Participants: John Bradshaw (Host), Michael Hasel
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001376A
00:06 >: It has stood the test of time.
00:11 God's book, the Bible. 00:15 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:21 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:36 JB: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw, 00:39 thanks for joining me today. There are many good reasons 00:42 why you can believe the Bible; why you can be convinced 00:46 that the Bible really is the Word of God. 00:48 And today, we're dealing with one of the great reasons 00:51 that you can be confident in the Word of God. 00:54 And that reason is archeology. I'm being joined today by an 00:58 archeologist and a professor in archeology, Dr. Michael Hasel. 01:02 Dr. Hasel, welcome to It Is Written. 01:04 MH: Thank you. It's good to be here, John. 01:05 JB: Thanks for joining me. Let's talk about archeology 01:08 today, and we're going to get to the place where we discover why 01:10 archeology is faith building, or can be faith building, 01:14 for the believer in Jesus and in the Bible. 01:16 But let's begin by having me ask you what archeology is. 01:20 I think many of us, we have this idea of Harrison Ford running 01:23 around with a hat on and a shovel over his shoulder. 01:27 What is archeology, what does it do, what's it for? 01:31 What's the philosophy of archeology? 01:32 MH: It's a good question. I do have a hat and I do carry a 01:35 shovel when I'm in the fields, but-- 01:37 those are important things-- but it's a lot more than that. 01:39 Archeology is a discipline that studies basically the peoples of 01:43 the ancient world and tries to understand how they lived, 01:47 how they interacted with one another. 01:48 It's a part of anthropology, the study of people. 01:51 It's part of history, the study of the history of civilizations. 01:56 And in doing that, we can understand not only how they 01:59 lived but also understand where we came from and how life is not 02:04 that much different today. JB: Is it fair to describe you 02:07 as a biblical archeologist? MH: Yes, that is. 02:09 MH: Yeah. JB: How would you describe 02:11 biblical archeology in comparison to archeology 02:13 as a whole? MH: That's a very good question. 02:14 I was trained as an anthropologist and as a 02:16 syro-Palestinian archeologist; that is, I specialize in the 02:20 Ancient Near East and particularly in the area of 02:23 Israel, Syria, Jordan, that part of the Middle East. 02:28 Archeology is global. It studies civilizations of the 02:31 past all over the world. You can study the past in China, 02:35 in early Chinese history; South America. 02:38 Don't ask me questions about the Incans or the Mayans, 02:40 I don't know a whole lot about-- we specialize very much 02:42 geographically. So, when we talk about biblical 02:45 archeology, we're focusing on the Ancient Near East and those 02:49 periods that interact with the Bible, and help understand the 02:53 history that the Bible is speaking about, specifically. 02:56 JB: So, how has archeology helped us to 03:00 understand the Bible? Give me some examples. 03:03 MH: The Bible is written over a huge span of history, giving 03:07 important historical details about history and about various 03:11 peoples throughout history. But, one way that archeology 03:14 does help is that the Bible doesn't necessarily focus 03:18 so much on what people ate and what kind of houses 03:21 they lived in and what their civilizations were like. 03:24 It's interested in political history, religious history. 03:27 It talks about God's intervention in history, 03:30 through the lives of His people. What archeology does, it helps 03:34 flesh that out, so to speak, and gives us a better understanding 03:37 of how people in ancient Israel lived their everyday lives. 03:40 And helps us understand also what happened when they went off 03:44 into exile in Babylon, for example. 03:47 Archeology can help contextualize things. 03:49 I'll give you one example. I brought a coin here today. 03:53 This is a coin, a silver coin. It has a face on it. 03:58 This dates to the time of the Hellenistic Period. 04:02 This is a coin of Ptolemy I, the successor of 04:07 Alexander the Great. Now, what is interesting is, 04:10 this coin was minted in Tyre, which is located up in Lebanon, 04:13 modern Lebanon today. The Israelites had to decide 04:17 what kind of temple tax they were going to take from people 04:21 that were coming to visit the temple during the festivals, 04:24 during Passover. We just celebrated 04:27 Easter recently, this was the Passover time. 04:30 What kind of temple tax. And they had such an aversion to 04:33 the Roman culture-- because the Romans were oppressing the 04:36 Israelites during Christ's time on earth-- that, in fact, 04:40 they didn't want to use Roman coins. 04:43 They didn't want to use Roman coinage or accept Roman coinage. 04:46 You remember Jesus went into the temple one time and overthrew 04:49 the tables of the moneychangers. Why were they exchanging money? 04:51 Because they only were accepting a certain kind of temple tax. 04:55 And if you didn't have the right tax, there were moneychangers 04:57 there to make sure you had the right tax. 04:59 So what did they choose? They chose a coin minted in 05:02 Tyre, with a face not of Caesar on it, because they couldn't 05:05 stand Caesar. They have a face of Melqart, 05:10 who is the Phoenician Baal. So they preferred a pagan deity 05:14 like Baal to be on the coins accepted at the temple over the 05:19 face of Caesar. That just gives you a glimpse 05:22 into the depth of animosity, the depth of discomfort they felt 05:28 with supporting the Roman regime at that time. 05:31 JB: And that's a genuine-- MH: This is a genuine coin 05:33 from that time period. JB: How hard are they to find, 05:36 or to come across, today? MH: Depends. 05:39 We worked at a site, at Khirbet Qeiyafa in Israel, and we found 05:42 over 600 coins in a period of about seven seasons of 05:46 excavation. Seven years of excavation. 05:48 But, that was with hiring an individual with a metal 05:51 detector, who went through our areas of excavation on a regular 05:54 basis and helped us. Otherwise, we would have maybe 05:57 missed quite a few of them. Because some of them are so 05:59 small, they are no larger than the fingernail on your pinky. 06:02 JB: What's that like, to be digging around and finding stuff 06:08 that this was used in the Bible times. 06:11 Somebody may have handed this to somebody in the temple 06:13 when Jesus was alive. That's got to make the history 06:15 become very alive. MH: Well, it's incredible. 06:18 I mean, take this coin for example. 06:19 This coin could have been in the pocket-- 06:21 if Jesus had a pocket-- or the disciples' pockets, 06:25 as they went around and bought things in the market 06:28 and so forth. You know, we live in a 06:30 media-driven world today, and people want to touch 06:33 and feel and see. Many times faith is something 06:37 that, well, I can't see it, I can't touch it. 06:41 Archeology helps us, I think in one way, 06:43 to get back to the lands of the Bible, when you find a 06:47 piece of pottery, where you find a coin, where you find something 06:50 like this for the first time. It's an amazing experience, 06:53 because you wonder who held this last. 06:56 Who held this in their hands 3,000 years ago, before this was 06:59 buried in the sands. And sometimes you even find a 07:01 fingerprint. And our FBI databases don't go 07:04 back that far, but if they could, 07:07 whose fingerprint was that on that piece of pottery. 07:10 It's like reaching back and shaking someone's hand. 07:13 JB: Archeology has made some remarkable discoveries that have 07:15 brought to light civilizations and individuals from the Bible. 07:19 In just a moment we'll find out about some of those. 07:21 We'll be right back. 07:23 >: Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional 07:27 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed especially 07:30 for busy people like you. Look for Every Word 07:34 on selected networks, or watch it online 07:36 every day on our website, ItIsWritten.com. 07:40 ♪ [rythmic melody] ♪ 07:45 JB: In 1813, John James Audubon saw 07:48 a flock of passenger pigeons so large that it took three days 07:53 to pass. But in 1914, the last passenger 07:56 pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo where he'd lived alone in a 07:59 cage for four years. Now the passenger pigeon 08:02 is extinct. How is that possible? 08:05 Well, the short story is that they tasted good and were easy 08:07 to catch, and so today they're as gone as the dodo and the 08:10 South Island Larving Owl. Now, you don't want your faith 08:13 in God to end up like the passenger pigeon. 08:16 In Revelation 3:11, Jesus says, "Behold I am coming quickly. 08:20 Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown." 08:23 Guard your faith in Jesus. Don't become spiritually 08:26 careless or casual. Be sure that every day you 08:28 invite Christ into your heart. Don't let your faith in Jesus 08:33 become extinct. 08:35 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 08:37 Let's live today by every word. 08:40 JB: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. 08:43 Thanks for joining me today. I'm being joined by 08:45 Dr. Michael Hasel, an archeologist and 08:47 a professor of archeology at Southern Adventist University. 08:51 Archeology has often been demonstrated to validate 08:56 the Bible. Dr. Hasel, how has archeology 09:01 demonstrated the Bible as a valid and trustworthy book. 09:04 What are some of the big moments in biblical archeology? 09:08 MH: Archeology is a tremendous tool because it can go into the 09:13 history of the Bible lands and look at the civilizations that 09:18 existed at that time-- look at the people, 09:20 the places, the events. Archeology is very good at 09:23 giving broader sweeps of ideas of how people lived. 09:27 Sometimes it's not as good as dealing with very specific 09:31 events, but we have some great examples of that as well. 09:34 I'm going to talk first about civilizations. 09:36 In the 1800s there was great skepticism about the Hittites. 09:41 The Hittites were a group of individuals, a group of people 09:44 mentioned in the Bible over 20 times. 09:47 They're mentioned in different contexts. 09:49 They're mentioned earlier in the Patriarchal Period, in the book 09:51 of Genesis, and then they're mentioned much later in time 09:54 as well. Uriah, the Hittite, during the 09:56 time of David, for example, which was many, many 09:59 years later. Who were these Hittites? 10:02 Well, they weren't mentioned in any classical sources. 10:05 They weren't mentioned anywhere outside of the Bible, and there 10:07 were a lot of scholars saying, You know, this group of people 10:10 didn't exist. This was an anachronism, a 10:12 mistake that the Bible writers have made. 10:15 It wasn't until 1906 that excavations began in central 10:18 Turkey at a site called Hattusha Bogazkoy, 10:23 was the original name of the city-- or I should say 10:26 the modern name of the city-- that archeologists 10:29 not only uncovered the capitol of the Hittites, 10:32 but they uncovered an archive of thousands and thousands of 10:35 tablets that demonstrated extensive language and an 10:40 extensive history and tradition for the Hittite culture. 10:43 Of course, they didn't even have to do that in 1906. 10:45 Much earlier, as Egyptian hieroglyphics were being 10:49 deciphered in the early 1800s, 1822 by Champollion, the French 10:53 archeologist and linguist. We had also an occurrence, 10:58 an opportunity, to look at Egyptian texts 11:01 on temple walls and across the Egyptian empire, one of the 11:05 longest empires that ever existed, and look at their 11:08 interactions with peoples of the ancient world, because they 11:11 conducted campaigns and were very active with other people. 11:15 What we find there-- and I'm just finishing a book right now 11:18 focusing on the Egyptian understanding of historical 11:22 geography and Asia-- that we find the Hittites 11:25 mentioned more frequently than any other group 11:27 of people because they were the major other empire in the north 11:31 that were vying for control of the area of Canaan, between 11:34 Egypt and the area of Turkey, modern Turkey today. 11:38 JB: So here you had people saying there is doubt about this 11:41 aspect of the Bible, and therefore doubt 11:43 about the Bible. MH: Right. 11:45 JB: And archeology, many years later, comes along and says aha, 11:49 here's the evidence you need. MH: That's right. 11:51 JB: What other aha moments have there been in archeology, 11:54 as it relates to the Bible? MH: There was a very early 11:56 excavation in Babylon, in the early 1900s, and that 12:00 was an amazing excavation conducted by the Germans. 12:04 They took a huge amount of material with them, of course, 12:07 to Berlin, and in the Pergamon Museum today you can see the 12:09 Ishtar Gate that has been reconstructed there, 12:12 piece by piece. They discovered not only this 12:15 amazing capitol city but there was always a big question about 12:19 who the builder of Babylon was. Babylon's history goes back much 12:23 further than the period of the book of Daniel and Ezekiel 12:26 and Jeremiah. So, who was the builder? 12:30 Daniel, in Daniel chapter 4 verse 30 talks about 12:32 Nebuchadnezzar who is walking on the walls of his city and 12:36 saying, "Is this not great Babylon that I've built for my 12:38 honor and power and majesty?" And so scholars are wondering, 12:42 "How could he make that remark?" Because actually, 12:45 Babylon had been in existence for a long time before 12:48 Nebuchadnezzar was. It would be like 12:49 the mayor of New York saying, "Is this not New York 12:52 that I've built for my power and majesty." 12:54 Well, what they discovered in the excavations were bricks, 12:59 like this one, thousands of these bricks. 13:02 This is only partial brick, this is a broken piece of a brick. 13:05 But in this corner here, we have an inscription. 13:08 And that inscription begins with the name Nebuchadnezzar. 13:12 Nebuchadnezzar had thousands of his bricks stamped with a stamp 13:17 that said King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the builder 13:20 of the temple of Esagila, the builder of the temple 13:23 of Ezita. Firstborn son of Nabopolassar, 13:26 king of Babylon. Thousands of bricks stamped 13:28 with that, so there's no question 13:30 anymore that Nebuchadnezzar was indeed the rebuilder of the city 13:33 of Babylon after the Assyrians destroyed it around 622 B.C. 13:38 JB: The Bible is very specific about individuals; 13:40 lots of people that are named. MH: Yes. 13:43 JB: Paul's writing, send greetings to this person 13:45 and that person. How many biblical characters 13:48 do we know of have existed archeologically? 13:53 MH: It's a very good question. There are many names in the 13:55 Bible, of course, and for some of them we wouldn't necessarily 13:59 expect to find evidence for them. 14:01 But archeology does, and it's amazing the little things 14:05 that we find. Sometimes of course, kings. 14:08 We've talked about the coins and Alexander the Great and various 14:14 emperors on the coins that are mentioned-- Augustus 14:17 and Tiberius and others who are mentioned 14:19 in the New Testament. We of course could expect kings 14:21 to be mentioned in annals also that are mentioned in the Bible. 14:24 Kings of Assyria, like Tiglath-Pileser III, and 14:27 Sennacherib and others. I would say currently we have 14:31 between 70 and 80 individuals that are mentioned in the Bible, 14:35 that have been confirmed through archeology to have existed 14:39 in history. JB: Let me ask you this. 14:40 Some of those are the obvious candidates, Augustus, Tiberius. 14:43 Are there any among that 80 or so that are kind of surprising? 14:47 MH: Yes. Absolutely. Sometimes there are seal 14:50 impressions found of private stamp seals. 14:53 Jerusalem has been a source of finding these ancient seal 14:56 impressions. And we actually have seal 14:59 impressions of some of the court officials of Jerusalem. 15:03 We actually have, we believe, a stamp seal of Baruch, 15:07 the son of Neriah the scribe who, according to the book 15:10 of Jeremiah, was Jeremiah's personal scribe, 15:13 who wrote much of the book of Jeremiah. 15:15 Who also was the witness when Jeremiah went out to buy the 15:18 land during his time in prison? Why would we have him? 15:22 Well, it was something that people had records of, and they 15:25 kept records of these kinds of things. 15:27 One of the interesting recent discoveries-- 15:29 I think it was around 2007-- a scholar from Vienna 15:34 was doing research at the British Museum in England, and 15:37 was going through some tablets that had not been published 15:41 or even read before. And by the way, we have 15:43 thousands of cuneiform tablets in the basements of museums 15:46 that haven't even been read, let alone published. 15:48 He was going through these and all of a sudden on this ancient 15:51 Babylonian tablet he sees a name there: Nebo-Sarsekim. 15:55 At least, that's the name that he read. 16:00 And it is mentioned in obscure, in passing in the book of 16:03 Jeremiah, I think it's Jeremiah 31, 16:05 where Nebo-Sarsekim is mentioned with a number of 16:08 different Babylonian officials who Nebuchadnezzar leaves behind 16:12 to help out with overseeing Jerusalem in his absence. 16:16 So you have these kinds of surprise discoveries. 16:20 And what I often tell students is, we're only beginning to 16:23 scratch the surface. I mean, archeology is a young 16:25 discipline. We've only been working 16:28 for a short period of time. I mean, 200 years 16:30 is not that long. And the amount of time that goes 16:33 into an excavation, we're only scratching the surface. 16:35 There's so much more to be found. 16:37 JB: You've personally dug in the Middle East how many times? 16:42 MH: I've dug 10 different sites and I've worked probably 20 16:45 seasons in the field, over 20 seasons in the field, and I've 16:48 directed projects and I've worked as a volunteer, 16:51 from Cypress to Jordan to Israel. 16:53 Mostly in Israel, though. JB: So you've seen a little bit. 16:56 MH: Yes. JB: How easy is it for somebody, 16:59 do you think, to see that much evidence and then dismiss the 17:05 Bible as not valid? MH: You can look at a glass half 17:08 empty and you can look at a glass half full. 17:10 There are skeptics who would say, okay, so we have 70 people 17:14 in the Bible. What about the rest of the 17:15 hundreds that are mentioned there? 17:17 JB: Is there stuff we've missed, or that we haven't yet found 17:22 that is significant? MH: Oh, absolutely. 17:23 Absolutely. JB: All right, there are 17:25 questions then. Archeology hasn't proven 17:27 everything. What have we not so far 17:29 found through archeology, in the Bible, 17:33 that maybe we should have or could have or still hope to? 17:36 We'll find out in just a moment. 17:39 ♪ [musical interlude] ♪ 17:43 JB: Your Father God, your creator and originator, 17:46 is also the God of the future. In His ability to tell us what 17:49 is still ahead, God reminds us of His sovereignty and power 17:53 over all things. To help us to trust Him, 17:56 God has provided amazing evidence of His reliability, 17:59 and the reliability of His Word. Today I'd like to send you a 18:03 booklet that demonstrates how God foretold world events with 18:06 absolute accuracy thousands of years in advance. 18:10 This booklet is called "Can God Be Trusted, 18:12 and it's absolutely free. Just call 1 (800) 253-3000, and 18:17 ask for "Can God Be Trusted." If the lines are busy, 18:21 please do keep on trying. Or write to 18:23 It Is Written, Box 6, Chattanooga, TN 37401, 18:28 and we'll mail a free copy to your address in North America. 18:31 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry, supported by people 18:33 like you. Your tax-deductible gift can be 18:36 sent to the address on your screen, or you can support us 18:38 online at ItIsWritten.com. Thank you for your continued 18:42 prayerful support. 18:45 JB: This is It Is Written. Thanks for joining me today. 18:48 Our special guest is Dr. Michael Hasel, 18:50 an archeologist and a professor of archeology. 18:54 Dr. Hasel, a moment ago we alluded to the idea that 18:56 some things, significant things in the Bible, 18:59 archeology has not validated, at least not yet. 19:03 So, what are some of those things that clearly some people 19:08 are troubled by? MH: In 1992, a book was 19:11 published, "In Search of Ancient Israel," 19:13 by a British Old Testament scholar, Philip Davies. 19:17 It was a very controversial book, because basically he said 19:20 everything in the Old Testament was an invented fiction that 19:24 wasn't written until the time of Alexander the Great, 19:26 in the third, second centuries. And he said Hebrew was an 19:30 invented language. And one of the things that he 19:31 argued-- and this is what makes archeology so important-- 19:34 he argued we have no evidence for David or Solomon. 19:38 These are the great kings of Israel. 19:40 So he was arguing on the basis of silence. 19:43 We haven't found these men in ancient history, 19:46 therefore they didn't exist. The next year, archeologists 19:49 were working in the northern site of Tel Dan, the very 19:53 northern city of Israel, right on the border to Lebanon. 19:56 And as a volunteer was working in a wall, a piece of stone from 20:02 that wall fell out of the wall, and on the opposite side of that 20:05 stone, which had been reused as a building block of a wall, was 20:09 an inscription written by an Aramean king, 20:11 with his capitol of Damascus, not even an Israelite king, 20:14 who had invaded Israel, mentioned in the Bible, 20:17 and had left a stele commemorating his victory over 20:21 the king of Israel-- it's broken, 20:25 part of the king's name is mentioned-- the king of Israel 20:28 and then the House of David. This is during the divided 20:32 monarchy, when you have the Northern Kingdom and the 20:34 Southern Kingdom. The House of David is the way 20:36 the Bible exactly talks and describes the kingdom of Judah, 20:41 because David was seen as its founder. 20:43 And so here you have 140 years after David's reign, 20:48 David being remembered as the founder of a dynasty, 20:51 as of the House of David. Now, when this was published-- 20:54 and it was a major, major event. 20:56 It was made the cover of the New York Times, it was news all over 21:00 the world-- what did Philip Davies do? 21:03 He said, well, there are no vowels in Hebrew. 21:06 You only have consonants, and so we don't know if the vowel A or 21:11 the vowel I-- we don't have those vowels 21:13 in Hebrew-- was there. Maybe there were other vowels. 21:15 Maybe it was O. Maybe it was the House of Dowd. 21:18 Or some other pronunciation. Nobody really accepted that 21:23 interpretation among the scholarly community, and he went 21:26 so far, later in an article, to say, Well, maybe that artifact 21:30 was a forgery placed there by the archeologists. 21:34 So some people will go so far to defend a previous conclusion, 21:38 based on the absence of evidence, to the point of almost 21:41 absurdity. And yet at the same time, 21:45 I always remind my students, the absence of evidence 21:48 is never evidence for absence. There are hundreds of 21:51 archeologists working in the field every year, and you never 21:54 know what's going to be found. JB: What are some other things 21:57 we've missed? What do we not have evidence 22:00 for? MH: There is no evidence in 22:03 Egypt for a massive exodus; for 10 plagues; 22:07 for the things that are such a central core element 22:11 of Scripture. JB: Okay, what type of 22:13 archeological evidence might there be for that? 22:16 MH: Well, one would maybe expect to find some records of Moses or 22:21 Joseph, if Joseph was visier of Egypt, maybe there would be some 22:24 record of that. Of Moses, if he was destined 22:27 to be king of Egypt. Those kinds of arguments have 22:30 been made before. I deal a lot with Egyptology. 22:33 I just finished a commentary on the book of Exodus, and I would 22:36 say this: this would be something that I think is very 22:39 important to keep in mind. In ancient Egypt, the Egyptian 22:44 military records never record any defeat. 22:49 They are always victorious. The Egyptians are always 22:51 victorious. JB: If you look at 22:53 the Arc de Triomphe, you won't find any mention 22:55 of Waterloo. MH: That's correct. 22:57 So, the Egyptians never lose a battle, and this is part of 23:01 their ideology, because their gods are guiding them 23:04 into battle. So, this was probably one of the 23:07 greatest defeats Egypt ever experienced. 23:10 There economy was devastated through the plagues, the 23:13 Egyptian pharaoh was destroyed in the crossing of the sea, 23:16 most likely. There were a lot of things that 23:18 happened there, that would have been very devastating to 23:20 Egyptian ideology, let alone political history. 23:25 So part of me, as a historian knowing what I know about 23:29 Egyptian ways of documenting things, is not that surprised 23:32 that we don't find any evidence of that event. 23:35 But what I want to come back to is the Bible, the Bible is not 23:39 that kind of a book. The Bible doesn't just give us a 23:42 glorified past of Israel. The Bible tells us about 23:46 Israel's defeats as well as its victories, both on a personal 23:49 level-- whether it's David's sin with Bathsheba-- or on a global 23:54 level in terms of a catastrophe of a lost war. 23:57 And as a historian, that gives me some level of confidence in 24:02 the Bible as a more authentic and objective source of truth 24:07 in history. JB: What do archeologists 24:09 actually find? You're not finding whole towns 24:13 and a lot of intact artifacts, most of the time, are you? 24:16 You dig in the sand in Israel-- what do you come across? 24:19 MH: We excavate a very small portion of a city, that when 24:22 we go and excavate. Very small portion. 24:24 Let's given an example. The Harvard excavations 24:26 at Ashkelon. They excavated there for over 24:29 25 years. They have excavated less than 24:31 5 percent of the site, in 25 years of excavation. 24:35 It's one of the best-funded excavations with hundreds of 24:39 archeologists and volunteers working in the field. 24:42 We don't even know how many sites there are. 24:45 Many of them haven't even been located yet, 24:47 let alone excavated. So there's this whole series 24:50 of limitations. Once a site is excavated, where 24:52 we're basing our conclusions on a very small segment of the 24:56 site-- that all needs to be published, and publication rates 24:59 are very, very dismal for archeologists. 25:02 It usually takes 10, 15 years for site reports to get 25:04 published. And finally, when you come 25:08 through all of that process-- of excavation, 25:12 analysis of data, publication-- only a small fraction of what is 25:18 actually excavated has a direct impact on 25:21 understanding the Bible. In other words, of mentioning a 25:25 name of an individual, or that kind of a thing, things are not 25:28 preserved in the ground. Papyrus, in Egypt, yes. 25:33 The Dead Sea Scrolls, because it was in a very dry climate, yes. 25:36 But in Jerusalem, in the more fertile areas, 25:40 things deteriorate. We find a few stone artifacts 25:43 that have writing on them; we find some cuneiform tablets. 25:47 But in Israel, writing and written materials are very rare. 25:51 JB: Archeology, in your own personal relationship with God, 25:54 it has strengthened your faith in God. 25:58 It has made little difference, a lot of difference. 26:00 How personally has it impacted you? 26:03 MH: It's been profound. My first trip to the Middle East 26:06 was with my father when I was a teenager. 26:08 I remember being in Jerusalem, sitting on the Mount of Olives 26:13 and looking over the old city. And what I had grown up with and 26:16 read in the Bible suddenly had a context to it. 26:20 And suddenly the Kidron Valley, and the sheep gate that Jesus 26:25 walked through on His way to the temple, when He stopped at the 26:29 Pool of Bethesda, and all of these things began to 26:31 make sense. And, for a young person, 26:36 it was very life changing. Maybe that's one reason I became 26:41 an archeologist, I don't know. But I think, for me, yes it's 26:44 made a huge difference. You never read the Bible the 26:47 same again, when you visit the lands of the Bible. 26:49 And when you're excavating this material, 26:52 the Bible becomes real. It becomes something that is 26:55 made up of real people, and it testifies of a God 26:59 that interacts in history among those people. 27:02 I can see that as a life-affirming aspect of my 27:05 faith as well, as I see Him working in my life today. 27:08 JB: Dr. Michael Hasel, thank you. 27:10 MH: It's good to be here, John. JB: Let's pray together; 27:11 we have much to pray about. MH: Sure. 27:13 Yes. JB: Our Father in heaven, we are 27:14 grateful that You've given us the Bible, and in addition to 27:17 the Bible, You have given us solid evidence, good reasons why 27:21 we can believe Your Word is true. 27:23 Ultimately, we claim Jesus as our Savior by faith. 27:28 Allow us to be people of faith, who in the presence of or in the 27:32 absence of concrete evidence, we can say we believe in the God of 27:37 heaven, for we have the witness in our hearts that He loves us 27:41 and we love Him. Guide and bless us. 27:43 Let us be people of Your Word, I pray. 27:46 In Jesus' name, amen. 27:49 ♪ [It Is Written Theme] ♪ Thanks for joining me today. 27:51 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 27:53 Until then, remember It Is Written: 27:56 "Man shall not live by bread alone, 27:58 but by every word that proceeds 28:01 from the mouth of God." 28:03 ♪ [Music swells] ♪ |
Revised 2015-11-09