A Study in Nahum

The Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption. God’s character is love, mercy and grace. God’s character is also righteousness, perfection, justice and jealously. “Jealous” means exacting exclusive devotion. The first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” speaks to that characteristic of God.

Nahum is a thrilling book to study. It reveals the other side of the attributes of God. God is love, but God is holy and righteous and good. To not be in a relationship with God through Christ is to opt for an eternity without God in Hell. As Paul tells us, sin’s just payment is death (Romans 6:23).

It is important to note that Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic kingdom, and empire, of the Ancient Near East, existing as an independent state for a period of approximately nineteen centuries from about 2500 BC to 605 BC. (Scholars differ on the precise time period of Assyria). Its capital was Nineveh.

Jonah had preached in Nineveh, and the city had responded to his preaching and turned to God. But the city reverted to its former ways and forsook God.

Nahum is the account of how God dealt with Assyria.

Chapter 1

Verses 1-8 – Here we have a picture of the power of God and the danger of not following His ways. It should be terrifying to even think about going against God.

The goodness of God is seen in His judgment. He is “slow to anger.”  He was over 100 years in executing the judgment He had announced through Jonah. Although the repentance under Jonah delayed the judgment of God for more than a century, He cannot “at all acquit the wicked,” for He is just and righteous.

The entire world must be judged on the basis of verse 3. God will not leave the guilty unpunished. There is only one place of safety and security (Acts 4:12).

According to verse 7, the Lord is good, and He will save. But the Lord is just, and He must judge. We tend to think only of God’s mercy and grace, but without Christ, we can experience only God’s justice and fury.

Verses 9-11 – God reveals that He knows who those who plot against Him are and He will not leave them unpunished. Nineveh is to be totally destroyed.

Some identify this “wicked counselor” as Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13-16; Isaiah 37:14-38).

Verses 14-15 – When God said He would prepare their grave, he God said, in substance, “I’ll bury you.”  Assyria has disappeared from the stage of history. Verse speaks of deliverance from Assyria. (See Isaiah 52:7 — here the deliverance is from Babylon. See Romans 10:15 — here the deliverance is from sin for the sinner, salvation.)

Chapter 2

Verse 1 – This is the picture is of a hammer, the handle of which is held by God. Total destruction of Assyria was accomplished by the Medes and Babylonians.

Verses 2-13 – Here we have a detailed prophecy which is today an accurate historical record. [“Chariots” (verses 3, 4) is not a prediction of the automobile. Those who say that it is reveal a woeful ignorance of this prophecy].

God is justified in saying He is against Assyria (verse 13) because of her crimes. In Ezekiel (Ezekiel 38:3; 39:1), God is just and will not tolerate antagonistic atheism.

Chapter 3

Verses 1-2 – This describes the internal condition of the city. Lies mark the total culture. When a nation begins to excuse lies because they support a particular ideology, they are doomed. Another issue with Nineveh is that they were making slaves of people. Slavery is always wrong in God’s eyes.

Verses 3-10 – In these verses we see external condition of the city. They were a brutal and cruel enemy. They are hated and dreaded by other nations. Verse 8 references “No-amon,” or Thebes, capital of Upper Egypt which had been destroyed by Sargon of Assyria and should have been an example to Assyria. Thebes had been protected by buffer states, Ethiopia at the south, Egypt at the north, — and by desert on both ends. But Thebes was destroyed.

Verses 11-18 - This is a detailed description of the destruction of Nineveh.

Verse 19 – There is now no healing, no turning to God. God had been slow to anger, but He does not clear the guilty.

Like Assyria, we are guilty of standing against God. God’s justice cannot abide this sin. There is a penalty due for our sin. However, God, in His mercy, has provided the payment for our sin in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus. When we repent of our sin and place our trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary, we receive the gift of God’s favor: eternal life.

Relationship with God

1.    

We must know God by experience.

a.      Our experience with God must have a beginning (when we are saved from our sin).

b.     Our experience with God must include personal and corporate growth.

c.      Our experience with God must include service to Him, wherever we are in our growth.

2.     We must know God through worship.

a.      Worship is recognizing who we are before a mighty, majestic God.

b.     Worship is a personal encounter with God, personally and corporately.

c.      Worship is a time of focus on God through Christ.

3.     We must know God’s nature.

a.      God is omniscient.

b.     God is omnipotent.

c.      God is omni-present.

4.     We must know God through obedience. (What are God’s two Laws for Christians to obey?)

a.      Following God’s leadership is more important than “sacrificing” for Him.

b.     God’s Word is written on our hearts.

c.      Knowing and being disciple by Christ is knowing God.

5.     We must know God by invitation.

a.      God works through people…people just like you and me.

b.     God’s revelation through His Word is your invitation to experience Him.

c.      God invites you to enjoy the experience of worshiping Him.

A Study in Nehemiah Week 6

(Get your Bible and study along with us)

Nehemiah Chapter 10

Verses 1-13 – Here is another of those lists which we are prone to skip over and are uncertain why God chose to include them in His Word.

One of the reasons these lists are there is that they give testimony to a part of God’s nature: His supreme organization and His attention to detail. Here is a list of the people who signed an agreement with God to follow Him and Him only. The list included leaders and lay people.

Verses 14-27 – This is a list of the leaders who signed the agreement. Again God keeps a record of who entered into the covenant with Him.

God still keeps records. The records He keeps now are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He will not make any mistakes in His record. If you repent of your sin and trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary, your name will be there.

Verses 28-31 – The agreement the people signed included not allowing daughters to marry the people from surrounding nations, not allowing the daughters of surrounding nations to marry Jewish sons, setting aside the 7^th day as a holy day and the 7^th year as a time to let the fields rest as well as a cancellation of all debts.

Verses 32-39 – They also imposed a 10% temple tax to pay for the work of God’s house, which they thought to be the temple. This tax was to be paid once per year and consisted of crops and fruit. There was also a fixed amount of money to be given: 4 grams of silver.

These resources were used to pay the Levites so that they could spend their time serving God and taking care of His temple and did not have to work the fields.

In the New Covenant we realize that WE are the temple of God, not some building. We are to give as the Lord lays on our hearts.

Of course, ultimately, even the people who signed the agreement turned away from God again. This is the nature of man. It is his sinful nature. It is the reason why man needs a savior (Messiah).

Like all of us, Israel could not keep the requirements of the Law. They strayed from it time and time again. As Paul writes in the book of Romans, the Law is perfect, but we have all disobeyed it. Disobedience means eternal death. But God has obeyed the Law for us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Because Christ has kept the Law for us, He has gained for us eternal life!

God Invites You to a Love Relationship with Him

Love God with all your heart (Greek: kardia).

The word, “heart” occurs about 210 times in the New Testament (600 in the OT).

The word “heart” is never used in reference to the physical heart.

The NT sees “heart” as the center of the real person.

Love God with all your soul (Greek: psuche)

Psuche denotes one’s inner life or actual personhood.

The soul is not the center of the person, it is his entire being.

In the NT, “soul” is contrasted with “body.”

Love God with all your mind (Greek: Phronema – thought, Ennola - reflection, Noema – perception, Gnome – intelligence and Dianoia – intention or purpose).

We are transformed from life to death by a renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2)

Our minds are the center of our thought processes.

We have the mind of Christ 1 Corinthians 2:16).

Love is initiated in us by the Holy Spirit.

No man comes to Christ who was not first prompted by the Holy Spirit.

No bad thought, word or deed was ever initiated by the Holy Spirit.

Each of us must personally abide with the Holy Spirt apart from what others do.

We will live our lives in direct proportion to our love for God through Christ.

The more we love God, the more He can do through us.

The more we love God, the more we will love Him. Love for God grows.

We cannot out-love God.

God’s love is manifested in His grace for us through Christ.

We are saved by _______________ (grace)

We are saved through ________________ (faith)

We are saved to ____________________ (works of service)

We will relate more lovingly to God more when we spend time with Him.

We must spend time with Him in reflection.

We must spend time with Him in private

We must spend time with Him corporately

God seeks company with righteous people.

Since there is not a single person righteous in-and-of himself, how will God keep

company with us?

God sees us as righteous through Christ’s eyes, as it were.

Christ’s righteousness in us enables us to experience God.

Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship with God through Christ.

God always speaks with His purpose in mind.

God peruses those who honestly want to know Him.

We spend time with reflection not to grow to love God, but because we love Him.

Following God is a way of saying to Him, “I love you, God.”

