Читать книгу CURSE of the HOLY ARK - Ted Miller III - Страница 7

In the beginning after creating the world, Yahweh next spoke to Abram and created a covenant that was not a contract. Mankind would have free will that could be rewarded by proper worship.

After this cosmic conversation the 75-year-old Abram’s name was changed to Abraham and his wife, Sarah, would now be known as Sarai. Three modern day religions now claim to have Abraham’s origins, although the Jews, Christians and Muslims never agree on much of anything else.

Abraham and Sarai gave birth to Isaac who was the first born son later renamed Esau. He sold his birthright to the second born son named Jacob for a bowl of soup. Jacob had twelve sons and Abraham’s great grandchild named Joseph was a great dreamer who intensified the sibling rivalry. Without telling the father, the other children sold him into slavery instead of killing him for his ambitious dreams of leading the family to fame and fortune. The traveling merchants who bought him ended up in Egypt. Many years later after overcoming great difficulties and almost beyond belief, Joseph became vice-regent of all of Egypt and reconciled his father and brothers by introducing and inducting them all into the free mason society.

Three hundred years later Jacob’s original family of seventy members grew into thousands and their strength and solidarity of their Masonic Code greatly threatened the control of the current Egyptian pharaoh. Now being in the leader’s state of disfavor, the family was reduced from proud and privileged servants to the state of despised slaves.

This story parallels many of the models of mythological heroes who have fallen from the favor of gods or kings and suffers until a new generation of heroes is born. Many years passed before this family’s hero would be Moses. During his early life he was miraculously saved from the pharaoh’s ordered massacre during which every slave’s son born that year was to be killed. The magical Masonic fortunetellers of the king’s court had foretold of a future leader arising from the slaves who would end the pharaoh’s rule if not killed as a child.

As a newborn baby Moses was placed in a papyrus basket and in this boat of reeds was set adrift in the river before he could be discovered by the king’s guard who would have slaughtered him on sight. Good fortune smiled upon him as he drifted into the queen’s reach and as God intended she fell in love with the newborn and was raised by the pharaoh as one of his own sons. Moses became the greatest of the free masons and while overseeing the construction of a temple for his adopted father and mother’s pleasure, he accidentally killed an Egyptian soldier who was beating a Hebrew. Moses was disgraced and exiled from Egypt to live in the Midian Desert and kept sheep for his father-in-law, Jethro, who was the high priest of the desert. While Moses was paying his penance for his crime, he witnessed a burning bush that was not being consumed by the flames. This sensational sight drew his curiosity and it is here that God commissioned Moses to return to Egypt and bring his family out of slavery. This is before Moses gains the divine revelation of the divine name of Yahweh, and the messenger is only known to him as “I am who I am”.

Even without knowing the speaker’s name, Moses is still greatly impressed and returns to tell the pharaoh, “Let my people go”. The king didn’t want to lose all of his free labor and thus the Lord started this kingdom’s prolonged period of misery. Plague after plague continued on until the tenth calamity of the death of all first born children and then the pharaoh relented and the Israelites left town for a new beginning.

But then the pharaoh changed his mind and chased them down to the Red Sea. The sea of reeds’ waters parted for the Israelites but closed over the pursuing Egyptians and drowned their army.

But this was just the start of troubles for Moses and his people. The tribe quarreled with each other, Moses and even God. Not even miracles such as water from a rock or bread from heaven could stop all the complaining. But, after all, forty days and nights in the desert is bound to try anyone’s patience.

So at Mount Sinai after hearing that some of the Israelites wanted to return to Egypt, God in the midst of a smoke and fire episode that echoed Moses’ earlier burning-bush experience, gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. His people’s doubts soon faded after this experience.

After a tabernacle was constructed to hold God’s words, the tribe took off to the Promised Land. They were now led by a priesthood which was composed of a subset of the Levites which was responsible for the tabernacle, religious services and instructions for the preparation of food. They also oversaw medical attention and religious holidays such as Passover, which celebrated the angel of death passing over the Israelites’ homes and only killing the first born of Egypt’s children.

During the next year while the priesthood was being ordained and animals were offered as burnt offerings, a census of the tribe was taken. At the end of the count it was determined that 603,550 men over the age of twenty now populated the twelve tribes. These men would become the united army of Moses and eventually attack the citizens of Canaan who occupied the Promised Land. But the Levites and priests would not become part of the army because they would be too busy with sacrifices, teaching the law of Moses, and furnishing the tabernacle to engage in combat.

