Tracing Family Histories

 Although the checking of personal ancestries has never been more popular than it is today with numerous magazines and web sites offering  help to trace your family roots  the idea is not new at all.

Ancestral records were vital in the ancient nation of Israel where such records were used in setting up tribal and family relationships such as land divisions and inheritances and they were particularly vital in proving the lineage of the promised Messiah.

That is no doubt why both Mathew and the physician, Luke in their accounts of the life of Jesus started out tracing the lineage of Jesus all the way back to both King David and Abraham. You will remember how Jehovah God made a promise to Abraham that through his family someone would be born who would help mankind to regain God's favour and how King David was told  that this one -- the Messiah -- would come through his family line.

The Jews of  were well aware of this as shown  at John 7:42   Where members of a crowd are quoted by John say, "Does not scrpture not say that the Christ [Messiah] is coming from the offspring of David?" So the Gospel writers  wanted to make this relationship between Abram, David and the Messiah, Jesus, clear.

But where did Mathew and Luke get their information?  Likely from an ancestral record. These took two forms. The ancestral records of priestly families which according to The Jewish Encyclopedia were given special care  and the "public registers".

These were still very accurate histories of Jewish families as seen by the fact that one Hillel, a rabbi of Jesus time was able to prove  he was a descendant of King David according to a Jewish midrash or commentary and the first century historian Flavius Josepheus  also claimed that such records proved his ancestors were priests and that through his mother's side of the family he had "royal blood".

These public archives  were maintained by family heads recording family information at centers  in their home towns such as ones  the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar had set up during Jesus' era as recorded at Luke 2: 1-5.



 

Is The Bible Not A Book Worth Looking Into?

 Is the Bible  not a book spending time looking into  to learn more about?

Is there one that can match it's influence on the world's greatest art, its literature, its music -- and legal systems?

Is there another book that has been copied thousands of times over the centuries yet today is basically the same today as when it was written?

Is there another publication  that has inspired so  many persons to risk hardship and even death in order to translate it?

Is there another book with accurate scientific information about our earth written thousands of years ago?

Is there another book with clear predictions concerning mankind  that came true, as proved by historical facts?

And is there any other book that contains timeless principles that can help people off all races and ethnic groups to solve problems in their lives? 

How Would You Have Made Contributions?

You are quite familiar with the picture of a plate been passed around the isles of a local church for members to add their contributions -- but in the ancient Jewish temples people were not confronted by such a plate when they came to worship.

According the book The Temple -- Its Ministry and Services persons wishing to make a contribution did by dropping money into a chest built in the walls of the Court of Women.

This  Court had a colonnade and within it, against a wall, there were thirteen trumpet shaped chests. Each chest was used to collected money for different uses which were clearly marked on the chest itself. People made contributions in various amounts depending on their financial situation. This could vary widely as seen by Jesus comments about a widow who was making a voluntary contribution of a few small coins at Luke 21: 1-2 which he commended her for.

The chests were set up as follows:

• One chest for temple tax for current year
• One chest for temple tax for past year

Chest 3-8 held funds for turtledoves, wood, incense, and golden vessels.

Sometimes the person could afford more than the stipulated amounts for these temple and other contribution and had other options to choose from:

• Chest 8 was used for money left over from sin offerings.
• Chests 9 through 12  used for money left over from guilt offerings, from the sacrificing of birds, from offerings of Nazarites,  and from offerings of leppers.

Chest 13, finally was there for any voluntary offerings.

All of this was done anonymously and according to each person's financial ability.

 

 

Liquor Enjoyed in Bible Times

Residents of Israel and other Middle-Eastern lands enjoyed a variety of  wines and other intoxicating beverages during daily meals as well as festive occasions..

The Bible writers describe the use the use of wine and intoxicating liquor  on numerous occasions.  The one were Jesus is described turning water into wine for wedding guests is well known, and  other evidence abounds such as the Bible record in places like Deuteronomy 14:26 and Luke 1:15 which describe the use of wine and other "intoxicating liquors".

These liquors  were not the gins and whiskys of modern distillers, however.  This type of liquor we consume so much today came much later in human history. 

The term "intoxicating  liquor" mentioned in the Bible could also refer to to beer  such as the barley beer of Mesopotamia apparently popular not only among the elite  but also the poor people.

This alcoholic beverage was very popular in Bible times, as seem from the discoveries of  clay models of breweries and brewers in Egyptian tombs and the remains of jugs with strainer spouts to keep drinkers from choking on  the husks of the barley plant while drinking. These were discovered throughout Palestine in areas occupied by the Philistines as well as around ancient Babylon.

According to researchers beer seems to have been an everyday drink not only by Babylonian nobles but also the poor people.

So the term "intoxicating liquor" likely referred to such beers. While it was low in alcohol content it could still be intoxicating in drunk in any quanitity.

Or the term could also refer to other alcoholic beverages such as drinks made  from  applies , dates, figs, pomegranates and honey.

The Newt's Eye Regeneration Skills and Evolutions

The Bible says that, "God created" and the Newt's eye regeneration skills certainly prove that. Consider a few points about this and see what you think.

Scientists spent some 16 years studying the regenerative abilities of Japanese Newts. Although these small lizards can regenerate a variety of body parts such as their tail, organs, tissues and limbs these scientists  from the University of Dayton Ohio concentrated on how one of these small creatures was able to regenerate its eyes lens over 16 years.

Over this 16-year-period scientists removed the eye lens from each of the news in the study 18 times. Each time it grew back -- a perfect copy of the original according  toe biologist Panagiotis Tsonis, a member of the study team said  "Even I was a surprised a little," beach the the the new  lens was, perfect" he said.

Now what do you think. Do you really think that such an ability could have happened by chance as evolutionists would claim? Or would such an ability need a creator as the Bible says.

The Tools of Gallieen Fishermen

The equipment of these early fishermen was similar to that of many fishermen today. 

Men like Peter and his brother Andrew, as well as some of the other disciples sailed these sometimes turbulent waters of the sea of Galilee in small but seaworthy wooden craft.

These fishing vessels were about 8.27 meter (78 feet) long and 2.3 meters( 7.5 feet) across;. Many had a mast and small cabin under the stern deck.  

Type in:  "Galileen Fishing boats''  and you'll come up with a number of excellent pictures of this type of vessel.

This size of boat could hold up to 15 persons but a typical fishing crew would be composed of up to 6 men with  one steering the boat with the oar at the stern and managing the large rectangular on the center  mast,  while the other were kept busy either rowing when the wind had died down or working the fishing nets. These nets could be up to 30 meters (100 feet) long by 2.44 meters (8 feet deep with floats on the top and anchors strung along the bottom edges.

Out in deep water the fishermen would the ends to two boats. With the nets between the crews would then row in opposite directions in a circular pattern. When they met again they had created a huge circle with the nets, capturing shoals of fish.

In shallow water fishermen used a different techniques. In some cases one fishermen would stay near shore holding one end of the net while others in  a boat with the dragnet attached to the stern would row out into the water and then circle and row back to shore
trapping fish in the net just as they had with two boats in deep water. Other fishermen might use a line with weighted hooks which he would cast into the water  and still others used  a small one-man net with weighted edges which he threw out over the water in front of him. The idea was to catch fish in the net as it sank to the bottom of the water like a webbed dome.


Among the fish caught by these first century fishermen caught  was the talapia, a popular fish which formed a regular part of their diet in both fresh and dried and salted dishes.

Fishing on the Sea of Galilee

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to fish on the Sea of Galilee  during the time of Jesus?

If you love fishing and fishing stories you might want to visit  this 
land-locked sea (lake) some day. It is a beautiful lake actually some 20.92 kilometers  or 13 miles long by 11.27 kilometers or 7 miles wide and had a thriving fishing industry during Jesus' day.

The area around this sea is quite picturesque but rugged. Like the Dead Sea it lies at the bottom of the Great Right Valley -- not quite as low as the Dead Sea which is 1400 feet below sea level -- but still quite deep at 690 feet below with rock shores surround much of it and Mount Hermon at its northern end.

Here the fishermen of Jesus day  cast their nets either from boats or from the shore. Sometimes the water was calm but during the winter cold winds often whipped up choppy waves and in the summer powerful storms frequently roared down the slopes and across the warm waters creating havoc for unwary sailors as described in Mathew 8: 23-27 just as it does for fishermen and sailors in these waters today, although now of course they are much better equipped.

Next we'll take a quick look at some of the boats and equipment of these early fishermen.