Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
The place we call home in Israel is in the rebuilt city of Arad, an ancient city rebuilt in 1962 near the historic site of Tel Arad. It was the first planned city in Israel.
Tel Arad was an ancient fortress that, according to archaeologists, has been destroyed and rebuilt at least ten times. The citadel was thought to have originally been built during the times of King David and Solomon. The Negev desert’s arid conditions have remarkably preserved the fortress’s archaeological layers, providing a continuous record of its history for hundreds of years.
One of the most significant discoveries within the ruins of Tel Arad is the only Israelite temple ever found in an archaeological dig. Inside the site, you can see an Israelite altar and two limestone incense altars, which once stood at the entrance of the Holy of Holies.
This Israelite temple (high place) remained perfectly preserved, and archaeologists attribute its destruction to King Hezekiah’s reforms.
During his reign, Hezekiah removed the idolatrous cults and destroyed the high places throughout Judah (2 Chronicles 32:11-12; 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 18:22; Isaiah 36:7).
The high place at Tel Arad was buried beneath a layer of dirt, and great respect was shown during the process. Both incense altars were laid on their sides before the entire structure was covered, effectively erasing the memory of the temple from history until excavations began on the Tel in the 1960s.
Some believe this final burial may have occurred during the reign of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:1-37). Regardless of the exact timing, worship at the high place came to an end.
Fast forward to today, and recent scientific techniques have shed new light on this ancient site.
In 2021, as Israel’s Knesset debated the decriminalization of cannabis, researchers revealed that the incense altars at the Tel Arad temple contained traces of cannabis, frankincense, and dung.
Astonishingly, the very place God commanded to be destroyed for its idolatry—what Hezekiah referred to as a “high place”—was indeed a literal “high place.”
Just months before the Israeli government debated the cannabis question, God provided the answer through archaeology: “Bury the habit!” The cannabis used in the ancient temple produced a counterfeit high, unlike the true euphoria that comes from being in the presence of God and worshipping Him.
While many argue that the Bible doesn’t address modern issues, we are constantly surrounded by evidence that God continues to answer even the most challenging questions of our time—because God is still speaking to us today! The real question is … “Are we attentively listening?”
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The baby that came into the world through the scenario above was named Ishmael. According to Islamic belief, it was Ishmael that was offered as a sacrifice by Abraham, and through him that they became the rightful inheritors of the promises of God. In other words, Ishmael was the seed through which Islam was born. Hmmm.
When Jim Burke became the head of a new products division at Johnson & Johnson, one of his first projects was the development of a children’s chest rub. The product failed miserably, and Burke expected that he would be fired. When he was called in to see the chairman of the board, however, he met a surprising reception. “Are you the one who just cost us all that money?” asked Robert Wood Johnson. “Well I just want to congratulate you. If you are making mistakes, that means you are taking risks, and we won’t grow unless you take risks!” Apparently, Mr. Johnson wasn’t joking! Years later, Johnson & Johnson remains one of the largest multi-national manufacturers of pharmaceutical, diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, personal hygiene, baby and biotechnology products.
In her book, Let Me Be a Woman, Elizabeth Elliot records the story of a friend who had great difficulty accepting the looks God had given her. While everyone this girl knew had grown beautiful golden hair, hers was black. And while they were all still growing, she had stopped. She grew to be only about four feet ten inches tall.
“A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do. ‘Well,’ said the chaplain, ‘you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don’t provoke them.’
A United States Army officer who trained pupils at Fort Sill for over 20 years once described the different qualities of the students during the two decades of his tenure. During the 1950’s, he observed the students’ attitude as being so lax that the instructors had trouble keeping their students awake during their lectures. This drastically changed in the mid 1960’s. The students began taking meticulous notes and absorbing every word of instruction. So, what changed?
As we continue to celebrate the God-ordained Feast of Tabernacles — this is a prophetic feast, and one which will be kept by all the people of the world in the coming age. In resurrected bodies, we will be celebrating this feast, year to year in Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Yeshua (Jesus)! Can you imagine it — celebrating with the King of Kings! If that’s not something to anticipate, I’m not sure what is!
The Lord is quoted in this scripture in Matthew. It contains an important principle which believers sometimes tend to overlook. Many believe and even teach that if you’re blessed, your life will be filled with material prosperity, and that if you are undergoing extreme trial, it must be because you have sinned or that you lack faith. The Lord says that the sun rises and the rain falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous alike.