Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001435A
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01:30 ♪[Theme music]♪
01:40 ♪[Theme music]♪ 01:49 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. 01:51 Thanks for joining me. 01:53 Today we're going back in time back to what many refer to as 01:57 the golden age of Israel. 02:00 The time of the united monarchy, 02:01 when King David and then King Solomon reigned, 02:04 and all of Israel were pressed together 02:07 and were mighty, strong and powerful. 02:10 My guest today is Dr. Michael Hasel. 02:11 He is a professor of Near Eastern study and archaeology 02:15 at Southern Adventist University. 02:16 Dr. Hasel, thank you for joining me. Welcome today. 02:18 >>Dr. Michael Hasel: Thank you. It's good to be here. 02:19 >>John: It's good to be here in 02:21 the Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum. 02:23 And today I'm going to ask you to walk me through yesterday, 02:28 and talk about some of the great figures of the Bible. 02:30 I wondered if today we could talk about Solomon, 02:32 the great King Solomon. 02:34 Before we begin with Solomon, 02:36 let's go back a little bit further than Solomon, 02:37 to his dad, King David. 02:40 Explain to me how your work in archaeology has shined a light 02:43 on the life and the times of David the King. 02:46 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, David has been a very, uh, 02:48 important figure in history. 02:50 If, uh, you didn't have David 02:52 you'd have no capital in Jerusalem. 02:53 If you didn't have David, 02:54 you'd have no, uh, none of the Psalms, 02:57 73 of them written and attributed to him. 03:00 You wouldn't have, uh, his son Solomon building the temple, 03:03 which we're going to talk about in this program. 03:05 And you wouldn't have so many of the other elements 03:08 that made Israel what it was. 03:10 So David was a very, very central figure in history. 03:13 >>John: Nor would you have Jesus referred to as the son of David. 03:16 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. That's right. 03:17 >>John: Now, let me ask you this, 03:18 briefly touch on this with me. 03:20 David in archaeology is a bit of a disputed figure. 03:24 Why is that? 03:25 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, for many years there was no mention 03:27 of David outside of the Bible. 03:29 And this led some highly critical scholars to say, 03:31 “Well, because we don't have evidence 03:32 outside of the Bible for David, 03:34 we don't think David really existed.” 03:38 Um, that's an argument from silence, and, uh, 03:41 in archaeology we're always finding new things. 03:44 The main scholar who said this, in 1992, 03:48 in a book that was published in England, 03:50 uh, the very next year, archaeologists working in Israel 03:52 uncovered a very exciting inscription. 03:56 We have a replica of it here. 03:58 This inscription, this is a smaller version of it, 04:02 is an inscription, once a very large, monumental stele, or 04:07 uh, commemorative inscription, that documented a campaign 04:11 by an Aramean king from Damascus who came down 04:14 and who conquered the northern kingdom of Israel 04:16 and the southern kingdom of Judah 04:18 about 140 years after the time of David. 04:21 And in this inscription it describes his victory 04:25 over the King of Israel and, on this line here, it says, 04:28 “and the house of David.” 04:31 That's exactly the way the Bible in Kings and Chronicles refers 04:34 to the dynasty of David and the kings that followed him: 04:37 “the house of David.” 04:38 And so for the first time in history, 04:39 in 1993, we found David's name in an extrabiblical inscription. 04:43 >>John: Let me ask you this: Why has it been so hard 04:46 to find any mention of David in archaeology? 04:48 After all, he was David. 04:50 And Israel was mighty and powerful during his time. 04:53 So why the silence? 04:54 >>Dr. Hasel: I think part of the reason is we, 04:56 we're only finding a fracture of what actually was out there. 04:58 Jerusalem, which was his capital, 05:01 is, is not a very well-excavated site. 05:04 It's still occupied today. 05:05 It's still the capital of Israel today. 05:07 And so you have houses everywhere. 05:08 You have a temple mount. 05:10 It's a very disputed area between Arabs and Jews. 05:13 And so all of this political uh, situation, 05:16 as well as the modern buildings, 05:18 have made Jerusalem very difficult to excavate. 