Pyramids at Giza

Of all the ancient wonders, only the Pyramids at Giza remain, they are the oldest of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World and the only ones that were not completely destroyed by man or nature. I am most certain of this, that God in His wisdom allowed them to stand for they are testament to the great escape of the nation of Israel from Egypt, being led out by Moses. They are thus a subject I find hugely fascinating.

The largest of the pyramids was built for Pharaoh Khufu and it is believed that its original height would have been 146.5 metres but currently stand at 138.8 metres due to erosion and the removal of the outer layers reused to build other structures. One of the most interesting facts are that the corners were built to astounding precision to be aligned with the four cardinal compass points. This precision is astounding considering that the pyramids were built around 2500 BC.

Another astounding discovery were the two shafts built in the North and South walls of the King's chamber that run all the way to the outer walls and were believed to be shafts used for the King's spirit to ascend to the heaven's.

Every nation and every King will bow before the Cross of Jesus and these Pharaoh's too will stand before Jesus at the great judgement. The testament of the Pyramids of Giza is not in their great construction but in the power of our Great God to deliver all spirits from slavery!

Hanging gardens of Babylon

Being a lover of gardening myself, I had hoped that the story of the hanging gardens of Babylon would have brought with it great romantic notions. Strangely though it is precisely the romantic nature of the tale that leaves one asking questions.

Although the legendary hanging gardens were declared an Ancient Wonder, their location has never been definitely established. They were traditionally believed to be built in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, but more recent writings and discoveries are leading to the belief that they were actually built in Nineveh by the Assyrian king Sennacherib.

In either tale though the gardens were believed to have been built for a Queen pinning for the beauties of her home land. I believe that today there is another Queen longing for her homeland. The bride of Christ labours as we long to be taken to our spiritual garden of rest. Our garden being heaven, the home of our eternal soul.

Oh Lord, hear the cry of your bride!

Temple of Artemis

The Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. It was located in Ephesus and was completely rebuilt three times before its eventual destruction in 401. The first destruction was by flood, the second by arsen and the third is an interesting tale.

It is this third temple that we read about in Acts 19:35 and don't worry if you hadn't really taken note of it before, neither had I. The 2^nd century apocryphal book, the Acts of John (not included in the bible) recounts how John prayed publicly in the Temple of Artemis, exorcising its demons and “of a sudden, the altar of Artemis split in many pieces and half the temple fell down,” instantly converting the Ephesians who wept, prayed and took flight.

We should raise a shout of praise that in the presence of God no demonic altars can stand! As Christians we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and once we are born again we need only concern ourselves with one destruction, that of our earthly body. Unlike rebuilding a temple with brick and mortar, our Spirit lives eternally and will never require any 'building work' again.

We can give praise and glory to God that our temple is eternal and everlasting and that the Church of Christ will have dominion over all the earth!

Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Oh my soul, but does this discovery have me excited! The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a giant seated figure, about 13 meters tall, made by the Greek sculptor Phidias in circa 435 BC at the sanctuary of Olympia and erected in the Temple of Zeus. It is believed to have been made from elaborate materials such as ivory, gold, cedarwood, ebony and precious stones.

It is believed that the statue stood for just over 800 years. Again the exact details of the destruction of the statue are unknown but tradition has it that the statue was dismantled and carried off to Constantinople somewhere around 425 to 475 AD where it was either destroyed by a great fire of the Lauseion or destroyed with the temple when it burned down. Is this mere coinsidance that this time period coinsides with the time it is believed Constantinople served as the head quarters for Christianity for over a 1000 years (330 to 1453 AD). I think not!

Twice now we have seen great statues reverancing false gods that were declared great Wonders of the Ancient World being destroyed within 800 years while Constantinople stood as a Christian stronghold for over 1000 years.

This time the message, to me at, least seems clear! Satan's kingdom will NEVER out live the dominion of Christ and as the destruction of the statue of Zeus was deemed to be by fire one way or another, Satan's destruction too will come by great fire as declared in the book of Revelation! History does repeat itself and once again Christianity will rule of evil!

In case you are wondering why this discovery has me so excited, it is because going to that great city Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, is one of my great life dreams and one that I hope to fulfill!

Tomb of Mausolus

What precisely lead to the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus being declared an ancient wonder baffles me, but it is believed that the construction was so beautiful and unique that it became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In 353 BC Mausolus died, leaving Artemisia (his wife and sister) to rule alone. As a tribute to him, she decided to build him a tomb so famous that Mausolus's name is now the known name for all stately tombs, in the word mausoleum.

The fact that these two were related and married speaks to the depravity of this ancient lifestyle. How the mausoleum came to be destroyed is unknown, but it was again believed to be the result of an earthquake.

Have we not see this pattern in scripture before? I think we have. Moses returns from the Mt Sinai to find his people worshipping a golden calf! These actions so enraged God that He caused a great earthquake to swallow up many of the Israelites.

I ask myself why in today's world, human beings can commit atrocities that make us sick to the stomach? I think it is simply because we do not remember that our God is a God of justice and righteousness! If there is anything we should take from this tale is that we must always consider the consequences of our actions and behaviour.

Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes in the third century BC.  It was constructed to celebrate Rhode’s victory over the ruler of Cyprus.  Strangely this statue, which stood over 30 meters tall, was also destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC.  After its destruction, Ptolemy III offered to pay for the reconstruction of the statue, but the Oracle of Delphi made the Rhodians afraid that they had offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it. 

How strange, or should I not be surprised?  It seems the devil uses the same tactics as the Oracle resorted to.  We build great structures in our lives, our plans for the future; our homes, children, education and even marriage become great monuments of success.  Destruction comes, from the devil of course, and just when we feel we are ready to rebuild our lives the devil comes and puts fear in our heart and we draw back from chasing our dreams. 

It is said that the remains of the Colossus lay visible for all to see for over 800 years and even in its broken state travellers would marvel and be impressed.  Do we not do that too?  Instead of dealing with and eliminating the reminders of failure, be they divorce, financial collapse, a child off the rails, or other glaring disaster, we leave the reminders lying about and commiserate over and over. 

God says, I have created a new thing, a new day, a new plan, a new path, a new life for you to grab on to but you have to let go!  We cannot take our past failures into our future and expect to have better results than before.  Whatever your monument of collapse and disaster is today, deal with it! 

We are new creations in Christ with great future blessings lying ahead of us, so seize the day!

Lighthouse

I was thinking recently about the ancient 7 wonders of the world. I remember that we had a book about them when I was a child but have never looked really researched them again since then. The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built in the third century BC and was one of the tallest man-made structures on earth for many centuries. It was badly damaged by three earthquakes between 956 and 1323 and most remnants of the structure have now been lost.

Lighthouse's are built to warn ships at sea that they are approaching land but they can also act as a guide to sailors attempting to make their way back home in a raging storm. That makes me think of the church and our role as the body of Christ.

Our role as the church today is to act as a moral compass for our world, yet sadly it seems that in some churches the fire in their light has been extinguished. Right from wrong seems to be such a blur. However if we are part of a church that is alive and active then our light will be bright and we will be able to fulfill our role as a guide for those who have lost their way. I believe there are many people searching for hope, love and salvation and if we will simply fulfill our commission we will be able to direct people to Christ.

What is the condition of your lighthouse? Are you burning bright or have you been damaged by spiritual earthquakes? My prayer for you today is that your spirit will be revived and that God will restore the fire that once burnt so bright within you.