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A warm welcome, to this website
that aims to give an overview and insight
at the news events of the day
and at important matters in this world.
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Een hartelijk welkom, op deze website
die tot doel heeft een overzicht en inzicht te geven
op de nieuws gebeurtenissen van de dag
en op belangrijke zaken in deze wereld.
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Ласкаво просимо на цей веб-сайт
який має на меті надати огляд та розуміння
новин дня
та важливих питань у цьому світі.
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CITY OF DESTRUCTION; (˓ı̂r haheres; “city of destruction”; “Ir-hahares,” KJV). This place is mentioned only in Isa. 19:18. Various explanations are given as to the meaning of the word the NASB and NIV render “City of Destruction”:
1. “The city of the sun,” a translation of the Egyptian sacred name of Heliopolis. This is the reading in a number of ancient manuscripts and is the marginal reading for the verse in the NASB and NIV.
2. “The city of Heres,” a transcription in the second word of the Egyptian sacred name of Heliopolis, Ha-ra, “the abode [lit., “house”] of the sun.”
3. “A city destroyed,” meaning that one of the five cities mentioned would be destroyed, according to Isaiah’s idiom.
4. “A city preserved,” meaning that one of the five cities mentioned would be preserved. A careful examination of the nineteenth chapter of Isaiah, and the eighteenth and twentieth, which are connected with it, makes the third explanation and the NASB and NIV rendering most likely.
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
We landed this week in a very special week for several religious people.
For Catholics, Orthodox, and many Protestants, Holy Week is the most sacred time of the year. In many countries, traditionally, it is more important than Christmas, as it focuses on the central event of the gospel: the death and resurrection of Jesus. In wealthier countries, we notice people doing more around Christmas and even having the Santa or Father Christmas make their children happy.
Fortunately, there are still Christians who pay more attention to the events they commemorate during ‘Holy Week‘, also known as ‘Silent Week’ and ‘Passion Week’, when they reflect on the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
In the way it walks Christians as a believing community through the sequence of events leading up to the crucifixion, Holy Week is one of the most effective methods of spiritual–theological formation ever devised in the Christian tradition.
It is often said that
Holy Week is an anticipation of Jesus’ paschal mystery.
As a deeply religious Jew, Jesus also observed the tradition of commemorating the evening before the Exodus from Egypt. Indeed, this commemoration was commanded by God to the Jews and is a precept that true believers should observe. Therefore, like the Jews, Christadelphians commemorate 14 Nisan today.
“17 So keep the feast of unleavened bread; for on this very day I have taken your armies out of the land of Egypt: this day, then, is to be kept through all your generations by an order for ever. 18 In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day, let your food be unleavened bread till the evening of the twenty-first day of the month.” (Exodus 12:17-18 BBE)
Like the apostles, the Jewish group ‘The Way‘ also incorporated the commemoration of that meeting with Jesus into their annual tradition. Thus, Passover, or Erev Pesach, became an annual day of gathering to commemorate both the Exodus from Egypt and, in particular, the Last Supper that Jesus held with his disciples.
This way Pascha became also an ancient way to speak of the events of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. It is a Greek word that corresponds to the Hebrew pesah, which means “pass over.” In the Jewish tradition, this word refers to the angel of death passing over the homes in Egypt that are marked with the blood of a spotless lamb, and also to God’s people passing through the Red Sea to escape Pharaoh’s army.
In the Christian “Holy Week” one can say that both meanings are present in that “Holy Week”: Christ is the Lamb of God who causes death to pass over those marked with his blood, and he passes through the “Red Sea” (‘Sheol’ i.e. the grave) to deliver those who believe in him from death, thereby defeating death by death.
“The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 BBE)
At the time of enslavement in Egypt the whole community of Israel tot to know that each man was to take a lamb for his family, one lamb to a house. Centuries later around the same time the promised one and sent one from God was beaten and tortured, but didn’t say a word. Like the lambs taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, the Nazarene master teacher took it all in silence, like it was predicted in the Book of Isaiah.
“So get rid of this “yeast.” Our true identity is flat and plain, not puffed up with the wrong kind of ingredient. The Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has already been sacrificed for the Passover meal, and we are the Unraised Bread part of the Feast.” (1 Corinthians 5:7 Message). It was the Messiah, Christ Jesus who died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb.
