Transcription
Can you and I geek out about biblical archaeology for a minute? Cuz today, you and I are going to watch the God of the Bible basically dunk on His naysayers. Because today, I'm revealing my top five archaeological discoveries that prove the trustworthiness of the Bible. But here's the punchline, and it's good: all of these artifacts, all of them, were created by the enemies of ancient Israel, which is just—that's a chef's kiss.
So, we're going to get into our top five, but before that, we need to, we need to set the scene. So imagine, uh, 200 years ago, someone came to a believer and said, "Hey, prove to me archaeologically that any of these people and these places ever existed." And here's a really important point that we just need to sit at: 200 years ago, you couldn't. It would have been almost impossible. So, a lot of believers say, "200 years ago, you would have had to approach the Bible from a more blind faith perspective where it's like, I really, I really believe that these people existed, but I can't prove to you that they did."
Well, that was until all these discoveries started popping up. And these ones are just—it's just poetic justice that all five of these things were created by, you know, people that were super stoked on the Bible. No, no, no. These were created by the enemy, the ancient enemies of the God of the Bible, of the God of Israel. So when people say, "Oh, well, that's, that's, you know, self-confirming. That's, that's, that's of course they would say that." No, no. These five artifacts were created by people that would want nothing more than to disprove the God of the Bible, and yet, here we are.
So let's get into our countdown. Number five: the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. Now, this thing is in the British Museum. I've seen it with my own eyes, and when you're looking at it, it's just so unbelievably cool. And I'll tell you why, but first, some background. It was discovered in 1846 in Nimrud, Iraq, and it was created around the year 841 BC. Now, when we hear that timeline, we're thinking, "841 BC. Okay, that's old." But I think it's important for us to realize just how old this thing is. So, 841 BC to say, Jesus, that gap is about us to the Crusades. So this thing is really, really, really old.
And it's an Assyrian king bragging about his defeats and, you know, all these kings that are paying him tribute. It has like 20 panels on it with cuneiform writing. And when I saw this thing up close and personal, it just—it's so, so cool. One of those panels says, and I quote, "Jehu of Israel." Now, what does that mean? That basically means Israel. But here's the thing: Jehu is a king that the Bible explicitly talks about. And suddenly, you have not only this writing that says "Jehu, House of Israel," but there's a drawing of Jehu in this thing. So this thing that is nearly 3,000 years old has, to our knowledge, the oldest confirmed image of a biblical king ever discovered. So just sitting there in this museum in London, and you're looking at an image of a king of Israel from nearly 3,000 years ago. And King Jehu, if you want to read up about him, just check out Second Kings, uh, chapter 9.
So for the skeptic out there, for the person who's just like, "You know what? I'm just, I, I don't believe it. I think all of these things were created. This is some fairy tale." Well, on this obelisk, not only does it say "Jehu," which the Bible talks about him a lot, there's a drawing of him by the enemy of that person. So when you have your skepticism, marry it with biblical archaeology, and suddenly the Bible is validated.
But one more thing about the British Museum. And I love the British Museum because you're walking around there, and you're seeing all of these ancient artifacts of the Assyrians, of the Egyptians, of the Romans, of the Babylonians. And one thing that struck me as I was walking through this museum is, what do all of these civilizations have in common? The ancient Romans, the ancient Babylonians, the ancient Assyrians, the ancient Egyptians. For some unbeknownst reason, all of these ancient civilizations and ancient empires tried to commit genocide and eradicate the Jewish people. Almost all of them. And it's like, that's, that's so weird. And then you have to ask the question, why? Anti-Semitism.
But here's the thing: all of these civilizations and all of these empires are now dusty relics in the, in the British Museum. And yet, the Jewish people, this little tribe that isn't really growing by that many people, are back in the land of Israel, worshiping the God of Israel in the same city, using the same currency and the same language that they have for 3,000 years, using the same book. Look, so the British Museum, which is, you know, in a lot of ways supposed to give glory to all these ancient empires, almost did the exact opposite for me. Because here they all are, just dusty relics. And yet, the people of Israel, the God of Israel, is alive in the same land and active. And so, if you need an apologetic for your faith, just look what God's doing in the world right now.
All right, number four: the Moabite Stone. Now, unlike the one we just talked about, this has more explicit writing on it that just says, "Hey, guess what? The Bible's true." Okay? So it's also called the Mesha Stele. And again, it was created way back in the 9th century BC. Again, almost 3,000 years old. And it's the king of Moab basically bragging about his defeat of, wait for it, it says it right there, "the king of Israel." Boom. And, and how about Mesha? Well, the Bible names him in 2 Kings 3:4. It's right there. Oh, and this thing also, not only does it mention Israel, it also mentions by name the God of Israel. It says it. It's clear as day: Yahweh.
And if that wasn't cool enough, let me take it one step further. You know when you read, you know, Joshua and Judges and the idea of the land being divided into 12 tribes? Okay, come on. That's obviously a fairy tale. There were no 12 tribes. Let's move on. Come on. That's, that's obviously not true. The 12 tribes of Jacob. Come on. And yet, this stone mentions one of those tribes by name. Again, and I quote, "The men of Gad lived in the land of Ataroth from ancient times." So not only does this thing mention Israel, not only does this thing mention the God of Israel, Yahweh, it mentions that one of those 12 tribes, Gad, has been there since ancient times. It's like, Mesha, are you some sort of Christian apologist or what?
Number three: Sennacherib's Prism. Now, this was found in 1830 in the ancient ruins of Nineveh. Yes, the same Nineveh that Jonah tried to get out of. But this prism is just so cool. So it's Sennacherib bragging about his military campaigns against, and this is important, a lot of people say, "Oh, there was no Judea. There was no Judah." But according to Sennacherib, he was fighting. Here it is: King Hezekiah of Judah. He mentions King Hezekiah of Judah by name. Now, that right there would be cool enough. This artifact would be worth going to see. But there's something about this prism that's even more fascinating.
But before we get to that, let me share with you one more quick factoid that just really shows how cool this prism is. So in 2 Kings 18:14, you have this sort of random verse, and it says, "So King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: 'I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand.' The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold." Sounds, uh, kind of like one of those random verses that you're like, "Okay, I don't know why that's in there, but sure, why not." But here's the thing. Here's, oh, it's so good. Again, that last, the last part of that verse: 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. What does the prism say? And I quote, "Fear of my greatness terrified Hezekiah. He sent to me tribute." Again, I'm quoting from this thing: "30 talents of gold." Exactly like the Bible said.
So Sennacherib is bragging about destroying all of these towns in Judah, Lachish, which is kind of like the second biggest one. So obviously he destroyed Jerusalem, right? I mean, that would be the crowning achievement of this campaign. Well, in 2 Kings 19:32 through 36, you have that famous thing where the Bible talks about, you know, God destroying the, the army of the Assyrians. But that obviously didn't happen. Obviously, Sennacherib, the king of the world, destroyed Jerusalem, right? Well, in the prism, it says, "As for Hezekiah, I shut him up like a caged bird in his royal city of Jerusalem. I then constructed a series of fortresses around him and did not allow anyone to come out of the city gates." That's where it ends. But why doesn't it mention that he destroyed Jerusalem? Well, maybe because, just like the Bible said, he didn't.
So you have the Bible, and now this prism, confirming kind of an impossible miracle of God. And suddenly, history and the Bible aren't two competing narratives, but the exact same thing.
All right, number two: the Merneptah Stele. This was found in 1896, and this is the oldest thing we have in our countdown. It was created sometime around 1210 to 1205 BC. So this thing is mad, mad old. And it's basically this Egyptian pharaoh boasting about who he's defeated in battle. Uh, to give you some kind of perspective about how old this thing is, this would have been during the time of the judges, so before Israel even had a king. This thing is like, maybe a couple hundred years after the Exodus. So this is, this is really, really old. This is, this is like that fairy tale, almost unreal part of scripture that we kind of read allegorically. But yet, you have this thing, and it says, I quote, "Canaan is captive, with all woe. Ashkelon is conquered, Gezer is seized, Yano'am is made non-existent. Israel is laid waste, its seed is no more."
This is the earliest mention of the word "Israel" we have ever found. This would have been before Hezekiah, before Solomon, before David, before Saul, during the time of the judges, like, maybe again, a couple hundred years after the Exodus itself. You have physical, tangible, scientific proof that a couple hundred years after the Exodus, Israel was in the land, the promised land of God.
And number one: the Tel Dan Stele. Besides the Dead Sea Scrolls, this is my favorite archaeological discovery of all time. Now, why is it so important? Well, speaking of David, if there was no David, that's a problem. But here's the thing: there was a train of thought among some academics that there was no King David. And even if there was a King David, obviously the Bible exaggerated the extent of his kingdom. But that's a problem not only for Jewish people but also for Christians. Because if you think about it, if you look at, uh, Revelation 22:16, Jesus says, "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star." So Jesus identifies with this David character. So if there is no David, that's a huge problem to basically this entire book.
Now, hear me. If you would have come to a believer and said, "1970, 1980, 1990, and said, 'Prove to me archaeologically that there ever was a King David'," he kind of couldn't. That was until 1993, in a place called Tel Dan. And outside of the Dead Sea Scrolls, again, this has to be my favorite archaeological discovery of all time. Basically, it's an Aramean king named Hazael bragging about his victories. Here's what's amazing: he says, "I have defeated Yuram, king of Israel." Which would be cool enough, again, another thing that says Israel. But at the time, uh, a couple hundred years after David, as you know, uh, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom were broken up. So he says, "Yuram, king of Israel," and then he mentions the king of the South, which says, "Ahaziah." So it, it should say, "Yuram, king of Israel, Ahaziah, king of Judah." Right? But it doesn't say "king of Judah." It says, "Yuram, king of Israel," and then it says, "Ahaziah of the House of David." And boom, in an instant, we know archaeologically, scientifically, there was a David. And not only that, a couple hundred years after David, this kingdom was known as the "House of David." So not only was there a King David, but the Bible didn't exaggerate the extent of his kingdom.
So I hope you're encouraged knowing that the enemies, the enemies of the God of the Bible, the enemies of the God of ancient Israel, prove and validate that scripture is trustworthy. We created this channel called "Can I Trust the Bible?" because that's, that's our heart's cry. But I want to hear from you. Were those evidences convincing? What questions do you still have? What, what skeptical ideas still bother you? You know, the, the reason that we're creating these videos is because I used to have those, those same doubts. But please do make sure you subscribe to our channel. Click the notification bell because this isn't just a channel that we're trying to create fun content, interesting content. We're, we're genuinely trying to find out what's bothering you, what's, what keeps you up at night, what are you afraid to discuss with your friends? So yeah, let us know in the comment section and make sure you subscribe. Hit the notification bell so you never miss an upload. And my friend, I want to leave you with this: the name of this channel, you can trust the Bible.