Extra Biblical Evid
With each edition of The Enduring Word Museum Newsletter, we strive to present evidence that uplifts trust in the scriptures we have today. Our goal is always to encourage individuals to read the Bible for themselves, seeking our Father who created us and who wants relationship with us. Often things are read, heard, or alluded to that damage trust in the scriptures. We seek to put those arguments to rest with real evidence that the Bible we have today is exactly what the Father wanted us to have.
There are many sceptics who think the Bible cannot possibly be true since the “winners” always write the history, so anything found in the Bible must be biased, intended to show that God’s people were His precious possession and could never show the bad side of their history. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible consistently records the stories of His people listening to His voice and following His ways, but it also records the disobedience of His people and the consequences they suffer. He would tell them through the prophets to turn back to Him or “X” would happen. When they fell away from Him to follow the pagan religions, they would suffer the curses He promised. When they repented, God would extend His gracious hand, offering forgiveness, then bring them home. Across the levant (the area that includes all ancient Israel and the surrounding areas) archeologist continually find evidence of these events and often the specific characters involved in the biblical narratives.
In this edition of The Enduring Word Museum newsletter, we will look at several examples of evidence that showing the narratives of the Bible are absolutely accurate and fit precisely with the physical evidence found. In faraway places, often in lands of Israel’s enemies, we find overwhelming evidence, more plentiful than we could possibly list here. The incredible thing is, we often find connections to some of the strangest details in the Bible, details that have had scholars for centuries scratch their heads wondering why this or that detail was included in the scriptures, but now we know why. These things are too wild to be faked, and they prove beyond any doubt, the Bible we have today is true, accurate, and intended for us to read and study.
Credit: Igor Kreimerman
Lachish, Synagogue
In 2016, Archaeologist conducted a dig at Lachish, an ancient community located in Southern Israel. There they found and excavated a small shrine near the monumental gate complex. Within the shrine, behind the altar, they discovered a stone toilet that had been placed to desecrate the temple before it was sealed.
This discovery was quickly connected to the biblical narrative of the 8th century B.C. as found in 2 Kings: 27, “Then they demolished the pillar of Baal, and destroyed the temple of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day”. King Hezekiah was determined to bring the people of Judah back to God’s holy ways by destroying the pagan temples, ending the idolatrous cults and teaching them once again from the scriptures to follow His ways1.
[1] David, A. (2021) Discovery of biblical ‘toilet’ unleashes archaeological fracas in Israel, Haaretz.com. Available at: https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2021-03-09/ty-article-magazine/discovery-of-biblical-toilet-unleashes-archaeological-fracas-in-israel/0000017f-e69a-d97e-a37f-f7ff75100000 (Accessed: 10 January 2025).
Initial Discovery of Ancient Babylon
In the late 19th century, many secular and biblical scholars believed Babylon did indeed exist, but many also believed it was primarily a fairytale found in scripture, like all the other silly “moral stories.” After all there was no evidence that King Nebuchadnezzar II mentioned in the Bible had really existed.
Babylon was one of the oldest, richest, and most fabled cities of ancient history. Many explorers and treasure hunters searched for the lost city, but it wasn’t until the late 19th century that a new brand of scientist from the German Oriental Society (Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft), Robert Koldewey (1855-1925), led a team to do a true archeological excavation of the area was the truth revealed.
Koldewey intended to use a new technique using knowledge of stratigraphy, exposing the layers systematically to expose the chronology of the site, a narrative of its development, and to show the sequence of provenances for the artifacts found. These methods would allow for further study of the area and artifacts after leaving the site. Koldewey’s team made numerous discoveries showing that King Nebuchadnezzar had in fact existed and indeed did many of the things the Bible describes in great detail. We have tablets that show the Israelites were captives in the land, as well as a tablet held by The Enduring Word Museum, that has King Nebuchadnezzar II, son of King Nabopolassar, was building the pagan temples to their God Samesh. The book of Daniel describes the King as a prolific builder of huge structures and pagan temples2.
Cuneiform tablets from “Judahtown” (Babylonian āl-Yāḫūdu) offer insight into what life was like for ordinary Judahites during the Babylonian Exile. Photo: Avi Noam.
[2] unknown (2018) Koldewey at babylon, World Archaeology. Available at: https://www.world-archaeology.com/great-discoveries/koldewey-at-babylon/ (Accessed: 10 January 2025).
Moabite Stone, Mesha Stele
Another magnificent discovery which helps confirm a different tragic event recorded in scripture is the Moabite stone, also known as the Mesha Stele. It is from the 9th century BC, with details that match the Biblical events of how Mesha led the Moabite army to victory against ancient Israel. In the text, Mesha claims to have defeated Israel on multiple fronts, conquering and reclaiming many cities and destroying their inhabitants. The text of the stone also states Mesha rebuilt the cities with its buildings, to include a fortress, the king’s palace, and the city’s cisterns used for water storage. In one of the very last lines it mentions, The House of David! The last five lines of the Mesha stele were destroyed, leaving scholars at a loss for how the inscription ends4.
In 1868, Charles Clemont-Ganneau heard of an inscribed stone at Dhiban, Jordan. He sent two of his associates to investigate the claims and were able to view and handle the Mesha Stele, one even made pencil rubs of most of the text. Somehow the second associate upset the villagers, and they went on to destroy the stele in a fire. The Stele was broken into pieces, many of the pieces were sent with other local tribes. Clermont-Ganneau was able to purchase most of the fragments and reconstruct the stele5.
[4] Brown, W. (2019) Moabite Stone [mesha stele], World History Encyclopedia. Available at: https://www.worldhistory.org/Moabite_Stone_%5bMesha_Stele%5d/ (Accessed: 12 January 2025).
[5] Lemaire, André (2022) What does the Mesha stele say?, Biblical Archaeology Society. Available at: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/what-does-the-mesha-stele-say/ (Accessed: 12 January 2025).
Mesha Stele. King Mesha of Moab details his victories over Israel—and seemingly the “House of David”—in this ninth-century stela.
King Nebuchadnezzar Tablet
This is another cuneiform tablet found in Babylon that chronicles the first campaign of King Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem in 597 BC. Interestingly, the tablet begins with King Nabopolassar’s last year of reign, and it chronicles the assentation of his son King Nebuchadnezzar, continuing through his 11th year of reign. The small tablet describes the king’s first campaign against Jerusalem in 597 BC. This is also recorded in 2 Kings 24:10-163.
[3] unknown (no date) Tablet | british museum, The British Museum. Available at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1896-0409-51 (Accessed: 10 January 2025).
This historical chronicle describes Nebuchadnezzar’s first campaign against Jerusalem in 597 BC. The tablet covers the period of 12 years from the 21styear of Nabopolassar (605 BC, which was also Nebuchadnezzar’s accession year), through to the 11th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.