Margaret Walker - MY PREHISTORY

In Luke 21 Jesus tells his disciples,   “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.  For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” And in Matthew 23 he says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Jesus is making several prophecies, but two concern us here: ‘Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled’ and ‘you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lor...

MANY PEOPLE HAVE LIVED IN ISRAEL. BC                                                 400,000                                                               Neanderthals  130,000                                              Early Modern Humans 13,000                                                     Natufian pre-farmers 8,000                                      ...

The evening we saw the star we were farewelling dinner guests. We had walked them to the top of the driveway shrouded by turpentines and camelias and had just reached the street when Richard pointed out a white starlike object sitting low in the western sky.    Compared with Europe, Australia has very clear skies and when, a night or two later I emerged from the supermarket where the steps descend to the outdoor carpark, I stopped. There it was again, in the same position as we had earlier seen it, a star so large and so radiantly bright that it was impossible, once seen, to yank out the car keys, toss the shopping in the boot and drive thoughtlessly away. This beautiful celestial object was not, in fact, a star but the conjunction of two planets, Jupiter and Saturn that occurs about once every twenty years, in this case 2020. The one I saw was purported to be the best in 800 years (1) and it has been conjectured that such a conjunction produced the Star of Bethlehem that wo...