I think it is a healthy thing to go digging for physical evidence of the reason for your faith.

Faith is a beautiful thing, but it should not be blind. Our faith should be built on evidence. For me, the very first evidence of a holy God was creation and sensing his presence.

As a small, four-year-old child, I had never been to church. Yet, there was something about the name and mention of God that always rang true for me. I immediately knew to look up at the sky when my neighbors said His name. Belief was instinctual for me. (You can read more about my story of faith here.)

I feel like it was a privilege to discover faith in God basically on my own. Many people struggle thinking, “Do I only believe this because it’s how I was raised?”

I don’t think how you are raised is the only reason why you believe whatever you believe. There’s so much more to it than most people realize.

From the time I was eleven years old and up, I took to reading the Bible for myself to learn what God’s word says. I needed to examine it for myself.

Then somewhere in adulthood, I wanted to know even more about the past of the Bible.

What evidence is there to go along with these stories? Are there other historical accounts that agree with the Bible? What else do we know? Are there artifacts?

Oh boy, are there ever artifacts!

The more I read about it and see it for myself, the more I enjoy Biblical Archaeology. It pains me so much that there is a war going on in Israel. I worry about Israel remaining a country, and I am concerned for all of the preserved places. War always destroys historical keepsakes, if you will. Plus, I hate that we are all too scared to go tour Israel now.

One of the easiest ways to read about archaeological evidence for the Bible is to order a few books on the topic.

Not all Bible history books are created equal, obviously. There are some I’ve learned much from but didn’t enjoy, and I gave those to Goodwill.

Today I’m going to share only five of my favorites with you.

These five are both informative and interesting. Each of these books has earned its spot on my bookshelves, and I guarantee you could learn a lot from them too. I cannot keep too many books in our home because we move so much, and books are heavy.

Let’s start with my number one pick.

#1. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler

This book is the ultimate resource for learning about how the Bible was translated, preserved, documented, and evidenced. It is an exhaustive source for going into details on archaeological discoveries relating to the Bible.

I confess I have not read the entire book yet. It is so in depth and lengthy, and my attention span is like a butterfly. Instead, I use this one to look up any antiquity or event I’d like to learn more about. To me, it never seems like there’s enough information available on the topic of Biblical history online.

The Popular Handbook was published in 2013, over ten years ago. Therefore, it is missing all of the things discovered in that time gap, and you would not believe how many discoveries have been made just since 2013. For more recent discoveries, check out books number two and three on this list.

If you would like a book that will answer many of your questions about the Bible and what artifacts have been found, this is the one for you.

Here are a few topics covered well in this book:

• Reliability of Old Testament manuscripts
• The Dead Sea Scrolls
• How the New Testament came to be
• Reliability of the New Testament
• Archaeological Evidence of Old Testament Events such as the Flood, the Exodus from Egypt, and King David
• Old Testament People who were confirmed by archaeology, in graphs
• Non-Christian accounts of Jesus
• Archaeological evidence for Jesus
• The Temple Mount
• Finds relating to the New Testament

This is such an excellent resource to have on hand. If you teach any kind of Bible class or have any interest in learning more about the ancient past or how the Bible was written, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. You can buy it here from Amazon, or any book store with a solid religion section. When you purchase through affiliate links on my website, I do collect advertising fees from Amazon.

I am not a Walmart affiliate, but I believe you may be able to get it cheaper at Walmart.

#2. Where God Came Down by Joel Kramer

This book is newer, published in 2020, and I cannot say enough positive things about my experience reading this book.

First of all, Kramer is an archaeologist as well as a Christian preacher. He spent many years living and working in Israel.

Furthermore, Kramer routinely takes people on tours of the Holy Land. Those tours are probably on pause during the current war with Hamas. Don’t despair that you cannot take a trip to Israel though. Kramer has a YouTube channel where he uploads his tours of many historical places in Israel. There are enough videos on there to keep you busy for a while!

Here’s a sample of his YouTube channel/videos:

What makes this book so great:

-easy to read, conversational tone

-engaging, full color photos to go with each archaeological site discussed

-in depth look at important discoveries

Joel Kramer takes ten places, five from the Old Testament and five from the New Testament, and goes into deep details to what is relevant about each place.

A few topics covered in Where God Came Down:

• Abraham
• the Mountain of God
• Jacob’s altar
• Abraham’s burial site
• David’s palace
• Nazareth
• the nativity
• where Jesus was crucified and buried

Kramer focuses on the evidence and the story in each famous individual place and walks you through exactly how this site was preserved over time. He explains why each discovery and fact about the place and the people is significant.

If you are looking for a book where you can read in depth about Christianity’s most famous heroes and places and how we know they are true, this is the book for you.

You can find this book on Amazon. I was dismayed to find that Barnes and Noble does not sell it.

#3. Biblical Archaeology Review magazine

You can get this magazine in the mail or online. Even if you don’t subscribe to the magazine, many of their articles are free on their website.

I have been reading this magazine for years. My favorite article they ever ran was on why the dates for Christmas were chosen. As it turns out, those are not random dates or pagan holidays. You can find the article here.

The tone of this magazine is academic. Some of these articles will be immediately interesting to me, and some will not. However, it is a good way to stay up to date on recent findings. You can also learn about many opportunities to visit dig sites and listen to lectures on the topic of Biblical archaeology.

The magazine always runs articles on interesting artifacts and discoveries. It is a welcome surprise in my mailbox when it arrives.

Specific topics vary with each issue of the magazine. You can visit their website to learn more.

#4. Tried by Fire by William J. Bennett

This book was fascinating. It feels extremely rare to have the opportunity to learn about church history of those first one thousand years of Christianity.

I wrote a whole article about things I learned from this book a few years ago.

This book is thoroughly entertaining because so much of it I had never heard before at all.

Here are a few topics included in Tried by Fire:

• Persecution of the disciples
• before the church was under the authority of Rome
• Influence of early Christian women
• the Codex
• Egypt and the Great Persecution
• Constantine
• Council of Nicaea
• Monasticism
• Pope Leo I
• spread of Christianity
• East/West schism of the church

I highlighted and underlines so many pages of Tried by Fire.

There are so many stories in here that were completely new to me about early church customs and people. It filled so many gaps in my historical knowledge. In fact, I feel like I need to go back and read it again because it’s been a few years since I read it the first time.

You can find Tried by Fire on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

#5. Israel Then & Now by Thomas and M. Cartier

Paintings by S. Rotem, Photographs by z. Radovan, S. Rotem, and Y. Hirshfeld

If you would like a chance to see Israel, how it looks now, as well as how it looked in the past, this is the book for you.

Israel Then & Now is full of present day photos, with an overlay drawing of how each place looked in ancient times.

This is one example of how the book shows you each place and takes you back in time to that same place:

Each photo goes along with a summary of what is important about the places you see in the photos.

Here are few places you will learn about in this book:

• Temple-Mount in Jerusalem
• The Cardo
• Masada
• King Herod’s palace
• Tiberias
• the Galilee boat
• the synagogue of Capernaum
• the Roman Temple in Caesarea
• Meggido

My favorite section of this book is the story of the fishing boat discovered in the Sea of Galilee. It dates back to the exact time of Jesus.

Plus, I love how this book is full of full-color photos and illustrations. If this is the kind of book you enjoy, also be sure to check out the book I wrote about our trip to Israel, as it is also full of full color photos and stories about each place. However, my book does not have the benefit of the overlays of how the places looked in ancient times. That’s what makes Israel Then & Now so unique.

Israel Then & Now is a quick read. You could read it in one sitting and learn so much. You can buy it on Amazon.

I hope you’ve found at least one book in this list that sounds exciting to you.

If you’ve never read any books in this genre before, I would start with Joel Kramer’s Where God Came Down. The book is well written and easy to understand. Plus, the photos are so good, and it covers the ten places that it focuses on in great depth. In fact, it looks like he might make this into a series of books.

With God being taught in less and less places, many people are left not knowing what to believe in. So much doubt has been cast on the things of God. Most people do not realize how much of our beliefs is pure history, and not a matter of faith at all. It is a fact Jesus was a real person who lived two thousand years ago. What you believe about Jesus is where the faith comes in. I don’t think most people realize that.

Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:16:

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

2 Peter 1:16 KJV

I want to challenge you to look up some of these people and places, and you will be amazed at how much evidence there is to support the events reported in the Holy Bible.

These five books are all a solid start to learning about archaeological evidence to support the Bible.

Have you read a book about Bible Archaeology that was so good you’d like to share it with others?

Leave us the title and author of it in the comments section, so we can read it too! I’d be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments as well.

The post Best Biblical Archaeology Books for Exploring Evidence of the Past appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

With thousands of dig sites in Israel, scientists are constantly coming across exciting archaeology finds that support the Bible.

There are books upon books about biblical archaeology. There is even a monthly magazine that reports on archaeological findings that relate to the Bible.

I will link you to some of my favorite archaeology books at the end of this article. But for now, I want to share 10 exciting and relevant artifacts when it comes to the Bible.

When I decided what I believed about this great world, archaeology certainly had zero impact on what I came to believe. I could feel the presence of God before anyone even told me about him, and that was enough for me.

As we get older, we hear so many competing messages about the world and faith.

The atheist voices can feel like the loudest ones. God always held true for me, in spite of what the world had to say about the Christian faith.

So archaeology never led me to faith, but it sure is neat to see these clues to the past, dug up by people who are even more enthused by this process than I am. Even a simple 2,000 year old wine jug becomes a marvel to me. It helps me envision what the wine jugs used by Jesus to turn the water into wine looked like.

Archaeology can excite us, deepen our understanding, puzzle us, and offer its own clues to the past.

These findings can absolutely help validate your faith.

This list of archaeological finds is by no means an exhaustive list. These are just ten that I found inspiring.

***Disclaimer: When you purchase through Amazon links on this website, I do collect advertising fees from Amazon, which hardly ever happens really.****

10 of the Many Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible

#1. The Silver Scrolls

The infographic I made above gives you all of the most important details. The discovery of the silver scrolls proved that yes, the Bible is indeed ancient. The silver scrolls contain scripture from Numbers and Deuteronomy, and they date back to the 6th-7th century BC.

To learn more about these spools found at Ketef Hinnom, read the full article I wrote about them here.

To see a picture of what they look like, go here. I would love to share the photo, but alas I do not have the rights.

When a writing is published is so important because when the writing is published close to the time that things happen, there are living witnesses. So you cannot get away with publishing cleverly made up tales. Only the truth can hold water when published near or during the time it happens.

The apostles of Jesus who wrote their accounts wrote from their real experience as well.

History proves you cannot pretend history never happened. Archaeology discoveries further prove that we should take what the Bible says seriously. It is quite sobering.

#2. The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls have to be the most famous of modern archaeology finds that support the Bible. These scrolls were discovered in 1947, in the limestone caves of Qumran, near the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain parts of every single book of the Old Testament, except for Esther. The Isaiah scroll contains the entire book of Isaiah, written 1000 years before any other copy that we had of Isaiah. It is the earliest known complete copy of any book of the Bible. And this is what is amazing to me: that copy of Isaiah is basically the same as the copy of Isaiah that you have now. God’s word remains unchanged.

The Isaiah scroll dates back as early as the second century B.C.

A fragment of the book of Samuel dates back to the third century B.C. and is written in biblical Hebrew.

The oldest Qumran Bible fragments are of Exodus and Samuel.

This discovery was such a big deal because before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the oldest copies of the Old Testament only dated back to the eleventh century AD. What a huge difference!

Now no one can say that the Bible was written in modern times. We know too much now. These Old Testament works were already alive and well over two hundred years before Christ was born.

Not everything discovered in the caves was scripture. There are also commentaries on the scriptures, small notes, additional books, and lists.

They investigated thirty more caves after the original Dead Sea Scroll discovery. This turned up 10 more caves containing ancient manuscripts. All eleven caves are in the area near the ancient settlement of the Khirbet Qumran. (Source 1, page 103)

These scrolls are in different languages, some in Aramaic, some in Hebrew, and others in Greek. Notably, the Genesis Apocryphon preserves the accounts of the patriarchs in Aramaic. (Source 1, p. 37)

The Messianic Testimony

The Messianic Testimony was written in the first century B.C., so before Jesus. It lists all of the Old Testament passages that refer to the coming Messiah. The list also references the coming Messiah as a three-part office: prophet, priest, and king.

I would like to see a copy of that list. Wouldn’t you? Alas, I could not find one on the internet, but I did not look hard. Let me know in the comments if you find it.

Thanks to the Dead Sea Scrolls, we know that the Hebrew text that we have today of the Old Testament is completely accurate.

These scrolls testify to the reliability of scripture. We have a “faithful copy of the original words penned by the original author, handed down for generations.” (Source 1, p. 46)

Want to learn more about the Dead Sea Scrolls? Check out this article from The Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

My “Source 1” for both the Silver Scrolls and the Dead Sea scrolls:

The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

#3. King Hezekiah & Hezekiah’s Tunnel

The Bible goes into great detail about many of the things that King Hezekiah did during his lifetime, which was about 726-697 BC.

You can read about King Hezekiah in the Bible in 2 Kings 18 and in 2 Chronicles 29-32. Plus, we have found many artifacts from Hezekiah as well.

King Hezekiah went to great lengths to prepare for attack from Sennacherib of the Assyrians in 701 BC. Hezekiah reinforced the wall of Jerusalem with an added on outer wall. Then he diverted the water from the Gihon Spring into the city. This ensured the people in Jerusalem would have water during a long siege from the Assyrians.

Evidence of that broad wall and Hezekiah’s water tunnel are still there today. The wall was an impressive 23 feet wide and 27 feet high.

Young people checking out the tunnel in 1880 discovered a Paleo-Hebrew inscription carved into the tunnel. This is one of the oldest Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions ever found. It dates to the 8th century B.C.

The inscription reads:

“The axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut… and on the day of the tunnel (being finished) the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, ax against ax and flowed water from the source to the pool for 1200 cubits.”

8th century Paleo-Hebrew inscription

We have several more artifacts from Hezekiah.

Hezekiah’s royal seal was found. Plus, the Annals of Sennacherib, dating to 701 BC, tell the story of the Assyrian siege on Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s point of view. It is written in Akkadian cuneiform. If you would like to see a cool photo of it and learn more, see this on historyofinformation.com.

For more on the story of King Hezekiah and how God defeated the Assyrian Army for him without the Israelites having to even fight, go here. You can find it in 2 Kings, chapter 19.

I love that of all the battles, we have both sides of that one recorded.

Source: The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

#4. Oldest Copy of John’s Gospel

The oldest copy of the gospel of John was written in Greek on papyrus in AD 150-200. The entire book did not survive, but most of it did. Actually there are several other copies of parts of John that are about that old. You can learn more here.

This is incredible because it dates the copy back to very near the actual lifespan of the apostle John. If John died in the year AD 99, as it is believed, then this copy dates almost all the way back to his lifetime. Now that is a reliable source.

#5. Tomb of Jesus

There are a couple of different places that claim to be the location of the tomb of Jesus. According to my extensive reading in many books and study Bibles, the one in the picture above is extremely accurate. This was probably exactly where they laid him.

This tomb, that no gets to really see, is under a monument inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem. At the time that they crucified Jesus, this was all outside the city gates. But for modern day Jerusalem, it is inside the city.

In 2016, they restored the enclosure again. A marble cover inside dates back to the AD 300s. This site has been venerated as the tomb of Jesus since at least the 300s. For more on that, see this article.

The Garden Tomb is far more aesthetically pleasing, so it is also a good place to visit to picture what it might have looked like.

I read in Under Jerusalem, by Andrew Lawler, that this other tomb was full of skulls that they dug out in the 1800s and the date does not match the timeline that it could have been an unused tomb in the time of Jesus.

For more photos of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, you can see my article on it here.

#6. The Most Ancient New Testament Manuscripts

I learned the most about these copies of the New Testament gospels from this web page of the Bible Archaeology Report. They were “all written within a lifetime of Jesus”. I love that.

Much like the Dead Sea scrolls, they are tattered looking papyrus fragments. One of these manuscripts was discovered in an ancient garbage dump in Egypt!

All total, there are eleven manuscripts that possibly date back to the 2nd century, and four of them definitely do.

The oldest complete copy of the New Testament is the Codex Sinaiticus. The Codex Sinaiticus was handwritten in Greek in the 4th century AD.

There are no ancient manuscripts as well documented and copied as the Bible. See the article I wrote here to learn more about the reliability of scriptures.

#7. Tel Dan Inscription

The Tel Dan inscription is the first historical evidence of King David, outside of the Bible.

The Tel Dan Inscription is a stone from the 8th century BC. The stone is carved in Aramaic. It tells how the Aramean king from that area defeated the “king of the House of David.”

The writing also described defeating the King of Israel, just as the Bible says that Israel was divided into two kingdoms: Judah (the house of David) and Israel.

Source: Biblearchaeology.org

#8. The Pool of Siloam

The pool of Siloam was uncovered in 2004 when a repair team was excavating a damaged sewer line. (Source: Los Angeles Times) Coins in the original plaster of the pool helped provide an accurate date for the construction of the pool.

In the Bible the pool of Siloam is the place where Jesus healed the blind man. You can read that story in John, chapter 9.

To see a photo of the pool of Siloam today, go here.

#9. Abraham’s Altar at Mamre

¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by ^[d]the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.

Genesis 13: 18

The Bible tell us that Abraham settled at Mamre, where the great trees are, and he set up an altar to the Lord there. Archaeologists believe they have identified Mamre as well as the site where Abraham probably placed his alter. There are even giant holes marking where the large trees once grew.

I read about this in Joel Kramer’s book, Where God Came Down, the Archaeological Evidence. In the book, he provides extensive graphs of the different layers and history of the site.

Joel Kramer also made a video at this very site near Hebron, and I am attaching it below in case you’d like to see.

#10. St. Peter’s House

This is one of my FAVORITES because I actually got to go see this one in person. The ancient town of Capernaum lies in ruins to this day, and we know that Capernaum is where Peter lived, from Matthew 8.

The archaeological evidence surrounding Peter’s particular house is astounding. Not only was it written on the walls that it was Peter’s house. But you can archaeologically see the progression of how this completely ordinary 1st century house was plastered up and turned into a real church. Ordinary dishes were exchanged for larger vessels to serve crowds.

Eventually, in the 1900s, Peter’s house was preserved under this giant church:

It is believed that Jesus stayed in Peter’s house for prolonged periods of time. Then later, Peter’s house became a church. Since the entire village of Capernaum still lies in ruins, we have great access to see it all.

These are a few of the photos I took when we visited, and you can see more in my full post on why Capernaum was our favorite city to visit in Israel.

Actually, I was delighted to find that Joel Kramer has a YouTube video tour the site of Peter’s house as well:

#11. Would you like to read more short articles on Biblical Archaeology finds?

Here are a few more I think you would appreciate.

–The Rosetta Stone enabled people to understand Egyptian hieroglyphs better. With that knowledge, we could understand that ancient Egyptians also referenced stories that agree with what the Bible says.

–The Moabite Stone, also known as the Mesha Stele, mentions going to Israel in battle. It even mentions some of their names. You can read a lot more about that here.

–City of David Stepped Stone Structure.

–Walls of Jericho

I am linking below a couple of my favorite Bible Archaeology books, if you would like to read more.

These two books will tell you far more about archaeology finds that support the Bible.

#1. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

This one covers just about everything discovered prior to 2013.

#2. Where God Came Down, the Archaeological Evidence, by Joel P. Kramer. ©2020, Published by Expedition Bible–an imprint of Sourceflix Inc., Utah.

Where God Came Down is very up to date and written in an easy to read style. The author, Joel Kramer, has an M.A. in archaeology from the University of the Holy Land. Plus, he has participated in many digs in Israel himself. This is an excellent source.

#3. The Evidence Study Bible, NKJV, Commentary by Ray Comfort. Bridge-Logos Publishers; Illustrated edition (March 1, 2011)

#4. Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, & Timelines, Rose Publishing ©2015

This is all just a drop in the bucket of all the artifacts and places that have been uncovered related to the Bible.

Every year, archaeologists find more Biblical evidence in Israel. It is astounding. At this point, skeptics can no longer say that the Bible is a fairy tale book. It is a historical account. Now what you do with that knowledge is up to you.

I personally felt drawn to read the Bible for myself to figure out what I believed, and I strongly recommend that to everyone. Get to know the God of the Bible, the parts that you do understand and the parts that are hard to grasp.

