RE: Digsalots comments; (When I posted this question I did not expect
to have to defend my faith, But Since we are talking about the
archeological record my proof is below)
(Luk 19:40 KJV+)
And2532 he answered611 and said2036 unto them,846 I tell3004 you5213
that,3754 if1437 these3778 should hold their peace,4623 the3588
stones3037 would immediately cry out.2896
House of David Stone
http://www.biblical-archaeology.net
The Isaiah Scroll
http://www.bgst.edu.sg/realia/c1-2.htm
Pontius Pilate Stone
http://www.bible-history.com/empires/pilate.html
The Crucified Man
http://www.centuryone.org/crucifixion2.html
Q: Why do you trust the Old Testament?
A: Both scripture and archaeology indicate there are no significant
changes in our copies today for at least five reasons:
God promised to preserve His word in Isaiah 55:10-11; 59:21; 1 Peter
1:24-25, Matthew 24:35. We can trust God.
Jesus and the New Testament confirmed the Old Testament scriptures in
Matthew 19:4; 22:32,37; 39; 23:35; Mark 10:3-6; Luke 2:23-24; 4:4;
11:51; 20:37; 24:27,44
Archaeological evidence: In the Septuagint, the Torah was translated
into Greek around 400 B.C. The Dead Sea Scrolls were from about 250
B.C. to after the time of Christ, and we can compare them with our
Bibles today. Aramaic Targums are translations made around the time of
Jesus. The Dead Sea Scrolls are about 95,000 fragments from 867
manuscripts of the Old Testament and other writings. About 1/3 of the
Dead Sea scrolls are manuscripts of the Old Testament according to The
NIV Study Bible p.1432. Archaeology shows the Bible Jesus knew was
preserved. Nahal Hever is a cave near Engedi, that has a fragment
written between 50 B.C. and 50 A.D. of the minor prophets in Greek. At
Masada, there was a copy of Joshua dated 169-93 B.C. The Nash Papyrus,
dated 150 B.C., contains the Ten Commandments combined from Exodus
20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-6:4f. The wadi Muraba'at scroll of the
Minor Prophets is from c. 132 A.D.
Early church writers, as early as 97 A.D., extensively referred to the
Old Testament.
Jewish scribes, even though hostile to Christianity, preserved the
same Old Testament found in every Protestant Bible today.
In summary, God is Almighty, All knowing, and far from careless. We
can trust that He has always preserved right direction for those who
look to follow wherever He leads.
Q: In Ex 1:8-10, apart from the Bible, is there any evidence of the
Israelites being enslaved in Egypt or coming out of Egypt?
A: Some critical "scholars" still believe the outdated theory that
there was no evidence of the Israelites either being in or coming out
of Egypt. Perhaps they should read "the writing on the wall". A
painting on the wall of the tomb of Khnumhotep (1892 B.C.) at Beni
Hasan in Egypt shows 37 "Asiatics", or non-Egyptian people from the
Mideast. They had black hair, pointed beards, long many-colored
cloaks, bows, and throw sticks.
Christian scholars writing in the Wycliffe Dictionary of Biblical
Archaeology, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, and other books have
gathered a great deal of evidence that the Israelites were in Egypt.
Not only do Christian scholars teach that the Israelites were in Egypt
from about 1875-1445 B.C., but a secular archaeologist, David M. Rohl
in his book Pharaohs and Kings : A Biblical Quest (Crown Publishers
1995) also documents evidence that is consistent with the Israelites
coming out of Egypt. Here is a "Top Ten" list of facts that support
the Israelites coming out of Egypt.
10. Skeletons of longhaired Asiatic sheep showed they first appeared
in the Delta region of Egypt around the time of Joseph. (1900-1800
B.C..) Joseph’s Egyptian name "Zaphenath-Paneah" was probably
"Zat-en-aph" (he who is called) and "Ipiankhu" (Ipu is alive). The
name Ipiankhu and variations were common in the time of Joseph but not
very common earlier or later. Many other Hebrew names are found in an
Egyptian papyrus in the Brooklyn Museum (35.1446). Under Sobekhotep
III (approximately 1540 B.C.), a large number of slaves were
transferred to the area of Thebes. Of the 95 names, over 50% of the
names were Asiatics, and their Egyptian names were given next to them.
Many of the Egyptian names have "he/she who is called" as the first
part of the name. Some of these people were recorded as being
specifically from the tribes of Issachar and Asher. See Pharaoh’s and
Kings: A Biblical Quest by David M. Rohl (1995) p.275-278 for more
info on this.
