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WAS
PARAN MAKKAH OR NEAR MAKKAH???
Prominent Saudi Prince follows Moses Exodus Saga.
Our thesis that Moses’ journey started in
Yemen
and followed the tectonic line of volcanoes to the Holiest City of Islam, MAKKAH
seems to have caused somewhat of a stir in the Kingdom and left the Israelis
cold.
In a private note, a prominent member of the Saudi Royal family has asked to be
kept in touch with further developments not only regarding the Exodus but also
our thesis that the Temples of Jerusalem were never built on the
Temple
Mount
but rather in their more logical position some 600 ft. further south over the
City’s only natural supply of water, The Gihon
Spring in the City of Jerusalem.
I will keep you posted on the developments in the Muslim and Arab world. The
material has already been translated and posted on the internet in Urdu and
Arabic.
Islam has claimed that the coming of Mohammed was foretold in the Bible in the
following verse:
"And this is the
blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before
his death and he said, 'The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Mount
Seir upon them; he shone forth from
Mount Paran he came from ten thousands of holy ones:
with flaming fire at his right hand. Yea, he loved His people; all
those consecrated to him were in his hand: so they followed in thy feet,
receiving direction from thee, when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession
for the congregation of Jacob. Thus the Lord became King in
Jeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of
Israel
together." (Deuteronomy 33:1-5).
The controversy
naturally revolves around any independent evidence that
Paran
was in the vicinity of Makkah.
We have already cited a medieval geographer on that score but one cannot be sure
whether the identification was real or an attempt to strengthen the thesis that
Mohammed was mentioned in the Bible. We would expect therefore that Muslims
would favor that identification. In fact it is now
taken for granted by the Muslim world. Perhaps that is the reason why the Saudis
have expressed more interest in the thesis than the Israelis.
However it does cause Islam a problem which they have preferred not to
address over the centuries. For, if
they
accept Paran as Makkah,
then they MUST at the same time accept that the Exodus took place in
Saudi Arabia
.
What is puzzling is that we cannot find any Islamic commentator who has taken
the next and only logical next step. IF Mekkah is
Paran
then the Exodus MUST have taken place in
Arabia
. We have seen no Islamic
commentator make that obvious conclusion.
What is much more startling is that Yemeni Jewish sages also identified
Paran
with Mekkah, surely against their interests and
biases. The argument has been posited that Yemeni Jews for their own protection
would not want rock the boat and that as the rise of Islam was undoubtedly a
major world event in history and they believe that all such events are predicted
in the Torah, they would have no problem is accepting the Muslim interpretation.
I will leave the reader to decide whether that is sufficient justification for
Jewish sages to have accepted the identification that Paran
is Makkah.
Ever,
Mike
September 2002
California
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