DOCSLIB.ORG

“7 the Lord Appeared to Abram and Said, “To Your Offspring I Will Give This Land.” So He Built an Altar There to the Lord, Who Had Appeared to Him

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Introduction Genesis 12:7-8—“7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.” Abram: Idol worshipper Ur of the Chaldees (S Iraq—ruins still there, ziggurat, photos on the Internet of the ruins of the ziggurat) Speculated—Abram from wealthy family…had means to travel with father and family…wealth from making & selling idols, the HS reached down to this profiteer…idol maker & idol worshipper …just as He reached down one day to me and to you …with the message of justification by faith …and just like Abram, we were called out from our slavery to sin and to the world’s values …and challenged to begin a new life …and travel to a new destination with the Lord our God. Hebrews 11:8—By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going …and we were called, too, when confronted by the gospel, to begin our own journey to that which is promised us by our Lord…eternal life in His presence. …James 2:23 tells us Abraham answered God’s call…and therefore was a friend of God. As Abraham’s long journey to the promised land came to a conclusion, and as he crossed over into the land, we read in our text today…”8From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.” One really interesting fact about the Old Testament for me is that there are so many historical facts that are also useful to us as metaphors…historical accounts that illustrate God’s grace and His judgment…accounts in which time and time again He rescued His people from their sinful ways to bring them back to Himself…just as He does for us. One of those interesting metaphors occurs in our passage today…Abram built an altar between the towns of Bethel and Ai. Now in writing this account, Moses is looking back many generations later. The town that came to be called Bethel was the major place the Hebrews worshipped in the early generations. The other town, which came to be called Ai, was pretty much in ruins because of Canaanite wars. And these facts led to the Hebrew names for these two towns. Bethel—“house of God” (Heb “bet” “el” God Ai—“heap of ruins” or better, “garbage dump” Each of us…were pagans worshipping in Ur of the Chaldees, spiritually speaking… …& the HS reached down and found us & brought us out of Ur of the Chaldees… …& wrote our names down in the Book of Life & made something holy out of us… God chose you the same as He chose Abraham…for a divine purpose! …& we entered the promised land…the church, the family of God…& we find ourselves camped between Bethel on the east & Ai on the west… …between the Bethel—the house of God—symbol of grace and righteousness…& Ai—the garbage dump—that is, the world and its temptations and sin… We were not saved & indwelt by the HS just to attend the service, sit in the pew, & breathe God’s air & say God bless you and I’ll pray for you once in awhile… …we have been divinely chosen—chosen by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—God, who knew us & had plans for us from the beginning of time…just as He had plans for Abram and his offspring… …& one day the HS reached down…pushed back the darkness… broke your bondage to sin… & chose you and started dwelling in you… He brought you out of the darkness & chose you to take part in bringing the gospel to the people you know…to Gilmer County…to West Virginia…& to the uttermost parts of the world … He chose you to be in fellowship with other children of God…to worship together…to be part of each others’ lives…to encourage and admonish one another as we grow in faith and knowledge of our Father in Heaven… …you and I are not just an afterthought to God…like Abraham, we have been chosen…(1 Peter 2:9) “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” …you are not in the family of God by accident…as Mordechai told Esther before she approached the king to plead for the lives of God’s people…”And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”… God has called us…He has called our church…it is no accident… …One evening in April of 1978 as I stood alone in the front yard of our home in S. Charleston…as I contemplated His the majesty of God and His will for His children from reading the Bible…I prayed right there…& He entered my life and the HS dwelled in me…and the course of my life was changed… …while the circumstances of our salvation experiences are all different…the call of God to each of us is the same & it has not changed… He has called us