Ramses may have been a great pharaoh, but that doesn’t do him any good because he didn’t worship You and he disobeyed You more than King Solomon did.
Ramesses II holding a crook and a flail. 19th Dynasty, c. 1240 BC. From Nubia.
The crook and flail are symbols used in Ancient Egyptian society. They were originally the attributes of the deity Osiris that became insignia of pharaonic authority. The shepherd’s crook stood for kingship and the flail for the fertility of the land.
If people would listen to You they wouldn’t get in trouble, like Solomon did. Solomon worshipped You and cared about the people in his kingdom:
“And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge they people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” (1 Kgs 3:7, 9).
But men are weak when it comes to beautiful women so Solomon messed up:
“Neither shall he multiply wives to himself that his heart turn not away…” (Deut 17:17).
“Nevertheless, [to avoid] fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband” (1 Cor 7:2).
But Ramses did worse, because not only did he not worship You, but he married two of his daughters.
“None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover [their] nakedness: I [am] the LORD” (Lev 18:6).
“It is reported commonly [that there is] fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife” (1 Cor 5:1).
Ramses II was also good in warfare, he knew good strategies to defeat his enemies, but he didn’t know the future.
I have talked abouttechnologyin the past, that it can be useful, but can also be evil. I recently came across a new one that should come out in 2020 that makes me think of the Mark of the Beast.
But first I want to talk about…
Ezekiel 43
The Lord’s Glory Fills the Temple
Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I as in Greek) was a Pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II.
1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:
2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
“Behold, the glory’ – the high point of chapters 40-48. The temple had been prepared for this moment, and all that follows flows from this appearance.
“Like a noise of many waters” – Ezekiel experienced an audition as well as a vision. For the comparison see 1:24; Rev 1:15, 14:2, 19:6.
3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.
4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.
5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
“So the spirit took me up” – with God being nearer, the function of the guiding angel was taken over by the Spirit of God. Ezekiel was transported into the inner court but not into the temple.
“Filled the house” – as at the consecration of Solomon’s temple.
6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.
The Battle of Kadesh (also Qadesh) took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, in what is now the Syrian Arab Republic.
The battle is generally dated to 1274 BC, and is the earliest battle in recorded history for which details of tactics and formations are known. It was probably the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000–6,000 chariots.
7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcasses of their kings in their high places.
“I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever” – renewing the promise of 37:26-28.
“Whoredom” – the word can stand either for the sacred prostitution in the Canaanite religion (Baalism) or for spiritual apostasy from true worship of the Lord.
“Carcasses” – the reference is either to idols or to monuments or graves of past kings. Fourteen kings of Judah were buried in Jerusalem, possibly near the temple area.
8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.
“Their threshold by my thresholds” – Solomon’s temple was surrounded by many of his own private structures. The distinction between God’s holy temple and the rest of the world is a central idea in the book of Ezekiel.
“I have consumed them” – as elsewhere in Ezekiel, the unstable practices of the people and their kings brought about their destruction.
9 Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcasses of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.
10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.
The treaty is called the Kadesh Treaty, as Kadesh (sometimes spelled Qadesh) on the Orontes River was the battle site for these two major forces in 1274 B.C.the treaty states that neither of these nations would battle one another.
Further, if another nation were to attack either of them, they would rise to their assistance against the aggressor.
11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.
12 This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
13 And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar.
14 And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit.
15 So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns.
The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II (“Ramesses the Great”, also spelled “Ramses” and “Rameses”).
It is located in the Theban necropolis in Upper Egypt, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor. The name – or at least its French form, Rhamesséion – was coined by Jean-François Champollion, who visited the ruins of the site in 1829 and first identified the hieroglyphs making up Ramesses’s names and titles on the walls.
It was originally called the House of millions of years of Usermaatra-setepenra that unites with Thebes-the-city in the domain of Amon.
16 And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.
17 And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east.
18 And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.
19 And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering.
20 And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.
21 Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.
22 And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock.
23 When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.
The Papyrus of Ani uses a special, more cursive form of hieroglyphic writing.
24 And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
25 Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.
26 Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.
27 And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.
“Peace offerings” – after the seven-day consecration by burnt offerings and sin offerings, the altar was ready for the celebration of the more festive peace offerings where the people partook of some of the meat (see Lev 3).
Pharaoh Ramses II
Pharaoh Ramesses II (1303-1213 B.C.) was named for his grandfather, Ramses I. He was the third king of the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt, and is often cited as the most powerful of the Pharaohs, or simply “Ramses the Great.”
Ramses II
Even before assuming full power he was regarded as co-ruler with his father, Pharaoh Seti I. At the age of 14, he took the throne and married his first wife almost immediately.
In the fourth year of his rule, his armies invaded Syria and went to war against the Hittites, culminating in the bloody Battle of Kadesh. Despite Egypt’s eventual retreat, Ramses often spoke of his own heroism on the battlefield, including implausible tales of being cornered alone, yet single-handedly defeating numerous enemy soldiers.
Several years after Kadesh, he again led Egypt in war against the hated Hittites, but after more than a decade of bloody war he consented to a peace treaty, which led to a long period of general peace and prosperity for both peoples.
His other accomplishments include putting down several uprisings among his own people, and the construction of some of Egypt’s most famous monuments and architecture, including many large statues of himself. He also oversaw the construction of the Ramesseum, a temple built solely to honor him.
Menpehtyre Ramesses I (traditional English: Ramesses or Ramses) was the founding Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt’s 19th dynasty.
The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the time-line of late 1292-1290 BC is frequently cited as well as 1295-1294 BC.
While Ramesses I was the founder of the 19th Dynasty, in reality his brief reign marked the transition between the reign of Horemheb who had stabilized Egypt in the late 18th dynasty and the rule of the powerful Pharaohs of this dynasty, in particular his son Seti I and grandson Ramesses II, who would bring Egypt up to new heights of imperial power.
The hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt capture and list the various accomplishments during his lifetime and gives us a snapshot of his life journey and undertakings throughout his life. Due to archaeological findings even more is learned about this great king.
Many writings have been found that tell of his politics, how he controlled kingdom, and how he managed to outsmart many of his enemies. It is these writings that have also given insight into the many great monuments that he left behind and were constructed under his reign.
He reigned for more than 66 years, and had about 200 wives, 100 sons, and 60 daughters. Two of his daughters were eventually “promoted” to become his wives. His favorite and chief wife was Nefertari. And after peace had been accomplished with the Hittites, Ramses took the eldest daughter of the Hittite king as another wife.
Today, we know that he outlived at least 12 of his sons and probably countless wives and probably even grandchildren.
Ramses II has traditionally been identified as the Pharaoh who ruled during the Jewish exodus from Egypt, as reported in Biblical and Hebrew scriptures. If so, then Moses would have been adopted into Ramses’ family as a child.
Ancient Egyptian Gods
The Egyptians worshipped many gods and goddesses, but it seems that there were two main ones: Ra and Osiris.
