Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
*
1
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
*
2
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Amazing Evidence
Grounds for Belief
Terrence J. Hatch
3
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Title : Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Volume : 1
Available in paperback
and select bookstores
ISBN1434848051
EAN-139781434848055
Amazon.com category:
Religion / Christianity / General
Original Publication Date:
April 4, 2008
Revision Date:
August 2, 2015
Cover image of footprint: "Maldives 00147 foot print on earth"
by Maldives_00147.JPG: Nevit Dilmen (talk)derivative work: Nevit Dilmen (talk) - Maldives_00147.JPG. Licensed under CC
BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maldives_00147_foot_p rint_on_earth.jpg#/media/File:Maldives_00147_foot_print_on_ea rth.jpg
Quantity discounts available.
Contact acpowersource@gmail.com
for a small group discount code.
Printed in the United States of America
© 2008 to 2013 Terrence J. Hatch
4
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Special Thanks
To Reviewers
Duane Hatch, Justin Hatch, Dan Koehler,
Paul Leisure, Pamela Mathey
5
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
6
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
Table of Contents
Page 9 – Introduction
Page 11 – Chapter 1 - Evidence of Life After Death Near death experiences of celebrities and others constitute objective evidence of a greater reality.
Page 25 – Chapter 2 - Evidence of miracles from the Exodus.
Artifacts, terrain, are clues that the miracles of the Exodus actually occurred.
Page 39 – Chapter 3 - Evidence of Leviathan Surprising facts suggest the sea serpent Leviathan which is mentioned several places in the Bible may have not been fictional after all.
Page 63 – Chapter 4 - Evidence of Three Days and Three Nights Skeptics cite “three days and three nights” as a reason to attack faith. But obscure Jewish traditions illuminate the Gospels, eliminate contradictions, and redefine a modern holiday.
Page 81 – Chapter 5 - Evidence and Misinformation Some sources in the mainstream media have promoted deceptions that have affected almost every person's thinking. The truth is revealed.
Page 95 – Chapter 6 - Evidence of a Matrix in the Mind of God One scientific discovery about the nature of reality indicates the Creation story may be more scientific than most are aware.
7
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Page 101 – Chapter 7 - Evidence from Isaiah A fascinating pattern implies a supernatural author and suggests Christ had a divine identity.
Page 109 – Chapter 8 - Evidence from Codes in the Bible Several types of codes and patterns in the Bible go beyond human abilities to create.
Page 117 – Chapter 9 - Evidence from Mount Moriah A little understood chapter in Genesis is shown to contain a prophetic message of amazing grace.
Page 127 – Chapter 10 - Evidence vs. Silly Theories Scholarly sounding theories attempt to explain away miracles while failing tests of common sense.
Page 133 – Chapter 11 - Evidence and Truth An essay clarifies the nature of truth and evidence.
Page 139 – Chapter 12 - Evidence of a Personal God Evidence is offered from the author's own experiences.
Page 143 – References
Page 148 – About the Author
8
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Introduction
If you wish to energize "the hope that is in you," then this book is for you. Its purpose is greater than embarrassing skeptics or winning debates. Instead, it is for anyone wishing to investigate the truth of Christian faith. The essence of this book is evidence – not philosophy. There isn't much here that is philosophical, emotional, or even doctrinal. Instead, it contains facts. As a result, most will agree it is persuasive, and points to the reality of a loving and just God.
Since truth can usually be supported by many types of evidence, this book's scope is necessarily wide. In fact, each chapter deals with a uniquely different topic. The reader will find that one chapter is easy to grasp, while another requires more concentration. One imparts head knowledge, while another spiritual wisdom. A few chapters may need to be read more than once in order to be fully appreciated, but all offer insights into the nature of true faith.
Finally, this book is amazing. This is true because it presents new discoveries and facts that are not widely known.
Some unique contributions include:
A comparison of celebrities' near death experiences
The possible resting place for the skeleton of Leviathan
A previously unknown pattern in Isaiah
The riddle of Good Friday solved
Additional evidence placing Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia
Ancient art placing the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aqaba
The debunking of marriage statistics promoted by atheists
Science that implies our reality exists in the mind of God So for those who like to read and think, prepare to be edified, educated, and hopefully even entertained!
* * *
9
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief 10
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Chapter 1
Evidence of Life after Death
I know a man in Christ who was taken up to the third heaven fourteen years ago.... And I know that this man was taken upto paradise. I don't know if he was in his body or away from his body, but God knows. He heard things he is not able to explain, things that no human is allowed to tell. [2 Corinthians 12:2-4, NCV]
What unusual experiences do Hollywood celebrities, American scientists, and peasants in India have in common?
Members of all these groups report having had Near Death Experiences, or NDEs. While some who investigate this topic promote humanistic interpretations, here we will see that these experiences often demand a supernatural explanation and point the way to a loving God.
Many who have had close encounters with death describe events that cannot be explained by modern science. Some of the NDEs in this chapter include instances of people leaving their bodies, enabling them to observe events that transpired around their body while it was in a death-like state. Such experiences hint at a cognizance that goes beyond the ability of modern physics to explain.
My own awareness of near death experiences came at a young age. In the mid-1960s, both of my grandfathers related accounts of NDEs, and their stories included components that are common to such experiences. In fact, according to two Gallup polls, approximately fifteen percent of Americans report having had a near death experience. (Gallup, 1982). Even many celebrities report NDEs. The list includes well-known personalities such as Peter Sellers, Jane Seymour, Donald 11
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Sutherland, Gary Busey, Richard Lawson, Eric Estrada, Burt Reynolds, Larry Hagman, and others. Some of their observations are included in this chapter. There are a vast number of NDE
accounts that can be found, but by citing primarily accounts of celebrities if forces a more balanced perspecrive by keeping us from cherry picking only those accounts that might support a particular narrative.
A scene that that brings to mind the surreal experiences that many describe when facing death. (Photo by Nevit Dilman, Wikimedia).
Public awareness of NDEs only became widespread after Dr. Raymond Moody published the book Life After Life in 1975.
Although Dr. Moody avoided interpreting NDEs from a Christian perspective, his book still provides valuable testimonies that support a biblical world view. Since Dr. Moody's book, awareness has grown that such experiences are common.
Obviously, atheists challenge the validity of most aspects 12
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief of NDEs, but when they personally have one their views often change. Dr. Kenneth Ring is a prominent NDE researcher who has written extensively on the subject, and has noted that most atheists who meet God during an NDE become “convinced that they had been in the presence of some supreme and loving power” (Williams, 2007), much like the God of the Bible.
The Bible and NDEs
From Genesis on, the Bible teaches that the human spirit is separate from the body. In both Greek and Hebrew, the word spirit literally means breath or wind. It was God's breath that was required for the first man Adam to begin to live: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7 KJV) Solomon also described the spirit when he concluded the book of Ecclesiastes:
Remember your Creator while you are young.... Soon your life will snap like a silver chain.... You will turn back into the dust of the earth again, but your spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:1a, 6-7, NCV) While this does not necessarily suggest Solomon had a near death experience, the Apostle Paul described something that certainly suggests he knew someone who had a near death experience. Some believe it is possible that Paul himself experienced one, given the number of times he cheated death.
The verses I opened this chapter with seem to describe such an experience:
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven .... And I know that this man 13
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
— whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows — was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell." (2 Corinthians 12:2-4, NIV).
If indeed Paul was being intentionally vague about his own experience, it might be that he was just trying to protect himself. After all, he notes that discussing such topics was illegal.
Either way, Paul mentions several aspects that are common to near death experiences.
The man was caught up to heaven. Many accounts include entering into the presence of a powerful, loving God.
Paul suggests that the man may have been out of the body. Many people report leaving the body, and viewing it externally. Others report being able to travel to other places, and even other planets.
People often report gaining a vast knowledge while they are away from the body. Paul also heard inexpressible things. Unfortunately, when people return, most of their newfound knowledge cannot be recalled, as though it is simply too vast to be contained in a physical human brain.
Yet another passage hints that Paul may have personally had such an experience. In it, he imparts the type of revelation that is commonly cited in NDE accounts:
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (I Corinthians 13:12, NIV).
But we should not automatically conclude that just because someone has had a near death experience means they are a follower of Christ. That point was driven home to me awhile 14
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief back, when someone told me about their own near death experience when he nearly drowned that had many of the aspects common to NDEs. I could only conclude that it had a supernatural origin. Yet he was quick to inform me that while it caused him to believe in life after death, he still did not believe in God. So it should be noted that just because a person has a near death experience doesn't necessarily mean they agree with our interpretation, or that it causes them to surrender their will to a supreme being.
