The Righteousness of Noah

If there ever was a story in the bible that fit the days were are living in now, other than Exodus, it would be the story of Noah. Let us take a look at Noah today and see what lessons it has in it for us.  Jesus himself pointed this out.

37 "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

Matthew 24:37-39

A World Gone Wrong

6 Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of God saw the beautiful women[resource A] and took any they wanted as their wives. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.”

4 In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites [Resource B] lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.

5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.

The Story of Noah

9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. [Resource C]10 Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth! [Resource D]

14 “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior.15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.

17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will confirm my covenant with you.[Resource E]So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”

22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Noah was a righteous man.  We gain righteousness by our faith in Jesus Christ.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
Romans 3:22

What do you have faith in? Will it give you eternal life if it (Matthew 24:39) were to all happen tomorrow?

What is righteousness?

Resources:

A- Who were the sons of God and daughters of men?

B- Who were the Nephilim? 

C-What does it mean to walk with God?

D-Why did God also destroy animals in the flood?

E-What is the Noahic Covenant?

All glory and honor to my Lord Jesus Christ,

Sherry

Mighty Flood of Justice

Amos was a minor prophet who wrote the first biblical prophetic book.  The Book of Amos, written approx. 750 B.C., with it's theme of social justice, God's power, and divine judgement it is as relevant today as it was when it was written.  One of it's most famous verses is verse 24.

Warning of Coming Judgment

18 What sorrow awaits you who say,
    “If only the day of the Lord were here!”
You have no idea what you are wishing for.
    That day will bring darkness, not light.
19 In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion—
    only to meet a bear.
Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house—
    and he’s bitten by a snake.
20 Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless,
    without a ray of joy or hope.

21 “I hate all your show and pretense—
    the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
22 I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings.
    I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
    an endless river of righteous living.

25 “Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel? 26 No, you served your pagan gods—Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god—the images you made for yourselves. 27 So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of Heaven’s Armies.

Amos 5:18-27

I ask myself now, do I want to be on the receiving end of a "mighty flood of justice" or should I choose "an endless river of righteous living?" We get to choose. What have you picked? I was baptised at 13 and have gone to church all of my life but, I hadn't repented all my adult life. It wasn't what God wanted till I repented and gave my life to him. 

All glory and honor to my Lord Jesus Christ,

Sherry

Building the Temple in Jerusalem: Ezra

     
   The Rebuilding of the Temple is Begun,  Gustave Doré          

Believers, pay attention!

King Cyrus Allows the Exiles to Return

1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:

2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:

“The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4 Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.”

Ezra 1:1-4

7 King Cyrus himself brought out the articles that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods. 8 Cyrus directed Mithredath, the treasurer of Persia, to count these items and present them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of the exiles returning to Judah. 9 This is a list of the items that were returned:

gold basins	30
silver basins	1,000
silver incense burners	29
10 gold bowls	30
silver bowls	410
other items	1,000

11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and silver. Sheshbazzar brought all of these along when the exiles went from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Ezra 1:7-11

Then the book of Ezra has a long list of the records of the exiled families and the number of them that returned to Israel.

                                                                        
The Altar is Rebuilt at Jerusalem

3 In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening.

4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. 5 They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the Lord. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the Lord. 6 Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord. This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.

The People Begin to Rebuild the Temple

7 Then the people hired masons and carpenters and bought cedar logs from the people of Tyre and Sidon, paying them with food, wine, and olive oil. The logs were brought down from the Lebanon mountains and floated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.

8 The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring, during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The work force was made up of everyone who had returned from exile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the Lord’s Temple. 9 The workers at the Temple of God were supervised by Jeshua with his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, all descendants of Hodaviah. They were helped in this task by the Levites of the family of Henadad.

10 When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. 11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord:

“He is so good!
    His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”

Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.

12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. 13 The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.

Ezra: 3    

There was a period of time where the rebuilding of the temple had stopped.

24 So the work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem had stopped, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.

Ezra 4:24

Letters were sent by King Darius and King Artaxerxes approving the rebuilding of the temple.

8 “Moreover, I hereby decree that you are to help these elders of the Jews as they rebuild this Temple of God. You must pay the full construction costs, without delay, from my taxes collected in the province west of the Euphrates River so that the work will not be interrupted. (King Darius)

Ezra 6:8

The Kings of Persia had a healthy respect for the power of Jerusalem's God.

21 “I, Artaxerxes the king, hereby send this decree to all the treasurers in the province west of the Euphrates River: ‘You are to give Ezra, the priest and teacher of the law of the God of heaven, whatever he requests of you. 22 You are to give him up to 7,500 pounds of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of olive oil, and an unlimited supply of salt. 23 Be careful to provide whatever the God of heaven demands for his Temple, for why should we risk bringing God’s anger against the realm of the king and his sons? 24 I also decree that no priest, Levite, singer, gatekeeper, Temple servant, or other worker in this Temple of God will be required to pay tribute, customs, or tolls of any kind.’

Ezra 7:21-24

Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

Proverbs 9:10                                                                   

The Temple was finally finished, as had been commanded by the God of Israel and decreed by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the kings of Persia. 15 The Temple was completed on March 12, during the sixth year of King Darius’s reign.

Ezra 6:14-15 

God's math/building genius is revealed in the Bible to show you, the reader, the events that display patterns that are recorded for future generations. Patterns in repeating events.

An example of repeating events would be: 

• the 10 plagues of Egypt (Exodus:resource) 
• the 7 bowls of wrath (Revelation:resource).

When you see a prophecy repeated it is true.

So when you see the rebuilding of the Temple it will be a true prophecy fulfilled.