to be holy, to live as Christ would live ...to teach our children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren about Him… to reach out to each other in edification & exhortation… to encourage one another… to witness with our words & our lives to the 1000s of people around us who don’t yet know Him…& to play our part in taking the gospel to the world… God chose you…& when you accepted Jesus as your Savior & Lord…what you may not have known at that time is that HS entered your life…& you are not here because of the singing…or the preaching…or the programs and friendships…you are here because you have been saved--& you are no longer enslaved by the world and its sin… Thank God for your salvation… & that your life will count for something other than just sampling the pleasures of Ai…the world…whose temptations lead to nothing but sin and sorrow…a life in ruins just as Ai was known for its defeat and destruction… What a waste it would be to be born & live & do nothing for the kingdom of God It’s possible for us to waste our salvation…looking toward Bethel 1 minute & Ai the next… Holding onto our relationship with God, but sometimes looking longingly at Ai…& forgetting that the life in Ai counts for nothing for the kingdom Abraham held some position of importance in Ur…his name was Abram (exalted father)… & we find another metaphor in God’s call of Abram… God changed his name to Abraham (father of multitudes)…to describe his new purpose… In the same way…when God saved you he changed you, too… & going through change can be difficult…it was for me… I thought I was real important the way I was…a corporate manager…destined, I was sure, for greater and greater responsibilities and positions…but God changed me…& 29 years ago I left the corporate world for seminary and the ministry… Now, God does not call all of us to walk the same path, of course…but what He does call each of us to do is to become a new creation, no matter what our vocation is… And in the call of Abraham, we find another metaphor that applies to us, too... God said, “you’ve got to leave Ur”…the same way He called you out from your comfort zone when He saved you…He did not save us so we would not be changed…He saved us & called us to a whole different way of life…& we surrendered & began a walk of righteousness… & we gave up some things to turn to a walk of righteousness… Abraham gave up his home in return for a new home… In following the Lord, he left some people behind, including some family… In your walk of righteousness, no doubt you have left some people behind, too… Not allowing others…perhaps even some family…to hold you back…to come between you and your Savior…& interfere with you doing what is right in the eyes of God… We are called to love Jesus Christ more than anything or anyone else… When Israel was captive and enslaved in Egypt, the time came for them to follow Moses out of Egypt and back to the land God had given them through their ancestor Abraham… …& when it came time to leave, some of the Egyptians went with them…just like you, they saw the power of God and left their false Gods…joined with God’s people…and left Egypt behind… Many years later, God warned his people to "learn not the way of the nations" (Jeremiah 10:1), for "many are the sorrows of the wicked" (Psalm 32:10). Maybe it’s time for each of us to do some soul searching… If you haven’t already…you will come to that fork in the road…to stay in Egypt and give in to the pressure and fleeting pleasures of the world…or to stand straight and tell the world, “I want to be saved and to travel from this point forward with Jesus”… …or maybe you once accepted God’s invitation and took that fork in the road of your life that led to His grace and righteousness…but you find you’ve drifted…you kept one hand on the altar but looked back toward Ai…and then reached back toward Ai, flirting with the world and its deceitful goals and pleasures… …Whatever your situation, if you have never known the Lord or if you know the Lord and you find yourself out of step with Him and His will for righteousness in your life…you can make the decision to come to Him and walk with Him today… Our Lord invites us to let our brothers and sisters in Christ know when we have made such an important decision…I invite you to do that by coming to the front as your testimony of accepting His offer of salvation or your rededication to the life God wants for you.
Recommended publications
  • New Early Eighth-Century B.C. Earthquake Evidence at Tel Gezer: Archaeological, Geological, and Literary Indications and Correlations

