Ushpizin, the Seven Shepherds of Judaism

This One will be our peace. When the Assyrian invades our land, when he tramples on our citadels, then we will raise against him Seven Shepherds and Eight Princes of men.

– Micah 5:5

ushpizin-guests.jpg

Ushpizin (Aramaic: “visitors”)- according to the Jewish Kabbalistic book the Sefer ha-zohar (“Book of Splendour”), Seven ancient worthies who take turns visiting the homes of all pious Jews to share their dinner on the festival of Sukkoth. A custom developed of reciting a fixed formula of invitation to the Seven: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David.

Encyclopedia Britannica (2008), Britannica.com

In chronological order, the Seven Shepherds of Judaism are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. However, these Shepherds also correspond to the Seven days of the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles) and appear as spiritual guests in the following order: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David.

Why are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David called Shepherds? Some were indeed shepherds, and this was, at times, the primary reason they were chosen to lead

– The Seven Shepherds we invite to the sukkah are in fact none other than ourselves, Arthur Kurzweil (2009) Arthurkurzweil.com

The Seven Shepherds of Israel
1. Abraham
2. Isaac
3. Jacob
4. Joseph
5. Moses
6. Aaron
7. David

Image

During the holiday [of Sukkot], some Jews recite the ushpizin prayer which symbolises the welcoming of seven “exalted guests” into the sukkah. These ushpizin (Aramaic אושפיזין – ‘guests’), represent the seven shepherds of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David. According to tradition, each night a different guest enters the sukkah followed by the other six. Each of the ushpizin has a unique lesson which teaches the parallels of the spiritual focus of the day on which they visit.

– Sukkot, Wikipedia

The Seven Ushpizin of Sukkot
Day 1. Abraham
Day 2. Isaac
Day 3. Jacob
Day 4. Moses
Day 5. Aaron
Day 6. Joseph
Day 7. David

So we come to the ushpizin. As we fill our sukkah with earthly guests, we merit to host seven supernal guests, the seven “founding fathers” of the Jewish people: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David. While all seven ushpizin visit our sukkah on each of the seven nights and days of Sukkot, each supernal “guest” is specifically associated with one of the festival’s seven days, and is the “leading” or dominant ushpiza for that night and day.

– The Ushpizin, by Yanki Tauber, Chabad.org

Interestingly enough, the Babylonian Talmud has a very different list of Seven Shepherds than that used today by all denominations of Judaism. Indeed, David, Adam, Abraham, Jacob and Moses are included, but two others are different as they exclude Isaac and Joseph from the list:

Who are these Seven Shepherds? David in the middle, Adam, Seth, and Methuselah on his right, and Abraham, Jacob, and Moses on his left. And who are the Eight Princes? Jesse, Saul, Samuel, Amos, Zephaniah, Zedekiah, Messiah, and Elijah.

– The Talmud, Sukkah 52b

A Basic Summary of the Seven Laws of Noah Versus the Ten Commandments of God

Some Crucial Facts concerning the Ten Commandments and the Seven Laws of Noah

—> According to Jewish Rabbinical legend, the Seven Laws of Noah were given to Noah and his family of three sons- Shem, Japheth, and Ham immediately after the Great Flood ended in 2105 B.C. However, the primary text for this story, the Book of Genesis, makes absolutely no mention of these Seven Laws except for the general prohibition against murder and the drinking of any blood.

—> Keep in mind the alleged author of Genesis happens Moses, who is said to have personally received the Ten Commandments from God while atop Mt. Sinai. Therefore to suggest that the 10 Commandments was simply an updated, modified, or extended version of the ancient Seven laws of Noah also given to Noah by God, seems highly implausible. Logically speaking, there seems little to no reason to believe Moses would have failed to mention these Seven Noahide laws, if they in fact, they ever existed, and especially if God himself had mentioned them to Noah.


—> Historically speaking, the Seven Laws of Noah have been a basically Jewish concept seldom taken into consideration by the Christian Church. The oldest known source documenting the Seven Laws of Noah is the Jewish Talmud, a post-Christian set of texts, written at least 100 years after Christianity had been established. In contrast, there is far more evidence attesting to the ancient origins of the Ten Commandments, while the sources documenting the Noahide Laws are either scant or nonexistent.—> From the very beginning of Christianity, the Church has taught that the Ten Commandments of Moses, brought down from Mt. Sinai and written with the very ‘finger of God’, are eternal laws of God which all Christians are expected to obey or face punishment both in this life and the next. Jesus Christ mentions nearly all the Ten Commandments in the Gospels and reaffirms the need for believers to follow and obey them at all times. There is no direct mention of the Seven Laws of Noah in either the Old or New Testament.

