In the book of 2 Kings chapter 19, King Hezekiah of Judah is facing a formidable enemy in Sennacherib, king of Assyria.
The Assyrian army was at the gates of Jerusalem, and Hezekiah lifted up a prayer to the Lord for protection from his enemies.
And the Lord answered.
In 2 Kings 19:35, after Isaiah prophesied of Sennacherib’s defeat, it says, “On that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When others woke up early in the morning, these were all dead bodies.”
This account is written about in two other parts of the Bible, 2 Chronicles 32:21 and Isaiah 37:36.
Fast-forward to today, and researchers in Israel are now claiming to have found the battlefield outside Jerusalem where a mighty Assyrian army is believed to have fallen.
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Archaeologist Stephen Compton asserts that through modern mapping technologies, he found evidence that this supernatural slaughter indeed took place some 2,700 years ago.
As reported by the Daily Mail UK, “After conducting an archaeological survey of the site, Compton determined that it was abandoned after Sennacherib’s invasion and that humans hadn’t inhabited the area for at least 2,600 years.
“The finding has paved the way for researchers to locate other similar military sites in the area and they hope it will lead to uncovering ancient cities that were destroyed by the Assyrian Empire.”
Over the years, many researchers have scoured the region looking for archaeological evidence of this battle, along with ancient cities the Assyrians are believed to have destroyed.
To date, there had only been one other military campsite in the area where Sennacherib and his forces are thought to have been defeated by the angel of the Lord, but now Compton has shined light on the main campsite outside the walls of Jerusalem.
The most striking feature for identification? Its renowned oval shape, different from the expected rectangular shape of Roman camps in the area.
“Roman military camps were always rectangular, whereas this was oval, the characteristic shape of Assyrian camps,” Compton once wrote in a public statement.
“In some cases, it has also been possible to use the newly discovered camps to locate the sites of ancient cities that were known to have been besieged by the Assyrians but whose locations were unknown or uncertain,” he adds.
As technology continues to improve, more and more evidence is discovered regarding the historical accuracy of the Bible.
From the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Pools of Siloam and now the unearthed camp of Sennacherib’s Assyrian army, the Word of God continues to be proven good and true.
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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.
Charisma Staff