Creationism, Myth and Catastrophism

[kmcook]

Lloyd wrote..

>>>>have you heard the theory that the Ark of the Covenant generated static electricity? Someone theorized probably over ten years ago?<<<<<

One of those who had firm opinions.....
Laurence Gardner "Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark", Element Books, 2003. ISBN 000714296 X

Ark's dimensions, electrical potential, history, nominates what was the "testament" placed in the Ark, some uses of the Ark, it's eventual loss and speculated final location. Some of the content may need a pinch of salt as you turn the pages.

Also theorises on Manna, and why 'bread' was so often a gift to kings and high officers.

KC

[Lloyd]

859

Thanks, KM. That might be it.

The God Enki, the Sumerian Great Flood and the Origins of Noah’s Ark | Ancient Architects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ93s-fyFGs

[JP Michael]

JP, have you heard the theory that the Ark of the Covenant generated static electricity? Someone theorized probably over ten years ago that the Israelites considered God to be electricity, because the OT said God dwelled between the cherubim on the Ark. The person noted that the description of the ark and accessories suggested that it could generate static electricity like leyden jars do.

Unless someone is going to build a replica of the ark and place it in-situ in a rebuilt Holy of Holies for testing (the Ark alone is not enough; it needs to be placed in-situ in the environment it was intended), I do not see much validity in this speculation. I also find it theologically objectionable to ontologically equate God = Electricity, although this is a question I do intend to research when I re-examine the Biblical description/doctrine of "spirit/soul". The other thing is that the Hebrew deity is always called the living, speaking, seeing, hearing and moving God in contradistinction to the dead/mute/blind/deaf/lame gods of the idol worshippers. That Langmuir called the #1 universal electromagnetic phenonmenon plasma because it seemed alive is not enough to cross the ontological bridge to the living, sentient, transcendent being that is YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Israel.

If so, maybe the myth of Zeus throwing lightning bolts and other myths involving lightning etc were related.

There are copious references of YHWH manifesting his presence with bolts of lightning and related phenomena, such as manifestations from the Ark of the Covenant. Both categorising various phenomena in addition to understanding how/when/why the Hebrews utilised such descriptions will be part of the re-analysis of the Old Testament's relationship to 'myth' I am currently preparing for a research project next year. Obviously, I am well aware that EU founders want to say that the Hebrew YHWH = Planet Saturn, but I am not so easily convinced that such a case can be sustained theologically especially when Hebrew cosmology/theology affirms that YHWH created the planets and used them as the instruments of his judgement throughout history. That which is made cannot create what made them.

What evidence of plasma cosmology do you find in the OT?

You will need to wait ~4 years for the detailed answer to that question, but I am working on it!

One of those who had firm opinions.....
Laurence Gardner "Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark", Element Books, 2003. ISBN 000714296 X

Thank you for this reference. I will be taking a look at this during my research, even if the science is likely dubious.

[Lloyd]

ARK OF THE COVENANT

Catastrophism.com has 50 quotes from Catastrophist literature on "ARK OF THE COVENANT" at
http://www.catastrophism.com/intro/sear ... t%5B%5D=-1

Here are some relevant quotes from the first eleven [my emphases].

1. GODS FIRE: [Quantavolution Website]
_It is of the essence of Yahweh that he be such an "incorporeal" substance on a cosmic and microscopic scale and be at the same time an invisible influence for good and evil. Long before the early modern scientists found their deus ex machina [[electricity - LK]], Moses displayed Yahweh from the Ark of the Covenant. The divine presence luminesces from the pillar of cloud [3 and from between the two cherubim "visible to the people as the radiation of the divine substance, as the kabod always visibly directed towards or pointing to the tent." [4

2. THE BURNING OF TROY: PART ONE: HISTORICAL DISTURBANCES: CHAPTER FOUR: MICAH'S ARK [Quantavolution Website]
_I owe the realization that Micah's image was an ark to J. Ziegler (YHWH, 34-35). He points out that mere images of material are common in ancient Jewish household; that the word which is translated "image" as in "any standing image" comes from the word "neck," hence refers to any arrangement or instrument capable of discharging an ark, that Micah needed both insulating carved wood and metallic sides, that is, both "a graven image and a molten image" to fabricate his ark. Ziegler perceives that the first and second commandments go together, expressing the absolute preference for Yahweh followed by the prohibition of graven images, by which is meant any competitive presentation of the divine who was displayed on the true Ark. The Danites, after stealing the image (ark), erected it in the capital of the country that they had savaged. "And they kept the carved image of Micah..., all the day that the house of the God continued in Shiloh," an obvious reference to the prototype "true" Ark of the Covenant that rested at Shiloh for a long time.( Ju. 18: 13) Hence a functioning Ark, an electrical apparatus that has been described elsewhere (Ziegler, op. cit. A de Grazia, "Moses and his Electric Ark," Midstream, Nov. 1981), found a home in Baalbek, where appropriately, it was mounted upon a hill site. There, in the years of declining terrestrial discharges, it might still on occasion approach the norm of activity that its prototype (then in the temple of Solomon at Jerusalem) displayed during the Exodus under the direction of Moses. In Velikovsky's article, the "thing" is an "oracle," an "image," and an "idol," vague terms applied to the Ark in conventional Biblical exegesis. Too, they are terms that the editors hostile to the Northern Kingdom would use to avoid suggesting that something approaching in shape, intent, and functions the most sacred Ark would be operative there, or anywhere else. The oracle of Micah was also called "a voice... from Dan" by Jeremiah, and "voice" was a term used literally and liberally in regard to the presence of Yahweh on the Ark. The "oracle of Micah," or Micah's Ark, lends authenticity and credibility to Velikovsky's reconstructions of the history of Baalbek. Some fifteen years ago, during a rambling conversation that took in the crises over Lebanon, Velikovsky fixed me with a confiding gaze and said: "Baalbek was part of Israel. I have never published it because it might cause trouble."

