This is the third year in a row I've had a productive summer and fall, followed by a slow spring, project-wise. It may be partly that momentum builds up during summer and dies out as the school year grows longer.
Of course, our family's also been working on a side project that's absorbed a lot of time the past few weeks... but any week now I'll start gearing up for another productive summer.
I'm very grateful to get 8 weeks vacation. I'm very grateful to have such a super supportive wife. I'm very grateful we're almost done with our side project.
(More details coming soon...)
Historical Jesus Math
First, here are Three tips for doing Math with Bible-History: 1) Unless you're born on New Year's Day, you get to be [your age] for two years... that is, for two calendar years. 2) In our BC/AD calendar system, there was no year Zero. 3)Yeah, 7+7=14, but 7 AD minus 7 BC equals "twelve"... that is, someone born in 7 BC was still "twelve" in 7 AD right up until their birthday that year. Got all that? Great! Now to the point:
Jesus was born in May of 7 BC. Joseph & Mary fled for Egypt in December that year. They returned in April of 4 BC, just after Passover. In 3 BC, Joseph was still afraid of Archelaus, Herod's son. (See Matthew 2:22). So Joseph & Mary left Jesus with family in Nazareth that year. In fact, they did it every year, as long as Archelaus ruled Judea. So Jesus missed out on Passover until Archelaus was exiled. (See Luke 2:41-42).
In 6 AD, Jesus was 11 at Passover time. He stayed in Nazareth again. That May, Jesus turned 12. Two months later, around July, Archelaus sailed for Rome... but once there, Augustus Caesar exiled the son of Herod and Archelaus never came back to Judea. (A Roman named Quirinius stepped into Judean history this year also, but that's another story!)
Math Note Again: from May to December of 6 AD, Jesus was "twelve". In January of 7 AD, Jesus was 12 years and 7 months old. And in March of 7 AD, Jesus was still "twelve". So Jesus was "12" in 6 AND in 7 AD, depending on the months.
The very next year - in 7 AD - Joseph finally felt like it was safe to take Jesus into Judea. Joseph had been back in Nazareth for ten long years, and Archelaus was finally gone!
So that famous Passover when Jesus was 12 was in March of 7 AD. And yeah, Jesus was "twelve"... but his bar-mitzvah was just two months away!
Final Math Note: Jesus was almost thirteen... but he was still "twelve". This Historical Math should be examined further by scholars to help confirm the birth of Jesus around May of 7 BC and his crucifixion in 33 AD. Incidently, Jesus was just beginning his 40th Hebrew Calendar Year on Earth when Pilate crucified him. And his ascension into heaven, roughly a week before Pentecost, may have been on his 39th birthday (on the Hebrew Calendar). Of course, the date of one's 39th birthday marks the very first day of one's 40th year. And 40 (days, years) is the Biblical time of testing/proving... interesting, isn't it?
You can read a reconstruction of what happened in these years at Year-by-Year.com.
-------------------------------------------------
Someday, scholarly articles will appear to examine these claims more fully. Other dates and facts of NT chronology are affected, and must be examined. But the central claim here is that Matthew 2:22 explains Luke 2:41-42, given the timelines of Joseph & Archelaus.
And yes, of course, further study is needed...
Jesus was born in May of 7 BC. Joseph & Mary fled for Egypt in December that year. They returned in April of 4 BC, just after Passover. In 3 BC, Joseph was still afraid of Archelaus, Herod's son. (See Matthew 2:22). So Joseph & Mary left Jesus with family in Nazareth that year. In fact, they did it every year, as long as Archelaus ruled Judea. So Jesus missed out on Passover until Archelaus was exiled. (See Luke 2:41-42).
In 6 AD, Jesus was 11 at Passover time. He stayed in Nazareth again. That May, Jesus turned 12. Two months later, around July, Archelaus sailed for Rome... but once there, Augustus Caesar exiled the son of Herod and Archelaus never came back to Judea. (A Roman named Quirinius stepped into Judean history this year also, but that's another story!)
Math Note Again: from May to December of 6 AD, Jesus was "twelve". In January of 7 AD, Jesus was 12 years and 7 months old. And in March of 7 AD, Jesus was still "twelve". So Jesus was "12" in 6 AND in 7 AD, depending on the months.
The very next year - in 7 AD - Joseph finally felt like it was safe to take Jesus into Judea. Joseph had been back in Nazareth for ten long years, and Archelaus was finally gone!
So that famous Passover when Jesus was 12 was in March of 7 AD. And yeah, Jesus was "twelve"... but his bar-mitzvah was just two months away!
Final Math Note: Jesus was almost thirteen... but he was still "twelve". This Historical Math should be examined further by scholars to help confirm the birth of Jesus around May of 7 BC and his crucifixion in 33 AD. Incidently, Jesus was just beginning his 40th Hebrew Calendar Year on Earth when Pilate crucified him. And his ascension into heaven, roughly a week before Pentecost, may have been on his 39th birthday (on the Hebrew Calendar). Of course, the date of one's 39th birthday marks the very first day of one's 40th year. And 40 (days, years) is the Biblical time of testing/proving... interesting, isn't it?
You can read a reconstruction of what happened in these years at Year-by-Year.com.
-------------------------------------------------
Someday, scholarly articles will appear to examine these claims more fully. Other dates and facts of NT chronology are affected, and must be examined. But the central claim here is that Matthew 2:22 explains Luke 2:41-42, given the timelines of Joseph & Archelaus.
And yes, of course, further study is needed...
One Tent...
Speaking of tents, here's what else I did this morning, besides blog that long post (below). Guess that's one reason why TENTS were on my mind. ;)
But look how happy they are! And as long as they're happy IN it... or until I'm unhappy with it... the tent will stay up.
And when the happy Life being lived under that tent moves along, or when the life being lived inside it is no longer so 'happy', then the Tent will come down.
And that's the way it ought to be.
Two Temples, but One Life
In Jerusalem, in 20 BC, Herod the Great made a speech. Rome's appointed King of the Jews wanted to make the Jewish Temple bigger and more impressive. People in Jerusalem said, "That's great, but how do we know you'll keep working after you tear down the old one?"
So Herod said, "I tell you what. I won't tear the old Temple down until every stone has been quarried and every beam has been cut and every worker has been trained. Then you'll know for sure that a new Temple is going to go up. And only then will we begin tearing down.
And THEN we will begin building up the new Temple...
And sure enough, about TWO YEARS LATER, they were finally ready. The stones were stacked up. The support beams had all been hewn. The priests had learned carpentry and masonry. The tearing down began.
So it was sometime in 18 BC when building actually began. After two years of prep-work.
And time passed.
Now, Herod had a lot of power and resources. It took a King like Herod to get all that done in just two years. And Herod could afford to keep all 24 priestly families working thru the year. (Naturally, they got less done in the winter.) It took Herod to get the prep-work done in just two years.
The temple was almost finished in 14 years. By February of 4 BC Herod was already decorating it! But a battle in Jerusalem after Herod's death caused most of the new Temple to burn down! In the next few years, the Sanhedrin found themselves alone in the rebuilding effort. So it took a bit longer to rebuild...
Finally, in early 29 AD, in the months just before Passover, the Jewish Council of Jerusalem had finally finished the project.
And Jesus came to town. And he said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2)
And the Jews said, "It has taken us 46 years to build this temple..."
Forty-six years. The plan was approved in 20 BC, but 18 BC was the first year any actual building took place. In 28 AD it was the 46th calendar year of the building process. And early 29 was close to 46 years, chronologically, since the first day all building began.
Forty-six years. That's a lot of work, to finish a project.
Sigh..... Anyway! ;)
The Jews worked together with Herod for 14 years. But when Herod died, the Sanhedrin had it all by themselves for 32 years. That same year - when Herod died - Rome took over in Judea and Jesus came back from Egypt! So, for 32 years, the Romans governed while the Jews rebuilt Herod's Temple.
For those same 32 years, Jesus of Nazareth was doing his own prep-work. He was growing.
In every way God wanted, Jesus was growing.
Jesus Christ was living unto his Father. The most important work that's ever been done.
----------------------
These days, I have a much easier time relating to Herod and the Sanhedrin. That kind of prep work feels much more similar to what I'm doing, at least, at the moment.
A physical Temple was NOT what the Father wanted. God told David he wanted a Tent! And then God made a deal with Solomon after Solomon had already begun building his Temple. God said, "I will dwell there IF..." (1 Kings 6:11-13).
