(If you are viewing these pictures from Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, or Afghanistan, you might like to come to Tokyo...just to praise the God...though Captain Tokyo is always busy as you know...)Prelude to Final 2000 Years of Mankind
It is a national holiday today in Japan, though I am busy working.
Yesterday, I read some on the global food crisis, Latin America drug wars, and the era preceding the holy emergence of Jesus Christ in Palestine...
SECTION I: KING HEROD
It is interesting that in the year Maxwell died Einstein was born (namely in 1879) just like in the year Marx died Keynes was born (namely in 1883).
(Indeed, in four years around 1881, the world was going to reach its summit in history in terms of knowledge and intellect.)
Accordingly we may assume that when King Herod died in the year 4 BCE in Jericho after a long illness, Jesus Christ might have been born in 4 B.C. +/- 2 years.
Yet it might be apocalyptic that his tomb was discovered in May 2007:
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Last update - 00:00 07/05/2007
Archeologist: King Herod's tomb desecrated, but discovery 'high point'
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Staff
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Herodium, a fortified palace built by Herod some 12 kilometers south of Jerusalem, was destroyed by the Romans in 71 CE.
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Herod, also known as Herod the Great, is credited with expanding the Second Temple and building Caesarea, Masada, and many other monumental construction projects. He died in the year 4 BCE in Jericho after a long illness.
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At Herodium, Herod built one of the largest monarchical complexes in the Roman Empire, which served as a residential palace, a sanctuary, an administrative center and a mausoleum. Herod first built an artificial cone-shaped hill that could be seen from Jerusalem, on which he constructed a fortified palace surrounded by watchtowers that he used solely in wartime.
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Following Herod's death, his son and heir Archilaus continued to reside and Herodium. After Judea became a Roman province, the site served as a center for Roman prefects.
With the outbreak of the Great Revolt, Herodium was seized by the rebels, but then handed over without resistance to the Romans following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/856784.html
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Herodium was not only the tomb, but the headquarters for the ruler of Palestine subject to the Roman Empire when Jesus Christ was born and lived.
Jesus Christ and His disciples must have surely gotten a glimpse of this great fortress town Herodium while they were marching into Jerusalem.
Yet, the 2000 year-long period of history must come further closer to the end with this symbolic discovery.
SECTION II: From Alexander the Great to Jesus Christ
The father of King Herod (74 BC - 4 BC) became a friend of one of the last princes of Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel (140 BC –37 BC).
The father of King Herod and his friend prince tried fervently to receive a favor from Roman General Pompeius (106 BC-48 BC) who eventually defeated another prince of the Hasmonean who tied up with Persians.
As time went by, the power shifted to the hand of the father of King Herod from his friend nominal prince, as Pompeius invaded the Temple of Jerusalem and did not authorize restoration of Hasmonean Kingdom.
But, as Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC) defeated Pompeius in a civil war, the father of King Herod with his son tried fervently to receive a favor from Caesar.
Yet, as Caesar was assassinated in a kind of civil war, the father of King Herod with his son ran to, and tried fervently to receive a favor from, one of betrayers of Caesar who got in charge of governing Palestine.
However, as the father of King Herod collected too much tax from Israelites to satisfy the Roman Governor, the betrayer of Caesar, he was killed by angry Israelites.
Soon, Antonius (83 BC – 30 BC) rose and defeated those betrayers of Caesar; King Herod ran to, and tried fervently to receive a favor from Antonius and Cleopatra (69 BC – 30 BC).
Then, as Antonius and Cleopatra were defeated by Octavianus (63 BC – AD 14) in a full-scale civil war, King Herod tried fervently to receive a favor from Octavianus, since the mother of Octavianus was a niece of Caesar.
Accordingly, King Herod could preserve his position as the ruler of Israelites, living in Herodium until the emergence of Jesus Christ.
Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel was established through war against, and eventual compromise with, a kingdom based on Syria one of generals of Alexander the Great had founded.
When Cleopatra, a descendant of one of generals of Alexander the Great, faded away from history, the last remnant of the shadow of Alexander the Great also faded out from Palestine.
Now, everybody stands before the gate to the last 2000 years of history, waiting for the holy intervention from the God, since it was too much the sub-era of King Herod.
(If King Herod had died in 1996, he should have been born in 1926 or so. Accordingly, Cleopatra should have died in 1970 or so. And Octavianus should have been still alive as Roman Emperor Augustus.
Indeed, it was just a matter of yesterday or is still of today beyond the 2000-year span...)
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In America today, up to 85% of corn crop is genetically engineered; up to 91 percent of soybeans are, too.
In Mexico the worst economic crisis since WWII has forced many poor women to be engaged in drug-related crimes while suffering sometimes fatal violence from male criminals.
Indeed, advanced chemicals developed and produced as a fruit of these 2000 years history cannot be much trusted, though many people are actually working in the industrial sector all over Japan.
Anyway, I hope that you are not infected by the swine flu which looks like a product of some strange genes.
Mar 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Mar 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.