How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? ARCHAEOLOGY

How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? ARCHAEOLOGY

Good Day. 

The Christian faith is built on the Word of God—its stories about people, teaching about God, wisdom for living, the life and love of Jesus Christ, and God’s purposes for mankind.  And yet, your college-aged young person will come home and tell you Scripture is just allegory, because her professor has said ‘it has been miscopied, misquoted and mishandled down through the centuries,’ etc., anything to discount it. 

Is there any way to counter such statements?  Indeed.

In the last Morning Briefing, we considered fulfilled prophecy as one of the proofs for the truth of Scripture; and now---à archaeology.

Biblical Archaeology brings to life the people, places, events, and customs described in the Bible. Through scientific process, trained professionals seek out and carefully uncover sites which might help to further explain portions of Scripture, or events and customs described in Scripture.   Biblical Archaeology refers to a special focus of archaeology within a certain location at a certain point in time. The fact that it’s Biblical Archaeology means that excavations are typically limited to areas mentioned in the Bible; places such as modern-day Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, etc. The time period includes, but is not limited to, 1,400 BCE (late Bronze Age) through the first century BCE. The aim of Biblical Archaeology is to find physical evidence that would shed light on people, places, events, and customs described in the Bible.¹

The fact is, Scripture is supported by archaeological evidence—more than 25,000 discoveries within the region known as “The Bible Lands” have confirmed the truthfulness of the Bible.² And with less than one percent of the dirt being turned over in Israel!³  Archaeology is both art and science: as an art it searches for the material remains of ancient civilizations and tries to reconstruct, as far as possible, the environment and the organizations of one or many historical epochs;⁴ as a relatively recent modern science, it is a science that is barely 200 years old but that has completely changed our ideas about the past.⁵

Dr. Nelson Glueck, American rabbi, archaeologist, president of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, who is credited with discovery of 1,500 ancient sites, said:  “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted [overturned] a Biblical reference.  Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible.  And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries.”  Time Magazine

For instance, David, shepherd boy, second king of Israel, ‘the man after God’s own heart’.  Did he really exist?  In the summer of 1993, an archaeologist made what has been labeled as a phenomenal and stunning discovery. Dr. Avraham Biran and his team were excavating a site labeled Tell Dan, located in northern Galilee at the foot of Mt. Hermon. Evidence indicates that this is the site of the Old Testament land of Dan.

The team had discovered an impressive royal plaza. As they were clearing the debris, they discovered in the ruins the remains of a black basalt stele, or stone slab, containing Aramaic inscriptions. The stele contained thirteen lines of writing but none of the sentences were complete. Some of the lines contained only three letters while the widest contained fourteen. The letters that remained were clearly engraved and easy to read. Two of the lines included the phrases "The King of Israel" and "House of David."  This is the first reference to King David found outside of the Bible.⁶

Walls of Jericho – read the story in your Bible please:  Joshua 6.1-21,  **https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+6.1-21&version=NKJV&interface=print

Did you read The Circlemaker?  This story about Jericho is not just symbolic of how God answers our prayers and responds to our obedience--it really took place.  Fascinating, and a clear reason to circle, dear friends!

First excavated in 1907, then the 1930s, said to prove the existence of the Jericho walls; then Kathleen Kenyon said absolutely not in the 1950s … until the TELL continued to be excavated, layer by layer.  There was a stone retaining wall, with a mudbrick wall on top of it, strongly fortified.  Joshua 6.20 – the wall collapsed, falling outward … possible?

The book of Joshua is the only ancient text which gives an account of the city and walls of Jericho.  [Great clip, 34 minutes long on these excavations on Youtube]:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-cmdl4Cqdo]  Really good.  Yes, the walls of Jericho existed and fell outward as the Bible described in Joshua chapter six.

Last one--for centuries, there were no proofs of the person Pontius Pilate.  Pontius Pilate was the fifth prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He served under Emperor Tiberius, and is best known for presiding over the trial of Jesus and ordering his crucifixion.⁷ But was he just a person dreamed up by the gospel writers to make a better, more dramatic story?  Apparently not.  Tablets were discovered in 1961 with the inscription, “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, as presented the Tiberium to the Caesareans.”⁸

What’s the point of looking at biblical archaeology?  What’s the point of looking at ancient prophecies, now fulfilled?  Both are evidences of the precision, believability, and verifiability of the beautiful words of God to us. 

Further reflection:  Look at Isaiah 40.8 - http://biblehub.com/isaiah/40-8.htm   What does the verse claim?  Do you believe it??  What have you learned about biblical prophecy and archaeology?