Writers make propositions. For this blog post, I chose a statement I have heard more than once, “The Bible is a book of fairy tales.” Do people who say such things ever read or comprehend the significance of the stories in the Bible? Does science or archeology dispel Bible stories or support them?
In recent days I watched a video on the Biblical story of Jericho. We must admit, to believe the Israelites brought down the walls with a seven-day march and blowing horns takes strong faith. Or does it? As I watched the video, I used my imagination and went beyond the focus of the narrator. His objective was to demonstrate whether the city of Jericho did or didn’t exist and if it did, to question if it was in a certain frame of time. To the secular world a failure to correspond to the exact historical movement of the Israelites after being freed from Egypt would dispel the Bible story for chronological errors.
In my research, I read additional articles with an obvious slant to dispel the story as inaccurate based on secular research.
Below, I share a link for you to do additional research.
My focus centers on the plausible destruction of Jericho’s city walls. In my mind, I questioned how the walls might have crumbled. I’m just an author, not an archeologist or Biblical scholar. An opinion is just dust in the wind, the truth exists without my help or understanding. So, if you will, open your mind to imagine the days of Jericho’s wall collapse. The following Bible quotes are taken from Joshua 5:13-6:27 New International Version.
Joshua 5: 13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” (this took some courage)
14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
(Note the word neither—very interesting to think about this one word.)
15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Joshua 6: Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” (This would take a lot of courage and faith to execute such a plan.)
This is where the fairy tale label of the nonbeliever comes into play. Such an act could never crumble fortress walls.
Or could it?
You can visit YouTube http://tinyurl.com/JerichoUnearthed
Jericho Unearthed: The Archaeology of Jericho Explained, provides more background for the existence of Jericho.
Here, I offer an author’s imagery of the day’s events and possibilities. As a writer of fiction, historical fiction, and creative non-fiction, my experience is in making plausible arguments for events.
In the video, archeologists in fact do find the ruins of Jericho. An explanation of the architectural structure of the walls gives insight as to the plausibility of their flawed construction. There existed a two-tier wall system, the base wall or retaining walls were older stone walls to hold back the earthen base of the city. On top of the stone walls existed the city’s mud brick walls. To the Israelites, this structure had to look impenetrable. A direct affront would cost the lives of many soldiers.
Now, view the situation from the perspective of someone within the city. Imagine a huge army approaches, you know their intentions to attack, but you have no idea what their tactics will be. They march around the city on the first day, while the guards on the wall watch. Sure the guards can repel any advance, but an advance doesn’t occur.
When the witnesses on the wall tell of what they have seen, rumors and excitement spread. The next day another Israelite parade takes place, this time perhaps the wall guards are joined by civilians to see the spectacle. After the parade disperses, many of the folks of Jericho remain on the walls waiting, in wonder of when the next show will be, Perhaps some returned home with word of what they saw.
The city walls are made of mud bricks, but of what vintage? The spot where Jericho stood had human habitation for a thousand years. How much stress did the extra traffic impact on these old walls? Every day, the crowd on the walls increased as rumors and stories spread and grew. Tensions among the city dwellers grew in anticipation of an impending attack. Throughout the week, speculations grow. Many never leave the walls, and as the next marches occur, more and more people rush onto the walls to witness the event. The city dwellers’ thoughts and insecurities toy with them. The burden on the walls increases with everyone climbing up and down. Witnessing the damage, the guards turn on the hordes. The rabble resists the city’s authorities and continue to overburden the walls.
On the seventh day, with tensions at fevered pitch on the walls, the Israelite priests sound their horns, long and loud. Every person on the wall is frantic, fearing the time has come.
(Note: Isaac Asimov, in his book, Guide to the Bible: The Old Testament, delves into the psychological effects of the Jericho siege. Asimov was a vice-president of Mensa and a prolific writer and editor with over 500 books to his credit. His work on the Bible is more of a literary and historical study.)
Few had slept during the past week, and when the Israelite soldiers shouted in great unison—as instructed by God—panic ensued. The movement on the weakened mud walls triggered debris to begin to fall. The initial crumbling further arouses fear. A snowball effect occurs as the crowd tries to disperse. The crumbling mud bricks tumble down in front of the stone walls to form a perfect incline for the Israelite army to scale and gain entrance into Jericho.
A plausible secular explanation, maybe, but as in all truths there is much unseen, especially the less obvious details. Before anyone writes off the Bible as a book of fairy tales, it might be best to follow up with a little science.
In the case of Jericho, my belief embraces the courage and belief which rattles the non-believers.
The walls tumbled down; this is an archeological fact. The debris formed an incline against the stone wall which offered access to the city. Jericho’s ruins offer these facts. The Bible documents the event, and all these years later, we can read the text and analyze the data. This is, in and of itself, a miracle. There is room for debate on what crumbled the walls, and many will still refuse to accept the story as true. A messenger claimed to be from God and the Israelites listened to him, accepted the advice, and triumphed. Not by their will, but by God’s will.
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