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Ep. 2 Did Archaeologists Just Find Biblical Sodom’s Fiery Ruins?
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join Sam and will as they bring the
Bible's stories to life through
historical evidence and try not to feel
out of place in a car garage all while
hood so Sam the real question is why are
the two of us filming this in a car
garage come on will like it's a car
garage it's old things being made new
Jesus says behold I make all things new
he brings the dead back to life so
really what you're saying is someone
lets us film here for free because we're pastors
pastors
yeah pretty much a little bit of both
welcome to under the hood I am will
Bushman and I'm alongside Sam cman and
Sam what are we talking about today
today we're going to be talking about
one of the most famous judgments that
you ever see in the Bible so when you
think judgment you think end of the
world you might think the flood but
probably a close third maybe second is
the destruction of Sodom where God Rains
Down fire and brimstone if you've ever
heard that expression fire and brimstone
this is where it comes from okay so
another fun one yeah another fun one
that's right with it it shows God's
character that he is a god of justice
but woven through every single one of
these stories you find the mercy of God
that he extends to people and so you see
the totality of God and it's good for us
to recognize that he is Holy and just
and we find in the story as well a god
of Mercy who's looking to redeem people
and the crazy part about this is really
the recent archaeological evidence that
comes from the ancient city of Sodom
that's right if you look around on the
news when when these discoveries were
being made and they were being published
by the scientists and archaeologist who
found them many many news outlets began
posting news that Sodom had potentially
been discovered and so the the guy who
discovered this his name is Step Collins
he's an archaeologist and he got
permission from the Jordanian government
to start searching for Sodom and there
was one particular place and that he
wanted to search because when the Bible
talks about Sodom it says that it's
visible from the Jordan from where
Abraham was standing at bethl and Ai and
you look over straight across the Jordan
and there was a a mound that was called
Tel hamam and he was like that fits all
the criteria of ancient Sodom the size
of it because Sodom was a massive City
in the ancient world and so he got
permission to start doing an an
archaeological dig there and when he
began to dig there he was blown away by
what he found so the evidence really
shows us it's going back thousands of
years that now in our modern day that
this is not just some madeup story but
we have real things being brought up
from the ground that actually back what
this story and it's crazy and we're
going to talk about the crazy Parts but
back what actually the biblical
narrative States that's right and so as
he's digging it up it comes from the
right time the middle Bronze Age period
it's got all the right fortifications
the size the region even even down to
what you would expect to def find in an
ancient Palace of this type they're
digging all of this up and everything
matches to where other people even
Skeptics are saying you know maybe this
inspired the story of Sodom because
everything links up now we know with the
Bible being inspired this is Sodom and
so as he's digging around he finds tons
of evidence and one of the things is
this city is massive which sets us apart
from all the other archaeological digs
like ancient Jericho was a massive city
this city is five
times the size of Jericho so we should
expect to find something in the ground
correct yeah so 62 acres inside the
walls if you look at what's there today
before they started digging it just
looks like a big Mound well they built
the cities on top of these Mounds for
defense and so he's going around and you
find walls over here and one of the
first places that he digs is at the top
of this thing which is where you should
expect to find the Royal Palace and
that's what he finds okay so he
discovers this Palace so what's the deal
with the palace well as he's Excavating
the palace one of the thing and it's
called the Red Palace and one of the
reasons why it's called the Red Palace
is it was destroyed with fire that left
red coloration all over the rocks from
the damage of the fire and as they're
Excavating they're having to remove
several feet of Ash because this city
had been burned and the roof and timers
and everything else had fallen in and
been buried under there so we find a
city with all the dimensions location
fortifications of Sodom and we know that
it was burned and D destroyed by fire
but then as he keeps going he's finding
that there was a blast that shoved
everything over like everything is kind
of bent a little bit from some blast
that kind of shoved it and when he
