discovery of cave confirms Bible

Originally posted on June 06, 2008 – by Andre Piet

This week the following interesting report could be read in many newspapers.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS: OLDEST CHURCH IN THE WORLD DISCOVERED

AMMAN – Archaeologists say that beneath the St. Gregorius Church in the northern Jordanian town of Rihab they have discovered a cave that would be the oldest church in the world. The space is said to have been built between 33 and 70 AD.

This is stated by archaeologist Abdul Qader Hussan, head of the center for archaeological studies in Rihab, in Monday’s newspaper The Jordan Times. He calls the discovery “astonishing.” According to an inscription on the floor, seventy disciples of Jesus are said to have taken refuge there after fleeing the persecution of Christians from Jerusalem.

If the archaeologists are right, the church would have been built between the year in which Jesus died on the cross and the year in which the Romans destroyed Jerusalem.
source: de Telegraaf

In Luke 21 Jesus foretells the destruction of Jerusalem. Although the greater part of the prophecy concerns events that are still future to this day, the section between verse 12 (“but before all these things”) and verse 24 is a flashback to the events around the year 70 AD. The city would be surrounded by encamped armies (21:20). “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart…” (21:21). Jesus calls it “the days of vengeance” (21:22).

The letter to the Hebrews also speaks of impending vengeance and retribution (10:30). Time and again a dreadful judgment is held out in prospect. “A fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (10:27). This does not concern ‘hell’ or anything of the sort, but the horrific burning of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The entire city, including the temple, then went up in flames and was razed to the ground. Under the leadership of the Roman commander Titus, a massacre was carried out in Jerusalem the like of which history does not know.

In that context we also read at the end of the letter to the Hebrews an exhortation to go “outside the camp” (13:13), that is, to leave Jerusalem. Many heeded this call by fleeing to Pella and other places in Transjordan, thus escaping the drama of the year 70.

The recent discovery of the cave beneath the old church in Rihab is a confirmation of this.

Delen: