A MIRACLE IN AN IRISH BOG

by Adam Harbinson

A funny thing happened the other week. An Irish bulldozer driver was digging up bogland to make potting compost somewhere in Ireland 's Midlands when he spotted something odd. That 'something' turned out to be a book of psalms that had been buried in the bog for over a thousand years. For it to have survived buried in a bog is amazing, but for it to be spotted and unearthed when it could so easily have been destroyed is truly miraculous, for even if the bog owner had left it exposed overnight, it could have dried out and just vanished - blown away.

A couple of days before this archaeological find, a friend of mine sent me a prayer letter from a leading rabbi, urging Jewish people to pray using the words of Psalm 83, and guess what, the 1200 year old book of Psalms that was found in an Irish bog was lying open at Psalm 83.

Psalm 83 contains a prophecy that one day, a confederacy of states will arise and commit themselves to the complete destruction of Israel . Verse 4 says, 'Come, let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel will be remembered no more.' Now that's another odd thing, for I heard a leading Lebanese politician speaking on TV recently, and he said that in his view, Israel is at best a temporary nation.

The ancient peoples mentioned in Psalm 83 lived in areas where Saudi Arabia , Jordan , Iraq , Syria , and southern Lebanon are located today. And another group, the Philistines, lived mainly along the coastal plain, the area of the modern Gaza Strip. Experts think this is the Palestinians whose name is a derivative of the Philistines - Israel 's ancient enemy.

Christian and Jewish biblical scholars alike, agree that there's no evidence that such an alliance ever existed before. Could this be a prophetic warning of impending destruction? If so, and I wouldn't be surprised, Israel 's politicians would do well to listen to their biblical scholars, for they could point them to a number of interesting precedents.

Like 2nd Chronicles 20 for example. Jehoshaphat was king. A vast army was approaching and the king, alarmed as he was, 'resolved to enquire of the Lord.' That's lesson number one. Then he proclaimed a fast and all the people of Judah gathered to hear what their king had to say about it. That's lesson number two.

Then Jehoshaphat prayed: 'O Lord, you rule over all the kingdoms. Power and might are in your hand. No one can stand against you. If calamity comes we will stand before this temple and cry out to you and you will hear us and save us.' And then he concludes, 'We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.'

That's lesson number three, and that's where the leaders of Israel have got it wrong. They're relying on their own military might, backed by a trigger-happy Texan half a world away. And that's why Hezbollah can hide their rocket launchers behind human shields and over 60 innocent people, including a one year old infant, are killed in Cana of Galilee.

I think we should all pray the words of Psalm 83. I also think we should pray the prayer of Jehoshaphat. Not just for the women and children in Israel and Lebanon , but also because a conflagration that could envelop the entire world could develop if the situation is allowed to get out of hand.

Isn't it funny what an Irish labourer can turn up in a bog?

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