Transcript [00:01] I'm taking the CUFI Weekly outside this [00:03] week [music] because it's amazing what [00:05] you can discover when you get away from [00:07] the talking points [00:08] and simply look at the land around you. [00:19] I am Bob Scott, [music] Director of [00:20] Ministry Engagement for Christians [00:21] United for Israel. [00:23] You know, we've taken a couple of [00:24] thousand pastors to [music] Israel along [00:26] with many more ministry leaders and [00:28] influencers, students, and campus [00:31] administrators over the years. [00:33] We want them on the [music] ground, not [00:36] just to see the sites, but to learn both [00:39] the history and the present of who [00:41] Israel is. [00:43] We want them to [music] not just be told [00:45] about realities in Israel, but we want [00:47] them to see and know for themselves. [00:50] We can believe the word of God about [00:51] Israel, [00:52] but when we see what is being found in [00:54] the dirt, our confidence in the Bible [00:56] [music] can become not just a matter of [00:58] faith, but a matter of fact. As the [01:02] archaeologists dig in [music] Israel, [01:04] the rocks themselves are crying out [01:06] declaring that it is definitively [01:09] the land of the Jewish people. [01:13] Agencies of the UN [01:15] have denied the Jewish [music] [01:16] connection to the Temple Mount [01:17] Jerusalem, even though the name Temple [01:19] Mount kind of gives it away that there [01:21] was not [music] just one, but two Jewish [01:24] temples there. [01:25] The Romans have the Arch [music] of [01:26] Titus that depicts their destruction of [01:29] the Second Temple in 70 AD, but recently [01:33] Israeli [music] Antiquity Authority and [01:36] Tel Aviv University discovered burnt [01:38] wooden beams shedding new light [music] [01:41] on the destruction of the First Temple [01:44] by the Babylonians in 586 BC, a time [01:47] that [music] we actually read about in [01:49] the Bible. [01:51] In an excavation right under the [01:53] southwest corner of the Temple Mount, [01:55] there was found a pendant made from a [01:57] 100% [music] lead that depicts both [02:00] sides of a temple menorah in Shiloh, a [02:04] home of the early Jewish [music] [02:06] tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant [02:08] and the early capital of Israel that we [02:10] read about in the time of the judges, [02:11] [music] [02:12] archaeologists have found the southern [02:14] wall of a structure with proportions of [02:17] that same tabernacle. [music] [02:19] These are not older findings, but things [02:22] that have been found this year, in fact. [02:24] Of course, several years ago, [02:27] the Dead Sea Scrolls [music] were [02:28] discovered in the general area where [02:31] David would have hidden from Saul, and [02:33] these scrolls verified many portions of [02:36] our modern-day Bible. [02:38] Seals are found almost daily having on [02:41] them the names of people that we read [02:42] about in the [music] scriptures. And the [02:44] infrastructure of Hezekiah can be seen [02:46] today, and you can [music] walk the [02:48] steps that would have been used by [02:49] pilgrims in the time of Christ leading [02:52] up to the temple for worship. [02:55] The Jewish [music] people are said to be [02:57] occupiers of land that they have no [02:58] right to. [03:00] However, occupiers don't dig in the dirt [03:02] of the land [music] they're said to [03:03] occupy and find artifacts of their own [03:05] people dating back 3,500 [music] years. [03:09] Owners do. [03:11] The same people who would deny Jewish [03:13] ownership of the land are now denying [03:15] the Jewish people themselves. [music] [03:18] This Israel is not that Israel. These [03:21] Jews are not [music] those Jews. It's [03:23] the reasoning behind dismissing support [03:26] for the Jewish people today. [03:29] You see, God made a covenant about the [03:31] land he was giving [music] to the people [03:32] of Israel to Abraham. [03:34] He swore to Isaac that same covenant and [03:37] then confirmed it to Jacob. That's found [03:40] in Psalm [music] 105. [03:42] The Jewish people were enslaved by Egypt [03:44] because they were Jews before they were [03:47] delivered by God and [music] taken to [03:49] the land. [03:50] The Babylonians exiled the Jews from [03:52] their homeland only for them [music] to [03:54] return. Their possession of the land for [03:57] a time changed, but not their ownership. [04:01] The Romans destroyed the Jewish temple [04:02] and scattered the Jewish people from the [04:04] land because they were Jews. But there [04:07] were always [music] Jews that remained [04:09] in the land of Israel. History tells us [04:11] this. [04:13] God promised that he would bring them [04:14] back a second time, which he sovereignly [04:16] did in the rebirth of a nation in 1948. [04:18] [music] [04:19] And in the book of Amos, he said they [04:21] would never again be removed from [04:23] [music] the land. We see the reality of [04:26] this and the resiliency of the Jewish [04:27] people in the land today, despite [04:30] attacks from all sides and in multiple [04:33] decades. [04:34] In the in-between, [music] [04:36] the Jewish people have been singled out [04:38] across centuries and across cultures and [04:39] nations that they had assimilated to [04:42] because [music] they were Jews. They [04:44] were targeted in the Crusades because [04:46] they were Jews. They were targeted in [04:48] [music] the Spanish Inquisitions, in the [04:50] pogroms in Russia, even by Martin Luther [04:54] because they were Jews. They were placed [04:57] in ghettos and then in death camps [04:59] [music] by the Nazis because they were [05:02] Jews. [05:03] There were no doubt of who they were [05:05] [music] throughout the centuries. It's [05:07] the same religion, the same culture, the [05:10] same language, the same DNA. [music] [05:12] It's the same people. And now they live [05:15] and thrive in their ancestral homeland [05:18] because they are Jews. There [music] is [05:21] no doubt that these are those that God [05:25] had spoken of. [05:27] God has his hand [music] [05:29] on a people. And it's the very fact that [05:32] he has not turned his back on them that [05:35] can give us assurance that everything [05:36] [music] else he says and does can be [05:39] counted on. He is a promise-making, [05:41] [music] [05:42] promise-keeping [05:44] God. [05:45] Keep standing with his heart [05:48] and on his [music] word. [05:52] >> Thanks for checking out this episode. Be [05:54] sure to like and subscribe so you get a [05:56] notification every time a new episode [05:58] hits. And if you want to check out some [05:59] of our previous episodes, and we've got [06:01] some really good ones, click on one of [06:03] the thumbnails and that will take you [06:04] right there. And finally, if you want to [06:06] know more about CUFI and the work we do, [06:08] go to cufi.org to check out all the [06:10] resources we have available free to you.
In this episode of the CUFI Weekly, we’re looking at recent archaeological discoveries in Israel and the stories they tell about the people, places, and events of the biblical world. From ancient artifacts to physical evidence uncovered beneath the ground, archaeology continues to provide important insight into the history of the land of Israel and the Jewish people who have called it home for thousands of years.
As critics attempt to rewrite or dismiss Israel’s history, the evidence remains, and the proof is in the dirt. Join us as we look into these discoveries and examine what the archaeological record reveals.
Watch this week’s CUFI Weekly episode to see the evidence for yourself.
