GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR NOAH’S FLOOD

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In Genesis 6:13, we read that before the Flood, regarding “all flesh”, God said to Noah, “I will destroy them with the earth” (’eretz). Then, in Genesis 9:11, after the Flood, God confirmed to Noah that by the Flood He had indeed destroyed the created Earth, when He said, “never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (’eretz). Whatever constituted the ’eretz that was created on Day 1, God destroyed it by the Flood cataclysm.

Corroborating God’s revelation to Noah that the created Earth (’eretz) had been destroyed in the Flood (Genesis 9:11) is the record of widespread destructive volcanic and sedimentary processes evident in the Precambrian rock record. In the Precambrian we see evidence of huge volcanoes, depositing lava accumulations up to 22 km thick, including abundant products of explosive volcanic activity.

Rocks of the Precambrian cratons, including the exposed Precambrian shields, comprise some 71% of the Earth’s total land area. Extensive study of exposed Precambrian strata, motivated by its content of valuable minerals, has resulted in the accumulation of copious geological information on the Precambrian.

This information can be used by creationists to incorporate all of the Precambrian into a Genesis Flood geologic model.

There are abundant products of volcanism, including explosive volcanism, and volcanic lava sequences up to 22 km thick, throughout the Precambrian geologic record. Superpositional relationships of distinct lithological associations enable global correlation of early Precambrian strata. A Genesis Flood geologic model is proposed wherein the Flood cataclysm was initiated by a sudden reduction of gravitational force which decompressed the earth’s hot, water-saturated mantle. The Precambrian rock record was extruded from the mantle and deposited during Day 1 to Day 40 of the Flood cataclysm.

Widespread evidence of destructive volcanic geologic activity throughout the Precambrian corroborates the Scriptural record of the destruction of the created earth (’eretz) by the Flood cataclysm (Gen. 9:11).

This should lead us to preclude a Creation Week or Antediluvian origin for the Precambrian geologic record, and instead consider all of the Precambrian as Flood deposited. Walker noted that the Precambrian Strelley Pool Chert formation in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (figure 6) is underlain and overlain by rocks deposited from volcanic eruptions, and suggested:

“From a biblical perspective, it is inconceivable that volcanoes would be active during Creation Week, depositing volcaniclastics and tuff such as comprise parts of the stratigraphic sections [emphasis added].”

Widespread evidence throughout the globally correlated Precambrian rock record of huge explosive volcanic eruptions comprises tuffs, ignimbrites, pyroclastic flows, volcaniclastics, accretionary lapilli/lapillistone, and agglomerates. The processes necessary for the accumulation of accretionary lapilli/lapillistone include an atmospheric ash column, moisture, accretion, deposition, and lithification. We might reasonably question whether atmospheric ash columns would have been occurring during Creation Week.

Deposition of even the thinnest of these volcanic accumulations, the 10.5-km-thick Swaziland Supergroup (figure 3), over six days during Creation Week, would require lava to accumulate at 1.75 km stratigraphic thickness per day. The 22.0 km-thick-lower Pilbara Supergroup of Western Australia (figure 6) would need to accumulate at 3.67 km of lava per day if deposited during Creation Week.

On the basis of the volcanic content, and especially the explosive volcanic content, and the widespread destruction of organisms throughout the Precambrian, we should, I suggest, question a Creation Week or Antediluvian origin for the Precambrian rock record, reconsider the way we interpret the Precambrian fossil record, and conclude that the Precambrian is all Flood deposited.

Consistent with Genesis 7:11 and Proverbs 3:20a, Noah’s Flood may have been initiated by God causing the mantle to heat in a cataclysmic global thermal-tectonic episode, cracking open the earth’s crust and driving out water to the earth’s surface. Secular scientists have found evidence of episodic rifting events at the margins of North America between 0.8 and about 0.6 Ga. These are thought to record the fragmentation of a Neoproterozoic supercontinent.13,14 This is consistent with the breaking open of the crust by the fountains of the great deep, followed by further continental extension and then ocean formation.

Biblical Geology 101 is avalable from CMI http://www.creation.com


THE OLD TESTAMENT IS ALL ABOUT JESUS

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“The OT is a messianic document, written from a messianic perspective, to sustain a messianic hope.” J. Hamilton, “The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis 3:15,” SBJT 10 (2006): 30.

Messianic prophecy is “the infallible guide leading in a straight line from Moses and the Prophets to Jesus and the Apostles.” Without it, “The Messiahship of Jesus becomes a purely subjective conviction without anchorage in historical revelation.” 1. J. Jocz, The Jewish People and Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1979), 208–9.

In fact, for books to be accepted into the Old Testament canon, they all required an essential characteristic—they had to reveal the Messiah.

“Jesus opened their mind to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45), demonstrating that divine enlightenment was essential to an accurate understanding of messianic prophecy. In addition to the diligent study of messianic texts, the disciples could not understand messianic prophecy without divine enablement.

Jesus’ hermeneutical perspective (that all the Old Testament pointed to the Messiah) is evident in Peter’s preaching. In his sermon at the portico of Solomon, recorded in Acts 3:11–26, he asserted that “all” the prophets pointed to the Messiah. Moreover, he maintained that the central message of the prophets was indeed eschatological and messianic. He stated

” And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.” Acts 3:24

As shown in John 5:45–47, Jesus told the Jewish leaders who had rejected Him that He was not the one accusing them before the Father but that Moses was. The rationale for this statement is that if they had believed Moses, they would also believe in Jesus, “because he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). It was their failure to believe Moses’ writings that caused these leaders to not believe Jesus’ words. Jesus indicated that Moses knew that he was writing about the Messiah. If Moses had not known of whom he was speaking, how could he accuse those who did not believe him?

The apostles both believed in Jesus as Messiah and effectively proclaimed His Messiahship to ancient Jewish audiences because of their confidence in His fulfillment of Messianic prophecy.

Significantly, Peter’s perspective, that David was directly speaking of the Messiah, is in harmony with David’s own understanding of his writings (2 Samuel 23:3-5).

“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being, therefore, a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Acts 2:29-35

In the book of Acts, the central message of the apostles to the Jewish people was that Jesus was both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36). According to F. F. Bruce, the apostles substantiated their claim with two arguments, one from prophecy and the other from miracles. They proclaimed that “the prophetic scriptures which foretold Messiah’s coming have been fulfilled by the ministry, suffering and triumph of Jesus, and the mighty works which he performed were so many ‘signs’ that in Him the messianic age had arrived.” F. F. Bruce The Defence of the Gospel in the New Testament (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1959).

Peter was the first to use messianic prophecy in Jewish evangelism. At Pentecost, in his first sermon, Peter proved his central message with a messianic prophecy (Acts 2:22–36). He declared that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead in fulfillment of Ps 16:8–11 and that he had ascended into heaven in fulfillment of Ps 110:1. Psalm 110 does indeed picture the divine Priest-King, now seated at the right hand of God but who will descend from heaven at the end of days to save Israel and extend His rule over all the earth. This is none other than the Messiah.

In Peter’s second sermon at Solomon’s Colonnade, after the healing of the lame man (Acts 3:11–26), he argued,

“But what God predicted through the mouth of all the prophets—that His Messiah would suffer—He has fulfilled in this way” Acts 3:18

Peter further claimed that “all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also announced these days” Acts 3:24

Philip also used messianic prophecy in evangelism. When the Ethiopian official (Acts 8:26–40), who apparently was a proselyte to Judaism, asked of whom the prophet spoke in Isaiah 53, Philip answered that it was Jesus (Acts 8:34–35).

Jesus’ millennial reign on earth does not rest on an isolated passage of the Apocalypse, but all Old Testament prophecy presents the same view (Isaiah 4:3; 11:9; 35:8).

“They (Resurrected Saints) came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

MORE EVIDENCE FOR A YOUNG EARTH

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Bending rock sounds like the feat of a superhero. But this incredible achievement really occurred in the earth’s past. There are many places around the world where thick layers of rock are folded, sometimes at angles of 90°! One prominent example is the Carbon Canyon Fold.

The Carbon Canyon Fold is located in a side canyon adjacent to Grand Canyon itself. The layers making up the fold are a sequence of sandstone, siltstone/claystone, and limestone. Together, they make up the Tonto Group. In most places, the Tonto Group layers are just as horizontal as when they were deposited. But this is not the case with the Carbon Canyon Fold. How were these layers warped at such an unusual angle?

