All posts tagged: Elijah

Lack is not the Issue

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In these COVID-19 days, images of empty shelves are splashed across all media outlets. Long line-ups of people rushing to the stores to purchase food items and sometimes over-buying non-essentials, resulting in hoarding. While world poverty has been reduced significantly in the new millennium, there is still over a billion people world-wide who live in extreme poverty. Self-survival is not new to our generation and although we’ve never watched a child die from malnutrition, or had to resort to cannibalism to survive, a great majority have experienced a ‘scrapping the bottom ofthe barrel’ time. The Bible is filled with stories of people seeking provision during times of adversity. Jesus recognized this social issue; “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me,” (Matthew 26:11). Panicking during droughts and diseases is mankind’s natural reaction to an adverse situation. But lack of provision is not necessarily the true underlining issue for our reaction. The prophet Elijah is instructed by the LORD to go into Zarephath, a city of Idol worship, where …

It was an odd discovery — the first reference to King David from outside the Bible

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[by Dean Smith] An archaeological discovery in 1993 was the first historical reference to King David found outside the Bible. And it was an odd reference. The discovery was made by archaeologist Avraham Biran at Tel Dan located in Northern Israel. The inscription was found on a stela dated to the 9th century BC. A stela is a stone slab that would have been installed publicly as a monument usually to commemorate a major event. What was odd is that the stela was not written by the Israelis themselves, but by their enemy. The stone, which was only partially intact, was commemorating the victory of an unnamed Aramean king over “The king of Israel” and the “king of the House of David” — a reference to the nation of Judah. Neither of the three kings involved are named, though their names may have been referenced on parts of the slab that were broken off.

Did an ancient god get fired?

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Archaeologists uncovered an idol in a garbage pit of an ancient Roman fort built around 100 AD in Durham, England. Though they aren’t certain which deity the idol represented, the lead archaeologist said it resembled other idols of the celtic god Antenociticus used by military in their prayers. A nearby shrine probably housed the idol and it was here the Roman soldiers gathered to pray. But this is where it gets interesting.