Bible Land Passages: Walking Where David Walked

Bible Land Passages: Walking Where David Walked
April 11, 2022
Speaker:
Passage: Hebrews 6:19
Service Type:

Scripture has given us the information that we need that should convict us. That should help us to have confidence in the promises of All Mighty God. 

  • Hebrews 6:19

To a people who were letting their salvation slip away and who, some of them already going back to Judaism, or some of them has just become a little lackadaisical in their faith. He reminded them that hope is the anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast. It's what stabilizes us in those, uh, storms of life that we face. And so, as a way to encourage those brethren and all of us today, he goes through and speaks about the greatness of Jesus and the Supremacy and the better way of Christ and the new covenant.

  • Hebrews 12:1-2

And then we come to Hebrews chapter 11 and we are told about these great heroes of faith, that then in some ways, sort of standing as a witness. He says in chapter 12, as a cloud of witnesses and knowing that they blazed the trail, that they have gone before, enduring things that maybe some of us have endured. He says, let us run with patience the course that is set before us to do it with endurance, looking ultimately to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame. So our all ultimate example in living life here upon this earth, especially in times of hardship is Jesus. But he also says there were people just like you and me who endured similar circumstances and they continued to press on. 

See the Sermon Slides for Bible Land Passages: Walking Where David Walked.

See the entire Bible Land Passages Series.

When you read through the book of Hebrews chapter 11 in this great book of heroes, and one of those that we have come to appreciate and love, and know a little bit more about through our study of scripture is King David.

Walking in the Steps of David

I want us to walk in the steps of David and to see some of the things that he saw. To understand a little bit more about what he endured and then hopefully that will help us to know that as we're going through maybe a testing ground of faith of our own, our faith can therefore also be refined.

And so as you follow with me tonight, and we begin to think about the life of King David, it behooves us to know something about where this story took place. The things written afore time were written for our learning that we through endurance or comfort of the scripture might have hope. And when we think about what David faced, we need to know about where he lived, and the circumstances geographically, historically, that David found himself in.

So as we study the Bible lands, we need to know a little bit about the territory, knowing that it can easily be divided into five sorts of longitudinal zones. There are much more complicated than this, and there are several smaller geographic zones, but for the sake of our study tonight, let's just recognize that there is a coastal area.

  • Coastal area
  • A mountainous region, central spine, or the hill country
  • Jordan River Valley
  • Trans-Jordan Plateau
  • Eastern Desert

We're going to focus a lot of our attention tonight on this central spine and some of the foothills that were just to the west of the central spine of that particular area of the hill country.

1) David's Days of Preparation

And our story is going to include a place near Bethlehem. That's where we're going to begin.

  • 1 Samuel 16

Now the book of Samuel, in many ways, is a book written to help the kings that would rise and fall a little later on in Israel to know what a kingdom ought to look like, to look at the example of Saul and see his failings and what all occurred. And then, to look at the life of David, and all of 2nd Samuel is about David's reign. Chapter 16 of First Samuel starts with David and all the things sort of leading up to how he came to power. So when you read through First and Second Samuel, remember that it was a book that circulated as one book in much of the ancient literature. 

It had the idea and the theme of a very theocentric view. At the start of the book is where Hannah prayed for a child she is hurting, and yet in her prayer, she speaks about God and exalts His nature and His marvelous power and His goodness. And what everybody needs to remember as we seek to lead our families, as we seek, like some of these kings that would follow, to rule people are if we are shepherds in the church, how do we do that? What example do we follow? 

Well, we don't want to follow the example of Saul who went through a great period of apostasy. But rather, follow the example of David. He was a man like us. He gave in to temptation, sometimes. He didn't do everything just right. And yet, a man that we can identify with because he grew up in some challenging circumstances. Facing a number of foes and enemies, people that were jealous of him, individuals that sought to undermine him. He had a family remember that had all kinds of problems, a son that had sought and did take over his throne in this major coup, and then tried to kill David. David was on the run, abandoned, isolated. Have you ever felt like that?