In addition, some Hebrew names are Menahem and Shiphrah. (This was 100
years before the Shiphrah in Exodus 1 though.) Walt Kaiser in A
History of Israel p.84 and The Expositor's Bible Commentary volume 2
p.307 mentions that for two Semitic names, Shiphrah probably comes
from Sp-ra (fair one), and the name Puah is probably is derived from
the Ugaritic word "Pgt" meaning "girl" or "splendid one".
Also, the Leiden Papyrus 348 gives order to "distribute grain rations
to the soldiers and to the ‘Apiru who transport stones to the great
pylon of Rames[s]es." See Christianity Today 9/7/1998 p.48 for more
info on this.
9. A non-Egyptian second-in-command made good sense. If Joseph had
tried to rebel, Egyptians would not follow him. It is recorded that
Canaanites, such as Meri-Ra and Ben-Mat-Ana had high positions in the
Egyptian Court. A Semite named Yanhamu was a deputy of Amenhotep III.
8. Bricks were used to build some Egyptian cities such as Pithom. At
Pithom, bricks were found made with straw at the lowest level. At the
intermediate level the bricks had only stubble. At the top level,
archaeologists found that the bricks were made with no binding at all.
The tomb of an Egyptian noble named Rekhmere / Rek-mi-Re at Thebes in
the 15th century B.C. has a painting of slaves making bricks.
7. There was evidence of a great disaster with a great number of
hurriedly buried bodies. As Rohl points out though, the large numbers
of deaths does not prove or disprove that this was due to a sudden
event overnight.
Also, Tacitus in Histories Book 5 lists differing speculations on the
Jews being from Crete, or Egypt, or Ethiopia, or Assyrians, and then
relates an interesting story. "Most writers, however, agree in stating
that once a disease, which horribly disfigured the body, broke out in
Egypt, that king Bocchoris, seeking a remedy, consulted the oracle of
Hammon, and was bidden to cleanse his realm, and to convey into some
foreign land this race detested by the gods. The people, who had been
collected after diligent search, finding themselves left in a desert,
sat for the most part in a stupor of grief, till one of the exiles,
Moyses by name, warned them not to look for any relief from God or
man, forsaken as they were of both, but to trust to themselves, taking
for their heaven-sent leader that man who should first help them to be
quit of the present misery…. Moyses, wishing to secure for the future
his authority over the nation, gave them a novel form of worship,
opposed to all that is practised by other men. … They slay the ram,
seemingly in derision of Hammon, and they sacrifice the ox, because
the Egyptians worship it as Apis." (Quoted from The Annals and The
Histories by P. Cornelius Tacitus, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
1952.)
6. An Egyptian text dated around 1350 B.C. described a strange earlier
event: "The sun is covered and does not shine to the sight of men.
Life is no longer possible when the sun is concealed behind the
clouds. Ra [the god] has turned his face from mankind. If only it
would shine even for one hour! No one knows when it is midday. One’s
shadow is not discernible. The sun in the heavens resembles the
moon…." This could refer to the darkness over the land, or it could
refer to the eruption of the volcano on the Island of Thera.
5. Pharaoh Thutmose IV apparently was not the first-born son. In the
Dream Stela of Thutmose IV (1421-1410 B.C.) found between the forepaws
of the Sphinx of Giza, the god Harmakhis promised Thutmose special
help to become the next Pharaoh in return for removing the sand that
had built up against the Sphinx. He likely would not have needed
special help if he were the first in the succession of his father
Amenhotep II (1450/1447-1401/1385). Walt Kaiser in A History of Israel
p.90 says that the eldest brother of Thutmose IV was named Webensenu.
Webensu was given a burial in the royal tomb, and he probably was the
one who died during the tenth plague. The second son of Amenhotep II
was Khaemwaset, who married before he died. As Kaiser says, "Thus,
while the Sphinx Stele cannot be taken as direct proof of the death of
the firstborn, enough evidence has been brought to light by
Egyptologists to support the early date of the Exodus and the fact
that indeed Thutmose IV did not expect to succeed his father to the
throne."
4. Mixed Egyptian/Hebrew writing in caves near Mt. Sinai describes the
parting of the sea, Moses, and catching the quail. The most
interesting thing is the language: it was a mixture of Egyptian and
Hebrew. The historian Diodorus Siculus (10 B.C.) also knew of this
too. Also, at the entrance to the copper mines in Sinai are hundreds
of inscriptions. Most of them are in hieroglyphic Egyptian characters,
but about 40 inscriptions are in sort of proto-Sinaitic alphabetic
script from the 15th century B.C. Admittedly however, this evidence is
"disputable", because there is no way to date when these writings were
made.
