DOCSLIB.ORG

Balaam: a Light to the Gentiles? — Dr

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Balaam: a Light to the Gentiles? — Dr CTSJ 4:4 (October 1998) p. 18 Balaam: A Light to the Gentiles? — Dr. Glenn Carnagey* [*Editor’s note: Glenn Carnagey earned his B.A. at the University of Texas, Th.M. at Dallas Theological Seminary, and Ph.D. at the University of Tulsa. Glenn has done extensive archaeological work in the Near East and editorial work for a major archaeological journal, as well as presented scholarly papers at meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society. Dr. Carnagey has also pastored churches in Texas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. Glenn is a member of Chafer Seminary’s National Board of Advisors, is a contributing editor to the CTS Journal, and was instrumental in the formation of CTS.] Archaeological Background In February and March of 1967, H. J. Franken was conducting excavations at Deir ‘Alla in the Jordan River Valley when his vigilant foreman, Abu Abdul Rasul, noticed writing on pieces of plaster being removed from the remains of an ancient building. He brought the information to the excavator. That building probably was a sanctuary for a goddess whose name begins with the Hebrew letter “shin.” Shamash and Shgr have both been suggested as possibilities, especially Shgr, since it occurs later in the second combination in connection with the Council of the Gods. This inscription is an eighth century narrative concerning the seer/prophet Balaam, well known to Bible students as the prophet who dominates Numbers 22–24. This inscription offers some useful insights into the biblical text. Identifications Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me (Numbers 22:5)!1 Deir ‘Alla is located on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River Valley, near the spot where the Zerqa River flows into the Jordan. It is north of Jericho, but still within the wide swath of the Jordan River, which at this point has the Hassid plains on both sides. Moses quite accurately called this expanded area “The Plains of Moab.” However, the biblical text also sees the campsite as “this side of Jordan by Jericho,” hence it was a fair distance south of Deir ‘Alla. No one has suggested in the literature that Deir ‘Alla could have been identified with Pethor during the lifetime of Balaam, but the excavations clearly demonstrate very limited Middle Bronze occupation followed by extensive Late Bronze and Iron Age cities. If not for Deuteronomy 23:4, it would be a tempting site for the phrase “by the river of his people” CTSJ 4:4 (October 1998) p. 19 (Numbers 22:5), since the Jordan River is only a few hundred yards away.2 Moses is again quite explicit, however, and reveals an Ammonite-Moabite conspiracy against Israel, during the description of which he identifies the city of Pethor as a Mesopotamian city (Deuteronomy 23:4). Later,3 of course, we learn that the Midianites (or the Amorite-Midianite amalgamation) were also involved. This has a certain significance for the entrance of Israel into Cis-Jordan (=the land west of the Jordan River). Even though God had carefully proscribed any battles with the Ammonites, the Moabites or the Edomites—instructions which Moses was careful to obey—it seems they panicked anyway and formed an alliance to destroy the Israelites before they could cross the Jordan River and attack Jericho. The Amorite Corridor Moses and the people traveled up the old Desert Highway to avoid confrontation with their relatives. They instead cleared out what might be called the “Amorite Corridor,” land over which Sihon king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan controlled and ruled. If one takes the full extent of this geographical indicator seriously, the Israelites controlled the land from the Arnon River north across the Bashan of Syria to the shoulders of Mount Hermon. Indeed, Barry Beitzel, in the Moody Bible Atlas, extends the Trans-Jordanian inheritance for the two and a half tribes (Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh) into just those 1 Holy Bible, New King James Version (Nashvile, TN: Nelson, 1982). All Scripture citations are from the NKJV. 2 Because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you (Deuteronomy 23:4). 3 See Numbers 31:8, They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword. same boundaries. This massive land grab by the Israelites helps to explain the panic of the Moabites and Ammonites, in particular, when confronted with the Israelite army, now under Joshua, in a more southerly and hence more menacing campsite. From the Scripture involved then, we can conclude that Moab and Ammon, together with “elders of Midian,” who at an earlier time had been associated with Edom to the south, took steps to destroy Israel, even though they had been totally spared by God and the nation of Israel. It is this traitorous behavior early in the post-exodus generation that led to the heavy penalty of a 10-generation exclusion from the Tabernacle and worship of Israel (Deuteronomy 23:3–6). CTSJ 4:4 (October 1998) p. 20 An Open Question The problem of who the people of Balaam were is, at this point, quite an open question in scholarly dialogue.4 Joshua 