Tahpanhes, or Tahapanes, is a fortress city at the eastern edge of the Nile Delta, on the eastern frontier of Lower Egypt, marking the old caravan route from Egypt to Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Assyria.
The ruins of this city have been recently examined, and the ancient name is identified with a large series of mounds at tell Defenneh, a desert mound lying some 20 miles Southwest from Pelusium (Biblical "Sin") and a little north of the modern Al-Kantarah ("the bridge").
In 1886, Flinders Petrie discovered the palace described by Jeremiah 43, to where in about 585 BC, the daughters of Zedekiah fled, and in which they were received by Pharaoh. It has for years been called "the castle of the Jew's daughter" and is visible from a great distance. Both Greek pottery and a fortress of Psammetichus I have been found. Outside the fortress was a brick platform which may be the “brick pavement” of the “house of pharaoh in Tahpanhes” where Jeremiah hid stones to mark the place he predicted the Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar II would erect his throne (Jeremiah 43:9). The site is now desolate, but it was a fertile district when it was watered by the Pelusiac branch of the Nile.
The Greeks who settled there named it Daphnae. Jeremiah saw it as powerful enough to break “the crown of Judah.” Many Jews fled here after the fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 2:16; 43:1-7). In a later passage, Jeremiah prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar will invade Egypt and punish it, establishing his throne upon the brick pavement which is at the entry of Pharaoh's royal palace at Tahpanhes. Jeremiah 43:8-11:
8 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; 10 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. 11 And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
He calls Tahpanhes as a witness to the desolation of Judah (Jeremiah 44:1), but prophesies an equal destruction of Tahpanhes and other Egyptian cities (probably occupied by fugitive Jews) when Nebuchadnezzar shall smite them (Jeremiah 46:14). Ezekiel also prophesied about Tahapanes (Ezekiel 30:18). During their century it was a city of trade and the manufacture of pottery and jewelry.
Tahpanhes was the nearest Egyptian town to Palestine, so Jeremiah and the other Jewish refugees would naturally flee there. It is likely that Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt was partly due to Egypt's favorable reception of these refugees.
Tahpanhes may be the Hebrew transliteration of a place mentioned in a Phoenecian papyrus letter from 6th century BC Egypt. This text refers to “Baal-zephon and the gods of Tahpanhes.” Egyptologist David Rohl proposed to identify Tahpanhes with the biblical location of Baal-zephon, an Israelite staging post during the Exodus (Exodus 14:2).
Josephus mentions that Nebuchadnezzar, when he captured Tahpanhes, carried off a Jewish contingent from there. A small fort had existed here since the Rameside era, but the town was founded by Psammetichus I. It continued prosperously for a century or more, but dwindled to a small village in Ptolemaic times.
Three cuneiform inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar were found probably on or near this site. After the publication in 1878 of fragments of Nebuchadnezzar's annals, in which he affirms his invasion of Egypt in 568-567 BC, most scholars agree that the predictions of Jeremiah (43:9-13; 44:30) uttered shortly after 586 BC and of Ezekiel (29:19) uttered in 570 BC were fulfilled, at least in their general sense.
Sealings of wine jars stamped with the cartouches of Psammetichus I and Amosis were found in situ. The pottery found at Tahpanhes shows more evidence of Greeks than of Egyptians there. The circumstances were such as to give the best possible opportunity for the permeation of Greek words and Greek ideas among the upper classes of the Jewish exiles.
A large amount of foreign traffic is evident at Tahpanhes. Discoveries from the 6th century BC include some very finely painted pottery, "full of archaic spirit and beauty," amulets and rich jewelry, bronze and iron weapons, a piece of scale armor, arrowheads, and three seals of a Syrian type. One of the few inscriptions prays the blessing of Neit upon "all beautiful souls." There were also tiny weights evidently used for weighing precious metals, showing that the manufacture of jewelry was carried on here on a large scale. One of the most pathetic and suggestive finds from this century, which witnessed the Babylonian captivity, consisted of certain curious figures of captives, carved in limestone, with their legs bent backward from their knees and their ankles and elbows bound together.
bible evidence, faith and religion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahpanhes
https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/tahpanhes
https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/ebooklet/the-throne-of-britain/asylum-in-egypt
https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/T/tahpanhes.html
https://bibleatlas.org
The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts that were found between November 1946 and February 1947 in the Qumran Caves in the Judaean Desert, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea in the West Bank.