05:20 >>John: So did that settle it in the archaeological world, 05:23 or was there, were there still doubts about David 05:26 and his existence and the extent of his empire? 05:28 >>Dr. Hasel: I would say that probably for the most part 05:30 it settled David's existence. 05:32 I mean, there's a few scholars here and there that are, 05:34 you know, die-hards that would say, 05:36 well, we still can't be sure. 05:37 But I think for the most part 99 percent, 05:39 99.9 percent of scholarship says this is evidence, 05:43 without a doubt, that David existed. 05:45 The big question today is, 05:47 what was the extent of David's kingdom, 05:49 and uh, how did that follow in the reign of his son Solomon? 05:53 >>John: Well, let me ask you this question, then. 05:56 The Bible tells us about the extent of David's kingdom. 05:59 Archaeology, therefore, in the minds of some 06:02 must be seen to validate the Bible. 06:04 Is that the issue? 06:06 Academics aren't simply prepared to trust what the Bible says, 06:09 as in a number of other disciplines. 06:11 Archaeology is there to support and to confirm 06:14 what the Bible says. 06:15 Is that the role of archaeology for many people? 06:17 >>Dr. Hasel: I think for many people that's true. 06:19 For many Christians that's true. 06:21 I think as a Christian archaeologist, 06:22 I also want to look at the data and see the data for what it is. 06:26 And for many uh, many, 06:29 that's not what archaeology is at all. 06:30 Archaeology is simply studying history, 06:32 studying the backgrounds uh, to many of the kingdoms and, 06:37 and, and the histories that we have out there. 06:38 So, um, the Bible is a part of that, and it's important, 06:43 but certainly, in the broader scope, 06:45 we're also wanting to know bigger questions 06:48 than simply questions about the biblical history. 06:50 But in this case, yes, the Bible and archaeology, 06:54 uh, do go hand in hand, certainly in Israel. 06:56 >>John: Well, we have King David. 06:57 King Saul, King David. 07:00 And then a whole slew of kings that followed King David. 07:03 What does the record tell us about David's successors? 07:06 >>Dr. Hasel: If you look at the people of the Old Testament 07:09 and the New Testament, 07:10 we have a total of over a hundred individuals 07:13 that have been uncovered through archaeology, 07:15 in one way or another have been confirmed through archaeology, 07:19 and many of those are the ancient kings 07:20 of Judah and Israel. 07:22 So that's to me very exciting. 07:23 There are only a few kings here and there missing. 07:26 The very large majority of them we have good evidence for. 07:29 And, uh, and archaeology is still, it's a young discipline. 07:32 We've only been around for 150, 175 years. 07:35 So you never know what the next season is going to bring. 07:38 >>John: Now, very quickly, what about Solomon? 07:41 What about Solomon in the archaeological record, 07:44 or Solomon's temple? 07:48 David wanted to build a temple, was not able to. 07:50 God said, no, we'll have your son build that. 07:52 So, so let's go in that direction. 07:54 Solomon, or through Solomon, to the temple. 07:56 >>Dr. Hasel: The temple was an amazing, amazing building 07:59 that was, according to the Bible, 08:01 very well described in Kings. 08:02 Um it was a building that, 08:05 of course, David wanted to build in honor of his God. 08:08 Uh, he was not allowed to do that, as you said. 08:10 Solomon did. 08:12 Unfortunately, the temple was completely destroyed 08:14 during the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. 08:17 And so what we have today 08:19 is, is no remains from Solomon's temple, really. 08:22 Um, from that period we have materials. 08:25 It's interesting that in recent years there has been excavations 08:29 done on the temple mount area, 08:30 and the dump has been put over the edge of the walls 08:34 and, and, and dumped down into the valley, the Kidron valley. 08:37 And a colleague of mine, Dr. Gabriel Barkay, 08:40 for several years now has been collecting that dump material, 08:43 sifting through it all, 08:45 and we have found artifacts dating back to that time period. 08:48 But from the building itself, 08:49 we have only the biblical description. 08:51 And that is something that is a little frustrating 08:54 for archaeologists, but it, it is what it is, 08:57 because Jerusalem was destroyed and conquered 09:00 so many times in history. 