Why would anybody want to study prophesies in modern times?

Instead of writing any words of Middle East, it may be safe to write of something questionable but disconnected with current issues, such like prophesies.

When I told some people that I have been studying prophesies, everybody thought that I believe in Nostradamus. I even got a book with Nostradamus’ prophesies from one of them. It was not exactly what I meant by studying prophesies. That so called prophet from the 16th century did not follow any old prophetic technique.

There are some very old prophetic techniques. I divide them into three groups. The first very old prophetic technique in my list is star gazing. It is probably not older than the shamanic technique, the second group, but it is certainly older than megaliths (Stonehenge and such) from around 3000 BC. The bird man fresco in the Lascaux cave is from 15,300 BC and it shows the position of three bright stars and the pole with a bird probably means the Pole star of that time, which was Deneb. Deneb is in Cygna, the Swan, and that particular star constellation looks so much like a bird that it must have also looked like a bird to people living in 15,300 BC.

Star gazing as a prophetic technique is based on the periodicity of many events. It is similar to predicting that after the day comes the night or after the winter comes the summer. Early farmers in Egypt predicted that the Nile would flood when Sirius appeared in the sky. By looking at the stars it is possible to say what time of the year. The correct time could not be calculated by counting days since those people did not know precisely how many days there are in a year. In the oldest sun calendars priests added five or so on days to the end of the year and the precise number to add each year was determined by stars.

Many earthly events depend on the time of the year, such as floods, rains, temperature, vegetation, animal migrations. These events correlate with appearance of certain stars on the sky, so by looking at stars one can predict many events. Megaliths were built for observing star positions precisely, but I think it is likely that natural large rocks were used for the same purpose much earlier. There is a very old tradition of veneration of large rocks.

The longer time period, ages, was also known: the Pole star changes slowly. Since their model of the world was that the world is square and the sky is a half-ball kept up with a pole and circulating abound the pole as a mill, they had very good reason to expect a world wide catastrophe when the pole of the sky moved or broke. In the Indian model the mill was moved by a giant turtle and four elephants were holding up the four corners of the world. When one elephant stumbled, there was an earthquake. It was all very scientific and rational. Today we have a better model of the world and this method of prediction is not any more used, but it is agreed in science that ice ages are caused by some periodic changes, either in the earth orbit or in the sun. There has for instance been a warming period of 2000 years since the last ice age and we should just now be in the warmer episode. The media does not care to mention this weather period too often, as it sells better to blame global warning on human production of carbon dioxide.

I count to the same group with star gazing such prophetic methods as watching the fights of birds, observing snails and groundhogs, and even reading future from the lines of the hand. They are observations of nature and many have some real justification. For instance, some birds migrate and know instinctively when to start the migration. It is not at all crazy to predict the coming of the summer from arrival of certain bird species.

The second prophetic technique is to get into a trance state. This can be achieved in many ways: by dancing and music, by fasting, by special breathing or by isolation, or by psychoactive substances. The oracles of Delphi, and in general Greek prophets of Apollo, probably inhaled smoke from burning henbane seeded or drank wine tasted with henbane leaves. In the Middle East (especially in Israel) grows naturally a large variety of psychoactive plants. There are five species of henbane alone, but also mandrake, belladonna, hemp, opium, peganum harmala, fly mushrooms, some acacias and so on.

This shamanistic technique can be found from all old hunter-gatherer cultures and it probably goes back in time to 60,000-20,000 BC. The theory in this technique is that if the soul is released from the connection to the material world, it can travel to the spirit world and get the answer to specific questions. The shaman moves in the spirit world and sees far away places, the past and the future. He usually has a helper spirit, a familiar, often a cat or a crow, and he discusses with spirits, but in this technique a shaman is not dependent on a spirit. The shaman is not approaching one spirit and presenting his requests as in the next technique.

Nowadays this technique is not much appreciated. As trance methods produce hallucinations, which can be seem to be untrue, it is typical to discard the whole technique as untrue illusions. But it may not be completely so. Relaxing everyday consciousness and reaching a state of different consciousness may help to bring original ideas to a given problem. It is not without reasons that many artists have used psychoactive substances or that some creativity methods suggest thinking differently.

The third very old prophetic technique is approaching a spirit and asking it for help, or sometimes tying the spirit and commanding it to help. It may be considerably younger than the other two, but probably is at least as old as Göbekli Tepe from 10,000 BC. This technique differs from the trance trip: the shaman is not in trance and addresses one spirit at the time, instead of traveling in trance in the spirit world and seeing what there is to see. Addressing a spirit can be made without a sacrifice, for instance by throwing lots or wishing bones and seeing how they come out, but often it involves a sacrifice. An animal or human sacrifice is a cruel way of gaining favors from a spirit, but for the shaman it is a humble way to approach a powerful spirit.

Rather few cultures have practiced human sacrifice for approaching a spirit. The more common types of human sacrifice are killing servants or wives to serve the master in the kingdom of the dead, or killing and eating enemies for power. Human sacrifice for approaching a spirit was practiced by Canaan and Israel people, who sacrificed children and infants to gods and spirits. It was also done by Celts, who stabbed war prisoners in the back and predicted future from the movements of the victim. They also burned humans as a sacrifice. All American Indian high cultures, like Aztecs, Mayas and Incas sacrificed war prisoners and maidens, but it is not known if they prophesized from the sacrifice or if they only presented requests, like that the sun will rise still tomorrow. Animal sacrifices of this type were performed at least by Roman augurs, who killed animals and prophesized from the entrails. Approaching a spirit or a god is included in of modern religions. This way of thinking is still alive and accepted.

I count predicting from playing cards or spirit boards to this technique.

All of these three groups have theories, which can be accepted in principle. They are not based on giving unclear and ambiguous statements as prophesies, as is often told of Greek and Roman oracles and which seems to be the case with Nostradamus. They are also not as baseless as later horoscope astrology, palm reading, tarot cards and crystal balls. But they have limitations and can only give some correct predictions, like flooding of the Nile, some new ideas that a shaman learned in his trance travel, and few prayers, which were answered. These are not techniques that can give such precise prophesies that can be found in the Book of Daniel in the Bible.

The Book of Daniel is classified into Prophets in the Christian bible, but into writings in the Jewish Bible, obviously because it is not written by Daniel, who lived in the time of Babylonian captivity. Prophesies of the Book of Daniel are very well fulfilled. It is because they were written after the event. The verses 11:3-35 describe the actions of Antiochus IV Epiphanes very precisely, verses 11:36-39 can fit to Antiochus, but 11:40-45 do not match to Antiochus Epiphanes as known from history. This is usually interpreted so that the book was written in 167-168 BC. The writer knew what Antiochus did up to 167 BC but did not know what would happen after that time.

This explanation is possible, but I do not think it is correct. The question is that why the text in 11:40-45 was not corrected later. I think the reason is that they fit, but not to Antiochus. The verses fit rather well to the struggle between Octavian and Marc Anthony.

The verse 11:40 starts “at the end of the time”. That means that the text does not refer to 167 BC but to what was believed to be the end of the time, then changing of the astrological time to the time of Pisces and 1000 years from the time of King David (c. 1000 BC). That is, the end of the time was supposed to be about the time of Christ. At that time Antiochus was long gone. Romans ruled the world.

The King of the North was an emperor, who claims to be a god. First that person was Julius Caesar and the First Triumvirate, then the Second Triumvirate and finally Marc Anthony, who wanted Caesar’s son with Cleopatra, Caesarion, to be accepted as the emperor. Octavian had not yet declared himself as Augustus and the son of god, that is, the (adopted) son of deified Julius Caesar. Marc Anthony, the guardian of Caesarion, the King of Kings, was seen as the worst emperor.

The king of the South was those who opposed Caesar. First it was the Greek empire, notably Egypt. Pompey the Great conquered much of the Near East, including Israel. He finally did not conquer Nabataeans, so Edom and Moab were saved. Later the opponents were the Liberators in the East and Sextus Pompeius in Sicily. Pompeius raided the Italian coast. The Liberators lost to Octavia and Anthony. Next the Second Triumvirate conquered Sextus Pompeius in Sicily. Anthony joined Cleopatra and ruled Egypt. Then he had to go to a war against Octavian’s troops. Anthony set his navy and army to Athens and lost the sea battle of Actium 31 BC.

The verses match fine accepting that they summarize the time from 167 to 31 BC. It is also possible to match the verses to the First Triumvirate only, as shown in Robert J.M. Gurney, “A Note on Daniel 11: 40-45,” TSF Bulletin, 47 (1967): 10-12. (online). It is not important which interpretation is correct, it suffices to notice that the verses 11:40-45 were added to the Book of Daniel much after the verses 11:3-35 were written,

If so, the Book of Daniel was still modified in the 1st century BC. It is possible. The earliest Septuagint was most probably written in the 3rd century BC and the Book of Daniel is included in Septuagint, but it does not mean that all parts of Septuagint are equally old. There could have been an earlier version of the Book of Daniel, or no version in the first Septuagint. The oldest Septuagint manuscripts we have are from the 2nd century AD. Before that only references to Septuagint are known. The oldest are from the 2nd century BC. It can be said that the whole Septuagint is not from the 3rd century BC. Very possibly the Book of Daniel was added and the text was changed at some point.

If the Book of Daniel was continued, it is possible that the first chapters of the book are much older that 167 BC. We know that Isaiah was continued by two writers. This seems to have been customary. Prophesies had to be fulfilled, even if it meant modifying the text after the event to match to history. Alexander the Great may indeed have been presented with some version of the Book of Daniel, as the legend says.

There is another way how biblical prophesies are fulfilled: they are intentionally fulfilled by some people. In the Gospels Jesus fulfills prophesy of riding to Jerusalem on a donkey. Jesus sends a message to John the Baptist stating that prophesies are fulfilled: sick are cured, dead are raised, good message is preached. There is every reason to think that these prophesies were fulfilled intentionally.

I was interested in this issue because the persecution at the end of the times and the return of the people to the homeland were provably written before the 20th century and they happened. It seemed to have some relevance that biblical prophesies are fulfilled either by being written after the event or by being intentionally fulfilled.

There is a reason for this. Prophesy is from God only if it comes true:

“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:22)

And if a prophet spoke in Gods name something that is not from God, he must die:

“But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.” (Deuteronomy 18:20)

So, if a prophet wanted to say prophesies from God, he better be sure it be fulfilled, else he would be killed. The verse is usually understood as promising a prophet like Moses.

“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18)

Ezra fitted this and he read to Jews in Israel books of Moses that they had not heard before. Ezra lead the people to Israel in about 440 BC, or Nehemiah did, or the two were the same person. This was the exodus from Persia. The book of Exodus is dated to the 6th century BC. That is, before the time of Ezra. Prophesy of Messiah is in the book of Deuteronomy, often dated to late 7th century, but assumed to have been edited in the 6th century BC.  Both are before Ezra’s time. Therefore prophesy existed before Ezra fulfilled it.

Most archeologists agree that there were events that were used as models of the Exodus story, notably the expulsion of Hyksos and the reign of Akhneaton as already Manetho suggested, but that there was no such Exodus from Egypt as is told in the Bible. The real exodus from Babylon is told in the book of Ezra. It is in some way related to the partially fictional book of Esther.

There is no threat of genocide in Exodus from Egypt, but in Jewish legends of Exodus the Pharaoh kills Jewish youth every day and baths in their blood. In the Exodus story God kills all Egyptian firstborn sons and Jews take loot from Egypt. The Egyptian army drowns to the Red Sea.

In the book of Esther there is a threat of genocide of the Jews. The Jews they kill 75,000 Persian including Haman and his ten sons. They have the right to kill and plunder all Persians but they do not plunder Persian. In the book of Ezra Jews return to the homeland and get a limited self-rule with the Davidic king as a governor.

In the WWII there was genocide of Jews. Jews did not kill Germans or take loot. Germans lose. Almost the whole Europe is destroyed in the war. Jews return to the homeland and establish an independent state.

In Biblical prophesies of the end of the times Jews are persecuted and most of them die. They return to the Promised Land. All riches of nations flow to Jerusalem, Jews govern the world.

What are the connecting features? There is a genocide, suppression or persecution of Jews. Jews are innocent and accused by evil non-Jews. Jews return to the Promised Land. The persecution is revenged by killing the enemies of Jews in one way or another. Usually Jews take loot from the enemy. There is one good thing. The book of Esther is not historical. It is essentially a novel and resembles an earlier Persian tale. There is no knowledge of any plan to genocide Jews, not any telling of Jews killing 75,000 Persians, except for this biblical book. It shows that while the persecution and the revenge must be at the end of the times, they can be realized in a symbolic way, in this case as a book of fiction. It is still not so nice, since the believers think it was true and they celebrate the fictional killing of Persians, but it is better than if it were true. In a same way, all prophesies can be realized in a symbolic way. Miracles of the messiah can be symbolic, so can taking the loot be symbolic.

But it is good to study biblical prophesies, just to understand what happened.

 

 

 

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