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38)

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-El Shaddai-Amy Grand & Michael W. Smith

A Study in Nehemiah Week 5

(Get your Bible and read the verses as we study)

Nehemiah Chapter 9

Verse 1-2 - The Israelites were together fasting and wearing sackcloth and ashes (dust). Sackcloth and ashes were used as a symbol of debasement, mourning and repentance. The wearer wanted to show a repentant heart. They were used as a public sign of humility before God.

Verses 3-4 – The Book of the Law was read to them for a quarter of the day, reminding them of their failure to keep it. Then the Israelites spent a quarter of a day confessing their sin and worshiping the Lord. The Levites (the assistants to the priests who taught the Law) did the reading from a place where they could be seen and heard by the crowd.

Verses 5-31 – This was the message of the greatness of God, the sinfulness of His people and of their need to repent.

Verse 32 – God is recognized as great and mighty (powerful). He is awesome beyond measure or understanding.

Sometimes we lose sight of the reason we are to fear God. We tend to think of the fear of God as little more than just respect. But Isaiah tell us that just the right hand of God spans the universe (Isaiah 48:13 “…my right hand hath spanned [or spread] the heavens”…). Would it not be fearful to stand before a God that big? It not only would be, it should be. To trivialize or sin against such a mighty God would be terrifying indeed.

Verse 33 – God is just and cannot look upon sin. Whenever our sense of justice conflicts with God’s, it is always we who are wrong and need to adjust our concept of justice.

Verse 34 – The ancestors of the Israelites, including their religious leaders, were not able to keep God’s Law and therefore sinned against Him.

Verse 35 – The religious leaders wanted to be seen as righteous and worthy of respect, but even they did not serve God properly, and they, too, were guilty of sin.

Verse 36 – We are to be God’s servants, through Christ. Servanthood is an attitude of putting God and other people before ourselves. Matthew 20:26 states a principle: “Those who desire to be great in God’s kingdom must be the servant of all.”

Verse 37 – Sin separated from God and has certain consequences. When a nation sins, other nations reap the rewards that were intended for them. The Jews, because of the national sin(s) had been forced to labor for their captors as slaves.

Verse 38 – Once again the Israelites agreed to turn back to God. This time they put it in writing. That constitutes a contract. A contract is considered unbreachable under the law. As it turns out, however, the Jews did not even keep the covenant they made with God in writing! They breached their own contract.

It was time for a new contract, one initiated by God and sealed for eternity by Him. It was drawing close to the time of the New Covenant of the blood of Jesus Christ to atone once and for all for sin.

19 Things to Mull Over In Your Mind

1.  Jesus said, “I am the truth, the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” (John 14:6-7)

2.  It was Jesus’ claim to be God that got Him into such trouble with the religious leaders (Priests, Pharisees and Levites).

3.  God speaks to every believer, but He never speaks to any believer in any way that contradicts His Word.

4.  God works in our lives according to the Scriptures, not according to our imaginations.

5.  God requires perfection of us, but we are unable to achieve it for Him. He therefore provides our perfection through Christ. If we trust Him in Christ, we will not have to worry about our “works.” In direct proportion to our trust in His leadership, our works will “take care of themselves.”

6.  God never has, does not now and never will break His promise. His promises are clearly delineated in the Bible.

7.  God has a direction for your life that is in keeping with His word.

8.  God wants you to respond to the leadership of the Holy Spirit as He directs your daily life in accordance with His word.

9.  Commitment to God’s way for our lives is essential to experiencing Him.

10. Being in the center of God’s will is essential to experiencing Him. Anything that we do, think or say that is not in the “dead center” of God’s will is sin. He will not condemn us for it, but we will lose the joy and comfort of being in His will.

11. We do not determine God’s will by our experiences. Our experiences must conform to the Word of God or the results of them will be heresy. Experiences must be evaluated in the light of God’s Word. God will direct you in ways that are consistent with His Word.

12. Jesus is the only one worthy of our followship.

13.God’s will includes, but is not limited to: 1. Be joyful always. 2. Pray continually. 3. Give thanks in all circumstances. 4. Follow the Holy Spirit. 5. Study the prophets. 6. Test everything. 7. Hold to the good. 8. Avoid evil. 9. Sanctify (set apart) yourself for His works.

