In the previous post, we witnessed that a most fundamental issue in the human make-up is TRUST - obviously in whatever we might select as being worthy of our trust. The problem for us comes from whether that in which we trust is sufficiently authentic and sound to support our expectant result - from our act of placing our trust in (whatever it is that we TRUST).
· The Egyptian Pharaoh generally TRUSTed in the promise that the priesthood of Amen would deliver him into the heavens as the next 'god' by the side of Amen.
· The population of Egypt TRUSTed that the slavish nature of their lives was all for a good purpose, as when the sitting Pharaoh finally ascended into the heavens and stood next to Amen as a result of their bondage to this purpose, he would put a good word in for them, and so their lives would be enhanced.
· The priesthood of Amen on the other hand, TRUSTed that they could continue to string their lucrative ruse along - in the process becoming ever more obscenely wealthy and powerful. So their trust was after a fashion in Amen - to continue to bless them in their promotion of him to all and sundry - or was it in power and wealth?
· Today (like it or not); our TRUST is ultimately in the power of the dollar - to bring us expected creature comforts, and we curiously manage to marry this to a TRUST in a ‘god’ - also working to deliver likewise. But who is this ‘god’, and how do we know that our TRUST in ‘him’ is even being recognised? Or could it be that we have been beguiled by a similar (to above) priesthood in their similar self-serving efforts? After all, many would suspect just this scenario.
Interestingly enough, the particular 'trust' in the third example above - according to the Amen priesthood, did not rely upon the priest ever believing in Amen at all, so long as he could use this name to continue in his practice of the skinning of the guy-in-the-street Egyptian through fear - all for the purpose of the King's promotion - or so he would have all and sundry to - trust!
Again, whether he believed in Amen as the head deity over the other ‘gods’ (and everything else) or not, the result was never in doubt, such that the physical and spiritual bondage through the weapon of fear at his disposal would continue in any masked and cloaked fashion that would deliver the very same desired results. The more fear he promoted, the more profitable his efforts, but he also needed to convince both his Pharaoh and his slave-to-the-religion constituents to maintain some level of trust in and for his particular religious doctrine; as presented.
So much for the pagan theology of ancient Egypt, yet could it be argued that a similar game of disguised generational deception towards the same purpose - of designed servitude to a mythical deity - ultimately delivering much wealth and power to the religionist in his promotion of such things, be continuing until our today? After all, there are many who might agree and also some obvious parallels to consider, and we will herein look at a few.
Akhenaten rejected the first three of the above systems of existent trust, and settled on a TRUST in something entirely different. It is almost too easy to overlook the astounding courage of this 17 year old, in his action of overturning the entire religious environment in no uncertain manner - indeed of the most powerful society in the world. To do so he had to reject all the advice from every powerful and wealthy pillar of society around him, and TRUST an alternative, as previously generated in his consciousness, firstly via his great grandfather Joseph, and most likely also the rest of his 'alternative' family members.
In the developing process, he would surely have had to entertain hundreds of vehement advisers, all assuring him that heading down the path he intended would (without doubt) result in the end of the entire world. He would be responsible for the death of all - including himself and his own family. By his decision, the offence to Amen would be so deep and severe, that in his anger he would release the sun into the underworld - to his carnal enemy Apopohis. Eternal darkness would descend onto the planet, unrelenting winter, and chaos and mayhem would ensure the end result, of an intolerable death for every living creature - all because Akhenaten chose to refuse to continue in the generational placating of the king of heaven - even Amen himself!
Did these (perhaps) thousands of Amen Priests; all warning of the same 'end', have any effect on their newly ascended teen Pharaoh? It is unimaginable just how they could fail to cause him to have second thoughts, and third and fourth. So many elders; all being exalted as understanding the deeper issues of such things as the ‘gods’ could not all be incorrect, could they? Akhenaten must surely have had a few sleepless nights in the process of weighing up between;
A. What he believed from listening as a young child to his great grandfather Joseph and others in the family on the one hand, as against;
B. What the rest of the world believed through the Amen priesthood on the other.
We can sympathise with his (probable) dilemma; “Could these millions be correct and my few parents wrong?”
If so, his decision was going to make him the man who brought 'the end' down upon everybody, but more essentially; if he was correct, what improvement can it possibly make to the (already) most powerful and successful country on the planet? After all; everything is running sweetly for the place as it has been for centuries, and
Personally, I don't much care how strongly I believed what my parents had explained to me all my life, it is almost impossible to see myself ever sufficiently TRUST - in order to facilitate such a monumental upheaval by my own hands, by stepping up in the courageous manner of this (just) 17 year old Akhenaten. The warnings of eternal doom vs. an apparently negligible advantage available from such a frightening testing, would I suspect; see me falter at the last hurdle - but all this double-minded flippy-flopping is according to Zootsoup.
Not so with our amazing young man of enormous courage. He made the very boldest of moves in man's history - swiftly and decisively - with the sturdy hand of a seasoned professional. Society was summarily overturned in the one mighty swoop, and the wealthy Amen priesthood was now – entirely out of business. The doors to the Amen temples were bricked up and every idol to Amen was smashed to dust. All services were now outlawed and the name Amen was not again to be uttered around the place. All sacrifices (including child) were immediately outlawed, and power and reverence snatched from the grubby hands of the religionist priesthood and returned to the throne - all by one astounding royal decree.
Was Amen offended - as the religionist army had promised he would be? Maybe he was, but in hindsight it would appear that in his powerful anger, the assurance by the priesthood that he would immediately cease to look after the planet and we would forever lose the solar provider of warmth, energy, growth and life has - not yet occurred. For it is a reasonably safe bet at this time to assume that the sun did in fact re-appear the following morning. Yet it was a period of the deepest concern for those who TRUSTED in the dire proclamations of the religionist priesthood.
The deed was done and the law passed. It was official – Amen was now to be dismissed and ignored as if he never actually existed at all – by law!
SCARY PLUS!!!
What a day it was! But eventually the scariest event of all approached as evening descended, utterly filling the air with the deepest dread, when no-one but the smallest of (now safe from the fire of sacrifice) babies slept a wink - through the following hours of darkened night. Even the moon’s reflected glow of light gave little comfort. "What can we expect?" It was a long darkness, while families held each other in the most solemn of ‘goodbyes’. Tears flowed freely and many fainted in the streets for fear, and some sought the mountains to fall upon them - in the sheer panic of what was to come.
Looking and wailing as the promised and trusted end approached - praying - but now to whom? “Why has our Pharaoh done this to us?” is easily the most common question posed. “Doesn't he understand?” is the second most common question asked. "Everything has been going along smoothly because of our obedience to Amen, so why upset the apple cart in this way – and bring disaster upon us all as a result?”, being the third.
After a few more hours, all eyes turned eastward as the rooster commenced his regular crowing. "Doesn't that bird understand that the morning was not happening this time around?" A few minutes passes, and a faint glow appears in the eastern sky, so what could that mean? "Is Amen or maybe even now Apopohis about to commence tormenting us for our disobedience with just a little glimmer of hope in the middle of all this hopelessness?" But the glow becomes increasingly stronger over the next 20 or so minutes. "How much torment is he going to put us through?"
Then it appears, just as it did yesterday - right over the same spot on the horizon, and extreme jubilation commences to fill the universe. Probably the most welcome appearance in the planet's history of anything in the natural or otherwise – even the sun! "Yes it is the same sun as yesterday!"
RELIEF UPON POWERFUL RELIEF
JOY UPON JOY
**excited cheers fill the universe**
“We have been spared, but for how long?” Relief entwined with doubt = a continuing shortage of TRUST
“What does this now mean for us?” = and even less TRUST
“Heck, it doesn’t indicate that Amen is going to put us through all this pain and dread and panic again and again before he drops the boom on us, does it?” = Ditto to above
“He isn’t so angry to punish us every night for the rest of eternity is he?”= Extra ditto to above
It is somewhat amusing (and very sad) to note how the human heart; as drenched in the bondage (of the individual's spirit) that permeates throughout due the soakings of introduced fear, as witnessed in this likely line of reasoning; is effectively seeking that the ‘end’ happen soon - in order that we can cease being ‘punished’ over and over again - all by courtesy of that very same fear.
Subsequently the Amen religionist army gather in secret in order to hatch out their counter strike response, which will again be based in fear and dread - for such is their only real weapon. “Could it be that this is as a sign that Amen has forgiven us for our disrespect - but only if we repent and return into his worship - before it is too late!!!!!!”
Astoundingly though, the sun continued to appear each morning in exactly the same place - just as it had done day after day for thousands of years - and apparently still does; and just as amazingly continues to set in the evening at the very same corresponding spot on the horizon; just as if Amen hasn't yet noticed that we no longer give him the honor and service and sweat and blood of our labours - along with our children into the fire of sacrifice, according to his current religious demands.
Even so, the sun continued to set and rise for a further 17 years of this amazing Pharaoh's rule, with similar daily blessings in the face of the deeply offended Amen - as if nothing had changed - because nothing had changed; for it, at least.
Yet in 2008, if nothing else; we can now appreciate that Amen is a very forgiving ‘god’, quite unlike the religionist’s previous proclamations. Either that, or maybe he wasn’t ever there - up in the sky behind one of those clouds in the first place. Now we have telescopes, satelites, hubble things and rockets, so perhaps he lives on one of the planets we can see through their use, or hides behind the sun he controls, or maybe in another dimension.
Spooooooky-hidden-scary
The merry-go-round of superstitions and suppositions continue to flourish, even after a further 3000+ years – yes even after science has clearly proven that we really need to be looking at 'WHAT IS' rather than superstitious religious hoo-haa and wacky-woo! But sadly, as we have witnessed previously; even many among the glorified scientist fraternity have likewise long been beguiled by his own religious style mumbo-jumbo and boo-flippy mythological fantasies.
Akhenaten at just 17, in the face of ALL 'intelligent knowledge' and 'understanding' available - was ultimately proven entirely correct - forever! He had challenged the most torrid warnings of doom and destruction face on, and he was proved to come out of it in absolutely perfect vindication. The showdown of; one TRUST (in 'this') vs a second TRUST (in 'that') had once and forever taken place for all to witness - and the results were in.
Nevertheless, such an unparalleled witness of impervious reality as Akhenaten's powerful exercise was, cannot be permitted to go unpunished - and it wasn’t, even if the planned sentence - of assassination never eventuated - when he escaped the 'noose' in the hand of the Amen priesthood.
But can we be certain that we in fact TRUST in the proven 'WHAT IS' - of ETERNAL TRUTH, as per Akhenaten's awesome once and for all demonstration? We would all certainly like to think so, yet now - even today, we have an opportunity to listen and to learn from this man’s non-religious understanding of the non-religious 'WHAT IS', even if this knowledge has been almost entirely snuffed out by the religious opposition to it over the intervening period of many millennia, as per;
## ‘Thus says ‘WHAT IS’ (YAHWEH), “Indeed, those who support
## “Because false messiahs and false prophets (of Amen) will appear and display great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect”. (Mat. 24:24)
## “It was also given to him (Amen) to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Those who have ears, let him hear.” (Rev. 13:7-9)
So we, in 2008 hindsight, can witness that Akhenaten also had a TRUST. It needed to be a mighty TRUST indeed to single-handedly override the mountainous warnings of catastrophe that descended upon him from every angle – from those who had an opposing trust - being no less than; fundamentally the religious of the entire world. This was going to be the ultimate test of two patently incompatible understandings - about which of the two contenders is found to be grounded in the eternal truth of 'WHAT IS', leaving the other entirely out of the loop.
Ultimately only one source of the two TRUSTS on offer could be found worthy to be regarded as based as forever proven upon "WHAT IS" - which by default indicates the other would be forever proven - 'what is NOT' - and never was! Unfortunately 'forever proven' does NOT translate so well into forever understood - as we will soon be witnessing in up-coming posts.
