“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.”
Psalm 122: 6
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Where are Mount Sinai and the Site of the Red Sea Crossing?
Where is Mount Sinai, and where did the Children of Israel cross the Red Sea? We know that Mount Sinai is in the Land of Midian, because that is where Moses was tending his father-in-law’s sheep when he met Yahweh. We also know that Saudi Arabia was called the Land of Midian during Moses’ time, but where exactly is Mount Sinai? We also need to know the exact location of the Red Sea crossing.
Why do we need answers to these questions? There is only one reason. Many people will not believe Yahweh unless they actually see with their own eyes evidence to support His Word, or they must hear it from people they trust if they cannot see the evidence themselves.
It is because of our lack of faith that we need to know these things, but Yahweh is gracious and merciful. He knows our condition and He loves us despite our shortcomings. Yahweh has provided every bit of evidence that we need to answer these questions, and you need to know it.
Mount Sinai is in present-day Saudi Arabia. Many Bible scholars believe that Mount Sinai is in the Sinai Peninsula, but the physical evidence does not support that conclusion. In other words, many so-called “experts” and “scholars” are wrong.
Jebel Musa is the site that many Bible scholars believe is Mount Sinai. It is located in a remote area in the southern portion of the Sinai Peninsula between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. The region is extremely desolate with no water at all and very little vegetation. The northern extremity of the Red Sea divides to form these two gulfs, and they represent the western and eastern boundaries of the Sinai Peninsula. Both of these gulfs are referred to in the Bible and in historical documents dating back to Bible times as the Red Sea.
There is no site within many miles of Jebel Musa where several million people could camp. That is a critical point, because we know that the Children of Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai for many months along with their animals. Archeologists have searched the Sinai Peninsula for many years to find physical evidence of a large campsite, and they have found absolutely nothing that supports the conclusion that Mount Sinai is in the Sinai Peninsula.
Several million people along with all their animals would have left behind enormous amounts of physical evidence, and much of that evidence would have survived to this day. They had to eat, and they had to dump their garbage. They had cooking utensils, and many pieces of cookware must have been broken from time to time and discarded. The remains of the animals they slaughtered would be buried somewhere. Time and the elements would not wash away all of the evidence.
Since no evidence supporting the Exodus experience has been found in the Sinai Peninsula, many people (including some Bible scholars) have concluded that the Exodus is just a Bible story. They see it as a great piece of fiction—not as a detailed description of actual events.
There is an even better reason why Mount Sinai cannot be in the Sinai Peninsula. Yahweh told Moses that He was going to take the Children of Israel out of Egypt. That may seem to be a simple point, but it is not. Jebel Musa and the entire Sinai Peninsula are in Egypt, and they were part of Egypt long before the Exodus experience. If Yahweh led them to Jebel Musa, then He did not lead them out of Egypt. Once again, many people have used this information to support their conclusion that the Exodus experience is a good story, and that is all.
Many Bible scholars believe that the Children of Israel actually crossed the Sea of Reeds, not the Red Sea. The Sea of Reeds is a group of lakes between the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean Sea. The largest of these is called Bitter Lakes, and many Bible scholars believe that they crossed Bitter Lakes. It is shallow, and it is located near the Land of Goshen where the Children of Israel lived before they left Egypt.
The depth of the sea is no problem for Yahweh, but it is a big problem for people who believe that they serve a small God. If He could part 20 feet of water so the Children of Israel could walk across the sea on dry land, then He certainly could part much deeper water just as easily. The depth of Bitter Lakes is irrelevant, but a surprising number of people hang their hope about the reality of the Exodus experience on the fact that Bitter Lakes is shallow. How unfortunate.
There are several problems with Bitter Lakes as the Red Sea crossing site. First, Bitter Lakes is in Egypt. The entire region around the Sea of Reeds on all sides, including Bitter Lakes, is in Egypt, and it has been in Egypt since long before the Exodus experience. If Yahweh took the Children of Israel across Bitter Lakes, then He was taking them from Egypt to Egypt, and His Word is not accurate.
Second, there is no physical evidence of a large mass of humanity fleeing to escape the pursuing Egyptian army in the vicinity of Bitter Lakes. Additionally, there is no physical evidence of death and carnage at the bottom of Bitter Lakes.
