The recent discovery of a coin was made in Jerusalem that dates before the destruction of the temple that has changed how the world looks at the State of Israel. Christians are not surprised because this discovery alone proves yet again that God’s word is true and the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.
The proposed two State solution being considered by the UN next month is confronting God head on and like the coin confirms Biblical end times prophecy and the Bible as God’s Word.
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mythology and Jewish/Christian propaganda, yet archaeological evidence is more consistent with the Bible as an accurate historical document.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 the 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 based on 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.
In some cases, Kennedy cites a piece of archaeological evidence not as demonstrably connected to a specific biblical character, but as proof that a particular name was, in fact, in use at a particular time. On pages 38–39, Kennedy points out that
“27 scarab seals bearing the name ‘Yaqob’ (Jacob) and the element ‘El’ (perhaps meaning ‘protected by God’) have been discovered in Egypt, Canaan, and Nubia, dating to around 1800–1600 BC.”
He notes that this period is in line with the time of Jacob’s migration to Egypt, but that the name was not used either before or after this time. Without trying to make more of the evidence than the evidence allows, Kennedy points out that it is significant that the archeological evidence of the name’s use corresponds dramatically with the biblical account.
Altogether, Kennedy cites 19 cases of names used at a time in the Bible that corresponds with the time that a particular name was in common use. This list contains both Old and New Testament names. Some of these cases have made the popular press, such as the ‘James Ossuary’ described on pages 224–225. This may, or may not, be the same “son of Joseph and brother of Jesus” that we know in the Bible, but, because all three names are in their proper timeframe and could be common, it certainly is possible.
Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries that Bring the Bible to Life is a valuable Bible study tool, but, beyond that, 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. Moreover, fulfilled Bible prophecies demonstrate its authors were divinely guided by the Holy Spirit.
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:
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.
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.
Does what we find on the ground support the biblical narrative of the Jewish exodus from Egypt? There were no historians at the time to record the historical events.
“The only thing we can use to basically verify the biblical narrative is the archaeological record.”
Until now, the Number One attack on the bible, based on archaeology, has been lack of evidence, explains Rabbi Ken Spiro, a licensed Israeli tour guide with a Master’s degree in history.
But the more archaeologists dig, the more they seem to find.
It’s right there. It’s always been there. But until recently, no one has ever seen it.
Watch and be encouraged by historian/author Ken Spiro’s short video Archaeology Proves Exodus from Egypt
Israeli archaeologist Prof. Ehud Netzer displays the shard from a 2,000-year-old amphora bearing the name of “Herod the Great, King of Judea” July 9. The unique ceramic shard, found during a recent archaeological dig on the ancient desert fortress of Masada, came from a large amphora used for shipping Italian wine to the king who ruled the holy land at the time of Jesus’ birth.
The discovery in question refers to findings posted in April by Israel’s Tel Aviv University, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which demonstrates that it was not only the elites who could read.
“We’re dealing with really low-level soldiers in a remote place who can write,” said Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist and biblical scholar at Tel Aviv University. “So there must have been some sort of educational system in Judah at that time.”
Finkelstein suggested that what this discovery means is that people in the kingdom had the capacity to write and put together parts of the Old Testament even earlier than it was believed.
“There’s a heated discussion regarding the timing of the composition of a critical mass of biblical texts, but to answer this, one must ask a broader question: What were the literacy rates in Judah at the end of the First Temple period? And what were the literacy rates later on?” the researcher elaborated.
The Bible states in Genesis 5:1, that Adam, the first man in the Bible, had the ability to speak and write.
The Israelites were commanded to write the commands of the Lord on their door posts and bind them on their hands and foreheads (Deuteronomy 6:4–9, 11:18–20), if they could not read or write, what would be the point of these commands?
Most conservative biblical scholars who start with God’s Word believe the Old Testament record that the books were written by the persons associated with them or those who claim to have written them. They also accept that these books were written during the time period they claim to have been written in (e.g., the prophet Isaiah during the reigns of the pre-exilic kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah). If these books were not written until decades or even centuries after the events happened, the historicity, accuracy, and infallibility of the texts are called into question since they claim to have been written much earlier.
The pottery shards discovery in Judah, supports the accuracy of God’s Word, because it shows that Israelites were more literate than many scholars believe.
“If history has taught anything, it’s that eventually research and science will confirm Scripture. We have an imperfect and incomplete understanding of history and science, but God’s Word was ultimately written by the God who was there and who never lies (Titus 1:2),” the article added.
Some events described in the Bible were so momentous that they reshaped entire nations, changing the course of history.
Like the 10 plagues that literally destroyed the land of Egypt… Like well over a million people leaving Egypt overnight… Like the conquest of Canaan.
Yet most archaeologists today have concluded that there is no evidence that the events described in Exodus ever happened. In Patterns of Evidence: Exodus, filmmaker Timothy Mahoney sets out to answer the question, “Is this foundational event of the Bible really just a myth?”
The answer is a resounding “No!” The evidence is there all right—but archaeologists have consistently assigned it to the wrong time period, breaking the connection between the evidence and its biblical causes.
This film showcases amazing evidence of the arrival, multiplication, and then descent into slavery of a Semitic people in Egypt; evidence for the collapse of Egypt, along with the mass exodus of the Semitic slaves; evidence for the conquest of Canaan, with sites like Jericho lining up perfectly with the biblical text.
A compelling watch, featuring interviews with leading archaeologists and biblical scholars against a backdrop of stunning video and animation, it is no wonder Patterns of Evidence: Exodus has already picked up a slew of awards!
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 