Although most people have never even heard of the Shephelah, it is by far one of the most important places in the Bible. In Old Testament times, having control over this region symbolized power and military strength. The Shephelah is usually translated into English as “rolling foothills” or “lowlands,” and acted as a buffer zone between the Coastal Plain and the Judean Hill Country. However, not only did Israel need this zone for purposes of protection, but also for its agricultural benefits. Because of its geographical location and importance, all throughout the Bible we see the Israelites and the Philistines fighting over it.
We traveled through the Shephelah via the diagonal route, which goes southwest from Aijalon to Lachish. We started our field trip in Beth-Shemesh, or “house of the sun.” Since the Sorek Valley is famous for being the setting of most of the story of Samson, we mostly talked about his life. We all know that Samson took a Nazirite vow and could not drink wine, but being there and realizing that the Sorek Valley is famous for its vineyards makes this vow much more admirable. In fact, Sorek means “a choice vine.” Judges 13:25 tells us that the Spirit of the Lord began to move in Samson between Zorah and Eshtaol, both of which we could see from Beth-Shemesh. From this city we were also able to see Timnah, the place where Samson meets his Philistine girlfriend. To take vengeance on the Philistines when they give his wife away to his friend, he burns the vines, the grains, and the olive groves. This was a major blow to the Philistines, because the olive groves took years to plant and grow. Later, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Samson and he killed a thousand Philistine men with a “fresh jawbone.” We had a chance to re-enact this story at Beth-shemesh with a real jawbone, and we realized how incredible this feat was.
While we were there, we also talked about how the Ark of the Covenant returned from Ekron to Beth-shemesh via the Sorek Valley (1 Sam. 6:10-7:3). The Israelites lost the Ark when they tried to manipulate God, and it is somewhat ironic that God used two cows to bring it back. When the Israelites from Beth-shemesh run out to the cart, because of their presumption, God kills many of them. Finally, the men of Kiriath Jearim came down to the Sorek Valley and brought it back to Kiriath Jearim, where it stayed for twenty years.
Next, we traveled to Azekah in the Elah Valley, where David defeated Goliath. We saw where the Philistines spread out across the south side of Elah Valley, in the hills of Socoh and Azekah, and the Israelites camped on the hills on the other side of the valley. We were able to visit the Brook Elah, where David gathered five smooth stones, and re-enact the story with an ancient slingshot and a stone from the brook. We also passed by Adullam, where David hid when the king of Gath pursued him. David would have traveled via the Valley of Elah when he went from Gath to Adullam.
Mareshat Gath, hometown of the prophet Micah, was the next on our itinerary. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, who prophesied about the Assyrian threat as the punishment for Judah’s sin. However, there was still hope for the nation; as he looked up to the Judean Hill Country, he prophesied that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem Epaphrah. We also got to visit some amazing caves at this city. After lunch, we visited some more caves at Mareshah, where King Asa of Judah stops the invasion of Zerah and the Ethiopians and has victory over them.
Our next stop was Lachish, one of the cities which attacked Gibeon after Joshua made a treaty with the Gibeonites. The Lachish Valley is famous for grapes, which is evidenced by the grapes in Sennacherib’s relief. We were able to pick delicious grapes at Lachish, and see the tell there, which is one of the biggest Iron Age structures in Israel. We discussed Isaiah 10 and 37, which discuss how the Assyrian siege affected King Hezekiah, and how the Lord gave him a miraculous victory. We also learned about the Lachish letters, which name both Lachish and Azekah and mention that Azekah had been captured during the Babylonian conquest. Lachish was to follow shortly. It is always interesting to see how archaeology and the biblical account so often perfectly correlate; at a gate in Lachish they have found potsherds mentioning Lachish and Azekah.
As a grand finale to our Shephelah field trip, we visited the Philistine city of Gath, which guards the mouth of the Elah Valley. Many important biblical events took place here (such as the Ark stopping here), but we mostly talked about the account of David fleeing here and pretending to be a madman so that the king of Gath would let him live (1 Sam. 21:10-22:2). David flees to Gath thinking that he will find refuge from Saul and at the same time trying to protect his people from having to betray him. 1 Samuel 21 says that David was very much afraid of King Achish, but when David writes psalms 34 and 56, we see that a complete change has taken place in David’s heart. “When I am afraid,” David cries out, “I put my trust in You, in God whose Word I praise...What can flesh do to me?” David has learned to praise God through His Word rather than put his trust in men. He also writes Psalm 34 during this time and talks about fear again, but this time in a different context: “O fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack.” David’s fear of man has been channeled into a righteous fear of the LORD. At Gath, we were given a chance to look at the sunset and spend time praying and reflecting on these passages. I thought about how Psalm 56:4 was my favorite verse as a little girl, and how it comforted me countless times growing up. Understanding the context behind this verse and attempting to put myself in David’s shoes for the first time brought this passage into a whole new life. God was faithful to David and continues to be faithful “to those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations.” How can we do anything but praise Him through His Word and fear and worship Him?
P.S. sorry there aren't pictures... hopefully I'll get some up soon.
