John 11 – Jesus Hears of Lazarus’s Death & Saladin

Finger Pointing Up

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That was the end of the House of Islam. 

I recently received some emails that I want to share.  These emails pertain to the United States, but they can pertain to any country, because the entire world is owned by God. 

Tomorrow we’ll look at…

John 11
Jesus Hears of Lazarus’s Death

2 Ṣalāḥ ad Dīn Yūsuf
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (1137/1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. A Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin led the Muslim opposition against the European Crusaders in the Levant. At the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and other parts of North Africa.

Originally sent to Fatimid Egypt by his Zengid lord Nur ad-Din in 1163, Saladin climbed the ranks of the Fatimid government by virtue of his military successes against Crusader assaults on its territory and his personal closeness to the caliph al-Adid.

When Saladin’s uncle Shirkuh died in 1169, al-Adid appointed Saladin vizier, a rare nomination of a Sunni Muslim to such an important position in the Shia Muslim-led caliphate. During his term as vizier, Saladin began to undermine the Fatimid establishment and following al-Adid’s death in 1171, he took over government and realigned the country’s allegiance with the Baghdad-based Abbasid Caliphate. In the following years, he led forays against the Crusaders in Palestine, ordered the successful conquest of Yemen and staved off pro-Fatimid rebellions in Upper Egypt.

Not long after the death of Nur ad-Din in 1174, Saladin personally led the conquest of Syria, peacefully entering Damascus at the request of its ruler. By mid-1175, Saladin had conquered Hama and Homs, inviting the animosity of his former Zengid lords, who had been the official rulers of Syria.

Soon after, he defeated the Zengid army in battle and was thereafter proclaimed the “Sultan of Egypt and Syria” by the Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi. He made further conquests in northern Syria and Jazira and escaped two attempts on his life by the Assassins, before returning to Egypt in 1177 to address issues in Egypt. By 1182, Saladin completed the conquest of Syria after capturing Aleppo, but ultimately failed in taking over the Zengid stronghold of Mosul.

1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.

7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

8 His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?

9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

“Sleepeth” – a euphemism for death, used by the unbelieving world as well as by Christians.

12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.

“Four days’ – many Jews believed that the soul remained near the body for three days after death in the hope of returning to it.

18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:

19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

“To comfort them” – Jewish custom provided for three days of very heavy mourning, then four of heavy mourning, followed by lighter mourning for the remainder of 30 days.

We better hope that Obama doesn’t get wind of this, he’ll make it a law that you can only be sad at certain times and how sad you are allowed to be will also be regulated, and probably taxed.

20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.

21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

3 Statue of Saladin
Statue of Saladin in front of the Citadel of Damascus

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

“He that believeth…shall he live” – Jesus not only is life, but conveys life to the believer so that death will never triumph over him (cf. 1 Cor 15:54-57).

26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.

29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.

30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.

31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.

4 Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy (as Richard IV), Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period.

He was the third of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was known as Richard Cœur de Lion, or mainly Richard the Lionheart, even before his accession, because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. The Muslims called him Melek-Ric (King Richard) or Malek al-Inkitar – King of England.

32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.

5 The Battle of Arsuf
The Battle of Arsuf was a battle of the Third Crusade in which Richard I of England defeated Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and Sultan of Egypt and Syria, at Arsuf in Palestine. The forces of the Third Crusade had taken the city of Acre after a prolonged siege. The next strategic target for the Christian army was to secure the city of Jaffa, which would facilitate their ultimate goal, the recapture of the city of Jerusalem.
Following a series of harassing attacks by Saladin’s forces, battle was joined on the morning of 7 September 1191. Richard’s army successfully resisted attempts to disrupt its cohesion until the Hospitallers broke ranks and charged; Richard then committed all his forces to the attack. He regrouped his army after its initial success, and led them to victory. The battle resulted in the coastal area of southern Palestine, including the port of Jaffa, returning to Christian control. This made the capture of Jerusalem feasible.

46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.

47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.

48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,

“Caiaphas” – high priest c. 18-36 A.D.  he was the son-in-law of Annas, who had been deposed from the high priesthood by the Romans in 15 A.D.

“Ye know nothing at all” – a remark typical of Sadducean rudeness (Caiaphas, as high priest, was a Sadducee).  Josephus says that Sadducees “in their intercourse with their peers are as rude as to aliens.”

50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.

6 The Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes occupying land in the Lower and Middle Rhine in the 3rd century. Some Franks raided Roman territory, while other Frank tribes joined the Roman troops in what was called Gaul (currently France).

The Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that, after 357, was acknowledged by the Romans. After the collapse of Rome in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians who succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century. The Franks became very powerful after this.

The Merovingian dynasty, descendants of the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies which replaced the Western Roman Empire. The Frankish state consolidated its hold over large parts of western Europe by the end of the eighth century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. This empire would gradually evolve into the state of France and the Holy Roman Empire.

In the Middle Ages, the term Frank was used in the East as a synonym for western European, as the Franks were then rulers of most of western Europe.

“Ephraim” – if it was the city known as Ophrah, it was about 15 miles north of Jerusalem.

55 And the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.

56 Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?

57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.

Saladin

Kurdish-born ruler Saladin (Salah ai-Din, 1137-1193), a devout Sunni Muslim, became the sultan of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Yemen in an era when Muslim forces were divided and fractious, and when key holy cities had fallen to Christian crusaders.

7 Sultan Saladin
Sultan Saladin, brave and honorable, became a hero even to his European foes because of his chivalrous treatment of his enemies.

He reunited the Islamic forces as much by the strength of his personality—firm, but generous and fair—as by his decisive military campaigns. To his Christian opponents, he became a byword for chivalry.

Saladin’s greatest achievement was the retaking of Jerusalem in 1187 from the Franks, who had held the city for 88 years. Although Muslims bitterly remembered the crusaders’ slaughter of the city’s people in 1099, Saladin spared Jerusalem’s Christian and Jewish inhabitants.

His armies pressed the Frankish forces back to the coast, fighting English commander Richard the Lion-Hearted to a draw. Saladin, exhausted, soon died. Having given away all his wealth to the poor, he left too little money to pay for his own funeral.

…Evil United States.

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