“Say to all the children of Israel when they are come together, In the tenth day of this month every man is to take a lamb, by the number of their fathers’ families, a lamb for every family:” (Exodus 12:3 BBE)
“Men were cruel to him, but he was gentle and quiet; as a lamb taken to its death, and as a sheep before those who take her wool makes no sound, so he said not a word.” (Isaiah 53:7 BBE)
“Take away, then, the old leaven, so that you may be a new mass, even as you are without leaven. For Christ has been put to death as our Passover.” (1 Corinthians 5:7 BBE)
“But through holy blood, like that of a clean and unmarked lamb, even the blood of Christ:” (1 Peter 1:19 BBE)
Christians of the Abrahamic faith, like members of the Restoration Church, Church of God, Nazarene Friends, Bible Students, Jeshuaists and Christadelphians all over the world come together tonight to remember those events, the exodus out of Egypt and the giving of Jesus as a lamb for a ‘pass over’ of our sins.
Holy Week is also sometimes called “Passion Week” to refer to the suffering Jesus endured on behalf of mankind. The English word passion comes from the Latin passio, “to suffer.”
Catholics and lots of protestants start their Holy Week on the sunday they call ‘Palm Sunday’ when they remember the day that Jesus was greeted like a king, by a huge crowd that had arrived for the Pesach Feast, when he entered Jerusalem. They had broken off palm branches and had gone out to meet Jesus seeted on a donkey. And they cheered:
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God’s name! Yes! The King of Israel!
The fact that he was called ‘king’ was a thorn in the side of the Roman occupiers, who were also well aware that the Jews were expecting a ‘Saviour’ who would liberate them from Roman rule.
The Holy Week has also a ‘Silent’ moment, when those Christians think about the cruelty that came over Jesus and how he got hang up on a wooden stake next to two criminals.
“14 (It was the day when they made ready for the Passover; and it was about the sixth hour.) And he said to the Jews, There is your King! 15 Then they gave a loud cry, Away with him! away with him! to the cross! Pilate said to them, Am I to put your King to death on the cross? The chief priests said in answer, We have no king but Caesar.”
“16 So then he gave him up to them to be put to death on the cross. And they took Jesus away; 17 And he went out with his cross on him to the place which is named Dead Man’s Head (in Hebrew, Golgotha): 18 Where they put him on the cross with two others, one on this side and one on that, and Jesus in the middle.”
“19 And Pilate put on the cross a statement in writing. The writing was: JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 The writing was seen by a number of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was put to death on the cross was near the town; and the writing was in Hebrew and Latin and Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not put, The King of the Jews, but, He said, I am the King of the Jews. 22 But Pilate made answer, What I have put in writing will not be changed.” (John 19:14-22 BBE)
By that event ends the Holy Week at the lowest point of Christ’s earthly ministry, after it had begun with the high point of his earthly ministry, where some of the people hailed him, while a little later others despised him.
Holy Week is then followed directly by Easter (also called Resurrection Sunday), marking the beginning of Eastertide, which will continue until Pentecost Sunday.
Easter is mostly celbrated on the Sunday after the Jewish Passover.
Strangely enough, those Christians who celebrate Easter adhere to the pagan spring tradition of honouring the Anglo-Saxon fertility deity Eostre, or Eostrae / Eastre. They do this by exchanging all kinds of eggs, including chocolate eggs, and bunnies. Joost might know what eggs have to do with Jesus, but those idol worshippers don’t seem to think about that.
The same as the pagan celebrations of the winter solstice, they now have a celebration for Spring.
The Latin and Greek Pascha (“Passover”) provides the root for Pâques, the French word for Easter.
However, Christians must decide whether they wish to participate in such pagan festivals or whether they wish to remain pure and observe the events and festivals ordained by God.
For Christadelphians, Jeshuaists and other true followers of Jesus Christ, it is clear that we must observe those days (or feasts) ordained by God, and that, as Jesus did and instructed his disciples, we must continue to commemorate the event of 14 Nisan.
“14 And when the time had come, he took his seat, and the Apostles with him. 15 And he said, I have had a great desire to keep this Passover with you before I come to my death; 16 For I say to you, I will not take it till it is made complete in the kingdom of God. 17 And he took a cup and, having given praise, he said, Make division of this among yourselves; 18 For I say to you, I will not take of the fruit of the vine till the kingdom of God has come. 19 And he took bread and, having given praise, he gave it to them when it had been broken, saying, This is my body, which is given for you: do this in memory of me. 20 And in the same way, after the meal, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new testament, made with my blood which is given for you.” (Luke 22:14-20 BBE)
“And when it had been broken with an act of praise, he said, This is my body which is for you: do this in memory of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24 BBE)
In memory of Jesus let us come together in these times of chaos and many wars, to share the peace of Christ and peace of God.
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Herod the Great … was sometimes known as Herod I (see article Herod). The first gospel relates that
“Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king” (Matt. 2:1; cf. Luke 1:5).