—> When it comes to the Seven Laws of Noah, some Jewish and Christian scholars believe there is evidence that the founding fathers of the Christian Church, most of whom knew Jesus personally, used them as a basis for deciding that Gentile Christians must be circumcised and follow the Laws of the Torah. One source notes the following: ‘On the initiative of Peter, and of James, the head of the Jerusalem church, it was agreed that acceptance of the Noachian Laws…should be demanded of the heathen desirous of entering the Church’ (Jewish Encyclopedia, New Testament). Keep in mind this understanding of the relationship between Christianity and the Seven Laws of Noah is still a subject of debate even today.

—> On the other hand, the validity of the Ten Commandments has never been a subject of dispute among the vast majority of Christian religious authorities. One of the major sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is dedicated exclusively to listing, explaining, and interpreting the Ten Commandments as it relates to the Christian faith of today. Most Protestant Churches believe likewise.

+ The Judeo/Christian Ten Commandments in Simple English +

1. YHVH is the LORD your God. You will have no other gods but Him.
2. You will not use the name of the LORD in vain.
3. You will honor the Sabbath day.
4. You will honor your father and your mother.
5. You will not kill.
6. You will not commit adultery.
7. You will not steal.
8. You will not lie.
9. You will not envy another man’s wife.
10. You will not envy another man’s property.

– Established by God in 1313 B.C.

_____________________________

+ The Judeo/Christian Seven Laws of Noah in Simple English +

1) You will not commit Idolatry
2) You will not commit Blasphemy
3) You will not commit Sexual Perversion
4) You wiil not commit Murder
5) You will not commit Theft
6) You will not commit Animal Cruelty
7) You will establish Courts to Enforce these Laws

– Established by God in 2105 B.C.

CONCLUSION: The Seven Laws of Noah are indeed righteous, God-given rules which all mankind should read, learn, study and obey and this means all Christian believers as well. However, by both tradition and Scripture, the Ten Commandments are a fundamental aspect of Christianity which should be both taught and revered among all Christian believers starting from the earliest ages. Moses, not Noah, is the preferred Rabbi to use for any sort of traditional Christian instruction. Also, Christians who take their Bible studies seriously should feel rest assured that, contrary to some believers, many of them hysterical, Jew-hating fanatics, the Seven Laws of Noah are completely compatible with the Christian faith as it has been known since the earliest years of the Church. The Jewish desire to promote the Seven Noahide Laws among non-believers is sincere and has absolutely no ‘hidden’ anti-Christian motivations. Finally, an additional list of the Seven Laws of Noah have been included below along with the corresponding law found in the 10 Commandments written in parenthesis to the right. This easy reference tool clearly shows all the direct correlations between the the Ten Commandments and the Seven Laws:

Law of Noah (Commandment of God)

1. Idolatry (#1- worship of other gods, #3- Dishonoring the Sabbath day, #10- Envy another’s goods)
2. Blasphemy (#2- Using God’s Name in vain, #4- Dishonoring parents, #8- Lying)
3. Sexual Perversion (#6- Adultery, #9- Envy another’s wife)
4. Murder (#5- Murder)
5. Theft (#7- Stealing)
6. Animal Cruelty (#7- Harming God’s creatures is theft)
7. Establish Courts to Enforce these Laws (#8- Determines truth from lies)

God bless Noah, God bless Moses, and may God bless you all. Shalom.

The Judeo-Christian, Part I.

Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

– Ecclesiastes 12:13

Part I. Moses, a Scientific Genius 3,000 Years ahead of His time

For many of today’s intellectuals, modern science, most especially Darwinism, has led them to conclude that the Judeo-Christian tradition is not only an out-dated concept, but a primitive superstition which may even prove to be incompatible with modern, secular society. What nearly everyone seems to have overlooked is the sheer ancient scientific genius that can be clearly seen in the first chapter of Genesis. In just a few short verses, this particular text mentions the Big Bang, the stellar evolution of the universe, the general geophysics of Earth formation, and the exact sequence of biological evolution as seen on this planet. In other words, secular intellectuals must admit that the Genesis account of Creation, what they usually dismiss as mythological, is closer to the modern scientific understanding of the natural world than any other rival Creation legend. As one scientifically-minded Judeo-Christian believer puts it:

The ancient Bible (including Genesis 1) was written, around 3,300 years ago, as it is understood today. Only in the past two hundred years has science started to be capable of recognizing the (apparently) correct scientific sequence of those events. And they have turned out to be REMARKABLY similar.