13:21 establishes the relevant facts: (A)ll the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses had struck with the princes of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, who were princes of Sihon dwelling in the country. (Joshua 13:21) This passage informs the reader that the Midianite princes (or kings, cf. Numbers 31:8) were in reality the remnant of Sihon’s Amorite kingdom. They acted as feudal kings, “dukes,” over the Midianites, who had somehow settled either within the Moabite territory or perhaps at its northern edge. Whether the five were indeed Amorites or not, they served Sihon who ruled in Heshbon. This rather enigmatic reference to the alliance between certain Midianites with the Amorite kingdom of Heshbon would strengthen the case regarding the archaeological excavations in Jordan at the site of Heshbon as the correct site for Pethor, since there was no occupation before the Iron Age. Others suggest that Balaam was an Aramaean from further north, while those who hold to the validity of Scripture tend to accept a Mesopotamian origin for Balaam and would look to the region of the “Two Rivers” (the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) for Pethor. Hence, the “river of the land of the children of his people” (Numbers 22:5) would have to be either the Tigris or the Euphrates. He 4 The higher critics, who view this passage as a late 8th early 7th century document compare the phraseology in the Deir ‘Alla Inscription with Numbers 22–24 and see strong evidence for contemporary composition (as per Kyle McCarter). Some hold with Thompson that Balaam was an Ammonite, though again Deuteronomy 23:4 seems to prohibit this conclusion by calling him a Mesopotamian. Subsequent examination of the Deir ‘Alla Inscription, written upon the pieces of plaster at Deir ‘Alla some six centuries later, has yielded for this narrative various dates between 800 and 600 B.C. Based on orthography, a date between 750 and 700 BC seems to be the most commonly accepted one today. could, then, have been from the early generations of the Assyrians or from the Amorite or Kassite tribes who were prominent during the second millennium BC. It is even possible that some of the Sumero-Akkadian population groups had managed to continue into the CTSJ 4:4 (October 1998) p. 21 15th century BC (the date of Numbers), or that very early Aramaean tribal units in the southern region were his original home. What was the nature of this prophet/seer Balaam? Why was his message deemed to be so important that a special sanctuary was constructed in honor of the goddess whose wrath his wisdom had averted and a stele erected with his message inscribed thereupon with red and black ink?5 For a complete answer, one must move back in time to the interval during which Israel camped in the Plains of Moab, just before the death of Moses and the campaigns of the conquest in Cis- Jordan. It was a peculiar time, to say the least. The Strange King A strange king by the unlikely name of Agag was the greatest king known to Balaam (Numbers 24:7). Why not Thutmose, Rameses, Amenhotep, or some other Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt? Perhaps because this king was not an Egyptian Pharaoh at all—he was instead the king of the Amalekites. Balaam refers to this group of people in his great prophetic oracles of Numbers 22–24. In fact, he sees a world in which the Amalekites are the greatest nation in the world with the mightiest army, and Agag, probably Apop I or II, is their world- renowned king. Alternatively, more germane to the critical viewpoint, why were none of the neighbors of 7th century Israel mentioned, particularly the later Egyptian Dynasties? The Amalekites seem to have disappeared shortly after the time of David and were certainly no threat by the time of Josiah.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Expositor
    THE EXPOSITOR. BALAAM: AN EXPOSITION AND STUDY. III. The Conclusion. WE have now studied all the Scriptures which relate to Balaam, and if our study has added but few new features to his character, it has served, I hope, to bring out his features more clearly, to cast higher lights and deeper shadows upon them, and to define and enlarge our conceptions both of the good and of the evil qualities of the man. The problem of his character-how a good man could be so. bad and a great man so base-has not yet been solved ; we are as far per­ haps from its solution as ever : but something-much­ has been gained if only we have the terms of that problem more distinctly and fully before our minds. To reach the solution of it, in so far as we can reach it, we must fall back on the second method of inquiry which, at the outset, I proposed to employ. We must apply the comparative method to the history and character of Balaam ; we must place him beside other prophets as faulty and sinful as himself, and in whom the elements were as strangely mixed as they were in him : we must endeavour to classify him, and to read the problem of his life in the light of that of men of his own order and type. Yet that is by no means easy to do without putting him to a grave disadvantage. For the only prophets with whom We can compare him are the Hebrew prophets ; and ·Balaam JULY, 1883.
    [Show full text]
  • Japheth and Balaam
    Redemption 304: Further Study on Japheth and Balaam biblestudying.net Brian K. McPherson and Scott McPherson Copyright 2012 Melchizedek (Shem), Japheth, and Balaam Summary of Relevant Information from Genesis Regarding Melchizedek and Abraham This exploratory paper assumes the conclusions of section three of our “Priesthood and the Kinsman Redeemer” study which identifies Melchizedek as Noah’s son Shem. Melchizedek was priest of Jerusalem (Salem) and possibly of the region in general. Shem was granted dominion over all the Canaanites by Noah. Genesis 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Melchizedek is clearly presented as a king. And Abraham clearly pays tithes or tribute to this king after a victory in battle. Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Piety, Practice, and Politics: Agency and Ritual in the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8vx8j9v5 Author DePietro, Dana Douglas Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Piety, Practice, and Politics: Ritual and Agency in the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant By Dana Douglas DePietro A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Marian Feldman, Chair Professor Benjamin Porter Professor Aaron Brody Professor Margaret Conkey Spring 2012 © 2012- Dana Douglas DePietro All rights reserved. Abstract Piety, Practice, and Politics: Ritual and Agency in the Late Bronze Southern Levant by Dana Douglas DePietro Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Marian Feldman, Chair Striking changes in the archaeological record of the southern Levant during the final years of the Late Bronze Age have long fascinated scholars interested in the region and period. Attempts to explain the emergence of new forms of Canaanite material culture have typically cited external factors such as Egyptian political domination as the driving force behind culture change, relying on theoretical models of acculturation, elite-emulation and center-periphery theory. While these approaches can be useful in explaining some dimensions of culture-contact, they are limited by their assumption of a unidirectional flow of power and influence from dominant core societies to passive peripheries.
    [Show full text]
  • Prophets, Posters and Poetry Joshua Fallik
    Prophets, Posters and Poetry Joshua Fallik Subject Area: Torah (Prophets) Multi-unit lesson plan Target age: 5th – 8th grades, 9th – 12th grades Objectives: • To acquaint students with prophets they may be unfamiliar with. • To familiarize the students with the social and moral message of selected prophets by engaging their analytical minds and visual senses. • To have students reflect in various media on the message of each of these prophets. • To introduce the students to contemporary examples of individuals who seem to live in the spirit of the prophets and their teachings. Materials: Descriptions of various forms of poetry including haiku, cinquain, acrostic, and free verse. Poster board, paper, markers, crayons, pencils, erasers. Quotations from the specific prophet being studied. Students may choose to use any of the materials available to create their sketches and posters. Class 1 through 3: Introduction to the prophets. The prophet Jonah. Teacher briefly talks about the role of the prophets. (See What is a Prophet, below) Teacher asks the students to relate the story of Jonah. Teacher briefly discusses the historical and social background of the prophet. Teacher asks if they can think of any fictional characters named Jonah. Why is the son in Sleepless in Seattle named Jonah? Teacher briefly talks about different forms of poetry. (see Poetry Forms, below) Students are asked to write a poem (any format) about the prophet Jonah. Students then draw a sketch that illustrates the Jonah story. Students create a poster based on the sketch and incorporating the poem they have written. Classes 4 through 8: The prophet Micah.
