JESUS TAUGHT: NOT PEACE, BUT A SWORD

Posted on by

The following is a tough Scripture we would all like to overlook but that is impossible. God requires total commitment.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39

“And Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag, knapsack, or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one with a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. For, I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” Luke 22:35-37

Our greatest weapon is always the Gospel. But there may be a time to heed all of Jesus’ instructions, even to buy a sword.

“All authority… on earth has been given unto Me, therefore go and make disciple of all nations… and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus did not say disciple churches or disciple disciples but rather disciple “nations” – civil rule, civil governance. For this reason and mission, Jesus said – “I am with you!” Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to guide our every step.

For what excuse will we give King Jesus for not completing the great commission?

The Bible does not teach us to pray and hope things get better. “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). We must be “doers” – like the leaders of Issachar who understood the times and what God’s people should do (1 Chronicles 12:32).

Note God does not use those who think they are wise by worldly standards.

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

We must keep God’s commandments and get God’s vision for His King and Kingdom! “Where there is no vision, the people perish. But happy are those who keep God’s Law!” Proverbs 29:18

Also, if not you, who? If not now, when? We must unite and go forth – “For the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness! Psalms 45:4

[

PROOF OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER HIS CREATION

Posted on by

The archaeologist Joel Kramer shows us God is sovereign over His world with archaeological evidence of Babylon that fits the Biblical record of God’s judgement of that city. The same is true of Sodom and Gomorrah and I would urge you to go look at Sean McDowell’s video where he interviews Joel Kramer on evidence found for those cities.

Babylon is the second most mentioned city in the Bible yet few archaeologists have been able to excavate the area. Joel Kramer has made multiple trips to Southern Iraq to examine the ancient biblical prophecies about Babylon. His findings are genuinely remarkable and a modern-day example of fulfilled prophecy.

It is a reminder of the coming judgement of God on the entire world when God pours out His wrath upon the Earth with the Trumpet (Rev. 8 & 9) and Bowl (Rev.16) judgements.

“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:15-17

BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY PART 2

Posted on by

Can archaeology help show that the Bible is true? In this episode of “Basics of Biblical Archaeology,” Dr. Doug Petrovich discusses the importance of archeology to Christian apologetics. Apologetics is the art of defending the Bible. Archeology is an amazing help. This is part 2 of a 12-part series entitled “Basics of Biblical Archaeology.” If you have not watched part 1. then I suggest you do so as it lays the foundation with “What is Biblical Archaeology. Can I also suggest two websites for more information on Biblical inerrancy: http://www.creation.com and http://www.answersingenesis.com. Thank goodness new technology is uncovering more of the complexity of this Cosmos and human life, demonstrating that an intelligent designer is the only explanation that makes any sense. Natural selection and random chance only produce chaos.

To fund more classes like this one, consider donating to the Genesis Fund. The Genesis Fund was started last year to support Creation Science education and research. To learn more about how you can help support creation science, go to https://bit.ly/genesis-fund

MORE PROOF BIBLE IS A RELIABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT

Posted on by

House of David Inscription on Mesha Stele Confirmed

More physical evidence demonstrating the Bible as a reliable historical document has surfaced concerning a royal Israelite House of David inscription. Using new advanced photographic techniques, the 2,800-year-old Mesha Stele was recently determined to contain clear references to King David that before were highly debated.

The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is one of the oldest and most remarkable artifacts connecting biblical history to the ancient world, but there have been long standing arguments over the possible misidentification of the phrase “House of David.” The area of the inscription that features David’s name is damaged and partly unreadable. Only two of the five letters were clear until now, thanks to a new method of digital photography and a re-examination of the evidence.

References to the biblical history contained in the Mesha Stele inscription include:

  • ‟YHWH” (This is one of the oldest references to Israel’s God ‟YHWH” outside the Bible. The oldest comes from two Egyptian inscriptions and the recently discovered Mount Ebal curse tablet.)
  • ‟Israel” – six times (This is the third oldest known use of the name ‟Israel” in an inscription, behind the Berlin Pedestal and the Merneptah Stele.)
  • ‟Omri …king of Israel” (Omri reigned in Israel a half-century after the death of Solomon split the nation in two.)
  • ‟The men of Gad” (Gad was one of the Israelite tribes that settled east of the Jordan River, north of Moab.)

The text in question on the stone has been proposed to read “House of David” and “Altar of David.” Before now, scholars could not be entirely sure that these references to King David were being correctly deciphered. The Moabite phrase “House of David” consists of five letters but only the first and fourth letters of the series, bet and waw were completely clear. Three letters completing the reference to David were assumed to be taw (like modern Hebrew tav), dalet, and dalet.

In 2019, the prominent Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein, contested the reference to David in the stele. He claimed the letters had been misidentified. Finkelstein suggested that the king referred to in the stele was Balak, a biblical Moabite who lived 200 years before David.

The archaeology department at Tel Aviv University, where Finkelstein is a professor, has a reputation for being skeptical about much of biblical history. The scholars involved in the study are of like mind when it comes to their view of the early history of Israel in the Bible. This may influence their study and interpretation of ancient inscriptions.

Recent re-examination of the evidence by researchers André Lemaire and Jean-Philippe Delorme has led to a pro-bible conclusion. They published their findings in a late-2022 article entitled “Mesha’s Stele and the House of David” in the winter issue of Biblical Archeology Review.

Conclusion

Exciting new technology is allowing the re-examination of ancient artifacts uncovering even more information than before. This new study of the Mesha Stele helps verify that King David did indeed exist and the Bible is an accurate record of history. This is the second clear reference to the House of David from the era of the Israelite monarchy. The archaeological world is generally skeptical about David – many saying he never existed as the king of a powerful Israel like the Bible describes, making this discovery so important. We can be confident that we serve a real God, a God who works through history and has provided us with a reliable record of the past.

101 ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES THAT PROVE THE BIBLE IS AN ACCURATE HISTORICAL RECORD

Posted on by

Secular archaeologists have spent 200 years attempting to establish that the Bible is a collection of mythology and Jewish/Christian propaganda, yet archaeological evidence is more consistent with the Bible as an accurate historical document. In Unearthing the Bible, Dr Titus Kennedy isolates and illuminates 101 archaeological discoveries that buttress the thesis that the Bible is a reliable historical record by the traditionally recognized authors at the traditionally accepted times they lived.

Kennedy’s book should be in the hands of everyone serious about a historical study of the Bible. Sketching 101 intersections between God’s Word and archeological evidence, Kennedy crafts a sturdy structure of information and argument that makes clear that belief in the truth, accuracy, and reliability of the biblical narrative is not merely possible, but it is sensible and rational. Indeed, it takes a full dose of willful blindness and/or intellectual dishonesty to refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy and implications of some of these artifacts. Complete with photographs and translations of ancient inscriptions, a helpful principle of organization, and explanations that are clear and coherent, the book is a genuinely useful tool. No fair-minded reader can deny the book’s success in demonstrating that ancient events left behind extensive evidence that the biblical narrative is accurate.

As Kennedy notes on page 9, “the Bible has been routinely attacked and disregarded on the basis of history or archeology.” Unearthing the Bible challenges those attacks and dismissals head-on. The book cites the biblical passages related to each artifact, anchoring the archaeological context with the date and location of each piece’s discovery, a note on the biblical period in question, keywords, and citations of related biblical passages. The reader’s sense and understanding of the relevance of each artifact to the scriptural record grows as the array of archaeological discoveries increases in number and characteristic. In the end, a reader hostile to a biblical worldview may still ‘attack’, but ‘disregarded’ is no longer an option.

 Kennedy’s book is a collection of convincing illustrations that scientific evidence does not contradict God’s Word. Just as biology, geology, chemistry, and physics are consistent with the Bible, the evidence found in archaeology is consistent with the Bible.

