June 7, 2025
History: Skeptics Once Believed
—1. … that Moses couldn’t have written any part of the Bible because writing hadn’t yet been invented, BUT now we know that Egyptian hieroglyphics, Akkadian and even ancient Hebrew all existed in Moses’ day.
—2. … that Belshazzar could not have been the king in Babylon at the time of its fall as stated in Daniel 5 because cuneiform records list Nabonidus as the king, BUT now we know that late in his reign Nabonidus left Babylon to live in Arabia, leaving Belshazzar, his eldest son, on the throne.
—3. … that the prophet Isaiah’s reference to King Sargon of Assyria in Isaiah 20:1 should be dismissed as untrustworthy history, BUT then Paul Emile Botta discovered the palace of King Sargon in 1843 in modern-day Iraq.
—4. … that King David of Judah was no more a real person than King Arthur of Camelot, BUT then archaeologists found an inscription in northern Israel that bore David’s name.
—The skeptics have now moved on to other criticisms of the Bible, but my confidence in the historicity of the Bible remains unwavering.
–Daniel McCabe
Trivia
—According to Pew Research, what percentage of US Jews believe in the God of the Bible?
—A. 26
—B. 45
—C. 67
—D. 81
On Location: Bethesda
—Perhaps you recognize the name of this city in Maryland, near our nation’s capital, that’s perhaps best known for its Bethesda Naval Hospital where almost every president since Franklin Roosevelt has received medical care. The city of Bethesda takes its name from a local Presbyterian church built there in 1820, called the Bethesda Meeting House, that’s been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. The church in turn takes its name from a reservoir described in the Bible as follows, “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda [literally ‘House of Mercy’], having five porches” (John 5:2).
—For nearly four decades a cripple sat poolside in the shade, hoping for healing, but finding none, when one busy Saturday a stranger without introduction and no time for small talk healed the man almost before he knew what had happened. In the passage there’s no specific mention of the crippled man’s faith in God, no apparent recognition of Jesus as his Messiah and no word of gratitude from him for his miraculous healing. It’s as if Jesus simply wanted to demonstrate to the man (and to us) that he, like God the Father, can give life to whomever he desires, and the Jewish leaders caught on quickly, understanding clearly that by his actions and words Jesus had declared his equality with God, so they subsequently redoubled their resolve to kill Jesus for such unmitigated blasphemy. Jesus responded calmly, “The Son gives life to whom He will” (v. 21).
—Today near St. Stephen’s Gate inside the Old City of Jerusalem visitors can see the remains of the five-porched Pool of Bethesda over which were built additional healing pools in the time of Emperor Hadrian as well as Byzantine and Crusader churches where long-ago Christians gathered for worship. The extensive excavations have uncovered layer upon layer of buildings down through the centuries that testify with little doubt that a crippled man with hollow eyes once met the merciful eyes of our Savior on that spot.
—Daniel McCabe
Life in the Land: The Talmud
—To explain the Talmud, one must first explain the Mishnah, which isn’t easy to do. The renowned Israeli archaeologist, Dan Bahat, once quipped, “In order to define the Mishnah I think I need a whole book.” But I’ll do my best in just a paragraph or two.
—The Mishnah is a commentary on the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy), which includes long-ago discussions of Jewish sages who explain how the laws in the Torah should be interpreted. For example, the Bible says, “Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Deut. 5:12). In other passages we learn that one must not plow or harvest (Exod. 34:21), light a fire (Exod. 35:3) or gather sticks of wood on the Sabbath (Num. 15:32-35). But the sages explained that there are many more things one must or must not do to fulfill this fourth commandment and the other remaining 612 commandments, and in 200 A.D. Judah ha-Nasi collected and organized all the sages’ writings into 63 topically-arranged tractates known today as the Mishnah, which codifies the oral Law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai and that had been passed down through the sages from father to son for centuries. This oral Law bears equal authority to the written Law engraved by God on the tablets of stone at Sinai and recorded by Moses in the Torah.
—After Judah ha-Nasi completed this written record of the oral Law in 200 A.D. Jewish scholars and rabbis living in both Palestine and Babylon began commenting on the Mishnah. Their commentaries, analyses and debates comprise the Gemara. Thus, the Mishnah and the Gemara together form the Talmud.
—Aren’t you glad that I didn’t write a book on this topic?
—Daniel McCabe