OK, I should have said that there is a story of a man whose life is replicated in Jesus' life exactly. This story was written 500 years before Jesus lived. Jesus' life is an exact copy of this 500 year old (before Jesus) legend. My friend knows the name. I forgot it.
Minoan snake goddess, moses with snake on staff
by mkr32208 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Chalam
Hi avishai,
Thanks for your post.
"Especially as it relates to you, Chalam, it matters."
I believe the Bible when it says it relates to us all.
"God basically told the israelites to worship A) a graven image and B) a representation of the Israelite/Caananite Goddess. And yep, I've heard the foreshadowing allegory, but that dog won't hunt."
No that is totally wrong, God said to look at the snake, nothing about worshipping it. He has already said to not worship idols or images.
Numbers 21 (New International Version)
The Bronze Snake
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, [c] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
The story is symbolic of the Adam's fall, the curse, a God making a way for those dying to live.
SImple instruction gets you saved, look to the cross. Jesus was on it for you.
All the best,
Stephen -
Burger Time
Uh, thats all well and good Stephen, but firstly not everyone believes in the bible or Jesus, secondly you fail to answer the question.
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joannadandy
Interesting interpretation.
Of course for me - the more logical one would be that the people who wrote the Bible were influenced by the culture around them and blending them thus a nice story that fits well with an old mythology of a snake godess -- if nothing a nod to the past. To me, that makes more sense.
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Chalam
Hi joannadandy, Glad you liked it :) I understand your reasoning. So what when it works in reverse? If you read Isaiah 53 for example it is quite clearly about Jesus' death. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=29&chapter=53&version=31 Even historians agree that it was written several hundreds of years before Christ was born. All the best, Stephen
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hamsterbait
In ancient times, it was believed that we saw by means of "something" (is it a"virtue" the old word, or some sort of beam) that radiated from the eye to the thing seen.
Aside - could Paul's words on Faith in Hebrews 11 be based on this in some way??
Anyway, perhaps the idea was that by looking at the copper snake, the negative virtue of the snakes was transmitted via the eyes away from the victims body. The same way that the leprosy of a house's plaster was taken away by a bird dipped in the blood of another bird, which had been killed in an earthenware pot suspended over running water. How this piece of nonsense foreshadows Christ is anybody's guess!!
HB