I've come across mentions of phoenixes four times in books recently. Three were references to the mythologicial rebirth of the phoenix, and the other one spent several pages on the history of Tyrian purple dye--Tyre being the chief city of the ancient Phoenicians--and how the origins of the words phoenix and Phoenicia were closely connected with the idea of the dye.
Tyrian purple, from murex shells, was typically a reddish purple, but could range from very pale tints to very dark purples. The dye was more valuable by weight than gold.
I also read 2 Chronicles 2, where Huram (Hiram) of Tyre assisted Solomon with the building of the Temple. In 2 Chronicles 2:12, Huram acknowledges that the God of Israel is creator of heaven and earth.
Other sources say that the chief Phoenician god was Melqart, which has some correspondence with Biblical accounts of Moloch and Baal worship. Greeks tended to see Melqart as Hercules. The Phoenicians practiced child sacrifice.
This was in something like 960 B.C. Israel was at its peak, and Tyre was approaching a peak of its own.
I happened to read about the Gadarene swine in Mark 3 this morning before coming across this piece, which mentions it.
David Clements mentions Michael Cocchini. A quick internet search tells me that they've worked together before, and that a different Michael Cocchini--and a Susan Clements--went fatally missing in the Smoky Mountains. At separate times.
Feels like a rabbit hole.
Much like Jonathan Cahn connects the major demons of ancient Israel to today's United States, Clements says that the spirits of the Nephilim are here and active.
https://joehoft.com/attorney-david-clements-mkultras-shadow-a-demonic-war-for-humanitys-mind/
A couple months ago, I put a piece of paper on the fridge--our Scammer Prayer List. We were often getting multiple scam calls per day, and while probably none of them told us their real name, God stills knows who they are and where they live, and He surely has something better for them to do all day than bother people like us.
Two names went onto the list, and these scammers were duly prayed for--they still are--and suddenly the number of scam calls dropped, by a lot. The list still has only two names on it.
The Bible says that "the gates of hell" will not prevail against Christ's Church.
A boomer apologizes, albeit without much clarity.
"It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs," Jesus said; Matthew 15:26.
I recently understood that I am spending my life in rebuilding spiritual and practical foundations that had been foolishly undermined by previous generations.
