By John Roberts, July 17, 2007

There has been a major development regarding the recently discovered Megiddo Church in Israel.

You may recall I reported last year that Palestinian inmates at the high security Megiddo prison in northern Israel had uncovered the remains of a Christian church and ancient villa dating back to the 2nd or 3rd century.  At issue was what to do with this site.

The Megiddo Church is the oldest Christian structure discovered anywhere in the world.  And its mosaic floors and revealing inscriptions make this site extremely valuable from a historical and archeological stand point and potentially one of the largest tourists draws in Israel; which would be great for Israel's economy.

Obviously it would not be advisable to have a high volume of tourists hanging around just a stone's throw from a high security prison.  So it appeared the Israeli Antiquities Authority had only two options.  Either move the prison or move the church.

But apparently the IAA has found a third option.  They have decided to rebury the church.  This reburying process entails covering the mosaic floors with tarps and then moving dirt back over the whole site.  The IAA sited a lack of funds as the main reason for their decision.

IXTHUS is English for the Greek word for fish, a symbol associated in New Testament times with the gospel.  IXTHUS is actually what is called an acrostic, where the first letters of successive words are put together to form another word.  In this case the Greek letters "iota, chi, theta, upsilon, and sigma" are taken from the Greek phrase Iesous Christos Theou Uios Soter.  In English this is translation Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior.  The IXTHUS served as a code word by which Christians could secretly identify each other and hopefully avoid detection by the Jews and Romans that were persecuting them at that time.

I can see both the good and bad news in this decision by Israelis to rebury the Megiddo Church.

The good news is things could have gone much worse for the Megiddo Church.   As it stands right now the Church is still intact and could be uncovered and opened up for public viewing at some time in the future.

That is great because the IAA could have taken an option to move the Church, in which case it most likely would be placed in an area under Palestinian control.  That makes it much more risky for some tourists such as Jews and Americans to visit the site.

So this decision by the IAA is not as bad as one might think.  And for the time being a layer of dirt over the site adds some protection to the priceless mosaics while a long term decision is being debated.  As unbelievable as it sounds the Israeli military has been known to "accidentally" run over Christian mosaics with their tanks.

The bad news is the Megiddo Church is now out of sight and out of mind. 

Archeological discoveries like this are unique and very rare because they change our understanding of history.  Much of what we know about the past is guess work at best and at worse full of bias and misinformation from people with an agenda or axe to grind. 

Clearing away the dirt from this pristine Megiddo site is like pealing away the centuries until you get right down to a specific time and place in our past.  And when a site has gone undisturbed for so long it becomes a valuable source of reliable historical information.

The real value of the Megiddo Church is that it gives us a window into Christianity during the second or third century, in Israel and before the conversion of pagan Rome no less. 

The point being people don't always share the same view of history.  But this discovery puts an end to all debate and tells us how it really was.  And those proven wrong by the archeological evidence are not too happy.

In this case those with egg on their faces just happen to be the most influential organizations in Israel with the power to determine the fate of archeological sites like the Megiddo Church; that being the Vatican and Judaism leadership.

What has them so mad is that they can't dispute the facts.  The Megiddo Church clearly refutes and corrects historical commentaries and long standing doctrines that have been accepted as fact within Roman Catholicism and Judaism for well over a thousand years. 

The situation is much like when a prophet makes a prediction and the time for its fulfillment comes and goes without it coming to pass.  The message and messenger are exposed as fake, the false prophet is diminished in the eyes of their followers, and many look elsewhere for the truth.

This brings up a very interesting observation about human nature.  The vast majority of people don't care about the truth.  For some truth becomes whatever they say it is.  And for others the truth is whatever they have been told or want to believe.

The message here is that many people have no intention of letting the truth interfere with where they stand, especially when it comes to issues of faith or politics.  The same is true of the fallen angels and Satan.  They walk in God's presence before His thrown in Heaven and they know Jesus is God in the flesh, the Messiah.  But that has not stopped them from continuing their revolt.

But we should always seek the truth where ever it takes us.  Believe me, nothing is more embarrassing than realizing that one of your core beliefs, something you felt really sure and strong about, was in error.  No one likes to be wrong and we dislike it even more when someone else points out our mistakes.

John's Take

The Vatican and Judaism leadership as well as many secular historians want to make sure this site never sees the light of day.  The Megiddo Church really chips away at the creditable of these people.  This is without doubt the real reason why the Megiddo site has been reburied.  And this is no small matter.

Here is what I mean:

THE VATICAN CLAIMS:   The conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine in 313 AD and establishment of Roman Catholicism was the first and only Christian church.

MEGIDDO CHRUCH PROVES:   The Church is an organized body of diverse members that built places of worship and shared a core set of beliefs well before Popery and Roman Catholicism.  And that dispels any claim by Rome to be the first and only church.

THE VATICAN CLAIMS:   There is no salvation outside of Roman Catholicism and there is no salvation for those that do not continually and literally eat Christ's flesh and literally drink His blood at a Catholic altar.

MEGIDDO CHURCH PROVES:   The early Church understood that Christ was speaking figuratively and not literally about communion.  They understood that this was to be done in remembrance of Christ and not as a prerequisite for salvation. 

The Megiddo Church did not contain an altar, but rather a table, a place where people could come together to break bread and drink wine as a remembrance of the sacrifice Christ made for us.  In contrast the Vatican has added cannibalism to the Biblical gospel.  They did this to control the kings and queens and impoverished masses of Europe for over 1,500 hundred years through fear of excommunication and the withholding of communion.

THE VATICAN CLAIMS:   The laity can not have direct access to scripture because they can not understand the gospel.  People need a clergy class to act as an intermediary between us and God.

MEGIDDO CHURCH PROVES:   The early Church understood the Biblical Gospel because it is clear and simple and open to everyone.  We don't need anyone to get between us and God.  The Bible says we have been made Kings and Priests.  Rome made it a crime punishable by death for the laity to own or read scripture in their own language as a means of controlling people and keeping the truth from them.

