Midas: The Touch of Gold

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Published: Tuesday, 29 August 2017 23:39
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Midas: The Touch of Gold

By Augusto A. Kho

August 19, 2017 (Saturday); 1:52 AM

Updated August 20, 2017 (Sunday); 9:00 A.M.

Updated August 26, 2017 (Saturday); 5:30 P.M.

Updated: August 30, 2017 (Wednesday); 1:03 A.M.

 

The word “gold” came to me sometime in the morning of August 14, 2017 (Monday) and immediately it reminds me of Revelation 3:18 about “the gold tried in fire” and what was shared to us by our tourist guide Ms. Emile Meltem during our recent trip to Turkey.

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The middle photo is taken by Peps somewhere outskirt of Sardis, Asia Minor (now Turkey) overlooking Tmolus Mountain where gold dust flows from the nearby Lycus River. Left and right photos are taken from the internet.

 

 

“Is it gold (riches) has a magnetic personality and control that mesmerizes then paralyzes a human soul and reasoning? “ I asked our staff David and he was unable to answer at first.

 

We knew by the fact that gold deposits possesses commercial value only when it become available to the market provided it is discovered, extracted, gone through a process of smelting (refining), and formed as an ornaments.

 

 

Why Greek culture?

Again I have to ask myself why the New Testament’s4 Gospels and Epistles are written in the culture and the language of Greek? Why not in the Hebrews? There must be a perfect reason why. It is because Greek culture in embedded in Egypt, Mesopotamia (Iraq); Persia (Iran), Syria, Lebanon, Asia Minor (Turkey) and the rest of Mediterranean region. God has to use images, words, emblems, culture, language, beliefs, customs and traditions and others which are commonly used in order for Him to be understood.

 

Horace, a Roman who is considered the 1st world autobiographer said, Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit ("Captive Greece captured her rude conqueror"). What he meant is even though Greece is more ancient than Rome and later captured by the latter, the Greek culture is still embedded in the region. Even the Romans during that time embrace the Greek culture no matter Jerusalem was then under the Roman Empire.

 

If you go to ancient Rome which is Italy at present, you’ll find out that many of the gods and goddess of the Romans are indeed Greek gods and goddesses as well. In every piazza (plaza) you’ll find Greek god there like Neptune, Pluto, Mercury, etc.

 

In Israel, two of its cities are Greek namely Hippos (horse), an important archaeological site and Decapolis (ten cities) in Matthew 4:25.

 

 

First minted gold coin

On August 14, 2017, the word “gold” just came to mind and it reminds me what the tourist guide Ms. Meltem shared to us when we were in Turkey.

 

Miss Meltem, our tour guide last June 12 said that the first minted gold coin is in Lydia, Asia Minor. If you can recall, Paul’s one ardent supporter of his preaching ministry is a purple seller from Lydia of Thyatira (Acts 16:14). She was also amazed as she told us that recent discovery of ancient Lydian coins used to be faked. “In other words, even in ancient time, cheating is already practiced by the traders,” she quipped.

 

 

So when I heard the word “gold” the scripture in Revelation 3:18, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire” instantly came into my mind. It was told that the revelation of Jesus came to John the Beloved while on exile in Patmos, Greece and he was told to send the prophetic word to the angel of Laodicea (Rev. 1:1-11; 3:14).

 

 

Stock pile of gold

I saw stock pile of gold in the form of crowns, anklets, bracelets, basins, bowls, cups, beds and others in the tomb of 3,000 year old mummy of King Tutankhamun in Giza Pyramid sometime in 1985. This treasure was heavily guarded by military men that time. When Arab Springs erupted in early 2012, archaeological sites, kings’ tombs and museums in Egypt were reported looted by its priceless artefacts and I don’t know whether King Tutankhamun’s treasure was among those who have been stolen. Gold or treasure is unmistakably an asset but it jeopardizes your life as well.

 

 

Green-thumb

There are some people who are “green-thumb” as they call it. They can easily cultivate plants by their bare own hands. Some have the “hand of gold” like that of a “Midas’ Touch “ that whatever things they touch “turns into gold,” figuratively speaking. And that reminds of Greek mythology about King Midas from Phrygia (where we just recently visited). Phrygia as I earlier wrote includes Hierapolis, Colossae, Laodicea, Tripolis, etc which was one among places visited by Paul during his missionary journey.

 

 

King Midas History: Touch of Gold

The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold. This came to be called the golden touch, or the Midas touch according to alchemy, the transmutation of an object into gold is known as chrysopoeia.



