wants to remove. Verses 1-4 point to the injustice of swearing falsely in court and verses 5-11 refers to idolatry. The first of these sins reappears in Zechariah 7-8 (7:9-10; 8:16-17) while the second sin is a key concern in Zechariah 9-14. These two sins undermine the foundation of the Torah to love YHWH with all one's heart, soul and might and to love one's neighbour as oneself.28 The prophet Zechariah warns the people not to repeat the sins of their forefathers, because such covenant violations led to the Babylonian exile (7:11-14).29

Zechariah 7:9-14 and 8:16-17 rounds off the theme of Zechariah 1:1-6, but Proto-Zechariah does not end with the theme of sin and punishment. Zechariah 8:18-23 closes with a promise of a new day beyond punishment.30

4. Turn to YHWH (repentance) and obedience

In the previous section (C.3) I mentioned the proclamation that the disobedience of the past was the reason for the people's suffering (Zech 1:4-6; 7:7-14). Therefore, it is important that the people will turn to YHWH and follow his stipulations. Zechariah 1:3 plays a prominent role to introduce this theme of repentance: "Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts." Foster31 argues that this basic two-part relationship between YHWH and his people reveals the structure of the entire book, not merely Proto-Zechariah: 1:17 Return to me (Summons); 1:8-6:15 Because I am turning to you (Promise); 78 Return to me (Specific command); 9:1-11:3 Because I am turning to you (Modified Promise); 11:4-17 (Failure to keep the command); 12-14 (Because I am turning to you (Faithful promise). One can differ over the specific structure, but the fact is that this theme of "turn" (שׁוב) plays a significant role in Zechariah. The question may still be posed: What does it mean for the people to return to YHWH? Zechariah 1:4 emphasises another key word namely שׁמע (listen). Returning to YHWH means "listening" to YHWH in a way that differs significantly from the generations before. If there is a real active "listening" the deeds of obedience and justice will follow. Chapter 7:9-11 provides a summary of this true justice: show mercy and compassion to others, especially the widows, orphans, aliens and the poor.32

It is not merely the people who are summoned to repentance; even the high priest is called to repentance and cleansing (3:4-7). In the vision of the woman in the basket it is described how wickedness is removed from the land (5:5-11). Israel had to confess their sins before they could receive the salvation of YHWH. Days of fasting and lamenting are of no use, because it leads to self-glorification. According to Zechariah a whole-hearted conversion was important (Zech 8:16-17).33 The prophet summoned the people to repentance and conversion because his concern was for a right relationship with YHWH, a renewal of the covenant established between YHWH and Israel at Mount Sinai.34

5. YHWH's return, grace, love and forgiveness35

O'Brein36 wrote the following: "The primary message of First Zechariah is that of Yahweh's care for Jerusalem and Yahweh's intention to restore Jerusalem." YHWH is presented in Zech 1-8 as a God longing for a covenant relationship with his people. He promises that He will be a God of grace, love and forgiveness. Zechariah 1-8 does not merely speak about the repentance of the people but also emphasises the return of YHWH to dwell among his people (cf. 1:3, 16; 2:5, 10-22 [2:9, 14-15]; 4:9-10; 8:3). 37

YHWH was so angry with his people that He nearly destroyed them (1:2), but fortunately his love, grace and forgiveness surpassed his anger. There are at least three passages that refer directly to YHWH's forgiveness (Zech 1:16; 3:4, 9). In Zechariah 1:3 we hear the conditional words of YHWH: "Return to me .... and I will return to you." According to Zech 1:16 YHWH's return will be an unconditional return; a return because there is compassion (רַחֲמִים) in his heart. YHWH's compassion and forgiveness will not merely be empty words. He will return to his people and to the city of Jerusalem to build His house (or temple) as a symbol of his presence, grace and forgiveness. One can say that YHWH "demonstrates" his forgiveness by the rebuilding of the temple. The phrase "and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem" (1:16b) signifies that the city too will be rebuilt. Grace and forgiveness form the starting point of the new post-exilic community and can even lead to socio-economic stability and prosperity (cf. 1:17; 8:12).38

Zechariah 3:1-10 describes a remarkable vision in which Joshua the high priest was clothed in filthy garments to experience the cleansing and forgiveness that only YHWH could grant. Joshua's guilt was taken away and he was clothed in festal apparel (3:4). The implication of this vision goes beyond the holy requirements for leaders, extending the promised cleansing and forgiveness to all the people of the land (3:9).39 The intensity of the forgiveness rises in this vision: from the taking away (עבר) of Joshua's guilt (3:4) to the immediate removal (מושׁ) of the guilt of the whole land (3:9).40

