History Hound Travels

If you came here tonight to read about some famous person who did a famous thing, you may be disappointed in my offering this evening. I’m telling you about it, because it makes a real point about what we now consider to be major historical events. Here’s the point: they were once in the future. Everyone of them was either dreaded or looked forward to by people just like us.

So what did I do tonight? I went shopping. No big deal, really. Except that I went shopping at a brand new WalMart. It just opened here in my small town today. We’ve heard rumors of WalMart here since I was in high school, so for 25 years, people have been looking forward to this day, or dreading it. And today, it happened.

Think about some famous people. You know they were born, their mother’s expected them. Most of those mothers had no idea what their children would achieve, but some did. Think about wars. Did any of them start one day unexpectedly? No. Seeds were sown and harvests were reaped, and the fruit was destruction. But folks knew it was coming.

This is how history is made–it comes from today, and tomorrow.

The Book of God begins with the story of Abraham. As you will recall, Abraham was born at about the same time that Noah died. He was 75 when God appeared to him and promised him an heir, and his wife Sarah was 65.

While they waited for God to fulfill His promise, they took matters into their own hands, and Abraham fathered a child, Ishmael, but the Egyptian maid Hagar. Abraham was 86 when this first son was born. And 100 when Isaac, the promised child, was born.

Ishmael had 12 sons, and they were wild fighting men, dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, between Egypt and the Holy land. Does this area sound familiar to anyone? Yep, thought so. We’ll talk more of Isaac and his sons later, beginning with our next lesson.

Abraham lived the rest of his life as a nomad. Sarah died at the age of 127. Abraham lived to 175. That’s more than 2 of our lifetimes, and brings up to 2181 years after creation.

The next time we talk about The Book of God, we’ll talk about Rebekah and Jacob. I’ll be reading up to Joseph, but I don’t know if we’ll get all that material covered in one post.

Technorati Tags: Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael

Chapter 17 discusses the gods and goddesses that the people now began (continued) to worship. Stories of Tammuz were similar to the ones that had been spread around about Nimrod after his death, while Ishtar’s legends were like those Nimrod’s wife Semiramis had out out about herself. Cuneiform writing was birthed at this time, as men struggled to cope with writing in their new languages. It is easy to see how history became so confused since old writings could no longer be read by most of the people, and so new histories must be written.

It is worth noting the story of Ham’s son Menes. He was also known as Mizraim, and we will hear much of him later. As a foretaste, he diverted the Nile River to reclaim the marshland and built the city of Memphis. Ham’s other descendants included Casluhim and Caphtorim who settled on Crete, and Sidon, as well as those who lived on the Sinai Peninsula. Japheth’s descendants were the Hellenists and the Medes. Abraham was a descendant of Shem.

Noah died at 950 years old, about the same time Abraham was born, about 2006 years after the world was created, 350 years after the flood, almost 27 lifetimes into the history of mankind. We’re a quarter of the way to now!

Since The Book of God starts with Abraham, we will stop here with Adam and His Kin. Do read the last chapter, but our discussion will pick up Monday with part one, chapter one of The Book of God.

Technorati Tags: Ham, Menes, Crete, Sidon, Japheth, Shem, Noah, Abraham

I told you I would have something a little different today! I just looked over the issue of History Magazine that I picked up over the weekend. I didn’t have as much time to spend with it as I would have liked, but I did learn a couple of things I wanted to share with you.

Remember when I said history was about the people and not the dates? Today I read the story of the pay telephone. It was invented by William Gray. William Gray’s wife was sick, and he needed to call a doctor for her. He went to a local factory and asked to use their phone to summon a doctor, but was repeatedly refused. The office workers told him the phone was not for public use, and it was only after speaking to a manager that Gray was allowed to call a doctor for his ill wife. The year was 1887, and William was granted a patent in 1888 for a booth enclosing a coin-operated phone.

Raise your hand if you think Lizzie Borden was guilty of killing her father and step-mother. An hour ago I would have raised mine, but the fact is that Ms. Borden was found not guilty both at her original trial in the 1890s, and again at a mock trial held at Stanford law School in 1997. And the poem we all know? Hogwash! Mrs. Borden was whacked just 18 times, and Mr. Borden only 11.

I hope you enjoyed today’s tidbits. I’ll see you one Friday with a discussion of the last few chapters of Adam and His Kin.

Technorati Tags: History Magazine, pay telephone, William Gray, Lizzie Borden

Chapters 13 and 14 describe the re-population of the earth, and the wickedness that soon re-developed in the Cushite family. We read also about the cursing of the Hamites.

It was approximately 100 years after the flood that the Tower of Babel was begun. Isn’t it incredible that the sons and grandsons of those that survived the flood could so quickly forget the lessons learned there-in? Nimrod (he was the son of Cush,who was the son of Ham) began to take over the cities that were built up along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. He also killed the those who preached about God.

The largest city was eventually renamed Bel, in honor of the serpent, and it was here that the massive tower, with it’s shrine to Satan at the top, was built. The people were called to come to the city to celebrate. While the city was full of people, the common language was confused, and there were great earthquakes. The tower was destroyed by fire from heaven. The resultant discord caused the people to disperse into like-speaking groups.

Nimrod was now dead, but his wife set herself up as the Queen of Heaven, and was worshiped, along with the supposedly reborn Nimrod.

It was during this time that Noah’s great-great-great grandson was born. Noah was 701 years old. The child was named Peleg, which means Division.

I think the next session will be the last one for this book. I’ll explore something else when we meet on Wednesday, and then Friday we will pick up here again.

Technorati Tags: Nimrod, Cush, Bel, Noah, Peleg