Have you ever had feelings similar to what David may have experienced? When he had to go out into the wilderness and live in a cave and when family members were turning against him. 

This is a person we can really relate to. So, it behooves us to know more about this man, David. And as we do, let's consider, first of all, his days of preparation.

In First Samuel 16, you read about David for the first time when we're introduced to him through the Prophet Samuel who goes to anoint the next king of Israel. 

Saul had been a dismal failure. And so, God told Samuel to go down to Bethlehem and find a man down there that will be the next king. And of course, David wasn't there among the brothers of the sons of Jesse, at that time, he'd been out tending the flocks. And, when a man wasn't suitable by the power of God, through Samuel to be anointed, he asked, do you have any more sons? And he said, well, yes, he's out tending the sheep. 

And we are introduced to David as this rare red-haired looking young man that even by this time was not just a tiny boy. Sometimes, we kind of an image of David fighting Goliath and this young, maybe 12-year-old [boy]. And David was by this time when he faced Goliath, he was already a man experienced in fighting some battles. The Bible makes that very clear in 1 Samuel 16, as well as in chapter 17. Now I'm not saying that he was an old man. He was certainly young, but he wasn't just some kid. He was an individual that had gone out to tend the sheep in Bethlehem. Now that's a real place. 

And today they're still tending sheep out on the hills of Bethlehem. This is a great site and an important place in the history of the Bible, to know that this industry provided a number of resources for God's people, they were an agricultural people. Their money was not in silver and coins, it was primarily in agricultural produce or in the animal products that came from the livestock that they were shepherding and pasturing in areas like Bethlehem. 

When you go to Bethlehem, there is even still evidence of these sheepfolds. Where, a shepherd, and they still shepherd out there, with their flock and take them to maybe a little place to stay and keep them overnight. And guess what the shepherd would do? He would lay across the opening and he would be the door to the sheepfold. And, not allowing any kind of a person to come in and steal the sheep. He's going to protect the sheep. And maybe he puts some briars on the top of those particular walls. 

So, shepherding took upon itself, a lot of responsibility. And there were dangers to face as you were shepherding, uh, maybe a lion, a bear might come and seek to ravage the flock and a shepherd had to be ready to protect their flock. David spoke about that in 1 Samuel 17, when people were asking him about you're going to challenge Goliath? And he said, don't, you know, that God delivered, uh, a bear and a lion into my hand? And who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he would defy the armies of God? 

David was a man that, uh, worked with his hands, a man that spent maybe a few nights outside, alone, out in the hill country. And if you're like me, I'm pretty brave in the daytime, but sometimes, things at the night can be a little bit frightening. You begin to see things in shadows out there that maybe aren't things that really aren't there, but your eyes can play tricks on you. David had a lot of great confidence in faith and courage that would help to develop him later on in life. 

I wonder if maybe there's something right now that you're having to face that is just a little bit frightening. And you wonder if you're going to make it through. God has a way of utilizing those fearful and difficult circumstances for future events. If you'll let him refine you, and if you'll put your trust in faith in Him and learn to know more about Him and what he wants you to do and, and not have confidence in yourself, but in the power of God. It'll be exciting to think about how He'll use you in the future. 

So David's early life was spent out in areas like that, in Bethlehem. 

2) David's Victories Over the Philistines

But then, as you continue to read through the text, you also learn a little bit about the victories then that David had along the way. Before he became king in this well-known passage of scripture. In first Samuel chapter 17, we read about the circumstances associated with his defeat of Goliath. Now I'm certain that everybody knows this story. 

But, what I want to talk about tonight is to help you to see that this was this story, this account, of a real event, took place in a real geographical setting with a real particular problem behind it.

Remember I said, that the Hebrews writer was trying to encourage us in our own walk of faith to live the Christian life? And, a part of that encouragement involves our looking back to the lives of people in the Old Testament and even some in the early years of the church, that sacrificed so much, that endured persecution, that endured hardship, and the great hall of fame of faith in Hebrews 11.

Now, do you think it's important to know that those people existed? Is there any truth to it? Are these just mythological heroes that were invented by the Israelites to kind of encourage them along? Like, the Greeks did with the writing of Homer did of Iliad and the Odyssey to kind of spur the Greeks on in terms of their military power and their adventurous spirit. Is that what this is all about?

The Hebrews writer wanted us to see a real hero in David. And so, we need to ask the question well, is the story and all the events associated with the life of David, really true? I'm here to tell you they are. And it is fascinating to me to think about why this story took place. It makes perfect sense. You know, when I was a kid and I heard preachers, maybe tell the story of David and Goliath, I thought, well, okay, you know, boys are going to be boys, you know, and they're going to get into a tussle and they're going to go out and there's going to be this fight. And people, you know, puffing their chest a little bit and saying, look, how much of a man I am. And here it is, this is what's happening. It's much more complicated than that. 

The Bible tells the events in very intricate detail. According to, the cultural issues and the national entities that were warring and what they were warring about. So when we open up our Bibles and the Bible writer gives us specifics about this battle, it's, therefore, reason, because it's what really happened.

  • 1 Samuel 17:1

That's pretty specific. And also, mentioning then, this other territory that really means the border of blood. And, just to describe kind of the area that it was known for because of the activity that took place between the Philistines and the Israelites, we then are told about Saul and the men of Israel and where they were gathered that they were encamped in the Valley of Elah.

They drew up in line of battle against the Philistines and the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side. And then, notice now, he changes to Israel, who stood on the mountain on the other side with a valley between them. So it seems as though we've got a Philistine army, we've got an Israelite army, and then we got the people of Israel on another mountain.

And then, we know what everybody reads and studies about, right, in verses five and following all of the things associated with this great giant and in his armor and his spear. But then we are told in verses 12 and following a little bit about David coming to the battle. And how that he had been out tending his father's sheep and he was bringing food back from Bethlehem.

We know in Israelite culture and history, that there was sort of at times a, a rotation of, of soldiers that came back and forth. Why? Well, anybody that knows anything about farming knows you can't have a whole nation's set of young people out fighting and nobody back home taking care of agricultural needs. So some had to back and do that, and it was part of David's time to do this. And, while he's gone and when he comes back, he finds that in this valley, this great giant of the Philistines had challenged the armies of God. But, that was after 40 days, 40 days, this had been going on, there was a stalemate.

I really think he'd redo the context, but what you're going to see, sort of like things that took place in the civil war where they're like lots of little skirmishes that were happening and, and no one could really outmaneuver the other one. Until, finally, they just were kind of in a deadlock in the middle of this valley.

Well, if you were to go to Israel today and take a look at this area where this battle took place, you need to know that the Bible land, that this story takes in an area known as the Shephelah. This Shephelah is a Hebrew word that literally means humble, or lowly. And at times, the Bible uses it to refer to a geographical region in Israel, known as the humble, or the lowly hills next to Judah. 

There is a central spine of larger so-called mountains. Those mountains are 2,700 feet. And so, high mountains, but then, there are these foothills at the base of them. And then the mountains. And Jerusalem is up in the mountains.

And this is the territory of Judah, where there was terraced farming, where you go into the side of the hill and you level out the ground and you put rocks, you know, to keep the soil from washing away. So you farm on the sides of these hills and the Jews, the Israelites, the people of Judah, the Judaics particularly did this terraced farming. And they grew all kinds of things up in there, olive trees and grapes, again, a very productive, agricultural area, that was mentioned on Sunday.

The Series of East-West Valleys of the Foothills of Judah

The Philistine coastline of the Meditteranean was to the west of the territory that belongs to Judah. What were those old Philistines doing? They're coming up into the territory that belongs to Judah. If you were to look at a topographical map, you would see those east-west valleys. 

  • The Aijalon Valley, where Joshua fought the Canaanites and the sun stood still. 
  • The Sorek Valley, where Beth Shemesh and Zorah were and where Samson fought the Philistines. 
  • The Lachish Valley, where the southwestern fortress was.
  • The Guvrin Valley, where Micah the prophet was from Mareshah.
  • The Elah Valley, 

The Philistines liked to come up into those valleys and get the wheat. Here's an Israelite they've been working and working to plant their vineyards and plant their wheat and it's getting close to the harvest and the Philistines have been taking it easy back in Ekron and Gath. And, they think, it's time to go get something to eat, let's go get the wheat that belongs to the people of Judah. They're going to come and raid the fields. 

They're going to go and maybe conquer some cities in the hill country region and maybe take possession of some of those cities. Not only was there a lot of wheat growing in those areas, but also a lot of grape vineyards, like here at Lachish, that are still being grown today. And then on the top of the hills olive tree, after olive tree, huge staple product. 

So, not only was that an important element of this story that we need to know about, but also that the Philistines are real people. The Bible speaks about them and archeologists have uncovered a number of things about them. One of which was their warlike culture. 

They were kind of the Vikings of the ancient world. They didn't mind going on looting raids. Now they had some of their cities and one of them is named Gath which is right at the edge of this area of Elah.

It's a real place you can go out there today. It's called Tel Tsafit after something in Arabic, names that are associated with these areas. The signage there states, 

"those of the five lords of the Philistines—the Gazites, the Ashdodites, and those of Ashquelonites, the Gitties, and the Equronites..." — Joshua 13:3

They quote Joshua, they're identifying this city as one of those areas that Joshua came into. 

There are the five principal cities of the Philistines. 

  • Ashkelon
  • Ashdod
  • Gaza
  • Ekron 
  • Gath

Does anybody know anything about gas and who's from Gath? Goliath. The Bible clearly states that that's where he's from and archeologists have found the city. It's located right at the end of the Elah Valley.

What's happened is the Philistines have said, we're going to go right up in here, we're going to raid these fields, and we might even come on up into the hill country and raid those fields. But, what happens is they get up in here and they're stopped by the Israelite army. 

Some of the remains of the Gath Tel, an extensive Tel, recently even huge large stones were found. There was a big news item about this, this past year. We found for sure that this is the place where Goliath lived because the stones are so big. You know, that doesn't necessarily prove it, but from an archaeologist's perspective, anytime they get a little press like that, then there's more money that comes in for their digs. Some of them weren't suggesting that this is proof that these giant people live there, but the Bible makes this connection. And there's a lot of evidence, again, of a highly technical and civilized city. 

So, the Philistines have moved up into this territory and the battle is right here in the Valley of Elah. And in this valley, the Bible specifically mentioned Azekah and Socoh, and that's where they're encamped. Both of those sites have been discovered. 

So they're right in there encamped. And then there's a city up here that belongs to the Israelites that we'll talk about in a moment. And so, it's my belief that this is where Saul and his men were stationed in the hill country, they're ready to head these guys off at the pass if they come this way or they'll go that way because the Bible didn't say exactly where they're encamped just that they are in the valley of Elah. 

See, all of this makes sense. It's not like, again, some sort of fictitious story that has no geographical historical context. There's a reason why they were fighting. There's a reason why there was a stalemate. 

And so, this giant, you know, makes this challenge that we'll just end it all here. We'll be your servants if you can defeat me. And, if I defeat you, then you'll be our servants and vice versa. So, right here in the middle of this valley that you can walk in today, there is a brook. Where the Philistines were encamped goes out toward Gath.

Here is maybe where the children of Israel were encamped in the hills known today as Khirbet Qeiyafa. There's a city right up there that is known today as another name, which I believe is Shaaraim mentioned at the end. 

  • 1 Samuel 17:46

You know the story, the David, the young man goes down to the book and he chooses five smooth stones. And he goes out to me, Goliath. I love how the Bible says he, he ran out to meet him and, um, he brings Goliath to the ground with one of those stones. 

  • 1 Samuel 17:50, 52

Very specific, we are told about the cities, one of which is Shaaraim. A lot of people have wondered, where is Shaaraim?

That's been one of the big questions until just about 10 years ago looking down in the valley of Elah, I mentioned this last night where you can see the Brook of Elah, archaeologists found a fortified city and they found that the city had two gates. It's very unusual for a city to have two major entrances like this. The word, Shaaraim, of course, as I said, last night means the city of two gates. 

Newly Discovered City Confirmed in the Southern Kingdom of Judah! 

  • From King David’s time: 1020-980 BC 
  • Elah Valley, Guarded Road from coastal Philistia to Jerusalem 
  • 100-acre urban center/military stronghold
  • The Bible places the battle of David & Goliath (of Gath) very near here

This is probably the Israelite city, but what is even more significant is that what was found there reveals a highly technical, sophisticated, organized nation of people.

Sometimes, when people read the pages of God's word, they don't read it in its entirety. And they don't look at it carefully. And they assume that the Bible is describing David as having this huge empire. The Bible describes him as having a nation that yes, was formidable, that beat a number of smaller nations, like the Philistines. But, the critic comes along and says, well, the Bible is just inflated. It's telling the story of David. We acknowledged now that he existed, even though we really didn't think so for a long time, but we can't really deny that now, but he was nothing more than a chieftain. He was nothing more than a, just a glorified shepherd.

And yet, archaeologists have found this city as a testimony to the fact that during the time of David, there was a fortified city here with a palace, right in the middle of it. Saul had no doubt, or, the Israelites had built this. Later on, David's going to put a palace here.

The Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon Discovery

  • Potshard, writing on inside of pottery vessel. 
  • Oldest known Hebrew text ever discovered (1,000 years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls! 
  • Not a quote from scripture, but was similar to the writing of scripture.

All of this helps us to see that Israelites were quite sophisticated. That indeed reflects accurately what the Bible says about these people. 

3) David's Flight from Saul

  • 1 Samuel 19-31

We've looked at David's preparation, the battle with Goliath, but then number three, I want you to think about when you had to go on the run. What happened when David killed Goliath and Saul appointed him to an important position? He goes out and kills a number of enemies in the area. Does anybody remember what's happened with Saul and David? Saul's jealousy. He was upset. He heard them sing the song that Saul has killed his thousands, but David, his ten thousand. And Saul became so jealous and bitter with envy that he tried to kill David.

And David had to go on the run. And the Bible gives us this careful account of where all he went. A careful sort of diary of places.

Places David Stayed When on the Run from Saul

If you're reading through the pages of God's word, starting with 1 Samuel chapter 18 and moving forward, you're going to see a story about David being on the run.

  • The Cave of Adullam
  • Near Bethlehem
  • A Philistine City
  • Hebron
  • Moab
  • Ziklag
  • En Gedi

If you're reading through the pages of God's word, starting with 1 Samuel chapter 18 and moving forward, you're going to see a story about David being on the run.

What did those places look like? And do they really exist? One of the first places he went to was a knob near Gibeah. He's going to go to the Cave of Adullam and he's going to hide out there for a while. People came to him that were sick and in need of help. And David helped them. And it's, while he's in that area, that he wishes that he could have water from the Springs of Bethlehem, and some of his men, his mighty men go and get water for David and they bring it back to him. 

There are caves all over that area. 

  • 1 Samuel 22 - 23:15

En Gedi literally means, the spring of the goats or the place of the goats, but particularly the spring. There's this area known as the Judean wilderness area. It's just between the Dead Sea about 11 miles wide, 55 miles long, a place that is very barren, but it's thought of as a place of refuge where people could go hide. Remember the story of the good Samaritan. The man was going down from Jericho, from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he fell among thieves. Thieves would sometimes go out there. There are lots of good caves to hide in. 

But, they're also places where there are some springs in this area known as En Gedi, there is a beautiful Oasis. Not just one, but a series of oases from the top as the waters begin to move down through this limestone rock formation. And there are also goats still out there today, just running wild. En Gedi, the spring of the goats, you get the idea that when the Bible writers wrote these things, they knew what they were talking about.

They were there. They understood it. They were inspired by God. They got the information, right. 

And they're at, En Gedi as you now, from the springs, look out, you can see the Dead Sea. It's called dead for a reason. There's nothing in it that is alive, except maybe I guess some little bacteria or microorganism, but no fish or anything you can't sink in the dead sea is the lowest place on earth.

And so, David goes out here and takes refuge in this wilderness area. While he's out there hiding in a cave at En Gedi, Saul goes looking for him. He goes into a cave. The Bible says, the King James version, to cover his feet. That means he went in to go to the bathroom. That's where they went to go in the caves. And while he's in there, David sneaks up behind him. He cuts off a little bit of his garment. And when Saul exits and moves on his way, David reveals himself from a safe location saying, I could have killed the king of Israel, but I didn't

  • 1 Samuel 24:22

David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men, I look at it, went up to the stronghold. The stronghold. Guess what the word in Hebrew is Masad, from whence the word Masada comes. I don't know for certain if this is where David came from, but I know that for generations, people refer to this high tower, a natural sort of defense in the desert, as Masada. There is a lot of history associated with this place in the Old Testament and in secular history at the time of the first century.

When the Jews left Jerusalem after the Romans had destroyed it. And they came out here and captured it from a Roman Garrison and about 900 of them stayed up there on that fortress until finally, the Romans came through, remember what happened? They'd all killed themselves. Or at least a few of the men had done that.

So here is a stronghold in the desert and you can see. You can still see the siege ramp that the Romans built. Before that siege ramp was built, it was called the snake path, a perfect place for a small band of men to hide out in the caves up here and throw rocks down at just a couple of men that can come up at a time. Cause that's the only way up there. The stronghold. 

The Bible is going to use, David does, imagery associated with God, being his Rock and his Hightower, his Mighty Fortress in times of trouble. 

  • Psalm 18:2
  • Psalm 31:2-3
  • Psalm 91:2
  • Psalm 144:2

He drew upon the natural setting, using the imagery of that geographical context to convey great trues about the nature of God that helps us today in our own times.

So David came to places like this in the wilderness, and there is much up there today. 

King Herod built an enormous palace up there and had a three-tiered palace. This is at the time of Christ. He built this palace to overlook the dead sea notice the beautiful frescoes up there, quite sophisticated, and a fascinating part of history.

4) David's Reign as King

I want us to consider David's reign, not only his reign overall by the fact that his name is mentioned on this tel. The Tel Dan Stela, that we mentioned yesterday, but that there is a lot of archaeological data that is a sort of parallel to what scripture says about David and what he did and taking the city and the palace that he built. The Bible is pretty clear about that. 

  • 2 Samuel 5:6

After he had been anointed king, remember his first, the capital city was down in Hebron, but he says, we're going to go and take the city of Jerusalem that belonged to the Jebusites. It's important for him to have that city to be able to have access up to the northern area. 

5) David's Reign as King in Jerusalem

In this area of Jerusalem, as I spoke about yesterday, there is this finger-like structure that sticks out a way into the valley.

The Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, what did they say to David? They say you will not come in hereYou can't come in here, but the blind, the lame will ward you off.

Why would they say that? Because they said, in essence, we know from archeology now, they had a huge fortified city. They had built huge towers and walls and said, we can put our blind people up there and those that can't walk and they'll be able to defeat you, David. We're not going to worry about you getting into the city.

And yet the Bible goes on to say how David did get into the city. 

  • 2 Samuel 5:86-12

"Now David said on that day, “Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul), he shall be chief and captain.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” Then David dwelt in the stronghold and called it the City of David. And David built all around from the Millo and inward. So David went on and became great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him. Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, cedar trees, and carpenters and masons. And they built David a house" 

We're talking about a highly fortified city. We're talking about an unusual way in which he got into the city, David's men, Joab particularly. We're talking about a palace and a stronghold that is going to be further fortified by David and its artisanship is going to reflect a Phoenician style as the Bible speaks of this man, Hiram of Tyre.

Now today, no sign has been found on the middle of that hill saying I, David was here. No sign or inscription has been found with David's name on it right there at that spot. But I will tell you what was found there and I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not this is David's past.

Estimated Size of David's Jerusalem

  • 9 Acres - (B. Mazar)
  • 10-11 Acres - (Shanks)
  • 12.1 Acres - (Shiloh)

A number of archeologists began digging all around this area and they've in this area. In fact, if you go to Jerusalem today, the City of David lies outside the walls. Near the Gihon Spring, and all along there is a spur that we're talking about, the Spur of Ophel. And some of the discoveries associated with the time of David and Solomon have been phenomenal.

We've read several passages. Let's look at the data from some of these well-known archaeologists, one that just recently passed away named Eilat Mazar. She read the Bible, she was a Jew. Yet, she read the Bible and she said, you know, the Bible is pretty clear about where this is I think I'm going to start digging here. And people said, don't, don't dig there. We've already done the bedrock in that area. You see the archeologists that were there before had just dug a few square profile holes, looking at certain places, but they didn't go everywhere on the hill. And she was convinced that there ought to be some structure up there if the Bible is even halfway. 

Kathleen Kenyon in the 1950s had dug up there and she found some things at the base of the hill that had fallen in from the top of the hill. 

So what of all these people have found including Ronnie Wright who excavated around the spring area? 

Discoveries Made in the City of David

  1. Canaanite Spring Fortification and Siloam Channel - 2 Samuel 5:6-8
  2. Stepped Stone Structure (Millo) and Large Stone Structure – Samuel 5:9-11
  3. Elegant Column Capitals, an elegant proto-Aeolic capital (Phoenician style royal Iron Age architecture), was found by Kathleen Kenyon. - 2 Samuel 5:11
  4. Ivory Utensils and Elegant Pottery Discovered 

David's name is not there, but you make the decision. Is this David's palace? 

It was a highly important discussion. There was some sort of palace here, some sort of government building right in the place where the Bible places that. That's pretty awesome, isn't it?

When the large stone structure was built, the large stone structure must've been built after this. How long after? Well, that's the question, but look, when asked the question, Eilat, did you find king David's palace? 

"What is left? Could this be the brainchild of a visionary new ruler who planned to expand the city with a temple to be built on the hilltop to the north? Did King David, now the ally of the Phoenicians, renowned for their building capabilities, authorize them to build a magnificent new palace for him outside but adjacent to the northern boundary of the old Canaanite city, shortly before the construction of the projected new Temple to its north?” The Biblical narrative, I submit, better explains the archaeology we have uncovered than any other hypothesis that has been put forward. Indeed, the archaeological remains square perfectly with the Biblical description that tells us David went down from there to the citadel. So you decide whether or not we have found King David’s palace. — Eilat Mazar, Biblical Archaeology Review 32:1, January/February 2006 “Did I Find King David’s Palace?"

After a while, the evidence just continues to pile up. Doesn't it? Structures, utensils, pottery, a palace. I think that we can have confidence in scripture. 

Remember we started yesterday with this lesson, how would we prove to someone that the Holocaust really had occurred a hundred years from now? When there are doubters, we could show them the evidence we could show to them the pictures, sites, eyewitness testimony, and artifacts.

And what about the Bible? We can do the same. And that's what we've been doing these last couple of nights, as we think about the archeological record and the stories found in scripture that are substantiated by the evidence. It's true. It happened. And because it happened, I can now have competence in the man, David, who, himself trusted in God, a man like you, and like me and overcame so much.

At times of hardship, he wasn't perfect. He made mistakes, but he was a man after God's own heart. And all of us can be that as well. It begins by our submitting our will to Jesus and being baptized in Christ for the remission of our sins, coming up out of that water, and in faith saying, Lord, I'm going to follow you. I'm going to trust you. And you know that God will sustain us. He'll help us just like he helped David. Can we help you to come to God? If we can invite you to contact us.

— John Moore, Director of Bible Land Passages and Bible Passages.

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