Bedouin shepherds discovered seven scrolls housed in jars in a cave near what is now known as the Qumran site. They went to a market where a Syrian Christian offered to buy them. A sheikh joined their conversation and suggested they take the scrolls to Khalil Eskander Shahin, "Kando", a part-time antiques dealer. The Bedouin and the dealers went back to to the site, leaving one scroll with Kando and selling three others to a dealer for 7 Jordanian pounds ($325 in 2020 dollars).
In 1947, the original seven scrolls caught the attention of John C. Trever, who compared the script in the scrolls to that of the Nash Papyrus, the oldest biblical manuscript then known, and found similarities between them. In March 1948, the Arab–Israeli War prompted the move of some of the scrolls to Beirut, Lebanon. On April 11, 1948, the discovery of the scrolls was announced in a general press release.
Thousands of written fragments have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. The vast majority hold only small scraps of text, but a small number of well-preserved, almost intact manuscripts have survived. Researchers have assembled a collection of 981 different manuscripts that were discovered in 11 caves in 1946-47, and in 1956. Bronze coins found at the same sites support the radiocarbon and paleographic dating of the scrolls.
The Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments from every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther. The only complete book preserved among the manuscripts from Qumran is Isaiah; this copy, dated to the first century BC, is the earliest Old Testament manuscript still in existence.
Archaeologists have long associated the scrolls with the Essenes, an ancient Jewish sect. Some have challenged this connection and argue that priests in Jerusalem, or Zadokites, or other unknown Jewish groups wrote the scrolls.
Owing to the poor condition of some of the scrolls, scholars have not identified all of their texts. The identified texts fall into three general groups:
About 40% are copies of texts from Hebrew Scriptures.
About 30% are texts from the Second Temple Period, which ultimately were not included in the Old Testament: the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Book of Tobit, the Wisdom of Sirach, Psalms 152–155, etc.
The rest (around 30%) are sectarian manuscripts that shed light on the rules and beliefs of sects within greater Judaism, like the Community Rule, the War Scroll, and The Rule of the Blessing.
The Dead Sea Scrolls include manuscripts from additional Judaean Desert sites from as early as the 8th century BC, and as late as the 11th century AD. Most of the texts use Hebrew, but some are written in Aramaic, and a few are written in Greek. Most of the texts are written on parchment, some on papyrus, and one on copper.
One of the most intriguing manuscripts from Qumran is the Copper Scroll, an ancient treasure map that lists dozens of gold and silver caches. It features Hebrew and Greek letters chiseled onto metal sheets, and describes 64 underground hiding places around Israel that purportedly contained riches stashed for safekeeping. None of these hoards have been recovered, possibly because the Romans pillaged Judaea during the first century AD.
Storing worn-out sacred manuscripts in earthenware vessels buried in the earth or in caves is related to the ancient Jewish custom of Genizah. Genizot are temporary repositories designated for the storage of worn-out religious Hebrew language books and papers prior to proper cemetery burial...it being forbidden to throw away writings containing the name of God.
Almost all of the Dead Sea Scrolls are held by the state of Israel in the Shrine of the Book on the grounds of the Israel Museum. The Shrine of the Book was built as a repository for the first seven scrolls discovered. The white dome embodies the lids of the jars in which the first scrolls were found. The symbolic building, a sanctuary with profound spiritual meaning, is considered an international landmark of modern architecture. It was dedicated in an impressive ceremony on April 20, 1965. Its location next to official institutions of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), key government offices, and the Jewish National and University Library is appropriate.
In March 2021, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced a new discovery of more than 80 Dead Sea Scroll fragments from the “Cave of Horror” in Nahal Hever. The finds are the first new Dead Sea Scroll sections found with text in 60 years.
The fragments contain biblical texts. So far, they have reconstructed 11 lines from the Bible’s books of Zechariah (8:16–17) and Nahum (1:5–6). They are Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible. The name of God is written in the Paleo-Hebrew script used during the First Temple period, which is sometimes seen in other Dead Sea scrolls. Coins and other artifacts found with them show that they were left at the site when Jewish rebels fled from the Romans during the Bar Kochba revolt of AD 132–136. The team believes the scrolls themselves may have been written in the first century BC.
Beside the historical and religious value this holds for the academic community, the announcement comes as a continuing reminder of the treasures that remain in hiding in the many caves of the Dead Sea region and the urgent need for archaeologists to recover these materials before they are lost forever to local looters.
bible evidence, faith and religion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls
https://patternsofevidence.com/2021/03/19/new-dead-sea-scrolls-found/
https://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dead-sea-scrolls
Daniel 8:5:
And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. 7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. 8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
“Scholars are agreed that the goat's first horn (the horn which is broken) is Alexander the Great, and the four horns which then arise are the four generals who divided his empire. The detail that the goat does not touch the ground as he attacks the ram may reflect the speed of Alexander's conquest.”
Macedon was a fairly small region north of Greece, viewed by the Greeks as a rude and barbarian region that would never hold any great power or threat. But out of it came Alexander the Great.
In 359 BC, King Perdiccas III was killed in a battle with the Illyrians. This was the philosophic era of Greek history with Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. The Greeks had lost their interest in warfare after the Peloponnesian War. So the rise of Macedon was taking place while Greece is not interested in rising in a militant response to an evident threat from outside. This is what gave Macedon its room to grow.
From 359-336 BC the son of Perdiccas III, Philip II, reigned. He was the father of Alexander the Great. He expanded and consolidated the power of Macedon, largely by perfecting a battle technique called the phalanx. Soldiers would be shoulder to shoulder in a tight-knit, highly organized kind of machine in which they all moved in a coordinated fashion. They were virtually unbeatable on the battlefield. This technique was also used by Alexander, to his great advantage.
In 356 BC, the same year Alexander is born, King Philip II takes the city of Crenides and renames it Phillipi as part of his expansion. Phillipi plays prominently in the New Testament narrative. When Paul was on his second missionary journey, he was called to leave Asia and go to Europe and preach the Gospel. He arrived in Phillipi.
In 343 BC, Aristotle began to tutor Alexander, who was then 13 years old. Aristotle, who was Macedonian, had been a student of Plato. His father had been the court physician to Philip II.
In 338 BC, Demosthenes was defeated by an 18-year-old Alexander at Chaeronea.
In 336 BC, Philip's first army of 10,000 sent to recover Ionia met resistance in Persia. He's assassinated before he can succeed.
Alexander the Great would rise to be come the most brilliant military genius in ancient history. He brought Greek culture and philosophy to the entire Near East. He saw himself as a savior to the rest of the world. He saw the accomplishments of the Greeks as something that the rest of the world could benefit by. He believed that he was descended from the gods, and he also believed that he was going to be like a savior, giving all of these wonderful achievements to the rest of the world.
He made Greek the standard language of the world. The empire he created was the largest to date in history, larger even than the Roman world became. He controlled virtually all of Greece, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, and Mesopotamia. The eastern borders reached almost to China. He amassed all this territory in about 10 years.
The imagery from Daniel of a goat whose feet don't even touch the ground does a good job describing the rapidity with which Alexander was able to sweep across the ancient world and accomplish what he did.
In 332 BC, Alexander took Phoenicia, Tyre, and Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem freely gave him their allegiance. They had been under Persian control, and Alexander was very favorably disposed towards the Jews and he did a lot for them.
In 331 BC, he was welcomed in Egypt as a Pharaoh. The Egyptians also hated the Persians, who had dominated their region for many years. They viewed Alexander as a liberator and a savior. Alexander worshipped all of the Egyptian gods and passed himself off as a true Pharaoh.
By 331 BC, Alexander the Great had taken over the entire Persian Empire. His death at just over age 30, as Daniel 8:8 had predicted (...and when he was strong, the great horn was broken...), has always been somewhat mysterious. After the unexpected, catastrophic death of this mighty horn, the entire Greek Empire he had conquered was thrown into chaos for about 15 years. As multiple generals were fighting over pieces of it, eventually four of them came up (Daniel 8:8 ...and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven), and more or less dominated the landscape from that point on.
The Shiloh Excavations
Jeremiah 7:12:
But go ye now unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My Name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel.
The Shiloh Excavation is one of the Associates for Biblical Research’s most important research projects. According to the Talmud, the Ark of the Covenant remained at Shiloh for 369 years.
ABR is looking for those who wish to join them as volunteer participants in what is likely to be a historic season of digging at ancient Shiloh. No experience is needed. Diggers may join during any interval of time during the 5 weeks.
Week 1: July 5-10
Week 2: July 12-17
Week 3: July 19-24
Week 4: July 26-31
Week 5: August 2-6 - Restoration Week: Restoration consists of repairing architecture so that it can be viewed by tourists and can withstand being exposed to weather.
ABR Archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling has established cultic activity at Shiloh through the discovery of altar horns, which have been verified by outside experts. Only seven other stone altars from Bible times have been discovered in Israel so far. As written in the Bible, none of the stones were forged by a mason, but were found in this shape.
“Prior to Jerusalem, it was all about Shiloh, so this was Israel’s first capital. Jerusalem remained in Jebusite or Canaanite hands for hundreds of years, whereas Joshua sets up the mishkan at Shiloh. And so we’re very interested in seeing the transition from say the Amorite/Canaanite culture into the Israelite culture. Is it measurable scientifically in some way? We see a small Late Bronze Age II occupation at Shiloh and then...an explosion in the Iron I period, and this is where you have the stories...of Samuel and Hannah and Elhanan, and so forth.”
An example of the early Israelite settlement includes a bone deposit made up of remains from animals used in the biblical sacrificial system. Less than 1% have been identified as pig bones in the Israelite strata; in the previous layer, there were 4% pig bones, a detectable difference.
During excavations in Shiloh in the 1980s, an Early Israelite house was uncovered. Evidence showed that it was destroyed by fire. Objects found in the debris above the destruction level suggest a connection with the religious observances of the Tabernacle that stood here during the time of the Judges.
In 2013, possible evidence had been found of the Tabernacle’s location. Archaeologists found holes hewn into rock that may have been used for propping up the wooden beams of the Tabernacle. Previous research at the site has found evidence of bathing pools where the High Priest may have cleansed himself in preparation to enter the Tabernacle.
In 2017, the ABR began further archaeological excavations at Shiloh. They discovered 10 ancient jugs dating from the period, three altar horns from an altar likely used for animal sacrifices, two tiny ceramic pomegranates (Exodus 28:33-34), and a large deposit of sacrificial animal bones near a large 1400 AD building.
On the Southern side of Tel Shilo is a building known as "The synagogue of Hannah's prayer," in accordance with what is told in 1 Samuel 2:1:
And Hannah prayed, saying my heart rejoices in the Lord, my horn is exhalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in thy Salvation.
Joshua 18:1:
The whole congregation of the Children of Israel assembled together at Shilo and erected there the Tent of Assembly, and the land was conquered before them.
The tent of assembly mentioned in this verse is the traveling sanctuary of the desert described in Exodus. The principles used to identify the location of the Tabernacle in Shilo are the dimensions of the Tabernacle and its surrounding courtyard, the direction of the Tabernacle, and natural defendability against enemies. The first two are architectural rules governing the character of a public building. It's logical to assume that initially the Tent of Assembly was housed in a transient sanctuary, as it had been during the desert years. The Tabernacle was located in Shiloh for 369 years. According to the Talmud (Zevahim 119), during the course of the years, a more permanent structure was erected to house the Tabernacle in Shilo. In the Mishna (Zevahim 14) it states: " And in Shilo there was no roof, but a building of stone below and cloth above, and it was a resting place."
In 1873, explorer Wilson suggested the northern plateau of Tel Shilo as the possible site of the Tabernacle. In aerial photos, it's clear there is an area north of the Tel that was hewn for a specific purpose. According to Wilson's measurements, the plateau is 77 feet long, or 235 meters. This location fits all three requirements for identifying the site as that of the Tabernacle: dimensions, direction and naturally defendable.
There is topographical similarity between this location and the Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Both are enclosed by steep descents into valleys, with high hills surrounding the valleys. The southern approach is more gradual. The Temple is beyond the summit, northward, at a lower point, in accordance with Leviticus: "And you shall not go according to the practices of the nations, which I cast out before you". Other nations placed their altars on the highest mountaintops.
Shiloh is open to visitors.
bible evidence, faith and religion
https://www.timesofisrael.com/listen-at-shiloh-archaeologist-finds-artifacts-hinting-at-biblical-tabernacle/
https://www.shilohuniversity.edu/2020/09/archaeology-and-the-bible-shiloh/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tel-shilo
Genesis 1:14-19:
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
Psalm 19:1:
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
The stars were all named by God. Psalm 147:4:
He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
Over 100 of their names are preserved in Arabic and Hebrew, and are used by astronomers today. Many of their names are used in Scripture.
Job 9:9:
Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
Job 38:31-32:
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? 32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
Mazzaroth = the 12 signs of the Zodiac marking the path of the sun in the heavens.
Amos 5:8:
Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning
Orion is translated from the Hebrew cheseel. Cheseel is also used 70 other times in the Old Testament and is translated as “fool” or “foolish.” In Proverbs 26, it's translated this way 11 times.
