JERUSALEM JOURNAL: DAY 9 – MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2010
COMMENTARY:
I did not get a chance to update last night because of the activities on our “free day.” We have just completed our trip through the lowlands of Israel, the Shephelah and are at BIet Yatsiv Hotel, a youth hostel in Beersheba, in the Negev. I am very sore from today’s activities having slipped and fell on the way up to Tel Azekah. I am also still pained about the fact that Todd seems to be more interested in time than in the students. For example, we stopped at what Todd believes to be the site of Ephes-dammim. This was a place where Todd had never been, so those who wanted to go hiked into the site from the main highway, quite a ways, while those of us who thought the hike would be too strenuous waited. By the time they got back, it was starting to get dark. But Todd insisted that we complete our scheduled visit to Lachish. Needless to say, it was a whirlwind tour, and we ended up on steep stairs going down to the bus in the dark. This does not show concern for the safety of the group. Unfortunately, the Rigsbys are not willing to discuss these kinds of issues with Todd.
After leaving the Gloria Hotel with our bags packed and a new place to go, we stopped at Yad HaShmona, the headquarters for the IBEX program under which we are studying, and the moshav where we will be staying after our return from our desert activities. A moshav is similar to a kibbutz, in which all there work for the final good of the group, but the concept of common ownership is not as strong. Yad HaShmona is a community of Jewish believers which was founded by Finnish Christians, and IBEX developed their association in 1993.
I call this entry a Geezer in Gezer; After our brief stop, we started our descent along the Kiryat Jearim ridge route into the Shephelah, or lowlands of Israel, to Gezer. At the tel, there is a replica of a 4-1/2” tablet called the Gezer Calendar. It is based upon the agricultural growing season and dates back to the time of Solomon, 950 BC, on of the earliest inscriptions found. It is interesting to note that one method of dating involves pottery that is found at various sites. Because pottery styles changed throughout history, and because pottery is not a particularly valuable item to grave robbers, it can help date a particular object. However, paleography is also used, especially in the case of this calendar. Just like pottery changes, the character and shape of letters change as well through time, providing the archeologist an additional means that written items can be dated.Gezer guarded the Aijilon Valley from incursion from the coastal plain. The Amarna Letters identified the cities and city kings of the Shephelah and identifies Milkilu as the King of Israel. Pharaoh Merneptah claims to have conquered Israel in about 1210 BC and destroyed Gezer. In 1400 BC, Gezer and its king, Horan, helped five kings conquer Gibeon. According to 1 Kings 9:15-19, Solomon married the Pharaoh’s daughter, and he was given Gezer and fortified Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer, which was his Western front. At the site there is also a massive stone tower with walls and a gate that date back to the Middle Bronze Age, or 2,000-1,500. From 1517 to 1917, the Turks controlled Palestine, but lost their land after World War I because they sided with the Axis powers. The site also has 6 chambered gates, 3 chambers on each size that might have been used for defensive purposes. The idea of the chambers is so that inside gates or barriers might be erected; or the chambers can hold back men or equipment for defense purposes. Archeologists generally assign 100 to 200 people per acre on a site, so at 30 acres, there may have been 3,000 to 6,000 people here. It is generally thought that the Egyptian king, Shishak, destroyed Gezer during the reign of Reheboam, king of Judah; however the Bible also states that the Arc of the Covenant was there after Shishak. The standing stones were probably monoliths of some sort and could have been a Canaanite high place that either commemorated an alliance between different cities or a place for worship purposes. The stone with the rectangular cut could have been a place for libation (or drink) offerings, or a base which held another upright stone. Lev 26 warns the Israelites not to make any idols or images of worship and not to imitate the Canaanites. Instead, however, the succumbed to temptation, because it was difficult for them to worship an invisible God.
The modern city of Bet Shemesh is one that lacks churches or tourists. It is an Old Testament city that very few people ever have interest in visiting. We were in the Sorek Valley, having come south from the Aijalon Valley. The word Sorek means rich vine. While the territory surrounding this city was allotted to the tribe of Dan, Bet Shemish was allotted as a Levitical city, meaning that it was a city that was operated by the priests and the Levites to teach the people and teach the Torah. It was actually located on the territory between Dan and Judah. The tribe of Dan, however was unable to secure the territory allotted to it and therefore later in biblical history established a territory to the North (see Judges 17). The area of Bet Shemish is, of course, best known for one of its judges, Samson. According to Todd, we find that the Spirit of the Lord can be given to men for Kingdom purposes, not necessarily for moral purposes (Judges 14). In the story of Samson, we find this to be the case. Samson was a man who committed sins against God. As a Nazarite, he was not allowed to drink, and he was required to keep his body clean and never cut his hair. And yet, he got drunk, visited prostitutes, and finally allowed somebody to cut his hair. Samson was from the area near Bet Shemish.The Philistines in the east and the Israelites in the west had developed a situation of peaceful coexistence, and that meant that the Israelites were not paying attention to the righteous worship of their God. Samson, therefore, was raised to confront the Philistines who were ruling over Israel. Samson first violates his vows by taking a wife, kills 30 men, and then set crops on fire by tying the tails of foxes together and setting them afire to run havoc through the Philistine fields. As a result, a full year of work in the fields in ruined. He slaughtered many men, visited a prostitute, and then tore down the city gates of Gaza, carrying them up on a hill near Hebron. The rest of the story is well known. Sampson is chained in the Philistine temple, pulls it down, and ends up by killing more Philistines than he had killed during his lifetime.The Ark of the Covenant was also at Bet Shemish. The Ark was taken from Shiloh to Aphek by Saul who had the idea that he could beat his enemies not by calling on the Lord, but by trying to manipulate God through placing His Ark at the battle scene. But, the Ark was lost to the Philistines who took it from Ashdod, then to Gath, and finally to Ekron. Of course, the Ark was never lost or in jeopardy, because the Lord had complete control over it. He made things so ugly for the Philistines that they eventually decided to get rid of the Ark. They hooked up two milk cows, which had newly calved. The idea was that if this God of the Israelites were behind the problems the Philistines had experienced, then He would take care of it, despite the cows which were in pain and agony, because they had not been milked. God was, of course, behind the problem, and as 1 Samuel 6 states, they took the Ark straight to Bet Shemish. Unlike the Israelites who had strayed in every direction, the cows deviated neither left nor right. At the end of the trip, God provided the cows for a sacrifice to Him. Several people also died, because they mistreated the arc by either looking into it or touching it. Most versions of the Bible state that 50,070 died; others say only 70. The problem has to do with the interpretation of original texts which might not have been clear enough. The Ark was finally taken up the hill to the house of Abinidab at Kirjath-jearim.
From the Sorek Valley, we headed south in the direction of the Elah Valley and the Tel of Azekah. The land is shaped because of its geology, and because of the different types of rocks, history will happen a certain way. The rocks of the Shephelah are Eocene limestone, which is softer and erodes into broad U shaped valleys, instead of the V shaped valleys in the Judean Hill Country around Jerusalem. There is little or no agriculture in the hills, because the limestone form what is called a nari crust, as water hits it.The five city Canaanite coalition that attacked Gibeon was forced down the Husan Ridge, which drops from Bethlehem to the Elah Valley. They were not only chased by the Israelites; God also pelted them with huge hailstones, causing many to die. They fled as far as Azekah and, also, to Makeda, along the road which is called the Chalk Trough. Azekah and other cities in the Shephelah were also affected by the activities of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, when he unsuccessfully fortified them in an attempt to protect his western flank. Invasions of Judah by the Assyrians and the Babylonians (Jeremiah 34: 6-7) occurred, and the last two cities standing were Azekah and Lacaish.Of course, the best known Old Testament happening in the Elah Valley was the story of David vs. Goliath. Yet, the most important contest was not between David and Goliath. It was between David and Saul. Saul refuses to fight the Philistines, because he has lost faith. Had Saul called on God to defend him, there would never have been a question of victory. By this time, the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul and was now on David. And David had faith that God would honor His promises. History is the story of God’s faithfulness. In 2 Chronicles 14, when Zerah the Cushite attacks at Mareshah, Asa, King of Judah, calls on the Lord, and the Lord makes him victorious. Later, however, Asa’s alliance with Ben Hadad of Assyria to defeat Baasha, King of Israel, showed that Asa no longer trusted God as much as he trusted another king.
Micah mentions the cities of the Shephelah in his book. Amaziah fled to Lachish. Lachish is one of the sites that Rehoboam fortifies, after taking over as king from Solomon. In 704 BC, Sargon II of Assyria died in battle, a bad omen for any king. Hezekiah revolted, and Sargon’s son, Sennacherib marched against Judah. By 701, he reached Lachish and set up siege ramps, which can be viewed at the site. But, he never conquered Jerusalem because God saved Hezekiah when he trusted in the Lord. Finally, in 586, the only two fortified cities left (Jeremiah 34:7) are Azekah and Lachish. During the siege of Lachish by the Babylonians, a letter was prepared but never delivered stating that the signal fires of Azekah have gone out.
