The Jeselsohn Stone: Gabriel's Revelation: God's Truth

I visited the Houston Museum of Natural science with a friend yesterday afternoon. There is a wonderful exhibit called, "The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story" that I had been wanting to see. And given this is Holy Week, I thought it would be a very appropriate time to see it. I was not disappointed. It was a very good show. And I'm sure it would not been as good had Kelley and I not latched on to a docent or two who added so much flavor to an already rich experience.

The exhibit explores the cultural, political, and personal environment that surrounded Israel 2000 years ago. I learned quite a bit about the Hasmoneons (Macabbees) reign. And having already been to Israel, it brought back wonderful memories of that land. The best part was the second half, with the Dead Sea scrolls of Matthew, John, Galatians (and a missing Isaiah scroll that I would have loved to have seen). And then there was the Jeselsohn stone (also known as "Gabriel's Revelation").

It is a three foot tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew text. That's not so amazing. Experts date it to decades before the birth of Jesus. That's not so amazing either. What is amazing is that the text speaks of a Messiah who will rise from the dead after three days!

I guess it brings new meaning to something being "written in stone". But I didn't need it to be written in stone to believe it either. It's written on my heart.

He is Risen indeed!

All for now,
Lisa

P.S. You can read more about the stone in the NY Times article here
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/world/middleeast/06stone.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

You can see the Hebrew text here:
http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=34&Issue=1&ArticleID=16#BSBA340124

You can see the English translation here:
http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=34&Issue=1&ArticleID=16#BSBA340123