8. AMBER, ARK, AND EL [Quantavolution Website]
_The ark was basically a Leyden jar, or collector of electrical charge, with the lid of the box supporting two cherubim, figures with wings. The cherubim were earthed, in electrical contact with the ground. Between them, and insulated from them, was a rod, which collected atmospheric charge. The high priest probably controlled a mechanism which enabled him to adjust the position of the rod to vary the display and sound of the ark. The "mercy seat" is the wings of the cherubim, with the kapporeth or lid of the box underneath. There are representations of Egyptian arks which support this reconstruction. Kabhodh, a word associated with the ark, is the radiation. One may compare Greek kephale, head, and Latin caput, and capio, take or contain; compare also the fire playing round the head of Romulus, and of the slave boy Servius Tullius. 'El', as in Hebrew 'Elohim' and 'El', means god. I suggest that elektron is 'el ek thronou', Greek for 'God out of the seat'. The Greekless reader needs to know that 'th', theta, was originally pronounced as a t followed by an aspirate, not like English th as in 'thing'. There are many references in the Old Testament to images of Yahweh on the ark, ea. Psalm XCIX: l: "He sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved." Exodus XXV: 22: "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the Ark of the Testimony..." II Kings XIX: 15: "which dwellest between the cherubims." The link between god on earth and god in the sky, suggested by Heraclitus and the Delphic oracle, may appear in Psalm XVIII:9 & 10: "He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind."

11. GODS FIRE: CHAPTER EIGHT: THE ELECTRIC GOD [Quantavolution Website]
_Hence, Moses was the inventor of Yahweh in every meaningful sense of an invention, no invention ever being unprecedented and quite new. Merely to imagine that it would be possible to propose a new god to the world was audacious and brilliant. Yahweh is explicitly new, yet another name, as Yahweh says, for the old god of the Hebrews. His name dwells most precisely on the mercy seat of the Ark, and then in the place in the temple chosen by him. With negligible exceptions he speaks only to and through Moses. Moses invents Israel as well, in the sense that he takes a nickname given to Jacob after Jacob has wrestled with God or the Angel of God, and attaches it to the descendents of Jacob and the initiates into the new Yahwist Israelite group led by Moses himself. The term is translated variously as "the god-fighter" "God fights," [11 "the god who battles," or "god rules." [12 Israelites were then "the people of the fighting god." Yahweh is of course a bellicose god, so the name is apt, and both "Israel" and "Yahweh" become battle cries of the newly founded nation. The idea that the Jews never spoke the name YHWH seems to me preposterous. The name was inutterable simply because its authentic voice came only from the Ark of the Covenant. When the time came that the Ark was rarely functional, the name became secret. The name of "Amen" had the same history; presumably the Egyptian pyramids, too, were no longer displaying or sounding the god's name; whereupon it was said that Amon hid himself- not of course from all prayers and enunciations to which the response is "Amen." Does not the idea that YHWH has the electric name of god when he spoke through the noise of the ark contradict the very Third Commandment that says: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain?" Of this, Ziegler says, "with the idea of YHWH as an electrical discharge [[or electric force, the main force in the universe - LK]], there are at least three possible reasons for the commandment. First, there might have been a danger of injury to those using the power indiscriminately. Second, its use might have allowed the enemies of Israel to obtain this secret, Third, a frequent use of the power might discourage the worship of it." [13 Or at least, so Moses thought at the time. Actually the ark ceased to speak as YHWH when the electric age ended- around 600 B. C.- and the substitute notion arose that the commandment referred to the human voice not uttering the word YHWH, because it was the name of God [14.

[Lloyd]

MORE QUOTES RE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
(It seems plausible that the Ark was electrical and that environmental electrical effects were stronger in ancient times.)

12. GODS FIRE: CHAPTER SIX: THE CHARISMA OF MOSES [Quantavolution Website]
... how did Moses kill the foreman? Legend says be killed him not by violence, but by uttering the secret name of god [27. We know that this word is the treasure of the Ark of the Covenant. It is the equivalent of the word YHWH. Was the Hebrew who was being abused by the supervisor a Levite or helper of Moses? And did Moses electrocute the supervisor on one of his dangerous experimental contraptions? Ordinarily, in a highly stratified society, a highly placed person will not demean himself by physically fighting a member of a lower stratum, but will have the job done for him by the man's equals.

13. GODS FIRE: [Quantavolution Website]
_Briefly summarized, he finds numerous Arab and pre-Arab mobile boxed and tented litters, carrying god images and sacred stones (or bethyls), usually on camels. These performed ark-like functions of pointing out routes, rallying tribesmen in battle, and transporting and exhibiting the deity. He concludes that the Ark of the Covenant was of this ilk

14. GODS FIRE: CHAPTER TWO: THE SCENARIO OF EXODUS [Quantavolution Website]
_These facts should suffice to stress the obstacles facing someone like Moses who did not deny the religious and scientific phenomena that are observed by means of the pyramids, such as the voice of the gods and the electrical "temperature" of the environment, but who argued that they might also be observed by means of a small electrical device of the type of the Leyden jar, which could even be portable. The great pyramid compared with the tiny electric device was like the early giant computers compared with the miniature computer of today. So, his argument would go, when the peak of the pyramid lit up, a compactly constructed arc (ark) would also activate, and when a lower pyramid would light up, the ark would signal faster, and that "eyes" would appear on both) and that when the pyramid edges began to light up from the top edge and run down, the ark would talk "a blue streak"' and its surroundings would become dangerous. And in the end, in both cases, fire would leap down and run around the premises [22. The Ark, then, must be defined in a preliminary way here; very much is made of it later on, as the secrets of Moses' science took concrete form in the Ark of the Covenant, among other things. The ground ark, unlike the pyramid or mountain altar, makes its own divine fire. It does not depend upon a single point high up to provide the electrical discharge. In a small machine, grounded by one pole and pointed to the sky at the opposing pole, the two being insulated from each other, an opposing charge is accumulated at the poles and, when sufficiently charged, the poles exchange a spark, a light, a divine fire.

17. Bookshelf [SIS C&C Review]
_The Bible Came from Arabia by K. Salibi Jonathan Cape 1985: This book has been dismissed as anti-Zionist propaganda and many refuse to read it given its central tenet that the actual geographical location of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah was in the area of south-west Arabia known as Asir. However, if there were no delicate political situation and this was simply another book about the location of Atlantis, then a serious consideration of Salibi's text might reveal that his descriptions of the supposed locations of biblical events are actually a terrestrialisation of the themes and images of Talbott's Polar Configuration myth. For those who do not believe the Bible is 100% historical fact this is an opportunity to investigate how much is related to the myths and legends of other cultures and should therefore be considered as a description of the universal human cosmic experience and not merely the history of one small group.
_The Copper Scroll Decoded: One Man's Search for the Fabulous Treasures of Ancient Egypt, by Robert Feather Thorsons: Another treasure seeking adventure based on supposed references to buried treasure from ancient sources. This time the source is the copper scroll from the Dead Sea scroll collection, which is an inventory of large quantities of gold, silver, jewellery etc. with coded instructions for their hiding places in the Middle East. The author believes the Essenes at Qumran were descendants of Egyptian priests who left Egypt with Moses. They were followers of Akhenaten who was pharaoh at the time of Joseph and Jacob.

19. GODS FIRE: CONCLUSION [Quantavolution Website]
_The story centers upon a scientific genius- Moses- and a new god- Yahweh. Yahweh is recognized as a great comet, as an electrical presence on earth, as the hallucinations of Moses, and as all cognate mental and social behavior in the times and places of Exodus, the Wanderings, and the invasion of Canaan. Of Yahweh, Vriezen has stated correctly: "If this God has to be typified in one word, that word must be: Power; or, still better, perhaps: Force. Everything about and around Yahweh feels the effect of this. He as it were electrifies his environment." [2 His electrifying force is more than psychological and metaphorical; "The Great I Am" is electrical in fact. The ideology of mosaism, a set of formulas for tying the aims of Moses to the purposes of Yahweh, proved to be adaptable from one restricted area and culture, the Judaic, to several grand civilizations- Byzantine, West European, Islamic, and American. The Ark of the Covenant, "the Vehicle of Yahweh," symbolized, as well as played a critical part in, the whole story. Its electrical functions represented the achievements of the Egyptian theocratic establishment from which Moses, one of its luminaries and scientific managers, was expelled. The Ark was the centerpiece around which the aggregate of survivors of the flight from Egypt were organized into a new nation. The Ark gave voice to the new god, Yahweh, distinguishing him from related old gods, and lent credibility to his being one god, the great god, the most active god, a god who moved and rested with his followers, an invisible god, a god of explicit advice, a god who was independent of any sky body once he was defined by Moses.

27. The Holy Grail: Source of the Ancient Science and Spirituality of the Circling Cosmos by Lee Perry [SIS C&C Review]
_Stories from the times of the Templars are also significant; when the Cathar fortress of Monsegur was being assailed their treasure was spirited away down vertical cliffs, as was that of the Templars when they heard the King of France was about to seize their treasury. A piece of green embroidered green silk would be easy to transport unseen [[The grail being a chart - LK]], whereas gold and jewels would not. Could it be that these groups were persecuted because their treasure was in fact simply esoteric knowledge which the Church leaders could not afford to have more widely disseminated? Could it make even more sense of such suppression if the ancient knowledge was not just about regular calendric periodicity but of a time when the skies were chaotic and associated with catastrophe on Earth?

29. Metron [Kronos]
_In the middle of Mesopotamian cities there was the steptower which embodied the units of the system of measures, and represented the connection of the cities with the cosmic order. The Egyptians had measured the circumference of the Earth and realized that degrees of meridian become longer as one moves to the north. They had set up a geodetic system with benchmarks which had the purpose of showing that the main physical features of Egypt fit the patterns of meridians and parallels. At the beginning of the Middle Kingdom they set their capital at Thebes which is located at 2/7 of the distance between the Equator and the Pole. Maimonides observes that, according to Jewish tradition, to use false measures is a crime worse than incest. A number of passages from the Old Testament make clear that the first element of Hebrew law is the system of measures. They are connected with the statements that God created the world numero pondere mensura; these texts were quoted with gusto by thinkers of the Renaissance. The Ark of the Covenant, where God was present, was nothing but an empty box representing a standard unit of measure. In some Greek temples, too, the divinity was represented by a unit of measure that was carried in procession on given occasions. The Brazen Sea and the other measures of the Temple of Solomon expressed the same notion; Jewish tradition preserved with great care the middoth of the vanished Temple.

30. Edfu Books (Advert) [SIS C&C Review]
_Jesus, Last of the Pharaohs Shows how the biblical patriarchs were not lowly pastoral shepherds, but instead the Hyksos Shepherd pharaohs of Egypt, and therefore among the most powerful individuals in the world in this era- thus Jesus was descended from this royal line of Egypt. The book also explains how the New Testament Saul has at last been found in the historical record, a revelation that brings with it several new historical texts detailing the life of Jesus. These new accounts show him to have been the governor of Tiberias, a leader of 600 rebel 'fishermen', and to have died in AD 68- long after the traditional date for his crucifixion. Tempest & Exodus Discovers a large quotation from the biblical Exodus, inscribed on the 'Tempest Stele' of Ahmose I- the first time that an Old Testament account has been found in the historical record. The implications of this revelation are that the biblical Exodus must have occurred in the early 16th century BC, that the biblical plagues were probably caused by the eruption of Thera (Santorini), and that the Israelites were paid a large tribute by Ahmose I to leave Egypt- which they used to fabricate the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. A further revelation, that springs directly from this quotation, is that the biblical Mt Sinai is most probably the Great Pyramid of Giza. If this were the case, then the circling of the 'mountains' around Sinai was in fact a ceremonial circumnavigation of Giza- a ritual that is preserved to this day by the circling of the Ka'ba in Mecca.

31. Reviews [SIS C&C Workshop]
_Ziegler says, "hiding still further from the reader the key to understanding the ancient mysteries". He shows these are centred on static electricity and that Moses was able to control it with the Ark of the Covenant, built like a capacitor with insulation and gold leaf. The priests used rods for various operations, conducted with engineering skills and precautions, like handling radioactive fuel elements today. Ziegler says this could be done by a few intelligent leaders and their helpers because atmospheric electricity was then immensely more powerful. It was all around, shining on mountain tops, the eye on pyramids, the burning bushes. God spake in lightning flashes far more often.

33. Snapshots of the Gods? [SIS C&C Review]
_In fig. 2, the monster Set-Typhon appears in a trism- but note how his head resembles those of the Gnostic gems of Yao-Abraxis (figs. 3a and 3b), perhaps confirming the identity of Yahweh and Set. Also note how Yahweh's serpentine lower limbs resemble the Buddha's. Does Yahweh also appear in the midst of a trism? Yes: in Exodus 25:22, Yahweh tells Moses to seek His voice in the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant between the wings of the Cherubim- i.e. between two symmetrical forms!

[Lloyd]

1066

First: Ark; Second: Corona
Here are two more quotes on Ark of the Covenant search at http://www.catastrophism.com/intro/sear ... oom_query=

35. GODS FIRE: [Quantavolution Website]
_the god who competed with Yahweh and aroused the indignation of the Yahwists was the cometary Baal.
_Moses was not alone in rejecting the absolute identification of a comet as a mainstay of his god. Generally so-called planetary, solar, or lunar religions are not exclusively such:

49. Jupiter in Collision: In Search of Velikovsky's Comet [SIS C&C Workshop]
_Hebrew tradition, like most major cultures, gives us many static and dynamic variations of the pillar of smoke and fire. In Genesis it is the trunk of the trees of life and knowledge. In the post-Exodus period the wooden pillar, emblematic of the Hebrew goddess, was offered human sacrifices 'in high places'. So important was this idol that it replaced the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple on a number of occasions.
_Holmberg, devoted an entire chapter to the pillar in his work on Siberian myth. Plato would not have confused the battle of Zeus and Typhon as relating to a pillar of light. He acknowledged this symbol as the highway for the souls of the dead to reach heaven.
_Our Neon World
_In other published works, I have argued that an enhanced aurora at the north and south poles is an inevitable outcome of encounters with great meteorite showers. Present auroral displays, sometimes called the Northern Lights, are the product of periodic solar flares which cause temporary charge imbalances in the Earth's magnetic field.

A search on Corona brings up these (relating to a possibly more electrified environment in ancient times).

2. The Cloud of Jehovah [Catastrophism & Ancient History Journal]
_St. Elmo's fire, seen at the top of ships' masts at night when thunderclouds are near; other natural forms are seen from sharp Alpine peaks and even the heads of human beings. The edges of aircraft wings....
_observed in the laboratory and also called coronas. They produce not only light, but audible sound as well
_localized discharge resulting from transient gaseous ionization of atoms in an electric field

48. Letopolis: city of the thunderbolt (Report) [SIS C&C Review]
_Blinding due to' blast and flash' phenomena is a recurrent mythic theme and even pops up in the Bible. Forrest quotes the story of Sodom.

49. Sunspots and Earthquakes [Thunderbolts Website]
_emission of positive ions from the Earth’s surface may act as nuclei for the ground-hugging fog that sometimes occur prior to earthquake activity.
_cause corona discharges, or "earthquake lights."
_Disturbed animal behavior

53. The Passing of Elijah [Catastrophism & Ancient History Journal]
_Elijah was either annihilated by the ball or transported to parts unknown by the whirlwind
_a luminous corona discharge appeared above his head.[9 The viewers from across the way took it to be the spirit of Elijah

93. Of the Moon and Mars, Part 2 [Pensee]
_during interplanetary-discharge events, it would seem highly likely that the entire surface of a cathode body would be covered with glow or electrical corona --less violent forms of discharge.

