Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
“And there shall be six branches going out of the sides thereof: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candle-stick out of the other side thereof.” Exodus 25:32 (The Israel Bible™)
A menorah carving found in a 1,400-year-old Byzantine church in Jordan provides the first substantial evidence of Jewish presence in the ancient city of Abila, which has long thought to have a Jewish population, Haaretz reported.
The seven-branched menorah with a three-legged branch was carved on a stone block found in the second tier of a wall in the church, while excavating the Byzantine church from the sixth or seventh century C.E.
“This is the first physical evidence of a Jewish presence at Abila, and holds great promise that further discoveries will give more evidence in this direction,” said Dave Vila, head of the excavations.
Archaeologists can only confirm that the menorah carving predates the church which is 1,300-1,400 years old.
The stone block is believed to be repurposed from another structure, such as a synagogue. Menorahs similar to this carving are often discovered on mosaic synagogue floors from the Late Antiquity period, from the late third century A.D. to the mid-seventh century A.D.
Evidence of Catastrophic Biblical Flood Found in China?
CBN News 08-17-2016
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Chinese scientists have discovered new evidence that points to the biblical account of Noah's flood from thousands of years ago.
Archeologists uncovered the bones of children believed to have been trapped by a flood that ripped through the Yellow River Valley nearly 4,000 years ago. Their bones are dated back to time of Noah, leading some to believe these remains are evidence of the biblical story.
If the newly discovered flood is the one of Noah's times, it may shake what scientists originally believed about the Bible.
The discovery points to a massive flood that sent rocks and tons of sediment rushing into the Yellow River Valley. The flood was so big, it created a 660 foot damn that scars China to this day.
Some are not surprised by this discovery, saying there is evidence all around the world of an ancient catastrophic flood.
"There are thousands of feet of flood sediment all over the globe - evidence of a catastrophic global flood," Ken Ham, from Answers in Genesis, said.
Ham argues that the unearthing of evidence pointing to an ancient world-wide flood testifies to the validity of the Christian faith.
"If the Bible's true, it means God is Creator," Ham said. "It means God owns us. It means we have to be in submission to him. It means that we need to receive the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ."
The IAA excavated the former Schneller army base ahead of the planned construction of residential buildings on the site.
Various discoveries were made during the dig, including a large winery from either the Roman or Byzantine period, around 1,600 years ago. Archaeologists found a white mosaic surface surrounding a pit that was part of the wine press used to extract juice from grapes.
Eight structures around the press were probably used for storing grapes and possibly to blend wine. Archeologists surmised that the press was part of a large manor house whose residents may have traded in wine.
"Whenever one turns over a stone, ancient artifacts will be found related to Jerusalem's glorious past,” said archaeologist Alex Wiegmann, excavation director on behalf of the IAA. “The archaeological finds discovered here help paint a living, vibrant and dynamic picture of Jerusalem as it was in ancient times up until the modern era.”
Remains of a bathhouse were also found, including terra cotta pipes used to heat the bathing facility and clay bricks stamped with the title of the Tenth Roman Legion, one of the four legions that took part in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Units of the legion remained garrisoned in the city until around 300 CE.
The close proximity of the Schneller site to the International Conference Center, where the remains of a large pottery and brick production center were previously found, led archaeologists to believe that Schneller was an auxiliary to the main site.
Excavations and investigations indicate that the remains of a Jewish community at the Schneller compound dated from the late Second Temple period, around the time of Jesus.
During its more recent history, the site housed the Schneller orphanage from 1860 until World War II. During the British Mandate its German occupants were expelled and it became a military base. In 1948 it was taken over by the Haganah — the precursor to the IDF — and it later became an IDF military base that was active until it was closed in 2008.
JERUSALEM, Israel -- More than a decade ago, filmmaker Tim Mahoney began investigating one of the Bible's most well-known stories, the Exodus from Egypt.
According to the book of Exodus, Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness, where they journeyed for 40 years. Following his death, Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land, near Jericho.
Some believe it's all just a fable, but others say this new documentary provides evidence that demands a verdict.
Mahoney's research into the Exodus and the odyssey that followed produced startling results.
"So I actually went to the location where the events were supposed to happen in Goshen, in the eastern Delta, and went to the archaeological sites. And that's what I was told, that there was no evidence for the Exodus," Mahoney told CBN News.
The film proposes that when you get the timing right, archaeology matches history.
"Six steps in the right sequence and we match the story of the Bible in all the steps and show evidence for the Bible that people have never seen before," Mahoney said.
The film features experts who share their insights into the biblical account. Some are skeptical.
"The whole thing from the beginning of Mesogenan in Egypt, the slavery, Moses in the Exodus, the conquest of the Promised Land, it's all there in one neat line, but it's way too early," Egyptologist and author David Rohl said.
"You look for a collapse in Egyptian civilization and that's where you find Moses and the Exodus," Rohl explained.
"When you put those cities side by side, the biblical account and the archaeology match extremely well," Dr. John Bimson, a tutor in Old Testament at Trinity College in Bristol, England, concluded.
Skeptics and Believers
Mahoney kept looking for answers.
"What I started to see was there is this idea that Rameses is the pharaoh of the Exodus, and I think that happens in a particular time of history," he explained. "And when everyone looks at that particular time they're actually correct that there is no evidence for the Exodus."