Shalom :)
David's unshakable joy
My roommate described this weekend as 24 hours of fun. I couldn’t agree more. We went to the Dead Sea, had a great time floating, and then covered ourselves in Dead Sea mud from head to toe, and then floated some more
.That was definitely all a blast, but my favorite part was the devotional that Abner, one of our profs, gave on the wanderings of David when he fled from Saul. As he read Psalm 56 and 57 (one of which David wrote while camping out near the Dead Sea) and explained the context, we looked up at the stars and the moon shining down on the sea, and the beautiful mountains in the background… I can’t explain it, but the sky just looks bigger in Israel. The stars look brighter, and the moonlight is incredible. I began to understand why David thought the way he did, why he was so fearful for his life, and why he fought so hard for joy. Abner challenged us to examine our hearts, whether we really seek to give glory to God during the trials or just pray for an escape from our problems. David truly sought God’s glory above his own. He cries out passionately for God to be exalted over the heavens.
After a hard-core night of sleeping under the stars along with a hundred sticky flies, we got up and set out to hike up to the Ascent of Ziz, which is the ascent that the Moabites and Ammonites used when they came against Jehoshaphat at Engedi (2 Chron. 20).
Most of the hike was straight uphill, and by the time we got to the first spring, we were already worn out and excited to splash the cold water on our faces and drink water. As we gulped down our water, Abner read to us from Psalm 63. David most likely wrote this psalm envisioning a spring just like the one we were being refreshed by. I could imagine him, worn out and thirsty as he fled from Saul, coming up to a spring and crying out to God: “As thirsty as I am for this water, I thirst for You, God, so much more. As much as I enjoy this refreshing water that You have given me, I enjoy You so much more.” Could I truly say that to God? I long for this to be my prayer! God IS so much more satisfying than anything else. Let us never forget that. We continued our hike up the Nahal David (a ravine leading to Engedi) and enjoyed God’s creation, 
stopping along the way at pools and springs and beautiful waterfalls.
After a hard-core night of sleeping under the stars along with a hundred sticky flies, we got up and set out to hike up to the Ascent of Ziz, which is the ascent that the Moabites and Ammonites used when they came against Jehoshaphat at Engedi (2 Chron. 20).
Most of the hike was straight uphill, and by the time we got to the first spring, we were already worn out and excited to splash the cold water on our faces and drink water. As we gulped down our water, Abner read to us from Psalm 63. David most likely wrote this psalm envisioning a spring just like the one we were being refreshed by. I could imagine him, worn out and thirsty as he fled from Saul, coming up to a spring and crying out to God: “As thirsty as I am for this water, I thirst for You, God, so much more. As much as I enjoy this refreshing water that You have given me, I enjoy You so much more.” Could I truly say that to God? I long for this to be my prayer! God IS so much more satisfying than anything else. Let us never forget that. We continued our hike up the Nahal David (a ravine leading to Engedi) and enjoyed God’s creation, 
stopping along the way at pools and springs and beautiful waterfalls.I was so encouraged as I thought about David’s unshakable joy in the midst of intense trials and years of fleeing, all the while knowing that he had been chosen to be the next king of Israel. Next time you read one of David’s psalms, spend time studying the context and trying to put yourself in David’s shoes. It makes all the difference in the world.
Yom Kippur: The most serious day of the year
In one of my last posts I talked about Rosh Hashanah, when Jewish people welcome in the new year and prepare their hearts for Yom Kippur. Well, today is Yom Kippur. And I am so grateful to be in Israel for such an important biblical holy day. It’s the most serious day of the year, and on it all of the country basically shuts down. We went for a walk on the highway and there was hardly a car to be seen.
Yom Kippur is a day of serious prayer, fasting, and synagogue attendance, a time to seek God’s forgiveness and atonement for their sins. When the temple was still standing, two goats were brought to the temple each year. One was slaughtered as judgment for sin, and the other was the “scapegoat.” The high priest would lay his hands on this goat and then he was taken into the wilderness, to “bear all their iniquities on itself” (Lev. 16:22). Everything rested on the high priest. This was the only time anyone could enter into the Holy of Holies…If he didn’t do everything exactly right, the nation was doomed. But if he did, then all was well, and the people were forgiven… until the next year. There is just one problem with all of this. The temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Which means that there are no sacrifices, no high priest, no scapegoat. So the rabbis have made it into a day of introspection and pleading with God to forgive one’s sins. Atonement must be achieved before the end of Yom Kippur, because the Book of Life is then closed until the next year, according to rabbinical thought. Which means that instead of everything resting on the shoulders of the high priest, it rests on each individual. Next week if Shlomo dies, his friends and neighbors will assume it was because he did not repent enough, or do the right things on Yom Kippur. What a horrible burden for these people! Today many of us fasted along with the Jewish people. We got together throughout the day and prayed and repented and praised God for His atonement. Only there’s one major difference. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come… he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption… Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean…” (Heb. 9:11-12; 10:19-22)
Yom Kippur is a day of serious prayer, fasting, and synagogue attendance, a time to seek God’s forgiveness and atonement for their sins. When the temple was still standing, two goats were brought to the temple each year. One was slaughtered as judgment for sin, and the other was the “scapegoat.” The high priest would lay his hands on this goat and then he was taken into the wilderness, to “bear all their iniquities on itself” (Lev. 16:22). Everything rested on the high priest. This was the only time anyone could enter into the Holy of Holies…If he didn’t do everything exactly right, the nation was doomed. But if he did, then all was well, and the people were forgiven… until the next year. There is just one problem with all of this. The temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Which means that there are no sacrifices, no high priest, no scapegoat. So the rabbis have made it into a day of introspection and pleading with God to forgive one’s sins. Atonement must be achieved before the end of Yom Kippur, because the Book of Life is then closed until the next year, according to rabbinical thought. Which means that instead of everything resting on the shoulders of the high priest, it rests on each individual. Next week if Shlomo dies, his friends and neighbors will assume it was because he did not repent enough, or do the right things on Yom Kippur. What a horrible burden for these people! Today many of us fasted along with the Jewish people. We got together throughout the day and prayed and repented and praised God for His atonement. Only there’s one major difference. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come… he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption… Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean…” (Heb. 9:11-12; 10:19-22)
All roads lead to Jerusalem. At least the important ones.
Jerusalem Approaches Field Report: unabridged ;)
One of the first things you learn at IBEX is that geography shapes history. The landscape is the ultimate determiner for where events will take place, and due to the variety in Israel’s geography, the routes leading to and from each city are essential to understanding the country’s history. Since geography has not changed over the past millennia, we can look at almost any biblical event and even if we do not know where the exact location of the event is, we can almost always know which routes were taken and why. In Israel, power was in large part determined by whoever had control over the routes to and from Jerusalem. During the Jerusalem Approaches field trip, we were able to travel on the routes where Israel’s history was shaped, and understand why the routes existed and why they were so crucial for the nation.
Since we had already explored the northern approach to Jerusalem (the Central Benjamin Plateau), we mostly focused on the eastern and southern approaches. First, we visited Beth-Phage and Bethany. Both of these are on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. Bethany was the hometown of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and the disciples got the donkey on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem before His crucifixion from Beth-phage. We spent a lot of time discussing the raising of Lazarus (John 11) and how this miracle proves that our Lord Jesus Christ has the keys to death and Hades. The next time Jesus was in Bethany was for the Triumphal Entry.
The last major biblical event in/near Bethany was Christ’s ascension (Luke 24:50-52). When our Lord came into the vicinity of Bethany after His resurrection, the people were looking for a physical kingdom with power. Jesus tells them that they will receive power, but not the kind they imagined; they will receive the Holy Spirit which will enable them to be spread His glory and name throughout all of the nation and the entire world. As I thought about how the Messiah was taken up out of the disciples’ sight and how Acts 1 says that Jesus will come back in the same way as He went, I gazed up into the sky and worshipped the Lord for revealing Himself to mankind and returning to heaven to be our High Priest.
To get from Beth-phage to Jerusalem you must travel on the ridges because of the steep tributaries of the Kidron Valley. After reading the account in Matthew 21:1-11 about Jesus Christ fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 by getting on a donkey at Beth-phage and rode to Jerusalem, we walked where our Lord rode. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I had always imagined Christ riding a very short distance on a straight path leading up to the place where the crowds were waiting for Him with palm branches. Actually, this road was about 2 miles, and was mostly uphill. As I walked and dodged cars, I read Psalm 118 and could feel the excitement that the Jews must have felt as they sang part of the Hallel to welcome the King of Kings. I had always been taught that the same Jews who worshipped Him during His Triumphal Entry changed their minds in the worst display of fickleness humankind has ever known and cried out for Him to be crucified just a week later. I was relieved to learn that a better interpretation of this event is that there were different groups of Jews, which is why the High Priest needed for Judas to betray Him in the secret; Jesus had the favor of the multitudes.
After visiting the probable site of Jesus’ ascension, we visited some traditional contenders for the place of the ascension. The first Church of the Ascension was built by the Byzantines under Helena, the mother of Constantine, in the 4th century. However, after its destruction, it was converted into the “Pater Noster” church because other “Ascension churches” were built nearby on the Mount of Olives.
Seeing the Lord’s Prayer in so many different languages reminded me that every tribe, tongue and nation will one day confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We also visited the road that comes down the Mount of Olives and discussed Luke 19:37-44, when the Lord Jesus comes down this road and claims that even the stones would cry out if those worshiping Him during the Triumphal Entry were to remain silent, and when He weeps over Jerusalem. There are stones all around this road; in fact, beside this road there has been a cemetery for centuries, even during Jesus’ time, so it is possible that Jesus was referring to the stones marking the graves when He spoke the words of Luke 20:40. I could not help but wonder what it would have sounded like for stones to cry out and worship our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that God’s people will be worshippers in spirit and in truth, so that the stones will never have a chance to cry out. We also briefly discussed the Olivet discourse and the power that will accompany the Mashiac’s second coming (cf. Zechariah 14).
Next on our itinerary was the “Ketef Hinnom,” or the Shoulder of Hinnom. We visited a tomb where the oldest Hebrew inscription, from the Iron Age (First Temple Period), was found. This inscription was found on a tiny silver amulet and contained the words of the Aaronic blessing
(Num. 6:24-26). One reason why this is highly significant is that it is the first time the name of Yahweh is mentioned in extra-biblical texts. These tombs are located below the Scottish Presbyterian Church, and date back to before the first destruction of Jerusalem. Since this was a complex burial system involving several built-in headrests for the corpses and an underground room for the bones of the dead, it was probably used for rich people. The bones of successive generations were buried on top of each other after the bodies started to decay, which could be what prompted the biblical phrase “his bones were gathered to his fathers.” Eight of us lay down on the tombs’ niches and one by one, Bill called out to us to “Come forth” as Lazarus had done. I was the first one he called, and as I rose up, for the first time this all too familiar Sunday School story came alive for me. I finally understood why it was such an awesome, powerful miracle, the culmination of every other miracle Jesus had performed on earth.
