Bart Ehrman, one of the world’s best-known New Testament scholars, argues that basic human morality and cooperation are simply hard-wired into us through evolution. In his view, we don’t need religion to explain why people generally try to get along. On the surface, it sounds reasonable. But when we look at the full evidence — from ancient archaeology to genetics, language, and the Torah — a very different picture emerges.

The code was never missing. A precise spiritual and mathematical blueprint has existed from the very beginning of human civilization. This code was not invented by the Jewish people — it was preserved by them for the benefit of all humanity.

Ancient Sites Show the Code Was Already Active

Long before Moses received the Torah at Sinai, humanity was already encoding sophisticated knowledge. At Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, built more than 11,600 years ago, Pillar 43 encodes specific constellations exactly as they appeared around 10,950 BCE. This is not primitive art — it is precise astronomical knowledge.

Even more striking are the underwater megalithic ruins at Lake Van in Turkey. Divers have found massive precision-cut stones, some featuring the Flower of Life pattern, lying 75–85 feet underwater. These structures show engineering skill far beyond what mainstream archaeology currently attributes to that period.

These sites demonstrate that early humans were not merely surviving and cooperating, as Ehrman suggests. They were actively working with a higher cosmic order.

The Code Appears in Our DNA

Modern science is catching up to this ancient intelligence. Epigenetics has proven that protective instincts and traumatic experiences can be passed down through generations in our DNA. Abraham was promised two great lines — Isaac and Ishmael —, and both were promised kingdoms and numerous descendants.

Genetic studies show shared ancient Middle Eastern markers connecting Jewish priestly families with Arab populations. My own family’s Big Y test shows the Cohen Modal Haplotype in haplogroup J, tracing directly to the ancient Levant and shared with Hashemite and Saudi royal lines that descend from Ishmael. This genetic connection is exactly what we would expect from Abraham’s two promised lines.

The Torah Begins as a Universal Book

Rabbi David Fohrman, in his series A Book Like No Other, asks a simple but powerful question: Why does the Torah begin with the creation of the universe instead of starting with “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt”?

His answer is profound. The Torah does not begin as a book written only for the Jewish people. It begins as a universal Owner’s Manual for all humanity. By opening with “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” the Torah declares that this is the operating system of the entire world. Only later does it narrow its focus to one family — Abraham’s — to safeguard that blueprint so that one day it can be restored to all nations.

Hebrew as a Language of Creation

The precision continues in the Hebrew language itself. Efraim Palvanov has shown that Hebrew functions like a chemical language — the precise pronunciation and vowel points actually affect the nature of what is being created. The very first word of Genesis, Bereisheet, contains all 613 commandments of the Torah in seed form.

Even Pirkei Avot 5:7, the seven characteristics of a wise person, is interpreted by Rabbi Akiva Tatz as describing the actual operating system of reality — speaking in proper order, not interrupting, admitting when we don’t know, and acknowledging truth.

Monotheism and Historical Questions

Both Judaism and Islam have consistently maintained absolute monotheism — God is One with no partner, no son, and no Trinity. This stands in contrast to Christianity’s doctrine of the Trinity. Tovia Singer has often pointed out that on this central issue, Judaism and Islam have more in common with each other than either does with Christianity.

Researcher Jay Smith has highlighted that coins minted by Arab rulers between 640 and 680 CE — the very period when Islam is said to have emerged — still prominently featured Christian crosses and Latin Christian inscriptions. The Dome of the Rock, completed in 691 CE, contains Arabic inscriptions that explicitly reject the Christian doctrine that “God has a son.”

Patterns Of Evidence

These physical artifacts raise honest historical questions about how the official narratives of both Christianity and Islam developed over time.

Our prophets foretold that in the end of days the good side of both Esau and Ishmael would return. We are seeing hints of this today as some Arab nations move away from confrontation and toward cooperation with Israel.

The Pattern of Redemption

In his lecture on Shir HaMa’alot (Psalm 126), Rabbi Fohrman explains a striking pattern. When redemption begins, the Jewish people may first be “like dreamers,” still numb from centuries of trauma. It is the nations that first declare, “God has done great things with these people.” Only after hearing this recognition from the outside world do the Jewish people fully awaken to the reality.

One major prophecy has not yet been fulfilled — the unique judgment described in Zechariah 12 and 14. In that moment, with no room left for doubt, the identity of the Messiah will become clear to the entire world.

One Family, One Tree of Life

My hope is not to condemn any faith, but to invite honest reflection. The evidence — from ancient megaliths to our DNA, from the structure of the Torah to the shifts we see among nations — challenges all of us to examine whether our long-held beliefs fully align with the original code given to all humanity.

We are truly one family sharing one Tree of Life. The Torah is the only place in the Bible where God explicitly states that eating from this Tree brings eternal life. The blueprint was never missing. It was protected for thousands of years so that in the end, all of Abraham’s children could return to it together.

The Tree of Life is waiting. The family is beginning to return. And that may be the clearest evidence of all that the Bible is true.

Footnotes

¹ Martin Sweatman, Prehistory Decoded (2021) — analysis of Göbekli Tepe Pillar 43 and its astronomical alignments.

² Family Tree DNA Big Y results and studies on the Cohen Modal Haplotype in haplogroup J, showing shared Levantine ancestry between Jewish priestly lines and certain Arab royal lines.

³ Rabbi David Fohrman, “A Book Like No Other” lecture series.

⁴ Efraim Palvanov, research on Hebrew functioning as a chemical language and the seed form of the commandments in Bereisheet.

⁵ Rabbi Akiva Tatz, lectures on Pirkei Avot 5:7 and the structure of creation.

⁶ Jay Smith, research on 7th-century Arab coins featuring Christian crosses and the inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock (691 CE).

⁷ Genesis 3:22.

Hazan Gavriel ben David