Ian Heard's Blog - Until we see

THE SONS OF GOD SAW THAT THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN WERE BEAUTIFUL, AND...'

1/1/2019

Yes, they took them as wives. They SAW and they took. It’s a quote from Genesis 6 and already in these early times there were two streams—just as there are today. Those who, like Abel, followed the inner promptings from God and those, like Cain who were at best half-hearted toward God and preferred to follow their own desires.

It was when those known as sons of God, were tempted, compromised their standards and tried to bring together what did not belong together that they invited God’s displeasure. It was downhill from there until we read later in the chapter, ‘Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth...’

Read the ensuing history of those known throughout your Bible as the sons of God and those known as the sons of men. It’s an exciting story, told in enthralling style in....

‘THE PEOPLE: the sons of God (through the eyes of a Watcher).’ See availability and some reviews here.

ZION: From Downtrodden to Uplifted

19/12/2018

Early 20th Century picture of Jerusalem from South showing City of David (Zion) area in green almost devoid of buildings. Note the Gihon Spring tower.

The name of the occupied site taken by King David was previously Jebus and its inhabitants were known as Jebusites.

The name Jebus gives us an important clue to to God’s ‘modus operandi’. Jebus means trodden underfoot or downtrodden. It had been the site of Ornan’s threshing floor, a place trodden underfoot by men and oxen for the threshing of grain. (The same word is used in Psalm 108:13 and Isaiah14:25 and 63:6)

But it was a site of great importance to God and his people—those known as the Sons of God. It was where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had encountered Yahweh; it was where the mysterious priest/king Melchizedek had resided. It had become known as HaMakom...THE PLACE! But then it had become ‘trodden underfoot’ by the sons of men.
But God doesn’t forget what he has chosen as his own. Typically mankind tramples what God calls sacred, but he loves to take what men have trampled underfoot and to reclaim it.

This is exactly what was occurring when David took the ancient fortress of Jebus and re-named it the City of David. God was again being enthroned on the ancient site, Zion!

SOLOMON’S TEMPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY OF DAVID!

30/11/2018

This old aerial photograph of Jerusalem from about 1910 enables you to distinguish what was the City of David area--the crescent-shaped land running south beside the Kidron Valley near the Gihon Spring.
This is where Solomon's Temple was built, above Gihon (where Solomon was anointed for kingship because the tent with the Ark and the Oil etc was stationed there, marking the sacred spot--see 1 Kings 1:33-34)
The area marked with the big red cross is the much later Fortress Antonia built to house the Tenth Roman Legion.

The Temple of Solomon was not on ‘Temple Mount’…Temple Mount is a modern misnomer!
The Temple of Solomon was IN THE MIDDLE of the City as the Bible states over and over.

Here it is again in Psalm 116:18/19
'I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people,
In the courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.' (NKJV emphasis added)

OR, IN OTHER TRANSLATIONS…
(GWT) ‘in the courtyards of the LORD's house, in the middle of Jerusalem.’

(Aramaic Plain English) ‘In the court of the House of Lord Jehovah and within you, oh Jerusalem!’

(NASV) ‘In the courts of the LORD'S house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.’

The Hebrew word is TAVEK meaning middle, midst, within!

How could a building possibly be described as ‘within’ or ‘in the midst’ of the city if it stood 200 metres north of it? The built up area you see in the upper left of the picture is much more modern than in David and Solomon's day. The City of David occupied that crescent-shaped ridge and the land to its west, behind it.
As always (and like the Tabernacle in the Camp of Israel) God’s pesence within the Temple was in the midst of his people!

Read 'THE PLACE HaMakom: where Jerusalem's Temple stood' Click here for Amazon or here for purchase from Publisher.

WHO ARE THE SONS OF GOD IN GENESIS 6?

20/11/2018

Some say they were heavenly (supernatural angelic) beings and some link them with the angels referenced in Jude verse 6.

But no...very early those whose hearts were inclined to seek God were called the ‘sons of God’ (in Hebrew benei ha Elohim) in contrast with those who followed only their own lusts and plans. These became known as the ‘sons of men' (benei adam). From the sons of God, he chose and made a people to demonstrate in the earth the benefits and blessings of being sons of God.

Follow the fascinating drama of those who chose (and choose) to be sons of God through history in ‘THE PEOPLE: the sons of God (through the eyes of a Watcher)’
Available here in paperback or Kindle.

THE 'PALACES' OF ZION IN PSALM 48...(The temple was in the City of David)!

17/11/2018

Artist's impression of David's Palace in the ancient City of David. In left background is the enclosure around the Gihon Spring (This picture is with permission from the artist Balage Balogh and features on the cover of my book, 'THE PLACE HaMakom: where Jerusalem's temples stood'

In Psalm 48 the sons of Korah (who were responsible for choral and instrumental music in the temple) divulge some interesting facts about the City called Zion—otherwise known as the City of David (see 2 Samuel 5:7).

They sing, ‘beautiful in elevation...is Mount Zion on the sides of the north’ (which simply means on or near the northern borders (the Hebrew word YEREKAH means flank, side, edge or border and is so translated in Genesis 49:13 and other places). Judah’s northern boundary ran east to west just north of ancient Jebus (which became the City of David).

Their song continues to describe it as ‘the City of the great King’ and then says ‘God is in her palaces’ (plural). It goes on to tell of Gentile kings passing by, seeing it, marvelling and being troubled and fearful. Verse 8 speaks of the City as the City of God and verse 9 of thoughts of God’s lovingkindness within His temple.

Then notice verses 12 to 14 where the singers imagine a ‘walk about Zion’ to consider her strength...’consider her palaces' (again plural).

So, why ‘palaces’ in the plural? Because Zion, the City of David was the dwelling place of both their earthly and heavenly kings! The house or ‘palace’ of David is referenced in 2 Samuel 5:11 and it was built by Hiram, king of Tyre. Later, it was Solomon who built the ‘palace’ of the great King, the temple—also in the City of David. It is of both these palaces that the Korahites sang in the days of Solomon and later. (My view is that it is in that time because the sovereigns of the earth came to behold what he had built and to hear his wisdom—eg, 2 Chronicles 9:1-12 & 22-28).

The Angelic Watcher and the Human: a conversation...

15/11/2018

21st CENTURY HUMAN: You surely cannot expect me to follow a god who did the things I’ve read about in the Old Testament?

WATCHER SHAQAAD: Such as?

HUMAN: Wiping out large swathes of innocent people. Really!?

SHAQAAD: Explain ‘innocent.’

HUMAN: Well, they were just ordinary people going about their lives like anyone else and along comes your angry ‘God’ and decimates them...

SHAQAAD: Are you suggesting that it’s ‘ordinary’ to sacrifice your own children to an idol-god?

HUMAN: Well...that was an occasional exception!

SHAQAAD: No, not occasional—nor exceptional. It went on all the time among Canaanites and Phoenicians and many others. It was a depravity of heart and mind. It’s one of the reasons God put a ‘model’ nation among them to show a better way. At their best they did show the way; at worst, they went the same way!

HUMAN: But only a few did such things, surely!

SHAQAAD: Thousands! Your own archeologists have uncovered one graveyard in Carthage where hundreds of burned children were buried in urns, many of which carry an inscription to the goddess Tanit or her consort Baal Ammon—and also Moloch!

HUMAN: Then why?

SHAQAAD: They came to believe that children were expendable for an imagined greater benefit for them—good fortune with rain or crops or health. They fell for a cruel and godless deception.

HUMAN: Well, yes, but they were primitive and ignorant peoples...

SHAQAAD: Were they? So, we’d expect much better of people of your enlightened age would we not? They would not consider their own good fortune, convenience or expediency of more value that human life…would they?

HUMAN: The vast majority, of course not.

SHAQAAD: Then explain why millions of pre-born lives are sacrificed in your time on the altar of expediency and convenience.

HUMAN: Oh...that’s not the same thing! That’s not a wilful decision to take life!

SHAQAAD: Isn’t it? Are you so un-sighted that you cannot see it’s the same deception?

HUMAN: Well, I guess…maybe there are some similarities, but…

SHAQAAD: It’s the very same deceit and the same deceiver. He knows just exactly how to offer old deceits in new guise for any age to get exactly what he wants. My Lord described him as the thief who comes 'ONLY to rob and kill and destroy…’

FOR MORE from Shaqaad, read my latest book ‘THE PEOPLE: the sons of God (through the eyes of a Watcher)’ at https://wipfandstock.com/the-people.html OR https://www.amazon.com/People-Sons-Through-Eyes-Watcher/dp/1532648286

The Roman Fortress Antonia and the mis-named 'Temple Mount.'

8/11/2018

What strikes you as you view these images--which are just a few to illustrate the point--is their similarity. The Romans built both temporary and permanent fortresses across their vast empire. The one at top left is in Sergiopolis, Syria. Compare with the lower right view of the so-called Temple Mount in Jerusalem. That's correct, it was not an enclosure for the temple...it was Fortress Antonia, built to house the Legio X Fretensis--the 10th Roman Legion (about 5000 men)1 The temples of Jerusalem were never here: they were in the old City of David some 200 metres south near and above the Gihon Spring. Read 'THE PLACE: where Jerusalem's temples stood' available here and also visit the Base Camp page and other pages at this site, here

To the left is a gallery showing two artist's reconstructions, two photographs of ruins and at lower left, a photograph of the Jerusalem site known as Temple Mount.

The first four are Roman fortresses across Europe and elsewhere and the one at lower left is...?

Where was the Biblical place known as... 'THE PLACE'...or HaMakom?

7/11/2018

Jeremiah speaks of it more than a dozen times. He calls it HaMakom and is referring to the temple in Jerusalem (as in Jeremiah 28:1-6) where the context is quite clearly, the temple. He uses the Hebrew name HaMakom four times in those few verses.
HaMakom was the ancient and traditional name for the temple site—the sacred site visited by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and many others and consistently called HaMakom. John in his gospel even referred to it as ‘the place’ (in Greek ho topos) on three occasions. It was the name of the temple and its special site!

Get the full, surprising story here https://wipfandstock.com/the-place.html or at Amazon here https://www.amazon.com/Place-HaMakom-Where-Jerusalems-Temples/dp/1532630425

What is your view?

WHAT WAS GOD'S PURPOSE IN A SPECIAL PEOPLE?

29/10/2018

Once you’ve used the word ‘special’ you have immediately hit on God’s idea exactly. For ‘special’ carries the idea of difference—and that is exactly what God wanted…a people who displayed difference (it’s what the Bible often calls ‘holiness’). Difference of a kind that made what they possessed and enjoyed when they did things his way, stand out as desirable—even irresistible.
The problem was that he had to entrust this ‘treasure’ (as Paul the apostle later says of the Church) to ‘earthen vessels.’ Nevertheless, they were a display and on occasions did demonstrate his great power and glory and the nations did desire to know their God and to taste the difference!

If you’re one who has struggled with the message of the Bible, this book, ‘THE PEOPLE: the sons of God (Through the Eyes of a Watcher)’ may help you see God’s extraordinary plan for us and for you. It is to reclaim us all as his ‘sons’ (or children). In 117 enthralling pages, come on a journey into not only the plan and purpose of God that unfolds across history, but also into the grace-filled nature and character of the God who loves every one of us with inexhaustible love!

See book details here

Is Gihon Spring the ‘fountain of Israel’ in Psalm 68:26?

14/10/2018

I believe so. David is speaking in these verses of the procession of the worshippers (and probably of the ark of the covenant) into the temple with the singers and players of instruments (vv 24, 25).
He then says, ‘Bless God in the congregations, the Lord from the fountain of Israel.’

He is clearly speaking of a location from which to bless the Lord! From within the congregation and from the spring or fountain that belongs to Israel.

Gihon Spring today

The Hebrew word is MAQOR, meaning spring or fountain. This is not the same word as used in Deuteronomy 33:28 which speaks in poetic parallelism of Israel as the ‘fountain’ or ‘eye’ of Jacob. This word is AYIN (Strong’s 5869) which strictly means ‘eye’.

David continues to speak of others in the location...’little Benjamin...the princes of Judah...the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali.’
David must be referring to the fountain right there in the temple with the congregation!

Location

Beautiful Newport Beach,
Sydney, AUSTRALIA

What people who've read THE PLACE are saying...

Marilyn Sams - author of The Jerusalem Temple Mount Myth: Ian Heard’s book adds a unique ....aspect to the growing movement of people accepting the City of David location for the temples in Jerusalem. His perspective .....brings many insightful possibilities to the table. Especially moving are his heartfelt expressions of faith in and love for the prophets and the Savior of the world'.
Pastor, Luke Yeghnazar of the Iranian Church of Los Angeles: Wonderful book. I trust it will be distributed widely. I read it with excitement. The reader will want to know what happens next. An exciting book to be read by Christians, Jews and others.

What readers of THE PEOPLE are saying...
The People is an enthralling and innovative approach, not only to telling old familiar stories but using narrative to portray, in a subtle but powerful way, the truth of good and evil in our world . . . There is good and evil, God and Satan, and in every human relationship/interaction and behavior a choice is to be made. The consequences, for those with the spiritual eyes to see, are clear. It is an exceptional and well written piece of work.” Allan Bull, Macquarie University, Sydney.