Basic HTML Version
------~--~--~-------=---==-~==--==--~--=~intnAh
Britain will I<OT be in that cmpire soon 10
come.
This
unitcd Europe
will
rooqucr
Israel- ifyou know who urael is today, and
1
do ""'
mean
Judah. known
as
tbe l.sraclis
today.
A11
that iovolves
a
oumbu of other
propbecies. whieh there
is
not room
to-
ex.
plam bcrc.
aut
lhis
"king of Babylon" shall al thc
time of
t1us
prophecy have been uuerly de·
feated by the interventioo or the living
Christ in bis power and glory. Continuo on:
"Thc wbolc eanb
is
at
rcsl.
and
u
quiet:
they break fortb into singi•&· Yea, the ftr
trccs rejoice ... and thc
c:eda.rs
of Lebanoo,
saying.
Since thou
art
laid down.
no
fcller is
come up agamst us" (verses
7-8).
1
want
to
1nterpo.se an tnte:resti.ng
bit
o(
1.nformab0o rigbt here. Tbe cedan of
Leba·
non~biblically
famous, are almost totally cut
down. Onty one small clump of thesc
CrcC$
rcmains,
hJgh
in lhe mountains. 1bave seen
and photo&rapbed them. Howc,..,r, perhapo
the ftneslspeamen of the cedart of Lebanon
swviving on eartb are on the Ambass.ldor
CoUcge campus in England. We havc prized
tbcm h.i&hJy.
h
is intercsting lo scc that this
prophecy. wrhlcn somc
500
yeart a.c.•
should rcoor<l thc fact tbat these beautiful
and stately uces should ha
ve been
so largcly
fcUcd.
This
passage in
lsaiah
14
speili
of tbe
doomof tbis coming king atthe hands of the
gloriJied, all·powerful Christ.
h
rcfcrs to
hiJn
as Satan's chief poliúcal ruler and military
desuoycr, toWiy deccived by Satan in tbe
years very shortly abcad of
us.
Theo, comong
10
verse
12,
tbis
human
earthly type of Sattn thc devil $\lddenly
lcaps to Satan himself - che former arch·
angel,
lucirer:
"How art tbou fallen from heaven,
O
t..•·
cüer, son
ot
the momio¡!
bow
a.n
tbou cut
down
10
tbc
3fDund,
wlúcb clidst weaken Che
nations!..
A
belter t.ran5lauon here
tS:
"How
art thou, who d.idst wc.aken the nations, cut
down to the ground." Tbe RSV translatcs it:
""How you are cut down
to
the ground, you
wbo
laid tbe oaúons low!"
TbJ$
the former
Lucifer dtd tbrough tbc human political·
molitary leader in bis powcr - &poken of
Ul
the first eleven verses.
Tbe ottmc ••Lucifer... mcans
61
.shining st.u
or thc dawn," or "bringer of
ligh~"
as God
drst created tum. Now c;ontinue;
~For
tbou
bast satd on tbine beart, 1 wdl ascend lftto
heaven.
1 ..
ttl exalt my throne ahove the
stars(angels)ofGod."
•
Notice, Lucifer had a throne: he was a
ruler. Hi3 lhronc was on euth, fos: be
wa.s
'
going
10
"""'"d in
lO
heavcn. Continue:
'1
wiU
sic
aJso
upon the mount of tbc
congregauon. on Che sidos of tbc nortb:
1
wíll
ucend abovc the heights of tbe clouds;
1
wdl
be ulr.e che Most High" (vena
13-14),
Ao–
tuaUy, it is plain that
lucircr
bad
notbins
less in mind tban knocking Che Creator God
otr
lus
thronc a11d becoming supreme god
lum5elf.
Appan:ntly he planned to put himsclf
lll
place ofGod over tbe univene.
But
finally,
as lhe context rcrurns again to
the human type: "Yet tbou shalt be brought
down to bcll (Heb.
.ú,.ol).
lo tbe sides of tbe
pit" (verse
15).
