Beelzebub

Ekron's god

Beelzebub was not one of the most important gods of the Philistines, yet he was a god to them. Who and what was he? He is the "lord of the flies." Because of the reference to this god in II Kings 1:2-3 there is a singular important thing to learn about this god. In this chapter he is called Baalzebub. This is important because the first part of the name was Baal, the Canaanite fertility god. The people of Ekron prayed to this god to recieve healing from diseases that were caused by flies. The first time it is mentioned in the Bible is when Ahaziah became ill in II Kings 1:2. Instead of calling for the man of God, Ahaziah decided to send his messengers Ekron to see if he was going to recover from the disease that was caused from a fall. This could very easily be some kind of infection in a broken foot, and could have even been maggots in his wound, which is why he would go to the god of the flies. This was possibly a new god at that time and Ahaziah wanted to see if this god could help him. Apparently the worship of this god was very satanic. It is believed that while sacrificing to it the priests would hum to give the sound of a fly buzzing. In fact, archaeologists found little golden flies to show that they had made them into a small image that could be carried around with a person. 


Beelzebub in the New Testament
The only references to this god is in relation to Christ. The Pharisees claimed that Jesus, by the power of Beelzebub was casting out devils. Here is an interesting thought. Why would the Jews say that by the power of the lord of the flies Jesus was casting out devils? To the Jews a fly was not just unclean. It was seen as demonic, partially because of the worship that surrounded it. To the Jews this would have been a huge insult to Jesus and His followers. Jesus, of course, refuted the Pharisees by asking why would the devil cast out one of his own. This gives a little deeper insight into the disgust that the supposed religious people of Israel had for Jesus. The name was used at that time to represent Satan himself.

Beelzebub in modern times
According to John Weyer (occultist) Beelzebub was chief lieutenant of Lucifer and emperor of hell. He commanded a successful uprising from Satan and several demons followed him. He presides over the order of the fly, at least that is what Weyer said.
Another myth about Beelzebub formulated by Sebastien Michaelis (author of Admirable History) is that he was one of the most prominent demons to fall, the other two were Lucfer and Leviathan. According to him these three form the evil trinity, while God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit make up the holy Trinity. (loony if you ask me)
Any person that has read Pilgrim's Progress is familiar with the name Beelzebub. He and several of his demons shoot arrows at Christian to try and keep him from entering the Wicket Gate. Here, along with Apollo, Beelzebub is a representation of Satan. Of course, I tend to believe this theory more than the others. The Bible refers to the fiery darts fo the wicked, and Beelzebub in the Bible is used as another name for Satan. 

Beelzebub mentioned in the Bible
II Kings 1:2, Matthew 10:25, Matthew 12:24, Luke 11:18

Tribe of Judah

General information

One of the most important tribes was the tribe of Judah. It was by far the largest in land area and was possibly the strongest militarily. The animal chosen to depict them was the lion. This is for several reasons, one was the political role it was to play when the kingdom would be set up. Except for the first king, Saul, Judah was to be the tribe from which the royal family was to come. Of course, Jesus also descended from this line, as we are given the direct line in Matthew 1. Therefore, spiritually, it has a played a huge role as well. The lion was a symbol of courage and strength. Today it is still revered as the king of the beasts. 


Northern Borders
Bordering Judah to the North was the smallest tribe in land mass: Benjamin. Judah was given a small portion of the Jordan River near the historical location of Jericho. The border went eastward just under Jerusalem. In Joshua 15:63 we read that it was the responsibility of Judah to take over Jerusalem from the Jebusites. Here we read, "the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day." From there the border swings northward slightly, just so it can include the city of Beth-Shemesh. From there the border travels Northwest, bordering the areal allotted to the tribe of Dan. It ends at the Mediterranean Sea.

Southern borders
To the South there were fewer cities and towns given to define the borders, however land marks were used here. Starting on the Southern tip of the Dead Sea the border slopped Southwest bordering the Wilderness of Zin, a small section of the Negev Desert. The border at the furthest South included Kedesh-Barnea. Near here it turns back to the North and follows the River of Egypt, thought to be the modern day Wadi el-Arish. The border follows the river up the Mediterranean Sea.

Actual control
Sad to say the tribe of Judah, along with other tribes did not take the full territory given to them by God. As was mentioned earlier, Jerusalem was not taken. Instead it fell under the rule of King David, several hundred years after God gave the the land. Also, I find it interesting to note that the Philistines were in the land that Judah was to conquer. If they would have done their job properly Israel would not have had to deal with the problems later produced by the Philistines. 

Judah today

Today the area that was once given to the tribe of Judah is still under control of Israel. The modern day Israel's Southern border follows the Sinai Peninsula down to the city of Eli-ate on the Red Sea. Today it is part of the Jerusalem and Southern District in Israel.

Judah in the Bible

Genesis 29:35  And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing. 

Genesis 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 

Numbers 13:6  Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.      

Judges 1:19  And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 

2 Samuel 2:4  And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul. 

1 Kings 12:17-19  But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 

Revelation 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 

Solomon's Temple

Solomon's Temple

Possibly one of the most beautiful buildings ever built by man. It took about seven years to build and was done by the most skilled laborers of its day. Solomon himself was a master architect and built several other things that can be read about in the Bible. Archaeology has uncovered many of his works, but because of the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the modern day stipulations on the Temple Mount there is not much information available to archaeologists. In the building it is very interesting that all the work was done off site of the Temple Mount. It was to be completely silent there. Also there was to be no tool of iron on the Mount. We also read that the cedar was floated down to Israel on rafts. This is interesting to see that is was a much easier route of transportation than having to transport them all by land. 

The Glory of the Temple

The Temple was definitely a magnificent place, one which the Jews for centuries would look to with pride. The Bible gives a description of what the Temple looked like in I Kings 6. Here the reader is told that the walls were covered with gold. Even the floors were given a layer of gold. It sat on top of Mount Moriah, where centuries earlier Abraham nearly offered his only son Isaac on an alter of stone. It was visible for miles around. David, long before the building of the temple gathered together all the materials that would be necessary for the temple. In II Chronicles we are given a list of things that were brought to the Temple. There were 8,000 talents of gold, 17,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of brass, 100,000 talents of iron. This is not including the list given just a few verses before that. The list includes: gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, onyx stones, glistering stones, precious stones, and marble stones. The wood, as mentioned earlier, was brought down by boat to Israel, then brought inland from there. The tally of wealth in today's dollar of just the gold and silver is a staggering 153,984,000,000. This is not including any of the other materials. 

Dimensions of the Temple

Solomon's Temple was not very large. The temple was approximately 90 feet long by 30 feet wide and 45 feet tall. This in and of itself means very little. However, if you were to compare it to a  NBA basketball court, the temple would be four feet shorter on the length and 20 feet shorter on the width. An NBA basketball court is 94 feet by 50 feet. Total, the Temple had 2,700 square feet of floor area in the actual building.

What was in the Temple?
In I Kings 7:51 the Bible mentions the treasures of the house of the Lord. What were these treasures? These were the instruments that David had sanctified for use in the Temple. They were cups and other utensils that were used every day in the Temple. Many today wonder where it all got to. In Daniel 1:2 we read that, "part of the vessels of the house of God" were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar after he destroyed the city of Jerusalem. We also know that these same golden vessels were used by Belshazzar at his wicked feast. After the desecration of these vessels God wrote on the wall the destruction of Babylon, which happened later that night.
Solomon's Temple in the Bible
This Temple is mentioned many times in the Bible, here are just a few references. 
I Kings 6
I Kings 7:12-51
II Kings 18:6
I Chronicles 29