starts looking around in the city he
comes up with a theory that's been
validated by other scientists and
astrophysicists from the region where
he's finding this explosion that
happened overhead so fire and brimstone
from above he's theorizing that this was
a meteor that the explosion when it came
into our atmosphere over the Dead Sea
was so absolutely intense that it like
it turned sand into diamondoids it
shocked quartz it left glass layers over
Pottery where it had come in with such
force and heat that it transformed the
landscape and so many things in the city
instantaneously so this wasn't just a
casual Palace fire no no no no no like
an ordinary house fire today Burns at
around 1100 to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit
when they were finding things in the
ruins the damage that was caused that
turned things to Glass and whatnot it
had to have been at a heat that is
around the neighborhood of 3600 degrees
Fahrenheit now in the ancient world they
had no technology that could replicate
this the only explanation that's hotter
than magma that's hotter than lava
anything like that so the only
explanation that we could find is that
this came from a meteoric blast that
just shocked the ground and melted
things and one of the other cool things
is when they looked around at the
landscape you could see that the
landscape was actually peppered with
like charcoal looking things where it
had literally been raining down these
burning rocks on this city one of the
really interesting things that they
found was a whole bunch of what's called
trinitite rocks and it's called
trinitite rocks if you went back to the
40s when they were testing the atomic
bomb and they used what was called the
Trinity bomb Trinity explosion it came
down and it actually transformed rocks
into trinitite rocks because it B
blistered them and they started calling
it trinitite rocks because the force of
the explosion and the Heat of the
explosion instantly blistered these
rocks and so when you go into Sodom and
you're looking around at different
Pottery shards that were left behind you
can see that they're glazed because of
the degrees of the heat but they're also
blistered so the same kind of force that
you found in the atomic explosion the
test explosion you find in Sodom so this
was no small thing this was cataclysmic
so it makes sense that a whole
would be destroyed if something like
this happened absolutely absolutely so
you mentioned already a modern atomic
bomb because we're talking about
thousands and thousands years before
this so in our modern vocabulary in our
modern mindset what would this explosion
have been like we don't have a lot to
compare it to but probably the closest
where some of the scientists have
compared it to this was in 1908 there
was a meteoric explosion over tunguska
Russia and you can see pictures if you
Google it you'll see this all the trees
and forests are just laid over because
of the force of this blast and they
theorized that this was a thousand more
than a thousand times more powerful than
the Hiroshima atomic bomb and they're
saying that this blast over Tel Al hamam
or Sodom was more powerful than that so
imagine a thousand Hiroshima and Up the
Volume that's what we're talking about
wow so it makes sense that an agent City
would have easily been destroyed by this
yeah would have been decimated and and
everything in its path would have been
decimated for Miles you know obviously
with a blast like this you would expect
many many cities to be destroyed and so
they started looking at the surrounding
landscape that's around T Al hamam and
they found evidence that this explosion
decimated the whole region in fact when
they started doing the Dig they found
that from this moment Sodom goes from
being a city five times larger than
Jericho and after this moment for 700
years the city's entirely uninhabited
It's Made A Wasteland and Sodom was
known as this like beautiful Lush even
garden-like City so the fact that it was
decimated and left uninhabitable for 700
years it's crazy yeah so even if you
today like if you jump to Genesis 13 it
talks about it like you said being
well-watered like the garden of the lord
it's comparing it to Eden you get in you
get in a plane you go over there today
it's like desert it's totally desolate
it's rocks and sand and you wonder like
if it's well watered like the garden of
the Lord what led people B to run away
from this city for 700 years and this is
where the story gets really really
fascinating to me and it even supports
the story more so when the the burst
came over they theorized that you have
this meteor that's coming over and it
hits and explodes right over the
northern side of the Dead Sea now if you
know anything about the Dead Sea it's
34% salt like just imagine that like the
makeup of it is almost 10 times more
salty than the Pacific ocean when you go
there like we you float on the water
because it changes your buoyancy it's
tremendously salty and so when you read