Pausanias said that the Phrygian city Midaeum was presumably named after this Midas, and this is probably also the Midas that according to Pausanias founded Ancyra. According to Aristotle, legend held that Midas died of starvation as a result of his "vain prayer" for the gold touch writes Aristotle entitled, “Politics.” The legends told about this Midas and his father Gordias, credited with founding the Phrygian capital city Gordium and tying the Gordian Knot, indicate that they were believed to have lived sometime in the 2nd millennium BC, well before the Trojan War.

 

The golden touch refers to Midas touch! Wow! That would be touching an ordinary thing yet it automatically becomes special. It is from King Midas that also popularizes the Greek mythology of the “Golden Fleece.” King Midas when touched her daughter turned into gold as well. Even the food he touches turned into gold. He finally said “destructiveness of wealth ” then he committed suicide.

 

Perhaps we always equate material blessing as absolute blessing from God that give us stronger attachment to the possessions more than to the Giver. Remember the rich, young man in Mark 10:17-31 / ESV ?

 

 

The man said, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus Christ replied to him saying, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” The young man replied, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

 

The word “treasure” in Greek “thesaurus” means “the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up; a treasury or repository’. James Strong called it “a deposit.”

 

 

In verse 22, it says, “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Then Christ said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” (verse 25).

 

Can someone like you and me can be that rich (literally) yet poor in the Kingdom of God just like of that young, rich man? (Read Matthew 19:16-24).

 

While men of the world, Christians includes are so busy heaping up riches, wealth, position, and all the worldly things that this earth can offer, Christ is telling the church “buy of Me gold tried in the fire?”

 

 

“Prosperity doctrine”

You heard modern-day preachers who often speak of “prosperity doctrine” as if physical wealth is an absolute evidence of being blessed in the Name of the Lord. Whereas Christ whose humble birth begun from the sheep’s pen though he promised all blessing to us, He did not dispute the fact of “being poor in the spirit or being poor in the Kingdom of God” is in line with His divine will (Matthew 16:24; Luke 9:23; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Corinthians 6:10; 8:9; Eph. 3:16; Philippians 2:5-7; 1 Timothy 6:9;James 1:11; James 2:5; Rev. 6:15).

 

 

 

Faith can be tested

Faith can be tested in the furnace of fire during time of abundance, testing or persecution. I saw plenty of pastors and Christians who have gone away from the Lord when time of abundance comes.

 

Job 23:10, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

 

The word “tried” in Hebrew “bachan” (baw-khan) means “to examine or prove or investigate the heart.”

 

Job is said to be older than Abraham and he was the wealthiest during his time. But when he lost his wealth, his faith to God was tested and he started cursing his life. In Job 3:1-3 says, “After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake, and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born.” Job’s heart was tried as gold in time of testing.

 

Psalm 12:6, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified

seven times. “

 

Psalm 66:10, “For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.”

 

That is why Jesus said to Laodicea, “…Buy from me gold tried in a fire that you may be rich.”

 

 

Refined

My mother (deceased) used to be a jeweller when I was in high school and I saw quantity and quality of gold rings embedded with precious and semi-precious stones. The yellowish colour of this mineral glows the more depending on the process called “smelting”.

 

Smelting is the process of separating the metal from impurities. (If the gold can not be concentrated for smelting, then it is leached by an aqueous solution using either cyanide or thiosulfate).

 

The word “tried” in Greek “puroo” in Revelation 3:18 which means “to burn or set with fire; to make glow of darks filled with inflammable substances and set on fire; melted by fire and purged of dross; to be refined.” That is exactly the same in gold processing called “smelting.”

 

 

 

Thailand experience

I came to know the Lord in Saudi Arabia on 1986. Three years later, the Lord called me for a fulltime ministry in Thailand. It was in Thailand that again, I have experienced a “hard life.” I rarely had life comfort. I limited myself for a Baht 500.00 (Pesos 500) a month budget which includes food, personal hygienic effects and communication. When I travelled to Singapore and Malaysia on three-times a year basis, the more that I was being put into severe test physically, emotionally and spiritually.

 

I call “Thailand Experience” the “moulding process.” It has given the best of me in terms of “character-building” during the hard times. Each one of us must go to such a process like being “refined with fire.”

 

 

Refined with fire

The faith of the prophetic Christian in a prophetic church during the prophetic end time must be “refined with fire.” That was truly happened to Job, his faith towards God and his character hae gone through the fire of smelting. Job became a “refined-like gold” as a man of God after going through the furnace of affliction and tests in his life. Martyrdom is going through the same process as well.

 

In the Book of Revelation which is prophetic or futuristic, a believer’s martyrdom matters.

