ARCHAEOLOGY/ HISTORY
WEBCAMS OF HISTORICAL BIBLE REGIONS
This month we decided to forgo the usual Archaeology/Historical article and instead provide links to webcams stationed in various cities connected with bible history. Although the webcams show modern day living, you can still see some of the ancient architecture and the surrounding geography. Be mindful of time zone differences when browsing (while it may be day where you are, it could be night where the webcam is). We hope you enjoy these links!

Turkey: Downtown Yerevan and Mount Ararat
http://www.arminco.com/livewebcam.html
The Sea of Galilee
http://www.thegalileeexperience.com/camera/
Jerusalem (Golden Gate)
http://212.150.183.238/indexFrame.html
Jerusalem (The Window Wall)
http://www.aish.com/wallcam/Window_on_the_Wall.asp
Athens, Greece (Double click on camera icon)
http://www.031.gr/
Cesaria, Israel (Beach)
http://www.isracamera.co.il/
Egypt (Pyramids)
http://www.pyramidcam.com/
Thessaloniki, Greece
http://www.iama.gr/
Rome
http://www.naturamediterraneo.com/roma/

Mount Ararat, in the country of Turkey, was the mountain that Noah's Ark landed on after the flood waters receded (Genesis 8:4).
The Sea of Galilee was a prominent region where Christ accomplished much of his ministry (Matthew 3:13, 4:12, 15:29,17:22, 19:1 etc. ).
Jerusalem was the center of true worship and where Yahweh's Temple was stationed (1 Kings 14:21).
Athens is a major city where the apostle Paul traveled while building the Christian congregations (Acts Chapter 17).
Cesaria was where the Apostles stopped often when building the Christian Congregation (Acts 8:40, 10:1, 24, 11:11 etc.).
Egypt was the African country in which the Israelites were enslaved for four hundred years (Genesis 15:13).
Thessaloníki had a congregation which was the recipient of two letters from the apostle Paul (1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:1).
Rome had a congregation which was a recipient of Paul on one of his missionary journeys (Acts 19:21, Acts 28:16) as well as the recipient of a letter from him (Romans 1:1).

BIBLE TOPIC
THE SECOND ELIJAH
According to prophecy, there was to be an Elijah-like one coming in order to turn the people back to God before God's great day (Malachi 4:5-6). Jesus Christ referenced this very prophecy when he revealed that John the Baptist was this second "Elijah" (Matthew 11:10-14). This is supported in that the angel Gabriel, who foretold of John's birth, mentioned that John would have the spirit of Elijah and restore/prepare the people for Yahweh's plans (Luke 1:13-17). Christ also stated that no one recognized John as the Elijah who was to come and restore all things (Matthew 17:10-13). Another interesting parallel within these scriptures is that Christ said this Elijah would come before Christ himself did (Mark 9:12), and the angel's words confirms this very thing at Luke 1:17:
And it is he who will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the prudence of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready. -- The New Testament, Recovery Version
In what way did John come ahead of Christ and prepare the way? The bible states that John was sent forth as God's representative to bear witness about the Lord's light so that all men might believe (John 1:6-8). John knew this to be true (John 3:27-29). Part of this preparation was the preaching of his baptism in symbol of repentance from sin (Mark 1:4, Matthew 3:1-6). This repentance was a necessary part of preparing for Christ, for repentance is required in order to obtain forgiveness for sin (Luke 13:3-5), and the later baptism into Christ's name was baptism into that forgiveness (Acts 2:38). Thus without the preparatory repentance, they couldn't be forgiven. This is why John was performing baptisms and such before Christ began his own ministry.

Some may ask: If this is the case, then why are we no longer obligated to be baptized into John's baptism before becoming baptized into Christ? This is because those baptized into John's were considered to be disciples of John (Mark 2:18, Luke 5:33, John 3:25, Acts 18:25, Acts 19:3), and those baptized into Christ were considered disciples of Christ (Acts 8:16, 10:48, 19:4). As Christ's disciples increased, John's were meant to decrease (John 3:30). Eventually, this came to that point where repentant people were to be directly baptized into Christ's baptism (Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:38). Thus, John was only a preparer for Christ, not a pre-requisite for Christ. The more the people manifested the faith in Christ that John prepared them for, the less John's preparatory works were needed.

Interestingly enough, although John was the foretold "Elijah", he denied this himself at John 1:19-28:
Now this is the witness of John when the Jews sent forth priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him to ask him: “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed: “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him: “What, then? Are you Elijah?” And he said: “I am not.” “Are you The Prophet?” And he answered: “No!” Therefore they said to him: “Who are you? that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am a voice of someone crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of Jehovah straight,’ just as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now those sent forth were from the Pharisees. So they questioned him and said to him: “Why, then, do you baptize if you yourself are not the Christ or Elijah or The Prophet?” John answered them, saying: “I baptize in water. In the midst of you one is standing whom you do not know, the one coming behind me, but the lace of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. -- New World Translation

If John were indeed the second Elijah, why did he deny this? The bible doesn't explain his denial, however we can surmise that since Christ was a perfect man without sin (1 Peter 2:22), and John was not (Romans 3:4), that Christ's words should be taken as the real truth over John's word (Compare John 12:50 with John 17:17). We must also keep in mind that being men of God didn't prevent some of them from denying their identities out of fear in order to protect themselves from potential harm. Examples of this very thing can be found in Abraham (Genesis 12:11-13, Genesis 20:1-5), Isaac (Genesis 26:6-9), and David (1 Samuel 21:12-15). Evidently, John also felt that he had reason for fear: He was already imprisoned for his beliefs and Herod was seeking to kill him (Matthew 14:3-5). So, although the bible doesn't directly explain John's denial of his Elijah-like identity, we can deduce that fear was a likely reason for it.

Today, there are a few groups claiming that another "Elijah" is still to come or is currently present, since the bible states that an Elijah-type person will appear to turn people back to God before God's great day (Malachi 4:5-6). They take this to mean that yet another "Elijah" will show up during the end times at some point, and may already be existing right now. However, this isn't biblically accurate. As we've seen, this Elijah prophesied in Malachi was John the Baptist, which Jesus confirmed. John did prepare the way and helped the people turn back to God, and this did indeed happen before God's day. Therefore, John the Baptist has, in fact, fulfilled Malachi's prophecy. Nowhere in scripture do we find that yet another Elijah is to come later. That teaching is simply absent from the bible, it doesn't exist. The only Elijahs mentioned in the bible are the original prophet, Elijah the Tishbite (1 Kings 17:1), and John the Baptist. In fact, upon investigating through the bible, one can see that references to a prophetic Elijah all have something to do with John the Baptist and nobody else. Thus teaching that yet another Elijah is to come or has come is teaching something other than what is in scripture, and the bible states that teaching something outside of what's in scripture is a curse (Galatians 1:6-9). Therefore, beware of counterfeit words that may mislead you away from truth (2 Peter 2:1-3), and remember to continually test all teachings with scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

BIBLE Version Critique
AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION
http://www.ccel.org/bible/asv/

VIRTUES: Uses the English version of God's name throughout the Old Testament, and in spite of its similarity to the King James Version it doesn't always fall into trinitarian error in such places as Philippians 2:6 and Revelation 1:8.
FLAWS: The language is mildly outdated, uses a lot of 'thee' and 'thou' wording throughout the text.

The American Standard Version has been updated into the New American Standard Version, (Not to be confused with the "New American Bible") and is accessible at: http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/index.php?action=getVersionInfo&vid=49#books&version=49 . Although the New American Standard Version's language is more modernized, the unfortunate thing is that the publishers have removed the name 'Jehovah' and replaced it with 'LORD'. This results in the Holy Name being shoved even further into linguistic oblivion. Another updated version of the American Standard is the World English Bible, accessible here:
http://ebible.org/bible/web/

Encouraging Word
NAHUM 1:7
Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of distress. And he is cognizant of those seeking refuge in him. (New World Translation)

It is comforting to know that, no matter what our problem or situation, Yahweh knows what we are going through. We mustn't think our problems are invisible to Him, instead we need to cling to Him in prayer, and He will be our stronghold. (Psalms 18:2, Matthew 21:22). Although sometimes we may think He's turning His face away from us, it is also worth remembering that Yahweh is aware of every hair on our heads (Luke 12:7), He is paying attention. And though He may allow us to withstand certain trials in order to hone our faith to strengthen our endurance (Luke 21:19, James 1:2-4), this should not be taken as apathy on His part. He does love each and every one of us (1 John 4:9-10), and doesn't desire for any of us to be hurt (Psalms 147:3). Although He allows us to go through trials, He does not leave us (Psalms 9:10). He allowed Job to be tried by Satan (Job chapter 1), but he never left Job as proven by the fact that He richly blessed Job for passing the test of faith (Job 42:10-15). Yah also allowed Joseph to be tested in his faith (Genesis 39:10-20), and upon passing the test he, too, was richly rewarded by God (Genesis 41:40-41), showing that God never left him either. So with us, too: though God allows us to experience trials, he is still our stronghold and is cognizant of us who trust and rely on Him. For our faith, we will be victorious over the trials, and He will comfort us beyond measure.

GUEST COLUMNIST
TRUE WORSHIP
-- Due to unavoidable circumstances, this month's guest columnist was unable to submit an article in time for the February 2006 eNewsletter. These things happen to the best of us and is no reflection on the guest columnist's character. Due to the resulting time crunch, we were unable to obtain permission from other sources to reprint other articles, therefore we have chosen to reprint an article from the CommonTruth home site to fill this section. Our apologies for the circumstances
There are many denominations of Christianity. Each has its own view on what constitutes proper worship. However, scripture says there is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). This indicates that there is only one true way to worship our God Yahweh. The most logical place to get information on how to properly worship would be The Bible. The Bible is a thorough work that completely enables a person set things straight in spiritual matters (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
True worship requires that we accept God's standards and reject all man made doctrines (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:6-8, Colossians 2:8). Everything we need to know is in the bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and anyone who teaches something beyond what is in the bible is to be cursed (Proverbs 30:5-6, Galatians 1:6-9). Some doctrines which are unbiblical are:
* Forbidding anyone to marry or to eat certain foods (1 Timothy 4:1-5)
* Calling your clergy "Rabbi" or "Father" (Matthew 23:8-9)
* Condoning or supporting warfare (Isaiah 1:15, Acts 15:20)
* Acceptance of homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
* Use of idols in worship (1 Corinthians 10:14, 2 Corinthians 6:16)
* Ultra-ritualistic forms of worship (Colossians 2:20-23)
* Acceptance of fornication (Acts 15:20, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8)
True worship requires that we worship only the Father. The bible does not indicate that we are to give any kind of worship to anyone else (Exodus 20:2, Matthew 4:10, Revelation 19:10). There is no scriptural indication that we are even supposed to give an act of worship to Jesus. Elevating the status of any man is foolish (Psalms 118:8-9, Psalms 146:3, Proverbs 3:5, Romans 3:4)This would include Imams, Shamans, Lamas, Rabbis, Priests, and the Pope, among others.

True worship requires that we worship God with both spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). This means we must continually seek biblical truth in our worship, not just settling for what we're told (2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, 1 Timothy 4:16), because we are supposed to be seeking truth (1 Timothy 4:15).

True worship requires positive changes in our behaviours. This includes, but is not limited to: Keeping our speech proper (James 1:26, Ephesians 4:31-32), taking on a newer, more godly, personality (Ephesians 4:20-24), looking after the needy and abused (Isaiah 1:17, James 1:27, 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15), cleansing ourselves of all fleshly defilements (this includes vices, bad hygeine, etc.) (2 Corinthians 7:1), and taking good care of our parents (Matthew 15:3-11).

True worship requires that we love all people and treat them as we would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12, 1 Corinthians 16:14, Galatians 5:14, Ephesians 5:1-2, Colossians 3:14).

True worship requires that we live peaceably with everyone as far as possible, even our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48, Romans 12:18-21, 1 Corinthians 14:33, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).

True worship requires that we humbly submit to the earthly authorities as they are placed there by God Himself (Romans 13:1-7), so long as they don't ask us to do something that is against God's holy standards (Acts 5:27-29). Notice, the former scripture points out that submission to earthly authorities includes paying our taxes, giving due honour, and to make sure we don't unduly oppose them. These things are not against God's standards. Now, something like bowing, kissing their hand, or honouring/saluting a statue of them - that would begin to be idolatry, so we need to be balanced in how we give honour. Proper ways to give honour would be: Obeying the common laws, paying your taxes on time, treating the leaders with dignity and respect, refraining from fraud against the governmental authorities, refraining from attempts to publicly humiliate them, things like that.

True worship requires that we speak about God and His Kingdom to others, so they may have a chance to develop a relationship with Him (Matthew 28:19, Romans 10:12-15).

True worship requires that we be honest in all our dealings (Deuteronomy 16:19, 2 Chronicles 19:7, Proverbs 11:1, Proverbs 20:23, 1 Timothy 3:8, 1 Peter 5:2).

True worship requires that we continually seek accurate knowledge of God and His standards for worship (Psalms 105:4, Zephaniah 2:3, Luke 12:31).

If we live by all these things that the bible teaches, we will remain in a clean standing before God.

NEWS BYTES
(Crosswalk News)
Church of England May Apologize for Role in Slave Trade. As Britain prepares to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the ending of the slave trade, clergy in the Anglican (Episcopalian) Church of England have set off a debate about whether or not to apologize for its role in slavery. Read more...
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/1375354.html

(AgapePress)
Evangelist Seeks Stop to Possible Trademark Infringement. A Christian ministry is threatening to sue an Oregon-based comprehensive sex-education group for trademark infringement. Revival Fires International learned recently that a group calling itself "Medford Truth for Youth" has been promoting a condom-based sex-ed program in public schools. But since 1997, Louisiana-based Revival Fires has been distributing Truth for Youth Bibles that contains comics advocating, among other things, abstinence until marriage. Read more...
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/302006c.asp

(Worthy News)
China Top Lawyers Start Association To Defend Christians. Prosecuted Chinese house churches on Saturday, January 21, were expecting more legal support after a group of top Chinese lawyers and legal scholars announced the establishment of an association dedicated to defending Chinese Christians. Read more....
http://www.worthynews.com/christian/china-top-lawyers-start-association-to-defend-christians/

(Telegraph)
Pope calls for speedy annulments as he softens Church's stance on divorce. Pope Benedict acknowledged concern for the plight of divorcees who are banned from taking communion after remarriage and urged a Vatican tribunal yesterday to rule promptly on requests for annulment. Read more...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/29/wpope29.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/01/29/ixworld.html

PEOPLE OF THE BIBLE
MOABITES AND AMMONITES
The Moabites descended from a man named Moab (moh' ab), and the Ammonites descended from a man named Ben-ammi. Both of these men were brothers born from an incestuous liaison between Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19:30-37). This was not necessarily condemned at that time, because this happened long before Yahweh gave the laws against such relationships. (These laws were given much later, in Leviticus 18:6-7). Since Moab and Ben-ammi were the sons of Lot, this made them cousins to Abraham's son Isaac, a forefather to Israel. Therefore, the Moabites and the Ammonites were cousins to the Israelites.

Yahweh gave the Moabites and Ammonites a region of land for their own use, and the Israelites were commanded to let them keep that land (Deuteronomy 2:8-11). In spite of this, the Moabites did not treat their Israelite cousins very well, thus Yahweh commanded that none of the sons of Lot (both Moabites and Ammonites) be welcome into the assembly of Israel, nor were the Israelites to work for their cousins' peace (Joshua 24:9, Deuteronomy 23:3-6). However, the Israelites eventually disobeyed and some married Moabite and Ammonite women (Ruth 1:3-4, 1 Kings 11:1, 1 Chronicles 4:22).
Much later, after the exile to Babylon and when the temple of Yahweh was being restored, the Israelites began reading from the book of Moses. Here they re-discovered the commandment against accepting Moabites and Ammonites into the Israelite community. Apparently, by this time they had a large mixed company of those ones amongst them, for after reading this they set about separating themselves from those in their midst (Nehemiah 13:1-3). In spite of this separation, the Jews still gave the Ammonite and Moabite wives a dwelling place not too far away (Nehemiah 13:23). These wives evidently weren't teaching their children the Jewish language or culture, thus Nehemiah severely chastised the men for it (Nehemiah 13:24-27).

VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT
AMEN
a-men' (in ritual speech and in singing a-men', a'men) ('amen; amen, = "truly," "verily"):
Is derived from the reflexive form of a verb meaning "to be firm," or "to prop." It occurs twice as a noun in Isaiah 65:16, where we have (the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American)) "God of truth." This rendering implies the pointing 'omen or 'emun i.e. "truth," or "faithfulness," a reading actually suggested by Cheyne and adopted by others. "Amen" is generally used as an adverb of assent or confirmation--fiat, "so let it be." In Jeremiah 28:6 the prophet endorses with it the words of Hananiah. Amen is employed when an individual or the whole nation confirms a covenant or oath recited in their presence (Numbers 5:22; Deuteronomy 27:15; Nehemiah 5:13, etc.). It also occurs at the close of a psalm or book of psalms, or of a prayer.
That "Amen" was appended to the doxology in the early church is evident both from Paul and Rev, and here again it took the form of a response by the hearers. The ritual of the installation of the Lamb (Revelation 5:6-14) concludes with the Amen of the four beasts, and the four and twenty elders. It is also spoken after "Yea:
I come quickly" (Revelation 22:20). And that Revelation reflects the practice of the church on earth, and not merely of an ideal, ascended community in heaven, may be concluded from 1 Corinthians 14:16, whence we gather that the lay brethren were expected to say "Amen" to the address. (See Weizsacker's The Apostolic Age of the Christian Church, English translation, II, 289.)

James Millar

Source: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T456

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH
BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY
http://www.bib-arch.org/

This site is rich in information regarding bible history, archaeological finds and related topics. You can sign up for their newsletter, read their magazine titled "Biblical Archaeology Review", peruse the back issues, buy related merchandise, sign on to join actual archaeological digs, and get yourself lost in all the information they offer. There's just too many features in the site to list here in this little blurb, so we encourage you to explore it for yourself!