– Genesis and Science ARE Compatible!

Seen carefully, the real question that remains unanswered is how the orphan son of a lowly Israelite mother named Moses, who was raised and educated by the Pharaoh’s daughter, ever became so enlightened and informed about how the sun and the stars, along with Earth and all its life-forms ever came into existence. Since the time that Moses was still living in ancient Egypt, around 1,300-1,500 B.C., modern scholars have now determined that, in general, Egyptian civilization never really developed any actual scientific knowledge at all, except their exceptional building skills and clever agricultural know-how. Egyptian hieroglyphics, as deciphered by modern experts, reveal that the society Moses was brought up in was woefully ignorant about the skies above them and the wild-life that surrounded them. In short, ancient Egypt was a polytheistic, superstitious, slave-based kingdom completely ignorant of astrophysics, biological evolution, and nearly any other scientific field of study. On the other hand, the Book of Genesis is either an indication of supreme intelligence or one of the luckiest guesses about the sequence of evolution ever known in the history of the world.

Genesis 1 depicts the unfolding of the Divine energies in the sequence Earth, plants, marine animals, terrestrial animals, and humans – precisely the sequence confirmed by evolution.

– Orthodoxy Today

In stark contrast to the mental nonsense of ancient Egypt, the first chapter of Genesis written by Moses is like that of a well-informed modern scientist deliberately writing a semi-legendary account of Creation and clearly intending it for the common man of Israel to understand. Back then most people were illiterate, completely ignorant, and basically frightened of the unknown, which included the skies above them and the wild animals who lurked at the edges of Egyptian society. Obviously the author set out to write a short, fact-based account of the world’s primordial origins which would both educate and inspire the common people, as well as the readers that came after him, yet remain absolutely valid metaphorically. Seen carefully, the story of Genesis is like an incredibly poetic saga of a wise and merciful sorcerer or wizard who looks deeply into a dark, magic cauldron and then casts His spells through His thunderous words, thus causing the universe to be magically brought in existence.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

– Genesis 1:1-2

Even so, this fun and entertaining folk-tale of a seven-day ritual of great power and magic also remains completely embedded with scientific facts, which were probably meant to be taught centuries later when the simple minds of the ancient, gullible listeners were better able to understand them. One must remember that the precise details of the Darwinian theory of evolution can only be grasped by well-educated thinkers fully versed in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology. Remember, not a single one of the ancient Israelites whom Moses was addressing knew anything about the molecular structure of DNA or the mathematical concept of random chance or probability. Not only that, there is also the spiritual issue of man’s special relationship to God, the mysterious entity who hides behind the curtain of material reality. A primitive mind could easily misinterpret the Darwinian model of history and then wrongly assume that their beloved pet dog, cat, or monkey, is just as worthwhile as their fellow human beings who have been blessed by God to rule the animals, not deify them as the ancient Egyptians did. The gods they worshipped were seen as humans with various animal heads placed upon them, an absurd impossibility. This was not the case with the God of Moses and his fellow Israelites, whom they had oppressed and enslaved.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.

– Genesis 1:27

Genesis clearly reiterates the obvious truth of the real world that the Biblical God’s last, ultimate creation known as men and women must, like good brothers and sisters, look after each other first and foremost, because none of the other animals will ever feed, clothe, or truly love their rulers known as man. They don’t know how. Rather than the violent chaos of Darwinian ‘survival of the fittest’, Genesis depicts a God that, in turn, rules benevolently over mankind. The account written by Moses is also followed by a repeated emphasis that all men must try to obey their Creator’s instinctive commandments against theft, murder, adultery, and lying, concepts that other life-forms clearly don’t and may never comprehend. Modern evolutionary scientists know quite well that mankind is far superior, and completely different, than any other animals, including the apes and gorillas which came long before God endowed Adam with a hand-made immortal soul. These moral and ethical lessons are basically what the Judeo-Christian Creation story is clearly intended to proclaim, not the exact number of eons involved in stellar evolution, or the evolutionary reason behind the horns of goats and sheep..

Evolution contradicts a literalistic interpretation of Genesis. However, according to Roman Catholicism and most contemporary Protestant Churches, biblical literalism in the creation account is not mandatory. Christians have considered allegorical interpretations of Genesis since long before the development of Darwin’s theory of evolution.

– Theistic Evolution, Wikipedia

Put bluntly, modern man knows quite well that most of the stars and planets which came into being originated billions of years ago, while biological life slowly developed over the course of hundreds of millions of years. However, primitive man had absolutely no clue how any thing had been created. Most were too busy working hard to survive and feed their families to ever really question the material world that surrounded. Thus, to cater to all the ancient Israelites, Moses probably chose to keep the Creation account short and simple for the sake of his primitive audience, most of whom could not even count up to ten. However, the factual and scientific sequence of Earth’s formation and the evolution of life on this planet can still be clearly seen in his Creation ‘story’.

Theistic evolutionists argue that it is inappropriate to use Genesis as a scientific text, since it was written in a pre-scientific age and originally intended for religious instruction; as such, seemingly chronological aspects of the creation accounts should be thought of in terms of a literary framework.

– Theistic Evolution, Wikipedia

What does emerge from the Genesis text is a concise understanding concerning the sequence of events leading up to the present solar system (Astrophysics) along with an implied knowledge that carefully classifies life-forms into scientifically-based categories like plants or animals, birds or insects, fish or mammals, and even carnivores and herbivores (Zoology). Not only that, but the seven-day period of Creation shows an absolutely unmistakable background knowledge of the correct sequence of Darwinian evolution (Biology). Remember, this account was written more than 3,000 years ago in a culture that sincerely worshipped the sun (a hot ball of gas) and moon (a freezing cold desert rock) as supernatural gods who ruled over them.

There are very few instances where the Bible and science stand face-to-face regarding established facts. The most prominent of these is the story of Creation in Genesis.

– Genesis and Science ARE Compatible!

Once again, Moses shows a highly advanced, basically unheard of, theological outlook (Universal Monotheism) which clearly believes the one, true God created all material reality from nothing at all, except his own Divine will-power (Judeo-Christian-Islam). Where did Moses ever learn these incredibly complex and scientifically-based doctrines, thousands of years before anyone else even came close to understanding them? There is no way he was taught these things from the ancient Egyptians who were basically ignorant, primitive Pagans who left behind no scholarly or scientific writings, with the sole exception of absurd, nonsensical legends concerning many different gods, such as the Egyptian book of the dead.

The story in Genesis 1 of the Bible, about the beginning of everything, is fully compatible with modern science. It actually even PROVES that modern science is on the right track! And modern science has CONFIRMED that Genesis presents the proper sequence of events!

– Genesis and Science ARE Compatible!

Today’s arrogant skeptics and agnostic, or even atheist, scientists love to point a finger at the God-fearing Christians who insist the world was created by God in just seven days. Historically speaking, the most literate Judeo-Christian believers of the past never truly believed in the seven day mega-miracle of Genesis. In reality, both Christians, and the Jews before them, have nearly always understood that the seven day time period was allegorical, like a child’s educational story, and that the real world actually took much longer to form. As one source describes:

Evolution contradicts a literalistic interpretation of Genesis. However, according to Roman Catholicism and most contemporary Protestant Churches, biblical literalism in the creation account is not mandatory. Christians have considered allegorical interpretations of Genesis since long before the development of Darwin’s theory of evolution.

– Theistic Evolution, Wikipedia

Although some Pagan Creation myths are quite poetic and meaningful, the fact remains that not a single ancient Creation story ever truly addresses the material world’s origins in a scientific manner, with the sole exception of the Book of Genesis. Nearly every one of them is an obvious fairy tale composed of non-existent monsters, heroes and villains, while some of them also include grotesque imagery and even blatant sexual perversion as an integral part of biological life’s creation. Indeed, they all seem to be fictional and childish renditions of numerous rival ‘gods’ who fight and smite each other like criminals on the loose, occasionally looking down upon mankind as worthless inferiors solely created for their amusement, and who were destined to be ruled by them due to their ‘Divine’ right of authority. This is far different than Genesis which depicts a singular, all-powerful, all-knowing, peaceful God surrounded by His Angels who wait silently and obediently for their Creator to complete His authentic creation of the material universe. Instead of laughing or mocking mankind, the God of Genesis blesses them and their fellow life-forms, the fish and the birds, thus making a concise distinction between life (living beings like plants, animals, and man) and death (inanimate objects like air, water, fire, and earth).

With this approach toward evolution, scriptural creation stories are typically interpreted as being allegorical in nature. Both Jews and Christians have considered the idea of the creation history as an allegory (instead of a historical description) long before the development of Darwin’s theory. An example in Christianity would be the earlier writings by St. Augustine (4th century)…Three noted Jewish examples are that of the writings of Philo of Alexandria (1st century), Maimonides (12th century) and Gersonides (13th century).

– Theistic Evolution, Wikipedia

Much unlike the rival Greco-Roman religion, which was eventually toppled by Christianity, the Hebrew God in Genesis does not bless the sun (Apollo), the moon (Diane), the planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter) at all. Tellingly, He only blesses the biological life-forms He has created. His blessing also includes a totally accurate prediction that mankind is destined to fill the earth with many different descendants and are intended to rule the lesser animals responsibly and wisely, just as He rules over man, His last and most God-like creation. What follows is a comparison between the Genesis Creation story and modern scientific fact which clearly shows the unbelievable, nearly miraculous, similarities between the two accounts:

RELIGION: In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.(Genesis 1:1-2)
SCIENCE: Modern Physics state that, before the Big Bang, reality was nothing than a singular point of darkness which had near infinite density and mass that eventually exploded, thus creating the known universe.

RELIGION: And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning- the first day.(Genesis 1:3-5)
SCIENCE: Modern Astrophysics now claim that the material universe started with a massive explosion of light and heat that filled the entire universe. (God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light). Over time, the light and energy subsided and either collapsed into stars or planets (God saw that the light was good) which continued to moved outwards in all directions (He separated the light from the darkness) and away from the initial Big Bang’s location. This continued expansion created more and more dark space (darkness), nearly void of all energy, in between all the steadily increasing number of stars and planets (light). Planets began to revolve around larger stars called suns which then rotated upon their axis, thus causing periodic intervals of light (God called the light ‘day’) and darkness (the darkness he called ‘night’).

RELIGION: God said, ‘Let there be a vault between the waters to separate the waters below from the waters above.’ So God made the vault and separated the waters under the vault from the waters above it. And it was so. God called the vault ‘sky.’ And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. (Genesis 1:6-8)
SCIENCE: Modern Meteorology and Geophysics contends that when Earth first began to form, a large amount of water was repeatedly lost into outer space (waters above the vault) as steam was constantly being spewed upward from the hot, unstable lava flows on the planet’s surface (separated the waters under the vault from the water above it). This process (separated the waters) continued until a viable atmosphere (a vault), which could retain all the water vapor rising upwards, eventually formed and became the blue sky (God called the vault ‘sky’). Then, because of all the steam being released from the depths of the earth (waters below) by volcanoes, a thick layer of clouds (waters above) finally covered the whole planet. This process occurred repeatedly over the course of hundreds of millions of years (separated the waters under the vault from the waters above it). Finally, all the water once released upwards as steam then finally became trapped underground indefinitely (waters below). This additional water (waters below) has remained there as volcanic activity has slowly subsided. Nonetheless, oceans (water under the vault) have continued to condensate and rise upward to form clouds (water above it) which then fall down again via the rain and snow called precipitation.

RELIGION: And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry ground ‘land’, and the gathered waters he called ‘seas.’ And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10)
SCIENCE: Modern Geology states that, at first, earth became a seething mass of lava (water) that began cooling into solid rock (dry ground). In time, the steam from tons upon tons of water trapped below ground caused torrential rains (gathered waters) which covered the earth (dry ground) with oceans. Because of all the initial violent volcanic activity on Earth’s surface, there was no permanent sea level or stable land mass to sustain life. Then a single mega-continent formed slowly, but permanently (the dry ground ‘land’) which was then completely surrounded by a gigantic single body of water (water…gathered to one place).

RELIGION: Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning- the third day. (Genesis 1:11-13)
SCIENCE: Modern Evolutionary Biology claims that, even though simple single-cell life-forms, may have first formed underwater, the first multi-cellular complex life-forms to appear on earth were plants and trees (Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds’). Only during the past 2,000 years has man has confirmed scientifically that every distinct species of plants can only reproduce themselves. (The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds). Before then, the vast majority of people gathered fruit, nuts, berries, etc, from the wild because they never figured out how to keep their seeds, plant them (plants bearing seed according to their kinds), and grow enough crops to avoid starvation. Even in ancient Egypt, the most advanced civilization on earth at the time, most, if not all, of the Egyptians and enslaved Israelites, never knew that the seeds found in fruit must be buried in order to reproduce themselves. The cultivation of fruit and nuts, called orcharding (trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds) happens to be a fairly recent, post-Moses, discovery (And God saw that it was good).

Isn’t that interesting? Composed around 3,300 years ago, Genesis had told us that plants came before any animals, and now science has proved why that was true, because of the animals’ need for oxygen that the plants first created. Science is not confronting Genesis, but supporting it!

– Genesis and Science ARE Compatible!

RELIGION: And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.’ And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)
SCIENCE: Modern Geophysics theorized that plant life on earth may have first appeared under a constant blanket of clouds that continued to obscure the stars and moon for millions of years, with the sun barely visible behind the dirty, ash-filled cloud cover. Indeed, this may well have been the case throughout the age of the dinosaurs and early mammals. For millions of years, primitive man had absolutely no sense of time or any idea about how to keep track of it. (God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness). Besides for Mesopotamia (Abraham’s native civilization) Ancient Egypt was the only human society in the entire world (except East Asia) that had ever mapped the stars and actually realized their repetitive positions on a yearly schedule which corresponded to annual growing seasons for crops. Even so, only a miniscule number of elite magicians and ‘priests’ within Egypt had ever actually learned how to do this (God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years’). Most of man looked up and saw the lights as supernatural monsters or immortal gods ruling over them, not just inanimate, non-living lights that neither thought nor moved on their own (And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night’).

RELIGION: And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.’ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.’ And there was evening, and there was morning- the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)
SCIENCE: Modern Biology is fairly confident that animal life first came into being in the oceans underwater. Dinosaurs came next and are said to be the early ancestors of all of today’s bird species (God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth’). Fish and Dinosaurs filled the entire planet long before the appearance of any mammal. Some of the ocean’s animal life-forms were absolutely huge, even larger than any land-based dinosaur (So God created the great creatures of the sea) and existed long before them as well.

RELIGION: And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:24-25)
SCIENCE: Modern Zoology categorizes animals, all of whom bleed red blood, into distinct subgroups such herbivores (livestock), carnivores (wild animals) both of which are mammals, while distinguishing the birds and reptiles (creatures that move along the ground) as animals who are not, in fact, mammals (God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so). Evolutionary Biology is quite confident that warm-blooded mammals were the last type of animal to appear on earth long after plants, fish, and birds, or dinosaurs (God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds). While some rare individuals within ancient societies may have vaguely understood the modern theory of species, the vast majority had little idea that, for the most part, there are distinct species of animals that can only reproduce themselves through members of the exact same species. This includes very similar, nearly identical, types of species. Hawks cannot breed with eagles, cheetahs cannot breed with leopards, elk cannot breed with deer, and crocodiles with alligators (God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds). Moses, the author of Genesis, shows an incredible knowledge about scientifically-verifiable animal speciation, literally thousands of years before modern Zoology confirmed this reality (And God saw that it was good).

RELIGION: Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ (Genesis 1:26-29)
SCIENCE: Modern biology is confident in their proclamation that man, the species called Homo Sapiens, was the last species to have ‘evolved’ on planet earth, long after every other life-form (So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them). While nearly every member of primitive society knew about the existence of many types of animals, the vast majority feared them, sometimes for good reason, and had absolutely no idea that within centuries man would have domesticated vast flocks, herds, and different breeds of many types of animals (God blessed them and said to them…’Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground’). At the same time, none of them would have ever imagined the accuracy of God’s ancient recommendation (or prediction) to increase in population and colonize every corner of the earth, eventually establishing huge cities on every single continent and among every major culture in the world today. (God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it). Man is unique is not knowing or identifying different individuals by smell (like an animal), but by looking at their facial features (our likeness) thus explaining the vast diversity of facial features found in every man, woman, and child (God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness). Molecular Biology has also discovered that male sperm contain exactly 50% male sperm (xy DNA) and 50% female sperm (xx DNA) (In the image of God he created them, male and female He created them).

Modern scientists need to stop being so instinctively anti-religion and open their minds to the poetic genius that Moses and his Book of Genesis can bring to today’s world once their arrogant ridicule and denial of the Judeo-Christian tradition comes to an end. The ‘primitive’ scientific accuracy metaphorically hidden in the Genesis Creation legend remains completely unexplainable, even now, yet can be clearly seen in black and white for all to see.

May the LORD God bless you in the name of the Judeo-Christian.

The Right and Left Hands of God the Father

Hands of the LORD God

I will give the victor the right to sit with Me on My throne, as I Myself first won the victory and sit with My Father on His throne.

– Revelation 3:21

The Two Good Hands of the Fathers
In Christian tradition, it is said that Jesus ascended into Heaven and is now seated at the Right hand of the Father. Who then sits at the Left hand of the Father? The most likely answer is Satan, the accuser. On the other hand, it may well be the Holy Ghost, who has been worshipped and revered as a integral part of the Christian Trinity for nearly 2,000 years. In fact, there is a book which has been published fairly recently which argues this very case, that the Holy Ghost does indeed sit at the the Left hand of God the Father. Nevertheless, the older, more traditional, argument that Satan, the ‘accuser’ or ‘adversary’ of those souls seeking to enter the Kingdom of Heaven continues to be seated at the Left (Sinister) hand of God’s Throne of Judgment, remains a fairly common understanding for most devout Christians, even in the Pagan/New Age world of today that is constantly being filled with an ever-increasing amount of new viewpoints and theological outlooks. The most specific mention of a ‘diabolical’ accuser performing the vital function of keeping disobedient sinners from a Heavenly reward which they do not deserve, and have never earned, comes from Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph Himself in the Gospel of John. The exact passage reads as follows:

Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

– John 5:45-47

In general, Christian doctrine believes mankind has been saved from eternal damnation by the atoning sacrifice of Rabbi Joshua’s Crucifixion along with His Divine forgiving grace bestowed upon individual believers through the Sacrament of Baptism and life-long Christian practices.  Nevertheless, every single Christian Bible still includes the full text of the Laws of Moses which can be found in the first five books of the Old Testament. Regardless of any specific details, these supposedly ‘primitive’, ‘arcane’, and ‘out-dated’ Commandments were kept there for a reason, most probably to be read and studied by any and all Christians and perhaps even to be obeyed. Given the metaphorical passages found in the Book of Revelation there is ample reason to believe that what Joshua the Messiah said  in the Gospel of John was, and still is true even today. For just as Church tradition believes that Rabbi Jesus ‘will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,’ the Synagogue of Satan (as specifically mentioned in Revelation) might claim that, at the same time, Satan will come again in fury to accuse and punish the living and the dead for their continued and flagrant disregard for the laws of the Old Testament which continue to remain in force because God the Father has never rescinded or removed any of them.

Behold the Hands of God!

It is often said that when a person is judged before the throne of God, Joshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) acts as their defense lawyer, while Satan sits in opposition as the prosecuting attorney, hoping to sentence those who clearly deserve it to Hell. This means that Satan is nothing more than the ‘evil’ one who records the sins and misdeeds of the living in order to restrict, and even prohibit, their undeserved access to the Kingdom of Heaven and to demand punishment for one’s disobedience to the clearly written laws of God as presented in the Old Testament. Here is a sampling of some various, different Judeo-Christian Fathers and a rare glimpse of who would be seated at their Right and Left hand:

————— —————- 

Right Hand —- Father’s Throne —— Left Hand

Joshua the Messiah — God the Father ————- Satan the Accuser
Abel —————————- Adam —————————— Seth
Isaac (by Sarah) ———– Abraham —————— Ishmael (by Hagar)
Jacob/Israel —————— Isaac —————————— Esau
Ephraim ———————- Joseph ————————- Manasseh
Prince William ———- Prince Charles —————– Prince Harry
Knights Templar —— St. Peter (or Pope) ———- Knights Hospitaller
The Sheep ————- Joshua the Messiah ————- The Goats
Defense Attorney ——— Judge ——————– Prosecuting Attorney
Blue/Green —————— White —————————— Red

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