Conventional wisdom tells us that the oldest layers of the Tonto Group layers are approximately 525 million years old. Geologists think the uplift that folded the Tonto Group layers started between 70 and 50 million years ago. It was not complete until a mere five million years ago.

This model is problematic, however. There is no known mechanism by which the Tonto Group could have remained wet and pliable for 465 million years! The folded nature of this rock unit is incredible evidence of their relative youth. Those who believe these layers were formed over vast eons of time proposed other ideas to explain how the layers were folded long after hardening into rock.

Metamorphism is a process capable of making solid rock pliable again for folding. This can occur when the rock experiences extreme heat and pressure far beneath the earth’s surface. However, this cannot explain the folded layers seen in the Tonto Group. Metamorphism completely alters a rock’s mineral makeup. For example, such heat and pressure turn sandstone into quartzite. Claystone turns into a schist. Meanwhile, limestone turns into marble. If metamorphism were responsible for folding the Carbon Canyon Fold, evidence for this process should be obvious.

The best explanation for the warped nature of the Carbon Canyon Fold does appear to be that the process of folding occurred in the not-too-distant past. Most young-earth geologists think the uplift that caused the folding occurred over a period of time lasting just hundreds, and not millions, of years. If hundreds of millions of years passed between the formation of the Tonto Group layers and their uplift, the Carbon Canyon Fold should be a jumble of shattered rock fragments. The fact that they are not stands as testimony to their relative youth.

This article comes from a new blog post put together by a group of young scientists that are working under well-established Ph.D. Creation scientists https://newcreation.blog

MORE PROOF BIBLE IS A RELIABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT

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House of David Inscription on Mesha Stele Confirmed

More physical evidence demonstrating the Bible as a reliable historical document has surfaced concerning a royal Israelite House of David inscription. Using new advanced photographic techniques, the 2,800-year-old Mesha Stele was recently determined to contain clear references to King David that before were highly debated.

The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is one of the oldest and most remarkable artifacts connecting biblical history to the ancient world, but there have been long standing arguments over the possible misidentification of the phrase “House of David.” The area of the inscription that features David’s name is damaged and partly unreadable. Only two of the five letters were clear until now, thanks to a new method of digital photography and a re-examination of the evidence.

References to the biblical history contained in the Mesha Stele inscription include:

  • ‟YHWH” (This is one of the oldest references to Israel’s God ‟YHWH” outside the Bible. The oldest comes from two Egyptian inscriptions and the recently discovered Mount Ebal curse tablet.)
  • ‟Israel” – six times (This is the third oldest known use of the name ‟Israel” in an inscription, behind the Berlin Pedestal and the Merneptah Stele.)
  • ‟Omri …king of Israel” (Omri reigned in Israel a half-century after the death of Solomon split the nation in two.)
  • ‟The men of Gad” (Gad was one of the Israelite tribes that settled east of the Jordan River, north of Moab.)

The text in question on the stone has been proposed to read “House of David” and “Altar of David.” Before now, scholars could not be entirely sure that these references to King David were being correctly deciphered. The Moabite phrase “House of David” consists of five letters but only the first and fourth letters of the series, bet and waw were completely clear. Three letters completing the reference to David were assumed to be taw (like modern Hebrew tav), dalet, and dalet.

In 2019, the prominent Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein, contested the reference to David in the stele. He claimed the letters had been misidentified. Finkelstein suggested that the king referred to in the stele was Balak, a biblical Moabite who lived 200 years before David.

The archaeology department at Tel Aviv University, where Finkelstein is a professor, has a reputation for being skeptical about much of biblical history. The scholars involved in the study are of like mind when it comes to their view of the early history of Israel in the Bible. This may influence their study and interpretation of ancient inscriptions.

Recent re-examination of the evidence by researchers André Lemaire and Jean-Philippe Delorme has led to a pro-bible conclusion. They published their findings in a late-2022 article entitled “Mesha’s Stele and the House of David” in the winter issue of Biblical Archeology Review.

Conclusion

Exciting new technology is allowing the re-examination of ancient artifacts uncovering even more information than before. This new study of the Mesha Stele helps verify that King David did indeed exist and the Bible is an accurate record of history. This is the second clear reference to the House of David from the era of the Israelite monarchy. The archaeological world is generally skeptical about David – many saying he never existed as the king of a powerful Israel like the Bible describes, making this discovery so important. We can be confident that we serve a real God, a God who works through history and has provided us with a reliable record of the past.

PLANETARY SCIENCE SUPPORTS A YOUNG COSMOS

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Creationist scientist Dr Russell Humphreys shows a young-age creation perspective has real explanatory power for understanding magnetic fields of planets, moons, and other objects in space. The Ganymede moon of Jupiter has been shown to have its own magnetic field which should not be the case if the Cosmos is billions of years old. Humphreys became famous because he successfully predicted the magnetic field of Uranus before Voyager 2 flew by the Uranus system in 1986. The strength of the magnetic field was a complete surprise to evolutionists, though not to creationists, as creationist physicist Dr. Russell Humphreys, using Biblical assumptions, had accurately predicted the strength two years previously!

This is a complex article but at least make sure you read the Conclusion.

Ganymede is the largest moon (Jupiter) in the solar system (figure 1). With a radius of 2,634 km, Ganymede is slightly larger than the planet Mercury. A unique feature of Ganymede is that it possesses its own intrinsic magnetic field. To planetary scientists, it has been a challenge to explain how an object of Ganymede’s size could still possess its own magnetic field after over 4 Ga. After billions of years, an object of Ganymede’s size would be expected to have cooled down so that there would not be adequate heat to drive a magnetic dynamo. A dynamo requires a molten iron core that can have a convection motion of the fluid, which carries an electric current. But for Ganymede, the iron core is only approximately 700–800 km in radius. Ganymede may not have a solid iron core but has a liquid iron core surrounded by a silicate mantle, and then layers of water ice over the mantle.

Ganymede is influenced by the strong magnetic field of Jupiter, but there is a good consensus among scientists that it possesses its own intrinsic field. The Galileo spacecraft conducted magnetometer measurements which have been analyzed in relation to Jupiter’s field. Ganymede’s main dipole field was measured as 719 nanotesla (nT) and is tilted 176° in relation to its own spin axis. This makes it roughly antiparallel to Jupiter’s magnetic field.

The magnetic field model of Dr. D. Russel Humphreys has been more successful than old-age magnetic dynamo theories. Humphreys applied his model to the magnetic fields of Earth, Uranus, Neptune, Mercury, our Sun, and bodies in our solar system. Mercury is slightly smaller than Ganymede but possesses a larger iron core with both solid and liquid layers. Humphreys’ model proposed that when God created the planets he initially made them out of water in the manner described for Earth in Genesis 1 and 2 Peter 3, “out of water”.

This model has significant advantages over the old-age dynamo model. The dynamo model requires a molten conducting core such as liquid iron. It also requires convection motion of the fluid and is very dependent on the size of the core and the rate of rotation of the planet. But in Humphreys’ model, the core need not actually be melted, it just needs to be a conductor. The initial magnetic field from creation decays to the present. This has been described as ‘free decay’ because the field decreases in intensity over thousands of years. Humphreys’ model assumes a young age for the Earth and solar system and leads to realistic values for the magnetic dipole moment for Earth, Mercury, and the other planets. This makes Humphreys’ model more broadly applicable than dynamo theories. Thus, it can be applied to Ganymede as well, as Humphreys has done.

In Humphreys’ model for the creation of magnetic fields, the exact composition of the iron core after creation is not known, but this does not create a problem in applying the model. The core’s composition is estimated by interior structure models that attempt to match the overall density of the moon to gravity measurements taken by spacecraft (the Galileo mission). Today, Ganymede is believed to have an ice shell of roughly 200 km, then a silicate mantle of about 1,700 km, and this leaves the core as roughly 700–800 km in radius. However, these are only rough approximations. If the core is smaller, it needs to have a composition closer to pure iron in order to generate the measured magnetic field. But if the core is larger, then it could have a composition more in a light element such as sulfur (in FeS). In Sohl 2002, an analysis was done of the Galileo gravity data for the Galilean moons of Jupiter. They describe Ganymede’s magnetic field thus:

“Magnetometer measurements of the Galileo spacecraft have shown that Ganymede possesses an intrinsic magnetic field with equatorial and polar field strengths at the surface of 750 and 1,200 nT, respectively.”

They go on to give a range of values on the size of the Ganymede core: “The ice shell was suggested to be about 800 km thick. The core may have a radius between 400 and 1,300 km.” All these values are consistent with Humphreys’ model.

Conclusions

At creation, should we assume that the composition of the core was uniform throughout? This is a simplifying assumption but not really a requirement. If there was a composition gradient in the core initially where it was closer to pure iron at the core-mantle boundary but possessed more FeS at the bottom of the core, this would be unstable and so sinking iron ‘snow’ and rising FeS would be possible. Such a composition gradient could alter how rapidly the magnetic field decays for some period of time until the core reached a more stable uniform composition. So, to this author, it seems the ‘iron snow’ concept is possible, but it would not drive a dynamo in Ganymede, and it would not invalidate Humphreys’ magnetic model. Thus, a young-age creation perspective has real explanatory power for understanding magnetic fields of planets, moons, and other objects in space.

This article by Wayne Spencer The iron snow dynamo theory for Ganymede is taken from The Journal of Creation 2022 Volume 36, Issue 3 in the section Perspectives.

The Journal of Creation is the Technical Journal produced by Creation Ministries International (CMI). They also produce the excellent Creation Journal for nontechnical people. Go to http://www.creation.com to subscribe.

WHY ARE YOUNG PEOPLE DEPARTING FROM A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW?

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Why are younger people departing from a Biblical worldview? How did this happen?

Satan developed a strategic plan to destroy God’s Word and he took aim at the foundational book of the Bible – Genesis.

Take God out of the creation story and you destroy the Biblical foundations: man and woman made in God’s image, marriage, supernatural beings, angels, including enemies of God – a fallen angel called Satan and his demons, The Fall of mankind, a worldwide flood of Noah’s Day, confusion of languages (Tower of Babel) that established the nations, and God established His nation, Israel for His purposes. All leading to God, JESUS, entering history at the appointed time.

Evolution has been Satan’s most successful strategy. If Darwin’s evolution is true, God is not necessary to explain the existence of the Cosmos. It evolved over billions of years. To do that you have to make Noah’s Flood a myth and yet just about all people groups around the world have a flood story in their foundational history and numerous geologists of today recognize that there is abundant evidence in the rocks and fossils that speaks of water-related rapid catastrophic deposition, just as would be expected with Noah’s Flood. Sadly, the growing number of neo-catastrophists still cling to millions of years by assuming many sequences of catastrophes separated by millions of years.

Schools and universities now teach evolution and the Big Bang as fact. The U.S. District Court on December 20, 2005, charged that even teaching intelligent design (ID) was an unconstitutional establishment of religion. Even many theological schools have now accepted evolution and billions of years as scientific fact which has destroyed Biblical history and belief in an inerrant Bible.

Once God was removed from history then it was only a matter of time before God’s commandments were also jettisoned from every area of life: government, law, sex, marriage, family, life (abortion and euthanasia), and finally lawlessness abounds.

The institutional church has abandoned God’s word and lost its power. It is no longer relevant and in fact considered a danger that must be controlled by legislation.

Most parents still try to teach Christian values to their kids: how to be kind and generous and hardworking, etc. They have disciplined their kids in life skills like keeping a clean room and working hard at school and being polite. But at school, they are taught evolution and therefore the Bible and the God of the Bible are myths. The Bible and its God are no longer relevant, and “SIN” what is that? We can make up our own rules. Hence, abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, gay marriage, and transgenderism are all acceptable lifestyle choices.