God did not want physical testimony. He wanted a living, breathing testimony that could move around on the Earth.
Man wants to establish something that will last after he's gone.
God wants to establish something that will die, if he ever leaves it.
God did not tell Solomon to build him a Temple. God told Moses to build him a Tent. When the fire and cloud moved, Israel moved. When God did not move, Israel sat. But when Solomon built that Temple it only could sit. It could never move. And still, God honored it... but only for a while. Only for a time.
Then Solomon dedicated the Temple at the Fall Festival - the Festival of Tents! (Ironic, no?) God's presence movd into the house, truly! And Solomon said, "You can dwell here forever." (1Ki.8:10-13)
Clearly, God had other ideas. But God did not rebuke Solomon at that time.
Just about a thousand years later, at the Fall Festival - again! - God made it clear how he felt about the physical Temple of Zion. (Acts 7) Stephen's speech was perfect for the occasion, and after he got stoned, God got up and MOVED ON!!!
He stood up. And he moved out. And it was the Festival of Tents ("Tabernacles").
The Lord and His Testimony were on the move again...
---------------------------
God Almighty has not spoken to me (audibly) out of a cloud and said, "This is my beloved project and you please me to work on it." In fact, I grow more and more convinced that God the Father doesn't necessarily want this Book to get written. Maybe. I don't know for sure.
But I do know what God wants. God wants a man, a corporate Man, a living Body of Christ on the Earth. God wants to live in that Group of people, to stand up and claim the Earth. To shine his Light. To Look like Him. To proclaim his Testimony. To show forth Christ on Earth! To be fully in charge of all things, spiritually speaking. Most of all, God wants to live in this Man. God wants a People - many People(s) in many places - to be His House(s) on the Earth.
That's much better than a book. Or reading. No matter what's on the pages.
I also know what fallen mankind wants. Fallen man wants to build something that will outlive him. Man wants to set up machines that do work. To save us from the curse of sweat and labor. We're cursed to feel like working - even working for God - is something to be rid of. So we try to establish. We try to fix permanent testimonies. Institutions. Financial Trusts.
Man wants to rest, secure that all future work is laid up for. (Others, of course, will have to maintain what we set up. But we feel secure when it's set up. Then WE can rest.)
God IS at rest. God is always at rest. But God is always in motion, as well. (Take that, Isaac Newton!) God's living spirit flows, moves and dances just like it did on the waters of creation.
On the Earth, God does things for a season. Fallen Man resists the seasons. God invented winter. Man naturally hates winter. It's harder to get stuff done in winter. Less daylight. Less warmth. Machines don't start as well or run as long when it's cold until noon, and again before dusk. But God made the seasons.
I want to finish my work. And God wants what he's always wanted.
I wish things were going faster. And God keeps working patiently, over time.
I want a Book to tell others what I see in the scriptures.
God wants a People to bear his image.
Is this a contradiction, or just another mystery? Might this be just another "season"?
---------------------
In wetter times, I have felt as if God wants to use this project. And you know, without pride I can say sure he does. God wants to use ANYTHING he can to further HIS agenda. And praise to Him that he does! (God even used Solomon's edifice! For a time...)
I hope and pray God will bless and use what I'm doing, in his way. And somewhere, deep down, I still believe this is important and necessary to show people a fuller picture of what He did in the first century.
But what is God doing now? That's what bothers me.
I feel dry because I am dry.
It's hard to build a Temple AND worship God.
And I may need to do what God did. I may need to get up and move, in some new way.
I spend so much free time in Rome and Jersualem. I wish I was in Nazareth.
Or maybe that's the problem... I am in Nazareth. But I'm not Jesus.
---------------------
I just spent the better part of twelve years living as a part of a body. Now I'm just out here alone. And it's hard to adjust to living as an individual christian again. (That may not make sense to anyone who's not lived like we lived. It may not sound right, either. But it's what has been, in my life.)
Individual christianity sickens me. Christian radio is better than it used to be, but there is still so much "me, me, me, me, me" in songs that are supposed to be about God. And don't get me started on sermons... at least, on the sermons I've heard. And then I hear someone actually talking about the Lord and I get excited... until there's that thing. That THING. That whatever-it-is that steals the focus and seems more important.
Or men speak somewhat about the Lord but they're doing their established thing. Everybody goes home and there's no Life left behind. Just words in the air and then nothing.
I AM alone... for now. My wife and kids and I are all we've got, in the Lord. We're learning, slowly, to rely on each other a bit more. We're sharing the Lord. A little.
I long for a home.
But I'm still obsessed with this task...
And we're resigned to this for as many years as it takes.
---------------------------
This too, shall pass. And so will whatever I write. But God and his Living Word... and the souls of the people he's made... shall live on.
Lord, may it be to me as you desire. (Even though that prayer terrifies me, today.)
But honestly, most of all, I pray that I may finish these Year Books. And that you will use them to show people Your Body. Your Story, in Context.
And then, Lord, if there are years left in my earthly body. Let me find the church again.
Let this be FOR your purpose. Though it may cost me decades. Though many will never understand, until later, perhaps. Though it cost my my whole life.
Let this not be in vain.
So Herod said, "I tell you what. I won't tear the old Temple down until every stone has been quarried and every beam has been cut and every worker has been trained. Then you'll know for sure that a new Temple is going to go up. And only then will we begin tearing down.
And THEN we will begin building up the new Temple...
And sure enough, about TWO YEARS LATER, they were finally ready. The stones were stacked up. The support beams had all been hewn. The priests had learned carpentry and masonry. The tearing down began.
So it was sometime in 18 BC when building actually began. After two years of prep-work.
And time passed.
Now, Herod had a lot of power and resources. It took a King like Herod to get all that done in just two years. And Herod could afford to keep all 24 priestly families working thru the year. (Naturally, they got less done in the winter.) It took Herod to get the prep-work done in just two years.
The temple was almost finished in 14 years. By February of 4 BC Herod was already decorating it! But a battle in Jerusalem after Herod's death caused most of the new Temple to burn down! In the next few years, the Sanhedrin found themselves alone in the rebuilding effort. So it took a bit longer to rebuild...
Finally, in early 29 AD, in the months just before Passover, the Jewish Council of Jerusalem had finally finished the project.
And Jesus came to town. And he said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2)
And the Jews said, "It has taken us 46 years to build this temple..."
Forty-six years. The plan was approved in 20 BC, but 18 BC was the first year any actual building took place. In 28 AD it was the 46th calendar year of the building process. And early 29 was close to 46 years, chronologically, since the first day all building began.
Forty-six years. That's a lot of work, to finish a project.
Sigh..... Anyway! ;)
The Jews worked together with Herod for 14 years. But when Herod died, the Sanhedrin had it all by themselves for 32 years. That same year - when Herod died - Rome took over in Judea and Jesus came back from Egypt! So, for 32 years, the Romans governed while the Jews rebuilt Herod's Temple.
For those same 32 years, Jesus of Nazareth was doing his own prep-work. He was growing.
In every way God wanted, Jesus was growing.
Jesus Christ was living unto his Father. The most important work that's ever been done.
----------------------
These days, I have a much easier time relating to Herod and the Sanhedrin. That kind of prep work feels much more similar to what I'm doing, at least, at the moment.
A physical Temple was NOT what the Father wanted. God told David he wanted a Tent! And then God made a deal with Solomon after Solomon had already begun building his Temple. God said, "I will dwell there IF..." (1 Kings 6:11-13).
God did not want physical testimony. He wanted a living, breathing testimony that could move around on the Earth.
Man wants to establish something that will last after he's gone.
God wants to establish something that will die, if he ever leaves it.
God did not tell Solomon to build him a Temple. God told Moses to build him a Tent. When the fire and cloud moved, Israel moved. When God did not move, Israel sat. But when Solomon built that Temple it only could sit. It could never move. And still, God honored it... but only for a while. Only for a time.
Then Solomon dedicated the Temple at the Fall Festival - the Festival of Tents! (Ironic, no?) God's presence movd into the house, truly! And Solomon said, "You can dwell here forever." (1Ki.8:10-13)
Clearly, God had other ideas. But God did not rebuke Solomon at that time.
Just about a thousand years later, at the Fall Festival - again! - God made it clear how he felt about the physical Temple of Zion. (Acts 7) Stephen's speech was perfect for the occasion, and after he got stoned, God got up and MOVED ON!!!
He stood up. And he moved out. And it was the Festival of Tents ("Tabernacles").
