Timothy and Elagabalus: Compare and Contrast.

It's a story of two grand mother's, two mother's (of two one is an Aunt and the other is a mother), and two son's: overall it's a story of two families - compared and contrasted.

Though there is almost a two hundred years gap between the two, their mothers, Julia Mamaea (actually *Aunt) and other Eunice, both were attracted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, one by Apostle Paul and the other by Origen. Julia knew the Lord, but when she came to know that Origen was in the city, she called him up, spent time in enquiring more about the Lord. Eunice is a jewesses who has the knowledge about the Lord, but she came to know about the incarnated Lord Jesus Christ through Apostle Paul. Their sons, one accepted the Lord as his Saviour, the other didn't. One came to be called by Paul as the "true child in faith and my beloved child" (1Tim :2; 2Tim 1:2), the other became an emperor of Rome (reigned from AD/CE 218-222). While one walked in the fear of the Lord, the other started a new cult religion of his own. While one started/planted new Churches all around, the other planted a temple for Sun god (El-Gabal) and built a temple for his patron god on Palatine hill, Rome. While one evangelized about Jesus Christ, above all other faiths fearlessly. The other kept tolerance with other religions, and forcing people to worship Sun god, his patron deity. While one was appointed to a servitude job as an overseer (later was appointed the first Bishop of the Church at Ephesus), the other was a high priest at the temple of Sun god. After living a faithful life (2Tim 3:10,11) at the age of 80 or 90 years one became a martyr, stoned to death for preaching against idolatry [According to Heb 13:23, once Timothy was arrested and imprisoned, but was set free or escaped death]. The other was murdered (his mother too) after reigning Rome for four years at an early age by his own guards for forcing people to worship his patron deity Sun god. Of these two, one was Timothy, the disciple of Apostle Paul (Ac 16:1), the other was Elagabalus, the  emperor of Rome. The name Timothy means "God honours", its like God honoured him for his servitude. Whereas the name Elagabalus means in Arabic "god of the mountain", its like thefting the pride of God and paralleling himself with the God. 1Kings 20:28 reads that the God of Israel is called "the God of the mountains". Historians say that though Elagabalus married four women, he was a gay and a transgender which is against the nature which God prescribed (Romans 1:26-28; 1Tim 1:10). Timothy on the other hand followed what was taught by Paul (2Timothy 3:10-14). When Eunice sent Timothy to the Lord's service (1Tim 4:14; 1:18; 2Tim 1:6), Timothy made every moment count in accordance to his mother's faith. But Elagabalus, didn't fulfill his grand mother's (Julia Maesa) plans, so Julia Maesa (grand mother) had to look to Alexander Severus (AD/CE 222-235), the successor of Elagabalus. Today we can see the relics of St.Timothy are venerated at Cathedral of Termoli, Italy, but after emperor Elagabalus brutal murder his body, decapitated his head and was thrown into river Tiber in Italy.

To conclude both were nurtured by devote mothers (one is Aunt), but their choice, paths, and faith were different. Proverbs 22:6 reads, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it" (ESV). How are we training our children?

*Julia Mamaea was daughter of Julia Maesa and younger sister of Julia Soaemias mother of emperor Elagabalus.

Sources:

1. Holy Bible,

2. Bible Encyclopaedia,

3. Eusebius - Church History,

4. Wikipedia.

Julia Mamaea, Aunt of Emperor Elagabalus.

Julia Soaemias mother of emperor Elagabalus.

St.Timothy relics at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Purification in Termoli, Italy.

Is It Mandatory For Man To Do The Dishes? 2Kings 21:13.

Misinterpretation of 2Kings 21:13.

I was watching on FB Reels, YT Shots, Instagram posts and memes these days on social media about Man doing with cleaning of dishes in the kitchen. Though it started as fun but soon it might take a serious turn. So, I decided to try and give a better understanding of the Scripture.

As "a man" wipeth - the word "man" was never there in the hebrew scriptures, but the meaning was implied to it. It was more of implied to God rather than man (husband/son). It is God who warns Israel that as the remnant of food is wiped from the bowl, leaving no crumbs or the last drop, the bowl can be turned upside down. In the same way God is going to handover them (Israelites) to enemies who will spoil and plunder as like nothing left in their bowels or plates, because they have done evil before the Lord since they came out of Egypt (2Kings 21:13,14,15). So v13 has nothing to do with a man (husband/son) doing dishes, but there is nothing wrong in helping your woman/mother/sister in the kitchen. It's not mandatory that the man has to do with the dishes in his house.

Tetragrammaton YHWH and Jesus

This is a tetragrammaton. The first letter of every word of the signboard (hebrew) that was fixed above the cross on which Jesus was crucified spells the name YHWH, which in 15th to 17th centuries AD or a little earlier by adding the vowels YHWH was pronounced "Yehowah", and in English we call Him "Jehovah". The vowels are supplied from another adoration word "Adonay". "Adon" literally means "my Lord". We can see this tetragrammaton in Exodus 6:2, "I am the LORD (Yehowah)". This is one beautiful example which equates Jesus with His Father. Jesus said that "I and my Father are one.. the Father is in Me, and I in Him", in John 10:30, 38. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus said, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father", (John 14:8,9) and says again in v10 and 11, that "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me". When Jesus has come to know that the time for His crucifixion has come, Jesus said, "Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again". The people therefore, that stood by and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. (John 12:28,29). We can see a similar thing happening at Jesus baptism in Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the witnessing of the Father from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", (Matt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22). There are still more instances of equating Jesus with the Father in the Holy Bible. 

I Am In His Likeness

FALSE - This theory is totally abandoned.

This theory was forwarded by American Anthropologist Elwyn Simons in 1960', when he discovered a part of the upper jaw which coincides with the already found part of the upper jaw in 1932 in Siwalik hills (ranging from Sikkim to Northern Pakistan). But his student David Pilbeam has discovered a complete Ramapithecus jaw in 1976, found that the distinctive V shape and thus differed markedly from the parabolic shape of the jaws of members of the human lineage. He soon repudiated his belief in Ramapithecus as a human ancestor, and the theory was largely abandoned by the early 1980s.

Moreover, a question regarding the molecular chemistry concluded that the albumins coincide with that of various animal species. This was brought forward by American Biochemist Allan Wilson and American Anthropologist Vincent Sarich in 1960'.

Later Ramapithecus jaw was resembled with Sivapithecus which also was found in Siwalik hills, which is the ancestor of Orangutan🦧.

Hence, Ramapithecus or the Sivapithecus were not the ancestors of the entire Human race.

The Bible says that "we are made in the Image of God in their moral, spiritual, and intellectual nature" (Genesis 1:27).

Source: Britannica.

"Hosanna": Call upon the name of the Lord.

"Hosanna": Call upon the name of the Lord. -

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21:9 (NIV), (Psalm 118:25,26).

"Hosanna"(Hebrew), etymology says that Hosanna is a single word derived by joining two Hebrew separate words, "Yesa" and "Na".

Where, "Yesa", pronounced "yaw-shah", means, "deliverance, rescue, liberty, welfare, salvation".

And, "Na", pronounced "naw", means, "please, now, (in old fashioned form - pray)".

We can see this word in Psalm 118:25, "Save now, I...", as pleading the Lord as they ascend the Holy Temple steps. The commentators say that this Psalm was sung annually at the Passover celebration, or at other ceremonies. 

As the Israelites on their pilgrimage they are asking the Lord to save them. Is it just the Israelites that should be saved? Or is the whole world that God wants to rescue out? We can deduce the meaning "world" from Psalm 107. I see four kinds of people asking the Lord for Help. Verses from 4-7, 10-14, 17-20, and 23-30. The CSB version starts with the words, Some (V4), Others (v19), Fools (v17), and Others (v23). I would like to name them as Israelites, Gentiles, Backslidden, and the Apostles, not just for easy understanding but the essence of these verses makes this sense.

Israelites (v4-7) - Exodus first chapter starts with the genealogy of the sons of Jacob who was renamed as Israel (Genesis 35:10). After crossing the Red Sea, they were wandering in the hot desolate place because of their stubbornness for forty years (Deuteronomy 2:7). Psalm 107:4-7, addresses these people as "finding no way to a city where they could live (107:4, CSB). When their spirits or their souls failed or fainted (v5), they cried out to the Lord in their trouble (v6). And then came the Lord to rescue them (v6). He led them through the right path (v7) until they reached the city (Jerusalem) that they could live at peace by the time of David. 

Gentiles (v10-14) - Other than descendants of Seth (see the genealogies in Matthew 1:2-16 and Luke 3:23-38), rest of the people have parted their way away from the Lord. They sat in darkness and gloom or the shadow of death. They were prisoners in cruel chains, because they rebelled against the Most High (v10,11). Nobody was there to rescue them (v12) for they followed their own paths, some with demi gods, some made themselves gods, some with ablutions and some with penance, etc., At last when they cried out for help (v13), the Lord brought them out of the darkness and the shadow of death (v14). He broke the chains that bound them till then.

Backslidden (v17-20) - I see these people as once they had sufficient faith to follow Him, but as they continued in the association of Jesus as followers and as disciples, they were uncomfortable or incompatible with the teachings of Jesus and started to disassociate and left the group. We can see such kind of people from John 6:22-66. One of His own disciple Judas Iscariot deserted Him, His own brothers made fun of Him (John 7:3-5; Matthew 13:55,57). Charles Taze Russell, Ellen G.White, etc., are some who fall in the same club. Psalm 107:17, names such people as fools. They fooled themselves because of their rebellious ways, they sinned against God. However, some have lost their lives, but even if those who now are ready to give up their past life and ask for help, He is ready to help them. John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (Jesus Christ), that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." He sent His Word (the Word) to rescue them from the Pit [sehiyt(heb) - destruction, pitfall] (Psalm 107:20).

The Apostles or the Church (v23-30) - I will sum up this scenario with Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; and Luke 8:22-25, where we can see Jesus hushing the sudden storm. Sometimes we are in the boat of faithful believing Church, but at some stormy situations we feel we are left all alone, skeptical, and uncertain of our destiny. Some even take hasty decisions. The disciples of Jesus were in the same situation in spite of knowing that they have a man who is an extraordinary person with them. For the past few days they witnessed some unbelievable miracles done by this man Jesus. But still they worried about their life. Their courage has melted down, all their skill to save themselves was useless (v27). Now, they cried out to the Lord, and He stilled the wild waves to a calm (v28,29). When we are in a weary situation, just remember the promise, call upon the name of the Lord and we will be saved (Romans 10:13).

This promise has worked when Jesus Christ gave up Himself upon the Cross of Calvary for every human being to rescue him from eternal death. Colossians 1:13,14 reads, "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" and Ephesians 1:7 reads, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins..." He really heard us, when we cried out "Hosanna", "Lord! Save us now". We can see this affirmation of those who are been saved in Revelation 7:9-12, "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels.. the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” (NIV).

Eve for Adam and Adam for Eve.

Why God create Eve for Adam and Adam for Eve? 

Obviously the answer would be Genesis 2:18, "It is not good for the man to be alone."

Alone? Most think it is easy to be all alone. Some even think that staying all alone is better, because responsibility is burdensome. However, man can live alone with a community around him. But can he live all alone just as the only living entity in this world? To understand the scenario, let's look at one example. 

In 1984 an Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, flew away from the space shuttle "Challenger", all alone into the space untethered. He flew away 100 meters from the space shuttle, freely floating in the space. Later, when he was asked about his experience of being in space all alone and freely floating, he answered, "it was extremely cold - think about the silence - just think about you all alone in space."

Frightening isn't it?

That's the reason why God created them male and female (Ge.1:27) - one for the other, so that no one will feel lonely.

1Corinthians 11:11 reads, "Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman." 

Picture taken from https://www.nasa.gov/content/images/bruce-mccandless

Emperor Nero - the Blood Bather.

Emperor Nero - the Blood Bather.

This extravagant and luxurious bathtub of emperor Nero, made of Porphyry granite rock, a hard igneous rock containing crystals of feldspar in a fine-grained groundmass. The Daily Beast in it's news says, the bathtubs worth has been estimated to be worth $2 billion (this world’s most valuable bathtubs market value has yet to be proven). It's in the Vatican.

A plausible fact is that Nero's new found love Poppaea Sabina, married to Marcus Salvius Otho, as her second marriage. He is a Roman Consul's son, who was sent by Nero to govern Lusitania (Portugal) though inexperienced. Barry Strauss says that, Poppaea was one of the great beauties of the day. Nero wrote a poem about her beautiful amber (golden brown) hair. She is said to have bathed daily in the milk of five hundred asses to preserve her skin and even inspired in her day a line of cosmetics named after her. She is six years older than Nero. Josephus (Life, 3) tells, "when Nero visited Rome in AD 63, he was introduced to Poppaea by a Jewish actor and was befriended by her." Tacitus (Annals XVI,6) says that, "on her death in AD 65, Poppaea was not cremated in the Roman custom but was buried (as like the foreign custom)." Josephus (Antiquities, XX.8.11) indicates that she was a 'God fearer'. F.F.Bruce (The Spreading Flame, pg 176) writes, "the empress Poppaea whom Nero married in that year (AD 62 ?) was a friend of Jews." Some claim that she urged Nero to kill his mother Agripppina.

After the great fire in Rome, which according to Seutonius states with no reservations that Nero set the city on fire [(Life of Nero, 38); cf. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, XVII, 5]. Nero found a scapegoat, in the new found faith Christians to accuse. Out of fear that there might be possible civil disturbances in the governance of Rome with the Christians, he accused them of starting a fire. Another possibility is that Nero planned a colossal project to build, and he needs space to build it. According to Tacitus, Nero punished those guilty not only of starting the fire - a crime to which they had supposedly confessed. In his private estate across the Tiber river in the Vatican territory, which included a circus. Romans liked to watch the scenes of their myths to be enacted. As a part of this the victims were worn animal skins and were torn apart by dogs. Others were crucified or burned to death at night like living torches. Nero watched this going around as a charioteer. Eusebius in his Church History, writes that, his own mother and wife, with many others who were his near relatives, he killed like strangers and enemies with various kinds of death. He also goes on to write about the martyrdom of apostles Peter and Paul under Nero. These martyrdoms were witnessed by later writers like Roman Tertullian, ecclesiastical writer Caius, and Dionysius bishop of Corinth. 

Did such a ruthless tyrant did bathe in his bathtub with water? It is no exaggeration when I say that he bathed with the blood of the martyrs, other than his relatives in his luxurious bathtub. 

The Second Century Church Father, Tertullian, made a statement that is still relevant today, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."

Matthew 5:10-12 reads, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."