Sorting out NDEs
Certain traits are common to most NDEs. Initially, people usually have them as the result of trauma that causes normal body functions to cease. The heart stops beating, blood stops flowing, breathing stops, and normal brain-wave activity ceases.
In general, people who have NDEs then experience a heightened sense of awareness. Afterwards, people are offended at the suggestion that it might have been a dream. Instead, they describe themselves as being fully awake and fully alert, in spite of the loss of all or most signs of life. In fact, quite often, if the experience occurs in a hospital, the patient looks down from above and witnesses a doctor pronouncing their body dead. This is how total the cessation of life is seen to be, and how supernatural their experience seems.
A well known example of a thoroughly documented NDE
that included the absence of any life signs is probably that of Pam Reynolds. In order to remove a brain aneurysm, doctors intentionally lowered her core body temperature to sixty degrees, stopping her heart and lungs. All attached monitors showed no sign of life. Afterwards she was able to give a detailed account of what went on in the operating room during this period. Her account included accurate descriptions of the tools used and the words spoken. She also described traveling down a tunnel, meeting dead relatives, and facing the question as to whether she 15
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief was ready to die. (Williams, 2007).
Her experience is common. Many even tell of being able to see through walls and floors. Later, they are able to describe with accurate detail what went on, including things people said, things they did, and people who arrived and left. It is this aspect that most defies skeptic's attempts to explain away NDEs as a purely natural phenomena.
Peter Sellers described such an experience:
"Well, I felt myself leave my body. I just floated out of my physical form and I saw them cart my body away to the hospital. I went with it." (MacLaine, 1988).
Actress Jane Seymour also mentioned awareness of events in the room:
"I was looking down at my body. I was looking down. I saw
this
man
screaming,
yelling,
"emergency,
emergency!" ....I had two huge syringes in my backside, and I was watching from the corner of the room.....I just kind of looked, and then went, 'that's very strange. That's me. But that can't be me if I'm here.' And then I realized that I was out of my body and that I was, you know, going to die." (CNN, 2005).
Celebrities Answer the Big Question
There are also other aspects that are common to NDEs.
As with Pam Reynolds, virtually all near death experiences involve a person facing the question of whether they are ready to die, or whether it is the right time. Some of the time, the question is asked by a spiritual being, such as an angel. In other cases, the person simply experiences an epiphany in which they recognize its importance.
16
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Actress Jane Seymour in 1994. (Alan Light, Wikimedia)
In fact, in researching this chapter, I don't think I came across a single detailed NDE that failed to mention this, as did both of my grandfathers. This question, more than any other aspect of NDEs, suggests that the person who is dying has come under the authority of a higher power who has the ability to grant their wish.
For Peter Sellers, the question was answered for him.
When Sellers tried to go toward a bright white light, he was told,
"It's not time. Go back and finish. It's not time." Sellers then floated back to his body before waking up. (MacLaine, 1988).
Actress Jane Seymour described her response to the question like this:
"All of a sudden I just looked, and I went, no, no, I'm not ready to go away....And so I asked whoever was up there, God, a higher power, whatever one wants to call it, I just said, whoever you are, I will never deny your existence, just please let me get back in that body and I won't let you down....The next thing I knew, I was in my body...."
(CNN, 2005).
17
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Of course, the “big question” raises all kinds of deep philosophical issues, such as how much of a say we have in determining when we die, or if being asked the question is some indication of a person's standing with God. Since I do not have the answers to such questions, I will just move on. But the subject of readiness is only one trait NDEs have in common. There are more, and not every person's story contains every aspect. In fact, some are radically different. As a result, some people have concluded NDEs may be tailor-made for the individual. The accounts that follow report on a radically different type of experience.
Visits to Hell
A small percentage of reported NDEs have a seriously negative aspect, and literally include a visit to hell. Some researchers believe that many other hell experiences may remain unreported due to acute embarrassment. A number of people have written books about what they experienced. Howard Storm describes himself as an atheistic art professor at Northern Kentucky University, prior to his near death experience. So when he faced death he expected nothing more:
"Sort of relaxing and closing my eyes, I waited for the end. This was it, I felt. This was the big nothing, the big blackout, the one you never wake up from, the end of existence. I had absolute certainty that there was nothing beyond this life - because that was how really smart people understood it." (Williams, 2007).
