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Super-Natural Objective EvidenceEvidence Description of Evidence ImportanceMosaic Covenant: Dispersion ofIsrael

Duet 28:643450 yearsago Mosesforetold ascattering ofthe childrenof Israel

Two times in the history of Israel were theyscattered as a nation. First during theBabylonian captivity in 608 BC and asecond time during the Roman occupation54BC– 638 AD.

70 AD Roman general and future emperor destroys the Jewish Templeand city and begins the process of scattering the Jewish peoplethroughout the Roman empire to suppress opposition to Roman rule.The events are recorded by Jewish historian and writer FlaviousJosephus.The Arch of Titus in Rome celebrates the Roman victory overJerusalem.

MosaicCovenant:Gathering ofIsrael Duet 30:33450 years ago

Moses foretold a gathering of thechildren of Israel

Two times in history were the children ofIsrael gathered from the nations andplaced back in the land of Israel after beingscattered from the land. Once after Persianvictory over Babylon and Second aftercreation of state of Israel in May 1948.

The creation of the State of Israel after 2000 year period of occupationby foreign forces was fulfilling part of the Covenant Moses establishedbut also prophecies from the book of Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel ,Joel,Amos and Micah. All talked about a future gathering of a dispersedJewish nation.

Gathering of IsraelEzekiel 36-372600 years ago theJewish priest Ezekieldescribes a detailed

gathering of Israel.

Ezekiel gives a detailed description of thegathering of the Jewish people after 1900years of scattering. Jewish people from allover the world be gathered into a nationthat was birthed into existence.

Nearly 1900 years after the Roman armies expelled the Jews from theland of Israel and renamed it Palestine they returned. But 600 evenbefore they were expelled Ezekiel gave us a detailed account of theirreturn from near extermination as a people with no hope or recovery.The details of the prophecy defies all laws of probability. Some wayEzekiel knew the future in the past.

Gathering of Jewsfrom Ethiopia. Isaiah11:11 750 BC Isaiahdescribes Jews beinggathered fromEthiopia

In 1980 known as Operation Solomon andIn 1991 known as Operation Exoduspeople known as the Falashi Jews ofEthiopia were taken to Israel.

2750 years ago the book of Isaiah foretold of the gathering of Jewsfrom various nations including Ethiopia. After a near extermination thenation of Israel sent Cargo planes into Ethiopia to save the remainingof Jews who claimed descent from Dan.

Jerusalem focus of world attentionZechariah 12:32550 years agothe city ofJerusalem wasforetold to be a

focus of world attention.

We are told that Jerusalem will be a burdenfor the world and the object of conflict. Thenations of the world will be at war with thedescendents of Israel.

2550 years ago Jerusalem was not much different then any otherregional large city. But today over 3 billion people. Half the Earthpopulation claim connection to Jerusalem. 1.3 billion Muslims believethe City and Dome of the Rock belong to Islam. And Christian nationsfeel connected to it becauseOf Jesus. Zechariah was telling us the future in the past.

Abraham positionGen 12:2-3Abraham is promisedgreatness in theEarth.

Abraham was an individual that lived over4000 years ago in the city of Ur. But hisfuture is foretold with the following points.1. Great nation to come descend from him.2. Name great. 3. All people of Earthblessed through him

4000 years is a long-time. The chance for one individual to be singledout and projected as someone who would be great in the Earth 4000into the future is a near impossibility. This was either someone whohad power over time and space and could reveal the future in the pastor a very lucky guess. In fact the name Abraham is the most popularname in the world.

70 Weeks of DanielDaniel 9:24-27Daniel writes about thedate of the death ofMessiah Prince,Destruction ofJerusalem and

Temple, Rebuilding of Temple.

The exact month and year are foretold inDaniel when Messiah would die. Followinghis death the city and Temple would bedestroyed. The Temple would later berebuilt.

Jesus died in 33AD. Over 500 years before his death Daniel wouldforetell the Month and year of his death. As well as the Romandestruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. And a future yet to be rebuiltTemple. The details of Daniel prophecy are such that they are beyondlucky guessing. The source of Daniel’s writing is beyond Time andSpace.

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Messiah RejectedIsaiah 52:13-53 Theperson described inIsaiah is one who isto be exalted aboveall but will first berejected and killed.

Jesus claimed to be Messiah but told thathe must first suffer and be rejected for thesins of man. 750 years before his birthIsaiah describes events that would parallelthe life of Jesus and concur with hispurpose.

Jesus who claimed to be Messiah was crucified by the Romans. Isaiahforetold events that were beyond the control of human nature. “Raisedand lifted up” first be “appalled at”, “Pierced for transgression”, “Diewith the wicked”, “Buried with the rich” and then “See the light of life”.750 years before his birth. Today Christianity is the most populousreligion. What was Isaiah’s source?

Destructionof TempleMatthew 24 :2Jesus foretoldthedestruction ofthe JewishTemple in

which each stone would be throwndown.

In 70 AD the Romans under Titusdestroyed the Temple 37 years earlier thatthe Disciples admired. The Temple wascompletely destroyed.

In 70 AD the Romans burned the Temple. The gold from the Templemelted and poured into the rocks and crevices. The Roman soilderspried all the stones to get at the gold throwing each stone to theground. Fullfilling exactly what Jesus foretold. The future foretold inthe past.

Objective:ManuscriptDead SeaScrollsThe Dead

Sea Scrolls are actually hundreds of scrolls and scraps thatdate between 300BC and 70 AD. The first of them was foundin 1947 in the caves in the Qumran area near the Dead Seaabout seven miles south of Jericho.

Some of the scrolls werefound in jars. About 1/2 ofthe scrolls contain copiesof portions of OldTestament books everybook but Esther) Thesecopies are over 1000 yearsolder than most of themanuscripts scholarspreviously had availablefor study and translation.

This was one of the most important finds in historybecause it shows that the Old Testament wascopied very accurately over the centuries. Whenthe scrolls were compared with the oldestMasoretic text, on which most modern translationsare based, only insignificant differences werefound. Therefore we can be confident of ourcurrent texts.

Objective:ManuscriptSeptuagintThe Greektranslation of theOld Testamentdating to 300-250BC

After the conquest ofAlexander the Great overthe Persian kingdom. Thewritings of many cultureswere translated into theGreek language. Includingthe Old Testament. Thistranslation was called theSeptuagint.

The Septuagint was used by the early church astheir bible. But the Septuagint pre-dates theChristianity by 250 to 300 years. The Septuagintvalidates the accuracy of the original HebrewBible.

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Sumerian King ListThe Sumerians established the firstcivilization in the biblical world. Several claytablets and prisms containing the list of thekings have been found in the ruins ofMesopotamia.Surviving copies of the Sumerian king list dateto 2100 BC

What is amazing is that the kings are divided intotwo groups. Those who ruled before a greatflood and those who ruled after it. Equallyamazing is that the lengths of reigns and lifespans of these kings drastically decreased afterthe flood as did life spans of people recorded inthe Bible.

Ancient Flood storyAccounts of massive floods are found in manycultures around the world. The GilgameshEpic the saga of an ancient Babylonian King,(Gilgamesh) includes an expanded flood storyon Tablet 11, similar to the flood story ofGenesis 6-9. The best known copy of the Epicwas found at Nineveh on a series of bakedclay tablets..

Copies of the Epic and other flood stories havebeen found in the Near East. The popularity ofthe flood theme argues for its historicity andsupports the flood of Noah’s time.Tablet 11 (Right) of the Gilgamesh Epic tells of agreat flood brought on earth by the wrath of godsand includes a hero who is told to build a ship, totake every kind of animal along, and to use birdsto check if the water had receded

Ur, Hometown of AbrahamUr is mentioned as the hometown of Abraham4 times. Ur has been occupied before 2000BC.Since 1800 Excavations have in the city haveoccurred have revealed a great deal about thecity. The Ziguratit of Ur has been uncoveredfrom the city.

Finds show that Abraham’s ancestral home hadbeen a powerful city-state before it fell. If Ur’sdecline and fall came during Abraham's time,perhaps archaeology has provided another clueas to why Abraham Abraham's father relocatedhis family to Haran. Both cities worshiped themoon god. Gen. 11:31, 15:7, Neh 9:7, Acts 7:24

Hittite CapitalThe ancient Hittite’s large capital city hasbeen recovered about 90 miles east ofAnkara, Turkey. The Hittite’s rule extended toSyria and Lebanon in the 2nd millennium BC.The city fell around 1200 BC. Although Hittitesare mentioned often in the Old Testament,almost nothing was known about them untilmodern times. One hundred years ago, criticsthought the Hittites were an imaginary peoplemade up by the biblical authors.

Finding the Hittite's empire forced that claim tobe withdrawn and supported the biblical record.The find also helps explained the language,history and literature of people who appear in theOld Testament. From the Hittites Abrahampurchased a burial site in the cave ofMachpeallah.

Mereptah SteleThe hieroglyphic text of the stele made inEgypt describes the victories of PharaohMerneptah around 1230 BC over the Libyansand people of Palestine. The stele standsmore than seven feet high. The MerneptahStele contains the earliest extra biblicalmention of the name “Israel” thus far known.The Egyptian pharaoh brags of a victory overIsrael around 1230 BC.

Although this battle between Egypt and Israel isnot mentioned in the Old Testament, the steledoes show that the Israelites were in fact living inthe Promised Land at that time, and that theirentrance into the land had already taken placeby 1230 BC.

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Jericho,The earliest ruins at Jericho date to the StoneAge (Neolithic). A tower (right) found in theJericho ruins dates back before Abraham'stime. The tower is made from stonesobtained when the surrounding moat was cut.It was connected to a mud brick wall. Thereis debate over whether Joshua’s wall ofJericho has been found. Massive erosion hasremoved much of the remains of the periodand mud bricks could easily erode away overthe centuries

The biblical importance of Jericho isunderscored by the fact that it is referred to morethan 50 times in the Old Testament. Perhapsthe most significant references are those inJoshua 6, which tell of the Israelite conquest ofthe city, their first victory in the Promised land.Archaeology has shown where the city oncestood, and that it guarded the key spot forentering into the Promised Land from the east.

Canaanite gods and goddessesBetween 1929-1939 excavators foundhundreds of stories about Canaanite godsand goddesses written on clay tablets amongthe ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit inmodern Syria.The Old Testament repeatedly refers to godsand goddesses, like Baal and Ashtarothworshipped by the Canaanites living amongthe Israelites in the Promised land

The importance of these finds are theiraffirmation of the biblical record regarding paganinfluences on Israel and their struggle toovercome them.The prophets of Israel strongly warned God’speople to not worship these gods in Numbers25, 1 Kings 11, Jeremiah 23, and Hosea 13

Shishak’s InvasionA record of Pharaoh Shishak’s raid of 140places, including the kingdom of Judah, hasbeen found in Egypt carved on a wall in theKarnak Temple of Amum, god of Thebes(Luzor today). The Shishak Relief (SheshonkI) commemorates his victory over Rehoboamwhen Solomon’s temple was robbed of itsriches (925BC). The Relief shows that Egyptraided Israel, not just Judah.

According to the Old Testament (1 Kings 14 and2 Chronicles 12), Pharaoh Shishak of Egyptinvaded Judah during the fifth year of KingRehoboam’s reign. “Shishak, king of Egypt,came up against Jerusalem because they hadtransgressed against the LORD, with 1200chariots, and 60,000 horsemen; and the peoplewere without number that came with him out ofEgypt” (2 Chronicles 12:2-3). Other verses thatrefer to Thebes (the city of No) in Egypt areJeremiah 46:25 and Ezekiel 30:14-16

Pool at GibeonThis remarkable pool, dating to before1000BC, was found largely intact in Gibeonsix miles north of Jerusalem in excavationsaround 1956. The pool of Gibeon goes down80 feet. The original diggers removed 3000tons of limestone. A tunnel of the pool runsunder the city to an outside spring. Thisinternal water supply was important in case ofsiege.

2 Samuel 2:13 and Jeremiah 41:12 speak of agreat water pool at Gibeon. The find verifies thelocation of the Pool at Gibeon as mentioned inthe Bible and shows the great effort taken tohave a secure source of water.

House of David Inscription(Dan Inscription)In 1993 and 1994 an archaeologist working atthe Old Testament site of the city of Danfound three pieces of an inscribed stonereferring to DavidThis stone inscribed in Aramaic with theexpression “The house of David” refers toKing David’s descendants. Originally part of avictory pillar o f a neighboring king ofDamascus (possibly Hazael),

The Tel Dan inscription is a very important findbecause it is the first reference to King Davidfound outside of the Bible.The stone has been dated to 2-3 centuries afterDavid’s time. It mentions a “king of Israel”possibly Joram son of Ahab and a King of the“House of David” possibly Ahaziah of Judah.

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House of Yahweh OstraconThis find appears to be a receipt for adonation of three shekels of silver to theHouse of Yahweh (Solomon’s Temple). ThisOstracon (writing on a piece of pottery) is 4inches wide and 3.5 tall. It is not knownwhere it was found. Some scholars date itbetween 835 and 796 BC, some 130 yearsafter the Temple was built.

This extremely important find is the oldestmention of Solomon’s Temple that has beenfound outside of the Bible.

Jeroboam sealExcavations at several sites in modern Israeland antiquity shops have turned up carvedsemi-precious stones belonging to membersof the royal courts of kings in the OldTestament.Dating from about 900 BC to about 600 BC,these stones were used to press images intopieces of clay that sealed up kings importantdocuments.

Seals were found for Uzziah(around 760 BC),Hoshea around 730 BC), and Hezekiah (around700 BC).One of the most famous seals, found atMedgiddo, depicts a lion with words, “belongingto Shema, servant of Jeroboam”. Seals with thenames of other kings were found also (See 1and 2 Kings)

The Moabite StoneIn 1868, A German missionary found a stoneslab over three feet tall near Dibon, east ofthe Dead Sea. Inscribed on the stone werethe accomplishments of Mesha, King of Moabaround 850 BC. This stone is sometimescalled the Mesha Stele.

The Moabite stone is one of the earliest findsthat mentions biblical people. The stone saysthat King Omri and his son Ahab “humbled”Moab for many years. After Ahab’s death, KingMesha said he had “Triumphed” over Ahab’sfamily and that Israel had “perished forever”.Some scholars say that the stone also containsa reference to the “House of David”

Black Obelisk of ShalmaneserThis 6.5 foot tall black basalt obelisk (Foursided pillar) reports in pictures and words theconquests of Assyrian King Shalmaneser IIIIsrael’s foe.

This find is the only picture we have so far of anIsraelite king. This is the first mention of tributepaid to Assyria by Israel. King Jehu’s reign ismentioned in 2 Kings 9-10.

King Uzziah Burial PlaqueA stone plaque, found on the grounds of theRussian church on the Mt. Of Olives, reads:“here, the bones of Uzziah, King of Judahwere brought. Do not open.” King Uzziahruled Judah 792-740 BC, at the same timethat Amos, Hosea and Isaiah wereprophesying. He was 16 years old when hebecame king and he reigned in Jerusalem for52 years. As long as he sought the LORDGod gave him success.

According to 2 Chronicles 26, Uzziah sinnedagainst the LORD and was stricken with aleprous disease toward the end of his life andupon his death was buried in a “field of burialthat belonged to the kings”

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Siloam CarvingThe inscription comes from the days ofHezekiah (701 BC) who ordered the tunnel tobe made so the water from Jerusalem’s GihonSpring could be brought in to the city to aman-made reservoir, The Pool of Siloam. Thistunnel provided water to Jerusalem during theanticipated siege of the King Sennacherib ofAssyria.

The inscription celebrates the completion of thisremarkable tunnel as mentioned in 2 Kings20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:20.

Two boys discovered this ancient Hebrewinscription carved in stone along the wall of atunnel as they were wading through the southernend of the tunnel’s waters in 1880.

The Gezer CalendarThis small palm-sized limestone tablet bearsone of the first examples of Hebrew writingknown (971-913 BC)Found at Gezer, one of King Solomon'sfortress cities, this tablet contains a schoolmemorization drill-a short poem about he theagricultural seasons in biblical Palestine.

The text gives insight into when certain taskswere done during the agricultural year. It showsliteracy in the 10 th century BC.

The Lachish ReliefsAmong the ruins of the Nineveh palace ofAssyrian King Sennecherib were found 62foot long relief's that picture the fall of theJudean fortress of Lachish in 701 BC, over100 years before the attack on and fall ofJudah.

These Nineveh palace carvings of the Lachishdefeat amplify the biblical record concerning thesiege of the kingdom of Judah in the days ofKing Hezekiah. In 2 Kings 18:13 it says “Now inthe 14th year of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib,king of Assyria, come up against all the fencedcities of Judah, and took them.” However, beforethe Assyrians could capture Jerusalem theywere destroyed by “God’s angel” andSennacherib withdrew (2 Kings 20:35, 2Chronicles 32)

Sennacherib PrismA 15-inch tall, six-sided baked clay prism fromancient Assyria contains the story of theinvasion of the kingdom of Judah bySennacherib in 701 BC. The prism was foundat Nineveh.King Sennacerib of Assyria is mentioned in 2kings 18-19. Isaiah prophesied that Godwould protect Jerusalem against attack bySennacherib (Is 36-37, 2 Chron. 32). Whilethe prism does say the Assyrians trappedHezekiah in Jerusalem “like a bird in a cage”,like the biblical record, it says nothing of themconquering the city.

The Bible says that God spared Jerusalem. Theprism, together with the Lachish reliefs andexcavations, adds detail to the biblical account.King Hezekaih prayed to the Lord. Isaiahbrought him God’s message. That night theLORD smote 185,000 Assyrians, andSennacaherb went back to Nineveh and laterwas killed by his sons (Isaiah 37:35-38)

Lachish LettersIn 1935 an archaeologist unearthed severalletters, written about 588 BC, on 21 potterypieces (ostrata) from among the burned ruinsof the ancient city Lachish of Judah.The lachish messages were desperate pleasby the Judean defenders of the city for militaryassistance. Apparently the city wasconquered by Nebuchadnezzar before theletters could be sent.

The letters show Judah was trying to obtain helpform Egypt, relying on man rather than God. OneOstracon mentions that no fire signals fromanother defense city, Azekah could be seen.Jeremiah 34:2-7, prophesied the conquest ofJudah, destruction of Jerusalem, and exile toBabylon. 2 Kings 24-25

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City of BabylonThe Ruins of ancient Babylon, capital ofBabylonian Kingdom, cover 2000-3000 acresin Iraq, 56 miles south of Baghdad.

Babylon’s ruins include one of many ziggurats(Stepped towers) from the area.Later finds include ruins of the palace ofKing Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:29)The palace of Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyedJerusalem in 586 BC and sent the Jews intoexile, was the site of Belshazzar’s feast in Daniel5. Jeremiah wrote that the Lord would makeBabylon desolate forever (Jer 25:12, 51)

The Babylonian ChronicleThis clay tablet is a Babylonian chroniclerecording events from 605-594 BC. It was firsttranslated in 1956 and is now in the BritishMuseum. The cuneiform text on this claytablet tells, among other things3 main events:1 The Battle of Carchemish(famous battle for world supremacy whereNebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeatedPharaoh Necho of Egypt, 605 BC.),2 TheAccession to the Throne of NebuchadnezzarII, the Chaldean, 3. Capture of Jerusalem onthe 16th of March, 598 BC.

Regarding the capture of Jerusalem the claytablet reads:"In the seventh month (of Nebuchadnezzar-599BC.) in the month Chislev (Nov/Dec) the king ofBabylon assembled his army, and after he hadinvaded the land of Hatti (Syria/Palestine) he laidsiege to the city of Judah. On the second day ofthe month of Adara (16th of March) heconquered the city and took the king(Jehoiachin) prisoner. He installed in his place aking (Zedekiah) of his own choice, and after hehad received rich tribute, he sent (them) forth toBabylon."

Babylon nations recordTablets found in Babylon, dated 595 BC and570 BC. List rations of oil and barley deliveredby the royal storehouses to the deposedJehoiachin and his entourage

This is important because it confirms what thebiblical account of his treatment in 2 Kings25:27. Jehoiachin was released by Evil-merodach, Nebuchadnezzar’s successor in 37thyear of his captivity (561 BC)

The Cyrus CylinderThe 9-inch long clay cylinder found at ancientBabylon, dating to 539 BC, tells of King Cyrusof Persia’s conquest of Babylon and of hisdecree to let captives held by Babylon returnto their lands and restore their temples.

Cyrus sent the Jews back to their homeland aftermany years of exile in Babylon as Isaiahprophesied (2 Chron. 36:23, Ezra 1, Is 44:28)This “Return-home” decree was one of manyissued by Cyrus. Through not mentioningJudah, it confirms that this was Cyrus’s policyand gives credibility to the biblical record.

Darius The GreatThe tombs of Persian kings, Darius I,Artaxerexes I and Darius II are at Naqsh-i-Rustum. Along with the Tombs, theautobiography, the text which is carved in therock at Behistun and known to the GreekHistorian Herodotus tells the story of his riseto power.

Darius was involved in the rebuilding of theJewish temple in Ezra 5-6. Darius son Xerxeswas the King in the book of Ester. Dariusgrandson Artaxerexes I allowed Nehemiah to goback to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and walls.(Neh 2:8)