Psalm 23 ~ Thou Preparest

A house. Your home. God's House. God's Home.


This week we were discussing Holy Spirit moments. I had a man come out of the doctor's office and sing for 5 or 10 minutes about Beauty. This was the Joy. The Pure Joy of Life. He sang because he'd gotten a Really Good Diagnosis and He was TRULY GRATEFUL. Beautiful day. Beautiful GOD!!! Beautiful my Springer Spaniel. Beautiful me (Made My Day), Beautiful GOD, Beautiful America, Beautiful News in America. Was Really A GOD Bless Me and You Moment.
God is really Good.



And...



Look around where you have lived a long time - you see memories. And Conversations with opinions. Like your refrigerator. Max Lucado once famously said, "If God has a Refrigerator - your photo is on His Refrigerator." This is something my mother and I have Seriously Enjoyed for years.

And like all memories and conversations, there are opinions.

Realtors have Opinions about Refrigerators. They Should Be Blank. It's personal clutter. The buyer doesn't want to see. My mother has been a Realtor for more than 30 years and I will happily tell you - when my mother repeats to me with the "Mother knows best look" and tells me to clean off my refrigerator, I can happily say, "Mother, heal thyself.' Mother's refrigerator has an invitation to my cousin Bob's daughter's wedding in Oxford, Mississippi. Was that 25 years ago or 27? And a few of her physicians on that refrigerator - are - retired.

So, one day, my mother told me again the mantra of the refrigerator. And I decided it was time to take all my photos and change them from my kids being 3, 4 and 5 years old and make them in their 20's  I, truly,  had an absolute blast making my photos current. A wonderful, ongoing project sometimes till late at night. Some opinions are worth their weight in gold. I smiled for weeks.





But I really needed a place to put some of the photos of the precious - now grown - adult children as beautiful and greatly beloved children. ---These just couldn't be in the drawer - just couldn't bear to not see them - where to put them - - - ON THE REFRIGERATOR. We all have flaws. And we can certainly take the time to enjoy them.

(Like the day, about 2005, Edward informed me, my pantry had "Had" it and I 'would that very day organize the pantry to his delight and he would check on his return from employment'. You know - there are ways to ask. And then there are times of the day to ask - And courtesy - is an important aspect of LIFE. ITSELF. And I was not in the mood to argue, but... not in the mood to Evah respond to that "Tone." Edward, pretty uncharacteristically, was that bossy. But he returned home in the evening to find himself delighted with the pantry. My, my it was a thing of beautiful. It took everyone about a week to find the key to the pantry organization. I delighted in living in France. My favorite thing in life is Beauty. And color. And it made sense. You just had to know the 'Colah' of what you were looking for. And today - we organize within genre and Colah. This has been part of our lives since 2005 and I've had several friends give me decorations for the Pantry. One is a hand-made bag for tea bags {I Love you, Mary}. And one is a Charleston Shrimp and Grits keepsake bag with a crawfish graphic. {Thanks, Harby!})

So - on to the all-important topic of Refrigerator regeneration.

I was going to remove and replace with new. But with the renewal photos... ( I used a few of the same ones). But the Best of the Best. You know.



My mother came down to visit and we had the Best Time looking at the wedding frames with new photos and the memories with those. My sons got involved.  Cal said, I can't believe you picked one of the two girls making V arms around me in my dorm room - you knew, don't you, she threw up on me after that, right? {Cal was a Fraternity President, you have to expect this ~ sorta.} We had to laugh about that - my mother and I decided the girls were too cute and the memory too funny - not to keep the girls in pink.  Right by the ice cubes.

(And we got the cutest Augusta, GA blue and white Magnets)


Edward loved the action shot someone in college had of Cal playing Ultimate Frisbee - he says you can tell Edward is his father. True. Alexander is in a green t-shirt pretending to be asleep on someone's lap. Alexander says we shouldn't use it, because we aren't sure who is in the jeans (in our living room). I suggested perhaps we could live dangerously, keeping the photo of Alexander laughing in his pretend sleep. (Now, that is a joke. It's from Youth Ministry. And Alexander knows this!!!)

Photo to Follow! 

Well, then we had the opinion - the refrigerator needed more decoration and not just old photos. So Kirk took the photo of the Daffodils and brought us his work, from our front yard, and we put Kirk's Beautiful Photo {he's a Professional Photographer and did wonderful photos of Alexander's Graduation party and have been on the blog before} on the Refrigerator, too.  People asked me what kind of lens I used. Kirk got good, rave reviews!!!.