Search on Halo.

40. The Chariot of Fire [Velikovsky Archive Website]
_The enigmatic coolness of mountin tops is caused by an electrical process as I show elsewhere.

74. Heracles and the Planet Mars [Aeon Journal]
_An unusual attribute of Huwawa is the monster's 7-fold halo which surrounded him (pu-ul-ha-tim). It is this halo, described as being of a terrifying nature, which Gilgamesh succeeded in diminishing in some way.

80. Society News [SIS C&C Workshop]
_Ka appears to be something which could be transferred to statues of gods and thence to kings with the aid of priests. Thrones were possibly special electrical devices and kings and gods are represented holding sceptres which have connection with fire-sticks. More related words were offered as evidence that kings were capable of arranging for a halo of light, like St. Elmo's Fire, to form around their heads when seated on these thrones.

[Brigit]

catastrophism subtopic: manipulation of natural phenomena and/or unknown technology to gain power

There is a view of history in which a technocratic "elite" impose their rule and culture from above, using simple scientific phenomena to manipulate and deceive those who do not understand the science. The idea that the Ark of the Covenant was a Leyden Jar which had a little static and caused people to obey Moses is about the most extreme example of this historical view I have seen yet, and for that I am very grateful.



I would argue that view is actually only a subset of another historical paradigm, which seeks to show that a clever, superior caste imposes its rule and maintains its continued legitimacy through manipulation of myth and symbolism, and through economic and legal domination.

Or, in other words, all culture and civilization has its source in, and is actually created by, a dominant caste which organizes society to concentrate luxury and power in its own hands. Without the presence of this powerful and dominant caste, there is no culture. Historians affirm this view constantly, in my experience, and they do it overtly and in perfectly plain sight. If they find no powerful ruling caste, no palace, no highly stratified social structure, then the historians do not view that group as a civilization, but they use such words as "barbaric", "chaotic" and "lacking order" to describe it instead.

I am going to come up with a name for that historical model, which I have identified in almost all history books and most media coverage of archaeological subjects (of recent vintage, anyway). And when I come up with a name for it, it is going to be a really really good one!

[Brigit]

catastrophism subtopic: manipulation of natural phenomena and/or unknown technology in order to gain power

It is true that many polytheistic and idolatrous religions required huge temples and elaborate ceremonies which were necessary in order to maintain the seasons, and even the continued regular motions of the heavenly bodies. For example, many cults in South America offered human sacrifices to guarantee the continuance of the seasons of spring and harvest. I think that would be a good example of a powerful caste which claims to provide regularity in nature perhaps by using eclipses and conjunctions and other events in the sky. It is a very very old system. --Actually, I would like to nominate that as the oldest profession.

Many civilizations of the ancient world also claimed that their rulers and ruling castes were descended from the gods. I noticed that Roman emperors in particular were fond of worship as gods, as were the Pharoahs of Egypt long before them. I would place this as another apt example of a clever ruling caste using symbols and religion, and natural phenomena, for the purpose of centralizing and stratifying society.

Moses in contrast did not set up any kind of inherited title or divine dynastic rule.

The only inherited position was the priesthood, and the Levites, who were charged with the care of the Tent of Meeting and with rendering judgments in legal matters at times; but in the Law, they were the only people who were not allowed to own land, eliminating the problem of seizing land from families through corrupt legal proceedings. One other advantage is that it guaranteed that the king (a much later development) could not appoint the judges and priests, thus limiting his power.

On these points alone, Moses was not a Pharoah, as was claimed in an earlier post.

[JP Michael]

Moses in contrast did not set up any kind of inherited title or divine dynastic rule.

The only inherited position was the priesthood, and the Levites, who were charged with the care of the Tent of Meeting and with rendering judgments in legal matters at times; but in the Law, they were the only people who were not allowed to own land, eliminating the problem of seizing land from families through corrupt legal proceedings. One other advantage is that it guaranteed that the king (a much later development) could not appoint the judges and priests, thus limiting his power.

On these points alone, Moses was not a Pharoah, as was claimed in an earlier post.

Great points, Brigit. I will only note one textual oddity that struck me in my recent readings in the books of Samuel:

King David's sons were appointed as priests (Hebrew kohanim, priests, 2 Sam 8:18). This passage was an uncomfotable proposition to the author of Chronicles and it was changed to read "David's sons were the chief officials (ri'shonim, not kohanim) in the service of the king" (1 Chronicles 18:17). The record in Samuel seems to be a violation of the laws of the priesthood (and is certainly not the only textual oddity in that ancient annal)!

But instead of expunging it from the original text of Samuel later editors, like the priest Ezra who compiled Chronicles, offered a reinterpretation of the questionable material in a new volume. This is the beauty of the Hebrew scribes: they retained a lot of 'questionable' material which came down via older documents, eg. the Torah or Samuel, and did not edit it out. Occasionally they added an explanatory gloss to the older text (eg. Ruth 4:7), but for the most part they left the original readings alone, including incorrect or archaic spelling, scribal copying errors or theologically challenging phrases! Corrections are put in the margins and notated with kethib, what is written, versus qere, what is read aloud.

