Beersheba

Introduction
Ancient Beersheba was a town in Canaan, inhabited first by various Canaanite tribes then by the ancient Israelites immediately following their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness (See Sinai Desert). Beersheba marked the southernmost border of the land promised to Abraham [founding patriarch of the Israelites] and his descendants by Yahweh [God]. The town of Beersheba was portioned out to the tribe of Judah as part of his inheritance.

"20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, clan by clan: 21 The southernmost towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the boundary of Edom were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, 28 Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain and Rimmon—a total of twenty-nine towns and their villages (Joshua 15:20-28)". (See Joshua 15:20-28).

Joshua 19:51 "51 These are the territories that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel assigned by lot at Shiloh in the presence of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. And so they finished dividing the land". 

Iron ([See Iron Age ) was the main metal in use and men made iron tools and weapons. Paganism and idolatry also abounded everywhere.

During this time period, God [Yahweh] called Abraham from his home in Ur [Mesopotamia], and instructed him to go to a land where "He would show him." Heeding God's call, Abraham left Ur and went to live in Canaan. Abraham spent the major amount of his time was spent living in the southern town of Beersheba, as did Isaac and Jacob. A few centuries later, the Israelites, under Joshua, entered Canaan, uprooted most of the original inhabitants, and settled down to worship the one true God. Eventually, they succumbed to its pagan influences; and, as prophesied by Yahweh's prophets, this subsequently led to their own uprooting by foreign powers.

Not very long ago, archaeologists made an astounding find in this very region - sound proof of the Israelite's existence and spirituality in the land. They unearthed a four-horned brazen altar that had the structural likeness of the altar used by the Israelites in the sacrificial rites that were performed during their solemn assemblies (i.e., Passover, Day of Atonement), and prescribed for them in the Mosaic Law Covenant.

Today, ancient Beersheba lies buried beneath rubble and sand, and not very far from modern the modern town of Beersheba.

The Canaanite Period

 * Origin

The Canaanites are the descendants of Noah's son Ham through Ham's son Canaan(Genesis 10:6). They originally resided in Mesopotamia [now Modern Iraq]. The capital city of Mesopotamia was Babylon, the Greek form of Babel [meaning, "The Gate of God"]. In an inscription of the Kassite conqueror Gaddas the name appears as Ba-ba-lam, as if from the Assyrian babalu, "to bring"; another foreign folk etymology is found in Genesis 11:9, from "balbal," which means "to confound". A second name of the city, which perhaps originally denoted a separate village or quarter, was Su-anna, and in later inscriptions it is often represented ideographically by E-ki, the pronunciation and meaning of which are uncertain. . One of the many gods that they worshipped there was Merodach ([name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon ) who was also known as Marduk, the divine patron of the city.

Their original settlement included other well-known civilizations such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and the Persian Empire, and well-known figures such as Nimrod [Mesopotamian monarch who founded Babylon], Hammurabi, and Nebuchadnezzar. There is archaeological evidence [the Eblaite material (dated 2350 BC)] "from the archive of Tell Mardikh showing the oldest reference to Canaanites in the ethnic name ga-na-na which provides a third millennium reference to the name Canaan". Many other inscriptions have been found linking the Canaanites to ancient Mesopotamia. 

Another group that settled in Canaan was the Horites. It is believed that this group came to the land after the collapse of the Akkadian Empire. Evidence shows the arrival of peoples using Khirbet Kerak Ware pottery,[19] coming originally from the Zagros Mountains, east of the Tigris. It is suspected by some[20] that this event marks the arrival in Syria and Canaan of the Hurrians, possibly the people later known in the Biblical tradition as Horites. John Bright[21] and William F. Albright[22] have suggested that contact during the early Isin-Larsa period of Amorite states lies behind the Abraham stories of the patriarchal traditions. 


