One of the first reasons people reject Christianity is on the basis that they believe ‘miracles’ are not possible by science.

The word miracle is often used loosely, but the true definition of a miracle is an event that isn’t producible by the natural cases that are operative at the time and place that the event occurs. Therefore, miracles would have to lie outside of these events. It is entirely possible to claim that something can lie outside of science; ethical judgments, for example, cannot be made by science.

Natural laws assume that no other natural or supernatural forces are interfering with the operation that the law defines. For example, it is a scientific law that when oxygen and potassium are combined, it causes an explosion, but human bodies contain both potassium and oxygen, yet people don’t just burst. These laws are only relevant if they are under ideal conditions, with no other intervening factors. An example of this is the scenario of throwing an apple into the air. The law of gravity says that it must eventually hit the ground, but if someone were to catch the apple first, it would interfere with the law. These laws assume that nothing will be intervening.

In Lee Strobel’s “A Case for Faith,” the topic is addressed that people demand extraordinary evidence for these extraordinary events. But he uses the example of lotto numbers. If someone were to tell you what the winning lotto numbers were, we probably should not believe them since the odds are not in their favor. But yet when we hear the winning numbers announced on the news, nobody questions it.

Origin of the Universe

Everything that is created has some sort of intelligence behind its creation. Something cannot come from nothing; therefore the universe would have to have been created by a transcendent cause beyond space and time. This cause must be changeless, timeless, and immaterial. But only things that begin to exist need to have a cause. Something that transcends space and time does not necessarily need a cause to occur.

Scientists are now recognizing that the Big Bang was not some chaotic primordial event, but a highly ordered event that required a great amount of information. One of the most amazing things about our universe and planet is that it has the exact conditions to sustain life. These conditions, if changed in even the slightest ways, could not sustain life. One scientist describes it as “from the moment of inception, had to be fine tuned to incomprehensible precision for the existence of life such as ours.” The odds of the universe being a life prohibiting one are far greater than those of a life sustaining one. Another scientist states “life is balanced on a razor’s edge.” Hawkings states the if the rate of the universe expansion would have been one second after the Big Bang, it would have been smaller even by one part in a hundred thousand million million, and the entire universe would have collapsed into a fireball.

Physicist PCW Daires adds that the odds against the initial conditions being suitable for the formation of stars, which is necessary for the formation of planets, and therefore life, is one followed by at lease a thousand billion billion zeros. If the strength of gravity had been weakened or strengthened by only one part in 10 followed by 100 zeros, there would be no life.

There are about fifty constants and quantities that enable earth to sustain life. Some of these include the amount of usable energy in the universe, the difference in the mass of beta protons and neutrons, the ratio of fundamental forces of nature and proportion of matter to antimatter, all must be balanced to a mathematically infinitesimal degree for any life to be possible. It is amazing that the earth is exactly the right distance from the sun and moon, has the exact diameter, atmospheric pressure, tilt, amount of oceanic water, weight, mass, etc.

One theory of creation is that life was generated by a shot of electricity from lightening. Scientists experimented with this idea be recreating a primal earth atmosphere and shooting electricity similar to lightning, which created amino acids. But the key to this experiment was the chemical they assumed were in the atmosphere during this time. These chemicals consisted of ammonia, methane, and hydrogen, but there is no proof that these existed in our atmosphere. In fact, NASA has shown that the earth’s atmosphere during that time was composed of water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. When the same experiment was tested with these features, nothing happened. Another theory is that all this happened by chance or accident, but this is quite improbable

Creation

Because of overwhelming support of external evidence, the consistency of internal evidence and the accuracy of transmission from bibliographic evidence, we can be sure that the Bible is the word of God to us. Science says that the universe formed from nothing. It claims it was “a random quirk in the space-time continuum that led to a massive explosion of matter and anti-matter,” commonly referred to as the Big Bang. The subsequent condensation and coagulation of matter into stars and planets led to the formation of galaxies and solar systems. Electrical activity on the surface of these lumps of cooling molten rock was surrounded with simple gases like carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, and water vapor, and caused more complex molecules to form. Over millions of years these molecules formed more complex molecules, which had the ability to replicate themselves from the contents of the primeal soup, and eventually dragged themselves onto dry land. Over millions of more years these single celled organisms mutated to form a vast array of complex living creatures.

The Age of the Earth

The age of the earth and universe is another topic frequently questioned by many scientists. But there is about equal evidence for both the old-earth theory and the young earth theory. Whether or not God took a literal six days to create the universe is more of a matter of theology than science. This paper will touch on some of the factors that support both theories.

The following is an excerpt of a paper by Matthew S. Tiscareno in support of the old-earth theory:

· Observed large formations that could not have formed quickly River delta deposits cannot form underwater, and thus could not have been accelerated by Noah's Flood. The rate of coral reef growth is inherent in the organisms that build the reef, and also would not be affected by Noah's Flood. Both are observed in volumes that would take at least hundreds of thousands of years to accumulate. The formation of stalactites in caves requires small amounts of water, increasing the flow of water will stop the carbonate precipitation rather than increase it (quick-forming stalactites under artificial concrete structures are due to an entirely different chemical process). A 3-meter stalactite would take 30,000 years to form. In addition, the cooling of large underground granite batholiths, as well as the formation of metamorphic rocks, requires much more than 10,000 years.

· Continuous records of various Earth processes Annual layers in ice deposits in Greenland, and especially in Antarctica, are observed which give records of the climate in the year each layer was deposited. The upper layers of these deposits correlate with other methods of measuring recent climate, but from there the layers continue to give a continuous record of the yearly climate for the past 160,000 years (see C. Lorius et al, Nature, v.316, pp.591-596 (15 Aug 1985); J. Jouzel et al, Nature, v.329, pp.403-408 (1 Oct 1987); J.M. Barnola et al, Nature, v.329, pp.408-414 (1 Oct 1987)). Among the many discernable patterns, the 26,000-year climate cycle due to the precession of the Earth's rotation axis (that is, the Earth "wobbles" like a top, and the rate of its 26,000-year cycle can be calculated from physics alone) is clearly visible throughout the 160,000-year record. This refutes the young-Earth claim that perhaps the lower layers of the ice cores were built up quickly due to large precipitation rates from Noah's Flood. A young-Earth attempt to explain away this evidence (ICR Impact #226, http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-226.htm) talks mostly about issues that are irrelevant to the Antarctic data, and its only attempt to challenge the above-cited data is to quote a statement from 1972 that deeper annual layers are more difficult to measure, a difficulty that was solved by superior technology by 1985. It is important to note that, if this is a case of "apparent age", God would have not only created these layers for no apparent reason, but would have "written" into the ice a climate record that cannot be trusted. Such a theory results in serious difficulties with the truthfulness of God. A similar situation applies to sedimentary varves (annual layers from lake sediments). Varves in Utah's Green River Formation give several million years of unbroken history. Evaporite deposits, in which one layer is formed each time a shallow body of water is evaporated dry, also contain records at least hundreds of thousands of years long. Finally, paleomagnetism, the science that studies the reversals of Earth's magnetic field as recorded in rocks, has worked out a consistent history of Earth's magnetic field stretching back hundreds of millions of years, correlated across the entire globe.

· Formations that could not form underwater According to the prevailing young-Earth hypothesis, all sedimentary rocks are the result of Noah's Flood. Yet several kinds of deposits are found inter-bedded with sedimentary rocks that could not possibly form underwater. These include sedimentary varves, glacial deposits, evaporate deposits, and sand dune deposits.

· Record of shorter days in the past One species of rugose coral forms both daily and yearly layers. Specimens of this coral from Devonian strata (360 to 410 million years old) show that the Earth's year was 400 days long when the coral was alive! This is a dramatic confirmation of both Planetary Science and Geology (see Deceleration of the Earth by tidal friction, above), but inexplicable for the young-Earth hypothesis.

· Radioisotope Abundances All radioactive isotopes with half-lives greater than 75 million years are found on Earth, while not a single radioactive isotope with a smaller half-life is found in nature (except for a few which are found as decay products). This supports the claim that the Earth is old enough for the shorter-lived isotopes to have decayed away (which takes many times the half-life), but it would be a strange coincidence indeed if the young-Earth hypothesis were correct. Furthermore, we have very clear evidence that several of these short-lived radioisotopes did in fact exist early in the Solar System's history (aluminum-26 being the most abundant and well-known). Since Al-26 is known to have existed in the past (due to detected excesses of its decay product, Mg-26, in ancient meteorites), and has completely decayed away since the beginning of the Solar System, the age of the Solar System is demonstrated to be at least many times the half-life of Al-26 (which is 26,000 years). Among the radioisotopes for which the same argument applies are hafnium-182 and palladium-107, with half-lives greater than 10 million years.

· Radiometric Dating Problems with radiometric dating techniques are greatly overstated by most young-Earth advocates. They often cite isolated instances of implausible dates, but these are generally caused by obsolete dating methods, contamination that a good scientist would detect (and which does not affect the large majority of dates), or by attempting to date materials that are younger than the dating method's margin of error (using radiometric methods to date recent Hawaiian lavas or living sea creatures, for example, is akin to using an unmarked yard-long stick to measure the thickness of a human hair). Most modern radiometric dating uses the isochron method, which measures several different samples (and sometimes different decay paths) and correlates them. The isochron method basically crosschecks itself constantly, and results that do not represent real ages will fail the isochron tests. Consequently, the isochron method does not require any assumption about initial amounts of parent and daughter elements (a common young-Earth objection to radiometric dating). An important consideration with the isochron method, however, is to know what it is that you're dating. Plotting several samples on an isochron will tell you how long ago the samples were separated from one another. For samples from the same lava flow, this will give you the age of the lava flow. But for samples from different flows, there can be a residual isochron giving the age of the melting event in the Earth's mantle from which the flows were derived. This is exactly what ICR geologist Steve Austin measured in the Grand Canyon. He claims that Rb/Sr isochron dating of lavas at the top of the Grand Canyon gives ages older than Grand Canyon basement rocks (ICR Impact #224, http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-224.htm). However, since Austin's samples came from several different flows, he could not have been dating the age of a single flow, rather he was dating the magma chamber beneath the Grand Canyon, from which all of the flows came. Although Austin claims that his "anomalous ages" cast doubt on radiometric dating in general, the fact is that geochemists often use the same method Austin used to date melting events much earlier than the formation of the flows themselves. For a more detailed discussion of ICR's "Grand Canyon Dating Project," see Stassen (1999), http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/icr-science.html. Another common objection to radiometric dating is that addition or removal of parent or daughter elements may have occurred. However, in most cases this would leave telltale chemical clues that scientists could detect (and indeed this frequently happens), and furthermore such contamination could not possibly account for all of the world's radiometric measurements, which are in good agreement. Finally, radioactive decay rates are known to be constant under all relevant physical conditions. The fact is that, although radiometric dating is imperfect like any other science, there is tremendous overall agreement among radiometric ages, as well as with stratigraphic (relative) ages, giving very strong circumstantial evidence for the reliability of radiometric dating methods. For a general overview of radiometric dating, see Radiometric Dating: A Christian Perspective by Christian geologist Roger Wiens (http://asa.calvin.edu/ASA/resources/Wiens.html).

· Star Distances It is extremely evident from astronomy that our Universe is billions of light-years across, and thus that light from distant stars has taken billions of years to reach us. One method of accurately determining star distances uses Cephid variable stars, which have a known relationship between brightness and pulse rate. This relationship is explained by physics, and verified (calibrated) by measuring all Cephid variable stars whose distances are close enough to confirm by parallax. Therefore, the actual brightness of a Cephid variable star can be determined by its pulse rate, regardless of how far away it is. And, of course, if a star's actual brightness and measured (apparent) brightness are known, its distance can be calculated from a simple equation (apparent brightness decreases as one over the distance squared). This and many other methods verify Hubble's law describing the expansion of the Universe, with the beginning (Genesis 1:1) between 10 and 20 billion years ago. Attempts by young-Earth proponents to explain these facts have been unavailing. Norman and Setterfield's proposal of decay in the speed of light is easily shown to be invalid (Roberts, Ross, and Stoner all deal with this), as is Humphreys' attempt at a young-Earth cosmology (see Conner and Ross (1999) http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/unravelling.html). Another explanation, that the Universe was created with "appearance of age" is both un-scientific at its core (if all the evidence that we see for age is fabricated, then why even have this debate?), as well as having theological problems with the truthfulness of God, since in that case we are constantly observing events in the cosmos which in fact never occurred (see Brain Teaser: SN1987a, http://lordibelieve.org/page16.html, for an illustrative example of this point). This document is copyright 1999 and 2000 Matthew S. Tiscareno.

But young-earth believers can provide just as much evidence in support of their theory, and even some refutations to alleged proofs of an old-earth. For example, if the continents were billions of years old, they would have eroded by wind and water many times over. Mountain uplift and other recycling processes are nowhere near capable of compensating for this.

There is also not enough helium in the atmosphere to support the theory of an old earth. This gas is formed during radioactive alpha decay in rock minerals. It rapidly escapes and enters the atmosphere much faster than it can escape the earth’s gravity. Even if God had created the world with no helium to begin with, the small amount in the atmosphere would have taken at most around two million years to accumulate, which is far less than the assumed 3,000 million year age of the atmosphere.

Many fossils indicate that they must have formed quickly and could not have taken long time spans. There are billions of fossil fish in rock layers around the world that are very well preserved. The show intact fins, and scales, indicating that they were buried rapidly and the rock hardened quickly. A fish buried in sediment that does not harden within a few weeks at the most will still be subject to decay by oxygen and bacteria, and features such as the scales and fins would not have been preserved in their form. Rapid burial in the many underwater landslides and other sedimentary processes accompanying Noah’s flood would explain not only their excellent preservation, but also their existence in huge deposits, often covering thousands of square kilometers

Many processes that have been thought to take millions of years do not need such time-spans at all. Examples of these processes are coal formation, stalactites and stalagmites, opals, and rock and fossil formations. It has also been shown that heating wood, water, and acidic clay at 150 degrees C for four to 36 weeks in sealed quartz tube with no added pressure, forma a high-grade black coal. It has also been discovered that it doesn’t it take millions of years for caves to form.

The oceans are nowhere near salty enough. Each year the worlds river and underground streams add million of tones of salt to the sea, and only a fraction of this goes back onto the land. Using the most favorable possible assumptions for long-agers, the absolute maximum age of the oceans is only a tiny fraction of their assumed billions of years. Other quick points that these scientists make are that fossil radioactivity shortens geologic ‘ages’ to a few years, there are not enough stone age skeletons, and that Features of earth’s atmosphere are inconsistent with billions-of-years belief.

The following is a short excerpt from Russell Humphreys’s paper titled Evidence for a Young World:

The stars of our galaxy rotate about the galactic center with different speeds, with the inner ones rotating faster than the outer ones. The speeds are so fast that if our galaxy were more than a few hundred million years old, it would be a featureless disc of stars instead of its present spiral shape.

Our galaxy is supposed to be at least 10 billion years old, and evolutionists call this ‘the winding-up dilemma’, for which they have devised many theories to try to explain it, each one failing. The same ‘winding-up’ dilemma also applies to other galaxies. The most well known attempt to resolve the dilemma has been a theory called ‘density waves’. The theory has been called into serious question by the Hubble Space Telescope’s discovery of very detailed spiral structure in the central hub of the ‘Whirlpool’ galaxy, M51.

According to evolutionary theory, comets are supposed to be the same age as the solar system, about 5 billion years. Yet each time a comet orbits close to the sun, it loses so much of its material that it could not survive much longer than about 100,000 years. Many comets have typical ages of 10,000 years.

Evolutionists explain this by assuming that comets come from an unobserved spherical ‘Oort cloud’ beyond the orbit of Pluto, improbable gravitational interactions with infrequently passing stars often knock comets into the solar system, and other improbable interactions with planets slow down the incoming comets often enough to account for the hundreds of comets observed. So far none of these have been proved.

The Earth’s magnetic field is decaying too fast The total energy stored in the Earth’s magnetic field has steadily decreased by a factor of 2.7 over the past 1000 years. Evolutionary theories explaining this rapid decrease, as well as how the Earth could have maintained its magnetic field for billions of years, have not had any proof to back them up.

The creationist theory is based on sound physics, and explains its creation, rapid reversals during the Genesis flood, surface intensity decreases and increases until the time of Christ, and a steady decay since then. This theory matches paleomagnetic, historic, and present data. The main result is that the field’s total energy (not surface intensity) has always decayed at least as fast as now. At that rate the field could not be more than 10,000 years old.”

There are many more aspects of the planet and our solar system that back up this belief. Quick examples of these are evidence from comets, the age and characteristics of stars, etc.

More Evidence for a Young Earth

Evolutionist constructed the Geologic Column to illustrate the alleged progression of simple life forms to more complex systems that we see today. But only a small percentage of the earth’s surface obeys even a portion of the geologic claim. Recent research has concluded that the theory of the Geologic Column does not exist.

The earth’s magnetic field has been decaying at an exponential rate, demonstrating its half-life to be approximately 1400 years. Therefore its strength 20000 years ago would approximate that of a magnetic stare. Under these conditions many of the atoms necessary for life processes could not form.

Man made artifacts have been found throughout the geologic column in cretaceous rock point to the fact that all supposed geologic periods actually occurred at the same time in the recent past.

The Bible refers to the expansion of space by the Creator. Russell Humphries and astrophysicists demonstrate that such space expansion would dilate time in distant space. This could explain a recent creation with great distances to the stars.

The brain receives over 100 million separate signals from the human body every second. If we learned something new every second of our lives, it would take three million years to exhaust the capacity of the human brain. The human brain is also capable of reason, anticipation of consequences, created plans, all without knowing we are doing so.

Scientific Facts

Many people will reject Christianity on the basis that they believe it contradicts science, or they do not believe that it is truly inspired by God. But the Bible does include various scientific accuracies. Not only are these accurate, but also they are scientific facts that were not even suggested until many years later, suggesting that it is indeed inspired by God. Here is a short list of some of the scientific facts mentioned and referred to in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 40:22 mentions that the shape of the earth is a sphere.

Job. 26:7 mentions that the earth is suspended in nothing stating that, "He spreads out the northern [skies] over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing." The cosmology of other cultures had the earth upon pillars, people, or animals, and not suspended in nothing.

Gen. 15:5 mentions that the stars are innumerable

2 Sam. 22:16 acknowledges the existence of valleys in the seas. "The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of breath from his nostrils."

Genesis 7:11 notes the existence of springs and fountains in the seas; "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month -- on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened."

Psalm 8:1,3,6,8, mention the existence of ocean currents. "O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,...You made him [man] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet...the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas" Matthew Murray, the 'father of oceanography' actually discovered ocean currents as a result of studying this Psalm.

Job. 26:8, Job. 36:27-28, and again Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 explain the water cycle. "He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight...” "He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind...” "The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return.”

Psalm 102:22-26 introduces the concept of entropy; "In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded."

The channels of the Sea are mentioned in Psalm 18:15. Only in recent decades has it been discovered that the ocean floor is lined with deep channels and canyon Job 38:16 notes springs of the sea. Modern science has discovered springs of fresh water under the sea. The Hebrew root word is nbk, meaning 'sources' or 'spring' A parallel phrase is found in Job 28:11

Psalms 135:6 may be a reference to the ocean being 8 miles deep.

Ecclesiastes 1:7 mentions the Hydrolic cycle, and how all rivers run to the sea.

In Job 28:25. the weight of the wind is interpreted to mean 'atmospheric pressure.'

Psalm 135:7 says “He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.” The Hebrew word for vapors is ns'm from the root word ns' which means 'to lift up'

Proverbs 8:26 mentions 'The highest part of the dust of the earth' - possibly a reference to the meteoritic and other dust particles in the lower atmosphere

Job 38:14 '[The earth] is turned as clay to the seal' is reference to the rotation of the earth - he says 'the figure, in context, is of a clay vessel being turned on a wheel to receive the design impressed upon it, by a seal or signet

1 Corinthians 15:41 'One star differeth from another star.’ This doesn't just refer to a star's brightness, but to their location of the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram

Psalm 19:6 refers to the sun's gigantic orbit around the center of the Milky Way galaxy

Isaiah 11:12; the four corners of the earth the Hebrew word translates as 'the extremities of the earth.’

Job 32:22 mentions the number of stars and sand. And throughout the Bible, especially Leviticus 12 – 14, is noted various aspects of the nature of health, sanitation, and sickness.

Design of the Human Body

The complex design of the human body, when one thinks about it long enough, can also point to evidence of a creator. George Gaylord Simpson of Harvard University once suggested that man is “the most highly endowed organization of matter that has yet to appear on the earth…” so many propose the question of how could this be caused by blind chance operating over eons of time in nature? The countless aspects of the human body all interact and serve vital purposes.

The Cells.

The body has over 250 different kinds of cells, together totaling an average of 100 trillion cells. Each of these different types of cells has different sizes, shapes, purposes, and life expectancies.

It was once thought by anatomist Ernst Haeckel that the cell contained merely “homogenous globules of plasm” composed of carbon with an admixture of hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur. When these are properly united, they became life. But since then we have learned that the cell is anything put simple, and nothing at all like how Ernst Haeckel described them to be. Each individual cell contains compartments, structures, and chemical agents.

Richard Dawkins notes that the cell’s nucleolus “contains a digitally coded database larger in information content that all thirty of the volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica combined. Dr. Sagan estimates that if one were to count every letter in every book in the world’s largest library, the cell’s nucleus would still contain more information.

The cell has a membrane that can selectively allow certain materials to pass, and others denied. The cytoplasm contains many organelles that are very specialized.

Inside the cytoplasm there are over 20 different chemical reactions occurring at any one time, with each cell containing five major components for communication, waste disposal, nutrition, repair, and reproduction. The organelles inside are the mitochondria that provides the cell with energy, the endoplasmic reticulum is used to transport, Ribosomes are protein making sites, Golgi bodies store the proteins made by the ribosomes, and the lysozomes function as garbage disposal units.

The nucleus contains most of the genetic information and is the control center of the cell. If the DNA from a single human cell were removed and unraveled, it would be about six feet long and contain about 3.1 base pairs. It is also estimated that if one were to take the entire DNA in a human body, and place it end-to end it would go to the sun and back 400 times.

The DNA molecule does something that humans have yet to accomplish; it is able to store coded information in chemical format, and then uses a biological agent, RNA to decode and activate it. Human technology has not even advanced to this.

The reproduction of a cell consists of the duplication of the cell’s complement genetic information, and cleavage of the sells’ cytoplasm. To ensure that a zygote has the normal chromosome number, the gametes must contain exactly half of that necessary number. This is why the number of chromosomes stays constant from one life cycle to the next. The plans are faithfully copied each time the cell divides, and a perfect replica of the original plans for the whole body. This process is an extremely complex one. This faithful replication is due to the immense complexity and intricate design of the code.

The Genetic Code is Universal.

Scientists are always astounded with the genetic code and at the simplicity, complexity, and the mass of information contained in it. This is inconceivably complex. Even the simplest cell is so. Not only is the DNA the blueprint for the cell, but it also maintains and repairs the cell. This is compared as the blueprint s for a home being able to build itself, maintain the structure in good repair, and replicate it.

The number of possible ways of putting nucleotides together in a chromosome is enormous. A human being is an extraordinarily improbable object. Most of the 10 (2.4x10(9)) [possible sequences of nucleotides would lead to complete biological malfunction. Combining DNA with all the ingredients necessary for protein synthesis does not make a cell. An organisms DNA specifies the building materials. The assembly instructions are largely in other components of the cell. Other factors are involved in heredity other than DNA.

All organisms rely on the genetic code for survival. Chance is incapable of creating a single molecule, let alone an entire universe. Chance has no being, power, or force, can affect nothing, and has no power within. Devising a code such as the genetic code is a creative mental process, and matter can be a carrier of codes, but cannot generate them.

Another theory is that organisms in the past could have been much simpler than they are today. But still even the simplest of organisms are incredibly complex. The right amino acid needs to be isolated, linked in the right sequence, have all extraneous molecules eliminated, have the right peptide bond, and have the peptide bonds be in the right place to allow folding. Making DNA and RNA is even harder. This has never been done outside highly implausible conditions.

Early Dating of the Pentateuch

Despite attempts to claim that the Pentateuch had more than one author, there is sufficient evidence to prove that not only was it written by one author, but not a later date than it claims. The entire Pentateuch displays a unity of arrangement, which strongly implies that it had one author. Both the Old and New Testaments, and the Pentateuch itself claim that Moses was the author. There are eyewitness details that show that the author was a participant in the events he was describing in many cases. There is very precise detail, such as listing the exact number of palm trees and fountains mentioned in Exodus 15:27.

Moses was born, raised, and educated in Egypt, and the author also proves him to be well acquainted with the geography and language of Egypt, and is familiar with Egyptian names, and figures of speech. There are a greater percentage of Egyptian words in the Pentateuch than in any other part of the Bible. But no one ever tries to explain these Egyptian details, most likely because the original readers were also familiar with the culture, as it would have been when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt. The author of the Pentateuch also indicates that he is not familiar with Canaan. He describes the detail and geography and vegetation of Egypt and Sinai, but treats Canaan as someplace unknown to him or his people. This is parallel with the fact that Moses himself never entered Canaan.

The setting of Exodus through Numbers of a desert atmosphere point of view. Even the laws of sanitation apply to the desert lifestyle. This would not be the case if the author lived in an agrarian society. The customs recorded in the Pentateuch are second millennium BC customs, many of which were not continued on in to practice in the first millennium BC. These include the legal bearing of children through maidservants, the legality of oral deathbed wills, possessing of household idols in order to claim inheritance rights, and the way real estate transactions were practiced.

One of the big topics that critics point to is the different names that Moses uses for God. But these different names are all used in different contexts. When he used the term “Elohim,” is used when discussing His act of creating or His infinite power. He uses the name “Jehovah” when speaking of God in terms of His covenant relationship with His elect.

There is also some refutation to the accusation that since it is written in various styles and diction, that it must have multiple authors. Most great authors vary their texts to prevent monotony. He also would have had to have varied his style as a result of the wide range of subjects matters, such as genealogies, biographies, historical accounts, religious instruction, moral legislation, etc.) Parallel accounts, such as the two creation accounts in Genesis, were common by authors in ancient Semitic literature, and was often used as a poetic style. Other than the case of Moses’ obituary in Deuteronomy 34, all the evidence points to Moses being the only author of the Pentateuch. (Though he does make reference to documents that predate him.)

Another former controversy was the idea of Moses writing the Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 31:24.) It was originally thought that only Egyptians were the ones to have delegated the work of writing the scribes, and kings and others were illiterate. In the ninetieth century, the capital of the Hittite empire at Boghaz-koy (Hattasha) was discovered along with over ten thousand clay tablets depicting King Narmer of the first dynasty (3100 BC) One of these being an image of him holding a tablet, implying that kings were literate. And since Moses was educated in 'all the learning of the Egyptians,' (Acts 7:22) he must have been well versed in this scribal skill.

It cannot be argued that there was no writing during Moses’ time, as the Ras Shamra dates back to 1400 BC. Archaeological finds have confirmed much of the history and customs recorded, and none have ever refuted them. Archaeology has shown that the cities of Bethel, Schechem, and Ur were inhabited as early as 2000 BC, the time of Abraham. The Jews accepted the Law as being Mosaic during King Josiah’s reign in 621 BC, and chances are they were not that naïve to believe that it has just been written. K. Kitchen, among others, points out that the particular form of the covenant found in the Pentateuch has its historical parallel only in the age of Moses.

"The form of the covenant found in Exodus, Leviticus, and in Deuteronomy is neither arbitrary or accidental. It is a form proper to the general period of the exodus, current on the 14th and 13th centuries BC and neither earlier nor later on the total available evidence."

The Hittite Legal Code dates back to 1300 BC and it confirms the ancient procedure used by Abraham and several Hittites while engaging in a real estate transaction in Genesis. Archaeology has also confirmed that camels were domesticated in the Middle East as early as 2000 BC.

The Code of Hammurabi, dated to 1800 BC, is similar in its sophistication to the Law of Moses. Census lists have been found in Mari, Ugarit, and Alakh between 2000 – 1500 BC that are similar to the census in Numbers. Deuteronomy follows the same format as the Hittite suzerainty treaties, which occurred in the latter have of the second century. Therefore, the Pentateuch appears to be a fifteenth century BC document, and nothing later.

The Patriarchs

In Genesis 23, Abraham purchased a cave in Hebron called the Cave of Machpelah, where the patriarchs were buried. It was thought to be below Harem el-Khal, which today is a Muslim mosque. In 1119 to testify the authenticity, the Augustine Canons explored the location.

Oddities

It has often been thought odd by many people that Isaac didn't just withdraw his blessing when he discovered it was given to Jacob and not Esau, but the Nuzi tablets shed some light on to why he did not.

These tablets were found in 1925 at the ancient Mesopotamian site of Nuzi. They are made of clay and number over 4000, and date back to 1500 BC. They state that an oral declaration was an oral will, had legal validity, and was made to a son by a dying father. The Nuzi society was very similar to the society of the Nuzi society, and oral statements carried a great deal of weight, unlike today.

When Jacob and Rachel left Laban's home, Rachel stole Laban's 'teraphim' or family idols. Many wonder why Laban went to such lengths to recover these idols when they would have been so readily available at any local shop. Again the Nuzi tablets give us insight into why he did so. During those times, if a son-in-law possessed the family idols, he had legal right to claim ant and all of his father-in-laws property. These tablets prove that these accounts were not written or took place at any later date than claimed in the Bible.

The discovery of the Elba archive in Northern Syria has shown Biblical writings concerning the Patriarchs to be viable. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 BC demonstrate that personal and place names in the Patriarchal accounts are genuine. The name ‘Canaan was used in Elba, a name that critics once said was not used at that time and was used incorrectly. Ancient customs reflected in thestories if the Patriarchs have also been found in clay tablet from Nuzi and Mari.

Many people find some of the laws stated in the Torah as quite odd. But many of these were for sanitation purposes to preserve life during that time period. Recently studies have shown that circumcision may even lessen the risk for contracting the HIV virus. So maybe all of these seemingly insignigicant rituals really have a purpose.

Genesis as mythological.

The table of nations in Genesis 10 appears accurate and unique in ancient history. W. Albright comments, "It shows a remarkably 'modern' understanding of the ethnic and linguistic situation in the ancient world, in spite of all it's complexity, that scholars never fail to be impressed with the authors knowledge of the subject.

It has been speculated that Abraham lived in the early part of the first millennium BC, and the evidence points strongly to late third Millennium or early second millennium for the Patriarchs. Albright points out that the names of the early Hebrew individuals and tribal groupings belong to the first half of the second millennium, and few of them survived as names in actual usage into the first millennium BVC.

The Hebrew genealogies include only the Patriarchs and the heads of clans belonging to them. There is then a jump to the leading figures of the Exodus. This is parallel to the situation fond in Africa, Arabia, and the Pacific Islands, where excavations and radio carbon dating have forced the chronology based on Polynesian generations back centuries.

Sodom and Gomorrah

A city called Babedh Drha, a heavily fortified city, has now been though to be the site of Sodom. 23-inch thick walls were discovered around the city along with numerous houses and a large temple. On the outskirts of the city was a cemetery with thousands of skeletons, revealing that the city was largely populated during the early Bronze Age, about the time when Abraham would have lived.

The city had been destroyed by a massive fire, and was buried under a coating of ash several feet thick. A cemetery outside the city contained charred remains of roofs, posts, and bricks turned red from heat. Dr. Bryant Wood states that the fire began on the roofs of the buildings, eventually causing the roofs to collapse into the interiors and spread inside the buildings – which was the case for every house excavated. This matches the Biblical accounts that the city was destroyed by a fire that rained down from heaven.

Remnants of other cities mentioned in the same chapter of Genesis are Gomorrah, Admah, Zoar, and Zeboiim. The remnants of these cities have also been found along the Dead Sea. Studies revealed that these cities had been abandoned around the same time about 2450-2350 BC. It is believed that the city of Numeria is Gomorrah, and es-Safi is Zoar. These cities were covered in the same ash as Bab ed-Drha. Numeria had several feet of ash in some areas, and in all of these cities, the ash deposits made the soil a spongy charcoal, making it impossible to rebuild. The only city that was not burnt was Zoar, where Lot was to flee to. Zoar was discovered to have not been burned, but to have been abandoned during this period.

The Flood

Most people recognize that there was a great flood, at least one that was localized, but it has been proven that a global flood could have been easily feasible. There are facts known now about the geological conditions of the earth that support the Flood Theory.

The Antediluvian World

Both scriptural and scientific evidence points to the fact that there was a much more mild climate that existed from the days of the Garden of Eden to the flood days. Scripture says that after the flood, God caused mountains to rise and valleys to sink, indicating that mountains of that time were not as high as they are today. Also, the second day of creation God ‘divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.’ This suggests that there could have been a water ‘canopy’ above the earth. Some people even suggest that it was the water from this canopy that rained down during the flood.

This canopy would have caused a uniformly warm temperature around the earth. Water vapor is present in the atmosphere today that regulates earth’s temperature, but the water canopy would have done so to a much greater degree. A much larger percentage of the suns energy would have been absorbed, retained, and uniformly distributed over the earth. It would also prevent the occurrence of violent windstorms. This also satisfies many other Biblical phenomena referred to in the Scriptures.

Even evolutionists agree that there was once a universally mild climate on earth. E.H. Colbert says “Many lines of dinosaurs evolved during the 100 million years or more of Mesozoic history in which they lived… In those days the earth had a tropical or sub-tropical climate over much of its land surface, and in the widespread topical lands there was an abundance of lush vegetations. The land was low and there were no high mountains forming physical or climatic barriers.”

Further proof of this universally warm climate can be found in fossils of plants found from the middle of Africa to the poles, where the Carboniferous flora is identically the same. Many of these species, now extinct, are met with of equal development throughout the earth. Areas such as the African desert, the Gobi desert, and the Arctic regions are densely packed with fossils of plants, man-made tools, remains of other mammals, dense tangles of fossil trees and assorted plants. Further proof of these conditions is also found in the great coal beads at the poles. There have been widespread discoveries of coal and petrified wood, and fossils of ferns, oaks, magnolia, ginkgoes, breadfruits, etc. Another theory states that the earth consisted of one big landmass, which could easily explain the warm climates.

This canopy also explains the longevity found during those times. Genesis mentions the great lifespan of the patriarch, Methuselah in particular who lived to be 969 years. This would have been very possible under such conditions. It has also been suggested that perhaps the earth’s atmosphere had a much higher carbon dioxide content which would have slowed maturation rates and caused longer lives. This could also cause gigantism, something that both the Bible and geological evidence points to in the past. Both indicate that plants, animals, and some humans were much larger than they are today.

The flood altered the ozone layer, causing a greater quantity of harmful UV rays to enter to the ground, carbon dioxide levels were reduced, lifespan were reduced, and the curve of declining longevity is consistent with a gradual reduction of carbon dioxide. It is only after the flood that we see such a decrease in the ages of people. Obviously something would have had to have happened for these changes to occur. Some try to write the old ages of the past as saying that perhaps the patriarchs recorded ages by months instead of years, but this could not be possible. For example, Enoch had a son at age sixty-five. If we were to divide this number by twelve, he would have had to have had his son at 5.4 years.

Location of the Flood

If the flood were localized, why would God have had Noah go to all the trouble to build and ark for his family and animals, when He could have just told Noah and his family to move to dry land? It also specifically states that all air-breathing creatures were destroyed, save those who were on the ark. And it is highly doubtful that life was contained only to the Mesopotamian area.

The Size of the Ark.

The Hebrews had a long cubit of about 21 inches, and a common cubit approximately 18 inches, but it has recently been speculated that the long cubit would have been closer to two feet. So according to the lower number, the ark would have been 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. According to the higher scale, it would have been about 600 feet in length, 100 feet wide, and 60 feet high. In the ark’s three decks, there would have been about 95,700 square feet, its volume would be about 1,396,000 cubic feet, and the gross tonnage would have been about 13,960 tons. Certainly this ark was large enough to carry all the animals and Noah and his family.

It is also noted that God ordered Noah to gather two of every kind of animal, not necessarily two of every species. (And chances are, there were a lot less species during that time than today as a result of taxonomic splitting. Whitcomb and Morris estimate that even using the highest possible estimates and taxonomic figures provided be evolutionists showed that the Biblical account can be possible.

The Bible does not say that only Noah and his sons were to build the ark, they could have hired others to help them, regardless of whether or not these people thought Noah was right or not. It is noted though, that Noah had one0hundred years to build it. And people today are constantly awed by some of the tasks that they early civilizations were able to do. The Great Pyramid was the work of the 4th Dynasty, years before Abraham, which contained two million blocks of stone each weighing about two tins. The sides were 756 feet long, and set to the points of a compass to an accuracy of a small fraction of a degree. The Colossi of Memnon were from the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, and the blacks had been cut from sandstone weighing more than 400 tons each, and brought 600 miles to their current location. Other examples are the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos Lighthouse, the Hanging Gardens, the Ziggurats, the Step Pyramid, and Stonehenge.

Gathering the Animals.

The first objection to this is that it would have been impossible for creatures from different regions of the world to all leave their native homes to go to Noah in Mesopotamian Valley, especially such animals that are only found on certain continents. But the alleged global climate would have caused all animals to be found in all regions of the world at that time. Also chances are that the geography and topography have changed since the flood. It has also been suggested that this migration could have lasted over several generations of animals, until eventually two of each creature was in the same area as Noah. Bernard Ramm has suggested that perhaps these animals were “prompted by divine instinct.”

The Care of the Animals

The care of the animals would have been quite a task for so few people to accomplish each day. The first suggestion was that since God said He was with them on the ark, He could have done something, such as causing a yearlong hibernation that would minimize the amount of care needed.

Re-migration of Animals

After the flood the animals would have eventually dispersed themselves over the world, possibly on land bridges. And it is also hard to tell which animals were located in which areas before the flood in the first place.

The water would have been over 15 cubits above the highest mountains to save the ark from being damaged by them, and once again, the mountains were possibly much lower than those of today.

Legends

There have been legends in other cultures about a worldwide flood, but none of them clearly checkout the way the Genesis account does. For example, the boat described in the Babylonian account would not be able to float as a result of its dimensions. The dimensions mentioned in Genesis would cause a boat to be almost impossible to capsize.

Dating of the World’s Oldest Organisms

The datings of the world’s oldest trees can also be used as evidence towards a globalized flood. A tree in California, named “Old Methuselah,” has been dated to be about 4723 years old. It is to date the oldest living organism. Its ‘ring’ age is close to the dating of the flood recorded in Genesis. And since the flood destroyed everything, there should be no other organism surviving older than this. Such a flood would lay down much of the massive thickness of sedimentary rock covering most of the earth’s surface, and ensured that no trees alive at that time would have remained. So there could be no trees alive that are older than 4500 years old.

Ring dating is quite accurate for the most part, but during bad growth years, the ring is very small, but in especially good growth years, the rings can be larger, or can even form multiple rings. It is assumed that in the years directly after the flood a few more tree rings would go, since it is assumed that the weather was moist, warm, and had seasonal changing conditions. This accounts for the difference between the ‘ring age’ of these trees and the Biblical date of the flood.

Many people claim that there are Tasmanian trees called Hurom Pines, that are over 30000 years old, but this figure is misleading. These trees were all genetically identical to each other. This means that they reproduced by vegetative reproduction from an original tree. They could have transplanted themselves from fallen branches, or new growth could be occurring from underground root systems. It should be noted that no individual Huron Pine has ever been dates by straightforward ring methods as more than 3500 years old. The datings that concluded that these trees were older than 30,000 years are based on fossils that were found around the tree.

Jews in Egypt

The possibility that Abram or Joseph could have visited Egypt has been questioned. But pictures of visiting Semites have been seen on the walls of a tomb at Beni Hasan, which come from a time not far from that of Abraham.

There are also many indications that the Hyksos, chiefs of foreign countries', began to infiltrate the Nile Valley around 1900 BC. Other contingents came at around 1703 BC overwhelming the native Egyptian rulers. If an early date for Hebrews entrance to Egypt were taken, 1700 to 1650 BC, the Hyksos would have been ruling Egypt and received many other foreigners.

Josephs rise from slavery to Prime Minister of Egypt has been thought of as a unique event, but there have been discoveries of similar things happening. A Canaanite, Meri-Ra became amour-bearer to Pharaoh, another, Ben-Mat Ane, was appointed to the position of interpreter, and a Semite, Jauhamu became deputy to Amenhotep 3 with charge over the granaries of the delta, similar to Josephs responsibilities.

The Bible also tells of Josephs wishing to have his bones taken out of Egypt and buried at Shechem. For centuries there has been a tomb at Shechem though to be the tomb of Joseph. In the late 1950's the tomb was opened and in it was found a body mummified according to the Egyptian custom, and in the tomb, among other things, was a sword of the kind worn by Egyptian officials.

An ancient papyrus was found in the area of Memphis that was written by an ancient Egyptian named Ipuwer, and describes a natural disaster similar to the account in Exodus. It is suggested that this writing was directed at the king as a complaint that the disaster was partly caused by the king’s failure to act and deal with the crisis.

This papyrus says such statements such as “Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere… The River is blood… Men shrank from tasting and thirst for water.” These are similar to Exodus 7:20 – 21 and 24. Another line states: The fire ran along the ground. There was hail, and fire mingled with the hail,” similar to Exodus 9:25. Ipuwer states that “The land is not light,” as in Exodus 10:22. He further adds, “All the animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan, similar to Exodus 9:3

Ipuwer states “He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere… Forsooth, the children of princes are dashed against the walls… Forsooth, the children of the princes are cast out in the streets,” parallels Exodus12: 27 – 30. “It is groaning that is throughout the land, mingled with lamentations,” is much like Exodus 12:30.

It is also noted that the Jews have annually celebrated three festivals, Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, for over 2500 years. And the Jews were not the type of people to celebrate a legend or myth. This public observance shows that the Jewish people actually participated in these events.

The pharaoh who was the father of the woman that pulled Moses out of the Nile died when Moses was about 80 years old, so he must have ruled for a great deal of time. There is one pharaoh in particular who reigned for a long period of time. Pepi II is though to have governed the country for 94 years. The 33 censuses give us a definite length of at least seventy years.

It would be though that the ruler preceding him would reign for a very short time. He would have had to deal with Moses, the plagues, and drowned in the Red Sea with the rest of his army. The Abydos king list mentions Merenre II, or Antiemdjaf, who reigned for only a single year.

Grimal states, “The Old Kingdom ended with a period of great confusion… the country’s power diminished.” He further says, “It was the collapse of the whole society, and Egypt itself has become a world in turmoil, exposed to the horrors of chaos which was always waiting for the moment when the personification of the divine being – the Pharaoh – neglected his duties or simple disappeared.”

This period is characterized by famine, which would be a logical result of the plagues in Exodus. ”This famine was limited to the Nile valley, making the Exodus a better explanation for the famine than a widespread climatic anomaly. It currently appears that the Old Kingdom ended about 2447 BC; the same estimated date for the Exodus. Since there are very few historical recorded from this era that can be used to confirm or challenge the Biblical record, archaeological evidence is based mainly on excavations of those cities mentioned in the Biblical accounts. Tablets were found in the city of Amarna, which is the modern name for the ancient city of Akhetaten, the capital of Egypt from around 1400 to 1350 BC. These tablets, referred to as the Amarna Tablets, include letters of appeals to Akhetaten the pharaoh for help in defending against the “Apiru,” also known as Hapiru or Khapiru, who were threatening the cities of Canaan. These people could easily have been the Hebrews, which would place the date of the exodus sometime betweens the mid to latter 15th century. “Apiru” was the linguistic root word for Hebrew, and could have been applied to the Israelites. Other texts that could possibly be referring to the Exodus are the Mernaphtah Stele, the Execration Texts, and the Inscription of Khu-Sebek.

Hyksos

Joseph most likely rose to power during the time of the Hyksos before the 12th Dynasty. During this time many Asiatics came to Egypt. The Exodus can also be equated with the expulsion of the Hyksos. Though not all of these were Israelites, and the book of Exodus states that a great mixed multitude came out of Egypt with Moses. The word Hyksos means ‘ruler(s) of foreign countries.’

There is also a story of two brothers in Egypt that greatly parallels the story of how Joseph came to be in Egypt. The story tells of two brothers, and how the wife of the older brother falsely accused the younger brother of a proposal of adultery after he had rejected her advances. In the 12th Dynasty Egyptian tomb of Khunum-hotep there is a picture of a caravan of 37 Asiatics arriving in Egypt trading stitbium from the land of Shutu. The leader us named Ibsha, and bears the title ‘ruler of foreign land, which is where the name Hyksos was derived. The name Shutu is probably an ancient term for Gilead. The Ishmaelites who took Joseph down to Egypt came from Gilead through Dothan. In the 13th Dynasty there were a great number of Asiatics serving in Egyptian households. One text lists 95 servants from one Theban household, 37 of which are Asiatic. There are women by the names of Sekratu, which is related to Issachar, another is called Asher, and another is Aqaba, which is related to Jacob. This suggests that some of the tribes of Israel were in Egypt during this time.

The book of Sothis gives a specific time when Joseph came to power under the Hyksos king Aphopis who ruled for 61 years. It says that this king was at first called Pharaoh, and that in the 4th year as king Joseph came as a slave into Egypt. He appointed Joseph in the 17th year of his rule after learning from him the interpretations of the Hyksos period from an Israelite perspective.

Why there is no record of millions of Jews wandering through the Desert.

The traditionally accepted route of the exodus has not yielded any archaeological evidence of this movement. Two suggestions for this are that it is naturally hard to find any archeological evidence in a desert of sand, or the traditionally accepted site is the wrong one. No find has ever contradicted the Bible, they have only confirmed it. So just because nothing about the Exodus has been found does not mean that it did or did not occur.

It is now beloved that the traditional site of Mt. Sinai is incorrect. Galatians 4:25 says that Mt. Sinai was not in the Sinai Peninsula, but in Arabia. A group of archaeologists believed that they have found the alternate route that the Hebrew took out of Egypt, using several landmarks mentioned in the Bible such as springs, a split rock, and altar, an underwater land bridge at the end of the Sinai Peninsula where the people of Israel could have crosses, and others. The present location of Mt. Sinai is known as Jabal AL Laws, also known as the mount of Moses. The Saudis have currently fenced odd this area with warning signs in several languages telling people not to enter. If this is the true location of MT. Sinai, it would be one of the most holy places for Christians and Jews, and it would cause a great deal of political problems since it is in Muslim territory.

Joshua’s Conquest of Jericho

The Tell el-Amarna tablets can back up the story of Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land. These tablets consist of writings on clay tablets containing correspondences between Canaanite kings, and the Egyptian Pharaoh during a troublesome time. The king was requesting assistance due to constant invasions by nomadic people they referred to as the “Habiru.” It is believed that the Haribu were the Hebrews of Joshua’s army. Many of the details on these clay tablets confirm specific details related to Joshua’s account of the conquest.

Excavations of Jericho provide further proof. Kenyon excavations show that Jericho was heavily fortified and that it had been destroyed by fire. This destruction took place around 1400 BC, exactly as the Bible says.

An embankment surrounded the mound of Jericho with a stonewall at its base. The wall would have been 12 – 15 feet high. On top of that was a mud brick wall six feet thick and 20 – 26 meters high. At the crest of the embankment was a similar mud brick wall whose base was about 46 feet above ground level outside the retaining well. This is probably what loomed above the Israelites while they marched around the city. So it would have been impossible for the Israelis to penetrate Jericho.

The citizens of Jericho were well prepared for a siege; the spring that provided water for them laid inside the city walls, and at the time of attack the harvest has just been taken in, so they would have had an abundant supply of food. John Garstang and Kenyon found many large jars of grain in an excavation of the Canaanite homes. This food supply would have lasted them for several years.

The scriptures say that the wall “fell beneath itself” and evidence shows that the wall did in fact collapse and was deposited at the base of the stone retaining the wall at the time the city met its end. Kenyon describes the west side of the wall as being “fallen red bricks piling nearly to the top of the revetment. These probably came from the wall summit of the band. The brickwork above the revetment.”

The Biblical account tells how Rahab’s home was incorporated into the fortification system, but miraculously were spared. And at the north end of the Tell of Jericho, archaeologists discovered that on the north a short stretch of the lower city wall did not fall as everywhere else. A portion of the mud brick was still standing over eight feet, with houses built against the wall. Since the city walls also formed the back wall of the houses, the spies could have readily escaped. From here it was only a short distance to the hills of the Judean wilderness where the spies hid for three days.

Excavations have shown that the bricks from the collapsed walls formed a ramp against the retaining wall, allowing the Israelites to climb over the top of the 12 – 15 foot high retaining wall. A layer of burned ash and debris about one meter thick was also found. Keynon describes it as; “The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire, and every room was filled with fallen bricks, timbers, and household utensils; in most rooms the fallen debris was heavily burnt. But the collapse of the walls of the eastern rooms seems to have taken place before the fire affected them.

Archaeologists found it strange to find many storage jars of grain. Grain was very valuable and also used, as a form of currency, so naturally conquers would plunder these valuables. But the Bible tells us that Joshua commande3d the Israelites that the city and all that is in it were to be dedicated to the Lord. The massive amounts left also show that the siege was short since the people inside consumed so little of the grain.

Both Garstang and Kenyon discovered evidence of an earthquake activity during the time the city met its end. This earthquake would have had to of happened at precisely the right moment, and was manifested in such a way as to protect Rahab’s house.

On the outskirts of the town was a cemetery and the graves yielded quantities of pottery vessels, jewelry and 170 scarab beetles. The Egyptian scarabs were dated with certainty since they mentioned the pharaohs by name; Thutmose 3 1490-1436 BC, and Amenhotep 2 and 3 who reigned from 1413 - 1376 BC. Nothing else in the tombs indicated any later dates.

Lachish

Joshua tells how the Israelites took this city on the second day of the siege on they returned to the promised lands. It also states how they passed on without burning the city, and in Chronicles we read that king Rehoboam fortified it and made it very strong. In the 1930's many important discoveries were made, and among them were the twenty-one Lachish tablets. They were found amongst the charcoal and ashes in the guardroom adjoining the outer gate of the city. These were written by Hoshaiah, a military officer stationed at the outpost near Jerusalem, sub-ordinate of Joash, the commanding officer. These messages were written around 588 BC, during the last years of Jeremiah and reflected the troubled period through which the kingdom was passing during Zedekiah's reign just before the fall of Lachish.

Letter 1 gives a list of nine proper names, five of which are found in the OT, three appear only in the time of Jeremiah. Hoshaiah writes that they were waiting for the signals of Lachish, and Jeremiah mentions signals and tells how the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem in the other sites of Judah that were still holding out, Lachish and Azekah, the only fortified cities left in Judah. These letters reflect the tense social and political situation of the times when Jeremiah prophesized and was placed in prison.

Sodom and Gomorrah

A city called Babedh Drha, a heavily fortified city, has now been though to be the site of Sodom. 23-inch thick walls were discovered around the city along with numerous houses and a large temple. On the outskirts of the city was a cemetery with thousands of skeletons, revealing that the city was largely populated during the early Bronze Age, about the time when Abraham would have lived.

The city had been destroyed by fire, and was buried under a coating of ash several feet thick. A cemetery outside the city contained charred remains of roofs, posts, and bricks turned red from heat. Dr. Bryant Wood states that the fire began on the roofs of the buildings, eventually causing the roofs to collapse into the interiors and spread inside the buildings – which was the case for every house excavated. This matches the Biblical accounts that the city was destroyed by a fire that rained down from heaven.

Remnants of other cities mentioned in the same chapter of Genesis are Gomorrah, Admah, Zoar, and Zeboiim. The remnants of these cities have also been found along the Dead Sea. Studies revealed that these cities had been abandoned around the same time about 2450-2350 BC. It is believed that the city of Numeria is Gomorrah, and es-Safi is Zoar. These cities were covered in the same ash as Bab ed-Drha. Numeria had several feet of ash in some areas, and in all of these cities, the ash deposits made the soil a spongy charcoal, making it impossible to rebuild. The only city that was not burnt was Zoar, where Lot was to flee to. Zoar was discovered to have not been burned, but to have been abandoned during this period.

Hittites

The discovery of the Hittite civilization was a crucial one for Old Testament apologetics. Critics had often argued that no evidence outside of the Old Testament confirmed the existence of these people. But in the late 19th century inscriptions were found carved on rocks in Turkey, suspected to be evidence of the existence of these people. Ten more clay tablets were found several years later at Boghaz-koy.

Further excavations uncovered five temples, a fortified citadel, several massive sculptures, over ten thousand clay tablets, and documents recording a treaty between Ramesses II and the Hittite King. (Many other records of treaties were found, which gave us a better understanding of the treaties of the Old Testament.) Other tablets revealed that Boghaz-koy, then called Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittite empire and had covered an area of 300 acres.

The discovery of this empire provided further proof for Biblical facts. It was once thought that the laws of Moses were too complicated for that time, so therefore they must have been from a later date. But fife temples were found with tablets containing details of the rites and ceremonies of the priests, rites for purification from sin and purification of a new temple. These texts, along with others from Egyptian sites, prove that the ceremonies described in the Pentateuch are consistent with the ceremonies of the cultures of the time period.

The lands of the Hittites were rich with mineral reserves of copper, lead, silver, and iron. The Hittites were one of the first people to work iron. They were warrior people noted for their ferocity, and used iron to make weapons. Trade with other countries was limited and it was often at war with other countries. If the Hittites needed any special natural resources, they used conquest to attain them instead of trade. Hittite society and law were both greatly influenced by those of the Babylonians, though the penal system was much more mild.

Philistines

Another group of people prominently mentioned in the Old Testament are the Philistines. As a result of excavations in Ashod, Ekron, and Ashkelon, much more is known about these people. These three cities, along with Gath and Gaza constituted the Philistine Pentapolis. These excavations reveal that they were a strong military nation, and about their presence in Canaan and Egypt. It is believed that the Philistines settled themselves during the mass migration of the 13th and 12th centuries BC, and belonged to the “Sea Peoples,” as the invaders were named in Egyptian texts.

They were often thought of as legends, but archaeology has uncovered information regarding the Philistine 'sea people' that is consistent with their portrayal in the Bible. Several Egyptian inscriptions, among others, indicate that the Philistines most likely originated in the Aegean area, probably in the island of Crete, fitting with the Biblical passages (Jeremiah 47:4 and Deuteronomy 2:23 for example, linking them with Caphtor, a location most scholars identify with Crete. They are depicted as expert metallurgists and archaeologists have found material evidence that they were expert metal workers. Trude Dothan, A Hebrew University archaeologist says that this superior knowledge no doubt gave then a military advantage. For example, the dual between David and Goliath the Philistine warrior is described as wearing a bronze helmet and bronze body armor and carrying a spear with a shaft 'like a weaver’s beam' with a head of iron. This type of weapon was new to Canaan and had no Hebrew name. Trude Dothan notes that 'without the Bible, we wouldn't even have know there were Philistines.

Proof that the Philistines were of Aegan origin is in their similarities. They have pottery similarities in geometric patterns, and double axe patterns. The words of the Philistines, Teren = Lord of the Philistine, and Helmet = Kobah, a possible relationship to a days battle in which one man fights another as a representative of each side, a plate that depicts a Greek warrior with armor similar to what Goliath wore, Philistine Temple architecture that is similar to Greek design, and others.

First Temple

Given the grandeur and influence of David and Solomon, why is there so little notice in ancient Near Eastern documents from the time? Carol Meyers, professor of Biblical Studies and Archaeology at Duke University suggests that it may be due to the political climate in the region at the time. She states, 'A power vacuum existed in the eastern Mediterranean" The collapse of Egypt’s 20th dynasty around 1069 BC led to a lengthy period of economic and political decline for a nation that had exerted powerful influence over the city-states of Palestine during the Late Bronze Age. This period of Egyptian weakness lasted for over a century, and during this time there was a "relative paucity of monumental inscriptions, the kings had nothing to boast about." The Assyrian empire to the east was also silent from the late 11th to the 9th century BC regarding the western lands it once had dominated. Assyria was preoccupied with internal turmoil following the death of one of the greatest of its early kings, as was Babylonia. They seldom ventured beyond it own borders, therefore it records would hardly have mentioned a new dynastic state to the west.

Evidence of the First Temple may never have been found as a result of the extensive building of the Second Temple on the same site. Buildings from the time of the First Temple in the area of the temple platform known as the Ophel derived from long room styles. The Biblical description of the temple fits the archaeological design for a building emerged by Phoenician artisans. Other artifacts from the First Temple era include a small ivory object carved in the shape of a pomegranate inscribed with the well know phrase, “The house of the Lord.” This was originally a scepter head that topped a staff belonging to priests who officiated in the First Temple. Another inscription was found a=on an ostraeon (A broken piece of pottery used for writing receipts for donations given at the Temple. A Black Obelish provides record of payment of tribute to the Assyrian king Shalmanesesr 3 by Jehu, King of Israel

Kings

The kings of Judah were buried with in the city of David. The south end of the city of David, south of the Old City of Jerusalem, two monumental tunnel tombs, assumed to be those of David and Solomon were discovered. But further quarrying damaged this site, and no inscription survived. In the same area Iron Age tombs were discovered of the other kings, except for Uzziah because he was a leper and was buried near them in a field. An inscription was found on the Mount of Olives in 1931 dating to the first century AD saying "Here were brought the bones of Uzziah, King of Judah, Do not open."

The Mesha Stele, much like the stele on which the Dan inscription is etched, is a basalt monument from the 9th century BC that commemorates a military victory over Israel, this one by the Moabite king Mesha. The lengthy Tyrian text describes how the kingdom of Moab, a land east of the Jordan River, had been oppressed by 'Omri, king of Israel' (Whose reign is summarized in 1 Kings 16:21-27) and by Omri's successors, and how Mesha threw off the Israelites in a glorious military campaign - the inscription was studied by the French scholar Andre LeMaire.

King David

Recent evidence has led many scholars to believe that the site called Tell Dan, in Northern Galilee at the foot of Mt. Hermon is the Old Testament land of Dan. Here excavators discovered and impressive royal plaza, and the remains of a black basalt stele containing thirteen lines of Aramiac writing. None of the sentences were complete, but those letters remaining were easy to read, and two of the lines contained the phrases “The King of Israel,” and “House of David.” The pottery found in the area, along with the construction and style of writing, led scholars to believe that the stele was erected in the first quarter of the ninth century BC, about a century after the death of Kind David.

The inscription told of a war between the Israelites and the Arameans, which the Bible refers to in this period. This slab was erected to celebrate the defeat of the kings of Judah and Israel. Two more pieces were found with inscriptions referring to Jehram, the son of Ahab, and Ahaziah, who was the ruler over Judah. This slab confirms that there was a Davidic dynasty that ruled Israel, that a historic King David existed, and that the two kingdoms were prominent political entities as the Bible describes.

David and Goliath

At the Biblical site of Ai, sling stones were recovered that were about the size of a softball or a basketball, which makes sense since David killed off Goliath, lions and bears with such sling stones. A good slinger can throw one of these stones up to a quarter of a mile at about 60 miles an hour, and according to Grace Kellner, the best slingers were left-handed Benjaminites.

The slings were made of antlers that were carved into the shape of a horse’s head. The stone was placed in the jaws of the head and discharged with and over-arm jerk.

At Tell Halaf, a relief showed a slinger with a leather pouched weapon in which the stone was placed in the pouch, which was pulled tight to form a bag, and at the right moment one of the leather straps was released to throw the rock.

There have been modern cases of people who have been up to 8’11” who are often plagued with a disease called Acromegaly. This is a pituitary eye disease that diminishes the eyesight. It presses on the optic nerve causing vision problems. It is theorized that this was the case with Goliath. His helmet, of Aegan origin, may have also limited his ability to get a proper view of David.

Tombs

Several tombs have been found in the early 1900’s, one of which is believed to be David’s. This tomb features a long tunnel about 52.5 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 13 feet high, with a lower level, a back wall with a seep impression, similar to the later first temple tombs found, where a body, sarcophagus/burial container could be placed, with steps leading down to another entrance where another person could have been laid. . This tomb is on a mound that is surrounded by lesser tombs.

The City of David was located at the east ridge of the city. It was believed that corpses would contaminate large populations, so only the kings of Judah were buried inside the city, and all others were buried on the outskirts. Nehemiah states that the Davidic tombs were in the southern part of the city – where these tombs were located.

Some critics have tried to claim that the City of David was much smaller than the Bible claims it was, but again, archaeology has proven the Bible to be correct. 1 Chronicles says that the empire included the area north of Damascus and Zobah as part of the kingdom. Critics thought that Zobah was south of Damascus, but it really lies to the north o. This shows that the Biblical accounts are perfectly reasonable geographically.

The “Heights of David” inscription found in Egypt is another reference to David. It is believed that the Biblical Pharaoh Shishak may have carved David’s name into the wall of the Amun Temple at Karnak, a practice that was developed by Thutmosis III. Shishak’s success over his many enemies, including Israel, is represented by over 100 place-names on the wall. Excavations revealed that Jerusalem was an elongated triangle enclosing an area of about nine acres. There is no indication that David ever expanded his city but simply repaired it. The expansion of the city would not take place until Solomon where he would expand north to include the Temple. A fifty-foot stack of rocks discovered in Jerusalem could be where David built his fortress of Zion. Many believe that David’s Royal Palace may lie just north of this stone structure.

King Solomon

Solomon’s Bronze Basin

Around 967 BC, King Solomon began building a Temple. All of the bronze items to be included in the Temple were contracted to Hiram of Tyre because of his great skill. One of these objects was a large bronze Sea. It was called a Sea because it has a capacity of nearly 12000 gallons. This was to be used by the priests for cleansing themselves in preparation for sacrifices.

Scriptures state that the container was circular and about 10 cubits in diameter and had a circumference if about 30 cubits. As a rule of math, the circumference should be equal to the diameter multiplied by pi. But when we dive 30 by 10 we get exactly three. This has been one aspect that critics have pointed to, but this can be easily accounted for if we consider the shape.

1 Kings states that the “brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom.” So this was not a regular cylinder and had an outward curving rim. We cannot say the exact points of which the measurements of the vessel were taken. The main part of the sea will always be somewhat smaller than the 10 cubits measured from brim to brim. If we divide the circumference by the accepted value of pi, we arrive at a main diameter of 9.554 cubits.

Another error that has been pointed out is that 1 Kings reports the volume of being 2,000 baths, but 2 Chronicles reports it at having a volume of 3000 baths. But it is widely though that the bath unit in the time of Solomon was larger than the bath unit used after the Babylonian exile during the writing of Chronicles. This is compared to the 20% difference between the US gallon and the Imperial gallon; even though the same term is used for both, there is a difference between the two. The writer of Chronicles used the measures of his period so they would be familiar to the modern readers, just as authors today often do.

Solomon’s Wealth

There is also the question of where Solomon’s massive wealth went to, but the solution to that question may have been found. It is believed that when Shishak led his campaign against Israel and Judah, he took the riches of Solomon’s Temple with him back to Egypt around 925 BC. A year later he died and his son Osorkon ruled. Four years after Solomon’s death Osorkon dedicated gifts to the gods and goddesses of Egypt, which was recorded on a temple pillar in Bubastis, Egypt. This pillar lists the riches that he chose to dedicate to the gods that included 2,300,000 of denen of gold and silver, 383 tons of precious metal with an inscription.

It was also once though that Solomon’s reported wealth in the Bible is unprecedented to any other leader of the ancient world, but this has also proven to be false. Excavations at Ur yielded golden cups and dishes dated back to 2600 BC, over 1600 years before the time of Solomon. Gold plated Temples, such as Solomon’s have also been discovered to exist. One example would be Esarhaddon’s Ashur Temple that had gold platted doors, Neo-Babylon’s Nabonidas whose Temple of Sin at Harran had walls of silver and gold, Amenophis III’s Temple of Amun had plated gold throughout the interior with floors that were plated with silver, and Ramses III’s shrine a which was paved with silver and had gold door posts.