14. Being a servant of God means giving up one’s selfishness and dying daily for Him. Jesus is the potter, we are His clay to be molded in His hands according to His will.

15. God is not interested in our business for business’ sake. He wants everything we do to be for the ongoing and up-building of His work.

16. God’s church has three main purposes: 1) To worship and praise Him; 2) To edify (build up) one another; 3) To lead people to Christ.

17. God will use you to do His work. He will enter into a relationship with you. He will invite you to come to Him and to work for Him. He will speak to you through His word and through His Holy Spirit. He will see you through those times when you don’t understand what’s happening and when you tend to doubt Him. He will help you adjust your thinking to conform to His Word. He will help you experience Him more fully every day.

18. No matter how unable you think you are to follow and experience God, He can use you; starting where you are and advancing you to heights you may never have believed possible.

19. God is Holy. His ways are not our ways. We think we know how something should be done, but often God accomplishes His will in ways we never expect.

A Study in Nehemiah Week 4

 

(Get your Bible and study along with us) 

Nehemiah Chapter 8 - REVIVAL and REFORM

A Great Bible reading is led by Ezra in Chapter 8. Bible reading is essential to revival.

Verses 1-6— Ezra stands upon a pulpit of wood before the water gate. The water is symbolic of the Word of God. Notice that the pulpit’s purpose was not sanctimony, it was used for a very practical reason: so all of the people could see and hear the speaker.

Ezra reads in the Law of Moses from morning until noon. That’s a lot of Bible study. As we shall see, the people hungered for the Word of God.

Verses 7- 8 — Ezra evidently reads a section of the Word of God and then the Levites, scattered in the crowd, explain it to the people.  The method used here is still God’s method.  The Word is to be read distinctly and explained so that the people can understand it.

So many things we do today are questioned because they are not understood. God’s Word is very practical. The leader read the Word and then the Word was explained. That is God’s order and God’s way.

Verses 9-12 — Many people are overcome with emotion as they had never before heard the Word of God.  They weep.  The wept because they had never heard some of the Word’s accounts of their history. The wept because they felt the conviction of disobedience to God by Israel. The wept with joy over the prospects of God’s redemptive grace.

Nehemiah urges the people not to weep but to rejoice.  Here is the source of Christian strength, “for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).  This is the same admonition given to us in Philippians 4:13.

Verse 13 — Ezra instructs the teachers (Levites, the assistants to the priests) in the law. He tries to ensure that they will be teaching correctly and teaching right doctrine.

False doctrine is one of the most prevalent issues in the church today. Paul warned Timothy in his first letter to him to guard against putting teachers of false doctrine in positions of leadership.

Verses 14-18 — The feast of the seventh month is the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths and Sukkot, is the seventh and last feast that the Lord commanded Israel to observe and one of the three feasts that Jews were to observe each year by going to “appear before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose”.

John wrote in John 1:14. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The word John chose to speak of Jesus “dwelling” among us is the word tabernacle, which simply means to “dwell in a tent.” Some believe it is very likely that John intentionally used this word to associate the first coming of Christ with the Feast of Tabernacles.

Why the Crusades?

Islam's Own Crusades.
Notice the flag

If the Crusades are compared to the mission and ministry of Jesus and the first generations of Christians, then the Crusades seem cruel and ruthless . But did the Europeans launch the first Crusade in a mindless, bloodthirsty and irrational way, or were there more justifying reasons for their being?

In 635 AD, the first Christian city was overrun by Muslim armies.

In 638 AD, Jerusalem was conquered by Muslim armies

In 642 AD, Egypt was taken by Muslim armies.

In 652 AD, Muslims plundered Italy.

In 668 AD, Muslim armies laid siege to Constantinople, the Christian capital.

In 715 AD, Spain was conquered by Muslim armies.

In 732 AD, France was attacked by Muslims.

In 846 AD, the Christian world’s capital, Rome, was sacked by a Muslim army.

A more precise and detailed timeline follows.

630 Two years before Muhammad's death of a fever, he launches the Tabuk Crusades, in which he led 30,000 jihadists against the Byzantine Christians. He had heard a report that a huge army had amassed to attack Arabia, but the report turned out to be a false rumor. The Byzantine army never materialized. He turned around and went home, but not before extracting 'agreements' from northern tribes. They could enjoy the 'privilege' of living under Islamic 'protection' (read: not be attacked by Islam), if they paid a tax (jizya).

This tax sets the stage for Muhammad's and the later Caliphs' policies. If the attacked city or region did not want to convert to Islam, then they paid a jizya tax. If they converted, then they paid a zakat tax. Either way, money flowed back to the Islamic treasury in Arabia or to the local Muslim governor.

632—634 Under the Caliphate of Abu Bakr the Muslim Crusaders reconquer and sometimes conquer for the first time the polytheists of Arabia. These Arab polytheists had to convert to Islam or die. They did not have the choice of remaining in their faith and paying a tax. Islam does not allow for religious freedom.

633 The Muslim Crusaders, led by Khalid al—Walid, a superior but bloodthirsty military commander, whom Muhammad nicknamed the Sword of Allah for his ferocity in battle (Tabari, 8:158 / 1616—17), conquer the city of Ullays along the Euphrates River (in today's Iraq). Khalid captures and beheads so many that a nearby canal, into which the blood flowed, was called Blood Canal (Tabari 11:24 / 2034—35).

634 At the Battle of Yarmuk in Syria the Muslim Crusaders defeat the Byzantines.  Osama bin Laden drew inspiration from the defeat, and especially from an anecdote about Khalid al—Walid. An unnamed Muslim remarks: 'The Romans are so numerous and the Muslims so few.'  To this Khalid retorts: 'How few are the Romans, and how many the Muslims! Armies become numerous only with victory and few only with defeat, not by the number of men. By God, I would love it . . . if the enemy were twice as many' (Tabari, 11:94 / 2095). Osama bin Ladin quotes Khalid and says that his fighters love death more than we in the West love life. This philosophy of death probably comes from a verse like Sura 2:96. Muhammad assesses the Jews: '[Prophet], you are sure to find them [the Jews] clinging to life more eagerly than any other people, even polytheists' (MAS Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford UP, 2004.

634—644 The Caliphate of Umar ibn al—Khattab, who is regarded as particularly brutal.

635 Muslim Crusaders besiege and conquer of Damascus

636 Muslim Crusaders defeat Byzantines decisively at Battle of Yarmuk.

637 Muslim Crusaders conquer Iraq at the Battle of al—Qadisiyyah (some date it in 635 or 636)

638 Muslim Crusaders conquer and annex Jerusalem, taking it from the Byzantines.

638—650 Muslim Crusaders conquer Iran, except along Caspian Sea.

639—642 Muslim Crusaders conquer Egypt.

641 Muslim Crusaders control Syria and Palestine.

643—707 Muslim Crusaders conquer North Africa.

644 Caliph Umar is assassinated by a Persian prisoner of war; Uthman ibn Affan is elected third Caliph, who is regarded by many Muslims as gentler than Umar.

644—650 Muslim Crusaders conquer Cyprus, Tripoli in North Africa, and establish Islamic rule in Iran, Afghanistan, and Sind.

656 Caliph Uthman is assassinated by disgruntled Muslim soldiers; Ali ibn Abi Talib, son—in—law and cousin to Muhammad, who married the prophet's daughter Fatima through his first wife Khadija, is set up as Caliph.

656 Battle of the Camel, in which Aisha, Muhammad's wife, leads a rebellion against Ali for not avenging Uthman's assassination. Ali's partisans win.

657 Battle of Siffin between Ali and Muslim governor of Jerusalem, arbitration goes against Ali

661 Murder of Ali by an extremist; Ali's supporters acclaim his son Hasan as next Caliph, but he comes to an agreement with Muawiyyah I and retires to Medina.

661—680 the Caliphate of Muawiyyah I. He founds Umayyid dynasty and moves capital from Medina to Damascus

673—678 Arabs besiege Constantinople, capital of Byzantine Empire

680 Massacre of Hussein (Muhammad's grandson), his family, and his supporters in Karbala, Iraq.

691 Dome of the Rock is completed in Jerusalem, only six decades after Muhammad's death.

705 Abd al—Malik restores Umayyad rule.

710—713 Muslim Crusaders conquer the lower Indus Valley.

711—713 Muslim Crusaders conquer Spain and impose the kingdom of Andalus. Muslims today still grieve over their expulsion 700 years later. They seem to believe that the land belonged to them in the first place.

719 Cordova, Spain, becomes seat of Arab governor

732 The Muslim Crusaders stopped at the Battle of Poitiers; that is, Franks (France) halt Arab advance

749 The Abbasids conquer Kufah and overthrow Umayyids

756 Foundation of Umayyid amirate in Cordova, Spain, setting up an independent kingdom from Abbasids

762 Foundation of Baghdad

785 Foundation of the Great Mosque of Cordova

789 Rise of Idrisid amirs (Muslim Crusaders) in Morocco; foundation of Fez; Christoforos, a Muslim who converted to Christianity, is executed.

800 Autonomous Aghlabid dynasty (Muslim Crusaders) in Tunisia

807 Caliph Harun al—Rashid orders the destruction of non—Muslim prayer houses and of the church of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem

809 Aghlabids (Muslim Crusaders) conquer Sardinia, Italy

813 Christians in Palestine are attacked; many flee the country

831 Muslim Crusaders capture Palermo, Italy; raids in Southern Italy

850 Caliph al—Matawakkil orders the destruction of non—Muslim houses of prayer

855 Revolt of the Christians of Hims (Syria)

837—901 Aghlabids (Muslim Crusaders) conquer Sicily, raid Corsica, Italy, France

869—883 Revolt of black slaves in Iraq

909 Rise of the Fatimid Caliphate in Tunisia; these Muslim Crusaders occupy Sicily, Sardinia

928—969 Byzantine military revival, they retake old territories, such as Cyprus (964) and Tarsus (969)

937 The Ikhshid, a particularly harsh Muslim ruler, writes to Emperor Romanus, boasting of his control over the holy places

937 The Church of the Resurrection (known as Church of Holy Sepulcher in Latin West) is burned down by Muslims; more churches in Jerusalem are attacked

960 Conversion of Qarakhanid Turks to Islam

966 Anti—Christian riots in Jerusalem

969 Fatimids (Muslim Crusaders) conquer Egypt and found Cairo 

c. 970 Seljuks enter conquered Islamic territories from the East

973 Israel and southern Syria are again conquered by the Fatimids

1003 First persecutions by al—Hakim; the Church of St. Mark in Fustat, Egypt, is destroyed

1009 Destruction of the Church of the Resurrection by al—Hakim (see 937)

1012 Beginning of al—Hakim's oppressive decrees against Jews and Christians

1015 Earthquake in Palestine; the dome of the Dome of the Rock collapses

1031 Collapse of Umayyid Caliphate and establishment of 15 minor independent dynasties throughout Muslim Andalus

1048 Reconstruction of the Church of the Resurrection completed

1050 Creation of Almoravid (Muslim Crusaders) movement in Mauretania; Almoravids (aka Murabitun) are coalition of western Saharan Berbers; followers of Islam, focusing on the Quran, the hadith, and Maliki law.

1055 Seljuk Prince Tughrul enters Baghdad, consolidation of the Seljuk Sultanate

1055 Confiscation of property of Church of the Resurrection

1071 Battle of Manzikert, Seljuk Turks (Muslim Crusaders) defeat Byzantines and occupy much of Anatolia

1071 Turks (Muslim Crusaders) invade Palestine

1073 Conquest of Jerusalem by Turks (Muslim Crusaders)

1075 Seljuks (Muslim Crusaders) capture Nicea (Iznik) and make it their capital in Anatolia

1076 Almoravids (Muslim Crusaders) (see 1050) conquer western Ghana

1085 Toledo is taken back by Christian armies

1086 Almoravids (Muslim Crusaders) (see 1050) send help to Andalus, Battle of Zallaca

1090—1091 Almoravids (Muslim Crusaders) occupy all of Andalus except Saragossa and Balearic Islands

1094 Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus I asks western Christendom for help against Seljuk invasions of his territory; Seljuks are Muslim Turkish family of eastern origins

By 1094, Muslim armies had conquered two-thirds of the Christian world. In 1095, the Crusades began in order to rid the world of those people who denigrated women, beheaded their enemies, burned people at the stake, crucified infidels and stuck beheaded people’s heads on poles for all to see.

Do you still think the Crusaders were the bad guys?

For more information, click HERE.

Thanks to James Arlandson for his in depth research.