Posted on 07/16/2021 8:42:27 AM PDT by Red Badger
For all you homeschool moms and apologetics enthusiasts out there, here is an incredible and awe-inspiring story that is sure to bolster your faith and admiration for the Word of God and its rich, historical narrative of God’s people.
In an extraordinary discovery, archaeologists unearthed a millennia-old artifact on which they believe is written the name of Gideon from the biblical book of Judges, which would be the first of its kind for a contemporary artifact.
The discovery in southern Israel gives substantial evidence proving the authenticity of the Old Testament as a historical text.
The Times of Israel reported:
Inked 3,100 years ago during the era of the biblical judges, an extremely rare five-letter inscription discovered in the lush Judean foothills could be a missing link in the development of Early Alphabetic (also known as Canaanite) writing used during the 12th-10th centuries BCE.
If correct, this would be the first hard evidence of a name from the biblical stories of the judges that is on an artifact contemporary to the period.
The inscription was published Monday as part of the second issue of the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology (JJAR) — a new open-access online journal — edited by Bar-Ilan Prof. Avraham Faust, Hebrew University Prof. Yossef Garfinkel, and Hebrew University researcher Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu.
Archaeologists believe that the name inscribed on a small piece of pottery discovered in the foothills of Judea is Jerubbaal, a judge of Israel mentioned in the Book of Judges.
If this is true, it would be the first contemporary artifact discovered that supports the narrative of Israel’s judges written in the Word of God.
The archaeologists date the pottery to 1,100 B.C., meaning it would predate the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel in the Bible — that is, before Saul, David, or Solomon ever came along. This artifact is ancient, folks!
The inscription was written in the Early Alphabetic/Canaanite script, for which evidence has been found across Egypt and the region which today encompasses Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
The first discoveries of paleo-Hebrew come much later than this script, dating in the 9th century B.C.
A “cross-institutional” team of archaeologists and epigraphers believe the fragmented inscription, which is written on three scraps of a small piece of pottery, make the most sense when read as the name Jerubbaal, or “Yeruba’al,” which the Times says was a nickname of Gideon, a major biblical figure.
“Inscriptions from the period of the Judges are extremely rare and almost unparalleled in Israeli archaeology. Only a handful of inscriptions found in the past bear a number of unrelated letters,” a statement from the team behind the discovery explained.
“This is the first time that the name Jerubbaal has ever been found outside the Bible in an archaeological context — in a stratum dated to around 1,100 BCE, the period of the Judges,” they added.
“Gideon is first mentioned as combating idolatry by breaking the altar to Baal and cutting down the Asherah pole,” they explained.
“In Biblical tradition, he is then remembered as triumphing over the Midianites, who used to cross over the Jordan to plunder agricultural crops. According to the Bible, Gideon organized a small army of 300 soldiers and attacked the Midianites by night near Ma‘ayan Harod.”
What an amazing find in what seems to be a very dark and trying time for our world. May the people of God take comfort in this humbling reminder of the greatness of God’s story, and the signs all around us that every word of it is true.
The most important truth of God’s word, of course, is that the Lord Jesus Christ, whose coming was prophesied throughout the Old Testament, has paid for our sins and will return to make all things right one day.
It is vitally important to understand that He’s not just a symbol or metaphor, He was a real, living, breathing human being, as were all the figures told of in the sacred text. How much richer is His love and sacrifice when we remember just how real every word of the scripture is; as real as what we can see, hear, touch, and feel today!
What the hell is ‘historicity’?
What the hell is ‘historicity’?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity
The artifact and name “Jerubbaal,” were planted and made to look ancient.
Ask any Muslim in the region, and they will tell you.
Archeologist are finding artifacts all of the time in Israel that authenticate the Bible.
Exactly,
This is good of course, and confirms what many already beleive, but It is just one in a very long line of archeological discoveries that prove the Bible was a true historical record and word of God to his people. The skeptic Wil. But skeptics Never get to the point where they say ‘finally, an archeological discovery that proves the Bible is true and Will always downplay the significance, claiming that there ‘isn’t enough evidence one way or the other to either prove or disprove the Bibl, if only there were just a little more evidencee, then I’d beleive’
Folks could discover both Noah’s ark and the ark of the covenant, and the skeptic would still reject God’s word, claimingmthat the finds are hoaxes, or not difinitively determined to be the ark and ark . At best they might claim that the Bible is nothing more than a ‘good book with good lessons’. There will never come that one point wh e re they say ‘OK, that’s the one bit of evidence I was waiting for, now I beleiv3’, they Will always dismiss it away when it does show up.
Ordinary people are discovering the KJV for the first time and concluding the same.
Not everything in the Bible has been archeologically supported, but nothing in archeology yet disproves the Bible.
Gideon... Maybe God is putting out reminder that it only take a small band of very courageous fighters to win against the enemy.
Inked 3,100 years ago ...
—
Inked ????
Nonetheless, for those who can get over their skepticism by the grace of God. God provides them with another testimony. So this is good.
For those of us who believe, the historicity of the Bible was never in doubt.
The historical accuracy of the Bible has been proven so many times that it would be newsworthy IF some archaeological discovery proved otherwise.
To my knowledge there has NEVER been an archaeological find which was inconsistent with the Bible. If you think you know of one, please post about it here.
None that I’ve ever heard of.................. or ever will.....................
3,100 years.
Would you want to be a part of a 5,000 year project?
Currently need someone skilled in optical design. Is there a FReeper who makes their own telescopes or other optical assemblies? FReepmail me for an NDA and details...
Yes I agree, and said it is good,that we keep finding them, and it’s for that purpose, convincing those who’s hearts are not hardened beyond repair
Written by Gews
By, “For those of us who believe,” I meant for those that would recognize that Jesus was their Messiah who was to come, prophesied in their Torah and the prophets...and believe on him.
And those that did believe on him were Jews, who were the first Christians.
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