As my dear wife Paula often tells me, "it's not what you say that gets you
into trouble, sugar, its how you say it." I guess that I was pretty hard on
you guys yesterday. Please forgive me. It was another bout of PMS: pre-Messiah
sarcasm, pre-Messiah sassiness, and/or pre-Messiah stupidity! Sometimes, when
I get a little bored of sitting in front of the computer all day, I slip back
into my old caustic, combative, professorial demeanor. Just be thankful that I
am now on your side (God's side). I used to bring my students to tears with my
barrages. I have gotten much better over the years, thank God. The Holy Spirit
has rounded over many of my rough edges. Those left, my dear wife Paula has
tried to sandpaper over with her love. She is the brunt of most of my PMS
outbursts. Once again, all of you can clearly see what a Proverbs 31 woman she
has been. It has not been an easy 16 years putting up with my fits and
frustrations, but someone had to do it, and God knew how mighty, this pretty,
little woman from Oklahoma could really be. She has tried her best to teach
this mean, stiff necked, prideful Jew, humility and love. She often reminds me
that "pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling"
(Proverbs 16:18) and that "love does not brag and is not arrogant.and if I do
not have love, I have nothing" (1 Corin.13:4, 2). Oy!! Thank God for her.
I have rewritten my email of yesterday, keeping the essential info and
removing the nastiness.
Sorry,
StephenYesterday at Church, several of you asked my opinion on this. I told you that
I was skeptical but that I would check it out.
I researched the early supposed messianic symbol with a Menorah, Star of David
and a Fish purported to have been found on pottery from the 2nd century AD in
Jerusalem. I was skeptical at the outset believing that it was probably too
good to be true.
While I found that many Christian websites have appropriated this symbol as
part of their own website, including Zola Levitt and Perry Stone, there
appears to be little historical evidence for this symbol. It was supposedly
found by some monk who gave it to some men who eventually copyrighted the
symbol and it is now found on T-shirts, bumper stickers, and jewelry.
If this were truly an archaeological discovery showing the artwork
of early Believers combining Jewish and Christian symbols, it would be found
in Biblical Archeology Review not on bumper stickers. While I found sites all
over the internet selling it in various forms, I did not find one scientific
site discussing it.
And also the Star of David was not even discussed in Talmudic literature until
the 13th century and not used as as a symbol of Jews until the 17th century.
Besides, it was a magical symbol not something early Believers would use.
Look at article below on more of the mystical origins of the Star.
God Bless,
Stephen