Posted on 07/26/2014 7:09:35 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The canonical Bible is filled with mysterious characters, many of whom drop in for a cameo, do their thing, and then slide out, never to be heard from again. Some are merely extras, but some have a contextual presence that begs further examination. And some are, well, just weird.
10 Melchizedek
Probably the single most mysterious figure in the Bible, Melchizedek was a priest-king of Salem (later known as Jerusalem) in the time of Abram (Abraham), suggesting a religious organization, complete with ritual and hierarchy, that predated the Jewish nation and their priestly lineage from the tribe of Levi. He is only portrayed as active in one passage, although he is alluded to once in Psalms, and several times in the New Testament’s Epistle to the Hebrews.
Some Jewish disciplines insist that Melchizedek was Shem, Noah’s son. He is thought of, in Christian circles, as a proto-messiah, embodying certain traits later given to Christ. New Testament writings assert that Christ was “a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek,” indicating an older and deeper covenant with God than the Abrahamic-Levite lineage.
Hebrews 7, though presents him in a more unusual light. In verses 3 and 4:
“Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning
of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest
continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the
patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.”(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at listverse.com ...
Rather than being afraid of his siblings, or relatives, why did Cain fear death by others? Who were the others?
Might Cain be what's now called Cro-Magnon? Might his wife be either Cro-Magnon, or part of the other... a Neanderthal?
The more important fact is that we know everything we need to know.
Interesting. Thanks.
If one of your brothers killed a brother you loved, you might be inclined to seek revenge. We don’t know how many children Adam had at this point.
One interesting interpretation of God’s statement seven-fold was not that God was protecting Cain, but a prophecy how Cain’s descendants would deal with those they have problems with. They would punish those they ruled over much greater than the offense given.
Watch this video, it might take a few of days to fit it all in. I found it interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spmOT2lYVVc
I always wondered about three in particular.
One is the demoniac from whom Jesus casts the demons into the swine.
Another is the unnamed follower who runs off from Gethsemane after he loses his clothes when they try to capture him.
The third is the young man found in Jesus’ tomb who basically announces the resurrection.
Never thought of that. Thanks.
Mitt Romney is also.
I don't think so. By that time, Adam and Eve had been long expelled from Eden. Don't assume no more people were created in the outside world just because the bible omits that information. It also doesn't mention the sister you assumed.
I went to the link and read the whole thing.
Very interesting material. Thanks for posting the article.
Wouldn’t that mean that we are all ancestors of a very incestuous family ?
There is a lot that the Bible doesn’t cover explicitly. The Bible would have to be the same area of a football field and a mile high in order to cover everything that every human could possibly want to know. Good luck reading that. :)
There are somethings that can only be deduced by reasonable reasoning. Is it more reasonable that Cain’s wife come from a different species or is it more reasonable to deduce that Cain might not have been the only child of Adam to have a problem with the requirements of God and acted on their wayward desire?
Never considered it that way. Thank you.
The reason why incest is forbidden is because genetic malformations are the result when two people, who are too genetically similar, mate. It does not mean that it was always going to be allowed.
At this point in time, there was little risk that a malformed child would be born. It was a necessary allowance to populate the earth enough where dissimilar people would eventually be born where the restriction could be brought in.
There are some problems with this view. They pretty much all stem from the fact that if Adam isn't the father of all then we were not all condemned by his failure in the garden. It snowballs from there.
Interesting post! Thanks, 2DV.
“He later killed his younger brother Abel in a hissy fit over his sacrifice of meat being more favored than Cain’s sacrificial fruit basket.”
Hissy fit? Haha. That’s one way to put it.
bump
It also wouldn’t be the only time when a population was created out of a narrow choice of humans. I read about a guy who had a family on an island and he had six children, three females and three males. To ensure their survival, he had them marry but he created rules where future mates could not be chosen from the same branch but from one of the different branches.
I understand the island is still inhabited with no serious medical conditions.
A pro-life freeper has told me that undesirable genetic traits do not show up with only one incestuous act but occur with inbreeding over a period of time.
I also remember learning, way back, that the ban against brother-sister incest was due to the fact that the attraction, combining siblinghood with sexual partnership, would be too strong between the two and would prevent them from ever finding an appropriate mate. This obviously refers to temporary brother-sister incest. It is clothed in authority in my memory, so it may have been the nuns.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.