21 Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth.22 From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land.23 The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden;24 When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land.25 Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.
When I was reading this, I began to wonder why Abraham took
so much trouble to describe how Egypt was found and by whom and the efforts of
Pharaoh to imitate the priesthood.
I realized that this information would be valuable in the face of the
false religion of Egypt that must have claimed all priesthood authority right
along as they insisted their rites of human sacrifice were the right way and
their gods were THE gods. Abraham
tells the background to expose the counterfeits to show that it was all an
attempt to imitate the real thing, though with twists of evil. In the face of Egypt’s grandeur and
power, Abraham’s voice is brave; he dares to reveal the truth, which he is sure
of even as he is about to be sacrificed.
Abraham’s father has been led away by the counterfeit and Abraham
probably wanted to prevent others from being led away too.
What does this have to do with us? It shows us how important it is to record the truth about
things when counterfeits are gaining ascendency and to explain why the
counterfeits have appeal.
Though we may see through the counterfeit, others may not and they may
be benefited by the principles that we share.
There are so many counterfeits out there. One biggie that I hope is obvious is
the difference between love and lust.
Lust is predominately what passes for love in the media these days. Several factors contribute
to this that I can see:
--Movies are only so long, so they can’t show the whole
scope of a healthy relationship forming.
--Media lives and dies by sales and eyeballs, so it will go
to extremes to draw interest, which leads to extreme depictions of attraction
and sexual intimacy.
So I ask you readers, what characteristics can you share
that would help someone differentiate between love and lust? And what other major counterfeits have you
seen pop up these days?
4 comments:
Michaela
I found this really interesting blog. The author of the blog is an anthropologist and also a Christian apologist. She has some very interesting posts on the historical Abraham. This particular post sheds light on the traditions of Abraham and where he came from and why he was who he was.
http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/11/substance-of-abrahams-faith.html
And what other major counterfeits have you seen pop up these days?
"Political correctness"
I am old enough to remember when this statement was first "coined", and at the time it seemed like a cool choice of words, but it really is an oxymoron.
My own personal view is that this term is used as a nullifier of a person's right to freedom of speech, in any form.
Abraham practiced freedom of speech and as in your post, he pulled no punches, and stood for what he said, which was the truth exposing a lie. He was willing to die for it. Freedom of speech is not so much the right to speak freely, but the freedom is in the knowledge of the Truth. What is truth?
Now, when the truth is spoken, it offends and there is a public outcry for "an apology", which in certain circles, can be "as lying". The truth is too bold, too honest and in order to be "politically correct", it has to be watered down even rendered null and void. I believe that politically correct is the same as "secret combination".
Interesting link, Ramona, although I’m not sure where Linsley is getting some of her ideas. She makes assertions as if the evidence should be self-evident, but to me it isn’t. She also asserts that Abraham and his people were devotees of Horus, which is not true, and that they received faith in God not through revelation, but from tradition, which is a twist on the truth that they learned through true traditions AND through revelation.
You might like this article by Hugh Nibley (Mormon scholar) who asserts that Abraham substantially influenced Egypt during his visits.
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=48&chapid=291
and this one that explores the rivalry between “divine” Pharoahs and Abraham/Moses.
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=48&chapid=290
Here’s a very telling quote:
“The trouble was that they [the Egyptians] lacked revelation. In Egypt, Henri Frankfort observed, "The actions of individuals lacked divine guidance altogether."76 The only hope was to cling to Pharaoh, so that when the throne shook everybody was left "without certainty or direction,"77 and though "living under the rule of a god incarnate, they were dependent on human wisdom alone for direction in their way of life."78 Though Pharaoh is the "Great Intercessor," as François Daumas points out, "what he does is not miraculous . . . but only wonderful, . . . it is the normal power by which the course of the world continues."79 Surprisingly, as Siegfried Morenz notes, the Egyptians claimed no inspired writings, and no Egyptian wise man ever claims to be commissioned from heaven.80 Edwin R. Bevan noted long ago that the ancients have left us not a single instance in which men were supposed to have conversed with Zeus (in contrast with Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, who each conversed with God); all revelation came to the gentiles through voices, letters from heaven, natural objects, omens, inspired utterance (dreams, fits, etc.).81 In the late times we hear of messages from the oracle of Ammon of both the Egyptians and the Greeks, but they were all delivered by sortes (lots, dice, books, moving statues, etc.).82 It is important to bear this in mind, lest we fall into the error of supposing that the religion of Abraham and Israel was simply another tribal superstition or an offshoot from the archaic order. Between the gospel and the numerous spin-offs from the pristine faith taught by Adam to his children, there is all the difference between light and darkness—and the Egyptians felt the difference most keenly.”
On political correctness, I think you are right that it can muzzle free speech, especially when people are uncomfortable about sins being called sins. But in another respect, it can be a good thing if it requires us to think carefully about how we express ourselves in order to refrain from dehumanizing others.
Thanks Michalea for these links, I am always fascinated in learning, especially concerning our place in this world, and how we are related to those who have come before us.
This is a new book coming out, I have read the synopsis and there is a great promo video about it:
Are We Special? The Truth and the Lie About God's Chosen People
by Jeffrey S. Reber, Steven P. Moody
Post a Comment