The scariest book I've ever read

In 1998, I was 14 years old and visiting my best friend for 3 weeks where she lived in Germany, and randomly picked a book over her family's shelves. It looked interesting because it had to do with history, archeology, and Israel. 

It was the scariest book I've ever read.

The book was A Skeleton in God's Closet by Paul L. Maier, and while I knew it was fiction, its ramifications were terrifying. It wasn't paranormal or horror (although I felt sick with horror, and it did involve a skeleton); it was regular Christian fiction. I remember staying up until 2am to finish it because I had to know. The sinking pit in my stomach, my racing heart (and mind), wouldn't let me go to sleep until I reach the end and verified that even in this fiction.

Without giving away what the book is about, the reader follows a Biblical scholar/professor and archeologist after they make an "impossible" find in a tomb in Israel. Over the course of this year-long journey, its implications rattle the faith of millions around the world and have far-reaching impact—shaking economies and religious followers the world over. 

I recently re-read this book, which is why I'm reviewing it here. While written in an older style, I loved "revisiting" Israel in this book, as the hero travels from Galilee to Masada, to Jerusalem, Jordan, Egypt, the Vatican, the UK, the US, and back again. While I did enjoy that, the romance that builds throughout those visits is distracting, as well as unrealistic (even though stereotypical). To me, it detracts from the story. As for the story itself, I also (because I knew how it ended, haha) was better able to deal with the story from an objective perspective, letting me fully grasp the breadth of this narrative. It really is incredible - and best of all, while fiction, still supports what I know to be true with every fiber of my being. 

You can purchase this book here on Amazon! And come back next week, where we'll talk about it's sequel!

The Sisters of Sinai

After reading Where We Belong by Lynn Austin and realizing it was loosely based on the real-life stories of Scottish twin sisters Agnes and Margaret Smith, I wanted to check out the biography of these larger-than-life ladies themselves.

The Sisters of Sinai by Janet Soskice was a very different read for me, since I don't usually read biographies. So it was a different voice, purpose, etc. But I enjoyed traveling with these ladies and their unique challenges of journeying multiple times to the Middle East to explore Bible lands and to uncover ancient manuscripts. Being that women could not earn university degrees at this point, their scholarship was all the more remarkable—and paved the way for women today.

If you like biographies, then this is definitely worth the read. You can buy this book here on Amazon!

Where We Belong by Lynn Austin

So, the last few posts got me thinking of another book I read a few years ago, and I had to go hunt it down on my bookshelves: Where We Belong by Lynn Austin

I've said before that I don't love historical fiction. I will read them only if they are set in ancient Rome/Greece and/or Bible times. This one is very obviously set in the 1800s; 1860-1890 to be exact.

But, I love this book.

Where We Belong follows wealthy sisters Rebecca and Flora Hawes on their adventures throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Chicago. They live through the American Civil War and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and also go on incredible adventures. Raised by their widower father who believed in the value of education of women and the importance of discovering one's purpose for use in God's kingdom, both of these women, though different, live out their faith and callings in a way that wasn't typical for women in that time—as historians, authors, scholars, archeologists, hands-on, philanthropists, and so much more.

And their adventures, from being stranded in the Sinai desert by a bedouin sheik who wants to marry their head-strong handmaid to discovering an ancient codex of the Bible dating to AD 500, are quite a ride! They see so many incredible sites, from touring Jerusalem and Galilee to the pyramids of Cairo. In fact, the sisters even spend time at the traditional site of Mount Sinai—Mount St. Catherine's monastery in Jordan.

The author's note at the back says that the inspiration of this book was Agnes and Margaret Smith of Scotland, twin sisters who did in fact discover an ancient copy of the Gospels from AD 500 at the same monastery in Jordan, as well as a collection of 300,000 ancient manuscript fragments in Egypt. Now I want to know more about these 2 ladies who actually lived an amazing adventure, because their story sounds fascinating!

You can get it on Amazon here!

The Livingstone Chronicles: Rift in Time

After learning about Jebel El Lawz and all of the historical findings there, I remembered a set of books I read years ago—that were still on my bookshelf: The Livingstone Chronicles by Michael Phillips.

This series follows world-renowned British archeologist and explorer Adam Livingstone on some daring discoveries and adventures. In fact, the first book, Rift in Time, opens with his discovery of Noah's Ark in Turkey's Ararat region (this isn't a spoiler... it says so on the cover, haha).

Published in 1997, I probably first read this book and its successor (see next post) in the early 2000s. So I didn't remember all of the details; just that it was about an archeologist looking for ancient Biblical things. 

Imagine my shock when I re-read the book and realize that Livingstone and his crew travel to the Red Sea from Cairo, cross over by boat at the underwater land bridge of Nuweiba and head toward the mountain with the burned peak. They are in search of something other than Mount Sinai (I won't say what), but acknowledge that this is likely the place (even after acknowledging and glimpsing the traditional site of Mount St. Catherine's in Jordan), noting things of interest like a plain where people could camp, the fence keeping people out, the many caves in the area, and a split rock. 

Now that I have seen this documentary, I can see Livingstone, Rocky McCondy, and Juliet Halsey climbing to the peak of Mount Sinai and it's pretty cool. And throughout the books are drawings and maps - check this one out:

Wow!

Reading this books as a teen, I loved them because I love archeology, especially Biblical history, and adventure. I kept these books for almost 20 years for this reason, having read them at least 3 other times. But only just now was I able to "see" what the author was talking about. Pretty cool!

I definitely recommend this series (and hope to re-read and review book 2 next week), but I will say that it is written in the "Christian literature style of the 90s", so it's definitely different than the books out there today (pre-internet and shorter attention spans). I love it, even with all the commentary... that's why it's going BACK on my bookshelf!

Underwater Land Bridge for the Red Sea Crossing

For the last few weeks, we've been talking about the site of Jebel El Lawz in Saudi Arabia, and how it is likely the location for Mount Sinai instead of the traditional Mount St. Catherine's in Jordan.

Last week, I shared an INCREDIBLE DOCUMENTARY of this site that has been hidden from public eye from the government of Saudi Arabia. In the middle of this documentary was something so fascinating that I wanted to come back to it.

One of the proofs Ryan Mauro mentions is an underwater land bridge called Nuweiba Land Path from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. The video shows the beach there of the Red Sea, and mentions the stories of interesting coral reefs... shaped like wagon wheels or parts of chariots... almost as if coral had formed around these objects, which had then disintegrated over the course of several millenia.

I actually don't know where this image above came from, because Mauro says that, this being a popular diving location, they wanted to dive and record these images themselves. But they weren't allowed to—the Saudi police showed up and didn't leave until Mauro and his crew left.

What do you think? This evidence contributes to the case of Mount Sinai being at Jebel El Lawz, as it is near this site. I'm fascinated and would love to learn more about this!

*Edited March 29, 2020: Last week, Amir Tsarfarti had a special update during this coronavirus quarantine. At minute 21:35, Tsarfarti actually speaks about this land bridge as the location for the Red Sea Crossing!

Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia: MIND BLOWN

This series on Mount Sinai possibly being in Saudi Arabia is too fascinating (for me) to want to move on just yet.

So, I have one more goody to share with you, and it's a doozy!

Ryan Mauro—I have no idea who he is, but he has the official journalist's voice (do you take a class to learn that in school?) did a 25 minute documentary on it that I found on Fox News. It's amazing! Besides getting amazing footage, he shares more evidence than I shared yesterday, all evidence that lines up with the Biblical account, like:

• from conversations with locals
• to the possibly site of the Red Sea Crossing (where coral reefs grow in some pretty interesting shapes... as if they are around wheels or something, AND where there is an underground path from the other side in Egypt), 
• to Elim, the oasis which still has 12 wells today
• to the possible site of the altar with the golden calf
• a massive ancient burial ground near the camp where all the graves were dug all at once (3,000 people were killed for worshipping the calf and would have needed to have been buried)
• a structure that looks like an ancient altar (that Moses built with uncut stones and also placed 12 pillars). It leads to the place where it's believed animals would have been slaughtered for sacrifice... and remains of animals have been found below these rocks.
• evidence of a stream that would have flowed down the mountain and near where the altar to the golden calf was (Moses threw its remains into the river), as well as a place where there were burnt sacrifices.
• evidence of wells, where a pool of water would have formed... proving a large population once lived there.
• The cave of Elijah, where he spoke with God, which is above where the altar was
• The split rock, which Josephus said was still visible in his day (1st century AD) and was so big it could not have been moved.
• The rocks underneath the split rock are smooth, as if water passed over them.
• Hebrew inscriptions nearby with pretty strong evidence (too much for me to type here)

This Bible nerd is like 😱😱😱😱😱😱! Literally... in the middle of this, I went, "Holy cow"... and then realized what I said. 😂 My mind is completely blown, and I'm going to have to watch this like 20 more times.

Watch it for yourself—you won't regret it!

(A screenshot from the video. The 2 arrows - that I drew -  in the photo point to people. One is almost impossible to see because he's wearing khaki. The other is standing and wearing black by the side of a rock. That's how massive this rock is. It sits on a hill that is 100feet high, and the rock itself is between 40-50 feet, which a crack big enough for a grown man to fit inside).

MIND BLOWN

10 Reasons Why Mount Sinai Could be in Saudi Arabia

Last week, we talked about a possible site of Mount Sinai in Jordan, and the beginning of the story behind the 'discovery' of another location in Saudi Arabia.

Are you ready to see what they found?

1st: A mountain, in the location of Midian, which is in a foreign country to where Moses previously resided (not the Sinai Peninsula, because that was Egyptian-controlled territory, and therefore not foreign)

2nd: This mountain is located to several caves, known as "Jethro's caves" to the locals. Jethro was the name of Moses' father-in-law. Locals also refer to this mountain as the mountain of Moses.

3rd: Tracing Moses' path to this mountain, he would have passed Elim in Midian, a beautiful oasis with 12 wells where the Israelites stopped.

4th: Galatians 4:25 says that Mount Sinai was in Arabia, not Egyptian land.

5th: Artifacts, potsherds, and more, dating back to the time of Moses, were found there.

6th: There is also evidence from sources like Josephus and Ptolemy.

But this is what got me:

7th: This mountain, the highest mountain in Midian, has black peak, as if it has been burned. The burned part continues more than 200 feet. But it's interesting... the entire mountain isn't burned at the top... only the outside of the rocks. If you climb up, pick up a rock, and turn it over, it's a normal color on the bottom—not burned.

This is significant, because Exodus 19:18 says that Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in fire when God descended on it.

photo from here

8th: On the mountain is the cave believed to Elijah's cave

9th: Nearby is a rock that is 6-7 stories tall that has been split down the middle. Almost like... someone struck it with a rod and then water poured out.

photo from here

from Fox News.

10th: The base of where the golden calf stood is still there, right in the viewline of Mount Sinai, AND, carved onto rocks of the encampment area (which, is large enough to have held the Israelites while they lived there for an entire year) are images like... calves...and people worshipping calves... and a menorah.

This would be the oldest image of the menorah found to date, which is a symbol of Israel. Teacher Amir Tsarfati with Behold Israel says the menorah is the main symbol for Israel, even moreso than the star of David (that's a post for another day).

And this is especially significant, because the first menorah was made here, at the foot of Mount Sinai, when the Israelites first received the instructions for the Tabernacle and completed them, creating the first menorah.

Only God really knows, but that's a lot of cool evidence. What do you think?

*Story and photos of Ron Wyatt and Dr. Kim found here.

Could Mount Sinai be in Saudi Arabia?

So, there's a mountain in Jordan believed to be Mount Sinai. At the top is a monastery called St. Catherine. It's open to the public to either ride up or hike (which I understand is a serious #legday), and is an incredible experience.

However, it's not completely proven that this is the place of Mount Sinai (also known as Mount Horeb).

traditional site of Mount Sinai in Jordan

Recently, I heard about a place in Saudi Arabia, know as Jebel Al-Lawz.

Until recently, this mountain was closed to the public. It had a fence around it and was heavily guarded by the government. But this isn't true anymore! Saudi Arabia opened it up to tourists!

So, how are we aware of this place if until this month, we were unable to visit it and all photos were banned?

In 1984, Ron Wyatt was visiting Saudi Arabia, saw this place, and took pictures. Soon after, the fence went up around the mountain. He and his sons were accused of being spies and held as prisoners for 2 months, waiting for execution! During these 2 months, Dr. Wyatt helped a lot of prisoners. His guards saw this, began to talk with him, and he convinced him of his story. He was released but had to delete his pictures. He left, but not without telling his story to others.

Fast forward more than 20 years, and a man named Dr. Kim, who served the prince and king of Saudi Arabia for 15 years, was given a reward for his service. So he asked for permission to see Jebel Al-Lawz.

What he found stunned him—and he was allowed to take pictures!*

Stay tuned for more of this amazing story next week!

*story found here