Perspective and viewpoint

Perspective is important to identifying patterns. If we look down a road to the distant horizon we can see the road “vanishing” into the distance. This is known as the vanishing point.  If we stand directly in front of a road sign we might not see the signs lying behind because our view is blocked but if we shift our viewpoint the new perspective reveals a number of road signs trailing into the distance.

Similarly, “The day of the Lord” is an “eschatological day” that punctuates the equilibrium of history. It is not a single day but rather the in-breaking of divine sovereignty in history that cumulatively forms “The Day of the Lord” until such time that it is revealed in its fullness. The Bible indicates this through typology – i.e., the Egyptian Passover Exodus, the Passover deliverance of Hezekiah and the Passover crucifixion are all part of “The Day of the Lord”.   In similar fashion 70 CE and 135 CE is also the “Day of the Lord” as they allowed for repentance and the return of the messiah but only if the national response was correct. Otherwise, “The Day of the Lord” became a “Day of Judgement”; “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light (Amos 5.18).

Recurrent Patterns
Punctuated Equilibrium

Detecting Patterns

What do you see?
Duck-Rabbit

Austrian British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein differentiates between “seeing” versus “seeing as” in his assessment of the ambiguous duck rabbit figure. The first perception represents object recognition. The switch in identification represents associative identification.

“If you search in a figure (i) for another figure (2), and then find it, you see (i) in a new way. Not only can you give a new kind of description of it, but noticing the second figure was a new visual experience,” explains Wittgenstein.

https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/ambiguous-duck-rabbit-figure-shifts.html

Star above the Ark of the Covenant?

The coins that were struck (they were not minted from scratch) are of varying quality because the impression was made over the top of Roman coins and sometimes parts of the underlying image can be seen. Issues were struck in silver and bronze, and all coins were over-struck on contemporary circulating coinage, most often Roman Provincial issues and Roman Imperial silver denarii. They were obviously intended to replace Roman coins and we can assume that at some point it was no longer possible to “buy or sell” in Judea without Kochba coins as that would have been regarded as “traitorous” to the cause. It was obviously an “in your face” political statement directed at Rome. That coinage bearing the image of the emperor was a problem can be seen from the challenge issued to Christ (Matt.22.16-22). Some of the coins are undated, others are dated to the first, second, third and fourth year of the revolt.[1]

 

A typical description for a coin of the type portrayed below might be: “Hebrew inscription Jerusalem, tetrastyle facade of the Temple of Jerusalem with Ark of Covenant visible within and star above. [Dated: first year, etc, or undated etc, weight, type etc, inscription etc]”[2] (see diagram below).  Of course, the “Ark of the Covenant” was not present in Herod’s temple so is this an anachronism?  Leen Ritmeyer suggests that it depicts the portico of the temple and he bases his architectural reconstruction on the coin (see diagram below).[3]

 

In my “abstract” I refer to the star elevated above the “Ark of the Covenant” but further consideration leads me to the conclusion that the coin depicts the “Torah Ark”. The Torah ark (or Holy Ark) is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue’s Torah scrolls (see diagram below).  This better “fits” the context of the time period with the “Ark of the Covenant” now replaced by the “Torah Ark” especially as Kochba regarded himself as the “Torah made flesh” (see previous post). In other words, the Law has replaced the Ark of the Covenant and Bar Kochba is now the personification of the Law – he is the “prince of Israel” (as stated on his coins) and the messiah (as declared by the chief Rabbi). Our argument would be that Kochba initially pitched a tent that contained a “Torah Ark” and built a temporary sacrificial altar in anticipation of restoring and building a “Third Temple” to herald the messianic age.

Goto image:

https://www.biblaridion.info/images/star.png

 

[1] Some scholars have the revolt lasting 2.5 years, however we argue for 3.5 years: obviously there is something going on with the “dating system” (don’t forget we have a civil and religious New Year) – this could explain “year four” coins; See Chapter 8 page 141.  https://www.biblaridion.info/html/ch8.html

[2] Wildwinds is a website that has Ancient Coinage of Judaea for auction. http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/judaea/t.html

[3] https://www.ritmeyer.com/2009/09/10/temple-facade-shown-on-bar-kokhba-coins/

 

Bar Kochba

Shimon ben Koussaba as personification of the Torah

Yehuda Shenef has independently reached similar conclusions regarding Bar Kochba. I have taken the liberty of summarizing two pages from his German book –interspersed with my own comments (in blue):  Yehuda Shenef points out that Kochba’s patronymic   כוסבה [Koussaba]  בן  [ben]   שמעון [Shimon] equates to 611 which is the same value as  תורה (torah = 611) – the Hebrew word for law (Kochba thought of himself as the torah made flesh). The torah contains 613 commandments (not 611) but the ever inventive rabbi’s (cf., Rabbi Hamnuna) explained that the verse (Deut 33.4) states that whereas 611 commandments were instructed via Moses, the first two of the Ten Commandments were given directly to the people by God. Of course, 611 does not equal the 616 variant found in the Apocalypse. Shenef proposes ר שמעון as 666, which he equates with “rabbi Shimon” but one would expect “rav” (not simply ר). He does note a fairly large number of rabbinical scholars named Shimon in the time of the Mishnah as it was the most common name among the Tannaim (the tribes of Simeon and Levi were originally scribal and priestly tribes). Shenef examines the name of Esther (a star) known as a deliverer from Persian genocide in Biblical and Talmudic Literature (thus possibly highlighting connections with the Babylonian/Parthian inspired Bar Kochba deliverance) and Shenef equates האסתר (the star = value 666), the beast (=666) and rabbi Shimon (=666). Yehuda Shenef, 666, die Zahl des Menschen: Das Mysterium der Apokalypse im Spiegel Jüdischer , (BoD – Books on Demand, 1 Feb. 2016) , p211- 212…..will probably update my abstract by including this info as a footnote.

The 9th of Av (Ab) and repeat patterns

1435 BC Ten of twelve spies returned with a bad report on Av 9.
587 BC Solomon’s temple was destroyed on Av 9.
AD 70 Herod’s temple destroyed on Av 9.
AD 71 Romans plowed Jerusalem with salt on Av 9.
AD 135 Bar Kochba was killed and his army destroyed on Av 9.
AD 1290 England expelled all Jews on Av 9.
AD 1492 Spain expelled all Jews on Av 9.
AD 1914 World War I was declared on Av 9 and Jewish
persecution began.