What would you need most?

We were still new at the art of "following the Rabbi"

Tod told us they had found something here and would we want to see it

we actually had to convince some to come down

Agreed it seemed like a black hole in the ground

We came into a well plastered cistern

ancient plaster is of very good quality

We learned about ancient leprosy, poison Ivy would give a person  leprosy

molds would give people leprosy and to prevent this from happening, everything in the ancient world was plastered.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,  “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land,  the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’  The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house.  He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall,  the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days

We were in the first of many Cisterns we would see

The size would tell you about it's population

Many human remains were found in this cistern

When a siege took place, at the end people would try to hide anywhere

some ended up hiding in the cistern

the entrance was blocked and the people perished

These steps were almost faded by the use of many feet before ours

^{We are catching on} to this following without knowing where we go

I actually came to like it a lot
over the next few day this question was often asked:
what would people need to live here?
and we became good at answering:

WATER

Beth Shemesh

on our way to the first stop 

we saw a shepherd out with sheep & goats

Hiking up the tell to the dig

On the other side of the valley is Zorah where we were yesterday

still in Shephelah country

our faith lesson was about pigbones

In the layers of the tell they find animal remains

they filter out the percentage of pigbones 

why pigbones?

And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

In the Canaanite layere 50%

Samson 20-30%

Salomon 10%

Hezekiah 0%

Hezekiah is our hero he tried to follow God 

with all his heart, soul and mind

You cannot be effective if there are to many pigbones in your live

 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.

^{Our pigbones may be found in our DVD collection or our books}

^{maybe on our computer or how we spent our time on the weekend}

^{Here we make judgements on civilizations digging in their garbage} 

^{what will people think in later times when they dig through our "garbage"}

^{what is our legacy?} 

 

Get rid of your pigbones!!!

Maybe something we can do every year in the period of Lent?
I try to go through a part of the house and trow stuff away
for me that was books or DVD's
Although I still have many Nathional Geographic's
they are so interesting but definitely not Christian

Morning Devos

Who are you?

and what are you doing here?

Questions to ask yourself every day

Evening of the first day in Israel

 At our hotel we walked through the gardens

a few times

we were soooo tired

Hardly dared to sit down for fear of falling asleep 

In the garden was a wedding canopy

made me think of Mount Sinai 

where there was this great wedding ceremony

with the cloud as a canopy overhead

 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.

We had a good meal and it was finally Bed time
zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Shephelah

 looking out over the Sorek from the hill of Zorah.

We had a lesson about Samson, a Shephela person.

The Israelites lived in the mountains, the Philistines on the coastal plain

They interacted in the Shephelah

The Shephelah is where God's people meet the pagans

where is Shephelah in our culture?

We sat in the full sun, asked not to look for a shady place

It was hard to stay fully awake

Samson's name is "light"

Delilah's name is "Darkness"

Samson, like others, had a problem with his eyes

He saw something, and he wanted it.

The Philistines took out his eyes (his light)

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Hebrews 11, the 'Hall of fame":

And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets

If Samson makes it, we have a change, let's dance!

We are Mountain People living in Shephelah

faith Question:
How is your Shephelah (how are you influencing your culture, or is your culture influencing you?)

Hazak

 We started our next hike from the bottom of the Sorek valley

we quickly climbed quite steep

we were encouraged to "find the line" and lean against it

keep pushing yourself past what you think you can do

Hazak = Be strong

Washroom break are in the open

After everyone had caught up we pressed on

 We usually climbed up the highest hill

Standing Stones

 Following our Rabbi

we learned that in life one should always have a Rabbi and a disciple

Higher up where old standing stones

Standing stones were erected to remember a story

Usually at the top of a hill or tell 

(a tell is a hill of layers of civilization)

  When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,  “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,  and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

 At tell Gezer 

the story that belongs with the Standing Stones is lost

We are also Standing or Living Stones:

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house

Do you know someone who was a "standing stone" for you?

Go and thank them!

we sang; "I love to tell the story"

 Gezer is on the valley of Aijalon

It is so big (19 layers of civilization) because 

it is at a very strategic place in the world on the 

Via Maris the main road in the ancient world from 

Europe / Asia to Africa
^{In Salomon's time 1.500.000 people used this road} 

It is still strategic

God has put us too on the cross roads of society 

and sometimes our story gets lost

4 Chamber Gate

 The gate at Gezer has 4 chambers, 

that's why we know it is from Abraham's time.

(Salomon's gates have 6 chambers)

 Important people, like Judges, sat in gates

Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city

Jesus said: 

 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Christians are also gate keepers who say:

be welcomed inside

we were encouraged to look around for a tax collection bin:

(learn with your eyes)

This was in one of the chambers a collection bin or:

manger

A tax collection bin was called a manger

Looking for Talmidim

 We started to hike off the beaten path

before we left I had decided to imitate our Rabbi in everything

to be a disciple a talmidim, you walk where the Rabbi walks

you pick up a rock if he picks up a rock

you throw down your hat, when he throws down his hat

But that is easier said then done

 I found that I am a very independent person who doesn't follow that good

Those that didn't follow where called "goats"

sheep follow, goats always know a faster / easier / better way

 

We had come up making our own path 

through a "field" with prickly plants

 This was experiential learning

 The prickly plant was supposed to help us remember the faith lesson

 We got to a dig in the tell, 

iron age 1000BC (Abraham)

a sewer was running out into the valley 

we had just walked through.

The sewage runs out into "hell"

The biblical picture of hell is a sewage dump

gives a different picture to the worm (maggot)

 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where

“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
    and the fire is not quenched.’

  

^up and  down the sewer giving us our first

 faith lesson Todd taught told us that in Israel the students

get experiential learning 80% of the time

(We assume they don't have to fill in waivers)

  

Looking out over the field

Only the wealthy people lived in the protection of the city

learning to use our senses

This was a sight to be repeated over and over

 Marc up front behind our tour leader

 

 Our Rabbi Todd

We had arrived at Tel Gezer

to be able to see a sign like this was rare

often we would walk around / through fields/ the back way

just to prevent us reading signs

we had to learn to use all our senses