Do I believe in Jesus? Well, I do have a pretty good reason to believe. Do you remember the things that I recently told you about the time I was held captive... with a noose tied around my neck... in Las Vegas? Thou it seemed like I always believed in God, it was that night in Las Vegas that God proved his love to me... as Patrick began to cut my friend's neck I prayed, "Oh God, I'm not asking to live... I know that I'm dead... but please forgive me so I can come to heaven... I just want to see Jesus... I just want to see Jesus." And as I finished the last prayer that I thought I would ever pray I looked up to see Jesus. My "vision" comforted me and told me not to be afraid. I'm really not sure what Patrick saw but as he took the knife from my friend's neck he said to her, "I can't kill you, cause I can't kill Gina." He then made us vow to not tell before leaving... but he let us live. The "professionals" have said that people who have major trauma need to believe in God and/or miraculous intervention to cope... and believing has helped me "cope"... but how can you doubt what you know that you know? Well I do it all the time! Doubt that it... but in my heart I hold on to my faith in my "saver." As time passed I read the Bible from start to finish as if it were a completed novel... when I finished I started again till I had read it totally through well over 25 times... from beginning to end. The old testament was so interesting... 4,000 years of family stories... from Adam to Abraham alone was filled with real life pains... many worse than my own... it was very interesting... and sad. Rape... incest... murder... adultery... I'll try to give you a "shortened" version. lol and get to my point. :) So Abe leaves home to follow his God... he has two sons, Isaac and Ishmael... (whose decedents later become enemies.) We'll follow Isaac... who has 2 sons: Esau and Jacob. From the womb Jacob was a thief and con man who steals the birthright and blessing from his elder brother... wrestles with God and demands God's blessing. Jacob works 7 years for the woman he loves only to be tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah (Karma?) but he loves Rachel and agrees to work another 7 years for her. Between the sisters and their maids, Jacob becomes the father of 12 sons... one of the sons, Joseph, is beaten by his brothers and sold as a slave to Egyptian traders. Because he interprets dreams, he becomes an advisor in Egypt eventually forgiving and saving his family from famine... and eventually relocates Jacob's family to Egypt... God has "renamed" Jacob to Israel... his sons will become the twelve tribes of Israel... many years pass and the children of Israel become great in number... to control them the Egyptian government enslaves them... and they begin to cry out for a deliverer. The story of Moses and The Ten Commandment! Believe it or not the movie is quite close to being biblically accurate. So Moses and his brother Aaron lead the children of Jacob/Israel out of bondage and into the desert... up to Mt. Sinai where Moses received the "tablets of stone" with the ten commandment written by the hand of God. God instructed Moses to build an ark to house and protect the stone tablets.
"Detailed instructions are given by God for the plan of the Ark: it is to be 2½ cubits in length, 1½ in breadth, and 1½ in height. Then it is to be plated entirely with gold, and a crown or molding of gold is to be put around it. Four rings of gold are to be put into its corners—two on each side—and through these rings staves of shittim-wood overlaid with gold for carrying the Ark are to be inserted; and these are not to be removed. A golden cover, adorned with golden cherubim, is to be placed above the Ark. The Ark is finally to be placed behind a veil, a full description of which is also given."
God gave detailed instructions as to how the ark was to be treated and where it would sit in the tent of worship... it was totally honored and one of the tribes was assigned to handle all the praise and worship duties... the Levites. I always loved the stories of King David... and his desire to build a temple... but it was almost 500 years after the Ark was built before King Solomon (King David & Bathsheba's son) built what was known as Solomon's Temple where the Ark of The Covennant was placed and reverenced for many years.
"In 586 BC, the Babylonians sieged Jerusalem and once captured, plundered and destroyed Solomon's Temple. Some historians suggest that the Ark was probably taken away by Nebuchadnezzar or perhaps destroyed in battle. Consequently, the rebuilt Second Temple did not house the Ark in its Holy of Holies room. According to the Book of Revelation, the Ark returns to the Temple in vision: "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the Ark of his Covenant" (Rev. 11:19 NIV)."
So 600 years later... a baby is born... in Bethlehem. A bastard... but they can cover that up if Joseph is willing... and he is. He raises Jesus as his own... but only Mary knows the truth. You know the rest of the story. Did it really happen? Is it true? Was Jesus the one that scripture told us would come to "save the world?" Was it His BLOOD that paid the price?? And if so, who can prove it now... 2000 years later? Maybe if they found some of Jesus's blood and tested it... what would that prove? That he was half man half God? Okay... so forget about THAT. Let's get back to the Ark of The Covennant... something that is tangible... and provable! BUT WHERE is the Ark? You will never believe where they found it!! THIS IS AMAZING!! :o
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