Page 20 - TORCH Magazine #13 - April 2019

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"THE VERY ROCK
For centuries the land of Israel has been concealing treasures hidden deep beneath its surface. These
treasures hold the key to understanding the Jewish history in the land and reveal the truth of the Bible.
Now that the Jewish people have returned to Israel, the land has come back to life. Thriving communities now inhabit once abandoned lands; barren deserts overflow with bountiful harvests and the treasures of the past are once again rising to the surface.
There are countless archaeological discoveries that have been made in recent years, such as the numerous 4th-century coins discovered from the rubble of the Temple Mount (illegally removed by the Islamic Waqf in the 1990s) that contain the Hebrew letters “ydh” or “Judah”.
There is also the 2,000-year-old stone pillar that was discovered in October last year that spells the word “Jerusalem” exactly the same way as modern Israelis spell the word.
Just think, the anti-Semitic claim is that today’s Israelis are “invaders” who have no connection to the land of Israel. However, this
pillar was inscribed 100 years before Jesus walked the earth, and yet a modern day Israeli can read it perfectly.
Another discovery that was revealed this year is of a tiny clay seal used by officials to press into melted wax. The inscription on the seal reads, “LeNathan-Melech Eved HaMelech”
In English, this translates to: “(Belonging) to Nathan-Melech Servant of the King”.
The name Nathan-Melech is rare but is mentioned in the Bible in 2 Kings 23:11, where he is described as an official in the court of King Josiah.
Before the seal’s discovery, archaeologists had already ascertained that the ruins they were excavating were from the mid 7th Century BC, which is during the period King Josiah reigned.
What’s more, the discovery was made inside a room that was part of a large house that had been identified as the home of an official. The house had been destroyed by a fire, with wood timbers and various pieces of pottery showing fire damage. This would link with the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, just 23 years after the death of King Josiah.
This is an ancient seal that is inscribed
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