09:01 >>John: Back today to the time of the kings, 09:03 and we'll have more from the time of David 09:05 and more importantly, 09:06 the time of King Solomon, in just a moment. 09:09 ♪[Music]♪ 09:18 It's something everybody wants, but it's very difficult to get. 09:23 How does a person experience peace, 09:25 and how can our world experience peace? 09:27 I want you to have today's free offer, 09:29 “Peace on Earth.” 09:31 Call us at 800-253-3000 09:33 800-253-3000 09:36 Visit us online at 09:37 itiswritten.com 09:39 Or you can write to the address on your screen. 09:43 You can experience peace. 09:45 Get today's free offer and you'll know how. 09:48 >>John: Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 09:50 I'm John Bradshaw, and my special guest today is 09:53 archaeologist Dr. Michael Hasel. 09:55 Dr. Hasel, a moment ago we were talking about Solomon's temple. 09:59 The archaeological record offers nothing to us, 10:02 really, of the temple itself. 10:03 Understandable. 10:04 It was destroyed. 10:05 There have been temples built in its place since. 10:08 But does the archaeological record offer us anything else 10:12 to help us understand Solomon's temple and its times? 10:16 >>Dr. Hasel: Yeah, it really does. 10:18 We have temples that have been built 10:19 all around the nation of Israel. 10:22 Um, and we also have a very interesting new discovery 10:25 that was made just in the last couple of years 10:28 at the site of Khirbet Qeiyafa, which I co-directed. 10:31 A model was found in a room, a cultic room area. 10:35 And in that cultic room we found several items 10:38 that seem to indicate this was a place of worship. 10:40 >>John: And when you say a cultic room, 10:42 what does that mean? 10:43 >>Dr. Hasel: It means a place of worship. 10:45 Not like the occult, but simply a place of worship, 10:47 a place where people engaged in worship practices. 10:51 And what is fascinating about this particular shrine is, its, 10:55 its architectural elements that make it very unique 10:58 from anything ever found in Israel, like this. 11:02 It's a very unique piece, 11:04 and it mirrors in some ways the architecture of Solomon's temple 11:08 that comes just a few decades later. 11:10 >>John: Okay. 11:11 Now, what's the significance of that? 11:13 This sort of prefigures the architecture of the temple, 11:17 the point being, help me understand that. 11:20 >>Dr. Hasel: The point, the point is that David and Solomon 11:22 are given this, these, these dimensions by God 11:25 of how the temple should be built, 11:26 how specifically it should be constructed. 11:30 And, um, during this time period, 11:31 during the time of David, we have this shrine being built, 11:35 which is fascinating, because it, it mirrors in many ways 11:39 what the Bible account is describing. 11:41 You have these recesses, as you move inside the door. 11:45 These recesses, there are several of them here, 11:48 the Bible describes the same kind of pattern 11:50 for the building of Solomon's temple. 11:51 >>John: Okay. 11:52 >>Dr. Hasel: You have the, you have the, um, 11:55 the dimensions of the door, 11:56 which are identical to the dimensions, 11:59 obviously, this is a smaller scale, 12:00 but identical to the dimensions of the door of Solomon's temple. 12:04 And then you have these interesting triglyphs, 12:06 we call them triglyphs. 12:07 They're three-part, probably referring to the beams 12:11 that would hold up the roof of the structure. 12:13 These triglyphs become an architectural element 12:15 that can be seen on major temples for centuries later. 12:20 We think of the famous Parthenon in Athens, on the Acropolis. 12:24 It has triglyphs in stone all around it. 12:27 This decorative element is known in many temples 12:30 after this time period, 12:31 but it's never been found this early, 12:33 nor has it been found in Israel in this, in this case. 12:36 So here we have these. 12:38 And the Bible uses a very specific term in Hebrew 12:42 that we believe may be referring to these triglyphs. 12:45 It's been not well understood because it's one of these words 12:48 that is not used very frequently in the Bible, 12:50 but it's an architectural technical term, 12:52 and we believe it refers to these triglyphs. 12:54 So what we have here in this shrine model 12:57 is something curiously that comes from the time of David. 13:01 It comes just a few years before the time 13:04 Solomon's temple is built, 13:06 but some of those architectural elements are already present. 13:09 And what is fascinating to me is, 13:11 we found no deities or gods around these, 13:15 these shrine, the shrine or in any of these cultic rooms. 