Josephus, the celebrated Jewish priest and historian, born a.d. 37, affirms in both his historical works that Herod died in Jericho, in the valley of the Jordan, a.u.c. 750, or 4 b.c. It is known that his death occurred just before the Jewish Passover, on March 13. This writer further remarks that on
“that very night there was an eclipse of the moon” (Ant. 17.6.4.; Wars 1.1.8).
The fact of the eclipse is conspicuous for the reason that it is the only one mentioned by this writer and that this circumstance furnishes a certain astronomical datum for determining the nativity, since Herod was then alive and sought the child’s life.
When the magi inquired of Herod respecting Him “born King of the Jews,” it filled him with consternation.
“Herod the king … was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
Fearing that the royal infant would be his supplanter, he
“sent and slew all the male children … from two years old and under.”
Joseph meanwhile had fled with the holy family into Egypt, “until the death of Herod,” when an angel directed him to return to the land of Israel,
“for those who sought the Child’s life are dead” (Matt. 2:2–20).
Now, Josephus relates that Herod, just five days before he died, killed his own son Antipater, which reveals his horrible character. This fact seems to have been confused with the account of the massacre of the infant children at Bethlehem when the report reached the emperor at Rome. Thereupon Macrobius states that Augustus Caesar, recalling Herod’s Jewish hatred of swine, said,
“It is better to be Herod’s hog than to be his son” (“Melius est Herodis porcum esse quam filium,” Saturnalia Convivia 2.4).
It is obvious that Jesus was born at least several months before the death of Herod; that the murder of the innocents occurred between the birth of our Lord and the death of Herod; and withal, the moon’s eclipse on that “very night” of his death renders it scientifically certain and ascertainable by mathematical calculation that Herod departed this life on March 13, a.u.c. 750, which is identical with the year 4 b.c. the year assumed as that of the nativity.
Enrollment of Cyrenius (Quirinius). Schaff gives Franciscus Junius as the authority for the historical statement that “the agent through whom Saturninus carried out the census in Judea was the governor Cyrenius, according to Luke, ch. 2.”
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
CROWN OF THORNS. The Roman soldiers made a crown out of some thorny plant and crowned our Lord in mockery (Matt. 27:29).
“The object was not to cause suffering, but to excite ridicule; so that while we cannot altogether dissociate the idea of something painful from this crown of thorns we must not conceive of it as covered with prickles, which were intentionally thrust into the flesh. It is impossible to determine what species of thorn it was” (Meyer, Com., ad loc.).
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
CHALDEES (kalʹdîz). This is a variant form of the term Chaldeans used in the expression “Ur of the Chaldees” (Neh. 9:7). The qualifying phrase “of the Chaldees [Chaldeans]” is not an anachronism as many critics hold (cf. Finegan, Light from the Ancient Past [1946], p. 57). Instead, as in the case of numerous archaic place names, it is a later scribal gloss to explain to a subsequent age, when Abraham’s native city Ur and its location had utterly perished, that the city was located in southern Babylonia, then known as Chaldea. After 1000 b.c. the race of the Chaldeans became dominant, and it was, of course, quite natural for the Hebrew scribe to define the then-incomprehensible foreign name by an appellation customary in his own day. Genesis 14 (vv. 2–3, 7–8, 17) offers a good example of such scribal glosses to explain archaic place names.
m.f.u.
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
CONSCIENCE (Lat. conscientia, “consciousness”; Gk. suneidēsis). The awareness that a proposed act is or is not conformable to one’s ideal of right and manifesting itself in the feeling of obligation or duty. The OT usually expresses the idea as “having [something] on the heart” (so the NIV in Gen. 20:5, 6; 1 Sam. 25:31; Job 27:6). Conscience is not so much a distinct faculty of the mind, like perception, memory, etc., as an exercise of the judgment and the power of feeling, as employed with reference to moral truth. It implies the moral sense “to discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:14) and a feeling, more or less strong, of responsibility. Thus it will appear to be wrong to name conscience “the voice of God,” although it is true that the testimony of conscience certainly rests on the foundation of a divine law in man, the existence of which, its claims and judgments, are removed from his subjective control.
If a man knows his doing to be in harmony with this law his conscience is good (Acts 23:1; 1 Tim. 1:5, 19; Heb. 13:18; 1 Pet. 3:16, 21), pure (1 Tim. 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3), and void of offense. If what he does is evil, so also is his conscience, inasmuch as it is conscious of such evil (Heb. 10:22); it is defiled (Titus 1:15; 1 Cor. 8:7) when it is stained by evil deeds; or seared with a branding iron (1 Tim. 4:2) when it is branded with its evil deeds, or cauterized, i.e., made insensible to all feeling.
