GODSAIDMANSAID.COM - Exciting Archaeology (Part II)

Exciting Archaeology (Part II)
Topic#: 00562 from WWW.GODSAIDMANSAID.COM

God’s Word found in the Holy Bible is the inerrant truth, perfect and sure. His covenants are eternal. His promises are yea and amen. II Corinthians 1:20:

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

The blessings of God are irrevocable. They are legally binding documents.

Just as His blessings are sure, so are His judgments and punishments. Galatians 6:7-8:

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

In business law there is a term known as “consideration” and it is central to legal covenants. I call it the “if clause.” Basically, the “if clause” or “consideration” is the responsibility of each party entering into the covenant. In other words, you do this and I’ll do this. Without “consideration” there is no binding covenant. To inherit the beautiful blessings of God the “consideration” that we supply is our obedience to God’s Word. In this place of obedience, the blessings of God are yes and so be it.

The doorway to the glorious blessings of God is a place Jesus Christ calls born-again. John 3:3:

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

This is the beginning of the eternal covenant, but remember, it requires “consideration” on your part. Have you been born again? Have you repented of your sins and surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Would you like today to be the beginning of your brand-new life filled with God’s irrevocable promises? Then today is your day of salvation. Click onto “Further With Jesus“for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. Do it right now. We will wait for you here. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Judges 15:15-16:

15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

GOD SAID, I Samuel 17:4:

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

GOD SAID, I Samuel 18:25-27:

25 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law: and the days were not expired.

27 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

GOD SAID, I Kings 14:25-26:

25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

GOD SAID, Jonah 1:17 & 2:10:

1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

GOD SAID, Nahum 2:8-10, 13 & 3:7:

2:8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.

2:9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.

2:10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.

2:13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.

3:7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?

MAN SAID: The Bible’s histories including its miraculous accounts are simply inaccurate exaggerations.

Now THE RECORD. God’s pleasant portion is His children of childlike faith. This is GodSaidManSaid feature #562. These faith-building features are archived in text and streaming audio for your edification and to be employed in the battle for the souls of men. Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. Welcome to GodSaidManSaid. Let your faith abound.

Last week we considered Abraham, known in the Word of God as the father of faith. Of him, Romans 4:20-21 reads:

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.

We must be “fully persuaded.” Satan is fully aware that where there is doubt the mountain won’t move. I must be “fully persuaded.” In the Garden of Eden, and since the beginning of time, the battle between the first voice and the second voice has been waged. The first voice was and is God’s, promoting faith, obedience, and blessing. When Adam and Eve obeyed, they dwelt in paradise and were immortal. The second voice in the garden was and is Satan’s, promoting unbelief, disobedience, and cursing—a prime example of the 180-degree principle. When Eve and Adam disobeyed they died spiritually and eventually physically. The day they embraced the second voice they were cast out of paradise.

Our business as the redeemed is to align in every way with the Word of God—the first voice—and keep in mind that the first voice is Jesus Christ. Revelation 19:13:

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

Knowing that the Word of God is solid and sure is central to all of life. Satan, who is the purveyor of death, consistently attempts to debunk God’s Word, and if overt action is unsuccessful he then subliminally attempts to plant the seed of doubt. Satan’s success ratio is enormously high.

This feature of GodSaidManSaid will once again prove the full veracity of the majority-text Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible. It was mentioned in last week’s feature that the chronology of Biblical minimalists, which they have used to challenge the accuracy of holy writ, has been fully upended and discredited by the latest discoveries, including those of King David and Solomon—not simply chieftains of a small band of unimportant people, but the great, wealthy power brokers described in the Word of God.

More information from archaeologist David Down’s 2011 book, “Unveiling the Kings of Israel” will follow. Mr. Down has been a field archaeologist for over 40 years, excavating regularly in Israel, and has been involved in numerous digs. He is editor of the magazine Archaeological Diggings.

