BiblicalInsights.net

A recent article appeared in the National Geographic magazine claiming that there were no domesticated camels at the time of the biblical patriarchs (Abraham, Job), therefore, the Bible has to be in error.
John Noble Wlford calls the mention of camels in Abraham’s day (Gen. 12:16) an anachronism. An anachronism is a statement that represents a person, event, or thing in a historical context in which it could not have occurred or existed. It is a chronological inconsistency. Wilford writing in the New York Times, states, “These anachronisms are telling evidence that the Bible was written or edited long after the events it narrates and is not always reliable as verifiable history” (yahoo.com, 2/13/2014). Research was published recently by Erez Ben-Yosef and Lidar Sapir-Hen, archeologists from Tel Aviv University in Israel based on radioactive-carbon dating techniques which they claim shows that camels were not domesticated until hundreds of years after the events documented in the book of Genesis. The authors suggest the domestication of camels in the eastern Mediterranean until 1000 B.C. (yahoo.com article by Mike Krumboltz, 2/13/2014).
Archeologits have known for quite some time that camels were domesticated in China/Mongolia around 3500 B.C. and that they were domesticated in the Middle East somewhere around 2500 to 3000 B.C. (see the chart on domestication provided at archeologyabout.com). There are two references that should be consulted on this matter that are very helpful to the Bible student.
The first is The New Bible Dictionary, J. D. Douglas, organizing editor (1962) p. 181-183. The article on camels was written by K. A. Kitchen. Kitchen cites the archeological evidence for the domestication of camels in the partricarchal period. First and foremost, he mentions a reference to the domestication of the camel in a cuneiform tablet from Alalah in North Syria (18th century BC) as GAM.MAL; see Wiseman, JCS XIII, 1959, p. 29 and Goetze, ibid., p. 37…). Next, he mentions the kneeling camel-figure from Byblos of similar date, Montet, Byblos et l”Egypte, 1928, p. 91 and plate 53, No. 179. A camel’s jaw was found in a Middle Bronze Age tomb at Tell el-Fara’ by Nablus (c. 1900-1550 B.C.), de Vaux, op.cit., p. 9, note 8. In the Etyptian Fayum province was found a camel-skull dated to the “Pottery A” state, i. e. within the period c. 2000-1400 BC, the period from the patriarchs to Moses (see O. H. Little, Bulletin de l’Institut d’Egypte, XVIII, 1935-6, p. 215). From the Memphis region comes a figure of a camel with two waterjars (clear evidence of its domestication in Egypt) datable by associated archaeological material to about the 13th century BC, Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, 1907, p. 23 and plate 27.
A second resource is Approaches to faunal Analysis in the Middle East, edited by Richard H. Meadow and Melinda A. Zeder (Peabody Museum Bulletin 2) 1978, pp. 93-103. The article is titled, “The Camel: Its Distribution and State of Domestication in the Middle East During the Third Millennium B.C. in Light of the finds from Shahr-i Sokhta, pp. 93-103. (Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, New Haven, CT). The Peabody Museum is associated with Harvard University. The authors date the domestication of the camel before 2500 BC.
These resources help to establish the veracity of the Scriptures. Camels are mentioned in Gen. 12:16 and Job 1:3. The time of Abraham and Job is given as around 2100 to 2200 BC. The archeological evidence proves the truthfulness of the statements in God’s Word. Let God be true and every man a liar! (Rom. 3:4).

Thirty-year-old Christiana Hines stopped by a gas station early Tuesday morning in Casselberry, FL, but left a $50 bill on the counter when she left the convenience store. A clerk tried to give it back, but Ms. Hines was already driving away. As it turned out, a Seminold County sheriff’s duputy had just arrived. When he learned that the cleark was trying to give the woman back her $50, the deputy offered to go after the woman and return the money himself. The deputy caught up with Ms. Hines, but before alterting her to his presence, he decided to check her tags. He discovered Ms. Hines’ license had been suspended. He put on his lights and sirens and that’s when Ms. Hines sped off. Casselberry Police set up a spiked strip to stop Hines, and though it deflated the car’s right-side tires, she still managed to speed away and lose the police. It wasn’t until she had driven into a gated community that police sergeant with the Casselberry Police spotted her and arrested her. Beyond leading the police in a car chase and having a suspended license, Hines had heroin and hypodermic needles in her car. The Sentinel reported that, “She is being held in John E. Polk Correctional Facility on charges of resisting an officer, heroin possession, driving while license suspended and possession of drug-use equipment.” All because she had forgotten a $50 bill at a gas station. (Yahoo.com, “Woman Leads Police on Chase After She forgets $50 on gas station counter (4/15/2014)).
In Genesis 3:1-10, we read the account of Adam and Eve’s sin against God when they ate of the forbidden fruit. Both of them hid from God. God pursued them, “where art thou?” Adam replied: “I heard”; “I was afraid because I was naked”; and “I hid myself.” Adam hides from God as God pursues him. Adam hides because he has sinned. God pursues him to help him. Most of the time when we run from God, we are attempting to hide our sins. God only desires to do us good. He knows we need redemption. He alone can provide it. Sin separates us from God. Yet, God seeks us through His Son Jesus Christ in order to reconcile us to Himself (II Cor. 5:17-19). When will we stop running from God?

The sermon Peter delivered on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 is recorded by Luke. A significant statement made by Peter in the sermon brings together two important concepts in Scripture. Peter said, “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknoweldge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” In one sentence, the foreknowledge of God and the free-will of man are brought together. How do we harmonize these important concepts?
First, the foreknowledge of God is clearly taught in the Scriptures. The prophecies recorded in Scripture prove the foreknoweldge of God. God foreknew that Abraham would become the father of many nations (Gen. 12:1-2; 22:17-18; Rom. 4:17). God foreknew that a new covenant would be made with Israel (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:6-13). God foreknew that Jesus would be crucified, buried and raised again the third day (Isa. 53; Psa. 2; Psa. 16; I Cor. 15:1-3). To these prophecies, we could add hundreds more. The foreknowledge of God is a fact.
Second, the free-will of man is taught in the Scriptures. Freedom is implied in our view of ourselves. We know intuitively that we have the power of rational thought and volition (power of choice). When faced with two choices, a man knows that he can think about each choice, evaluate the arguments pro and con, and then decide which he thinks is best to pursue. Here is a good question for determinists, “how do determinists know that they do not possess rational thought?” Freedom is also implied in our treatment of others. People hold other people accountable for their actions. The usual way that we deal with each other is that we praise others for their achievements and blame them for their failures. We treat other people as individuals possessing will, aspirations, personality, etc., and not as mundane objects (a toaster or a book). We hold others accountable for their choices and we emphasize personal responsibility for their conduct. Freedom is also implied in the words of Peter who indicts those who crucified Jesus saying they did so with wicked hands. Later, he will command them to repent of this sin (Acts 2:38). Clearly, the apostle is holding them responsible for their conduct.
Third, how do we harmonize God’s foreknoweldge and man’s free-will? To know is not necessarily to cause to happen. God is infinite in knowledge. He sees everything (past, present and future) in one present moment. We are finite in knowledge. We see the past (limitedly) and present (also limitedly), but we do not see the future. God can foresee the choices of free individuals before they make those choices. We simply do not understand this type of knowledge because we are finite beings. God has such power and wisdom, that foreknowing the actions of free men, He can so interweave, or enmesh, His plans with the plans of free men that he can bring to pass, through their free choices and the sending of His prophets and His Son and through His providences, results which were not intended or foreseen by men, but which did not take away their freedom of choice (The Hub of the Bible, James Bales, 119). Man is a limited, finite, being. God is infinite in all of His perfections, including knowledge. God’s foreknowledge is absolute. Man’s free-will is real, but limited. Man is not God! This reasoning helps us avoid the charge of a contradiction between God’s foreknowledge and man’s free-will. If we affirmed that both were absolute, we would be affirming a contradiction. It is wrong to assume that man has unlimited freedom, or that he has no freedom. Freedom is not unlimited, but it is still real freedom. A contradiction is a statement or propositon that affirms that something is both A and not A at the same time and in the same circumstance. If we said that God had absolute sovereignty and man had absolute free-will, we would be affirming a contradiction. However, we affirm that God is sovereign and man’s free-will is limited. A man has freedom to choose, but he does not have the power to accomplish anything that he chooses. Also, he is limited by God. God tells man what to do. Men do not tell God what to do. God holds man accountable for his conduct. This ultimate accountability will be manifest in the Judgment Day. You might want to recall that Satan has freedom, but his freedom to act is also limited (Job 1-2; I John 3:8). Satan is not co-equal nor co-eternal with God. Jesus could cast out demons. But, demons never cast Jesus out of anybody. Demons do not have the power to do anything that they want to do. No one tells God what to do. No one holds God accountable for His actions. Clearly, there is a difference between God and man; God and Satan, God and demons. God alone has absolute power to accomplish what He purposes!