Psalm 97
1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all around.
4 His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sowna for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!
We are so used to our lives, we've forgotten the width and depth life has changed. This generation has seen amazing advances and wonders.
Bethlehem was vastly unchanged for 2 millenniums and even 3. This is Bethlehem by photo of 1880 A.D. About the same as David's era. Notice the barns are built into the hills!
David sat and thought of all the histories of Israel and knew this to be our Father God. If David wanted to hear music, he'd have to learn to play and instrument. Music was usually humming. David brought many, many songs especially music that created thoughts to ascend to God. David would have delighted in radio.
For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth
Our great-grandparents might have flown in a plane and then again, depending on your age or financial situation. Maybe not. They did not see views that only Father God had seen before.
Alaska' Pacific meets Glacier Water. Eventually mingle.
Jialing and Yangtze River China
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in Illinois
Mosel and Rhine Rivers Germany.
Danube in Germany
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
And we have to recall why the world was more amazed with Father God in prior centuries.
We watch movies of outer space to recall the enormous universe. Before street lights, the night sky wondrously filled the species John's Gospel says all of mankind is Lighted with the Light of God.
This is still the Night Sky of Southern Africa.
Routinely the Continent Africa, with the least lights, looks like this:
His lightnings light up the world !!!
In these last two years only, we have found lightning, is from solar flairs and pulls the magnetosphere of the whole earth when one bolt strikes. The Temple of Jerusalem was positioned where the sun set. The Ascents on the Stairs, were done in front of the setting sun.
You are exalted far above all gods
The Scriptures reveal more and more wisdom for those who want to have eyes to see this.
The earth continues to reveal more and more of the Biblical Archaeology!
SOME OF THE TOP BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
A Common Flood Story. Not just the Hebrews (Genesis 6–8), but Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Sumerian and Babylonians all report a flood in primordial times. A Sumerian king list from c. 2100 BC divides itself into two categories: those kings who ruled before a great flood and those who ruled after it. One of the earliest examples of Sumero-Akkadian-Babylonian literature, the Gilgamesh Epic, describes a great flood sent as punishment by the gods, with humanity saved only when the pious Utnapishtim (AKA, “the Mesopotamian Noah”) builds a ship and saves the animal world thereon. A later Greek counterpart, the story of Deucalion and Phyrra, tells of a couple who survived a great flood sent by an angry Zeus.
The Code of Hammurabi. This seven-foot black diorite stele, presently located in the Louvre museum, contains 282 engraved laws of Babylonian King Hammurabi ( 1750 BC). The common basis, a common Semitic law of retribution in the ancient Near East, equals the Pentateuch. Exodus 21:23–25:: “But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot…”
The Existence of Hittites. Genesis 23
The Merneptah Stele. “Israel — his seed c. 1230 BC, the Hebrews were already living in the Promised Land.
Biblical Cities Attested Archaeologically. In addition to Jericho, places such as Haran, Hazor, Dan, Megiddo, Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, Gezer, Gibeah, Beth Shemesh, Beth Shean, Beersheba, Lachish, and many other urban sites have been excavated, quite apart from such larger and obvious locations as Jerusalem or Babylon. Such geographical markers are extremely significant in demonstrating that fact, not fantasy.
Israel’s enemies in the Hebrew Bible likewise are not contrived but solidly historical.
Shishak’s Invasion of Judah. First Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 12 tell of Pharaoh Shishak’s conquest of Judah in the fifth year of the reign of King Rehoboam.
The Moabite Stone. Second Kings 3
Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. In 2 Kings 9–10
Burial Plaque of King Uzziah. Judah, ruled from 792 to 740 BC, a contemporary of Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah He ended badly. In 2 Chronicles 26 his sin is recorded, which resulted in his being struck with leprosy. Uzziah died, interred in a “field of burial that belonged to the kings.” His stone burial plaque has been discovered on the Mount of Olives, and it reads: “Here, the bones of Uzziah, King of Judah, were brought. Do not open.”
Hezekiah’s Siloam Tunnel Inscription. King Hezekiah of Judah ruled from 721 to 686 BC. Fearing a siege by the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, Hezekiah preserved Jerusalem’s water supply by cutting a tunnel through 1,750 feet of solid rock from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam inside the city walls (2 Kings 20; 2 Chron. 32)
The Sennacherib Prism.
Prophet Isaiah, told Hezekiah God would protect Judah and Jerusalem against Sennacherib (2 Chron. 32; Isa. 36–37). Assyrian records virtually confirm this. The cuneiform on a hexagonal, 15-inch baked clay prism found at the Assyrian capital of Nineveh describes Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in 701 BC
The lists continue:
Top 20 Biblical Archaeology Events and Discoveries of 2012
VERDICT: NOT GUILTY: Two Remaining Defendants Cleared of Forgery Charges After 5-year Trial for the burial sarcophagus lid of James, brother of Jesus, son of Joseph. Louvre Antiquities and the head of the FBI testify to the authenticity.
