Bible Study: A brief look at history

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Church of God, In Truth</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>    |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church of God, In Truth"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Studies"><B>Bible Studies</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="bible_study_the_gospel_of_th.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Study: The Gospel of the Kingdom">Bible Study: The Gospel of the Kingdom</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id416.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Esther ">Esther </A></div> <div> <A HREF="id398.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Issachar Calendar?">Issachar Calendar?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What is Thuth?">What is Thuth?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Observing New Moons!">Observing New Moons!</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Why Signs, Symbols, Allegory?">Why Signs, Symbols, Allegory?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oracles of God!">Oracles of God!</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Annual Festivals of God!">The Annual Festivals of God!</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Turn of the Year">The Turn of the Year</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What is Love?">What is Love?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Study of Languages">A Study of Languages</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Name">The Name</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Have we been worshiping the AntiChrist?">Have we been worshiping the Anti-Christ?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What or Who is the AntiChrist?">What or Who is the Anti-Christ?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id195.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Astrology Pagan or Science?">Astrology - Pagan or Science?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id198.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Has America Sinned?">Has America Sinned?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id307.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WORD STUDY OF GENESIS 1:14">WORD STUDY OF " GENESIS 1:14"</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id311.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WHY UNLEAVENED BREAD?">WHY UNLEAVENED BREAD?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id312.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BARABBAS OR CHRIST?">BARABBAS OR CHRIST?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id313.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="STUDY OF DANIEL 9:25">STUDY OF DANIEL 9:25</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id319.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HOW MANY HOLY DAY OFFERINGS ARE REQUIRED">HOW MANY HOLY DAY OFFERINGS ARE REQUIRED?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id424.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Study: Noble Bereans">Bible Study: Noble Berean's</A></div> <div> <B>Bible Study: A brief look at history</B></div> <div> <A HREF="what_was_moses_seat.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What was Moses Seat?">What was Moses Seat?</A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Is Your Bible Study Exciting?  </B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>A Brief Look At History</B></div> <bR> <div>     When you see a river, a town or a mountain mentioned in scripture, do you try to locate it on a map? </div> <bR> <div>  Most people know to combine Bible study with history but how about adding some geography to the mix?  Some of the cities of thousands of years ago no longer exist, while others have changed their names several  times.  A Bible Atlas, or access to the Internet, are very handy tools to make scriptures come alive.  </div> <bR> <div> As an exercise in combining Bible study with map study, let's look at Isa10: 28-32 with a map?</div> <bR> <div> <I>"He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages.  They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.  Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard into Laish, O poor Anathoth.  Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against themount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem."</I></div> <bR> <div> Just a quick reading of the above, it seems very boring, but try locating each city on a map.  Compare an ancient map with a modern map and all of the cities except Laish, Madmenah and Gebim can be found today in the Arab occupied West Bank, north of Jerusalem.  </div> <bR> <div> Beginning with Aiath (also known as Ai), Migron, Michmash, Geba, Anathoth, and Nob all form a route, about 10 miles long, through modern-day Arab settlements right up to the backdoor of the City of Jerusalem.  Ramah, Gibeah and Gallim are villages to the west of this route and Laish, also known as the City of Dan,  north on the Lebanon/Syrian Boarder.  Some modern maps reveal that Ramah and Gallim are Arab villages and Gibeah is a Jewish settlement. </div> <bR> <div> An Internet search of Asyrian wars yields information that some historians claim the invasion of Isaiah 10 has already occurred.  Other historians claim it has not occurred because there is no archeological evidence to prove it.  As a <U>brief review of history</U>, the Babylonians took Jerusalem in 586 BC, followed by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, then Egyptian Ptolemies, the Seleucids, the Romans, the Byzantines, Muslims, Crusaders, Ottomans and finally British occupation. </div> <bR> <div> Therefore, an Asyrian attack of Jerusalem from the north has not yet happened. An attack was tried from the south, but failed.  After the northern tribes were taken into captivity in 721 BC, the Asyrian king also wanted Jerusalem.  He advanced from the southwest with troops he had in Egypt.  He stood by the Upper Pool (2Kings 18:17-37)  near the fuller's field to propose a surrender with King Hezekiah----a location to the southwest of Jerusalem.  God intervened and Jerusalem was spared from attack--an Asyrian attack from the southwest.</div> <bR> <div> It's obvious from the setting that Isaiah 10 is an end time prophecy with the "he" in verse 28 coming from Ai to Migron and leaving his military supplies at Michmash.  The "he" becomes "they" in verse 29 as the army makes it's way, light and swift, to Anathoth, a former Levite city of refuge about 3 miles north of Jerusalem.  Possibly, his army already located in a neighboring Arab land, joins with him at that time to form "they."  "O poor Anathoth"-or maybe in other words, no one will escape the violence as there is no place of refuge for these people?</div> <bR> <div> Verse 32 has the "he" remaining at Nob for a day and evidently that "he" is not happy about some sort of delay and is very angry with "the daughter of Zion" before "he" can advance against the city and take it.   As we all know, the good news is that the Asyrian occupation of Jerusalem is brief because Christ returns with His army to set things right.</div> <bR> <div> "Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria and the glory of his high looks . . . Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O My people that dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Asyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.  For yet a very little while and the indignation shall cease and Mine anger in their destruction . . .And it shall come to pass in that day. . ." (Isa 10:12-27)  (The remaining verses describe the attack.)</div> <bR> <div> Another interesting point is that two of the towns mentioned in Isaiah 10:31 do not exist today, and may have never existed.  They are only mentioned once in the Bible.  Madmenah (translated as "dunghill") and Gebim (translated as "cisterns"). </div> <div>  </div> <div> "Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee."</div> <bR> <div> Two towns with opposite meanings, placed in a path of destruction from the armies of the North against the City of Jerusalem in the Last Days.   One is  "dung" and is removed, the other "holds water" and gathers together to flee. </div> <bR> <div> "Dung" is refuse, something not desired.  We are all familiar with the separation of the "wheat from the tares," so maybe this is just another analogy of the unproductive members of the body being removed, or pruned away.   As just a matter of common sense, for the Church to flee from Judaea and be preaching in Jerusalem, the Church has to somehow get to Judaea, and maybe there's some "dung" that tags along?  Could this be the time when the Two witnesses and the Two Churches preach in Jerusalem for 3 and 1/2 years? (Rev 11:3-4).  Are these the remnant of Rev. 12:17?  (Time will tell).</div> <bR> <div> God's Holy Spirit is likened to water.  Since the Holy Spirit is not freely given to everyone at this time but is contained or restricted, then by extension, the water is held in a cistern-the Church.  It's very possible this verse is just another proof that the end time Church does flee from Judaea from the advancing beast army.  </div> <bR> <div> <I>"And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.  Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains. </I>. ."  (Luke 21:20-24)</div> <bR> <div> See, what a difference a map makes when looking at scriptures!</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Pat Homan</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>