    New Early Eighth-Century B.C. Earthquake Evidence at Tel Gezer: Archaeological, Geological, and Literary Indications and Correlations

    Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Master's Theses Graduate Research 1992 New Early Eighth-century B.C. Earthquake Evidence at Tel Gezer: Archaeological, Geological, and Literary Indications and Correlations Michael Gerald Hasel Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/theses Recommended Citation Hasel, Michael Gerald, "New Early Eighth-century B.C. Earthquake Evidence at Tel Gezer: Archaeological, Geological, and Literary Indications and Correlations" (1992). Master's Theses. 41. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/theses/41 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the Andrews University Digital Library of Dissertations and Theses. Please honor the copyright of this document by not duplicating or distributing additional copies in any form without the author’s express written permission. Thanks for your cooperation. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted.
  • THE VICTORY at AI Joshua 8:1-29 in Joshua 8, God Gives the Children Of

    THE VICTORY at AI Joshua 8:1-29 in Joshua 8, God Gives the Children Of

    THE VICTORY AT AI Though the primary cause of defeat the first time around was sin...a Joshua 8:1-29 secondary cause was underestimating the enemy (Joshua 7:3-4). In Joshua 8, God gives the children of Israel a second chance, this time I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, to do things His way in the taking of the city of Ai. The momentum and his land (vs. 1b)...The defeat of Ai has been assured. God Israel had achieved by the miraculous crossing of the Jordan and the promised to turn the place of defeat into a place of victory. supernatural victory over Jericho was stopped by their defeat at Ai. You shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for your- But one must always remember that Israel was defeated...not because selves (vs. 2b)...Before the actual battle plan was revealed to Joshua they were out manned...they were defeated because of sin. As a result he was told that the spoil of Ai, along with its livestock, could be of their defeat, despair permeated, not only among all those in the camp, taken. Jericho had been placed under the ban...Ai was not. but also within the heart of Joshua (Joshua 7:5). What an irony. If only Achan hadn’t been so greedy and selfish and Now with Achan’s sin judged, God’s favor toward Israel was restored had obeyed God...and had just waited on God...he would have had (Galatians 6:1) and He reassured Joshua that He had not forsaken him all his heart would have desired...and he would have had God’s or His people.
  • Three Conquests of Canaan

    Three Conquests of Canaan

    ÅA Wars in the Middle East are almost an every day part of Eero Junkkaala:of Three Canaan Conquests our lives, and undeniably the history of war in this area is very long indeed. This study examines three such wars, all of which were directed against the Land of Canaan. Two campaigns were conducted by Egyptian Pharaohs and one by the Israelites. The question considered being Eero Junkkaala whether or not these wars really took place. This study gives one methodological viewpoint to answer this ques- tion. The author studies the archaeology of all the geo- Three Conquests of Canaan graphical sites mentioned in the lists of Thutmosis III and A Comparative Study of Two Egyptian Military Campaigns and Shishak and compares them with the cities mentioned in Joshua 10-12 in the Light of Recent Archaeological Evidence the Conquest stories in the Book of Joshua. Altogether 116 sites were studied, and the com- parison between the texts and the archaeological results offered a possibility of establishing whether the cities mentioned, in the sources in question, were inhabited, and, furthermore, might have been destroyed during the time of the Pharaohs and the biblical settlement pe- riod. Despite the nature of the two written sources being so very different it was possible to make a comparative study. This study gives a fresh view on the fierce discus- sion concerning the emergence of the Israelites. It also challenges both Egyptological and biblical studies to use the written texts and the archaeological material togeth- er so that they are not so separated from each other, as is often the case.
  • Joshua 8:1-35 Calvary Baptist Church Sunday, January 14, 2018 Pastor Ben Marshall

    Joshua 8:1-35 Calvary Baptist Church Sunday, January 14, 2018 Pastor Ben Marshall

    Joshua: All In Passage: Joshua 8:1-35 Calvary Baptist Church Sunday, January 14, 2018 Pastor Ben Marshall Key Goals: (Know) We know that God desires us to be all in for Him. (Feel) We feel a compelling desire to go all in for God. (Do) We will go all in for God. Welcome Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, but you were slightly distracted? For whatever reason, you were not fully invested in the conversation—you had your phone out, or happened to be checking your email or Facebook status, or the TV was on next to you, or you were in a hurry, or you just didn’t really want to be part of the conversation. But then, all of a sudden, there is this awkward silence and you realize the person you were talking to is waiting on a response… Yeah, I’ve never been there either. Just kidding. It happens probably too often to me. It seems to take a lot for us to be all in for something. We have to actually want something, or want what it can give us. We tend to be all in for things like our favorite football team, favorite coffee shop, favorite brand of technology (obviously Apple is the best), and things like that. We become great evangelists and preachers for what we are passionate about. There’s something different when it comes to how we approach spiritual matters. We feel awkward talking about them, almost ashamed that we read the Bible and learned something or went to church and heard something that transformed our lives.
  • Matriarchs and Patriarchs Exploring the Spiritual World of Our Biblical Mothers and Fathers

    Matriarchs and Patriarchs Exploring the Spiritual World of Our Biblical Mothers and Fathers

    Matriarchs and Patriarchs Exploring the Spiritual World of our Biblical Mothers and Fathers. Biblical heroes, saints and sinners – role models to reflect upon. Sarah, Abel Pann 2 Matriarchs and Patriarchs Exploring the Spiritual World of our Biblical Mothers and Fathers. Biblical heroes, saints and sinners: role models to reflect upon. Elizabeth Young “It is a Tree of Life to all who hold fast to It” (Prov. 3:18) Matriarchs and Patriarchs: Exploring the Spiritual World of our Biblical Mothers and Fathers © Elizabeth Young 2005, Rev. Ed. 2007. All Rights Reserved. Published by Etz Hayim Publishing, Hobart, Tasmania Email: [email protected] This Study Book is made available for biblical study groups, prayer, and meditation. Etz Hayim Publishing retains all publishing rights. No part may be reproduced without written permission from Etz Hayim. Cover illustration: And Sara heard it in the tent door… by Abel Pann (1883-1963) 4 INDEX Abraham: From Seeker to Hasid 7 Sarah: A Woman of Hope 17 Isaac: Our Life is Our Story 35 Rebecca: On being Attentive to God 47 Jacob: Pathways Toward Teshuvah 57 Leah & Rachel: Searching for Meaning 69 6 Louis Glansman Abraham—the Hasid a model of perfect love The Hasid—one who loves God with such a depth of his being so as to ‚arouse a desire within God to let flow the source of his own soul in such a way that cannot be comprehended by the human mind‛ (The Sefat Emet). 7 8 ABRAHAM – FROM SEEKER TO HASID Abraham - from Seeker to Hasid What motivates a seeker? Some considerations.
  • A Zebu-Shaped Weight from Tel Beth-Shemesh Author(S): Ely Levine, Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman Source: Israel Exploration Journal, Vol

    A Zebu-Shaped Weight from Tel Beth-Shemesh Author(S): Ely Levine, Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman Source: Israel Exploration Journal, Vol

    Israel Exploration Society A Zebu-Shaped Weight from Tel Beth-Shemesh Author(s): Ely Levine, Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman Source: Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 61, No. 2 (2011), pp. 146-161 Published by: Israel Exploration Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23214237 Accessed: 29-10-2015 16:02 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Israel Exploration Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Israel Exploration Journal. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 141.211.4.224 on Thu, 29 Oct 2015 16:02:43 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions A Zebu-Shaped Weight from Tel Beth-Shemesh Ely Levine Shlomo Bunimovitz ζ vi Lederman Villanova University Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University ABSTRACT: In 2007, a bronze zoomorphic weight, shaped as a humped bull or zebu, Bos indicus, was found in a Late Bronze Age context in the renewed excava tions at Tel Beth-Shemesh. The similarity of this object to other figurines and balance weights not only demonstrates commercial and cultural ties among Late Bronze Age sites, but also indicates familiarity with this sub-species of cattle, usually associated with South Asia.
  • Book of Joshua

