Category Archives: M

Mole

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Mole. Palestine has no true moles. The few Bible references to moles probably mean a burrowing rat that resembles a mole. “Mole rats” live underground and feed on roots and bulbs, to the distress of farmers. Their tiny ears and eyes are nearly hidden in their thick coats of fur. Because these mole rats live in darkness, the prophet Isaiah referred to them as symbols of the spiritually blind. The NEB translates “dung-beetles” (Is. 2:20). Also see Weasel.

Source: [Anon-Animals]

The Mole. I remember but two places in the Bible where this animal is mentioned. One is in Leviticus, where it is named among the unclean animals which the Israelites were forbidden to eat; and the other is this verse in the second chapter of Isaiah: “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.” Have you read about the first missionaries who went to the Sandwich Islands? And do you remember that although the people had always been worshippers of idols, they had cast them all away just before the missionaries came? That was a very wonderful thing to happen; and it seems as though God was making these poor people ready to hear about the Savior, when the missionaries should come. Well, this verse in Isaiah declares that the same thing will happen by and by over the whole earth. You know that there are now millions and millions of poor heathen who worship nothing but images of gold, or brass, or stone; but the day is coming when not an idol shall be seen, and no being shall be worshipped but the true God. The mole lives under ground, and the bat in gloomy, dark caves where nobody thinks of going; so when it is said that the idols shall be “Cast to the moles and to the bats,” it means that they shall be thrown away in dark and neglected places, just as we throw away old shoes, or any thing that we care nothing about. Will you try to remember this verse about the idols? Perhaps you may live to see the near approach of that day.

The mole is a very curious animal in its appearance and in its manner of living. It is almost always under ground, and we should think that the little creature could not be very happy; but its skin is as smooth and handsome as that of any animal, and it seems very well contented with its dark home. God made it to live there, and he has given it just such a body at it needs. It is covered with fine, short, silky hair, almost like soft velvet, so that the earth does not stick to it; and its legs are very short, so as not to be in the way. If its legs were long it could not get through the ground very well, you know. Its eyes are very small, because it does not need to see much, and they are almost buried too under its soft fur, which keeps out all the dust and dirt. The opening of the ear is covered in the same way, so that nothing can hurt it.

Its fore-paws are made broad like a shovel, and are very strong; each one, too, has five short fingers with which the earth can be removed. The nose is sharp and bony, and this helps the mole to work its way through the earth. They throw up the earth when they make their houses under ground, and in this way mole-hills are made. They like to work at morning and evening, and also after a shower, when the earth is damp and soft, and easily moved.

The mole is larger than a mouse, but not as large as a rat. It eats insects and worms, and sometimes the roots of plants.

[Cook, Scripture Alphabet of Animals]

See also Mole Rat and Weasel

minister

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Minister

Amtract entry for Minister

Personal Comment – A minister is a slave or servant (ownership is not particularly a concept with this concept, so whether the servant is your property or you are paying him as an employee, or he is doing this of his own free will, all are mixed in the concept). The concept here is that somebody is doing things for your personal benefit, or to an organization (ministers serve God by serving the church which is made up of individual members). The principle concept is to be of use or service to the one you serve.




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Manicheans – Mani

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Manicheans – Mani

The Manichean’s were the followers Mani. In about 252AD, Mani, a Persian, mixed Christianity with Gnosticism and
other Persian elements. He stated his teaching came from Christ and the Persian Magi.

Mani taught there are two gods; one evil and one good.2 Jesus was not a real man [did not have flesh].1 Jesus came
to reconcile man to Satan, the dark god4 but Jesus did not undergo punishment on the cross.6 Satan is the god of
Moses and the prophets.7 Man does not has free will,8 some are born with their nature totally depraved,9 while
others are born nearly perfect.9 He taught reincarnation based on Karma.5 Mani said he was the Comforter
(Paraclete) and also the “that which is perfect” of 1 Corinthians 13: 3. Mani taught Vegetarianism,10 Marriage, and
begetting children are sins,10 and that there was a purgatory for purifying souls.5 After being purged of sins in the
sun, the souls fly to the moon [Purgatory].5 The soul of man is from light and his body from darkness.2

St. Augustine was a Manichean for eight years before becoming a Christian. After becoming a Christian, he
taught free will (see: City of God). It was not until 417 AD, while debating with Pelegius, that he began teaching
what today’s Calvinists describe as the doctrine of “total depravity” and the “bondage of the will.”
It seems that in reaction to Pelegian doctrine that “man could be sinless from birth,” Augustine went too far the
other way.