From tbat
pom~
the thou¡hl
~rurns
10
the human klng. Here was tbc supremo mAS·
tcrpiece or Ood·s crea.
tive power, asan indi·
vidually created being, lhreatcning to tum
on his owo maker - as a frank:en.stein,
to
destroy
bis
own maker - and assume
aU
hu
powers co rule thc wbole universe.
Hís
was
NOTa govemmen1 based upon the
principie of love - of givín¡, of outgoing
coneem for the good of ocben. but
based
on
S'!Lf·C'ENTEUDN"ESS,
on vanity. lust and
greed. oo envy, jcalousy, !he spiril of com·
petition.
batred, violence and desuuction. oo
darkness and error, instead of tighl and
trutb, on uaJiness instead of beauty.
Tum
now
10
thc other bíblica! passage
(Continued bn page 14, col. 1)
WEEK ENDINO
APRJI.. 19, 1975
ISRAEL 'S MASADA
~nd
tho
,.,p
(Ioft) which tho
Romtnl
built to
C#pture
tho
roek.
MASADA=Symbol
of
lsrael's Resolve
-
.
by
Brian Knowles
After !he faU of Jcrusalem in A.O.
70,
Masada, a boal·shaped rock rising more
Iban
1.300
fcet
above
the westcm sbore of
thc Dead Sea,
~mained
as
tbe lasl unde·
feall:d outpost ofthe
Zealot
dcfenders.
Acoor<ling lo Jewish historian Ftavius Jo–
sephus, Masada
was
first fortifted by 1ona·
tban the priest
Bul Che
man
who made Masada a fonru·
dable fortress was Herod thc G.ut - the
same manwho had built the&<tat Temple in
1erusale.ml
Betwcen
36
and
30
a.c. Hcrod buih a
casemate wall arounll thc top of
Masad~.
defense
tow~
storebouses.
¡rea.t
water e&s.
teto$,
baml<ts, arteoaü
and
püaccs.
ID
A.O.
66,
when tbe Jcwish rebellion
againsl lhc Roman ocx:upatíon began. che
Zcalots capcurcd Masada and beld it
througbout
lhe entire
war.
1erusalcm feU in A.D.
70
bul Masads
refused lO he conquered.
le
beeamc a poiot
of fnlmaúon
10
the Roman suategisls wbo
lried
time &1\er time. but in vai.n.. to take lhc
foruess.
FoUowing
Jcrusalcm's
collapse, a few sur..
viving pacriots joincd tbe defcnding group of
Zealots on Masada. Tbe number of de·
(endcrs rose
10
960 men. women.
and
ehildren.
With Masada
as a
base
of operations, a
band ofZealots would oecasionally leave tbc
forucss and lauuclr a raid on
a
nearby Ro–
man garrison. Harasscd for nearly two years
by these raidJog
parties,
the Romans beeame
inc:reasinaJy inl'uriall:d.
Masada had become more Iban justa
roc:l:
out therc in the dcscn. Now
it
was
a symbol.
h
was che last surviving oucpost of 1ewi.lb
rebellion against lhe invincible mighl of
Rome, a
raUy!ng
poinl for 11\e fanalical
Zcalots.
In
A.O.
72
Che Roman govcrnor, Flavius
Sylva, resolved
10
crusb
this
irritacing. frus–
traúo~
outposl of resistanc:e. He spared no
etfort
m
making his prcparations.
Sytn•sSieae
Sylva man:hed
10
!he sice of Masada with
bis Tenth LesJon. accompallied by auxiliary
troops and thousands ofwater-carrying pris·
ooers of war. They
marcbed
across thc bu·
reo desert
with
limber and provisions for a
prolpnged strugle.
AIOp
M~da,
Eleazar ben Mair, leader of
tbe Zeú>ts, prcparcd
10
dcfcnd thc
roc:l:.
Suppiics and water werc raúoned and forto·
fications
werc again made ready.
·
Sylva and his meñ estabUshcd a garrison
at thc base of che fortrcss and constructcd a
wall that complctely surrow'lcled tbe rock of
Masada
10
prcvcnt tllly.Jews from cscap.og
Uuo l.bc desert.
Al
the ume time lhe Roman govemor
and his men began consttUction
ora
massivc
ramp ofcarth and scones on the rocky site of
tbe westem approach
10
Masada wherc the
c:liJI$
were lowest. Whe:n tbe ramp was com·
p1cted, tbe Romans buih
a
siege
10wer
and
under a coverin& fusiUade of stones and
Spe&IS
f¡om
ÍIS
IOp, tbey moved
a
powerful
battcring ram up lhe ·ramp. Aftcr rcpeated
elfons the Romans breachcd !he wall in
A.D. 73. Then it
was
only
a
mauer of time
befo~
Che le¡ions brol:.e thro\lsJ>.
A
Tcstimooy of
Silonee
When tbe soldien of Sylva final1y poured
throug.h lhe breach, lhey wcre
roc1
not with
dcfcnding Jews but witb an unt:llpectcd si·
lencc. Where wcre the defenders? Had they
cscaped
throusJ> some
unknowt>
passage'!
Nonc had
cscaped.
All but lwo womcn
and 6ve children were dead. But not ac the
hands of the Romansl
The defendert ofMasada bad agreed· lbal
surrender
to
lhe Roma.n.s was
uotenabJe.
••r
cannot but
emem
il
a
favour lhat God hath
&ranll:d us. tbat
it
is still
in
our power to die
bntvely, a.od in a state of frcedom," said
Eleazar. lbeir leader. in
ur~ins
mass suicide.
" . , . And lct us spare nothing but our provi·
sions;
ror
they
wiJI
be
a testimonial whtn we
are
dead
lbat
we
were. not
subduc:d for
want
of
nco:ssaries,
b\lt that ••• we have prcferrcd
cleatb heforc slavery."
They bcticved it
bet~r
10
die than
10
sut>–
mh. They took thcir own lives ra.ther than
f}ve
tbe
Romans
!he
saúsfacúon
of
surrcndcr.
lsratl-
A
Nadonal Masada?
Today tbc nation of ü rael
is
under con·
stallt sicge, constan! tbreal of att.ack. Yetthe
tsraelis are determined
to
bang on. to sur·
vive as a sovereign nation.
Th~
historie:
homelaod of thc 1cwish peoplc has become
a
oational Masada.
h
iJ
tbc land their God
&ave them "'bcn be brought tbem out of
.Egyptian slavcry.
h
is a place where Jcws
can live
in
dígnity and self-rcspeet. And it is
a land worth defcnding - no maner what
tbe cost.
Noted üraeli arebaeologisl Yigael Yadin,
wbo beaded up tbe team tbal excavall:d Ma·
sada
in
thc
Sd:lle$.
sumrocd
at
all up whe:o be
wrote:
"...
Muada reprcscnu for
all
of
w
in lsrael
...
a symbol
o(
couragc. a monu..
ment to our &reat national ftgures, heroes
wbo,chooc death over a üfe of physical and
moral serfdom"
(Masuda.
H<rod~
Fbrtn»
1111d th< üalbU /.Ast Stand,
p.
13).
Today's lsraeü
sees
lile prcsenl military
situation as
tbc
modero cquivalent of lhc
Roman legion.s of tbe fint century. Gready
outnumbcted
by
miltioiU i.n the surroundlng
Arab oations. tbe modero lsloeli must look
10
such symbols
10
bolsler bu oouragc in tbe
face of apparenlly ovcrwhe1ming odda
against
bis
survival
h
i.s
not thc lsraelis" de$Íre to emulate thc
Zealots' suicida! example. Rather they be·
lievc tbc siegc of Masada teaehcs them tbey
mUS<
l<cey
their counuy strong enongh so
that tbey wdl oevor he faeed witb the
Zealots' desperate choice. That
u
why re·
cruits of che üraeli Armored Corps swear
lb..i.s
oath of allcgiance on
its
summits:
"Masada
•hall
not fallagain."
o
7