Archaeology Keeps Knocking on Heaven’s Door

I Timothy 6:6 reads:

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Accumulation of life’s goods or the securing of one’s retirement is not what that verse is referring to. 

When we walk before our God cleansed by the blood of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and we are in the business of seeking His face, everything looks so much better—even good.  In church the other day, a Godly young brother, just recently married, was talking about his birthday and how he had spoken to his wife and family, telling them not to buy him anything because he had all that he needed.  By the world’s standards, he wasn’t there yet.  He didn’t own a fancy new car or live in a fine, new, sprawling home; he didn’t have a high-paying job, but he was happy in what Christ had given him.  He is a very rich man.  This man has Holy Ghost eyes. 

Years ago, late at night, I was driving a young man home.  Just hours before, this young man had given his heart to Christ.  He was full of the love of God.  As we drove past an old steel mill, he commented that even the steel mill was beautiful.  He is a rich man.  He had and still has a new set of Holy Ghost eyes. 

Have you yet to be born again—born a second time, this time of the Spirit of God?  Would you like to have a beautiful new set of Holy Ghost eyes?  Would you like all your sin and shame erased?  Would you like to begin a brand-new, holy life?  If you said yes, today is your day of salvation.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, John 17:17:

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

GOD SAID, Psalms 19:7-11:

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

MAN SAID: The Biblical archaeologists who carry their spade in one hand and their Bible in the other are delusional. 

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The God of faith can only be accessed through childlike faith and, as one brother says it, “He is a faith God.”  As a child of God, I am required to walk separate from sinners and to embrace a life that is 180° out from carnal “normalcy.”  I need to know God’s Word is the Truth—and it is.  Your childlike faith will not be disappointed. 

GodSaidManSaid utilizes a four-part proof text to certify the inerrancy of God’s Word, the Holy Bible.  One platform is archaeology, which establishes the Bible as a supernaturally perfect, historic record—miracles and all.  The archaeology category also houses the disciplines of paleontology, geology, ancient history, as well as societal records that have been passed down generationally.  There are presently 96 separate features in this category, spanning from Adam and Eve and Paradise to the day Jesus died and His glorious resurrection.  Of course, the skeptics challenge because that’s what Satan’s skeptics do, but inevitably, they collapse under the weight of the truth. 

In John Argubright’s book, Bible Believer’s Archaeology, he emphasizes the complete accuracy of the Bible’s written record.  Several pages from his book concerning Mesha Stela follow.  (Note: GodSaidManSaid has taken the liberty of replacing verses from the NKJV with verses from the KJV.)

In 1868, a stone was uncovered in the Biblical city of Dibon which recorded victories by Mesha, the king of Moab, over the Israelites. 

Battles between Israel and this same Mesha are also recorded in the Bible.  It is uncertain whether the victories on the stone were recorded before or after the kings of Israel and Judah fought against King Mesha as recorded in II Kings 3:4-26, in which Israel, with God’s help, was victorious. 

Argubright uses numbers to identify lines from the Mesha Stela, which are cumbersome in narration.  They are written in this text, but the account will be read as one continuous account.  Argubright continues:

The following is a translation of the text taken from the Mesha stone:

1)  I Mesha, son of Chemosh, Mesha’s king, the

2)  Dibonite.  My father governed Moab for 30 years, then I reigned

3)  after my father.  I made a high place for Chemosh in Qarhoh,

4)  for he protected me from all the kings and caused me to triumph over all my enemies.

5)  As for Omri king of Israel, he oppressed Moab for many years, for Chemosh was furious with his

6)  country. And his son followed in his footsteps, and he also said: “I will cast down Moab.” In my days, he spoke,

7)  but I triumphed over his house.  And Israel has passed away forever.  Omri occupied Medeba’s land.

8)  And he lived in it during his time and in the days of his sons; 40 years; yet Chemosh

9)  reinstalled it in my days. And I built Baal-meon, and I made a water supply in it; and I built

10)  Qaryaten.  And the men of Gad dwelt in the land of Atarot from of old, and Israel’s king built

11)  Atarot for them; but I fought against that city and I slew all the people of

12)  the city as revenge for Chemosh and Moab. And I brought forward the altar-hearth of his beloved, and I carted

13)  it before Chemosh in Kerioth.  And I established the men of Sharon and the men of Maharith in it. 

14)  And Chemosh said to me: “Go! Bring Nebo against Israel.”

15)  So I went by night and fought from sunrise until noon,

16)  taking it and slaying all 7,000 men, boys, women, girls,

17)  and maidservants, because I dedicated them to Ashtar-Chemosh.  And I took from there the altar-

18)  hearths of YHWH, dragging them before Chemosh.  Israel’s king built

19)  Jahaz, and settled there while he did battle with me; but Chemosh drove him out before my eyes. 

20)  I took with me two hundred men from Moab, all chief warriors, and sent them to Jahaz; and I

21)  added it to Dibon.  I constructed Qarhoh with the wall of the forest and the wall

22)  of the acropolis; along with its gates and towers. 

23)  I built the house of the king; and its water reservoirs for inside

24)  the city; for there was no water inside the town of Qarhoh, so I said to the residents: “Make for yourself

25)  a cistern in every house;” I cut trees for use in Qarhoh with the prisoners

26)  of Israel.  I built Aroer and a roadway through the Arnon.

27)  I built Beth-bamoth, for it was in ruins; and I built Bezer, for it was desolate.

28)  And the men of Dibon were loyal to my rule.  And I reigned

29)  over hundreds of villages which I added to my country.  I built

30)  the temple of Medeba and the temple of Diblaten and the temple of Baal-meon; and I introduced there

31)  […] sheep of the land.  The house of David inhabited Horonaim.

32)  […] and Chemosh said to me: “Go down! Attack Horonaim.”  So I advanced against it, and

33)  Chemosh reestablished it in my days. [End of quote]

Argubright now uses alphabetic delineators to compare the Mesha Stela line by line with the Scriptures.  Argubright continues:

A. Lines 1-3 mentions King Mesha, a Dibonite who ruled over Moab.  He also worshipped a Moabite god called Chemosh, to whom he attributes his victories.

The Bible, in II Kings 3:4-5 verifies Mesha was the king of Moab during their revolt against Israel.  The Bible also states, in Numbers 21:29-30, that Dibon was a city in the land of Moab and mentions their god, Chemosh. 

 B. Lines 5-6 of the Mesha stone state that Omri was king of Israel and that he was seceded by his son.

The Bible confirms this in I Kings 16: 23 & 28:

23 In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah.

28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.

C. Lines 7 and 9 say that King Omri of Israel took possession of the land of Medeba and that Mesha took it back.  Mesha then built Baal-meon. 

The Bible states that this land belonged to the tribe of Reuben who, along with the tribe of Gad and half tribe of Manassah, did not cross over into the promised land, but settled on the eastern side of the Jordan river as recorded in Numbers 32.  This territory, Moab, is described in Joshua 13:15-17:

15 And Moses gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according to their families.

16 And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba;

17 Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain; Dibon, and Bamothbaal, and Bethbaalmeon,

D. Line 8 says that Omri and his sons (blood line relatives) ruled for 40 years.  The Bible says the same thing, starting in I Kings 16:23

Omri ruled for twelve years; six of those years, he co-reigned with Tibni.  So, for 6 years, he ruled alone as king of Israel, then his son Ahab took over and ruled for another 22 years (I Kings 16:29), then Ahab’s son Ahaziah became the next king, ruling for 2 years (I Kings 22:51).  Ahab’s last son, Jehoram, ruled for 10 years, a total of 40 years.  Jehoram was killed by Jehu in his eleventh year as king (II Kings 9:14-29).  Jehu then ascended to the throne, but he was not related to Omri. 

E. Line 9 says that after Omri and his sons were in the land 40 years, the territory was restored to Mesha.  It is interesting to note that during the reign of the following king of Israel, Jehu, the Bible says in II Kings 10:32-33:

32 In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;

33 From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

Line 26 mentions Aroer as a city in the hands of Mesha.  Thus it is very possible that the events mentioned on the Mesha stone may have occurred during Jehu’s rule as king. 

F. Line 10 mentions one of the twelve tribes of Israel, Gad, and says that they dwelt in the land of Atarot (Ataroth) from of old.

The Bible says: And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.  And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer. (Numbers 32:33-34)

G. Line 13 refers to the men of Sharon.  This land is mentioned in I Chronicles 5:16:  And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in her towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders.

H. Line 14 mentions the city of Nebo.  The Bible mentions Nebo in Numbers 32:38 as territory Moses gave to the tribe of Reuben, who along with Gad, settled in the land.  Jeremiah the prophet also mentions Nebo as a town of Moab in Jeremiah 48:22.

I. Line 17 speaks of another Moabite god, Ashtar-Kamosh.  The Bible says:

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him. (Judges 10:6)

J. Line 18 makes a reference to the altar hearths of YHWH.  “YHWH” is the Hebrew word for God (Yahweh), spelled just as it is in the Hebrew Bible. 

K. Line 19 mentions the city of Yahaz.  The Bible mentions this Moabite city in Isaiah 15:4: And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him.

L. Line 21 mentions the city of Dibon.  The Bible says: “And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,” (Numbers 32:34)

M. Line 26 says “I built Aroer and a road way through the Arnon.”  The Bible says:

“And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,” (Numbers 32:34)

“And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.” (Deuteronomy 3:12)

N. Line 27 mentions the town of Bezer.  Originally, this town was controlled by the tribe of Reuben, according to the Bible, which says:

“And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs,” (Joshua 21:36)

O. Line 30 speaks of the temples of Medeba, Diblaten, and Baal-meon, which were built by this Moabite king.  The prophet Isaiah forecast the destruction of these pagan temples:

“He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.” (Isaiah 15:2)

P. Lines 30 and 31 say that Mesha introduced there…sheep of the land.  The Bible confirms that Mesha raised sheep:

“And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.” (II Kings 3:4)

Q. Line 31 says: “And the House of David inhabited Horonaim.”  Here is found one of the first references outside the Bible to King David and his descendants, who were from the tribe of Judah. 

Mesha also makes a distinction between the men of Israel and the House of David.  This is exactly how the Bible states Israel was divided as a kingdom during this time.  Jehosophat was king of Judah from the House of David, while Joram was the king of Israel, according to II Kings chapter 3. 

The town of Horonaim is also mentioned in Jeremiah 48:3-7:

3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.

4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

7 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.

Conclusion: Once again, the Bible has been proven to be 100% reliable.  [End of quotes]

God’s Word is a perfect record of the events of the past.  Its precepts and commandments are perfect instructions for everyday living and its account of the future will play out perfectly as written—even unto eternal life or eternal damnation.  Choices are being made.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” now. 

GOD SAID, John 17:17:

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

GOD SAID, Psalms 19:7-11:

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

MAN SAID: The Biblical archaeologists who carry their spade in one hand and their Bible in the other are delusional. 

Now you have THE RECORD.

References:

Authorized King James Version

Argubright, J., Bible Believer’s Archaeology: Historical Evidence that Proves the Bible, Argubright, 2013

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