We know that what we see on earth today is not how the earth has always been. The University of Alabama using infrared technology, has located 17 pyramids, 1,000 tombs and 3,000 settlements in Egypt. We short sightedly look at the pyramids and notice that they match a constellation pattern and then assume that that is all there is. However if we were to uncover all the pyramids, what would that tell us? And what if we uncover all the tombs and settlements, would we still come to the same conclusions about what we think the ancient Egyptians were like? Would we similarly conclude that what we have believed about their culture was what we thought or would we realize that there was more to their story that we missed. Like a jigsaw puzzle, if someone were to hand you a pile of puzzle pieces and asked you to put them together, could you know the entire picture from the pile of pieces? Not until you start putting them together. What you may think is a sky piece could be a water piece. Archeology is much the same, given a few pieces we have tried to create a picture but may have put sky pieces in the water. I don’t believe that the combination of books bound together by Constantine is a completed puzzle picture. I believe he took a bunch of pieces and put them together to suit his own purposes, thereby eliminating a great deal of history. Today we act as if we know the whole picture but really we don’t. Just like the buried pyramids we may one day find more historical writings telling us in greater detail about the times of the Patriarchs. For now what we have can help us see a little clearer into the past. Our charge is not to settle on what we think we know but to pursue further knowledge and understanding. Maybe one day we will be able to excavate the 17 found pyramids but the findings might shatter what we have thought for so long that a lot of controversy may arise. Personally I think any added pieces we can find are beneficial even if it challenges our thinking.
As we have seen in the more detailed look at Abraham’s life he moved around from living in a cave to Noah’s house to his father’s house back to Noah’s house and now he’s leaving for Haran. It is exciting to see that everywhere Abraham went he was leaving behind people who came to know the Lord. His life was a witness and his instruction regarding God is what the Melchizedek priest hood seems to entail. Living right and sharing God with others. As I previously mentioned that in the Melchizedek priesthood, to which we are called, and Jesus is a priest in the order of, we have to build a perspective of what this kingship/priesthood entails. Also we can start to see why Abraham is so important in the New Testament as an example to us. Called the children of Abraham through our faith, we are to live like Abraham, not under the law, but by faith. The law keeps people under the curse, that is the Levitical law, but the Melchizedek priesthood is not of law but of faith. That is what we are called to. Jesus fulfilled the law so that we now can live under the Melchizedek priesthood. Abraham moved to Haran and made disciples there. Those people were not under the law, there was no law.
Gal 3:6-14 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.KJV
Abraham was sent to Canaan for a couple of reasons. As we explored earlier that portion of land was given to Shem’s descendents, but was being occupied by Ham’s descendents. Noah has pronounced a curse on those who lived in the land not portioned to them. Abraham, in moving there, was establishing the land back to its rightful ownership. Why was it important for Shem’s descendents to live there? So that knowledge of the Lord could spread out to all three surrounding continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Canaan was a crossroad for trade as well. That was God’s plan which later we can see from Leviticus that the Israelites were to continue doing. They were to teach others about God, about morals, rulership, and hygiene. Therefore if God was making Abraham the father of many nations, it would start by spreading from Canaan. But first Terah wants to get out of Ur and they settle in Haran.
Jasher Ch 13:1And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Abram, and all the souls of his household and went with them from Ur Casdim to go to the land of Canaan. And when they came as far as the land of Haran they remained there, for it was exceedingly good land for pasture, and of sufficient extent for those who accompanied them. 2And the people of the land of Haran saw that Abram was good and upright with God and men, and that the Lord his God was with him, and some of the people of the land of Haran came and joined Abram, and he taught them the instruction of the Lord and his ways; and these men remained with Abram in his house and they adhered to him. 3And Abram remained in the land three years, and at the expiration of three years the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him; I am the Lord who brought thee forth from Ur Casdim, and delivered thee from the hands of all thine enemies. 4And now therefore if thou wilt hearken to my voice and keep my commandments, my statutes and my laws, then will I cause thy enemies to fall before thee, and I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven, and I will send my blessing upon all the works of thy hands, and thou shalt lack nothing. 5Arise now, take thy wife and all belonging to thee and go to the land of Canaan and remain there, and I will there be unto thee for a God, and I will bless thee. And Abram rose and took his wife and all belonging to him, and he went to the land of Canaan as the Lord had told him; and Abram was fifty years old when he went from Haran.
