Awesome School Stuff

Wow! I really love going to class on Tuesday nights. Right now I’m in "Special Issues in the Old Testament – Historical Literature." Anyway, last night, Dr. Loken gave us an overview of Genesis. There are lots of things he covered which I knew, but quite a bit that I learned too. Check out some of the stuff that was new to me:

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6_day_war_lands_1 Here’s the first:

There was a 6 day war between Israel and the Arab states of Jordan, Egypt, and Syria in 1967. Israel was attacked on three different fronts simultaneously. Israel had a secret operative who had worked his way into the ranks of the Syrian army and on their battle front, it was very hot and there were lots of mosquitoes. The secret operative explained that if they would plant eucalyptus trees they’d have shade and the mosquitoes would stay away. The Syrian army purchased these trees and planted them near their bases. The secret agent contacted the Israeli bombers who then proceeded to bomb the trees. They didn’t need coordinates, ’cause they could so clearly see these trees which were so out of place in the desert. Pretty funny!!!! Syria loses the battle ’cause they couldn’t stand the mosquitoes or the heat.

By the way, Israel not only won the war on every front, but they also gained quite a bit of land from each of their attackers. On the map, the light tan is what they occupied at first and the green area are what they gained afterwards.

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Here’s another:

In Genesis 17:9-14, God institutes the sign of the covenant – circumcision. Since the covenant was about Abraham’s seed/offspring it was very fitting that every time a male went to procreate, he would see himself and be reminded of the promise regarding his seed/offspring. It is also very interesting to note that there were many other cultures which circumcised men, but it was not common in Ur where Abraham was from and it was completely unique that Israel circumcised babies. Another miraculous thing is that the Lord instructs them to circumcise babies on the 8th day after birth. Doctors today have discovered that Vitamin K (which helps in clotting) spikes in men on the 8th day of life and then never reaches that level again. Without modern Vitamin K injections, doctors recommend the 8th day for circumcision even now because it’s the safest day in a man’s life for such a thing. Interesting that God instructed the people for their own safety even when their knowledge of medicine was lacking. Clearly this was not revealed to them by other men, but only by God.

Another sidenote to the circumcision thing: Joshua 5 records that after they had crossed the Jordan river and before they attacked Jericho, Israel rededicated themselves to the Lord and each man was circumcised. This would have debilitated them and left them virtually helpless in case of attack. They were incredibly vulnerable sitting debilitated between the Jordan river and Jericho. This was an incredible act of faith on the Israelites part. It is because of this act of faith that God takes away the disgrace of their Egyptian captivity, and they become a nation which others fear. 


Here’s the last thing I’m gonna write about today:

First read the Scriptures about Jacob and Esau’s birth:

Genesis 25:21 – Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.

23 The LORD said to her,
       "Two nations are in your womb,
       and two peoples from within you will be separated;
       one people will be stronger than the other,
       and the older will serve the younger."

24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. [e] 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.

OK – now here’s what I learned. Dr. Loken said that he had a student who was also a pre-med student one time who explained this phenomenon called (I forget but I’ll guess) "Twin twin transfusion" where the stronger twin dominates the mothers blood supply and when he is born he is stronger and usually red colored. The weaker is pale. Kind of the "runt" of the litter so to speak. By the way, the word/name "Jacob" was a wrestling term used when someone grabbed another’s heel and tripped him up throwing him to the ground.

Anyway, this explains why Rebekah, the mother, loved Jacob more. It’s kind of a mother’s role to care and nurture the weaker of the two. It also explains why Isaac like Easu – he was a man’s man – the kind of guy you’d want as an heir. Also – after what God said in verse 23, when you look at chapter 27:27-29 (knowing that Isaac thought he was talking to Esau), you realize that Isaac was trying to reverse the curse – going against what God had said. Check it out:

26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me."

27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
       "Ah, the smell of my son
       is like the smell of a field
       that the LORD has blessed.

28 May God give you of heaven’s dew
       and of earth’s richness—
       an abundance of grain and new wine.

29 May nations serve you
       and peoples bow down to you.
       Be lord over your brothers,
       and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
       May those who curse you be cursed
       and those who bless you be blessed."

This was just something I had never thought about – cool stuff.

Indescribable

Here’s the info I spoke on last Sunday Night. I got it all from a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio – the founder of the Passion Worship movement.

1 milky way galaxy

Psalm 19:1-4 – New Living

“The heavens tell of the glory of God.
The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.

Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.

They speak without a sound or a word;
their voice is silent in the skies;

yet their message has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to all the world.”

The stars are shouting God’s praises – day after day they’re telling us what they know! The stars are like a billboard telling us everyday about His glory and how great He is.

Big bang – there probably was a big bang when God created it all! Science and Christians are all seeking to find the truth in this mystery of creation.

God said “let there be light.” Of course – when God asks for something, that’s what He gets.

We don’t even know how big the universe is – the telescope isn’t big enough. God is laughing at us – He enjoys when we discover more, but He has so much more for us.

Habited planets? If the universe is just for us, then it’s way oversized. What if it’s primary purpose isn’t to give us a home, but to show off the glory of God? Then it’s probably the right size.

Light Speed is 186,000 miles/second – a beam of light could circle the earth 7 times every second.

Psalm 33:6 – “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

We live in the subdivision called the milky way universe. Consists of billions of stars. Scientists say there are hundreds of billions of other galaxies in the known universe.

Light year = 5.88 trillion miles/year

2 milky way galaxy

If we were to count just the stars in the milky way galaxy one/second, it would take 2,500 years.

Isaiah 40

25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

We’ve got to right-size Him tonight. He is not our size. He doesn’t think like we think. He is working on a canvas bigger than anything we ever imagined. The heavens are telling us that, and they’re telling us that we are really really really really small.

3 – milky way galaxy

 

4 – milky way galaxy

The Milky way galaxy is a bard spiral galaxy which is 100,000 light years across. (remember a light year is 5.88 trillion miles)

5 – milky way galaxy with earth

Where’s earth? We’re not even in the center of our own subdivision – it’s not about you, it’s about God. You don’t wanna live in the center anyway – it’s scary there. It’s also scary in the bands surrounding the center – we live between them about 2/3 of the way out. Our solar system is too small to even put on this picture. Scientists say that our solar system is the size of a quarter and the milky way galaxy is the size of the North American Continent.

06 – earth

Earth – you don’t see any people, cities, countries. . .you don’t see the great need, the poverty, the strife, the pain, the glory, the glamour – as you step back you get this feeling that maybe we aren’t so big after all. We know the one who made this world must be huge. Maybe we aren’t as important as we thought. Maybe our plans aren’t so grand at all.

Neil Armstrong – first man who walked on the moon said, “I remember on the way home on Apollo 11, it suddenly struck me that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the earth. I put my thumb up and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out planet earth, but I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very very small.

Psalm 8

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

Voyager was launched 1977 – to take pictures. In 1990, Voyager is 3.7 billion miles away from the earth traveling 40,000 miles an hour away from the sun. It takes 60 pictures, with 640,000 pixels in each image. It takes 5 and a half hours for each pixel to make it back to earth from 3.7 billion miles away. – talk about a dial-up problem.
07 – pale blue dot

Do you see earth in that one? It’s there. The “Pale Blue Dot” picture was taken – the suns rays reflected off voyager (4 billion miles away) to create the bands you see. Earth is the dot.

Famous astronomer called it a “mote of dust suspended on a sunbeam.” Our huge lives are all played out on a “mote of dust.” Not trying to make you feel small – I want you to see that you are small.

But it’s significant, insignificance ’cause as tiny as we are – we are prized my majesty. Who sent for us and knows us and loves us even though we are just tiny little specks in this vast universe that He made. Just as He can call the stars by name, He can start in this room and call each of us by name. And not only that – He could even tell you how many hairs are on your head and what you’re thinking right now and if you secretly desire to be sitting next to someone else right now. He knows us!!!!! And Is aware of us!!! And Loves us!! And Invites us into a relationship with Him that will never ever end!!! It’s amazing to think how big He is and that He still knows and cares for us.

Lets go on a journey now.

10 – sun

93 million miles out to the sun.

It burns you up. Raging ball of fire. Not the smiley face sun like we drew it as kids. 10,000 degrees on the surface. It’s like billions of nuclear explosions going off every second. It takes 8 seconds for light from it to go the 93 million miles from there to your skin. It came out of the mouth of God – He is not some kind of wimpy God. He is intense, powerful, ferocious, holy, and full of radiant splendor – He opens His mouth and stuff like this just come out. The sun is 100 times the diameter of earth.

11 – earth/sun comparison

That’s why you wanna thank God in your bed tonight that we are 93 million miles away from the sun.

12 – close up of sun

Close up of the sun from the Swedish solar institute – they’re doing studies of the sun – raging fire. Scientists say, it would take the gross national of the United States for 7 million years for our local power company to run the sun for one second – and it’s just one star out of billions in the milky way – which is only one galaxy of billions of known galaxies in the universe that God has made.

5.88 trillion miles is a light year – 440 light years out we find:

13 – plieades

The Pleiades constellation.

Job 38:31

“Can you hold back the movements of the stars? Are you able to restrain the Pleiades or Orion?

14 – vela pulsar

Vela Pulsar – 1000 light years away

what’s a pulsar? A star explodes into a supernova and can collapse back into itself into a magnetic intensity – it’s a highly magnetized neutron star – it’s center occilates 11 times a second – it sends out this intense signal:

A radio telescope captured this recording of the Vela Pulsar

The vela pulsar didn’t wanna miss out on the worship – it’s screaming “He’s Big!! He’s bigger than you think He is!! God is Awesome!!”

15 – hourglass nebula

8000 light years away – hourglass nebula – just beautiful – God is watching us.

16 – helix nebula

17 – star dust ring

28 million light years out (28 million X 5.88 trillion miles) – sombrero galaxy


18 & 19 – sombrero galaxy

Sombrero galaxy – not just a cool little frisbee thing – its 50 thousand light years wide – trillions of miles thick – why is it there? Just to glorify God – to give a small example of who He is. Showing off the greatness and majesty of God.

20 – hubble telescope

Hubble hangs out 353 miles above the earth.

21 – whirlpool galaxy

31 million light years away – grand design galaxy – hundreds of billions of stars – pink areas are star-forming incubators – every second a new star is born in our universe – God is naming them all and putting them where He wants

Let’s go far far far out! Indescribable how far out it is

22 – christ

He made everything we’ve seen tonight – and yet He chose to be hung on a tree that He himself created. The maker of the entire universe came to that pale blue dot –

Philippians 2:5b-11

Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Psalm 103:8-12

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

23 – x structure at core of whirlpool galaxy

The world – the universe is all about God. Not us, but God. And He has decided to ask you and I to be a part of His big big story. It doesn’t matter how big your situation seems, God is bigger and He loves you! Nothing can shake you out of God’s hand as He holds you.

Love so amazing so divine, demands our my soul my life my all.