#the lord threatens to report him to the king and (depending on who is leading camelot) merlin has two reactions

[justaz]

listen. my guilty pleasure is those merthur fics where merlin is handed over to foreign lords and they get violent and then arthur finds out and goes apeshit. love it. so fun. but what i think is so funny is that like,,, merlin would punch back. maybe not realistically, maybe he’d restrain himself, but spiritually merlin is throwing hands. i just think its funny bc in like all the fics ive read merlin is the personification of 🥺 over it

[banana-with-a-bow-tie]

The purpose of this post is not to argue that Biden was, or was not, fraudulently elected in the 2020 president election, but to keep a biblical perspective.

Sources report that 47% of American voters believe that large-scale fraud handed the election to Biden/Harris. Nevertheless, 49% say that fraud was unlikely. A recent NPR/Ipsos poll reported that 67% of Republicans and 11% of Democrats surveyed believe that voter fraud gave Biden election. However, the same survey showed that 19% of Republicans and 85% of Democrats disagree. In either case, dozens of millions of voters believe that there was fraud, and dozens of millions believe that there was not. Numbers do not prove whether or not it happened. The point here is that a huge swath of the US population believes that voter fraud helped usher in the next president.

It’s likely that someone you sing next to in church believes that there is ample evidence of fraud, and is grieved about it. Disdaining them as crazy conspiracists is not the best approach (cf. 1 Cor. 13:4-7, Col. 3:12-17). After all, if you’re a Christian, you believe that a peasant Hebrew crucified as a vile criminal will one day appear in the sky standing on clouds.

So for those who do feel that there was fraud, what would Scripture suggest you do? Even if there was, here are a few considerations from God’s word on the issue.

God is sovereign over unrighteousness

“In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him” (Eccles. 7:14).

Though he is not pleased with it, God is sovereign over all sin. If there was fraud, though it would grieve God, he is sovereign over it. God remains in control even in the most wretched times (Lam. 3:37-38). He was sovereign over the wretched rule of Egypt (Exod. 2:23-25), the wicked rule of Israel’s enemies in Judges (Judg. 2:14), the evil of the Assyrian deportation (2 Kings 17), the wickedness of the Babylonian exile (2 Kings 25), the unrighteousness of Herod and the Romans (Matt. 2:15), and he was even sovereign over the treacherous treatment of His own Son: “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). Despite all of this evil—often committed by governing authorities—God was never de-sovereigned by it.

“His sovereignty rules over all” (Ps. 103:19).

2. The Lord is still on the throne

No evil agenda, large or small, has ever successfully removed God from his throne. And evil men and nations have tried. They’ve done everything in their power, with satanic and demonic reinforcements, to dethrone God. It hasn’t happened and it never will (Ps. 93:1-5). The permanence of the Lord’s position on the throne of the universe is laughably unthreatened by even the greatest evils of man.

“The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’ 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them” (Ps. 2:2-4).

The sovereign, supreme rule of the God of the Bible is no more threatened by unrighteous doings and agendas of earthly rulers than his rule is threatened by a cockroach coughing in a Los Angeles sewer.

“The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!” (Ps. 99:1).

3. God will use unrighteousness for good

One of the ways that God proves he is sovereign is by orchestrating evil for good. We have history to prove that: Joseph’s suffering and saving a nation (Gen. 50:20), Pharaoh housing the messianic nation and its growth, the cross of Jesus Christ, and countless examples since then. Throughout history, God has masterfully moved the evil of man and government to accomplish his purposes, the greatest of which was the cross. Jesus was the recipient of unprecedented civil corruption, and God did a pretty decent job at ensuring that worked out well. We might not see how God orchestrates evil for good this side of heaven, but he’ll take care of it (Rom. 8:28). God is trustworthy.

4. Jesus is still building his church

The church has survived the harshest storms wicked men have to offer. She was birthed into the Roman Empire, who actively opposed her existence. Despite three centuries therein of persecution, her growth continued. Satan and his world have always hated and resisted the church. Even so, she has spread from Israel, to the Roman Empire through the Apostles, and to places like Africa through the Ethiopian Euncuh, the New Hebrides through John Paton, Burma through Adoniram Judson, China through Hudson Taylor, the middle east through Samuel Zwemer, and the list goes on. It’s almost like unrighteous circumstances helps the church thrive. Whatever the case, the church will never die out because Christ builds it (Matt. 16:18).

5. We are still to be about the kingdom of God

Unregenerate enemies attempted several times to distract Nehemiah and God’s people from sticking to the essential task of rebuilding the wall (Neh. 6:4). What they did was wicked. But Nehemiah and crew stuck to the main thing (Neh. 6:3-9).

In these New Covenant days, there are no less enemies and distractions that seek to pull us down from the wall. But we must keep the main thing the main thing. The kingdom of God is that thing. Regardless of what happens, our sovereign God would have us give ourselves completely to involvement in our local churches, godliness, disciple-making, prayer, love, and the word. Let us not get down from the wall (1 Cor. 15:58).

6. God will uphold justice perfectly

God is a perfect, omniscient God. Nothing escapes his notice. He is perfectly good, too, which means evil will not prevail. Regardless what someone appears to get away with, they will stand before God in the judgment (Rom. 12:17-21, Rev. 20:11-15).

7. We are all liars and sinners

An election fraud allegation is to say that lying occurred; massive, consequential lying. Among the list of things God hates, lying is mentioned twice (Prov. 6:16-19). However, people are lying every day; politicians, employers, employees, nobodies, and neighbors. Everyone lies. Lying can no more be separated from humans than their shadow. “Let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4). That means we, too, have lied. No one is exempt. God is the only One who has never lied nor will ever.

Our lies may not be as socially consequential as others, but God is the one we stand before. On top of being liars, we are all atrociously unholy before the holy God of the universe (Rom. 3:10-19). This God requires perfection (Matt. 5:48). So, we have nothing to offer God except wickedness and weakness in and of ourselves. Due to our nature and doings, we stand guilty and unacceptable before God. Since we have all sinned against a holy God, an individual who never orchestrated widespread voter fraud deserves to spend eternity in the same hell as someone who did (Rom. 2:1-5).  

8. Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave

However, God did not leave us to ourselves. Moved by his own compassion on sinners, and not because of anything good or righteous in us, God looked upon us with pity (Rom. 3:10-12, Eph. 1:3-6). Incredibly, our offenses against God in thought, word, nature, and deed did not move him to justly boot us all into hell. No, far from it. He radically humbled himself by joining human nature to himself and was born a baby (Phil. 2:5-7). Though he deserved unceasing worship from every human, Jesus received scorn, hate, and a humiliating and brutal crucifixion (Phil. 2:8). He received all of this on purpose in obedience to his Father’s plan to atone for the sin of his people (John 10:18). Though thoroughly sinful, Jesus so loved his people that he referred to them as, “My sheep” (John 10:26-27). Jesus then rose from the grave victorious, validating his saving work for his sheep. This is a great love, indeed. And it has everything to do with those struggling with the unrighteousness around them: we’ve all sinned, Jesus died and rose for us, and our greatest need has been met.

9. We are to pray

As every human nation and government will be filled with unrighteousness, God now calls his people to pray.

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

We are to pray for so many encouraging reasons: God hears (Ps. 65:2), God answers and works through prayer (1 Sam. 1:10-11, John 15:7), we are commanded to (1 Tim. 2:1-2), it shows that we are depending on our sovereign God (Luke 11:8), and it is an act of worship whereby God brings glory to himself (Rev. 8:3). If we find ourselves in the rut of angst at times, let us pray. We are to pray and pray and pray, and not lose heart (Luke 11:5-8, 18:1-8; Thess. 5:17).

10. Heaven will be great

Jesus often mentioned that we are to live for our permanent, future, unseen, and eternal home with him and all the redeemed (Matt. 16:24-27). While being present and prayerful, this world is passing, visible, dying, and temporal (1 John 2:17).

In heaven, there will be no voter fraud. They’ll be no voting, for that matter. Why should there be? The forever King will be the single most loving, wise, righteous, just, and perfect Individual in the universe, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ (Isa. 9:6-7, John 1:17, Phil. 2:8-11).

“And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one” (Zech. 14:9).

Of course, more could be said here. As God’s people, we are abundantly furnished with what we need to face these rocky times in a manner pleasing to him. Whatever happens, may the Lord’s church abound in faithfulness and fruitfulness.

[autolenaphilia]

The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

A photograph of Conan Doyle (as Challenger) and friends, dressed up as the expedition in the novel, and published with the novel in its original serialization in the Strand Magazine.

The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in 1912, is one of the most influential adventure novels ever. It had its predecessors in Victorian fiction, such as Verne’s Journey to The Centre of the Earth and Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines, both are actually referenced to in the text as a homage. But The Lost World is still one of the models for stories about adventure in general and dinosaurs in particular. You can see traces of its influence in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Pellucidar stories, the Indiana Jones movies and the Jurassic Park books and movies (the second book and movie were both titled “The Lost World” in reference to Conan Doyle).

It is about the discovery of an almost inaccessible plateau in the South American Amazon, “The Lost World” of the title. The hot-blooded English zoologist Professor Challenger is the first to bring back news of it to the Western world. He argues that on the plateau, creatures long thought exist still live, including dinosaurs. Challenger organizes an expedition from London to explore the plateau further. It consists of the journalist Edward Malone, who is also the narrator of the book, Lord John Roxton, a hunter and adventurer and Professor Summerlee, a rival scientist to Challenger.

The book is undoubtedly a fun and exciting read. The story about venturing into the unknown, encountering dangers and finding supposedly extinct creatures like dinosaurs is well-told and exciting. The use of a first person narrator, Malone, writing down the adventure as it happens adds a sense of suspense and immediacy to the story.

The sense of fun is added to by the humour of the book. The adventure elements of the book exist in union with strong elements of comedy. The book, for all its influence on the subsequent genre, came late to the era of imperial victorian/edwardian adventure fiction. And there is an element of parody to it’s awareness of the genre’s conventions. Professor Challenger is a strange character, and the book pokes fun at his self-centredness, self importance, mood swings and general eccentricity in behaviour and appearance.  It also takes six entire chapters out of this 16 chapter novel before the adventurous journey begins. And this beginning part of the book, set in London, besides introducing the plot and characters, is primarily comedic.

There is of course an inherent difficulty in such switches of moods between suspenseful adventure and comedy, but the narrative manages it well.

Certainly, the portrayal of dinosaurs is outdated in many ways, although the strength of the storytelling is able to overcome any such problems. The differences to our modern understanding of dinosaurs, both pop cultural and scientific, are still interesting. For example the large carnivorous dinosaur that threatens the heroes is either an “allosaurus” or “megalosaurus” (neither Challenger or Summerlee are quite sure), when that role in a modern work would naturally be filled by a T-Rex.

But the dinosaur science is sadly not the only thing that is outdated. Being an adventure novel from 1912, the underlying ideology of the book is clearly colonialist and influenced by the racist thought dominant at the time. The time period merely explains, not excuses it. The very premise of the book rests on the far from innocent ideology of the white “explorer” and “discoverer”.  

It is telling that Challenger and his doomed American predecessor Maple White are viewed as the “discovers” of the plateau solely because they are the first white men to stumble upon it. They later discover a tribe of “indians” had not only discovered the plateau first but even settled it, but this is treated as of lesser importance than Challenger’s discovery of it.

The racism is on display in the depiction of the book’s human villains, who are described as “half-breeds”. It is not stated but implied their mixed-race origins led to their villainy. It is most evident in the “apemen” the explorers find on the plateau. They are a “missing link” between apes and modern humans. They are explicitly stated to be entirely non-human for unclear reasons, a purely evil and repugnant species, fit only for extermination and slavery. The ape-men might not be intended as analogues for a racial other, as their non-human nature stands in contrast to the people of colour in the book, but the effect is still present.

The treatment of people of colour is complicated, because it is not uniformly negative. The black assistant Zambo is treated sympathetically, as is the “indians” the explorers find on the plateau. But the portrayals rest on stereotypes, the loyal black servant and the primitive native tribe. And it is always dependent on those sympathetic people of colour being subservient in varying degrees to the white heroes. The Indian tribe is the closest the book gets to a complex portrayal, as their members have differences of opinion and the possibility of them turning on the white heroes is always a possibility, without that marking them as evil.

The duality between “civilized” and “barbaric” is also undercut in ironic ways sometimes.  In fighting the apemen, the white heroes gets involved in a “primitive” darwinian struggle for survival and even the narrator is taken back by his own bloodlust. When they leave, there is also the sense that their discovery will lead to the western exploitation of this untouched wilderness, destroying it.

The book’s comedic elements resurface when Professor Challenger is also shown to have a near-doppelganger in the form of the leader of the apemen, which enables him to get on a friendly footing with their leader. This revelation is foreshadowed by the contradictions in Challenger’s character, who seems to combine both the aspects of civilization and the “barbaric” or animalistic in one person. He is an intelligent scientist, but can also be a hairy, violent and emotional brute. Challenger is not a very sympathetic character, despite his heroic traits, but these contradictions make him interesting.

Another factor is that the novel also bears traces of Conan Doyle’s own stance against the worst crimes of imperialism. The character of Lord John Roxton is influenced by Roger Casement, who was Conan Doyle’s friend and ally against the abuses in the Belgian Congo under King Leopold’s rule. Casement later reported on human rights abuses against virtually enslaved native workers on rubber plantations in Peru. This influenced Roxton’s backstory in the novel, where he is said to have waged a veritable war against a similar (or perhaps even identical) situation in Peru.

The Lost World is highly worth reading for anyone who looking for a fun adventure novel. Of course the reader’s enjoyment is predicated on them being able to look past it being a deeply imperialist text. But if you are able to do so, you’ll find a highly entertaining story in its pages. Those who like me love the Sherlock Holmes stories will find the immense writing and storytelling skills of Arthur Conan Doyle fully evident in this book.

I read the Oxford World Classics edition of the book, which I highly recommend chiefly for its annotations, created by Ian Duncan. They explain a lot of obscure words and references to contemporary political and cultural events and other novels that I would otherwise have missed. The introduction by Duncan should really have been placed as an afterword (it is best read after the reader has read the novel), but is good at explaining the historical context and ideological underpinnings of the novel. The Oxford edition was really helpful in my writing this review.

[hergrim]

Estimates of troop strengths in the Wot5K - A Game of Thrones

Introduction

One of several projects I’m working on at the moment is an analysis of the War of the Five Kings from a purely medieval military history point of view, taking a somewhat more critical view of the various commanders and their actions than is usual. Part of the ongoing process has been estimating the troop strengths and, where possible, the composition of armies. Since these calculations would derail any essay, I’ve decided to edit my notes into something resembling coherent thought and post them here, so I can just refer to them when I publish the essays.

Originally the essay series I’m working on was focused entirely on Robb, but it has now expanded to encompass the war more generally. As such, this first post will just be about the troop counts and army compositions featured in A Game of Thrones. As I do more on Renly, Stannis and Balon, I’ll post some estimates for A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords.

Robb Stark and the Northern host

The numbers given for Robb’s army in the ASOIAF wiki are actually what started me on the process of providing my own estimates for the various armies, as I think it makes a few significant methodological errors in the process, which has a knock on effect for how Robb’s decisions need to be interpreted. Primarily, I disagree with the numbers given for Robb at Moat Cailin and the breakdown of infantry vs cavalry.

Robb's initial Northern force consists of 19,500 men (AGOT, Catelyn VII), with slightly more than 1/4 being heavy cavalry (AGOT, Bran VI gives the figures of 3,300-3,400 heavy cavalry out of an initial muster of 12,000). This would suggest ~14,500 infantry and ~5,000 heavy cavalry in his Northern host.

Starting with with Bran VI, I have a slightly different interpretation of Maester Luwin’s breakdown of the heavy cavalry. His explanation of the numbers to Bran is that there are “Three hundred, perhaps four [hundred]” knights “among three thousand armored lances who are not knights.” The original calculator has taken this to mean that there are 300-400 knights in addition to the other 3000 heavy cavalry, and this is a perfectly valid interpretation of the sentence. However, I believe that Luwin’s use of “among” signals that the knights should be taken as part of the 3000, not as an addition to them for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, GRRM uses “among” in an inclusive sense elsewhere in AGOT. When Tyrion thinks on the Field of Fire, for instance, King Mern is “among” the 4000 men burned, not the 4001st man to be burnt, and Ned Stark thinks on the fact that he’d never spoken to Gregor during Greyjoy’s Rebellion because he was just “one knight among thousands”. So, while Luwin’s phrasing can be interpreted as meaning that the knights are there in addition to the other heavy horse, I think GRRM’s general use of “among” as an inclusive term means that they are intended to be included among the 3000 heavy horse, not separated from them.

Secondly, while the proportion of heavy horse gathered at Winterfell would be quite large even with the knights as part of the 3000, the general trend of what individual contingents we see is of very low proportions of heavy horse; just 13% of the Karstark forces is heavy horse (300 out of 2300), Roose has 500 mounted men (14%) out of 3500 men just before the Red Wedding (ASOS, Catelyn VI) and, in spite of having the highest number of landed knights, the Manderlys only send 240 horse (16% of 1500 men) to join Robb at Moat Cailin (AGOT, Catelyn VII). This general trend of low numbers of cavalry suggests to me that, when the numbers of cavalry can be taken in two ways, the smallest option should be taken.

This leads to the second major disagreement I have with the wiki’s army size estimates: the assumption that the 1500 Manderly men in Catelyn VII are in addition to the 18 000 men that Robb already has, not the contingent that brings Robb’s forces up to 18 000. This is a number that I’m more confident of; Robb’s statement that his "whole army” is 18 000 men strong comes well after the Manderlys have arrived, and the use of ravens for communications likely means that Robb knew how large the Manderly force was going to be shortly after they left White Harbour.

The reduction of Robb’s army to 18 000 total men and the reassessment of typical contingents from slightly over 25% cavalry to 13-16% cavalry also requires a lowering of the total cavalry from ~5000 at Moat Cailin to a maximum of 4000 cavalry. The number of foot, however, doesn’t need to be significantly reduced.

There are some references to Robb having 20 000 men (AGOT, Catelyn IX; ACOK, Catelyn II), which would better fit the wiki’s figure of 19 500 men. The problem is that we also hear of there being six thousand men with Robb at the Whispering Woods (AGOT, Catelyn X), which is far too few if we go with the wiki’s number of 5000 Northern cavalry for Robb. Between the Freys, the Mallisters (see below) and the other scattered Riverland remnants who join Robb, he’d have near enough to 7000 cavalry by the time of the Whispering Woods, and he wouldn’t be outnumbered by Jaime by 3:1, but by 2:1 (AGOT, Catelyn X).

My way of resolving this conflict is to suggest that both instances of people saying Robb having 20 000 men were exaggerations, not accurate accountings of size. In the first instance, Catelyn is angry with Lord Frey and is threatening him with the size of Robb’s army. In this scenario, claiming that there are “twenty thousand men” outside of Lord Walder’s walls is easier to say than “eighteen thousand men”, being a rounder number, and is also more threatening because it increases the size of Robb’s army. In the second instance, Renly is summarizing reports he has received of Robb’s strength, and there is plenty of room for errors to creep into these reports and for Renly to be generous in his estimates of Robb’s strength, as it only emphasizes the disparity in strength between Robb and Renly if Robb has fewer troops than Renly allows for (which he does).

On the other hand, Robb’s statement that he has 18 000 men occurs long enough after the Manderlys have arrived for him to have factored their force into his calculations and Catelyn is present with Robb at the Whispering Woods and should have a good idea of his strength. This is supported by Galbart Glover’s estimate of Jaime’s 14-15 000 men outnumbering Robb’s force by three to one. If Lord Glover is assuming that Jaime has 15 000 men, and Robb 6000 men, then Jaime outnumbers Robb by 2.5:1 which, rounded up, would be three to one. Additionally, Catelyn may have been overstating Robb’s numbers in her mind for exaggeration and contrast between his bodyguard of 30 and his army of 6000, neither of which she is certain can protect him from harm. Robb may well have had 5500-5750 men rather than 6000, which pushes the degree to which his is outnumbered by closer to three to one.

I think this proposal reconciles the contradictions in the text and offers support for my “low count” of 18 000 men. After all, if Galbart Glover is rounding up to 3 for effect, then why can’t Catelyn or Renly do the same?

Tywin’s army at the Green Fork

The size of Tywin’s army at the battle on the Green Fork is one of the few armies that we have a mostly reliable estimate for. Chella estimates it at twenty thousand men, “by their fires” and, based on the area the camp occupies, Tyrion thinks that she can’t be far wrong (AGOT, Tyrion VII). This is further reinforced in the next of Tyrion’s chapters where, after having settled in, he calls it a ”vast host twenty thousand strong”.

The one minor caveat here is that we don’t know how many men were with Addam Marbrand scouting Robb’s approach. The Neck is something in the order of 370 miles away from the Ruby Ford and the crossroads, which is 15 days of hard riding and 21-22 days of fast, horse preserving, riding. Marbrand is definitely operating quite near the Neck, as a number of his outriders are killed immediately after Robb debouches into the Riverlands, so there was an expectation that he would be facing down Robb’s army at some point and that means a sizeable force for protection during the retreat downriver to Tywin. There’s also evidence of skirmishing between Marbrand and Walder Frey’s forces, which relates to another point: the scouting force needed to be large enough to give Walder reason to pause and not immediately attack if he saw an opportunity.

Given the speed of communications between Marbrand and Tywin and the distance between the two forces, it’s likely that at least one castle with a resident Maester had been taken by Marbrand near Frey lands in order to reduce the delay in communication. While we haven’t heard of a such a castle being taken, it’s the only way that the message for Marbrand to return to Tywin, burning and harassing the Northern army, so soon after it entered the Riverlands.

Medieval scouting parties could range between dozens of men all the way up to several hundred men, largely depending on how far they were operating from their own army and how much opposition they expected to face. One of the largest forces was William Felton’s scouting/deeds of derring-do party prior to the Battle of Nájera, which had somewhere between four and five hundred men, approximately 200 of whom were men-at-arms and the remainder were mounted archers. This is probably the minimum size of Marbrand’s scouting force, although it would be mostly cavalry as mounted archers barely exist in ASOIAF, and I suspect that six or seven hundred men would be more likely based on the need to capture a castle for communications and then skirmish during the retreat.

Combined with Tyrion’s force, Marbrand’s scouting party might well raise Tywin’s army to 21 000 men rather than 20 000, especially if Tyrion and Chella were being conservative in their estimates of the army size and it was more than 20 000 strong.

This caveat aside, the important thing about Tywin’s army is that, unlike most armies in ASOIAF, we can create a fairly accurate breakdown of the army’s composition thanks to the detail GRRM goes into in describing the Battle on the Green Fork. He lists a total of 6800 cavalry (4000 on the right wing, 300 in the center and 2500 in reserve) and 2500 infantry (in reserve). From these figures, the mention of what the other troop types are and the overall size of the army, we can reconstruct the rest of the army.

Starting with the conventional 20 000 number to be conservative, we can remove 9300 men straight away, leaving us with 10 700 men. Of these, perhaps a thousand form the “swarming mass” that makes up the vanguard, as it’s likely that the “thousand other voices” screaming back at Gregor excludes Tyrion’s clansmen - any fewer and it’s hard to describe it as a “swarming mass” of low quality cavalry. This leaves us with 9 700 men to account for.

The center of Twyin’s army is made up of “squares” of pikemen flanked on either side by “three long lines” of archers, with “rank on rank” of men-at-arms behind the archers and a reserve of 300 knights. This is where we fully enter the realms of speculation.

To begin with, we don’t know what exactly is meant by “squares” of pikemen. Medieval pike columns could contain as many as 6000 men, while early modern squares might have as few as 100, so any size estimate is going to involve a lot of guesswork. I’ve gone back and forward about how to interpret this phrase and have finally decided to treat the “squares” as distinct units for the purposes of command, but tactically in a similar manner to 15th century dismounted men-at-arms. As a result, I’m estimating their strength as 250 men - to be deployed 10 deep - and their total number to be 3000 men (12 pike squares). This allows for a reasonable width of line in the center (300 yards), but also adequate depth to resist cavalry charges.

Estimates for the archers and men-at-arms follow directly on from this. The archers need to be in thousands because, as Philippe de Commynes points out, they’re only useful when employed in such numbers. Given that fully half of Jaime’s infantry are archers, I’m inclined to assign 4000 archers and 2700 men-at-arms to Tywin so that his overall archer to footsoldier ratio is about 1:2. The archers, each occupying a space of three feet, would occupy 667 yards on either side of the pikes and the men-at-arms, each occupying four and a half foot, would have the same frontage, but double the depth (6 ranks).

In all, I believe a conservative estimate of Tywin’s numbers, not counting Tyrion’s Clansmen, to be 7800 cavalry, 3000 pikemen, 2700 men-at-arms, 4000 archers and 2500 other infantry of an indeterminate type.

The Mallister forces

The number of men Jason Mallister can field, in spite of his importance during Robb’s initial campaign and later at the Battle of the Fords, has yet to be mentioned. While I’ve seen a number of estimates, with numbers as low as 1500-2000 men, the best estimate I’ve seen to date has been @racefortheironthrone‘s estimate in his Chapter-by-Chapter analysis of A Game of Thrones. 

However, some interesting information in Fire and Blood has caused me to rethink the relative military power of House Mallister, and I believe I’ve also found a semi-reliable method of estimating their forces. The particular passage can be found in the chapter titled “Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf” and runs thus:

House Tully was unique amongst the great houses of Westeros. Aegon the Conqueror had made them the Lords Paramount of the Trident, yet in many ways they continued to be overshadowed by many of their own bannermen. The Brackens, the Blackwoods, and the Vances all ruled wider domains and could field much larger armies, as could the upstart Freys of the Twins. The Mallisters of Seagard had a prouder lineage, the Mootons of Maidenpool were far wealthier, and Harrenhal, even cursed and blasted and in ruins, remained a more formidable castle than Riverrun, and ten times the size besides.

The main point of interest is that the four military powerhouses of the Riverlands are the Brackens, the Blackwoods, the Vances and the Freys, while the Mallisters are excluded from this list. Instead, they are singled out as having a better pedigree than the Tullys which, although not excluding them from having marginally larger armies than their overlords, does quite firmly give them fewer men than House Frey.

In re-examining the question of Mallister manpower, I was inspired by @racefortheironthrone‘s comment that Jason Mallister must have had substantial forces, as his men covered four fords by themselves. Since we know roughly how many infantry Edmure was working with (8000, ACOK Catelyn V) and the minimum number of fords (12, ACOK Catelyn VI), we can get a reasonable maximum number of Mallister strength by assuming that all fords had an equal number of defenders and that there were only twelve being defended. This provides a maximum number of 2664 infantry and, based on typical Riverland horse to foot ratios, about 890 horse, for a total of 3554 men.

These are, however, maximum numbers. While the ford nearest to Riverrun is very broad and at least 50 yards wide (ACOK, Catelyn VI), it’s likely that the other fords were much narrower and more easily defended. It’s also probable that there were more than a dozen fords, and that Tywin was simply trying to break through a broad stretch of the river rather than overwhelm every ford. 

Based on the number of men stationed at the Blanchetaque by the French during the Crecy campaign (3500) and probable English numbers by that point (12-13 000), I would say that medieval commanders expected that someone attacking a ford needed an advantage of at least four to one to succeed. As Tywin can’t have had above 16 000 men at this point in the campaign and, being a cautious man who preferred to significantly outnumber his enemies, likely aimed to have an advantage of 5:1 over the defenders, the minimum number of men for House Mallister can be calculated as 1070 infantry and 357 cavalry, or 1427 men total.

This means there’s a difference of 2100 men between the maximum and minimum estimates, but I think we can discard anything close to the minimum number. 

Firstly, the Mallisters are clearly a powerful house, even if they aren’t one of the four military powers of the Riverlands. There’s no reason to suspect that they are significantly less powerful than House Tully, which must be capable of raising at least a couple of thousand men, and they may still even exceed the Tullys in military might given House Tully’s typical weakness compared to their lords.

Secondly, the Mallisters saw off what, if not an attack by the main Ironborn fleet, was at least a major assault by the Ironborn during Greyjoy’s Rebellion and were placed in charge of what was probably one of the largest fords across the Red Fork. You don’t fend off even part of the Iron Fleet or get selected to defend a ford at least fifty yards across unless you can bring a lot of men to bear in the defense of these fords.

Ultimately, I don’t see the Mallisters having much fewer than 2000 foot and 668 heavy horse. As I like round numbers and don’t believe the Mallisters have as many men as the maximum calculation provides, I’m going to give them a total of 3000 men as an optimistic estimate, divided between 2250 foot and 750 heavy horse. This makes them quite a powerful house militarily, but keeps them sufficiently under the minimum army size for a Riverlands powerhouse (4000) that they noticeably fall short of this status. 

[tobns]

gather round fellow crackheads, it is time for me to break down sign by none other than the captain of our ship and expose how not-subtle he was

friendly disclaimer: jeremy hasn’t shared the official lyrics for this song jeremy renner sir i know you’re stalking my blog so like get on that thank you! so anything wrong is on me, i’m going by ear

ALRIGHT LADIES so, we all know that after engagement number #3 jeremy renner said he gave no single fucks anymore and that he was gonna call this bitch OUT and while i knew this was coming all the way back in the days of 2014, i was not. expecting. this. shit. i need to preface by saying i did not think this song was about scarlett until we got to the chorus and after that, i had to comb through every lyric and realized that even if you don’t hear “oh scar” it is about her, welcome to the hell in which i break it down for ya. i���m gonna try to stay as clear to what i personally think is the most unbiased version of the rennerson timeline as i can, so if you have any contributions you would like to make as well, SEND ‘EM TO ME we are officially in crackhead hour! as the vine once said THIS IS ALL MY OPINIONNNNN! it’s all jeremy’s fault so he can’t say shit to us! alright, buckle up!

i went down to the river and lost my mind i said lord won't you save me just one last time thought i told ya i was looking for a sign

alright, well, first of all, we KNEW you lost your mind. got that much, good sir. so in my unbiased timeline scarlett and jeremy have hooked up at least one time. we all know that they’ve had a super flirty friendship for YEARS now and during the our town play just about anybody who was in the room and has reported back to the internet said that their nonverbals were off the charts and that there was obviously some kinda something that either was/had gone on in the past with the two of them (duh). 

to me, this verse talks about a situation where jeremy and scarlett are together and how whenever he’s around her, he just kinda loses his mind? there’s reference to them hooking up in their whole weird “no strings attached we’ll still be just friends after we kiss or have sex or whatever and we won’t get into a relationship!” agreement thing even though that’s not what jeremy really and truly wants from her. he wants a sign that she wants him for real for real and he’s gonna ignore everything saying that issa bad idea to Go There and just shoot his shot, hoping that the lord or something will save him from himself and all his rather poor impulsive decisions & something different will come of it (spoiler alert: it doesn’t) 

had it once wonder if i would get it twice peace of mind only comes in the afterlife thought i told ya i was looking for a sign 

...i mean, how fucking obvious? is this? he had her once. wondered if he would get her twice. the peace of mind in thinking about that and everything that they could be will occur only when he is dead. he said it all, not me

i need something to believe in throw my hands up to the ceiling oh sky, won't you give me a sign tell me will the world one day ever be mine will it ever be mine will it ever be mine tell me will the world one day ever be mine

*cracks knuckles* this CHORUS IS LOUD, YALL. let’s start with the first two lines, “i need something to believe in / throw my hands up to the ceiling” i think the first part about needing something to believe in is generally straightforward?? after everything that he’s gone through, UNDERSTANDABLE! he needs something that he knows will be there long-term and that’s not gonna let him down since everything else kinda has????? that’s what i get, anyways??? he just wants something that’s real??? and then if you are throwing your hands up to the ceiling you are essentially saying “i give up” so i think this is him saying that he’s giving up on trying to influence the situation himself and is taking on the whole “what will be will be” stance, trying to put it in the universe’s hands because clearly he ain’t getting anywhere doing what he’s doing 

and then we get to the very end of the chorus with the line “oh sky won’t you give me a sign, tell me will the world one day ever be mine?” which threw my ass for a LOOP when i first heard it. maybe i’m a delusional fangirl but i absolutely heard “oh scar” the first time??? no matter if you read it as oh scar or oh sky, he’s asking for the same thing regardless: he wants to know if the world will ever be his. i don’t think this is necessarily in the fame money power glory sense because? that’s never truly been jeremy — my mind always relates back to this interview where they talk about how jeremy would have loved to have had more kids and how there’s a moment where he thought he and raincoat and ava would have been a real family forever and sksksk that part of the interview always breaks my heart but i digress! to him, the world is having stability in his personal life (he’s got stability in his career okay he’s an a-list actor with music and home renovation and he’s got it made. that’s not what this is about). he wants to settle down and raise ava full time, that’s been his mission since the day that child was born. he wanted to have more kids. he wanted to have a WIFE (“I’ve done so many amazing, cool-ass things in my life — but I think as we get older, there’s more value in doing something with somebody.”) AND A FAMILY. to him, i think having the world was having all the things he’d dreamed of and he was still missing that one part of it which was someone (scarlett) to raise a family and grow old with and he is asking if it’ll one day ever be his because he’s gotten close before and it fell through and sksksks okay i gtg

i was down on my knees i was living a lie i was king of the rubble just wasting time thought i told ya i was looking for a sign

okay, this is where i need yall to just like, hang in there and stick with me while i iron out my thoughts because this is where things get a lil more muddled depending on which way you wanna look at it

one way you can interpret this verse is that it’s about the s*nni situation. “down on his knees and living a lie” having ava obviously put him in an entirely new position where he was essentially at this woman’s mercy since she had his fucking kid and could VERY EASILY WALK OUT WITH HER (never forget her threatening to leave to canada with ava where he would have no say!) hence being down on his knees and then living a lie, the lie being him and s*nni’s marriage actually being happy or whatevs and him trying to own the mess it made in his life (don’t tell me s*nni didn’t complicate things for him) and making a throne on it, hence him being king of the rubble and him wasting his time in that marriage is just kinda straightforward — he thought he told y’all he was looking for a sign OUT!!! *cough scarlett is the out*

another way you can interpret this is still through the scarlett lens! “down on his knees and living a lie” she has him whipped, i think we all know and recognize this, so that’s where we get him on his knees, and then living the lie that something’s gonna change with her, that she’ll wake up one day and walk away from her other relationships or that she loves him back in the same way that he loves her (sidenote: ouch) and again, he’s sitting in the rubble of EITHER a) his own pile of failed relationships or b) where the two of them crossing the line destroyed him ever being able to just see her as a friend and he’s wasting his time waiting on her to come around and he’s like “bitch i thought i told you i was looking for some kinda sign outta you and that you wanted me”

sick and tired of running circles for miles and miles being lost ain’t ever really been my style thought i told ya i was looking for a sign

i think this is pretty straightforward no matter what stance you take for the first half of the verse: jeremy lee renner doesn’t play games, he doesn’t like getting the run around and going in circles that lead him nowhere. he doesn’t do being lost. even when he doesn’t quite know what direction he’s heading he’s got some kinda plan, something to keep working towards (bc that’s him) and being lost isn’t his style!! no matter if you read it about s*nni giving him hell and he’s looking for scarlett to give him the out or scarlett just giving him the run-around now that she’s 2x divorced and finally single sksksks, they’re both doing laps in his head and causing him to lose sight of what he really wants (bc he’s either rolling over on his back for s*nni since she’s got his kid and he won’t jeopardize it regardless of what he really wants outta the love department aka scarlett OR he’s rolling over on his back for scarlett deluding himself into thinking he can live with her jerking him around because he would do anything for that woman and to stay in her life)

he thought he said HE WAS LOOKING FOR A SIGN aka some kinda sign that will help him find his fucking way out of whatever disaster and into the life where he gets the world in his hands not on his fucking back

i didn't want to have to sell my soul so i took the hard road please won't you show me a sign

THIS BRIDGE WAS?????? WHEW??????? “i didn’t want to have to sell my soul” i think he (and we) all know that he would just about do anything scarlett asked of him, even if it’s something that’s not really him? he’s that whipped? and i think this is him saying that he didn’t want to compromise who he is just for something that he wanted, when he knows full well there’s a chance it’s not going to be a fair trade and he won’t get all of what he wants from her — that she’d walk away or they’d really ruin their friendship or smth they can’t bounce back from??? so he takes the hard road and he takes the step back & says “what will be will be”, he puts the ball in HER COURT because if it’s coming from her then that’s how he knows it’s for real for real. IT’S WHY HE SAYS PLEASE JUST SHOW ME A SIGN bc scarlett sis if you give him a sign then he’ll hit the pedal heavy metal but until then he’s content to take the back seat and love you like a friend???

in conclusion: jeremy renner ain’t subtle, this song is about wanting scarlett johansson (but not having her because she’s a dumbass who literally finds all her boyfriends on the shelves at the food lion) and i really and truly don’t know who he thought he was fooling with all of this, thinking that the subliminal would remain subliminal, that man couldn’t do something discreetly if his LIFE DEPENDED ON IT mister “she makes me want to be more of a man” renner

if you read all of this i am so absolutely sorry but i’d love to hear your thoughts on it as well and how you interpret the song (or any of his new songs tbfh) ok thanks for coming to this wildly pointless tedtalk

[dailyaudiobible]

08/17/2021 DAB Transcript

Nehemiah 12:27-13:31, 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, Psalm 35:1-16, Proverbs 21:17-18

Today is the 17th day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian, it is great to be here with you today and every day as we take the next step forward together through…through the Scriptures. In the Old Testament we've been spending the last several days in the book of Nehemiah. We will conclude our journey through the book of Nehemiah for this year today and move forward into some new territory tomorrow. So, let's set let's finish strong and finish well. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week, Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 27 through 13 verse 31.

Commentary:

Okay, so we…I was gonna say we included the book of Nehemiah, but we concluded the book of Nehemiah today. Over the course the last couple days we've had a number of lists to read through, all the different people that were involved in different things. This entire book is given us quite a glimpse into the processes of fulfilling a calling or a mission, or desire and ambition, concluding today with restoration, like how quickly things fall out of alignment and sink, how quickly they have to be maintained. So, let’s just really quickly, take a look back, we remember, Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king, so we know Nehemiah would've been educated and would've understood the ways of the Kingdom, I mean he was in the presence of the king of the umpire on a continual basis, which allowed him to have access to the latest information coming from Judah, from Jerusalem, from the returning exiles. And he learned about the construction of the temple, and he imagined, he imagined that, he thought about that. That's the place where God dwells and visits with mankind, but he also pictured the fact that it was standing there in Jerusalem with no protection at all. The wall had been destroyed in the Babylonian conquest and so, he begins to have a passion to see the temple of the Lord restored but also protected and that society would begin to move back toward the Mosaic law, the law of God. And so, he begins dreaming this, thinking about it, interceding before the Lord until he gets his opportunity before the king to share what's in his heart, and the king allows him to go. So, we see that there's all lots of dreaming but then a lot of planning and intercession really considering what he’s gonna ask and then he gets permission and he gets resourced and he goes to Jerusalem and then he doesn't tell anybody what he’s gonna do for several days. He inspects, he looks the whole situation over, he sizes up the scope of the labor and the work, what it’s gonna take to get this job done, before he gets a bunch of voices into the mix, and once he's got the lay of the land and the plan he shares the vision and the people catch fire with it. And the wall is built half its size, like half its height pretty quickly, but we watched. We watched as they made progress, and it looked like they would actually be building something, then the voice of the tauter came: the ridicule, the criticism and the discouragement that comes from and that these voices were coming from outside from the people in the lands but not authorized to be doing what the Hebrew people were doing and so they taunted them. And when that didn't work then they threatened them. And that actually really slowed down Nehemiah's vision, probably 1/2 speed or less because now he had to cut the workforce and half and allow half the people to be working, while the other half were standing guard ready for an imminent attack because they're building a city wall so there spread out all over where this wall is going to go so, people were vulnerable to sort of like ambush style attacks were enemies to be in the city, there's no wall right. So, people can be anywhere and then they can be ambushed and then people just disappear. And so…so Nehemiah's like okay, then we’re going to strap on our swords and we’re going to keep going and that's what they did, slower, but forward. They did not stop and the then the politics started, letters going back and forth to the king accusing Jerusalem of rebellion, accusing Nehemiah of rebellion. Eventually, even accusing Nehemiah that his ultimate plot is to become the king. They’re gonna get this wall done, fortify the city, he’s gonna pay off some prophets and they’re gonna anoint him the king and that's a threat, that's an open letter that Nehemiah read because these people who have been taunting and threatening them are trying to get him to come down off the wall into the valley where they can have a summit meeting about all this stuff. He won’t come down off that wall. So, they sent him an open letter that they're going to send to the king. And, then there are prophets who have been paid off in Jerusalem to try to convince Nehemiah to flee to God's temple where he can be protected. But Nehemiah knows that will just discredit him as if he's done something wrong or sinful that he needs to be protected from like he has to hide and go on the run and ruin his reputation in the process so he won't do that. But he…he has faced significant challenges to get this done. Finally, we have the scene where it is done and two groups of people are up on top of that wall and they start marching in opposite directions, worshiping and praising and singing with the intention that they’ll meet halfway which will be at the temple's entrance and a grand celebration. Nehemiah had returned back to the king in Persia, reported to him all that was going on and then he was allowed to return. So, you can only imagine the fulfillment that it would be to return and see this wall but there were problems with in the walls. So, Eliashib who was in charge, kind of, of what was the storerooms, what was being stored in the temple to care for the priesthood, etc. etc. he allowed a man named Tobiah to have personal space in the temple to use as he pleased. This named Tobiah should sound kind of familiar, because he was one of the big instigators and intimidators and threateners and discouragers while they were building the wall and here, he is with Nehemiah gone being given permission to have his own space in the temple because Tobiah and Eliashib were related to each other. So, we watched Nehemiah throw all his crap out right, and then ask God, remember me like, remember what I've done here, count this to my credit. And then Nehemiah realizes that the priests and the Levites, the singers, the worshipers, like they had, they've departed. They've gone back to their ancestral farmlands so they can make food, enough to eat because they're not being resourced as they perform the duties of…of priests and Levites leading people and the awareness of God, in the worship of God and the adherence to the law they’ve had to leave their duty in order to survive. And so, Nehemiah’s like are you kidding me? And he summons them back and puts them back to work and then he realizes that the Sabbath days has been profaned. There are all kinds of merchants coming into the city on the Sabbath day, and there’s all kinds of work being done on the Sabbath day, that the Sabbath day is not being kept holy, in other words. And so, he has to close the gates and lock them up when the Sabbath day begins. Sabbath would begin on at sundown on Friday and be over at sundown on a Saturday and so they lock the gates and there's merchants that are still like camping out outside thinking that they’re gonna get in. So, Nehemiah has to be like no I'm back, basically this is not going to happen and you'll never get in here on the Sabbath, and if you try, you won't like how this goes down for you so stay away from here on the Sabbath. So, he restores the honor of the Sabbath day, only to realize that the people are intermingling with the surrounding peoples again. The very thing that had destroyed them in the first place and in the end we see Nehemiah offering words of prayer again, which he had done the entire process, at every turn, he acknowledged his need for God, his dependence upon God for success in the mission and so the final words of Nehemiah: remember all this, oh God, and give me credit for it, ring true. Because he didn't just get a vision and then it just fell into his lap and then it was all done and he got all the glory for it. He had to go through a lot to see this through and in the end he knew, only God, only God provided a way for this to happen. And so, there's so much we can go back to Nehemiah at any time and go back through the process and the steps just to have a little bit of a template, just a little bit of understanding that just because he had a vision or a dream, or a motivation or a calling from God to get something done, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t going to be challenging. It was extraordinarily challenging but he didn't stop, he kept going, depending on God, no matter what. Just moving forward even incrementally is still moving forward.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we thank You for this territory that we've been able to be in, in the Scriptures and for the way that it applies so directly to so many aspects of our lives, in so many aspects of the way that we make our choices and decisions that we’re grateful. And we thank You for the opportunity to not only look at the history of the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of the exiles, but leadership and finishing what we’ve started because were a people that are really good at starting things that we don't finish but then they're not finished and, in this case, we watched things, it finished well. So come Holy Spirit and show us those things that we need to finish well and that we need to acknowledge You in and understand that we won't finish them at all, if You weren’t with us. Come Holy Spirit into that we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, home of the Global Campfire, it's where you find out what's going on around here and it is also how to get connected and so be aware of things like the Community section, either on the on the website or using the Daily Audio Bible app. The Community section is well, it's where to get connected, there are different links to the social media channels that we participate on as the Daily Audio Bible and as a community. As well as the home of the Prayer Wall, the Prayer Wall lives in the Community section and that is our own Prayer Wall that is always open, always available, always on, always reachable and so that means we always have an opportunity to ask for prayer. That also means we always have an opportunity to pray for those within the community here taking this journey through the Bible this year. So, certainly, check that out. Be aware of it. Get involved in any way that you can or want to.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There's a link on the homepage. If you're using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner. Or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174. And thank you, thank you humbly and profoundly for your partnership. We wouldn't be here if we weren't in this together. As I say, often, very often because it's always the truth and so thank you for your partnership.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app which is the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today, I'm Brian, I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayers and Encouragements:

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Jay from Nashville. Oh it’s been a while since I’ve called in. I’ve been listening to the prayers and man, so many of God's people are just going through it right now, myself included. It's been, it's been an interesting year for me to say the least but you know what, God is still good. No matter how depressed I get, no matter how sad I get, no matter how dark it seems, no matter, no matter how many games the enemy plays in my head, I still remember that God is good. He still lets me wake up to even experience and that's the thing that keeps reverberating in my mind is, we can say things like you're never alone, which were not. We can say things like sorry to hear that, which we are, we can say things like, you’ve got to change your viewpoint and be positive. You know but the…all that’s true, all of that’s true. So, know that, right now that if you're in the darkness, you're not alone and I’m gonna pray for you right now. Father in the name Jesus Christ, Lord God in heaven, creator of all things seen and unseen. God, we bring before You our burdens, our anxieties, our heavy hearts and the pain that has been introduced into our lives. Lord, Your word tells us You wouldn’t give us more than we can bear. So, we give this to you now because we reach out oh God, we reach out and we say we’ve had enough.

Hello DAB family this is BubbaD praying for Rosie. Pray to be free in Jesus and her son Charles. Father God, I pray that You would touch this man’s heart, that You would free him Lord from every addiction that he’s had, that You would show Your mercy and love to him. That You would show up in unexpected places where he would just see You and remember everything, his mom, and his church. People taught him all that he received as a child, Father I pray that it comes back. He would not be able to escape from what You are speaking to him Father. That he would be drawn by Your goodness Father. Bless him with salvation of the knowledge of You in coming back to the fold, coming back to the Father’s house. House of bread in Jesus name. Amen.

Hey my precious DAB fam, this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Today is August 12th and it’s a very special day for me family because nine years ago I was caught in a crossfire of a gang war that was ensuing while driving my work truck. I was working for Frito Lay at the time and while on the westside of Chicago I drove right into a gang war that I didn’t realize, it was under way. Family, I don’t have all the time to tell you the whole story but I’ll try to share it more in detail on the friend’s page but let me just tell you according to the investigators, there were multiple bullets that pierced my truck, my work truck. And a huge gaping hole was made in the windshield right in front of the driver’s seat. The hole was as big as a softball. How those bullets didn’t come through me is a miracle. But they grazed me, I have three holes in my shirt that I still have today. And I’ll try to show you guys. But three holes were made in that shirt by one or more bullets. It grazed me in my upper torso area and it went through my arm and the doctors told me had that bullet gone a millimeter lower it would have hit my major artery. All I’m trying to tell you family God is a miracle working God and He can do anything. Be encouraged.

Good afternoon DAB family, God Bless you all. Quiet Confidence form Virginia, oh I heard you and I just started to recall September 19, 2013. I wanted to commit suicide in my classroom as I was waiting for my kindergarten children to come up from the auditorium and I never got to see them that day I went right from there to the emergency room, to the hospital. And I became a recluse after that, I couldn’t get out but God saved me from that. He saved me from that. I didn’t, you know, I never took any meds, never. So, I know it’s possible but I’m not suggesting you do that, I’m just telling you that it’s possible. But you do what you need to do as the Lord guides you. But you know I am believing that He can get you to where you need to be. You know, but it’s a battle, it’s an uphill fight and you’re gonna have to fight hard for this. You’re gonna have to really fight hard and push though and I had to constantly tell myself as I started to go through that struggle because I wasn’t really saved. Well, I was but I really wasn’t, I was like lukewarm. But I started seeking the Lord and just fighting and just telling Him I can do all things through Christ and telling myself I can do all things through Christ and telling the enemy I can do all things through Christ. And I’m just gonna ask you sister, you can do all things through Christ, you just have to fight. You have to fight. This is not something that God is gonna do on His own. You’re gonna have to fight your way through and you’re gonna persevere, I am believing that in the name of Jesus. I am believing it and declaring it and calling it into existence, right now in the name of Jesus. Esther from Kissimmee.

Good evening family, this is Soaring on Eagles Wings from Canada. Oh Rosie, it was such a delight to hear your voice, I know you pray for our children. And here you are asking for prayer for your son Charles who has been so hurt through rejecting and is now turned aside from God and he’s also being an offender. And God I ask You to deliver him from that behavior and help him to see that You haven’t rejected him. You love him with an everlasting love. I pray that somehow the light of and the love of Christ would infiltrate his life. Doctor John, youyou’re your glaucoma surgery and then you felt the sharp shooting pain and so you went from light to darkness and you think there is bleeding. Father God the giver of life I pray that you would touch Doctor John’s eyes and whatever is causing this will be healed, in the name of Jesus. That he would have vision again Lord God. I think of Quiet Confidence as she has fears and anxieties and depression all upon her and she’s not able to function in her daily life. Lord God, deliver her today. She’s sounds so down and discouraged. Her husband is the only one working and You God are the only one who can meet her where she is. Give her joy, lift her, and the lies that enemy is using to penetrate her brain, may she be delivered in the mighty, powerful name of Jesus.

[dfroza]

why would our Creator make us free

knowing that we would screw things up so badly here on earth?

maybe so we can also choose to love freely from the heart, and to choose to know and believe the God who made us, who is Love. Love seeks to renew our hearts & minds in its sacred truth, and even to renew the temporal body at some point so that it may be transformed into a new eternal body.

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 12th chapter of the Letter of Romans where Paul writes about the significance of the choices we make while in a body of earth:

Brothers and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship. Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.

Because of the grace allotted to me, I can respectfully tell you not to think of yourselves as being more important than you are; devote your minds to sound judgment since God has assigned to each of us a measure of faith. For in the same way that one body has so many different parts, each with different functions; we, too—the many—are different parts that form one body in the Anointed One. Each one of us is joined with one another, and we become together what we could not be alone. Since our gifts vary depending on the grace poured out on each of us, it is important that we exercise the gifts we have been given. If prophecy is your gift, then speak as a prophet according to your proportion of faith. If service is your gift, then serve well. If teaching is your gift, then teach well. If you have been given a voice of encouragement, then use it often. If giving is your gift, then be generous. If leading, then be eager to get started. If sharing God’s mercy, then be cheerful in sharing it.

Love others well, and don’t hide behind a mask; love authentically. Despise evil; pursue what is good as if your life depends on it. Live in true devotion to one another, loving each other as sisters and brothers. Be first to honor others by putting them first. Do not slack in your faithfulness and hard work. Let your spirit be on fire, bubbling up and boiling over, as you serve the Lord. Do not forget to rejoice, for hope is always just around the corner. Hold up through the hard times that are coming, and devote yourselves to prayer. Share what you have with the saints, so they lack nothing; take every opportunity to open your life and home to others.

If people mistreat or malign you, bless them. Always speak blessings, not curses. If some have cause to celebrate, join in the celebration. And if others are weeping, join in that as well. Work toward unity, and live in harmony with one another. Avoid thinking you are better than others or wiser than the rest; instead, embrace common people and ordinary tasks. Do not retaliate with evil, regardless of the evil brought against you. Try to do what is good and right and honorable as agreed upon by all people. If it is within your power, make peace with all people. Again, my loved ones, do not seek revenge; instead, allow God’s wrath to make sure justice is served. Turn it over to Him. For the Scriptures say, “Revenge is Mine. I will settle all scores.” But consider this bit of wisdom: “If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink; because if you treat him kindly, it will be like heaping hot coals on top of his head.” Never let evil get the best of you; instead, overpower evil with the good.

The Letter of Romans, Chapter 12 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 31st chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah where warning is given because of trusting in Egypt’s power with their horses and chariots and drivers instead of placing trust in God:

[Isaiah 31]

O how bad it will be for you who look to the south

to Egypt for help and depend on her horses,

Who trust in its many chariots and fix your hopes on its strong drivers.

Yet you do not look to the Holy One of Israel for relief

or even bother to consult Him.

God is both wise and willing to wreak disaster;

He does not second guess Himself or backtrack on what He says.

God will amass all divine power against those who do evil

and against whoever aids and abets them.

As for Egypt, why do you rely on them?

They are great, yes,

but merely human, not God—their steeds just creatures, not spirits.

But when the Eternal reaches out and makes His power felt,

those who lent their help will stumble; those who looked for help will fall.

Together they will be routed and killed.

Eternal One (to Isaiah): Just as a lion or a young lion fiercely growls over his prey,

even while shepherds band together to fight him off,

A lion won’t be scared off by their shouts

or deterred by their noise and threatening gestures.

So, too, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will descend

to defend Mount Zion and its hill without fail.

As birds hover protectively over their nests

so the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will guard Jerusalem from all harm.

Not only that, but God will protect and save it,

rescue and keep it.

So give up, children of Israel. Return, people of promise, to God against whom you so blatantly rebelled. For in that day you’ll see the worthlessness of the idols you so wickedly made, and everyone will throw away their gods of silver and gold.

Eternal One: And then, the one you fear, Assyria, will fall and be defeated,

not by the sword of man but by the sword of God.

It will try to escape the edge of the blade,

but its young men will be captured and put to forced labor.

The very thing the Assyrians thought was permanent

will disappear into thin air, fleeing in fear;

And the discipline of their military will come to nothing.

They’ll panic and run.

This is what the Eternal, whose fire burns in Zion, whose furnace blazes in Jerusalem, has said.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 31 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for friday, july 9 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that looks at True illumination:

These are indeed dark days, and it is difficult not to be seduced by the profanity and fear of this evil world... The mass media is controlled to run its scripts; the love of many runs cold; and people are living in fear of the "pestilence that walketh in darkness" and the "destruction that wasteth at noonday." So what do we do but encourage ourselves to look to the LORD for His salvation? We groan; we lament; we protest: "How long O LORD?" And yet we resolve to make our refuge in God's promises "until these calamities be overpast...."

As a seed planted within soil seeks life by "reaching" for the sun, so our souls are drawn upward by the desire for God. The Lord calls us “out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9); he calls us to awaken, to grow, and to come to the fullness of his life (John 10:10). Being called "out of darkness" means being set free of those spiritual forces that attempt to hold us captive. When we turn to the Divine Light for our sustenance and healing, we are set free from the pain of our fears and the insanity of evil (Acts 26:18). As it is written: "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power (δύναμις) and of love (ἀγάπη), and of a "sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7). The Greek word "sound mind" (σωφρονισμός) comes from the verb sodzo (σῴζω), meaning "to save," from saos (σάος) "safe," in the sense of being under care and influence of the Spirit of God. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Heeding the truth of Yeshua grounds you in what is real and reveals your identity and provision as a child of God, as it is written: "For you are my lamp (כִּי־אַתָּה תָּאִיר נֵרִי), O LORD, and my God lightens my darkness." [Hebrew for Christians]

7.8.21 • Facebook

and another post about guarding our words:

The practice of "speaking truth" and being honest and straightforward (i.e., yashar: יָשָׁר) with ourselves and others is called dibbur emet (דברי אמת). Dibbur emet is the principle of using language with integrity and justice. “These are the things you are to do: speak truth (דַּבְּרוּ אֱמֶת) to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace” (Zech. 8:16; see also Lev. 19:11; Eph. 4:25, Col. 3:9, among other verses). Note that dibbur emet also forbids spreading gossip, sharing worthless news reports, expressing contempt, mockery, or outrage over the viewpoints of others, and so on. An honest person doesn't play games with words but understands that communication is a sacred trust. Our words are to be regarded as sacred, as an expression of truth. God has made us inviolable promises, and we are never to play games with that. Just as His word is sacred, so we should strive to be sacred in our speech, too.

"Guarding the tongue," that is, watching what you say and being careful not to use words abusively or foolishly is called shemirat ha'lashon (שמירת הלשון). "What person is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." (Psalm 34:12-14). "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3). And as King David prayed: “Let my words and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14). [Hebrew for Christians]

7.9.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

July 9, 2021

A Mind to Work

“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.” (Nehemiah 4:6)

The ambitious project of rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall, with all its gates and other structures, was completed in less than two months (Nehemiah 6:15), for all “the people had a mind to work.” This was in spite of the danger from the external enemies who wanted to delay the work if they could.

The third chapter of Nehemiah has a remarkable list of the workmen on the wall. Men of all walks of life participated, each with an assigned portion of the work as organized by Nehemiah. The first verse of the chapter tells of the work done by Eliashib, the high priest, and all the other priests; the last verse lists the contribution of the goldsmiths and the merchants. There were the Nethinims (v. 26), apothecaries (v. 8), rulers (i.e., “mayors,” vv. 9, 12, 14-16), and various others. At least one man even had his daughters working (v. 12). Only the nobles of the Tekoites “put not their necks to the work of their LORD” (v. 5).

This would be a good model for any doctrinally sound, Bible-believing church, school, or other Christian ministry. It’s a lesson we would do well to learn. The mission and its goal are surely more important than the special desires or interests of any individual or group. At the same time, enforced cooperation will only breed resentment and inefficiency. The people themselves must be led to understand it as not just a job to do, but as a divine calling they themselves must have “a mind to the work.” Otherwise they should probably be encouraged to work elsewhere.

The early Christians served “daily with one accord...and singleness of heart,...And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:46-47). That’s the way it should be. HMM

A tweet by illumiNations:

@IlluminationsBT: Meet one of our illumiNations partners - American Bible Society @americanbible. Learn more at: https://americanbible.org

7.9.21 • 12:01pm • Twitter

[glittergummicandypeach]

Why “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” is so relevant to politics and religion today

“There are three things I’ve learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.” So declares Linus in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Today, let’s discuss all three. 

We’ll begin with the last. As Maggie Maloney observes in Country Living, “No autumn is complete without the most sacred of traditions,” which she identifies as viewing the classic Peanuts movie. The Halloween special first aired in 1966. It centers on Linus’s belief that the Great Pumpkin exists and that he will appear on Halloween night. 

Alas (spoiler alert), the evening ends with no Great Pumpkin sighting. But the movie closes with an undeterred Linus vowing that the Great Pumpkin will come to the pumpkin patch next year. 

Now, in a sign of the times, we learn that the film will not be shown this year by any of the major or cable networks but will air exclusively on Apple TV+. The good news is that the streaming service will offer it free to all users from October 30 through November 1. 

What does the Great Pumpkin have to do with politics and religion? A great deal, as it turns out. 

Hope in an election and a vaccine 

The 2020 election is less than two weeks away. Depending on whose polls and analysis you read, Democratic nominee Joe Biden is on his way to a landslide victory, or he will eke out a narrow win, or the race is too close to call, or there will be no winner on November 3 and the election will descend into chaos, or President Trump will win reelection. We’re all waiting to see which version of the story will come true. 

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic is spiking as predicted. The World Health Organization noted in a recent press briefing that Europe’s case numbers grew by a million in the span of just ten days. One official warned that a much larger number of people could die in this upcoming season of COVID-19 than did in April. 

Reports indicate that more than half of US states are seeing an “uncontrolled spread” of the virus. This wave threatens to be the worst since the pandemic began. Since death rates lag behind infections, mortalities are expected to rise as well and constitute an urgent call to intercession. 

In the meantime, we’re watching the economy, where sales are up but a surprising increase in jobless claims is raising alarms. As with the pandemic, we are hoping that successful vaccines will enable us to return to a financial “normal.” 

What the election will not change

Here’s my point: like Linus’s Great Pumpkin, our greatest hopes for the election, the pandemic, and the economy will not change the underlying realities before us. 

Whoever wins the election, our country will face deep and angry divisions over foundational issues such as when life begins and how it should end, the nature of marriage and the family, and the role of religion in our secular society. 

Whatever happens with community spread, therapies, and vaccines to stop the coronavirus pandemic, we are likely to face more viral pandemics in the future. Not to mention the perennial facts of heart disease, cancer, aging, accidents, and other causes of human mortality. 

And even if the post-pandemic economy rebounds to new heights, millions of Americans will still face unemployment and underemployment. Economic discrimination will be a tragic fact. And all the wealth in the world cannot buy what we need most. 

This last observation leads us to the hope we need most. 

The hope we need most 

Chuck Colson famously noted that the Kingdom of God will not arrive on Air Force One. Americans may elect the “Leader of the Free World,” but the “King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” will still rule the universe (1 Timothy 1:17). 

As St. Augustine said to our Lord, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

We find true and transforming unity when we draw close to his throne (cf. Revelation 7:9–10). We find true and transforming hope in the face of mortality when we make Jesus our Savior (cf. Matthew 1:21). We find true and transforming help for our needs when we trust them to him (cf. Philippians 4:19). 

When we do, our lives and our witness can draw others to his throne in worship, to his salvation in faith, and to his provision in trust. 

A booklet from my past 

Yesterday, I was working in my library when a book title caught my eye. When I pulled it from the shelf, a small pamphlet came with it. Titled Live With Yourself . . . and Like It, it was written by Don W. Hillis in 1972 and was one of the first booklets given to me when I became a Christian in 1973. 

When I reread it, I was drawn again to the story of Kandura San, a narrative that deeply impressed me those many years ago. Kandura was born in Japan with a face and body so deformed that his parents kept him in seclusion. However, the radio brought him the message that God loved him and sent Jesus to be his Savior. When a Japanese Christian visited him, Kandura was ready to place his faith in Christ. 

Later, he laboriously scrawled these words: “Day by day as I walk this road of blessing, I receive the fruits of faith in my hands. These blessings come from my Lord, who is my strength and my hope. Praise the Lord, for he gives me this wonderful salvation.” 

His triumphant joy moved the Christian workers who met him and told of him in their letters. Christian periodicals then published his story. And now Kandura’s influence has reached you.

How can you find hope in your faith today?

The post Why “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” is so relevant to politics and religion today appeared first on Denison Forum.

This content was originally published here.

[frederickwiddowson]

The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus, chapter 1 comments: the Hebrews descended into slavery

Exodus 1:1 ¶  Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. 2  Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3  Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4  Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5  And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. 6  And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7  And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Genesis 46: 26  All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six; 27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

Deuteronomy 10:22  Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

Acts 7:14  Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

The difference in numbers between Moses’ accounts in Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, and Stephen’s account recorded by Luke in Acts can be attributed to counting different people such as wives not mentioned in one. There are a number of very good explanations for why Stephen would count 75 people leaving for Egypt with Jacob and Moses would say 70 three times.

Look at the factors by which this family of less than 100 people grew. First, there is no mention in the Bible of widespread epidemics or virulent diseases yet. The first known epidemic in scientific literature and history may have been a Typhus epidemic in Athens, Greece in the middle of the first millennium BC, which killed upwards of 100,000 people. It was brought on by war and as many as 30 different microbes have been blamed for it. We will see God placing epidemics directly upon the Egyptians and their livestock.

We will also see indications of a high birth rate and of the hardiness and health of the Hebrews who had come to this land. How fast can populations increase is not only a subject of debate but has been seen as populations arise from great calamity. A high birth rate and abundant food resources can lead to relatively quick growth in population. When resources are abundant a population can experience what is called “exponential growth” and this leads to a rapid multiplication of individuals. If you add God’s supernatural purpose for multiplying the children of Israel you can imagine how amazing this could be.

Exodus 1:8 ¶  Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9  And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10  Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12  But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13  And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

If the Pharaoh who welcomed Joseph and then his family was one of what scholars call the Hyksos or Shepherd-kings, who ruled over Egypt for a time, then this would be the return of a native-born Egyptian ruler. This would be a Pharaoh who represented the deep hatred and disgust the Egyptians would feel against the shepherds of Canaan. Here the great numbers of these immigrants from Canaan would make the Egyptians feel threatened and uneasy so they reduced this numerous people to slavery, building the treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

If Goshen was in northeastern Egypt, a possibility we discussed in Genesis, and these cities were there as well, then the area is called Lower Egypt as the part of Egypt adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. This is the area of the Nile Delta, lush and fertile, the powerhouse of Egypt. It was a rich agricultural region and was where such things as the Rosetta Stone were discovered in 1799 which helped scholars decipher hieroglyphics, the ancient Egyptian picture writing. There are a great many archaeological sites in this area.

The children of Israel’s lives went from the favored and plentiful existence of the welcome guest whose presence was made possible by the savior of the nation, Joseph, in a time of great want to despised slaves whose lives were made of hard, unending labor under mean-spirited overseers. It must have been quite a transition and there was probably much lamentation about the former days.

Exodus 1:15 ¶  And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 16  And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17  But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. 18  And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? 19  And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. 20  Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21  And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

Apparently, the midwives had a sort of hierarchy, perhaps official even, with Shiprah and Puah as their leaders. Common sense dictates that only two midwives could not attend to such a large population. The Pharaoh gives his command to kill male babies. This they did not do. The midwives’ leaders underscored the strength and health, the vigor, of the Hebrew women while exaggerating to justify their disobedience to this human king and their loyalty to God. They disobeyed the civil authority because to obey would have been disobedience to God.

In Genesis 30:3 comments I talked about the phrase she shall bear upon my knees.

In verse 16 see the reference to birthing stools. The modern child-bearing position is on your back. The ancient was sitting on someone’s knees or a stool, a birthstool, pictures of which relics can be found on the internet if you are interested. I have read, though I cannot confirm, that birthstools were used in Europe during the Middle Ages. One Jewish source I read reported that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics show the development of a chair type device with a hole where the seat is normally, much like a toilet seat today.

God blessed the midwives and made them houses. Now, lest you think God is in the business of building suburban developments near Cairo understand that a house can be a family, or a dynasty, that goes on for generations.

Exodus 6:14  These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.

1Samuel 20:16  So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies.

As well as a building…

1Kings 9:10  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king’s house,

So, depending on the context house can be short for household as well including servants, wives, and children.

Genesis 45:2  And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

So, a question for fundamentalists arises naturally from this. Is this reference following a physical building or a group of people characterized in type as a spiritual building?

1Corinthians 14:23  If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

How do physical buildings come together to meet? Seems an absurdity.

Colossians 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence…24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The church is Christ’s body on earth, not a building.

Acts 2:47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

1Timothy 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

So, what is the house of God, to the Roman Catholic ‘wannabes’ of Protestant fundamentalism, the Vatican’s auxiliaries? Has the gate of heaven reference in Genesis 28:17 confused you? Do you consider your specific church building, the place where your church meets, the ladder between heaven and earth? What about Christ in John 1:51? And what about these verses?

1Corinthians 3:16 ¶  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

The Hebrews had a high birth rate and grew rapidly in number. Then, Pharaoh gives a wicked command to all of his people to murder the sons of the Hebrews as they are born, to throw them into the river.

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♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦👉DEMON👹WILLIAM BARR SHOULD GO TO JAIL!!! ASAP!!!

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷*🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷DEPENDING ON 👁GOD💫LIMITED ANGEL 👉NAMES POSTED.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠

WTF!!! [25] SEXUAL HARASSMENT CHARGES AGAINST [MCDONALD'S🍔NATIONWIDE!!!👈CAN SOMEBODY IN AMERICA SAY BOYCOTT!GODSAYS💫CLEARLY A SERIOUS PROBLEM!👉THAT'S WHY A HEAVENLY COLOR VISION 👉OF ELITEANGELQUEEN😇OPRAH'S👑👈👉BATTLE ANGEL PRINCE TWINS ARE SEEN 👉ESCORTING HER TO BURGER🍔KING👑👈

AMERICANS🇺🇸[WILL BE WATCHING] 4 SURE TO SEE WHAT [SPORTS TEAM] VISTING THE DEMONTRUMP👹AT THE PEOPLES HOUSE WILL BE EATING MCDONALD'S👹BURGERS 👉REPRESENTING DISRESPECT OF WOMEN!🏀🍔🏈🍔⚾🍔⚽🍔🏀🍔🏈🍔⚾🍔⚽🍔🏀

👁GODSAYS💫WHOOPERS🍔ARE 4 ANGELS AND BIG MAC'S ARE FOR DEMONTRUMP👹SUPPORTERS!

OUR POWERFUL BABYANGELS😇DO CALL THEM [WHOOPERS] BUT [WHOPPERS🍔]TO THE REST OF THE WORLD🌎

👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣

BABYANGELS😇REPORT THAT [THE FLEET] OF [HEAVENLY💫ANGEL WAR SHIPS] ARE [NOW SHIFTING LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE] [CONSTANTLY HOVERING] OVER EVERY MAJOR CITY IN GODS💫CREATED WORLD🌏

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲📲🌏THE FUTURE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY🌏🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳

👉IS THE RAPID ADVANCEMENT OF [5G]👈📱📱📱CELLPHONES WORLDWIDE📱📱📱

🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳

🌏IF PRESIDENT XI JINPING🇨🇳 GIVES UP🌏[ANY PART OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY] 👉MAKING [ANY DEAL] WITH AMERICA 🇺🇸 UNDER THE [MINI-DICTATORSHIP] OF THE CURRENT EVIL👹WICKED ADMINISTRATION IT WILL RESULT IN CATASTROPHIC CHAOS✔ FOR ALL 👁GOD'S💫CHILDREN IN CHINA🇨🇳

🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳

AMERICAN🇺🇸CORPORATIONS DOING GOOD BUSINESS INSIDE OF CHINA 🇨🇳SHOULD SO ADVISE DEMONTRUMP👹TO [BACK OFF] OF THE [INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES] MUST BE [A PART OF A DEAL OR ELSE DEMANDS]👈

OR COMPANIES LIKE [MCDONALD'S🍔] NOT EFFECTED [BY TARIFFS] BECAUSE THEY'RE DOING GOOD BUSINESS INSIDE CHINA🇨🇳

MIGHT SEE CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING [FLEX HIS POWER AND INTELLIGENCE] BY ELIMINATING THE U.S. FOREIGN AFFILIATE SALES AGREEMENTS WITH THOSE MAJOR U.S🇺🇸. CORPORATIONS NOW MAKING OVER 👉💵$350 BILLION DOLLARS💵IN CHINA🇨🇳

COMPARED TO CHINESE🇨🇳COMPANIES ONLY MAKING A LITTLE OVER $65BILLION INSIDE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA🇺🇸

🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳

THE FUTURE OF MANKIND'S ECONOMY IS IN OUR 👁GODS💫HANDS FOR HE KNOWS ALL [THAT IS AND ALL THAT WILL FOREVER BE!]

Q. [IF YOU CREATE A THING] BEING BLESSED BY 👁GOD💫HIMSELF SPIRITUALLY💫HOW CAN ANYONE EVIL👹 TELL THE WORLD🌎THAT YOU ARE [STEALING FROM HIM?]

STAY IN HOLY💫SPIRIT PRESIDENT JINPING.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷 NEXT ANGEL NAMES POSTED WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY HAVE A VERY BLESSED DAY!!!!!

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

[10,111+] LIES✔ AND FALSE CLAIMS✔ MADE BY EVIL👹 DEMONTRUMP👹

👁ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE THAT ANYONE COULD SPEW THAT MANY LIES IN 28MOS✔

REPORTED THE WASHINGTON POST 4/27/19 ♦MOST OF THEM MADE AT HIS RALLIES♦

STAY IN HOLY💫SPIRIT PRESIDENT JINPING!

😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇BLESSINGS4MYALLOFMYANGELQUEENS👑🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

NO MORE ANGEL NAMES POSTED TODAY.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷👉👁GODSAYS💫IF YOU PAY ATTENTION MY 👉CHILDREN OF MY CREATED WORLD🌎👈YOU WILL FIND EVERYTHING I SAID IS SO TRUTH!!! FOR I AM HE, THY LIVING 👁GOD💫AND MY HEAD ANGELS WILL TEST YOU!!!

SINCE, THE BEGINNING OF TIME IT HAS SO BEEN DONE!!! WHETHER IT IS THE WORLD, FAMILY, FRIENDS OR STRANGERS WE WISH TO TEST AND SEE IF YOU WILL [REJECT] WHAT IS NOTICEABLY EVIL👹OR WRONG

OR WILL YOU ACCEPT IT AS TRUTH AND FAIL THE TEST?

👁I HAVE SAID NO BLESSING MANY TIMES YET, I FORCE MY HEAD ANGEL😇TO BLESS TESTING YOUR FAITH! [WILL YOU PRAY🙏?]

👁I HAVE MADE MY HEAD ANGEL POST OF NEW ANGELQUEENS! ARE THEY 100% REAL? WOULD YOU SAY, FOUL THINGS OF MY HEAD ANGEL DISOBEYING ME, WHO TEST YOU OR WOULD YOU INSTANTLY KNOW GOD💫IS TESTING US? BLESSING THOSE OF FAITH💫

👁I HAVE SEEN EVIL DEMONS ENTER INTO THE APARTMENT OF MY HEAD ANGEL FOR [3 YEARS] STEALING AND CAUSING DAMAGE 👉WITHOUT ME ALLOWING HIM TO [KILL] THEM! [TESTING ALL NEIGHBORS] AROUND HIM TO SEE [IF JUST 1✔] WOULD SPEAK UP AGAINST IT! BELIEVE IT NOT 1 IN THOSE YRS

👁I HAVE TESTED ALL WORLDWIDE🌏BY REVEALING THE HEAD DEMON👹OF SATAN HIMSELF ALIVE IN [WASHINGTON, DC] DECEIVING, LYING AND DIVIDING ALL OF MY CHILDREN! WHAT WILL YOU DO BE SILENT? OR WILL TAKE ACTION AND IMPEACH?

I AM HE, THY LIVING 👁GOD💫DO TEST YOU MY CHILDREN USING MY REAL ANGELS AS I CHOOSE TOO! [FOR IT IS YOUR REACTIONS] AND [STRONG FAITH💫 OR DISOBEDIENCE] 👉THAT I SEEK TO JUDGE YOU SURELY YOU 👉HAVE TRIED TO JUDGE US YET WE ARE IN👉CHARGE FOR I MAKE NO MISTAKES! GOD!

👁TRUST MY ANGELS😇 GO THREW A LOT!!!👁TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS SO 👁REQUIRED! ESPECIALLY MY ANGELS🙏👁🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸👉[U.S. - CHINA TRADE WAR 4/29/2019] 👈 CHINA🇨🇳 THREATENS U.S. THAT IT MIGHT RESTRICT THE EXPORT OF RARE EARTH🌏MINERALS TO THE UNITED STATES🇺🇸VITAL TO AMERICAN HIGH GROWTH COMPANIES WHICH INVOLVE WIND TURBINE AND ALSO ELECTRIC CARS!

A U.S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SAID THESE [17] RARE EARTH MINERALS [ARE CRITICAL] TO U.S.🇺🇸 ECONOMY AND NATIONAL DEFENSE!

👉 THESE [17] RARE EARTH🌏 MINERALS 👈ARE NEEDED IN HIGH GROWTH SECTORS RENEWABLE ENERGY, OIL REFINERY🛢, TECHNOLOGY, ELECTRONICS AND ALSO GLASS PRODUCTION!

GODSAYS💫A WISE DECISION! DO SO MOVE FORWARD WITH MY BLESSINGS AGAINST THE EVIL👹DEMONTRUMP👹FOR THE [17] RARE EARTH🌏ELEMENTS BELONG TO ME!

👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁

FRIDAY MAY 31ST 0745 HRS ISRAELI TIME.

👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁GODSAYS💫I HAVE SO SPOKEN IT BEFORE THAT THE EVIL👹BENJAMIN NETANYAHU👹 WILL LEAD ISRAEL🇮🇱 TO THEIR SLAUGHTER

👉AS LONG AS EVIL👹NETANYAHU LEADS OVER MY CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 🇮🇱SHAME, CHAOS AND INNOCENT DEATHS SHALL BE!

👉AND I AM HE, THY 👁GOD💫SHALL SO 👈👉PUNISH ISRAEL 🇮🇱FOR LEAVING HIM IN👈 👉 [CHARGE TO LEAD YOU AND FOR NOT ]👈👉ACKNOWLEDGING MY HEAD ANGELS👑👉KNOWN WORLDWIDE AS MERCY/DEATH!!!

AWAKEN 🌄 ISRAEL🇮🇱END DAYS ARE HERE! A GREAT EARTHQUAKE I SHALL COMMAND!

MY HEAVENLY💫SPIRITUAL ANGELS😇TO [STIR THE GROUNDS IN ISRAEL🇮🇱] SHAKING SOME SENCE INTO GODS💫👁CHILDREN✔

👉MAKING A VERY PAINFUL STATEMENT👈

THAT WE 👁GODS💫REAL ANGEL FAMILY IS HERE ON EARTH🌍FOR WE ARE IN CHARGE!~GODSREALHEADANGELKINGOFDEATH!!!

👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁

A SUBMARINE⚓SHALL MALFUNCTION THE PROPELLER IS THE PROBLEM IT SHALL FALL DEEP LIKE FROM THE SKY!

A LARGE BOMBER✈ SHALL FALL FROM THE SKY TAIL IMPACTING FIRST!

[daughter-of-the-prophet]

Rendon Howe

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Class: Rogue

Rank: Boss

Title: - Arl of Amaranthine

         After the Battle of Ostagar:

         - Teyrn of Highever

         - Arl of Denerim (disputed)

Specialization: Assassin

Family: - Tarleton Howe (father)

             - Eliane Bryland (wife)

             - Nathaniel Howe (son)

             - Delilah Howe (daughter)

             - Thomas Howe (son)

             - Unnamed grandson (by Delilah)

             - Byron Howe (paternal uncle)

            - Habren Bryland (niece)

            - Leonas Bryland (brother-in-law)

Voice: Tim Curry

Appearances: - Dragon Age: Origins

                         - The Darkspawn Chronicles

                         - Heroes of Dragon Age

Arl Rendon Howe is an old friend of Teyrn Bryce Cousland and the Arl of Amaranthine. He is also the father of Nathaniel Howe.

Background

During the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden, Rendon’s father, Tarleton Howe, sided with the occupiers and was subsequently hanged by the Couslands after they captured Harper’s Ford. His uncle Byron became the new Arl of Amaranthine and joined the rebel cause in 8:97 Blessed. Like his uncle, Rendon Howe joined the rebellion led by the future king, Maric Theirin.

He fought alongside the young Bryce Cousland of Highever and Leonas Bryland, future arl of South Reach, at the bloody Battle of White River. The battle was the most catastrophic defeat of the entire occupation, from which only 50 rebel soldiers escaped alive. Rendon fought with the Army of the North led by Bann Angus Eremon, tasked with holding the valley against the Orlesian cavalry’s charges. He was gravely wounded on the second night and had to be dragged off the field by Bryce and Leonas. When Bann Angus finally announced the retreat, Rendon’s friends carried him to a freehold in Redcliffe. While the rest of the survivors left to find the Army of the South, Bryce and Leonas stayed with Rendon almost a month while he recuperated. Though all three were personally decorated for valor by King Maric, Rendon was too wounded to rejoin the army, and while his friends joined the Army of the South, he spent months in South Reach being tended by Eliane Bryland, Leonas’ sister and an accomplished physician and herbalist.

Byron Howe died just a few months later, which made Rendon the new arl. Eliane Bryland insisted on accompanying him to Amaranthine; he proposed to her a year later, saying that if she wasn’t going to leave already they might as well marry. Leonas had become concerned by the changes in his friend’s behavior since the battle and attempted to prevent the marriage. When Rendon told him that he needed her for dowry and connections, he severed all contact. Because some believed the arling should have passed to Byron’s daughter, and because Eliane was half-Orlesian, only Bryce Cousland and his fiancee came to witness their vows. They had three children Nathaniel, Thomas, and Delilah. According to their son Nathaniel, Rendon hated his wife; when asked why, he says that he doesn’t know, but he remembers that her family was wealthy.

Since the Battle of White River, Howe’s abrasive manners have earned him almost universal dislike among his peers.

Involvement

Dragon Age: Origins 

At the beginning of the story, Howe explains to Teyrn Cousland that his troops have been delayed and that he will march with them when they arrive. Teyrn Cousland then tasks his eldest child, Fergus Cousland, with leading the Cousland forces ahead to Ostagar, where they have been called by King Cailan Theirin to fight against the darkspawn.

Fergus leaves Castle Cousland immediately, taking most of the Highever troops with him and leaving behind only a small guard. After they are well away, Howe's treachery is revealed: his soldiers attack the castle in the middle of the night, killing almost all the inhabitants, including Fergus' wife and son, as well as the Teyrn.

Ilona Cousland, Bryce’s daughter and youngest child is able to escape with Duncan's aid, which Duncan gives only in return for recruiting her into the Grey Wardens.

With the castle secure, Arl Howe declared himself the new teyrn and reveals that his new political ally and lord is none other than Loghain Mac Tir, the Teyrn of Gwaren. Howe then uses his position to gain more power by kidnapping Vaughan and claiming the arling of Denerim for himself. Meanwhile, Regent Loghain comes to depend more and more on Howe's political ability. By the time Lothering is destroyed by the Darkspawn, Howe has become the most powerful person in Ferelden, after the regent.

After hearing reports of surviving Grey Wardens, Howe hires an agent of the Antivan Crows to assassinate them. Eventually, Howe witnesses Queen Anora questioning her father's actions and involvement in Cailan's death. While Howe attempts to direct Loghain's attention to the increasing darkspawn threat, and both Howe and Anora ask him to consider asking for reinforcements, Loghain refuses to be swayed, citing Orlais as a major threat.

Howe is responsible for many of the terrible events that happen during the Blight. He is shown to be a cruel and iron-fisted ruler as he gains land holdings and titles; in Denerim and Highever alike people mention suffering under his heavy taxation and harsh treatment from his guards, and the dungeon at his Estate is full of tortured prisoners; his brutality earns him the sobriquet "The Butcher of Denerim", his ill reputation becoming notorious as far as the Free Marches. Along with brutalizing the elves of the Denerim Alienage and imprisoning any loose ends that could threaten Loghain's rule, he imprisons Anora in his Denerim estate after she visits him to inquire about the negative rumors about her father. He also tries to convince Loghain to murder his daughter and pin the crime on Arl Eamon, in the hopes of sullying Eamon's popularity at the Landsmeet and is also implied to be embezzling funds from Denerim's treasury behind Loghain's back.

However, his plan goes awry when Ilona is enlisted to rescue Anora from her captivity. While doing so, she tracks Howe to the dungeons of his estate and kills him and most of his men-at-arms in retaliation for killing her family. He dies cursing at Ilona, lamenting that he "deserved more."

The Darkspawn Chronicles 

In the alternate history where Ilona Cousland didn’t survive the joining, Rendon Howe survives the Landsmeet and joins forces with Alistair in the battle against the darkspawn. He leads a strike force to the Denerim City Gates and is fought by the darkspawn during the quest to kill him alongside Ser Cauthrien, who leads his bodyguards at the Denerim City Gates.  He dies at the hands of the darkspawn along with many others.