"Shouting Stones"

 

“Shouting Stones”

 

Years ago a missionary whom our church had supported for many years visited and spoke of her work in Japan. In the course of her message she referred to Jesus’ entering Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday when the crowd said, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38 quoting Psalm 118:26). When the Pharisees called on Him to rebuke His followers Jesus answered, “I tell you…if they keep quiet the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40). This godly lady then said, “I’m not about to be outdone by a stone!”

These words came back to me a couple of months ago as I was reading Max Davis’ excellent book The Insanity of Unbelief: A Journalist’s Journey from Belief to Skepticism to Deep Faith. As the subtitle suggests, Davis’ story is one which came full circle as he examined the evidence for God’s existence and the Bible’s trustworthiness (much as Lee Strobel has done in his “The Case for….” series, although he grew up in unbelief). One area Davis cites is archaeology. He quotes Dr. Nelson Glueck that “…no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference.” He then gives several examples in support of the Bible’s truth including:

*In 1993 an expedition excavating ancient Dan found the first non-biblical source confirming the existence of King David (1 Samuel 20:16).

*The Stele of Mesha  (now on display in the Louvre in Paris) refers to Omri, a wicked king of Israel (1 Kings 16:16,25).

*Clay cylinders unearthed at Ur (Abraham’s original home) proved that Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson), whose existence critics had dismissed, ruled Babylon (Daniel 5).

During our 2017 trip to Israel Karen and I saw two other notable examples:

*A limestone brick near Caesarea reads, “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judah” (Luke 3:1; Matthew 27:2). (We saw a reproduction—the original is in an antiquities museum.)

*In the ruins of David’s palace in Jerusalem a tablet was found on which was carved Jehucal, a messenger of King Zedekiah (Jeremiah 37:3).

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day and present-day scientists and other skeptics appear to have this in common: they have their agenda and don’t want to be bothered with any facts, archaeological or otherwise, that don’t fit it. But the stones shout, “The Bible is true!” Let’s not be outdone by them in our worship and praise of the One who is at the center of Scripture: Jesus.

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan