When comparing ancient times and modern times, I did not want to do the obvious comparisons, such as transportation, climate controlled homes, and all the other machines and technology that we have today that our ancestors did not have. But instead, I wanted to discuss how we study and worship God with our neighbors, and compare how the ancient ones worshiped and studied with their congregation.
First, archaeologists date the stones of the Earth back, 3.3 million years ago. That’s a long time past, and notable to say God the creator created first his Word. I was born in 1964, and have seen many changes in human kind and the Earth’s atmosphere. I want to write about the ancient scriptures and listen to what God and Christ have to say about the times. Ecclesiastes 3:5 says, “That which hath been is now, and that which is to be already hath been, and God requireth that which is past.” Another verse from Ecclesiastes 1:9, “The things that have been, it is that which shall be, and which is done is that which shall be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” I’m not a Biblical scholar, but Second Timothy 2:5 tells us to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” So, I wonder what the life of an ancient Jewish person was like. I read that ancient Jewish boys learned to memorize the Torah, and a primary education would have taught him in detail the Mosaic history and law.
In this time we live in today, people do send their children to private schools. I can’t write on that because I went to public school. Our lessons were the basics: reading, writing, math, American history. We did bless our meals, gave our allegiance to the flag, and were punished with a paddle for bad behaviors. I’m sure the ancient Jewish children were taught mathematics, numbers and how to count livestock, money or any other material that was important, as we do today. Life expectancy for a Jewish male was 72. I was surprised at that, compared to today’s life expectancy for a male, which is about the same at 77. Jewish girls of the community was not given an education like the boys, which brings me to the invention of the computer.
I learned to operate a computer by my then 9-year-old daughter. I get it, the man is supposed to provide for his family, but that’s another topic. I’m glad to see women doing what they have to do, because in my opinion women make the world a better place when they, too, are productive. The home computer was invented in my lifetime, information at the click of a button, no more library card catalog. The only problem is that a person has to do a lot of fact checking. Ancient people used astrology like the Magi traveling to the birthplace of Christ. In Matthew 2:1-2 after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, Magi came to Jerusalem, and asked, “where is the one who’s been born King of the Jews? We saw the star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
I found this article by Diane Rudd that said the Magi that appeared during the birth of Christ are most likely members of a sect of Magi which follow the same order of prophecies as the prophet Daniel. And most of the Magi were astrologers When comparing the two, computers are programs, as far as I know, and cannot predict the future. The computer images and photos will leave an impression upon your memory. Do the verses Exodus 20:2, Daniel 12:4 and Matthew 24:14 represent the computer?
And finally I’d like to compare the services and the worship of God and his word. An article by Louis Tverberg says the synagogues did not have a single leader who preached every week like Rabbi or Pastors do today. Instead, one adult member of the congregation would be invited to read the Torah portion, he would then choose a prophetic passage that fit the Torah reading and would give a brief meditation on how both passages relate to each other. The prophetic reading was called the Haftarah, which means completion. People who attend church today know the tradition of the service, and I’ll just say God’s word is the important part of it all. The Church today provides a Bible Study for adults and some churches have other programs that a believer can take advantage of, also Bible school for the children and other events.
In conclusion, I’ll just state what King Solomon stated. There is nothing new under the sun, God’s word will stand the test of time. I will not try to test it, but show myself approved.