Hidden Riches
From a historical perspective, 'The DaVinci Code' is good fiction ...
I do think the book has provided a very real cultural benefit, though. By weaving many tales of medieval Christian mysticism into its story line, the book has stimulated a multitude of readers to look beyond the veneer of printed words in search of higher meanings. This is good, because both literature and history contain them in abundance. The richness of the written word and the refining effects of time have produced works essential to our lives' inner guidance.
Hopefully, more people will be inspired by this work of fiction to more fully explore other tomes that have even deeper meanings.
I'm referring to the Bible, the Torah, and the Koran.
Many of the world's tensions have their roots in opinion leaders who espouse literal interpretations of those volumes. Even more preposterous is that many of these issues are fomented by their own self-serving versions of those interpretations. From the silly 'War on Christmas' campaign being waged by some religious conservatives in the USA to the tragic turf wars over perceived sacred grounds in the Middle East, power bases masquerading as pulpits exploit literal definitions of holy words to seek nothing more than an increase in their sphere of influence. It is not enough for them to sway likeminded individuals, they cannot wield sufficient power until they can alter the lives of those who have chosen a different moral path, no matter how independently righteous that path may be.
I believe an effective means of curbing this troubling tendency is to expose the shallowness of such literal espousings. And so, I would like to share an article written in 2000 by Rabbi H David Rose, entitled:
"The Literal Truth? Pondering the Variety of Interpretations in Scripture."
It is one of the best dissertations on the subject that I have ever read.
The balance of today's column consists of Rabbi Rose's words:
"Dear God," Donna wrote. "Last week it rained for five days straight. We thought it would be like Noah's ark, but it wasn't. I'm glad because you could only take two of each animal into the ark, and I have three cats."
A professor of molecular biology wrote in a national magazine, "Given the dimensions of the ark and its wooden construction, the first stiff breeze would have broken it up. Its capacity was only a fraction of what was needed for the animals and their food supply, not to speak of their specialized needs for housing."
Are the narratives in the Bible fact or fiction? Were the prophets truth-tellers, or great storytellers? Did Methuselah live upon this earth for 969 years, as we are taught in Genesis? Did Abraham send his first child, Ishmael, out into the wilderness and almost sacrifice his son, Isaac?
And is any of this relevant to us and to our lives?
Many who read the Bible do so in a literal way. For these people, be they Christian or Jew, the choice is simple: Either the Bible is the exact written record of God's words, or it is not.
If it is God's word, then it is to be followed exactly as written. If not, then why bother?
Others, including myself, are convinced that to read our sacred texts literally is to miss the point. To do so, in my opinion, is to corrupt and stagnate the ever-growing relevance of our holy texts.
The Zohar (a book of Jewish mysticism) teaches, "Were the Torah (Bible) a mere book of tales and everyday matters, we could compose a text of even greater excellence. The Torah has clothed itself in the outer garments of the world, and woe to the person who looks at the garment as being Torah."
In other words, the essence of God's message is hidden from a person who takes a literal view. The word is not the message; the message lies behind the words.
Consider the story of Noah's ark. A literal interpretation misses the relevance and profound moral symbolism of the story, of the world flood and its implications for humanity.
The vital lesson of Noah's story is the human capacity for self-destruction and the ability of one person to save the world. In our time, we possess the capability to quickly destroy creation through our nuclear power or to slowly and significantly damage our planet through waste and pollution. Like Noah's generation, we are also able to corrupt the purpose of our existence through moral failure.
When we come to think that we or our creations are invincible, we soon find ourselves in deep water, just like the people of Noah's generation. Even the most powerful of human beings must face their limits or be brought low.
The tale of Noah's ark is about confronting both our power and our limitations as individuals and as society. The story is true not because it ever happened, but because it keeps on happening.
The Noah story is true, because it describes a drama we all face, generation after generation.
When we go beyond the literal sense of the text, we find meaning and relevance. When we can see our own struggles in the text, we can then take hold of the meaning of our sacred texts.
Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, an authority on the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible and a giant of 19th century Judaism, maintained that the entire Hebrew Bible "possesses the nature and the central character of poetry." One must be aware of poetic allusions, metaphors and figurative expressions to appreciate the meaning of scripture.
How could it be any other way? Hardly a verse in the Hebrew Bible can be understood verbatim. Take the statement, "And God said." Does God have a larynx? In what language did God speak?
To read Torah with the question, "Did it happen?" in our minds is to think of the wrong question. As Elie Wiesel has taught, "Not everything that happened is true, nor did everything that is true necessarily happen."
We all have the capacity to recognize truth in art, in movies and in plays, whether they accurately portray something that really happened or not.
Imagine that two books are lying before us. The first book was written by a Dr. Smith, an eminent ophthalmologist. It describes a complicated surgery which restored the eyesight of a Ms. Jones.
Ms. Jones is the author of the second book. In this book, Ms. Jones reports her fright, her anxiety and her pain. Then she tells of her exultation after the bandages were removed and she could see again.
Should we ask which book is the truth? Each book has a different intention and shares a different perspective. The doctor's truth is not that of the patient. A single criterion of truth creates needless contradictions. Both are true. Similarly, there is no single true way to read scripture.
Our sacred texts are sources of truth and meaning, and we must learn to open our eyes to them.
A literal viewing of our traditional books may obscure the truths within them, or worse, cause us to turn away and not look again.
Most of us learned scripture only as children. We were taught only literal explanations.
When we grew up, we outgrew such literal fairy tales and left them tucked away with the tooth fairy and other such nonsense.
As adults, our task in reading the treasures of our traditions and in living lives based on scripture is to uncover the layers of meaning. When we study, read and meditate on our sacred words, we discover their spritual implications.
May we hold on to our sacred texts, and may they guide our lives and give meaning to all that we do.
America – Is it in Bible prophecies and what can the USA expect at the second coming of Jesus Christ
This is perhaps the most often asked question heard in connection with the second coming, at least for Americans. It a reasonable question for any North American to ask, but it is far from easy to answer. I would be remiss if I were to say that the Bible expressly names America in any passage from Genesis to Revelation. That some passages may refer to America is very possible but not provable and that is the very kind of conjecture I will not entertain.
Naturally all the events surrounding the second coming of Christ are global or universal in nature so they necessarily include the United States. That the antichrist rules America for the same short period he rules the rest of the world is covered in Revelation 13:7. How he gets this powerful and fiercely independent nation to cow to his will is probably the more interesting question to try to answer.
Some people believe that America will be forced to comply with antichrist after an invasion of our shores by a great Eurasian pact of nations. Mostly, the invasion idea stems from the vision of George Washington. In that vision it is said that Washington told this story to his aide who in turn told it to someone else just before he died at about the time of the civil war. Washington was told that three great calamities would befall the nation. Starting with the revolutionary war, following that the civil war and finally some future war where America would be invaded. My learned opinion of this vision is, "who knows?"
That America would require force to he pushed into the rule of the antichrist is easy to believe but the force in question could be of a different nature. The remaining two views of how the United States is forced into the final pact of nations are probably more tenable.
The antichrist does not act alone but he is aided by one the scripture refers to as the false prophet. Rev. 16:13. 19:20. 20:10 We know little about who this person is today, hut what is known about him is that he doesn't come from the same region, country and perhaps even the same hemisphere as the antichrist. The antichrist rises up from out of the sea according to Rev. 13:1.
The false prophet rises up out of the land. Rev. 13:1 1-16. The antichrist rules from the revived Roman Empire or The European Union. Where the false prophet is stationed exactly is not known but some think it will be America. This of course is speculative, even though it is very possible. The false prophet will probably not be connected to any religion, but it is most likely he will be a political figure or a minister of science. What he is may he uncertain, but the influence he wields over the world is not. He is able to produce signs in the heavens and draw fire down from heaven at will. Whether he does this supernaturally through the aide of the devil or engages some star wars type pyrotechnical display is also not known.