I hope this helps you want to dig deeper into what you think of your own personal relationship with God.

The post 10 Exciting Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

The Dead Sea scrolls we have all heard of. They were discovered in the caves of Qumran, by the Dead Sea, in the 1940s. But have you ever heard of the Silver Scrolls? Sounds a little more posh, don’t you think? They’re silver, so it sounds like jewelry. Well, the funny thing is they were jewelry, amulets actually.

And what better to engrave on an amulet than God’s Word?

Amulets are small pieces of jewelry that ancient people believed would protect them against evil. The silver scrolls are two small amulets made of real silver. The major importance of these scrolls is that they are the oldest copies of scripture that we have. Obviously, you cannot fit an entire Old Testament book on two amulets, but it does contain the priestly blessing, just as it appears in Numbers 6:24-26. They pre-date the Dead Sea scrolls by approximately four centuries. Wow!

The silver scrolls date back to the 7th century B.C.

That is during the First Temple time period, around the time that Jeremiah the prophet lived and King Josiah reigned in Jerusalem. This was a time period when some skeptics previously doubted that the book of Numbers had even been written yet, but this find indicates that it had.

The silver scrolls are tiny and fragile. It took the power of technology to read the writing on the scrolls. From what I understand, they were never able to read every single word with certainty, but this is what they do know is written on them:

“… the great … [who keeps] the covenant and graciousness toward those who love [him] and those who keep [his commandments …].
The Eternal … blessing more than any … and more than evil. For redemption is in him. For Yahweh is our restorer [and] rock.
May Yahweh bless you and keep you. [May] Yahweh make [his face] shine ….

amulet 1

May [he/she] be blessed by Yahweh; The warrior/helper and the rebuker of evil:
May Yahweh bless you and keep you; May Yahweh cause his face to shine upon you and grant you peace.

amulet 2

Both amulets match Numbers 6: 24-26: “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace,” and the first one also matches Deuteronomy 7:9 where it reads “who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments… “

I put together a basic 411 on the silver scrolls and why they are worth mentioning in this snazzy little info graph. You can pin it if you like:

.

Finding excerpts of Numbers and Deuteronomy worn around people’s necks for protection is further proof of just how far back this goes. These accounts were recorded somewhere close to when the events actually happened, just how close we do not know. This particular find goes back to before the events of the later books of the Old Testament had even happened yet.

This was before Nebuchadnezzar defeated Jerusalem. It was before even the stories you know so well of Daniel and his friends. The 6th and 7th centuries B.C. were 6-700 years before the birth of Jesus.

The Bible also testifies that some scripture was already written by 700 BC.

For instance, the Bible records King Josiah having the “book of the law” brought out and read to him in his castle. That is found in 2 Kings 22:

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.”¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. ¹² He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: ¹³ “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book;

2 Kings 22: 8-13

The book of Second Kings also indicates that these writings far outdate King Josiah, as they found the old book of the law in the temple, and lamented that it had not been followed for years.

Archaeology is such a powerful science in discovering the truth of the past. As I find things like this that are well documented and proven out by technology, but not heard about much in the mainstream media or schools, I like to share these artifacts with my friends and readers. I find it very faith-affirming, and I hope it encourages you too.

Want to learn more? Check out my sources below:

Pictures:

You cannot use someone else’s photo without permission, which is why I don’t have the photos posted here, but you can click on these links to see what the silver scrolls look like:

Silver Scroll as displayed in the Israel Museum

Close-up picture of the writing on the scrolls

Articles:

The Blessing of the Silver Scrolls at biblearchaeology.org

Solving a Riddle Written in Silver at The New York Times, nytimes.com

Ketef Hinnom Scrolls on watchJerusalem.co.il

Books:

The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture  by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler, 2013, Harvest House Publishers.

Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, and Timelines , Rose Publishing, 2005.

The post The Silver Scrolls: Even Older than the Dead Sea Scrolls appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Of all the ancient artifacts I have studied, the Sumerian Kings list brings the largest “wow” factor to me, outside of the claims of the Bible itself. Basically, it is a list of kings, kept by the Sumerian civilization sometime around 2100 BC. The list exists in many different fragments of clay tablets. The largest list is the Weld-Blundell prism, which you can find at Ashmolean Museum cuneiform collection in Oxford. Some of these fragments of the list do not exactly agree with each other. Yet overall, they are similar enough that they are considered different copies of the same document.

What is jaw-dropping about this historical document is that it lists kings in two groups. First are those who ruled before a great flood. Then there are those who ruled after it. Not only that, but the pre-flood kings had outrageously long reigns, just as people in the Bible did before the flood of Noah. After the flood, these life spans and reign lengths drastically decrease, just as they do in the Bible.

Quotes from the Sumerian Kings List:

“After the flood had swept over the earth and when kingship was lowered again from heaven…”

king list, according to source 1.

This mention and the fact that the lengths of life spans changes is an argument for the Bible’s account of a great flood.

“After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridug. In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years. Alaljar ruled for 36000 years. 2 kings; they ruled for 64800 years.“

king list, according to source 2

Whoa. That is definitely off the rails in lifespan account, as far as I know. The oldest life span reported in the Bible was Methuselah, who died at age 969. Side note, Methuselah was Noah’s grandfather.

