Download archaeology sheds light on scripture

[By Ron Halbrook, adapted from Evidences for God and His Creation]
• Introduction
Paul illustrated & verified
his point by quoting poets known to Greeks
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being;
as certain also of your own poets have said,
For we are also his offspring.
Epemenides the Cretan & Aratus of Cilicia do not
“prove” the Bible true but add light to its truth
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• Introduction
2.
The Bible is true because God gave it,
not because of archaeology.
17 So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
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• Introduction
3. Additional information illustrates, clarifies,
& verifies.
Royal chronicles on Jeroboam
“Behold the fowls of the air”
“Doth not…nature teach you?”
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• Introduction
4. Archaeology sheds light on the Bible:
Archaeology: study of artifacts & remains
of past civilizations
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4. Archaeology sheds light on the Bible:
Historical setting, customs, etc. illuminates:
“Chs.1-38 reflect a great deal of what we know
from other sources about ancient Mesopotamian
life and culture. Creation, genealogies,
destructive floods, geography and mapmaking,
construction techniques, migrations of peoples,
sale and purchase of land, legal customs and
procedures, shepherding and cattle-raising….”
(Genesis Introduction, NIV Study Bible, 2002, p. 1)
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• Introduction
4. Archaeology sheds light on the Bible:
Verify Bible history & geography:
accuracy of details consistent with Bible claim
to be God’s Word
No fact of archaeology contradicts Bible record
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• Introduction
5. Archaeology sheds light on Bible accounts:
The Garden of Eden: origin of civilizations
The universal flood of Noah’s time
Abraham’s journey to Egypt
Moses: author of the Pentateuch
Edom, Moab, & the Hittites real people
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I. The Garden of Eden: Origin of Civilizations
A. God Created the Garden of Eden for Adam & Eve
“A garden eastward in Eden”
8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden;
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow
every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
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“A garden eastward in Eden”
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden;
and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison:
that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah,
where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good:
there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon:
the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel [Tigris]:
that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria.
And the fourth river is Euphrates.
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“A garden eastward in Eden”
15 And the LORD God took the man,
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it
and to keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die.
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I. The Garden of Eden: Origin of Civilizations
A. God Created the Garden of Eden for Adam & Eve
A real garden for real people, not a fable
Plato: Greek gods inhabited island
continent in Atlantic Ocean
Sir Thomas Moore (1516):
fictional perfect island society
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I. The Garden of Eden: Origin of Civilizations
B. Eden Located in Mesopotamia
East of Palestine or Israel
Garden origin of four rivers:
Pison, Gihon, Hidekel (Tigris), Euphrates
Tigris & Euphrates Rivers define Mesopotamia
(land between the rivers): modern Iraq
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Tigris & Euphrates Rivers define Mesopotamia
(land between the rivers)
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I. The Garden of Eden: Origin of Civilizations
C. Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization
Sumer, earliest civilization 3,000 B.C.
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I. The Garden of Eden: Origin of Civilizations
C. Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization
“Archaeological research has thus established
beyond doubt that there is no focus of civilization
in the earth that can begin to compete in antiquity
and activity with the basin of the Eastern
Mediterranean and the region immediately
to the east of it—Breasted’s Fertile Crescent”
(W.F. Albright, From the Stone Age to Christianity, p. 6)
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II. The Universal Flood of Noah’s Time
A. Genesis 6-9 Records the Universal Flood
Flood waters
rose
20 feet
(6.9 meters)
above
the highest
mountains
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Flood waters rose 20 feet (6.9 meters)
above the highest mountains
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth;
and the waters increased, and bare up the ark,
and it was lift up above the earth.
18 And the waters prevailed,
and were increased greatly upon the earth;
and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth;
and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven,
were covered.
20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail;
and the mountains were covered.
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21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth,
both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast,
and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,
and every man:
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life,
of all that was in the dry land, died.
23 And every living substance was destroyed
which was upon the face of the ground,
both man, and cattle, and the creeping things,
and the fowl of the heaven;
and they were destroyed from the earth:
and Noah only remained alive,
and they that were with him in the ark.
24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth
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an hundred and fifty days.
II. The Universal Flood of Noah’s Time
B. Ancient Civilizations Recorded the Flood
Bible account dismissed as myth
until other ancient records were discovered
Over 500 ancient accounts: China, Babylon,
Wales, Russia, India, America, Hawaii, Sumatra,
Scandinavia, Peru, Polynesia, etc.
Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (origin 2,700 B.C.; copy
1200 B.C.), tablet 11 very similar to Bible account
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Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (origin 2,700 B.C.;
copy 1200 B.C.), tablet 11 very similar to Bible account
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BAYLONIAN GILGIMISH EPIC
Take the seed of all
creatures aboard the ship
I boarded the ship
and closed the door
I sent out a dove...[it]
came back, no restingplace appeared for it
I sent out a raven…waters
receding, it ate, it flew to
and fro, it did not return
ACCOUNT IN GENESIS 6-9
6:19 Bring all kinds
of animals into the ark
7:1,16 God called Noah
into the ark, shut the door
8:8 He sent out a dove;
it found no resting-place
& returned
8:7 He sent out a raven,
which went back & forth
until the waters dried up
I made a libation on
8:20 Noah offered burnt
the peak of the mountain. offerings on the mountain
http://www.nwcreation.net/noahlegends.html
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II. The Universal Flood of Noah’s Time
C. The Moral Dimension
Ancient stories picture temperamental gods
causing the flood (annoyed with human noise)
Only the Bible gives one clear cause:
God’s judgment against sinful men
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually.
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II. The Universal Flood of Noah’s Time
D. Did Moses Plagiarize Ancient Records?
Existence of ancient records proves Moses
plagiarized them to write Gen. 6-9?