    [Show full text]
  • Central Lyon Class List
    Central Lyon Class List 1990 Albers, Kimberly Kuehl, Chad Altman, David Larsen, Shiloh Baatz, Joel Laurente, Myra Georgina Baldwin, Brian Lo, Chayra Boyle, Kathy Lutjens, Anita Bus, Michael Lupkes, Tracy Cunningham, Victoria Mantal, David De Beor, Jason Mellema, Duane, De Boer, Robert Mellema, Julie Driscoll, Heath Metzger, Craig Durst, Darren Milar, Jennifer Enersen, Erika Oliver, Amy Enguall, Lennart Pap, Michael Fegan, Andrew Rasmussem, Jeffery Gathman, Travis Roskam, Dawn Gerdees, Chad Roths, Craig Grafing, Krista Sambos, Keith Groen Shawn Schulte, Nathan Hauge, Ashley Scott, Chris Henry, Mark Scott, Sherry Herrmann, Tasha Skidmore, Melissa Thinner Hilbrands, Jason Spyksma, Jeff Hinsch, Sara Stientjes, Valerie Hoekstra, Christina Surma, Joe Hoogeveen, Kay Van Veldhuizen, Keri Hoppe, Lari Vande Kop, Holly Johnson, Lonette Vande Kop, Todd Kahl, Michael Venenga, Todd Kelderman, Jodi Vogl, Lissa Kix, Marla Vogl, Michelle Klinkenborg, Chris Warntjes, Wade Kooiker, Nolan Woodrow, Robert Central Lyon Class List 1991 Andy, Anderson Mantle, Mark Lewis, Anderson Matson, Sherry Rachel, Baatz McDonald, Chad Lyle, Bauer Miller, Bobby Darcy, Berg Miller, Penny Paul, Berg Moser, Jason Shane, Boeve Mowry, Lisa Borman, Zachary Mulder, Daniel Breuker, Theodore Olsen, Lisa Christians, Amy Popkes, Wade De Yong, Jana Rath, Todd Delfs, Rodney Rau, Gary Ellsworth, Jason Roths, June Fegan, Carrie Schillings, Roth Gardner, Sara Schubert, Traci Gingras, Cindy Scott, Chuck Goette, Holly Solheim, Bill Grafing, Jennifer Steenblock, Amy Grafing, Robin Stettnichs,
    [Show full text]
  • New Early Eighth-Century B.C. Earthquake Evidence at Tel Gezer: Archaeological, Geological, and Literary Indications and Correlations
    Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Master's Theses Graduate Research 1992 New Early Eighth-century B.C. Earthquake Evidence at Tel Gezer: Archaeological, Geological, and Literary Indications and Correlations Michael Gerald Hasel Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/theses Recommended Citation Hasel, Michael Gerald, "New Early Eighth-century B.C. Earthquake Evidence at Tel Gezer: Archaeological, Geological, and Literary Indications and Correlations" (1992). Master's Theses. 41. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/theses/41 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the Andrews University Digital Library of Dissertations and Theses. Please honor the copyright of this document by not duplicating or distributing additional copies in any form without the author’s express written permission. Thanks for your cooperation. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Numbers 202 1 Edition Dr
    Notes on Numbers 202 1 Edition Dr. Thomas L. Constable TITLE The title the Jews used in their Hebrew Old Testament for this book comes from the fifth word in the book in the Hebrew text, bemidbar: "in the wilderness." This is, of course, appropriate since the Israelites spent most of the time covered in the narrative of Numbers in the wilderness. The English title "Numbers" is a translation of the Greek title Arithmoi. The Septuagint translators chose this title because of the two censuses of the Israelites that Moses recorded at the beginning (chs. 1—4) and toward the end (ch. 26) of the book. These "numberings" of the people took place at the beginning and end of the wilderness wanderings and frame the contents of Numbers. DATE AND WRITER Moses wrote Numbers (cf. Num. 1:1; 33:2; Matt. 8:4; 19:7; Luke 24:44; John 1:45; et al.). He apparently wrote it late in his life, across the Jordan from the Promised Land, on the Plains of Moab.1 Moses evidently died close to 1406 B.C., since the Exodus happened about 1446 B.C. (1 Kings 6:1), the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years (Num. 32:13), and he died shortly before they entered the Promised Land (Deut. 34:5). There are also a few passages that appear to have been added after Moses' time: 12:3; 21:14-15; and 32:34-42. However, it is impossible to say how much later. 1See the commentaries for fuller discussions of these subjects, e.g., Gordon J.