 

Revelation 3:18 described the “gold” in Greek “chrusion” (khroo-see-on) i.e. “gold imbedded in the earth and is dug out of it,” which has been “smelted and wrought.” In other words, any hidden deposit of gold underground must be tried with fire to separate the gold from the dross (dust, refuse or impurity) and be crafted into something ornamental for commercial value.

 

Depository of treasures no matter how many millions of tons of gold would that be, if it is not found, extracted and melted into something preciously worth bartering at. The same thing goes with our lives as well. You and me must have that such a high demanding price.

 

Commodity when it becomes scarce with great market demands commands a high price, martyrdom today is indeed rare and so precious. Martyrdom is like a gold furnace with fire.

 

 

 

 

Like a computer

A computer has a hard disk and the software. When you turn on your computer, the software will only provide you the information or data that you have encoded there. What has been downloaded to you there depends from what you uploaded on the machine. The same is true with our thoughts – what we read, what we experience or saw automatically being restored in the memory and suddenly it can just pop out like that from the computer. The Bible says, “Love God with all your mind.” What could be in our minds? But thought? Our thoughts (coming from God based from what we heard or learned) is like a software while our brain and body is the hardware. That could be the reason I heard the word, “gold.”

 

From the modern city of Izmir (ancient Smyrna), we proceeded to the place called Sart (ancient Sardis) which was the former capital city of ancient Kingdom of Lydia, an important city of Persian Empire that later became under the Roman Empire.

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Smyrna and Sardis is 72 km apart. We went to the ruins of ancient Sardis along Hermus Valley at the foot of Mount Tmolus. Then Mark Fairchild, an archaeologist who was with us shared that along that stream are gold sands.

 

The stream Pactolus which flowed through the market-place "carried golden sands" in early antiquity, which in reality gold dust out of Mount Tmolus. It was during the reign of King Croesus that the metallurgists of Sardis discovered the secret of separating gold from silver, thereby producing both metals of a purity never known before. If not a mixture of both metals which is called “electrum.” This was an economic revolution, for while gold nuggets panned or mined were us according to A. Ramage and P. Craddock, King Croesus' Gold: Excavations at Sardis and the History of Gold Refining. Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, (2001).

 

While work of our ministry is very important to us it is however not the absolute requirement of God from our personal salvation (Eph 2:8-9). I remember what God told me in the year 2000 when He said, “Peps. I am not interested in your ministry. My ministry is you.” We always equate “good works” to please God. God however desire from us is “character purified like gold” in the “likeness of Christ,” (Romans 8:29).

 

 

Lydian Coin

Going back to the Lydian coin called “The Coin.”

 

The Paktolos River acquired its electrum from electrum-laden quartz deposits near Mount Tmolos (called Mount Bozdag today). The Lydians, as did others elsewhere, probably sifted the silt, sand, and gravel of the Paktolos River as well as the Hermos River and other waterways with sheepskins, a practice in the ancient world that likely gave rise to the legend of the “Golden Fleece” writes A. Spawford. A. Rummage wrote that small quantities of electrum can still be recovered today from the Paktolos River and nearby streams

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Lydian electrum trite (4.71g, 13x10x4 mm). This coin type, made of a gold and silver alloy, was in all likelihood the world's first, minted by King Alyattes in Sardis, Lydia, Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), c. 610-600 BC. Inscribed on the first coin are the features of lions which is symbol of kingly authority.

 

Electrum-laden quartz

What is quartz? Quartz is a hard crystal normally being used to watches and clock that when it is placed in a magnetic field will control devices on a precise regulatory manner (like mechanically magnetized). See “Definition” below.

 

There are times we are being controlled by the things of this world that entice us and we sway like a pendulum, going back to and fro, as in a mechanical like manner. When we see something that attracts us most, don’t we tend to go back and forth to that object like a signature-labeled wardrobe, diamond ring or to the prettiest girl we have ever seen?

 

 

That is why John the Beloved said in 1 John 2:15-16, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

 

The things that entice us are just like a hard-crystal, quartz-like gold or silver that we in the center act like a “magnetic field” moving in a circuitous or in pendulum-like manner. That is when temptations come in.

 

Let us go now into Geo-politics. A Philippine Geopolitics. Can gold possibly change the political landscape of the Philippines?

 

 

 

 

Geo-politics

Why do you think many countries in the world today like China and US find Philippines quite irresistible?

 

What is geo-politics? According to Miriam-Webster, Geo-politics is a study of the influence of such factors as geography, economics, and demography on the politics and especially the foreign policy of a state.

 

What makes the Spratlys in West Philippine Sea or South China Sea a major international conflict zone by some ASEAN nations, China and United States of America? Does it something to do with “black-gold”?

