Podcasts about Vitellius

Can you be scandalized by a 2000-year-old book? I think I was with Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars, a gripping, gossipy account of the first twelve Roman emperors, from Julius Caesar to Domitian. Written around 120 AD, Suetonius' work (part of The Honest Broker's “Humanities in 52 Weeks” list) blends history with salacious details, offering a vivid, if dark, portrait of power, excess, and moral decline. It's not exactly light beach reading but proved endlessly fascinating for its unapologetic dive into the personal lives of Rome's rulers.Suetonius, born around 70 AD to a Roman knight family, organizes the book into twelve biographies, which I've listed here for easy reference:Julius CaesarAugustusTiberiusCaligulaClaudiusNeroGalbaOthoVitelliusVespasianTitusDomitian. Notably, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, from the chaotic years of 68-69 AD, were barely recognized as emperors. Each biography sketches the ruler's family background, reign, military campaigns, and personal habits, with Suetonius excelling in the juicy details of their excesses. His vivid prose, like describing Caligula as transitioning from “emperor” to “monster,” reveals the depravity of unchecked power—think murders, incest, and shocking debauchery.The book's strength lies in its storytelling, but its darkness—wanton death, sexual depravity, and a lack of heroism—can be exhausting. The Roman people's hope for better rulers is repeatedly dashed, as seen when Caligula's assassination leads to Claudius, another cruel leader. The complex web of intermarriage and adoptions among the Julio-Claudians is dizzying, with family trees barely helping. Economically, Suetonius notes rising “value” in Roman real estate under Julius Caesar, missing that this was inflation driven by reckless state spending, a recurring issue that strained the empire and its people.Suetonius' perspective, shaped by living through Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian's reigns, adds depth, though his distance from earlier emperors allows for embellishment. This week's music was Mozart's symphonies 39-41, sweetness and light compared to Rome's darkness. This is a year-long challenge! Join me next week for the Koran and the poems of Rumi.LINKTed Gioia/The Honest Broker's 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link)I misspoke! Gates of Fire was written by Steven Pressfield, not Victor Davis Hansen. Sorry about that!CONNECTTo read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/ LISTENSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bdApple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321 Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

In this Podcast, Craig, Gaurav and their guest Victor discuss the Year or War of the four Emperors.   In a time of chaos, after the death of Emperor Nero, the Roman Empire found itself engulfed in a brutal power struggle known as the Year of the Four Emperors. It began with Galba, the governor of Hispania, leading a rebellion against Nero, catalyzed by discontent among the provinces. As Nero fled, declared an enemy of the state, he took his own life, paving the way for Galba's ascension. Galba, however, struggled to maintain power. His failure to pay the Praetorian Guard alienated key supporters, leading to his assassination. Otho, one of Galba's trusted allies, soon seized the throne, but his reign was short-lived as he faced opposition from Vitellius, who rallied the legions and successfully marched on Rome. The battle for control culminated in fierce confrontations, with legions loyally switching sides. Ultimately, Vitellius claimed victory and adorned the Imperial purple, yet his decadent reign could not sustain. He was overthrown by Vespasian, a seasoned general who had garnered support from the eastern provinces. Vespasian's rise marked the end of the chaos. He established stability, founding the Flavian dynasty that would last for decades. This tumultuous period not only reshaped leadership in Rome but also highlighted the fragility of power, etched forever into the annals of history as a superb reflection of ambition, betrayal, and courage in the heart of the Roman Empire.

Liam Crowley of ScreenRant is back on stage in Boston alongside Mike to break down the first set of Frank narration chapters! Topics include: The back of the book, cinnamon toast, s'mores duty, runaway blenders, blinking, don't touch signs, Frank's grandma, Avengers: Endgame, shaving, Captain Underpants, loot, Mark Ruffalo, Vitellius cooking, Greek vs. Roman, Percy's and Jason's confidence, Justin Bieber, curriculums, iTunes, Thanatos, reading, Red Sox & Yankees, and more! TNO Live: www.thenewestolympian.com/live   — Find The Newest Olympian Online —• Website: www.thenewestolympian.com• Patreon: www.thenewestolympian.com/patreon• Instagram: www.instagram.com/newestolympian• Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/newestolympian.bsky.social• Facebook: www.facebook.com/newestolympian• Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/thenewestolympian• Twitter: www.twitter.com/newestolympian• Merch: www.thenewestolympian.com/merch — Production —• Creator, Host, Producer, Social Media, Web Design: Mike Schubert• Editor: Sherry Guo• Music: Bettina Campomanes and Brandon Grugle• Art: Jessica E. Boyd — About The Show —Has the Percy Jackson series been slept on by society? Join Mike Schubert as he journeys through the Riordanverse for the first time with the help of longtime PJO fans to cover the plot, take stabs at what happens next, and nerd out over the Greek mythology throughout. Whether you're looking for an excuse to finally read these books, or want to re-read an old favorite with a digital book club, grab your blue chocolate chip cookies and listen along. New episodes release on Mondays wherever you get your podcasts!

waarin we in het Romeinse wereldrijk verder zoeken naar de invulling van het goddelijke keizerschap, en ons afvragen wat we met de bekende keizersbiografieën moeten aanvangen. WIJ ZIJN: Jonas Goossenaerts (inhoud en vertelstem), Filip Vekemans (montage), Benjamin Goyvaerts (inhoud) en Laurent Poschet (inhoud). Met BIJDRAGEN van: Aster Nzeyimana (presentator Rota Fortunae), Lucas Vanclooster (Augustus, res gestae), Laurens Luyten (Tacitus) Wil je ons een FOOI geven? http://fooienpod.com/geschiedenisvoorherbeginners Al schenkt u tien cent of tien euro, het duurt tien seconden met een handige QR-code. MEER WETEN? Onze geraadpleegde en geciteerde bronnen: Beard, M. (2016), SPQR. A History of Ancient Rome. Profile Books. Londen. Beard, M. (2023), Emperor of Rome. Profile Books. Londen. Goldsworthy, A. (2017), Pax Romana. Orion Publishing Group. Londen. Lendering, J. (2009), Spijkers op laag water. 50 misverstanden over de Oudheid. Singel Uitgeverijen. Amsterdam Beeld: Wikimedia Commons Overzicht van de keizers tijdens de pax romana: Julisch-Claudische dynastie 1) Augustus (27 v.Chr. - 14 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ouderdom en ziekte). 2) Tiberius (14-37 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (vermoedelijk vergiftigd). 3) Caligula (37-41 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van senatoren en leden van zijn garde). 4) Claudius (41-54 na Chr.): mogelijk vergiftigd (de details zijn onduidelijk). 5) Nero (54-68 na Chr.): zelfdoding. Vierkeizerjaar 6) Galba (68-69 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van de Praetoriaanse Garde). 7) Otho (69 na Chr.): zelfdoding. 8) Vitellius (69 na Chr.): vermoord (gevolg van de Burgeroorlog van het Vierkeizerjaar). Flavische dynastie 9) Vespasianus (69-79 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 10) Titus (79-81 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (koorts). 11) Domitianus (81-96 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van hovelingen). Antonijnse dynastie:  12) Nerva (96-98 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 13) Trajanus (98-117 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 14) Hadrianus (117-138 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (hartfalen). 15) Antoninus Pius (138-161 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 16) Marcus Aurelius (161-180 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (pest). 17) Commodus (180-192 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering). Vijfkeizerjaar 18) Pertinax (193 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van de Praetoriaanse Garde). 19) Didius Julianus (193 na Chr.): vermoord (gevolg van de Burgeroorlog van het Vijfkeizerjaar). Severische dynastie: 20) Septimius Severus (193-211 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 21) Caracalla (211-217 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van zijn officieren). 22) Macrinus (217-218 na Chr.): vermoord (gevolg van een mislukte campagne tegen het Parthische Rijk). 23) Elagabalus (218-222 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering). 24) Severus Alexander (222-235 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van opstandige troepen).

waarin we op zoek gaan naar het ware gelaat van de Romeinse keizers en ons afvragen wat de taakomschrijving van het goddelijke keizerschap precies inhield. WIJ ZIJN nog altijd: Jonas Goossenaerts (inhoud en vertelstem), Filip Vekemans (montage), Benjamin Goyvaerts (inhoud) en Laurent Poschet (inhoud). Met BIJDRAGEN van: Aster Nzeyimana (presentator Rota Fortunae), Lucas Vanclooster (Augustus, res gestae), Laurens Luyten (Tacitus) Wil je ons een FOOI geven? http://fooienpod.com/geschiedenisvoorherbeginners Al schenkt u tien cent of tien euro, het duurt tien seconden met een handige QR-code. MEER WETEN? Onze geraadpleegde en geciteerde bronnen: Beard, M. (2016), SPQR. A History of Ancient Rome. Profile Books. Londen. Beard, M. (2023), Emperor of Rome. Profile Books. Londen. Goldsworthy, A. (2017), Pax Romana. Orion Publishing Group. Londen. Lendering, J. (2009), Spijkers op laag water. 50 misverstanden over de Oudheid. Singel Uitgeverijen. Amsterdam Beeld: Wikimedia Commons Overzicht van de keizers tijdens de pax romana: Julisch-Claudische dynastie 1) Augustus (27 v.Chr. - 14 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ouderdom en ziekte). 2) Tiberius (14-37 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (vermoedelijk vergiftigd). 3) Caligula (37-41 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van senatoren en leden van zijn garde). 4) Claudius (41-54 na Chr.): mogelijk vergiftigd (de details zijn onduidelijk). 5) Nero (54-68 na Chr.): zelfdoding. Vierkeizerjaar 6) Galba (68-69 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van de Praetoriaanse Garde). 7) Otho (69 na Chr.): zelfdoding. 8) Vitellius (69 na Chr.): vermoord (gevolg van de Burgeroorlog van het Vierkeizerjaar). Flavische dynastie 9) Vespasianus (69-79 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 10) Titus (79-81 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (koorts). 11) Domitianus (81-96 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van hovelingen). Antonijnse dynastie:  12) Nerva (96-98 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 13) Trajanus (98-117 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 14) Hadrianus (117-138 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (hartfalen). 15) Antoninus Pius (138-161 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 16) Marcus Aurelius (161-180 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (pest). 17) Commodus (180-192 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering). Vijfkeizerjaar 18) Pertinax (193 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van de Praetoriaanse Garde). 19) Didius Julianus (193 na Chr.): vermoord (gevolg van de Burgeroorlog van het Vijfkeizerjaar). Severische dynastie: 20) Septimius Severus (193-211 na Chr.): natuurlijke dood (ziekte). 21) Caracalla (211-217 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van zijn officieren). 22) Macrinus (217-218 na Chr.): vermoord (gevolg van een mislukte campagne tegen het Parthische Rijk). 23) Elagabalus (218-222 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering). 24) Severus Alexander (222-235 na Chr.): vermoord (samenzwering van opstandige troepen).

We all like to eat, but some of us REALLY like to eat. And some of us like to eat so much that we cause the downfall of an entire imperial dynasty. If that's you, you're in good company: with Roman Emperor Vitellius! Find out more on this episode of Delicious History! 

The Gospel of John 15-21                                               Part Four – Speaking Truth to Power By Louie Marsh, 5-7-2023   Intro – last week bad sermon – sorry no refunds! Last slide Sowell quote.   1) Jesus PROTECTED the disciples and suffered the consequences himself.   ·       He REINFORCES his identity.   4Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.   ·       He FREES the disciples from any consequences.    7So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”   ·       He protects them from THEMSELVES.   10Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” 12So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him.   2) Jesus spoke PUBLICLY, he had no secret agenda.   19The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”   3) Jesus clearly DEFINED who & what he is.   33So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”   ·       Jesus Kingdom CHANGES our focus & values.   4) Jesus came to speak and defend the TRUTH.   PILATE   Pontius Pilate is believed to have hailed from the Samnium region of central Italy. According to the traditional account of his life, Pilate was a Roman equestrian (knight) of the Samnite clan of the Pontii (hence his name Pontius.)   Pontius Pilate served as the prefect of Judaea from 26 to 36 A.D. Pilate died in 39 A.D. The cause of his death remains a mystery but the fact that he lived cannot be disputed. During a 1961 dig in Caesarea Maritima, Italian archeologist Dr. Antonio Frova uncovered a piece of limestone inscribed with Pontius Pilate's name in Latin, linking Pilate to Emperor Tiberius's reign.   In 26 A.D. the Roman Emperor Tiberius appointed Pontius Pilate prefect of the Roman provinces of Judaea, Samaria and Idumæa, although Pilate is best known for his leadership of Judaea. While the typical term for a Roman prefect was one to three years, Pilate was to hold his post as the fifth Roman procurator for 10 years. In assuming his position, Pontius Pilate succeeded Valerius Gratus.   Protected by Sejanus, Pilate incurred the enmity of Jews in Roman-occupied Palestine by insulting their religious sensibilities, as when he hung worship images of the emperor throughout Jerusalem and had coins bearing pagan religious symbols minted. This caused riots and eventually most of the shields bearing the Emperors likeness were taken down. But not all of them.   As a Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate was granted the power of a supreme judge, which meant that he had the sole authority to order a criminal's execution. His duties as a prefect included such mundane tasks as tax collection and managing construction projects. But, perhaps his most crucial responsibility was that of maintaining law and order. Pontius Pilate attempted to do so by any means necessary. What he couldn't negotiate he is said to have accomplished through brute force.   The circumstances surrounding Pontius Pilate's death in circa 39 A.D. are something of a mystery and a source of contention. The Samaritans reported Pilate to Vitellius, legate of Syria, after he attacked them on Mount Gerizim in 36 AD. He was then ordered back to Rome to stand trial for cruelty and oppression, particularly on the charge that he had executed men without proper trial. According to Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, Pilate killed himself on orders from the emperor Caligula. Other accounts say he was sent into exile and committed suicide of his own accord.   Some traditions assert that after he committed suicide, his body was thrown into the Tiber River. Still others believe Pontius Pilate's fate involved his conversion to Christianity and subsequent canonization. Pontius Pilate is in fact considered a saint by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.   According to the Biblical Archeology Society, “early Christians saw Pilate in a very different way. Augustine hailed Pilate as a convert. Eventually the Greek Orthodox and Coptic faiths, named Pilate and his wife saints. And when Pilate first shows up in Christian art in the mid-fourth century, he is juxtaposed with Abraham, Daniel and other great believers.”   The ancient historian Eusebius supports this claim by saying Pilate converted after seeing the many wonders that occurred after Jesus' death, even reporting it to Tiberius. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church their feast day is June 25.   37Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. 39But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.” (John 18:1–40, ESV)   ·       How badly do I want the truth?    

This is part 2 of the Early Church History class. Before the great revolution of 66 in which the Jewish nation declared independence from the Roman empire, no fewer than five micro-revolution occurred between 4 BC and 58 AD. In the years that led up to the first Jewish-Roman war (66-73), incompetent Roman governors repeatedly and egregiously antagonized the Jewish populous until there was no turning back. After the war that destroyed the temple that Herod had renovated, Christians and Jews began parting ways. This episode will briefly cover the three Jewish-Roman wars and how Christians and Jews gradually began to separate. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ9ExalbABs&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=2 —— Links —— More Restitutio resources on history More classes here Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here —— Notes —— Flavius Josephus (AD 37-100) primary source for first-century Jewish history Antiquities of the Jews The Jewish War Revolutionary Movements Athronges (4 BC) Judah the Galilean (AD 6) The Samaritan Prophet (AD 36) Theudas (AD 45) The Egyptian Prophet (AD 58). Four Types of Judaism Pharisees Sadducees Essenes Fourth Philosophy Sicarii The First Jewish-Roman War (66-73) Began in 12th year of Nero's rule anti-taxation protests Roman governor, Gessius Florus, plundered the temple rebellion took Antonia fortress, forcing King Agrippa II and his government to retreat from the city Nero sent Vespasian with four legions In 69 Vespasian went to Rome to become emperor, leaving his son, Titus, to conquer Jerusalem Titus breached the city in 70 He plundered and burned the temple, leaving for Rome in 71 at the head of a Roman triumph The last holdouts fell at Masada in 73 Christians Fled from Jerusalem Jesus warned his followers to flee “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies” (Luke 21.2-24) Eusebius (AD 324) and Epiphanius (AD 375) both mention the desertion of Christians from Jerusalem Exclusion of Christians from Synagogue Berkat haMinim = blessing the heretics actually a curse upon Christians whom the Jews called “Nazarenes” late first century or early second century In AD 160, Justin Martyr mentions the curse in the synagogues Rabbinic Judaism organized at Yavneh (Jamnia) at the end of the first century Mishna (AD 200) Talmud (AD 500) Three Total Jewish-Roman Wars 66-73 First Jewish-Roman War 115-117 Kitos War 132-135 Bar Kokhba Revolt These wars made Christians less likely to befriend or interact with Jews throughout the Roman Empire in the late-first and early-second centuries. Jews had the reputation of being rebels. Jewish synagogues made it hard for Christians, even those of Jewish ethnicity, to attend since they regularly pronounced a curse on the Nazarenes. Still, Jews and Christians continued to interact and affect each other for the first several centuries of Christianity. Even so, Christianity from the second century onwards gradually adopted Greco-Roman categories of thought, leaving behind our Jewish roots.

Matrix? More like Ma tricks and Papa too. Romade Religion, what can you say? Feel controlled? There is a reason for that seizin', listen hear, unherd."Hear" are the links I mentioned: You can find them posted at the following sites: The Piso Project http://pisoproject.wordpress.com The Roman Piso Papers (Scroll down for papers) http://independent.academia.edu/RomanPiso/Papers As I said above, Druidic priests were not A Few Words About The Royal Language (a language within language) http://www.academia.edu/30347785/A_Few_Words_About_The_Royal_Language References: See my paper, 'Napoleon Bonaparte & The Holy Roman Empire' http://www.academia.edu/10994708/Napoleon_Bonaparte_and_The_Holy_Roman_Empire Below are a couple of lists. Understanding The Oligarchy http://www.academia.edu/32492893/Understanding_The_Oligarchy.pdf Understanding The Oligarchy (at Wordpress) http://pisoproject.wordpress.com/understanding-the-oligarchy/ Oligarchy And Ancient Genealogies http://www.academia.edu/28345792/Oligarchy_And_Ancient_Genealogies Napoleon Bonaparte & The Holy Roman Empire http://www.academia.edu/10994708/Napoleon_Bonaparte_and_The_Holy_Roman_Empire The Biblical Dynasty - The Oligarchy Uses Religion Against Us http://www.academia.edu/s/0aa7c0388c/the-biblical-dynasty There was a sect of 'Jews' in the 1st century who were like Secular Humanists. They were fighting for basic human rights and an end to slavery, they were the Pharisees. They were fighting the Romans who were creating Christianity. What Happened At Masada? http://www.academia.edu/33706215/What_Happened_At_Masada_.pdf Seneca, Christianity, And The Caesars http://www.academia.edu/33161068/Seneca_Christianity_And_The_Caesars Christianity Was Exposed By Abelard Reuchlin (AcademiaEdu) http://www.academia.edu/33614693/Christianity_Was_Exposed_By_Abelard_Reuchlin The New Classical Scholarship: The New Forensic Study Of History http://www.academia.edu/31990534/The_NCS_The_New_Forensic_Study_Of_History The True Context Of Ancient History & The Gordian Emperors http://www.academia.edu/s/cc567b0350/the-true-context-of-ancient-history-and-the-gordian-emperors Ancient Alias Names List (2017) http://www.academia.edu/s/a339f0df02/ancient-alias-names-list-2017 Have you wondered about and maybe tried to do research of your own about the Gnostic gospels and other material that did NOT make it into the New Testament canon? Here is my research on it... The Apocryphal New Testament Authorship https://www.academia.edu/s/cbbb322c87/the-apocryphal-new-testament-authorship Was Pliny The Younger, the Roman author and friend of Emperor Trajan, and who was famous for asking Trajan what to do about Christians, also writing as St. Ignatius? Is this more evidence of the Oligarchy (1%) existing even in ancient times? Pliny The Younger As Saint Ignatius http://www.academia.edu/s/99511f2e10/pliny-the-younger-as-saint-ignatiuspdf Some of the easiest evidence regarding the Roman creation of Christianity for those who are just beginning to study the way that we do in the New Classical Scholarship is in examining the works of Pliny The Younger. Emperor Trajan & Pliny The Younger: Mutual Ancestry http://www.academia.edu/s/f6541cd384/emperor-trajan-and-pliny-the-younger-mutual-ancestry Two of my forthcoming papers are very important as evidence of the Roman creation of Christianity. One of these papers is on the subject of the fabrication of Christian persecutions by Roman emperors. This can be shown by giving the descent of all Roman emperors from Antoninus Pius onward, from Arrius Piso (or his immediate family), the main creator of Christianity. And the other paper will show the direct descent of no less than 60 popes from Arrius Calpurnius Piso. At this time, I have already posted the information giving the direct descent of at least 35 popes from Arrius Piso. Scholar Names, Works & Dates: [Authors of Biblical Criticism] Bishop John William Colenso, born Jan. 24, 1814 (1814-1883), 'The Pentateuch Examined'. Sir George Birdwood. Major General Forlong, 'Rivers of Life'. James Ballantyne Hannay, 'Sex Symbolism In Religion'. James Ballantyne Hannay, 'Christianity, the Sources of its Teachings and Symbolism', 1913. James Ballantyne Hannay, 'Bible Folk Lore', a series of six volumes of about 200 pages each. Produced during WWI (1915-1917). James Ballantyne Hannay, 'The Rise, Decline & Fall of the Roman Religion', published postumously, 1925. Sir Richard Burton. Robertson, 'Christianity and Mythology', London, 1900. Matthes. Paulus (1828). Colani (1864). M. Loisy. Bertram, 1922. Van Loon. Laurentius Valla. Sir Harry Johnston. Dr. Cheyne. Lord Kichener. Dr. Barnes (the bishop of Birmingham, Oct. 13th, 1924). Ruskin. Sir Authur Evans. Payne Knight, 'Worship of Priapus'. Naville, 'Discovery of the Book of Law'. German Scholar, Theodor Noldeke (1836-1930). J.C. Oman, 'Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India'. Lecky, 'History of European Morals'. Davidson's Lexicon (issued by Bagster). German Scholar, Christian Gottlieb Wilke (C.G. Wilke), 'Der Urevangelist', 1838. Wilke stated that Mark was the original (earliest) gospel. Bruno Bauer agreed. Allard Pierson (his first published work was about The Sermon On The Mount, and other Synoptic passages, c. 1878). Dirk Loman (c. late 1800s). William Van Manen (c. 1900). Dutch Scholars, Neber and Bolland. Karl Kautsky (1854-1938) 'The Origins of Christianity', 1908. He applied Bruno Bauer's thesis. Dietz, 'Der Ursprung des Christentums', published in Stuttgart, 1908. Some Of The Earliest Scholars Writing About A Roman Creation Of Christian Texts: Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694-1768). Lessing, an essay published between 1774-1778. Bahrdt (1784-1792). Herder (1797). Dupuis (1743-1809). Volney (1757-1820). == This Title, 'Romans Created Christianity' In Other Languages: [Afrikaans: 'Romeine geskep Christendom'] [Albanian: 'Romakët krijuan krishterimin'] ['خلق الرومان المسيحية' :Arabian[ [Armenian: ' Հռոմեացիները քրիստոնյա են ստեղծել'] [Bosnian: 'Rimljani su stvorili hrišćanstvo'] [Bulgarian: 'Римляните създали християнството'] [Chinese: '羅馬人創造了基督教'] [Croatian: 'Rimljani stvorili kršćanstvo'] [Czech: 'Římané vytvořili křesťanství'] [Danish: 'Romerne skabte kristendommen'] [Dutch: 'Romeinen gemaakt christendom'] [Esperanto: 'Romanoj kreis kristanismon'] [Estonian: 'Roomlased loodud kristlus'] [Filipino: 'Nilikha ng mga Romano ang Kristiyanismo'] [Finnish: 'Roomalaiset luonut kristinuskon'] [French: 'Les Romains ont créé le christianisme'] [Frisian: 'Romeinen skepen it kristendom'] [Galacian: 'Os romanos crearon o cristianismo'] [Georgian: ' '] რომაელები ქრისტიანობას ქმნიდნენ [German: 'Romans schuf Christentum'] [Greek: 'Ρωμαίοι δημιούργησαν τον Χριστιανισμό'] ['הרומאים יצרו הנצרות' :Hebrew[ [Hmong Daw: 'Loos tsim Christianity'] [Hungarian: 'Rómaiak létrehozott kereszténység'] [Indonesian: 'Roma dibuat Kekristenan'] [Irish: 'Chruthaigh Rómhánaigh Críostaíocht'] [Italian: 'Romans ha generato Christianity'] [Japanese: 'ローマ人キリスト教を作成'] [Korean: ' 로마인 들은 기독교 만든'] [Latin: 'Romani creavit Christianitatis'] [Latvian: 'Romieši izveidoja kristietība'] [Lithuanian: 'Romėnai sukūrė krikščionybė'] [Luxembourgish: 'Réimer hunn de Christentum geschaf'] [Macedonian: 'Римјаните го создале христијанството'] [Malay: 'Orang-orang Rom mencipta agama Kristian'] [Maltese: 'Romans maħluqa nisranija'] [Mongolian: 'Ромчууд Христийн шашныг бүтээсэн'] [Norwegian: 'Romerne skapte kristendommen'] [Polish: 'Rzymianie utworzone chrześcijaństwa'] [Portuguese: 'Romanos criaram o cristianismo'] [Romanian: 'Romanii au creat crestinismul'] [Russian: 'Римляне создали христианство'] [Samoan: 'Na foafoaina e Roma Kerisiano'] [Scots-Gaelic: 'Rinn Ròmanaich Crìosdaidheachd'] [Serbian: 'Римљани су креирали хришћанство'] ['روميون مسيحييت پيدا ڪيو' :Sindhi[ [Slovak: 'Rimania vytvorili kresťanstvo'] [Slovenian: 'Rimljani ustvaril krščanstvo'] [Somali: 'Roomaanku wuxuu abuuray Masiixiyadda'] [Spanish: 'Romanos crearon el cristianismo'] [Sundanese: 'Rum dijieun Kristen'] [Swahili: 'Warumi iliunda Ukristo'] [Swedish: 'Romarna skapade kristendomen'] [Turkish: 'Romalılar Hıristiyanlık oluşturdu'] [Ukrainian: 'Римляни створений християнство'] [Uzbek: 'Rimliklarga nasroniylikni yaratdi'] [Vietnamese: 'Người La Mã tạo cơ đốc giáo'] [Welch: 'Rhufeiniaid creu Cristnogaeth'] ['רוימער באשאפן קריסטנטום' :Yiddish[ [Zulu: 'AmaRoma adala ubuKristu'] == Do a search to find out where you can find Reuchlin's work (he authored other titles also). Piso Christ: What Is The Book About? http://pisoproject.wordpress.com/piso-christ-what-is-the-book-about/ Piso Christ: The Roman Piso Family Created Christianity. https://www.amazon.com/Piso-Christ-Book-Classical-Scholarship/dp/142692996X Related Subject Matter: ================= (Key Words & Terms) History, Ancient History, Rome, Ancient Rome, Roman Empire, Roman Emperors, Popes, Papal History, Christianity, History of Christianity, Origin of Christianity, Emperor, Emperors, Roman Catholic History, Holy Roman Empire, Arrius Calpurnius Piso, Roman Piso Family, Ancient Alias Names, Ancient Pen Names, Gordian Emperors, Emperor Antoninus Pius, Arius Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, Oligarchy, Royal Supremacy, Royal Language, Aliases, Genealogy, Ancient Genealogy, Ancient Genealogies, Historia, Historia Augusta, Flavius Josephus, Pliny The Younger, Suetonius, Tacitus, Plutarch, Hero of Alexandria, Apollonius of Tyana, Philostratus 'The Athenian', Philostratus 'The Younger', Herodian, Emperor Constantine, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Lucius Verus, Commodus, Pertinax, Pescennius Niger, Didius Julianus, Clodius Albinus, Septimius Severus, Severus Alexander, Maximinus, Maximus, Probus, Clodius II, Constantius, Constantius Chlorus, Eusebius, Pope Eusebius, Church Father, Early Christianity, Roman Creation of Christianity, Nero, 666, Julius Calpurnius Piso, Julius Piso I, First 10 Popes, Justin Martyr, St. John 'The Divine', The Revelation, gospels, The Gospel of Thomas, Gnostic, Gnostic Gospels, Apocryphal, texts, holy, sacred, free, info, sample, paper, papers, research, research paper, Heron, Herod, Agrippa, Philo, Logos, Talmud, Pharisee, pharisees, sect, Cornelius, Theodosius I, Arcadius, Honorius, Byzantine, Byzantium, Constantinople, ancient literature, forensic history, censorship, Medieval, medieval censorship, Inquisition, Crusade, crusades, Church, Church History, comparative, religion, religious, organized religion, Abelard Reuchlin, Professor, Bruno Bauer, James Ballantyne Hannay, Marcus, Antonius, Cleopatra, Julius, Caesar, Caesars, Antonius Primus, Cestius Gallus, Nero, Vitellius, Otho, Licinianus, Frugi, Piso, Julius Servianus, Julius Severus, Julius Constantius I, Galba, New, New Testament, Bible, gospels, epistles, Panegyricus, Timothy, Justinian The Jurist, Proculus Calpurnius Piso, Silanus Piso, Herodes Atticus, ben Pantera, Scribes, genealogy, genealogies, royal, royal line, royal blood, historiography, philosophy, history of, historical Jesus, Dark Ages, Secular Humanism, Atheism, Atheist, Atheists, Historical Anthropology, Anthropology, Anthropology of Religion, Imperial, Imperial Rome, Roma, Classics, Classical Antiquity, Religion as psychological warfare, Werner Eck. 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Scripture Reading: John 18:1-27 [originally the post read “John 18:1-40,” but we could not cover all the material] When he had said these things, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley. There was an orchard there, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times with his disciples.) 3 So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. They came to the orchard with lanterns and torches and weapons.4 Then Jesus, because he knew everything that was going to happen to him, came and asked them, “Who are you looking for?” 5 They replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He told them, “I am he.” (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was standing there with them.) 6 So when Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they retreated and fell to the ground. 7 Then Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, let these men go.” 9 He said this to fulfill the word he had spoken, “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.”10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. (Now the slave's name was Malchus.) 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath! Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”12 Then the squad of soldiers with their commanding officer and the officers of the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus and tied him up. 13 They brought him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 (Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish leaders that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.)15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed them as they brought Jesus to Annas. (Now the other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, and he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard.) 16 But Peter was left standing outside by the door. So the other disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and spoke to the slave girl who watched the door, and brought Peter inside. 17 The girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You're not one of this man's disciples too, are you?” He replied, “I am not.” 18 (Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire they had made, warming themselves because it was cold. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.)19 While this was happening, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20 Jesus replied, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple courts, where all the Jewish people assemble together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said. They know what I said.” 22 When Jesus had said this, one of the high priest's officers who stood nearby struck him on the face and said, “Is that the way you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus replied, “If I have said something wrong, confirm what is wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him, still tied up, to Caiaphas the high priest.25 Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing in the courtyard warming himself. They said to him, “You aren't one of his disciples too, are you?” Peter denied it: “I am not!” 26 One of the high priest's slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the orchard with him?” 27 Then Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.28 Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor's residence. (Now it was very early morning.) They did not go into the governor's residence so they would not be ceremonially defiled, but could eat the Passover meal. 29 So Pilate came outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They replied, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”31 Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him according to your own law!” The Jewish leaders replied, “We cannot legally put anyone to death.” 32 (This happened to fulfill the word Jesus had spoken when he indicated what kind of death he was going to die.)33 So Pilate went back into the governor's residence, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 Jesus replied, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or have others told you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”36 Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37 Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate asked, “What is truth?”When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders and announced, “I find no basis for an accusation against him. 39 But it is your custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” 40 Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.)Main ThemesThe Passion NarrativeChapter18 puts us squarely within the “passion narrative.” As one website summarizes:The term “passion narrative” is used primarily to refer to the accounts given in the canonical gospels of the suffering and death of Jesus. Generally, scholars treat the passion narratives as beginning with Jesus' agony and arrest in Gethsemane and concluding with his burial. The sections to which these narratives are typically assigned consist therefore of Matthew 26:30–27:66, Mark 14:26–15:47, Luke 22:39–23:56, and John 18:1–19:42.The passion narratives (plural, to refer to the different passion narratives in each gospel) are quite unique in their literary genre. The Gospels resemble the genre of ancient biographies. Ancient biographies ending with the subjects' deaths were not unusual, but they rarely ended with the subjects' martyrdom. If considered on their own (not within the larger context of each gospel), the passion narratives resemble martyr stories but even this comparison is not perfect. The shared elements with ancient martyrdom narratives include a righteous person's unjust death, betrayal, refusal to compromise, and sentencing. However, the passion narratives do not include other distinctive elements of martyr narratives, such as sensationalistic details, interpretive speeches, and vengeful threats. The passion narratives are also different from the typical Greek apotheosis stories. Jesus is not promoted into divinity (e.g., like when Hercules turns “shiny” in the animated Disney movie); Jesus returns to his preexistent glory with the Father. All this has led at least one scholar (Theissen) to claim that, “There is no analogy to the Passion narrative in all of ancient literature.” To whatever extent this is an overstatement, it is not far off the mark.The High Priest and the SanhedrinThe High PriestThe High Priesthood was a religious office instituted in the Old Testament by God (see, e.g., Exodus 28). By Jesus' day, the office was quite different. According to the Old Testament, the office was held for life and was hereditary. In the first century, the office was appointed and held at the pleasure of the emperor and his political delegates. Thus, Quirinius appointed Annas, Gratus appointed Caiaphas, and Vitellius retired Caiaphas. In the Old Testament, only one person was referred to as the High Priest. In the first century, the High Priest and his sons were commonly referred to as high priests. Finally, the High Priest was meant to hold an incredibly important religious role, which was a linchpin of the Israelite's religion. As such, we might expect the high priests in Jesus' day to be Pharisees, given their religious fanaticism. Surprisingly, however, the office was dominated by Sadducees.The SadduceesWho were the Sadducees? As one Christian website explains:The Sadducees were an aristocratic class connected with everything going on in the temple in Jerusalem. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priest, and they held the majority of the 70 seats of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin.The Sadducees worked hard to keep the peace by agreeing with the decisions of Rome (Israel at the time was under Roman control), and they seemed to be more concerned with politics than religion. Because they were accommodating to Rome and were the wealthy upper class, they did not relate well to the common man, nor did the common man hold them in high opinion. The commoners related better to those who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. Though the Sadducees held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin, history indicates that much of the time they had to go along with the ideas of the Pharisaic minority, because the Pharisees were more popular with the masses.Not all priests were Sadducees, but many of them were. The Sadducees preserved the authority of the written Word of God, especially the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy). While they could be commended for this, they definitely were not perfect in their doctrinal views. The following is a brief list of Sadducean beliefs that contradict Scripture:1. The Sadducees were extremely self-sufficient to the point of denying God's involvement in everyday life.2. They denied any resurrection of the dead (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18–27; Acts 23:8). Due to this belief, the Sadducees strongly resisted the apostles' preaching that Jesus had risen from the dead.3. They denied the afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death and therefore denying any penalty or reward after the earthly life.4. They denied the existence of a spiritual world, i.e., angels and demons (Acts 23:8).Notice what an odd bunch the Sadducees were. They used the biblical tradition as a set of societal rules but denied the underlying spiritual realities. Without an after life, the resurrection of the dead, or even a spiritual world, the Old Testament is rendered nearly meaningless. Judgment, atonement, and the eschaton become, at most, symbolic. God, if real at all, ought to be followed to avoid his wrath, have a pleasant life, and a prosperous nation. When I think about it, the Sadducees don't sound that odd. In fact, they sound oddly familiar.Sadducees were rarely concerned with purity rules, particularly the extrabiblical ones followed by the Pharisees. They were much more concerned with politics. And these were the people that dominated the priesthood, the high priesthood, and Jerusalem's ruling council—the Sanhedrin.The SanhedrinThe Sanhedrin was a municipal aristocracy. Large cities in the ancient world often had their own senates or ruling councils. They would be comprised of the wealthy elite. In the case of the Sanhedrin, although a municipal group, its power influenced national affairs. Because the group was dominated by Sadducees, it was more of a political council with a religious veneer than a religious council with political power. Tradition indicates the group had 71 members, although this may have been more of an average rather than an exact number. Some or most of the members may have been appointed by the local rulers, such as Herod. Also according to tradition, the group met in the Chamber of Hewn Stone on the Temple Mount.The Romans were glad to interact with and delegate to local councils. The Roman justice system worked with a system of delatores instead of prosecutors. A local individual or group would accuse and then testify against an alleged criminal. Local councils could also issue sentences and administer punishments themselves, without involving the Romans. The Romans, however, reserved the power of capital punishment. Part of the reason for this limitation on local councils was to prevent them from executing fellow provincials for being pro-Roman.Betrayal and ArrestAfter Jesus concludes his speech (recall chapters 13 through 17), he goes out with his disciples to the Kidron Valley. This valley is east of Jerusalem and separates the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives. A creek is found at the bottom of the valley, but it is dry much of the year. The valley runs all the way to the Dead Sea. The Old Testament refers to part of this valley as the "Valley of Josaphat." The location is relevant to some eschatological prophecies.Jesus reaches an orchard or garden, depending on the translation. At the time, gardens were often enclosed by walls, but that may not be in view here. The word orchard may be a better translation considering that the Gospel of Mark calls the place Gethsemane, which means “olive press.” So, Jesus probably reaches an olive orchard with an olive press as part of the agricultural unit.Judas knew this place because Jesus often met there with his disciples. Judas guides a “squad of soldiers” and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. The term translated as “squad of soldiers” is literally “cohort.” As translators' note 6 in the NET explains:Grk “a cohort.” The word σπεῖραν (speiran) is a technical term for a Roman cohort, normally a force of 600 men (one-tenth of a legion). It was under the command of a χιλίαρχος (chiliarchos, v. 12). Because of the improbability of an entire cohort being sent to arrest a single man, some have suggested that σπεῖραν here refers only to a maniple, a force of 200. But the use of the word here does not necessarily mean the entire cohort was present on this mission, but only that it was the cohort which performed the task (for example, saying the fire department put out the fire does not mean that every fireman belonging to the department was on the scene at the time). These Roman soldiers must have been ordered to accompany the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees by Pilate, since they would have been under the direct command of the Roman prefect or procurator. It is not difficult to understand why Pilate would have been willing to assist the Jewish authorities in such a way. With a huge crowd of pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Passover, the Romans would have been especially nervous about an uprising of some sort. No doubt the chief priests and Pharisees had informed Pilate that this man Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, or in the terms Pilate would understand, king of Israel.However, the matter is not quite as straightforward as the translators' note may lead us to believe. Although the term cohort is certainly a Roman one, such military terms had long been transferred to Jewish soldiers. It is more historically probable that the arrest did not involve Roman authorities, which have not been alerted yet in the story. Neither the Synoptics nor John's Gospel seem to involve the Romans at this point in the story.Notice that the soldiers come with lanterns and torches. Although this could simply imply it was dark, it may also suggest that the authorities expected Jesus to run and a chase to ensue. That did not occur. Jesus turns himself in since “he knew everything that was going to happen to him.”In the Synoptics, Judas identifies Jesus with a kiss. In the Gospel of John, the author omits that detail and jumps straight to the dialogue.I Am HeThe dialogue between Jesus and the arresting authorities has a seemingly strange moment. Jesus asks, “Who are you looking for?” They reply, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus responds, “I am he.” Upon saying this, “they retreated and fell to the ground.” Why? As translators' note 16 to the NET explains (quoted only in part):When Jesus said to those who came to arrest him “I am,” they retreated and fell to the ground. L. Morris says that “it is possible that those in front recoiled from Jesus' unexpected advance, so that they bumped those behind them, causing them to stumble and fall” (John [NICNT], 743-44). Perhaps this is what in fact happened on the scene, but the theological significance given to this event by the author implies that more is involved. The reaction on the part of those who came to arrest Jesus comes in response to his affirmation that he is indeed the one they are seeking, Jesus the Nazarene. But Jesus makes this affirmation of his identity using a formula which the reader has encountered before in the Fourth Gospel, e.g., 8:24, 28, 58. Jesus has applied to himself the divine Name of Exod 3:14, “I AM.”Jesus identifies himself with a formula that sounds like he is calling himself God. Everyone present certainly takes it as such and reacts to the deadly blasphemy. They drop to the ground almost as if to avoid the lightning that was sure to strike from the sky—so grievous was the offense.Peter's ResistanceThe Synoptics do not tell us who reacts violently during Jesus' arrest. The Gospel of John does: Peter. It even tells us the name of the victim, Malchus. Perhaps the earlier gospels omitted this information to protect Peter from arrest and prosecution. John, writing years later, can provide people's identities without problem.Peter's brave attack creates a striking backdrop against his impending abandonment of Jesus. As Craig Keener points out, “Loyalty with a weapon in one's hand and hope of messianic help is not the same as loyalty when self-defense is impossible . . . .”Why Peter harmed only Malchus' ear is unclear. The chances that Peter was confident and dexterous enough with a blade to do so on purpose are slim to none. Peter may have meant a much more serious wound to the face or neck, and Malchus may have partially moved out of the way.Jesus rebukes Peter and insist Jesus must “drink the cup” that the Father has given him. What is this “the cup?” The cup is a symbol of judgment often employed in the Old Testament. For example:May he rain down burning coals and brimstone on the wicked! A whirlwind is what they deserve. (In Hebrew, the literal text says, “[may] a wind of rage [be] the portion of their cup.”) Psalm 11:6You have made your people experience hard times; you have made us drink intoxicating wine. Psalm 60:3You will be shocked and amazed! You are totally blind! They are drunk, but not because of wine; they stagger, but not because of beer. For the Lord has poured out on you a strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (you prophets), and covered your heads (you seers). Isaiah 29:9-10Wake up! Wake up! Get up, O Jerusalem! You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you, which was full of his anger. You drained dry the goblet full of intoxicating wine. Isaiah 51:17Annas and CaiaphasAnnas and the Corrupt TrialUpon arrest, Jesus is first taken to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas “who was high priest that year.” Please recall the discussion of the high priesthood above. According to Jewish law, the high priest was to serve for life. Now that the Romans had conquered the Jews, the high priest could be changed at the whim of the Roman authorities. That was the case with Annas. He had been appointed high priest by the Romans and was later deposed by them. However, there are strong indications that Annas held on to the powerful office albeit unofficially. After Annas left office, all five of his sons followed in office. In all likelihood, Annas remained the powerful figure pulling the strings of his children. Also, Annas was probably still viewed by the people of Israel as the true high priest. John outright refers to him as the high priest while also acknowledging that technically Caiaphas was the high priest that year. All this explains why Jesus was first brought to him although officially Annas held no office.Beginning with Annas, the Jewish trial of Jesus shows evidence of corruption. For example, Pharisaic tradition prohibited a single individual from acting as judge. Perhaps Annas, who was a Sadducee and not a Pharisee, could be excused from such a requirement. There were other irregularities, however. To the extent that later rabbinic sources give us insight into Jewish first century practices, judges were meant to conduct capital trials during daylight (this may explain the brief meeting with Caiaphas early in the morning), trials should not occur on the eve of or during a Sabbath or festival (although emergency situations could justify doing so), Pharisaic tradition required a day to pass before issuing a verdict of condemnation (Sadducees may not have felt bound to this tradition), and the Sanhedrin was supposed to meet in the Chamber of Hewn Stone. Most importantly, Jewish law forbade false witnesses. The penalty for a false witness in a capital case was death. Although not found in John, the other gospels mention such false witnesses (e.g., Matthew 26:59).The original audience of John's Gospel would have picked up on the irregularities. Yet, they also would have never expected otherwise. The law in the first century unabashedly favored the wealthy and powerful. There was no expectation of fairness.Annas Questions JesusAnnas questions Jesus regarding his disciples and his teachings. Although the text does not say, we can make an educated guess that Annas probably focused on statements like Jesus' threat against the temple (“Jesus replied, ‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.' Then the Jewish leaders said to him, ‘This temple has been under construction for 46 years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?'” John 2:19-20); Jesus' blasphemous claims (“‘The Father and I are one.' The Jewish leaders picked up rocks again to stone him to death. Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many good deeds from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?' The Jewish leaders replied, ‘We are not going to stone you for a good deed but for blasphemy because you, a man, are claiming to be God.'” John 10:30-33); and the violent or sacrilegious behavior of Jesus' disciples (“Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest's slave, cutting off his right ear.” John 18:10).Jesus does not directly address the accusations. There might be a legal strategy at work. There is some indication (although from later sources), that a Jewish tribunal could not condemn a prisoner based solely on his own testimony in a capital case. Another possibility is that since Jesus had been confronted by the authorities in public and been vindicated in public (e.g., “The officers replied, ‘No one ever spoke like this man!'” John 7:46), this trial was inappropriate, in a similar way that we prohibit double jeopardy. Regardless of whether the author intends us to pick up on such legal tactics, Jesus certainly does not display the submissive behavior expected of him. Most prisoners brought before an aristocratic tribunal would have known to act self-effacingly and highly adulatory of the authorities.Jesus' response to Annas' questioning makes perfect sense. (“I have spoken publicly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple courts, where all the Jewish people assemble together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said. They know what I said.” John 18:20-21) Whatever the accusations may be of him, why is an investigation required (i.e., a trial with testimony and evidence)? Jesus taught publicly. There is nothing to discover. Surely if Jesus said anything worthy of death in public, there would have been public opposition. Both Jews and Romans were highly suspicious of secret religious groups—a prejudice on which Annas' questioning is predicated. Jesus makes clear he is not part of a secret sect. Moreover, Jesus' response has an implied accusation. He taught in public. The religious elite, however, arrested him in secret.Annas strikes Jesus because of his disrespect. In Annas' mind, Jesus ought to beg not challenge. Striking the prisoner during questioning would have violated Jewish law, but as I discussed above, no ancient listener would be surprised by a member of the elite taking certain liberties. Jesus' response to the strike is another challenge. (“If I have said something wrong, confirm what is wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why strike me? John 18:23) If Annas has struck Jesus without reason, then the one who has broken the law is Annas while Jesus remains blameless.Caiaphas Takes Jesus to the RomansAnnas sends Jesus to Caiaphas. Caiaphas is the one to turn Jesus in to the Romans. There are a few reasons this was the case. Primarily, we must remember that Caiaphas was technically holding the office of high priest that year. Annas could pull the strings in the background, but Caiaphas' rubber stamp was still required. Also, and this is much more speculative, Jewish law may have required a daytime trial in a capital case. A brief, early morning hearing with Caiaphas may have technically fulfilled this requirement.Peter's DenialsPeter denies Jesus three times. The first denial is found in verses 15 through 18. An anonymous disciple introduces Peter into the high priest's household. The level of acquaintance between the unknown disciple and the high priest is not described. It could range from a person who regularly supplied the high priest's household (for example, of fish) and had therefore met his servants, to a person who was a true friend of someone in the high priest's household. One could speculate regarding the identity of this disciple, but there is no indication that he was even one of the twelve. The options are too many.In verse 17, the slave girl at the door asks, or perhaps the better word is accuses, “You're not one of this man's disciples too, are you?” Perhaps she remembered having seen Peter with Jesus. Maybe Peter's Galilean accent gave him away. Peter, now surrounded by the high priest's slaves and guards, responds, “I am not.” Given the value of honor towards one's teacher, Peter's behavior would have been seen as bringing shame not only upon himself but upon Jesus as well. Peter fails to do what Jesus requires, “The one who loves his life destroys it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards it for eternal life. If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:25-26Peter's second and third denials are described in verses 25 through 27. In verse 25, “they” recognize him—probably servants of the high priest. Again we are not told how he is recognized. Peter emphatically denies being one of Jesus disciples, “I am not!” Finally, a relative of Malchus—the man Peter attacked and cut off his ear—recognizes Peter. Then the most damning accusation is made, “Did I not see you in the orchard with him?” Peter had attacked (with probable lethal intent) a servant of the arresting officials. If Peter were identified, he could have been properly sentenced. Peter denies Jesus one more time and the rooster crows.The rooster crowing marks the climax, though not the end, to Peter's story. The words of Jesus are fulfilled. Recall John 13:31-38:31 When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him right away. 33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ‘Where I am going you cannot come,' now I tell you the same.34 “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? I tell you the solemn truth, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times!Notice that Peter's denials are interspersed with Jesus' fearless responses to the high priest. This literary device creates a stark comparison between he who is willing to lay down his life and he who is not. Notice as well that Peter's later restoration (John 21:7-ff) provides hope for all those who have faltered.[The blog post section that follows was not covered during the session and was copied to the following session.]PilateThe Jewish authorities sentence Jesus. Jesus' apostles—most notably Peter—desert him. Then the time comes for the Romans to get involved.The first question we ought to ask is: why? Why must the Romans be involved at all? I have discussed this already, so I will be brief. The Romans depended on delatores—accusers—to bring criminals to justice. These accusers could be individuals or councils, such as the Sanhedrin. In particular, the Sanhedrin was composed of the aristocratic elite of the most important city in Israel. The Roman governor would certainly cooperate with such a group.The Jews deliver Jesus to Pilate “very early in the morning,” probably around 6 am. For Romans, “late morning” in the summer months was before 8 or 9 am. A Roman governor would probably end his public transactions around noon, leaving some time for leisure. In fact, Romans rarely slept in; doing so could carry the implication of drinking or partying the night before.When the Jews deliver Jesus, they avoid entering into the “governor's residence”—the praetorium. There is some debate whether the praetorium was Fortress Antonia, adjoining the temple courts, or the old palace of Herod the Great. The lavishness of Herod's old palace, which would have been preferred by a Roman governor, along with confirmation from other ancient writings seem to support the latter alternative. Either way, why did the Jews not enter the praetorium? Because houses of non-Jews were ritually impure and entering them would render a Jew impure as well, keeping him from fully participating in the Passover festivities. This concern for ritual purity serves as evidence of the aristocrats' hypocrisy: they spent the night ignoring the weightier matters of the law, such as justice and fairness, to then show concern for more superficial rituals. Recall Matthew 23:23-24:“Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others. Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!Notice Pilate's attitude. From Josephus' writings (an ancient Jewish historian) we know that originally Pilate was quite unsympathetic towards the Jewish customs. In John, we find a Pilate much more willing to avoid unnecessary friction. He comes out to meet the Jewish elite, accommodating of the fact that they could not enter the home. However, Pilate also shows some annoyance with the situation. He asks, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” The response is, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” If we read between the lines, Pilate's question does not seem like an honest request for information. He seems to be aware of the accusation but remains unconvinced that this is a matter worthy of his involvement. The Jews insist they would not seek audience before Pilate if Jesus was not really a criminal.The Jewish elite finally speak truly when they say, “We cannot legally put anyone to death.” As I explained above, only the Roman governor could order a person killed—particularly by crucifixion. Notice, therefore, that the only way in which Jesus' words could be fulfilled (e.g., “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32) was if the Jews involved the Romans. This was expected, indeed planned, by Jesus.Roman citizens could not be legally crucified, but slaves and provincials could be, generally for rebellion against Rome.Pilate was known for his brutality. He had sometimes executed Jews without trial. The Jewish elite knew that if they wanted Jesus dead, they were asking the right guy. They may have expected no hearing at all, even if Roman law technically required one. But there were politics at play. An overly cruel governor could give rise to revolts by the provincials. In fact, later in his life, Pilate's excessive use of capital punishment cost him his office. We also have other reasons to believe that Pilate may have been trying to be more careful than usual. His patron, Sejanus, was executed in the year 31 AD. If the crucifixion happened in the year 33 AD, then Pilate found himself in a precarious situation with little political support. Even if the crucifixion happened in the year 30 AD (the other widely argued for date), Pilate may have already been feeling the mounting opposition to his patron. Pilate himself was only an equestrian, a class lower than senators. Finally, there is likely some personal animosity at work as well. Pilate had gained some political savvy by this point, but he probably strongly disliked the Jews. Pilate may have been fair to Jesus simply to spite the Jews.Pilate Questions JesusAccording to normal judicial procedure, the accuser spoke first. So, Pilate had to already be aware of the charge of treason when he begins Jesus' interrogation. The question Pilate asks is, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Ain't that the million dollar question! In classic Johannine fashion, this moment drips with irony. Pilate is probably employing sarcasm, perhaps even mockery. But the gospel audience understands that the question is serious—the most important question ever, in fact. Is Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, the High Priest, the King, God himself?Notice that Pilate's question is strange in one regard: so far no one has used his exact terminology. Jesus' detractors do not calling him king of the Jews. Jesus himself does not make the claim with those exact words. The title is not even a traditional Christian confession. Christians will call Jesus Messiah, Christ, Lord, or perhaps even King of Israel or King of Kings, but generally not King of the Jews. There is irony in the fact that a Gentile is one to speak with such insight, even if he spoke more than he knew.Jesus' reply plays on the irony of Pilate's question. Jesus retorts, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or have others told you about me?” Allow me to rephrase it as, “Oh, so you can tell? You figured it out on your own or someone told you?” Pilate's response makes perfect sense, “I am not a Jew, am I?” In other words, “How would I know? I am not a Jew.”If up to this point the conversation had a mocking tone, it becomes serious as Pilate asks, “Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” This is a hefty question. Paraphrased, Pilate says, “Your people wish me to have you killed. Why?” There is also some legalese at play here. If a defendant failed to offer a defense, the judge would ask about the charge three times before convicting the defendant by default.Jesus explains that his kingdom is not of this world. He offers a simple proof. If his kingdom were of this world, his followers would be fighting to free Jesus; they would probably be fighting against Jews to establish Jesus as King and fighting against the Romans to liberate Israel. They are not. “As it is,” meaning, “look around, there is no fighting,” Jesus' kingdom is certainly not political. But Jesus does not deny the charge against him. Jesus affirms he has a kingdom: “my kingdom is not from here.” If Jesus were trying to win his trial, this was not a wise move.Pilate picks up on Jesus confession. “So you are a king!” To whatever extent Pilate is following standard trial procedure, notice that this is the third time the charge is brought up to the defendant. The defendant's lack of defense will result in a conviction by default. (Although, perhaps the conversation simply developed this way and the governor is not thinking in terms of legal procedure.) For the last time, Jesus fails to defend himself. “You say that I am a king.” This statement can be taken in a few different ways. Jesus may mean it as, “You say I am king because I am.” As an older commentary puts it, “Thou sayest; for I am a king.” Another alternative is that Jesus bypasses the title and instead affirms the substance of the accusation. Then we could rephrase Jesus response as follows: “Is King the proper title for someone like me? I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to me. Does that make me king?” However we interpret Jesus' response, it is not a denial of the charge against him. Jesus may have sealed his fate.Pilate ends the conversation with another million dollar question, “What is truth?” The true tone and intent behind his questions is hard to discern. Maybe Pilate is mocking Jesus' and his commitment to truth. After all, Pilate lived a life of Roman politics and military prowess. Truth? Who cares. Power—that's what really matters. We can almost hear his argument: “Do you think a man is convicted because he is guilty? He is convicted because he is weak. Do you think the powerful escape justice because they are righteous? Don't be naïve! Do you think only the wicked are conquered and enslaved? We conquer devils and saints alike. Do you think the righteous rule the world? The strong rule over all. Do you think that kings speak only truth? If not, go ahead and disagree with them and see what happens. Do you think truth matters at all? Don't be a child.”Maybe Pilate means his question earnestly. The other gospels tell us that Pilate knew Jesus to be innocent. Moreover, Pilate's wife had received a vision confirming Jesus was blameless and should not be convicted.So after they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Christ?” (For he knew that they had handed him over because of envy.) As he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man; I have suffered greatly as a result of a dream about him today.” Matthew 27:17-19We can imagine a corrupt ruler of a corrupt nation being asked by a corrupt ruling council to brutally crucify a man he knows to be innocent and asking himself: “What is truth? Is there anything worth fighting for? Anything worth sacrificing for? If so, what is that truth? Where does it come from?” These could be the questions of a wicked man who is beginning to see that what is right and wrong is not simply a matter of power.Pilate Attempts to Release JesusPilate finds no (legal) fault in Jesus and attempts to release him. Pilate follows a custom of releasing one prisoner during Passover (as scholars call it, the “paschal amnesty custom”). A Roman governor was free to issue amnesties. We have record of Romans sometimes releasing prisoner en masse on local feasts. During their own festivities, Romans usually delayed punishments. So, the custom described in John would not have seemed odd in the ancient world.Pilate gives the Jewish people a choice: Jesus or Barabbas? To Pilate's surprise, the people exclaim: “Barabbas!” There is irony upon irony here. Jesus was accused of being a revolutionary but found to be innocent. Barabbas was an actual revolutionary! Technically, the word used in verse 40 is “robber,” but that was a euphemism for revolutionary. As the NET's translators' note 118 explains:Or “robber.” It is possible that Barabbas was merely a robber or highwayman, but more likely, given the use of the term ληστής (lēstēs) in Josephus and other early sources, that he was a guerrilla warrior or revolutionary leader. Moreover, the Jewish leaders allegedly acted against Jesus to prevent a revolution that could destroy Israel. John 11:49-50:Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is more to your advantage to have one man die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.”Yet, they requested the release of the very type of person who would bring demise to the nation just 40 years later.