13:18 >>John: Suggesting that... 13:19 >>Dr. Hasel: This suggests, I think, 13:21 that the people were not practicing, uh, 13:24 worship that involved other deities. 13:26 Uh, God was always, the deity of the Old Testament, 13:30 Yahweh, was never supposed to be fashioned into a deity, 13:35 based on the second commandment. 13:36 And so we have a very interesting clue, anyway. 13:40 >>John: Now, we know that the temple 13:42 was a magnificent structure. 13:44 It was built, designed for the honor and the glory of God. 13:49 But it wasn't long before God's own people 13:53 were using that temple for all the wrong reasons. 13:56 How did that come about? 13:58 >>Dr. Hasel: Part of it was Solomon building up his kingdom 14:01 and beginning to make all kinds of alliances with other nations. 14:05 And part of the way he did that was marrying wives from, 14:08 this was a very common practice in the ancient Near East, 14:10 where a king would marry a princess from another, 14:13 another country. 14:14 And one of the princesses that Solomon married 14:16 was an Egyptian princess. 14:17 And we have some evidence 14:19 that he even built a temple for her in Jerusalem. 14:23 Not this temple, but another temple. 14:25 And as these kinds of practices began to creep in with time, 14:30 Israel moved further and further away 14:32 from where it was supposed to, uh, continue its practice. 14:36 >>John: So what do we find in archaeology? 14:37 Before you said that, uh, many of the other Israelite kings, 14:42 uh, pop up in the archaeological record. 14:45 Does the record show in any way the apostasy of Israel, 14:48 Israel moving away from true worship 14:51 and away from fidelity to God? 14:53 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, it gets to the point where we have 14:55 Manasseh, the king of Judah, 14:58 who is known as one of the most wicked kings, 15:01 if not the most wicked king in the Bible. 15:04 And he takes things to a whole new level, 15:07 because the Bible tells us 15:08 he actually places these gods in the temple itself. 15:12 He desecrates the temple, so to speak. 15:14 And what we have as a result of that, 15:17 we look at the archaeological record, 15:19 and even if we don't have a temple today, 15:21 we can see what the people are doing during this time, 15:24 and how they are reacting, and, and living that life as well. 15:28 >>John: So what does that show us? 15:29 What do we find from the record? 15:31 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, we find, uh, deities. 15:33 We find images in the households 15:36 that we excavate throughout the area of Judah. 15:39 We find, uh, a great deal of, um, 15:43 of evidence of other worship places besides the temple, 15:46 which shouldn't really have been. 15:47 There should only have been one temple in Jerusalem 15:49 that all the people come to 15:50 to worship during the festivals and the holidays. 15:53 So all of these, all of these things come together. 15:56 One of the things that we find are, are small figures. 16:00 We have a figurine here. 16:02 This particular figurine, um, 16:05 is typical of this period of the time of Manasseh. 16:11 And this figurine, uh, we call it a Judean colored figurine, 16:15 because even though we excavate in Canaan, 16:18 even though we excavate in Phoenicia 16:20 and other surrounding areas, Philistia, 16:22 this figure primarily comes from Judah. 16:25 Ninety-six percent of these figures, 16:27 and there have been over a thousand of them found, 16:29 come from Israel, 16:30 come from Judah itself. 16:32 Half of those were found in Jerusalem itself. 16:34 So that tells you how widespread the worship. 16:37 If this was a fertility goddess, Asherah was the, 16:40 the fertility goddess mentioned often in the Bible, 16:44 over 40 times in the Bible. 16:46 If this were Asherah, and some scholars believe that it was, 16:50 then we have the worship of this fertility goddess 16:52 taking place just at the time where the Bible is describing 16:55 Manasseh placing an Asherah in the temple itself. 16:59 >>John: I have that here in Second Kings, chapter 21. 17:01 “He built alters,” 17:02 verse 5, “for all the host of heaven, 17:04 in the two courts of the house of the Lord.” 17:06 This was pretty brazen apostasy, wasn't it? 17:08 Verse 7, “He set a graven image of the grove 17:10 that he had made in the house, 17:12 of which the Lord had said to David, and to Solomon his son, 17:15 in this house, and in Jerusalem, 17:18 which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, 17:20 will I put my name forever.” 