ARCHAEOLOGY CONFIRMS THE BIBLICAL DATE OF THE EXODUS

Posted on by
SUBMERGED RUINS OF 3,400-YEAR-OLD MITANNI CITY REVEALED BY DROUGHT

One reason this location is of great interest is that Mitanni is mentioned in the Bible’s book of Judges. In standard dating, the Mitanni kingdom ruled the northern Tigris-Euphrates region from before 1600 BC until about 1350 BC when it was overtaken by the Assyrian Empire. It became a weakened province of Assyria for about a century before fading from the historical record.

Mitanni’s history makes a strong argument against a late Exodus date (also known as the Rameses Exodus date) in the 1200s BC since there is good evidence that Othniel, one of Israel’s first judges, was fighting against a Mitanni invasion in Judges 3. A Rameses Exodus date would put the judge Othniel in the 1100s BC and about two centuries after Mitanni ceased to be a strong kingdom, thus showing that the Exodus must have been much earlier.

The following video produced by Creation Ministries is helpful in understanding the Bible and the archaeological discoveries that support Biblical events and dates. Can I suggest you go to http://www.creation.com and search “Bible and archaeology” where you will find that many archaeologists have found the Bible to be an accurate historical document.

Were the Bible’s stories made up long after the fact, or do the accounts preserve eyewitness testimony? See how archaeology supports the Bible.

PROOF MOSES WROTE THE PENTATEUCH

Posted on by

The most ancient Proto-Hebrew inscription ever discovered!

This article is by Gavin Cox of Creation Ministries International in The Journal of Creation 2022 Volume 36 Issue 2

Tablet found on Mount Ebal in the Samaria mountains in the West Bank containing the word “curse” 10 times.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)


According to Associates for Biblical Research (ABR), the inside surfaces of the amulet contain 44 proto-alphabetic letters (a script that precedes paleo-Hebrew) and is centuries older than the oldest known Hebrew texts from ancient Israel. Douglas Petrovich, also an associate with ABR, has been working on even older proto-consonantal scripts found in Sinai dated to 1842 bc. 6 These were featured in the film Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy. 7 All this evidence is highly significant because many liberal theologians postulate there was no evidence of an alphabet in which to write during the LBI–II period, hence, the Bible must have been written much later than Moses—in contradiction to Jesus’s clear statement in John 5:46. Furthermore, the divine name YHW occurs at an Israelite covenant site of LBI–II age. This new discovery forever buries skeptical claims of the late formation of the Bible, or of Israel as a nation. It cannot be overstated how important this artifact really is: it truly is “one of the greatest discoveries to ever come out of the Holy Land.” ABR have yet to publish their translation of the outermost tablet surface text—which may reveal to whom the tablet belonged, who it was written by, or to whom it was addressed. We will wait with anticipation for the publishing of their textual analysis (hopefully by the end of 2022) and for further exciting archaeological discoveries on Mt Ebal!

IS GENESIS HISTORY?

Posted on by

THE FIRST STEP ON A JOURNEY TOWARD UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH ACCORDING TO GENESIS

Featuring over a dozen scientists and scholars, Is Genesis History? answers some of the most common questions about the creation of the world as we know it. How does the world intersect with the history recorded in Genesis? From rock layers to fossils, from lions to stars, from the Bible to artifacts, this fascinating documentary will change the way you see the world. Join Dr. Del Tackett, creator of The Truth Project, as he guides you through the evidence for two competing views—one compelling truth.

Prayerfully consider supporting the ministry of RevelationMedia with a donation today, and they will send you the Is Genesis History? on DVD. Explore bonus footage including a special interview with Dr. Del Tackett on the DVD and share with your friends and family the powerful scientific evidence that supports a Biblical worldview with Is Genesis History? today.

Below is a helpful video. It is an introduction to Biblical Archaeology.

DVD: Is Genesis History?