Over the years, I’ve enjoyed writing about different archeological findings that help prove the truth of God’s Word. As my interest in apologetics has grown, so has my fascination with biblical archaeology. I listen to a few podcasts and subscribe to one magazine.
The Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology has an exhibit taking place in Oklahoma right now with findings that back up the Old Testament accounts of the kingdoms of David and Solomon. I don’t see myself making it to Oklahoma anytime soon, so I guess I’ll have to settle for the virtual tour.
The discoveries that made this exhibit possible are largely the work of the late Prof. Benjamin Mazar and his granddaughter, the late Dr. Eliat Mazar. Both of them firmly believed that the text of the Bible and their archaeological finds would go hand in hand.
Related: Sunday Thoughts: A Conversation About Apologetics, Part 1
“Pour over the Bible again and again, for it contains within it descriptions of genuine, historical reality,” Prof. Mazar was fond of saying.
“I am interested in history, not just about stones,” Dr. Mazar said. “I am interested in stones that can speak. I don’t care about stones that have nothing to talk about, that are speechless. Who cares about speechless stones?” She would often have her Bible in her hand as she examined artifacts. Her favorite saying was, “Let the stones speak!”
Psalm 102 is a Messianic psalm — one that points to Jesus. It’s also a psalm about letting the stones speak, as verses 13-17 attest:
You will arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come. For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust. Nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. For the Lord builds up Zion; he appears in his glory; he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.
In his speech honoring the Mazars at the opening of the Armstrong Institute exhibit, Gerald Flurry commented on the two themes in Psalm 102, noting that in verse 17, “both subjects are in this one verse: God’s biblical archaeology and the coming of the Messiah. These two subjects are just really close. Why is that? There is a reason.”
Related: Sunday Thoughts: A Conversation About Apologetics, Part 2
He continued:
We are in the latter days, and God says this is the appointed time. God makes clear that this psalm is going to be understood in this appointed time, a time in the latter days. When the Messiah is coming, you know that’s in the last days. But there is a hope that just overwhelms everything if you look at what this is really talking about. It is inspiring and moving. It’s the greatest event that will ever occur in the universe. That certainly inspires me.
Verses 18-22 have more to say:
Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord: that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.
Flurry tied that section of Psalm 102 to the archaeological work going on in and around Jerusalem:
If you look at this in context, you can see that God is putting emphasis on what’s happening in Jerusalem. That is important because when the Messiah comes, He is going to sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem. So I think that makes sense, and it’s logical that it would be that way.
There are new discoveries every year that support the biblical account of history, and while many of them support the Old Testament, we’re beginning to see more finds that illuminate the world of the New Testament as well. I hope and pray that faithful archaeologists will continue to “let the stones speak” and prove the historicity of God’s Word.