One more reason why Ketef Hinnom is relevant to God’s Word is that it is mentioned in the border description in Joshua 15. The boundary is said to go up on the shoulder of the Hinnom Valley on the southern side, with the Valley of Rephaim on the other side. The Levite in Judges 19 and his concubine also would have traveled near the Ketef Hinnom when they decided to travel to Gibeah or Ramah instead of stopping at Jebus. Finally, Abraham possibly met Melchizedek, king of Salem, near here.
After viewing Jerusalem from the southern side near the possible location of Caiaphas’ tomb, we finally got to visit the place of our childhood dreams: Bethlehem. An Eastern Orthodox church called the “Church of the Nativity” marks the supposed location of Jesus’ birth with a silver star. Even though we obviously cannot know exactly where the Christ was born, we do know that the area of the church is ancient Bethlehem. As we stood in front of the church, we read and discussed Luke 2:1-14 and pointed out many misconceptions regarding the nativity story, such as the late midnight arrival and Joseph and Mary traveling alone. In any case, Christ’s birth was definitely humble and reminded me of the amazing truth of Philippians 2:5-8. Next, we visited the shepherds’ field east of Bethlehem, which was mostly desert. We talked about how the angels appeared to the shepherds and how this was amazing in light of the four hundred silent years Israel had gone through. This was the first time God had publicly interrupted man’s affairs since the Old Testament prophets. We sang Gloria in Excelsis Deo and contemplated the good news of Jesus Christ’s birth. Another interesting event that took place in the fields near Bethlehem is the story of Ruth and Boaz harvesting barley.
Seeing the Herodium right after Bethlehem was a stark contrast. On the way there, we read some of Josephus which talked about the pomp and splendor accompanying Herod’s life and death. In fact, he was called the king of the Jews by the Romans. What a contrast to our Savior’s humble birth, life, and death. We visited the military post from which Herod could have ordered the death of the babies in Bethlehem, as well as the courtyard and ancient synagogue built by zealots.
Next we visited Tekoa, the hometown of the shepherd-prophet Amos, who ministered in the North. The main thrust of his message was to denounce a life of prosperity and ease, and to emphasize that worship and conduct cannot be separated. After reading some of Amos, we turned our attention to another biblical event which took place near the fields of Tekoa: the defeat of the Moabites and Ammonites by Judah under Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20). For a long time this has been one of my favorite stories in the Bible, because it is an amazing picture of how the LORD fights our battles and why we should put all of our trust in Him rather than in our own strength. I had never really paid attention to the geography of the story, however, and did not understand that the Moabites and Ammonites were attempting to invade and control Jerusalem from the south, or that the En Gedi-Tekoa ridge route on which Jehoshaphat’s singers led the army exists because of the Nahal Arugot. The people all knew about the Nahal Arugot, which is comparable to the Grand Canyon, and would have seen it as they passed by the Tekoa route. The people only had to look at the splendor of the mountains and valleys around them to know that God was real and His promises were true. Nearby, at the Valley of Rephaim, the Philistines were defeated twice by David (2 Samuel 5:17-25). When David exclaimed that “The LORD has burst through my enemies before me like a bursting flood” and named the place accordingly, he probably had the nearby springs in mind. We got to visit a similar spring which literally burst forth incessantly like a flood, and could understand why David would have used this terminology.
From the beginning of this field trip to the end, we were able to clearly see how God repeatedly intervened in man’s affairs to bring about His glory and work His perfect purposes in history. We were reminded of the importance of geography in studying God’s Word and understanding key biblical events, and thankful once again to be able to see Scripture come to life in the very places where God ordained for His people’s history to be shaped.
Since we had already explored the northern approach to Jerusalem (the Central Benjamin Plateau), we mostly focused on the eastern and southern approaches. First, we visited Beth-Phage and Bethany. Both of these are on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. Bethany was the hometown of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and the disciples got the donkey on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem before His crucifixion from Beth-phage. We spent a lot of time discussing the raising of Lazarus (John 11) and how this miracle proves that our Lord Jesus Christ has the keys to death and Hades. The next time Jesus was in Bethany was for the Triumphal Entry.
The last major biblical event in/near Bethany was Christ’s ascension (Luke 24:50-52). When our Lord came into the vicinity of Bethany after His resurrection, the people were looking for a physical kingdom with power. Jesus tells them that they will receive power, but not the kind they imagined; they will receive the Holy Spirit which will enable them to be spread His glory and name throughout all of the nation and the entire world. As I thought about how the Messiah was taken up out of the disciples’ sight and how Acts 1 says that Jesus will come back in the same way as He went, I gazed up into the sky and worshipped the Lord for revealing Himself to mankind and returning to heaven to be our High Priest.To get from Beth-phage to Jerusalem you must travel on the ridges because of the steep tributaries of the Kidron Valley. After reading the account in Matthew 21:1-11 about Jesus Christ fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 by getting on a donkey at Beth-phage and rode to Jerusalem, we walked where our Lord rode. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I had always imagined Christ riding a very short distance on a straight path leading up to the place where the crowds were waiting for Him with palm branches. Actually, this road was about 2 miles, and was mostly uphill. As I walked and dodged cars, I read Psalm 118 and could feel the excitement that the Jews must have felt as they sang part of the Hallel to welcome the King of Kings. I had always been taught that the same Jews who worshipped Him during His Triumphal Entry changed their minds in the worst display of fickleness humankind has ever known and cried out for Him to be crucified just a week later. I was relieved to learn that a better interpretation of this event is that there were different groups of Jews, which is why the High Priest needed for Judas to betray Him in the secret; Jesus had the favor of the multitudes.
After visiting the probable site of Jesus’ ascension, we visited some traditional contenders for the place of the ascension. The first Church of the Ascension was built by the Byzantines under Helena, the mother of Constantine, in the 4th century. However, after its destruction, it was converted into the “Pater Noster” church because other “Ascension churches” were built nearby on the Mount of Olives.
Seeing the Lord’s Prayer in so many different languages reminded me that every tribe, tongue and nation will one day confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We also visited the road that comes down the Mount of Olives and discussed Luke 19:37-44, when the Lord Jesus comes down this road and claims that even the stones would cry out if those worshiping Him during the Triumphal Entry were to remain silent, and when He weeps over Jerusalem. There are stones all around this road; in fact, beside this road there has been a cemetery for centuries, even during Jesus’ time, so it is possible that Jesus was referring to the stones marking the graves when He spoke the words of Luke 20:40. I could not help but wonder what it would have sounded like for stones to cry out and worship our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that God’s people will be worshippers in spirit and in truth, so that the stones will never have a chance to cry out. We also briefly discussed the Olivet discourse and the power that will accompany the Mashiac’s second coming (cf. Zechariah 14).Next on our itinerary was the “Ketef Hinnom,” or the Shoulder of Hinnom. We visited a tomb where the oldest Hebrew inscription, from the Iron Age (First Temple Period), was found. This inscription was found on a tiny silver amulet and contained the words of the Aaronic blessing
(Num. 6:24-26). One reason why this is highly significant is that it is the first time the name of Yahweh is mentioned in extra-biblical texts. These tombs are located below the Scottish Presbyterian Church, and date back to before the first destruction of Jerusalem. Since this was a complex burial system involving several built-in headrests for the corpses and an underground room for the bones of the dead, it was probably used for rich people. The bones of successive generations were buried on top of each other after the bodies started to decay, which could be what prompted the biblical phrase “his bones were gathered to his fathers.” Eight of us lay down on the tombs’ niches and one by one, Bill called out to us to “Come forth” as Lazarus had done. I was the first one he called, and as I rose up, for the first time this all too familiar Sunday School story came alive for me. I finally understood why it was such an awesome, powerful miracle, the culmination of every other miracle Jesus had performed on earth.One more reason why Ketef Hinnom is relevant to God’s Word is that it is mentioned in the border description in Joshua 15. The boundary is said to go up on the shoulder of the Hinnom Valley on the southern side, with the Valley of Rephaim on the other side. The Levite in Judges 19 and his concubine also would have traveled near the Ketef Hinnom when they decided to travel to Gibeah or Ramah instead of stopping at Jebus. Finally, Abraham possibly met Melchizedek, king of Salem, near here.
After viewing Jerusalem from the southern side near the possible location of Caiaphas’ tomb, we finally got to visit the place of our childhood dreams: Bethlehem. An Eastern Orthodox church called the “Church of the Nativity” marks the supposed location of Jesus’ birth with a silver star. Even though we obviously cannot know exactly where the Christ was born, we do know that the area of the church is ancient Bethlehem. As we stood in front of the church, we read and discussed Luke 2:1-14 and pointed out many misconceptions regarding the nativity story, such as the late midnight arrival and Joseph and Mary traveling alone. In any case, Christ’s birth was definitely humble and reminded me of the amazing truth of Philippians 2:5-8. Next, we visited the shepherds’ field east of Bethlehem, which was mostly desert. We talked about how the angels appeared to the shepherds and how this was amazing in light of the four hundred silent years Israel had gone through. This was the first time God had publicly interrupted man’s affairs since the Old Testament prophets. We sang Gloria in Excelsis Deo and contemplated the good news of Jesus Christ’s birth. Another interesting event that took place in the fields near Bethlehem is the story of Ruth and Boaz harvesting barley.
Seeing the Herodium right after Bethlehem was a stark contrast. On the way there, we read some of Josephus which talked about the pomp and splendor accompanying Herod’s life and death. In fact, he was called the king of the Jews by the Romans. What a contrast to our Savior’s humble birth, life, and death. We visited the military post from which Herod could have ordered the death of the babies in Bethlehem, as well as the courtyard and ancient synagogue built by zealots.
Next we visited Tekoa, the hometown of the shepherd-prophet Amos, who ministered in the North. The main thrust of his message was to denounce a life of prosperity and ease, and to emphasize that worship and conduct cannot be separated. After reading some of Amos, we turned our attention to another biblical event which took place near the fields of Tekoa: the defeat of the Moabites and Ammonites by Judah under Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20). For a long time this has been one of my favorite stories in the Bible, because it is an amazing picture of how the LORD fights our battles and why we should put all of our trust in Him rather than in our own strength. I had never really paid attention to the geography of the story, however, and did not understand that the Moabites and Ammonites were attempting to invade and control Jerusalem from the south, or that the En Gedi-Tekoa ridge route on which Jehoshaphat’s singers led the army exists because of the Nahal Arugot. The people all knew about the Nahal Arugot, which is comparable to the Grand Canyon, and would have seen it as they passed by the Tekoa route. The people only had to look at the splendor of the mountains and valleys around them to know that God was real and His promises were true. Nearby, at the Valley of Rephaim, the Philistines were defeated twice by David (2 Samuel 5:17-25). When David exclaimed that “The LORD has burst through my enemies before me like a bursting flood” and named the place accordingly, he probably had the nearby springs in mind. We got to visit a similar spring which literally burst forth incessantly like a flood, and could understand why David would have used this terminology.
