Spade Work At Jericho And Ekron

ThesumofThyWordistruth Ps. 119:160 the Scripture cannot be broken John 10:35

All Scripture is inspired by God 2 Tim. 3:16 (RS V)

All Scripture being given by divine inspiration, it must necessarily be accurate in factual detail. The written Word of God is essentially truth, even to the very "jot and tittle" of the original autographs (MaL 5:18). The Lord Jesus clearly confirmed the truth of the Old Testament writings, referring to many of its characters as literal people and 10 events as historic facts. Faith rests contentedly on the Lord's confirmation of Old Testament narrative and teaching. This was still further affirmed in the apostles' doctrine.

Inevitably the Adversary has done all in his power to undermine confidence in God's Word. Even in Eden he cast doubt on the word spoken to Adam and Eve: "Indeed, has God said, You shall not cal from any tree of the garden?" This was followed by direct contradiction: "You surely shall not die". Questionings and contradictions have been multiplied throughout the ages, leaving millions today without positive assurance that the Bible is true.

The believer's assurance about this

rests basically on the Holy Spirit's inner witness to the truth of God's Word. "The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit" (Rom. 8:16). We have "an anointing from the Holy

One": this anointing abides in us, teaching us all things and is true and is no lie (I John 2:20,27). Faith accepts the truth of all that is written in Scri~~ lure, even though therein "are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest

unto their own destruction" (2 Pet.

3:16).

However, through archaeological research in modern times God has been pleased to bring to light external evidence to the truth of many Old Testament narratives. These are to be welcomed as complementary to what is already assured to faith. Two interesting examples of this come from Jericho and Ekron in fairly recent times.

God's word in Joshua 6:20 records:

So the people shouted, and the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that

the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city

Archaeological activity has proceeded at the site of ancient Jericho for many years, and conflicting conclusions have emerged from the evidence uncovered. In the nineteenfifties Kathleen Kenyon concluded that her findings were largely consistent with the Bible accouni The walls had fallen in a way suggetive of a sudden collapse. She had found bushels of grain on the site, suggesting speedy conquest of the city rather than a long siege, for otherwise the grain would have been used up. A thick layer of soot supported the scriptural statement that the city was burned with fire. Yet Kenyon had difficulty in being assured that the city had been destroyed in Joshua's time. This point was more recently addressed by Bryant Wood, writing in the Biblical Archaeological Review (March"April 1990). Basing his arguments on specialized examination of pottery and amulets found on the site, he was of the opinion that this evidence confirmed the Bible account to be correct.

Of less specific relevance to the Biblical narratives, excavations at Ekron have nevertheless provided general evidence of the power and culture of the Philistine nation with which Israel was so often at war in the times of the Judges and of Kings Saul and David. El:ron was one of the five major cities, each being ruled by one of the "lords of the Philistines". The size and sophistication of Elson as revealed by archaeological diggings are impressive.

Many artifacts of metal tools and weapons have been unearthed, reflecting the Philistines' specialized skills in metalwork, including weapons of war. In the days of Israel's King Saul they seemed to have a monopoly of iron smelting. 1 Samuel 13:19-22 shows how they controlled the distribution of iron, and so prevented the Israelites from having effective weapons.

The examples considered from Jericho and Eltron are but two of many sites in Bible lands where the archaeologist's spade is uncovering further evidence of the reliability of the Bible's historical records. With thankfulness we endorse the Master's statement as He prayed, "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).

unknown | Sept 1993
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