    Book of Joshua

    Book of Joshua Part 8 Historical, War, Conquest, Prophetic & Victorious Living Defeat at Ai 7 But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed ​ ​ ​ ​ things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned ​ against the children of Israel. 1. Starts chapter with “but”....this is not good 2. Geneology tells us this is the descendants of Zerah is offspring from Judah’s whoredom with Tamar….His daughter in law….Jesus genealogy 3. Did Joshua ask of the Lord prior to battle...could the defeat have been prevented….. 4. Children of Israel suffer….your sin is not isolated to you! Satans lie...it is not hurting anyone….it is just affecting me…..generational blessing and cursing 5. Deuteronomy 28:2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and ​ ​ ​ overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: - ​ ​ Blessings and Curses overtake us 6. What sin do you bring into the camp? What are you stealing or hiding?? 7. Sin is serious even in the New Testament…..Acts 5:But a certain man ​ ​ named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he ​ ​ ​ kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and ​ ​ ​ ​ brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 Then Ananias, hearing these ​ ​ ​ words, fell down and breathed his last.
  • Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27)

    Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27)

    Torah Portion: Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27) [The focus of this Torah portion series is family structure and function as revealed in Scripture. I.e., headship, patriarchy, marriage, etc, graduating to understanding community and Israel as a whole. If you have not read other portions up to this point, you may want to as parts build on previous lessons in Torah.] As with Noach, we see Elohim give a call and a vision to Abram. Notice again, the vision is not given to Abram and Sarai, or to Abram and Lot. It is given to Abram and he then sets out with his household including the 'the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan.' 12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” 4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
  • Medieval Shiloh—Continuity and Renewal

    Medieval Shiloh—Continuity and Renewal

    religions Article Medieval Shiloh—Continuity and Renewal Amichay Shcwartz 1,2,* and Abraham Ofir Shemesh 1 1 The Israel Heritage Department, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ariel University, Kiryat Hamada Ariel 40700, Israel; [email protected] 2 The Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 25 August 2020; Accepted: 22 September 2020; Published: 27 September 2020 Abstract: The present paper deals with the development of cult in Shiloh during the Middle Ages. After the Byzantine period, when Shiloh was an important Christian cult place, it disappeared from the written sources and started to be identified with Nebi Samwil. In the 12th century Shiloh reappeared in the travelogues of Muslims, and shortly thereafter, in ones by Jews. Although most of the traditions had to do with the Tabernacle, some traditions started to identify Shiloh with the tomb of Eli and his family. The present study looks at the relationship between the practice of ziyara (“visit” in Arabic), which was characterized by the veneration of tombs, and the cult in Shiloh. The paper also surveys archeological finds in Shiloh that attest to a medieval cult and compares them with the written sources. In addition, it presents testimonies by Christians about Jewish cultic practices, along with testimonies about the cult place shared by Muslims and Jews in Shiloh. Examination of the medieval cult in Shiloh provides a broader perspective on an uninstitutionalized regional cult. Keywords: Shiloh; medieval period; Muslim archeology; travelers 1. Introduction Maintaining the continuous sanctity of a site over historical periods, and even between different faiths, is a well-known phenomenon: It is a well-known phenomenon that places of pilgrimage maintain their sacred status even after shifts in the owners’ faith (Limor 1998, p.
  • HEBREW and PALESTINIAN INSCRIPTIONS Old Testament 82400 Fall 2005

    HEBREW and PALESTINIAN INSCRIPTIONS Old Testament 82400 Fall 2005

    HEBREW AND PALESTINIAN INSCRIPTIONS Old Testament 82400 Fall 2005 Joel F. Drinkard, Jr. Office: N 141 Tel.: 897-4210 SBTS Box: 8-1751 I. Texts: S. Ahituv, Handbook of Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions [limited availability] S. L. Gogel, A Grammar of Epigraphic Hebrew Drinkard, Handbook for Hebrew Inscriptions Seminar [available from the professor] II. Course Description: A study of Hebrew and Palestinian inscriptions, especially pre-exilic, to compare the orthography, epigraphy, grammar and syntax with Masoretic Hebrew. III. Course Objectives: 1. To gain knowledge of the basic epigraphy, orthography, grammar and syntax of Hebrew and Palestinian inscriptions. 2. To be able to read the inscriptions studied in their script from photographs or drawings, and explain their basic grammar. 3. To compare the orthography, grammar and syntax of the inscriptions with that of Masoretic Hebrew. 4. To apply the results of inscriptional study to textual criticism of the Old Testament, and to the interpretation of relevant passages. 5. To become acquainted with and use the basic literature of Hebrew and Palestinian inscriptions. 6. To demonstrate the capacity to do basic research in primary and secondary sources using the the methods and resources introduced in the seminar. 7. To gain an appreciation of the relevance of Hebrew and Palestinian inscriptions for the study of Hebrew and the practice of ministry. IV. Course Requirements: 1. Regular attendance and leadership in class discussion. 2. By the second week of the class, students should know the script of the Proto- Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite inscriptions and that of Phoenician/Old Hebrew (which is basically the same as Old Aramaic, Moabite and Edomite.
  • The Dating of Hazor's Destruction in Joshua 11 By

    The Dating of Hazor's Destruction in Joshua 11 By

    JETS 51/3 (September 2008) 489–512 THE DATING OF HAZOR’S DESTRUCTION IN JOSHUA 11 BY WAY OF BIBLICAL, ARCHAEOLOGICAL, AND EPIGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE douglas petrovich* Undoubtedly, one of the hottest topics in the field of OT studies today is the dating of the exodus.1 On one side, biblical archaeologists such as James Hoffmeier contend that a 13th century bc exodus better fits the material evidence, in large part due to alleged connections between sites mentioned in the biblical text—such as the store city of Raamses (Exod 1:11), which he asserts “is likely to be equated with the Delta capital built by and named for Ramesses II, that is, Pi-Ramesses”2—and excavated or identifiable sites in Egypt. On the other side, biblical archaeologists such as Bryant Wood argue that the exodus must have occurred in the middle of the 15th century bc, since the ordinal number “480th” in 1 Kgs 6:1 can be understood only literally (rather than allegorically, as late exodus proponents suggest). Wood, who mainly presents archaeological evidence to support his case, even declares that “the 13th-century exodus-conquest model is no longer tenable.”3 Thus the battle over the proper dating of the exodus and conquest continues to rage. While this debate cannot be settled in the present article, nor can space here be devoted to the issue of the alleged Ramesside connections with the store city of Raamses or the problem of archaeology not being able to “pro- vide any trace of Israelites [in Canaan] before the Iron Age (shortly before 4 1200 B.C.E.),” a reexamination of one aspect of this issue is in order: * Douglas Petrovich is dean at NBTS in Novosibirsk, Russia.
  • Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity of the Scriptures

    Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity of the Scriptures

    JETS 56/3 (2013) 475–97 RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES THAT LEND CREDENCE TO THE HISTORICITY OF THE SCRIPTURES MICHAEL A. GRISANTI* I. INTRODUCTION For one who loves biblical studies and is intensely interested in its intersec- tion with history and archaeology, the potential impact of the latter on the former deserves attention. In various academic and popular settings, numerous scholars in these fields make sweeping statements about the disjuncture between archaeology and/or history and the Bible. Those statements are made with authority and have widespread impact, even on an evangelical audience. How do the plain statements of Scripture fare when related to what seem to be the objective facts of archaeology and history? According to Ron Hendel, Archaeology did not illumine the times and events of Abraham, Moses and Joshua. Rather, it helped to show that these times and events are largely unhis- torical. The more we know about the Bronze and early Iron Ages, the more the Biblical portrayals of events in this era appear to be a blend of folklore and cul- tural memory, in which the details of historical events have either disappeared or been radically reshaped. The stories are deeply meaningful, but only occasionally historical. Archaeological research has—against the intentions of most of its practitioners—secured the non-historicity of much of the Bible before the era of the kings.1 In this paper I hope to consider a few examples of intersections between the Bible and archaeological excavations. My primary intended audience is the evangel- ical world. This paper has a clear apologetic function.