Professor John Garstang of Liverpool University excavated Tell es-Sultan, Biblical Jericho, between 1930 and 1936. Having discovered a partially collapsed mudbrick wall, he declared that the Bible was confirmed and the wall of Jericho had come tumbling down. Other sites showed similar signs of destruction. It was a no-brainer. The initial observations, however, were not […]
By the 1920’s, popular opinion, even in the US, was described by the expression “God Is Dead”, and those who believed in the historicity of the Bible were “roasted” and ridiculed as anti-intellectuals. Prohibition ended in failure and was appealed. Science had been producing physical evidence, such as skeletons of Neanderthal Man, to support the […]
Friedrich Nietzsche lived until 1900, which qualified him to be an excellent observer of the 19th century movements that resulted from the earlier Enlightenment, movements such as Darwinism and Marxism. Living in Germany, he was especially close to where higher criticism began. When Nietzsche said “God is dead”, he was just observing that “faith had […]
Normally, the responsibility of a Jewish priest consisted of receiving the sacrifices and offerings from the people and offering them in the temple before God. They also took care of the maintenance and security of the temple, which was the one and only authorized place of ceremonial worship for the Jews. The priest Jehoiada went […]
Around 886 BC, when the reformer Jehu arose, Baal worship was at its worst. Israel had lost its uniqueness. In the northern kingdom, Ahab had married Jezebel from Tyre and introduced all sorts of pagan worship into Israel. His son Joram was now on the throne. In the southern kingdom of Judah, Jehoram had married […]
Many people, including myself, have had life-changing experiences. We have experienced a tragedy or a crisis that was so intense and personal that it changed the course of their lives. King Uzziah, for instance, insisted on offering incense in the temple, as only a priest had the right to do, and he was smitten with […]
The Iron Age changed the face of the world. Iron was not new, but the extensive mass production of iron was. When Tiglath-Pileser III took the Assyrian throne in 744 BC, he reorganized every aspect of the empire, from military to the arts. He created the first Corps of Engineers as a separate branch of […]
Hezekiah was twenty-five when he began to reign, so he had known his industrious grandfather Jotham and had also grown up watching his father Ahaz chase after the vain glories of the surrounding nations. With the northern kingdom gone, there was still a strong movement within the people to practice idolatry. This meant that there […]
Judah Israel Syria Assyria Year Ahaz Pekah Rezin Pul (Tiglath-Pileser III) ~736 BC What was going on in Judah when Samaria fell? Ahaz was the king who was on the throne of Judah at that time. Judah had been ruled for one hundred years by kings that were described as “good”, but Ahaz changed. […]
Forced migration was the most serious consequence of the fall of Samaria. Fortunately, the Israelites were still alive, but they were scattered across Assyria, destined to lose their Jewish identity. Only those who have been ripped from their heritage and compelled to live among strangers can understand how a refugee’s world is turned upside down. […]