 

What is black-gold?

 

Why MNLF, MILF, BIFF Maute Group, United States of America and United Nations, European Union

foreign investors, or politicians (both local and foreign) are kept on pushing Bangsamoro Basic Law

(BBL) and Federalism here in the Philippines?

 

It is because of the nation’s natural wealth?

 

 

 

Philippines, world’s mineralized country

“Philippines sits on $840B of mine—US “ as reported by Jerry E. Esplanada of Philippine Daily Inquirer dated March 01, 2012. “ With untapped mineral wealth worth more than $840 billion, the Philippines is “one of the world’s most highly mineralized countries,” according to a US Department of State report on the Philippine economy” the report writes.

 

According to the report, “Philippine copper, gold and chromate deposits are among the largest in the world.” “

 

Other important minerals include nickel, silver, coal, gypsum and sulfur. The Philippines also has significant deposits of clay, limestone, marble, silica, and phosphate. Natural gas reserves discovered off Palawan have been brought on line to generate electricity,” it said.

 

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Philippines is Number 1 gold producer in Asia, 3rd largest in the world. and 3rd largest producer of copper in the world.

 

The Philippines Mining Companies reported at PDI dated October 15, 2002 reveals

  • RP is one of the most high endowed mineralized countries in the world

  • RP ranks No. 1 in ASIA in terms of gold production

  • RP ranked 5th in the global gold production

  • RP ranked 9th in the global production during the 80’s

RP Mining contributes: $ 2.0 Billion on exports annually

= P 20 Billion on taxes annually

 

 

“Gold is found throughout the country in the form of lode or placer deposits with the principal producing districts being Baguio & Paracale (Luzon), Masbate (Visayas) and Surigao and Masara (Mindanao). Generally observed that the largest and richest deposits tend to lie in the vicinity of the Philippine Fault Zone.

 

Recently, gold exploration has been directed towards epithermal deposits." " ...

 

The southernmost island of the Philippines - Mindanao - is a mineral-rich island with numerous, small scale gold operations, plus a number of major gold/copper deposits [including] the Boyungan Deposit on the north of the island which has an inferred mineral resource of 219-Million tonnes of combined sulphide and oxide material with an average grade of 0.81% copper and 0.74 g/t gold,” SEMCO reported.

 

 

 

Black-gold?

What is black-gold? Do we have black-gold in the Philippines? Some scriptures below about black-gold? Petroleum or crude oil is called “black gold.”

 

  • Genesis 49:25/ NASB, “From the God of your father who helps you, and the Almighty God who blessed you with blessing of heave above, blessing of the deep that lies beneath (berakah i.e. pool, gift)..” Genesis 33:13/ NASB, “Of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, with the choice things of heaven, with the dew, and from the deep lying beneath.”

  • Deut. 33:19/ NASB, “They will call peoples to the mountain, there they will offer righteous sacrifices; for they will draw out of the abundance of the seas; and the hidden treasures of the sand (saphan i.e. valuable treasure).”

  • Deut. 33:24/ NASB, “Of Asher he said, More blessed than sons is Asher; may he be favoured by his brothers, and may he dip his foot in oil (Shemen i.e. grease)”

  • Deut. 32:12-13, “…..He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the produce of the field, and He made him suck honey from the rock, and oil (shemen) from the flinty rock.”

 

  • Black Gold in the Philippines

The Mindanao Deep is known to have the biggest deposit of deuterium – concentrated hydrogen. This has been discussed since the 1980's and touted as the future clean energy. Nobody ever ventured to develop deuterium because the cost would have be prohibitive. By William Esposo, Star/August 10, 2008

 

South China Sea has estimated 213-Billion barrels of oil reserves worth $1-Trillion US Dollars which will prove the world's second biggest after Saudi according to Global Security. It is estimated to be able to produce a minimum of 1.9M barrels a day (Iraq's daily oil production is 1.88M barrels. By William Esposo Star /8-24-08

 

 

Gold, scriptural definition

If you remember that gold is first mentioned in Genesis 2:11 during the creation. It says that the “the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.” Gold is Hebrew “zahab” a precious metal (known for its brilliance and splendour); gold coloured i.e. yellow.

 

The land of Havilah includes part of Eden, to the river Pison, Grecian Colchis, northeast of Asia Minor which includes Laodicea, Phrygia, Lydia, Colossae and others (and that where we visited lately), Caspian Sea, Arabia, northwest of Yemen according to Strong Bible Dictionary.

 

Silver and gold were also mentioned in Genesis 13:2 when Abram is described as “very rich in cattle, silver and gold (Hebrew “zahab”).”

 


Christ symbolizes gold. Magi from the east gave him incense, myrrh and gold (Matthew 2:11). The gold there is defined in Greek “chrusos,” i.e. “precious things made of gold, golden ornaments, stamped gold, or coin.”

 

And what shake the nations at present?

 

“And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with

glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts,” –

Haggai 2:7-8.

 

 

While the gold belongs to God alone and in fact the Bible says, “ The earth is the LORD’S and the

fullness thereof,” (Psalm 24:1) yet many countries in Pacific alone claims otherwise.

 

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The word “rock’ in Greek “petra” literally refers to “petroleum or oil, a yellow-to-black liquid found in geological formations beneath the earth’s surface “ which we call today as Petroleum” where Philippines is tagged by the US Energy Board as “world’s largest oil deposits:” worth $1 Trillion which remained untapped today.

 

 

The US Energy Board is referring to Reed or Recto Bank which is NOW “territorially encroached by China.” Petroleum or crude oil is called as “gold” as well specifically defined as “black gold” (Webster).

 

The word petroleum was first popularized by German mineralogist George Bauer in 1546 in his

treatise “De Natura Fossillium.”

 

 

Gold and Geo-politics

Is it gold and geo-politics goes hand in hand?

 

What was the cause of downfall of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos? Is it because of gold or

iron-fist hand kind of government?

 

 

What do Kosovo and Philippines have the same things in common?

Kosovo is a disputed region in Albania and became a separate state from Serbia in 2008 while

Mindanao is being contested major island of the Philippines that certain groups are seeking

“autonomy” or “independence” from Philippines through Congress’ priority bill called “BBL.”

 

Kosovo conflict played by a major proponent called “Kasovo Liberation Army” ( KLA) while Mindanao’s

major BBL proponent is Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an off-shoot of Moro National Liberation

Front (MNLF) that gave rise to BIFF.

 

KLA was allegedly assisted by CIA of United States of American (USA) and British Special Air

Service of Great Britain to gain independence from Serbia, will USA do the same thing and will assist

MILF as well to gain independence?

 

Why there was Causasian-looking military man that was slain during the Mamasapano incident? Is there any foreign intervention during the clash of SAF PNP and the MILF rebels? To whom this slain Caucasian-looking man sided with?

 

According to CIA Intelligence report, MILF is considered a “terrorist group”? Would United States will extend humanitarian aid and military support to MILG to gain her independence? Is it true that according to James Bissett, Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania, wrote in 2001 that media reports indicate that "as early as 1998, the Central Intelligence Agency assisted by the British Special Air Service were arming and training Kosovo Liberation Army members in Albania to foment armed rebellion in Kosovo?”

 

A key precursor to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was the People's Movement of Kosovo (LPK). This group, who argued Kosovo's freedom could be won only through armed struggle, traces back to 1982, and played a crucial role in the creation of the KLA in 1993 according to Judah (2001) and Bideleux & Jeffries (2007)

 

While MILF’s precursor was the MNLF. The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is a Moro and Lumad group formed in the 1960s following the alleged Jabidah massacre to achieve greater Bangsamoro autonomy in the southern Philippines according to "Guide to the Philippines conflict". BBC News datesd December 18, 2009.

 

KLA and MILF are both Muslim groups seeking for independence.

 

 

Philippines has MILF a revolutionary group seeking a separate state as well in Albania has the Kasovo Liberation Army (KLA) a revolutionary group seeking a separate state. Both MILF and KLA are religious groups?

 

KLA was allegedly being supported by the CIA of USA and NATO and who is supporting MILF? Malaysia and other Islamic countries and/or US?

 

Kosovo has large reserves of lead, zinc, silver, nickel, cobalt, copper, iron and bauxite. The nation has the 5th largest lignite reserves in the World and the 3rd in Europe.[206] The Directorate for Mines and Minerals and the World Bank estimated, that Kosovo had €13.5 billion worth of minerals.

 

 

While Phillippines has $1`.4-Trillion mineral deposits according to Forbes Asia dated April 5, 2015 reads, “Trillion-Dollar Philippine Economic Goldmine Emerging From Murky Pit.”

 

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“The Philippines holds the world’s second largest gold reserves, and applications from foreign mining firms are piling up to tap that plus a list of other metals that basically just sit under the ground now. Mining made up just 0.72 of the impoverished Southeast Asian country’s economy in 2012 as gold production fell back 50% to 15,762 tons that year.

 

Access to the $1.4 trillion Philippine mining sector, rich also in copper and nickel, has been mired since the 1980s in klutzy laws, environmental battles and land rights issues. It may be on its way out of the pit this year,” Forbes wrote.

 

 

 

 

Looting the gold

Looting the gold, the silver and the treasures have been customary traditions from invading conquerors. This is true during the time of Syrian king Hazael (1 Kings 19:15; 2 Kings 8:12; 12:18), Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (Ezra 1:11; 5:14; Dan. 3:1).

 

 

World’s history of conquest and colonialism and you will find out that looting the treasures or gold-grabbing is always a part of it. (We will study that later should I prepare another teaching entitled “IMPERIAL CULT”).

 

 

That is what I also learned during our Asia Minor tour-study. “Fertile Crescent” came first as the ancient civilization comprising the Middle East which curves like a quarter-moon shapes which includes Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia (Iraq), Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Egypt according to Egyptologist James Henry (1916). That is where the “Cradle of Civilization“ begun. Then after that … superpower begun to emerged one after another…

 

 

The Superpowers

Superpowers come and go. A superpower can never manipulate the whole world without God’s consent. Remember what God have said to Moses, “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth,” (Exodus 9:16; Romans 9:17).

 

Daniel said only God has the right to balance the global superpower.

 

Daniel 2:21, “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.”

 

Egyptian Empire came, the Greeks (Hellenistic by Alexander the Great, the Romans, French (by Napoleon Bonaparte), then the Ottomans (Turkish), England, Spain, USA.

 

 

And who are the great-superpower countries today? America, Russia, England, Germany?

 

Matthew 12:29, “Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.”

 

 

 

Is king Midas of Phrygia is indeed right when he said “destructiveness of wealth?”

 

 

 

The trouble with gold?

There is no trouble with wealth. The one who troubles is us. Remember Achan?

 

Achan also called Achar i.e. “the one who troubles” in 1 Chronicles 2:7 committed a crime which brought upon him an awful destruction (Joshua 7:1) on the occasion of the fall of Jericho when he took an ingot of gold and quantity of silver.

 

Again and again, I would say, that the trouble is with us but we are likened to a magnetic field that when we are exposed to gold-like quartz ( wealth) that causing us to swing forward and upward on a precise manner as if we are being magnetized.

 

While we need to control the gold, the gold must not control us.

 

1 John 2:15-16, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

 

 

Laodicea spiritual condition

And that is when the church of ancient Laodicea came to the picture that says, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see, “ (Revelation 3:17-18).

 

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While Laodicea is enormously rich literally and named as the “world’s banking capital,” Christ declared them as “poor.” And that is ironic. Though Laodicea tagged as the “garment capital” they were tagged by the Lord as “naked.” Again, that is ironic. While Laodicea is considered to be the “best eye-hospital in the world” during ancient time, God accused them as “blind.”

 

Triple-yummy of rebuke and that is rather too ironic for the church of Laodicea.

 

 

Metallurgical Science

You will find it rather odd that God has to use metallurgical science to describe the spiritual condition of the church in Laodicea. Jesus Christ commanded John the Beloved to speak to the angel assigned to the Christian believers in Laodicea, “ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich;…” (Revelation 3:18).

 

Laodicea is under the region of Phrygia in Asia Minor bounded by Bithynia, Galaia, Lycaonia, Pisidia, Lydia, Mysia, and it contained the cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colosse according to Thayer Bible Dictionary (Acts 2:10; 16:6; 18:23). Like Philippines, Phrygia is a mineralized country. The Church of Laodicea like many of its citizens may be enjoying much from their comfortable good financial condition. Yet there are some fake-gold coins as well as Meltem shared.

 

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To some “prosperity-centred” preachers and churches, poverty seemed to be a curse, if not a God-alienated believer. Often they would used the world “blessed” to a Christian who is literally blessed with material gains. Yet, Christ said in Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 5:3).

 

The word “poor” in Greek “ptochos” (pto-khos’) means “reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms; destitute of wealth, influence, position or honour.” Originally from “ptosso” i.e. “to crouch (gumagapang). Derived from Greek “ptoeo” (pto-eh-o) i.e. to terrify.

 

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 Nelids and Isaac on the façade of ancient gymnasium in ancient city of Sardis

 

 

Gold and the end-times

If you have been updated for the current events and news for the past 30 years, you will find out that scientists, economists and other experts believe that the whole world’s survival is only between 2020 to 2030. Why? The cited various reasons which are as follows:

 

The foreseen scarcity of safe drinking water, food, petroleum as well the effects of global; warming will contribute immensely to the forthcoming regional and global war. It is a fight for the remaining scarce resources available.

 

USA consumed over 50% of the global oil production according to studies and followed by China consuming around 40%.

 

Why there is Spratlys conflict at present? What do you think? Is it black-gold related squabbles? Why Recto Bank (Reed Bank) are now under China’s control which is believed to the world’s largest find in terms of black gold or petroleum?

 

Is it global war is inevitable because of the super-powers’ seeking for the remaining scarce resources like black-gold?

 

 

Whose inscription?

In Matthew 22:15-20, 21, the Pharisees instigated the Herodians or public officials (verse 16) to tempt Christ asking Him whether it is dutiful to pay tax to the government. Christ said to them, “Whose is this image and superscription?” (verse 20)

 

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King Alyattes’ first gold minted coins in Sardis are said to be inscribed with the image of a lion, is it not Christ is also called a Lion from the tribe of Judah in Revelation 5:5?

 

Then Christ said in Matthew 22:21, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”

Then give to God what is rightfully His. In Haggai 2:8 it says, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.”

 

 

How many lions?

How many lions can you identify in Genesis 49:9?

 

“Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched

as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? “

 

If you’re a lion, what kind of lion would you be?

 

  • “lion's whelp: Hebrew “gur” i.e. “cub, young , abiding.”


Will you be like immature, defenceless and dependent young lion who can be

an easy prey to the other beasts in the wild?

 

  • Couched as a lion, Hebrew “rabbats” “stretching, laying stones, reposing (resting) falling down’ recline, folded.”

 

Will you be the kind of lion who keeps on stretching, who loves to lay down and sleep?

 

  • old lion; Hebrew “lebiya:” i.e. “lion or lioness; fiercer.”

 

Will you want to be mature and sturdy lion who attacks your enemy?

 

You can always choose to what kind of Christian you want to be.

 

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NOTES

  • Scriptures from KJV unless otherwise specified

 

  • Some photos are taken from the internet

 

  • Trite or Stater. As is customary in numismatics, I'm using the term "stater" here, which the ancient Greeks used and which in ancient times meant "weigher" or "that which balances the scales." A stater was the standard denomination upon which the smaller denominations were based, and it could refer to an electrum, gold, or silver coin. The term "trite" was also used by the ancient Greeks as a denomination of electrum coins, for one-third of an electrum stater. Silver fractions were typically referred to as drachms, obols, and so on instead of as trites, hektes, and so on. M. Mitchiner in his recently published Ancient Trade and Early Coinage, Hawkins Publications, London, 2004, p. 215, makes a case that instead of "stater" a more appropriate term that should be used in conjunction with these Lydian coins is "shekel," which was a traditional Mesopotamian term for a given weight of bullion, which became the term for the standard coin denomination of the Asian kingdoms and many Eastern cities, and which the Greeks subsequently Hellenized to "stater." The term "shekel" or "shiklus" goes back to ancient Sumer, according to R. Mundell in "The Birth of Coinage," scheduled to be published in the Zagreb Journal of Economics, http://www.columbia.edu/cu/economics/discpapr/DP0102-08.pdf, pp. 5, 6. Sumer is the most often theorized location for the beginning of civilization.

 

  • Karwiese in "The Artemisium Coin Hoard and the First Coins of Ephesus,"

 

  • Electrum. Encyclopaedia Britannica defined electrum, natural or artificial alloy of gold with at least 20 percent silver, which was used to make the first known coins in the Western world. Most natural electrum contains copper, iron, palladium, bismuth, and perhaps other metals. The colour varies from white-gold to brassy, depending on the percentages of the major constituents and copper. In the ancient world the chief source was Lydia, in Asia Minor, where the alloy was found in the area of the Pactolus River, a small tributary of the Hermus (modern Gediz Nehri, in Turkey). The first Occidental coinage, possibly begun by King Gyges (7th century bc) of Lydia, consisted of irregular ingots of electrum bearing his stamp as a guarantee of negotiability at a predetermined value.

 

  • Quartz. Quartz according to Webster is a mineral that is often found in the form of hard crystal and that is used especially to make clocks and watches. Quartz in its full definition is a crystal that when placed in an electric field oscillates (swing backward and forward like a pendulum) at a constant frequently and it is used to control devices which require précise regulation (1631).

  • Electric field (noun) a region associated with a distribution of electric charge or a varying magnetic field in which forces due to that charge or field act upon other electric charges (Webster).

 

  • Scriptural passages on black gold or petroleum:

Genesis 49:25/ NASB, “From the God of your father who helps you, and the Almighty God who blessed you with blessing of heave above, blessing of the deep that lies beneath..”

 

Genesis 33:13/ NASB, “Of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, with the choice things of heaven, with the dew, and from the deep lying beneath.”

 

Deut. 33:19/ NASB, “They will call peoples to the mountain, there they will offer righteous sacrifices; for they will draw out of the abundance of the seas; and the hidden treasures of the sand.”

 

Deut. 33:24/ NASB, “Of Asher he said, More blessed than sons is Asher; may he be favoured by his brothers, and may he dip his foot in oil.”

 

Deut. 32:12-13, “…..He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the produce of the field, and He made him suck honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock.”

 

  • Alchemy is a science that was used in Middle Ages with the goal of changing ordinary metals into god. It is power or process of transforming something common into something special.

 

  • King Midas. . The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold. This came to be called the golden touch, or the Midas touch (Alchemy). According to Aristotle, the Phrygian city Midaeum was presumably named after this Midas, and this is probably also the Midas that according to Pausanias founded Ancyra. Aristotle says that the legend held that Midas died of starvation as a result of his "vain prayer" for the gold touch.

 

  • Metallurgy. It is the science that deals with the natures and uses of metals.

 

  • SEMCO Exploration and Mining Corporation (SEMCO), the wholly-owned subsidiary of SEMCO Minerals P.L.C. (Isle of Man), has been engaged in mineral exploration in the Philippines since 1998. The company currently holds four Exploration Permits extending overall to some 64 km2 in Agusan del Norte Province, Caraga Region, north-east Mindanao. A central consolidated area of 42 km2 lies on the known Asiga Diorite feature and typically exhibits the porphyry copper-gold and epithermal precious metal deposits that dominate eastern Mindanao. The area includes the former Old Lepanto minesite and excellent pipeline opportunities, and supports artesenal working by licenced small groups.

 

While awaiting clarification on foreign ownership of mineral rights, SEMCO applied its efforts to identifying exploration prospects within the Surigao Gold District of north-east Mindanao Island. By the time of the 2004 landmark decision of the Philippines Supreme Court approving 100% foreign interest in mineral exploration, the company had registered four Exploration Permit Applications (EPA's), appointed experienced local management and developed excellent relationships with the Regional Mines and Geosciences Bureau and local communities associated with its properties.

 

  • “MILF using clashes to push draft law, “ Manila standard dated March 01, 2016 by Francisco Tuyay. “ The Moro Islamic Liberation Front  is using the fighting between government troops and Muslim extremists a vehicle to push the implementation of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, “ a security expert said Monday.

 

This assessment came a day after MILF vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar said that those fighting the government in Lanao del Sur were disgruntled Muslims—not bandits or terrorists—who were angry that Congress failed to pass the BBL.“Actually, that’s an excuse to scare the government after its failure to pass the BBL,” the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, “ said.

 

  • “Unidentified Caucasian killed in Mamasapano, “ with Video footage shows recovery of fatalities as reported by Nikko Dizon, Philippine Daily Inquirer dated September 15, 2015. The government later denied the said allegation

 

  • BIFF. The BIFF is a group of radical armed Muslims espousing independence in the Southern Philippines. Headed by Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato, the group is considered responsible for the majority of attacks in the province of Maguindanao. BIFF spun off of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in late 2010 after the death of MILF founding chair Hashim Salamat.Founding Founded by Imam Ameril Ombra Kato, a former commander of the MILF’s 105th Base Command, after "irreconcilable differences" with Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim who was negotiating the peace deal with Malacañang. Kato died of a lingering illness in 2014 at Datu Saudi town in Maguindanao, after half of his body was paralyzed as a result of a hypertensive stroke two years before. It should be noted that BIFF is not included in the MILF peace accord. Change in leadership 2015Kato bequeathed BIFF leadership to Kumander (Commander) Bungos after his death in 2015 in a letter.

 

  • Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), also known as Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, BIFM, IS-Maguindanao (referring only to the Bongos Faction), Moassesseen (Founder's in Arabic) is an active group formed in 2008. According to Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC).

 

  • Duterte: Marcoses willing to 'open everything', return 'a few gold bars'

By Audrey Morallo and Alexis Romero (philstar.com) | Updated August 29, 2017 – 5:09pm

 

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Christie's auction house appraiser David Warren examines a set of jewelry from Roumeliotes Collection, one of three sets of the Marcos Jewelry Collection, during appraisal at the Central Bank of the Philippines Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. AP/Bullit Marquez, File



“MANILA, Philippines (Updated 7:51 p.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday announced that the family of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos is willing to return "a few gold bars" that they had hidden away.

Marcos ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, during which many cases of human rights abuses and corruption were documented.

READ: Board to start releasing reparations for Martial Law victims on May 8

The Marcos family has been accused of stashing $10 billion in secret bank accounts abroad.”