After a year of preparations the army broke camp, but disorder soon again became the rule of each day as the internal squabbling broke down the chain of command. The troops were tired of the food and didn’t like Moses telling everyone what to do. Even God became frustrated because His earlier miracles had failed to convince His chosen people that they could overcome the hostile environment and conquer the Canaanites.

Since neither God’s miracles nor Moses’ marching order could convince the twelve tribes to move onward, at this point Moses sent forth twelve spies to scout the Promised Land. One was commissioned from each tribe and they spent the next forty days searching and spying out the land. When the spies returned they were impressed with the richness of the land, but scared to death of the people who populated and protected the Promised Land. By a vote of ten to two they sent forth their opinion that twelve tribes could not win this war.

Both God and Moses were angry and frustrated by the tribes’ fears. The decision was soon reached that since neither the Lord’s miracles nor the might of Moses could convince the tribes to attack, then they would use the test of time to turn the opinion of the tribes. God decided to wait for the next generation of Israelites to enact His plan and commanded Moses to remain in the desert one year for each day that the scouts spent spying out the Promised Land.

During the next forty years of wandering the desert the old generation died out and was replaced with new blood. Although God was angry with His chosen children He never failed to keep them clothed and fed well.

During the forty years of preparing for their forthcoming battle, the troops of Moses first attacked each of the bordering nations to prepare them for the ultimate attack against the much stronger Canaanite troops. The Israelites gained or were granted victories and having secured their flanks and rear against counter attacks and improved their confidence, their military strategy next led them towards Canaan.

Standing now at the edge of the Promised Land, Moses again spoke to his nation as he was about to die. It had been a long and tiring journey for Moses. He was eighty years old when he first told the pharaoh of Egypt to let God’s people go and now he had reached his one hundred twentieth year. Even though he was the leader of his nation, because of his own flaws he would not be allowed by God to enter Canaan. He was destined to perish with is own disobedient generation. As great a man as he was, he was still not above God’s will or laws. God did allow him, however, to view the Promised Land and from high above a mountaintop he spoke to the rising generation.

With an eloquence befitting his senior statesman position, he first reviewed the bitter years of slavery and discontentment that brought this younger generation to the threshold of victory. He restates the Ten Commandments and repeats many of the laws of the new land. He reminds his followers that their victory and longevity of remaining on the Promised Land does now and forever more depend upon their faithfulness to God’s law. Moses confirms that the Canaanites were losing their land because of their disbelief of the Almighty and their wicked ways of worshipping false gods. But he tells the faithful tribe that they were not being given the land due to their goodness, but rather because of God’s graciousness. Their God was a patient God, but if they ever forgot God’s law or misinterpreted God’s long willed patience as indifference, then as surely as the Canaanites would lose their land, so would the followers of Moses also lose their land. Be faithful and you will be rewarded. Become false and you will forfeit all you have fought to claim. This sense of conviction would continue to guide the Jews throughout all of their days.

After Moses died Joshua next succeeded him as the tribe’s leader. He led his army across the Jordan River into Canaan to face his first city-state foe known as Jericho. This walled city appeared to be impregnable, but this didn’t seem to faze the invading Israelites since they had spent the previous forty years in reflection for their previous doubts and now just crossed the Jordan River without getting their feet wet. For in the same manner as Moses led the tribe across the Red Sea, God had again parted the waters for them.

Leading the way was the Ark of the Covenant carried by the Levite priests and symbolized God’s presence and protection of his chosen people. Instead of directly attacking the high walls of the city, the battle plan of Joshua was to slowly walk around the walls of the city for six straight days. The citizens and king of this city-state must have thought that these invaders had become ill in their heads, but on the dawn of the seventh day the Israelites let loose a harmonized battle cry and cracked open the holy ark which first shook and then in a thundering roar tumbled down the city’s walls. The city’s citizens and troops were in a state of confusion and awe and the Israelites easily won this battle.

The next city-state Joshua attacked was Ai, but it proved more difficult to defeat. Although Ai was no better defended than Jericho, the troops of Joshua had committed some crimes which angered God, and this bad behavior was punished as a clear warning to what Moses had preached to his people while on his deathbed. Only the faithful will be rewarded and the false at heart will be hurt.

After Joshua resolved the religious problems, the troops appeared to be unbeatable. Thirty-one city-state kings were defeated and Israel’s advance could not be stopped, even when military alliances were formed by former foes. City after city either fell or sought treaties with the invading troops.

After Israel had taken possession of the Promised Land, Joshua then portioned it out to his followers. Having fulfilled his fate and while upon his deathbed, Joshua’s closing words were the same message as Moses … “Live well with the words of our Lord or lose the land you fought to gain”.

A series of judges became the succession of leaders for the next hundreds of years. These deliverers did not function as kings, but were more like crisis management leaders such as Moses and Joshua were. Some are well known and many are not.

God, however, continued to reward those people of pure purpose and even of those who were only halfhearted in their endeavors He would depart his blessings. The well-being of Israel depended upon God’s deliverance from the remaining Canaanites in the country who were reminders to wayward worshipers. Also the enemy nations who still survived and surrounded Israel could engulf the Promised Land if the followers brought misery upon themselves by forsaking the words of God that He gave to them to live by.

It still seems the followers of Moses had a short memories, because during the next several generations God’s words were again forgotten and every man just practiced what was right in his own eyes. Famine next ravaged the Promised Land and instead of flowing with milk and honey, fear and failure now took over the nation.

Eli was the judge during this time, but he had grown old and his sons had corrupted the tending of the tabernacle. One day in the City of Shiloh, Eli heard a barren woman named Hannah praying to God and promised if He would allow her a son that she and her husband, Elkanah, would devote their offspring to the service of the Lord to tend the tabernacle. Her prayers were soon answered and her son, Samuel, served the tabernacle as a child and as time passed Eli took him under his guidance and he eventually became the leading judge of all of Israel.

Later on during a disastrous battle with their neighboring Philistines the Israelites lost and then thought they regained the Ark of the Covenant, which again proved to them that even leading the battle front with the ark would not assure their victory. Only their behavior and beliefs could do so.

After being humbled again the Israelites then asked Samuel to appoint them a king like all of the other nations had, instead of their system of crisis management by raising up a judge to rule the missions. God took their request for a king as a rejection of His leadership, but nevertheless He told Samuel to select Saul. Although kingship was a foreign institution for Israel, the monarchy was regarded as a servant of Yahweh.

Saul was a courageous king, but he only halfheartedly obeyed the commandments of God. Samuel was forced to look for a replacement king because Saul was jeopardizing Israel’s future fate. The judge next told David, who was still but a boy, that he would become the next king. David had doubts about his leadership, but after he downed the giant Goliath with his slingshot, he became a hero to all of Israel except to Saul.

Saul could not rejoice in David’s one-handed victory because he now felt his rule threatened by the teenager. Saul wanted his son Jonathon to succeed him as king, but Jonathon had no qualms about yielding his claim to David. So Saul’s insecurities continued to fuel his foolishness until he was killed in battle by the Philistines.

During the dynasty of David he first called on the twelve tribes of Israel to grieve for Saul’s death. The tribes now knew they had to unite around David to protect their lands. Although God was the ruler of the land, truly no centralized government existed because the twelve tribes operated independently and only used the previous king as a judge for raising missions or resolving conflicts.

After David captured the city-state of Jerusalem he decided to unite the political and religious fractions by moving the Ark of the Covenant and the government to this new capital city. After solidifying his citizenry David continued to defeat or ally with all nations surrounding the Israelites and fulfilled all of the promises of Moses and Abraham and brought the glory of God to all of Israel.

But David was not without his own personal problems. After assuming the throne the king committed adultery and then orchestrated a murder to cover it up. None of the citizenry of Israel challenged him and so God sent the prophet Nathan to David to seek his sentence. Although the king did show remorse in the forthcoming years, the adulterous child died, David’s daughter was raped by one of his sons named Amnon, another son named Absalom had Amnon killed, and then during a long family feud tried to remove his father from the throne.

After many more adventuresome exploits David died and his son named Solomon became king. He succeeded in quieting his brothers and ruled in peace and prosperity for forty years. During these years he completed his father’s plan to build a permanent temple to house the ark on Mount Zion, which still rested within the portable tabernacle built in the wilderness. His kingdom was now considered the center of the world and the construction of this temple was Solomon’s greatest achievement.

His father David had secured Israel’s borders by conquest or treaties and now Solomon had centralized their religious and political parties, but Solomon’s heart and head became divided as he tried to placate and accommodate the other nation’s gods. He even allowed and accepted the cults of his foreign wives and built sanctuaries to honor their gods. The king now even assumed and performed the rites reserved for the Levite priests including symbolic reactualizations of the creation.

As God, Abraham, and Moses had warned the promised people to put no other gods before Him or face the loss of their country, the descendants again forgot these words of warning and at Solomon’s death the nation became divided into the northern and southern kingdoms. The south was ruled by Solomon’s son Benjamin, and the north was ruled by the remaining rebellious tribes.

But because the ark was housed in Jerusalem, which was the southern nation’s capital, all of the religious festivals and animal sacrifices that Moses had instructed must take place were held only there. The northern nation did not want their citizens going to the south’s city-states kingdom to celebrate their faith, so their king ordered that a pair of golden calves be placed at the border and his citizens would worship there instead of the south’s temple. This innovation violated the prohibition against false or foreign images and further aggravated the feud between the divided nations.

Thus, not only was the nation re-divided politically but religiously too. During the following decades many prophets came and went, and many were sent to challenge the king’s authority, but none stopped their self-serving bad behavior. Then the Levites tribe and priests defected to the south and still the situation was not rectified. The fortunes of both nations were predestined to decline and ultimately being split and divided the north was defeated by the mighty nation of Assyria, and about 150 years later in 586 B.C. the south also was conquered by Babylon.

It now seemed as if God’s chosen people were doomed to forever discover, forget and rediscover the presence of God. Man was originally created in God’s image. Although the commandments proclaim us to behave in accordance to right and wrong, and sin always brings the loss of God’s blessing yet we are predestined and doomed to fail because sin is part of the human condition.

To true believers there is no doubt that Satan exists, for in the book of Job the celestial accuser puts to task the man Yahweh was most proud of who maintained his devoted faith despite many forms of cruel and unusual punishment. This Biblical story may prove that even God can be tempted by Satan by one of the seven deadly sins known as vanity. On the other hand, God in his mysterious ways allows that Job loses his children, wealth and is then maimed with ulcers from head to toe because he cannot identify the nature of his crime against God. Even when three of his best friends berate him for not admitting his guilt, he still stands on his integrity. Only when Job recognized he was guilty towards God for assuming that the Creator’s mode of understanding was something other than incomprehensible, does God recant his original actions, redouble his possessions, gives him more children, and lets him live to be one hundred forty.

It may be that since God’s will is impenetrable and it is impossible to judge his actions, that all good or evil acts are wrought with religious meanings and the mystery of iniquity will never be known to mankind. What is, is. And what will be, will be. Who can decipher God’s will? The innocent die young and the evil live long, maybe to only atone for their sins? No one really knows.

It was during the period of around 1000 B.C. to 900 B.C. that the time of the prophets had arrived. These seers with their ecstatic experiences announced the classic prophecies.

Elijah made his announcements about 850 B.C. that Yahweh was the sole sovereign in Israel and that all other gods were powerless against him. His successor was Elisha who told of God’s great and marvelous acts and assembled a group of prophets around him.

Religious wars now sprang up regularly between the wandering diviners and royal visionaries and the court prophets who were connected with the king’s sanctuaries and the ruler’s favorites were against the false prophets. These messengers of God didn’t represent any clans or kingdoms, but declared their vocation was a call from God Almighty to communicate His messages to the masses.

These seers’ divine possession was obtained by the ecstasy of exaltation and magical trances brought about by the presence of God. These prophets were endowed and displayed magical powers of divination such as restoring the dead to life, making others fall ill, foreseeing people’s future fates or feeding the masses with but a loaf of bread. The one thing in common with all, is that they announced that God was angry with Israel and would send conquerors to destroy the sinners and only the chosen people would survive the catastrophe and form the new covenant with the creator.

During this two hundred years of waiting for His people to wise up God was growing bitter over his people’s betrayal. Then about 750 B.C. He sent a shepherd named Amos to prophesize to the people of Israel. Amos wasn’t an educated rabbi who made his living prophesying. He was tending his flock when God commanded he go forth and announce that now not only Israel, but all nations were under the jurisdiction of Yahweh.

Israel had become unfaithful. The social injustices, religious infidelities and ingratitude made their worship cheap and debased. Although Israel had forgotten its history, Yahweh still treated His chosen children with more love than anger.

As the great prophets of Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel continued to attack the kings of the world, the kingdoms now started to attack each other. It is said that the Lord’s left hand directed these enemies’ destruction and catastrophes while His right hand promised the forthcoming regeneration of his people.

Although the kings and their courts never believed the prophets’ announcement that the gates of Jerusalem would fall to their enemies, in 587 B.C. the temple was burned and a large portion of the population deported. Many who witnessed the fall of the city now doubted the might of Yawheh and converted to the gods of the conquerors.

As Jerusalem was torched and burned the Babylonians captured the king, killed his sons before his eyes, plucked his eyes out from his head so he would never see another sight except the deaths of his beloved sons, and then placed him in chains and taken to Babylon for display.

Again, as God’s words had prophecies warned His promised people to remain true to His words, now the tribes of Moses had lost their land and were exiled due to their own sins of not providing justice to each other and the worshipping of false idols.

But for the faithful, the catastrophic capture of the chosen people’s land was the ultimate proof of God’s wrath and the validation of the words of the prophets who foretold of the loss of their lands and liberty.

The Diaspora of the exiled Israelites was cast into all other nations. The fallen faith now had to meet together in buildings called synagogues to discuss their plight and problems. For seventy years the Israelites, who were now called Jews, were kept in exile from Jerusalem until a kindly Persian king whose armies had defended the Babylonians granted permission for the tribes to return from exile.

Ezra was the priest who led the first contingency of Jews back to the Promised Land. The tribe had been reduced from hundreds of thousands to now but a fraction of their original force, but the small groups who did return spoke with the volume of millions about how God would deal with faithless people and false idols.

Nehemiah was next allowed to return from exile, and the king put him in charge of rebuilding the city-state walls and organizing the people who were still regularly being overrun by neighboring tribes or marauders and looted. So while Ezra was re-instituting the religious practices, Nehemiah was rebuilding the city, and as the judges and kings dealt with the foreign powers the chastised nation again started to grow.

The scriptural prophets were now held in admiration for their earlier messages about the destruction of Jerusalem. With their newly held advantage they next attacked with a vengeance any and all forms of cosmic religion. The natural world and its forces of seasons, winds, and sun and moon rhythms were denounced as idolatry. All stones, streams, foods and flowers were considered unclean and only the desert was considered clean and holy, for it was only among the sand dunes that the Israelites remained faithful to God. No longer would the sacred dimension of the fertility of foods and flowers, or the mystery of floods or droughts, or the joy of birth, or dance of song, be allowed to be celebrated or revered amongst the faithful. Only the will of God could account for the wrath or the wealth of their world.

While the Biblical books of poetry and prophecy were being written, the new nation would learn to be subservient to the invading Persians, Greeks and Romans and was now but a shadow of its former self. The great power that had been born of its pre-kingdom days and prospered during its kingdom days, now found penance during its post-kingdom days and thus was forged its character to become the nation it is today.

They had well learned the lesson … God’s will will be done.

Many prophets would be chosen to speak for God in words of picturesque poetry, proverbs or prophecy. The words of wisdom communicated from the Creator were now preserved for future generations. These books carried the history forward and would provide the answers for profound or confusing questions. The expressions of prophecy would provide only an element of foretelling the fluid future by encouraging good behavior which would be rewarded, and words of warning to those who would forget the revelations, rites and rituals of their religion. The echoes of Abraham’s and Moses’ words would forever reverberate in the prophets’ messages.

The days of reckoning for bad behavior remained in the minds of all exiled Israelites as the promised people now lived in lands that practiced polytheism or kings that crowned themselves as gods. But they retained their religious roots for the prophets’ words were read and revealed that Israel’s greatest days were still ahead.

The Old Testament draws to an end by continuously reminding the chastised citizens that only their behavior will always chart their future glory or gloom.

The New Testament time starts three or four centuries after the Israelites’ return from exile and now it was the time of Jesus of Nazareth. He was said to be the long promised Messiah foretold by Jeremiah and all the prophets.

Many people did not believe that Jesus was the “Messiah” or “The Son of David” or “The Coming One” or “The Righteous One” or even “The Son of God”. He himself used only the title “The Son of Man”. Jesus was not proclaimed to be the Messiah until His resurrection and ascension into heaven, after which his disciples could then fully understand his ministry’s messages.

The gospels recorded His life as the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament’s prophesies. These eye witnessed accounts begin when He reached the age of thirty except for the story of His birth and some early childhood stories about his education. Where He was or what He did during those missing years is still a mystery. Jesus was said to be descended of David who was born in Bethlehem and in His formative years raised in Galilee. He was baptized by John the Baptist who was preaching the all too familiar message that the nation should repent of its sins. The people’s cleansing in the Jordan River was to symbolize the forgiveness of sins. Even though John recognized that Jesus was a more powerful and important prophet than he, the Son of God still insisted that John baptize him instead of reversing their roles.

Jesus spent the next forty days and nights being tempted by the devil alone in the wilderness. Then the miracles along with His messages started multiplying. It seemed to become almost commonplace for Jesus to heal cripples, give hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind and even raise the dead. He also fed thousands of His followers a feast when a few fish and loaves of bread multiplied to stop the hunger they felt. Jesus used these displays to satisfy his disciples’ needs. He even commanded a fig tree to wilt and wither away, and He walked on water, but He refused to use His talents to prove to outsiders that he wasn’t a false prophet.

All in all, there are twenty-three recorded healing miracles mentioned by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as nine commandments over the forces of nature, and on three occasions Jesus was witnessed bringing the dead back to life. But none of these miracles mattered to the masters of the masses after He threw the money changers out of the temple.

As His ministry taught the sick and discouraged masses that better days would come their way, His popularity became a thorn in the side of the Roman and Jewish authorities in charge of state and church affairs. Although He continued to discourage or deny being the Messiah to the masses, to His disciples He admitted that He was more than just a prophet. After Jesus affirmed that He was the Son of God, He also told His closest disciples that He would be crucified and rise from the dead after three days of lying in a tomb.

Although His faithful followers were slow to believe His words, soon the authorities conspired to have Jesus nailed to a cross. His death demoralized His disciples, but His resurrection stirred their souls and instilled substance in their spirits.

Jesus’ teachings were recorded by the four gospels that emphasized how the kingdom of heaven will fulfill the prophesies of His prophets, and these words were spread near and afar by His chosen twelve disciples. As these twelve bore witness to what they heard and saw, they committed their knowledge to writing the books of His acts.

Jesus charged his apostles to go forth into the world and tell His story. After His crucifixion and resurrection, they went town to town undertaking this dangerous task which could result in persecution, imprisonment and death.

Mouth to mouth the words of Jesus spread and soon Gentiles as well as Jews began to receive the Messiah’s message. When a Pharisee named Saul was enlightened by a brilliant light, he then stopped opposing and persecuting the disciples and became the apostle Paul. He had an extensive knowledge of the scriptures, and God called him into service to spread the good word to both the Gentiles and Jews.

Saul traveled throughout the land preaching the message to all men which was equally received with humility or hostility. He created a system of teaching centers whose elders, overseers and pastors spread the Lord’s lessons into each surrounding region. Once done he would move to the next city and start all over again. After opening the faith of ancient Israel to all of the world, the book of Acts ends with him under arrest in Rome, which was then considered the center of the world.

By the power of his conversion, Saul who became the apostle Paul proved to the world by his preaching the words of Jesus Christ and teaching the vision of the kingdom of God, that monotheism would always conquer polytheism and that only one God was the true and forever loving deity.

The letters of the apostles would now become the media to spread their messages. The persecution, imprisonment and incarceration the apostles faced gave them the time to minister their message by the written word. These communications were hand delivered by apostolic helpers who were the mailmen to pass the messages forward to many different communities.

Although the messages deal with specific problems that plagued each city, such as the ever-increasing problem of false teachers, collections for the poor, motives of the messengers, encouragement of good acts, to treat each other as brothers, of sustaining faith, hope and a love in every day living … all of the messages which were read in public to the congregations contained the same common pattern and moral guidance. God loves us and we all ought to love one another.

I added a personal note at the end of the condensed version of the Bible’s story saying, “If there is only one thing to be learned from this history, it is that faith cannot be destroyed. It can only be redirected to another cause or church. Faith is another form of energy that cannot be killed. It can only change in shape, size or scope. Faith cannot be abandoned anymore so than our astral awareness. It can only be forgotten until another force brings it back into focus. It is our job to find that focus.”