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Exciting Archaeology
Topic#: 00561 from WWW.GODSAIDMANSAID.COM

How does God measure wealth when arguably the greatest of all prophets was Elijah, who was whisked away by God in a fiery chariot, never seeing death, and that during a time of famine, a widow who was preparing the last meal for herself and her son, was chosen to sustain the man of God? How does God measure wealth when His only begotten Son Jesus Christ was born in a manger, built no earthly wealth, was hung upon a cross in disgrace without money (Judas ran off with the bag), without a tomb of his own, and without clothing? How does God, the creator of all that man esteems valuable, measure wealth? James spoke of colossal wealth in chapter 2, verse 5:

Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

The currency of the invisible Kingdom of God, which dwells within the redeemed, is not government printed paper, or gold, or silver. It is childlike faith in Christ Jesus. This is how God measures wealth. Have you been born again? Do you desire this eternal wealth, full or peace, joy, promise, and purpose? Then today is your day of salvation. Click onto “Further With Jesus“ now for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Exodus 2:9-10:

9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.

10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

GOD SAID, Exodus 12:40-41:

40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

GOD SAID, Numbers 32:13:

And the LORD'S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.

GOD SAID, I Samuel 15:2-3:

2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

MAN SAID: The Scriptures are basically old folklore, and certainly not a reliable record of our history, handed down to us in written form by God.

Now THE RECORD. The end of the world as we know it is drawing very close. Our faith and the cultivation of it is everything. Romans 4:13-22:

13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:

20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

We must be “fully persuaded.” This is GodSaidManSaid feature article #561 that certifies the full inerrancy of the Holy Bible and the God who authored it. These features are archived in text and streaming audio on this site for your edification and as ammunition in the battle for the souls of men. Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. Let your faith abound. Welcome to GodSaidManSaid. May the face of our God shine upon you.

Biblical minimalists assume many stripes, but there exists one commonality, and as the name suggests, they minimalize the accuracy and the fidelity of Holy Writ. In the field of archaeology they have all but lost their footing. Their ancient chronology has been upended and they are presently scrambling for a new minimalist position. In this feature we will review highlights from archaeologist David Down’s 2011 book titled, Unveiling the Kings of Israel. Mr. Down has been a field archaeologist for over four decades, excavating regularly in Israel, and he’s been involved in numerous digs over the years. He is also the editor of the magazine Archaeological Diggings.

The Word of God states that Pharaoh’s daughter found a baby boy in an ark of bulrushes and made him her son. Archaeological history reports that at the time of the birth of Moses, Egypt’s pharaoh had no sons and his daughter was barren. The following paragraphs are from Down’s book:

His son was Amenemhet III, who was also a disagreeable looking pharaoh who ruled for 48 years. He had no sons, only two daughters, one of whom seems to have died prematurely. The other daughter, Sobekneferu, had no children. She would have been the daughter of Pharaoh who “came down to bathe at the river” (Exod. 2:5).

It was not that she had no bathroom in the palace. She would have been taking a ceremonial ablution praying to the river god, who was also the fertility god, for a baby to continue the pharaonic line when she saw the baby Moses in a basket and regarded this as an answer to her prayer. She adopted him and intended that he would be the next pharaoh. [End of quote]

Is there any record that the Hebrew people were enslaved in Egypt? David Down continues:

Well-known Egyptologist Dr. Rosalie David wrote in her book The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt:

It is apparent that the Asiatics were present in the town in some numbers, and they may have reflected the situation elsewhere in Egypt. . . . Their exact homeland in Syria or Palestine cannot be determined. . . . The reason for their presence in Egypt remains unclear.

The scattered documentation gives no clear answers as to how or why the Asiatics came to Egypt in the Middle Kingdom. . . . There is nevertheless firm literary evidence that Asiatic slaves, women and children, were at Gurob, and that some received instruction in workshops.

It is apparent that the completion of the king’s pyramid was not the reason why Kahun’s inhabitants eventually deserted the town, abandoning their tools and other possessions in the shops and houses.

There are different opinions of how this first period of occupation at Kahun drew to a close. . . . The quantity, range, and type of articles of everyday use which were left behind in the houses may indeed suggest that the departure was sudden and unpremeditated.

It should be obvious that these immigrants from Syria or Palestine were the descendants of Jacob. Their sudden and unpremeditated departure was when they dropped their tools, for which they would have no future use, and left the towns to gather in the land of Goshen ready for their sudden departure in the Exodus. [End of quote]

Challengers of the book of Exodus demand proof that the Hebrew people wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Mr. Down continues:

Two million people staying in Kadesh Barnea for so long would have left a lot of broken pottery, which archaeologists should be able to find. They have. Dr. Rudolph Cohen, for many years head of the Israeli Antiquities authority, excavated here when Israel was in possession of the Sinai Peninsula following the Six Day War in 1967. He made some interesting discoveries. He was impressed with the large amount of pottery from the Middle Bronze I period he found there and concluded that this was indicative of the Israelites who had stayed there.

He wrote an article for the Biblical Archaeology Review, in which he stated:

One of the most obscure periods in the history of Palestine is the Middle Bronze I period (commonly referred to as MBI) which extended from about 2200 B.C. to about 2000. Who were the MBI people? We really don’t know. . . . In fact, these MBI people may be the Israelites whose famous journey from Egypt to Canaan is called the Exodus.

This migratory drift, as I have reconstructed it, bears a striking similarity to that of the Israelites’ flight from Egypt to the Promised Land, as recorded in the Book of Exodus.

The concentration of MBI sites in the relatively fertile district east of Kadesh Barnea recalls the tradition that the Israelites camped near this oasis for 38 of their 40 years of wandering after leaving Egypt (Deuteronomy 1:46).

The similarity between the course of the MBI migration and the route of the Exodus seem too close to be coincidental. [End of quote]

God’s Word is true and righteous altogether—a place to build a life. Unveiling the Kings of Israel reports some interesting points concerning the Biblical Amalekites, the Egyptian army that drowned in the Red Sea, and God’s judgment upon the Amalekites executed by Israel’s King Saul:

By a reduced chronology, the Amalekites should be identified as the Hyksos who invaded Egypt and, according to the Egyptian priest Manetho, “occupied it without a battle.” They could only achieve this because the Egyptian army was at the bottom of the Red Sea. They would have heard from the Israelites they had captured in battle how Pharaoh and all his army had perished in the Red Sea and could have seized the opportunity to invade the country.

Now the time for retribution had come. Samuel had instructed Saul to “kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (1 Sam. 15:3). Saul was highly successful and “utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword” (1 Sam. 15:8).

When the Egyptians revolted against the Hyksos they drove them out of Egypt, and they migrated to Sharuhen in southern Canaan. Archaeologists are puzzled over what happened to them then. There is no further record of them. The answer could lie in the biblical records. If the Hyksos were the Amalekites destroyed by Saul, it is not surprising that they seem to disappear from history. [End of quote]

We must be “fully persuaded” that what He has promised He is also able to perform. Our childlike faith in the Word of God is the foundation of our eternity. The skeptics challenge. The challengers hurl their words, but the foundation stands secure, unscathed, and even enhanced.

GOD SAID, Exodus 2:9-10: