Podcasts about Mesopotamia

La IA revela secretos de la antigüedad: Descubren nuevos yacimientos en Mesopotamia. Nueva edición de SOFA 2025: el espacio de la cultura, el ocio y la fantasía en Bogotá. Llega el tráiler de "Frankenstein. OpenAI lanza Sora: la app que convierte tu imagen en videos generados por IA Nueva película de Los Simpson. YouTube restaurará cuentas eliminadas por desinformación. YouTube pagará a Donald Trump 24,5 millones de dólares por suspender su cuenta.

Dumuzid, the oldest known exemplar of the dying and rising king, is also in many ways the most exceptional. Lover of Inanna, he was apparently quite done with her passionate antics and celebrated when she died, only to be dragged into the underworld for his impiety. But what does it really mean and why has the image endured? James Bleckley of the Oldest Stories Podcast sits down with Nathaniel Heutmaker of the Grail Sciences Podcast to discuss this ancient tale from both an historical and an occult perspective. The Grail Sciences Podcast covers the deeper meaning of the Holy Grail and a variety of occult topics. Nathaniel is deeply read in a variety of world traditions, and expertly weaves it all together over at grailsciences.com/The Oldest Stories Podcast covers the history, myth, and culture of ancient Mesopotamia, from the invention of writing until the fall of Nabonidas. James has been filling out the story of the oldest civilization for over 6 years at oldeststories.net

Viajamos al desierto insondable de Mesopotamia para descubrir la vida de una mujer inglesa que fue capaz de sobrepasar a todos los hombres de su época. Es Gertrude Bell, arqueóloga y política que fue muy activa en la formación de nuevos estados después de la Primera Guerra Mundial. Ella será la protagonista del cronovisor junto a Jesús Callejo. Luego seguimos con otra mujer de bandera, Helen Nathan, protagonista de la última novela de Mario Escobar La guardiana de libros (Ediciones B 2025). Con ella veremos cómo los libros podían dar la libertad ante el nazismo. Pablo Arias en su sección de Historia de la Ciencia nos habla del microondas. Y acabamos el programa hablando de mitos griegos con Cristina Garciamartín, autora del libro Diosas (Ediciones B 2025)

How Humans Shaped History: From Migration to Civilization Collaps. In this thought-provoking podcast, historian and researcher Yadav Devkota takes us on a journey through the origins of human civilization and the milestones that shaped our shared history. The conversation begins with how humans first migrated into South Asia and the surprising story of four different human species that once lived across Asia and Europe. Yadav Devkota then unpacks the history of animal domestication, explaining how our oldest companions transformed survival and society. The discussion moves into the rise of ancient civilizations, exploring how they molded global culture, developed systems of knowledge, and laid the foundation for traditions and innovations still relevant today. Yet alongside their achievements, we also learn why these civilizations eventually collapsed, revealing critical lessons about resilience, governance, and survival. Finally, we dive into Mesopotamian brilliance—how humans first tracked time, built mathematical systems, and laid down the earliest laws that changed the course of human progress. This podcast is more than a history lesson; it's a journey into the human story, where migration, innovation, and civilization shaped the destiny of our species. If you are curious about anthropology, ancient culture, or the origins of human society, Yadav Devkota's insights will leave you with a deeper understanding of how the past continues to shape our present and future.

Matriarchal Rule and The Queens' Power in Ancient Civilizations. This episode of the Mesopotamian Civilization series, featuring guest expert Yadav Devkota, explores the fascinating origins of slavery and prostitution in ancient Sumerian society, revealing how these social structures shaped early human civilization. Dive deep into Mesopotamia's complex cultural history, including the unique Mashto and Dhami cultures of Khas and their intriguing parallels with Sumerian practices. Discover why the concept of pure DNA and isolated haplogroups is a myth, based on genetic variations from ancient populations. The episode also sheds light on the powerful matriarchal rule that once dominated Mesopotamian civilizations and how it was gradually displaced by patriarchy, changing the course of history. Learn about the role of female rulers and the tradition where the one who marries the queen becomes king, linking these ancient beliefs to cultural practices like the Ajimas of Kathmandu. This podcast dives into how beer brewing originated from the Sumerians and unpacks the early development of religion and the concept of God in human history. Perfect for history enthusiasts and those interested in ancient civilizations, this detailed discussion unwraps the roots of Mesopotamian identity, culture, gender dynamics, and social systems, providing a comprehensive understanding of one of the world's earliest civilizations.

En la primera conferencia del ciclo “Una historia del dinero y la moneda en el mundo antiguo”, el catedrático de Historia Antigua, Adolfo Domínguez Monedero, aborda los distintos elementos de valor y las formas de intercambio en las sociedades antiguas, hasta el surgimiento del primer sistema de dinero en Mesopotamia. Antiguamente, los cereales, el cobre, el estaño, la plata y el oro fueron utilizados con la función del dinero por este sistema, hasta que, con el paso del tiempo, la plata se convirtió en el principal elemento de valor en circulación en toda Asia occidental, dando lugar a la aparición de la moneda en la península de Anatolia.Más información de este acto

This episode travels back to the dawn of writing in Mesopotamia. We explore the world's first known literary work, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and discuss how ancient civilizations in the Near East used cuneiform script not just for records, but to wrestle with the fundamental human questions of life, death, friendship, and the divine. To unlock full access to all our episodes, consider becoming a premium subscriber on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. And don't forget to visit englishpluspodcast.com for even more content, including articles, in-depth studies, and our brand-new audio series and courses now available in our Patreon Shop!

Was Atlantis just a myth — or the memory of a real civilization lost to the sea? In this episode, we dive into Plato's original account, Solon's Egyptian connection, and why new science on sea-level rise makes the story harder to dismiss. We'll explore:• Plato's description of Atlantis and its fall• The Younger Dryas floods and catastrophic climate shifts• Similar flood myths across Egypt, Greece, India, Mesopotamia, and the Americas• Theories on where Atlantis could have been — Santorini, the Richat Structure, the Azores, or even Antarctica• Legends of orichalcum, flying machines, and secret knowledge preserved by groups like the Knights Templar Was Atlantis one city, a global network, or a warning myth? Let's find out. www.stayskeptical.com Watch: https://rumble.com/user/rabbitholepodcast https://www.youtube.com/@Rabbit.holepodcast Wise Wolf Gold: https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=jvujkwgs Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jcwvgWpPz8GqLxNwpeJM7AHqBJL2O3JWVdE8ggKK7_8/edit?usp=sharing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Olivier Guez"Mesopotamia"La nave di Teseowww.lanavediteseo.euAvventuriera, archeologa, scrittrice, diplomatica, spia in grado di parlare fluentemente arabo e persiano, Gertrude Bell fu la donna più potente dell'impero coloniale britannico al termine del primo conflitto mondiale. Protagonista della creazione del moderno stato dell'Iraq, di cui ha contribuito a tracciare i confini, idealista come il suo fedele alleato Lawrence d'Arabia, coraggiosa, tenace e imperialista come il giovane Winston Churchill, figlia amata e incompresa di una ricca famiglia vittoriana, donna disperatamente innamorata, Gertrude Bell resta per noi un enigma, persa nel silenzio che la Storia, troppo spesso, riserva alle imprese femminili.Dalla scoperta di giganteschi giacimenti di petrolio ai crudeli giochi di potere tra inglesi, francesi e tedeschi, dalle trattative sotto le tende beduine alle sabbie di Baghdad, dove il destino di migliaia di persone è ogni giorno appeso a un filo: Olivier Guez recupera dal deserto la vita di una donna straordinaria, per raccontare l'epopea travolgente di una terra mitica e maledetta, la terra di Abramo, la terra del diluvio e di Babele, dei sogni infranti di Alessandro Magno: la Mesopotamia.Traduzione di Milena Zemira Ciccimarra.Olivier Guez è uno dei più noti scrittori francesi. Nel 2017 ha vinto il premio Renaudot per La scomparsa di Josef Mengele, di cui La nave di Teseo ha pubblicato l'adattamento a fumetti (2024). Da questo romanzo Kirill Serebrennikov ha tratto l'omonimo film, presentato al Festival di Cannes 2025. Guez ha inoltre pubblicato in Italia Elogio della finta (2018), Nel paese dell'aquilone cosmico (2022) e ha curato Il secolo dei dittatori (2020). Ha ricevuto il Deutscher Filmpreis per la miglior sceneggiatura nel 2016 con il film Lo Stato contro Fritz Bauer e ha insegnato Letteratura francese e Storia della cultura europea all'Università di Princeton nel 2025. Collaboratore per anni delle più importanti testate internazionali, ha scritto per “Le Monde”, “Le Point”, “The New York Times”, “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, “Corriere della Sera” e “Il Foglio”.Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/il-posto-delle-parole--1487855/support.IL POSTO DELLE PAROLEascoltare fa pensarehttps://ilpostodelleparole.it/

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comOh sure, everyone's go-to for imperial collapse tends to be Rome, but what broad lessons are there to be gleaned from every single other civilizational implosion, from Mesopotamia to the Mayans to the forgotten pyramid builders along the Mississippi River? Such is the intriguing set-up for Goliaths Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse, the…

What exactly was incense, and how was it used in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia? In this episode, I'm joined by Egyptologist Cathy Bishop to explore its role in trade, ritual, and daily life. And of course, we couldn't end without asking Cathy about her favourite Mummy Movie! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inanna, queen of heaven, who descended into the underworld. It is among the oldest stories of the mythology of the world, but also one of the most significant. James Bleckley of the Oldest Stories Podcast sits down with Nathaniel Heutmaker of the Grail Sciences Podcast to discuss this ancient tale from both an historical and an occult perspective. The Grail Sciences Podcast covers the deeper meaning of the Holy Grail and a variety of occult topics. Nathaniel is deeply read in a variety of world traditions, and expertly weaves it all together over at grailsciences.com/The Oldest Stories Podcast covers the history, myth, and culture of ancient Mesopotamia, from the invention of writing until the fall of Nabonidas. James has been filling out the story of the oldest civilization for over 6 years at oldeststories.net

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Kate Lister to take us on a journey through the fascinating history of Innana, an ancient goddess of love, war, fertility, and political power. They delve into her evolution from a humble agricultural deity to one of the most powerful and complex figures in ancient mythology, revered in Mesopotamia and beyond. This one goddess influenced millennia of religious and cultural history, possibly extending even to Persephone and the Virgin Mary.MOREPersephone: Queen of the UnderworldSex Work in Pompeii with Kate ListerPresented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan and the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music courtesy of Epidemic SoundsThe Ancients is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the story of Othniel the son of Kenaz. He was the first of the judges in Israel. Israel continued to do evil in the sight of the LORD, therefore God delivered them into the hands of their enemies, (the King of Mesopotamia). They were worshiping Baal and Ashteroth. They had forsaken the LORD.

DT: STRING THEORY / TELEVISION AND KALEIDOSCOPEThe guitar as we know it has had an illustrious evolution, starting its journey in ancient Mesopotamia, then finding its earliest recognizable incarnation 5 centuries ago in Spain, and continuing to move through various cultures until blossoming into its electric manifestation in the modern era. It was the magic wand to the baby boom generation - suddenly, everybody had to have one to express themselves, along with a garage band with whom to practice their 3 chord fantasies. Then, there were the transcendental wizards who blazed trails of such sonic originality that the instrument's sound never got boring. Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, to name a couple. Most of them were firmly rooted in the blues form. Today we feature two bands (Television and Kaleidoscope) whose unique recorded output, though small, blew minds with their sublime, far-reaching soundscapes - reaching deeply into themselves, and searching widely for other cultural inspirations to make original music no 60s/70s rocker teens had even heard before. KALEIDOSCOPEDavid Lindley merged his folk cred with Solomon Feldhouse who brought a middle eastern sensibility to the mix, and they struck world-fusion-rock gold. Lindley started off as a banjo picker, but could play anything with strings, and Feldhouse, a Flamenco artist who had grown up in Turkey, was giggling as an accompanist for belly dancers. Theirs was an unlikely,  but unimpeachable partnership.In this cut from their 1967 debut album, Side Trips, the boys take us on a magical mystery tour through the sanctum of the Egyptian Gardens, where Oud riffs twirl madly through the perfumed air, and scantily clad dancers hypnotize us with their charms. TELEVISIONPunk music was completely democratic. It was said that you didn't have to have chops to play; all you needed was passion. Not so with Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd's band Television. Their debut album, 1977's Marquee Moon immediately splintered that myth. The two virtuoso guitarist's method of meshing their sound together threw down the gauntlet to any aspiring duelists, and their achievement remains unparalleled, and unchallenged. It was an intellectual approach heretofore unseen in CBGBs, and the other dives of the lower east side. There was a jazz-like, improvisational element at work, and in the record's eponymous cut, Marquee Moon, you can hear Verlaine and Lloyd spur each other on to increasingly ecstatic heights. 

Federico Giuntoli"I diluvi di Dio"Dal mito mesopotamico alla BibbiaEdizioni del Mulinowww.mulino.it«Dio vide la terra, ed ecco: era corrotta, perché ogni mortale aveva corrotto la sua condotta sulla terra. Allora Dio disse a Noè: “Per me è giunta la fine di tutti i mortali, perché per loro causa la terra si è riempita di violenza: ecco, sto per distruggerli assieme alla terra!”».Genesi 6,12-13Narrato nei testi sumerici e accadici della Mesopotamia del II millennio a.C., il mito del diluvio si è trasmesso nei secoli fino al racconto biblico di Noè, lasciando tracce profonde anche nella letteratura greca e latina. Per la prima volta, questo volume ricostruisce l'intera storia del mito con un costante e sapiente richiamo ai testi antichi pervenuti. Lungi dall'essere soltanto narrazione di rovina, il diluvio è racconto paradossale di rigenerazione: in mezzo alle acque che travolgono, l'arca custodisce la promessa di nuovi inizi. In un'epoca come la nostra, segnata da stravolgimenti ambientali e conflitti, l'archetipo plurimillenario del diluvio continua a parlare con forza. Anche nella notte più fonda della storia e in mezzo alle rovine della distruzione, l'umanità può scorgere le tracce di una salvezza possibile.Federico Giuntoli è professore ordinario di Esegesi dell'Antico Testamento al Pontificio Istituto Biblico di Roma ed è membro del comitato scientifico della Fondazione Lorenzo Valla e della Pontificia Commissione Biblica. Autore di molti saggi in Italia e all'estero, è fra i curatori della «Bibbia» pubblicata da Einaudi nel 2021.Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/il-posto-delle-parole--1487855/support.IL POSTO DELLE PAROLEascoltare fa pensarehttps://ilpostodelleparole.it/

Acts 2:1-24When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens aboveand signs on the earth below,blood and fire and billows of smoke.The sun will be turned to darknessand the moon to bloodbefore the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who callson the name of the Lord will be saved.'“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Por que hay elementos comunes en casi todas las religiones? Hay lazos historicos que las unen? Hay mitos pasados de cultura a cultura, siglo a siglo y que el tiempo se encarga de cambiar? Hay discutimos del sincretismo en las religiones contamos con el historiador, escritor y divulgador Juan Jose Sanchez Oro que nos va a llevar de la mano investigando el poder de los sincretismos. Porque las conspiraciones... EXISTEN! #EDENEX #Clave45 VIAS DE CONTACTO: Radio: https://edenex.es/ RADIOCADENA SPAIN www.radiocadenaspain Un abrazo desde Argentina fmlarama.listen2myradio.com fmlarama.blogspot.com Fm 107.3 Mhz. Email: podclave45@gmail.com Web: clave45.wordpress.com Google+ : podclave45@gmail.com Twitter: @laclave45 @santiso6969 Facebook: https://facebook.com/clave45 YouTube.com iTunes.com

¿Qué hilo invisible conecta las tablillas de arcilla de Mesopotamia con los discursos y rituales de las religiones OVNI modernas? En este episodio de CLAVE45, "SINCRETISMO: de Mesopotamia a las religiones OVNI", Gerald Dean y David Santiso recorren —con mirada crítica y curiosa— la evolución de símbolos, mitos y creencias que han viajado desde los primeros panteones del Próximo Oriente hasta las nuevas cosmovisiones que veneran a seres del espacio. Exploraremos cómo dioses, mensajeros celestes y prácticas rituales se reconfiguran con cada época; cómo interpretaciones religiosas, fenómenos sociales y relatos de contacto se entrelazan para dar lugar a movimientos espirituales insólitos; y qué elementos ancestrales persisten bajo nuevas máscaras tecnológicas y ufológicas. Un viaje sonoro que mezcla historia, antropología y testimonio contemporáneo para entender por qué las mismas preguntas sobre lo trascendente siguen encontrando respuestas cambiantes —a veces sorprendentes— a lo largo de los milenios. https://www.edenex.es

One of the first recorded examples of a marriage ceremony is dated more than four thousand years ago in Mesopotamia. And it seems that through the ages, weddings have never lost their appeal. The global wedding industry is today worth billions of dollars, and it's one that keeps on growing.While aspects of weddings differ across many cultures, they celebrate the coming together of two people in a form of contract which establishes rights within the couple. Historically, marriages were often economic, legal and social tools; the love aspect that some marriage ceremonies came to represent was developed much later.Iszi Lawrence investigates how weddings have changed over time with a panel of expert guests, including Dr Vicki Howard, Visiting Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Essex (UK) and the author of Brides, Inc.: American Weddings and the Business of Tradition; wedding planner Marie Haverly, Deputy Head of the Business School and senior lecturer in event management at the University of Winchester in the UK; and wedding photographer Shanaya Arora, one half of Nitin Arora Photography which she founded with her husband. Shanaya is also the host of WED FM India, a podcast all about weddings.Produced by Fiona Clampin for BBC World Service.(Photo: Comet and Phakalane Mmisi, dance just after they were married, Johannesburg, South Africa, 11 July 2008. Credit: Per-Anders Pettersson / Getty Images)

How many female entrepreneurs, economic revolutionaries, merchants, and industrialists can you name? You would be forgiven for thinking that, until very recently, there were none at all. But what about Phryne, the richest woman in ancient Athens, who offered to pay to rebuild the walls of Thebes after the city was razed by Alexander the Great? Or what about Priscilla Wakefield, the writer who set up the first English bank for women and children? And, just as important, what about the everyday women who, paid only a pittance, labored for the profit of others? From the most successful women of their day to those who struggled to make ends meet, Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth, and Power (Seal Press, 2025) by Dr. Victoria Bateman takes you on a journey that begins in the Stone Age and ends in the twenty-first century, spanning the world's historic centers of prosperity: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Peru, the Indus Valley, the Roman Empire, the Islamic Empire, China, Europe, and the United States. By shining a light on the women whose contributions to the economy have been hidden for far too long, Economica is more than a history of women—it is a more accurate economic history of us all. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

How many female entrepreneurs, economic revolutionaries, merchants, and industrialists can you name? You would be forgiven for thinking that, until very recently, there were none at all. But what about Phryne, the richest woman in ancient Athens, who offered to pay to rebuild the walls of Thebes after the city was razed by Alexander the Great? Or what about Priscilla Wakefield, the writer who set up the first English bank for women and children? And, just as important, what about the everyday women who, paid only a pittance, labored for the profit of others? From the most successful women of their day to those who struggled to make ends meet, Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth, and Power (Seal Press, 2025) by Dr. Victoria Bateman takes you on a journey that begins in the Stone Age and ends in the twenty-first century, spanning the world's historic centers of prosperity: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Peru, the Indus Valley, the Roman Empire, the Islamic Empire, China, Europe, and the United States. By shining a light on the women whose contributions to the economy have been hidden for far too long, Economica is more than a history of women—it is a more accurate economic history of us all. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

How many female entrepreneurs, economic revolutionaries, merchants, and industrialists can you name? You would be forgiven for thinking that, until very recently, there were none at all. But what about Phryne, the richest woman in ancient Athens, who offered to pay to rebuild the walls of Thebes after the city was razed by Alexander the Great? Or what about Priscilla Wakefield, the writer who set up the first English bank for women and children? And, just as important, what about the everyday women who, paid only a pittance, labored for the profit of others? From the most successful women of their day to those who struggled to make ends meet, Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth, and Power (Seal Press, 2025) by Dr. Victoria Bateman takes you on a journey that begins in the Stone Age and ends in the twenty-first century, spanning the world's historic centers of prosperity: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Peru, the Indus Valley, the Roman Empire, the Islamic Empire, China, Europe, and the United States. By shining a light on the women whose contributions to the economy have been hidden for far too long, Economica is more than a history of women—it is a more accurate economic history of us all. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How many female entrepreneurs, economic revolutionaries, merchants, and industrialists can you name? You would be forgiven for thinking that, until very recently, there were none at all. But what about Phryne, the richest woman in ancient Athens, who offered to pay to rebuild the walls of Thebes after the city was razed by Alexander the Great? Or what about Priscilla Wakefield, the writer who set up the first English bank for women and children? And, just as important, what about the everyday women who, paid only a pittance, labored for the profit of others? From the most successful women of their day to those who struggled to make ends meet, Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth, and Power (Seal Press, 2025) by Dr. Victoria Bateman takes you on a journey that begins in the Stone Age and ends in the twenty-first century, spanning the world's historic centers of prosperity: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Peru, the Indus Valley, the Roman Empire, the Islamic Empire, China, Europe, and the United States. By shining a light on the women whose contributions to the economy have been hidden for far too long, Economica is more than a history of women—it is a more accurate economic history of us all. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How many female entrepreneurs, economic revolutionaries, merchants, and industrialists can you name? You would be forgiven for thinking that, until very recently, there were none at all. But what about Phryne, the richest woman in ancient Athens, who offered to pay to rebuild the walls of Thebes after the city was razed by Alexander the Great? Or what about Priscilla Wakefield, the writer who set up the first English bank for women and children? And, just as important, what about the everyday women who, paid only a pittance, labored for the profit of others? From the most successful women of their day to those who struggled to make ends meet, Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth, and Power (Seal Press, 2025) by Dr. Victoria Bateman takes you on a journey that begins in the Stone Age and ends in the twenty-first century, spanning the world's historic centers of prosperity: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Peru, the Indus Valley, the Roman Empire, the Islamic Empire, China, Europe, and the United States. By shining a light on the women whose contributions to the economy have been hidden for far too long, Economica is more than a history of women—it is a more accurate economic history of us all. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

Nella terra fra Tigri ed Eufrate, la “culla della civiltà”, l'agricoltura non era solo cereali e legumi. Tra l'Età del Bronzo e quella del Ferro, due colture raffinate – la vite e l'olivo – plasmarono paesaggi, commerci e identità culturali. Un recente studio dell'Istituto di scienze archeologiche dell'Università di Tubinga, basato sull'analisi di oltre 1.500 resti carbonizzati di semi e legni, ha rivelato come gli antichi mesopotamici affrontassero siccità e cambiamenti climatici coltivando con determinazione queste piante

Benjamin Wallace's new book is The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto: A Fifteen-Year Quest to Unmask the Secret Genius Behind Crypto.   It's the greatest whodunit. Whoever created Bitcoin became the world's richest person, yet we don't know who he is. In fact, we don't even know if it's one person. There have been other cases where identities have been hidden for a while: Mysterious Whistleblowers (Deep Throat) Mysterious Authors (Ferrante, Klein, Publius) Mysterious Artists (Banksy) Mysterious Spies / Hackers (Cambridge Five, QAnon figureheads, Cicada 3301) However, nothing tops the enigma of Satoshi Nakamoto. Watch my interview with Benjamin Wallace on the WanderLearn Show: Watch the Video Interview Questions for Benjamin Wallace In 60 seconds, tell us why we should be curious about who Satoshi Nakamoto was. What's the percentage chance that Satoshi Nakamoto is more than one person? What's the percentage chance that Satoshi Nakamoto is dead? Assuming he's alive, what's the percentage chance that Satoshi Nakamoto will voluntarily reveal himself in his old age or via a dead man's switch video? Who are your top 4 candidates for Satoshi Nakamoto? If those 4 candidates are in a pie chart, how big is the 5th piece of the pie: the Someone Else slice?  Although Nakamoto's OPSEC was impeccable, is it realistic to believe that he faked his Britishisms, his double-spacing after periods, and potentially running his prose & code through a stylometry mixer because he was certain that Bitcoin would become a multi-trillion-dollar asset? What new insights have you had since you wrote the book? What's the percentage chance that we will definitively solve this mystery like we solved the Deep Throat mystery? Or will the ending be more like Forrest Fenn (e.g., a partial conclusion because we know the treasure was found and by whom, but we don't know where)?  What surprised you in your investigation? It seems you want Nakamoto to be Hal Finney, but it's hard to believe he didn't tap into the fortune when his life was on the line. And why not admit to being Nakamoto when he was on his deathbed? Perhaps to protect his family from assaults? Perhaps because he collaborated with someone else and doesn't want to unmask him. But then he could admit that he was part of the Satoshi team and leave it at that. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? In his book, Wallace writes that any plausible Nakamoto candidate should have the following characteristics: Software tools Coding quirks Age Geography Schedule Use of English Nationality Prose style Politics Life circumstances (How had Nakamoto found the time to launch Bitcoin? Why had he left the project when he did?" Resume ("I'm not a lawyer.") Emotional range (humble, confident, testy, appreciative) Motivation to create Bitcoin Rationale, and the foresight and skill, to create a bulletproof pseudonym (Who would bother wiping a crime scene clean before it was a crime scene? Who was already that good at privacy in 2008?) Monkish capacity to renounce a fortune Although this list severely restricts who Satoshi Nakamoto could be, it still leaves countless possibilities. Wallace, who has been trying to crack this mystery for 15 years, has yet to meet a candidate who checks all the boxes. Wallace refrains from declaring that he has solved the mystery, even though countless "detectives" have already done so. He interviews people who tell him, with 100% certainty, that Satoshi Nakamoto is: Nick Szabo James A. Donald Adam Back Hal Finney Peter Todd (according to HBO) Elon Musk Numerous other options It's tempting to select what you think is the most viable candidate, throw in a heavy dose of confirmation bias, and declare, "Mystery solved, Sherlock!" Plenty have done so. It requires great restraint to resist the temptation of calling it a day, and instead, persevere pugnaciously like Wallace has in what is the greatest whodunit of the 21st century.  Many suspects seem highly implausible. Elon Musk, for example, is a bombastic self-promoter who would love to proclaim he was the genius behind Bitcoin. It's unimaginable why he would keep his mouth shut. Hal Finney was a sincere, honest, and good guy. As he said many times when he was dying of ALS, he had no reason NOT to reveal that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. Therefore, it's not him, even though it would provide a neat explanation as to why the old Satoshi Nakamoto bitcoins haven't moved.  Adam Back is plausible, although ex-cypherpunk Jon Callas says, "The primary argument against Adam Back is he couldn't keep his mouth shut." Still, an engrossing 3-part documentary argues that Nakamoto is Adam Back. Here's the final episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfcvX0P1b5g  Is Nick Szabo Satoshi Nakamoto? For several years, I believed Nick Szabo was Satoshi Nakamoto. It was an unoriginal deduction since Szabo is a popular choice among amateur Nakamoto detectives. Indeed, Szabo was one of Wallace's prime candidates for a long time. However, in his book, Wallace explains why Szabo has too many strikes against him: Szabo is a scatterbrain when it comes to projects. He doesn't focus on one thing for years. He juggles 150 balls. Nakamoto was laser-focused for 18 months. He told Jeremy Clark that Szabo "seemed to think that his bit gold was better" than Bitcoin. Clark also said Szabo is an "incoherent" presenter, whereas Nakamoto was "lucid."  Although Szabo is intensely private, he's not a complete recluse. He likes sharing ideas and getting public recognition.  Minor point: Satoshi Nakamoto wrote, "I'm not a lawyer," but Szabo is one. Although these points suggest Szabo is unlikely to be Satoshi, Szabo remains a strong Nakamoto candidate, given the absence of a perfect candidate. Besides, Clark's points are easily refuted. Just because Szabo implied Bitgold was better than Bitcoin means little. Szabo could say that to shake off people who think he's Satoshi. Or he could genuinely believe that aspects of Bitgold were superior to Bitcoin. Clark said Szabo "seemed to think..." He didn't say, "Szabo emphatically said..." Also, I listened to Szabo speak for 2.5 hours on the Tim Ferriss Show, and he sounded plenty lucid to me.  Szabo is a decent speaker. Naturally, Szabo always denies he's Satoshi. As Wallace says, denying you're not the guy proves nothing. Mark Felt was an obvious suspect for being the Deep Throat in the Watergate scandal. He denied for decades. And guess what? He was Deep Throat! Sometimes the most obvious suspect is the criminal (think O.J. Simpson). Is James A. Donald Satoshi Nakamoto? After reading The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto, I added another suspect to my short list: James A. Donald. Satoshi Nakamoto used the rare term "hosed" a few times. Donald did so twice.  Furthermore, Donald was the first person to respond to Satoshi Nakamoto's original Bitcoin post, albeit in a critical way. He has various other attributes that Satoshi Nakamoto shares (read the book to see them all).  However, Donald is rough around the edges, whereas Satoshi Nakamoto was silky smooth, polite, and unoffensive. Again, James A. Donald is no slam dunk candidate. Nobody is. Hence, the mystery endures.  The only negative aspect about this book is that it may provide too much detail for the casual reader with limited interest in this mystery. If you're just looking for the answer, I'll tell you now: we do not know who Satoshi Nakamoto is.  For Satoshi sleuths, there is no better resource than The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto: A Fifteen-Year Quest to Unmask the Secret Genius Behind Crypto. It delves deeper and wider than any video, article, or book about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. Believe me, I've gone down that rabbit hole. Why should we care who Satoshi Nakamoto is? Many argue we don't need to know who Satoshi Nakamoto is because: Knowing his identity could taint the "immaculate conception" of Bitcoin because we might learn that Satoshi Nakamoto was an asshole. We should respect Satoshi Nakamoto's right to privacy. He obviously wanted to be pseudonymous, so let him be. If Satoshi Nakamoto is alive, it would imbue him with too much power, especially over the Bitcoin protocol.  I strongly disagree with this lack of curiosity. Why? There's a chance that in the 25th century, historians will consider Bitcoin one of the top 10 inventions of all time. I'm not saying that Bitcoin will be around in the 25th century, but something like it will exist and be the global currency, and historians will link its existence to Bitcoin. In 2001, Arthur C. Clarke predicted that by 2016, "All existing currencies are abolished. A universal currency is adopted based on the 'megawatt hour.'" Eight years before Clarke's prediction, Bitcoin was created. Although Clarke was wrong about other currencies being abolished,  Bitcoin's value is loosely correlated with its energy consumption. I explain why Bitcoin is worth anything. Consider the Top 10 Inventions and Their Inventors Imagine if we didn't know who these inventors were: The Printing Press - Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1440): This invention revolutionized communication, allowing for the mass production of books and the widespread dissemination of knowledge, leading to the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. The Electric Light Bulb - Thomas Edison (1879): While others experimented with electric lighting, Edison created a practical, long-lasting, and commercially viable incandescent light bulb, which transformed society by extending the day and enabling new industries. The Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell (1876): The telephone revolutionized long-distance communication, enabling people to speak to each other across vast distances in real time. The Steam Engine - James Watt (1778): Watt's improvements to earlier steam engines significantly increased their efficiency, powering the Industrial Revolution and leading to the mechanization of factories, transportation, and other industries. The Automobile - Karl Benz (1885): Benz is credited with creating the first practical automobile powered by an internal combustion engine, ushering in the age of personal transportation and reshaping urban and rural life. Alternating Current (AC) Electrical System - Nikola Tesla (late 1880s): While Edison championed direct current (DC), Tesla's work on AC made it possible to transmit electricity over long distances, laying the groundwork for modern electrical grids. The Airplane - Orville and Wilbur Wright (1903): The Wright brothers achieved the first successful controlled, powered flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft, fundamentally changing travel, commerce, and warfare. Penicillin - Alexander Fleming (1928): Fleming's discovery of the first antibiotic revolutionized medicine by providing a cure for many bacterial infections, saving millions of lives. The Internet / World Wide Web - Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn (Internet, 1970s) & Tim Berners-Lee (World Wide Web, 1989): These inventions created a global network of information and communication, transforming almost every aspect of modern society, from business and education to personal life. The Computer - Charles Babbage (early 19th century): Babbage's designs for the "Analytical Engine" laid the theoretical groundwork for modern computers. Later, inventors like John Atanasoff, Alan Turing, and others developed the first electronic and programmable computers. Imagine if we had no clue who invented penicillin or the telephone. Wouldn't historians do their best to figure that out, especially since they were recent and impactful inventions? Would you just shrug your shoulders and say, "Who cares? My telephone works." Sure, many wouldn't give a shit. However, for other, more curious minds, we'd like to know.  Major Inventions with Unknown Inventors Here are four major inventions whose creator is a mystery: The Wheel: The invention of the wheel is one of the most important technological advancements in human history, enabling transportation and mechanization. Archaeological evidence suggests it originated in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC, but there is no record of who first conceived of it. The challenge wasn't just creating the wheel itself, but also the wheel-and-axle system, which required precise engineering. Writing: The development of writing systems enabled the permanent storage and transmission of information, transforming human society. The earliest known writing system, cuneiform, emerged in Sumer (ancient Mesopotamia) around 3400 BC. However, like the wheel, it was likely the result of a gradual process of development by many different people, not the work of a single inventor. Fire making: Some person probably rubbed two sticks together, and the rest is history. Since we can't know who that individual was, it would still be fascinating to know where it started and if it was developed in more than one place independently, like Calculus.  Bitcoin: Yeah, it's a major invention. It's been the best-performing asset since 2010, it's worth more than any company, and Satoshi Nakamoto is the wealthiest person ever. It has sparked a multi-trillion-dollar industry in just 15 years. So, yes, it's important, and yet we don't know who created it. Verdict: 10 out of 10 stars! Admittedly, I'm a Bitcoin fan who has produced many videos and articles about the first cryptocurrency, so I'm biased. Still, if you love a perplexing mystery, you will love trying to solve this one. The good news is that we haven't solved it yet.  My Satoshi Nakamoto Fantasy There's a good chance that Satoshi Nakamoto is around my age. If so, he also has a 30-year life expectancy.  I hope that in 2050, a video appears on the Internet that shows an old man who says, "I am Satoshi Nakamoto. To prove it, I will do what no Satoshi pretender has been able to do: move the 'Satoshi' coins that have been dormant since I mined them in 2009." He records himself and his computer screen, and with a few clicks and keyboard taps, the transactions get broadcast onto the Bitcoin blockchain for all to see.    Next, he says, "I am donating my one million bitcoins to the Bitcoin Core for ongoing maintenance and to the following charities." Or perhaps he'll use the one million Bitcoins to create a Bitcoin node on the Moon. Or perhaps he will "burn" his Bitcoin, reducing the total BTC supply to 20 million coins, not 21 million. Regardless, I hope Nakamoto will finally unmask himself, just like Mark Felt (aka Deep Throat) did when he was 91 (he died at 95).  Yeah, this fantasy is unlikely, but we can dream, can't we? Connect Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at https://wanderlearn.com. If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!  On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on: Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram TikTok LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr   Sponsors 1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon 2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles! 3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K 4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker. 5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in. 6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free! 7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.  8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees! 9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear.

Her husband’s death began a period of transition for Nora. She took over his hardware business and cared for their three children on her own. “Be strong,” friends often told her. But what does that mean? she’d think. That I must deliver without fail in my responsibilities? God gave great responsibilities to Othniel in a time of transition for the people of Israel. As discipline for the nation’s idolatry, God had given them “into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim . . . to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years” (Judges 3:8). Under the cruel king of Mesopotamia, the Israelites “cried out to the Lord,” and “he raised up for them a deliverer” (v. 9)—Othniel, whose name means “God’s strength.” As the first judge of Israel, Othniel had no predecessor to help him. This military leader had to guide the Israelites back to living out their covenant relationship with God and defend them from their enemies. But because “the Spirit of the Lord came on him” (v. 10), he succeeded. With God’s strength sustaining Othniel’s leadership, “the land had peace for forty years, until [he] died” (v. 11). How can we truly “be strong”? It’s by knowing we’re not strong and by trusting God to give us His strength. His “grace is sufficient for [us], for [His] power is made perfect in weaknes

In this episode of arts24, Eve Jackson sits down with one of the most celebrated British-Turkish novelists of our time, Elif Shafak. With over 20 books translated into more than 50 languages, Shafak believes fiction remains one of the last truly democratic spaces, where stories can build empathy, challenge polarisation and create connections across cultures. Her latest novel, "There Are Rivers in the Sky", takes readers on a sweeping journey through history and geography, tracing a single drop of water from ancient Mesopotamia to modern-day Iraq, against the urgent backdrop of climate crisis and cultural loss.

Lot has traveled all the way from Mesopotamia at Avraham's side! Why do they split up now?And why choose Sedom?

I. Eliezer Yudkowsky's Machine Intelligence Research Institute is the original AI safety org. But the original isn't always the best - how is Mesopotamia doing these days? As money, brainpower, and prestige pour into the field, MIRI remains what it always was - a group of loosely-organized weird people, one of whom cannot be convinced to stop wearing a sparkly top hat in public. So when I was doing AI grantmaking last year, I asked them - why should I fund you instead of the guys with the army of bright-eyed Harvard grads, or the guys who just got Geoffrey Hinton as their celebrity spokesperson? What do you have that they don't? MIRI answered: moral clarity. Most people in AI safety (including me) are uncertain and confused and looking for least-bad incremental solutions. We think AI will probably be an exciting and transformative technology, but there's some chance, 5 or 15 or 30 percent, that it might turn against humanity in a catastrophic way. Or, if it doesn't, that there will be something less catastrophic but still bad - maybe humanity gradually fading into the background, the same way kings and nobles faded into the background during the modern era. This is scary, but AI is coming whether we like it or not, and probably there are also potential risks from delaying too hard. We're not sure exactly what to do, but for now we want to build a firm foundation for reacting to any future threat. That means keeping AI companies honest and transparent, helping responsible companies like Anthropic stay in the race, and investing in understanding AI goal structures and the ways that AIs interpret our commands. Then at some point in the future, we'll be close enough to the actually-scary AI that we can understand the threat model more clearly, get more popular buy-in, and decide what to do next. MIRI thinks this is pathetic - like trying to protect against an asteroid impact by wearing a hard hat. They're kind of cagey about their own probability of AI wiping out humanity, but it seems to be somewhere around 95 - 99%. They think plausibly-achievable gains in company responsibility, regulation quality, and AI scholarship are orders of magnitude too weak to seriously address the problem, and they don't expect enough of a “warning shot” that they feel comfortable kicking the can down the road until everything becomes clear and action is easy. They suggest banning all AI capabilities research immediately, to be restarted only in some distant future when the situation looks more promising. Both sides honestly believe their position and don't want to modulate their message for PR reasons. But both sides, coincidentally, think that their message is better PR. The incrementalists think a moderate, cautious approach keeps bridges open with academia, industry, government, and other actors that prefer normal clean-shaven interlocutors who don't emit spittle whenever they talk. MIRI thinks that the public is sick of focus-group-tested mealy-mouthed bullshit, but might be ready to rise up against AI if someone presented the case in a clear and unambivalent way. Now Yudkowsky and his co-author, MIRI president Nate Soares, have reached new heights of unambivalence with their new book, If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies (release date September 16, currently available for preorder). https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-if-anyone-builds-it-everyone

Un viaje desde los templos enterrados de Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe y Gürcütepe hasta los portales ocultos de Mesopotamia… para descubrir que el verdadero misterio no está en la tierra, sino en la concienciaSíguenos en nuestras redes: IG: https://www.instagram.com/conexionpineal/ https://www.instagram.com/fede.caivano/ https://www.instagram.com/juan.p.caivano/     www.conexionpineal.net FB: https://www.facebook.com/ConexionpinealA https://www.facebook.com/juan.p.caivano https://www.facebook.com/Fede.Caivano Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConexionPinealA https://twitter.com/CaivanoJuan https://twitter.com/fedehcaivano Tik Tok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@conexionpineal?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc   Suscribete a nuestro canal de Youtube  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOPQD5fFy-eHfE4feqp_8eQ Suscribete a nuestro canal de Rumble https://rumble.com/c/c-5078740/about Como a nuestros podcast en Spotify   https://open.spotify.com/show/6qRjTcGJLCeRzxi4vPIyot O Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conexion-pineal/id1480056715Conviértete en un seguidor de este podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/conexion-pineal--3574623/support.

Tristan Hughes continues our special series on Great Disasters, journeying back to ancient Mesopotamia with Dr Paul Collins to explore the fall of the Sumerians.4,000 years ago, the great cities of Sumer — Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Girsu — stood as glittering centres of power, crowned with mighty ziggurats and ruled by ambitious dynasties. Yet within a few generations, this world of splendour and tradition unravelled. From the collapse of the Akkadian Empire to shifting power struggles and environmental pressures, uncover why these prestigious city-states declined — and ask whether we can truly talk of a 'fall of Sumer.' Join us as we step into the chaos of Mesopotamia's first great age of empires and witness how disaster reshaped the cradle of civilisation.MOREThe SumeriansSargon of AkkadPresented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan and the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music courtesy of Epidemic SoundsThe Ancients is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Long ago in Mesopotamia, a brave king and a mighty eagle set out on a magical journey above the clouds. This is a story of courage, friendship, and hope.

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible. Read more here: Project23 Our text today is Judges 3:9-11 But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. — Judges 3:9-11 What happens when God's Spirit fills an ordinary man? Israel cried out. And God answered—not with an army, but with a man. Othniel wasn't flashy. He wasn't famous. He was Caleb's younger brother, living in the shadow of a great warrior. Yet when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, everything changed. Notice the shift: Israel cried. God raised. The Spirit empowered. Victory came. Peace followed. This is God's pattern. He takes an ordinary man, fills him with his Spirit, and uses him to deliver his people. Never underestimate what God can do through you when his Spirit fills you. You don't need the perfect résumé, the loudest voice, or the sharpest skills. What you need is surrender to God's Spirit. The battles you face aren't won by sheer grit but by God's Spirit working through you. Othniel's story reminds us: victory doesn't rest on the size of the man, but on the strength of the God in the man. ASK THIS: When was the last time I cried out to God for deliverance instead of trying to fix things myself? Do I believe God's Spirit can work powerfully through me right now? What keeps me from full surrender to God's Spirit? Where in my life do I need to step forward in faith like Othniel? DO THIS: Today, pray specifically for the Spirit of the Lord to empower you in one area where you feel weak—and then take one step of faith into that battle. PRAY THIS: Holy Spirit, fill me today. Use me, like you used Othniel, to bring your victory and your peace where I cannot on my own. Amen. PLAY THIS: "Same God."

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible in Project23. Read more here: Project23 Our text today is Judges 3:7-8 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. — Judges 3:7-8 What happens when God lets you have the life you chose without him? Notice the sequence: They forgot the Lord. They served false gods. God's anger burned. They were sold into slavery. Israel's biggest problem wasn't its enemies. It was their memory. Forgetting God led them straight into idolatry, and idolatry led them straight into chains. God's judgment wasn't random—it was righteous. When Israel abandoned him, he gave them exactly what they wanted: life under the rule of another master. But the freedom they thought they'd find in Baal worship became bondage under Cushan-rishathaim. This is how sin still works. Forgetting God always opens the door to false gods. And false gods always enslave. Maybe for you it's not a wooden empty false-god like Baal—it's other false-gods like money, success, approval, lust. But the pattern is the same: what you serve ends up ruling you. Don't miss this: forgetting God is the first step into slavery. The enemy doesn't need you to deny God outright—just to forget him little by little, until you wake up chained. ASK THIS: Where have I grown forgetful of God's presence in my daily life? What “false gods” am I tempted to serve in place of him? Have I mistaken slavery to sin for freedom? What daily habit can I build to keep remembering God? DO THIS: Set one daily reminder (alarm, sticky note, verse card) to pause and remember God today—before the world makes you forget him. PRAY THIS: Lord, don't let me forget you. Keep me close, and protect me from the chains that come when I turn from you. Amen. PLAY THIS: "No Longer Slaves."

Iraq, once known as Mesopotamia, the “Land of the Two Rivers”, is facing its worst water crisis in living memory. The Tigris and Euphrates — lifelines of agriculture and civilisation for millennia — are running dry. Climate change, upstream dams and decades of mismanagement have turned fertile land into dust, forcing families from their homes and threatening national stability. Talk to Al Jazeera travels to southern Iraq to hear from farmers, environmentalists and officials about a crisis that could decide the country's future.

Cuneiform is one of the oldest systems of writing in the world, first used in ancient Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago. Written on clay tablets with a wedge-shaped tool, it was used to record everything from taxes to literature. This episode explores how cuneiform was developed, what it tells us about early civilizations, and why writing was one of the most important inventions in human history.

For 5,000 years civilizations have told themselves stories of progress. Today, the progress myth has become humanity's most dangerous illusion. Samuel Miller McDonald, geographer and author of Progress: A History of Humanity's Worst Idea, illuminates the destructive lineage of progress, why these myths endure, how they enable socially and ecologically parasitic societies, and what values might guide us beyond them. Highlights include: How narratives of progress have persisted from Mesopotamia to today, and how those narratives have persisted even as the means of material subsistence and political economy have changed enormously over time; How the progress narratives of today are primarily divided into four camps: techno-liberal, Silicon Valley's android kingdom, the social justice vanguard, and right-wing grifters and political opportunists; How the ecological, energy exchange relationships of mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism offer a framework for understanding human societies' concrete and abstract energy capture historically and in the present; Why long-lived societies tend to be mutualistic or commensalistic with animistic, biophilic worldviews and egalitarian practices, while parasitic societies collapse due to the ecological and social destruction they cause; How parasitism has evolved across three broad ages of mythical, secular, and today's economistic, fossil-fueled, and globalized capitalist network; Why neoliberalism, the latest economistic project, is so resilient - and how it prioritizes economic growth over political rights, co-opts reformist movements and exploits the human cooperative impulse while entrenching corporate power at the expense of democracy; Why elite fantasies of transhumanism and off-planet escape are dangerous and delusional extensions of parasitic growthism; What more mutualistic and commensalistic alternative paths forward might look like, from agroecological local systems and rewilding to indigenous land rights, fossil fuel bans, rejecting AI, and class struggle - all guided by values of biophilia, fairness, and restraint. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:  https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/samuel-miller-mcdonald-2   OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance OVERSHOOT tackles today's interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity's excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance. Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://www.populationbalance.org/subscribe Support our work with a one-time or monthly donation: https://www.populationbalance.org/donate Learn more at https://www.populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance

Het is 3.800 jaar geleden. Mijnwerker Lachisch verstopt zich in een tempel een leert daar vreemde tekentjes. Hoe nuttig kan dat nieuwe alfabet worden? Wilde Eeuwen, het begin. Iedere vrijdag een nieuwe aflevering. Meer informatie: nrc.nl/wilde-eeuwenHeeft u vragen, suggesties of ideeën over onze journalistiek? Mail dan naar onze redactie via podcast@nrc.nl.Tekst en presentatie: Hendrik SpieringRedactie en regie: Mirjam van ZuidamMuziek, montage en mixage: Rufus van BaardwijkBeeld: Jeen BertingVormgeving: Yannick MortierVoor deze aflevering is onder meer gebruikt gemaakt van deze literatuur: Ludwig D. Morenz. ‘El(-GOD) as “Father in Regalness”. Mine M in Serabit el Khadim as a Middle-Bronze-Age (c. 1900 BC). Working Space sacralised by Early Alefbetic Writing' in Working Paper 13 Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, 2023. Martijn Jaspers en Toon Van Hal. 'Van huisje tot hashtag, van ossenkop tot apenstaart. Een geschiedenis van het alfabet', Maklu uitgever, 2023. Silvia Ferrara. 'The Greatest Invention. A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts', Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2022 (Vertaald uit het Italiaans door Todd Portnowitz). Felix Höflmayer e.a. ‘Early alphabetic writing in the ancient Near East: the ‘missing link' from Tel Lachish' in Antiquity, juni 2021. Philip J. Boyes en Philippa M. Steele (eds). 'Understanding Relations Between Scripts II Early Alphabets', Oxbow books, 2020. Miriam Lichtheim. 'Ancient Egyptian Literature', University of California Press ,2019 (eerste druk 1975).Aaron Koller. ‘The Diffusion of the Alphabet in the Second Millennium BCE: On the Movements of Scribal Ideas from Egypt to the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Yemen', in Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, in december 2018. Steven R. Fischer. 'History of Writing', Reaktion Books, 2003.Brian E. Colles. ‘The Proto-Alphabetic Inscriptions of Canaan' in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 1991.Lina Eckenstein. 'A History of Sinai', Macmillan 1921. Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mermaids have captivated human imagination for millennia. These mysterious beings, half-human and half-fish, have appeared in the myths and legends of cultures around the world, from the ancient seas of Mesopotamia to the icy waters of the North Atlantic. But where did these stories come from? What inspired our ancestors to create such enchanting and sometimes terrifying beings? This episode was brought to you by Tüt, toilet lid stickers to zhuzh up your toot. Because every throne needs a crown.https://www.etsy.com/shop/tutdeco/Got an Idea for the Podcast?I'd love to hear from you! If there's a topic you'd like me to explore or someone you think would make a great guest, flick me a message.EMAIL: thestickybeakpodcast@outlook.comINSTAGRAM: @thestickybeakpodcastTIKTOK: @thestickybeakpodcastFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/listen.with.mon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesus Delivers Us (12) (audio) David Eells – 8/24/25 Saints, I'm going to continue with our teaching on how Jesus delivers us and gives us authority over the demons.  Today, we're going to review what the true and false manifestations of the Spirit are, which are all for the purpose of destroying the kingdom of darkness. We have to have respect for the Word. It will get and keep the mixture out of the Church. Only the Word manifested in the flesh is from God; the rest is from the devil. (Mat.12:30) He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. Some of it is truth, and some of it is Babylonish religion. The Bible says, (1Pe.5:8) Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Pray for God to help us be sober and watchful because, in different ways, people are giving the devil permission. Remember, the Word says, “whom he may devour.” They're giving the devil permission to devour them by not putting on the true armor, which is all related to the Word (Romans 13:12,14; 2 Corinthians 10:3-4; Ephesians 6:11-17). Sometimes deception comes little by little. An uneven or weak foundation makes an uneven and weak building (Psalm 11:3; Matthew 7:24-27). Little deceptions that have been laid by false prophets and false teachers lead to ever bigger deceptions. The devil is out to make Christians look foolish so that the Gospel has no credibility. You'll swallow deceptions, too, unless you have a real respect for the Word. You can be “denying … the Master” even while you are saying that you believe in Jesus. (2Pe.2:1) But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them (You deny the Master by following false teachings and false ways, rather than following the Lord.), bringing upon themselves swift destruction (2) And many shall follow their lascivious doings (The word “lascivious” basically means “wanton” or “excess, an excuse for excess.”); by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of. These lascivious doings in the churches, passed on by false teachers, cause the “way of the truth” to “be evil spoken of.” (2Pe.2:3) And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not. God is going to destroy those people who deceive His people and lead them astray. Most haven't recognized that that's what's happening, but you can see these false prophets being destroyed. The Bible says the pleasures of sin are only for a season (Hebrews 11:25). The devil deceives you and bribes you with them, and you may go after them, but they won't last, and then what happens? Then you start reaping what you've sown. The devil is bringing some of this lasciviousness into the church so that “the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of.” I'm speaking here particularly of what some call “manifestations of the spirit.” When the world looks upon these manifestations, they see them as something evil. For example, you're trying to talk to someone about the Lord, and they counter by pointing to some preacher who fell, becoming a fornicator while preaching righteousness. The world uses that as an excuse not to pay attention to you. These ministers, and many others who have fallen away, are causing the way of truth to be evil spoken of. I once went into a church where a lot of people off to one side looked as if they had nervous disorders. They were jerking and twitching. Some were on the floor. Some were throwing their hands up over their heads. I had seen this kind of thing before, and I thought, “Well, that's nice. I hope they get prayed for tonight.” It wasn't long after the service got started when I realized that those were the people they had already prayed for, and that's why they were in that condition. Through prayer, they had received this thing that people call a “manifestation of the spirit,” and now they were acting like people who had a spirit of infirmity. Then the preacher got up and talked about how the principal at the local school had called and told him that he was sending students home who were jerking, twitching, rolling, and so forth. The principal had asked the preacher what he thought about it, and foolishly, the preacher seemed proud of what was happening. I felt bad when I heard this report. These students were obviously in school to give a testimony for the Lord, but the devil had been able to destroy their testimony. That wasn't the Lord, regardless of what they were thinking. It is not the Lord's way to cause foolishness or confusion to destroy His testimony. Here is an example as proof for you. (1Co.14:23) If therefore the whole church be assembled together and all speak with tongues… Now we know that “tongues” is a true manifestation of the Spirit of God, and there's a good reason for tongues. When you pray in tongues, you can pray according to the Will of God because your carnal understanding doesn't get involved. There's no foolishness in tongues, but even tongues have had rules set upon it. This is to make sure that we as Christians don't lose our testimony before the world. (1Co.14:23) If therefore the whole church be assembled together and all speak with tongues, and there come in men unlearned or unbelieving, will they not say that ye are mad? (24) But if all prophesy, and there come in one unbelieving or unlearned, he is reproved by all, he is judged by all; (25) the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed. They'll say you're “mad,” i.e., insane, from a genuine manifestation of the Spirit. This means that you don't want even a true manifestation in front of unbelievers because you may destroy your testimony and cause “the way of the truth” to “be evil spoken of.” Since this is the case for genuine manifestations of the Spirit, then it is certainly true of some of these manifestations that can't be found at all in the Bible. These students were going to school twitching and jerking and flailing their arms. That's not the Word of God. It is not God's way to destroy testimonies. Manifestations are meant to edify the people around you. Paul exhorted the people who speak in tongues not to get up and address the assembly in tongues because without interpretation it wasn't edifying the people around them. Now, if that's true for a true gift of speaking in tongues, it is certainly true for all these other manifestations. If they don't edify the people around you, then God says not to do it. People with a religious spirit may think they are being spiritual to go out among the heathen and do these old “holy roller” things, but that wasn't Paul's opinion or method. (1Co.9:19) For though I was free from all [men,] I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. (Paul brought himself under submission to the people around him so that he could gain them.) (20) And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; (21) to them that are without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. (22) To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak: I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. (23) And I do all things for the gospel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof. This idea is diametrically opposed to the idea of engaging in questionable manifestations among the lost. Paul was talking about being all things to all people so that he might save some, and so he was weak to the weak by meeting them where they were. His teaching was opposed to doing foolish things in front of them, destroying the testimony of God. [“Holy roller” is considered to be a derogatory term and may be applied to any out-of-control or bizarre behavior during worship services. From Wikipedia.org: The Oxford English Dictionary cites an 1893 memoir by Charles Godfrey Leland, in which he says, “When the Holy Spirit seized them ... the Holy Rollers ... rolled over and over on the floor.”]  The Bible doesn't speak of such a habit. Paul said, 1Co 11:1  Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. A Baptist preacher in that assembly got up and testified about how he had real questions in his heart when he had left there. He admitted that he hadn't felt good in himself, and he questioned God about it. He asked God to please tell him what was right or wrong. God spoke to him with this verse (1Co.14:33) for God is not [a God] of confusion, but of peace. The other verse he got was (Pro.3:5) … And lean not upon thine own understanding. If we study and respect the Scriptures, then we're not leaning on our own understanding; we're leaning on God's understanding. It's important that we study Scripture to find our answers. You can't find answers through your feelings. You can't find answers through your wisdom or emotions. You can't get answers from men because you might respect a man too much. He might say something unscriptural and lead you astray. (1Co.14:32) And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; (33) for God is not [a God] of confusion, but of peace. There is a difference between manifestations of the Holy Spirit and manifestations of demon spirits. Manifestations of demon spirits may start out needing your permission, but the more they continue, the less they're interested in your permission. The manifestations will become involuntary and possessive. You may begin to jerk and twitch and do things that you're not at all meaning to do, but that this religious spirit is doing through you. There was a time when I was traveling to different groups among Pentecostals, and I had noticed that there were different manifestations in each group. I began to meditate on this, asking, “If this is the Holy Spirit, why isn't the Holy Spirit manifesting His gifts everywhere?” The conclusion I came to is that not everything the Pentecostals are calling a “manifestation of the Holy Spirit” is a true manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Since each particular religious group had its own particular manifestation, it had to be a religious spirit that was manifesting in that group. This is just part of the great mixture out there, and the devil has a reason for manifesting these things. He wants Christians to look silly to the world because that destroys their testimony. (1Co.14:32) And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. That means if it's a gift from the Lord, then that prophet can stop the manifestation, and that prophet can start the manifestation. Did you know that? Let's go back and read about the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Let's see if jerking, twitching, and rolling are listed in there. And as we read, let's also look to see if these manifestations are involuntary or voluntary. (1Co.12:4) Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. (5) And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. (6) And there are diversities of workings (Notice that these gifts may manifest differently in different Christians.), but the same God, who worketh all things in all. (7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. The Holy Spirit isn't forcing you to do anything; the Holy Spirit is guiding you. The Bible says, (Php.2:13) For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. The Holy Spirit moves through our will. He doesn't work against our will. The Holy Spirit doesn't do things without our will. You may say, “Well, when He moves on you with a prophecy, that didn't come from your will.” That's right, but your will has to agree with it. The Lord is not pushing prophecy on you. People who don't want that gift don't manifest it. Paul goes on to list the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and many of these were ones that Jesus manifested, so we have good examples of them in the Scriptures. Some of these manifestations that we've been seeing are not mentioned in the Bible. They're excluded from this list because, in this list, all the manifestations are voluntary. (1Co.12:8) For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit: (9) to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit; (10) and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discernings of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues: (11) but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will. These are the common gifts promised to believers. Are there some listed in scripture that are not given commonly?  1Co 5:3  For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing… I was once given a gift to listen to a factious group across town as they plotted to destroy us. I then made comments about their false assertions that they heard. One of them said in reply, “We know who you are David.” We have a witness who was there in spirit listening and agreed. Jesus and Phillip were translated by the Spirit from place to place, as was I also. These could be included in workings of miracles or discernings of spirits because I have had both of these?  God tells us in His Word what are manifestations of His Spirit because He doesn't want us to accept the devil's counterfeit manifestations. True gifts will destroy the works of the devil and promote the Kingdom. They are not to put on a show but they can confirm the Word. (1Co.14:32) And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; (33) for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. God gave us those verses for our protection. We are not supposed to have people in the church whose spirit is not subject to them, people who are doing things over which they have no control. According to these verses, being out of control does not sound like the Holy Spirit. Many have been witnesses to people falling, twitching, rolling around, and flailing their arms over their heads, etc.. One of the girls who testified on the platform had to have somebody on each arm holding her up. When the pastor came and stood next to her, talking in regard to this twitching movement that she was manifesting, something hit him in the stomach. I saw him double over with a look of pain on his face. Two men went up and got him, as he was looking kind of drunk, and they took him aside and set him down. Everybody was praising the Lord, like it was another move of the Spirit. Well, it was a move of a spirit. It was a move of that fellowship's religious spirit. These spirits like to manifest supernatural signs because people respect them, but not every supernatural sign is from the Lord. Lately, if people see something supernatural coming from a church or a preacher, they think that it's God, but God works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). If He is going to use our will, we have to submit our will to Him, and we should be inviting the Lord to use us in these gifts. It's through these gifts that He's going to manifest Himself in supernatural power in His Church, and so we're commanded to seek out these spiritual gifts that are given to us by the Holy Spirit. (1Co.14:12) So also ye, since ye are zealous of spiritual [gifts,] seek that you may abound, unto the edifying of the church. Be suspicious of preachers who are busy imparting other kinds of “gifts,” laughing gifts, rolling gifts, twitching gifts, etc. The Lord moves in supernatural things that edify the spirit, not cater to the flesh, of man. Some of these manifestations of the so-called “Spirit” give people “ecstasies,” feelings of rapture or bliss in their flesh. People have asked, even begged me, to pray over them so that they could have this feeling of euphoria. People have told me, “Oh, Brother David, I really need to go ‘out in the Spirit,'” but that's not what anyone really needs. What we really need is more of God. We don't need some tantalizing feeling in the flesh. God wants us to come away from being moved by our feelings and by our emotions. When a person is weaned from being dependent upon their emotions, then they are stable. Then they can be moved only by the Word. I've seen people claim that a move of the Spirit is upon them, yet their emotions are bouncing back and forth from one extreme to another. For instance, one moment they're crying and then the next they're laughing, the whole time saying that it's a move of the Spirit, but it's a move of demons. These spirits want to have you dependent upon your emotions. If people are moved by their emotions or feelings, they are untrustworthy because they can always be manipulated by the devil. The Bible says, (2Co.11:14) And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel (That's the Greek word angelon and it means “a messenger, {generally} a supernatural messenger from God.) of light. Satan comes as a “messenger of light.” The devil is not so stupid as to come with his pitchfork. We are going to see messengers of light. (2Co.11:15) It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. Satan's going to come as a preacher of the “truth,” as a preacher of the “Word,” otherwise the church wouldn't listen to him. That is how the devil is going to come, and yes, he has been and is doing it all along. We are warned, (2Pe.2:1) As among you also there shall be false teachers… Look around you. If you can't see these false teachers, then you have a problem. You're not respecting the Word of God enough, and are respecting the traditions of men too much. (Col.3:17) And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. No matter what we do, in word or in deed, we have to do it in the “Name,” which means “nature and character,” of Jesus. Nowhere in Scripture do we see Jesus jerking and twitching and rolling on the ground and preaching, but we do see Him manifesting the gifts we read listed in 1 Corinthians 12. We can manifest those things because we can do those in the Name of Jesus Christ. If your words or deeds don't agree with what He said or did, don't say or do them. You don't have permission from the Scriptures to disagree in word or deed. Your deeds represent Him. You are an ambassador of Christ. You have gone into a foreign country, i.e. this earth, to represent Him, so your words and actions have to represent Him. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. Your words and actions have to be a reflection of Him, but we see no reflection of the Life of Jesus in these false manifestations we're seeing in the churches. We see no foundation for us to accept them. There's a mixture. It's true that most of these manifestations are spiritual experiences, but they're spiritual experiences for the flesh. You may have heard about a manifestation called “being drunk in the spirit,” but the Scriptures tell us instead to be sober (Romans 12:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:6,8; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8; etc.) There's no place where the Bible says to be drunk and sober at the same time, because God isn't going to make you drunk and then tell you to be sober. I was thinking about this manifestation when the Lord told me to go back and read this passage in Acts to see if the disciples were “drunk in the spirit.” (Act.2:4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (5) Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. (6) And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language. (7) And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilaeans? (8) And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born? (9) Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, (10) in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, (11) Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God. (12) And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, What meaneth this? (13) But others mocking said, They are filled with new wine. Mocking they said this. People have to come up with some explanation in order to disprove a miracle of God, and the easiest explanation here is to say that they were drunk. I've run across some nutty explanations of how God parted the Red Sea, too. That's what people do when they don't want to accept the truth; they fight against it with some goofy theory. The Jews fought against Jesus. They fought against the disciples. (Act.2:13) But others mocking said, They are filled with new wine. (New wine couldn't explain what these people were doing. The naysayers were trying to come up with an explanation.) (14) But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spake forth unto them, [saying,] Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and give ear unto my words. (15) For these are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is [but] the third hour of the day; (16) but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: (17) And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams: (18) Yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. These disciples were prophesying and speaking in the Holy Spirit. We know they weren't staggering around, being drunk in the spirit, especially since God says, “Be sober.” God is not schizophrenic. Why would He make people drunk when He's telling them to be sober? If a person is drunk, they're not in control of their faculties. When a person is not in control of their faculties, deception and demon-possession are enabled. If you give yourself to some gift of the devil, you did it through your passivity, but we're not supposed to become passive towards the devil. (Jas.4:7) Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Those who administer the devil's gifts in séances, teaching people among the lost to be “prophets,” instruct them to be passive, to be blank in their minds. That's exactly how this spirit comes upon people; it comes upon people when they're not in control, when they're not able to say, “No!” Those mockers in Acts were accusing the disciples of not being in control, but the disciples weren't drunk. Whatever it was that they were speaking in other languages, it was just so convicting to those who were listening that they couldn't stand it. At that meeting I mentioned earlier, people “drunk in the spirit” were staggering all over and falling down. Had any lost person come in, they would have spoken evil of the way of the truth. Those people and preachers who were behaving drunkenly were representing Christ. They were confessing they believed the Bible, but it was confusion from the devil, who takes unfair advantage of people. It's the devil who possesses people and takes away their ability to make voluntary decisions. He's out to make fools of us before the world. The spirits of these prophets were not subject to them. When a person allows some other spirit to come in, it's because they are being passive in mind; then they become subject to that spirit. God doesn't give a person a gift to make him a robot. As the Bible says, (1Co.14:32) And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. They are always in control. They can stop a gift or a manifestation, when they want to stop it. It's always been that way when I speak in tongues; I can start it and stop it. Paul said, (1Co.14:15) I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. “I will…,” he said. Paul used his will. The Holy Spirit does the same thing. (Act.2:4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave the utterance. They did it. They spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance. God is not going to take away our will. He's going to use our will. (Php.2:13) For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. You may open your mouth in an act of faith that God would fill it, but you do have to open your mouth. After the outpouring of the Spirit in the early part of the twentieth century, Jessie Penn-Lewis traveled the country, looking in on a lot of different Christian groups. Penn-Lewis had discernment and saw a lot of abuse of the supernatural. When God starts something, there is always an opportunity for the devil to come in, too, once God opens the door to the supernatural. Now, as long as churches don't believe in the supernatural, they won't accept it, and so they can't be deceived by it. At the time of Penn-Lewis' travels, many denominations didn't want any supernatural manifestations in their churches; therefore, they didn't have any deceptions from the devil in that regard. However, they did have a lot of deception in that they were neglecting the Scriptural supernatural and neglecting the clear command to receive the gifts and power of Christ. It was when God opened the door by the outpouring of His Spirit that the devil came in to lead people astray with manifestations that are not in the Bible. When a person gets baptized in the Spirit, their eyes are opened to the supernatural, but they are also in a more vulnerable position in that regard. Unless they love the truth, they won't be able to discern and catch the devil when he comes, bringing his supernatural copies. This is like what Jannes and Jambres did with Moses (Exodus 7:8-12,20-22; Exodus 8:5-7; 2 Timothy 3:8-9). They copied almost everything that Moses did, but there came an end to their power (Exodus 8:18-19). The same thing is happening today in the church. “Jannes” and “Jambres” are loose and manifesting their supernatural gifts in the church. These manifestations are not of God because they are not listed among the Holy Spirit's manifestations in the Scriptures, and that alone should make us suspect them. Manifestations that do not destroy the devil's kingdom but merely appease man's appetite for the supernatural are usually not from God. Even as true ministers speak truth which are confirmed with signs and wonders, false ministers speak lies that are confirmed with what the Bible calls “lying signs and wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Is it possible for a person to have a mixture, to be manifesting the Word one moment and some religious spirit the next moment? Yes, it's possible that this can happen. We've all manifested a mixture in our own lives until we learned better, haven't we? So a mixture is also possible among other believers or ministers. Let's read a few things that Jessie Penn-Lewis, with Evan Roberts, reported in the book War on the Saints, 1912 edition. I am not regarding Penn-Lewis as a teacher, and I don't agree with everything in this book, but Penn-Lewis's witness and discernment of the spirits involved is good. [Note: All passages of War on the Saints are taken from Chapter Five, “Deception and Possession”; Chapter Six, “Counterfeits of the Divine”; or the Appendix, unless otherwise stated. Underlining has been added for emphasis and is not found in the original.]   War on the Saints, Dual Streams of Power (David's notes in red) Under the heading “Dual Streams of Power,” War on the Saints states: From such possessed believers… (If you don't accept that believers can be possessed, go back and study the Word. Jesus called deliverance “the children's bread” {Matthew 15:26; Mark 7:27}. Only the children of God have a legal right to deliverance, and that right is based only on their faith in the New Testament.) …there can proceed, at intervals, streams from the two sources of power, one from the Spirit of God in the centre, and the other from an evil spirit in the outer man; and with the two parallel results to those who come in contact with the two streams of power. In preaching, all the truth spoken by such a believer may be of God, and according to the Scriptures, correct and full of light—the spirit of the man right—whilst evil spirits working in mind or body, make use of the cover of the truth to insert their manifestations… Why would God permit such a thing? Where there is truth spoken, why would God permit, in the same service, false manifestations to deceive people into receiving some false gift? God permits this for the reason of weeding out those from among His people who don't love the truth. Those who love the truth are not going to swallow a lie from the devil for long. They're going to respect the Word too much. They're going to look in there to see “if these things be so,” like the Bereans. (Act.17:11) Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. If a person has a noble spirit, they'll search the Word to see if these things are so. If they're not of that spirit, they'll swallow anything just because it's supernatural. They respect the man, so they think, “It's got to be good.” Don't get your eyes on men. The words of men should be under our feet. Now I don't care anything about the game of baseball, but in a dream I once had, I was the first batter up in a baseball game. I stepped up to the home base mound, looked down, and saw a hole in the ground where the base was supposed to be. I was standing there with my bat, and everyone had their eyes on me. I said, “We're going to have to fill up this hole.” I directed everybody to get newspapers to fill the hole, so that we could stand on these newspapers. You may think, “Well, that sounds nutty.” I thought so, too, until I started meditating on the meaning. We have to get the news, the words of man, in total submission under our feet. It's the Good News that's going to make the difference. Man is giving you his news, his word the way he sees it, but we have to overcome the word of man to be able to run the race and to win. Paul talked about this in his letters (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Galatians 5:7). So that wad of newspapers filled up that hole. I stood on it, and looking towards first base, I saw chairs for people to sit in, but some of those chairs were obstructing my view of first base. I stopped right there, put my bat down, walked over and started kicking those chairs out of the way so that I could get a good view of first base. We have to get our eyes on where we're going. We have to see the end from the beginning, and we can't let anything get in the way of where we're going. The only way you can get your eyes on where you're going is to pay attention to the Good News. You can look in the Word and see that the true Church and its order are strangely different from the organization that men have been calling the “Church.” That's because people have their eyes on men, and the bad news of men has convinced them that it's right. Get your eyes on the Word, or you'll be deceived. That's what that dream was about. “Dual Streams of Power” continued: In preaching, all the truth spoken by such a believer may be of God, and according to the Scriptures, correct and full of light—the spirit of the man right—whilst evil spirits working in mind or body, make use of the cover of the truth to insert their manifestations, so as to find acceptance with both speaker and hearers. That is to say, there may pour through a believer at one moment, a stream of truth from the Word, giving light and love and blessing to receptive ones among the listeners; and the next moment, a foreign spirit, hidden in mind or body, may send forth a streamlet through the soulish or physical part of the man, producing corresponding effects in soul or body among the listeners… A man doesn't have to lay hands on you to impart his spirit to you. Jesus said, (Joh.6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. The words of a man that are spoken through him by an evil spirit are passed on the same way Jesus' words were passed on, but that man's words “are spirit, and are death.” Those words go into you and recreate that spirit's nature in you and make it possible for that spirit to possess you. “Dual Streams of Power” continued: That is to say, there may pour through a believer at one moment, a stream of truth from the Word, giving light and love and blessing to receptive ones among the listeners; and the next moment, a foreign spirit, hidden in mind or body, may send forth a streamlet through the soulish or physical part of the man, producing corresponding effects in soul or body among the listeners, who respond in their soulish or physical part to the Satanic stream, either by emotional or physical manifestations, (Notice that the response is emotional or fleshly. These manifestations are to titillate your emotions or your physical man, rather than your spiritual man. That's the difference between the manifestations of religious spirits and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Also Paul said, we “prophesy in part” which could be part our doctrine and part God.) continued: physical manifestations, or in nervous or muscular actions. In another passage, Penn-Lewis documented that “nerves and muscles are twisted in contortions, and convulsions, such as are described in the Scripture records.” In the Bible these “Scripture records” describe the demon-possessed, but Lewis was witnessing church people with these descriptions. One or the other of the “streams” of power from the Holy Spirit in his spirit, or from the deceiving spirit in mind or body, may predominate at different times, thus making the same man appear dual in character, with short intervals, at different periods of time. “See how he speaks! How he seeks to glorify God! How sane and reasonable he is! What a passion he has for souls!” may be said with truth of a worker, until some moments later some peculiar change is seen in him, and in the meeting. A strange element comes in, possibly only recognizable to some with keen spiritual vision, or else plainly obvious to all. Perhaps the speaker begins to pray quietly, and calmly, with a pure spirit, but suddenly the voice is raised, it sounds “hollow,” or has a metallic tone; the tension of the meeting increases; an overwhelming, overmastering “power” falls upon it; and no one thinks of “resisting” what appears to be such a “manifestation of God!” Under the heading “Mixed Manifestations,” their book states: The majority of those present may have no idea of the mixture which has crept in. Some fall upon the ground unable to bear the strained emotion, or effect upon the mind; and some are thrown down by some supernatural power; others cry out in ecstasy; the speaker leaves the platform, passes by a young man, who becomes conscious of a feeling of intoxication upon him, which does not leave his senses for some time. Others laugh with the exuberance of the intoxicating joy. Some have had real spiritual help and blessing through the Word of God being expounded ere this climax came, and during the pure outflow of the Holy Spirit; consequently they accept these strange workings as from God, because in the first stage of the meeting, their needs have been truly met by Him; and they cannot discern the two separate “manifestations” coming through the same channel! If they doubt the latter part of the meeting, they fear they are untrue to their inner conviction that the earlier part was “of God.” Others are conscious that the “manifestations” are contrary to their spiritual vision and judgment, but on account of the blessing of the earlier part, they stifle their doubts, and say, “We cannot understand the physical manifestations, but we must not expect to understand all that God does.” The most common statement I have heard out of the mouth of those who escaped demon manifestations is, “When I went in there, I told God, ‘If this isn't of You, I don't want it.'” On the other hand, people who want something because everyone else is getting it and who just assume it must be of God, these people get caught. (1Co.4:6) Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not [to go] beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other. When churches have goofy manifestations, I hear the same justification today that Penn-Lewis reported. People tell me, “We don't understand everything He does or why He does it.” Well, that's what Scripture has been given to us for! God warned us ahead of time and gave us a list of the manifestations of the Spirit. He doesn't list the manifestations described earlier in the chapter, and they're not manifested in Jesus' ministry or the disciples' ministry. Is God doing something new? No, religious spirits are doing something new, but it's not really new, is it? (Ecc.1:9) That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. “Mixed Manifestations” continued: We only know that the wonderful outpouring of truth and love and light at the beginning of the meeting was from God, and met our need. No one can mistake the sincerity, the pure motive of the speaker. Therefore, although I cannot understand, or say I “like” the physical manifestations, yet, it must be all of God. Briefly put, this is a glimpse into the mixed “manifestations” which have come upon the Church of God, since the Revival in Wales; for, almost without exception, in every land where revival has since broken forth, within a very brief period of time the counterfeit stream has mingled with the true; and almost without exception, true and false have been accepted together, because of the workers being ignorant of the possibility of concurrent streams; or else have been rejected together by those who could not detect the one from the other; or it has been believed that there was no “true” at all, because the majority of believers fail to understand that there can be mixed workings of the (1) Divine and Satanic, (Some of them wouldn't believe any of it was true because of what they saw. They don't believe in the mixture of divine and satanic, but there's divine in the human and satanic in the human.) (2) Divine and human, (3) Satanic and human, (4) soul and spirit, (5) soul and body, (6) body and spirit; the three latter in the way of feelings and consciousness, and the three former in the way of source and power. There must be more than one quantity to make a mixture, at least two. The devil mixes his lies with the truth, for he must use a truth to carry his lies. Otherwise, the believer won't accept it. The believer must therefore discriminate and judge all things. He must be able to see so much to be impure, and so much that he can accept. Satan is a “mixer.” If in anything he finds ninety-nine percent pure, he tries to insert one percent of his poisonous stream, and this grows, if undetected, until the proportions are reversed. Where there is mixture acknowledged to be in meetings where supernatural manifestations take place, if believers are unable to discriminate, they should keep away from these “mixtures” until they are able to discern... Under the subheading “Counterfeit Manifestations of Divine Workings in the Body,” we read: Counterfeit manifestations of the Divine life in various ways now follow quickly; movements in the body, pleasant thrills, touches, a glow as of fire in different parts of the body; or sensations of cold, or shakings, and tremblings; all accepted by the believer as from God, but showing what a full entry the deceiving spirit has obtained to the bodily frame; for there is a distinction between the manifestations of evil spirits “with” and “in” the body and mind of the believer; although when they are really inside, they can also make it appear as if they were outside, both in influence and action. When evil spirits are really outside, and desirous of entry, they work by sudden suggestion, which is not the ordinary working of the mind, but suggestions which come from without; “flashes of memory,” again not the ordinary working of the memory, but coming from without; touches and twitches of the nerves; feelings of draught [“Draught” is the British spelling for “draft.”] and sensations of wind blowing on the circumference, etc. Under the subheading “Effects of Evil Spirit Entry to the Bodily Frame,” we read: When the evil spirits are inside, the whole frame is affected, at times with the pleasant sensations referred to, (The “pleasures of sin” are “for a season” {Hebrews 11:25} but then the devil starts taking advantage of ways to bring sickness and destruction to them and their families.) but at others with pains in the head and body which have no physical cause, or else so working with the “natural” that the supernatural cannot easily be distinguished from it; such as accelerating the heartbeat so as to appear palpitation, and in other ways working with the physical causes, so that part has natural ground, and part is from the accentuating force of evil. Depression then ensues in proportion to the previous exhilaration… Many of us have seen people when the “spirit” came on them. They were swinging up and down in their emotions, elated and depressed, laughing and crying. That is what the devil does to people. He wants them to pay attention to, and become dependent on, their feelings and emotions rather than the Word of God, but we have to be weaned away from emotions and feelings. We have to pay attention to the Word and walk by faith, not by sight and not by feelings. The Lord will do this for us if we will let Him. False manifestations try to lead us back to walking by sight, to being dependent on emotions and feelings. Finishing the report from “Effects of Evil Spirit Entry to the Bodily Frame,” we read: Depression then ensues in proportion to the previous exhilaration; exhaustion and fatigue in reaction from the demand upon the nervous system in the hours of ecstasy; or else a sense of drainage of strength without any visible cause; grief and joy, heat and cold, laughter and tears, all succeed each other in rapid changes, and varied degrees--in brief, the emotional sensibilities seem to have full play. The problem is that emotional sensibilities have full play when the devil is in it. And from a chart titled “The True Workings of God, and Counterfeits of Satan,” we read: (2) The counterfeit of the Presence of God is mainly felt upon the body, and by the physical senses, in conscious “fire,” “thrills,” etc. The counterfeit of the “Presence” in the atmosphere is felt by the senses of the body, as “breath,” “wind,” etc., whilst the mind is passive or inactive. The person affected by this counterfeit “presence” will be moved almost automatically to actions he would not perform of his own will (Recall what I have already shown you about the will: God can move through your will, but the devil will move without it.) and with all his faculties in operation. He may not even remember what he has done when under the “power” of this “presence,” just as a sleepwalker knows nothing of his actions when in that state. The inaction of the mind can often be seen by the vacant look in the eyes. (I've also seen this vacant look in the eyes.) In the Appendix under “The Working of Evil Spirits in Christian Gatherings, Section 3, Supposed Manifestations of the Holy Spirit,” it says: From a book recently published, said to contain the very words of the Lord Jesus, spoken through some of His children, and written down as spoken in the first person, the following brief extract is taken, showing the extent of the mediumistic control by deceiving spirits, which by some are believed to be the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus is supposed to have said, “The manifestations of the Spirit, in some things, are very strange. Sometimes He will twist the body this way, and that, and the meaning is dark to you. I want you to know some things about this part of the Spirit's work. I want you to see that they are not useless. If you had spoken in your own tongue, when the Spirit came in, it would have graciously blessed you; but perhaps you might have thought it was yourself, as many have. So the Spirit comes in and speaks in an unknown tongue to you, that you might know that it was not yourself speaking… Whomever is being quoted here, it is not the Lord. This is someone possessed by a religious spirit who is comparing tongues, which is a real manifestation of the Spirit, with twistings and jerkings. These manifestations cannot be compared. They are not the same thing. The false Jesus: Your hands He has often lifted up, and again He has raised your fingers in various ways. Your eyes open and shut by the Spirit now, as they did not before. People's eyes were opening and closing, not at their will, but at the will of this spirit. The false Jesus: Your very head has been shaken by the Spirit, and you have not known why He did this. You have thought sometimes, it was just to show He was living there, and that is true, but there is more in it than that, and He will show you as well as He can, in a few words, what some of these things are… Some things in the manifestations are very peculiar to you. You have gone on wondering about them. Don't think it strange that the Spirit works in you in many ways. His work is more than a two-fold work. It is manifold. This is puzzling many minds. They see the Spirit shaking. They hear Him singing. They feel him laughing, and they are sometimes tried with His various twistings and jerkings, as though He would tear them to pieces. Sometimes it seems He is imitating the animals in various sounds and doings. The false revival, or false prophetic movement, is full of these kinds of Eastern religious spirit manifestations, but these movements have had a strange lack of those manifestations that destroy the works of the devil, as seen in the Gospels and Acts. Satan doesn't cast out Satan. (Mat.12:26) And if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? The false Jesus: This has been all a mystery to the saints. His work, I say, is manifold. He seeks, in some, to show them that they are all one with each other, in the whole creation… If He shows you, by making a noise as of some wild animal, and that you are like that, you must not despise His way of working, for the Holy Spirit knows why He does it. He makes these noises in the animals, can't He make them in you?” This is the reasoning of some kind of religious spirit. It is Satan who turns men into beasts. This is a sign of the false revival spirits of Eastern religions. (Ecc.3:17) I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. (18) I said in my heart, [It is] because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are [but as] beasts. (19) For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath (This is ruach, which is the same Hebrew word for “spirit.”); and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity. The beasts of Revelation and Daniel are wicked, lost men, who are moved by their flesh. We must love the Word so much that we won't add to it or take away from it (Deuteronomy 4:2,12:32; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19; etc.) People who don't love the Word are going to add to it. I've made this mistake in my youth because I listened to Pentecostal people. Satan's deception didn't start with us; it started way back before us. When the supernatural from God comes, the supernatural from the devil comes in right behind it to deceive. This is just as we saw happening back with Moses and Jannes and Jambres. When the Lord moves, the devil is going to move to stop it. We thank God that He has given us examples of those supernatural manifestations spoken in His Word. The manifestations of spirits detailed in this chapter help us to pay attention to our senses and to our emotions which cater to the flesh. People are getting a thrill in the flesh, but they're not getting an understanding of what's happening. When the lost of the world look at what's going on, it makes them think little of the Word of God and little of the testimony of the people who are manifesting these things. All this is the devil seeking to destroy our witness and seeking to make the things of God look foolish in the eyes of the world. In the false revival or false prophetic movement, they were making all kinds of beast noises, barking, roaring, howling, and so on, which is what demon spirits do. These people are possessed by Eastern religious spirits, Kundalini sspirits, who usually kill them before their time. A lot of these manifestations, like twistings and jerkings, also happen in Buddhism, yet these uninformed people wrongly think they are peculiar manifestations of the Holy Spirit. If you do follow this kind of thing, you'll lose interest in the Word and will not be able to follow the Spirit of God. To follow the Spirit of God you have to be weaned away from following feelings and emotions. To follow the Spirit of God, you can't go against Scripture which He wrote. Now let me share this testimony:   Delivered from False Revival Spirits and Religion by R.C. When I was twenty-two years old and just married, I was very hungry for God and trying to draw near Him the best I knew how. And the Lord was revealing Himself. I was beginning to have dreams and visions, and experiencing the Lord drawing me, speaking to me, and teaching me. In my hunger for more of God, I began to attend revival meetings for about three or four years with many speakers associated with Toronto, Brownsville, the Kansas City prophetic movement, and even Fresh Fire Ministries. (Many who associated with the false revival or false prophetic movement fell away from the Lord and many marriages failed. Besides the Kundalini eastern spirits, Jezebel spirits were imparted causing women to feel independent of their husbands and even domineering towards them and some become ministers. Amany men and women died early.) My wife and I were happy at first, but after a while I got so minded toward pursuing the Lord, I left her in the dust. (People did warn me many times.) I came across a prophetic power minister from the Toronto movement and got to know him pretty well. In his meetings he had all sorts of manifestations, like the laughter. After people would get prayer, oftentimes, visitations would occur. You would see all sorts of strange signs and wonders. (They lay hands on as many as possible to impart these spirits.) You would smell frankincense and different fragrances. Sometimes in his meetings people would begin to feel fire come on them. (Some of the counselors of this would advise the people to stop calling on Jesus but to just chant, “fire, fire, fire”.)  During one meeting people would begin to see streams of gold in visionary experiences. Our pastor even opened our church to this ministry. (A huge mistake.) We had meetings with a lot of these strange manifestations. The focus was completely on experiencing manifestations, rather than loving Jesus and becoming more like Him, manifesting Him. It was like a meeting was a big show. I was always hoping to experience something new. We went to a retreat with our worship leader and some of our youth. There a prophetic pastor laid hands on me and prophesied to me. I went to the floor and experienced the laughter manifestation. I was not faking it. I felt someone literally laughing through me. (A demon of Kundalini) My wife and I got in an argument about me going to meetings. She wanted me to spend time with her and my son. That night at the meeting a prophet came and prophesied to me, saying, I see you had trouble coming to the meeting tonight. The Lord says, “This is the time I want you to be coming to meetings and getting filled up.” Looking back, that was definitely not a word from God. I told my wife what the prophet had prophesied, and I could tell she got upset. I now know that God would not have put a knife in our relationship like that. At first she was coming near to the Lord, and her heart was softening. But after a time she began to resent the LORD and me due to my lack of attention to her. At times I would get a vision where the “Lord” was telling me to fast, so I would end up fasting. My wife would get really angry. And it was my fault. I began to fast maybe two or three days a week. I went from 140 to 123 pounds, and stayed that weight for about two years. Our marriage was going downhill. When I began to fast more, the prophetic began to increase in my life. I began to listen to teachings from Fresh Fire Ministries about “soaking,” meditative or contemplative prayer. This is described as a practice of meditating on Jesus, while being still for long periods of time. I began to listen to an offshoot ministry from Fresh Fire Ministries, called Abiding Glory Ministries. I listened to the prophetic school they offered, then I began to increase in visions. (This movement became known as the false prophetic movement for good reason.) The enemy was sending new friends from the Bahai faith into my wife's life. She began to come to me with a lot of questions. I remembered hearing the testimony of Sadhu Sundar Singh, an Indian Apostle in the early 1900s. (A man of God.) Satan had come to him and tried to get him to leave the Lord and become a prophet of a new religion that would join religions together. He had refused the devil's offer. But my wife was being deceived into the Bahai faith. I agreed to speak with these people. One of them talked about Isaiah 61 being about Mohammed coming from Bosrah. He said the prophecy there was referring to Mohammed. Then he went on to talk about Revelation 19 when the Lord had a name written on Him that no man knew but Himself. Then he proceeded to say that this was Mohammed. Christianity to him is what going back to the Jewish Law would be to us. (Both the faction movement and this false prophetic movement cause many to fall away in foolish deceptions.) They began to talk with me about the two witnesses. Their point was: How could I believe that these two prophets were going to really breathe fire out of their mouth? They ended with Revelation 19—riding on a white horse, the man with a double-edged sword coming from his mouth. According to these people, I was wrong. Both texts were spiritual, not literal, incidents. They truly had more understanding of Revelation than I did. As I was really humbled, I tried to avoid them for a while. My wife kept asking, “Why can't any Christians disprove these things? Why can't they truly explain Isaiah 61 and Revelation 19 to other Christians to stop them from converting to the Bahai faith?” Many times the Bahai leaders would go to PhD professors of theology and ask them to disprove their interpretation. One of the guys in the room I met was a former Christian. I went home and fasted and prayed for a day. I wondered, Why was the Holy Spirit not with me like He was with Stephen in the book of Acts, helping him to be able to refute them with the spirit of Wisdom. I asked the Lord for the truth. I told Him that if Bahai were truth, I would convert. But I didn't believe it was true. A couple of months later, on the Prophecy Club website, the Lord led me to UBM. Then I began to hear the book of Revelation explained and I knew the Lord was showing me truth. The Lord has been really gracious to bring me out of this deception. It truly has been just His mercy. Here's one example: When my old mp3 player broke (on which I listened to all the false prophetic ministries' messages), my wife got me a new player. But it got stolen. At the time I couldn't understand why … now I know the LORD was keeping me from listening to those messages. Another example is: I would have dreams in which I was under the influence of marijuana. I dismissed these dreams as demonic. I now realize that the LORD was telling me I was “under the influence…” My mother (who prayed for me constantly) and my pastor began to recognize the deception I was in. But I wouldn't listen. If anyone were to start talking about the revival manifestations being false, I would just “label” them as having an unreceptive religious spirit. They were missing this “new thing” GOD was doing. I heard a UBM broadcast where a man was talking about coming out of the prophetic movement. Then UBM talked about deception pertaining to what was going on in Lakeland, FL. At first I was thinking, “Religious spirit?” and then, “What if I'm wrong?” Slowly the LORD began to open my eyes and show me I was in serious deception. Then my wife wanted to separate. She pretty much left the LORD. At this time my wife put our house on the market. I began to fast and cry for my marriage and pray that our house would not sell. But it sold, resulting in me not knowing where to go. The Lord kept telling me to go home. But the false prophetic spirits were leading me to stay and get my family together. Eventually I had no options, so I moved back to Texas with my son. I didn't understand why God had neither stopped the house from selling, nor put our marriage back together. When I got to Texas, I didn't take seriously my mother telling me that I was being deceived under a false prophetic spirit. But one night I was praying for a friend, receiving “words of knowledge” that he was out drinking that night. The next day I asked him about this “revelation.” He replied that he'd been home sleeping. Then I knew I was under falsehood of the devil. I got news that my wife was coming down to bring my daughter for a visit. It seemed, again, like the “Lord” was saying, “Fast.” I began to see how this thing was operating on me…. The Lord gave me a dream that, while watching Christian TV, I was high on marijuana. Two individuals, a lady and my cousin M., were with me. When he went to the kitchen, I got up and could feel unclean spirits all over and inside of me. I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Then I woke up…. Through this dream the Lord was telling me that two spirits were controlling me, using the things of God to distract and keep me under their influence. In the dream I got up and went to the bathroom. This represented a place to clean up and get rid of waste. In another dream I was committing adultery with a lady with short hair (Jezebel). It ended the same as the first one: I got up to go to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and woke up. I was trying to get delivered, but my faith was not what it once was. A spirit of unbelief had gotten into my life somewhere. No matter how much I remembered what the LORD did for me, there was an invisible wall of unbelief. I just couldn't break through. During this process, the Lord began to tell me to stop pursuing the prophetic gifts and stop asking for a visitation from the Lord. But the Word says, (Psa.37:4) Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he will give thee the desires of thy heart. So I thought, “No way that I am going to stop.” But when I would start praying, I kept feeling uncleanness in my heart. After the Lord had told me to stop, one night I was praying for the prophetic. The next morning my son said he had this dream: He saw Jesus, but in his heart he knew it wasn't really Jesus. Satan, dressed like Jesus, had asked him what he wanted for a gift. My son replied, “A pony.” Then he opened the gift. Instead there was a demon in the box! NOW I understand that GOD didn't save my marriage (like I thought He would) for a reason—to bring me here to get delivered and restored to Him. God wanted me to stop my pursuit of the prophetic because this was doing nothing but feeding the spirit of falsehood controlling me. The Lord began to reveal to me that I'm not a prophet. I had wanted to be one, but that was not my calling. I'm not saying “don't earnestly desire the gifts,” but rather, make sure your heart is right. I don't know when or how it's going to look, but our marriage is restored by God's grace. (Praise to the Lord!)  I have gone through severe chastening from the Lord, but I thank Him. What I was seeing in the movement was not right, but I ignored that voice. Even when I was in the false revival meetings, I always internally felt the wrongness of it. I'm just constantly crying out to our merciful Lord now for grace. He has shown me that the most awesome possession on the face of this earth is Himself. He is the prize—to fully gain Him and have Him gain us. It was His grace to even open my eyes to see the truth. Else I would have had Him say to me on that day, (Mat.7:21) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. (22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever, because they met you not with bread and with water in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.Deuteronomy 23:3–5Hello everyone and welcome to the Christian Educational Ministries Weekend Bible Study. It is good to be with you and we thank you for being there and allowing us to make this weekly service possible.Tonight we are pleased to continue our study on the book of Deuteronomy, which teaches us to know God, love God and obey God. Filling in for Ronald L. Dart, with part twelve of this fascinating series, is our good friend, Richard Crow.

In this episode of Mythlok, host Nitten Nair unearths the incredible legend of Ugallu, the fearsome yet protective weather demon of ancient Mesopotamia. With the body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and the heart of a divine guardian, Ugallu stood at the threshold between order and chaos. Discover how this terrifying beast became a symbol of protection, how he was invoked in rituals to fight darkness, and how his legacy still echoes in modern culture. Was he a monster… or the ultimate ally? Join us as we explore ancient carvings, forgotten prayers, and thought-provoking questions about power, protection, and the mythical beings we still need today.Read more at https://mythlok.com/ugallu/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mythlok-the-home-of-mythology--5090355/support.

Send us a textMike Munger explores insurance economics through the lens of transaction costs and risk management, culminating in an amusing case study about "bat-in-mouth disease."Insurance transfers risk from individuals to larger pools, reducing the expected variance of outcomesThe fair price of insurance equals expected value (probability × potential loss) plus transaction costsInformation asymmetry, subjective risk valuation, and strategic behavior complicate insurance marketsInsurance faces two major challenges: adverse selection (who buys insurance) and moral hazard (behavior changes after getting insurance)Deductibles and co-pays help align incentives between insurers and insuredInsurance history dates back 5,000 years to ancient China, Mesopotamia, Greece, and RomeThe "bat-in-mouth disease" case study shows what happens when someone tries to purchase insurance after an incidentTransaction costs explain why dogs sometimes stop climbing stairs and why freezing credit cards--ie, transaction costs--might prevent impulse spending. The piano player in a brothel story, and its history.The book o'da'month is Daniel Flynn, The Man Who Invented Conservatism. Bat in mouth story:  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bat-flies-womans-mouth-arizona-costing-nearly-21000-medical-bills-rcna222463Some background on insurance:Kenneth Arrow on the Uncertainty & Welfare Economics of Medical CareAnja Shortland on Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business"Piano player in a brothel" story origins:https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/93559-my-choice-early-in-life-was-either-to-be-ahttps://barrypopik.com/blog/dont_tell_my_mother_im_a_banker_she_thinks_i_play_piano_in_a_whorehouse Daniel Flynn book:  The Man Who Invented ConservatismIf you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.email@gmail.com ! You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz

Episode 2.27Father of Faith: The Life and Legacy of Abraham – Episode 1Before he was the father of nations, Abraham was just a man from an idol-worshiping city in Mesopotamia. In this episode, we trace his early life—from Ur to Haran to Canaan. We explore where he came from, why he was called, and how he responded. Was Abraham just a nomad with faith—or a bold witness to Yahweh in hostile territory?We dig into the historical and archaeological background of Ur, the journey through ancient Mesopotamia, and what it meant to build altars in Canaan. We also address the common question: was Abraham an Arab? And what does it mean that he “called on the name of the Lord”?This episode sets the foundation for understanding Abraham's legacy—and how his faith journey mirrors our own.Find our videocast here: https://youtu.be/2P0o4yuzPOEMerch here: https://take-2-podcast.printify.me/Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/reakt-music/deep-stone⁠License code: 2QZOZ2YHZ5UTE7C8Find more Take 2 Theology content at http://www.take2theology.com

Unlock the truth behind biblical stories  from the holy bible and ancient creation myths found in the Bible, the Enuma Elish, and Mesopotamian mythology. This in-depth Bible study dives into the cosmic war between Marduk and Tiamat, the rise of the Anunnaki, and what modern science says about our true origins.Explore how mythology from Babylon and Mesopotamia shaped stories like Genesis and the Book of Enoch. From the formation of the solar system to rogue planets and Enki's genetic engineering, we connect dots across the Bible, science, and ancient texts.

Unlock the truth behind biblical stories from the holy bible and ancient creation myths found in the Bible, the Enuma Elish, and Mesopotamian mythology. This in-depth Bible study dives into the cosmic war between Marduk and Tiamat, the rise of the Anunnaki, and what modern science says about our true origins.Explore how mythology from Babylon and Mesopotamia shaped stories like Genesis and the Book of Enoch. From the formation of the solar system to rogue planets and Enki's genetic engineering, we connect dots across the Bible, science, and ancient texts.

Melvyn Bragg and guests explore dragons, literally and symbolically potent creatures that have appeared in many different guises in countries and cultures around the world. Sometimes compared to snakes, alligators, lions and even dinosaurs, dragons have appeared on clay tablets in ancient Mesopotamia, in the Chinese zodiac, in the guise of the devil in Christian religious texts and in the national symbolism of the countries of England and Wales. They are often portrayed as terrifying but sometimes appear as sacred and even benign creatures, and they continue to populate our cultural fantasies through blockbuster films, TV series and children's books. With:Kelsey Granger, Post Doctoral Researcher in Chinese History at the University of EdinburghDaniel Ogden, Professor of Ancient History at the University of ExeterAnd Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in the School of Welsh at the University of Wales. Producer: Eliane GlaserReading list:Paul Acker and Carolyne Larrington (eds.), Revisiting the Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Heroic Legend (Routledge, 2013), especially ‘Dragons in the Eddas and in Early Nordic Art' by Paul AckerScott G. Bruce (ed.), The Penguin Book of Dragons (Penguin, 2022)James H. Charlesworth, The Good and Evil Serpent: How a Universal Symbol became Christianized (Yale University Press, 2009)Juliana Dresvina, A Maid with a Dragon: The Cult of St Margaret of Antioch in Medieval England (Oxford University Press, 2016)Joyce Tally Lionarons, The Medieval Dragon: The Nature of the Beast in Germanic Literature (Hisarlik Press, 1998)Daniel Ogden, Dragons, Serpents, and Slayers in the Classical and Early Christian Worlds: A Sourcebook (Oxford University Press, 2013)Daniel Ogden, The Dragon in the West (Oxford University Press, 2021)Christine Rauer, Beowulf and the Dragon (D.S. Brewer, 2000)Phil Senter et al., ‘Snake to Monster: Conrad Gessner's Schlangenbuch and the Evolution of the Dragon in the Literature of Natural History' (Journal of Folklore Research, vol. 53, no. 1, 2016)Jacqueline Simpson, British Dragons: Myth, Legend and Folklore (first published 1980; Wordsworth Editions, 2001) Jeffrey Snyder-Reinke, Dry Spells: State Rainmaking and Local Governance in Late Imperial China (Harvard University Press, 2009)Roel Sterckx, The Animal and the Daemon in Early China (State University of New York Press, 2002)Roel Sterckx, Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Cook Ding (Pelican Books, 2019)J. R. R. Tolkien, The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays (first published 1983; HarperCollins, 2007)Christopher Walter, The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition (Routledge, 2003)Juliette Wood, Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore: From Medieval Times to the Present Day (Bloomsbury Academic, 2018) Yang Xin, Li Yihua, and Xu Naixiang, Art of the Dragon (Shambhala, 1988)In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio production Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.