Other examples of such wealth are those of Pythius, who was a subject of Xerxes of Persia who had 7000 pounds of gold, Trajan’s capture of gold from the Dfacian’s, which was 500000 pounds, and Anastaius’ gold that weighed approximately 320,000 pounds.

It is believed that the main locations for gold exploration and mining would be from Western Turkey, Egypt, Wawat, Nubia, and Western Arabia. 1 Kings speaks of the “Gold of Ophir,” but nobody was quite sure where Ophir was. But the name was found on an ostracon from Tell Qasile Israel.

The Bible reports that Solomon had a throne that was made of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. This was once thought to be an exaggeration of Biblical accounts, but other such thrones have been discovered. Not only that, but also weapons, robes, and bedsteads were found made partially of gold. An ivory bedstead and throne was discovered at Salamis and fragments of ivory have been recovered from Samaria and Assyria. King Tut’s tomb included a chair that was plated with pure gold and other chairs that were discovered had the back and legs covered with gold. Queen Hetephere’s tomb contained a bed, carrying-chair, and canopy that had gold covered woodwork. Also decorative objects of war have been discovered similar to Solomon’s 500 shields of gold in places such as Ur, and Assyria.

Camels were once thought to not have been domesticated at the time of Solomon, but archaeology has shown that camels were domesticated as early as 1200 BC.

Solomon and Sheba

In the 1870’s some inscriptions were found in Marib that proved that the capital of Shba existed. An oval shaped temple over 300 feet long was found almost buried in the sand. One of the inscriptions on the temple wall showed that the people of the temple worshiped a god of the moon known as Ilumquh. The temple also contained fountains that flowed into the courtyard. A clay stamp that was used to seal frankincense and myrrh cargo bags was found at Bethel, which proves that there was a relationship between the two nations at the time of Solomon and Sheba.

Misc.

The temple of Solomon has yet to be revealed, but the bible is accurate concerning temple architecture. 2 Chronicles speaks of free standing columns and vestibule that is similar to what we see in Syrian architecture, and 1 Kings tells us of the use of cedar beams in the inner city courtyard, which is supported by discoveries in Syria and Northern Phoenicia. The Phoenicians and Egyptians used palm trees, flowers, chains and lighting techniques on their architecture similar to those described in 2 Chronicles.

It is now thought that the father in law of one of Solomon’s wives was the Pharaoh Samin. 1 Kings states that Solomon made an alliance with an Egyptian Kin that included a treaty in marriage. Pharaohs would typically receive daughters of forgiven rulers, but it is unique in that Siamun probably thought of Solomon as his equal and allowed his daughter to marry him. Siamin was in the sixth Dynasty 21 and reigned from 978 to 959 BC. After conquering Gezer of the Philistines, he gave the town to Solomon. A representation was found at the Temple of Amon at Tanis, which shows the Aegan double axe that illustrates Egyptian and Philistine conflict.

As a result of Yadin’s discoveries of the Hazor gate and city wall, we have been able to determine that Hazor was present during the tenth century. In a Palace room, the name Hazor was discovered on one of four tablets that were uncovered. With this were found multiplication tables, commercial, and legal documents. This was the first time that the name Hazor was found outside the Bible.

Solomon’s Gezer was excavated in the early 1900’s. This was a thirty-acre mound that is fifteen miles west of Jerusalem. This was the dowry given to Solomon’s wife by her father Siamun. The remainders of this city include a destruction layer, a monumental city gate, and a wall from the time of Solomon.

Heshbon, or Tell Hesban is located 47 miles east of Jerusalem and more than likely contains the ruins of the Biblical city within the newer metropolis. A large reservoir was found measuring fifty by forty by fifteen and may be the “fish pools of Heshbon” that is mentioned by Solomon in Song of Solomon.

There is a site known as Gibeon that is approximately nine miles north of Jerusalem and its earliest record of habitation is about 3100 BC that encapsulated the entire Bronze Age up to 1200 BC. The name was uncovered 25 times. Also discovered were imported wares, a royal seal, and storage jar handles. The Pool of Gibeon measures 36 feet in diameter and thirty feet deep.

Saul Death of Saul and the Philistines at Beth Shan

Excavations of Beth Shan uncovered Philistine pottery, a strainer jug, a fertility goddess statue, and a Philistine bowl that were all in Aegan style. There was also found to be a strong Egyptian presence from 1450-1150 BC.

After Saul’s death, his body was placed on the wall at Beth Shan, his armor at an Ashttoreth Temple, and his end in a Temple of Dagon. This was once thought of as a problem since a Philistine Temple, Dagon, and a Canaanite Temple, Astoreth, couldn’t exist at the same time because the Canaanites were an earlier people. But it has been found that the Philistines absorbed the Canaanite gods into their beliefs and kept the Temple as an adjoining part of their Dagon Temple.

Other

The giant known as King Og was defeated by the Israelites in Bashan at the Battle of Edrei. Bashans earliest occupation was between 3000 and 2000 BC. An Egyptian document from the time of Thutmose III and the Amarna letters reveals a strong agricultural settlement that was eventually taken over by the Israelites. It is believed that the king’s bed was made in Raboth-Ammon, and that he was the descendent of the Zamzummim who were also giants. Another group known as the Pelasgians were4 probably Philistines or of a close relation.

Warrens Shaft

It has been debated how Joab entered the city of Jerusalem, but a shaft was discovered that was not a man made creation but a sink hole or an erosion shaft caused by water percolating through limestone, which was one of the two ways that entrance to the city was possible.

Prophets and Prophesis

Isaiah

It is believed that the book of Isaiah was written between 740 and 680 BC. But some have tried to explain the prophesies of this book with the Deutero-Isaiah Theory. This theory states that one author wrote the first 39 chapters, and another wrote the last 27. It assumes that the second author lived in Babylon after the Babylonian Empire had taken the Jews captive in 586 BC. But this theory can be refuted.

The entire book shows similar writing style, scholars have even located over forty sentences and phrases that occur in both halves of Isaiah. The author is also familiar with the Palestine area, and not with Babylon. If a Jew in Babylon had written the second half, this would not have been the case.

A prediction of the Medo-Persian overthrow of the Babylonian Empire is mentioned in the first half of Isaiah. This occurred in 538 BC, and if the author could predict the future in the first chapters, why not in the latter chapters also?

Isaiah’s most famous prophecy predicts that the Messiah would suffer for the iniquities of His people, and this did not happen until 30 AD. (The book could also not have been written after this time, as Jesus makes mention to Isaiah, alluding that he was the only author, and also because of the dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Daniel

The book of Daniel has been dated to somewhere between 590 and 530 BC. Daniel lived under both the Babylonian and the Medo-Persian rule over Judah. Daniel uses early Aramaic, which is consistent with the sixth century BC, rather than a second century BC composition. Three words are also found that prove an early date. These are names of musical instruments that would not have been known or used in Palestine and Babylon before the Greeks conquered those regions. Daniels theology is also consistence with other writings from this time, and is not, as some critics say, too advanced for a date as early as the 6th century BC.

Several of Daniels prophecies were fulfilled after 165 BC, and there is no reason to date the book around that time. Some of these prophecies are the four world kingdoms, the Medo-Persian overthrow of the Babylonians, the Greek conquest of the Medo-Persian Empire, and the Roman conquest of Palestine in 63 BC. Even liberal scholars do not date the book to be as early as this.

Daniel also predicted that the Messiah would be executed 483 years after the order to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. This would place the death at about 30 AD. He also states that the death of the Messiah would be followed by the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD.

False Prophets

There have be3en many false prophets through history, but it is rather easy to identify those that are false, and those who are not. Those who are false, often have certain characteristics.

One features is that of ‘prophetic ecstasy.’ This seems to occur without forewarning, or is caused by certain conditions such as certain forms of music. In Josh McDowell’s “Evidence that Demands a Verdict,” he describes that these conditions “…Arose as total expulsion of all self-consciousness, and no sensitivity or fear of pain was not evident.” He also notes that this feature may appear in some true prophets.

False prophets were generally paid and worked on the king’s staff, and said what they believed the king would want to hear. These prophets were also often found in groups.

Through Moses, the theme was sealed on all future prophecy by setting the norm of the theology by which all future prophets must accept.

Jeremiah 23 mentions how these false prophets would often condone sinful behavior, and preaches a superficial, artificial, peace. True prophets only preached against sin. A true prophet challenges his hearers to examine themselves.

Biblical prophets always make they prophecies very clear, and their tenses are very obvious. The only books that do not have concrete information about the date are Obadiah and Joel. But in 280-250 BC, all the books were translated into Greek in the Septuagint, so we know that all of these books were written at least before this period.

Prohpesies Regarding Specific Places

Samaria

Both Hosea and Micah made prophecies regarding Samaria. They predicted that Samaria would; fall violently, be "as a heap in the field," vineyards would be planted, stones would be poured down into the valley, and it's foundations would be 'discovered.'

Shalanesser initiated a siege on Samaria, and Sargon completed the capture in 722. Samaria also fell by the sword in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, and again in 120 BC by Hyrcanus. All of these attacks caused a great deal of damage and death. Now the land is growing with gardens, with remains only remaining on the north side. The land has been ploughed for centuries, so many of the foundations and stones of the ancient city can not be found, but some pillars remain, and a heap of stones from the time of Omri and Ahab are scattered down the slope of a hill. The odds of all these prophecies regarding Samaria coming true are one in 40,000.

Gaza and Ashkelon.

Prophesies regarding these two lands were made by the prophets Amos, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Ezekiel. It was foretold that the Philistines would not continue, baldness would come upon Gaza, Ashkelon would become desolate, shepards and sheep would dwell around Ashkelon, and the remnant of the House of Judah would reinhabit Ashkelon.

In 1270 AD the Sultan Bibura destroyed Ashkelon and filled the harbor with stones, and rendered it waste and desolate. Today it is known for being a grazing place for sheep. The nation of the Philistines was cut off completely, until they were destroyed completely. There is nothing left but some portions of walls with ruined towards. Today, along the coast of the Mediterranean, it is known for it's Jewish population.

Many have tried to use the situation of Gaza to prove this prophesy wrong, but the modern location of Gaza is not the same as the ancient city of Gaza, so it is not subject to the prophecy. The ancient location of the city has been found buried under sand dunes - it is completely bald and nothing is there.

The odds of these prophecies being fulfilled are one in 12,000

Moab and Ammon.

The prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah foretold the future of these lands. . It was foretold that easterners would take the land and they would live off the fruits of the land and it would be a site for their palaces, people of the old cities would reinhabit their land, and it would become a desolate heap.

With the mountain stronghold, it seemed unlikely at the time of the prophecy that it would ever come true. But Emir Abdullah of Ttransjordiania built his palace there, and other men of the east frequent there, such as officials from other nations who are members of the Arab Legion. It went from a village to flourishing. The chances are one in ten to the third power.

Petra and Edon

Prophesies regarding these two lands were made by both Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It was told that it would become desolate and never re-populated, it would be conquered by heathens, conquered by Israel, and would have a bloody history. Edom would be come desolate as far as the city of Teman, animals would inhabit it, there would be a cessation of trade, and spectators would be astonished. And that none would pass through Petra.

These were made when the lands were under Babylonian rule, and seemed very unlikely. But in the sixth century BC, Nabeans expelled Edom and took Petra, and later was attacked by Hyrcanus and Simon of Gerasa, fulfilling the prophecy that heathens and Jews would conquer it. This was once a vital trade route to Asia.

(The mention of the Edomites was also thought to be an error in the Bible, as there was no mention of them outside of the Old Testament, but effervescence to Edomites has been found on Egyptian and Assyrian monuments.)

By the 12th century the only occupants were several wandering tribesmen. Now the only inhabitants are a variety of lizards and vipers, numerous scorpions (even when it is cold and snowy, they can be found under rocks), and lions and leopards - but they never descend to the plain beneath. and owls. There are remains of broken pillars and pavements and stones. in the 6th century AD, there was the Muslim takeover, and also attacks by Judas Maccabeus - fulfilling the prophesies about being conquered by Israel and heathens. But the city of Teman is still prosperous. Very few people have seen Petra, and those few who have, have all reported being very astonished.

The odd of this are one in ten to the fourth power, and is compared to the likeliness of the same thing happening to the state of New Jersey.

Thebes and Memphis

The future of these lands were prophesized be the prophet Ezekiel, and it was foretold that the idols of Memphis would be destroyed, Thebes would be broken up and destroyed, the multitude of Thebes would be cut off and there would no longer be a native prince of Egypt, and Memphis would be disunited.

Cambyses took Pelusium and placed all the sacred objects in front of his army’s dogs so no one would try to use anything against them. He then slew Apis the sacred ox and burned all other idols in 525 BC.

After the founding of Cairo, Memphis's success began to decrease, and by the 7th century Memphis was being transplanted.

Ezekiel lived during Nebuchadnezzar’s time, and thirteen years after his death, Cambysus invaded Egypt and led a blow of destruction, and burned temples. But Egypt arose from this blow, but was hit again in the first century BC, and again in 89 BC there was a three-year siege, which virtually leveled and cut off the city, which was then broken up into multiple villages.

Persians took Egypt in 525 BC, and for 170 years it was a rebellious province. In 350 BC Ochus crushed Egypt and from then on foreigners controlled Egypt.

Nineveh

The prophet Nahum prophesized that Nineveh would be destroyed in a state of drunkenness, destroyed in an 'overflowing flood,' burned, completely destroyed, and desolate.

The earliest possible date for Nahum in 663 BC, as it looks as the conquest of Thebes as a past event, and the latest date is 612 BC because it looks to the fall of Nineveh as a future event.

The walls of Nineveh were 100 feet high, fifty feet wide, had a moat and a veteran army surrounding it. This was certainly enough security to prevent the land from falling within three months, after all Psanametiehus besieged Shod over 29 years, and it’s dimensions were much smaller than Nineveh’s, but as it was foretold, it did.

There was a prophecy going around the land that it would fall with ease and that a vital portion of the city wall would be carried away by a great flood.

The King was too aware of his victories, and not on his deteriorating armies, and celebrating with them with much drinking. This fact reached the army general. The king had heard a prophecy in the land that no enemy would take the land by storm unless the river would first become their enemy, so the king felt secure, and they have food stored up for three years. But after the river flooded part of the city, the king put many of his possessions and concubines and locked them in a portion of the palace and burned it. Extensive traces of ash can be found from 612 BC.

This land is too big to ever be fully excavated, a village stands on one point of it, and a cemetery covers a lot of it, so excavations are not easy. It took an archaeologist to bore a hole thirty to forty-five feet of debris before the Assyrian strata was reached.

Today the land is desolate even in the spring.

Babylon

It was foretold by the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah that Babylon would become like Sodom and Gomorrah, would never be inhabited again, no Arab tents would be pitched there, there would be no sheepfolds, it would be infested by desert creatures, the stones would not be removed for further constructions of other projects, it would not be frequently visited, and would be covered with swamps of water.

Babylon was one of the centers of commerce, being in the best position for trade with all regions, and was the main link between the east and west. It was protected by enormous marches, a thirty foot wide moat, double walls 311 feet high and 87 feet wide, 100 gates of solid brass, 250 watchtowers that were 100 feet taller than the outer walls. The Euphrates ran under the wall deep enough for an army to march underneath. So the enemy dug trenches underneath and diverted the river while the Babylonians celebrated their victory over the Persians, which is mentioned in Daniel chapter eight.

The enemy troops had two Babylonian deserters, and a counselor who noticed these things, and saw that many of the troops were drunk.

On October 13, 539 BC, Babylon fell to Cyrus of Persia, and the land began to decay. It was plundered by Xerxes, and Alexander the Great tried to restore the temple, but it became nothing but desert. After Alexander’s death many of the generals battled over portions of the empire. The Selecuids finally seized the property, and they discovered that the cost to rebuild the city would be about as much as it would be to build a new city, so they decided on the latter. They built to new kingdom 40 miles north of Babylon on the Tigris. Today wild boards, hyenas, jackals, wolves, and lions are among the vast ruins. It is completely uninhabited, and no Arabs pitch their tents there as a result of a superstition, and the soil prevents growth suitable for pastures for flocks.

Edward Chiera once stated, “I have visited Pompeii and Petra, but those cities are not dead – they are only temporarily abandoned. The hum of life is still heard and life blooms all around… here only is real death. “

The rocks that were once imported there at such a great cost still remain. And though most ancient cities are on prominent tourist routes, Babylon is not, and has visitors. Many parts are covered with swamp, and nothing can grow there.

The odds of the prophecies regarding both of these two cities is one in 500, 000,

Tyre

There were seven main prophecies that were made regarding the city of Tyre. They are that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy the mainland city of Tyre, many nations would be against Tyre, the land would be a bare rock and flat like the top of a rock, fishermen would spread nets over the site, the debris would be thrown into the water, it would never be rebuilt, and it would be never found again.

Nebuchadnezzar lay siege to the mainland of Tyre three years after the prophecy was made.

During Alexander the Great's war on the Perisians, he defeated Darius III at the Battle of Issus, he marched towards Egypt demanding that the Phoenician cities open their gates, but the citizens of Tyre refused to do so. Alexander proceeded to lay siege on the city. Since he had to fleet, he demolished old Tyre on the mainland, and with the debris built a mole 200 feet wide across the straits separating the old and new towns, and laid them to ruins.

As a result of being reduced to ruins by Alexander in 332 BC, a larger part of the site is as bare ads a rock. It is now a place where fishermen spread their nets.

In 15 months Antigonus reduced it. Ptolemy Philedelphius built the harbor of Bernice on the Red Sea and roads with stations and canals joining Peluicia branch of the Nile to the Gulf of Suez, so the wealth of Tyre was not going to Alexandria. Muslim invaders were let in to the city, since the people of Tyre thought they were protected by a truce, but they destroyed and killed everything, today it is a small fishing village.

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland, Alexander scraped the old site clean and bare, and it was never rebuilt or refunded again.

Palestine

It is impossible to try to post date prophecies regarding Palestine, since many of them have been fulfilled during modern times. Some of the prophesies were mentioned in Leviticus, written during the lifetime of Moses, and others in Ezekiel, which is dated 592-570 BC. Predictions include that the Palestinian cities would remove waste, desolation would come over the sanctuaries, desolation would come over the land, it would e inhabited by enemies, the people of Israel would be dispersed, and the Jews would be persecuted.

In 70 AD, the Roman legions smashed and tore the land and the inhabitants resisted. As a result the Roman showed less mercy, and destroyed everything that Judaism stood for. The temple was smashed and burned, and the figure of a pig rested over the gate of Bethlehem. From then on the practice of sacrificing ended.

The prediction about the dispersal of the Jews did not begin totally until 135 AD when the land was confiscated and sold to Gentiles by Hadrian. And though the land has been passed through many hands, the owners have always held the two characteristics; they came from a Gentile background and had hostility towards the Jews.

Werner Keller states that there is "no material evidence of Israel’s existence in Palestine after 70 Ad. Everything was destroyed, even the house of God in Capernaum.

During his travels, Mark Twain noted that there were no villages in the region, "There are two or three clusters of Bedouin tents, but not s since permanent habitation." The poverty of the soil and the oppression of the Turkish government make a return an impossibility, and is now only capable of supporting a small fraction of the once large population.

And finally, George Davis points out, "The return of more than a million Jews to the land of Israel, after being away... for nearly 2000 years, is one of the most amazing and remarkable miracles of all time. And the astonishing thing about this... it was foretold in detail by the prophet Jeremiah 2500 years ago.

It was also foretold that that land would be retilled, which it being done. Today, portions of the barren land of Negev are being cultivated and are gradually being transformed from a desert atmosphere. The population of such cities is still growing and flourishing.

And as for the history of the Jewish people, it is no secret that the history of the Jewish people is filled with persecution.

Jerusalem’s Expansion

Jeremiah made prophesies regarding the expansion of Jerusalem and used clear landmarks to chart the route of the unusual growth of the city.

The odds of all of the prophecies regarding Palestine coming true are 20000 to 1.

Sidon

There is no mention of the destruction of this land, but that there would be blood in the streets, which was made by Ezekiel. In 381 BC the city rebelled and succeeded, but the new king, to save his life, betrayed them. 40,000 of the citizens shut themselves in their homes and set them on fire rather than submit. Three times crusaders, and three times by Muslim armies, captured it.

Conclusion on Prophesis

The odds of all these prophesies combined being fulfilled is one in 5.76 x ten to the fifty ninth power. This is compared to the volume of the sun; the volume of the sun is equivalent to one million earths. 5 x ten to the fifty ninth power silver dollars could make 10 to the twenty-eighth power suns.

The dating of these prophesies can not be post dated to after these prophesies were fulfilled. Most of these came true after Christ, and the Old Testament was established long before Christ. The entire Old Testament was translated into the Greek Septuagint between 280 and 250 BC, so none of these prophesies could have been made after these dates.

From the Dead Sea Scrolls we even have a copy of Ezekiel that dates back to 592 to 570. The dates are also established by the tenses, the fact that they were all written in first person, and the familiarity the authors had with particular cultures, times and areas.

One of the doubts some people have had regarding the dating of events, is the fact that Ezekiel is often dated by events dated by King Jehoiachin’s captivity. From a seal impression of three jar handles, there is reference to Eliakim, steward of Jehoiachin. Eliakim was administrator of the crown property, which still belonged to Jehoiachins while in exile. He was still considered the king by the people of Judah. Zedekiah was regarded only in the since of being regent for his captured nephew. So it was in harmony with the attitude of the Jewish people for Ezekiel to date events according to the reign of Jehoiachin – even if he was in exile. The following are the dates for the books of the Old Testament prophets: