Our Second Trip To the Shephelah

On Wednesday we had another field study in the Shephelah becasue there were other places we didn't go to on our first trip there. The first stop was to a biblical garden called Neot Kedumim. The place is right on the edge of the west bank. It was a no man’s land before Israel had it and since it was so close to the border they were able to get six hundred acres. One of the major things is that the Hebrew words for plants tell of the plant’s character in how it looks or behaves. For example, the almond tree is called ‘sheched’ in Hebrew which means diligent. It is called diligent because of the early bloom of the seeds and the carful three-layered protection it gives to the seed. The sycamore tree, the tree Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus, is called ‘shichma’ which means to rehabilitate, and Jesus gave Zacchaeus some spiritual rehabilitation that day he climbed to see Jesus. The lady who gave us the tour told us that to the plants can also have a spiritual meaning. The fig tree is compared to reading the Torah, because it gives fruit little by little, not all at once. When we read the scriptures we learn little by little we cannot learn everything all at once. An olive tree can look dead at times, yet it still has life and will bear its fruit, just as the Jewish people can look dead spiritually, but we know that God has a purpose for them in the end.

We also learned about the life of the shepherd. Even though we can associate shepherds with the better people because great people like David, Jacob, and Moses came from that lifestyle, shepherding is a long, dirty, and smelly job. Shepherds in the time of the Bible did not usually have a good name among other people. We learned that the shepherd leads from the back of the flock. One does not lead a flock by being aggressive. A shepherd leads the flock gently. If one does not treat them the right way they will not respond and not follow as we saw in the group exercises we did with the flock.

We then went to Gezer which is in the edge shephelah. It was here that Israel could be a light to the nations around them. They could not have intermixed with the Canaanites. They could have broken down the stone pillars which are still standing today. They didn’t and they were punished for it. Even though we are always in the world as it can surround us we cannot compromise and adapt to the ways of the condemned just as the Canaanites were. In the city we could see the gate that was built during Solomon’s reign. The gate was the place where people were judged as we can see with Absalom. Building up before his coupe he judged at the city gate (2 Samuel 15) and stole the hearts of the people. Boaz proclaimed his redeeming Ruth at the gate too.

We then went to Gath which was the home of giants such as Goliath. Gath is one of the cities that the Ark of the Covenant came to when the Philistines took it in battle. Gath was where David came to when he was running from Saul. The Philistines captured him and brought him before the king and David was terribly afraid and he acted like a crazy person and the king threw him out (1 Samuel 21:10-15). This encounter prompted David to write Psalm 34 and 56. Yet ten years later David went back and the king was friendly and gave him Ziklag. The reason for this change is because the king knew that David was a nemesis of Saul, thus allying himself with the Philistines. Later on when Gath was in Israelite hands Hazael of Syria came down and took Gath (2 Kings 12:17).

The final stop was at Adullam where David fled to from Gath (1 Samuel 22:1). This is where the kingdom of David started; the Messiah’s line of royalty started here. Although David was hiding from Saul he still put his trust in God that he would still be king. God starts David’s kingdom here to show that He is in charge of what will happen in David’s life. David started out with four hundred men at the beginning of his kingdom. Jesus started with twelve men walking around Israel—the kingdom of God. This kingdom that David was beginning was not just another kingdom it was one that would produce the Messiah.

Sorry it has been a while since I have posted this is from last week. We haven't had internet in the dorms since we've gotten back, so it takes a little bit more to get a post up.

Our first stop down South was at Beer Sheva at a reconstructed altar. The actual Beer Sheva is most likely closer to the modern city we were most likely in a suburb of the ancient city of Beer Sheva. In the Old Testament times there were places of refuge for criminals and one thing that could save a criminal was to grab the horns of an altar. The horns represented God’s power and mercy. This reminds us that as Romans 12:1-2 says that we are to be “a living sacrifice” to God, and our motivation is in the mercy that He gives to us. There are two places in the Bible that give us accounts of people grabbing the horns of an altar. Joab and Adonijah both grabbed the horns of the altar to attempt to save their own lives. The horns saved Adonijah because his killing was man slaughter, but Joab was killed because his was a premeditated murder. They found actual pieces of the altar scattered around the city when they had done excavations a while ago, but they are now in a museum. It is likely that they altar was destroyed by either King Hezekiah or King Josiah, because it was not allowed to have altars outside of Jerusalem, yet none of the kings beside these two are said to have destroyed the high places (see 2 Kings 23:8).
Also at Beer Sheva there was a well and Genesis 21:22-34 gives an account about when Abraham went through Beer Sheva and dug a well similar to the one we were at in the same area. Through the incident of digging the well Beer Sheva got its name. Beer means ‘well’ and Sheva means ‘oath or seven’, but in this case it means ‘oath’ because Abraham made a covenant with Abimelech. In the city we saw a storage room where they would have stored grain, wine, and oil from the taxes they collected. 2 Chronicles 32:27-29 talks about Hezekiah building store houses such as this one to store the things mentioned above. From the city we could see the Nahal Basor which flows all the way to Gaza. Even though there are many branches of it they all go to the same area, and Psalm 126 talks about these water courses of the Negev.

We then went to Tel Arad, which dates back to the early Bronze Age around 3000 BC when it was a Canaanite city, but the Canaanite city was much larger than when the Israelites inhabited it. So it would have been around when Abraham was around and he could have most likely walked there. The Canaanite city could have deteriorated after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah because this city could have been a place where the minerals that were collected from the Dead Sea were traded. When the two cities right by were destroyed, the business would have stopped too. In the Iron Age city of Tel Arad the importance of the city was trade just as it was when Sodom and Gomorrah were around. This is a place where people have to trust in God because the climate is very difficult to live in and everyone wants it because of its strategic place on the trading routes. As we looked around at the destruction of the city Bill reminded us that the pride of man will be humbled and God will be exalted.
In the city there is a mini temple there with an altar made from uncut stones, as is prescribed when an altar is made, there is also a Holy of Holies where there were incense burners. A place such as this was condemned because it is a man made system of worship. They were doing something that God had commanded them not to do; it was an unworthy manner to ‘worship’. Places such as this were called the ‘high places’ and it says that King Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Jehoash of Judah did not take down these high places (see 1 Kings 15:14, 1 Kings 22:43, 2 Chron. 17:6, and 2 Kings 12:3).
From there we stopped by David ben Gurion’s home in Midreshet. It was his second home away from his other one in Tel Aviv. It was a kibbutz that a number of young people were starting and then he wanted to join them, so after they accepted him he was there as often as he could. It was the place where he also died.
We then went to the Nahal Zin and we hiked in a canyon there and Bill reminded us that when the children of Israel were able to have water brought out of the flinty rock by God. There is much flint rock which would be very difficult to walk through with the footwear they had.
We came to the city of Avdat, where the Nabateans came in 200 BC, and then the Romans came in 106 AD. The people in the city took on Christianity. There are signs Christians present because there are signs of a church that would have been there. There is a baptismal along with Greek inscription with a cross and menorah. Our last stop of the first day was at Mactesh Ramon, a large natural crater, which is five miles by twenty-five miles long at the longest points.
The first stop on the second day was in the Wilderness of Paran. This is where the children of Israel were wandering for forty years. It is an unforgiving place to have to be in the summer. Deuteronomy 8:15 says that it is a “great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground”. The wilderness is a place of testing. God had the Israelites go through there so that they would be humbled and trust in Him, to do them good as verse 16 says in Deuteronomy 8. This is where Ishmael and Hagar lived after they went out from Abraham.
We then went to the Red Canyon where we hiked. It is similar to what Petra would look like as we hiked through the winding canyon. From there we went over by the Israeli Egyptian border. From there we were above Elat and could see Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the Gulf of Aqaba. Our last thing of the day was to go snorkeling in the Gulf of Aqaba where there was a great diversity of sea creatures. The Gulf of Aqaba was where the kings of Israel, such as Solomon could build ships. The Gulf of Aqaba opens up trade to the Far East.
On the third day we first went to Timnah where there were copper mines that were used by the Egyptians, Romans, and even now days in other areas surrounding Timnah. The miners would find the copper and try and follow it as it branched down into the ground. They would also refine the copper they found in pits where they would melt the rock and then collect the copper that was left behind. Psalm 12:6 tells us that God’s word is refined seven times, so we know that God’s word is pure. Over by Solomon’s pillars there is an Egyptian inscription and temple to the goddess Hathor.
There was also a life size Tabernacle built to the measurements that are described in Exodus 26-28. The Tabernacle faces east because when people go into it they put their backs to the East because they are facing the one true God. False religions would have their people face east toward their gods, so the statement that the people of Israel made was a bold one. The Tabernacle was mobile, so it could move with the children of Israel as they moved along the wilderness. The priests and Levites could go into the court of the Tabernacle. The priests could go into the Tabernacle, and only the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies once a year.
For the sacrifices there would be one bull for Aaron and his sons, one ram for the people, and two lambs one would be sacrificed and the other would be a scapegoat that would go into the wilderness. There is a ramp leading up to the bronze altar so that the priests would not dishonor God by showing their legs while sacrificing. The copper laver was used for the priests to wash their hands, and the copper for this laver was given by the women at the gate.
Inside the Tabernacle there were four different colors that represent the Most High God. Red is for blood, white is for purity, purple is for royalty, and blue is for heaven. As you entered there was the Table of Showbread on the right-hand side. It had twelve pieces of showbread to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. We see David eating this bread as he is running. He could have been killed for doing such a thing, especially on Shabbat, but as Jesus talks about this incident Jesus says that He is Lord of Shabbat and it was made for man, not man for Shabbat. We see with David that there is grace above the Law. On the left-hand side there is a menorah.
When the priests would enter the Tabernacle they would have to take off their sandals because they were on holy ground. The things that the High Priest is decked out with shows that he carries Israel on his heart and his shoulders as he went before God on the Day of Atonement. On that day he would purify himself between each sacrifice. The Holy of Holies is separated by a veil and the veil in the temple was torn by God from top to bottom when Jesus died. At all Jewish funerals it is customary for one to tear a piece of their shirt as a sign of grief. This action, done by God, could represent His grief for His Son’s death and it also shows that all can come into the presence of God.
That night we went to the base of Masada and slept there. In the morning I started my hike to Masada at 5:15AM and got up there at 5:45AM to see the sunrise. Masada was built by the high priest Jonathan from 161-143 BC. Later on King Herod built a palace there that resided on the northern point of the plateau. Masada was held by Jews left over from the 70AD revolt led by Eleazar. The Romans came upon the city in 72 AD and had to build a ramp up to the city in order to get into it. The ramp is 375 feet high and it took two to three months after the ramp was built to finally take the city in 73 AD. To their surprise everyone except seven people committed suicide rather than falling into the Roman’s hands. There were ten chosen to slit the people’s throats, which were given willingly. Then there was one chosen among the ten who took the life of the other nine and then finally took his own. The seven who survived were two women and five children who hid themselves in aqueducts. There was a total of nine hundred and sixty who died willingly.
Our last stop was in Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. The Essenes most likely lived here because of the way Josephus described them. Most the scrolls written there were written before the time of Jesus. Before these the oldest pieces of scripture dated back to 1000 AD these date to around 150 BC. Every Old Testament is found here except Esther. Psalm, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah have appeared the most out of all the books found here. The longest scroll found is twenty-eight feet long. The clay jars they were found in are unique to Qumran. All the scrolls found are spread out along a mile and a half area. The Essenes would have grown and sold dates as their way of making money. Out of the one thousand books found here one quarter were biblical books.