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thanks, Shelby
for referring to the closer to original meanings
found in Hebrew,
Mornin', dear Wheels, and peace to you! Yes, written language is VERY important (well, you've seen me post where words are important - LOL!)... and I have to say that I am a bit concerned about the current trend for texting, tweeting, etc. How do we know but that some of what was written... well, "copied"... long ago wasn't, say, abbreviated forms of language (a la today's texting language(s))? To truly understand what someone (originally) wrote, you would really want to ask them. OR... if you can... ask the one who originally DICTATED the message... or at least knows the "heart" of the one who (originally) wrote it - LOL! Can't get a better "translation" than that, IMHO - LOLOLOL!
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angels maybe flew visibly among men perhaps as glowing gods
And after! Remember, while many received "visions" containing spirit beings, including the Word himself, some literally saw spirit beings: Daniel (in the lion's den and furnace); Mary (my dear Lord's mother) and Mary the Magdalene, etc., in the tomb my Lord had been laid and raised up in. Zechariah... Joseph, Mary's husband, etc. True, these weren't flying... but I don't think the "flying" part means what we think it does. I mean, they can and do fly, but not like birds. They have wings but from what I've seen, those are used for moving "quickly" and by that I mean, well, like in an instant. Literally a "flash" - here one second, gone (on a mission/assignment) the next. It's almost as if they've disappeared but in fact they've simply "flown" [away] somewhere. They're back in a flash, too, although that assigned may have taken years, if not centuries, in OUR time.
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that might have made faces glow like Moses on Mt. Sinai
Well, not quite. It's what makes THEM glow that made Moses' face glow: JAH's "dynamic energy." Both spirits (who can still do so - not all can and so are "in darkness") and Moses simply "reflect" JAH's "light"... or the vast amount of energy that emits FROM That One. (
Daniel 7:9c, 10a; Revelation 4:5a). In essence, they "glow"... and Moses "glowed"... due to radiation they receive(d)/absorbed and then emit(ted).
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and Noah himself was yet alive
until about 300 years before Joseph
so the original Hebrew
and even the religious practices of Egypt
would not be as heavily warped
as today's English and modern rituals
YES! I mean, I can't account for the actual number of years just now, but yes, the original "Hebrew" (which was actually a form of Phoenecian/Aramaic tongue) and practices would be VERY similar. I mean, look at Catholicism: how long has that been around... and has it TRULY changed much in such a time? True, the popes don't marry (or openly engage in murder, homosexuality, adultery, theft, etc.), but there are still a lot of TRADITIONS (i.e., lies!) established in the first days that are adhered to even now. For example, the RIDICULOUS notion that the pope is the successor to Peter. I mean... PETER??... REALLY?? WHEN did... WOULD...
PETER... have engaged in such pomp, worn such rainment, used a thurible and other religious "utensils", sprinkled water on a baby's forehead, had people dip their fingers in "holy water" and touch their foreheads, make the "sign" of the "cross", put ashes on their foreheads on a certain day, heck, have a BUILDING (as a "church")... or even more, a TOWN (i.e., Vatican City)???? He was a FISHERMAN by trade... and even IF my dear Lord had promised him a seat on his (my dear Lord's) left or right... which he DIDN'T (but maybe that's why some folks think Peter's so prominent - when, in fact, he was the putz of the group, no offense to dear Peter, but that's the truth - LOLOL!... that promise would have PRECLUDED all of the pomp!
Matthew 23:9-12So, unless Peter gave UP his hope... all of this "built on Peter" melarkey (which is another lie regarding PETER being the "rock", versus his FAITH... in CHRIST... the "Rock" ("stone of stumbling")... is BS. And if he established all of this pomp (he didn't, but for argument's sake, let's say he did)... any one could KNOW he gave it up by THIS melarkey (which is Christ in any of it??!). And if he DID give it up, why in the world follow HIM?
Non-sense. From which comes NO sense. I digress.
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i recorded some of my reactions to your epic journey
as follows
COOL! Let's see...
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that
that is the pyramids
excuse me
outside the balcony
it's the pyramids
Yes, it was... and an AWESOME sight, too - LOLOL!
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i imagine a lot of
"Ali Akbars!"
from the other tenants
escaping that elevator successfully
Okaayyyyy???!! I sure did give MY thanks the two times I escaped - LOLOLOLOLOL!
[Sidenote: usually, only one elevator car was on-line at a time (the one on the right). Apparently, Egypt has energy problems (which often causes electricity outages - our dear hosts equipped our flat with large battery operated LED auxiliary lighting bars just for that purpose - I think it did go out once while we were there) and so running both elevators was taxing on the building's electrical capability. So, the lobby attendant would often have to turn on the other so that we had two (because there were so many of us, and with baggage, etc.). Thing is, I didn't notice any of the regular tenants getting stuck, so maybe there was some "trick" to it that you understood after using the things for some time.]
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archaeologist antiquities prof
as your tourguide
not just some schmuck off the street
Nope! Now, wasn't THAT a "gift"? And he was a LOVELY man, an 89-year-old energizer bunny - LOLOL! He also helped me see, though, that even tenured egyptologists don't know what was going on with some ancient egyptians. Too "blinded" by the view of all of the ancient "gods". Which was the point (of the ancient priests, etc.), in CREATING such gods. Well, them and THEIR leader (the Adversary). Very "blinding" such things are.
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wow
seeing people standing by the pyramid entrance
with the triangular giant robot head
poking out among the stones above them
Yeah, can remind one of, say, a transformer, right? LOLOLOL! Actually, they are more of just a kind of "chevron" design, though, and for a purpose: it seems that the entrance is blocked by huge blocks of stone that apparently have given archaeologists a conundrum - how did the builders block the door and then get out - there didn't seem to be any other "doors." And if they didn't get out, but blocked the door and then died inside, where are their bodies? No bodies have ever been found in the pyramids. This was the question propounded by our dear guide before we ascended the Great Pyramid (only a about a story or so up, though). Excavators had made another opening (which they charge about 1000 Egyptian pounds to go in, but our guide advised against spending the money as there was nothing inside - just a big hole), but still couldn't figure out how the blockage had been done with the blockers getting out. Hmmmmmm...
And yet, once we got to the level we needed, I turned to the left and see a very small (in comparison to the others) "odd" looking stone in the pyramid facade that OBVIOUSLY (well, to ME) didn't "fit" with the others. It was small but large enough for a fairly good-sized man to crawl out of... and appears "odd" to me because it's coloring was slightly off from all of the others around it. Very close, but NOT the same (at all, if you can focus your view on it AND the surrounding stones). Then I heard, "This is where the men came out, child. There is no hocus-pocus to it. They blocked (very large) doorway from within, then climbed out
here and sealed the exit with this smaller stone." Well, DOO-DAH, my Lord! And so, like he said: no hocus-pocus! I did "marvel" that, what, the experts don't know this, Lord? Or that perhaps they did but didn't say anything so as to maintain the mysteriousness of the pyramid? I didn't receive a response. What I did receive, though, was that our dear guide didn't know (which made me marvel more - I mean, if HE didn't see it/know perhaps the other experts didn't either - but it was RIGHT THERE; how could they not SEE it?? Things that make one go "hmmmmm"...).
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i used to think the stones were gigantic
but now that i see people standing beside
i am reminded of a scene from Spinal Tap
regarding the mighty Stonehenge,
meh
no space aliens needed
just log rollers
They aren't that large, no; however, the ones in the structure surrounding the Sphinx were not only HUGE, but cut in very curious ways... AND fit together PERFECTLY. No mortar, no grout, no sand between them. And yet, no gaps. None. They fit together virtually seamlessly. You could see a seam, of course, but there wasn't even the slightest bit of space between the stones. And again, some were cut, I don't know the word... had cut outs that other stones were perfectly fit into... and yet, each stone was the size of a pick-up truck. Pretty marvelous engineering!
BUT, our dear guide did NOT believe space aliens were involved. In fact, he explained where the stones came from and how they got to the area (the whole area used to be part of the Nile river - stones cut in quarries miles away, even days away... then floated on barges downstream to a port in Giza (although in the northern part of Egypt, Cairo/Giza is in "Lower Egypt" with Luxor and Aswan, which is south of Cairo/Giza, in "Upper Egypt." [This is because the headwaters come from Lake Victoria (through the White Nile in Uganda) and Lake Tana (through the Blue Nile in Ethiopia) which converge at, Khartoum, the capital of Sudan (and one of the reasons for all of the conflict in that area - control of the Nile River waters)). He told us of how the water covered the area when he was little boy and how he often fished in it (his passion is fishing!) and took us to a bookstore that had B&W pics of the Nile in the area back in the day (and yep, the whole area right up to the Sphinx was under water with date trees poking up all about)... and when the Sphinx was still largely buried under the sand). Anyway, the Nile river flows north, from Lake Victoria (elev. 3,717'), then over 3,400 mile
down to Cairo/the Giza plateau (elev. 75'-62'), through the Nile Delta/Alexandria (elev. 16.4' to sea level), into the Mediterranean Sea (sea level). I added that bit of info so that folks can SEE how easy it would be to get great stones from the south of Egypt to the north: the river flows north with quite an elevation drop. The current would push the boats along so that transporting large, heavy items wouldn't be difficult at all. Now, transporting such from Cairo to, say, Luxor or Aswan, would have been another thing entirely. I digress.]
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winged people
reminiscent of the ark of the covenant
YES!! And there are other "people/creatures" in Egyptian "religion" that correspond to the ancient Hebrew beliefs, as well. And that is what I will expound more on in another thread (I have yet to post about that as I am still waiting for ALL of the info, well, as much as I am to share, to come together. My apologies for the delay, but it will come and I will post it).
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gold insoles
lol
Doctor Saul's
LOLOLOL! Indeed! And bringing MUCH more comfort, given their purpose, I'm sure - LOLOL!
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if the spirit realm is Daddy's real working machine
Tut's mask would be the Fisher Price toy version
LOLOL! Yes, I can totally see that. WE think it's all "oooh-ahhh!"... and it IS, for OUR world. But, yes, it's a mere toy with regard to the MOST Holy and HIS world.
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if i lived in Joseph's Yahweh-friendly Egypt
and wore the Egyptian bald beardless make-up and garb
that Joseph himself probably wore
Ummmm... I think not. In fact, that whole bald, beardless thing may have actually been a statement AGAINST Joseph and/or his legacy. Think on this:
Like his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel, Joseph apparently had the Law "written on his HEART." Hence, he didn't need the Law on stone tablets. Neither did Moses - only unfaithful Israel, those who left Egypt and began to murmur while journeying in the wilderness, needed it written out. But picture what Hebrews would have looked like - well, those dedicated to JAH (i.e., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel... Joseph): predominantly long hair and bearded! (
Numbers 6:5) Those who were not would have likely taken on the Egyptian appearance (bald/beardless), which appearance would have been a statement AGAINST the Hebrew appearance (so as not the confuse others as to which one belonged). The Hebrews, then, by and large, would not have shaved their heads OR beards. As one dedicated to JAH, then,
Joseph would NOT have taken a razor to HIS head. So, now, you're an Egyptian and you have an (obvious) Hebrew ruling over you. How would YOU "rebel"? That appearance (long hair/long beard) would have been anathema to those who grew to hate the Hebrews (for whatever reason, including having an outsider rule over you).
This is most probably why Moses was originally identified as an "Egyptian" by Jethro's daughters - not his CLOTHING... but his shaved head/face. Once he was away, though, he let all of that grow out (per the Hebrew appearance) as (1) he would never have won the trust of the Israelites looking like an Egyptian, (2) he was now identifying openly with Hebrews, and (3) most importantly, HE was now one "dedicated" to JAH.
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and made Egyptian purification and atonement sacrifices
No, luv - it was the other way around: he brought the HEBREW God and beliefs to the EGYPTIANS. And most Egyptians followed that! Hence, great booty given the Hebrews when they were preparing to leave Egypt... and the vast mixed company of Egyptians (and others) that left WITH them! They served the God of the Hebrews... as did the Pharaoh with whom Abram and Sarai had their incident (
Genesis 12:10-20; 39:7-9)... and the Pharaoh who installed Joseph to begin with (
Genesis 41:38, 39, 45)
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or if i hung around a couple hundred years later
and was close friends with King Tut's monotheistic-leaning parents,
And there's some stuff to be explored there, at to the beliefs of Tut AND his (step)parents, yes!
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i as a true blue ancient Ra-worshiping Egyptian,
i would probably be closer to the Truth
than any WTBTS-worshiping Jehovah's Witness today
YES!!!! Absolutely! And not just because of the fake, hypocritical, blind, BS teachings, doctrines, and MAJOR stumbling block of ALL religion... their TRADITIONS... but because of the misunderstandings as to "Ra"! Which will be discussed in another thread. At some point (LOLOL!).
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betcha Tut's mask made sounds
Hmmmmm... never thought of that. As a "toy," I can imagine it might have. Since it was a burial mask, though, not sure what sound it would make... or the purpose - LOLOL!
Anyway, thank you for your kind comments - it was good to be able to discuss/share as to some of these things. I do love it when comments call for in-depth responses as I also learn ("iron sharpens iron"). For example, it wasn't until you mentioned the bald/beardlessness that I understand what Joseph (AND Moses, both before and after leaving Egypt) had to have appeared. Also, I can understand why any self-loving Hebrew might decide to lose that "look" after coming OUT of (slavery in) Egypt - who wants to look like their captors/masters? Oh, wait... black people in America! LOLOLOLOLOL! Sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone, but I PROMISE you, if I could have gotten away with nappy hair (and not have people either fawn over or want to "touch" my afro, I would have NEVER straightened my hair - EVER. But, well, when in Rome...
The Hebrews had left "Rome," though, so...
More on Egypt later (not today, though).
Thank you again, dear Wheels, and peace to you!
Your servant and a slave of Christ,
Shel