Jesus also makes it clear that in the second temple period, when the 'seat' of legal judgement moved from the Temple to the synagogue (except in the highest cases like Jesus' own trial which was first overseen by the High Priest himself), it was opened to the very abuses you described here. The priestly scribes would exploit the Laws of Moses to defraud the vulnerable of their possessions (Luke 20:45-47 cf. Mark 12:38-40). The mention of widow's houses is important in this context, because a house in a walled city was the only legal property a Levitical priest could own outright (Leviticus 25:29-30, esp. verse 30), besides their inviolable pastoral allotments (Leviticus 25:31-34).

The Law of Jubilee was intended to ensure that if hardship fell upon a landowner, they would be leasing their property for a maximum of 49 years, at which point the ownership returned to them 100%. All levels of society are subject to this law, be they peasant, priest or king. Furthermore, a landowner could redeem, that is, compensate the lessee to terminate the lease early, at any time prior to Jubilee, and this also applied to houses in walled cities but with a limitation of 1 year instead of 49. Houses sold in walled cities did not revert ownership during Jubilee; this is the law the scibes of Jesus' day exploited to their maximum benefit.

Human greed and selfishness always finds a way to abuse and defraud the poor and needy, then as much as today, irregardless of a system or its safeguards. This is why King Ahab was judged so severely (see 1 Kings 21:1-24). He was denying Naboth's descendants their property rights under the Mosaic Laws of Jubilee.

[Lloyd]

1147

RULING CLASS ORIGIN

Brigit said: There is a view of history in which a technocratic "elite" impose their rule and culture from above, using simple scientific phenomena to manipulate and deceive those who do not understand the science. ... all culture and civilization has its source in, and is actually created by, a dominant caste which organizes society to concentrate luxury and power in its own hands. I am going to come up with a name for that historical model, which I have identified in almost all history books and most media coverage of archaeological subjects (of recent vintage, anyway). ... Many civilizations of the ancient world also claimed that their rulers and ruling castes were descended from the gods.

The Saturn Theory supposes that the ruling classes were inspired by the polar configuration of the planets in ancient times. Here's an example from Catastrophism.com.
1. Astral Kingship [Aeon Journal]
_From: Aeon III:2 (May 1993) Astral Kingship Lewis M. Greenberg See note* below.
_KINGSHIP AND THE PLANETARY GODS
_Throughout the millennia of ancient civilizations, one can recognize a consistent pattern in the politico-religious behavior and dynastic policy, propaganda, and imagery of its rulers. For one, as each new potentate ascended the throne -- regardless of region -- a deliberate effort was made to acquire the complete earthly as well as the full spiritual power contained within the realm. The local gods were adored and embraced. To do otherwise would have been insensate. Divine power flowed from above, essential for the majesty of the new sovereign; and the source of that power was not arbitrary. It emanated from the greatest of the planetary deities, who showered their unqualified blessings only upon those terrestrial vicars deemed worthy. Who were these planetary deities and why were they considered the dispensers of divine authority?

You can do searches at http://www.catastrophism.com/intro/sear ... oom_query= on Kingship, Monarch, etc to find other articles that may discuss the origin of ruling classes etc.

ANCIENT ELECTRIFICATION

Brigit said: The idea that the Ark of the Covenant was a Leyden Jar which had a little static and caused people to obey Moses is about the most extreme example of this historical view I have seen yet, and for that I am very grateful.

I was hoping there might be interest in discussing the idea that the electrical environment was much stronger in the past, which made the ark a powerful force that could destroy living things, such as scorpions in the desert during the Exodus wandering, or people etc. One of the prophets called down fire from God to an altar of sacrifice covered with water in order to prove that the Hebrew God was more powerful than other gods. This suggests both that the air was more electrified and that some knew how to tap into it. The idea that coronal glow discharges made some objects glow, like the pyramids, mountain tops and the ark etc, seems worth investigating. I think a TPOD or Thornhill mentioned once that Venus has hilltops that glow due to such glow discharges.

Brigit said: ... Moses in contrast did not set up any kind of inherited title or divine dynastic rule. ... On these points alone, Moses was not a Pharoah, as was claimed in an earlier post.

Which post claimed that? Charles thinks Moses was Ramose, a vizier of the pharaoh. One source I quoted was an article saying Jesus and the Hebrew rulers were Hyksos pharaohs or shepherd kings.

JP Michael said:
... one textual oddity that struck me in my recent readings in the books of Samuel:
King David's sons were appointed as priests (Hebrew kohanim, priests, 2 Sam 8:18). This passage was an uncomfotable proposition to the author of Chronicles and it was changed to read "David's sons were the chief officials (ri'shonim, not kohanim) in the service of the king" (1 Chronicles 18:17). The record in Samuel seems to be a violation of the laws of the priesthood (and is certainly not the only textual oddity in that ancient annal)! -- But instead of expunging it from the original text of Samuel later editors, like the priest Ezra who compiled Chronicles, offered a reinterpretation of the questionable material in a new volume. This is the beauty of the Hebrew scribes: they retained a lot of 'questionable' material which came down via older documents, eg. the Torah or Samuel, and did not edit it out. Occasionally they added an explanatory gloss to the older text (eg. Ruth 4:7), but for the most part they left the original readings alone, including incorrect or archaic spelling, scribal copying errors or theologically challenging phrases! Corrections are put in the margins and notated with kethib, what is written, versus qere, what is read aloud.

Is there any bible online that shows such marginal notes etc that indicates which text was written by whom?

[JP Michael]

Is there any bible online that shows such marginal notes etc that indicates which text was written by whom?

All Hebrew bibles have kethib and qere in their marginal apparatus; these are typically omitted in English translations although if you get a scholarly version like the ESV (English Standard Version), you will see the odd footnote which will say something like, "Revocalisation yields...". This kind of comment is usually a marker of a significant kethib/qere variant in the text.

In terms of author or editorialship, such is difficult, if not impossible, to determine with academic integrity. You can read a traditional JEPD commentary (like Julius Welhausen), but you probably wont find an English translation of the OT that footnotes those kinds of things.

In spite of my overall abhorrence of their textual criticism methodology, Welhausen and his disciples did a good job identifying some textual issues in the OT including indicator texts of an editorial process. I do not believe they have correctly identified the textual editors, however.

I believe that the Torah is the least edited of the ancient Hebrew works due to its sacred status as the core component of the covenant YHWH gave to Moses for the children of Israel, as evidenced by its many unedited kethib readings, untouched archaic pronoun spellings, useage of the paragogic letter nun (a feature which disappears in later works like Ezra and Chronicles) and other markers of ancient textual authenticity.

Of the limited number of textual glosses that exist (especially those in the Torah), it is impossible to determine when they might have been added/edited without having exemplar texts older than the Qumran corpus, or the witness of the LXX (the oldest representative of the textual tradition of the OT). Both the LXX and Qumran attest, for the most part, the extant editorial glosses in the Masoretic text.

[Brigit]

catastrophism subtopic: the Ark of the Covenant

Great points, Brigit. I will only note one textual oddity that struck me in my recent readings in the books of Samuel:

King David's sons were appointed as priests (Hebrew kohanim, priests, 2 Sam 8:18). This passage was an uncomfotable proposition to the author of Chronicles and it was changed to read "David's sons were the chief officials (ri'shonim, not kohanim) in the service of the king" (1 Chronicles 18:17). The record in Samuel seems to be a violation of the laws of the priesthood (and is certainly not the only textual oddity in that ancient annal)!

That is an interesting difference between 2 Sam 8 and 1 Chr 18 -- both texts are a list of the people in King David's administration but there are two different words used for posts held by David's sons. The earliest one uses the word usually translated as "priests" and the later one uses the word usually translated as "first" or "head".

There is an overflowing abundance of reasons why this should not be surprising, especially considering the profound transitions of the time.

• There was no temple at this time; the Ark had been kept in the Tent of Meeting for some 4 centuries. However, at the time of David it was separated from the Tent and the rest of the furnishings, and was being kept in someone's house in a small village called Kireath Jiram.

• When David had moved from Hebron to Jerusalem, he wanted to bring the Ark to Jerusalem to be placed in the Tent of Meeting there. He had consulted and inquired of various people, and it was agreed among all that they would relocate the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, with much celebration.

• The Ark was placed on a cart with oxen, but the move proved to be a disaster for every one involved, and it was again stored away in someone's house. It was only after researching the matter, and consulting the Law, that they discovered that it must be carried by running the golden poles through the rings in the side of the box, and placed on the shoulders of the priests and Levites.

Therefore, we can conclude within the immediate historical context that there was a general ignorance of the Law of Moses at this time, even among the priests and Levites themselves, as well as among the elders, officers, and people. This disaster made an extraordinary impression on the new king, as after this, he made every effort to do things "in the proper order." That includes keeping all of the duties of the Tent of Meeting within the tribe of Levi. Again, since no one informed the new king that the Ark must be carried by the Levites, we know that Israel during the time of Judges was "winging it". But it also means that the people of Israel were taking on the cultures and practices of the Canaanites and Ammorites and the Philistines, just as Moses had warned them not to do -- which, after all, is what the entire Old Testament is written to document!

Now to illustrate the profound impression this event made on David: we know that David is famous for adding music to the national festivals and the ceremonies which were centered on the Tent of Meeting. He added musical instruments, singers and percussion. But if you search and look at the names of the singers and musicians preserved by Ezra in 1 Chr (the book in question here), all of the singers/musicians are Levites. It seems that David had learned his lesson in the separation of powers. (:

Besides, Ezra took the time to record the geneaologies (which seems to be one of the main points of 1 Chron) and of the thousand or so names there it is difficult to find David's other sons anywhere in the lists of those who were serving in the Tent of Meeting -- not even in the new posts as singers or musicians.

(And finally, there are one or two other uses of the word for priest, or cohen, in the Old Testament. Besides, the positions in the king's administration go in the same order in both lists: the commander of the armed forces, the recorder, the priests, the chief scribe, then the messengers/couriers, then the guards, then the sons of David as chief officers. Now why would it go back and list more priests at the end of the list, but not list the chief officers? Something Ezra may have considered, along with the lists of names lacking David's sons, along with the other uses of the word "cohen.")

[Brigit]

catastrophism subtopic: direct experience with ancient texts can be full of surprises!

What many people may not realize about the long and lengthy history of Israel, otherwise known as the Bible, is that it records the failures of all of the men and women who play a part in the history. The faults and failures (usually deception) of Abram, Isaac and Jacob are carefully recorded, and the spiritual consequences set in motion are also considered.

In the period of history under discussion here (from 1447 BC to c. 530s BC) -- from the nation's birth, to its violent destruction and deportation to Babylon, to its return to Jerusalem, there is one failure to keep even the most basic spiritual principles and laws after another. Even Moses, having led Israel through the wilderness and having received the Law, was not allowed by the Lord to ever enter the promised land. He only saw it from the top of a mountain across the Jordan River.

And David, their second king, was not allowed to build a temple.

• But it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’

And also,

• And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the Lord my God; but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name

In fact, adopting a monarchy in the first place was a failure on Israel's part, and as soon as Solomon with all of his failures passed away, the country was permanently divided into two kingdoms, the North and South; all of the kings of the northern kingdom were corrupt, and most of the kings of the southern kingdom were corrupt.

Without the Law -- which besides its ethical and spiritual requirements also very clearly forbade the worship of planets, idols, or any other created thing -- you could say that there would be no history of Israel, because the Law, the history, the writings, and the prophets all detail their failure to keep what was given to them. It is what makes the writing of history possible for them. And it is why so few other people show any coherent history at all.

[JP Michael]

Therefore, we can conclude within the immediate historical context that there was a general ignorance of the Law of Moses at this time, even among the priests and Levites themselves, as well as among the elders, officers, and people. This disaster made an extraordinary impression on the new king, as after this, he made every effort to do things "in the proper order." That includes keeping all of the duties of the Tent of Meeting within the tribe of Levi. Again, since no one informed the new king that the Ark must be carried by the Levites, we know that Israel during the time of Judges was "winging it". But it also means that the people of Israel were taking on the cultures and practices of the Canaanites and Ammorites and the Philistines, just as Moses had warned them not to do -- which, after all, is what the entire Old Testament is written to document!

The only issue with this attempted resolution is that the appointment of David's sons as kohanim, priests, occurs 2 chapters after the breakout against Uzzah (2 Sam 6) and David's desire to upgrade the tabernacle to a temple proper (2 Sam 7). So I do not think it can be so simply argued as 'ignorance of the law' in the record, at least in Samuel, that King David's sons were kohanim. The record occurs chronologically after some of David's most significant religious experiences of the holiness of YHWH and need to obey his laws.

(And finally, there are one or two other uses of the word for priest, or cohen, in the Old Testament. Besides, the positions in the king's administration go in the same order in both lists: the commander of the armed forces, the recorder, the priests, the chief scribe, then the messengers/couriers, then the guards, then the sons of David as chief officers. Now why would it go back and list more priests at the end of the list, but not list the chief officers? Something Ezra may have considered, along with the lists of names lacking David's sons, along with the other uses of the word "cohen.")

This is a stronger argument, let down only by the fact that of the 753 instances of the word kohen in the Hebrew scriptures, 749 of them unarguably refer to the function of a priest in the usual sense, be they Levitical or not (eg. Melchizedek, priest of El Elyion, Gen 14:18; or Potiphera, priest of On, Gen 46:20, etc).

Of the four that are disputed:

• 1. 2 Samuel 8:18 has already been mentioned.
  
  2. 2 Samuel 20:26 mentions "Ira the Jairite, also David's kohen." This list is similar in structure to that in 2 Sam 8:18, and the compiler again finds no qualms in listing David's personal priest last in the list.
  
  3. Job 12:19. The passage, in context, talks about the judgements and humiliations issued by God to those in positions of power and authority, so that God can order counsellors, kings and priests to become prisoners at his will. Given the ancient, pre-Levitical patriarchal setting of Job, I can only suppose it is referring to pagan priests of the planet-gods of the time.
  
  4. 1 Kings 4:5. "Zabud, son of Nathan, was kohen and king's friend." This is a similar list like David's in 2 Sam 8, where Solomon's chief priests are listed first (1 Ki 4:2), but again the chronicler has no qualms adding a second kohen, the king's personal priest, towards the end of the list.

I do not think the presence of David's sons as priests in 2 Sam 8:18 has been adequately explained given this additional information, and that the structure of the king's officials listing is similar, even in the reign of Solomon.

The point is, of course, whether David's appointment of his sons as 'kohanim' meant 'priests' in the regular sense, that is, men involved directly in the religious cult (which would be contrary to the Laws of Moses), or whether it should be understood in some kind of advisory capacity only. In either case, David did not abuse the positions for personal gain, most unlike priests in Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and even Roman Catholicism and Protestantism historically have done at various times and places.

[Brigit]

catastrophism subtopic: strict limitations on kings in Judea

The only issue with this attempted resolution is that the appointment of David's sons as kohanim, priests, occurs 2 chapters after the breakout against Uzzah (2 Sam 6) and David's desire to upgrade the tabernacle to a temple proper (2 Sam 7). So I do not think it can be so simply argued as 'ignorance of the law' in the record, at least in Samuel, that King David's sons were kohanim.

Yes, the point is well made. Look at it this way: the order of events is rapid:

in chapters 5-8 he becomes king, settles in a new capitol, and extends a northern border with Syria all the way to the River Euphrates. There is no list of any of his administration until the end of Chapter 8. So it is assumed that the list is a summary from his entire reign up that point, including when he was in Hebron, and during these events in Jerusalem. And as is the pattern with every other individual in the Bible, David then goes on to do some good things and some things that are wrong, for which he experiences painful consequences, every single time, for 13 chapters. There is no partiality with Him.

The point is, the people were instructed by Moses in Deut 31 to read the Law at the Feast of Booths every seven years. Moses gave a written copy to the Levites and to the Elders of each tribe. Then in Josh 8:30-35 Joshua wrote a copy of the Law of Moses on the rocks at the two Mts, Ebal and Gerezim, for every one to read and refer to. It is very clear that the constant reading of the Law of Moses did not happen: the entire Book of Judges shows that there was very little adherence to the Law during those years. The misadventures of every generation from Joshua to Samuel shows it. There was ignorance and disregard of the Law, and also periodic renewals of faith and purpose.