Assyria
Assyria
Assyria, also called the Assyrian Empire, was a Mesopotamian kingdom and empire of the Ancient Near East that existed as a state from perhaps as early as the 25th century BCE until its collapse between 612 BCE and 609 BCE; thereby spanning the periods of the Early to Middle Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age.
The Assyrians are a people who have lived in the Middle East since ancient times and today can be found all over the world. In ancient times their civilization was centered at the city of Assur (also called Ashur), the ruins of which are located in what is now northern Iraq.
- Ezekiel 31:3 "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs."
The way in which these civil governments were operating over time would often fluctuate with the moral character of the people with in them. Their systems of social welfare would often morph over periods of time and from generation to generation.
Polybius as a historian wrote about what caused a city to degenerate from a free state to one of control and corruption.
The Bible also mentions Cain and His first city-state, Nimrod and Babylon and of course Sumer and Sodom, followed by the cruel Pharaoh's Bondage of Egypt and Moses setting the captive free from that kind of government which included the foolishness of Saul and the corvee of King Solomon.[1]
We would see the same snare rise up among the masses with the Corban of the Pharisees, Rome, and the cities of blood, along with the error of the Nicolaitan and Balaam. More recently FDR and LBJ and all the welfare States who offer the dainties of legal charity which is the antithesis of The Way of Christ, the Kingdom of God when the people fail to seek the love and righteousness of God through fervent charity.
The Assyrian conundrum
Alfred Edersheim associates Assyria with Babylon and the bondage of Egypt.[2]
- Zechariah 10:11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.
There seems to be a difference between the Bondage of Egypt and that of Assyria if we look deeper into ourselves and the text.
Back in Hosea 5:13 Ephraim and Judah had a sickness and a wound that could not be healed by Assyria. [3] This wound would remain and become worse as a moth eating away and rot increasing[4] until they acknowledge their offence.[5]
By Hosea 6 the people are being called to return to the LORD[6] and the way because their goodness is fleeting[7] because he desired mercy and not just sacrifice.[8]
In Hosea 11 we see that the people had engaged to some degree in the error of Balaam[9] but came from that when called.[10]
In verse 3 it is stated that Ephraim is taken by the arm. The word Taken in the text is said to be from LamedKufChet לָקַח laqach[11] said to appear over 900 times in the Old Testament. But the term within the text is KufHeyMem קָחָ֖ם qāḥām which only appears in this one form here in Hosea 11:3 [12]
Ephraim was not just taken but taken by the arm. The Hebrew term is from the Hebrew term zara[13] זָרַע ‘ that can mean "to sow, scatter seed". With numerous different spellings it can mean arm.[14]
In the text we see the word for arm זְרוֹעַ ZayinReishVavAyin or zerowa[14] appearing as zərōwōṯāw זְרֽוֹעֹתָ֑יו or ZayinReishVavAyinTavYodVav. The addition of "TavYodVav" may have more significance than many translators are willing or able to understand. If we also make note that they are healed but do not know the cause we may ponder that it was not by choice but by circumstance, by a condition brought about by God.
The word for heal is רָפָא ReishPeiAlef or rapha’ [15] which within the text appears as רְפָאתִֽים׃ ReishPeiAlefTavYodMem or rəp̄āṯîm with its own additional "TavYodMem". While the letters ReishPeiAlef appear over a hundred of times in scriptures this particular spelling of ReishPeiAlefTavYodMem only appears in Hosea 11, also.
Hosea 11:11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
Hosea 12:1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
Hosea 13:1 ¶ When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
Hosea 14:9 Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
Asuras
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings or power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. ... Asuras are part of Indian mythology along with Devas, Yakshas (nature spirits) and Rakshasas (ghosts, ogres). Asuras feature in many cosmological theories in Hinduism.
"... in the Rig Veda, the word Asura is an adjective which means strong or powerful, an'd is invariably applied to gods except in the very last hymns of the last Mandala. In the BrAhmanas the word changed its meaning altogether, and Wcis applied to the enemies of gods about whom many new legends were invented." "A History Of Civilization In Ancient India", Chapter VIII. Sacrificial Rites and Legends of the BrAhmanas.
"The identification of the Asuras of Indo-Iranian mythology with the Assyrians was first suggested by Mr, H. M. Chadwick." Were the Asuras Assyrians?, Hannes Sköld, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 2 (Apr., 1924), pp. 265-267 Published By: Cambridge University Press.
Ashur, also Assur, Aššur (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊹 AN.ŠAR2, Assyrian cuneiform: Rassam cylinder Anshar.jpg Aš-šur, also phonetically 𒀭𒀀𒇳𒊬 da-šur₄)[1] is an East Semitic god, and the head of the Assyrian pantheon in Mesopotamian religion, worshipped mainly in the northern half of Mesopotamia, and parts of north-east Syria and south-east Asia Minor which constituted old Assyria. He may have had a solar iconography.
Understanding the distinction between two types of religion such as pure religion and public religion and the roll of the temples of ancient systems of public welfare may help us come to an understanding of the ways of Cain, Nimrod and Pharaoh and the ways of the prophets, John the Baptist, Christ and the Apostles. The religion of the Asuras or Assyrians represent the spirit of the "Merchants of Men which makes slaves of men as merchandise and curse children as a surety for debt. That is the way of socialism which is the way of society having one purse as a public religion which you get when you have no pure religion.
Footnotes
- ↑ Bondage of Egypt
- Deuteronomy 6:12 [Then] beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
- Deuteronomy 17:16 "But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way."
- 1 Samuel 8:11 "And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take ...take...take...take...take...take...take... 18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day."
- 2 Kings 17:23 "Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day."
- Jeremiah 42:13 "But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God, 14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell: 15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; 16 Then it shall come to pass, [that] the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die..."
- Acts 7:38 "This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and [with] our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us :39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust [him] from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,"
- Galatians 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
- ↑ Volume VII, From The Decline Of The Two Kingdoms To The Assyrian And Babylonian Captivity[1]
- ↑ Hosea 5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
- ↑ Hosea 5:12 "Therefore [will] I [be] unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound."
- ↑ Hosea 5:15 "I will go [and] return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early."
- ↑ Hosea 6:1 ¶ Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
- ↑ Hosea 6:4 "O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness [is] as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away."
- ↑ Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
- ↑ The way of error
- 2 Peter 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
- Jude 1:11 "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots(not "unspotted" like Pure Religion) in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;"
- Revelation 2:14-17 "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication ("to permit one’s self to be drawn away by another into idolatry"). 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it]."
- Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
- The way of the world is the way of Cain and His city-state, the Corban of the Pharisees and the cities of blood, Nimrod and the Nicolaitan, Babylon and Balaam, Sumer and Sodom, Pharaoh and the foolishness of Saul, and more recently FDR and LBJ and all the welfare States who use legal charity which is not The Way of Christ, the Kingdom of God nor the righteousness of God.
- ↑ Hosea 11:1 "When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 2 [As] they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images."
- ↑ 03947 ^חקל^ laqach LamedKufChet \@law-kakh’\@ a primitive root; v; {See TWOT on 1124} AV-take 747, receive 61, take away 51, fetch 31, bring 25, get 6, take out 6, carry away 5, married 4, buy 3, misc 26; 965
- 1) to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1a1) to take, take in the hand
- 1a2) to take and carry along
- 1a3) to take from, take out of, take, carry away, take away
- 1a4) to take to or for a person, procure, get, take possession of,
- select, choose, take in marriage, receive, accept
- 1a5) to take up or upon, put upon
- 1a6) to fetch
- 1a7) to take, lead, conduct
- 1a8) to take, capture, seize
- 1a9) to take, carry off
- 1a10) to take (vengeance)
- 1b) (Niphal)
- 1b1) to be captured
- 1b2) to be taken away, be removed
- 1b3) to be taken, brought unto
- 1c) (Pual)
- 1c1) to be taken from or out of
- 1c2) to be stolen from
- 1c3) to be taken captive
- 1c4) to be taken away, be removed
- 1d) (Hophal)
- 1d1) to be taken unto, be brought unto
- 1d2) to be taken out of
- 1d3) to be taken away
- 1e) (Hithpael)
- 1e1) to take hold of oneself
- 1e2) to flash about (of lightning)
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1) to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away
- ↑ Hosea 11:3 "I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them."
- ↑ 02232 ^ערז^ zara‘ \@zaw-rah’\@ a primitive root; v; {See TWOT on 582} AV-sow 47, yielding 3, sower 2, bearing 1, conceive 1, seed 1, set 1; 56
- 1) to sow, scatter seed
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1a1) to sow
- 1a2) producing, yielding seed
- 1b) (Niphal)
- 1b1) to be sown
- 1b2) to become pregnant, be made pregnant
- 1c) (Pual) to be sown
- 1d) (Hiphil) to produce seed, yield seed
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1) to sow, scatter seed
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 02220 זְרוֹעַ zërowa‘ [zer-o’-ah] or (shortened) זרע zëroa‘ [zer-o’-ah] and (fem.) זרועה zërow‘ah [zer-o-aw’] or זרעה zëro‘ah [zer-o-aw’] from 02232 zara‘ sow; n f; [BDB-283b] [{See TWOT on 583 @@ "583a" }] AV-arm 83, power 3, shoulder 2, holpen 1, mighty 1, strength 1; 91
- 1) arm, forearm, shoulder, strength
- 1a) arm
- 1b) arm (as symbol of strength)
- 1c) forces (political and military)
- 1d) shoulder (of animal sacrificed)
- 1) arm, forearm, shoulder, strength
- ↑ 07495 רָפָא ReishPeiAlef rapha’ [raw-faw’] or
רפה raphah [raw-faw’]a primitive root; v; [BDB-950b] [{See TWOT on 2196 }] AV-heal 57, physician 5, cure 1, repaired 1, misc 3; 67
- 1) to heal, make healthful
- 1a) (Qal) to heal
- 1a1) of God
- 1a2) healer, physician (of men)
- 1a3) of hurts of nations involving restored favour (fig)
- 1a4) of individual distresses (fig)
- 1b) (Niphal) to be healed
- 1b1) literal (of persons)
- 1b2) of water, pottery
- 1b3) of national hurts (fig)
- 1b4) of personal distress (fig)
- 1c) (Piel) to heal
- 1c1) literal
- 1c2) of national defects or hurts (fig)
- 1d) (Hithpael) in order to get healed (infinitive)
- 1a) (Qal) to heal
- 1) to heal, make healthful