From the beginning of this field trip to the end, we were able to clearly see how God repeatedly intervened in man’s affairs to bring about His glory and work His perfect purposes in history. We were reminded of the importance of geography in studying God’s Word and understanding key biblical events, and thankful once again to be able to see Scripture come to life in the very places where God ordained for His people’s history to be shaped.
Grapes of Wrath
I want to do things a little differently for this post. I will copy and paste my field report about my “Jerusalem Approaches” field trip (Bethany, Bethlehem, Tekoa, etc.) onto a separate post, but today I wanted to talk about some things I learned from my Land and Bible class about wine. Yes, wine. You may not realize how significant grapes and wine are in God’s Word, but you could easily fill up an entire page with all of the allusions to grapes. We are so blessed to live on a moshav with “Biblical Gardens,” which basically consist of life-sized replicas and models of anything and everything having to do with the Bible, from a first-century synagogue to an ancient winepress. Of course, I pass by these every day, but I had no idea what most of them were until this week, when we went to see them for one of our classes.
The first thing we looked at was some grape vines. I never stopped to think about how vines have two parts: the vine itself, which is long and thick and supports the second part of the vine, the branches (where the grapes are produced). At first glance, the only thing you notice is the branches and the grapes, but the vine is what nourishes the branches and makes them beautiful. Each year, a worker from the moshav comes and cuts off the branches so that new branches can grow. When Jesus says that He is the vine in John 15, His hearers would have immediately associated this statement with the true Israel, which is what Scripture almost always refers to when it talks about vines. Christ was claiming to be the true Israel, and the source of all God’s blessing! And yet God has ordained for fruit to be produced by the branches, not the vine. At one point in the lecture, Bill, our professor, cut off a branch and threw it on the ground. It was completely worthless and dead… just as we are, apart from Christ.
We then went to a winepress, which is basically a huge box hewn out of rock, with a hole in the
side to let the juice from the grapes drain out into a lower collecting vat. Whenever the Bible talks about harvesting grapes, think work. A lot of work. But it is almost always accompanied with great shouts of joy, because in the Jewish mindset, wine symbolizes joy. We got the opportunity to press grapes with our feet and watch the juice from the grapes stream into the vat. However, the pressing of grapes in Scripture became an image of God’s judgment and vengeance, because of the blood-like color and the pressing action. “Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.” (Joel 3:13) Isaiah 63 talks about this, too, and there the Lord is seen as trampling so hard on the grapes that his garments are stained. This great judgment, which we can hardly fathom, should sober our hearts and motivate us to pray for the salvation of the lost with fervency and compassion.
The first thing we looked at was some grape vines. I never stopped to think about how vines have two parts: the vine itself, which is long and thick and supports the second part of the vine, the branches (where the grapes are produced). At first glance, the only thing you notice is the branches and the grapes, but the vine is what nourishes the branches and makes them beautiful. Each year, a worker from the moshav comes and cuts off the branches so that new branches can grow. When Jesus says that He is the vine in John 15, His hearers would have immediately associated this statement with the true Israel, which is what Scripture almost always refers to when it talks about vines. Christ was claiming to be the true Israel, and the source of all God’s blessing! And yet God has ordained for fruit to be produced by the branches, not the vine. At one point in the lecture, Bill, our professor, cut off a branch and threw it on the ground. It was completely worthless and dead… just as we are, apart from Christ.We then went to a winepress, which is basically a huge box hewn out of rock, with a hole in the
side to let the juice from the grapes drain out into a lower collecting vat. Whenever the Bible talks about harvesting grapes, think work. A lot of work. But it is almost always accompanied with great shouts of joy, because in the Jewish mindset, wine symbolizes joy. We got the opportunity to press grapes with our feet and watch the juice from the grapes stream into the vat. However, the pressing of grapes in Scripture became an image of God’s judgment and vengeance, because of the blood-like color and the pressing action. “Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.” (Joel 3:13) Isaiah 63 talks about this, too, and there the Lord is seen as trampling so hard on the grapes that his garments are stained. This great judgment, which we can hardly fathom, should sober our hearts and motivate us to pray for the salvation of the lost with fervency and compassion.
the happy sound of the shofar
If any single detail of God’s Word could be definitively disproved, none of His Word could be believed. But on the contrary, if external evidence for the historicity and accuracy of the Scriptures is found, every jot and title of the internal evidence that we already have can be affirmed as infinitely true (Isaiah 40:8). Our field trip to the Benjamin territory was one more reminder of the wonderful truth that God’s Word will stand forever. The geography, topography, pottery, and so many other things in the land attest to this.
We visited one biblical site after another, mostly in the Central Benjamin Route, where many important historical events (like Jericho- we actually walked around it once! and the high place of Gibeon, where Saul prayed to receive wisdom) in Scripture took place. Three highlights. Four, actually:
We visited one biblical site after another, mostly in the Central Benjamin Route, where many important historical events (like Jericho- we actually walked around it once! and the high place of Gibeon, where Saul prayed to receive wisdom) in Scripture took place. Three highlights. Four, actually:
- Remember those guys in the book of Joshua who come with moldy bread and tattered clothing and trick Joshua into making a peace treaty with their people, the Gibeonites? Why was it such a big deal? Why did five Amorite kings come and attack Gibeon because of this peace treaty? If you understand the geography of the land, you know that the peace treaty was in effect giving control not only over the eastern and western approaches to Jerusalem, but also the northern (most vulnerable) side to Jerusalem. As we stood on the Beth Horon Ridge Route, we read the account of Joshua 10:1-15, when Joshua protects Gibeon against five Amorite kings who attack the city. The Amorites fled down this route, and God caused hail stones to fall on them (not on the Israelites!!) as they fled. We looked to the east and there was Gibeon, where God caused the sun to stand still, and on our west was Aijalon, where the moon stood still.
- Between two cities in the Central Benjamin Plateau, Geba and Michmash, there is a place that the Bible calls "The Pass," which is the only way to cross over a huge canyon. There's a neat story in 1 Samuel 13 and 14 about how Jonathan and his armorbearer sneak out of his dad's camp and take on all the Philistines at Michmash. Chapter 14:14 says that between the passes was a rocky crag in Michmash, underneath which Jonathan crawls and where he defeats the Philistines from Michmash down to Aijalon. As we were reading the account, our professor pointed out some cliffs at Michmash. These were the very cliffs that Jonathan crawled under to sneak up on the Philistines! (Look very closely at the mountains behind my head.) These stories are NOT made up!
- What do you imagine when you think of the Judean wilderness where John the Baptist preached and where Jesus was tempted? I always pictured something like the Sahara desert, with cacti and maybe some sand dunes. Silly Joey. The Judean wilderness is actually full of hills made up of a type of white chalk. Think about that the next time you read Isaiah 40, which is bursting with wilderness vocabulary. Compare Kaiser Wilhelm, for part of the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem was torn down to make way for him, and Yeshua, the King of Kings. The entire geography of the land had to be altered: valleys lifted up and mountains leveled. We were given a chance to spend some time alone in reflection and prayer, and I continued to read and mediate on Isaiah 40. I thought about how the wilderness may be green for a few weeks out of the year, but the beauty quickly fades away. As I read v. 9: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever,” I was completely in awe of God’s Word that I held in my hands. May we continue to daily be filled with awe by this amazing, true, historically accurate Book of Life.
- Me burrying my head in my backpack as I tried to discreetly eat my non-kosher turkey and cheese sandwich at a kosher cafe in a mall near Jericho. Maybe it's not spiritual but definitely unforgettable.
On another note, the Jewish holy days are upon us (those "appointed times" we tend to skip over
when we read Leviticus 23). On Wednesday was Rosh Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets. It was amazing to celebrate this with Messianic Jews and believers in Yeshua. We ate the traditional pomegranates and dipped apples in honey (symbolizing a fruitful and healthy New Year), and had a great time learning about Jewish thought and culture. Rosh Hashanah and the days before Yom Kippur is a time of repentance, a time to meditate on one's own sinfulness and seek reconciliation with the Judge of the Universe. The sounding of the shofar (the ram's horn) is meant to remind us of our need for repentance. Sound familiar? 1 Thess. 5:16: "the Lord himself will descend...with the sound of the 'shofar.' Praise God that we do not have to grope for God in the darkness like so many Jews are doing as I write. Christ has shone His light into our hearts. The sound of His shofar is no longer terrifying! "Happy are those who know the sound of the shofar!" (Psalm 89) Let us wait and hope and long for it as we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Shabbat Shalom
Shabbat Shalom!! (Happy Sabbath!)
Shabbat is definitely one of my favorite things about living in Israel. There's nothing to compare it to, really. I always imagined that it would be somber and dull, but it's actually a joyful celebration, a restful time to reflect on God's Word and His goodness. After a very busy week, all of us-IBEXers, the profs and their families, the moshav members and volunteers, and whoever else happens to be at the moshav- gather around the dining room on Friday evening and welcome the Shabbat by singing in Hebrew, reading Scripture, and singing blessings over the Shabbat bread and wine. Then we all eat and fellowship together over a special (kosher, of course) Shabbat dinner. After that, we head to chapel, where we praise God in song and a guest speaker or prof comes to preach the Word to us. On Saturday we go to a Messianic Jewish church in Jerusalem and worship along with over a hundred believers in Yeshua from all around the world. After the service you can go to the Old City and hang out all afternoon. So much fun.
What else...
- Women's Bible study started on Tuesday. There are 5 women (mostly professors' wives) who teach us from God's Word and then we split up into prayer groups and share in sweet fellowship and prayer. This has definitely been an answer to prayer. My prayer group leader is a Proverbs 31 woman of God. I'm so excited to learn from her and from the other girls in my group.
- Hebrew is hard. And humbling. But praise God for the opportunity to learn it.
- We had our first overnight field trip this week. At night we went to the Israel Museum where we saw a huge model of
what Jerusalem looked like in Jesus' day, and then got to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were absolutely fascinating. God has been SO gracious to preserve external evidence of the internal truth of His Word. Next, we went to the Western (Wailing) Wall. I was not prepared for how much it would affect me. Seeing all of those women praying so fervently, one of them literally wailing, many of them younger than me,
and knowing that they will perish without Yeshua, brought tears to my eyes. Pray for the veil to be lifted from these people's eyes. Finally, we went through the Western Wall underground tunnel, and got to see what the disciples were talking about when they pointed to the stones on the temple and marveled... one of the rocks was forty feet long and weighed 600 tons! It was definitely something to marvel about, and still is today. - The next morning we got up early and headed to the Temple Mount. The first thing I noticed was how BIG it was. As we learned about the temple, I realized that the image I had always had of it, if I had any at all, was completely wrong. The second thing I noticed was the trees. Lots of trees. Psalm 92 says that the righteous will flourish like trees in God's house. Those trees are vital because they provided shade to the thousands of pilgrims that came to the temple three times a year (cf Psalm 121). We noticed the difference immediately when we stood outside of Huldah's gate on the Southern entrance to the temple with no shade whatsoever, in the scorching heat. We also had a sweet time of prayer where the Court of the Women used to be, and meditated on how alienated we once were as Gentiles.
Gentiles couldn't even come as far as we were sitting- there was a gate past which they were forbidden to enter- but now we have been brought near through the blood of Christ, and can enter the "Holy of Holies." The veil truly has been torn in two.
Another part of the field trip I loved was when we all stood in a line with our Bible in front of Huldah's gate and read the Songs of Ascent which the pilgrims coming to Jerusalem used to pray through. It was such a neat time of reflection. - Today we started a prayer group for missions. Living in a different culture- two, really... the Arab culture plays a huge part in everyday life here- opens your eyes like never before to how lost the world is. Pray for missionaries to come to Israel, and those who are already here. I have met four in the last two days, and they are suffering for Christ. Praise the Lord for them.
- I miss you all and would love to hear from you! Write me some time!!
Ramparts and Roommates
What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say "ramparts?" I thought so. "Oh say can you see" came to my mind, too. To be honest, I didn't even know what the word meant until a friend suggested that we take the "rampart tour" around Old Jerusalem on Shabbat after church. A rampart is actually a defensive wall made of stone or earth, which surrounds a castle. When the Turks were here in 1536, they built a huge wall all around Old Jerusalem which still stands today. So, the top part of the wall is called a rampart, and we got to spend a few hours walking all around the city on the rampart. In other words, we took Psalm 48:13a literally. Apart from the birds' eye view of the city, it was an amazing time of reflection on God's provision for Jerusalem throughout the ages. From a human standpoint, Jerusalem should be totally insignificant. But it's not. Our tour came to an end at Lion's Gate. We walked down Via Dolorosa and went into a Catholic church where Jesus was supposedly flogged. 
We took about all we could of the priest and nuns chanting in Latin, and were about to leave when one of the nuns handed us a "Praise and Worship Songbook." Our ears perked up when priest started to play "Here is love, vast as an ocean," which we had just sung in chapel the day before, and we were more than happy to join along and worship our Savior. You never know what you'll find in Jerusalem ;)But then it justs gets better. The next day we had our second field trip to Jerusalem: the "Old Testament Walk." We started out at the Broad Gate, which Hezekiah built to prepare for the coming Assyrian siege ( II Chr. 32:1-5). Next, we visited a museum that had a lot of artifacts (or replicas) from the First Temple Period, like the Ivory Pomegranate, which provide external evidence for the Scriptures. I was reminded that the Word of God is not just a book of faith, but is deeply rooted in historical reality.
Next, we went into the traditional (but probably mistaken) location for the “Upper Room” where Jesus had Passover with his disciples and others. We read Luke 22:7-20 together and discussed why Jesus wanted to keep the location secret from Judas, so that Judas could not make an agreement with the high priest before Passover. I had always supposed that Jesus was prophesying that a man would be carrying a pitcher of water, and never stopped to think about how He had sovereignly arranged this ahead of time in order that God’s plan would not be thwarted. We talked about how the Last Supper was in commemoration of the Passover, which symbolized God’s intervention on His children’s behalf. In other words, by telling his disciples to remember Him when they celebrated Passover, Jesus was identifying with this event in Jewish history and showing them that He was (and is!) our ultimate Passover. How sad that in most Western evangelical churches, we do not emphasize the Passover at all during the Lord's supper. Something to think about.
After seeing many other biblical sites, we finally got to the place we had all been waiting for: Hezekiah’s tunnel. First, we passed through Warren’s shaft, where Joab was thought to have climbed to get into the city. Over the summer I studied a lot about the life and military career of Joab, and was amazed to see firsthand what an astonishing feat this truly was. As we entered Hezekiah’s tunnel, we read II Chron. 32:30 and thought about how in building this tunnel, Hezekiah probably saved the city. We then got to walk through the 1,070 foot long tunnel, with the water sometimes up to our thighs, and sang “Hodu L’Adonai” (Give thanks to the Lord) as we walked through.
We came out at the Pool of Siloam and read John 9:1-12. I had never thought about the fact that in giving sight to this blind man, Jesus was authenticating His claim to be the Light of the World (an extremely bold statement) in ch. 8. At the end of the day, though, I was hot, sweaty and dirty, with a few scratches and feeling somewhat disappointed at how much of Jerusalem is not biblical and "holy" at all, but swarming with Muslims (the calls to prayer broke my heart) and full of tourist traps. No magnificent temple, hardly any emotional experience, just a bunch of bells and smells.
But praise the Lord that there is HOPE. Yesterday I was reminded more than ever that I should long for the New Jerusalem, when Christ will reign and holiness will prevail.
On another note, I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of sweet fellowship with my roommates, April and Sarah. I am learning so much from their heart for evangelism and devotion to God's Word, and from their gentle and quiet spirit.
Hodu L'Adonai for fellowship. For His Word, and for graciously confirming it for us. For His promise of a perfect heavenly Jerusalem. And for all of you who are reading this and praying for me.
IBEX website
P.S. Make sure you check out the pics on the IBEX site: http://www.ibexsemester.com/. Fun stuff.
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