Samson, the mighty strong man and judge of Israel, left a wider trail than most would imagine. Type in “Samson” in the search bar above for more information. David Down writes:

On a subsequent occasion Samson was confronted by a thousand Philistines, and the record says that “he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it”(Judg. 15:15). That may seem to be an unlikely weapon with which to slay so many foes, but on the Philistine coast archaeologists found such a jawbone with some sharp flint stones embedded in the inside curve. The inner end of the jaw would make a suitable handle. This jawbone had been used as a sickle, but as I viewed it in the Tel Aviv Museum I could well imagine how deadly a weapon it would have been in the powerful hand of Samson. [End of quote]

The mighty giant Goliath, slain by a young lad named David with a sling and stone, has been the brunt of much ridicule down through the centuries, but only be the unlearned. Mr. Down writes:

Goliath came from the Philistine city of Gath (1 Sam. 17:4), but until 2004 Gath had not been positively identified. In that year a team from the Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv commenced excavations on a tell called Tel es Safar and found evidence that this was indeed the ancient city of Gath. More than that, they even unearthed an ostracon on which the name “Goliath” was scratched. [End of quote]

Mr. Down is not necessarily saying that this discovery of Goliath’s name is referring to the very giant himself, but he is pointing out that there was a place of the Philistines called Gath where the giants lived, and the name Goliath was known to them.

King Saul had an inward hatred for David who would become king of the Jews in his stead. Saul plotted to kill David. Down continues:

This would not have been acceptable to the Israelites, so Saul hit on a subtle plan. He offered his daughter in marriage to David but required a dowry of 100 Philistine foreskins (1 Sam. 18:25). Saul secretly hoped that in the process David would lose his life, but the plan did not work. David was highly successful and killed 200 Philistines and “brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the kind”(1 Sam. 18:27).

This may seem rather crude to Western readers, but it was common practice in those days. No male would part with that part of his anatomy so long as he lived, so the presentation of these emblems guaranteed that the men had been killed. On the walls of Medinet Habu in Egypt scribes can be seen counting out these objects and placing them in a pile. [End of quote]

The Bible states that the king of Egypt plundered Jerusalem and carried away the great wealth accumulated by Solomon and others. The old chronology find no record, but today’s new understanding shouts Yes! Unveiling the Kings of Israel states:

By the revised chronology, Shishak would be identified with Thutmosis III, who left the record of his conquests in the north. On the temple wall at Karnak is a list of the treasures he brought back from his conquests, and they correspond very well with the articles known to have been in Solomon’s temple.

Solomon had made 300 shields of hammered gold (1 Kings 10:17), and 300 gold shields are depicted on the Karnak temple wall. Solomon’s temple had two doors plated with gold (1 Kings 6:32), and on the Karnak wall are two gold-plated doors, and so the list goes on. The difference in the names of Shishak and Thutmosis is not significant. In foreign countries names were often totally different. [End of quote]

Jonah and the whale, of course, is true and GodSaidManSaid features certify the Bible’s accuracy. Mr. Down writes:

It was on this journey that a tempestuous storm arose and Jonah was flung into the sea and swallowed by this big fish. When the fish spat him out on the Phoenician beach (there is a beach in Lebanon today fronting water called Jonah’s Bay), it was then that Jonah decided to go quietly and set out for Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. [End of quote]

Nineveh, the royal city which repented after the preaching of Jonah, was spared from God’s judgment for a season, but when the inhabitants reverted to their evil ways, God returned. David Down writes the following:

In 612 the combined armies of Babylon and Media conquered Nineveh and destroyed it. Nineveh was not rebuilt and the dust of time blew over it Â¯ 200 years later no one knew where Nineveh was. When Henry Layard excavated Nimrud he thought he had found Nineveh. He was wrong. It was not until he excavated Kuyunjik, on the east bank of the River Tigris opposite Mosul, that he found evidence that this was indeed Nineveh.

Zephaniah also predicted Nineveh’s doom. “He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness. The herds shall lie down in her midst”(Zeph. 2:13-14).

After Babylon we travelled north to Nineveh. I hoped against hope that I might see a shepherd with his flock among its ruins. I need not have worried. Nineveh is buried under rolling hills covered with verdure. There were flocks and herds everywhere among its ruins. [End of quote]

Saints, let your faith abound. The Word of God is “true and righteous altogether.” It is the place where eternal life is built. Those who discard it do it at their own eternal peril.

GOD SAID, Judges 15:15-16: