Watch Jerusalem

In 2019, a groundbreaking study showed that the tin discovered on the Israelite coast during the time of the judges was sourced as far away as the United Kingdom—specifically, the regions of Cornwall and Devon. While the study attributed the trade of the tin to the Phoenicians, the Bible describes Israelite tribes being heavily invested in seafaring trade at the same time. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal describes his recent visit to a tin mine in Cornwall, as well as the connection between the region and the Israelite tribes of Dan and Asher.

The first-ever direct flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates by an Israeli commercial airline took place this week. The flight comes just two weeks after United States President Donald Trump announced that the U.A.E. would normalize its ties with the Jewish state. Commentators have called the deal historic, and rightly so. On today’s show, host Brent Nagtegaal shows how the deal also moves forward biblical prophecies that will culminate in the coming of the Messiah.

What happened to the ‘lost’ tribes of Israel? Where did they go after they vanished some 2,700 years ago? The modern identity of the “lost tribes” of Israel has intrigued people for centuries, if not millennia. Explorers of antiquity have attempted to identify them with uncontacted native islanders. Theories abound. Some claim that they simply no longer exist, swallowed up by time, war, captivity. Can we know what happened to them?

For over a decade Watch Jerusalem editor in chief Gerald Flurry has said that Europe will replace Iran as the dominant force inside Lebanon. He made this forecast at a time when Hezbollah was strong and Europe’s power in the nation was virtually nil. In the aftermath of last week’s Beirut blast that killed over 150 people and injured thousands, we are witnessing this biblically based forecast quickly take place. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal discusses how the Beirut explosion could act as a catalyst for the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Last week, archaeologists in Jerusalem showcased a recently discovered administration storage center from the time period of biblical king Hezekiah. On today’s podcast, host Brent Nagtegaal talks with archaeologist Christopher Eames about the significance of the discovery. Nagtegaal also discusses a recent study from Tel Aviv University that overturns the assumption that greater efficiency of the human brain accounts for its superior output when compared to animals.

For the past three weeks, several explosions at Iran’s nuclear facilities have again raised the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran. According to the New York Times, Israel was behind many of the attacks that may have set back Iran’s nuclear program. Nevertheless, in an unsettling interview with the Times of Israel, former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit said that it is only a matter of time before Iran attains a nuclear weapon. More troubling was the assertion from Shavit that Iran could be deterred from using the bomb by traditional means. In his view, it would be unlikely for Iran to use a nuclear weapon as it would mean the simultaneous destruction of Iran by a nuclear counter-attack. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal looks at the recent attacks on Iran’s nuclear program and discusses why such “cold war” logic from Shavit does not apply to Iran.

In his seminal work The United States and Britain in Prophecy, Herbert W. Armstrong established that the United States and British Commonwealth represent the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, respectively—one tribe prophesied to become a great nation, and the other, a company, or commonwealth, of nations. While his book focused primarily on those two birthright tribes, Mr. Armstrong identified several other nations of western Europe, Scandinavia and the British Isles as descending from the ‘lost’ tribes of Israel. We have covered these nations one by one throughout this “Modern Identity of the 12 Tribes” podcast series. But the final two tribes of this series, Simeon and Levi, are somewhat different—these were prophesied to be “scattered” within Israel. On today’s program, host Christopher Eames examines the evidence for where these tribes went—including, in particular, a significant connection to Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.

As statues of eminent historical figures fall around the world, another effort is underway to “topple” the biblical “image” of David. Did the king exist? And if so, was he really ruler over a kingdom of any significance? That’s the premise of the recent New Yorker exposé by Ruth Margalit. Spoiler alert: The article concludes that there is little, if any, evidence—and even if David existed, he certainly didn’t rule a significant kingdom. The conclusion was not surprising from the New Yorker. What was surprising was that the article content was not about archaeology. In fact, the article was hardly about King David himself! On today’s program, host Christopher Eames examines the “evidence” presented against King David (or rather, the lack thereof) and the primary focus of the article: a fawning biography of the “generous, witty, courtly, overwhelmingly charming,” anti-David theorist Prof. Israel Finkelstein.

On December 23, 2016, the United States failed to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution that called Israel’s control of the Old City of Jerusalem illegal. The decision to let the anti-Israel resolution pass was largely seen as a parting shot against the state of Israel by the outgoing Obama administration. Reporting on the event at the time, we asked if President Obama was planning on pushing another anti-Israel resolution in his final weeks. While no resolution came forward, reporting this past week revealed for the first time that Obama was indeed preparing another anti-Israel resolution at the UN. It was withdrawn after Russian officials told the Obama administration that Moscow would not let it pass. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal details the proof of President Obama’s plan at the UN as well as the deeper motivations behind his hatred for the State of Israel.

On today’s program, host Christopher Eames examines the evidence for identifying modern-day Norway and Iceland with the “wolf” tribe of Benjamin.