Posted on 12/11/2018 5:14:49 PM PST by ebb tide
December 11, 2018 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of archeologists and other scientists say they have discovered strong evidence that the region of the “Middle Ghor,” where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are believed to have existed, were in fact destroyed by a meteor that exploded in the sky above, raining down superheated matter and raising temperatures to thousands of degrees, a theory that matches the account of the cities’ destruction contained in the Old Testament Book of Genesis.
According to the theory, the meteor exploded at low altitude with the force of a ten megaton atomic bomb at an altitude of about one kilometer over the northeast corner of the Dead Sea, and obliterated all of civilization in the 25-kilometer-wide circular plain that constitutes the “Middle Ghor.”
The researchers presented preliminary findings on the subject at this year’s annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research in November, and have been developing the theory since at least 2015. They state that the evidence from radiocarbon dating indicates that a group of civilizations flourished in the area for over two millennia, until approximately 1700 BC, when the mud-brick walls of the buildings in the region simultaneously disappeared and only the stone foundations remained.
At the same time, the pottery in the settlements was heated into glass in the space of milliseconds, according to the results of an analysis of the Zircon crystals formed in the process, indicating that they were briefly exposed to temperatures of approximately 4000 to 12000 degrees Celsius, comparable to the temperature of the surface of the sun.
The explosion rained down platinum as well as molten lava on the region, according to two of the archeologists, and this further confirms that a meteor was the source, given that platinum is found in higher concentrations in meteors than on earth.
Approximately 40,000 to 60,000 people living in the region were killed, and a 500-square kilometer area was rendered uninhabitable for 600 to 700 years, the researchers estimate. They believe that the area was stripped of its topsoil, and that salts from the nearby Dead Sea were spread over the land, destroying its fertility.
The settlements that were annihilated in the event include the principal excavation site, “Tall el-Hammam,” which the archeologists believe is the city of Sodom, whose destruction is recounted in the Book of Genesis, chapter 19. The approximate date of the annihilation also matches the time period corresponding to the event in Genesis, according to archeologists.
The research has been carried out by the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project (TeHEP) by a team of scientists from various universities and scientific institutes, including New Mexico Tech, Northern Arizona University, North Carolina State University, Elizabeth City (NC) State University, DePaul University, Trinity Southwest University, and Los Alamos National Laboratories.
Two archeologists involved in the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project, Steven Collins and Phillip Silvia, wrote in a 2015 conference paper that “the physical evidence from Tall el-Hammam and neighboring sites exhibit signs of a highly destructive concussive and thermal event that one might expect from what is described in Genesis 19.”
“The soil/ash samples gathered from Tall el-Hammam contain evidence of top-soil destruction and sub-soil contamination with Dead Sea salts that would have prevented the cultivation of crops for many centuries following the event, which explains (in part, at least) the long occupational hiatus,” they add.
According to the ninth chapter of the Book of Genesis, verse 24, “The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven,” a statement that matches well the high temperatures and superheated stones that would have rained from the sky in such an event.
The Hebrew word for “brimstone” is normally applied to sulfur, which is a stone that burns.
Genesis 19 also seems to describe the general devastation in the region, including the loss of plant life discovered by the archeologists, stating in verse 25, “And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.”
“The country about” is the Hebrew word “hakkikkar,” which refers to a plain seated between mountains, or a valley. Archeologists believe this area to be the Middle Ghor.
Genesis adds that Abraham “looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and the whole land of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.”
Genesis and other books of the Bible state that Sodom was destroyed in retribution for the sexual perversion of the inhabitants, particularly their desire for sexual relations with the same sex, which the Scripture calls an “abomination.”
The New Testament Letter of Jude likens fires that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah to the “eternal fire” of hell.
“Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighboring cities...having given themselves to fornication, and going after other flesh, were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire,” the letter states in chapter one.
Thanks
Duh! Always seemed to me it was just a volcanic eruption.
Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim, and Bela (Zoar).
Hosea 11:8
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender. —Hosea 11:8 (ESV)
("Where are the young men that were with you? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.")
Lot is one of my favorite persons in the Bible:
In the Old Testament, seen against the background of Law, he appears weak and sinful.
In the New Testament, seen against the background of Grace, he is called a righteous man.
That gives me comfort.
Yes, a radical fraud.
See my ppost #44. Sitchin was correct in his mythology. It tells the truth of what had occurred. A battle royal between the gods of heaven and earth who were responsible for creating homo erectus. This battle is commonly mythologized in every religion on earth, and Christianity or Judism is no exception.
I second it. Amen
“The LGBT bunch is apoplectic.”
The LGBT bunch is insane and depraved.
I expect Catholics, Orthodox, and mainline Protestants to begin complaining at once.