THE VATICAN CLAIMS:   No church structures existed prior to Roman Catholicism and the 4th century.

MEGIDDO CHURCH PROVES:   Church structures existed in the second or third century.  In fact, the Megiddo Church structure in Israel predates any Roman Catholic structure built in Rome, Constantinople, or anywhere else in the world by at least a hundred years.

HISTORIANS CLAIM:   Jesus was not worshiped as God before the Council of Nicea in the fourth century.

MEGIDDO CHURCH PROVES:   The early Church understood that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah come to earth to give His body as a sacrifice for sin.

JUDAISM CLAIMS:   Jesus is not a real historical person.

MEGIDDO CHURCH PROVES:   Jesus was recognized as a real historical person by Jews and Gentiles only one or two generations removed from Christ's day. Megiddo meets the criteria used by all professional archeologists to validate the historicity of Christ.

JUDAISM CLAIMS:   The doctrine of the Trinity is foreign to Judaism.

MEGIDDO CHURCH PROVES:   Jews in the early Church understood that the doctrine of the Trinity is a Jewish doctrine documented by Moses in Genesis 1:26, "And God said, Let Us (plural) make man in Our (plural) image, after Our (plural) likeness.   The early Church was primarily Jewish and they understood that Moses and the prophets of old recognized the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One God.   There is an inscription in the floor of the Megiddo Church that honors a God-loving woman who offered a table as a remembrance to "THE G_D JESUS CHRIST." God is spelled with only the first and last letter, which is a Jewish tradition.

JUDAISM CLAIMS:   Jesus is not the Christ because He did not meet the qualifications and fulfill prophecy.

MEGIDDO CHURCH PROVES:   Jews in the unique position to verify the words of Jesus, to test if He was who He said He was, left Judaism and gave up everything to join the early Christian Church.

Understand that Judaism and Christianity are two sides of the same coin, two phases of God's plan of redemption for mankind.  The gospel of Christ is found everywhere in the commandments, rituals, feasts, and traditions of the Jews and it sheds light on their true meaning.  Likewise, Judaism sheds light on Christianity.  This is the way God intended for it to be.  Judaism was the first covenant and Christianity is the new covenant; one before Christ, and one after.

During the Millennial Reign everyone's eyes will be opened and all of Israel and the rest of the world will worship Christ.  Modern day Judaism as we know it will not exist.  Neither will any other false religion.

This doesn't mean that the Church replaces Israel, or that God is finished with the Jews, or that all the promises God made to Israel are fulfilled spiritually in the Church.

And it is important to understand that when I refer to Judaism I don't mean what we have today or what existed at the time of Christ.  I am talking about scriptural Judaism as passed down by God to Moses and practiced by King David and the prophets of old.

This is much different from what people call Judaism today.  Just like many so called "Christian" denominations adhere to false doctrines and follow the teaching of false prophets like Mormonism, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, Calvinists, Universalism and Roman Catholicism and have strayed from the gospel given to us by Christ.

This requires further explanation.

Judaism at the time of Christ was a religion divided up into several sects with mutually exclusive beliefs and few doctrines recognizable from the Old Testament.  In those days Jews were divided and exposed to many diverse religious influences, the primary being the Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, Zealots, Romans, and various Babylonian cults.

These hated each other and they only put their differences aside when the opportunity came along to join forces to test and attempt to trip up Christ.

SADDUCEES – This sect was comprised mostly of the upper class.  They occupied the highest religious office, the High Priest, and controlled the religious ruling body known as the Sanhedrin.

Their core beliefs were very strange for a so called religious sect in that they practiced religion for religious sake.  They denied an after life.  They did not believe in Heaven.  They did not believe in angels.  They denied a resurrection and the immortality of the soul.

Imagine that, the High Priest and majority of the Sanhedrin did not believe in life after death or Heaven!  It reminds me of all these big church Protestant ministers that preach salvation without Christ.  This gives us a lot of insight into worldly religious organizations.

PHARISEES – This sect invented the false doctrine that there could be atonement for sin without a sacrifice.  And they added thousands of unscriptural rules and traditions to God's simple commandments to interject their control over every aspect of a Jewish life.  This they called the "Oral Torah."  They calmed God gave Moses both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.  And according to the Pharisees the written Torah could not be understood without the oral Torah.  And guess who the keepers were of the oral Torah?

Obviously this was a very crafty way for this lot to make themselves the gatekeepers of God's word which gave them a disproportionate amount of power and control.

The oral Torah contradicts the written Torah so they both did not come from the same source.  God does not contradict Himself, no sacrifice no atonement, that is the spirit and letter of the law.

Clearly the oral Torah is the invention of man.  God never mentions it in the written Torah.  Moses never mentioned an oral Torah.  King David never mentioned an oral Torah.  The Prophets never mentioned it either.  But nonetheless the ruse has worked for over two thousand years. 

The Pharisees are the only Jewish sect from the time of Christ to survive to modern times.  They are known today as "Rabbinic Judaism."

HERODIANS – This sect supported King Herod, the Roman appointee of Caesar.  Pay your taxes, support Herod and the Romans and forget about Messianic prophecies practically sums up their belief structure.  They leaned towards the old Hellenist or Greek way of thinking.

ZEALOTS – These people were focused on one thing, putting an end to the Roman occupation.  They wanted to take matters into their own hands.  Eventually they did and after the Romans put down two revolts the Jews were massacred and sent off to slavery and Jerusalem was turned into a pagan city.  It took almost 2,000 years and two world wars to bring the Jews back to their promised land.

THE ROMANS – We can't leave out the Romans.  Judea was a Roman province, part of the Roman Empire, and a very strategic spot in that it was served as the land bridge to three continents.  The Romans worshiped many gods.  They also worshiped their Emperor as a god.  The Roman army controlled the Temple Mount.  They locked up the High Priest's vestments and only gave them to him as needed.  They put up a Roman symbol over the Temple entrance.  And for three centuries they outlawed only the Christian religion.  All other religions were acceptable.  But Christians, they were put to death in horrible ways.

