BAMBINO (BRIT-AM BIBLICAL ISRAEL NEWS ONLINE)
Discussion of the Bible, Biblical History, Lost Israelite Tribes Identity in the Light of the Bible and other matters relating to Scripture.
BAMBINO no. 30
24 Tevet 5769, 10 january 2010
Contents:
1. Charlotte Mecklenburg: Creationism and Evolution
2. Machon
Shilo:
Torah Web Site of Interest
3. New Find: A Biblical Message From the 900s BCE.
(a) Physorg.Com
Most Ancient Hebrew biblical inscription deciphered
(b) Israel National News
KING DAVID ERA POTTERY SHARD SUPPORTS BIBLICAL NARRATIVE
by Avi
Yellin
Some people that believe there is a gap between Genesis 1:1-2 and
the six days of creation are accused of trying to dovetail creation story with
evolution. The Bible Society says in one of their commentaries that there is no
Biblical basis for the gap theory. So, it looks like someone needs to straighten
me out because the following is what I see from scripture.
All the arguments about creation did not convince me that one person was right
over another. It was obvious to me from childhood that evolution was some idea
made up in the mind of someone who didn't believe in God. But the matter of six
days or billions of years is even argued among Creationists. Perhaps it
shouldn't make any difference but I find myself wanting to make sense of all the
arguments about it.
There are several scriptures I would like the reader to have a look at:
Is. 45:18 , For this is what the LORD
says he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the
earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be
inhabited he says: " am the LORD, and there is no other".
This is the verse that made me question whether Genesis 1;1-2 were included in
the six days of creation. It is rather emphatic though that the Lord did this
and no other. Eventually, the way I wrestled with this was the two words in
Hebrew "boreh" and "asa". The first word "boreh" means to create something from
the unseen realm and the word "asa" means to form or make something from
material. You will find there is a scripture that says Adam was both created
and made. God formed him first from the ground but it was that breath or spirit
breathed into him that made him a creation.
In this scripture God is saying through Isaiah that he created the heavens and
the earth and he did not create it for the purpose of being formless and empty.
Therefore, after he created it, he then formed it.
Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.
Gen. 1:2 Now
the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
These verses say to me that God created from some unseen substance (Words are
unseen.) the heavens and the earth. The words made a material universe. The NIV
which I have quoted here uses the word "Now"
at the beginning of the next sentence. However, KJV and the Hebrew use the word
"and". The word "and" does not
designate a time. It could have been immediately or it could have been billions
of years later. It really doesn't matter to God. He is eternal and sees
everything as if it is now. But one thing we know for sure, either He created it
formless and empty or something made it become formless and empty. Do we really
think He spoke it into being with it shrouded in darkness and covered with water
and then turned around the same day and spoke again and said, "let there be
light"?
He spoke and His word rolled back the darkness, whatever that darkness might
have been. Darkness usually indicates, something that opposes God. Maybe He is
talking about some kind of interference to what He is doing. If so we don't know
what it was or when it happened.
I have come to the conclusion, that there is nothing here to indicate time, or
how much time from this original creating out of the unseen went by or when
chaos came over the earth. We do not know when God decided it was time to make
the earth inhabitable. We saw in the Isaiah scripture that He created it and He
made it.
Gen. 1:3 And God said, "Let there be
light," and there was light.
Gen. 1:4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the
darkness.
Gen. 1:5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And
there was evening, and there was morning the first day.
Gen. 1:6 And God said, 'Let there be an expanse between the waters to
separate water from water.'
Gen. 1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from
the water above it. And it was so.
You will see that in each of the days that God is working with physical matter
in making the earth inhabitable. Light is a form of matter. The waters are
already there and He separates them. Then you see Him forming the earth by the
water that runs off of it. He calls the plants and animals out of the ground.
That is like a resurrection. The sun, moon and stars, are moved into place so
that they serve a purpose for the earth. I have no question that this is done in
six - twenty four hour days. A thousand years in between each and the plants
would not survive without the animals and birds to pollinate them.
Ex. 20:11 For in six days the LORD made
the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on
the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
When the scriptures speak later about a new heaven and new earth, will it be
something out of the unseen. I suspect we are going to get a renewed heaven and
earth. In my mind that is what the word redemption and salvation means. We don't
know how many times He has done it. Certainly during Noah's time He renewed the
earth and it was different after the flood than it was before the flood.
Will science eventually submit to the record in the Bible? I believe the record
in the earth will tell the story. Are we worried about the bones that are found,
supposedly more than 5000 years ago? Remember, we do not know how long Adam
lived before he sinned and whether or not he had sons or daughters before the
fall. They lived in eternity and we do not know what happened between the time
he was made a living person and when he sinned. Our story starts with Adam
sinning being expelled from the garden.
Look at Ezekiel 31 the prophet speaks of nations and leaders that are in the
garden of God. God may be looking at the nations of the time of Ezekiel and
their potential to be in His garden but it also could include a reflective time
back before when there actually was a garden of Eden. These nations blossomed
then and were pleasing to the Lord but they became proud and forgot who the Lord
and King of the garden is. As it says the present nations will be brought down
with the trees of Eden to the earth below. There apparently were some leaders
and nations in the garden that were brought low and this will also happen to the
nation that is mentioned here, Egypt to be specific and also Assyria and
Lebanon.
God's book is the truth. All other truth will line up with it. Whether I
understand it correctly or not, we will eventually know what is true.
2.
Machon
Shilo:
Torah Web Site of Interest
Machon
Shilo
(www.machonshilo.org)
features articles and lectures etc by
HaRav
[i.e. The Rabbi] David Bar-Hayim.
Rabbi David Bar-Hayim in the past was sympathetic (with reservations)
towards Brit-Am.
His opinions are interesting but controversial and in many cases we ourselves
might not agree with them.
Nevertheless, sometimes controversial topics and opinions are what is needed to
arouse and maintain our interest and Rabbi Bar-Hayim may be relied upon to
provide just that.
3. New Find: A Biblical Message From the
900s BCE.
(a)
Physorg.Com
Most Ancient Hebrew biblical inscription deciphered:
http://www.physorg.com/news182101034.html
January
 |
A breakthrough in the research of the Hebrew scriptures has shed new light on
the period in which the Bible was written. Professor Gershon Galil of the
Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa has deciphered an
inscription on a pottery shard discovered in the Elah valley dating from the
10th century BCE (the period of King David's reign), and has shown that this is
a Hebrew inscription. The discovery makes this the earliest known Hebrew
writing.
|
Prof. Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa who deciphered the inscription:
"It indicates that the Kingdom of Israel already existed in the 10th century BCE
and that at least some of the biblical texts were written hundreds of years
before the dates presented in current research."
A breakthrough in the research of the Hebrew scriptures has shed new light on
the period in which the Bible was written. Prof. Gershon Galil of the Department
of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa has deciphered an inscription
dating from the 10th century BCE (the period of King David's reign), and has
shown that this is a Hebrew inscription. The discovery makes this the earliest
known Hebrew writing. The significance of this breakthrough relates to the fact
that at least some of the biblical scriptures were composed hundreds of years
before the dates presented today in research and that the Kingdom of Israel
already existed at that time.
The inscription itself, which was written in ink on a 15 cm X 16.5 cm trapezoid
pottery shard, was discovered a year and a half ago at excavations that were
carried out by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel at Khirbet Qeiyafa near the Elah valley.
The inscription was dated back to the 10th century BCE, which was the period of
King David's reign, but the question of the language used in this inscription
remained unanswered, making it impossible to prove whether it was in fact Hebrew
or another local language.
Prof. Galil's deciphering of the ancient writing testifies to its being Hebrew,
based on the use of verbs particular to the Hebrew language, and content
specific to Hebrew culture and not adopted by any other cultures in the region.
"This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans. It
uses verbs that were characteristic of Hebrew, such as asah ("did") and avad
("worked"), which were rarely used in other regional languages. Particular words
that appear in the text, such as almanah ("widow") are specific to Hebrew and
are written differently in other local languages. The content itself was also
unfamiliar to all the cultures in the region besides the Hebrew society: The
present inscription provides social elements similar to those found in the
biblical prophecies and very different from prophecies written by other cultures
postulating glorification of the gods and taking care of their physical needs,"
Prof. Galil explains.
This undated picture released by the University of Haifa shows an ancient
inscription on a piece of pottery in early Hebrew writing. The 3,000 year-old
inscription discovered at a site where the Bible says David slew Goliath has
been deciphered, showing it to be the earliest known Hebrew writing, Israeli
archaeologists said.
He adds that once this deciphering is received, the inscription will become the
earliest Hebrew inscription to be found, testifying to Hebrew writing abilities
as early as the 10th century BCE. This stands opposed to the dating of the
composition of the Bible in current research, which would not have recognized
the possibility that the Bible or parts of it could have been written during
this ancient period.
Prof. Galil also notes that the inscription was discovered in a provincial town
in Judea. He explains that if there were scribes in the periphery, it can be
assumed that those inhabiting the central region and Jerusalem were even more
proficient writers. "It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that
during the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes
in Israel who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies
such as the books of Judges and Samuel." He adds that the complexity of the text
discovered in Khirbet Qeiyafa, along with the impressive fortifications revealed
at the site, refute the claims denying the existence of the Kingdom of Israel at
that time.
The contents of the text express social sensitivity to the fragile position of
weaker members of society. The inscription testifies to the presence of
strangers within the Israeli society as far back as this ancient period, and
calls to provide support for these strangers. It appeals to care for the widows
and orphans and that the king - who at that time had the responsibility of
curbing social inequality - be involved. This inscription is similar in its
content to biblical scriptures (Isaiah 1:17, Psalms 72:3, Exodus 23:3, and
others), but it is clear that it is not copied from any biblical text.
More information: English translaton of the deciphered text:
1' you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
2' Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an]
3' [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and]
4' the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
5' Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.
Provided by University of Haifa
(b) Israel National News
KING DAVID ERA POTTERY SHARD SUPPORTS BIBLICAL NARRATIVE
by Avi
Yellin
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135432
Extracts:
A breakthrough in the research of the Hebrew Scriptures has shed new light on
the period in which the Bible books of the Prophets were written. Professor
Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa
has deciphered an inscription dating from the 10th century BCE (the period of
King David's reign) and has proven the inscription to be ancient Hebrew, thus
making it the earliest known example of Hebrew writing.
The significance of this breakthrough relates to the fact that at least some of
the Biblical scriptures are now proven to have been composed hundreds of years
before the dates presented today in research and that the Kingdom of Israel
already existed at that time.
The inscription itself, which was written in ink on a 15x16.5cm trapezoid
pottery shard, was discovered a year and a half ago at excavations that were
carried out by Professor Yosef Garfinkel near the Elah valley, south of
Jerusalem, and west of Hevron.
The researchers dated the inscription back to the 10th century BCE, which was
the period of King David?s reign, but the question of the language used in this
inscription remained unanswered, making it impossible to prove whether it was in
fact Hebrew or another Semitic language.
Professor Galil's deciphering of the ancient writing testifies to it being
authentic Hebrew based on its use of verbs particular to the Hebrew language and
content specific to Hebrew culture not adopted by other regional cultures at the
time.
?This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans. It
uses verbs that were characteristic of Hebrew, such as "asah" (did) and "avad"
(worked), which were rarely used in other regional languages. Particular words
that appear in the text, such as "almana" (widow) are specific to Hebrew and are
written differently in other local languages. The content itself was also
unfamiliar to all the cultures in the region besides the Hebrew society: The
present inscription provides social elements similar to those found in the
Biblical prophecies and very different from prophecies written by other cultures
postulating glorification of the gods and taking care of their physical needs?
Galil added that once this deciphering is received at research centers, the
inscription will become the earliest Hebrew inscription to be found, testifying
to Hebrew writing abilities as early as the 10th century BCE. This stands
opposed to the dating of the composition of the Bible in much current academic
research, which does not recognize the possibility that the Bible or parts of it
could have been written during this ancient period.
Galil also noted that the inscription was discovered in a provincial Judean
town, explaining that if there were scribes in the periphery, it can be assumed
that those inhabiting the central region and Jerusalem were even more proficient
writers. ?It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that during the
10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes in Israel
who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies such as the
books of Judges and Samuel.? He added that the complexity of the text, along
with the impressive fortifications revealed at the site, refute theories that
attempt to deny the existence of the Kingdom of Israel at that time.
The contents of the text express social sensitivity to the fragile position of
weaker members of society and the inscription testifies to the presence of
strangers within the Israeli society as far back as this ancient period, calling
on native Hebrews to provide support for these strangers. It advocates care for
widows and orphans and encourages the king, who at that time had the
responsibility of curbing social inequality, to be involved in improving Israeli
society. This inscription is similar in its content to Biblical scriptures
(Isaiah 1:17, Psalms 72:3, Exodus 23:3, and others), but according to Galil it
is not copied from any Biblical text.
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