Archeological Evidence

The archeological record bears out the stubbornness of the children of Jacob in resisting the first of the commands given to Moses at Sinai: “I am the Lord thy God, you shall have no other gods.” Whenever archeologists have excavated ancient Israeli sites that date from their earliest antiquity until the Babylonian captivity, they invariably discover small statues and carvings of a variety of household gods as well as engravings that indicate that many Israelites accepted the proposition that their chief God, Yahweh, had a consort, an Asherah . . . in Semitic mythology, a mother goddess. This finding, though astonishing to some people, actually reinforces the Biblical narrative. From Exodus onward throughout the Old Testament it is plain that God forever has to discipline His people for their spiritual infidelity. In fact, at the very beginning before Moses could make it down to the bottom of the mount with the tablets in hand, the people who had miraculously witnessed their deliverance just weeks before, had already lost confidence and began hedging their bets with the golden calf. This, of course, was what was familiar to them for 400 years until Moses showed up and introduced them to “I Am that I AM” and asked them to forsake their vacillations between monotheism and polytheism and worship Yahweh alone. Even after 40 years of miracles God knew they would have fidelity problems and warned them about the company they keep (Joshua 23:7). Consequently, every now and then, God would visit on His people, adjustment and chastisement. This was the drill for about 700 years. After the Babylonian captivity, the archeological record confirms the narrative in Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi . . . the Hebrews needed encouragement to keep their priorities in order as they suffered from a general spiritual malaise due to corruption in the priesthood and mechanical insensitivity in their worship observances. This was often the failure that Jesus would notice in them, though they had finally managed to nail down adherence to the 1st commandment, even if it was at the expense of the other nine.

It must be difficult keeping all ten of the major commandments at the same time rather than just focusing on one at a time, particularly when one gets older and multi-tasking becomes a serious undertaking. Then again, it was never a design that could be met. (Gal. 3:24) For if you insist on being a law-abider you are obligated to obey them all . . . all the time . . . at the same time . . . and it can’t be done. Besides, there are only two commandments (Luke 10:27) and even those two are impossible to manage without the in-filling of His Spirit (Acts 1:8). So, it really begs the question, “what was God up to with laying on the Israelites a burden they could not possibly carry?” Just as the cross has two beams, the vertical one to represent our relationship with Him, and the horizontal one to illustrate our relationship with one another, I believe He was teaching us two very important lessons. First, it should not have escaped our notice (Old Testament period) that there was absolutely no one who could keep the law . . . not even close, and therefore it was His initiative, not ours, that made the vertical relationship work. Second, “attitude is everything” . . . meaning, He sees and judges the heart. When He said through Samuel “. . . to obey is better than sacrifice . . .” (1 Samuel 15:22), that’s precisely what He was trying to make known to the stubborn-headed and disobedient Saul. We could use a little reminding today as we devote much of our time on vain and selfish endeavors while nailing down that 1st commandment by making certain we meet our Sunday obligation. (Luke 16:15) I wouldn’t want future generations to discover our archeological evidence of failure. Jesus said there will be those who show up for evaluation on that great day of judgment who sincerely believe they’ve made the cut only to hear these solemn words: “I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23)