Naaman, Elisha, and Jupiter (2 Kings 5:1-19)

Naaman is the general of the Syrian army. His king is very pleased with him. He has been very successful in battles against Israel. But then this story makes an odd statement. It says that Naaman has only been successful because Israel’s god has enabled him to beat Israel. It says that Israel’s god has given victory to Israel’s enemies. Already we can see the difference between Israel’s god and the Olympian gods Jupiter (god of politics) and Mars (god of war). They would never act so strangely!

Septuagint (ca 250 BC)

Alexander of Macedon led his army to victory in the conquest of Egypt in 332 BC. He ordered the construction of Alexandria the next year. He then left Egypt to battle in other lands and never returned.

Alexandria grew rich through trade in all directions. By 300 BC, it was bigger than Carthage and the largest port on the Mediterranean Sea. By 200 BC, it was the largest city in the whole Mediterranean world.

King Herod, Wise Men, and Jupiter (Matthew 2:1-18)

Jupiter is the false if conventional god of politics. He justifies all we do to gain and maintain political power. How we might act as people devoted to Jupiter is well illustrated by Herod, a king, in a story found in the Bible.

Eratosthenes (276-194 BC)

In 332 BC, Alexander of Macedon led an army of battle-hardened veterans in the conquest of Egypt. The following year he ordered the construction of a city which he named after himself. Then he left to fight other battles and never returned.

After his death in 323, Ptolemy, one of his generals, became the new ruler of Egypt. Ptolemy ordered the construction of a great library. Under the care of his son, Ptolemy 2^nd (ruled 285-246 BC), this library became the best the world had yet known. It held more than 500,000 scrolls. They contained some of the best ideas ever imagined by human beings.

Alexandria: The Great Library (ca 285 BC-AD 391)

Alexander 3^rd of Macedon, called "the Great" by tradition, used a battle-hardened army to conquer Egypt in 332 BC. The next year he ordered the building of a new city which he named after himself. Alexandria remained the capital of Egypt until the Muslim conquest of AD 641.

Israel ben Eliezer: The Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760)

Israel ben Eliezer was born in August 1698 in the village of Okopy. At that time the village was in Poland but, following many shifts in borders, it is now in Ukraine.

His parents, Eliezer and Sara, were Jewish and poor. His father died when he was five years old. Eliezer’s last words to him: fear no one but God and love every Jew unconditionally.

As school, Israel was no doubt taught Torah and Talmud, but he was frequently absent. He preferred to enjoy the beauty of God’s good creation alone in the woods.

Pyramids of Giza (2500s BC)

The world’s three most famous pyramids brood silently near the Nile River at Giza. Giza is about 15 miles (25 km) southwest of the center of Cairo, Egypt.