Paul lays down the law that a man should follow his own conscience, even though it be weak; otherwise moral personality would be destroyed (1 Cor. 8:10–13; 10:29).
bibliography: C. A. Pierce, Conscience in the New Testament, Studies in Biblical Theology 15 (1955); W. Lillie, Studies in New Testament Ethics (1961); J. G. McKenzie, Guilt: Its Meaning and Significance (1962), pp. 21–54, 138–58; R. H. Niebuhr, The Responsible Self (1963); H. Thielicke, Theological Ethics: Foundations (1966), pp. 298–358.
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
CA´LEB (kāʹleb; a “dog”).
1. The son of Jephunneh (which see), the Kenizzite, and head of one of the families of Judah. The first mention of Caleb was his appointment at the age of forty years (Josh. 14:6–7) as one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore Canaan (Num. 13:6, 17–25), c. 1440 b.c.
On their return all the spies agreed respecting the preeminent goodness of the land but differed in their advice to the people. While the ten others announced the inability of Israel to overcome the Canaanites, Caleb and Joshua spoke encouragingly. They admitted the strength and stature of the people and the greatness of the walled cities but were far from despairing. Caleb, stilling the people before Moses, exhorted them earnestly and boldly, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it” (Num. 13:30). For this act of faithfulness, repeated the following day, Caleb and Joshua barely escaped being stoned by the people (14:10). Moses announced to the congregation, however, that they alone, of all the people over twenty years of age, should enter into the Promised Land, and in a plague that shortly followed the other spies died (14:26–38). A special promise was given to Caleb that he should enter the land that he had trodden upon, and that his seed should possess it (14:24).
We find no further mention of Caleb until about forty-five years after. The land was being divided, and he claimed the special inheritance promised by Moses as a reward of his fidelity. His claim was admitted, and Joshua added his blessing. Caleb, who at the age of eighty-five was still as strong for war as when he was forty, drove out the Anakim from Hebron (Josh. 14:6–15; 15:14). He then attacked Debir (Kiriath-sepher), to the SW of Hebron. This town must have been strong and hard to conquer, for Caleb offered a prize to the conqueror, promising to give his daughter Achsah for a wife to anyone who should take it. Othniel, his nephew, took the city and secured Achsah and a tract of land (15:13–19). We have no further information respecting Caleb’s life or death.
Concerning the taking of Debir, Keil notes:
“There is no discrepancy between the accounts of the taking of Debir (Josh. 11:21–22; 15:13–19), for the expulsion of its inhabitants by Joshua did not preclude the possibility of their returning when the Israelitish armies had withdrawn to the north” (Com.).
2. The last named of the three sons of Hezron (1 Chron. 2:18), of the descendants of Judah, in 1 Chron. 2:9, where he is called Chelubai (which see; still Caleb in the NIV). His sons by his first wife, Azubah, or Jerioth (which see), were Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon (v. 18). After her death he married Ephrath, by whom he had Hur (v. 19) and perhaps others (v. 50). He had also several children by his concubines, Ephah and Maacah (vv. 46, 48).
3. In the KJV and NIV of 1 Chron. 2:50, a son of Hur. See the NASB for a better reading.
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
City of God. A name given to Jerusalem (Ps. 46:4; cf. 48:1, 8), the appropriateness of which is evident from Deut. 12:5:
“The place which the Lord your God shall choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.”
5 But the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, to his dwelling shall ye seek, and there do thou come:(Deuteronomy 12:5)4 Its waters will roar, they will foam; the mountains will tremble in its pride. Silence. (Ps. 46:4)
5 A river, its streams will gladden the city of God, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
2 Great is Jehovah, and greatly praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. … 9 Come, behold the works of Jehovah, what desolations he set in the earth. (Ps 48:1, 8)
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
BOWING. An attitude of respect and reverence from the earliest times. Thus Abraham “bowed to the people of the land” (Gen. 23:7); Jacob, when he met Esau, “bowed down to the ground seven times” (33:3); and the brothers of Joseph “bowed down in homage” (43:28). The orientals in the presence of kings and princes often prostrate themselves upon the earth. Such customs prevailed among the Hebrews (Ex. 4:31; 1 Kings 1:53; 2:19; 1 Sam. 24:8).
Bowing is frequently noticed in Scripture as an act of religious homage to idols (Josh. 23:7; Judg. 2:19; 2 Kings 5:18; Isa. 44:15), and also to God (Josh. 5:14; Pss. 22:29; 72:9; Mic. 6:6; etc.).
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
Some View on the World 