"But other archaeologists and Egyptologists said, 'Wait a minute, there are evidences that are earlier than Rameses that match this story,'" he continued.
The film presents both sides of the archaeological argument as to whether the Exodus actually happened.
"I hate to disappoint people, but we have no evidence of a mass migration of people from one people coming into another country," University of Haifa archaeologist Norma Franklin states in the film. "I don't believe there was a single event that we can call the Exodus."
Egyptologist Maarten Raven, curator of the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands, also doubts the biblical account.
"This person [Moses] could not have seen all this. He imagined it," Raven asserted in the film.
"I'm very much against chronicle revisionism," said James K. Hoffmeier, Egyptologist and professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern Archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.
Egyptologist Mansour Boraik, director general of Antiquities at Luxor, maintains "there's no documented evidence about the Exodus."
And Tel Aviv University archaeologist Israel Finkelstein concludes "[The] Exodus did not happen in the way that it is described in the text."
But Mahoney believes the film's authenticity is strengthened by presenting both sides of the argument.
"The film is very, very convincing because we give both sides of it," he said. "We let you hear from archaeologists who say there is no evidence, and why, and we let you hear from these archaeologists and Egyptologists who say there is."
Why the Exodus?
Using state-of-the-art animation, ground-breaking archaeological discoveries and new interpretation, the film has already had a profound impact.
"We would show these films to people who had no understanding or interest in the story," Mahoney said. "Even atheists saw it and what they said was, 'Wow, I love this film. I love this approach.'"
"One atheist wrote, 'Well, I guess you did prove that this event might have happened, but that doesn't mean there were any miracles," he added.
Manhoney said the film is a powerful tool to reach skeptics.
"If you've got family members that [sic] don't believe in God or you have people that [sic] are suspicious or want a scientific approach, this film gives you that type of opportunity to have those kinds of conversations, which I think is the best you could ever hope for," Mahoney said.
"It's one of the most neutral and most intriguing types of films that allow you to have that opportunity," he added.
The film challenges a powerful notion that the Bible isn't true.
"Well one of the most important things is that up until now -- for the last 50, 60, 70 years -- people have been very critical of the Bible, and they said there just is no evidence," Mahoney said.
"And if the story of the Exodus isn't true, then what Jesus Christ said…about Moses and the Exodus and what the Apostle Paul said -- then those statements are false," he continued. "Because if there was no Exodus, then it starts to collapse the whole story."
"The whole Bible has a foundation in the story of the Exodus. What this film does -- which I believe it's profound -- is that it actually shows where the pattern of evidence is," Mahoney said. "And that I think has never been done before."
Jesus' Words Backed by Archaeology: The Stones Are Crying Out
A burial cave in Jerusalem (YouTube)
A few years ago, people exploring caves outside Jerusalem came across the find of a lifetime: an ancient burial cave containing the remains of a crucified man. This find is only one in a series of finds that overturns a century-old scholarly consensus.
That consensus held that the Gospels are almost entirely proclamation and contain little, if any, real history. The remains belonged to a man who had been executed in the first century A.D., that is, from the time of Jesus.
As Jeffrey Sheler writes in his book Is the Bible True? the skeleton confirms what the evangelists wrote about Jesus' death and burial in several important ways.
First, location—scholars had long doubted the biblical account of Jesus' burial. They believed that crucified criminals were tossed in a mass grave and then devoured by wild animals. But this man, a near contemporary of Jesus, was buried in the same way the Bible says Jesus was buried.
Then there's the physical evidence from the skeleton. The man's shinbones appeared to have been broken. This confirms what John wrote about the practice of Roman executioners. They would break the legs of the crucified to hasten death, something from which Jesus, already dead, was spared.
This point is particularly noteworthy, since scholars have long dismissed the details of John's Passion narrative as theologically motivated embellishments. Another part of John's Gospel that archaeology has recently corroborated is the story of Jesus healing the lame man in John 5.
John describes a five-sided pool just inside the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem where the sick came to be healed. Since no other document of antiquity—including the rest of the Bible—mentions such a place, skeptics have long argued that John simply invented the place. But as Sheler points out, when archaeologists decided to dig where John said that the pool had been located, they found a five-sided pool. What's more, the pool contained shrines to the Greek gods of healing.
Apparently John didn't make up the pool after all. The dismissal of biblical texts without bothering to dig points to a dirty little secret about a lot of scholarly opinion: Much of the traditional suspicion of the biblical text can only be called a prejudice.
That is, it's a conclusion arrived at before one has the facts. Scholars long assumed that the Bible, like other documents of antiquity, was essentially propaganda, what theologian Rudolf Bultmann called "kerygma" or proclamation.
But this prejudice does an injustice to biblical faith. Central to that faith are history and memory.
Christians believe that God has acted, and continues to act, in history. For us, remembering what God has done is an act of worship—something that brings us closer to God.
Thus, while these discoveries in the desert may come as a surprise to some skeptics, they're no surprise to Christians. While archeology alone cannot bring a person to faith, these finds are an eloquent argument for not dismissing the truth of Scripture before at least examining the evidence, because, as we are learning every day, Jesus meant it when He said, "The very stones will cry out."