Archelaus, AD 33 –

The Judges concluded against Mani that man has free will; so if Mani can sin, his spirit can’t be an
emanation from God. The angels, and Satan (dark, evil god) are not of God’s essence.

Augustine recorded that Mani taught when the sun and moon have liberated all the light they are able, there
will be a fire kindled on the earth which will burn for 1,468 years, after which, there will be no light left. The King
of Darkness and his hosts will thereupon withdraw into the pit prepared for them. Mani taught, unlike the
world, man was the created by demons. The aim of demons is to imprison in man, through the propagation of
the race, as much as possible of the light, and so to hinder the separating process by the sun and the moon.
Manicheans teach salvation comes from rigorous asceticism, and by the practice of certain ceremonial
observances. Manicheans deny the saving efficacy of baptism but believe Salvation consists simply in the
liberation of the light from the darkness. In the case of the Elect this takes place immediately after death; in the
case of adherents who have not practiced the prescribed forms of asceticism, it takes place only after
considerable torment [purgatory]. In the case of the ordinary sensual man, there is no deliverance.

From biblefacts.org

Marcion

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Marcion

In the middle of the second century AD, Marcion left the church and started the Gnostic Marcionites. Marcion was a
native of Sinope on the Black Sea. He first studied with the Stoics, then became a Christian. According to Epiphanius,
as he began to apostatize, he seduced a young girl, and was excommunicated. Marcion then traveled to Rome in
hopes of being readmitted to the church. Later he joined Cerdon and another Gnostic, preaching in Rome, hoping to
create a schism in the church. Marcion’s most famous disciples were Apelles, Lucanus, Basilus, Potitus, and Blastus.
This same Blastus later caused a schism in Rome. Marcionites continued until the sixth century, principally in Egypt,
Israel, and Syria.

Marcion rejected the Old Testament and used cut up versions of Luke and some of Paul’s epistles, for Scripture. He
used the Gospel of Luke but eliminated the first four chapters and removed all references to Jesus’ divinity or any
connection with the God of the Old Testament. His canon of Scripture also contained Romans, 1st & 2nd
Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st & 2nd Thessalonians, Philemon, and Laodiceans. All of
these were tailored to fit Marcion’s teachings. In Paul’s Epistles, he removed all references to God creating the
world, and to Jesus being God’s Son, and any predictions of Jesus’ birth. He taught the God of the Old Testament
and His prophets were evil and would be destroyed because that god was the author of sin. He also taught there are
two equal and opposite gods, one good and one evil. He taught the Law and the Gospel were so strongly different, it
proves there were two different gods. Marcion insisted there is no resurrection and removed all references in his
gospel showing Christ was the creator and the God of the Old Testament was Jesus’ father. He also removed the
genealogy of Jesus. He said Jesus was a phantom having no physical body. Marcion forbade marriage and said it was
evil. Married people could not be baptized unless they got a divorce and practiced celibacy. The Marcionites were
strongly addicted to astrology.

Other Doctrines of the Marcionites were that Jesus came to overthrow the dominion of the evil creator. Followers
needed to be baptized in order to remove sins recently committed, and women were allowed to baptize other
women. Followers must be single, widowed, or divorced before they could be baptized. They denied Christ came in
the flesh and claimed there was no salvation or resurrection of the flesh, only of the spirit. Some Marcionites
believed in the transmigration of souls. We know this teaching as reincarnation. Some Marcionites sought
martyrdom in order to escape this evil world. It was well known that Marcion tried to publish a Gospel he wrote
himself in the name of Paul.

Church teachings contrasted:

Tertullian, AD 200
Against Marcion 4.8 – Jesus was not a phantom, but had a real body.
Against Marcion 4.37 – Christ saves both body and soul. Only heretics say the body is not saved
[resurrected].
Against Marcion 5.11 – Heretics try to say the epistle to the Ephesians is the epistle to the Laodeceans.

References:

1. Irenaeus Against Heresies 1.27 6. Against Marcion 1.24
2. Against Heresies 4.29 7. Against Marcion 2.17
3. Tertullian Against Marcion 1.2 8. Against Marcion 3.8, 4.8
4. Against Marcion 1.18 9. Against Marcion 1.29
5. Against Marcion 1.19-20
Nicolaitans

taken from Biblefacts.org

Moth

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Moth. Moths are mentioned several times in the Bible as a symbol of destructiveness and the perishable nature of all earthly goods. In (Hosea 5:12), God says, “I will be to Ephraim like a moth.” Just as the damage caused by moths takes place slowly and undetected, so God would quietly, but inevitably, bring judgment upon His backsliding people.

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Mouse

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Mouse.

About 40 kinds of mice are found in the Holy Land. These include house and field mice, moles, small rats, jerboas, and even hamsters. Arabs ate hamsters, but the Hebrew people considered all rodents unclean (Lev. 11:29; Is. 66:17).

In spite of its small size, the mouse is one of the most destructive animals in the world. Swarms of mice threatened grain crops in ancient times. When the Philistines stole the ARK OF THE COVENANT, God punished them by sending a swarm of mice which infected them with a disease (1 Sam. 6:4-5, 11,18); (rats, NKJV).

Source: [Anon-Animals]

The Jerboa or Mouse.

See Jerboa

You will not find the name of the Jerboa in the Bible; but it is supposed to be the same animal that is called a mouse in the 17th verse of the 66th chapter of Isaiah, “They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord;” and also in Leviticus, where God is telling the children of Israel what animals they may be allowed to eat, and also what they must not taste. He says, “These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind.” Whether the Jerboa is the same animal or not, the Israelites must have been well acquainted with it, for it is found in great numbers in Syria and Egypt, and other countries mentioned in the Bible. They like to live where the soil is sandy, and make their burrows, or holes to live in, in the sides of sand-hills. These burrows are often several yards long, and the part where they sleep is made soft with grass.

The Jerboa is about as large as a rat, and its color is a tawny yellow, something like that of dried lemon-peel. Its fur is very smooth and soft; its eyes are full and round, and its head is much like that of a young rabbit. When it eats, it sits and hold its food in its fore-paws, very much as a squirrel does.

There is a very great and curious difference in the length of its legs; those in front being so short that you would hardly notice them, and those behind very long. It bounds along over the ground very rapidly; so that the greyhound, which is one of the swiftest of dogs, is often unable to overtake it. It seems, when you first look at it, to use only its hind legs in jumping, but his is not so. When it is about to take a leap, it raises its body upon the toes of its hind feet, keeping the balance by the help of its long tail. It springs and comes down on its short fore legs, but does it so very quickly that you can hardly see how it is done, and the animal seems to be upright all the time.

They appear to be very fond of each other’s company, and great numbers are usually found together. They sleep during the day, but like the hare and rabbit, go out of their burrows to eat and to play as soon as it begins to be dark.

[Cook, Scripture Alphabet of Animals]

A mouse or mice are known for their ability to enter a house no matter how well it is guarded. Yet they enter undetected and eat the food of the house.

Moses Part 2

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Moses. [Mo’ses]

Son of Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi, brother of Aaron and Miriam. He was born after the mandate by the king that all male children of the Hebrews were to be killed, but his parents by faith hid him three months, and when he could no longer be hidden he was put in an ark of bulrushes and placed among the reeds in the river. Being found there by Pharaoh’s daughter he was named by her MOSES, signifying ‘drawn out,’ and adopted as her son, being nursed for her by his own mother. He became learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, and was mighty in words and deeds. Continue reading →