What is Hamas?

 

Image coutresy of Kobi Gedeon,  Government Press Office, CC BY SP 3,0. 

Joel Kontinen

Hamas has through the Middel East  in turmoil. It has killed 1 400 Israelis and captured over 240 hostages.  

 What does God’s Word tell about Gaza? The New International Version puts it  “Ashkelon will see it and fear;   Gaza will writhe in agony,   and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king   and Ashkelon will be deserted"

This might soon come to light

Secular scientist say a space rock caused the desteruction of Sodom

 

Image courtesy of  : Allen West and Jennifer Rice,CC BY-ND.  

Joel Kontinen 

When the inhabitants of an ancient Middle Eastern city now called Tall el-Hammam went about their daily business one day about 3,600 years ago, they had no idea an unseen icy space rock was speeding toward them at about 38,000 mph (61,000 kph).

According to Live Science, “Flashing through the atmosphere, the rock exploded in a massive fireball about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) above the ground. The blast was around 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The shocked city dwellers who stared at it were blinded instantly. Air temperatures rapidly rose above 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius). Clothing and wood immediately burst into flames. Swords, spears, mudbricks and pottery began to melt. Almost immediately, the entire city was on fire.”

Yes, at times God does use the nature to show us His glory. But the attack against Sodom was planned by Him as a retribution of their lifestyle.

The researchers have found tiny diamonds in what now is the explosion   They speak of an atomic blast. 

When the Bible describes historical matters, it always gets the facts, including the tiny details, right. Secular ancient writers were unable to deny the historicity of Jesus.

The Bible tells us about real people and real events, such as the earthquake mentioned by the prophet Amos and the one that occurred during Jesus’ crucifixion.

Source:

Moore, Christopher R. 2021. Space rock that destroyed ancient city may have inspired biblical story of Sodom. Live Science,  21 September. 

Scientists Say the Biblical Account of Sodom is Accurate

John Martin’s painting “The Destruction of Sodom And Gomorrah,” Public Domain.



Joel Kontinen

After months of digging, Phillip Silvian (Trinity Southwest University , Albuquerque) told what had happened at the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, in the Dead Sea area.

He led excavations on “five large sites on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River. According to Silvia, the 15 square-mile circular Middle Ghor was a fertile plain, populated continuously for at least 2,500 hundred years. Some form of catastrophe 3,700 years ago brought this to a sudden end, wiping out all of the estimated 40,000 to 65,000 people who inhabited the area at the time.”

The excavation shows that “the 120 small settlements in the region showed signs of extreme, collapse-inducing heat and wind.”

They said that it resembled the Tungusta affairs in 1908, in which a meteorite struck the earth.

“The destruction of Tall el-Hammam (Sodom), but also its neighbors (Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain) was most likely caused by a meteoritic airburst event,” they said.

Here’s what the Bible says:

“Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land.” (Genesis 19: 24-25, NIV).

When the Bible describes historical matters, it always gets the facts, including the tiny details, right. Secular ancient writers were unable to deny the historicity of Jesus.

The Bible tells us about real people and real events, such as the earthquake mentioned by the prophet Amos and the one that occurred during Jesus’ crucifixion.

The Bible is the book of truth,.

Yes, it seems that the Dead Sea explosion corroborates what the Bible is saying.

Source:

Berkowitz, Adam Eliyahu. 2018. Scientists Admit Biblical Account of Sodom is Accurate. (Breaking Israeli News 23 November).

Bible Prophecy Holds True: Alexander Changed the World, beating the Persians at Arbela

Image courtesy of the Guardian, public domain.



Joel Kontinen

With only 47,000 men, Alexander III of Macedon (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Γ΄ ὁ Μακεδών; 356 BC –323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great (Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγα), he brought his army against the Persians.

The Macedonian ruler had conquered everything, retaking Alexandria after a 7-month siege. Then he sought to subdue the Persians.

His victory had ben seen by the biblical prophet Daniel:

“While I (Daniel) was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath.” saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power.” (Daniel 8: 5–7, NASB).

The angel Gabriel told Daniel that the ram represented the Medes and Persians and the goat Greece.

“The Persian numbers were so great that they came close to overwhelming the left and center of Alexander's line. But when the Persian cavalry massed against Alexander's right, leaving their own infantry uncovered in the center, Alexander led a charge that broke through. His men got behind the Persians and attacked them front and back. The Persians panicked and fled. At the loss of less than 500 of his own men, Alexander slaughtered over 40,000 Persians.”

“The victorious Greeks imposed their culture on the Middle East. Koine Greek became widely spoken and it was in this language that the gospel was preached and the New Testament written.”

When the Bible describes historical matters, it always gets the facts, including the tiny details, right. Secular ancient writers were unable to deny the historicity of Jesus.

The Bible tells us about real people and real events, such as the earthquake mentioned by the prophet Amos and the one that occurred during Jesus’ crucifixion.

We should not be surprised, as Jesus Himself says in John 17:17 that God’s Word (the Bible) is truth.

Source:

Graves, Dan. 2007. alexander changed the world a Arbela. Christian History