Jesus the Messiah alone is the Chief Cornerstone

Early Christians fully understood the symbolism of the demolished Temple, because Jehovah alone is referred to as a STONE hundreds of times in the Holy Bible. That is why they did not build stone churches until after the year 1000 AD.

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: an Elohim of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he (Deuteronomy 32:4).

For who is Elohim save Jehovah? or who is a rock save Elohim? (Psalm 18:31).

Daniel the Prophet told King Nebuchadnezzar that the Stone cut out of the mountain was indeed Jehovah himself:

You (Nebuchadnezzar) watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away.so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:34-35).

Saint Paul—a Hebrew of the Hebrews—reiterated that Truth when he wrote that Christ was the Rock:

And they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ (I Corinthians 10:4).

The Exodus from Egypt is an end of the world scenario; Pharaoh and his followers are the inhabitants of Vanity Fair at the end of time.

Pharaoh Ramses II, died by drowning in 1533 BC.

10 times Jehovah demanded that Pharaoh let the people go, and 10 times he hardened his obstinate heart. Finally, at the last plague, his heart was as hard as the stones of the Great Pyramid. In a suicidal charge, he entered the Red Sea in pursuit of the Israelites, and he was drowned in the mighty waters.

Pharaoh and his chariots were drowned in the Red Sea.

The Jewish Rock promised to continue doing heart surgery until the end of time:

And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

St. Peter was very explicit about who was the real Rock of Ages:

Wherefore it is said in the scripture: Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious. And he that shall believe in him, shall not be confounded (I St. Peter 2:6, Douay-Rheims Version).              Reformation

Retreating toward Egypt

I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people. The Lord has not closed heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us. And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing and that peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders.  

The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt, and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus. Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus. The testimonies are unread and unappreciated. God has spoken to you. Light has been shining from His word and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded. The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us.  

Let each put the question to his own heart: “How have we fallen into this state of spiritual feebleness and dissension? Have we not brought upon ourselves the frown of God because our actions do not correspond with our faith? Have we not been seeking the friendship and applause of the world rather than the presence of Christ and a deeper knowledge of His will?” Examine your own hearts, judge your own course. Consider what associates you are choosing. Do you seek the company of the wise, or are you willing to choose worldly associates, companions who fear not God and obey not the gospel?      Testimonies for the Church Vol 5, pp 217

The People of Israel Rebel against the Lord

1And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. 10But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

11And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? 12I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

Moses Intercedes for the People

13And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) 14And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 16Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. 17And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 18The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. 19Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

God's Forgiveness and Judgment

(Deuteronomy 1:34-40)

20And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: 21But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. 22Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 23Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: 24But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. 25(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

26And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 27How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. 28Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 29Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, 30Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. 32But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. 33And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. 34After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. 35I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

The Plague on the Ten Spies

36And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, 37Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. 38But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

39And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

Defeat by Amalekites and Canaanites

40And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. 41And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. 42Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. 43For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. 44But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. 45Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.         Numbers 14

Pope Francis has warned against religious fanaticism and appealed for dialogue to battle violence

Pope Francis has warned against religious fanaticism and appealed for dialogue to battle violence during an open-air mass for Egypt's Catholic community.

The mass of peace on Saturday was attended by some 15,000 Egyptians and wrapped up a two-day visit by the Pope aimed at improving ties between Muslims and Christians.

"Peace be with you," the 80-year-old Francis said in Arabic as he started his homily at a heavily guarded military stadium in the capital, Cairo.

Continuing in Italian, he said: "True faith leads us to protect the rights of others with the same zeal and enthusiasm with which we defend our own."

He urged worshippers to be good and merciful to fellow Egyptians and said, "the only fanaticism believers can have is that of charity".

"Any other fanaticism does not come from God and is not pleasing to him."

Francis' visit - coming after the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) killed dozens of worshippers in a series of Church bombings earlier this month - gave Egypt's embattled Christian community an occasion to be joyful.

It was the first visit by Francis to Cairo but the second by a Catholic pope.

The crowds arrived early for the mass, waving Egyptian and Vatican flags and braving intense security measures to welcome the Pope, who toured the sun-drenched stadium in a golf cart to the sound of hymns performed by a choir and orchestra.

Security was tight; helicopter gunships circled the perimeter of the stadium and armoured military vehicles patrolled the streets of Cairo.

It was, said Coptic Catholic engineer Maged Francis, a "historic occasion".     Aljazeera

Historic archeological discovery of Egyptian statue unearthed in Tel-Hazor

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD \07/25/2016 13:55 

 When American Bryan Kovach agreed to volunteer for an excavation north of the Sea of Galilea last week, he had no idea he would personally uncover one of the most historic archeological discoveries in the Middle East.

Last Monday morning, during the dig in Tel-Hazor – the largest Biblical-era site in Israel, as well as a UNESCO Heritage Site – Kovach found a large limestone fragment of an Egyptian statue depicting an ancient official’s foot.          Jerusalem Post

Demonic entities populated the ancient Egyptians’ imaginations as far back as 4,000 years ago

Apr 19, 2016 02:03 PM ET // by Rossella Lorenzi 

A Belgium-based Egyptologist has discovered the oldest depictions of ancient Egyptian demons, showing that demonic entities populated the ancient Egyptians’ imaginations as far back as 4,000 years ago.

Presented recently at the International Conference on Ancient Egyptian Demonology at Swansea University, U.K., these demons gripped their victims and cut off their heads.

Wael Sherbiny, an independent scholar who specializes in the ancient Egyptian religious texts, found two demons on two Middle Kingdom coffins about 4,000 years old.

The third was portrayed in a 4,000-year-old leather roll the researcher had previously discovered in the shelves of the Egyptian museum in Cairo, where it was stored and forgotten for more than 70 years. It was the oldest and longest Egyptian leather manuscript.

“These three demons are already familiar to scholars from ancient texts. However, the depiction of two of them was unknown until now,” Sherbiny told Discovery News.

“The drawings show them in either a purely zoomorphic or anthropomorphic representation,” he added.

Two demons, called In-tep, pictured as a dog-like baboon, and Chery-benut, depicted as unspecified figure with human head, appear as guardians at the entrance of a complex building, possibly a kind of temple, that contains several chambers guarded by other demonic entities.

“The texts link this building to the moon god Thoth and the bark of the sun god,” Sherbiny said.

He noted that apart from their names, no accompanying textual elements refer to the tasks of these two demons.

“The name of the first demon, In-tep, may denote his dangerous role in severing heads as a punishment to any intruder of the sacred space,” Sherbiny said.

The third demon, Ikenty, was the guardian of a fiery gate that led to a restricted area concealing a divine image. The demon’s appearance was already known as it was portrayed on a Middle Kingdom coffin (1870-1830 BC) in the form of a large bird with a black feline head.

Sherbiny discovered the same demon in a slightly different, but highly intriguing form in the much older Cairo leather roll, basically finding the oldest image of Ikenty.

“The texts indicate that this demon has a swift attack with inescapably powerful grip on whomever he sees,” Sherbiny said.

The ancient Egyptian world of belief was inhabited by a huge number of entities with super powers. They could play both malevolent or benevolent roles, as threats, maladies and dangers, or as protectors, helpers and defenders.

“They turn up in variety of contexts that touch upon different spheres of human life and after life,” Sherbiny said.

In-tep, Chery-benut and Ikenty revealed that the elaborate and polychrome drawings of entities from the New Kingdom (about 3,500 years ago) onwards have much older roots than previously thought.

Sherbiny will publish the images of the demons in a forthcoming, extensive study which includes an integral analysis of the contexts in which the demons appear.

“Unfortunately little has survived, and the examples I discovered represent a rare opportunity to witness how the ancient Egyptians imagined the invisible,” Sherbiny said.    Discovery