17:22 And there was Manasseh putting something just like that 17:25 inside the temple of God. 17:27 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. Right. 17:28 >>John: Breathtaking. Breathtaking. 17:29 Archaeology once again shining a light on the Word of God, 17:33 making alive the biblical record we hold in our hands, 17:37 and rightly understood, 17:38 making more alive our faith in the living God. 17:42 Don't go away; be right back in just a moment. 17:44 ♪[Music]♪ 17:55 >>Announcer: In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says, 17:57 “It is written, 17:58 ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, 18:00 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” 18:04 “Every Word” is a one-minute, Bible-based daily devotional 18:07 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw, 18:09 and designed especially for busy people like you. 18:12 Look for Every Word on selected networks, 18:15 or watch it online every day on our website, 18:18 ItIsWritten.com 18:20 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 18:22 Watch “Every Word.” 18:23 You'll be glad you did. 18:25 Here's a sample. 18:26 ♪[Theme music]♪ 18:34 An automobile manufacturer 18:35 recently recalled a million vehicles due to a defect. 18:38 Now, these recalls happen with some frequency, 18:41 and it's not really surprising, 18:43 because cars are incredibly complex things. 18:46 Now, when God made human beings, 18:47 He intended for them to function without defect for eternity. 18:51 We were perfectly made. 18:53 But then in Eden things went south in a hurry 18:56 when Adam and Eve chose to step outside the will of God. 18:59 Now, God might have recalled the human family, 19:02 fixed the problem, 19:02 and re-released a new improved model. 19:05 But instead He gave Jesus to die for our sins. 19:08 Faith in Christ, not a recall, 19:11 would get us working right again. 19:13 Second Corinthians 5:17 says, 19:15 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, 19:16 he is a new creature: old things are passed away; 19:19 behold, all things are become new.” 19:21 Yield to Jesus, 19:22 and He'll restore you and make everything new. 19:25 Let's live today by every word. 19:29 >>John: Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 19:31 My special guest is archaeologist Dr. Michael Hasel. 19:35 Dr. Hasel, in all of your involvement with archaeology, 19:37 what's the thing that stands out in your mind 19:40 as being the most exciting thing you've participated in? 19:42 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, I think probably it goes back 19:44 to that first excavation project I was part of in Israel. 19:47 Um, we worked at a site called Gezer. 19:49 And that site is a very important Canaanite city for, 19:53 for hundreds of years, and then it's taken over by Solomon. 19:57 And, um, it is then refortified, 20:00 and we were excavating the gate that we believed 20:03 dated back to the time of Solomon. 20:04 >>John: To the time of Solomon. 20:05 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. 20:06 >>John: And how does an archaeologist ascertain, 20:08 this is from the time of Solomon? 20:10 We talked a few moments about how when you're digging into a, 20:13 into houses or dwellings, there are all, 20:15 maybe there are hundreds and hundreds of artifacts. 20:17 But a gate, how do we get to that? 20:19 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, we find pottery also in gates. 20:22 The gate was a very important place in ancient times. 20:24 It was a place not only of defense, 20:26 but it was also a place where people gathered. 20:29 Um, we talk often, we read often in ancient narratives about, uh, 20:33 elders sitting in the gate. 20:36 Uh, we talk about judicial matters 20:38 being decided in the gate. 20:40 Um, so the gate was not only a place of, of defense; 20:44 it was a place where legal transactions took place, 20:46 where social activity took place, 20:48 where the men and the elders of the city 20:49 would sit and make decisions. 20:51 Uh, and so this was a very, very crucial gate. 20:55 But how did we date it? 20:56 It was based on the pottery, primarily. 20:59 There's a certain type of pottery that dates back 21:01 to the early part of the 10th century. 21:03 It's called red slipped. 