    [Show full text]
  • Three Conquests of Canaan
    ÅA Wars in the Middle East are almost an every day part of Eero Junkkaala:of Three Canaan Conquests our lives, and undeniably the history of war in this area is very long indeed. This study examines three such wars, all of which were directed against the Land of Canaan. Two campaigns were conducted by Egyptian Pharaohs and one by the Israelites. The question considered being Eero Junkkaala whether or not these wars really took place. This study gives one methodological viewpoint to answer this ques- tion. The author studies the archaeology of all the geo- Three Conquests of Canaan graphical sites mentioned in the lists of Thutmosis III and A Comparative Study of Two Egyptian Military Campaigns and Shishak and compares them with the cities mentioned in Joshua 10-12 in the Light of Recent Archaeological Evidence the Conquest stories in the Book of Joshua. Altogether 116 sites were studied, and the com- parison between the texts and the archaeological results offered a possibility of establishing whether the cities mentioned, in the sources in question, were inhabited, and, furthermore, might have been destroyed during the time of the Pharaohs and the biblical settlement pe- riod. Despite the nature of the two written sources being so very different it was possible to make a comparative study. This study gives a fresh view on the fierce discus- sion concerning the emergence of the Israelites. It also challenges both Egyptological and biblical studies to use the written texts and the archaeological material togeth- er so that they are not so separated from each other, as is often the case.
    [Show full text]
  • Zealots – Fanatics Or Heroes Parshat Pinchas
    Zealots – Fanatics or Heroes Parshat Pinchas - 2005 We are a people who love labels of the extremes. In assessing zealots there is a very, very thin line in determining who is a hero, worthy of praise and adoration and who is a fanatic deserving of contempt and rejection. Over the centuries we have been blessed by many zealots who sought to keep the Jewish spark alive. One collectively accepted hero is Mattiahu, whose blow against a Jew worshipping a pagan god, cascaded into the Maccabean revolt and our eventual freedom from Assyrian tyranny. On the other hand, during the last decade we have witnessed a number of zealots who chose to take the law into their own hands. These include: Dr. Baruch Goldstein of the Hebron massacre; Yigal Amir, Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin’s assassin, and Eden Natan Zada, a young soldier who murdered four innocent Israeli Arabs. Yet, one person’s fanatic is another’s hero. Being a zealot does not mean automatic inclusion into the Hall of Jewish heroes. Dramatic action driven by religious passion does not mean that Klal Yisrael – the nation of Israel – has benefited -- has been lifted to a higher spiritual plane. In fact, it may be just the opposite. Passion supporting a point-of-view, whether it is for withdrawal from the territories or against withdrawal, does not permit one Jew to act against another Jew or gentile with violence. So, what about our ancestors? Didn’t they face the thorny issue of zealotry – fanatics or heroes? How did they respond to such actions? Torah is not only a book of our past…it is the story of our people l’Dor v’Dor – from generation to generation.
