We all know the bible is the one of the oldest and most popular books ever existed hence it houses a lot of histories, some which can be verified and some which till date can’t be verified. The bible is also full of wonders and mysteries, some in form of unbelievable miracles and signs done by Jesus and his disciples and some in form of creations, cities and other structures mentioned in the bible. In this post, we will be looking at the Top Ten unsolved mysteries in the bible. Let’s start already!

10. Where is the Garden of Eden?

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There is an intriguing theory amongst some biblical scholars that the garden of Eden could have existed in real life and it wasn’t just a symbolic and mythological location. Believers of this theory point out to evidence within the creation story in Genesis that could be interpreted as situating the garden in or close to Ethiopia. Genesis 2:13 refers to rivers flowing through Ede, including one called Gehon which it described as the same that compasses all the land of Ethiopia’.
Adding fuel to this story is the fact that paleontologists have concluded that Ethiopia was indeed a vastly significant site of human origin. The oldest dateable fragment of human skeleton was discovered in the country in 2015 in the form of a 2.8 million year old jawbone.

9. No Trace to the Lost Tribe of Israel.

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The two books of Kings speak of the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 732 BC. Following this, ten Israelite tribes relocated to territories in former Mesopotamia but since then have inexplicably disappeared from the pages of the Bible…and history. A variety of communities have laid claim to being descended from these lost tribes including the Igbo ethnicity in Nigeria, the Falasha Jews in Ethiopia and the Mormons. Sadly as DNA studies have been inconclusive, there is no way of validating any of these claims. However, some Christians and the Jewish communities believe that when the tribes are found, it will represent the imminent coming of the messiah.

8. Which Animal is The Behemoth?

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Mentioned in the book of Job is a strange unfathomable beast called the “Behemoth?” an impressive creature intended to epitomize the pinnacle of God’s power. The creature has been mentioned in various works of literatures including the work of political philosopher Thomas Hobbes and ‘Paradise Lost’ by John Milton. However no one is really sure what the ‘Behemoth’ is. In the bible text, the beast is described as a gigantic animal with limbs ‘like the rods of iron’ and a tail ‘like a cedar’. Scholars have suggested numerous animals that the behemoth could have been, ranging from Hippos or Elephants to Dinosaurs. However, there is also a chance that the animal could have been a mythological creature like unicorns, which were also referenced in the Bible.

7. When Will the World come to an End?

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The Bible goes into great detail about the events of the apocalypse and how the ‘earth and everything in it will be laid bare’ but what has spawned much speculation is the mystery as to exactly when this will happen. Over the last 1000 years, there have been over 80 well-documented predictions of when the world would end based on the Christian scripture. According to scripture, this fabled day will occur at the conclusion of a period called the millennium. Throughout the history, people have used this writing to predict potential apocalypses. For example in the year 1000, Christian armies waged war against various Pagan countries, killing thousands in other to forcibly convert people to Christianity before the Day of Judgment. Scholars have argued that it is unlikely that the Bible literally meant 1000 years. The apostle Peter Enigmatically wrote that, ’with the lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one’.

6. Was Jesus really Born on December 25th?

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Most theological historians believe that Jesus Christ did exist, whether or not they believe he was the son of God, there is therefore a large amount of scholarship focused on learning more about his life. This field is seriously complicated by the fact that it is a complete mystery as to when Jesus was born. In the Bible, it is directly stated that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod, when the first great census was taking place- the logging of every individual in the roman world that required Mary and Joseph to return to Bethlehem. But this couldn’t possibly be true, as Herod died well over a decade before this great census took place. Consequently, whilst we can assume that Christ was bon somewhere around the beginning of the first century, it is impossible to work out exactly when. Historians also agree that it’s highly unlikely that Jesus was born on the 25th of December. This date was popularized as ‘Christmas’ more than 300 years after his death potentially to tie in with the winter Solstice festivities.

5. What Happened to the Missing Books of the Bible?

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At over 783,000 words and 1,189 chapters, the Bible is one of the longest texts ever written. It consists of 66 separate books but surprisingly, this was meant to be 83. At least 17 books have mysteriously disappeared from our modern Bible and no one knows what happened to them. We know that the books existed once, because they are referenced in other parts of the bible, for example, 1 Chronicles 29:29 mentioned the records of ‘Nathan the Prophet’ and ‘Gad the seer’, both of which seem to have mysteriously disappeared- “Now the acts of king David, from his first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer, with accounts of all his rule and might and of the circumstances that came upon Israel and upon all the Kingdoms of the countries.
Speculation is rife as to what could be included in the missing books with one line of thought being that what they taught did not necessarily correlate with the desired ‘Christian message’ and they were deliberately omitted.

4. Was Jesus Married?

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The idea that Jesus could have been married is one that has spawned much discussion and controversy over the years and even providing the focus of the hit Dan Brown novel, ‘the Da Vinci Code’. The theory is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, a woman who is frequently mentioned in the New Testament. Moreover this is alluded to in a scrap of papyrus unveiled in 2012, known as the ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ which forensic analysis concluded did indeed date back to Biblical times. The holy bloodline of Jesus theory furthers the marriage hypothesis, suggesting that the couple actually had children whose descendants can be traced through the following centuries and may even be alive today. However, this notion is widely disputed in the Christian community.

3. Jesus’ undocumented years.

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One of the most puzzling mysteries about Jesus is what he did between the age of 12 and 30. Historians don’t even know which country he was living in. There are numerous theories about where Jesus could have lived. For example, it has been suggested that he lived in Kashmir, in South Asia; he became a disciple of a Buddhist master in Japan or joined the secretive monastic sect in the Judean desert. These theories have been drawn from variety of places. The idea that he visited Japan is one steeped in the local tradition and is based on a set of supposedly ancient documents that were alleged to have disappeared during the World War II. According to British legend involving King Arthur, Christ even supposedly visited Britain and deposited the Holy Grail there. However, there is no solid archaeological evidence backing up any of these claims.

2. What happened to the lost wealth of Ophir?

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Mentioned several times in Genesis, Job, Kings, and Isaiah, Ophir is a mysterious city famed for its wealth and splendor. The bible described it as a Land of Invaluable plenty, where gold, ivory and precious stones were in abundance and beautiful peacocks roamed its exquisite gardens. Archaeologists believe that Ophir was once a real location as they have found fragments of 8th century pottery with the inscriptions detailing the ‘gold of Ophir’. The question remains however as to where Ophir was located. The presence of Peacocks suggests it could have been in India, the bird’s native country, yet large quantities of Ivory point more to Africa, where the Ivory trade was booming. It seems likely that- due to such conflicting and limited evidence- Ophir’s location will never be revealed as to the as to why it disappeared and what happened to its myriad of treasures.

1. Where is the ark of Covenant?

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Described in the Book of Exodus, the Ark of the covenant is a gold covered wooden chest containing the two stone tablets of the ten commandments. Throughout history, there have been a number of claims of people having discovered or having possession of the Ark. One popular hypothesis is that it was buried at mount Nebo in Jerusalem by the prophet Jeremiah as was mentioned in 2 Maccabees. However the Ethiopian Orthodox Church argues that it is currently keeping it under guard in their treasury where no one but their monks can visit. The Lemba people of South Africa and Zimbabwe also lay claim to the Ark, saying that that their ancestors came in south, calling it the ‘voice of God ‘and hiding it deep in a cave in their spiritual home; the Dunghe mountains but no one has been able to uncover it.

This has been a top ten countdown of ten unexplained mysteries of the bible. I hope you find it intriguing and fascinating. Please feel free to share your thoughts of have any information or explanation as regards to Top Ten countdown.

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