This is really to share more on the monastery itself. American serviceman have spent a lot of time at Elijah's Monastery, it is in the place of their military base in Iraq.
The headline from the New York Times, is 'G.I's in Iraq hope to heal sacred walls'. [2] The monastery was brought to a close when the Persians invaded Iraq and the self-sustainable community of monks were forced with the decision of convert to Islam or die. They chose to die, instead of surrender to Islam and its domination of their sacred way of life. Its amazing how people in the Middle East allowed the dictators to completely destroy lands and cultures in the name of Islam. What harm were these simple monks doing anyone?
The side of the monastery was damaged during the Iraq war and the GI's have been doing their best to repair it so that the monastery can stand for another 100 years. For the remains of Elijah's monastery to have stood this long, really is a miracle under the circumstances. It as also become a place of prayer for the soldiers there.
The New York Times state that "the site has never been studied or excavated, according to the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, which oversees all of Iraq’s historic sites. The monastery itself has 26 rooms, built around a central courtyard, in various stages of decay. A shell-shaped niche remains undisturbed, inscribed with a prayer, but another appears to have been chiseled out, possibly by looters."
Its no surprise that it as 26 rooms because 26 is the Hebrew gematria value of the name of God. It is also the date of my birth 13 x 2 = 26.
Apart from the symbols on the door to do with healing, the shell shaped niche is also to do with healing. Healing with sea shells also comes from Buddhism and you will see the shells in a great deal of Christian art and architecture.
Was the inscribed prayer that was chiseled out important? It must have been, looters of antiquity only take what they think can be sold on the open market. If there were no dealers in antiquity then there would be no market for looters.
I am feeling a very strong connection with this monastery and it is the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq. It was once surrounded by beautifully cultivated lands, with fields of fruit trees and vine groves. Saint Elijah went to live there after the initial self-sustainable community had been established, and that is when the monastery itself came to be.
Its Arabic name is Dair Mar Elia. It is written that 1,000's would arrive at the monastery every year to observe the Mar Elia holiday that was held on the last Wednesday of November.
No surprise then that in the New Testament Christ predicted that the Queen of the South would come with the men from Ninevah. No surprise, that it is also written that the tombs of the prophets Jonah and Nahum are also in this area. Saint Elijah would have known about the Christian prophecy connected to the name of Jonah and Solomon.
Jonah means dove, Nahum means comfort. So the message to the Iraq's is the 'Dove, Elijah is the Comforter and in Hebrew, the comforter is the Menehem ben Ami, ben ami means 'Son of my People', the teacher of righteousness. Matthew chapter 12 mentions the age to come, the sign of Jonah that would be seen in Israel. The whale arrived in Israel in May 2010.
"The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here."
You will notice the mention of the carefully crafted words 'WILL RISE'. 'WISDOM'.
Who was the prophet that was most well known for judgement? ELIJAH. He mentions the 'Queen of the South' because he knew that text writers knew that the one to come would be in female form and that aligns with Micah 4 and Rev 12.
The South is also the direction of the prophets. So he was telling them that she was to be the Queen of the Prophets. In Israel, the South is also Judah and Judah means praise. It was his way of telling them that she would praise the Jewish prophets for the work that they did.
The name Solomon as traditionally been understood to mean peace; and there is a biblical prophecy that predicts that there will not be many olives left by the time this is over. The olive is also symbolic of peace. In effect he was telling them that her wisdom is greater than the peacemakers, he was also aware of the link between Solomon and the masons.
Remember Solomon was prepared to bed and marry anyone for the objective of peace, even embrace their gods. Christ knew that the Queen of the South would not be willing to do that, and that is why she is wiser than Solomon. You all know what happened to Solomon, he had riches, wealth and a harem of women, but it did not bring him true spiritual happiness for him or his people.
Matthew 12 makes a point about the wisdom and in Rev 13 due to the 3rd and 4th beast, it states 'This calls for wisdom to do the count on the man 666'.
Wisdom is also SOPHIA in Greek and to do with philosophy = lover of wisdom. The words 'Will Rise' link in with name of the prophet that was promised to Moses, and yes I do have the birth certificate and the skin disease on the right arm.
So who are the men from Nineveh that came with the Queen of the South to judge this generation? Following the whale turning up, there was the flotilla disaster followed by 5 million trees burning down on Mount Carmel, the mountain of the the Prophet Elijah and Our Lady of Carmel.
I have a sense that those that lived at that monastery in ancient times are amongst the people that I have known since Joseph's mission began to help the Christians in the USA.
To Iraq, I would like this monastery preserved, excavated and honored, like the Italians have preserved the sanctuary of St Francis of Assisi in the hills.
Thank you. Let it be a blessing to the nation of Iraq, to raise them up and remind them that ecological, self-sustainability, as always been a part of the sacred way of life. May you plant many fruit trees and after the Americans have left completely, give the surrounding lands of the monastery to the eco warriors, to tend for it and live on it freely, self-sustainably. Let my people return to the land of Iraq, where they have lived since ancient times. Honor each other and love each other, as the LORD God intended for all people to do.
We cannot turn back the clock. However, we can say never again. No more war in God's name.
Only in forgiveness can humanity heal their hearts, and the depth of your forgiveness determines the depth of your love. The heart is for giving.
ELIAKIM JOSEPH-SOPHIA
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2011/09/repose.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/world/middleeast/19monastery.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dair_Mar_Elia
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/12/19/world/1219-MONASTERY_index.html
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