John 1 ~ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

A newly found mosaic, probably of Alexander the Great. In a fifth century Synagogue in
Huqoq, Israel. Found a week ago.

Dang. We could entitle this post what my son Alexander did last summer. Last summer, Alexander, my youngest son, was in Yaquq known to archeologists as Huqoq, Israel. And Alexander found a 4th century coin with his professor Nathan Elkins, from Baylor, with a team from the University of North Carolina.

Tyre was an Island - Before Alexander the Great decided to make more mainland.

In 332 B.C., Alexander besieged, defeated and created Tyre into the mainland from formerly being an island and Gaza in his march toward Egypt. During this campaign, he turned toward Jerusalem. This had been recorded in Scriptures. Alexander had already demanded men and supplies from the Jews, who were under the rule of Alexander's mortal enemy, the Persian king Darius. The high priest hesitated, saying that while Darius lived they would honor their pledge. Alexander was angry and began a move on the city.

Well aware of the danger, Jaddua asked the people for prayer to God for His mercy and protection. Then, says Josephus, Jaddua had a dream as to how to entreat the Macedonian king. He and the other priests dressed in their priestly robes and, accompanied by others dressed in white garments, formed a procession going out of the city to a carefully chosen place to meet the Alexander the Great.

Alexander then did the unexpected. Alone, he approached the high priest and members of the procession and greeted them. He bowed down.

Alexander said: "I did not adore him, but that God who hath honoured him with his high priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit [garment], when I was at Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and would give me the dominion over the Persians; whence it is, that having seen no other in that habit, and now seeing this person in it, and remembering that vision, and the exhortation which I had in my dream, I believe that I bring this army under the divine conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, and destroy the power of the Persians, and that all things will succeed according to what is in my own mind" (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11, chap. 8, sec. 5, William Whiston translation, 1981).

Josephus records Alexander accompanied the priest into Jerusalem and Temple, where he "offered sacrifice to God, according to the high priest's direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests."

Alexander's visit was capped by a briefing from the book of Daniel, written several centuries earlier, which foretold the rise and conquests of Alexander. "And when the book of Daniel was shewed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended; and as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude."

What Alexander the Great encountered was, of course, the Living God. This is what we hope for our children and our loved ones to realize about Jesus.

 


The Apocrypha is debunked frequently.

Josephus would have said this is a mistake to debunk the Apocrypha. Without the history lessons from the Apocrypha, we would not have miraculous Hanukkah recorded. We would not have Biblical explanations for more miracles of God that led to Zeus not being sacrificed to in the Temple. We would not know of the heroism of Judas Maccabees. We would lose the understanding Jeremiah fully Knew to hide the Ark of the Covenant sealed until God unseals the Ark from Mount Nebo (from the Greek word ἀπόκρυφος, apókruphos, meaning "hidden"), where Moses stopped and did not enter the promised land. Without the Apocrypha, history wouldn't explain the Herods easily, we wouldn't know the coins of Israel / Judah depicted and image the first time of a non-Davidic king declaring majesty over the Children of God. The time had come for the Messiah.

Until 1534, the Apocrypha was  recorded as part of Scripture. St. Nicolas risked life and limb to meet with Bishops to agree what the Holy Spirit would call Scripture for a Church Jesus was prophetic to say existed.

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls were a number of manuscripts of the Apocrypha.

And yes,  parts of the Apocrypha are unlikely seeming, or as if they appeal to Asian worshipers.  Scripture is factual - and - God's Word appeals to - the intended people of God.

Yes, the language was merely of the written, spoken words of the people of God. Greek. How unlike God? God did not say He sent His only begotten son to the Hebrew speaking world. God sent His people into the second exile (why they were returning well treated from Emperor Darius) and to the people like Alexander the Great.

Why? GOD was on a mission. A God sized Mission - to save - the - World.

Where?
The Huqoq Excavation Project is excavating a fifth-century A.D. synagogue at Huqoq, an ancient village in Israel’s Lower Eastern Galilee located three miles west of Magdala (home of Mary Magdalene) and Capernaum Jesus' hometown.

Because?
In reality, God is reaching to all of His Creation. To discover, just as Alexander the Great, God is is found when He is sought.

Because... Because?

John 1 says something very profound about this Discovery TODAY.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


Alexander was told about what Daniel had to say about Alexander the Great. Because they wanted Alexander to believe. They probably forgot to tell Alexander the Great what was said about making Tyre into a rubble.

Ezekiel told about that prophecy.

Ezekiel 26 announces the destruction of Tyre (Ezekiel was the prophet who announced a head of time what Nebuchadnezzar would do) , Ezekiel 27 asks for a prayer for the beautiful Tyre. Combine the two chapters, you have a wonderful example of God's mercy.

Ezekiel 27:1-4

1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. 4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

Tyre, Lebanon today - the coast and southern half are devoid of population and are in ruins.

Ezekiel 26:1-14 ~ (Revised Standard Version)

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
"Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, `Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it has swung open to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,' therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers; and I will scrape her soil from her, and make her a bare rock.

She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD; and she shall become a spoil to the nations;
and her daughters on the mainland shall be slain by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

"For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers.

He will slay with the sword your daughters on the mainland; he will set up a siege wall against you, and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as one enters a city which has been breached. With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people with the sword; and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.

They will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters.

And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.

I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall never be rebuilt; for I the LORD have spoken, says the Lord GOD.

God laments Tyre. 

And Today. Today. Today. God still has Tyre as a desolation explaining the Word of God goes on forever.

Why say John 1 contributes to the Passage?
The Word of God points to the same message from the Father. The tributaries run to the streams, the streams to the river, the River becomes the Ocean.

Jesus did not stay on as a Warrior King. Jesus Christ, Messiah, instead Jesus fought for all of us.

God defended Hezekiah - and his God seeking, earnest nation against the Assyrian Empire.
God defended returning Judah freed slaves as the wall surrounding Jerusalem was made safe.
God defended Judah from Alexander the Great after fulfilling the Word of God as told by Daniel and Ezekiel in the Holy Spirit.

Luke 2:14
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."


Father God, let me be one of Your numbers, when the saints go marching in.
And my family. For the Churches of Jesus Christ. My loved ones and even the people we wait upon in prayer for His favor to create harmony. When a man loves the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves  †

<><