archaeology

It didn’t seem like an unreasonable request: I’ll follow you, Jesus, but first, let me go bury my father. Yet Jesus rejects the idea. Was He being rude? Mean? Unnecessarily harsh?

Quite the opposite. In fact, Jesus was trying to help the man understand a few important truths.

It troubles many Bible readers when they find the phrase “the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart” in the Exodus story. Throughout the incredible action, God promises to harden the heart of the Egyptian king, and that’s just what He does….even though most people don’t think it was very fair of God to do so.

Then we learn through modern archaeology that a hard heart was exactly what Pharaoh wanted.

So many people think that the prophets of the Old Testament had a bland and repetitive message. They accuse the seers of simply giving a one-size-fits-all “turn or burn” memo for ancient civilizations.

Then, they read Ezekiel’s prophecy against Tyre…and everything changes.

Many of the nations mentioned in the Bible still exist today. For example, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, and others can be found in the pages of the Bible and on a modern map. But not Assyria. Though it played a critical role in biblical history, Assyrian civilization simply ceased to exist around 600 B.C.

Just like God said it would.