MYSTERY BABYLON – The last religious organization with major influence during the time of Christ were the various cults of ancient Babylon.  They worshiped Satan in various forms, most often as a goddesses with her dead husband reborn in the form of her child god.

These cults practiced human sacrifice, prostitution in sacred groves, they set up altars in high places, had elaborate initiation rituals, and believed experimentation with sin is good because it made them like their god, Satan.  They often passed their first born into a fire pit while drums pounded to drown out the screams.  Their worship services included praying to the rising sun, dressing up and praying to idols, and engaging in all forms of perversion and blasphemy.

Conclusion

The Jews that lived during the time of Christ were exposed to many religions but very little truth.  A situation not that different from today.  The outward appearance on the Temple Mount was very impresive.  The Temple was one of the great structures of the ancient world.  But on the inside it was already dead.

There was no Ark in the Temple.  It disappeared at the time of the Babylonian invasion.  When the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies there was no Mercy Seat to sprinkle the blood on.  The High Priest was faking it.  And he didn't get caught until Christ died on the cross and the curtain that blocked the Holy of Holies from view tore in two.  With the doors to the Temple open on that day the people would have noticed the Ark was missing.

The Christian significance of this event is the curtain represented sin which separated us from God.  Christ's sacrifice removed the barrier.  To us this is very clear.  But to the average Jew back then it must have been a very confusing situation.  Who to believe?  What to believe?

But make no mistake about it the coming of Christ was not a mystery or secret to anyone living in Israel back then.  To the contrary, it was the most anticipated and studied event of Judaism.

The Jews were suffering under Roman rule and they looked for the day when the Messiah would come and bring peace, salvation, and an everlasting kingdom to God's chosen people.

Now scripture is very clear that the Messiah would come twice.  Once to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin and then a second time to defeat the armies attacking Jerusalem and establish the promised Kingdom.

But the Jews were not interested in the first coming of Christ.  They always asked Christ about the Kingdom.  They wanted the Messiah to come and free them from Roman occupation.

When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus they didn't do so because they were interested in finding out if He truly was the Christ.  They were trying to trick Jesus into saying something that could be used against Him.

From the very beginning these arrogant and hypocritical religious leaders had no intention of relinquishing power to anyone, not even the Messiah.  So when they asked Jesus for a sign to prove He was the Christ they were looking for evidence that would convince the Romans to execute Christ.

It should have been obvious to anyone that took the time to check that Jesus was who He said He was.  The Psalm's and books of the prophets give us all the criteria for testing the validity of anyone coming in the name of Christ.  We are told the Christ will come from the tribe of Judah, be born in Bethlehem, live in Nazareth, perform miracles, enter Jerusalem on a donkey, would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, be crucified, die without a bone being broken and so on.

But when asked Jesus gave only one sign, that after His death He would rise on the third day.  Of course the High Priest and Sadducees did not believe Jesus would be resurrected because they denied the resurrection and after life.  But they were worried that the Apostles might steal His body and claim fulfillment of the sign. This is why the Sanhedrin was so keen to seal and guard Jesus' tomb.

You can be sure that if there was any evidence what so ever that proved Jesus did not raise up from the dead the High Priest and Sanhedrin would have brought it forward.  Instead, the Church really took off after the crucifixion.  And the overwhelming of these new converts were Jews.

But it didn't take long for the Pharisees to drive a wedge between Jews and Christianity.  They teamed up with the Romans to persecute the Church and put Christians to death.  When Rome converted the tables were turned and Jews became the persecuted ones.  The consequence of this was the Jewish Church became almost exclusively comprised of a Gentile membership.  And it has been that way ever since.

Today Jews have a very warped understanding of Christianity.  They blame their suffering during the Crusades, Inquisition and WWII on Christians.  And if you ask a Jew about Jesus they will say He was rightly put to death for saying He was the Messiah and the Son of God. 

Christianity is viewed by Jews as a Gentile religion for Gentile nations with no applicability to Israel, Judaism, or the promises from God to the Jewish people.  Consequently, Jews are taught that it is impossible to believe Jesus is the Christ and still be Jewish.  This is why it is so hard to lead a Jew to Christ.  They are very misinformed and being deceived by their own religious leaders; just like they were 2,000 years ago.

But things are about to change.  The Jew's rejection of Christ allowed salvation to be brought to the rest of the world.  We owe them everything.

Now that the time of the Gentiles is almost over God will fulfilled His promise and bring the Jews back into Christ.  When their eyes are opened they will see that Jesus has fulfilled all prophecy at the appropriate time.  Some remain, but they will be fulfilled in the future.

Jesus is the Christ.  There are no other plausible possibilities.  In chapter 9 of Daniel the prophet he clearly states that the Christ would come before the destruction of the second Temple.  Only Jesus meets that prerequisite.  The Trinity is a Jewish doctrine found in Genesis, the written Torah given by God directly to Moses.  King David spoke of Christ in Psalm 22 and 110.

Once again, it is important to understand that the Church is not Israel. Christians are not Jews.  God is not finished with Jerusalem, Israel and the Jews.  God has a plan to bring salvation to both the Gentiles and Jews.  Israel's time has come.

So it is very appropriate that the oldest Church in the world and one with a Roman, Greek and Jewish membership should be uncovered in Israel at this time.  And it is very important for modern-day Jews to see the mosaic inscription declaring Jesus Christ as our Savior and God.

The Jewish people need our help.  They need access to the truth.   According to prophecy one-third of the Jews will accept Christ and be saved before Jesus returns.

The time has come for the Church to redouble our efforts to bring the gospel back to the Jews.  Pressure should be put on the Israeli government and the IAA to stop trying to cover up the truth.  The dirt needs to come off the Megiddo Church and it should be properly excavated and opened up for public viewing.

By John Roberts, May 7, 2006

There is fantastic news coming out of northern Israel.  Palestinian inmates at the high security Megiddo prison have discovered a Christian church dating back to the 2nd or 3rd century.  This Megiddo Church structure is the oldest yet found in the world.

The church floor is covered with two beautiful mosaics that are surprisingly intact and in great condition.  The mosaics depict two "IXTHUS" (the Christian fish symbol) and some very important inscriptions.

IXTHUS is English for the Greek word for fish, a symbol associated in New Testament times with the gospel.  IXTHUS is actually what is called an acrostic, where the first letters of successive words are put together to form another word.  In this case the Greek letters "iota, chi, theta, upsilon, and sigma" are taken from the Greek phrase Iesous Christos Theou Uios Soter.  In English this is translation Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior.  The ixthus served as a code word by which Christians could secretly identify each other and hopefully avoid detection by the Jews and Romans that were persecuting them at that time.

One inscription in the mosaic says, "Gaianos, also called Porphyrio, centurion (purple cloak), our brother, having sought honor with his own money, has made this mosaic. Brouti has carried out the work."  Another inscription in the mosaic floor honors four women, Frimilia, Kiriaka, Dorothea, and Karasta.  And finally a third inscription translates, "The God-loving Akeptous (another woman) has offered this table as a remembrance, to the God Jesus Christ as a memorial."

For those that have never been to the Holy Land, Megiddo Prison is located in the Jezreel Valley, otherwise known as the Plain of Megiddo.  It is near Nazareth, Mt. Tabor, Mt. Carmel, and the plains of Armageddon - where the Revelation of Jesus Christ says a great battle will be fought and God will prevail over Satan, the Antichrist, False Prophet and their armies.

This prison was established by the Israeli Army in 1982 to hold about 1,200 high-security Palestinian inmates.  But about a year ago the Israel Prison Services took control of the prison from the Army and began work on new wards.  About 50 to 60 prisoners were brought in to prepare the site.  But just two days before construction was scheduled to begin a prisoner by the name of Ramil Razilo thrust his shovel into the ground and found the edge of a mosaic floor.

It is very common to find artifacts of great historical significance when digging around and disturbing the ground in the Holy Land.  That is why the Israel Antiquities Authority routinely precedes all construction with exploratory digs.  If something is found then construction is temporarily put on hold until the dig is complete.  Then the items are either moved and construction begun or preservation of the historical site is given precedence and all construction plans are cancelled.

But it is clear that this is not the normal exploratory dig because it was not being conducted by trained archeologists.  It appears this was only an obligatory half-hearted attempt to comply with the law because Israeli officials did not expect to find anything at the Megiddo Prison.  They simply handed shovels and buckets to prisoners and told them to get to work for the allotted time and shout if anything showed up.

Now picture this scene.  The Prison Services were 48 hours away from the start of construction.  In the past few months of digging the prisoners had uncovered nothing but a few coins and crockery.  Then out of the blue, with armed guards standing watch over him, a prisoner serving a two-year sentence for traffic violations hits pay dirt.  He finds the edge of a large mosaic.

Mosaics of this type are very rare and of great significance.  This was a big discovery.  The construction would have to wait.  Professional archeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority were brought in to the site.

They watched as the dirt was brushed away, holding their breath in anticipation.  What was lying under the surface?  Was it the floor of an ancient synagogue?  Or could it be the remains of a Roman villa?  Maybe this site dated back to the time of King David or Solomon?  This was a very rare and tense moment.

So can you imagine the look on their faces as the dirt was brushed away and two IXTHUS were revealed!  An inscription mentioning a Roman Centurion was also uncovered, and an inscription dedicating a table to "the God Jesus Christ?"  Those Jewish archeologists must have been frozen with shock.

I should explain what is going on here.  Some of you might be missing the significance of all this.  The archeologists would have been dumbfounded for several reasons.

First, they would have instantly recognized from the evidence that this was a second or third century Christian church; or more correctly a structure where the local Megiddo church gathered to worship, learn, break bread and remember Christ.

This is important because up until now historians, archeologists, and biblical scholars have argued that church structures simply did not exist before the 4th century; specifically prior to 313 AD when the Roman Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity, supposedly because it was too dangerous to do so.

So let me make this perfectly clear.  The evidence supporting this site as a second or third century Church structure is irrefutable and certain.  This discovery has changed our knowledge of early church history. 

This is going to make a lot of people very angry.  Everyone from the Vatican, archeologists, the Israeli Antiquities Authority, University professors and church historians now have egg on their faces.  Much of what they teach, preach, and publish on the early church has just been proven wrong by this discovery: 

Key Points:

• Real Christians have always recognized the divinity of Christ and the Trinity.  (Cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses and non-believers contend that the Trinity was not part of the early church, but imposed on Christians by the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century.  The inscriptions at the Megiddo site put that false doctrine to bed.)

• The early church was comprised mainly of Jews that understood Jesus was the Christ and that He met the qualification of the promised Messiah and fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.

• Church structures existed all over the Roman Empire and well before the fourth century at a time when Christianity was still outlawed by Rome.

• This Roman Centurion at Megiddo incurred considerable cost and risk to worshiped Jesus Christ as God instead of his Emperor.

• The early church broke bread and drank wine at a table in symbolic remembrance of Christ giving His body as a sacrifice for sin.  It was Roman Catholicism that changed this custom into a cannibalistic ritual straight out of Mystery Babylon.

One of most difficult things for people today is to admit they made a mistake.  Consequently, you can expect these people to stir up controversy and interpretations of the inscriptions and site dating that support their now defunct work.  My advice is that we should just ignore their background noise.  The archeological evidence clearly speaks for itself: 

• Pottery remnants found at the site have been positively dated to the 3rd century. 

• The style of the Greek writing used in the inscriptions and the ancient geometric patterns in the mosaics were no longer used by the fourth century. 

• And by the fourth century the use of an IXTHUS and table had been replaced with the cross and altar. 

So there can be no doubting the evidence that proves this Megiddo church dates back to the 2nd or 3rd century after the resurrection of Christ.

By 313 AD Christians outnumbered pagans in many parts of the Empire.  In fact, Constantine's own mother was a Christian.  These factors played an important role in the conversion of Rome from paganism to Christianity.

But prior to that time it was thought that Christians only met in secret and it was too dangerous for them to gather in public.  But I can't see how these Megiddo Christians could keep something like this large structure with its Christian mosaics a secret.

This discovery will force people to rethink the relationship between Rome and the early church during this period of time.  Although Christianity was outlawed by Rome, it may have been tolerated in parts of the empire for political and economical reasons.

Now to the real shocker of this whole discovery, which is the inscription referencing "THE GOD JESUS CHRIST"  Why is this so important?

Well, the first accusation Jewish archeologists and Jewish religious scholars make against Jesus Christ is that there is no evidence that He ever existed.  They say, "Christians are convinced of the historicity of Jesus," but where is the evidence?

This discovery is important because is silences that false accusation against Christ.  Now they have an inscription in stone, in Israel, dating back to the first centuries AD, recognizing Jesus as God and declaring Him as the promised Messiah, the Christ. 

In the past the Israel Antiquities Authority has used similar archeological evidence to establish the historicity of other Biblical figures, such as King David, High Priests, and Pontius Pilot.  That means if they are going to be consistent and maintain some sense of legitimacy they must now accept the historicity of Jesus.

From purely an archeological position there is now much more evidence in this Megiddo church for the historicity of Jesus Christ than there is anywhere in the world for the historicity of Moses.  Yet few question the existence of Moses, and rightly so.  The time has come for these people to stop questioning the historicity of Jesus Christ.

The debate between Jews and Christians can now move beyond the false claim by Jews that Jesus never really existed.  And the discussion can focus on the real issue, that being Jesus was who He said He was, God and Christ.

John's Take

The issue now is deciding what to do with this second century church structure with its priceless mosaics and inscriptions.  Should they move the structure to allow construction on the prison wards?  Or should they cancel the construction project and leave the church where it is?  We will just have to wait and see what they decide to do.  But I already have a good idea what we can expect. 

Publicly the Israeli officials said they were just "giddy" about the discovery.  They say it will be good for tourism. But I’m not fooled by this type of rhetoric.  The whole way in which the Antiquities Authority carried out the excavation of this historical Christian site betrays their true feelings.

Consider this, what if something of significance to Judaism had turned up at Megiddo?  What if this was not a church structure but a synagogue or temple with a mosaic inscription.  The whole area would have been flooded by professional archeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority.  And there would be no hesitation or contemplation on what to do, the prison would be moved!

But when the first signs of Jesus and Christianity showed up the trained archeologists packed up and went home.  And the responsibility for excavating these Mosaic floors and the oldest Christian church structure ever found was left up to untrained Palestinian prisoners.

And when the archaeological community expressed concerns that prisoners were handing such a priceless find they were told by the Antiquities Authority that it was too dangerous at the Megiddo Prison for a team of archeologists to carry out this work.

I have driven past the Megiddo prison.  It is in the middle of nowhere, completely surrounded by extremely high walls guarded by towers with machine guns.  This prison is probably located in one of the safest and most secure places in all of Israel.  The proper way to handle this discovery would have been to fly in a team of archeologists from around the world.

So why was the job left up to amateurs?

The answer becomes clear when you understand the situation today which in regard to Jesus Christ is not that much different than it was 2,000 years ago.  The spirit of antichrist is very busy trying to rid or marginalize Jesus and His saving gospel.  This is not just a problem in Israel and the Middle East, but world-wide.

In China it is against the law for Christians to meet and worship outside of the handful of Churches approved by the communist government.  In most Islamic counties, like Saudi Arabia for example, Christianity is outlawed. Churches and Bibles are not allowed.  In Afghanistan conversion to Christianity is a crime punishable by death.  In Iraq death squads murder Christians and burn down churches.

In the United States invoking the name of Jesus in a prayer for peace in front of the White House while wearing a Chaplin's uniform can get you in trouble with the same people that claim to be Christians.

In Israel, religious Jews are very comfortable living side by side with non-religious Jews.  And they have little concern when Jews embrace the kabala, mysticism, and the occult and false doctrines like Scientology.  You can have those beliefs and still be accepted as a Jew.  But accept Jesus as the Messiah and convert to Christianity and they no longer considered you to be Jewish.  Have they forgotten that Jesus and the Apostles were all Jews?

The point is Jesus Christ and the Church are under attack.  As foretold in prophecy, everything and anything goes in these last days, everything but Jesus Christ.  And that is very relevant to this news story.

Judaism and Christianity stand or fall on Jesus Christ.  Did Jesus exist and was He the Christ?  Was He the Son of God, the prophesied Messiah, Savior of the world and Sacrifice for sin?  Christianity says yes but Judaism says no, and Rabbis will say and do anything to keep Jews from coming to Christ.

In fact, Rabbis are so anti-Christ that they actually tell Jews to avoid reading the ninth chapter of Daniel.  Why?  Because it contains a prophecy that explicitly says the Messiah will come and give His life as atonement for sin before the second temple is destroyed.  No wonder Jews are told to stay away from this section of Daniel.  Anyone could see that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfilled that prophecy to the letter.

As a Christian I don’t need archeological proof that Jesus existed and was the Christ.  I believe on faith.  But this is the type of discovery that can make a difference for some people.  In particular, uncompleted Jews that have been told their whole life by religious leaders they respect that Jesus never existed.

So you can see that there is a lot riding on the historicity of Jesus Christ.

Religiously speaking, Israel was divided into many sects in the first century much like it is today. Some taught that there was no resurrection.  Others denied the existence of angels.  And still others were teaching the time had come for the promised kingdom.

But among all this division was a common acceptance by most Jews that prophecy speaks of a Messiah offering His life as atonement for sin and a Messiah defeating Israel's enemies and establishing a literal kingdom over the whole earth.  From this the Jews reckoned that two Messiahs would come.  They did not figure out that prophecy was speaking of two advents of the same Messiah.

By the time the Roman Empire moved in and took control the Jews had forgot all about Messiah the suffering servant.  They put that out of their minds.  They were only looking for and expecting Messiah the King, the One that would destroy the Romans and establish His thrown in Israel over the nations of the world.

When Christ died on the cross all of Jerusalem including the Apostles and Disciples of Christ were in a state of confusion and disappointment and contemplating what this all meant.

Christ addressed this situation immediately.  We are told in Luke that one of the first things the resurrected Christ did was open the Apostle's understanding, by pointing out in the scriptures, the things written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Himself, Jesus Christ.  That it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Now you would think that seeing a risen Christ and talking to Him face to face would have made a life changing impact on the Apostles.  But no, despite being instructed to stay in Jerusalem until Pentecost, they soon went back home to go fishing.

This illustrates just how perplexed, confused, and traumatized they were about what had just taken place.

It wasn't until the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that we see a drastic change in these men and women.  They were filled with a passion and conviction to get busy with Christ's work to spread the gospel regardless of the consequences.

These were not illiterate people when it came to the scriptures.  Many of the early converts to the Church were eye witnesses to the events of Christ's life, death, and resurrection.  So when Christ pointed out scripture like Judges 13:5, Psalm 22:18, 34:20, 68:18, 69:21, Isaiah 7:14, 50:6, 53:7, Ezekiel 44:1-2, Daniel 9:25, Hosea 6:2, 11:1, Zechariah 9:9, 11:12-13, 12:10, 13:7, and Micah 5:2 the lights would have come on.  They would have understood that Jesus was the Christ and that He had to first die as atonement for sin then come as Messiah King.

But the Jews that rejected Christ and the gospel remained in darkness.  They grew increasingly impatient under Roman and Hellenist persecution.  Messiah or not they wanted their Kingdom, and they wanted it now.  So in 66 A.D. they decided to take matters into their own hands.  They revolted against Rome and the rest is history.  The revolt was crushed, not a stone of the Temple was left standing, and the Jews were killed or sold into slavery across the Roman Empire.

In our generation Israel has risen from the ashes.  But the mindset in Israel has changed little over these past two thousand years.  Make no mistake about it, in their minds there is no place for Christ and Christianity in Zion.  The Jews do not persecute Christians with the severity of the Arabs.  But they have their own way of marginalizing the impact of Christianity and the gospel in their own country without being too obvious.

They are very careful and very crafty in how they do this.  Don’t get me wrong.  Israelis understand that Christian tourists bring a lot of money into their economy.  They do not want to upset that industry.

But they don't like Christians preaching the gospel in Israel.  And they don't like discoveries like the Megiddo Church that validate the New Testament and lend creditability to the historicity of Jesus Christ.

They don't have a problem with Christians coming to Israel to take tours like the Stations of the Cross.  Knowing Christians are getting all teary eyed over a fake tour gives them a big laugh.

You see, the Jerusalem of Christ's time was destroyed and covered over and then rebuilt by the Romans.  Consequently, the route Christ took with the cross would be located well below the current street level.  However, most tourists don't understand that simple fact.

Now, the noisy bus station right next to the Garden of Gethsemane is a good example of the childish ways they try to marginalize real archeological sites of importance to Christianity.

Busting up the James Ossuary right were it mentions “the brother of Christ” and claiming it is a forgery is another example of the intellectually disingenuous way in which the Israeli Antiquities Authority deals with evidence that supports Christianity.  By the way, recent tests and comparisons with other ossuaries have proven the James Ossuary to be authentic.

I could go on and on with more examples, such as the case were the Israeli military waited for the restoration of a mosaic floor of a Church in Gaza to be completed before they drove a 60 ton tank over it, but it doesn't matter.

The point being, it would not surprise me to see the Christ inscription at the Megiddo Church "accidentally" destroyed, damaged, lost, or otherwise kept out of public view.

One tactic the Israeli Antiquities Authority has employed in the past to accomplish this is to turn the whole site over to the Vatican.  They understand the consequences of that action.  Mystery Babylon moves in, they build a structure over the site, and the general public will never see it again, mission accomplished.  The Apostle Peter's home in Capernaum is an example of how this works.

But the situation is a bit different with the Megiddo Church.  I don't think the Israelis want anything next to their high security prison.  So they will probably give a lot of consideration to moving the Church.  In that case the Church will most likely wind up in an area under Palestinian control.  They know people will think twice before going to an area control by Hamas.  Why do you think they turned Bethlehem over to the PA?

The Israelis know the Muslims will drive Christians away and keep most tourists out.  The PA was once 25% Christian.  That number is now down to two percent.  In fact there are now more Bethlehem Christians living in Sydney, Australia, than Bethlehem.

This mosaic floor is powerful evidence and it sheds light on things.  And that is bound to upset those that make a living out of keeping people in the dark.  Think of the situation this way.  If the LDS leadership found concrete archeological evidence that Joseph Smith was a false prophet do you think they would be "giddy" about putting it on display in Utah for everyone to see?  Of course not, they would see that as a threat to their credibility and job security.  The situation is exactly the same for the religious leaders of Judaism, the Israeli government, and the Israeli Antiquities Authority when it comes to archeological evidence supporting the historicity of Jesus Christ.

This is a case where I hope I am wrong.  It would be wonderful for Israel to build a protective structure over this site and open it up to the public.  We will just have to wait and see.  For the time being it is great to know that archeological evidence for the historicity of Jesus Christ has been uncovered in perhaps the oldest Church in the world, back were this all started and where it is going to end, in Israel. 

God is not finished with the Jews and He has not forsaken Israel.  They will come to Christ, someday.

