Christmas Break

Fat Bus Bloke's Bible Blog is taking a break until the New Year

but the Bus Blog has a daily "Advent Calendar" snippet:

www.publictransportexperience.blogpot.com

Do You Know About Noah? [3]

So what is that headline?

It refers to some research done in America (well it would be!) that suggests that there are huge amounts of water pent up in the earth's crust.

The experiments replicated the environment and conditions deep in the Earth.

Based on what they witnessed in their lab, the researchers concluded that more water probably exists deep within the Earth than is present on Earth's surface; as much as five times more.

Other research has suggested that a zone between the mantle and the crust also contain a great deal of water, the Japanese researchers noted. If so, there could be more than ten times the amount of water inside the planet as there is on its surface.

That's a lotta lotta wotta (as the Scotsman said).

Very amusing! And this, spookily, is what the Bible says:-

When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened, and rain fell on the earth for forty days and nights.

That is spooky. I never knew about the "vast body of water beneath the earth".


It certainly provides food for thought.

When I was at school ...

And that was before the flood!

... I was taught that Noah's flood was most likely a massive local inundation; the world as it was known then was flooded. That map above shown how some people think the Black sea was once much smaller (the dark blue) and was flooded when water from the Mediterranean burst through. Millions who lived on the banks of the smaller sea would have been drowned.

But that modern research might change our opinion?

Then there's the legend of Gilgamesh.

What's that? A large slice of crispbread?

Its a slab of stone with part of the "Legend of Gilgamesh" engraved upon it. It dates from about 4,000 years ago; probably about the time the story of Noah was being passed round.

I watched the appearance of the weather
the weather was frightful to behold!
I went into the boat and sealed the entry.
there arose from the horizon a black cloud.
All day long the South Wind blew ...
blowing fast, submerging the mountain in water,
overwhelming the people like an attack.
No one could see his fellow,
they could not recognize each other in the torrent.
The gods were frightened by the Flood,
and retreated, ascending to the heaven of Anu.
Six days and seven nights
came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land.
When the seventh day arrived, the storm was pounding,
the flood was a war
struggling with itself like a woman writhing in labour.
The sea calmed, fell still, the whirlwind and flood stopped.
I looked around all day long: quiet had set in
and all the human beings had turned to clay!
The terrain was as flat as a roof.
I opened a vent and fresh air fell upon the side of my nose.
I fell to my knees and sat weeping,
tears streaming down the side of my nose.
I looked around for coastlines in the expanse of the sea,
and at twelve leagues there emerged a region of land.
On Mount Nimush the boat lodged firm.

So what?

It suggests very strongly that there is some truth in the idea that there was some really huge and widespread flood, way back in history. It seem that most cultures in that part of the world had some sort of hazy memory. Not utter proof that the Bible is right, but very strong evidence.

And then there's Atlantis. And remember in this map is upside down which is why America is on the left and Africa is on the right.

But that's just a legend, surely?

Ah, but it might be a legend with just a tiny threat of truth in it. So maybe we need to take Noah's Flood more seriously.

Are we going to talk about Doves and Ravens and Mount Ararat?

Oh we are a clever little teenage person, aren't we. But that will be in the New Year. When we meet up for our next little chat.

So it's Happy Christmas, then!

And I wouldn't be seen dead in that!

 Fat Bus Bloke's Bible Blog  

returns in January 2013, but 

 throughout December his Bus 

 Blog had an Advent Calendar 

   Christmas daily thought   

Do You Know About Noah? [2]

So what exactly was this box or boat thing?

Throughout history people have guessed what the ark looked like; and most people imagined a big boat with a large shed on the top.

Like in the top picture above : a painting by the American, Edward Hicks. [born 1780, died 1849]

Or in the bottom two pics : a one fifth size modern reconstruction of the ark by a Dutchman, Johan Huibers. He has now built what he claims to be a full size version.

It's set up as a sort of Noah's Ark theme park. Unlike the original ark, this one has internet access and a big screen cinema! And its got animals ...

... but not real ones.

Firstly, while it does float, Huibers has stressed that the Ark is not designed to save people from a global flood. Instead, he built it as a symbol of his faith. Huibers built the Ark exactly to the specifications noted in the Bible.

You're going to tell me anyway; so what does the Bible actually say?

Build an ark for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. Make it 133 metres long, 22 metres wide, and 13 metres high. Make a roof for the boat and leave a space of 50 centimetres between the roof and the sides. Build it with three decks and put a door in the side.

