“The Dirt Proves It!”
Message preached by Doug Vernon on October 14, 2001 at Southside Christian Church
1. Let’s have a little fun and test your Bible
knowledge. Get out sermon notes and
write A,BorC for each question. Ready?
(who cares)
a. What is the last book in the bible? Genesis, Revelation, or
Survivor?
b. Who was the first couple in the Bible? Adam
and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, or Chris and Melissa?
c. How many books are in the Bible? 54, 66,
73 or 666?
d. What page in my bible is Matthew 1 on? (I guess
that’s not fair)
e. What is the shortest chapter in the bible?
Psalm119, 100, 117 or 666?
f.
What is the
only book in the Bible that does not specifically use God’s name? Lamentations,
Ezra or Ruth?
g. How many original Apostles were there? 12, 13 or 666?
h. Which chapter in I Corinthians is known as the
“love” chapter? 6, 13, or 666?
i.
Which Judge
was left-handed? Gideon, Ehud, Deborah, or Chris Harley?
2. Add up your scores … how many got at least one
answer right? We will let you stay, you need it; How many got at least 4 right? How many got them all right? (except #4) You get to preach today … no I’m kidding!
3.
Don’t feel bad,
Wayne Brady gave me this Ann Landers letter which contained some answers others
gave to some simple Bible questions.
Noah’s wife was
Joan of Ark.
Lot’s wife was
a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night.
Moses went to
the top of Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments.
The seventh
commandment is “Thou shalt not admit adultery.”
Joshua led the
Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.
The epistles were
the wives of the apostles.
A Christian
should have only one wife. This is called monotony
4. Why don’t we know the Bible better than that?
a. Did you know that the average home in
America has 4 Bibles in it?
b. More Bibles than bathrooms, more
Bibles than bedrooms, more Bibles than children.
c. But 52% of Americans never pick it
up. And another 33% only pick it up once
or twice a week.
5. Why don’t we pay more attention to
it? I know, it’s not screaming at
you to help it with its homework.
a. Could it be that part of the problem
is that we don’t really – FULLY – believe that the Bible is the Word of God.
b. I mean think about it for a minute. If God really is who we say we believe he is,
and he really did speak to us in written form, AND WE HAVE 4 COPIES OF IT IN
OUR HOUSE – wouldn’t you think we’d want to read it?
c.
Wouldn’t you think we’d want to understand it, embrace
it, obey it?
6. There is a lot of talk since the tragedy about our
nation turning back to God.
a. Back to IN GOD WE TRUST, and ONE NATION UNDER GOD.
The first Gallup poll on religion after Sept. 11
shows that faith has gained ground in the lives of Americans since the
terrorist attacks: Sixty-four percent said religion is "very
important."
That is the highest percentage since 1965.
Seventy-four percent are praying more than usual.
b. But the only way to turn back to God is to
turn back to the Bible
7. From the beginnings of this country, our founding
fathers knew the basis for real truth.
a. It is impossible to rightly govern the world
without God and the Bible. – George Washington
b. “I believe the Bible is the best gift God
has ever given to men. All the good from
the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.” - Abe
Lincoln
c. “That book, sir, is the rock on which our
republic rests.” - Andrew Jackson
d.
“I have made it a
practice to read the Bible through every year.
The earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my
hope that they will prove useful citizens to their country and respectable
members of society.” John Quincy
Adams
8. I guess I’m afraid that many of you have forgotten
that the Bible is God’s Word.
a.
Or maybe you’ve
heard over the years that – “well, the bible isn’t really accurate. There are so many contradictions, so much of
it has been proven to be false that I just don’t really believe it.”
b.
So I’m going to be preaching for the next few weeks
about why those statements are a load of ka-ka.
I’m going to show you that the Bible is truly God’s word.
c.
The name of our series … The Unbreakable Bible
9.
SO – (this is important. When someone says “SO’ that means there is a
reason for what they have just said.)
a. SO
– that you will read it, understand it, embrace it, and obey it.
b. I’m not doing this so you can walk out of here and
say, “Well, I guess the Bible is pretty cool” and then go back out to your
NON-BIBLE READING, NON-BIBLE OBEYING WAYS!
c.
When I get done, I want you to say, “Man the Bible is
God’s word – I’M GOING TO LIVE IT!
Gandi said "You
Christians have in your keeping a document with enough dynamite in it to blow
the whole of civilization to bits; to turn society upside down; to bring peace
to this war-torn world. But you read it
as if it were just good literature, and nothing else."
10. Today, I’m going to give you evidence from the
Dirt.
a. Dirt gets a bad rap. We are always trying to clean it up, vacuum
it, and sweep it.
b. But buried underneath all that dirt there is
evidence of civilizations that have lived before us. They call the study of those ancient times –
ARCHEOLOGY.
I believe
it was Erma Bombeck who said that an archeologist makes for the best
husband. The older you get the more
interested they are in you.
11. You see, if the Bible is to be God’s word - then
every time someone digs up something over in the middle East where the Bible
happened, it should just prove that the bible is true. Right?
a. If evolution is true, then - as
Darwin put it – by now there should be millions of bits of evidence that it is
true. THERE ISN’T
b. If the Koran is true, there should be archeological evidence. THERE
ISN’T
c. If the Book of Mormon is true – archeology should back it up. IT DOESN’T.
BYU Professor of Anthropology Ray T. Matheny says the Book of
Mormon has “a king-size problem”.
The Book of Mormon mentions shipbuilding, sailing, the use of the magnetic
compass, wheeled vehicles (drawn by horses), tent manufacture, and linen
manufacture. Archaeologists unanimously
agree that none of these activities took place in the New World before the
arrival of the Spanish colonizers.
THAT’S FROM A PROFESSOR AT THEIR UNIVERSITY.
d. Book of Mormon supposedly translated from
“Reformed Egyptian”. Never been any
proof that there were any Egyptian writings on this continent – ever. There is no proof of the race of
people that the Book of Mormon is about, and the one famous mountain in
New York where there is supposed to be proof has been bought by the Mormons,
fenced and closed to anyone being able to excavate it!
12. But Bible believing Christians can feel secure
that archeologists can dig anywhere, any time.
BECAUSE EVERY TIME THEY DO, THEY VALIDATE THE SCRIPTURES. Let’s do it.
Key Discoveries
I. 
PATRIARCHS – no record of Abe, Is, Jacob – early Israelites. Even Hebrew professors – said it was just a
story – made up.
A.
Until the discovery of
Ebla archive – in northern Syria – 1970s.
B.
Documents written on
clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place names in
the Patriarchal accounts are genuine. (if you look real close you can see the
names there.)
C.
According to the Scriptures,
Abraham left his hometown of Haran and traveled to Canaan sometime around 2,000
B.C.—a period known as the Middle Bronze Age. In Genesis we read that Abraham
lived in the desert, made treaties with his Canaanite neighbors, and became the
father of the Israelite nation. Much of this account has now been
documented by secular archaeologists. For example, in 1995 the ancient city of
Haran was excavated by archaeologists from the University of Chicago. They
concluded that Haran was a thriving commercial center until shortly after the
Bible says Abraham left.
D.
Archaeologist Barry Beitzel says it’s “highly improbable” that
someone inventing the story of Abraham in more modern times would pick Haran as
his birthplace when, he says, “the town hadn’t existed for hundreds of years.”
II. The Hittites were
once thought to be a Biblical legend.
A.
We have Italians, Greeks, Polish, lots of ethnic groups. Do we have any
Hittites here today? SOME OF YOU ARE TIGHT.
Probably not – no one heard of them other than the Bible for a long, long time.
B.
Two Hittites were important.
1.
Ephron the Hittite sold Abraham a cave to bury Sarah
in.
2.
Uriah the Hittite was the husband of Bathsheba –which
proved to be an unfortunate thing for him, when King David took a liking to
her.
C.
But there was no history of Hittites anywhere up to a
hundred years ago.
1.
So what do you do? Do you believe the Bible is wrong – just
because there is no evidence of something in it? Or do you believe in the Bible, even though
there are some things that haven’t been proven yet?
2. Lo
and behold, in the late 19th century, someone uncovered a bunch of
stuff and they found a room with 10,000 clay tablets – with lots of info about
the Hittite empire.
3. See
the picture here
D. Time and time again, the stories found in the
pages of the bible are confirmed by the archaeological finds throughout the
world.
III. The walls of Jericho.
A.
In the Old Testament, in Joshua
chapter 6, we have an account of the Israelites defeating the city of Jericho
when they came into the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for 40
years. According to the Biblical account, after the Israelites marched around
the city once a day for six days, on the seventh day they encircled the city seven
times. On the seventh time around, the priests blew the trumpets, the people
shouted and the walls fell flat.
B.
