Sophia Elahi RPC Blog

God doesn’t force us to follow his way. God gave us humans free will, some people obey and follow God like me; and some people don’t. What happens to the people that don’t obey God?

My family and I, and probably many people reading this obey God. Those who obey God gets blessed or praised, something good happens to them. But, what about the people that don’t obey God? What happens to them? They get punished. The lesson for this essay gave me an article to help; I’ll give you a little example from the article.

When the Israelites were fleeing from Egypt there was a king named Balak, he was the king of Moab at the time. He sent some messengers to a man named Balaam, a “wizard”. Balak’s message for Balaam was exactly this: “A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.”

Balaam talks to God and God gives Balaam permission to go to Moab. While in Moab Balaam has to say everything that God tells him to. While there he gave prophecies of what will happen to everyone. Balaam had seven messages. The first three messages were showing Balak that the Israelites were blessed people and whoever tries to curse them will fail. The fourth message Balaam told Balak that his kingdom will be conquered and will fall. Balaam’s fifth message was directed to Amalek, that his nation will fall in utter destruction. Balaam’s sixth message was directed to the Kenites, that their nation will be destroyed when Ashur takes them captive. Balaam’s seventh and last message wasn’t directed to any one person but to everyone: “Alas! Who can live when God does this? Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus; they will subdue Ashur and Eber, but they too will come to ruin.”

If you didn’t understand how this was an example, let me explain it to you. God blessed and protected the Israelites, everyone who tries to hurt the Israelites  isn’t obey God will eventually come to ruin.

My assignment this week was to write a poem about God. Here it is:

Great and all powerful

Omnipotent

Deliverer of punishments and blessings

In God’s Wisdom, He tested the Patriarchs’ faith and patience in various ways.  He was exercising his Sovereignty.

When Abraham was looking for a wife for his son, Isaac, he asked for certain signs.  Rebekah’s generosity and hospitality fit the signs for the virtuous wife that Abraham was seeking for his son.  When Joseph was “lost”, Jacob bore the trial with patience putting his faith in God.  Joseph’s trial was being seduced by the Pharaoh’s wife.  He chose imprisonment to sin.  At the same time, God endowed Joseph with wisdom and knowledge to interpret dreams.  Through his knowledge, Joseph was able to help the Pharaoh’s kingdom and prepare for the years of famine.  For that knowledge, he was elevated to a high position in the kingdom.

In my own life, I have witnessed God’s Sovereignty.  We moved to Singapore from the United States with hope and faith, and not much else.  God, in His mysterious, way found my Mom a wonderful source of income without her having to search for a job.  It provided us with an independent home; opportunities for me to pursue my dream, and a very comfortable environment for home schooling.

I love God’s sovereignty over the universe and my life.

This week I learned about the ancient Egyptians culture and lives. I could go on rambling for a while about how the ancient Egyptians are awesome; however, I have to write about why the Egyptians thought that death was so important.

The ancient Egyptians believed that when you died your soul will split into two, called Ka and Ba. Ka and Ba? What kind of names are those? I don’t know what kind of names those are, however I can tell you what Ka and Ba represent. The Ba was the half of the soul that can pass through the afterlife and the living world. In hieroglyphics, Ba is a creature with the body of a bird, but has the head of a human. The Egyptians thought that birds could fly through after life and the living world. The Ka can leave the tomb, the body. But has to come back. The Ka is usually represented by a picture of the person who died, and next to it a bigger version of the person. The Ka was believed to need the same nutrients and food that humans need. The Egyptians believed that the Ka and the Ba would both leave during the day; the Ba left the tomb and watched over the dead person’s family. The Ka flew off to enjoy the in the Land of Two Fields. At night both parts of the soul came back to the tomb to rest up for the next day.

As you can see, dying wasn’t something people fear; it was something that sounded awesome. I hope you learned something from today’s essay. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to give feedback.

This week I focused on the Ancient Egyptians. In this lesson I’m going to write about some of the facts that I learned about this week.

In lesson 17 I learned that the first recorded Egyptian genius who was named Imhotep (for all we know Imhotep couldn’t have been the first Egyptian genius, however, he was the first to be recorded) . He was a medical physician and he designed the first pyramid for the Pharaoh Djoser.  I also learned that the purpose of the ancient Egyptians records were not for us to know more about them, but to honor their pharaohs and gods. I already knew that upper and Lower Egypt was unified, but I didn’t know who unified them. Well now I know! Pharaoh Menes.

In lesson 18 I learned that Pharaoh Seneferu was the first Pharaoh to build a true pyramid. What do you mean by true? You may ask. A true pyramid is not a step pyramid but a pyramid with flat sides. I also learned who built the great Sphinx: Pharaoh Khafre. He was also buried by it. I also learned that Pharaoh Pepi the second was the longest ruling pharaoh. He reigned for 92 years!

In lesson 19 I leaned that around 1504 BC the Egyptians stopped making pyramids every time a pharaoh dies, because it was practically a beacon for tomb robbers to come. I also learned that Thutmose 3 was known as the Greatest of all the Pharaohs. I also learned that Amenhotep worshiped the sun god, Aten, and changed his names to Akhenaten, which means son of Aten.

In lesson 20 I leaned that Ramses 2 was known as Ramses the Great, and he reigned for 67 years! I learned why Egypt entered the Third Intermediate Period. It was because Ramses 2 neglected foreign affairs at the end of his reign. I learned that the Persians controlled Egypt in Dynasty 27.

As you can see I learned many things this week about Egypt. I hope you learned something too. Thanks for reading!