'Admah and Tzevoyim???
Coming to Amerika like it or not.
That thing with his daughters was a bit creepy.
Now for a dilly of a question...How many daughters did LOT have?
Lammas bible talks about Mrs Lot. Lammas is an Aramaic Scholar. He is an orthodox Christian
There are certainly the Baracks in the streets crying “Bring them out!”.
Honestly, that just indicated to me that God was outright lying to Abraham when he entered that barter game. Think about it, God’s omniscient, knows everything, so he’d know long before he created the world that Sodom and Gomorrah would lack even 10 innocent civilians or... heck, any number of innocent civilians that aren’t Lot and his family. Broke his own commandment of “Thou Shalt Not Lie” when doing that barter game. Had he been honest, then the very second Abraham tried the barter game with God, he’d shoot down the attempt and telepathically assault Abraham with various images of Sodom and Gomorrah’s sinful nature, leaving Abraham cataconic. I’ve even written up a version showcasing exactly how God would have acted if he were genuinely honest, and it’s as follows (bear in mind, this isn’t in the actual bible, as if that needs to be said):
“Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will exterminate them without even a second thought!”
Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
The LORD said, “Don’t even bother trying to barter with me, weak mortal! I am your Lord, God! I am all-knowing, not to mention all-powerful, you’re a mere insect before me! I have known, and seen, since before I even created this world, that Sodom and Gomorrah, barring Lot and his family, has no innocents! You can try to ask if I’ll spare it for 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, heck, even 10, and my answer will remain the same: No innocents are present in Sodom and Gomorrah, save for Lot and his family. Since you dared try to even stand on equal footing before me, dared make the foolish decision to even try to barter before someone who is superior to you in every way, I will make you see things my way!”
Then the LORD proceeded to bombard Abraham with mental images of the exact state of sinful affairs of Sodom and Gomorrah with unrestrained rage, with Abraham being overwhelmed at witnessing all the sins known to the LORD being channeled right to him, with Abraham, realizing the LORD was being fully honest of what his plans were and what Sodom and Gomorrah’s actions were truly like, being so broken that he could barely even stand, or even react to his surroundings. The LORD then proceeded to order his angels to commence the destruction, and then turned to Abraham and, with a smirk on his face, said “yes, wallow in the helplessness as you should before me, I am all good, and you, being a son of Adam, are trash waiting to be destroyed, especially after you tried to barter with me. You exist solely to obey my every whim and not question ANY of my decisions!” Then Lot and his daughters appeared out of thin air. “But don’t worry”, said the LORD, “I made sure to teleport Lot and his daughters out, just for you. For I am also a merciful God, as merciful as I allow myself to be anyway. Lot’s wife won’t be making it, though, as I already predicted she’ll end up staying behind due to a conflict of interest!””
The end result would have ultimately been the same with that passage, where Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed, Lot and his daughters ended up being evicted before its destruction, and his wife perished as a result of Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction. The only real difference in that passage is that God doesn’t enter the barter game, and even makes sure Abraham paid dearly for even daring to question him, and is fully honest about it. Since that’s what full honesty entails, brutality. And make no mistake, I could come up with a worse ending for that version, where God made sure Lot and his family perished in Sodom and Gomorrah, both as punishment for Abraham daring to speak up, and also to ensure Abraham couldn’t idolize anyone but God himself.
When I think of someone who’s omniscient... well, these scenes come to mind regarding the following characters (either directly shown or mentioned by their cohorts):
*The Patriots (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrVThXFnE1s&t=196s), specifically, Ocelot’s statement of “Your plans have been invalidated, even before execution, Solidus”, in reference to Solidus’s revolt against the Patriots.
*The Patriots, again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKl6WjfDqYA
*The Architect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADMptNF3O5c
*Palpatine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVl_sjUrNQE
*Chatturgah/Xellatoth/Uyaoth (specifically, one of the monks associated with him, when they said Charlemagne’s fate had been decided centuries before Anthony’s time, alongside the fate of the world): https://youtu.be/mRgvtOK2o5U?list=PL15099A3BEC8B0EBB
*Heck, Bahamut from Final Fantasy XV from these scenes: https://youtu.be/okLrvAIuRYU; https://youtu.be/PJX4tEr7NIk?t=174 Especially the latter scene.
Yeah, not a very pleasant thought on omniscience, I’ll admit that much, but it at least matches up with the definition of omniscience.
Don’t get me wrong, Sodom and Gomorrah definitely deserved their death, regardless of whether it was a genocide or not. But nevertheless, God ultimately lied to Abraham by doing that barter game at all. At least if he broke Abraham completely, he’d be honest with him.
I know it’s over a year old, but either way, needs to be said.
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