There are a few passages in Zechariah 1-8 that directly refer to grace and forgiveness. However, the theme of grace and forgiveness appears in more passages. The underlying expectations of the last two chapters (Zech 7-8) presume that Israel stands at a pivotal point in its history. Things have really begun to change on a physical and spiritual level. The people will experience the grace, forgiveness and hope.41 Zechariah 8:12 says the following:

For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, the ground shall give its produce, and the skies shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

In section C3 and above I discussed both the themes of punishment/judgment and grace/forgiveness. The question may be posed: Which theme is dominant in Zechariah 1-8? According to Wolters42 YHWH's grace is the dominant note in the book of Zechariah. It is not only manifested in the present but also promised for the future. Zechariah may also be described as a prophet of hope. His hope does not depend on the obedience of the people but the sheer grace of YHWH.43

6. Realized Eschatology and Future Hope

Zechariah 1-8 proclaims a realized eschatology. The future expectations are realized in the present, the future salvation becomes a reality in the present time through specific people and institutions. Zechariah emphasizes that unparalleled salvation will come with the rebuilding of the temple. Two leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua, are described as instruments through which YHWH realizes the salvation. According to Haggai Zerubbabel will be the signet ring of YHWH who will rule over everyone (Hag 2:23). Zechariah 1-8 builds on this idea and emphasises that Joshua will be the co-leader.44 The immediate manifestation of YHWH's presence is realized through the rebuilt temple and leaders, but also through a spiritually restored Israel and the resurgence of the agricultural production (Zech 1:17; 4:8-9; 6:15).45

Zechariah continues to proclaim the hope of the earlier prophets for a future Davidic king who is central in YHWH's restoration process. In Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12 this figure is called na? (shoot or branch), picking up on the terminology of Jeremiah (Jer 23:5; 33:15) and the imagery of Isaiah and Ezekiel (Isa 11:1; Ezek 17). This king will serve as a priest (Zech 6:13) by cleansing sin and reversing its consequences (Zech 3:9). According to Petersen46 it is significant that neither of the passages identifies Zerubbabel as a shoot or a branch. Instead, a shoot is a Davidic king beyond Zerubbabel and beyond the time of Zechariah. Although the text does not directly relate צֶמַח with Zerubbabel, many scholars believe that the title refers to him.47 Redditt48 says the following "There can be no doubt that Zechariah saw Zerubbabel as the new David, the messiah in the typical Old Testament sense of the anointed king." This hypothesis may be correct, but unfortunately we do not have enough evidence to prove it. Although we are uncertain about the exact nature of the צֶמַח it still expresses the hope in a Davidic figure.

7. Israel and the Other Nations

The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם, (nations) occurs eight times in Proto-Zechariah: Zech 1:15; 2:4 (1:21), 2:12 (2:8), 2:15 (2:11), 7:14; 8:13, 22, 23.49 Most of these are references to God's judgment and anger against the nations. Four of the eight references describe a positive attitude towards the nations. Zechariah 8:13 indicates that the house of Israel and Judah was a curse to the nations but will become a blessing. Zechariah 2:15 (11), 8:22 and 23 describes how Israel and Judah will be a blessing.50 There is at least one other passage in Proto-Zechariah that does not use the term גּוֹיִם (nations) but also refers to the inclusion of the nations or gentiles among the people of God. Zechariah 6:15 mentions that "those who are far off" will come and help to build the temple of the Lord.51

According to Zech 2:15 (11) many nations shall come to YHWH and He will dwell in their midst. This passage does not address the nations in the first place, but focuses on the special role for YHWH's people in the future. Judah and Zion have a special place in YHWH's plan which has now become a plan for all nations.52

Zechariah 8:20-23 forms the last literary unit of Proto-Zechariah and depicts the ultimate response of the community to the summons of YHWH (1:3). Their obedience will introduce a new era in which Jerusalem will fulfil its original purpose as the place of divine presence on earth. God's rule will extend over the cosmos and all nations will worship Him. The Judeans or the people of Israel will play a special role in the witness to the nations.53

8. Leadership

Passages in Proto-Zechariah that focus on leadership form a central position in the structure of the book. Zechariah 3-4 emphasises YHWH's renewal of the priestly, political and prophetic leadership roles within the post-exilic community. Zechariah envisions a renewal of the priestly office represented by Joshua from the Zadokite priesthood.54