The wall & Temple : 

Ezekiel 40-48 resource

resource

All glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ,

Sherry

Mother

A favorite blogger says it best with this song for Mother's Day by Anita Diaz from Far Above Rubies. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Heritage Gardens Heirloom Seeds

Are you ready to garden yet? I am.  I have a treat for you today if you love heirloom gardens and gardening.  I am reviewing Heritage Gardens and Heirloom Seeds: Melded Cultures with a Pennsylvania German Accent.  

Never before has there been a book to include a complete background on heritage or traditional gardening and heirloom seeds.  At over 270 pages the book is loaded with pictures of plants and gardens of America from their very beginnings.  The book is divided into five sections. In this order:
I. Which Came First, the Garden or the Seed?
II. The Heritage Garden
III. Visiting Gardens, Garden Sites, and Heritage Landscapes
IV. Heirloom Seeds
V. The Galleries (pictures)
    

Costumed interpreters cultivate and harvest crops. (pg.79)

In the first section the book begins with the discussion of the locally sourced foodstuff movement that has grown in America and the importance that has generated in the restaurant industry and communities alike.  The importance of heirloom varieties is that they were developed before modern agriculture became chemically drenched and genetically modified.  This makes the heirloom seeds significantly valuable because they are being preserved from extinction and many of them are without compare in modern agriculture.  The gastronomic virtues of flavor and taste not mention the preservation of the historically correct seed is of paramount importance.

(pg. 81)

The second section of the book is "The Heritage Garden," of which the authors explore the history of the gardening tradition in North America.  The history begins with the Native American contribution to our harvest table, the Spanish influences, Anglo-Dutch traditions, French, and the Pennsylvania German Garden. The most significant being the Pennsylvania German because these heritage garden forms lasted the longest among the Pennsylvania Germans.  The authors truly take you back to the origin of this gardening from sharing the emigrants opening their traveling chests and pulling out seeds and cuttings that originated from kitchen and medicinal gardens of Benedictine cloisters in Switzerland and Germany. (pg.45)   They share the structure of these gardens including the dimensions, composition (including the four square garden), how they gardens were uniquely watered, and the tools with which they kept them. They explain what was grown in these gardens and how, the folklore about planting, and when to plant.  Included are real historical letters with vivid descriptions of the gardens. (pg. 70)

(pg.83)

This history of gardening also can't be mentioned without including religion and beliefs pertaining to the garden by the gardeners.  The Quaker beliefs were that the earth was a gift from God to man.  Man had the responsibility of cultivating the earth for his own benefit and celebration of God's goodness. (pg. 71) None of this went unnoticed by celebrities that were ahead of their time.  Pictured above (pg. 83) is Julia Child visiting the Landis Valley Museum.  This museum has been a pioneer on the revival of the traditional Pennsylvania German garden and it is home to the Heirloom Seed Project. (pg. 73)

(pg. 95)

Here is an example of runway or ribbon gardening by the Amish and Mennonite in Lancaster county Pennsylvania. The one on the top right could have been my Great-Grandfather's garden from the Kentucky tobacco farm I grew up around as a child. 

from: gallery of heirloom vegetable varieties (pg. 243)

The next chapter of the book describes the genesis of the seed industry and how it shifted from growing fields to the laboratory.  Much is discussed about the history of the seed packets in America and the seed houses that produced them and how each year fewer and fewer varieties of these seeds are on the market.  The Seed Savers Exchange founding and work is discussed and how that morphed into the Landis Valley Farm's Heirloom Seed Project. 

Also included is complete instruction on how to harvest seeds and save different varieties.  Pictured here is a year's harvest of seeds stored tightly in glass jars and covered by a drape to protect them from light.  (pg. 208)

from: the galleries of heirloom vegetables and flowers (pg.261)

Then the book describes the Heirloom Seed Project's many popular varieties of seeds and plants not excluding some of my favorite herbs and flowers! 

It just so happens, I am a Seed Savers Exchange customer and I have three plants here that I have started from seed this very year!  I thought I would share them here with my book review.

This is one of these two varieties of tomato I have shown here.  It is either the Hungarian Heart tomato or the Austin's Red Pear.  I will figure it out when it fruits.  I first got interested in the heirloom vegetables while reading Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health by Jo Robinson.  Having a background as a RN, I have always been studying the proper way to eat for health and it turns out that there is a dramatic difference in the plant varieties we cultivated in the past from the ones on our grocery store shelves today and that difference is the nutrition is bred out of our modern produce.  In this book "Eating on the Wild Side," Jo Robinson mentions eating specific varieties of produce that have the most nutrition and that is how I came to order these seeds for my tomatoes.  They have the most nutrition packed into a tomato you can get! So, that began my adventure into heirloom gardening.

I highly recommend this book if you or a gardening friend have a love of heritage gardens or heirloom seeds and plants. It is a valuable resource and a wonderful testimony to why we need to preserve our heirloom seeds and plants.  The diversity offered in nature is there for a reason and to hybridize it out of all food and plant life is a big mistake. The wisdom in the natural order of plant life is a valuable commodity worth studying and preserving.  I also recommend the book as an excellent reference book on heritage gardens and heirloom seeds and plants.  I really enjoyed this book and I will keep it for a reference for my heirloom gardening.  I have really enjoyed reading the history of gardening in America and the historical letters about gardening in this book.  The history and folklore surrounding the emigrants gardening has been woven into the fabric of our farming communities and it is wonderful to see it documented in this book. 
Thank you to Elizabeth at Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. for providing me with a copy of this book for review.  The review and opinions were entirely my own.  

Sherry