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PRESIDENT FRANJIEH
of lebonon being introduced to the goals ond purposes of
Ambossodor College by Herbert W. Armstrong.
two very large casino rooms which
were fiJJed with customers, but we
did not enter.
The reception and dinner was
held on a large second-story ve–
randa overlooking the sea, and the
Iights of the city. lt was open-air on
a delightful evening. Present were
many irnportant people, including
Mr. and Mrs.
C.
H. Malik, a former
President of the General Assembly
of United Nations and members of
the cabinet and Iegislative body.
1 took one day of our stay for a
drive to the site of the ancient finan–
cia! capital of the world - the ruins
of Tyre.
It
was gratifying to find
former statements
1
made about
Tyre on television in 1955, and later
written in a booklet, vindicated and
proved true. 1 had quoted a dual–
fulfillment prophecy from Ezekiel to
the effect that Tyre could never
again be rebuilt. 1 had explained
how, long after its fall at the hands
of Alexander the Great , 300-plus
years B.C., the Romans had tried to
rebuild it - had actually erected a
number of buildings over a one- or
two-hundred-year span, but had
been forced to abandon the project.
Detractors had pointed out tri–
umphantly that the ancient city is
actually being rebuilt with many
high-rise buildings erected there
PLAIN TAUTH
January
1974
since my visit to the site in 1956.
This week I found much archae–
ological work had been done, un–
covering much of the ruins of what
had been called "New Tyre," origi–
naJJy on an island that now is a
península on the mainland, as well
as the Roman ruins. And, indeed,
there were quite a number of new
high-rise buildings. BUT, no more
are to be built - and by government
order, the new structures are to be
dismantled and carted off - for the
government wants to have addi–
tional arcbaeological digging on the
site of these newer buildings.
Even though the propbecies were
of a dual-fulfillment nature, point–
ing more to the permanent destruc–
tion of a more modero
successor
"Tyre" yet future, it was rewarding
to find tbat my statements and find–
ings of 1955 and 1956 were
not
in
error. I felt it was a day well spent.
Sunday morning we took another
and shorter trip up the mountains.
A most astonishing surprise awaited
me there. 1 would rate it one of the
twin number one wonders of the
natural world! Tbe other twin num–
ber one wonder is the world-famous
Carlsbad Cavems of New Mexico, a
comparatively short automobile
drive northeast from El Paso, Texas.
l did not know that anything like
the Carlsbad Caverns existed else–
where on earth. There are other
caves highly worth seeing. But they
do not compare. But here, only
eleven miles northeast of Beirut 1
was taken through not one, but
two
caverns as spectacular, as beautiful,
as magnificen t, as awe-inspiring, as
Carlsbad. Carlsbad is, as I remem–
ber from visits now probably 20
years and more ago, larger tban ei–
ther one of these Lebanon caverns.
But the two - one higher up the
mountain side than the other, and
críss-crossing
over
the lower one,
must be as large or close to it, as the
Carlsbad Caverns.
We entered the lower cavern first,
and a short distance from the en–
trance we carne toa rusrung under–
ground river. Sightseers were
entering boats carrying about 12
people each. We were rowed
through four or five successive large
cavern "rooms" with a breath-tak–
ing succession of giant and infinitely
smalJ stalactites and stalagmites,
with forms and shapes like cathe–
dral spires, giant forms and delicate
lace-like tiny forms, with ceilings in
giant rooms up to 200 or 300 feet –
the height of 20-or-30-story build–
ings. The general color was various
shades of cream or very light beige,
very artisticaJJy ilJuminated. It was a
splendor humans could never de–
sigo or equal. As Dr. Dahdah ex–
claimed, "This is the majestic,
stupendous designing and bandi–
work of the hand of God."
The river was ftowing down from
back in the far depths of the caves
as yet unexplored, and the river
course was directly under the cav–
ems - sometimes narrowing into a
passageway only wide enough for
boats to meet and pass each other,
sometimes widening into giant
rooms with ceilings higher than in
any man-built catbedral - and ceil–
ings infinitely more decorative.
It was a delightful experience,
viewing these superb forms and
shapes while sitting down.
Emerging from the breath-taking
boat trip through the lower cavem,
we were driven in Dr. Dahdah's car
17