And my mother-in-law came to visit and she said we all need refrigerator joy in life - Edward's grandmother, MOP, had a martini every day and had 'Olive' martini sticks, permanently, in the refrigerator. That day we found a sticker for the refrigerator saying "Happy Hour" - now, let's be very clear - we don't "Happy Hour" - it's not our bag - but - Hours that are Happy are worth a sign - we decided!!!

So we added a High School Converse Shoe and we all loved that - especially the visiting H S friends. That tiny shoe magnet got good, good laughs.

And the Happy Hour sign picked up the momentum of joy, as being only sheer happiness, and we voted for needing more of these 'Signs'.

Now there is just one constant on the Refrigerator.

Really.

Since 1992.

And my mother has never once asked me to clean it off our Refrigerator.

I know several people with this same Refrigerator Page.

We all got this from a spring day in Celina, Texas in June of 1992.

A Beautiful Day. One of the Lord's Perfect Days. A few people were smiling and crying. It was a Homecoming. Anita Lucille Richardson Willard was going Home. At age 94, her wedding band had been on 52 years without her Ray.

And now she was with her Ray and all was right with her world. God is in His Heaven. My mother cried when her minister read Psalm 23. My mother impromptu told us all - know Grandmother Anita truly lived her life for Jesus her Lord.  Anita had led a 42 year Bible Study at Kessler Park United Methodist. And after the funeral, my godparents and my mother and I just felt we had to recite the 23rd Psalm, even after the Minister had left the grave site. My brother put his hand on our shoulders. We all there that day - recited. 

I asked my mother how she had come by the beautiful Psalm 23 on her refrigerator. It had fallen from Anita's worn Bible. The page of Anita's Psalm Bible. Worn out by Grandmother Anita. Probably printed about the time of her marriage around 1928. I asked my mother if she could find the same yellow paper and copy this for me. My godmother had grown up with my mother and Marilyn wanted a copy, too. (My Godfather was holding his new granddaughter, Marilyn. We all oohed and ahhed over baby Marilyn with Marilyn's name and my godfather's beautiful eyes. Our next funeral, unknown to us, was going to be purely wonderful 62-year-old, all our lives - Marilyn. We still miss her and love her.) My cousin Dick had come from Franklinton and he said to mail him one. My brother has one. Quite a few people that day.

And Grandmother Anita left us The Word of the Lord. As a memory of a day, a beautiful to Jesus woman went home to be with her Jesus. Her husband Ray. Both brothers named Frank. Six brothers, six sisters. 

The future is uncertain. Is it? I'd say in Jesus - The Homecoming is Certain.

This Word of God is a Solid Foundation Lived by Grandmother Anita.
This Word of God is a Promise.
This Word of God she held in her hand and lived with her life.
This Word of God is a Knowing -
The Next Homecoming is for us all in Jesus
- A Certainty.

Grandmother told us of Dancing and Somersaults and Rolling and Joy she dreamed of Heaven.

And we know she wants us to have Joy in this Life.
Just like Jesus in John 14, 15 and 16. Love, Joy. Peace.

Live Eternally.
Live Today.
Live for Jesus Christ.
Love.

If we only had a ukulele for this one...


Our Heavenly Father,

Give me oil in my Lamp keep me burning!!!
Give me oil in my Lamp, I pray!

Give me oil in my Lamp keep me burning!!!
Keep me Burning till the Break of DAY!!!

Cover us all in Jesus, Keep us Going!!!
Keep us going till this is Thee Day!!!

Jesus Our Shepherd
Jesus Our Lord
Our Alleluia in Jesus. Amen!!!

 ♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †

Daniel 3 ~ an image of gold

The Dead Sea Scrolls also refer to the third chapter in Daniel. There are eight copies of the Book of Daniel found in the Qumran caves for the Dead Sea Scrolls. Other Babylonian texts that pre-date the book of Daniel also contain reference to the image made by Nebuchadnezzar.

The pictures are of Nebuchadnezzar's recontructed areas in Iraq.

