WE MUST LOOK IN TO

Biblical Discoveries & Middle East:

On Sunday's show, George Noory was joined by  professor, author and researcher, Dr. Ken Hanson, who spoke about biblical history, prophecies, and discoveries, as well as shared his analysis of the Middle East, and the potential for apocalyptic events. Having previously lived in Israel and the Middle East for a number of years, he has a foreboding sense that a cataclysmic war is on the verge of breaking out there, possibly involving Iran and Israel. Interestingly, he noted that Jews and Arabs have not always been at odds, and that the current enmity is not based on ancient feuds or disagreement over religion. He argued that the best solution to the Palestinian refugee problem is for Arab governments to resettle this population in one of the 22 states surrounding Israel; yet they refuse, because keeping them where they are fills their political purpose, he said.

Hanson talked about the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, noting that it was written in Greek, yet he believes that it was a translation from an earlier Hebrew or Aramaic text from the 1st century. The early believers in Jesus thought they were living in 'End Times' as they were facing down the Roman Empire, and Revelation directly spoke to them, he commented. In the year 66 AD, Jews sought their freedom from Rome and revolted, and many of the calamities described in Revelation relate to the Roman's brutal attack on Israel, which was also described by the historian Josephus.

While the Vatican has said that a recent discovery of a 4th century papyrus that refers to Jesus' wife is a forgery, Hanson noted that Carbon 14 dating and other testing has yet to be done on the fragment, and it's possible that it is authentic. The genuineness of the James Ossuary, an ancient burial box, with an Aramaic inscription, translated as "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," is still being debated some 10 years after the discovery was announced, he added. For more, check out Hanson's video Jesus' Lost Heirs, a companion to his book, Blood Kin of Jesus.