Psalm 138
Of David.
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods
I sing your praise
2 I bow down toward Your Holy Temple
and give thanks to Your Name for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness,
for You have exalted above all things
Your name and Your word.
3 On the day I called,
You answered me;
my strength of soul
You increased.
4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the Words of Your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
For Great is the Glory of the Lord
6 For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly,
but the haughty He knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
You stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and Your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me;
Your steadfast Love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of Your Hands.
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods
I sing your praise
We know the Emperor Claudius began persecuting Christians 16 years after Jesus died. And the real situation, the gods weren't appealing to the people as they once did.
When Jerusalem was sacked in 80 A.D., the amount of Gold in the Temple of Jerusalem was staggering to the Romans. So much so, the Temple had teams of Romans scraping melted gold from the ruins of the Temple for a long time. Herod had built Caesarea, where Jesus predicted His Church today on the Rock of Peter, fighting hell off, 50 years before the Fall of Jerusalem. Herod had built The Royal Stoa, with Roman Architecture, holding the Jesus-whipped-them money changers because they were making millions annually. Herod wanted the Roman Empire, to vaguely understand, the little-wanted Judean Province was cash flowing astutely. The gold from the Jewish Temple, the Romans came home with, gold into the tens to hundreds of millions. For very valid reasons, the Roman Empire realized the gods weren't in favor.
I Kings 7:13, 5:6, 13, 14; II Chronicles 2:17-18.
The materials assembled for the Jewish Tabernacle is in Exodus 35-38.
The materials assembled for the Jewish Tabernacle is in Exodus 35-38.
The total quantity of gold collected was approximately one ton; of silver, 3-3/4 tons; and of bronze, 2-1/2 tons. At approximately $500 per troy ounce, or $6000 per pound, or $12,000,000 per ton. Silver priced around $12 per troy ounce, or $144 per pound, which is $288,000 per ton.
Exodus 12:35 states Jews were given gold, silver, and ornaments by the Egyptians at the time of the departure from Egypt. The golden lampstand in the tabernacle weighed a talent and would today be worth a half million dollars for its gold alone. A replica of this Menorah is now in the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. (These prices for Gold are old.)
I Chronicles 28:1-19; II Chronicles 2-4; I Kings 6-7M
Materials included 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver, (I Chronicles 29). From his own private fortune, David also gave 3,000 talents of gold and 7,000 talents of high-grade silver. 100,000 talents of gold = 3750 tons, value today = $45 billion; 1,000,000 talents of silver = 37,500 tons, value today = $10.8 billion. The wealth of the First Temple was about $56 billion. Or if we take the current Gold Price Per Ounce $1,232.40 = $137,984,000 Billion. We have to credit all to God.
Cicero and Josephus wrote of the hoarding of wealth by the High Priests.
The Second Temple was not wealthy although the Temple Tools returned from the Babylonian Exile. The plunder Titus carried to Rome could well have been worth tens of millions of dollars. Cicero wrote of great influxes of gold to Jerusalem. Josephus, Wars of the Jews, has told of Tradition saying the intense flames of the Temple fire melted the gold and silver, and it ran between the cracks of the rocks. Roman soldiers then totally dismantled the Temple stone by stone to extract the gold, Matthew 24:1-21.
Temples to the gods, goddesses in Rome were sometimes painted colors.
Isis' worship was later in the Roman Empire. Her Temples were red.
The Romans didn't know how much the Temple would be looted for. Suddenly, the Roman Empire had a more serious problem. Romans realized the gods weren't in favor.
Roman History is so complete, we have the addresses of the Romans written in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Mamertine Prison records Peter and Paul. Justin and Tertullian refer to a letter Pontius Pilate wrote to Emperor Claudius of Good Friday, the earthquakes, eclipse and reports of the dead rising to life. The letter to the Emperor is lost, although complete forgeries exist. History explains where Peter was buried. We know which Emperor signed the death warrant of Peter.
How were the gods and goddesses going to reclaim the fragments?
Some serious thinking went with this loss. The Culture of Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome were loosely tied around the gods and goddesses being so similar. With so many cultural changes sweeping the Roman Empire, more instability was extremely undesirable.
How to repackage, advertise, challenge and enthrall the Participants of the Eleusinian Mysteries?
The Roman Empire knew about Catacombs and Synagogues, House Churches and cryptic messages (they knew there were signs like the upper and lower case fish <><, but not the actual sign.) And God knows, these Christians were cannibals meeting in the Catacombs and healing lepers, so something was definitely creepy there.
So, the repackaging of the Eleusinian Mysteries: Mysteries of Mithra.
And this looked like the movie Bowfinger with Steve Martin and Eddie Murray in 1999: Bobby Bowfinger: "Now that you and your colleagues here at Mindfu -, head have had a chance to think, what do you say?"
Inspired as of the days of old, gods inspired of other gods and goddesses was trade. Mithra was Persian Empire of the Zoroastrian divinity like the Greek Mithras and continuity between Persian and Greco-Roman practice. The Mysteries of Mithra were taken from what Christianity inspired from far away observers. A complex system, 7 grades of initiation mysteries and reveals. Plus communal ritual meals. Initiates were united by handshakes. And divided by mysteries and levels seen at the communal meals. This was held underground temples, Mithraea Temples, which survive in large numbers. Centered in Rome, traveling around the Roman Empire. This was to enthrall the Eleusinian Mysteries and provide a warm, "Oh yeah, I knew that vaguely."
And soon the gods and goddesses were history.
And where Peter is buried became the Rock where the Church of Jesus has started 2,100 years ago.
How could this have happened.
Peter lived near Rome's Red City Wall. Red let everyone know, in the vast, traveling Roman Empire that this was the section set aside for the foreigners. The poor and underprivileged foreigners. According to the 62-year archeological dig under the Vatican, this section went on for 3 city blocks. This encompassed the foreigner cemetery where criminals were buried. Not the best side of town. And near the Red Wall Foreigner side of Rome, was an entrance into the catacombs of the true Romans.
Jesus, c 235 AD, Syrian. Jesus is alive!
Easter has people rise from the tombs.
What would cause the world's most educated population,
with extensive cultural history of Rome
to turn to Jesus Christ?
Jesus describes His Father:
Jesus tells of His Loving and Available Father:
Jesus, 4th Century Roman Art
Luke 11
5 And He said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything
Because He is his friend, yet because of his impudence He will rise and give him whatever he needs.
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek,
and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds,
and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;
12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The Romans came to know the poor foreigner's section and went to find Peter and Mark to know Jesus.
We can see what they saw in Vatican archaeology. The slum is still under the Vatican, the early Romans of 400 AD smoothed out the slum to make a flat surface to build the Vatican. Using the same area of the town to house the Christian worshipers.
Really, when we see Mark's Gospel, we are seeing Peter's Ministry to Jesus.
Peter directed Mark to write the chapters of the Gospel to the First Century Romans questions they mostly asked about Jesus. Mark's Gospel was written to fill in the conversations heard on the Streets and in the houses of Rome.
Romans 1:7
To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 10:21
Jesus looked at him and loved him.
John 21:7
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!"
John 11:5
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Jude 1:1
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called,
who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ
John 13:1
It was just before the Passover Festival.
Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.
Having loved His own who were in the world,
He loved them to the end.
Abba, Father God,
2 Thessalonians 2:16
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope
Help us to hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, and we are encouraged with those we love and help each other with Your sound doctrine and put our doubts aside. To help your Church. To Strengthen the Body of Christ. And overcome this virus and season.
Dwell in us, Father and give us the Joy of Your Strength. Bless us to see more Heaven on earth.
Rejoicing each day to pray for the people we love and the people You have given us.
To Seek You first and be more Heaven.
Bless our neighborhoods, communities, Churches, the States we live in and the Nation.
Remind us of Your Love and we rejoice.
The Love Jesus has for us make our days easier and give us the warmth
to overcome our moments of discomfort.
Bless Elliott and Harby in the hospital and hotel in Maryland and Virginia.
Bless their children and dogs to be encouraged and Blessed.
Blessings of Health in Jesus' Willingness. Abundantly.
We ask in the Highest Name of Jesus. Amen.
Lord Father, Thank You for
hearing our Prayers
in Jesus. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment