Behind the Scenes of Biblical Scenes, Pt. 10
Study Guide, November 10, 2024
Pastor Clay Olsen
So, what kid doesn’t like skipping rocks? Kids of all ages, right? We did a lot of skipping rocks around Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. (for some reason the rocks at Lake Superior seemed a little better…anyway) One of the best places for skipping rocks is up at Fort Macon, around the Rock Jetty. They have some really smooth and flat stones that are great for skipping rocks. Just a little helpful community information there. No, but actually, one of the greatest discoveries in history was made from a kid throwing a rock…not on water, but into a cave.
In 1946 a young shepherd was searching for a stray goat and came upon this cave. So he threw a rock into the cave hoping to scare the goat to come out. Instead, he heard the breaking of pottery. And soon he came out with seven scrolls…the beginning of several discoveries which would make up a collection of over 930 documents we now know as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Some of you may have visited the Museum in Israel called the Shrine of the Book, which has many of the Dead Sea Scrolls on display. They are absolutely stunning. And not only because of their archaeological value, but because of their historical testimony! They are the oldest copies of the Old Testament that we have today. There are portions of every book of the Old Testament, except for Esther. They date from 250 B.C. to 65 A.D. They immediately became copies that were 1,000 years older than the oldest manuscripts we had of the Old Testament.
And here’s where the celebration got even greater. For when they compared these manuscripts to the Old Testament manuscripts we have today, there was a 95% accuracy! The 5% differences were in word spellings or word choices…for example – like using ‘over’ instead of ‘above’. How wonderful and amazing is that?! And what another powerful testimony of the fact that our faith truly is built upon the solid rock of God’s words preserved for us precisely as recorded in the Holy Scriptures! Amen? Upon reviewing these documents, the director of the British Museum said, “…the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed.”
Oh yes…The Bible is exactly as Jesus said: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'” Matt 4:4 NKJV The Scriptures that we have are God’s words of truth and instruction for us and for all people. They are God-inspired…or God-breathed, and are, as the Apostle Paul recorded: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17 NASU
So in our look today of Behind the Scenes of Biblical Scenes we see that just by looking at a several examples of historical and archaeological discoveries do we see even more proof that the Bible is fully and completely reliable as the solid foundation for our faith and the guide from our God on what is ‘truth’ and how we are to then live according to God’s truths! The Bible truly is God’s Owner’s Manual for all people on Planet Earth.
Here’s another example from a display at the Creation Museum that we recently were privileged to visit. It may be hard to make out on the slide here, but what it shows is a comparison of the amount of New Testament manuscripts and their early recordings as compared with other historical accounts that everyone readily accepts as fact, but with far less actual evidence. For example: There are only 150 manuscripts on the History of Rome, dating from 400 years after their events. But everyone readily accepts the History of Rome as actual history.
Then we are familiar with the writer of the Iliad…a Greek named ‘Homer’. The literary work is about the Trojan War, and the siege of Troy, with some exploits of the Olympian gods thrown in of course. Now this work has a remarkable 1,757 manuscripts. But still, there is about a 400-year gap between the events. Homer also authored the Odyssey, as in the Iliad and the Odyssey…with that one about the hero, Odyssey’s trip home after the War, from Troy to Ithaca. But, again, people naturally accept the historical reality of these events of Greece, at least about the Trojan War. But then, when you compare the evidence of those with the evidence of the New Testament…we are struck with the fact that there’s really no comparison, because when it comes to Biblical manuscripts, there are 5,795 manuscripts of within only 40 years after their events! It’s like the Lord said to the world… “If you are looking for evidence…here it is!” This is a great testament to the historical realities of the events, and the people, and the teachings of the New Testament Scriptures! Plus, when these ancient manuscripts are compared to our Bibles today there is a 99% comparison accuracy…again, only spelling differences!
As Psalm 19 states…not only are the Stars declaring, yelling out, the glory of God, but also Planet Earth itself is declaring, yelling out, the truths of God’s Word! As more and more historical findings and archaeological discoveries are made, they all confirm and affirm the accuracy and the reliability of the very Scriptures that we treasure and seek to follow as we follow the Author of the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus Christ!
Take a look at this: This is an Ossuary…this is the ‘Bone box’ or ‘Ossuary’ of Joseph Caiaphas. Who was Joseph Caiaphas? Matt 26:3-4- “Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas; and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him.” NASU Yeah, that ‘Caiaphas’! In fact, there are Ossuaries all over Israel with the bones of the real people that the Bible identifies as same people that were part of the real events that really took place in the days of Jesus and the times of the New Testament. And ‘bones’ don’t lie! Well, they lie in the ground and such, but they don’t lie about who they are!
