Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

by HOIM Staff

FOR CENTURIES, skeptics and scoffers have called the Bible a collection of ancient primitive myths, fables, stories, and superstition. One religious leader calmly claimed, "We know now that every idea in the Bible started from primitive and childlike origins...."

Dr. Edgar J. Goodspeed, who translated the Bible into English, declared that the book of Joshua "is the legendary story of the conquest of Canaan" and the book of Ruth "belongs to Israel's fiction, rather than to its history, and should be among its tales and stories."

WHY have so-many men of high education, scholars, and scientists REJECTED the Bible as historical truth and reliable science? Is the Bible "unscientific"?

It is time you knew the incredible truth!

We live in a modern, push-button, scientific world. Science is adulated, placed on a lofty pedestal, and virtually worshipped as the new "messiah" -- the new savior of the world.

However, science has also bequeathed to the world lethal modern weapons of war -- the H-bomb, Neutron bomb, A-bomb, poisonous gases, deadly chemicals -- a murderous host of technologically amazing devices to destroy!

Science has been described as an angel of mercy, and also as a devil of destruction.

But unknown to millions, the Bible has a great deal to say about TRUE science. And it also has much to say about the wrong kind of science, and 'science falsely so called"! Although the Bible is not a textbook about science, it does give many foundational principles of science -- alludes to basic principles of biology, physics, chemistry, meteorology, astronomy, geology, and oceanography, as well as medical science and health sciences!

Those who have lightly discarded the Bible and relegated it to the limbo of outer darkness, as myth and fable, have carelessly missed out on the solid foundation of SCIENCE in the Bible! They have jumped to conclusions without getting all the facts.

For some reason, the world of scholars and scientists has rejected the Bible as the provable Word of the living God -- without examining all the evidence!

Very few know it, but the Bible has far more to say about science than many suppose. Scientific facts, not understood by the world until the last few hundred years, with the advent of the "scientific explosion," are plainly and directly mentioned IN THE BIBLE!

Think what this means. While pagans worshipped sticks and stones, the sun, moon, and stars; while entire nations were bowing under a cloud of magic and superstition, ignorant of the truth -- at that very same time, a Book unknown to millions, the Bible -- the Book of books -- was being INSPIRED which contained many fascinating, fantastic SCIENTIFIC SECRETS totally unknown to the rest of the world!

Notice how amazingly scientific the Bible really is!

Many people have erroneously believed that the Bible teaches the earth is flat. The Medieval Catholic Church held to the notion the earth is flat and is the center of the universe.

When Galileo presented scientific evidence to the contrary, his facts and theories were branded as "absurd in philosophy, and formally heretical, because expressly contrary to Holy Scripture."

But nowhere does the Bible teach the flat earth theory, or that the earth is a stationary object at the center of the universe.

Galileo's theories were declared heretical in the 17th century. But, amazingly enough, six hundred years before the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah was inspired by Almighty God to write and speak ef the spherical shape of the planet earth!

Notice it! In Isaiah 40:22 we read of YEHOVAH God, "It is He that sitteth upon the CIRCLE of the earth." Moffatt translates this verse more clearly: "He sits over the ROUND EARTH." The Critical and Experimental Commentary states this expression is "applicable to the globular form of the earth." The original Hebrew word is chuug and means a "compass, circle, or sphere."

But how did Isaiah, an ancient Hebrew prophet, know that the earth is round? Here is PROOF that the ancient Hebrews were far more knowledgeable and scientific than they are given credit for being!

But how much did the ancient writers of the Bible really know about the earth? Did they believe the notions of their Gentile contemporaries who believed the earth was carried about on the back of a great tortoise?

Three amazing truths were known about the earth itself which the rest of the world did not understand for another two or three THOUSAND YEARS! Sound incredible? It should!

First, the fact that the earth revolves around the sun once every year was not generally understood until the days of Copernicus and came to be known as the Copernican Theory. This was in the 16th century -- just a little more than 400 years ago. He taught that the sun is the center of the solar system.

However, thousands of years before his time, in the days of the patriarch Moses, the Bible uses the precise expression to indicate the revolution of the earth around the sun once a year was known to ancient Biblical astronomers! In Exodus 34:22 we read, in the King James Version, the innocent phrase, "And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest. and the feast of ingathering at the year's end." According to the original Hebrew, however, this should be translated "at the REVOLUTION OF THE YEAR." The original Hebrew word is tequuphah and means "to move in a circle," "circuit," "to go round," "orbit of the sun," as well as "revolution of time."

The Goodspeed translation has "at the turn of the year." In the days of the prophet Samuel, the expression "in revolution of days" was used to denote the time from conception to birth of a child (I Sam. 1:20, margin). Goodspeed translates this, "when the time came around."

Notice also II Chronicles 24:23 where the "end of the year" is called, in the original Hebrew, "in the REVOLUTION of the year" (marginal rendering). Don't these verses clearly suggest the fact that the ancient Hebrews KNEW the earth revolves around the sun, and completes one revolution -- one turning -- each year?

But this is not all. Notice Job 38:12-14 where we read: "Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; that it might take hold of the ends of the earth . . . IT [the earth] IS TURNED AS CLAY TO THE SEAL . . ."

What does this mean? YEHOVAH God is talking to the ancient patriarch Job about the morning -- the rising of the sun. How is it that the sun appears to rise in the morning? This verse contains the scientific truth -- the TRUE explanation! The earth itself turns, or "rotates" -- from west to east, causing the sun to rise in the morning, in the eastern sky, and appear to move through the sky to the western horizon, where it appears to "set."

The original Hebrew in this verse says, of the earth, "it turns itself." What could be a more apt expression? The allusion to the day and the seal refers to the rolling cylinder seal one to three inches long, such as was used in ancient Babylon, which left its plastic impression on the clay as it turned about or rolled around. What more apt figure of speech could be used to represent the motion of the earth itself, as it rotates, causing day and night?

Thirdly, the laws of gravity were not explained and understood until Sir Isaac Newton, a Christian scientist and theologian, discovered them in the 18th century. The laws of motion were discovered by this same genius.

However, strange as it may seem, thousands of years ago the Bible alluded to the laws of centrifugal force, centripetal force, gravity, and motion! How else do you explain the enigmatic statement in the book of Job, speaking of the earth -- "He [YEHOVAH God]...hangeth the earth UPON NOTHING"? (Job 26:7.)

The pagans believed a tortoise carried the earth about; but YEHOVAH God revealed to His people the truth -- that the earth hangs suspended in space by powerful laws of force and motion!

YEHOVAH asked Job, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . Whereupon are the foundations [sockets] thereof fastened (made to sink]?" (Job 38:4, 6.) It is interesting that science has discovered that the earth's axis is pointed in the general direction of the North Pole Star, and the north and south poles are the points where the earth's axis of rotation meets the surface of the earth. The earth is inclined to its axis at 23 1/2 degrees. YEHOVAH is the One who planned it all out; set the earth to spinning on its axis; and pointed the north pole toward the star Polaris.

The science of weather and understanding the earth's atmosphere is of relatively recent origin. It, too, has developed greatly during the last two hundred years. Chemistry and physics play a vital role in this science. Before the nature of matter and air were understood, weather science was in total chaos.

Here again, however, the Bible "scooped" science by more than two thousand years!

The basic key to understanding the weather cycles and patterns on the earth is the hydrological cycle. Today it is well known that water evaporates from the surface of the oceans, rivers, lakes and all bodies of water; that it rises into the atmosphere; and that later it returns to the earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. The evaporation-condensation-precipitation cycle was not understood by mankind, however, before the nature of water, water vapor, and the chemistry of matter was understood.

The Bible, however, reveals this basic CYCLE was understood, THOUSANDS of years ago! Once again, the Bible is proved to be SCIENTIFIC! Notice Jeremiah l0:13 -- "When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ASCEND from the ends of the earth."

Tell me -- how could Jeremiah, a prophet of YEHOVAH God, have possibly known about the evaporation of water into water vapor, condensation of water vapor as rain droplets, and the precipitation cycle? Was he an inspired scientist as well as a prophet?

Jeremiah was not the only Biblical meteorologist, however. Solomon was also an expert in understanding the weather cycle. The Scriptures reveal that king Solomon was an avid student of nature, and the natural world, and wrote extensively on the subject. Some of his writings as a "naturalist" are preserved in the Scriptures.

Wrote Solomon about one thousand years before the Messiah, "The wind goes to the south, and circles about continually, and on its circlings the wind returns again. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place from which the rivers come, to there and from there they return again" (Eccl. 1:6-7, Amplified Version).

Solomon understood the circuits of the wind -- and of water. How did he know? Was he merely guessing? Or was he not truly one of the most gifted, wisest men of all history? If we give Benjamin Franklin credit for being a gifted genius, how much more should we recognize the genius of Solomon who was the most famous naturalist, writer, poet, composer, and scientist of his time? (compare I Kings 4:29-34.)

Consider, for a moment, how incredibly amazing Solomon's knowledge was. It was not until the 1800's that William Ferrell, an American meteorologist, formulated "Ferrell's law" which explains the prevailing directions of the winds over the earth, based on the earth's rotation.

Said Matthew Fontaine Maury, an American hydrographer who lived in the late 1800's, "The direction in which a wind blows is so constantly changing that we often speak of the winds as fickle, inconstant, and uncertain. There is, however, ORDER in the movements of the atmosphere. The fickle winds are obedient to LAWS."

In Job 38:16, YEHOVAH God asked, "Have you explored the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?" (Amplified Version).

How could the writer of the book of Job have known that beneath the oceans of the world there exist springs, or fountains of FRESH WATER? An article in the Saturday Review (July 1, 1967) declared: "Although they usually remain undetected, submarine springs of fresh water are often more common along certain types of shoreline than are rivers and other surface streams." Along some shorelines, as much as 20 million gallons of fresh water a day flows into the sea for every mile of shoreline.

In fact, one major submarine spring in the Persian Gulf flows with enough volume to create a large area of fresh water in the midst of the sea, because of favorable limestone geology in Iran and Saudi Arabia. In Greece, an estimated 100 million cubic feet of fresh water goes into the sea through submarine springs.

But about four thousand years before, YEHOVAH God asked Job if he knew about the springs in the sea!

INCREDIBLE!

Job was also told about the "recesses of the deep." Oceanographers today have plotted much of the ocean bottoms of the world, and have discovered deep underlying "trenches" which at some points go down thousands of feet in sharp, sudden drop-offs. Yet even Job knew of the existence of "recesses" in the oceans! The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean is 36,198 feet deep. It was discovered in September, 1959 by the Soviet ship Vityaz. The same ship discovered a depth of 35,702 feet for the Tonga Trench; there are four other deep trenches in the North Pacific. The greatest depth in the Atlantic Ocean is north of Puerto Rico -- the Puerto Rico Trench, 27,498 feet deep.

The dark world of the bottom of the ocean is now being explored by scientists in bathyscaphes, and special cameras, mounted with strobe lamps, have been lowered miles into the depths. New instruments have revealed that the ocean bottom is surprisingly rugged. Depths of valleys and canyons running underwater when averaged out are five times greater than heights reached on continents. The undersea world is cut, and sliced, by huge canyons bigger than the Grand Canyon. One such canyon is the Hudson Canyon off New York. Sixty miles off shore, this mammoth canyon knifes downward to 8000 feet, and then slopes on down to 6,500 feet.

The sea floor is called the abyssal plains. At their edge are sometimes found tremendous chasms or trenches, averaging 20 miles wide at the top and hundreds of miles long. The deepest such trench discovered is the Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench, almost seven miles down.

Yet thousands of year ago, YEHOVAH God asked the patriarch Job what he knew about these "recesses" or "TRENCHES" of the "deep" -- that is, of the Oceans? How could Job have known? In the original Hebrew, the word for "explore" or "search out" is cheger and means to "search out, examine; secret, inmost part." The word for "deep" is tehown and means "confusion" -- or "the ABYSS, the great deep."

How could such graphic words have been written which so aptly describe the ocean bottom -- so many thousands of years ago -- unless they had been inspired by YEHOVAH God?

Matthew Fontaine Maury, when reading the Bible, was, struck by the words of Psalm 8:8 -- "The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." His curiosity aroused, he set out to map the currents of the oceans of the world and became the foremost hydrographer of his day (1806-1873). He discovered the ocean routes which would make best use of prevailing ocean currents and winds. His research enabled ship owners to cut many days from the time required to make their voyages and helped them save many thousands of dollars. He was called the "Pathfinder of the Seas." The Bible was his source of inspiration!

But how did king David, who wrote the eighth Psalm -- who lived about one thousand years before the Messiah -- know about the "paths of the seas" and the great currents in the oceans?

In 1855 Matthew Fontaine Maury, pioneer oceanographer, wrote, "There is a river in the ocean. In the severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows. Its banks and its bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm. The Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the Arctic Seas. It is the Gulf Stream" (The Physical Geography Of the Sea, 1855).

Truly, a river in the middle of the sea, the Gulf Stream flows for the most part through the Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico and leaves through the Straits of Florida, from where it flows out into the broad Atlantic across to north-western Europe.

"Seaward of New England, where the Gulf Stream is most robust, it can be l00 miles wide and 16,400 feet deep, and have a surface velocity of six miles an hour. There it carries past a given point about 150,000,000 tons of water every second; this makes it the equal of 700 Amazons or 8,800 Mississippis'" ("A Capsule History of the Gulf Stream," by Thomas Lineaweaver III, Holiday, Nov. 1967).

If the Gulf Stream were emptied upon the United States, it would flood the entire nation to a depth of over four feet -- in just one day! This mighty river is truly a PATHWAY in the sea! The larvae of a snail (Cymatium Parthenopeum) found from Brazil to the west coast of Africa ride the Gulf Stream, perhaps taking 300 days to cover 2,640 miles from the Bahamas to the Azores. Although the "odds" against a successful passage for the snails may be 2 million to 1, it is commonly done!

The Gulf Stream is just one of many mighty ocean currents, such as the cold Humboldt Current, pushed by Antarctic winds up the west coast of South America. Then there is the Japan Current, or Kuroshio, in the Pacific. The earth's great wind systems push before them the great sea currents, and have enormous impact on world weather. The westerlies drive the Gulf Stream and Japan Current; the polar easterlies drive before them the Humboldt Current and Brazil Current, and others. The Labrador Current, in the North Atlantic, flows down from the north polar region, pushed along by polar easterlies.

All these mighty currents are virtual rivers or paths in the seas. But -- how did David, one thousand years before the Messiah, know such mighty paths in the seas existed? How indeed, unless navigation was far more advanced in his day than skeptics like to admit?

David also wrote of the "fowl of the air...and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." What do migratory birds have to do with the great ocean currents? Is there a relationship? Indeed, there most certainly is!

Winging their way over the seas, in giant paths through the skies, are the Golden Plover and the Arctic Tern, navigating many thousands of miles every year. Also navigating in paths through the seas are species of eel, turtles, whales, and many species of fish.

How did David understand these things about the fowls of the air, and the "fish of the sea" and other migratory creatures? How was he so familiar with the biological sciences of the earth?

Clearly, the Bible is far more scientific than most people would suppose!

You are probably familiar with the fact that air has weight. At sea level air pressure is 14.7 pounds per square inch. As you go up in altitude, air pressure is less and less. A mountain climber ascending Mount Everest finds the air so thin that he has to take oxygen along to breathe.

When did science discover that air has weight? Any textbook on Physics reveals that the laws of pressure, temperature and volume of gases were supposedly not discovered until the last few hundred years. It was not known in ancient times, supposedly, that invisible air actually has "weight."

Nor was it understood that rain behaves according to definite laws of physics and chemistry. But notice! Here is what YEHOVAH inspired to be written in the Bible over three thousand years ago! "God...looks to the ends of the earth; beneath the whole heavens he sees. When he made a WEIGHT FOR THE WIND, and meted out the waters by measure [rainfall in the United States averages 29 inches every year!]; when he made a LAW for the rain, and a WAY for the thunderbolt" (Job 28:23-26).

The Amplified Bible makes this even more clear: "When He gave to the wind weight or pressure . . ."

Here is another remarkable instance of SCIENCE in the Bible! Thousands of years before modern science discovered these same laws of nature and physics!

Ancient Job knew the relationship between barometric pressure of the atmosphere and weather 3,000 years ago! Over 3,000 years before Torricelli, an Italian physicist (1608-1647) proved the same relationship with his barometer!

In his book, A History of Egyptian Archaeology, Fred Gladstone Bratton states, "Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Giza Pyramids alone have survived the ravages of time and the destructive hand of man. They are still the most massive and impressive buildings in the world today."

He goes on: "As with astronomical measurements where the scientist has to resort to comparisons in order to demonstrate the immensity of the universe, so it is with the Pyramid of Cheops. No other building in history has called for so much study of construction, dimensions, and purpose than this pile of thirty million cubit feet of limestone. It has been estimated that the Great Pyramid . . . is large enough to accommodate St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, St. Peter's in Rome, and the Cathedrals of Milan and Florence. It consists of 2,300,000 limestone blocks, each one weighing 2 1/2 tons and measuring 3 feet in each direction. Originally it was 481 feet high but now is 451 feet. The average length of the four base lines is 755 feet" (p. 87.)

This author continues, "By using one of the celestial bodies, the Cheops builders were able to orient the Pyramid to the four cardinal points, the errors being only in the following fractions of one degree: north side, 2' 28" south of west; south side, 1' 57" south of west; east side, 5' 30" west of north; west side, 2' 30" west of north. The four corners were almost perfect right angles with the following measurements: 90 degrees 3' 2"; northwest 90 degrees 59' 58"; southeast, 89 degrees 56' 37"; and southwest, 90 degrees 0' 33" " (p. 88).

Archaeologist Flinders Petrie calculated that 100,000 men were used in transporting the blocks to the base of the Pyramid, and some 4,000 in its actual construction. The precision is such that Petrie said any errors in the angles and degrees "can be covered with one's thumb."

Eight centuries ago, Abd al-Llatif observed that the stone blocks were fitted together so well that a knife cannot be inserted into the joints -- a truly remarkable evidence of precision engineering and sheer architectural genius!

In his book The Pyramids, Almed Fakhry declares: "The Great Pyramid of Giza represents the culminative effort of the pyramid builders. Not only is it the largest monument of its kind ever constructed, but for excellence of workmanship, accuracy of planning, and beauty of proportion, it remains the chief of the Seven Wonders of the World" (p. 99).

It has been calculated that if all the stone in the Great Pyramid were sawn into one foot square blocks and these were laid end to end, they would stretch two thirds of the way around the earth at the equator, or 16,000 miles. Put another way, these one foot blocks could make a five-foot highway stretching from the east to the west coast of the United States!

Said Fakhry of the Great Pyramid, "Even equipped with modern tools and instruments, and profiting from nearly 5,000 years of experience, architects and engineers today might well quail if called upon to erect a duplicate" (p. 120-121).

But the Great Pyramid is only one of the ancient wonders of the world. The Temple of YEHOVAH God, in Jerusalem, was another such wonder of architectural skill and engineering! It was the greatest building of its kind in the entire world.

David and Solomon, who were instrumental in the construction of the Temple of YEHOVAH God in ancient times, were very knowledgeable in the fields of architecture and engineering. The Temple was to be exceedingly "magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries" (I Chron. 22:5).

David himself prepared for the Temple 100,000 talents of gold and one million talents of silver. On today's market gold is valued at approximately $400 per ounce. A talent equaled 125 pounds, troy weight. Therefore, 125 pounds, or one talent of gold, would be worth $800,000. At this price, 100,000 talents would be worth $800 million times 100, or $80 billion dollars!

Therefore, David provided about $80 billion worth of gold for the Temple of YEHOVAH God. The silver he contributed was one million talents. Silver is approximately $5 per ounce. At this rate, therefore, the silver David gave for the Temple was worth $10,000 per talent, times one million talents -- or $10 billion dollars!

Can you imagine such a building? This was truly the most magnificent, glorious, beautiful building ever constructed by man! (see I Chron. 22:14). The Temple was built of great stones, cedar beams and boards, overlaid within with gold (I Kings 6:14-22; 7:912). Today, such a building would probably cost, by the time you figure in the labor, over $100 billion -- if not much more!

To construct the magnificent edifice, Solomon had 30,000 men of Israel and 150,000 Canaanites working on the Temple, hewing timber and magnificent stones, and bearing burdens (I Kings 5:1316; 11 Chron. 2:17-18; 8:7-9). Actual construction took seven years (I Kings 6:38). If Solomon had paid all these men at today's wages, say an average of $20,000 each per year, his labor costs alone would easily have soared to the $3,600,000,000 ($3.6 billion) per year, or $25.2 billion for the entire project!

The construction of the Temple was so precise that the ancient chronicler recorded: "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building" (I Kings 6:7). Every part was carefully and precisely prepared at some distance from the building site. But when each part, each timber and stone, was laid, it fit perfectly! Can you imagine what a gigantic headache such a building would give contractors today?

Obviously, men like David and Solomon were not mere "ignorant shepherds," as some critics and skeptics today would like to believe. David really existed. His name has been found inscribed on archaeological ruins in Israel. Solomon too is a real character of history. And their kingdom was an extraordinary Kingdom!

Far from being ignorant shepherds, David and Solomon were immensely rich and wealthy KINGS of the greatest historical empire the world has ever known. The net worth of either of them was far more than the wealthiest businessmen alive today -- including J. Paul Getty, Howard Hughes, and all the Mellons, Rockefellers, Morgans, and Rothschilds, Fords, combined!

In the heyday of Solomon silver was "not any thing accounted of" (11 Chron. 9:20). We read, "And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the low plains in. abundance" (v. 27). Solomon had his own personal fleets and dominated world trade. "And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom" (v. 22).

There is archaeological evidence, in fact, that the fleets of Solomon and Hiram of Tyre circumnavigated the globe, sailing from Ezion-geber, a port at tne terminus of the Red Sea, near modern Aqaba or Eliat! Hebrew customs, discovered by the early English settlers in the Americas, were found among some of the Indian tribes, including the wearing of phylacteries! Minoan and Phoenician coins have been found, and inscriptions of ancient Phoenician and Minoan scripts, in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and the Star of David was even found in an ancient ruin of the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico!

A stone in a cry creek bed in New Mexico, discovered by early settlers in the region, is one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries in the Western Hemisphere. It contains engraved on its flank the entire Ten Commandments written in ancient Hebrew script! Hebrew scholars, such as Cyrus Gordon of Brandeis University near Boston, have vouched for its authenticity. I visited the site of the huge boulder in 1973 and photographed the Hebrew inscriptions. A local newspaper reporter guided me to the mysterious site, located out in the middle of the New Mexico desert. We watched for rattlesnakes, as we hiked in to the spot where the boulder lies, unmoved and unmovable.

It is becoming increasingly clear that ancient King David was a much more formidable man than historians are wont to believe -- and that his son Solomon was no "slouch" when it came to wisdom, knowledge, and intellectual grasp! They knew about the "paths in the seas." Their fleets had sailed across the Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans, bringing riches from colonies they established around the world.

In December, 1989, it was reported that an American explorer in Peru's highland jungles had found evidence that indicated king Solomon's legendary gold mines may have been in that region. The explorer, Gene Savoy, declared that he had found three stone tablets containing the first writing found from the ancient civilizations of the Andes. The inscriptions, he reported, are similar to Phoenician and Hebrew hieroglyphs!

Reports the San Francisco Chronicle: "The hieroglyphs on the tablets are similar to those used in King Solomon's time...." 

Savoy is no newcomer to archaeological discoveries. He was the discoverer of the last Inca city of Vilcabamba in 1964. Savoy declared that the three tablets each weigh several tons and measure about 5 by 10 feet. They were found in a cave near Gran Vilaya, the immense ruins of the Chachapoyas Indian civilization which he discovered in 1985.

This discovery is not surprising to me.

Several years ago I visited with Dr. Joseph Mahan in Atlanta, Georgia, an expert in ancient Indian ethnology of the southeastern Indians of the United States. He showed me samples of pottery uncovered from the waters around the Bahamas, and told me of Indian legends, including that of the Yuchis, stating they had migrated to the area of Florida and Georgia from the region of the Bahamas. According to their legends, the island sank beneath the sea and they fled for their lives.

These same Yuchis later migrated to the Oklahoma territory, where they eventually settled down. Amazingly enough, they show strong evidence that they had contact with the Old World in historic times. They have a custom which is unique among the American Indians. They are racially and linguistically different from their neighbors. Every year on the fifteenth day of the sacred month of harvest, in the fall, they make a pilgrimage. For eight days they live in "booths" with roofs open to the sky, covered with branches and leaves and foliage. During this festival, they dance around the sacred fire, and called upon the name of YEHOVAH God.

The ancient Israelites had the virtually identical custom, in many respects. In the harvest season in the fall, on the 15th day of the sacred month of harvest (the seventh month), they celebrate the "festival of booths" for eight days. During this time they live in temporary booths, covered with branches, leaves, fronds. This festival goes back to the time of Moses and the Exodus from ancient Egypt (Leviticus 23).

How is it that two totally separate peoples evolved the identical custom? Dr. Cyrus Gordon, of Brandeis University in Boston, was privileged to sit in on one of the fall harvest festivals of American Indians, and listened to their chants, songs, and sacred ceremonies. An expert in Hebrew, Minoan, and many Middle Eastern languages, he was dumbstruck. As he listened, he exclaimed to his companion, "My God! They are speaking the Hebrew names for God!" Dr. Joe Mahan, who related the above story to me, laughed. He is a strong believer in cultural contacts between the Indians and the East, long before Columbus. He showed me a small tablet containing cuneiform writing of the Babylonians. "This," he said, "was found not long ago by a woman digging in her flower bed, here in Georgia. The inscription appears to be genuine. There is no reason not to believe it is authentic."

More and more, scholars are coming to admit that peoples from the Middle East reached the New World long before Columbus or the Vikings. One stone, found at Fort Benning, Georgia, has unusual markings all over it. I saw the stone myself, and took photographs of it. Professor Stanislav Segert, professor of Semitic languages at the University of Prague, has identified the markings on the stone as a script of the second millennium before the Messiah, from the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete!

In Quest of the White God, Pierre Honore points out similarities between the ancient Minoan writing and the script of the ancient Mayas. Independently of him, other scholars have noted striking similarities between Aztec glyphs from Mexico, and Cretan glyphs on the Phaistos Disc from the island of Crete in the Mediterranean.

In addition to these remarkable discoveries, Dr. Cyrus Gordon told me that Jews were in America in ancient times. The inscription on the stone, he asserts, is in the writing style of Canaan, the promised land of the Hebrews. Concludes Gordon, whom I interviewed at his old, New England style home in the suburbs of Boston: "There is no doubt that these findings, and others, reflect Bronze Age transatlantic communication between the Mediterranean and the New World around the middle of the second millennium B.C."

In 1968 Manfred Metcalf was looking for slabs to build a barbeque pit. Several strange-looking, flat rocks caught his eye; he picked up a large flat piece of sandstone about nine inches long, brushed it off, and noticed odd markings on it. Metcalf gave the stone to Dr. Joseph B. Mahan, Jr., Director of Education and Research at the nearby Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts at Columbus, Georgia. Mahan sent a copy of the stone to Cyrus Gordon in May of 1969. His report:

"After studying the inscription, it was apparent to me that the affinities of the script were with the Aegean syllabary, whose two best known forms are Minoan Linear A, and Mycenaean Linear B. The double-axe in the lower left corner is of course reminiscent of Minoan civilization. The single vertical lines remind us of the vertical lines standing each for the numeral '1' in the Aegean syllabary; while the little circles stand for '100.' Concluded Gordon: "We therefore have American inscriptional contacts with the Aegean of the Bronze Age, near the south, west and north shores of the Gulf of Mexico. This can hardly be accidental; ancient Aegean writing near three different sectors of the Gulf reflects Bronze Age transatlantic communication between the Mediterranean and the New World around the middle of the second millennium B.C." Gordon offers the exciting thought, "The Aegean analogues to Mayan writing, to the Aztec glyphs, and to the Metcalf Stone, inspire the hope that the deciphered scripts of the Mediterranean may provide keys for unlocking the forgotten systems of writing in the New World. A generation capable of landing men on the moon, may also be able to place pre-Columbian Americas within the framework of world history" (Manuscripts, summer of 1969).

Further proof that transatlantic travel and communication existed in the Bronze Age, in the middle of the second millennium B.C., during the time of David and Solomon, and before, comes to us from South America.

In 1872 a slave belonging of Joaquim Alves de Costa, found a broken stone tablet in the tropical rain forests of Brazil's Paraiba state. Baffled by the strange markings on the stone, Costa's son who was a draftsman made a copy of it and sent it to the Brazilian Emperor's Council of State. The stone came to the attention of Ladislau Netto, director of the national museum. He was convinced of the inscription's autthenticity and made a crude translation of it. Contemporary scholars scoffed. The very thought of Phoenicians reaching Brazil thousands of years before Columbus was viewed with disdain. Few scholars took the stone at all seriously.

In 1966 Dr. Jules Piccus, professor of romance languages at the University of Massachusetts, bought an old scrapbook at a rummage sale containing a letter written by Netto in 1874, which contained his translations of the markings on the stone and a tracing of the original copy he had received from Costa's son. Intrigued, Dr. Piccus brought the material to the attention of Cyrus H. Gordon. Dr. Gordon, the head of the Department of Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis and an expert in ancient Semitic languages, as well as author of some 13 books, was amazed. He compared the Paraiba inscription with the latest work on Phoenician writings. He discovered that it contained nuances and quirks of Phoenician style that could not have been known to a 19th century forger. The writings had to be genuine!

Gordon translated the inscription as follows: "We are Sidonian Canaanites from the city of the Mercantile King. We were cast up on this distant shore, a land of mountains. We sacrificed a youth to the celestial gods and goddesses in the nineteenth year of our mighty King Hiram and embarked from Ezion-geber into the Red Sea. We voyaged with ten ships and were at sea together for two years around Africa. Then we were separated by the hand of Baal and were no longer with our companions. So we have come here, twelve men and three women, into New Shore. Am I, the Admiral, a man who would flee? Nay! May the celestial gods and goddesses favor us well!"

Cyrus Gordon believes the king mentioned in the script can be identified as Hiram III who reigned 553-533 B.C. The inscription seems to verify an unusual statement found in the Old Testament. An ancient Biblical chronicler wrote: "And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon" (I Kings 9:26-28).

In the days of Solomon there was an alliance between Hiram, the king of Tyre and the Israelites under Solomon. They were not only allies, but very friendly toward one another (II Chronicles 2:2-12). Israelites and Phoenicians even worked together to build the Temple of YEHOVAH God in Jerusalem (vs. 13-18). This alliance included shipping together, although the Phoenicians were known to jealously guard the secrets of oceanic navigation from other nations. We read in II Chronicles 8, beginning verse 8: "Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon" (v. 17-18).

In the middle of the second millennium, B.C., and down to the time of Solomon, circa 1000 B.C., oceanic travel by maritime powers in the Middle East seems to have been fairly common.

Other evidence comes from the investigations of Dr. Alexander von Wuthenau, whom I interviewed at his home in Mexico City. His living room was filled to overflowing with terra cotta pottery figures and objects d' art. In his book The Art of Terra Cotta Pottery in Pre-Columbian Central and South America, Dr. Von Wuthenau published scores of photographs of these art objects. He tells of his astonishment, when he first noted that in the earliest, lower levels of each excavation he encountered -- not typical Indian heads -- but heads of Mongolians, Chinese, Japanese, Tartars, Negroes, and "all kinds of white people, especially Semitic Types with and without beards" (p. 49).

At Acapulco, von Wuthenau found that early Semitic peoples lived in considerable numbers. "The curious points about these essentially primitive figures are that, first, there is an emphasis on markedly Semitic-Hebrew features", he declared (p. 86). Female figures found in the region are also markedly Caucasian, with delicate eyebrows, small mouths and opulent coiffures.

Cyrus Gordon, who has studied the collection, points out: "In the private collection of Alexander von Wuthenau is a Mayan head, larger than life-size, portraying a pensive, bearded Semite. The dolichosephalic ("long-headed") type fits the Near East well. He resembles certain European Jews, but he is more like many Yemenite Jews.'"

Near Tampico, the early Huastecan culture reveals portrait heads with a predominant Semitic, white element, but also Negroid features appear. At Veracruz, meanwhile, a figurine of a female dancer possesses the features just like those of a Frenchwoman of Brittany! She wears a headdress reminiscent of Phoenician fashion. Also at Veracruz a figure with a false beard, styled like an Egyptian beard, also had a snake-like protrusion on the forehead. Again and again, figures with definite Semitic features have been found. A sample of Maya ceramic painting shows a lady with a flower who has an undeniable Negroid character. The figure has an affinity with Egyptian painting, says Wuthenau. yet it was not found along the Nile, but in Central America! On the Pacific coast of Ecuador, also, evidence for the presence of early Hebrews has been found. A figurine of a lovely girl was found who wore a headdress with a remarkable Phoenician affinity. Other Ecuadorian heads show definite Semitic features. Clearly, the Semites penetrated a large part of the American continent in "prehistoric" times!

In the past century, several Brazilians have found inscriptions on rocks along the Amazon river. Over a period of 50 years, four men, including two who were scientists, uncovered inscriptions which they independently concluded were Phoenician in origin.

The first man, Francisco Pinto, in 1872 found over 20 caves deep in the Brazilian jungle and uncovered about 250 strange inscriptions upon the rocks. He thought they were Phoenician, inscriptions upon the rocks. He thought they were Phoenician, and Brazil's Director of History and Geography corroborated his suspicions. A German philologist who studied the markings in 1911 felt they were genuine.

In the 1880s, Ernest Ronan, a French scientist, combed the jungles and found several more inscribed stones. In the 1920s a scholar by the name of Bernardo da Silva discovered many more inscriptions along the Amazon. It makes good sense. It explains why the Mayans, who considered Quetzalcoatl as the bringer of their arts and laws, depicted him as being unusually blond!

When the Spaniards discovered the New World in the early sixteenth century, perhaps fifty million inhabitants lived in the Western Hemisphere, speaking over 900 languages. Such linguistic diversity has long puzzled scholars, and logically attests to a diversity of origins. Carleton S. Coon reported that the conquistadores "commented on Montezuma's light skin, but did not remark that this ruler rarely exposed himself to the bright sun." Coon adds: "George Catlin, in his portraits of the Mandan Indians, depicted some of them as blond....Another case of allegedly aberrant Indians is that of the Pomo, Hupa, and neighboring tribes in north-central California whose beard growth seems to have been Caucasoid when they were first seen" (Coon, The Living Races of Man, p. 154).

Another mystery to ethnologists is the existence of a white skinned, red-bearded tribe recently discovered by builders of Brazil's Trans-Amazon Highway. Called the Lower Assurinis because they live south of the route of the highway, they have ear lobes (which is uncharacteristic of other tribes), and their language differs from traditional dialects in the region.

Sir Walter Raleigh in his History of the World mentioned that the Indians he encountered used many Welsh words long before the Welsh were known to have come to America. Linguistic studies prove that the Welsh language is very closely akin to ancient Hebrew!

There is evidence among the Maori and people of eastern Polynesia that the sun was deified as Tane and that Ra, the sun god, was the tutelary god of Borabora. The Maoris, also, made use of ancient solar observatories. "At Kerikeri, in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, there is a miniature Stonehenge, the blocks standing about 7 feet out of the ground; and near Atiamuri, north of Taupo, there are other great monumental blocks -- some fifty of these still standing original map erect" (Maori Symbolism, p. 137).

Interestingly, ancient Maori traditions relate that since antiquity the Maoris have observed ceremonial and dietary laws very similar to those of the ancient Hebrews. They even kept the seventh day "Sabbath" as a day of rest! Also, every 7 times 7 years -- or 49 years -- they observed a Jubilee Year similar to that of the ancient Hebrews." These similarities simply cannot be explained away as "mere coincidence"! The Maoris, like the Hebrews, even had a "sacred month" given over to Harvest thanksgiving, corresponding to the Hebrew month of Tishri and the Festival of Tabernacles.

How can these fascinating facts be explained? Such similarities must be more than mere coincidence. Like the Yuchi Indians of North America, the Maoris, at some very early stage of history, must have come in contact with ancient Hebrew mariners, roaming the seven seas, who taught them Hebrew customs and left behind signs of Hebraic influence!

How was this contact achieved? Was the ancient world covered by a global cultural continuity, indicating a globe-girdling civilization?

In his book Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, Charles H. Hapgood tells of the Piri Re'is map of 1513 A.D. Studies of this map show that it correctly gives latitudes and longitudes along the coasts of Africa and Europe, indicating that the original mapmaker must have found the correct relative longitude across Africa and across the Atlantic to Brazil. This amazing map gives an accurate profile of the coast of South America to the Amazon, provides an amazing outline of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico (supposedly not yet discovered!), and -- incredibly enough -- shows a part of the coast of the Antarctic Continent which was not discovered, supposedly, until 1818!

This map does not stand alone. A world map drawn by Oronteus Finaeus in 1531 gives a truly authentic map of Antarctica, indicating the coasts were probably ice free when the original map was drawn (of which Oronteus Finaeus' map was a latter copy). The Oronteus Finaeus map was strikingly similar to modern maps of the Antarctic. How could this be?

Another fascinating map is the map of Hadji Ahmed of 1559. It is evident that the cartographer had some extraordinary source maps at his disposal. Says Hapgood: "The shapes of North and South America have a surprisingly modern look, the western coasts are especially interesting. They seem to be about two centuries ahead of the cartography of the time....The shape of what is now the United States is about perfect" (p. 99).

Another map of the Middle Ages, the Reinel Chart of 1510 -- a Portuguese map of the Indian Ocean -- provides a striking example of the knowledge of the ancients. Studying the identifiable geographical localities and working out from them, Hapgood was astounded to find that "this map apparently shows the coat of Australia....The map also appeared to show some of the Caroline Islands of the Pacific. Latitudes and longitudes on this map are remarkably good, although Australia is shown too far north" (ibid., p. 134).

How can such remarkable accuracy be explained on the basis of almost total ignorance of the earth during that time? Obviously, at an earlier period of earth's history, sea-faring nations must have traveled around the world and accurately mapped the major continents, and fragments and copies of their ancient maps survived into the Middle Ages and were copied again.

Concludes Hapgood: "The evidence presented by the ancient maps appears to suggest the existence in remote times...of a true civilization, of a comparatively advanced sort, which either was localized in one area but had worldwide commerce, or was, in a real sense, a worldwide culture" (p. 193).

How advanced was this ancient culture? Says Hapgood, "In astronomy, nautical science, mapmaking and possibly ship-building, it was perhaps more advanced than any state of culture before the 18th Century of the Christian Era." He continues: "It was in the 18th Century that we first developed a practical means of finding longitude. It was in the 18th Century that we first accurately measured the circumference of the earth. Not until the 19th Century did we begin to send out ships for purposes of whaling or exploration into the Arctic or Antarctic Seas. The maps indicate that some ancient people may have done all these things" (Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, p. 193).

What ancient society could have been responsible? Is there really any doubt? Read the Scriptures again -- blow the cobwebs out of your brain! The identity of these ancient sea-farers are the Phoenicians and ancient ISRAELITES! The evidence is overwhelming. The Semitic features discovered in Mexico and South America, the Hebrew and Phoenicians inscriptions, the Hebrew religious customs found in the Americas, similar customs in far off New Zealand among the Maoris of ancient times, all attest to the fact that worldwide oceanic travel, trade and commerce was occurring during the time of the Solomonic Empire! David and Solomon were familiar with the "paths of the seas."

Hapgood says such mapmaking would indicate economic motivations and vast economic resources. Further, organized government is indicated, since the mapping of a continent such as Antarctica implies much organization, many expeditions, and the compilation of many local observations and maps into a general map under central supervision. He adds that it is unlikely that navigation and mapmaking were the only sciences developed by this ancient people. Such a comprehensive enterprise could only have been achieved during a relative time of world peace, and by a very powerful and extremely wealthy kingdom! The kingdom of David and Solomon best fits the picture, based on all the worldwide evidence!

Notice further evidence!

Mariano Edward Rivero and John James von Tschudi in Peruvian Antiquities (1857) point out that after the most thorough examination and minute comparison, the religious rites of the American Indians plainly present many points of agreement with those of the Hebrew people (p. 9). Continue these authors: "Like the Jews, the Indians offer their firstfruits, they keep their new moons, and the feast of expiations at the end of September or in the beginning of October; they divide the year into four seasons, corresponding with the Jewish festivals....In some parts of North America circumcision is practised....There is also much analogy between the Hebrews and Indians in that which concerns various rites and customs; such as the ceremonies of purification, the use of the bath...fasting, and the manner of prayer. The Indians likewise abstain from the blood of animals, as also from fish without scales; they consider divers quadrupeds unclean, also certain birds and reptiles, and they are accustomed to offer as a holocaust the firstlings of the flock" (ibid.).

Surely, all these parallels are not mere coincidence! Can anyone in their right mind consign these similarities to mere "accident"? If you believe it is an accident, then there is a Bridge in New York I would like to sell you -- real cheap! How much money you got?

Say Rivero and von Tschudi: "But that which most tends to fortify the opinion as to the Hebrew origin of the American tribes, is a species of ark, seemingly like that of the Old Testament; this the Indians take with them to war; it is never permitted to touch the ground, but rests upon stones or pieces of wood, it being deemed sacrilegious and unlawful to open it or look into it. The American priests scrupulously guard their sanctuary, and the High Priest carries on his breast a white shell adorned with precious stones, which recalls the Urim of the Jewish High Priest: of whom we are also reminded by a band of white plumes on his forehead" (p. 9-10).

These two reputable scientists of the last century also point out, "The use of Hebrew words was not uncommon in the religious performances of the North American Indians, and Adair assures us that they called an accused or guilty person haksit canaha, 'a sinner of Canaan'; and to him who was inattentive to religious worship, they said, Tschi haksit canaha, 'You resemble a sinner of Canaan'" (ibid.).

Though such evidence does not prove by any means that the Indians themselves were Jews or Israelites, it does show that long before Columbus, Hebrews had reached the New World and had left their imprint upon its inhabitants. There undoubtedly was some intermarriage. Such incredible parallels are beyond the remotest possibility of being due to mere chance!

Why should it seem strange that peoples of the ancient world-in particular Phoenicians and Hebrews -- reached the New World and traveled to South America, and even crossed the Pacific? Is it really so incredible? The trouble is, most of us of the present generation have been brainwashed to think that the ancients were merely superstitious savages, terrified of sailing out to sea lest they fall off the edge of the earth.

But the Phoenicians had already sailed out beyond the "Pillars of Hercules" (Straits of Gibraltar) by 1200 B.C. They developed the keel, streamlined their ships, covered the decks, and improved the sail. Their ships were probably from 80-100 feet long and used a single square sail besides oars. Their ships could average 100 miles in a day's time (24 hours). They were busy traders. Commerce was their principal aim. Tyre and Sidon, their home ports, were cities of immense wealth. Did ancient Phoenicians reach the New World? The evidence is inescapable. However, strange as it may sound, there is even Biblical evidence supporting the conclusions of men like Cyrus Gordon, Alexander von Wuthenau, and many other modern archaeologists!

God told Ezekiel, "And say to Tyre, O you who dwell at entrance to the sea, who are merchants of the peoples of many islands and coastlands....The inhabitants of Sidon and [the island] of Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled wise men, O Tyre, were in you, they were your pilots. The old men of Gebal [a city north of Sidon] and its skilled and wise men in you were your caulkers; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise and trading" (Ezekiel 27:3, 8-9).

Ezekiel goes on, "Your rowers brought you out into the great and deep waters; the east wind has broken and wrecked you in the heart of the seas....When your wares came forth from the seas, you met the desire, and the demand, and the necessity of many people; you enriched the KINGS OF THE EARTH with your abundant wealth and merchandise. Now you are shattered by the seas...." (vs. 26, 33-34, Amplified Bible).

This sounds like the description of a globe-girdling nautical nation -- one which brings its wealth from afar! -- one which travels throughout the entire earth in its quest for material goods and trade!

We also read in the Bible: "For the king [Solomon] had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks" (I Kings 10:22).

Is it not significant that Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the globe, requiring three years -- from 1519-1522? Is it not meaningful that Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world, took three years to do so (1577-80)?

Also interesting is the fact that the Quichua word for the sun, Inti, may very likely be derived from the Sanscrit root Indh, meaning "to shine, burn, or flame" and which corresponds to the East India word Indra, also meaning "the sun." It is also significant that the pre-Incas worshipped the invisible, Creator God, the Supreme Being, by the appellative Con, very similar to the Hebrew Cohen, the word for "priest," from the root Kahan meaning "to meditate in religious services, to officiate as a priest."

When all is said and done, Rivero and von Tschudi declare: "It cannot be denied, that the above tradition of the creation of the world, by the invisible and omnipotent Con, the primitive happy state of men, their corruption by sin, the destruction of the earth, and its regeneration, bears a distinct analogy to the Mosaic chronicle of the earliest epoch of the history of the human race...." (Peruvian Antiquities, p. 149).

In the book of Isaiah we read the enigmatic statement: "I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir" (Isa. 13:12). Where was the legendary "Ophir"? What was this "golden wedge"?

The Hebrew word for "wedge" is leshonah and refers to a "tongue," an instrument of some kind. The wedge of gold was, then, a bar or instrument of gold-literally, a "tongue of gold."

What could this "tongue" of gold have been? The gold of Ophir was not a scarce commodity since Solomon received 44 tons of it in a single year. Ophir was a place famous for its gold. Could it be that Isaiah was referring to a particular instrument of gold -- something famous in Ophir?

The Inca Empire was famous for the quantity and quality of the gold it produced. The Incas of modern Peru have a tradition that their earliest king was Pirua Paccari Manco. In modern Quichua Pirua means a granary or storehouse. The first dynasty of kings, called the Pirua dynasty, included the first eighteen kings in the king list. One of the commonest titles of the early kings was Capac which means "Rich."

One of the first kings was Manco Capac who founded the city of Cuzco ("Navel" in the special language of the Incas). Manco Capac is generally regarded as the progenitor of the Incas. Legends of the Incas tell us that he got rid of his three brothers and led the people of Cuzco. We read, "He took with him a golden staff. When the soil was so fertile that its whole length sank into the rich mould, there was to. be the final resting place" (Markham, The Incas of Peru, p.50, 53).

Another story calls this golden staff a "sceptre of gold about a yard long and two fingers thick" (Markham, Royal Commentaries of the Yncas, p.64). Could this have been the "golden wedge" or "tongue" of Ophir?

John Crow relates another tradition of the ancient Incas. It is the story of "the Golden Wedge, according to which the Sun, wearied of the crude, barbaric ways of the uncivilized Indians, sent two of his children, a son and a daughter, to lift them from their primitive life. Placed on the earth near the banks of Lake Titicaca, these two children of the Sun were given a golden wedge which they were to carry with them wherever they wandered; and on the spot where this wedge sank without effort into the ground and disappered they were told to found their mother city. When the divine pair reached the vicinity of Cuzco, their talisman slid into the earth and vanished from sight" (The Epic of Latin America, p.25).

Was this mysterious talisman -- this "golden wedge" -- the same thing mentioned by the prophet Isaiah -- the "golden wedge of Ophir"?

There is a close resemblance between the Pirua dynasty and the Hebrew word Ophir. In Hebrew, Ophir ("ph" can be pronounced either as an "f" or a "p") was the name of a place rich in gold (I Kings 9:28); sometimes the term Ophir was used for gold (Job 22:24). Ancient Peru would certainly fit the Biblical description of Ophir. It was famous for its gold. In the Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was a fantastic display of wealth. The four inside walls were covered with paper-thin sheets of gold. A giant golden figure of the Sun hung suspended over the main altar. A huge silver room was dedicated to the Moon. Surrounding the Temple of the Sun and several chapels was a huge stone wall, covered with a cornice or crest of gold a yard wide. Inside the Temple were decorations of gold and silver flowers, plants and animals. The Spaniards sacked the Temple and seized all the gold and silver ornaments.

From 1492 to 1600 about two billion pesos' worth of gold and silver flowed out of Spain's New World colonies -- at least three times the entire European supply of these precious metals up to that time. The total production of gold and silver in the Spanish colonies between 1492 and 1800 has been estimated at six billion dollars.

Historian Fernando Montesinos visited Peru from 1629-1642, a century after the conquest by the Spaniards. He traveled fifteen years through the country collecting material for a history of Peru. Montesinos wrote Ophir de Espana, Memorias Historiales y Politicas del Peru. He believed Peru was the Ophir of Solomon. He contended that Peru was first settled by Ophir, the grandson of Noah (Gen. 10:29).

Montesinos has been ridiculed and derided by historians. But since the early settlers of Peru were white-skinned and red bearded; since there was abundant gold in the region; since the name of the Pirua dynasty may correspond to the Hebrew Ophir; since the voyages of Solomon's fleet took about three years to complete; and since the "golden wedge" of Ophir could very well correspond to the "golden wedge" of Manco Capac; and since there is so much overwhelming evidence of cultural contacts betweens the ancient Peruvians and the Israelites, with close affinities in cosmology; and since there is definite evidence of the presence of ancient Semitic peoples in Peru, Equador, and the Western Hemisphere -- it seems very likely that Montesinos was right! Indeed, there is strong reason to believe that Peru was the ancient Ophir of the Bible!

When we examine all the evidence, the picture comes startlingly clear. Ancient Semites -- early Hebrews -- sailed to the Western Hemisphere 2,500 years before Columbus. The Phoenician inscriptions, coins, and the terra cotta statuettes found in Central and South America are not mere "interpretations" of scholars. They are fact.

There was global navigation, commerce and communication in the Bronze Age. The great cyclopean buildings, worldwide pyramids, stone statues, and ancient astronomical observatories are legacies of that ancient civilization. And that ancient world-traveling empire was the kingdom of David and his son, Solomon!

In Job 28:26 we read, "When he (YEHOVAH God) made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder."

Lightning kills more people yearly than any other natural disaster -- about 400 fatalities per annum. It destroys $37 million worth of property annually, plus the losses due to 8,000 annual forest fires started by lightning.

How are lightning bolts formed? The story is fascinating. Inside enormous thunderclouds are so-called "chimney currents" -- a column of air rising upward with gale force. Within this turbulence near the top small hailstones become positively charged, while raindrops in the lower portion are charged negatively. Below on the earth there is another positive charge buildup, following the drifting cloud. Tremendous differences of electric potential are created between the top and bottom of the thundercloud, and the earth's surface.

At this point, a gaseous arc reaches down from the cloud for perhaps fifty feet. hanging there, building up, growing. Meanwhile, positive particles on the earth below streak upward as high as fifty feet, called "St. Elmo's fire." When one of these earth "streamers" meets one of the cloud's dangling gaseous arcs, called "leaders," suddenly A PATH IS FORMED BETWEEN THE THUNDERCLOUD AND THE EARTH! This is "the way of the lightning" described in the Bible!

This is where the darting, flickering BOLT OF LIGHTNING hurtles through the air, startung at the point of contact between negative and positive charges of electricity, ripping up to the cloud along the gaseous arc path already formed. The lightning actually travels' upward, and the fact that it appears to travel downward is an optical illusion.

But this is beside the point. The point of this fascinating story is HOW DID JOB KNOW? How, could he have ever known that there is "A WAY for the lightning of the thunder, if he was just a simple "farmer" or "sheep-herder" who lived during an age of ignorance and superstition?

Can there be any doubt?

Science did not discover the secret of this phenomenon until very recent times. But YEHOVAH God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, discussed the "path" or "way" of the lightning with Job, over 3,500 years ago!

What about the earth science of geology? Does the Bible have anything to say about it? It certainly does! Again, the book of job contains the answers. We read of the process of erosion in Job 14:19 -- "The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth...."

Notice, also, Job 28:10 -- "He cutteth out rivers among the rocks." There is no canyon on the earth as majestic and awesome as the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Geologists point out that this enormous canyon was formed by cutting action of the Colorado River, gouging out a pathway through the rock.

The natural world is full of lessons for us to learn. The Word of YEHOVAH God actually commands us, "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: or speak to the EARTH, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all there that the HAND OF THE LORD HATH WROUGHT THIS?" (Job 12:7-9.)

YEHOVAH GOD is the Creator! This is the supreme lesson and teaching of ALL true science, and the science of the Bible! Truly, as king David wrote in the Psalms, "The FOOL hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalm 14:1). Have YOU yet learned that mighty lesson?

Stop and think, for a moment. The pagans worshipped the heavenly bodies. Christians worship the Almighty One who put them out there!

Pagans believed in astrology and worshipped the sun, moon and stars. But in the pages of the Bible, YEHOVAH expressly CONDEMNS such worship. He tells us the purpose of the creation of the heavenly bodies: "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for SEASONS, and for days and YEARS" (Gen. 1:14).

Human methods of counting time, and human clocks, are all based on the motions of the heavenly bodies. The earth rotates at a relatively constant speed, giving us day and night; it revolves around the sun at a relatively constant speed, taking one year per revolution. The moon revolves around the earth, giving us the lunar month. Every human timepiece -- whether it be a wristwatches or a Grandfather's Clock, with Westminster chimes -- is kept accurate by timing them with the most precise Clock ever invented -- the solar system and the stars!

Time is kept accurate by basing time, calculations and computations on the precise movements of the stars and the positions of the fixed stars. The master clock in the United States is at the Naval Observatory, Washington, D. C. By measuring time by the stars, the Naval Observatory keeps track of time to the tiniest fraction of a second.

By knowing the exact movements of the heavenly bodies, solar and lunar eclipses can be PREDICTED thousands of years in advance!

YEHOVAH God inspired David to write, "He made the moon for fixed times; the sun knows its time of setting" (Psalm 104:19, Goodspeed). Or, as the Amplified Bible has it, "the sun knows the EXACT TIME of its setting."

Truly, as David wrote to beautifully in the Psalms: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof" (Psalm 19:1-6).

The apostle Paul was so bold as to put it this way: "For the invisible things of him from the CREATION are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are MADE, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" (Rom. 1:20). The existence of YEHOVAH God is plainly and forcibly REVEALED in His handiwork, His "Creation"!

Take a close look at your watch. It is a delicate, intricate, manmade instrument for telling time. You know, as you look upon your watch, that a watchmaker somewhere made your watch. It may have been made in Switzerland, which is famous for its quality watches. But you KNOW -- and you REALLY KNOW -- that your watch has no brains, consciousness, or intelligence of its own. You know that it didn't invent itself, or construct itself, and out of nowhere suddenly "decide to EXIST"! You know it wasn't made by "sheer accident." Elements of the ground, and sand and water and iron and tin and sun and heat didn't just "CONSPIRE" to accidentally manufacture a "watch," or to 'EVOLVE" your watch!

It just didn't just somehow decide to put itself together! NO WAY, JOSE! Great painstaking and careful workmanship went into it, most likely, and its delicate parts were made with great precision. The more money you paid for your watch, the better it probably is. But you know that if you don't wind it up regularly, or replace the battery in it, it will eventually run down, and stop ticking. The second, minute, and hour hands will stop moving -- or, if it is a digital read-out watch, the numbers will simply fade from view.

If you own a watch, you also know that from time to time, it needs repair. I just had my watch cleaned and repaired. Physical things simply gradually "run down," lose energy, and stop functioning.

Consider, now, the Great Master Clock we call the "Universe," composed of millions upon millions and sheer billions of Galaxies, each one with billions of stars in orbit! The Universe is the greatest "Clock" of all. It, like your own watch, at one time had to be "created" -- built. "In the beginning," the Word of YEHOVAH God tells us, "GOD created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). there was never a more SCIENTIFIC STATEMENT than that!

The Great Master Clock had to be "manufactured." It had to be "wound up," with potential "energy" placed within it. It had to be set to "ticking." It has been running smoothly, operating for millions if not billions of years! And it is STILL "TICKING" today! It is still the most accurate timepiece in existence. Its parts -- the stars, globular clusters, and galaxies -- still move with age-old, timeless precision! Its "pulsars" -- rapidly rotating, spinning super-dense stars -- still operate with incredible precision and timeliness!

You keep your watch running by winding it up. Who keeps the Great Clock of the universe operating? Who SUSTAINS it?

TRUE SCIENCE admits the existence of the original "Clock Maker," Almighty God. True science admits YEHOVAH made the heavens and the earth. True science also reveals YEHOVAH God as the SUSTAINER of the universe!

True science sees the hand of YEHOVAH God in the creation, functioning, and activity in the Universe -- and in the writing and preservation of the Holy Bible! But those who deny the Scriptures, who deny the existence of YEHOVAH God, and His power to divinely inspire His Word, are truly "fools" in His sight! Those who believe in the sick theory of "evolution" of life on earth, believe the "big lie" of Satan the devil. Their so-called evolutionary science, God-rejecting science, is NOT true science at all. It is "science falsely so-called" (I Tim. 6:20).

What does YEHOVAH God Almighty, who inspired the Holy Scriptures, have to say about the so-called "higher critics" who despise His Word, who deny His divine inspiration, who question its historicity, accuracy, and literal truth? He says, "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I will work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you" (Acts 13:41; compare Habakkuk 1:5).

The truth is, the great "scholars" and men of "wisdom" of this world are "blinded." It was all foretold, long ago. YEHOVAH declared, "the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David said, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always" (Rom. 11:7-10).

Modern skepticism, and scholarly "criticism" and unbelief, were all prophesied. Peter wrote under divine inspiration, "Knowing this first, that in the last days SCOFFERS, walking after their own lusts," will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation" -- in other words, the uniformitarianism theory of modern geology, that "the present is key to the past," there never were divine interventions in history, but only slow processes, which we see today, account for all the strata and extinctions in the earth's "evolutionary" history (II Peter 3:2-3).

Peter goes on, "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (v. 5-7).

In this article, you have read things which have been hidden from the eyes of mankind for thousands of years. You have read incredible, fascinating evidence, from the Bible itself, and history, and archaeology -- from around the world -- that the Bible is true, that its science predates modern scientific discoveries by thousands of years.

What do you think of the Scriptures, now, after reading this article?

As the apostle Paul wrote: "ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God [that is, "God-breathed," in the literal original Greek], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect [or, become perfect, and completely mature], thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (II Tim. 3:16-17).

As the apostle Peter also wrote, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever" (I Peter 1:24-25).

Peter was quoting from the prophet Isaiah, who wrote: "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Isaiah 40:6-8).

Isaiah challenges the critics, the scoffers of the God who inspired the Scriptures, "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?...Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance....All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him as less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?...

"Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? [YEHOVAH God is] he that sitteth on the circle [globe or sphere] of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in" (Isa. 40:12-22). Even in this verse may well be a hidden indication that Isaiah knew of the "expanding Universe," that the heavens are rapidly expanding, as astronomers tell us, as is evidenced by the "red shift" in the spectrum of light rays reaching us from the stars!

Truly, the Bible is a most remarkable Book!

As Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings, is unsearchable" (Proverbs 25:2-3).

The process of discovery has only just begun!

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Taking the Lead in the Search for Truth!

Hope of Israel Ministries P.O. Box 853 Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A. www.hope-of-israel.org

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