Biblical Truth, The walls of Jericho

Over the next few months I plan to write a series of post that I’ll title, “Biblical Truth”.  My goal in doing this is to provide irrefutable evidence that we can all absorb on our own, but also use as ammunition for those who say the Bible is just a bunch of made up stories.  I’d like to start with a familiar story from the Bible concerning the walls of Jericho.

In the book of Joshua we have the story that marks the first major success of the Israelite army in the Promised Land.  According to scripture, the Israelites marched around the city in silence once a day for six days.  One can only imagine what had to have been going through the minds of the people of Jericho as they sat on top of their “impregnable” wall, probably laughing and carrying on about the foolish foreigners that had just showed up.  But then on the seventh day these strangers did something different.  Instead of circling the wall once then leaving the area in silence, they started to circle the wall again.  We know from archeological excavations that Jericho was not a small city so to march completely around it wouldn’t be a quick affair.  I’m sure that as the Israelites continued to march around the city, more and more people came out to the top of the wall to see the spectacle first hand.   Then the Bible accounts that when the seventh lap was completed, the priest blew their horns and the men shouted together and the wall of Jericho fell flat.

Today Archeologist have located and confirmed the location of the city of Jericho.  It was first found by a German team in the early 1900’s and surrounding the city, that hadn’t yet been identified as Jericho, they noted that the city was ringed by a pile of mud bricks.  Through further site visits and items being uncovered it was generally accepted that this was indeed the ancient city of Jericho.

But it wasn’t until more modern methods had been discovered that some more biblically significant information was uncovered.  In the 1950’s a British Archeologist named Kathleen Kenyon began a series of site excavations.  As he examined core samples taken from the site and in conjunction with continued excavations, it was determined the piles of mud brick that encircled the city were from a wall that had collapsed, the patterned that was established throughout the perimeter was consistent with the wall falling straight down.  No indication could be found where it was knocked down by force.

Archeological evidence support the account as described in the Bible.

But there’s more.  The Bible tells us that once the walls fell, the Israelites took the city by force and set it on fire.   During her continued excavation of the site, Karen found irrefutable evidence that the city had been devastated by an enormous fire.  In her notes she said the following:

“The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire, and every room was filled with fallen bricks, timbers, and household utensils; in most rooms the fallen debris was heavily burnt.”

Of course the skeptics will try and play this off by simply saying that an earthquake caused the walls to fall.  And while the evidence at the site is consistent with what you would find in an excavated earthquake site, there’s one little problem that can’t be explained using the earthquake theory.  On the north side of the city a complete section of wall was found touched only by aged but showing no effects from earthquake damage.  And while no one seems to be able to offer a plausible scientific explanation for this, I’ve got an easy answer.  Rahab was the woman who helped the Israelite spies when they were scouting out the city.  In return for helping them hide, they promised to keep her and her family safe when they came back to conquer the city.  And scripture gives us some very specific information about where Rahab’s house was located.

Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.

Joshua 2:15

The very easy answer to why that section of wall was standing was that it’s the section of the wall Rahab lived in. 

To date there has never been an accredited archeological discovery that would refute the facts as outlined in scripture. Not one.  But there have been many such discoveries that align themselves with biblical accounts.

I love to write about scripture in an expository manner, but sometimes it’s nice to write about the facts that God has left for us to examine.  With that thought in mind I plan on making a post a week for a few months that highlights different secular discoveries that confirm biblical truths.  I hope you enjoy!

Be encouraged,

Jeff