POMEGRANATE COLORING PAGE

POMEGRANATE

IVORY POMEGRANATE FROM JERUSALEM

Pomegranate
pom´gran-ā́t, pom-gran´ā́t, pum´gran-ā́t (רמּון, rimmōn (tree and fruit); the Hebrew name is similar to the Arabic, Aramaic and Ethiopic; ῥόα, rhóa):

1. A Tree Characteristic of Palestine:
One of the most attractive and most characteristic of the fruit trees of Syria, probably indigenous to Persia, Afghanistan and the neighborhood of the Caucasus, but introduced to Palestine in very ancient times. The spies brought specimens of figs and pomegranates, along with grapes, from the Vale of Eshcol (Num_13:23). Vines, figs and pomegranates are mentioned (Num_20:5) as fruits the Israelites missed in the wilderness; the promised land was to be one “of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates” (Deu_8:8), a promise renewed in Hag_2:19. In the lamentation in Joe_1:11, Joe_1:12 we have the pomegranate, the palm tree and the apple tree represented as withered, “for joy is withered away from the sons of men.”

2. The Fruit:
The pomegranate tree, Punica granatum (Natural Order, Granateae) occurs usually as a shrub or small tree 10-15 ft. high, and is distinguished by its fresh green, oval leaves, which fall in winter, and its brilliant scarlet blossoms (compare Son_7:12). The beauty of an orchard of pomegranates is referred to in Son_4:13. The fruit which is ripe about September is apple-shaped, yellow-brown with a blush of red, and is surmounted by a crown-like hard calyx; on breaking the hard rind, the white or pinkish, translucent fruits are seen tightly packed together inside. The juicy seeds are sometimes sweet and sometimes somewhat acid, and need sugar for eating. The juice expressed from the seeds is made into a kind of syrup for flavoring drinks, and in ancient days was made into wine: “I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice (margin “sweet wine”) of my pomegranate” (Son_8:2). The beauty of a cut section of pomegranate - or one burst open naturally, when fully ripe - may have given rise to the comparison in Son_4:3; Son_6:7 : “Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate.” The rind of the pomegranate contains a very high percentage of tannic acid, and is employed both as a medicine and for tanning, particularly in making genuine morocco leather.
Whether the pomegranate tree in Migron under which Saul is said (1Sa_14:2) to have abode with his 600 men was really a tree or a place, Rimmon, is doubtful. See RIMMON.

3. The Pomegranate in Art:
A large number of references to the pomegranate are to the use of the form of the fruit in ornamentation, in which respect it appears among the Hebrews to have something of the position of the lotus bud as a decorative motive in Egypt. It was embroidered in many colors on the skirts of Aaron's garments, together with golden bells (Exo_28:33 f; Exo_39:24-26; compare Ecclesiasticus 45:9). Hiram of Tyre introduced the pomegranate into his brass work ornamentation in the temple: “So he made the pillars; and there were two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars” (margin “So the Syriac The Hebrew has 'pomegranates'“) (1Ki_7:18). “And the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other capital” (1Ki_7:20; compare also 1Ki_7:42; 2Ki_25:17; 2Ch_3:16; 2Ch_4:13).

NEHEMIAH

NEHEMIAH REBUILDS THE WALLS

Jewish temple at Elephantine

Jewish temple at Elephantine

A letter from the Elephantine Papyri, requesting the rebuilding of a Jewish temple at Elephantine.

The Jews had their own temple to Yahweh which functioned alongside that of the local ram-headed deity, Khnum The "Petition to Bagoas" (Sayce-Cowley collection) is a letter written in 407 BCE to Bagoas, the Persian governor of Judea, appealing for assistance in rebuilding the Jewish temple in Elephantine, which had recently been badly damaged by an anti-Semitic rampage on the part of a segment of the Elephantine community
In the course of this appeal, the Jewish inhabitants of Elephantine speak of the antiquity of the damaged temple:

'Now our forefathers built this temple in the fortress of Elephantine back in the days of the kingdom of Egypt, and when Cambyses came to Egypt he found it built. They (the Persians) knocked down all the temples of the gods of Egypt, but no one did any damage to this temple."

The community also appealed for aid to Sanballat I, a Samaritan potentate, and his sons Delaiah and Shelemiah, as well as Johanan ben Eliashib. Both Sanballat and Johanan are mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah, 2:19, 12:23.
There was a response of both governors (Bagoas and Delaiah) which gave the permission to rebuild the temple written in the form of a memorandum: "Memorandum of what Bagohi and Delaiah said to me, saying: Memorandum: You may say in Egypt ...to (re)build it on its site as it was formerly...".
By the middle of the 4th century BCE, the temple at Elephantine had ceased to function. There is evidence from excavations that the rebuilding and enlargement of the Khnum temple under Nectanebo II (360-343) took the place of the former temple of YHWH.
In 2004, the Brooklyn Museum of Art created a display entitled "Jewish Life in Ancient Egypt: A Family Archive From the Nile Valley," which featured the interfaith couple of Ananiah, an official at the temple of Yahou (a.k.a. Yahweh), and his wife, Tamut, who was previously an Egyptian slave owned by a Jewish master, Meshullam. Some related exhibition didactics of 2002 included comments about significant structural similarities between Judaism and the ancient Egyptian religion and how they easily coexisted and blended at Elephantine.^]

Anat-Yahu

The papyri suggest that, "Even in exile and beyond, the veneration of a female deity endured. The texts were written by a group of Jews living at Elephantine near the Nubian border, whose religion has been described as "nearly identical to Iron Age II Judahite religion". The papyri describe the Jews as worshiping Anat-Yahu (or AnatYahu). Anat-Yahu is described as either the wife (or paredra, sacred consort) of Yahweh or as a hypostatized aspect of Yahweh.


Seveneh
sḗ-ven´e, se-vē´ne (סונה, ṣewēnēh): For the King James Version “the tower of Syene,” in Eze_29:10; Eze_30:6, the Revised Version (British and American) reads, “the tower of Seveneh,” with a marginal note, “or, from Migdol to Syene.” Seveneh is the town at the First Cataract in Egypt, now known as Assuan. Fresh interest has recently been given to it by the Elephantine discoveries bearing on the ancient Jewish colony and temple of Yahweh in that place in the 5th century BC. See ARAMAIC; EGYPT; PAPYRI; SANCTUARY, 4, etc.
Cambyses
Cambyses
kam-bı̄´sēz (Aram., כנבנזי; Persian, Kambujiya; Assyrian, Kambuzia; Egyptian, Kambythet; Susian, Kanpuziya): The older son of Cyrus, king of Persia. Some have thought that he is the Ahasuerus of Ezr_4:6. This seems to be most improbable, inasmuch as the Hebrew form of Ahasuerus is the exact equivalent of the Old Persian form of Xerxes, and we have no evidence that Cambyses was ever called Xerxes.
Ancient authorities differ as to who was the mother of Cambyses. It is variously said that she was Cassandane, a Persian princess, Amytis, a Median princess, or Nititis, a daughter of Apries king of Egypt. He had one brother, Bardes or Smerdes, whom he put to death secretly shortly after his accession, probably because of an attempted rebellion. Cambyses organized an expedition for the conquest of Egypt, which was rendered successful by internal treachery and by the aid of the Phoenician, Cyprian and Greek fleets. During this campaign Cambyses seems to have acted with good generalship and with clemency toward the conquered. After the subjugation of Egypt, Cyrene and Barca, the modern Tripoli, submitted to his sway. He then desired to undertake the conquest of Carthage, but was compelled to give it up, because his Phoenician allies, without whose ships it was impossible for him to conduct his army in safety, refused to join in an attack upon a country that had been colonized by them. He is said to have sent an army of 50,000 men against the oasis of Jupiter Ammon. This army is said to have perished in the sands. A little less unsuccessful expedition was made against Ethiopia. After some initial successes, Cambyses was forced to return to Egypt with the shattered remains of his army. He found that the Egyptians were in revolt, led by their king Psammetichus III, whose life he had formerly spared. This revolt was put down with great harshness, the Egyptian king being taken and executed, and many of the temples being destroyed. Shortly after this, Cambyses heard that a certain Magian, who claimed to be his brother Smerdes whom he had secretly put to death, had set himself up as king of Persia, and that almost the whole of his Asiatic dominions had acknowledged him as king. With the fragments of his army he started toward Persia to attack the usurper, but on the way was killed by a wound inflicted by himself, it is uncertain whether by accident or with intention. His general and cousin, Darius Hystaspis, soon put down the false Smerdis and reigned in his stead.
For two or more years Cambyses was king of Babylon, while his father was king of the lands. The son was a drunkard and subject to fits of unbridled passion, but seems to have been of good capacity as a general and as an administrator. Many of the tales that have been told against him were doubtless invented by his enemies, and he has left us no records of his own. That he married his own sisters is probable; but it must be remembered that this was the custom of the Egyptian kings of that time and may have been of the Persian kings as well. As to his conduct in Egypt, the only contemporary Egyptian authority says that he worshipped before the holiness of Neit as all the pious kings had done, that he ordered that the temple of Neit should be purified, and that its revenues should be restored as they had been before they had been confiscated by Akhmes for his Greek troops. He adds also that not merely were the strangers who had taken up their abode in the temple of Neit ejected from her sanctuary, but that their goods were taken away and their houses destroyed. Darius Hystaspis, the only other contemporary source of information, says of him simply that he was the son of Cyrus, of the same father and mother as Bardes, whom he slew secretly at some time before he set out on his Egyptian campaign; and that he died by suicide shortly after he had heard of the rebellion of Persia, Media and the other provinces against him, and of the establishment of Gaumata the Magian as king under the claim that he was “Barzia, the son of Cyrus and brother of Cambyses.”
The name of Cambyses is found in three of the Elephantine papyri recently published (September, 1911) by Professor Sachau of Berlin. The fragment numbered 59 1 is so broken that it is impossible to make out the connection or the sense. In papyrus I, we are told that when Cambyses came to Egypt he found in the fortress of Yeb (Elephantine) a temple or synagogue ('agōra'), which had been built in the days of the Egyptian kings; and that although he had torn down the temples of the Egyptian gods, he had allowed no harm to be done to that of Yahweh. The third papyrus is so interesting, because of its mention of Bagoas, the Persian governor of Jerusalem in 407 bc, who had hitherto been known only from Josephus, and of Dalayah the son of the Sanballat who opposed the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem in the time of Ezra-Nehemiah, that we shall now give a translation of it in full: “A memorial of that which Bagoas and Dalayah said to me: Thou shalt say in Egypt unto Arsames with regard to the house of the altar of the God of heaven that was built in the fortress of Yeb before the time of Cambyses and which the accursed(?) Waidrang destroyed in the 14th year of Darius the king, that it shall be built again upon its place as it was before, and that meal-offerings and incense-offerings shall be offered upon that altar as they used to be.”

KIDS COLORING PAGE

Jerusalem Cheese and Honey Pie

Meal: Jesus Dines with the Pharisee

Jerusalem Cheese and Honey Pie

• 1 lb. creamy sheep's or goat's milk cheese (at room temperature)
• ¼up honey, slightly warmed
• 6 Tbsp. sugar
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ground cinnamon 1 9″ pie crust
• powdered sugar topping
• fresh berries of the season

Top off this honey cheese pie with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, peaches, cherries, or any other seasonal fruit.

Combine cheese with honey and mix well. Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla, and toss in a bit of cinnamon. Bake in a pie crust (frozen or fresh) for 30–35 minutes. Best served warm.
Just prior to serving, sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon mixed with powdered sugar. Top with berries of the season.
Yield: 8 servings

JERUSALEM CONT FOR TODAY RECIPE

The History

The most successful military commander of the ancient world was Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedonia). After unifying the Greek city-states under Macedonian control, he took his armies forth and conquered a vast region stretching from Greece in the north, Egypt in the west, and Persia and the Punjab in the east. However, when he died in 323 b.c.e., he left no recognized heir, and the empire he had forged began to disintegrate. In 312 b.c.e. Seleucus, one of Alexander's generals, established control over the eastern reaches of Alexander's holdings from Babylon, the center of power, to the Mediterranean coast. This was the foundation of the Seleucid Empire, which brought Hellenistic influences to Persians, Medes, Jews, and Indians alike.
But the empire proved to be too large, and the people resisted Hellenization; it was not long before the outer reaches began to break away. By the time of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who reigned from 175 to 163 b.c.e., aggressive efforts to de-Judaize the Jewish populace of the empire led to a breaking point. In about 167 b.c.e. Mattathias (of the tribe of Levi) and his sons Judah “Maccabee” (the Hammer), Eleazar, Yohanan, Yonaton, and Shimon led a successful uprising against the Seleucid overlords in Judea. Though fighting would continue for twenty-five years, in about 164 b.c.e. the Maccabees (for so they became known) were able to retake Jerusalem; they cleansed the Temple of foreign influences (including the sacrificing of pigs) and reestablished Jewish worship there. In 139 b.c.e. Shimon (the only surviving son) became both High Priest and Leader, establishing the Hasmonean line of succession in Judea. The memory of the purification of the Temple gave rise to the Jewish festival of Hanukkah (Chanukah).
At the end of the conflict with the Seleucids, the Jews had become divided into three different parties. The first were the Essenes, a group of ascetical mystics who lived in isolation in the desert. The second were the Sadducees, the priests and Jewish aristocracy; though they were religiously conservative, following a strict and inflexible interpretation of the written Torah, they were socially liberal, having embraced Hellenistic cultural practices. The Temple was the center of worship for the Sadducees; indeed, it was the only place where true worship could occur. The third group were the Pharisees, who believed in both a written and an oral Torah, both of which Jews were bound to follow and both of which the rabbis were empowered to interpret. In general, the Pharisees highly valued education but were opposed to Hellenism and to the Hasmonean usurpation of the Priesthood. These party divisions persisted even after Rome conquered Judea, though Roman conquest led to the rise of the Zealots and Sicarii, revolutionaries whose sole goal was the overthrow of Roman imperialism.
From the beginnings of the Hasmonean Empire until the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 c.e., the Pharisees and the Sadducees bitterly opposed each other. The conflicts were manifold: the Sadducees promoted the interests of the wealthy and tended to favor hierarchy, while the Pharisees showed concern for the common people and tended to favor more participatory religious practices; the Sadducees followed Greek social customs, while the Pharisees attempted to preserve Jewish traditions; the Sadducees put the Temple first and tended to restrict religion to the Temple grounds, while the Pharisees put the word of God before everything and tended to sanctify the everyday world; and the Sadducees adhered to the letter of the Law, while the Pharisees believed that the Law was a living, changing force. The Pharisees also believed in the importance of ritual washing before all meals and in the resurrection of the dead at the end of time.
The New Testament scriptures present a very critical picture of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The new Jewish sect known as “Christians” emphasized God's love and forgiveness for all people, including society's outcasts. The Sadducees were presented as people of privilege who hoarded everything, including God's grace, for their own select group; and the Pharisees were presented as being obsessed with purification rites, to the exclusion of anyone who did not correctly perform their rituals. On the other hand, some scholars have posited that Jesus was himself a Pharisee, and that his efforts to include all persons in God's beloved community echoed the Pharisees' emphasis of participatory religion. Indeed, many of the teachings of Jesus as related in the gospels are consistent with the philosophies of the Pharisees of his day, including one of the most well known, whose name was Paul.

JERUSALEM AND CHEESE PIE CONTUINED

The Text

1. As he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.
2. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner.
3. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
4. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
5. But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto you.
6. But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Luke 11:37–42, King James Version

(37) And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him. And he went in, and sat down to meat. (38) And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. (39) And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. (40) Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without, make that which is within also? (41) But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

We had an account of Jesus eating with a Pharisee, Luk_7:36, which see. And here is the relation of another. Our Lord took all occasions to manifest the object for which he came on earth. And certainly we have abundant reason to bless our gracious Lord for this condescension; for this dinner party, as well as the former visit to the Pharisee’s house, afford some very sweet and profitable instructions. Our Lord’s shewing in what real uncleanness consists, is a rich sermon taught us at this Pharisee’s table.

“But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs.”

Biblical Passage Notes

Throughout the New Testament gospel writings, Jesus is often in a war of words and deeds with the Pharisees, a group of religious Jews that had their own interpretation of how to live a life that was true to the practice of Judaism, to which they were utterly devoted. They embraced a lifestyle that placed great emphasis on, among other things, Sabbath observances and food tithes (a tithe is a tenth of what one earns). To some, and most certainly to the gospel writers, they were hardnosed and stubborn legalists; to many of their fellow Jews, they were men greatly to be admired, as they were learned in Jewish law and often hailed from some of the finest families in Jerusalem that were politically connected to both the most revered of religious authorities and, often, to Rome itself.
In this passage, Jesus has been invited to dine with one of the Pharisees, an amazing offer considering that the Pharisees rarely, if ever, would have thought to dine with someone outside their own circle. To have received such an esteemed invitation, either Jesus was a Pharisee himself (a view held by many scholars today), or he impressed them so by his knowledge of the scriptures and his interpretation of the Law that curiosity allowed internal rules to be set aside for at least one meal.
Jesus had barely entered the house when he is admonished for not having washed his hands, for it was a common practice of observant Jews to purify their hands prior to eating. The thought process was that impure hands made food impure; eating impure food made the body impure; eating a meal (a sacred act before God) with an impure body was an insult to God.
Undoubtedly, those who first heard this story would have responded with an “Oh, no!” thanking God, no doubt, that such a guest had not been invited to their home! Why? Because the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisee presented an uncomfortable conundrum. True, Jesus did not wash; but the lack of hospitality on the part of his host, who had apparently not offered a towel or water, was an incredible social faux pas. And in a further breach of manners, the host had the bad sense to insult his guest by pointing out the error; even worse, he made the observation after Jesus had already reclined to dine.
Jesus' previous experience with the Pharisees and their rituals fueled his anger at the host; having been dealt with impolitely, Jesus takes off the kid gloves and charges into the fight, calling the Pharisee and all his brothers in the faith (in essence) miserable hypocrites. Then Jesus goes on to tell them the how and the why. First, he imputes, they are more concerned with the outward appearances of inanimate objects than they are with the inner feelings of the people around them. Second, they fail to see that God made all things, and it is wrong, therefore, to give a greater importance to one thing over another, as all things are of God. And finally, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for putting aside a portion of what they have earned as a sacrifice in honor of God, yet all the while being judgmental of others in a way that dishonors God. It is a strong condemnation, and it could not have made for a very pleasant meal!
It appears that the host was either even more intrigued by the dressing down or totally embarrassed; in either case, Jesus apparently stays for the meal, to which other Pharisees and scribes have also been invited. From this moment, perhaps between bites (?), Jesus denounces the practices of the religious elite, to the point that when he finally leaves, they press him more, hoping that he will say something by which they can charge him with speaking blasphemously.
Despite the rancor, this is not his last invitation to sit down with the Pharisees. In chapter 14 (v. 1ff.), Jesus accepts the invitation to sup with the Chief Pharisee; and as others begin once again to criticize Jesus' actions during the meal, the author of Luke finally lays down what was understood to be the rules of a good host (v. 12ff.); he tells them the parable of the Great Banquet, a metaphor for his understanding of how life would be if we all comprehended the love of God.

THE MENU

Onion Board (Pletzels)
Pickled Herring
Tuna Baked in Pistachios and Dill
Minted Veal with Yellow Summer Squash
Cucumbers and Onions with Rue and Mustard Dressing
Jerusalem Cheese and Honey Pie
Fruit Platter of Fresh Grapes, Dried Dates, and Figs
Nicodemus' Anise Cookies Red Wine

THE PREPARATION

It is apparent that Jesus did a lot of his teaching at mealtime, particularly if it were one of the main meals of the day. Just what was a meal with the Pharisees like? What did they dine on?
The Pharisees bought food only from those who tithed; they also tithed the food they bought. The Lucan biblical text reports that the Pharisees were tithers of mint (in Greek, heduosmon), rue (in Greek, peganon), and all types of garden herbs (in Greek, lachanon), so these must have been in their kitchens and storerooms, and used often in their cooking. The parallel text in the Gospel of Matthew substitutes anise (in Greek, anethon) in place of rue, and other translations of the same text claim that dill was tithed, which in effect was the more likely scenario. In this instance we can get just a glimpse of how greatly translations of the Bible vary!
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), people in 1st-century Palestine ate a fairly straightforward diet of cereals, gruel, olives, dates, and figs. In addition, lots of wine was consumed.¹
Verse 37 states that “he sat down to meat,” a strange phrase in Greek (ana-pipto), used only here and nowhere else in the Bible. To sit down to meat apparently means to fall back or down, but has nothing to do with meat as such. The phrase implies that he reclined to eat his meal, which was the cultural norm for men at meals in that era.
If not meat, then what? Probably fish, as they were near the sea, and it would not be difficult to see how Jesus might have come to know some of the Pharisees through the business dealings of his disciples, many of whom were fishermen.
It is likely that this meal was not the principal meal of the day, but one of the earlier meals. We infer this because of the guests that were present: being the Sabbath, certainly the lawyers and other religious leaders would have been at their own homes if it were the time of day for the main meal (“dinner”) of a holy day.
In that one of the favorite foods of Palestinian Jews of Jesus' day was “young meat,” the menu for the Pharisee's meal would likely have included goat, lamb, or veal.² (Neither beef nor fowl were cooked very often.) And certainly there was bread, and lots of it. Due to the belief that it was the staff of life, no religious man would dare to have entertained guests without it.
Marian Maeve O'Brien, in The Bible Cookbook, claims “that actual meals served in biblical times have been preserved for us,” ³ and she goes so far as to present an outline of the typical midday meal for a middle-class family in Jerusalem in the 1st century. It includes, among other things, locusts, onions, and grapes.⁴ She does not cite her source, but it would not be unreasonable to assume that at least part of the menu has historical merit. Another food author, Kitty Morse, in A Biblical Feast: Foods from the Holy Land,⁵ writes that she believes a 1st-century supper usually started with something pickled in brine or vinegar, which would have stimulated the appetite. This was followed by a stew or some pottage that been thickened by grain and enhanced with lots of garden vegetables and herbs.⁶ To this menu, other scholars would add a milk dish into which people dipped their bread, and honey, eggs, cheeses, cucumbers, lentils, beans, and peas.⁷
Perhaps we'll never be sure just what was served at the meal Jesus shared with the Pharisee. But we can be certain of one thing: it was prepared with care, according to cleanliness rituals as understood by the Pharisees. So, it was probably a well-presented meal with frugal portions, yet not overly stingy so as to not appear inhospitable.

NOTES

1.	See the article at www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/mary/evidence/8.shtml
2.	See the commentary at http://truthinheart.com/EarlyOberlinCD/CD/edersheim/IV.CHAPTERXIITH.htm
3.	Marian Maeve O'Brien, The Bible Cookbook (St. Louis: Bethany Press, 1958), 25.
4.	Marian Maeve O'Brien, The Bible Cookbook (St. Louis: Bethany Press, 1958),25.
5.	Kitty Morse, A Biblical Feast: Foods from the Holy Land (Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press, 1998), 8.
6.	Kitty Morse, A Biblical Feast: Foods from the Holy Land (Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press, 1998), 8.
7.	Cf. http://truthinheart.com/EarlyOberlinCD/CD/edersheim/IV.CHAPTERXIITH.htm

INCREASE IN PROSPERITY CONTINUED

STRENGTH

Act 9:31  Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. 

Acts 9:31

Flourishing state of the Church in Palestine at this time.
Then had all the churches rest — rather, “the Church,” according to the best manuscripts and versions. But this rest was owing not so much to the conversion of Saul, as probably to the Jews being engrossed with the emperor Caligula’s attempt to have his own image set up in the temple of Jerusalem [Josephus, Antiquities, 18.8.1, etc.].
throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria — This incidental notice of distinct churches already dotting all the regions which were the chief scenes of our Lord’s ministry, and that were best able to test the facts on which the whole preaching of the apostles was based, is extremely interesting. “The fear of the Lord” expresses their holy walk; “the comfort of the Holy Ghost,” their “peace and joy in believing,” under the silent operation of the blessed Comforter.

Acts 9:23-31

When we enter into the way of God, we must look for trials; but the Lord knows how to deliver the godly, and will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape. Though Saul's conversion was and is a proof of the truth of Christianity, yet it could not, of itself, convert one soul at enmity with the truth; for nothing can produce true faith, but that power which new-creates the heart. Believers are apt to be too suspicious of those against whom they have prejudices. The world is full of deceit, and it is necessary to be cautious, but we must exercise charity, 1Co_13:5. The Lord will clear up the characters of true believers; and he will bring them to his people, and often gives them opportunities of bearing testimony to his truth, before those who once witnessed their hatred to it. Christ now appeared to Saul, and ordered him to go quickly out of Jerusalem, for he must be sent to the Gentiles: see Act_22:21. Christ's witnesses cannot be slain till they have finished their testimony. The persecutions were stayed. The professors of the gospel walked uprightly, and enjoyed much comfort from the Holy Ghost, in the hope and peace of the gospel, and others were won over to them. They lived upon the comfort of the Holy Ghost, not only in the days of trouble and affliction, but in days of rest and prosperity. Those are most likely to walk cheerfully, who walk circumspectly.

LET MY PEOPLE GO COLORING PAGE

LET MY PEOPLE GO, THAT THEY MAY SERVE ME

  Ex.8:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

The plague of Frogs, or the second plague, also proceeded from the Nile, and had its natural origin in the putridity of the slimy Nile water, whereby the marsh waters especially became filled with thousands of frogs. צְפַרְדֵּעַ is the small Nile frog, the Dofda of the Egyptians, called rana Mosaica or Nilotica by Seetzen, which appears in large numbers as soon as the waters recede. These frogs (הַצְּפַרְדֵּעַ in Exo_8:6, used collectively) became a penal miracle from the fact that they came out of the water in unparalleled numbers, in consequence of the stretching out of Aaron's staff over the waters of the Nile, as had been foretold to the king, and that they not only penetrated into the houses and inner rooms (“bed-chamber”), and crept into the domestic utensils, the beds (מִטָּה), the ovens, and the kneading-troughs (not the “dough” as Luther renders it), but even got upon the men themselves

Exo 8:20  And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

Exodus 8:20-32

As the Egyptian magicians saw nothing more than the finger of God in the miracle which they could not imitate, that is to say, the work of some deity, possibly one of the gods of the Egyptians, and not the hand of Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, who had demanded the release of Israel, a distinction was made in the plagues which followed between the Israelites and the Egyptians, and the former were exempted from the plagues: a fact which was sufficient to prove to any one that they came from the God of Israel. To make this the more obvious, the fourth and fifth plagues were merely announced by Moses to the king. They were not brought on through the mediation of either himself or Aaron, but were sent by Jehovah at the appointed time; no doubt for the simple purpose of precluding the king and his wise men from the excuse which unbelief might still suggest, viz., that they were produced by the powerful incantations of Moses and Aaron

Exo9:1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

The fifth plague consisted of a severe Murrain, which carried off the cattle (מִקְנֶה, the living property) of the Egyptians, that were in the field. To show how Pharaoh was accumulating guilt by his obstinate resistance, in the announcement of this plague the expression, “If thou refuse to let them go” (cf. Exo_8:2), is followed by the words, “and wilt hold them (the Israelites) still” (עֹוד still further, even after Jehovah has so emphatically declared His will)

Exo 9:13  And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

As the plagues had thus far entirely failed to bend the unyielding heart of Pharaoh under the will of the Almighty God, the terrors of that judgment, which would infallibly come upon him, were set before him in three more plagues, which were far more terrible than any that had preceded them. That these were to be preparatory to the last decisive blow, is proved by the great solemnity with which they were announced to the hardened king (Exo_9:13-16). This time Jehovah was about to “send all His strokes at the heart of Pharaoh, and against his servants and his people” (Exo_9:14). אֶל־לִבְּךְ does not signify “against thy person,” for לֵב is not used for נֶפֶשׁ, and even the latter is not a periphrasis for “person;” but the strokes were to go to the king's heart, “It announces that they will be plagues that will not only strike the head and arms, but penetrate the very heart, and inflict a mortal wound” (Calvin). From the plural “strokes,” it is evident that this threat referred not only to the seventh plague, viz., the hail, but to all the other plagues, through which Jehovah was about to make known to the king that “there was none like Him in all the earth,;” i.e., that not one of the gods whom the heathen worshipped was like Him, the only true God. For, in order to show this, Jehovah had not smitten Pharaoh and his people at once with pestilence and cut them off from the earth, but had set him up to make him see, i.e., discern or feel His power, and to glorify His name in all the earth (Exo_9:15, Exo_9:16). In Exo_9:15 וגו שָׁלַחְתִּי (I have stretched out, etc.) is to be taken as the conditional clause: “If I had now stretched out My hand and smitten thee...thou wouldest have been cut off.” הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךְ forms the antithesis to תִּכָּהֵד, and means to cause to stand or continue, as in 1Ki_15:4; 2Ch_9:8 (διετηρήθης lxx). Causing to stand presupposes setting up. In this first sense the Apostle Paul has rendered it ἐξήγειρα in Rom_9:17, in accordance with the purport of his argument, because “God thereby appeared still more decidedly as absolutely determining all that was done by Pharaoh” (Philippi on Rom_9:17). The reason why God had not destroyed Pharaoh at once was twofold: (1) that Pharaoh himself might experience (הַרְאֹת to cause to see, i.e., to experience) the might of Jehovah, by which he was compelled more than once to give glory to Jehovah (Exo_9:27; Exo_10:16-17; Exo_12:31); and (2) that the name of Jehovah might be declared throughout all the earth. As both the rebellion of the natural man against the word and will of God, and the hostility of the world-power to the Lord and His people, were concentrated in Pharaoh, so there were manifested in the judgments suspended over him the patience and grace of the living God, quite as much as His holiness, justice, and omnipotence, as a warning to impenitent sinners, and a support to the faith of the godly, in a manner that should by typical for all times and circumstances of the kingdom of God in conflict with the ungodly world. The report of this glorious manifestation of Jehovah spread at once among all the surrounding nations (cf. Exo_15:14.), and travelled not only to the Arabians, but to the Greeks and Romans also, and eventually with the Gospel of Christ to all the nations of the earth (vid., Tholuck on Rom_9:17).

Exo 10:3  And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. 

As Pharaoh had acknowledged, when the previous plague was sent, that Jehovah was righteous (Exo_9:27), his crime was placed still more strongly before him: “How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me?” (לֵעָנֹת for לְהֵעָנֹת, as in Exo_34:24).

Exo 10:4  Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: 

to-morrow will I bring the locusts — Moses was commissioned to renew the request, so often made and denied, with an assurance that an unfavorable answer would be followed on the morrow by an invasion of locusts. This species of insect resembles a large, spotted, red and black, double-winged grasshopper, about three inches or less in length, with the two hind legs working like hinged springs of immense strength and elasticity. Perhaps no more terrible scourge was ever brought on a land than those voracious insects, which fly in such countless numbers as to darken the land which they infest; and on whatever place they alight, they convert it into a waste and barren desert, stripping the ground of its verdure, the trees of their leaves and bark, and producing in a few hours a degree of desolation which it requires the lapse of years to repair.

            

  1,000 year old Exodus Verses Found.

Nov. 9, 2007 news of a man who had a 1,000 year old manuscript fragment of the Hebrew Bible! For 60 years he thought of it as his good luck charm.

"...is believed to be part of the most authoritative manuscript of the Hebrew Bible, the Aleppo Codex", said Michael Glatzer, academic secretary of the Yad Ben Zvi institute. It contains verses from the Book of Exodus describing the plagues in Egypt, including the words of Moses to Pharaoh, "Let my people go, that they may serve me."