In fact, if you go by "God's Instructions" as above, the ark would look more like this:-  

I see what you mean; very much like a very big box.

And God works in metric!

Bible measurements are always difficult to translate, but clever people reckon they've got it about right. And here is a realistic impression of the box on the water.

O.K. Maybe, just maybe, some nutter decided to build a big boat to save his family and a few chickens; but a world-wide flood? That wasn't in my history book.

There's nothing odd about floods.

PICTURE 1 : a scene from the film 'Flood' where a combination of tide and weather caused a disastrous flood

Quite scary to see the famous London landmarks under ten metres of water!

But the film showed that it could easily happen!

PICTURE 2 : from Norfolk in 1953 where a combination of tide and weather caused a diastrous flood.

PICTURE 3 : Lynton (in Devon) a town destroyed in 1952 by a sudden build-up of rain running off the moors.

PICTURE 4 : Boscastle (in Devon) a town destroyed in 2004 by a sudden build-up of rain running off the moors.

Yeah, right! But none of these was world wide. You'll have to do better than that.

All right, we'll try on Thursday. In the meantime, what about this for a headline?

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 29th November 

Do You Know About Noah? [1]

He is the first great bible Hero and was descended from Methuselah

Even if we are uncertain of the real meaning of his great age; we can see that these people form a link in the narrative with the famous boat builder.

When Methuselah was 187, he had a son, Lamech. He had other children and died at the age of 969. When Lamech was 182, he had a son, and said, "this child will bring us relief from God's punishment."; so he named him Noah. Lamech died at the age of 777.

So often, in the Bible, it's people's names that help tell the story.

What do you mean?

Why did mum and dad give you your name?

They liked the sound of it, I suppose?

Well, the name "Noah" come from a Hebrew word meaning "to bring relief"

He "brought relief" by saving the people God chose to go into the Ark, but this picture is very unrealistic. It was painted in 1675, by a bloke called 'Franzosischer Meister' - not his real name 'cos it means 'French Master'. Apart from the over-complicated boat, you can be sure that there weren't Greek-style buildings. Noah and his people probably lived in caves or crude mud huts!

So Noah built a big boat; and the animals went in two by two; and they escaped the flood. A pretty fairy story, but not much else, surely.

And, (snigger snigger), did he take a woodpecker?

We'll just read what the Bible words say ...

God saw that the people of the world did evil continually, but Noah had no faults and was the only good man of the time.

God said "I have decided to put an end to all mankind so build an ark, take your family and samples of all the animals with you." So Noah did everthing that the Lord had commanded.

Oooer! It sounds a bit more serious than just a pretty story.

But is that "ark" the same as in the film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark". It's been on the telly about a hundred times. They all get dissolved in the end.

Horrid!

The "Lost Ark" was a very posh gold-covered box which appears much, much later on in the Bible story. The picture is of a reconstruction; the real Ark of the Covenant was lost about 3000 years ago. And, no, it's not in a secret warehouse in America!

Noah's ark was probably thousands of years earlier (maybe as early as 10,000 BC) and was most definitely not a boat. It was a very big box! There's not much point in having a point on the boat; it didn't have sails or an engine. It just went where the wind and the waves sent it.

So if Noah's Ark wasn't a boat, what did it look like?

We'll find out next time.

And was there really a world wide flood? It sounds impossible.

That's a bit tricky, but we'll get there in the end.

And God sounds like a very cruel God, bumping off everybody who didn't do what he said.

All those poor people, drownded?

Another challenge to think about later.

Sound as if this is likely to be tough going. My head'll start hurting all over again

 Next Bible Blog : Tuesday 27th November 

How Old?

You must be joking!

Did you ever watch the film "2001 a Space Odyssey".

It ends with a very, very old man reaching for a block of something that's filled with stars. I never understood the ending but it was, apparently, very meaningful; very "spiritual".

But that's not in the Bible, is it?

But you were asking about those ancient bods who, apparently, lived for huge numbers of years.

And I can't believe that this was ever true!

When Jared was 162, he had a son, Enoch, and then lived another 800 years. He had other children 20 and died at the age of 962.

When Enoch was 65, he had a son, Methuselah. After that, Enoch lived in fellowship with God for 300 years and had other children. He lived to be 365 years old. He spent his life in fellowship with God, and then he disappeared, because God took him away.

