In Accordance With The Word Of God

The English word "cord" originated from an ancient Greek word that referred to the lyre, a small stringed musical instrument, similar to a harp (hence also the origin of the musical term "chord," meaning "a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together"). From that, the word developed to mean a string or woven rope of multiple strands (hence also the origin of the term being together in "accordance" and of the musical instrument known as the "accordion"). The fundamental meaning of all of the usage variations of the word "cord" is to be woven together for a single purpose, as in to be in accordance.

A prime example of cords and the principle of accordance may be found in the account of when the Israelites contributed the materials that were used to create the Tabernacle. All of those materials and efforts were "woven" together to produce a single result. Included also was the fine linen and goat's hair (all of the materials were obtained from the Egyptians at the time of the Exodus) that were woven for the Levite garments, the Tabernacle curtains - and the cords that supported the structure (keeping in mind that the Tabernacle was a tent).

"^35:4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel [see The First Christian Church], saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, ^35:5 Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass, ^35:6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, ^35:7 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, ^35:8 And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense, ^35:9 And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

^35:10 And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD [see The Rock Of The Church] hath commanded; ^35:11 The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets, ^35:12 The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering, ^35:13 The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the showbread, ^35:14 The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light, ^35:15 And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle, ^35:16 The altar of burnt offering, with his brazen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, ^35:17 The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court, ^35:18 The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords, ^35:19 The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office." (Exodus 35:4-19 KJV)

"According unto your words"

One of the most famous incidents of Bible History was when Rahab of Jericho assisted the Israelite scouts that Joshua had sent to the city before his attack. She "let them down by a cord through the window" after they made an agreement to spare her and her family, but she then added "According unto your words, so be it." While it may seem to be just a translation coincidence into the English, the usage of "cord" and "according" are entirely correct and appropriate - in both the original Hebrew and the translated English.

"^2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: ^2:13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

^2:14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land [see A History Of Jerusalem: War And Peace], that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

^2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. ^2:16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

^2:17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. ^2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. ^2:19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. ^2:20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

^2:21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window."

King Solomon was a man who was hardly alone (hundreds of wives and concubines, a great many servants), but there were times that he was nevertheless very lonely (see A History Of Jerusalem: The Glory Of Solomon).

"^4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

^4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. ^4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

^4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? ^4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:8-12 KJV)

Cords were also spoken of figuratively in which, like tent ropes, the LORD supports those who "stand" by Him - while those who reject Him will surely fall.

"^30:11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me." (Job 30:11 KJV)

"^36:8 And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction; ^36:9 Then he showeth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded." (Job 36:8-9 KJV)

"^5:18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope" (Isaiah 5:18 KJV)

"^129:4 The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked." (Psalm 129:4 KJV)

"^140:5 The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me" (Psalm 140:5 KJV)

True Christianity isn't merely a state of mind - it's a way of life, toward eternal life (see the Fact Finder question below).

"^16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ^16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. ^16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? ^16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." (Matthew 16:24-27 KJV)

Fact Finder: What does "bind and loose" mean to a Christian?
See Bind and Loose; also The Yoke Of Freedom and The Path To Glory

This Day In History, February 10

48 BC: Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus died. He was a leader of the Optimates (an ultra-conservative senatorial aristocracy) in the last years of the Roman Republic (see The Politics Of Rome) which was followed by Imperial Rome under the "Caesars" - the first of which is recorded in the Bible (see A History Of Jerusalem: Pompey And The Caesars and Pax Romana: The Birth Of The Roman Empire). After the powerful generals Julius Caesar (see The Cleopatra Connection and A History Of Jerusalem: Greeks, Ptolemies, Seleucids), Gnaeus Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus formed an unofficial ruling triumvirate in 60 BC, Ahenobarbus resisted them.

1162: Baldwin III died at age 31. He was the king of the "crusader state" of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1162 (see A History Of Jerusalem: Constantine and Muhammad and Constantine's Crusades In History And Prophecy; listen also to out Sermon Constantine's Papacy).

1258: Huegu, a Mongol leader, seized Baghdad, bringing an end to the Abbasid caliphate.

1364: A treaty was signed which guaranteed that Tyrol would be kept in the families of the Luxemburgs and Hapsburgs.

1567: Lord Darnley, the husband of Roman Catholic Queen Mary Stuart, ("Mary, Queen of Scots") was murdered by her lover (and next husband) James Hepburn.

1720: Edmund Halley was appointed the second Astronomer Royal of England.

1763: Britain gained control of Canada from France with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The treaty, signed between Britain, France and Spain, ended the Seven Years War, stripped France of all its possessions north of what became the United States, except for the tiny islands of St. Pierre-Miquelon off the east coast of Canada, which remain territories of France to this day. Spain won Louisiana and Havana.

1799: Napoleon Bonaparte departed Cairo, Egypt, for Syria, with a force of 13,000 men.

1814: Napoleon personally directed lightning strikes against enemy columns advancing toward Paris, beginning with a victory over the Russians at Champaubert.

1837: Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and novelist, was killed in a duel. Regarded as Russia's greatest poet, his works included Boris Godunov.

1840: Queen Victoria of England and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg (Germany), both age 21, were married. The marriage was arranged by their uncle (Victoria and Albert were cousins) King Leopold of Belgium.

1846: British general Sir Hugh Gough decisively routed Tej Singh's Sikhs in the Battle of Sobraon.

1904: Russia and Japan declared war on each other.

1906: Britain's first modern battleship, HMS Dreadnought, was launched.

1918: Abdulhhamid II died at age 76. He was the Ottoman sultan 1876-1909 (listen to our Sermon The Ottoman Empire).

1936: Adolf Hitler's Gestapo ("ge-stat-po" is the German abbreviation of "the-state-police") were authorized to arrest and imprison without trial (see Presidential Quotes On War, Terrorism, Religion).

1954: President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the U.S. becoming involved in the Vietnam civil war between North and South Vietnam.

1962: In a ceremony on a bridge between West Berlin and East Germany, Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, who had been arrested in New York, was exchanged for shot-down U.S. U-2 spy-plane pilot Francis Gary Powers and a U.S. "student" who had been held in East Germany on spying charges.

1974: British coal miners began a national strike. The dispute caused energy shortages, a 3 day work week, and the collapse of Edward Heath's Conservative government.

1986: The largest Mafia trial in history, with 474 defendants, opened in Palermo, Italy.

1991: Lithuanians voted overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union. Parliament had already declared independence in March 1990.

1996: An IBM computer called Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov, the first victory of a machine under classic tournament rules.

2005: North Korea announced that it had nuclear weapons.

2009: The communication satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collided in Earth orbit; both were destroyed.