21:05 And I have one vessel here. 21:07 This particular vessel has a red slip, 21:11 that is, it's colored in red. 21:13 You can see the original color here. 21:16 But it was actually dipped into a red, 21:19 very watery clay substance. 21:21 And then a polishing stone like this one was used, 21:26 and it was burnished before firing. 21:29 And they burnished it all kinds of different directions. 21:32 And you can see how, in this particular vessel, 21:35 you have all of these different burnishing marks. 21:37 And this type of pottery dates back 21:40 to the early united monarchy, the time of David and Solomon, 21:43 and even more so in the time of Solomon. 21:47 We found this pottery in 1990, 21:49 which helped us date the gate to that particular time period. 21:53 >>John: And that particular time period, 21:55 how many years before Christ are we talking? 21:57 >>Dr. Hasel: We're talking, uh, 21:58 Solomon's dates are between 971 and 931 B.C. 22:03 He reigned for 40 years in that time range. 22:06 So almost a thousand years before Christ. 22:08 >>John: So what we're looking at here 22:10 is something almost 3,000 years old. 22:12 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. 22:13 >>John: Now, I want to read a little passage here from 22:14 the Bible that, that I think refers back to that very time. 22:19 In First Kings, chapter 9, it says in verse 14, 22:22 “Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold” 22:26 One hundred and twenty talents of gold. 22:28 “And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; 22:31 for to build the house of the Lord, 22:33 and his own house, 22:34 and Millo, 22:36 and the wall of Jerusalem, 22:37 and Hazor, 22:38 and Megiddo, and Gezer. 22:41 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, 22:43 and burnt it with fire, 22:44 and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, 22:47 and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife.” 22:50 That's what we're discussing here. 22:51 >>Dr. Hasel: We're discussing that, 22:52 because what Solomon did after he built the temple, 22:54 he also rebuilt several of the important cities of Judah, 22:58 and of Israel. 22:59 And those cities are listed there. 23:01 Jerusalem, of course, the capital, was refortified. 23:04 Um, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 23:07 So we're excavating the gate of Gezer in 1990. 23:10 We have to go back in time. 23:12 Because in the early period of archaeology in Israel, uh, 23:17 in the 1930s, the University of Chicago 23:20 had excavated the site of Meggido 23:21 and found a gate that had six chambers, 23:25 just like the gate that we were excavating at Gezer. 23:28 A little bit later on, Yigael Yadin, 23:30 the famous archaeologist and later statesman, 23:32 was deputy prime minister of Israel 23:34 he uh, excavated the site of Hazor, 23:37 and he found a six-chambered gate, 23:40 also dating to the 10th century, based on the pottery. 23:43 And he began to say, wait a minute. 23:45 He was reading his Bible, and he read this passage, and he says, 23:48 we've already got a date like this from Meggido 23:50 dating to the same time period. 23:51 We've got this gate. 23:53 And he made a prediction in 1957, 23:55 in an article that was published. 23:57 He was not the prophet or the son of a prophet, 23:59 but he made a prediction and said, 24:00 “Whoever will dig Gezer in the future 24:02 will find a similar gate there, based on this passage.” 24:05 So when my major professor from the University of Arizona, 24:08 Professor William Deaver, 24:09 excavated at Gezer in the 1960s and ‘70s, 24:13 sure enough, there they excavated a gate, 24:16 and it dated to the same time period. 24:17 But a controversy began to brew in the 1980s. 24:21 Did this gate actually date to Solomon, 24:23 or were these built during the time of Ahab, 24:26 some eighty years later? 24:27 We decided to go back to Gezer in 1990 with a small team 24:31 of about forty volunteers and staff. 24:34 And we began to re-excavate the gate, 24:35 because the gate had been excavated down 24:37 to a certain level, 24:38 but nobody had ever gone below the gate. 24:40 Many times you can't figure out what the sequence 24:43 of chronology is unless you go below 24:45 a piece of architecture that was built. 24:47 So what we did, we went below the gate, 24:49 and there was a massage destruction underneath the gate, 24:52 which we attributed to the pharaoh of Egypt, 24:56 who had destroyed Canaanite Gezer and given it as a dowry 25:00 to Solomon, or to his wife, his new wife, 25:02 the princess, who he had married. 