When Methuselah was 187, he had a son, Lamech, and then lived another 782 years. He had other children and died at the age of 969.

How old are the oldest people today?

JEANNE CALMENT died (in France) in 1997 at the age of 120 and is the longest living human being ever. Actually the oldest person to be accurately recorded at that age.

HENRY ALLINGHAM was Britains oldest living man.

Henry William Allingham (6 June 1896 to 18 July 2009) was a British supercentenarian, First World War veteran and, for one month, the verified oldest living man in the world. He is also the second-oldest military veteran ever and at the time of his death, he was the 14th-verified oldest man of all time.
 
But he wasn't 969? I still can't believe that.

There are several possible explanations.

 1  The translators of the Bible simply got their numbers wrong. Ancient Hebrew didn't have numbers like we have, so used letters. It can be difficult to work out what these letters actually mean.

 2  Some people think the numbers refer to the longevity of tribes, not individual people; so, for example, the Methuselah tribe lasted for 969 years.

And what do you think?

 3  Well, the Bible reminds us that God limited the span of human life, reducing it over the years until the best life expectancy became, firstly 120 and then "three score years and ten". That's 70 in modern english. So it is possible that in very ancient and primitive times, long long before recorded history, people did live very long lives. And then God ...

Let me guess ...

... cut life short because mankind continued to be sinful.

You are beginning to understand.

How old are you?

68

So you've only go 2 years to go.

Charming! We need to remember that the Bible was never, never, written to be an accurate history, science of human ethnology book. For the writers, the sort of detail we might expect today was simply not relevant to the story of how God dealt with his people. It was the principles that mattered.

But this is yet another list of names that mean nothing to me or anyone else.

But the links are absolutely vital in the culture of Bible times; they create a chain of people like Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and the rest of them linking with the first Bible super-hero.

Who is?

 Next Bible Blog : Sunday 25th November 

So who was Mrs Cain?

Intrigue and Incest in the Book of Genesis?

Well, go on. Where did Mrs Cain come from?

People have argued over this for centuries. Some say that there were plenty of exceptions to the incest rules where it was nesessary, so perhaps that's how Cain gets a son. Other people argue that, although Adam and Eve are reported as the first people there will have been other early human types ...

Like Neanderthal Man?

... oooh, very clever. These near humans may have contributed to the gene pool. The writers of Genesis were particularly keen to explain the pre-history of their peoples and they weren't too bothered about every little detail. Remember they collected "word of mouth" stories and brought them all together.

The writers have more to say about how human beings developed....

Enoch [Cain's son] had a son named Irad
who was the father of Mehujael
who had a son called Methushael
who was the father of Lamech
who had two wives, Adah and Zillah.

Good grief! Do I really want to know this rubbish?

It's not rubbish and you don't need to know who these people were. But ancient peoples did need to know! They had no birth certificates, no family photos; in fact nothing except memories and stories of their ancestors. This was their culture! So stay with it!

Adah gave birth to Jabal: who was the ancestor of those who raise livestock and live in tents.

Although this is a modern picture "of those who raise livestock and live in tents", the lifestyle hasn't changed much since Cain's time.

His brother was Jubal: who was the ancestor of all musicians who play the harp and flute.

This shows Etruscan musical instruments from about 1200 BC but most ancient civilisations developed music by blowing and twanging.

Zillah gave birth to Tubal Cain: who made all kinds of tools out of bronze.

A typical ancient bronze axe-head.

Well I have to agree : all those things are part of real history.

So the bible writer (whoever he was) explains how primitive humans like Adam or Cain changed from being "hunter gatherers" to developing the beginnings of civilisation i.e. the bronze age! The bible isn't a science book; it isn't a learned treatise on ethnicity but it is written to explain how and why things happened.

Remember, there are plenty of things in our more recent history that cannot be fully explained.

Who first made fire?

Who baked the first bread?

Who decided how to make clothes?

Who invented language?

We know they happened; we just have to accept that nobody bothered to record the detail. And it's difficult detail we come to next.

Like What?

When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him, and he named him Seth. [he was a replacement for Abel]. After that he had other children and died at the age of 930.

Come on, 930 years old. Thats crazy!

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 22nd November 

Archie's Christening

From fbb's bus blog ...

Today at 1400 is the Christening of Archie Robin Fearnley (son of you-know-who) ...