3. The Egyptian military, which prior to this time had controlled
Canaan, was strangely absent. We do not hear much of the Egyptian
military again until the time of Pharaoh Seti I, who destroyed Hazor
in 1300 B.C.
2. In Jericho, Bryant G. Wood found strong walls, large quantities of
grain (meaning a short siege), and no plundering (since the grain was
still there). John Garstang was the one who first found abundant
carbonized grain. Hard Sayings of the Bible p.182-183 mentions some
evidence for an earthquake of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale, which
could have left cracks in the walls. The inner mud-brick walls
collapsed over the outer stone wall, forming a convenient ramp. When
did this capture take place? Ceramic pottery from Cyprus indicates a
date between 1450 to 1400 B.C. Egyptian amulets, are inscribed with
the name of the current Pharaoh, up to Joshua’s time. Carbon-14 dating
sets the destruction at 1410 B.C. +/- 40 years. Rohl goes into detail
as to why some scholars used to consider Jericho as one of the biggest
failures of Biblical archaeology, but subsequently concludes that
Joshua’s record has been proved correct here.
1. As to the destruction of cities in Canaan, Joshua only says the
following cities were destroyed: Debir, Eglon, Hazor, Hebron, Jericho,
Lachish, Libnah, Makkadeh, and Ai. Archaeologists have found at that
time the following cities were destroyed: Arad, Debir, Hazor, the site
at el-Khalil (Hebron?), Jericho, Lachish. The site at Beitin
(Bethel?), the city of Gibeon and the site at Khirbet Nisya were
abandoned. Perhaps the small town of Ai was destroyed so completely
that the site will never be found. Who destroyed these cities? The
Amarna tablets tell us clearly. They were letters written from Canaan
to the Egyptian Pharaoh around 1500-1400 B.C. The mention the feared
"Habiru running amok". Interestingly, they also mention a king Lab’ayu
of Shechem, who was a traitor because he was in confederation with the
Habiru invaders. Later, the Stela of Pharaoh Merenpta (1225 B.C.) also
mentions a people called Israel in northern Canaan.
This is not the first time critical "scholars" were unaware of the
archaeology. For example, archaeologists found out about the Hittites
in 1892. However, some scholars still doubted their existence ten
years later (1902, E.A.W. Budge.) (See Evidence That Demands a Verdict
volume 2 p.339-341 for more information on this.)
Conclusion: It is hard to swim against the tide, when this skeptical
theory drowns in a sea of facts. Thus archaeology today indicates that
the Biblical record shows the trustworthiness of the Bible. Since the
Bible is accurate on representing so many little details, maybe we
should consider it accurate on what it represents itself to be: God’s
communication to us.
Other sources of interesting archaeological information on the
Israelites in Egypt are: The Encyclopedia Britannica, Can Archaeology
Prove the Old Testament? by Ralph O. Muncaster, Encyclopedia of Bible
Difficulties by Gleason Archer (Zondervan), Evidence for Faith by John
Warwick Montgomery, The New International Dictionary of the Bible by
Douglas, J.D. and Merrill C. Tenney, The New Evidence That Demands a
Verdict by Josh McDowell, and The Biblical Archaeology Review
Q: In Josh 8:17,25 and Gen 12:8, have archaeologists found the town of
Ai?
A: No, and there is a good reason too. Ai was a small town that the
book of Joshua claims was "totally" destroyed. Joshua 8:17,25
indicates that there were only 12,000 people in Bethel and Ai
combined. In Joshua 7:3, the Israelites estimated they initially
needed only 2,000 to 3,000 men to defeat them. (In battles today,
invaders like to have at least a 2:1 advantage.)
735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.89-90 says that most
archaeologists thought Ai was buried under the mound of Et Tell, even
though the geography does not fit the Bible account. Digging at Et
Tell shows a city there, but that city was destroyed in 2200 B.C.,
which is prior to Abraham. However, another mound close by, called
Khirbet Nisya, is probably the site of Ai, and more excavation needs
to be done.
However, do not forget that since Ai was small and was "totally
destroyed", there might not be anything left for the archaeologists to
find.
Above info is from http://inerrancy.org
(Mat 18:3 NASB+) and said3004, "Truly281 I say3004 to you,
unless1437, 3361 you are converted4762 and become1096 like5613
children3813, you will not enter1525 the kingdom932 of heaven3772.
(Mat 18:4 NASB+) "Whoever3748 then3767 humbles5013 himself1438 as
this3778 child3813, he is the greatest3173 in the kingdom932 of
heaven3772. |
