What Do We Learn About the Bible from Visiting Egypt? Part 2: Seeing the Temple

What’s the best way to see the ancient temple of Israel? Go to Egypt.

If you go to Israel, you will not see the ancient temple. The only thing that remains is the Western Wall where Jews and others from around the world go to pray.

If you want to see the temple, you will need to go to Egypt. It is not exactly the same, but the structure of the temple is much closer than you might imagine. In addition, there are dozens of temples to visit. You can see great variation on the same themes.

To understand the temple, it might be helpful to read 1 Kings 6:14–28, which describes the temple of Old Testament Israel. There plan of the temple is simple. Room 1: The outer courts, where the people would gather. There, everything was made of bronze. There was a bronze altar and bronze wash basin. Room 2: the holy place. This is where the priests would go. There was the table with the bread on it, the menorah or candle, and the altar of incense. All there was made of gold. Rome 3: inside the holy place, there was the most holy place. Only the high priest could enter and that only once a year. In this most holy place or the holy of holies, there was a box, the ark of the covenant. This was the place where Jehovah’s presence would manifest itself.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the temples of Egypt.

Room 1: The Outer Courts
When you come to the temples of Egypt, you will find an outer court area. This is where the people would gather. This is similar to what you would have found in Israel, though only Jews who were ceremonially clean could enter there. Below are the outer courts at the temple at Edfu in Egypt.

In Egypt, every temple has this sort of structure. You can see this clearly in the Kom Ombo temple. You can see the outer courts in the foreground, and then you can see the holy place in the background.

Psalm 84:1 proclaims, “How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!” One thing that you may miss in looking at these ancient structures is how beautiful they were. They were fully painted and decorated. It was not just brown, yellow, or gray stone. There would be a dazzling array of colors. Continue reading “What Do We Learn About the Bible from Visiting Egypt? Part 2: Seeing the Temple”

Keeping Sane & Productive in an Insane World, Principle #24: Play with Your Kids Every Day

What can help keep us sane in an insane world? Play, especially with our kids.

Over the years, I have found myself struggling and not able to move forward. After reflection and prayer, I have come to certain principles that helped me keep going in the midst of leading a congregation, raising seven kids, earning three degrees, trying to be involved in the community, and trying to make my mark on the world. Here is principle #4 (not in order of importance) for keeping me sane and productive in an insane world.

Principle #4: Play with Your Kids Every Day
There are so many duties that call us. There are so many things that distract us. There are so many things that keep us busy. It’s easy to forget the positive duties we have that are not as urgent in the moment. That’s what led the great missionary and explorer David Livingstone to say, “I have but one regret and that is that I did not feel it my duty to play with my children as much as to teach” (Cited in Niall Ferguson, Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power, 105). Continue reading “Keeping Sane & Productive in an Insane World, Principle #24: Play with Your Kids Every Day”

What Does Visiting Egypt Teach Us About the Bible? Part 1: Why Go (Back) to Egypt?

I arrived in Aswan, Egypt on the afternoon of May 5th. After a 20 plus hour train ride, we were met by the Spanish-speaking guide of Memphis Tours because the English one was not available. With my Spanish and his English, we were able to piece together what was going on. We were heading to the Movenpick Hotel.

There was no way to drive to the Movenpick Hotel. You had to take a ferry across the Nile River because this hotel was located on Elephantine Island (pictured above). There is something magical about crossing a river in a boat to get to your hotel.

As the night went on, I was thinking, “I know that name, Elephantine Island. Where have I heard it before?” I finally remembered. It was the island where the Jews went after the destruction of Jerusalem by King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Some of the remaining Jews had fled to Egypt to escape his wrath after they had killed the governor that King Nebuchadnezzar had put in power. With them went Jeremiah the prophet, whose prophecies I had read many times. “Wow! And to think, I am on the very island to which Jeremiah came with the Jews.” It was a profoundly moving experience.

And that was one big surprise of Egypt. It is the second Bible land. After Israel, Egypt is the most prominent “land” of the Bible. Besides the experience on Elephantine Island, I had many other experiences in Egypt that illuminated the Bible for me. In this series of articles, I want to share them with you. The first thing I learned was why Egypt was so inviting. Why did Abraham want to go to Egypt? Why did the Israelite former slaves even want to return there? I understood much better after visiting Egypt.

Why Go to Egypt?
When Abram went to Canaan, there was a famine in the land. Abram might have thought, “God told me to go here, and now this place is a total bust!” So, where did he go? To Egypt.

Now, why would he go to Egypt? Isn’t Egypt just a big desert? Continue reading “What Does Visiting Egypt Teach Us About the Bible? Part 1: Why Go (Back) to Egypt?”

Keeping Sane and Productive in an Insane World, Principle # 19: Embrace Small Talk

Over the years, I have found myself struggling and not able to move forward. After reflection and prayer, I have come to certain principles that helped me keep going in the midst of leading a congregation, raising seven kids, earning three degrees, trying to be involved in the community, and trying to make my mark on the world. Here is principle #19 (not in order of importance) for keeping me sane and productive in an insane world.

Principle # 3: Embrace Small Talk
One thing I really don’t like at church is the time when people go around and just greet people for a few seconds. It seems awkward and pointless. I also feel bad for people who are visitors and just want to lurk and check things out. This is nothing compared to the awkwardness of what I have experienced visiting Hispanic churches. There, they ask if anyone is a first-time visitor. If they are, they have them stand up and clap for them or wave their bulletins. I find it super awkward, but many of the Hispanics who are first time visitors really seem to enjoy it. They are anxious to let the church know they are first-time visitors. I guess cultures are different.

Many people feel about small talk the way I feel about church greeting time and being welcomed a as a first-time visitor: awkward and pointless. I leaned that way for a long time. I just got irritated with conversations about the weather, and that seems to be the one thing everyone wants to talk about.

Then, I listened to this episode #406 of The Art of Manliness podcast, “Why You Should Embrace Small Talk” with Debra Fine. It changed my perspective completely. It taught me the basic principles for small talk and gave me reasons to embrace it.

Why Embrace Small Talk
Let’s start with the latter. Why should we embrace small talk? Continue reading “Keeping Sane and Productive in an Insane World, Principle # 19: Embrace Small Talk”

Is There Hope for My Future? (Study of Romans, Part 5: Romans 8:17-39)

Note: How do we find joy, hope, and peace in our lives? The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans is all about that. He teaches that we do it by having more faith, hope, and love. In the 5th part of this study, we consider, is there hope for my future? This is the 5th of an 8 part study of Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians. You can read part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, and part 4 here.

Key Thought: You grow in joy, peace, and hope by developing a confident expectation that the the future will turn out well for you.

Hope and Hope
What do you think the future will be like for you and for the world? If you really knew that the future was going to be great for you, wouldn’t you have greater joy, peace, and hope?

When we talk about the virtue of hope, we are talking about the future. Hope is a confident expectation that things will turn out well. Do you tend to view things that way?

We can view hope in two different ways. On the one hand, it is an emotion that enables us to feel that there will be good things in the future. On the other hand, it is a virtue or excellent character trait that we develop that enables us to see that the future is filled with good things.

What Paul does in this passage is to teach us to re-think the future to develop the virtue of hope so that we will feel more hope about the future. Continue reading “Is There Hope for My Future? (Study of Romans, Part 5: Romans 8:17-39)”