How can we be possibly be happy in Heaven?

Readings on Satan and Lucifer (note: Not the same thing!) in the bible are quite interesting to study. Here's a little test for xians: Search the bible for the word Satan, and look at the first match. Note that you'll need to use a more literal bible, bibles that twist the words heavily to make it more consistant, less contradictory, and more acceptable to a modern audience (like NIV) may not work (never use NIV when studying the texts, it's awful). New Living is generally pretty good; ones with the Hebrew associated with the text are best (although there are actually multiple "originals" for most sections of the bible, and they often have slight contradictions).What do you find? You find a reference in 1st Chronicles. "Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the Israelites." However, if you'll recall, this part of the bible is another version of the events of 2nd Samuel. What is the corresponding line in 2nd Samuel? "Once again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census."Strange, isn't it? What could cause this? Only one major event occurred between 2nd Samuel and 1st Chronicles: Israel was enslaved by Babylon. In Babylon, they were exposed to the polytheism of the Babylonians. In Babylonian mythology, there were all kinds of lesser gods and demigods who served greater gods. There were gods that were good, gods that were evil, and everything in between. All of the sudden, the story is changed - no longer is God doing the tempting of earlier books, but now, *Satan* is doing the bad things."Satan" means something to the effect of "the accuser" - and yet, while he is portrayed as doing evil and tempting, after his introduction in the Early bible he is still portrayed as being one of God's servants. God still is a wrathful being at times, but seldom from here on is God the one who actually *does* the wrath himself. Note that the state of "God alone" was itself a change from the earlier, more primative form, in which God speaks in plurals, other Gods do miracles (just not as great miracles as YHVH), etc - they developed from polytheistic to a monotheistic world view, only to have polytheism creep back in in a time where their faith was undoubtedly deeply tested.From Chronicles onward, there is God, and all of his angels, but they are all his servants. They still have their "one God" after their enslavement, but he now has created a number of lesser beings to do his bidding. In the beginning, Satan like all angels is portrayed as an independent being, but one who still serves God, who is one of God's angels. Satan takes the role of, to borrow the term, the "attorney general". He seeks constantly to prove weakness in man, to expose men who will fail in their faith of God. Yet, God himself did this before in the bible; Satan merely took over this aspect of God. Of course, as time progressed, it was only natural to expect (especially with the advent of the polarities in the later-arisen Zoroastrianism) that, playing this Role, Satan would become seen as "the enemy of God".Of course, Lucifer is something completely different ------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."[This message has been edited by Rei, 09-12-2003]

It's pretty well accepted that in 586 BC, the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and enslaved the residents; they had been expanding in the region for a number of years. In 539, however, the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians under Cyrus the Great, and many of the Babylonians' slaves were freed. Biblical Archaeology Review has pictures of a number of the artifacts that discuss the fall of Jerusalem - check out The Fury of Babylon, Caught Between the Great Powers, and The Babylonian Gap. It's actually a rather interesting series of military campaigns (and military blunders); it's good to learn more about than just the general "they were conquered and enslaved". In actuality, their enemies (both the Assyrians and Egyptians) managed to stall the conquest of their cities, despite the stupidity of Josiah (the king of Judah at the time) in attacking the Egyptian troops on their way to fight Nebuchadnezzar's troops.The religion of Babylon included a whole pantheon - Anu, the sky God, the wise son of Apsu (God of the underworld sea) and Tiamat ("chaos"). The earth God Enlil switched between being benevolent and wrathful - he was responsible for order and harmony, but also was a god of storms. Ea, the water god, was the benefactor of mankind; he granted wisdom, magic, art, and science. There was the moon god Sin and the sun god Shamash (btw, it's interesting to note the similarity of Arabic words to the names of the babylonian gods... moon is "sin", sun is "shams", etc). Later, Marduk, an omniscient god, took over the pantheon, only to be replaced by Ashur, an Assyrian god who was the god of war. Of course, there were many, many minor gods and godesses.Zoroastrianism was a religion of polarities, developed among sedentary tribes in Iran. Even when zoroastrianism began to incorporate the Persian pantheon, it divided them into those which were good, and those which were evil. There were two types of people - the people of righteousness (asha) and those of lies (druj). Zoroastrianism became the dominant world religion between 559 BC and 651 AD), largely due to the influence of Persia.------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."

quote:

---

Of course if you want to save yourself all this trouble - just pick up a Bible.

---

.Yes! Then I could read about important things like dietary prohibitions for a pre-refrigeration culture, and how God really digs the smell of roasted flesh.------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."

I'm a vegetarian too, and I have to agree with Prozacman. There are quote after quote in the bible endorsing the eating of meat. Jesus himself breaks bread and *fish* for everyone to eat. He follows all of the Hebrew customs and eats the ritual meals. In the old testament, it's even worse; vegetarians aren't talked about very kindly.------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."