The Lord and His Testimony were on the move again...
---------------------------
God Almighty has not spoken to me (audibly) out of a cloud and said, "This is my beloved project and you please me to work on it." In fact, I grow more and more convinced that God the Father doesn't necessarily want this Book to get written. Maybe. I don't know for sure.
But I do know what God wants. God wants a man, a corporate Man, a living Body of Christ on the Earth. God wants to live in that Group of people, to stand up and claim the Earth. To shine his Light. To Look like Him. To proclaim his Testimony. To show forth Christ on Earth! To be fully in charge of all things, spiritually speaking. Most of all, God wants to live in this Man. God wants a People - many People(s) in many places - to be His House(s) on the Earth.
That's much better than a book. Or reading. No matter what's on the pages.
I also know what fallen mankind wants. Fallen man wants to build something that will outlive him. Man wants to set up machines that do work. To save us from the curse of sweat and labor. We're cursed to feel like working - even working for God - is something to be rid of. So we try to establish. We try to fix permanent testimonies. Institutions. Financial Trusts.
Man wants to rest, secure that all future work is laid up for. (Others, of course, will have to maintain what we set up. But we feel secure when it's set up. Then WE can rest.)
God IS at rest. God is always at rest. But God is always in motion, as well. (Take that, Isaac Newton!) God's living spirit flows, moves and dances just like it did on the waters of creation.
On the Earth, God does things for a season. Fallen Man resists the seasons. God invented winter. Man naturally hates winter. It's harder to get stuff done in winter. Less daylight. Less warmth. Machines don't start as well or run as long when it's cold until noon, and again before dusk. But God made the seasons.
I want to finish my work. And God wants what he's always wanted.
I wish things were going faster. And God keeps working patiently, over time.
I want a Book to tell others what I see in the scriptures.
God wants a People to bear his image.
Is this a contradiction, or just another mystery? Might this be just another "season"?
---------------------
In wetter times, I have felt as if God wants to use this project. And you know, without pride I can say sure he does. God wants to use ANYTHING he can to further HIS agenda. And praise to Him that he does! (God even used Solomon's edifice! For a time...)
I hope and pray God will bless and use what I'm doing, in his way. And somewhere, deep down, I still believe this is important and necessary to show people a fuller picture of what He did in the first century.
But what is God doing now? That's what bothers me.
I feel dry because I am dry.
It's hard to build a Temple AND worship God.
And I may need to do what God did. I may need to get up and move, in some new way.
I spend so much free time in Rome and Jersualem. I wish I was in Nazareth.
Or maybe that's the problem... I am in Nazareth. But I'm not Jesus.
---------------------
I just spent the better part of twelve years living as a part of a body. Now I'm just out here alone. And it's hard to adjust to living as an individual christian again. (That may not make sense to anyone who's not lived like we lived. It may not sound right, either. But it's what has been, in my life.)
Individual christianity sickens me. Christian radio is better than it used to be, but there is still so much "me, me, me, me, me" in songs that are supposed to be about God. And don't get me started on sermons... at least, on the sermons I've heard. And then I hear someone actually talking about the Lord and I get excited... until there's that thing. That THING. That whatever-it-is that steals the focus and seems more important.
Or men speak somewhat about the Lord but they're doing their established thing. Everybody goes home and there's no Life left behind. Just words in the air and then nothing.
I AM alone... for now. My wife and kids and I are all we've got, in the Lord. We're learning, slowly, to rely on each other a bit more. We're sharing the Lord. A little.
I long for a home.
But I'm still obsessed with this task...
And we're resigned to this for as many years as it takes.
---------------------------
This too, shall pass. And so will whatever I write. But God and his Living Word... and the souls of the people he's made... shall live on.
Lord, may it be to me as you desire. (Even though that prayer terrifies me, today.)
But honestly, most of all, I pray that I may finish these Year Books. And that you will use them to show people Your Body. Your Story, in Context.
And then, Lord, if there are years left in my earthly body. Let me find the church again.
Let this be FOR your purpose. Though it may cost me decades. Though many will never understand, until later, perhaps. Though it cost my my whole life.
Let this not be in vain.
Ten Years, My Love
Wouldn't trade a bit of it. Not for the world, not for a do-over, not even for a ten-book contract!
Love you, gorgeous! Happy Anniversary this month!
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