The Oldest Words Ever Found

In 1979, archaeologist Gabriel Barkay was excavating a series of burial caves along the Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem when a thirteen-year-old volunteer made an accidental discovery. The boy broke through the floor of a chamber into a hidden repository untouched for twenty-six centuries. Among the artifacts were two tiny scrolls of hammered silver, each smaller than a cigarette. When technicians at the Israel Museum painstakingly unrolled them three years later, they found the oldest surviving text of Scripture ever discovered — older than the Dead Sea Scrolls by four hundred years.

The words inscribed on that fragile silver were from Numbers 6:24-26. "The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace."

Someone in the seventh century before Christ had carried these words pressed against their body, likely worn around the neck as an amulet, taken into death itself. Of all the passages they could have chosen to keep closest to their skin, they chose this one — the blessing where Yahweh promises to turn His face toward His people.

That ancient Israelite understood something we still need to hear. The Aaronic Blessing is not a wish or a sentiment. It is God placing His name upon us, as verse 27 says. And when El Shaddai speaks your name, not even the grave can silence it.