25:04 And we found that massive destruction level. 25:06 Right after that, we found pieces of this red slipped 25:09 and hand burnished pottery, 25:11 and we believe that we found very, very good evidence. 25:14 >>John: Tell me this, then, in the moment or two we have left. 25:18 How does the study of archaeology, 25:21 how might it strengthen the faith of someone, 25:26 uh, the everyday Christian reading his or her Bible? 25:30 Or, how might it challenge somebody who says, 25:34 “Uh I don't believe in the biblical record at all”? 25:37 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, to me, there are many people who say that, 25:41 many Christians who believe in the Bible already, 25:43 and then there are the others who are very skeptical. 25:46 To me, 25:47 after having worked in that part of the world for 30 years, 25:50 I'm not skeptical at all. 25:51 I think that we have a great deal that we know today 25:54 that we didn't know 10, 20, 30 years ago. 25:57 We have, uh, amazing discoveries 26:00 that are being made on a yearly basis that uncover the names, 26:04 the events, the places of these ancient, 26:07 uh, stories that we read about in the Bible. 26:09 And that, to me, 26:11 not only confirms what I believe as a Christian, 26:13 but it also gives evidences, data. 26:16 We're living in a media age where everybody 26:18 wants to touch, feel and see. 26:20 Archaeology can do that for the world of the Bible, 26:23 and it gives people a reason to believe 26:26 and a reason to understand the biblical world 26:28 in a deeper, more profound way. 26:30 >>John: Dr. Hasel, thanks so much for joining me today. 26:32 I appreciate it. 26:33 >>Dr. Hasel: Sure. 26:34 ♪[Music]♪ 26:42 It's something everybody wants, but it's very difficult to get. 26:47 How does a person experience peace, 26:49 and how can our world experience peace? 26:52 I want you to have today's free offer, 26:54 “Peace on Earth.” 26:55 Call us at 800-253-3000 26:57 800-253-3000 27:00 Visit us online at 27:02 itiswritten.com 27:04 Or you can write to the address on your screen. 27:07 You can experience peace. 27:10 Get today's free offer and you'll know how. 27:13 Thank you for remembering that 27:14 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry. 27:18 and it's your support that makes it possible 27:20 for us to share God's good news with the entire world. 27:24 Your tax-deductible gift 27:25 can be sent to the address on your screen, 27:27 or through our website, 27:30 ItIsWritten.com 27:31 Thank you for your continued prayerful support. 27:34 Our toll-free number is 800-253-3000 27:37 800-253-3000 27:40 Our web address is 27:41 www.ItIsWritten.com 27:43 That temple of old was built as a dwelling place for God. 27:47 How tragic that over the years the original purpose, 27:51 God's purpose, for the temple was lost sight of 27:54 by the very people who should have been keeping 27:56 their eyes on that purpose. 27:58 Don't forget that God created you to inhabit, 28:02 to fill with His presence, 28:03 so that from you He can shine 28:06 and reveal His glory to the world. 28:08 And if you allow God to do that, 28:10 He will do that work in you, 28:12 through you, 28:13 dwell in you, 28:15 and conform you to the image of Jesus 28:17 in preparation for Jesus' return. 28:18 Dr. Hasel, again, thanks so much for joining me today. 28:20 Let's pray together. 28:23 Our Father in Heaven we are grateful today, 28:26 that you through your word, 28:29 reveal yourself to us, and, through archaeology, 28:32 give us more reasons to believe in the validity, 28:36 the strength and the power, 28:39 the relevance of your word. 28:42 And now I pray that, 28:43 as you wished to dwell in the temple of old, 28:44 and as you did, dwell in us, dwell in that heart, 28:48 that person who's reaching out to you right now, 28:51 that one who has been battling, perhaps feeling weak, 28:53 maybe thinking of letting go. 28:56 And all of us, Lord, wherever we are, 28:58 we need you again. 28:59 We need you afresh. 29:00 We must be filled with your spirit. 29:03 Let it be so. 29:04 We thank you for joining with us today, 29:07 and we pray in Jesus' name, 29:09 Amen. 29:12 Thanks so much for joining me today. 29:13 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 29:15 Until then, remember: 29:17 “It is written, 29:18 man shall not live by bread alone 29:21 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” 29:26 ♪[Theme Music]♪ |
Revised 2017-07-06