Dr. Storm recalls being tortured and mocked by demonic beings, until finally he screamed out with everything he had,
“Jesus, please save me.” He was then immediately rescued by a great light, whom he identified as Jesus Christ. The rest of his NDE was a positive one, with loving angelic beings who brought him into the presence of God. Dr. Storm went on to become a 18
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief pastor in the United Church of Christ. He subsequently wrote the book, My Descent Into Death. (2005).
Mickey Robinson was a sky diver who was severely burned in a plane crash, and was not expected to live. During his hospital stay, he describes how his spirit sat up and left his body.
His account has all of the components typical to NDEs.
As he tells it, Mickey states that he did not have any religious training, and he notes that he did not understand the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Yet in his near death experience, he was faced with the reality and knowledge of a horrible existence in hell, separated from God.
When he cried out to God for mercy, he was ushered into the presence of a supremely powerful, and loving being. As a result of the NDE, Mickey found a relationship with Jesus Christ.
His book, Falling to Heaven, is available through Amazon.
(2003).
19
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Most who describe positive NDEs express surprise that in the midst of great trauma, the pain stops and they feel pleasant sensations. In fact, usually this is the first indication that something unusual is happening. It is the lack of pain, followed by stillness even in the midst of great trauma, that signifies the beginning of NDEs.
Peter Sellers was quoted as saying, "I wasn't frightened or anything like that because I was fine; and it was my body that was in trouble." (near-death.com/famous.html, 2013). Jane Seymour told Larry King, "and the next thing I remember, I was panicking, and then I wasn't panicking. I was very calm." (CNN, 2005).
Seeing is Believing
It is interesting that about 80 percent of blind people report being able to see during a a near death experience. For example, Dr. Kenneth Ring reported on Vickie Umipeg. Vickie was a forty-five year old woman who was born blind. Notice how she describes the initial experience of seeing her body from a vantage point outside of it:
"I knew it was me ... I was pretty thin then. I was quite tall and thin at that point. And I recognized at first that it 20
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief was a body, but I didn't even know that it was mine initially. Then I perceived that I was up on the ceiling, and I thought, "Well, that's kind of weird. What am I doing up here?" I thought, "Well, this must be me. Am I dead? ...". (Ring, 2008).
Commenting on Commalities
Typical comments from those first moments of a near death experience often include:
"I wasn't afraid even slightly."
"I found myself quite alert, thinking it doesn't hurt anymore."
"I felt a deep sense of peace."
"I felt safe and protected."
"I was comfortable."
"I was floating."
"The next thing I recall is brightness."
"Everything was so nice and peaceful, and warm, not dark. "
However, not all near death experiences are created equal.
After studying many different accounts, it seems that most accounts fall into five different categories. These categories could be defined as:
1. Simply waiting outside the body to return 2. Meetings with angels and/or God
3. Glimpses of hell and torment
4. Dreams
5. Fictional accounts
The first category could be classified as a period of time waiting outside the body. It typically lacks communication with, 21
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief or awareness of, any other spiritual being. Components these experiences tend to share include:
Awareness of leaving the physical body
A floating sensation
Awareness of unusual colors beyond what physical sight can experience
Looking at one's lifeless body from an external point
A sense of peace
Being thrust back into one's body after a period of time The second category could be characterized as meeting God. Elements common to these experiences include:
Awareness of leaving the physical body
A sense of being comfortable, protected, and secure
Awareness of colors that don't exist in the physical realm
The appearance of bright light
Traveling toward the light
Being aware of being loved deeply by God
A replaying of the events that made up one's life, with an emphasis on learning from these events
Knowledge that extends far beyond one's earthly knowledge, but that cannot be recalled in any detail once one returns
Meeting relatives and friends who have died prior to the experience
An awareness that the person's work on Earth is not completed yet
Being asked whether one wishes to return The third type is a hell experience. It is characterized by: 22
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
No mention of white light
Darkness
Fog
Hearing voices in agony
Meeting beings who are calloused and uncaring
Being tormented and mocked
Physical and emotional pain
Meeting relatives who have died prior to the experience Dreams make up the fourth category. While only a small percentage of accounts fall into this category, they usually have little in common with each real NDEs. Usually, the dream is called an NDE simply because someone decided to call it one, and not because it has the attributes of one. Typically, they do not involve severe trauma, or a witnessed loss of consciousness.