Jubilees adds some detail to this story.
Jubilees 12:15. And Terah went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, he and his sons, to go into the land of Lebanon and into the land of Canaan, and he dwelt in the land of Haran, and Abram, dwelt with Terah his father in Haran two weeks of years. 16. And in the sixth week, in the fifth year thereof, Abram sat up throughout the night on the new moon of the seventh month to observe the stars from the evening to the morning, in order to see what would be the character of the year with regard to the rains, and he was alone as he sat and observed. 17. And a word came into his heart and he said: "All the signs of the stars, and the signs of the moon and of the sun are all in the hand of the Lord. Why do I search (them) out? 18. If He desireth, He causeth it to rain, morning and evening; And if He desireth, He withholdeth it, And all things are in His hand."19. And he prayed that night and said" My God, God Most High, Thou alone art my God,And Thee and Thy dominion have I chosen. And Thou hast created all things, And all things that are are the work of Thy hands.20. Deliver me from the hands of evil spirits who have sway over the thoughts of men's hearts, And let them not lead me astray from Thee, my God. And stablish Thou me and my seed for ever That we go not astray from henceforth and for evermore." 21. And he said Shall I return unto Ur of the Chaldees who seek my face that I may return to them, or am I to remain here in this place? The right path before Thee prosper it in the hands of Thy servant that he may fulfil (it) and that I may not walk in the deceitfulness of my heart, O my God." 22. And he made an end of speaking and praying, and behold the word of the Lord was sent to him through me, saying: "Get thee up from thy country, and from thy kindred and from the house of thy father unto a land which I shall show thee, and I shall make thee a great and numerous nation. 23. And I shall bless thee And I shall make thy name great, And thou wilt be blessed in the earth, And in thee will all families of the earth be blessed, And I shall bless them that bless thee, And curse them that curse thee. 24. And I shall be a God to thee and thy son, and to thy son's son, and to all thy seed: fear not, from henceforth and unto all generations of the earth I am thy God." 25. And the Lord God said: "Open his mouth and his ears, that he may hear and speak with his mouth, with the language which hath been revealed"; for it had ceased from the mouths of all the children of men from the day of the overthrow (of Babel). 26. And I opened his mouth, and his ears and his lips, and I began to speak with him in Hebrew in the tongue of the creation. 27. And he took the books of his fathers, and these were written in Hebrew and he transcribed them, and he began from henceforth to study them, and I made known to him that which he could not (understand), and he studied them during the six rainy months. 28. And it came to pass in the seventh year of the sixth week that he spoke to his father, and informed him that he would leave Haran to go into the land of Canaan to see it and return to him. 29. And Terah his father said unto him; "Go in peace: May the eternal God make thy path straight, And the Lord [(be) with thee, and] protect thee from all evil, And grant unto thee grace, mercy and favour before those who see thee, And may none of the children of men have power over thee to harm thee; Go in peace.30. And if thou seest a land pleasant to thy eyes to dwell in, then arise and take me to thee and take Lot with thee, the son of Haran thy brother, as thine own son: the Lord be with thee. 31. And Nahor thy brother leave with me till thou returnest in peace, and we go with thee all together."
It is interesting that Abraham prayed to be delivered from the evil spirits that have influence over the thoughts of men’s hearts. We saw previously how Noah prayed God would get rid of the evil spirits so that they wouldn’t completely consume his offspring. We then saw how God said he would bind up 90% of them after satan complained that he wanted some evil spirits for use under his command to deceive mankind. I find it funny that people have forgotten that it is evil spirits that deceive men’s hearts. Abraham didn’t want to be deceived; instead he wondered what to do and left it up to God to decide. These are some more tenants of the Melchizedek priesthood, praying not to be deceived by evil spirits and being humble enough to let God direct our way.
