Footprints in the Desert

There are so many archaeological discoveries that we never hear about. When my wife and I were in Israel we were taken to Dan, where Jereboam had set up one of the two golden calves for the Israelites to worship. The site of the altar and the temple are there, and yet we had never heard of it.


A mock-up altar on the site at Dan, in northern Israel – Photo by Ron Taylor

Another archaeological discovery are footprints carved on the rocks of the Arabian desert. Avi Lipkin is an Israeli friend of Christians. In his book Return to Mecca, he tells of the many carvings of footprints. What is the significance of these carvings? The Children of Israel were simply marking their territory. Here is what the Lord told them;

Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. – Deuteronomy 11:24

Of course, I have to wonder why students in Bible colleges are not told of these findings which confirm the Bible? Note the extent of the territory promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.

In the 1980s, archaeologist Adam Zertal and his team discovered a half dozen sites in the Jordan Valley with foot-shaped enclosure walls. Some of these foot-shaped sites were the size of two football fields together, and encompassed several acres. The shape was not caused by the lay of the land, it was a purposeful design.

There are so many of these stone artifacts that they have been named; sandalim and gilgalim. The “im” suffix creates a plural form in Hebrew. Sandalim are sandals. Gilgal is Hebrew for “circle;” gilgalim is “circles,” in this case stone circles or enclosures.

Archaeologists have found altars of unhewn stones in the middle of these stone enclosures. One of these altars is 23 feet by 30 feet by 10 feet in height. That is huge!

And yet the archaeologists cannot determine the purpose of the enclosures. All they have to do is look at the Word of God. The Israelites were taking the Lord at His word and built these stone enclosures as a memorial of the promise the Lord made.

The Bible is confirmed by history and archaeology and current events. May the name of the Lord be praised always!

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