Along the Wadi Sorek, we followed the round about way south/southeast of Zobah. It is far away from the natural routes, not even close to a town. Because of the wadis and steep slopes, the travel through this was near impossible for heavy loads. I had not yet considered living conditions outside of towns or how cave houses actually work. It was fascinating to see the bricks outside of the caves and the level of comfort one could find within the cave. Being hidden from that blistering sun (with which I had way too much bonding time for my pale skin) would have been great. Journeying through those caves was a blast; I hope to find more to “shplunk” while I am here. We were given great illustrations from the Bible concerning the land: 1 Kings 4, Psalms 80, Isaiah 5, and John 15 gave us great insight for our location.
Beth Shemesh, or House of the Sun, was where we saw the set of the Samson story. I think that this section, as well as the time looking over the Elah Valley, has been the most realistic experience so far. It is hard for me to come to grips with the fact that I am in the land of the Bible. I have been here for about a month and a half, yet so much of what I have seen seems surreal. But this experience was the most tangible. I could see the story in such better light, as if it were popping off of the paper and making the story visible in 3D. I cannot see the individuals in the story, but I can feel the movement and tension between the Philistines and Danites in that area. The story of Samson is always entertaining, regardless of how well I can picture it, but these glimpses into the story certainly help. I could literally see the area of Philistine occupation, as well as where Minoah moved his pawn up one space.
In the course of this story, we find that the Philistines had control over the territory allotted to the tribe of Dan. The tension here was tremendous. The Philistines in the pl
ains saw the hill country people of Dan as hillbillies, and the Danites looked upon the Philistines as a bunch of yuppies. Minoah, the father of Samson, subtly pushed forward into the land. He wasn't a warrior, but he was making the move regardless. We were told that it is like in a game of chess, where the pawns can move one space, or you could use a queen to jump the entire board or something. He moved up one space. Posting pictures in this would be absolutely absurd, but I'm going to do it a little bit anyway. The first picture is overlooking a hazy Timnah toward the West, and beyond what 
could be seeing was Ashkalon and Gaza and the Mediterranean. The second picture, North of where I was standing, is a series of hills extending into the plain from the Hill Country. The hill furthest to the right was the place where Minoah settled. Explaining all of the Samson story to you would be somewhat arduous, so I won't do that. But from my location, I could see most of the movement throughout the story of Samson.
ains saw the hill country people of Dan as hillbillies, and the Danites looked upon the Philistines as a bunch of yuppies. Minoah, the father of Samson, subtly pushed forward into the land. He wasn't a warrior, but he was making the move regardless. We were told that it is like in a game of chess, where the pawns can move one space, or you could use a queen to jump the entire board or something. He moved up one space. Posting pictures in this would be absolutely absurd, but I'm going to do it a little bit anyway. The first picture is overlooking a hazy Timnah toward the West, and beyond what 
could be seeing was Ashkalon and Gaza and the Mediterranean. The second picture, North of where I was standing, is a series of hills extending into the plain from the Hill Country. The hill furthest to the right was the place where Minoah settled. Explaining all of the Samson story to you would be somewhat arduous, so I won't do that. But from my location, I could see most of the movement throughout the story of Samson.I felt that same tangibility as we looked over the Elah Valley from Azekah. We were viewing, as Dr. Wright put it, “the Quakah in Azekah.” Understanding the geopolitical circumstances between Saul in Gibeah and the Philistines coming from the coastal plain was great. It is like seeing all of those puzzle pieces scattered all over your table be put together before you. I would have really liked to get into the Elah Valley to reenact this scenario - pref
erably, Craig would have been Samson, and we would have needed to get a small child to throw a rock at him. But it would have been a lot of fun. Bethlehem was the only city stopping the Philistines, and that is why the sons of Jesse were up on the front line. From our angle, and from viewing the maps before us, it was easy to see the entire scenario. We were once again in the center of it all, giving us an open view of each little facet of the narrative. This picture is a view of the Elah Valley.
erably, Craig would have been Samson, and we would have needed to get a small child to throw a rock at him. But it would have been a lot of fun. Bethlehem was the only city stopping the Philistines, and that is why the sons of Jesse were up on the front line. From our angle, and from viewing the maps before us, it was easy to see the entire scenario. We were once again in the center of it all, giving us an open view of each little facet of the narrative. This picture is a view of the Elah Valley.Running up the siege ramp toward Lachish made by Sennacherib, Craig, J.E., Andrew, Jason, and I stormed forward to lay waste the city as it was done thousands of years ago. We may have only had sticks, and nothing to scare away any enemies other than Andrews back hair, but we made a valiant effort. The desperate measures taken by those soldiers in Lachish to build a counter ramp was terribly futile. It must have been a horrifying thing for those men to know that there was so little hope. There was little to see in the remains of Lachich, mostly just grass. But the story is epic!
Our stop at Gerar was refreshing to my sun-burnt skin. The cool breeze and beautiful scenery was pleasant and comforting. We were in a broad open basin looking at fields and fields of farmland, recalling the story of Abraham and his covenant between him and Abimelech. He would come to the land of Gerar in times of famine, most likely during the scorching summer in Beer-Sheva.
Beer-Sheva turned out to be nothing like what I had expected. The modern city was co
mpletely westernized, right down to the Tower Records in the mall. In fact, its mall was bigger and better than the mall in Stroudsburg near my home, Bushkill, Pennsylvania. My presupposition was that it would be a city somewhat like what the remains in the Tel Beer-sheva, brick upon brick but with some color and plaster covering the walls. I was so far off. I guess it goes to show how completely ignorant I am of the world in which I live, though what I have seen in Jerusalem is not quite as westernly extravagant as Beer-sheva. 
No comments:
Post a Comment