Blessed is the One Who Stays Awake Revelation 16 By William Klock There's an old story of a clergyman, who out of concern for a parishioner who had been absent for some time, went to visit her at home.  He saw her car in the driveway.  The drapes were drawn, but he could see the lights were one.  He could hear the faint sound of the TV.  She was clearly home.  He knocked on the door and waited.  No answer.  Then he heard the TV go silent.  He knocked again.  Still no answer.  He waited.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw a faint movement of the living room drapes, as if someone had peeked around the edge.  Still no answer.  He rang the doorbell and waited again.  Still nothing.  He sighed, pulled one of his cards from his pocket, and slipped it into the front door's weather stripping.  Then he had an idea.  If anyone needed to read her Bible, it was she.  So he took the card back, pulled out his pen, and wrote on the back “Revelation 3:20”—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock”—and slipped the card back into the weatherstripping.  “She'll have to look that one up,” he thought, “and maybe she'll keep reading while her Bible's open.”  He rang the bell one more time, waited again, and left. On Sunday morning he was pleased to see that the woman was in church, but she left too quickly for him to greet her.  Then, as he was getting ready to leave the church, one of the wardens approached, holding a little card.  “It was in the offering plate,” the warden said as he handed it to him.  The priest took the card and saw it was one of his own.  He turned it over and saw the Bible reference he'd written: “Revelation 3:20”.  Underneath it the woman had written another: “Genesis 3:10”.  He laughed.  That's Adam's answer to the Lord, “I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Revelation 16 continues with the Lord's judgement on Greco-Roman world.  We looked at Chapter 15 two weeks ago and saw the announcement of seven plagues, carried by seven angles in bowls like those used for drink offerings in the temple.  In Chapter 16 we'll now see those plagues poured out—the wrath of God revealed.  And in the middle of the plagues John stops—in verse 15—to give a warning to God's people: “Behold, I am coming like a thief!  Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”   It's a warning from Jesus for his Church to stay alert and on guard—not to be distracted, but to be diligently about the work he's given.  He gave similar warnings to the churches at Sardis and Laodicea.  The reference is to an officer in the temple in John's day, who was tasked with making sure that the men on watch stayed awake.  He would make the rounds of the temple and if he caught anyone asleep, he would beat him.  If he found the same man asleep a second time, he would strip the man naked and burn his clothes.[1]  One commentator writes, “The danger is of being caught not momentarily but habitually off guard—not, to put it crudely, with trousers down, but without trousers at all.”[2] Consider Jesus' warning to the Christians in Sardis: Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. (Revelation 3:2) Brothers and Sisters, it is easy to become complacent.  Either we become complacent and neglect our calling to proclaim and to live out the good news about Jesus and to declare the mighty works of God.  Or we become complacent in that we become worldly.  We live in the world and it's easy to be unconsciously influenced by it when we keep our guard down and neglect to feed ourselves on God's word and to share in the means of grace found in the Church.  It's also easy to become complacent through wilful compromise with the world.  We face opposition and instead of standing firm, we compromise in the hopes that the world will oppose us less—maybe that they'll even like us.  We see an awful lot of this today.  Churches looking to attract “seekers” structure ministry and worship around what is attractive to unbelievers—which can be great when done thoughtfully and carefully, but disastrous when, as so often happens, we end up looking more like the world than the church.  Or we cozy up to the world's system, especially to politics—Left or Right—it can go either way.  When we allow ourselves to be overtaken by the world's ways of thinking, whether that be commercialism and materialism or expressive individualism, the sexual revolution, and post-modern gender theory.  Or—I think most appropriate in light of our text today—we water down our message.  Large parts of the Western Church today are hesitant to talk about sin and about the consequences of sin, about the wrath of God and of judgement.  H. Richard Niebuhr famous described the gospel of much of modern Christendom as: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgement through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”[3]  Such a faith is worthless—for those who believe—and for the world to which it is proclaimed.  The Church that preaches such a message is no church at all and when God's judgement does come, such churches will be swept away with everything else not of the kingdom—caught naked and asleep at her post.  It's important that the Church be clear about the difference between the things of God and the things of the world, the difference between godliness and sin, and knowing the kingdom of God, and be able to persevere in the midst of tribulation—that, to use John's metaphor, we stay awake and keep our pants on. As John announces the judgement that was soon to come on the pagan world of Caesar, using the language of cataclysmic plagues, the Church was expected to recognise the judgement of God in the same way that Israel had seen, recognised, and praised the judgment of God on Pharaoh, the supposed god-king, and on his pantheon of false gods.  John saw those who had conquered the beast, like Israel of old watching Pharaoh's army drown, singing the praises of their victorious God.  Brothers and Sisters, God's people are called to singing of his victory for the sake of the world and, in doing so, we glorify him.  Now look at Chapter 16.  John writes: Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”   Remember that in the last scene, John saw the heavenly tabernacle filled with smoke—so full that no one could enter.  And out came seven angels bearing bowls.  The image is of the priests of the old covenant bearing their drink offerings at the conclusion of the daily service.  Since no one could enter the heavenly tabernacle because of the smoke, this must be the voice of God directing the angels.  John then goes on: So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.   The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.   The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.  (Revelation 16:2-4) Just like the plagues poured out on rebellious Jerusalem, the plagues poured out on the pagan nations are meant to remind us of the plagues the Lord brought on Egypt.  First, painful sores reminiscent of the boils that afflicted the Egyptians.  Second, the sea turning to blood and then, third, the fresh waters turning to blood as well. In contrast to the plagues poured out on rebellious Jerusalem, these plagues are universal in scope.  The earlier plagues were limited—a third of the water, a third of the people.  I think the idea in this distinction is that when God disciplined his rebellious children, there was an opportunity for the pagan nations to see, to take heart, and to repent of their wickedness themselves.  Now that opportunity has passed.  The wine of God's wrath has been tread out in the winepress and the wicked peoples who drank the blood of the saints are now—metaphorically—left with nothing but putrid blood to drink. That raises another question?  Are these plagues meant to be understood literally?  I think it's fairly clear, given the context, that they are not.  The imagery draws on the Lord's past judgement on the nations that afflicted his people, first Egypt and then, we'll see, Babylon.  The point is that the Lord is now going to judge Rome.  Remember the point of Revelation: tribulation, perseverance, and kingdom.  Jesus' main purpose in giving John this vision is to encourage the saints to persevere in the midst of tribulation.  The great New Testament scholar, George Caird, puts it this way: “The theme of the whole series [i.e., the plagues] is neither the collapse of the physical universe nor the punishment of individual men for their personal contribution to the world's iniquity, both of which come later when the record books are opened…but the ending of persecution through the removal of the persecutor.”[4]  The angels underscore this when they sing out between the third and fourth plagues.  Look at verses 5 to 7: And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,          for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,          and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!”   And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty,          true and just are your judgments!”   The Lord's judgement vindicates his saints and brings justice on their persecutors.  The songs of the angels and of the altar—I assume these are the martyrs we saw earlier under the altar—the song is a needed reminder of the goodness of the Lord's judgement.  We modern Christians have often become uncomfortable with judgement—Niebuhr's God without wrath and kingdom without judgement.  One morning this week I left my prayer book at home.  I had left a Canadian prayer book on my desk—the 1962 edition—after looking up something in the lectionary last week, so I picked it up for Morning Prayer.  And I was jarred by the changes they made in the Psalter.  Wherever they could, they eliminated or watered down the passages that speak of or call for the Lord's judgement.  Whole psalms were removed.  Because modern Christians have—to our shame—become exceedingly uncomfortable with the topic of the wrath and judgement of God.  And yet, the angels sing here, it is God's justice which reveals his holiness.  Do we consider that when we sing “Holy, holy, holy Lord God almighty”?  And do we consider that it is the Lord's justice that is our consolation as we face a world that opposes us because it opposes him?  Brothers and Sisters, we need to remember that the Lord is revealed to be true and just because he judges wickedness and, in that, he deserves our praises.  There is no reason to preach the gracious mercy of the cross, if there is nothing from which we need deliverance. Now the fourth plague—verses 8 and 9: The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire.  They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues.  They did not repent and give him glory.   The fourth of the trumpets that announcement judgement on Jerusalem heralded a plague of darkness.  Now the fourth bowl brings the opposite.  It metaphorically highlights the Lord's vindication of his saints.  The martyrs we saw under the altar back in Chapter 7 were consoled with the words: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;          the sun shall not strike them,          nor any scorching heat.  (Revelation 7:16) In contrast, the wicked are exposed to the full justice of the Lord.  And yet, even as they experience his wrath, like Pharaoh, their hearts are hardened.  They know the source of their affliction, but rather than repent, rather than turn from their evil and give him glory, they curse him. With the fifth bowl, the judgement narrows from the wider pagan world of the Greeks and Romans to its throne—to the heart and embodiment of its wickedness. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.  People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores.  They did not repent of their deeds. (Revelation 16:10-11) The Lord's judgement now falls on the beast, on Caesar, on Nero himself.  Darkness—political chaos—descends on the empire.  In a.d. 69 the Senate declared Nero a public enemy.  He fled and committed suicide.  A year of chaos—referred to as the Year of the Four Emperors—ensued.  Galba became emperor.  He was murdered by Otho.  Meanwhile, Vitellius popular for his military victories in Germany, vied for the throne and won the support of the imperial guard.  Otho committed suicide.  But Vitellius had his own rival in the general, Vespasian, who was besieging Jerusalem.  In the end, Vespasian's supporters in the military outnumbered those of Vitellius, who abdicated and was promptly lynched by a mob in Rome.  It was a year of chaos and civil war.  But again, even as the beast was toppled from his throne, there was no repentance.  Nero, who had initiated the empire's persecution of the saints, was cast down, but in quick succession four others seized his throne and made the same blasphemous claims to divinity that he had. And the sixth bowl.  Verses 12-16: The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.  And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.  For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.  (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)  And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.   John has referred to Rome symbolically as Babylon—historically the great enemy of the people of God.  And now the symbolism of the judgements recalls the fall of Babylon, while at the same time conjuring up the great fear of Rome at that time.  Ancient Babylon fell to the Medes when the invaders diverted the Euphrates River so that they could enter the city.  Now it's Rome's turn to fall.  Rome's great enemy to the east was the Parthian empire—on the other side of the Euphrates.  In the midst of Rome's political chaos, war was coming.  John writes of the kings of the nations assembling to battle at a place called in Hebrew, Harmageddon—the Mount of Megiddo.  It's a little interesting in that there's no Mount Megiddo.  Megiddo is a valley between the mountains—the route from the coastal plain of Palestine to the interior, to Syria and Damascus.  For that reason it had a been a place of many battles.  Deborah and Barak had won their victory there in Judges.  It was the place where King Josiah met his Waterloo, so to speak.  And that's precisely how John uses “Megiddo” here.  That there's no actual Mount Megiddo suggests strongly that John isn't using this location literally.  When we say someone has met their Waterloo, we don't literally mean that they've gone to Waterloo to lose a battle.  Waterloo is a metaphor for defeat and John uses Megiddo in a similar way here.  Rome will meet her enemies and she will fall.  The beast's own wickedness will catch up with him both at home and abroad and he will be toppled from his throne. But in the middle of all this there's that warning.  “Stay awake,” warns Jesus.  Hearkening back to the plague of frogs in Egypt, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet spew forth demonic spirits imaged as frogs.  These unclean spirits perform signs that deceive the kings of the nations and summon them to the battle.  Jesus warns his people not to be conned by the false prophets and their lying signs.  Pharoah's magicians had once mimicked the Lord's miracles and the prophets of the dragon and the beast will do the same.  God's people must be alert, he warns, that they not fall prey to the enemy's propaganda. And in verses 17-20 the seventh and final bowl is poured out. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake.  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.  And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.  And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.   The final judgement is poured out into the air, the space between heaven and earth, and the only language John can employ to describe the result is the language of de-creation used by the Old Testament prophets.  Zechariah had once described the fall of Jerusalem using this metaphorical language—the city being split in two by an earthquake.  Now Rome is metaphorically split in three in the chaos of lightning, thunder, and earthquakes.  I think it's very possible this is a reference to the civil war that was about the rattle Rome to its core, but it was a civil war that would topple the beast who had persecuted the saints.  And yet, still, the wicked continue to curse God.  The men who took Nero's place on the throne did not continue the persecution of the saints, but they continued with their blasphemous claims to divinity.  Nevertheless, John says, “God remembered Babylon the great”.  This is our lead-in to Chapters 17 and 18.  The great city will be revealed as the world's whore.  But in that revelation, the faithfulness and the beauty of the Lord's bride will also be revealed. John saw the end of pagan Rome.  Or it might be better to say that he saw the beginning of the end of pagan Rome.  As Caird also rightly points out, Israel's prophets had always used this kind of apocalyptic language “to give theological depth and urgency to this historical crisis which he and his people were facing at the moment.  John, too, had his vision of the End, but because he had learnt his theology at the foot of the Cross, he knew that an end could also be a beginning.”[5] The Lord's judgement would cast down the beast, break his empire, and in time the good news about Jesus, proclaimed by saints and witnesses by the blood of the martyrs would transform the world.  And, Brothers and Sisters, it will continue to do so.  Throughout history the power of the gospel has brought transformation, but it's never as simple as we might like: Okay, the gospel has conquered here, now the Church can go over there or over there to conquer and forget about here.  The Church triumphs there, and then wanes here, only to triumph again here, later.  We in the West are experiencing what it's like to live in a post-Christian world—the waning of the gospel here—to fall out of favour, to experience opposition.  If John were here today he would warn and exhort us as he did the Christians of his own day: “Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”  Don't give up.  Don't succumb to the spirit of the age.  Don't be swayed by the lies of the unclean spirits.  The gospel will triump here again and it will do so through the witness of faithful Christians.  So live in deep community with your church family.  Drink deeply at the well of grace provided by the sacraments.  Steep yourself in the word of God.  Don't be afraid to be different—to be holy—and to proclaim the sinfulness of sin, the gracious mercy of God revealed at the cross, and the lordship of Jesus over all things.  Be shaped by faith-filled hope for Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. Let's pray: Almighty God, we thank you for the exhortation you have given us through John.  You judge the wicked and deliver your people.  Your gospel is powerful and transforms the world.  Strengthen our faith and fill us with hope in these truths, so that we can live courageously for Jesus in the face of hatred and opposition.  Renew us by your Spirit and make us faithful witnesses of the transforming power of your word.  Judge the wicked, we pray, vindicate your people, and set your fallen creation to rights.  Through Jesus we pray, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, new and for ever.  Amen. [1] Philip Carrington, The Meaning of Revelation (London: SPCK, 1931), 265. [2] J. P. M. Sweet, Revelation (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1979), 249. [3] The Kingdom of God in America (New York: Harper and Row, 1959), 193. [4] The Revelation of St. John the Divine (London: A & C Black, 1966), 201. [5] 210

Même si, en tant que dirigeant, Néron tend à être réhabilité par certains historiens, sa conduite privée trouve moins de défenseurs. Et ce n'est pas son "mariage" avec un jeune esclave, qu'il aurait fait castrer, qui pourra redorer son blason.Une nouvelle "épouse" pour NéronAu moment où Néron fait la connaissance de l'esclave Sporus, il semble déjà être uni, par ce qu'on peut appeler les liens du mariage, à un autre homme, Pythagoras. Celui-ci se serait d'ailleurs plutôt comporté comme le "mari" de l'empereur, alors que Sporus fut considéré comme son "épouse".Sans doute un peu après la mort de la femme de Néron, Poppée, donc en 65 ou 66 de notre ère, l'empereur fait la connaissance d'un jeune esclave, du nom de Sporus.Néron tombe aussitôt sous son charme, car le jeune homme ressemble étrangement à sa défunte épouse. Peut-être cette relation était-elle aussi empreinte d'un certain sentiment de culpabilité, car c'est l'empereur lui-même qui aurait fait périr sa femme enceinte à coups de pied.Néron fait alors castrer Sporus et l'épouse, au cours d'une cérémonie qui, de fait, a toutes les apparences d'un mariage. L'empereur exhibe partout sa nouvelle "épouse" et veut l'avoir à ses côtés pour assister à son suicide, en 68.Un destin tragiqueAprès la mort de Néron, le statut de Sporus ne change guère. Il passe en effet sous la protection de Nymphidius Sabinus, un haut fonctionnaire qui avait conspiré contre Néron.Lui aussi considère Sporus comme sa "femme" et l'appelle même Poppée, comme l'épouse de Néron. Au cours de l'année 69, il a les mêmes relations avec l'un des successeurs de Néron, Othon.Les empereurs romains se succédant alors très vite, c'est l'un d'entre eux, Vitellius, qui va indirectement provoquer la mort de Sporus, toujours en 69. Il lui demande en effet de jouer, à l'occasion d'un combat de gladiateurs, le rôle de Coré, fille de Zeus, enlevée par Hadès, maître des Enfers.Plutôt que de se produire ainsi dans un spectacle qu'il trouvait humiliant, Sporus préféra se suicider. Le jeune homme n'avait sans doute pas plus de 20 ans. Voir Acast.com/privacy pour les informations sur la vie privée et l'opt-out.

In this, the seventh Norse Myth of ten, the mighty sword of the Viking God Tyr grants victory and death in equal measure across great empires... Tyr's Sword Carves Destiny and Victory. Tyr, Tiu, or Ziu was the son of Odin, and, according to different storytellers, his mother was Frigga, queen of the gods, or a beautiful giantess whose name is unknown, but who was a personification of the raging sea. He is the god of martial honour, and one of the twelve principal deities of Asgard. Although he appears to have had no special dwelling there, he was always welcome to Vingolf or Valhalla, and occupied one of the twelve thrones in the great council hall of Glads-heim. Tyr, whose name was synonymous with bravery and wisdom, was also considered by the ancient Northern folk to have the white-armed Valkyrs, Odin's attendants, at his command, and they thought that he it was who designated the warriors whom they should be transferred to Valhalla to aid the gods on the last day, the end of the world, Ragnarök. *** As the God of courage and of war, Tyr was frequently invoked by the various nations of the North, who cried to him, as well as to Odin, to obtain victory. That he ranked next to Odin and Thor is proved by his name, Tiu, having been given to one of the days of the week, Tiu's day, which in modern English has become Tuesday. Under the name of Ziu, Tyr was the principal divinity of the Suabians in the first century region of the Upper Rhine and Danube, who originally called their capital, the modern Augsburg in Bavaria, Ziusburg. These people, venerating the god as they did, worshipped him under the emblem of a sword, his distinctive attribute, and in his honour held great sword dances, where various figures were performed. Sometimes the participants forming two long lines, crossed their swords, point upward, and challenged the boldest among their number to take a flying leap over them. At other times the warriors joined their sword points closely together in the shape of a rose or wheel, and when this figure was complete invited their chief to stand on the navel thus formed of flat, shining steel blades, and then they bore him upon it through the camp in triumph. The sword point was further considered so sacred that it became customary to register oaths upon it. A distinctive feature of the worship of this god among the Franks and some other Northern nations was that the priests called Druids or Godi offered up human sacrifices upon his altars, these sacrifices were made upon rude stone altars called dolmens, which can still be seen in Northern Europe and parts of the British Isle. As Tyr was considered the patron god of the sword, it was deemed indispensable to engrave the sign or rune representing him upon the blade of every sword—an observance of which was said to be essential to those who were destined to be victorious. Tyr was identical with the Saxon god Saxnot (from sax, a sword), and with Er, Heru, or Cheru, the chief divinity of the Cheruski one of the early Germanic tribes, who also considered him to be a god of the sun, and deemed his shining sword blade an emblem of its rays. According to an ancient legend, Cheru's sword, which had been fashioned by the same dwarfs, sons of Ivald, who had also made Odin's spear, was held sacred by his people, to whose care he had entrusted it, declaring that those who possessed it were sure to have the victory over their foes. But although carefully guarded in the temple, where it was hung so that it reflected the first beams of the morning sun, it suddenly and mysteriously disappeared one night. A Vala, druidess, or prophetess, consulted by the priests, revealed that the Norns had decreed that whoever wielded it would conquer the world and come to his death by it; but in spite of all entreaties she refused to tell who had taken it or where it might be found. Some time after this, a tall and dignified stranger came to Cologne, where Vitellius, the Roman prefect, was feasting, and called him away from his beloved dainties. In the presence of the Roman soldiery he gave him the sword, telling him it would bring him glory and renown, and finally hailed him as emperor. The cry was taken up by the assembled legions, and Vitellius, without making any personal effort to secure the honour, found himself elected Emperor of Rome. The new ruler, however, was so absorbed in indulging his taste for food and drink that he paid but little heed to the divine weapon. One day while leisurely making his way towards Rome he carelessly left it hanging in the antechamber to his pavilion. A German soldier seized this opportunity to substitute in its stead his own rusty blade, and the besotted emperor did not notice the exchange. When he arrived at Rome, he learned that the Eastern legions had named Vespasian emperor, and that he was even then on his way home to claim the throne. Searching for the sacred weapon to defend his rights, Vitellius now discovered the theft, and, overcome by superstitious fears, did not even attempt to fight. He crawled away into a dark corner of his palace, whence he was ignominiously dragged by the enraged populace to the foot of the Capitoline Hill. There the prophecy was duly fulfilled, for the German soldier, who had joined the opposite faction, coming along at that moment, cut off Vitellius' head with the sacred sword. The German soldier now changed from one legion to another, and travelled over many lands; but wherever he and his sword were found, victory was assured. After winning great honour and distinction, this man, having grown old, retired from active service to the banks of the Danube, where he secretly buried his treasured weapon, building his hut over its resting-place to guard it as long as he might live. When he lay on his deathbed he was implored to reveal where he had hidden it, but he persistently refused to do so, saying that it would be found by the man who was destined to conquer the world, but that he would not be able to escape the curse. Years passed by. Wave after wave the tide of barbarian invasion swept over that part of the country, and last of all came the fiercesome Huns under the leadership of Attila, the “Scourge of God.” As he passed along the river, he saw a peasant mournfully examining his cow's foot, which had been wounded by some sharp instrument hidden in the long grass, and when search was made the point of a buried sword was found sticking out of the soil. Attila, seeing the beautiful workmanship and the fine state of preservation of this weapon, immediately exclaimed that it was Cheru's sword, and brandishing it above his head he announced that he would conquer the world. Battle after battle was fought by all-conquering the Huns, who were everywhere victorious, until Attila, weary of warfare, settled down in Hungary, taking to wife the beautiful Burgundian princess Ildico, whose father he had slain. This princess, resenting the murder of her kin and wishing to avenge it, took advantage of the king's state of intoxication upon his wedding night to secure possession of the divine sword, with which she slew him in his bed, once more fulfilling the prophecy uttered so many years before. The magic sword again disappeared for a long time, to be unearthed once more, for the last time, by the Duke of Alva, Charles V.'s general, who shortly after won the victory of Mühlberg in 1547. The Franks were wont to celebrate yearly martial games in honour of the sword; but it is said that over 1200 years before, when the heathen gods of the Swabian's, the Cheruski, the early Franks, the Danes and the Saxons, were slowly renounced in favour of Christianity, the priests transferred many of their attributes to the saints, and that this sword became the eternal property of the Archangel St. Michael, who has wielded it victoriously ever since. The next story tells of the Birth of Sigurd. The first Norse Myth is Creation The second Norse Myth is Odin and Frigga And the third tells of the Valkyrie The fourth Norse Myth tells how Thor Gained his Hammer. The fifth tale is about Loki The Sixth tale focuses on the God Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost Part of a series on world myths and legends, released through Libsyn, on These Fantastic Worlds SF & Fantasy Fiction Podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Vurbl and Stitcher  and more. Also on this blog, These Fantastic Worlds. RSS feeds available on request by email. Text based on Norse Myths, General Editor Jake Jackson. Copyright © 2014 Flame Tree Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 9780857758200. This and other books on African, Indian, Polynesian, Aztec, Greek, Celtic and mythology are available online at flametreepublishing.com and in store worldwide, including Amazon, BookDepository, Barnes and Noble, Indigo, Blackwells and Waterstones. Online production, images and audio © 2021 Jake Jackson, thesefantasticworlds.com. Thanks to Frances Bodiam and Elise Wells,  Logic ProX, Sound Studio, the Twisted Wave Recorder App, and Scrivener. More Tales, More Audio The first 100 tales in this series are new stories by Jake Jackson, on subjects ranging from robots, dystopia, haunted houses, dark fantasy and long shadows, including: Machines Discarded I Machines Discarded II Find Me The Green Man Kingdom of Lies Obesession Time Now Artificial Intelligence Clone Complicit Cosmic Hall Daily Mask Ophelia A.I. And a carousel of 10 audio stories from the podcast with information about submissions. Here's a related post, 5 Steps to the SF and Fantasy Podcasts.

Well, you have your Bible, please open up with me to Isaiah. We're going to be in Isaiah 9:1-7. Over the last couple of weeks or so leading up to Christmas, Pastor Jacob has been working through the story of Christ's birth in the Gospel of Matthew, one of the most popular text. I think we would all agree in the Bible and yet the events that we read about in that passage and Mark or in Matthew Chapters one and two and in the corresponding infancy narrative in Luke's Gospel are stories and events that didn't arise out of the blue. In other words, the event of Christ's birth were events that were planned before the foundation of the world and events that were anticipated in the Old Testament. Today we're going to look at just one of those prophecies that looks forward to Christ's birth. It looks forward to Christ's incarnation some seven hundred years before it actually took place. So hear now the word of the Lord from Isaiah 9:1-7, I will be reading out of the English Standard Version. "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9:1-7, ESV This is the word of the Lord. In the year sixty-nine A.D., about two thousand years ago or so, a year that's been called the so-called "Long Year" by historians. The Roman Empire went through something of a tense period of conflict and civil war. It actually all started the previous year back in sixty-eight A.D., when one of the most deranged emperors to ever govern Rome died. His name was Nero, and in 68 A.D., Nero killed himself. His successor, a guy named Galba, Emperor Galba, became emperor. Now, when word of this event, this transition of power, reached the eastern boundaries of the empire, where two generals named Vespasian and his son, Titus, were busy leveling Jerusalem and the surrounding area because of a large scale Jewish revolt that was underway. The younger of the two generals, whose name was General Titus dropped everything to go back to Rome and congratulate the new emperor who had ascended to the throne. You see, if you were among the first to greet the new guy and to make sure that he likes you, well, in the end, that would work out on your behalf. So that was Titus' plan, get the new guy to like me. So he began his long journey back to Rome to greet Emperor Galba. On his long, way back, a few things happened. First, long before Titus even got to Rome, Emperor Galba was assassinated a few months after he took control in January of 69 A.D. A new emperor named Otho took power of the empire in Rome. Right when that happened, something else happened. Another general and another area of the empire whose name was Vitellius decided that now was his opportunity to become emperor, and so he declared himself emperor and decided to march upon Rome and against Otho and his supporters. A few months later, Vitellius successfully overthrew the second guy named Otho as emperor. Given all of this upheaval that was going on in Rome, what was Titus, the first general who was going back to Rome to congratulate the first guy who had now died, what was he going to do? In the midst of all of this upheaval, he was kind of stuck in the middle and wondering, who should he get behind? You see, if you tied yourself to the wrong guy. That wasn't good because their downfall would eventually be your downfall. Well, in the end, here's what Titus did. He decided that with all of this turmoil unfolding, he'd go back and make sure that his dad Vespasian became emperor, and a few months later, Vespasian and marched on Rome, and he became emperor, too. Now, if you found that whole historical synopsis to be somewhat dizzying and confusing, that's because it is. Un the history of the Roman Empire sixty-nine A.D. was a dark and tumultuous year of political upheaval. It saw, if you were counting four different emperors in the course of a year, it was a year of backbiting and civil war. If, like General Titus, you were caught in the middle of all that, well, your next move would seal your own fate as well. You see, your future was bound up in who you supported. Support the wrong guy and you're not going to have much of a future. When you think about it, even if you support the winner and this is the kind of environment you call home, how long do you think you really have until somebody comes for you next? Now, on the one hand, the events of that story of sixty-nine A.D. and the tumultuous time of the Roman Empire are far removed in a variety of ways from our own context. On the other hand, you and I are always faced, we're always faced with decisions in life like Titus about who or what to support who or what to hitch our future ambitions to. Whether we're talking about the world of politics or our own future ambitions, or even something that's inconsequential as the world of sports. We're always trying to navigate this world and hopefully come out on top by supporting the right causes and the right people. Be that as it may, the Bible tells us that whatever we decide to get behind in this world, whatever alliances we gravitate towards and however shrewd we are in navigating this environment of competing forces, no amount of skillful maneuvering in the present can give us the kind of triumph that we look for or the satisfaction that we long for. You see, the Bible tells us that there are many good things and right things to get behind in this world, spiritually speaking, we live in a world of sin and unbelief and darkness. This world could never and will never yield a solution to its own problems. Our only hope then, while we live in this world, is to get behind somebody who is not of this world, but who nevertheless came into this world some two thousand years ago to triumph over the present darkness. So our big idea this morning is this walk in the light of the Son. Now we'll talk about the historical setting of our passage, Isaiah chapter nine, in just a moment. For now, keep in mind that when Isaiah writes what he writes here in Isaiah nine, some seven hundred years before Christ's birth and incarnation, Isaiah is speaking into a bleak and dark situation that's unfolding in his own day. He sees God's people descending into a time of darkness and gloom. Yet, in the context of that, he also looks forward to a future day where he sees a dramatic reversal on the horizon, a reversal that subverts expectations. So as we look at our passage, we'll see first how Isaiah describes this reversal as glory that overcomes gloom and then how he explains this reversal as deliverance that overcomes bondage. First, a description of how glory overcomes gloom and versus one through three and then an explanation deliverance, overcoming bondage and verses four through seven. Most commentators break this passage down and those two parts, and so I'm following accordingly. 1. How Glory Overcomes Gloom 2. Deliverance that Overcomes Bondage How Glory Overcomes Gloom So let's begin with seeing how glory overcomes gloom. Now throughout this passage, again, keep in mind that Isaiah is looking forward. He's looking forward to a future day. He's standing in about the seven hundred B.C., and yet he's looking to a future day on the horizon. To appreciate the descriptions that Isaiah provides of that coming day, we have to first appreciate when he says what he says. In other words, we have to appreciate something about the historical context in which Isaiah is prophesying. As we'll see, it's a context of doom and gloom and darkness. Understand that in the lead up to what Isaiah tells us here in Isaiah chapter nine, the prophet has been speaking from Isaiah seven through Isaiah eight, and now into Isaiah, nine, into a particular situation that was transpiring in Judah during the reign of King Ahaz around seven hundred thirty-four B.C. You see at that time, King Ahaz and the kingdom he led, known as Judah, were faced with a kind of international turmoil of their own. You see immediately to their north and alliance was forming. Actually, an alliance had already formed between two nations between Syria and the 10 northern tribes of Israel. This new alliance that had formed just north of Ahaz decided to put Ahaz and the Kingdom of Judah in their crosshairs. In fact, they were intent with overthrowing Ahaz and the Kingdom of Judah. As Isaiah is writing what he's writing, those armies from the North are already on the move. They're already pressing down southward, taking over city after city in Judah intent on overthrowing Ahaz and his kingdom. So Ahaz is faced with the potential loss of the kingdom he governs. He has a choice to make. Would he get behind the Israel-Syria alliance so that they would stop attacking him? Perhaps he could surrender to them while he still has time left and promised to pay them tribute so that they wouldn't attack him any longer? Kind of like paying the mafia for protection. Or on the other hand, maybe Ahaz would rather than align himself with that alliance to turn to the real superpower of the day a nation known as Assyria and get behind them so that they would offer him protection from this alliance forming in the north. In short, Ahaz is faced with a decision about what alliances to form, about who to get behind so that perhaps his kingdom that was under attack would be spared. Before he makes that decision, the prophet Isaiah comes to him in Isaiah chapter seven, and he pleads with Ahaz not to get behind anyone. Rather, he tells him to forsake all of these worldly alliances and the geopolitical wheeling and dealing that's going on in the day and instead look to the Lord. To trust that the Lord is going to deliver Judah from international threats near and far, just like he's always done throughout their history. Does Ahaz listen to Isaiah's advice? Well, no, he doesn't. Instead, and we would find this out if we were looking at Isaiah seven, he proceeds with forming an alliance with Assyria and though it saves Judah in the short term, ultimately, it's the decision that would lead to the devastation of his kingdom. First, after he makes that decision, Syria and the 10 northern tribes of Israel would be devastated by Assyria, the superpower of the day. That might have been good news for someone like Ahaz, who was only living in the short term by what he could see. After Ahaz is gone later, in history after he dies, Judah would suffer at the hands of that superpower too. Throughout Isaiah chapter seven and eight in the lead up to Isaiah nine, the prophet Isaiah looks forward to the future, and he outlines the consequences for rejecting the way of faith that he held out for Ahaz. Isaiah announces that because many in Judah, including the king himself, have rejected the way of faith and have chosen instead to live in the short term by what their eyes could see, the nation as a whole would be plunged into deep darkness and gloom. Even in that darkness, here's the good news. God would preserve a faithful remnant, a portion of his people who still trusted in him. Who were marked not merely by their national identity as Israelite or Judahites, but by their spiritual identity as a people who hunger and thirst for the Lord and for his promises. For people like that, here's where we come to the burst of light in Isaiah 9:1, the day of salvation would eventually dawn. Look again at verse one where we read, "But there will be no gloom for her, who was in anguish." There will be gloom after Ahaz, gloom will set in for the nation of Judah. Isaiah is looking beyond that at this point, and he says, "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations." Back in the early 1990s, and some of you might remember this, one of the most dangerous cities in the world was Medellin, Colombia. In fact, at the time, I think it was labeled the most dangerous city in the world. During the heights of Pablo Escobar's drug cartel, which was based in Medellin. The city had something like a murder rate of nearly 400 murders per 100,000 people. It was by far the highest in the world. To give you a comparison, the highest murder rate in the United States today is St. Louis, which is about 64 murders per 100,000 people. So that was, you know, doing the math something like eight fold what St. Louis is today. Moreover, the poverty rate in Medellin in the early 1990s was something like 50 percent. The infrastructure of the city left much to be desired. After Escobar's death that the city underwent this incredible transformation, the homicide rate plummeted, the poverty rate fell too. Over the course of the next few decades, Medellin has been transformed into what one publication calls it one of the smartest cities in the world. Now, of course, all cities have issues Medellin included, but the transformation that city has undergone in three decades is truly remarkable. Well, when our text opens in verse one, we hear Isaiah announce an even more remarkable transformation than that. He tells us that the lands to the north of Judah and Jerusalem, the lands of Zebulon and Neftali would be transformed. Now this was land that was originally settled by God's people all the way back in the book of Joshua. The people of God who lived there, the Israelites who lived there under King David and under King Solomon, they flourished in that place. After Solomon died, well, that land quickly became a land of idolatry. False worship sprang up on the mountains of Zebulon and Neftali and the surrounding regions, and the land became a setting for international conflict. It was eventually land that was devastated by Assyria, in Ahaz's own day. We learn in the Bible that after a Syria devastated the land of Zebulon and Neftali, the carried away the Jewish population that lived there and then repopulated it again with pagan gentiles who didn't worship the Lord instead. In God's providence Assyria turned this land into a place of deep darkness and gloom in more ways than one. Yet, Isaiah looks forward to a day when that depleted and dark territory would be the first to be transformed. Of course, the kind of transformation that Isaiah envisions and Isaiah 9:1 has nothing to do with the implementation of any social or technological program. It has nothing to do with any kind of earthly glory whatsoever. Rather, Isaiah sees transformation of this territory because God himself is on the move. Understand that whenever we hear about light breaking into darkness in the Bible, it's nearly always associated with the presence of the glory of God. For example, the psalmist proclaims in Psalm 104:1-2, "You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light, as with a garment." The advent of light into the world, then, is nothing more and nothing less than the emergence of God's presence into the world, to dwell with his people. And to deal with the dominance of spiritual darkness that had overtaken not only the land but also the world. As Isaiah looks forward to this day, the advent of God's glorious presence, well, he tells us in verse three that this really has nothing to do at all with a geographical plot of land. Rather, it has everything to do with what this will mean for God's people. Look at verse three, where the prophet Isaiah proclaims quote, "You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you, as with joy at the harvest as they are glad when they divide the spoil." Again, Isaiah is peering forward to a future day just like he was in versus one through two. As an aside, what's interesting is that throughout these verses, these first three verses in Isaiah, he sees these events of the future as so certain that he actually speaks about them in the past tense. He did that when he spoke of God's presence back in the land, and now he does that again when he talks about the effects that this has on God's people. So what is the effect that God's presence has on God's people? Well, first he talks about the multiplication of God's people. Remember, in Isaiah's own day as he's writing this prophecy, those who were actually looking to God by faith were few. It was maybe a small remnant among the people of Judah and Israel who actually believed in the Lord and love the Lord. In the future, Isaiah tells us when light breaks through the darkness, he sees a dramatic increase in numbers. Not only Jews, but also pagans from the nations would soak in the light of God's presence. Remember, because of Assyria, those northern regions became a mixture of gentiles and Jews, which is why Isaiah calls them here Galilee of the Nations. When light arrives, when God's presence breaks into human history, he paints this picture where even a remnant of the Gentiles will be transformed from a people of unbelief to a people of faith. God's people, then we learn when God's presence arrives would swell numerically. They would spread out geographically, and we only need to read through the book of Acts to see how that takes shape and in their growth. We also learn that their joy would increase, too. If you're looking at the imagery of verse three Isaiah likens the joy of God's people when God's presence arrives to that of a farmer after a bountiful harvest. Much of you farmers are joyful right now, that's the kind of joy that's envisioned here. Then he pictures that likewise as joy of a victorious army dividing up plunder after a battle that they won. But that leads to the question why? Why are they so joyful? Why are they filled with such joy? Well, very simply, the joy of God's people is conditioned by nothing other than the fact that with the advent of this light, they now dwell secure in the presence of God. When I was a kid, my parents were kind enough. Year in and year out to take my sister and I on a number of great vacations. Often one of the places we would go to was the happiest place on Earth, Walt Disney World. Now, as a kid who was spoiled and got to go to Walt Disney World fairly often, you would think that I would appreciate the thoughtfulness of my parents and the sacrifice that it was to take me there year in and year out and that as a kid, I would have simply just appreciated being at Walt Disney World, but that that would have been enough for me. But if that's what you're assuming, then you've never vacationed with kids. You see, without fail, every time we went on one of these extravagant vacations as a kid, even to Disney, it was never enough just to be on vacation. I always wanted something more. I remember one year in particular as a kid, that there was this toy Davy Crockett rifle that I saw in one of the gift shops, the gift shop that Disney strategically locates just to drive every parent crazy. I had to have it. For days in the so-called Happiest Place on Earth, all I thought about was this toy rifle asking my parents for every five minutes and unable to find any semblance of joy in the so-called Happiest Place on Earth until I held this overpriced faux wooden rifle in my hands. Talk about needing to shift my priorities. If we're all honest with ourselves, I think this also captures how we too often live in God's world, too. You see, when we become Christians, I think many of us can attest to the fact that God was enough. To be in his presence, to be in his church and to study his word might have felt like drinking water from a fire hose. It was a lot, but it was also a satisfying place to be. At some point we settle in and we often begin to obsess over comparatively insignificant things. Remember, in verse three of our passage, God's people are rejoicing with exceedingly exceeding joy simply because they're in God's presence. Their joy isn't conditioned by anything else other than God is in their midst. Friends, that's a game changer for God's people. That's everything in dictating our joy in the Christian life, too. But is that enough for you? Does that reality by itself produce joy in your life, or is your joy conditioned by a host of far more insignificant factors? If you profess Christ, let me ask you this, do people know you by your joy? You see, one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is joy, and we're called to be known as God's people for our joy. So do people know you as someone who professes steadfast joy in Christ? Or are you on the flip side, known more is a critical curmudgeon, as a bitter killjoy, always upset about something and always with an axe to grind. Now, of course, that's not to say we need to fake it when we walk through real suffering in life and when the world feels like a two ton elephant on our back. But even in suffering, the Bible tells us that there is a profound, not superficial, but substantive joy in knowing God and being in his presence. Joy in trusting that our identity as Sons of God is rooted and secured through the work of Christ. Friends, it's true that we live in an angry and scared and delusional world, but we're a people who don't belong to this world. We don't think like this world. We don't relate with each other in the back biting and exhausting way that citizens of this world relate with each other. Our joy is not and cannot be conditioned by anything in this world because if it is, it's understandable why we would be a miserable kind of people. We have what the world does not. So let me exhort you with this don't so obsess over the scraps of life that you fail to appreciate the feast that's laid before us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Find your joy, real joy, substantive joy in Jesus Christ. So Isaiah describes this future day when God's glorious presence would powerfully break into the world and his people would flourish in quantity and quality as a result. When we turn to verses four through seven, Isaiah puts meat on the bones, as it were, by describing for us more about the character of God's presence in the world and more reason that we have to be a joyful people as we pilgrim in this world. Deliverance that Overcomes Bondage So this leads to the second point deliverance that overcomes bondage. Now, when we turn to verses four through seven, if you're looking at your Bible, you may notice that in verses four or five and six, Isaiah begins at least in the English translation. With this word for the idea here is that in each of these verses, Isaiah is explaining both the nature of God's advent and the reasons we have to be a people of joy. In doing this, he gives us three what we call vignettes, three pictures to explain God's advent as our deliverance out of bondage, the bondage of darkness. So let's take a look at these three vignettes. First look at verse four, where Isaiah tells us that through the advent of God's glorious presence, God's people are delivered from bondage. They're pictured here as a people who were once pressed down with a wooden bar on their necks. That's this idea of a yoke with a rod in the hands of a taskmaster used against them. This symbolism pictures God's people living under an oppressive burden, a burden that that clearly goes beyond merely physical things. When the light arrives, what happens? Well, this burden is dramatically broken. Notice that the relief they experience is also likened in our passage to the relief that was brought about by Gideon in the book of Judges. That's what this reference at the final line of verse for when we hear about Midian, that's what that calls to mind. If you don't know the story in the book of judges. When God's people, particularly in the north of Israel, the land of Zebulon and Naftali were oppressed by the Midianites, God raised up Gideon to deliver them. If you were to look at the book of Judges and read about that deliverance, you would find that Gideon's triumph over the Midianites was, by all accounts, unexpected. It subverted expectations because the Lord called Gideon to go up against Midian with only 300 men. Yet, through that unexpected band of men led by Gideon, God saved his people. In the same way, I say, tells us that the deliverance that God's advent brings will come about in an equally, actually an even more unexpected way. A way that subverts expectations. We'll have to wait until verse six to hear more about that. In verse five Isaiah tells us that through the advent of God's presence, it's as if a war has also been won. The imagery is that of a military equipment being burned by fire. What's important in this imagery is that at no point in Isaiah's forward looking future picture that he gives; do we hear anything about God's people actually fighting a battle or winning a battle. In fact, the only picture we have is that of God's people enjoying the end of a battle that's already been won. As Alec Motera puts it, "They have entered the battlefield only after the fighting is done." They win a victory without actually fighting a war on their own. Now these two vignettes the one in verse four and the one in verse five are both helpful for us in explaining God's advent. They explain the character of God's presence and what it means, what he breaks into human history. They explain the reasons that we have to be a people of joy. When we come to verses six and seven, the final two verses in our passage, we also come to the vignette, the picture that holds everything else together, this is the one in verses six through seven that explains the victory. This is the one that explains the nature of the burdens lifted, and this is the one that puts flesh and blood to the coming of God's presence into the world. Unexpectedly, at least for those hearing and reading this and Isaiah's own day, the climax of deliverance is a child. Talk about deliverance through unexpected means. Yet in this child, we find that God himself has come. Notice in verse six that there are four names that are ascribed to this child. This is a famous passage; it was read for us earlier. Most of us probably all know what these titles are, we read Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now, each of these four names, when you really get down to it, would simply be inappropriate to give to any ordinary child, even a child who's born into royalty because each one of these titles are packed with notions of divinity. Let's just look at two of these. First, the title wonderful counselor may seem tame on the surface of things. It may seem as if this is simply somebody who doles out pious and positive advice, and that's about it. Kind of like a motivational speaker of sorts. That's not at all with this title suggests. In fact, one commentator named Paul House opts for a translation "wonderful planner", because this title points to one who plans supernatural things and then carries them out. It has nothing to do with somebody who just sits on high and doles out positive advice that you can take or leave. In short, the language here suggests that this child is vested with the knowledge to plan redemption and then the authority to carry it out. The next title, Mighty God, suggests even more clearly that than the first the divinity of this child. This is a child who embodies the power of God in his person. Who defeats the enemies of God, and then, like God himself, is the rightful object of worship for the people of God. Understand, then, that the descriptions and the titles that are given to this son point to a ruler that the world could never produce on its own. This is one who represents perfectly God's people before God and who in turn perfectly rules over God's people as God's true king. It's no surprise, then, that Isaiah nine, this passage that we've been reading and studying and preaching on is cited in Matthew chapter four at the outset of Jesus's public ministry in Galilee of the Gentiles and applied to Jesus. It's no surprise that Jesus, in his incarnation, is described in John one as light that had broken into the world. John 1:09 tells us of Jesus, the true light which gives light to everyone, has come. The future hope that Isaiah declares then for the small and faithful remnant in his own day, living in darkness, living in gloom has nothing to do with political deliverance from an international enemy. It has nothing to do with anything earthly whatsoever. It has nothing to do with getting behind the right earthly power or the right earthly king or the right earthly kingdom. Rather, the ultimate hope that Isaiah holds out to them and us is Jesus Christ. The one who has dealt with our greatest enemies of sin and death and the devil and the only one through whom, to paraphrase the Apostle Paul in Colossians one, transfers us his people from the domain of darkness to his own glorious kingdom of light. Application Friends, the gospel tells us that the things this world values, things that may have a veneer of wisdom and power, of things that we might be really tempted in our own lives to invest all of our capital into are ultimately things that are powerless to do what we really need from them. So often the world pulls us into thinking that our ultimate hope depends on what we get behind in this world. You see these metaphors of light and darkness, metaphors that we find all over the scriptures, are also commonplace elsewhere in life. Typically, when the world wants to baptize something as good, even if it's not good, it's associated with light. Any time the world wants to identify something as evil, it cloaks it in the metaphor of darkness. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles are a team of light, and the Dallas Cowboys are a team of deep, deep darkness. That's true. Yet the Bible tells us that the true light, the true light that has come into this world has nothing to do with this world. The true light is not found in what looks powerful in this world. Rather, it's found in what the world considers lowly and despised. It found in the one who is born to a teenage girl from a backwater town in Galilee of the nations, on the fringes of the most powerful empire in the first century A.D. By all accounts, the light that dawns in the first century A.D. in Jesus Christ subverts expectations in a plethora of ways. Yet in this child lies the power of God. Friends like General Titus and Ahaz before him, we're often driven by angst about being on the winning team. After all, nobody wants to be on the "wrong side of history". The Bible pleads with us to vest our hope not in anything that this world values, but in this child, Jesus Chris. The one who stands at the center of human history and the one who stands at the end of human history. So if you're not a Christian this morning, let me ask you this. What alliances in this world are you banking on right now? How's that working out for you? You see, the Bible pleads with us, as do I, to ally yourself above everything else with God's king, Jesus Christ through faith alone. That is our only hope in this ruthless and dark, dark world. At the same time, this passage calls all of us, whether you're a Christian or not, to check our allegiances and to align ourselves or realign ourselves with the true light and the true king. This is what I want to leave us with. That is just as we do not seek salvation from anything that this world offers, so too do not despair, the apparent dominance of darkness in this world. You see, there's much in this world that could distress us if we let it. I don't think I need to say that, but I'll say it when we look out into our neighborhoods and into our worlds, we see that the darkness of sin and unbelief hangs over everything. Then we turn inward and then we examine our own hearts and we see our own sin. When we do that, how many of us have cried out with the Apostle Paul, "wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?" While there will always, always be much to pray for, and there's always much that could drive us to despair, understand the light of the glory of God's presence has already broken into this world. The church has already spread abroad all across the world and continues to do so to this very day, even in places that we would identify as places of deep darkness and persecution for the church. The Spirit, we know is also actively at work in the church, actively at work, even in our own local church, in our ministries, at work in our members. All of us are learning day by day what it means to walk in the light of the glory of God. The Bible tells us that the light has already dawned and far from disappearing or fading into the night sky, the Bible looks forward to the day when Jesus Christ will come again in a second advent and the light of the glory of God will be so bright that sun and moon will no longer have a purpose in the new heavens and the new Earth. Revelation 21 has something to say about that. Again, there's much we could despair over in this world, but brothers and sisters, the first advent that we celebrate has already come. The second, I promise you, is on its way. In the meantime, the Lord, our God, through his Spirit, is in our midst. What alliance could be any more consequential than that one? Pray with me. Father, we thank you for what Isaiah looked forward to, that we look back upon. That is the advent and appearing of your glory and your Son. Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ. We thank you that Jesus Christ was and did everything that Isaiah looked forward to in his own day. Lord, I pray that as we walk, as sojourners and exiles in this often dark world that you would help us remember who we are and whose we are. That you would help us correct any battle allegiances that we have with this world. That you would instead realign us day by day with what is true and what is right and what is good. What we ask this in Christ name. Amen.

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Caligula, Nero, Elagabalus, Vitellius, all of these are noted debaucherous Roman Emperors. However, they pale in comparison to the original king of wicked desires, the Emperor Tiberius. In this episode we discuss the perverted and depraved acts of Tiberius and how those acts may have affected Emperors for generations after Tiberius' demise. Please note: Episodes of Kinky Facts contain adult themes, graphic content, and vulgar language. It is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18, it is also not suitable for work. Listener discretion is advised. Want more Kinky Facts? Follow me on instagram or TikTok: the_dahlia_rose Only Fans : rose.dahlia (free to subscribe) To read my spicy short stories, poems, or to suggest kinky facts visit my website at: https://dahliarose.weebly.com/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/soulful-sparks License code: I3XF9GKGKU2CSCKG Soulful Sparks by Soundroll Sources for this episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tiberius https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/tiberius.html https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/tiberius.shtml https://www.thecollector.com/tiberius/ https://www.walksinsiderome.com/blog/the-scandalous-private-life-of-tiberius-caesar/ https://rome.us/roman-emperors/tiberius.html https://bigthink.com/the-past/7-most-notorious-and-excessive-roman-emperors/ https://erenow.net/ancient/thejoyofsexus/76.php --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Photo:  Year of the Four Emperors (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian) ClassicGaius&Germanicus: July 17, 2021: #Londinium90AD:  Gaius and Germanicus remember with foreboding the year of four emperors. Michael Vlahos, Johns Hopkins @JHUWorldCrisis https://audioboom.com/posts/7907224-podcastextra-1-2-londinium90ad-gaius-germanicus-remember-with-foreboding-the-year-of-four

In dieser Episode bekommen wir einen kurzen Überblick darüber, wie die Römer das antike Köln regierten. Chronologisch ist die Episode nicht fest an ein Datum angedockt. Im Rahmen unseres bisherigen Podcasts beschreibt sie jedoch das politische Köln am Ende des 1. Jahrhunderts n. Chr., einige Jahrzehnte nach Vitellius und dem Bataveraufstand. Die römische Herrschaft ist gefestigt und die Römer gestehen 85 n. Chr. endgültig ein, dass sie die rechtsrheinische Seite nicht erobern werden. Ein guter Zeitpunkt, um das politische System des antiken Kölns und seiner Umgebung genauer unter die Lupe zu nehmen. Vor allem der Stadtsenat, die hohen Regierungsämter der Stadt und der Statthalter werden genauer unter die Lupe genommen. Das passt gut, denn in der nächsten Folge geht es um den großen Römer Trajan, der hier im Jahr 98 n. Chr. Statthalter von Köln wird. Dort wird er überrascht erfahren, dass er der neue Kaiser geworden ist. Im Gegensatz zu Vitellius allerdings auf ganz legale Weise. Doch Trajan ist, wie bereits erwähnt, das Thema der nächsten Folge.

Eine römische Eröffnung, gleich drei Bestseller, das dickste Lieblingsbuch - und: Schreiben Frauen anders als Männer? Daniel stellt eine Detektivreihe vor, die im alten Rom spielt und beweist erstaunliche Kenntnisse in alter Heilkunde. Ein Bestseller aus Südkorea gefällt Katharina auf den zweiten Blick - und ein Buch taugt leider nur zum Lesen in homöopathischen Dosen auf dem Gäste-WC. Die Bücher dieser Folge 00:01:04 Lindsey Davis: "Silberschwein" (Droemer Knaur, nur noch antiquarisch) 00:05:08 Axel Hacke: "Im Bann des Eichelhechts" (Kunstmann) 00:09:37 Christian Kracht: "Eurotrash" (Kiepenheuer & Witsch) 00:17:36 Cho Nam-Joo: "Kim Jiyoung, geboren 1982", aus dem Koreanischen von Ki-Hyang Lee (Kiepenheuer & Witsch) 00:21:40 Lauren Wolk: "Echo Mountain", aus dem Englischen von Birgit Kollmann (Hanser) 00:27:20 Interview mit Laura Hage 00:35:00 Johan Harstad: "Max, Mischa und die Tet-Offensive", aus dem Norwegischen von Ursel Allenstein (Rowohlt) 00:37:58 Annemarie Selinko: "Désirée" (Kiepenheuer & Witsch) Link zu Kinder- und Jugendbuchrezensionen: http://ndr.de/kinderbuecher Das Rezept für Erbsen nach Vitellius Zutaten für vier Personen 225 g getrocknete Erbsen 2 cm frische Ingwerwurzel 2 TL geschnittenes frisches Liebstöckel- oder Selleriegrün ½ TL gemahlener schwarzer Pfeffer 3 hartgekochte Eidotter 3 EL (90 g) klarer Honig 2 EL (30 ml) Fischsoße 2/3 Tasse (150 ml) Weißwein 1/3 Tasse (80 ml) Weißweinessig 1 EL (15 ml) Olivenöl Zubereitung Die Erbsen über Nacht in kaltem Wasser einweichen, am nächsten Tag abseihen, in einen Topf geben und mit frischem kalten Wasser bedecken. 1 - 1 ½ Stunden weichkochen. Wenn nötig, noch kochendes Wasser nachfüllen. Die Erbsen abtropfen und zu einem Brei zerdrücken oder abgekühlt im Mixer zerkleinern. Für die Soße den Ingwer schälen, kleinschneiden und mit Liebstöckel und Pfeffer zerstoßen. Dann die gekochten Eidotter dazugeben und weiter verrühren, bis man eine weiche Paste hat. Honig und Fischsoße unterrühren, in einen Kochtopf umfüllen und Wein, Essig und Öl hinzufügen. Die Masse zum Kochen bringen und ein paar Minuten lang leicht köcheln lassen. Zum Schluss die Erbsen dazugeben und aufs Neue erhitzen. (Rezept der Universität Erlangen) ndr.de/eatreadsleep eatreadsleep@ndr.de

Köln ist in Aufruhr im Vierkaiserjahr des Jahres 69 n. Chr. Agrippina ist tot, ebenso wie ihr Sohn, Kaiser Nero. Wer wird der neue römische Kaiser werden? Vier Männer werfen ihre Hüte in den Ring. Einer von ihnen ist Vitellius, der römische Statthalter von Köln. Die Folgen für Köln als Grenzstadt sind schrecklich. Am Ende des Jahres 69 n. Chr. wird unsere junge Stadt von dem germanischen Stamm der Bataver belagert. Es droht die totale Zerstörung.

Revelation 17:7-18 Series: Just Conquer Part 46 # Introduction It has been observed that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same result, but expecting a different one. Because of sin, there are more insane people than polite people want to acknowledge. To be insane means to be in a state of mind which prevents normal perception and behavior. Our English word comes from *insanus*, which is the idea of not being *sanus*, so *not healthy*. While we know that man's depravity means he is spiritually dead and incapable of seeing the truth on his own, one of the symptoms is a mental sickness that *believes* in the dark. It's "normal" only in the sense that he's not by himself in his perceptions of reality. The last days will be marked by a society of unrestrained delusion. There will be great, global agreement on impossible things, at least until the hour when agreement self-destructs. This is the insane part, because the agreement was on destruction, so it was only a matter of time before it imploded. A society cannot survive if it is built on idolizing a liar and living in deception. Only those who *can't* be insane won't be, and the only ones who can't are called by the Spirit and chosen by the Father and faithful to the Lamb. The burden of Revelation 17 is to show the path of destruction, to show what has been determined for those who deceive and are deceived. They love to hate, their "love" turns to hate, and it is insane to think that it was ever going to turn out differently. They have a mind for war, a shared mind set for destruction, and those who are raised up in such an irrational system are destined to fall. As believers, we are not just being given information about the future world insanity and the sorts of persecution that believers will face, we are being given a different mindset, we are being given a share in the conquering King, and we are being given confidence in God's Word. *All* of His words will be fulfilled, and it can't be any other way. It is the definition of insanity to deny His sovereignty, let alone to make war against the Lamb. We have been considering John's visions of the Great Tribulation for a number of chapters. What we have seen unveiled with the apostle are not things that have happened yet, they are not things that are currently on stage either. That said, we are not luny to think that they are immanent. We are not mentally unfit, or unhinged because we think they could happen at any moment, because John himself wrote that they would happen soon, as did many other NT writers. When we see insanity in our own day, we are seeing the same path of destruction. Our heightened awareness of the two paths, one of conquering and the other of being conquered, only helps us be faithful. Revelation 17 began with a vision of a "great prostitute," who represents a system of spheres which seduce men with the promise of prosperity and pleasure. The woman works with the beast, the Antichrist, until he turns on her, which anyone who knows anything about beasts could have told her would happen. John introduced the prostitute and identified some of her behavior in verses 1-6, and in verses 7-18 he is given an angelic interpretation of what it all means. Five times we'll read "that you saw" (verses 8, 12, 15, 16, 18) as the angel provides divine commentary. # Raised to Fall (verses 7-14) John's response to the vision begins halfway through our verse 6: "When I saw her, I marveled greatly." We might compare this to the first time Digory saw Queen Jadis, or what Ahab thought about Jezebel: Wow, and *Yikes*! There was an overwhelming sense of pomp (she “was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup") along with an overwhelming sense of corruption (she held “a cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality" and “was drunk with the blood of the saints"). The prostitute was a breathtaking nightmare. The "angel said" to John, "'Why do you marvel? I will show you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her" (verse 7). Her appearance has a perfectly sane explanation and John has no need to be so staggered. Now we see about the beast, the heads, then the horns. ## The Beast is raised to fall. (verse 8) The verse opens and shuts with a description of the beast as one who "was, and is not, and is about" to come. The beast is the Antichrist according to chapter 13, and his is mostly a political power with a religious complexion. The beast has always been jealous of the anointed Son, and even this description is a bad parody of the eternal Logos. The beast "is about to rise from the bottomless pit," from his underworld abyss (see 11:7). But even with such a devilish arrival, he will come from hell "and go to destruction." It's a one-way road to Looserville (ἀπώλειαν means loss and ruin). He'll do damage all along his route, but the end of his comeback is downfall. It has also been determined that many will love and laud this loser; "the dwellers on earth...will marvel to see the beast." The angel explains their marveling as an inevitable identity. They are "the dwellers on earth *whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world*." They were not chosen to see anything different. They were not chosen to know the truth, and so they *can't* and won't. They were not chosen to be delivered from the path of destruction. ## The Heads are raised to fall. (verses 9-11) John saw the prostitute riding the beast and he saw that the beast "was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns" (17:3). The angel has an interpretation. "This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings" (verse 9-10a). As we've already seen, having a mind is no sure indicator of having wisdom in it. That the heads symbolize "seven mountains" suggests the beast's connection with Rome. John's original readers surely would have connected the "seven hilled city,” the *urbs septicollis*, with Rome, as Suetonius and Virgil and Cicero and other Roman historians referred to it. A mind with wisdom is needed, though, because it's not just geographical, it's also generational. The heads are also "seven kings," and note the 5 + 1 + 1 pattern: "five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while" (verse 10). The sequence is much too specific to interpret the seven as just a perfect number, whatever the actual number. And also, such a specific sequence is impossible to fit with Roman emperors, as Preterists expect and as others attempt. Among those who believe that these seven kings are seven Roman Caesars, there is as much agreement about *which seven* as there is agreement about the efficacy of the Dominion election software, which is to say, not much. Even “Roman historians themselves debated whether Julius should be included as the first e.g., Suetonius [yes] vs. Tacitus [no].” (Osborne) Start with Julius Caesar, then Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, then Nero would be sixth, making Galba the Antichrist? Or skip the three quick Caesars (Galba, Otho, and Vitellius), the beast would be Vespasian? What about the weighty evidence that John wrote Revelation during the reign of Domitian, with Titus before him, then how do you count? An alternative would be to take these kings as considered with their dominions, so seven kingdoms throughout history. The first five would be Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. The one that "is" would be the Roman Empire, and the one what will remain only a little while would be the final world kingdom of the Antichrist. "As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction" (verse 11). This would allow for the beast to return from the abyss, rise to power, receive a mortal wound and recover, then reign as the seventh *and* in another way as the eighth, and so "belongs to the seven,” but the ultimate embodied devil-king. As each of the heads had fallen or would fall, so the final head "goes to destruction." Don't forget, Jesus has already risen from the dead, the beast has no hope. ## The Horns are raised to fall. (verses 12-14) As a typical symbol in the Bible, horns stand for military powers. "The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast" (verse 12). The horns are in cahoots. "These are of one mind and hand over their power and authority to the beast" (verse 11). These kings couldn't have received their power apart from the beast, but they combine their authority to honor and serve the beast. Like the earth-dwellers, they are a confederacy of the insane. “One mind” (μίαν γνώμην) here and in verse 17; they all vote raises for themselves. "They will make war on the Lamb." Whether or not these are the kings from the east referenced in 16:12, they will assemble at the place called Armageddon "for battle on the great day of God the Almighty" (16:14, 16), and the battle itself is summarily described in 19:19-21. It is a *slaughter*. These kings were raised to fall. It had to be. "The Lamb will conquer them, for he is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful" (verse 14). The reason that the most powerful kings on earth can't win is that they are facing the *King of kings* (see Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalm 136:2-3; Daniel 2:47). By definition their war was insane. Their perception of reality is destroyed, and so is their cause and their kingdoms. The whole interpretation explains that they are raised to fall. # Love to Hate (verses 15-18) As the sane know, the insane will eventually tear themselves apart. "And the angel said to me, 'The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages'" (verse 15). The prostitute sits on them in terms of her dominating influence; she dominates all of the spheres of life. For a while, as she sat on the beast, she had great influence over the rulers of the world. Now they turn on her. "And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute." It's a tale as old as time. Amnon hated Tamar after he raped her as much as he thought he loved her before (2 Samuel 13:15). The kings who loved the pleasurable company of the prostitute now seek her ruin. "They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire." God used similar language to describe His punishment on Israel's unfaithfulness in Ezekiel. > “And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore. > “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.” (Ezekiel 23:25–30, ESV) She's “made desolate” (a form of ἐρημόω), laid waste, deserted, depopulated (BAGD). She is exposed, eaten, and engulfed in flame. Just as with one mind the kings served the beast, with one mind they act here. More is said, "for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled" (verse 17). A mindset of destruction will inevitably turn on itself, especially when God *causes* it to happen. It's not just permission. He multiplies their insanity. *God* purposes for this sphere drunkenness and desolation. "And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth" (verse 18). The prostitute can't be Jerusalem. Jerusalem didn't embrace Rome's idolatry, and Jerusalem didn't entice the kings of the world. Jerusalem was already failing before AD 70, not at the top of her game before being made desolate. # Conclusion You cannot legislate, you cannot persuade and convince, *deceived* people *not* to attack themselves, or to attack what they think is not themselves but actually is. They believe that they are right, that their work is good. Such a state of delusion is not just demonic, it is *divine*. Many cannot unsee the glory of the beast and his ways. They have a beast-bias, and their blindness is confirmed whenever they see darkness. We are among those who cannot unsee the Lamb. We cannot unsee the Logos by whom and through whom and for whom all things were created. We cannot unsee the Lamb who was slain and by His blood ransomed people for God from every tribe, tongue, and nation. We cannot unsee the Lord of lords and King of kings, and have courage to conquer in the Logos-Lamb-Lord of all. ---------- ## Charge Under normal circumstances I would charge you, as God's people, to take advantage of this week's liturgy to do all your eating of potatoes and pie and drinking of wine and sparkling cider and fellowship with family and friends to the glory of God. But these are not normal circumstances. So instead I charge you to *double-down* on your thankfulness, and, like you might use two paper plates at a potluck, *double-up* your ceramic plates with potatoes and pie and wine and cider and family and friends to the glory of God. Do not water down your gratitude-gravy by being grumpy or grumbly. Do not mask your defiance to despotic edicts with actual disobedience to God. ## Benediction: > And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:18–21, ESV)

Mark Antony considers throwing in with Pompey before he packs his bags, follows Caesar and leaves Rome. Vorenus rekindles his romance with Niobe before he packs up his bag, raises his standard and leaves Rome. Octavian becomes a real man before he puts on his toga, packs up his bag and leaves Rome. We are also joined by special guest Alan Poul, director of the episode. Raising Standards, an occasional rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome, hosted by Rhiannon Evans and Matt Smith of the Emperors of Rome podcast.

Lucius Vorenus has a setback in his new career when all his slaves die of the flux. After a brief crisis of identity he re-enlists in the 13th legion. Octavian helps Titus Pullo investigate his suspicions. Attia engages in some light public vandalism. Servilia engages in some light public cursing. Caesar chases Pompey out of Italy. We are also joined by special guest Parvez Qadir, who plays the role of Tanjit. Raising Standards, an occasional rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome, hosted by Rhiannon Evans and Matt Smith of the Emperors of Rome podcast.

Caesar receives a dictator's welcome as he enters Roman society and seeks approval of the auspices. Vorenus has a party and an offering as he enters civilian life. Pullo throws his newfound wealth around. We are also joined by special guest Julian Farino, director of this episode of Rome. Raising Standards, an occasional rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome, hosted by Rhiannon Evans and Matt Smith of the Emperors of Rome podcast.

Great NT Profiles Part 15Homework Tips Checklist for ParentsPONTIUS PILATERelated Scriptures:• Luke 13:1-5; Matthew 27:1-28; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-19:42; Acts 3:13-15; 4:27-31; 13:28-33; 1 Timothy 6:13-16• Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor (prefect) of the Roman province of Judea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 CE. It is believed he hailed from the Samnium region of central Italy.• Pilate appears in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus and the• Jewish philosopher Philo.• In the New Testament, he is at best opportunistic, culturally insensitive, and often cruel.Governorship• Jesus was crucified during Pilate’s governorship, which lasted from 26 to 36 C.E.• Pilate was appointed by Tiberius himself known for anti-Jewish sentiments.• Pilate was known for his lack of respect for the Jewish population and cruelty (Luke 13:1-5)Clash with the Jewish Population• Pilate is known to have treated Jewish customs with contempt.• Almost immediately upon his arrival in Palestine in A.D. 26, he was at odds with the Jews.• There are three major clashes.Clash 1• His first act of provocation was the introduction into Jerusalem of Roman standards with embossed figures of the emperor.• Previous prefects had been careful not to offend Jewish religious views by not allowing any sign of emperor worship when the troops entered Jerusalem.• This act aroused great indignation and as a result the Jews sent a delegation to Caesarea who pled for five days for the removal of the standards.Clash 2• Pilate seized funds from the national treasury known as the Corbonas in order to construct an aqueduct.• Later when Pilate visited Jerusalem, the Jews met him with anger.• He orders his soldiers to mingle among the crowd dressed as civilians with hidden clubs.• On a prearranged signal, they drew their clubs and began to beat the protestors, killing many.Clash 3• In AD 36 a Samaritan false prophet promised his followers that he would show them the sacred vessels, which, according to tradition, Moses had buried on Mount Gerazim.• Many believed him and gathered with arms at the foot of the mountain. Pilate blocked the projected route with heavily armed infantry.• Some of the followers were killed in battle, others imprisoned, and others executed.Dismissal• The Samaritans complained to Vitellius, prefect of Syria, who shortly afterwards sent Marcellus to take temporary charge of Judea, ordering Pilate to report to Tiberius.The Gospel PortraitAll four Gospels portray him as a vacillating judge.The Trial of Jesus• The Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate early on Friday morning of the passion week (Matt. 27:1-2, 11-14; Mark 15:1-5; Luke 23:1-5; John 18:28-38).Barabbas• All four Gospels show an interest in the release of Barabbas.Only in Matthew• Only in Matthew does Pilate wash his hands to symbolize his innocence (27:24)• Only in Matthew do “all the people” cry, “His blood be on our heads and on the heads of our children” (27:25)Only in Luke• Only in Luke does Pilate declare Jesus “innocent”. Luke emphasizes it three times.• Pilate (23:4)• Herod Antipas (23:11)• Roman centurion (23:47)Only in John• John’s account shows Pilate desperate to release Jesus. (John 18:31).• Pilate finally gave in to the pressure of the Jewish leaders when they threatened him with the accusation of not being a friend of Caesar (John 19:12).Questions of History• Pilate seems to disappear from history after his rule.• According to Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus, Pilate was removed from office and sent back to Rome.• According to some traditions he was executed by Emperor Caligula or committed suicide, with his body thrown into the Tiber River.• The early church father Tertullian claimed he became a follower of Jesus and tried to convert the emperor to Christianity.

Lee Boardman played the Timon across two seasons of Rome, a character who grew in more prominence and bought some much needed diversity to the ethnic melting pot of the Roman Empire. Raising Standards, an occasional rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome, hosted by Rhiannon Evans and Matt Smith of the Emperors of Rome podcast.

Vorenus and Pullo deliver Caesar's demands to the senate, Attia makes the most of Caesar's impending arrival, and Pompey makes a strategic departure from Rome! Raising Standards, an occasional rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome, hosted by Rhiannon Evans and Matt Smith of the Emperors of Rome podcast.

Caesar crosses the Rubicon, Mark Antony becomes the Tribune of the Plebs, and Pullo, somehow, gets the blame for bringing down the Roman republic! Raising Standards, an occasional rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome, hosted by Rhiannon Evans and Matt Smith of the Emperors of Rome podcast.

Will Vorenus and Pullo recover Caesar's stolen standard? Will anyone explain why Octavian needs to go to Gaul? Find out in the inaugural episode of Raising Standards, a true rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome for true Romans! Raising Standards, an occasional rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome, hosted by Rhiannon Evans and Matt Smith of the Emperors of Rome podcast.

In this episode, we get a brief overview of how the Romans ruled ancient Cologne. Chronologically, the episode is not firmly docked to a date. In the context of our podcast so far, however, it describes political Cologne at the end of the 1st century AD, several decades after Vitellius and the Batavian Revolt. The Roman rule is consolidated and the Romans finally acknowledge in 85 AD that they will not conquer the Rhine side on the right bank of the Rhine. A good time to take a closer look at the political system of ancient Cologne and its surroundings. Especially the city senate, the high government offices of the city, and the governor will be examined more closely. This fits well because in the next episode we will talk about the great Roman Trajan, who becomes governor of Cologne here in 98 AD. There he will be surprised to learn that he has become the new emperor. In contrast to Vitellius, however, in a completely legal way. But Trajan is, as already mentioned, the subject of the next episode.

Will Vorenus and Pullo recover Caesar's stolen standard? Will anyone explain why Octavian needs to go to Gaul? Find out in the inaugural episode of Raising Standards, a true rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome for true Romans! Raising Standards, an occasional rewatch podcast of HBO's Rome, hosted by Rhiannon Evans and Matt Smith of the Emperors of Rome podcast.

Ian McNeice played the Newsreader in Rome, a character who bought both a flourish and much needed exposition to the Roman forum!

The Batavian revolt in the Gallic-Germanic border region in 69 CE has a tight grip over Cologne. The Roman rule is gone for the moment. This episode all these events of this conflict will unfold right in front of Cologne's doorstep and soon, inside its city walls. Will Cologne prevail? Or will Cologne be crushed between the rebels and the Romans? For one thing, it is certain: the Empire will strike back. It will get messy, believe me! More Info and Links to this podcast: linktr.ee/thofCGN

DISCLAIMER: I am sorry, for the bad sound compared to earlier episodes. I was still experimenting with my mic settings. Next will be better. Promise! CONTENT: Cologne is in turmoil in the Year of the Four Emperors in 69 CE. Agrippina is dead, so is now her son, emperor Nero. Who will become the new Roman emperor? Four men throw their hats into the ring. One of them is Vitellius, the Roman governor of Cologne. The consequences for Cologne as a border town are horrible. At the end of the year 69 CE, our young city is besieged by the Germanic tribe of the Batavians and fears total destruction. More Info and Links to this podcast: linktr.ee/thofCGN

Det gik stærkt i det såkaldte ‘Firkejserår’. Efter Neros død tog den aldrene Galba magten, men han blev straks upopulær, og et oprør anført af Vitellius brød ud. Inden opstanden nåede til Rom, blev Galba dog myrdet af endnu en rival, Otho, der herefter blev kejser.Han forsøgte at mægle med Vitellius, men den fremstrakte hånd blev afvist, og Otho gjorde efter et nederlag på slagmarken nederlag. Da Vittelius satte sig på magten i Rom blev han udfordret af Vespasian, og efter et sammenstød mellem deres hære i Cremona kunne Vespasian i år 69 lade sig hylde til kejser i Rom.Den nye kejser indvarslede en mere stabil periode i Roms historie, men trods sit ry for at være en kedelig rad, indledte han i 72. e.Kr. byggeriet af amfiteatret Colosseum, som i dag er det ultimative symbol på antikkens Rom.

Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students.   600 BCE - 600 CE Second-Wave Civilizations   Ancient Persia: 600 BCE -  Gabe - Ancient persia or the achaemenid persia which was called this because the ruler cyrus’s great great grandfather's name was achaemenid and he started as a small independant city under the medes for protection and then cyrus got in an argument with his grandfather Astyages and won taking over persia he then established a system by capturing and relocating and adding a power over every city by accomplishing this he claimed the name Cyrus the great Audrey - The Persians didn’t actually use the name “Persian”, instead they called themselves Aryans. They called where they lived Aran (there are other variations of the name) which make the modern version of the name, Iran, probably more accurate. This is similar to how the Greeks referred to their homeland as Hellas, while the name Greece was a Latin idea. Ben - Cyrus, the ruler of Persia then proceeded to conquer various empires such as the Median empire, the Lydian empire in around 540 BCE, and he eventually got his hands on the neo-babylonian empire in 539 BCE. But while Cyrus’s son Cambyses II is out trying to take hold of egypt and libya, another person comes along claiming to be bardiya, Cyrus’s second son. So Cambyses has to rush back to Persia to make sure the throne is not taken from him but dies on the way there. No one really knows how Cambyses or Cyrus died specifically though. (BTW note for other people, shahanshah is pronounced shaw-on-shaw) Ella - Cyrus was a military commander but he realized that he needed the regions he conquered to stay in good economic order if he wanted them to provide him with economic tribute revenues. To achieve his goals he left rulers in the areas that he conquered after he conquered them. Skylar - Persia was one of the greatest empire and civilization in the world. The Achaemenid empire at its peak had about 50 million people. Thats half of the people that were in the world at that time, according to historians. The Achaemenid Dynasty/empire ends when Greece unifies under Philip of Macedon in early to mid century bce. Alexander the Great wanted to mix their cultures but he dies so they split again. Emma - In ancient Mesopotamia when they conquered a nation they would break up their political and cultural systems so that they wouldn’t be a threat. Though when Cyrus came into power he switched it, allowing those he conquered to keep their separate societies in a tributary state. While it seemed like he was being kind, he most likely was trying to keep their loyalty. - Ethan - As Cambyses died in 522 BCE, he was succeeded by a general titled “Darius”. Darius claimed that he was slightly related to Cambyses II but many other people challenged Darius’s throneship. This resulted, in some places, rebellion against the Achaemenids. Darius soon made himself to be the clear ruler Persia and re established rule of the rebels. He also reorganized the empire into satrapies, and for each satrapy there would be a satrap. 600 CE Classical Greece:  Gabe - If you didnt know its called Classical Greece and Ancient Persia because Persia was in the Ancient Era and Greece is in the Classical era so Classical Greece cities were built between mountains in valleys and on coastal plain so by the sea there was a time somewhere around 1200 bce they were in this war called the trojan war there's a story of a huge horse called the trojan horse it was in these wars so in this war this guy named homer he said that people came from the sea while they were having the trojan war and they were attacking them and driving them off the coast so they built these city states called polis which were like fortified cities so the people could have protection Audrey - The Greek Peninsula has been settled by humans for thousands of years, but an important part of Greek history starts when the Mycenaean Empire falls and the Greek Dark Ages begin. It is called the “Dark Ages” because there really aren’t many historical records from that point in time, and that was around 1100-800 BC. The major events happened in the exiting of the Greek Dark Ages, and this is when things that Ancient Greece is really known for began, like the Oracle at Delphi and the Olympic Games. (if someone wants to explain these) Ben - The difference between sparta and athens was that in sparta social status wasn’t decided based on how much money you had or how smart you were, it was about your military ranking. The spartans political system was unique in that it had two kings that were from different families that ruled. But on the lower side of the political rankings was the helots. Helots were like slaves but had more freedom, helots still had families but they had to work for the state and couldn’t really do anything else. Helots were still considered owned but they were owned by the state. Helots were collected from the villages sparta pillaged. Emma - Greece’s structure was was pretty different from other societies at the time. While the desperate colonies(?) all recognized the “mother” city-state, they were all independent for the majority of the time. Their shared religion and culture was what gave them all a sense of unity. Ella - Ancient Greece was made up of many independent city states because of Greeces complicated geography. All of these communities were separated by mountains, hills, and water. Greece wasn't a unified nation, instead it was a bunch of connected communities that shared religion and beliefs. - Ethan - The kings of Sparta were priests of Zeus and they were included in a gerousia, or council of elders, which was the highest court of Sparta. Also, there was an executive committee consisting of 5 ephors which were chosen by the people, of the people. Skylar - The name Greece is not what people that live in Greece call it. They call it Hellas. Nowadays they don’t call it Greece and back in the “Ancient Greece” days they didn’t say Greece they said Hellas. The word Hellas comes from Hellen, viewed as the progenitor. The Hellastic people are the people that live in Greece. In late 6th century BCE Athens was the dominant economic power. Athens was full of wealth as silver was just founded in the mountains around the area. Athens had an amazing trading system with other Greek city-states. Trading with other city-states was super  important to Athens because it didn’t have the agricultural conditions to supply enough grain for its population. A series of laws were written and put in place by a statesman named Draco around 621 BCE. They didn’t stay too long because they were super harsh. Another man named Solon was called to change the laws, he created a series of laws that equalized political power. Hunter- Ancient Greece consisted of over hundreds of different independent city-states, somewhat due to the geography of Greece. Greece communities were separated by mountains, hills, and water. Rather than one large nation, Ancient Greece was more like a system of communities with a shared language and religion that sometimes led to a common sense of belonging.    600 BCE - 600 CE The rise and fall of empires:  Gabe - I'm going to start by saying an empire is a small city or state that claims a large amount of land which is usually broke up into provinces  empires rise and fall for different reasons they usually expand through military conquest which is how the romans the persians and the Maurya empire in india expanded but they progressed in different ways the Maurya empire political sabotage and religious conversion so the people turn against their own country Audrey - An empire forms when a ruler, that already controls some territory, gains control of more territory for whatever reason, and that could be from military tactics, a weak neighboring area or really anything like that. Once the ruler has that territory under their control, they gain land and people. With the power they now have, this ruler could tax the people for their own wealth and/or use them for a better army. The empire could then keep expanding in this way until it collapsed. Ben - After the fall of the Qin dynasty the Han empire began to rise because of all the power that was up for grabs. The Han dynasty began in 206 BCE. They revived the way of Confucianism to unite the people and give them more reasons to fight and become a larger empire. Han china started to fall in 2nd century CE and eventually reached its demise in 220 CE, it mainly fell because of a religious divide between the people and the natural disasters that caused food shortages which snowballed into a bad economy. Ella - Empires all grow for different reasons whether its strong military, political sabotage, or religious conversation, but the Romans were not out to conquer territory. They did get involved in several wars but after they defeated their enemies they would offer their victims a small amount of citizenship in return for loyalty to the Roman empire.    Emma - There are also several different factors that can lead to the fall of an empire. Each of these factors will usually reflect those that led to the rise of the empire. Things such as a economic collapse, the weakening of military forces, or the death/assassination of a leader are common causes of a fall. - Ethan - A common example of an empire falling is Persia. The Achaemenid empire had internal issues already but had structure still. In 334 BCE Alexander attacked and in 4 years general Darius the Third lied dead. He was actually killed by one of his own generals and when the throne lied empty Alexander took the reins. Skylar - The rise of empires is great everyone’s all happy, then usually right when everything gets normal, the empire falls for different reasons. Rather it’s they have no more money, they get taken over by another empire, or another reason. The Roman empire took hundreds of years to create. They had weak neighbors so it was easy for them to take over that area. Hunter-The fall of an empire can be because of an outbreak of war and rebellion, when an empire falls so does its military for a few months to years in which leaves them wide open for follow up attacks. Normally however when an empire is defeated it is overrun by the kingdom/empire that attacked. 600 BCE - 600 CE Empire of Alexander the Great:  Gabe - Alexander the great was kind of an i want everything kind of guy no but wherever he went he conquered very good at military strategy lets skip a little real quick after he died his successors made a coin with him on it with horns which were marking him as a deity which means he was a huge role model you could say a symbol of power he was the man people looked up to he was actually only 5 to round 5’8 but that was normal for them because they didn't eat as much meat as other empires. Audrey - Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great, was 20 years old when his extremely short reign began, lasting only 12 years. For how short his reign was, Alexander was very successful, especially when it came to conquering. Just like his reign, Alexander’s life was very short, ending in 323 BC when he was only 32 years old. Some people say he died from alcohol poisoning, some say it was from direct poisoning, but it is likely that he could have died because of a disease. Ella - A man known as Philip of Macedon came to power in 359 BC. His father had previously been the king of Macedon. Both of his older brother died which left him to be a regent for his infant nephew. He eventually possessed full power and ended up taking over a large majority of Greek city-states. He went on to almost unify all of them. Ben - Philip is later killed at his daughter’s wedding, by his royal bodyguard Pausanias in 336 BCE at the capital of macedonia, Aegae. This caused his son alexander to take control of the large kingdom that philip left behind. The one who assassinated tried to run away to his associates outside but tripped on a vine and got killed by philips. bodyguards Emma - Shortly after his father’s death, Alexander was crowned king and he eliminated any potential threats to his rule. The Greek city-states were now under his control. He then began his conquest of the Persian Empire which his father Philip had been planning before his untimely demise. Skylar - in 5th century BCE Greece started with the Persian invasion and ended with Peloponnesian war. Alexander the Great was one of the most powerful conquers in human history. Alexander the Great started off by taking control over his father’s empire after his death. Alexander wanted to do what his father wanted to do before he died, which was conquer the persian empire. So he put one of his generals, Antipater in charger of Greece. Alexander leads his troops on the greatest adventures of all time. Alexander won the battle at Granicus river, then Issus, Darius the third tries to negotiate but Alexander kept saying no, he wants to be the king of Asia. Eventually darius and alexander meet at Guagamela and alexander wins again. Darius’ empire was falling and what making the falling more official is when alexander takes his troops to Achaemenid, which is the capital of Persepolis and alexander defeats them once again. - Ethan - After Alexander’s father’s death, Alexander started focusing on India. He won some battles before he made it to the Ganges River. He planned to cross the Ganges to get to the rest of India. His tired troops decided that it was to much work and that they were already tired so they refused to go. In the end they turned home, and in 323 BCE, Alexander died to, what was most likely, disease.  Hunter- In the Kingdom of Thrace, during the reign of Lysimachus- a successor of Alexander the Great who lived from 361 BCE to 323 BCE, a coin was issued. The coin had Alexander’s face with ram horns on each side of his crown, the ram horns were a symbol of an Egyption God known as Amun or Zeus, who is often combined with Amun- from whom Alexander claimed descent. Flanked with these horns, Alexander had the reputation of a Deity.     600 BCE - 600 CE Rise of Rome: 600 BCE -  Gabe - the Rome empire came to power when  a group of noblemen were like ok the king sucks he's out and so they kicked him out and made the two consuls which were two people which were pretty close to a king except one could veto the others actions this was so one person could not be oh so powerful They also split the people into plebeians and patricians which were plebeians being common folk and patricians being people of noble blood This was the roman republic    Audrey - Legend has it, Rome was named after Romulus, one of twin brothers that are abandoned and raised by a “she-wolf”. Eventually, Romulus kills Remus (his twin brother) and becomes the first king of Rome. Other historians now think that it was the other way around, that the city of rome needed a founding story, and the whole thing was just that, a story. Ben - Rome was founded in 753 BCE (even though it’s mostly a myth and most believe in was founded a little later). Rome then founds the Rome Republic, a state in central rome, making them a little more influential in 509 BCE. Then much later than that the Punic wars happened between Rome and Carthage and consisted of three wars. The first war took place from 264-241 BCE, the second from 218-201 BCE, and the third from 149-146 BCE. in total it lasted from 264 to 146. Rome ended up winning and destroying and conquering Carthage. Ella - The Romans did not plan to build an empire but it came upon them as they ran into conflict with the surrounding city-states, kingdoms, and empires. They had to find a way to use the territories they conquered.  Most of the places the Romans conquered were allowed to keep the political and cultural ways they had, the only requirement was that they provide soldiers for the Roman Empire. Emma - The politics of Rome reflected the structure of their society; it too was divided into the two social classes, patricians and plebeians. Those in the upper class were allowed to hold political office, and then become a senator, but those of the lower class were not. However, the plebeians were able gain more political influence over time. - Ethan - The political system of Rome was mainly based on military rank/power. The “Comitia Centuriata” which was named for the century, was pretty much a group of 100 soldiers. Although, this 100 person unit was the base amount of people, it was not always exact in real situations. Skylar - I’m going to talk about the Punic wars that went on between Rome and Carthage. The Punic wars consist of three major battles, The first one lasted 23 years, from 264 BCE-241 BCE. It was at Agrigentum it was over the island of Sicily. Rome wins most smaller battles. Then Carthage leaves. Rome wanted Carthage to pay them for the damages. Rome built a stronger navy. 240 to 248 BCE there was a Mercenary war. The second Punic war was between 218-201 BCE. The third and final war was between 149-146 BCE where Rome basically destroys Carthage, ending a 700 year long war. 8.Hunter- Rome went from a city in the middle of the italy peninsula to one of the strongest empires in history. 600 CE From Roman Republic to Roman Empire:  Gabe - in 27 bce a guy named augustus caesar came and was like nope im the ruler “emperor” so basically the king and he started an autocratic government which is where he was the guy who called all the shots he didn't expand rome much in his time but he did do some things that changed the political and economic structure of rome      Audrey - Gaius Julius Caesar’s life really marked the transition between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, even though, in his lifetime, Rome was still a republic and never actually considered an empire. The reason I say this is the unofficial time that the transition occurred is, that at the time of Julius Caesar, the Roman Republic’s structure very much resembled the structure of an empire, so it kind of seems like it already switched. Ben - Julius Caesar then illegally crosses the rubicon and most of rome’s senators choose to move over to greece. This causes a sort of civil war between rome and greece. After Julius crosses the rubicon the senators send a popular general Pompey to go fight with his soldiers but they decide to retreat because they thought julius’s army was unbeatable. Then the other senators also retreat, giving julius control of rome again. But it would be only a matter of time before the senators return to try and retake rome. Ella - Julius Caesar was assassinated, and in his will he stated that his nephew Octavian would be his adopted son. Too other men Antony and Lepidus were big supporters of Caesars and they got together with Octavian to form a triumvirate, which was known as the second triumvirate. Unlike the first triumvirate which was between Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, this triumvirate had legal backing. These three men gained lots of power over the Roman republic. Emma -  The power he gained was not limited to the prolonged time in which he held office. A major part of it was that he now had complete control over the military, unlike before when the elected consuls served as commanders. He was also now the high priest, or Pontifex Maximus, and in charge of the census for taxation. He kept these powers by acting like they were still separate offices that could be held by someone else.  - Ethan - Roman money/currency wasn’t exactly economy based but politically based as well. Julius Caesar was the first emperor to put his face on currency and since then emperors of Rome have done this. Before Caesar, only deceased Romans and Roman gods were on currency. This strengthened the connection of the emperor and the economy while popularizing the current emperor. These emperors used this systems to popularize the next candidate they favored. Skylar - The Roman Empire began in 27 BCE when Augustus became the main ruler. Augustus is Julius Caesar’s adopted son. He never took the name king or emperor preferred to call himself princeps, first citizen, or primus inter pares. Augustus never expanded the territory because it was already as big as it could possibly get. 8.Hunter- The Roman Republic was a small city in Italy, after a large military growth and a gaining of power over many neighboring countries the Roman Republic quickly grew to the Roman Empire. 600 BCE - 600 CE The Roman Empire: Audrey - Pax Romana is a name that a two hundred year long time period is often referred to as, and it means “Roman Peace”. This name came from the time when Octavian was emperor, which was from 27 BCE to 180 CE. It was a relatively good time for the Roman Empire, even though there was still quite a bit of conflict it was really a pretty peaceful time hence the name. Gabe - it was a good time for the roman empire augustus caesar or Octavian had complete control over the military which was one of the ways he became the emperor But the romans liked the belief of having military governments temporary which is why He took control as a stand in governor of one of the provinces where the majority of roman legions were stationed giving him control over the military while still looking like he’s doing a favor for the people        Ella - Nero was a really bad guy. He was known for the fire in 64AD that a large amount of Romans died in. People think Nero started the fire to make room for a palace. Aside of that, he killed a lot of people including his own mom. He was also known for persecuting christians. Sometimes he would dip them in oil and set them on fire for a source of light in his garden.   Ben - After a few different anti-christian ruler come along, a new emperor decides to embrace christianity and his name was constantine. He was the first christian emperor and he even got baptised. Constantine also moves the capital more east and renames it to Constantinople. - Ethan - Augustus was followed by Tiberius who was Augustus’s step-son. Both had relatively long careers as emperors. Augustus had a career lasting close to 40 years while Tiberius had a 24 year long career. Caligula, one of Augustus’s great nephews, was viewed as a sadist. While he was emperor for a while he was quickly assassinated, he had a lot of people killed during his term of about 4 years.  Emma - After the Julio Claudian Dynasty of Rome came the Flavian Dynasty. This dynasty began in 69 AD when Vespasian was made emperor by the senate after the defeat of Vitellius. He ruled for ten years until 79 AD when he died. He was then succeeded by his oldest son, Titus. This marked the first emperor of Rome to be followed by his own son. He ruled for only two years, until 81 AD when he died from an illness. His rule was then followed by his brother Domitian who held the position from 81 to 96 AD. This dynasty was known for building the colosseum and the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem. Skylar - One of the most important pieces from Augustan, Rome is the Ara Pacis, Ara Pacis means altar of peace. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. The Ara Pacis was basically rebuilt from the fragments they found, some from the 17th century, but most were from the 20th century. The altar was used for sacrifices. This Altar has a political and spiritual meaning. 8.Hunter- The Roman Empire was an extremely powerful empire capturing Jerusalem, Cannan, and i believe nearly one hundred other provinces. 600 BCE - 600 CE Ancient and Imperial China: Audrey - The Shang Dynasty ended in 1046 BCE, when the Zhou (pronounced jo) Dynasty defeated the last Shang emperor, Di Xin, in the Battle of Muye. Historical records show that Di Xin had become a corrupt ruler, and the Zhous said they could only overthrow him because of the Mandate of Heaven which is an idea that if a ruler became incapable or corrupt the a guiding force in the universe would throw them out and replace them. Gabe - Zhou empire did not last long though because the provinces were giving their support to the governor basically of their providence instead of the zhou emperor so slowly the states became more powerful than the emperor himself hence the warring states period      3.Ella - The Zhou Dynasty collapsed at a slow pace over hundreds of years. As this happened, rulers of the surrounding areas gained more power than the king. This was the beginning of a period that was known as the Warring State period, which lasted from about 475 BC to 221 BC. Nearby, Qin, a western state, conquered its surrounding states and established their own dynasty. Ben - The Qin dynasty began to rise to it’s empire state in 221 BCE. The founder was Qin Shi Huang, a legalist (legalist is when law is enforced very strictly) that hated freedom of expression and freedom in general. A historian quoted him once about how he hates historians and wants all non-state historians that wrote history before Qin dynasty to be burned. “[Historians] hold it a mark of fame to defy the ruler, regard it as lofty to take a dissenting stance, and they lead the lesser officials in fabricating slander. If behavior such as this is not prohibited, then in upper circles the authority of the ruler will be compromised, and in lower ones, cliques will form. Therefore it should be prohibited. I therefore request that all records of the historians other than those of the state of Qin be burned.” - Ethan - Many differing beliefs are made vocal during this time period. 3 of which are Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Confucianism, created by Confucius, was based on reform of the status, class, and hierarchy systems. Legalism is more based off of strict laws and harsh punishments. Daoism is more of lawless following what they believe is right at the time. Emma - Confucius, or Kongzi which means Master Kong. His teachings were almost entirely based around morality and having a personal sense of right and wrong. He wasn’t really teaching specific rules of what was good or bad, rather teaching people be conscious of the intent behind their actions. Skylar - During the Warring States period in China from 475-221 BCE China was divided into seven competing nations. The fiefs were gaining more importance as the Zhou dynasty was ending and were becoming states. One of the 7 states were Qin. the other 6 states were Chu, Zhou, Wei, Han, Yan, and Qi. The first leader of Qin was King Zheng, later on he became Qin Shi Huangdi, he would also go on to be the first leader of the Qin dynasty. People say that the Qin dynasty ended the warring states period but it was really when Qin conquested the other states. 8. 600 BCE - 600 CE Early Judaism: Audrey - Judaism stands out to historians because the Jews were monotheists, meaning they believed and worshiped only one God. This made the Jews unique to most other societies which were polytheistic and worshiped multiple Gods. Gabe - The jews lived in the kingdoms of israel and judah the assyrians conquered these two empires and then the babylonians which was called the babylonian exile which sent allot of the jews out of these kingdoms 3 . Ella - In the Hebrew bible, It talks about Abraham moving from the city of Ur to Canaan with his family. It is Questionable whether  the Ur they are talking about was the Sumatran city in lower Mesopotamia or a Ur in Upper Mesopotamia. Ben - One of the most important jewish prophets was Moses. Moses was born at a time where the emperor was killing off every boy that is born because of his fear that if they grew too strong they would overtake him. To hide Moses from the emperor’s forces his mother put him in a basket and let him float down the river. The emperor/pharaoh’s daughter finds moses and raises him into the royal family, moses one day is enraged by a slaver beating a jewish slave and kills the slavemaster and retreats out of the city in fear of punishment. He goes to Mount Sinai but the Lord tells him to go back and free every Jewish slave. So he goes back and frees them and splits the red sea to escape. He brings the people back to the mountain where he receives the ten commandments. They then travel for 40 years and he reestablishes the jewish people in Canaan. - Ethan - Jews lived under Roman rulers while still being allowed their own traditions. There was some Jewish revolting but mainly they were crushed every time. Soon after the Romans renamed Judea into Syria Palaestina. This destroyed the connection of the Jews to the land. Skylar - Abraham is one of the significant patriarchs, the other two are Jacob and Isaac. Abraham’s first son is called Ishmael. He had Ishmael with his wife sarah’s servant because they didn’t think they could have kids. Ishmael is viewed as the progenitor, the patriarch for the arab people. According to biblical accounts Isaac was born when Sarah was in her 90s and Abraham was around 100 years old. Emma - Abraham’s son Isaac was the second significant patriarch. He was the first one of the three to inherit the covenant that his father Abraham had received. Later in his life he married Rebekah who gave birth to their twin sons Jacob and Esau, Jacob being the last of the three patriarchs.   That’s all the time we have for today. THank for joining us outside of the box that is learning.

Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students.   600 BCE - 600 CE Second-Wave Civilizations   Ancient Persia: 600 BCE -  Gabe - Ancient persia or the achaemenid persia which was called this because the ruler cyrus’s great great grandfather's name was achaemenid and he started as a small independant city under the medes for protection and then cyrus got in an argument with his grandfather Astyages and won taking over persia he then established a system by capturing and relocating and adding a power over every city by accomplishing this he claimed the name Cyrus the great Audrey - The Persians didn’t actually use the name “Persian”, instead they called themselves Aryans. They called where they lived Aran (there are other variations of the name) which make the modern version of the name, Iran, probably more accurate. This is similar to how the Greeks referred to their homeland as Hellas, while the name Greece was a Latin idea. Ben - Cyrus, the ruler of Persia then proceeded to conquer various empires such as the Median empire, the Lydian empire in around 540 BCE, and he eventually got his hands on the neo-babylonian empire in 539 BCE. But while Cyrus’s son Cambyses II is out trying to take hold of egypt and libya, another person comes along claiming to be bardiya, Cyrus’s second son. So Cambyses has to rush back to Persia to make sure the throne is not taken from him but dies on the way there. No one really knows how Cambyses or Cyrus died specifically though. (BTW note for other people, shahanshah is pronounced shaw-on-shaw) Ella - Cyrus was a military commander but he realized that he needed the regions he conquered to stay in good economic order if he wanted them to provide him with economic tribute revenues. To achieve his goals he left rulers in the areas that he conquered after he conquered them. Skylar - Persia was one of the greatest empire and civilization in the world. The Achaemenid empire at its peak had about 50 million people. Thats half of the people that were in the world at that time, according to historians. The Achaemenid Dynasty/empire ends when Greece unifies under Philip of Macedon in early to mid century bce. Alexander the Great wanted to mix their cultures but he dies so they split again. Emma - In ancient Mesopotamia when they conquered a nation they would break up their political and cultural systems so that they wouldn’t be a threat. Though when Cyrus came into power he switched it, allowing those he conquered to keep their separate societies in a tributary state. While it seemed like he was being kind, he most likely was trying to keep their loyalty. - Ethan - As Cambyses died in 522 BCE, he was succeeded by a general titled “Darius”. Darius claimed that he was slightly related to Cambyses II but many other people challenged Darius’s throneship. This resulted, in some places, rebellion against the Achaemenids. Darius soon made himself to be the clear ruler Persia and re established rule of the rebels. He also reorganized the empire into satrapies, and for each satrapy there would be a satrap. 600 CE Classical Greece:  Gabe - If you didnt know its called Classical Greece and Ancient Persia because Persia was in the Ancient Era and Greece is in the Classical era so Classical Greece cities were built between mountains in valleys and on coastal plain so by the sea there was a time somewhere around 1200 bce they were in this war called the trojan war there's a story of a huge horse called the trojan horse it was in these wars so in this war this guy named homer he said that people came from the sea while they were having the trojan war and they were attacking them and driving them off the coast so they built these city states called polis which were like fortified cities so the people could have protection Audrey - The Greek Peninsula has been settled by humans for thousands of years, but an important part of Greek history starts when the Mycenaean Empire falls and the Greek Dark Ages begin. It is called the “Dark Ages” because there really aren’t many historical records from that point in time, and that was around 1100-800 BC. The major events happened in the exiting of the Greek Dark Ages, and this is when things that Ancient Greece is really known for began, like the Oracle at Delphi and the Olympic Games. (if someone wants to explain these) Ben - The difference between sparta and athens was that in sparta social status wasn’t decided based on how much money you had or how smart you were, it was about your military ranking. The spartans political system was unique in that it had two kings that were from different families that ruled. But on the lower side of the political rankings was the helots. Helots were like slaves but had more freedom, helots still had families but they had to work for the state and couldn’t really do anything else. Helots were still considered owned but they were owned by the state. Helots were collected from the villages sparta pillaged. Emma - Greece’s structure was was pretty different from other societies at the time. While the desperate colonies(?) all recognized the “mother” city-state, they were all independent for the majority of the time. Their shared religion and culture was what gave them all a sense of unity. Ella - Ancient Greece was made up of many independent city states because of Greeces complicated geography. All of these communities were separated by mountains, hills, and water. Greece wasn't a unified nation, instead it was a bunch of connected communities that shared religion and beliefs. - Ethan - The kings of Sparta were priests of Zeus and they were included in a gerousia, or council of elders, which was the highest court of Sparta. Also, there was an executive committee consisting of 5 ephors which were chosen by the people, of the people. Skylar - The name Greece is not what people that live in Greece call it. They call it Hellas. Nowadays they don’t call it Greece and back in the “Ancient Greece” days they didn’t say Greece they said Hellas. The word Hellas comes from Hellen, viewed as the progenitor. The Hellastic people are the people that live in Greece. In late 6th century BCE Athens was the dominant economic power. Athens was full of wealth as silver was just founded in the mountains around the area. Athens had an amazing trading system with other Greek city-states. Trading with other city-states was super  important to Athens because it didn’t have the agricultural conditions to supply enough grain for its population. A series of laws were written and put in place by a statesman named Draco around 621 BCE. They didn’t stay too long because they were super harsh. Another man named Solon was called to change the laws, he created a series of laws that equalized political power. Hunter- Ancient Greece consisted of over hundreds of different independent city-states, somewhat due to the geography of Greece. Greece communities were separated by mountains, hills, and water. Rather than one large nation, Ancient Greece was more like a system of communities with a shared language and religion that sometimes led to a common sense of belonging.    600 BCE - 600 CE The rise and fall of empires:  Gabe - I'm going to start by saying an empire is a small city or state that claims a large amount of land which is usually broke up into provinces  empires rise and fall for different reasons they usually expand through military conquest which is how the romans the persians and the Maurya empire in india expanded but they progressed in different ways the Maurya empire political sabotage and religious conversion so the people turn against their own country Audrey - An empire forms when a ruler, that already controls some territory, gains control of more territory for whatever reason, and that could be from military tactics, a weak neighboring area or really anything like that. Once the ruler has that territory under their control, they gain land and people. With the power they now have, this ruler could tax the people for their own wealth and/or use them for a better army. The empire could then keep expanding in this way until it collapsed. Ben - After the fall of the Qin dynasty the Han empire began to rise because of all the power that was up for grabs. The Han dynasty began in 206 BCE. They revived the way of Confucianism to unite the people and give them more reasons to fight and become a larger empire. Han china started to fall in 2nd century CE and eventually reached its demise in 220 CE, it mainly fell because of a religious divide between the people and the natural disasters that caused food shortages which snowballed into a bad economy. Ella - Empires all grow for different reasons whether its strong military, political sabotage, or religious conversation, but the Romans were not out to conquer territory. They did get involved in several wars but after they defeated their enemies they would offer their victims a small amount of citizenship in return for loyalty to the Roman empire.    Emma - There are also several different factors that can lead to the fall of an empire. Each of these factors will usually reflect those that led to the rise of the empire. Things such as a economic collapse, the weakening of military forces, or the death/assassination of a leader are common causes of a fall. - Ethan - A common example of an empire falling is Persia. The Achaemenid empire had internal issues already but had structure still. In 334 BCE Alexander attacked and in 4 years general Darius the Third lied dead. He was actually killed by one of his own generals and when the throne lied empty Alexander took the reins. Skylar - The rise of empires is great everyone’s all happy, then usually right when everything gets normal, the empire falls for different reasons. Rather it’s they have no more money, they get taken over by another empire, or another reason. The Roman empire took hundreds of years to create. They had weak neighbors so it was easy for them to take over that area. Hunter-The fall of an empire can be because of an outbreak of war and rebellion, when an empire falls so does its military for a few months to years in which leaves them wide open for follow up attacks. Normally however when an empire is defeated it is overrun by the kingdom/empire that attacked. 600 BCE - 600 CE Empire of Alexander the Great:  Gabe - Alexander the great was kind of an i want everything kind of guy no but wherever he went he conquered very good at military strategy lets skip a little real quick after he died his successors made a coin with him on it with horns which were marking him as a deity which means he was a huge role model you could say a symbol of power he was the man people looked up to he was actually only 5 to round 5’8 but that was normal for them because they didn't eat as much meat as other empires. Audrey - Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great, was 20 years old when his extremely short reign began, lasting only 12 years. For how short his reign was, Alexander was very successful, especially when it came to conquering. Just like his reign, Alexander’s life was very short, ending in 323 BC when he was only 32 years old. Some people say he died from alcohol poisoning, some say it was from direct poisoning, but it is likely that he could have died because of a disease. Ella - A man known as Philip of Macedon came to power in 359 BC. His father had previously been the king of Macedon. Both of his older brother died which left him to be a regent for his infant nephew. He eventually possessed full power and ended up taking over a large majority of Greek city-states. He went on to almost unify all of them. Ben - Philip is later killed at his daughter’s wedding, by his royal bodyguard Pausanias in 336 BCE at the capital of macedonia, Aegae. This caused his son alexander to take control of the large kingdom that philip left behind. The one who assassinated tried to run away to his associates outside but tripped on a vine and got killed by philips. bodyguards Emma - Shortly after his father’s death, Alexander was crowned king and he eliminated any potential threats to his rule. The Greek city-states were now under his control. He then began his conquest of the Persian Empire which his father Philip had been planning before his untimely demise. Skylar - in 5th century BCE Greece started with the Persian invasion and ended with Peloponnesian war. Alexander the Great was one of the most powerful conquers in human history. Alexander the Great started off by taking control over his father’s empire after his death. Alexander wanted to do what his father wanted to do before he died, which was conquer the persian empire. So he put one of his generals, Antipater in charger of Greece. Alexander leads his troops on the greatest adventures of all time. Alexander won the battle at Granicus river, then Issus, Darius the third tries to negotiate but Alexander kept saying no, he wants to be the king of Asia. Eventually darius and alexander meet at Guagamela and alexander wins again. Darius’ empire was falling and what making the falling more official is when alexander takes his troops to Achaemenid, which is the capital of Persepolis and alexander defeats them once again. - Ethan - After Alexander’s father’s death, Alexander started focusing on India. He won some battles before he made it to the Ganges River. He planned to cross the Ganges to get to the rest of India. His tired troops decided that it was to much work and that they were already tired so they refused to go. In the end they turned home, and in 323 BCE, Alexander died to, what was most likely, disease.  Hunter- In the Kingdom of Thrace, during the reign of Lysimachus- a successor of Alexander the Great who lived from 361 BCE to 323 BCE, a coin was issued. The coin had Alexander’s face with ram horns on each side of his crown, the ram horns were a symbol of an Egyption God known as Amun or Zeus, who is often combined with Amun- from whom Alexander claimed descent. Flanked with these horns, Alexander had the reputation of a Deity.     600 BCE - 600 CE Rise of Rome: 600 BCE -  Gabe - the Rome empire came to power when  a group of noblemen were like ok the king sucks he's out and so they kicked him out and made the two consuls which were two people which were pretty close to a king except one could veto the others actions this was so one person could not be oh so powerful They also split the people into plebeians and patricians which were plebeians being common folk and patricians being people of noble blood This was the roman republic    Audrey - Legend has it, Rome was named after Romulus, one of twin brothers that are abandoned and raised by a “she-wolf”. Eventually, Romulus kills Remus (his twin brother) and becomes the first king of Rome. Other historians now think that it was the other way around, that the city of rome needed a founding story, and the whole thing was just that, a story. Ben - Rome was founded in 753 BCE (even though it’s mostly a myth and most believe in was founded a little later). Rome then founds the Rome Republic, a state in central rome, making them a little more influential in 509 BCE. Then much later than that the Punic wars happened between Rome and Carthage and consisted of three wars. The first war took place from 264-241 BCE, the second from 218-201 BCE, and the third from 149-146 BCE. in total it lasted from 264 to 146. Rome ended up winning and destroying and conquering Carthage. Ella - The Romans did not plan to build an empire but it came upon them as they ran into conflict with the surrounding city-states, kingdoms, and empires. They had to find a way to use the territories they conquered.  Most of the places the Romans conquered were allowed to keep the political and cultural ways they had, the only requirement was that they provide soldiers for the Roman Empire. Emma - The politics of Rome reflected the structure of their society; it too was divided into the two social classes, patricians and plebeians. Those in the upper class were allowed to hold political office, and then become a senator, but those of the lower class were not. However, the plebeians were able gain more political influence over time. - Ethan - The political system of Rome was mainly based on military rank/power. The “Comitia Centuriata” which was named for the century, was pretty much a group of 100 soldiers. Although, this 100 person unit was the base amount of people, it was not always exact in real situations. Skylar - I’m going to talk about the Punic wars that went on between Rome and Carthage. The Punic wars consist of three major battles, The first one lasted 23 years, from 264 BCE-241 BCE. It was at Agrigentum it was over the island of Sicily. Rome wins most smaller battles. Then Carthage leaves. Rome wanted Carthage to pay them for the damages. Rome built a stronger navy. 240 to 248 BCE there was a Mercenary war. The second Punic war was between 218-201 BCE. The third and final war was between 149-146 BCE where Rome basically destroys Carthage, ending a 700 year long war. 8.Hunter- Rome went from a city in the middle of the italy peninsula to one of the strongest empires in history. 600 CE From Roman Republic to Roman Empire:  Gabe - in 27 bce a guy named augustus caesar came and was like nope im the ruler “emperor” so basically the king and he started an autocratic government which is where he was the guy who called all the shots he didn't expand rome much in his time but he did do some things that changed the political and economic structure of rome      Audrey - Gaius Julius Caesar’s life really marked the transition between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, even though, in his lifetime, Rome was still a republic and never actually considered an empire. The reason I say this is the unofficial time that the transition occurred is, that at the time of Julius Caesar, the Roman Republic’s structure very much resembled the structure of an empire, so it kind of seems like it already switched. Ben - Julius Caesar then illegally crosses the rubicon and most of rome’s senators choose to move over to greece. This causes a sort of civil war between rome and greece. After Julius crosses the rubicon the senators send a popular general Pompey to go fight with his soldiers but they decide to retreat because they thought julius’s army was unbeatable. Then the other senators also retreat, giving julius control of rome again. But it would be only a matter of time before the senators return to try and retake rome. Ella - Julius Caesar was assassinated, and in his will he stated that his nephew Octavian would be his adopted son. Too other men Antony and Lepidus were big supporters of Caesars and they got together with Octavian to form a triumvirate, which was known as the second triumvirate. Unlike the first triumvirate which was between Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, this triumvirate had legal backing. These three men gained lots of power over the Roman republic. Emma -  The power he gained was not limited to the prolonged time in which he held office. A major part of it was that he now had complete control over the military, unlike before when the elected consuls served as commanders. He was also now the high priest, or Pontifex Maximus, and in charge of the census for taxation. He kept these powers by acting like they were still separate offices that could be held by someone else.  - Ethan - Roman money/currency wasn’t exactly economy based but politically based as well. Julius Caesar was the first emperor to put his face on currency and since then emperors of Rome have done this. Before Caesar, only deceased Romans and Roman gods were on currency. This strengthened the connection of the emperor and the economy while popularizing the current emperor. These emperors used this systems to popularize the next candidate they favored. Skylar - The Roman Empire began in 27 BCE when Augustus became the main ruler. Augustus is Julius Caesar’s adopted son. He never took the name king or emperor preferred to call himself princeps, first citizen, or primus inter pares. Augustus never expanded the territory because it was already as big as it could possibly get. 8.Hunter- The Roman Republic was a small city in Italy, after a large military growth and a gaining of power over many neighboring countries the Roman Republic quickly grew to the Roman Empire. 600 BCE - 600 CE The Roman Empire: Audrey - Pax Romana is a name that a two hundred year long time period is often referred to as, and it means “Roman Peace”. This name came from the time when Octavian was emperor, which was from 27 BCE to 180 CE. It was a relatively good time for the Roman Empire, even though there was still quite a bit of conflict it was really a pretty peaceful time hence the name. Gabe - it was a good time for the roman empire augustus caesar or Octavian had complete control over the military which was one of the ways he became the emperor But the romans liked the belief of having military governments temporary which is why He took control as a stand in governor of one of the provinces where the majority of roman legions were stationed giving him control over the military while still looking like he’s doing a favor for the people        Ella - Nero was a really bad guy. He was known for the fire in 64AD that a large amount of Romans died in. People think Nero started the fire to make room for a palace. Aside of that, he killed a lot of people including his own mom. He was also known for persecuting christians. Sometimes he would dip them in oil and set them on fire for a source of light in his garden.   Ben - After a few different anti-christian ruler come along, a new emperor decides to embrace christianity and his name was constantine. He was the first christian emperor and he even got baptised. Constantine also moves the capital more east and renames it to Constantinople. - Ethan - Augustus was followed by Tiberius who was Augustus’s step-son. Both had relatively long careers as emperors. Augustus had a career lasting close to 40 years while Tiberius had a 24 year long career. Caligula, one of Augustus’s great nephews, was viewed as a sadist. While he was emperor for a while he was quickly assassinated, he had a lot of people killed during his term of about 4 years.  Emma - After the Julio Claudian Dynasty of Rome came the Flavian Dynasty. This dynasty began in 69 AD when Vespasian was made emperor by the senate after the defeat of Vitellius. He ruled for ten years until 79 AD when he died. He was then succeeded by his oldest son, Titus. This marked the first emperor of Rome to be followed by his own son. He ruled for only two years, until 81 AD when he died from an illness. His rule was then followed by his brother Domitian who held the position from 81 to 96 AD. This dynasty was known for building the colosseum and the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem. Skylar - One of the most important pieces from Augustan, Rome is the Ara Pacis, Ara Pacis means altar of peace. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. The Ara Pacis was basically rebuilt from the fragments they found, some from the 17th century, but most were from the 20th century. The altar was used for sacrifices. This Altar has a political and spiritual meaning. 8.Hunter- The Roman Empire was an extremely powerful empire capturing Jerusalem, Cannan, and i believe nearly one hundred other provinces. 600 BCE - 600 CE Ancient and Imperial China: Audrey - The Shang Dynasty ended in 1046 BCE, when the Zhou (pronounced jo) Dynasty defeated the last Shang emperor, Di Xin, in the Battle of Muye. Historical records show that Di Xin had become a corrupt ruler, and the Zhous said they could only overthrow him because of the Mandate of Heaven which is an idea that if a ruler became incapable or corrupt the a guiding force in the universe would throw them out and replace them. Gabe - Zhou empire did not last long though because the provinces were giving their support to the governor basically of their providence instead of the zhou emperor so slowly the states became more powerful than the emperor himself hence the warring states period      3.Ella - The Zhou Dynasty collapsed at a slow pace over hundreds of years. As this happened, rulers of the surrounding areas gained more power than the king. This was the beginning of a period that was known as the Warring State period, which lasted from about 475 BC to 221 BC. Nearby, Qin, a western state, conquered its surrounding states and established their own dynasty. Ben - The Qin dynasty began to rise to it’s empire state in 221 BCE. The founder was Qin Shi Huang, a legalist (legalist is when law is enforced very strictly) that hated freedom of expression and freedom in general. A historian quoted him once about how he hates historians and wants all non-state historians that wrote history before Qin dynasty to be burned. “[Historians] hold it a mark of fame to defy the ruler, regard it as lofty to take a dissenting stance, and they lead the lesser officials in fabricating slander. If behavior such as this is not prohibited, then in upper circles the authority of the ruler will be compromised, and in lower ones, cliques will form. Therefore it should be prohibited. I therefore request that all records of the historians other than those of the state of Qin be burned.” - Ethan - Many differing beliefs are made vocal during this time period. 3 of which are Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Confucianism, created by Confucius, was based on reform of the status, class, and hierarchy systems. Legalism is more based off of strict laws and harsh punishments. Daoism is more of lawless following what they believe is right at the time. Emma - Confucius, or Kongzi which means Master Kong. His teachings were almost entirely based around morality and having a personal sense of right and wrong. He wasn’t really teaching specific rules of what was good or bad, rather teaching people be conscious of the intent behind their actions. Skylar - During the Warring States period in China from 475-221 BCE China was divided into seven competing nations. The fiefs were gaining more importance as the Zhou dynasty was ending and were becoming states. One of the 7 states were Qin. the other 6 states were Chu, Zhou, Wei, Han, Yan, and Qi. The first leader of Qin was King Zheng, later on he became Qin Shi Huangdi, he would also go on to be the first leader of the Qin dynasty. People say that the Qin dynasty ended the warring states period but it was really when Qin conquested the other states. 8. 600 BCE - 600 CE Early Judaism: Audrey - Judaism stands out to historians because the Jews were monotheists, meaning they believed and worshiped only one God. This made the Jews unique to most other societies which were polytheistic and worshiped multiple Gods. Gabe - The jews lived in the kingdoms of israel and judah the assyrians conquered these two empires and then the babylonians which was called the babylonian exile which sent allot of the jews out of these kingdoms 3 . Ella - In the Hebrew bible, It talks about Abraham moving from the city of Ur to Canaan with his family. It is Questionable whether  the Ur they are talking about was the Sumatran city in lower Mesopotamia or a Ur in Upper Mesopotamia. Ben - One of the most important jewish prophets was Moses. Moses was born at a time where the emperor was killing off every boy that is born because of his fear that if they grew too strong they would overtake him. To hide Moses from the emperor’s forces his mother put him in a basket and let him float down the river. The emperor/pharaoh’s daughter finds moses and raises him into the royal family, moses one day is enraged by a slaver beating a jewish slave and kills the slavemaster and retreats out of the city in fear of punishment. He goes to Mount Sinai but the Lord tells him to go back and free every Jewish slave. So he goes back and frees them and splits the red sea to escape. He brings the people back to the mountain where he receives the ten commandments. They then travel for 40 years and he reestablishes the jewish people in Canaan. - Ethan - Jews lived under Roman rulers while still being allowed their own traditions. There was some Jewish revolting but mainly they were crushed every time. Soon after the Romans renamed Judea into Syria Palaestina. This destroyed the connection of the Jews to the land. Skylar - Abraham is one of the significant patriarchs, the other two are Jacob and Isaac. Abraham’s first son is called Ishmael. He had Ishmael with his wife sarah’s servant because they didn’t think they could have kids. Ishmael is viewed as the progenitor, the patriarch for the arab people. According to biblical accounts Isaac was born when Sarah was in her 90s and Abraham was around 100 years old. Emma - Abraham’s son Isaac was the second significant patriarch. He was the first one of the three to inherit the covenant that his father Abraham had received. Later in his life he married Rebekah who gave birth to their twin sons Jacob and Esau, Jacob being the last of the three patriarchs.   That’s all the time we have for today. THank for joining us outside of the box that is learning.

The Roman world is in crisis. It needs a strong leader, someone to steady the ship, to allow people to retain their hope for the future... That man is on his way! Until he gets here however, we have this week's Emperor to get through. It's Vitellius. Liked by his troops if no one else, he was a man who knew how to party. He was a good friend of both Caligula and Nero... this is possibly all you need to know to guess how well his reign went. 

Vitellius has been vocally gaining support amongst his troops in Germania, enough to take on Otho and become emperor himself.

When Otho dispatches with his predecessor Galba and declares himself Emperor he quickly finds himself under siege from Vitellius in Germany.

Vespasian literally went from victory to victory. He finished reducing all the pockets of resistance in Galilee, and sent detachments all over the Decapolis, Perea, Judea, Idumea, Samaria, and Jericho, methodically driving out all the remaining rebels and forcing them to flee to Jerusalem. There were rumors of revolt in Turkey, so Vespasian quickened his pace to finish the Judean war, just in case his forces would be needed elsewhere. Just when he was ready to besiege Jerusalem, news reached him that Nero had died. Everything was put on hold until a new emperor could give him new orders. It took over a year for things in Rome to get under control, but when the dust settled, Vespasian was proclaimed the new emperor. This changed everything. If you wish to have the free PDF written lesson outline for this podcast, simply email us to request it (preterist1@preterist.org). Be sure to mention the date of this podcast when you contact us.Support the show (https://www.preterist.org/donate/credit-card-donations/)

The year 69 CE continues apace, and Doctors R and G peer through the mists of time to focus on the shifts in power and machinations postulated in the source material. Herein the short reigns of Otho and Vitellius.

THE EAGLE'S PROPHECY is the gripping sixth novel in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Eagles of the Empire seires. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell. It is spring AD 45 and Centurions Macro and Cato, dismissed from the Second Legion in Britain, are trapped in Rome, waiting for their involvement in the death of a fellow officer to be investigated. It is then that the imperial secretary, the devious Narcissus, makes them an offer they can't refuse: to rescue an imperial agent who has been captured by pirates operating from the Illyrian coast. With him were scrolls vital to the safety of the Emperor and the future of Rome. However, Narcissus also sends Vitellius, an old enemy of the two centurions. The three officers set out from Ravenna with the imperial fleet but the pirates are forewarned and the Romans pay a heavy price. Outnumbered by the enemy, surrounded by rumours of treachery and endangered by Vitellius' desire to redeem himself, Centurions Macro and Cato must find the pirate base to avert a disaster that could destroy the Emperor. (P)2012 Headline Digital

After murdering Galba, Otho ascended to the throne in January 69 AD. He immediately had to deal with Vitellius revolt and after suffering a defeat at Bedriacum in April, Otho committed suicide having served as Emperor for just three months

Vitellius's reign was underminned by internal squabbling, allowing Vespasian's army to sieze Rome in December 69 AD.

Introduction We're looking this morning at Matthew chapter 13, the parables of the Hidden Treasure and of the Pearl. Early in the morning, January 24th, 1848, a man named James Marshall was strolling along the American Fork river in the hills of California. He was trying to improve a river powered sawmill that was there. He was digging around in the soil near a part of the mill when he noticed something unusual in the soil. He took a pen knife out of his pocket and started to scrape. The world was never the same again for he had discovered gold in the hills of California. The owner of the sawmill, John A Sutter, was a Swiss-born investor who hoped to make millions in lumber and in the natural resources of the area. But this changed everything. Now he thought that he was going to make millions in gold, but the key was keeping the secret so that no one heard about it. That proved impossible. Rumors started to swirl that gold had been discovered in California, and he couldn't stop it. It wasn't long before the President of the United States was mentioning it in a State of the Union address. Within a month that kind of news could not be contained and held, and it wasn't long before the reports of the first prospectors came back, able to scoop up gold with teaspoons out-of-river beds and make a million in a short amount of time. Seven prospectors hired 50 Indians to work a claim and pulled 253 pounds of gold out in two months. The troubling part about these stories is that they were all true. That was the hard part, because once the rumors reached all over the world across to the east coast, even to Europe, to Hawaii to China, people started streaming to California. Selling everything that they owned for an ox-drawn cart and some provisions and for some prospecting tools and a little claim on a river somewhere in California. People were willing to sell it all, for the possibility of treasure hidden in a field, somewhere. They travelled across the howling wasteland, across the deserts braving river crossings and winters, and long hard arduous travel. They got there and the overwhelming majority of them never made anything in gold at all. John Sutter himself who owned the mill where the gold was found was financially ruined by the claim. He'd owned 50,000 acres of land. It was all taken from him by squatters who then got lawyers to uphold their squatter's rights. He lost everything. There was treasure hidden in his field, and he ended up with nothing. People sold prosperous businesses in the east and came across and sold everything they had for nothing. But Jesus in our parable here, promises greater return and more certain. He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a man who found treasure hidden in a field, and then, out of joy over the treasure, sold everything he had that he might buy that field and the treasure in it. He likens it also to a merchant searching for fine pearls, and when he finds one worth everything that he has, he sells it all, so that he might buy that pearl. Jesus is here teaching us the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let's remember where we are in Matthew's gospel. The overall purpose of the Gospel is to portray Christ as the King of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the place where God rules, and where his subjects are glad about it and delighted in it. Jesus came, and proclaimed, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it's here now.” He began to explain and to teach and to show kingdom power through His miracles. When he gets to Matthew 13, He wants to explain in a deeper and fuller, richer and more mysterious way, the nature of the kingdom of heaven. He said it's like seeds sown in different kinds of soil that has different kinds of results based on the nature of the heart receiving it. In some cases, it bears nothing, in other cases a little bit but then it dies out, and in some cases, 100, 60 and 30 times of what was sown. He also says that the kingdom advances, in a situation like a field sown with both wheats and weeds mixed together, and they're going to be mixed together. The progress of the kingdom will happen in a world where there are both believers and non-believers. It’s going to cause great torment and difficulty for the believers, but in the end, the torment is for those who will not believe. In the last sermon we saw that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed or like yeast which starts out small, and then just explodes and grows and takes over everything. He's taught us already some things about the kingdom, but here he teaches us in these two parables one central lesson, the immense, the incomparable value of the kingdom. It's worth everything that you have, it's worth everything that you are. A Treasure and a Pearl: The Infinite Value of Christ and His Kingdom The first is the parable of the treasure hidden in the field. You may ask why in the world would such an immense treasure be hidden in a field. In those days, the banks were untrustworthy. Marauding raiders would come in and take everything and go, like in the days of Gideon. Armies would come in. First it was the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, and then who knows who's coming next? What could you do with your possessions, to keep them safe, when these armies would come in? You really only had one thing you could do, go out into your property somewhere and dig a hole in the ground and stick it there. Hide it there, so that it not be taken away from you. It's exactly what Jesus said the man who received the one talent did remember, he went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money so that it wouldn't be taken from him. But the master intended he go out and use it, do something with it. But you can see that this was a common issue, hiding treasure in a field, so that it not be taken. Then at night, if you needed some, you'd go out and dig some up, take what you needed, leave the rest, cover it back over. But over the years, perhaps the place of the treasure was forgotten. Maybe a couple was childless, they had no relatives, they died. The weeds grew over the field and changed hands a number of times, nobody even knew it was there. Until one day, somebody maybe strolling through a particular part of the field that nobody had been in years or maybe working in the land a little bit, maybe he's in the employee of a master, starts to dig and prepare the field maybe for harvest and all of a sudden, as he's digging he hits something. Uncovers just enough of it to see what it is, to see the scope of the value, and he's overjoyed, he can't believe it, its treasure hidden in a field. Now, you'd say, "What happens next?” There are some ethical issues here, right? Doesn't it belong to the owner of the field?" Well, according to Rabbinic law it belonged to whoever found it. He was free to go and buy that field and only he would be the legal owner. He did not need to disclose that that treasure was there. Now the rules said if he was in the employment of someone else and he pulled it up out, it belonged to his master. He had done the work while he was on the job for his master, so he probably didn't fully pull the treasure out. He didn't have a full sense of the scope or the magnitude of the treasure, but he could tell already it was worth more than anything he had in the hut back home. So, go ahead and sell the hut, sell the clothes, sell it all, scrape together all the resources available that he might buy this patch of ground somewhere. He was willing to sell everything he had, and for him it was all done out of extreme joy. This fact is very vital to this text. I think the most noteworthy aspect of the story is the incredible joy that the man had over his discovery. In The NASB, in verse 44 it says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again and from joy over it, he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.” The joy is directly connected to the value of the treasure. He's not kicking rocks as he has to go sell everything, he's not upset. This is the best day of his life that he gets to sell everything, that he can buy this treasure. I think it very much like Jacob's attitude over the seven years that he had to serve to get Rachel. Genesis 29:20 says, “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.” There was delight in this. We go from extreme joy, to extreme commitment. Everything goes. Everything — whatever is necessary to obtain that field. So that's the essence of the story of The Pearl... The hidden treasure. The pearl of great price is about the same story with a subtle difference. In this case, in verse 45, there's a merchant roaming the earth. He's searching for pearls and as an expert, he knows what he's looking for. The Greek word “merchant” relates to essentially the sailors that go out on the sea, and travel to find merchandise that they can bring back and sell at a profit. For example, in Psalm 107:23, it says merchants went out on the sea in ships. But it isn't just those that sail. Anyone that travels or roams a great distance is a traveling merchant looking for things. There were traveling caravans, for example, the Midianites who carried spices and incense across the desert, or traders who brought tribute to Solomon from distant minor kings and kingdoms. There were royal merchants sent out by Solomon to purchase fine horses in Egypt. The people of Tyre were especially known as merchants. They would send out their ships all over the Mediterranean with cargoes of spices, gold, silver, and such to accumulate wealth. Marco Polo traveled along the Silk Road into China, trying to find things he could sell back. Christopher Columbus was looking for a different route to Asia because the Muslims held the entire coastline of Africa along the East coast of Africa and it was dangerous to take that route, so he was looking for a Western route to India for trade. There was Magellan’s search through what is now the Straits of Magellan. It took 39 days to get through this area and at any moment one could be crashed, dashed against the rocks. Magellan finally got through to a sea that he called the The Peaceful Sea which became Pacific Ocean. Little did he realize once he had crossed that section of South America, that he had another 98 days and 12,000 miles of interminable ocean which lay ahead in order to finish sailing around the globe. What was his motive? Personal glory, I'm sure, but also money and trade. So also, this man, this merchant in the story, is a merchant to find pearls. He's been all over his region, all over the known pearl world. He knows what he's looking for since he's an expert in pearls. Pearls were deeply desired perhaps, I think, at that point, more than any other physical thing on Earth. Pearls were more valuable than any other physical thing on earth. They were believed to be produced by dew from heaven and many myths came around about their origins. Pearls are actually formed when a little particle gets inside an oyster, a certain type of oyster. Little by little, the creature covers it with something called nacre. It just gets an iridescent sheen on it, and it grows. There are different kinds of pearls, there are different kinds of quality, but they were very, very rare back then. 100 years ago, there developed a way of artificially producing pearls, of cultivating them, and so, with the law of supply and demand, the price went down. Many of you perhaps are wearing genuine pearls today that would have been priceless 2000 years ago, but now, even though they're every bit as high quality and perfect, they're not as expensive because they're easier to produce. Back then you had to have certain kinds of oysters, in certain kinds of places, and with certain kinds of people that could dive down and get them, and only a few oysters would actually have a pearl. Of those, only one every ten years or so would be worth buying and selling at that level. They were incredibly valuable. When pearl fever reached its peak in the Roman Empire, the Roman historian, Suetonius, said that a Roman general Vitellius financed an entire military campaign by selling just one of his mother's pearl earrings. Pearls were incredibly valuable. There's a story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. She was trying to overwhelm the Roman conqueror with a sense of the antiquity and wealth of Egypt. She said, "I'm going to put on a banquet wealthier and more expensive than any you've ever been to in your life." And she did because at the height of the banquet, they brought a tray and when it was uncovered, there was nothing on it except a goblet of wine vinegar and a magnificent set of pearls. She took one of the pearls and dissolved it in the vinegar and drank it. Historian estimates the pearl that she drank was worth $10 million. At that point, he said, "You got me. I can't top that. Never seen anything like that." He was aghast. The immense value of pearls. The kingdom of heaven in verse 45 is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. He's got an eye for detail; he knows what he's looking for. He knows when there's an imperfection, if the color is not quite right, if it's not perfectly spherical. He's willing at this point when he sees this pearl, he knows he's found at last, what he's been looking for all his professional life, the perfect pearl. Perfect in size, more immense probably than he could ever imagine. Perfect in its spherical nature and its color, its iridescence, everything just right. He says this pearl is worth everything that he owns. All of the other pearls that he has ever bought in his life he will gladly, gladly, trade them to get this one pearl. In Verse 46, “When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” When you buy something, for the most part, you don't buy it reluctantly. You decide that the thing you're going to get is better to you than the money you give to get it. You'd rather have the car, the house, the clothes, the groceries, the candy bar, whatever it is, than the money it takes to get it. There's a joy in the purchase or there should be anyway. This man is delighted to trade everything he has to obtain this single pearl. What's the difference between the two stories? I think the first man is just ambling through the field and kind of stumbles on the treasure or maybe is working in the field and uncovers it, never was expecting it, never looking for it and then just comes across it. I think this man is like somebody who really doesn't know what he's looking for in life. He doesn't know what's going to satisfy him, but when he sees it, then he knows. He's not searching for God, he's not looking for God, but God is looking for him, and at last, at a certain moment, he sees the value of the kingdom of heaven and He's willing, gladly willing to sell everything, but he wasn't seeking it to begin with. In the other case, there's a man who is looking for something. He knows what he's looking for, but he just can't find it. He has looked everywhere and at last he finds it. And it's the pearl of great value, and he is willing to trade everything. We have in effect two parables telling the same thing, the immense value of the kingdom of heaven. I think it's one central lesson. The pearl is the treasure. They're one and the same and they represent the kingdom of heaven and specifically they represent Christ Himself. Listen to what Richard Sib says, “Christ Jesus is the great Pearl, he's the peerless Pearl. He's the pearl of infinite value, who therefore becomes a ransom for many millions that were in bondage.” Christ then is this Pearl. He is the treasure. Paul himself found Christ to be the treasure and the pearl worth everything that he'd had in his life. Philippians 3 so beautifully depicts Paul's personal testimony to the truth of this parable of the treasure and of the pearl. He said, “I’d be willing to trade everything, to sell everything that I have, that I might have this one thing. Knowing Christ. Knowing him in his suffering, knowing him in his glory. That I might know Christ and be found in him, that is the one thing I want in life, nothing else.” Christ is the treasure; he is the pearl. Colossians 2:2-3 says, “In order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Christ is the treasure; he is the pearl. Questions about the Treasure and the Pearl How may we obtain the treasure and the pearl? One of the parables has already answered this. We obtain by believing the message that's preached. By believing the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven. That's what the parable of the seed and the soils tells us. The message is taken in the ear, weighed by faith, found to be of surpassing value, such that the person says nothing else that I've ever heard, no religion, no philosophy, no material possession, no earthly ambition is worth this to me. That's how you obtain it. By simple faith in hearing the message. Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” By repentance and faith, we acquire the treasure. By repentance and faith, we obtain the pearl. The kingdom is a free gift. It says in Luke 12:32, “Do not be afraid little flock,” said Jesus, “your Father is delighted to give you the kingdom.” To give you the kingdom, it is the Father's good pleasure. He enjoys giving you the kingdom as a gift. A free gift. And yet, the two parables that we're studying today seem to imply that there's a sacrifice or a commitment made on our part. The kingdom is the most expensive thing you could ever obtain. It literally costs you everything you have to get it. That brings us to the question, what must we part with? In verse 44, “He goes out and sells all that he has and buys that field.” In verse 46, “When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” The question is, what must we part with? I'm going to give you two simple answers and a deeper, perhaps more complicated answer. What must we part with to get this treasure? What must we part with to get the pearl? First, the simple answer is, you must part with sin. It's impossible for you to treasure sin and get this treasure hid in the field. You can't have both. You can't treasure sin and get the pearl too. It's impossible. All sin must be sold forever. Richard Sibbes put it this way. "He that retains any one sin can never get this pearl. He that keeps in his heart but one beloved pleasure or profit of this life, let him read, let him pray, hear, profess never so much. The devil hath him sure by the leg or by the wing. As sure as if the whole man were in his hands. For he will willingly allow the man to go and use any good exercises, knowing they add to the man's damnation, so long as he retains a secret delight and liking to any lust, let it never be so small." Now, this does not mean sinless perfection, we know that. That's why Paul says in Philippians 3, “I press on. I press on to take hold.” There's not a sinless perfection being taught here. Philippians 3, “Not that I have already been made perfect.” No, that's not what it's teaching, but it has to do with a delight in the sin, a yearning for it. It's your secret treasure and pleasure, and you won't give it up. Well then you can't have this pearl. You can't have this treasure in the field. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” He's not going to give you the treasure, he's not going to give you the pearl. So that's simple answer number one. You have to get rid of sin. You have to say, "No, I will not cherish sin ever again." Does that mean you'll never sin again? No, of course you'll be deceived, and stumble, and fall. We all stumble in many ways, says James, but there's a difference between stumbling and cherishing. It's a different matter. The second simple answer I want to give you is not only do you have to get rid of sin or let go of sin, you must also let go of anything that would hinder you from coming to Christ. Anything at all. Everything is sold, let's put it in terms that we understand. Even good things that hinder us from coming to Christ must be disposed of. Some bridges are burned when we come to Christ. Some friendships will never be the same again. Relationships with non-Christian relatives, parents, or children will never be the same again because you came to Christ. These are in themselves good things, but you're willing to turn your back on them for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. These things have been given up in favor of knowing Christ. Our career is sold, perhaps, it will never be the same again; you may never have as many advantages and opportunities for advancement now because you are a Christian. These are good things in of themselves, but we're turning our backs on them that we might follow Christ. Even pastimes, hobbies, possessions sold in one sense, if they have hindered us from coming to Christ must be given up. Those are the two simple answers. We get rid of sin and anything that would hinder us from coming to Christ. Now, we get complicated. In what sense do we have to sell everything? Well, what do you have to give up? And the answer is everything and nothing. Let's talk nothing first. You can't buy the kingdom. Selling all your possessions and giving to the poor doesn't get you to heaven. God is actually brutally offended if you try to do so. Nothing in all your possessions, nothing in your hut is equal in value to this treasure. If you think, "I can go buy this,” you are mistaken. It's far... A far greater worth than anything you have. You can’t buy it. So, in one sense, you can't sell everything to obtain this kingdom. It's not of equal value. But in another sense, I think the text is calling us to something here. I guess the question is, do I have to become, and this is what's on your mind perhaps, a wandering beggar to go to heaven? Do I have to literally sell all of my earthly possessions in order to follow Christ? Don't be so quick in answering because you remember the rich young ruler. Remember when he came and said, "What must I do to get eternal life?" He said, "Obey the commandments." And he said, "I've done this." Jesus said, "One thing you lack. Sell everything. Give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me." We are answering too quickly, when we say, "Of course not. Of course, he isn't calling us to be wandering beggars in order to go to Heaven." St. Francis of Assisi, 13th century, in his childhood and growing up, was a popular youth who lived a carefree life. He was the son of a wealthy Italian cloth merchant. He was headed for a successful life as a knight, when suddenly Christ got a hold of him. He was converted through illness to faith in Christ. After that, he left home clothed in a ragged cloak and a rope that he had taken from a scarecrow. He went and begged from the rich and gave to the poor. As a matter of fact, in most Roman Catholic orders, people take a vow of poverty in order to join them. Is this what it means to sell everything? Prosperous evangelicals in America answer this one too quickly, I think. We forget that Christ lived this way. “If you want to follow me,” Jesus said, "Foxes have holes. Birds of the air have nests, and I have no place to sleep tonight." We forget that John the Baptist lived this way, out in the desert eating locusts and wild honey. Now you wonder where I'm going with this. Is this required to go to heaven? Do I have to live in the desert and eat locusts and wild honey to go to heaven? We forget also, in Hebrews 11, "The men of whom the world was not worthy,” lived this way, wandering about in deserts, and mountains, and caves, and holes of the ground. So, I think we're too quick if we say that God would never ask that of anyone. Elijah lived this way. I think it goes a little deeper than this. I think what happens is, in your mind, you have to be willing to. I mean genuinely willing. I got this image, driving around near where I am, they're removing some trees to put in a house or something, I'm not sure. I noticed that some of the trees had orange spray paint on them. If I were a tree in that area and I had orange spray paint on me, I'd be worried. I'd start to notice a trend. “All my friends with orange spray paint, they're all gone, and I alone am left. Here comes the woodsman. It's not looking good for a tree with orange spray paint in that particular region.” I guess what I'm saying is that everything in your life has orange spray paint on it. Everything. And the woodsman comes when he chooses and said, "This is mine, I'm taking it." And you can't say to him, "You can't do that. You can't do that." What would that include? Well, how about your native land? Living here in America. Is that sold? Yeah, it is. God said to Abraham, leave your country and your people and go to the land I will show you. So, living here in America has got orange spray paint on it. He might call you to leave. How about earthly possessions? Yes. Sell your possessions, Jesus said, give to the poor, provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Someday you'll have a conviction, something will come over you, and you'll be led by the Spirit to sell things that are valuable to you, so that you can in some way advance to the kingdom of heaven. Is that within the purview of following Christ? Yes, absolutely. How about your earthly career? Is it sold? Could he come and say, I want you to leave this lucrative career and I want you to go serve me in this or that way. Yes. Orange spray paint on each one of these things. He has the right to come do it. How about your earthly reputation? Suppose he comes and says, I want you to go to witness to your boss. “Wait a minute. They like me here, they really do. I mean, I've got good friendships here. My co-workers think well of me.” They don't think as well of you as you think; they really aren't thinking about you, I've learned. But you think, "Oh, what a good relationship I have with everyone here. If I witness, I will lose that." It's got orange spray paint on it. He can come and say, go witness to that person over there. You know that if they don't convert, they will treat you poorly perhaps from then on, and they do actually treat you poorly. I've seen it myself. Does he have the right to ask that of you? Yes, he does. How about your children? So, does he have the right to come and claim your children? Yes, he does. Sometime later God tested Abraham and said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and offer him up as a sacrifice.” Everything in your life is his. He has the right over it, he has the right of claiming it, and you would be delighted to give it up. That's the whole point. “Out of joy he sold everything he had, that he might have that treasure.” What must we give up? Everything evil, all sin, and anything that would hinder you from coming to Christ. Everything in your life as Christ demands it from you. Now, you say, well, how do I know when he's coming? When does the orange spray paint moment come, and the thing gets cut down? That's not for me to say. That's something that the Lord does, but He does do that. The more and more you grow in Christ, the more you'll start seeing some of these things get claimed, and the trees get removed. Final question, what do we gain? The gain is infinite. Sibbes said, "We shall think ourselves no losers in this trade. We shall have Christ and with him all things. And therefore, Christ in this life promises a return of a hundredfold. And it stands on God's honor not to make us losers when we trade with him." You're not going to look back and say, "Boy, that was the biggest mistake I ever made." In no way will that ever happen to you. On Judgement Day you'll not look back and say, "All the things I sacrificed. That was a waste, I shouldn't have done it." You will never say that for it's on God's honor not to make you a loser when you trade with him. Blessings of the kingdom you'll receive. Full forgiveness of all sins. A place with your name on it at the wedding banquet of the Lamb. You don't want to miss that one folks, you want to be there. To have a place reserved for you, a place in heaven, a face-to-face fellowship with Christ, forever, and in the meantime a fruitful, worthwhile, eternally significant life here on earth. The indwelling spirit to keep you company, and convict you, and guide you along the way. His law written in your hearts, a transformation of your own nature. What a deal. The treasure worth everything. And best of all, personal fellowship with Jesus Christ himself, the king of the kingdom of heaven. The Exclusive Joy of the Greatest Treasure This brings us to understand true conversion. What does it mean then to be saved? I understood more about this from John Piper than probably anybody else. This is, I think, the signature text for Piper's Desiring God. If any of you have read that, this is where it comes from, I think, more than any other text in the Bible. John Piper teaches us that there are two great drives in the universe. One great drive is for God to be glorified above all things in his universe. That he would be valued and held in honor and in esteem above everything else that he has created. That's one great drive in the universe. The second is yours. Your great drive is to be contented, joyful, and happy in your life. The two of them meet together in the treasure hidden in the field. What ends up happening at the moment of conversion is at last your eyes are open. You see the value of Jesus Christ. You see that there's nothing else in the universe worth him to you. So, God becomes most glorified in you, when you are delighted and satisfied in him, for the joy set before you, you take Christ no matter what it brings from you. This is conversion. If this hasn't happened to you, if you still see greater value to anything else other than Christ, then you're not converted. Whatever religious ceremonies and other things you're going through, you've not been transformed internally. Christ is not of greatest value to you. Piper put it this way, "Conversion is what happens to the heart, when Christ becomes for us a treasure chest of holy joy. Saving faith is the heartfelt conviction that Christ is both solidly reliable and supremely desirable." He is something you can build your life on like a foundation. But he's also something appealing and enticing like a treasure and a pearl. These two come together when you're converted. This joy is so great, it begins to expel other pleasures and joys, so that it becomes the central focus of your life. I can tell you right now, no one will be checking the score of a ball game at the wedding banquet of the Lamb. It's not going to happen. I don't think there'll be a ball game. It'll just be the wedding banquet of the lamb, and you won't mind. "Boy, I wished we had ball games up here." You won't be wondering or wishing. The wedding banquet of the Lamb will be enough. You'll not be wondering how your mutual funds are doing as you walk down the streets of the New Jerusalem. It'll be enough to have Christ. Similarly, here on earth, the perfection of conversion is to be totally consumed by the joy of knowing Christ. To realize there is nothing greater than knowing and being known by Christ. In a moment you're going to have an opportunity to sing, “All I once held dear, built my life upon, all this world reveres and wants to own. All I once thought gained, I have counted loss, spent and worthless, now, compared to this one thing. Knowing you Jesus.” That’s from Philippians 3. Paul was converted, wasn't he? That's what conversion is. Application What application can we take with this? First let me speak to those of you who don't know yourself to be converted. We've been talking economics today, and talking about value and worth, right? There's a basic law of economics called the law of supply and demand. The greater demand there is for something and the lower supply, the higher the price. Conversely, the other way, if there's not much demand for something and tons of it like sand, it's got very little price, very little value. If I came and said, "Hey, I've got a handful of sand I'd like to give you,” I’m not going to sell much of it. The price is low. If there's something of great, intense desirability and not much of it is available, the price will be high. I want to ask you something. On Judgement Day, what will be the value and price of conversion and of forgiveness of sins, and frankly, of your soul, on that day? What would be the value to you? The desirability, as perhaps an angel is assigned to bring you to the brink of the lake of fire and just before he pushes you in, says, "Right now, of all of the earthly collection that you once had at your disposal, no longer, but at one point you had it at your disposal. What of those things would you hold back and not give at this moment for Christ?" Nothing, nothing. Having Christ at that moment will be infinitely desirable. How about availability, however? No. Today is the day of salvation. Now is the time. The offer's available now and today, and not then, and so therefore there will be no grace available on Judgement Day, no opportunity for justification by faith. There'll be no faith possibly, you'll be seeing your judge. Infinite price, because infinite desirability, no availability. Today is the day for you to be converted. Today is the day for you to sell everything you have, that you might have this treasure and this pearl. But what about those of you that are Christians? I want you to set your heart on your treasure, for where your treasure is, that's where your heart is going to be. Focus on Christ, set your heart on him, let him be more valuable to you than anything in the universe. Let your joy over your treasure purify lesser joys. There are other things in this world, but as you focus on Christ, you start to see that everything's from Jesus. Eating a meal, being with your family, walking down a pretty mountain path and looking — It's all Christ to you, because He gave it. It purifies your lesser joys. Fill your days and your speech accordingly. Talk about your treasure. After that merchant bought the treasure, do you think he boasted about it? You better believe it. "What a deal I made. Look at this. Look where I'm living now, and I got all my old stuff back anyway. Just put it in hock and then bought it back. And now I've got all this profit. It's incredible. I've got it all." Yes, he boasted. Boast about Christ. Boast about him as your treasure, your pleasure. He's worth boasting over. Let me talk to you one more moment about sin. Let love for this pleasure drive out sin from your life. Piper put it this way, "Sin is what you do when your heart is no longer satisfied with Christ." When Christ isn't enough for you, then you sin. Oh, don't let it be. Let Christ be your treasure and your pearl.