Abraham looking at the starry sky

The brilliant night sky above Ber Sheba in the story about the Covenant of Abraham is not a cold distant and strange place or the deterministic Clockwork of Astrology - instead, it is a great and unforgettable promise by the One who has made it. A promise to him and to the humanity.


After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
   “Do not be afraid, Abram.
   I am your shield,
   your very great reward”
 ² But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
 ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
 ⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:1-6 NISV 


God fulfilled the promise and the childless old couple became patriarch and matriarch of a powerful tribe. Later on Moses notes - without directly referring to the promise to Abraham

"The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude."
Deut 1:10 KJV

Jesus: salvation is of the Jews

United Nations headquarters New York
where the nations come together

Today 20th of April 2009 the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, gave a speech in the United Nations Durban Review conference in Geneva 20-24.4. 2009. This international meeting is an evaluation of progress made after the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Tomorrow 21th of April Israel mourns the six million during the annual Holocaust Memorial Day. The six million that President Ahmadinejad thinks is a myth created for political purposes by the Zionist enemy of the human race.

Today is therefore a good day to remember the extremely powerful words of the Man of Galilee to a woman from Samaria:

Salvation is of the Jews
John 4:22 KJVA

Words that are often forgotten by Christians and Muslims alike with such tragic consequences.

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What on earth do Jews have to do with the faith in God the Creator?

It is surprising how many intelligent people discuss God and creation of the universe without mentioning the Jewish people even once. As if this was a philosophical and theoretical issue to be solved by rational thinking concerning the probabilities. This mistake of leaving the Jews out of the picture is often repeated both by those who believe in God and by those who do not.

For He is God of Israel and not just some anonymous Superior Being somewhere up there.

And He is King of the Jews, the Messiah, not just some abstract religious character

IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM

Marquis d'Argens

“Can you give me one single irrefutable proof of God?” “Yes, your Majesty, the Jews.”

Marquis d'Argens to Frederick the Great, 1779.

Frederick the Great (1712-1782)

This mighty quote by Philip N. Moore really makes one think the relationship between faith in God and the Jewish people. The question and answer are also mentioned in The Bible exposition commentary by Warren W. Wiersbe.

But did such a discussion ever happen?

For one, the date 1779 is eight years after the death of de Boyer which is suspicious.

Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, (1704-1771) served for many years the king of Prussia, Frederick the Great (1712-1782). Such a discussion is not at all impossible since king Frederick had Jean-Baptiste often to dine with him and they seem to have been dear friends. Prince Frederick was himself an atheist strongly influenced by Voltaire. Jean-Baptiste was also a philosopher of the Enlightenment and very interested in history and religion. Of particular interest in this context are his Lettres juives (The Hague, 6 vols, 1738-1742). He was a friend of the famous Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786) and apparently knew Judaism quite well. (Jews have a nice saying about Mendelssohn "there is no greater between Moses and Moses than Moses".)

The reference might be to the book: Zabuesnig, Johann Christoph: Johann Baptist von Boyer, Marquis von Argens, in: Historische und kritische Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Schriften des Herrn von Voltaire und anderer Neuphilosophen unserer Zeiten. Zweyte, vermehrte und verbesserte Ausgabe. Zweyter Band. Augsburg: Gebrüder Veith, 1779.

but I have not been able to locate it there.

Frederick had invited Jean-Baptiste de Boyer to Potsdam. "He was appointed to "Kammerherr" and Director of the Academy. However, Frederick was bitterly offended by his marrying a Berlin actress, Mlle Cochois. Argens returned to France in 1769, and died near Toulon on the 11th of January 1771." (quote)

Marquis d'Argens (1704-1771)

Disinherited by his father and thrown out from court by Frederick the Great. Something was clearly wrong in the choices d'Argens made during his life.

A prolific writer who nevertheless is not in the league of the great philosophers of his time Jean-Baptiste de Boyer is mainly remembered from the one word answer he gave to the question made by Frederick the Great.



Karl Barth
Karl Barth (1886-1968) is one of the greatest giants of 20th century Theology and his thinking is very influential in modern Christianity. A theologian of the Word of God he is well known for his massive commentary on the Epistle to Romans - Der Römerbrief - in the form of its second edition 1922.

Young Karl Barth (1886-1968)

In total clash with Friedrich Schleiermacher's (1768-1834) horizontal view of human religiosity into which Christianity is intimately tied Karl Barth proclaimed with dialectical force that God is revealed on the cross of Jesus senkrecht von oben - vertically from up. The revelation is paradoxical and originates from a reality completely out of this world. God cannot be allied with human cultures, histories and civilizations as Schleiermacher had done in his important treatise Über die Religion: Reden an die Gebildeten unter ihren Verächtern (1799).

In other texts in this blog I have emphasized that resurrection of Christ is a unique point where science reaches its limits as it does at the moment of death - the Biblical message is that in Easter morning Christ rose from the death as the firstborn of the world that is coming, the world that waits us after death, after the apocalyptic death of earth and beyond the reach of natural sciences.

In my opinion Karl Barth is right and wrong in his point. The cross of Jesus in Golgotha is something totally unique and very different from what the Jewish people expected from their King. They rejected Him and still wait for someone else to come as promised through the prophets of Israel.

But the cross it is not only God's revelation senkrecht von oben. It is also waagrecht von hinten. Biblical revelation comes to us from back, from the dawn of history, through a very long history of the children of Abraham living in the ancient Near East. It is the story of Jewish people from the times of Abram to the Roman period. Both the Old Testament and New Testament are written by the Jews. Jesus and his apostles including Paul, were all Jewish.

Well - if we draw a straight vertical line and cross it with a straight horizontal line that is what we get - a cross.



Looking at earth from space
Let us look at our planet from Voyager II near Saturn. How did God the Creator of all this make himself manifest to the inhabitants of that tiny third rock from the Sun in the photo?

Planet earth photographed from a point near Saturn

The answer is surprising.

He began to talk with a single human being in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans. One evening he took him out and they gazed the stars together.

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Genesis 15:1-6 KJVA



Who was speaking with Abram?

The Word of God.

And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying



Salvation is of the Jews.

Abraham the great sky gazer

Bible contains many stories about unforgettable moments. Among the more beautiful ones is the short description of how our Lord takes His friend, Abram, out at night in order to tell him something wonderful in a most concrete and humanly understandable way. Moslems give him the beautiful name ibrahim el-khalil, Abraham, the Friend of God and call the city of Hebron where he is buried by his nickname el-khalil.

Our Lord uses the brilliant night sky of Beersheba to make His point. This happened long before electric light pollution from the big city had largely spoiled the night view. Negev sky is deep black and blue and even dimmer stars flicker over the majestic canopy like little jewels. The setting is unspeakably beautiful and our Lord chose a very effective educational technique: from that night on every time Abram would look up at the night sky he would remember of what was said. And also us who read from the Bible about Abram remember that message when we look up at the sky.

For it was not a little message only to Abram but a universal message for all nations on earth.

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:1-6 KJVA

Please, note the translation "word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying"

Word of God came to Abram!


Jesus and Abraham
Later Jesus of Nazareth would confirm that it was He talking with Abram. He confirmed this and used the awsome words "I am" - and was about to be killed for blasphemy but at that time He succeeded to escape:

Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?

Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

John 8:48-59 KJVA

Tough words!

Reconstruction of the Ishtar gate from Babylon 575 BC
Pergamon Museum, Berlin

Other sky gazers
Islamic people emphasize that Abraham, Ibrahim, was the first Moslem and the first one who believed in a pure and simple way in one God.

It is good to remember this when we read about the nocturnal encounter between our Lord and Abram in Beersheba. It was quite unusual at his time not to see that sky full of divine beings.

Abraham was moving his tents from campsite to other caring his sheep and goats wandering as a stranger between mighty Canaanite cities. The urban inhabitants of the Promised Land shared the rich cultural heritage of ancient Near East. The big cultural and military powers of that time were in Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt. The priests and prophets living in these regions gazed at stars and carefully followed their movements. For these were not just points of light but mighty divinities with strong effect on human destiny. Religious human mind wanted to please these powers and use them for good and bad offering them sacrifices and incense and with many other ways learned from the ancestors.

In this context it is interesting that many Biblical scholars date the Abraham cycle in Genesis to a rather late period near the Exile. Scientific study of Bible is not simple and theories abound. But if the final compiling is indeed in late 7th century B.C. it is quite remarkable. At this time God of Israel castigated through the mouth of prophet Jeremiah the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the refugees in Egypt for their worship of the Queen of Heaven, Ishtar (beautiful planet Venus)

Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,

The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

Jeremiah 44:15-22 KJVA

Pagan star gazing had penetrated Judah and Jerusalem and was carried to the diaspora also to Egypt.

The tomb of Patriarchs in Hebron

Promise
After this vision of the word of God Abraham was probably often standing outside his tent holding Sarah tenderly beside him and wondering the night sky.

Nothing on that canopy of stars was in itself divine for him. But he heard the great promise of the One who has made them all.

Today we know that He kept His promise to Abraham.

He will also keep His promises to us.