A brave rescue!
Last Friday was the 108th anniversary of a brave rescue. On 31 October 1917, the Lighthorse charge at Beersheba in Palestine was ‘The last great cavalry charge in history’. My wife’s grandfather was one of the 800 Australian horsemen that captured Beersheba. Beersheba marks the southern boundary of Israel, often mentioned in the biblical phrase, “from Dan (in the north) to Beersheba (in the south)” (Jud. 20:1; 1 Sam. 3:20; 2 Sam. 3:10; 1 Ki. 4:25). Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived there and Elijah visited when he fled from queen Jezebel. This stunning victory ended the 400-year Turkish rule over the Holy Land and lead to the creation of Israel as a nation once again. It was a brave rescue from Muslim rule. (more…)
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The Light Horse charge at Beersheba
The Lighthorse charge at Beersheba on 31 October 1917 is known in military circles as ‘The last great cavalry charge in history’. The stunning victory of the 800 Australian horsemen, together with their New Zealand and British comrades, changed history. Yet in Australia, it is totally overshadowed by the discouraging stories of the losses in Gallipoli and the Western Front. (more…)
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Archaeological evidence of the exodus
After the original creation and the resurrection, the exodus and the miracles surrounding it are the greatest miracles God performed. Indeed, before the incarnation of Jesus, God regularly identified himself as the God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex. 20:2; 29:46; Ps. 81:10; Jer. 11:4). (more…)
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I convinced Grok the biblical flood really happened
A conversation with Grok about geology and fossils, which comes from a video by Calvin Smith of Answers in Genesis. (more…)
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Christianity survived persecution in Rome
The city of Rome formed at the best place where the River Tiber could be forded between the Tyrrhenian Sea and a very distant locality upstream. This was at the island of Isola Tiberina.
Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire. Romans practiced polytheism and worshipped the emperor. Because Christians, believed in one God and refused to worship Roman gods or the emperor, they were viewed as subversive and even treasonous. (more…)
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Prophecies about Jesus: He would live in Galilee
There are many prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. For example, Isaiah said that honor and “a great light” would come to the region of Galilee. Galilee was part of the northern region of Israel. In Old Testament times, Israel was mainly invaded from the north because there was desert on the east and south and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. So, Galilee was targeted in many enemy attacks. (more…)
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Is the Torah fact or fiction?
Were the ancient Israelites ever really slaves in Egypt? Did the Exodus really happen? Was the Torah (see Appendix) written by Moses in the mid second millennium BC, or by Jews about 1,000 years later? Is it fact or fiction?
In this post, the content of the Torah is examined to see how it matches with the existing archaeological record to help throw light on its origin. When was the Torah written? (more…)
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God’s power, justice and mercy in Egypt
Last Sunday Tim Tszyu beat Joey Spencer in a super welterweight boxing match at Newcastle in Australia.
Thousands of New South Wales doctors went on strike last week in a dispute with the state government over pay and staffing levels. The doctors’ union is seeking a pay increase of up to 30%.
And in the Australian Federal election on 3 May we have Albanese versus Dutton.
Confrontation happens everywhere. Today we are looking at a confrontation that happened in Egypt about 3,470 years ago. (more…)
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Relying on God at Ephesus
Ephesus was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the eastern Mediterranean area. It had an inland harbor that was connected to the Aegean Sea and a population of about 50,000 people. Because it was also at an intersection of major trade routes, Ephesus became a commercial center. The temple of the Greek goddess Artemis (completed around 550 BC) was located there. This temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was four times larger than the Parthenon. Ephesus was a city of idolatry and pagan superstition. (more…)
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Why a good God commanded the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites
This blog comes from Jonathan Noyes and the appendix comes from Got Questions.
When I was an atheist, I loved causing Christians to doubt God. It was fun for me. One of my favorite tactics was to get them to question God’s goodness. I thought that if I could cause them to doubt God’s goodness, I could eventually get them to doubt God’s existence. (more…)
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Has God finished with Israel?
Have you heard the media reports of genocide in Gaza? What are the facts? In the war between Israel and Hamas there have been about 32k people killed in Gaza. But these are not all civilians. About 13k were soldiers and 19k were civilians. This is a ratio of 1.5 civilians for each soldier, which for urban combat in the Middle East is a very normal ratio. The ratio of civilians to combatants is better than the American armies was when they got the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) out of Mosul. That was 10k civilians dead to kill 4k Isis (a ratio of 2.5). What’s unique about this war? Unlike every other war, the army of Hamas has perfected the art of embedding itself with civilians so that you cannot hit them without hitting the people around them. They locate their bases near mosques, schools, and hospitals in urban areas. (more…)
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The significance of places in the Bible
This is the index to a series of blog posts on places in the Bible. They are listed as places in Israel followed by places outside Israel.
PLACES INSIDE ISRAEL
Bethlehem, God’s solution to our crises
At Bethlehem God provided a solution to a family crisis, and a national crisis and a global crisis. What about our personal crisis? (more…)
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Darkness and light in Galilee
Light is defined as the electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between 380 and 750 nm, which is visible to the human eye. This light is a source of illumination. And sunlight provides the energy that green plants use to create sugars mostly in the form of starches, which release energy into the living things that digest them. This process of photosynthesis provides virtually all the energy used by living things. Darkness is the absence of visible light. (more…)
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Global evidence for Noah’s flood
Everywhere you look you can see evidence for the global Flood of Noah’s time, but most don’t recognize it. That’s because they don’t know what to look for.
This blogpost is a summary of six main points that were made by Dr Tasman Walker in a presentation on “Global evidence of Noah’s flood”.
What would we expect to find on earth if there was a global flood as described in Genesis chapters 6-8 in the Bible? (more…)
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Enemies and ungodliness at Gaza
In October 2023 Hamas terrorists from Gaza attacked Israel killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage, including babies, children, women and the elderly. Since then in an attempt to destroy Hamas, Israel has attacked Gaza and killed thousands of people. So there is war between Israel and Hamas at Gaza. (more…)
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Prophecies about Jesus: He will preach good news
I have some good news and some bad news. Yesterday, the Tigers (rugby league) won, but the Matilda’s (soccer) lost. Most people prefer to hear the bad news first because we prefer stories with happy endings. But bad news dominates in our news media because it gets higher ratings. The Good News Network was founded in USA in 1997 because the media was failing to report the positive news. (more…)
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Peter’s hills and valleys
Simon Peter lived in the Middle East between about 1 BC and AD 67. There is an account of his life in Matthew to John and Acts 1-15 of the Bible. Peter was the main preacher to the Jews in the early church. And he wrote the letters 1 Peter and 2 Peter in the New Testament. The major hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph – the lower graph follows the upper one. (more…)
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King Saul’s hills and valleys
Saul was the first king over Israel. He lived in the 11th century BC. There is an account of his life in 1 Samuel 9-31 of the Bible. The main hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph – the lower graph follows the upper one. (more…)
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Solomon’s hills and valleys
Solomon was the third king over Israel. He lived in the 10th century BC. There is an account of his life in 1 Kings 1-11 and 1 Chronicles 29:21 to 2 Chronicles 9:31 of the Bible. And Solomon wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. The main hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph. (more…)
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Joshua’s hills and valleys
Joshua assisted Moses during the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan (Ex. 24:13; 33:11; Num. 11:28). So during this time period he experienced the same hills and valleys as Moses. When Moses died outside the promised land after he viewed it from Mount Nebo (Dt. 34:1-7), Joshua replaced him as the leader of the Israelites (Dt. 31:1-8). Joshua lived in the 15th century BC. There is an account of his life from Exodus 17 to Joshua 24 of the Bible.
During the exodus
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Samuel’s hills and valleys
Samuel was God’s representative in Israel in the transition from the rule of the judges to that of the monarchy. He lived in the 11th century BC as a Nazarite (like Samson and John the Baptist) dedicated to serving the Lord (Num. 6:1-12; 1 Sam. 1:11). There is an account of his life in 1 Samuel 1-28 of the Bible. The main hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph. (more…)
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How to develop resilience
Last Friday was Bastille Day – the National Day of France. It was also the day when the Tour de France climbed Grand Colombier in the Jura Mountains. This is a brutal climb of over 1,240 m in elevation over 17.4 km at a gradient of 7.1%. The final 3.4 km rises at 9.2%. When we visited there last year, they were filming a promotional video for the Tour. (more…)
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Paul’s hills and valleys
Paul lived in the Middle East between about 5 BC and AD 68. There is an account of his life in Acts 7-28 of the Bible. And Paul wrote many of the letters in the New Testament. The major hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph. (more…)
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Elisha’s hills and valleys
Elisha was the prophet to Israel after Elijah. He lived in the 9th century BC. There is an account of his life in 1 Kings 19 to 2 Kings 13 of the Bible. The hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph. (more…)
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