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If my people, who are called by my Name, humble themselves and pray (Part One)

The text, for those who have trouble with a rather individual cursive, reads as follows: Scandal after Scandal. No institution safe....

Saturday 30 March 2013

What does the goddess Ninue have to do with anything?

Ninue,  Nina, Nana, Inanna was the goddess of Nineveh. And yes, the Midlands expression, "Me Nan" usually referring to a grandmother probably has linguistic roots that go all the way back to her, just as 'her' goes back to 'Her-a' the inspiration of 'Her-oes'. She was a mother goddess and associated with a fish. It seems that were a whole stack of fish gods and goddesses back then. 

To the Israelites, the sea signified chaos and disorder. It followed that fish signified the children of chaos i.e. the nations and their assorted deities. When Jesus said that His disciples would be fishers of men, He meant that they would be rescuing men from chaos and bringing them into Divine order.

There are depictions of Nina emerging from or having a split fish tail. After this, it all gets somewhat rude and crude. 

Now we turn to Jonah and the great fish. For readers new to the scriptures, 'Whale' was a mistranslation when people thought that the whale was a great fish and not a mammal. Jonah has rebelled against God and falls prey to the powers of Chaos, being the storm at sea. He chose to be thrown overboard in order to save the ship and was swallowed by a great fish . Jonah is now beginning to behave in a Christlike way. He is also in the belly of the demonic power behind the dominant empire of his time. Nonetheless, God is still in control. Jonah repents of his own sins, is released and goes on to win the gentiles of Nineveh to repentance. His experiences must have given them great cause for thought. 

The sign of Jonah is the three days and nights in the belly of the fish. Jesus will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth. This cannot refer to the tomb as it was only a scratch on the face of the planet. In Jonah's time the fish took us to the Gentile power of Nineveh. In Jesus' time that would be Rome and the puppet regime installed in Jerusalem.

When was Jesus 'thrown overboard' and by His own choosing as Jonah was? John 13: 21 - 29 . From this point on, we start counting the days and nights.

It should be noted that Jesus repented for our sins and not His, as He was the sinless, unblemished Lamb. But, like Jonah, he was delivered from the Gentile power and went on to bring the Gentiles to repentance.

Thursday night and Friday
Friday night and Saturday
Saturday night and Sunday morning (only just).

Three days and Three nights. Notice that we count inclusively as was the practice at the time. There is a reason for the 'only just' on Sunday which I will address later.

As for Nina, she is also known as Ishtar and Astarte and we will meet her again before this week is out.


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