What they seem to have in common are meetings with relatives, both living and dead, but usually in storybook-like settings. I do not believe these are real NDEs, but they may still not be lies, for I do believe that some of them were real dreams.
The fifth category defines experiences that are fictional.
These are fairly rare accounts that have been deceitfully created for the purpose of furthering some hidden agenda, some strange doctrine, or to mock genuine accounts. These usually contain clues in the language, and generally reveal support for extreme beliefs that the individual had prior to the experience. Like dreams, they usually contain aspects that are not common to other NDEs.
Things that real NDEs have in common with biblical faith include:
The separation of the spirit from the body
The emphasis on things a person has or has not done in life
Meetings with God, angels, and/or demonic beings 23
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
Facing the big question about whether a person is ready to die
An over-riding emphasis on love for others
Visits to hell
Meeting people who have already died sometimes centuries earlier
The observation that God dwells in unapproachable light These aspects of NDEs are all represent significant truths in biblical Christianity. Conversely, they are not as significantly the core building blocks of other religions.
These experiences that celebrities have reported, and literally millions more among the general population confirm that near death experiences are something more than modern physics can explain. As such, they are rich sources of evidence that support the Gospel.
* * *
24
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Chapter 2
Evidence of Miracles from the Exodus
Moses held out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind. It blew all night and turned the sea into dry land. The water was divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on both sides. (Genesis 14:21-22, GNT)
There is a mountain in Saudi Arabia with a blackened peak like no other. In its shadow are altars, a large split rock, and an enormous skeleton-like object. Visible in the distance is a long inland sea with submerged chariot parts, human skeletons, and bones of horses. For the person that is open to truth, all of these things constitute evidence – evidence that the miracles of the Exodus actually occurred.
Did the waters of the Red Sea part at Moses' command?
Did more than a million people escape a pursuing army on the dry sea bed? Did the Egyptian army subsequently drown when the waters came back together? Did a pillar of fire come to rest on a mountain top, blackening its peak? Powerful evidence is emerging that indicates it happened just as the Bible says it did.
From Egypt to the Red Sea
Many people struggle to believe that the miracles of the Exodus could have literally occurred. To refresh the storyline, lets look at the events that led up to it.
Hundreds of years earlier, Jacob, Abraham's grandson, 25
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief saw a dream of a ladder reaching to heaven. In it he was told that his descendants would spread out over the entire Earth and become a blessing to the world. Fulfillment would ultimately come through Jesus Christ and a message of reconciliation with God, which became the means of blessing. But many other events would first be required to pave the way for Christ's arrival. For the descendants of Abraham, these events included 430 years in Egypt, a 40 year stay in the wilderness, and the founding of a nation in the land promised to Jacob in his dream.
Jacob was also known as Israel, and Jacob had a son, Joseph. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, then lied to their father, telling Jacob he was killed by a wild animal. Joseph was then carried off to Egypt, where he excelled and became a powerful ruler second only to Pharaoh.
Nasa World Wind software reveals a maximum depth of approximately 750 meters in the middle of the Gulf of Aqaba, at the Red Sea crossing site. The terrain is slightly deeper both north and south of the crossing site.
26
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Soon, famine would strike Egypt, but God had warned Joseph, so Joseph had stored up grain on a massive scale. When Jacob heard about Egypt's stockpile, he sent his sons to buy grain.
When they ran into their long lost brother Joseph, they took back word to Jacob. This reunion then resulted in the ultimate relocation of Jacob's family to Egypt.
During the next four centuries, the Children of Israel grew in number, but never really assimilated into Egyptian culture.
Pharaoh treated them as slaves, using them to build his many projects. When the Israelites prayed for freedom, God raised up Moses to lead them, but Pharaoh denied Moses' request for freedom. So God sent plagues to prove he meant business.
Finally, Pharaoh agreed to let them go.
