Expository Files 3.2
Feb. 1996

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    THE FRONT PAGE

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By Jon Quinn
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     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 consider
Jerusalem 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, has
a 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.

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