Third, Bitter Lakes is so shallow that even if the walls of water had come crashing down on the pursuing Egyptian army most of them would have survived, and the Bible says that they all died. Again, many people have concluded that the evidence, or lack of it, suggests that the Bible description of the Exodus is just a folk tale.
If we are expected to have faith in Yahweh, then we simply must be able to trust His Word. Either there was or there was not an Exodus experience. If the Exodus did not occur, then what other parts of the Bible should we not believe? Well, thankfully there is abundant physical evidence of the Exodus experience, but it is not in the Sinai Peninsula. It is in Saudi Arabia.
The real Mount Sinai is called Jabal al Lawz today, and it is in Saudi Arabia. People living in the area around Jabal al Lawz refer to it as the Mountain of Moses, and the name of the mountain actually means “Mountain of the Almond.” Their knowledge about the mountain’s history has been passed down to them through many generations, and they are certain that it is the real Mount Sinai.
The top of Jabal al Lawz is scorched black from some source of enormous heat, which is just what you would expect to find if Yahweh’s Shekinah had descended on it with great fire and heat. As Charles Stewart, a pastor friend of mine, explained, “The Shekinah is the radiance, glory, or presence of Yahweh dwelling in the midst of His people. It signifies Yahweh dwelling in His sanctuary and among His people. The root word from which Shekinah is derived means ‘to dwell.’ The Shekinah dwelt in the pillar of fire and column of smoke that went before the Children of Israel in the wilderness, in the Tabernacle, and in the Temple Solomon built.”
At the foot of the mountain are twelve pillars, just like the ones that Moses was told to build and an altar just like the one that Moses was told to construct. There is evidence near the mountain that a river once flowed from a rock that is above ground level in this arid desert region, and there is ample room for several million people to camp at its base along with their animals.
There is abundant physical evidence of the Red Sea crossing as well, but it is not found in Bitter Lakes. It is in the Gulf of Aqaba. At the crossing site, a wide land bridge runs completely across the Gulf of Aqaba about 1000 feet below the water’s surface. At both ends of the land bridge, there is a gentle slope from the sea bottom to the shore that people could easily climb up or down.
On either side of the land bridge, the water depth is about 10,000 feet, and the slope of the terrain is so steep that people could not climb up or down. Along the land bridge where the crossing occurred, there is physical evidence of chariots, chariot wheels, and other chariot parts strewn along the sea bottom.
How did the evidence get there? Well, if you believe the Bible, it got there when Pharaoh’s army pursued the Children of Israel into the Red Sea.
You can see pictures of the Exodus route, the Red Sea crossing site, and the real Mount Sinai. Jim and Penny Caldwell and Ron Wyatt have proven beyond any reasonable doubt that Mount Sinai is in Saudi Arabia. Their discoveries are truly amazing, to say the least, and they have been analyzed scientifically by Lennart Möller in his book The Exodus Case: A Scientific Examination of the Exodus Story—and a Deep Look Into the Red Sea. Additionally, a businessman, amateur archeologist, and explorer named Larry Williams reached the same conclusions as the Caldwell’s and Wyatt independently, and he reported his findings in a book titled The Mountain of Moses: The Discovery of Mount Sinai.
Wyatt’s website and both of these books are worth the time that it would take you to study them. They provide abundant evidence supporting the conclusion that the Children of Israel crossed the Gulf of Aqaba and that the real Mount Sinai is in Saudi Arabia. Physical evidence supporting the location of Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia lines up perfectly with the account of the Exodus experience presented in the Bible.
Personal Confirmation of Mount Sinai’s Location
I have confirmed the true location of Mount Sinai personally. First, I have had the pleasure of traveling to Israel and Jordan a number of times, and I have talked with and gotten to know permanent residents of both countries. Surprisingly, when I talk with residents of Jordan (most of whom are Arab Muslims or Palestinians) about the location of Mount Sinai, they tell me in a matter-of-fact way that it is in Saudi Arabia not far from the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border. However, when I talk with people in Israel (most of whom are Sabra Jews, i.e. native-born Israeli Jews) about this subject, they tell me that it is in Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula.
Once I asked a rabbi in Jerusalem where he thought Mount Sinai is, and he quickly said, “Egypt, of course.” Then I asked him if he had ever heard that it is in Saudi Arabia instead, and he said, “This is very strange. I heard someone say that just the other day.”
Second, a Muslim friend and business associate of mine travels to Saudi Arabia frequently on business. During one of his trips, we exchanged several emails. In one email, he asked if I wanted him to bring me anything from Saudi Arabia. I thanked him and told him “no,” but I did ask for a favor. I said, “I would like to visit Saudi Arabia, and I would especially like to visit Jabal al Lawz. Do you think you could arrange that for me?” He responded immediately, “No problem.”
We got together in Washington, D.C. to talk about a business matter shortly after his return to the United States from Saudi Arabia, and the first thing he said when we met was, “Do you know what Jabal al Lawz is?” I told him that I did and asked if he knew. Without any hesitation he said, “Jabal al Lawz is Mount Sinai!”
As it turns out, when he sought permission from Saudi officials for us to go to Jabal al Lawz, they told him that we could not go there because it is a nuclear facility. Their response seemed peculiar to him because he knew the location of Jabal al Lawz, and he knew that there was no reason to place a nuclear facility there. Thus, he asked friends in Saudi Arabia what they knew about Jabal al Lawz, and they told him that it is Mount Sinai. To say the least, he was surprised, and he could not wait to tell me what he had learned.
At that point, he asked me a question that I have been asked many times since I learned about Mount Sinai’s true location—“Why do people think that Mount Sinai is in Egypt instead of Saudi Arabia?” The only sensible answer I have to that question is because Yahweh, in His infinite wisdom, has decided that it is not time to let most people know the truth. The evidence is there for them to see, but it has been hidden from them. Stated another way, they have eyes to see, but they don’t see.
We have more than enough proof to support our belief that the real Mount Sinai is in Saudi Arabia. Yet, despite the physical evidence, the fact that books have been written about it, and websites on the Internet show pictures of it, most people today do not know the truth. What other rationale could I offer? The only explanation that makes any sense is that Yahweh is not ready for most people to know the truth.
Finally, in a conversation with a Muslim student at the University of Virginia from the United Arab Emirates, a country on the Persian Gulf bordering Saudi Arabia, I asked, “Do you know the location of Mount Sinai?”
She replied, “It’s in Saudi Arabia.”
Then I told her that most Jews and Christians believe that it is in Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula, and she seemed puzzled. After thinking for a moment, she said, “You are kidding, aren’t you?”
When I told her that I was not kidding, she was very surprised, because she had known about the location of Mount Sinai since she was a young girl. It is surprising if you think about it. People who live near the real Mount Sinai virtually all of whom are Arab Muslims know exactly what it is, but most of Yahweh’s people—Jews and Christians—are clueless. The day will come when all of us will know the truth, because Yahweh will make sure of it.
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Israeli anger over US spying reignites calls for Pollard’s release
Iranian negotiator: Talks on nuclear deal ‘slowly’ making progress
Arab League nixes US peace deal proposal for IDF presence in West Bank
Boteach: Reaction to Wiesel ad calling for tougher Iran stance ‘overwhelmingly positive’
Former Palestinian prime minister, driver pulled over for speeding
US presses Germany on restitution of Jewish-owned art looted by Nazis
Ministers to vote on legal recognition for gay couples
Erdogan blames ‘international groups’ for corruption scandal that rocks Turkey
Oren calls on US Congress to quell movement to boycott Israel academically
IDF soldiers wound Palestinian trying to plant bomb along Gaza-Israel fence
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Former Israeli Ambassador to Congress: Ban Academic Boycotts
Professor Responds with Sarcasm to Left-Wing Boycott
Clinton: Israeli Criticism – Good for America
Canadian Jewish Groups Announce Initiative Against Bill 60
Gaza Terror Attempt Foiled, Second In 2 Days
King David’s Tomb Vandalized During Snowstorm
Egypt: Third Trial Announced for Deposed Morsi
Italy’s FM Makes Rare Visit to Tehran
Iran: Talks with West Are Making ‘Slow Progress’
US Blocking Iran From Syria Geneva II Talks
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Iran ‘pessimistic’ on Geneva nuclear talks
US Jewish groups support new Iran sanctions bill
Obama urges Congress to resist new Iran sanctions
Senators bring sanctions bill that could ‘kill’ Iran deal
‘No quarrel’ between Iranian and Israeli people, says Rita
US releases more documents on NSA surveillance program
Are Bethlehem’s Christians losing grip on their city?
The new Zionists are right here
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Sunnis and Shia in the Middle East
Report: In Recent Meeting, Putin Surprised Netanyahu With Expression of Support
Iran Spy Chief Runs Military Ops in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen
Iran to Hold Air Force Drill over Strategic Oil Route
Jihadist Leader Envisions an Islamic State in Syria
Firebomb Thrown at Bus near Hebrew University in Jerusalem
Israel, China Economic Cooperation in Focus
Israeli Airport Security is the World’s Best!
Israel Signs Historic Trade Agreement in Indonesia, World’s Largest Muslim Country
In Utah, judge’s ruling ignites same-sex marriage frenzy
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Majid Rafizadeh: Prince Charles Speaks Up for Persecuted Christians— Dubbed by the media as an “Arab Spring” or “Arab Awakening,” these events in the Middle East must be reexamined, as they more closely represent a “Tragedy for Minorities” rather than the democratic rebirth that the former names seem to describe. This campaign to persecute minorities— particularly Christians in Muslim countries that have gone through uprisings or revolution like Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Libya, and Yemen— have increased in the Middle East. Currently, Islamist parties are ruling the state, or are operating separately from the government, to implement their ideology throughout the region, serving their materialistic and political goals.
Joshua Mitnick: Jordan Valley Now at Center of Talks—Control of the Jordan Valley has moved to the forefront of the current U.S.-sponsored peace talks initiated by Secretary of State John Kerry. Israel has made clear in the talks that it wants to retain control of the border region with Jordan, focusing on blocking militant infiltrations between Jordan and the West Bank. Israeli officials and analysts said that just because the conventional threat to the country has diminished, doesn’t mean that the Jewish state doesn’t face a frightening strategic threat from the potential build-up in the West Bank of rocket armories like those amassed in Gaza and Lebanon. Moreover, Israel can’t be sure that the rising chaos in the Arab world won’t eventually destabilize Jordan’s monarchy and affect its military’s (so-far effective) control of the border region.
Jonathan S. Tobin: How Obama Is Losing Egypt to Russia— President Obama’s public approval ratings have continued to head south in recent weeks. Those results represent the general disgust about an administration that broke its word on ObamaCare and was too incompetent to build a website that works to sell health insurance. But the consensus among most pundits is that although his domestic policies are viewed negatively, most Americans don’t have much of a problem with the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. Given the lack of interest in foreign issues it’s difficult to judge whether the president’s weak nuclear deal with Iran is really seen as a positive development or whether they like the way he punted on the crisis in Syria. The only thing we know for sure is that a war-weary public is glad when the use of force is avoided even if they might be leery about handing a victory to Vladimir Putin in Syria or trusting the hate-spewing ayatollahs of Iran to keep their word about their nuclear weapons program.
Prof. Paul Eidelberg: Understanding anti-Semitism on American Campuses—No doubt Arab student organizations and Arab faculty, funded partly by Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, are contributing to the eruption of anti-Semitism on US campuses. This anti-Semitism is magnified by the atheism that dominates the Liberal-Left in academia. However, it needs to be emphasized that the backdrop of this anti-Semitism involves the moral relativism that has permeated American “higher” education” since the early 20th century. It was then that European doctrines, such as German Historicism (historical relativism) and English Positivism, invaded academia along with evolutionary Darwinism.
Victor Sharpe: A people are not “settlers” in their own land— The very fact that Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, brought the left leaning foe of the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, none other than Tzippi Livni, into his coalition as Justice Minister and now chief negotiator in the “peace” talks with the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians, is in itself a tacit admission that he and some members of his government entertain the thought of giving away yet more parts of the ancestral and biblical Jewish homeland. Even more astounding is that Ms. Livni, of all people, is now responsible for negotiating “peace” with the cunning and corrupt PLO’s Saeb Erakat. Indeed, the negotiations have always had one purpose and one purpose alone – to tear away yet more of the Jewish heartland in return for a delusional peace.
Moshe Dann: Settlements and the future of Zionism— Controversy over “Israeli occupation,” “unilateral withdrawal” and the destruction of Jewish communities is not just about territory and the rights of Jews. It exposes a basic struggle between Zionism and post-/anti-Zionism. Jews who live in Judea and Samaria, like those who lived in the Gaza Strip, represent an ideology whose roots are not only in modern Zionism, but in a deep attachment to Jewish history, Judaism and the Land of Israel. This ideology opposes the concept of Israel as a pluralistic, secular “nation of its citizens” like those in Europe.
Louis Rene Beres: Israel’s Strategic Options at the Eleventh Hour— In the bitterest of ironies, ongoing diplomatic negotiations between Iran and the so-called P5-plus-1 countries will allow Iran to become a nuclear weapons state. Although these talks could still slow down Iranian nuclearization, long-term strategic objectives in Tehran will likely remain unchanged. It follows that Israel, the country most imperiled by an “Iranian bomb,” will now have to reassess its most immediate and extended self-defense options. Militarily, the starkly polar alternatives will include both an eleventh-hour conventional preemption against pertinent Iranian hard targets (an expression of “anticipatory self-defense” under international law), and certain carefully nuanced plans for stable and protracted nuclear deterrence.
Dore Gold: Israel and Saudi Arabia: Can interests trump differences?— In the aftermath of the Geneva agreement over Iran’s nuclear program, a large number of articles have appeared in the international press speculating whether as a consequence Israel might be drawn into a new partnership with Saudi Arabia. This idea might at first appear to be far-fetched, given Saudi Arabia’s historical role in the Arab-Israel conflict. After all, it was Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal who launched the Arab oil embargo against the West during the 1973 Yom Kippur War that gave the Arab world the political muscle to force Israeli concessions in the years that followed. More recently, during the wave of suicide bombing attacks against Israel in 2000 to 2003, Saudi Arabia was providing anywhere from 50 to 70 per cent of the budget of Hamas, whose leadership was hosted by major Saudi Arabian charities. Of course today, Saudi Arabia has been replaced by Iran as the principal funding arm of Hamas.
Marissa Young: Support the Palestinians Who Want to Live in Peace—On a field trip to Palestinian villages as part of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Israel-Arab conflict program, I had the opportunity to meet leaders of a small Palestinian village near Bethlehem, sit in their living rooms, and discuss their relationships with the Jews in the settlement next door. I was moved by the story of how these Palestinians formed their own small school so that their children would not be indoctrinated in the hostile environment of the school in a nearby town. I have seen how Israeli Jews have worked with the military authorities to ease building restrictions for the village. Recently, three men from this village were arrested by the Palestinian Authority for the crime of forming friendships with their neighbors. While the PA makes motions towards negotiating, it is cultivating an environment in Palestinian society that does not promote the peaceful coexistence any solution must include.
Daniel Pipes: “Yes, Support the Syrian Rebels”— In April 2013, I published an article in National Review Online with the slightly inaccurate title, “The Case for Supporting Assad.” Better would have been “Support Whichever Side Is Losing in the Syrian Civil War.” Back then, it seemed that the regime of Bashar Assad was doomed; but already a month later, that was no longer the case and eight months on, a consensus has emerged that Assad is slowly winning. For example, Jeffrey White, a Defense Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, writes in “The Syrian Regime’s Military Solution to the War” that the Syrian civil war “could indeed have a military outcome, and in light of current trends, that outcome could be a regime victory. The outlines of a regime strategy for winning the war are visible. This strategy hinges on the staying power of the regime and its allies, the generation of adequate forces, operational success, and continued divisions within rebel forces. It is subject to serious constraints, especially limitations on the size and effectiveness of regime and associated forces, and “game changers” could alter its course. But a regime victory is possible—and that is what the regime is counting on.…Barring a sudden collapse of the armed resistance, which for the Islamist core seems unlikely, the regime will only slowly defeat rebel forces and recover territory. But the regime is implacable and its allies are steadfast.”
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Email Distribution List:
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The scripture below is from the New American Standard Bible, and the hyperlinks associated with each word are from Strong’s Concordance for the New American Standard Bible.
Nahum 2: 1-4
The one who scatters has come up against you. Man the fortress, watch the road; strengthen your back, summon all [your] strength. For Yahweh will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, even though devastators have devastated them and destroyed their vine branches. The shields of his mighty men are [colored] red, the warriors are dressed in scarlet, the chariots are [enveloped] in flashing steel when he is prepared [to march], and the cypress [spears] are brandished. The chariots race madly in the streets, they rush wildly in the squares, their appearance is like torches, they dash to and fro like lightning flashes.
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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What about people who came to faith in Yahweh through the Name Jesus?
Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached. Share it as often as you want.
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