Unless parents tackle the creation/evolution issue and therefore the historical accuracy of God’s Word they will have little to no impact on their children’s evolutionary worldview which allows them to live the life they choose. Why would they choose all the constraints the God of the Bible requires? However, God’s Word is true; fulfilled Biblical prophecy proves it to be an accurate record of God’s dealings with His world. Parents need to teach this truth so their children will submit to their Creator and reject the lies of their enemy Satan who is out to destroy them. To help parents teach biblically, God has raised up ministries like Creation Ministries International (CMI – http://www.creation.com) and Answers in Genesis both with Ph.D. scientists who can clearly show evolution as a failed theory and that the Bible’s “young earth” history is supported by scientific evidence. They have excellent resources for Christians to use. Also, discipleship must be daily, and not just in life skills, but apologetics, theology, prayer, the power of God, and missions.

Also, Children need to be taught how to become born-again Christians with the Holy Spirit indwelling their spirit. We cannot live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. We are told the Holy Spirit is the one who produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, kindness, and self-control. He is the one who will make us Christ-like (sanctification). He is the one who provides all nine gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) of the Spirit for ministry. Much of the institutional church teaches that God the Father sent Jesus to provide the way back to the Father by His sacrifice for us on The Cross but they do not teach that Jesus made it possible for the Father to send the Holy Spirit to enable us to live the Christian life and all that entails. It is the power of God.

PRAYER

Father, we thank you for ministries like CMI that are addressing the attack on the inerrancy of your Word. Bless them we pray and show us how we can play our part in supporting their efforts, particularly with churches in our area of influence. We pray for Christians in schools and universities that they may be able to bring your truths to light in their sphere of influence. Equip them with the correct materials to use by guiding them to websites like http://www.creation.com. Heavenly Father we ask you to raise up churches that will operate like the early churches described in the Book of Acts in the power of the Holy Spirit to do what you called us to do:

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” Matthew 28:19-20

“ You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:1-2

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

ALIYAH EXPLOSION! 70,000 Immigrate to Israel From 95 Countries in 2022

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The most olim in more than two decades arrived in Israel this year, representing a dramatic increase from 2021.

Some 70,000 people from 95 different countries immigrated to Israel in 2022 with the assistance of the Jewish Agency for Israel, in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration.

It was the most olim in 23 years and a dramatic increase from 2021 when about 28,600 immigrants arrived in the country.

Even before the Israelites went into the Promised Land, Moses told them they would be cast out of the land and scattered across the earth but then regathered from all the nations where God has scattered them. Look also what God told Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. Can there be any doubt about Biblical prophecy, the inerrancy of God’s Word, and Jesus coming Millennial Kingdom.

“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you . . . and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, and you return to the Lord your God. . . that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. . . . Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it.” Deuteronomy 30:1-3

“Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned and will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 37:21-23

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.” Jeremiah 16:14-15, repeated again in Jeremiah 23:

“In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Isaiah 11:11-12

The regathering actually began before 1948 when Israel was miraculously re-established as a nation. Israel being reborn was the first major prophesied “end-times” sign.

Jewish Agency data for the period between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2022, shows that 37,364 olim arrived from Russia; 14,680 from Ukraine; 3,500 from North America, with assistance from Nefesh B’Nefesh; 2,049 from France; 1,993 from Belarus; 1,498 from Ethiopia as part of Operation Tzur Israel; 985 from Argentina; 526 from Great Britain; 426 from South Africa; and 356 from Brazil. Final totals for 2022 will be available after the year concludes.

Approximately 27% (about 19,000) of this year’s olim are young people between the ages of 18 and 35, who will boost Israeli society and the economy, including professionals in fields where there is a labor shortage in Israel such as medicine, engineering and education. Around 24% (16,500) of the olim are ages 0-17; 22% are between 36 and 50 years old; 14% are aged 51-64; and 13% are 65 and over.

101 ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES THAT PROVE THE BIBLE IS AN ACCURATE HISTORICAL RECORD

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Secular archaeologists have spent 200 years attempting to establish that the Bible is a collection of mythology and Jewish/Christian propaganda, yet archaeological evidence is more consistent with the Bible as an accurate historical document. In Unearthing the Bible, Dr Titus Kennedy isolates and illuminates 101 archaeological discoveries that buttress the thesis that the Bible is a reliable historical record by the traditionally recognized authors at the traditionally accepted times they lived.

Kennedy’s book should be in the hands of everyone serious about a historical study of the Bible. Sketching 101 intersections between God’s Word and archeological evidence, Kennedy crafts a sturdy structure of information and argument that makes clear that belief in the truth, accuracy, and reliability of the biblical narrative is not merely possible, but it is sensible and rational. Indeed, it takes a full dose of willful blindness and/or intellectual dishonesty to refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy and implications of some of these artifacts. Complete with photographs and translations of ancient inscriptions, a helpful principle of organization, and explanations that are clear and coherent, the book is a genuinely useful tool. No fair-minded reader can deny the book’s success in demonstrating that ancient events left behind extensive evidence that the biblical narrative is accurate.

As Kennedy notes on page 9, “the Bible has been routinely attacked and disregarded on the basis of history or archeology.” Unearthing the Bible challenges those attacks and dismissals head-on. The book cites the biblical passages related to each artifact, anchoring the archaeological context with the date and location of each piece’s discovery, a note on the biblical period in question, keywords, and citations of related biblical passages. The reader’s sense and understanding of the relevance of each artifact to the scriptural record grows as the array of archaeological discoveries increases in number and characteristic. In the end, a reader hostile to a biblical worldview may still ‘attack’, but ‘disregarded’ is no longer an option.

 Kennedy’s book is a collection of convincing illustrations that scientific evidence does not contradict God’s Word. Just as biology, geology, chemistry, and physics are consistent with the Bible, the evidence found in archaeology is consistent with the Bible.

MARK OF THE BEAST – UNFORGIVABLE SIN

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Why is the mark of the Beast the unforgivable sin? Rev. 14:9-10 is clear about the eternal fate of those that take the mark of the Beast.

“And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” Revelation 14:9-11

Sadly, well-respected Bible teachers such as John McArthur have come out and contradicted the Biblical account and said that people who take the mark of the Beast will be able to repent and receive the redemption offered by Jesus Christ. This questions the inerrancy of the Bible and what if the mark of the Beast is not just a microchip but transforms the person and makes them a hybrid like the Nephilim. Jesus said that the last days will be like the days of Noah when the Nephilim were on the earth. In Rev. 9 what does it mean that death will flee from them? Also, Rev 16:2 when those with the mark have loathsome sores but cannot die. Could the mark of the Beast produce a genetic transformation? Perhaps the recipients are promised eternal life by receiving the Beast’s demonic “DNA”? Listen to what Nelson and Doug have to say about this possibility.

PROOF OF ISRAEL’S ANCIENT HISTORY

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Magnetic Fields Frozen by Fire

Scientists from Hebrew University (HU) and Tel Aviv University (TAU) are employing “breakthrough” dating technology using the Earth’s magnetic field to verify military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Map of the studied destruction layers and the different military campaigns. A schematic illustration of possible routes is presented following Rainey and Notley (21). Chronological anchors are highlighted in bold.

The Study, “Reconstructing Biblical Military Campaigns Using Geomagnetic Field Data” was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is based on the doctoral thesis of Yoav Vaknin, who was supervised by Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef and Prof. Oded Lipschits of TAU’s Institute of Archaeology and Prof. Ron Shaar of HU’s Institute of Earth Sciences.

The effort involved 20 researchers from different countries and disciplines who claimed to have accurately dated 21 destruction layers at 17 archaeological sites throughout Israel. Using this new scientific dating tool, researchers now have more evidence that ancient Egyptians, Arameans, Assyrians and Babylonians did wage the battles that are described in the Old Testament during the 10th to 6th centuries BC.

When magnetic materials are burned or heated they record the precise direction and/or intensity of the Earth’s geomagnetic field at the time of the fire (thermoremanent magnetization). Researchers say they have found this data to be a reliable scientific tool for archeological dating because it makes it possible to reconstruct the magnetic field for particular times in history. Looking at sites where the dates of historical events was already firmly established through various collaborating sources, scientists use the preserved magnetic fields to piece together the timing of other destroyed areas where the dating was more questionable.

“Based on the similarity or difference in intensity and direction of the magnetic field, we can either corroborate or disprove hypotheses claiming that specific sites were burned during the same military campaign. Moreover, we have constructed a variation curve of field intensity over time which can serve as a scientific dating tool, similar to the radiocarbon dating method,” says lead author Yoav Vaknin, a PhD student at TAU, in a media release.