Monday, September 3, 2012

Gold in the Bible

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Gold is made by God of Israel in the brightly exploding supernovas. It is buried deep in Earth's core, gold has rained from heavens in meteorites and eroded from mountains into the waters of rivers and oceans. Humans have found gold since prehistoric times in exposed Precambrian rocks and considered it the most precious metal of all. In fact, your engagement or wedding ring is probably also made of gold showing the high respect the yellow metal has as a symbol - not to mention Olympic gold metals!

The Bible has plenty of gold and gives this precious metal extraordinary importance. Nevertheless, both Jesus of Nazareth and Saint Peter were paupers!

[Hebrew word for gold is זהב (zahav) and New Testament Greek word χρυσος (chrysos).]


Gold in the beginning - Paradise
Pure gold is greatly valued even in Paradise!
A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)
Genesis 2:10-12 NIV

King Solomon's gold

Menorah
Wikimedia
Menorah, the seven branched candelabrum in Solomon's Temple was solid gold, the Ark of Covenant was made of acacia tree covered by gold leaf and ...
The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.

All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days.

The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
1 Kings 10:14-25 NIV
But...
“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
Jesus in Matthew 23:16-17 NIV

Gold to the newborn King!
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11 NIV

Saint Peter the Pauper
When we are looking at the golden treasures in St Peter's Church in Rome let us not forget ...
Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Acts 3:6 NIV

Jesus borrows a coin 
Jesus of Nazareth had to borrow a coin in order to make a point about the sensitive political matter of paying taxes to the Roman Emperor... not even a single silver dinar in His purse not to mention gold coins.
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

And they were amazed at him.
Mark 12:3-17 NIV

Gold in Heaven
For us modern believers Heaven is a highly spiritual and rather ephemeral place. But the description of the golden crowns of the Elders as well as the walls and streets of New Jerusalem are very material, indeed!
The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
Rev 21:16-21 NIV

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Yes, there is plenty of gold in the Bible - these are just some examples.

There is much more gold in the Holy Scriptures - go and dig for free!




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