Where’s the Proof?(Page 1 of 25)

Introduction

  • Why do you believe what you believe?

Someone told you?

You did the research the issue?

Does it logically make sense?

  • Sometimes it takes more than that; sometimes you just have to “see it to believe it”.
  • Do you always need 1st hand experience of your human senses… sight, hearing, feeling, tasting, sensing… in order to believe something?
  • But does even that convince you?
  • With respect to following Yahweh’s true religion, history has shown that most people, when even shown the visual proof, did not believe, or if they did change, it didn’t last long.
  • Would it work today?

Ancient Israel

  • Do you believe that Aristotle existed? What about Plato? What about any of the ancient Greek philosophers?
  • We have plenty of documentation… allegedly written by them and about them by others.
  • Almost nobody questions that they existed; as humans on the earth; thousands of years ago.
  • Did you personally see them… or do you believe the written accounts about them? Why?
  • It’s amazing that there are many more people today that do not believe the written historical record of the people of Ancient Israel, their predecessors and progeny.
  • These historical people, Ancient Israel, also showed themselves, like many today, as those who had trouble believing… even when shown with their own 2 eyes!
  • Take the example when Yahweh made His presence known... directly… and with great power, visuals and audible demonstrations!
  • Think about the plagues of Egypt, followed by the complete destruction of Pharaoh’s mighty army.
  • Eventually they were formally introduced to Yahweh on Mount Sinai… in a very BIG way!
  • You might think that this would leave a lasting impression on the people; but did it? Certainly not for long.

Elijah vs. Baal

  • Many years later, after the establishment of a unified kingdom under David, followed by the split into the nations of Israel and Judah, another incident occurred that brought another powerful visual demonstration.
  • For the people of the northern tribes of Israel, a question was posed, and the answer was unambiguously provided, as to whom was the true Almighty Being.
  • I Kings 18 provided the scenario; Israel was to choose either Baal or Yahweh.I Kings 18:17-20:

17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”

18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh and have followed the Baals.

19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the 450 prophets of Baal, and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.”

20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.

  • Elijah posed the question. I Kings 18:21:And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If Yahweh is Elohim, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.
  • Elijah then challenged the priests of the false gods. I Kings 18:24:“Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Yahweh; and the Elohim who answers by fire, He is Elohim.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
  • The rules were established for the showdown; the animals were sacrificed, the altars were set up; and buildup by the priests of Baal, who tried their best to wake their god, was dramatic.I Kings 18:26, 28:

26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.

28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

  • Elijah for his part made his altar almost impossible to ignite by fire; yet after a short, yet effective prayer to Yahweh, The point was made.I Kings 18:36-39:

36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “YahwehElohimof Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are Elohimin Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.

37Hear me, O Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that You are YahwehElohim, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

38 Then the fire of Yahwehfell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “Yahweh, He is Elohim! Yahweh, He is Elohim!"

  • The results were conclusive as to who won.
  • It should have made an everlasting impression on the people; but did it?

Recent Findings

  • What if I were to tell you that there a many, many archeological finds that validate many Biblical accounts?
  • What if I were to tell you that these archeological finds also prove that the common understanding of these facts are not quite as accurate people have come to believe?
  • What if I told you that the crossing of the Red Sea by Ancient Israel was not where most people believe it occurred; that archeological and geological evidence points to someplace else?
  • What if I also told you that the location of Mount Sinai is not where most people believe it is; that archeological and geological evidence points to someplace else?
  • During the past century or so, archeologists have found the first mention of Israel outside the Bible, in an Egyptian inscription carved by the pharaoh Mer-nep-tah in the year 1207 B.C.
  • They have found mentions of Israelite kings, including Omri, Ahab, and Jehu, in neo-Assyrian inscriptions from the early 1st millennium B.C.
  • And they have found, most recently, a mention of the House of David in an inscription from northern Israel dating to the 9th century B.C.
  • A curious scientist looked for evidence of a biblical flood; and found it! An approximate 6 foot layer of natural quick-setting limestone on every continent; called the “Austin Chalk” because he found it first in Austin, Texas.

Petroglyphs

  • In the Negev desert of today’s southern Israel, extending down to the oil fields of Saudi Arabia; the ancient land of Midian; there is an interesting, wide spread occurrence.
  • Scattered among this landscape are fragments of an asteroid that hit the earth long ago.
  • The wandering Israelites made over 40,000petroglyphs,or rock engravings, into the burnt fragments of this ancient asteroid.
  • Some were simple drawings, but many thousands of these were petroglyphs with the outline of sandals.
  • This is an indication that Ancient Israelites were there to claim the land; as promised by Yahweh. These “sandal” petroglyphs are all over Saudi Arabia today, and extend elsewhere. Joshua 1:3-4:

3Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.

4From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.

  • The OT records 42 encampments for Ancient Israel. The petroglyphs where they were encamped… are all over the Arabian Peninsula.
  • Is this significant? Let us explore further.

Wadi Watir

  • One of the biggest mysteries concerning Ancient Israel is… just where did they cross the Red Sea?
  • Most may reason that, seeing a map of what is called the Red Sea today, that the length of the crossing is much too far to be understandable, if at all be believable.
  • The Red Sea is south of the Sinai Peninsula.
  • To the left is Gulf of Suez (below the Suez Canal).
  • To the right is the Gulf of Acuba.
  • To help us understand this, let us look at the instructions given to Moses.Exodus 13:17-18:

17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that Elohim did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for Elohim said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

18 So Elohim led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.

  • So they didn’t go by the most obvious route, but instead they took the “way of the wilderness of the Red Sea”.
  • The Philistines occupied the NE portion of the peninsula, so Yahweh instructed Moses to take Israel south for many miles.
  • Other than to keep war off the minds of the people, was there another purpose?
  • Absolutely! It was to set up the total destruction of the mighty Egyptian Army!
  • Exodus 13:20 tells us “So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness.” So they staged before leaving northeastern Egypt and traveling to the NW corner of what today of called the Sinai Peninsula.
  • Note that they would not go westward and cross the Gulf of Suez to go back into Egypt.
  • The Red Sea itself if not likely due to its length to other lands.
  • This leaves the Gulf of Aqaba; known historically as the “Yam Suph”; the Sea of Reeds; incorrectly translated as “Red Sea”.
  • The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the Gulf of Aqaba as a “pronounced cleft with hills rising abruptly from the shore, often over 2,000 feet. It is part of the Jordan-east African rift valley system, being a southward continuation of the Jordan-Araba depression.
  • What this means is that the Gulf of Aqaba, along with the immediate shoreline, has a sharp incline due to seismic shifts long ago, to create a high angle earthen environment, both above and below the water level.
  • The Gulf of Aqaba is a gorge of water larger than the Grand Canyon, and is over one mile deep.
  • The western (Sinai) shoreline drops underwater at an angle of 45 degrees.
  • The eastern edge of the Sinai Peninsula is highly mountainous. Passage through this area is highly difficult.
  • One interesting passage is the Wadi Watir (the “middle dry valley”). It’s a dry river canyon that leads through the mountains of the eastern Sinai Peninsula, opening on the middle of a wide sandy beach on the Gulf of Aqaba; Nuweiba (Arabic for “bubbling spring”)
  • The beach at Nuweiba is large enough for Israel to “encamp by the sea” where the desert had “shut them in”. Exodus 14:2-3:

2 Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea.

3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, “They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.”

  • The beach is 4¼ miles long by 2 miles wide. It appears clearly on satellite pictures, and is the only site that matches all points of the Bible account.
  • The only land-based entrance to the beach at Nuweiba is by the Wadi Watir.
  • If Israel followed the Wadi Watir to this point, they would be trapped by Pharaoh’s army at the water’s edge. Once Pharaoh's army had entered the gorge, Israel was “shut in” by the mountains. Exodus 14:4: Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am Yahweh." And they did so.

“Red Sea” Crossing

  • What’s interesting is what is also at Nuweiba beach.
  • Before Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in the latter 20th Century, many archeological and geological investigations were made of the area; most by non-Egyptians.
  • From the Nuweiba beach shoreline, a massive sandbar, almost a mile wide at its summit, slopes gently at 6 degrees, levels out at 900 feet below the sea, and eventually rises up again to the western shore of Saudi Arabia (Midia) at the same gentle angle.
  • The distance from Nuweiba to Baal-zephon, on the opposite coast in present-day Saudi Arabia, is 11 miles.
  • Did Yahweh create and use this to save Israel?Yes; He formed this land bridge at the narrowest section of the Gulf. Psalm 77:19-20:

19 Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known.

20 You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

  • Even if you remove the water in the gulf, it would still be impossible to cross anywhere except at this point; everywhere else the chasm which is as deep and wide as the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Pharaoh’s Graveyard

  • Ok, so this sounds plausible, but what else do we have?
  • Believe it or not, as part of the archeological and geological investigations, robotic submarine cameras have photographed an underwater battlefield, as far as a mile down, where the coral encrusted remains of Pharaoh’s cavalry army, along with other artifacts, still litter the sea floor like an ancient chariot junkyard; scattered for over 1½ miles.
  • There are horse and human remains, along with high levels of iron that were measured.
  • Salt water coral has special characteristics:

It’s a living organism that will attach and feed itself to objects, drawing nutrients from the decaying artifact.

Once the nutrients are gone, the coral dies and leaves hard mineral deposits; in the shape of the artifact it nourished off of.

  • Many of the coral objects photographed, both still and video, show unconventional shapes; those not normally associated with coral.
  • Some of the remains looked eerily similar to chariots found in King Tut’s tomb; having 1 meter diameter wheels.
  • These are 6 spoke wheels date from the Egyptian 18th dynasty.
  • Some wheels have been found in pairs with shafts of the correct diameter.
  • Note the special 4 spoke wheel. Because coral does not attach to gold or silver, this priceless specimen remains untarnished by time.
  • This is actually one of the two chariot wheels that Pharaoh rode to his death.
  • 1982 – One 6 spoke wheel was examined by Egyptian archeologists. It proved the OT account of the Exodus.
  • However, as the impact of this finding was realized, further examination was stopped; politics stepped in; this finding bucked modern Egyptology.

Solomon’s Pillars

  • Is there anything else to be found at Nuweiba? Yes, and at Baal-zephon, the opposite side of the underwater bridge.
  • In 1978, an ancient Phoenician-style pillar was discovered at Nuweiba. This was at a time when the Sinai Peninsula was still under the control of Israel.
  • It was discovered at the point coming out of the water where the land bridge is.
  • It was awash on the shores and erected upright by the Israelis. It was so worn as to not show any discernible writings or other identifiers.
  • However, an identical pillar was found on the Arabian side of the land bridge; dating from the 1st temple period.
  • It is loaded with Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions indicating that Solomon erected the pillars to commemorate the crossing at that place.
  • Words for “Pharaoh”, “death”, “Egypt”, “King Solomon” and the sacred name YHWH are all present on the second pillar.
  • King Solomon, a wise man, knew exactly where the children of Israel made their escape just 500 years prior, and so he established pillars to memorialize the crossing.

Mount Sinai

  • So at this point, it appears that the Ancient Israelites crossed the Gulf of Aquba, arriving at Midea; modern northwest Saudi Arabia.
  • Most believe that they ended up in the southern Sinai Peninsula to the location now occupied by St. Catherine’s monastery. Why?
  • Because Emperor Constantine’s mother Helena had a dream that it was there; Constantine believed her; and no one contradicted Constantine. Hence a fable is born.
  • So is modern day Saudi Arabia where we should be looking? The Apostle Paul thinks so. Galatians 4:25: For this Hagar (symbolic of bondage) is Mount Sinai<where?>in Arabia.
  • In 1984, Ron Wyatt and his 2 sons snuck into Saudi Arabia to check out a place called Jebal El Lawz; what the locals called Jebal Musa; the mountain of Moses.
  • What they found was profound; and earth shattering; so profound that professional jealousy caused a local archaeologist to identify them to the Saudi authorities.
  • The Wyatts were held for 76 days until a Saudi prince and several archaeologists questioned him. After returning with them to tour Jebal El Lawz the prince declared the area an archaeological “treasure”.
  • The Saudi government secured the site; fenced it completely; and declared the mountain, the altar and the surrounding encampment to be an archeological site to be protected (by the military).
  • What was found included:

The Golden Calf Altar of unhewned stones and a dozen inscriptions of Egyptian-like (not Arabian) “bulls of prosperity”; Apis and Hathor; used to sacrifice to the Egyptian gods.