We are headed out into the agricultural land of the Shephelah. Everywhere we see terraced hillsides with olive trees growing on them. There are vineyards with watch towers. The earth has a red mineral color and there are piles of stones moved out of the way.
We stop at our first overlook which is mountainous and piny. It feels a little like home except for the mountains. We see hillsides of green. These are the steep canyons of the Sorek system. We have very tight horizon lines so you can't see very far. You keep your family close. The area is very tribal everything you know and need is around you. We then read through some of the farming images of scripture in Psalm 80, Isaiah 5 and John 15. Israel is a vine in the Old Testament that God is caring for and tending, but then the vine doesn't produce fruit. Jesus in John describes himself as the vine now, and we are connected into him. Cindy explains that there has been very little digging in the Judean hillside because people are more interested in the famous sights and those are the ones that get funding.
We hop back in the bus and head to Tel Bet Shemesh. The land that lays before us is the land that was given to the tribe of Dan by God. This land is the land that most of the battles between Israel and the Philistines were fighting over. It is the land that provides control of the door way to the hill country. And it is the doorway to the coast and especially the coastal trade route. The Israelites have the hill country and the Philistines have the coastal plains. The battles rage back and forth between them gaining and loosing this ground. Cindy describes an ongoing cycle in Judges. The cycle begins with the people forgetting God, then God allows the "mice" kingdoms around them to oppress them. The people cry out to God for help and God raises up a judge to lead the people. Peace ensues for the life of the judge, but then the judge dies and the people forget God and begin worshipping the Canaanite gods again. And on it goes again and again. We move through the book geographically from the North to the South. The tribes are clearly falling apart, loosing their unity, until we end at the tribe of Dan where they have only a little territory and no support from surrounding tribes. Cindy points out the hill of the city of Timnah where Sampson is born. She walks us through this marvelous story of this one-man-wrecking-machine of a judge. He battles the Philistines for Dan acting as a thorn in their side until even in his death he brings amazing glory to God. Cindy traced Sampson's journeys from one hill to another. We watch as he ranges over the promised territory of Dan acting as he pleases.
Rob Lund led us in a devotional about how the Israelites lost the Ark of the covenant to the Philistines. The Ark was nothing more than a good luck charm. Rob cautioned us against thinking about God that way. Then we see that the Philistines ignore God's warnings to them until they break out in what sounds like the bubonic plague. Then we see several men treating the Ark to casually. Again Rob drew us to this powerful and holy God who is our Abba and how we must live in the tension of those two truths. Cindy pointed out Tel Sofie which is the city of Gath in the Bible. This is the home of Goliath.
Back on the bus and off to the next Tel. Up hot and dusty stairs we climb to the top of this hill made of civilization piled on top of civilization. This one is Tel Azeka and we traced the trade routes out of the Elah valley to Gibeah the capital city of Saul. Cindy brought to life the story of David and Goliath. She noted where the battle lines where drawn up and where the encampments were.
She emphasized that Saul over and over is given the chance to be a great leader, but he always fails when it comes to his heart. He struggles with impatience, fear and greed. He never is able to live up the leadership he is called to. David is the one who always returns to God. His humility is what saves him every time. Bob Burns noted how the choices that David's heart led him to, made David a man with a powerful legacy.
Lisa Burns led us in an experiential devotional where we were guided from place to place by our "buddy" with our eyes closed. We then as a community processed the experience. Lisa summed up our time by emphasizing that we learn to walk with God by building on the experiences we've had before. We learn trust the more we walk. Deb Kielsmeier prayed that we would remember the trustworthiness of God. We ate lunch in the shade of the pines on Tel Azeka and then loaded onto the bus.
Rob asked Johnny if he could take a picture out the front window of the bus. Johnny with his usual dry humor replied, "This is forbidden." Cindy found a gas station and we all rushed to get chocolate, diet cokes and chips.
Finally we arrived at Ashqelon, a Philistine city on the Mediterranean. We got to walk beneath an excavated city gate from 1800 BC. Before this gate was found it was believed that arched gates were developed first by the Greeks. We then hit the beach. The water was warm and a penetrating turquoise. Mauve and amber shells glittered in the soft sands. Many put on bathing suits and headed in.
We saw on the beach some of the fallen walls of the city made of solidified sand, a rock called kurkar. One man on the beach who lives in Ashkelon said, "Unless I touch the water every day, I cannot breath." This made sense to us all. We dried off and left reluctantly. Thoughts of a whole day on the Mediterranean haunted us. In the evening Jim Kielsmeier brought in 2 friends who are Muslim Palestinians. Samah founded the Palestinian Women's Center and works as a consultant for the UN. Hallad is a researcher and scholar, the current director of Save the Children in Palestine. The story of their painful oppression and harassment was difficult to hear. Clearly there is suffering at the hands of the Israelies for the Palestinian people. Amy Flack asked the couple what gave them hope. Hallad said, "My only hope is to resist. I cannot give in to oppression." Jim Kielsmeier closed the evening by talking about the beauty of this couple's courage and integrity. Deb Kielsmeier led us in a prayer for them.
A day of remembering great men and great battles. A day of gentle beaches, and last real live heroes telling their current stories of struggle against what is wrong. We sleep tonight among fresh memories of giants.
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