Heaven help the people you try to teach the bible. As the preceding verses in Jeremiah 34, which lead up to verses four and five make ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, the word of the Lord came to pass just as he prophecied. Why is it you so conveniently left out the preceding verses? I hate to have to say this, but your mind is just plain rotten.
But to think that God made threats and saw them carried out in such a way is also just plain rotten. Jesus
I knew I'd have you running furiously around the house grabbing your bible and flipping pages relentlessly! I know the previous verses - He'll be captured, he'll not die by the sword, he'll die in peace. The prophecy didn't come true. J "rotten mind, rot in hell" Lucas
I sure hope for your childrens sake that this same God hasn't made any "peace prophecies" for you. Good luck. J "may God grant you peace" Lucas
This reveals some of the motivation that makes organized religion politics. Do you not suppose Constantine thought of the same thing? Jesus
The creator of the universe is an "ego". My Father did not create this universe. The universe is an attempt to mix truth with illusion. The Bible is an attempt to mix truth with illusion. It is egotistical, with occasion nuggets of truth. As such, the Bible reflects a state of mind. The universe is a state of mind in conflict. Part of the mind knows the truth. Part wishes for illusion. The Bible is believable as long as mind is in conflict with itself. True religion is about separating truth from illusion, retaining only the truth. This begins by recognizing that truth and illusion are in your mind. Religion, as you know it, is an attempt to reconcile truth with illusion. The result is entirely illusion. The Bible is an illusion that will keep you from the truth, unless you are truly religious about separating truth from illusion. If you are not religious about it, you must prefer the perpetuation of myth. This is not different from propagating the Bible as truth. Jesus
Artificial intelligence. I call it an "ego". It has been called the "devil", but those who use that term usually don't know the difference between truth and illusion. The ego is made by fiat by the mistaken mind of the Son. The power lended to the ego - for a brief instant - comes from the mind of the Son of God. It seems intelligent because the mind of the Son of God is intelligence. Out of that instant the ego makes something strange to those of the Kingdom of God: time. The ego lives on borrowed time, and so is always fearful, suspicious, impatient, and cunning to make and lengthen time...for self-preservation. Time is utterly an illusion. It was made out of a single instant in which the mind of the Son of God wandered into fantasy. It lasted no longer than a green flash at sunset relative to eternity. It was healed in that same instant when the Father created and gave the Holy Spirit to abide in the mind of the wandering Son. That is the reason there is a Trinity. The Holy Spirit is an equal to the Father and the Son, created to be a mediator of communication when, for an instant, the Son's mind blocked communication between himself and his Father. He goes by many descriptions, the "higher Self" being one of them. He is an equal brother to "Christ", who is the Son of God. We are all Christ in our natural state of mind...as we were created. And this cannot change relative to self-deception. But the kind of intelligence that makes this universe is what is left when knowledge of his Self is denied by the Son of God. So it is dumbed-down, so-to-speak. It is intelligence relative to perception, in which nothing is ever certain. As such, the universe is built on doubt. Doubt converts to fear. The "substance" that builds this universe is energy which is thought. The thoughts driving the universe are based on doubt and fear. Thus, everything in time, space or form is a fear-based product. The ego is very much about self preservation, and has set up his kingdom ingeniously...in a way that will perpetuate his seeming existence. Both the universe and the ego exist solely on the preferential beliefs of the mind of the Son of God. As such, the universe is built on faith in illusion. When such faith is withdrawn from it by the mind that powers it, the universe will disappear. The universe as you know it is not a real creation. Creation is eternal and real. The universe is temporary and unreal. It is based on false premises: thoughts that are not real or valid. The prime thought that leads to the making of such a universe is the thought of some kind of battle between the Father and the Son for the right to be separate, and for the Son to be his own creator. Upon this false premise is built a thought system. An ego is made to manifest this thought system throughout a kingdom opposite in every way to the Kingdom of God. Such is your world. I merely did my homework and discovered that the "facts" were getting in the way of truth. I realized that the basis for this universe is entirely bogus. I saw that guilt is an invalid concept, and saw the damage it does to the mind of the Son of God. I healed my mind. I healed it by seeing all minds as one and innocent. I admit that I had help. I was well traveled and well studied. This led me to learn how to hear the voice of what I call the "Holy Spirit". This is the voice of truth in your mind and mine. For the most part, it is tuned out in favor of listening to the ego. I learned to listen only to the voice of truth, transcending the ego entirely. Then I shared my knowledge with the world. The rest is history. The universe emerges out of self-deception, or, as Buddha suggested, out of ignorance. Ignorance is necessary to maintain the self-deception. In other words, you can't have the effect without the ignorance. I "threaten" the universe as such. So I am not wanted by those interested in perpetuating its games. Such will continue to obfuscate the truth. Such is Christianity as you think it to be. Jesus
Nitro, Decent timeline. Shots being called from Athens and later Rome in the period you asked about. This crowd had gods - plenty of them too -- not a God... . http://www.bonus.com/contour/timelines_history/http@@/timelines.ws/0D499_1BC.HTML
Most of your answers will be found in this, and related fields. Hammurabi's laws will answer a lot of questions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer