This week I just got back from a trip to Israel. It has been a long time in the coming, and it was an amazing trip. We learned so much while we were there. We got to see so many different places and things. All the pictures that we have in our minds has already been making the Bible come alive. I am continually surprised about how much of a difference it has made learning about the Jewish setting of the Bible. I hope that by putting up the pictures and explaining a little bit of the stories that we were told, perhaps you too could see a little more.
We landed at 7am at Tel Aviv after flying through the night. We landed ready to hike.
The first place we went was Tel Gezer. A tel is an unnatural hill where different cities or towns have built up layers over many years. This one dated back to the time of Solomon. We sat in the city gate area, which you could see some of the structures still. We talked about what it meant to be a disciple and what it is to follow our rabbi. We also talked about being a city on a hill.
On the other side of the hill there were standing stones. They were put up there to tell a story, but we don't know what story they told. We reflected on who are 'standing stones' in our lives and who can we be 'standing stones' for.
After lunch we visited a place called Zorah. It over looked the Shephelah (the foothills) and part of the coastal area. It was the area in which Samson lived. It was also the area where the Jewish people with their worldviews would often meet with the people living on the coast with their different worldview. We talked about who was influencing who and asked the question, 'How is our shephelah doing?'
It was quite warm that first afternoon being out in the open and it was quite a climb to get up there.
The second day we started by going to Beth Shemeh. It was just across the wadi from Zorah. It was a Levitical town and through the layers that were found there, they found the percentage of pig bones ( a non-kosher animal) clearly showed how obedient the people living there were to the law.
After seeing a little bit on top of the tel, we went down into the cistern which was quite large.It is remarkably well preserved.
After that we hiked up to another old city. The city was Saarayim and it overlooked the Elah valley. It was in the valley where David fought Goliath. We talked about throwing stones and throwing them that the world might know there is a God. I also found it surprising that David was likely only about 10 years old
That afternoon we got to see a very well preserved olive press. They were often in caves because it would be easier to control the temperature in a cave, especially in a country that is often hot.
The last place that we visited in the Shephelah was Lachish. It was another tel that was quite tall. We weren't able to go all the way up because they were doing work on it. It was the place were they found some letters dating back from the time when Assyria took Israel which Hezekiah was king.
With that we headed south to the Dead Sea and the desert.
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