Thursday, June 20, 2019

Watchtower



He cried like a lion:
"Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower
 in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.

Isaiah 21:8


Stone remnants from the ancient tower. (Israel Antiquities Authority)


The God of my rock; in him will I trust:
he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower,
and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.


2 Samuel 22:3


Genesis 31:49 and Mizpah, for he said,

"Yahweh watch between me and you, 
when we are absent one from another.


WATCHTOWER FROM TIME OF KING HEZEKIAH UNCOVERED

A watchtower believed to date from the time of King Chezekiah in the Bais Rishon was recently uncovered during archeological excavations by IDF soldiers, together with the Israel Antiquities Authority at a paratrooper’s base in the south of the country.
The tower, whose dimensions in antiquity are estimated to have been 15 feet x 10.5 feet, was erected at a high geographic site, and as such, was an observation point to the Chevron Mountains, the Judean plain and the Ashkelon vicinity. It was built of especially large stones, some 8 tons in weight, and its height today reaches around 6 feet.
According to Sa’ar Ganor and Valdik Lifshitz, excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “the strategic location of the tower served as a lookout and warning point against the Philistine enemy, one of whose cities was Ashkelon.”
“In that period, the Kingdom of Judah built a range of towers and fortresses as points of communication, warning and signaling, to transmit messages and field intelligence. This tower is one of the observation points connecting the large cities in the area, located in the Beit Mirsim (Mirsham), Tel Eton and Tel Lachish sites. In ancient times, to transmit messages, beacons of smoke were lit during the day and beacons of fire at night.”


mitspeh: watchtower, lookout Hebrew: מִצְפֶּה

tsaphah: to look out or about, spy, keep watch Hebrew: צָפָה

ari: a lion Hebrew: אֲרִי

yomam: daytime, by day Hebrew: יוֹמָם

mishmereth: a guard, watch, charge, function, post Hebrew: מִשְׁמֶרֶת

Ashqelon: a city of the Philistines Hebrew: אַשְׁקְלוֹן
ASH'KELON, or Askelon, on the seacoast, 30 ms. below Joppa. It has many ruins and, it is said, 37 wells of sweet water. The little village of Jura is outside of the ruins. King Herod the Great was born here.


WATCHTOWER FROM TIME OF KING HEZEKIAH



Soldiers at a paratrooper base in Southern Israel have uncovered a Biblical-era watchtower. The watchtower, which dates back to the 8th century B.C., was revealed during recent excavations by Israel Defense Forces troops working under the direction of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The tower, which is thought to have once been about 16.5 feet high and 11.5 feet wide, would have commanded a view that included the Hebron Mountains, the Judean plain and the area around modern-day Ashkelon.
The bible itself mentions the use of beacons (or "pillars") to communicate between military forces
The use of these early warning beacons is mentioned in the Bible. 
“Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; for disaster appears out of the north, and great destruction.” 
(Jeremiah 6:1, Judges 20:38, 40).

https://youtu.be/v-DSMWLBtec  (description) 

2 Kings 18:8 - He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
mitspeh: watchtower, lookout - https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4707.htm
2 Chronicles 20:24  -   Isaiah 21:8 
And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:(KJV)


Isaiah 21:11-12 - Oracles about Edom and Arabia
11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.
Dumah (Arabicدومة‎; Hebrewדּוּמָה‎ DūmāhAramaic for "silence") was the sixth son of Ishmael, the son of biblical Abraham and Hagar.  



Blessed are those servants,
whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching:
verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself,
and make them to sit down to meat, 
and will come forth and serve them.

Luke 12:37



Previous discoveries in the Ashkelon area:

Engravings of a Seven-Branched Menorah and a Cross were Discovered by Hikers in an Ancient Water Cistern in the Judean Shephelah
The menorah engraved on the wall of the cave has a base with three feet, and it evidently portrays the menorah that stood in the Temple during the Second Temple period. A cross was engraved near the menorah. Another engraving was found on the side of the cave which seems to resemble a type of key that is characteristic of antiquity, as well as other engravings that were noted, some of which have not yet been identified. Alongside the cistern is a columbarium with dozens of niches that were used to raise doves in antiquity. During the Second Temple period doves were used as part of the sacrificial rites in the Temple.
According to Sa'ar Ganor, the District Archaeologist of Ashkelon in the Israel Antiquities Authority,
Over the weekend, during the Hanukkah holiday and the last days of 2016, Israel Caving Club members Mickey Barkal, Sefi Givoni and Ido Meroz were exploring caves in the Judean Shephelah when they noticed what appeared to be ancient carvings. They notified the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), who confirmed that the markings were indeed ancient in an IAA press release. Carved on the chalk wall of a water cistern were a seven-branched menorah with a three-legged base—representing the Temple menorah from the Second Temple period—as well as a cross, a Christian symbol. Near the menorah and cross were additional engravings that are still being identified.
Engravings of a Seven-Branched Menorah - https://youtu.be/tYTaBqiS96M



And what I say unto you I say unto all,

Watch.

Mark 13:37





Habakkuk 2:1
I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower,
 and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
Are the events that are unfolding in the Middle East foretold in the book of Habakkuk?  
This is a long video as I set out to be thorough and methodical in presenting not only the relevant biblical information; but also the info regarding current events in the Middle East.
(video study - 1.41 minutes) - https://youtu.be/vhpyfafFKIQ


Habakkuk 1:1 - This is the oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:
2How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!”
but You do not save? (NKJV)
Habakkuk 1:1 – Hebrew: massa': burden, a load, lifting, bearing, tribute

Habakkuk 1:6 – Chaldeans – Ur - Abraham
The Chaldeans are mentioned multiple times in the Bible in both contexts. For example, Genesis 11:28 speaks of Abraham’s father Terah, who was from “Ur of the Chaldeans,” the specific tribe or people known as the Chaldeans. We know from verses such as Genesis 11:31 and Genesis 15:7 that God called Abraham, a Chaldean, out of Ur of the Chaldeans so that Abraham would follow God to the land that God had promised to him and his descendants.
[These notes are from watching this video. ~Tammy]
Abraham is stated to have originally come from "Ur of the Chaldees" (Ur Kaśdim).
The king of Chaldea was also called the king of Bit Yakin, just as the kings of Babylonia and Assyria were regularly styled simply king of Babylon or Assur, the capital city in each case. In the same way, what is now known as the Persian Gulf was sometimes called "the Sea of Bit Yakin", and sometimes "the Sea of the Land of Chaldea".
"Chaldea" came to be used in a wider sense, of Mesopotamia in general, following the ascendancy of the Chaldeans during 608–557 BCE. This is especially the case in the Hebrew Bible, which was substantially composed during this period (roughly corresponding to the period of Babylonian captivity). The Book of Jeremiah makes frequent reference to the Chaldeans (KJV Chaldees following LXX Χαλδαίοι; in Biblical Hebrew as Kasdîy(mâh) כַּשְׂדִּימָה "Kassites"). Habbakuk 1:6 calls them "that bitter and hasty nation" (הַגֹּוי הַמַּר וְהַנִּמְהָר).

Jeremiah 27:1-11
Jeremiah 38:17-18
Hebrews 10:37-38 - For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Numbers 11:11 – massa / burden [seeing a lot of 1's]
Isaiah 13:1 – massa - This is an oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
Jeremiah 23:33 – massa – oracle / burden of God

massa': burden, a load, lifting, bearing, tribute - https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4853.htm
massa: utterance, oracle / nasa - https://biblehub.com/str/hebrew/4853b.htm
nasa or nasah: to lift, carry, take - https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5375.htm (Genesis 4:13)

https://growinggodlygenerations.com/2018/01/07/where-is-god-today-habakkuk-1/

Ezekiel 33 - The Watchman and His Message

Hosanna!

https://tammyjdub.blogspot.com/2019/06/watchtower.html

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