What is known is that his antics are very successful in persuading the people on earth to give antichrist both credence and rule. Some biblical scholars have thought that he could come from America and while this is not known for sure, it gives rise to the idea that America will he assuaged to join with antichrist by his direct influence. But again, while it is very possible, it is still only conjectural at this time.
A third and perhaps a far more likely scenario is that America will undergo a collapse of all of its markets and financial institutions. Following a collapse, a desperate nation may seek to join with antichrist's emerging economic systems that will be so successful throughout much of the rest of the world at that time. Not long ago I asked some people the question, what do you think would be the most disastrous thing that could happen to America and what would change its nature significantly, an all out invasion of our shores or a complete and pervasive financial collapse? The majority answered that it obviously would be the collapse of our economy.
America is in the long stretch of the good times. We have many years between us and the dust bowl days and the stock market crash of twenty nine. World War Two is also far behind and the post war boom has become a post war glut. Any people that might decide to invade the shores of this powerful and fiercely proud nation would be in great peril. But take away what Americans really love, their affluence, money and material blessings and you could make them dance to just about any tune. This is the theorem that when applied to the question of how America joins the great evil new world order is the most believable, if not the most likely.
If the compunction to have more, drives a few to fraud, robbery and murder, then what will the lack of almost all consumer goods do to this nation? If history teaches us anything, the answer to this question is not a pretty one.
Rev Bresciani is the author of two popular Christian books, one on the second coming of Christ. He has hundreds of articles published both online and in print.
Visit the website at www.americanprophet.com
2 Reasons Why God Tests Us
Copyright 2006 Daniel N Brown
We all know that athletes need endurance training for physical stamina and mental toughness. When game time arrives, he or she will be ready to do battle and will have a greater chance at victory. If the athlete does not go through the necessary preparedness, he or she may not even be allowed into the game.
It's the same in our walk with God. We really shouldn't expect that we can just ask God for some great position in life with out any preparation. It's the tests and trials that He allows us to go through that are what prepare us for the greater things He has in store in the future.
There are two reasons why God tests us. The first reason is:
1. To Produce Patience
James 1:2-3 tells us, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
There is a huge misunderstanding of what the word "patience" actually means. Most people will say that it means to "wait." But, that's not true. If you look up the word "patient" in Webster's Dictionary it actually means to bear trials without complaining.
God doesn't want to hear someone complain anymore than you want to hear someone complain. Not only that, but complaining only reinforces your situation. Whatever you talk about and focus on becomes magnified.
God uses tests and trials to bring patience into our lives because He wants us to develop a good attitude. A good attitude then, will make us the kind of person God can use. We will become perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
The second reason God tests us is:
2. To Make You Perfect, Complete, and Lacking Nothing
James 1:4 says, "Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
God sometimes allows storms into our lives to test us so that He may accomplish a purpose in us. And, that purpose is to prepare us for greater things (Psalm 107).
If you're facing some challenges in your life today, just ask God to hold you up, strengthen you, and help you learn what He is trying to teach you.
Keep in mind that not all storms in your life are from God. Many times, you can create your own storms by making poor decisions. The best thing to do in these cases is to ask God to help you learn from your mistakes.
God can use your own storms to teach you things and use them to bring you increase. Always remember Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good to them who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose."
Be encouraged if things are not what you think they should be. God has a wonderful plan for your life and He may just be working on the inside of you right now. Maybe you're just learning patience. If you've already learned patience, maybe patience is having it's perfect work, making you perfect and complete, to where you will lack nothing.
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Daniel N. Brown is an entrepreneur and teacher of biblical success principles. Get his FREE report, "How to Receive from God" when you sign up for his FREE weekly newsletter.
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