The Fountain Magazine Issue 01, August 2013

Facts
Some Quick Facts
About the Bible
By IRVINE LUMUMBA,
Form 4, Alliance High School
10
1The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New
Testament was originally in Greek
The Old Testament was translated to Greek by 70
2 Greek scholars, The Septuaginta – In 285 BC, what
is today called the Septuagint
Then followed the Peshito or Literal for the Syrian
3 churches
4In 400 AD, Jerome translated the entire Bible from
Greek to Latin for the common people
It was then translated to German by Martin Luther,
5 a German scholar
William Tyndale then translated the Bible to English
to come up with the Authorized Version, The
6
King James Version
Dr. Johann Ludwig Krapf translated the Bible
7 to Swahili
The Holy Scriptures were divided
8 into chapters by Cardinal Hugo de
Sancto Caro in 1250 AD
It was versified in 1550 by Robert
9 Stevens
Publication of the 1st versified
New Testament in English
was in 1557, and the entire Bible
in 1560
The Bible has 1189 chapters, 929
11 in the Old Testament and 260 in the
New Testament
The middle chapter, Psalms 117, is the 595th
12 chapter; having 594 chapters before and after
it. It is also the shortest chapter, with 2 verses, 33
words, 33 letters
The longest chapter is Psalms 119, with 176
13 verses, 2445 words, 10146 letters
Two almost similar chapters of the Bible: 2nd
14
Kings 19 and Isaiah 37. 2nd Kings 19 has 37
verses, Isaiah 37 has 38 verses
8 The Fountain | August 2013
15. The
Bible was the
1st book to be
printed...
“Unceasing PRAYER is the unbroken union
of the soul with God, so that life from God
flows into our life; and from our life, purity
and holiness flow back to God.”
~ Steps to Christ, ch. 11, p. 98, Ellen G. White
SUCCESS
By LOICE MOKAYA,
Form 2W, Alliance Girls High School
The world defines success
by how much money you
make, how big your house
is, how nice your car is and
what type of job you have.
God however does not care
much about these things. When
He looks down to this planet,
what he notices is not the shiny
cars, big houses and hundred dollar
bills. No, the creation that catch His
eyes are His children on earth. He delights in
the cleanness of the heart, the fragrance of a
life well lived and purity of a Christ like personality.
He values us so much and works day and night
for our salvation.
Who Will Read
My Eulogy?
Every now and then I wonder
what those who will be present
when I meet my day will
say concerning my decedent self.
If I were to know anyone who will
be present at that funeral, I would
tell them that it should not be
long. If someone accepts to stand
on that day to read my eulogy, I
would wish that they not talk long.
I would like somebody to mention
that day, that Rosana JR,
did try to feed the hungry and
drop some coins into the beggars’
dishes by the roadside and
street corners. I would like it to be
said that I visited those in prison,
offered warmly a mug of cold
water to a sojourner heavy with
the fatigue of travel, clothed those
who were naked, prayed with the
sick and stayed up late with the
bereaved. I want someone to say
that I cracked jokes with my pals
and shares insights and fun moments
with my friends, that I occasionally
billed out cash strapped
colleagues, that I illuminated my
family and brightened my career,
and that I spoke an inspiring word
to souls in despair and shared in
the delight of rejoicing hearts.
I would like somebody not to forget
to mention that day, that I did
try to reach those I could with the
message of the everlasting gospel.
I want it said that in deed I tried
to love and serve.
In the process I have cogitatively
imagined and solemnly ruminated
as to whose story I would like
mine to be commonest to. I have
desired a genuinely ennobling
prodigy, full of qualities that excite
admiration, yet devoid of the pungent
spices and irritant twists of
mortal flesh. In this I have sought
by Joe R Rosana
after a life that is rich in simplicity,
simple in propriety of manners and
conduct, and conducted in coherent
veracity. No superstardom…
no antics…just plain sincerity and
richly evident commitment in the
heavenly course, without losing the
modesty of near anonymity.
After a measured and wholesome
comparison,
one man came
to the fore of my
list: the cupbearer
turned master
builder. Nehemiah
is his name. And
the magnanimous
duty of putting up
Jerusalem’s fallen
walls fell on the
little known servant
of the Most High
God.
I would like
somebody not to
forget to mention
that day, that I
did try to reach
those I could
with the message
of the everlasting
gospel.
Adjectives might
be insufficient in
describing this enviable
personality:
faithful in service, meek in prayer,
conscientious in duty, shrewd in
leadership, cunning in strategy,
meticulous in recording, studious
in the law, gracious in victory and
inundated in gratitude.
A courtesy visit by fellow Jews to
this high official of the Persian
Kingdom at Susa the citadel (during
the reign of King Artaxerxes
Longimanus) sparked off the magnificent
call to duty. The sternly just
and inherently ingenuous governor
steadily guided the hurried task of
rebuilding the walls. In spite of the
rocky opposition from without and
the evident disquiet from within,
the task was completed in 52
days; a feat that even Israel’s enemies
attributed to God’s enabling.
Yet in contrast, the task of reviving
and reforming the people of God
within the rebuilt walls demanded
years of Nehemiah’s godly life and
leadership. And these accounts
are punctuated by several fortifying
prayers and end famously with
the words: “Remember me, O my
God, for good.”
I therefore hope that
when that day comes,
when next fresh red
soil I shall lie, that not
only men will speak of
memories fond and
dear. I certainly hope,
that on that day
when darkness I shall
not distinguish from
light and from rain I
shall not run to shelter,
that an even longer
eulogy my guardian
angel shall present.
And yes I hope, that
while the grass will
grow, the heavenly
promise given to Daniel
the Patriarch, will be graciously
extended to me as well: “But go
thou thy way till the end be : for
thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot
at the end of the days.” ~Daniel
12:13.
Yet which is more…I hope that
that day will not be an end in itself,
but the end of this beginning.
Yes, I hope that when the trumpet
of the archangel will sound, I too
will rise again. When the glory of
the Lord shall be revealed, may I
be there too. When the victory of
the faithful shall be revealed, and
the corruption of the mortal flesh
shall be no more, I shall be there
with the chosen of God. I shall
stand again. And Jesus Himself will
be there.
The Fountain | August 2013 9