Scorched Wheat May Provide Answers on the Destruction of Canaanite Tel Hazor
City of David Archaeologists Unearth Late Bronze Age Egyptian Scarab
First Temple Period ‘Matanyahu’ Seal Discovered in Jerusalem
Book of Nehemiah Found Among the Scrolls:Scroll scholars find first fragment of Nehemiah
Archaeologists Discover “New” Ancient Language from the Eighth-Century B.C.
Bilingual Boundary Stone Discovered at Tel Gezer
Yeshiva University Project Shines a Colorful Digital Light on the Arch of Titus
Ancient Reservoir Provided Water for First Temple Period Jerusalem
First Temple Period Ritual Structure Discovered Near Jerusalem
Bountiful Hoard Discovered Near Kiryat Gat: Gold, Silver and Jewelry Hidden During the Bar Kokhba Revolt
Archaeologists Expose Israel’s Largest Hellenistic Harbor
Biblical Archaeology's Top Ten Discoveries of 2013
1. The Egyptian Scarab of Khirbet el-Maqatir
Joshua 8.
2. Jezreel Winepress
Ancient winepresses are found all over Israel. The fact that this winepress is one of the largest, and is located near one of the most famous vineyards of the Bible, makes it of interest.
3. The Wine Cellar of Tel Kabri
The ingredients detected in the wine residues discovered inside the jars are similar to the ingredients described in cuneiform tablets excavated in the 1930s in the ruins of Mari, a Sumerian and Amorite city on the Euphrates River.
4. Royal Buildings at Khirbet Qeiyafa the time of King David.
Overlooking the Elah Valley, where David famously confronted Goliath, Khirbet Qeiyafa was clearly constructed to help protect Jerusalem and the Judean highlands from the lowland Philistines.
Top 10 Biblical Archaeology Discoveries in 2014
The Animals Went in Two by Two, According to Babylonian Ark Tablet
An Old Babylonian flood tablet translated by British Museum scholar Irving Finkel
Qumran Phylacteries Reveal Nine New Dead Sea Scrolls
Yonatan Adler’s work revealed new phylacteries containing unopened tefillin Dead Sea Scrolls texts,
Canaanite Fortress Discovered in the City of David
An enormous 18th-century B.C. structure that isolates and protects the Gihon Spring perhaps the fortress described in Samuel - King David later conquered.
Huqoq 2014: excavation a new mosaic depicts the legendary meeting between Alexander the Great and the Jewish high priest. My son Alexander was part of this dig team and found a 4th century coin (!), he did not work on the Synagogue of the mosaic. The team had no idea of the mosaic, this was in the Sea of Galilee region. My Alexander went with Baylor and NC Universities working for Prof. Nathan Elkins (has a new book on antique coinage to be published soon!)
My Alexander looks rather like this Famous Alexander!
Monumental Entryway to King Herod’s Palace at Herodium Excavated
Coins Celebrating the Great Revolt Against the Romans Unearthed near Jerusalem (69/70 A.D.).
The discovery of a 7,000-year-old copper awl at Tel Tsaf metal was used several hundred years earlier than thought.
Early Bronze Age: Megiddo’s Great Temple “has proven to be the most monumental single edifice so far uncovered and ranks among the largest structures of its time in the Near East.”
Skilled Craftsmen, Not Slaves, Smelted Copper at Timna
Father God, the faithful are encouraged with all of the new facts supporting the Scriptures. Yet people do not want to know just of the facts - people long to know - You hold them in Your Heart. That Your Book of Days is written with Love and not ink.
Father God, that is indeed You. You engrave our names on Your hands. You know all of our days. Your Throne described in Revelation - is timeless. You have unique Angels even Steven Spielburg would be pleased to know. Your Throne sounds more like a Rock Opera than a quartet. You inhale our prayers. Your Word tells us You are Orderly. And You well know more Science than Einstein. And in the middle of all the beauty that earth could boast You tell us Your Throne has a bright and shining river just beside You.
Your Home has 12 Open Gates. And this is never dark or away from Love. The ones so blessed to see You tell us - Light flows from You and clothes You. Surely Your garments tell us You are the Comforter. You are the Father who runs to his homecoming child. Your Word tells us - You have named us. We are Your Beloved. Thank You Father God, that while we will never be equipped to build a Universe, create life - only using Your tools - You are the God who chose to arrive to walk this life and know and see and feel and taste and touch and love and die and worry and hurt - just as we do. You are Love. And You will never leave or forsake us.
In that Great Day, we will see those 12 Open Gates and we will see all of Your Wisdom and Love - because - You have invited us for - Eternity. Heaven is at Hand, we dwell with You - Today. In Jesus we lift up to You - those we Love.
Thank You, Father. In Jesus, Amen.
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
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