In captivity, the octopus is renowned for its ‘unruly’ behaviour, for example, tampering with or blocking outlet valves, causing its tank to overflow. And it can be very difficult to keep contained. It can squeeze its boneless body through a space not much bigger than its eye—just sufficient f…
Hamath was a district which lay north of Damascus in northern Syria (Zech 9:1-2). The modern city of Hama is derived from this ancient place and is situated either side of the Orontes River, 213 kilometres north of Damascus.
The mountain ranges of the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon peaks stretch northw…
A Natural History of Biblical Lands – Hamath Read More »
When the Roman empire divided under the emperor Theodosius in AD395, the geographic split into east and west occurred along the area we know today as the Balkans.
If we examine the map of the area today, we find a patchwork quilt of small nations which have been described as the soft underbelly o…
Russia and the Balkans Read More »
Butterflies aren’t the strongest fliers. Their large wings cause them to flutter about, rather than generating more direct flight paths. But that fluttery flight makes it hard for predators to catch them. And if you have ever tried to catch a resting butterfly, you know they are surprisingly diffi…
Marvels of Creation – Clapping Butterflies Read More »
Water, like carbon, has a special role in living things. It is needed by all known forms of life. All organisms on earth are made up mostly of water; thus, water is the biological cornerstone of life. Water is a simple molecule, containing just three atoms: two hydrogen and one oxygen. Nonetheless, …
The Wonder of Water Read More »
Myrrh is referred to 11 times in the Scriptures—more than any other perfume. The Hebrew refers to its bitter taste (mar, “bitter”). It is derived from the gummy sap that oozes out of the Commiphora tree when the bark is cut. The leaking resin is allowed to harden and then scraped off the trunk…
Spider silk is one of the strongest materials in the natural world. Consisting almost entirely of large proteins, silk fibres have tensile strengths comparable to steel
and, on a weight to weight basis, some silks are nearly as elastic as rubber. In combining these two properties, silks revea…
The Scriptures speak of the wild ass which inhabits mountain steppes and semi-desert plains (Job 24:5). These animals are known today as onagers. They are reddish-brown or yellowish-brown in colour and have a broad dorsal stripe on the middle of the back. Unlike donkeys, onagers have never been dome…
This is the title of an op-ed article written by Michael Bociurkiw who is a global affairs analyst and a former spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He wrote this:
“With mass protests erupting in Belarus over a disputed presidential election on Sunday, after wh…
What’s stopping Putin from expanding further? Read More »
Background
Laodicea was situated in the Lycos Valley in the province of Phrygia and was founded by Antiochus II (261–246BC) of Syria, who named it for his wife Laodike, and who populated it with Syrians and Jews who were transplanted from Babylonia.
The ruins of the city show it to have be…
Revelation 3:14-21 – Laodicea Read More »
