The Jewish Passover (Pesach) falls on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nisan, on the first full moon following the vernal (spring) equinox. The observance of Passover begins at sunset and continues as the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the next seven days in Israel, and the same for…
The Passover meal featuring the eating of the Paschal lamb was commanded by God as a memorial to be observed annually by the Jewish people forever. (Ex. 12:1-14) As an observant Jew, Jesus faithfully celebrated Passover during his lifetime. The Gospel of John mentions three Passovers that occurred during the…
While re-reading the Book of Psalms, I ran across a prophecy that was at first puzzling, as follows: “And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah” (Psalm 50:6) Has that prophecy been literally fulfilled and, if so, when and where did the heavens declare God’s…
The Battle of Qarqar was recorded by Assyrian scribes on what is now called the Kurkh Monolith. It was fought in 883 BCE (according to the revised Assyrian chronology based on the more accurate biblical chronology for the Hebrew kings) in what is present-day Syria. A coalition of kings were…
The prophecy of the Seventy Weeks in Dan. 9:24 identified the start of the public ministry of Jesus with his baptism. According to the chronological constraints of the prophecy, the final “week” of the Seventy Weeks, during which his baptism took place, was located between the Day of Pentecost in…
The key for extending biblical chronology back beyond the reign of Solomon is found in 1 Kings 6:1, which says, “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of…
The Romans destroyed Herod’s Temple in 70 CE, which the ancient Jewish book of chronology, the Seder Olam, records as an event that occurred in a Sabbath Year. Counting backwards in time in seven-year increments from 70 CE reveals the following chronology for the year of the Exodus and the…
The Bûr-Saggilê eclipse (alternate spellings: Bur Sagale, Bur-Saggile, Pur-Sagale, Par-Sagale) is not mentioned in the Bible. It is an event that is recorded only on Assyrian cuneiform tablets unearthed at Nineveh in the early 1800s and now stored in the collections of the British Museum. Despite the lack of mention…
The Dome of the Rock is a Muslim shrine (not a mosque as many incorrectly believe) that, with its gold-covered dome, has come to be the iconic image of Old Jerusalem. Many Christians have visited inside the Dome itself in years past, although since the year 2000 non-Muslim access has…
Over the years, countless Bible expositors have questioned the need for Jesus to be baptized by John the Baptist. If indeed his life was sinless, why was it necessary for Jesus to submit to a baptism of repentance for remission of sins, which is what John’s baptism was all about?…