The Crow's Nest

Thursday, July 6, 2023

The War of Nine Kings

War and politics are the oldest form of argument. Four kings, band together to make war on five Kings who had also banded together. Exactly who these kings were is an argument for archaeologists. What is known is that the war ended with the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled the battle. They either were killed in the slime pits, or fled into the mountains.

Abram head of the war and discovered his nephew Lot had been captured. Abram selected 318 of Abram’s trained servants went on a rescue mission to return Lot. Abram’s forces attacked at night and were able to return all of the goods the enemy had taken, but they returned Lot as well.

Abram is hailed by Melchizedek king of Salem as a hero. Melchizedek blessed Abram in the name of God. He also told Abram to release the prisoners to him, but to keep all the spoils of the war. This is the twist of politics.

Abram refused the offer of the spoils of war, ” That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:”(Genesis 14:23) Abram wasn’t stupid. He fully realized that to accept such a gift, would come with strings at a later date. This is the danger of accepting gifts, even if you deserve them. The politics of nations, states, cities, and families are full of these stories. To quote Jesus, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and unto God that which is God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Anything else is an argument that can be used against you.

Abram gave God all the glory.

Read the full account of the War at Genesis chapter 14.

Abram

Abram, his wife Sari, and his nephew Lot left his fathers’ home and journeyed under the blessings and direction of God. It was faith that led Abram into Egypt.

Along the trip Abram put up altars and sacrificed to God. And a great famine was on the land, and Egypt would be Abram’s refuge.

Abram knew that his wife Sari was a good looking woman. He feared that is the Egyptians looked upon her their lust would result in Abram being killed. Abram hatched a plan. He told his wife to tell the Egyptians that she was Abram’s sister.

Abram, like all of us, was not perfect. His fear of what might happen exceeded his faith. But the Lord plagued the Egyptians. Pharaoh realized that Sari was Abram’s wife. Pharaoh wanted nothing to do with this and he sent Abram out of his sight. Abram left with more than he had brought with him.

Abram was wealthy in cattle, silver, and gold. His nephew Lot was also wealthy. With so many animals the two could not live in the same place, so they decided to split up. Abram let Lot pick which way he should go. Lot picked the plain of Jordan and Abram picked Canaan.

The Lord shewed Abram what the land of Canaan was like. A fertile land.

The Lord also told Abram that he would father a nation as numerous as the grains of dust. Abram built an altar to worship the Lord.

The Tower of Babel

“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” (Gen 11:1)

Progress! With the ability to speak directly to each other the people were able to teach, learn, and invent. The people had progressed from piling stones to make a house, to making bricks of clay and straw to make a tower. A really big tower.

What were they progressing toward?

Heaven, of course! Utopia here on Earth!

Just as in any society, fear, lust, and greed for power never reaches a utopia. When I say that, I am speaking directly to you, and me. We fear everything. We lust over food, drink, transportation, places to live, etc… Our greed to protect what we have or take what we want is throughout our hearts. We lie to protect ourselves from others who lie to protect themselves from us.

God knew this. God also knew that in time people would be able to use technology making speech between others possible. God also knew that he alone controlled time.

God could have destroyed the tower by violent means, but he didn’t. He changed the languages they could speak. This set them off to other lands. God’s plan is as true today as it was thousands of years ago.

Noah

Genesis chapter 4 tells the story of Cain and Able. As simple as it sounds it tells the story not just of the one brother killing the other, but of how Cain felt no remorse for what he had done. Cain worried more about what other people would do to him. This quickly becomes the way of the world. With an exception.

After the death of Able, Eve gave birth to Seth. In the genealogy,, Seth’s line leads to Jesus. And now comes Noah.

God was extremely angry at the evil that was on the Earth. Every evil imaginable was living in the heart of man. So God, told Noah to build a boat to hold 2 of all the animals in the sky and creeping around on the ground. He added 7 of each of the clean animals to be used for a sacrifice.

When God destroyed the evil people on the world with a flood, he knew that evil would continue in this world. Noah was not a savior for the world Noah was not a perfect soul, however, he was striving to serve God. Noah walked with God, not against him.

Isn’t that the problem with the believer? Satan whispers to you those things that are pleasant to the eye, or what makes you feel good. That is not what is actually good. It is the evil that still exists and destroys you.

Words Matter

Words matter. To use words you can bring happiness, sorrow, and anger. In the modern world twisting the meaning of words is the only thing that matters.

The Hebrew word for Sin is Khata.

For instance, to say someone has sinned sounds like a judgement and it is. “Judge not lest you be judged” (Mat 7:1) is the typical response. Even now without any further reading someone is having a judgement moment. Their brain shuts down and their fear creeps in. Well, hold your horses.

Judging is something we do in our everyday life. If I were to make BBQ rattlesnake, some would judge the whole idea as disgusting. Others would love it. Still others would go as far as to call it a Sin. What does their judgment mean to me? Nothing. What does it mean to them? I have no idea, and that is the whole point. It is the point Jesus was making.

You do not know what is in someone’s heart.

“Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly”(John 7:24)

The Hebrew word for Transgression is Pesha.

Transgression is a violation of trust. History is full of transgressions. Businesses are full of transgressions. Families are full of transgressions.

An example would be, if a close friend that you trust works at a bank you use. Suddenly one of your other friends tells you that they found out you used money for a vacation. The only way they would know is if your friend at the bank told them. They have broken your trust.

Accidental transgressions do not exist. Before you violate someone’s trust you must let them know that this is what you will do, and they have to agree. It keeps transgressions under control.

Iniquity in Hebrew is Avon.

In easy terms it means crooked as in bent, or out of shape. God gives us the dignity to carry our iniquity for poor choices. It is a burden that we carry for those choices. We are bent under the weight.

Jesus died on the cross to bear our Khata, forgive our Pesha, and take our Avon unto himself. That leaves us free to worship God, through Jesus Christ.

The Fall of Man

Everything in creation belongs to God. God has ordered nature to put Man (Humanity) in charge of God’s creation. In the Garden of Eden, God had planted food for Humanity and two trees that they were forbidden to touch.

The Garden of Eden was created by God to provide everything a person needed. Food, water, beauty, and a purpose for humans. Sitting around getting fat on freebies was not what God or Humanity wanted. Then the Serpent enters the garden.

When we think of a Serpent, we think Snake. And this might be an actual Snake, or a Lizard. What the Serpent looks like is really not important. The Serpent certainly had the ability to speak to Eve.

The Serpent was subtle and knew how to plant doubt in Eve’s mind, “…Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”(Gen 3:1) The danger of evil is to draw you into a conversation.

Eve fell for the trap, “And the woman said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Gen 3:2-3)

The Serpent closes the trap, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:4-5)

The Serpent has placed a seed of doubt into Eve’s mind. She could be a god with the knowledge God has of what is Good and what is Evil. Eve had no idea how complicated Good and Evil would be.

Eve looks at the tree and considered it to be pretty and the fruit probably tasted good. She plucked it and took a bite. Then she gives it to Adam and he took a bite.

Immediately their eyes were opened and they could see themselves naked. Not just naked without clothes, but naked to their sin. Trust is destroyed between Adam and Eve, as well as God. As with anyone guilty they tried to cover there nakedness with leaves.

God was not surprised, but he gave them the chance to be truthful. But they tried to hide their sin. Then the finger pointing began.

Adam said I did it because of Eve. Eve did it because of the Serpent. The Serpent said nothing. The spiral of sin begins with the loss of a close relationship with God. Pain and suffering will continue throughout our lives.

God, although he kicked Adam and Eve from paradise, he still provides them with his grace and forgiveness.

Genesis (Creation)

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

The argument for or against God is often stuck in the Creation story. The Scientific knowledge of the Universe says there are 10^80 atoms in the Universe. Of course that is a guesstimate of the number of atoms in layman’s terms it is 10 followed by 80 zeros and sometimes called, “One Hundred Quinquavigintillion”. Not exactly an easy concept. For the Universe to have formed in the blink of an eye would have required all of those atoms to form perfectly all at once. The alternative is that an intelligent designer put the atoms all there at the same time.

You will find many people arguing many things, but Science, in reality, does not know the answer.

The Creation of the Universe is contained in the First Chapter verses 1-19 describe the creation of planets, stars, and moons. In Chapter 1 verses 20-25 God created every animal. In Chapter 1 verses 26-31 God created Man and Woman.

Chapter 2 is a detailed explanation of how plants and animals grow, how man and woman were made, and the first of God’s laws.

Genesis Chapter 2

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The Biblical Project is a series of articles that look at the Bible. The primary source is the King James version and includes: Ravi Zacharias, C.S. Lewis, and others.

It is a journey to God and his son Jesus that tracks the relationship between Humans and God. The Bible teaches us the lessons God wants us to learn.

There are 66 books in the King James version of the Bible. Often referred to as the Protestant Bible, based on the reformation of Martin Luther. The other versions such as the Catholic Bible (73 books), and the Jewish Bible (24 books). It took over 16 centuries and more than forty authors to complete it.

The Bible is broken into two Testaments. The Old Testament is divided by type; The Mosaic portion includes Genesis to Deuteronomy, The History Joshua to 2nd Chronicles, the Wisdom books (Job to Song of Songs), and the Prophets (Isaiah to Malachi).

The New Testament is divided into: The Gospels (Matthew to John), History (Acts), the Epistles (Romans to Jude), and Prophecy (Revelations).

Reading the Bible can be difficult and it is because of this that many people look for a modern use of English. This is something you should beware. The change of a word can change the entire meaning of a phrase.

Stick around I will be using short articles to impart the most meaning.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Common Sense is Not that Common

Common Sense, people refer to Common Sense when describing someone who does not understand something. To say someone has no Common Sense is the same as saying they are dumb. The question becomes, Is Common Sense, Common. Consider the following example.

Two men, both 21 years old are given a cell phone. One man uses it to make a phone call, the other uses it as a paperweight. We can say that the first man has common sense, but what about the second man? It is what we do not know about the second man that makes a difference.

If the second man in our scenario was born and lived his entire life in the jungles of Borneo and has had no contact with technology is it fair to say he has no Common Sense? If we took the first man and dropped him into the jungle, how long would he survive?

When we talk about Common Sense, we must consider Common Experience. This extends to many of the tasks we expect people to understand. A 21 year old who was raised and lives in the jungle of Borneo may not understand how to use a cellphone as the phone was intended. Likewise, a city dweller may not understand the importance of keeping your kindling dry. For that matter they may not know what kindling is.

Using that logic I argue that there is no such thing as Common Sense unless you consider Common Experience first.

Just a Saturday morning thought.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Bacon for Today

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake..."

Francis Bacon

One of these days is today. Sooner or later can become never. Sieze the Day.