Cindy Koepp's Blog, page 5
October 21, 2016
Mystery Babylon
The fall of Babylon described in Daniel 5 was a spectacular event, but there’s more to it than what Daniel reports. This isn’t so surprising since the Big Picture is beyond the scope of what he’d know without divine revelation.
We might think it weird that the leaders of a city under siege might be hanging out having a big drunken bash. Why weren’t they planning a defense or a counter-attack? At the time, Babylon was considered impregnable. The wall was actually two concentric walls, one of which was wide enough to hold chariot races on top of. There were lookout towers of impressive height at various locations around the wall. They had enough stored food to outlast the average siege. Water was a non-issue because the Euphrates River ran through the city and fed the moat between the walls. By the technology of the time, this place was ready for everything and anything.
Belshazzar didn’t count on Cyrus’ general, a pretty clever dude. He stationed part of his troops upriver and concocted a way to divert the Euphrates. On cue, the upriver troops engaged their feat of engineering, and the moat dropped to the height of a man’s thigh. The rest of the group just waded in under the wall and took over. This was actually done so quietly that most of the city didn’t know it had happened for three days. Babylon became the capital for the Persian King Cyrus and later for Alexander the Great, a young Greek guy who kicked butt and took names. That’ll be important later.
After the general had secured the city, Cyrus himself put in an appearance. The Bible calls him “Darius1,” and there are many who suspect that “Darius” is actually a title. Others suggest that Cyrus was the king over all and Darius was a prince put in charge of a certain area2.
God, by way of Isaiah, had written a letter to Cyrus outlining his career3. They were not contemporaries. Isaiah lived during the reign of Judah’s King Manassah, which was a good, long time before the Babylonian captivity, which itself lasted 70 years. There is tradition that Daniel handed Cyrus the letter in Isaiah, which greatly impressed Cyrus and caused him to sponsor the return of Jews to Israel to rebuild the Temple4.
Remember that I said it was important that Cyrus and Alexander the Great both used Babylon as a capitol city? Well, there’s another set of prophecies about Babylon’s utter destruction. The place is going to be wiped out like Sodom and Gomorrah. The building materials will not be used again. No one will ever be able to live there again5. There are some scholars who insist that has already happened when Cyrus defeated Belshazzar, but Babylon was not wiped out in that encounter. Without a formal battle of any sort, Cyrus’ troops just walked in and took over. I get the impression from reading Isaiah 13, Jeremiah 50-51, and Revelation 17-18 that Babylon becomes the next best thing to a nuclear wasteland.
There are still people living near and in Babylon. When archaeologists appeared on the scene, they were able to hire local help. Saddam Hussein worked at rebuilding the city and even held state events in the very hall where Belshazzar got the bad news that he was destined for an early demise. Clearly the prophecy about Babylon the Great or Mystery Babylon hasn’t happened yet.
So, who or what is Mystery Babylon? Some speculative types suggest that Mystery Babylon is an allegory for somewhere else, like the United States. There is some evidence to suggest that could be possible. After all, John refers to Israel as Egypt and Sodom6. I am, however, leery of treating Scripture as an allegory. You can get into really messy situations that way and end up undermining most of what the Bible is saying.
Others suggest that Mystery Babylon is the Roman Catholic Church. Dave Hunt’s The Woman Rides the Beast gives evidence to why that could be. One of his points is that Mystery Babylon is described as being drunk with the blood of the saints7. In Chuck Missler and Dave Hunt’s The Kingdom of Blood, they report that “One Pope in one afternoon killed more saints than all the Roman persecutions combined.” Yikes.
The easiest solution is that Mystery Babylon is the rebuilt city of Babylon. Hussein started to rebuild it. Maybe someone else will continue or finish the city. If the city is standing and flourishing as a trade center again, then it could be wiped out as the Bible describes.
I’m not sure which theory will prove the correct one. The real answer may be a combination of two or more ideas or something else altogether. Stay tuned. The answer may be closer than we think.
Endnotes:
Missler, Chuck. The Book of Daniel: A Commentary. Koinonia House.
1 Daniel 5:31
3 Isaiah 44:28-45:7
4 Ezra 1:1-2
5 Psalm 137:8-9, Isaiah 13-14, Isaiah 21:1-10, Jeremiah 50-51, Revelation 17-18
6 Revelation 11:8
7 Revelation 17:6
October 16, 2016
Autumn
Ah Autumn.
When I lived in Texas, Autumn was just a time on the calendar that marked the beginning of school and football season. Central Texas does actually have four seasons: Pre-summer, Summer, Post-summer, and Bad Swimming Weather. Summer happens from late March to early November and then you get sporadic chilly weather, and in January or February, that might include some frozen stuff falling out of the sky.
I now live further north in the corn patch. There are, actually, 4 real seasons up here. Autumn is more than just a date from September to December. The temperatures are cooler. The garden is producing metric tons of squashes. Trees actually do change colors more interesting than a brief spurt of yellow and then brown.
This is my first Autumn in the corn patch. It has been a very different kind of time, but I do think I like it.
October 14, 2016
Matthew 13 and the 7 Letters, Part 7
“How do the Kingdom parables (Matthew 13) relate to the epistles from Christ to the Churches?”
Parable: The Dragnet
Church: Laodicea
A net is thrown out and collects a monstrous number of fish. Then the angels sort out the good fish from the bad fish.
The Apostate Church is the last in the chain. This represents the Judgment when the angels sort out the believers from the unbelievers.
October 9, 2016
What if…
What if we supported the things we love with the same ferocity we use when we attack the things we hate?
What if we practiced what we preached?
What if we kept our noses out of things that don’t pertain to us?
What if we supported people who were feeling poorly?
What if we gave people the same benefit of doubt that we hope to receive when things go wrong?
What if we looked for solutions not excuses?
What if we valued success and hard work?
What if we looked out for others the same way we hope people will look out for us?
What if we stopped waiting for someone else to fix it?
What if truth mattered?
What if integrity mattered?
What if we actually treated the people around us with the kindness and grace we expect to be treated with?
October 7, 2016
Matthew 13 and the 7 Letters, Part 6
“How do the Kingdom parables (Matthew 13) relate to the epistles from Christ to the Churches?”
Parable: Pearl of Great Price
Church: Philadelphia
A merchant wanders around, finds an incredible pearl, and buys it with everything he has.
Once again, we miss the point because we’re Gentiles. Pearls are not kosher. Jews had little use for pearls except to trade to those weird Gentile people.
The Missionary Church is going out to acquire a Gentile Treasure for the Lord.
Something else about pearls. They grow by accretion (gradual addition of stuff) as a response to irritation then they’re removed from their place of growth to become an adornment. Huh. Just like the church.
October 2, 2016
The Anonymity of the Net
There was a time when people could have a civil conversation about hot topics. Sure, there were gooberheads who would rile people up. The apostle Paul ran into a few on his journeys (See Acts 14 for an example or two). The very fact that we have general advice like “If you can’t say anything nice, say nothing at all” and “Avoid discussions of religion and politics” suggests that people at least had an expectation of avoiding vitriol in public.
This is no longer the case, particularly online. There seems to be a trend toward people assuming that “I disagree with you” must equal “I hate you, so you must be destroyed.”
Many people spend more time bashing what they hate than supporting what they love. There is a difference.
All I have to do in some cases is simply like a quote from someone who has a political perspective on something, and I get messages and posts about how the quoted person is evil personified and does nothing more than lie, cheat, and steal.
That, however, is very mild in the grand scheme of things. Simple comments stating an opinion on a hot topic can gather responses as totally inappropriate as threats to harm or even kill the commenter.
What is going on here?
I think it has to do with the anonymity of the internet. I can create bogus profiles with either realistic names or obviously fake names like Rex Karz or Jim Nasium or totally goofy names like TwinkleGlitterGirl. For all the viewer on the next computer knows, I could be a gray-haired granny or a teenager or a big guy with a mohawk. Not even a profile pic guarantees that you know anything about me.
Likewise, I could tell you that I’m hanging out in Austin, Texas, while I’m actually in northern Michigan. I could tell you I’m single when I’m actually married, or that I’m 46 when I’m actually 63. You have no idea.
That anonymity serves a purpose. I’ve twice been in situations that made being able to hide my real identity was a matter of safety. For a while, I went dark on the internet to put distance between me and a not-so-nice guy. Now that I’m publishing books, my name and likeness are all over the web, but for a while, being able to sneak was a good thing.
Some people, however, use that ability to hide their identity as a platform to act like total jerks. Their bad behavior can’t be traced back to them. If their accounts on various services get banned, they can create a new email address and start a new account.
Bullying happens at an alarming rate.
Some people take the approach of “It’s not affecting me, so I don’t care.” Is that any different than the “I don’t want to get involved” excuse? Not really.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do about the bullies. Creating a new profile is easy.
We aren’t completely helpless, though. We can block interaction from some accounts and delete offensive posts. That doesn’t do much for the knucklehead, except maybe take away the audience. We can speak up when someone is being inappropriate. We can support the person who’s under attack.
Sticking our heads in the sand, however, doesn’t help anyone.
A bully is often brave against one and a coward against many. Use that to our advantage.
September 30, 2016
Matthew 13 and the 7 Letters, Part 5
“How do the Kingdom parables (Matthew 13) relate to the epistles from Christ to the Churches?”
Parable: Treasure Hidden in a Field
Church: Sardis
A man finds a treasure in a field and hides it then goes to sell everything to get the field.
The treasure is the Gospel. The field is the world, just as it was in the first parable.
Again, this sounds like a fabulous thing, but look at what the man did with the treasure. Are we supposed to find the Gospel then hoard it for ourselves? No. That’s what the Denominational Churches have done, by and large. Oh, there’s a lot of noise about going out to spread the Word, but they often sit in what some people call “The Holy Huddle” and don’t do half of what they could if they used their resources properly.
Another interesting, but unrelated, interpretation on this parable. If the man is Christ, he bought the ENTIRE field to get a treasure. Christ’s redemptive work was for all, but he’ll only get a small proportion of the world for his treasure.
September 25, 2016
Active Listening
One useful strategy is active listening. This requires careful attention to what the speaker is saying verbally and nonverbally. Once the speaker has finished, the listener rephrases what was said to receive verification or clarification of the message.
I used this for years while I was teaching without knowing there was an official name for it. Although I hear very well, I do not process the information well unless I am paying close attention. In my class, I had a standing rule that students had to get my attention before speaking to me. To do it any other way risked total lack of comprehension. Most students respected that rule, but there were those who still blurted out questions and comments while I was engaged in something else. Whenever that happened, I repeated back to the student exactly what I heard them say, which rarely had little to do with the actual comment.
Somehow, my brain misinterpreted comments like “I need to go to the restroom” as “I read alone in my bedroom.” By using active listening techniques, I received the corrected message and more than a few laughs when what I misheard involved elephants, turkeys, or other totally off-topic things.
I’m not teaching elementary these days, but I still use active listening. If someone is telling me something complex or if I’m receiving instructions verbally, I’ll repeat back what I understand. This way, I make sure that what the person said and what I heard amounts to the same thing.
Active Listening Steps:
Listen the first time.
If you didn’t hear what was said, kindly ask the speaker to repeat.
Rephrase what you think you heard.
Allow the speaker to correct you if what you heard was incorrect.
Active listening is a little like a checksum in a data transfer. If the numbers don’t match, something went wrong. Try again.
September 23, 2016
Matthew 13 and the 7 Letters, Part 4
“How do the Kingdom parables (Matthew 13) relate to the epistles from Christ to the Churches?”
Parable: The Leavened Bread
Church: Thyatira
Being happy Gentiles, we don’t get the impact of this one. I mean, what’s the big deal of a woman adding some leaven (think yeast and you’re not too far off) to bread? That’s how you make bread, isn’t it?
Well, remember Jesus is talking to a Jewish audience. In Mid-Eastern cultures, three measures of meal are considered a friendship offering when you have guests. Leaven is a form of sin or corruption because it puffs up.
What the woman is doing is offering her guests a corrupted dinner. The Roman Catholic Church venerates Mary to the point of giving her near-godhood. She’s considered the “co-Redemptrix” with Christ. In other words, it’s not God alone who saves our miserable selves. That was not the original plan. There’s a prophecy about a virgin giving birth, but absolutely zippo about the mother of God interceding for humanity’s salvation. God, in fact, is pretty emphatic about you talking to Him when you need something.
September 18, 2016
Disagree Agreeably
Unfortunately, in the modern world of social media, there has been a disturbing mis-translation. People often assume that “I disagree with you” is equivalent to “You are evil and must be destroyed.”
Many have lost the ability to disagree with someone without being a jerk about it. Social media is full of conversation threads and posts in which someone with a dissenting opinion is lambasted with threats, insults, and foul language.
What has happened to calm, rational discussion of differences? Seriously, does dropping a flurry of f-bombs and threats on the head of someone who disagrees with us convince anyone to change an opinion?
It really IS possible to be pals with someone you don’t lock steps with ideologically.
Proof?
I have people on social media friends/followers lists on opposite sides of the political spectrum. I actually have legitimate (private) discussions with them about some of these differences without it turning into a barrage of expletives and vitriol. We’ve had these conversations privately so we don’t get snarky twerps butting in with their verbal tac nukes.
My science fiction and fantasy works are being published by 5 small presses. The most overtly Christian of my works have been published by a small press run by a Wiccan lady and her husband. A third overtly religious work was printed by a press that has people from multiple religions and lifestyles involved. We all get along like civilized humans. I don’t shove my Bible up their noses. They don’t whack me upside the head for believing the content of my Bible.
(Extra bit of interesting trivia: The least overtly Christian of my works was published by a Christian press. The more blatantly Christian ones were rejected by Christian presses for being “too religious.” This amuses me).
We can be civil without being ideological twins. We can disagree without being disagreeable.