Ancient records prove The Flood part of man’s
universal memory: accounts corrupted
Moses inspired of God & unique from others:
rational story, God just (not temperamental)
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III. Abraham’s Journey to Egypt
A. Abraham’s Wealth Increased Including Camels
Pharaoh gave him sheep, oxen,
donkeys, & camels until his lie was exposed
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Pharaoh gave him sheep, oxen,
donkeys, & camels until his lie was exposed
14 And it came to pass, that,
when Abram was come into Egypt,
the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her,
and commended her before Pharaoh:
and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake:
and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses,
and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses,
and camels.
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Pharaoh gave him sheep, oxen,
donkeys, & camels until his lie was exposed
17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house
with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said,
What is this that thou hast done unto me?
why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister?
so I might have taken her to me to wife:
now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him:
and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
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III. Abraham’s Journey to Egypt
A. Abraham’s Wealth Increased Including Camels
Pharaoh gave him sheep, oxen,
donkeys, & camels until his lie was exposed
B. Charge Bible Record Inaccurate:
Camels Not Used in Egypt This Early
T. E. Peet, Egypt and the Old Testament (1924):60,
R. H. Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament
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(1941):154
III. Abraham’s Journey to Egypt
C. Camels Not as Widely Used as Later But Present
“Archaeological evidence showing early
knowledge of the camel in Egypt included
statuettes & figurines of camels, plaques bearing
representations of camels, rock carvings &
drawings, camel bones, a camel skull, and a camel
hair rope. These objects, some twenty in number,
range from the seventh century BC to the period
before 3,000 BC” (J.P. Free, “Abraham’s Camels,”
Journal of Near Eastern Studies [July, 1944]:187-193)
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IV. Moses: Author of the Pentateuch
A. The Bible Says Moses Wrote the Pentateuch
“Moses wrote all the words”
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“Moses wrote all the words”
3 And Moses came and told the people
all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments:
and all the people answered with one voice, and said,
All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD,
and rose up early in the morning,
and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars,
according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel,
which offered burnt offerings,
and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons;
and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
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“Moses wrote all the words”
7 And he took the book of the covenant,
and read in the audience of the people:
and they said,
All that the LORD hath said will we do,
and be obedient.
8 And Moses took the blood,
and sprinkled it on the people, and said,
Behold the blood of the covenant,
which the LORD hath made with you
concerning all these words.
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IV. Moses: Author of the Pentateuch
A. The Bible Says Moses Wrote the Pentateuch
Moses recorded the exodus
& the wilderness wanderings
2 And Moses wrote their goings out
according to their journeys
by the commandment of the LORD:
and these are their journeys
according to their goings out.
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IV. Moses: Author of the Pentateuch
B. Unbelievers Claimed Writing Not Yet Invented
in Moses’ Time (1400’s B.C.)
Earliest Egyptian hierglyphs 3400-3200 B.C.
(Larkin Mitchell, “Earliest Egyptian Glyphs,”
Archaeology Magazine, Mar./Apr. 1999)
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Rosetta Stone discovered 1799 written in Greek,
early Egyptian hieroglyphics, & current Egyptian:
hieroglyphics revealed much about Egypt
before Moses’ time
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IV. Moses: Author of the Pentateuch
B. Unbelievers Claimed Writing Not Yet Invented
in Moses’ Time (1400’s B.C.)
Earliest Sumerian cuneiform documents date
3100-3000 B.C., before Abraham!
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2500’s BC
IV. Moses: Author of the Pentateuch
B. Unbelievers Claimed Writing Not Yet Invented
in Moses’ Time (1400’s B.C.)
Babylon: Hammurabi Code 1772 B.C.
1792-1750 BC
Clay Tablet
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Stone Stele
V. Edom, Moab, & the Hittites Real People
A. Unbelievers Claimed Historical Errors in Bible
Inserting Edom & Moab into ancient history
before they existed (anachronism)
Inventing the Hittites which never existed
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V. Edom, Moab, & the Hittites Real People
B. Edom in Bible & Secular History
Gives history of Edom from Esau,
lists kings before Israel had kings
Edom strong nation
at time of Exodus: blocked the King’s Hwy.
Border fortress in reign of Pharoah Merneptah
(1213-1203 B.C.) reports on "shasu-tribes of Edom"
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Egypt, Edom, Moab, & Israel 830 B.C.
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V. Edom, Moab, & the Hittites Real People
C. Moab in Bible & Secular History
Moab came from Lot’s son Moab
Israel camped in plains of Moab
to enter Canaan: Moab feared Israel
Pharoah Ramesses II (1279-1213 B.C.) listed Moab
as conquered on colossal statue at Luxor
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D. The Hittites in Bible & Secular History
Ham, Canaan, Heth (Hittites)
Hittites powerful nation
1800’s scholars mocked Bible references
to Hittites; early 1900’s 10,000 clay tablets found
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HITTITE
EMPIRE
2000 BC1200 BC
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• Invitation
1.
Paul illustrated & verified
his point by quoting poets known to Greeks
2.
The Bible is true because God gave it,
not because of archaeology
3. Additional information illustrates, clarifies,
& verifies.
46
• Invitation
4. Archaeology sheds light on the Bible:
Verify Bible history & geography:
accuracy of details consistent with Bible claim
to be God’s Word
No fact of archaeology contradicts Bible record
47
• Invitation
5. Archaeology sheds light on Bible accounts:
The Garden of Eden: origin of civilizations
The universal flood of Noah’s time
Abraham’s journey to Egypt
Moses: author of the Pentateuch
Edom, Moab, & the Hittites real people
48
• Invitation
5.
Submit to Christ: get right with God
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism
doth also now save us
(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,
but the answer of a good conscience toward God,)
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
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