The Bible as History

The Bible's statements cannot be separated from its relation to the real world; many cities and persons have been mentioned in the Bible and have been found in the 'real' world. Since the Bible is so saturated with the culture, time, place and environment that it came from, its trustworthiness can be tested with the science of archeology. Biblical archeology has revealed to us many things about the Bible. Here I want to look at how the Bible has passed on to us a rather shockingly accurate portrait of the historical past.

Many people clearly believe that inspiration and historical accuracy are inseparable. If the Bible is the inspired Word of God, it must be the historically accurate Word of God. It must not even have the slightest scent of corrupt and exaggerated legend (a claim some archeologists make). Most of us would not dare believe a book that fabricates events and mass-murders. A book that creates fictional heroes and promotes secular legends. Such a book would not be a book one would base his or her life on. A person would look to Homer for marriage therapy before he would consider such a book as a guide to life! Since biblical archeology supports many of the passages in the Bible, I would like to look at a few good examples of how archeology has done just that.

The Flood

The so-called 'legendary' worldwide deluge has been used by critics as an attack on the Bible. After all, they say, it is absolutely legendary. The problem is not so much the Bible, it must be said, but the evidence. The evidence for the Flood is beyond words overwhelming. In fact, if there was one thing in this world that was certain it would be this: we had a Flood. We have Flood legends in roughly 80, 000 works in seventy-two languages. Seventy thousand of them mention the Ark.[1]

The archeologist C. L. Woolley has found evidence for a major flood in Mesopotamia. When digging near Ur in 1929, Woolley encountered something rather miraculous. As his team was digging shafts in the soil in search of so-called 'virgin soil' (the soil which the first generation of humans would have left its trace upon), Woolley's team dug until it reached virgin clay. They thought they had found the virgin ground. Woolley, nevertheless, was heavily perplexed: why in the world was clay here? He ordered the team to continue digging. Foot after foot the only thing that was shoveled out was clay. Pure clay. Six feet down and they were still in clay. Almost at ten (10) feet did the clay suddenly stop. As suddenly as it has started, so it has suddenly ended. Before hitting clay, the soil contained pottery shreds and other traces of civilization. Right after this enormously thick layer of clay, the traces of civilization continued: pottery shreds. In fact, before they hit clay, the pottery was turned on a potter's wheel; after the layer of clay, the pottery was handmade. This was marvelous! Woolley ended up digging a few more 'shafts' in order to make sure his findings were correct. One such shaft he dug on a nearby hill. The clay started at approximately the same level. The evidence was rather stunning. Though this did not prove a worldwide Flood, it certainly proved, beyond a shadow of doubt, that this entire region was severely flooded.[2]

The Poles must also be considered when speaking about the Flood. It is obvious that if the ice caps were to melt our entire world would flood. Where did this ice come from? Is it not a collection of water from Earth? Which, at one time or another, was in our oceans? The logic is impeccable. However one interprets the data, it is easier to believe separate accounts describing a similar event. We have absolutely similar accounts, independent of one another, thousands of miles apart. Even before Columbus has set foot in America, the Indians were telling stories of a worldwide flood. In fact, Australia, India, Polynesia, Tibet, Kashmir, and Lithuania all have Flood legends which are passed on from generation to generation up until today. Is this just mere coincidence? That sounds liked biased history research right there. Research based on preconceived notions.

The Exodus

Moses' journey with the people of Israel is certainly one of those 'miracle stories' that sounds like mere fiction. In fact, we can, if it is absolutely necessary, provide very natural explanations to a majority of the biblical miracles.

For those who do not believe in a literal Red Sea crossing, solutions have been offered. The Hebrew word translated 'Red Sea' is Yam Suph. The word can be rendered 'Reed Sea' or Sea of Reeds. Since the Red Sea has no reeds, it has been suggested that the crossing happened in a swamp. Not exactly a deep sea, but a shallow ford. Had an earthquake occurred (miraculously), the water in these fords would have quickly been drained and thus would have provided passage on dry ground. Thus, the crossing may have occurred at the historical Bitter Lakes.[3]

As Moses journeys through the desert, he must quench the peoples thirst for water. He does. According to Exodus 15: 22-23, Moses brings the people to a place, three days distance from Yam Suph, called Marah. However, there was a catch: the water of Marah springs was bitter and the people refused to drink it. Fortunately, today we are less concerned with how the travelers felt; rather, we are concerned with this bitter spring. And exist it does! Today it is called "Ain Hawarah." The waters are indeed sulfurous and bitter.

The next point of interest in the Exodus narrative for us is the matter of the quail and the (heavenly) manna. Skeptics are always quick to point out the miraculous nature of these so-called 'miracles.' And, quiet wrongly, they assume that, since adherence to miracles requires a belief in a Higher Power, the narrative must be legend. We must not be so hasty in passing uncalled-for judgment. The falling of the quail of the Exodus occurs naturally (sic!) today.

The migration of these birds occurs in the spring. They fly all the way from Africa to Europe. Usually they take one of two routes. One route goes via the west coast of Africa to Spain, and the other via the Eastern Mediterranean to the Balkans.[4] The birds that Moses and his people encountered were tired from their ungodly and brutally hot journey. They were barely flapping their wings when they flew over Israel's camp. And so met their end. Period. Nothing 'miraculous'; but, nevertheless, nothing short of miraculous! And so, Exodus 16: 13-15 should be, without a doubt, read as historical fact by the atheistic skeptic.[5]

The famous Bread of Heaven is actually still available to every ungodly atheist today, free of charge (!). Manna is nothing more than a secretion secreted by tamarisk trees and bushes when they are penetrated by a plant-louse. The excretion is as small as a coriander seed and is at first white in color. After lying for a while, it becomes a light yellow-brown. The manna tastes exactly what the biblical manna tasted like: honey. Today, the Bedouins of the Sinai peninsula also, just as the ancient Israelites, as commanded by God, gather the manna in the morning and safely seal it in jars (for ants will quickly make it 'melt' away once they have access to it). In a good year, the Bedouins can gather up to four pounds of manna per head (that is sufficient enough to sustain a grown man a day in the desert).[6]

Even water from a rock is not as miraculous as it may sound (though it may very well be). In the 1930's, Major C. S. Jarvis, a British Governor of Sinai, has witnessed this 'miracle' himself. Some of the men of the Sinai Camel Corps had paused near a dry wadi and were trying to dig around a rock-face. They were hoping to get to a little trickle of water that was trickling from a limestone rock. The men who were digging were working at such an embarrassing rate that the irritated sergeant, Bash Shawish, took the spade and angrily began swinging. He missed. And hit a rock. The rock split in two and out flowed water.[7] Many other such naturalistic explanations can be offered. What is of greater importance, though, is the fact that miracles should never prevent you from seeking true faith. This, as has already been demonstrated, is what is really the heart of the matter.

Gibeon- City of Wine

The Bible is remarkably accurate in its portrayal of ancient peoples and practices. We are told in Joshua 9:3-5 that

when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. (ESV)

Clearly the Gibeonites were afraid of Joshua. But why did they bring wineskins and old bread? We now know, thanks to archeology, that Gibeon's prosperity was directly proportional to wine export. The city produced wine on a large scale: storage capacity at about 50, 000 gallons! During excavations near the pool of Gibeon, sixty wine handles were found. They were even stamped with ancient Hebrew characters; firms' trademarks. The word 'Gibeon' also was found. And many towns of Judah, such as Jericho, Ziph and Succoth were also found amongst the inscriptions, signifying their destination.[8] This almost insignificant archeological find shows how deeply accurate the Bible is. If the tale was totally fabricated- in a region far off, in a time much later- how could the author have known so much about Gibeon? Obviously, the Bible preserves history.

King Omri and the House of Ivory

In 1 Kings 22:39, King Omri of Israel is said to have built a "house of ivory." For the longest time ever, scholars have scoffed at this passage in the Bible (along with the rest of it) and have dismissed much of the account on Omri as mere legend. Fortunately for us, archeologists have assaulted an old ruined mound of Samaria. While digging there they found 15-foot thick walls and recognized this as a building project which Omri undertook. The huge limestone rocks were intimidating. Omri's son, Ahab, lived here. He must have finished the building project. As is evidenced by the ruins, the construction was done with remarkable skill. As the archeologists continued to clear through the rubble, they noticed something: multitudes and multitudes of ivory splinters. At literally every square inch, they found specks and splinters of ivory. Ivory is expensive and is usually found in small pieces amongst many Palestinian excavations. And yet, here it was found all over the ground! The Bible has proved itself reliable once again.

[1] Werner Keller, The Bible as History (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1995), 56.

[2] Ibid,. 43-49.

[3] Ibid., 126.

[4] Ibid., 128.

[5] Even the Jewish historian Josephus tells us a similar tale (Antiquities, 3.1.5).

[6] Ibid., 128-130.

[7] Ibid., 136.

[8] Ibid., 191-192.