Tuesday, April 18, 2017

HEAVEN

"HEAVEN IS OUR HOMELAND." Literally! A Facebook friend had commented, as quoted, on a post that I had earlier written, while I was in the process of reading a relevant book chapter entitled, "Geometrical and Astronomical Standards Governing Architectural Structures," in AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY : THE PHARAONIC PERIOD, 2780-330 BC, by Dr. Theophile Obenga (2004). Ironically, when she made her prescient comment, I rejoiced! It overflows with divine truth! Thanks 🙏! The post on which she commented read: "Implicit in the concept of "citizenship" are such duties as fellowship, fidelity, sharing, caring; plus privileges such as partaking , protesting , contributing. As such, each citizen is a synecdoche of a nation as the nation is of each citizen." Dr. Theophile Obenga in his remarkable book writes: "There is a special set of Egyptian diagrams, star charts...on which it was noted that certain constellations appeared regularly in the same positions for ten days. Such lists of 'Decans' are described on sarcophagi of the 9th Dynasty, about 2150 BC, long before Hipparchus produced his first astronomical catalog . The Decan lists are, in effect , the oldest astronomical texts known. Similar diagrams are found in the royal tombs of Ramses IV, Ramses VII, and Ramses IX. In sum, the ancient Egyptians did not only discover the movement of fixed stars; they also discovered the precession of the equinoxes, another effect of the precession of the world 's axis.... "Those who make a sport of putting down ancient Egyptian science--admittedly a dying tribe these days--have always found such data awkward to account for. In Greek and Roman antiquity , the problem did not arise; for Egyptian astronomy was well known and highly valued as the irreplaceable work of pioneers in the scientific study of the heavens.... "The Egyptians showed a constant concern for precision in their astronomical observations, a tendency that enabled them to orient their funerary and religious monuments in an astonishingly accurate manner. Before the Greeks invaded their country, Egyptians cared little for 'astrology.' What they were interested in was to measure the passage of hours, and to mark out exact orientations for their sacred buildings, so that they could perform their ceremonial ritual correctly, in their encounter with the immensity of an open universe, which to them meant the cosmic order, itself the perfect chart. Any activity programmed to harmonize with such a chart would have to be abundantly effective and efficient." P. 328-331 "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3:20) Glory be to God for divine blessing!