Sam Sabbagh, then a 17-year-old Syrian, picked up this piece off the floor of a synagogue in Aleppo, Syria in 1947. It had been burned the previous day in riots that followed the decision by the United Nations to partition Palestine, a step to creation of the Jewish state of Israel.

"We have only about 60 percent of the codex -- more than a third is still missing," said Aron Dotan, professor of Hebrew and Semitic languages at Tel Aviv University. The missing part includes most of the Torah, or Pentateuch, he said. The codex comprised the books of the Old Testament..."

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DAVID WITH A SLINGSHOT

3,000-year-old artifacts reveal history behind biblical David and Goliath

3,000-year-old artifacts reveal history behind biblical David and Goliath

 

Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, shows off an ark, or stone shrine model, that was found during excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, an ancient settlement southwest of Jerusalem.

An archaeological dig near Goliath's biblical hometown has yielded evidence of Judean religious practices 3,000 years ago, pointing up fresh historical connections to the stories of King David and King Solomon.
"We have a city with a population relating to the Kingdom of Judah," Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told me today. "This is totally different from Philistine, Canaanite or the cult in the Kingdom of Israel."
The site, known today as Khirbet Qeiyafa, is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem, on top of a hill overlooking the Valley of Elah. For the past five years, Garfinkel and his colleagues have been excavating the ruins of a fortified city there, situated across from what was once the Philistine city of Gath. In the Bible, the giant Goliath came out from Gath to face the Israelites, and was smitten by a rock hurled from David's sling.

David's Sling
When he was thus equipped with brazen helmet, coat of mail, and sword, David began to walk, but soon found that he could do nothing with these. He therefore said to Saul, “I cannot go in these things, for I have not tried them;” and having taken them off, he took his shepherd's staff in his hand, sought out five smooth stones from the brook-valley, and put them in the shepherd's thing that he had, namely his shepherd's bag. He then took the sling in his hand, and went up to the Philistine. In the exercise of his shepherd's calling he may have become so skilled in the use of the sling, that, like the Benjaminites mentioned in Jdg_20:16, he could sling at a hair's-breadth, and not miss.

An archaeological dig near Goliath's biblical hometown has yielded evidence of Judean religious practices 3,000 years ago, pointing up fresh historical connections to the stories of King David and King Solomon.
"We have a city with a population relating to the Kingdom of Judah," Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told me today. "This is totally different from Philistine, Canaanite or the cult in the Kingdom of Israel."
The site, known today as Khirbet Qeiyafa, is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem, on top of a hill overlooking the Valley of Elah. For the past five years, Garfinkel and his colleagues have been excavating the ruins of a fortified city there, situated across from what was once the Philistine city of Gath. In the Bible, the giant Goliath came out from Gath to face the Israelites, and was smitten by a rock hurled from David's sling.

sling — The sling consisted of a double rope with a thong, probably of leather, to receive the stone. The slinger held a second stone in his left hand. David chose five stones, as a reserve, in case the first should fail. Shepherds in the East carry a sling and stones still, for the purpose of driving away, or killing, the enemies that prowl about the flock.

An archaeological dig near Goliath's biblical hometown has yielded evidence of Judean religious practices 3,000 years ago, pointing up fresh historical connections to the stories of King David and King Solomon.
"We have a city with a population relating to the Kingdom of Judah," Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told me today. "This is totally different from Philistine, Canaanite or the cult in the Kingdom of Israel."
The site, known today as Khirbet Qeiyafa, is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem, on top of a hill overlooking the Valley of Elah. For the past five years, Garfinkel and his colleagues have been excavating the ruins of a fortified city there, situated across from what was once the Philistine city of Gath. In the Bible, the giant Goliath came out from Gath to face the Israelites, and was smitten by a rock hurled from David's sling.

There is somewhat very interesting in this equipping David for the battle; in the putting on, and putting off the unsuited armour, and at length, choosing only a few stones from the brook. Surely without much enquiry, we may see the gracious lesson it teaches us, under this similitude. In going forth against the cursed enemy of our souls, no human armour, though burnished, and sharpened with the keenest edge, will answer our purpose. The enemy, as is said of the Leviathan, laugheth at the shaking of a spear. The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold. Job_41:28-29. David went forth, as he saith himself in another place, in the strength of the Lord God: Psa_71:16. He that prompted him to undertake the battle, armed him with strength suitable to it. The smooth stone of the brook, which was of God’s own creating, and which no human heart had polished or worked upon, was a sweet type, that both the Lord’s armour and the Lord’s strength should nerve his arm to give it the full commission intended. And how didst thou come, blessed Jesus, and of what was thy armour composed, when, in thy victory for us, and for our deliverance, thou didst enter the lists alone, to vanquish Satan, and sin, and death, and hell, and the grave. Surely thine own arm brought salvation unto thee; and thy fury it upheld thee. Isa_63:5.

Garfinkel can't vouch for the story of Goliath, but he says the weapons, the cult items and even the animal bones found around Khirbet Qeiyafa support his view that the settlement was a key military outpost for the historical House of David, riven by conflict. "There was something here quite military and quite aggressive," he said. "It was not a peaceful village."
Based on radiocarbon dating of burned olive pits found at the site, archaeologists believe the ancient city lasted for only 40 years, from 1020 to 980 B.C., before it was destroyed. Some skeptics have suggested that Khirbet Qeiyafa was just another Canaanite settlement, and that David was at best a minor chieftain, or perhaps a folkloric figure like Robin Hood. But Garfinkel said the items found at the site strengthen the connection to King David and the religious practices specified in the Bible.
"Over the years, thousands of animal bones were found, including sheep, goats and cattle, but no pigs," he said in a news release from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "Now we uncovered three cultic rooms, with various cultic paraphernalia, but not even one human or animal figurine was found. This suggest that the population on Khirbet Qeiyafa observed two biblical bans — on pork and on graven images — and thus practiced a different cult from that of the Canaanites or the Philistines."
Garfinkel told me that the absence of human imagery was peculiar to the Judeans. "In the northern Kingdom of Israel, you find human representations," he said.

One of the cultic standing stones can be seen in this picture of the Khirbet Qeiyafa site.

This basalt altar was found during excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa.

 

A decorated clay shrine model was found at the Khirbet Qeiyafa site.
The cult objects included five standing stones, two basalt altars, two pottery libation vessels and two portable shrines. Garfinkel said the shrines reflected a Mesopotamian architectural style that went back centuries before the era of King David, and probably inspired the look of the palace built by Solomon, David's son. "It seems that Solomon didn't want to be Canaanite and took a different model from Mesopotamia," Garfinkel told me.
The shrines are boxlike containers made of stone or clay. "I think they were called in Hebrew 'Aron,'" Garfinkel wrote in an email. "This had been translated into English as 'ark' and became a mystic artifact. I think that the Hebrew name was just a simple technical term: a box for keeping god symbols."

Such shrines were probably similar in look to the "Ark of God" highlighted in the Bible as well as in such movies as "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
The clay shrine has an intricate facade, featuring two guardian lions, pillars and birds standing on the roof. The stone shrine was painted red, and its facade is decorated with characteristic triglyph symbols as well as a triple-recessed doorway in front. Garfinkel said the Bible may have referred to those architectural features in its description of Solomon's palace. The technical term usually translated as referring to pillars ("Slaot") may actually be talking about triglyphs, while another term that was thought to refer to windows ("Sequfim")  might instead refer to the doorways.
"Now you can see by the model that you have triglyphs at the roof, and you have recessed doorways," Garfinkel said. Such features are also mentioned in biblical references to King Solomon's temple, which was built decades after the age that gave rise to the shrines found at Khirbet Qeiyafa.

1Sa 17:40  And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 

 

HUMILITY

HUMILITY

HUMILITY (INCREASE CONTINUED)

John 3:22-36

John was fully satisfied with the place and work assigned him; but Jesus came on a more important work. He also knew that Jesus would increase in honour and influence, for of his government and peace there would be no end, while he himself would be less followed. John knew that Jesus came from heaven as the Son of God, while he was a sinful, mortal man, who could only speak about the more plain subjects of religion. The words of Jesus were the words of God; he had the Spirit, not by measure, as the prophets, but in all fulness. Everlasting life could only be had by faith in Him, and might be thus obtained; whereas all those, who believe not in the Son of God, cannot partake of salvation, but the wrath of God for ever rests upon them.

Humility

hū̇-mil´i-ti
 (ענוה, ‛ănāwāh;
 ταπεινοφροσύνη, tapeinophrosúnē):
(1) The noun occurs in the Old Testament only in Pro_15:33; Pro_18:12; Pro_22:4, but the adjective “humble” appears frequently as the translation of ‛ānı̄, ‛ānāw, shāphāl, meaning also “poor,” “afflicted”; the verb, as the translation of ‛ānāh, “to afflict,” “to humble,” and of kāna‛, “to be or become humbled”; cānā‛, “to be lowly,” occurs in Mic_6:8. For “humble” (Psa_9:12; Psa_10:12) the Revised Version (British and American) has “poor”; Psa_10:17; Psa_34:2; Psa_69:32, “meek”; for “humbled” (Psa_35:13), “afflicted” (Isa_2:11; Isa_10:33), “brought low”; for “He humbleth himself” (Isa_2:9) “is brought low,” margin “humbleth himself”; Psa_10:10, “boweth down”; tapeinophrosunē is translated “humility” (Col_2:18, Col_2:23; 1Pe_5:5); in several other places it is translated “lowliness” and “lowliness of mind”; tapeinós is translated “humble” (Jam_4:6; 1Pe_5:5; elsewhere “lowly,” etc.; 1Pe_3:8, tapeinóphrōn), the Revised Version (British and American) “humble-minded”; tapeinóō, “to humble,” occurs frequently (Mat_18:4; Mat_23:12, etc.); tapeı́nōsis is “humiliation” (Act_8:33); for “vile body” (Phi_3:21) the Revised Version (British and American) gives “body of our humiliation.”
(2) (a) In the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament, humility is an essential characteristic of true piety, or of the man who is right with God. God humbles men in order to bring them to Himself (Deu_8:2, Deu_8:3, etc.), and it is when men humble themselves before Him that they are accepted (1Ki_21:29; 2Ch_7:14, etc.); to “walk humbly with thy God” completes the Divine requirements (Mic_6:8). In Psa_18:35 (2Sa_22:36) the quality is ascribed to God Himself, “Thy gentleness (or condescension) hath made me great.” Of “him that hath his seat on high” it is said, (Hebrew) “humbleth (shāphēl) himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth” (Psa_113:6). It is in the humble heart that “the high and lofty One,... whose name is Holy” dwells (Isa_57:15; compare Isa_66:2).
(b) The word tapeinophrosunē is not found in classical Greek (Lightfoot); in the New Testament (with the exception of 1Pe_5:5) it is Pauline. In Greek pre-Christian writers tapeinos is, with a few exceptions in Plato and Platonic writers, used in a bad or inferior sense - as denoting something evil or unworthy. The prominence it gained in Christian thought indicates the new conception of man in relation to God, to himself, and to his fellows, which is due to Christianity. It by no means implies slavishness or servility; nor is it inconsistent with a right estimate of oneself, one's gifts and calling of God, or with proper self-assertion when called for. But the habitual frame of mind of a child of God is that of one who feels not only that he owes all his natural gifts, etc., to God, but that he has been the object of undeserved redeeming love, and who regards himself as being not his own, but God's in Christ. He cannot exalt himself, for he knows that he has nothing of himself. The humble mind is thus at the root of all other graces and virtues. Self-exaltation spoils everything. There can be no real love without humility. “Love,” said Paul, “vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” (1Co_13:4). As Augustine said, humility is first, second and third in Christianity.
(c) Jesus not only strongly impressed His disciples with the need of humility, but was in Himself its supreme example. He described Himself as “meek and lowly (tapeinos) in heart” (Mat_11:29). The first of the Beatitudes was to “the poor in spirit” (Mat_5:3), and it was “the meek” who should “inherit the earth.” Humility is the way to true greatness: he who should “humble himself as this little child” should be “the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”; “Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Mat_18:4; Mat_23:12; Luk_14:11; Luk_18:14). To the humble mind truth is revealed (Mat_11:25; Luk_10:21). Jesus set a touching example of humility in His washing His disciples' feet (Jn 13:1-17).
(d) Paul, therefore, makes an earnest appeal to Christians (Phi_2:1-11) that they should cherish and manifest the Spirit of their Lord's humility - “in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself,” and adduces the supreme example of the self-emptying (kénōsis) of Christ: “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,” etc. The rendering of heautō̇n ekénōsen (Phi_2:7 the King James Version) by “he humbled himself” has given rise to the designation of the Incarnation as “the Humiliation of Christ.”
(e) There is a false humility which Paul warns against, a self-sought, “voluntary humility” (Col_2:18, Col_2:23). This still exists in many forms, and has to be guarded against. It is not genuine humility when we humble ourselves with the feeling that we are greater than others, but only when we do not think of self at all. It is not alone the sense of sin that should create the humble spirit: Jesus had no sin. It belongs not merely to the creature, but even to a son in relation to God. There may be much self-satisfaction where sinfulness is confessed. We may be proud of our humility. It is necessary also always to beware of “the pride that apes humility.”

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RARE EVIDENCE OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN THE EARLY DAYS OF KINGDOM OF JUDAH

RARE EVIDENCE OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN THE EARLY DAYS OF KINGDOM OF JUDAH

Pi

Picture and article from Demotix.Com

A temple, pottery figurines and other artifacts, providing rare testimony of a ritual cult in the Jerusalem region at the beginning of the Monarchy Period, uncovered in excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority at Tel Motza.

Excerpt from Israel Antiquities Authority press release, 26-Dec-2012:

Rare evidence of the religious practices and rituals in the early days of the Kingdom of Judah has recently been discovered at Tel Motza, to the west of Jerusalem. In excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is currently conducting at the Tel Motza archaeological site, prior to work being carried out on the new Highway 1 from Sha'ar HaGai to Jerusalem by the National Roads Company (previously the Public Works Department), a ritual building (a temple) and a cache of sacred vessels some 2,750 years old have been uncovered.
According to Anna Eirikh, Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily and Shua Kisilevitz, directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "The ritual building at Tel Motza is an unusual and striking find, in light of the fact that there are hardly any remains of ritual buildings of the period in Judea at the time of the First Temple. The uniqueness of the structure is even more remarkable because of the vicinity of the site's proximity to the capital city of Jerusalem, which acted as the Kingdom's main sacred center at the time." According to the archaeologists, "Among other finds, the site has yielded pottery figurines of men, one of them bearded, whose significance is still unknown."
Tel Motza and the surrounding region are renowned for their prime archaeological importance. Many finds have previously been uncovered at the site, from a variety of different periods. From the 1990's to the beginning of the present millennium, the site was excavated in preparation for the new route taken by Highway 1. At the time, the site's archaeologists proposed once more identifying the site with the Biblical settlement "Mozah" mentioned in the Book of Joshua – a town in the tribal lands of Benjamin bordering on Judaea (Joshua 18: 26). The proposal was based, among other things, on the discovery at the site of a public building, a large structure with storehouses, and a considerable number of silos. At the time, archaeologists identified the site as a storehouse, run by high-ranking officials, for Jerusalem's grain supplies.
The current excavations have revealed evidence that provides another aspect to our understanding of the site. According to archaeologists Eirikh, Dr. Khalaily and, Kisilevitz, "The current excavation has revealed part of a large structure, from the early days of the monarchic period (Iron Age IIA). The walls of the structure are massive, and it includes a wide, east-facing entrance, conforming to the tradition of temple construction in the ancient Near East: the rays of the sun rising in the east would have illuminated the object placed inside the temple first, symbolizing the divine presence within. A square structure which was probably an altar was exposed in the temple courtyard, and the cache of sacred vessels was found near the structure. The assemblage includes ritual pottery vessels, with fragments of chalices (bowls on a high base which were used in sacred rituals), decorated ritual pedestals, and a number of pottery figurines of two kinds: the first, small heads in human form (anthropomorphic) with a flat headdress and curling hair; the second, figurines of animals (zoomorphic) – mainly of harnessed animals. The archeologists stress that "The find of the sacred structure together with the accompanying cache of sacred vessels, and especially the significant coastal influence evident in the anthropomorphic figurines, still require extensive research."
Ritual elements in the Kingdom of Judah are recorded in archaeological research, especially from the numerous finds of pottery figurines and other sacred objects found at many sites in Israel, and these are usually attributed to domestic rituals. However, the remains of ritual platforms and temples used for ritual ceremonies have only been found at a few sites of this period. According to the site's directors, "The finds recently discovered at Tel Motza provide rare archaeological evidence for the existence of temples and ritual enclosures in the Kingdom of Judah in general, and in the Jerusalem region in particular, prior to the religious reforms throughout the kingdom at the end of the monarchic period (at the time of Hezekiah and Isaiah), which abolished all ritual sites, concentrating ritual practices solely at the Temple in Jerusalem."

Hezekiah (2)

(חזקיּה, ḥizḳı̄yāh, “Yahweh has strengthened”; also written חזקיּהוּ, ḥı̄zḳı̄yāhū, “Yah has strengthened him”; Ἑζεκίας, Hezekı́as): One of the greatest of the kings of Judah; reigned (according to the most self-consistent chronology) from circa 715 to circa 690 bc.

2. Religious Reform

The sense of this unspiritual state of things furnishes the best keynote of Hezekiah's reforms in religion, which according to the Chronicler he set about as soon as he came to the throne (2Ch_29:3). It is the Chronicler who gives the fullest account of these reforms (2 Ch 29 through 31); naturally, from his priestly point of view and access to ecclesiastical archives. Hezekiah began with the most pressing constructive need, the opening and cleansing of the Temple, which his father Ahaz had left closed and desecrated (2Ch_28:24), and went on to the reorganization of its liturgical and choral service. In connection with this work he appointed a Passover observance, which, on a scale and spirit unknown since Solomon (2Ch_30:26), he designed as a religious reunion of the devout-minded in all Israel, open not only to Jerusalem and Judah, but to all who would accept his invitation from Samaria, Galilee, and beyond the Jordan (2Ch_30:5-12, 2Ch_30:18). The immediate result of the enthusiasm engendered by this Old Home Week was a vigorous popular movement of iconoclasm against the idolatrous high places of the land. That this was no weak fanatical impulse to break something, but a touch of real spiritual quickening, seems evidenced by one incident of it: the breaking up of Moses' old brazen serpent and calling it what it had come to mean, neḥushtān, “a piece of brass” (2Ki_18:4); the movement seems in fact to have had in it the sense, however crude, that old religious forms had become hurtful and effete superstitions, hindering spirituality. Nor could the movement stop with the old fetish. With it went the demolition of the high places themselves and the breaking down of the pillars (maccēbhōth) and felling of the sacred groves ('ăshērāh), main symbols these of a debasing naturecult. This reform, on account of later reactions (see under MANASSEH), has been deemed ineffective; rather, its effects were inward and germinal; nor were they less outwardly than could reasonably be expected, before its meanings were more deepened and centralized.