Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to send you all a quick note, telling you that I hoped you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  More importantly, even if you didn't, I pray that you remember the biggest reason any of us could ever be thankful:  Jesus.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The Halting of the Sun

Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies.  He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters.  So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon.  “Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.

The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men.  The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”

After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise.  The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.  As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,

as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.  There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!

Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

-The Book of Joshua, Chapter X: 1-15

This myth has, perhaps, been once of the most dishonestly upheld myths in the world.  I don't believe it's been treated this way on purpose, mind you, but well-meaning people often don't think things through.

The rumor has been circulating for over nearly a century that NASA has found the "missing day" of Joshua 10.  Unlike the Admonition of Ipuwer, which suggests an event similar to, if not actually, the Exodus, there is no such proof that earth is missing a day. 

There can't be proof.

Let's think about this for a moment from a different angle.  Say you went to the grocer and purchased ten apples.  By the time you arrived home, there were only nine.  The first question you ask yourself? 

"Where's the missing apple?"

How do you know there's an apple missing?  Because you know you should have ten, but you actually have nine.  You need two pieces of information to know if something is missing:  what you should have, and what you actually have.  These are required pieces of information.  Without either, you can't find out if something is missing.

The same rules apply for the Missing Day.  We need to know:

1) How many days there should be

2) How many days there have actually been

We know neither of these.  NASA has not been able to determine how many days there have been in the existence of the earth.  The Bible doesn't even tell us how many days there should have been by this point.  Nor do we know how many there have actually been by this point.  So out of the two pieces of information required to discover that a day is missing, we have neither.

Now, there are possible references to an event similar to this in other literature, which indicates an actual occurrence.  For example, in Book II of the Iliad, Agamemnon prays that Zeus may keep the sun from setting.  If the Greeks observed a day in which the sun stood still, then it is possible that they worked it into their mythology.  Other cultures reference times of great power in which the moon stood still for longer than usual, which also supports the story of Joshua.  I would argue they add extremely compelling evidence, in fact, but none of these prove the event occurred.

So we must always, at all times, use our critical thinking to determine the validity of any story.  While I firmly believe in the event described in Joshua 10, it is because so much of the Bible has already been demonstrated to be true, at the very least plausible, and the God revealed in the Bible has demonstrated Himself to be both present and trustworthy in my own life.  My faith in the accuracy of Joshua 10 does not come from any "proof" attested to by well-meaning but misinformed Christians, however.  Rather than blindly take a claim as fact, just a few moments of thought will tell us that such a claim is simply false.  This is not to say our faith is without evidence, of course, but we all need to be careful about undoing compelling evidence by upholding false truth.

The Cattle of Geryon

Heracles, having completed nine labors, was then sent to Erytheia.  He was tasked with the theft of Geryon's Cattle.  So the demigod traveled across the desert of Libya, where, exhausted by the heat, he fired upon the sun in an attempt to make him hide.  Helios offered Heracles whatever he wanted, so long as he ceased firing upon him.  Heracles demanded the golden cup in which he sailed each night, and Heracles used it to sail to Erytheia.

Upon landing on shore, Heracles was accosted by Orthrus, who gnashed and snarled at him with both of his fierce heads.  Heracles, bearing his olve-wood club, smote the dog upon the head, crushing its skull.  Eurythion, the cattle-herder, who was following Orthrus, saw the deed and rushed upon Heracles.  But Heracles wielded his mighty club and struck Eurythion dead.

Hearing the commontion, Geryon emerged from his home.  Geryon was a giant, fierce in battle, and it was his brother, Eurythion, who had been killed.  Geryon had thus armed himself with three spears, and carried three shields upon his arms.  His three helmets protected his three heads, and he rushed upon Heracles full-force.  Heracles fled, dismayed at the sight of such a fierce monster, but upon reaching the River Anthemus, Heracles turned and fired a poisoned arrow at the giant.  It pierced all three of Geryon's bodies, and the monster cried out in terror and pain before collapsing dead.

Heracles returned home with the cattle, but on the way Hera, who was envious of Heracles, sent a gadfly to bite the cattle, scattering them in many directions.  Though it took Heracles a year, however, he was able to find each of them and bring them back together.  So she caused a flood to raise a river in his path, making it impassable, but he piled stone upon stone into the river until he was able to cross safely with the cattle.  Hera then raised up a monster who was half-serpent and half-woman, but Heracles fought and destroyed her.

At last, Hera relented, and Heracles reached Eurystheus.  There, he sacrificed the cattle to Hera, whose anger was then appeased.

-From Greek Legend


The Celts told a story in which the early inhabitants of the British Isles were ruled by a giant named Albion (incidentally, the earliest recorded name of modern-day Britain is “Albion”).  Albion was son of the Celtic sea-god, and, along with his brothers, went south to France to fight against a strong hero in a clash involving cattle.  This great battle between the giants and this hero resulted, tragically, in the giant’s death.

What is remarkable to me is the fact that two cultures separated by more than 1,400 miles (that's more than 2,300 kilmoeters for our friends outside of the US) can tell the exact same story.  It is not difficult to see the parallels between the Celtic story and this week's story of Hercules, but just in case you missed it, I'll lay it out for you:

1) Both stories involve a strong man.
2) In the Greek story, the strong man crosses the African desert, and then crosses a large body of water in some form of vessel; this would put him in Western Europe.  In the Celtic version, the story takes place in France.
3) Both stories involve a clash over cattle.
4) In both stories, the giants are brothers.
5) In both stories, the giants die.

The only difference (other than the cultural name differences, of course) is that the Greek version mentions a dog, a detail that could simply have been left out in the Celtic version.  Of course, if the story actually happened, then the lineage of the giants in the Hercules myth involves a migration into other parts of Europe, something also claimed by the Greeks to have happened.  In fact, most cultures have a form of migratory myth by which all the cultures of the world developed. 

Does this prove that the story happened?  No, but it strains the imaginative mind to come up with a different scenario that explains such a parallel.  So what do you think?  What does the existence of two very similar versions of the same story say to you?

The Mayan Creation of the Earth

This tells of how calm, silence, and suspension held all.  The expanse of the sky was empty, and all was motionless.

This is the first story, when neither man nor beast, neither birds nor fish, and no crabs, trees, caves, rocks, valleys or mountains existed.  There was only the sky.

The ground had not yet appeared; only the sky and sea were there.

Things which were made, things which may move, tremble, or shake the sky did not yet exist.  There was no noise.

Nothing stood.  Only the tranquil ocean existed.

There was only silence, darkness, and immobility in the night.  The creator, Tepeu, and the Forefathers, resided in the water.  They were sages, wise, and thinkers, clever, and they surrounded themselves with light; they concealed themselves under feathers of blue and green, and this is why they are called Gucumatz.  Thus the sky, which is called the Heart of Heaven, existed, and it was the name of God.

Next came the spoken word.  Tepeu and Gucumatz spoke together in the darkness.  Their words were in agreement, and they united them together into a thought, and that thought was Man.  Their next thought was of life and plants, and the Heart of Heaven, which is called Huracán, became three.  The first part is called

Caculhá Huracán, the second part is called Chipi-Caculhá, and the third part is called Raxa-Caculhá.

These three are the Heart of Heaven.

Tepeu and Gucamatz determined to fill the earth, and so it was.  The water receded and the earth appeared.  Light filled the sky, and there was dawn.  They spoke, and the mountains came from the waters.  They spoke, and the Earth was made. 

Through the magic of their word the trees and groves came forth, and they praised Huracán.  "How marvelous is your coming, Heart of Heaven!"

The Heart of Heaven spoke:  "It is done, and the creation has been finished."

So, now, the earth was formed, and then the mountains and valleys.  The rivers were divided, and ran through the hills.  The oceans were divided one from the other.  So the Heart of Heaven made the earth fruitful, and the sky expanded above it.  The work that they did was perfect, and it came about by their thoughts. 

-Taken from the Popul Vuh