Today: September 6, 2010

 

New Proof of Israel's Entry to Canaan

Posted: Sat 11th April 2009 10.51 AM  | Author: David Soakell

For the past 30 years, archaeologists searching for desert routes or evidence of Joshua's conquest of Canaan have encountered a dead end. Yet Bible scholars and historians continue the quest, amassing what circumstantial evidence they can find. In many ways, if one believes the Word of God, one can completely ignore any "circumstantial evidence", or commentaries and the opinions of archaeologists. If the Bible is the Word of God, then we can conclude that the scriptures teach us that Israel did indeed cross the Red Sea, before heading to Mount Sinai (incidentally, Paul plainly tells us that Mt. Sinai is in Arabia! ~ Galatians 4:25).

When conflicts arise between the Scriptures, science and even archaeology, we should always choose the infallible, all-sufficient, imperishable Word of God. While this may not make everyone happy, we have more trust in the Bible then the ever-shifting opinions of archaeologists. Having said this, archaeology is a very important tool in validating the Bible. 

This week, Archaeologists at Haifa University have announced a major find connected to the Israelite exodus from Egypt just in time for Passover. They have uncovered several structures shaped like a “foot” in the Jordan Valley which were referred to in Biblical Hebrew as “gilgal“(mentioned 39 times in the Bible) and were used apparently for ancient Israelite assemblies, battle preparations and religious rituals. Archaeologist Professor Adam Zertal of the University of Haifa stated, “The structures that we found in the Jordan valley are the first sites that the people of Israel built upon entering Canaan and they testify to the biblical concept of ownership of the land with the foot... The biblical text testifies to the antiquity of these compounds in Israel’s ceremonials, and the ‘foot’ structures were built by an organized community that had a central leadership.”

Prof. Zertal explained that the ‘foot’ structure was very important in the Ancient Near East to show ownership of territory, control over the enemies of a people, the presence of a people’s God and the connection between a people and the land. The sites have also yielded clues as to the origins of many of Israel’s holidays’ and religious festivals, including Passover. Two of the five sites are said to date from the 13th century BC and were used for hundreds of years. The claims undermine the position of many archaeologists who doubt the Bible’s account of the Israelite exodus from Egypt and entry into Canaan, contending their arrival to Israel was several centuries later.  

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