The continents of Europe and Asia have periodically been engulfed by epidemics of leprosy and plague, especially from 1200 to 1400. More than sixty million people, almost one-third of the population of Europe in the fourteenth century, are estimated to have died by the Black Death (bubonic plague). Those who survived described scenes that sounded like the haunting visions of Dante’s descriptions of hell.

How was this dreaded plague finally stopped? During a trip to Vienna, in the center of the city I examined a strange-looking plague statue dedicated to the Black Death’s countless victims and the actions of the church fathers to abolish the curse of that plague. In light of God’s advanced health laws, one might expect to learn that it was only after the people began to follow the Biblical laws of sanitation and disease control that the epidemic was broken.

Several church leaders began to search the Bible to discover whether there was a practical solution. They saw that in Leviticus 13:46, Moses laid down strict regulations regarding the treatment of those afflicted with leprosy or plague: “All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.” God answered their prayers for deliverance when they finally began to obey His Scriptural commands. This divine medical rule demanded that a person who contracted the plague must be isolated from the general population during his infectious period.

Fortunately, the church fathers of Vienna finally took the Biblical injunctions to heart and commanded that those infected with the plague must be placed outside the city in special medical quarantine compounds. Caregivers fed them until they either died or survived the disease. Those who died in homes or streets were quickly removed and buried outside the city. These Biblical sanitation measures quickly brought the dreaded epidemic under control. Other cities and countries rapidly followed the medical practices of Vienna until the deadly spread of the Black Death was halted.

Until the twentieth century, nearly every society other than the Israelites kept infected patients in their homes—even after death—unknowingly exposing other people to deadly disease. Even during the Black Death epidemic, patients who were sick or had died were kept in the same rooms as the rest of the family. People often wondered why the disease affected so many people at one time. They attributed the epidemic to “bad air” or evil spirits. However, careful attention to the medical commands of God as revealed in Leviticus would have saved untold millions of lives. Arturo Castiglioni characterized this Biblical law with these words: “The laws against leprosy in Leviticus 13 may be regarded as the first model of a sanitary legislation.”

Moses’ instruction to segregate infected patients from their families and other people was one of the most important medical advances in human history. Yet no other ancient nation followed this effective medical regulation. The only reasonable explanation is that Moses received this advanced medical knowledge from God’s inspiration.

// The Ghost Species & Genesis 6: The Story Continues - GODSAIDMANSAID.COM

// The Ghost Species & Genesis 6: The Story Continues - GODSAIDMANSAID.COM

The German Officer Who Sacrificed His Life In A Minefield To Save An American Soldier

The German Officer Who Sacrificed His Life In A Minefield To Save An American Soldier

Lessons of life

AN OLD WOMAN WALKED UP AND TIED HER OLD MULE TO THE HITCHING POST.
AS SHE STOOD THERE, BRUSHING SOME OF THE DUST FROM HER FACE AND CLOTHES, A YOUNG GUNSLINGER STEPPED OUT OF THE SALOON WITH A GUN IN ONE HAND AND A BOTTLE OF WHISKEY IN THE OTHER. THE YOUNG GUNSLINGER LOOKED AT THE OLD WOMAN AND LAUGHED, “HEY OLD WOMAN, HAVE YOU EVER DANCED?”

THE OLD WOMAN LOOKED UP AT THE GUNSLINGER AND SAID, “NO,… I NEVER DID DANCE… NEVER REALLY WANTED TO.”

A CROWD HAD GATHERED AS THE GUNSLINGER GRINNED AND SAID “WELL, YOU OLD BAG, YOU’RE GONNA DANCE NOW,” AND STARTED SHOOTING AT THE OLD WOMAN’S FEET.

THE OLD WOMAN PROSPECTOR — NOT WANTING TO GET HER TOE BLOWN OFF –STARTED HOPPING AROUND. EVERYBODY WAS LAUGHING. WHEN HIS LAST BULLET HAD BEEN FIRED, THE YOUNG GUNSLINGER, STILL LAUGHING, HOLSTERED HIS GUN AND TURNED AROUND TO GO BACK INTO THE SALOON.

THE OLD WOMAN TURNED TO HER PACK MULE, PULLED OUT A DOUBLE-BARRELED SHOTGUN, AND COCKED BOTH HAMMERS.
THE LOUD CLICKS CARRIED CLEARLY THROUGH THE DESERT AIR, AND THE CROWD STOPPED LAUGHING IMMEDIATELY.

THE YOUNG GUNSLINGER HEARD THE SOUNDS, TOO, AND HE TURNED AROUND VERY SLOWLY. THE SILENCE WAS ALMOST DEAFENING. THE CROWD WATCHED AS THE YOUNG GUNMAN STARED AT THE OLD WOMAN AND THE LARGE GAPING HOLES OF THOSE TWIN BARRELS.

THE BARRELS OF THE SHOTGUN NEVER WAVERED IN THE OLD WOMAN’S HANDS, AS SHE QUIETLY SAID, “SON, HAVE YOU EVER KISSED A MULE’S ASS?”

THE GUNSLINGER SWALLOWED HARD AND SAID, “NO M’AM… BUT I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO.

THERE ARE FIVE LESSONS HERE FOR ALL OF US:

1 – Never be arrogant.
2 – Don’t waste ammunition.
3 – Whiskey makes you think you’re smarter than you are.
4 – Always make sure you know who has the power.
5 – Don’t mess with old people; they didn’t get old by being stupid.

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Doubting Thomas

 Thomas was deeply committed to his master, yet he struggled with many doubts and questions. On the day He rose from the dead Jesus appeared to a group of disciples in a room. For some unknown reason, Thomas was not there (John 20:19-24). The disciples later told Thomas and Thomas told them that he would not believe unless he seen and put his fingers in the holes the nails made and put his hand into His side he would not believe (John 20:25). That's how Thomas got his nickname and it has stayed with him throughout history.

 Thomas told the other disciples that he needed proof before he could believe Jesus had risen from the dead, he was being honest. Faith does not prohibit investigation. Eight days later the disciples met together again and this time Thomas was there. Jesus asked Thomas to touch His wounds (John 20:27). Jesus knew what Thomas needed to believe. From there He guided Thomas back to faith. 

Gods Word

 Everything in the Old Covenant is centered on the physical world. The promises, the curses, the worship, the Temple, the festivals… all are physically oriented, but point to a great reality that was to come; this is called “typology” and these things are called “types.”  Thus, the Land and the Sabbath are “types” of something wonderful that the people of the Old Testament had no real concept of… eternity.  When Jesus began speaking of eternal life, He was speaking of something that the Old Testament made no mention of… at all. All of the promises in the Law were earthly, not one was eternal in scope.  Jews do not die and go to Heaven; they die and live through their children. If you don’t believe me, ask one of your Jewish friends.

 What has Duterte really achieved? The most significant is that he has been able to centralize and consolidate power. He controls Congress – both the Senate and House of Representatives. He controls the Supreme Court – even ousting then-chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. He was able to imprison his foremost critic, Senator Leila de Lima, on trumped-up charges. Besides having control of the Philippine National Police, he also has won over the loyalty of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

He has indeed achieved political hegemony reminiscent of the era of dictator Ferdinand Marcos without declaring martial law all over the country – except Mindanao, which is under perpetual martial law (thanks to the acquiescence of Congress and the Supreme Court). He was even able to muzzle the press and media people critical of him. He can practically do anything he likes – even if it is against the Constitution, which he regards as just toilet paper.

 

Why the disciples returned to fishing after Jesus died on the cross?

Before the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, the necessities of Him and the disciples seem to have been provided by the charity of other individuals (Luke 8:3). It is probable that after the crucifixion there were no more sources of income and not fully knowing how they were to be employed they returned to their former way of life and that was fishing. The seven mentioned in John 21:2 fished in the sea of Tiberias also known as the sea of Galilee. This fishing expedition revealed the uncertainty of the disciples.  

Bible

 Were there really fiery serpents sent by God to plague the offenders of Israel? Did a man named Moses receive a remedy from God which entailed a staff and a brazen serpent? Is this Biblical account reliable history?

The following paragraphs are from the book The Bible as History:

Surprisingly enough, quite recently we have had archaeological confirmation of two occurrences in the Biblical account of the journey through the desert, which nobody would have expected in this connection. In spite of all the planning and systematic work, chance nevertheless has its part to play in archaeology, and chance does not always pay any attention to what the scholars expect! In this case, it enabled the Israeli archaeologist Benno Rothenberg to discover a “serpent of brass” and a tabernacle in the copper mine area of Timna (Wadi Arabah).

It is reported that there was a similar idol in the temple at Jerusalem which was not removed until it was broken in pieces by King Hiskia (Hezekiah) of Judah, who reigned around 700 B.C. (2 Kings 18:4).[End of quote]

Many years later, the children of Israel transgressed against God in the matter of the brazen serpent. II Kings 18:4 speaks of King Hezekiah and Nehushtan:

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

The Bible as History continues:

The serpent idol naturally reminds us of the Sumerian serpent staff on a vase dedicated to the god of life, Ningizidda. It reminds us, too, of the Aesculapius’s staff of a later phase of Classical Antiquity, as well as of the numerous serpents of Ancient Egypt. Already at the beginning of this century, a German scholar, H. Gressmann, had asserted that the “brazen serpent” in the Bible must have been taken over from the Midianites with whom the Israelis were in contact during the journey through the desert.

According to the Bible, the Midianites were descended from Abraham’s wife, Keturah (Gen. 25:2-6) and Reuel (or Jethro), a priest of the Midianites, who was the father-in-law, adviser, and co-celebrant “before the Lord” (Ex. 2:16, 3:1, 18:1) of Moses. The Israelites are supposed to owe the strange cult of the brazen serpent to Reuel. It is not without a touch of dramatic effect that we note that it was at an archaeological site showing signs of Midianite occupation that Benno Rothenberg’s found an idol in the form of a brazen serpent five inches in length and partly decorated with gold. As though this sensational confirmation of an important part of the Biblical accounts of the journey through the desert, which have been the object of so much discussion, were not enough, this small bronze serpent was found in the Holy of Holies of a tabernacle! [End of quote]