In contrast to our grim (but pertinent) subject earlier in the week, today we stir the feelings of the present season of Thanksgiving.  In this season of thankfulness, when we recount our blessings, it helps to look to the Biblical world for precedents.  Amongst the festivals of the ancient Hebrews was the Feast of Tabernacles, a celebration of thanksgiving indeed.  This festival celebrated the end of the harvest season, and the blessings of that harvest.  Celebrants camped out for the week, and ate and slept in tents and booths (hence the name).  Activities included dancing into the night.  All of Jerusalem was lit by a myriad oil lamps.  People carried water from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple in gold pitchers, to be poured over the altar.  That ceremony was a thanksgiving for the rain of the year, and likewise was a prayer for rain in the coming season.  All manner of special offerings were given at the temple as well (Num. 29).  An additional ceremony involved the binding of citron with palm, willow, and three myrtle branches (Lev. 23:40).  The culmination of the festival was "The Great Hosanna," in which people marched around the Temple, crying "Hosanna, please save us!,"  as they waved palm branches.

All in all, the Hebrews set the example for our modern Thanksgiving.  In this season of Thanksgiving, take a moment to look into the Feast of Tabernacles.  You'll be thankful you did.  Godspeed.

Posted by Professorburton at 1:03 PM CST

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Welcome to the Biblical Anthropologist, the official blog of the Institute of Biblical Anthropology.  It occurred to me today that one day, we will all wake up, and the world in which we live will have changed drastically, seemingly overnight.  It will have transformed to such an extent as to convince our eyes and our senses that the scenes before us are some nightmarish fiction.  In fact, it will be a world that existed once in our primeval past, a realm of demons, giants, vampires, and hags.  How do we know this wil happen?  Well, if we are honest with each other, we can see it happening right now if we really want to look at it.  But, Jesus gives us a clue that this scenario will play out when he says "as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."  The Bible needs no sensationalism.  It needs no fantastical contextualization from outside scholars.  It is as sensational and fantastical, as it is truthful, and therefore compels us to pay attention to its message in its entirety, or pay a terrible price.  The endgame is written, but the past holds the clues.

What is this lost world that we look to then, for clues about the world to come?  If we were to peer into the world before the flood, we would find a shocking sight, not simply for its antiquity, but also at its inhabitants.  In Noahs' day, who lived on the earth?  Aside from humanity, a host of unnerving creatures dwelt in the earth.  The Fallen Angels--the Watchers--had lived amongst humans since their rebellion against heaven, even taking human females as mates.  Those unions produced the infamous race of giants, the Nephilim.  From their kind came evils that filtered into human civilizations and legends: vampires, hags, and were-creatures.  This venue produced a world of unbelievable wickedness, one in which demonic forces directly corrupted humanity.  Sounds like the Lord of the Rings right?  The Bible has no shortage of the fantastical.  The difference here is that it is real.

Are you prepared to wake up to a world like Noah's?  Get ready, because it's coming.

Posted by Professorburton at 7:47 PM CST

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