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.