... at St Mary's Church Goldsborough (near Harrogate). fbb and Mrs wish the little lad the very best of futures; and may he come to know his Lord Jesus as a personal Saviour in due course. fbb and Mrs fbb will attend to support the families and to pray for them and Archie. He's grown a bit since this was taken ...

 ---------------------------------------------------

Sweet. I was christened.

I have no idea what it was all about. What's the point? Somebody once told me it was to stop you going to hell. How could sprinkling a baby with water do that? It doesn't make sense.

Different Churches do baptism in different ways. This one's in the sea and it's for adults.

Sometimes they use a tank, called a bapistry, in the Church.

And they have to wear a nightie?

The people in the sea seem to be having fun!

Probably "joy" would be a better word. They are joyful because their faith in Jesus has changed their lives.

Hang on, I've got an idea.

You are being washed clean by faith in Jesus. Tada!

Yes, but you have to be a bit careful. Being baptised doesn't change anything. You jut get wet! But baptism is a public display that you have been changed. Even Jesus was baptised.

But he didn't need to be washed clean; he wasn't dirty with his sins, surely.

In a way, that's the point. Of course he didn't, but he wanted to show others how important being baptised was. This is what it says in the Bible.

At that time Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to make him change his mind. “I ought to be baptized by you,” John said, “and yet you have come to me!”

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.” So John agreed.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and lighting on him. Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.”

I would have been scared if I had been there and seen something like that. That's if it really happened like that.

I am sure something pretty spectacular really did happen. But we can debate that another day.

One last question. I can understand what baptism is for adults, but your pal little Archie doesn't know what's going on. How can he be baptised?

He can't, not completely. That's why you have Godparents.

They promise, with the baby's parents, to bring the child up to learn about God and Jesus and so prepare him (or her) for the time when he can make his own decisions.

My Uncle Eric was my Godfather; I haven't a clue who my Godmother was. But nobody ever talked to me about God. I though Godparents were to look after you if your real parents died.

That, sadly, is typical but wrong. They are bonus extra parents who help you to understand about God. There's a clue in the name.

O.K. But what about Mrs Cain. I haven't forgotten.

 Next Bible Blog : Tuesday 20th November 

It's a real pain for Mister Cain.

But not the end; perhaps the beginning ...

I like the hunky men; very physical!

Cain committed the first murder so he had to be punished.

You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil: You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth. So Cain went away from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod.

Isn't that a kiddes' phrase for sleeping - 'he's in the land of Nod.'?

'Nod' is an ancient Hebrew word for "Wandering." Cain and his people became nomads.

But the bible suggests that God has a way of making good come from bad; and we are told that Cain "built a city and named it after his son Enoch." And it is very likely that he "Wandered" and "built his city" in Mesopotamia; the name means "between the rivers" - near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; just "up the road from" the Garden of Eden.

But one man couldn't build a city, singe handed.

Agreed. But don't think of a city as a huge place; perhaps a better translation might be "and Cain settled in one place." It's unlikely that it will ever be proved, definitely, but it all fits!

A map of Mesopotamia. Each black dot is the site of a really ancient excavation. The picture shows some typical ruins from, possibly, 2000 years BC buy many settlements are much, much older.

So you reckon that this is some sort of ancient family history?

Probably not as accurate as a true family tree, but giving the basic essentials so future generations could understand what happened and how "civilisation" began to develop from primitive times.

But I've got a question you can't answer!

Try me?

Cain had a son, Enoch, right?

Ye-e-e-s?

So where did Mrs Cain come from. Surely not Adam and Eve? Marrying your own sister is ...

Incest. And very definitely wrong in the Bible.

In some societies, such as those of Ancient Egypt and others, brother–sister, father–daughter, and mother–son, cousin-cousin, uncle-niece, aunt-nephew, and other permutations of relations were practiced among royalty as a means of perpetuating the royal lineage. In addition, the Balinese and some Inuit tribes have altogether different beliefs about what constitutes illegal and immoral incest. However, parent-child and sibling-sibling unions are almost universally forbidden. Children born of close incestous unions have greatly increased risk of congenital disorders, death and disability at least in part due to genetic diseases caused by the inbreeding.

I'll have a go at answering on Sunday : be patient!

 Next Bible Blog : Sunday 18th November 

Bloggus Interruptus

Bible Blogs are suspended for a few days

too much going on!

