By Jaslyn Alvardo —
He was high priest during the time of Samuel, and when messengers came notifying that the Ark of Covenant had been taken by the enemy Philistines, he fell from his chair and broke his neck, the Bible says.
Now archaeologists believe they have found the gate where Eli died.
“I would invite people to look at the evidence and if they’ve bought into the idea that the Bible is mythology or not historical, I encourage them to look at what we’re finding here at Shiloh,” says archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling, director of excavations for the Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) at Ancient Shiloh from 2017.
“The Bible tells us that Eli is in the Gate of Shiloh when he gets the news that the Ark of the Covenant has been captured and that his sons have been killed,” adds Stripling, provost and director of the Archaeology Institute at The Bible Seminary in Katy, Texas. “He falls over backwards and dies in the gate.”
Shiloh also was the site, according to the Bible, where Joshua divvied up the Promised Land for the incoming Israelites. In Shiloh, Hannah prayed for a son, and Samuel was later born. There, the Lord’s Tabernacle stood for nearly 400 years.
“This is where you came to connect with God,” says Stripling, who is both an academic and a believer in Jesus. “Jerusalem remained a pagan city for about 300 years.
“As an academic, I’m in awe,” he adds. “As an evangelical Christian, I’m in awe to have the privilege to excavate a site like this.”
Sources: CBN, others.