Mixing Fact with Myth and Legend

The other distinguishing feature of the Sumerian King List is that some of it is in agreement with the Epic of Gilgamesh. This epic is an ancient story, discovered in Nineveh (which is in present-day Turkey). The poem is Mesopotamian in origin, written originally recorded around 2100 BC. It tells several stories of Gilgamesh, one being the story of the great flood. In the epic, the flood was created by the gods, just as the Bible teaches that the great flood was created by God. Gilgamesh is also listed in the Sumerian king list. To learn more about Gilgamesh, see this article on the Ancient History Encyclopedia website.

Gilgamesh may have been a real person, but most stories about him are probably not true. No one knows just how long these stories of him were handed down orally before they were recorded on clay tablets. Perhaps his story is mostly fiction mixed in with facts, like stories of George Washington and the cherry tree. Of course, the Gilgamesh story gets a lot wilder than not lying about a cherry tree. His stories involve gods and magic.

What about those crazy long life spans on the Sumerian King List???

I found one article on answersingenesis.org that goes into exhausting detail to show that the Sumerian civilization used 60 as their base number. (I found that information in many places, but the answersingenesis.org article went into extreme detail.)

Many scholars believe that when the king list was written, the writer of it had a copy of the Genesis record. That is because both include exactly eight rulers, pre-flood, excluding Adam and Noah, who were not kings. I found a long explanation as to how the lifespans on the king list actually agree quite well with the Genesis account, and for the life of me, I could not follow this long numerical explanation. I did find the charts helpful and interesting though. To view the charts and the article, just click here. For a chart that compares the cuneiform dates to the Bible names and years, click here.

Historical Documents

As archaeologists dig up more and more ancient documents and remains of cities and people, our understanding of past civilizations increases. Isn’t it amazing how much power the writers of the world have?

When you have multiple documents, written at a time when witnesses of the events were still alive, and the documents agree, then I do not believe evidence such as that can be ignored.

If you would like to learn more about the King list, I am including my sources below for your reading. I am also including links to articles I have written on similar topics. Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face fo the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Genesis 1:1-2

Similar Articles on this Website:

What the Nuzi Tablets Tell Us About the Bible

How do we know the Bible is reliable?

What is at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.?

Sources

1. The Sumerian king list: translation–http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr211.htm

2. The Sumerian King List still puzzles historians after more than a century of research, 30 Jan., 2014, ancient-origins.net., by April Holloway

3. Gilgamesh–https://www.ancient.eu/gilgamesh/, by Joshua J. Mark, 29 March, 2018.

4. The Antediluvian Patriarchs and the Sumerian King List, answersingenesis.org, by Raul Lopez, 1 Dec., 1998. Originally published in Journal of Creation 12, no 3 (December 1998): 347-357.

5. The incredible similarities between the Sumerian King List and accounts in Genesis, ancient-code.com,

6. Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, & Time Lines, Rose Publishing, 2005, 100 Proofs for the Bible Old Testament, page 48.

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This morning I was reading the introduction in my study Bible to the book of Titus. It was talking about the early church that Paul planted in Crete, and that got me thinking. Having spent my whole life living in America, there is oh so very much about the Mediterranean region that I do not know.

Is there still an active church in Crete?

Ha! Well, if you’re from that region, you might laugh at this question because Crete is statistically reported to be around 98% Christian.

But how would I know?

Crete is an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Greece. I often get it mixed up with Cyprus, which is also in the Mediterranean but closer to Syria and Israel. Here’s a map from my study Bible, enhanced by me with this circle I drew around Crete, to give you the basic idea of where Crete is:

Okay, great, some of the church is still there, but what about those areas just north of Israel, where Paul traveled and wrote letters to the people that make up parts of the New Testament? Like Ephesians and Colossians, for example.

I always find it discouraging that the very place where Christianity began is now not a Christian area at all.

Israel? Eh…Well, it’s a center for Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike, but Jesus followers are certainly not in the majority there.

Ephesus, Lycia, Laodicea, Colossae, all mentioned in Paul’s letters? Well, that is modern day Turkey, which is now 98% Muslim. When the Arabs came in and take over, they did an extremely thorough job of it. Christians now make up less than 1% of Turkey, as Christians have fled the country due to religious persecution over the years.

But once you get into Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Crete, and Italy you see that Paul and his contemporary’s missionary voyages had quite a long-lasting impact, as these areas are now predominantly Christian nations.

Even in Paul’s day, they persecuted Christians in all of these cities for converting to Christianity, but what about now? How much of these cities are Christian now? Just out of curiosity, I looked up the modern numbers.

Christians in Modern Day Places from the New Testament:

Jerusalem: 5% Christian

Antioch: now lies buried in ruins

Ephesus also in ruins

Malta: 98% Catholic

Rome: Italy is about 83% Christian, and obviously Rome is the long-standing center for the Roman Catholic Church. This is so amazing when you stop and realize how many Christians died in Rome, to include Paul and Peter.

Colossae: also a city that no longer exists, located in modern day Turkey

Corinth: Ancient Corinth is gone, thanks to the Turkish invasion of 1458, as well as an earthquake that leveled the place. There is a modern day Corinth, located near the old one, in the peninsula of Peloponnese of Greece. Greece is 98% Eastern Orthodox Christian.

Philippi: Philippi of the Bible was abandoned after the Ottoman Conquest. However, there is a present day Filippoi nearby. It is now part of Greece, so that area is also 98% Eastern Orthodox.

Thessalonica: It’s located in modern day Greece, so we’ll go with the 98% Eastern Orthodox number, though that’s not exact for the specific city. This one is actually still a thriving metropolis, the 2nd most important city in Greece. Thessaloniki is in the exact location of ancient Thessalonica.

…..And America: The early church’s reach wasn’t just to the missionary journeys made by the apostles. Their teachings passed to generation after generation after generation, so the early church is obviously still affecting us today right here in America.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up our current Christianity numbers in the United States.

According to the 2017 Gallup poll, about 75% of Americans are Christian, with 48.5% of Americans as Protestants and 23% as Catholics.

75% of Americans are Christians. The next biggest group is basically atheists and agnostics, at 21% of the population. All the other groups make up a tiny percentage. Did you notice that more people in Italy and Greece claim to be Christian than in America?

All in all, I’d say the church is alive and kickin’. We aren’t always united or even practicing what we preach. However, the church never was perfect, was it? From the get go, we made mistakes. I think that is because it’s an entire organization run by humans, and humans are fallible. We are not above errors or even sin.

Also, perhaps as a modern day church we are relying too much on our own power and understanding, rather than relying on God.

However, we serve a just, powerful, and merciful God who loves us where were are, in spite of our imperfections, and helps us to become better. Now it’s up to us to rely on the Holy Spirit to teach us to act more like Jesus so we can keep passing on the love of Jesus to our future generations.

The post What Remains of the Original New Testament Church? appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

It is so important to start your day off with positivity!

The news, your Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, those things are all iffy. Let’s talk about a better way to start your day.

Every morning I wake up, and I do the same first few things.

In the summer, I sleep a little later, and I still kind of zombie-walk down to the kitchen, pour my coffee, and plop myself down on a sofa.

Sometimes, on my way to the sofa, I have to fix breakfasts for small boys. Other days, they’ve figured that out for themselves already. I can tell they have helped themselves by the spots of milk on the table, bowls in the sink, or still on the table, and the chair by the cabinet.

Everyone who lives in our house knows that you respect coffee time.

Once Mom sits down with her coffee, no one is allowed to need anything from Mama until coffee time is done. (Ha! Sort of. It really isn’t as rigid as I make it sound.)

There I am just me, my fuzzy brain, and my highly creamed beverage. I always have my phone with me. It is so tempting to go straight to my Jeopardy app (we have a club) or to check the news or Facebook. Email isn’t the least bit interesting to me. My inbox is almost 100% junk and advertisements. I detest email, but that’s another story.

I must stay strong though because I know that this time is sacred. The minute that mug is empty, there are expectations. My time is limited.

The six-year-old frequents my seat to check how close I am to finishing that cup of joe.

You see, I get lost in playing Jeopardy over and over again. Time will fly. Inevitably, I will lose. Then I will feel a bit like a failure, and on top of that, my cup will be empty, and there will be my sweet children, impatiently waiting for me to get up and going.

Jeopardy just drank my coffee. Drat. Plus, I have gained nothing positive to start my day on.

Or sometimes I get sucked into the news stories of the day. That’s the worst of all because there are rarely any positive stories. “This politician is crooked.” Yes, probably so. “Child murdered.” “Is War Looming?”

Just like that, not only has the news drank my coffee, but it has given me negative thoughts and sadness to start my day with. Booooooo.

Facebook isn’t much better, I enjoy it, sure, but I can end up scrolling for an hour probably, if my kids would let me.

And just like that, Facebook drank my coffee. It is gone, and I’m left feeling many emotions all at once.

“Ew. Gross. I didn’t want to see that.”

“What? That can’t be true?”

“Another political ad? Really, Jen? Are you working for his campaign?”

“They go to Disney World 3 times a year? I will not be jealous. I will not be jealous. I will not be jealous.”

With any of these scenarios, I’ve let the world around me set the tone for my day instead of me setting that tone.

The narrative in my head, the things I think about, are now set by a news or social app. The results are not helpful at all.

There is a better way, where I drink my coffee and fill my mental and spiritual tank up at the same time.

Yeah, this is me writing, so you know I’m going to say Bible. I have an app on my phone, and I have a small collection of actual Bibles. But either way, for starting out the day, I know I have to feed my own soul before I can feed the 4 young souls entrusted to me.

I just finished reading the book of John, and I like to read a chapter from Psalms and/or Proverbs too, depending on how much time I have.

When I start the day with the Bible, I’m reviewing new concepts as well as learning new ones. I’m praying for my family and friends and being reminded of how life should be lived.

My focus moves to what is eternally important.

Instead of pointing me to feelings of jealousy, desperation, inferiority, or fear, the Bible directs me to love, joy, peace, patience. kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

God’s word reminds me to trust Him, to teach my children to do the same, and to love others and forgive.

Now don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean I live a sinless day. No. I still lose my temper if the dog has an accident or the boys are fighting. Nothing irritates me more than brothers fighting over an Xbox. I say things I should not say, and maybe I don’t always look so very righteous.

But I’m trying. I know that starting my morning in God’s Word equips me with something that I need that day, if I’m paying attention.

I like to write down verses that speak to me on sticky notes and place them around the house to remind me all week long.

Most importantly, it sets the narrative for my day. I’m not doing the dishes thinking, “What is the world coming to? Hide your wife. Hide your kids…etc.”

Instead, I am now thinking about the practical things that need to be done in my actual life. After all, the best way to overcome evil is by doing good.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t read the news either, okay. I do still look at that app as well, only not everyday, and not first thing in the morning, but several times per week. Being informed is good, but don’t set the tone for your day with bad news. It will drink your coffee and leave you feeling like you had Benadryl instead.

Here are a few verses I’ve found helpful recently:

¹ “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. ¹² This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

~John 15:11-13

³² Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his ^[e]own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³ These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you ^[f]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

John 16:32-33

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

Psalm 28:7

How do you start your day? Feel free to share in the comments below.

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Digging in to Biblical Archaeology…

One of my favorite things to read about is archaeological finds that have something to do with the Bible–anything to do with the Bible! These historical artifacts are not the reason that I believe, but they do substantiate and reinforce and inform my beliefs. They spur me on in my awe and wonder of this book we call The Holy Bible.

For me, the biggest reason for my faith is that God has been there for me. He always has. He has provided for my needs, and you can’t doubt someone who has answered your prayers time and time again. It makes anyone’s denial of a supernatural God laughable to me. I’ve seen God’s work too much to be faithless.

The Bible itself is the greatest testament to a living, breathing, loving God because the writings of the Bible are ancient, well-preserved, and there are 100s of these ancient texts, all in agreement with one another. It’s incredible in and of itself, and you can read more about that in this article that I wrote last year about why the Bible is reliable.

There are 100s of archaeological finds that are in agreement with the Bible, but today let’s focus on one: the Nuzi Tablets.

The Nuzi Tablets

These tablets were discovered in modern-day northern Iraq, or as you know it in ancient history, Mesopotamia. Nuzi was an administrative center. The tablets contain family archives from families in Nuzi in the years 1450-1350 BC. The information on the tablets spans 6 generations and describe social and economic customs as well as religious and legal institutions for people called the Hurrians. The Hurrians were also known as the Horites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Family records were clearly highly valued by these people, a rare thing for that time period, outside of the Hebrew people. There are tons of similiarities between the way these ancient people did things and the way that the patriarchs of Israel did them.

Why would the people of Israel have anything in common with the people in Nuzi?

Well, Abraham was from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and Nuzi was in Mesopotamia as well. This was not that far away from where Abraham grew up. Naturally, the customs of the people of Nuzi would be highly similar to the customs of Abraham’s family.

The Nuzis even had the word “Habiru,” referring to a group of landless people who wandered. Scholars suggest that this could be the origin of the word “Hebrew.”

Here’s the basic quick facts about the Nuzi Tablets. I made a little infograph:

The tablets offer a surprising explanation of the term “sister.”

A woman could be adopted by a man as his sister, giving her more rights than if she were only his wife. That sounds so WEIRD today. But it gets even weirder. A man could adopt his wife as his sister, and he’d be giving her that status so that she would have more rights.

Remember, this is over 3,000 years ago. Also, in Genesis, Abraham and Isaac both asked their wives to tell different kings that they were afraid of that they were their “sister.” To the kings in the area of Egypt, that meant what it means to us. But to people further into the East, where Abraham was born and raised, perhaps it meant something else entirely, as the tablets of Nuzi describe.

The tablets also describe the process of surrogate mothers, which is what Abraham’s wife Sarah did with her maid servant Hagar in Genesis 16.

Household idols are also discussed on these tablets, which explains the story of Rachel stealing her father’s household god and Laban being so upset about it. See, according to the tablets of Nuzi, if a father-in-law gave his son-in-law his household god, that meant that he was appointing him as his heir. Laban certainly did not intend to appoint Jacob as his heir, so Rachel was potentially doing more than grabbing a souvenir from her father’s house. She could have actually been trying to make herself and Jacob the principal heirs of her father’s estate, rather than her actual brothers, Laban’s own sons. Obviously, Laban was having no part of this.

The Nuzi tablets give us a whole other picture and context by which to understand the Old Testament. These stories took place over 3,000 years ago, and are therefore often very hard to comprehend.

I don’t know about you, but this is a topic I’d love to learn more about. If you’re interested, I’ve listed my sources below, so you can read up. This makes me want to go back to the Bible Museum to check for displays of the Nuzi tablets.

Sources:

Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, & Timelines  100 Proofs of the Bible Chart

Nuzi by Mark Chavalas on oxfordbibliographies.com

Great Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology: The Nuzi Tablets by Bryant G. Wood, PhD. Feb., 2006, on biblearchaeology.org

Clay Tablet and Envelope, image description, by Jennie Myers at teachingmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu

Nuzi at jewishvirtuallibrary.org

Nuzi at biblicaltraining.org

The Holy Bible, book of Genesis

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If you enjoy reading about antiquities and the Middle East, you will love my book. It was released in March, 2020, Tour Israel in Pictures and Stories.  It’s now for sale on Amazon. Click here to check it out.

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