The names and the 12 “signs” go back to the foundation of the world. The truth was enshrined and written in the heavens, where no human hand could touch it. Jewish tradition tells us that this Bible astronomy was invented by Adam, Seth, and Enoch.
Our written Scriptures began with Moses around 1490 BC. When Israel came to possess the written “Scriptures of truth,” there was no longer a need for the more ancient writing in the heavens. Hence, the original teaching gradually faded away, and the heathen, out of what they had heard by tradition, evolved their cosmogonies and mythologies.
In Genesis 11:4, we read of the Tower of Babel having “his top with the heavens.” The words doubtless refer to the signs of the Zodiac, pictured at the top of the Tower, like the Zodiacs in the Temples of Denderah, and Enesh in Egypt.
The Babylonian “Creation Tablets” and Greek mythology refer to them, as a corruption of primitive truth that had been lost and perverted.
There is a very sudden change of subject at verse 7 of Psalm 19. The teaching is preserved in the structure of the Psalm, where we have
A 1-4: The Heavens
B 4-6: “In them, the sun”
A 7-10: The Scriptures
B 11-14: “In them, Thy servant”
In this structure every line emphasizes the elaboration of the design: for, while, in the first half, all the terms are literary, in the latter half they are all astronomical, thus welding the two portions of the Psalm into one harmonious whole.
It's like the heavens are a big billboard advertising the fact that there is a Creator, and He's powerful. They can be used for navigation, or for weather...
Matt 16:2-3:
2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering...
Signs in the sky are also used to warn of a coming judgment as in Matthew chapters 24-29, and Isaiah 13:10:
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Joel 2:10:
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
Revelation 8:12:
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
The signs in the heavens are spoken of often, and are sometimes used to symbolize something else, as in Revelation chapters 1-3, where the seven churches are represented by seven stars.
Job 38:7:
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
2 Kings 23:5:
And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
Genesis 15:5:
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Genesis 37:9:
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Numbers 24:17:
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
Judges 5:20:
They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
Daniel 12:3:
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
1 Corinthians 15:41:
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
Jude v. 13:
Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
Revelation 22:16:
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Psalm 8:3:
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
Psalm 148:3:
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
A star is a sign of the One to come in Matthew 2:
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
The signs in the heavens are also used for seasons – appointed times. Ten of these cycles are used in the Bible:
The cycle of 24 hours in a day, an evening and morning.
The revolution of the moon around the earth.
The lunar cycle, which began at the same moment as the solar cycle.
The daily revolution of the Sun, which places it on the meridian at noon each day.
The Solar Cycle, coinciding with the first of the seven years of lunar motion and repeating itself every 365 days.
The beginning of a Week of seven days on the first day of the week, of the first month of the first year of the first solar cycle.
The first Eclipse of a cycle of 18 years and 11 days, to which the ancient astronomers gave the name of Saros; each Saros containing an average of 70 eclipses, divided into two portions of 594 years and 666 years, making 1260 years.
The period of the Heliacal risings of Sirius, in a cycle of 162 years.
The transits of Venus.
The grand cycle known as the Precession of the Equinoxes.
https://www.companionbiblecondensed.com/AP/ap12/index.html?page=1
Jesus Christ is by far the most well-known person in ancient history.
One characteristic that sets Him apart from mythological deities is the fact that His life on earth was a historical reality. Witnesses who were not Christian testified to the fact the He did live. Jewish author Josephus, the Roman historian Tacitus, the Roman governor Pliny the Younger, and several other ancient sources wrote about Jesus.
Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies. There are prophecies in the Old Testament that were written hundreds or thousands of years before Jesus lived. They talked about how the Messiah would be born, how He would live, and how He would die. Every one of those prophecies match perfectly the life of Jesus.
Jesus performed miracles. He healed the sick, caused the blind to see, stilled storms, and raised the dead.
The Gospels paint a picture of Jesus that is unique in all the annals of human history. Jesus accepted worship, yet without arrogance. He angrily overturned tables, yet His love for the offenders was obvious. He sacrificed His life, yet He prayed for His murderers. Jesus' personality is unique in every way.
He rose from the dead. He predicted His own death. He also predicted His resurrection. His enemies tried to stop His resurrection – they stationed soldiers to keep anything from happening. Matthew 27:66: So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
The resurrection was the cornerstone of the Christian age that spread throughout the world. His followers preached it. The apostles saw, heard, and touched Him after He rose. Their testimony caused them to be tortured and persecuted for their teaching about the resurrection, yet they continued to preach. Ultimately, they died for their testimony that Jesus rose again.
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