Back Thursday 15th November

For I am certain that nothing can separate us from God's love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below, there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Abel was Able to Worship God

Cain Was Less Interested?

Of course no-one agrees whether there really WAS a first man called Adam and a first woman called Eve; but many ancient civilisations have similar stories, so there is some ancient truth in the back of people's minds. The important thing about the story of the Garden on Eden is that it begins to explain why things go wrong - why there is bad in the world.

Then Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant.

The Bible's hot on sex then?

She bore a son and said, “By the Lord's help I have gotten a son.” So she named him Cain. Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer.

And the next little story shows the troubles in the Garden beginning to get worse.

A picture of a man. Is he setting fire to an animal? And the second man has some corn. And the coloured picture with weird writing shows the men with animal and corn again? What's going on?

The men are offering sacrifices to God.

That is even more gross than God digging Eve out of Adam's belly!

You may not like it but it was how they did things in ancient times. The offer of a sacrifice was to say thank you to God; for a good flock of new lambs or a plentiful Harvest.

Like putting 10p in the collection at church?

Moe like that than you might think!

Cain brought SOME of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the Lord.

Then Abel brought the FIRST lamb born to one of his sheep; and gave the BEST parts of it as his offering.

Spot the difference?

Cain's offering, SOME of the corn, was all a bit casual, "Am I bovvered?", But Abel's, the lamb, was the FIRST and the BEST.

So, the Bible says, God rejected Cain's offering but accepted Abel's. So Cain became...

Jealous, OR, full of envy

Then Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out into the fields." Cain turned on his brother Abel and killed him.

All because he was jealous of a dead lamb?

There was more to it than that. Lets go back a bit.

The Lord said, "Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face?" If you had done the RIGHT thing you would be smiling! SIN is crouching at your door and you must overcome it."

But he didn't. He committed the first MURDER in history!

You'll be having a go at me again, next.

The murder was bad enough but, in many ways, the punishment was worse.

 Next Bible Blog - Sunday 11th November 

Would You Adam and Eve It? [3]

O.K. Let's finish the story

The snake was the most cunning creature God had made. The snake tempted the woman to eat from the forbidden tree. "If you do eat," said the snake, "you will not die but will become like God."

The snake was right; they didn't die, did they?

In a life and death way, no, they didn't. But think what the temptation means. Adam and Eve were tempted to disobey God when there was no need. There was plenty for them to eat. Mostly when people today disobey or do wrong, they know what "wrong" is - and they don't need to do it anyway.

NO COMMENT!

----------------------------------------

Eve took some of the fruit, ate it and gave some to her husband who also ate it.

So they're in big trouble now.

Because they have disobeyed; because they have experienced what "wrong" is. Suddenly the perfect life has become spoiled. Perfection is DEAD. So, although they haven't physically died, their perfect life in the garden has gone for ever. All sorts of sad and bad things start to happen; and have been happening ever since.

What sort of bad things?

---------------------------------------- 

As soon as they had eaten the fruit, they felt guilty and naked; and sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves. That evening they heard God walking in the garden and they hid from him.

So they realised they'd messed it up?

Exactly. From total contentment in the Garden, their actions have let in...
SHAME

'cos they realise they are naked,
GUILT

'cos the know they've done wrong,

FEAR

of what God might do;
And it gets worse...

----------------------------------------

"Who told you thay you were naked?" asked God, "did you eat the fruit I told you NOT to eat?" The man answered, "The woman made me do it!" and the woman said, "The snake tricked me."

So they started

LYING 

and

BLAMING

each other

Sounds familiar? "It wasn't me, it was everybody else!" Where have I heard that before?

NO COMMENT! - again!

----------------------------------------

And God said "I will make the snake and the woman hate each other - and Woman will suffer paid in childbirth - and Man will have to work hard to make the soil produce crops - and This hardship will continue until you return to dust."

So the perfect life becomes the tough life. And I really hate snakes!

And to complete the punishment they are evicted from the Garden of Eden to cope as best they can with the real, dangerous and difficult world.

----------------------------------------

Makes you think; doesn't it

The story of the "fall" may be literally true or just a parable of the decline of the human condition, brought about by disobeying God, by abusing the richness of what he was providing for his people. In a very real way, all the bad things that humans do can be explained in these terms. Our failings are derived from "Adam and Eve's" failings.

You're making ME feel guilty now!

So maybe the Adam and Eve story does make more sense than you realise?

So where do they go from here?

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 8th November