    [Show full text]
  • Seminary Studies
    ANDREWS UNIVERSITY SEMINARY STUDIES VOLUME XIII SPRING 1975 NUMBER I CONTENTS Cross, Frank Moore. Ammonite Ostraca from Heshbon: Heshbon Ostraca 1 Van Elderen, Bastiaan. A Greek Ostracon from Heshbon: Heshbon Ostracon IX 21 Cox, James J. C. Prolegomena to a Study of the Dominical Logoi as cited in the Didascalia Apostolorum 23 Cox, James J. C. Note on the Title of the Didascalia Apostolorum . 30 Gane, Erwin R. The Intellect-Will Problem in the Thought of Some Northern Renaissance Humanists: Colet, Erasmus, and Montaigne 34 Hasel, Gerhard F. The Meaning of "Let Us" in Gn 1:26 58 Strand, Kenneth A. John Calvin and the Brethren of the Common Life 67 Book Reviews 79 Books Received 98 ANDREWS UNIVERSITY PRESS BERRIEN SPRINGS, MICHIGAN 49104, USA ANDREWS UNIVERSITY SEMINARY STUDIES The Journal of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary of Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan KENNETH A. STRAND Editor JAMES J. C. COX, RAOUL DEDEREN, GERHARD F. HASEL LEONA G. RUNNING Associate Editors SAKAE KUBO Book Review Editor GERHARD F. HASEL Circulation Manager ANDREWS UNIVERSITY SEMINARY STUDIES publishes papers and short notes in English,.French and German on the following subjects: Biblical linguistics and its cognates, textual criticism, exegesis, Biblical archaeology and geography, ancient history, church history, theology, philosophy of religion, ethics and comparative religions. The opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY SEMINARY STUDIES is published in January and July of each year. The annual subscription rate is $6.00. Pay- ments are to be made to Andrews University Seminary Studies, Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104, USA.
    [Show full text]
  • Numbers 17-22
    The Weekly Word August 31- September 6, 2020 September is here… Fall, my favorite season of the year, will soon be with us. Happy reading… Grace and Peace, Bill To hear the Bible read click this link… http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/. Monday, August 31: Numbers 17- How God led me to his grace… The Lord uses a creative miracle to mark His leadership for Israel. Sometimes a show of force is necessary. Sometimes other measures can be used. This is one of the latter cases. Korah’s rebellion resulted in the death of 14,600 Israelites. The earth swallowed up Korah and his followers. After that a plague ravaged the camp. I can only imagine that the plague bred fear in the camp. With this as the background I see the brilliance of God choosing a creative miracle to set Aaron apart. This miracle I imagine inspired awe and wonder. I know it did in me. Having a staff sprout, bud and flower! Spectacular! The Lord has so many ways to display His power and glory. Different ways connect with different people. I know people who have experienced healings and this led them to the Lord. I know others who had dreams that brought them to the Lord. Others came to believe in the Lord through the witness of a friend and still others believe in the Lord because of the faithful living of their parents and families. Different means for different people all guided by the one Lord God almighty. I sat and remembered the many means God used to lead me to Jesus.
    [Show full text]
  • Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi
    Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Faculty Publications 2020-02-04 Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi Dana M. Pike Brigham Young University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Pike, Dana M., "Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi" (2020). Faculty Publications. 3697. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3697 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Chapter 7 Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi Dana M. Pike The greater the number of sources the better when investi- gating the history and culture of people in antiquity. Narrative and prophetic texts in the Bible and 1 Nephi have great value in helping us understand the milieu in which Jeremiah and Lehi received and fulfilled their prophetic missions, but these records are not our only documentary sources. A number of Israelite inscriptions dating to the period of 640–586 b.c., the general time of Jeremiah and Lehi, provide additional glimpses into this pivotal and primarily tragic period in Israelite history. The number of inscriptions discovered from ancient Israel and its immediate neighbors—Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, and Phoenicia—pales in comparison to the bountiful harvest of texts from ancient Assyria, Babylonia, and Egypt.
    [Show full text]