YHWH's actions in purifying Joshua and clothing him with clean and holy apparel accentuate the necessity of purity and holiness for the leaders of YHWH's people (Zech 3:4-5). Obedience to YHWH's law is a prerequisite for religious leaders:

Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access amongst those who are standing here (Zech 3:7).55

The prophet Zechariah affirms an enduring role for the prophetic voice, revealing that prophets will assist both priestly and political leadership figures by accessing divine revelation that will bring the presence of YHWH on earth. In Zechariah 1-8 there is shift in tone towards the leaders. Zechariah 3 begins in subtle ways to "criticise" the priests but in chapters 7-8 the prophet reproaches the priests for their lack of attention to social justice.56

Zechariah 1-8 supports a concept of diarchic leadership in post-exilic Jerusalem that consisted of the religious leader Joshua and the political leader Zerubbabel. Joshua's father Jehozadak was a high priest; therefore, Joshua was a Zadokite high priest and true descendant of Aaron. Zerubbabel the governor was officially appointed by the Persian Empire to be responsible for administrative matters in a specific geographic area. Zerubbabel's real significance is that he was regarded as a Davidic descendant because he was the grandson of the Davidic king Jehoiachin.

The biblical text does not mention that one of these leaders was more influential than the other. Zechariah 1-8 sketches a picture of a harmonious relationship and a balance of power, two leaders working together in the temple building process (cf. Zech 4:14; 6:9-15). One can assume that there was some degree of conflict between various groups in the post-exilic community.57However, the text of chapters 1-8 does not indicate major conflict between Joshua and Zerubbabel.58 It is difficult to determine the duration of the diarchic leadership model. There is a possibility that this leadership model lasted for some time after 538 B.C.E. until the completion of the temple in 515 B.C.E.

Proto-Zechariah also emphasises the close relationship between YHWH and the earthly leaders. In the fifth vision (Zech 4) the lampstand symbolizes the divine presence and the two trees symbolize Joshua and Zerubbabel (4:2-3). There is a relationship of interdependence between the trees and the lampstand. The post-exilic community could not exist without interaction between YHWH and human leaders. According to this vision these leaders are standing next to YHWH, not isolated from him (cf. 4:14 "These are the two sons of oil who stand by the Lord of the whole earth").59

 

D CONCLUDING REMARKS

Two questions may be posed at the end of the above discussion: (1) Are there any unique themes in Zechariah 1-8? (2) Can we say that the author/s had a central theme in mind? One cannot declare that there are any unique themes in Zechariah 1-8. There are similarities with many other books in die OT, especially the post-exilic prophetic books. The discussion of key themes in Zechariah 1-8 emphasises the fact that there is a definite relationship with Haggai, Zechariah 9-14 and Malachi.60 One can indicate that Zech 1-8 places more emphasis on certain themes or discuss them in a special way, but they are not unique in the strict sense of the word. I can mention two examples:

• Leadership is an important theme in both Proto- and Deutero-Zechariah. In Zechariah 1-8 one finds references to specific leaders like Joshua and Zerubbabel. Zechariah 9-14 has no reference to a specific leader but rather uses the shepherd image as a reference to leaders (cf. 11: 8, 15-17; 13:7-9).61

• The themes of YHWH's return, grace, love and forgiveness occur in the entire book of Zechariah. However, in Proto-Zechariah there is a unique emphasis on the forgiveness of the high priest Joshua as a representative of the community (Zech 3:1-10).

Can we say that the author/s had a central theme in mind? In a book like Haggai one can conclude that the central theme is the physical rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, but Zechariah 1-8 encompasses more than that. Foster62argues that the book of Zechariah hinges on the words found in 6:15:

Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the LORD your God.

We can agree with Foster that the return of YHWH to Zion and the obedience of the people play a prominent role in Zechariah 1-8. However, the above discussion of the different themes in Zechariah 1-8 indicates that there is not one central theme. The real strength of Proto-Zechariah's message lies in the rich diversity of themes.

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    Anew Light Ministries

    CREATING environments through the vehicle of Visual and Expressive ARTS to help plug people into their CREATOR by fostering Spiritual Growth. By combining Therapeutic Art, Christ-Centered CBT techniques, and Integrated Arts in Scriptural Education, I seek to Heal human brokenness and Redeem Fullness through the Transformative Healing Power of The Holy Spirit. 

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