The Expository Files.


Archaeology and "The House of David"


I have two magazines in front of me. The one on top is the December 18, 1995 issue of the U.S. News and World Report. The other is the March/April 1994 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

This issue of U.S. News and World Report's cover article is entitled "God's City" and is about the city of Jerusalem. It says that "three great faiths considerJerusalem sacred." The article contained alot of interesting information, but it was the following paragraph that particularly struck me:

"The triangular 12-acre city David built lay some 350 feet to the south of the walled Jerusalem of today... Archaeologists, who have uncovered 21 strata there ranging from the fourth millennium B.C. to the A.D. 15th century,
estimate that the Davidic city's population never exceeded 4,000 - largely members of the court. Until recently, the
biblical references to David and the city's structures were not collaborated archaeologically. But two years ago,a team digging in northern Israel uncovered a ninth century B.C. stone tablet bearing a clear reference to the "House of David" and "King of Israel," says former Jerusalem District Archaeologist Dan Bahat."

The other magazine; Biblical Archaeology Review, hasa tremendous full color, full page photo of the stone tablet mentioned in the previous paragraph. The find contradicts many of the speculations of the "minimalist" modernistic scholars who do not even accept the Biblical record as being reliable, let alone the word of God. It shows that Israel and Judah were important kingdoms at the time. It shows that David and his family dynasty were historical and not some myth made up by post-exile Jews returning home. As has been the case so often before, the Bible has been shown to be accurate while the skepticisms of the liberal critics lie ruined under the weight of the evidence.

Finally, one more point. Suppose they had never found the stone tablet mentioning the "House of David"? Suppose the hole had been dug at a different location? Suppose it had been missed by two feet? I would still have as much faith in God and His word today even if I had never had the pleasure of seeing the photo of the stone tablet. My faith rests on many things inherent within the Scripture itself, such as fulfilled prophecy. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17).

But still, I sure do enjoy it when I see the facts come up and give unbelieving skeptics a swift kick in the seat of the pants.

 By Jon W. Quinn 
The Front Page
 From Expository Files 3.2; February 1996

 

 

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