Megiddo

Megiddo is a crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Hebrew word for “Megiddo” means “place of assembling” or “gathering of troops.” It was an ancient Canaanite commercial center and military stronghold, located about 32 kilometers from modern Haifa Port, on the southwestern edge of the Jezreel Valley. The main trade route between Mesopotamia and […]

Lachish

Lachish, an Old Testament place name, was a heavily fortified town located in the southwestern Judean Plain, near the Philistine border, approximately 24 kilometers west of Hebron and 36 kilometers north of Beersheba. Controlling the passage from the coastal plain to Hebron and Jerusalem, it has historically been a crucial military stronghold. In the Bible, […]

Bozrah

Bozrah is located approximately 47 kilometers north of Petra, 92 kilometers southeast of Beersheba, 87 kilometers southwest of Diban, and about 43 kilometers south of the Dead Sea. It sits at the headwaters of Wadi Hamayided, on a large rocky mountain with cliffs on three sides, making its terrain extremely strategic. It controlled the ancient […]

The Arrogant Sennacherib

Sennacherib (ruled 705–681 BC) was the youngest son of the Assyrian Emperor Sargon II. Before his father’s death, Sennacherib served as a military governor in the northern provinces of Assyria, commanding a massive army. When Sargon II was killed in 705 BC, Sennacherib seized the throne. He later quelled rebellions in both the eastern and […]

The Euphrates River

The Euphrates River is a famous river in the Middle East, originating in the Anatolian mountains within Turkey and fed by rain and snow. Together with the Tigris River to its east, it forms the Mesopotamia (meaning “between two rivers”) region, which is one of the cradles of ancient civilizations. In the Bible, the Euphrates […]

First Temple Period Earring

In November 2020, the Temple Mount Sifting Project (TMSP) in Israel announced the discovery of a First Temple period earring, likely the netifot described in Isaiah 3:19. It is made of four layers of tiny gold beads forming a petal shape. Gold jewelry is rarely found among artifacts from the First Temple period. Isaiah 3:18-23 […]

Isaiah’s Prophecy Against Tyre

Tyre (Greek: Τύρος) is located on the eastern Mediterranean coast, just 12 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border. Today, we can only see shadows of its past. Tyre was once part of the Roman Empire and later sent envoys to the Eastern Han Dynasty, where its king was bestowed with a “golden seal and purple […]

Isaiah’s Prophecy Against Babylon

The southern part of modern-day Iraq is the location of the ancient kingdom of Babylon, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Babylon was a nation that despised and did not fear God. Its people were also given to idolatry, divination, necromancy, and other evil practices, which greatly angered God. Therefore, God used prophets to […]

Beating Swords into Plowshares, and Spears into Pruning Hooks

[Isaiah 2:2-4] “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us […]

Introduction to the Book of Isaiah

The Hebrew name for the Book of Isaiah is “Yeshayahu” (יְשַׁעְיָה), meaning “Yahweh has saved.” The Book of Isaiah was likely completed after 723 BC. It contains background information about the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, detailing the sins committed by the people of Judah before the LORD, and revealing the judgments and acts of […]