Then, there’s this: When you visit the archaeological site of the port city of Caesarea you can see this. It’s called the ‘Pilate Stone.’ It was discovered in 1961 while excavating in the area of an ancient theater built by the decree of Herod the Great around 22–10 BC, along with the entire city of Caesarea. And on the inscription is the name of Pontius Pilatus…the same Pontius Pilate in the trial of Jesus. And history also tells us that Pilate made his base at Caesarea, since that city had replaced Jerusalem as the administrative capital and military headquarters. Pilate travelled to Jerusalem only when he needed to oversee Jewish matters in the province.1
Again, all the accounts that we read about in the Scriptures are accounts of real people in real places that really occurred. So when you think about what’s really going on with people who cast doubts on the reliability of the Scriptures, it’s this: One of the real reasons that many people don’t want to face the fact that the Bible accounts are true, just as we have them in our Bibles today, is because they do not want to be accountable to the accounts of the Bible! Mark Twain is quoted as saying, tongue-in-cheek, “It’s not what I don’t understand in the Bible that bothers me…it’s what I do understand that bothers me.” Yes, it’s not that the Bible is not reliable…it’s that many people do not want to repent about what all the Bible calls for them to repent! When people think they can dismiss the accounts of the Bible, then they think they are no longer accountable to the God of the Bible, nor to the commands of the Bible. But their dismissive attitude and their denials of the reliability of the Scriptures do not in any way change the fact that they will give an account of their lives, account of their deeds, account of their beliefs to the Author of the Scriptures and the Judge of all people. And because of their neglecting and rejecting so great of salvation, they will reap the condemnation of their sin of unbelief and their sins of disobedience to the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Here’s another example of a great Biblical discovery: Guess whose hometown this is? These are the ruins of Ur in southern Iraq. Ur was the hometown of Abraham. Yup, Father Abraham! We’re talking some 4,000 years ago. The thing is that skeptics once considered Ur a myth and thought that even if a man called ‘Abraham’ existed, he would not be anything like the civil leader and educated man described in the Bible. How condescending is that? But then in the 1920’s, the ruins of Ur were discovered and uncovered. Abraham’s hometown was exactly where God said it was. And as for education at that time? Note this: Along with the discovery of Abraham’s hometown, they also discovered one of the largest schools ever found in ancient Mesopotamia.2
But how ironic that so many so-called educated people are so uneducated about things that are the most important things for people to become educated about…that is, the real people and the real places and the real things of which people need to come to learn and by which people then need to rightly and righteously order their lives! It is completely indefensible for modern educators to make so many uneducated statements about the veracity of the Bible and the teachings of the Bible, when the very rocks themselves and manuscripts of history are crying out about their reality and their reliability. But isn’t that the way it has been, not only in our modern age, but in ages past, as well?
The problem with many people’s resistance against the teachings of the Bible is not about the evidence of the Scriptures, oh no, it’s about the unwillingness of their souls. One of the clearest types of evidence of that was the response of many religious leaders after the raising of Lazarus. For what the Pharisees said and did, after learning that Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead, is one of the most hard-hearted, depraved, and foolish things anyone of any group of people could ever do! Notice what their response was: John 11:47-48- “Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow Him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in Him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.” NLT
What?! Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead! Only God can raise people back to life who are already dead and buried! They should have been amazed in their minds and repentant in their hearts! They should have realized what had just been revealed about Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah and Son of God! It meant that Jesus truly was the Messiah, whom all people needed for their salvation. These Teachers of the Law needed to believe in and to turn to this One who gives physical life to the physically dead, and gives spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead. They needed to turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and their personal salvation! But instead of repenting, they were trying to figure out how to stop Jesus from doing these miraculous things, like if He kept that up, why, they might lose their public status and power over the people. How hard headed and hard hearted! They were far more dead than Lazarus had been!
But that’s just how deceived and deluded the sin-nature of mankind really is! They can even watch a ‘Resurrection’ and go… “We need to stop this!” But God is so merciful and so benevolent, that even though God knows that the real reason that many will not repent is that it’s actually a matter of their will and not the evidence, still, God has given mankind tons of evidence of His Lordship and His Saviorhood, nevertheless. And for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear and a willing heart, they will become overwhelmed by it all and they will become ‘overcome’ by their need to turn to God in repentance and receive Jesus Christ in faith as their Lord and Savior.
Evidence like this: Again, rocks don’t lie, and neither do ‘Walls!’ I remember standing by these Walls of Jericho and it kind of transported me back to Joshua chapter six, with the priest blowing the trumpets and the people shouting and the walls of Jericho falling down. It was stunning to the senses! And catch this: Every archaeologist who has excavated Jericho has come to the same conclusion. It is the only place where they have found a city wall that had completely fallen down…exactly as the Bible describes that it did. In fact, by the wall falling down, it would then have formed a ramp-like shape by which the Israelites could have quickly entered the city.3 Archaeologists also cite the burn marks along the walls that reveal that, after the victory over Jericho, the city was burned, exactly as Joshua 6:24 records it.
Let’s wrap this study up with the question that’s pretty much on everyone’s mind. And that’s the question of: “But what about the Hittites?” Don’t you hear people asking that all the time? No? Not lately, I guess. But seriously though, many Bible critics often pointed to the Hittites as an example of this just being another figment of imagination by those who believed the Bible. They ridiculed those who believed that the Hittites were real people…that is, until they were…or until archaeologists uncovered numerous monuments and stones with inscriptions all about the Hittites and the powerful influence of this Hittite nation among the others as mentioned in Deut 20:17- “…the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.” NLT The Hittites empire once extended from the Black Sea to parts of modern Turkey, and they were a powerful force even for countries like Egypt to contend against. And yet, just because they disappeared from the pages of history, that doesn’t mean they disappeared from the reality of history.4
But again, this is just another example of the short-sightedness of the sin-nature of people. It’s not that the facts of Biblical history cannot be found, or that the realities of God’s Word cannot be discovered, or that the truths of God’s Word cannot be believed. All of these things and so much more are all out in the open for anyone to discover and to find that it is all true! No, the reason that so many are in the dark about these realities of the Bible is because so many hearts are so darkened by their sin, and they do not want to come to the light because the light will reveal their sin, and then they will have to bow before the One who is the Light, who is the Truth, and who is the One to whom they need to turn to in order to be forgiven and saved.
And yet, for all who have received the Truth, who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, all these discoveries are simply more reasons for us all to rejoice in our great God…our God who is the God of world history and God of our eternal future!
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilate_stone
- Tom Meyer, Archaeology and the Bible, pp. 20,21
- Ibid, pp 31,32
- David Down, The Archaeology Book, pp. 30-33