If you are looking for more information on this story I recommend the following site:

http://www.armageddonchurch.com

By John Roberts, June 9, 2005

In three years almost 1,000 Israelis were killed by Palestinian terrorists and over 6,000 injured.   When you consider Israel’s small population that is a huge number of casualties.   Proportionally speaking, in the United States these numbers would equal over 50,000 dead, almost what we lost in the Vietnam War.

Today, the number of Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists is down over 80%.  And Israel's new Security Fence is the reason why.  The Security Fence is still under construction. But as every month goes by more of the Fence is completed, which equates to more lives saved. 

The PA and their supporters are furious and they have done everthing within their power to get the Fence removed.  Why?  They are mad because the Security Fence is keeping terrorists from thier targets.  And that means one of the PA’s main weapons against Israel, terrorism, has been largely neutralized.

Puropse Of The Fence

The sole purpose of Israel's Security Fence is to proved national security.  Israel’s security fence is being constructed as a defensive measure to prevent Palestinian terrorists from reaching civilian targets inside Israel. 

The Fence prevents the infiltration of terrorists and criminal elements into Israel.  In addition, it helps reduce the smuggling of arms, explosives and stolen goods.  And in some key highway locations security walls block the line of sight between traffic and Palestinian sniper nests.

Brief History

The conflict in the Middle East is about anti-Semitism, the gospel, and the fundamental Islamic doctrine that the whole world must be conquered and controlled by Islam.  The problem started with Ishmael and Isaac, two sons of Abraham.  One son was the product of the work of man’s flesh, and the other was the son of promise.  To the son of promise God gave the inheritance and kingdom.  Not because he earned it.  But as a gift because Abraham acted on faith.  Likewise, if we act on faith we will inherit the kingdom of God.

In July of 2001 the Israeli Defence Cabinet approved the Security Fence program.  This program relied mostly on erecting security obstacles to stop terrorist infiltration in three locations.  It didn't work because there were too many ways around the obstacles.  It soon became apparent that the only way to stop illegal entry into Israel would be to erect a continuous obstacle.  In April 2002 the Ministry of Defence was given the responsibility for building the Security Fence.

Construction of the Security Fence is an ongoing project.  The route has changed many times to accommodate court rulings.  And it will be some time before the Fence is completed.

The Operational System

The Security Fence is an integrated system comprised of various infiltration obstacles, low and high detection devices, and communication and observation posts.  After decades of fighting Palestinian terrorists the Israelis have become the world's experts at preventing acts of terrorism.

The Security Fence is a multi layered composite obstacle comprised of several elements:

• A ditch and a pyramid shaped stack of six coils of barbed wire one side and barbed wire only on the other side.

• A path on both sides of the structure enabling the IDF patrols.

• An intrusion detection fence, in the center, with sensors to warn of any incursion.

• A smoothed strip of sand running parallel to the fence to detect footprints.

• A solid barrier concrete system will be used in approximately 6% of the project.  It will prevent sniper fire into Israel and on major highways.  The wall resembles highway sound barriers used in the US and Europe.

• Various observation systems are also being installed along the fence.

Misconceptions

The most common misconception about Israel's Security Fence is that it is a permanent wall for annexing land claimed by Palestinians.

• The International Court of Justice, United Nations, and the press use the term "Wall" when describing Israel's Security Fence.  In truth the Security Fence is 94% chain link and only 6% concrete barrier for stopping bullets.

• The Security Fence does not establish any kind of border.

• It does not annex any Palestinian land to Israel.

• It does not change the legal status of Palestinians.

• It does not prevent Palestinians from going about their daily lives.

The bottom line is that the Security Fence saves lives and is a very effective tool against snipers and suicide bombers. 

The Threat

How would you like to be surrounded by neighbors on all sides that are motivated by one goal, your extermination?  Imagine what it would be like to have those neighbors take up sniper positions on their roofs so they can take pot shots at your children. 

The Security Fence is very effective at controlling foot traffic into Israel.  But another major threat lies underground from tunnels and bunkers.  The majority of illegal weapons and explosives are smuggled into Israel through tunnels along the Egyptian border.

Humanitarian Concerns

Without a doubt the Security Fence poses major humanitarian concerns.

The Fence treats all Palestinians like terrorists, and they are not.  Most Palestinians are law abiding and totally disinterested in the political problems of the Middle East.  They want to live in peaceful coexistence with the Jews.  But the Fence places an obstacle between Arabs and Jews, and in many cases between Palestinians and their Jewish employers.

Sure, there are plenty of checkpoints in the Fence for Palestinians to pass through.  But that is not the same as freedom of movement, and it begs for abuse.  I have experienced it myself many times so I know what I am talking about.  The moment Israeli security personnel find out you are a Christian they give you the business.  Anyone that says otherwise has not spent much time in Israel.   Believe you me Israel security will give us the third degree just for the fun of it. I can't imagine what the Palestinians go through. 

Many Arabs are Christian, and those that aren’t are very hospitable.   I have always been treated much better by Arabs than Jews when traveling in Israel and the Middle East.   That sounds strange but I am just being honest.

The Palestinians are good people.  And many of them wake up one morning to find earthmovers tearing up their crops, knocking down their trees, and placing a fence and barbwire through their private property.  I don't think there is any compensation that can make up for something like that.  And it is only going to build more anger and resentment.  So there is a lot of condemnation of the Security Fence from both outside and inside Israel.

The International Court of Justice, the principle judicial wing of the United Nations, has issued a ruling demanding Israel tear down the Fence.   The Israeli high court has also demanded that the Fence route be changed.

But the ICJ in The Hague went much further than the Israeli high court, saying it was "not convinced that the specific course Israel has chosen for the wall was necessary to attain its security objectives."  They also said, "The Court considers that the construction of the wall and its associate regime creates a `fait accompli' on the ground that could well become permanent, in which case, and notwithstanding the formal characterization by Israel, it would be tantamount to de facto annexation."

The ruling by the Israeli court was just and showed compassion for Palestinians.  The ICJ ruling was a joke and proves that the U.N. has become a platform for anti-Semitism.  The ICJ speaks of human rights yet they deny Israel the right to participate on the Court.   But communist China, the worst violator of human rights on the planet, is given a seat on the court.  In fact, it was the Chinese judge that read the ruling condemning Israel.

The problem lies with the Palestinian Authority.  There would be no need for the Fence if they would help fight the terrorists instead of funding, training, and sending them to attack Jews.  The PA is responsible for the fence because they left the Israelis no other option than to erect a continuous obstacle.  Nevertheless, one can't help but have compassion for Palestinians caught in the middle of this mess.

Prophetic Implications

The Security Fence is just one piece of a much larger issue.  That is, who has a right to the land of Israel, Arabs or Jews?  The world says both have rights.  But God is clear, the land is His and He has given it to the Jews as an inheritance.  When God comes back a large portion of the Middle East will change hands and be given to the rightful owners, the Jews. 

With that in mind there are two major points to be made about this story and its relevance to last days prophecy:

Point One - According to prophecy the Fence must come down before the Lord returns.

Israel says the Fence is temporary and a reversible solution to the current problem.  I believe that to be true.  The Fence will come down someday.  It must in order for a prophecy in the 38th chapter of Ezekiel to be fulfilled.

Ezekiel says there will be a time, after the Jews have been gathered out of the nations, that they "shall dwell safely."  When Israel becomes a land of "unwalled villages" then Russia and their Arab allies will attack.

Today Israel is a besieged nation.  It's so unsafe that they are constructing a continuous fence and walls to protect themselves.  Walled villages were commonplace in ancient times.  But who would have thought it applicable to our time.  I find it fascinating how a prophecy written thousands of years ago about walled villages can still have a literal fulfillment today.  When the Security Fence comes down, and it will, everyone should go back and read Ezekiel 38.

I suspect the Security Fence will come down as part of the seven year treaty brokered by the Antichrist.  The false peace will catch the Israelis off guard, but God will deal with the invaders. 

Point Two - From a purely religious stand point Jerusalem has never been a significant "Holy Site" for Islam.

Islams claim that Jerusalem is Holy to Muslims are based upon the so called Night Vision passages in the Koran.  Muslims are taught that Mohammed was transported in 621 A.D. to the rock now covered by the Doom of the Rock structure on the Temple Mount, and from there he ascended to heaven to receive the Koran.  But any true Islamic scholar will tell you that this is a false interpretation of the passage.

The Koran does not say that Mohammed ascended to heaven from Jerusalem.  And it does not claim he ascended from the Temple Mount.  Nor does it say Mohammed ascended from the rock under the Dome.

What the Koran does say is that Mohammed was transported to the outer most region of the Islamic empire, and from there atop a Mosque he ascended to heaven.  In 621 A.D. Jerusalem was under Christian control and was not part of the Islamic empire.  And it stayed Christian for another seventeen years.  There wasn't a Mosque anywhere in Jerusalem at that time.  The only structure on the Temple Mount was a Church.

Mohammed never claimed Jerusalem was the place from which he ascended.  It would have been pure nonsense for Islam's prophet to travel from Mecca to the Temple Mount, a place occupied by Christians and Jews, before ascending to Heaven.

The association of Jerusalem with the Night Vision passage was contrived by Caliph Omar after he conquered the city in 638.  He wanted to give the city some significance for Muslims so they would fight to keep Jerusalem from Christendom.

This historic fact is worth repeating.  Jerusalem did not fall to Islam until 638.  Up until that time the only thing on the Temple Mount were Jews, Christians and a church.  If the Night Vision took place in 621 then Jerusalem can be ruled out as having any part in it.

The Temple Mount only became important to Islam again in modern times when Israel claimed independence.  Islam's strategy is to transform every site with historic value to Jews and Christians into an Islamic Holy Site.  Now you know the real reason why the Palestinians are claiming the al Aqsa Mosque compound (Temple Mount) as their capital.

John's Take

Israel's Security Fence is only a temporary solution to a long term problem.  For the moment it is working and fulfilling its primary purpose, saving Israeli lives.  But it will come down when a peace treaty is signed.  Then watch out because that is when all hell will break loose, literally.

The Arabs have done everything they can think of to get their hands on Israel and Jerusalem.  They have tried direct conflict.  That has not worked.  The Arabs have tried terrorism and civil unrest.  That has also failed.  At the moment the Arabs are trying to overrun Israel's democracy by infiltrating hundreds of thousands of foreign born Muslims into Gaza.  Israel will counter that move by giving up the Gaza Strip, thus preserving a Jewish majority in the rest of Israel.

According to prophecy there will be one more attempt to take Jerusalem.  The Jews will be lulled into a false sense of security with a seven year treaty.  They will let down their defenses and that is when the Antichrist will attack.

The point being the only way we will see real peace in the Middle East is when Jesus Christ comes back.

The land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem carry much more significance than most people realize.  This part of the world serves as the frontlines in a battle between God and Lucifer.

Israel is where God took on flesh and preached His gospel of salvation.  Jerusalem is where our Lord died for sin.  Prophecy says the Lord will return to defend Jerusalem in the last days.  And Jerusalem is where the Lord will set up His kingdom on the earth and rule for a thousand years.

I would not be surprised to learn that the Garden of Eden once stood where the Temple Mount is located today.  It makes perfect sense.  The Garden is where sin entered the world and mankind was brought into this struggle between God and Satan.  And Jerusalem is where God dealt with sin on the cross and will someday put an end to Satan's rebellion.

In ancient times Lucifer stirred up the Canaanites and the Philistines against Israel.  In modern times he has used the Germans and most recently the Arabs.  Soon the Antichrist and False Prophet will come against Israel with their kingdom, the European Union.   And the Russians, Chinese, Arabs, and African nations will join them there to battle against Christ and the Jews.

Zechariah 12:1-3

  1     The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
  2     Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
  3     And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Zechariah 12:8-9

  8     In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
  9     And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

The point being the only way we will see real peace in the Middle East is when Jesus Christ comes back.

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