Calcol/Chalcol and KRKR

 There are thousands of extrabiblical literary and archeological corroborations of the Bible. New evidences of persons and places mentioned in the Bible continue to be discovered every year.

There have been suggestions that Chalcol/Calcol, one of David’s wise men mentioned in the Bible, and Kerker (KRKR), who is mentioned in the Megiddo Ivories, may be connected. KRKR can be transliterated as Kulkul.

Calcol/Chalcol was one of David’s wise men and was a brother of Heman, a wise man and musician who was the king’s “seer in the words of God to lift up the horn.” Because Chalcol/Calcol was a brother of Heman, many believe that he was also a musician. David appointed more than 4000 Levite royal musicians and singers.

Artifact A22269 is an Egyptian-style ivory plaque from the Megiddo ivories collection, featuring hieroglyphic inscriptions with prayers for an Egyptian singer named Kerker. This is one of the almost 400 ivories discovered at the site in the 1930’s.

A22269 features Egyptian hieroglyphs with a prayer reading: “[… for the spirit of the singer of] Ptah, south of his wall, [Lord of] 'The Life of Two Lands,' Kerker, the justified”. Kerker appears to have been a female singer who worked in the Temple of the Egyptian deity, Ptah, during the time period of ca 1350-1150 BC/BCE. Her name is spelled out phonetically as KRKR with the symbols for k and r. KRKR can be transliterated as Kulkul.

The plaque was found at the Megiddo archeological site in modern Israel during excavations of the treasury room of a Late Bronze Age palace, from the 12^th Century BC/BCE.

https://isac-idb.uchicago.edu/id/af86a18e-7b0c-40c6-bec4-43f513b7f052 shows an image and description of the plaque. You can click on the image to enlarge it. The plaque is held in the collection of the University of Chicago Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures.

Because of the similarity of the pronunciations of the names of Chalcol/Calcol and KRKR some have suggested that there may have been some sort of familial connection with Chalcol/Calcol being an honorific, serving in a similar way to a modern surname. There are problems with this idea and most commenters believe that there is no connection other than similar sounding names and being therefore totally coincidental.

1. 1. KRKR was a female pagan singer in the Temple of Ptah while Chalcol/Calcol was a male member of the tribe of Judah.

2. 2. KRKR lived in the ca 1350-ca 1150 BC/BCE time period, while Chalcol/Calcol served during the lifetime of King David ca 1000-931 BC/BCE.

1 Chronicles 2:6, 6:33, chapter 25, especially verse 5; 1 Kings 4:31; Psalm 88.

A Few Internet Safety Tips

 

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Some may even be stalking you personally. 

Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Some unknown person wants you to open an unknown link. Opening the link, or sometimes, even calling the sending number, installs malware in your devices, giving that person access to all of your personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea.  

Here are some useful internet safety tips:

 Be highly skeptical of unsolicited emails.

R    Restrict your accounts so that only people whom you choose can view your posts and photos.

Tu  If a phone call comes from someone not on your contacts list, send it to voice mail.

 Make sure your social media profiles are set to private.

Use complex passwords and have a totally different password for each online account. If you are like me, you will need to keep a small notebook to remember them all.

4.      Add a second layer of security (like a time-sensitive code sent to your phone or authenticator app) for banking, email, and social media. This is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

5.      Never Share any access codes with anyone else. Delete them from your phone after you use them.

6.      Turn on automatic updates for your operating system, browsers, and applications to patch any newly discovered security vulnerabilities.

7.      Always use a VPN on public Wi-Fi. If you can, avoid public Wi-Fi entirely.

8.      Be highly skeptical of unexpected messages claiming you won a sweepstakes or have been hacked. 

R      Turn off any location services. They do not need to know where you are.

D    Do not post your schedule of when you will be at home alone, and especially, do not tell them when you will not be at home.

R    Remember that anything that is posted online will be online forever.

Several Comments on American Subjects for Our Recent World Cup Visitors

This Christian blog is ακωλυτως (unhindered, Acts 28:31) and can speak on any subject, even seemingly totally secular things. As Christians, we are often told by our Christian leaders that we should be in the world but not of the world. Being in the world means that we can have and express opinions on secular subjects.

To a Christian, everything belongs to the Lord. He cannot be restricted. He is lord over everything or he is lord over nothing. There is a saying that your God is too small. God is not small.

Here are a few American things which may need a brief explanation: ranch dressing, barbecue, yellow school buses, mailbox flags, Chick-fil-A, food combinations, air conditioning, gun ownership, biscuits and gravy, lack of mass transport, giant megastores, the fifty states, and American Party Cups.

Ranch Dressing: Our World Cup visitors fell in love with ranch dressing. It is a favorite of many Americans. The main caveat with this dressing is that it is dairy-based, created using buttermilk or sour cream, so those with lactose-intolerance need to take notice. It also contains eggs, so those with egg allergies need to be aware.

Ranch dressing is not readily available in countries other than the United States for several reasons, one being that it is not a traditional food item in those countries. Another reason is some of the dressing’s ingredients.

Titanium dioxide is a whitening agent banned by the European Union. Other EU-banned or restricted ingredients in ranch dressing include some synthetic stabilizers and antioxidant preservatives used to prolong shelf-life.

The European Union also bans recombinant bovine somatotropin growth hormones, which are often present in U.S. dairy products.

Barbecue: We are very proud of our barbecue (BBQ), with each region insisting that their particular BBQ tradition is the best. There is a great variation in the woods which are used used for smoking the meat and in the sauces. Some traditions do not use sauces at all.

The sauces may be based on tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or molasses, mustard, mayonnaise, apple cider, soy sauce, mirin, ginger, hot peppers, peaches or other fruits, vegetable broths, honey, tahini, coffee, horseradish, gochujang, hot spices, syrups, alcoholic beverages, onions, or meat (beef, ham, chicken, or fish) drippings. Some even make vegan sauces. Everyone is convinced that their BBQ sauce is the best and sauce recipes are often very closely guarded.

Yellow School Buses: The school buses seemed to be fascinating to many of our visitors. To us, they are nothing special. Most of us have ridden in them. Here is some information about them:

1. The U.S. is quite large and many students live many miles away from their schools, especially for schools which serve an entire county. For many, it is impractical or even dangerous to walk or bicycle to their school.

2. The yellow color is intended to be distinctive.

3. Traffic is required by law to stop in both directions when a school bus stops to pick up or deliver students. No one wants to hit a child with their car.

4. Many parents must arrive at work during the hours of 6-8 AM and most schools start at 8 AM. It is difficult for the parents to be two places at one time.

5. When a school bus delivers 30 students to school, that means that there are not 30 extra automobiles causing congestion in the parking lot.

6. Riding in a yellow school bus is not glamorous. Most do not have seatbelts or very good spring suspensions. The ride is often bumpy and there is no air-conditioning. They are heated in the winter. The buses are often crowded and smell like whatever the individual students smell like. You may get chewed and discarded bubblegum on your shoe. To get an idea of what riding on a school bus is really like, see the ending of the hilarious comedy film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. (The YouTube snippet will have advertisements which you may be able to skip). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLPu3Z6Tjg4

Mailbox Flags: This is the explanation of the little flags on individual home mailboxes: we do not have to go to our postal office to conduct our mailings. If we have our little flag flipped up, this is a signal to the postal carrier that we have outgoing mail. They push the flag into the down position, take our outgoing mail, and leave our incoming mail in the box.

It is a federal crime for anyone other than a postal worker to interfere in any way with postal delivery. It is also a federal crime for anyone else to open our mailboxes and file through our mail to see who has mailed us items or to take any of our mail.

Chick-fil-A: This is a brand or trade name for a chicken filet sandwich. The traditional Chick-fil-A sandwich is the bun, a piece of chicken coated with an egg wash and a dry flour dredge which contains a blend of spices, and one slice of pickle. The chicken is fried under pressure in peanut oil, that’s it. Every other company which sells chicken sandwiches has their own specific combination of ingredients and oils. Some may bake their chicken.

Food Combinations: Some visitors wondered if it was permissible to mix certain foods or to eat them in certain ways or at certain times. This struck many Americans as strange. This is a free country. It is nobody else’s business if you want to put ketchup on your collard greens. You can eat whatever you like, whenever you want to. Many Americans love a good breakfast for their evening meal. Some enjoy eating spaghetti for breakfast.

Knowing that no-one will like everything, eat whatever you like. If you enjoy some strange combination of foods, stick it in your mouth and eat it.

Air Conditioning: We like our AC. Most modern homes in the United States are now built with central air conditioning systems controlled by heat pumps which switch between heating and cooling as the weather dictates.

One major reason for AC is that infants, children, people with chronic conditions, pregnant women, and the elderly are put into high risk in conditions of extreme heat.

Gun Ownership: The right to own guns is enshrined in our constitution, except, of course, for high grade military weapons. Not everyone owns a gun, but most people who do own guns use them for hunting (and yes, most of them eat what they kill), for sport shooting like shooting ranges and skeet shooting, or for personal and home protection. And, admittedly, there are some people who abuse the right of gun ownership.

Biscuits and Gravy: This is a traditional Southern breakfast. Few people would eat it every single day. It consists of soft dough biscuits covered in a white sausage gravy which often contains bits of pork sausage, bacon, or even ground beef. Many versions are heavily seasoned with black pepper. Most of us consider it to be heavenly.

There are hundreds of types of other gravies made from ingredients as varied as coffee, cheeses, chocolate, apple cider, fruits, cornmeal, eggs, onions, seafood, flour, heavy cream, or tomatoes.

Lack of Mass Transport: America is primarily an individual automobile culture. Most of us would rather not deal with public transportation. Schedules! No. Delays! No. Extra cost! No. We just get in our car and go where we want to go when we want to do it.

Giant Megastores: Costco, Target, Walmart, Sam's, and other megastores can be described as large department stores which also include pharmacy and grocery departments. Some even have coffee shops, auto parts and repairs, gasoline pumps, cookie and cupcake shops, or delicatessens.

One Country with Fifty States: The United States is sometimes said to have no distinctive culture. That is actually not true, but it is also true that each one of the regions and each one of the states has its own distinctive culture. Massachusetts, Mississippi, Oregon, and Alaska can all seem like separate countries which are united by a shared history. Events like the 911 attacks, the moon landing, World War II, the Miracle on Ice, and the 2026 World Cup can bring us all together.

American Party Cups: The red plastic American Party Cups have no special significance. They are merely plastic cups which can be used once and then discarded. They make party cleanup simpler.

Romans 12:2

Hot Car Deaths

 Every year, in the hot summertime, children die because their parents forget that they are still in the automobile. The closed interiors of the vehicles quickly become like an oven in the hot sun.

Apparently, the adults somehow become hurried or distracted and momentarily and tragically forget about the children. Everyone understands that there was no intention to harm the child. But harm was still done.

There are other kinds of harm besides death. Death or physical injury are immediately obvious. Not so with emotional and spiritual cuts and wounds.

Not all emotional cuts and spiritual wounds are maliciously or even intentionally inflicted. The feeling of neglect or of being seen as a bother to their parents can cause painful lifelong wounds to a child. Anything, even church activities, which continually distract us from our children’s emotional and spiritual needs, can be harmful.  

Exodus 22:23; Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Proverbs 13:22, 22:6; Nehemiah 4:14; Psalms 82:4,127:3; Matthew 18:6,10; Luke 17:2, 22:36; Romans 12:18-19; Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21; 1 Timothy 5:8; 2 Corinthians 12:14. 

Will You be Ready?

Recently, I was watching an American football game, but it could have been a game in any sport and in any country.

Abruptly, the coach called for one of his primary players to come out of the game and to be replaced by one of the seldom used players.

The primary player had been performing well and the situation in the game was very important because the coach’s team was about to score. Replacing the primary player made no obvious tactical sense in terms of game strategy.

The game was being broadcasted nationally and the move by the coach was so obvious that the television commentators remarked about it but had no explanation for it.

The secondary player responded well and the team scored. On the next series of plays, the coach returned the primary player to the game. After the game the coach offered no explanation for the substitution.

The player switch could have been tactical in response to something which the coach noticed about the other team. I believe that it was something else. I think it was a teaching moment.

The coach could have been telling his substitutes to not fall asleep and to be ready to act at all times. They might only be placed into the current game once or even only once in an entire season, but, when they are called upon they are expected to be ready at that moment.

The replacement player could have been daydreaming or talking to someone and not paying attention to the game.

Instead, he went into the game and executed the duties of his assigned position. If he had not been ready, the coach would have called on someone else the next time an opportunity arose.

As Mordechai said to Esther when it was her time to be called upon: “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14. Italics added. Read the entire chapter with emphasis on verse 14. Mordechai’s implication is that God put Esther in the place where she needed to be in order to carry out his will. (Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.)

Esther 4:1-15; 1 Samuel 3:9; Isaiah 6:8; Matthew 24:42-44; Ephesians 2:10.

Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters chrj to ck

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters chrj to ck. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

chromosome, chronology, church, church activities, church attendance, church bulletin, church burnout, church council, church councils, Church of Christ, Church of God of Prophecy, Church of Iran, Church of Satan, Church of Scotland, church organ, church people, church politics, church sign board, church work, circulatory system, circumcision, circumstances, circus, citizen, citizenship, city state, civic duty, civic involvement, civil disobedience, civil records, civil rights, civility.

There is Power in the Blood

Lewis E. Jones (1865-1934) was a YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) worker who wrote  the hymn, There is Power in the Blood (1899). He is recorded as having said, "I want to be so full of Christ that when a mosquito bites me he flies away singing there is power in the blood."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeTE0W7K4sU