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Dear Friend,
Welcome to the web home of Phoenix
Revival Center. On this page you'll find some of the stuff that intrerests me. You never know ... you might find it fascinating
as well.
God Bless,
Pastor Tim R. McCary
New Jerusalem Artifact Discovery
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| Above: Front of Silver Coin |
Recent Coin Artifact Discovery in Jerusalem
A Silver Coin That Was
Used To Pay The Half Shekel Head-Tax To The Temple Was Found In Jerusalem (March 18, 2008)
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| Above: Back of Silver Coin |
It
was most likely a shekel of Tyre that Jesus and Peter used to pay the Temple head tax (a half shekel each): "Go thou
to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find
a piece of money. That take, and give unto them for me and thee" (Matthew 17:27). Moreover, Tyrian silver coins probably
comprised the infamous payment to Judas Iscariot, when "they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver" (Matthew
26:15).
The annual half shekel head-tax was donated in shekels and half shekels from the Tyre mint where they
were struck from the year 125 BCE until the outbreak of the Great Revolt in 66 CE. At the time of the uprising, the tax was
paid using Jerusalem shekalim, which were specifically struck for this purpose. In the rabbinic sources, the Tosefta (Ketubot
13:20) states “Silver mentioned in the Pentateuch is always Tyrian silver: What is Tyrian silver? It is Jerusalemite.”
Many have interpreted this to mean that only Tyrian shekalim could be used to pay the half shekel head-tax at the Jerusalem
temple.
The shekel that was found in the excavation weighs 13 grams, bears the head of Melqart, the chief deity
of the city of Tyre on the obverse (equivalent to the Semitic god Baal) and an eagle upon a ship’s prow on the reverse.
The coin was struck in the year 22 CE.
Despite the importance of the half-shekel head-tax for the economy of Jerusalem
in the Second Temple period, only seven other Tyrian shekalim and half shekalim have been discoved in Jerusalem.
Fascinating Dead Sea Scroll Insight!
At
left please note the image of the Great Isaiah Scroll (Fragment "Q") Column VIII. This is the portion of Isaiah
8:8-9. From the top right: Look down to the third line of the text; moving left follow the third line of text to the last
word on the left. That word is Immanuel.
In the King James Version (1611 Authorized Standard
Version) you will find this as the last two words of Isaiah 8:8, rendered: "O Immanuel." Please see photo
below for a larger image of Column VIII, Isaiah Chapter eight.
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| Pastor McCary's Family, Shawnacee, Zachary, Kendra & Haley |
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| Photo by Pastor McCary under the Western Wall in Jerusalem |
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