Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: PUZZLE (05/28/20)
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TITLE: Uncovering Biblical History | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dave Walker
06/01/20 -
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Because it is a war against Jesus, its target, from ancient times has often been the Word of God.
The Roman ruler Diocletian 300 years after the church was born, as part of a cruel persecution of Christians, ordered every copy of the Bible to be burned. Since then, attempts to make it extinct have peppered the annals of history.
For fifteen hundred years, the battle continued, with endeavour after endeavour to eliminate every trace of the Bible, or prevent it from reaching fallen man. Tyndale translated it from Latin and insisted it be made available to everyone--- and, in 1536, was burned at the stake for it.
The enemy of our souls, unsuccessful in every attempt to destroy the Bible, then turned his attention to discrediting it, and this is his tactic to this day.
Bible detractors abound and their most recent attacks are on the historical authenticity of the Bible. For example:
"There is no extrabiblical evidence for the Israelites being in Egypt, let alone crossing the Red Sea."
"The glorious Davidic Empire did not exist. There is no historical record of David."
"How can we believe a ridiculous story of fire and brimstone coming down from heaven and turning Lot's wife into a pillar of salt?"
And so the attack continues.
Yet God is answering the sceptics through archaeology. Like pieces of a puzzle that slowly reveal the picture, artefacts are affirming Biblical truth.
In 1996 news of an archaeological find at the foot of Mount Hermon found its way into the New York Times and Time magazine. It was an inscription on a small fragment that read, "King David" and another that said "the House of David" --- the Biblical term for David's Kingdom. So there is now extrabiblical evidence for David's Kingdom. Another puzzle piece is revealed.
Pictures of chariot wheels and other parts lying on the floor of the Red Sea have given weight to the Exodus story, and scoffers of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah have also been silenced. Researchers in a New Science report recorded evidence of an extremely hot, explosive event north of the Dead Sea. It read, "a powerful airburst from a meteor colliding with the atmosphere may have wiped out a Bronze Age civilization along the north side of the Dead Sea some 3,700 years ago." They theorise that the intense shockwaves from the blast may have also covered the area "with a super-heated brine of Dead Sea anhydride salts." More pieces of the puzzle confirming the validity of the Bible.
Yet, while it is comforting to know the sceptics are being answered, it might do little to convince them of the truth. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of the heart, not the head. It is as we give our heart to Jesus, that the Holy Spirit makes the Word of God come alive and convinces us that it is more than just another book, but the very Word of God.
"Seeing is believing," says satan's kingdom. "Believe and you will see," says God. No need to try to fit puzzle pieces together. It is revelation, not reason that speaks to the heart.
As Ravi Zacharias has said, "Always be aware of the questioner. Answer him/her, not just the question." Behind much of the railing and derision of a sceptic are the secret tears of an aching heart that needs the comforting gentle pierced hands of a Saviour, not a confrontation .
Let the sceptic's arguments be confounded by archaeology --- history has a way of surfacing --- but let the deep longings of the heart be the stimulus for the real search. The actual answer is not in facts, but in a Person. And with Him by our side, we can walk with confidence, not knowing all the answers, but trusting in the One who does.
For now we see but a poor reflection, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1Cor 13:12)
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So true...easy to lose this perspective with someone who wants to debate the validity of scripture.
Good article...good reminder...you can’t argue someone into the kingdom.