Track 2: The Basics of Understanding the Bible Segment B: We can trust the Bible Session 3: Archeology and the Bible A number of things to discuss: (This is a short overview; many books have been written on the subject) This session will combine archaeology and history, because they are intertwined 1) Why do many modern archaeologists and historians distrust the Bible? 2) Does archaeology prove the Bible? (No, but it can support it) 3) How can archaeology help us understand the Bible? A Short Answer to Why Most Modern Archaeology Does Not Fit with the Bible 1) Why do many modern archaeologists distrust the Bible? A) One reason that many modern archaeologists distrust the Bible is that the modern stratigraphic dating of archeological periods is wrong. The field is dominated by unbelievers and riddled with assumptions, mistakes and misconceptions. Archeologist have misdated the time periods. This has led to misinterpreting what is found in the ground. o If I look for evidence of George Washington in records from the 1400s, I won t find him Modern archaeology assumes evolution is true and denies Noah s Flood. o Example: Damascus. Founding date between 6000 and 9000 BC. Since the Flood was about 2300 BC, it cannot be any older than that, and more likely shortly before 2000 BC, the time of Abraham, because it is mentioned in Genesis in the Abraham record. Is the Bible trustworthy? Jericho (today called Tel es-sultan by archaeologists) [PICTURE: JERICHO] 1) The destroyed remains of a city (the Canaanite city) 2) That destroyed city conjoined with a large wall that has at least partially collapsed (the walls of Jericho fell) 3) The city ruins mixed with and covered by a burn layer (Josh 6:24: Joshua burned Jericho) 4) Above the burn layer a period of sparse and unsophisticated occupation (Joshua cursed Jericho saying that the oldest and youngest son of the person who built it would die so the city was not rebuilt for centuries) 5) Remains of a new city that grew and developed (in the time of Ahab and Jezebel, a man named Hiel rebuilt Jericho). 1
When Tel es-sultan was excavated what archaeologists found at the site perfectly fits with what the Bible says should be there. But in 1952-1958, Kathleen Kenyon re-excavated Jericho and declared that earlier archaeologists had misdated Jericho. She claimed that the old and well-fortified city that had collapsed and been burned by fire actually existed earlier than Joshua. A new story was then told that goes like this: Joshua arrived at Jericho and thought, Wow, I wish we had destroyed this city. Let s write that we did. And so he wrote the Book of Joshua and invented the story about the Israelite conquest of Jericho. This kind of re-telling the biblical story has gone on all over the Middle East. Thankfully, there have been some recent rebuttals to Kenyon s dating (one in BAR Mar/April 1990). B) Another reason modern archaeologist mistrust the Bible is that Christians tradition does not fit with what the Bible actually says. The Exodus and Wilderness Wandering [PICTURES: SINAI AND EXODUS ROUTE, SKELETON IN DIRT; CAMPFIRE] Books: Mountain of Moses. Gold of the Exodus Christian tradition: the Israelites left Egypt and wandered in the Sinai Peninsula for forty years The whole generation that left Egypt died in the wilderness (Num. 14:29; 26:65) There should be remnants of campsites and many thousands of graves. There are none, which is one reason archaeologists doubt the Exodus (there are other reasons too). 2 Problems: 1. People have been looking at the wrong time period 2. The Bible says Mount Sinai is in Arabia (Gal. 4:25)! Galatians 4:25 (NIV84) Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. Unfortunately, the government of Saudi Arabia will not currently allow researchers to look where we believe the Israelites did live for forty years (it is now a military zone), but it is likely that if we could look there we would find the missing Israelites and the evidence of the Exodus. 2) Does archaeology prove the Bible? No, but it can support it. The Bible makes statements about spiritual matters such as the existence of God, salvation through Jesus Christ, and the future Millennial Kingdom and Everlasting Kingdom. Archaeology can never prove those spiritual things. What archaeology can do is build our trust in what it says by showing that things the Bible mentions did indeed exist. And if the Bible is telling the truth about physical things in the past, it is likely telling the truth about spiritual things and future things. 2
Camels: Genesis mentions camels. Historians once thought camels were not domesticated as early as Abraham and said Genesis was unhistorical. We now know from ancient records that camels were domesticated that early. Genesis: names, customs, places. [PICTURE: LIBRARY AT EBLA] It was once thought that Genesis was written as late as the 600 s BC to create a history for Israel, and that the names, customs, and places mentioned in Genesis were unhistorical. The more than 20,000 tablets discovered at Mari and pieces from some 7,000 tablets at Ebla from the time of Abraham and the Patriarchs showed Genesis was historically accurate. The names, places, and customs mentioned in Genesis are so accurate that it could not have been written late or created because the people of those later time periods had lost much of that information (and we had too until archaeologists started digging up texts from the time period). As a barren wife, Sarah gave her slave to Abraham to have children by her (Gen. 16:2) Joseph s brothers sold him as a slave for 20 pieces of silver. Ancient tables reveal that was the going price for a slave (Gen. 37:28). The Hittites: Genesis 15:20. [PICTURE: HITTITE WARRIORS] Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, There was a time when critics said the Bible was not historical because there was no evidence for the people Genesis calls the Hittites, who are frequently mentioned in Genesis. Then the Hittite nation and language was discovered and the Bible was shown to be true. Israel in Egypt: from Joseph to the Exodus [BOOK] David Rohl: Pharaohs and Kings King David and the Psalms: It was once claimed that the Psalms of David could not have been written by David because the vocabulary was too modern. Scholars thought the Psalms must have been written in the Maccabean Period, some 800 years after David. When Ugarit was discovered in 1928 and the great libraries of Ugarit were discovered, it was proven that the vocabulary in the Psalms does date from the time of David. Ahab and Jezebel in Ivory Houses The Bible says they lived extravagantly and had a palace and furniture decorated with ivory. 1 Kings 22:39 (NIV84) As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the palace he built and inlaid with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Amos 3:15 (NIV84) I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished," declares the LORD. 3
When Ahab s palace was excavated in their capital city, Samaria, pieces of ivory were found among the ruins. Sargon, king of Assyria (c. 722-705 BC) [PICTURE: SARGON OF ASSYRIA] Isaiah 20:1 was once considered unhistorical because historians could not find any king named Sargon in the Assyrian king lists. Isaiah 20:1 (NIV84) In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it-- But now Sargon s palace has been discovered at Khorsabad, and there is an inscription and a library record which even speaks of the Assyrian battle against the Philistine city of Ashdod which is mentioned in Isaiah 20:1. Sennacherib and Hezekiah (Sennacherib took over Assyria after Sargon died) 2 Kings 18:13 (NIV84) In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Sennacherib recorded this siege in his records. [BOOK: ANET p. 288] 2 Kings 19:35, 36 (NIV84) 35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon (634-562 BC; reigned 605-562 BC) Daniel knew that Nebuchadnezzar was responsible for the splendor of Babylon Daniel 4:30 (NIV84) He [Nebuchadnezzar] said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" This was unknown to modern historians until it was confirmed when Babylon was excavated about 100 years ago. Dating Nebuchadnezzar [BOOK: THIELE: THE MYSTERIOUS NUMBERS ] Jeremiah 25:1 (NIV84) (writing from Judah) The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Daniel 1:1 (NIV84) (writing from Babylon) In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 4
The dating systems of Judah and Babylon were 6 months offset, so what was the third year in Judah was already the fourth year in Babylon. King Jehoiachin as Nebuchadnezzar s captive [BOOK: EVIDENCE FOR THE BIBLE] 2 Kings 24:10-12, 15 (NIV84) 10 At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11 and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him. In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king's mother, his wives, his officials and the leading men of the land. Ration tablets for Jehoiachin and his sons were found in the Royal Archives of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon giving amounts of oil and barley that were to be given to them. (Anderson and Edwards, Evidence for the Bible). Saul s Shipwreck: the anchors found! [PICTURE: ANCHOR OF SAUL S SHIP] Book: The Lost Shipwreck of Paul by Robert Cornuke Acts 27:27-29, 39-41(HCSB; NASB) 27 When the fourteenth night came, we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and in the middle of the night the sailors thought they were approaching land. 28 They took a sounding and found it to be 120 feet deep; when they had sailed a little farther and sounded again, they found it to be 90 feet deep. 29 Then, fearing we might run aground in some rocky place, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come. 39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land but sighted a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could. 40 After casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. 41 [NASB]. But striking a reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves. 3) How can archaeology help us understand the Bible? A lot of the beauty of archaeology is that it allows us to reconstruct the people of the ancient world and how they lived. Statues, base reliefs and frescos show us how the people looked and dressed We know the stoves they cooked on, the bowls they cooked in, and the food they ate. We know the lamps they used to light their houses. We know the jewelry and make-up they wore. We know the weapons they fought with 5
We know what they used for money We can establish the major trade routes and see who traded what with whom. The Bible is a book of real history, with real people and places, and the more we can learn about that history the more alive the Bible will be for us. Archaeology and history help us know our Bible and our God better. They give us evidence that our God revealed Himself to people rather than people invented God. One God vs. many gods: Israel uniquely worshipped one God: Yahweh. Other nations had pantheons of gods. The goodness of God: Israel s God was righteous, perfect, and kind, and the Law He gave reflects that goodness. The gods of the other nations were not, and their laws and customs reflect that. Faithful: Israel s God is often called faithful. Pagan gods were not: they made no promises to keep, and were often capricious and cruel. Forgiving: Forgiveness was an integral part of God s law, but is not mentioned in law codes such as the code of Hammurabi. 6