Daniel 3

1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits [1] and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared [2] to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. [3] But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. [4] 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, [5] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside [6] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Footnotes
[1] 3:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
[2] 3:9 Aramaic answered and said; also verses 24, 26
[3] 3:15 Aramaic lacks well and good
[4] 3:17 Or If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and out of your hand, O king.
[5] 3:21 The meaning of the Aramaic words rendered cloaks and tunics is uncertain; also verse 27
[6] 3:28 Aramaic and changed


Psalm 67 (Revised Standard Version)

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, [Selah]

that thy way may be known upon earth,
thy saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise thee, O God;
let all the peoples praise thee!

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for thou dost judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. [Selah]

Let the peoples praise thee, O God;
let all the peoples praise thee!

The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.

God has blessed us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!

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Psalm 91 ~ He will deliver

The unfathomable plan of Father God.

Giving us eternity, today, as we know what we know we know. Getting to Heaven, in faith, as we pray.

This is the Autumn view from our home in Nice, France. Same sunset, same Mediterranean Jesus saw from Caesarea. Father God does great work - yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is Good.

And we have Joy.

In faith, we have to see what irks us - turns out for the best. If faith, we think around our difficulties and find God's solutions. Sometimes only in faith, we have Joy. In faith, we find endurance makes us people of God.



Thank You, Abba,

You have blessed us with many fine, fine Blessings.

And in Your Good Plans, there will be Blessings in our future.

Bless us, we ask, in whatever season You have placed us. Give us the peace You have.

The assurance You have Peace. Father God, You Know all Your Good Plan. And in Your Peace, we find our peace.

Father, Cover us with the Name of Jesus, cover those we Love. And the peace of Your Love covering this world. To the next - where we are Home with You. More Heaven to this earth as Your Good Plan is fulfilled.

Blessings of Jesus. Amen.

 ♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †

Ephesians 1 ~ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ +

Ephesians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God!

To the saints who are in Ephesus,
               and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!!!


3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
       who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
                 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy
           and blameless before him.



In love
he predestined us for adoption
to himself
as sons through Jesus Christ,
             according to the purpose of his will



To: The praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.


7 In him, we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us,
in all wisdom and insight
making known to us the mystery of his will,

                    According to his purpose,
which he set forth in Christ,
as a plan for the fullness of time,
               to unite all things in him,
things in heaven and things on earth.



11 In him, we have obtained
              an inheritance,
                                having been predestined according to the purpose of him
who works all things
according to the counsel of his will,
12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
and believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,
to the praise of his glory.


15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,

I do not cease to give thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.

What are the riches of his glorious inheritance - - - in the saints

And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power
toward us who believe,
according to the working of his great might
He worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is his body,
the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Heaven is debated on several levels --- Paul tells us there are   levels and he knows a man who went to the 3rd level. So, literally, levels are debated. Enoch says 10 levels and other sources say 7 levels.

Then we have the Gospels - Jesus explains His Grace is Profound and the thief will be with Him 'today' in Paradise. Joel tells us multitudes and multitudes will arrive in the Valley of Decision. And we hear about the rapture, trumpets with amazing change and 1,000 year sleep. Bishops all over the world, today, are even known to raise their voice and demand they know 'Thee' Answer.

Perhaps there are several answers to immediate Heavenly arrival, sleeping till the years are up, rapture and trumpets. Asking us to draw more closely to Jesus with Love.






I could tell you a small corner I have dreamed of.

With an illustration of a real event: My brother called me one day and texted me a photo asking if he could plant this magnificent flower in Texas. I replied he certainly could, the plant is called a "Rose." At that point he called and said, no, not even florist "roses" are like this. I told him yes, "roses" flown in from South America are just like the photo. He very plaintively asked,  "WHY?"

Well, the answer is this - A Rose never seeing heat stress is about two to three times larger than a Rose with stress. The leaves are perfect and do not see heat stress fungal, disease and malnourishment. Variety is not the determining factor. The perfect conditions - moisture in the cool air - make the Rose - perfectly fulfilled.





When my grandmother died, I was just completely at a loss. I really could not imagine life without Grandmother. And one of my family, told me she always dreamed of Tate - our Episcopal Priest Grandfather - often. And I decided this would happen with Grandmother. I was rewarded for my faith. Sometimes I dreamed knowing Grandmother was just, only, in my dream. Just a dream. And other times still live clearly in my memories, like it was yesterday - where Grandmother and I have conversations. In Heaven. And sometimes on earth. And sometimes with my father. The dreams have fruit. The Love and Joy and Peace of the Holy Spirit. Intact and instant clarity. And I realized - how - Fulfilled my Grandmother Is. I never realized how unfulfilled she was

Grandmother Bit is now well and perfectly fulfilled even far and away above the photos of the Roses. Father God has met and Loved her every need. Augusta Elliott Wilson Anderson Young - Grandmother Bit - is now perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

And the truth is - Grandmother is more fully filled than some of the other people I have seen in Heaven. I very firmly believe in the 7 levels of Heaven. I have no idea which level Grandmother is - but, I'd say it's Lovely.

