By Gordon Franz
Introduction
The consequence of King Uzziah’s military strategy associated with his foreign policy is summarized by a proverb of wise King Solomon.  He stated: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).  Let us examine the geography of King Uzziah’s military expansionist policies and show how these policies led [...]

By Gordon Franz and Stephanie Hernandez

Raised in the ghettos of Budapest, Hungary, Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay has had an accomplished career in the archaeology of the Bible Lands.  Barkay holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Hebrew University and a PhD from Tel Aviv University.  His doctoral dissertation, completed in 1985, was on “Northern [...]

By Gordon Franz
Introduction
Most Bible believers who live outside the Land of Israel may read Psalm 125:2, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever,” and think, “Humm, that’s a comforting and encouraging passage.  The Lord surrounds His people.  He protects us and watches over us forever.”  [...]

By Gordon Franz
In the ongoing Rapture Debate, one of the points the Preterists love to attack the proponents of the Pre Trib Rapture is the identification of Babylon in Revelation 17 and 18 (DeMar 2001:115-130).  The Preterist propose the Babylon was Jerusalem and they see the fulfillment of these passages in the destruction of the [...]

By Gordon Franz
The First Trumpet (Rev. 8:7)
John describes the first trumpet judgment as, “The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up” (8:7).
Chilton interprets this passage by saying, “St. [...]

By Gordon Franz
Book Review

Robert Cornuke, The Lost Shipwreck of Paul (2003), Publisher: Global Publishing Service, Bend, OR, 232 pages.

Introduction
Mr. Robert Cornuke co-authored three books with David Halbrook and then authored a fourth book on his own in which he claimed to have used the Bible as a “treasure map” (2003: 78) in order to locate [...]

By Gordon Franz
The last ten years has witnessed the proliferation of books, videos, websites and television programs that have proposed a new site for Mt. Sinai – Jebel al-Lawz in Saudi Arabia.  They also told about underwater searches for Pharaoh’s chariots and weapons from the Egyptian army.  This paper examines three aspects of the identification [...]

By Gordon Franz
Where was the Red Sea Crossing?
The location of the Red Sea Crossing is a hotly debated topic and I would like to throw my two cents worth into the debate.  There are two studies that I have found to be very helpful and would highly recommend them.  The first is Dr. James Hoffmeier’s [...]

By Gordon Franz
The Chronology from Rameses to the Red Sea
Bible geographers who deal with the Exodus take the three encampments from Rameses to the Red Sea, i.e. Succoth, Etham and Migdol, to refer to three days of travel.  The Bible does not explicitly say this.
Joel McQuitty made an interesting suggestion back in 1986.  He suggested [...]

By Gordon Franz
The recent reputed discovery of Noah’s Ark by the BASE Institute has gotten a great deal of airtime as well as publicity on the Internet.  There are, however, some excellent reviews that critique the claim that Noah’s Ark landed in Iran.  Three such reviews should be noted: the first is a well illustrated [...]