Jasher 13:6 And Abram came to the land of Canaan and dwelt in the midst of the city, and he there pitched his tent amongst the children of Canaan, inhabitants of the land. 7And the Lord appeared to Abram when he came to the land of Canaan, and said to him, This is the land which I gave unto thee and to thy seed after thee forever, and I will make thy seed like the stars of heaven, and I will give unto thy seed for an inheritance all the lands which thou seest. 8And Abram built an altar in the place where God had spoken to him, and Abram there called upon the name of the Lord. 9At that time, at the end of three years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, in that year Noah died, which was the fifty-eighth year of the life of Abram; and all the days that Noah lived were nine hundred and fifty years and he died. 10And Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, he, his wife, and all belonging to him, and all those that accompanied him, together with those that joined him from the people of the land; but Nahor, Abram's brother, and Terah his father, and Lot the son of Haran and all belonging to them dwelt in Haran.
Abraham finally moves to Canaan. It seems as though he has a growing personal relationship with God as the Lord appears to him and prophesies to him. This is another aspect of the Melchizedek priesthood, continuing to develop a personal relationship with God. Don’t stop growing with God. Sometimes it is important to leave behind unbelievers in order to grow in the Lord. By this time one would hope that his father and brother had come to know the living God but even if they did, they may very well have held Abraham back in his personal growth. God had a plan, evangelize from Canaan. That is what Abraham submitted himself to and the Lord says that his seed would be like the stars of heaven. Next, war breaks out and Abraham returns to Haran for a short while.
End Notes
Canaan: A strategic land bridge
Was the “Promised Land” -- the area often now called The Holy Land -- chosen for missionary purposes?
| “This is Jerusalem: I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her” - Ezekiel 5:5, NIV Why did God ask Abraham to uproot his family and move all the way to Canaan? Why did the Lord need him to move from one end of the fertile crescent to the other? The answer is simple: strategy. Missiologists have long pointed to the strategic importance of that narrow piece of real estate which Christians today often call The Holy Land. The Promised Land of Canaan -- now frequently called Palestine -- is only 60 miles wide in places. At its western edge is the Mediterranean Sea. To the east is impassable desert. Its location makes it a land bridge between three continents. Africa’s only land link to Europe and to Asia runs through what is today modern Israel. If God wanted to make Himself known throughout the ancient world, this would have been the ideal place to do it from. To establish and maintain a nation on this busy bridge would be a superhuman feat. But this is exactly what the puny little nation of Israel did (with some brief gaps) for nearly 1,300 years. Was it a a mere coincidence that God placed His people on this bridge between continents? Unlikely. He seems to have done so on purpose so that His name would be proclaimed in “all nations.” |
Archaeology
17 Lost Egyptian Pyramids Found From Space
Published May 25, 2011
| FoxNews.com
Rob Alkmaar
Infrared imaging was used to locate ancient buried pyramids.
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have located seventeen lost pyramids, 1,000 tombs and more than 3,000 ancient settlements in Egypt after studying images produced by a state-of-the-art infrared technique that allowed them to clearly see the ruins underground.
With two pyramids already confirmed by scientists, they believe there are thousands more unknown sites in the region.
"I could see the data as it was emerging, but for me the 'a-ha' moment was when I could step back and look at everything that we'd found," Dr. Sarah Parcack, who led the survey, told the BBC. "I couldn't believe we could locate so many sites all over Egypt."
Because infrared imaging is able to distinguish different materials beneath the surface, the team was able to analyze images from satellites orbiting 400 miles above the earth, equipped with cameras so powerful they can pinpoint objects less than 3 feet wide.
Buildings in ancient Egypt were constructed out of mud brick -- a dense material easily discernible from surrounding soil, leaving fingerprints that researchers could identify as pyramids, tombs, or homes.
The breakthrough find is a huge coup for the burgeoning science of space archaeology, but Parcack believes this is only the beginning, even hinting further finds could be buried deep below the Nile River.
"These are just the sites close to the surface," she told the BBC. "There are many thousands of additional sites that the Nile has covered with silt."