Historians
scoffed at the story of the walls of Jericho falling out. This fact is
important because the evidence from all other archeological digs around ancient
cities in the Middle East reveal that walls of cities always fall inwards as
invading armies push their way into a city. However, in the account in Joshua
6:20, we read, “the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city
every man straight ahead, and they took the city.” Only the supernatural power
of God could have caused the walls to fall outward as described in Joshua’s
account of the conquest of Jericho (John Garstang, Joshua Judges, [London:
Constable, 1931]).
C.
But
upon excavation, British Archeologist – John Garstang
– who discovered the Ancient city of Jericho – said, “There remains no doubt that the walls of the city fell outward so
completely that attackers would be able to clamor up it’s ruins into the city.”
D.
During
excavations of Jericho between 1930 and 1936, Professor John Garstang found one
of the most incredible confirmations of the biblical record about the conquest
of the Promised Land. The results were so amazing that he took the precaution
of preparing a written declaration of the archeological discovery, signed by
himself and two other members of his team. “As to the main fact, then, there
remains no doubt: the walls fell outwards so completely that the attackers
would be able to clamber up and over their ruins into the city.”
E.
The story in the Bible
goes on to say that when the walls collapsed, the Israelites stormed the city
and set it on fire. Archaeologists found evidence for a massive destruction by
fire just as the Bible relates. Kenyon wrote in her excavation report,
"The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened
by fire, and every room was filled with fallen bricks, timbers, and household
utensils; in most rooms the fallen debris was heavily burnt."
F. But the nature of the fall was unusual. It struck in such a
way as to allow a portion of the city wall on the north side of the site to
remain standing, while everywhere else the wall fell. Rahab's house was
evidently located on the north side of the city. She was the Canaanite
prostitute who hid the Israelite spies who came to reconnoiter the city. The
Bible states that her house was built against the city wall. Before returning
to the Israelite camp, the spies told Rahab to bring her family into her house
and they would be saved. According to the Bible, Rahab's house was miraculously
spared while the rest of the city wall fell. This is exactly what
archaeologists found. The preserved city wall on the north side of the city had
houses built against it.
IV.
Biblical Characters …
were they real?
Many of the people mentioned in the Bible are confirmed in
sources outside the Bible. In the case of royalty, many times a likeness of the
individual has been recovered. Over 50 persons named in the Old Testament are
known outside the Bible, and we have likenesses of 12 of them.
A.
This
appears to be the likeness of the Pharoah of the Exodus is Tuthmosis III, - ALSO KNOWN AS KING CONEHEAD
B.
What about King David?
1.
Up to as recently as 1993 – there was no extra-biblical
proof.
2.
What do you do?
Decide the story is a myth, or believe the Bible is true? (It’s multiple choice – go ahead give it a
shot)
3. We’ll you’d better
believe the Bible – because THE BIBLE IS ALWAYS RIGHT!
4. Israeli
archeologists in 1993 - digging in the Golan Heights discovered a piece of
stone from an ancient monument. Inscribed upon the stone, in ancient Aramaic,
were the words, "King of Israel" and "House of David." The
inscription dates from the ninth century B.C.
5. A
year later, in 1994, archeologists found more fragments of the monument, with
additional inscriptions referring to King David.
6. As
the Toronto Star put it, "the rock upon which David’s name was found"
is just one of many "discoveries that may be ushering in a golden age
of biblical archeology."
V.
How about places in the Bible?
A. Theatre
of Ephesus
B.
The pool of Gibeon (2 Samuel 2:12-32).
C.
The Pool of Heshbon, Song of Songs 7:4).
D.
The royal palace at Samaria
where the kings of Israel
lived
E.
The Pool of Samaria where King Ahab's chariot was
washed after his death (1 Kings 2:29-38).
F.
The water tunnel beneath Jerusalem
dug by King Hezekiah to provide water during the Assyrian siege (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:30).
G.
The royal palace in Babylon
where King Belshazzar held the feast and Daniel interpreted the handwriting on
the wall (Daniel 5).
H.
The royal palace in Susa
where Esther was queen of the Persian king Xerxes
I.
The foundation of the synagogue at Capernaum
where Jesus cured a man with an unclean spirit (Mark 1:21-28) and delivered the sermon on the bread of life
(John 6:25-59).
J.
The tribunal at Corinth
where Paul was tried (Acts 18:12-17).
VI. SODOM AND
GOMMORRAH … can you really believe that story?
A.
Experts in Israel Aug. 21 agreed with a British
geologist who says he has found evidence to back the biblical account of the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible says that God
destroyed the two cities because of their depravity. The term
"sodomy" derives from the practices of their inhabitants. It is
believed that Sodom and Gomorrah were built on the shores of the Dead Sea as part of the trade in natural
asphalt, which was used at the time to waterproof boats and to join building
stones together. Geologists and
archeologists say there is evidence to suggest that there was a massive earthquake
there four and a half thousand years ago, which is the time the Bible records
the cities were destroyed. The earthquake would have ignited flammable methane
pockets under the Dead
Sea,
turning the ground into quicksand. A resulting avalanche would have swept the
two cities into the sea.
B. The
destruction debris was about three feet thick. What brought about this awful
calamity? Startling discoveries in the cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra revealed the
cause. Archaeologists found that buildings used to bury the dead were burned by
a fire that started on the roof. What
would cause every structure in the cemetery to be destroyed in this way? The
answer to the mystery is found in the Bible. "Then the Lord rained down
burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah
-- from the Lord out of the heavens" (Genesis 19:24). The only conceivable explanation for this unique
discovery in the annals of archaeology is that burning debris fell on the
buildings from the air. But how could such a thing happen? It has been postulated by geologist Frederick
Clapp that pressure from an earthquake could have caused the bitumen deposits
to be forced out of the earth through a fault line. As it gushed out of the
earth it could have been ignited by a spark or surface fire. It would then fall
to earth as a burning, fiery mass.
C.
Nelson
Glick – renowned Jewish archeologist said, “...in all of my archaeological
investigation I have never found one artifact of antiquity that contradicts any
statement of the Word of God.”
CONCLUSION
1.
But it
wouldn’t be hard for you to find people who will try to refute it, and try to
find other problems or contradictions in the Bible.
a.
We’re never going to really prove the Bible to be
true. I seriously doubt that we will
drop a bomb over in Pakistan
and uncover Noah’s ark – even though a lot of people think that’s where it is.
b.
It’s always going to take a measure of faith.
c.
What bugs me is when my daughter’s biology
teacher says they can’t teach creationism because it’s based on faith and
evolution is based on science. Ka,
ka - with a capital K.
d.
It takes more faith to believe in the Goo to You by way
of the Zoo theory – than it does to believe in the scientific evidence of a
Special Creator. It does take
faith. I just want you to understand
that the facts are there if you will look for them.
2.
It also takes faith to believe that this collection of
pages that has been passed down for thousands of years is really the collection
of words God inspired them to be.
a. But
the facts are always there to help you believe.
b.
Many people have
tried to stop the Bible, and they can not.
A French king
once proposed to his court that they should launch a new wave of persecution
against the Christians within his realm. However, a wise counselor and general
replied to the king’s proposal in these words, “Sire, the Church
of God is an anvil
that has worn out many hammers.” (John Lea, The Greatest Book in the World,
[Philadelphia: 1929])
3.
SO if it’s really the Word of God, or you maybe have an
idea that it MIGHT BE – what should your reaction be? read it, understand it, embrace
it, and obey it.
The bidding
began at 5 cents Feb. 1, 2001 and concluded at 4:36 p.m. Thursday on the
listing "20 yr-old Seattle boy's SOUL, hardly used," offered by Adam
Burtle, a University of Washington student and part-time automotive technician
from Woodinville, a tony suburb northeast of the city. For the auction listing, he displayed a
picture of himself wearing an "I'm with stupid" T-shirt. "Please realize, I make no warranties as
to the condition of the soul. As of now, it is near mint condition, with only
minor scratches," he wrote. "Due to difficulties involved with
removing my soul, the winning bidder will either have to settle for a night of
yummy Thai food and cool indie flicks, or wait until my natural death." The bidding only took off in the last hour,
when the price shot from $56 to $400.
Burtle, an atheist, said a former girlfriend bid $6.66. "I was happy to be past $7.50," he
said. Don't look for a similar offer
anytime soon — at least on eBay, which has 22 million users and 6 million items
up for bid at any given time. The listing was removed and Burtle has been
suspended from the site. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/ebay_soul010209.html
4. Do
you know what God wants Adam and all those like him to know … that his soul is
priceless to God, worth the price of His own son.
5. What
makes this evidence so amazing is what it points to … a God who wants a
relationship with his creation. The
bible clearly reveals that God wants a relationship with you. He created you, he sent His son to die for
you … and he loves you dearly!
References:
http://www.christiananswers.net/archaeology/home.html