And therefore, with firm permanence - I believe seeking the Lord God, Jesus and their Love - plus explaining about this almost beyond Imagining Love - establishes us in the Levels of Heaven.

You may not believe as I do. This fact is once in the Bible and this is my opinion. I believe in our gifts and talents being given with great Love to Jesus. I'm comfortable if this is not your belief. I believe this to be a Glory and not a burden or unpleasantness. I believe this is Beautiful.




Feel Daunted? Don't.

This is really about Heart and not checks, deposits, withdrawals and tabulations. This is about Love.

St. Augustine said, "It's not us pulling off the BOOK OF ACTS for God again." We all fall short. Paul was a murderer.

What God wants - truly - have Heart to Love Jesus and care and pray for those we love and are given.

It's Beautiful. This is John saying, "Jesus, I'm here for you." With John's example are His Mother and His Aunt on Good Friday in the hour of Jesus needing them most.

This is Mary saying, (The Message Version)"Well, Gabriel, that's pretty scary about Zechariah. And man, I could get stoned to death and it could be really bad. Ok, sure, yes. I will accept the Glory of God. And if He gets in trouble being considered nuts - I'll go get HIM. I PROMISE. And I will take His Brothers and Sisters with me."

With two good parents seeking a Lost Messiah Teenager. And being confused in the middle of their life, to go look for the Teenager. "Okkkkk om. Yeah, that happened. Okkk. Where is He." God was with these beautiful people even in confusion.

And Joseph. His great love for His Son. (Still the Message Version.) "It's seeing all these people change. He's mute. And Angels and I saw the Dream too. I WILL EVEN MOVE TO HORRID EGYPT and deal with Irate In-Laws and Pointing fingers. YES, I BELIEVE GOD. And that boy will be seen as MINE."

And that's what St Augustine is saying! We take excellent care of the ones God has given to our lives. Even when you have cereal to give and life requires Prime Rib. You give what you have and you pray earnestly. Taking care of all that God has asked you to care for.




God is Good, actually Wonderful.
Abiding Grace. Profoundly.
Life. Forgiven.

God was dwelling in their hearts. Salvation known.

Peace.


And then we have to recall the anger of man does not produce the Righteousness of God. Which is like the Beatles singing, "Money Can't Buy Me Love." This is still all about Love. Not the stage. Not the seeking. About Love.

Love.

God does not care if we Die to Gain Place. And recognition. God is not about every handmade, elaborate work or fancy dress vestment. God is not even about the Martyrs. God is really about Mercy. Grace upon Grace. And - Love.

Jesus said to the thief, who was truly sorry. "Today! You will be with Me. In Paradise."

One more thing about Wonderful, Wonderful Jesus - He knows where we should really want to be according to Love, Grace, God and Mercy.

God is not about all the ins and outs of our interpretations of the rules,

God is not about all the ins and outs of our interpretations of the Law,

God is not about all the ins and outs of our interpretations of the niceties,

God is not about all the ins and outs of our interpretations of the Traditions of man, at this point, He even says He is not a respecter of persons. Right after He has given us His Son, Jesus Christ, to clear our sins, trespasses and self-absorption.

God was not enchanted with Saul and his perfection.

God was not enchanted with man and his achievements in the first skyscraper.

God was not enchanted with David's taller, stronger, smarter and more handsome brothers.

God seeks heart. God seeks Love. God is building His Kingdom. God is giving an incredible invitation.

Revelations 6 -

Under the altar
the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true,
how long before you will judge
and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.


Completely explains this:

I Corinthians 13
If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.


Remember what Jesus said. "I Forgive Them. They don't know what they do."

Holy Jesus gives Love. He does not demand equality with God.

God Is About This Love: 

Father God tells us in the Old Testament, what He sees of this Love - running down out of the Temple. Is Love going in the Way of God - we treat our spouse and children. Love treating our parents well. Love treating our co-workers well. Love treating our neighbors well. Love treating conflict with prayer and minimum repeat conversation allowing God to get in there and Do His Love. Love for our prayers to let this Love God has continue to flow.  Love making sure we are Spiritually fed. Not Spiritually starved. Reading God's Word and Praying. Love helping our Church financially and with prayer. Love attending Church weekly. Love being fed of God's Love.







Abba, Abba, Abba,

Bless us this Day to see Your Love.

Bless those we Love.

Bless the people You have given us.

Bless us to see Your Love on earth, given heart to heart, prayer to prayer, Love for Love.

To You be the Glory. In Jesus Christ. Amen.

 ♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †

Isaiah 46:9-10 ~ God's counsel shall stand, and He will accomplish all His purpose +

Isaiah 46:9-10 

Remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose."

The Exodus is everyone's story. Father God interested in the quality of life. The slaves end up leaving with pay. Gold of the captors.  Funding the Temple.  1000 B.C. The Temple is built. 700 B.C. Hezekiah refuses to dismantle the Temple as safety money from the Assyrian Empire - God saves the Temple and Israel.

Why is it any more spectacular to know God sent the Children of Israel out with Egyptian financial sacrifices.

The History Channel did a Documentary on the Exodus and says some of the Plagues we can see from the air took place. 

Ipuwer – explains the world has been turned upside-down. A slave who had not a single box now has furniture, a girl who looked at her face in the water now owns a mirror, while the once-rich slave owner is now in rags. This continues until a huge storm of unseen before proportion - Hurricanes and tornadoes - take out the Pharaoh's Army. The women of Egypt will take to boats to look for the Army in the Red Sea. The Plagues are listed one by one.


The Ipuwer Papyrus has been dated no earlier than the Nineteenth Dynasty, around 1250 BC.


Seti II (or Sethos II), was the fifth ruler of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt and reigned during 1200 BC. Seti II's reign at Thebes was interrupted by the rise of a rival: King Amenmesse. Amenmesse is possibly a half-brother.

Attested by various documents and papyri - Papyrus Salt 124 - reigns of Amenmesse and Seti II must have partly overlapped with one another and suggests that both rulers were rivals who were fighting each another for the throne of Egypt. Seti ll's Successor is his consort, not a son. Two important papyri date from the reign of Seti II. The first of these is the Tale of Two Brothers, a fabulous story of troubles within a family on the death of their father, which may have been intended in part as political satire on the situation of the two half-brothers. Many crimes were alleged by Amennakhte in a violently worded indictment preserved in papyrus now in the British Museum.

This trouble-maker had then brought a complaint before 'Mose' (i.e., 'Msy'),
who then acted to remove Pra'emhab from his office. Evidently, this 'Mose' must have been a person of the highest importance, perhaps the king Amenmesse himself or a senior ally of the king.


Do we have a discrepancy with the Bible?

No, I don't believe so. The Pharaohs did all the work they could to pull down statues, papyrus and re-do history. We have found Moses in the history of Egypt, I believe. And Moses might have had an additional Egyptian name. Pharoahs record different spellings, even the little known Seti II.  The other confusion is Seti II lived, as all Pharoahs do,  in fear of being over thrown. Seti II probably saw all of Moses demands as a plot to take his reign from him.









1500 B.C. Thutmose II - might be when Joseph becomes the Vizier of Pharaoh. 

The Tax Records today read that Joseph is here during the reign of Thutmose III, the 18th Dynasty. The New Kingdom.  This is the Zenith of Egypt. As believers are we surprised, when Joseph spoke with God?

Thutmose III is the Pharaoh with great wisdom who created all the magnificent funding Egypt had. He is the one who creates the glamor of Egypt.

Thutmose III

In the New Kingdom -  The Glorious Years of Egypt - Monotheistic God Worship.

Akhenaten is 4 Pharaohs after Thutmose III and the 5th Pharaoh is one God alone, too. They change the Egyptian culture to Monotheistic God of the Sun. Like Joseph. Perhaps they have seen the Power of the God of Gods in the Exodus as part of their childhoods and recent history.



1200 B.C.  SETI II - Records in many Papyrus a protagonist challenger. Recorded as Mose.

Seti II and Moses

Troubles are documented and various accusations occur during the short reign of Seti II. Clearly Thebes was going through very troubled times. There are references elsewhere to 'war' occurred during these years and is obscure to what.

Seti II dies suddenly. His Tomb is not finished. His consort, instead of a child, inherits.

The Temple built by Seti II was abandoned in the late Bronze Age collapse (1200 BC). A part of the temple seems to have been used by Midianite nomads, linked to the worship of a bronze serpent discovered in the area.

Numbers 21:8
The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."




 

1000 B.C.  500 years later the glories end - The New Kingdom is ushered out with Ramses III. The Third Intermediate Period (1000 or 1100 BC) marked the end of the New Kingdom after the collapse of the Egyptian Empire. Ramses III fought an unidentified people and the treasury of Egypt is Gone. The Sea People. This Ramses III is viewed today as a mummy. Ramses III, had red hair, I've seen his mummy on display, and no teeth in old age. This is also today's history available to see after being in the ground for 3,000 years.

This is the time Solomon marries into Egypt. Solomon marries the Pharaoh's Daughter. The Treasury is raided. And Israel is gloriously expanded.

Ramses III

Ramses loses the treasury and fights with an unknown adversary. The Sea People are unidentified but speculated in some history around Canaan.   The treasury is Broken. Solomon with his request for Great Wisdom from our God - marries Pharaoh's Daughter and is to spend his life apart from Father God - asking God to speak to him. The stories of the two lives - appear to have commonality. 








 

Now, this is interesting, of course, but how will we relate to this?

Are we part of the 500 years struggle, the cultural struggles? We have seen a lot of cultural changes from our grandparents to our children.


This timeline fits and yet crashes us into David's Reign at 1000 B.C..  In exact parallel to Egypt.  And the Temple is Built. And finally, the area around Bethlehem becomes for the First Time - really allotted to the Tribe of Judah. 

Genesis 22:18 to Abraham

17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 "In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."


Abraham's sons are covered by the Blessing of Abraham. 

"Foreigners go no further."


Thank you. Please be courteous. Now, that is a Joke.

Even when the Children of Israel had revisionist History in Jeremiah 23,

God was making plans for the Blessing of Abraham to pull them up again.

And when after they killed God,  Jesus said the Temple would be pulled down and we can see the massive stones display Jesus is correct today. God holds up His Promises. 70 A.D.

And unusually there are several intact signs saying "No Foreign Visitors." For good reason. The Temple was entirely covered in thousands of tons of Gold. Billions of dollars. 

I Chronicle 29 and

II Kings 10:23

So King Solomon exceeded
all the kings of the earth
in riches and wisdom

 

This Gold is the unforgotten payment of the 500 years of Jewish Slavery in Egypt. And unparalleled and recorded in Babylonian Chronicles as well - the return of the gold.

Ezra 1:5-10
The list of returned items included 1000 basins of gold, 1000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 2410 bowls of silver, and other vessels of gold and silver totaling 5,469 in number. 

How could the Temple even exist in safety?

The Temple is established. Upheld by the Word of God. Otherwise, Pharaoh and other Empires would have melted the Temple instead of the Biblical witness to the end. 

Banks hold treasure and values. Empires rise and fall, quickly. This is enduring even today.

What supported the Temple and the return of the Temple things?


Numbers 23:19

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Hebrews 1:3

The Son is the radiance of God's glory
and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by His Powerful Word.


 

Jesus declared what is of value to His Father, our God. Our Father.

Father God sees us as His Treasure.


John 6:40

For it is My Father's will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.



1 Corinthians 3

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.






Egypt  - where Jesus spent his early years. How we live today is still important to God our Father. The Nations all around the world are important to our God.

Abba,

We ask for Your Blessing today. And know the Blessing to ask:

No other generation has seen the Wonders of God, other than the Generation of Jesus Christ, to the extent of the Exodus.

And as we are apt to do and see in

Mark 9
All things are possible for one who believes.

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
We need the Blessing of our Father in our daily faith. If the fires of the day look like flaming hail, we pray the comfort of Your God heart. To be held in Your Pinions and held in the Comfort of the Holy Spirit.

If the day sinks to the depths of the ocean, we pray to see the Wonders of God's provision. Knowing ahead in You, Our Father, is secure. The dance and song of rescue.

Cover us in the Name of Jesus. Cover those we Love. Knowing all our cares are covered. To the Nation. And beyond all borders - covering the prayers of the faithful all over this creation You call Good.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow we are Your's in Jesus, Father God. Our Alleluia in being part of the New Covenant covers us each day. Give us this day, the difficulties and the blessings. In Jesus become Blessings because all things are possible. And work together for good for those Loving You and working to Your Good Purpose. Amen in Jesus' Love.

 ♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †