Re: Culture
At first blush, some readers may consider my title a huge gaffe. How can I make any reference to "Old Testament Christian Warrior Culture"? After all. didn't the Old Testament times happen before Christ and the rise of Christianity?
Well, I base my choice of terms upon the conviction that the God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New Testament, and that faithful ancient Hebrew believers owed their redemption to Jesus Christ's atonement as much as believers in the New Covenant era. They looked forward to Him in faith; we look back to Him in faith.
Abraham
With that settled, let's look at the Hebrew warriors and the Old Testament warrior culture. Let's begin with a look at Abraham.
And when Abram heard that his brother [i.e., kinsman]was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. (Geneses 14:14-16)
We may remember Abraham for his pivotal role as the recipient of God's covenant promise. We may even remember him for his great wealth. But in his day, men of power and wealth also knew him as the leader of a small, well-trained force of elite fighters.
You may find it interesting to know that in the Middle East today, there exists a small group who practice abir, a martial art which they say comes in a direct line of descent from Abraham.
Immediately below you will find two links to sites where you will learn more about Abir/Qesheth®, the ancient Hebrew martial art:
At first blush, some readers may consider my title a huge gaffe. How can I make any reference to "Old Testament Christian Warrior Culture"? After all. didn't the Old Testament times happen before Christ and the rise of Christianity?
Well, I base my choice of terms upon the conviction that the God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New Testament, and that faithful ancient Hebrew believers owed their redemption to Jesus Christ's atonement as much as believers in the New Covenant era. They looked forward to Him in faith; we look back to Him in faith.
Abraham
With that settled, let's look at the Hebrew warriors and the Old Testament warrior culture. Let's begin with a look at Abraham.
And when Abram heard that his brother [i.e., kinsman]was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. (Geneses 14:14-16)
We may remember Abraham for his pivotal role as the recipient of God's covenant promise. We may even remember him for his great wealth. But in his day, men of power and wealth also knew him as the leader of a small, well-trained force of elite fighters.
You may find it interesting to know that in the Middle East today, there exists a small group who practice abir, a martial art which they say comes in a direct line of descent from Abraham.
Immediately below you will find two links to sites where you will learn more about Abir/Qesheth®, the ancient Hebrew martial art:
- the israelite tribal warriors of god #2 - ancient egyptian bas relief from the period of the hebrew enslavement (at the necropolis bani ghassan near karnak). we identify these as hebrew warriors practicing the origins of abir. they can be identified by their semitic skin ...
- Abir Warrior Arts - Read the Hebrew Bible and you'll see amazing tales of the battles the God of Israel won for His people, the Israelites... How did they actually fight in those battles?
If the Israelites won countless victories over many ancient nations - the 'Amaleqites, the Cana'anites, the Ammonites, the Moavites, the Babylonians - and if hundreds of Israelites regularly defeated tens of thousands of soldiers...
- The Search For Goliath and Samson « JONATHAN TURLEY - For newborns out there, Samson was the beautifully adorned Israelite warrior who managed to defeat scores of Philistine warriors (and a lion or two) with only the jawbone of an ass as a weapon. (Insert troll joke here). ...
- Mel Gibson Takes on Judah Maccabee - NYTimes.com - Mel Gibson, the actor and director whose comments about Jews have drawn charges of anti-Semitism, is working on a movie about the life of Judah Maccabee, the Israelite warrior whose victory over the Greek and Syria.
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