the archaeologist report about all the
surrounding soils and everything else
when you get to this layer back in the
days of Sodom this archaeological layer
what they find is tremendously high
levels of salt and so you can imagine
this meteor comes explodes just on top
of the Dead Sea coming toward the Dead
Sea and it blows a shock wave of salt
that covers the whole region well in the
ancient world when you would go to war
against an enemy and you never wanted
that enemy to come back you would salt
their fields you see that in the Bible
with ailec and in the Book of Judges
where he salts the fields of his enemies
so that they're their crops will no
longer grow there and it goes from being
this Lush place that's like the garden
of the Lord to where you can't get
anything to grow anymore because the
soil content has been thoroughly
contaminated with salt and that kind of
evidence even supports maybe the
craziest part of the story by far is
that Lot's wife at the end looks back at
this city being destroyed and the Bible
just said she turns into a pillar of
salt and you're always just like that
makes no sense at all yeah it makes no
it's one of those moments where when you
hear it it's like okay God inspired this
word he's the authoritative one if he
says she turned into a pillar of salt
I'm good with it but what is that about
well now I mean think about it in
context when this explosion happens and
it sense this shock wave of anhydride
salts that are heated and stick to
everything just encapsulating it sticks
to the sand sticks to the trees sticks
to the buildings everything imagine
Lot's wife who when you hear the story
it says that she looked back it's not
that she looked back it's that she
turned back she wanted to go back to her
wealth and so when she turns back and
goes back into the the blast radius of
some sort this shock wave of salt just
totally encapsulates her and when
perhaps when they find her corpse she is
covered with this salt almost like you
know almost like Napal or something
where it's just stuck to her and it's
frozen her in time and so that makes
sense of this like I can't guarantee but
it's a pretty good theory an explosion
that's a thousand times greater than
atomic bomb we got a whole city that's
left uninhabitable for 700 years I think
what's probably on all of our minds is
isn't this a little extreme of a
judgment God yeah so I mean that's one
of the the more more pronounced
judgments that we find in scripture and
so let's just jump in in Genesis 19 and
tell the story of how how we got there
so God sends two angels into the city
because he's been hearing outcries
coming from the region so this is a
region that doesn't even believe in God
and yet they're crying out because of
the wickedness of this city and if you
understand Canaanite culture of the
region like they're engaged in child
sacrifice they're engaged in ories
they're doing things that are pretty
wicked so for Sodom to be set apart in
the category of wickedness the Canaanite
cities you're like what in the world are
they doing good grief well God doesn't
answer that question up front for us
what happens is he sends two angels into
the city to go on a rescue mission to
get lot and his family and they show up
in the city and right at the gates lot's
like you can't be here like you have to
come to my house we have to get you
hidden before the people of the city see
you which is telling right this is not a
safe place it's very Wicked and so
they're like no we're fine here and he's
like no you have to come back back to my
house so they go to the house and it
says and like true to God's word this is
a wicked City it says all the men of the
city came to lot's door and began
banging on the door and they're
demanding that lot bring out these two
men that are new to the city so that
they can rape them and you're like whoa
that's the kind of city that they're
walking into right now so you're really
saying that the whole city of men was
there wasn't just a few bad apples that
were were looking to do harm that as a
city they were at the doorstep yeah so
this is a very Wicked place and one of
the things that they've discovered in
the archaeology helps us to explain why
that happened so as they're digging
around in t Al hamam they find all of
these things that point that this is not
a Canaanite City it's actually got roots
in the aan which is the Mediterranean
cuz they're finding you know nowhere in
the Canaanite cities of of the middle
Bronze Age do you find columns but in
this city there's columns in the palace
well that's a gean you find that in
Manan civilizations or the Myan
civilizations not here another thing is
you find artwork of downward-facing
bullheads which is it points us to a a
sport that was tremendously famous
through the aian that was called bull
leaping where a bull would charge you
and you would run at the bull and then
you would leap over the top of the bull
and you would do a somersault there's
artwork that captures this and you would
like avoid the bull it's like way more
than just bull fighting you're leaping
over the horns and doing a somersault
off the bat crazy stuff and so you find
phallic images all of these things point
to the idea that this city was not
founded by reg the re the Canaanites of
the region they it was founded by people
from the aan and now that starts to make
sense of things because if you go back
to the middle Bronze Age one of the
things that you find in Manan culture
which is hard to stomach it's one of the
more wicked things you find in history
is that in order to become a citizen in
the monan
city your father arranged kind of a
write of passage for you that so that
when you were entering into the age of
adulthood 12 years old your father would
arrange with the Elders of the city a
ceremony where the men of the city would
come to your door they would kidnap you
and a man would take you off into the
Wilderness where you would have kind of
a honeymoon with this man I mean it's gross
gross
but he would train you how to become a
man and when he came back if he gave a
good report on your character and your
willingness to do what he said then
you'd be rewarded with armor a chalice
and an ox and then you were considered a
citizen of the city and so now I want
you to imagine you see two men who have
not undergone this initiation right that
are wanting to take up residence in the
city of Sodom and now all of the men are
seeing them and going no they have not
undergone that so it would make sense
that all the men of the city which is
the tradition come to the door banging
on the door saying we demand that these
men come out and that they be they
undergo that right so in a city that is
that Wicked how did a guy like lot end
up there it's an interesting question
because lot ends up there because God
blessed his socks off and so the story
goes if you if you jump back to Genesis
13 Abraham is growing in wealth and
possessions and his livestock and herds
he's just they're getting massive and
the same is happening for lot and
they've got so much stuff but they don't
have enough room to dwell together and
so what they say is well I would rather
Chase my wealth and in a sense that's
what lot says I would rather have my
wealth than my relationship with you
Abraham and Abraham comes and says the
tension that's developing is too much
like we need we need to separate so you
pick the land and I'll if you want to be
here I'll go over there if you want to
go there I'll stay here and lot that's
when it says lot looks over and he sees
the the the plains of Sodom and it's
like the garden of the lord it's it's
rich like Egypt and he's got dollar
signs in his eyes and he thinks man God
is dwelling here this is where the
promise is and yet over there it's like
the garden and he's happy to have the
garden even though God is not in it and
he tells them it's a wicked City L lot
is like but there's money there I'll
take the money I don't care about the
wickedness or the fact that God is is
not over there and so he goes over there
and he pitches his tents with these
people and he's chasing after wealth and
then something tragic happens to him and
this is where you get to see God
intervene and do something that's
tremendously merciful and instructive
for us in the middle of a messy story
about Sodom you see how God wants us to
inter to interact with Messy stories
like Sodom so how does God do that we're
gonna see four major Empires this
Genesis 14 very famous ancient war these
four major Empires team up and they just
go through the whole region and they're
plundering the major cities of the
region so Sodom and Gomorrah and and
other territories and what they do is
they plunder all of the stuff all of the
riches all of the wealth and then they
enslave all of the people and so these
four major Empires come destroy these
cities and they take the plunder and
their people and they start heading back
home and Abraham hears of this and
here's what's fascinating lot has just
betrayed Abraham for money does that
sound familiar can you think of anyone
else who's betrayed for money like
that's our savior right and the rest of
them are all the people of Sodom who God
has said as just utterly Wicked people
right we know how Wicked they are from
the later story and they start heading
up North and here's where you find
Abraham doing something outrageously
courageous and faithful he rounds up the
318 people in his little village that he
can muster up and they chase down this
major Empire attack them at
night rescues lot rescues the people of
Sodom all of their wealth brings them
back and gives them back to the king of
Sodom and the king of Sodom is like you
can keep all the wealth and Abraham's
like no no no my God is not going to be
indebted to you I can't take a dime of
this which is shows that he's not like
them he's not greedy he's not living for
the treasures of this world but then
another character comes and he's an odd
character he's an odd character he
appears one time in the entire Bible and
it happens in Genesis 14
and it's a guy named melkisedek and
there's so many clues about who this is
and it's really really beautiful and
instructive for us so the name
melchisedek comes from two different
Hebrew words for King MC and zedek
righteousness so he's the king of
righteousness and then it says he's the
king of Salem OR Shalom which means he's
the king of righteousness he's the king
of Peace then it tells us that he's the
priest of God most high and he comes
with Bread and Wine which which are the
emblems of
communion and it's hinting at you that
this being that appears once is Christ
later on it will say that Jesus is a
priest this you find this in Hebrews you
find this in the Psalms that Jesus is a
priest according to the order of
melchisedek this guy he is the king of
righteousness he is the king of Peace he
comes with The Bread and Wine he is the
high priest of God most high and
melkisedek shows up and he's just there
ready to celebrate Abraham for what he's
just done and you think why in the world
would you want to celebrate Abraham for
this of all the things that Abraham has
done like you obeyed the call he left
haran he went on this journey after
being called by God he'll do so many
faithful things in his life but the one
moment that melkisedek the pre-incarnate
Jesus shows up to praise Abraham for is
you just went on a rescue mission to
rescue somebody who sold you out out for
silver and you chase down the people of
Sodom the most wicked vile repulsive
people of the region and you were
willing to lay down your life to rescue
people like that and the pre-incarnate
Jesus in melchisedec shows up and goes
oh Blessed Be Abraham by God most high
like that is pointing our hearts to
Mercy so here's where you see the the
troubling dynamic because you have God
who's going to Scorch them with Justice
and yet what does God celebrate for us
us
mercy so even though God knows that
these people are going to be destroyed
for their wickedness he shows up and
levels praise upon praise upon Abraham
for showing Mercy even to the wicked um
so what does that teach us about God
then what it teaches me is that Justice
is ultimately left in the hands of God I
mean he's going to rightly judge the
city of Sodom for their wickedness and
yet he celebrates Abraham for being
tremendously merciful to those same
people for being willing to lay down his
life for those people he presents the
nature of God to those people and that's
all Abraham is asked to do and God
celebrates him for being merciful and
kind and just to the wicked and it's
like God is saying
Justice Vengeance that belongs to me
your role as my people is Mercy and
that's beautiful it's amazing so God is
really truly praising Abraham for his
Mercy I mean he sends the pre-incarnate
Jesus to bless him and Abraham gives him
a tenth another sign that Abraham
believes that he's God he's tithing to
this figure melkisedek and and that
doesn't stop in this moment the chapter
before Sodom is destroyed in Genesis 18
God comes to Abraham and he's like this
city is about to be destroyed I want to
give you a heads up and Abraham even
though he knows that city is wicked
begins pleading like well what would it
take for you to save the city and then
then he starts negotiating he's like
what if there are 50 righteous guys in
that City would would you destroy the
city if there's 50 righteous guys in
there and God says of course not if I
could find 50 righteous people in that
City I would spare it and then Abraham
knowing that City no that's a pretty
high number completely so he's like well
what about 45 and what about 40 and 30
and 20 and he works all the way down to
10 and Abraham is pleading with God like
interceding for these Wicked people that
take a we can take a hint from that
right we should be praying for our
enemies and those who persecute us and
God says man if you if you could find 10
righteous people in that City I would
spare it for the sake of 10 and what
that teaches us and what it points our
eyes to as
Christians is God will spare a city if
he can find one righteous person in that
City and so what was the point of what
Jesus did Jesus is the only person who
ever walked in this world who was
completely righteous without sin and he
stood here and he welcomed people into
the city of Heaven Come find your
citizenship in the city of Heaven
because there's a righteous person there
and because we have one righteous person
God shows Mercy on all the people who
call his name and that's a beautiful
thing Our God has a heart of mercy and
we find our Salvation in him so not only
do we come to the story of Sodom because
the archaeology that we talked about we
see that it really did take place but it
also points us to a God who is
ultimately just but extremely merciful
even in the midst of his Justice amen
well I hope you enjoyed your time this
week on under the hood join us next week
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