 * Politics

The Canaanite areas were originally agricultural but became urbanized city-states such as Jericho. Located at the center of major routes that link it to three continents, the land of Canaan also became the central meeting place for leaders from Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor who were intent on trade. Their growing prosperity from trade led to their dominance by powerful regional neighbors, such as Ancient Egypt and Assyria who attempted to control them politically. For example, around 1150 BCE there was a withdrawal of the last Egyptian garrisons at Beth Shean, the Jordan Valley, Megiddo and Gaza,. This was during the reign of Rameses VI. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah#Pre-history_of_Israel]

The Canaanites were paganists and idolaters; and therefore worshipped and believed in many gods. They worshipped "Baal [or "false god"]. The Canaanites believed that he was the giver and sustainer of life. This deity was also called the "son of Dagon" (controller of grain), and "Hadad" (storm god who would provide plentiful rains).
 * Religion

According to one source, "Ba'al" can refer to any god and even to human officials; in some texts it is used as a substitute for Hadad, a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name Hadad, Ba'al was used commonly. Nevertheless, few if any Biblical uses of "Ba'al" refer to Hadad, the lord over the assembly of gods on the holy mount of Heaven, but rather refer to any number of local spirit-deities worshipped as cult images, each called ba'al and regarded by the writers of the Hebrew Bible in that context as a false god. 

Some scholars claim it is uncertain whether "Ba'al" 'the Lord' refers to Melqart in Kings 10:26, they point out that Hadad was also worshipped in Tyre. However this position negates the real possibility that Hadad and Melqart are one and the same god, only having different names because of different languages and cultures. Hadad being Canaanite and Melqart being Phoenician. Both Hadad and Melqart are professed to be the son of El both carrying the same secondary position in the pantheons of each culture. This fact reveals them to be the same deity with different names due to different languages. A contemporary example of this would be God in English and Dios in Spanish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal]

The Canaanites believed that Baal was in absolute control over nature and over people. They also held that he was the principal deity of the land, second only to his father El. In their religious ceremonies, base sex worship was also prevalent along with the commandment for religious prostitution. Human sacrifice was common and was often practiced in order to appease their gods. The pagan practitioners would kill young children and bury them in the foundations of a house or public building at the time of its construction. Joshua made comment on this activity. It is recorded at Joshua 6:26, and reads, "At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:
 * "At the cost of his [Hiel the Bethelite's] firstborn son
 * will he lay its foundations;
 * at the cost of his youngest
 * will he set up its gates." Howard E. Vos, "An Introduction To Bible Archaeology" Revised ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1953) pp. 17-19. "Joshua 6:26 says, "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn..."

Author, Howard E. Vos explains how there were many clay tablets unearthed from Ras Shamra [the prehistoric city of Ugarit of the Amarna Letters], many revealing the myths told about the deities of the Canaanite pantheon including its chief male god Baal. He writes of a story that revealed the account about Baal's conflict with Mot, the powerful god of death. According to him, the Canaanites saw the conflict between Baal and Mot as an ongoing one. Mot, the story says, demanded Baal's' surrender, and '"the cry when forth: "Baal is dead! What will return him to life; whereupon all nature blossomed again and El proclaimed: "Baal the conqueror lives; the prince, the lord of the earth, has revived."' (from the article, "Baal the Life Giver," by Howard E. Vos).] 


 * Archaeological Discoveries

Many clay tablets have been unearthed from Ras Shamra [the prehistoric city of Ugarit of the Amarna Letters], many of them revealing the myths told about the deities of the Canaanite pantheon including its chief male god Baal. One story reveals an interesting account about Baal's conflict with Mot, the powerful god of death, who was represented by drought and sterility. The Canaanites saw this conflict between Baal and Mot as ongoing. Mot demanded Baal, the life givers' surrender, and the cry when forth: "Baal is dead! What will return him to life; whereupon all nature blossomed again and El proclaimed: "Baal the conqueror lives; the prince, the lord of the earth, has revived." (from the article, "Baal the Life Giver," by Howard E. Vos).]

The Patriarchal Period
The patriarchal period refers to the time when the Israelite patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were residing in Canaan. It is held that this period occurred during the Iron Age. . (Also see Genesis 15:18-21 (KJV): In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jews. The Biblical Amorites are considered synonymous with the Canaanites and occupied the same land.

Abraham, after being called by God, left his hometown of Ur and traveled to the land of Canaan. Immediately upon arriving, Abraham began surveying the region. He traveled with his wife and servants from town to town, dwelling in a tent. His status was that of a resident alien. Abraham's first stop was at Shechem near "the great trees of Mamre," where God appeared to him and reaffirmed the promises that He had made. Abraham then built an altar there to worship God. Later, he took his wife Sarah and his servants and went to stay in Beersheba [Genesis 21:34). After a dispute with Abimelech [King of the Philistines] over a well which Abraham had dug, they concluded a peaceful agreement (Genesis 21:25-33) which Abraham authenticated [or further approved] by naming the place "Beersheba." Abraham later planted a tamarisk tree near his residence, and called upon the name of Yahweh (Genesis 21:33). Genesis 24:67).
 * Abraham


 * Isaac

Isaac, son of Abraham had left Beersheb and was living in Beer Lahai Roi in the Negev Desert [in the tent of his mother Sarah] when he married Rebekah (Genesis 24:62 and 67).

He returned to Beersheba (Genesis 26:17- 33). , however, after encountering problems with the Philistines over the wells dug by his servants.

When he lived in Gerar, Isaac had grown very wealthy so the Philistines began stopping up his wells with earth. He was then ordered by King Abimelech to leave Gerar. The biblical account states, "14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth [Genesis 26:14-15).

"17 So Isaac moved away from there (Beer Lahai Roi, be-er-la-hi'-roi, "well of the Living One that seeth me: A fountain of water in the wilderness," "the fountain in the way to Shur") (Genesis 16:7-14) .. This was the scene of Hagar's theophany, and here Isaac dwelt for some time (Genesis 16:7; 24:62; 25:11). The site is in The Negeb between Kadesh and Bered (Genesis 16:14).

and encamped in the Valley of Gerar [near Beersheba] and settled there. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them." God comforted Isaac and gave him the promises that He had made to Abraham. The account reads, " 23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.

After much quarelling over the wells which Isaac kept digging, he soon moved to Beersheba. Here, he built an altar to God for worship as well as another well. He made a peace agreement with Abimelech the Phillistine over the well and renamed the place Sheeba.

25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. In due time, Isaac was able to conclude a peace agreement with Abimelech [the Philistine] " 27 Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?"
 * 28 They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, 'There ought to be a sworn agreement between us'-between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD."
 * 30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
 * 32 That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, "We've found water!" 33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.


 * Jacob

Jacob [Israel], one of Isaac's two sons (See Esau) was living in Hebron when another famine had come to the land of Canaan. He wanted to go to Egypt at this time in order to find sustenance for his familym, but the Lord told him to remain in Canaan.

At one point in his life, Jacob did leave Hebron and set out for Haran [Mesopotamia] in search of a wife from the daughters of Laban [his mother's brother] [Genesis 28:2]. According to Genesis 31:3. the Lord told him to "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." Jacob 27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed…."

In his old age, and after Joseph had been made ruler in Egypt, Jacob traveled toEgypt with his entire family and servants (Genesis 48:5). At that time, there was a severe famine in the land. The biblical account reads, " 1 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 ater, Jacob went to Egypt from Beersheba.
 * 2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, "Jacob! Jacob!"
 * "Here I am," he replied.
 * 3 "I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes."
 * 5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. 6 They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt. 7 He took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring."

Some very notable events made Beersheba the most significant of all 29 town allotted to Judah. The prophet Elijah took up refuge in Beersheba when Jezebel [Queen of Ancient Israel] ordered him killed (I Kings 19:3). The sons of the prophet Samuel were judges in Beersheba (I Samuel 8:2). Saul, Israel's first king, built a fort for his campaign against the Amalekites (I Samuel 14:48 and 15:2–9)."

Finally, Beersheba was the town where the patriarchs dwelled for the longest time, and the last town lived in by the youngest of them [Jacob/Israel] before their 400-year long sojourn in the land of Egypt. Departing from Beersheba was a major turning point in God's overall plan for his chosen people and the world. In Egypt, they would be preserved as a nation that would later serve the one true God, Yahweh. [Jacob died while living in Egypt, and foretold of the time when a universal King/ruler would come from Judah, one of his twelve sons. (Genesis 49:8-12) Genesis 49:8-12 reads,
 * 8 "Judah, your brothers will praise you;
 * your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
 * your father's sons will bow down to you.
 * 9 You are a lion's cub, O Judah;
 * you return from the prey, my son.
 * Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
 * like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
 * 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
 * nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
 * until he comes to whom it belongs
 * and the obedience of the nations is his.
 * 11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
 * his colt to the choicest branch;
 * he will wash his garments in wine,
 * his robes in the blood of grapes.
 * 12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
 * his teeth whiter than milk.



The Israelite Settlement Period

 * Early Settlement

The Israelites came to occupy most of Canaan, following their victories against many Canaanite cities while under the leadership of Joshua. One source explains, "There was no formal government so the people were led by ad hoc leaders (the "judges" of the biblical Book of Judges) in times of crisis. Around 1020BC, after the tribes had been settled for a while, Saul was annointed as their first monarch." The source goes on to say explain how David succeeded Saul as King of a United Monarchy [Israel and Judah] around 1006BC, moving his capital to Jerusalem. Later, King David, with the help of God, was able to annex Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, and parts of ancient Aram [Syria] and Aram-Damascus, making Aram a vassal state. He was succeeded by his son Solomon in about 965 BC. [It was King Solomon who built the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem.]" After King Solomon's death in 926BC, the United Monarchy split into two kingdoms - Israel to the North and Judah to the South [Also See Nehemiah 11:20]

Archaeological evidence for an Israelite presence in the area has been found from only six years after the end of the reign of Rameses II, in the Merneptah Stele. Nearly three million Israelites who had been wandering in the desert for a generation, invaded the land of Canaan, destroying major Canaanite cities such as Ai, Jericho and Hazor. Dever suggests that there were about 300 newly-founded small agricultural villages from lower Galilee to the Negev in the 13th-12th century BCE (usually considered the time of Judges), all of them conspicuously absent from previous Late Bronze Age towns and settlement along the coast. The population rose from around 12,000 at the end of the Bronze Age to about 55,000 by the end of the 12th century, and rose to 75,000 by the end of the 11th century - the period of David and Solomon - with the vast majority in the north. 


 * The Two-Kingdom Period and the Influence of Paganism and Idolatry

It wasn't too long after the United Monarchy had split into two kingdoms -Israel and Judah - before many of the Israelites starting coming under the influence of Canaanite religion and began forsaking the only God who had delivered them from slavery in Egypt-Yahweh. The Israelites began adopting many of their traditions and inculcating their heathen practices into the pure monotheistic religion that they had been taught by Moses. Beersheba was one of the many towns that fell under such evil influence.

One source writes about how Yahweh, the God of Israel, continually condemned the worship of Baal, and the Lord sent His prophets to warn them of this idolatry and of the corruption of Baal's fertility rites. During the period of the kings of Israel, Baal worship was prevalent, and even commanded. Queen Jezebel, the Phoenician wife of King Ahab, had 450 prophets of Baal as her court counselors. Elijah challenged them on Mount Carmel and Yahweh proved to be the true God [add ref].

In regards to King Ahab's idolatry, 1 Kings 16:30-34 states, "Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him." (Also see 1 Kings 14:22-24)

It wasn't long before the Kings of Judah followed in the footsteps of their brother [Ahab] in the North." 1 Kings 14:22-24 states, "Now Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel."  As mentioned before, the paganism practiced at shrines in Bethel and other places had become integrated into the ancient [altar] ritual that Yahweh Himself had prescribed. When the horned altar of Beersheba was discovered by archaeologists it was found to be in a corrupted state, showing how badly the Israelites'had gone in their transgressions against Yahweh. The horned altar that was found was structurally similar the one that Moses and the Priests used for making atonement, except for the fact that it was of hewn [shaved] stones, and bore the ingraved image of a serpent. The Israelites knew from Moses' teachings that no tool should be used on the altar of burnt offering since that would defile it [Exodus 10:25, Ex. 20:25 and Exodus 29: 2 or 1 Kings 1:51; 2:28].

Various Names of Baal in Scripture: Baal-gad ( "lord of good fortune," Josh 11:17) Baal-hamon ( "lord of wealth," Song 8:11) Baal-hazor ( "Baal's village," 2 Sam 13:23) Baal-meon ( "lord of the dwelling," Num 32:38) Baal-peor ( "lord of the opening," Deut 4:3) Baal-tamar ( "lord of the palm tree," Judg 20:33), and others. Ba'al-ze'bub was the form of the name of Baal who was worshiped at the Philistine city of Ekron [West]. Baal, under this aspect of worship, was viewed as the producer of flies and therefore able to control this pest so common in the East. 

There is now physical evidence, discovered by archaeologists, of ancient inscriptions linking Yahweh and Asherah. An 8th century BC ostracon inscribed "Berakhti et’khem l’YHVH Shomron ul’Asherato" was discovered by Israeli archeologists at Quntilat 'Ajrud (Hebrew "Horvat Teman"), a remote desert site in the Sinai desert, in 1975. This inscription translates as: "I have blessed you by YHVH of Samaria and His Asherah", or "...by our guardian and his Asherah", if "Shomron" is to be read "shomrenu". Another inscription from Khirbet el-Kom near Hebron reads: "Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh and by his Asherah; from his enemies he saved him!"

Prophesy and Reform

From around 792-750BC, Amos, a prophet of Yahweh, prophesied over Judah and Israel, and further denounced Beersheba where other pagan sanctuaries were in existence, saying, "…because they have been led astray by false gods…." [Amos 2:4]. In Amos 2:9, it reads," 8 They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines." His pronouncements came only a short time before the northern kingdom [Israel] would go into captivity by the King of Assyria (722-721 BC). It would take another 136 years before the southern kingdom of Judah, with Beersheba, would follow suit in 586 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The prophet made prediction concerning this event in Amos 5:5, saying "For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing." [Also see "Amos" at Wikipedia (prophet))

King Hezekiah undertook major religious reforms, attempting successfully at first to centralize Judean religious practices in the temple and eliminate the false worship [verse]

As the Israelites were being swept away by paganism and idolatry in Beersheba and other cities, they lost their commitment to God's Laws as well as a basis for righteous conduct, leading to an even deeper susceptibility to pagan influences. In spite of Israel's transgression, however, Yahweh promised future salvation and restoration to the remnant returning from Babylonian exile [verse], and God kept His promise to return them to their land during Nehemiah's time [verse]; and again in AD 33 - during the time of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ [verse].

The prophet Amos mentions Beersheba in regard to idolatry (Amos 5:5 and 8:14).[4]

The Horned Altar of Beersheba and Christ
Much to the joy of many Jews and Christians was the remarkable discovery of a four-horned sacrificial altar in the ancient Beersheba archaeological site. The discovery was in 1973 and made by the late Professor Yohanan Aharoni and Professor Ze'ev Herzog of Tel Aviv University at an archaeological site in Israel called "Tel Be'er Sheva." The team of archaeologists first unearthed an ancient storage wall that contained the stones of the altar. These stones were then extracted from the wall and reassembled to assume their former shape. Three of the stones still had large horns projecting from them, while a fourth showed evidence that the horn had been broken off. Yet still another stone had the carved image of a serpent.* In spite of the altar's degradation, it basic structure proved to be the same as the one that Yahweh* had instituted [for Israel's sacrificial rituals under the Mosaic Law Covenant.

Excavations have uncovered a well-planned city dating to the time of the United Monarchy (10th century BC). It was built on an artificial mound some 19 or 20 feet high, affording both security and an imposing view of the surrounding region. The city was actually quite small, about 3 acres, but its defenses were substantial. The earliest wall, a massive structure of sun-dried brick with stone foundations, was reinforced by a sloped glacis with a deep moat at its foot. This wall, which existed throughout the 10th century BC, was destroyed in the 9th century BC. It was replaced by a casement wall (a double wall with rooms) built on the foundation of the old solid wall. It existed almost 100 years, until destroyed in 701 BC by the Assyrian king Sennacharib. [It stands 5 feet high and measures 9 feet on each side, the dimensions of the Tabernacle altar erected by the Israelites in the Wilderness."

The Altar during the Old Covenant
The horned altar only proves that before the Messiah was sent forth by God, plans were in put in place for forgiveness [atonement]. The altar was ancient Israel's legal means for receiving atonement for sins before the great Advent of the Messiah, for God's Law, which they were under at that time, said, "without the shedding of pure blood, there is no forgiveness."] [add verse]. There would have to be a substitute or "scapegoat" that would pay the penalty incurred by the sin. This "scapegoat" [add verse] had to pure and sinless in order for the sinner to be forgiven by God.

All of mankind was marred spiritually by inherited sin from Adam, our forefather. A person who is spiritually unclean due to this inheritance cannot appear before a perfect and righteous God with incurring His wrath. One had to be cleansed [excused] from the sin first through the blood in the ritual. The sinless animal's pure blood was shed on the horned altar for spiritual cleansing. This important ritual was a vital part of the covenant that God had established with the nation of Israel through His servant, Moses.

Christ, the Altar's Replacement
Later, when God's mercy abounded for all people, and He saw fit to save and redeem mankind and forgive all of their transgressions, He himself sent for the "scapegoat" for sacrifice. When mankind was enslaved to the sin it had inherited from Adam, God sent forth his only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to be a propitiatory sacrifice to make atonement through his death, for the sins of the world. Christ's life-saving sacrifice would nullify the effect that Adam's transgression had on the world - the inability to resist sin and ultimately, the sentence of death. This explains why Christ is often referred to as the "second Adam." (See 1 Corinthians 15:22 and 1 Corinthians 15:45 ) Hebrews 9:14 states, "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[a] so that we may serve the living God!" The ancient horned altar played a huge part in Yahweh's ultimate plan for salvation by helping to pave the way for the coming of the Messiah. This was done by preserving the Holy Seed of Christ that was rooted in the tribe of Judah. Yahweh makes His Law clear at Leviticus 17:1 where it reads, "… it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." The apostle Paul makes reference to this Law at Hebrews 9:22 where he states,, "…. without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

Readers can recall when Jacob, as he lay dying in Egypt, prophesied about the one whom God would ultimately choose to lead the nations. A portion of Jacob's prophecy at Genesis 49:10, reads, "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his."

The Apostle Paul makes the nature of Christ vividly clear when he says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. [Therefore, we can only be resurrected through Christ.] For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. "Colossians 1:15-20. It is strongly believed by Christians that the horned altar was a precursor to Jesus Christ.

Modern History and Geography
Beersheba is located on the northern edge of the Negev desert 115 kilometres (71 mi) south-east of Tel Aviv and 120 kilometres (75 mi) south-west of Jerusalem. The city is located on the main route from the center and north of the country to Eilat in the far south. The Valley of Beer Sheva has been populated since thousands of years ago due to the presence of water which travels here from the Hebron Mountains in the winter and is stored underground in vast quantities. The main river in Beersheba is Nahal Beersheva, a wadi [valley or dry riverbed] which floods in the winter. The Kovshim and Katef streams are other important wadis which pass through the city.