By the time of the Exodus, we read that more than 600
thousand Israelite men fled Egypt. When you consider women and children, that number may have been two or three million.
The Wadi River Gorge reveals how a pillar of fire could delay an army. The biblical name for the Red Sea crossing site is Pi Hahiroth, which means "mouth of the gorges." [Google Earth image]
27
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Moses led them out of Rameses, a city on the eastern side of the Nile delta. When they left, they intended to go around the tip of the Red Sea by traveling through the land of the Philistines, but God re-directed them through a mountainous region, directly toward the Red Sea. Shortly afterward, Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army in pursuit.
Once they arrived at Pi-Hahiroth, they were trapped between rugged mountains and the Red Sea, and the Egyptian army was close behind. To save them, God miraculously parted the waters, and the Israelites escaped to safety. God then allowed the waters to close over the Egyptians, drowning them.
The blackened peak of the Jabal Al Lawz' Mount Sinai lies on the horizon, directly above the crosshairs. The Red Sea crossing site, Nuweiba Beach, is the white beach to the far right of the crosshairs. (NASA World Wind image).
28
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Many now believe that Moses crossed the Red Sea at Nuweiba Beach on what we now call the Gulf of Aqaba, one of two narrow fingers that protrude northward from the larger body of the Red Sea. The name Pi-Hahiroth actually means, "mouth of the gorges." It is a name that fits the beach well. The site is hemmed in by mountains, except for one large dry river gorge, and three small ones. It is easy to visualize how Pharoah's army might have been blocked by a pillar of fire in the main river gorge.
If Nuweiba was where God parted the Red Sea, we would expect to find evidence that Pharaoh's army had drowned there, and indeed, there have been some amazing finds. At the Nuweiba crossing site, underwater photographs and videos from multiple sources have confirmed the existence of coral encrusted chariot parts, including wheels with spokes, axles, and at least one rim with a gold overlay. Another gold hub was found covered with Egyptian engravings. The hub was removed and given to Egyptian authorities for examination. They were able to confirm it was from the time of the Pharaoh Ramesses, who ruled around the time of Moses. However, the hub was never returned, and its current whereabouts is now unknown. The gold objects are unique because, even after thousands of years, coral has not adhered to them.
Other objects that have been found include bones of both humans and horses. One striking photograph reveals a coral-encrusted human rib-cage. It appears to have a clearly visible arm and hand laying across the mid-section.
Initially, the objects were discovered in 1978 by explorer Ron Wyatt. Since his announcement, other expeditions have verified his findings, and a few have produced videos documenting hundreds of chariot-shaped objects. Segments of these videos are now available for viewing on the web, and photographs can be seen by going to www.wyattmuseum.com, or by searching image databases. For further research, check out the web links in this chapter's appendix.
29
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
The Underwater Land Bridge
Dr. Lennart Moller is a medical research scientist trained in marine biology who works with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm Sweden. Dr. Moller first visited the site in 1997, and confirmed the existence of chariot-like artifacts. Then, in May of 2000, Dr. Moller returned as part of an international team organized by Discovery Media Productions. The team brought robotic subs and cameras to the site, capable of going deeper than human divers. As a result, they obtained quality video of many more coral clusters that appear to be parts of chariots.
In addition to photographically documenting the site, they also documented the underwater terrain with a depth finder and GPS system. As a result, they determined that an underwater land bridge crosses a deeper underwater chasm. The bridge is the result of the river gorge, that deposited enough sand to create the beach area, and to raise the level of the seabed. The bridge has a maximum depth of about half a mile with a maximum grade of 8%, which is quite negotiable when walking. (Anchorstone, 2006).
Initially, the underwater land bridge was controversial, as it did not appear on earlier maps, but official maps have now been corrected. So now, anyone can verify its existence by using NASA's World Wind software. The program bases depths and elevations on radar images from satellites. Using World Wind, I found the deepest point to be around 750 meters, in perfect agreement with the findings of the expedition. And as expected, the depths were slightly deeper to the north and significantly deeper to the south. However, at the risk of offending some, a popular artist's conception of the land bridge is quite exaggerated.
Even though the body of evidence is increasing, large areas of the crossing site still remain unexplored. So far, to my knowledge no expedition has yet gone deeper than 400 meters.
Such depths require special equipment and lighting. Furthermore, because most of the sandy bottom was deposited by from the river gorge, the sand would be obviously many meters deep.
