Temple Objects – up close and in colour!

As we come across a number of objects used in temple worship again and again in our readings, it would be great to know what they actually looked like. Well, we can – to a degree! Although the second temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, many Jews believe  that a third temple will be built in its place in the future.
The Temple Institute in Jerusalem is dedicated to that vision and in preparation for it, has produced a number of vessels and garments, strictly following biblical instructions and pre-approved for use in temple sacrifice once the third temple is established.
Here is a gallery of some of the items – this link lands you in the middle, press “next” to see some of the more interesting objects…

Time for a word cloud quiz!

We have already read through three major books of the Bible (plus many Psalms and Proverbs) and it’s always exciting to see how incredibly diverse the books of the Bible are, yet together they show us the big story of God with us. One way of visualizing the unique character of a book of the Bible is a “word cloud”: feed all the words from the book into a computer and then let it show the most common words in a graphic way.

So, here is a little quiz: Below are the word clouds for Genesis, Exodus, Matthew and Mark. Click on one to enlarge it and then try to guess which is which (no prizes for guessing which is Old or New Testament), then click on the link  below to find the answer (and lots more of these word clouds). Got them all right? Check the answers out here…

[Hints: key words to distinguish Genesis and Exodus (apart from the many biblical characters) are the relative weights of the words used for God - LORD is God's "proper name" YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah) revealed to...? Matthew or Mark? Only one of them uses the distinctive phrase "kingdom of heaven"...]

By the way, if you want to create your own word cloud from a document or a talk you have given, go to Wordle – endless fun!

World’s End!

In the light of our reading on the end times in Matthew, this clock (seen in a part of London called “Worlds End” a couple of days ago) took on a whole new significance!

Today I am one day closer to eternity than yesterday. How do I live my life today in the light of Christ’s return?

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