30
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief Denser metallic objects may never be found if they have settled too deeply into the sand. Nevertheless, the finds that have been documented are many, and taken as a whole, they are persuasive.
Solomon's Memorials at the Red Sea Crossing Site
Not all of the discoveries at the site are underwater.
Among the most significant are two large columns or pillars, one on each side of the Gulf. The one on the Nuweiba side was found lying on its side in the water, and all the inscriptions had eroded away. An identical column on the other side was found still standing. Some ancient Hebrew words on that one are still legible, including Solomon, Misraim (Egypt), Edom (Northern Arabia), death, Pharaoh, Moses, and Yahweh.
The blackened peak of Mount Sinai (Jabal Al Lawz) looking west.
The evidence suggests the Children of Israel spent the most time on this side of the mountain. (NASA World Wind image).
31
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
The inscriptions led Wyatt to conclude the columns were erected by Solomon to memorialize the crossing site, 400 years after the fact.
The columns also appear in ancient artwork. My son Justin took a photo of a tile floor in Israel that dates back about two thousand years, which includes a tile mosaic of the Exodus.
The scene not only includes Leviathan, but most remarkably includes a depiction of a pillar at the edge of the Red Sea. The pillar looks remarkably like the ones that have been found at the Gulf of Aqaba, lending support to the belief that this is the correct crossing site and that Jabal Al Lawz is the real Mount Sinai.
This cropped image of a mosaic tile floor in Israel tells the story of the Red Sea crossing. The pillar on the far edge of the Red Sea is remarkably similar to the two pillars that were found, on opposite sides of the Gulf of Aqaba. Leviathan has been cropped off the left of this image, while Behemoth's tail end is visible along the right edge. (Justin Hatch, 2011).
32
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief
Will the Real Mount Sinai Please Stand Up
After the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, the Bible states they followed a pillar of fire by night, and a pillar of cloud by day. The pillar led them to Mount Sinai, in the Land of Midian (Ex. 3:1,12). Eventually, it came to rest on Mount Sinai, also known as Mount Horeb. However, the traditional location on the Sinai Peninsula is devoid of any evidence that a large group of people ever camped there. In fact, it is not even located in the ancient land of Midian, where the Bible says it should be.
Instead, it is located in ancient Egypt, the very country from which the Israelites were fleeing. (Montgomery. 1934).
Furthermore, exit routes that lead to the traditional site are forced to assume Red Sea Crossing sites that have none of the features of the biblical narrative. The mountains are missing, as are the River Gorges. Therefore, scholars have long questioned that the traditional Mount Sinai was the one described in Exodus.
After discovering the Red Sea crossing site, Ron Wyatt became convinced that Mount Sinai must be in Saudi Arabia, since that is where the crossing site leads. Additionally, Exodus states the mountain is in Midian, which is also known to be in Saudi Arabia. (Exodus 3:1). Finally, Wyatt noted that the Apostle Paul alluded to "Mount Sinai in Arabia" and not Egypt.
(Galatians 4:25).
So in 1984, Ron Wyatt and two sons entered Saudi Arabia illegally. Soon, they found what they believed to be the real Mount Sinai in a mountain range known as Jabal Al Lawz. The mountain is only twenty miles from the crossing site. During this visit, Wyatt found an abundance of evidence that is mentioned in the biblical record, including:
1. A mountain with a uniquely blackened peak. It is consistent with biblical accounts which say a pillar of fire came to rest on top of it. (Exodus 19:18). Bob Cornuke and Larry Williams would later determine that the peak is 33
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief made of granite rocks coated with a black melted glass-like substance. (The Search for Mount Sinai, 1999).
2. A candidate for the Split Rock in Horeb is a 50 foot tall split rock atop a 110 foot hill, on the western side of the mountain. (http://www.emfi.org/archaeology/sinai2.htm).
It is believed to be the rock that Moses struck with his rod, causing water to gush from it to enable the Israelites to survive. The rock appears to have signs of water erosion where water once ran from the split.
3. The altar of the Golden Calf. It is a block-like structure, which by my measurements in Google Earth is about 80
feet square, made of roughly rectangular blocks of stone.
It is covered with engravings that resemble Egyptian engravings of cows, which were objects of worship in Egypt. (Exodus 32:17-19).
4. Large piles of rocks equally spaced around the eastern side of the mountain. They may be the "bounds" which the Lord ordered Moses to place around the mountain.
(Exodus 19:23).
5. Evidence that many people once camped around the mountain, with signs of many wells and huts.
6. A cave on the mountain, which may have been the "cleft"
in which Moses met God, and the cave where Elijah stayed. (Exodus 33:22, 1 Kings 19:8-9).
7. A line of large wells 18 feet in diameter, bordering the area of the altar at the base of the mountain.
8. The 12 wells and palm trees cited in the Bible at Elim, between the Gulf of Aqaba and Mount Sinai: “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water. (Exodus 15:27 ESV).
9. A well with bitter water like the one in the Bible known as Marah. “And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.”(Exodus 15:23
KJV).
34
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief 10. Broken remnants of plain round marble pillars. Exodus 24:4 mentions twelve pillars that Moses built at Mount Sinai.
After leaving the site, Wyatt and his sons were arrested, and spent 75 days in a Saudi prison. Upon their return to America, their accounts were met with skepticism, primarily because the Saudis confiscated their photographs, and they failed to bring back evidence. After their first visit, military fences and guard shacks were erected by the Saudi government. A sign was also posted, warning that the site is an archaeological site that is off limits.
In 1985 they again entered the country, this time legally.
Yet again, their evidence was confiscated. This time, however, they avoided prison. So for a number of years, their findings remained undocumented. Later, others would confirm them, but negative press continued to plague Wyatt, and he never fully rose above it prior to his death in 1999.
About Jabal Al Lawz
There are actually two sides to Jabal Al Lawz in Saudi Arabia - the eastern side, and the western side. Because of the mountain range, it is difficult to cross from one side to the other.
There is more space on the eastern side, and there is evidence that a large number of people camped there for a long period of time.
It also appears that it was on the eastern side that the people rebelled by building the Altar of the Golden Calf. Other artifacts mentioned in the Bible are also found on that side. The skeleton we documented in the first chapter is located on the western side.
The large split rock is farther north on the western side. Both Ron Wyatt and Bob Cornuke have proposed this is the Rock of Horeb.
In the biblical account, God told Moses to strike the rock with his staff:
“And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote 35
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.” (Numbers 20:11, KJV).
After God split the rock, Moses built an altar to memorialize the event. He named the altar Jehovahnissi, which means "The Lord is my Victory!" (Exodus 17:15 KJV, CEV).
Both Ron Wyatt, and the Cornuke-Williams team have verified the existence of a rock altar-like structure near the split rock.
A Risky Venture
After Ron Wyatt's visits, explorers Bob Cornuke and Larry Williams learned of his findings through astronaut James Irwin. Irwin had accompanied Ron on a previous expedition to a proposed site for Noah's ark in Turkey. Cornuke had accompanied Irwin on either that visit or another to the same site.
(www.promisekeepers.org/speaker-bios/bob-cornuke). At some point, Irwin gave them a letter written by David Fasold. Fasold had accompanied Ron on a visit to the mountain in 1985. Fasold's letter gave detailed instructions on how to find it, and what to expect. (http: //www.wyattnewsletters.com, 2008).
Bob Cornuke was then vice president of Irwin's High Flight Foundation. In 1988, Cornuke and Williams ventured to the site, bringing back the first quality photographs and video.
Cornuke and Williams managed to gain access by sneaking in at night with infrared glasses.
Both Wyatt's organization and Cornuke's have produced movies and other materials documenting their finds.
Cornuke released the movie, The Search for the Real Mount Sinai. The movie is well done, and great for group viewing.
However, Cornukes materials fail to mention Ron Wyatt by name. Surprisingly, the movie also proposes a different Red Sea crossing site from the one that Wyatt found, in spite of the evidence that Wyatt documented. Larry Williams does acknowledge Ron's prior discovery of the mountain in his 1990
36
Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief book, The Mountain of Moses. For further information, visit www.wyattmuseum.org and Bob Cornuke and Larry Williams'
website, www.baseinstitute.org.
Others have also visited the mountain and confirmed the evidence. The contributions of these explorers have armed Christians with powerful evidence that the Exodus account is true, miracles and all.
